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SBF's fall, Elon Musk's satellites, Larry Fink's retirement age, and McDonald's donuts: The week's most popular

By Dan Hirschhorn
Published


Sam Bankman-Fried completed from crypto poster child to prison. Elon Musk’s Starlink internet terminals keep showing up in places they’re not supposed to. BlackRock’s Larry Fink has thoughts about America’s retirement age. And McDonald’s and Krispy Kreme are teaming up for something sweet.



Check out those and more of the week’s most popular stories.

The rise and fall of Sam Bankman-Fried, from cryptocurrency fame to prison sentence

Sam Bankman-Fried, the disgraced cryptocurrency executive who was convicted of fraud in the spectacular collapse of the crypto exchange FTX, was sentenced to 25 years in prison.

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Elon Musk’s Starlink terminals are showing up in Yemen, Sudan, and other hotspots: ‘No accountability’

In countries with slow, unreliable, and in some cases censored internet service, SpaceX’s Starlink satellite internet terminals are reportedly being used and traded on the black market — even in places where Elon Musk’s space company has no agreement to operate.

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BlackRock’s Larry Fink thinks America’s retirement age is ‘a bit crazy’

BlackRock CEO Larry Fink wants to rethink retirement. After all, the U.S. is not the Ottoman Empire. In his highly anticipated annual letter to investors, the 71-year-old billionaire said that “it’s a bit crazy that our anchor idea for the right retirement age — 65 years old — originates from the time of the Ottoman Empire.”

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Krispy Kreme stock had its best day ever because now McDonald’s will sell its doughnuts

Breakfast at McDonald’s is about to get much — much — sweeter. The Chicago-based fast food chain is expanding its partnership with Krispy Kreme, the Charlotte, North Carolina-based doughnut chain. McDonald’s locations across the U.S. will offer three types of doughnuts — original glazed, chocolate iced with sprinkles, and chocolate iced cream-filled doughnuts — on their menus later this year.

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China wants Microsoft and Intel off its computers

China has introduced guidelines that stand to gradually eliminate foreign technology from its government computers. As part of the policies, the Beijing government will do away with U.S. microprocessors from Intel and AMD.

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Amazon stock is surging and that means some top managers won’t get cash pay raises

Amazon is reportedly withholding cash pay raises from senior managers and other leaders this year after the e-commerce giant’s stock soared well-above what was expected.

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It looks like Mark Zuckerberg is personally trying to poach Google AI researchers for Meta

Meta has already spent billions on chips to build on its AI efforts against competitors. Now its chief executive is reportedly spending time wooing AI talent from its rivals.

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Chipotle will use an avocado peeling robot to give customers consistent portions, CEO says

Burrito bowls at Chipotle may start to look drastically identical thanks to artificial intelligence.

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China’s president tells America’s CEOs: Don’t stop investing here

U.S. executives who extended business trips to China in anticipation of meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping met with the leader amid China’s efforts to attract more foreign investment.

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Elon Musk’s Neuralink showed off its first human patient. Here are 6 brain chip rivals

Elon Musk’s Neuralink dazzled supporters this week when it revealed the first human patient to be implanted with its first product, in a video livestream of the perso moving a mouse and playing computer chess through a brain implant. While the most well-known, Neuralink is not the only company working on brain chips.

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The most expensive drugs in the world — starting at the low price of $1 million

The pursuit of treatments for rare diseases has come with a steep cost: The average price of new drugs increased 35% in the U.S. in 2023.

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