News of the Cyber World

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US Government Supports Online Censorship

U.S. Government Sends Billions in Taxpayer Dollars to Architects of Online Censorship

The Foundation for Freedom Online reports that the Global Alliance for Responsible Media (GARM) members, which have been accused of censoring online speech and attempting to silence media outlets including Breitbart News, have received billions in federal contracts.

The federal government is sending billions of U.S. taxpayer dollars to four big global advertising agencies, which include some of the leading architects of online censorship, according to a report by the Foundation for Freedom Online.

A congressional investigation recently uncovered overt political bias in the leadership of GARM, which is being used to control online speech and silence conservatives, the House Judiciary Committee said in a report released last month.

GARM co-founder Rob Rakowitz, for example, once complained in an email about people “advocating for freedom of speech online,” and about “extreme global interpretation of the US Constitution.” Rakowitz has also criticized the U.S. Constitution for being written “by white men exclusively.”

“GARM and its members discussed a strategy of blocking certain news outlets like Fox News, The Daily Wire, and Breitbart News,” the report added, pointing to an email from a top executive associated with the coalition stating that he “hated their ideology and bullshit.”

The congressional report went on to point out a number of incidents in which GARM has tried to punish any site or platform that strayed from “brand safe” speech:

Other entities targeted by GARM include Elon Musk’s Twitter, now X, after it was initially purchased by the tech billionaire. The report states that GARM tried to direct all of its members — corporate giants like Coca-Cola and Unilever who together account for 90% of global advertising dollars — to “stop all paid advertisement” on the platform after Musk purchased it. The report states that GARM “bragged about” the fact that Twitter was “80% below revenue forecasts” after its effort.

GARM also worked to pressure Spotify over Joe Rogan’s podcast, the report shows, specifically over the host’s claims that young, healthy people didn’t need a COVID vaccine. Rakowitz, GARM’s leader, admits in private emails that threats like the one it made to Spotify “gets us into hot water by way of anticompetitive and collusive behaviors.”

NASA Still Needs to Bring Its Astronauts Home

NASA Is ‘Evaluating All Options’ for Bringing Home Astronauts Stranded in Space

Elon Musk’s SpaceX is reportedly working on a plan with NASA to fly astronauts stranded by Boeing’s Starliner spacecraft home after eight weeks of the crew being in orbit.

“NASA is evaluating all options for the return of agency astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams from the International Space Station as safely as possible. No decisions have been made and the agency will continue to provide updates on its planning,” NASA spokesperson Josh Finch told Ars Technica after being asked if the crew would return on Starliner or the Dragon spacecraft.

Notably, NASA astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams became the first people to launch into orbit inside a Boeing Starliner on June 5. NASA officials initially said the two Starliner crew members could return to Earth as soon as June 14 — just eight days after going into orbit.

Starliner had faced a few problems, such as helium leaks and failing thrusters, but officials downplayed these difficulties, saying they were minor issues.

“Those are pretty small, really, issues to deal with,” Mark Nappi, vice president and manager of Boeing’s Commercial Crew Program, said. “We’ll figure them out for the next mission. I don’t see these as significant at all.”

Days turned into weeks, and weeks turned into months, while NASA and Boeing examined the technical problems further, finding that “the more pressing concern was the failure of multiple reaction control system thrusters that are essential to steering Starliner during its departure from the space station and setting up a critical engine burn to enter Earth’s atmosphere,” Ars Technica reported.

Chevron Leaves Cali

Chevron to Move Headquarters from California to Texas amid Stricter Energy Regulations

Chevron, America’s second-largest oil company, has announced it will move its headquarters from California to Texas as the leftist state continues to throttle businesses.

The company, which operates multiple crude oil fields, technical facilities, and refineries and supplies more than 1,800 retail stations in California, announced Friday that its home base will be moved from San Ramon, California, to Houston, Texas.

Chevron already has more employees in the Houston area than in California, with roughly 7,000 workers there compared to approximately 2,000 employees in San Ramon, which is near San Francisco.

The oil giant’s chairman and CEO Mike Wirth and vice chairman Mark Nelson will move to Houston before the end of 2024 “to co-locate with other senior leaders and enable better collaboration and engagement with executives, employees, and business partners,” the announcement stated.

The move comes as California becomes a more hostile environment for businesses, especially those in the oil and gas industry.

Chevron has repeatedly called out a law that authorizes the California Energy Commission (CEC) to set a maximum gross gasoline refining margin and a penalty for refiners that exceed it.

Intel Will Lay Off 15000 Workers

Kamalanomics: Intel Announces Dismal Financial Results, Will Lay Off 15,000 Workers

Intel, the world’s largest chipmaker, has unveiled a sweeping $10 billion cost savings plan that includes cutting over 15,000 jobs, representing approximately 15 percent of its global workforce. Meanwhile, the administration is set to hand over $8.5 billion as part of the CHIPS act designed to create high tech jobs.

The Verge reports that Intel CEO Pat Gelsinger announced the significant restructuring in a memo to employees, acknowledging the “painful news” and the challenging road ahead for the company. The layoffs come as Intel grapples with disappointing financial performance, reporting a $1.6 billion loss in Q2 2024, a substantial increase from the $437 million loss in the previous quarter.

Despite hitting key product and process technology milestones, Intel’s revenues have not grown as expected, and the company has yet to fully capitalize on emerging trends like AI. Gelsinger admitted, “Our revenues have not grown as expected — and we’ve yet to fully benefit from powerful trends, like AI.”

As part of the cost-cutting measures, Intel plans to reduce its R&D and marketing spend by billions each year through 2026. Additionally, the company will slash capital expenditures by more than 20 percent this year and restructure to eliminate non-essential work. Intel will also review all active projects and equipment to ensure it is not overspending.

While Intel’s chipmaking Foundry business has been a major source of losses, with $7 billion in operating losses in 2023 and another $2.8 billion in the latest quarter, the company’s products themselves remain profitable. Almost all the recent losses can be attributed to the Foundry division, while sales remain relatively stable, and the PC and server businesses continue to be profitable.

Despite the challenges, Intel is set to receive up to $8.5 billion in US government funding through the CHIPS Act. However, investors have expressed discontent with the company’s performance, with Intel becoming the worst-performing tech stock in the S&P 500 this year, according to CNBC.

Tesla in Troubles Again

Washington State Patrol: Tesla’s ‘Full Self Driving’ System Implicated in Fatal Motorcycle Crash

Washington State authorities have confirmed that a Tesla operating on Elon Musk’s “Full Self Driving” system was involved in a fatal crash with a motorcyclist.

AP News reports that in a recent development, investigators from the Washington State Patrol have determined that a 2022 Tesla Model S, which struck and killed a motorcyclist near Seattle in April, was operating on the company’s “Full Self Driving” (FSD) system at the time of the crash. This revelation comes after authorities downloaded information from the vehicle’s event-data recorder, according to agency spokesman Capt. Deion Glover. The investigation is still ongoing, and the Snohomish County Prosecutor will determine if any charges will be filed in the case.

The driver of the Tesla, a 56-year-old man, admitted to using the Autopilot system and looking at his cellphone while the vehicle was in motion. In a probable-cause document, a trooper wrote, “The next thing he knew there was a bang and the vehicle lurched forward as it accelerated and collided with the motorcycle in front of him.” The driver was subsequently arrested for investigation of vehicular homicide “based on the admitted inattention to driving, while on Autopilot mode, and the distraction of the cell phone while moving forward, putting trust in the machine to drive for him,” according to the affidavit.

The motorcyclist, identified as 28-year-old Jeffrey Nissen of Stanwood, Washington, was pronounced dead at the scene after being found under the Tesla.

This incident marks at least the second fatality in the United States involving Tesla’s “Full Self Driving” system. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) has previously reported finding one fatality and 75 crashes while the system was in use, although it remains unclear whether the system was directly at fault in the earlier fatality.

Tesla CEO Elon Musk recently stated that “Full Self Driving” should be able to operate without human supervision by the end of this year, reiterating his vision of a fleet of robotaxis. However, he acknowledged that his predictions on this matter have been “overly optimistic in the past.” Musk also expressed confidence that government regulators would not be a limiting factor in deploying robotaxis, stating, “If you’ve got billions of miles that show that in the future, unsupervised FSD is safer than humans, what regulator could really stand in the way of that?”

Lemon Sues Musk

Don Lemon Sues Elon Musk and X/Twitter for Fraud and Breach of Contract

Former CNN anchor Don Lemon has filed a lawsuit against billionaire Elon Musk and his social media platform X (formerly Twitter), alleging fraud and breach of contract after their content partnership abruptly ended in March.

CBS News reports that, according to the lawsuit, Musk and X had promised Lemon full creative control over his content, even if the Tesla CEO and his executives disliked it. The deal, which was supposed to guarantee Lemon $1.5 million in the first year, never materialized, and the former anchor claims he never received any payment.

Lemon’s attorney, Carney R. Shegerian, stated in an email to CBS MoneyWatch that the case is “straightforward.” He alleged that X executives used Lemon to bolster their advertising sales pitch, only to cancel the partnership and damage his reputation. “You don’t have to be a genius to see the fraud, negligence, and reputational damage here,” Shegerian said, adding that Lemon is committed to defending his name and looks forward to their day in court.

The content deal, which was highly publicized, fell apart less than five months after its announcement and just days before the first broadcast was set to air on X in March. Musk criticized Lemon’s approach, calling it “basically just ‘CNN, but on social media.’”

Lemon released the first episode on social media after the deal was canceled, featuring a sometimes tense conversation with Musk. In the interview, the billionaire defended his prescription usage of ketamine, claiming it helped alleviate a “negative chemical mind state.” Musk also complained about Lemon’s questioning style, describing it as “not cogent.”

The lawsuit alleges that Musk and his representatives, including X CEO Linda Yaccarino, intentionally misrepresented their intentions. Lemon claims they aimed to capitalize on his name and professional status to rehabilitate X’s reputation after major advertisers left the platform following Musk’s endorsement of an allegedly antisemitic post.

Lemon states that he incurred “hundreds of thousands of dollars” to establish his own media company to produce content for X.