Technology category, Page 21
Tesla workers in New York launch campaign to organize union
NEW YORK — Tesla workers at a factory in New York are launching a campaign to organize a union in New York. In a letter to management Tuesday, the Tesla Workers United organizing committee said that the employees are seeking a voice on the job at the plant in Buffalo...
TikTok ‘de-influencers’ want Gen Z to buy less — and more
NEW YORK— At a time when consumers are inundated with so-called social media influencers peddling the latest products online, a slew of TikTok users are leveraging their platforms to tell people what not to buy instead. The trend, called “de-influencing,” is a stark contrast to prior ones like #TikTokMadeMeBuyIt, when...
Twitter’s plan to charge for crucial tool prompts outcry
In the aftermath of the devastating earthquake in Turkey and Syria, thousands of volunteer software developers have been using a crucial Twitter tool to comb the platform for calls for help — including from people trapped in collapsed buildings — and connect people with rescue organizations. They could lose access...
Dubai again plans for flying taxi takeoff, this time by 2026
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates — Dubai again is planning for the takeoff of flying taxis in this futuristic city-state on the Arabian Peninsula, offering its firmest details yet Monday for a pledged launch by 2026. Since 2017, the commercial capital of the United Arab Emirates has offered promises to launch...
New AI voice-cloning tools ‘add fuel’ to misinformation fire
NEW YORK — In a video from a Jan. 25 news report, President Joe Biden talks about tanks. But a doctored version of the video has amassed hundred of thousands of views this week on social media, making it appear he gave a speech that attacks transgender people. Digital forensics...
Twitter scrambles to fix meltdown as many unable to tweet
Many Twitter users found themselves unable to tweet, follow accounts or access their direct messages on Wednesday as the Elon Musk-owned platform experienced a slew of widespread technical problems. “Twitter may not be working as expected for some of you. Sorry for the trouble. We’re aware and working to get...
AI search engines can now chat with us, but glitches abound
REDMOND, Wash. — Nearly a quarter-century after Google’s search engine began to reshape how we use the internet, big tech companies are racing to revamp a familiar web tool into a gateway to a new form of artificial intelligence. If it seems like this week’s newly announced AI search chatbots...
Jury clears Musk of wrongdoing related to 2018 Tesla tweets
SAN FRANCISO — A jury on Friday decided Elon Musk didn’t deceive investors with his 2018 tweets about electric automaker Tesla in a proposed deal that quickly unraveled and raised questions about whether the billionaire had misled investors. The nine-member jury reached its verdict after less that two hours of...
Treasury makes more electric SUVs eligible for tax credits
WASHINGTON — The Treasury Department said Friday it is making more electric vehicles — including SUVs made by Tesla, Ford and General Motors — eligible for tax credits of up to $7,500 under new vehicle classification definitions. The revised standards for EV tax credits follow lobbying by automakers that had...
Apple suffers 1st quarterly sales decline in nearly 4 years
Apple on Thursday posted its first quarterly revenue drop in nearly four years after pandemic-driven restrictions on its China factories curtailed sales of the latest iPhone during the holiday season. The company’s sales of $117 billion for the October-December period represented a 5% decline from the same time in the...
Google has the next move as Microsoft embraces OpenAI buzz
NEW YORK — Before the artificial intelligence tool ChatGPT was unleashed into the world, the novelist Robin Sloan was testing a similar AI writing assistant built by researchers at Google. It didn’t take long for Sloan, author of the bestseller “Mr. Penumbra’s 24-hour Bookstore,” to realize that the technology was...
Amazon axes free grocery delivery on Prime orders under $150
NEW YORK — Amazon is axing free grocery delivery for Prime members on orders less than $150. Customers who get their groceries delivered from Amazon Fresh — and pay less than $150 — will be charged between $3.95 and $9.95, depending on the order size, the company said in an...
Manchin bill would delay tax credits for electric vehicles
WASHINGTON — Ratcheting up his criticism of the Biden administration, Democratic Sen. Joe Manchin on Wednesday moved to delay new tax credits for electric vehicles, a key feature of President Joe Biden’s landmark climate law. Manchin said guidelines issued by the Treasury Department allow manufacturers in Europe and other countries...
Elon Musk defiantly defends himself in Tesla tweet trial
SAN FRANCISCO — Elon Musk returned to federal court to defend himself against a class-action lawsuit that alleges he misled Tesla shareholders with a tweet about an aborted buyout that the billionaire defiantly insisted Tuesday he could have pulled off, had he wanted. Musk spent roughly three more hours on...
Spotify latest tech name to cut jobs, axes 6% of workforce
LONDON — Music streaming service Spotify said Monday it’s cutting 6% of its global workforce, or about 600 jobs, becoming yet another tech company forced to rethink its pandemic-era expansion as the economic outlook weakens. CEO Daniel Ek announced the restructuring in a message to employees that was also posted...
Elon Musk takes witness stand to defend Tesla buyout tweets
SAN FRANCISCO— Elon Musk took the witness stand Friday to defend a 2018 tweet claiming he had lined up the financing to take Tesla private in a deal that never came close to happening. The tweet resulted in a $40 million settlement with securities regulators. It also led to a...
Microsoft cuts 10,000 jobs, about 5% of global workforce
Microsoft is cutting 10,000 workers, almost 5% of its workforce, joining other tech companies that have scaled back their pandemic-era expansions. The company said in a regulatory filing Wednesday that the layoffs were a response to “macroeconomic conditions and changing customer priorities.” The Redmond, Washington-based software giant said it will...
Fastest Corvette ever is all-wheel-drive gas-electric hybridVideo
The fastest Corvette ever made comes out later this year, and it’s not powered soley by a howling V8. The E-Ray is a gas electric hybrid, the first all-wheel-drive version of Chevrolet’s storied sports car with the front wheels running on an electric motor the traditional 6.2-liter V8 powering the...
Elon Musk’s next drama: a trial over his tweets about Tesla
SAN FRANCISCO — While still grappling with the fallout from a company he did take private, beleaguered billionaire Elon Musk is now facing a trial over a company he didn’t. Long before Musk purchased Twitter for $44 billion in October, he had set his sights on Tesla, the electric automaker...
Apple CEO Tim Cook to take more than 40% pay cut
Apple CEO Tim Cook will take a more than 40% pay cut this year from a year earlier as the company adjusts how it calculates his compensation partly based on a recommendation from Cook himself. Apple Inc. said in a regulatory filing late Thursday that Cook’s target total compensation is...
CES 2023: 10 tech innovations that caught our eye
LAS VEGAS — From electric cars and boats to wireless TVs to the latest phones and tablets, there was a wide range of innovations on display at the CES tech show in Last Vegas last week. Some of it aimed to solve big real world problems. Some of it aimed...
Feds reviewing Musk tweet about disabling driver monitoring
DETROIT — A tweet from Elon Musk indicating that Tesla might allow some owners who are testing a “Full Self-Driving” system to disable an alert that reminds them to keep their hands on the steering wheel has drawn attention from U.S. safety regulators. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration says...
CES showcases electric hydrofoil boats
Flying cars and self-driving vehicles always get attention at the CES gadget show in Las Vegas, but this year electric recreational boats are making bigger waves. Swedish company Candela on Thursday unveiled a 28-foot (8.5-meter) electric-powered hydrofoil speedboat that can cruise for over two hours at 20 knots, or about...
See wireless TV, delivery robots and in-car VR at CES show
LAS VEGAS — Tech companies of all sizes are showing off their latest products at CES, formerly known as the Consumer Electronics show. The show is getting back to normal after going completely virtual in 2021 and seeing a significant drop in 2022 attendance because of the pandemic. On Wednesday,...
Amazon layoffs to hit 18,000 people
The wave of layoffs at Amazon will hit thousands more people than originally expected. Amazon CEO Andy Jassy said Wednesday evening the company planned to eliminate “just over” 18,000 roles. In November, when news of layoffs first broke, Amazon said the number of impacted roles remained fluid as leaders evaluated...
