CFTC Rocked by Exits and Sanctions as Crypto Reform Awaits
The high-profile departure news at the US Commodity Futures Trading Commission couldn't have come at a more turbulent time at the US derivatives regulator.
Commissioner Kristin Johnson's announcement Wednesday that she planned to leave was the latest in the string of turnover news at the small but powerful agency. Two of Johnson's fellow commissioners will be gone by the end of the month and the agency's acting chairman is planning her exit to the private sector.
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Forbes
14 minutes ago
- Forbes
More Colleges Freeze Hiring And Suspend Salary Increases
Colleges and universities continue to look for ways to cut spending because of the Trump Administration's policies towards higher education. One June 2nd, Johns Hopkins University announced a set of policies to prepare for a possible decline in revenue. They join a list of schools including Brown University, Duke University, Harvard University, the University of Pennsylvania, the University of Washington, and the University of California system, that have temporarily paused hiring and vow to hold off on capital spending. Hopkins has already seen $850 million in grant cuts resulting from the culling of USAID and other program terminations, plus the school has a large number of international students (many who pay full tuition) who may be dissuaded from studying in the U.S. due to the Administration's more restrictive visa policies. Like a number of elite universities, Johns Hopkins relies heavily on tuition from international students attending its undergraduate and graduate programs. In the 2024-2025 academic year, over ten thousand foreign students were enrolled at Johns Hopkins according to the Institute of International Education. In addition to the hiring freeze, University President Ron Daniels also announced a pause in annual pay increases for employees earning $80,000 or more, a slowing of capital projects by 10% to 20%, and spending cuts for travel, events, food, and supplies. The salary freezes will likely squeeze faculty, who have seen real wages decline. From 2013 to 2023, average pay for faculty (when adjusted for inflation) has decreased by 1.5%, while administrative pay has risen by 4% for the same time frame. In addition, administrative staff positions at most universities and colleges has grown faster than faculty. There is no doubt the universities and colleges need to take steps to address the impact of the Trump Administration's policies. Although painful, the policies issued by Johns Hopkins and other schools are necessary in the near-term. But a different approach is needed long-term. One that doesn't rely on higher student tuition or faculty salaries that fall further behind inflation. These policies should include: The Trump Administration's policies towards colleges and their students may eventually be rolled back or reversed at some point, but in the meantime, higher education needs to rethink their budgets and what should be prioritized.
Wall Street Journal
28 minutes ago
- Wall Street Journal
How the Cybertruck Came to Embody Tesla's Problems
The bromance between Elon Musk and President Trump is ending at a difficult time for Tesla TSLA 3.67%increase; green up pointing triangle. The electric-vehicle maker lost roughly $150 billion of market value Thursday—its biggest ever drop—after the Tesla CEO and Trump traded insults. Sales of Teslas have slumped this year. Tariffs could disrupt the supply of key components. The sprawling Republican tax-and-spending bill would end tax credits for EV buyers. And Tesla's Cybertruck has been a disappointment. Musk set high expectations for the Cybertruck, telling investors it would be Tesla's 'best product ever.' The angular, stainless steel pickup was supposed to generate buzz for Tesla by showcasing new technology and unlocking the lucrative truck market. Instead, it has become synonymous with Musk's polarizing stint in politics, exposing some owners to graffiti or middle fingers from other drivers. And its reputation has been tarnished among Tesla fans because of a spate of recalls and manufacturing issues that have resulted in cycles of repairs. In the U.S., the company sold fewer than 40,000 Cybertrucks in 2024—well below Musk's ultimate goal of 250,000 a year. In the first quarter of 2025, Tesla sold around 7,100 Cybertrucks in the U.S., according to registration data from S&P Global Mobility. Ford's F-150 Lightning pickup outsold it. In an effort to boost sales, Tesla has rolled out lower-price versions of the truck and started offering buyers incentives such as 0% financing and free upgrades. Almost as soon as the $100,000 Cybertruck hit the road, quality problems began to multiply. Reports on social media cited cracked windshields and spotting from so-called rail dust, orange discoloration similar to rust. In its first year, Tesla recalled the truck seven times to fix dangerous defects. In March, with large metal panels falling off the trucks, the tally rose to eight. Some of the quality problems were known and documented internally before the truck went on sale, including issues with the accelerator pad and windshield wiper that later triggered recalls, said former employees who worked on the Cybertruck. But there was pressure inside Tesla to get the truck to market quickly, according to these employees. Tesla didn't respond to requests for comment. 'Elon Musk will tell you the biggest professional mistake was the falcon doors on the Model X,' said David Fick, a longtime Tesla owner who got his Cybertruck in March. He referred to the complex door design that opens upward and hinges at the roof. 'I believe that the Cybertruck is going to go down as an even bigger corporate stumble.' The retired banker in Boynton Beach, Fla., chose to wait more than a year to buy his Cybertruck, hopeful that many of the biggest issues would be identified before he drove his off the lot. 'They do a lot of bleeding-edge stuff where they rush to the market and then you're a beta tester as an owner,' Fick said. He paid about $72,000 for the car, plus $7,300 for window tinting and a custom wrap for exterior trim panels known as cant rails, covering his new car in a metallic maroon color. Soon after, Tesla recalled cant rails because they could become unglued. 'I've had tons of recalls on my Teslas over the years,' said Fick, who added that the cars are worth the hassle. 'Eighty percent were fixed by [software] updates, but these are physical things we are dealing with now.' Musk unveiled the prototype for the Cybertruck in 2019. At the time, he said it would cost $39,900, with a battery range of up to 500 miles—an ambitious combination that would be a stretch for any EV maker. Work on the vehicle was delayed a couple of years, leaving engineering and manufacturing teams with only a few months to do final testing before the trucks went to customers, former employees said. Musk tried to temper expectations around how quickly Tesla could increase production, given its unique design. 'There is always some chance that Cybertruck will flop, because it is so unlike anything else,' he wrote on social media in July 2021. Still, he promoted some of its most unusual features, including his dream of making the car amphibious. Former employees said they took Musk's social posts as orders, but the engineering proved difficult. By 2022, it was clear internally that Cybertruck wouldn't be able to meet all Musk's criteria, so engineers scrapped an early design and started over—developing a smaller, landlocked version of the truck, the people said. After about a year and a half of testing, Tesla delivered the first Cybertrucks to a dozen or so customers in late November 2023. An early version of the truck started at $100,000 and had an estimated range of 318 miles. Two months later, Tesla issued its first recall on the vehicle: a software update that required the company to increase the size of the font on a warning system used across its fleet. It was the first of three recalls that Tesla addressed on the Cybertruck through over-the-air updates to its software. Cybertruck's problems couldn't be fixed by software updates alone. In April 2024, Tesla issued a recall for the accelerator pedal. The company had received a notice from a customer complaining that the accelerator had gotten stuck. Tesla found that the pad attached to the long pedal could dislodge and get stuck in the trim above the pedal, causing the car to accelerate. An internal investigation found the issue was the result of an 'unapproved change,' in which Tesla employees used soap as a lubricant to attach the pad, according to the recall notice. Inside Tesla, the accelerator pad had been a known issue starting with the prototype, according to an employee who worked on the part. The manufacturing team also identified the part as problematic, this person said. Tesla also had problems with the Cybertruck's expansive windshield, which measured nearly 6 square feet. Sometimes the heavy glass would break, two employees said. The glass either arrived cracked from the supplier in Mexico or from handling at the Austin, Texas, facility, they said. Some owners took to social media to describe the glass cracking as soon as they drove off the lot, or while they wiped the inside of their windshield. The windshield required a large windshield wiper measuring 50 inches long. In June 2024, Tesla issued a recall on the wipers, whose motors Tesla found had been overstressed by testing. The wiper had been flagged nearly a year before, two people who worked on the Cybertruck said. It was one of the first issues identified on the vehicles, at which point it was classified as a 'gating issue,' which meant that it needed to be resolved before production could move forward. Reid Tomasko, a 25-year-old YouTube creator, took his Cybertruck on a cross-country trip, during which it performed perfectly, he said. Then came winter in New Hampshire. He was driving near his home in Lebanon, N.H., in February when a metal panel flew off the side of his truck. In March, Tesla issued a recall affecting most of the Cybertrucks it had produced—more than 46,000. The problem involved adhesive that could become brittle in extreme weather, causing exterior trim panels called cant rails to dislodge. Inspecting his truck, Tomasko said he found loose connections on almost every panel that used the adhesive, including the large pieces of stainless steel over the rear wheels, the front fender and the front doors. 'I was wondering, why are they not recalling the other panels?' Tomasko said. After replacing several panels, Tesla offered to buy back Tomasko's truck for nearly all of the $102,000 that he paid, he said. He accepted. 'I am planning on getting a newer one for cheaper soon,' he said. Write to Becky Peterson at
Yahoo
30 minutes ago
- Yahoo
An OpenAI exec says she was diagnosed with breast cancer and that ChatGPT has helped her navigate it
Kate Rouch, OpenAI's chief marketing officer, said she was diagnosed with breast cancer. Rouch said she is expected to make a full recovery and urged other women to prioritize their health. She said she leaned on OpenAI's ChatGPT to navigate her treatment. Kate Rouch, the chief marketing officer at OpenAI, shared on Friday that she was diagnosed with invasive breast cancer weeks after assuming the role, which she called her "dream job," in December. In a thread posted on X, Rouch said she was sharing her story to help other women, adding, "We can't control what happens to us--but we can choose how we face it. My biggest lesson: no one fights alone." Prior to joining OpenAI as the company's first CMO, Rouch was CMO at Coinbase and, before that, spent over a decade at Meta, including as vice president, global head of brand and product marketing. Rouch said she started treatment right around the Super Bowl in February, when OpenAI aired its first-ever ad, and that she has since gone through 13 rounds of chemotherapy while leading OpenAI's marketing team. She wrote that she is expected to make a full recovery. "It has been the hardest season of life — for me, for my husband, and for our two young children," Rouch said, adding she has been supported by OpenAI "at every step." "Silicon Valley can be brutal and transactional. And yet — I've never felt more held," she said, adding that "people showed up in incredible and unexpected ways." Rouch also said OpenAI's ChatGPT has helped her navigate her diagnosis and treatment, including by explaining cancer in a way that is age-appropriate for her kids, helping her manage the side effects of chemo, and creating custom meditations. "Experiencing our work as a patient has made OpenAI's mission feel more personal and important," she said. Rouch said she was sharing her story to encourage other women to "prioritize their health over the demands of families and jobs." "A routine exam saved my life. It could save yours, too," she said. Business Insider reached out to OpenAI for comment. Kevin Weil, the chief product officer at OpenAI, expressed support for Rouch in a reply to her thread. "We love you @kate_rouch!" he wrote. "Proud of you for telling your story and for being so full of fight." Read the original article on Business Insider
