— TMTG has reported total revenue of $1.6 million for the first half of 2024 and steep losses, a market capitalization of approximately $9.48 billion. A disclosure last month by Fidelity, which owns a minority stake in X, implied that the investment firm values the company at $9.4 billion.
— He acknowledged that "inadequate planning" and not some "intentional strategy" was to blame for creating a backlash. "I would also like to be clear that no quid pro quo of any kind is at work here," Bezos wrote in an op ed in the Post. "Neither campaign nor candidate was consulted or informed at any level or in any way about this decision." Bezos instead said that the decision was motivated by a desire to "increase our credibility," pointing to low trust in the media in a recent Gallup poll. "What presidential endorsements actually do is create a perception of bias. A perception of non-independence. Ending them is a principled decision, and it's the right one."
— "At one institution called Mountain View in Spruce Pine, North Carolina, from late [Friday] until Wednesday, October 2nd, nearly a week, [inmates] didn't think anybody was going to come back for them. They had no running water, no potable water. There was a shipment of potable drinking water that came several days in. But before that, they were drinking from the sinks is what family members told me, not knowing that what they were essentially drinking was sewer water, because it was non-potable water after the hurricane hit." — reporter Schuyler Mitchell.
— OpenAI named Dr. Aaron "Ronnie" Chatterji as its first chief economist. In this role, he will oversee research on a range of AI-related topics, including how AI innovations may impact the global economy and how the workforce can utilize AI tools both now and in the future, according to OpenAI's press release.
*, ! = read with care