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☆ Former Google workers fired for protesting Israel deal file complaint claiming protected speech
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-01 | by ( Clare Duffy | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +4 min

New York CNN —Dozens of former Google workers filed a complaint with the US National Labor Relations Board on Tuesday after they were fired or placed on administrative leave last month for protesting the company’s cloud-computing contract with Israel’s government. We are confident in our position and stand by the actions we’ve taken.”Last month’s protests involved employee sit-ins inside Google’s offices in New York City and Sunnyvale, California. No Tech for Apartheid said last week that 50 Google employees were terminated in connection with the protests. The group claimed that some of the workers fired were “non-participating bystanders” and not actively involved in the workplace activism. But affected workers say they should not have been fired for protesting the company’s actions.

Persons: “, Thomas Kurian, ”, Zelda Montes, Benjamin Sachs, Kestnbaum, that’s, Sundar Pichai, Pichai, ” Pichai, Googlers, –, Catherine Thorbecke Organizations: New, New York CNN, US National Labor Relations Board, Tech, Apartheid, Google, CNN, “, Labor, Industry, Harvard Law School, Hamas Locations: New York, New York City, Sunnyvale , California, Sunnyvale, Israel, Gaza, America

☆ Google earnings: Shares surge after Alphabet to buy back billions of dollars of its own stock
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-25 | by ( Clare Duffy | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +3 min

New York CNN —Alphabet, the parent company of Google, bounced back from an absolutely dreadful day for tech shares, as its stock surged Thursday after the closing bell. Revenue from the quarter reached more than $80.5 billion, up 15% from the same period in the prior year and ahead of the $78.75 billion analysts had projected, according to FactSet estimates. Meta shares sank on Thursday after the company raised its annual expense forecast to fund its AI ambitions, despite better-than-expected earnings results Wednesday. But in addition to Google, multiple positive tech earnings reports on Thursday helped reverse what had been a sluggish day for tech stocks. Snap resultsSocial media company Snap, the parent company of social media platform Snapchat, also saw its stock climb after-hours on the heels of a rosy first-quarter earnings report that beat Wall Street’s estimates.

Persons: Sundar Pichai, ” Pichai, CNN’s Catherine Thorbecke Organizations: New, New York CNN, Google, Wall, Revenue Locations: New York

☆ What AT&T got right and wrong communicating to its customers during the outage
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-23 | by ( Samantha Delouya | Ramishah Maruf | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +6 min

The company didn’t publicly acknowledge the outage until it first posted on its site about the outage at 11:15 am ET. Reports on outage tracking service Downdetector showed the network initially went down more than seven hours earlier: Reyes said he experienced the outage starting at 3:50 am ET. AT&T posted just once on X about the outage, pointing customers seeking more information to a faulty link. For many AT&T customers, the network outage was far more than an inconvenience. A "No Service" message is seen on an iPhone in Atlanta during an AT&T outage on February 22.

Persons: CNN —, Damián Reyes, ”, “, I’m, Reyes, Uber, didn’t, Reyes ’, ” Reyes, Mojtaba, John Breyault, Brook Joyner, CNN Breyault, Catherine Thorbecke, Clare Duffy Organizations: CNN, Mobile, T’s Twitter, Villanova University, Wireless Networking Laboratory, National Consumers League, San Francisco’s Department of Emergency Management Locations: Jacksonville , Florida, Atlanta

☆ Tesla erases references to DEI from its new 10-K following Elon Musk’s criticisms
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-01 | by ( Ramishah Maruf | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +5 min

New York CNN —Tesla CEO Elon Musk has a new social media target: Diversity, Equity and Inclusion. Following Musk’s recent critical posts about DEI policies and racial discrimination lawsuits against Tesla, the electric car company has omitted all language regarding minority workers and outreach to minority communities in its 10-K filing with the SEC made January 29. In Musk’s eyes, DEI is “just as morally wrong as any other racism and sexism,” he tweeted in December. And as recently as 2020, Tesla had been publishing its own corporate DEI reports, reaffirming its commitment to the mission. CNN has reached out to Tesla for comment, though the company does not usually respond to press requests.

Persons: Elon Musk, Tesla, ”, It’s, George Floyd’s, Harvard’s, Claudine Gay, Gonzalo Fuentes, Bill Ackman, Musk, ” Musk, Owen Diaz, Mark Cuban, “, Catherine Thorbecke, Nicquel Terry Ellis Organizations: New, New York CNN, Equity, SEC, Bloomberg, Tesla, Black Colleges, Universities, ”, Asian Pacific Islanders, Minneapolis, CNN, SpaceX, Twitter, Viva Technology, Reuters Billionaire, Harvard, DEI, California Department of Fair, Housing, Fremont, Dallas Mavericks Locations: New York, America, Paris, France, Fremont , California, Fremont, United States, ” Cuban

☆ 5 things to know about Boeing’s latest 737 Max crisis
▼ + stars: | 2024-01-10 | by ( Ramishah Maruf | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +10 min

Here is the latest on what to know as Boeing faces yet another 737 Max crisis. “We’ll make sure that we take steps to ensure that it never, never can happen.”The 737 Max 9 remains groundedOn Saturday, the Federal Aviation Administration ordered most Boeing 737 Max 9 aircraft to be temporarily grounded as regulators and Boeing investigate the cause of the incident. That has led to hundreds of cancelations, particularly from Alaska Airlines and United Airlines, which have dozens of the 737 Max 9 planes. United Airlines said it is canceling 167 Boeing 737 Max 9 flights today and expects significant cancellations on Thursday, too. Alaska Airlines also said Monday it found loose hardware on some of its 737 Max 9 planes during inspections.

Persons: Dave Calhoun, company’s ‘, “, Calhoun, ” Calhoun, Patrick Shanahan, “ We’re, ”, “ We’ll, Max, Jennifer Homendy, CNN’s Poppy Harlow, AeroSystems, Republican Sen, J.D, Vance, Joe Biden, John Lovell, David Calhoun, ” Homendy, “ I’ve, I’ve, What’s, Eric Weiss, it’s, —, Catherine Thorbecke, Chris Isidore, Greg Wallace, Pete Muntean Organizations: New, New York CNN, Alaska Airlines, Max, Boeing, CNBC, Alaska Airlines midflight, Spirit, Federal Aviation Administration, United Airlines, . United Airlines, National Transportation Safety, CNN, FAA, NTSB, Republican, Senate, National Transportation Safety Board, Alaska Airlines Flight, Reuters, Airbus, Transportation Safety Locations: New York, Portland , Oregon, ”, Ohio, Alaska, U.S, Indonesia, Ethiopia, Calhoun, Portland

☆ GTA 6 leak: ‘Grand Theft Auto’ trailer reveals game’s release date
▼ + stars: | 2023-12-04 | by ( Ramishah Maruf | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +1 min

New York CNN —A trailer for “Grand Theft Auto VI,” the next installment of the wildly popular and violent game franchise, has been released early online after it had leaked. The trailer reveals that the sixth chapter is coming in 2025, according to developer Rockstar Games. The highly anticipated trailer surpassed 32 million views within its first few hours on Youtube. The trailer was originally supposed to go up on Tuesday, December 5 at 9 am PST. Rockstar Games, owned by Take-Two Interactive, has struggled with leaks.

Persons: Lucia, –, Catherine Thorbecke Organizations: New, New York CNN, Rockstar Games, Twitter Locations: New York, Bonnie, Clyde

☆ Many Maui restaurants were destroyed in the fires. For those that survived, their future remains uncertain
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-23 | by ( Danielle Wiener-Bronner | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +8 min

An aerial view of destruction on Front Street on August 11, 2023 in Lahaina, Hawaii. In Lahaina, a historic area and popular tourist destination that was hit particularly hard by the fires, restaurants are big business. Restaurants are an important part of the tourism sector, which is responsible for 75% of all private-sector jobs in Maui. Their restaurants survived, but their future is uncertain. In Kula, about an hour’s drive from Lahaina, fires damaged the Kula Sandalwoods Inn & Cafe, which has been in Monica Loui’s family for decades.

Persons: Qiana Di, Di Bari, ”, Di Bari’s, Pepe, …, Di, ” Di Bari, Justin Sullivan, Baris, Sheryl Matsuoka, They’re, Javier Barberi, Barberi, Robert Gauthier, Barberi couldn’t, Hana Hou, “, it’s, Monica Loui’s, you’re, ” Loui, she’s, Caleb Hopkins, We’re, Hopkins, he’s, “ We’re, Hou Hospitality, Josh Green’s, Hawaii Josh Green, Rick Bowmer, Barry Allison, Kihei, we’ve, —, Catherine Thorbecke Organizations: New, New York CNN, Bureau of Labor Statistics, Hawaii Restaurant Association, Los Angeles Times, Hawaii Gov, FEMA, ” Locations: New York, Maui, Qiana Di Bari, Lahaina, Italian, Di Bari, Lahaina , Hawaii, United States, Kahului, “, Kula, Loui’s, GoFundMe, Hawaii

☆ The case for a soft landing is slowly but surely building
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-30 | by ( Krystal Hur | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +5 min

It’s not difficult to see why – economic data released this past week points to a cooling but still strong economy. Still, it’s far too soon to assume that a soft landing is in the bag. There’s more economic data slated for release this coming week, and the US labor market is in focus. The Bureau of Labor Statistics’ latest jobs report is due Friday. Friday: Jobs report for July.

Persons: Jerome Powell, ” Powell, ”, Jeffrey Roach, WhatsApp, Catherine Thorbecke WhatsApp, Read, Kraft Heinz, Yum, Kellogg, Jobs Organizations: CNN Business, Bell, CNN, Federal Reserve, Fed, Commerce Department, LPL, Bureau of Labor Statistics, Labor, Survey, ADP, Labor Statistics ’, Community Bank, Caterpillar, Pfizer, Uber, Marriott, Starbucks, PayPal, CVS, Kraft, Brands, DoorDash, Apple, ConocoPhillips, Booking Holdings, Warner Bros

☆ Thousands of authors demand payment from AI companies for use of copyrighted works
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-19 | by ( Brian Fung | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +3 min

Washington CNN —Thousands of published authors are requesting payment from tech companies for the use of their copyrighted works in training artificial intelligence tools, marking the latest intellectual property critique to target AI development. In an open letter they signed, posted by the Authors Guild Tuesday, the writers accused AI companies of unfairly profiting from their work. “Millions of copyrighted books, articles, essays, and poetry provide the ‘food’ for AI systems, endless meals for which there has been no bill,” the letter said. “The high commerciality of your use argues against fair use,” the authors wrote to the AI companies. In May, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman appeared to acknowledge more needs to be done to address concerns from creators about how AI systems use their works.

Persons: Margaret Atwood, Dan Brown, Michael Chabon, Jonathan Franzen, James Patterson, Jodi Picoult, Philip Pullman, “, OpenAI, didn’t, Sarah Silverman, Margaret Atwood Rich Fury, Monika Skolimowska, Goldsmith, Andy Warhol, Prince, Warhol, Sam Altman, “ We’re, ”, –, Catherine Thorbecke Organizations: Washington CNN, Facebook, Google, IBM, Microsoft, OpenAI, Meta, Warhol

☆ Amazon reinstates Bessemer, Alabama warehouse worker and union face Jennifer Bates
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-15 | by ( Clare Duffy | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +3 min

New York CNN —An Amazon worker and union organizer has been given her job back after she appealed her firing by the e-commerce giant earlier this month. Amazon on Thursday confirmed that it had reinstated Jennifer Bates — who became the face of the effort to unionize an Amazon facility in Bessemer, Alabama — following its appeals process. Bates had received notice of her termination from Amazon in early June. Amazon workers at a New York warehouse voted to form the company’s first US union last year, although Amazon has since refused to recognize the union or come to the bargaining table. Other efforts to unionize Amazon facilities, including one across the street from the New York warehouse, have failed.

Persons: Jennifer Bates —, Bates, I’m, ” Bates, Mary Kate Paradis, –, Catherine Thorbecke Organizations: New, New York CNN, Amazon, Wholesale, Department Store Union, CNN, National Labor Relations Board Locations: New York, Bessemer , Alabama, United States

☆ Deciding what to do when your employer changes the rules on remote work
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-09 | by ( Jeanne Sahadi | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +6 min

New York CNN —If you’ve organized your life around a fully remote or highly flexible hybrid work schedule over the past three years, it can feel jarring if your employer decides to change the rules on remote work and require or enforce more on-site attendance. This, despite the company previously telling staffers most of them would be working remote full time, according to the Wall Street Journal. In addition, according to CNBC, it also said it hopes that employees working remotely full time will consider working a hybrid schedule instead if they live near a Google office. “Changes in remote work policies can certainly create significant risk to employee retention and engagement, depending on how drastic the changes are and how effectively they are executed by managers,” Wigert noted. What do you need to do your best work?

Persons: John Stankey, “, ”, Caitlin Duffy, ” Gallup, Ben Wigert, ” Wigert, you’re, Octavia Gordema, Gordema, you’ve, Duffy, ” Gordema, ” –, Catherine Thorbecke Organizations: New, New York CNN, T, Bloomberg, Farmers Insurance Group, Wall Street, Google, CNBC, Gartner Consulting, Gallup, “ Locations: New York

☆ Lyft plans to ‘significantly reduce’ workforce, CEO says
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-21 | by ( Brian Fung | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +2 min

CNN —Lyft (LYFT) plans to “significantly reduce” its workforce, the company’s new CEO David Risher told employees on Friday, in another round of layoffs as it struggles to turn a profit and pull off a turnaround. “To do so requires that we reduce our costs and structure our company so that our leaders are closer to riders and drivers. Now Uber is showing renewed strength In its most recent earnings report, Uber said that it had its “strongest quarter ever,” reporting a 49% year-over-year increase in revenue. Lyft’s latest earnings report, meanwhile, was unusually disappointing for Wall Street. Lyft shares were up 6% in midday trading Friday, but the company’s stock is down roughly 70% over the past year.

☆ The American consumer has bad news for the economy
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-14 | by ( Nicole Goodkind | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +7 min

That’s why Wall Street is already fretting over Friday’s retail sales report, which is expected to show that the mighty American consumer is pulling back. Economists forecast that retail sales fell 0.4% in March from the month before. But Goldman Sachs and Bank of America analysts say core sales — that’s without autos, gasoline, and building materials — slowed by about 1%. A taxing problem: Still, the health of the American consumer is still relatively strong, the BofA analysts said. A one-bedroom apartment had a median rent of $4,150, up 9.6% from last year, while a two-bedroom apartment had a median rent of $5,680, up 18.3% from a year ago.

☆ Bob Lee: Moments following stabbing of Cash App founder captured on video, local news site reports
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-06 | by ( Taylor Romine | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +4 min

CNN —The moments following the San Francisco stabbing attack of Cash App founder Bob Lee were captured on surveillance video and in a 911 call to authorities, according to a local Bay Area news portal. The driver of the Toyota pulls the car away and Lee collapses to the ground. Lee manages to get up and walk a bit further before he collapses in front of an apartment building. “No one who commits a violent crime, or who’s a repeat offender are receiving overly lenient plea deals.”Her comments appear to be in response to Twitter’s new owner, billionaire Elon Musk. In total, there were 56 homicides in San Francisco in 2022, the same as in 2021.

☆ Alibaba is launching an AI bot to rival ChatGPT, sending its shares up
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-08 | by ( Michelle Toh | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +2 min

Hong Kong CNN —Alibaba says it will launch its own ChatGPT-style tool, becoming the latest tech giant to jump on the chatbot bandwagon. It did not share details of when it would launch or what the application would be called. This week, Google (GOOGL) and Chinese search engine giant Baidu (BIDU) both unveiled plans to launch similar services of their own. Bard suffered an embarrassing setback this week, however, after producing an incorrect response during a public demonstration. The company is also investing billions of dollars in OpenAI, the company behind ChatGPT.

☆ Baidu, the Chinese search engine giant, announces ChatGPT-style AI bot
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-06 | by ( Michelle Toh | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +2 min

Hong Kong CNN —Chinese search engine giant Baidu says it will be launching its own ChatGPT-style service. It will launch a new artificial intelligence chatbot called “Wenxin Yiyan” in Chinese, or “Ernie Bot” in English, a spokesperson told CNN on Tuesday. Baidu (BIDU) is currently testing the project internally and will likely roll out the service to users in March, the person said. The company did not provide further details, such as how the tool would look or whether it would appear as a feature within its popular search engine. Baidu’s AI investments can be seen as “both an offensive and defensive strategic move in China,” Daniel Ives, managing director of Wedbush Securities, told CNN.

☆ Too many companies botch mass layoffs
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-25 | by ( Jeanne Sahadi | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +6 min

When it comes to mass layoffs, there seems to be no end to the worst, most bungled ways in which some employees first learn they are being let go. “People have to feel they’re being treated with respect,” said Sarah Rodehorst, CEO of Onwards HR, an offboarding technology platform for human resources, legal and finance teams. (Google declined to comment, pointing instead to a blog post from the CEO on the day of the layoffs.) Employees should receive a communication from the CEO or from division leadership that informs them layoffs will occur and offers them the business reasons for the decision. By “small,” Lee means no more than 5 to 10 people, including a leader or manager they know who delivers the news.

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