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☆ Twitter is rebranding to X. Here are 5 more tech companies that controversially changed their names or faced backlash.
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-25 | by ( Pete Syme | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +8 min

Here are five more tech companies which changed their names — some controversially, and others leading to success. From The Facebook to Facebook, then MetaMark Zuckerberg at Harvard University, three months after The Facebook was created. But the business plan was first written for a company called Cadabra, as in a magician's "Abracadabra." Before Twitter became X, X.com became PayPalPeter Thiel, left, and Elon Musk, right, hold VISA credit cards branded with the X.com company logo on October 20, 2000. Paul Sakuma/APElon Musk cofounded the online payment company X.com in 1999 before it merged with Peter Thiel's Confinity a year later.

Persons: Elon Musk, Musk, Mark Zuckerberg, Rick Friedman, Sean Parker, Justin Timberlake, Zuckerberg, that's, Frances Haugen, Sergey Brin, Larry Page, Martin Magunia, Brin, Sundar Pichai, Mike Krieger, Kevin Systrom, Stephen Chernin Instagram, Andreessen Horowitz, Krieger, Systrom, Instagram, Jeff Bezos, Evan Agostini, —, Bezos, Mackenzie Scott, X.com, PayPal Peter Thiel, Paul Sakuma, AP Elon Musk, Peter Thiel's Confinity, Jimmy Soni's, Thiel, Walter Isaacson Organizations: Twitter, PayPal, Morning, Facebook, Harvard University, Meta, VR, Reality Labs, Google, Getty, Stanford, Microsoft, REUTERS, Baseline Ventures, Stanford University, Inc, Amazon, AP Elon, eBay Locations: Burbn

☆ Jeffrey Epstein withdrew up to $80,000 in cash 'several times a month' while he paid girls for 'massages,' court filings say
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-25 | by ( Jacob Shamsian | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +9 min

At the time, there were reports that he paid cash to girls for "massages" — a code word for sex. When asked about the large withdrawals, Epstein said he needed to pay for jet fuel. JPMorgan's private bank has a policy to "discourage" large cash deposits and spending. Bankers, according to an excerpt of the guidelines filed in court Tuesday morning, are responsible for getting clients to explain their large cash withdrawals. "Issue is he really never stopped the large cash withdrawals," a compliance officer wrote then.

Persons: Jeffrey Epstein, Epstein, Morgan, Jeffrey Epstein's, James, Emily Michot, Ghislaine Maxwell, sexualized massages, Glenn Dubin, Sergey Brin, Bill Gates, Leon Black, Larry Summers, Prince Andrew, Ehud Barak, Thomas Pritzker, Benjamin Netanyahu, JPMorgan, Alexander Acosta, Mr, John Duffy, Mary Erdoes, Erdoes, Duffy Organizations: JPMorgan, Morning, JPMorgan Chase, Private Bank, Banker, Islands, US Virgin Islands, U.S ., Miami Herald, Tribune, Service, Getty, Virgin Islands, police, US, Office, Southern, of Locations: Little St, U.S, U.S . Virgin Islands, Palm Beach, Sultan, Dubai, Prince, Florida, of New York

☆ Sergey Brin Is Back in the Trenches at Google
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-21 | by ( Miles Kruppa | Deepa Seetharaman | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

This copy is for your personal, non-commercial use only. Distribution and use of this material are governed by our Subscriber Agreement and by copyright law. For non-personal use or to order multiple copies, please contact Dow Jones Reprints at 1-800-843-0008 or visit www.djreprints.com. https://www.wsj.com/articles/sergey-brin-google-ai-gemini-1b5aa41e

Persons: Dow Jones, sergey, brin

☆ Google cofounder Sergey Brin frequently works at the company's HQ to help develop ChatGPT rival Gemini, report says
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-21 | by ( Hasan Chowdhury | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Brin is frequently showing up at Google HQ to help its AI efforts, The Wall Street Journal reported. He is reportedly deeply involved in the development of Gemini, an AI model that aims to rival GPT-4. Google cofounder Sergey Brin is reportedly showing up often at the search giant's headquarters to help develop ChatGPT rival Gemini and boost its AI ambitions. Google is pouring efforts into Gemini, an AI model designed to rival the GPT-4 model underlying OpenAI's technology. This week, Google's AI ambitions faced another threat as Meta unveiled Llama 2.

Persons: Sergey Brin, Brin, GPT, Larry Page, Sundar Pichai, Demis Hassabis Organizations: Google, Street Journal, Gemini, Morning, The New York Times, Wall Street, Meta, Microsoft Locations: The

☆ U.S. Virgin Islands seeks at least $190 million from JPMorgan Chase in Jeffrey Epstein case
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-14 | by ( Dan Mangan | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +6 min

The government of the U.S. Virgin Islands in a court filing Friday estimated that it will seek damages of at least $190 million from JPMorgan Chase in a lawsuit accusing the big bank of facilitating sex trafficking by its former long-time customer Jeffrey Epstein. The Virgin Islands also said it wants an order requiring JPMorgan to take a series of steps to protect young women and girls from other predators in the future. The filing says the Virgin Islands wants at least $150 million in civil penalties alone. JPMorgan in its own court filings has accused the Virgin Islands itself of being "complicit in the crimes of Jeffrey Epstein." Last month in the same court where the Virgin Islands is suing the bank JPMorgan agreed, without admitting wrongdoing, to pay $290 million to victims of Epstein to settle a suit by one of his accusers.

Persons: Jeffrey Epstein, Epstein, Jed Rakoff, Jeffrey Epstein's, JPMorgan Chase, Ariel Smith, Smith, Patricia Wexler, JPM, Virgin, Sergey Brin, Bill Gates, Lex Wexner, Glenn Dubin, Donald Trump, Bill Clinton, Prince Andrew of Great Organizations: New York State Division, Criminal, Services, Reuters, U.S . Virgin, JPMorgan Chase, Virgin, JPMorgan, Virgin Islands, Google, Microsoft, Limited Brands, Deutsche Bank, New York state's Department of Financial Services Locations: U.S, Manhattan, United States, Virgin, Eastern, Prince Andrew of Great Britain, Florida, New York

☆ Attorney who denied having an affair with Elon Musk says the scandal was 'humiliating' and 'utterly debilitating'
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-05 | by ( Grace Kay | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Attorney Nicole Shanahan spoke out nearly a year after a scandal involving Elon Musk. Sources had told WSJ that Shanahan had an affair with Elon Musk while married to Google's Sergey Brin. Shanahan and Musk denied the affair, and Shanahan said the scandal was "utterly debilitating." "It was a conversation that was very meaningful about life and how people show up for one another," Shanahan told People. Shanahan, Musk, and representatives for Brin did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Insider ahead of publication.

Persons: Nicole Shanahan, Elon Musk, Shanahan, Google's Sergey Brin, Musk, Sergey Brin's, Brin's, Brin, she'd, Read Organizations: Elon, Street, Twitter, Journal, Echo Foundation, Stanford University, VC, Planeta Ventures

☆ Elon Musk reportedly microdoses ketamine to treat depression and takes full doses of the drug at parties
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-27 | by ( Grace Kay | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

Elon Musk has told people he microdoses ketamine for depression, The Wall Street Journal reported. On Monday, Musk said on Twitter that ketamine is a "better option" than traditional drugs. Elon Musk has told people he is taking small doses of ketamine to treat depression and has been seen taking the drug recreationally as well, according to a recent report from The Wall Street Journal. The publication said the billionaire takes full doses of the drug at parties, citing individuals who have seen Musk use ketamine as well as other people with direct knowledge. But, the Tesla CEO tweeted about the use of ketamine to treat depression less than two hours after The Journal's report was published.

Persons: Elon Musk, Musk, US Food and Drug Administration hasn't, Sergey Brin, Brin, Spokespeople, Joe Rogan, Tesla, he'd, David Marglin Organizations: Street Journal, Wall Street, Drug Foundation, US Food and Drug Administration, Fund, SpaceX, Spotify, Founders Fund, New Times, New York Times, Bay Area, Times Locations: Silicon Valley, Los Angeles, San Francisco

☆ Founders and VCs are clamoring to get into this $68 million AI hacker house. Here's how the AGI House exploded into a community hub for the red-hot Bay Area AI scene.
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-21 | by ( Stephanie Palazzolo | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +8 min

In February, the AGI House launched as a community hub for the buzzy Bay Area AI scene. Since launching in February this year, it's served as a hacker house and community hub for the Bay's exploding AI scene. Depending on the day, the residence houses between eight to ten AI founders and researchers, including a researcher from AI giant OpenAI. Stephanie PalazzoloFrom flying cars to fireside conversationsThe AGI House wasn't always the AGI House. "It's great to live in a community house where you're naturally connected to the AI founder community," she said.

Persons: Steve Jobs, Elon, it's, Demi Guo, Stephanie Palazzolo, wasn't, Andrej Karpathy, Rocky Yu, Karpathy, Sergey Brin, Kelly Peng, Yu, Jeremy Nixon, Tim Shi, Lerer Hippeau, Peng, Guo, There's, Greylock's, Corinne Riley AGI, they're Organizations: AGI, Technologies, Genesis, Foundation Capital Locations: buzzy, Hillsborough, Stanford, Alamo, LA, AGI, New York City, Stanford's

☆ 3 California universities are in the top 10 for churning out startup founders who have gotten funding since 2022
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-06 | by ( Vishal Persaud | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Stanford, UCLA and USC are in the top 10 schools with grads who have gotten private startup funding. Stanford University, the University of California, Berkeley, and the University of Southern California rank among some of the top schools to produce startup founders that recently got private funding, according to Crunchbase. Other California-based colleges to make the list of schools include the University of California, Los Angeles, University of California, San Diego, and the California Institute of Technology. The data also details the business schools that some of the startup founders attended. The fact that hundreds of new startup founders have been able to secure funding is a bit surprising considering the current state of the venture capital industry.

Persons: grads, Crunchbase, Larry Page, Sergey Brin, Apple, Steve Wozniak, Gordon Moore, Marc Benioff, That's Organizations: Stanford, UCLA, USC, Morning, Stanford University, University of California, University of Southern, Berkeley, Los Angeles , University of California, California Institute of Technology, Stanford Business School, UCLA Anderson School of Management, Haas School of Business, Google, Intel, Salesforce, Tech, Venture Locations: Six California, Berkeley, University of Southern California, California, Los Angeles, San Diego, North America

☆ Today's the day: Apple is expected to reveal a 'jaw dropping' new product that faces an uphill battle
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-05 | by ( Michael Liedtke | Associated Press | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +8 min

It'll be the company's first major new product since the first Apple Watch in 2014. Apple's goggles are expected be sleekly designed and capable of toggling between totally virtual or augmented options, a blend sometimes known as "mixed reality." Magic LeapDaniel Diez, Magic Leap's chief transformation officer, said there are four major questions Apple's goggles will have to answer: "What can people do with it? The anticipation that Apple's goggles are going to sell for several thousand dollars already has dampened expectations for the product. But those forecasts were obviously made before it's known whether Apple might be releasing a product that alters the landscape.

Persons: It'll, Apple, Steve Jobs, hasn't, Mark Zuckerberg, Tim Cook, Cook, it's, Sergey Brin, Daniel Diez, Magic, Dan Ives, Zuckerberg, Leap's Diez Organizations: Apple, Apple Watch, Meta, Google, Microsoft, Wedbush Securities, CCS Insight Locations: Cupertino , California, Italy, San Francisco

☆ Elon Musk has displaced Bernard Arnault as the world's richest person, as Tesla stock surges and LVMH slumps
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-01 | by ( George Glover | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

Elon Musk has reclaimed the title of world's richest person, per the Bloomberg Billionaires Index. The electric-vehicle pioneer's wealth rose in May thanks to Tesla's stock price surging. Musk surpassed Bernard Arnault on Wednesday after Paris-listed LVMH shares fell nearly 3%. Musk's wealth passed Arnault's on Wednesday after LVMH slipped nearly 3% in Paris trading, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index. He's still comfortably the world's second-richest person, ahead of Bezos, who's worth $144 billion.

Persons: Elon, Bernard Arnault, —, Elon Musk, LVMH, Tesla, –, Jeff Bezos –, he's, Linda Yaccarino, Arnault's LVMH, He's, Bill Gates, Larry Ellison, Steve Ballmer, Warren Buffett, Larry Page, Sergey Brin, Mark Zuckerberg, Read, Hermes Organizations: Bloomberg, Service, Privacy, Amazon, Google Locations: Paris, Bezos

☆ Billionaire Peter Thiel reportedly had 'several meetings' scheduled with Jeffrey Epstein, according to email records
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-19 | by ( Grace Kay | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Peter Thiel had "several" meetings scheduled with Jeffrey Epstein, The New York Times reported. Peter Thiel likely met with the convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein "several" times in 2014, according to a recent report from The New York Times. The email records were obtained through an information request in the US Virgin Islands lawsuit against Epstein's estate, according to the Times. Thiel was also on a list of people that Epstein should try to make time for while in New York, according to the report. Thiel did not respond to a request for comment from Insider and a spokesperson for the billionaire declined to comment for the Times.

☆ Elon Musk subpoena in Epstein-JPMorgan lawsuit can be served to Tesla, judge rules
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-17 | by ( Dan Mangan | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +4 min

Ghislaine Maxwell and Elon Musk attend the 2014 Vanity Fair Oscar Party Hosted By Graydon Carter on March 2, 2014 in West Hollywood, California. The Virgin Islands is suing JPMorgan in U.S. District Court in Manhattan for allegedly enabling and financially benefiting from Epstein's sex trafficking of young women. Rakoff, in his order Wednesday, authorized the USVI to "arrange alternative service of its Subpoena to Produce Documents by serving Elon Musk via service upon Tesla Inc.'s registered agent." A Tesla spokesperson told The Times, "It is incorrect to say that Epstein ever advised Elon on anything." Epstein killed himself in August 2019, a month after federal authorities arrested him on an indictment charging him with child sex trafficking.

☆ Elon Musk denies taking financial advice from Jeffrey Epstein, following US Virgin Islands' decision to subpoena the Twitter chief
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-16 | by ( Hasan Chowdhury | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Elon Musk has denied taking financial advice from Jeffrey Epstein. Elon Musk has denied taking financial advice from Jeffrey Epstein after he was subpoenaed in a lawsuit over JPMorgan's ties to the convicted sex offender. "The notion that I would need or listen to financial advice from a dumb crook is absurd," Musk tweeted. It makes Musk the latest high-profile person to be subpoenaed in a series of lawsuits revolving around JPMorgan's ties to Epstein. Earlier this month, it was reported that the US Virgin Islands couldn't find fellow Google cofounder Larry Page to serve him a subpoena.

☆ Elon Musk was just subpoenaed by the US Virgin Islands in its Jeffrey Epstein lawsuit against JPMorgan
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-15 | by ( Grace Kay | Sindhu Sundar | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

Elon Musk was subpoenaed as part of a lawsuit against JPMorgan over its ties to Jeffrey Epstein. Elon Musk was subpoenaed by the US Virgin Islands in its lawsuit against JPMorgan over the bank's ties to Jeffrey Epstein. The US Virgin Islands offered only a glimpse into why it was pursuing answers from Musk. The lawyers are asking for the judge to approve their request to subpoena Musk over email as a result. For its part, JPMorgan has hit back that it was inaction by the US Virgin Islands that enabled Epstein.

☆ US Virgin Islands subpoenas Elon Musk as part of lawsuit into Jeffrey Epstein sex trafficking ring
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-15 | by ( Ramishah Maruf | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +3 min

New York CNN —The US Virgin Islands has subpoenaed Elon Musk, requesting documents from the billionaire for the government’s lawsuit alleging JPMorgan Chase benefited financially from Jeffrey Epstein’s sex trafficking operation. The Virgin Islands’ government issued the subpoena on April 28 but had difficulty obtaining an address for Musk to locate and serve him, even hiring an investigative firm. The subpoena is requesting all communications between Musk and JPMorgan regarding Epstein or any role the disgraced financier played in the Tesla CEO’s financial management. It also requested any documents regarding fees paid to Epstein or JPMorgan, or any documents regarding Epstein’s sex trafficking ring. In 2022, the US Virgin Islands filed a lawsuit against JPMorgan Chase, alleging the Wall Street giant benefited financially from Epstein’s sex trafficking operation and failed in its duty to report suspicious financial activity.

☆ Judge says Google co-founder Larry Page can be served with legal papers in Jeffrey Epstein suit
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-04 | by ( Dan Mangan | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +1 min

A federal judge said that Google co-founder Larry Page can be served with legal papers by the government of the U.S. Virgin Islands for its civil lawsuit against JPMorgan Chase related to sex trafficking by the bank's long-time customer Jeffrey Epstein. A docket entry on Thursday did not disclose the nature of the legal papers the USVI wants to serve Page in the suit, which is pending in U.S. District Court in Manhattan. Page was CEO of Google's parent Alphabet from 2015 through 2019, after previously serving as Google's chief executive officer. The USVI and a woman who says she was sexually abused by Epstein are separately suing JPMorgan, claiming the bank was complicit in his sex trafficking of multiple women. JPMorgan, whose CEO Jamie Dimon is due to be deposed in the case in late May, denies wrongdoing.

☆ The world's 12 wealthiest people got richer by $36 billion in a day - and have now gained $264 billion in net worth this year
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-28 | by ( Theron Mohamed | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Elon Musk, Jeff Bezos, and their peers have added $264 billion to their fortunes this year. The surge in their companies' stock prices this year has added $46 billion and $42 billion to their respective fortunes. Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, Tesla CEO Elon Musk, and L'Oreal heiress Francoise Bettencourt-Myers have gained around $27 billion, $25 billion and $23 billion each. The billionaire best friends have added $13 billion and $7 billion to their respective fortunes since the start of January. Meanwhile, the $36 billion of wealth they gained on Thursday rivals the the market values of grocery giant Kroger and Taco Bell-owner Yum!

☆ Your Next Fitness Coach Could Be a Robot
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-26 | by ( Hilary Achauer | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +2 min

Many of the apps also integrate data from fitness wearables or smart watches. In the last couple of years, fitness apps have been incorporating more complicated blends of heart rate, mileage and calories burned to create new workouts. One of the oldest and most popular of these, with more than 55 million subscribers, is Freeletics, which incorporated a form of A.I. One benefit of such a large subscriber base is that it has an extensive data pool from which to create workouts, helping the A.I. Fitness AI, Aaptiv (which is launching a new coach product in May) and FitBod all cost slightly less than $100 a year.

☆ Jeff Bezos, accidental style icon, was spotted at Coachella in a butterfly-print button-down shirt
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-25 | by ( Cheryl Teh | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Amazon founder Jeff Bezos showed up at Coachella in a butterfly-print button-down shirt. "Looks like a low budget Fast and Furious scene," wrote Redditor RuckOver3 in a post that was upvoted more than 34,000 times as of press time. Bezos was spotted at the festival with his partner Lauren Sanchez, Kardashian matriarch Kris Jenner, and Jenner's partner, Corey Gamble, per TMZ. wrote Redditor BarfJello, in a comment that had been upvoted more than 13,000 times as of press time. "Looks like the average Coachella attendee," wrote Reddit user electricman420.

☆ Alphabet CEO Sundar Pichai earned $226 million last year, making him one of the world's best-paid bosses
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-22 | by ( Sam Tabahriti | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

Sundar Pichai, CEO of Google owner Alphabet, was paid a total of $226 million in 2022. Alphabet also spent almost $6 million on personal security for Pichai, according to a filing. Alphabet's Sundar Pichai was paid a total of $226 million last year after he was awarded a big tranche of shares, making him one of America's best-paid CEOs. The chief executive of Google's owner was given worth more than $218 million, according to filings published Friday. Alphabet also spent almost $6 million on personal security for Pichai, according to the filing.

☆ Elon Musk said he hasn't talked to his former friend Larry Page in years: 'He got very upset with me about OpenAI'
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-19 | by ( Grace Kay | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Elon Musk said Larry Page hasn't spoken to him in years after they disagreed about AI safety. Musk said Page wanted to create a "digital god" and accused him of being a speciesist. Elon Musk said his longtime friendship with Google cofounder Larry Page ended over a disagreement about AI and that the two men haven't talked in years. The Tesla CEO said Page "got very upset with me about OpenAI" — the company Musk helped found as a competitor to Google's AI efforts. Musk said that he hasn't been able to talk with Page "because he doesn't want to talk to me anymore."

☆ The stock market rally in 2023 has added $213 billion to the wealth of the world's top 10 billionaires
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-15 | by ( Matthew Fox | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

A strong start to the stock market this year has helped reverse some of the big losses billionaires saw in 2022. So far this year, the world's top 10 billionaires added a collective $213 billion to their net worth. MARTIN BUREAU/AFP via Getty ImagesNet Worth: $92.8 billion2023 Gain: $21.3 billionSource of Wealth: L'Oreal9. Elon MuskElon Musk Gilbert Carrasquillo/GC ImagesNet Worth: $180 billion2023 Gain: $43.2 billionSource of Wealth: Tesla, SpaceX, Twitter1. Bernard ArnaultEric Piermont/Getty ImagesNet Worth: $210 billion2023 Gain: $47.8 billionSource of Wealth: LVMH Moet Hennessy Louis Vuitton

☆ Elon Musk says he gets 'swarmed' at parties by people wanting to discuss work, and struggles to trust people, reporter who secured rare interview says
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-13 | by ( Sawdah Bhaimiya | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

Elon Musk gave an unexpected interview to the BBC late Tuesday. According to James Clayton, the reporter who spoke to Musk, the billionaire opened up about his personal life. Musk said he's often "swarmed" by people at parties wanting to discuss work, Clayton wrote. Sign up for our newsletter for the latest tech news and scoops — delivered daily to your inbox. Musk spoke with BBC correspondent James Clayton about his $44 billion takeover of Twitter in October and the six months that have followed including the layoffs.

☆ Google Co-Founder, Other Billionaires Are Issued Subpoenas in Lawsuit Over JPMorgan’s Ties to Jeffrey Epstein
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-01 | by ( Khadeeja Safdar | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

JPMorgan, accused of facilitating the alleged sex crimes of the late Jeffrey Epstein, says it didn’t know about them and can’t be held liable. The U.S. Virgin Islands issued subpoenas this week to Sergey Brin , Thomas Pritzker , Mortimer Zuckerman and Michael Ovitz to gather information for its civil lawsuit against JPMorgan Chase & Co. over the bank’s relationship with Jeffrey Epstein , according to people familiar with the matter. The subpoenas from the U.S. territory’s attorney general seek any communications and documents related to the bank and Epstein, the people said.

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