General Motors may struggle to deliver its target of 1 million electric vehicles (EVs) by 2025, according to an analysis by research and analytics firm AutoForecast Solutions, as a slow ramp-up of its three US battery plants could limit production to just 550,000 vehicles a year by 2025. The analysis cited the slow ramp and the capacity constraints of GM’s joint venture with LG Energy Solution as the main factors limiting production, while the report also said access to components and materials would become increasingly difficult.
NYSE Arca Equities will investigate likely erroneous trades in IT provider CDW Corp after shares plunged as much as 96% to $7 in pre-market trading on 11 November, following investors mistaking the ticker for the newly listed CaliberCos (CWD.O). The exchange operator said it plans to bust all trades at or below $162.85 between 4am and 4.22am ET. Similar cases of share reaction due to mistaken identity have occurred previously, including in 2020, when investors confused China-based company Zoom Technologies’ stock for video conferencing app Zoom Video Communications.
Researchers from Stanford University have developed a wearable electronic skin that can replicate the key mechanisms of human touch, allowing amputees to experience a "human-like sense of touch" through prosthetic devices. Dubbed the monolithic e-skin, the device is embedded with pressure, strain and temperature sensors that can convert electrical signals into nerve-like communication. The development could also lead to increased tactile abilities and object sensing for remotely controlled robotics.
Scientists from Stanford University have created an electronic skin which can send signals directly to the brain, providing the sensation of touch through prosthetic limbs. The wearable, known as a monolithic e-skin, is embedded with sensors which can gauge temperature, pressure and strain and convert signals to electrical impulses in a mechanism similar to how nerve impulses communicate with the brain. The scientists detailed their discovery in a paper published in the journal Science. The prototype is now planned to be scaled up and the team seeks to create an implantable chip which can provide wireless communication through the peripheral nerve of the human body.
Bankrupt crypto exchange FTX has filed lawsuits in the US against its founder and former insiders of Embed, a stock trading platform that FTX acquired for $240m shortly before collapsing in November. FTX alleges that Embed was essentially worthless and riddled with bugs, but that founder Michael Giles failed to carry out proper due diligence. The lawsuits also claim that FTX insiders misappropriated company funds to acquire stakes in Embed as part of the transaction. FTX's new management is seeking to recover assets to repay customers since the bankruptcy and has tried to sell Embed, with the highest bidder being Giles offering just $1m.
Twitter owner Elon Musk said Twitter users making false claims of stolen elections "will be corrected" on its platform. However, many such claims have thrived on Twitter in the week since former President Donald Trump spent much of a CNN town hall digging in on his lie that the 2020 election was "rigged" against him. The contrast between Musk's promise and the extent the claims are spreading on Twitter underscores a major challenge for social media companies trying to call out election conspiracies and falsehoods that Trump and his supporters continue to promote.
Google has agreed to pay $39.9m to the US state of Washington to resolve a lawsuit accusing the search and advertising company of misleading consumers over its location tracking practices. The case concerned allegations that Google profited from personal data despite consumers disabling tracking technologies. Google said it denied wrongdoing in agreeing to settle the lawsuit. Last November, the company agreed to pay $391.5m to resolve similar allegations made by 40 US states.
The United States and Taiwan have reached a modest trade agreement as part of Washington's support for Taiwan and its demands from China. The deal is the first under the US-Taiwan Initiative on 21st Century Trade and is expected to set the stage for a more significant agreement. The agreement aims to cut red tape at customs, reduce waiting times for US businesses in Taiwan and commits to adopting measures to combat bribery and encourage more trade with small to medium-sized enterprises. There is widespread bipartisan support for Taiwan in Washington, and the island country remains a prosperous democracy that split from China in 1949.
The US and Taiwan have reached a trade agreement which will cut red tape and waiting times for US businesses seeking to export to Taiwan, while also committing to measures to combat corruption, and boost small and medium enterprises. The deal does not require the approval of Congress. The agreement is being viewed as a modest first step towards "a robust and high-standard trade agreement".
Dominic Barton, the former global managing partner of McKinsey, appeared before the Canadian House of Commons committee to answer questions about ties between the Canadian Infrastructure Bank (CIB) and McKinsey. One of the main talking points regarding the matter was newly released emails showing Zak Cutler, a McKinsey partner, organized a CIB workshop which included Barton, even though he had told Parliament that he had no contact with McKinsey during his brief tenure as Canada’s ambassador to China earlier this year. The committee had obtained the emails as evidence in an examination of McKinsey’s role in the creation of CIB, and there were concerns over the ties between McKinsey with Barton, who chaired the economic advisory council that recommended the creation of the CIB while at McKinsey. McKinsey has received over $100m in federal contract work since the Liberals formed government back in 2015.
Chinese comedian Li Haoshi has been fined $2.6m, and his employer has been fined $1.3m, after Li made a statement, deemed by authorities to be offensive to the Chinese military, in a live broadcast. Li was performing in Shanghai, where he quipped, in reference to two dogs that he adopted, that they "were able to win battles, with a first-rate style". The phrase Li was using alluded to propaganda descriptions of the People’s Liberation Army’s strength, and became associated with President Xi Jinping after he first used it. Critics argue that China's sensitivity to even the smallest slight against the military is symptomatic of increasing nationalism and authoritarianism in the country.
The US Supreme Court has thrown out a case aimed at making Google and Twitter liable for videos that endorsed terrorist group Islamic State. Two similar but separate cases against the companies were considered. The Supreme Court upheld the Communications Decency Act's Section 230, which prevents websites from being held liable for content posted by users. The family of Nohemi Gonzalez, who was killed in a terrorist attack in Paris in 2015, had claimed Google shared advertising returns from YouTube videos containing Isis propaganda. The court rejected the case and related claims against Twitter.
The Biden administration's cumbersome bureaucracy, such as the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), is making every American pay extra for energy and energy-related products. The administration argues that it is a reaction to the climate crisis. While carbon emissions are down due to natural replacement of coal by natural gas, Biden's administration has opted for executive overreach. The White House has expanded bureaucracy in several federal agencies, including the Office of Comptroller of the Currency, Securities and Exchange Commission, and the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission. Support for EVs has been pushed through regulations and executive orders amid inflation and higher gasoline prices.
The University System of Georgia may follow in the footsteps of Florida and Texas by axing diversity, equity and inclusion positions across its campuses. Georgia's public universities suffered a budget cut of $66m, and in response, Lt. Gov. Burt Jones has given the chancellor, Sonny Perdue, an ultimatum to find out what spending is taking place in DEI departments across Georgia's universities. Perdue has been given until the end of June 2022 to provide information on the number of staff members, job titles, descriptions and salaries, while Jones has also requested how much funding comes from the state budget, and if state funding is being misappropriated. Heritage Foundation has conducted research on DEI positions across America, revealing that the average university has 45 DEI staff members, compared with 10 positions spent on assisting students with disabilities, as required by law, and 1.5 times the amount of history professors.
Ryan Manucha has won the Donner Prize for his book on interprovincial trade in Canada. Manucha's "Booze, Cigarettes and Constitutional Dust-Ups: Canada's Quest for Interprovincial Free Trade," has been dubbed the country's best public policy book. The prize, which is typically worth CAD$30,000, was awarded $60,000 this year to celebrate the prize's 25th anniversary.
Xanana Gusmao, revered for leading the resistance to Indonesia’s quarter-century occupation and creating a permanent sea boundary with Australia that awarded the young country the majority of future oil and gas in the Timor Sea, is pursuing the prime ministership in Sunday’s parliamentary election, hoping to finally realise an ambition to pipe liquefied natural gas from the $71 billion offshore Greater Sunrise fields to the country’s south coast. Under the terms of Timor-Leste’s maritime border agreement with Australia, it would see 70 per cent of the royalties from Sunrise if the gas was piped to its shores, or 80 per cent if the processing took place instead in Darwin, as has been the preference of Woodside, which holds a 33.44 per cent stake in the project alongside Timor-Leste itself (56.56 per cent) and Japan’s Osaka Gas (10 per cent). Amid local enthusiasm, there have been major doubts raised about the flow-on effects from this project and the viability of piping gas to Timor-Leste, since most jobs and contracts would go to foreign workers and companies.
Elon Musk, Twitter owner, has called for an audit of Microsoft as one of its apps reportedly accessed information from Twitter without notifying the company. Musk's lawyer has sent the demand letter regarding alleged misuse of Twitter user data by Microsoft, despite the tech giant's partnership with the social media platform. Details of how the data was used or where it went remain unclear, but Musk has suggested that Microsoft has used Twitter data to develop AI language systems, calling this "illegal”.
Clinical trials in young children have shown that injection-free vaccine patches are as safe and effective as traditional jabs, according to researchers. Micron Biomedical's "microarray patches", which have the backing of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and the US Centres for Disease Control, can be easily transported and simply applied with a minimal amount of training. As well as eliminating the need for needles, the patches are easier to store in large quantities and produce fewer waste
syringes and vials. Vaccine patches against Covid-19, seasonal flu, HPV, typhoid and rotavirus are at various stages of development.
Krafton, the South Korean gaming company backed by Tencent, has received approval from Indian authorities to resume its popular battle-royale game, which had been blocked in the country due to concerns about data-sharing and mining in China.
Top advertising agency GroupM has upgraded Twitter from "high risk" to "cautiously optimistic" following the appointment of Linda Yaccarino as CEO, according to the Financial Times. The ad firm had labelled the social media site high-risk after Elon Musk's takeover in 2016, citing issues such as a wave of impersonations and the departure of Twitter executives. Musk subsequently laid off half the workforce to curb costs. However, as the amount of harmful content on the site subsided and Musk replaced senior heads, GroupM reconsidered and placed Twitter back on its approved advertising platforms list.
