title,url,timestamp,content,source " Trump Media has reawakened the meme stock monster ",https://edition.cnn.com/2024/05/14/business/meme-stocks-gamestop-trump-media-nightcap/index.html," Updated 10:51 AM EDT, Tue May 14, 2024 ","We in the financial press tend to talk about the meme stock revolution (or craze, or frenzy, or mass delusion) in the past tense. It was a 2021 phenomenon — the climax of a zero-interest rate-fueled euphoria that pit Robinhood hobbyists against Wall Street’s elite, a financial David vs. Goliath, etc. If you can’t remember how the whole thing ended, that’s partly because it never really did. And now the ride-or-die diamond-handed GameStop crowd is trying to get the band back together. See here: On Monday, after three years out of silence, one of the orchestrators of the 2021 GameStop surge roared back into the spotlight with a wordless meme on X that his followers interpreted as a rally cry for the stock he put on the map. The account is linked to Keith Gill, aka Roaring Kitty, aka DeepF—ingValue. From that single, cryptic post depicting a man sitting in an office chair — a meme that suggests “when things get serious” — GameStop (GME) shares soared more than 100% before being halted for volatility. The stock ended Monday up more than 70%, rising $13 to $30.45 a share. On Tuesday, the meme-ing continued, as GameStop rose another 70%. AMC, another meme investor favorite, rose 85%. Tupperware surged 35% and BlackBerry — yes, you can still trade BlackBerry — was up 13%. Beyond Meat, a former Wall Street darling that’s been struggling with waning demand for its plant-based burgers, was up 27%. “No fundamental investors are involved in this,” Steve Sosnick, chief strategist at Interactive Brokers, told me. “The fundamentals didn’t make sense at $9 a share, they don’t make sense at $30 a share. But for those who’ve been awaiting the next signal, it arrived.” While we don’t know why Gill, who didn’t respond to requests for comment, chose to emerge from the shadows this week, it’s clear the timing was ripe for another surge. Another meme stock, Trump Media and Technology Group, the Donald Trump-owned media company that controls Truth Social, brought back memories of the 2021 GameStop bonanza. Then, a team of amateurs on Reddit collectively stuck it to the man by squeezing traders who had short interest (bets that the stock would fall) on GameStop, AMC (AMC), Bed Bath & Beyond and others. With Trump Media, Trump supporters and other speculative traders pumped up the stock not for its (extraordinarily lousy) fundamentals, but more as a vote of support for the former president’s campaign and even a barometer of his winning chances. The stock, which has surged nearly 200% this year, has been extremely volatile, rising and falling rapidly depending on the whims of the day. Back in 2021, the meme stock emerged for the first time out of a collision of macro forces: An unprecedented mix of pandemic-era cheap money, boredom, social media, and the widespread adoption of free trading apps to dabble in equity markets. We’re not quite as exuberant today as we were then, but we’re still within spitting distance of all-time highs on major stock indices, Sosnick notes. In some ways, the arrival in the spring of Donald Trump’s media company reawakened the meme stock monster. “If I were Roaring Kitty in the crowd, seeing what happened to DJT,” Sosnick says, “it may have made a lot of them think, ‘Oh wait, maybe we can get the band back together.” The water is warm, and day traders may be spoiling for a fight, especially if they’re among the legion who caught the 2021 wave too late. Michael Pachter, a managing director at Wedbush Securities, told me that the difference between the 2021 craze and now is that the David of the story no longer has a Goliath like Melvin Capital, Gabe Plotkin’s hedge fund, which ran itself into the ground shorting GameStop. “I don’t think that the people who are short the stock are as adamant” as Plotkin, who “had more conviction than money,” according to Pachter.",CNN Promoters of Mike Tyson-Jake Paul Netflix fight offer $2 million VIP package,https://www.cnbc.com/2024/05/09/mike-tyson-jake-paul-netflix-fight-promoters-offer-2-million-vip-package-.html,2024-05-10T13:15:33+0000,"Mike Tyson's return to the boxing ring to fight Jake Paul this summer is already seeing soaring ticket prices and strong bettor interest.The July 20 bout, which will take place at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas and be streamed globally on Netflix, is expected to be the most heavily bet on boxing match of the year. Fans are already lining up for tickets to see the former heavyweight champion Tyson, who will be 58 at that time, take on the 27-year old social media influencer turned boxer Paul.The fight, which will be sanctioned as a professional bout, will be 8 rounds, consisting of two minutes each. Tyson last fought in an exhibition match in 2020, but his last professional fight took place in 2005.The event will also feature lightweight world champion Katie Taylor vs. boxing trailblazer and unified featherweight champion Amanda Serrano. The two previously achieved the first ever sold out women's headline boxing event at Madison Square Garden.Most Valuable Promotions, the company co-owned by Paul that is promoting the event, said more than 121,000 fans have signed up for presale access for the fight. Tickets go on sale officially next Thursday.""This is a once-in-a-lifetime event that literally touches six generations,"" said Nakisa Bidarian, co-founder of MVP.Bidarian said 35,000 people have indicated they want to sit on the floor of the venue and over 10,000 have said they want VIP seats.Most Valuable Promotions also has a unique offer for the fight — a $2 million VIP package. The promotion said it will include two ringside seats, which it said have never been offered before in boxing.The package will also include four first-row floor seats for the event, four second-row floor seats, a pre-fight locker room photo with both Paul and Tyson, gloves signed by both fighters and two-night luxury penthouse accommodations at the hotel where the fighters will stay.""We're trying to bring awareness and exposure back to boxing in a gigantic way. That has not been the case for many, many years,"" Bidarian said.For those who can't shell out the $2 million, secondary market sites like Gametime have released ticket prices for the event. Currently, the lowest-cost tickets are available for $357 each, and ringside seats are selling for $8,067 each.Gambling interest in the fight has increased, too. BetMGM is already taking bets on the bout. The odds show Jake Paul as the current favorite (-145), but 70% of the money is being bet on Tyson.""This is the type of mega fight that will draw in multiple demographics: Tyson supporters, Jake Paul haters and casual sports fans,"" said Alex Rella, senior trader at BetMGM. ""I fully expect this to be the most bet on boxing match of the year.""Financial terms of the fight, and what Netflix will receive from it, have not been released. Netflix will make the bout available to all subscribers at no cost as the streaming giant continues its push into sports.Tyson and Paul are expected to make eight figures, Bidarian said.""We're hoping that this becomes the most viewed streaming event in sports in the U.S.,"" he added.",CNBC " ‘The next decade belongs to India’: Meet the winners of rising power’s economic boom ",https://edition.cnn.com/2024/05/10/business/india-election-economic-boom-winners-intl-hnk-dst/index.html," Updated 12:23 AM EDT, Fri May 10, 2024 ","As Indians head to the polls in a massive ongoing nationwide election, much attention has focused on the country’s explosive growth under Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s leadership. During his past decade in office, India’s fast-growing economy has become the world’s fifth largest as the country woos foreign investors and embarks on a massive infrastructure transformation, spending billions on new highways, ports, airports and railways. While not everyone has benefited and income inequality has deepened — millions still live in sprawling slums and youth unemployment has soared — Modi and his Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) are widely expected to win another five-year term and push forward that economic expansion. That’s partly because many in the world’s most populous country, especially among the younger generation, share a common belief: India is on the rise. More than 40% of India’s 1.4 billion people is under 25: a massive, tech-savvy and mostly English-speaking labor force, with their eyes set on the future. Like millions of migrants from across the country, many of them are drawn to the country’s financial capital Mumbai, full of aspiration and ambition. And it’s stories like these that inspire them. As a kid, Javed Khatri loved going to the train station. Not to catch a ride or watch the endless flow of people – but to stand near the ticket booth and glimpse the mainframe computers behind the counter. Growing up poor in the slums of Mumbai, he’d never used a smartphone or computer. The screens and machines at the train station fascinated Khatri, the son of a carpenter and a housewife. “In the region where I used to stay, one of the best things that one could think of was just to complete 10th grade, and then work at a call center or sell vegetables or work at a garage or do some kind of odd jobs,” says Khatri, now 30. “That was our topmost ambition.” But he was lucky, he says. Unlike many children in the slums, his parents encouraged him to focus on education rather than start working young to help support the family. He completed 10th grade – the first person in four generations of his family to do so – then studied computer science at an engineering college. But it was a shock to the system. On his first day, the class was given tasks that Khatri’s more privileged peers sailed through easily. Meanwhile, he was trying to figure out how to use a mouse and type on a keyboard. “That’s where people started mocking me, they started making fun of me,” he tells CNN from the high-rise building where he now works. “I considered quitting engineering at one point in time because it was becoming unbearable.” He sank into a six-month depression — but it was also a transformative period. He threw himself into learning everything he could. Online, he befriended people from around the world on forums, and took entrepreneurship courses. He was so fixated he often only slept four or five hours a night. “That was the hunger to learn back then,” he says. “I got introduced to a whole new world altogether.” He started building apps and small businesses with his classmates, who began seeking out his company after noticing his improved skills. After graduating, he decided to start a mobile app developer with two co-founders and only 20,000 rupees (about $240) to his name. He was under pressure, with his parents and two younger siblings depending on his success. But his company forged ahead, and after several years he sold it for $2 million. He is now building a new online platform to connect tech firms with engineers, and says his success has changed the trajectory of his family. He moved them all out of the slum, and he supports his parents’ early retirement. Both his siblings went to college and pursued their own careers. None of this would have been possible a generation ago, he says. “Over the last 10 years, people have got access to the right kind of information with the help of the internet,” he says. Now, the government is encouraging more startups, with growing awareness around entrepreneurship thanks to business reality shows like “Shark Tank,” and its Indian spin-off. Among India’s large cohort of young people, “more and more people are opting for entrepreneurship and creating more opportunities for the world and the country itself,” he says. “This itself is a big sign that the next decade belongs to India.” When the Covid-19 pandemic hit in 2020, college student Apoorva Mukhija moved back home with her parents — and hated it immediately. In their small township, “everybody knew everybody, everybody talked about each other,” she says. Without good friends nearby, she turned to Instagram and started posting comedy videos. “Content was my only escape, it kept me sane,” she says. “I was genuinely really desperate to talk to somebody, and so the camera was my friend.” It felt like a natural step; Mukhija had always been the class clown, she says. But with much of the world confined to their homes, there was an unprecedented demand for online entertainment – and creators like her. She kept posting videos as she finished her computer science degree, on topics ranging from boredom in class to being reprimanded by parents, gaining hundreds of thousands of followers. But she hadn’t planned to be a content creator, so after graduation she took a job with a tech firm in Bangalore, the southern city known as “India’s Silicon Valley.” “Then one day I just woke up, realized … (my job) just didn’t pay as well as content did, and I hated living in that city,” Mukhija, 22, tells CNN from a pastel-pink couch at her new apartment in Mumbai, which she says is her “dream city.” Her career has thrived, winning her recognition from local media and amassing 1.3 million Instagram followers, many of whom regularly stop her in the street for a selfie. The internet holds a wealth of opportunity for young Indians, Mukhija says. The country’s influencer marketing industry is expected to be worth more than $281 million in 2024, and $405 million by 2026, according to an April report by consultancy EY India. Ubiquitous smartphones and social media are fueling this growth. There is expected to be 740 million active smartphone users in India by 2030, according to EY India. That’s still less than half the population – underscoring the room for growth. And there’s money to be made. Influencer marketing firm Kofluence estimated in a report this year that Indian influencers with more than 1 million Instagram followers can earn anywhere from 300,000 to 1,500,000 rupees (about $3,600 to $18,000) monthly depending on the size of their audience. That’s a handsome sum in a country where the annual gross domestic product per capita is still around $2,400, according to the World Bank. This new, exciting space has opened doors for young creators like Mukhija, who just completed filming in her first acting role. Filmmakers are increasingly seeking out influencers to attract their fanbase, she says, adding: “I don’t go for auditions, auditions come to me.” And, more significantly, she’s been able to share her success with her parents, a civil servant and an English teacher. Though she’d grown up with privileges like private school and domestic family holidays, it was thanks to her parents’ sacrifices, she says. Her father had driven the same car for 16 years despite its frequent breakdowns, and they had never traveled outside India before. So in late 2022, she surprised her family with tickets to Dubai, their first international trip. The video, posted on Instagram, shows her younger brother gleefully jumping on the bed, and her mother wiping her eyes before pulling Mukhija into a hug. “My dad comes from nothing, he has built himself up,” she tells CNN. “So it’s just nice that they’ve given me so much and maybe I can give a fraction of it back to them.” She’s dreaming bigger for herself, too. She has applied to MBA programs in London and California, which wouldn’t have been possible without her content creation income. And with so many people across the country tuning in on their phones, that rise isn’t slowing anytime soon. “Everybody’s a content creator today,” Mukhija says. “And with this much population, you ought to have an audience, no matter what kind of content you’re making … In India, it’s so easy to just find somebody to watch your content.” Jameel Shah caught the Bollywood bug as a teenage runaway, fascinated by the sight of movie stars plastered on billboards in India’s capital. “I wanted to see them, and someone told me I would not find Bollywood stars in Delhi, but in Mumbai,” he says. At age 13, Shah ran away from his village in Bihar, India’s poorest state, where his father wasn’t earning enough from farming to send the kids to school. Seeking work, he ran off to Delhi without telling anyone — but was soon on his way to Mumbai, the birthplace of Hindi cinema. But once in Mumbai, he was scammed out of his savings by a friend who disappeared after making false promises to introduce him to Bollywood stars. He followed the scammer to Bangalore before he ran out of money and became stranded. That proved to be a turning point. Shah started working as a security guard at a building that housed a dance studio, where he watched people whirl and stomp across the floor with wide-eyed intrigue – until the studio owner agreed to let him learn for free. Dancing with female partners was foreign and shocking. “Where I came from, one cannot be at such close proximity with women,” says Shah, 40. “There was a shortage of men in the class, so I was given two women to dance with, which made me very happy.” By the time he returned to Mumbai as an 18-year-old, his passion for dance had taken root and he continued learning for free under a Bollywood choreographer while working odd jobs. Every week, he would walk from his home in Dharavi, Asia’s biggest slum, to dance classes in an affluent nearby district of tall office buildings, upscale hotels and foreign consulates. Seeing all this, “I still wanted to do something better in life,” Shah says. Finally, he saw his opportunity in the expensive imported dance shoes required for class. “I wanted to make similar shoes that were printed with ‘Made in India,’” Shah says. He took two samples back to the narrow alleys of Dharavi, a long-established hub for leather and textile manufacturers. With their expertise, and his own experience working in bag and wallet factories, Shah began experimenting. After four years of trial and error, Shah Shoes was born. The business grew, attracting stylists and choreographers who redistributed the shoes to dance studios. And they even made it onto the big screen. “I have made shoes for a lot of Bollywood stars like Priyanka Chopra and Katrina Kaif. Many times I am not aware that these actors have used my shoes; it’s only when I see them dancing (in movies) I realize that they were made by me because of their unique cut, design and style,” Shah says. One career highlight was when a choreographer introduced him to Kylie Minogue. “She loved my shoes and bought eight pairs,” he says, excitedly showing CNN a photo of himself with the Australian pop star. Some 17 years on, Shah Shoes has helped support his family back in Bihar, including six siblings. He’s bought a house for his parents, and started an education center in his home village teaching literacy to those who can’t afford school. “I never imagined I would reach such an important stage in my life as my only obsession was to meet Bollywood stars. But today I make these wonderful shoes,” he says. A key tool was the rise of social media, particularly Facebook, helping him find customers – which Shah credited to Prime Minister Modi’s push for a “digital India.” And, he added, “my business will just keep growing with the kind of economic growth we see in India.”",CNN Disney+ will stream Caitlin Clark's WNBA debut in the platform's first live sports event,https://www.cnbc.com/2024/05/14/disney-to-stream-caitlin-clarks-wnba-debut-with-indiana-fever.html,2024-05-14T19:55:24+0000,"In this articleThe Women's National Basketball Association regular season opens Tuesday night with breakout star Caitlin Clark making her debut as point guard for the Indiana Fever. The game will be streamed on Disney+, the service's first live sports event.As the NCAA's all-time leading scorer for both men's and women's basketball, Clark helped draw a record 18.9 million viewers to the Women's March Madness National Championship game last month. The former Iowa star was drafted as the No. 1 pick on April 15, which alone led 2.45 million viewers to tune in, surpassing the league's previous high for a draft by 307%.Following Clark's debut at 7:30 p.m. ET against the Connecticut Sun, Disney+ will stream the Phoenix Mercury vs. Las Vegas Aces matchup. Disney+ has previously streamed animated simulcasts of sporting events using cartoon characters in place of the athletes, but Tuesday's doubleheader is the first instance of a live sports game streamed on the platform.Disney nearly turned a profit in its streaming unit for the first time during its fiscal second quarter, the company reported last week. The entertainment giant has been increasingly leaning on sports streaming to drive viewership.Disney's ESPN is planning to launch a full direct-to-consumer streaming product in fall 2025 that will allow consumers to subscribe to ESPN without cable.It is also partnering with Warner Bros. Discovery and Fox Corp. to offer a sports streaming service that they expect to launch this fall, the companies announced in February.Disney and Warner Bros. Discovery's exclusive TV rights for NBA games is currently under negotiation.The WNBA's existing media rights deal expires in 2025. The deal is reported to be worth roughly $60 million, and WNBA Commissioner Cathy Engelbert said she expects that to double when the rights are renegotiated.Patrick Rishe, director of the Sports Business Program at Washington University's Olin Business School, said the WNBA debut on Tuesday could be a ""watershed moment for the league,"" and the choice to have the game on Disney+ will be critical for the league's ""key demographic"" of families and younger people.""They covet younger fans, and this is how younger fans view their sports these days — it is through streaming,"" Rishe told CNBC's ""Worldwide Exchange"" on Tuesday.""I certainly see some parallels between the potential of Caitlin Clark and her power in terms of increasing the reach of the WNBA and Lionel Messi, of all people, and what is going on with Apple TV,"" Rishe added, in reference to the soccer superstar's 10-year deal with Major League Soccer, and the league's streaming deal with Apple TV.",CNBC Fat Brands confidentially files to IPO its Twin Peaks and Smokey Bones restaurant chains,https://www.cnbc.com/2024/05/14/fat-brands-twin-peaks-smokey-bones-confidentially-file-for-ipo.html,2024-05-14T17:28:16+0000,"In this articleFat Brands said Tuesday it has confidentially filed to take its Twin Peaks and Smokey Bones restaurant chains public through an initial public offering, less than a week after federal authorities charged the restaurant company and its chair Andy Wiederhorn for an alleged $47 million bogus loan scheme.Fat Brands announced its intention to spin off Twin Peaks through an IPO last year. At that time, the company had already disclosed a U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission investigation into Wiederhorn.On Thursday, Fat Brands, Wiederhorn and a few other people were criminally indicted by a federal grand jury in Los Angeles for wire fraud, tax evasion and other counts related to the alleged scheme. In a separate civil complaint filed on Friday, the SEC accused the company and Wiederhorn of violations related to the same conduct.Both Fat Brands and Wiederhorn, through an attorney, have denied the charges.Since its founding in 2005, Twin Peaks has grown to nearly 115 restaurant locations in the U.S. and Mexico. Fat Brands bought the company in 2021. The sports bar chain is known for its female staff's revealing uniforms, similar to Hooters.Smokey Bones is a newer addition to Fat Brands' portfolio, which currently includes 18 chains. Olive Garden owner Darden Restaurants created the barbecue chain in 1999 but later sold the brand. Fat Brands acquired it in September 2023, with the goal of converting more than half its 61 corporate-owned restaurants into Twin Peaks locations.""Our priority is to use the proceeds from any transaction to deleverage the balance sheet,"" Wiederhorn said about the potential IPO on the company's first-quarter conference call on May 1.Wiederhorn owns 45% of Fat Brands' common shares through Fog Cutter Holdings, according to FactSet.Shares of the company have fallen 9% this year, dragging its market value down to about $90 million.",CNBC "People on Novo Nordisk's Wegovy maintain weight loss for up to four years, study says",https://www.cnbc.com/2024/05/14/wegovy-patients-maintain-weight-loss-for-4-years-novo-nordisk-study.html,2024-05-14T15:16:13+0000,"In this articlePatients taking Novo Nordisk's obesity drug Wegovy maintained an average of 10% weight loss for up to four years, according to a new analysis published Tuesday from the longest clinical trial to date on the treatment.The highly popular drug also reduced the risk of heart disease regardless of a patient's weight, a second analysis on the same trial found. Both analyses were presented at the European Congress on Obesity in Venice, Italy, this week.The findings shed light on the long-term effects of Wegovy and add to growing evidence of the weekly injection's broad health benefits. That could boost Novo Nordisk's case for insurers and governments to cover the costly but effective drug.Insurance coverage is limited for Wegovy, part of a class of medications called GLP-1s. Those obesity and diabetes treatments have soared in popularity over the last year and work by mimicking a hormone produced in the gut to suppress a person's appetite. Neither Novo Nordisk or Eli Lilly, which has its own weight loss drug, have been able to produce enough supply to meet the insatiable demand for their treatments.The two analyses build on data published in November from Novo Nordisk's SELECT trial. The findings from that trial showed that Wegovy slashed the risk of heart attacks, stroke and other serious cardiovascular complications by 20% in people who have obesity or are overweight and also have cardiovascular disease.The U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved Wegovy for that purpose in March.The SELECT trial, which included more than 17,000 patients from over 40 countries, tested Wegovy for its cardiovascular benefits.Participants were not required to track diet and exercise because it was not an obesity study. Patients in the trial lost around 10% of their total body weight on average after 65 weeks on Wegovy, according to the first analysis published in the journal Nature.Patients continued to take the weekly drug over a period of three years and four months and sustained their weight loss for up to four years. Other research has shown that many people regain weight after stopping the drugs.The second analysis showed that patients in the trial reaped the heart benefits of Wegovy regardless of their weight when they started on the drug and regardless of how much weight they lost on it.For example, the reduced risk of serious cardiovascular events for those on Wegovy, compared with a placebo, was similar among people who lost 5% or more of their body weight, those who lost less than that or even those who gained weight.The finding suggests Wegovy helps improve a patient's heart health through methods beyond weight loss, the study authors concluded.Notably, the weight loss in the trial was less than the average 15% weight loss observed in an earlier study on Wegovy's effect on obesity.But the researchers in the first analysis noted that the previous study was designed specifically for weight loss and included structured lifestyle changes, such as diet and exercise. The population that study followed was also different from the SELECT trial.Safety results from the two analyses were consistent with the previous data from the SELECT trial. More people on Wegovy than people who got a placebo decided to stop participating in the trial because of side effects.Patients also experienced side effects consistent with other GLP-1 medications, such as nausea, diarrhea, vomiting and constipation.",CNBC Warner Bros. Discovery misses first-quarter estimates despite streaming growth,https://www.cnbc.com/2024/05/09/warner-bros-discovery-wbd-earnings-q1-2024.html,2024-05-09T20:32:55+0000,"In this articleWarner Bros. Discovery reported first-quarter results on Thursday, missing analyst expectations on both the top and bottom lines despite strength in its streaming unit.The company's stock gained 3% Thursday. Here is how Warner Bros. Discovery performed, compared with estimates from analysts surveyed by LSEG:Warner Bros. Discovery — which owns streaming service Max, a portfolio of cable TV networks including TNT and Discovery, and a film studio — said revenue fell 7% to $9.96 billion compared with the same quarter last year.Warner Bros. Discovery posted a net loss attributable to the company of $966 million, or 40 cents per share, an improvement from the year-ago quarter when it reported a loss of $1.07 billion, or 44 cents per share.The company said total adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization were down roughly 20% during the first quarter to $2.1 billion, noting its Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League video game generated significantly lower revenue.Warner Bros. Discovery said Thursday it added 2 million direct-to-consumer streaming subscribers during the quarter, bringing its total to 99.6 million.That segment earned an adjusted $86 million during the quarter, an improvement of $36 million from the prior-year quarter, the company said. It also saw revenue increase ""modestly"" to $2.46 billion from the prior-year quarter.Advertising revenue for streaming proved to be a bright spot, increasing 70%, boosted by higher engagement on Max in the U.S. due in part to subscriber growth in the streaming service's ad-lite tier and the launch of sports on the app.The earnings release follows an announcement this week that Warner Bros. Discovery would bundle its streaming services with those of Disney — tying together Max, Disney+ and Hulu — and offer it to consumers this summer, a callback to the traditional pay TV package. Pricing has yet to be disclosed, but it will be offered at a discount, CNBC reported.It marks the first time two media giants are joining forces to offer a streaming bundle as the push to make streaming profitable continues. While TV networks have long been a cash cow for media companies, the bundle continues to bleed subscribers.""As you know, I've been a big proponent of bundling,"" Warner Bros. Discovery CEO David Zaslav said on Thursday's earnings call. He noted subscribers will have to stick with the bundle to take advantage of the cheaper pricing offering, which should then reduce so-called churn, referring to people dropping their subscriptions.""The churn is the killer in this business and we've been hyper focused on it,"" Zaslav said, adding bundling has been a big helper to decrease the loss of customers. ""We need to go at this … in an attack mode.""The entertainment streaming bundle marks the second partnership with Warner Bros. Discovery and Disney in recent months. The companies, along with Fox Corp., previously announced a sports streaming joint venture that will launch this fall.On the sports front, Zaslav said Thursday that media rights negotiations with the NBA — which has long been a staple on cable channel TNT — are still ongoing, and he is ""hopeful to reach an agreement that makes sense for both sides.""NBCUniversal recently made an offer to once again own the rights, CNBC previously reported. Zaslav noted while the company has strategies in place for various outcomes, its deal with the NBA includes the right to match any other offers before the league makes a decision.Last fall Warner Bros. Discovery began offering NBA games on Max.The company has been rolling out Max across the globe, and Zaslav noted Thursday it will enter more European markets ahead of the Summer Olympics in Paris. While NBCUniversal holds the U.S. rights for the Olympics, airing the games on its TV networks and Peacock streaming service, Warner Bros. Discovery's Max will be the streaming home in Europe.Though advertising revenue was strong in streaming, it remained weak for Warner Bros. Discovery's TV networks, as did the segment as a whole.TV networks revenue was down 8% to $5.13 billion, with advertising revenue falling 11%. While the ad market has been soft for some time now, recent quarterly earnings show there has been improvement for digital and streaming while traditional TV lags behind.Meanwhile, Warner Bros. Discovery's studio segment revenue was down 12% to $2.82 billion compared with the same quarter last year. The segment was weighed down by the lackluster release of the latest iteration of Suicide Squad and the lingering effects of the Hollywood writers and actors strikes last year.On Thursday, Zaslav said the company is striving ""to return the luster"" to its film studio. As part of that, he announced work is underway for the latest installment of Lord of the Rings, with an anticipated release in 2026.The company's cash position improved, with free cash flow increasing to $390 million, a $1.3 billion improvement from the same quarter last year, the company noted.Warner Bros. Discovery has been working to reduce its debt load, which now stands at $43.2 billion, stemming from the merger of Warner Bros. and Discovery in 2022. On Thursday the company said it repaid $1.1 billion in debt during the quarter, and also announced a $1.75 billion cash tender aimed at further reducing its debt.Disclosure: Comcast NBCUniversal is the parent company of CNBC and a co-owner of Hulu.",CNBC Planet Fitness is raising prices even as it warns customers are growing cost-conscious,https://www.cnbc.com/2024/05/09/planet-fitness-raises-prices-even-as-customers-grow-cost-conscious.html,2024-05-09T20:33:43+0000,"In this articlePlanet Fitness said it's hiking its base-level membership prices for new customers for the first time since 1998, even as the gym operator warns that customers are growing increasingly cost-conscious.Classic card membership will be priced at $15 per month for new members starting this summer. Current members will continue to pay $10 per month ""for the duration of their membership,"" Planet Fitness said Thursday alongside its quarterly earnings report.""It will take some time for the benefit of the price change to expand our store level margins as the price increase will only be on new classic card membership,"" said Tom Fitzgerald, the company's outgoing chief financial officer.The change comes after months of price testing in several markets countrywide. Planet Fitness also said it will start testing higher prices for its top-tier membership, known as the Black Card, this summer. That membership offers customers access to any Planet Fitness location, as well as to digital content and other benefits, for a starting price of $24.99 per month.The decision to raise prices comes after the company reported weaker-than-expected first-quarter revenue and cut guidance for the fiscal year, in contrast to competitor Life Time Holdings, which posted better-than-expected results and strong membership growth for its most recent quarter.Life Time members tend to be older, more affluent gymgoers, whereas Planet Fitness appeals to a younger, more budget-conscious consumer.In the company's earnings release, interim CEO Craig Benson said several macro conditions weighed on an increasingly cost-conscious consumer.""We faced several headwinds which impacted our results including a shift in consumer focus in the New Year to savings and concern over the increase in Covid infections and other illnesses,"" said Benson.He also said the company's national advertising campaign failed to resonate with consumers as broadly as anticipated.Despite the warning, analysts still see positive catalysts ahead for the company.""Despite lowered guidance, results today were not as weak as feared,"" said Piper Sandler analyst Korinne Wolfmeyer. ""And we've now seen two key changes occur that have been needed to recharge shares, including a new CEO and White Card pricing.""Piper Sandler maintains a ""buy"" rating on Planet Fitness stock and an $80 price target. Shares currently trade for about $65 apiece, having gained more than 5% Thursday.The Street is bullish on a company turnaround from Planet Fitness' incoming CEO, Colleen Keating, who assumes the role on June 10.""We see the new CEO's past experience in brand building and leading consumer-facing companies as being instrumental here,"" said Wolfmeyer.",CNBC McDonald's is betting on its mobile business with new franchisee digital marketing fund,https://www.cnbc.com/2024/05/09/mcdonalds-makes-changes-to-increase-mobile-sales.html,2024-05-09T14:13:48+0000,"In this articleMcDonald's U.S. franchisees will start paying into a digital marketing fund next year as the fast-food giant looks to expand its booming digital business, according to a memo viewed by CNBC on Thursday.The change is meant to modernize the company's marketing strategy and widen its competitive advantage, according to the memo, which was written by U.S. Customer Experience Officer Tariq Hassan and Chief Information Officer Whitney McGinnis. The memo also said that McDonald's plans to invest hundreds of millions of dollars over the next couple of years to improve its loyalty program and add ordering channels, including placing web orders without downloading an app, which should also bolster its digital business.Loyalty program members accounted for more than $6 billion in system-wide sales globally during McDonald's first quarter. The company has 34 million active digital customers in the U.S. By comparison, Chipotle Mexican Grill has 40 million loyalty members, while Starbucks has 32.8 million.In December, McDonald's said it aims to reach 100 million loyalty program members by 2027.For now, the franchisor is recommending that franchisees pay for the new fund using their existing marketing contribution, which requires that they spend at least 4% of gross sales, according to the memo. As a result, the new approach will likely lead McDonald's to cut back on legacy marketing tools, such as TV commercials, and focus on areas that tangibly lead to higher sales.Next year, U.S. operators will have to chip in 1.2% of projected identified digital sales, such as transactions that occur when a customer logs into the loyalty program or orders delivery, according to the memo. The rate will change annually, based on projections created at the start of the year.As a result of the change, McDonald's is forecasting that every U.S. restaurant will see its cash flow increase by roughly $2,600, starting in 2025. The windfall comes from the digital investment costs moving from a franchisee's profit and loss statement to the marketing contribution.Franchisees in the U.K., Canada, Australia and Germany will also pay into the global digital marketing fund. The rest of McDonald's markets will transition to the approach later.",CNBC " Boeing may be prosecuted after breaking safety agreement that prevented criminal charges for 737 crashes, US DOJ says ",https://edition.cnn.com/2024/05/14/business/boeing-justice-department-criminal-prosecution/index.html," Updated 8:44 PM EDT, Tue May 14, 2024 ","The US Justice Department on Tuesday notified Boeing that it breached terms of its 2021 agreement in which the company avoided criminal charges for two fatal 737 Max crashes. After a series of safety missteps earlier this year, including a door plug that blew off an Alaska Airlines flight shortly after takeoff in January, the Department of Justice said Boeing is now subject to criminal prosecution. “For failing to fulfill completely the terms of and obligations under the [deferred prosecution agreement], Boeing is subject to prosecution by the United States for any federal criminal violation of which the United States has knowledge,” the Justice Department said in a letter to US District Judge Reed O’Connor in Fort Worth, Texas, who oversaw the prior agreement. The Biden administration said in its letter that it has not yet determined how it will proceed, however, and Boeing will have an opportunity to respond to its breach of the agreement – and steps it has taken to remediate the situation – by June 13. It will let the court know by July 7 how it will proceed with the case. The notification comes as the Justice Department conducts a new investigation into Boeing’s operations in the wake the door plug incident. The earlier deal had resolved a fraud investigation related to the company’s development of its 737 Max aircraft. Under its deferred prosecution agreement from January 2021, Boeing paid $2.5 billion in penalties and promised to improve its safety and compliance protocols. Families of victims of the October 2018 Lion Air 737 Max crash and the March 2019 Ethiopian Airlines 737 Max crash had long denounced the delayed prosecution agreement, arguing it denied them justice for the deaths of their loved ones. Families of victims and lawyers representing them met with the Justice Department late last month to persuade the Biden administration to end the agreement in light of multiple safety lapses at Boeing this year and in past years after the 2021 agreement was reached. Following the April 2024 meeting, attorney Paul Cassell, who represents the victims’ families, said at a press conference that the deferred prosecution agreement was “rigged” and brokered without families’ say. Cassell pledged to hold Boeing accountable for its “fraud and misconduct.” On Tuesday, Cassell said, “This is a positive first step, and for the families, a long time coming. But we need to see further action from DOJ to hold Boeing accountable, and plan to use our meeting on May 31 to explain in more detail what we believe would be a satisfactory remedy to Boeing’s ongoing criminal conduct.” The Justice Department in its letter said it notified the families that Boeing breached its agreement, and it will continue to confer with families of the crash victims as well as other airline customers about next steps. The Department of Justice plans to meet with the families next on May 31. In Thursday’s letter to the federal judge overseeing the prior agreement, the Justice Department said it had notified the company that “the government has determined that Boeing breached its obligations” in multiple parts of the 2021 deal “by failing to design, implement, and enforce a compliance and ethics program to prevent and detect violations of the U.S. fraud laws throughout its operations.” Despite pledging to clean up its act, Boeing had a seemingly endless run of quality and safety lapses in the years since its deferred prosecution agreement. On September 20, 2021, just months after its agreement, Boeing disclosed it found empty tequila bottles inside one of the two 747 jets being refurbished for use as the next generation of Air Force One. In April 2023, Boeing announced its supplier used a “non-standard manufacturing process,” delaying deliveries of the 737 Max. In February 2024, a month after the door plug incident, a preliminary National Transportation Safety Board investigation found that the plane left a Boeing factory missing the four bolts needed to secure the door plug. Later that month, the Federal Aviation Administration issued a report sharply critical of the culture at Boeing, citing “gaps in Boeing’s safety journey,” and gave Boeing 90 days to come up with a plan to fix its problems. Subsequent FAA reports found multiple problems with Boeing’s production practices following a six-week audit. In March, the FAA identified more potential safety issues with the engines of the 737 Max and 787 Dreamliner. Last month, the FAA announced an investigation into a whistleblower’s complaint that the company took shortcuts when manufacturing its 777 and 787 Dreamliner jets and that those risks could become catastrophic as the airplanes age. The company disputed the complaint. This story has been updated with additional developments and context.",CNN McDonald’s is working to introduce a $5 value meal,https://www.cnbc.com/2024/05/10/mcdonalds-working-on-5-value-meal.html,2024-05-10T20:20:33+0000,"In this articleMcDonald's is working to introduce a value meal in U.S. stores to help offset an increasingly challenging environment for consumers, two people familiar with the matter told CNBC.The people said the $5 meal could include four items: a McChicken or McDouble, four-piece chicken nuggets, fries and a drink. The value meal was first reported by Bloomberg News.The potential new offering comes at a time when low-income consumers are beginning to pull back on spending, particularly at fast-food brands. Mentions of low-income consumers on company earnings calls are at their highest levels in nearly two years, according to data from Bank of America. Executives from McDonald's to Wendy's to Dave and Buster's have all noted the restraint in spending. McDonald's recently reported a mixed first quarter, with U.S. same-store sales slightly missing expectations. Higher prices helped grow average checks, but some consumers pulled back as a result of the steeper costs.""Consumers continue to be even more discriminating with every dollar that they spend as they faced elevated prices in their day-to-day spending, which is putting pressure on the [quick-service restaurant] industry,"" CEO Chris Kempczinski said on the company's earnings call on April 30.He added that McDonald's has to be ""laser-focused"" on affordability to attract diners.On the call, Kempczinski said the company is working on a national value deal in the U.S., and the company's Chief Financial Officer Ian Borden said the U.S. leadership team was working closely with owner-operators in this environment. McDonald's corporate and franchisees, who run 95% of McDonald's locations and weigh in on such offerings, are often at odds over promotions that could eat into owners' profits.An initial proposal by McDonald's for the $5 value meal did not clear necessary hurdles, and additional details are now being discussed, according to a person familiar with the process. A second person said Coca-Cola added marketing funds to the equation to make the deal more appealing.McDonald's and Coca-Cola declined to comment to CNBC. — CNBC's Amelia Lucas contributed to this article.",CNBC "Ford names ex-Lucid Motors exec as next CFO, promotes current chief",https://www.cnbc.com/2024/05/10/ford-names-ex-lucid-motors-exec-as-next-cfo-promotes-current-chief.html,2024-05-10T16:24:39+0000,"In this articleFord Motor on Friday named the former chief financial officer of electric-vehicle startup Lucid to replace its current CFO, who is being promoted to closely oversee the company's ongoing turnaround plan, the company said in a press release. The ex-Lucid executive, Sherry House, will join Ford first as finance vice president in early June. In that position, she'll be working to transition into the CFO role by early 2025, according to the release.In the meantime, current CFO John Lawler will continue in his position while expanding his role to become vice chair. Lawler has been CFO since October 2020. During this time, he helped build the company's Ford+ turnaround plan to make Ford more efficient and profitable as the company worked to expand current operations and invest billions in electric vehicles.Ford has faced years of inflated warranty costs, including $1.9 billion in 2023. The company last year said it has a $7 billion to $8 billion annual disadvantage compared with traditional rivals due to production costs, quality issues and other operational inefficiencies.The move comes as Ford ramps up its focus on electric vehicles. The automaker's U.S. sales jumped 10.5% in February 2024 compared with sales in February 2023, thanks to increases in its all-hybrid and all-electric vehicle sales. The results included an 81% jump in all-electric vehicles. ""Make no mistake, EVs are coming, EVs are part of the future,"" Lawler told CNBC back in February.Still, the unit is not yet profitable. As part of its 2024 guidance, first released in February, Ford said it expected its EV business to lose between $5 billion and $5.5 billion this year.  House served as CFO at Lucid Motors for nearly three years until last December. Over that time, the company went public, started producing and delivering its luxury EVs, and opened manufacturing plants in the U.S. and Saudi Arabia. She's also held roles at Alphabet-backed autonomous-driving technology company Waymo and General Motors.""Sherry adds an important leadership dimension to Ford as we urgently build a profitable EV business, generate new and recurring revenue streams, and create a more dynamic and resilient company,"" Ford President and CEO Jim Farley said in the release. Ford reorganized its operations in 2022, splitting EVs and legacy autos into two separate units to streamline the growing EV business and maximize profits.",CNBC " Recent college grads are doing shockingly well. Can it last? ",https://edition.cnn.com/2024/05/14/investing/premarket-stocks-trading/index.html," Published 7:36 AM EDT, Tue May 14, 2024 ","A version of this story first appeared in CNN Business’ Before the Bell newsletter. Not a subscriber? You can sign up right here. You can listen to an audio version of the newsletter by clicking the same link. They may be at the end of the alphabet, but Gen Z’ers are pretty adept at pushing forward. What’s happening: The economy hasn’t been easy for the class of 2020 (and the years around it), but thankfully, it’s getting much better. Those students who graduated from college during the global pandemic, the recession it induced and the topsy-turvy economic environment it left in its wake, have experienced a much faster bounce-back in the labor market and stronger wage growth than any recovery in recent history, according to new research by the Economic Policy Institute (EPI). The unemployment rate for recent college grads — workers between the ages of 21 and 24 — has recovered more than 2.5 times faster than in the aftermath of the Great Recession, researchers at the DC-based think tank found. And recent grads aren’t just finding any job, they’re finding good jobs. The underemployment rate for this cohort fully recovered just two years after the onset of the pandemic. On top of that, the report found, young grads experienced inflation-adjusted wage growth for the first time this early in a recovery in at least three decades. The labor market for recent college grads is now stronger than it was before the pandemic, which EPI economists Katherine deCourcy and Elise Gould say “was a direct result of an aggressive fiscal policy response to the pandemic’s economic shock.” Those who graduated during the 2008-2009 recession, meanwhile, still haven’t fully recovered from chronic underemployment. What it means: Millennials may never fully recoup the lost wages and career setbacks experienced during the Great Recession. Those who graduated around the 2008 recession earned less money than other graduates for at least 10 to 15 years, according to a study published by the Stanford Institute for Economic Policy Research. That lack of earning power has delayed homebuying, marriage and child rearing for so-called recession millennials. Gen Z doesn’t appear to be having that problem. That’s likely a good thing for the strength of the consumer economy in the years to come. Not all is well: The EPI study found that racial and gender wage gaps still remain large among recent grads. On average, women are still paid $5.30 less per hour than their male counterparts, while Black and Hispanic workers are paid $3.24 and $2.07 less per hour than white workers, the research found. And Gen Z’ers are taking on more debt than their millennial counterparts did at their age. It also might not last. Employers’ hiring projections for the class of 2024 are down 5.8% year-over-year, according to a LinkedIn study released Monday. The surprise social media return of the trader who helped ignite the meme stock frenzy in 2021 sent GameStop shares skyrocketing Monday, reports my colleague Krystal Hur. The surge had nothing to do with the troubled company’s fundamentals — and everything to do with a cartoon of a gamer that the trader Keith Gill, nicknamed Roaring Kitty, shared on X. GameStop shares surged 74% on Monday after the account run by Gill shared a meme on X, marking its first post in three years. The shares skyrocketed by more than 110% earlier and were halted for volatility several times on Monday morning. Short sellers saw $1 billion in losses betting against GameStop on Monday, according to data company S3 Partners. Short-sellers aim to turn profits on a stock by borrowing shares, selling them and returning them after purchasing them at a lower price. Shares of AMC Entertainment, another meme stock, popped 78%. Reddit shares climbed roughly 9%. Shares of trading platform Robinhood Markets, which suspended purchases of GameStop, AMC and other meme stocks during the frenzy in 2021, rose 4%. The image Gill posted depicts a man leaning forward in a chair with a video game controller in hand. GameStop had posted the same cartoon in February, but with a blue arrow and chair. In Gill’s cartoon, they are red. The meme is interpreted to convey, “when things get serious,” according to Know Your Meme. Gill did not immediately respond to CNN’s request for comment. GameStop shares tripped multiple circuit breakers — a temporary and mandated halt in trading to let investors cool off for a bit. Robinhood denied claims on social media on Monday that it had once again halted GameStop stock purchases on its platform. “This is incorrect. Robinhood has not shut down the purchase of Gamestop shares,” Robinhood spokesperson Anupriya Ghate said in a statement to CNN. “GME is seeing elevated volatility and movement, which triggers market-wide exchange trading limits and halts. These are market-wide and not specific to Robinhood.” More than a year after Shein promised to tackle excessive working hours in its supply chain, a new report suggests the Chinese fast-fashion company still has a problem. Workers in some factories supplying Shein are still working 75-hour weeks, according to an investigation by Public Eye, a Swiss human rights advocacy group that first highlighted the alleged abuse back in 2021. “The 75-hour weeks that we found out about two years ago still seem to be common at Shein,” the Swiss organization said. Public Eye interviewed 13 textile workers employed at six factories in Guangzhou, a region in southern China, last summer. It found that staff worked an average of 12 hours a day, excluding lunch and dinner breaks, and usually for six or seven days a week. Shein does not reveal the identity of its suppliers, Public Eye said in its report. The group said it established that the factories were Shein suppliers through interviewees’ responses as well as the presence of Shein products. In a statement to CNN Shein said that it does “not recognize many of the allegations in (Public Eye’s) report.” “The Public Eye report is based on a sample of 13 interviewees and, though all voices in our supply chain are important, this small sample size should be seen in the context of our comprehensive ongoing process to continually improve our supply chain, which involves engaging with thousands of suppliers and workers within the supply chain,” it added. Read more here.",CNN NRF rejects Shein membership as retailer pursues U.S. IPO,https://www.cnbc.com/2024/05/13/nrf-rejects-shein-membership-as-retailer-pursues-us-ipo.html,2024-05-13T19:31:58+0000,"Chinese-founded fast fashion behemoth Shein isn't just working to win over lawmakers in Washington, D.C., as it gears up for a potential U.S. IPO, it's also trying to win over the broader U.S. retail industry.It'll have to go through the National Retail Federation first. Shein, which filed to go public in the U.S. late last year, has tried to become a member of the retail industry's largest and most powerful trade association but has been repeatedly rejected, people familiar with the matter told CNBC. The people spoke on the condition of anonymity because the talks are private. For most companies, becoming a member of the NRF wouldn't have a major impact on their business. The organization is the retail industry's primary lobbying machine in Washington, D.C., and provides access to NRF events and research on market trends, among other benefits.But Shein is in the midst of a charm offensive. It has been working to convince lawmakers that it can be trusted as a public company listed on American exchanges despite concerns over its ties to China, its supply chain and its use of a trade law loophole.Shein is also caught in the middle of a complex geopolitical rivalry between the U.S. and Beijing and has been targeted by lawmakers who are concerned the company shares data on American consumers with the Chinese government and produces goods made with forced labor. The intense scrutiny Shein has faced reportedly pushed the retailer to consider going public in London instead of the U.S.Shein was recently valued at $66 billion, CNBC previously reported, and is poised to be one of the biggest listings of the year. It pulls in revenue well above $30 billion a year, according to a key retail partner. Its rise has eaten into the market share of a host of U.S.-based rivals including Gap Inc., TJX Companies and Macy's, and has challenged mass-market players like Target, Walmart and Amazon.If Shein can earn a stamp of approval from the de facto voice of the retail industry, which is led by the largest retailers and tech companies on the planet, it could help legitimize Shein in the eyes of federal lawmakers. It could also smooth over what's been an otherwise bumpy path to a U.S. initial public offering. ""That definitely would put a little bit more pressure on the politicians to accept the company, right? Simply because the peers recognize the company and they think that it is a worthy competitor. … That would definitely create a little bit more legitimacy,"" said Wharton School professor John Zhang, founding director of the Penn Wharton China Center. ""Most importantly, I think that [NRF membership] really creates the perception amongst the investors that this is just one of the normal retailers."" Steve Dennis, a retail consultant who previously held executive positions at Neiman Marcus and Sears, agreed that NRF's acceptance of Shein could be a positive catalyst for the company. ""I don't think that would automatically mean the [New York Stock Exchange] or the federal government's going to be OK with them, but I think it would be kind of a feather in their cap, a meaningful step in the right direction,"" said Dennis. ""You sort of look at the NRF as being the voice of the industry, so if it's OK with them, maybe it should be OK for us."" The NRF hasn't totally shut the door on Shein's membership application and has been in talks with the retailer about its request, people familiar with the dynamic told CNBC, adding the trade group is open to welcoming Shein. A spokesperson for the NRF said the organization ""does not comment on our membership process or on individual retailers."" It said it ""disagrees with many of the characterizations"" in CNBC's report but declined to elaborate further.Shein declined to comment.It's unclear why the NRF rejected Shein's membership application, but according to one of the people familiar, someone with sway is strongly against the company's admittance. The person declined to provide specifics surrounding who could be exerting that influence.The NRF's board has a leadership team and an executive committee. Those people have the closest counsel with the trade group's CEO, Matthew Shay, who has been involved in membership discussions with Shein, according to two people familiar with the organization's dealings.The leadership team is comprised of Shay; Walmart U.S. CEO John Furner; BJ's Wholesale Club CEO Bob Eddy; and Mike George, the former president and CEO of Qurate Retail, which owns QVC. The executive committee includes eight other top industry insiders, including Target CEO Brian Cornell and Macy's CEO Tony Spring.Like most trade associations, retailers looking to become a member of the NRF are typically granted access as long as they're involved in retailing and pay the required dues, according to three NRF board members who spoke to CNBC on the condition of anonymity. The specific requirements for becoming a member of the NRF and the process for screening new members is unclear. The NRF declined to answer questions about those details.An NRF membership application form that can be found online states: ""Companies principally engaged in retailing are eligible for membership in the Federation."" The form includes questions about a retailer's annual sales volume and total number of retail units and explains that NRF bylaws requires that members pay dues ""based on total annual sales as reported in the most recent fiscal year.""The NRF said the form is outdated by about a year but declined to say what, if any, material changes had been made to the membership form since the document was uploaded online. The board members who spoke to CNBC, who each have years of experience on the NRF's board, said Shein's membership application hadn't come up in board meetings and that they aren't involved in deciding which companies are granted access. This suggests top NRF brass would be the ultimate decision makers on prospective members.""There are quiet conversations that will happen around topics like this. As part of our governance, we certainly look at membership, overall trends, we talk about membership proposals and new additions, but we don't typically get into specifics around individual companies,"" one of the board members said. Two of the board members said they weren't aware of any instances where the NRF denied a retailer membership. One noted the trade group is actually trying to grow its ranks and has worked to expand into nontraditional markets, including the tech sector. ""I don't think they are in the business of turning anyone down,"" one of the board members told CNBC. Every year, the NRF hosts a massive conference in New York City dubbed ""Retail's Big Show"" that features the industry's top companies. In recent years, Shein has been conspicuously absent from the event. That's not to say that Shein isn't relevant to NRF's attendees — the impact the company has had on the fashion industry was widely discussed by conference goers and during official sessions — but the retailer wasn't invited to talk about the strategies that drove its meteoric rise. At the NRF's Big Show in January, there was a panel about Shein and Chinese retailer Temu titled ""Coming to America: What Can We Learn from Chinese Brands in the U.S."" that was led by retail experts from Publicis Groupe and Coresight Research. During the panel, the two experts reflected on the strategies that have fueled Shein's growth and outlined the ""10 essential actions"" retailers need to do ""to rival Shein and Temu."" Throughout the event, attendees eagerly raised their phones in the air to snap photos of the slides. Meanwhile, at retail conferences elsewhere in the world, Shein has been a constant. Over the last year, the company had a presence at a number of high-profile industry conferences, including the OMR Festival in Hamburg, Germany, the Global E-commerce Leaders Forum in Los Angeles, the World Retail Congress in Paris and even the World Economic Forum's Annual Meeting in Davos, Switzerland, according to LinkedIn posts and conference agendas. In March, Shein presented at the annual Shoptalk conference in Las Vegas for the second year in a row and a company executive appeared on stage alongside counterparts from sustainable fashion brand Reformation and home goods retailer Wayfair. While Shein has been widely welcomed on stage at these events, which rely heavily on sponsors to drive revenue, the reception was a bit cooler behind closed doors. At a cocktail party on the sidelines of Shoptalk, a young founder of a fashion sustainability startup quietly referred to Shein as their ""mortal enemy"" when they saw two of its staffers join the event. The founder was referring to some of the sustainability concerns that Shein has faced, including accusations that its cheap clothing fuels overconsumption and that its clothes are made with materials sourced from regions that are hot spots for forced labor. Dennis, the retail consultant, posited the NRF's concerns about Shein, at least on their face, could be related to some of the ethical questions surrounding the company but said what angers the retail community the most is how Shein is competing — and taking market share. ""Their growth is extraordinary, right? ... They've gone from zero to an enormous amount of market share in just a couple of years, so from that standpoint, if you're a company that competes with them, you're losing market share,"" said Dennis. ""Nobody likes that."" Plus, he added, there is the perception that Shein is competing unfairly because of its use of a specific U.S. tariff law loophole called the de minimis provision. Under the provision, packages valued under $800 are not charged import duties and aren't subject to the same level of screening as other packages. Shein's success is routinely attributed to the claim that it benefits from not paying tariffs, a charge the retailer denies. For example, in 2022, Gap, H&M and David's Bridal paid $700 million, $205 million and $19.5 million in import duties, respectively, while Shein and Temu paid nothing at all, according to the House Select Committee on the Chinese Communist Party. The committee is investigating Shein over its use of the de minimis provision and concerns that the goods the company ships to the U.S. are made with forced labor. Shein has said that it's committed to adhering to the laws and regulations of the respective markets that it operates in and is working to eradicate its supply chain of raw materials sourced from banned regions.Considering the ire the retail community has for Shein, the NRF is stuck between a rock and a hard place. If the trade group accepts Shein as a member, it could upset its influential member base, but it also needs a valid reason to deny the company access. The NRF could lean on the serious ethical concerns surrounding Shein, but they're not unique to the company. Last year when the committee on the CCP opened a probe into Shein about its use of forced labor, it sent similar letters to Adidas and Nike, whose vice president of global retail operations was on the board of the NRF's foundation in 2022. Plus, using raw materials from regions that are hot spots for forced labor or other human rights issues is a problem for the entire fashion industry. It's also an issue that has mired other global corporate powers that are on the NRF board. Rejecting Shein on the grounds that it unfairly uses the de minimis provision would also be a tough sell. While many NRF members are strongly against de minimis, or at least a competitor's use of it, the NRF has yet to take a firm position on the matter, contrary to some other trade associations.When asked for the NRF's official position on de minimis, a spokesperson said it didn't have one. ""We encourage the collection of more detailed information by U.S. Customs and Border Protection to improve enforcement and ensure that only legitimate products are entered under the program,"" the spokesperson said. Of course, Shein's ties to China could be enough to exclude it from NRF membership, but the trade group is considering expanding internationally, according to one of the organization's board members. If those plans come to fruition, the trade group will have to determine where to draw the line. Absent a clear reason for excluding Shein from membership, the NRF's decision could raise antitrust concerns, legal experts said. While joining the NRF is unlikely to make or break a retailer's business, it is seen as having a plus side. The benefits of NRF membership — advocacy, legislative lobbying and access to industry research, connections and events — could be seen as a competitive edge for its members.Considering that argument, if Shein were to be excluded from an organization made up of its competitors, it could have an antitrust argument. ""If they are a unique competitor and the powerful people in the industry are controlling the NRF to keep them out, that could raise concerns,"" said Steven Salop, professor emeritus of economics and law at Georgetown University's Law Center. ""The question is whether it's enough to have a significant impact on competition.""",CNBC "Fat Brands stock craters after company, chair Andy Wiederhorn charged in $47 million 'sham' loan scheme",https://www.cnbc.com/2024/05/10/fat-brands-chair-andy-wiederhorn-indicted-in-47-million-loan-scheme.html,2024-05-10T20:02:11+0000,"In this articleFederal authorities on Friday charged Fat Brands and its chair Andy Wiederhorn of committing a brazen scheme that netted him $47 million in bogus loans from the restaurant company that owns Fatburger, Johnny Rockets and Twin Peaks.Shares of Fat Brands closed down 27% on Friday. The company has a market value of $92 million.Fat Brands, Wiederhorn and a few other people were criminally indicted by a federal grand jury in Los Angeles for wire fraud, tax evasion and other counts related to the alleged scheme.In a separate civil complaint, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission accused the company and Wiederhorn of violations related to the same conduct.""These charges are unprecedented, unwarranted, unsubstantiated and unjust,"" Fat Brands counsel Brian Hennigan said in a statement. ""They are based on conduct that ended over three years ago and ignore the Company's cooperation with the investigation.""Wiederhorn, who was convicted two decades ago in a criminal case that involved similar conduct, was separately criminally charged in an indictment in Los Angeles of being a federal felon in possession of a handgun and ammunition.""We look forward to making clear in court that this is an unfortunate example of government overreach — and a case with no victims, no losses and no crimes,"" Wiederhorn's attorney Nicola Hanna said.As chief executive of Fat Brands, Wiederhorn, 58, allegedly directed the company to loan its own funds to him, with no intention of ever paying the ""sham"" loans back, according to the indictment.The SEC alleges that Wiederhorn then used the cash to pay for private jets, first-class airfare, luxury vacations, mortgage and rent payments, plus nearly $700,000 in ""shopping and jewelry.""Wiederhorn stepped down as CEO last year, following the company's disclosure that the SEC was investigating him. In February, Fat Brands disclosed it had received a Wells notice from the agency, meaning the SEC was planning to take action against it.Wiederhorn's alleged fraud accounted for roughly 44% of Fat Brands' revenue between 2017 and 2021, which meant the company often was not able to pay its bills. In those situations, Wiederhorn would allegedly redirect funds from credit cards paid for by Fat Brands back to the company with assistance from his son Thayer, who was then the company's chief marketing officer and is now its chief operating officer.Fat Brands never disclosed the cash transfers as related party transactions to investors. In 2020, the cash transfers were written off after the company's merger with Fog Cutter Capital Group, Fat Brands' largest shareholder, which also happened to be majority owned by Wiederhorn, according to the SEC complaint.Ron Roe, the company's vice president of finance and former chief financial officer, and Rebecca Hershinger, another former CFO, were also named as defendants in the SEC complaint. Hershinger and tax advisor William Amon were also named in the indictment. Hershinger's attorney Michael Proctor said in a statement to CNBC that the charges are baseless.Additionally, as far back as 2006, Wiederhorn has owed taxes for his personal income to the IRS. He also did not report any of the so-called loans from Fat Brands as income, according to the indictment. As of March 2021, Wiederhorn owed $7.74 million to the IRS for his unpaid personal taxes.Twenty years ago, he pleaded guilty to filing a false tax return and paying an illegal gratuity to an associate while leading Fog Cutter Capital. He paid a $2 million fine and spent more than a year in federal prison in Oregon. During his time in prison, Fog Cutter Capital's board opted to pay him a bonus equal to the fine and continued paying his salary, a decision that attracted widespread criticism.Wiederhorn is expected to be arraigned Friday afternoon in U.S. District Court in downtown Los Angeles. The remaining defendants' arraignments are expected to be in the first week of June.",CNBC Fitness startup that Peloton once tried to buy is growing as workout trends shift,https://www.cnbc.com/2024/05/09/hydrow-acquires-speede-fitness-grows-as-peloton-shrinks.html,2024-05-10T14:22:42+0000,"In this articleConnected fitness company Hydrow, which Peloton once tried to buy, is growing sales and has acquired a majority stake in strength training company Speede Fitness as gymgoers move away from cardio exercises in favor of weights, the company told CNBC on Thursday. Hydrow also announced that its CEO and founder Bruce Smith will step back from day-to-day operations and hand the reins over to President and Chief Financial Officer John Stellato. Smith will take over as the chair of Hydrow's board. The company, most known for its pricey connected rowing machines that cost between $1,700 and $4,000, is backed by private equity bigwigs such as Constitution Capital and L Catterton. It counts several professional athletes and celebrities among its investors, including Kansas City Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce and singer Justin Timberlake.Hydrow has raised more than $300 million in funding. It said it acquired Speede Fitness so it can expand into strength training, one of the fastest-growing segments in fitness today. The acquisition comes as gymgoers pull back on cardio exercises such as running and biking in favor of weight training. Planet Fitness said in November that it would replace its cardio equipment more slowly, in part to free up capital.""Our members are consistently seeking more strength and less cardio,"" said Planet Fitness CFO Thomas Fitzgerald on the company's third-quarter earnings call, adding that strength equipment costs less than cardio equipment.Life Time fitness highlighted a similar trend in its annual fitness survey. More than one-third of respondents said ""building muscle"" is their No. 1 goal for 2024, an increase of more than 3% from the prior year.Speede Fitness makes a connected strength training machine that looks somewhat similar to a BowFlex, but incorporates advanced technology such as artificial intelligence-powered cameras, sensors and a large touch screen.""Strength training has one of the largest total addressable markets in fitness, and with Speede's advanced technology outperforming current offerings, this acquisition is a significant milestone for both companies,"" Hydrow said. ""This investment supports Hydrow's mission to expand as a whole-body health company … with a consumer product expected to come to market next year."" Hydrow's acquisition and sales growth come as Peloton, which is credited with creating the connected fitness market, struggles to turn around a slowing business. In its heyday at the height of the Covid-19 pandemic, Peloton tried to acquire Hydrow rather than build its own rowing machine, but the company declined, it told CNBC. Peloton did not respond to CNBC's request for comment.Now, Peloton has become an acquisition target itself as numerous private equity firms consider taking it private after it posted another quarter of declining sales and losses, CNBC reported on Tuesday.Peloton has said demand for its fitness equipment has been sluggish as consumers pull back on big-ticket items. Still, Hydrow has managed to grow as Peloton has shrunk. Hydrow's delivered unit sales for its connected rowing machine jumped 23% this year from the year-ago period. On Amazon, sales increased 273% in the 12 months that ended March 31 compared to the prior-year period. Hydrow's growth raises questions about whether Peloton's problems are more related to weakness in the broader at-home fitness market or its internal stumbles and product misses. Plus, the company primarily sells cardio machines, which are falling out of favor with consumers, and its own members are flocking to strength training. The company has said its strength training content, not its cycling or running classes, is the most popular type of class for digital members and the No. 2 among those who have Peloton hardware. Peloton debuted its rowing machine, the Peloton Row, in September 2022, but has done little to advertise or highlight the $3,000 machine. It previously debuted the Peloton Guide, an AI-powered device for at-home guided strength training, but the device has received even less attention than the company's rowing machine. In Peloton's fiscal third-quarter shareholder letter, the Guide received one mention. It was about a $9.1 million write-down the company took for its product inventory.",CNBC " Veteran CNN executive Sam Feist named C-SPAN chief executive ",https://edition.cnn.com/2024/05/14/media/sam-feist-leaving-cnn/index.html," Published 9:35 AM EDT, Tue May 14, 2024 ","Sam Feist, CNN’s longtime Washington bureau chief and senior vice president, is departing the network to lead the nonprofit public affairs channel C-SPAN, the networks announced Tuesday. Feist has been an integral part of CNN’s Washington operations for nearly two decades, previously serving as CNN’s political director and vice president of Washington programming, coordinating all faces of CNN’s political coverage and election nights, including declaring winners. He was also the founding executive producer of “The Situation Room with Wolf Blitzer” and produced other marquee CNN shows including “Crossfire” and “Inside Politics.” He joined CNN in 1989 as an intern and worked for the network in London, Atlanta and then Washington working in a variety of roles from camera operator to guest booker to executive producer. In a memo to staff, CNN Chief Executive Mark Thompson called Feist a “CNN institution” and “one of the best connected journalists in Washington.” “In my short time at CNN, I have come to know and appreciate Sam’s passion for CNN, for our people and for political journalism and will miss his good counsel,” Thompson said. Feist will become the third chief executive in C-SPAN’s history, the nonprofit public affairs network said. C-SPAN chairman Pat Esser, said in a statement that Feist is “an outstanding leader who is trusted and respected by both sides of the aisle and who has a deep respect for C-SPAN’s nonpartisan mission.” Feist will leave CNN at the end of June for the new role later this summer. Calling C-SPAN “an American treasure,” Feist said “our democracy needs C-SPAN now more than ever.” “I look forward to working with C-SPAN’s extraordinary and dedicated team to expand the network’s reach and meet new audiences where they are,” he said.",CNN GameStop shares surge as 'Roaring Kitty' returns,https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c90zz8gw0qxo,2024-05-13T16:02:56.283Z,"Shares in GameStop, the video game retailer whose popularity among pandemic-era traders helped coin the idea of a meme stock, are surging again. Their rise follows the online reappearance of Keith Gill, known as ""Roaring Kitty"", who was credited with helping the struggling firm's shares explode in January 2021, contrary to the bets of many professional Wall Street firms. GameStop shares jumped more than 70% in morning trade on Monday, to more than $30, as investors piled into the stock. Though the price later fell a bit, it marked their highest level since 2022. Mr Gill was one of the most high-profile figures among the swarm of independent traders who swapped investment tips online and drove a buying frenzy for Gamestop and other firms, putting pressure on hedge funds who had been expecting the shares to fall. Shares in GameStop crashed back to earth within weeks. They have spent much of this year trading for less than $15 apiece, after the firm announced job cuts and a decline in sales at the end of last year. The story of the surprise rise in GameStop shares, which led to similar moves for other companies including Odeon Cinemas-owner AMC, sparked congressional hearings about market manipulation and inspired the 2023 movie ""Dumb Money"", which starred Paul Dano and Seth Rogen. Mr Gill told Congress he used social media for fun and called the idea he was pushing the shares on unwitting investors ""preposterous"". He has not posted on X, formerly known as Twitter, since mid 2021. Then on Sunday Mr Gill posted a drawing of a man leaning forward in a chair, as if gearing up for action. He later followed up with two posts on Monday morning, which appeared to allude to his return. The meme-stock phenomenon has been part of a wider increase in trading by retail investors - people not working for investment houses or other private firms. Analysts had argued the original rise of meme stocks was driven by the surge in savings and time many households had during the pandemic, thanks to government support programmes and the shutdown of many in-person activities. However with markets rising again this year, trading firms such as Charles Schwab and Robinhood have reported another uptick in new accounts and activity by retail investors. ",BBC UK wage growth still high despite unemployment rise,https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-69002609,2024-05-14T06:27:55.000Z,"UK wage growth remained strong even as the UK unemployment rate rose to its highest for almost a year. The jobless rate increased to 4.3% between January and March, the highest since May to July last year, the Office for National Statistics (ONS) said. The number of vacancies also slowed meaning more unemployed people are competing for the same jobs. But pay rises, excluding bonuses, remained at 6%. It had been expected to slow to 5.9% between January and March. Taking inflation - which measures the pace of price rises - into account, wages rose by 2.4%. Liz McKeown, director of economic statistics at the ONS, said that ""real pay growth remains at it highest level in well over two years"". But she also said there were others ""tentative signs"" that the British jobs markets is ""cooling"". Jobs on offer in the UK dropped by 26,000 to 898,000 vacancies between February and April. The total remains higher than pre-pandemic levels but Ms McKeown said: ""With unemployment also increasing, the number of unemployed people per vacancy has continued to rise, approaching levels seen before the onset of Covid-19."" In the first three months of this year, the number of unemployed people per vacancy rose to 1.6. That compares to 1.4 unemployed people for every vacancy in the comparable period between October and December 2023. The ONS said: ""Although this ratio remains low by historical standards, it does demonstrate a slight easing in the labour market, with vacancies falling alongside rising unemployment."" Meanwhile, those claiming benefits in April rose to 1.5 million, up 29,300 compared to the same month last year. Chancellor Jeremy Hunt said wage rises would ""help with the cost of living pressures on families"". He added: ""While we are dealing with some challenges in our labour supply, including pandemic impacts, as our reforms on childcare, pensions tax reform and welfare come online I am confident we will start to increase the number of people in work."" But Labour's acting shadow work and pensions secretary, Alison McGovern, said ""these damning new figures prove that things are just getting worse"". She said: ""It's no wonder there are now a record number of people locked out of work due to long-term sickness, given NHS waiting lists are spiralling and the Tories have pushed our NHS to its knees."" The rate of people considered ""economically inactive"" - defined as those aged between 16 to 64 years old not in work or looking for a job - edged a little lower to 22.1% in the first three months of the year. The ONS said the increase in economic inactivity in the latest quarter was largely driven by people not be working ""because they were temporarily sick, long-term sick or retired"". It has warned, however, that its figures should be treated with a degree of caution because they are based on a smaller sample of household questionnaires than it used to rely on before Covid. Brigitte Wurfel-Mathurin from Gloucester, gave up her job as a supervisor at a day nursery after her husband was diagnosed with Alzheimer's. She initially tried to keep working at the job she loved but said: ""There was no way I could leave him alone all day, but I'd done the maths and I couldn't afford to pay for his care on my modest salary."" Ms Wurfel-Mathurin said the amount she receives in carers allowance left her feeling ""completely undervalued"". ""I was sad to give up my job because this is what I loved to do, I was very experienced and had years of training,"" she said. ""But I'm also happy to spend the time while I still can with my husband."" Interest rates While overall pay growth, excluding bonuses, was unchanged between January and March, it slowed a little to 5.9% for private employers. The wage figures will be closely watched by the Bank of England to decide if and when interest rates can be cut. The next rate-setting meeting is in June and there are a number of key economic releases before then which the Bank will use to make its decision. This includes inflation as well as wage figures for April, when an increase in the National Living Wage came into force. ""While the further easing in regular private sector pay in March suggests that wage pressures faded a bit faster than the Bank of England expected, broader measures of wage growth are probably still a bit too strong for the Bank's liking,"" said Ashley Webb, UK economist at Capital Economics. ""At the margin, this may make the Bank a bit more uneasy about first cutting interest rates in June."" At its most recent meeting, Bank governor Andrew Bailey said he was ""optimistic that things are moving in the right direction"", though he added that a fall in borrowing costs was ""not a fait accompli"". Rates have been 5.25% since last August, the highest level in 16 years. Are you affected by the issues raised in this story? Share your experiences by emailing haveyoursay@bbc.co.uk. Please include a contact number if you are willing to speak to a BBC journalist. You can also get in touch in the following ways: If you are reading this page and can't see the form you will need to visit the mobile version of the BBC website to submit your question or comment or you can email us at HaveYourSay@bbc.co.uk. Please include your name, age and location with any submission. ",BBC "Parent of CycleBar, Pure Barre fitness studios sees shares whipsaw after CEO ousted, federal probe disclosed",https://www.cnbc.com/2024/05/13/xponential-fitness-sees-stock-whipsaw-after-ceo-ousted.html,2024-05-13T20:43:43+0000,"In this articleShares of Xponential Fitness, the parent company of CycleBar and Pure Barre fitness studios, bounced around in trading Monday after the company announced late Friday that CEO Anthony Geisler would be suspended indefinitely and would become an inactive member of the board.The company's shares were initially down about 10% Monday morning, but rebounded and ended the trading session 11% higher. The company has a market capitalization of just under $500 million. Brenda Morris, a board member since 2019, will be stepping in as interim CEO.Xponential Fitness, which owns more than 3,000 boutique fitness and wellness studios globally, also said it received notice last week of a probe by the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Central District of California.""As it relates to the investigation, it sounds like the information requested largely mimics that of the previously disclosed SEC investigation,"" said Korinne Wolfmeyer, an analyst at Piper Sandler. Piper Sandler maintains a hold rating on Xponential Fitness stock, but lowered its price target to $9 from $12. As of Monday's close, shares were trading for $9.44 apiece.Xponential Fitness' leadership had previously disclosed an SEC investigation in December, which alleged that the company provided false and/or misleading information to investors, including unit volume metrics and franchise closures. Shareholders filed a class action lawsuit related to the allegations against the company in February seeking financial damages.""The Company intends to continue cooperating with the SEC and intends to cooperate with the USAO,"" Xponential Fitness said in a press release announcing the executive changes.Xponential Fitness also reaffirmed its full-year 2024 guidance, which was previously announced May 2.The company did not respond to CNBC's request for comment about the probe.""In our view, we're pleased financial targets are still intact, and Ms. Morris seems like a fit leader for the interim role,"" Wolfmeyer said.However, Wolfmeyer noted that the firm remains cautious.""We struggle to get behind this name even after Friday's pullback,"" she added.Correction: This story has been updated to correct Xponential Fitness's market capitalization, which is just under $500 million.",CNBC PlayStation names joint CEOs after Jim Ryan’s retirement,https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c51nnry66rqo,2024-05-14T11:31:39.284Z,"Hermen Hulst and Hideaki Nishino have been named as the joint CEOs of Sony's gaming division PlayStation following Jim Ryan's retirement. In an unusual move, the role has been split into two separate top jobs, with Mr Hulst mostly overseeing software while Mr Nishino will mainly look after hardware. Mr Ryan stepped down after 30 years with the company, which included overseeing the launch of the PlayStation 5. The pair will start their new roles on 1 June, replacing Sony chief operating officer Hiroki Totoki, who was interim boss while the company looked for a successor. ""These two leaders will have clear responsibilities and will manage strategic direction to ensure the focus remains on deepening engagement with existing PlayStation users and expanding experiences to new audiences,” said Mr Totoki in a statement. Mr Hulst first joined Sony in 2005 after the firm bought Horizon: Zero Dawn and Killzone developer Guerrilla Games, which he co-founded. He went on to become head of PlayStation Studios, which oversees the development of games made by studios the company owns, such as Spider-Man and God of War. His new role will also involve looking after how PlayStation's games are turned into other forms of media - such as film and television shows. ""The video game industry is one of the largest entertainment industries in the world and has been built on the marriage of content and technology, and I look forward to continuing to push the boundaries of play and entertainment,"" he said. Meanwhile, Mr Nishino currently leads the team which develops the technology behind PlayStation products such as the PlayStation VR2 headset, as well as services like PlayStation Network. His new role will oversee this, as well as relations with third-party publishers, and how its hardware is marketed. “I am honoured to be appointed such an important role alongside Hermen,"" he said. ""By working more closely together, we will be positioned to build incredible experiences for an ever-expanding audience now and in the future.” The appointments come during a turbulent time in the gaming industry, which has seen almost 20,000 jobs lost since 2023. PlayStation was not immune to the cuts, with 8% of its employees being cut globally, amounting to approximately 900 people. The cuts include some of the roles at Mr Hulst's former studio Guerrilla Games. The appointment of the new bosses marks the official end of the road for Mr Ryan, who chose to retire following five years in charge of PlayStation, which he first joined in 1994. He said at the time he took the decision to leave over issues he had living in Europe while working in North America. It came as some surprise when he announced the move in September 2023, after he guided the firm to some success with the PS5. Despite having significant supply issues when it launched - which led to scalpers buying up the consoles and selling them at double the price - it has now gone on to sell 59 million units, significantly outselling rival Xbox. ",BBC "Rivian, Lucid and other EV startups scramble to shore up cash and reassure Wall Street",https://www.cnbc.com/2024/05/10/rivian-lucid-nikola-shore-up-cash.html,2024-05-11T20:51:31+0000,"In this articleOnce-hot electric vehicle startups — years ago fueled by low interest rates, free cash and Wall Street bullishness — are now scrambling to prove they can survive in tougher market conditions. That is if they haven't gone bankrupt already.Chief among their talking points: cash.Executives of Rivian Automotive, Lucid Group and Nikola Corp. this week each detailed plans to reduce costs while attempting to grow operations and make their first profits. Those efforts have ranged from job cuts and production changes to supplier rearrangements and shifting priorities.The scramble comes as EV adoption takes hold slower than many expected and after companies spent billions in an attempt to rush vehicles to market to gain first-mover advantages in white-space segments.Of those three automakers, Rivian is in the strongest cash position as EV adoption struggles. The company says it has enough cash to get through its big R2 launch in early 2026.The slowdown, as well as the increased competition, has even impacted U.S. EV leader Tesla, which is in the midst of a global restructuring that includes laying off roughly 10% of its workforce.Wall Street analysts have referred to the current state of the electric vehicle market as an ""EV winter,"" an end to so-called EV Euphoria or, more optimistically, a temporary pullback that carmakers will need to overcome for long-term gains.""US EV adoption likely entered an air pocket after having penetrated initial adopters & specific regions,"" Citi analyst Itay Michaeli wrote in a Thursday investor note. ""The situation will not change overnight, but we see reason for optimism over the next 12-18 months.""Rivian has been on a cost-cutting mission for months. It has trimmed staff, retooled its Illinois plant to increase efficiencies and paused construction of a new multibillion-dollar factory in Georgia. That last measure is expected to save more than $2.25 billion in capital spending, including the impact of starting production of Rivian's next-generation R2 vehicle at its current plant in Normal, Illinois.Rivian reported $7.86 billion in cash, cash equivalents and short-term investments to end March, with more than $9 billion in total liquidity.Lucid, for its part, ended the first quarter with approximately $4.6 billion in cash, cash equivalents and investments, with total liquidity of approximately $5.03 billion.Lucid CEO Peter Rawlinson said he's never been ""more optimistic"" about the startup's future, despite notable demand issues, significant losses and capital needs. The company raised $1 billion from an affiliate of Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund, its largest shareholder.""We have identified additional opportunities in cost of goods sold, and we'll continue to focus on implementation and further areas for cost out. Longer term, our technology will be key driver of our gross margin,"" Rawlinson told investors Monday. ""With scale, I believe you will see strong gross margins with efficiency the key enabler.""Rawlinson said the $1 billion illustrated the ""continued confidence and steadfast support"" of the Public Investment Fund, which owns roughly 60% of the company, according to FactSet.Rivian and Lucid both reported wider first-quarter losses than Wall Street was expecting, according to estimates compiled by LSEG.Nikola actually beat the Street, slightly, with a 9-cent per-share loss during the first three months of the year, but revenue of $7.5 million was less than half of what analyst compiled by LSEG were anticipating.    Unlike Rivian and Lucid, Nikola is exclusively focused on commercial vehicles rather than ones to retail customers. Nikola CFO Thomas Okray said the company needs to lower its costs, while continuing to expand its sales, including potentially reducing prices for large customers in order to build scale.""We definitely need to optimize our cost structure. No question about it,"" Okray told investors Tuesday.Nikola's cash reserves are far lower than Lucid and Rivian. The company's assets included $469.3 million to end the first quarter, consisting primarily of cash and cash equivalents of $345.6 million and truck inventory of $61.3 million.Shares of Rivian, Lucid and Nikola all trade near 52-week or all-time lows, with the stock of Nikola – once valued more than Ford Motor – trading for less than $1 per share. That puts the company at risk of being delisted from the Nasdaq, which executives are attempting to avoid through a reverse stock split that needs to be approved by shareholders.Shares of Rivian are off about 56% this year but remain the healthiest of high-profile EV startups, most of which (other than Rivian) went public via special purpose acquisition companies, or SPACs, in the last five years.Lucid's stock has traded under $8 for most of the past year. The shares closed Thursday at $2.70, down more than 60% in the last 12 months.Other EV startups such as Lordstown Motors and Electric Last Mile Solutions have gone bankrupt, while Fisker is on the verge of filing for bankruptcy and has paused vehicle production.Lesser-known Canoo is scheduled to report its first-quarter results Tuesday. Tony Aquila, Canoo CEO and executive chairman, during the company's fourth-quarter investor call last month said the company needs to continue to raise capital and cut costs.""We have seen a very difficult market. We have adapted our disciplined capital deployment approach by raising only the amounts of capital we need for each milestone, and we will continue to do so,"" he said.— CNBC's Michael Bloom contributed to this article.",CNBC " FTC investigating TikTok over privacy and security ",https://edition.cnn.com/2024/03/26/tech/ftc-tiktok-probe-privacy-and-security/index.html," Updated 8:11 PM EDT, Tue March 26, 2024 ","The Federal Trade Commission is investigating TikTok for its data and security practices, two sources told CNN on the condition of anonymity. The probe is yet another complication for the social media platform, which is already facing the threat of a potential US ban or a forced divestment from its Chinese parent company. The sources said that the FTC is probing TikTok over an alleged violation of the Children’s Online Privacy Protection rule, which requires companies to notify parents and obtain consent before collecting data from children under 13. The agency is also investigating whether TikTok violated a portion of the FTC Act that prohibits “unfair or deceptive” business practices, the sources said, in denying that TikTok user data could be accessed by individuals in China. The FTC could bring a suit against TikTok or settle with the company in the coming weeks, according to one of the sources. Politico reported news of the probe earlier. When asked about the investigation, FTC Director of Public Affairs Douglas Farrar replied: “No comment.” TikTok did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The FTC probe comes as TikTok faces an existential threat in the US. Earlier this month, a bipartisan group in the US House of Representatives voted to pass a law forcing TikTok to be sold by ByteDance or face a ban from US app stores. The bill is now before the Senate, and President Joe Biden has said he would sign it if it gets to his desk. Senate leaders, however, have indicated they are taking a deliberate approach — which could lead to delays or even potentially doom the House bill. The short-form video company, owned by Chinese firm ByteDance, has denied assertions that its app poses a national security threat to US citizens. TikTok, which does not operate in China, has said that the Chinese government has never accessed US user data. Cybersecurity experts say Chinese laws require ByteDance to cooperate with that country’s intelligence demands — a fact that, given ByteDance’s ownership of TikTok, could hypothetically put US user data at risk. To address that issue, TikTok has taken steps to store its US user data on cloud servers controlled by US tech giant Oracle and established internal protocols limiting access by non-US employees. TikTok acknowledged to Congress in 2022 that employees based in China could access US user data, following a report that year by BuzzFeed News that ByteDance employees had accessed that information on multiple occasions. TikTok CEO Shou Chew, in his first appearance before Congress last year, also acknowledged that several ByteDance employees were fired for spying on certain US journalists as part of a “misguided attempt” to hunt down leakers within the company.",CNN Universal credit changes: Claimants must now seek 18 hours work,https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c9rzvwrn30ko,2024-05-12T23:02:47.249Z,"People claiming universal credit and working fewer than 18 hours a week will be expected to look for more work, after a change to the welfare system that starts on Monday. Before now, claimants only had to work 15 hours. The new rule is part of broader reforms to the welfare system that the government announced last month. The Department for Work and Pensions said the rule change meant 180,000 people would have to work more. The government was also ""radically expanding"" the support available to help people ""on their journey off benefits"", said Work and Pensions Secretary Mel Stride. But the charity Turn2Us urged the government to reconsider the policy, which it said could have a ""drastic impact"" on people with long-term health conditions, caring responsibilities or with irregular incomes. The 18 hours a week - which is around half a full-time working week - applies to people earning the minimum wage. Someone earning more per hour can work fewer hours, as long as their total earnings meet the Administrative Earnings Threshold (AET) set by the government. From Monday the AET will be £892, which is what you would earn in a month if you worked for 18 hours a week at the minimum wage. If a claimant is earning less than the threshold they will be asked to look for more, or better paid, work. If a couple is earning less than £1,437 between them, they will be expected to try to increase their earnings. Claimants who earn less than the threshold will be given more ""intensive"" Jobcentre support, the DWP said, including more frequent meetings with a work coach. If someone does not engage with the process, or take work that is available, they could lose some of their benefits. The prime minister said the changes to the minimum hours requirement would help people on universal credit ""progress towards financial independence, which is better for them and for economic growth"". However, Michael Clarke, from Turn2Us, a charity which supports people in financial difficulty, expressed ""serious concern"" over the change. ""It’s vital that the support system truly supports, rather than penalises those it's meant to help,"" he said. ""These changes severely challenge those managing jobs with irregular or fluctuating incomes and carefully balanced responsibilities like childcare. He said the system failed to allow for ""the reality of those on the financial edge"". ""For single mothers and others on razor-thin margins, these adjustments risk tipping them into crisis, exacerbating financial instability and mental stress as they struggle to meet these new demands,"" he said. Last month Mr Sunak outlined his plans to reform the welfare system further, if the Conservatives win the next election. He said welfare should not be ""a lifestyle choice"". He plans to change the rules so that welfare recipients who do not take work, or try to meet the conditions set out, for a year would lose all of their benefits. Mr Sunak also wants to tackle what he called the ""sick note culture"", by changing the process for being certified as too ill to work. He plans to reform the payments system for people unable to work due to long-term physical or mental illness or disability. Disability charities described the plans as ""a full-on assault on disabled people"". ",BBC CFPB rule to save Americans $10 billion a year in late fees faces possible last-minute freeze,https://www.cnbc.com/2024/05/09/cfpb-credit-card-late-fee-cap-faces-possible-freeze.html,2024-05-09T17:12:31+0000,"In this articleA Consumer Financial Protection Bureau regulation that promised to save Americans billions of dollars in late fees on credit cards faces a last-ditch effort to stave off its implementation.Led by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, the card industry in March sued the CFPB in federal court to prevent the new rule from taking effect.That effort, which bounced between venues in Texas and Washington, D.C., for weeks, is now about to reach a milestone: a judge in the Northern District of Texas is expected to announce by Friday evening whether the court will grant the industry's request for a freeze.That could hold up the regulation, which would slash what most banks can charge in late fees to $8 per incident, just days before it was to take effect on Tuesday.""We should get some clarity soon about whether the rule is going to be allowed to go into effect,"" said Tobin Marcus, lead policy analyst at Wolfe Research.The credit card regulation is part of President Joe Biden's broader election-year war against what he deems junk fees.Big card issuers have steadily raised the cost of late fees since 2010, profiting off users with low credit scores who rack up $138 in fees annually per card on average, according to CFPB Director Rohit Chopra.As expected, the industry has mounted a campaign to derail the regulations, deeming them a misguided effort that redistributes costs to those who pay their bills on time, and ultimately harms those it purports to benefit by making it more likely for users to fall behind.Up for grabs is the $10 billion in fees per year that the CFPB estimates the rule would save American families by pushing down late penalties to $8 from a typical $32 per incident.Card issuers including Capital One and Synchrony have already talked about efforts to offset the revenue hit they would face if the rule takes effect. They could do so by raising interest rates, adding new fees for things like paper statements, or changing who they choose to lend to.Capital One CEO Richard Fairbank said last month that, if implemented, the CFPB rule would impact his bank's revenue for a ""couple of years"" as the company takes ""mitigating actions"" to raise revenue elsewhere.""Some of these mitigating actions have already been implemented and are underway,"" Fairbank told analysts during the company's first-quarter earnings call. ""We are planning on additional actions once we learn more about where the litigation settles out.""Like some other observers, Wolfe Research's Marcus believes the Chamber of Commerce is likely to prevail in its efforts to hold off the rule, either via the Northern District of Texas or through the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals. If granted, a preliminary injunction could hold up the rule until the dispute is settled, possibly through a lengthy trial.The industry group, which includes Washington, D.C.-based trade associations like the American Bankers Association and the Consumer Bankers Association, filed its lawsuit in Texas because it is widely viewed as a friendlier venue for corporations, Marcus said.""I would be very surprised if [Texas Judge Mark T.] Pittman denies that injunction on the merits,"" he said. ""One way or another, I think implementation is going to be blocked before the rule is supposed to go into effect.""The CFPB declined to comment, and the Chamber of Commerce didn't immediately respond to a request for comment.",CNBC UK mining giant Anglo American to offload De Beers diamond firm,https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c88zz55p5q7o,2024-05-14T07:10:24.764Z,"UK mining giant Anglo American has announced plans to break up the business after rejecting a £34bn bid from rival BHP. The company said it will sell or demerge major parts of the firm including its De Beers diamond operation and its platinum division. Anglo American said the ""radical changes"" will allow it to focus on key areas such as copper, premium iron ore and crop nutrients. Demand for copper, which is used to conduct electricity, is growing as some countries make the shift to renewable energy and electric vehicles. A deal with Australian firm BHP would create the world's largest copper producer but could face significant competition hurdles. Anglo owns two copper mines, in Chile and Peru, where BHP also has some operations. Anglo has rebuffed two bids by BHP and on Tuesday laid out its own strategy which it hopes will be backed by its shareholders. These include governments in Botswana, as well as in South Africa, which initially gave a frosty response to BHP's approach. The Australian giant had proposed splitting off Anglo's platinum mining arm, Amplats, as well as its Kumba Iron Ore business. Anglo, which has had a presence in South Africa for more than a century, said it would go ahead with demerging Amplats - where it is in the process of cutting 3,700 jobs - but would retain Kumba. It would also keep hold of its crop nutrients businesses though, in the case of its Woodsmith potash mine beneath the North Yorkshire Moors, Anglo will reduce its investment to $200m (£159m) next year and zero in 2026. ""These actions represent the most radical changes to Anglo American in decades,"" said Anglo chief executive Duncan Wanblad. BHP had proposed selling off De Beers as part of its bid. Anglo said that it would sell-off or demerge the diamond business, in which the Botswanan government owns a 15% stake. De Beers was founded in 1888 by British imperialist Cecil Rhodes. In recent years, campaigners lobbied to have a statue of him at an Oxford University college removed. They said the businessman, who had also been a politician in southern Africa, represented white supremacy and was steeped in colonialism and racism. In the end, Oriel College said it would not take down the statue because of costs and ""complex"" planning processes. De Beers said that ""although Rhodes is a part of our early history, he does not represent the company we are today"". Anglo said that its plans aimed to put the business in the best position to benefit from the global shift to clean energy. It also hopes reshaping the firm would lower costs by $1.7bn. In rejecting an increased takeover offer from BHP, Anglo said the offer was ""highly unattractive"" for its shareholders as it continued to significantly undervalue the firm. Mr Wanblad said: ""By implementing these portfolio changes ourselves, we will be able to do so in a manner that is respectful of our employees, host communities and countries, including ensuring that in South Africa in particular Anglo American continues to play its role as a responsible business leader to support the country's national priorities."" Anglo American's share price fell by 2.6% to £26.30 on Tuesday. ",BBC "Home Depot misses on revenue, as high interest rates hurt sales ",https://www.cnbc.com/2024/05/14/home-depot-hd-q1-2024-earnings-.html,2024-05-14T20:51:04+0000,"In this articleHome Depot on Tuesday posted quarterly revenue below Wall Street's expectations, as shoppers postponed bigger discretionary projects like bath and kitchen remodels because of higher interest rates and made spring purchases late.Still, the home improvement retailer reaffirmed its full-year guidance, which includes an additional week from the prior year. It said it expects total sales to grow about 1% in fiscal 2024, including those extra days. However, the retailer said it anticipates comparable sales, which take out the impact of store openings and closures, to decline about 1%, excluding that additional week.In an interview with CNBC, Chief Financial Officer Richard McPhail said customers are in a waiting game that began in the second half of last year, as they responded to mortgage rates climbing. He said the company anticipated those trends would continue.""The home improvement customer is extremely healthy from a financial perspective,"" he said. ""And so it's not the case of not having the ability to spend. What they tell us is they're just simply deferring these projects as given higher rates, it just doesn't seem the right moment to execute.""Here's what the company reported for the three-month period that ended April 28 compared with what Wall Street expected, based on a survey of analysts by LSEG:Net income for the fiscal first quarter decreased to $3.6 billion, or $3.63 per share, from $3.87 billion, or $3.82 per share, in the year-ago period. Net sales fell 2.3% from $37.26 billion.Comparable sales dropped 2.8% in the fiscal first quarter across the business and declined 3.2% in the U.S.Home Depot is contending with a tougher housing backdrop, which has dampened demand for do-it-yourself projects. About half of Home Depot's sales come from DIY customers, and the other half come from pros like roofers and landscapers.As interest rates remain high, consumers have been reluctant to move out of their homes and into new ones — the kind of turnover that often inspires home projects. Higher interest rates have also dinged the desire for larger-scale projects that can require financing. For the past several quarters, Home Depot has seen customers buy fewer big-ticket items and take on more modest projects – a trend that persisted in the most recent quarter.In the fiscal first quarter, customers made fewer visits to Home Depot's stores and website and tended to spend less when they did. Customer transactions declined 1% to 386.8 million and average ticket fell 1.3% to $90.68.Home Depot has seen sales moderate after more than two years of explosive demand during the Covid pandemic. The company posted its worst revenue miss in nearly two decades and cut its forecast in the year-ago first quarter. Home Depot's sales totaled $152.7 billion in the fiscal year that ended in late January, a drop of 3% from the previous year.Inflation may also be playing a role in that pullback, as consumers spend more money on essentials and have to make trade-offs when spending discretionary income.However, McPhail said Home Depot is not seeing customers trade down to cheaper items, like less expensive power tools or appliances. He pinned the company's softer sales in large part on consumers' ""deferral mindset"" and a housing market that has slowed dramatically.""When we have seen mortgage rates decrease slightly, as we saw at the beginning of this quarter, the housing turnover seems to respond quickly and sharply in a positive direction,"" he said. ""And so we think that's an indicator that there is a tremendous amount of pent-up demand for household formation and housing turnover and the larger projects that are associated with housing turnover.""Weather pressured sales, too, in the recent quarter, he said. Spring is the biggest sales season for home improvement retailers, including Home Depot. Yet customers delayed outdoor purchases because of colder and wetter weather in many parts of the country, he said.Those spring purchases have begun to pick up as the weather improves, he said.To overcome slower sales, the home improvement retailer has revved up its strategy to attract pros, since they tend to buy larger quantities and offer a steadier source of sales. Home Depot has a growing network of distribution centers across the country that can store and deliver roofing shingles, insulation and other supplies straight to job sites. It announced in late March that it would acquire SRS Distribution, a Texas-based specialty distributor of roofing, landscaping and pool supplies, for $18.25 billion in the largest acquisition in the company's history.McPhail said the deal is still on track to close this fiscal year, which ends in early February.Along with wooing pros, Home Depot is trying to drive growth by opening about a dozen new stores this fiscal year and adding features to improve its online and in-store experience.McPhail said some business dynamics have improved, even as sales have gotten softer. He said Home Depot stores are fully staffed and have the best in-stock levels they have had in years. Transportation costs have fallen. While organized retail crime remains a challenge for the industry, he said shrink, a term that refers to items lost, stolen or damaged, declined at Home Depot year over year, too.Home Depot has also added technology to make sure it has items on shelves when customers need them. For example, it is using computer vision to make sure that products for sale are damage-free and to prevent theft when customers use self-checkout, said Ann-Marie Campbell, senior executive vice president who oversees U.S. stores and operations, on the company's earnings call.Shares of Home Depot closed Monday at $340.96. So far this year, Home Depot's shares have fallen about 2% compared with the roughly 9% gains of the S&P 500.",CNBC AMC's meme stock windfall may help it pay down a massive debt load,https://www.cnbc.com/2024/05/14/amc-news-roaring-kitty-meme-stock-rally-may-help-with-debt-payments.html,2024-05-14T20:21:15+0000,"In this articleCan AMC Entertainment capitalize on a second meme craze?The stock, alongside GameStop, surged this week after ""Roaring Kitty,"" the man who inspired the massive short squeeze of 2021, posted online for the first time in nearly three years. The return of Roaring Kitty, whose legal name is Keith Gill, has led AMC shares to more than double since Friday's close. They rose above $6 in afternoon trading Tuesday.The last time these retail investors rallied around AMC and its stock surged, the movie theater chain was able to avoid bankruptcy. Now, it has a chance to put a dent in its substantial debt load.CEO Adam Aron made three major acquisitions ""in a relatively short amount of time"" after taking over the company in 2015, which included theater chains Carmike, Odeon and Nordic, said Eric Handler, managing director at Roth MKM. AMC spent about $3 billion on the deals collectively.While the acquisitions bolstered the size AMC's theater network, they also levered the company's balance sheet, Handler said.""So, when the pandemic hit, they sort of got a double whammy because they were already highly levered and then they had to raise more debt to survive and give them more cash,"" Handler said.Since the beginning of 2022, AMC has paid down nearly $1 billion of its debt, but about $4.6 billion remains.AMC has around $20 million due in 2024 and $118 million due in 2025, which is ""not a hurdle,"" according to Wedbush analyst Alicia Reese. But the looming $2.96 billion set for collection in 2026 requires the most attention.""I think they'll be able to renegotiate a portion of it, but a lot of it's probably just going to get extended maturities,"" Reese told CNBC.Lenders have been willing to renegotiate terms, but a bump in share price could allow AMC to secure better deals.Currently, AMC is paying about $100 million every quarter in interest expenses, which is eating into its potential profits. With the box office still recovering from pandemic- and strike-related production shutdowns, AMC has not been able to absorb its fixed expenses, such as rent, employee payroll and other operational costs, said Eric Wold, senior analyst at B. Riley Securities.""What to me matters is whether or not, like they did a few years ago, is can you take advantage of this to bolster their balance sheet?"" he said.AMC raised $250 million of new equity capital in a sale that wrapped up Monday, just as the meme stock craze was revived. The cinema chain sold 72.5 million shares in an at-the-market equity offering that started in late March. AMC sold the stock at an average price of $3.45 per share before commissions and fees. The majority of stock was sold prior to the stock price jump.""The recent surge in the stock presents an additional opportunity to raise equity funds that can support liquidity and debt reduction, eventually moving AMC to a structure that could facilitate institutional support,"" James Goss, analyst at Barrington Research, wrote in a note to investors on Tuesday.",CNBC "Novavax shares nearly double on Sanofi deal to commercialize Covid vaccine, develop combination shots",https://www.cnbc.com/2024/05/10/novavax-and-sanofi-to-commercialize-covid-vaccine-develop-combo-shots.html,2024-05-10T20:02:03+0000,"In this articleNovavax on Friday said it has signed a multibillion-dollar deal with French drugmaker Sanofi to co-commercialize the company's Covid vaccine starting next year and develop combination shots targeting the coronavirus and the flu, among other efforts. Shares of Novavax closed nearly 100% higher on Friday from their previous day close of $4.47 apiece.The licensing agreement will allow Novavax to lift its ""going concern"" warning, which it first issued in February 2023 due to having doubts about its ability to continue operating, Novavax CEO John Jacobs told CNBC in an interview. It marks a turning point for the struggling vaccine maker and its protein-based Covid shot. Health officials view the vaccine as a valuable alternative for people who don't want to take messenger RNA jabs from Pfizer and Moderna. Part of the deal allows Sanofi to use Novavax's Covid shot and flagship vaccine technology, Matrix-M adjuvant, to develop new vaccine products. Sanofi will pay Novavax an upfront payment of $500 million and up to $700 million in payments for development, regulatory and launch milestones.Novavax is also entitled to royalty payments on Sanofi's sales of its Covid vaccine and combination shots targeting coronavirus and the flu. Novavax will also receive additional launch and sales milestone payments of up to $200 million, along with royalties, for each product Sanofi develops with Matrix-M adjuvant.Under the deal, Sanofi will also take a less than 5% stake in Novavax. ""It really does help our business. It keeps us well capitalized, it takes the going concern off, it gives us the chance to pivot our strategy more towards what we're best at — to bring additional value to all of our stakeholders, including our shareholders,"" Jacobs told CNBC. The deal also will help the company fulfill its mission of improving global public health with its vaccine technology platform ""at a pace and a scale that we could have never done if we kept it all to ourselves"" due to a lack of resources, capital and scope, Jacobs said. Novavax will lead the commercialization of its Covid shot for the rest of this year and will transfer most of that responsibility to Sanofi in 2025. Sanofi won't oversee commercialization in countries that Novavax has existing partnership agreements with, including India, Japan and South Korea, along with nations with advanced Covid vaccine purchase agreements with the company.Jacobs said Sanofi, as a large pharmaceutical company, could increase the market share and presence of Novavax's Covid vaccine, which will broaden patient access to the shot. The deal also allows Sanofi to develop products that combine its flu shot or other in-house vaccines with Novavax's Covid jab. Sanofi can also use Novavax's Matrix-M adjuvant to develop new vaccine products. Notably, Sanofi will be solely responsible for the development and commercialization of any combination shot containing its flu vaccine and Novavax's Covid shot. ""Through this agreement with a world leader like Sanofi, not only in commercialization but also in development, we believe that this multiplies immensely the opportunity to bring forth multiple new vaccines much more quickly,"" Jacobs said. Outside of the deal, Novavax expects to start a late-stage trial on its own combination vaccine targeting Covid and the flu and its stand-alone flu shot later this year. Previously, Novavax said that trial would only include the combination vaccine. ""Now our phase three trial, that we're on track to initiate in the second half of this year, won't just have one potential licensable vaccine should we succeed, but it will have two,"" Jacob said, noting the deal ""frees up costs"" and ""opens up our own organic pipeline.""",CNBC The rule capping credit card late fees at $8 is on hold — here’s what it means for you,https://www.cnbc.com/2024/05/10/the-rule-capping-credit-card-late-fees-at-8-is-on-hold-heres-what-it-means-for-you.html,2024-05-11T13:37:01+0000,"The U.S. banking industry won a key victory in its effort to block the implementation of a Consumer Financial Protection Bureau rule that would've drastically limited the fees that credit card companies can charge for late payment.A federal court on late Friday approved the industry's last-minute legal effort to pause the implementation of a regulation that was announced in March and set to go into effect on Tuesday.In his order, Judge Mark Pittman of the Northern District of Texas sided with plaintiffs including the U.S. Chamber of Commerce in their suit against the CFPB, saying they cleared hurdles in arguing for a preliminary injunction to freeze the rule.The outcome preserves, at least for now, a key revenue stream for the U.S. card industry. The CFPB estimates that the rule would've saved American families $10 billion a year in fees paid by those who fall behind on their bills. It would've capped late fees that are typically $32 per incident to $8 each and limited the industry's ability to hike the fees.It is now unclear when, or if, the new regulation will go into effect.""Consumers will shoulder $800 million in late fees every month that the rule is delayed — money that pads the profit margins of the largest credit card issuers,"" a CFPB spokesman told CNBC on Friday.The industry's lawsuit is an effort to block a regulation ""in order to continue making tens of billions of dollars in profits by charging borrowers late fees that far exceed their actual costs,"" the spokesman said.""We are disappointed that a court sided with House Republicans, big banks, and special interests to hit pause on a critical measure to save American families billions in junk fees,"" White House spokesman Jeremy Edwards said in an email statement. ""President Biden is siding with middle class families by taking on corporate rip-offs. That's why he supports the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau's rule to slash excessive credit card late fees.""The CFPB has said the industry profits off borrowers with low credit scores by charging them ever higher late penalties over the past decade, while trade groups have argued that the fee caps are a misguided effort that redistributes costs to those who pay their bills on time.The Consumer Bankers Association, which is one of the groups that sued the CFPB, said it was ""pleased with the District Court's decision to grant a preliminary injunction to stop the CFPB's credit card late fee rule from going into effect next week.""The CBA said it will continue to press its case in the courts on why the CFPB rule should be ""thrown out entirely.""",CNBC Novavax stock jumps 50% as Sanofi deal kicks off turning point for struggling vaccine maker,https://www.cnbc.com/2024/05/13/novavax-stock-jumps-on-sanofi-covid-vaccine-deal.html,2024-05-13T21:46:34+0000,"In this articleShares of Novavax closed nearly 50% higher on Monday as Wall Street cheered the company's new multibillion-dollar deal with French drugmaker Sanofi that sparked a dramatic turnaround for the struggling vaccine maker.Novavax's stock almost doubled on Friday after it announced the licensing agreement with Sanofi. Novavax on Friday said the deal allows the company to remove its ""going concern"" warning, which it first issued in February 2023 due to major doubts about its ability to stay afloat.""It really does help our business. It keeps us well capitalized, it takes the going concern off, it gives us the chance to pivot our strategy more toward what we're best at — to bring additional value to all of our stakeholders, including our shareholders,"" Novavax CEO John Jacobs told CNBC in an interview. Under the agreement, Sanofi will take a less than 5% stake in Novavax. The deal also entitles Novavax to an upfront cash payment of $500 million and future payments contingent on certain milestones, as well as royalties. Sanofi, one of the world's largest vaccine makers, will co-market Novavax's Covid vaccine in most countries starting in 2025. The deal also allows Sanofi to use Novavax's Covid shot and flagship vaccine technology, Matrix-M adjuvant, to develop new vaccine products. The shots include combination jabs targeting Covid and the flu. In a note Sunday, Jefferies analyst Roger Song said the deal will provide significant capital to Novavax and support the company's growth. ""Economically, the deal is highly lucrative and impactful,"" Song wrote. He said the upfront payment helps remove investor worry about Novavax's going concern warning, and that milestone payments are ""significant and relatively near-term"" for the company since they are not tied to sales. Meanwhile, royalties will provide a steady revenue stream each year, Song said. He added that the deal ""validates"" the company's protein-based vaccine platform. Novavax's shot is the first Covid vaccine to use protein technology, a decades-old method for fighting viruses used in routine shots against Hepatitis B and shingles. Health officials view the vaccine as a valuable alternative for people who do not want to take messenger RNA jabs from Pfizer and Moderna.In a note on Sunday, Leerink Partners analyst David Risinger said he is interested to see how effective Sanofi is at raising consumer awareness about how the side effects of Novavax's Covid vaccine are easier for patients to tolerate compared to competing shots from Pfizer and Moderna.Risinger noted that consumer hesitancy around Covid boosters has come in part from fears about the fatigue and discomfort associated with Pfizer's and Moderna's shots. The firm expects Sanofi ""to drive greater commercial success of [Novavax's] vaccine starting in 2025, due to its commercial scale and contracting abilities, but it is difficult to predict the magnitude of impact,"" Risinger wrote. He added that there could be ""further upside"" for Sanofi and Novavax if they develop a combination Covid and flu vaccine that has advantages over the mRNA combo shots being developed by Pfizer and Moderna.",CNBC " Waymo and Zoox are under federal investigation as self-driving cars allegedly behave erratically ",https://edition.cnn.com/2024/05/14/business/self-driving-cars-waymo-zoox-regulators-investigating/index.html," Published 3:35 PM EDT, Tue May 14, 2024 ","The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration is investigating two autonomous driving companies following incidents in which the vehicles behaved erratically and sometimes disobeyed traffic safety rules or were involved in crashes. The investigations involve Waymo, the self-driving technology subsidiary of Google’s parent company Alphabet, as well as Zoox, the autonomous vehicle subsidiary of Amazon. The companies are required by regulators to report any crashes or other incidents that occur as their vehicles drive on public roads. NHTSA has learned of 22 incidents in which self-driving Waymo cars “exhibited driving behavior that potentially violated traffic safety laws,” according to a document posted online by NHTSA, including situations in which the vehicles “appeared to disobey traffic safety control devices.” In some cases, the vehicles collided with stationary objects such as gates and chains. This sometimes happened after the vehicles “exhibited unexpected behaviors.’ In some cases, the Waymo vehicle was driving entirely on its own, but in other cases the vehicle had a human in the driver’s seat supervising its operation. In cases where the human driver was present, the Waymo vehicle’s autonomous driving system was shut off moments before a collision. Information about the accidents was either reported to the NHTSA as required under federal regulations or was drawn from publicly available reports, according to NHTSA. “At Waymo we currently serve over 50 thousand weekly trips for our riders in some of the most challenging and complex environments,” the company said in a statement emailed to CNN. “We are proud of our performance and safety record over tens of millions of autonomous miles driven, as well as our demonstrated commitment to safety transparency.” Waymo is cooperating with NHTSA in the investigation, the company indicated in its statement. NHTSA is also investigating self-driving vehicles operated by Zoox, the autonomous technology subsidiary of Amazon. In two separate incidents, self-driving Toyota Highlanders operated by Zoox braked suddenly and unexpectedly, and then were rear-ended by motorcyclists. In one case, a motorcyclist was slightly injured in the crashes, in the other a Zoox safety driver was hurt. The NHTSA investigation will look into the Zoox self-driving system’s “behavior in crosswalks around vulnerable road users, and in other similar rear-end collision scenarios.” “Transparency and collaboration with regulators is of the utmost importance, and we remain committed to working closely with NHTSA to answer their questions,” a Zoox spokesperson said in an email. Cruise, GM’s autonomous driving technology subsidiary, announced Monday that it plans to return to testing its vehicles on public roads this week. This follows a months-long pause after an October incident in which a pedestrian was badly injured.",CNN " It’s back: Targeted Amex card holders can get up to 30% off at Amazon ",https://edition.cnn.com/cnn-underscored/deals/amazon-amex-discount-promotion," 11:21 AM EST, Wed February 14, 2024 ","Most American Express card members typically think of their Amex points as opportunities for amazing travel opportunities. While that’s true, there’s another lesser-known use for them — redeeming them for purchases at Amazon. Right now, you may be eligible for an Amazon promotion where you can save big on Amazon purchases by redeeming as little as one Amex point. Targeted American Express card members can save as much as 30% on their next Amazon purchase, for up to $30 in savings when you use Amex points to pay for at least a portion of your purchase at checkout. However, your offer may be higher or lower. This offer is set to expire on June 30, 2024, so even if you aren’t in the market to shop at Amazon right now, you have some time to take advantage of the savings. That said, Amazon also states it will deactivate the offer after 24,167 customers have redeemed it. With many Amazon discounted offers, scoring the deal can be a little complicated. But we’re going to take you through it step by step to make sure you’re getting as much of a discount as possible when you’re shopping at Amazon. To start, you must have an American Express card that earns Membership Rewards points. Amex cards that earn other types of rewards, such as cash back or airline miles, won’t work. But there are plenty of Amex cards that earn Membership Rewards points — a small sampling of them is at the end of this story. Next, you’ll need to link your Amazon and American Express accounts. Add your American Express card as a payment method in your Amazon account, if you haven’t already. Then look for the option to enroll in “Shop with Points” under the “Your Account” tab, and click the “Enroll” button for the Amex card you just added. Once your accounts are connected, you’ll need to activate the offer by clicking on this link. Remember, this is a targeted promotion, so not everyone will be eligible for it — you could be targeted for any one of the offers or none of them. When you click on the link, if you see a message that you’re not eligible, then you’re unfortunately not targeted for this particular promotion. But even if you’re not targeted, don’t give up hope. If you just enrolled in “Shop with Points,” you may need to wait 24 hours for Amazon’s records to refresh before knowing if you’re targeted, so check back in a day or so. If you’re eligible, activate the offer by clicking on the “Activate now” button — the enrollment page will indicate your particular discount. You can then shop at Amazon as you normally would, though only products sold and shipped by Amazon are eligible for these discounts. Additionally, Amazon gift cards are excluded, though other third-party retailer gift cards sold by Amazon might be eligible. But wait! There’s one more step. When you’re ready to check out, you’ll want to make sure to select your linked American Express card as your payment method. Then you’ll need to use at least 1 point to pay for your purchase for the discount to apply. When paying with Amex Membership Rewards points at Amazon, 1 point equals 0.7 cents. That’s not the best value you can get for Amex points. Frequent flyer website The Points Guy values Membership Rewards points as high as 2 cents each when redeemed for travel. However, it’s important to note that you don’t have to pay for your entire Amazon purchase with points to get these discounts. In fact, you can use just 1 point and pay for the rest with your Amex card, and you’ll still see the discount applied to your order. However, some accounts might see that you need to redeem slightly more points — 714 to be exact — to receive the savings, so make sure to check the terms of your exact offer. To pay with the minimum number of points required, enter $0.01 in the points section at checkout, which will apply just 1 point to your payment, You can use any number of points you want, but if you don’t make this change, Amazon may automatically apply the maximum number of points to cover the entire purchase, so you’ll want to make sure to update the amount before you place the order. Once you’ve applied at least 1 point to your payment, you’ll see the discount added to your order. The discount will apply on every order you place through June 30 until you hit the total maximum in savings — which will depend on your particular offer. Let’s take a look at some examples of how you can apply this discount to your upcoming Amazon purchases, even if you don’t need anything from Amazon right at the moment. With airlines having regular delays and cancellations over the last year, placing an Apple AirTag on your luggage can be a great way to track the location of your belongings. An Apple AirTag 4 Pack is currently priced at $78.99 before taxes and shipping, but if you’re targeted for the 30% off American Express offer, that’ll bring the pack down to $55.30, or around $13.83 per AirTag before tax. Or, if you’re hoping to pick up a set of new Apple AirPods Pro 2, right now Amazon is selling them for $189.99. But you can knock that down even further to as low as $159.99 before taxes if you’re targeted for this offer. Even if you aren’t eligible for any of these particular Amex promotions, offers like this typically resurface many times throughout the year, so keep on checking back. Amazon often runs similar promotions for other credit cards, so check out our guides to discounts for Chase and Discover card holders to see what’s available. You might also find that even if you aren’t eligible now for one of these offers, you could magically become targeted in a few weeks, so keep on checking the link to see if you’ve been granted access. Amazon has been eagerly offers some lucrative promotions over the last few years, so keep your credit card accounts linked to your Amazon account, and if you’re targeted for any of these offers, make sure you use them before they expire at the end of the year. Also, make sure you read our guide to the best credit cards for Amazon to be sure you’re using the right card when you buy at Amazon. Looking for a travel credit card? Find out which cards CNN Underscored Money chose as the best travel credit cards currently available.",CNN " Opinion: The drama around Sam Altman is an urgent warning ",https://edition.cnn.com/2023/11/21/opinions/sam-altman-openai-ouster-danger-filipovic/index.html," Published 9:50 AM EST, Tue November 21, 2023 ","The biggest tech news this week is the ouster of Sam Altman from his role as CEO of OpenAI, a move that has shaken the company and the industry. Hundreds of OpenAI employees have threatened to resign. Altman has already moved on to a role at Microsoft. And OpenAI, the company behind ChatGPT, is on its third CEO in as many days. It’s all very juicy. But this drama should also be raising larger questions, far beyond one company’s internal hirings and firings, including: Who are the people making the decisions that will determine so much of our technological future? What guiding principles are they using to make those decisions? And how should other institutions – governments, non-tech industries, global alliances, regulatory bodies – reign in the worst excesses of potentially dangerous AI innovators? OpenAI was founded as a nonprofit, with an explicit mission to harness what may soon be superhuman intelligence “to benefit humanity as a whole.” But that sensibility hasn’t lasted. The company now has a multi-billion-dollar for-profit arm. They have been developing new technologies at lightning speed, and sometimes sending them out to the public before some employees believed they were ready. The company has already reportedly invented an AI technology so dangerous they will never release it – but they also won’t tell reporters or the public exactly what it is. This dynamic – a potentially dangerous technology developed at extreme speed, largely behind closed doors – is partly to blame for Altman’s firing. The OpenAI board, according to CNN’s David Goldman, worried that “the company was making the technological equivalent of a nuclear bomb, and its caretaker, Sam Altman, was moving so fast that he risked a global catastrophe.” At particular issue seemed to be Altman’s efforts to make the tools behind ChatGPT available to anyone who wanted to make their own version of the chatbot. This could be widely disastrous, some board members worried. But then they fired him without warning, and apparently without involving Microsoft, the company’s largest shareholder. Now, Altman is at the new AI group at Microsoft, and one has to wonder if the oversight and caution there will be on par with that at OpenAI, or if he’ll be handed carte blanche to push as fast and hard as he wants. And for all the justified reticence of the OpenAI board, the company has carried out much of its work in secrecy – without the public really understanding what a handful of unaccountable technologists are building, and how it is nearly guaranteed to indelibly change their lives. AI is broadly understood to have the potential to reshape vast swaths of human existence. At the very least, it seems nearly guaranteed to change how we process information, how we communicate, how we learn and how we work (and if we work). And the ramifications could be much more extreme. AI technologies have already demonstrated the ability to lie and to cover their tracks. They have already been able to suggest the design to make a virus spread more quickly. Many researchers acutely understand just how quickly these machines could develop the capacity to annihilate us, including Altman: He has a prepper’s paradise prepared in Big Sur, complete with guns and “gas masks from the Israeli Defense Force” in case AI goes off the rails and the robots go to war against humans, according to reporting in the New Yorker. But don’t worry, he told an Atlantic reporter: If AI is determined to wipe us out, “no gas mask is helping anyone.” (If you want an excellent and terrifying rundown of AI’s risks – at least those we understand right now, which are almost certainly a mere sliver of the looming perils – the Atlantic profile of Altman and his technology is worth a read). AI is very exciting technology. But it is also a potentially very dangerous one, and not in the social media sense of “it may give us bad self-esteem and make us lonelier” but in the sense of “it could break down human societies and kill us all.” Given the life-altering potential of AI – that even if it doesn’t kill us all, it will almost certainly change human existence in unprecedented ways at unprecedented speed – we all have a stake in how it’s being developed. And yet the development is being left to a handful of people (who seem to be largely men) in Silicon Valley, and other tech pockets around the globe. And we all have a stake in whose interests AI will serve – and right now, its development is being funded with billions of dollars by people expecting to make a huge profit. Do the interests of the public align with the interests of the shareholders to whom profit-driven, potentially tremendously lucrative-for-a-few companies are beholden? Or with the interests of tech entrepreneurs who are primarily excited about being at the forefront of the AI revolution, regardless of the potential human costs? One thing is clear: AI is coming. And how it is built and unleashed on the public matters more than perhaps any technology of the past century. It is, indeed, up there with the atom bomb in its destructive potential – except likely more difficult to regulate and control. “Regulation” does not begin to scratch the surface of what’s needed to make sure that the AI future is not a catastrophic one, especially since the development of AI is now a massive international arms race, with particularly horrific implications if bad actors develop this technology first. But regulation is, at minimum, a necessary step. So is transparency: In the US, companies have wide leverage to work behind a veil of secrecy, and much of what AI companies do is kept secret to stymy competition. But the public certainly has a right to understand what life-altering technologies are set to be inflicted upon us, and what the creators are doing to protect humanity – our jobs, our communities, our families, our connections, our educations and our abilities to build a life of purpose, but also our lives and our safety. The Altman story is fascinating because Altman is the most powerful figure in AI technology, which in effect makes him one of the most powerful men in the world. But that should give us pause: Who is he, what power does he hold, what is he doing with it, who does he answer to, and are we comfortable with this much life-altering potential being held by a few unaccountable people?",CNN "Sinclair explores selling roughly 30% of its broadcast stations, sources say",https://www.cnbc.com/2024/05/09/sinclair-explores-selling-30percent-of-broadcast-stations.html,2024-05-09T18:00:44+0000,"In this articleSinclair, one of the largest owners of broadcast stations in the U.S., is looking to sell more than 30% of its footprint, according to people familiar with the matter.The company has hired Moelis as its investment banker and has identified more than 60 stations in various regions of the U.S. that it would be willing to sell, said the people, who asked not to be named because the discussions are private. Sinclair owns or operates 185 TV stations in 86 markets.The stations are a mix of affiliates including Fox, NBC, ABC, CBS and the CW. If sold together, their average revenue for 2023 and 2024 is an estimated $1.56 billion, the people said. Sinclair is willing to sell all or some of the stations, which are in top markets like Minneapolis; Portland, Ore.; Pittsburgh; Austin, Texas and Fresno, Calif., among others.Sinclair CEO Chris Ripley said Wednesday that the company is open to offloading parts of its business, without providing specifics.""As we've always stated, we have no sacred cows,"" Ripley said during his company's earnings conference call. ""We want to unlock the sum of the parts valuation that we think we're grossly undervalued for. And to the extent that asset sales makes sense in order to unlock that value and help us de-lever, then that's something that we'd be open to as well.""The company began officially shopping them in February, one of the people said.Spokespeople for Sinclair and Moelis declined to comment.Sinclair is also exploring options for its Tennis Channel, a cable TV network that features the sport and pickleball matches, the people said. Bloomberg earlier reported that development.Broadcast TV station groups have suffered in the past five years as millions of Americans have canceled traditional pay TV. Most stations make money from so-called retransmission fees, paid on a per-subscriber rate by traditional TV distributors, such as Comcast, DirecTV, and Charter, for the right to carry the stations.Sinclair has lost more than 70% of its market value in the last five years. The company's market capitalization is about $975 million with an enterprise value of about $4.7 billion.Last year, Sinclair rebranded and reorganized, splitting the company into two operating units — Local Media, which focuses on the stations, and Ventures, which houses Tennis Channel but can also act as an investment vehicle.The split in the company divisions, and the recent sale process for some of its stations, stems from tension within the Smith family, the shareholders and the board directors who helped build Sinclair, some of the people said.The stations are up for sale in the months before the 2024 election, which usually draws high political advertising revenue for broadcast TV companies. Sinclair said during earnings on Wednesday that it pre-booked $77 million in political advertising for the second half of the year through Election Day, compared with $21 million at the same point in 2020, the last time former President Donald Trump and President Joe Biden were on the ticket.The company's overall revenue and advertising revenue both rose slightly during the first quarter. Sinclair's stock was up 12% on Thursday.Sinclair's broadcast stations have been known for having a conservative editorial voice, and the company faced backlash in 2018 after requiring some of its stations to read promos criticizing the media about ""fake stories.""The process also comes after Sinclair faced headaches in the regional sports networks business.Sinclair acquired the largest portfolio of regional sports networks from Disney in 2019 for $10.6 billion, including $8.8 billion in debt. Between ramped-up cord-cutting and the hefty debt load, Diamond Sports, the independently run and unconsolidated subsidiary of Sinclair, sought bankruptcy protection last year.Diamond later sued parent Sinclair, and the litigation was settled in January. Sinclair made a $495 million payment to settle lawsuits related to Diamond.",CNBC "Goldman Sachs and American Express are among the leading companies for working parents in 2024, new study shows",https://www.cnbc.com/2024/05/10/goldman-sachs-and-american-express-leading-companies-for-parents.html,2024-05-10T22:04:14+0000,"Working parents, guardians or caretakers know the challenge of striking the delicate balance between work and care responsibilities.From paid parental leave to quality health-care coverage and equal pay that cover child care costs, it's become a priority for workers to find an employer that recognizes parents have specific needs.With no federal oversight of workplace benefits like paid leave and caregiving policies, corporate leaders are being asked to take the lead.CNBC partner Just Capital looked through policy disclosures at America's largest companies to find the best in the country at meeting these needs.""Americans are very clear about what they believe companies should prioritize: their workers,"" said Alison Omens, president of Just Capital.Goldman Sachs, American Express, Deckers Outdoor, S&P Global and Splunk are the top companies for parents in 2024, according to Just Capital's research.All five companies offer the following benefits: 20 or more weeks of paid parental leave for both primary and secondary caregivers; parental leave parity for all caregivers; and backup subsidized dependent care for their employees.""What the pandemic uncovered and remains true today, is that for working parents, particularly for mothers who disproportionately provide caregiving, a key part is their paid parental leave,"" said Omens.S&P Global offers paid parental leave policies of 26 weeks. Company employees and married couple, Lauren and Mario Washington, told CNBC that taking parental leave together after welcoming their second daughter in 2021 had a profound impact on their family's dynamic and well-being.""Those initial weeks seem fleeting, but they tangibly enhanced our family's balance and relationship,"" Lauren said. ""Mario's involvement helped our oldest daughter adjust from being an only child to a big sister and help me focus on nurturing our newborn and my own recovery.""The human resources profession, however, takes a different view regarding the impact of parental leaves on business. The more ""direct cost,"" according to the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM), is an employee's pay over the course of the number of weeks that they are on leave. SHRM argues that employers already have salaries factored into budgets.The ""indirect costs"" are the loss of productivity during an employee's leave, temporary replacement and cost of administering a paid leave program.""Paid parental leave is an expensive proposition,"" said Yvette Lee, an HR knowledge advisor at SHRM. ""But turnover of key talent may be even more costly.""Lee said the investment in paid parental leave and similar policies may make sense in the long run.Many companies have introduced measures to ensure equity in the workplace for all employees.Deckers Outdoor is targeting gender parity in leadership positions by 2030, and Goldman Sachs has set a hiring goal for women in both entry-level and senior management positions to reach 50% and 40%, respectively.""We invest in our success as a company by investing in our people,"" said a spokesperson for S&P Global.",CNBC " The Gates Foundation is losing its smarter half, Warren Buffett says ",https://edition.cnn.com/2024/05/14/business/who-is-melinda-french-gates-philanthropist/index.html," Updated 7:59 AM EDT, Tue May 14, 2024 ","On Monday, Melinda French Gates announced her resignation from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, officially ending one of the world’s leading philanthropic partnerships. If you ask Warren Buffett, the foundation is losing its smarter half. In a 2008 Fortune profile, the Berkshire Hathaway CEO said French Gates helped focus the foundation’s mission. “He’s smart as hell, obviously,” Buffett said of Microsoft cofounder and former CEO Bill Gates. “But in terms of seeing the whole picture, she’s smarter,” referring to French Gates. French Gates’ departure marks the end of an era for the 24-year-old foundation, which she cofounded with her ex-husband, Bill Gates “This is not a decision I came to lightly,” French Gates said in a statement on social media, announcing that her last day of work would be June 7. Since its founding in 2000, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation has grown into one of the world’s largest private charitable organizations, paying out a total of $77.6 billion in grants through the end of 2023. In her departure announcement, French Gates said she plans to continue her philanthropic work independently, focusing on issues affecting women and girls in the United States and around the world. Here’s how she became one of the world’s preeminent philanthropists. French Gates started her career at Microsoft, where she was hired after graduating from Duke University, according to a 2008 profile in Fortune Magazine. She began her philanthropic life in 1997, one year after she left her job at Microsoft, cofounding the Gates Library Foundation with her then-husband, Bill Gates. The foundation’s mission was to help US public libraries offer free internet access, according to the Bill and Melinda Gates’ Foundation’s website. That foundation was a precursor to the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, which officially launched in 2000 with a focus on global health, science and education. The foundation has launched funds to fight diseases such as AIDS, polio and malaria, fight malnutrition and help women gain access to contraceptives, according to the foundation’s website. “We literally go down the chart of the greatest inequities and give where we can effect the greatest change,” French Gates said of the foundation’s strategy in Fortune. After a few years in operation, the foundation got an early boost from Buffett, who pledged a lifetime gift of more than $30 billion dollars to the foundation. Outside of the foundation, French Gates made a significant impact on the world of philanthropy by helping to create The Giving Pledge in 2010. According to The Giving Pledge’s website, the pledge, which has more than 240 signatories, is a promise among the world’s richest people to dedicate a majority of their wealth to charitable causes during their lifetimes or in their wills. In addition to French Gates, Gates and Buffett, The Giving Pledge counts billionaires like Mark Zuckerberg, Elon Musk and MacKenzie Scott as signatories. “I recognize the absurdity of so much wealth being concentrated in the hands of one person, and I believe the only responsible thing to do with a fortune this size is give it away— as thoughtfully and impactfully as possible,” French Gates wrote in her pledge letter. French Gates has a net worth of $13.3 billion, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index, while Bill Gates’ net worth is $153 billion. But as part of their agreement when French Gates departed, she will receive an additional $12.5 billion to give away. Over the past decade, French Gates has increasingly added a new focus to her charitable work: gender equality. She created her own organization, Pivotal Ventures, in 2015. Pivotal is an investment company that “expands opportunity and accelerates equality in the United States through high-impact investments, partnerships and advocacy,” according to its website. One of Pivotal’s earliest grantees was Rutgers’ Center for American Women in Politics, which conducts scholarly research about women’s political participation in the US. French Gates’ departure from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation has been hinted at since the couple announced their divorce in May 2021. She will not continue her work that she was performing at the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, the organization said Monday. So French Gates hinted at a new path foward. “I’ll be sharing more about what that will look like in the near future,” French Gates said in her departure announcement.",CNN "Comcast offers subscribers Peacock, Netflix and Apple TV+ bundle",https://www.cnbc.com/2024/05/14/comcast-bundle-for-subscribers-peacock-netflix-and-apple-tv.html,2024-05-14T14:04:07+0000,"In this articleComcast said Tuesday it will introduce a streaming bundle for its cable, broadband and mobile subscribers, tying together Peacock, Netflix and Apple TV+ at a discounted rate.The announcement, made Tuesday at the MoffettNathanson media conference in New York, comes as major media players increasingly join forces to drive value for users and subscriptions for streaming services.On May 8, Disney and Warner Bros. Discovery announced a bundle of its streaming services — Disney+, Hulu and Max.Comcast's offer follows a model similar to several bundles from Verizon: Its streaming bundle will be offered to existing Comcast subscribers, which could help prop up its pay-TV subscribers.The company lost 487,000 cable TV customers during the first quarter, Comcast reported during earnings on April 25. The company's wireless business, however, saw a 21% jump in customers to 6.9 million total lines.Comcast did not disclose the price of the upcoming bundle. Peacock subscription plans start at $5.99 per month, though that's increasing to $7.99 per month this summer. Comcast broadband customers typically receive a discount on the company's streaming service.Netflix plans start at $6.99 per month, and Apple TV+ costs $9.99 per month.""We've been bundling video successfully and creatively for 60 years,"" Comcast CEO Brian Roberts said Tuesday. ""And so this is the latest iteration of that. And I think this will be a pretty compelling package.""— CNBC's Kerry Caufield, Lillian Rizzo and Alex Sherman contributed to this report.Disclosure: Comcast owns NBCUniversal, the parent company of CNBC.",CNBC " How to make high interest rates work for your hard-earned savings ",https://edition.cnn.com/2024/03/20/success/interest-rates-savings-cash/index.html," Published 3:00 PM EDT, Wed March 20, 2024 ","The Federal Reserve’s benchmark interest rate remains at a 23-year high. That’s thanks to the central bank’s decision Wednesday to once again hold it steady, as it has done at the policy-making committee’s past five meetings. That decision may be disappointing to some investors, homebuyers and those with a lot of credit card debt, since movement in the Fed’s overnight lending rate influences rates — directly or indirectly — on consumer financial products (e.g., credit cards, bank loans and mortgages). But with the Fed signaling that no rate cuts are likely until summer, it also means anyone with savings still has at least a few more months to make hay of their stash. That’s because you can still get inflation-beating interest rates that will grow any money you have set aside for emergencies, vacations, down payments or any other goal in your sights over the next several years. However, that won’t happen if you just let it sit in a traditional checking or savings account that yields next to nothing. There are more lucrative, low-risk options out there, with rates that are still at or near their peaks. “But perhaps not for much longer,” said Ted Rossman, senior analyst at Bankrate. “If one of those fits into your financial plans, it’s best to act soon.” So, consider the following options when deciding where to park your hard-earned savings. The average annual percentage yield on bank savings accounts was just 0.52% as of March 13, according to Bankrate. That average is kept low by the biggest brick-and-mortar banks like JPMorgan Chase and Bank of America, which still are offering a paltry 0.01%. By contrast, there are still FDIC-insured online banks offering inflation-beating rates of between 4.35% and 5.35% on their high-yield savings accounts. Generally speaking, these are the best vehicles in which to keep your emergency funds for quick, easy access. Choosing between an account that pays 0.52% and one that pays 5.35% can mean forfeiting hundreds of dollars in interest. “If you put $10,000 in a savings account, that’s a difference of $496 in interest earnings over the course of the year, assuming monthly compounding,” Rossman said. While the rates on high-yield savings accounts have gone down a bit in recent months, “widespread cuts in online savings account rates are unlikely until the first Fed rate cut is near,” said Ken Tumin, founder of DepositAccounts.com. As with any bank savings rate, high-yield savings account rates can change overnight, and the bank may not alert you when it lowers it. So make sure to check your monthly statement. Another high-return, low-risk investment that is great for money you likely won’t need to tap for a few months or even a couple of years is a certificate of deposit. You can get the best returns on CDs through a brokerage such as Schwab, E*Trade or Fidelity. That’s because you can comparison shop for CDs from any number of FDIC-insured banks and will not have to set up individual accounts with each institution. As of March 13, the average rate on a one-year CD was 1.95%, but some banks are offering as much are 5.4%. If you can get a one-year CD at, say, 5.4%, you will make $540 on a $10,000 investment. To get the greatest benefit from a CD, you have to leave the money invested for a fixed period. You can always access your principal sooner if you need to, but there may be early withdrawal penalties. As of March 20, CDs listed on Schwab.com with durations from three months up to three years were all yielding between 5.2% and 5.51%. CD rates on durations between four and 10 years ranged from 4.40% to 5.15%. Say you invest $10,000 in a one-year CD with a 5.36% APY. At the end of that period, you’d get your principal back plus $536 in interest when the CD matures, according to Bankrate’s CD calculator. If you chose a two-year CD at 5.25%, you’d bank an extra $1,078, assuming compounding interest. The same investment in a five-year CD at 5.15% would earn $2,854. “It makes sense to go long with CDs. To hedge your bets, include terms from one to five years. Starting a CD ladder will provide this mix,” Tumin said. If you don’t go through a brokerage you may get a reasonable deal from your primary bank, Tumin said. For example, he noted, Wells Fargo is still offering up to 5.01% on both 4-month and 7-month CDs. Or, at Bank of America, you can get up to 4.75% on a 7-month CD. But Tumin cautions that with any big bank CD you should take your money out at the end of the term, otherwise your bank may automatically renew it and lock you in to a much lower-yielding CD. If you don’t want to set up an online savings account at another bank, your own bank may offer you a money market deposit account that pays a higher yield than your regular checking or savings accounts. Money market accounts may have higher minimum deposit requirements than a regular savings account, but they are more liquid than a fixed-term certificate of deposit or Treasury bill, meaning they give you access to your money more quickly while still potentially giving you some of the highest yields available, said Doug Ornstein, senior manager for integrated solutions at TIAA Wealth Management. But don’t confuse money market accounts with money market mutual funds, which invest in short-term, low-risk debt instruments. As of March 19, they had an average 7-day yield of 5.14%, according to the Crane Money Fund Index, which tracks the top 100 taxable money market funds. Unlike money market deposit accounts, money market mutual funds are not insured by the FDIC. But if you invest in a money market fund through a brokerage, your overall account is likely to be insured through the Securities Investor Protection Corp, which offers protection in the event your brokerage ever goes under. Another option for money you can leave untouched anywhere from several months to a few years is to buy short-term Treasury bills and medium-term notes, which are backed by the full faith and credit of the United States. Three- and six-month bills had yields of 5.39% and 5.33% respectively on March 20 before the Fed’s meeting ended, while nine-month and one-year bills were offering 5.19% and 5.08% respectively, according to rates posted on Schwab.com for a $25,000 investment. Rates on Treasury notes with durations from two years to 10 years ranged between 4.29% and 4.72%. If you’re someone who manages your portfolio like a hawk, you may feel comfortable buying T-bills on your own from TreasuryDirect.gov. But if you don’t, it might be easier just to buy new issues through your brokerage account or invest in a short-term bond index fund or ETF, said Andy Smith, executive director of financial planning at Edelman Financial Engines. And if you’re looking at money that will be needed in three to five years, you might consider a diversified fund of highly rated government and corporate bonds, Ornstein said. An 18-month AAA-rated corporate bond, for instance, was yielding 4.82% this week, while the three-year was at 4.49%. Meanwhile, three-year AAA-rated municipal bonds (which are issued by local governments) had a rate of 3.98%, according to Schwab.com. When deciding on the best accounts and investments for your specific goals and peace of mind, it may pay to consult a fee-only fiduciary adviser — meaning, someone who doesn’t get paid a commission to sell you a particular investment. What you’ll always want to do is build in flexibility for yourself so you can easily access cash, regardless of your timeline for key goals. “What happens if something changes and you need that down payment a lot sooner — or your parents need medical care fast?” Smith said. That means balancing your desire for great yield with a need and desire for ease of access without penalty. Translation: Don’t chase yield for yield’s sake. Think of it this way, Ornstein said: Unless you have huge sums to invest or are an institutional investor, the difference between getting a 5.1% yield versus 5% is negligible, and in fact it could even cost you more if there are penalties for taking your money out early. “Most of the time convenience is really important. Give up the 0.1%,” he advised.",CNN " From the boardwalk to the altar: T-shirt, shorts, bikinis and boot sellers are now dressing brides ",https://edition.cnn.com/2024/05/12/business/fast-fashion-wedding-dresses/index.html," Updated 12:23 PM EDT, Tue May 14, 2024 ","Wedding dress shopping may never go back to what it used to be. Instead of collecting your entire bridal entourage to spend a few hours at a boutique trying on several dresses for the perfect find at a lofty price of a $1,000 or more, some retailers are offering to make the wedding dress hunt as easy breezy as buying a T-shirt off the rack. Taking their cue from Millennials and Gen Zers who are turning stuffy traditions on their head and marking life’s milestones moments — such as weddings — in their own pared down way, a string of affordable fashion brands have jumped into the weddings industry to appease thrifty shoppers with inexpensive bridal wear. Abercrombie, Forever 21, Boot Barn, Shein and Lulus, better known for their tank tops, shorts, ripped jeans, bikinis, cowboy boots and sparkly dresses tailor-made for Beyoncé and Taylor Swift concertgoers, are trying to dress brides for much less. The move isn’t a complete headscratcher. For one, it allows these mass-market brands to get their slice of the more than $100 billion US wedding industry, according to The Knot Worldwide, a wedding planning and vendor marketplace. “These companies see bridal as a natural extension of their business given that they are already present in many of these product categories,” said Janine Stichter, managing director and consumer retail and lifestyle brands analyst with global financial services and market research firm BTIG. Plus, many of their core customers are older GenZers and younger Millennials who are in the sweet spot age demographic for getting married and attending weddings, she said. “The move into wedding wear makes sense so long as it’s not a distraction from their core business,” Stichter said. Clothing store Abercrombie & Fitch — which has undergone a major metamorphosis by shedding its overtly sexualized marketing strategy of the past to more on-trend, age-appropriate and parent-approved clothing — is continuing its evolution, by going after brides. The retailer in March launched the A&F Wedding Shop, a collection of more than 100 pieces for brides, the bridal party and wedding guests, all priced from $80 to $150. Beyond dresses, the collection includes items such as bikinis, pajamas and skirts for other events tied to the wedding. “Our customers live for the long weekend, and when we asked them about their exciting upcoming getaways, we heard so many of them speak about wedding weekends, wedding-adjacent occasions, and the all-important question of what to wear, which this collection is perfectly designed to answer,” Carey Collins Krug, chief marketing officer of Abercrombie & Fitch Co., said in a statement announcing the launch. In April, fast-fashion brand Forever 21 debuted its first bridal collection, priced from $9 to about $50. The clothing includes dresses, sleepwear, accessories, such as a wedding-ready cowboy hat with a veil affixed to it. A white strapless satin and lace midi dress from its bridal shop has a pricetag of $24.29, while another altar-ready white split-hem halter midi dress will set a bride back only $27. That’s a basement bargain compared to the average wedding dress cost last year of $2,000. California-based trendy fashion chain Lulus has also got in on the act by opening its first bridal boutique, with dresses ranging from $100 to $270, in Los Angeles in February. “At Lulus, brides won’t have to compromise. Attaining that luxurious look without breaking their budgets isn’t a dream, it’s a reality,” Crystal Landsem, Lulus CEO, said in a statement in February. The standalone bridal boutique builds on Lulus’ 2019 entry into wedding wear and “enables the brand to offer its customer-first online experience to brides in real life,” the retailer said in a press release. That’s a smart move, said Allyson Rees, a senior insight strategist at trend forecasting and analytics firm WGSN, in an interview with CNN. “For these bridal collections to land with Gen Z, It’s important that these brands tap into the way that Gen Z shops. Gen Z is always online, but 97% of US Gen Z still shop in-store,” Rees said. “Wedding dresses, in particular, and the tradition of trying them on, is a rite of passage that Gen Z still want to partake in. So brands will need to create compelling in-store experiences that encourage socializing.” As the oldest GenZers reach marrying age in their mid-20s, they’re increasingly putting their own spin on nuptials and are letting go of some antiquated traditions. Part of this is also being driven by these younger non-conforming consumers being forced into even more cost sensitivity than Millennials. “The cost-of-living crisis has affected Gen Z, and they feel deeply insecure about their finances,” said Rees. “Over half are living paycheck to paycheck and a third are living with their parents. So it’s no surprise that fast fashion, which has seen its market share increase over the last few years due to the cost-of-living crisis, is capitalizing on the need for affordable, on-trend wedding fashion.” At the same time, wedding fashion is a lot less traditional now, she said. With wedding dresses in particular, one trend that emerged during the pandemic was the popularity of black wedding gowns. “Gen Z is very much picking up where Millennials left off here. So it’s not uncommon for brides to wear alternative colors to white, or to change outfits several times during the course of the event. So this an area where fast fashion brands can really fill a void,” Rees said. Shein, which launched in 2012 and has since ballooned into the world’s biggest online-only fast-fashion seller, also sells bridal and wedding wear. Its bridal gowns cost on average between $50 and $100, up to a maximum of $200. On Memorial Day weekend, the retailer will open a wedding-related pop-up shop in Las Vegas to showcase its new bridal gowns and bridesmaid dresses. “Affordable prices are important for Gen Z customers, who often balance the desire for fashionable and trendy styles with a need for options that won’t break the bank,” Lisa Zlotnick, spokesperson for Shein, said in an interview with CNN. “As wedding attire evolves from traditional, occasion-specific outfits to versatile, stylish pieces that can be worn on multiple occasions, we aim to ensure our offerings meet this increasing demand.” Even Boot Barn, which sells cowboy boots and westernwear, has jumped on the wedding bandwagon for the first time, with its new western-themed wedding collection of bridal dresses, cowboy boots, hats and accessories priced mostly at $400 and below. “There’s been a surge in country weddings and casual garden weddings coming out of the pandemic as people wanted to get married outdoors. These are also budget-friendly choices,” said Isha Nicole, senior vice president of marketing with Boot Barn, in an interview. “Couples are trying to move away from something that is formal and stuffy to weddings that embrace a different setting. We looked at these trends and it seemed like a right time to support our customer,” Nicole said.",CNN " NBC hires former RNC chair Ronna McDaniel, who has demonized the press and refused to acknowledge Biden was fairly elected ",https://edition.cnn.com/2024/03/22/media/ronna-mcdaniel-nbc/index.html," Published 1:53 PM EDT, Fri March 22, 2024 ","NBC News on Friday announced that it had hired Ronna McDaniel, the former Republican National Committee chair who has repeatedly attacked the network and its journalists, assailed the news media as “fake news” and promoted false claims around the 2020 vote, as an on-air commentator ahead of the 2024 presidential election. “It couldn’t be a more important moment to have a voice like Ronna’s on the team,” Carrie Budoff Brown, senior vice president of politics at NBC News, said in a memo to staff. McDaniel exited the RNC earlier this month after leading the organization since 2016. During her time as chair, McDaniel repeatedly attacked the press, which has become increasingly popular in Republican circles over the last several years as Donald Trump demonizes journalists and news institutions. McDaniel echoed many such attacks, labeling the press as “fake news” and calling the media “corrupt.” At times, she even targeted NBC News and MSNBC with dishonest attacks. In 2019, for instance, McDaniel accused Richard Engel, NBC News’ chief foreign correspondent, of “actively cheering for an economic downturn.” “How can NBC let him keep his job when he’s made his bias so clear?” McDaniel asked. McDaniel has a lengthier history attacking the progressive cable news channel MSNBC, which she will appear on in her new role. In recent years, she has repeatedly attacked the channel for “spreading lies” and blasted those she described as the network’s “primetime propagandists.” An NBC spokesperson did not respond to requests for comment about her attacks on the news media and NBC. In her role as RNC chief, McDaniel also fanned the flames of election denialism after the 2020 presidential contest. McDaniel was involved in a phone call in 2020 to pressure Michigan county officials not to certify the vote from the Detroit area, where Joe Biden had a commanding lead. McDaniel told the officials, regarding the certification: “Do not sign it. … We will get you attorneys.” The Michigan Department of State’s office condemned her claims of supposed voter fraud in the wake of the election, stating they had “no merit.” The state’s “elections were conducted fairly, effectively and transparently and are an accurate reflection of the will of Michigan voters,” it said in a detailed fact check posted online. In an interview with CNN’s Chris Wallace last year, McDaniel defended her claims of voting “irregularity” in the election. “I think saying that there were problems with 2020 is very real. I don’t think that’s election denying,” McDaniel told Wallace. “I’m from Wayne County. We had a woman send a note saying I’m being told to backdate ballots. We had to look into that. That’s deeply concerning. When you have friends who are poll-watching and being kicked out, that’s deeply concerning. We have every right to look at that.” In the interview, Wallace pressed McDaniel if she believed Biden legitimately won the election. “I think there were lots of problems with 2020. Ultimately, he won the election but there were lots of problems with the 2020 election,” she said. “But I don’t think he won it fair. I don’t. I’m not going to say that.” NBC’s hiring of McDaniel, however, plays into a recent trend at the network’s outlets, which has seemingly softened its stance on Trump as he inches toward the Republican nomination for president. Earlier this month, CNBC hosted Trump for a lengthy phone interview in which the network’s anchors allowed him to peddle lies and conspiracy theories on air without scrutiny. MSNBC has even started carrying Trump’s remarks live on television, a practice that the network boasted for years it would not do. Star host Rachel Maddow, who has said carrying Trump’s lies on the air is dangerous, even objected to the network broadcasting a recent speech from the presumptive Republican nominee, calling it “irresponsible.”",CNN Nadhim Zahawi confirms nearly £5m paid for tax error,https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-68999222,2024-05-12T10:10:36.000Z,"Former Chancellor Nadhim Zahawi has told the BBC he paid nearly £5m to authorities to settle his tax affairs. Mr Zahawi was sacked last year as Tory Party chairman after an ethics inquiry found he had failed to disclose that HMRC was investigating his taxes. He was sorry for not being ""more explicit"" in his ministerial declaration on the settlement, he told the Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg show. But he insisted HMRC had found it was a non-deliberate, ""careless"" mistake. Mr Zahawi was sacked in January last year after an inquiry by the prime minister's ethics adviser found he had failed to disclose that his tax affairs were being probed by HMRC. Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said at the time that the inquiry made clear there had been a ""serious breach of the ministerial code"". The controversy over Mr Zahawi's taxes began when it emerged that he had reached a multi-million pound tax settlement with HMRC while he was chancellor in 2022. It related to the allocation of shares in YouGov, the polling company he set up before he became an MP. Rishi Sunak asked a top adviser, Sir Laurie Magnus, to investigate, and Sir Laurie found Mr Zahawi had been in contact with HMRC over his taxes since April 2021, reaching an agreement in August 2022 and finalising the settlement in September 2022. But he found Mr Zahawi had not done enough to declare this within government, and had failed to be open enough in public about what had been going on. Speaking to the BBC's Sunday With Laura Kuenssberg programme, Mr Zahawi - who is standing down as MP for Stratford-on-Avon at the next election - said the total payment he made to settle the issue was ""just shy of £5m"". ""As I said in my retirement letter, my mistakes are my own,"" he said. ""I'm sorry that when I had my settlement with HMRC two years ago, I should have probably been more explicit in the details in the ministerial declaration as to how the settlement was arrived at, and that's my own mistake."" He added that: ""HMRC found that it was non-deliberate, it was a careless mistake."" ",BBC "Sweetgreen, Chipotle and other fast-casual chains are bucking the consumer slowdown",https://www.cnbc.com/2024/05/11/sweetgreen-chipotle-and-wingstop-arent-seeing-a-consumer-slowdown.html,2024-05-13T14:43:25+0000,"In this articleHigh-income consumers helped Chipotle Mexican Grill, Wingstop and Sweetgreen report strong sales this quarter, bucking the broader consumer slowdown that's been hurting other eateries.As a whole, the restaurant industry has seen sales slump and traffic decline as customers pull back their spending. McDonald's, Starbucks and KFC owner Yum Brands were among the restaurant companies that reported a weak start to 2024.McDonald's CEO Chris Kempczinski said diners are hunting for deals and good value; the chain is working to introduce a $5 value meal, CNBC reported Friday. And John Peyton, chief executive of Applebee's owner Dine Brands, said the steepest sales drop-off has come from customers making less than $50,000.Fast-casual chains appear to be the exception to the trend. The sector saw higher traffic growth than any other dining sector from November to February, according to GuestXM data.In general, customers of fast-casual chains tend to have higher incomes than those of the fast-food sector, insulating the segment somewhat from low-income consumers' spending pullback. High-income consumers haven't felt the same pinch as those in lower-income brackets.Wingstop saw its same-store sales soar 21% in the quarter. CEO Michael Skipworth told CNBC that Wingstop's customer base used to be largely low-income customers but is now roughly three-quarters higher-income diners. He also credited the company's success to growing brand awareness and its chicken sandwich, which often serves as an entry point for new customers.Similarly, most of Sweetgreen's locations are in high-income neighborhoods, CEO Jonathan Neman said last year. On Thursday, the salad chain reported first-quarter same-store sales growth of 5% and raised its full-year outlook for same-store sales growth. Traffic was flat, but executives said bad weather and the inclusion of New Year's Day and Easter hurt its business.Chipotle and other chains have also gotten a boost from consumers' perception of their value as the cost of Big Macs and Whoppers rise.Last year, fast-food chains raised prices more dramatically than fast-casual chains, according to TD Cowen analyst Andrew Charles. While a bowl or salad from a fast-casual restaurant will still be more expensive than a burger or chicken tenders, the pricing gap between the two segments has narrowed.""You can see that fast casual is just a superior value for that consumer, given the quality of what they're getting,"" Charles said.For example, Chipotle's quarterly same-store sales grew 7%, fueled by a 5.4% increase in foot traffic. The burrito chain has a strong perception of value among diners, CEO Brian Niccol told analysts on the company's April 24 conference call. Chipotle executives have also previously emphasized that most of its customers come from higher-income brackets.Many fast-casual chains, including Chipotle and Sweetgreen, have also been trying to improve their ""throughput,"" an industry term that refers to how many bowls or salads their employees can make. That focus on efficiency means their restaurants' service is getting faster — leading to more transactions, Charles said.Investors had already been betting that fast-casual chains would be an outlier in consumers' eatery spending. Shares of Chipotle, Shake Shack and Wingstop have all risen at least 35% in 2024. And Sweetgreen's stock has doubled in value in the same time, excluding its 34% increase on Friday alone. For comparison, the S&P 500 has risen roughly 9% so far this year.But there are still exceptions to the segment trend. For example, Portillo's, known for its Italian beef sandwiches and Chicago-style hot dogs, said its same-store sales shrank 1.2% in the first quarter. The chain blamed the weak results on ""miserable weather across the Midwest,"" particularly at the start of the quarter.Likewise, Shake Shack said its quarterly traffic, which was negative, would've been flat if not for bad weather in January and February. The burger chain reported same-store sales growth of 1.6% but noted that the metric improved sequentially every month. In April, its same-store sales rose 4.9% year over year.Mediterranean fast-casual chain Cava isn't expected to report its first-quarter results until May 28. But TD Cowen's Charles said he's expecting a stronger quarter for Cava, given its competitors' performances.",CNBC Sweetgreen shares soar 34% after company beats revenue expectations,https://www.cnbc.com/2024/05/10/sweetgreen-shares-soar-after-company-posts-revenue-beat.html,2024-05-10T20:14:22+0000,"In this articleSweetgreen shares surged nearly 34% on Friday after the company topped Wall Street's revenue expectations for the fiscal first quarter and raised its full-year forecast. The salad chain also announced earlier this week an expansion to add meat to its menu for the first time.The salad chain reported $158 million in revenue, beating the LSEG consensus estimate of $152 million. Revenue jumped 26% from $125.1 million in the year-earlier period.The company reported a net loss of $26.1 million, a loss of 23 cents per share. In the year-ago quarter, the company's net loss was $33.7 million, a loss of 30 cents per share.Sweetgreen also raised revenue and adjusted EBITDA guidance for the full year. Shares of the company are up 179% so far in 2024.Here's how the company did compared to LSEG analyst estimates:Jonathan Neman, Sweetgreen CEO and co-founder, said on an earnings call with analysts that the company opened six new restaurants in the first quarter. Neman highlighted the success of the South Lake Union location in Seattle, which ""had one of the strongest opening weeks in the company's recent history.""""Openings like these demonstrate that our brand has significantly greater reach than our current physical footprint and that there is massive white space for our category-defining concept,"" he told analysts during the earnings call after the close of trading on Thursday.Sweetgreen began deploying robots for tasks like dispensing greens and mixing salads in its restaurants last year. Dubbed the ""Infinite Kitchen,"" the robotic technology was first implemented in May 2023 with the opening of the company's pilot store in Naperville, Illinois.Neman added that the company remains ""on track"" to open about seven new automated Infinite Kitchen restaurants in 2024 and plans to establish more next year. Analysts were ""impressed"" by the early results from the Infinite Kitchen locations, according to StreetAccount.The company announced Tuesday it's adding steak to its menu in an expansion of its protein offerings with a caramelized garlic steak protein plate, a steakhouse chopped warm bowl, and a kale Caesar steak salad.""During our testing phase in Boston, we saw Caramelized Garlic Steak quickly become a dinnertime favorite, with steak making up nearly 1 in 5 dinner orders,"" said Nicolas Jammet, Sweetgreen's chief concept officer and co-founder, in a press release. ""We're thrilled to bring customers more of what they are craving at every part of the day.""",CNBC "Walmart is laying off, relocating hundreds of corporate workers across the country. Read the memo",https://www.cnbc.com/2024/05/14/walmart-to-lay-off-relocate-hundreds-of-corporate-workers.html,2024-05-14T18:56:07+0000,"In this articleWalmart is laying off hundreds of corporate workers across the country as it relocates many employees to its Arkansas headquarters.The big-box retailer confirmed the layoffs and relocations in a memo sent to employees Tuesday.In the memo, Chief People Officer Donna Morris said the move is meant to bring more of its employees back to the office after the Covid-19 pandemic. The company brought corporate employees back to its Bentonville, Arkansas, headquarters in February 2022.Now, she said, Walmart is taking that a step further. The majority of employees working remotely and in offices in Dallas, Atlanta and Toronto have been asked to relocate. Most will be moved to the company's Arkansas headquarters, but some will also relocate to offices in the San Francisco Bay Area or Hoboken, New Jersey, she said.""In addition, some parts of our business have made changes that will result in a reduction of several hundred campus roles,"" she said in the memo. ""While the overall numbers are small in percentage, we are focused on supporting each of our associates affected by these changes.""Walmart did not say how many people were affected by the cuts.The news comes days before Walmart's much-anticipated earnings report on Thursday.The layoffs are the latest cost cut for the discounter. In late April, Walmart announced it would shutter 51 health clinics across Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Illinois and Texas. The new clinics, which offered doctor, dentist and therapy appointments, were part of Walmart Health, a broad effort by the discounter to bring lower prices to the health-care industry. It had opened the health clinics next to its big-box stores, but said in an announcement on its website that the business was not financially sustainable.Walmart is the nation's largest private employer with about 1.6 million employees, most of whom work at its stores across the country.Walmart has another reason to bring more employees to Bentonville: It is building a nearly 350-acre campus there. The major development, which is well underway, includes 12 office buildings, along with parking lots, a hotel and other amenities. The campus' first few buildings have already opened, including a fitness center and a day care.The Wall Street Journal first reported the layoffs and relocations.Read the full memo from Morris to Walmart employees:It has been a little over four years since we faced the global pandemic that reshaped our lives in many ways, including our ways of working. In February 2022, we made the decision to bring Home Office associates back into our campus offices. We believe that being together, in person, makes us better and helps us to collaborate, innovate and move even faster. We also believe it helps strengthen our culture as well as grow and develop our associates.With the goal of bringing more of us together more often, we are asking the majority of associates working remotely, and the majority of associates within our offices in Dallas, Atlanta, and our Toronto Global Tech office, to relocate. Most relocations will be to our Home Office in Bentonville, but some will be to our offices in the San Francisco Bay Area or Hoboken/New York.In addition, some parts of our business have made changes that will result in a reduction of several hundred campus roles. While the overall numbers are small in percentage, we are focused on supporting each of our associates affected by these changes.We have had discussions with associates who were directly impacted by these decisions. We will work closely with them in the coming days and months to navigate the best path forward.This is developing story. Please check back for updates.",CNBC "NHL's Coyotes CEO, other Latino executives launch platform to promote Hispanics in sports ",https://www.cnbc.com/2024/05/11/nhl-ceo-other-latino-executives-found-latinos-in-sports-platform.html,2024-05-13T12:20:54+0000,"When the National Hockey League's Arizona Coyotes sold its franchise to Utah last month, the league didn't just lose an Arizona-based team — it also lost its only active Latino chief executive.Born in Guadalajara, Mexico, Xavier Gutierrez became the Arizona team's CEO in 2019 after Alex Meruelo, a Cuban-American billionaire, bought the Coyotes a year earlier. Gutierrez had previously been a managing director at private equity firm Clearlake Capital Group and knew Meruelo for about a decade before becoming the NHL's first-ever Latino CEO.It took a Latino owner to hire a Latino CEO, Gutierrez explained in an interview, because Hispanics are not well-represented in leadership positions in professional sports.There are 153 major professional sports franchises in the U.S. and Canada across the NHL, the National Football League, the National Basketball Association, Major League Baseball and Major League Soccer.Gutierrez, who is technically still CEO of the Arizona Coyotes even though the franchise is inactive, says he is the only non-owner Latino CEO. Jorge Mas, co-owner of the MLS' Inter Miami CF who is also CEO, makes for two Latino CEOs, according to Gutierrez.That is something Gutierrez vows to change. He is part of the founding group behind LiS: Latinos in Sports, a platform dedicated to bringing together Latinos and non-Latinos in professional sports, media and marketing to showcase Latino talent in leadership positions. CNBC is the official media partner of Latinos in Sports.""The results speaks for themselves that you don't have that leadership today,"" Gutierrez said. ""You look at the commissioners and their offices that are relying on Latino consumers to be the viewers, the ticket buyers, the jersey buyers. I think you need to have Latino talent in those seats. Our goal is just to say, 'Listen, this isn't because you're bad people. That's not it at all. It's because maybe you haven't met the cohorts that exist.'""Gutierrez and Pedro Antonio Guerrero, the CEO of executive advancement company Guerrero Media, introduced Latinos in Sports at an event in Miami last week.Vianni Lubus, head of audience and engagement at Guerrero Media, and Mike Valdes-Fauli, chief operating officer at Chemistry Cultura, a digital advertising firm focused on Latinos in the U.S., are also involved with the platform.The four executives share a goal to increase U.S. Hispanic representation throughout leadership roles in sports. José E. Feliciano, the co-founder of Clearlake Capital and co-owner of the Premier League's Chelsea Football Club, also spoke at last week's Miami event to promote more Latino ownership in sports.""My fervent hope is that we make more progress on the ownership front,"" Feliciano said. ""Decision-makers in seats of influence are starting to recognize that Latinos can and should be owners in every sense of the word.""The goal of Latinos in Sports is to be the go-to place to foster a culture of Hispanic advancement in the industry of sports, Gutierrez said. The executives hope to turn the platform into a business that focuses on investment in Hispanic-founded startups, conducting research on U.S. Hispanic trends and bringing together both Latino and non-Latino sports leaders for networking.""You do deals with people you know,"" Gutierrez said. ""It's really going to be a place for commerce, for talent acquisition, for conversation, data and insights.""The organization also hopes to push Latino sports executives to make more conscious decisions about appealing to Latino audiences.Warner Bros. Discovery debuted an alternative broadcast during last year's MLB playoffs called ""Peloteros,"" which featured former and current Latino baseball players speaking to a Hispanic audience. The broadcast had to be in English because Warner Bros. Discovery does not have the Spanish-language broadcast rights.Having more Latino executives making content decisions can help draw in audiences that have largely been ignored, said Luis Silberwasser, chairman and CEO of Warner Bros. Discovery Sports.""It was a good example of what we're striving to do in terms of diversifying content,"" said Silberwasser. ""You need diversity of voice in the production group to come up with this.""It is essential for Latinos in Sports to connect Latinos with non-Latinos, Gutierrez said, because non-Latinos are overwhelmingly in positions of leadership today.The organization's next event will be at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York, in September during the U.S. Open tennis tournament. Gutierrez and Guerrero chose that event specifically because it traditionally appeals to white Americans.""It's important to have non-Latino decision-makers in the room,"" Gutierrez said.""Latinos need to connect with each other to build partnerships like this one in an effort to build our table,"" Guerrero said. ""At the end of the day, it's the priority of a lot of Latinos in positions of power like Xavier [Gutierrez]. The key for us is to grow our population size.""",CNBC "Stellantis to rapidly grow exports of Chinese EVs to Europe, other countries",https://www.cnbc.com/2024/05/14/stellantis-china-ev-exports.html,2024-05-14T13:04:42+0000,"In this articleAutomaker Stellantis expects to quickly grow sales of China-made electric vehicles outside of the country through a new joint venture with Leapmotor, starting later this year, according to the two companies.The companies said Tuesday that beginning in September, sales of the China-built Leapmotor vehicles will begin through Stellantis' distribution networks, including dealers in Europe — France, Italy, Germany, Netherlands, Spain, Portugal, Belgium, Greece and Romania.Those markets will be followed by the Middle East and Africa, India and Asia Pacific, and South America in late 2024, the companies said.The expansion plans do not currently include distribution in the U.S., Stellantis CEO Carlos Tavares said Tuesday following a press conference in Hangzhou, China, where Leapmotor is based. That's due, in part, to new American tariffs on China-made EVs, Tavares said, citing among other reasons as well.The Biden administration on Tuesday announced stiff new tariff rates on billions' worth of Chinese imports, including quadrupling tariffs on imported Chinese electric vehicles, from 25% to 100%. ""There is very limited Chinese offering in the U.S. market, so it is not a priority for us,"" Tavares said. ""There is a lot in Europe because we see Europe has a very different approach for this problem. ... It looks like the U.S. is going for a very strong protectionism. Whereas, for the time being, I see Europe is keeping the market reasonably open.""The joint venture's expansion plans include at least six EVs by 2027, according to a presentation by Stellantis and Leapmotor. The cars, initially budget vehicles, are expected to be complementary to Stellantis' current vehicle lineup, the companies said.The announcement comes amid increasing geopolitical tensions surrounding China-made electric vehicles in the U.S., Europe and other regions. Many in and around the automotive industry fear the less-expensive, China-made vehicles will flood the markets, undercutting domestic-produced EVs.""From a Stellantis perspective, our position is we compete. We compete with the Chinese carmakers and we compete as strongly as we can because it's the best way to learn. It's the best way to stay fit for the global race in which we are now part of,"" Tavares said.Tavares said Tuesday that the Chinese carmakers, which he previously called Stellantis' greatest competitors, are expected to rapidly grow internationally — with or without joint venture assistance.""Whether I like it or not, with me or without me, Leapmotor would have been in Europe anyway … perhaps not as fast, perhaps not as strongly but they would have gone to Europe,"" Tavares said. ""What I am doing is just trying to be opportunistic against a dynamic that has been created by the Chinese carmakers.""Chinese companies accounted for 8% of Europe's all-electric vehicle sales as of September and could increase their share to 15% by 2025, the European Union said in October 2023. The EU believes Chinese EVs are undercutting the prices of local models by about 20% in the European market.The influx of Chinese EVs has spurred the European Union to launch government support for the industry.""The partnership between Leapmotor and Stellantis demonstrates a high level of efficiency, opening a new chapter in the global integration of China's intelligent electric vehicle industry,"" Leapmotor founder, chairman and CEO Jiangming Zhu said in a release. ""We believe that this cooperation can give Leapmotor a boost to become a respected world-class intelligent electric vehicle company.""The companies declined to disclose sales volume expectations for Leapmotor vehicles sold through Stellantis' sales network, which is expected to grow from 200 locations to up to 500 by 2026. Leapmotor reported deliveries of 144,155 vehicles in 2023, a roughly 30% increase from the previous year.Stellantis owns 51% of the joint venture with Leapmotor, announced earlier this year and including an investment of 1.5 billion euros in Leapmotor for a roughly 21% stake in the company.As part of the deal, Stellantis has exclusive rights for export and sale, as well as for manufacturing Leapmotor products outside of Greater China.",CNBC " Planet Fitness will raise its $10 membership plan for the first time in 26 years ",https://edition.cnn.com/2024/05/09/media/planet-fitness-membership-inflation/index.html," Published 1:28 PM EDT, Thu May 9, 2024 ","The Planet Fitness $10-a-month membership plan is a powerful marketing tool and a central part of its strategy. But the largest gym chain in the United States is hiking that monthly fee for the first time in more than two decades. Planet Fitness will raise the price of its “classic” membership from $10 a month to $15 for new members beginning in the summer. The “classic” membership gives people access to one location. (Planet Fitness’ $25 monthly “Black Card” membership offers more location access and perks. Planet Fitness is not hiking this fee, although executives said they may begin testing higher prices for the plan.) Planet Fitness executives did not specify why the chain is raising the basic plan by 50% for the first time since 1998, but the move comes as higher interest rates and construction costs have slowed down new gym openings. Planet Fitness has no-frills gyms, with a basic selection of machines, no steam rooms or towels in the locker room to hold down costs. Higher costs threaten its business model — known in the fitness industry as high volume, low price, or “HVLP” — more so than luxury gyms. Businesses around the country have raised prices since the pandemic began in 2020, but Planet Fitness’ $10 fee was one of the few things that had not changed because it was synonymous with the brand. “It’s a ‘get you off the couch’ price,” Planet Fitness’ former CEO told CNN in 2022. Planet Fitness has long used the $10 basic membership to recruit people who are interested in exercising but have never joined a gym before, are intimidated by fitness fanatics at other gyms or can’t afford pricier clubs. (A gym membership in the United States typically costs around $50 a month, and boutique gyms and high-intensity classes run double and triple that.) Planet Fitness blared out the $10 gym plan, which includes annual fees and free training, in commercials. The company has sponsored the New Year’s Eve celebration in Times Square for years to get people thinking about signing up for memberships as their resolution. Forty percent of new Planet Fitness members have never belonged to a gym prior to signing up, according to the company. The $10 price was right in the sweet spot: cheap enough to draw people to Planet Fitness who want to get in shape and, equally as important, not so expensive that they will cancel if they don’t go often, say analysts. Planet Fitness then tries to upsell these members by pushing them to its Black Card membership. The higher-priced monthly plan offers access to all of Planet Fitness’ gyms and perks like water massage beds, massage chairs and tanning equipment, and Black Card members can also bring a visitor. On a conference call Thursday, one analyst, Sharon Zackfia from William Blair, said, “it does seem like an odd time to take a 50% price increase on the classic card,” given that consumers have been strained by inflation and are searching for deals. But Planet Fitness executives said consumers have grown accustomed to price hikes and the move will not hurt business. “We’ve seen in every industry people move in price,” Planet Fitness interim CEO Craig Benson said. “So, it is not going to come as a shock to anybody that we are moving a price that’s been in effect for a long, long time.”",CNN Shareholders push casinos to reassess indoor smoking,https://www.cnbc.com/2024/05/09/casinos-face-shareholder-votes-over-indoor-smoking.html,2024-05-09T20:40:46+0000,"In this articleA new strategy has emerged in the battle to ban smoking in casinos: the shareholder vote.Shareholders at Boyd Gaming, Bally's Entertainment and Caesars Entertainment will put on the ballot at the respective casino companies proposals to force them to study the costs associated with permitting smoking indoors.The proposals are sponsored by Trinity Health, a nonprofit health care network, and the Americans for Nonsmokers' Rights Foundation. Trinity Health, based in Livonia, Michigan, has used its shareholder status to fight for various health initiatives despite the fact that it owns just a tiny fraction of these companies. For example, public records show Trinity owns just 440 shares of Bally's stock, or about 0.001% of the company.Boyd, Bally's and Caesars fought to keep the proposals out of the proxy materials distributed to shareholders. The Securities and Exchange Commission denied the casinos' requests, and the proposals as well as the rationale behind them were delivered to all shareholders.Boyd will face a vote over a smoke-free assessment at its annual shareholder meeting Thursday. Bally's holds its annual meeting on May 16, and Caesars will follow with its own meeting, likely in June.The three companies collectively operate 75 U.S. casinos that permit indoor smoking, where state law allows. About 14 states permit indoor smoking in commercial casinos.States like Nevada and New Jersey have prohibited indoor smoking more broadly, but carved out exceptions for casinos. Legislation to end indoor smoking at casinos is in various stages in several states across the country, including New Jersey, Pennsylvania and Rhode Island.Advocates for smoking bans point to research by C3 Gaming that concluded smoke-free casinos generate more revenue and outperform competitors that allow smoking.Proposal sponsors argue shareholders should know how much casinos pay in higher health insurance premiums for employees, greater maintenance costs and keeping away customers who hate the smoke.In its proxy, Boyd argues it's seen a negative impact in states that banned indoor smoking. It argues these decisions are best left up to the properties to follow local trends and says if shareholders succeed in implementing a ban (which Boyd claims is the true goal in forcing an assessment), the company will lose customers to competitors who continue to allow smoking.Caesars board member Jan Jones Blackhurst said Wednesday at the SBC Summit North America, an online gaming conference, that she believes the decision of whether to ban smoking in casinos should be left up to governments. She pointed out that experience has shown that smoke-free casinos can take an economic hit.""Generally, if you look across the United States, when casinos prohibit smoking, revenues fall anywhere from 20% to 25%, which also then have a huge layoff factor with people starting to lose their jobs,"" she said.Unions are mixed in their responses. While some worry about the potential of job losses, the United Auto Workers, which represents more than 10,000 table game dealers across the country, has ramped up its efforts in the fight against in-casino smoking, citing secondhand exposure for employees.The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says ""no amount of exposure to secondhand smoke is safe and the only way to fully protect nonsmokers from secondhand smoke is through 100% smoke free indoor air environments.""The U.S. Surgeon General says that many common practices found in casinos such as separating smoking versus non-smoking sections, cleaning the air and ventilating buildings are not effective protections against secondhand smoke.Casino operator Parx, which runs locations in Pennsylvania, decided to stay smoke-free during the Covid pandemic at its property in Bensalem, north of Philadelphia. It competes with four other local casinos that allow smoking indoors, but said it hasn't seen its market share suffer.""Financially, we know we've lost some customers, but we also know we've gained some customers. We don't think we've seen a significant impact either way,"" Parx spokesperson Marc Oppenheimer told CNBC.Instead, the company said it focuses on guest satisfaction scores and surveys that indicate a boost to employee morale.In Las Vegas, MGM Resorts opened the first casino resort on the Strip to prohibit indoor smoking and even smoking on the pool deck. On its website, the property declares, ""Here at Park MGM, we're not afraid to be different and, as you may have noticed, we're all about what's fresh. Now, that includes the air you breathe. ""For now, Park MGM is the exception, but smoke-free advocates hope soon, it'll be the rule.",CNBC "GM can regain market share in China after hitting 20-year low, executive says",https://www.cnbc.com/2024/05/09/gm-can-regain-market-share-in-china-after-20-year-low-exec-says.html,2024-05-09T13:06:04+0000,"In this articleDETROIT – General Motors believes it can regain market share in China after hitting a roughly 20-year low last year amid changing market conditions and increased domestic competition, GM President Mark Reuss said Thursday.The longtime GM executive said new all-electric and plug-in hybrid electric vehicles, as well as the redesign of its Buick brand, will help the automaker turn around operations in the region.GM's market share in China, including its joint ventures, has plummeted from roughly 15% as recently as 2015 to 8.6% last year — the first time it has dropped below 9% since 2003. GM's earnings from the operations have also fallen, down 78.5% since peaking in 2014, according to regulatory filings.Reuss also touted the competitiveness of GM's Chinese joint venture partners such as Wuling Motors. GM first established operations in China in 1997.""You can look at it any way you want from a larger geopolitical standpoint, but for us in China, this has been a great advantage for us to be partnered so deeply for so many years with our JV partners there,"" Reuss said during the Financial Times Future of the Car Summit. ""We have an advantage there with Buick and Wuling, and it goes both ways.""GM's market share declines in China are the result of growing competition from government-backed domestic automakers fueled by nationalism and a generational shift in consumer perceptions of the automotive industry and electric vehicles. The company, along with other American-based automakers, is managing geopolitical tensions between China and the U.S.GM's U.S.-based brands such as Buick and Chevrolet have seen Chinese sales drop more than those of its joint venture. The joint venture models accounted for about 60% of GM's 2.1 million vehicles sold last year in China.The market declines have spurred questions on whether GM would exit China, as it has other underperforming markets in recent years.Reuss said Thursday that GM plans to remain in China ""for the foreseeable future.""GM CEO Mary Barra told investors in February that ""nothing is off the table in ensuring that GM has a strong future to generate the right profitability and the right return for our investors"" in China.GM on Tuesday announced a ""leadership transition"" in China. The automaker said Steve Hill, currently GM's vice president of global commercial operations, would succeed GM China President Julian Blissett, effective June 1.",CNBC "Mortgages: More face payments during retirement, data suggests",https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c4n1yjll87wo,2024-05-12T23:03:46.559Z,"Hundreds of thousands of homeowners have taken out mortgages in the last three years that they will still be paying off into retirement, estimates suggest. A surge in mortgage terms beyond state pension age has been seen, particularly in new home loans made to the under-30s. Figures from the Bank of England show how the share of new mortgages with a later end date has increased. Higher mortgage rates have led many people to choose an extended repayment period to control costs. However, as they will be paying off their mortgage for longer, they will pay more interest so the overall cost is likely to be higher. The figures emerged from a Freedom of Information (FoI) request made by Sir Steve Webb, a former pensions minister who is now a partner at pensions consultancy LCP. ""The challenge of getting on the housing ladder is forcing large numbers of young home buyers to gamble with their retirement prospects by taking on ultra-long mortgages,"" he said. He suggested that using limited retirement savings to clear a mortgage could leave people at greater risk of poverty in old age. While many young homeowners have chosen longer mortgage terms to make repayments more manageable, they may opt for shorter terms in the future if their salaries improve or they move house. How long such a trend might last will also depend significantly on whether mortgage rates drop and settle. The FoI request followed a Bank of England financial policy report that included mortgage data for the fourth quarter of 2023. Mr Webb requested the corresponding data for the fourth quarter of the previous two years. The Bank of England's data shows that in the final three months of 2021, some 31% of new mortgages had an end date beyond state pension age. Two years later, some 42% of new mortgages had this end date during retirement, suggesting a rise in popularity of longer-term loans. Across the final quarters of all three years, nearly 300,000 new mortgages were in this category. A considerable amount can change in homeowners' financial prospects during their working lives. A longer-term mortgage may be replaced by a shorter-term one as someone's income rises, or they find other ways to pay off their mortgage. However, the pressure on young homeowners is clear with a sharp rise in the proportion of mortgages that run beyond pension age. The number of homeowners aged under 30 taking out such mortgages more than doubled over the two-year period, while for those aged under 40 the number was up 30%. Meanwhile, older age groups saw a decline in such mortgage deals. That has occurred during two years of upheaval in the mortgage market. Rates are much higher now than they were at the end of 2021. On Thursday, while holding the base rate at 5.25%, the Bank of England edged towards a rate cut in the summer and hinted at further cuts. The Bank's governor, Andrew Bailey, said he was ""optimistic that things are moving in the right direction"" regarding the UK economy, leading to speculation of base rate cuts. Read more here ",BBC " Want to see Taylor Swift’s ‘Eras Tour’ without breaking the bank? Try Europe ",https://edition.cnn.com/2024/05/14/business/taylor-swift-europe-ticket-prices/index.html," Published 7:31 AM EDT, Tue May 14, 2024 ","Planning a summer vacation in Europe usually requires an exorbitant amount of cash, but when Taylor Swift is involved, it actually might be a deal. Fans looking to snag tickets to the European leg of her popular “Eras Tour” are finding it substantially cheaper to see Swift overseas — even with flights and hotels factored in — thanks in part to a historically strong dollar and strict European Union regulations placed on ticket resellers that make, in the words of Swift herself, anything but a cruel summer. Jacking up prices on the European secondary market is “considered a predatory activity that reduces consumer choice and exploits consumers by charging them way higher prices than the event organizers actually intended,” Sam Shemtob, managing director for ticket resale advocacy group Face-value European Alliance for Ticketing (FEAT), told CNN. For example, secondary market ticket prices for Swift’s show in Stockholm, Sweden, this Saturday are as cheap as $300 for standing room-only and seats in the nosebleed sections. Prices are just a few hundred more in prime seating locations at Friends Arena, home of the Swedish men’s national football team. Planning a last-minute trip is more expensive compared to planning months ahead, but there are some affordable ways to get to Sweden: A roundtrip flight from New York (with a connection) are running about $700 and rates at 4-star hotel about $300, according to Kayak. Altogether, that’s about $1,300 before food and beverage is factored in. Compare that to Swift’s show in Miami in October where seats are selling for about $2,000 to as much as $8,500 on StubHub. Prices for her other two US shows in New Orleans and Indianapolis are roughly the same. Sweden isn’t the only budget-friendly city: Prices for Swift’s stops in Portugal, Spain and Germany in the coming months can be purchased as cheap as $300 to $400 a ticket — substantially cheaper the average resale price of $1,600 during her US dates last year. Although Europe’s laws on ticket resale vary country by country, a number of them, including Ireland and Portugal, ban ticket sellers from making a profit on the secondary market. In France, reselling is banned unless authorized by the promoter, Shemtob said. The EU also recently implemented the Digital Services Act for ticket resale marketplaces that “ensure professional sellers are identifiable, prevent certain manipulative sales tactics, and require regular reporting to improve transparency for consumers,” according to FEAT, which lobbied for the law. Shemtob said the difference in pricing between the US and EU is because the former treats “event tickets like commodities that can be bought or sold according to market prices, but the European Court of Justice has ruled that a ‘dated event ticket’ is a contract between the organizer and the consumer enabling entry under specific terms and conditions — not a commodity that can just be bought and sold.” Plus, American tourists are finding their money going further: The US dollar index, which measures the currency’s strength against six of its peers, closed last month at its highest level since last November. Although it has faded since April, it’s still strong. For Swifties looking to jump over the pond for their London Boy, Shemtob recommends using ticket sellers such as Ticketmaster, AEG, Eventim or Twickets. He added also be “extremely wary of using internet search, because the predatory resale platforms all pay top dollar to have their listings appear at the top of search results.”",CNN " Microsoft stock hits all-time high after hiring former OpenAI CEO Sam Altman ",https://edition.cnn.com/2023/11/20/investing/microsoft-stock-record-high-altman-openai/index.html," Updated 4:19 PM EST, Mon November 20, 2023 ","Microsoft stock reached a record high on Monday after the company said that Sam Altman, former chief executive of OpenAI, will join the company to head its artificial intelligence innovation leg. Shares of the tech behemoth rose 2.1% to an all-time high close of $377.44 on Monday, beating the previous record of $376.17. That comes after shares of Microsoft fell 1.7% on Friday, when Sam Altman was ousted from his position at OpenAI in a boardroom coup. Microsoft is the artificial intelligence firm’s biggest stakeholder, with a $13 billion investment in the company. Greg Brockman, who co-founded OpenAI and quit after Altman’s firing, is also joining Microsoft. Altman’s hiring ended days of speculation that the former chief executive could return to the firm after his dramatic firing. Emmett Shear, former CEO of Amazon-owned streaming service Twitch, will replace OpenAI chief technology officer Mira Murati as interim chief executive. Microsoft shares are up about 56% for the year. The stock is one of the “Magnificent Seven” that have powered the lion’s share of the market’s returns this year, boosted by Wall Street’s bet that artificial intelligence is the next big thing in tech. Dan Ives, tech analyst at Wedbush Securities, reiterated his $425 price target for Microsoft’s stock following Altman’s and Brockman’s hires. “We view Microsoft now even in a stronger position from an AI perspective with Altman and Brockman” at the company, Ives wrote in a note on Monday. Other members of the “Magnificent Seven” saw a boost on Monday. Nvidia shares gained 2.3% to end the trading session at $504.20 ahead of its earnings due on Tuesday, notching a record-high close for the chipmaker.",CNN Biden hits Chinese electric cars and solar cells with higher tariffs,https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-69004520,2024-05-14T11:24:03.000Z,"US President Joe Biden is ramping up tariffs on Chinese-made electric cars, solar panels, steel and other goods. The White House said the measures, which include a 100% border tax on electric cars from China, were a response to unfair policies and intended to protect US jobs. China said it was opposed to the hikes and would take retaliatory measures. Analysts said the tariffs were largely symbolic and intended to shore up votes in a tough election year. They follow months of criticism by former President Donald Trump, who is running for the White House against Mr Biden and has argued his rival's support for electric cars would ""kill"" the US car industry. Mr Biden on Tuesday vowed that he would not let China ""unfairly control the market"" for electric vehicles and other key goods, including batteries, computer chips and basic medical supplies. ""If the pandemic taught us anything - we need to have a secure supply of essentials here at home,"" he said. The tariffs announced on Tuesday will hit an estimated $18bn worth of imports, the White House said. As well as a rise from 25% to 100% on electric vehicle tariffs, levies on solar cells will increase from 25% to 50%. Tariff rates on certain steel and aluminium products will more than triple to 25%, up from 7.5% or less. In response, China's commerce ministry said the new moves would ""severely affect the atmosphere for bilateral cooperation"", and criticised what it characterised as the politicisation of economic issues. Ahead of the heavily-trailed White House announcement on Tuesday, a spokesperson for China's foreign ministry said it ""will take all necessary measures to safeguard its legitimate rights and interests"". The moves expand sweeping border taxes that the US imposed on Chinese goods under Mr Trump, citing unfair trade practices. During the Biden administration's review of the measures, the government received nearly 1,500 comments, the vast majority of them from business owners arguing that they were driving up prices for everyday Americans, and asking them to be removed. Mr Biden's decision to leave the tariffs in place and expand them into new areas - even as persistent US inflation has weighed on his approval ratings - is a testament to the dramatic shift in trade views for both political parties in the US, which had long championed the benefits of global commerce. Wendy Cutler, a former trade official for the US who is now vice-president of the Asia Society Policy Institute, said she believed Americans were willing to accept higher priced cars, in exchange for helping to protect US companies and jobs. ""We've seen this movie before - with solar, with steel and [aluminium], and when it comes to cars and other products the United States needs to get ahead of the curve,"" she said. ""It's all about trade-offs and maybe in the immediate term cars become more expensive but in the longer term we want to have a competitive industry here."" In a briefing with reporters, White House officials denied that domestic politics had influenced the decision. They said Beijing had shown no sign of moving away from practices that harm the US, including rules that force western companies to share information with the aim of stealing it and subsidies that have put firms in a position to pump out products well beyond expected demand. ""They're flooding the market,"" Mr Biden said. ""It's not competing - it's cheating."" The White House said the tariffs were targeted and it did not expect them to stoke inflation, contrasting their approach with that of Mr Trump. The former president, who once called himself a ""tariff man"", has campaigned on a proposed across-the-board 10% tariff on foreign imports, which could jump to 60% for goods from China. He has also attacked Mr Biden for promoting electric vehicles, a move he has argued will destroy US car companies, key employers in states such as Michigan that will be key election battlegrounds in November. Erica York, senior economist at the Tax Foundation, said both candidates were ""heading down the same path"" of higher barriers to trade and looking inward ""rather than looking at what we can do on the policy front that would actually make our sectors more competitive"". She said the administration's promotion of the tariffs as strategic was a ""euphemism for protection for sectors that are politically important for this administration"". ""It comes down to a political economy calculus rather than what makes the most economic sense or what's most affordable for US consumers."" The US already imposes steep tariffs on electric vehicles made in China, which has made sales of such cars negligible. But Washington has been watching warily as sales by Chinese companies in Europe and other countries increase. White House officials said ensuring that green technologies were not dominated by a single country was critical to making the transition successful and sustainable in the long run. While moves targeting electric vehicles are likely to have minimal practical effect, the business world is waiting to see if Europe will take similar steps, said Natasha Ebtehadj of Artemis Investment Management. The European Union and the UK are among the other places debating moves to curb imports of Chinese-made electric cars, even at the risk of slowing their adoption. ""It's not really a surprise to investors or to Chinese companies, especially in the run-up to an election where both candidates are not really pro-China,"" she said. ""Given the relatively small volume of imports to the US, it's maybe more interesting what happens next in Europe."" The US and China have been locked in a trade war since 2018, when Mr Trump imposed tariffs on some two thirds of goods imported from China, at the time worth an estimated $360bn. The measures prompted retaliation by Beijing, a stand-off that ended in a détente in early 2020 when Mr Trump reduced the rate of some tariffs, while China pledged to boost its purchases from the US. Those promises have fallen short, but the tariffs have since yielded more than $200bn according to the US in new border taxes for the US government, while prompting a major reshuffling of global trade patterns. Much of that sum has been paid by everyday Americans in the form of higher prices for furniture, footwear and other goods. However, in a research note, Oxford Economics described the latest plans as ""more symbolic bark than bite"". The firm said they were likely to lift inflation by a negligible 0.01 percentage points, while weighing on growth in a similar way, calling the effect a ""rounding error"". Reporting contributed by World Business Report radio ",BBC 'Corrupt ship inspectors demand our food and cargo',https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-68834241,2024-05-14T23:37:11.000Z,"Seafarers have told the BBC port officials routinely demand cash, cigarettes, food and drink as bribes before allowing ships through. So-called ""gratuities"" are against international anti-corruption laws. But the Maritime Anti-Corruption Network said it received 5,183 reports in 2023. The International Association of Ports and Harbours is working to tackle it. Ex-captain Stephen Gudgeon said he was once held at gunpoint after refusing to hand over cigarettes at a port in Asia. ""They took me ashore at gunpoint and I was locked up. I was photographed and fingerprinted, and I was interviewed by two officials in an empty room with just a chair, which I was locked into,"" he told the BBC. ""And it was when they said to me, 'Would you like us to inform your family of your detention?' that I really got quite worried."" Mr Gudgeon said eventually he was released with a $1,500 (£1,200) fine to pay for paperwork irregularities, which he believed were spurious and in retaliation for not handing over the cigarettes. The BBC has been unable to reach the ports authority in question to ask about the allegations. The MACN told the BBC it had received 61,000 reports in more than 1,000 ports across 150 countries since it opened an anonymous helpline in 2011. Cecilia Muller Torbrand, the head of the MACN, said experiences as intimidating as Mr Gudgeon's were uncommon but that the shipping industry was ""quite exposed to corruption risks"", and that the number of incidents reported would be ""the tip of the iceberg"". She said this was due to ""the combination of frequent government interaction, shipping across multiple jurisdictions and the time element of sailing in and out of ports"". Mr Gudgeon added that some crew are too afraid to report incidents because they are on contracts and fear they will be blacklisted and unable to get another job. The former captain, who sailed for more than 40 years before retiring in 2022 and who is on the council of the Nautilus International union and volunteers for the International Seafarers Welfare and Assistance Network, said crews met with bribery demands faced a difficult decision. ""If the company found out you'd done it, you could be in real trouble. They could discipline you for forgiving gratuities when they quite clearly state that you shouldn't be doing it. But if you want the ship to be able to enter and leave port smoothly, then often these things happen."" He said he had witnessed officials whose demands for gratuities had been refused helping themselves to the ship's food provisions. Filipino officer John Soria told the BBC that when the container ship he was sailing on came into port in Eastern Europe in 2018, inspectors came on board and tried to take a large 5kg block of cheese that was to last the crew of 17 half a month. ""He asked me, 'Is it possible to take this home?' I couldn't say no because he was already putting the cheese in the bag."" Mr Soria said he called over the cook who negotiated to cut the cheese in half. ""Half is for the vessel, half for him - so we settled with that."" Prof Helen Sampson, director of the Seafarers International Research Centre at Cardiff University, said: ""Sometimes when [crews have] had their provisions raided, they will sail and there won't be enough food left on board for everybody before the next port where they have a chance to resupply."" Guy Platten is the secretary general of the International Chamber of Shipping, which is made up of national ship-owning associations, collectively representing 80% of the world's merchant fleet. He said he was aware that bribery demands were ""very distressing for seafarers"". ""What we would encourage them to do is contact their company if they're getting these demands, and then the company can take it from there and can explain that there is not going to be any payment,"" he said. ""We try and make sure that we act as one and progress is being made, but obviously it still happens."" The MACN told the BBC it was working with governments in nine countries to tackle corrupt officials, but conceded there was still much to do. Ms Muller Torbrand said the only way it could be stopped was if a majority of companies took a zero-tolerance approach. ""[Captains] should not [say], 'You need to do whatever it takes to get the vessel out.' No, we challenge these practices as an industry."" She said the MACN was working to help companies understand the risks, have better articulated policies and better internal escalation channels. The International Association of Ports and Harbours said it was working in partnership with the MACN. In a statement, it said: ""Ports and their communities are endeavouring to work with their key stakeholders. ""Tangible progress has been made in places such as the Gulf of Suez, the Indian subcontinent and in African countries such as Nigeria, as well as in South America such as Argentina. ""This work alone is not enough as corruption in and around ports concerns many stakeholders. Port authorities can be involved, but so can customs authorities, shipping agents, freight forwarders, ship suppliers, pilots, surveyors and in fact any member of a particular port community. ""It is only through a deep-rooted approach at combatting corruption across entire port communities and at the interface between ship and shore that an impact can be made in the long term."" You can hear more about corruption at ports in Business Daily on the BBC World Service. And find out more about why some seafarers are going hungry in The Food Chain podcast. ",BBC Airlines ask court to block Biden administration's new fee disclosure rule,https://www.cnbc.com/2024/05/13/airlines-challenge-biden-administration-fee-disclosure-rule.html,2024-05-13T18:27:55+0000,"In this articleMajor airlines and an industry trade association asked a federal appeals court to toss out a new Department of Transportation rule requiring earlier disclosure of add-on fees during flight booking.The challengers — trade group Airlines for America, and Alaska, American, Delta, Hawaiian, JetBlue and United airlines — argue the DOT exceeded its legal authority when it published the rule, in late April, and that the rule is ""arbitrary, capricious"" and an ""abuse of discretion.""The petition for review was filed in the U.S. Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals late Friday.The Biden administration introduced the airline fee disclosure rule in September 2022. It requires airlines and online travel agencies to disclose fees for seat selection, checked baggage and other add-ons upfront alongside the airfare, rather than adding the costs at checkout based on a customer's selections.""You should know the full cost of your ticket, right when you're comparison shopping,"" President Joe Biden said at the time.Airlines for America said in a statement to CNBC on Monday that the rule will ""confuse consumers"" and ""complicate the buying process.""""Airlines already provide consumers with complete disclosure of all fees associated with air travel before they purchase a ticket,"" the group said in the statement. ""DOT's attempt to regulate private business operations in a thriving marketplace is beyond its authority ... The DOT ancillary rule is a bad solution in search of a problem.""",CNBC Tesco boss's pay more than doubles to £10m,https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c51nn8rz057o,2024-05-14T14:39:54.923Z,"The boss of Tesco has seen his pay package more than double to £10m following a bumper share award. Ken Murphy, who took over as chief executive of the UK's largest supermarket group in October 2020, was paid £4.7m in salary and bonuses in the year to February. The rest came from shares that were awarded to Mr Murphy when he joined and paid out this year after he surpassed a number of performance targets. For the coming year, Mr Murphy's basic salary will be increased by 3%, which Tesco said was below a raise for its UK hourly-paid colleagues. The company said: ""When considering base salary increases for our senior executives, the committee continues to be mindful of both the wider colleague experience and our fairness principles."" Tesco staff earn £12.02 or £13.15 an hour, depending on where they work. The supermarket chain said that it had recently raised pay for hourly earners by 9.1%, in a move similar to other big supermarkets like Aldi, Asda and M&S aimed at retaining staff. ""Tesco remains committed to a competitive and fair reward package for all colleagues,"" said Alison Platt, chair of Tesco's remuneration committee. She added that Mr Murphy's pay award ""recognises the strong performance of the business"". ""A large proportion of the total package has been achieved because the business met stretching targets in a highly competitive sector,"" Ms Platt said. In order for Mr Murphy to get a pay-out from the shares that were awarded in 2021, he had to meet or surpass certain goals linked to group sales and profit. But Luke Hildyard, executive director of the High Pay Centre, criticised the pay increase taking effect while ""their customers endure major price rises"" and their employees have to get by on much less than executives. It comes after Tesco posted bumper sales and profits last month. The supermarket chain said pre-tax profits hit £2.3bn, up from £882m, while sales rose by 4.4% to £68.2bn in the year to 24 February. The company said price inflation in groceries had ""lessened substantially"". However, Mr Murphy said at the time that the firm was conscious ""things were still difficult for many customers"". ",BBC " Bilt’s May Rent Day promotion: Redeem points toward rent, get free home decor ",https://edition.cnn.com/cnn-underscored/travel/bilt-rent-day-promotion," Updated 4:22 PM EDT, Thu April 25, 2024 ","The Bilt Mastercard® (see rates and fees) has been incredibly popular since its inception in 2021. With a top-notch travel rewards program and the opportunity to earn points on rent with no transaction fees (up to 100,000 points per calendar year), it’s no surprise to see the card flourish over the past few years. In addition, Bilt Rewards — the loyalty program behind the Bilt Mastercard — offers lucrative promotions throughout the year, with the most popular known as Rent Day. With Bilt’s Rent Day promotion — which runs the first of every month — card members earn double points on all purchases (excluding rent) and can take advantage of a unique promotion that changes every month. Bilt typically announces these promotions just a few days before Rent Day. Bilt Rewards just announced the May edition of its monthly Rent Day promotion, and for better or for worse, it’s different from offers we’ve seen in the past. Instead of a travel-related offer (which has been the norm), Bilt is incentivizing members to redeem points toward their monthly rent payment in exchange for a credit toward home decor products in the Bilt Home Collection. Additionally, Bilt recently announced a new partnership with Blade, a swanky helicopter transfer service that runs scheduled flights between New York City airports and Manhattan’s heliports. Let’s take a closer look at this upcoming Rent Day promotion and Bilt’s partnership with Blade. Between April 25 and May 1, Bilt members who redeem points toward their rent payment will get 100% of those points back to redeem toward items in the Bilt Home Collection. You can use a minimum of 1,000 points and a maximum of 50,000 points for this offer, and the Home Collection credit is good for six months. However, your points are only worth 0.55 cents apiece when you redeem them toward your rent payment. For example, if you redeem 10,000 points toward rent, you’ll get a $55 discount. Travel website The Points Guy values Bilt Rewards points at 2.05 cents apiece when redeemed toward travel, so this isn’t a great redemption in comparison. However, it might be worth considering this month if you’re looking for new home decor anyway. The Bilt Home Collection usually has things like artwork from partner artists, interesting vases and different types of cups. This month, Bilt will also offer curated Rent Day dining experiences at restaurants around the country. This includes unique tasting menus, wine pairings and omakase experiences. These dining experiences will cost $150, or you can redeem 15,000 Bilt points for you and a guest. Availability will be limited, but you can try to grab a seat on April 26. Those with Bilt elite status will receive priority access to reservations. Platinum status members will have first access at 12 p.m. EST, Gold status members at 12:10 p.m. EST and Silver status members at 12:20 p.m. EST. All other Bilt Rewards members can book at 12:30 p.m. EST. Dining experiences will be available at select restaurants in New York, Miami, Seattle, Los Angeles, Atlanta, Dallas, Boston and Washington, D.C. Every month on Rent Day, Bilt also gives members with the Bilt Mastercard a chance to earn double points on all purchases (excluding rent). So, if you have a new restaurant you want to check out, flights to book or any other purchases to make, it could be worth waiting until May 1 to earn more points on your purchase. And if you’re dining at a restaurant that participates in Bilt Dining, you can increase your earnings up to a whopping 11 points per dollar. But remember, to earn Bilt points with your Bilt Mastercard, you must use the card five times each statement period (see Rewards & Benefits). Earlier this month, Bilt announced a new partnership with Blade, where Bilt Reward members will earn bonus points on every Blade booking. Members will earn 2 bonus points for every dollar spent on Blade flights as long as they pay with a credit or debit card linked to their Bilt Rewards account. Again, you’ll get more Blade benefits if you have Bilt elite status. These are nice benefits to have if you live in New York. Blade has lounges at its heliports on West 30th Street and East 34th Street, both of which are outfitted with a complimentary bar, coffee and free snacks. If getting a discount on rent is your preferred way to redeem Bilt Rewards points, this month’s Rent Day promotion is a great way to earn bonus points to put toward furnishing your home. If you’d rather redeem toward travel, focus on earning double points on all purchases on May 1. Learn more and apply now for the Bilt Mastercard. Looking for a travel credit card? Find out which cards CNN Underscored Money chose as the best travel credit cards currently available.",CNN " Nicholas Kristof says press ‘shouldn’t be neutral’ with coverage of Trump’s threats to democracy ",https://edition.cnn.com/2024/05/14/media/nicholas-kristof-press-trump-democracy-threat/index.html," Published 7:08 AM EDT, Tue May 14, 2024 ","Editor’s Note: A version of this article first appeared in the “Reliable Sources” newsletter. Sign up for the daily digest chronicling the evolving media landscape here. Famed New York Times journalist Nicholas Kristof on Tuesday will release his memoir, “Chasing Hope: A Reporter’s Life.” In the 432-page work, which I was provided an advanced copy of, Kristof vividly recounts some of the most pivotal experiences that have made up his decades as a reporter, foreign correspondent, bureau chief, and columnist for The Gray Lady. The book, of course, arrives as the American press still wrestles with how to cover Donald Trump and the anti-democratic movement which he leads. Kristof, having spent years reporting on repressive governments across far-flung corners of the globe, is not shy about offering the lessons he has learned covering autocrats. The American press, he writes in clear-eyed terms, “shouldn’t be neutral about upholding democracy” and must not “dispassionately observe our way to authoritarianism.” We spoke with Kristof over email for a Q&A about this and more. Our conversation is printed below in its unedited form. The opening scene of your memoir takes place in the Congo in 1997. You write that you thought you might lose your life on that reporting trip. At the end of your book, you write about how being a foreign correspondent has dramatically transformed as a profession. Today, you explain, foreign reporting trips are highly choreographed. The New York Times has its “own James Bond-style Q” who hands out special gear before heading into the field for trips and security consultants are there every step of the way. How beneficial have these resources been to journalism? They keep journalists alive. Look, in the old days, we just took off into war zones and sometimes got extraordinary stories by taking imprudent risks. I lost friends because of the risk-taking, and the reason I’m able to write this answer for you is that I repeatedly was lucky. Early in the Iraq war, I calculated that journalists were dying proportionately at ten times the rate of American troops, because we weren’t careful enough. When I last crossed into Syria during the civil war, I grumbled because the Times sent security consultants to escort me and they didn’t let me sneak into Aleppo — but then journalists soon began to be kidnapped and tortured, so now I’m very grateful to The Times for restraining me. My wife is even more grateful. In the 1980s, you write that as a reporter for The NYT you “had a freedom that journalists today could barely fathom,” in that “much of the time, editors had little idea” what you were working on. In your view, and broadly speaking, do reporters not have enough independence to go out into the world, find stories of importance and chase them? Is the 2024 journalist too chained to their desk? This is strange for a pundit to admit, but I think there’s too much punditry in journalism today and not enough reporting. There can be a good audience for a political hit piece whipped out while sitting at a desk without actually talking to anyone, or for a talking head to do the same on television, but I deeply believe that where we in journalism most add value is when we go out and report; it’s not when we stir the pot but when we add to the pot. I also think that’s where we have the most impact. If I write about Trump, abortion, the Middle East, guns or other issues at the top of the agenda, fellow liberals will cheer me on, and conservatives will scoff — but I won’t change minds. In contrast, where I’ve been able to have an impact has always been by projecting issues onto the agenda. Darfur. Sex trafficking. Some human rights, poverty and health issues. And that happens only by getting out of the office and reporting. That’s not just true of global crises. We’re losing more than 100,000 Americans a year to overdoses, and I don’t think we in journalism have adequately covered that catastrophe in working-class America. I think that’s partly because of a lack of class diversity in our ranks. It’s been a very difficult time to work as a journalist over the last few years. Scores of people have been laid off at nearly every major outlet, local newspapers have shuttered from coast-to-coast, and newsrooms continue to search for a viable economic model to remain operational into the future. You write in your book about how journalists should focus more on solutions. Is there a solution to these problems afflicting the industry that you see? I would never have imagined saying this a decade ago, but today I’d be open to government grants to keep alive local news organizations around the country. The National Endowment for the Arts provides grants for local artists, and I’d say that it’s even more important that a town have a newspaper than that it have a theater. In terms of larger news organizations, philanthropy may be part of the answer. But I’m deeply worried about what A.I. may do to the business model of news organizations. That’s a shadow hanging over all of us. If we’re not careful, down the road we won’t be getting news from The New York Times, CNN or even TikTok, but from an A.I. assistant who pillages content from journalists and gives us a rehash that is tailor made to reinforce our own biases. As a foreign correspondent, you write openly about living with the consequences of having “occasionally got[ten] sources in trouble” when you perhaps were not careful enough. What advice might you offer journalists, particularly those reporting in countries ruled by oppressive leaders, so that they do not make such mistakes and live “haunted by the fear” that they may have “inflicted suffering rather than alleviated it”? Too many journalists aren’t careful enough about protecting sources. The ethos in journalism has tended to be to provide as much description of a source as possible, and that makes sense in Washington. But with a Chinese person who may not understand the risk, I think we have a duty of care that may involve withholding part of someone’s identity. When I’m in China, there are armies of State Security people tailing me, using a zone-to-zone defense where they pass me from one person to the next, plus cameras on streets — and it’s not a game. You make a mistake, and you destroy someone’s life. One story I tell in “Chasing Hope” is of a Chinese man who had information about missiles that I desperately wanted to get, and I met him secretly several time trying to wheedle the information out of him.  And by the end, I told him just to go home and never be in touch with a foreigner again. I knew that there was always some risk that I would get a great story, and he would be executed. It wasn’t worth it. It felt strange to be turning away from a good story, but I’m glad I did. You wanted to become governor of Oregon to change society for the better but were found ineligible to appear on the state’s ballot over a residency requirement. You write in your book, however, that afterward you realized, “Perhaps the grass is invariably greener on the other side of the fence.” Do you believe that one can be more impactful working in journalism than politics? That’s certainly true at times. William Safire, when asked if he would leave his Times column to be Secretary of State, replied: “Why take a step down?” Look, there are great journalists and great politicians. I bellyflopped as a politician, so I’m doing what I can with my keyboard. In the book, you write about efforts led by Donald Trump and his allies to “undermine democracy.” You offer a chilling description of what a “populist authoritarianism” might look like in the U.S., noting the federal government could be weaponized and “used to punish or intimidate news organizations.” You even write about how there could be “assassinations” that occur amid heightened polarization. As someone who has spent his entire life reporting across the world, do you believe that the American public truly understands the risks that you outline? Or do you believe that people are under the illusion such horrors cannot happen here? I’ve seen how countries can unravel and how democracies can become more despotic, and I do think that many Americans don’t appreciate the risks. We tend to think that change will be linear. Sometimes it zigs or zags. You write in your book that with so much at stake in 2024, “Journalists must not settle for being dispassionate stenographers, quoting first one side and then the other.” Instead, you say, “Our foremost obligation is to report the truth, wherever it lies and whomever this offends. … We journalists shouldn’t dispassionately observe our way to authoritarianism; we shouldn’t be neutral about upholding democracy.” Do you believe your colleagues in the press are as clear-eyed about this as you are? Some are and some aren’t. Look, it’s messy. Traditionally, we try to be fair and truthful. We aim to be fair by quoting all sides in a dispute, and most of the time that serves the interests of truth. But not always. During the Joe McCarthy period, it didn’t work to quote McCarthy’s rants and also the defenses of people he accused of being Communists; it took Edward R. Murrow to say clearly that McCarthy was a lying, bullying demagogue. Likewise, in the civil rights movement, it didn’t work to quote Martin Luther King Jr. in one paragraph and George Wallace in the next. It took reporters going down South and, at considerable risk, conveying the brutality of Jim Crow segregation. Likewise, I think in 2016 we in the media treated Trump as just another candidate when, in my view, he was quite different. We were fair but perhaps not truthful, and I think our paramount responsibility is to convey the truths we know. But doing that with humility and effectiveness is really hard to pull off. Why do you believe that institutions and so many journalists find it difficult to flatly state that Trump is an anti-democratic candidate? I have enough trouble defining and defending my own square foot of principle. I won’t try to speak for other journalists. I must ask: The NYT’s top editor, Joe Kahn, recently drew backlash for saying, “To say that the threats of democracy are so great that the media is going to abandon its central role as a source of impartial information to help people vote — that’s essentially saying that the news media should become a propaganda arm for a single candidate, because we prefer that candidate’s agenda.” What do you make of Kahn’s comments? I think people are reading too much into a brief quote that can’t encompass the complexity of running a newsroom today. I’ve known Joe Kahn for 35 years, I admire him, and I believe in his commitment to accountability journalism — in China and in America. Will we periodically make mistakes? Of course. But The Times is an amazing institution that takes very seriously its responsibility to this country, to its democracy and to its future. Let’s try to find a positive note to end on, amid all this doom and gloom. What gives you hope for the future of journalism? Bad journalism may never have been as bad as it is today, but great journalism has never been better. I’m staggered by the brilliance of some of the multimedia, video and audio journalism I see today, by the dedication of colleagues to uncover the truth and by the courage of journalists risking their lives today in Gaza, Russia and elsewhere. The way photo journalists rush toward gunfire — it’s poetry! I’m awed by the caliber of young journalists flocking to the field even though we don’t have a clear business model to provide them paychecks. And as I say in “Chasing Hope,” journalism itself is an act of hope. We do what we do because we believe it makes a difference. What we do matters. I believe that journalism — along with law and the civil service — restrained the Trump presidency and is a force for civilization and democracy. When I was on Tiananmen Square that terrible night of June 3-4, 1989, as Chinese troops opened fire on us to crush the pro-democracy movement, a rickshaw driver picked up the body of a young man who had been shot. He drove his rickshaw by me, so that I could witness the broken, bleeding body and report on it. “Tell the world,” the driver shouted, as tears streamed down his cheeks. “Tell the world.” He believed that reporting mattered, that truth can eventually prevail, that what we do makes a difference. Some day, unpredictably, truth triumphs. He believed it and I believe it, and that is why I say that journalism is an act of hope.",CNN " China’s Alibaba profit tumbles 86% though revenue beats estimates ",https://edition.cnn.com/2024/05/14/tech/china-alibaba-stock-earnings-report-intl-hnk/index.html," Published 10:36 PM EDT, Tue May 14, 2024 ","China’s Alibaba Group Holding reported an 86% plunge in fourth-quarter profit on Tuesday primarily due to valuation changes from equity investments, pushing its US-listed shares down almost 6% in early trading even though revenue beat forecasts. It also announced it would revive a plan first floated in 2022 to upgrade its secondary listing in Hong Kong to a primary listing, while retaining its primary listing in New York. It aims to complete this dual-primary listing by August. China’s largest e-commerce group by market share has had a tumultuous year since announcing the biggest shake-up in its 25-year history in March 2023, splitting into six units and refocusing on its core businesses, including domestic e-commerce. Consumers in China have also been spending carefully after the Covid-19 pandemic amid an economic slowdown and prolonged property slump. Alibaba’s focus on low-cost goods in response to the cautious consumer spending helped boost domestic e-commerce sales, driving 7% growth in overall revenue in the quarter to March 31. Group net income, however was 3.27 billion yuan ($452 million), compared with 23.52 billion yuan a year ago. Alibaba (BABA) shares were down 5.6% in early New York trading. Chairman Joe Tsai told analysts in a post-earnings call that the company was seeing “early signs” of growing confidence. “We have seen green shoots in some discretionary items like apparel and electronics,” he said. “We know Chinese consumers have the ability to spend, but that willingness to spend reflects their confidence about the future.” Quarterly revenue at its domestic commerce arm, Taobao and Tmall Group, increased 4% year-on-year with order volume increasing double-digits. Alibaba’s domestic commerce revenue in recent quarters has been overshadowed by blockbuster growth for low-price and discount-focused platforms such as PDD (PDD) Holdings’ Pinduoduo and ByteDance-owned Douyin. “Taobao and Tmall’s strong GMV and order growth is especially impressive given challenges from competitors and markets conditions,” said Jacob Cooke, CEO of e-commerce consultancy WPIC Marketing + Technologies. The group reported revenue of 221.87 billion yuan in the three months ended March 31, compared with a consensus estimate of 219.66 billion yuan, according to LSEG data. Analysts expected strong growth from Alibaba’s international digital commerce arm, given its investments in building global market share and appetite among global consumers for low-cost goods from China. The segment delivered with 45% growth, compared with an expected 39% revenue rise, according to LSEG data. It also saw losses nearly double to 4.1 billion yuan ($567 million) from 2.2 billion a year ago as it invested heavily to remain price competitive and shorten delivery times. The group’s other “core” business, its cloud division, saw AI-related revenue from external customers, a relatively new business, grew at triple-digits year-on-year.",CNN " Fed’s Powell is unfazed by the latest hot inflation reading ",https://edition.cnn.com/2024/05/14/business/fed-chair-powell-ppi-inflation/index.html," Published 1:13 PM EDT, Tue May 14, 2024 ","After another reading of hotter-than-expected inflation, you’d think Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell might be getting a little worried that the battle will go on much longer than expected. But Powell, for the most part, isn’t stressing ahead of Wednesday’s crucial Consumer Price Index data set to be released in the morning. Tuesday’s wholesale inflation data, which jumped to its highest rate in a year, certainly wasn’t a source of comfort. And it comes after March’s unexpected jump in consumer prices to 3.5% on an annual basis from 3.2% in February. The Producer Price Index, which measures the change in prices that manufacturers pay to suppliers, rose 0.5%, a much faster pace than March’s 0.1% decline. “I wouldn’t call it hot, I would call it sort of mixed,” Powell said Tuesday, referring to the new wholesale inflation data. But Powell acknowledged that the first quarter had been “notable for its lack of progress on inflation,” he said at an event hosted by the Foreign Bankers’ Association speaking alongside European Central Bank Governing Council member Klaas Knot. “We did not expect this to be a smooth road, but these were higher than I think anybody expected,” Powell said. Still, he predicts monthly inflation readings will revert to lower levels seen last year, but noted that his confidence isn’t as high as before the disappointing inflation readings so far this year. Most Fed officials share Powell’s concerns that inflation could prove to be more persistent than anticipated, making it more challenging to achieve the central bank’s 2% target. He’s far from conceding that, though given some employers are still having difficulty filling open positions, which he believes is contributing to inflation by putting upward pressure on wages, he said. But some officials recently have expressed fears that inflation could ramp up even higher, potentially to levels that would merit raising interest rates. “I remain willing to raise the federal funds rate at a future meeting, should the incoming data indicate that progress on inflation has stalled or reversed,” Fed Governor Michelle Bowman said earlier this month. Another troubling sign for US central bankers is consumers’ belief that inflation will move higher in the year ahead, according to two surveys Fed officials monitor closely. Since inflation expectations can effectively control the pace of price hikes, businesses take those expectations into account when pricing goods and services. That can lead to higher prices.",CNN Bumble apologises for anti-celibacy ad after backlash,https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cz4xx2rw0leo,2024-05-14T14:34:20.996Z,"Dating app Bumble has apologised for adverts that critics said shamed women who were not sexually active. The marketing campaign included messages such as ""A vow of celibacy is not the answer"" and ""Thou shalt not give up on dating and become a nun"". Bumble said the ads were supposed to bring humour to ""a community frustrated by modern dating"". But critics said the adverts were tasteless and ran counter to the company's stated aim of empowering women. ""In a world fighting for respect and autonomy over our bodies, it's appalling to see a dating platform undermine women's choices,"" wrote Jordan Emanuel, a model and actress who has talked publicly about her decision to refrain from sex for a year. The company, which made its name in the world of dating apps by putting women in charge of starting conversations, said it understood the complaints and would remove the adverts, which started appearing on billboards in the US last month. ""We made a mistake,"" the company said in a statement posted on social media. ""For years Bumble has passionately stood up for women and marginalised communities, and their right to fully exercise personal choice. We didn't live up to these values with this campaign and we apologize for the harm it caused."" It said it would offer the advertising space to the National Domestic Violence Hotline, among other organisations and donate money. Bumble was founded in 2014 and became a public company in 2021, but it has struggled amid concerns about its ability to reach younger users. The company, which also owns Badoo, has seen its shares slide sharply since its debut. In February, it announced plans to lay off 30% of its workforce - about 350 people. The company recently relaunched its Bumble app, an overhaul that includes a new setting allowing users to remove the requirement that women initiate contact. A 2022 Pew survey estimated that a third of US adults and just over half of those under 30 had used a dating app or site at some point. Of those who had tried out online dating, only half reported they found it a positive experience. Bumble has about four million paying customers, including 2.7 million on Badoo. ",BBC " Why lab-grown diamond sales are surging ",https://edition.cnn.com/2022/04/27/business/diamonds-manmade-demand/index.html," Published 7:49 AM EDT, Wed April 27, 2022 ","It’s proposal season, and engagements are on the rise. So are factory-made diamond sales. Not that you’d know the difference. Man-made diamonds look the same as naturally occurring ones. The only noticeable difference is the price tag. “The result is really stunning,” said Edahn Golan, an independent diamond industry analyst. He said March data showed the number of engagement rings sold that featured a manufactured diamond jumped 63% compared to last year, while the number of engagement rings sold with a natural diamond declined 25% in the same period. Going back by another month, to February, the data showed the number of rings sold with lab diamonds that month surged even more, to 80% compared to a year earlier while the number fell by 13% for natural diamond engagement rings. “The big fear in the natural diamonds industry is that consumers will start accepting lab-grown diamonds in engagement rings,” he said. Too late. “It’s actually happening.” Why are consumers flocking to man-made diamonds? Cost is the most obvious reason. The average retail price of the most popular one carat round man-made diamond for an engagement ring in March was $2,318, Golan said. “This is substantially less – as much as 73% cheaper – than a natural diamond of the same size, cut and clarity as the man-made diamond, which would cost $8,740,” he said. Plus, the lower cost allows couples to buy a bigger stone. “A lab diamond is a real diamond, but maybe it took a few weeks to make it,” said Golan. “Natural diamonds were formed over 800 million to three billion years and there isn’t an infinite supply of them.” This makes natural diamonds quite a bit more expensive, and prices are likely to rise as Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has tightened the supply chain for natural raw diamonds. The sanctions directly target Alrosa, partly owned by the Russian government, which the US government identified as the world’s largest diamond mining company, accounting for 28% of global diamond output. Man-made diamonds are also becoming popular as consumers are more aware and educated about them, said Dan Moran, a third-generation diamond expert and owner of LA-based fine jeweler Concierge Diamonds. Moran said the typical buyer of man-made diamonds is typically younger than 40 and very budget conscious. Mined diamonds have a controversial history that’s tied to the use of child labor in some African diamond mines as well as sales of illegally-traded “conflict diamonds” that fund conflict in war-torn areas. Among Millennials and Gen Z, their eco-conscious mindset and ethical concerns about natural diamond sourcing is another factor influencing their preference for non-traditional engagement rings, according to a report from wedding planning website The Knot. Although its slice is growing, the market share for man-made diamonds remains relatively small. Currently, about 7% of the specialty diamond jewelry market is represented by man-made diamonds, up from 3% in 2020, said Golan. Some major jewelry retailers are driving the effort to take man-made diamonds mainstream. In 2021, the world’s largest jewelry company, Pandora (PANDY), made a major shift by announcing it would stop using mined diamonds and would swap to lab-created diamonds in its jewelry. Pandora said it’s instituting the change as part of an effort to sell sustainable jewelry, and also because consumers increasingly are asking for it. Signet, (SIG) the largest jewelry company in the United States (which owns Zales, Kay Jewelers and Jared chains) called out the popularity of lab diamond jewelry in its March earnings call with analysts. Calling it a “fast-growing category” in its jewelry portfolio, Signet CEO Virginia Drosos told analysts that lab-created diamonds are among the big jewelry trends she expects this year. The company said it has expanded its man-made bridal jewelry selection in both its Zales and Kay Jewelers stores in response to the increased demand. Fine jewelry brand Charles and Colvard, which makes lab-created diamonds, said consumers don’t just want to look good with the jewelry they are wearing, they also want to feel good about it. “As the momentum for conscious consumerism grows, the surge towards lab grown diamonds isn’t surprising,” said Don O’Connell, president and CEO of Charles & Colvard. “[Consumers] want to know the origins of their stones and be reassured they’re conflict-free. They’re embracing the choice to purchase a piece of fine jewelry that aligns with their values.” Lab-grown diamond brand VRAI said the pandemic, too, has sparked attention and action toward social and environmental issues. It said consumers are being more thoughtful and reassessing their purchasing habits, as well as the companies and industries they are supporting. There is, however, one important consideration for anyone buying lab-created diamonds: Man-made diamonds have little resale value. So while you may not be able to tell a natural diamond from a factory made variety, someone with a trained eye can, said Golan. Once a stone is identified as a factory diamond, even though you paid a lot less for it, you also won’t get much for it. But the value of a ring isn’t just monetary. “As a professional in the industry, I am asked all the time by people about what I think about a ring they have,” said Moran, of Concierge Jewelers. “I always say, if you love it, be happy with it. An engagement ring is a symbol of commitment and enduring love.”",CNN " What Biden’s tariffs on Chinese imports may mean for American jobs, the economy and inflation ",https://edition.cnn.com/2024/05/14/economy/inflation-new-china-tariffs-biden-example/index.html," Published 4:44 PM EDT, Tue May 14, 2024 ","Countries have long imposed tariffs as a means of protecting and shoring up domestic industries. However, history and research have shown that the economic effects often fail to live up to the hype. On Tuesday, the Biden administration announced the latest iteration of American import taxes: a wave of new and heightened tariffs on Chinese exports across a slew of industries deemed strategic to national security. Economists expect that the newly announced $18 billion in tariffs likely will have a minimal near-term impact on GDP, inflation and monetary policy — some equating it to a mere “rounding error.” However, on a broader level, the picture could be more complex. “The tariffs announced on China by the Biden administration foreshadow what is going to be a long, cold winter of economic conflict between the US and China,” economist Joe Brusuelas at RSM US told CNN. The latest tariffs build upon former President Donald Trump’s sweeping $300 billion program in 2018 and 2019, which levied tariffs heavily against China and a variety of other trading partners and is still in effect. Trump has made campaign trail promises for even steeper tariffs if he were elected — not just for China but an across-the-board 10% tariff on all imports, which economists have said would not only result in significant job losses in the US but also stoke inflation. The latest tariffs, which would roll out some time between now and 2026, come amid a solid job market, robust economic growth and strong consumer spending — but also a continuing battle against decades-high inflation that is keeping interest rates higher. Biden’s tariff plan likely won’t move the needle for monetary policy, said Ryan Sweet, chief US economist at Oxford Economics. “The additional tariffs are essentially a rounding error for inflation and GDP, carrying no implications for monetary policy,” Sweet wrote in a note issued Monday, when reports first indicated that changes to the US tariff policy were forthcoming. “The Fed will not make a mountain out of a mole hill, so the tariffs will not provide additional ammunition to justify keeping interest rates high for longer.” On Tuesday, after learning the fuller scope of the Biden administration’s tariffs, Sweet told CNN those expectations shouldn’t change significantly. In 2002, when President George W. Bush placed tariffs on imported steel and aluminum products, studies show that while it only cost the economy $30 million, it resulted in higher prices for American steel-consuming industries and led to a steep loss of jobs throughout the steel industry, especially among smaller firms that didn’t have the market power to influence prices. Seven years later, when President Barack Obama increased tariffs on tires imported from China, the initiative was credited with saving about 1,200 jobs in the US tire manufacturing industry, but came at a $1.1 billion cost to Americans in the form of higher prices, the Peterson Institute for International Economics found. The 2018 tariffs imposed by Trump did not result in an immediate boost to manufacturing employment but instead led to a net loss of jobs and rising prices for consumers due to higher input costs and retaliatory tariffs, Federal Reserve economists noted in a 2019 paper. Tariffs typically make more political sense than economic sense, Sweet noted. “Most economists view tariffs as a bad idea because they prevent a country from reaping the benefits of specialization, disrupt the movement of goods and services, and lead to a misallocation of resources,” Sweet wrote. “Consumers and producers often pay higher prices when tariffs are implemented.” That’s because tariffs tax imports when they come ashore, adding costs for US distributors, retailers and, ultimately, consumers. The US International Trade Commission said in a 2023 study that US importers “bore nearly the full cost” of the Trump tariffs. Worse, some businesses appeared to take advantage of the trade war by bumping up prices even higher. Goldman Sachs found that tariffs allowed US producers and non-Chinese exporters to the US market to “opportunistically raise their prices as well.” The New York Fed found that the 2018 tariffs cost US households $419 per year because of higher tax burdens and market efficiency losses. Researchers estimated that would double as the tariffs went into effect in 2019. As more time has passed, the positive economic effects have become even less clear cut. The net economic effect of the import tariffs, retaliatory tariffs and agricultural subsidies “was at best a wash, and it may have been mildly negative,” to US jobs and businesses, economists wrote in a National Bureau of Economic Research working paper published in January 2024. The trade war did appear to have political benefits in strengthening support for the Republican party in the US heartland and communities most affected by the tariffs, researchers noted in the NBER working paper. “Residents of tariff-protected locations became less likely to identify as Democrats and more likely to vote for President Trump,” they wrote. “Voters thus appear to have responded favorably to the extension of tariff protections to local industries despite their economic cost.” The Covid-19 pandemic’s discombobulating effects on supply chains distort the full picture of how the 2018-2019 tariffs affected US manufacturing and trade. US importers had started to substitute away from Chinese goods, but once the pandemic struck and US consumer demand increased, domestic inventory levels drew down quickly and China imports ramped back up, Wells Fargo economists wrote in an April note. However, by the end of 2023, imports from China were down 3% relative to 2019 while there was a 50% growth in imports from South Korea, Singapore, Taiwan and Vietnam, Nicole Cervi, an economist at Wells Fargo, told CNN in an interview. “There’s definitely some data to suggest that we’ve seen stronger imports from countries outside of China, and some of it may be that Chinese businesses are perhaps relocating some of their operations to these other countries that are not being affected by the Section 301 tariffs,” Cervi said. Recent ocean and air freight data gives further rise to suspicions that China may be trying to circumvent US tariffs via Mexico, said Peter Sand, chief analyst with Xeneta, an ocean and air freight analytics and logistics company. Container shipping imports from China to Mexico rocketed higher by 60% in January and 34% for the first quarter, Xeneta data shows. “That’s a lot,” Sand told CNN in an interview. “It’s staggering.” What was once an immature trade lane is now one of the busiest in the world, he said. “It’s obvious that imports to this extent are not only for domestic purposes in Mexico,” he said.",CNN " ‘Jeopardy!’ is coming to Amazon Prime with a different version ",https://edition.cnn.com/2024/05/14/media/pop-culture-jeopardy-amazon-prime/index.html," Published 11:09 AM EDT, Tue May 14, 2024 ","“Jeopardy!,” the 60-year-old game show, is entering its streaming era. Amazon’s Prime Video has ordered a spin-off of the classic, called “Pop Culture Jeopardy!,” which marks the first-time “Jeopardy!” has created a version exclusively for a major streaming service. It’s a “brand-new twist” on the show, Amazon announced in a press release Tuesday, explaining that its version of “Jeopardy!” will be played by teams of three while maintaining its “answer-and-question” format. The categories will draw from pop culture, including music, sports, Broadway — and even just Zendaya. A host wasn’t revealed, with Amazon saying it will be “announced at a later date.” The spin-off will also be produced by Michael Davies, who also produces the linear TV show. A premiere date wasn’t announced, but episodes will stream exclusively on Prime Video, which has about more than 200 million global subscribers. “Pop Culture Jeopardy!” isn’t the first spin-off of the quiz show to go streaming: A short-lived “Sports Jeopardy!” was released about a decade ago for Sony’s streaming service Crackle. The show has since been taken down. Amazon is increasingly spending more money on content for its streaming platforms, which also includes Freevee. Last year, the company shelled out nearly $19 billion on video and music costs, an increase of 14% compared to 2022. To help offset that, ads were introduced this year to all Prime Video viewers. Customers have to opt-in to pay $2.99 a month more for an ad-free version.",CNN "Shein suppliers still working 75-hour weeks, report says",https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cg67w73nxqxo,2024-05-12T08:11:37.182Z,"Workers for some suppliers of Chinese fast fashion giant Shein are still working 75 hours a week, despite the company promising to improve conditions, a report suggests. A new investigation by Swiss advocacy group Public Eye has followed up on its 2021 report, which found a number of staff across six sites in Guangzhou were doing excessive overtime. According to the group, who interviewed 13 employees from six factories in China supplying Shein for its latest investigation, excessive overtime was still common for many workers. Shein told the BBC it was ""working hard"" to address the matters raised by the Public Eye report and had made ""significant progress on enhancing conditions"". Shein has grown rapidly since it was founded in 2008, and was one of many online businesses to boom during the Covid pandemic lockdowns. Its formula of offering a wide range of cheap clothes - backed up with campaigns on Instagram, TikTok and other social media - has turned it into one of the biggest fashion retailers in the world. It relies on thousands of third-party suppliers, as well as contract manufacturers, near its headquarters in Guangzhou, and is able to turn around a new item in a matter of weeks, rather than months. However, an employee who has worked at sewing machines for 20 years told Public Eye: “I work every day from 8 in the morning to 10.30 at night and take one day off each month. I can’t afford any more days off because it costs too much."" The 13 factory employees were interviewed in the summer of 2023. Interviewees worked at production sites west of Nancun Village in the Guangzhou area in southern China. Public Eye did not return to Nancun itself, which was the location of the original interviews, claiming ""the atmosphere was too risky"" due to media attention from its initial report. Interviewees, aged between 23 and 60, said they worked 12-hour days on average, which did not include breaks for lunch and dinner. They said they usually work six to seven days a week. Shein's Code of Conduct for its suppliers states that workers should not work longer than 60 hours a week, including overtime. The brand acknowledged this was a long-term issue when Public Eye first raised it in 2021. In its response to the latest report, Shein said long working hours in the sector were a ""common challenge that brands, manufacturers, and other ecosystem players must work together to address"". It added that this was not a problem unique to Shein, but said it was ""committed to playing our part to improve the situation in our own supply chain"". Workers also claimed their wages had hardly changed since the first investigation and fluctuate between 6,000 to 10,000 yuan per month (£663 to £1,104 a month). Public Eye says the basic wage for workers after deducting overtime pay is 2,400 yuan (£265). According to the Asia Floor Wage Alliance, a living wage in China is around 6,512 yuan (£719). Interviewees claimed if they made a mistake, they would have to make any alterations to the clothes unpaid. “Whoever makes the mistake is responsible for putting it right. You have to fix the problem in your own working time,"" a 50-year-old supervisor told the investigation. Workers also claimed to have noticed a rise in surveillance cameras in the factories, and said they believed the footage was sent to Shein in real time so regulations could be enforced. Public Eye also said it observed toddlers being babysat in the factories, teenagers packaging items and a smoking ban not being enforced. In a statement to the BBC, Shein said it was investing tens of millions of dollars ""in strengthening governance and compliance across our supply chain"". ""We are actively working to improve our suppliers’ practices, including ensuring that hours worked are voluntary and that workers are compensated fairly for what they do, and also recognise the importance of industry collaboration to ensure continuous improvement and progress in this area,"" it said. ""As a result of our efforts, research we have conducted with our third party auditors has found that workers at Shein supplier facilities in China earn basic salaries that are significantly higher than the average local minimum wage. ” Shein told Public Eye that suppliers were required to ensure they met local laws and regulations governing wages and working hours. ""Where violations [of our governance policies] are found, we take firm action... [including] termination of the business relationship."" With regards to surveillance cameras, Shein told Public Eye that suppliers made their own decisions to install cameras in their facilities, and the company did not have access to suppliers’ security camera feeds or footage. Regarding children in factories, the company told Public Eye: ""We strictly do not tolerate child labour. We treat any violations with utmost severity."" It acknowledged that some factory staff faced a challenge of balancing work and childcare, which ""can result in workers bringing their children to their workplace"". ""Being aware of this, we provide financial support for suppliers to create childcare centres within or near their premises."" ",BBC " Welcome to the AI dystopia no one asked for, courtesy of Silicon Valley ",https://edition.cnn.com/2024/05/10/business/ai-dystopia-silicon-valley-nightcap/index.html," Published 6:00 AM EDT, Fri May 10, 2024 ","A couple of weeks ago, I rewatched Jurassic Park for probably the 10th time since the movie came out 30 years ago. (As an aside, it really holds up — 10/10, no notes.) Early in the plot, when the guests are discussing their impressions of the park, Jeff Goldblum’s character (also 10/10, just perfect) launches into a speech so prescient you could sub out all the dinosaur stuff and map it onto the modern debate around artificial intelligence. “Don’t you see the danger, John, inherent in what you’re doing here? Genetic power is the most awesome force the planet’s ever seen, but you wield it like a kid that’s found his dad’s gun … You stood on the shoulders of geniuses to accomplish something as fast as you could, and before you even knew what you had, you patented it, and packaged it, and slapped it on a plastic lunchbox, and now you’re selling it.” And then comes the line that later launched a thousand memes: “Your scientists were so preoccupied with whether or not they could that they didn’t stop to think if they should.” Naturally, the skeptic of the group is dismissed as a Luddite and the movie carries on. (Spoiler alert: The Luddite was right!) AI skeptics — who are legion, and not necessarily part of the fringe tin foil hat crowd — are begging Silicon Valley to take a beat before unleashing AI to the world. But tech companies, faced with the most powerful computing innovation in a generation, are running around like kids who just found their dad’s gun. See here: Apple and Google — which, to be sure, deserve a lot of credit for the innovations they’ve brought to the world — have recently latched on to AI-powered features to help sell their newest tablets and smartphones. After all, throwing AI into your pitch deck is a surefire way to signal to shareholders that you’re on the cutting edge, which helps distract from the fact that your company hasn’t actually produced any significant proprietary tech in years. In marketing those new devices, though, Apple and Google have lost the plot. Apple’s new iPad advertisement made headlines for all the wrong reasons this week. The spot depicts a massive industrial hydraulic press slowly crushing a collection of objects that represent the human creative experience: There’s a piano, a record player blasting Sonny & Cher’s 1972 hit “All I Ever Need Is You,” cans of paint, books, a Space Invaders arcade console, a trumpet. The music bounces along as the machine switches on and smashes it all down. Then, the big reveal: It’s all contained in Apple’s new iPad, its thinnest and most powerful ever, thanks to its brand new AI chip. The outrage online came fast and furious. “It is the most honest metaphor for what tech companies do to … artists, musicians, creators, writers, filmmakers: squeeze them, use them, not pay well, take everything then say it’s all created by them,” filmmaker Asif Kapadia wrote on X. “If you thought THIS IPad ad was weird, you should have seen the first cut where they lined up all your favorite characters and shot them,” quipped actor and producer Luke Barnett. Apple issued a rare apology for the ad on Thursday, telling AdAge that “our goal is to always celebrate the myriad of ways users express themselves and bring their ideas to life through iPad. We missed the mark with this video, and we’re sorry.” Earlier in the week, CEO Tim Cook said Apple’s “outrageously powerful” M4 chip will power the company’s new AI tools. In other words: Check it out, Wall Street! People aren’t buying our stuff as much any more but just wait until we add bots! Meanwhile, is anyone else getting inundated with Google’s Pixel ads, which show people giddily using the smartphone’s AI photo-editing software to deceive their online followers? In those ads, a guy who can’t dunk a basketball on his own uses a trampoline to get to the rim, and then edits out the trampoline. An imperfect group selfie gets everyone’s best angle and creates a composite image of a moment that never happened. A dad tosses his kid up playfully in the air, and then edits the image to seem, for reasons I still don’t understand, as if the kid went several inches higher into the air. This is Google going, “look what we can do!” without any reflection on how pointless it all is. It is, at best, distortion for distortion’s sake. At worst, it’s distortion for the sake of conditioning regular people to be cool with the idea of visual misinformation. Smartphones and tablets were invented to enhance our lived experience, to make it easier to leave the house and go to the beach and meet up with friends — just a good camera-computer combo that fits in your pocket. Theoretically, our phones and tablets will become even more useful with AI, serving as virtual assistants that can do all the boring stuff we don’t want to, like summarizing all your new emails and filtering out junk. There’s a world in the not too distant future, according to AI proponents, where you can simply tell Siri or Google “order my usual breakfast from the coffee shop near the office, I’ll be there in 10 minutes to pick it up,” and the bot will do just that. We’re not there yet, however. And so far, the consumer applications for AI are simultaneously underwhelming and dystopian. Distorted images may be harmless social media fodder, until they become propaganda spread by bad actors. Apple is expected to announce its own ChatGPT-like tools that could be a game changer for your internet searches. But generative AI bots are also prone to give wrong answers and experience hallucinations, and no one seems to know what happens when the bots run out of human-generated data to learn from and start hoovering up their own artificial texts like a snake eating its own tail. The Jeff Goldblums of the AI debate — who include some of the industry’s own pioneers — are not necessarily saying we have to smother AI and pretend it never existed. Most of them are just your friendly neighborhood skeptic, walking around going, “hey, should we really do that?” Clearly, we weren’t invited to Apple’s or Google’s marketing meetings.",CNN " Your ultimate guide to the American Express Membership Rewards program ",https://edition.cnn.com/cnn-underscored/travel/american-express-membership-rewards-guide," Updated 1:03 PM EDT, Mon April 1, 2024 ","American Express Membership Rewards® are among the most valuable travel rewards points out there. That’s primarily because they fall into the category of “transferable rewards,” meaning you’re not tied down to a single airline or hotel program with which you can redeem them. In other words, you’re not just earning points that can transfer to Delta SkyMiles, but they can also transfer to any of the other 16 airlines in the Membership Rewards portfolio. Having Membership Rewards points gives you options, and that’s always a good thing. If you’re ready to give your rewards portfolio a boost, here’s everything you need to know about earning and redeeming Amex Membership Rewards. You can earn Membership Rewards points in various ways. Some require little effort, while others involve a heavier lift. It’s a good idea to take advantage of all the options out there in order to maximize your earnings. Here’s a look at how to earn Membership Rewards most efficiently. The primary way to earn Amex points is through credit cards that earn Membership Rewards. Amex has an extensive lineup of personal and business cards offering generous welcome bonuses and recurring benefits to help you earn maximum points. These include well-known cards like The Platinum Card® from American Express and the American Express® Gold Card. With a single welcome bonus offer, you can give a pretty substantial boost to your Membership Rewards points balance. Here’s a look at the current welcome bonus offers on personal credit cards that earn Membership Rewards. Keep in mind, too, that many of these cards carry an annual fee: All information about the Amex EveryDay Credit Card, Amex EveryDay Preferred Credit Card and the American Express Green Card has been collected independently by CNN Underscored. Similarly, American Express offers a suite of business credit cards. All information about the Business Green Rewards Card from American Express has been collected independently by CNN Underscored. Keep in mind that several of these cards also carry an annual fee: Beyond the welcome bonus offers available, American Express makes it easy to earn Membership Rewards through category bonuses. If you spend a lot on groceries, it may be worth considering the Amex Gold card to earn 4 points per dollar spent at US supermarkets (on up to $25,000 in purchases per year). If you travel often, the Amex Platinum card is a great option for earning 5 points per dollar spent on eligible bookings made directly with an airline or with Amex Travel. Plus, you’ll have access to airport lounges, like American Express Centurion Lounges and Delta Sky Clubs, among others. When applying for American Express cards, be sure to take note of the application rules. For example, you can’t earn an Amex welcome bonus more than once (with a few exceptions), and you generally won’t be approved for more than two cards every 90 days. Before applying for a credit card, it’s important to do your research. As mentioned before, American Express makes it manageable to earn bonus points long after the welcome bonus offer. One of those ways is by adding an authorized user to your Amex card, which will occasionally earn you bonus points. Aside from the special promotions where Amex will offer you bonus points for adding an authorized user, doing so can also help you double up your point earnings. That’s because you’ll not only earn points per dollar spent on your purchases, but you’ll also earn rewards on the authorized user’s purchases. Of course, you’ll only want to consider adding a member of your household or someone you trust to pay you back as an authorized user on your account. Authorized users can make charges on the credit card they’ve been added to but have no liability when it comes to paying the bill — that onus falls on you, the primary card holder. Choose carefully who you add to your account, and you can earn extra Amex points without lifting a finger. If you’ve picked up an American Express credit card, earned the welcome bonus offer and think others would enjoy doing the same, you can get rewarded for spreading the word to family and friends. American Express offers bonuses to current card holders when you refer someone and they are approved for an eligible card. You can earn up to 20,000 points per successful approval, though the exact bonus varies by card. To find out your card’s current referral bonus, head over to the Amex referral site. You’ll see referral bonuses based on your card. Simply enter your friend’s name and email address for each card you want to refer and they’ll get an email, inviting them to apply for the card. You can also copy the referral link on the page and share that with your friends and family directly. Referrals are a lucrative way to earn Amex Membership Rewards points for recommending credit cards to your friends and family. Keep in mind there is a limit to how many friends you can refer in a year. Booking travel with American Express is rewarding, too — you can earn bonus points on your credit card, plus you can often get additional perks and rewards. For example, with the Amex Platinum, you’ll get 5 points per dollar spent on hotels booked through Amex Travel. As an added incentive, you’ll receive perks like free breakfast for two, room upgrades when available and hotel credits to use at the spa or onsite restaurant just by booking with Fine Hotels & Resorts or the Hotel Collection. In general, booking travel through American Express pays off in more ways than one. Card holders can also utilize one of the most underrated benefits of having an Amex card: Amex Offers. With Amex Offers, card holders can earn statement credits or bonus points at select retailers. In other words, it’s the perfect opportunity to save some cash or earn bonus points for purchases you were already planning on making. To find and take advantage of Amex Offers, you’ll need to log in to your account. From there, scroll to the bottom of the page to the Amex Offers & Benefits section of the page. Be sure to click “View All” to load all of your eligible offers, and also be sure to select “Add to Card” in order to activate your Amex Offer. From there, you’ll be eligible to earn the bonus points or cash savings that come as part of each Amex Offer — so long as you use the registered card to make your purchase. Amex Offers are a massive perk of Amex cards that can save you money or earn you bonus points on purchases you were already planning to make. Thanks to a partnership with American Express, you can turn your Rakuten cash back rewards into Membership Rewards. It’s a great way to earn Membership Rewards points on regular purchases, without much added effort. If you already have a Rakuten account, you can easily switch your earning preference to Membership Rewards. Simply log into your account and follow these steps: After this, rewards get transferred to your Membership Rewards account quarterly. Now, for the fun part! Once you’ve earned Membership Rewards points, it’s time to put them to good use. Amex gives you several options to redeem points, but the best option is travel. You can choose between statement credits for travel bookings or transferring them to airline or hotel partners. Here’s a closer look at your options and how they work. American Express has 20 airline and hotel transfer partners — in other words, the Amex points you’ve earned can be transferred to any of the 20 hotel and airline partners. The best way to redeem Membership Rewards for maximum value is through airline transfers. But keep in mind that not all airline loyalty programs are equal. Ultimately, you’ll want to research which program will offer you the most in return, depending on what your travel plans are. With each of the partners, you’ll need to link your accounts, and you’ll also need to search for award availability with the airline of your choice before transferring any points. If you’re looking to transfer your Amex Membership Rewards points, these are the 20 airline and hotel partner options, as well as the transfer rate. It’s worth noting that Amex occasionally runs transfer promotions for certain airlines or hotels. So, at times, you can get more points in return than the standard transfer rate listed above. Bonuses like these can increase the value of your points by enabling you to book sought-after award tickets for substantially less. By transferring Amex Membership Rewards points to partner airlines, you unlock the ability to travel for next to nothing — in most cases when redeeming points and miles, you’ll just have to pay the taxes and fees on a ticket. As a result, points and miles open up the door for flying experiences that would otherwise be out of reach. Keep in mind that the most obvious airline choice may not always be your best option. Airlines typically have extensive alliance networks, allowing you to redeem points for partner airlines through their respective programs. For example, British Airways and American Airlines are both members of the Oneworld alliance, meaning you can transfer your Amex Membership Rewards points to British Airways Executive Club and redeem for flights operated by American Airlines. Because of the vast number of airline transfer partners, your options are virtually endless for where your Membership Rewards points can take you. But, some redemptions are better than others — particularly when it comes to award sweet spots. Some examples of these sweet spot awards using your Amex Membership Rewards points include the following: Generally speaking, you’ll get the most value out of your Amex Membership Rewards points by transferring them to airline partners. But that may not always make sense for all card holders — and it’s not your only option. If figuring out transfer partner options and award charts sounds daunting, you can also use your Membership Rewards for fixed redemptions. This includes using points for statement credits, travel bookings via Amex Travel, charitable donations, online shopping and gift cards. Using points for statement credits toward qualifying purchases isn’t a great use of your points because you’ll only get 0.6 cents per point in value. If you’re looking to maximize the value of your Amex points, this isn’t the best route to take. You’ll get slightly more value by redeeming your Membership Rewards for travel bookings. By doing so, you’ll get 1 cent per point toward airfare and 0.7 cents per point toward car rentals, hotels, cruises and vacation bookings. Business Platinum card holders also get a 35% rebate when redeeming points for flight bookings through Amex Travel. If you choose to redeem your points for gift cards, you’ll get 1 cent per point in value. However, if you use Pay With Points (valid with Amazon, Best Buy, Boxed, Dell and GrubHub and others), you’ll get a value of just 0.5 cents to 1 cent each (depending on the Amex card) — one of the lowest-value options out there. Generally speaking, you should try to extract as much value as possible out of your Amex Membership Rewards points. However, that’s not always the case for everyone. You may want to save a few dollars here or there on a purchase you’re making online. Ultimately, we love Membership Rewards points so much because you have the option to use them however you like — whether for travel, Amazon purchases, gift cards and more. When it comes to the worth of your Membership Rewards points, it ultimately comes down to how you use them. The value you can get ranges from about 0.6 cents each to about 2 cents each. Frequent flyer website The Points Guy values Amex Membership Rewards points at 2 cents apiece. Amex offers 0.6 cents per point in value when you use points for statement credits. Meanwhile, travel bookings will get you a somewhat higher 1 cent per point. The highest value comes from transferring points to airline and hotel partners, as detailed above. Convert your points to airline miles and you can get 2 cents or more in value on premium award redemptions. American Express Membership Rewards points are some of the most versatile and valuable out there. By earning them, you give yourself the option to save money on travel, buying gift cards, Amazon purchases and so much more. Ultimately, it’s the flexibility that makes having an Amex credit card so rewarding. Click here for rates and fees of the Amex Platinum card.Click here for rates and fees of the Amex Gold card.Click here for rates and fees of the Amex Business Platinum card.Click here for rates and fees of the Amex Business Gold card.Click here for rates and fees of the Amex Blue Business Plus card. Looking for a travel credit card? Find out which cards CNN Underscored Money chose as the best travel credit cards currently available.",CNN Scottish Water investigates chemical waste reports,https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cjr779g205wo,2024-05-13T16:48:03.379Z,"Scottish Water has launched an investigation into the potential dumping of chemical waste by tankers in Aberdeenshire. ""Unexplained"" influxes of chemicals has sparked an appeal for communities in the Donside area to be alert to any unauthorised use of the public sewer network. Scottish Water said the influxes had happened on several occasions, particularly at the Waste Water Treatment Works that serve Kemnay, Oldmeldrum and Daviot. The water company is seeking information about any ""unusual activity"" by tankers in the area which could be linked to the problems being experienced. Scottish Water added it was not aware of any impact on people or livestock. The issue has led to its staff facing what the company described as a ""race against time"" to stabilise the water treatment process to prevent damage to the local environment. Scottish Water said it was in touch with large commercial customers in the area to ensure there were no problems with the waste they were licensed to discharge. Regional waste water operations manager Craig Low said: ""Each of our Waste Water Treatment Works across Scotland is designed to meet the needs of homes and businesses within its area, while protecting the local environment. ""Any sudden and significant change in the strength and composition of waste water has potential to disrupt the treatment process and harm the natural environment that it works to protect. “Following several events which our teams have had to respond to in Kemnay, Oldmeldrum and Daviot, we are investigating all potential causes."" ",BBC MDH and Everest: Indian spices face heat over global safety concerns,https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-india-68989964,2024-05-14T23:42:44.000Z,"""For Indians, spices are like paints in a paint box"", says Indian actor-turned-food writer Madhur Jaffrey. ""We get different shades from the same spice by doing something to the spice."" In other words, you can roast the spices or grind them into powders. The diversity of their flavours is mind-boggling. Indian spices enhance pickles and season meat. They flavour savouries and street food. Zesty spices energise local fruit drinks and add a tangy twist to fruits and salads. Unsurprisingly, India has emerged as a global spice powerhouse. It exports more than 200 spices and value-added products to some 180 countries, worth $4bn (£.1bn), according to the Spices Board of India. The domestic market alone is worth a staggering $10bn, making it the world's largest consumer of spices. But now, concerns are emerging regarding the safety of these renowned spices. Last month, Singapore and Hong Kong halted sales of some spices produced by Indian companies MDH and Everest over suspected elevated levels of ethylene oxide, a cancer-causing pesticide. That's not all. The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is also investigating products from the two popular brands for potentially containing the pesticide, an FDA spokesperson told Reuters. An analysis done by the news agency of the US regulatory data found that since 2021, an average of 14.5% of US shipments of MDH spices were rejected due to presence of bacteria. Both brands insist that their products are safe. The European Union (EU) has raised concerns of its own, discovering the same cancer-causing substance in samples of chilli peppers and peppercorns from India. Reports say that the Maldives, Bangladesh and Australian food regulators have also launched investigations. (Source: Spices Board, Global Trade Research Initiative) Clearly, it is a disturbing development. For one, both the brands are popular and trusted ones. Delhi-based MDH, an iconic 105-year-old family-run firm, offers a range of more than 60 blended and ground spices. The 57-year-old Everest Food Products, launched by a spice trader, claims to be India's ""largest manufacturer of pure and blended spices"", exporting to over 80 countries. Amitabh Bachchan and Shah Rukh Khan, Bollywood superstars, have served as Everest's brand ambassadors. To be sure, this is not the first time Indian spices have been found to be contaminated. In 2014, Ipsita Mazumdar, a biochemistry expert, tested popular spice brands in Kolkata which made chilli, cumin, curry powder, and garam masala. She found lead in the food colouring used to give the spices vibrant orange or red hues. And more recently in April, food and drugs control authorities in Gujarat seized more than 60,000kg of adulterated spices - chilli powder, turmeric and coriander power and pickle masala. So are Indian spices safe? The federal government has instructed all state governments to conduct quality tests. The Spices Board - which has five quality evaluation labs - has issued guidelines to exporters to check for use of ethylene oxide. The Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) is also testing samples. India's health ministry claims the country has one of the world's strictest Maximum Residue Limits (MRLs) standards, with pesticides' MRLs varying by food commodity and determined through rigorous risk assessments. But something is clearly amiss: in 2022, the FDA highlighted inadequate sanitary facilities, accommodation, and equipment cleanliness standards at a premier Indian spice plant. ""India has been a spice exporter for centuries. But this image has been declining in the last few years, with the government's inadequate attention. We do not yet know at which stage the contamination is happening. Ethylene oxide is not used by farmers. It is most probably a post-harvest, post-processing residue,"" says Narasimha Reddy Donthi, an independent researcher and environmental justice activist. ""It is not only the negative attention. Repeated cases of excessive residues can have a long-term effect. In the past, mango exports to the US suffered for years due to pesticide residues,"" Mr Reddy adds. Delhi-based think tank Global Trade Research Initiative (GTRI) believes the recent quality concerns could threaten half of India's spice exports due to ""cascading regulatory actions in many countries"". If China questions the quality of Indian spices, over half of India's global exports could be affected, joining five other countries, the GTRI said in a recent report. ""The situation could worsen if the EU, which regularly rejects Indian spice consignments over quality issues, follows suits."" For spice enthusiasts in the West, the origin of the spices in their food remains unclear. ""I don't think most people are aware of where their spices come from. I certainly don't, and I use spices a lot! I live a few blocks from Chicago's main Indian shopping district, Devon Avenue, which is where I buy my spice. l assume they come from India but have never looked into this,"" Colleen Taylor Sen, an author specialising in Indian cuisine, told me. In the end, experts say, India must fundamentally overhaul its approach to food safety, prioritising transparency, stringent enforcement and clear communication to safeguard the integrity of its exports. ",BBC " Amazon Web Services CEO to step down ",https://edition.cnn.com/2024/05/14/tech/aws-ceo-adam-selipsky-steps-down/index.html," Published 10:50 AM EDT, Tue May 14, 2024 ","Amazon’s biggest moneymaker, Amazon Web Services, is getting a new leader. Adam Selipsky, the chief executive of the cloud computing unit, will step down from his role next month, the company announced Tuesday. Selipsky, who first joined AWS in 2005 — before its services were even publicly available — has led the business since 2021, when previous AWS CEO Andy Jassy was promoted to lead all of Amazon. Matt Garman, currently vice president of sales, marketing and global services, will take over as AWS CEO starting June 3. The leader of AWS is of major consequence to the larger company, as the cloud computing business makes up nearly two-thirds of Amazon’s overall profits. And with annual revenue of more than $90 billion last year, AWS is larger than many standalone companies. AWS is also at a pivotal moment with the growth of artificial intelligence, as it rolls out new tools and capacity in hopes of becoming the computing provider of choice for the next wave of technology. But it faces fierce competition from other major players, including Google Cloud and Microsoft Azure. Amazon Web Services’ sales have grown more than 85% since Selipsky’s takeover. Amazon shares dipped more than 1% Tuesday following the announcement. However, Jassy said in an email to staff Tuesday that Selipsky’s tenure was always meant to be short-lived. Jassy said that when he left AWS to become Amazon CEO, “we had strong leaders in AWS, several of whom could lead the overall business in the long-term, but who’d benefit from a few more years gaining experience and learning under a more seasoned CEO.” He added that in speaking with Selipsky about taking the job back in 2021, “we agreed that if he accepted the role, he’d likely do it for a few years, and that one of the things he’d focus on during that time was helping prepare the next generation of leadership. We were fortunate that Adam agreed to step in and lead AWS, and has deftly led the business, while also developing his leadership team,” Jassy said. “I’m humbled by the many customers who have said they wouldn’t be what they are without AWS, thankful to our many partners, and grateful to my passionate and innovative teammates. AWS will be in great hands with Matt and the incredible leadership team,” Selipsky said in a post on X Tuesday. Even before Selipsky’s takeover, Garman had been considered by analysts to be among the top frontrunners for AWS CEO. Garman started at Amazon as an intern in 2005, and joined full-time in 2006 as one of the first AWS product managers, according to the company. He later became general manager of AWS Compute services, before moving to lead the sales side of the business.",CNN " US wholesale inflation just hit its highest rate in a year ",https://edition.cnn.com/2024/05/14/economy/ppi-wholesale-inflation-april/index.html," Updated 10:55 AM EDT, Tue May 14, 2024 ","Americans already contending with persistent and stubbornly high inflation just got more unwelcome news on Tuesday: There are more price hikes likely coming down the pike. Wholesale inflation picked up in April to its highest rate in a year, according to Bureau of Labor Statistics data released Tuesday. The Producer Price Index, which measures the change in prices that manufacturers pay to suppliers, was 2.2% for the 12 months ended in April, according to Bureau of Labor Statistics data released Tuesday. That gain is higher than what was seen in March, which was downwardly revised from 2.1% to 1.8%. On a monthly basis, prices rose 0.5%, a faster pace than March’s 0.1% loss (also downwardly revised) and ran much hotter than what economists had anticipated. Economists were expecting a monthly gain of 0.3%, according to FactSet consensus estimates. “The concern here is that we now have a trend, an upward trend in producer prices, which can only be passed through to consumers and result in upward pressure on consumer price inflation over the coming months,” Kurt Rankin, senior economist for the PNC Financial Services Group, told CNN in an interview. And that means interest rates will stay higher for longer and could further delay the Federal Reserve’s plans for cuts on that front, he said. On Tuesday, Fed Chair Jerome Powell said readings like the April PPI provide more justification to keep rates elevated for a longer period of time. But it does not necessarily mean the central bank will need to raise interest rates, Powell said while speaking at a Foreign Bankers Association event alongside European Central Bank Governing Council member Klaas Knot. While higher energy costs (up 2% in April) helped to push goods prices higher, services inflation is what drove up the overall PPI last month. Nearly three-quarters of the April monthly gain was attributable to price hikes seen by producers of services, according to the report. Services providers saw a 0.6% increase in prices for the month, the fastest pace seen for that category since March 2022, Rankin noted. “Services has been the issue over the past year as consumers continue to spend money, and costs for services-oriented businesses is still stronger than goods inflation; but goods producer prices are now also rising after having fallen through most of 2023,” he said. PPI captures average price shifts before they reach consumers and serves as a potential bellwether for retail-level inflation in the months ahead. Although there was a welcome drop in food prices, which were down 0.7% for the month, April’s data shows that activity upstream is looking quite a bit choppy. Even when excluding the volatile components of food and energy, “core” PPI accelerated instead of slowing as economists had anticipated. The core index was up 2.4% for the 12 months ended in April — the highest annual rate since August of last year. On a monthly basis, core shot up 0.5% — well above estimates for a 0.2% increase. March’s core PPI was revised down to show that prices fell 0.1% from March and rose 2.1% annually. “Today’s PPI number means inflation through June, July, August, is going to continue to have supply side pressure” on businesses that deal more directly with consumers, Rankin said. “Now those same businesses have their own costs to pass onto consumers, which compounds with continued strong consumer demand.” The latest wholesale data is landing a day before an even more critical read on the state of inflation in the US: The Consumer Price Index for April will be released Wednesday morning.",CNN What is universal credit and how are the rules changing?,https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-41487126,2017-10-03T22:41:26.000Z,"Many people receiving universal credit (UC) will now have to work longer hours, as part of government plans to encourage people into employment. However, the Turn2Us charity warned of a ""drastic impact"" on people with long-term health conditions, caring responsibilities or irregular incomes. Universal credit is a single benefit payment for working-age people. It was introduced to replace a range of different benefits for unemployed and low-paid people. There were 6.4 million people on UC in January in England, Scotland and Wales, according to official government statistics. Nearly 40% of claimants have jobs. The government is expected to spend £90bn on UC in 2024-25. That compares with £153bn on state pensions and other benefits for pensioners, £40bn on disability benefits and £14bn on child benefit. For UC claimants required to work, the minimum number of hours was increased from 15 to 18, on Monday 13 May. The rule change means 180,000 people will have to work more or risk losing their benefits, the Department for Work and Pensions says. The 18-hour minimum applies to people earning the National Living Wage (£11.44 for those aged 21 or over). Someone earning more per hour can work fewer hours, as long as their total earnings meet a level called the Administrative Earnings Threshold (AET). The AET now stands at £892, which is what you would earn in a month if you worked for 18 hours a week at the minimum wage. If a couple is earning less than £1,437 between them, they will be expected to try to increase their earnings. Claimants already risk having their benefits reduced if they don't take steps to earn more and meet regularly with a work coach. Certain groups will remain exempt from sanctions - including people who can't work because of long-term sickness, or a disability. Turn2Us has claimed government plans to speed up the roll-out of UC - and bring down spending on welfare - could affect vulnerable people disproportionately. The government says its plans are necessary to get more people back in work and boost the economy, as levels of long-term sickness have increased. It claims that changes it is phasing in for the welfare system as a whole could save £4bn a year. Labour, however, says the Conservatives' failure to tackle problems facing the NHS, such as long waiting lists, should be prioritised instead. The amount you get depends on whether you are single, or claiming as a couple, and your age. There is one standard allowance per household: You may be entitled to extra money if, for example, you have children. Extra money may also be available for rent payments, which works in different ways across the UK. You may also be able to claim a reduction in council tax while on UC, or assistance to pay your mortgage, although you would need to meet strict criteria. Under the UC taper, payments are reduced as claimants earn more. The current taper ""rate"" is 55%. This means that for every additional £1 earned over the work allowance, UC payments are reduced by 55p. It is complicated to work out exactly how much UC you might receive. Some people have found they are entitled to less money under UC than they would have been under the previous benefit arrangements. Those with £16,000 or more in savings are not eligible. It usually takes about five weeks from the date of claiming to receiving a first payment, although an advance loan may be possible. An application for UC may put a stop to any tax credits you receive, even if it proves to be unsuccessful. The main benefit for anyone losing their job after a period in work is new-style jobseeker's allowance (JSA). This is worth £71.70 a week if you are under 25, or £90.50 a week if you are 25 or over. You can get this for up to six months and it will be paid into your bank, building society, or credit union account every two weeks. Unlike UC, your partner's or spouse's income will not affect your claim, although you may get less if you have part-time earnings or a pension. You may be able to claim new-style JSA as well as universal credit. Places offering support include: ",BBC OpenAI’s new model GPT-4o can teach maths and flirt ,https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cv2xx1xe2evo,2024-05-13T19:35:18.948Z,"OpenAI has unveiled the latest version of the tech which underpins its AI chatbot ChatGPT. It’s called GPT-4o, and it will be rolled out to all users of ChatGPT, including non-subscribers. It is faster than earlier models and has been programmed to sound chatty and sometimes even flirtatious in its responses to prompts. The new version can read and discuss images, translate languages, and identify emotions from visual expressions. There is also memory so it can recall previous prompts. It can be interrupted and it has an easier conversational rhythm - there was no delay between asking it a question and receiving an answer. During a live demo using the voice version of GPT-4o, it provided helpful suggestions for how to go about solving a simple equation written on a piece of paper - rather than simply solving it. It analysed some computer code, translating between Italian and English and interpreted the emotions in a selfie of a smiling man. Using a warm American female voice, it greeted its prompters by asking them how they were doing. When paid a compliment, it responded: “Stop it, you’re making me blush!”. It wasn’t perfect – at one point it mistook the smiling man for a wooden surface, and it started to solve an equation that it hadn’t yet been shown. This unintentionally demonstrated that there’s still some way to go before the glitches and hallucinations which make chatbots unreliable and potentially unsafe, can be ironed out. But what it does show us is the direction of travel for OpenAI, which I think intends GPT-4o to become the next generation of AI digital assistant, a kind of turbo-charged Siri or Hey, Google which remembers what it’s been told in the past and can interact beyond voice or text. If there was an elephant in the room, alongside the enthusiastic off-camera audience whooping and applauding, it was the environmental price tag of this technology. We know that AI is more power-hungry than traditional computing tasks, and that the more sophisticated it becomes, the more computing power it requires. There was no mention of sustainability during the evening. We have seen chatbots like Elon Musk’s Grok and Pi, from DeepMind co-founder Mustafa Suleyman, prioritise the “personality” of their products, but the way in which GPT-4o seamlessly handled the combination of text, audio and images with an instant response appears to put OpenAI ahead of the competition. Of course, at the moment we only have the firm’s word for it – it was their demo, carefully curated and managed by them. It will be interesting to see how GPT-4o copes at scale with the millions of people who already use ChatGPT as it rolls out. OpenAI's chief technology officer Mira Murati described GPT-4o as “magical” but added that the firm would “remove that mysticism” with the product’s roll-out. An interesting and emotive choice of words: while this tech is rapidly becoming more sophisticated and increasingly convincing as a companion – it is not sentient or magic, it is complex programming and machine learning. There have been rumours about a partnership between OpenAI and Apple and while this has not yet been confirmed, it was telling during the presentation that Apple products were used throughout. Another shot across the bows was the timing of this event, 24 hours before its rival Google is due to show off its latest AI developments at its annual conference, Google IO. ",BBC Renting: Three ways to win the race to securing a property,https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-65089308,2023-03-28T23:14:18.000Z,"Trying to find a place to rent in today's market and beating your competitors to the front door can feel like a relentless race that you'll never win. Analysis by the estate agency Savills suggests the competition is becoming more intense, with properties listed for a shorter time now compared with before the pandemic. So with such ferocious demand, what can you do to secure your new home? Most people know the importance of having a decent credit rating and their deposit secured. But how do you avoid the bidding wars and massive queues on ""open home"" day and get a landlord to pick you and not someone else? If you're new to the rental race, we've asked agents and landlords to tell us impressed them most and made those hunting for a rental stand out from the crowd. Rightmove said at the beginning of 2023, 70% of rental listings received an email enquiry from a potential tenant looking to view a property within the first day of it being listed on the website. Its property expert Tim Bannister said: ""Tenants need to do their homework and decide what they really want from a home so they can be targeted - online, with agents, friends and family. ""Then when instant alerts come through they can move quickly and get to the front of the queue. Be focussed and be prepared. Being first won't necessarily guarantee you the property but it will help."" Campaign group Generation Rent agreed. Spokesman Dan Wilson Craw said it was essential to know what the property needs to have, such as storage for a bike or a washing machine already installed. ""That way if you view a property that ticks all the right boxes you can apply for a tenancy on the spot,"" he said. Being loaded with information really helps landlords and agents when looking to choose a tenant. Rightmove's Tim Bannister said: ""That means making sure you've got as much information as possible, for example multiple references with contacts available. ""Be clear about your circumstances and how flexible you can be with your timelines. Be upfront and provide clarity. The more you can do to work with a landlord, the better."" Generation Rent said aside from having the holding deposit worth one week's rent in your account, prospective tenants needed to provide evidence of their income. That includes letting your employer and current landlord know they'll need to provide a reference. If you have exhausted your time trying to find a rental in your perfect area try thinking outside the box. Zoopla said a travel time search can bring more properties into your orbit which you might not have considered. Geographically, a home may look too far away but its travel time might be quicker than you thought. This can can open up your search to cheaper areas or slower rental markets. Mr Bannister said rental searches on Rightmove had expanded since the pandemic with many approaching reaching 50 sq km (19.3 sq miles). Victoria Tolmie-Loverseed helps students find accommodation with Unipol, a charity based in Bradford, Leeds and Nottingham. A rising student population not matched by an increased supply of housing has resulted in a crisis for young people often living away from home for the first time. ""Be flexible about where you're willing to live, cast your net wider into non-student areas and be willing to travel a little bit further,"" Ms Tolmie-Loverseed said. ""Know your budget, have your deposit sorted, know who your guarantor will be,"" she added. ",BBC "My emails look ludicrous, says ex-Post Office PR boss",https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cq5nnpgywevo,2024-05-14T15:08:12.442Z,"The Post Office's former communications director Mark Davies has admitted that emails he sent denying there were problems with the Horizon IT system look ""ludicrous"" with hindsight. Hundreds of sub-postmasters were blamed and prosecuted over accounting errors caused by the faulty software. At the Post Office inquiry on Tuesday, Mr Davies was shown emails by lawyer Julian Blake in which he had suggested journalists were ""campaigning"" against the Post Office. The prosecutions between 1999 and 2015 resulted in what is widely regarded as one of the worst miscarriages of justice in British history. Emails from Mr Davies about media coverage of the scandal were also displayed at the hearing, with one showing him joke about being ""at the heart of a corporate cover-up"". The message read: ""The reality is a hard story to tell, and some distance from the picture painted by a determined band of adversaries. ""In our case, we are up against a campaign group, a few journalists (mainly from the BBC) and some MPs. ""And you have to hand it to them: they know what they are doing in terms of mounting a campaign. ""It's just that - whisper it quietly - all is not what it seems."" During his time at the Post Office, Mr Davies presided over an aggressive media strategy, particularly when it came to the BBC and a 2015 Panorama programme which featured crucial whistleblower testimony. Julian Blake, counsel to the inquiry, questioned Mr Davies about his reaction to the BBC’s coverage of a 2014 report by Second Sight - the independent forensic accountants appointed to investigate allegations that Fujitsu's Horizon software was producing anomalies in branch accounts. He displayed an email in which the former PR boss called BBC coverage “straightforwardly inaccurate” and ""sloppy journalism in the extreme"". Mr Davies - a former BBC employee - replied that the BBC was making damaging claims about Horizon, and that the Second Sight report had not acknowledged any ""systemic issues"" with the software. Who said anything about ""systemic issues""? Mr Blake asked. Mr Davies replied that the coverage from many news outlets at the time suggested Horizon was “dodgy” and we didn’t have that information at the time. ""These are the lines that are repeated year after year after year,” said Mr Blake, raising his voice. ""Why can’t you in September 2014 simply accept that Second Sight had identified issues with Horizon?"" Mr Davies said he accepted in hindsight that there were issues with Horizon, and added that he had never sought to mislead anyone. He also denied that wanting to line up a ""specialist media lawyer"" hours after the suicide of sub-postmaster Martin Griffiths in September 2013 was because of a desire to combat negative publicity. He told the inquiry the request for a lawyer's assistance was because he wanted guidance on reporting suicide. And in a statement submitted to the inquiry, he refuted that he had sought to ""cover up issues with Horizon"". He said: ""I did not, as been alleged, seek to 'cover up' issues with Horizon - indeed quite the opposite. ""But because I did not have access to all the facts, I clearly played a part in prolonging the pain and injustice for those innocent people who were wrongly accused or whose convictions were unsafe. ""I am deeply sorry for that."" The fifth phase of the public inquiry, expected to run until the end of July, is looking at a number of issues including whistleblowing, redress, complaints and the monitoring of Horizon. Former Post Office chief executive Paula Vennells is set to give evidence in the next few weeks. The organisation has come under huge scrutiny in the wake of an ITV drama, Mr Bates Vs The Post Office, which put the human cost of the scandal back in the spotlight. More than 900 sub-postmasters were wrongly prosecuted for theft and false accounting because of incorrect information from a computer system called Horizon. The Post Office itself took many cases to court, prosecuting 700 people between 1999 and 2015. Many are still waiting for full redress despite the government announcing that those who had had convictions quashed are eligible for £600,000 payouts. On Tuesday, emergency legislation that will clear the name of Scottish sub-postmasters wrongly convicted was also introduced in Holyrood. ",BBC " OpenAI executive is out after key role in CEO Sam Altman’s ouster ",https://edition.cnn.com/2024/05/14/tech/openai-chief-scientist-ilya-sutskever-departs/index.html," Updated 10:54 PM EDT, Tue May 14, 2024 ","OpenAI’s chief scientist and cofounder, who played an instrumental role in CEO Sam Altman’s short-lived ouster from OpenAI in November, announced that he was leaving company on Tuesday. “After almost a decade, I have made the decision to leave OpenAI,” Ilya Sutskever said in a social media post. “I am excited for what comes next — a project that is very personally meaningful to me about which I will share details in due time.” Sutskever played a central role in the dramatic firing – and return – of OpenAI CEO Sam Altman last year, a management crisis that ultimately appeared to strengthen Altman’s position as a leader in the surging field of artificial intelligence. The announcement of Sutskever’s departure comes one day after OpenAI unveiled its latest artificial intelligence model, GPT-4o, in a presentation that impressed onlookers with its capabilities. Sutskever’s role at OpenAI will be filled by Jakub Pachocki, previously the company’s director of research, according to the company. Sutskever made headlines nearly six months ago when he voted to remove Altman as chief executive and chairman of the board. CNN contributor Kara Swisher previously reported that the decision to fire Altman was driven by Sutskever’s concerns that Altman had pushed AI technology “too far, too fast.” Days after Altman’s ouster, Sutskever had a change of heart: He signed an employee letter calling for the entire board to resign and for Altman to return. Altman did not stay on the outs for too long. Five days after his firing, Altman returned to the company as CEO, and Sutskever issued a public apology for his role in the corporate drama. “I deeply regret my participation in the board’s actions,” Sutskever wrote on X in November. “I never intended to harm OpenAI. I love everything we’ve built together and I will do everything I can to reunite the company.” In the months since, OpenAI has continued to push advancements of its flagship product, ChatGPT. Its latest model, announced Monday, will be available to unpaid customers and can effectively turn ChatGPT into a digital personal assistant that can engage in real-time spoken conversations. Sutskever played a defining role in OpenAI’s rise to power in the AI scene. In 2019, Altman, Sutskever and Greg Brockman jointly formed OpenAI LP, a for-profit entity within the larger nonprofit company’s structure. A few years later, the company earned a valuation of $90 billion. In a statement, Altman said the news of Sutskever’s departure was “very sad.” “I am forever grateful for what he did here and committed to finishing the mission we started together,” Altman said.",CNN " FAA still short about 3,000 air traffic controllers, new federal numbers show ",https://edition.cnn.com/2024/05/14/business/faa-short-on-air-traffic-controllers/index.html," Updated 3:38 PM EDT, Tue May 14, 2024 ","Despite a surge in hiring last year, air traffic control stations nationwide are still about 3,000 controllers short, according to new Federal Aviation Administration numbers. The numbers, first reported by CNN, show the challenge of filling the gap that led to flight delays and concerns that fatigue contributed to a series of near collisions on runways last year. The shortage is a concern of airlines, controllers, and watchdogs like the inspector general who last summer concluded the agency “made limited efforts to ensure adequate controller staffing at critical air traffic control facilities.” The FAA has about 11,500 controllers who are either fully certified or have reached the stage in training where they can work independently, known as Certified Professional Controller In Training. The staffing plans developed by the FAA and the union representing air traffic controllers calls for more than 14,600 controllers to fully staff towers and centers. The numbers are for the fiscal year, which was through the end of September. Employees in the developmental stage or at the FAA’s training academy are not included in either count. Last year, the FAA hired 1,512 new controller candidates — just above its goal of 1,500, the numbers indicate. The FAA told CNN it “has taken several actions” to address the shortage and improve safety. But at the same time, its air traffic control organization lost more than 1,300 employees, including controllers who retired or candidates who dropped out of training. About 400 failed out of the FAA’s academy (which averages a pass rate of between 60% and 70%) and another 109 who were further along in the training pipeline also dropped out. The numbers suggest this hiring round netted about 160 workers, which was more successful than the previous hiring cycle. The union president representing air traffic controllers said that after accounting for departures, the agency netted an increase of only six new controllers that year. The FAA is aiming to hire 1,800 controllers in the current year, which ends in September. Airlines for America, the trade group representing major passenger carriers, said the system “of hiring and training is fundamentally broken if it takes this long to hire and train controllers.” “We are particularly concerned as our carriers have been working diligently to meet record summer travel in the coming weeks, and carriers have had to cut back their schedules in congested areas to accommodate the ATC shortage at the expense of travelers who are seeing fewer flight options in those markets,” the group said in a statement to CNN. The major aviation policy bill that passed the Senate and is awaiting a House vote requires the agency to maximize hiring for the next several years. It also instructs the FAA to install additional simulators at air traffic control sites to speed up training progress. The current understaffing means controllers at many facilities are regularly working overtime to cover gaps. Administrator Mike Whitaker just last month ordered the agency to increase minimum rest standards, up to as little as 10 hours off between shifts.",CNN Cow dung's key role in India's energy mix,https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c254ggrry45o,2024-05-13T23:06:02.518Z,"Every day, with bare hands, Rukmini Baburao Kumbhar, collects around 50kg (eight stone) of fresh cow dung. She is part of a spiritual group that runs a small ashram (a religious retreat) in a village in the north-western Indian state of Maharashtra. Collecting cow dung is not, primarily, an effort to keep the place tidy. Instead, the cow dung is used to make biomethane. ""Fuel has become extremely expensive. Biogas was a good option. The only requirement was space and cows. We had both,” explains Ms Kumbhar. Once collected, the cow dung is mixed with water and put in the bioreactor, where it produces enough methane for the ashram's kitchen. Installed in March, it has replaced the 20 litres of natural gas that Ms Kumbhar used to buy every month. It does involve collecting the cow dung, but she doesn't mind. ""In most of the rural parts of India, agriculture is the main occupation. So, touching the cow dung is not a big deal,"" she says. Some of her guests are less enthusiastic, at least at first. ""Some women who come to stay with us from the city are repulsed by the smell, or if they are made to touch the cow dung. But we don’t force them. They eventually get used to it and start helping. The cows are of good quality, so the cow dung does not smell,"" she says. Indian cattle produce around three-million tonnes of cow dung a day, according to data from the government' s policy body NITI Aayog. The government wants more of that dung, and other agriculture waste, to be made into methane. Biogas plants do that using a process known as anaerobic digestion, which involves feeding waste into airtight tanks where naturally occurring bacteria break down the organic matter. The process produces a mixture of gases, primarily methane (around 60%) and carbon dioxide. At the moment, India imports around half of its natural gas needs - money flowing abroad, which the government would rather see spent at home. And as the economy grows, India's demand for energy is only going to rise. To spur the biogas industry, from 2025 the government has ordered gas suppliers to blend natural gas with 1% biomethane, rising to 5% by 2028. As well as reducing India's imports of gas, biogas can also cut air pollution, as stubble that was previously burnt, can instead be sent to bioreactors. In addition, the material left after the bioreactor has done its work can be used as fertiliser. With state and federal government support, bigger and bigger bioreactors are being built. Gas produced by such commercial facilities is compressed, making it easier to transport or use as a fuel in vehicles. Asia's biggest compressed biogas (CBG) plant is in Lehragaga, in the northern Indian state of Punjab. Opened in late 2022, it can turn 300 tonnes of paddy straw into 33 tonnes of biogas every day. At the moment it is only producing eight tonnes a day, as there's not enough demand for the fuel. That's partly due to its location - far from any big towns and major roads. Location presents a different problem in Ludhiana, Punjab, where cow dung is a menace. With around 6,000 cows in the surrounding area, the city is a centre of dairy production, but dairy owners have been dumping waste straight into the public sewers, causing river pollution. The situation would probably be worse, if dung was not being diverted to a large biogas reactor at the Haibowal Dairy Complex, which can process 225 tonnes of dung a day. It was built in 2004, but demand is such that there are plans to more than double the output of the biogas facility. Rajiv Kumar is responsible for collecting cow dung from the surrounding area. He remembers the early days when farmers could not really understand why he wanted the waste. ""It was hard to convince them to sell cow dung to us. They used to look at us with suspicion. But now waste has created a source of income for them and they don’t have to do anything, so its win-win situation for them,” he says. The work is difficult, but valuable to the local community. “This cow dung is a mix of cows and buffalos, so, the smell is repulsive, but we all need money at the end of the day to survive.” Baljit Singh is one of those who has embraced the opportunities in biogas. He comes from a family of farmers in Punjab, growing wheat and rice. When he saw the biogas plants being built he realised that there was an opportunity. Mr Singh started by collecting the stubble left over from his family's harvest and selling it to the plant. Then he went and tried to persuade other farmers to give him their husk. ""It was not an easy journey. As the pressure on farmers is high to clear the land for the next sowing, they preferred burning the husk. I convinced them that it is a money-making opportunity for them,"" he explains. But it has become a sizeable business. Today Mr Singh has around 200 people working from him collecting farming waste from 10 villages. ""It’s a labour-intensive job. Before the harvest begins, I visit most of the villages to convince the farmers to sell me their agriculture residue. It has to be dry so we have to be very quick. “Residues are chopped or shredded to a specific size for efficient digestion in the biogas plant. During collection we are very careful about the moisture content and contaminants.” Despite the successes some question whether biogas can ever become a mainstream fuel. In urban areas the lack of space and the smell make biogas a difficult proposition, says Kiran Kumar Kudaravalli from SKG Sangha, a non-profit organisation focussed on renewable energy. Meanwhile in poorer rural areas, people would be put off by the cost. ""The fuel comes to them from the forest or agricultural land, which is available for free. So, they would not like to pay too much for the fuel, and one can not charge them for installing biogas plants,"" Mr Kudaravalli says. ",BBC "Taylor Swift Eras Tour worth £1bn to UK economy, says Barclays",https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/czd88lxe8p2o,2024-05-14T23:32:45.984Z,"Taylor Swift's Eras Tour will boost UK spending by almost £1bn this year, with more than a million fans gearing up to see the pop sensation perform live, new data suggests. Spanning six continents, the tour will hit the UK for 15 dates in June and August, with fans expected to spend an average of £848 on tickets, travel, accommodation and outfits, according to Barclays. The bank's report is the latest example of so-called ""Swiftonomics"" - highlighting the singer's economic influence. When tickets for the Eras Tour went on sale last year, it crashed websites and led to sold-out hotels in host cities around the world. Her concerts in the US city of Seattle generated seismic activity equivalent to a 2.3 magnitude earthquake. The Shake It Off and Cruel Summer singer entered the Forbes rich list for the first time last month. Melissa Ruby went to the Seattle show of the Eras tour in 2023 with her daughter and said it was the ""most expensive concert ticket I have ever purchased"", with the ticket, outfits and merchandise costing $4,000. ""Never in my life have I seen my daughter happier"", she said, adding that she was doing it all over again for Taylor Swift's Vancouver shows in December - costing her double the Seattle show. The report from Barclays combines hundreds of millions of customer transactions with consumer research on spending trends around the popstar. It said the average amount spent on an Eras Tour ticket was £206, with 14% of fans spending more than £400 on perks, including VIP packages and exclusive merchandise. Travel costs will average £111 as many fans will be travelling to a different city for the event. Eras Tour performances will take place in Edinburgh, Liverpool, Cardiff and London. Fans will also fork out an average of £121 on accommodation. Eating out, new outfits and Taylor-Swift-themed afterparties are also set to contribute to an overall boost of £997m to the UK economy. However, as anticipation has been high for the event - Swift last toured the UK six years ago - many fans missed out on UK tickets. Instead, some may have gone to other European cities such as Paris to see her ""possibly due to ticket availability, cheaper travel and accommodation costs, or simply so that they can combine the concert with a holiday or city break"", Barclays said. Dr Peter Brooks, chief behavioural scientist at Barclays, said: “When it comes to cultural icons like Taylor Swift – like we saw with Elvis and Beatlemania in the 50s and 60s – supporters have such a strong connection to the artist and to the rest of the fandom that the desire to spend becomes even more powerful. “For non-fans, £848 may seem like an enormous amount to splash out on a concert, but for Eras Tour ticket-holders, every pound they spend is an investment in the memories they’ll create.” ",BBC Biden bans China crypto-miner from land near nuclear missile base,https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c03dd6g1l4zo,2024-05-14T01:10:24.560Z,"US President Joe Biden has ordered a Chinese-owned cryptocurrency miner and its partners to sell land they own near a US nuclear missile base, citing spying concerns. MineOne Partners, which the White House says is majority-owned by Chinese citizens, has been given 120 days to sell the property, where it runs a crypto-mining operation. The land is less than a mile (1.6km) away from an air force base in Wyoming, where intercontinental ballistic missiles are stored. BBC News has contacted MineOne Partners and China's embassy in the US for comment. ""The proximity of the foreign-owned Real Estate to a strategic missile base... and the presence of specialised and foreign-sourced equipment potentially capable of facilitating surveillance and espionage activities, presents a national security risk"", the White House said in a statement. Francis E. Warren Air Force Base in Wyoming is home to Minuteman III nuclear intercontinental ballistic missiles. MineOne bought the land close to the military base in 2022 and later installed cryptocurrency mining equipment. The Committee on Foreign Investment in the US (CFIUS), a powerful body that scrutinises deals for national security security threats, was not notified about the purchase by the company, the White House said. Authorities were alerted to the transaction after a tipoff from a member of the public. The inter-agency panel, which is led by the US Treasury Department, determined that the purchase had national security implications. President Biden's decision to force MineOne to sell the land ""highlights the critical gatekeeper role that CFIUS serves to ensure that foreign investment does not undermine our national security”, Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said in a statement. There has been growing concern among US lawmakers about Chinese purchases of property near sensitive military facilities. The latest announcement from the White House comes just a day before the Biden administration is set to sharply increase tariffs on several Chinese imports, including electric vehicles. ",BBC " Chinese tech exec’s fiery endorsement of toxic workplace culture sparks backlash — and costs her job ",https://edition.cnn.com/2024/05/09/tech/china-qu-jing-baidu-pr-backlash-hnk-intl/index.html," Updated 9:15 PM EDT, Thu May 9, 2024 ","A Chinese tech executive has ignited outrage in China with her fiery endorsement of toxic workplace culture, which eventually caused her to lose her own job. Qu Jing, the former vice president and head of communications at Baidu, often dubbed China’s equivalent to Google, sparked a public relations crisis for the Chinese search engine after her controversial comments hit a raw nerve with young workers fed up with grueling hours and relentless pressure. In a series of short videos posted last week on Douyin, China’s version of TikTok, Qu spoke about her devotion to her career, strict management style and unflagging demands on her direct reports. In one video, she lashed out at an employee who refused to go on a 50-day business trip during the Covid-19 pandemic, when China imposed stringent travel restrictions and quarantines. “Why should I take my employee’s family into consideration? I’m not her mother-in-law,” Qu said. “I’m 10 years, 20 years older than you. I didn’t feel bitter about it or tired, even though I have two children. Who are you to tell me that your husband can’t stand it?” In another clip, Qu shared her personal sacrifices as a working mother. She was working so hard that she forgot her elder son’s birthday and what grade her younger son was in at school. She said she didn’t regret it because she “chose to become a career woman.” “If you work in public relations, don’t expect weekends off,” she said in a third video. “Keep your phone on 24 hours a day, always ready to respond.” In another video, she also threatened to retaliate against employees who complain about her, saying they wouldn’t get another job in the industry. The American Psychological Association describes “toxic workplace” as an environment filled with infighting, intimidation and other affronts that harm productivity. Following the public outcry, Qu has lost her own job at Baidu (BIDU), a person familiar with the matter told CNN on condition of anonymity. CNN has also seen a screenshot of an internal personnel system that appears to confirm she no longer works at the company. Baidu did not immediately respond to a request for comment. By Thursday night, Qu had removed the title of “Baidu’s vice president” from her account on Douyin. Qu had apologized earlier in the day and said her posts did not speak for Baidu. The controversy soon became a trending topic on Douyin and Weibo, China’s X-like platform, dominating online discussions. Users criticized Qu for her aggressive and insensitive approach and accused her, and Baidu, of promoting a toxic workplace. “In her voice and in her tone, there’s deep indifference to and lack of empathy for the common plight of her colleagues,” said Ivy Yang, a China tech analyst and founder of consulting firm Wavelet Strategy. “A lot of what she said really struck a nerve, because people feel that in their own workplaces very often. The fact that she said it in a way that’s so direct and in your face, it just generated this kind of emotional response,” she said. “This is what the bosses are thinking, and she was merely saying it out aloud,” Yang added. China’s young workers have increasingly spoken out against the culture of excessive overwork and extreme competitiveness that has come to dominate many industries, especially the tech sector. In 2019, Alibaba co-founder Jack Ma drew intense criticism after endorsing the “996” trend, meaning working from 9am to 9pm six days a week, and calling it a “huge blessing.” Yang called the backlash against Ma a “watershed moment” that led people to rethink the relationship between the workplace and themselves — a trend that has only intensified as the Chinese economy slows. China’s economy grew stronger than expected at the start of this year, but problems — including a property crisis, declining foreign investment and tepid consumption — are piling up. “When companies demand complete loyalty, time and energy from their employees, employees feel there’s no reciprocity or reward for their sacrifice or contribution, especially when things are slowing down. That becomes the central conflict, and this conflict is also at the heart of the Baidu saga,” Yang added. As public anger mounted, the videos posted on Qu’s personal Douyin account were taken down. After days of silence, Qu apologized on Thursday for “causing such a big storm” in a post on her personal account on WeChat, China’s most popular social media app. “I have carefully read all the opinions and comments from various platforms, and many criticisms are very pertinent. I deeply reflect on and humbly accept them,” Qu wrote. She also sought to put distance between her remarks and Baidu, saying she had not sought approval beforehand and that they did not represent the company’s stance. “There were many inappropriate and unsuitable points made in the videos, which led to misunderstandings about the company’s values and culture, causing serious harm,” Qu wrote. A person familiar with the matter said Qu’s clips were part of her push to amplify Baidu’s voice on short video platforms, which have become an increasingly important channel for information dissemination in China. Qu had asked all members of the PR team to create their personal accounts, according to the person, who requested anonymity. “The main purpose is to improve everyone’s ability to make short videos. Everyone can have different options over the content, and Cristina chose to speak about her personal experience,” said the person, referring to Qu’s English name. Qu worked as a reporter for China’s state news agency Xinhua before switching to the PR industry. She joined Baidu in 2021 from Huawei, a Chinese tech giant known for its hard-charging “wolf culture,” where employees are expected to emulate wolves’ bloodthirsty nature, fearlessness and resilience. Ren Zhengfei, the founder of Huawei, has previously said in interviews that its corporate culture was misunderstood. “Wolf culture,” he has said, meant “sensitivity, team spirit and resilience” and that the company didn’t have a “996 culture.” A former Baidu employee said Qu brought Huawei’s “aggressive” corporate culture with her to Baidu. “(She triggered) a pretty big culture shock. About 60% of the team left within months of her arrival,” the former employee told CNN on the condition of anonymity. The PR team is expected to always be available, keep their phones on, reply to messages immediately and attend meetings at midnight and on weekends with short notice, the former employee said. Qu also adopted the military-style language used in corporate management at Huawei, requiring the team to be “disciplined” and “able to win battles,” the former employee said. CNN has reached out to Huawei for comment. This article has been updated with additional information.",CNN " Top soccer clubs are using an AI-powered app to scout future stars ",https://edition.cnn.com/2024/03/01/tech/aiscout-app-soccer-scouting-spc-intl/index.html," Published 7:14 AM EST, Fri March 1, 2024 ","A London-based technology company is looking to “democratize” talent-identification and scouting in soccer using a mobile app. Free to download and available globally, the aiScout app allows aspiring soccer stars to enter virtual trials for professional clubs by uploading self-recorded footage of themselves completing a series of drills. It offers 75 exercises, designed to test a range of skills, with videos showing users how to complete them. Performances are automatically scored by artificial intelligence (AI) technology. The data can then be accessed by clubs, allowing their scouts to peruse scores for viable talent, honing their search with a variety of filters; from age and gender to position on the pitch. The app currently has two English Premier League (EPL) partners, Chelsea and Burnley, and clubs can tailor their in-app trials to meet specific needs and set their own benchmarks by having their academy players complete the same drills. “We’re putting that data up front to make better use of [the scouts’] time,” said Richard Felton-Thomas, chief operating officer of ai.io, the company behind the app. “To say [to scouts], ‘Go over to this place today because there’s three players in that game that are all actually beating your Chelsea standard’ — that’s going to be the best use of your time.’” It already appears to be working for some. Ben Greenwood had never had a trial with a professional club until he downloaded the app in 2019. After uploading footage of himself, the 17-year-old landed a trial with Chelsea, becoming the first user of the app to get a trial with a pro club. He signed a contract with EPL team Bournemouth in 2021. Having beta-tested in with players spanning 125 countries, Greenwood among them, 135 players have been trialed or signed by pro clubs or national teams through the app — which fully launched in September 2023 — according to Felton-Thomas. Just over 100,000 players make up the current database, but with over 100 clubs lined up to join Chelsea and Burnley, as well as a multi-year partnership with Major League Soccer in the US announced last May, Felton-Thomas projects user numbers to surge into the millions as the operation ramps up this year. Felton-Thomas said the “lion’s share” of its income comes from charging clubs a license fee to run the platform. Annual fees vary depending on the size of the club and the tools they require, ranging from six figures for “tier one” sides like Chelsea, to thousands of pounds for clubs lower down the footballing pyramid. The use of smart technology in sport continues to expand, including AI commentary tools and wearable tech for elite athletes. The global market for sports analytics, valued at $2.7 billion in 2023, is projected to grow 22% by the end of the decade, according to market research firm Grand View Research. Should soccer talent scouts be concerned about being edged out by the arrival of AI in their industry? For Felton-Thomas, new technologies can co-exist with traditional methods. “It’s more about evolution than revolution,” Felton-Thomas explained. “We can’t tell you when that player’s actually in that match, how does he deal with adversity? What happens when he’s 2-0 down? What happens when someone’s shouting at him? What happens when he’s just made a massive mistake?” “We’ve got the ability to just augment real people to do their jobs better and faster, which then gives an opportunity to the player through the AI, but you’re still actually just connecting them to the human on the other side, which is the club and the scout.” While football remains ai.io’s primary focus, the company is looking into opportunities in other sports to launch in the coming years. Further ahead, it may branch out beyond sports. “You think about the notion that you can be at home and analyze your movements, and how this could spin into health care, physical assessments for military disciplines and emergency services,” Felton-Thomas told CNN.",CNN " Google shows off astonishing vision for how AI will work with Gmail, Photos and more ",https://edition.cnn.com/2024/05/14/tech/google-ai-gmail-photos-developers-conference/index.html," Updated 3:44 PM EDT, Tue May 14, 2024 ","A day after OpenAI impressed with a startlingly improved ChatGPT AI model, Google showed off an equally stunning vision for how AI will improve the products that billions of people use every day. The updates, announced at its annual Google I/O developer conference, come as the company is trying to push beyond its core advertising business with new devices and AI-powered tools. Artificial intelligence was so top of mind during the event, Google CEO Sundar Pichai said at the end of the presentation the term “AI” was said 120 times – as counted by none other than its AI platform Gemini. During the keynote, Google showed how it wants its AI products to become a bigger part of users’ lives, such as by sharing information, interacting with others, finding objects around the house, making schedules, shopping and using an Android device. Google essentially wants its AI to be part of everything you do. Pichai kicked off the event by highlighting various new features powered by its latest AI model Gemini 1.5 Pro. One new feature, called Ask Photos, allows users to search photos for deeper insights, such as asking when your daughter learned to swim or recall what your license plate number is, by looking through saved pictures. He also showed how users can ask Gemini 1.5 Pro to summarize all recent emails from your child’s school by analyzing attachments, and summarizing key points and spitting out action items. Meanwhile, Google executives took turns demonstrating other capabilities, such as how the latest model could “read” a textbook and turn it into a kind of AI lecture featuring natural-sounding teachers that answer questions. Just one day before, OpenAI — one of the tech industry’s leaders in artificial intelligence — unveiled a new AI model that it says will make chatbot ChatGPT smarter and easier to use. GPT-4o aims to turn ChatGPT into a digital personal assistant that can engage in real-time, spoken conversations and interact using text and “vision.” It can view screenshots, photos, documents or charts uploaded by users and have a conversation about them. Google also showed off Gemini’s latest abilities to take different kinds of input — “multimodal” capabilities to take in text, voice or images — as a direct response to ChatGPT’s efforts. A Google executive also demoed a virtual “teammate” that can help stay on top of to-do lists, organize data and manage workflow. The company also highlighted search improvements by allowing users to ask more natural or more focused questions, and providing various versions of the responses, such as in-depth or summarized results. It can also make targeted suggestions, such as recommending kid friendly restaurants in certain locations, or note what might be wrong with a gadget, such as a camera, by taking a video of the issue via Google Lens. The goal is to take the legwork out of searching on Google, the company said. The company also briefly teased Project Astra, developed by Google’s DeepMind AI lab, which will allow AI assistants to help users’ everyday lives by using phone cameras to interpret information about the real world, such as identifying objects and even finding misplaced items. It also hinted at how it would work on augmented reality glasses. Google said that later this year it will integrate more AI functions into phones. For example, users will be able to drag and drop images created by AI into Google Messages and Gmail and ask questions about YouTube videos and PDFs on an Android device. And in a move that will likely appeal to many, a new built-in tool for Android will help detect suspicious activity in the middle of a call, such as a scammer trying to imitate a user’s bank. According to analyst Jacob Bourne, from market research firm Emarketer, it’s no surprise AI took center stage at this year’s Google developer conference. “By showcasing its latest models and how they’ll power existing products with strong consumer reach, Google is demonstrating how it can effectively differentiate itself from rivals,” he said. He believes the reception of the new tools will be an indicator of how well Google can adapt its search product to meet the demands of the generative AI era. “To maintain its competitive edge and satisfy investors, Google will need to focus on translating its AI innovations into profitable products and services at scale,” he said. As the company grows its AI footprint, it said it will introduce more protections to cut down on potential misuse. Google is expanding its existing SynthID feature to detect AI-generated content. Last year, the tool added watermarks to AI-generated images and audio. Google said it is also partnering with experts and institutions to test and improve the capabilities in its new models. Although the company has doubled down on artificial intelligence in the past year, it also met significant roadblocks. Last year, shortly after introducing its generative AI tool — then called Bard and since renamed Gemini — Google’s share price dropped after a demo video of the tool showed it producing a factually inaccurate response to a question about the James Webb Space Telescope. More recently, the company hit pause in February on Gemini’s ability to generate images of people after it was blasted on social media for producing historically inaccurate images that largely showed people of color in place of White people. Gemini, like other AI tools such as ChatGPT, is trained on vast troves of online data. Experts have long warned about the shortcomings around AI tools, such as the potential for inaccuracies, biases and the spreading of misinformation. Still, many companies are forging ahead on AI tools or partnerships. Apple may be interested in licensing and building Google’s Gemini AI engine, which includes chatbots and other AI tools, into upcoming iPhones and its iOS 18 features, Bloomberg reported in March. The company is also reportedly talking to ChatGPT creator OpenAI.",CNN " Digital humans: the relatable face of artificial intelligence? ",https://edition.cnn.com/business/digital-humans-ai-dj-dex-spc/index.html," Published 5:33 AM EDT, Tue March 19, 2024 ","Scrolling through the Instagram account of DJ and aspiring model Dex you’ll see her wearing new outfits, performing at shows around the world and chatting to her thousands of followers about her hobbies. However, it’s clear that there is something different about Dex; she’s an entirely virtual “digital human,” designed by a startup in the UK. For her performances, Dex is displayed on a video screen or as a holographic projection, with her mixes created by humans. She is animated using Unreal Engine — a 3D modeling software widely used in video games — combined with motion-capture. Generative artificial intelligence allows her to remember information and respond to questions, using a voice also generated by AI. “She’s probably one of the only digital humans in the performance space that you can have a conversation and interact with,” says Denise Harris, CCO of startup Sum Vivas. “You can ask her anything. She is a genius about music.” Last month, Dex performed at Digital Fashion Weeks in New York, Paris and Milan, and she has modeled outfits by Prada and Louis Vuitton at digital fashion events. For Liverpool-based Sum Vivas she’s a “showpiece” for more practical applications. The company is now developing digital humans that can “listen” to people’s questions and converse in real time. “Shellie” can provide product information as an avatar on company websites, while “Arif” is set to direct passengers and answer questions as a multilingual concierge on screens at airports. According to CEO and founder Rob Sims, digital humans can help bridge the gap between AI technology and people. “What we’ve found is when people start working with and conversing with a digital human, they very quickly suspend disbelief,” Sims tells CNN. “It becomes natural.” Since OpenAI’s ChatGPT was launched in November 2022, considerable hype has surrounded the potential of generative AI — artificial intelligence powered by huge datasets of information, capable of generating text outputs in a conversational way. Record levels of investment into generative AI have followed, with over $21 billion poured into the industry during the first nine months of last year, according to data insights company Pitchbook. In March 2023, Google launched Bard (recently renamed Gemini) and around the same time Anthropic released its AI assistant Claude. As generative AI chatbots become increasingly ubiquitous, Sum Vivas is one of several companies looking to make them more human. US and New Zealand-based UneeQ has developed animated conversational “digital humans” that can be used as virtual sales reps and customer service agents on company websites, and this month it debuted Sama 2.0, an animated cabin crew member that answers questions on Qatar Airways’ website and app. Microsoft recently announced that users of its Azure software would be able to create lifelike avatars capable of turning text prompts into animated speech. However, there are widespread concerns about the impact AI could have on the job market. “When we rely on automated tools, what skills are we losing in the process?” asks Jennifer Ding, senior researcher at the Alan Turing Institute, the UK’s national institute for data science and artificial intelligence. “In some ways, we think of AI as something that’s helping us or augmenting our work,” she says. “However, alongside, this fear of replacement is bubbling up more and more.” Harris, however, points to new opportunities within digital human design and development. “Every scenario that we found, we’re creating jobs and working in harmony with people rather than taking away jobs,” she says. “Digital humans, first and foremost, should work with other human colleagues,” adds Sims. “We’ll move into a stage where digital humans will start to become just another member of the team, with added benefits for that team, and obviously the customers they serve.”",CNN " Debt — and delinquencies — are on the rise for Americans ",https://edition.cnn.com/2024/05/14/economy/household-debt-credit-q1-delinquencies/index.html," Published 11:08 AM EDT, Tue May 14, 2024 ","The economy has been resilient, the job market healthy and consumers keep spending, but more Americans are becoming financially overextended — especially on their credit cards. New data released Tuesday by the Federal Reserve Bank of New York showed that as household debt balances grew during the first quarter, delinquencies also marched higher. Notably, the percentage of credit card balances in serious delinquency (90 days or more late) climbed to its highest level since 2012. “In the first quarter of 2024, credit card and auto loan transition rates into serious delinquency continued to rise across all age groups,” Joelle Scally, regional economic principal within the Household and Public Policy Research Division at the New York Fed, said in a statement. “An increasing number of borrowers missed credit card payments, revealing worsening financial distress among some households.” Aggregate delinquency rates increased during the first quarter to 3.2% of outstanding debt in some stage of delinquency, the highest since the fourth quarter of 2020, according to the New York Fed’s latest Quarterly Report on Household Debt and Credit. The transitions into delinquency — especially serious delinquency — increased across all debt types, according to the report. Delinquencies fell to historic lows during the pandemic as consumers spent less during the health and safety lockdowns and were able to build up savings and pay off debt with those funds and economic stimulus payments. However, as supply chain and spending imbalances fueled domestic and global inflation — and subsequently a rise of interest rates — delinquencies have moved higher in recent years. While the delinquency transition rates remain below what was seen during the Great Recession, they’re running higher than what was seen pre-pandemic. Because of that, New York Fed researchers said they’re keeping a close watch on what this means for the well-being of Americans’ household finances and the overall economy. Overall household debt grew by 1.1% during the first quarter to $17.69 trillion, according to data that is not adjusted for inflation. The quarterly increase was driven largely by mortgage balances. Credit card balances dipped (as they typically do post-holidays) by $14 billion to $1.12 trillion. However, when adjusting for inflation, balances have yet to surpass the levels seen in 2008. Higher balances can be attributed to population growth, an increase in online spending, the surging cost of new and used cars, as well as economy-powering consumer activity.",CNN " The Chevrolet Corvette is officially going electric ",https://edition.cnn.com/2022/04/25/business/electric-hybrid-corvette/index.html," Updated 12:22 PM EDT, Mon April 25, 2022 ","General Motors will produce a fully electric Chevrolet Corvette, GM President Mark Reuss announced in a LinkedIn post Monday morning. Reuss didn’t say when the electric Corvette would come, but he hinted that a hybrid model could come relatively soon. “We will offer an electrified Corvette as early as next year,” he wrote. An accompanying video the company posted to Twitter showed what appeared to be a hybrid Corvette, and in another first, showed the front wheels spinning and throwing snow as if being powered. All Corvettes produced by the company previously have been rear-wheel-drive only. While Reuss’s post implies a hybrid Corvette will be based on the current generation of the car, it’s not clear if the all-electric version will be a variation of this car or a completely different future model. “Electrified” is an auto industry term encompassing everything from hybrid to fully electric vehicles, and anything with an electric motor can count as “electrified.” It has long been rumored that the current generation of the Corvette, the first with its gasoline engine mounted behind the seats instead of in the front, could be built with a hybrid system. Reuss has also previously hinted there would be electrified variants of the car. Various companies are working on electric sports cars. Most all-electric vehicles in production so far have been four-door sedans and SUVs, as the need for batteries lends itself to larger and heavier vehicles. Tesla’s first car, the Lotus Elise-based Tesla Roadster, was an electric sports car, but the second-generation of Tesla Roadster, originally unveiled as a prototype in 2017, has yet to go into production. Some manufacturers, such as Lamborghini, have said that current battery technology doesn’t allow for a optimum sports car performance from a purely electric vehicle. Lamborghini has been working on plug-in hybrid sports cars, though. To date, the Corvette is only available in the base Stingray version with 6.2-liter V8 engine producing up to 495 horsepower. A 670 horsepower Corvette Z06 with a 5.5-liter V8 was unveiled last fall. The previous generation of the Corvette included included a 755-horsepower ZR1 version. Nothing like that has yet been announced for the current model but GM engineers have said a major reason for putting the engine in the back was to allow for better performance at extremely high horsepower levels. Besides saving gas, hybrid systems can also be used in high-performance cars to add additional power and to provide for quicker acceleration since electric motors can provide power to the wheels more quickly than gas engines. Ferrari’s most powerful sports cars are hybrids, for instance. GM has said it plans to produce only zero-emission vehicles, meaning fully electric or powered by hydrogen fuel cells, by 2035.",CNN " Judge’s stern rebuke of Elon Musk’s X gives researchers fresh hope ",https://edition.cnn.com/2024/03/26/tech/judges-stern-rebuke-of-elon-musks-x-gives-researchers-fresh-hope/index.html," Published 1:17 PM EDT, Tue March 26, 2024 ","A federal judge’s decision this week reprimanding Elon Musk’s X will have reverberating effects on efforts to hold influential online platforms accountable, legal experts and advocacy groups say. On Monday, District Judge Charles Breyer dismissed and excoriated a lawsuit by X against online watchdog group Center for Countering Digital Hate as an attempt to silence the non-profit group for sounding alarms about hate speech on the platform. Breyer wrote in Monday’s order that the lawsuit was “unabashedly” about “punishing” reports written by CCDH, which X had accused of campaigning to drive away its advertisers. Breyer held that the reports were “unquestionably” protected by the group’s free speech rights. Now, that decision could embolden other research groups and Musk critics who have faced legal threats from the billionaire. The CCDH case — in the US District Court for the Northern District of California — has been widely viewed as a bellwether for research and accountability on X, where Musk has restored the accounts of previously banned White supremacists and spreaders of misinformation and where Musk himself has amplified various conspiracy theories. And CCDH is not the only organization that has faced attacks by self-proclaimed “free speech absolutist” Musk after criticizing or raising concerns about his platform. “This is an important decision that sees Elon Musk’s lawsuit for what it is — an effort to punish his critics for constitutionally protected speech and to deter researchers from studying his platform,” said Alex Abdo, litigation director of the Knight First Amendment Institute at Columbia University, which had filed a friend-of-the-court brief in the case arguing that private companies should not be allowed to use breach of contract claims to punish criticism. “Society needs reliable and ethical research into social media platforms, and often that research relies on being able to study publicly available posts,” Abdo said. X said it plans to appeal Breyer’s decision. In his first year as owner of X, formerly known as Twitter, Musk threatened legal action against the Anti-Defamation League for defamation, as well as against Microsoft and Meta for allegedly improper data and trade secret access, respectively. None of those threats ever amounted to real lawsuits. He did, however, sue the progressive media watchdog Media Matters over its analysis highlighting antisemitic and pro-Nazi content on X, alleging that the group’s testing methodology was not representative of how real users experience the site and that the report was designed to drive away advertisers. Legal experts have described that case as “weak” on the merits and as a “bogus” attempt to chill criticism of X. This week’s court decision may be only a temporary setback in Musk’s wider plan to stifle criticism, said Media Matters CEO Angelo Carusone. Musk’s new playbook, Carusone said, enlists the help of sympathetic Republican attorneys general to investigate independent reporting organizations and tie them up in legal proceedings. The states of Texas and Missouri each announced probes into Media Matters following X’s lawsuit against the group, to which Musk responded, “Great!” As recently as Monday, Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey filed a petition in state court seeking to compel Media Matters’ cooperation with his investigation. The filing came a week after he appeared with Musk in a live event on X — which Carusone said shows how Musk hopes to deputize the power of government to silence his critics. “They have every reason to do it,” Carusone said of the AGs’ investigations. “They get the political benefits, they get the attention. There doesn’t seem to be any cost to them yet. And if they are successful at developing this new playbook, this new terrain, legally, then it’s going to pave the way for them to just use this tool and tactic over and over and over again.” A representative for X did not immediately respond to a request for comment about Carusone’s claims. Researchers from non-profits and academic institutions have had a harder time studying X since Musk’s takeover in 2022. Academics need large samples of posts, shares, likes and other data to study social media trends in mis- and disinformation, public health, elections and other key topics. But one of Musk’s first changes at X was to put access to platform data behind a steep paywall. Researchers and civil society groups said the new subscription fees — costing up to $2.5 million a year — were “outrageously expensive” and made it impossible to do their work, reducing transparency of a critical platform. The change may have forced some researchers to rely more heavily on first-person observational data to draw conclusions about user behavior on X. Groups like CCDH have also used automated “scraping” of publicly viewable content from X rather than paying the company for data directly, a tactic that helped give rise to X’s initial lawsuit. Efforts by X and other social media companies to limit research transparency makes them less accountable to the public at best and, at worst, could mask malicious behavior, said David Karpf, an associate professor in the School of Media and Public Affairs at George Washington University. “We need independent research to have any real measure of what’s going on at X/Twitter. Musk is only ever going to release data that makes his company look good,” Karpf said. “These platforms are too big and too vital to the spread of information to be left unmonitored.” “This is an election year,” Karpf added, “and the platforms are taking steps to make it harder to monitor how their services are used for malignant ends.” Free Press, another media accountability organization that has been critical of Musk’s leadership of X and which called for advertisers to pause their spending on the platform shortly after his takeover, also celebrated Breyer’s ruling as potentially removing at least one hurdle that watchdog organizations face. “The guardrails for democracy are hanging by a thread and we have dwindling insights into platform practices as researchers face lawsuits, congressional subpoenas and other scare tactics,” said Nora Benavidez, senior counsel and director of digital rights at Free Press. Ultimately, Benavidez called the ruling “a reminder that platform accountability is essential and will inevitably prevail when up against bullies like Musk who try to silence us.”",CNN " China vows to take ‘all necessary actions’ in response to Biden’s tariffs ",https://edition.cnn.com/2024/05/14/business/china-reaction-biden-tariffs/index.html," Updated 12:02 PM EDT, Tue May 14, 2024 ","China has vowed to resolutely defend its interests in the face of huge new US tariffs and warned that the trade barriers would affect the wider relationship between the two economic superpowers. President Joe Biden on Tuesday announced that tariffs on $18 billion worth of imports of Chinese electric vehicles and an array of other products would soar over the next two years. The White House said the measures were designed to protect American workers and businesses in the face of China’s unfair trade practices, including “flooding global markets with artificially low-priced exports.” China “firmly opposes” the new tariffs, the country’s Commerce Ministry said in a statement. “The increase in … tariffs by the United States contradicts President Joe Biden’s commitment to ‘not seek to suppress and contain China’s development’ and ‘not to seek to decouple and break links with China,’” it said. “This action will seriously impact the atmosphere of bilateral cooperation.” EVs imported from China will see their tariffs more than quadrupled from 27.5% to 100% — a policy lever meant to challenge Beijing’s practice of encouraging aggressively low pricing by domestic EV manufacturers while levying a 40% tariff on US car imports. In addition to EVs, increased tariffs will apply to imports of Chinese steel and aluminum, legacy semiconductors, battery components, critical minerals, solar cells, cranes and medical products. Tariffs on solar cells and semiconductors will double to 50%, while the remainder of the targeted imports will attract tariffs of 25%. “China opposes the unilateral imposition of tariffs which violate (World Trade Organization) rules, and will take all necessary actions to protect its legitimate rights,” Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin told reporters Tuesday shortly before the widely anticipated White House announcement. The Commerce Ministry said China would take resolute measures to defend its rights and interests and urged the Biden administration to “correct its wrongdoing.” China’s global trade surplus in goods has soared in recent years and is now approaching $1 trillion, stoking tensions with the United States and Europe. The Biden administration and European Union officials fear Beijing is trying to tackle a subsidy-fueled overcapacity problem in its decelerating economy by dumping excess products on global markets. Leaders from the Group of Seven developed economies will discuss how to protect their industries at a summit next month. Responding to a separate question during the briefing, Wang added that the growth of China’s new energy industry — including EVs, lithium batteries and photovoltaic products — is built on “continued technical innovation, complete industrial and supply chains, and full-on market competition.” “Our leading edge is a result of comparative advantage and the rule of markets combined, not (of) subsidies,” Wang said. This story has been updated with additional information.",CNN " The four-day work week is here to stay at UK companies that tried it ",https://edition.cnn.com/2024/02/22/business/four-day-work-week-uk/index.html," ","One year after the conclusion of the world’s biggest trial of a four-day work week, a large majority of companies that took part were still allowing their employees to work a shorter week and more than half had made the change permanent. For six months between June and December 2022, workers at 61 organizations in the United Kingdom worked 80% of their usual hours — for the same pay — in exchange for promising to deliver 100% of their usual work. At least 89% of those firms were still operating the policy and at least 51% had made the four-day week permanent at the end of 2023, according to a report published on February 21 by one of the organizers of the trial. Two companies did not respond to the researchers compiling the report. The study was released Wednesday by Autonomy, a think tank that ran the 2022 trial with nonprofit 4 Day Week Global and the 4 Day Week UK Campaign in partnership with researchers from Cambridge and Oxford universities, and Boston College. The effects of reduced working hours have been overwhelmingly beneficial for staff and their companies, according to the report. At the end of the trial, employees reported enjoying better physical and mental health, greater work-life balance and general life satisfaction, and less exhaustion from work — and these improvements have been maintained one year on. “The key point is that the strong findings at six months are not due to novelty or short-term impacts. These effects are real and long-lasting,” said Juliet Schor, professor of sociology at Boston College, which surveyed staff at the companies that participated in the trial. Managers and CEOs at 28 of the organizations also agreed to answer additional questions. All said the four-day week had a positive impact on their company. Staff turnover fell at half of the organizations, almost a third said the policy had noticeably improved recruitment, and 82% reported beneficial effects on staff well-being. The Autonomy report also highlights the methods organizations have used to sustain a four-day week, including revising the norms around meetings, work communications and prioritization. “In this study, it has been clear the four-day week is not just a flash in the pan: companies around the UK have successfully been ‘making it stick’,” the authors wrote. Close to half of the 61 organizations that took part in the 2022 trial are in marketing and advertising, professional services, and the nonprofit sector. The remainder span a range of industries, including construction, manufacturing, retail, healthcare, and arts and entertainment. Calls to shorten the working week have multiplied in recent years. These calls have grown louder after millions of employees switched to remote work during the pandemic and stopped commuting, saving time and money. There have been a number of experiments with the four-day week around the world, including a trial in 2022 across 33 companies, with the majority of workers based in the United States and Ireland.",CNN " 3 ways Apple’s monopoly lawsuit could change the iPhone experience for fans ",https://edition.cnn.com/2024/03/26/tech/apples-iphone-changes-lawsuit/index.html," Published 6:30 AM EDT, Tue March 26, 2024 ","When Apple launched its first Mac computer in 1984, with its iconic Mac smiley-face “hello” greeting, it wanted to differentiate itself in the fledgling PC market. The Mac was approachable with its friendly, innovative design – Apple’s way of setting the Mac apart in the confusing PC landscape. That consumer-friendly mantra still exists today, with Apple carefully curating an easy-breezy yet controlled user experience across its products, including the billions of iPhones used around the world. But the Biden administration believes Apple took that too far. On Thursday, the Department of Justice sued Apple for illegally monopolizing the smartphone market. In a press conference, the government provided a long list of how Apple has allegedly squashed competition with restrictive app store terms, high fees and its “walled-garden” approach, restricting how third-party companies interact with its brands and services. The company denied the lawsuit’s allegations and said it plans to fight them. Apple added that the lawsuit could empower the government “to take a heavy hand in designing people’s technology.” But if successful, the lawsuit could ripple across Apple’s products and services. Although the suit could take years to play out, here’s a closer look what it may eventually mean for iPhone users: If found liable, the company could be forced to change a number of things. One such change is how iPhone users could get greater access to “super apps” that have been largely restricted before. The term refers to one-stop-shop apps that allow for messaging, ordering food, payment processing and other capabilities all within one platform. According to Dipanjan Chatterjee, a principal analyst at market research firm Forrester, super apps most threaten Apple’s preeminence in the lives of its customers. “An offering like WeChat, dubbed China’s everything app, can provide an alternative to the Apple ecosystem for people to communicate, bank, share memories, talk to businesses and more,” he said. “What Apple fears most is becoming irrelevant to its customers.” At the same time, super apps like WeChat are created by larger companies and could, therefore, put some smaller companies at a disadvantage. And the concept hasn’t been welcomed much in the US anyway. The US government, however, could argue that lack of interest may be due to Apple’s high share of the smartphone market and its resistance to offer super apps in its store, Chatterjee said. Apple may also be required to offer more support for cross-platform messaging, an issue the company previously said it’s already working on. The company lets iPhone users send high-quality photos and videos to one another, but similar texts to Android phones are slower and grainy. It also maintains those messages in green bubbles, creating a kind of class divide, critics argue. In November, the company said it will add new features, such as read receipts, typing indicators, better support for group chats and higher quality media sharing of images and videos, across platforms to help close the gap. Apple’s move to add support for the standard called RCS (rich communication services) is intended to roll out later this year. RCS is considered the replacement to alternatives such as SMS, or short messaging service, and can work over both Wi-Fi and mobile data. The change followed pressure from both regulators and competitors to more seamlessly work across operating systems. The European Union’s Digital Markets Act, for example, requires companies to make their key services interoperable between platforms. The US government could require the same. Another likely change is how hardware from other companies, such as smartwatches, will interact with the Apple range of devices and software, including the iPhone and Apple’s services like Fitness+. The company has also required Apple Watch users to own iOS devices as a way to keep them locked into its existing ecosystem. Chatterjee said making this change would have both positives and negatives. “The net result would reside somewhere along the spectrum of access to more and cheaper options but also the devaluation of the customer experience that is so highly prized by Apple’s customers,” he said. The Biden administration has also taken issue with Apple’s lack of support for mobile cloud services. Loosening this could allow users to access games and other cloud-based apps without having to pay for pricey hardware. The DOJ lawsuit claims Apple’s behavior has illegally hindered competition, kept its customers locked into its products and prevented other companies from innovating. Although the Biden administration will have to prove these harms, some critics say any potential changes Apple could make will negatively impact the user experience. David McQueen, a research director at ABI Research, said he recognizes that the content and applications market should be open, and Apple needs to avoid monopolistic advantages that can restrict competition, push up prices or block innovation. But Apple’s success stems in part to its tight grip on its products and services, keeping things intuitive and seamless. “If Apple is forced to comply, it could potentially spell the end to the provision of this consistent and unified user experience, although by the same token, consumers will be open to a greater choice of apps and services, helping more developers and providers,” McQueen said. Chatterjee noted some people are drawn to the Apple family of products precisely because of the carefully managed ecosystem’s ease of use. Apple may have to work that much harder to preserve the integrity of its experience, but any changes probably won’t be enough to make customers to leave and go elsewhere. “The vast majority of Apple customers would probably be happier with some more choice and lower prices as long as it did not hamper their levels of customer experience, which is threatened by the less control Apple has over the experience,” Chatterjee said. But he added those currently outside of the Apple ecosystem will likely benefit by “plugging in opportunistically without having to go all in with Apple.”",CNN " Dozens of Chinese companies hit with US trade restrictions over 2023 spy balloon incident ",https://edition.cnn.com/2024/05/10/business/china-spy-balloon-us-trade-restrictions-intl-hnk/index.html," Published 4:16 AM EDT, Fri May 10, 2024 ","Washington — The Biden administration added 37 Chinese entities to a trade restriction list on Thursday, including some for allegedly supporting the suspected spy balloon that flew over the United States last year, heightening tensions between Beijing and Washington. The Commerce Department also said it was adding some units of China Electronics Technology Group to the list for allegedly trying to obtain American technology to support China’s quantum technology capabilities, “which has serious ramifications for U.S. national security” due to their military applications. Media have said state-owned China Electronics Technology Group is a top military equipment supplier. China Electronics Technology Group could not immediately be reached for comment. The Chinese embassy in Washington did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The moves announced Thursday show the Biden administration is continuing to punish Beijing over the spy balloon, which drifted over the United States in February 2023, fueling political outrage in Washington and prompting State Department Secretary Antony Blinken to cancel a trip to China. That month, the Commerce Department added five companies and one research institute to the entity list for supporting “China’s military modernization efforts, specifically the People’s Liberation Army’s (PLA) aerospace programs including airships and balloons.” China’s Foreign Ministry had said it was a weather balloon that had blown off course and accused the United States of overreacting. The trade restriction list, known as the entity list, has been used aggressively by the United States to stem the flow of technology to China amid concerns Beijing could use it to bolster its military capabilities. Being added to the list makes it harder for US suppliers to ship to the targeted entities. The Biden administration on Thursday also added a handful of Chinese entities to the list for trying to obtain American items for making drones to be used by the Chinese military and others for shipping controlled items to Russia.",CNN " Investigation into child exploitation on Meta platforms leads to arrests of three men ",https://edition.cnn.com/2024/05/09/tech/meta-child-safety-investigation-arrests-new-mexico/index.html," Published 12:50 PM EDT, Thu May 9, 2024 ","An investigation by the New Mexico Attorney General into the potential dangers of Meta’s platforms has resulted in the arrests of three men charged with attempted sexual abuse of children. The arrests came after a months-long investigation by the attorney general’s office into the risks of sexual exploitation of children on Facebook and Instagram. That investigation also formed the basis of a lawsuit against Meta, filed in December, accusing the tech giant of creating a “breeding ground” for child predators. Meta has pushed back against the claims in the lawsuit and says it offers dozens of safety tools for children and parents. As part of the investigation, the attorney general’s office created multiple fake Facebook and Instagram profiles posing as children, which the suit alleges were served sexually suggestive content and, in some cases, were urged by other users to send pornographic content of themselves. The fake child accounts were also allegedly contacted and solicited for sex by the three New Mexico adult men whose arrests were announced by the attorney general on Wednesday. Two of the three men were arrested at a motel, where they allegedly believed they would be meeting up with a 12-year-old girl, based on their conversations with the decoy accounts. “This is (Meta CEO) Mark Zuckerberg’s fault,” New Mexico Attorney General Raúl Torrez said in a press conference announcing the arrests Wednesday. “This is the fault of a company that has extraordinary resources at its disposal and has chosen time and again to place profits over the interests of children.” A Meta spokesperson told CNN that “child exploitation is a horrific crime and we’ve spent years building technology to combat it and to support law enforcement in investigating and prosecuting the criminals behind it.” “This is an ongoing fight, where determined criminals evolve their tactics across platforms to try and evade protections,” the spokesperson said. “We use sophisticated technology, hire child safety experts, report content to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, and share information and tools with other companies and non-profits to help root out predators across the many platforms they use.” News of the arrests could add to the growing scrutiny that Meta – like other social media companies – faces over the safety of young users on its platforms. Lawmakers, parents and online safety advocates, as well as several separate lawsuits, have raised concerns about the impact of Meta’s platforms on teens’ mental health, body image and overall wellbeing. In January, Zuckerberg apologized to families who said their children had been harmed by using social media during a Senate committee hearing about online youth safety. In January — after Torrez’s lawsuit was filed and ahead of the Senate hearing — Meta rolled out additional youth safety features, including updating teens’ default privacy settings to restrict anyone they don’t follow from messaging them, including other teens. The move came after Meta in 2021 restricted adults over age 19 from messaging teens who don’t follow them. The company also said in December that it had launched technology to proactively detect and disable accounts displaying suspicious behaviors and that it formed a Child Safety Task Force. But Torrez said during Wednesday’s press conference that the arrests underscore the ongoing, real-world risks to children from Meta’s platforms. One of the New Mexico men arrested this week, 52-year-old Fernando Clyde, allegedly added one of the attorney general’s fake child Facebook accounts as a friend and initiated a conversation in February. “Throughout the conversation Fernando sent pictures of his genitals and spoke to her about having sex,” a press release from the attorney general’s office states. Clyde is charged with one count of child solicitation by electronic communication device of a child under 13 and one of attempted criminal sexual penetration of a minor. The second man, 29-year-old Marlon Kellywood, faces the same charges. Attorneys for Clyde and Kellywood could not immediately be reached for comment. The third man, 47-year-old Christopher Reynolds, was arrested and charged with one count of child solicitation by electronic communication device of a child under 13 after police were tipped off by a mother whose 11-year-old had allegedly received messages from him. Investigators then friended him from the fake child account, and Reynolds initiated a conversation and sent sexually explicit messages, according to the attorney general’s office. Reynolds’ attorney did not immediately respond to a request for comment. “The decoy accounts with which these suspects engaged mirror the experience children can and are having on these platforms,” Torrez said in a press release. He added that the investigation indicates “that using Meta’s social media platforms not only endangers children in the virtual world but, more importantly, they are spaces that sexual predators actively use to hunt, groom and victimize children in the real world.”",CNN " NBC News ousts Ronna McDaniel after network’s anchors launch unprecedented on-air rebellion ",https://edition.cnn.com/2024/03/26/media/nbc-news-ousts-ronna-mcdaniel/index.html," Updated 7:44 PM EDT, Tue March 26, 2024 ","NBC News on Tuesday ousted former Republican National Committee chair Ronna McDaniel, just days after her hiring as a paid political analyst sparked intense backlash from the network’s top television anchors over McDaniel’s role in subverting the 2020 election and attacks on the press. “There is no doubt that the last several days have been difficult for the News Group,” NBCUniversal News Group President Cesar Conde said in a memo to staff. “After listening to the legitimate concerns of many of you, I have decided that Ronna McDaniel will not be an NBC News contributor.” “I want to personally apologize to our team members who felt we let them down,” Conde continued. “While this was a collective recommendation by some members of our leadership team, I approved it and take full responsibility for it.” Ahead of the network’s decision, McDaniel spent the day Tuesday interviewing attorneys in preparation for a potential legal battle with NBC, a person familiar with the matter told CNN. Creative Artists Agency, the talent agency that brokered McDaniel’s deal with NBC, also parted ways with her, the person said. The reversal comes after journalists and anchors at both NBC and its cable news sibling MSNBC publicly denounced the decision to hire McDaniel as a paid analyst in a stunning and unprecedented on-air rebuke of network brass that has embarrassed the Peacock Network. McDaniel, who recently stepped down from the RNC under pressure from former President Donald Trump, was involved in attempts to overturn the results of the 2020 election. As head of the RNC, she was involved in a phone call in 2020 to pressure Michigan county officials not to certify the vote from the Detroit area, where Joe Biden had a commanding lead. McDaniel told the officials, regarding the certification: “Do not sign it. … We will get you attorneys.” In the years since, McDaniel continued to claim that the election had “problems” and that Biden did not legitimately win the election, fanning the flames of election denialism. NBC’s announcement Friday that it had hired McDaniel was quickly met with alarm by the network’s journalists. The revolt spilled into public view on Sunday when McDaniel appeared on “Meet the Press” with moderator Kristen Welker in her first interview since she was hired by the network. Welker disclosed that the interview had been scheduled to take place prior to NBC announcing McDaniel would become a paid contributor for the network, stating that she had no involvement in her hiring. Following the interview, Chuck Todd, NBC News’ chief political analyst, delivered a stinging on-air criticism of NBC executives for their decision to hire McDaniel, telling Welker, “I think our bosses owe you an apology for putting you in this situation.” “There’s a reason a lot of journalists at NBC News are uncomfortable with this,” Todd said, explaining that under McDaniel, the RNC engaged in “gaslighting” and “character assassination” when dealing with the news media. The following day, MSNBC hosts Mika Brzezinski and Joe Scarborough joined Todd in protesting the decision on their program “Morning Joe.” “To be clear, we believe NBC News should seek out conservative Republican voices to provide balance in their election coverage, but it should be conservative Republicans, not a person who used her position of power to be an anti-democracy election denier,” Brzezinski said. “We hope NBC will reconsider its decision. It goes without saying that she will not be a guest on ‘Morning Joe’ in her capacity as a paid contributor.” Nicolle Wallace, host of MSNBC’s “Deadline: White House,” later joined in the rebuke, saying on her program that the network’s decision to hire McDaniel was nothing short of a potential threat to democracy. “NBC News is, either wittingly or unwittingly, teaching election deniers that what they can do stretches well beyond appearing on our air and interviews to peddle lies about the sanctity and integrity of our elections,” Wallace told viewers. Rachel Maddow — the network’s biggest star — later devoted the first half-hour of her prime-time program to the controversy, saying the decision to hire McDaniel was “inexplicable.” Maddow took issue with McDaniel’s long track record of demonizing the news media, labeling the press as “fake news,” and launching ugly attacks on NBC News journalists and MSNBC hosts. “We do not take it personally when we get attacked, when they say they want to put us on trial and execute us for treason,” she said. “And so I want to associate myself with all my colleagues at MSNBC and NBC News who have voiced loud and principled objections to our company for putting on the payroll someone who hasn’t just attacked us as journalists, but someone who is part of an ongoing project to get rid of our system of government,” she said of McDaniel. “Someone who is still trying to convince Americans that this election stuff doesn’t really work. That this last election wasn’t a real result. That American elections are fraudulent.“ The on-air revolt ensnared NBC’s top leaders, including NBCUniversal News Group chair Cesar Conde, NBC News president Rebecca Blumenstein and senior vice president of politics Carrie Budoff Brown, who were responsible for McDaniel’s hiring. MSNBC president Rashida Jones also did not object to the decision, people familiar with the matter said. In the wake of Conde’s announcement to sever ties with McDaniel, MSNBC host Joy Reid and Maddow addressed the reversal on the network’s air, praising the move as “bold” and “strong.” “I think it is a show of strength and a show of respect for the people who work at this company and make us who we are,” Maddow said. “That leadership was willing to change on this, I’m grateful to them.”",CNN " NBC cut ties with Ronna McDaniel after extraordinary pressure, but its problems aren’t over ",https://edition.cnn.com/2024/03/27/media/nbc-ronna-mcdaniel-problems-are-not-over/index.html," Updated 8:16 AM EDT, Wed March 27, 2024 ","Only 80 hours elapsed between NBC News announcing Ronna McDaniel as a paid contributor and the network ousting her from that very role. But for the leadership at NBC Universal News Group, those were 80 painful hours. On Tuesday evening, following another full day in which the media rumor mill churned at warp speed, NBCU News Group boss Cesar Conde sent staff a memo, notifying his troops that he had reversed his decision to welcome the former Republican National Committee chair to “the team.” “After listening to the legitimate concerns of many of you, I have decided that Ronna McDaniel will not be an NBC News contributor,” Conde said, adding that he wanted to “personally apologize to our team members who felt we let them down.” Conde had no real choice. The embattled NBCU boss, who I’m told dealt with the crisis from an unknown location outside of 30 Rock, was facing an unprecedented rebellion from his most high-profile stars, who one by one went on the air and excoriated leadership’s decision to hire McDaniel. The only aspect of Conde’s note that was surprising was the fact that it came 48 hours late, allowing what started off as a crisis to fester and balloon into one of the worst corporate public relations calamities in recent memory. “What a sh*t show!” a media executive exclaimed to me Tuesday shortly after Conde relieved McDaniel of her NBC News credentials. In his note, Conde said he took “full responsibility” for McDaniel’s hire. But, he also did point the finger, telling staffers that hiring her was “a collective recommendation by some members of our leadership team.” Indeed, multiple people familiar with the matter have told me that the infighting among NBC executives over who was at fault for the disaster has reached a fever pitch, with various factions of the NBCU News Group assigning blame to others. Regardless of who is to blame, the entire affair made clear who is actually in control of the company — and it’s not Conde & Co. Despite the NBCU C-suite digging their heels in the sand as they resisted dumping McDaniel for days, they were ultimately forced to succumb to pressure from their talent. As a second media executive commented to me, it is now “very clear who is in charge” after the “weak leadership was put on full display.” “Has Cesar lost the room?” wondered a third media executive. While the Peacock family argues over who was really at fault, the company is facing a fresh public relations mess. Led by Donald Trump, right-wing personalities are already assailing the network as being overrun with intolerant woke leftists. “These Radical Left Lunatics are CRAZY and the top people at NBC ARE WEAK,” Trump raged on his Truth Social platform. Ari Fleischer, who served as press secretary under President George W. Bush, wrote on X: “What NBC is saying is if you’re for Trump, you don’t belong. Good. Let NBC be for Democrats only.” Of course, that narrative is intellectually dishonest. The objection to McDaniel from both within and outside of NBCU was not that she is a Republican. It wasn’t even that she was a Trump-supporting Republican. No, the objection stemmed from the fact that McDaniel was an active participant in the plot to subvert the 2020 vote. And, in addition to that disgraceful history, she had a lengthy track record smearing NBC News and MSNBC. Nevertheless, NBCU will now have to contend with such dishonest attacks being leveled by the right, which will follow them in the days, months, and even years to come. As unfair as it may be, they will certainly damage the network’s brand in Republican circles — a place it had gone through great pains to appeal to. NBCU will also have to grapple with McDaniel, who spent the last 24 hours or so interviewing lawyers as she gears up for a possible legal fight with the network, according to a person familiar with the matter. The rift between McDaniel and NBCU had grown to such an extent by Tuesday that she was not informed by network brass that she had been dismissed, I’m told. Instead, McDaniel learned of her ouster in press reports. While NBCU is being beaten up on the right, the company’s leadership was quickly praised by its journalists and top stars. Shortly after Conde sent out his memo, Rachel Maddow appeared on Joy Reid’s show, where the two lauded Conde for reversing course. “I think it is a show of strength and a show of respect for the people who work at this company and make us who we are,” Maddow said. “That leadership was willing to change on this, I’m grateful to them.”",CNN " Apple announces its annual developers conference is set for June 10 ",https://edition.cnn.com/2024/03/26/tech/apple-annual-developers-conference-june-10/index.html," Updated 2:20 PM EDT, Tue March 26, 2024 ","Apple announced its annual Worldwide Developer Conference will kick off on June 10, when the company is expected to show off its latest AI advancements. The conference, which is widely anticipated each year as a major showcase for Apple software news, will run Monday, June 10 through Friday, June 14. Although last year’s WWDC focused on the unveiling of the Vision Pro mixed reality headset, which launched in stores in February, this year is expected to turn to Apple’s AI efforts. The company is reportedly interested in licensing and building Google’s Gemini AI engine, which includes chatbots and other AI tools, into upcoming iPhones and its iOS 18 features. As more tech companies pour billions of dollars into the development and rollout of artificial intelligence, Apple has largely been left out of the conversation, with many other tech companies making big strides in the space. A partnership with Google would catapult Apple into the growing AI arms race. Apple researchers also recently said they’ve developed a family of multimodal models — which refers to an AI system that can interpret and generate different types of data, such as text and images at the same time — called MM1. A report from those researchers said those new methods boast “superior abilities” and can offer advanced reasoning and in-context learning to respond to text and images. In a press release on Tuesday, the company said WWDC 2024 will also share software updates coming to the iPhone, iPad, Mac, Apple Watch, Apple TV and Vision Pro headset.",CNN " NBC News boss Cesar Conde faces backlash from his network’s anchors over ‘inexplicable’ decision to hire ex-RNC chair Ronna McDaniel ",https://edition.cnn.com/2024/03/26/media/nbc-news-cesar-conde-ronna-mcdaniel-backlash/index.html," Published 8:05 AM EDT, Tue March 26, 2024 ","Cesar Conde has a decision to make — and it’s not an especially difficult one. The NBCUniversal News Group chair is facing a torrent of backlash from his own staff after greenlighting the hire of former Republican National Committee chair Ronna McDaniel as a paid network contributor. Over the last 24 hours, the most prominent and recognizable NBC News and MSNBC personalities have voiced strong displeasure with the company’s decision to welcome McDaniel to “the team.” And they’re not doing it via anonymous comments to the press. They’re doing it on the record on NBCU’s own air. Chuck Todd broke the dam on Sunday’s “Meet the Press” with a set of candid comments about the hiring, and Rachel Maddow capped the flood of backlash Monday night with a blistering 30-minute monologue eviscerating the network’s leadership for the “inexplicable” move. Suffice to say, NBCU News Group is in unprecedented territory. Never has a network’s C-suite ever been so thoroughly flogged by its most high-profile stars in such no holds barred fashion. Saying that Conde simply has a crisis on his hands would be a contender for understatement of the year. It’s a five-alarm fire at NBCU News Group, and one of Conde’s own making. While NBC News president Rebecca Blumenstein and senior vice president of politics Carrie Budoff Brown were most directly responsible for McDaniel’s hiring, a decision that MSNBC boss Rashida Jones did not object to it at the time, the buck ultimately stops with Conde, who hold the real power at the Peacock Network. McDaniel’s hiring could not have happened without Conde’s blessing. It does not take a brilliant political mind with prescient foresight to understand that hiring McDaniel would ignite a firestorm of outrage — from both within 30 Rock and outside it. Conde, someone who ostensibly supports American democracy, should have rejected McDaniel’s hiring on the grounds that NBCU News Group could not put someone on its payroll who tried to subvert the 2020 vote. As so many of NBCU’s staffers have underscored, the objection to McDaniel is not that she is a Republican. It’s not even that she is a Donald Trump-supporting Republican. It’s that she was an active participant in the plot to overthrow the last presidential election. That is not to even mention McDaniel’s years of demonizing the press, smearing the journalists who work at NBC News and MSNBC as she sought to destroy the credibility of the organization that she ran to after being chased out of the RNC. The notion put forward by NBC that it needed to hire McDaniel to bring its viewers “an insider’s perspective on national politics and the future of the Republican Party” is absurd. If that’s the case, the network should move to hire free agents like Tucker Carlson or Candace Owens. They too have their hands on the pulse of the Republican Party. In fact, they represent much more of where the GOP stands today than McDaniel. So, using NBC’s logic, why not hire them? (Spoiler: News organizations rightfully have established basic standards for paid contributors. Asking that your employees have a commitment to democracy, to the truth, and to basic decency is not a big ask.) But even if Conde has no allegiance to basic democratic principles, which this hire calls into question, given that he is known to be a political player who cares deeply about his own image in the press, he should have been wise enough to foresee that hiring McDaniel would be an ill-conceived move. How this did not occur to Conde is unfathomable and shows a tremendous lack of judgment. Even more bizarre is Conde’s management, or lack thereof, since the controversy erupted. It was clear early on that his employees at NBC News and MSNBC did not support McDaniel’s hiring. If that was not evident on Friday, it was clear as day on Sunday after “Meet the Press.” The network’s employees were not only flabbergasted and demoralized by the move, but absolutely enraged by it. At that point, the writing should have been on the wall for Conde — as it was for every other media executive that I have spoken with over the last 24 hours. It is evident that McDaniel has no real future as an NBC analyst and the decision to bring her on as a contributor will have to be reversed. After all, which NBC or MSNBC program is going to invite her on after all of this? The only real question for Conde after the Sunday morning scolding should have been how he chose to back out of the deal in the least painful way possible. To be fully honest, I very much expected a Sunday evening announcement from NBC, one that would have earned praise from the company’s staff and quickly been swept away by the rush of Trump news Monday morning. But no such announcement came. Instead, Conde has allowed the mess to spiral absolutely out of control. MSNBC’s top stars hammered the network’s leadership throughout the day Monday over the hire. NBC News’ Guild blasted Conde, saying in a statement that under him the company had quietly laid off employees over the last month and instead chosen to “prioritize an election denier over its reporters.” The already severe crisis was allowed to blossom into one of the worst corporate public relations catastrophes in recent memory. All the while, Conde has remained silent. I asked his spokesperson, Stephen Labaton, on Monday whether the NBCU News Group boss had any comment on the situation. Does he have any regret? I didn’t get an on-the-record response. Suffice to say, however, that what Conde does moving forward will say a lot about his character and commitment to democratic values. It will also say a lot about the NBCU News Group and what type of organization it is. In her biting monologue on Monday night, however, Maddow did offer Conde a way out of this mess. “Mistakes will be made,” Maddow said.”But our resilience as a democracy is going to be recognizing when decisions are bad ones and reversing those bad decisions. Hearing legitimate criticism, responding to it, and correcting course. Not digging in. Not blaming others. Take a minute. Acknowledge that maybe it wasn’t the right call.” “It is a sign of strength, not weakness, to acknowledge when you are wrong,” Maddow added. “It is a sign of strength. And our country needs us to be strong now.”",CNN " Walmart is cutting hundreds of corporate jobs, relocating majority of remote office staff ",https://edition.cnn.com/2024/05/14/business/walmart-layoff-corporate-workers/index.html," Updated 4:25 PM EDT, Tue May 14, 2024 ","Walmart said Tuesday it is eliminating several hundred corporate jobs and will relocate most of its remaining remote office staff to its Bentonville, Arkansas, headquarters. Walmart confirmed the move in a memo sent by Donna Morris, its chief people officer, to employees on Tuesday and obtained by CNN. Morris, in the memo, said the decision to relocate employees and ask other remote staff to come back into the office was made to facilitate better collaboration, innovation “and move even faster.” “We also believe it helps strengthen our culture as well as grow and develop our associates,” she said in the memo. The relocation will impact the majority of workers in Walmart’s Dallas, Atlanta and Toronto offices. While most relocations will be to its Bentonville headquarters, some workers will be relocated to Walmart offices in the San Francisco Bay Area or to Hoboken, New Jersey, and the New York area. “In addition, some parts of our business have made changes that will result in a reduction of several hundred campus roles,” Morris said in the memo. “While the overall numbers are small in percentage, we are focused on supporting each of our associates affected by these changes.” Walmart is expected to report its latest quarterly earnings on Thursday. The latest round of layoffs at the world’s largest retailer comes close on the heels of Walmart’s announcement last month that it was exiting its virtual healthcare services and was shuttering all 51 of its healthcare centers in six states. Also last month, the discount giant’s shoppers learned they could be entitled to as much as $500 as part of a class-action lawsuit settlement by the retailer over allegations that it overcharged customers for certain products.",CNN " Red Lobster is abruptly closing dozens of restaurants ",https://edition.cnn.com/2024/05/13/business/red-lobster-is-abruptly-closing-dozens-of-restaurants/index.html," Updated 7:03 AM EDT, Tue May 14, 2024 ","Struggling Red Lobster is abruptly closing at least 48 of its restaurants around the country, according to a leading restaurant liquidator. TAGeX Brands is conducting an online auction of Red Lobster restaurant inventory, including kitchen equipment, furniture, tables and chairs. The auction begins Monday and continues through Thursday, according to company founder Neal Sherman. Red Lobster locations in Buffalo, Orlando, Jacksonville and other cities were listed as “temporarily closed” on Red Lobster’s website, according to local news reports. Red Lobster did not respond to CNN’s requests for comment. The company has around 650 locations. Red Lobster is reportedly considering filing for bankruptcy protection. The chain has tapped a restructuring expert as its chief executive, a possible indicator of an impending bankruptcy. The mass closures are another sign of problems at Red Lobster and one of the only times in its more than 50-year history the chain has closed dozens of stores at once. Red Lobster was a casual dining pioneer, bringing affordable seafood to middle-class consumers for the first time. But the chain has declined in recent years due to a range of factors, including corporate mismanagement, say former leaders and restaurant analysts. In 2020, Thai Union, a longtime supplier to Red Lobster, took an undisclosed financial stake in the chain, becoming a key shareholder. Under Thai Union’s direction, Red Lobster has cycled through four CEOs and an all-you-can-eat shrimp deal last year that slowed down table service and cut into Thai Union’s profitability. The promotion has been a tradition at the chain for more than 18 years, but Red Lobster made endless shrimp a permanent fixture on the menu. “We need to be much more careful,” Thai Union CEO Thiraphong Chansiri said in November of the shrimp deal. Thai Union said earlier this year it would divest from Red Lobster and take a $530 million loss on its investment. “I’m going to stop eating lobster,” Chansiri said. The explosive growth and popularity of fast-casual chains like Chipotle and quick-service chains like Chick-fil-A over the past two decades also squeezed Red Lobster and the casual dining sector. Casual dining has slipped from 36% of total restaurant industry sales in 2013 to 31% in 2023, according to Technomic, a restaurant research firm.",CNN " GameStop, AMC shares skyrocket after meme stock trader posts for first time in 3 years ",https://edition.cnn.com/2024/05/13/investing/gamestop-roaring-kitty/index.html," Updated 9:55 PM EDT, Tue May 14, 2024 ","The surprise social media return of the trader who helped ignite the meme stock frenzy in 2021 sent GameStop shares skyrocketing Monday. The surge had nothing to do with the troubled company’s fundamentals — and everything to do with a cartoon of a gamer that the trader, nicknamed Roaring Kitty, shared on X. GameStop shares surged 74% on Monday after the account run by Keith Gill shared a meme on X, marking its first post in three years. The shares skyrocketed by more than 110% earlier and were halted for volatility several times on Monday morning. Short sellers have seen $1 billion in mark-to-market losses betting against GameStop on Monday, according to data company S3 Partners. Short-sellers aim to turn profits on a stock by borrowing shares, selling them and returning them after purchasing them at a lower price. Shares of AMC Entertainment, another meme stock, popped 78%. Reddit shares climbed roughly 9%. Shares of trading platform Robinhood Markets, which suspended purchases of GameStop, AMC and other meme stocks during the frenzy in 2021, rose 4%. The image Gill posted depicts a man leaning forward in a chair with a video game console in hand. GameStop had posted the same cartoon in February, but with a blue arrow and chair. In Gill’s cartoon, they are red. The meme is interpreted to convey, “when things get serious,” according to Know Your Meme. Gill did not immediately respond to CNN’s request for comment. GameStop shares tripped multiple circuit breakers — a temporary and mandated halt in trading to let investors cool off for a bit. Robinhood denied claims on social media on Monday that it had once again halted GameStop stock purchases on its platform. “This is incorrect. Robinhood has not shut down the purchase of Gamestop shares,” Robinhood spokesperson Anupriya Ghate said in a statement to CNN. “GME is seeing elevated volatility and movement, which triggers market-wide exchange trading limits and halts. These are market-wide and not specific to Robinhood.” Gill, who goes by “Deepf—-ingvalue” on Reddit, was one of the leading forces on the WallStreetBets subreddit that drove eye-popping returns in GameStop’s stock. The traders bid up shares of the retailer, targeting short sellers. The retail investors sent other stocks soaring in 2021, including AMC Entertainment and Bed Bath & Beyond. They are now collectively known as meme stocks, or shares of companies with a cult following that see wide swings based on their popularity among trader communities on social media rather than their fundamentals. Gill described himself as a casual daytime trader in testimony during a 2021 Congressional hearing on the GameStop mania. He has said he did not set out to help stoke the GameStop frenzy and instead believed that the stock was an attractive opportunity for investors. “The idea that I used social media to promote GameStop stock to unwitting investors is preposterous,” Gill said in written testimony. “I was abundantly clear that my channel was for educational purposes only. … Whether other individual investors bought the stock was irrelevant to my thesis.” Gill also said that he first purchased GameStop stock, and later call options, in the summer of 2019, when the stock was trading around $5 apiece. He added to his position through the rest of the year and 2020, and testified that he believed “the market remains oblivious to GameStop’s unique opportunity.” But even he didn’t believe it would hit a high of $483 a share in 2021. “At the time I thought it was possible but a very low probability,” Gill testified. Gill was a main character in the 2023 movie “Dumb Money” (played by actor Paul Dano), which portrays the events leading up to and during the GameStop short squeeze. As stocks settle after the trading day, levels might change slightly.",CNN " OpenAI’s wild week. How the Sam Altman story unfolded ",https://edition.cnn.com/2023/11/22/tech/openai-sam-altman-chaos-explained-intl-hnk/index.html," Updated 3:32 PM EST, Wed November 22, 2023 ","In a year of wild tech stories that has seen Elon Musk transform Twitter, cryptocurrency exchange FTX collapse and Silicon Valley Bank implode, this week’s whiplash-inducing turmoil at OpenAI is among the most captivating. Sam Altman — the leader of one of the world’s most influential AI companies, OpenAI, and perhaps the most visible figure in the fledgling industry — was fired Friday night by the startup’s directors in a surprise move. Less than five days later, he’s back as the company’s CEO, now with a board that is, in theory, more supportive of his vision. The series of extraordinary events unfolded just days after OpenAI held its first-ever developer conference, where it laid out new, commercialized versions of its technology, including the option to customize its ChatGPT AI chatbot. If you’re just catching up, here’s what you missed from a week so incredible you’d be forgiven for thinking the script could have been written by an early version of OpenAI’s ChatGPT. Around 3 p.m. ET, Altman joined a Google Meet call with most of OpenAI’s board that had been convened by fellow co-founder and OpenAI chief scientist Ilya Sutskever, during which Altman was fired and told that the news would soon be made public. Within the next half hour, the board also informed Greg Brockman, another co-founder and OpenAI president, that he would be removed from the board. Around 3:30 p.m. ET, OpenAI publicly announced that it had fired Altman over concerns that he was not always truthful with the board. The board said Mira Murati, the company’s chief technology officer, would become interim CEO. OpenAI’s strategic partners, including its biggest financial backer Microsoft, were also reportedly informed of Altman’s ouster just minutes before the board’s announcement. Hours after being fired, Altman posted on X that he “loved working with such talented people” and that he would have “more to say about what’s next later.” Brockman promptly quit. “Please don’t spend any time being concerned. We will be fine,” Brockman said in a Friday post on X. “Greater things coming soon.” A key factor in the CEO’s firing was tension between Altman, who favored developing AI more aggressively, and members of the OpenAI board, who wanted to move more cautiously, according to CNN contributor Kara Swisher, who spoke to sources knowledgeable about the unfolding events. Within 24 hours of Altman being fired, reports emerged that he and other ex-OpenAI loyalists were mulling plans for their own venture. OpenAI’s board was also reportedly having second thoughts and considering asking the ousted CEO to return. By Sunday afternoon, Altman was back at OpenAI’s headquarters — this time with a guest badge — to negotiate his potential return. Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella reportedly mediated the discussion. A 5 p.m. PT deadline was reportedly set for the board to agree to Altman’s demands, including adding a seat for Microsoft, and reinstating him as CEO. But those talks broke down. As Sunday turned into Monday, Nadella tweeted that Altman, along with Brockman, would join Microsoft to run a new AI research group. At OpenAI, the group found a new interim CEO: Emmett Shear, the former CEO of Amazon’s streaming service, Twitch. Murati would return to her role as OpenAI’s chief technology officer. In a post on X early Monday, Shear, who left his role at Twitch in March, described the chance to join OpenAI as “a once-in-a-lifetime” opportunity. He added that the company would hire an independent investigator to report on what happened in the lead-up to Altman’s firing. But OpenAI employees were not convinced. More than 500 staffers signed an open letter calling on the company’s board to resign and reinstate Altman and Brockman. They also threatened to follow the co-founders to Microsoft if their demands were not met. Altman posted on X, saying, “we have more unity and commitment and focus than ever before. we are all going to work together some way or other, and i’m so excited. one team, one mission.” The drama was far from over. The Verge reported Monday afternoon that Altman and Brockman could still return to OpenAI if the board members who fired him resign. And Nadella, speaking to CNBC, said he was “open to both options” when asked whether Altman would actually join Microsoft. “Look, that is for the OpenAI board and management and the employees to choose,” Nadella said. “We chose to explicitly partner with OpenAI and we want to continue to do so, and obviously, that depends on the people of OpenAI staying there or coming to Microsoft.” Altman was reinstated late Tuesday as OpenAI’s CEO, the company said on X. “We have reached an agreement in principle for Sam Altman to return to OpenAI as CEO with a new initial board,” the company said, adding that the board will be chaired by Bret Taylor, a former co-CEO of Salesforce. Former Treasury Secretary Larry Summers will also join the board, alongside existing director, Quora CEO Adam D’Angelo. “We are collaborating to figure out the details,” it said. In his own post on X, formerly Twitter, Altman wrote that he is “looking forward” to returning to OpenAI and building on the firm’s “strong partnership” with Microsoft. It’s unclear how Shear will be affected by Altman’s return. Posting on X, Shear wrote: “I am deeply pleased by this result, after (some) 72 very intense hours of work … I’m glad to have been a part of the solution.” Brockman is also returning to OpenAI, according to his post on X. Ultimately, Microsoft and Altman appear to be the big winners from the dust-up: Altman will continue leading the firm he helped to found. And Microsoft has wrested more control over the company it has backed with billions to bolster its ambitions in developing AI. “We are encouraged by the changes to the OpenAI board,” Nadella said on X. “We believe this is a first essential step on a path to more stable, well-informed, and effective governance.”",CNN