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Fisker Files for Bankruptcy, the Second EV Maker in the Past Year
Electric vehicle maker Fisker filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, the second electric startup to do so in the last year as even industry leaders struggle to lure more buyers beyond the early adapters of the technology. Fisker Group Inc. said in a filing with the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Delaware that its estimated assets are between $500 million and $1 billion. It estimated liabilities are between $100 million and $500 million, with between 200 and 999 creditors. “Like other companies in the electric vehicle industry, we have faced various market and macroeconomic headwinds that have impacted our ability to operate efficiently,”...
Majority of Americans Favor Forgiving Medical Debt
Janille Williams wants to buy a house someday — but first, he has to pay down tens of thousands of dollars in medical debt. “I was hospitalized for a blood infection for three months more than ten years ago, and the bill was for more than $300,000,” said Williams, 38, a Fairbanks, Alaska, resident who works as a retail sales manager for AT&T. “I was in the middle of changing jobs, the only time in my life I haven’t had health insurance.” When the bill went to collections, the debt was eventually lowered to about $50,000, he said, an amount that was...
Boeing’s CEO to Appear Before Senate as New Whistleblower Emerges
U.S. lawmakers are expected to press Boeing’s chief executive Tuesday about the company’s latest plan to fix its manufacturing problems, and relatives of people who died in two crashes of Boeing 737 Max jetliners plan to be in the room, watching him. CEO David Calhoun is scheduled to appear before the Senate investigations subcommittee, which is chaired by Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., a Boeing critic. Hours before Calhoun was set to appear, the Senate panel released a 204-page report with new allegations from a whistleblower who fears that “nonconforming” parts — ones that could be defective or aren't properly documented — are...
Tesla Driver Was Using ‘self-drive’ When He Hit Parked Police Car
DETROIT (AP) — A Tesla apparently operating on one of the company’s automated driving systems crashed into a parked police vehicle Thursday near Los Angeles, narrowly missing an officer who was managing traffic at another crash. The Tesla driver told police in Fullerton, California, that he engaged the vehicle's “self-drive” system and used his cell phone, according to a police statement. The collision appears to be another in a long list of crashes in which Teslas using a partially automated driving system hit firetrucks or police cars parked on roads with flashing lights activated. In the Fullerton case, the officer also had...
Pope Francis Addresses the G7 Summit, Raising the Alarm About AI
BARI, Italy (AP) — Pope Francis challenged leaders of the world’s wealthy democracies on Frida y to keep human dignity foremost in developing and using artificial intelligence, warning that such powerful technology risks turning human relations themselves into mere algorithms. Francis brought his moral authority to bear on the Group of Seven, invited by host Italy to address a special session at their annual summit on the perils and promises of AI. In doing so, he became the first pope to attend the G7, offering an ethical take on an issue that is increasingly on the agenda of international summits, government...
IRS Wants to End Major Tax Loophole for the Wealthy
WASHINGTON (AP) — The IRS plans to end a major tax loophole for wealthy taxpayers that could raise more than $50 billion in revenue over the next decade, the U.S. Treasury Department says. The guidance and ruling being announced Monday includes plans to essentially stop “partnership basis shifting" — a process by which a business or person can move assets among a series of related parties to avoid paying taxes. Biden administration officials said after evaluating the practice that there are no economic grounds for these transactions, with Deputy Treasury Secretary Wally Adeyemo calling it “really just a shell game.” The officials...
China’s New Robo-Dog Soldier: More Bark Than Bite?
There’s already something rather unsettling about a dog without a head. Robo-dogs — machines that can walk like a dog despite moving on four strangely-hinged legs — have already become striking due to this feature. But even more frightening? A headless dog toting a gun. Yet that’s exactly what China’s military is up to. As CNN recently reported , China unveiled a robot dog with an automatic rifle attached to its back during military drills in Cambodia this pas May. Man’s best friend indeed. In an interview with a local state broadcaster, a Chinese soldier reportedly stated that the robot dog can help...
Big Business This Week: Who Wants to Buy an Office Building?
Coming soon: The Great Commercial Real Estate Fire Sale If you’ve got a lot of cash and a hunger for owning office buildings, this is a good time to buy (provided you believe that America’s workers will soon be back in the office five days a week). Nationwide, 18.3 percent of offices were vacant in April, and in San Francisco the vacancy rate was 25.9 percent, according to Commercial Edge, a real estate data service. But let’s say you are that credulous, and you believe that work-from-home was just a passing trend, you could join the handful of opportunistic buyers who...
Dear Apple: This is the Tech We Really Want
Apple put on quite the show at the 2024 edition of its Worldwide Developers Conference, unveiling many new features with AI at the center of it all, which the company has branded “Apple Intelligence.” The fruit company that dabbles in tech also announced plenty of other “new” features. Here’s a brief rundown of what will soon be coming to an Apple product near you: iOS 18 redesign of the photos app, upgraded satellite messaging The ability to hide and lock apps An incestuous integration of ChatGPT’s AI with its own Placing icons wherever the heck you want Password Manager & Authenticator...
The US is Facing Economic Woes According to Polling. But Is It Really?
In a recent piece, the New York Times asked: Why are people so down about the economy? and recent economic news showed a revision downward , which means U.S. economic growth was weaker than many expected in Q1. This has put consumer spending in a similar spot — still growing but at a “slower pace than previously thought,” notes the Associated Press, saying it’s “a sign that high interest rates and lingering inflation are pressuring household budgets.” What’s happening with this economy, and why does everything appear much weaker than initially thought? Why the slowdown? The slowdown comes after a revision that...
The Biggest Takeaways from the Google Algorithm Leaks
For more than a century, people have been trying to steal the formula for Coca-Cola. Perhaps only slightly less-legendary? The formula for Google’s SEO algorithm. After all, placement in Google is vital. It drives organic traffic. It gets more eyes on your content. And it helps determine how many people ultimately come to view your business. Recently, the secrets behind that algorithm were leaked , with Mike King over at iPullRank noting: Internal documentation for Google Search’s Content Warehouse API has leaked. Google’s internal microservices appear to mirror what Google Cloud Platform offers and the internal version of documentation for the deprecated...
Dog fight! Joey Chestnut Out of July 4th Hot Dog Eating Contest
Joey “Jaws” Chestnut, the reigning champion of the Nathan’s Famous Fourth of July hot dog eating contest, will not participate in this year’s event after signing a deal with a rival brand, organizers said Tuesday. Chestnut, 40, has long been the face — not to mention the mouth — of the competition. He has vied for the dog-downing contest’s coveted Mustard Belt since 2005 and has won it almost every year since 2007, with the exception of a rare loss in 2015 . In 2021, the Westfield, Indiana, resident ingested 76 franks and buns in 10 minutes, a record that still stands. But Major League Eating...
Credit Card Delinquencies Are Rising. How What To Do if You’re at Risk
Seriously overdue credit card debt is at the highest level in more than a decade, and people 35 and under are struggling more than other age groups to pay their bills. The share of credit card debt that’s severely delinquent, defined as being more than 90 days overdue, rose to 10.7% during the first quarter of 2024, according to the Federal Reserve Bank of New York. A year ago, just 8.2% of credit card debt was severely delinquent. If you’re experiencing delinquency, or at risk of it, experts advise speaking with a nonprofit credit counselor and negotiating with your creditors directly. Here’s what you...
Class-Action Lawsuit Against NFL by ‘Sunday Ticket’ Subscribers Begins
A class-action lawsuit filed by “Sunday Ticket” subscribers claiming the NFL broke antitrust laws got underway in federal court Thursday with the league’s attorney telling jurors that fans have a choice when it comes to watching games and the “Sunday Ticket” package is a premium product. “The case is about choice. This is a valuable, premium product. Think about all the choices available to fans. We want as many people as possible to watch the free broadcasts,” said Beth Wilkinson, who is representing the NFL. The lawsuit, which was filed in 2015 and has withstood numerous challenges, says the NFL broke antitrust...
US Antitrust Enforcers to Investigate Leading AI Companies
U.S. antitrust enforcers have decided to investigate the roles Microsoft, Nvidia and OpenAI have played in the artificial intelligence boom , according to people familiar with the pending actions. The Department of Justice will launch an investigation of chipmaker Nvidia, while the Federal Trade Commission will scrutinize close business partners Microsoft and ChatGPT-maker OpenAI, according to two people who were not authorized to publicly discuss details of the investigations and spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity. Nvidia and OpenAI declined to comment Thursday. Microsoft didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment. The New York Times was first to report Thursday...
Big Business This Week: Trillion-Dollar Chips and Billion-Dollar Dunks
Chips are a trillion-dollar industry, and everyone wants to control it The simultaneity that started it all! Fearing that a potential war between China and Taiwan could cut U.S. supplies of vital computer chips, the Biden administration began to pour billions of dollars in loans and subsidies into rebuilding a domestic chip-making industry. Simultaneously, China moved to build its own chips, and thus the AI revolution began. Now the U.S., China and much of Asia are all jockeying for dominance in what could be the most vital industry of the 21st century. And while the U.S. designs the world’s best chips,...
AI ‘gold rush’ for Chatbot Data Could Run Out of Human-Written Text
Artificial intelligence systems like ChatGPT could soon run out of what keeps making them smarter — the tens of trillions of words people have written and shared online. A new study released Thursday by research group Epoch AI projects that tech companies will exhaust the supply of publicly available training data for AI language models by roughly the turn of the decade -- sometime between 2026 and 2032. Comparing it to a “literal gold rush” that depletes finite natural resources, Tamay Besiroglu, an author of the study, said the AI field might face challenges in maintaining its current pace of progress once it...
We Put Together a Paris Olympics Trip Absolutely NO ONE Can Afford
If you thought the Olympics were about sportsmanship and international unity, think again! They present agolden opportunity to splurge on a scale that would even make an influencer blush. Are you ready to shell out the GDP of a small island nation? Of course, you are.If you think of it, there’s no better way to celebrate an event where the top prize is putting a chunk of gold around someone’s neck. The Olympics have moved on up, economically, at least. After a stint in the developing world in 2016, the International Olympic Committee decided to raise the financial stakes for Tokyo in...
Texas Supreme Court Rejects Challenge to State’s Abortion Law
The Texas Supreme Court on Friday rejected a closely watched challenge to the state’s restrictive abortion ban, ruling against a group of women who had serious pregnancy complications and became the first in the U.S. to testify in court about being denied abortions since Roe v. Wade was overturned. In a unanimous ruling, the all-Republican court upheld the Texas law that opponents say is too vague when it comes to when medically necessary exceptions are allowed. The same issue was at the center of a separate lawsuit brought last year by Kate Cox, a mother of two from Dallas, who sought court...
CEOs Got Hefty Pay Raises in 2023, Widening The Gap with Workers
The typical compensation package for chief executives who run companies in the S&P 500 jumped nearly 13 percent last year, easily surpassing the gains for workers at a time when inflation was putting considerable pressure on Americans’ budgets . The median pay package for CEOs rose to $16.3 million, up 12.6 percent, according to data analyzed for The Associated Press by Equilar. Meanwhile, wages and benefits netted by private-sector workers rose 4.1 percent through 2023. At half the companies in AP’s annual pay survey, it would take the worker at the middle of the company’s pay scale almost 200 years to make...
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