The indictment of 13 Russians for interfering with the Presidential election has intensified the pressure put on Facebook, which uncovered about three-thousand Russian-linked ads on its platforms before and after November 2016. Cheddar Senior Reporter, Alex Heath, breaks down the the latest developments.
Facebook's Vice President for ads, Rob Goldman, tweeted about Russia's disinformation effort. President Trump then cited him. Facebook did not intend for Goldman’s tweets to be quoted by Trump. They thought the tweets would only be seen by a contextually-aware audience of techies and media types who follow Goldman.
Heath believes that the tweeting from Goldman and other execs is part of a carefully orchestrated PR campaign by Facebook to make itself appear more transparent and relate-able through engaged spokespeople on Twitter.
The telecommunications company announced two additional unlimited plans for customers, a trend many other wireless companies are turning to. One is a basic plan that focuses on texts and calls, and the other, Unlimited Plus, allows for heavier data use. “One size doesn’t necessarily fit all,” says Brandon “Dow” Draper, the company’s Chief Commercial Officer. "We're really starting to just tailor this to people's needs."
Uber laid off 100 backup drivers for in its autonomous driving division on Thursday, a sign that the fatal crash in Tempe, Ariz., has tempered the company's ambitions. "Uber is saying all the right things publicly, but the accident in Arizona has really set them back," says Mark Rechtin, executive editor at Motor Trend.
The subscription toy company creates boxes of creative DIY projects that are both educational and fun, says CEO Sandra Oh Lin. “We’re trying to instill that creative confidence as well as the tools.”
The $85 billion deal which closed last month is now back in question. The DoJ filed court papers challenging Judge Richard Leon's ruling in June that the government didn't sufficiently prove the merger violated antitrust laws. Cheddar’s Hope King and Brad Smith give us the details.
Microsoft announced on Thursday it would provide a free version of its group chatting app, betting that the platform's integration with Microsoft's other programs will give it a leg up on Slack. “We have power of the full collaboration suite in there,” says Lori Wright, GM of Microsoft 365.
Papa John's founder John Schnatter resigned as chairman of the pizza chain after it came to light that he used a racial slur on a conference call in May. Schnatter apologized for his comments, saying they were "inappropriate and hurtful."
Uber is planning to lay off more than 100 people from its autonomous car units in San Francisco and Pittsburgh. This comes as Uber is trying to recover from the fatal crash in Arizona involving one if it's self-driving cars.
And Cheddar's Alex Heath sits down with Joey Levin, CEO of IAC, to discuss Match Group's recent acquisition of dating app Hinge.
The iconic Apple founder and innovator was reportedly high "on a massive dose of LSD at the time of death," says Adam Fisher. Fisher's book also digs into Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak's secret feud with Jobs.
Charlie Lee, creator of Litecoin, says the partnership with the digital finance app will help expand its reach. “I think the idea is to have more adoption, to have easier ways for people to get Litecoin, and to have easier ways for people to spend it,” he tells Cheddar.
In recent years, Vimeo has been pushing to transform itself into an end-to-end platform for video creators, adding post-production tools, storage capabilities, and live streaming features. Creators can publish their content on any other platform through Vimeo, including on competitors like YouTube. "That provides a real advantage for us in that we can be Switzerland in that publishing landscape," CEO Joey Levin tells Cheddar's Alex Heath at the Sun Valley conference.
IAC, which owns Match, Tinder, and OkCupid, recently added Hinge to its portfolio because "we like competing with ourselves," says CEO Joey Levin. "Tinder was created inside of Match to disrupt Match." Levin spoke with Cheddar's Alex Heath at the Allen & Co. Conference in Sun Valley, Idaho.
