Business

NBC News reports: The Federal Aviation Administration said Thursday that Virgin Galactic cannot launch anyone into space again until an investigation is complete into a mishap that occurred during July’s flight with founder Richard Branson. The ban came as Virgin Galactic announced plans to launch three Italian researchers to the edge of space in a few weeks. The FAA said …

The Verge reports: Amazon is planning to expand its in-house moderation team for Amazon Web Services, according to a new report from Reuters. Citing two sources within the company, the report says Amazon is planning to develop a proactive threat monitoring capability within AWS, which will seek out prohibited content on AWS servers and remove it before it’s reported by …

Gothamist reports: Back in 2017, the City Council simultaneously created the Mayor’s Office of Nightlife and repealed the reviled Cabaret Law, which made dancing illegal in the vast majority of the city’s bars and restaurants for nearly a century. But the repeal did not change the fact that many establishments were still subject to the same restrictions under zoning regulations. …

The Washington Post reports: More than two decades after Purdue Pharma launched its blockbuster pain pill OxyContin, preceding a deadly overdose crisis, a judge approved a bankruptcy plan Wednesday that will resolve thousands of lawsuits against the drugmaker and grant sweeping legal immunity to its billionaire owners. Negotiated until the 11th hour, the final terms of the settlement confirmed by …

Bloomberg News reports: Amazon.com Inc. has a solution for a potentially crippling shortage of delivery drivers: Recruit pot smokers. The company is advising its delivery partners — the mom and pops that operate the ubiquitous blue Amazon vans — to prominently advertise that they don’t screen applicants for marijuana use, according to correspondence reviewed by Bloomberg and interviews with four …

From Walgreens’ corporate blog: Walgreens is further investing in its hourly team members who provide trusted care and services in communities across the U.S. Walgreens will increase the starting hourly wage for all team members to $15.00 an hour, taking effect in phases beginning in October of this year and are expected to be fully implemented by November 1, 2022. …

The Verge reports: Microsoft is announcing that Windows 11 will be released on October 5th. The new operating system will be available as a free upgrade for eligible Windows 10 PCs, or on new hardware that ships with Windows 11 pre-loaded. The free upgrade to Windows 11 will start rolling out on October 5th, but like many Windows upgrades in …

Reuters reports: Some U.S. fast-food restaurants are closing indoor seating areas or limiting hours of operation because of the spread of the delta variant of COVID-19, according to franchisees. McDonald’s Corp. had temporarily closed indoor dining at nearly all U.S. locations in early 2020, but it reopened 70% by last month. In Wednesday’s conference call, McDonald’s executives recommended franchisees consider …

The Wall Street Journal reports: The hacker who is taking responsibility for breaking into T-Mobile US Inc.’s systems said the wireless company’s lax security eased his path into a cache of records with personal details on more than 50 million people and counting. John Binns, a 21-year-old American who moved to Turkey a few years ago, told The Wall Street …

Reuters reports: Microsoft on Thursday warned thousands of its cloud computing customers, including some of the world’s largest companies, that intruders could have the ability to read, change or even delete their main databases, according to a copy of the email and a cyber security researcher. The vulnerability is in Microsoft Azure’s flagship Cosmos database. A research team at security …

Yahoo Finance reports: OnlyFans’ upcoming ban on sexually explicit material appears to be over before it even began. The company said it had “suspended” its planned October 1st change after having “secured assurances” needed to support its existing creator base. The exact situation isn’t clear (we’ve asked for comment), but it appears adults-only content is safe for now. A more …

The New York Times reports: Delta Air Lines is intensifying pressure on employees to get vaccinated with a series of increasingly burdensome requirements over the coming weeks and months, though it stopped short of the mandates that other airlines and businesses have put in place. In a letter to employees on Wednesday, the carrier’s chief executive, Ed Bastian, said that …

The WyoFile reports: Patagonia, the iconic sportswear company that’s built a worldwide reputation on outdoor athleticism and environmental activism, will no longer supply Jackson Hole Mountain Resort with its products after a resort owner hosted a fundraiser for the right-wing House Freedom Caucus. Patagonia confirmed Tuesday that it would no longer sell to the resort, its largest single customer in …

Reuters reports: Tesla Inc Chief Executive Elon Musk on Thursday said the electric automaker will probably launch a “Tesla Bot” humanoid robot prototype next year, designed for dangerous, repetitive, or boring work that people don’t like to do. Speaking at Tesla’s AI Day event, the billionaire entrepreneur said the robot, which stands around five foot eight inches tall, would be …

Bloomberg News reports: OnlyFans is getting out of the pornography business. The company will prohibit users from posting any sexually explicit conduct, starting in October. Creators will still be allowed to post nude photos and videos, provided they’re consistent with OnlyFans’ policy, the company said Thursday. The changes are needed because of mounting pressure from banking partners and payment providers, …

Politico reports: The Federal Trade Commission has filed a new antitrust complaint against Facebook, rebooting a high-stakes case to break up the social media giant after a federal judge tossed the agency’s original complaint in June. Progressive FTC Chair Lina Khan joined with her two Democratic colleagues in a 3-2 party-line vote Wednesday to file the new complaint. The agency’s …

Reuters reports: More than 90 policy and rights groups around the world published an open letter on Thursday urging Apple to abandon plans for scanning children’s messages for nudity and the phones of adults for images of child sex abuse. “Though these capabilities are intended to protect children and to reduce the spread of child sexual abuse material, we are …

The Wall Street Journal reports: Amazon.com Inc. plans to open several large physical retail locations in the U.S. that will operate akin to department stores, a step to help the tech company extend its reach in sales of clothing, household items, electronics and other areas, people familiar with the matter said. The plan to launch large stores will mark a …

The Verge reports: Senators Ed Markey (D-MA) and Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) have asked new Federal Trade Commission Chair Lina Khan to investigate Tesla’s marketing of its advanced driver assistance system, Autopilot. The Senators are particularly concerned with how Tesla has been charging customers thousands of dollars for what it refers to as “Full Self-Driving capability,” despite the fact that buying …

Reuters reports: T-Mobile US Inc said on Wednesday an ongoing investigation into a cyberattack on its systems revealed that some personal data of about 7.8 million of its current postpaid customers were compromised. The company was made aware of the attack late last week, it said in a statement, after an online forum claimed that personal data of its users …