CNN – Social Media/Technology

By Samantha Murphy Kelly, CNN Business Samsung is still betting on a future where smartphones fold in half. But first it must convince users that’s a future they want. At its annual Unpacked event on Wednesday, Samsung will focus on its foldable smartphones instead of its flagship Note devices — despite lackluster sales for foldable

By Brian Fung, CNN Business Hackers have stolen some $600 million in cryptocurrency from the decentralized finance platform Poly Network, in what it says is the largest theft in the industry’s history. A vulnerability in Poly Network allowed the thief to make off with the funds, the platform said Tuesday, begging the attacker to return

By Brian Fung and Donie O’Sullivan, CNN Business Twitter has suspended Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene’s account for one week following another violation of the platform’s rules, the company said Tuesday. Greene tweeted on Monday that the Food and Drug Administration “should not approve the covid vaccines.” She also claimed the vaccines were “failing” and that

By Laura He, CNN Business A sexual assault scandal has rocked Alibaba and led to departures at the Chinese e-commerce giant. The company on Monday said it has fired an employee after he was accused of sexually assaulting a woman who also works at Alibaba. The man confessed to actions that Alibaba deemed “in serious

By Yoonjung Seo, CNN Business Samsung’s vice chairman — and de facto leader — Lee Jae-yong is to be released on parole this week, South Korea’s Justice Ministry said on Monday. Lee, also known as Jay Y. Lee, was sentenced to two and a half years behind bars in January after the Seoul High Court

By Clare Duffy, CNN Business Facebook has many pressing problems, from proposed antitrust legislation to accusations that the company is contributing to vaccine misinformation. But when CEO Mark Zuckerberg joined a recent conference call with analysts to discuss its latest quarterly results, much of the focus was on something far removed from those issues: the

By Brian Fung, CNN Business All of Amazon’s US warehouse employees will once again be required to wear masks indoors beginning on Monday, whether they are vaccinated or not, the company confirmed to CNN Business on Friday. The move comes one day after Amazon said it would delay its office return date for corporate employees

By Rachel Metz, CNN Business Earlier this year, videos of Tom Cruise started popping up on TikTok of the actor doing some surprisingly un-Tom-Cruise-like stuff: goofing around in an upscale men’s clothing store; showing off a coin trick; growling playfully during a short rendition of Dave Matthews Band’s “Crash Into Me.” In one video, he

By Diksha Madhok, CNN Business India’s top court has handed Amazon a major victory in its fight with Reliance Industries for the country’s growing e-commerce market. On Friday, the Supreme Court of India ruled in favor of the American company’s efforts to stop its rival Reliance from buying Future Retail, a local, cash-strapped retailer. The

By Jackie Wattles, CNN Business Virgin Galactic says it’s re-opening ticket sales for the first time in years, giving anyone who can afford it the chance to reserve a seat on the company’s rocket-powered suborbital space plane for $450,000, a significant markup over what tickets were previously sold for. The news comes after Virgin Galactic

By Rishi Iyengar, CNN Business Amazon on Thursday pushed back its office return date until early next year amid a surge in Covid-19 cases from the Delta variant, making it one of the most significant delays yet in the tech industry. The online retail giant’s corporate workers in multiple countries, including the United States, were

By Samantha Murphy Kelly, CNN Business Smartphone season is underway, and the headlines will almost certainly be the same as always: thinner, sleeker, faster models are coming to consumer pockets. But if a new push from the US government succeeds, future smartphones may also have to be designed for something extra — the ability to

By Michelle Toh, CNN Business Nintendo’s pandemic boom may be coming to an end. The Japanese company said Thursday that sales fell nearly 10% in the quarter ended June, a sign that fewer people stayed at home to play video games as some countries around the world began to reopen. Operating profit dropped more than

By Sara Ashley O’Brien, CNN Business Last year, Uber, Lyft, DoorDash and Instacart succeeded in getting Californians to vote in favor of a ballot measure exempting them from classifying drivers and delivery workers as employees. Now, the companies are in the early stages of taking a similar approach in Massachusetts. The coalition representing these gig

By Jackie Wattles, CNN Business The long-awaited test flight of Boeing’s Starliner, which is designed to carry astronauts and compete with SpaceX’s Crew Dragon spacecraft, is once again delayed. It’s just one more setback in a series of them for a trial that NASA and Boeing desperately want to go off without any major issues

By Rishi Iyengar, CNN Business Activision Blizzard is raking in the cash even as the fallout over a harassment and discrimination lawsuit threatens its enormous business. The gaming company behind hugely popular titles such as “Call of Duty,” “World of Warcraft” and “Candy Crush” reported revenues of around $2.3 billion for the quarter that ended

By Rishi Iyengar, CNN Business Even if you’re not an avid gamer, there’s a good chance you’ve heard of “Call of Duty,” “World of Warcraft” or “Candy Crush.” Those games, which are played by hundreds of millions of people around the world and have in some cases attained the status of cultural phenomena, all belong

By Sara Ashley O’Brien, CNN Business Next time you’re walking alone at night or meeting up with a stranger for a first date, one startup would like to listen in — with the goal of protecting you. Citizen, an app best known and sometimes criticized for sending real-time crime and emergency alerts that can put

By Sara Ashley O’Brien, CNN Business A National Labor Relations Board official is recommending that the results of the milestone union election at an Amazon warehouse in Alabama held earlier this year be scrapped and that a new election be held due to illegal misconduct on the part of the e-commerce giant. The recommendation from

By Clare Duffy, CNN Business Bill Gates and Melinda French Gates are officially divorced, after a judge approved their split on Monday. The powerhouse couple — who met at Microsoft in 1987 and married in 1994 — announced in May that they would be ending their marriage after 27 years, saying, “we no longer believe

By Samantha Murphy Kelly, CNN Business Google on Monday kicked off smartphone season by previewing its new Pixel 6 and Pixel 6 Pro smartphones. But it also signaled a new era for the Pixel, shifting it away from a mid-tier line with a niche user base to premium status, in a move that could position

By Jackie Wattles, CNN Business After several delays, Boeing is now slated to launch its long-anticipated Starliner spacecraft — which is built to carry NASA astronauts — on an uncrewed test flight to the International Space Station, a follow-up to the company’s botched first attempt 18 months ago. It will be a decisive moment for

By Rob McLean, CNN Business Jack Dorsey’s Square is spending $29 billion on an Australian buy now, pay later firm — a massive purchase that will help his company build out its global payments empire. Square — the financial payments company known for its popular Cash App — said it plans to merge Afterpay with

By Alexis Benveniste, CNN Business Zoom Video Communications agreed to pay $85 million in a preliminary lawsuit settlement filed Saturday afternoon. The deal is in response to a class action lawsuit over users’ concerns over the company allegedly having shared personal data with Facebook, Google and LinkedIn as well as instances of “zoombombing,” when an

By Clare Duffy, CNN Business As if Elon Musk isn’t running enough companies, he once may have suggested taking over as CEO of America’s most valuable business, Apple. Five years ago, in the midst of manufacturing delays and other issues plaguing Tesla’s planned Model 3 launch, Musk is said to have had a phone call

By Brian Fung, CNN Business Amazon faces a record-breaking €746 million (roughly $887 million) fine after a European Union data privacy regulator said the e-commerce giant had violated the bloc’s signature privacy law, known as GDPR, in an advertising-related decision. The fine was imposed on July 16 and disclosed Friday in a financial filing. It

By Sara Ashley O’Brien, CNN Business Like many new pandemic pet owners, Nia Morgan knew her puppy, Zorro, had grown very attached to her due to all the time she spent at home with him. So she was understandably hesitant about leaving him for the first time with a sitter she’d hired through Rover, a

By Kristin Fisher, CNN An unusual and potentially dangerous situation unfolded Thursday at the International Space Station, as the newly-docked Russian Nauka module inadvertently fired its thrusters causing a “tug of war” with the space station and briefly pushing it out of position, according to NASA flight controllers. Nauka — a long-delayed laboratory module that

By Clare Duffy, CNN Business Amazon’s final quarter with Jeff Bezos as CEO proved to be a disappointment for Wall Street. The e-commerce giant on Thursday posted $113.1 billion in revenue during the three months ended June 30, an increase of 27% from the same period in the prior year but falling short of the

By Clare Duffy, CNN Business Facebook’s business is soaring, but the boom times may not last. Facebook on Wednesday reported revenue of nearly $29.1 billion for the three months ended June 30, a 56% jump from the same period last year when online advertising took a hit as businesses grappled with Covid-19. The company also

By Clare Duffy, CNN Business On any given day, you might receive a package you ordered from Amazon, log onto a website hosted by Amazon, ask an Amazon device about the weather and grab groceries at a Whole Foods owned by Amazon. Amazon is more than just the “everything store.” It’s become something of an

By Rishi Iyengar, CNN Business Activision Blizzard’s CEO Bobby Kotick admitted that the gaming company’s response to a California discrimination lawsuit was “tone deaf” amid a growing employee backlash and accusations of a “frat boy” work culture. “Every voice matters — and we will do a better job of listening now, and in the future,”

By Clare Duffy, CNN Business More than 14 years after they were first introduced, iPhones are still very much in demand. Apple on Tuesday announced a massive earnings beat for the three months ended June 26, thanks to a nearly 50% year-over-year jump in iPhone sales to $39.6 billion. The company posted total quarterly revenue

By Rishi Iyengar, CNN Business This time last year, Google was starting to feel the early pandemic slump as large parts of the global economy shut down. On Tuesday, the company showed just how far it’s come since. Google’s parent company Alphabet reported revenue of $61.9 billion for the quarter ended June 30, a staggering

By Clare Duffy, CNN Business Facebook on Tuesday announced it is temporarily pausing sales of its Oculus Quest 2 virtual reality headsets and recalling a component in around 4 million of the devices, in cooperation with the US Consumer Product Safety Commission. The company is voluntarily recalling the “removable foam facial interfaces” for the devices

By Samantha Murphy Kelly, CNN Business Facebook on Tuesday reaffirmed its intention to build an Instagram for kids under 13, despite pressure from lawmakers to back down on the plan, while simultaneously announcing new updates to address concerns about the safety of younger users on its platforms. In a blog post, the company said it

By Diksha Madhok, CNN Business Jeff Bezos wants to spot NASA up to $2 billion in a bid to reignite the battle for space between his rocket company Blue Origin and Elon Musk’s SpaceX. The world’s richest man appealed to NASA Administrator Bill Nelson in an open letter Monday, offering to cover billions of dollars

By Eric Cheung and Hanna Ziady, CNN Business WeChat is suspending all new user registrations until early August, the popular social messaging app announced on Tuesday. In a brief post on social media, WeChat, known as Weixin in China, said the suspension relates to an upgrade of security technology “according to relevant laws and regulations.”

By Rishi Iyengar, CNN Business Pressure on Activision Blizzard is mounting as more than 2,000 current and former employees signed a petition slamming what they see as the video game company’s “abhorrent and insulting” response to a California lawsuit. The petition, which was circulated Monday and seen by CNN Business, criticized the company’s statements following

By Hadas Gold, CNN Business Audacious Mossad spy operations around the world. The plucky “startup nation” home to reams of billion-dollar ideas. These are two drivers of Israel’s image abroad that its political and business leaders have long been happy to push. That slick image appears to have taken a hit with new reports that

By Eric Cheung, Will Ripley and Gladys Tsai, CNN Business As China steps up military pressure on Taiwan, the self-governing island is preparing for the next big frontier of warfare: crippling cyberattacks. Taiwan’s head of cybersecurity told CNN Business this month that it is using dramatic measures to guard against technological vulnerabilities — including employing

By Brian Fung, Natasha Bertrand and Alex Marquardt, CNN On Thursday, the software company Kaseya announced that it could help unlock any of its customers’ systems that were still inaccessible following a devastating ransomware attack early this month that took down as many as 1,500 businesses worldwide. But for many victims it was too little,

By Sara Ashley O’Brien, CNN Business Amazon has hired outside investigators to probe the internal culture of part of its cloud computing operations after employees circulated a petition alleging “systemic discrimination, harassment, bullying and bias against women and under-represented groups.” The petition, viewed by CNN Business, specifically addresses concerns among staffers within an Amazon Web

By Rachel Metz, CNN Business After being let go from his job as a software quality-assurance engineer in April, Eric Watkins said he filed for unemployment benefits in Colorado. But he hasn’t received a penny of the $6,490 he said he was eligible to receive and he’s not sure when he will. Watkins, a self-described

By Brian Fung and Geneva Sands, CNN Business Kaseya, the software firm whose remote access tool was used to deliver REvil ransomware to hundreds of businesses around the world this month in a devastating supply-chain attack, has obtained a decryptor key allowing it to unlock networks seized by the malware, the company confirmed to CNN

By Brian Fung and Clare Duffy, CNN Business A sweeping internet disruption on Thursday briefly took out a wide range of major corporate websites — from FedEx and Delta Air Lines to HSBC and McDonald’s. The outages coincided with reports of system disruptions from Akamai and Oracle , two key providers of internet infrastructure services.

By Brian Fung, CNN Business TikTok and the US government agreed on Wednesday to drop a lawsuit challenging the Trump administration’s attempt to ban the short-form video app from US app stores. In a filing in the US District Court for the District of Columbia, the two sides said they had mutually agreed the suit

By Brian Fung, CNN US regulators are vowing to make it easier for consumers and independent service shops to repair commercial products like smartphones without having to rely on those products’ manufacturers, effectively backing a principle known as “right to repair.” On Wednesday, the Federal Trade Commission led by Chair Lina Khan voted unanimously to

By Alexandra Meeks, CNN Business California’s Department of Fair Employment and Housing filed a civil lawsuit Tuesday against one of America’s largest video game developers Activision Blizzard, alleging multiple female employees were subjected to gender discrimination, sexual harassment, and unequal pay. “DFEH alleges that women were subjected to constant sexual harassment, including groping, comments, and

By Clare Duffy, CNN Business Tesla founder Elon Musk is one of the loudest voices in the cryptocurrency world. He frequently uses his massive platform on Twitter to post about various digital assets, and often causes wild swings in their prices, leading some in the space to question his true intentions. But on Wednesday, Musk

By Jackie Wattles, CNN Business Jeff Bezos and Richard Branson each took a spin in their supersonic, suborbital rockets over the past two weeks, kicking off a new era of space travel in which billionaire-backed companies offer the high-flying excursions to anyone who can afford it. Bezos’ Blue Origin, which developed a 60-foot-tall vertically launched

By Brian Stelter and Katie Pellico, CNN Last week, even as it came under fire from the White House over its role in spreading anti-vaccine misinformation, Facebook hadn’t taken the simple step of blocking the #VaccinesKill hashtag on its platform. Now the hashtag is hidden on the platform, locked behind a message that says Facebook

By Jordan Valinsky, CNN Business Venmo is getting rid of the feed that shows users’ payments to strangers. It’s part of a drastic redesign that’s rolling out in the coming weeks. The mobile payment app, owned by PayPal, announced the changes Tuesday, explaining that getting rid of the global feed is part of its “ongoing

By Clare Duffy, CNN Business Instagram is making it easier for users to control how much sensitive content they see when browsing the app’s Explore page. The social media platform on Tuesday launched a new tool called “Sensitive Content Control,” which gives users the option to dial up or down the amount of potentially objectionable

By Jackie Wattles, CNN Business Jeff Bezos, the world’s richest man, went to space and back Tuesday morning on an 11-minute, supersonic joy ride aboard the rocket and capsule system developed by his space company, Blue Origin. Riding alongside the multibillionaire were Bezos’ brother, Mark Bezos; Wally Funk, an 82-year-old pilot and one of the

By Sara Ashley O’Brien, CNN Business Amazon said it will end its on-site Covid-19 testing for US warehouse workers this month as it continues to peel back some pandemic-related safety measures inside its facilities. The company notified workers that it will cease offering on-site testing after July 30, according to a notification Amazon shared with

By Jackie Wattles, CNN Business Jeff Bezos can have anything. He could circle the globe in a private jet or sail it forever in a fleet of megayachts. He could afford to buy a the whole NFL; he could buy an archipelago for his family and friends; he could buy over 65,000 Bugatti Chirons (base

By Brian Fung, CNN Business A major law firm with name-brand clients in over a dozen sectors of the economy was hit by ransomware in February, it said, in a breach that may have leaked Social Security numbers, health insurance information and even biometric data. In a disclosure on its website, Campbell Conroy & O’Neil

By Brian Fung, CNN Business Amazon Web Services confirmed on Monday that it disabled cloud accounts linked to NSO Group following reports by news organizations and activist groups that the Israeli firm’s Pegasus software had been used to surveil journalists and government officials. In the sweeping forensic investigation that led to the reports, Amnesty International

By Jackie Wattles, CNN Business Jeff Bezos, the world’s richest man, is about to launch himself on a supersonic joyride to the edge of space. He’ll be flying aboard New Shepard, a suborbital capsule and rocket system built by his space company Blue Origin. He’s also bringing along a few guests on this inaugural journey

By Samantha Murphy Kelly, CNN Business More inclusive emojis may be coming to future software updates, including one of a pregnant man. Ahead of World Emoji Day on Saturday, popular emoji reference site Emojipedia released new images of some of the emoji finalists on the radar of the Unicode Consortium, a non-profit that oversees emoji

By Jackie Wattles, CNN Business Jeff Bezos, the richest man on the planet, is preparing for a rocket-powered, 11-minute 2,300-mph excursion to the edge of space, capping off a month filled with rocket news and a bit of drama among the world’s richest people who are dedicating large portions of their wealth to rocket development.

By Sara Ashley O’Brien, CNN Business Uber has struck a deal with a California regulator that would drastically reduce a substantial fine against the company for failing to hand over data on sexual assault incidents on its platform. The California Public Utilities Commission previously fined Uber $59 million in December 2020 and threatened to suspend

By Donie O’Sullivan, CNN Business The White House turned up the pressure on Silicon Valley to get a handle on vaccine misinformation Thursday, specifically singling out 12 people one group dubbed the “disinformation dozen,” saying they were responsible for a great deal of misinformation about Covid-19. “There’s about 12 people who are producing 65% of

By Samantha Murphy Kelly, CNN Business Many parents and children struggled with remote learning throughout the pandemic. Samantha Lucero had a very different experience with one of her kids. “When the pandemic first hit, online school was a bit messy for everyone,” Lucero, a stay-at-home mother from Colorado Springs, told CNN Business. “But my older