Business
Elon Musk presents at conference in Cannes
Elon Musk presents at conference in Cannes (Marc Piasecki/Getty Images)
Musk you?

You can now pay more to still see ads on X

That’s one way to spin not selling ads!

Rani Molla

When Elon Musk originally announced his $8 paid blue check accounts, Twitter Blue, shortly after buying the social media company now called X in late 2022, one of the big selling points was that those users would see half as much advertising.

Of course, like many things Elon Musk has said, that wasn’t really true, because it only applied to “for you” and “following” timelines. When Blue subscribers went to other spots on the site and in the app, they still saw the same number of ads.

Now, though, Musk is hawking a $14 Premium+ tier that’s “fully ad-free.” The X post announcing the feature says “no more ads, anywhere on X” — but guess what? Even that’s not 100% true. If you go to sign up for Premium+, you’ll see that X itself says people with that subscription will still see "occasional branded content in less common areas.”

And of course, if you’re really reading between the lines, you might note that not showing users ads might have something to do with companies not wanting to advertise on the site in the first place. Musk is currently suing an advertising coalition for boycotting the site.

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Amazon doubles down on groceries with new private-label collection, sending grocery stocks lower

Amazon on Wednesday launched Amazon Grocery, a new private-label food brand that combines its Fresh and Happy Belly lines into one collection.

The label covers more than 1,000 staples, from milk and eggs to olive oil and fresh meat, with most items priced under $5. Shares of Amazon were little changed, but grocery-selling rivals Target, Walmart, and Kroger all slipped around 2% following the announcement. Costco also slipped about 1%.

The launch highlights Amazon’s growing push into both grocery and private-label essentials as more customers trade down to cut costs. In August, the e-commerce giant added perishable groceries to same-day delivery in 1,000 cities and towns across the country.

At the same time, Amazon said shoppers purchased 15% more private-brand products in 2024 compared to the previous year across Amazon.com, Whole Foods Market, and Amazon Fresh.

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Ford sales climb for 7th straight month as EVs hit a quarterly record on tax credit expiration

September marked another banner month for Ford’s electric vehicle business, with EV sales climbing 85% from the same month last year to more than 11,700 units.

For the third quarter as a whole, Ford’s electrified unit sales grew nearly 20%. That’s the division’s best Q3 on record, boosted by the looming end of the $7,500 federal tax credit on Tuesday. Ford, with rival GM, has found some ways to extend that credit in the hopes of keeping sales stable.

Overall, Ford sales rose 8.2% on the quarter, and September was the automaker’s seventh straight month of sales gains. Ford sales have been buoyed this year by panic buying: first from fears of tariff price hikes (and Ford’s strong incentives), and lately from the EV credit expiration.

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