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☆ Elon Musk's startup xAI is now reportedly worth more than what the billionaire paid for Twitter
▼ + stars: | 2024-11-21 | by ( Beatrice Nolan | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

AdvertisementElon Musk's AI startup, xAI, has been valued at $50 billion, The Wall Street Journal reported. xAI's valuation has doubled since the spring, surpassing the $44 billion Musk paid for Twitter. Elon Musk's AI startup, xAI, has reportedly been valued at $50 billion — $6 billion more than what the billionaire paid to acquire Twitter, the social media platform now known as X. AdvertisementThe new valuation means xAI has surpassed the $44 billion Musk paid for Twitter back in October 2022. xAI previously raised a $6 billion Series B from A16z and Sequoia Capital at a $24 billion post-money valuation.

Persons: Andreessen Horowitz, Elon, xAI, Musk, Sam Altman, OpenAI Organizations: Elon, Street Journal, Twitter, Sequoia Capital, Fidelity, The, Equity Partners, Qatar Investment Authority, Microsoft Locations: A16z

☆ Taylor Swift's feud with Kim Kardashian has been reignited once again. Here's what you need to know.
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-24 | by ( Callie Ahlgrim | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +17 min

Read previewPlenty of context is required to understand why Taylor Swift and Kim Kardashian are paired in new headlines this week — especially since, to the public's knowledge, they haven't interacted in years. It all started when Kardashian released clips of a phone call between Swift and Ye, without Swift's knowledge or permissionTaylor Swift, Kanye West, and Kim Kardashian at the 2015 Grammys. Kardashian's footage shows the rapper reading Swift the original line, "I feel like Taylor Swift might owe me sex," which she approvingly described as "obviously very tongue-in-cheek." Swift also liked a BuzzFeed headline that argues, "Everyone Owes Taylor Swift An Apology," among others, including a fan-made "Taylor told the truth mood board." AdvertisementIn 2024, Swift's song Thank You Aimee' reignited interest in her fued with KardashianTaylor Swift and Kim Kardashian.

Persons: —, Taylor Swift, Kim Kardashian, Swift, Aimee, aIMee, Kardashian, Kardashian's, Kanye West, Ye, Kanye, Larry Busacca, Pablo, Taylor, Beyoncé should've, Beyoncé, Tree Paine, KimExposedTaylorParty, egged, — Kim Kardashian, Rolling Stone, Kardashian Taylor Swift, Kevin Mazur, Dave J Hogan, Dimitrios Kambouris, WireImage, It's, I'm, you've, didn't, Nobody, Paine, Cassandra, Jeff Kravitz, Steve Granitz, FilmMagic Swift, KIM Organizations: Service, Department, Business, Swift, Guardian, Kanye, YouTube, WHO, World Health Organization, America, Poets Department

☆ DeSantis, Seeking Attention, Uses L.G.B.T.Q. Issues to Attack Trump
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-01 | by ( Nicholas Nehamas | Maggie Haberman | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Ron DeSantis’s campaign shared a provocative video on Friday attacking the record of former President Donald J. Trump regarding L.G.B.T.Q. The video, posted on Twitter by the “DeSantis War Room” account, opens by showing Mr. Trump proclaiming, “I will do everything in my power to protect our L.G.B.T.Q. citizens.” Mr. Trump made those remarks at the Republican National Convention in July 2016, after invoking the horror of the Pulse nightclub shooting the previous month. The massacre, at a popular gay nightclub in Orlando, in Mr. DeSantis’s home state of Florida, left 49 people dead. The video goes on to show Mr. Trump expressing support for transgender people using the bathrooms of their choice.

Persons: Ron DeSantis’s, Donald J, Trump, “, Mr, DeSantis, Cloud, ’ Organizations: Republicans, Twitter, Republican National Convention Locations: Orlando, Florida, St

☆ Warner Bros. Discovery CEO David Zaslav gets booed during commencement speech: 'Pay your writers!'
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-22 | by ( Britney Nguyen | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

Discovery CEO David Zaslav was met with boos and shouts during his commencement speech. Zaslav was speaking at Boston University, where some graduates stood up and turned away from him. Discovery CEO David Zaslav returned to his alma mater to deliver its 2023 commencement speech — and was met with boos amid the writers' strike in Hollywood. The AP reported that a plane with a banner reading, "David Zaslav — pay your writers." Discovery CEO David Zaslav while he delivered the #BU2023 commencement address."

Twitter staff have spotted cockroaches in changing rooms and showers, sources told Insider. A representative for the company that owns the office building declined to comment. Staff at the office in Chelsea have seen cockroaches in the showers and a changing room at the facility, sources said. Twitter is the only direct leasee at the office building which is listed as a "Class B" building on CoStar, a commercial real estate database. Some staff at Twitter's headquarters in San Francisco have been sleeping in the office after Musk issued an ultimatum for staff to work "extremely hardcore."

☆ Democratic win in Virginia special election stymies Gov. Youngkin's push for 15-week abortion ban
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-12 | by ( Zoë Richards | Zoë Richards Is The Evening Politics Reporter For Nbc News. | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +3 min

Democrat Aaron Rouse has won a special election for a state Senate seat in Virginia after his Republican opponent conceded in a race that was widely viewed as a proxy fight over abortion. Democrats will have a 22-18 majority in the state Senate, and Rouse is expected to provide a crucial vote against efforts by Gov. “Reproductive rights and freedom in Virginia have been hanging by a tenuous thread, especially in the wake of Roe being overturned, and the only thing standing in the way is a one-vote margin in the Virginia state Senate," Tarina Keene, the executive director of REPRO Rising Virginia, said Wednesday. During the campaign, Rouse said protecting access to abortion was a priority, vowing on his website that he would “not compromise” on abortion rights. In his State of the Commonwealth address Wednesday, Youngkin called on the General Assembly to pass a 15-week ban.

☆ Elon Musk and Donald Trump are trying new ways to dodge jet tracking — but it's not a 'silver bullet'
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-16 | by ( Taylor Rains | Grace Kay | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

LVMH CEO Bernard Arnault is one: He recently sold his private aircraft so "no one can see where I go," and he now rents jets instead. The program allows private aircraft owners to block their planes from being publicly shown on websites like FlightAware and FlightRadar24, which use FAA data. Puma/Jay Z's jet tracked on ADS-B Exchange with LADD indicator. Sweeney's Elon Jet Twitter bot also recorded the flight. Elon Musk's private jet flight with PIA flag, tracked by Jack Sweeney.

☆ U.S. Soccer briefly scrubs emblem from Iran flag at World Cup
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-27 | by ( ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +5 min

The U.S. Soccer Federation briefly displayed Iran's national flag on social media without the emblem of the Islamic Republic, saying the move supported protesters in Iran ahead of the two nations' World Cup match Tuesday. The Twitter account of the U.S. men's team displayed a banner with the squad's matches in the group stage, with the Iranian flag only bearing its green, white and red colors. The USSF displayed the official Iranian flag in a graphic showing Group B standings on its website. As comments raged online, Iranian state television described the U.S. federation as "removing the symbol of Allah" from the Iranian flag. In the capital Tehran, anti-riot police — the same ones cracking down on protests — waved the Iranian flag after the Wales win, angering demonstrators.

☆ How Elon Musk’s Twitter Faces Mountain of Debt, Falling Revenue and Surging Costs
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-21 | by ( Mark Maurer | ) www.wsj.com time to read: +10 min

Elon Musk says his $44 billion Twitter takeover might result in a bankruptcy filing. To make the deal work, Mr. Musk has been trying to add subscription revenue and reassure advertisers about the platform’s future. What’s more, the company’s debt stack now includes floating-rate debt, meaning that interest costs are set to rise as the Federal Reserve continues to increase interest rates. Twitter’s credit ratings, which were below investment grade before the transaction with Mr. Musk, have deteriorated further. For that, Mr. Musk would need to persuade potential investors that he has a viable long-term business plan, he said.

☆ Here are the suspended Twitter accounts that have been reinstated since Elon Musk took over
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-20 | by ( Isabella Zavarise | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

Since Elon Musk took over Twitter, promising to uphold free speech, some accounts were reinstated. Some accounts previously banned or suspended have been revived, but in typical Musk fashion, the reinstatements haven't come without controversy. After 51% of respondents voted "yes," the billionaire owner restored Trump's Twitter account the next day. After five years, his Twitter account was reinstated. After being suspended, Peterson filmed a nearly 15-minute long YouTube video, saying he would rather die than delete the hateful tweet.

☆ Republican incumbent Sen. Mike Crapo faces off against Democrat David Roth in Idaho's US Senate election
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-08 | by ( Hanna Kang | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Sen. Mike Crapo is running against Democrat David Roth to represent Idaho in the US Senate. Idaho's Senate race candidatesFirst elected in 1998, Crapo has served in Congress for nearly a quarter of a century. Prior to entering Congress, the native Idahoan served for nearly a decade in the Idaho State Senate and for three terms in the US House. Roth unsuccessfully ran for the Idaho State Legislature in 2020. Idaho's voting historyThe state voted for then-President Donald Trump over Joe Biden by a margin of about 30 percentage points in the 2020 election.

☆ Elon Musk bans impersonation without parody label on Twitter raising questions about free speech commitment
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-07 | by ( Lora Kolodny | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +5 min

Muhammed Selim Korkutata | Anadolu Agency | Getty ImagesAfter several celebrity and blue-check verified Twitter users changed their accounts to mimic the social network's new owner Elon Musk, he called for a swift change to policy enforcement. Musk wrote on Sunday that, moving forward, Twitter will now permanently suspend impersonators' accounts without warning if they are not clearly labeled as parody. In May, after he agreed to buy Twitter, Musk argued against lifetime bans and said he would reverse one on Donald Trump. The platform would not usually jump to a permanent ban of a user's account for impersonation prior to Musk's takeover. Twitter and Elon Musk did not immediately respond to a request for comment or confirmation as to whether Sommer and Griffin were permanently banned.

☆ While Elon Musk said 'comedy is now legal' following his acquisition of Twitter, jokes about the new owner and criticism over his takeover are getting users blocked and suspended
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-07 | by ( Katherine Tangalakis-Lippert | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +7 min

The day after he purchased Twitter, billionaire Elon Musk posted "comedy is now legal" on the platform. In the days since, parody accounts impersonating Musk and joking about the acquisition have been removed. Musk tweeted on Sunday that unlabeled parody accounts will be "permanently suspended" without warning. The day after he purchased Twitter, Musk posted a tweet saying "comedy is now legal" on the platform, but in the days since his takeover, parody accounts impersonating Musk have cropped up across the site, riffing about the new owner, and getting banned in the process. Musk added that going forward, any change in name at all from a verified account would result in a "temporary loss of verified checkmark."

☆ Musk says Twitter will charge $8/month for blue check mark
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-01 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

loadingA blue check mark next to a person's user name on the social media platform means Twitter has confirmed that the account belongs to the person or company claiming it. Musk on Tuesday said subscribers with blue check marks would get priority in replies, mentions and search and would be able to post longer videos and audios. Musk's comments follow media reports that he was looking at the process of profile verification and how the blue check marks were given. More than 80% of Twitter users who took part in a recent poll said they would not pay for the checkmark. Twitter already has a subscription service called Twitter Blue, which was launched in June last year and offers access to features such as an option to edit tweets.

☆ Musk says Twitter will charge $8 for blue tick
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-01 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Blue for $8/month," Musk said in a tweet, adding that the price will be adjusted by "country proportionate to purchasing power parity". Musk's comments follow media reports that the Tesla boss was looking at the process of profile verification and how the blue ticks were given out. Twitter use to hand out blue ticks to note-worthy profiles based on its own criteria. Twitter already has a subscription service called Twitter Blue, which was launched in June last year and offers access to features such as an option to edit tweets. Amid speculations that Twitter may soon start charging verified users a monthly fee of $20 for blue ticks, bestselling author Stephen King tweeted: "If that gets instituted, I'm gone like Enron."

☆ Elon Musk and Donald Trump are trying new ways to dodge jet-tracking Twitter accounts — but its not a 'silver bullet'
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-25 | by ( Taylor Rains | Grace Kay | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Jet-tracker Jack Sweeney rocked the boat when he started posting Elon Musk's private jet flights on Twitter. Celebrities can block their jets on certain websites via a special federal program, but Sweeney says it doesn't help. Louis Vuitton CEO Bernard Arnault is one: He recently sold his private aircraft so "no one can see where I go." The program allows private aircraft owners to block their planes from being tracked by websites like FlightAware and FlightRadar24 because they use FAA data. Elon Musk's private jet flight with PIA flag, tracked by Jack Sweeney.

read moreThe COVID-19 related suspension of Tesla's Shanghai factory, the costs of ramping up new factories in Berlin and Texas and rising supply chain costs are likely to have weighed on its first-quarter earnings, analysts said. read moreTesla navigated the global supply chain crisis better than other rivals, posting record deliveries and earnings for several quarters. But its factory in Shanghai was shut for more than three weeks, after the city rolled out lockdown measures to combat a surge in COVID-19 cases. Tesla resumed production at its Shanghai plant on Tuesday, according to a news report, but a source said this may not mean a return to full production. Reuters GraphicsMusk delivered Tesla's first Texas-made Model Y vehicles at a glitzy event earlier this month, but no Texas vehicles are listed on Tesla's order website yet.

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