1. A Sad Day for Tweet-aholics
Rocking the Twitter-verse, Elon Musk, the executive chair of the social media platform, has announced that they will be limiting the number of tweets users can read. Finally, someone is taking a stand against rampant tweet consumption! Musk stated that this limitation is necessary to prevent excessive data scraping and system manipulation. Verified accounts will now be limited to 10,000 tweets per day, while unverified accounts can only view 1,000. Unverified users also have to settle for a meager 500 posts per day. It's truly a dark time for those who tweet over 500 times per day... Musk has assured us that this is just a temporary emergency measure. Thank God for that; how else are we going to keep up with the latest developments in celebrity feuds and political controversies?
2. Meta Takes Aim at Twitter
Hold onto your hashtags, because Meta Platforms, Instagram's parent company, is challenging Twitter with their competing app called Threads. Because we definitely need another social media app in our lives, right?! In response to Elon Musk's controversial move to limit Twitter users' daily tweet consumption, Meta decided to flex its muscles and give Twitter a run for its money. Kim Kardashian and JLo have already signed up so that's something. Threads is meant to seamlessly integrate with your Instagram profile and given Instagram's massive user base in the billions, Threads might just make Twitter go from "tweeting" to "retweeting" in defeat. Sorry for the dad joke.
3. Tesla's Sales Soar Past Predictions: Is Elon Musk Actually a Wizard?
Tesla's deliveries skyrocketed by 83% in the latest quarter, thanks to their genius strategy of slashing prices and throwing discounts left and right like a desperate vendor at a dollar store fire sale. The electric car company, led by the one and only Elon Musk, proudly announced that they managed to offload over 466,000 vehicles worldwide, breaking their previous sales record and beating analysts' predictions by roughly 21,000 vehicles. Demand for their vehicles has shown signs of softening, which means Tesla needs to resort to drastic measures like giving away cars for basically nothing (we made that up, but it wouldn't surprise us). Despite their profit margin taking a nosedive, Tesla's operating margin still stands higher than that of most other carmakers. So, hooray for them, we guess? Elon made it clear that Tesla is willing to sacrifice profitability to pursue growth and Tesla's stock, while it may have doubled in the first half of this year, is still below its peak in 2021. Place your bets now then tune in on July 19th to see how Tesla's financial results turned out.
4. China's Temper Tantrum Means Critical Export Restrictions
Somewhat unsurprisingly, China has decided to restrict the exports of two minerals, gallium and germanium, which are crucial for high-performance chips, missile systems, and solar cells. This maneuver is clearly a retaliation against the chip curbs imposed by the U.S. and other countries because obviously China would engage in a tit-for-tat battle of export restrictions. This restriction serves as a reminder of China's previous export-quota system for rare earth metals, and it allows Beijing to flex its muscles and showcase its control over global supply chains. The situation is bound to escalate as discussions on export controls loom between the two nations, giving us a front-row seat to this exciting drama of geopolitics and technology.
5. Apple Making History Means Nothing for Our Excessive Screen Time Issues
Apple, the tech giant that just can't stop making money, has achieved yet another milestone by becoming the first company in history to reach a market value of $3 trillion. People are betting on Apple's expansion into new markets and the fact that the Federal Reserve is taking it easy on interest rate hikes. Further, investors are going crazy for artificial intelligence, and who wouldn't love a company with lots of cash flow and strong balance sheets? Not to mention, Apple's recent quarterly report showed that it's making even more profitable than analysts predicted, and their habit of buying back stocks has made them the go-to investment during times of global uncertainty. Congrats to Apple as the most valuable global company, but can we get an iPhone screen that can survive a light breeze without cracking?