James Farrell
Latest from James Farrell
Meta execs settle with board in $8B lawsuit over data harvesting scandal
Meta Platforms Inc. Chief Executive Mark Zuckerberg, along with former and current company directors and officers, today reached a settlement in a trial in which shareholders sought $8 billion in damages for losses related to the Cambridge Analytica privacy scandal. The trial was only on its second day at Delaware’s Court of Chancery, with Zuckerberg ...
Apple is spending $500 million in government-backed rare minerals program
Apple Inc. will invest $500 million in MP Materials, the only fully integrated rare-earth mining company operating in the U.S., as part of an effort to strengthen the country’s rare-earth supply chain. The rare-earth magnets Apple will purchase from MP Materials are used in many of Apple’s products, such as iPhones and MacBooks. The magnets ...
Pentagon aims to bolster national security with major investments in US AI firms
The U.S. Department of Defense today announced new contracts with top artificial intelligence firms in the U.S. in an effort to streamline AI’s move into military applications. Contracts of up to $200 million will be granted to Google LLC, OpenAI, Anthropic PBC and, perhaps more surprisingly, Elon Musk’s xAI, whose Grok chatbot recently made headlines when ...
After two years as X CEO, Linda Yaccarino is stepping down
Linda Yaccarino, the chief executive of Elon Musk’s X Corp., is leaving the company after what has been two turbulent years for the platform. Musk hired Yaccarino (pictured) the year when he bought the platform and changed the name from Twitter Inc. to X, with the sometimes-mercurial Musk tapping out as chief executive and the ...
Elon Musk’s updated Grok chatbot promoted the Holocaust and praised Adolf Hitler
X Corp. is presently in hot water after its Grok chatbot exploded into an antisemitic rage, praising Adolf Hitler and condemning what it called Jewish-run Hollywood. The remarkable change in output is very likely a result of what its owner, Elon Musk, had last week called a significant improvement to his politically incorrect chatbot after ...
Tesla shares slump after Trump threatens Elon Musk with DOGE and entertains deportation
Shares of Tesla Inc. plunged more than 7% today after President Trump again targeted his former ally and the world’s richest man, Elon Musk. The bluster between the two men reached new heights in the ongoing spat, with Musk doubling down on his criticism of the president’s flagship spending bill. Trump (pictured) threatened to go ...
Meta comes out winner in AI copyright case against authors
A U.S. judge sided with Meta Platforms Inc. today in an AI copyright lawsuit brought by 13 authors who claimed the social media firm had illegally trained its AI systems on their work without permission. This is the second major AI copyright case this week, with both decisions in favor of the AI companies. In the first, which ...
Waymo’s robotaxis are now available through the Uber app in Atlanta
Google LLC-owned Waymo continues its U.S. expansion, announcing today that its self-driving taxis are now available in Atlanta through its partnership with Uber Technologies Inc. This is the second time the two companies have collaborated, with both of them operating a robotaxi service in Austin since March this year. This week, Tesla Inc. announced it will launch its ...
Meta hits back after US House bans WhatsApp for staffers
Meta Platforms Inc. today said it disagrees “in the strongest possible terms” after its WhatsApp messaging service was banned on all U.S. House of Representatives devices. The House’s chief administrative officer, or CAO, had earlier emailed staffers to inform them that the Office of Cybersecurity had deemed WhatsApp “high-risk” because of a “lack of transparency ...
Waymo’s robotaxis will soon hit the streets of New York City
Google LLC’s autonomous vehicle firm Waymo announced today that it’s about to send part of its legion of robotaxis to the Big Apple, albeit with human drivers at the wheel. The move is part of a fairly rapid expansion for the company, whose robotaxis have already graced the streets of San Francisco, Phoenix, Los Angeles ...
