A New Mexico judge ordered Meta to pay $25 billion after a jury found the company misled users about data protection and content moderation, stemming from the 2018 Cambridge Analytica scandal. That figure dwarfs the $17 billion multistate settlement Meta reached with other attorneys general this summer, and far exceeds the roughly $459 million paid under a related children's online safety settlement. Meta's chief legal officer C.J. Mahoney said the company will appeal, calling the lawsuit an attempt to impose 'a tax on speech.'
theverge.com
· 2026-10-27
New research published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences found that mesopelagic animal populations in the northern Gulf of Mexico—including octopus, krill, squid, shrimp and lanternfish—fell by 60 to 85 percent within three and a half years of the 2011 Deepwater Horizon spill, with little recovery since. After ruling out factors like temperature and oxygen levels, researchers concluded the BP oil and gas blowout was the most likely cause of what they called the fastest and most severe faunal decline ever documented for this type of ecosystem.
wired.com
· 2026-10-25
Meta disclosed in its third-quarter earnings that income from operations would have been $22.89 billion if not for a $9.89 billion charge tied to its child safety settlement with US attorneys general. The company agreed in August to pay $17.1 billion to resolve claims that its platforms were designed to be addictive to children, though $5.3 billion of that is contingent on YouTube and TikTok adopting similar safety safeguards. Despite the charge, Meta still reported $64.60 billion in quarterly revenue, up 26 percent year-over-year.
theverge.com
· 2026-10-21
An opinion piece by a payments executive argues that speeding up payment settlement does not automatically speed up a company's finance operations. Drawing on experience running Tyler Petroleum, the author notes that using multiple payment providers for different vendors created extra tracking and reconciliation burdens even as individual payments cleared faster. The piece cites the Federal Reserve's distinction between clearing (information movement) and settlement (fund movement) to explain why faster transfers can shift bottlenecks downstream to accounting teams.
entrepreneur.com
· 2026-10-18
Elon Musk has agreed to settle two lawsuits filed by Arizona residents in Austin, Texas over his 2024 promise to give $1 million daily to randomly selected registered voters in swing states. The settlement terms have not been disclosed. The plaintiffs alleged the drawings weren't actually random and that they wouldn't have signed the required petition had they known this.
theverge.com
· 2026-10-17
A Washington Post list shows six major tech firms — Apple, Nvidia, Google, Microsoft, Amazon and Meta — contributed a combined $92 million toward construction of a White House ballroom. Apple and Nvidia each gave $25 million, Google gave $22 million, Microsoft and Palantir each gave $10 million, and Amazon and Meta gave $5 million apiece. Overall, tech and crypto industry donors reportedly provided more than $150 million to the project.
theverge.com
· 2026-10-15
CVS Pharmacy Inc. and several subsidiaries will pay $315 million to resolve a Justice Department lawsuit alleging the company dispensed medically unnecessary opioid prescriptions. The settlement was announced by federal officials on Tuesday.
fastcompany.com
· 2026-10-13
California's attorney general and city attorneys from San Francisco, San Diego and Los Angeles reached a settlement with Lyft over claims it misclassified drivers as independent contractors from 2016 to 2020, denying them owed wages and benefits. Pending a judge's approval, Lyft will pay $272.5 million, making it the largest wage-and-hour settlement in state history.
fastcompany.com
· 2026-10-12
Amazon has agreed to pay $309.5 million to settle a class-action lawsuit alleging it failed to properly refund customers for returned items between September 2017 and February 2025. The suit argued these practices violated Washington state law, and most eligible customers will automatically receive payouts, while others must submit claim forms with documentation.
androidauthority.com
· 2026-10-06
David Ellison announced on X that the newly merged Paramount and Warner Bros. Discovery will operate under the name Skydance, after a consent decree settled an antitrust lawsuit from 12 state attorneys general. The $111 billion deal, finalized September 21, follows a year-long bidding war in which Ellison prevailed after Netflix withdrew its interest in Warner Bros. Discovery.
cnet.com
· 2026-10-02
TikTok has agreed to pay Alabama at least $100 million and implement new teen-safety measures, including a two-hour daily time limit, overnight access restrictions, stronger age verification, a ban on beauty filters, and an optional non-personalized feed. The settlement, reached just before a scheduled trial, resolves claims that TikTok misled parents about its child-safety tools, and could rise to $300 million if 40 other state attorneys general sign similar agreements.
tech.slashdot.org
· 2026-09-28
TikTok has settled a lawsuit brought by Alabama alleging it misled users about safety risks and designed its platform to addict children, agreeing to pay the state at least $100 million and up to $300 million depending on unspecified conditions. The company also agreed to add a two-hour daily time limit for minors, expanded parental controls, and restrictions on overnight use and cosmetic filters. The case had been set for trial this week.
techcrunch.com
· 2026-09-26
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