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A court verdict against Tesla last week, stemming from a fatal 2019 crash of an Autopilot-equipped Model S, could hurt its plans to expand its nascent robotaxi network and intensify concerns over the safety of its autonomous vehicle technology. A Florida jury ordered Musk’s electric vehicle company on Friday to pay about $243 million to victims of the crash, finding its Autopilot driver-assistance software defective. Tesla said the driver was solely at fault and vowed to appeal. The verdict follows years of federal investigations and recalls related to collisions involving Tesla’s autonomous-vehicle technology, and comes as CEO Elon Musk seeks regulatory approval to rapidly expand the robotaxi service across the U.S. “The public perception of this verdict or things like this are going to fuel pressure on regulators to say, ‘We just can’t let this stuff be launched without a lot more due diligence’,” said Mike Nelson, founder of Nelson Law and an expert on legal issues in the mobility sector. Tesla could have a tough time convincing state regulators that its technology is road-ready, threatening Musk’s goal of offering robotaxis to half the U.S. population by year-end, legal experts and Tesla investors said. Expanding its robotaxi service is crucial for Tesla as demand for its aging lineup of EVs has cooled amid rising global competition and a backlash against Musk’s far-right political views. Much of Tesla’s trillion-dollar market valuation hinges on his bets on robotics and artificial intelligence. Success in the self-driving realm will require winning the confidence of regulators and potential customers on the full-self driving (FSD) software that underpins Tesla’s robotaxis, analysts said. “The timing (of the verdict) for Tesla in light of the FSD rollouts and robotaxis is awful,” said Aaron Davis, co-managing partner at law firm Davis Goldman. “Now there’s essentially an opinion that some aspect of Tesla’s business is not safe and maybe the safety that the company advertises isn’t what it’s cracked up to be.” The FSD is an advanced version of Autopilot. Autopilot, which was been updated since 2019, controls speed, distance and lane centering on highways, while the FSD can operate on city streets, helping the vehicle make automatic turns and change lanes. “This case does not have direct implications for Tesla’s FSD roll-out,” analysts at Piper Sandler said in a note on Sunday, citing the modern iterations of the software. A spokesperson on behalf of Tesla acknowledged the company had received a request for comment from Reuters but had not provided one by the time of publication. Regulatory road ahead Perfecting autonomous vehicles has been harder than expected. The high costs of hardware, years of trial and error, and regulatory hurdles have forced many players to close shop or pivot, including General Motors’ Cruise unit. Musk, however, has pursued what he calls a simpler and cheaper path, relying only on cameras and AI instead of pricey sensors such as lidars and radars used by Alphabet’s Waymo, Amazon’s Zoox and others. After years of missed deadlines, Musk rolled out a small robotaxi trial in June with about a dozen Model Y crossover SUVs in Austin, Texas, each overseen by a human safety monitor in the front passenger seat. While Musk has said Tesla was being “super paranoid about safety”, he has also pledged to expand the service fast and make it available for half of the U.S. population in the next five months – a stark contrast to Waymo’s cautious years-long rollout. Until Tesla’s entry, Waymo was the only U.S. firm to operate a paid, driverless robotaxi service. Tesla is currently awaiting approvals in several states, including California, Nevada, Arizona and Florida. California’s department of motor vehicles declined to comment on the impact of the verdict on regulatory approval. Nevada said it held talks with Tesla about a robotaxi program several weeks ago, while Arizona said it was still considering Tesla’s request for certification. Both did not comment on the verdict. Florida did not respond. Tesla has typically either won other Autopilot litigation or resolved the case with the plaintiffs out of court. The Florida verdict stands out. Several such cases are pending. The case involved a Model S sedan that went through an intersection and hit the victims’ parked Chevrolet Tahoe as they were standing beside it. The driver had reached down to retrieve a dropped cellphone and allegedly received no alerts as he ran a stop sign before the crash. The jury found that Tesla’s Autopilot had a defect and held the company partially responsible, despite the driver admitting fault. “It’s going to take time to get regulators to move forward and time being more than the end of the year,” said Gene Munster, managing partner at Deepwater Asset Management, a Tesla investor. “From an image standpoint, it’s a black eye.” Abhirup Roy, Reuters
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What if the way you handle emotionsyours and othersis the difference between leading well and missing the mark? Well, that’s where emotional intelligence comes in. But what if you had insight into saying the right things at the right moment to build stronger connections in the process? Would that be a gamne changer for you? Emotional intelligence shows up in the way we talk to people, especially when things get tense, uncertain, or emotional. Choosing your words with the skills of EQ Its not about being perfect or having all the answers. Its about being aware of what you’re feeling, paying attention to how others are doing, and choosing words that connect instead of shut things down. Hard to do for some, I know, but if you’re leading a team, the way you communicate can either build trust or quietly erode it. Here are five core emotional intelligence skillseach with practical ways to show them through simple, everyday phrases you can start practicing today. 1. What to say to display empathy Empathy means showing people you see what theyre going through. You dont have to solve their problem or offer advice. Just saying something like That sounds really tough. Want to talk about it? or I get why this would be frustrating tells someone theyre not alone. These small moments help people feel understoodand that matters more than we often realize. 2. What to say to show self-awareness This crucial EQ skill is about noticing your own reactions and being honest about whats behind them. If youve snapped at someone or feel off, it can sound like Ive been a bit distracted todaytheres a lot on my plate. Or That topic gets under my skin, and Im working on that. Here’s the thing: owning your emotions doesnt make you weak; it makes you real. And real earns respect. 3. What to say to show emotional regulation The skill of emotional regularion is staying steady when emotions run high. Its not about shutting down feelings; its about not letting them run the show. You might say, I want to respond thoughtfully, so Im going to take a minute, or Lets revisit this tomorrow when weve both had time to think. That pause gives space for better conversations and fewer regrets. 4. What to say to display relationship management This is using emotional awareness to navigate conversations in a way that keeps people connected, even when you disagree. It sounds like I want us to be on the same pagecan we talk this through? or I appreciate your perspective. Lets figure out how to move forward together. Its about making it clear that the relationship matters as much as the issue at hand. 5. What to say to show active listening Yes, this is definetely a skill of emotional intelligence. It’s more than nodding while you wait your turn to talk. When someones sharing something important, phrases like So what Im hearing is or Tell me more about whats behind that show youre actually engaged. People can tell when youre really listening and it builds trust faster than anything else. By Marcel Schwantes This article originally appeared on Fast Company’s sister publication, Inc. Inc. is the voice of the American entrepreneur. We inspire, inform, and document the most fascinating people in business: the risk-takers, the innovators, and the ultra-driven go-getters that represent the most dynamic force in the American economy.
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While most retirement portfolios include allocations to stocks and bonds in the years leading up to retirement, most retirement savers don’t hold much more than an emergency cushion in cash.Thus, an important job in the years before retirement is building up that cash cushion.The good news is that cash yields are up, meaning cash holdings aren’t the “dead money” they were a few years ago. And equity investments have performed well, tooat least until very recently. That means that most investors can build their cash stakes, at least in part, by pruning appreciated holdings.Here’s some guidance on the amount, source, and location of those liquid reserves, according to the Bucket approach to retirement portfolio planning. Rightsizing Bucket 1 Your cash bucket should consist of one to two years’ worth of portfolio withdrawals, not living expenses.In order to set up Bucket 1 initially, think through your cash flow sources for the first few years of retirement.For example, let’s say a 66-year-old wants to retire in two years and expects that he’ll need to spend $80,000 per year, in total, from his $1.5 million portfolio, at that time. He wants to delay filing for Social Security until age 70, so all of his spending will come from his portfolio in those first few years of retirement. After that, roughly half his spending needs will come from Social Security.If he wanted to be conservative, he could build a cash cushion consisting of $160,000his years 1 and 2 portfolio withdrawals.His Bucket 2high-quality bondswould consist of eight years’ worth of portfolio withdrawals, which at that point will be $40,000 per year. The remaining $1 million and change could go into a globally diversified equity portfolio. Where to put the money? It’s also worth considering the “where” of your liquid reserves. To do so, consider your sequence of withdrawals in retirement.Taxable accounts are often first in the queue for retirement withdrawals because their ongoing tax costs are higher than tax-sheltered accounts.But some retirees may benefit from spending from their tax-deferred accounts early in retirement, with an eye toward reducing future required minimum distributions and tax bills. This is a good spot to get some advice from a financial or tax advisor.Armed with the knowledge of where you’ll turn for your spending in the first part of your retirement, you can then figure out where best to hold your liquid reserves. Where to get the money? The next step is figuring out how to build up this reserve. Ideally, you’d give yourself a couple of years to enlarge your cash position rather than having to find the money just before retirement.For preretirees who are still saving for retirement, start by directing new contributions into cash. Say, for example, the aforementioned retiree is directing a couple years’ worth of IRA and 401(k)contributions to cash. He could arrive at nearly half his target cash allocation by the time he reaches his retirement.There’s also potential bonuses and inheritances. If you’ve recently received a surprise cash injection, the assets are a logical source for bulking up cash reserves.Another solid option is to build up cash by peeling back on highly appreciated asset classes, especially US stocks. Trimming equities and adding those assets to cash and bonds reduces risk and helps cover cash flows for the first few years of retirement.Finally, you can reduce risky positions. Consider the employer stock you know you should scale back on or the individual-stock portfolio that’s duplicative of what’s in your mutual funds. Such holdings can be ideal sources when building up your cash reserves, but mind the tax consequences if you’re selling them from a taxable account. This article was provided to The Associated Press by Morningstar. For more personal finance content, go to https://www.morningstar.com/personal-financeChristine Benz is director of personal finance for Morningstar. Christine Benz of Morningstar
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