WIRED Awake October 1: Elon Musk steps down as Tesla chair in SEC fraud settlement

Your WIRED daily briefing. Today, Musk doesn't have to admit to fraud but will lose some of his power at Tesla, hackers obtained up to 90 million Facebook users' account details, the US government wants to loosen climate protection regs because it thinks we're all doomed and more. 1. Elon Musk steps down as Tesla chair in SEC fraud settlement Tesla CEO Elon Musk has reached a settlement with the US Securities and Exchange Commission that will allow him to neither admit nor deny fraud charges, but which will have him step down as the company's chairman while retaining his position as CEO (WIRED). The agreed measures, prompted by Musk's "false and misleading" Twitter statements about taking the company private, will also see Musk and Telsa pay $20 million each in compensation to investors harmed by the resulting upheaval in the firm's stock market price and the appointment of two new independent Tesla board members to counter Musk's disproportionate power over the company. The settlement also muzzles Musk's ability to rant on social media, requiring Tesla to "implement mandatory procedures and controls to oversee all of Elon Musk’s communications regarding the Company made in any format." However, he still faces lawsuits from investors and a criminal fraud investigation by the Department of Justice. 2. Hackers obtained up to 90 million Facebook users' account details with view-as exploit A security vulnerability in Facebook's "View As" feature, which allows users to see how their account appears to someone else, enabled hackers to steal Facebook access tokens and log in as other users (The Register). In a security advisory notice, Facebook said between 50 and 90 million people could have been affected in the last year, potentially exposing not only personal information in their Facebook account but also third-party sites and services that use Facebook's single-sign-on feature. Meanwhile, Facebook itself has failed to use data it's been given in good faith, with the discovery by Gizmodo that the firm is using phone numbers provided only for two-factor authentication in its ad targeting system. 3. The US government wants to loosen climate protection regs because it thinks we're all doomed A recently-published environmental impact statement from the US National Highway Traffic Safety Administration predicts that the Earth's average temperature will increase 4 degrees Celcius above pre-industrial levels (The Washington Post). The report not only acknowledges the reality of anthropogenic climate change – an unusual move for a government whose members have repeatedly cast doubt on scientific findings – but also asserts that the effects will be so severe that there's no point in regulating the emissions of cars and light trucks built from 2020 onwards. The document suggests that a worst-case-scenario for human-driven climate change is inevitable and says that freezing fuel-efficiency standards would thus only "marginally increase the impacts of climate change" against a regulatory landscape in which no one is expected to do anything to stop it. 4. Apple dreams of taking on Netflix. So why can't it make good TV? Apple makes great phones, but it can’t make good TV and films (WIRED). Getting on top of the movie industry is crucial for Apple. As iPhone sales slow, services are becoming a hugely important source of profit – through the App Store, mobile payments and entertainment. That, however, means content creators keep the lion’s share of the profit. And so, for more than a year now, Apple has been trying to make its own mark in the TV and film industry. The problem? CEO Tim Cook wants to do so without damaging the company’s squeaky-clean image. And TV and film, at their best, are not squeaky clean. 5. Unsecured Tory party conference app leaked MPs' personal information An app released by the Conservative Party for members to use during its party conference in Birmingham was misconfigured, allowing anyone to log into someone else's account if they knew their email address (BBC News). The vulnerability, which has now been secured, led to a number of MPs' phone numbers being leaked online and personal details changed on the app. Creator CrowdComms told The Guardian that "we apologise unreservedly to the Conservative party and their delegates" and the Information Commissioner's Office has said that it will be looking into the breach. Popular on WIRED The epic tale of China's out of this world plan for space domination It’s 2050. The Moon has been colonised by China, with its Lunar Palace base growing potatoes, wheat and carrots – though residents also need to get used to eating mealworms for protein. Everything is grown and recycled in the robot-built base’s white, tubular buildings. WIRED​ ​09.18​ ​–​ ​on​ ​sale​ ​now WIRED 09.18 is out now. Elon Musk's friends, family and colleagues reveal what drives him to transform transportation, empower clean energy and develop colonies on Mars. Yuval Noah Harari explains how AI will give us new ways to hack learning, and we take a look at the nuts and bolts of Formula 1's big-money reinvention. Subscribe now and save. Podcast 387: If aliens call, what should we say? Listen now, subscribe via RSS or add to iTunes. Get WIRED Awake sent straight to your inbox every weekday morning by 8am. Click here to sign up to the WIRED Awake newsletter. Follow WIRED on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, LinkedIn and YouTube.

© Condé Nast UK 2018 Contact Us Unsubscribe THE CONDÉ NAST PUBLICATIONS LTD Vogue House, Hanover Square, London W1S 1JU. Registered company number 3891634.