Greetings, friends.

This will be short. Due to the fact that, at any time, Elon could get Sued, and another CEO could get ousted.

We shall beat out a few lines, and return tomorrow for the must-know headlines in tech, and business. The White house is hosting the Creator Economy summit this morning along. Must’ve lost our invite

5 Things to know

1. Hackers may have leaked the Social Security Numbers of every American [read]

2. The Olympic Supplement Frenzy: Teens Cash in on the Gold Rush [read]

3. Cyberbullying Lawsuit Targets J.K. Rowling and Elon Musk After Boxer's Olympic Win

4. New Laws Put Cash Back in Consumers' Pockets with Subscription Refunds

5. LinkedIn Introduces "Videos For You," a Personalized Video Recommendation Feature

Elon Musk
Sue me once, shame on you
…Sue me twice, i’ll sue you.

Musk faces A multitude of lawsuits

Lawsuit 1:lmane Khelif,

lmane Khelif, Algeria's first female boxing gold medalist at the 2024 Paris Olympics, has filed a criminal complaint in Paris alleging cyber-harassment. The complaint, lodged against unknown persons, mentions author J.K. Rowling and tech mogul Elon Musk.

Khelif's attorney, Nabil Boudi, stated that the complaint was filed with the Paris public prosecutor's office on Friday. It cites "misogynistic, racist and sexist" online bullying amid a global controversy over Khelif's gender eligibility to compete.

The 25-year-old athlete's historic win was overshadowed by scrutiny of her gender, leading to widespread online discussions. Under French law, the complaint was filed against "X," a legal term for unknown persons.

Legal experts note that Rowling and Musk may face challenges in terms of legal repercussions. NBC News legal analyst Angela Cenedella suggests that proving direct involvement in the alleged harassment could be difficult.

Lawsuit 2 — x, employee

X ordered to pay $600,000 to former Twitter employee fired over failure to meet Elon Musk's 'extremely hardcore' ultimatum, according to reports.

Then, X filed a lawsuit

In the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas against the Global Alliance for Responsible Media.

• The lawsuit from X, claims. GARM triggered "a massive advertiser boycott" of X and that the "actions were all against the unilateral self-interest of the advertisers; they made economic sense only in furtherance of a conspiracy performed in the confidence that competing advertisers were doing the same."

—

Despite being embroiled in two ongoing lawsuits, xAI, the AI startup backed by Elon, has pushed forward with the launch of Grok-2. This new model represents a substantial leap beyond their previous release, Grok-1.5.

“We are excited to release an early preview of Grok-2, a significant step forward from our previous model Grok-1.5, featuring frontier capabilities in chat, coding, and reasoning,” said xAI in a blogpost

Finance
There’s a new Cafe King in town

Former Starbucks CEO LAxman Narasimhan just brew it, because only after 17 months the seattle based coffee giants stepping down after just a year at the helm, and the company is calling in the big guns: Brian Niccol, the guy who turned Chipotle around.

Niccol has served as Chipotle’s CEO since 2018, and previously led Yum Brands’ and Taco Bell. During his time at Chipotle, its stock soared 773%. As CEO of Chipotle, Niccol will be the coffee giant's fourth in two years when he takes over on September 9. Narasimhan's departure comes as no surprise, given the company's struggling sales and pressure from investors. But can Niccol, who increased Chipotle's revenue by nearly 800% during his tenure, be the shot of espresso Starbucks needs?

That’s a tall order

Starbucks was once the king of coffee, but times have changed. The market is more competitive than ever, and the company has been feeling the heat. Narasimhan took over in March 2023, but things only seem to have gotten worse. The chain's same-store sales have been declining in its key U.S. and China markets, and the stock has taken a hit. The question now is whether Niccol can tap into the same magic that worked at Chipotle. The guy has a reputation as a fixer.

They’re the perfect blend

• So what happens next? Rachel Ruggeri, Starbucks' CFO, will step in as interim CEO until Niccol takes the reins. Over at Chipotle, COO Scott Boatwright will be the interim CEO, and CFO Jack Hartung is delaying his retirement to help with the transition.

ABC took an L today

On August 5, a federal judge ruled that Google had violated antitrust laws by using unfair business practices to dominate the internet search advertising market. A key part of the government's case was the $20 billion in annual payments that Alphabet makes to Apple to be the default search engine on iPhones. The trial will now enter a second phase to determine the remedies the court will impose on Google, although the company will likely appeal the decision.

Despite this ruling and the ongoing calls to break up Big Tech, one analyst believes these companies will not meet the same fate as Standard Oil and AT&T, which were broken up by U.S. trustbusters in the past. The analyst's reasoning is not specified in the article, leaving uncertainty about the future of these tech giants and the potential for further antitrust action against them.

• The debate continues over whether Big Tech companies like Alphabet, Apple, and Meta Platforms should be broken up due to their market dominance, with some arguing they wield too much power over information.

•  A federal judge recently ruled that Google violated antitrust laws to control the search advertising market, with its $20 billion annual payments to Apple to be the default iPhone search engine being a key factor.

•  The court case against Google will now enter a second phase to determine remedies, although Google will likely appeal the decision.

•  Despite this ruling and calls to break up Big Tech, one analyst believes the big 5 are likely to avoid the fate of past monopolies like Standard Oil and AT&T.