Denis Sverdlov, the CEO and founder of the embattled EV startup Arrival, has stepped back from the company's day-to-day operations, according to The Financial Times and Bloomberg. Sverdlov won't be leaving the company completely but will instead switch places with Arrival chair Peter Cuneo, who served as CEO of Marvel Entertainment before it was acquired by Disney. 

Arrival had big plans for the EV space and was developing an electric van, bus and car. In the middle of 2022, however, the company cut its workforce because it was running out of cash. It also announced that it was shuttering its bus and car projects completely to focus on developing its vans for the US market, citing the EV tax credits the US offers as a major factor in its decision. Cuneo will run the company while it's seeking to raise funds under the threat of bankruptcy. 

Arrival likely decided on the swap, hoping Cuneo could use his expertise — after all, he's known for orchestrating successful corporate turnarounds and had helped guide Marvel out of bankruptcy during his tenure as its CEO. Whatever Cuneo decides to do, he'll have to accomplish it without the help of one key executive: Avinash Rugoobur, company president and strategy chief, has left his roles but will still serve as a board member. 

The EV startup teamed up with UPS to build a new generation of electric delivery vans in 2018, and in 2020, UPS put in an order for 10,000 vehicles to be rolled out over the next few years. Arrival said in September that despite issues with production, it was done building a "production verification vehicle" and that it will be able to deliver 20 vans to customers by the end of the year. 

The Russo brothers are creating a series for Amazon based on the story of how FTX, which was once one of the most well-known crypto exchanges, met such a swift and scandalous end. According to Variety, Amazon has approved a limited series adaptation with eight episodes and is looking to start production by spring next year. David Weil, who previously worked with the Russo brothers in their Prime Video series Citadel, will write and executive produce the pilot episode. Meanwhile, Anthony and Joe Russo, known for directing four Marvel Cinematic Universe movies, are reportedly in talks of directing on top of serving as the show's executive producers. 

FTX filed for bankruptcy last week after a series of events ultimately led to its collapse in a short amount of time. The exchange's FTT tokens had plummeted in value earlier this month after rival exchange Binance announced that it was going to sell its remaining FTTs due to "recent revelations." A few days before Binance decided to liquidate all its FTTs, CoinDesk had reported that Alameda Research, the trading firm that was founded by then-FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried, was mostly backed by FTT tokens. "The situation adds to evidence that the ties between FTX and Alameda are unusually close," CoinDesk wrote. Alameda had reportedly been having financial issues and was allegedly using FTX customers' deposits to pay debts.

Smaller investors and ordinary customers also sought to get out upon smelling trouble in the air and submitted requests for withdrawals, which caused a liquidity issue. Binance initially agreed to bail out FTX by buying it but ultimately backed out of the deal. After that, FTX filed for bankruptcy, and Bankman-Fried resigned as CEO. There's a lot more to the story, including the mystery of where billions of dollars of missing or stolen funds had gone, that the Russo brothers could include in their show. 

It's still unclear what source material the Russos are planning to use, but Variety says the show could be based on "insider reporting" by journalists who've been investigating the FTX scandal. They're also reportedly in talks with multiple Marvel actors to play key roles in the series. Before Amazon confirmed that it was working on a show based on FTX, Deadline reported that Apple was close to signing a seven-figure deal for the rights on a book about Bankman-Fried and the crypto exchange that's being written by Michael Lewis. That's the same author behind Moneyball, The Big Short and The Blind Side. Unlike Amazon, Apple is reportedly planning to turn Lewis' book into a feature film. 

Microsoft's $69 billion purchase of Activision Blizzard is facing scrutiny from antitrust investigators in several countries. In the US, for instance, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) started looking into the acquisition shortly after it was announced. Now, the FTC is reportedly ready to take action and will likely file an antitrust lawsuit to block Microsoft's massive purchase, according to Politico. Microsoft failed to convince the FTC staff reviewing the deal with its arguments, Politico's sources said, but the agency's commissioners have yet to vote on filing a complaint or to meet with lawyers. 

While a lawsuit is not 100 percent guaranteed yet, the commission is reportedly done with the biggest parts of the investigation, including with the depositions of the Microsoft chief Satya Nadella and Activision CEO Bobby Kotick. If the FTC ultimately decides to file a lawsuit, it could do so as soon as next month. The publication says the commission will likely file the case in its own in-house administrative court, since it doesn't have to bring it to federal court first to seek a temporary injunction. Seeing as other regulators are also looking into the acquisition, it wouldn't be able to go through (if it's ultimately allowed to do so) until sometime next year. 

In the UK, the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) launched an in-depth investigation of the deal in September. And more recently, the European Commission announced that it will carry out a full-scale probe into Microsoft's purchase. Like these two European regulators, the FTC is concerned that the acquisition will give Microsoft an unfair advantage in the gaming sector and that it may significantly reduce competition in the market. 

Sony has been one of the loudest voices opposing the deal and has expressed concerns that Microsoft might make valuable IPs like Call of Duty an Xbox exclusive. Jim Ryan, Sony PlayStation's CEO, previously revealed that Microsoft only offered to keep Call of Duty available on PlayStation for three years after the current agreement ends. But Xbox chief Phil Spencer said more recently that the company is "not taking Call of Duty from PlayStation." In Microsoft's latest filing with the CMA, it argued that the acquisition won't give it an unfair advantage: Sony has more exclusive games than the Xbox, it said, and many of them are of "better quality."

Samsung's Black Friday deals have arrived, and one of biggest discounts you can get is for the Galaxy Buds 2 Pro. The wireless earbuds in Bora Purple are currently on sale for $125 at Amazon, 46 percent less than their original price of $230. They'd previously gone for as low as $190, but this is the lowest price we've seen for them on the website. We called the Galaxy Buds 2 Pro Samsung's best earbuds yet in our review, where we praised them for being more comfortable than their predecessor. They're 15 percent smaller than the company's first flagship earbuds and come with a vent on the inside, leading to a better fit and less pressure on your ears. 

We were also impressed by the earbuds' capability to deliver full, nuanced bass and clear, detailed sounds. Their 360 audio is much more immersive than the first Pro's, as well, thanks to their virtual 5.1- and 7.1-channel arrangements. Samsung also claims that the newer Pro's active noise cancellation feature is 40 percent better than the first, and we did find that the model can do a better job at blocking most environmental noise. While only the Bora Purple version is on sale for almost half the model's original price, the white and black versions are also available for $200 or $30 less than retail. 

In case you're looking to buy earbuds even cheaper than $125, though, Samsung's Galaxy Buds 2 are also on sale right now. You can get the Olive Green and Lavender variants for $90, which is an all-time low for the model that retails for $150. The Galaxy Buds 2 are also small and comfortable on the ears like Samsung's newer pro-tier earbuds, and they come with active noise cancellation, an adjustable ambient sound mode and wireless charging capability. 

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Within less than a couple of months, you'll no longer be able to access Deus Ex Go, the turn-based puzzle game entry in the cyberpunk-dystopian franchise. Deus Ex Go was developed by Square Enix Montreal, which was acquired by Swedish game company Embracer Group back in May. While Embracer rebranded the studio to Onoma in October, reports came out less than a month later that it was going to shut down the mobile games developer. Now, Onoma has announced on Twitter that Deus Ex Go, Arena Battle Champions, Hitman Sniper: The Shadows and Space Invaders: Hidden Heroes will no longer be accessible after January 4th, 2023. 

Further, they will be removed from Google Play and the Apple App Store on December 1st, and you can only play them until their final day if you already have them on your device. If you fire up any of those games, you'll find that in-game purchases are no longer available, as well. You also won't be getting any refunds if you don't use any in-game purchases you still have before the games shut down. 

The then-Square Enix Montreal studio released Deus Ex Go back in 2016. To play, you'll have to move series protagonist Adam Jensen between the nodes on a hexagonal grid and have him hack computers or activate his augmentations. Shortly after it was released, Square Enix released an update that allowed you to create your own puzzles and challenges. It's a pretty old game by this point, but as Kotaku says, it was perhaps one of the best entries in the franchise.

While the Embracer acquisition has led to the death of Deus Ex Go, it might also give rise to a new mainline Deus Ex title. The game publisher, which has been snapping up studios and IPs left and right over the past couple of years, also purchased Eidos Montreal as part of the same deal that gave it ownership of Square Enix Montreal. Eidos said it plans to revive the Deus Ex series when the deal was announced, and more recent reports said a game is now in very early development. 

Twitter won't be firing and laying off more people, Elon Musk reportedly told the staff members who remained after asking employees to commit to an "extremely hardcore" Twitter during an all-hands meeting. According to The Verge, which heard a partial recording of the event, the company is even actively looking for people to fill roles in engineering and sales. Musk apparently made the announcement on the same day layoffs hit the company's sales and partnerships teams. Robin Wheeler, Twitter’s head of ad sales, and VP of partnerships Maggie Suniewick were reportedly fired for opposing Musk's directive to cut more employees. Of course, these all happened after the website's new owner ordered layoffs that cut the company's workforce in half.  

Musk didn't specify which roles Twitter is hiring for during the meeting, The Verge said, but he did say that "[i]n terms of critical hires, people who are great at writing software are the highest priority." Since this all-hands was also the first time Musk met with staff members following his takeover, employees asked him questions about the company's future, including whether Twitter will move its HQ to Texas like Tesla did. Musk replied that there are no plans for Twitter to move, but that being "dual-headquartered" in both states could make sense. 

He also said moving to Texas would "play into the idea that Twitter has gone from being left-wing to right-wing." Musk said that's not the case. "It is a moderate-wing takeover of Twitter... to be the digital town square, we must represent people with a wide array of views even if we disagree with those views," he added. As The Verge notes, Twitter recently fired people who called out Musk through tweets and through other avenues. 

In addition to addressing questions about the inner workings of the company, Musk announced during the meeting that Twitter might not be relaunching paid verification before this month ends, after all. If you'll recall, the website had to pause its $8-a-month Blue subscription with verification shortly after it was launched due to a steep rise in impersonation and fake accounts on the website. 

Musk previously said that Blue Verified would return on November 29th. But now he told employees and has also announced that Twitter won't be relaunching the subscription system until the website is confident that it can stop impersonation. Also, Twitter might ultimately give individuals and organizations different color checkmarks, which will make it apparent if users are interacting with a company's or org's actual account. Twitter already has a gray "Official" checkmark reserved for organizations, but it looks like it wants to make the indicator more visible and recognizable as a way to prevent people from being duped by impersonators.

Tesla has issued a recall for 29,348 Model X vehicles, because their airbag might deploy incorrectly in some situations. This recall affects 2021 to 2023 Model X cars manufactured for customers in the US. According to the recall notice (PDF) published by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), the restraint control module calibration on those specific vehicles could cause the frontal passenger airbag to deploy "in an unintended configuration during certain low-speed collision events."

While the notice didn't illustrate the airbag's "unintended configuration," it said that it would result in noncompliance of the law when a child around three to six years old is seating in the front passenger seat without a seatbelt and out of position. Reuters notes Tesla's shares fell by 3 percent after the recall was published, leading to its lowest in nearly two years, but it's worth noting that the company says it's not aware of any "warranty claims, field reports, crashes, injuries, or deaths related to this condition."

Earlier this month, Tesla also recalled 40,168 Model S and Model X vehicles over a software defect that could potentially cut power steering assistance due to potholes and other bumps on the road. And in September, it issued a recall for over a million vehicles because their window automatic reversal system could malfunction and pinch the driver or passenger. 

Like those other recalls, though, owners don't have to turn their vehicles in or go anywhere for a fix at all. The issue can be fixed by an over-the-air firmware update, which the automaker will roll out to all affected vehicles. 

Waymo is one step closer to charging passengers for fully driverless rides in San Francisco. The California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) has granted the company a Driverless Pilot permit, which allows it to pick up passengers in a test vehicle without a driver behind the wheel. It's only the second participant in the CPUC's Driverless Permit program, with Cruise being the first. 

By securing the permit, Waymo now has the authority to offer driverless rides throughout San Francisco, portions of Daly City, as well as in portions of Los Altos, Los Altos Hills, Mountain View, Palo Alto and Sunnyvale. Its vehicles are allowed to go as fast as 65 miles per hour and can operate 24/7, but the company can't charge for the rides just yet. Waymo told Engadget that it will begin offering free rides without a driver to select members of the public in the coming weeks. To note, the company has been offering free driverless rides to the public in Phoenix since 2020. 

The California Department of Motor Vehicles recently authorized Waymo to charge for fully autonomous rides. However, the company still has to secure a Driverless Deployment permit — the next step after this one — from the CPUC to be able to start doing so. The agency gave Cruise a deployment permit for robotaxis in June, almost a year after it was allowed to offer free rides to the public. 

Like Cruise, Waymo likely won't be allowed to operate its vehicles during times of heavy fog and rain when it gets its deployment permit. Robotaxi companies have to find a way to overcome autonomous vehicles' performance issues in bad weather, however, if they want to be able to service more places and more people. Waymo is taking steps to address the problem and recently announced that it's using its latest car sensor arrays to create real-time weather maps of Phoenix and San Francisco. The Alphabet-owned company will use the data it gathers to improve its Driver AI's ability to handle rough weather and to better understand the limits of its vehicles. 

Amazon's Black Friday deals have started going live, and its Echo Show displays, Fire tablets and Fire TV devices are already being sold at a discount. Also on sale? Its Kindle e-readers, some of which are now listed for the lowest prices we've seen for them on the website. The Kindle Paperwhite Signature Edition, for instance, is currently priced at $130 or 32 percent off retail, which is an all-time low for what we once called "the best e-reader" in a review. It has a bigger and more responsive screen (6.8 inches) compared to the previous generation, similar to the base fifth-gen Paperwhite. But the Signature edition also comes with 32GB of storage instead of 8GB. That's four times the space for your ebook collection. 

The Signature edition has no ads and comes with a wireless charging capability on top of USB-C charging, as well. It can also automatically adjust the screen's brightness and has warm lighting options to choose from. And now, it costs just as much as a regular-priced base Kindle Paperwhite. Meanwhile, the base Kindle Paperwhite model will set you back $95, which is also 32 percent less than retail and an all-time low for the device. If you don't find wireless charging and auto-adjusting backlights important, don't think you can use up 32GB of storage and don't mind seeing ads on the lock screen, then this may be the better choice. 

But if you've been waiting for a deal on Amazon's most expensive e-reader, the Kindle Oasis, then this is a great time to get one. It's also on sale for $255 — that's $95 less than retail and is also an all-time low for the device. The 7-inch e-reader has 32GB of storage and adjustable warm light. Unlike any of the other models in the Kindle lineup, though, it has page turn buttons and free cellular connectivity, so you can download books even without WiFi. If you have a non-US shipping address, it's also worth noting that the international, no-ads version of the Kindle e-readers are on sale, as well.

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Yuji Naka, who co-created Sonic the Hedgehog and headed programming for the original game series, has reportedly been arrested for insider trading. According to Fuji News Network, authorities believe Naka bought 10,000 shares in game development company Aiming for 2.8 million yen ($20,000) before it became public that the developer was working with Square Enix on Dragon Quest Tact. 

Naka joined Square Enix in 2018 and worked on the platform game Balan Wonderworld. He wasn't there that long, however, and announced that he had left the company shortly after the game was released. Naka also revealed earlier this year that he had sued Square Enix after they removed him as Balan Wonderland's director six months before the game was launched. While he has already left the company, he was still with Square Enix while Dragon Quest Tact was being developed, and that was allegedly how he learned about the smartphone game before it was even announced.

Naka wasn't the only former Square Enix employee who was arrested for insider trading. A Taisuke Sasaki and a Fumiaki Suzuki were also arrested for purchasing 162,000 shares of Aiming for around 47.2 million yen ($337,609). Like Naka, they reportedly bought Aiming stocks with the belief that they'd go up in value after Dragon Quest Tact's announcement. In a statement addressing the duo's arrest, Square Enix said that it's fully cooperating with the investigation and that it has set up a system to prevent any more instances of insider trading.