Category: Technología

Threats in Washington to ban TikTok have grown quieter of late — and some insiders say the Chinese-owned app’s clever courting of conservatives is part of the reason.

After a dramatic spring in which calls to ban TikTok on US soil reached a fever pitch — made worse by a disastrous Congressional testimony from CEO Shou Zi Chew — the fervor died down this summer.

At the same time, TikTok has launched an ad campaign that portrays the video-sharing app as a platform that has helped US veterans and small business owners. 

One spot that aired during the GOP presidential debate features 81-year-old “Patriotic Kenny,” who has used TikTok to raise thousands of dollars for elderly vets to get new mobility scooters. 

The ad, entitled “Changing lives, one scooter at a time,” reportedly raised enough cash for 50 scooters in 24 hours. It ends with Kenny’s friend saying, “None of this would’ve happened without TikTok.”

One irritated Republican strategist admitted that “the ads have clearly been effective,” noting that they have rankled many lawmakers who’ve previously been critical of the app.

The GOP strategist said he believes a TikTok ban has stalled in Congress for several other reasons including spending fights and the looming 2024 election.

Congressional sources also note that multiple bills to ban TikTok were being floated, meaning there was no single bill for lawmakers to get behind  – and that Republicans have since gotten caught up with sexier political issues like investigating Joe Biden.

“If you can weather the storm, people get distracted,” a source close to the legislative process told On The Money. “It turns into a game of just running out the clock.” 

TikTok’s high-paid political advisors in the US — who presumably are behind the US veteran ads, among other tactics — include two former higher-ups in the Obama administration, David Plouffe and Jim Messina. 

TikTok also has tapped former Disney comms chief Zenia Mucha.

Former Trump administration official Tony Sayegh even briefly advised the company on strategy, according to a report. 

Another source said the spin doctors also have been making overtures to various journalists and media outlets about how the app is helping average Americans.

Meanwhile, some GOP insiders say they fear Republicans will be put at a disadvantage by attacking TikTok.

“At some point, Republicans are going to have to engage with the TikTok audience, or allow Democrats to have a political and messaging and outreach monopoly,” the GOP strategist opined.

Democrats have a TikTok advantage,” the strategist added. “The app is very popular and reached millions of Americans, especially young voters. There is not an elected Republican using TikTok right now, in part because of the national security risk with China.”

Among the latter is US Sen. Marco Rubio, who hasn’t changed his fierce stance against the app, despite admitting in the past his kids in the past have caught flak from schoolmates over his campaign.

“TikTok’s corporate image consultants are desperately trying to rebrand the Chinese-controlled app after a series of scandals that include spying on American journalists, storing Americans’ data in China, interfering in our elections, and lying to Congress,” Rubio told On The Money, asked about the app’s latest ad blitz. 

“But no amount of spin can hide the risks posed by the Chinese Communist Party controlling an app used by one-in-three Americans.”

TikTok did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Separately, TikTok’s parent company ByteDance has spent more than $13 million on its lobbying efforts since 2019 alone, according to an analysis by Open Secrets in February. 

Elon Musk’s X revealed it will begin to collect users’ “biometric information” as part of a new security feature for users willing to fork over $8 per month for the site’s premium subscription plan.

The site formerly known as Twitter sent users push notifications on Wednesday nudging them to check out the updated policy – which takes effect on Sept. 29 and includes new disclosures about its plan to collect job history and other personal data.

“Based on your consent, we may collect and use your biometric information for safety, security and identification purposes,” the privacy policy reads.

X’s policy also notes that the company “may collect and use your personal information (such as your employment history, educational history, employment preferences, skills and abilities, job search activity and engagement, and so on) to recommend potential jobs for you, to share with potential employers when you apply for a job, to enable employers to find potential candidates, and to show you more relevant advertising.”

The old version of X’s privacy policy did not include a mention of biometric data or job history.

When reached for comment, an X spokesperson said the reference to biometric information is related to a feature intended for “premium users.”

At present, X only provides “verified” blue checkmarks to premium subscribers. Musk faced criticism earlier this year for revoking existing verification status from unpaid users.

“X will give the option to provide their Government ID, combined with a selfie, to add a verification layer,” the X spokesperson said in a statement. “Biometric data may be extracted from both the Gov ID and the selfie image for matching purposes. This will additionally help us tie, for those that choose, an account to a real person by processing their Government issued ID. This will also help X fight impersonation attempts and make the platform more secure.”

Musk has pledged to eliminate bots from his social media platform ever since he acquired Twitter for $44 billion last year. However, the billionaire has also been sharply critical of the privacy practices of his rival Meta – and took a dig at Threads’ data collection disclosures when the rival app launched in July.

In a separate announcement on Thursday, Musk said X also plans to begin offering video and audio calls for its users with “no phone number needed.”

Biometric information has used to describe data tied to users’ fingerprints, eye scans and faces at other companies.

Apple offers a feature called “Face ID” on its devices that allows users to unlock their phones via facial recognition, while some apps let users log-in with a fingerprint scan.

Worldcoin, the bizarre eyeball-scanning cryptocurrency token co-founded by OpenAI boss Sam Altman, requires users to upload an image of their iris using a device called an “Orb,” described as a “biometric verification device,” in exchange World ID” that is unique to each user.

The practice has drawn scrutiny from critics over data privacy concerns – including fears that the project was fueling a black market for biometric information.

A California federal judge has refused to dismiss a lawsuit accusing X, the social media service formerly called Twitter, of disproportionately laying off older workers when Elon Musk acquired the company last year.

US District Judge Susan Illston on Tuesday said the plaintiff in the proposed class action, John Zeman, had provided enough evidence that the mass layoffs had a greater impact on older employees to continue pursuing the case.

Zeman, for example, claims X laid off 60% of workers who were 50 or older and nearly three-quarters of those who were over 60, compared with 54% of employees younger than 50.

Illston ruled that the federal law banning workplace age bias allows plaintiffs to bring so-called “disparate impact” claims in a class action, an issue that has divided courts.

The judge dismissed a claim that X intentionally targeted older workers for layoffs, but gave Zeman a month to file an amended lawsuit fleshing out that claim.

Zeman’s lawyer, Shannon Liss-Riordan, said, “This decision validates the arguments we are making that the discrimination claims can go forward.”

X did not respond to a request for comment.

The lawsuit is one of about a dozen X is facing stemming from Musk’s decision to lay off about half of Twitter’s workforce beginning last November.

Those cases include various claims, including that X laid off employees and contractors without the required advance notice and that Musk forced out workers with disabilities by refusing to allow remote work and calling on employees to be more “hardcore.”

At least two lawsuits claim the company owes ex-employees at least $500 million in severance pay. Twitter has denied wrongdoing in those cases.

Liss-Riordan also represents about 2,000 former Twitter employees who have filed similar legal claims against the company in arbitration.

It’s Pharma Bro vs the World’s Richest Man.

Martin Shkreli, who spent four and a half years in federal prison for securities fraud and gained infamy for alleged price gauging of a life-saving drug, says he’s been lobbying Elon Musk through mutual friends to give him something he believes he needs in his post-prison future: Access to his original X (formerly Twitter) account.  
  
Shkreli tells FOX Business that since he was released from prison in May 2022, he’s been trying without success to regain access to his old account, which amassed over 250,000 followers before getting suspended in 2017 over what he describes as a “silly mistake” — an online feud with a journalist that led to his ban.  

Moreover, Shkreli says he has been forced to create as many as 20 new accounts to remain active on the platform. He says they are constantly getting shut down by X management, including “over a dozen times” since Musk bought the platform in October of last year and took it private in a $44 billion deal.  
  
Shkreli says Musk’s actions don’t square with the Tesla chief’s free speech mantra and his self-proclaimed reputation as a First Amendment absolutist. Shkreli points out that other controversial personalities banned from the platform, such as far-right political activist Laura Loomer, and the volatile rapper Kanye West, aka Ye, have regained access to their accounts through Musk.  

“Elon preaches free speech, but his actions are showing the opposite,” Shkreli said. “He’s now got a woman from NBC running the show (new X CEO Linda Yaccarino), so he may now be putting profits over principle.”  
  
He says he needs an active X account to keep him connected to top tech CEOs and investors while he embarks on a new entrepreneurial venture involving Artificial Intelligence or AI. He hasn’t heard from Musk despite multiple attempts at outreach, including lobbying mutual friends and celebrities who know both men.  

He said he reached out to Elon Musk’s former girlfriend, singer Grimes, to plead his case. He later posted that he would pay someone $10,000 to get his ban reversed. In an Aug. 22 tweet, Grimes said she would intervene with Musk if Shkreli promises to be more ethical.  

It’s unclear if she has done so; Grimes couldn’t be reached for comment. Musk also could not be reached for comment.

Shkreli has several theories about why Musk is giving him the cold shoulder. While running three former hedge funds, he was an active short seller, a trading technique that makes money when a stock falls in value. Musk has spent years sparring with short sellers betting on the demise of Tesla.  

Shkreli also points to Musk’s urgencies for putting a pause on the development of AI, where computers perform tasks normally reserved for humans, to avoid what he’s described as “risks to society.”  
  
But most of all, he believes Musk is simply jealous of his machismo. “I was told by someone close to Musk that he doesn’t like other alpha males in the room,” he said.  

The Shkreli-Musk throw down isn’t physical, at least not yet. Musk, at 6’2’’ weighs around 200 pounds and is worth $255 billion. He is known for a volatile management style while running the iconic EV company Tesla and now X. He’s often picking feuds on social media with various public figures he sees as competitors.  
  
He recently challenged fellow billionaire and the world’s ninth-richest person, Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg, to an MMA-style cage match fight. The two have been trading barbs on social media and no date has been set.  

Zuckerberg, who regularly trains at the martial art Jiu Jitsu, and is worth $105 billion, says Musk is all talk and no action. As he posted on his Threads social media account: “I love this sport and I’ve been ready to fight since the day Elon challenged me; if he ever agrees on an actual date, you will hear it from me.”  
  
Shkreli, 5’9 and 155 pounds, of course, is not known for his physical attributes, but for the stuff that got him put away. He served over 4 years of an original seven-year sentence in three separate federal prisons for securities fraud including New York’s Metropolitan Detention Center where alleged crypto fraudster Sam Bankman-Fried is awaiting his October trial. He tells Fox Business that he has some tips on how SBF can survive in the infamous facility located in Brooklyn. “He needs to make friends with some of my Latino gang boss friends,” he said, without elaboration. 

Shkreli, however, was never charged for the deed he is perhaps most infamous for: Jacking up the price of the drug Daraprim, used to treat parasitic infections. He raised the price of the pill 5,455% to $750 a pill from $13.50, and in doing so, becoming the poster boy for greed in the pharmaceutical business. The controversy surrounding the pricing earned Shkreli notoriety and the moniker “Pharma Bro.” Shkreli doesn’t seem embarrassed by any of it. “The price (of a drug) should be whatever the company wants it to be…people think medicine grows on trees,” he added. 

Since leaving prison, Shkreli is by no means slumming it. He currently resides in a penthouse in Queens, NY, as he is not allowed to live in Manhattan as part of his parole conditions. He said he wants nothing do with pharma or hedge funds and says he’s plotting his future as an entrepreneur focused on AI. 

He created his own virtual healthcare assistant called DrGupta.ai, which he says will help revolutionize the medical field by eliminating costly physicians and replacing them with bots that could handle routine medical questions and procedures.  

“Physicians are the biggest cost to our healthcare system,” he told Fox Business. “AI should be able to handle more mundane requests” in a cost-efficient way. 
 
When he’s not planning his business comeback, and trying to get Musk’s attention, Shkreli says he follows politics, including the presidential race and is a big supporter of Donald Trump, who is seeking the GOP nomination amid multiple criminal indictments. He says he’s also friends with budding GOP presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy who was an investor in Shkreli’s former pharmaceutical company Retrophin, now called Travere Therapeutics. Ramaswamy didn’t immediately return a call for comment; Shkreli described him as “my biggest investor.” 

“From my experience, it’s clear that the government’s legal apparatus is appropriated by whatever motivates the individuals in power, and not by upholding the law,” he said about Trump’s legal entanglements. “What they’re doing to Trump is disgusting.”   

Upon leaving prison last May, Shkreli shared a selfie on Facebook with the caption, “getting out of real prison is easier than getting out of Twitter prison.”

His frustration continues. 

“Musk has been a savior for people like Kanye and Laura Loomer, but I guess free speech isn’t so free for me.” 

Apple is testing 3D printers to make the steel frames of some of its upcoming smartwatches, Bloomberg News reported Wednesday, citing people with knowledge of the matter.

The production technique would render obsolete the need to cut parts of metal into the product’s shape, reducing the time it takes to make the devices and also helping the environment, according to the report.

The approach has the potential to streamline Apple’s supply chain and if the tests with the Apple watches are successful, the company will look to use the technology on more products over the next several years, the report added.

Apple did not immediately respond to Reuters request for comment.

The company also plans to apply the process to its titanium Ultra watch, but the shift isn’t planned until 2024, the report said.

Apple is set to host their fall event on Sept. 12, where analysts believe the world’s most valuable company will unveil a new line of smartwatches and iPhones.

The Silicon Valley tycoons behind a secretive, $1 billion land grab near a California Air Force base are being accused of using “strong-arm mobster techniques” to bully residents — and local officials say their plans to build a utopian city won’t go through without a fight.

LinkedIn co-founder Reid Hoffman, philanthropist Laurene Powell Jobs and venture capitalist Marc Andreessen are among the tech tycoons behind Flannery Associates, a group that has targeted holdout landowners with a federal price-fixing lawsuit while securing some 55,000 acres near the military base in Solano County, Calif.

Flannery’s deep-pocketed backers, however, may now face a costly, complicated political battle to secure necessary approvals for their project east of Napa Valley, including rezoning the land for residential use.

Local officials including US Rep. John Garamendi (D-Calif.), whose district includes the base, told The Post they were baffled by the mysterious entity’s plans to build a futuristic city on the dry, inhospitable farmland, which is riddled with wind turbines and abandoned gas wells and lacks basic infrastructure including highway access.

“The strong-arm mobster techniques that they have used to acquire the land raise very, very serious questions about their integrity,” said Garamendi, a senior member on the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure. 

“They have clearly poisoned the well in Solano County,” Garamendi added. “Do they intend to develop in such a way as to protect Travis or not?”

Since 2018, Flannery Associates has become the largest landowner in Solano County — territory sandwiched between Napa, San Francisco and Sacramento.

The group bought so much real estate near Travis Air Force Base, with such secrecy, that the feds initially feared China had acquired the land for nefarious purposes.

Catherine Moy, the mayor of the city of Fairfield, said her office is “looking at every angle to try to stop” Flannery from proceeding with its plans. She estimated that “95% of the hundreds of people who have contacted me oppose this.”

Garamendi and Moy both said they first learned the names of the group’s backers after reading news reports last week.

In response, Moy said her office and other officials are already mounting a campaign to oppose the project if it were to come up for a vote — including the formation of a committee to coordinate the local response.

“I don’t think they can get it done. I think it’s a bad investment, unless they’re doing it for something else,” Moy said.

“Let’s be real — you can have these names of these billionaires who say they’re behind this or others are saying that, but they can also have connections to China and others. I’m just not buying it. We’re treating it like a full-on threat.”

In May, Flannery filed a federal lawsuit alleging that a group of landowners had violated the Sherman Antitrust Act by colluding to drive up the price of their property.

In July, three of the owners announced a potential settlement with Flannery, the New York Times reported. Other families recently filed a motion to dismiss the suit.

Flannery will need the local board of supervisors to sign off on zoning changes that were put in place in part to protect Travis — a critical hub known as the “Gateway to the Pacific,” which handles a huge volume of military air traffic, including supplies sent to Ukraine for the war with Russia.

Other hurdles include securing approvals from the regional branch of the Local Agency Formation Commission, or LAFCO, which regulates land annexations and changes to cities and districts.

The land owned by Flannery is also subject to federal regulations, including environmental laws related to endangered species that thrive in the area.

Even if it were to gain all necessary land and approvals, Flannery would likely need to spend billions on new infrastructure.

For example, Moy said the land is presently serviced by a single two-lane highway that’s so dangerous, it’s known as “Blood Alley” by locals “because there are so many crashes and deaths out there.”

Garamendi questioned whether the project’s developers had fully informed investors about the challenges the project would need to overcome to move forward.

“It’s incredibly stupid…no developer would ever spend $800 million without talking to local officials, but that’s what they’ve done here,” Garamendi said.

“Knowing what I do know about these extremely wealthy people that obviously have a lot of money to throw around, I’m going, you guys have no idea what you’re investing in,” he added.

Flannery also will seek to get support by bringing their plan for a referendum — an effort that began last week, when Fairfield residents received an anonymous “push poll” asking how they would vote if the city project was put on the ballot next year, according to a copy viewed by The Post.

“All of that protection for Travis depends upon the county and the zoning requirements that the county puts forth,” Garamendi said. “The push poll that was conducted by Flannery Associates, which is a total BS poll, but designed to set the stage, indicated right at the outset that they intended to do an initiative.”

The poll said the project would be a “new city with tens of thousands of new homes, a large solar energy farm, orchards with over a million new trees, and over ten thousand acres of new parks and open space” that is “estimated to generate thousands of jobs and hundreds of millions of dollars in tax revenue for Solano County.”

Flannery is led by Jan Sramek, a 36-year-old former Goldman Sachs trader.

Another key figure in the group is former Sequoia Capital partner Michael Moritz.

“We’re pleased to be engaged in productive discussions with local leaders about our vision to deliver good-paying jobs, affordable housing, walkable communities, and open space to Solano County,” Flannery spokesperson Brian Brokaw said in a statement.

“Our team is working closely with the community and local leaders to craft a shared vision for Solano County’s future, and our CEO Jan Sramek looks forward to speaking with Rep. Garamendi, Mayor Moy, and other local elected officials very soon.”

In July, Garamendi and fellow Democratic US Rep. Mike Thompson, whose district is also impacted, asked the Committee on Foreign Investment in the US (CFIUS) to investigate the group’s origins.

Flannery had earlier downplayed concerns about the project’s origins, asserting that 97% of the money had come from American investors, with the rest coming from British or Irish backers.

Nevertheless, Flannery is “in for a fight,” according to Moy.

“You don’t start shoving things at us five years after you start making plans,” Moy said. “That’s not how we roll out here. They have not made friends out here.”

“We will politically fight them. We will knock on everybody’s doors,” Moy added. “That’s how we get elected here – we are good at talking to our neighbors.”

This is just a drill!

The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) and the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) announced that the organizations have scheduled a nationwide test of their Emergency Alert System (EAS) and Wireless Emergency Alerts (WEA) at approximately 2:20 p.m. EST on Wednesday, Oct. 4.

Try not to be alarmed.

The WEA portion of the test will be directed at all consumer cell phones, while the EAS portion will be sent to radios and televisions.

Both of these tests are standard practices and have been run before.

The WEA message will arrive within 30 minutes and should appear on people’s cell phones during that time, reading: “THIS IS A TEST of the National Wireless Emergency Alert System. No action is needed.”

The EAS portion will last for 1 minute as radio and television broadcasters, cable systems, satellite
radio and television providers and wireline video providers announce: “This is a nationwide test of the Emergency Alert System, issued by the Federal Emergency Management Agency, covering the United States from 14:20 to 14:50 hours ET. This is only a test. No action is required by the public.”

The test message will display in either English or Spanish, depending on the language preference set by the owner of the device.

However, if severe weather or another significant event coincidentally occurs, the tests will be postponed and rescheduled for Wednesday, Oct. 11.

The tests are being planned to guarantee that the national emergency alert systems work effectively in the event of an actual emergency.

This comes as extreme weather events become more frequent across the globe.

In the U.S. alone, states including Florida, Louisiana, Texas, Nevada, California and Washington have suffered catastrophic weather events — including wildfires, record temperatures, tropical storms and Hurricane Idalia — in recent weeks.

Federal prosecutors are investigating Tesla’s use of company funds on a secret project that had been described internally as a house for Chief Executive Elon Musk, the Wall Street Journal reported Wednesday, citing people familiar with the matter.

Neither Musk nor a spokesman for the US Attorney’s office in Manhattan immediately responded to requests for comment.

No dollar figures were disclosed, and the newspaper said the house was near Austin, Texas.

The Journal reported in July that Tesla board members had investigated whether company resources were misused on the effort.

The Securities and Exchange Commission has also opened a civil probe, the Journal reported.

An SEC spokesperson said the agency does not comment on the existence or nonexistence of a possible investigation.

The probes are in their early stages and may not lead to charges, the Journal said.

Prosecutors were seeking information about personal benefits to Musk, the world’s richest man, as well as how much Tesla spent on the project and what it was for, the Journal reported.

The paper said prosecutors were also looking into a lower-than-expected driving range on Tesla’s electric vehicles.

Reuters reported in July that the cars often fail to achieve their advertised range estimates and projections reported by the cars’ own equipment, citing experts who tested or studied them.

Travelers are forking out big money for airfares at the moment, but a new Google tool may help with snagging cheaper flights.

While Google Flights already show whether current prices for your flight search are low, typical or high compared to past averages for the same route, it can now tell you the cheapest time to book trips.

According to its “reliable trend data”, the new search function offers insights on whether prices are overblown or at a discount.

“For example, these insights could tell you that the cheapest time to book similar trips is usually two months before departure, and you’re currently in that sweet spot,” Google said in a blog.

“Or you might learn that prices have usually dropped closer to takeoff, so you decide to wait before booking. Either way, you can make that decision with a greater sense of confidence.”

To help with this, travelers can turn on price tracking on Google Flights to receive automatic notifications for when fares drop significantly on chosen destination and dates.

Users will be notified via email — providing they are signed up with Google.

If you aren’t tied down to any specific dates, users can turn on “any dates” to receive emails about deals anytime in the next three to six months.

If you spot a rainbow “price guarantee” badge on certain flights, it means Google is confident the fare will not drop.

However, if you do book and that specific flight does drop, the tech titan will pay you the difference.

“When you book one of these flights, we’ll monitor the price every day before takeoff, and if the price does go down, we’ll pay you back the difference via Google Pay,” the blog explains.

However, as of now, the price guarantees are only part of a pilot program available for a select group of flights in the US.

Meanwhile, it also revealed other tips to help you travel on a budget.

“Last year, we shared money-saving insights based on historical pricing trends on Google Flights, the blog continued.

“We ran the numbers again with the latest data, and most of the tips from 2022 still hold true — taking a layover or avoiding weekend departures are among the best ways to save on your next flight booking.”

However, it noted the best time to book flights for the holiday season is in early October. “Average prices tend to be lowest 71 days before departure — a big change from our 2022 insights, which found that average prices were lowest just 22 days before departure. And the typical low price range is now 54-78 days before takeoff.”

ChatGPT creator OpenAI is on track to amass more than $1 billion in revenue over the next 12 months as more companies sign up to use its revolutionary chatbot, according to a report.

The Microsoft-backed artificial intelligence firm is earning more than $80 million in revenue per month, The Information reported on Tuesday, citing a person with direct knowledge of the situation.

OpenAI’s revenue growth has surged in the months since ChatGPT’s release to the public last November. The firm lost approximately $540 million last year while building ChatGPT, according to the report.

As of March of this year, OpenAI had “between 1 million and 2 million ChatGPT subscribers paying $20 per month,” the source reportedly added.

It wasn’t immediately clear how much of OpenAI’s windfall is coming from ChatGPT subscriptions. The company also sells companies access to its application programming interface, or API, so that developers can make use of the technology.

ChatGPT and other chatbots have many potential uses in the business world, from writing code to streamlining customer service and beyond. Some experts have warned the technology will cause major upheaval in the job market.

The Post has reached out to an OpenAI representative for comment.

ChatGPT, a so-called “large language model,” has built a massive following since its release last November, wowing the public with its ability to generate human-like responses to a wide variety of prompts.

At the same time, OpenAI has faced intense scrutiny from critics who are wary about its potential impact on society.

A recent study conducted by academics from the University of East Anglia found that ChatGPT has a “significant” bias toward liberal viewpoints, including the Democratic Party and left-leaning leaders in other countries.

In February, ChatGPT refused a prompt to write a story about Hunter Biden in the style of the New York Post but accepted a request to do so as if it were left-leaning CNN.

As The Post reported, experts are also concerned that ChatGPT and other AI technology, such as deepfake photos, will fuel the spread of misinformation during the 2024 presidential election cycle.

ChatGPT’s success prompted a surge in competition among Big Tech firms to develop chatbots and other, more advanced AI tools. Google has since released its own chatbot, called Bard, to mixed reviews.