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☆ Purdue mess pits drug victims against due process
▼ + stars: | 2023-12-05 | by ( Robert Cyran | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

That’s the dilemma currently facing the parties involved in the case regarding Purdue Pharma, including states, individuals, and the company’s founding Sackler family. According to the lawsuit, the family withdrew $11 billion from Purdue, but only contributed $6 billion to the settlement. Side with the DOJ, and the Supreme Court could clean up the bankruptcy process that often shields individuals and companies. For now, though, either the victims of the opioid epidemic will have to wait, or those wanting to end bankruptcy shields will. Follow @rob_cyran on XCONTEXT NEWSThe Supreme Court heard arguments on Dec. 4 over whether to approve the Purdue Pharmaceuticals bankruptcy agreement.

Persons: Sackler, Elena Kagan, Neil Gorsuch, Kagan, Gorsuch, Brett Kavanaugh, They’ve, Lauren Silva Laughlin, Sharon Lam Organizations: Reuters, U.S, Supreme, Purdue Pharma, U.S . Department of Justice, Purdue, Liberal, DOJ, Purdue Pharmaceuticals, Thomson

☆ Airline investors have reason to grab the barf bag
▼ + stars: | 2023-12-04 | by ( Jonathan Guilford | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

NEW YORK, Dec 4 (Reuters Breakingviews) - Lately, when airlines suggest a thrilling deal, investors are left feeling queasy. Look at Alaska Air (ALK.N), whose shares cratered 15% on Monday after announcing the acquisition of struggling Hawaiian (HA.O). As happened when first Frontier (ULCC.O) and JetBlue Airways (JBLU.O) bid for Spirit Airlines (SAVE.N) in 2022, though, the buyer’s shareholders are balking. But it suggests that, by tying up, smaller airlines risk combining their woes. The deal comes as a lawsuit by the Department of Justice looking to block the merger of Spirit Airlines and JetBlue Airways heads to closing arguments on Dec. 5.

Persons: they’ll, trustbusters, nix, Pete Buttigieg doesn’t, Lauren Silva Laughlin, Sharon Lam, Aditya Sriwatsav Organizations: Reuters, Alaska Air, JetBlue Airways, Spirit Airlines, Department of Transportation, of Justice, Department of Justice, Thomson Locations: Lahaina, Maui, Alaska, Hawaii

☆ Amazon’s space dreams deserve to be grounded
▼ + stars: | 2023-12-01 | by ( Robert Cyran | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

Founder, Chairman, CEO and President of Amazon Jeff Bezos unveils his space company Blue Origin's space exploration lunar lander rocket called Blue Moon during an unveiling event in Washington, U.S., May 9, 2019. REUTERS/Clodagh Kilcoyne - RC153E11B8F0 Acquire Licensing RightsNEW YORK, Oct 16 (Reuters Breakingviews) - Amazon.com’s (AMZN.O) Project Kuiper is a misguided technological marvel. A recent U.S. government report warned that space junk from currently planned networks could start regularly falling back to Earth by 2035. Facing an uncertain payoff and the possibility that its efforts will burn up on reentry, Amazon’s best move is bowing out of a futile space race. The $1.3 trillion technology company plans to eventually launch over 3,200 satellites into low-earth orbit to provide high-speed internet globally.

Persons: Amazon Jeff Bezos, Clodagh, Jeff Bezos, SpaceX’s, Andy Jassy, Bill Gates, SpaceX honcho Elon Musk, OneWeb, Jonathan Guilford, Sharon Lam, Aditya Sriwatsav Organizations: Amazon, REUTERS, Reuters, SpaceX, Reuters Graphics Reuters, Kuiper, Eutelsat Communications, Origin, Thomson Locations: Washington , U.S, Bezos, China

☆ Competition will make obesity drugs successful
▼ + stars: | 2023-12-01 | by ( Robert Cyran | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

In an interview with the Financial Times, he proposed spreading reimbursements over time if the medication proves to be successful. There’s some practical grounding in that solution, but the path of other similar drugs suggests that a competitive market is a better way to make it successful. Snag is, the drugs cost several thousand dollars per patient annually, even after discounts. Medicare, which covers 66 million seniors, can’t pay for weight loss drugs under current law. While it makes more sense for insurers or governments to pay over time if the drugs benefits last, schemes like the one that Jørgensen suggests can only do so much.

Persons: Lars Fruergaard Jørgensen, Jørgensen, “, Lauren Silva Laughlin, Sharon Lam Organizations: Reuters, Novo Nordisk, Financial Times, Centers for Disease Control, Prevention, North Carolina, The New England, of Medicine, Employers, Thomson Locations: U.S, The, United States, Danish

☆ Everybody could use a Charlie Munger
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-29 | by ( Lauren Silva Laughlin | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

NEW YORK, Nov 29 (Reuters Breakingviews) - Every great leader needs a Charlie Munger. The deputy to Berkshire Hathaway’s (BRKa.N) Warren Buffett died on Tuesday morning just a month shy of his 100th birthday. And Munger kept at it: at age 99, having served as Berkshire’s vice chairman since 1978, he was still giving interviews as recently as this month. Munger was capable when taking the opposite view from his boss, encouraging the kind of debate that fosters better decisions. Follow @thereallsl on XCONTEXT NEWSCharlie Munger, the longtime vice chairman and second-in-command to Warren Buffett at Berkshire Hathaway, died at a California hospital, the company said on Nov. 28.

Persons: Charlie Munger, Warren Buffett, Munger, lobbing, ”, Buffett, CNBC’s Becky Quick, Greg Abel, Ajit Jain, That’s, Buffett’s, Berkshire Hathaway, ” Buffett, Jonathan Guilford, Sharon Lam Organizations: Reuters, Berkshire Hathaway’s, Berkshire, Costco Wholesale, Thomson Locations: Berkshire, Omaha, ”, California

As technology titans jockey to back hot new startups, they are extracting explicit or implicit promises of revenue in return. loadingMicrosoft’s injection of $10 billion into OpenAI in January helped kick off the craze. As part of their deal, the ChatGPT operator agreed to exclusively use its new investor’s cloud computing services. Much of the invested capital should be returned relatively quickly as AI firms buy back-end services. Nvidia (NVDA.O) has at least 80% and as much as 95% of the AI market, according to estimates by analysts.

Persons: Sam Altman, Satya Nadella, OpenAI, Optimists, cynics, Jeffrey Goldfarb, Sharon Lam, Aditya Sriwatsav, Streisand Neto Organizations: Reuters, Microsoft, Financial Times, Apple, Nasdaq, Big Tech, OpenAI, Wall Street, Google, Reuters Graphics Reuters, Cisco Systems, Lucent Technologies, Nortel Technologies, Company, Global, Telecom, Nortel, Network, Nvidia, Thomson Locations: OpenAI, Silicon Valley

☆ Warner Bros Discovery boss’s payday is toast
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-27 | by ( Jennifer Saba | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

The Warner Bros Discovery (WBD.O) chief executive will have to more than double the value of the media company if he wants to collect a lavish $200 million compensation package awarded when Discovery agreed to merge with Warner Media in 2021. The news sent shares plunging 19%, the largest one-day drop since Discovery merged with Warner Media. Its current value is over $18 billion when applying Bernstein’s multiple of 8 times EBITDA. At the end of September, the company had net leverage – after deducting $2.4 billion cash – of 4.2 times EBITDA. Shares of Warner Bros Discovery fell 19% on that day.

Persons: David Zaslav, He’s, Harry Potter, Jefferies, Max, “ Barbie ”, Zaslav, David, Peter Thal Larsen, Sharon Lam Organizations: Reuters, Warner Bros Discovery, Discovery, Warner Media, HBO, CNN, Food Network, TBS, LSEG, Netflix, Reuters Graphics Reuters, HGTV, Thomson Locations: EBITDA

☆ Amazon’s shipping splurge delivers payoff
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-27 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

A worker sorts products during Cyber Monday operations at the Amazon's fulfillment center in Robbinsville, New Jersey, U.S., November 27, 2023. In 2016, before its in-house logistics initiative took off, global shipping costs tallied about $16 billion, with customers covering about half. Last year, the total expense was about five times higher. Moreover, higher turnover means higher profit, especially from ancillary services such as advertising. And that’s before the generally lucrative holiday season, which should bring Amazon shareholders some more upbeat shipping news.

Persons: Robert Cyran, Julius Baer’s, Warren Buffett, Jeffrey Goldfarb, Sharon Lam Organizations: Reuters, UPS, FedEx, Wall Street Journal, Services, Shipping, Amazon, X, Thomson Locations: Robbinsville , New Jersey, U.S, America, China

☆ Binance mega-fine fits go-big-or-go-home vibe
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-22 | by ( Anita Ramaswamy | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

NEW YORK, Nov 21 (Reuters Breakingviews) - Cryptocurrency is a precocious industry, in its lows as well as its highs. So it makes sense that Binance, the world’s largest crypto exchange, has agreed to pay a $4.3 billion fine for anti-money laundering, effortlessly surpassing penalties paid by miscreant financial firms that have been around for more than a century longer. Binance boss Changpeng Zhao, a kingpin of crypto and the man who precipitated the downfall of bankrupt rival FTX, pleaded personally guilty on Tuesday to criminal violations. HSBC (HSBA.L), (0005.HK) in 2012 agreed to pay $1.9 billion for its role in facilitating drug cartels’ money laundering. They do not reflect the views of Reuters News, which, under the Trust Principles, is committed to integrity, independence, and freedom from bias.

Persons: Changpeng Zhao, FTX, Zhao, Binance, Al Qaeda, It’s, Goldman Sachs, Goldman, David Solomon, Sam Bankman, John Foley, Sharon Lam Organizations: Reuters, HSBC, HK, Malaysian, U.S . Treasury Department, Thomson Locations: Iran, North Korea, U.S

☆ OpenAI calls time on alt-governance experiment
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-22 | by ( Jonathan Guilford | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

But the stakes at OpenAI, which develops the potentially world-reshaping ChatGPT, are higher. To stay true to its charter, the board must be ready to take actions that financial backers find intolerable. When it threatened to hire Altman and his staff, it effectively swiped the company out from under the board. Follow @JMAGuilford on XCONTEXT NEWSSam Altman has been reinstated as the chief executive of ChatGPT developer OpenAI, the company said on Nov. 21. The non-profit company that governs the startup had announced on Nov. 17 that its board had decided to fire Altman.

Persons: Sam Altman, –, Mark Zuckerberg, Satya Nadella, Altman, Larry Summers, John Foley, Sharon Lam Organizations: Reuters, Microsoft, OpenAI’s, Google, Thomson Locations: OpenAI

☆ GM’s driverless ride heads into a ditch
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-21 | by ( Jonathan Guilford | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

A self-driving GM Bolt EV is seen during a media event where Cruise, GM's autonomous car unit, showed off its self-driving cars in San Francisco, California, U.S. November 28, 2017. Automotive giant GM acquired Cruise in 2016, subsequently bringing on investors including SoftBank’s (9984.T) Vision Fund, Honda Motor (7267.T) and Microsoft (MSFT.O). The question is whether GM’s autonomous division has enough momentum to recover from that loss. CONTEXT NEWSDaniel Kan, co-founder and chief product officer of General Motors’ autonomous taxi business Cruise, resigned from the company on Nov. 20, Reuters reported. California’s Department of Motor Vehicles suspended Cruise’s autonomous license in the state on Oct. 24, saying that the company had “misrepresented” the safety of its technology.

Persons: Elijah Nouvelage, Tesla, that’s, Cruise’s, Cruise, Kyle Vogt, Daniel Kan –, Sam Altman, Elon Musk, Mary Barra hasn’t, SoftBank, Daniel Kan, John Foley, Sharon Lam Organizations: GM Bolt, REUTERS, Reuters, General Motors, Automotive, GM, Cruise, Vision Fund, Honda, Microsoft, Uber Technologies, Ford, U.S . National, Traffic, Administration, California’s Department of Motor Vehicles, Thomson Locations: San Francisco , California, U.S, San Francisco, California

NEW YORK, Nov 20 (Reuters Breakingviews) - Microsoft (MSFT.O) boss Satya Nadella’s stressful weekend is probably only the beginning. A lack of corporate governance protections left Nadella with few options to salvage his company’s $13 billion investment in OpenAI. As a 49% owner of OpenAI, Microsoft could have hedged itself by getting more directly involved in oversight. Recruiting Altman is at least a better outcome for Microsoft than standing by and watching him go to Google, a rival startup or opening his own AI shop. Money and salesmanship are two essential elements of developing AI, but so are the proper controls, risk management and strategic clarity.

Persons: Satya Nadella’s, OpenAI, Sam Altman, Altman, Reid Hoffman, Elon Musk’s, Satya Nadella, Greg Brockman, OpenAI’s, Brockman, Jeffrey Goldfarb, Sharon Lam Organizations: Reuters, Microsoft, Google, Altman, Thomson Locations: OpenAI

☆ Gap's closet cleanup begins to pay off
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-17 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

REUTERS/Brendan McDermid Acquire Licensing RightsTORONTO, Nov 17 (Reuters Breakingviews) - Gap’s (GPS.N) new CEO is embarking on a closet cleanup. Shares in the U.S. apparel company leapt over 30% on Friday morning, a day after it unveiled third-quarter results. That reaction looks overdone, considering how overall net sales of $3.8 billion are still down 7% compared to last year, and earnings fell year-on-year. Same-store sales at sub-brand Old Navy for the quarter were up 1% year-on-year, the first quarterly increase in over two years. The company might even use that tailwind to revive its scrapped plans to separate Old Navy into a stand-alone company.

Persons: Brendan McDermid, That’s, Richard Dickson, Barbie, Sharon Lam, John Foley, Aditya Sriwatsav Organizations: REUTERS, Rights TORONTO, Reuters, Navy, Mattel, Banana Republic, X, Walmart, Thomson Locations: midtown Manhattan, New York, U.S, China

☆ Uncle Sam cleverly goes long on short sellers
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-15 | by ( John Foley | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

The United States is a rare place where financial regulators hand out cash for information that leads to successful enforcement. Moreover, the rewards are not just for corporate insiders, but also short sellers. In 2019, the SEC doled out $60 million, a sum it has already exceeded nearly five-fold this year. Skeptical investors – notwithstanding their sleuthing skills – generally trade on information regulators could in theory find themselves. Short sellers aren’t always welcome, but some are undeniably being put to good use.

Persons: Julia Nikhinson, Carson Block, Kyle Bass, Waters, It’s, aren’t, ”, Jeffrey Goldfarb, Sharon Lam Organizations: U.S, Capitol, Congress, REUTERS, Reuters, U.S . Securities, Exchange Commission, Hayman Capital, SEC, Bloomberg, Futures Trading Commission, European, Harvard University, Workers, Thomson Locations: Washington , U.S, United States

☆ Target’s aim is better at the bottom than the top
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-15 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

NEW YORK, Nov 15 (Reuters Breakingviews) - Target (TGT.N) is improving what it can control to try to compensate for price-sensitive consumers. That’s despite a 4% decline in sales, as customers pulled back on buying apparel, electronics and home accessories. It’s the best the $60 billion retailer can do, and shareholders are rightly rewarding it. The key to its success this quarter is inventory, which fell 14% from the same period last year. For a long time, too much stuff sat in Target’s back room.

Persons: Brian Cornell, Jennifer Saba, taints, Lauren Silva Laughlin, Sharon Lam Organizations: Reuters, U.S . Commerce Department, Cornell, X, Alstom, Thomson Locations: U.S, Target’s

☆ Google antitrust trial crystallizes Apple’s risk
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-15 | by ( Robert Cyran | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration Acquire Licensing RightsNEW YORK, Nov 15 (Reuters Breakingviews) - The antitrust case against Google is spelling out some serious problems. The U.S. Department of Justice claims that Alphabet maintains its market dominance by striking deals to make Google the default search engine on other companies’ devices and browsers. One expert witness for Google said Apple receives 36% of the ad revenue Google makes from searches on Apple’s Safari browser. Kevin Murphy, an economics professor at the University of Chicago, and an expert witness for Google, made the remark, Bloomberg reported. The two companies have had a partnership since 2002, where Google shares advertising revenue generated from users of Apple devices, and Google is the default search engine for these devices.

Persons: Dado Ruvic, Tim Cook, Bernstein, Kevin Murphy, Alphabet’s Google, Lauren Silva Laughlin, Sharon Lam Organizations: Apple, REUTERS, Reuters, Google, U.S . Department of Justice, Microsoft, U.S . Department, University of Chicago, Bloomberg, Alphabet’s, Thomson

☆ Goodyear tune-up may go beyond rotating the tires
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-15 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Aug 20, 2023; Watkins Glen, New York, USA; A detailed view of Goodyear Eagle racing tires prior to the Go Bowling at The Glen at Watkins Glen International. Mandatory Credit: Matthew O'Haren-USA TODAY Sports Acquire Licensing RightsNEW YORK, Nov 15 (Reuters Breakingviews) - A century is a long time to accumulate bad habits. Goodyear Tire & Rubber (GT.O) on Wednesday said it would try to shed some, by selling $2 billion of assets, streamlining its business and paying down debt. As the $4 billion company tidies itself, it could turn out to be worth more in pieces. They do not reflect the views of Reuters News, which, under the Trust Principles, is committed to integrity, independence, and freedom from bias.

Persons: Watkins, Matthew O'Haren, Richard Kramer, Elliott, Goodyear, Jonathan Guilford, taints, Jeffrey Goldfarb, Aditya Sriwatsav, Sharon Lam Organizations: Goodyear Eagle, Watkins Glen International, Reuters, Goodyear Tire &, Elliott Investment Management, Electric, United States Steel, Goodyear, X, Alstom, Thomson Locations: , New York, USA

☆ Payments-app war drags banks into discomfort zone
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-14 | by ( John Foley | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

NEW YORK, Nov 14 (Reuters Breakingviews) - Banks tend to have a consistent message for customers who unwittingly make payments to scammers: tough break. Rapid growth in digital payments has brought out a softer side in lenders such as JPMorgan (JPM.N) and Bank of America (BAC.N). If the con artist was posing as the victim’s bank, a government agency or a legitimate company – say, a utility – the sender’s bank will return the funds if other criteria are met and recoup them from the recipient’s bank. From next year its banks will have to reimburse victims of online payment deceit. Moreover, convenience and trust are powerful weapons: Bank of America customers now use Zelle twice as often as their checkbooks.

Persons: Banks, Taylor Swift, Zelle, Wells, Jeffrey Goldfarb, Sharon Lam Organizations: Reuters, JPMorgan, Bank of America, TSB, SVB, Warning Services, Services, PNC Financial, US Bancorp, Truist, Thomson Locations: Zelle, Britain, Wells Fargo

☆ Meta’s China quest thaws thin layer of dense cube
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-10 | by ( Anita Ramaswamy | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

In August, the United States banned domestic companies from making some new investments in Chinese tech, including computer chips and artificial intelligence systems. Chinese-based ByteDance, the owner of TikTok, counts the United States as its largest market. Selling virtual reality hardware primarily used for gaming is also an easier way of entering China. CONTEXT NEWSMeta Platforms struck a preliminary deal to sell virtual reality headsets in China through an exclusive partnership with Tencent, the Wall Street Journal reported on Nov. 9. China banned Meta’s Facebook platform from the country in 2009 and subsequently banned its WhatsApp and Instagram services as well.

Persons: Carlos Barria, Susan Li, Joe Biden, China’s Xi, Biden, Meta’s, Meta, ByteDance’s, Apple’s, Lauren Silva Laughlin, Sharon Lam Organizations: Meta, REUTERS, Reuters, HK, Wall Street, Facebook, United, Huawei, Companies, Republican, Tencent, Google, New York Times, Thomson Locations: Menlo Park , California, U.S, China, Beijing, Washington, United States, San Francisco, Texas, Florida, Montana

☆ Biden’s economic scorecard touts fragile advantage
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-09 | by ( Ben Winck | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +11 min

And if the political strategist James Carville was right that “it’s the economy, stupid,” the next several months could make or break Joe Biden’s economic record. As things stand, the current ruler of the free world touts a fragile advantage. Households’ disposable income after adjusting for inflation hit a record $20 trillion in the month that Biden’s measure was approved, according to the Bureau of Economic Analysis. STUDENT LOANSForgiving swaths of student debt was another of Biden’s campaign promises, but his efforts have so far failed. And with higher interest rates making debt service more expensive, Biden’s spending could come back to bite him on election day.

Persons: Joe Biden, Ken Cedeno, James Carville, Joe Biden’s, “, aren’t, Breakingviews, it’s, Biden, Donald Trump, Mitch McConnell, ”, Realtor.com, Congressional Republicans haven’t, haven’t, WALL, Lauren Silva Laughlin, Sharon Lam, Aditya Sriwatsav Organizations: Edmond's Catholic, REUTERS, Rights, Reuters, House, Republican, AMERICAN, ACT, Brookings Institution, Analysis, Walmart, Nordstrom, Deere, Caterpillar, Republicans, Commerce Department, Micron, Bank of America, Gallup, Federal Reserve, United Auto Workers, RSM, Congressional Republicans, Biden, Reuters Graphics Reuters, Conservative, Thomson Locations: St, Rehoboth Beach , Delaware, U.S, New York, Arizona, West Virginia

☆ Amazon’s health push is a too-costly prescription
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-08 | by ( Robert Cyran | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

Snag is, primary care tends to be a recipe for burning cash. Drugstore chains have been buying up primary care companies in the hope of steering patients to their stores. Prime members can add up to five additional memberships to the same plan at $6 a person. The primary care provider had 836,000 members at the end of last year, with practices in two dozen metropolitan areas. It had over 200 million members worldwide as of April 2021.

Persons: Dado Ruvic, Jonathan Guilford, Sharon Lam, Aditya Sriwatsav Organizations: REUTERS, Reuters, Amazon, Amazon Web Services, Walgreens Boots Alliance, Telecom, AT, Time Warner, Thomson

☆ Workers are missing cog in US manufacturing gears
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-07 | by ( Jeffrey Goldfarb | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +7 min

NEW YORK, Nov 7 (Reuters Breakingviews) - There’s a spanner in the freshly restarted U.S. manufacturing machine. Based in part on the planned construction spending, Goldman Sachs analysts estimate that Biden’s initiatives could lead to as many as 250,000 new manufacturing jobs over the next two years. Pay growth is also cooling faster for production and manufacturing jobs, at 4.2% year-over-year in August, down from an 11% annual peak in December 2021 and compared to the national average of 4.5%, according to jobs website Indeed. By 2030, technological and cognitive skills in the manufacturing sector will be in far higher demand as the share of physical and manual tasks drops by more than a quarter from 2016, McKinsey says. The U.S. manufacturing engine may be humming along now, but employment-related complications threaten to throw sand in the gears.

Persons: Joe Biden’s, Biden, Goldman Sachs, There’s, it’s, Sam, Francesco Guererra, Sharon Lam Organizations: Reuters, Deal, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing, Samsung Electronics, Intel, Bosch, Linde, Public, Ford, SK Innovation, Reuters Graphics Reuters, Department, Bureau of Labor Statistics, McKinsey, University of Massachusetts, Economy Research, of Labor Statistics, Thomson Locations: Arizona, U.S, United States, China, Europe, Asia, it’s, Germany, Amherst

NEW YORK, Nov 6 (Reuters Breakingviews) - Elon Musk does well when his back is against the wall. His investment in X now fills the longshot role, which leaves him little to lose. Grok, as it is called, has “real-time access to info via the X platform,” Musk noted in a post, which gives it a “massive advantage” over other AI models. Although the product is still being tested, Musk says it already can out-compute OpenAI’s GPT-3.5 and Meta Platforms' (META.O) Llama 2. X may be near, or already has hit, rock bottom, right where Musk often does his best work.

Persons: Elon, Tesla, Musk, ” Musk, Linda Yaccarino, X, Billionaire Elon Musk, Jeffrey Goldfarb, Sharon Lam Organizations: Reuters, Twitter, New York Times, Microsoft, New, Billionaire, OpenAI, Thomson

☆ Bezos makes third losing bet on real estate
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-03 | by ( Ben Winck | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

It’s not the only questionable real estate decision Bezos has made in the past several years. He announced in a Thursday Instagram post that he will move to Miami, leaving the Washington city where he founded Amazon in 1994. Bezos grew up in the south-Florida city in the early 1980s, and he will return to a two-mansion compound worth some $147 million, according to Bloomberg. Miami-based real estate had a renaissance during the pandemic as people sought warmer climates where they could be outside. Still, the founder is no stranger to real estate bets that don’t always make financial sense.

Persons: Jeff Bezos, It’s, Bezos, Ken Griffin, David Tepper, lockdowns, That’ll, don’t, Lauren Silva Laughlin, Sharon Lam Organizations: Reuters, Amazon, Bloomberg, U.S . Federal Housing Finance Agency, Reuters Graphics Reuters, Dade, University of Miami, Homes, Climate, U.S . Federal Aviation Administration, Shepard, Thomson Locations: Miami, Seattle, Florida, Washington, Bezos, Indian, Arlington , Virginia, Arlington, Cape Canaveral

☆ Uncle Sam provides shaky base for Caterpillar
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-31 | by ( Ben Winck | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

The $500 billion U.S. infrastructure spending bill, passed in late 2021, helped lift the firm’s third-quarter profit 41% from a year ago. As with other sharp pullbacks after government-supported pandemic spending, Caterpillar will prove that counting on federal aid isn’t a viable business model. And the construction firms that order from Caterpillar appeared to step back, with the company's backlog of deliveries falling $2.6 billion in the third quarter. The U.S. CHIPS Act set aside $39 billion to help build semiconductor factories, leaving more money for construction firms and, in turn, Caterpillar. Umpleby may be benefitting from Uncle Sam now, but before long Caterpillar will have to fend for itself.

Persons: Michaela Rehle, James Umpleby, Joe Biden’s, EBITDA, Uncle Sam, Lauren Silva Laughlin, Sharon Lam Organizations: Construction Machinery, Machines, Mining Machines, Construction Vehicles, REUTERS, Rights, Reuters, Caterpillar, U.S . General Services Administration, Siemens, Cummins, LSEG, Thomson Locations: Munich, Germany, Texas, China, U.S

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