More Uber drivers in the U.S. will start to see their fares and routes before accepting rides, Uber said today as part of a larger announcement.
Why it matters: The company has tried to improve driver support in face of increased competition for gig workers and criticism for not providing enough support to drivers.
Electric vehicles are more likely to have defects than traditional gas cars, according to an Axios analysis of industry data.
Why it matters: With EVs promising to replace internal combustion engine (ICE) cars, their performance on traditional quality measures will be key to their adoption in the long run.
Actor Will Smith apologized to Chris Rock and his family for slapping the comedian at the Academy Awards earlier this year.
Why it matters: The nearly six-minute apology video, posted to Instagram and YouTube, is the latest apology from Smith about the controversial Oscars moment. He previously apologized in a statement in March.
Much of this week has been spent talking about the "r" word. A more precise description of where things stand is the "s" word: stagflation.
Why it matters: The latest data on wages and inflation, combined with last quarter's contraction, point to a mix of flat growth paired with persistently high inflation.
Cryptocurrency might change the world, but, until then, it's a horse race. Mainly, coins are fighting to get to third place.
Why it matters: Coins that get a lock in their position at the top are likely to have found what tech people call "product-market fit." That is, some set of people has found them decisively useful in some way.
Most publicly traded companies can only realize losses on crypto assets under U.S. accounting rules today. Gains only count if they sell.
Why it matters: Fifteen publicly traded companies have more than 1,000 bitcoin on their balance sheets (over $20 million worth), according to Bitcoin Treasuries.
A former Voyager Digital executive and board memberis seeking more information to support his own restructuring plan for the now-distressed crypto lender's bankruptcy proceeding.
Driving the news: Shingo Lavine, who was Voyager Digital's chief innovation officer and a board member until February 2021, shared with Axios why the firm filed an objection with the United States Bankruptcy Court, Southern District of New York.
There isn't much left to say in the semantic debate over whether the U.S.'s two straight quarters of GDP contraction amounts to a recession.
The big picture: The committee of economists that arbitrates these things probably won't see it that way, but two quarters of contraction is indeed a common rule of thumb for recession. You can decide for yourself which definition you embrace. (See more here and here).
Driving the news: Rumors of New York City’s demise aren't entirely exaggerated, especially as soaring crime and remote work reshapes its culture. But rent inflation has yet to come back to earth.
I've driven a number of vehicles recently with Ford's BlueCruise hands-free highway driving assistant, and here's my takeaway: It's still a work in progress.
The big picture: Ford is only the second automaker to offer a true hands-free highway driving system. GM's Super Cruise was first in 2017.
Tech giants that have often sailed above the economy's turmoil can't escape the current downturn's pain, as this week's earnings reports from the sector's key companies illustrated.
Why it matters: Even as other industries struggled during the pandemic, tech prospered because so much of the economy shifted online. Now they are preparing to take a direct hit.
Americans have wagered hundreds of millions of dollars on lottery tickets just in the past two days, catapulting a U.S. lottery jackpot to more than $1 billion for only the fourth time ever.
Why it matters: Millions of people have bought a ticket, dreaming of what they would do with a post-tax lump sum estimated at more than $600 million.
Chicken wing prices are now declining after being hit by inflation and increased consumer demand during the pandemic, according to the CEO of one of the nation's largest chicken wing restaurants.
Why it matters: U.S. consumers, who are dealing with rising prices and record-high inflation, plan to buy more chicken than other types of protein in the twelve months ahead, according to a National Chicken Council study.
Regulators issued a stern order to bankrupt cryptocurrency lender Voyager Digital: stop telling customers their deposits are protected by the government, according to a letter sent to company executives on Thursday.
Why it matters: Voyager was one of the companies pushed into bankruptcy as turmoil swept the crypto market. The warning from regulators comes after a frenzy of customer confusion about whether their deposits would be reimbursed following a stretch of misleading claims from the company.
This appeared first inAxios Finish Line, as Axios CEO Jim VandeHei's weekly feature on hard-learned lessons for life and leadership.
Achieving insane success at work or in personal quests often requires insane effort and discipline, Jim writes.
Why it matters: Almost every person at the top of their game — be it sports or business — does extraordinary things to get their mind and body to perform optimally and at a higher level than others.
Bob Dylan's accuser on Thursday withdrew the lawsuit in which she alleged that the musician sexually abused her in 1965 when she was a 12-year-old girl.
Driving the news: The unnamed plaintiff asked a federal judge to dismiss the suit one day after Dylan's attorneys claimed she destroyed key messages related to the case, per Billboard and Law360.
/2022/07/29/1659066733949.gif?w=3840)
