FLASH!-Dorsey Out at Twitter; EU Firms File Complaint Vs Microsoft; Amazon Says it Will Get Holiday Stuff Delivered on time; Chinese Tesla Model Y Gets AMD Chip

FLASH! Twitter’s CEO Jack Dorsey has resigned, effective immediately. CTO Parag Agrawal will take over the big chair, according to CNBC. (OK, I’ve just always wanted to say ‘FLASH.’ Maybe I’ve got an Edward R. Murrow complex, LOL!) Dorsey will remain on the board until his term is up in his term is up next year. Salesforce President and COO Bret Taylor will become Chairman of the Board, replacing Patrick Pitchette. Dorsey will remain CEO for Square. 

A coalition of European Union software and cloud companies, who have gotten together as the ‘Coalition for a Level Playing Field’ has formally complained to the European Commission about Microsoft’s anti-competitive behavior as Redmond has aggressively bundled OneDrive, Teams, and other services with Windows 10 and 11. Zdnet.com reports that the companies point to the late 90’s and earlier ’00’s, when Microsoft pushed Internet Explorer. This seems a bit off-point to me, since Microsoft’s OS (some version or another of Windows) runs on about 73% of all PC’s! You’d think they would go after that! In Europe, Microsoft’s market share is a bit less, but still at 66%! Slack has also filed an antitrust complaint against Microsoft in the EU over their integration of Teams with Office. Will this action and Slack’s actually get anywhere? Good question. Stay tuned.

Amazon has been ramping up for the holidays, reportedly spending some $4 billion to combat shipping delays, to ensure that your packages arrive in time for the holidays. They have gone so far as chartering their own ships and running half-empty trucks. Businessinsider.com says they have also hired 150,000 additional seasonal workers. Letting trucks leave the warehouses half full has allowed drivers to make deliveries in a more timely manner. Fully loading has become more of a challenge with supply chain issues that have plagued the world of late. Chartering their own ships and docking at smaller ports has shaved a couple months off shipping time. Perhaps I am overly skeptical, but I just sent gift cards…they’re already delivered! 

Tesla is now rocking AMD Rizen processors in the entertainment systems of Model Y vehicles built in China. Partly due to the fact that Elon Musk disbanded the PR department, we don’t know if they are the same Rizen APU as used in the Model X and Model S. Up to now, the Model Y has run Intel silicon. Engadget.com reports that normally, Tesla uses the same chip in all vehicles of the same model, but no word on that, either. It may just be a temporary move to combat the chip shortage and deliver cars. OTOH, it could be a transition to Rizen chips across the Tesla model lineup.