SAP and Oracle have suspended all business operations in Russia. The decision comes in the wake of a request from Ukraine's vice prime minister. SAP CEO: "We are watching the war in Ukraine with horror" Oracle has not commented on the situation. It is unclear what this means for existing Russian customers of the companies.
U.S.-based NFT marketplace OpenSea has begun blocking users based in Iran, according to reports. More than five Iranian OpenSea users have reported the issue, three of whom confirmed with Decrypt that they used the site while in Iran. Nima Leo Photos wrote that their photography collection is no longer visible on the platform.
Games publisher Electronic Arts will remove Russian teams from Fifa 22. It is doing so to "stand in solidarity with the Ukrainian people", it tweeted. Ukraine has asked the video games industry to do more to stop the invasion of its territory. The country's Deputy Prime Minister Mykhailo Fedorov called on all game-development companies and esport platforms to block Russian and Belarusian accounts.
Tesla CEO Elon Musk challenges the United Auto Workers to organize employees at his company's plant in California. Musk has been more vocal about organized labor since President Joe Biden took office. He also stepped up his attacks on the Biden administration’s policies. “Our real challenge is Bay Area has negative unemployment, so if we don’t treat and compensate our (awesome) people well, they have many other offers and will just leave!” Musk tweeted.
Shake Shack Inc. is offering the cryptocurrency bitcoin as a reward for purchases made at the burger chain using Cash App, a digital wallet offered by Block Inc. Customers will receive 15% of their purchase back in the form of bitcoin on any Shake Shack purchase made with Cash Card, a debit card available to Cash App users.
Rivian Automotive Inc. is walking back a hefty price increase for its electric trucks and SUVs that was put into effect earlier this week, saying it will now honor prices for customers who previously ordered a vehicle. In a letter made public Thursday, Rivian Chief Executive RJ Scaringe apologized to customers for applying the price increase retroactively. He said the startup is trying to cope with rising costs of parts and materials, but it erred by applying price increases to existing orders rather than honoring the original terms.
Russia will no longer sell rocket engines to the US, says Roscosmos head. The move could affect the US launch providers ULA and Northrop Grumman. The decision could also affect how cargo is sent to the International Space Station. ULA claims it already has all the Russian-supplied engines it needs for its rockets.
Russia's state-backed media company RT is moving to Rumble, a "free speech" platform. The move comes amid numerous bans and restrictions on the company's content. Rumble has been a haven for right-wing personalities who've been kicked off other platforms.
Proofpoint founder and CEO Gary Steele is joining Splunk as its next top executive. He succeeds Graham Smith, who has served as the company’s interim CEO since Doug Merritt resigned in November 2021. Steele has led Proofpoint for two decades. He will help Splunk further scale its business.
Nutanix CEO Rajiv Ramaswami says new core-based pricing and metering will help channel partners win more hyperconverged infrastructure deals against the competition. The company has simplified its 15 different products into just five offerings. NutanIX reported second fiscal quarter 2022 revenue of $413 million, an increase of 20 percent year over year.
The Sandbox and Decentraland are two popular virtual worlds for marketers. Brands like Miller Lite and Gucci have planted flags in the Sandbox. The platforms are still nascent and building out features, so it might be some time before any real successes occur.
Fitbit issued a product recall for about 1 million of its Ionic smartwatches. The company said the battery could overheat and pose a burn risk to users. Fitbit received at least 115 reports of the battery overheating in the U.S. The recall does not affect the company's other smartwatch or fitness trackers.