Last week, Amazon founder Jeff Bezos’ personal security consultant Gaven De Becker went public with findings that concluded “with high confidence that the Saudis had access to Bezos’ phone.” Following The National Enquirer’s publishing of Jeff Bezos’ intimate text messages with Lauren Sanches, Bezos hired investigators to look into who was behind the data breach […]
Boeing’s Shortcuts Prove Shortsighted
The Department of Justice is investigating Boeing following two crashes of its 737 Max 8 plane six months apart—the first a LionAir flight out of Jakarta, and the second an Ethiopian Airlines flight out of Addis Ababa. The investigation of the world’s largest commercial airline manufacturer relates to Boeing’s business decisions regarding its nearly 400 […]
Hustle & Motivate: Nipsey Hussle’s Work to Bridge the Gap between Hip-Hop, Technology, Business, and Minority Communities
The minority business community mourns an influential and monumental businessman who passed away last Sunday in the community he worked hard to redevelop. Grammy-nominated artist and Los Angeles native Nipsey Hussle, born Ermias Asghedom, was a pillar who laid the foundation for the change breeding in the Crenshaw district, change wrought with technological advances and […]
Uber Has Acquired Careem to Expand in the Middle East
On March 26, 2019, Uber announced its agreement to acquire its Middle East competitor Careem Networks for $3.1 billion. Careem is a technology platform extending from “Morocco to Pakistan, Turkey to Sudan.” The app is popular among countries that prefer to use cash over credit. Careem’s success comes from its in-depth local knowledge and expertise, […]
General Motors: An American Zombie
President Trump turned to Twitter to comment on the historic Lordstown, Ohio, plant. General Motors operated the Lordstown plant for 52 years until the company opted to shut it down in March. The decision cost 1,500 jobs and landed GM in a lawsuit against the United Auto Workers. President Trump urged GM to either sell […]
Preventing Terrorist Content: Using Legal Liability to Incentivize Tech Companies to Develop More Effective AI
In the wake of the Christchurch shooting, The French Council of the Muslim Faith (CFCM) filed legal papers against the French branches of Facebook and YouTube for failing to remove related content fast enough. Under French law “broadcasting a message with violent content abetting terrorism, or a nature likely to seriously violate human dignity and […]
Honda Confirms Sixteenth U.S. Death Linked to Takata Airbag Inflators
After a joint investigation with the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, Honda confirmed that it was to blame for the death of a driver in a June 2018 crash in Arizona. This is the sixteenth death in the United States arising from faulty Takata airbag inflators. The potentially lethal defect occurs when Takata air bag […]
Tech Unicorn Investments
Lyft, Inc. made their long anticipated NASDAQ debut on Friday, March 29th and shares rose 23% in their first day. After the initial surge, the stock settled back down toward the end of the day, finishing up 8.7%. Prior to the debut, Lyft had faced major losses, as well as criticism of their company strategy […]
Walmart’s New Product: More Than Just a Tablet
In the world of ecommerce and technology, multinational retail chain Walmart continues to innovate in order to capture consumer mindshare. This past week, the retailer announced its plans to release its own Android tablet. Walmart is nesting its new product under its ONN store brand and hopes the tablet will compete on a lower price […]
Hyper-Secretive Economists Are Transforming How Amazon Does Business
Amazon is fueling the growth of an expanding workforce: tech economists. Although economists have long worked in the tech industry assisting with economic forecasting and market strategy, in recent years “PhD economists have started to play an increasingly central role in tech companies, tackling problems such as platform design, pricing, and policy.” Using machine-learning algorithms, […]