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☆ Google is nixing the thumbs-down reaction from an internal forum after employee spats over Gaza
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-09 | by ( Kelsey Vlamis | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Google said the changes are in response to employee feedback, but some staffers are upset. The changes, which Google confirmed to The New York Times, include removing the option to thumbs-down a post. AdvertisementThe Times also reviewed an internal Google memo in which moderators said they thought collective thumbs-down votes were a "bullying tactic." In 2021, more than 250 Google employees called on the company to terminate contracts with Israel after IDF forces carried out strikes in Gaza. Shortly after, over a hundred Google employees gathered to protest Project Nimbus, a $1.2 billion cloud-computing contract with Israel.

Persons: —, Memegen, Israel Organizations: Google, Service, The New York Times, Times, Business, IDF, Israel Locations: Israel, Gaza, Israeli, Palestine, New York City

☆ Some top schools are bringing back ACT and SAT requirements — but most colleges are still test-optional. Here's what you need to know.
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-03 | by ( Ayelet Sheffey | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +7 min

AdvertisementYale and Brown made similar announcements, saying they conducted studies that found requiring testing allowed them to attract the most diverse student body. "The institutions we're currently talking about, they're requiring tests again and didn't necessarily want to ever stop requiring tests," Baker said. Its reason: requiring testing scores would help the school choose between many high school seniors with high GPAs. Even so, data has shown students have continued to take tests despite applying to schools with test-optional policies. AdvertisementMoving forward, Baker said it's important that if more schools choose to switch their testing policies, they consider the announcement's timing.

Persons: —, they're, Brown, Brown's, Francis Doyle, Harry Feder, Dominique Baker, couldn't, Baker, Jay Hartzell Organizations: Service, Dartmouth, Business, Yale, ACT, National Center for Fair, University of Delaware, Ivy League, University of Texas, University of Michigan, College Board Locations: Austin

NEW YORK (AP) — Donald Trump is seeking to delay his March 25 hush money trial until the Supreme Court rules on the presidential immunity claims he raised in another of his criminal cases. Trump contends he is immune for prosecution for conduct alleged to involve official acts during his tenure in office. His lawyers argue some of the evidence and alleged acts in the hush money case overlap with his time in the White House and constitute official acts. The Supreme Court is scheduled to hear arguments April 25, a month after the scheduled start of jury selection in Trump’s hush money case. A federal judge last year rejected Trump’s claim that allegations in the hush-money indictment involved official duties, nixing his bid to move the case from state court to federal court.

Persons: — Donald Trump, Juan Manuel Merchan, Merchan, Trump, Michael Cohen, Cohen, Stormy Daniels, Daniels, nixing, could’ve, —, Alvin Hellerstein, ”, Hellerstein’s, Eric Tucker Organizations: Republican, Monday, Manhattan, D.C, White, U.S, Capitol, Trump, Prosecutors, Associated Press Locations: York, Washington, Manhattan, U.S

☆ Alphabet's Gemini AI misstep is the latest reason Cramer is getting fed up with the stock
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-28 | by ( Paulina Likos | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +8 min

Jim thinks Google has lost focus as it struggles to shake off the narrative that it's lagging in the AI race. With all these things lining up against Google, Jim has been becoming increasingly wary of the stock. Even though Alphabet stock keeps getting dinged for AI misses, Bernstein analysts "don't subscribe to the generative AI risk to Google Search" for now. At the Club, we believe Google's AI chatbot Gemini could be competitive in attracting users, but the advertising opportunity may not be the same. As a subscriber to the CNBC Investing Club with Jim Cramer, you will receive a trade alert before Jim makes a trade.

Persons: Jim Cramer, Sundar Pichai, Pichai, Jim, Google, Bard, Gemini —, —, Axel Springer, they're, Bernstein, playbook, Meta, haven't, Jim Cramer's Organizations: Google, Apple, Microsoft, Nvidia, Tesla, The Club, Politico, U.S, Club, NFL, YouTube, National Football League, Management, Sunday, Meta, Walmart, CNBC, Future Publishing, Getty Locations: U.S

☆ Sen. Warren asks Justice Department to consider nixing Corizon's bankruptcy
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-01 | by ( Dakin Campbell | Nicole Einbinder | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

Read previewSenator Elizabeth Warren is bringing fresh scrutiny to the controversial bankruptcy of private prison healthcare company Corizon Health. Warren applauded the US Trustee Program, which oversees the federal bankruptcy system, for making a rare decision last year to file an objection in court to Corizon's bankruptcy plan. Corizon's current bankruptcy plan, she wrote, "will deny Corizon's creditors, including incarcerated individuals, adequate restitution for the company's serious harms." This is the second time Warren has weighed in on the Corizon bankruptcy. "Corizon's bankruptcy is premised on the fact that it does not have sufficient resources to pay victims and other creditors," she wrote.

Persons: —, Elizabeth Warren, Warren, Corizon, Jason Brookner, YesCare didn't, Emma Dulaney, Dick Durbin, YesCare, Raphael Prober, Corizon's, plan's Organizations: Service, Corizon Health, Department of Justice's U.S, Business, Tehum Care Services, Department of Justice, US, Corizon, YesCare Holdings Locations: Texas, Tehum, YesCare

COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — Banning marijuana growing at home, increasing the substance's tax rate and altering how those taxes get distributed are among vast changes Ohio Senate Republicans proposed Monday to a marijuana legalization measure approved by voters last month. “This is not what voters wanted.”The Senate changes still have a long way to go, however. The Senate's proposal also would increase the approved tax on marijuana products of 10% to 15%. Tax revenue would go toward general state funding, law enforcement training, substance abuse treatment and prevention and safe driving training. Under the new measure, marijuana products would have to be sold in child-safe packaging and could not resemble any animals, fruit or fictional characters such as those from cartoons.

Persons: ” Sen, Michael Rulli, Tom Haren, Ohioans, ”, Mike DeWine, Ohio Republican Sen, Rob McColley, Scott Milburn, Sen, Bill DeMora, ” DeMora, ___ Samantha Hendrickson Organizations: GOP, Columbiana County Republican, General Government Committee, Alcohol, Senate, Republican, Ohio Republican, Protect Ohio Workers, Columbus Democrat, Associated Press, America Statehouse News Initiative, America Locations: COLUMBUS , Ohio, Ohio, Columbiana County, Michigan

☆ Investors Lose Legal Bid Against Exchange Over Nickel Market Blowup
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-29 | by ( Yusuf Khan | Joe Wallace | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

Traders work on the floor of the London Metal Exchange in London. Photo: simon dawson/ReutersLONDON—The London Metal Exchange chalked up a big victory over investors on Wednesday, when a court said it was within its rights to cancel trades during a high-profile blowup in the nickel market sparked by Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine. The U.K. court rejected claims by activist fund Elliott Investment Management and market maker Jane Street Global Trading that the exchange had overstepped its powers by nixing $12 billion in trades in March last year. Had they won, Elliott and Jane Street planned to claim hundreds of millions of dollars in damages combined in a follow-on trial.

Persons: simon dawson, Russia’s, nixing, Elliott, Jane Street Organizations: London Metal Exchange, Reuters, Elliott Investment Management, Jane, Global Locations: London, Ukraine

☆ London’s Black Cabs Can Soon Join Uber. But Will They?
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-29 | by ( Isabella Kwai | More About Isabella Kwai | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Uber said it needed several hundred drivers to sign up in order to launch the service. But many London cabdrivers had a scathing response. “We don’t need a partnership with Uber,” said the Licensed Taxi Drivers Association, a union that represents a majority of the city’s nearly 18,000 cabdrivers, in the headline of a release on Wednesday. There was “no demand” for such a partnership from taxi drivers, the union’s general secretary, Steve McNamara, said in a statement, adding that their members were unlikely to even consider joining the platform. “If they were offering double the meter and no commission, I still wouldn’t sign up with them.”

Persons: sweetening, Uber, London cabdrivers, ”, Steve McNamara, Howard Taylor Organizations: Taxi Drivers Association Locations: London

☆ OpenAI's chaos has both hastened the arms race to AI dominance and opened the door to competitors
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-25 | by ( Monica Melton | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

OpenAI chaos has calmed as CEO Sam Altman is reinstated and an investigation begins. AdvertisementThe drama of Sam Altman unexpectedly being fired on Friday and then reinstated to OpenAI Tuesday night has reached a close. AI ethics experts have expressed concern about the power of AI technology being controlled by the hands of a few. "The increasing concentration of capital, compute, and data are a problem," Emily M. Bender, a University of Washington linguistics professor, told BI. The seemingly earth-shattering news from OpenAI may have instead opened a door for resourcefulness and for other players to emerge.

Persons: Sam Altman, —, OpenAI, Émile Torres, Altman, Emily M, Bender, nilly, Ali Alkhatib, Pistilli Organizations: Service, University of Washington, Microsoft Locations: AGI

☆ RIP Touch Bar: Apple is getting rid of MacBooks with the controversial touch screen at the top of keyboards
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-31 | by ( Sarah Jackson | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

Apple has given its controversial Touch Bar the ax. While some users liked the feature, others thought it useless or missed the tactile buttons it replaced. The company is discontinuing the 13-inch MacBook Pro, and with it, the love-it-or-hate-it Touch Bar. Some 13-inch MacBook Pros didn't have a Touch Bar, but either way Apple will no longer sell new 13-inch MacBook Pros. The Touch Bar has been a divisive feature since it was first introduced in 2016.

Persons: —, Siri, Greg Joswiak, Apple's Organizations: Apple, Service, Pro

☆ Opinion | With War in Israel, the Cancel Culture Debate Comes Full Circle
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-23 | by ( Michelle Goldberg | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +6 min

Today, with people still struggling to understand the contours of this deeply complicated conflict, the book seems essential. “Because that was absolutely the ambition of the book, to depict real people” rather than villains and saints. Because I admire “A Day in the Life of Abed Salama” so much, I agreed to moderate a talk with Thrall this Thursday in Brooklyn. And in a time of war, particularly a war shrouded in fiercely competing narratives, free speech is more important than ever. And supporters of Israel are hardly alone in creating a censorious atmosphere; particularly on college campuses, it is Zionists who feel silenced and intimidated.

Persons: Nathan Thrall’s, Abed Salama, ”, Thrall, Salama, Beber Vanunu, Dany Tirza, Jamal Khashoggi, ” Thrall, “, Abed Salama ”, I’ve, it’s, ” Andrea Grossman, Viet Thanh Nguyen, Nguyen, gestured, ” Nguyen, didn’t Organizations: New York, West Bank, Crisis, The Guardian . American Public Media, Israel, Boston Palestine Film, Hilton, U.S . Campaign, Palestinian, University of California Locations: Israel, Saudi, Brooklyn, United States, Britain, Angeles, The, 92NY, Manhattan, Palestine, ”, Houston, Gaza, Davis

☆ Microsoft's Jaron Lanier says AI advancing without human dignity will 'undermine everything', including reality
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-02 | by ( Kali Hays | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

The future of AI is set to be "spiritually, politically, and economically" corrosive, Lanier said. He noted that people building AI tech should let go of sci-fi wish fulfillment. He noted that, while this year has been the "year of AI," next year the world is going to be "flooded, flooded with AI-generated music." A deluge of generative AI content, from simple search prompts to eerie deepfakes, is now up for broad government regulation. In addition to AI-generated content nixing human connection found through creative works and causing an eventual collapse of the creative economy, Lanier said AI-generated content that can be perfected and customized also undermines peoples' "sense of reality.

Persons: Lanier, —, Arianna Huffington's, OpenAI's ChatGPT, Lucian Grainge, Grainge, Kali Hays Organizations: Service, Microsoft, Universal Music, Twitter Locations: khays@insider.com, @hayskali

☆ McDonald's fans are mourning the loss of self-serve soft drinks, saying it's the 'end of an era' and a 'tremendous loss'
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-14 | by ( Jennifer Ortakales Dawkins | Nancy Luna | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

McDonald's is nixing its self-serve soft drinks and customers are expressing their dismay. Fans of the fast-food chain said the switch was the "end of an era" and a "tremendous loss." Some people expressed concerns about the cleanliness of the soda machines and that perhaps the new method would be more sanitary. "I went to a McDonald's that was doing this already I waited for 15 mins for a refill on the drinks," wrote Alexis Coon. "They aren't staffed to refill drinks," wrote Wil Rabquer.

Persons: Hali Palombo, refills, Drew Powell, Meg Herman, McDonald's, Mike Schario, Karen Henderson, McDonald's didn't, that's McDelivery, Hannah Wismer, Alexis Coon, Wil Rabquer, Steve Tuck, Joseph Hall Organizations: Service, Beverage, Facebook Locations: Wall, Silicon, McDonald's, California, Nebraska, Northern California

☆ Uber CEO says his time moonlighting as a driver showed him the company didn't pay enough attention to its drivers. It sparked an all-hands called 'Why we suck.'
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-07 | by ( Sarah Jackson | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Uber CEO Dara Khosrowshahi says driving for the company showed him a "lack of quality" with the product. "We didn't take pride in the driver product because very few of us drove," he said Wednesday. Khosrowshahi made an all-hands presentation titled "Why we suck" based on what he found as a driver. Dara Khosrowshahi had an Undercover Boss-type stint driving for Uber and delivering for Uber Eats for a period last year. "But we didn't take pride in the driver product because very few of us drove."

Persons: Dara Khosrowshahi, Khosrowshahi, Uber, frickin, COVID —, he'd, Steven Levy Organizations: Service, Uber Locations: Wall, Silicon, New York City

☆ Venice Film Festival: Why David Fincher Wanted Michael Fassbender to Look ‘Dorky’
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-03 | by ( Kyle Buchanan | More About Kyle Buchanan | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +2 min

Fincher found no complaints from his leading man, who wasn’t in Venice because of the SAG-AFTRA strike: “Michael’s cool. “At one point, we even debated the Razor scooter,” he said, nixing that only because it wouldn’t perform well during a stair stunt. “I was like, ‘I want James Bond by way of Home Depot,’” Fincher said. “I love the idea of a Charles Bronson character who’s maybe misdiagnosed adult autistic,” he said. “And before 2023, I’m not sure anybody would have gone, ‘Oh, that makes sense.’”

Persons: Fincher, ”, John Wick, it’s, ” Fincher, Pitt, James Bond, ’ ” Fincher, Charles Bronson, I’m Organizations: SAG Locations: Venice, “

☆ Instacart’s mixed bag has valuation opportunities
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-28 | by ( Anita Ramaswamy | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

If it doesn’t push valuation too hard, a public listing could be seamless. Instacart booked net income in 2022, a rarity for a growth company hitting the public market. That brings Instacart’s enterprise value to roughly $17 billion, less than half of what it was worth in 2021 but still higher than the internal valuation it inked last year. Follow @AnitaRamaswamy on XCONTEXT NEWSGrocery-delivery business Instacart filed paperwork to go public on Aug. 25 under the formal name Maplebear. The company, which did not share its target price range in the filing, grew revenue by 39% in 2022 to $2.6 billion.

Persons: Eric Cohn, Cheney Orr, Fidji Simo, Instacart, Simo, Apoorva Mehta, Domino's, Lauren Silva Laughlin, Sharon Lam Organizations: Safeway, REUTERS, Reuters, Nasdaq, Kroger, Aldi, Costco Wholesale, Companies, Thomson Locations: Tucson , Arizona, U.S, Cava

☆ Texas construction workers protest after Greg Abbott axed mandated water breaks, calling it 'the law that kills'
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-15 | by ( Katie Hawkinson | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

Greg Abbott signed a law nixing mandated water breaks across the state. Now construction workers and their allies are protesting the move, calling it "the law that kills." As a result, construction workers and their allies are calling it "the law that kills," the Texas Tribune reports. "We really need to be allowed to work without problems, without any barriers," Luz Martínez, a Texas construction employee who was at the protest, told the Texas Tribune. There have been 42 heat-related workplace deaths in Texas since 2011, the most of any state, according to the Texas Tribune.

Persons: Greg Abbott, —, Luz Martínez, Abbott, Felipe Pascual, Pascual Organizations: Texas Gov, Service, Privacy, Workers, Gov, Texas Tribune, ABC, CNN, Occupational Health, Safety Administration, New York Times Locations: Texas, Wall, Silicon, Houston

☆ WSJ Opinion: Cluster Bombs, Vilnius, and the NATO Leadership
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-10 | by ( Wsj Opinion | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

WSJ Opinion: Cluster Bombs, Vilnius, and the NATO Leadership Nixing U.K. Defense Secretary Ben Wallace as a consideration for the NATO leadership, is another example of the anti-U.K. strain in Mr. Biden’s foreign policy. By WSJ Opinion Jul 10, 2023 11:00 pm Review and Outlook: As the U.S. announces cluster bombs will be included in its $800 million package of military aid to Ukraine, a revived NATO comes to Vilnius with uncertainty surrounding the future leadership. Images: AP/Zuma Press Composite: Mark Kelly Read: A Revived NATO Comes to Vilnius

Persons: Ben Wallace, Mark Kelly Read Organizations: NATO, Nixing, Defense, Zuma Locations: Vilnius, Ukraine, NATO

☆ JetBlue’s Spirit sacrifice
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-06 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

NEW YORK, July 6 (Reuters Breakingviews) - JetBlue Airways (JBLU.O) is going for broke on its attempt to buy Spirit Airlines (SAVE.N). Eschewing the benefits of what the government branded a “de facto merger” to win Spirit might make sense, however. According to the U.S. Department of Justice, Spirit grew capacity nearly 500% since 2010, far outstripping competitors. JetBlue’s concessions, which include selling Spirit’s operations at New York’s LaGuardia Airport, may not be enough, though. While the DOJ’s complaint against the merger does lean on harms from the alliance, it also includes Spirit executives warning of risks even without it.

Persons: Spirit, Jonathan Guilford, Jeffrey Goldfarb, Sharon Lam Organizations: YORK, Reuters, JetBlue Airways, Spirit Airlines, American Airlines, JetBlue, Northeast Alliance, ”, U.S . Department of Justice, LaGuardia, Twitter, Thomson Locations: New, China

☆ Apple is reportedly working on a cheaper version of its $3,500 Vision Pro — but it's 2 years away
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-12 | by ( Steven Tweedie | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Apple is already working on two follow-ups to its Vision Pro headset, Bloomberg reports. Apple's sky-high price tag for its latest product, the $3,499 Vision Pro headset, elicited groans from the crowd when it was announced. Instead, the entry-level device could be called something like the Apple Vision One — or simply the Apple Vision, according to the report. (Apple already runs this risk, even with the impressive screens currently within the Vision Pro.) Meanwhile, Apple is also working on a follow-up to the Vision Pro that will be even better, introducing a faster processor, Gurman reports.

Persons: Mark Gurman, Gurman, nix Organizations: Apple, Vision, Bloomberg, Morning

☆ Disney scraps plans for new Florida campus, mass employee relocation amid DeSantis feud
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-18 | by ( Sarah Whitten | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

Disney has abandoned plans to open up a new employee campus in Lake Nona, Florida, amid rising tensions with the state's governor. "This was not an easy decision to make, but I believe it is the right one," D'Amaro told employees. Many Disney employees balked at the company's relocation plans when they were first announced in July 2021 by former CEO Bob Chapek. Disney's announcement comes amid a bitter feud between the company and Florida Gov. The special district has allowed the entertainment giant to effectively self-govern its Orlando parks' operations for decades.

☆ Goldman Sachs isn't getting a new private jet, but are there better places to cut costs on Wall Street?
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-28 | by ( Dan Defrancesco | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

If there is a senior Goldman Sachs' executive in your life, please keep them in your thoughts and prayers. Insider's Dakin Campbell has the scoop on Goldman nixing plans to buy a third corporate aircraft under CEO David Solomon. So as the bank has looked to cut costs this year more broadly, the private jets, naturally, were a topic of discussion. I will say, I think corporate jets have been unfairly labeled as the poster child for excessive spending at the corporate level. Now, regional banks are looking to serve the firms looking for a new banking home, per The Wall Street Journal.

☆ Biden issues his first veto, nixing measure blocking new investment rule
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-20 | by ( Zoë Richards | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

U.S. President Joe Biden speaks during the annual Friends of Ireland luncheon in honor of Ireland's Prime Minister (Taoiseach) Leo Varadkar at the U.S. Capitol in Washington, U.S., March 17, 2023. President Joe Biden on Monday issued his first veto since taking office, rejecting a bipartisan measure that would nullify a new administration rule for retirement plans. In the Senate vote, Democratic Sens. Rep. Andy Barr, R-Ky., introduced the measure in February, about two months after the Labor Department issued the investment rule. Following the Senate vote, Barr tweeted: "President Biden should abandon the radical climate activists and join us in putting middle-class savers ahead of politics."

☆ Meta's second round of layoffs is coming down next week and expected to be 'bloodbath'
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-10 | by ( Kali Hays | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

A second round of layoffs at Meta, formerly Facebook, is set to be announced next week. A second round of layoffs at Meta, formerly known as Facebook, is expected to hit next week, set to leave several thousand more employees without work. The timing would be the same as Meta's last round of layoffs, which were announced on a Wednesday in November. This round of layoffs has been in the works for many weeks, as Insider first reported. The sweep of the first round of layoffs took many employees by surprise, with 11,000 people, or 13%, of Meta's workforce let go.

☆ Amazon will start charging Prime members up to $10 in delivery fees on grocery orders under $150
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-27 | by ( Bethany Biron | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

Amazon is adding delivery fees on all grocery orders under $150, the company announced Friday. "This service fee will help keep prices low in our online and physical grocery stores," Amazon said on Friday. The company previously offered free delivery on all grocery orders over $50. Specifically, Amazon will tack on a delivery fee of $3.95 for orders between $100 and $150, $6.95 for orders between $50 and $100, and $9.95 for orders under $50, per the email. Previously, Amazon Prime members could get free delivery on all orders over $50.

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