False messages are claiming Netflix is offering free passes during the coronavirus pandemic.A Netflix spokesperson confirmed to Business Insider that the company is not involved in the phony promotion.Netflix has been a common target for phishing schemes that attempt to lure people into giving up their personal data in the past.Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.

False messages are circulating on social media and in text messages that claim Netflix is offering free passes to people in isolation during the coronavirus pandemic if they visit a specific link. It's not.

A Netflix spokesperson confirmed to Business Insider that the company is not involved in a promotion to offer free passes around the coronavirus pandemic.

Netflix has been a common target for phishing schemes that attempt to lure people into giving up their personal data in the past. Scammers have tried to lure Netflix users with emails that claim the billing information on their accounts need to be updated, among other tactics.

A few Twitter users posted on Monday about messages they received that claimed Netflix was offering free passes.

"I got this sent to me. Is it true?," one tweet said. "Due to the CoronaVirus pandemic worldwide, @netflix is ​giving free passes for their platform during the period of isolation. Run on the site cause it will end quick!"

The tweet also included a link to a web address where people could allegedly claim the bogus promotion.

 

The scheme seems to be circulating via text message. Another user posted a tweet, which has since been deleted, that included an image of a text message with the offer.

Twitter

Original author: Ashley Rodriguez

SoftBank is selling key assets to buy back stock in an effort to cushion its stock, which has plummeted over 50% since mid-February because of fears over the coronavirus outbreak, the company announced Monday.The company has come under pressure from investors to buy back shares and reassure the public market while its stock and market capitalization continues to slide. The company is also reconsidering its stake in value-destroying portfolio companies, like its notice to WeWork investors warning them that it could back out of its bailout of the embattled company. Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.

Japanese technology conglomerate SoftBank is under immense pressure to not repeat history from the dot-com era and go bust. 

The company behind the $100 billion Vision Fund announced Monday that it would sell $41 billion of its assets to cut debt and buy back its shares. Coupled with the buybacks it announced two weeks ago, the sale of its assets would allow SoftBank to retire as much as 45% of its stock.  

It's a necessary move for the investment giant, whose stock ticked up 19% after the announcement — but failed to significantly boost shares back to its former levels.

As the coronavirus outbreak has roiled public markets over the past month, SoftBank has been hit especially hard. Its stock price has plummeted since mid-February, and SoftBank's stock took a 17% dive on Thursday — marking its biggest one-day fall ever, even surpassing the company's stock drop during the dot-com bust, which had briefly wiped away SoftBank CEO's Masayoshi Son's wealth. 

After Monday's rally, SoftBank shares are still down more than 40% from their peak in February.

The gap between the total value of SoftBank's investment holdings and its market capitalization also hit a record 73% last week, according to SoftBank's statement Monday, a worrying sign for investors and analysts alike. 

On top of everything, SoftBank is facing both internal and external pressure from different investors. 

Activist hedge fund manager Elliot Management recently built up a $2.5 billion stake in the company, and has been using it to push for its own changes. Pressure from Elliot was reportedly the impetus for SoftBank's original plan to buy back 7% of its shares, the Wall Street Journal reported earlier this month. 

And the hedge fund Apollo Global Management reportedly placed a substantial short bet against SoftBank bonds back in December, the Financial Times reported Sunday. The hedge fund listed concerns about the company's sizable debt load and exposure to value-destroying startups like WeWork as reasons to be skeptical of the investment giant's future. 

SoftBank's tech investment arm is also in for a tough spell as the coronavirus outbreak has forced much of the world to retreat into quarantine and consequently devastated large sectors of the global economy.

SoftBank still has a 16% stake in Uber, whose stock is still down about 45% because of the coronavirus outbreak. Several of Vision Fund's portfolio companies — like Didi, Grab and Ola — are still private and have no exit strategies. And even DoorDash, which filed for an IPO earlier this year, is expected to face a poor reception on Wall Street because of its money-losing business model. 

Last week, Bloomberg reported that the company sought to raise an additional $10 billion to support its portfolio companies, which were getting slammed as the coronavirus pandemic spread across the US. It's a move unlikely to help SoftBank raise money for its second Vision Fund, which has so far raised a fraction of SoftBank's original estimate. 

But SoftBank is reportedly seeking to shield itself from its portfolio companies' worst losses.

Last week, the Wall Street Journal reported that SoftBank could back away from part of its bailout of the embattled company WeWork, a move that prompted WeWork directors to begin gearing up for an internal battle. 

Original author: Bani Sapra

Manufacturing startup Carbon is working with the White House to address the country's shortage of medical supplies with 3D-printed products, a company spokeswoman told Business Insider.

The Redwood City, California-based startup is developing swabs to test patients and face shields for healthcare professionals and first responders.Carbon was last valued by venture-capital investors at $2.46 billion and has backers including Sequoia Capital, Madrone, and GV, as well as Adidas Ventures, Johnson & Johnson Innovation, Nikon, and BMW. Click here for more BI Prime stories.

As the coronavirus pandemic spreads, manufacturing startup Carbon is working with the White House to address the country's shortage of medical supplies with 3D-printed products, a company spokeswoman told Business Insider.

The Redwood City, California-based startup, which lets other companies outsource its 3D printing capabilities, said it is working on developing swabs to test patients and Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) face shields for healthcare professionals and first responders fighting the coronavirus.

The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Carbon president and CEO Ellen Kullman and co-founder and executive chairman Dr. Joseph DeSimone are leading Carbon's response efforts.

3D printing technology has touched many industries from toys to food. Now it is being put to the test as countries grapple with a shortage of medical supplies to combat the coronavirus. Along with Carbon, a group of 300 engineers and medical researchers came together to design and produce an open-source ventilator using 3D-printed materials, TechCrunch reported. 

Carbon has worked with Alphabet-owned company Verily, the company behind the COVID-19 online screening website Project Baseline, to design the face shields. Carbon said the shields can be produced on industrial 3D Printers and that it planned to make its design open-source and available on its website later this week.

Carbon is also sending the face shield designs to its customers and other 3D printing companies like HP to address medical needs in their local areas. It has nearly 1,000 printers in 14 countries and makes everything from Adidas sneakers to dentures to Ford auto parts.

Carbon was last valued by venture-capital investors at $2.46 billion and has backers including Sequoia Capital, Madrone, and GV, as well as Adidas Ventures, Johnson & Johnson Innovation, Nikon, Autodesk, and BMW. 

Original author: Tanya Dua

There's growing demand in influencer marketing for sponsored posts from creators with fewer than 100,000 followers. These creators offer authenticity over reach, typically drive high engagement rates, and charge lower rates than their more-famous counterparts. The influencer-marketing agency Obviously works with micro and macro influencers on thousands of campaigns across its network of 440,000 influencers. The company said brands, on average, pay its micro influencers $150 in cash and an additional $100 to $150 in added value from free products for a sponsored post. Obviously's founder and CEO, Mae Karwowski, said an influencer should consider hiring a manager once their follower count has crossed 300,000 on social media. Click here for more BI Prime stories.

Hiring influencers who consider "influencing" a part-time gig rather than a full-time profession is becoming increasingly popular among brands looking for authenticity over reach. 

Influencer marketers say these lower-follower-count creators drive higher engagement rates and are more likely to have their posts surface in-feed on social-media platforms like Instagram and Facebook, where algorithms tend to favor content from friends over celebrities. 

"We're seeing some real changes and shifts in the Instagram algorithm when it comes to macro and mid-tier influencers," said Mae Karwowski, the founder and CEO of Obviously, an influencer-marketing agency that works with hundreds of thousands of digital creators. "Their reach is being curtailed in a way that micro and nano influencers is not."

Obviously is one of several influencer marketing agencies building a business around matching brands with nano and micro influencers (creators with fewer than 100,000 social-media followers). Competitor agency Heartbeat has a user base of 275,000 Instagram users with just a few thousand followers who have created sponsored posts for brands like Dunkin, Bose, and Kettle Foods.

"These are people who are actual consumers, they're actual shoppers, they're everyday people," Brian Freeman, Heartbeat's CEO, told Business Insider. They can "tell a brand story that is authentic and not mired by the idea that they see their Instagram as a monetization opportunity."

Obviously works with creators that have millions of followers in addition to its roster of small-audience influencers, but says it's often more cost efficient and lower risk to run campaigns with the latter. 

"By working with 100 microinfluencers rather than one macro influencer, it's going to cost less," Karwowski said. "We're going to be able to reach the same number of people, and engagement could be potentially like five times or 10 times more than if you put all your eggs in one basket with one mega influencer post."

On average, micro influencers earn between $250 and $300 for a sponsored post

Karwowski said a typical micro influencer (a creator with between 5,000 and 100,000 followers) earns $150 in cash payment for a sponsored post plus an additional $100 to $150 in added value from being sent a free product or service.

Nano influencers (those with fewer than 5,000 followers) tend to get paid less per post, earning anywhere from $5 to "a couple hundred dollars" according to the influencer firm Heartbeat.

For a macro influencer (a creator with hundreds of thousands to millions of followers), the average price for a sponsored post tends to be more varied. 

On the low end, a macro influencer may charge as little as $1,000 for a sponsored post, Karkowski said. But Obviously has also brokered deals for over $100,000 based on factors like competitor exclusivity, turnaround time, number of drafts or content approvals a brand might have, how many pieces of content the brand receives, and time involved in shooting, reshooting, and editing a video for platforms like YouTube.

But it's worth noting that rates for all types of sponsored posts may drop by as much as 25% in the near term as the advertising industry adjusts to shifts in the global economy related to the coronavirus outbreak, according to a recent report by the influencer-marketing agency Izea. 

Macro influencers who are represented by managers are also less likely to accept free products as payment. Talent managers help influencers connect with brands and negotiate contracts for sponsorship deals either directly or through an influencer marketing agency like Obviously. 

"You can get a lot of influencers who are pretty big who'd be like 'Sweet, a Gucci handbag, I'll do this.' And their manager is like, 'I can't take 20% of that,'" Karkowski said. 

Hiring a manager often becomes necessary for an influencer once they've passed 300,000 followers

While Karkowski said she's noticed a trend in which influencers with 100,000 to 300,000 followers are managing their businesses themselves in order have more control over their work and a bigger take-home in revenue from brand deals, she said most creators with audiences above 300,000 followers tend to hire managers. 

"Once you're past 300,000 on Instagram, you're definitely having some sort of representation, because so much goes into these contracts," Karkowski said.

"[Brands] use their standard contracts for their contracted photographers, and then all of a sudden the influencer sees that they've given away image rights in perpetuity, in any format, and they should be making a lot more money on those things," she said. "As the industry grows up, I think a lot of people are like, 'I need someone in my corner advocating for me.'"

For more on how brands and influencers are interacting on Instagram and other platforms, check out these other Business Insider Prime stories:

Original author: Dan Whateley

The coronavirus outbreak that originated in China has killed more than 15,000 people worldwide and infected more than 349,000, according to recent totals.Thailand has more than 700 confirmed cases, but only one death from COVID-19. Hospitals in Thailand have modified robots that can monitor patients and take some of the burden off of health professionals.Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.

As the novel coronavirus continues to spread worldwide, healthcare workers are facing a shortage of supplies and personnel. 

As of Monday, COVID-19, the disease caused by the coronavirus, has infected more than 349,000 people worldwide, and has killed more than 15,000. More than 700 people in Thailand are infected, thought the country has only recorded one death from COVID-19.

Some hospitals in Thailand are using "ninja robots" to help in the fight against coronavirus. The wheeled-robots can take the temperature of patients and handle other interactions, reducing the risk of exposure to medical workers who don't need to be present. The team creating the robots is working on ways to make the bots even more useful, so that they can deliver food, clean and handle other jobs. 

Take a look here:

Original author: Mary Meisenzahl

Instacart plans to add 300,000 "grocery shoppers" over the next three months to keep up with surging demand due to the coronavirus pandemic, the company said in a blog post Monday."The last few weeks have been the busiest in Instacart's history," CEO Apoorva Mehta wrote in the blog post.Instacart and other delivery services have seen a spike in business as restaurants close and more places tell residents to stay home to slow the spread of COVID-19.The company said it has taken a number of steps, such as contactless delivery, to protect shoppers and customers and reduce the risk of spreading the disease.Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.

Online grocery delivery service Instacart is aiming to add 300,000 workers across North America over the next three months as demand surges amid the coronavirus pandemic, the company announced in a blog post Monday.

"The last few weeks have been the busiest in Instacart's history, and we've been proud to serve as an essential service for you and the millions of customers relying on you to deliver their groceries and household goods," CEO Apoorva Mehta wrote in the post.

While most businesses have seen a slowdown in recent weeks as the US economy grinds to a halt, Instacart and other online delivery companies have seen an uptick due to statewide lockdowns forcing restaurants to close and residents to stay home. As people look to minimize their time in crowded public places, like grocery stores, they're increasingly turning to online delivery.

"As more people look for immediate, flexible earnings opportunities during this time, we hope that Instacart can be an additional source of income for those looking to earn while also delivering for the communities in which they live," Mehta said in a statement sent to Business Insider.

At the same time, the country's increased reliance on gig workers has raised concerns about how they'll manage during the coronavirus pandemic, since many are not able to do their jobs from home and thus are at a higher risk of being exposed to the virus. Many are also independent contractors and lack benefits like health insurance and paid sick leave that full-time employees typically enjoy.

Instacart has taken several precautions to look out for workers, such as implementing contactless delivery, giving part-time workers access to sick pay (with up to 14 days of pay for anyone diagnosed with COVID-19 or placed in mandatory quarantine), and providing its shoppers with health and safety guidelines and supplies, the company said in a statement sent to Business Insider.

Instacart is not alone in trying to strike a balance between providing an essential service to customers while also looking out for the health and safety of the workers who make that service possible. Amazon and Walmart are both ramping up hiring and simultaneously adjusting their benefits policies for workers who are forced to choose between risking their health and losing income or their jobs.

Original author: Tyler Sonnemaker

The Vaulting Pole is by far the most important tool in "Animal Crossing: New Horizons," the latest entry in Nintendo's best-selling life simulator series.In the early game, you'll need the Vaulting Pole to leave the starting area and explore most of your island.To make the Vaulting Pole in "Animal Crossing: New Horizons," you'll need to donate at least five unique fish or bugs to Tom Nook, and then wait until the next morning.Once you have the Vaulting Pole recipe, you'll need to find five softwood pieces to build it.Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.

Friday marked the release of "Animal Crossing: New Horizons," the fifth installment in the adorable life simulator series by Nintendo. While previous games in the series have seen your character move into a new town to make friends or even become mayor, "New Horizons" features a different premise: you're dropped onto a deserted island, and expected to turn it into a vibrant, nurturing community.

To do this, you'll need a variety of tools, including bug nets, watering cans, and more. The most important of these tools, however, is the Vaulting Pole.

In the early game, most of your deserted island will be blocked off by impassable rivers. You won't be able to build bridges over these rivers until much later, and until then, you'll need the Vaulting Pole to cross.

With the Vaulting Pole, you can leap straight over these rivers, no bridges required.

To get the Vaulting Pole, you'll need to put in a bit of work. Here's how to get the Vaulting Pole in "Animal Crossing: New Horizons."

Original author: William Antonelli

Amazon is making a major change to its Prime Video platform amid the coronavirus pandemic: it's now offering many children's TV shows and movies for free. 

Beginning Monday, Amazon is offering shows like "Daniel Tiger's Neighborhood" and movies like "Shrek Forever After" for free for anyone with an Amazon account, whether or not they have Prime.

Amazon will have over 40 free children's shows via Prime Video, and another 80 movies through IMDb TV, which Amazon owns. The offerings will vary by country — users in Europe, for example, will be able to stream "Peppa Pig," but it's not available for free in the US, according to The Verge. 

Amazon is one of several streaming services that has made changes to its platform as more people stay in due to the coronavirus. SlingTV is offering free children's programming along with free access to news platforms like ABC News Live, PBS made Ken Burns' latest documentary free on its site, and Disney Plus moved up the release of "Frozen 2." Sports streaming sites like NFL Game Pass and NBA League Pass now offer free content as well. 

Original author: Avery Hartmans

You can turn off the auto brightness setting in iOS 13 on your iPhone by going to your Accessibility menu.iOS 13's automatic brightness feature changes an iPhone screen's light intensity depending on your surroundings, based on the amount of light around you.Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.

Automatic brightness, an iPhone feature included with iOS 13, changes your screen's brightness based on the environment you're in. 

For example, if you're under bright lights, your iPhone's brightness will go up to match. In a dark room, the brightness will drop so it doesn't strain your eyes.

If you're changing environments quickly — going from a dim hall to a brightly lit conference room, for example — you may have noticed your iPhone's screen adapting. 

If this feature is more of an annoyance than a convenience for you, turning off automatic brightness is simple.

Here's how to turn off the automatic brightness settings on your iPhone running iOS 13.

Check out the products mentioned in this article:

iPhone 11 (From $699.99 at Best Buy)

How to turn off auto brightness in iOS 13

1. On your iPhone, launch the Settings app and scroll down until you find the "Accessibility" tab. Tap it to open it.

Although this is a brightness setting, it isn't found in the "Display & Brightness" tab. William Antonelli/Business Insider

2. On this page, select "Display & Text Size" in the first section.

You'll need to go into your display accessibility options. William Antonelli/Business Insider

3. Scroll to the very bottom of the page and tap the toggle slider next to "Auto-Brightness" so slides to the left. 

The switch will turn gray when it's off. William Antonelli/Business Insider

Your iPhone will no longer change the brightness automatically.

 

Original author: Meira Gebel and William Antonelli

When you buy through our links, we may earn money from our affiliate partners. Learn more.

Alyssa Powell/Business Insider

In my house, we have completely and utterly destroyed our DVD copies of Pixar masterpieces.

Our copies of "Toy Story," "Finding Nemo" (save for the first heartbreaking minutes which we always skip), and my daughter's absolute favorite, "Monsters, Inc." (she can't get enough of Mike and Sulley) have become pitifully scratched and worn after being in the (tiny) hands of our little girl.

Thankfully, with the debut of Disney Plus, we now have the entire Pixar catalog available to stream 24/7. So when the mood strikes and my daughter wants to watch "Ratatouille", "A Bug's Life," or "Brave" right away, we can. 

And it seems like other households are jumping on board Disney Plus as well. More than 10 million people subscribed to Disney Plus on the first day it launched, with subscriptions expected to hit 18 million by the end of 2020 and 90 million globally by 2024.

What is Disney Plus and how much does it cost?

Disney Plus is a new streaming service with unlimited ad-free downloads of movies and shows from Disney, Pixar, Marvel, Star Wars, National Geographic, and 20th Century Fox. New subscribers can sign up for a free seven-day trial after which an annual subscription will cost $69.99 while a monthly subscription will cost $6.99 and a bundle with Hulu and ESPN+ will cost $12.99 a month.

Here's everything to know about the service along with plan breakdowns.

Can I watch Pixar movies and shows on Disney Plus?

You sure can. 

Disney Plus is home to nearly every Pixar movie and short film ever made. This includes classics like "Toy Story" and recent releases like "Coco". 

In fact, the only major Pixar title currently missing from the Disney Plus library is "Incredibles 2." Due to existing licensing agreements, that movie is still streaming on Netflix. With that said, "Incredibles 2" is set to switch over to Disney Plus on July 30, 2020.

And it's not only existing Pixar features that are available for streaming either — the studio has created new shows exclusively for Disney Plus. Notable originals available to watch right now include "Forky Asks A Question." 

When will 'Onward' be on Disney Plus?

In light of current events, Disney has announced plans to release Pixar's "Onward" on Disney Plus much earlier than originally expected. Disney Plus subscribers will be able to start streaming the film on April 3, 2020. 

"Onward" is set in a fantasy world where two elf brothers use magic to get a chance to spend a day with their late father. The movie stars the vocal talents of Tom Holland, Chris Pratt, and Julia Louis-Dreyfus.

"Onward" originally debuted in theaters on March 6, 2020. Recent theatrical releases are typically held for several months before they're added to streaming platforms, but "Onward" will arrive on Disney Plus less than 30 days after its theatrical premiere. This shortened window is being offered as a way to present families with a new title to watch at home during the current health crisis.

What other Pixar titles are coming to Disney Plus?

More Pixar titles are set to be added to Disney Plus throughout the year.

"Incredibles 2" will arrive on July 30, 2020. In addition, Disney is developing a brand-new show based on Pixar's "Monsters, Inc." exclusively for Disney Plus. The new series, titled "Monsters at Work," is set to debut on Disney Plus later this year.

With so many Pixar shows and films already available on Disney Plus, and more set to arrive over the coming months, it can be difficult to keep track of every title. With that in mind, we've listed every Pixar movie and show announced for Disney Plus so far.

Here are all the Pixar movies and shows you can watch on Disney Plus:

Original author: Sunny Chanel

The coronavirus crisis could drive new customers to Microsoft, Futurum Research analyst Daniel Newman told Business Insider.But Microsoft, he said, needs to make sure it has the capacity to accommodate the new customers and that its products and services run smoothly.Newman's comments come after Microsoft Teams chat app had an outage on Monday as more people started working from home. Click here to read more BI Prime stories.

Microsoft could see a boost of customers during the coronavirus crisis – but the company is going to have to invest now to make sure it has the capacity to handle them, Futurum Research analyst Daniel Newman said.

Newman expects many companies will invest heavily into making so-called "digital transformations" in the fallout of the crisis — if nothing else, the coronavirus outbreak exposed weaknesses in the ability of many companies to handle or manage a workforce that suddenly had to do their jobs remotely. 

Microsoft not only offers tools for people to work from home immediately, Newman said, but products and services companies will need to go digital in the long run, such as cloud computing resources, help with software development, and artificial intelligence.

"Microsoft is going to be able to provide solutions for companies to be more efficient and streamlined," Newman told Business Insider. "Obviously that's collaboration and productivity, all the way to some infrastructure and platform capabilities, human-machine partnership and a future of work where companies need to pivot faster."

Newman said the company is going to to make sure it has the capacity to accommodate the new customers and that its products and services run smoothly. Microsoft has already had an outage as it brought in more customers during the crisis. The Microsoft Teams chat app went down on Monday as more people started working from home. 

A survey of chief information officers, human resources professionals and others this week suggested Microsoft could weather the crisis because of its cloud and collaboration software products including Skype for Business and the Microsoft Teams chat app.

The survey, conducted by RBC Capital Markets, suggested companies are likely to accelerate moves from on-premises computing resources into the public and private cloud – benefiting cloud providers like Microsoft Azure and Amazon Web Services – and increase budgets for Microsoft collaboration products.

Got a tip? Contact this reporter via email at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it., message her on Twitter @ashannstew, or send her a secure message through Signal at 425-344-8242.

Original author: Ashley Stewart

As coronavirus sweeps across the globe, governments are stepping up surveillance of their citizens.A new live index from digital rights group Top10VPN is documenting which countries are introducing new measures to track people's phones.Some countries are collecting anonymized data to study movement of people more generally, while others are providing detailed information about individuals' movements.Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.

Governments across the world are galvanizing every surveillance tool at their disposal to help stem the spread of the novel coronavirus. 

Countries have been quick to use the one tool almost all of us carry with us — our smartphones.

A new live index of ramped up security measures by Top10VPN details the countries which have already brought in measures to track the phones of coronavirus patients, ranging from anonymized aggregated data to monitor the movement of people more generally, to the tracking of individual suspected patients and their contacts, known as "contact tracing."

Other countries are likely to follow suit. The US is reportedly in talks with Facebook and Google to use anonymized location data to track the spread of the disease — although Mark Zuckerberg subsequently denied this. And the UK's top scientist has endorsed the use of contact tracing. 

Samuel Woodhams, Top10VPN's Digital Rights Lead who compiled the index, warned that the world could slide into permanently increased surveillance.

"Without adequate tracking, there is a danger that these new, often highly invasive, measures will become the norm around the world," he told Business Insider. "Although some may appear entirely legitimate, many pose a risk to citizens' right to privacy and freedom of expression.

"Given how quickly things are changing, documenting the new measures is the first step to challenging potential overreach, providing scrutiny and holding corporations and governments to account."

While some countries will cap their new emergency measures, otherwise may retain the powers for future use. "There is a risk that many of these new capabilities will continue to be used following the outbreak," said Woodhams. "This is particularly significant as many of the new measures have avoided public and political scrutiny and do not include sunset clauses."

Original author: Isobel Asher Hamilton

SpaceX has not closed its facilities despite the outbreak of a novel coronavirus, BuzzFeed reported on Friday.Elon Musk, the company's founder and CEO, has downplayed the pandemic. Musk said on Twitter last week that "the coronavirus panic is dumb." According to BuzzFeed, when word spread among SpaceX's Redmond office that an employee's partner had tested positive for COVID-19, an unnamed SpaceX vice president told employees that offices wouldn't close, citing Musk's tweet.At least 258,000 people have tested positive for COVID-19, the disease caused by coronavirus, and more than 11,000 have died.SpaceX and Greg Marick, the CEO of Xplor, did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Business Insider.Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.

The coronavirus pandemic is forcing many US businesses to restrict office access, ask employees to work from home, or shut down.

Yet in spite of the rapid spread of the virus — and an order by Los Angeles mayor Eric Garcetti to close "non-essential businesses" in the city, where SpaceX is headquartered — the rocket company appears to be humming along as normal.

Elon Musk, SpaceX's founder, has told employees that they should not come in to work if they feel sick, according to an email leaked to BuzzFeed. He has also publicly offered to use his companies, including Tesla, to build ventilator machines required to help patients with COVID-19, the respiratory disease caused by the coronavirus.

But the CEO has repeatedly downplayed the severity of the outbreak, spread information that runs counter to the latest scientific research, and questioned the need for additional ventilators as medical professionals warned of an impending crisis in providing critical care.

In a tweet last week, Musk said "the coronavirus panic is dumb."

Now a new report by BuzzFeed reporters Ryan Mac and Caroline Hawkins, published Friday, suggests that SpaceX leadership has declined to shutter even potentially affected facilities.

In one case, according to two unnamed sources referenced in the article, workers at the company's Redmond office (where SpaceX's Starlink satellite internet facilities are based) heard "through word of mouth that a colleague's partner had tested positive for the coronavirus and that the SpaceX employee would be isolating themselves."

BuzzFeed said the same two sources said "a company vice president told Seattle employees that, despite their health concerns, he could not shut the office." The vice president then cited Musk's aforementioned tweet.

The report also detailed claims by workers at a childcare center and school on SpaceX's LA campus, which is run by the company Xplor.

BuzzFeed wrote that one Xplor employee, who was not named for fear of reprisal, said:

"I have personally witnessed multiple employees that are showing signs of the coronavirus and because of the position of SpaceX management, those employees continue to work in a facility with around 5,000 employees and a childcare facility. [...] Not only is SpaceX putting direct employees in danger, but the children and employees of the school on campus are also put at risk all because of one man's ignorance."

At least 260,000 people have tested positive for COVID-19, and more than 11,000 have died. To limit the spread of infection, experts recommend avoiding large gatherings and maintaining at least 6 feet of distance from others. 

SpaceX and Greg Marick, the CEO of Xplor, did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Read BuzzFeed's full report here.

 

Original author: Dave Mosher

OfferUp plans to remove all hand sanitizer, toilet paper, protective masks, and disinfecting products from its app and website, regardless of price.The move is meant to discourage users from price gouging and taking advantage of people during the coronavirus crisis.OfferUp is a Craigslist and eBay competitor that had 44 million users as of July 2019.Click here to read more BI Prime stories.

OfferUp on Friday said it planned to remove all hand sanitizer, toilet paper, protective masks, and disinfecting products from its app and website, regardless of price, to discourage users from price gouging and taking advantage of people during the coronavirus crisis.

OfferUp, a Craigslist and eBay competitor that allows users to sell second-hand goods, told Business Insider about the plans late Friday after earlier inquiries about the company's efforts to stop users from price-gouging. 

"Since the decision was made today, we're still in process of removing these items, so you may see them on the marketplace for an indeterminate time until they are removed," an OfferUp spokesperson said.

In July 2019, OfferUp said that it had 44 million users.

As recently as Friday afternoon, a quick search for toilet paper in the Seattle area – one of the hardest-hit regions of the country amid the COVID-19 pandemic, and where OfferUp is based – pulled up results featuring users selling products for at least double the retail price.

"Hand sanitizer, toilet paper, protective masks, and disinfecting items" join OfferUp's list of prohibited items, which OfferUp says it actively removes on its own and also invite users to report. OfferUp previously banned any items claiming to prevent or cure the illness caused by coronavirus.

Amazon is also working to track down third-party sellers who are taking advantage of customers concerned about the coronavirus, showing how online retail platforms are hustling to keep up with predatory behavior on their platforms as the pandemic continues.

Earlier Friday, OfferUp said it was actively removing items with "prices that are clearly inflated above standard market value" and that its investigations team works with law enforcement agencies throughout the U.S. to investigate illegally price items.

"Additional actions, including blocking users and/or referring them to Law Enforcement, may be taken for severe or repeat offenses," the spokesperson said.

Got a tip? Contact this reporter via email at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it., message her on Twitter @ashannstew, or send her a secure message through Signal at 425-344-8242.

Original author: Ashley Stewart

DoorDash is now offering hand sanitizer and gloves to its couriers nationwide in the US and in Canada to help protect them from the coronavirus that has been spreading rapidly around the world.The company secured tens of thousands of gloves and bottles of sanitizer earlier this year but previously had only made them available to delivery drivers in certain areas of the US.DoorDash closed its local offices around the country, so couriers will have to order the supplies online and pay up to $5 in shipping.The company plans to start offering sanitizer and gloves in Australia next week.Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.

DoorDash delivery drivers nationwide and in Canada can now get hand sanitizer from the company for the price of shipping.

They can also order gloves, but may have to wait a bit longer to receive them, because they're backordered, company spokeswoman Liz Jarvis-Shean told Business Insider.

Such products have been hard to find in many areas due to increased demand spurred by the coronavirus pandemic. To get either of the supplies, which the company is offering to help protect couriers, or Dashers, as it calls them, from the disease, they'll have to order the products online rather than getting them in person from one of DoorDash's offices. The company has closed the local offices it uses to sign up new drivers in all three of the countries in which it operates: the US, Canada, and Australia, Jarvis-Shean said.

"These supplies are now available to Dashers in all of our US markets, and as Dashers join or return to the platform, we're working to make sure they are aware that we are offering them," she said.

The food delivery company secured tens of thousands of gloves and bottles of sanitizer earlier this year, but initially offered the supplies in only a limited portion of the US. As of Monday evening, the company was only offering them to about 40% of its active drivers. It had previously said it planned to offer the supplies nationwide by the end of this week.

While gloves are backordered, the company is getting more in and is shipping them as soon as it does, Jarvis-Shean said. DoorDash is charging up to $5 per order to ship the supplies. It is covering any shipping costs above that amount, Jarvis-Shean said.

The company plans to begin offering sanitizer and gloves to its couriers in Australia starting next week, she said. 

Got a tip about Doordash? Contact Troy Wolverton via email at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it., message him on Twitter @troywolv, or send him a secure message through Signal at 415.515.5594. You can also contact Business Insider securely via SecureDrop.

Original author: Troy Wolverton

General Motors is working with Ventec Life Systems to accelerate the production of ventilators.The carmaker could produce ventilators at its factories.As the number of coronavirus cases in the US increases, the healthcare system has raised alarms about running out of ventilators to assist the most severely ill patients at hospitals.Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.

General Motors will help make desperately-needed ventilators. 

On Friday, the automaker said it was working with Seattle-based Ventec Life Systems.

"We are working closely with Ventec to rapidly scale up production of their critically important respiratory products to support our country's fight again the COVID-19 pandemic," GM CEO Mary Barra said in a statement. "We will continue to explore ways to help in this time of crisis."

The statement added, "Ventec will leverage GM's logistics, purchasing and manufacturing expertise to build more of their critically important ventilators."

As the number of COVID-19 coronavirus cases rapidly increases in the US, and New York state, California, and Illinois issue shelter-in-place directives, ventilators could soon be in short supply for the most severer cases of illness.

GM CEO Mary Barra. Bill Pugliano/Getty Images

"With GM's help, Ventec will increase ventilator production," Ventec Life Systems CEO Chris Kiple said in a statement. "By tapping their expertise, GM is enabling us to get more ventilators to more hospitals much faster. This partnership will help save lives."

StopTheSpread.org, "the nation's coordinated private sector response to COVID-19," according to the statement, helped organize the partnership.

President Donald Trump has indicated on several occasions that GM could switch from making cars to making ventilators, and on Friday a source with knowledge of the planning at the company said that it was working with another firm to expedite the process.

On Wednesday, GM announced that it was shutting down all North American production through the end of March. 

As the coronavirus outbreak and intensified in the US, with thousands of new cases being diagnosed each day and the death toll rising, the healthcare system has raised alarms about the scarcity of ventilators, which can assist the most severely sick patients in breathing.

Original author: Matthew DeBord

Yosemite National Park in California is closing over coronavirus concerns.The beloved park is one of the most famous in the nation and saw 4.5 million visitors last year.The closure is one of the latest measures taken in response to the coronavirus disease as it spreads across the state.Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.

California's Yosemite National Park is closing over coronavirus concerns, park officials said Friday.

Visitors will not be allowed into the park as of Friday until further notice.

"In consultation with local, county, and state public health officials and guidance provided by the United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), and in order to maintain the safety of park visitors, employees, and residents while allowing management and administrative operations to continue, the Superintendent is designating the entirety of Yosemite National Park as closed to all but residents and authorized employees of the National Park Service (NPS), park concessioners, and partners," reads the park's website.

It's one of the latest measures taken in response to the spread of the coronavirus disease, known as COVID-19, that has infected 1,206 in California.

Gov. Gavin Newsom issued a statewide stay-at-home order on Thursday calling for residents to stay at home and for nonessential businesses to close to help stifle the spread of the virus. Newsom also said that 56% of Californians could contract the virus in the next eight weeks, though that the projection doesn't account for current efforts to stunt the spread of the disease, such as the three-week "shelter in place" order for the San Francisco Bay Area.

Yosemite National Park welcomed 4.5 million visitors in 2019. It's known for its grand Half Dome and El Capitan formations. The park had previously closed its visitor centers over coronavirus concerns. 

Original author: Katie Canales

On March 14th, Apple officially closed every one of its stores outside of China over coronavirus concerns — but stayed open for two days after that just so customers could pick up iPhones or other devices that had been left for repairs.Apple sent emails and tried to call customers who had devices being repaired at its stores, but some customers couldn't be reached, or otherwise couldn't make the two-day pick-up window to get their devices. For customers who missed the two-day pickup window, their iPhones, computers, Apple Watches, and other products are essentially locked up until Apple re-opens its stores — and nobody knows when that might be.The stores were initially meant to re-open on March 27, but the new guideline is "until further notice." It could be days, weeks, or months. Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.

On March 14th, Apple officially closed every one of its stores outside of China over coronavirus concerns. But they technically stayed open for two days after that, just so customers could pick up iPhones or other devices that had been left for repairs, an Apple spokesperson tells Business Insider.

The company tried to contact customers with devices being repaired at Apple Stores via phone and email, the spokesperson said, and many took the chance to pick up their devices. 

Inevitably, either some customers missed Apple's attempts, or the two-day pickup window wasn't enough time for them to make the trip. Some customers did not pick up their devices within the two-day pickup period, and those devices are still in Apple Stores, the spokesperson said. 

For those customers, their iPhones, Macs, Apples Watches and other devices are essentially stuck in a closed Apple Store for an undisclosed amount of time. Apple's original timeline to re-open its stores was Friday, March 27. That's now changed to "until further notice" as of March 17. 

Unfortunately for those who missed the pickup window, there's no way for them to get their devices until Apple Stores re-open, the spokesperson said.

As for those who's devices were sent out to Apple repair centers, the company is getting in touch with those customers to have their devices returned to them, rather than the normal route of having them shipped to an Apple Store for pickup.

Do you have a device that's stuck indefinitely at an Apple Store during the pandemic? I'd love to hear from you. Get in touch at: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

Original author: Antonio Villas-Boas

California is temporarily relaxing rules for bars, restaurants, and liquor stores to sell alcohol for pickup or delivery.The move is designed to boost sales as shelter-in-place orders have called for businesses to shutter and residents to stay indoors to contain the coronavirus.Businesses can sell pre-packaged alcohol as long as it has a lid or a cap.Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.

If you're a sheltering California resident getting homesick for your favorite bar, the state's alcoholic beverage agency wants to give you some relief: You can now call your bartender and order booze to-go.

On Thursday, California's Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control announced that it was temporarily suspending a variety of laws governing the sale and distribution of alcohol as the state's 40 million residents are directed to remain indoors as much as possible to contain the coronavirus disease, known as COVID-19.

The "regulatory relief" is to help bars, restaurants, and liquor stores whose businesses have been significantly dampened as state and city officials call for residents to stay at home, and for nonessential businesses in the San Francisco Bay Area to close shop.

"This regulatory relief is designed to support the alcoholic beverage industry in its efforts to assist California in slowing the spread of the virus while assisting the industry in dealing with the economic challenges it is facing as a result,"the ABC said on its website. 

Under the relaxed rule, some bars can now sell beer, wine and distilled spirits to go if the beverage is in a "manufactured, pre-packaged container."

Restaurants and other "bona fide eating places," meanwhile, can now sell beer, wine and pre-mixed drinks or cocktails to-go when sold in conjunction with meals for pick-up or delivery. The drinks must have a secured lid or cap without an opening for straws.

The directive also significantly loosens the rules around ordering alcohol for home delivery.

Bars and restaurants have been among the hardest hit businesses from the coronavirus outbreak and the government orders to close non-essential businesses in the San Francisco area. 

San Francisco's restaurant and bar scenes are being slammed by the shelter at home order, with layoffs ensuing and sales plummeting. Mayor London Breed has introduced a number of ways to keep small businesses from going under, like ushering in a moratorium on commercial evictions. But business owners in the city don't think that will be enough.

"I would say about 50 percent of bars and restaurants are facing existential destruction," San Francisco bar owner Ben Bleimans told Eater SF.

Original author: Katie Canales

Zoom has experienced a huge increase in usage over the past few weeks — consumers and businesses alike are turning to the red-hot video chat app to stay connected amid the spread of coronavirus.Zoom executives said earlier this month that much of that new usage is for its free product, so its too early to tell how it will translate into more business. However, the increased usage puts more pressure on Zoom to keep up the quality of its product and forces the company to invest in growing its infrastructure, according to a new company filing.  Zoom also worries that if it can't grow its infrastructure fast enough, people might start to see its product as unreliable, which will only give rivals like Microsoft, Google, and Cisco opportunity to pounce.Click here for more BI Prime stories.

Zoom has had explosive growth over the past few weeks, as businesses and schools around the world turn to operating remotely to try and slow the spread of COVID-19, the coronavirus disease. 

However, in a new securities filing from the company on Friday, Zoom warns investors that this may prove to be a double-edged sword: The flood of new users, both consumer and business, will force the company to invest in building out its infrastructure while also maintaining the reliability that helped make it such a hit in the first place. 

"We expect our cost of revenue to increase for the foreseeable future, both in absolute dollars and as a percentage of total revenue, as we expand our data center capacity and third party cloud hosting due to increased usage stemming from the recent outbreak of the COVID-19 virus," Zoom writes in the filing. 

The "third party" referenced by Zoom is likely Amazon Web Services, the online retail giant's massively profitable cloud computing arm, and which is known to host at least some of the company's IT infrastructure. 

And if it can't keep up, Zoom warns, it'll have a harder time competing with its numerous video-chatting rivals, which include Microsoft Teams, Google Hangouts, and Cisco WebEx.  

"Any unfavorable publicity or perception of our platform, including any delays or interruptions in service due to capacity constraints stemming from increased usage due to the recent outbreak of the COVID-19 virus, or of the providers of communication and collaboration technologies generally could adversely affect our reputation and our ability to attract and retain hosts," Zoom writes. 

Not clear how many users Zoom has added

That increased cost of revenue — a key measure of the cost of doing business — becomes a problem when it's unclear how many new Zoom users will eventually turn into paid customers. 

"While we have seen increased usage of our service globally, there are no assurances that we will also experience an increase in paying customers or that new or existing users will continue to utilize our services at the same levels after the outbreak has tempered," Zoom said in the filing. 

Zoom hasn't said exactly how many new users it's gotten amid the current crisis, but has hinted that the number is substantial. However, executives on the company's earnings call at the beginning of March said that it was too early to tell how it would impact the business. On the call, CEO Eric Yuan said at the moment he is just focused on providing the best product to customers and helping those impacted by the pandemic. 

In China, where the outbreak started, Zoom removed the 40-minute time limit for its free product for the foreseeable future. It's also done the same for the educational industry in several countries, and Yuan has reportedly personally taken time to sign up colleges and schools on Zoom.

Keeping up a reputation for reliability 

Zoom worries that if it can't grow its infrastructure fast enough, people may start to see its product as unreliable. That type of reputational harm is hard to come back from, especially as the market for video conferencing and collaboration tools is "increasingly competitive," the company writes. 

Already there have been some reports showing the impact of Zoom's increased usage. In at least one instance, internet trolls entered a Zoom video call and started sharing graphic, sexual videos. Meanwhile, students frustrated with having to use Zoom to attend school remotely have been leaving bad reviews on the mobile app in a bid to get it removed from the App Store.  

These type of incidents could make it harder or more expensive for Zoom to maintain its brand and reputation. That could open the door to competitors like Microsoft Teams, Cisco's WebEx and even Slack to win over Zoom's customers. 

"Furthermore, as the rate of adoption of new technologies increases, the networks our platform relies on may not be able to sufficiently adapt to the increased demand for these services, including ours. Frequent or persistent interruptions could cause current or potential users to believe that our systems or platform are unreliable, leading them to switch to our competitors or to avoid our platform, and could permanently harm our business," Zoom writes. 

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Original author: Paayal Zaveri