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[ad_1] Eric Adams, mayor of New York, speaks during the U.S. Conference of Mayors winter meeting in Washington, D.C., on Thursday, Jan. 20, 2022. Eric Lee | Bloomberg | Getty Images New York City banned TikTok on government-owned devices Wednesday, pointing to security concerns that have made the app a target of bipartisan scrutiny across the country. Congress already voted to ban TikTok on federal devices last year and several states have taken similar steps. The concern generally stems from TikTok's ownership by China-based tech company ByteDance, since many policymakers fear that structure could make U.S. users' information vulnerable to being accessed by the Chinese government, if forced to hand over information to comply with Chinese law . An NYC City Hall Spokesperson told WNBC in a statement that the ban was a result of the city's Cyber Command's conclusion that TikTok "posed a security threat to the city's technical networks." City agencies h

[ad_1] Varda's first manufacturing satellite and reentry vehicle attached to a Rocket Lab Photon bus. Rocket Lab Space startup Varda received long-awaited approval from the Federal Aviation Administration to bring its first spacecraft back to earth after a stint manufacturing drugs in space. Varda's small W-Series 1 capsule, or W-1, has been stuck in orbit since it launched eight months ago. The company has awaited regulatory authorization to make a landing attempt in Utah, at the Air Force's Utah Test and Training Range. The FAA confirmed on Wednesday it had issued the license to Varda. The FAA's approval means Varda will try to land the W-1 mission on Feb. 21. "We are incredibly proud to have this opportunity with our government partners, and appreciate their dedication to safe innovation in the United States," Varda said in a statement. The W-1 mission is a demonstration of the company's automated in-space manufacturing process. Last year, Varda

[ad_1] Nikola TRE FCEV2 Courtesy: Nikola Electric truck maker Nikola is still short of winning shareholder approval to issue new stock and has once again adjourned its annual meeting to try to win more support, the company said on Thursday. Nikola had adjourned its June 6 annual meeting until Thursday to try to drum up more support for the proposal. Current law in Delaware, where Nikola is incorporated, requires approval from owners of at least 50% of the company's outstanding shares to pass a share increase proposal. However, that law may change on Aug. 1. Under amendments approved by Delaware's state legislature and now awaiting signature by the state's governor, a company incorporated in the state will need only a simple majority of shares voted to approve an increase in authorized shares. Nikola's meeting is now adjourned again until 4 p.m. ET on Aug. 3, when the new rule may be in effect. Nikola said that proposal would have passed on Thursday had the new ru

[ad_1] Podcaster and comedian Joe Rogan. Vivian Zink | SYFY | NBCUniversal Spotify has signed a new blockbuster deal with polarizing podcaster and comedian Joe Rogan, but this time, his show won't be exclusive to Spotify, the company announced Friday in a news release. The multiyear deal with Rogan, the founder of "The Joe Rogan Experience," is said to be worth about $250 million, according to The Wall Street Journal, which first reported on the deal. The show was the No. 1 podcast in the U.S. for the third quarter of last year, according to Edison Research . Spotify also said it's expanding the partnership to allow the show to be available on other platforms. Shares of the audio streaming giant rose roughly 1.5% Friday. Spotify first brought "The Joe Rogan Experience" to its platform exclusively in 2020 in a deal that was reportedly worth more than $100 million. The talk-show style podcast is known — and often criticized for — its edgy approach and g

[ad_1] The extraordinary activist-investor interest in Salesforce (CRM) eased further in the second quarter, according to the latest regulatory filings from influential Wall Street pros. These big-name investors also made moves in nine other Club stocks during a strong three-month stretch that ended the best first half for the market in years. Starting with Salesforce, Dan Loeb's Third Point shed its stake in the second quarter. Jeff Smith's Starboard Value — the first known activist to target the enterprise software giant — cut its stake by 21% in the three months ended June 30. Those sales are among the Club-related trades revealed this week by the latest batch of securities filings known as 13Fs. Submitted to U.S. regulators on a quarterly basis, these disclosures offer a look — albeit with some limitations — into the investment decisions that closely followed Wall Street pros have made. CRM .SPX YTD mountain Salesforce's year-to-date stock performance, in compariso

[ad_1] Social network Twitter, recently rebranded as X, has commandeered the handle "@music" from open-source software developer Jeremy Vaught, who told CNBC he created the account in 2007, and had built a community of around half a million followers there. While Elon Musk-led X gave Vaught no choice but to surrender the desirable username on its platform, he was offered the option to choose from a list of other handles related to the topic of music. His X-assigned account, which is "@musicfan," is not to his liking but he's settling for it for now. X ported his followers over to the new account at least, he said. The move on the part of the social media company raises questions about the worth of a handle on its platform. X terms of service , last updated in May, say, "We may also remove or refuse to distribute any Content on the Services, limit distribution or visibility of any Content on the service, suspend or terminate users, and reclaim username

[ad_1] China is restricting the exports of gallium and germanium, two metals key to the manufacturing of semiconductors, its commerce ministry said in a statement late on July 3, escalating a technological trade war over access to microchips with Europe and the United States. Nurphoto | Nurphoto | Getty Images China is restricting the exports of two metals key to the manufacturing of semiconductors, its commerce ministry said late Monday , escalating a technological trade war with Europe and the United States over access to microchips. These new regulations — imposed on grounds of national security — will require exporters to seek a license to ship some gallium and germanium compounds starting Aug. 1, China's commerce ministry said . Applications for these export licenses must identify importers and end users and stipulate how these metals will be used. This move is part of an intensifying global battle for technological supremacy — with China as the world's largest sourc

[ad_1] A rendering of Telesat's low earth orbit broadband constellation Telesat Shares of Canadian telecommunications satellite operator Telesat surged on Friday after the company announced it would swap suppliers for its planned Lightspeed global internet network. Canadian space company MDA will now build the Lightspeed satellites, taking the place of French-Italian manufacturer Thales Alenia Space and resulting in "total capital cost savings" of about $2 billion, Telesat announced. The company expects to begin launching the first Lightspeed satellites in mid-2026, with global service beginning once the first 156 satellites are in orbit. The full network is planned to consist of 198 satellites. Telesat stock surged as much as much as 64% with heavy volume in early trading from its previous close at $8.45 a share, before slipping slightly to closer to 50%. "I'm incredibly proud of the Telesat team for their innovative work to further optimize ... resulting

[ad_1] Bloomberg Creative | Bloomberg Creative Photos | Getty Images When Elon Musk announced his offer to buy Twitter for more than $40 billion , he told the public his vision for the social media site was to make sure it's "an inclusive arena for free speech." Musk's actions since closing the deal last year have illuminated how he sees the balance internet platforms must strike in protecting free expression versus user safety. While he's lifted restrictions on many previously suspended accounts including former President Donald Trump's , he's also placed new limitations on journalists' and others' accounts for posting publicly available flight information that he equated to doxxing . The saga of Musk's Twitter takeover has underscored the complexity of determining what speech is truly protected. That question is particularly difficult when it comes to online platforms, which create policies that impact wide swaths of users from differen

[ad_1] A Falcon Heavy rocket launches the USSF-67 mission on January 15, 2023 from NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida. SpaceX The U.S. military is raising the stakes — and widening the field — on a high-profile competition for Space Force mission contracts. The Space Force plans to buy even more rocket launches from companies in the coming years than previously expected, granting more companies a chance at securing billions in potential contracts. "This is a huge deal," Col. Doug Pentecost, the deputy program executive officer of the U.S. Space Force's Space Systems Command, told reporters during a briefing this week. Earlier this year the Space Force kicked off the process to buy five years' worth of launches, under a lucrative program known as National Security Space Launch (NSSL) Phase 3. Now it's boosting the scale. The U.S. sees a rising impetus to improve its military capabilities in space, spurring the need to almost triple the number of launch

[ad_1] Artificial intelligence is making a big effect on the auto industry. Revenue from sales of autonomous vehicles is anticipated to top $70 billion by 2033, according to Future Market Insights. But self-driving cars powered by AI are not the only change — AI technology is already being infused into vehicle production.  As part of that industry-wide trend, the BMW Group is now shifting gears to rely more heavily on AI to create a leaner and more efficient manufacturing process.  Inside BMW'S plant Spartanburg in South Carolina. CNBC Over the past few years, BMW has upgraded its Spartanburg, South Carolina, plant to include new AI capabilities. The factory spans more than 8 million square feet and produces about 60% of all BMWs sold in the U.S. That works out to more than 1,500 vehicles produced daily. In the body shop, robots weld between 300 and 400 metal studs onto the frame of every SUV. That's about half a million studs each day applied by machines and now managed

[ad_1] SpaceX, Twitter and electric car maker Tesla CEO Elon Musk looks on as he speaks during his visit at the Vivatech technology startups and innovation fair at the Porte de Versailles exhibition center in Paris, on June 16, 2023.  Alain Jocard | Afp | Getty Images Tesla reported earnings after the bell, showing a record for quarterly revenue but lower margins thanks to price cuts and incentives. The stock price remained flat after the initial report, but began dropping during the earnings call as CEO Elon Musk and other executives failed to deliver precise specs and start of delivery dates for the Cybertruck, and for a robotaxi-ready vehicle. Musk and other execs also said during the call that vehicle production would slow down during Q3 due to shutdowns for factory improvements. It's now down about 4% after hours. Here's how the company did versus expectations: Revenue: $24.93 billion, versus $24.47 billion expected according to Refinitiv. Earnings: 91 cents per s

[ad_1] Viasat 's stock plummeted in trading on Thursday after the company disclosed its most recently launched communications satellite suffered a malfunction. The Carlsbad, California-based company on Wednesday said an "unexpected event occurred" while deploying the reflector of its Viasat-3 Americas satellite "that may materially impact" performance. The satellite launched successfully in April on SpaceX's Falcon Heavy rocket. "We're disappointed by the recent developments," Viasat CEO Mark Dankberg said in a statement. Shares of Viasat fell 28.5% on Thursday to close at $30.74 a share, its biggest one-day loss since going public in December 1996. Sign up here to receive weekly editions of CNBC's Investing in Space newsletter . Viasat did not disclose the identity of the reflector's manufacturer in its release. Dankberg said his company is "working closely" with the manufacturer to resolve the problem. A Viasat spokespe

[ad_1] Two weeks into the second half of the year, we put together a quick look at the top four performers and the bottom four in Jim Cramer's Charitable Trust, the stock portfolio we use for the Investing Club. The first full trading week of July saw Wall Street under some pressure Friday after a multisession winning streak. Gains month-to-date of roughly 2.4% for the Nasdaq add to the tech-heavy index's best first half (up nearly 32%) in four decades. There are some new names on both the July leaders and July laggards list since we did this exercise looking at our January to June portfolio performance. July leaders HAL mountain 2023-06-30 Halliburton stock performance since June 30 close Oilfield services giant Halliburton (HAL) flips from a first-half loser (down 16%) to top our second-half winner. Month-to-date, HAL gained nearly 12%, a recent rally that we took advantage of Friday morning by booking in some profits. During our Monthly Meeting on Wednesday, we told mem