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Electrical engineer Gilbert Herrera was appointed research director of the US National Security Agency in late 2021, just as an AI revolution was brewing inside the US tech industry.The NSA, sometimes jokingly said to stand for No Such Agency, has long hired top math and computer science talent. Its technical leaders have been early and avid users of advanced computing and AI. And yet when Herrera spoke with me by phone about the implications of the latest AI boom from NSA headquarters in Fort Meade, Maryland, it seemed…

A big concern ahead of the public listing was that Reddit, the platform that gave birth to the memestocks of 2021, could also suffer the wild price swings caused by large numbers of investors coordinating their strategy over social media, including Reddit itself, on forums such as r/wallstreetbets.Reddit’s IPO is a test of investor appetite for tech IPOs, which have been a rarity in recent years. Low interest rates had made raising and borrowing cash on private markets easy, and economic effects from the war in Ukraine…

Four years of waiting. Four years of questions. Denver’s Vine Street Pub & Brewery, which closed because of the pandemic on March 17, 2020, along with every other restaurant, bar and brewery in Colorado, said Thursday that it had made plans to finally reopen this spring. Vine Street Pub & Brewery is opening on May 15th,” the business wrote on its Facebook page. “We are currently hiring for all positions.” Three other pubs that are part of the Boulder-based Mountain Sun group were able to open in 2021, while a…

A man in Denmark was sentenced to 18 months in prison today for using fake accounts to trick music streaming services into paying him 2 million Danish kroner ($290,000) in royalties. The unusual case reveals a weak spot in the business model behind the world’s biggest music platforms.The 53-year-old consultant, who had pleaded not guilty, was convicted of data fraud and copyright infringement after using bots to listen to his own music through fake profiles on both Spotify and Apple Music, collecting royalties in the…

The US Department of Justice had long been expected to file an antitrust lawsuit against Apple. But when the suit arrived Thursday, it came with surprising ferocity.In a press conference, attorney general Merrick Garland noted that Apple controlled more than 70 percent of the country’s smartphone market, saying the company used that outsized power to control developers and consumers and squeeze more revenue out of them.The suit and messaging from DoJ and fifteen states and the District of Columbia joining it take aim at…

The Biden administration filed a sweeping antitrust lawsuit against Apple Thursday that targets a product that has long been the major revenue driver for the company’s $2.76 trillion business: the iPhone. The Department of Justice, joined by 16 state attorneys general, accused Apple in a New Jersey federal court of maintaining a monopoly on the US market for smartphones, of which the iPhone makes up 65 percent. The complaint alleges that Apple has deliberately thwarted apps, products, and services that would make it…

The IM-1 lander "Odysseus" in lunar orbit on Feb. 21, 2024.Intuitive MachinesIntuitive Machines is building on the successes of its inaugural moon mission, reporting fourth-quarter results on Thursday and saying it now has "sufficient capital for the near term."The lunar company revealed that its cash balance at the end of the year was just $4.5 million – partly the result of paying down $12 million in debt off its balance sheet. Following its historic February moon landing, the company saw about $50 million in "warrant…

The Walt Disney company logo is displayed on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange during morning trading on Dec. 1, 2023.Michael M. Santiago | Getty ImagesProxy advisory firm Institutional Shareholder Services on Thursday recommended that Walt Disney shareholders elect activist investor Nelson Peltz to the board in his bitter fight against CEO Bob Iger.Peltz and his firm, Trian Fund Management, have asked investors to nominate him and former Disney Chief Financial Officer Jay Rasulo to the board at its annual general…

A Target store in New York, US, on Monday, March 4, 2024. Shelby Knowles | Bloomberg | Getty ImagesTarget will double its bonus payments to salaried employees this year, as the big-box retailer's profits recover from a bumpy nearly two-year stretch.Salaried employees at the Minneapolis-based retailer receive an annual bonus, based on Target's performance and the eligible amount set as part of their compensation. The retailer will pay 100% of employees' eligible annual bonus amounts for the most recent fiscal year, a…

The Head of the United State Embassy in Nigeria, David Greene, says the United States’ government has for over five years invested about $200 million in food security in Nigeria through its international development agency. The official made the disclosure Thursday while delivering his remarks during the launch of the US government’s Global Food Security Strategy Country Plan for Nigeria in Abuja. “USAID invested almost $200 million in agriculture over the last five years to improve food security and build…