Wall Street Welcomes Microsoft’s $100 Billion Investment in AI

Microsoft, currently the second most valuable company in the world, is investing heavily in its artificial intelligence initiatives while simultaneously generating significant revenue. This has led to heightened enthusiasm among investors.

The enterprise software leader announced its fourth-quarter results on Wednesday, surpassing expectations. Investors are closely monitoring the company as it competes for data centers and talent. Microsoft anticipates its capital expenditures for the upcoming fiscal year to exceed $100 billion, representing a 14% increase from the previous year.

In the fifth quarter, Microsoft exceeded Wall Street’s predictions. As the company approaches its 50th anniversary, originally founded by Bill Gates and Paul Allen in Albuquerque, New Mexico, in April 1975, its stock trades near an impressive $513—a 22% rise since the beginning of the year.

Shares of the software titan increased by more than 7% in extended trading on Wednesday.


Microsoft is actively enhancing its data center capabilities to address the growing demand for AI, similar to its competitors Alphabet/Google and Amazon. Recently, Alphabet revealed plans to invest $850 billion on capital expenditures by 2025, while Amazon is contemplating an expenditure of $100 million in the same timeframe.

“Cloud and AI are the primary catalysts for business transformation across all industries and sectors,” stated Satya Nadella, Chairman and CEO of Microsoft. “We are revamping the entire high-tech stack to assist our clients in adapting and thriving in this new era. This year, Azure’s growth has reached 34%, surpassing $750 billion, with an increase in all workload areas,” Nadella noted in a recent statement.

Microsoft reported a revenue of $76.4 billion, outperforming the consensus estimate of $738.1 billion, with earnings per share at $3.65 against an estimate of $3.37. This marks an 18% year-on-year revenue growth, compared to $64.733 billion for the same period last year.

The substantial investments in data centers necessary to support AI products are occurring as businesses increasingly shift their computing demands to the cloud.

Wedbush financial analyst Dan Ives remarked that as Microsoft sees its shares rise to $600,000,000,000,000,000,000, the company is poised to reach a market value of $400 billion and $5 trillion soon, driven by its accelerating adoption of AI technology.

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“This was a stellar quarter for MSFT, as cloud and AI become pivotal drivers of major business transformations across all sectors during this AI revolution.”

The escalating costs of attracting top AI talent are also noteworthy. OpenAI CEO Sam Altman revealed that Meta had offered a staggering $100 million signature bonus to recruit talent from his firm. Additionally, Meta reportedly allocated $2 million to senior Apple engineers to join its Superintelligence team.

In response, Microsoft is reportedly compensating high-level engineers with annual salaries of $408,000, as per Business Insider.

Source: www.theguardian.com

The Mouse with Two Dads Welcomes Its First Offspring

Adult male mouse with two fathers and possessing their own offspring

Yang Chang Wei

For the first time, male mice with two fathers have successfully produced offspring. This significant advancement paves the way for the possibility of two men having a genetically related child, although there are still numerous obstacles to overcome before this could be realized in people.

Yang Chang Wei in Shanghai, China, achieved this by merging two sperm cells with eggs stripped of their nucleus. The research team also reprogrammed seven areas of sperm DNA through a process called epigenome editing to facilitate embryo development.

Out of 259 embryos transferred to female mice, only two male offspring survived and grew, highlighting the low success rates. After mating with a female, both offspring were found to be descendants of the father, exhibiting normal size, weight, and appearance.

Generating a mouse with two fathers has proven far more challenging than producing one with two mothers. The initial report of a viable mouse with two mothers, named Kaguya, surfaced in 2004.

While Kaguya was genetically modified, Wei and his team successfully created similar paternalless mice in 2022 utilizing only epigenome editing without altering DNA sequences. This method was also instrumental in developing motherless mice.

The birth of mammals with two fathers or mothers is notably significant due to the concept of imprinting, which occurs as most animals possess two sets of chromosomes.

During the formation of eggs and sperm, chemical markers are applied to these chromosomes, activating certain genes while deactivating others. These alterations are termed “epigenetic” because they do not modify the actual DNA sequence, yet they can influence gene expression during cell division.

Crucially, the epigenetic programming of mothers differs from that of fathers; genes marked “active” in sperm may be marked “inactive” in eggs, and vice versa.

This discrepancy means that if an egg contains two sets of paternal chromosomes or maternal chromosomes, it will struggle to develop correctly. A gene that should be turned on in one chromosome could become overactive if only one copy of both is present or if both copies are included.

In Kaguya’s scenario, researchers managed this issue by removing some genes, normalizing overall gene activity. However, creating a mouse with two fathers necessitates additional alterations.

Earlier this year, a different team from China managed to produce mice with two fathers after implementing 20 genetic modifications to standardize gene activity, but these mice exhibited neither full health nor fertility.

Although modifying gene activity through genetic alterations aids in researching imprinting in laboratory animals, it remains unpalatable for human application, especially considering the unknown implications of genetic modifications.

For their epigenetic approach, Wei and his team employed modified versions of the CRISPR protein, typically utilized for gene editing. These modified proteins, like standard CRISPR versions, are designed to locate specific sites in the genome. When these sites are identified, the modified proteins can add or remove epigenetic labels without altering the DNA itself.

This research marks a significant breakthrough. Helen O’Neill, University College London, stated, “We confirm that genome imprinting is the primary barrier to mammalian reproduction overnight and demonstrate that it can be surpassed.”

Since this technique does not involve direct genetic modification, it may, in theory, allow same-sex couples to have genetically related children. However, a considerably higher success rate is necessary before such a method can be deemed acceptable for human use. “While this study on producing offspring from same-sex parents is encouraging, it is unlikely to translate to humans due to the vast number of eggs required, the large pool of surrogate women necessary, and the low success rate,” explained Christoph Galichet from the Sainsbury Welcome Centre in the UK.

The low success rate can be attributed to various factors. Firstly, merging the two sperm cells resulted in some embryos containing two Y chromosomes, leading to underdevelopment. Additionally, for effective epigenome editing, all seven targeted sites in the embryo must be successfully modified, and there might have been off-target effects in some instances.

It’s plausible that animal success rates and health could be enhanced by modifying more than seven sites; however, these modifications likely wouldn’t be applicable to human use, considering the differing sites that require changes in humans compared to mice.

If a human baby were to be conceived using this method, the mitochondria within the cell—containing a small amount of DNA—would originate from the egg donor, essentially making it three contributing genetic sources.

In 2023, a Japanese team reported the birth of a mouse puppy with two fathers through a distinct method involving the conversion of mouse stem cells into eggs. However, it remains uncertain whether the puppies thrived into adulthood, and no successful attempts have yet been made to transform human stem cells into eggs.

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Source: www.newscientist.com

The Endangered Galapagos Turtle Welcomes 100 Hatchlings as First-Time Mother

Congratulations, mommy, Galapagos turtle, and longtime resident of the Philadelphia Zoo, recently became their first mother at an estimated age of 100.

Mom, People who have lived in the zoo since 1932layed 16 eggs in November. Four of them have been hatched. It was the first successful hatching of her species at the zoo, which opened in 1874.

Of course, she had helped. Abrazo, male turtle, is estimated to be about a century ago.

Mama and Abrazo, members of the West Santa Cruz subspecies, are the oldest animals at the Philadelphia Zoo. But Galapagos turtles can live up to 200 years longer, the zoo said.

The first hatching was released on February 27th, and the zoo announced it on Thursday. The others continued within a few days, with the last one being hatched on March 6th.

Neither of the hatching has been named, but is expected to be in the public eye from April 23rd, the zoo said. According to Lauren Augustine, director of herpetology at the zoo, they do “fantasy.” (Herpetology refers to the study of reptiles and amphibians.)

“They’re the size of tennis balls and they’re actually pretty good,” Augustine said.

The turtles in the West Santa Cruz Galapagos are International Union for Conservation of Nature. According to the Philadelphia Zoo, before the new arrival, there were only 44 giant turtles in West Santa Cruz at every zoo in the United States.

Baby turtles will not share the same physical space as their parents. Their impressive size – Abrazo is 410 pounds, and Mama is about 280 pounds – poses the risk of crushing the hatch ring.

Unlike his peers, Abrazo is not his first parent. In 2011 he was part of a successful pairing; Unexpected discoveries of five hatching His previous home is Riverbanks Zoo and Gardens in Columbia, South Carolina

Abrazo came to the Philadelphia Zoo on the recommendation of the Zoo and Aquarium Association.

Abrazzo and Mommy were introduced in 2022, and Mama began laying eggs in 2023. She has now laid four rounds of eggs. The first three rounds were not feasible. But the fourth was.

Once she laid eggs, members of the zoo staff were set up to weigh, measure, and artificially incubate at two different temperatures.

All four hatch rings born this year are women, but Augustine said three more eggs are still being raised.

“It’s kind of testimony through the excellent care that she has to take at the institution,” said Stephen Diver, a professor of zoology medicine at the University of Georgia. “It’s not easy to keep a huge tropical turtle in the Northern Hemisphere properly.

Being hatched will be taken prisoner for at least five years. The zoo then decides what to do with them, Consultation with the Zoo and Aquarium Association. If they were genetic matches for other turtles, they could either end up at another zoo or spend their days in the wild in the Galapagos Islands off the coast of Ecuador. But that would take a risk, said Rachel Metz, vice president of animal welfare at the Philadelphia Zoo.

They are at extreme risk from natural disasters, potentially diseases, climate change and invasive species,” she said.

Centuries ago, the Galapagos turtle population reached hundreds of thousands, but it fell over time as it was hunted for human consumption. However, in half a century, the population recovered. Up to about 17,000 For conservation and breeding programs.

Although estimates of the population of turtles in West Santa Cruz vary widely, Stephen Blake, an assistant professor of biology at St. Louis University who has worked extensively with turtles in the Galapagos, says it is likely to be thousands. The population appears to be growing steadily, he said.

The population is small and prisoner reproduction is very rare, so hatching would give researchers the opportunity to study turtles from young ages in captivity, said Juan Manuel Vazquez, a biologist who studied aging in long-standing living animals. Includes Galapagos turtles.

“Additional turtles count,” he said.

Dr. Blake said it is not uncommon for Galapagos turtles to breed in 100 in the wild. Given that, hatching the Philadelphia Zoo is unlikely to have a major impact on conservation efforts, but it could help raise awareness about the massive turtles in general.

In my opinion, this is not intended to do much for what is happening in the wild directly, reproducing a turtle. But indirect terms, zoos can promote the wonder of producing 100-year-old reptiles for the first time, and use it as a means to surprise them among people.. ”

Source: www.nytimes.com

Bluesky welcomes 700,000 new members as X users leave after US election

Bluesky, a social media platform, saw a surge of over 700,000 new users in the week following the US election, as users sought refuge from misinformation and offensive content on another platform, X.

The company reported reaching 14.5 million users globally, up from 9 million in September, with significant growth from North America and the United Kingdom.

According to social media researcher Axel Brands, Bluesky provides an alternative to X (formerly Twitter) with better mechanisms for blocking problematic accounts and addressing harmful behavior.

Brands mentioned, “Twitter users are turning to Bluesky for a more pure social media experience, free from far-right activity, misinformation, hate speech, and bots.”

CEO Jay Graeber stated that Bluesky, initially a project within Twitter, became an independent entity in 2022.

The platform’s growth is attributed to dissatisfaction with X and its owner, Elon Musk, leading to a significant user exodus from X following their rebranding.

Bluesky reported acquiring 3 million new users after X was suspended in Brazil and another 1.2 million after a policy change by Company X.

The platform’s user base is expanding rapidly, with notable figures such as historian Ruth Ben-Ghiat finding appeal in Bluesky’s community and features.

Bluesky is currently the second-largest social networking app in Apple’s US App Store, with a recent increase in monthly active users.

Recent updates to Bluesky, including direct messaging and video features, aim to differentiate it from meta-owned competitors and offer a user-friendly experience.

Overall, the platform is experiencing a resurgence reminiscent of the early days of social media, attracting users with its vibrant and active community.

Prominent figures like Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez have found a home on Bluesky, highlighting the platform’s appeal as a space for real connection.

Source: www.theguardian.com

Apply for Competition: Permissionless Capital Welcomes Web3 Startups

Tel Aviv, Israel, April 10, 2024, Chainwire

Web3 platform for startups, unauthorized capital invited Web3 startups to apply to the Permissionless Opportunities event. This program provides eligible Web3 startups with access to the resources they need to successfully build their concepts and bring their products to market.

Permissionless Opportunities provides great Web3 startups with the tools, funding, and connections to navigate the blockchain industry and launch their products. Signing up for a Permissionless event takes just 90 seconds and requires no fees or pitches. Dozens of startups are expected to apply for the first Permissionless Opportunities Event, after which the best applicants will be invited to join the program.

The largest event of its kind for Web3 and blockchain startups, Permissionless Opportunities gamifies the funding process and helps great companies realize their potential. The event has secured partnerships with Solana, Polygon, ImmutableX, Chainlink, Arweave, and more.

Permissionless Opportunities was designed in a game show manner with an audience participation component. Contest winners will be determined equally by a panel of expert judges and community consensus.

Winners of the Permissionless Opportunities Event will have the opportunity to pitch to over 50 leading VCs and partner with an ecosystem that will help advance their concept and provide mentoring and technical support. Other benefits include her one-on-one access to expert advisors, credits, discounts, and extensive media coverage to increase your visibility.

The program targets Web3 startups in the Defi, Infrastructure, Security, Gaming, and RWA categories, covering both B2B and B2C applications. Applications can be registered for Permissionless Opportunities from April 10th to May 1st. The program promises to shine a light on the next generation of his Web3 companies while giving the best applicants everything they need to optimize their prospects for success.

About unauthorized event events

Permissionless Opportunities is the first online event hosted by Permissionless Capital. The startup and investor network believes in equality of opportunity, regardless of a startup's connections, background, or country. Permissionless Opportunities takes the form of an online contest that Web3 startups can apply and participate in for free. Successful applicants will have the opportunity to receive grants, credit, one-on-one mentoring, and maximum media exposure.

Learn more: https://event.permissionlesscapital.io/

Contact

Nil Naamani
nir@permissionlesscapital.io

Source: www.the-blockchain.com

Miami Welcomes the World’s First Chief Thermal Officer

MIAMI BEACH, Fla. — Jane Gilbert embraced the pleasant weather and light breeze of early March while hurrying between meetings. She is well aware that the heat is on its way.

At the Miami Beach Convention Center, Gilbert and numerous scientists, policymakers, activists, and business leaders have convened for the Aspen Ideas: Climate conference. This three-day event focuses on discussing solutions and adaptations to combat global warming.

Gilbert serves as the Chief Heat Officer for Miami-Dade County, a region with over 2.6 million residents situated at the southeastern end of Florida. In 2021, she made history by becoming the first person globally to hold such a position. Since then, others have followed suit in cities worldwide facing the challenges of extreme heat in a warming climate.

Chief heat officers from various locations communicate through a WhatsApp group, exchanging insights and advocating for policy modifications.

Speaking about her interactions, Gilbert stated, “I mostly collaborate with the chief heat officers in Phoenix and Los Angeles, but I’ve also gained knowledge from Melbourne, Australia, Santiago, Chile, and Athens, Greece. Sharing resources like this is one of the most rewarding aspects of my job.”

In South Florida, renowned for its tropical climate, Gilbert’s primary objective is safeguarding residents from intense heat and humidity while enhancing the county’s resilience against heatwaves exacerbated by climate change.

Those particularly at risk when temperatures soar include children, the elderly, the homeless population, individuals who work outside, and those in low-income communities.

Gilbert highlighted, “If you reside and work in an air-conditioned environment and have the means for an air-conditioned vehicle, you’re likely covered. Our main concern is for individuals working outdoors, those unable to stay cool at home, and those enduring long waits at unsafe bus stops.”

Her efforts in aiding the most vulnerable were crucial last year when Miami encountered its hottest summer to date.

She shared, “Over the last 14 years until 2023, the average number of days annually with a heat index surpassing 105 degrees was six. Last summer, it exceeded 42 days, a staggering seven times the norm.”

Numerous forecasts indicate that the situation could worsen. 2023 marked the hottest year on record globally. Climate experts project that this year might be equally scorching, if not more.

Recalling the skepticism she faced upon her appointment, Gilbert emphasized the urgency of having professionals dedicated solely to addressing heat-related challenges in South Florida.

“While it’s always warm here, there are now 77 additional days above 90 degrees compared to five decades ago,” she mentioned. “That’s a significant escalation.”

Heat is often dubbed a “silent killer,” causing more deaths annually in the United States than any other weather phenomenon, according to the National Weather Service. Gilbert noted a surge in heat-related ER visits last summer amidst the temperature spikes.

Studies suggest that by the middle of this century, this region of Florida may face heat index temperatures of 105 degrees Fahrenheit or higher for a duration of approximately 88 days each year, roughly three months.

Given the predictions, Gilbert stressed the urgency in taking action.

Ahead of the impending heat surge, her team is reaching out to renters and homeowners regarding cost-effective cooling methods. Training programs are also lined up for healthcare workers, homeless outreach workers, and summer camp providers, similar to last year.

She reiterated, “Our top priority is reaching the most vulnerable groups and tailoring messages for varied communities. That’s why we use English, Spanish, and Haitian Creole to communicate about the risks of extreme heat and preparation methods through radio, social media, and community platforms.”

Over the next month, the focus will shift to educating employers on safeguarding workers. This initiative became more pressing after the Florida Senate sanctioned a bill that would bar local governments from enforcing mandatory water breaks or workplace safety standards against extreme heat beyond federal regulations.

Gilbert expressed concern about the bill’s potential repercussions, citing statistics showing that construction workers are up to 11 times more susceptible to heat-related illnesses during extreme temperatures than the average person. Agricultural workers face an even higher risk, being 35 times more vulnerable.

Despite the challenges, Gilbert believes progress can still be achieved in advocating for employers to adhere to OSHA guidelines, enhancing productivity during hot spells, improving worker retention, reducing compensation claims, and yielding other economic benefits.

She emphasized, “This is where we must focus our efforts. By collaborating with OSHA offices, we can recognize the compliant entities and, in some cases, address non-compliance.”

Having served as the chief resilience officer for the City of Miami previously, Gilbert is well-versed in navigating legal obstacles. She acknowledged the irony of hosting this week’s climate conference in a city often referred to as the “epicenter” of the nation’s climate crisis.

“Florida is a complex landscape when it comes to politics, and I’m accustomed to climate change being a contentious topic,” she noted. “Nevertheless, I’ll do my part, right?”

Source: www.nbcnews.com

Cruise to pay fine, TuSimple exits US market, TC Transpo team welcomes new reporter



The Station

The Station is a weekly newsletter dedicated to all things transportation. Just sign up here and click on “The Station” to have our newsletter delivered to your inbox every weekend. Subscribe for free. Welcome to The Station. It is the central hub for all past, present, and future means of moving people and goods from point A to point B. Hello everyone! I’m back from Chevrolet Blazer EV Press drive. Sometimes I have an idea. However, you’ll have to wait until later this week to read about it. There is one important news item that former TC contributor turned InsideEVs editor Patrick George collected during his press days that he would like to point out to you. Remember how GM I messed up my Chevy Volt and Volt EUV and after a few months I was like, “Never mind!” Are you going to bring it back to the new Ultium platform? Good. Well, we now know when it’s coming back. It will be EUV only. The small original Bolt EV is over and done with. I wonder how this will ultimately affect GM’s subsidiary Cruise, which uses a self-driving version of the Bolt. That is, if cruises resume operations in 2024. Let me share some more important items. I’m a regular at stocks podcast With TC+ Editor Alex Wilhelm and Senior Reporter Mary Ann Azevedo. You can listen to the latest episode here. And finally, we’re excited to share this: We’ve adopted Sean O’Kane As a senior reporter covering all aspects of transportation. Mr. O’Kane comes from Bloomberg via The Verge, and I can’t say enough about his investigative and storytelling abilities. He will share his email next week once he officially starts work. Please welcome him! Want to contact us with a tip, comment, or complaint? Email Kirsten at kirsten.korosec@techcrunch.com or Rebecca at rebecca.techcrunch@gmail.com. Send your notes to tips@techcrunch.com. If you wish to remain anonymous, Click here to contact us; this includes SecureDrop (instructions here) and various encrypted messaging apps. This week’s sale Automakers love to talk about software-defined vehicles. But that doesn’t mean automakers eager to bring sophisticated digital platforms to their vehicles have actually realized this software-defined future. One startup is taking advantage of that demand. cubic telecomhas developed a networking system that makes it easy to connect vehicles (and other devices) to mobile networks, and has received €473 million ($513 million) from . Softbank Corp.. The deal sees SoftBank Corp. (not Vision Fund or SoftBank Group) take a 51% stake in the Dublin-based startup, valued at 927 million euros ($1 billion). Become strong. As editor Ingrid Lunden writes, this effectively makes Cubic Telecom a consolidated subsidiary of SoftBank. Barry Napier will remain CEO and become a member of the Board of Directors. Daichi Nozaki, SoftBank’s senior vice president of global business, and two other SoftBank-appointed people (names yet to be determined) will join the board, with the remaining three seats held by CARIAD (Volkswagen Group) and others. It will be occupied by Cubic Telecom’s existing investors, including Qualcomm. Another interesting note: Cubic Telecom participated in TechCrunch’s first Startup Battlefield in 2007. Other sales that caught our attention this week… AM battery, a lithium-ion dry electrode technology startup, has raised $30 million in a Series B round led by Toyota Ventures. Other new investors include Porsche Ventures, Asahi Kasei, RA Capital Management – ​​Planetary Health, Wilson Sonsini, and Industry Ventures. Existing investors Anzu Partners, TDK Ventures, Creative Ventures, Doral Energy-Tech Ventures, Foothill Ventures, and Zeon Ventures also participated. generac power systems Made a minority investment in Wallbox, an EV charging and energy management company. The undisclosed minority investment includes an additional seat on Wallbox’s board of directors and a global commercial agreement to deliver next-generation energy management systems to Generac’s residential and commercial customers. Foreteryx, which builds verification and verification solutions for testing driver assistance and autonomous vehicle systems, has raised $42 million and closed its Series C for $85 million. The entire round was led by Israel’s VC 83North, with Singapore’s Temasek and Isuzu joined by Woven Capital (Toyota’s venture fund), Nvidia, Artofin, and previous backers MoreTech, Nationwide, Volvo Group VC, Jump Capital, Next Gear Invested with Ventures and OurCrowd. The first close of this Series C was in May of this year for $43 million. stuartis a Paris-based last-mile delivery platform founded in 2015 and acquired by Munich-based private equity holding company Mutares. Terms were not disclosed. Notable reads and other trivia self-driving car of Autonomous Vehicle Industry Association, American Chamber of Commerce, Alliance for Automotive Innovation sent a letter to Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg, imploring the Department of Transportation to: Supports AV development Otherwise, we risk losing our competitiveness against China. cruise The company faces fines and sanctions for failing to disclose details of an Oct. 2 incident, specifically an incident in which one of its vehicles dragged a pedestrian 20 feet, according to a California Public Utilities Commission ruling. It is said that there is a possibility of facing. The agency ordered Cruz to appear at a Feb. 6 hearing to defend himself against the charges against him. Ganesh Venkataramananwho led Tesla’s Dojo supercomputer project for the past five years. I left the company. For those unfamiliar, the Dojo supercomputer is considered a key technology supporting self-driving car efforts. kodiak robotics introduced a self-driving car that resulted from a $50 million, two-year contract signed by the U.S. Department of Defense, and more specifically the U.S. Army. If you thought it was a semi-truck, you were wrong. No, it’s a Ford F-150 pickup truck that the startup has outfitted with its own software and sensor stack. The Department of Defense uses this vehicle to test autonomous surveillance and reconnaissance missions in off-road terrain, diverse operating conditions, and GPS-challenged environments. torque robotics and uber freight We are building strategic partnerships. Under the agreement, Torc will use data from Uber Freight’s logistics network to help refine autonomous freight network design and expansion strategies. This includes learning which lanes are best for deployment and how to prioritize lane deployment and various operational design areas. Use self-driving trucks to balance supply and demand across your supply chain. There was a time when there were developers of self-driving trucks. TuSimple Not to mention investments and partnerships, it attracted a lot of attention. Those days are over, at least in the United States. The publicly traded company plans to lay off most of its U.S. employees and sell its U.S. assets as it exits the country for Asia. Approximately 150 people, or 75% of the U.S. workforce, will be laid off. The remaining 50 employees will help TuSimple scale down its U.S. operations, including asset sales, and support the company’s transition to the Asia-Pacific region. electric car, charging, battery scoutis a spin-off company of the VW Group aimed at selling EVs for North America, and is currently developing pickup trucks and SUVs.some New details revealed Ahead of its scheduled debut in Q3 2024. Stellantis Partnering with battery replacement startup enough to test the technology in a Fiat 500e city car. The companies will launch the first phase in Madrid, where 100 vehicles from Stellantis’ Free2move car-sharing service will be retrofitted to accept Ampoule’s modular batteries. TC reporter Tim de Chant thinks battery swapping could work well in vehicles, but are consumers ready for the technology? Speaking of that, fiat 500e, the compact EV will be in North American showrooms in the first quarter of 2024, starting with a production red model in collaboration with the AIDS prevention organization co-founded by U2’s Bono. TC reporter Hari Weber calls the Fiat 500e the anti-Cybertruck. Will Americans buy it? Another Stellantis item. The automaker will temporarily reduce one shift at its Detroit assembly plant, which produces Jeep sport utility vehicles, due to California emissions regulations. What kind of relationship is there?Stellantis sent a petition It opposes the California Framework Agreement signed in 2019 with four automakers (BMW, Ford, Honda, and Volkswagen). Stellantis says framework companies can use gross EV sales to comply with state emissions regulations, while other OEMs can only use sales generated in states that comply with CARB regulations. claims. As a result, Stellantis, which includes the Jeep brand, has an excess inventory of plug-in hybrids in California. Therefore, production will be reduced. Tesla’s The lowest-priced vehicles, rear-wheel-drive Model 3s, will no longer receive the full $7,500 federal tax credit starting next year. Tesla isn’t the only company…


Source: techcrunch.com