Files from Tom Li
Uber faces backlash for increasing prices during a shooting, Elon Musk is facing a lawsuit for disclosing his Twitter stake too late, and Meta will be taking a huge cut from transactions made in its metaverse.
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That’s all the tech news that’s trending right now, welcome to Hashtag Trending. It’s Thursday, April 14, and I’m your host, Samira Balsara.
Uber is facing criticism for increasing its ride prices in New York following a shooting incident in the city’s subway system. After the incident, in which 10 people were shot and 16 more were injured, some commuters noticed a sharp rise in Uber fees due to increased demand. Some reported that the cost of a ride spiked by up to 10 times the usual rate. Usually, Uber adjusts ride costs automatically according to demand, which could be caused by anything from bad weather to large events. In this case, however, Uber had to manually intervene. One company spokesperson told Newsweek that the company quickly disabled the automatic price increase and is working to refund some customers.
Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk is now facing a class action lawsuit by Twitter shareholders. According to Reuters, Twitter shareholders alleged that Musk was too slow at announcing his stake in the company, causing some investors to miss out on the increase in stock price. The rise was significant. After Musk announced his massive stake purchase earlier this month, Twitter stock rose by 27 per cent, hitting almost $50 at its peak. The lawsuit is seeking an unspecified amount for compensation and damages.
Meta will apparently be taking a giant cut from purchases made in its metaverse. The company announced this week that creators will be able to earn money from the metaverse by selling digital items like NFTs. Following the announcement, one company spokesperson told CNBC that there would be a 47.5 per cent commission, broken down into a 30 per cent hardware platform fee and a separate 17.5 per cent fee for Horizon Worlds. Surprisingly, Meta’s vice president of its Horizon’s division told the Verge that the fee is actually very competitive. That sounds crazy, but know that the metaverse is still in its infancy, so there’s still much to be fleshed out around its monetization.
One Instagram reel went viral after showing a driverless vehicle apparently eluding the police. In the video, a Chevorlet Bolt operated by Cruise’s driverless system was pulled over for not having its headlights on at night. When the officer returned to the police car after not seeing a driver, the Chevy Bolt sped away, only to stop a short distance later. Still, it had the viewers believe that the car had turned to a life of crime. Cruise explained that the car wasn’t trying to escape, but rather finding a safer spot to stop. The vehicle was not ticketed.
That’s all the tech news that’s trending right now. Hashtag Trending is a part of the ITWC Podcast network. Add us to your Alexa Flash briefings or your Google Home daily briefing. Make sure to sign up for our Daily IT Wire newsletter to get all the news that matters directly in your inbox every day. Also, catch the next episode of Hashtag Tendances, our weekly Hashtag Trending episode in French, which drops every Thursday morning. If you have a suggestion or a tip, drop us a line in the comments or via email. Thank you for listening, I’m Samira Balsara.