Elon Musk was always a temperamental perfectionist, but his decision to fully automate the Model 3 factory in 2016 drastically slowed production at first, leading to fits of rage from Musk and the departure of dozens of executives, writes Charles Duhigg, who spoke with dozens of employees over several months about life at Tesla.
⋅ Reuters
Instacart is planning to end its delivery partnership with Whole Foods Market and transfer many of its personnel to other retailers. The partnership has been in doubt since Amazon's acquisition of Whole Foods.
About 600 school districts are expected to start using the nonprofit Sandy Hook Promise's mobile app that allows for anonymous reporting of school threats. The app, currently in use in 150 districts, is available to schools for free.
⋅ Politico
Congress took a break for the weekend without a plan for heading off a partial shutdown of the US government next week. Talks on keeping the government running haven't progressed since President Donald Trump said he is willing to take the blame for a shutdown if he doesn't get funding to build a wall along the border with Mexico.
Taco Bell will replace its Dollar Cravings value menu with a new menu called "Value Cravings" and launch a new marketing campaign to promote it. The new menu will feature a selection of $1 items as well as $5 meal boxes.
Regulators in California and New York have approved Cigna's proposed $67 billion acquisition of pharmacy benefit manager Express Scripts, putting the companies one step closer to finalizing the deal by the end of this year. "We continue to work with regulators in New Jersey, the one outstanding state where approval is required, and continue to expect that the transaction will close by the end of 2018, subject to the satisfaction of all closing conditions," the companies said in a regulatory filing.
Almost 30 billion connected TV ad requests were made last month, compared with slightly more than 1.7 billion in November 2017, representing 1,640% growth year-over-year, Beachfront reports. Roku has taken 87% of connected TV ad requests this year.
Sears booked a 4.3% same-store sales increase in the third quarter, after years of quarterly losses, as liquidation sales at stores set to close gave the business a boost. The retailer also reported $1.9 billion in losses in the nine-month period ending Nov. 3, more than three times the losses it reported in the same period last year.
⋅ CNBC
FireEye CEO Kevin Mandia said that the rules of engagement in cyberspace are broken, raising questions about what is "fair game" for espionage. Meanwhile, companies will struggle to stay ahead of cybercriminals, considering that companies are "up against some of the best hackers in the world," Mandia said in an interview with CNBC.
Legislation that would allow HHS to stop unjustifiable drug price hikes has been introduced by Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., and three other Senate Democrats. The CURE High Drug Prices Act would permit HHS to force pharmaceutical firms to pay back unjustifiable increases in drug prices to payers and other consumers if the agency deems a price hike is excessive or bring back the drug's old price for a certain period under qualified or federal health plans.
The White House has issued a memorandum calling for reports and recommendations related to wireless technology, setting in motion a process intended to produce a national 5G connectivity strategy. At the same time, it made a blog post headlined "America Will Win the Global Race to 5G."
⋅ Reuters
Apple will invest $1 billion to construct a 133-acre campus in Austin, Texas, that initially will support 5,000 new employees. The company also intends to build new sites in San Diego, Seattle and Culver City, Calif., and will add to its facilities in New York, Pittsburgh and Boulder, Colo.
Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., will take over as the ranking member of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee when the new Congress convenes next month, replacing Sen. Maria Cantwell, D-Wash.
Delta Air Lines has launched a biometric international terminal at Georgia's Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport, featuring facial-recognition technology at check-in, the security checkpoint, boarding and Customs.
United Airlines on Wednesday operated an hourlong Fantasy Flight from Newark, N.J., returning to the specially created "North Pole" at Newark Liberty International Airport's Terminal C. "It's just a really fun, exciting day that kind of puts you in the holiday spirit," said United's Colette Pesce.