Musk defeats former Twitter staff over $500m severance suit
A US judge has dismissed a $500 million severance lawsuit brought by former Twitter staff. They accused owner Elon Musk of short-changing them after he bought the social media giant in 2022.
Judge Trina Thompson said the ex-Twitter employees had failed to prove their claims were protected under federal law, handing a huge victory to Tesla billionaire Musk. Musk has faced several suits since buying the firm and rebranding it as X.
After Musk famously walked into Twitter HQ carrying a sink, the Tesla boss proceeded to sack thousands of staff, sparking multiple lawsuits. Vendors and partners accused Twitter of withholding promised payments.
Judge Thompson dismissed the suit, filed in a federal court in San Francisco in 2023 by former Twitter head of rewards Courtney McMillan.
“We are disappointed in the ruling and considering our options for moving forward,” a spokesperson for McMillan’s team said.
Musk’s team had urged the judge to reject the complaint, saying that America’s Employee Retirement Income Security Act did not apply as claimed.
Other cases against Musk are still pending, with Judge Thompson acknowledging in her ruling that those disputes may provide opportunities for litigants to prove their claims elsewhere, saying her court “lacks jurisdiction”.
Biden grants $1.7bn to boost EV building in 8 states
The Biden Administration has announced $1.7 billion in grants to carmakers, including General Motors and Stellantis, to expand manufacturing of electric vehicles in eight states.
The US Energy Department will issue grants to create or retain thousands of union jobs in the automotive industry in election battleground states, including Michigan, Georgia and Pennsylvania.
Ohio, Illinois, Indiana, Maryland, and Virginia are the other states with facilities awarded the money.
The cash covers parts of the automotive supply chain, ranging from parts for electric motorbikes to hybrid powertrains and heavy-duty commercial truck batteries.
“Building a clean energy economy can and should be a win-win for union autoworkers and automakers,” President Joe Biden said. “This investment will create thousands of good-paying, union manufacturing jobs and retain even more — from Lansing, Michigan to Fort Valley, Georgia — by helping auto companies retool, reboot and rehire in the same factories and communities.”
SoftBank snaps up chipmaker Graphcore
Japanese tech giant SoftBank has acquired British chipmaker Graphcore for an undisclosed sum.
The Bristol-based startup that designs chipsets used in artificial intelligence faced financial difficulty last year. It warned there would be “material uncertainty” over its future if it did not receive funding by May 2024.
It is the latest British tech start-up to be bought by SoftBank, which also bought another chip firm, Arm, for £24 billion in 2016. It has also invested in British autonomous vehicle firm Wayve.
Turkish delight for EV firm BYD, as Tesla rival unveils new factory plans
Electric vehicle maker BYD has announced a $1 billion deal to build a manufacturing centre in Turkey as it continues its expansion beyond its home market of China.
The Tesla rival said the new plant will build up to 150,000 vehicles a year and create around 5,000 jobs when it goes live in 2026.
It follows the introduction of EU tariffs on Chinese EVs, which means BYD will be hit with an extra 17.4% rise on vehicles shipped from China to the region.
However, the company could try to avoid extra charges by building a factory in Turkey, which is part of the EU’s Customs Union.
Samsung workers to strike amid financial boost and new products
A union representing employees of tech giant Samsung has called on its 30,000 members to take indefinite strike action against the South Korean firm over a pay and benefits dispute.
National Samsung Electronics Union (NSEU) members have just completed a three-day strike. The union claimed Samsung executives had left it no choice but to call for more action after declining talks over its demands.
NSEU represents around a quarter of Samsung Electronics’ employees in Korea.
It comes as Samsung revealed its profits are expected to leap more than 1,400% due to a boom in demand for AI chipsets. Samsung is the world’s largest maker of memory chips, smartphones, and TVs.
At its Unpacked event in Paris, it also revealed new products, including a wearable connected ring that tracks heart rate, sleep, and menstrual cycle, among other health and fitness uses.