It’s that time again!
The McRib is back! November will be here in a couple of days and I can’t be happier. In just a few days, that tangy, sweet, spicy, saucy, and juicy pork ribwich will be mine. Sabrina is already preparing herself for the first sandwich of the season. McDonalds claims this is the end for the McRib, and I’ll be sad to see it go. Every year, I get all giddy and excited like daddy’s coming home.
If you’re reading this as a First News 570, lobby your local McDonald’s to create the Will & Mark Special. A McRib with fries between the ridges on top of a beef patty.
It’s another Thursday, and I’m back on the air with Mark Starling, John, and the First News 570 crew. This week’s hot and fresh tech news: DOJ charges Chinese nationals in spy case, DOJ charges Tesla in consumer lies case, and investors worry about Zuckerberg’s frivolous spending in the metaverse. You can listen to me and Mark Starling point and laugh at all things tech every Thursday at 643 am ET live on the radio or the iHeartRadio app.
DOJ ROUNDS UP CHINESE NATIONALS IN ESPIONAGE PROBE
On Tuesday, the US Department of Justice announces charges on two Chinese nationals who were trying to recruit a federal investigator to influence a government investigation into a large telecommunications company. The agent they were trying to recruit was actually a double agent working for the FBI. DOJ has also charged 11 other Chinese nationals in two other espionage cases. The telecommunications company is rumored to be Chinese company, Huawei. For its part, China has said the US is trying to smear them.
INVESTORS WORRY AS ZUCKERBERG DOUBLE DOWNS ON METAVERSE
Facebook’s, I mean Meta’s, earnings call was yesterday, and Zuckerberg had to announce the company is hemorrhaging money. Meta is banking hard on the metaverse and it’s metaverse lab division lost a staggering $3.7 billion in the last quarter, making its losses $9 billion this year. Apple’s ad privacy prompting mechanism has estimated losses of $10 billion by itself, and Zuckerberg told investors 2023’s losses will mount even higher as he pursues a dramatic push into virtual realm. He told investors, “people will look back a decade from now and talk about the importance of the work being done here.” A decade is long in Internet time.
Meta isn’t the only company reporting huge losses. After a dramatic profit run during the COVID-19 lockdown, technology companies are reporting weak earnings with Microsoft reporting losses of 6% and Google reporting a whopping 27% drop in still profits the previous quarter.
TESLA UNDER FEDERAL INVESTIGATION FOR AUTOPILOT FEATURES
Whew boy! Reuters has reported that Tesla is under federal investigation for misleading customers about it’s “fully self-driving” feature called Autopilot. Tesla, and Elon Musk, have been touting Autopilot as the safest self-driving capability while regulators have said otherwise. DOJ prosecutors in Washington and San Francisco are examining if Tesla made unfounded claims about the technology. This news is coming on the heels of the automaker removing sensors from its vehicles and Elon Musk’s ongoing court case.
The next episode of The Cloud, Autonmous Vehicles in an Autonomous Future drops this Friday. Please subscribe to The Cloud podcast and share it with your friends.