Twitter sues to force Musk to complete his $44B acquisition
In a fiery filing, Twitter accuses Musk of violating the merger agreement “because the deal he signed no longer serves his personal interests.”
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Indy Autonomous Challenge to return to Las Vegas
The Indy Autonomous Challenge and its driverless race cars made their first appearance at CES last January.
Far out: NASA unveils first image from new $10B telescope
The first image from the $10 billion James Webb Space Telescope is the farthest humanity has ever seen in both time and distance, closer to the dawn of time and the edge of the universe.
In leaked memo, Facebook tells managers low performers don’t belong
Facebook is instructing its engineering managers to identify and weed out their lowest performing employees as the company seeks to rein in costs amid an economic downturn in the long-booming tech industry.
Looming Musk-Twitter legal battle hammers company shares
Shares of Twitter slid more than 9% in the first day of trading after billionaire Elon Musk said that he was abandoning his $44 billion bid for the company and the social media platform vowed to challenge Musk in court to uphold the agreement.
Musk abandons $44B deal to buy Twitter; company says it will sue
Twitter could push for a $1 billion breakup fee that Musk agreed to pay under these circumstances. Instead, it looks ready to fight to complete the purchase, which the company’s board has approved and CEO Parag Agrawal has insisted he wants to consummate.
Twitter says it removes 1 million spam accounts a day
Twitter provided the figure in a call with executives Thursday during a briefing that aimed to shed more light on the company’s fake and bot accounts as it tussles with potential buyer Elon Musk over “spam bots.”
Survey: Many won’t rely on virtual options after COVID
Close to half or more of U.S. adults say they are not likely to attend virtual activities, receive virtual health care, have groceries delivered or use curbside pickup after the coronavirus pandemic is over.
Chip shortage leaves 95K GM vehicles incomplete in storage
The chip shortage has limited the supply of new vehicles on dealer lots in the U.S. to about 1 million, when in normal years it’s about 4 million at any given time.
Canadian campaign aims to lure Hoosier tech companies
A campaign launched last week by a Windsor, Ontario-based economic development organization is targeting small- to medium-sized tech companies in Indiana and three other midwestern states. The goal is to get them to expand or relocate into Windsor.
New road-safety chief: Agency to scrutinize auto-driver technology
Any new regulations the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration might impose would fill what critics say is an urgent need to address the growing use of driver-assistance systems on U.S. roads.
Elevate Ventures taps local entrepreneur Christopher Day as next CEO
Christopher Day, the CEO and cofounder of Indianapolis-based marketing tech firm DemandJump, will take over as CEO of the Indianapolis-based organization on July 18.
Semiconductor chip design center planned for West Lafayette
MediaTek USA announced Tuesday that the center, which is expected to create up to 30 jobs, represents its first partnership with an American university, as well as a new growth model for the company.
Crypto hedge fund Three Arrows Capital in default on $665M loan
The loan default comes at a perilous moment for cryptocurrencies, with investors enduring staggering losses. The market value for all cryptocurrencies stood just below $1 trillion on Monday; seven months ago, that figure approached $3 trillion.
IBJ Podcast: Ryan Vaughn talks sports, tech and whether he might someday run for mayor
IBJ reporter Mickey Shuey (in for vacationing host Mason King) talks with Vaughn about what he’s learned during his eight years as president of the Indiana Sports Corp. and why he’s leaving to take a job in the tech sector.
Tech sector layoffs are on the rise
Tech has hit a well-publicized slump, and within the last few months, layoffs have hit big companies like Netflix and Coinbase as well as smaller firms like Zionsville-based 120Water, Indianapolis-based Casted, and Terminus, which is based in Atlanta but has an employee base and its CEO in Indianapolis.
Serial entrepreneur Wechsler launches Spokenote tech startup
John Wechsler, who will step down as CEO of both Launch Fishers and the Indiana IoT Lab next month, will turn his attention to his latest venture: a startup that makes it easy to create and share videos via QR codes.
Yelp closing three U.S. offices, says remote work is its future
The offices the company is closing in three major cities were its most “consistently underutilized,” with only about 2% of workspaces in use each week.
Slovakian startup announces plans for Indiana battery plant
InoBat Auto, a Slovakian company that launched in 2019, said Thursday that it plans to open battery R&D and production sites in Indiana, in partnership with New York City-based Ideanomics Inc.
Amazon’s Alexa could soon mimic voice of dead relatives
The capability, unveiled at Amazon’s Re:Mars conference in Las Vegas, is in development and would allow the virtual assistant to mimic the voice of a specific person based on a less than a minute of provided recording.