Fulham Broadway underground station in London, Thursday March 3, 2022, during a strike by members of the Rail, Maritime and Transport union (RMT) for 24 hours in a deadlocked dispute over jobs, pensions and conditions. (John Walton/PA via AP)
Londoners faced travel chaos Thursday after around 10,000 transport workers walked off their jobs for the second day this week, leaving almost all of the capital's subway lines suspended or severely disrupted.
Members of the Rail, Maritime and Transport union were on strike for 24 hours in a dispute over jobs, pensions and working conditions. Picket lines were set up outside subway stations, and huge queues built up at bus stations and taxi ranks across the city as people tried to get to work by other means.
Transport for London asked people to work from home if they could.
A strike on Tuesday led to the underground network, known as the Tube, being suspended during rush hour, and disruptions continued on Wednesday. Officials have warned that a knock-on impact to services will continue until Friday morning.
The transport union says it wants assurances that spending cuts linked to a government funding deal will not cause hundreds of job losses, reduced pensions and worse working conditions.
Britain's government has had to bail London transport out because of huge losses in revenue caused by the pandemic. As part of that funding deal, London's mayor has had to find millions in savings and review transport workers' pensions.
Union leaders say they are open to talks if officials can offer a “concrete solution.”
But Andy Lord, Transport for London's chief operating officer, stressed that no changes have yet been tabled and said “this action is completely unnecessary."
Wealthfront’s CFO Alan Iberman talks the $2.05B IPO and the major moment for robo banking as the company bets on AI, automation, and “self-driving money."
A rare magnum of Dom Pérignon Vintage 1961 champagne that was specially produced for the 1981 wedding of Prince Charles and Lady Diana has failed to sell during an auction. Danish auction house Bruun Rasmussen handled the bidding Thursday. The auction's house website lists the bottle as not sold. It was expected to fetch up to around $93,000. It is one of 12 bottles made to celebrate the royal wedding. Little was revealed about the seller. The auction house says the bids did not receive the desired minimum price.
The New York Times and President Donald Trump are fighting again. The news outlet said Wednesday it won't be deterred by Trump's “false and inflammatory language” from writing about the 79-year-old president's health. The Times has done a handful of stories on that topic recently, including an opinion column that said Trump is “starting to give President Joe Biden vibes.” In a Truth Social post, Trump said it might be treasonous for outlets like the Times to do “FAKE” reports about his health and "we should do something about it.” The Republican president already has a pending lawsuit against the newspaper for its past reports on his finances.
OpenAI has appointed Slack CEO Denise Dresser as its first chief of revenue. Dresser will oversee global revenue strategy and help businesses integrate AI into daily operations. OpenAI CEO Sam Altman recently emphasized improving ChatGPT, which now has over 800 million weekly users. Despite its success, OpenAI faces competition from companies like Google and concerns about profitability. The company earns money from premium ChatGPT subscriptions but hasn't ventured into advertising. Altman had recently announced delays in developing new products like AI agents and a personal assistant.
President Donald Trump says he will allow Nvidia to sell its H200 computer chip used in the development of artificial intelligence to “approved customers” in China. Trump said Monday on his social media site that he had informed China’s leader Xi Jinping and “President Xi responded positively!” There had been concerns about allowing advanced computer chips into China as it could help them to compete against the U.S. in building out AI capabilities. But there has also been a desire to develop the AI ecosystem with American companies such as chipmaker Nvidia.
