Technology

A first-generation iPhone sold at auction Sunday for $190,373, almost 380 times its original price of $499 when the groundbreaking device went for sale in 2007. LCG Auctions, which hosted the sale, said the 4GB iPhone model was 20 times rarer than the 8GB model released at the same time for $599. That’s largely because the 4GB model was discontinued two …

Current and former directors of electric-vehicle maker Tesla have agreed to return more than $735 million to the company to settle a shareholder lawsuit alleging that they unjustly enriched themselves with excessive compensation. The proposed settlement was outlined in documents filed late Friday in the Delaware Court of Chancery and is subject to court approval. The settlement does not include …

Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg has learned to surf, taken up jiu-jitsu, and is now reportedly in the process of adding a new hobby — flying. The Facebook co-founder and tech baron who has a net worth valued by Bloomberg Billionaires Index at around $113 billion has obtained a student pilot certificate, according to the tech-centric news site The Information. Zuckerberg …

Twenty-two Republican lawmakers urged the Federal Trade Commission to drop its fight against Microsoft’s deal to buy video game maker Activision Blizzard, calling it “an example of the FTC’s rejection of sound antitrust policy.” The lawmakers, all members of the Republican-controlled House, in a letter sent on Monday to FTC Chair Lina Khan and two commissioners and publicly released on Tuesday, said the …

You don’t need to spend money on new gadgets to get access to some great features. Sometimes all you need is a little help learning something new.  Have an iPhone? Tap back is one of the most useful features, and most people have never even heard of it. Now you have. Keep going on your tech know-how journey with my answers to three …

A former senior executive at Google predicted that sex robots powered by artificial intelligence could eliminate the need for a human partner in the bedroom. Mo Gawdat, who was chief business officer for Google’s clandestine research-and-development arm X, said that AI will usher in a “redesign of love and relationships” in that people won’t be able to tell the difference …

Meta Platforms is releasing a commercial version of its open-source artificial intelligence model Llama, the company said Tuesday, giving start-ups and other businesses a powerful free-of-charge alternative to pricey proprietary models sold by OpenAI and Google. The new version of the model, called Llama 2, will be distributed by Microsoft through its Azure cloud service and will run on the Windows operating system, …

Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway sold 70% of its investment in Activision Blizzard in the second quarter, appearing to miss out on some gains when a federal judge said Microsoft can complete its $75 billion purchase of the video game maker. In a regulatory filing on Monday, Berkshire said it owned about 14.7 million Activision shares, or 1.9%, worth $1.24 billion on June 30, down …

Ford is cutting the price of its F-150 Lightning trucks by 17% — the latest attempt by the Detroit automaker to put a dent in the electric vehicle market that has been cornered by rival Tesla. The move is an about-face for Ford, which raised prices earlier this year but will cut the cost of some F-150 models by $10,000. …

Microsoft’s appeal against Britain’s block on its $75 billion takeover of Activision Blizzard was formally paused by a London tribunal on Monday, to give the parties more time to resolve the dispute. Microsoft, Activision and Britain’s competition regulator, the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA), had all asked for a two-month stay of the case after the CMA said it would consider a …