Business

The New York Times reports: The blowback over Elon Musk’s endorsement of an antisemitic conspiracy theory on X gathered steam on Friday, as several major advertisers on his social media platform cut off their spending after his comments. Disney said it was pausing spending on X, as did Lionsgate, the entertainment and film distribution company. Apple, which had been on …

Axios reports: Apple is pausing all advertising on X, the Elon Musk-owned social network, sources tell Axios. The move follows Musk’s endorsement of antisemitic conspiracy theories as well as Apple ads reportedly being placed alongside far-right content. Apple has been a major advertiser on the social media site and its pause follows a similar move by IBM. The left-leaning nonprofit …

Reuters reports: IBM on Thursday said it had immediately suspended all advertising on Elon Musk-owned X after a report found its ads were placed next to content promoting Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party. The report comes a day after Musk endorsed an antisemitic post on X that falsely claimed members of the Jewish community were stoking hatred against white …

CBS News reports: Amazon.com is warning that scammers are just as eager as consumers to take advantage of holiday shopping deals, with bad actors trying to gain access to customers’ Prime accounts through scam emails, calls and texts. The online retailer said it has seen a surge in criminal activity involving the ecommerce platform as shoppers use Amazon to make …

Ars Technica reports: With Tesla’s first Cybertruck deliveries expected later this month, a now-deleted update to the electric carmaker’s terms of service said the firm could sue customers for $50,000 or more if they resell during the first year of ownership without first getting written permission from Tesla. The provision seemed designed to deter scalping for a car expected to …

The Insider reports: Grimes hired people to search high and low for her kids’ father, Elon Musk, to serve him with custody papers, according to court records obtained by Insider. The singer, whose legal name is Claire Boucher, is suing Musk for physical custody of their three children. A lawyer for Grimes filed a supplemental proof-of-service document last Friday, showing …

Spectrum Honolulu reports: The 14-year-old Trump International Hotel Waikiki is being rebranded as Wakea Waikiki Beach with a “monumental transformation” soon to be underway, according to developer and front desk owner Irongate and new designated manager LXR Hotels and Resorts. In separate news releases issued on Friday, Irongate and Trump Hotels announced what Trump Hotels termed a “significant buyout” of …

Reuters reports: One windy night at Elon Musk’s SpaceX facility in McGregor, Texas, Lonnie LeBlanc and his co-workers realized they had a problem. They needed to transport foam insulation to the rocket company’s main hangar but had no straps to secure the cargo. LeBlanc, a relatively new employee, offered a solution to hold down the load: He sat on it. …

The New York Post reports: Steve Cohen has finally laid his cards on the table. The billionaire Mets owner finally unveiled his long-awaited Queens casino plan Tuesday — revealing a sprawling $8 billion gaming center, hotel, and music venue near Citi Field that he has dubbed “Metropolitan Park” after the team’s full corporate name. The proposed entertainment playground, which will …

The New York Times reports: WeWork, the real estate company that offered start-ups and individuals sleek quarters to pursue their entrepreneurial dreams, filed for bankruptcy protection in the United States on Monday after years of struggling to find its footing. The company filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in New Jersey, as part of what it described as a “comprehensive …

Inside The Magic reports: A bizarre, alleged “joke” that Florida Governor Ron DeSantis made about building a prison near Walt Disney World has ended up being part of Disney’s federal lawsuit against him. In April, DeSantis said, “Come to think of it, now people are like, what should we do with this land? People have said maybe create a state …

Axios reports: Elon Musk Saturday introduced a new chatbot called “Grok” out of his xAI startup, claiming that AI should be “useful to people of all backgrounds and political views.” xAI spent four months training Grok, which it categorizes as a “frontier large language model” — which would make it subject to new AI testing requirements both from the White …

Ars Technica reports: Elon Musk’s attempt to avoid testifying in a Twitter stock-purchase investigation continued yesterday with Musk asking a court to block a subpoena issued by the Securities and Exchange Commission. Musk’s filing in US District Court for the Northern District of California claimed the SEC is “harassing” him, exceeding its authority to investigate, and making “overly burdensome” demands …

Forbes reports: X appears to have begun ramping up efforts to sell disused user handles, kicking off a program previously signaled by billionaire owner Elon Musk. A team within the company, known as the @Handle Team, has begun work on a handle marketplace for the purchase of account names left unused by the people who originally registered them. In at …

The Hill reports: A federal appeals court on Thursday is tossing the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) ban on a pesticide that has been linked to brain damage in children. The decision from the 8th Circuit Court of Appeals to send the rule back to the agency does not preclude the agency from reinstating the ban in the future. Chlorpyrifos has …

Reuters reports: FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried was found guilty on Thursday of stealing from customers of his now-bankrupt cryptocurrency exchange in one of the biggest financial frauds on record, a verdict that cemented the 31-year-old former billionaire’s fall from grace. A 12-member jury in Manhattan federal court convicted Bankman-Fried on all seven counts he faced after a monthlong trial in …

Via press release from Starbucks: It’s OK, you can look now! The holidays arrive in U.S. Starbucks stores on Nov. 2, and we’re here to tell you all about this year’s bright and beautiful collection of holiday cups. The cup collection is clad in holiday red and Starbucks greens and a mood-boosting magenta, each one accented with sparkles for a …

“I mean, this is going to sound somewhat melodramatic, but I was worried that it was having a corrosive effect on civilization. That it was just having a bad impact and, I mean, part of it is that it’s where it was located, which is, you know, downtown San Francisco, and while I think San Francisco is a beautiful city …

The New York Daily News reports: Elon Musk plans to add a dating element to the struggling social media platform he purchased as Twitter one year ago, then rebranded into X in July. The billionaire told employees during a Thursday video call celebrating the anniversary that he plans to add the “fully fledged” coupling component in 2024, according to Insider, …

The Verge reports: Everyone knew that Twitter wasn’t worth $44 billion when Elon Musk bought it a year ago. Now, we know what Musk himself thinks the company is worth today: $19 billion. On Monday, employees at X were awarded equity in the company at a valuation of $19 billion, or $45 per share, according to internal documents seen by …