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Canoo said on Friday night that it has filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy and will cease operations effective immediately, after failing to secure enough funding to keep it going. The writing was on the wall for the EV startup leading up to the announcement; the company has lost multiple executives in recent months, announced furloughs and reported to the SEC in November that it had just $700,000 in the bank, per TechCrunch. In a press release announcing the filing, Canoo said it was unable to get funding from the Department of Energys Loan Program Office or from foreign sources of capital that executives had been in talks with. In light of the fact that these efforts were unsuccessful, the Board has made the difficult decision to file for insolvency, it said. Canoo owes a total of over $164 million to hundreds creditors, and has about $126 million in assets, according to TechCrunch. Under the filing in Delaware, Canoos assets will be liquidated and the proceeds will be distributed to its creditors. In a statement, CEO Tony Aquila said, We are truly disappointed that things turned out as they did. Canoo made a few electric vans for NASA and a prototype for the US Army, and had deals for larger fleets with the likes of USPS and Walmart, but only a small number of its vans appear to have ever materialized.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/transportation/evs/ev-startup-canoo-has-filed-for-bankruptcy-and-stopped-all-operations-232719895.html?src=rss
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Kids and younger teens might soon be unable to play Genshin Impact's gachas. The developer behind the game has agreed to block players under 16 years old from making in-game purchases without parental consent in order to settle a complaint from the Federal Trade Commission. It has also agreed to pay a $20 million penalty. Samuel Levine, the director of FTC's Bureau of Consumer Protection, said "Genshin Impact deceived children, teens, and other players into spending hundreds of dollars on prizes they stood little chance of winning." The developer's marketing actively targeted children, the commission said in its complaint, and the company also violated COPPA by collecting personal info from kids under 13. HoYoverse, the developer's US entity, allegedly deceives players "about the odds of winning" its rarer loot box prizes and uses a confusing virtual currency system that's unfair to kids and younger teens. The FTC says this misleads players on how much they actually have to spend to be able to get rarer prizes. Genshin Impact uses a gacha system instead of a traditional loot box mechanic, wherein players can "pull" on banners to win a random item or character. Under the FTC's proposed order, it wants to prohibit Genshin Impact from selling loot boxes using virtual currency unless it also provides an option to purchase them directly with real money. It wants to prohibit the developer from misrepresenting loot box odds and processes, and it wants to require the company to disclose gachas' odds and the virtual currency exchange rate. The commission wants to order HoYoverse to delete personal information collected from kids until 13 unless it was obtained with parental consent, as well. A federal judge still has to approve the proposed order with all these requirements, though, so they won't be enforced immediately. This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/gaming/ftc-orders-genshin-impacts-developer-to-block-young-teens-from-making-in-game-purchases-221532729.html?src=rss
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Just one day before TikTok is expected to shut down in the US, startup Perplexity AI has submitted a bid to TikToks parent company ByteDance proposing a merger that would allow it to continue operating, CNBC reports. Citing an anonymous source, CNBC reports that the proposed merger would create a new entity combining Perplexity, TikTok US and New Capital Partners. It comes after the Supreme Court on Friday ruled unanimously to uphold a law that requires ByteDance to sell TikTok or it will be banned in the US. The company has so far resisted the idea of a sale. According to CNBCs source, Perplexity is hoping a merger rather than a sale will be more appealing to ByteDance. The new structure would allow for most of ByteDances existing investors to retain their equity stakes and would bring more video to Perplexity, CNBC reports. If ByteDance were to accept the proposal, theres a chance the company would be given a 90-day extension by Trump to work out a deal, which he told NBC News' Kristen Welker that he would most likely do when he takes office on Monday. But there is as yet no indication that ByteDance will go this route. Despite rampant speculation about potential buyers, TikTok said it will be forced to go dark on January 19 when the law takes effect unless the Biden Administration immediately provides a definitive statement to satisfy the most critical service providers assuring non-enforcement. The outgoing administration, however, reportedly says its leaving all that for the Trump team to deal with. Per MSNBC, White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre called TikToks claim about shutting down a stunt, and said we see no reason for TikTok or other companies to take actions in the next few days before the Trump Administration takes office on Monday. We have laid out our position clearly and straightforwardly: actions to implement this law will fall to the next administration, Jean-Pierre said, according to MSNBC. So TikTok and other companies should take up any concerns with them.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/social-media/perplexity-ai-has-reportedly-submitted-an-11th-hour-bid-to-save-tiktok-in-the-us-215012514.html?src=rss
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Marketing and Advertising
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