Month: September 2024
DirecTV and Dish are merging
If successful, the merger would create a combined satellite streaming business with around 20 million US subscribers. | Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge
DirecTV has reached an agreement to acquire Dish, alongside its parent company EchoStar’s wider satellite TV business, for a single dollar — and assume $9.75 billion of Dish’s debt. Private equity firm TPG has arranged a two-step agreement to buy the remaining 70 percent of DirecTV that it didn’t already own from AT&T for a reported $7.6 billion and merge all of that with Dish.
The deal announced Monday would combine Dish’s roughly 8.1 million subscribers with the 11 million US subscribers under DirecTV, The New York Times reports. The agreement would see AT&T exit as a part-owner of DirecTV, while EchoStar separates from its TV business to pursue the wonders of Open RAN 5G once the deal is closed in 2025.
The DirecTV and Dish merger is subject to regulatory approval and serves as a lifeline for EchoStar, which has no means to pay the $2 billion of its $20 billion debt due by November 14th. DirecTV previously attempted to merge with Dish in 2002, but the deal was blocked by the US Justice Department and Federal Communications Commission (FCC) over competition concerns.
Developing…
If successful, the merger would create a combined satellite streaming business with around 20 million US subscribers. | Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge
DirecTV has reached an agreement to acquire Dish, alongside its parent company EchoStar’s wider satellite TV business, for a single dollar — and assume $9.75 billion of Dish’s debt. Private equity firm TPG has arranged a two-step agreement to buy the remaining 70 percent of DirecTV that it didn’t already own from AT&T for a reported $7.6 billion and merge all of that with Dish.
The deal announced Monday would combine Dish’s roughly 8.1 million subscribers with the 11 million US subscribers under DirecTV, The New York Times reports. The agreement would see AT&T exit as a part-owner of DirecTV, while EchoStar separates from its TV business to pursue the wonders of Open RAN 5G once the deal is closed in 2025.
The DirecTV and Dish merger is subject to regulatory approval and serves as a lifeline for EchoStar, which has no means to pay the $2 billion of its $20 billion debt due by November 14th. DirecTV previously attempted to merge with Dish in 2002, but the deal was blocked by the US Justice Department and Federal Communications Commission (FCC) over competition concerns.
Developing…
Amazon India workers say they’re overworked and mistreated during a brutal heat wave
submitted by /u/a_Ninja_b0y [link] [comments]
submitted by /u/a_Ninja_b0y
[link] [comments]
OpenAI expects to lose $5 billion this year; plans to raise ChatGPT Plus fees to $44 over 5 years
Back in July, we covered OpenAI’s rapid cash burn as the company scaled at a breakneck pace. Now, a fresh report from the New York Times (NYT) suggests OpenAI may have to bump up its prices to keep things afloat.
The post OpenAI expects to lose $5 billion this year; plans to raise ChatGPT Plus fees to $44 over 5 years first appeared on Tech Startups.
Back in July, we covered OpenAI’s rapid cash burn as the company scaled at a breakneck pace. Now, a fresh report from the New York Times (NYT) suggests OpenAI may have to bump up its prices to keep things afloat. […]
The post OpenAI expects to lose $5 billion this year; plans to raise ChatGPT Plus fees to $44 over 5 years first appeared on Tech Startups.
Tesla’s Full Self-Driving is now available for some Cybertrucks
Buyers that paid at least $93,990 to be among the first to own (and beta test) Tesla’s Cybertruck are finally getting a key, promised feature: Full Self-Driving (FSD). Several people on the Cybertruck Owners Club forum — including an Angeleno who posted a video — say that it has finally arrived in early access to select users, Electrek reported.
After Tesla promised that FSD would arrive to Cybertrucks in September, the supervised version 12.5.5 v12 (the latest available) is shipping, but only to users in the early access program. That means the feature (included in the Tesla Cybertruck Foundation package) won’t be available to most buyers for at least another month, based on Tesla’s previous FSD history.
FSD worked smoothly for the short amount of time it was shown, according to the video above from Cybertruck Owner’s Club forum user espresso-drumbeat. It guided the vehicle through an urban area then onto a freeway ramp before arriving on the I5 toward LA, all in relatively light evening traffic.
According to the update description, FSD (Supervised) v12 includes vision-based attention monitoring with sunglasses and merges city and highway into a single software stack. In other words, it’s the first version to fully manage driving using end-to-end AI.
Cybertruck deliveries first started 10 months ago, so FSD has been a long time coming. Recent testing by the independent automotive testing group AMCI determined that Tesla’s FSD can only go 13 miles on average before requiring human intervention.
Elon Musk recently promised unsupervised self-driving by the end of 2025, but he has been making that same claim for nearly 10 years and it’s still not here. There’s more pressure now than ever, though, as the company is set to reveal its FSD-dependent robotaxi product on October 10th. This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/transportation/evs/teslas-full-self-driving-is-now-available-for-some-cybertrucks-120055932.html?src=rss
Buyers that paid at least $93,990 to be among the first to own (and beta test) Tesla’s Cybertruck are finally getting a key, promised feature: Full Self-Driving (FSD). Several people on the Cybertruck Owners Club forum — including an Angeleno who posted a video — say that it has finally arrived in early access to select users, Electrek reported.
After Tesla promised that FSD would arrive to Cybertrucks in September, the supervised version 12.5.5 v12 (the latest available) is shipping, but only to users in the early access program. That means the feature (included in the Tesla Cybertruck Foundation package) won’t be available to most buyers for at least another month, based on Tesla’s previous FSD history.
FSD worked smoothly for the short amount of time it was shown, according to the video above from Cybertruck Owner’s Club forum user espresso-drumbeat. It guided the vehicle through an urban area then onto a freeway ramp before arriving on the I5 toward LA, all in relatively light evening traffic.
According to the update description, FSD (Supervised) v12 includes vision-based attention monitoring with sunglasses and merges city and highway into a single software stack. In other words, it’s the first version to fully manage driving using end-to-end AI.
Cybertruck deliveries first started 10 months ago, so FSD has been a long time coming. Recent testing by the independent automotive testing group AMCI determined that Tesla’s FSD can only go 13 miles on average before requiring human intervention.
Elon Musk recently promised unsupervised self-driving by the end of 2025, but he has been making that same claim for nearly 10 years and it’s still not here. There’s more pressure now than ever, though, as the company is set to reveal its FSD-dependent robotaxi product on October 10th.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/transportation/evs/teslas-full-self-driving-is-now-available-for-some-cybertrucks-120055932.html?src=rss
A second judge in the Apple versus Epic Games lawsuit has implied that the Cupertino company has lied to the court | It comes after the original judge strongly implied that Apple had not told the truth about the reasons for its new App Store policy.
submitted by /u/a_Ninja_b0y [link] [comments]
submitted by /u/a_Ninja_b0y
[link] [comments]
Iranian hackers charged over Trump campaign disruption
Three Iranian hackers charged after stealing Trump campaign material.
The US Department of Justice has announced criminal charges for three Iranian hackers involved in a ‘wide ranging hacking campaign’ primarily targeting former President Trump’s campaign documents, which were then leaked to the press.
Court documents outlined that hackers used spear phishing and social engineering techniques in order to compromise accounts belonging to members of the media, US government officials, and campaign staffers.
The individuals accused were named as Masoud Jalili, Seyyed Ali Aghamiri, and Yasar Balaghi, each facing charges for identity theft, conspiracy to provide material to support a terrorist organization, and more. The DOJ’s indictment attributes the hack to a wider vow for revenge from the Iranian government after the Trump administration killed Iranian general Qasem Soleimani in 2020.
Election interference
The 2024 US election cycle has been the target of repeated attempts by foreign actors to influence voters and spread divisive rhetoric, with both Chinese and Russian state actors found to be spreading online propaganda.
The DOJ says this Iranian campaign is no different, with Attorney General Merrick Garland noting, “we know that Iran is continuing its brazen efforts to stoke discord, erode confidence in the U.S. electoral process, and advance its malign activities to the IRGC, a designated foreign terrorist organization.”
“The American people and the American people alone will decide the outcome of our country’s elections.”
It was recently revealed that although multiple news organizations were sent the leaked materials from the campaign, all chose not to publish the details. The Biden campaign team was also sent the files, but ignored them.
The State Department offered a $10 million reward for information on the three Iranian men involved, who are yet to be apprehended by US officials.
Via The Register
More from TechRadar Pro
Take a look at our pick of the best firewalls aroundChatGPT accounts suspected of being Iranian influence operation shut down by OpenAI Check out our pick of the best identity theft protections
Ford targets EV ‘fence-sitters’ with offer of free home charger and installation | EV sales are growing, but a lot of people are still unwilling to make the switch. The Blue Oval wants to sweeten the deal.
submitted by /u/a_Ninja_b0y [link] [comments]
submitted by /u/a_Ninja_b0y
[link] [comments]
BC.GAME Announces Launch of $BC Mining Rush Event with 1 Billion $BC Token Prize Pool
WILLEMSTAD, Curacao, 30th September 2024, Chainwire
The post BC.GAME Announces Launch of $BC Mining Rush Event with 1 Billion $BC Token Prize Pool first appeared on Tech Startups.
WILLEMSTAD, Curacao, 30th September 2024, Chainwire
The post BC.GAME Announces Launch of $BC Mining Rush Event with 1 Billion $BC Token Prize Pool first appeared on Tech Startups.
Google Chrome’s AI Extension Does Your Mundane Prep Work and More
I wanted help capturing the themes discussed in a virtual interview. Bluedot pleasantly surprised me.
I wanted help capturing the themes discussed in a virtual interview. Bluedot pleasantly surprised me.