Market Extra: Stock Buybacks Near $800 Billion This Year After Hitting All-time Record

Detroit — Despite a long string of recalls that began more than two decades ago, about 6.2 million vehicles with potentially dangerous Takata air bag inflators remain on U. S. roads today. On Wednesday, Nissan warned drivers of about 84,000 older Nissan and Infiniti vehicles not to drive them because the front passenger inflators can explode with too much force in a crash, spewing metal fragments that could kill or injure people. [time-brightcove not-tgx=”true”] The Nissan recall includes cars and SUVs as old as the 2002 model year that were recalled in 2020.

Enlarge / A stack of 60 Starlink satellites launched in 2019. (credit: SpaceX / Flickr) SpaceX began launching operational Starlink satellites five years ago this month. Since then, the company has been rapidly developing its constellation of broadband satellites in low-Earth orbit. SpaceX has now launched about 6,000 satellites with its Falcon 9 rocket and has delivered on its promise to provide fast Internet around the world.

Enlarge / Naughty Dog's Neil Druckmann, seen here not questioning the accuracy of a PR interview. (credit: Getty Images) Sony has taken down an interview with Naughty Dog Studio Head Neil Druckmann (Uncharted, The Last of Us) that the company now says contains "several significant errors and inaccuracies that don't represent his perspective and values." The surprising move comes after Druckmann took the extreme measure of publicly questioning a portion of the PR interview by posting a lengthy transcript that conflicted with the heavily edited version Sony posted online. The odd media saga began last Thursday, when Sony published the interview (archive here) under the heading "The Evolution of Storytelling Across Mediums." The piece was part of the Creative Entertainment Vision section of Sony's corporate site, a PR-driven concept exploring how Sony will "seamlessly connect multi-layered worlds where physical and virtual realities overlap to deliver limitless Kanto—through creativity and technology—working with creators." Whatever that means. Druckmann's short interview started attracting attention almost immediately, primarily due to Druckmann's apparent promotion of using AI tools in game development.

Enlarge / The Cadillac Optiq is the brand's next EV, slotting underneath the electric Lyriq in the range. (credit: Michael Teo Van Runkle) Earlier this month, Cadillac showed off the all-new, all-electric 2025 Optiq to select media in downtown Los Angeles. The Optiq will slot in below the larger Lyriq, Celestiq, and Escalade IQ SUVs but is still based on GM's steadily proliferating Ultium electric vehicle architecture. Having driven no fewer than five different Ultium-based vehicles in the past year, I visited the Optiq preview, hoping to learn how Cadillac can differentiate this compact crossover from other offerings in an increasingly competitive segment.

Enlarge / Helen Toner, former OpenAI board member, speaks during Vox Media's 2023 Code Conference at The Ritz-Carlton, Laguna Niguel on September 27, 2023. (credit: Getty Images) In a recent interview on "The Ted AI Show" podcast, former OpenAI board member Helen Toner said the OpenAI board was unaware of the existence of ChatGPT until they saw it on Twitter.

Enlarge (credit: Flavio Coelho/Getty Images) Two years ago when “Michael,” an owner of cryptocurrency, contacted Joe Grand to help recover access to about $2 million worth of bitcoin he stored in encrypted format on his computer, Grand turned him down. Michael, who is based in Europe and asked to remain anonymous, stored the cryptocurrency in a password-protected digital wallet.