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Autodesk drops pursuit of Boston-based software firm PTC

Autodesk drops pursuit of Boston-based software firm PTC

Boston Globe14-07-2025
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TECH
Elmo's hacked X account posted racist messages. Sesame Workshop is trying to regain control.
'Elmo's X account was compromised by an unknown hacker who posted disgusting messages, including antisemitic and racist posts. We are working to restore full control of the account,' a Sesame Workshop spokesperson said Monday.
Victoria Will/Associated Press
Sesame Workshop was trying to regain full control over its Elmo account on the X platform Monday after a hacker gained access and posted a string of racist and antisemitic messages. 'Elmo's X account was compromised by an unknown hacker who posted disgusting messages, including antisemitic and racist posts. We are working to restore full control of the account,' a Sesame Workshop spokesperson said Monday. Sesame Workshop is the nonprofit behind 'Sesame Street' and Elmo. The account was compromised over the weekend and instead of the usual posts of encouragement and kindness, Elmo's 650,000 followers were given antisemitic threats and a profane reference to the Jeffrey Epstein sex trafficking investigation. Those tweets were soon deleted, though Elmo's account retains a link to a Telegram channel from a user who takes credit for the hack. — ASSOCIATED PRESS
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ACQUISITIONS
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Milford's Waters Corp. strikes $17.5 billion deal to merge with BD's diagnostics unit
Udit Batra, CEO of Waters Corp. Waters is merging with a unit of Becton, Dickinson and Co. in a stock-and-cash deal valued at $17.5 billion.
Suzanne Kreiter/Globe Staff
Milford lab equipment maker Waters Corp. will acquire the biosciences and diagnostic solutions unit of the medical technology company
Becton, Dickinson and Co. in a stock-and-cash deal valued at $17.5 billion, the companies said Monday. BD will spin off the diagnostics unit, which will then be merged with a wholly-owned Waters subsidiary. BD shareholders will receive 39.2 percent of the combined company and $4 billion in cash. Waters shareholders will own 60.8 percent of the combined company. The boards of both companies have approved the deal, which is expected to close near the end of the first quarter of 2026, subject to shareholder and regulatory approval. Waters CEO Udit Batra will lead the combined company. BD's biosciences and diagnostic solutions unit focuses on immunology research and infectious disease diagnostics. The company said in February that it was looking to divest the unit to concentrate on medical devices. Waters, which provides lab equipment, software, and supplies to scientists, had nearly $3 billion in sales in 2024.
Waters expects the combination with BD's biosciences and diagnostics solutions unit to more than double those revenues. Waters shares fell almost 14 percent in New York trading Monday. BD's shares were up less than 1 percent. — YOGEV TOBY
RETURN TO OFFICE
Starbucks takes aim at remote work, says some employees may need to relocate to headquarters
Starbucks headquarters in Seattle, Wash., on Feb. 27.
David Ryder/Bloomberg
Starbucks is requiring some remote workers to return to its headquarters and increasing the number of days that corporate employees are required to work in an office. In a letter to employees posted on Monday, Starbucks chairman and CEO Brian Niccol said corporate employees would need to be in the office four days a week starting in early October instead of three days a week. The Seattle-based company said that all corporate 'people leaders' must be based in either Seattle or Toronto within 12 months. That is a change from February, when it required vice presidents to relocate to Seattle or Toronto. Starbucks said individual employees working under those leaders would not be asked to relocate. But the company said all hiring for future roles and lateral moves will require employees to be based in Seattle or Toronto. 'We are reestablishing our in-office culture because we do our best work when we're together. We share ideas more effectively, creatively solve hard problems, and move much faster,' Niccol wrote in the letter. Niccol said affected workers who choose not to relocate will be eligible for a one-time voluntary exit program with a cash payment. — ASSOCIATED PRESS
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GOVERNMENT
Powell asks Fed's inspector general to review renovation project
Construction on the Marriner S. Eccles Federal Reserve building in Washington, D.C., on June 25.
Al Drago/Bloomberg
Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell has made a formal request that the central bank's inspector general review its $2.5 billion building renovation, according to a spokesperson for the IG's office. Republicans are attacking Powell over cost overruns in the refurbishment of two historic buildings controlled by the Fed, with some using the issue to argue it gives the president legal cause for his dismissal. The attacks follow continual anger directed at the Fed by President Trump for its decisions to hold interest rates steady this year. The IG's office declined to comment further. The request was first reported by Axios. The Fed's IG has already reviewed the building programs over time and Powell has discussed the project with the IG in recent weeks, according to a person familiar with the situation who was not authorized to speak about it publicly. The formal request asks the IG to review cost overruns and any other issue the IG deems appropriate. Michael Horowitz, the Fed's IG, was appointed to the job by Powell in June. — BLOOMBERG NEWS
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MEDIA
BBC ends ties with 'MasterChef' host Gregg Wallace after investigation
The BBC said in a statement that Wallace's behavior 'falls below the values of the BBC and the expectations we have for anyone who works with or for us.'
Frank Augstein/Associated Press
The BBC said Monday that it would stop working with Gregg Wallace, a mainstay of the network and the longtime host of its hit television show 'MasterChef,' after an investigation substantiated dozens of sexual misconduct allegations against him. Of the 83 allegations made against Wallace, 45 were upheld, the broadcaster said. These included three instances of him being 'in a state of undress' and one of unwelcome physical contact. The majority of claims against Wallace, who hosted the show for 19 years, involve 'inappropriate sexual language and humor,' but the probe also found allegations of culturally and racially insensitive comments. The investigation, conducted by the law firm Lewis Silkin, involved interviews with 78 witnesses over seven months. It covered incidents between 2005 and 2024. 'The volume and consistency of substantiated allegations' made Wallace's return to the hit cooking show
"
untenable," according to a statement from the production company behind the show, Banijay. Wallace denied many of the allegations in a statement posted to Instagram. On Monday, he wrote, 'I am deeply sorry for any distress caused.' He also said that 'some of his humor and language missed the mark,' adding, 'A late autism diagnosis has helped me understand how I communicate and how I'm perceived. I'm still learning.' The BBC said in a statement that it had missed opportunities to address his behavior earlier and that it accepted that more 'could and should have been done sooner.' -- NEW YORK TIMES
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ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE
Defense Department to begin using Grok, Musk's controversial AI model
The chat window for chatbot Grok.
Andrey Rudakov/Bloomberg
The Defense Department will begin using Grok, the artificial intelligence chatbot built by Elon Musk's start-up xAI, the company said in a post Monday. The xAI announcement came as Grok unveiled what it called 'Grok for Government,' a suite that allows agencies and federal offices to adopt its chatbots for their specific uses. President Trump has encouraged more rapid adoption of artificial intelligence tools since taking office in January. Musk was a member of the Trump administration, overseeing the US DOGE Service, until late May. He has since become a critic of Trump's signature tax and spending legislation. In a news release, the Defense Department said the contract award is worth up to $200 million. The department issued similar awards to Google, Anthropic and OpenAI, it said. Grok came under fire last week after launching into an antisemitic rant and invoking Adolf Hitler after it was a programmed to be less politically correct. The incident prompted the company to say it would improve its model. A day later, xAI unveiled a sweeping update that it claimed put Grok on the cutting edge of AI development. — WASHINGTON POST
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Russia Struggling to Make Kh-59 Cruise Missiles, Ukraine Says
Russia Struggling to Make Kh-59 Cruise Missiles, Ukraine Says

Newsweek

time4 hours ago

  • Newsweek

Russia Struggling to Make Kh-59 Cruise Missiles, Ukraine Says

Based on facts, either observed and verified firsthand by the reporter, or reported and verified from knowledgeable sources. Newsweek AI is in beta. Translations may contain inaccuracies—please refer to the original content. Russia is struggling to meet its defense orders for one of its main air-launched cruise missiles due to component shortages caused by sanctions, according to Kyiv. Ukraine's Defense Intelligence (GUR) released data which outlined Russia's problems in producing the Kinzhal Kh-59M2 missile which is critical for its war effort. Newsweek has contacted the Russian defense ministry for comment. The aftermath of a Russian Kinzhal missile attack is shown in this image from the Holosiivskyi district in Kyiv on December 20, 2024. The aftermath of a Russian Kinzhal missile attack is shown in this image from the Holosiivskyi district in Kyiv on December 20, It Matters Kh-59 missiles are air-to-surface systems designed to strike ground and naval targets and they have often been used in tandem with Shahed drones by Russia to wreak havoc on Ukrainian infrastructure. Kyiv's claims that Moscow is struggling to produce them because of a lack of components reinforces the argument that continued sanctions targeting lower-tier suppliers could further reduce Russia's strike capacity. What To Know Ukraine's military intelligence released data on Wednesday which outlined the growing difficulties Russia has in producing the Kh-59M2/M2A missile, which has a two-stage solid-fuel propulsion system and a 120-mile range. The GUR said that of the 116 companies involved in making the weapon around 50 are unsanctioned by any country. But Russia is still unable to meet production deadlines for the missile due to a lack of domestic and imported electronic components as well as limited manufacturing capacity and schedule disruptions. Manufacturers have sometimes been forced to resort to mock-ups with the same dimensions and weight instead of installing the expensive active radar homing heads. But using old engines and components for the guidance systems has not helped, with Ukraine's defense intelligence saying on Telegram, "even cannibalizing old systems does not save the situation." Despite the production difficulties, dozens of other unsanctioned Russian firms that make electronic components, guidance systems and other key components of the Kh-59 are still operating. "Their products make it possible to adapt and modernize turbojet engines, which extend the service life of weapons that kill Ukrainian civilians every day," Ukraine's intelligence said. What People Are Saying Ukraine's Defense Intelligence on Telegram: "The constant shortage of domestic and foreign element base, limited production capacities and schedule disruptions force Russian enterprises to regularly report on non-compliance with the pace and deadlines for missile production." What Happens Next Ukraine's defense intelligence statement said that their findings show that sanctions work and called for expanding restrictions on firms that supply lower-level components can further reduce Russia's production of weapons. Kyiv and its allies will hope that sanctions on Moscow's war machine will remain part of the conversation as President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin meet for a summit in Alaska on Friday.

'Aquaman' star Jason Momoa nearly drowned while surfing: 'My body stopped'
'Aquaman' star Jason Momoa nearly drowned while surfing: 'My body stopped'

Yahoo

time7 hours ago

  • Yahoo

'Aquaman' star Jason Momoa nearly drowned while surfing: 'My body stopped'

The actor says help from his ancestors and thoughts of his then 3-month-old daughter helped him win a battle for his life. Off screen, the sea has no master. Aquaman star Jason Momoa learned that lesson the hard way while attempting a miles-long paddle through ferocious Hawaiian waters and nearly not coming back up. "I was doing this paddle, we went in at Jaws," Momoa detailed on Monday's new episode of the Smartless podcast, referring to the nickname for Pe'ahi, Maui's biggest surf break. "We paddled like 13 miles down the coast. You're kind of almost a mile offshore, and then my leash snapped. We're about seven miles into it and my leash snapped, and it's so windy on Maui." Cohost Sean Hayes asked the former screen god of the sea, Baywatch lifeguard, and scion to a legendary Hawaiian surfing family if a "protocol of what to do in that moment" kicked in when he sensed he was in true danger. "I was trained pretty well, so I was fine," Momoa responded. "I took quite a few on the head. They're pretty big, like 10-foot Hawaiian waves. But I'm probably half a mile at that point offshore. And it's actually this place is called 'S--f---s' because there's all this water that pulls out and of a channel there, [and] you just get hit with these waves." Momoa recalled that he was fine, until he wasn't. "I was stuck in this crazy spot, which is probably the outer reef and unknown to me. I was really on the outer reef and they couldn't see me," he recounted. "I had my paddle and I was waving it and they couldn't see me, and the waves were so big. When his thoughts turned to his daughter Lola Iolani, then 3 months old, the actor said, "I just lost it, I was like, 'Oh s---.'" Things got worse before they got better. "I was out there for a while, and I just couldn't see anyone coming to get me. I couldn't move anymore, and my arms and my legs gave up after, you know, I was out there for a while... My body stopped. Like I couldn't move my arms anymore, and I bubbled down. Then my my toe hit the outer reef. I literally gave up, and I'm screaming inside." Finally, one of Momoa's surf buddies located him, but their shared fight for survival was only just beginning. "I get back on the board and we start paddling. He's like, 'You got to go out,' so we just keep paddling out." Currents prevented the men from making a beeline to the shore, and "brutal waves" cause them both to lose their boards. "I have seven more miles to paddle. My feet are covered in blood, and I'm just literally [with] my ancestors just paddling the rest of this way, head down, and we get out." Momoa eventually made it to shore, but the experience had a profound, lasting effect on him. "I used to smoke two, three packs a day. I couldn't stop for my kids, I couldn't stop for my ex, I couldn't stop smoking. And the moment I came out, I never smoked again. Like, I just died. I tried and tried, but I couldn't do it again because I just gave up. Like, I gave up my life."The Hawaii native won that battle with the sea, and recently tussled with another elemental force: fire. While filming Apple TV+'s new historical series Chief of War, Momoa had to brave the lava fields of Kalapana, and even an eruption of the famed volcano Kīlauea. "I just knew that the volcano was going to go off, and everybody laughed at me and didn't believe me,' Momoa he told Entertainment Weekly earlier this month. "You're obviously stirring up a lot of spirits and mana. It was unbelievable, but there was a really positive energy." You can listen to Momoa's full interview on the Smartless podcast above. Read the original article on Entertainment Weekly Solve the daily Crossword

OpenServ and LunarCrush turning 50 million posts an hour into AI apps
OpenServ and LunarCrush turning 50 million posts an hour into AI apps

Business Insider

time7 hours ago

  • Business Insider

OpenServ and LunarCrush turning 50 million posts an hour into AI apps

OpenServ, the leading full‑stack AI infrastructure platform and protocol, today announced a partnership with LunarCrush, the leading web3 social analytics firm serving companies such as Coinbase, Kraken, HTX, and Binance. The collaboration integrates LunarCrush's 24/7 tracking of 30–50 million social media posts per hour, along with live market data, directly into OpenServ's generative UI platform for Telegram mini apps and agent workflows. Two products are live today: DeFi News aApp on Telegram and (open beta). DeFi News aApp creates short AI video briefings using LunarCrush insights—right inside Telegram—where anyone can try it at Users pick a topic, set a timeframe and data source, then receive a one- to three-minute video with animated overlays and on-screen stats. Templates include Bitcoin Daily Brief, Ethereum Weekly, Solana Ecosystem, and Hidden Altcoin Gems. Users can also run a custom analysis, choose an AI presenter, and schedule daily delivery. The app reads LunarCrush metrics such as social dominance, Galaxy Score, trending assets, and top influencers, then assembles a concise script and renders a finished video in‑chat for easy sharing. launched in open beta on Thursday, August 7, 2025. It surfaces up‑to‑the‑minute information on any cryptocurrency based on social sentiment, recent highlights, company updates, price action, and more—without manual updates. Visit to explore live dashboards powered by LunarCrush data. 'The fastest way to make data useful is to put it where people already work,' said Tim Hafner, CEO and co‑founder of OpenServ. 'Telegram is the home base for crypto communities. Together, LunarCrush and OpenServ give users a live social signal and a way to publish that insight as video in seconds. This is just the first of many agentic use cases on Telegram.' 'Builders want context they can act on,' said Joe Vezzani, chief executive of LunarCrush. 'In a world where large language models are trained, released, and end their intelligence at a point in time, LunarCrush fills the gap to allow real-time social context to anyone building LLMs and agents.' The collaboration began after an early‑July discussion between Hafner and Vezzani about opening social data to AI agents and everyday users in chat. The partnership pairs LunarCrush analytics with OpenServ's aApp Factory, dashboards, and agent tooling for Telegram. OpenServ agents use the same LunarCrush API that powers shortening setup and improving reliability for teams that want to add social metrics to their own agents, tiles, and dashboards. To help builders, OpenServ is publishing resources so teams can add LunarCrush data to custom workflows: a starter template for Telegram mini apps, an agent guide, and a example that maps social dominance to charts and triggers. A joint livestream will walk through the integration, show how the DeFi News aApp works, and answer questions from developers and community managers. Details will be posted on OpenServ's Telegram Announcements channel and X account. About OpenServ OpenServ is the leading platform for building AI apps and products. Developers worldwide use OpenServ's generative UI to build and employ AI agents that interact with APIs, automate workflows, and operate across any framework. With native support for Telegram and a modular SDK, OpenServ moves agents from passive interfaces to active participants in decentralized ecosystems. From finance and governance to messaging and research, agents on OpenServ are designed to act, earn, and evolve for your business. Learn more at LunarCrush provides real‑time social insights for crypto, stocks, and culture by analyzing millions of posts across major networks for investors, creators, and institutions. Availability Contact Ryan Dennis

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