Good morning,
If I had a dollar for every minute a flight I’ve taken has been delayed, I’d be rich (okay maybe not rich, but you get the point).
On Wednesday, the Biden Administration announced rules requiring airlines to issue cash refunds automatically when flights are canceled or significantly changed, passengers’ bags are significantly delayed, and services like inflight Wi-Fi are not available to those who purchased them.
As part of the administration’s years-long fight against so-called “junk fees,” the Department of Transportation will also mandate airlines be upfront about charges for checked bags, carry-ons and changing or canceling a reservation. The White House says the rules will help consumers save over half a billion dollars every year that they are currently overpaying in airline fees.
Arizona Attorney General Kris Mayes announced Wednesday the state indicted 11 so-called fake electors for alleged efforts to subvert the 2020 presidential election, along with seven others allegedly involved in the scheme that include Rudy Giuliani and former White House chief of staff Mark Meadows, according to multiple outlets. Arizona is now the fourth state to seek charges against “fake electors,” following Michigan, Georgia and Nevada.
U.S. fertility rates in 2023 reached the lowest levels since records began, the CDC reported Thursday, with just under 3.6 million babies born in the country last year, down 2% from 2022. The data is broadly in line with a general annual decline of about 1-2% over the past decade, and the U.S. fertility rate for 2023 is well below a threshold demographers call the replacement rate, or the rate needed for the current generation to replace itself, rather than grow or shrink.
A day after banning most new noncompete agreements, the Federal Trade Commission was sued by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and other business groups, who are accusing the regulator of overstepping its authority. The chamber’s lawsuit says the FTC lacks the power needed to issue a prohibition of noncompete agreements, which apply to an estimated 30 million workers in the U.S., according to FTC data.
Meta beat expectations for its first quarter earnings, but said it expects second quarter growth to slow considerably, sending its stock down 10% in limited afternoon trading. Meta’s robust growth during the first quarter reflects the social media giant’s dramatic recovery in recent years.
Tesla’s stock surged Wednesday morning despite its brutal first-quarter results as investors were optimistic about the electric vehicle maker’s return to growth, and the rally enriched controversial CEO Elon Musk, adding more than $10 billion to his fortune. Musk’s total net worth swelled to $188 billion, making him the third-richest man in the world.
Apple reportedly decreased the number of Vision Pro VR headsets it was set to ship this year by nearly half, from between 700,000 and 800,000 units to between 400,000 and 450,000, indicating U.S. demand has fallen significantly below market expectations. The Vision Pro retails for $3,500, but its app ecosystem doesn’t include big players like Netflix, and some have reported fatigue and pain from extended use.
Cybersecurity startup Sublime is training its code, which monitors a customer’s typical email use and flags anomalies, to spot new AI-powered phishing emails that are bombarding people’s inboxes. As it scales up its fight against AI scams, Sublime has announced a $20 million funding round led by Index Ventures, bringing the company’s total funding to more than $30 million.
Surgeons at NYU Langone Health completed the world’s first successful combined heart pump and gene-edited pig kidney transplant surgeries on a 54-year-old woman with end-stage kidney disease, a landmark procedure that follows the first successful transplant of a pig kidney in late March. More than 89,000 people are on the national transplant waiting list who are in need of a kidney as of March, according to the Health Resources and Services Administration.
DAILY COVER STORY
What We Know About The Forced Sale (Or Ban) Of TikTok
TOPLINE President Joe Biden signed into law Wednesday a bill that would ban TikTok unless its Chinese parent company ByteDance finds a U.S.-based buyer.
The legislation was tacked on to the $95 billion foreign aid package Congress approved this week that will deliver more funding to Israel, Ukraine and Taiwan. It requires that ByteDance sell the app within 270 days, with an option for Biden to extend the timeline by 90 days if he sees “significant progress” toward a sale.
TikTok has already vowed to take legal action against the new law, which could delay a potential ban. In a new video posted to the app Wednesday, CEO Shou Zi Chew indicated the company could challenge the law in court on the grounds that it is a violation of First Amendment rights, telling users “this is actually ironic, because the freedom of expression on TikTok reflects the same American values that make the United States a beacon of freedom.”
Several potential U.S. buyers have already signaled interest in or have been rumored to be exploring purchasing the popular social media platform, including former treasury secretary Steve Mnuchin, Canadian businessman Kevin O’Leary and video-sharing platform Rumble.
But a consensus is beginning to emerge that unraveling TikTok from ByteDance will be all but impossible. Forbes reporting on the platform used by 170 million Americans has repeatedly shown just how entangled the two companies are, with much of TikTok running on ByteDance tools—its own versions of Microsoft Office, G Suite, Salesforce and the like—that were built years ago by engineers in China.
Even as Biden signed the bill into law, his reelection campaign will stay on TikTok. The Biden campaign told Forbes that TikTok is a way for the campaign “to show up and meet voters where they are” and to ensure its “content is being seen by voters.”
WHY IT MATTERS “It’s a nice perk for renters, many of whom could use a hand,” says Forbes assistant managing editor Kerry Dolan. “The U.S. tax code supports homeowners more so than renters—homeowners can deduct from their income the interest paid on their mortgage, for example. One opt-in service Bilt offers: reporting customers’ monthly rent payments to the three credit bureaus—Experian, Equifax and TransUnion—for free; the goal is to help renters increase their credit score. Traditionally, renters’ on-time payments haven’t been taken into account when determining the credit score.”
MORE TikTok Mishandled The Data Of Hundreds Of Top American Advertisers
FACTS AND COMMENTS
David Beckham is suing F45 Training, a fitness training company partly owned by actor Mark Wahlberg, alleging it failed to pay him stock for marketing and social media posts in a timely manner. Beckham says he agreed to post promotional content on his Instagram account in exchange for tradable shares in the company when it went public:
Six months: The amount of time F45 had from its IPO in January 2022 to compensate Beckham with shares in the company, according to the lawsuit, which alleges that F45 delayed handing the shares over
$14 million: The amount Beckham says he lost out on
Below $1: How much F45’s shares have been trading at since the company saw its share price tank in 2022, before it was eventually delisted by the New York Stock Exchange
STRATEGY AND SUCCESS
Starting a business can be rewarding, but there are also plenty of challenges. Make sure you are uniquely qualified to solve a problem, and do a market analysis to see what else is out there and how your business idea would differentiate. Consider how you’ll fund the business, whether that’s asking friends and family to invest or seeking out loans, and think about bringing in a partner or hiring employees to help.
VIDEO
QUIZ
A state government is considering restrictions on third-party airport security vendors like Clear, the private company that allows travelers to pay to skip part of the line at airports. Which state is it?
A. Illinois
B. New York
C. California
D. Florida
ACROSS THE NEWSROOM
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