Boeing’s satellite maker Millennium Space Systems will soon have a new CEO. Jason Kim, the executive who held the position for nearly four years, has departed the company, TechCrunch has learned. Boeing acquired Millennium Space Systems in 2018. Since that point, the company has scored mega-deals with the U.S. Department of Defense to build satellites to help warfighters track missiles and other threats. Millennium also successfully executed a “responsive space” mission for the U.S. Space Force; that missio ...

Company Layoffs - Apple is conducting layoffs affecting around 100 employees in its digital services group, primarily impacting the Apple Books app team and related store [1] - The Apple News team and other services teams are also affected by the layoffs [1] Apple Books Performance - Apple Books, introduced in 2010 alongside the iPad, has not met expectations as a "Kindle-killer" [1] - The layoffs indicate Apple Books will no longer be a focus area for future investment [1] Services Revenue - Services accounted for 28% of Apple's revenue in the last quarterly earnings [1] - A significant portion of services revenue likely comes from in-app purchases and App Store subscriptions [1] Regulatory Landscape - It is unclear whether Apple can maintain its dominance in mobile app distribution amid changing regulations [1]

Waymo said Tuesday it will start offering riders 24/7 access to curbside pickups and dropoffs at Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport terminals 3 and 4 — yet another example of the Alphabet-owned company’s push to expand its robotaxi services. Waymo first started offering driverless trips to the Phoenix Airport in November 2022, but it was only to an airport shuttle stop at the 44th Street Sky Station. The company eventually moved to curbside service, which directly competes with driver services like ta ...

Apple announced today that Chief Financial Office Luca Maestri will step away from his executive role, effective January 1. Kevan Parekh, Apple’s current VP of Financial Planning, will be promoted to CFO after 11 years at Apple.Maestri has been CFO at Apple since 2014, and he’s now transitioning to a different role in the company, where he will report directly to CEO Tim Cook. Cook said in a press release that Maestri will continue leading the corporate services team, which encompasses information security ...

Apple will be unveiling new products on September 10, with the announced phones going on sale on September 20, according to a report from Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman.That lineup will reportedly include the iPhone 16, with larger screens on the Pro models and a new button just for taking pictures. The phones should also support Apple Intelligence, the company’s suite of AI features announced earlier this year. The event could also include announcements of the Apple Watch Series 10, which will be thinner than pa ...

This week, Google joined a $250 million deal with the state of California to support California newsrooms. While the deal offers a much-needed cash infusion for an industry that’s seen crippling layoffs this year, the deal’s been criticized by some as a half-measure — and a cop-out.By agreeing to this deal, Google averts bills that would have forced it and other tech companies to pay news providers when they run ads alongside news content on their platforms. The Media Guild of the West (MGW), the local cha ...

Core Insights - Canoo's chief technology officer Sohel Merchant has left the company, leaving only one founding team member remaining [1] - The company is undergoing a significant reorganization, closing its Los Angeles headquarters and relocating employees to Texas or Oklahoma [2] - Canoo has been in a state of transformation since going public in late 2020, shifting its focus from selling electric vans to targeting the commercial EV market [3] Company Developments - CEO Tony Aquila announced plans to move the headquarters to Bentonville, Arkansas, to attract Walmart as a customer, but this move has not materialized [4] - Although Walmart signed a deal with Canoo in 2022, it was a low-risk arrangement, and Canoo has not delivered significant vehicle volumes under this agreement [5] - Canoo is currently testing vehicles for various government agencies but is facing financial challenges, reporting only $19.1 million in cash as of June 30 [5] Leadership Changes - The company has seen a steady loss of its founding team, with key figures such as co-founder and former CEO Stefan Krause and chief designer Richard Kim leaving in recent years [6]

Oil drilling and fracking giant Halliburton said it has shut down some of its internal systems following a cyberattack earlier this week. In a brief statement filed with government regulators on Thursday, Halliburton said it became aware of unauthorized access to its systems on Wednesday and responded by “proactively taking certain systems offline.” The company said it is “working to identify any effects of the incident.” Halliburton, which has close to 48,000 employees in dozens of countries per company f ...

Core Insights - Peloton is implementing a new one-time "used equipment fee" of $95 USD / $126 CAD to generate additional revenue from second-hand products [1] - The company is concerned that cheaper, slightly used bikes, treadmills, and rowers could cannibalize new sales [1] - The rise of services like Trade My Spin indicates Peloton's struggle to capitalize on the second-hand market [1] - Following Peloton's announcement, Trade My Spin introduced a $95 "activation rebate" for buyers [1]

At least 200 workers at DeepMind, Google’s AI R&D division, are displeased with Google’s reported defense contracts — and according to Time, they circulated a letter internally back in May to say as much. The letter, dated May 16, says the undersigned are concerned by “Google’s contracts with military organizations,” citing articles about the tech giant’s contracts to supply AI and cloud computing services to the Israeli military.“Any involvement with military and weapon manufacturing impacts our position a ...