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☆ Amid the rise of ChatGPT and other AI chatbots, venture capitalist Chamath Palihapitiya thinks Google Search will be the biggest loser of 2023
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-06 | by ( Lakshmi Varanasi | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

On the business podcast All-In, Palihapitiya said Google Search will be the biggest business loser of 2023. Amid the rise of chatbots like ChatGPT, Palihapitiya said more companies will engineer competitive search engines. The All-In podcast is a business podcast co-hosted by four tech industry veterans — PayPal COO David Sacks, investor David Friedberg, entrepreneur Jason Calacanis, and Palihapitiya. However, Palihapitiya doesn't think that ChatGPT is the only reason Google's search business might be on shaky grounds this year. With enough time and money, Palihapitiya said companies like Microsoft, Oracle, "Chinese internet companies," and even Facebook could be potential competitors to Google search.

☆ North Korea's Kim sacks No. 2 military official
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-02 | by ( Hyonhee Shin | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

SEOUL, Jan 2 (Reuters) - North Korea has sacked Pak Jong Chon, the second most powerful military official after leader Kim Jong Un, state media reported. The party's Central Military Commission, which is headed by Kim, is considered the country' most powerful military decision-making body, above the defence ministry. In late 2020, Pak was promoted to the politburo and earned the title of marshal, the highest military rank under Kim, and became a leading voice last November against joint South Korea-U.S. military exercises. Like most other top military aides who went through ups and downs repeatedly under Kim, Pak was briefly demoted in mid-2021 after Kim chided some officials for their handling of North Korea's anti-coronavirus policy, before being promoted again months later. Ri, Pak's successor, is also a senior military commander who held key positions including chief of the army's general staff and defence minister.

☆ Barbara Walters, pioneering TV journalist who began on ‘TODAY,’ dies at 93
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-31 | by ( Ethan Sacks | Ethan Sacks Writes For Nbcnews.Com. | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +8 min

Barbara Walters, the pioneering TV broadcaster who blazed a trail for women in a male-dominated medium, died Friday. “Barbara Walters proved to be the evolutionary step between Edward R. Murrow and Oprah Winfrey.”Barbara Walters interviews Ronald Reagan in 1980 for ABC News. NBCMcGee, who died shortly after being partnered with Walters, demanded that he ask three questions to every one of Walter’s in studio interviews. So, Walters started fielding interviews outside the studio, quickly building a reputation as an incisive and probing questioner. After nearly 60 years in journalism, Walters announced she was retiring in 2014.

☆ The Year in Fiction: In a Stifling Atmosphere, Finding a Taste of Freedom
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-30 | by ( Sam Sacks | ) www.wsj.com time to read: +1 min

In a trial that involved the testimony of Stephen King, federal prosecutors argued that further consolidation of the book industry would reduce competition, depress author payments and bring about a bleakly monocultural book market. But the unspoken reason the prosecutors convinced was that they described not some dystopian publishing future but simply an intensification of the way the business already works. As it stands, the Big Five book publishers, PRH and S&S among them, are responsible for roughly 80% of the U.S. book market. The demands of corporatization mean that an increasing amount of their activity is devoted to the generation and publicizing of bestsellers. The outlook begins to resemble a film industry monopolized by comic-book franchises.

☆ Elon Musk responds to Twitter's first widespread outage under his leadership by saying the platform is working for him
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-29 | by ( Pete Syme | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

Twitter faced its first widespread outage under Elon Musk's leadership on Wednesday evening. Musk responded to the reports by tweeting: "Works for me." Twitter staff previously raised concerns about outages after Musk laid-off half the company's staff. Musk responded to some unaffected users discussing the reports, saying: "Works for me." Fears about such an outage began after Musk laid off around half of Twitter's 7,500 staff soon after he purchased the company.

☆ Elon Musk laughed when asked about Twitter layoffs and said a focus on working hard 'was not Twitter's prior culture' before he took over
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-28 | by ( Grace Dean | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

Musk spoke about his "roller coaster" first two months at Twitter on the "All-In Podcast." When asked how he decided who to lay off, Musk laughed before saying that "exceptional" staff should stay on. Venture capitalist and podcast cohost Chamath Palihapitiya asked Musk how he decided what "the efficient frontier of employees" needed to be to make Twitter better. He noted that staff also needed to be "up for working hard," adding that that wasn't part of Twitter's "prior culture." Other Twitter workers, meanwhile, chose to quit their jobs, saying Musk had changed the company's culture and they were worried about the site's future.

☆ Denver Broncos fire rookie head coach before the season ends
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-26 | by ( Associated Press | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +3 min

ENGLEWOOD, Colo. — The Denver Broncos fired first-year head coach Nathaniel Hackett on Monday with two games left in the season. Firing Hackett with two games left in a lost season allows Penner to begin his search for a replacement immediately. The Broncos scheduled a news conference for Tuesday, when they’re expected to name their interim head coach for games at Kansas City next weekend and at home against the Chargers in Week 18. Hackett is the third NFL head coach fired during the 2022 season. The Carolina Panthers replaced Matt Rhule with interim head coach Steve Wilks and the Indianapolis Colts fired Frank Reich and replaced him with coaching novice Jeff Saturday.

☆ Elon Musk says Twitter is no longer 'in the fast lane to bankruptcy' – but still isn't 'secure'
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-25 | by ( Sam Tabahriti | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

Elon Musk said on Saturday that bankruptcy was no longer an imminent fear for Twitter. After sealing the $44 billion deal, Musk had planted the idea that bankruptcy could be on the cards. "We've got the [Twitter] expenses reasonably under control," Musk then said. "So the company's not, like, in the fast lane to bankruptcy anymore." In a follow-up tweet responding to a user who quoted the billionaire, Musk doubled down: "Twitter isn't secure yet, just not in the fast lane to bankruptcy.

REUTERS/Amit Dave/File PhotoSummary India to save nearly $20 billion over 12 monthsEnding pandemic-era free food programme may cool pricesIndia to provide already highly subsidised food for freeNEW DELHI, Dec 23 (Reuters) - India will end its COVID-19 era free food programme on Dec. 31 and replace it with a cheaper programme that will save the government nearly $20 billion in the next 12 months. Late on Friday, India's Food and Trade Minister Piyush Goyal said the government will stop the free food programme after 28 months as the economic situation has improved since COVID-19 cases and restrictions have eased. The programme provided poor families with 5 kg (11 lb) of foodgrains each month in addition to other highly subsidised foodgrains. Now the government will make the highly subsidised foodgrain free for the next 12 months, Goyal said. The government will save at least $20 billion over the next 12 months by ending the pandemic-era free food programme, as they will only spend on one food scheme instead of multiple programmes, according to an official, who did not want to be named.

Dec 22 (Reuters) - Tesla (TSLA.O) Chief Executive Officer Elon Musk said on Thursday he will not sell any more Tesla stock for about two years. His comments came after a Tesla stock sell-off deepened on Thursday over worries about softening demand for electric cars and Musk's distraction with Twitter and his stock sales. "I won't sell stock until I don't know probably two years from now. Musk has previously made promises about not selling Tesla stock before subsequently selling it. "(Twitter) is maybe 10% of the complexity of Tesla," Musk said.

Indeed he has no use for electricity and for more than half a century has lived entirely off the grid. That makes him one of the few people in Europe unconcerned about rising energy costs this winter. Right now, he has two house mates, a rooster, three chickens and a cat in a community he calls "The Tribe of the Harmonious Walnuts". "I feel privileged to have the freedom to choose my freedom," said Agnese, 35, who moved in two years ago. The "harmonious walnuts" grow fruit and vegetables, olives to produce olive oil, and keep bees for honey.

Dec 22 (Reuters) - Tesla (TSLA.O) Chief Executive Officer Elon Musk said on Thursday he will not sell any more Tesla stock for another two years. Musk has previously made promises about not selling Tesla stock before subsequently selling it. "I needed to sell some stock to make sure, like, there's powder dry...to account for a worst case scenario," the billionaire said. Musk said that Tesla is close to picking the location of its new "Gigafactory." "(Twitter) is maybe 10% of the complexity of Tesla," Musk said.

☆ Philippines street transforms into Christmas wonderland with Santas and snowfall
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-21 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

MANILA, Dec 21 (Reuters) - A regular residential street in the Philippines has been transformed into a Christmas wonderland, drawing a throng of daily visitors with its dazzling lights, festive decorations and artificial snowfall. The show is the work of Filipino entrepreneur Irene Tan, 55, whose passion for decorating her house has expanded in the past 15 years to include those of her neighbours and now the entire street. "Christmas is about giving love and sharing your blessings. Every time I see the kids smiling and enjoying with friends and their parents, when they are playing and taking pictures, it's a different kind of fulfilment," said Tan. Reporting by Adrian Portugal; Editing by Martin Petty and Tomasz JanowskiOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ After Twitter users voted to oust Elon Musk as CEO, he wants to change how polls work
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-20 | by ( Clare Duffy | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +4 min

New York CNN —When Elon Musk polled Twitter users about whether to reinstate former President Donald Trump’s account, he quickly followed through on the majority’s wish to do so. But since a clear majority of Twitter users voted for Musk to step down as Twitter CEO in another poll on Sunday, Musk has remained conspicuously (and uncharacteristically) silent. After one Twitter user said, “Blue subscribers should be the only ones that can vote in policy related polls,” Musk responded, “Good point. There is no successor.”CNBC reported Tuesday that Musk is “actively searching” for a new Twitter CEO, citing anonymous sources. The most obvious potential candidates for a new Twitter CEO are the Musk lieutenants who have been helping to run the company since his takeover.

☆ Main Street is buying stocks while Wall Street sells: What gives?
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-20 | by ( Nicole Goodkind | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +7 min

But not all traders are on the same ride — the large, institutional investors on Wall Street have shuffled away from markets while Main Street’s retail investors are still strapped in. But despite this year’s lackluster market, investors bought $800 billion of Exchange Traded Funds which are baskets of stocks typically purchased by retail investors. However, Main Street is holding on to its stocks while Wall Street is running for the hills. One simple explanation is that institutional investors are responsible for vast amounts of money that belong to other people. “Respect, for retail investors, is in short supply,” wrote Azalea Micottis at Informa Financial Intelligence, in a recent note.

☆ Twitter has given new square business badges to some of its staff, news outlets, and a close friend of Elon Musk — but not Musk himself
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-20 | by ( Pete Syme | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Twitter introduced a new square badge to show where company verified accounts are employed. At least 10 Twitter staff have the new badge, but Elon Musk doesn't. Musk himself, however, has not got a square badge, despite owning the company and spearheading the verification changes. Musk retweeted the official announcement for the feature, but is yet to address the poll which saw Twitter users vote for him to step down as CEO. The news outlet Bloomberg also has access to the square badge, which is currently being used for different sections of the outlet's coverage, but not individual journalists.

☆ Elon Musk voted out as CEO of Twitter by poll he created
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-19 | by ( Brian Fung | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +3 min

Washington CNN —A Twitter poll created by Elon Musk asking whether he should “step down as head of Twitter” ended early Monday morning with most respondents voting in the affirmative. But Tesla shares were up 5% in premarket trading after the poll results were revealed. After taking over Twitter, Musk dissolved the company’s board and its C-Suite emptied out. As the sole board director and owner of the company, Musk can appoint the next CEO – and also tell that person what to do in the role. Shortly after Musk posted his latest poll, Calacanis posted a poll of his own asking who should take over as Twitter’s next CEO: himself, Sacks, or Calacanis and Sacks together as co-CEOs.

☆ Here’s who Elon Musk could pick to be Twitter’s next CEO
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-19 | by ( Clare Duffy | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +6 min

New York CNN —Elon Musk may soon be on the lookout for a new chief executive to run Twitter. There is no successor.”If Musk were to look for a new Twitter CEO, he’d likely have many willing takers. Jack Dorsey, Twitter founder, CEO of Block and friend to Musk, has previously said he would not return to run the social network. The most obvious potential candidates for a new Twitter CEO are the Musk lieutenants who have been helping to run the company since his takeover. Who is insane enough to run twitter?!?

☆ Chamath Palihapitiya says he's faced privacy concerns over jet-tracking like Elon Musk, and would consider ditching flying private for something 'more anonymous'
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-17 | by ( Britney Nguyen | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Chamath Palihapitiya said he's dealt with privacy concerns similar to Elon Musk's jet-tracking. Palihapitiya said the question for him was whether or not to switch to "more anonymous" transportation. Thousands of commercial and private flights around the world are public and can be found on online tracker ADS-B Exchange. In a Twitter Space Thursday night with suspended journalists and Sweeney, Musk reiterated his point that accounts who "dox" people will be suspended. The journalists pushed back on the characterization that they had participated in any doxing, and Musk eventually left the conversation.

☆ A SpaceX director defended Elon Musk after Twitter layoffs, telling employees to show some empathy for the billionaire, report says
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-15 | by ( Kate Duffy | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

A SpaceX director told Twitter staff to show empathy for Elon Musk after mass layoffs, per Bloomberg. Staff have called Gracias and other people Musk has brought into Twitter as "goons," per the report. Twitter employees have referred to these people as "the goons," per Bloomberg. Gracias, Twitter, and SpaceX didn't immediately respond to Insider's request for comment made outside of normal US operating hours. It follows the loss of thousands of Twitter employees through firings, layoffs, and resignations since Musk bought the platform in late October.

☆ DeVante Parker: NFL says it is reviewing an apparent head injury incident during Monday's Patriots game
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-14 | by ( Kevin Dotson | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +27 min

CNN —The NFL and the NFL Players Association are looking into an incident in which an apparent head injury to New England Patriots wide receiver DeVante Parker seemingly went unnoticed by medical staff and spotters, league spokesman Brian McCarthy tells CNN. Jeff Dean/AP Los Angeles Chargers wide receiver Mike Williams catches a pass against Miami Dolphins cornerback Xavien Howard on December 11. Marcio Jose Sanchez/AP Minnesota wide receiver Justin Jefferson dives for a two-point conversion during the Vikings' 29-22 victory over the Chicago Bears. Gerald Herbert/AP Indianapolis Colts wide receiver Michael Pittman Jr. is tripped up by Denver Broncos cornerback K'Waun Williams. Gary A. Vasquez/USA Today Sports/Reuters New Orleans Saints wide receiver Michael Thomas makes a reception against Atlanta Falcons cornerback A.J.

☆ Why tech insiders are so excited about ChatGPT, a chatbot that answers questions and writes essays
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-13 | by ( Jonathan Vanian | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +6 min

Lately, Zwingmann has been generating lecture notes using ChatGPT, a new chatbot that's quickly become the latest fad in tech. ChatGPT automatically generates text based on written prompts in a fashion that's much more advanced and creative than the chatbots of Silicon Valley's past. Five days after OpenAI released ChatGPT, Altman said that the chat research tool "crossed 1 million users!" ChatGPT is essentially a variant of OpenAI's popular GPT-3.5 language-generation software that's been designed to carry conversations with people. While ChatGPT is free, OpenAI sells access to its underlying language and related AI models for businesses to use.

☆ Cardinals vs Patriots: Arizona's woes continue as Kyler Murray hurt in 27-13 loss to New England
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-13 | by ( Amy Woodyatt | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +27 min

Jeff Dean/AP Los Angeles Chargers wide receiver Mike Williams catches a pass against Miami Dolphins cornerback Xavien Howard on December 11. Gary McCullough/AP Green Bay Packers wide receiver Samori Toure is tackled by Detroit Lions safety Will Harris. Marcio Jose Sanchez/AP Minnesota wide receiver Justin Jefferson dives for a two-point conversion during the Vikings' 29-22 victory over the Chicago Bears. Gerald Herbert/AP Indianapolis Colts wide receiver Michael Pittman Jr. is tripped up by Denver Broncos cornerback K'Waun Williams. Gary A. Vasquez/USA Today Sports/Reuters New Orleans Saints wide receiver Michael Thomas makes a reception against Atlanta Falcons cornerback A.J.

☆ A janitor laid off at Twitter's headquarters said one of Elon Musk's team members told him he'd be replaced by robots
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-09 | by ( Grace Kay | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

A janitor told BBC that a member of Elon Musk's team said his job would eventually be replaced by robots. Four former Twitter cleaners told the publication they were laid off without severance on Monday. Four former Twitter janitors told the publication they were laid off without severance on Monday. Multiple workers told the publication that they are concerned about how they will be able to pay bills in the coming weeks, particularly with the holidays coming up. "Overnight we don't have anything," Adrianna Villarreal, a cleaner who had worked at Twitter since 2018, told BBC.

☆ SpaceX, Tesla, and Boring Company execs are helping Elon Musk at Twitter, records reveal
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-08 | by ( Lora Kolodny | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +6 min

Ever since, he has enlisted high-ranking executives and engineers from his other businesses, including SpaceX, Tesla and The Boring Company, to help out at the social media company, according to internal records obtained by CNBC and conversations with recent Twitter employees. Musk has also enabled partners from investment firms who participated in the Twitter buyout access to work within the social media company. In his testimony, Musk characterized Tesla employees' work for him at Twitter as "just a voluntary thing." He also said: "This was sort of an after-hours, just if you're interested in evaluating the -- helping me evaluate Twitter engineering, that would be nice. In addition to Tesla employees, Musk has also enlisted execs and employees from SpaceX, the reusable rocket and satellite internet services company he founded in 2002, to help him at Twitter.

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