>>Federal Agencies Looking Into Nationwide Service Outage At AT&T
(New York, NY) -- AT&T says it's wireless network has been restored after a widespread service outage impacted thousands of customers. AT&T is blaming the outage on a software error when it upgraded its network, and not a cyber attack. While Verizon and T-Mobile customers also flagged service issues, those companies said that was most likely due to problems contacting customers on AT&T's network. AT&T is the third-largest US retail wireless carrier, with about 87-million subscribers. ATT was trading down two-and-half percent following the outage.
>>Google Pauses Gemini Image Generator After Delivering Inaccurate Historical Photos
(Mountain View, CA) -- Google is putting its Gemini AI image generator on hold after it produced what the company calls "inaccurate historical images." Users complained about instances like Gemini returning requests for images of the founding fathers as people of color. Other images included a female Catholic pope, and Black Vikings. The tech giant said it's working on improving the depictions immediately. Google added an updated version of the image generator will be released soon.
>>Pharmacies Affected By Hack
(Nashville, TN) -- Several pharmacies across the country have been seeing disruptions after a hack targeted Change Healthcare, a division of UnitedHealth. The hack was discovered Wednesday and the company immediately disconnected its systems to prevent further damage. In some cases the disruption has made pharmacies unable to process insurance claims. UnitedHealth says it's working with security experts and law enforcement but can't say how long the problem will persist.
>>Cash App Founder's Alleged Killer Back In Court
(San Francisco, CA) -- Defense attorneys for the man accused of murdering Cash App founder Bob Lee say they haven't been given all the evidence in the case. Nima Momeni was back in a San Francisco courtroom Thursday where his lawyers said they're concerned they haven't gotten all the evidence from Lee's two cell phones. Momeni allegedly stabbed Lee to death last year over a dispute about Lee's relationship with Momeni's sister. The defense plans to request a change of venue next month when a trial date is expected to be set.
>>Study: Airlines Rake In Billions From Baggage Fees
(Shorewood, WI) -- A new study says the top 20 airlines made over 30 billion dollars from baggage fees last year. The new report by the IdeaWorks consulting firm says the top airlines around the world raked in billions from fees for carry-on bags, price hikes for checked luggage, and fines for overweight suitcases. The study says the amount was up from 29-billion dollars in 2022, and accounted for about four-percent of global airline revenue last year.
>>Mortgage Rates Rise For Third Week In Row
(Washington, DC) -- Mortgage rates are up again for the third week in a row. The 30-year fixed-rate mortgage averaged six-point-nine percent this week, up from under six-point-eight last week, according to data from Freddie Mac. That's compared to six-point-five percent a year ago. As rates inch closer to seven, they're still down from last year's nearly seven-point-eight percent high in October.
>>Vice Media To Cut Hundreds Of Jobs
(Brooklyn, NY) -- Vice Media Group is planning to lay off hundreds of employees. The digital media pioneer will also stop publishing on its flagship news website, with Vice CEO Bruce Dixon saying in a memo Thursday that it was "no longer cost-effective" to distribute media the way they previously did. He added that Vice would be looking to partner with "established media companies" to distribute content. Vice burst onto the scene in the early 2010s, including a news website, entertainment studio, HBO series and cable TV channel.
>>Rivian To Cut Salaried Jobs
(Social Circle, GA) -- Electric vehicle maker Rivian says it will lay off about ten-percent of its salaried workers. The EV maker cites flat fourth quarter revenue with one-point-three-billion in earnings. The company's net loss for the fourth quarter was one-point-six-billion, marking its highest quarterly loss in 2023.
