Facebook wages a war on misinformation. On Monday, Facebook announced it will start removing videos altered by artificial intelligence that are likely to mislead people into thinking that a subject of the video made statements they never actually stated. The policy will not apply to parody and satire. New York Times – Bloomberg and WSJ
The automotive industry has joined the hunt for big data at this year’s CES conference. Amazon.com Inc., Intel Corp., Qualcomm Inc., and BlackBerry Ltd. will be pitching data services to a ravenous auto industry looking to monetize the raw data generated by their vehicles. – Bloomberg
Xerox Holdings Corp. stated on Monday that it has secured financing for its takeover offer for HP Inc. Xerox’s unsolicited bid of $33 billion is about $3 billion over HP’s market value. Incredibly, HP’s market value is approximately four times that of Xerox, which has caused HP some concern. – WSJ and Bloomberg
Trump’s trade war with China may not be such a good idea. An economist at the Federal Reserve Bank of New York and two Ivy League professors examined the fallout of President Trump’s tariffs on China and found that “approximately 100 percent” of import taxes have fallen on American buyers. – NYTimes
The Trump administration has tightened pollution controls on highway truck emissions of nitrogen dioxide. These controls will, however, fall short of what is necessary to significantly prevent respiratory illness and premature death. The Environmental Protection Agency’s rule is likely to spark a new battle regarding states’ rights. – NYTimes
UPDATE: An arrest warrant has been issued for Carole Ghosn, wife of former Nissan Motor Co. Chairman Carlos Ghosn. Mrs. Ghosn is suspected of perjury. – WSJ
General Motors Co. will likely have a difficult year improving sales in China, the world’s largest auto market. In 2019, GM posted its largest sales decline to date. A trend seems to have formed with 2019 sales being 15% below those in 2018; 2018 sales slumped by about 10% from those in 2017. – WSJ and Bloomberg
The U.S.’s continued tensions with Iran leave investors cautions; U.S. stocks dropped, while Treasuries rose. Oil continued its fall from multi-month highs. – Bloomberg
Ikea reached a $46 million settlement with the family of a 2-year-old boy who died after an Ikea dresser fell on him. This deal concludes the 2018 suit venued in Pennsylvania state court. – Law360
Tesla looks to inject its Model Y compact sport-utility into the Chinese market. Tesla’s Shanghai plant will allow the company to avoid shipping costs and tariffs. – WSJ
Given my new Minnesota digs and the new year, I thought I’d insert a quick history of purple in honor of Prince. Enjoy! – WSJ
