Business

CNBC reports: Facebook on Thursday announced that it will change its company name to Meta. The name change, which was announced at the Facebook Connect augmented and virtual reality conference, reflects the company’s growing ambitions beyond social media with the metaverse, a classic sci-fi term Facebook has adopted to describe its vision for working and playing in a virtual world. …

The New York Times reports: Facebook has told employees to “preserve internal documents and communications since 2016” that pertain to its businesses because governments and legislative bodies have started inquiries into its operations, according to a company email sent on Tuesday night. The move, known as a “legal hold,” follows intense media, legal and regulatory scrutiny over the social network’s …

Yahoo Finance reports: U.S. holiday sales could rise over 10% this year, a trade body said on Wednesday, as major consumer goods makers and retailers work to prevent supply chain disruptions from leaving shelves empty of in-demand toys and games. The National Retail Federation (NRF) forecast sales to increase between 8.5% and 10.5%, to between $843.4 billion and $859 billion, …

CNBC reports: A federal judge in Texas denied Southwest Airlines pilots union’s request to temporarily block a vaccine mandate for employees, which is a requirement under new government rules. Dallas-based Southwest Airlines must require staff to be fully vaccinated against Covid-19 by Dec. 8 unless they receive a religious or medical exemption, according to rules for federal contractors that the …

The Hill reports: Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk ripped the Democratic proposal for an annual tax on billionaires’ investment gains on Monday, as lawmakers consider the tax as a way to fund the party’s multi-trillion dollar reconciliation package. Musk, who as of Monday had the highest net worth on Forbes’ list of billionaires, replied to a tweet featuring a …

The Hill reports: Jeff Bezos’ space company Blue Origin on Monday announced plans to build a commercial space station for business and travel in low-Earth orbit. Blue Origin said it is working with Boeing and Sierra Space on a commercially developed, owned and operated space station known as “Orbital Reef.” The company said the space station will be operated as …

Reuters reports: Tesla Inc on Monday (Oct 25) neared US$1 trillion (S$1.35 trillion) in market capitalisation as the company founded by Elon Musk received its biggest-ever order – 100,000 electric rental cars for Hertz. Tesla shares were up 7.5% at US$978, hitting a new record high Monday, following the order. Shares were also buoyed by news of the company’s Model …

The New York Times reports: Russia’s premier intelligence agency has launched another campaign to pierce thousands of U.S. government, corporate and think-tank computer networks, Microsoft officials and cybersecurity experts warned on Sunday, only months after President Biden imposed sanctions on Moscow in response to a series of sophisticated spy operations it had conducted around the world. The new effort is …

The Washington Post reports: In America, the tech CEO is a champion of free speech, reluctant to remove even malicious and misleading content from the platform. But in Vietnam, upholding the free speech rights of people who question government leaders could have come with a significant cost in a country where the social network earns more than $1 billion in …

NBC News reports: In summer 2019, a new Facebook user named Carol Smith signed up for the platform, describing herself as a politically conservative mother from Wilmington, North Carolina. Smith’s account indicated an interest in politics, parenting and Christianity and followed a few of her favorite brands, including Fox News and then-President Donald Trump. Though Smith had never expressed interest …

Market Watch reports: PayPal Holdings Inc.’s quest to become a “super-app” may be kicking into a new gear following reports that the company has held acquisition talks with Pinterest Inc. The financial-technology company has been expanding beyond payments and into other areas of financial services and commerce, driven by a revamp of its app to emphasize features like crypto purchasing …

The Verge reports: Facebook is planning to change its company name next week to reflect its focus on building the metaverse, according to a source with direct knowledge of the matter. The coming name change, which CEO Mark Zuckerberg plans to talk about at the company’s annual Connect conference on October 28th, but could unveil sooner, is meant to signal …

The Associated Press reports: TikTok, an app best known for dancing videos with 1 billion users worldwide, has also become a shopping phenomenon. National chains, hoping to get TikTok’s mostly young users into its stores, are setting up TikTok sections, reminiscent of “As Seen On TV” stores that sold products hawked on infomercials. At Barnes & Noble, tables display signs …

CBS News reports: McDonald’s will offer its first vegetarian option in the U.S. next month, taking its new McPlant meatless burger for a test drive on U.S. menus, the fast-food giant announced Thursday. “Eight McDonald’s restaurants across the U.S. will be testing the McPlant for a limited time starting Nov. 3 while supplies last,” McDonald’s said in the announcement. The …

Australia’s The Age reports: An anti-vaccination baggage handler at Melbourne Airport is being blamed for passing on COVID-19 to at least seven colleagues and forcing more than 50 workers into enforced two-week isolation. The Virgin Australia baggage handler came to work while sick in late September, said industry sources who are not authorised to speak publicly. They said he had …

The New York Times reports: President Biden will announce on Wednesday that the Port of Los Angeles will begin operating around the clock as his administration struggles to relieve growing backlogs in the global supply chains that deliver critical goods to the United States. Product shortages have frustrated American consumers and businesses and contributed to rising prices that are hurting …

The San Francisco Chronicle reports: Walgreens will close five more San Francisco stores, a company spokesperson confirmed Tuesday, citing ongoing organized retail crime as the reason. “Organized retail crime continues to be a challenge facing retailers across San Francisco, and we are not immune to that,” said Walgreens spokesperson Phil Caruso. “Retail theft across our San Francisco stores has continued …

Bloomberg News reports: American Airlines Group Inc., the biggest U.S. airline, and No. 4 Southwest Airlines Co. will follow President Joe Biden’s mandate requiring that employees be vaccinated against Covid-19, defying an order from the Texas governor blocking such actions. The decisions Tuesday set up an immediate challenge to Republican Governor Greg Abbott by two of the state’s largest corporations. …

The New York Post reports: Elon Musk has come through on his promise to send Jeff Bezos a silver medal now that the Tesla CEO has surpassed the Amazon founder to become the world’s richest person. Musk couldn’t help himself from chiming in on Twitter after Bezos posted a message about overcoming adversity. Shortly after midnight, Musk responded with a …

CNN Business reports: The long weekend got a bit longer for Southwest customers after the airline canceled more than 2,000 flights Friday through Sunday. The world’s largest low-cost carrier canceled three of every 10 departures it had scheduled on Sunday and the disruption continued into Monday, a federal holiday, with 337 flights — or about one in 10 — canceled …