Electric Bugatti: VW Group is giving up control of Bugatti to an electric supercar maker

7/6/21 8:00PM

Electric supercar company Rimac is set to take control of Bugatti, the brand owned by Volkswagen Group that is most famous for producing the Bugatti Veyron and Chiron — both of which are reportedly capable of reaching speeds in excess of 260mph.

This deal takes the strategic direction of Bugatti, which has long been a lossmaking business despite the eye-watering prices of its cars, out of VW Group's hands. With VW Group delivering 9-10 million cars per year, across a variety of brands, Bugatti has felt increasingly out of place. In 2020 it delivered just 77 cars, down 5 from the 82 it delivered in 2019, which is a number so small that it basically shouldn't show up at all in this chart of VW Group deliveries.

‍Better together

‍The new company formed is set to be called Bugatti Rimac, and it brings together a traditional and well established hypercar brand with the exact opposite — a scrappy electric vehicle start-up founded by an ambitious 23-year old Croatian called Mate Rimac who initially gained notoriety for his custom built electric BMW.

For VW Group, which has ambitious plans in mass-market electric vehicles, this deal is a clean way of passing operational control of a storied brand to a start-up that is embracing the challenge of building the next generation of electric supercars. For Rimac, it solidifies their pole position in the niche world of electric hypercars.

Max Knoblauch17h

Jury rules against Musk in lawsuit against OpenAI and Altman

Jurors in Tesla CEO Elon Musk’s lawsuit against Sam Altman, Greg Brockman, and OpenAI found the defendants not liable on all claims on Monday.

In a unanimous verdict reached after less than two hours of deliberation, the Oakland jury found that Musk had waited too long to bring his case forward, exceeding the statute of limitations.

Musk had alleged that OpenAI abandoned its founding mission as a nonprofit dedicated to developing AI for humanity and instead became a profit-driven company closely tied to Microsoft.

The verdict caps off a three-week blockbuster tech trial that could have seen Altman and Brockman removed from OpenAI leadership.

Jury tosses Elon Musk’s lawsuit against OpenAI and Sam Altman

Musk had alleged that OpenAI abandoned its founding mission as a nonprofit dedicated to developing AI for humanity and instead became a profit-driven company closely tied to Microsoft.

The verdict caps off a three-week blockbuster tech trial that could have seen Altman and Brockman removed from OpenAI leadership.

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Texas sues Netflix, accusing streamer of spying on children and collecting user data without consent

The state of Texas filed a lawsuit Monday against streaming giant Netflix, alleging that the company has built a “behavioral-surveillance program of staggering scale.”

The suit alleges that Netflix is “deceptively designed” to be addictive, using features like autoplay to get viewers hooked, “mining those users for data, and then converting that data into lucrative intelligence for global advertising juggernauts.”

“When you watch Netflix, Netflix watches you,” the lawsuit reads.

“This lawsuit lacks merit and is based on inaccurate and distorted information,” Netflix said in a statement to Sherwood News. “Netflix takes our members’ privacy seriously and complies with privacy and data‑protection laws everywhere we operate.”

Texas is seeking civil penalties of “up to $10,000 per violation” of the Texas Deceptive Trade Practices-Consumer Protection Act, along with an additional penalty of up to $250,000 per violation involving a consumer aged 65 or older.

“Netflix is not the ad-free and kid-friendly platform it claims to be. Instead, it has misled consumers while exploiting their private data to make billions,” said Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton in the press release announcing the lawsuit.

Netflix did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Attorney General Ken Paxton Sues Netflix for Spying on Texas Kids and Consumers by Illegally Collecting Users’ Data Without Their Knowledge or Consent