Meta blocked all posts from The Kansas Reflector on Thursday after the nonprofit newspaper called out Facebook, which Meta owns, and other forms of social media in an article.

The article, titled “When Facebook fails, local media matters even more for our planet’s future,” directly calls out Meta and Facebook for suppressing posts related to climate change and highlights the role of local media in stepping up to the plate.

“We are getting along OK without the promotional help of Facebook, but it does seem problematic that a behemoth such as Meta can dictate the terms of our communications,” documentary producer Dave Kendall wrote in the opinion piece.

Related: Mark Zuckerberg Told Meta Engineers to ‘Figure Out’ Snapchat’s Privacy Protections

According to a Friday article from The Reflector, Facebook stopped the publication from sharing Kendall’s opinion piece on Thursday and then removed all links to the outlet on its platform.

Andy Stone, communications director at Meta, apologized for the mistake on Thursday and said that the error “had nothing to do with the Reflector’s recent criticism of Meta.” He stated that the mistake had been corrected.

On Friday, Facebook had brought back all the posts that linked to the Kansas Reflector‘s stories — except for anything that linked to Kendall’s article, which was still down for a period of time.

By Friday night, the issue had been completely resolved and users were able to link to and view Kendall’s article.

Related: Meta Is Suing a Former VP Who Left the Company for a Competing AI Startup

Independent journalist Marisa Kabas reposted the Kansas Reflector’s column on Friday “in an attempt to sidestep Meta’s censorship” and said that the damage had already been done: the articles had already been flagged as malicious.

“That’s a big problem because that undermines our trust,” Kabas told CNN Business.

https://www.entrepreneur.com/business-news/newspaper-criticizes-meta-gets-temporary-block-on-facebook/472378

^{This article originally appeared on Business Insider.}

^{This as-told-to essay is based on a conversation with Syed Lateef, a 36-year-old Airbnb Superhost in Chicago. It’s been edited for length and clarity.}

I’m the CEO of SyedBnb, a short-term rental company with over 300 units and 100 employees.

After dropping out of college for one year before returning to get my degree, I started working in finance, but I didn’t aspire to have the lifestyle of the company’s VPs. I wanted wealth, exotic cars, luxury vacations, time, and freedom, so I pivoted to real estate.

I started my business in 2017, and in 2023, we made $11.5 million in revenue and $1.4 million in net profit.

Real estate was the key to the life I wanted

After being let go from my first role as a financial analyst, I landed a job at Allstate. I was promoted three times within five years, but the salary increases weren’t meeting my expectations.

I realized that the people I knew in my community who were wealthy and had nice homes or cars were involved in real estate, which made me believe that was one of the main drivers of wealth.

I started listening to the “BiggerPockets” podcast and read “Rich Dad, Poor Dad,” which motivated me to pursue financial freedom. I expected it to take me 15 years to replace my salaried income through real estate, but I was determined.

In 2016, I purchased my first multifamily building in Chicago using savings from my finance job and a loan on my 401(k). I put one of the units on Airbnb with a goal to make double the rent in one month that I could expect from a long-term tenant.

I hired cleaners and virtual assistants to do the admin work and implemented pricing software from the outset (I use PriceLabs).

Within four months, I made three times the expected market rent for a long-term tenant. I realized what an incredible opportunity this was and converted all the units in my building into Airbnbs. I was addicted and wanted more.

Three to four months into my side business, even though my family and friends encouraged me to keep my salaried role, I gave my notice to leave. I was now a full-time entrepreneur.

Since its launch, I’ve scaled the business to over $35 million in revenue

^{One of Lateef’s units in Chicago. Courtesy of Syed Lateef}

I became an Airbnb Superhost in 2018, which means my average reviews are above 4.8 out of 5.

In the second year, I expanded into rental arbitrage (renting units from landlords and subleasing them on Airbnb) after realizing it was an easier way to grow my business. After furnishing my units, I lacked the cash to buy more rentals. I now own 13 apartments and arbitrage 320.

My revenue hit $2.8 million in 2019. 2020 was a down year due to COVID-19. By 2022, I had my first eight-figure year, reaching $10.5 million in revenue.

I only work a few hours a week

With the help of my employees and the implementation of author Gino Wickman‘s guiding principles of the EOS (Entrepreneurial Operating System), my workweek hovers around two hours.

EOS is a set of concepts and tools for entrepreneurs to have people in the right seats, track scorecards, document processes, identify issues, and get traction on their business. Weekly leadership meetings using the EOS system help me achieve a two-hour workweek, but those two hours are intense meetings.

I also handle my landlord relationships and business growth, but that’s periodic, as well as the occasional proverbial fire.

The biggest mistake I made was growing too quickly

The biggest mistake I made was being too optimistic about growth in the winter before the pandemic. I started scaling and ran out of cash, but I didn’t expect COVID-19 to hit me with a knock-out punch. My revenue went to zero. Airbnb refunded all my future guests. I didn’t have the money to pay the landlord’s rent.

I negotiated with all my landlords to allow me to stay in business. I purchased assets from bankrupt companies and was able to scale significantly. For example, I bought furniture for $250 per apartment from a bankrupt company.

Here’s my Airbnb advice

My best advice to other aspiring Airbnb Superhosts is to learn from other hosts’ experiences. Get in the Airbnb Facebook forums and connect with others. Attend networking events. Hire a coach or purchase a course to help you start the business.

Then, take action. If you can’t afford a property, consider rental arbitrage. So many people get stuck in the learning and planning process. Inevitably, you’ll learn while being in the actual business.

When I got started, I asked my sister, who’s into interior design, to help me furnish my first Airbnbs. For guests’ needs, we modeled hotels to see what items created a good stay. I learned everything myself through experience.

https://www.entrepreneur.com/business-news/he-made-millions-buying-airbnb-properties-rental-arbitrage/472286

Frequent Walmart shoppers may be entitled to financial compensation thanks to a new class action settlement.

In a lawsuit that was originally filed in 2022 and then amended in 2023, the retailer is accused of three major deceptive practices: falsely inflating the weight of products that are sold-by-weight; overcharging for sold-by-weight products that were on clearance; and mislabeling the weight of bagged produce.

Related: Walmart Store Managers Can Make $500K: Stock Grants, Bonuses

“Walmart uses unfair and deceptive business practices to deceivingly, misleadingly, and unjustly pilfer, to Walmart’s financial benefit, its customers’ hard-earned grocery dollars,” the lawsuit states. “Walmart knew and calculated that its practices would mislead consumers and continued such practices despite knowledge of the deception and the harm it caused and causes.”

The retailer reached a settlement late last year for $45 million, and now, any Walmart shoppers who purchased a weighted good product (such as produce, meat, seafood) or bagged citrus in the U.S. or Puerto Rico from October 19, 2018, through January 29, 2024, might be eligible for a refund of up to $500.

Related: Woman Loses Wallet in Walmart Lot, Teen Returns Via Facebook

Walmart denied the allegations and told CNN that the company plans to “continue providing our customers everyday low prices to help them save money on the products they want and need. We still deny the allegations, however we believe a settlement is in the best interest of both parties.”

How to claim your share

Walmart has listed several different forms of payout for those eligible on its website. Customers with receipts can receive 2% of the total cost of purchased (weighted and citrus) goods up to $500. Shoppers without receipts can still get between $10 and $25, depending on the number of purchases.

Walmart did not immediately respond to Entrepreneur‘s request for comment.

Customers can file a claim here through June 5, 2024, and can attempt to retrieve receipts from the retailer online.

A final settlement approval hearing is scheduled for June 12 and pending appeals, payments will be processed after and sent through ACH, Venmo, Zelle, a virtual prepaid Mastercard, or a paper check upon request.

https://www.entrepreneur.com/business-news/walmart-shoppers-eligible-for-cash-after-lawsuit-settlement/472387

On Monday, over 31 million people will experience a total solar eclipse, a celestial phenomenon where the Moon passes between the Sun and the Earth, leading to moments of complete darkness for those in the eclipse’s path of totality.

The total solar eclipse has begun its journey through its path of totality, beginning at 2:27 p.m. in Eagle Pass, Texas and Del Rio, Texas at 2:28 p.m. Full visibility was then reached in San Antonio at 2:34 p.m. and Fort Worth and Dallas at 2:40 p.m.In the Northeast, peak viewing time is from 3 p.m. to around 3:30 p.m. EST and will conclude around 4:30 p.m.

Here is a live feed from NASA:

[embedded content]

Here’s what to expect during Monday’s planetary event:

What time is the 2024 solar eclipse?

Monday’s total solar eclipse will begin at 11:07 a.m. PDT in Mexico (which is 2:07 p.m. EST) and then cross into Texas at 1:27 p.m. CDT (2:27 p.m. EST) before ending in the continental U.S. in Maine at roughly 3:35 p.m. EST before crossing over into Canada. The eclipse is set to leave North America at 5:16 p.m. NDT (3:46 p.m. EST) through New Foundland, Canada.

The eclipse will peak at different times depending on where you are located in the U.S.

NASA created an interactive map where you can see what time the eclipse is expected to peak in your area and how much darkness there is set to be, weather depending.

Where can I see the total solar eclipse?

The path of totality is about 115 miles wide and extends west to east, crossing through 13 states.

The U.S. cities where the eclipse is expected to peak and reach complete darkness are Dallas, Texas: Idabel, Oklahoma: Little Rock, Arkansas: Poplar Bluff, Missouri: Paducah, Kentucky: Carbondale, Illinois: Evansville, Indiana: Cleveland, Ohio: Erie, Pennsylvania: Buffalo, New York: Burlington, Vermont: Lancaster, New Hampshire and Caribou, Maine.

A partial solar eclipse is expected to be visible in 49 U.S. states (weather permitting), though the total solar eclipse will have a path of totality that will only be visible in 10 U.S. states and parts of Mexico and Canada.

How can I view the solar eclipse?

Due to the dangerous nature of the eclipse, you should avoid looking directly into the sky during the eclipse — not even regular sunglasses will do the trick.

Instead, viewers should use certified ISO 12312-2 compliant eclipse glasses to look up at the sky during the partial portions of the eclipse. It is only considered safe to look up at the sky without protection during the brief moments of eclipse totality when the moon is covering the sun.

Failure to wear proper eye protection can result in blindness or partial vision disruption.

According to the Planetary Society, solar eclipse glasses use special lenses made out of carbon-infused black polymer, which are roughly 100,000 times darker than normal sunglasses, blocking out almost all visible light, including infrared and ultraviolet light.

In order to make sure that your glasses are legitimate, only consider purchasing them from a vendor that has been approved through the American Astronomical Society (AAS), which tests, approves, and certifies hundreds of vendors to ensure their quality.

When is the next solar eclipse after Monday, April 8?

The next visible total solar eclipse will take place on August 23, 2044. This eclipse is expected to only be visible in three U.S. states (Montana, North Dakota, and South Dakota) and will mostly be visible in Canada.

https://www.entrepreneur.com/business-news/total-solar-eclipse-2024-when-what-time-where/472363

Amid news of Tesla’s first year-over-year sales decline since 2020, the electric car company is setting the scene for a unique product launch.

Tesla CEO Elon Musk posted on X that the company will unveil its first robotaxi on August 8. However, the unveiling date does not mean that’s when deliveries will begin — the first deliveries of another Tesla product, the Cybertruck, arrived years after its unveiling.

Tesla’s first autonomous taxi will join a market that already features offerings from competitors such as Waymo, an independent company that started as Google’s self-driving car project, and Cruise, General Motors’ company.

Tesla Robotaxi unveil on 8/8

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) April 5, 2024

Musk, who owns X and is the most-followed person on the platform, shared the news with 180 million followers.

^{A Waymo autonomous self-driving Jaguar taxi on March 14, 2024 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Mario Tama/Getty Images)}

Reuters reported on Friday that Tesla had decided to shift its strategy away from a $25,000 entry-level electric car and towards self-driving cars instead, a report that Musk disputed in a “Reuters is lying (again)” post on X. Musk did not clarify which part of the article was inaccurate.

Related: Tesla Sales, Deliveries Drop for First Time Since 2020

A Reuters analysis from Saturday showed that robotaxis could be riskier, and more complex, to create. A robotaxi from G.M.’s Cruise was involved in an accident in October, resulting in widespread scrutiny of the company and a recall of the company’s driverless robotaxis. Cruise was preparing to resume operations as of February, according to Bloomberg.

In February, a driverless Waymo car hit a cyclist in San Francisco.

“We are deeply concerned that more people will be killed, more first responders will be obstructed, more sudden stops will happen,” Cathy Chase, president of Advocates for Highway and Auto Safety, told the MIT Technology Review. “We are not against autonomous vehicles. We are concerned about the unsafe deployment and a rush to the market at the expense of the traveling public.”

Tesla last released a new model in 2019 with the Cybertruck.

https://www.entrepreneur.com/business-news/elon-musk-tesla-robotaxi-is-arriving-in-august/472365

Google is looking into a variety of options to monetize its premium AI-powered search features, according to a Wednesday report from Financial Times that cited people familiar with the matter.

One proposal included folding AI-powered search features into Google’s existing premium subscription.

“AI search is more expensive to compute than Google’s traditional search processes,” Heather Dawe, chief data scientist at the digital transformation consultancy UST, told The Guardian. “So in charging for AI search, Google will be seeking to at least recoup these costs.”

Related: Google Sues Crypto App Developers for Allegedly Creating Fake Trading Apps

We tried out the core Google AI search experience, which is currently being tried in beta for select users. The AI generates an answer or response to a search query, including links to sources in its response.

Regular search results populate underneath the AI chatbot’s answer.

^{Credit: Entrepreneur}

This approach combines the familiar Google search interface with the results that an AI chatbot like Gemini AI or ChatGPT would give in response to the same query.

It didn’t require anything extra, like logging into an external application, making it intuitive for even a non-AI-attuned individual to use it.

Google processes 5.9 million searches per minute, according to Semrush, and about 1.5 billion people are using AI chatbots, as per a Tidio survey.

Recent AI search features released by Google include Circle (or highlight or scribble) to Search, which allows users to circle anything on their Android screen, including parts of an image. Google’s AI kicks in to perform a search on the object or item, across apps like Calendar and Maps.

^{A wall is displaying Google’s new AI feature, Circle to Search, in Barcelona, Spain, on March 25, 2024. (Photo by Joan Cros/NurPhoto via Getty Images)}

Google customers who want to use the company’s Gemini AI assistant in Gmail, Docs, or other Google services, already have to sign up for the Google One AI Premium subscription, which costs $20 per month.

Related: Is Browsing Chrome in Incognito Mode Really Private?

https://www.entrepreneur.com/business-news/google-might-start-charging-for-ai-enhanced-search-features/472304

Barbara Corcoran knows what it takes to be an expert in your field — and how to make money.

The real estate maven recently sat down with the “World of Women” podcast to talk about how aspiring entrepreneurs can carve their paths in the business world and what advice she would give women who want to become millionaires.

Her answer? Don’t focus on the money.

Instead, focus on being the best you can be in your field.

Related: ‘All Hell Is Going to Break Loose’: Barbara Corcoran Issues Warning About Real Estate Market, Interest Rates

“Take the money out of the equation and focus on one thing only — try to find something you do very, very well,” Corcoran explained. “And then practice the hell out of it until you become very, very good at it. And then you don’t have competition. You’re gonna be the top of your heap, whatever that heap is.”

“I out-try anyone. I will try anything and try a hundred things to let one thing land,” she added. “I don’t care, there’s no shame. I know if something is going to hit if I’m out trying.”

Corcoran has had a lucrative career in the real estate industry and as a longtime investor on ABC’s “Shark Tank” — but she’s also had to work very hard to keep her job, telling her Instagram followers last year that she was almost fired from the show before it began.

Moreover, Corcoran’s real estate career was paved in part by deals and earnings she was able to make through commission.

Related: Barbara Corcoran Reveals She Was Almost Fired From ‘Shark Tank’ Before Filming Even Began

But the recent NAR settlement, which removes rules on sales commissions for brokers and agents making the U.S. standard of 6% commissions obsolete, has Corcoran and her colleagues rethinking the system.

“Change is nothing new to the real estate industry. What I know for sure is that real estate brokerages and their agents are some of the most resilient people in the world,” she said in response to the NAR news. “They’re creative and tough, and this opens the door for agents to use that resilience and creativity to come up with new and better ways to service their home sellers and customers.”

Corcoran’s net worth is an estimated $400 million.

Related: ‘Everybody’s Scared’: Barbara Corcoran Says Now Is the ‘Very Best Time to Buy a House’ — Here’s Why

https://www.entrepreneur.com/business-news/barbara-corcoran-says-millionaires-all-do-this-same-thing/472292

Amazon is phasing out its cashier-less “Just Walk Out” technology from Fresh grocery stores in the U.S. about seven years after it was first announced.

The program enabled customers to check in at an Amazon Fresh store with a credit card, mobile app, or Amazon One palm reader, grab directly from the shelves, and “just walk out” with their items.

But reports this week indicated that it wasn’t actually AI technology doing all of the work.

Though Amazon claims that a system of scanners, video cameras, and generative AI were powering the tech, about 700 of every 1,000 Just Walk Out sales in 2022 had to go through human review by Amazon’s team in India, The Information reported this week.

The cashiers were off-site, and they watched what U.S. shoppers picked up, put down, and walked out with on video, according to the report.

^{Amazon Fresh store on March 04, 2021, featuring Just Walk Out shopping. Photo by Leon Neal/Getty Images}

However, Amazon disputed how many purchases required human review, with Nathan Strauss, an Amazon spokesperson, telling Retail Dive that employees looked into “a small minority” of shopping visits if Amazon’s technology failed to determine what a shopper left the store with.

“The characterization that Just Walk Out technology relies on human reviewers is inaccurate,” Strauss said. “The primary role of our Machine Learning data associates is to annotate video images, which is necessary for continuously improving the underlying machine learning model powering Just Walk Out technology.”

Related: Amazon Adds New AI For Sellers As It Plans Its First-Ever ‘Big Spring Sale’

The Information was the first to report that Amazon is removing Just Walk Out from most of its stores, and instead replacing the technology with “Dash Carts” that keep track of what shoppers pick out and show a running total as they move through the store.

Shoppers can still skip the checkout line.

Smaller Amazon stores and U.K. grocery stores will still have Just Walk Out, according to The Verge.

A September Amazon blog post shows that the company characterized Just Walk Out as a combination of computer vision, sensors, and AI — with no mention of human review.

Related: Amazon’s $1 Billion Innovation Fund Is Looking to Invest in a Specific Kind of Startup

“Customer trust and privacy are paramount to the experience,” the post reads, emphasizing that Just Walk Out didn’t use or collect biometric information from shoppers.

As of September, Just Walk Out was available at more than 70 Amazon stores and 85 third-party stores in the U.S., U.K., and Australia.

https://www.entrepreneur.com/business-news/amazon-swaps-just-walk-out-for-smart-carts-at-fresh-stores/472305

More tech layoffs are in the works as Apple and Amazon are letting go of hundreds of workers.

Apple announced on Friday that it’s laying off over 600 workers in California, effective May 27, according to a state filing.

This is the first major round of layoffs for Apple since the pandemic, something that CEO Tim Cook said was a “last resort” in May 2023.

Related: Apple Is Reportedly Beginning a Small Round of Layoffs

“Mass layoffs is not something that we’re talking about at this moment,” Cook said at the time. “We’re continuing to be extremely prudent on hiring. We’re continuing to hire, just at a lower clip level than we were before. And we’re doing all the right things of challenging the things that we spend, and we’re just finding a few more ways to save on it.”

The layoffs follow Apple’s decision to cancel its 10-year-long project to create an electric, self-driving car. Workers tasked with the project were on a team called the “Special Projects Group.”

Friday’s filing didn’t mention the group by name, but the layoffs affect one of Apple’s satellite offices and not its headquarters, which means the cut roles could be from a special project.

Amazon, meanwhile, announced on Wednesday that it was cutting hundreds of jobs in its cloud computing division, AWS.

“These decisions are difficult but necessary as we continue to invest, hire, and optimize resources to deliver innovation for our customers,” said Amazon spokesperson Duncan Neasham in a statement per NPR.

The cut roles oversee technology in physical storefronts and sales, marketing, and global service organization inside AWS.

Related: Amazon Lays Off Hundreds of Staffers at Prime, Twitch, MGM

The job cuts come just days after Amazon announced that it was nixing its “Just Walk Out” checkout options at its grocery storefronts.

According to data collected by TechCrunch, the total number of tech layoffs in 2023 was around 262,735 — up 59% from the year prior.

https://www.entrepreneur.com/business-news/apple-amazon-laying-off-hundreds-of-workers-each/472288

Trader Joe’s has mastered the art of developing a cult-favorite brand, thanks to its low prices and quirky food selection.

The chain is known for creating fresh, frozen, and packaged meals and snacks under its own Trader Joe’s brand, with some products being an obvious riff on popular name-brand selections.

But a new investigation by Taste found that making Trader Joe’s branded items may have a darker side than just reproducing big company favorites — some small brands are claiming that Trader Joe’s has copied their ideas and purposely cut them out of deals.

Related: Trader Joe’s Increasing Price of Bananas After Two Decades

To offer such cheap prices, Trader Joe’s will buy products directly from the supplier and rebrand the product under its own name — for example, if the company wanted to buy Sabra hummus, instead of selling it to customers in Sabra packaging, the grocer will buy directly from Sabra’s distributor and repackage it.

However, several smaller companies told Taste that Trader Joe’s copied their recipes and packaging after reaching out to the smaller companies and asking about their products and distribution process.

“Their product line looked incredibly similar to ours in terms of color choices, patterns, borders, and font,” said the founder of an ethnic food brand that was set to work with Trader Joe’s. “It was kind of uncanny.”

The founder spoke to the outlet anonymously due to a non-disclosure it had signed with the grocer.

Another founder named Auria Abraham of Auria’s Malaysian Kitchen alleges that she was approached by the grocer about privately labeling her Lime Leaf Sambal. After unclear financial terms were discussed and calls were sent back and forth, she says the deal went dead.

Then, Trader Joe’s allegedly released its own Thai-style Green Chili sauce, which was nearly identical to Abraham’s.

“It reminds me of the fast fashion model,” said Jing Gao, the founder of Fly By Jing, a brand of Sichuan chili crisp. “Trader Joe’s is like the food version of Zara or Shein. The way that these big houses keep up with so much innovation so quickly is by copying independent designers.”

Related: Trader Joe’s Mini Tote Bags Are Fetching Hundreds on eBay

Trader Joe’s reportedly approached Gao about replicating the recipes.

Trader Joe’s did not immediately respond to Entrepreneur‘s request for comment but told Business Insider that it does not buy recipes or product concepts.

“Our common practice is to deal directly with producers or growers rather than purchasing through brokers, distributors, sales agents, or other middlemen,” the grocer said. “In our search for new products, we meet with many producers to determine who can best deliver on food safety, production capacity, quality, and price.”

https://www.entrepreneur.com/business-news/trader-joes-accused-of-ripping-off-smaller-food-brands/472228