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☆ An electric drone taxi dubbed the 'Tesla of the Skies' takes flight in Paris
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-17 | by ( Beatrice Nolan | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: 1 min

German aircraft manufacturer Volocopter flew its electric helicopter in air traffic for the first time when it took to the skies in Paris on November 10. Benoit Tessier/ReutersThe aircraft, known as the VoloCity, resembles a large drone with eight rotors and space for two people. The helicopter is intended to be used to transport people in urban cities. Volocopter's CEO Dirk Hoke said in a press release that the company wanted to provide "an additional emission-free transport option for the public."

☆ Six airlines have been ordered to collectively refund passengers more than $600 million over flight delays and cancellations
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-15 | by ( Beatrice Nolan | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

The Department of Transportation (DoT) has ordered six airlines to provide refunds to passengers. The refunds total more than $600 million among the airlines in question. The DoT also said it was considering penalties of $7.25 million for delays in providing refunds. The airline paid back $222 million in required refunds and is now facing a potential $2.2 million penalty from the department. US transportation secretary, Pete Buttigieg, said: "When a flight gets canceled, passengers seeking refunds should be paid back promptly.

☆ Balenciaga has become one of the first major fashion brands to leave Twitter amid concern over Elon Musk's takeover
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-15 | by ( Beatrice Nolan | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

Balenciaga is one of the first major fashion brands to depart Twitter after Elon Musk's takeover. Several public figures have also left the platform citing concerns over Musk's leadership. Balenciaga confirmed to Vogue the company had removed its account but didn't comment on the reason. Representatives for Balenciaga confirmed to Vogue on Monday that the company's Twitter account had been removed but did not comment publically on the reasons behind the decision. Representatives for Twitter and Balenciaga did not immediately respond to Insider's request for comment

☆ A fired Twitter engineer urged remaining employees to 'disobey' Elon Musk, calling it their 'moral duty' to challenge the new billionaire owner
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-15 | by ( Jake Epstein | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

A former Twitter employee urged those still left at the company to "disobey" Elon Musk. The fired employee said Twitter workers had a "moral duty" to keep the site's new owner in check. Since Musk took over Twitter a few weeks ago, thousands of workers have reportedly been fired. "Tweeps that are still employed, at this time: If your personal situation allows for it, it is your moral duty to disobey. According to Platformer's Casey Newton, Twitter fired roughly 20 employees overnight who had publicly and privately challenged and pushed back against Musk since he took over the company in late October.

☆ Musician says he set up a fake Tesla account on Twitter to show how 'thin-skinned' Elon Musk was
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-14 | by ( Beatrice Nolan | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

A musician says he set up a fake Tesla account to show Elon Musk was "thin-skinned." Connor Musarra told Newsweek he created a parody verified Tesla account to highlight the issues with some of Musk's decisions for Twitter. The LA-based musician told the outlet: "The goal of my fake Tesla account was to highlight how much of a thin-skinned, incompetent buffoon Elon is, but also I just wanted to make people laugh." Musarra told Newsweek that Musk had "introduced a new level of unmanageable insanity" with his new paid verification system. Musarra said in a TikTok that his parody Tesla account was active for six or seven hours.

☆ Jeff Bezos pledges to give away the majority of his $124 billion fortune to charity
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-14 | by ( Beatrice Nolan | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +1 min

Jeff Bezos has pledged to give away the majority of his wealth. In an interview with his girlfriend Lauren Sánchez, the Amazon founder told CNN reporter Chloe Melas that he planned to give away most of his estimated $124 billion fortune. Bezos said he planned to dedicate the bulk of this fortune to fighting the climate crisis and supporting people who could unify humanity, per CNN. The statement is the first time Bezos has pledged to give away the majority of his wealth. In the past, some have criticized the Amazon founder for not signing the Giving Pledge, a promise by some of the world's richest people to donate the majority of their wealth to charity.

☆ Captain Sully and Whoopi Goldberg are among the latest celebrities announcing they quit Twitter after Elon Musk takeover
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-13 | by ( Beatrice Nolan | Jordan Hart | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

Multiple celebrities say they have quit Twitter in the wake of Elon Musk's takeover. Now, some celebrities are making good on their threats to quit Twitter. Téa LeoniThe actress best known for her role in "'Madam Secretary" has also seemingly deleted her Twitter account. Gigi HadidThe fashion model took to Instagram to condemn Twitter, especially under Musk's leadership, announced she'd be deactivating her account. "I deactivated my Twitter account today.

☆ This company supplies drones to Ukraine and is backed by Peter Thiel. Here's how it takes the 'Tesla approach' to innovation.
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-13 | by ( Beatrice Nolan | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

The company has raised almost $50 million in funding and is backed by investor Peter Thiel. German-based Quantum-Systems, which supplies reconnaissance drones to Ukraine, is one company that has benefitted from this shift. "You are a hardware company, you are a manufacturing company, you are a data service company. Seibel wants Quantum to be able to supply a fully autonomous operation of reconnaissance drones that gather high-resolution, real-time data. "We want to be the leading European or Europe-based drone robotics company supplying drones into this space."

☆ Meet the members of Elon Musk's inner circle said to be helping him fix Twitter
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-12 | by ( Beatrice Nolan | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

Picked from Musk's inner circle of allies, friends, and ex-colleagues, these are the people reportedly helping him fix Twitter. Three days after Musk's acquisition, Krishnan tweeted that he was temporarily "helping out" Musk after the takeover. Sources told Insider he was listed on Twitter's company directory as a staff software engineer and was assigned a company email address. Bloomberg reported that Birchall played a key part in securing the financing for Musk's Twitter purchase. Over the past week, Musk's right-hand man has also been among the team strategizing inside Twitter, per The Washington Post.

☆ Twitter and Meta staff are flocking to vent on Blind – here's how the anonymous workplace forum works
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-12 | by ( Beatrice Nolan | Jyoti Mann | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

Silicon Valley employees are flocking to the anonymous workplace forum Blind. Here's everything you need to know about the workplace app and how to sign up. Rick Chen, a senior director and head of public relations at Blind, told Insider that people are normally verified using their work email. "People can't self-identify their employer," he added, explaining why using a work email is encouraged. However, this is only the case if an employer monitors company email accounts.

☆ Twitter has re-rolled out its 'official' badges for some accounts after previously saying it would not add them
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-11 | by ( Beatrice Nolan | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

Twitter's "official" badges seem to have been re-rolled out after appearing, then vanishing. Twitter's support account confirmed on Friday the badges had been added to some accounts. A post from the support account said on Friday: "To combat impersonation, we've added an "Official" label to some accounts." What you saw him mention was the fact that we're not focusing on giving individuals the 'Official' label right now." However, accounts including the New York Times and Twitter itself did not appear to have an "official" label.

☆ Elon Musk tells Twitter employees to return to the office or their resignations will be accepted
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-11 | by ( Beatrice Nolan | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

Elon Musk has told Twitter employees to return to the office or "resignation accepted." Musk has hinted at his desire to introduce a more intense work culture at the company. The new Twitter CEO told employees: "If people do not return to the office when they are able to return to the office, they cannot remain at the company. On Wednesday, Musk told staff via an email that was sent at 2:39 a.m on Wednesday that remote work would no longer be permitted at Twitter. In the email, he wrote: "The road ahead is arduous and will require intense work to succeed."

☆ Stephen King slams Elon Musk again, saying he preferred Twitter before the billionaire took over: 'Less controversy, more fun.'
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-11 | by ( Beatrice Nolan | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

Stephen King has continued his feud with Elon Musk, saying he preferred Twitter in "pre-Musk days." King said the platform was "more fun" and had "less controversy" before the takeover. The novelist has been sparring with Musk on social media over some of his changes to the platform. The novelist and billionaire have been sparring on social media since Musk's Twitter takeover. King also took to the platform to compare Musk with a fictional character who cons his friends.

☆ Elon Musk calls Twitter's 'official' labels an 'aesthetic nightmare' and says they create a two-class system
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-10 | by ( Beatrice Nolan | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Elon Musk has called Twitter's gray "official" labels an "aesthetic nightmare." The labels were rolled out on Wednesday to some public figures and news organizations. In a confusing rollout, the "official" labels appeared on the Twitter accounts of some public figures and news organizations. Later in the day, he called them an "aesthetic nightmare" during a Twitter Space conversation. During Wednesday's Twitter Space, Musk said: "Apart from being an aesthetic nightmare when looking at the Twitter feed, is that it was simply another way of creating a two-class system."

☆ Mark Zuckerberg apologized for over-investing in Meta as he announced more than 11,000 staff would be laid off: 'I got this wrong'
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-09 | by ( Beatrice Nolan | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

Mark Zuckerberg apologized to Meta employees in a memo announcing over 11,000 layoffs Wednesday. Meta's founder said he had incorrectly assumed a pandemic revenue surge would be "permanent." "I got this wrong, and I take responsibility for that," he told employees on Wednesday. Zuckerberg told employees that Meta had over-invested in recent years after the pandemic led to increased revenues thanks to surging online activity. Instead of the continued revenue growth Meta predicted, Zuckerberg said the company had been hit by a macroeconomic downturn, increased competition, and ad revenue losses.

☆ Meta announced it's laying off more than 11,000 staff. It also said it anticipated making further big losses on metaverse projects.
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-09 | by ( Beatrice Nolan | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

Meta has announced plans to lay off more than 11,000 employees, around 13% of the company's staff. The Reality Labs division, comprising Meta's metaverse and VR businesses, has lost $30.7 billion. Meta said it anticipated that Reality Lab's operating losses in 2023 would grow significantly. From the start of 2019 to September 30, 2022, Meta invested $36 billion into Reality Labs, an Insider analysis found. Insider's Kali Hays previously reported that employees in the Reality Labs division had been expecting layoffs.

☆ Elon Musk's Twitter took no action against problematic election posts flagged on Tuesday, watchdog says
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-09 | by ( Beatrice Nolan | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

A watchdog group has said Musk's Twitter took no action against election posts they flagged. Elon Musk has said there have been no changes to content moderation on the platform since he took over. There has been concern over how Musk's Twitter will approach content moderation. The self-proclaimed "free-speech absolutist" has already seen some advertisers turn away from the platform over fears of loosening content moderation. Musk and Twitter's head of safety and integrity Yoel Roth have both said there were no changes made to Twitter's content moderation before the midterms.

☆ What is Mastodon and why are Twitter users flocking there? Here's everything you need to know.
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-08 | by ( Beatrice Nolan | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Many Twitter users are jumping ship to social-network Mastodon after Elon Musk's Twitter takeover. How to make a Mastodon profile? Similar to other major social-media networks, Mastodon users set up a profile with a username, display name, short bio, avatar, and header. Users choose the first part of their username and the second part is whichever Mastodon server they signed up with. Mastodon offers link verification that cross-references any links in a user's profile to prove they are the real owner.

☆ Mike Lindell's attempt to get his phone back from the FBI has been shut down by a judge
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-08 | by ( Beatrice Nolan | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

A judge has shut down Mike Lindell's attempt to get his cell phone back from the FBI. In the Thursday ruling, the judge also rejected Lindell's request to access an affidavit. In September, Lindell sued the FBI and DOJ for seizing his phone, claiming they had violated his rights. On Thursday, the US District Court judge Eric Tostrud also rejected Lindell's request to access the affidavit that justified the seizure. He also demanded that his cell phone be returned and that any information obtained from his phone was not released.

☆ An ex-Twitter manager says she received a 10-year anniversary gift from the company days after she lost her job amid 'brutal' layoffs
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-07 | by ( Beatrice Nolan | Ryan Hogg | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

A former Twitter manager said she was sent a work anniversary gift after being laid off. Twitter laid off approximately 50% of its staff on Friday after Elon Musk's takeover. On Sunday, she said she received the note, along with a commemorative block from the company celebrating her 10 years at Twitter. On Friday, Twitter laid off approximately 50% of its staff as its new owner, Elon Musk, attempted to reduce operating costs. Employees said entire teams were laid off and some reported being locked out of work emails before the layoffs were officially communicated.

☆ Gigi Hadid quits Twitter saying it has become more of a 'cesspool of hate' and 'bigotry' under Elon Musk's leadership
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-07 | by ( Beatrice Nolan | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

Model Gigi Hadid has deactivated her Twitter account after 10 years on the platform. She said that Twitter was becoming more of a "cesspool of hate" and "bigotry" under its "new leadership." Hadid is the latest in a string of celebrities who have left the platform following Musk's takeover. She wrote underneath the screenshot: "I deactivated my Twitter account today. Hadid apologized to her fans, saying she had "loved connecting with" them for a decade on Twitter.

☆ Job seekers are complaining about getting 'ghosted' by potential employers. Here's what to do if you don't hear back after an interview.
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-05 | by ( Beatrice Nolan | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Job seekers are complaining about getting "ghosted" during the application process. The number of job seekers complaining about the phenomena was up 208% since 2019. Ghosting refers to employers dropping out of contact with candidates at some point during the application process — and the number of job seekers complaining about this was up 208% since 2019, per the research. If job seekers do find themselves ghosted after an interview, there are still a few things they can try before giving up on a role. Don't badmouth the companyIf there is still no response, it's also important for job seekers to know when to move on.

☆ An ex-Apple employee faces as long as 20 years in jail after admitting to defrauding the tech giant of over $17 million
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-04 | by ( Beatrice Nolan | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

A former Apple employee has admitted to defrauding the company out of $17 million. The ex-worker, Dhirendra Prasad, admitted to running multiple fraud schemes. In one of the schemes, Prasad and a co-conspirator arranged to have Apple pay for its own components. He admitted that these actions cost Apple more than $17 million, according to the release. In one of the schemes, Prasad and Baker arranged to have Apple pay for its own property.

☆ Companies are suspending ads on Twitter after Elon Musk's takeover. Here's the full list of brands pressing pause on advertising.
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-04 | by ( Beatrice Nolan | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

"As always, we will continue to monitor this new direction and evaluate our marketing spend," a spokesperson for General Mills told The Wall Street Journal. As is normal course of business with a significant change in a media platform, we have temporarily paused our paid advertising. VolkswagenVolkswagen has reportedly taken similar steps and pulled its ads from the social media platform, per The Wall Street Journal's anonymous sources. Jakub Porzycki/NurPhoto via Getty ImagesAccording to the report, Oreo maker Mondelez International has also suspended advertising on Twitter for the time being. Interpublic GroupMajor advertising agency Interpublic Group has also advised clients to pause spending on Twitter advertising during the company's "chaotic" interim.

☆ Jeff Bezos's ex-housekeeper is suing the tech billionaire, claiming she was racially discriminated against and forced to work in unsanitary conditions
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-03 | by ( Beatrice Nolan | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

Jeff Bezos's ex-housekeeper is suing him over claims she was made to work in unsanitary conditions. A lawyer for Bezos told Bloomberg the claims have no merit. Sign up for our newsletter for the latest tech news and scoops — delivered daily to your inbox. Wedaa claimed in the complaint that she worked 10, 12, or sometimes 14-hour days without legally required breaks. The complaint claims that Bezos's housekeeping staff were not provided with a suitable place to eat and had to climb out of a window to access a bathroom.

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