Business

Bloomberg News reports: Meta Platforms Inc.’s new social media app Threads has garnered 70 million users in just two days after its launch, a sign of enthusiasm that Chief Executive Officer Mark Zuckerberg said was “way beyond our expectations.” Threads launched on Wednesday as an alternative to Elon Musk’s Twitter, which had 237.8 million users as of July 2022, but …

The financial news site Benzinga reports: Tesla, Inc. achieved record-breaking second-quarter deliveries in China on the back of price cuts and promotional efforts implemented earlier this year. But the Elon Musk-led EV maker’s cutthroat methods have seemed to irk Xi Jinping‘s government in one way. In response to this price war initiated by major electric vehicle manufacturers, including Tesla, a …

Semafor reports: Twitter is threatening legal action against Meta over its new text-based “Twitter killer” platform, accusing the social media giant of poaching former employees to create a “copycat” application. A lawyer for Twitter, Alex Spiro, sent a letter to Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg accusing the company of engaging in “systematic, willful, and unlawful misappropriation of Twitter’s trade secrets and …

CBC News reports: More than 30 million people have signed up to Threads, Meta’s rival to Twitter, within the first few hours of its launch, Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg said late Thursday morning. The number is likely to grow quickly as more Instagram users and social media fans open accounts on Threads. The app is the biggest challenger yet to …

CNN reports: OceanGate – the owner of the Titan submersible that imploded during a voyage to the Titanic, killing all five people on board – says it has suspended its exploration and commercial operations, according to its website. The company’s CEO, Stockton Rush, was among those who perished in the disaster in the North Atlantic Ocean last month. “OceanGate has …

The Florida Phoenix reports: Noting the “escalating waves of hostile actions and legislation coming out of Florida,” the Association of Collegiate Schools of Planning (ACSP) is ditching its scheduled annual conference at the Hyatt Regency Miami later this year and instead will hold it in Chicago. In a letter sent to ACSP educators, researchers, and students posted on the organization’s …

Bloomberg News reports: Mark Zuckerberg posted his first tweet in more than a decade, a playful jab at Elon Musk on the day the Meta Platforms Inc. founder rolled out a much-anticipated Twitter substitute. Meta’s Instagram officially unveiled Threads Wednesday, considered the most potent threat yet to the struggling social media service Musk owns. Hours later, Zuckerberg tweeted a photo …

Reuters reports: Meta Platforms on Wednesday launched a direct challenge to Twitter with Threads, garnering millions of users in hours as it sought to take advantage of its rival’s much-weakened state after a series of chaotic decisions from owner Elon Musk. Those quick to join the new platform included celebrities such as Kim Kardashian and Jennifer Lopez as well as …

TechCrunch reports: Days after requiring users to log in to view tweets, Twitter has silently removed these restrictions. This means you can open Twitter links in a browser without an account. When Twitter started enforcing the login requirement, Musk said that he took these “temporary” measures to prevent data scraping. The company hasn’t made any official announcement about allowing users …

Bloomberg News reports: Meta Platforms Inc.’s Threads app — the social network rolling out this week to take on Twitter Inc. — won’t be offered in the European Union as the company works out how data sharing between the new platform and its Instagram app will be regulated. Meta is waiting for more guidance around the Digital Markets Act, new …

Reuters reports: The Teamsters Union said on Wednesday United Parcel Service “walked away” from negotiations over a new contract, a claim the shipping giant denied, lobbing its own accusation that the union had stopped negotiating. The two sides traded salvos in early morning statements as they attempt to come to an agreement to prevent a strike when the current contract, …

The Associated Press reports: Meta is poised to unveil a new app that appears to mimic Twitter — a direct challenge to the social media platform owned by Elon Musk. A listing for the app, called Threads, appeared on Apple’s App Store, indicating it would debut as early as Thursday. It is billed as a “text-based conversation app” that is …

Bloomberg News reports: United Parcel Service Inc. has agreed to end a dual wage system for delivery drivers in its next contract with the International Brotherhood of Teamsters, dramatically lowering the chances of a nationwide strike when the current labor agreement expires at the end of July. The breakthrough came after a marathon day of negations in Washington, where representatives …

The New York Times reports: If you thought that a cage fight between two of the world’s richest men was just a far-fetched social media stunt, think again. Over the past 10 days, Mr. White said he, Mr. Musk and Mr. Zuckerberg — aided by advisers — have negotiated behind the scenes and are inching toward physical combat. The preferred …

USA Today reports: Twitter CEO Elon Musk on Saturday announced “temporary limits” on the number of tweets users are able to read, an announcement that comes amid reports of users having difficulty accessing the site. Verified accounts “are limited to reading 6000 posts/day,” while unverified accounts were limited to 600 per day, Musk’s tweet said. New and unverified counts will …

Courthouse News reports: Pharmaceutical giant Gilead Sciences triumphed over consumers Friday in a closely watched, yearslong class action that claimed the company deliberately manipulated the market in order to profit off of its highly-priced HIV treatment drugs. Closing arguments in a six-week trial wrapped Wednesday, leaving a federal jury to consider weeks of evidence regarding the pharmaceutical giant’s conduct and …

The Associated Press reports: Apple became the first publicly traded company to close a trading day with a $3 trillion market value, marking another milestone for a technology juggernaut that has reshaped society with a line-up of products that churn out eye-popping profits. Apple shares closed up 2.3% at $193.97 Friday, bringing its market value to $3.04 trillion. Apple is …

The Washington Post reports: Fake reviews are ruining the web. But there’s some new hope to fight them. The Federal Trade Commission on Friday proposed new rules to take aim at businesses that buy, sell and manipulate online reviews. If the rules are approved, they’ll carry a big stick: a fine of up to $50,000 for each fake review, for …

The Verge reports: If you currently try to access Twitter without logging in to your user account, you may find you’re unable to see any of the content that was previously available to the wider public. Instead, you’ll likely be met with the Twitter window that asks you to either sign in to the platform or create a new account, …

Mediaite reports: The proposed fight between billionaire rivals Elon Musk and Mark Zuckerberg may take place in Rome’s Colosseum, according to both Musk and a new report. “Some chance fight happens in Colosseum,” Musk tweeted on Thursday. “Need to work on my endurance,” he added in a follow-up post, which included a clip of the Colosseum fight from Monty Python’s …