Key Points Meta Platforms - Ending Fact-Checking: Meta Platforms is ending fact-checking and removing restrictions on speech across Facebook and Instagram. This move is described as an attempt to restore free expression on the platforms. - Community Notes System: Meta will replace fact-checkers with a Community Notes system, similar to Elon Musk's X platform. Users will flag posts that need more context. - Shift in Policy: This shift in policy is likely motivated by Meta's desire to mend fences with Republicans and head off regulation. It also responds to the message sent by voters who elected Donald Trump. - Content Moderation: Zuckerberg acknowledged that content moderation had gone too far, leading to too many mistakes and censorship. U.S. Economy - Labor Market: The share of workers who quit their job in November fell from a month earlier, indicating weakening in the labor market. - Inflation: Inflation remains a concern, with the Federal Reserve trimming borrowing costs again and companies preparing for a new administration in Washington. - Services Activity: U.S. services activity increased more than expected in December, but the index remains below the level booked in October, suggesting services businesses remain wary ahead of Donald Trump's presidency. Technology - Amazon Cloud and AI Infrastructure: Amazon.com plans to spend at least 3 billion over the next two years to expand its cloud and artificial-intelligence infrastructure in India. - Shein and Forced Labor: The U.K. parliamentary committee grilled representatives of China-founded bargain site Shein over the sourcing of its cotton and declared severe dissatisfaction with Shein's lack of answers regarding forced labor concerns. Real Estate - Office Vacancy: Office vacancy remains near record levels in many cities, where a glut of unwanted and aging workspace is keeping a lid on rents and depressing office values. - Tenant Demand: Large tenants are increasingly finding slim pickings for top-shelf workspace, especially in hot spots like New York City's Park Avenue, Miami's Brickell district, and Century City in Los Angeles. - Landlord Response: Some of the country's largest office owners are moving to fill the void by investing in renovations and new developments. Other - Cintas Bid for UniFirst: Cintas, a maker of workplace products, made a 4.1 billion. - Getty and Shutterstock Merger: Getty Images Holdings and photo rival Shutterstock said they will join forces to form a company worth about $3.7 billion to meet the demand for licensed images and videos. - U.S. Rent Collusion Suit: The Justice Department is adding six major apartment landlords to its lawsuit against real-estate software company RealPage, expanding the scope of its allegations that the rent-setting algorithm enabled illegal price fixing. - JPMorgan Return-to-Office Plan: Senior executives at JPMorgan Chase are discussing a plan to require all of the bank's roughly 300,000 employees to return to the office five days a week. - ING Organic Expansion: ING Groep is sticking to its plans to grow organically in markets where it already operates, even as several European rivals turn to mergers and acquisitions to expand. - JPMorgan Exiting Climate Coalition: JPMorgan Chase said it would withdraw from a pandemic-era climate coalition, the last of the U.S. megabanks to do so as American corporations continues its broad pullback from ESG initiatives. - WuXi Selling Vaccine Plant: WuXi Biologics agreed to sell an overseas vaccine facility to Merck & Co. for half a billion dollars, a move that could strengthen the company's cash flow and margins as it navigates global uncertainties.
The Wall Street Journal - January 08, 2025
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