Ford promotes EV design chief Todd Willing to global head of design
Ford tapped a 21-year veteran with global experience who led exterior design of the 2017 GT supercar to replace the recently departed Anthony Lo.
Lithia's captive finance company Driveway Finance turned a Q2 profit
Lithia Motors Q2 2024 earnings: After just a few years of operation, Lithia’s relaunched captive finance car loan company Driveway Finance Corp. turned a profit during the second quarter and was on track to stay that way.
Zuckerberg says the White House pressured Facebook over some COVID-19 content during the pandemic
WASHINGTON (AP) — Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg says senior Biden administration officials pressured Facebook to “censor” some COVID-19 content during the pandemic and vowed that the social media giant would push back if it faced such demands again.
In a letter to Rep. Jim Jordan, the Republican chair of the House Judiciary Committee, Zuckerberg alleges that the officials, including those from the White House, “repeatedly pressured” Facebook for months to take down “certain COVID-19 content including humor and satire.”
The officials “expressed a lot of frustration” when the company didn’t agree, he said in the letter.
“I believe the government pressure was wrong and I regret that we were not more outspoken about it,” Zuckerberg wrote in the letter dated Aug. 26 and posted on the committee’s Facebook page and to its account on X.
The letter is the latest repudiation by Zuckerberg of efforts to target misinformation around the coronavirus pandemic during and after the 2020 presidential election, particularly as allegations have emerged that some posts were deleted or restricted wrongly.
SpaceX delays Polaris Dawn launch at least 1 day
A helium leak on the launch pad has forced SpaceX to hold off an overnight launch attempt of the Polaris Dawn mission with billionaire Jared Isaacman and three crewmates for at least one day.
“Teams are taking a closer look at a ground-side helium leak on the Quick Disconnect umbilical,” SpaceX posted on X late Monday. “Falcon and Dragon remain healthy and the crew continues to be ready for their multi-day mission to low-Earth orbit.”
The planned early Tuesday liftoff now shifts to early Wednesday. A Falcon 9 carrying the Crew Dragon Resilience and its four crew is targeting a 3:38 a.m, liftoff from KSC’s Launch Pad 39-A with backup options at 5:23 a.m. and 7:09 a.m. More backup options during the same times are available Thursday morning.
When it does launch, the first-stage booster, which is making its fourth flight, will aim for a recovery landing downrange in the Atlantic on the droneship A Shortfall of Gravitas.
The Crew Dragon Resilience is flying for the third time having debuted on the Crew-1 mission in 2020 and also having flown the Inspiration4 mission in 2021.
Social platform X edits AI chatbot after election officials warn that it spreads misinformation
By CHRISTINE FERNANDO
CHICAGO (AP) — The social media platform X has made a change to its AI chatbot after five secretaries of state warned it was spreading election misinformation.
Top election officials from Michigan, Minnesota, New Mexico, Pennsylvania and Washington sent a letter this month to Elon Musk complaining that the platform’s AI chatbot, Grok, produced false information about state ballot deadlines shortly after President Joe Biden dropped out of the 2024 presidential race.
The secretaries of state requested that the chatbot instead direct users who ask election-related questions to CanIVote.org, a voting information website run by the National Association of Secretaries of State.
Before listing responses to election-related questions, the chatbot now says, “For accurate and up-to-date information about the 2024 U.S. Elections, please visit Vote.gov.”
Both websites are “trustworthy resources that can connect voters with their local election officials,” the five secretaries of state said in a shared statement.