Business
Elon Musk is telling his followers to cancel Netflix subscriptions. Here’s what’s happening
Elon Musk stands in the Oval Office to attend a press event with U.S. President Donald Trump, at the White House in Washington, D.C., U.S., May 30, 2025.
Nathan Howard | Reuters
Elon Musk this week urged his followers to cancel their Netflix subscriptions over a controversy surrounding an animated show and its creator.
Musk on Wednesday posted on his X platform saying, “Cancel Netflix for the health of your kids.” The post was in response to an image accusing Netflix of carrying out a “transgender woke agenda.”
The controversy seems to stem from conservative backlash over an animated Netflix show “Dead End: Paranormal Park,” which features a transgender character. The show was canceled in 2023 after two seasons.
In addition to repeated anti-trans posts, Musk also responded to a post criticizing alleged statements made by the show’s creator, Hamish Steele, that a prominent conservative X account said “mocked” the murder of conservative activist Charlie Kirk.
Steele responded to Musk’s callout on rival social media platform Bluesky saying, “It’s probably going to be a very odd day.” Steele also shared a post by TV writer Jack Bernhardt that called “Dead End” a “brilliant show about kind, wonderful characters.”
Netflix did not respond to CNBC’s request for comment.
Analysts say the backlash might not pose as big of a threat to Netflix as Musk may be hoping for.
Netflix reported 301.63 million subscribers as of the fourth quarter of 2024, the last time it reported the metric before shifting priority to revenue over user growth. The company has a roughly $490 billion market cap, and its stock is up more than 60% in the past year.
Shares are down 4% so far this week.
“Is that going to move the needle necessarily? … You’re going to see people sign up on the back of that to counter it,” CNBC contributor Guy Adami said Wednesday on “Fast Money.”
“I don’t think this is a reason to sell the stock,” he added.
Seymour Asset Management’s Tim Seymour said though a day of headlines may move the stock around, it’s ultimately too expensive to be significantly affected by internet backlash.
“We’ve had these moments in time where, whether it was an ad campaign that went wrong or whether it was some sense that a company was aligned in a particular political channel… I don’t think that that’s going to be the reason to sell Netflix here,” Seymour said Wednesday.
The calls for a boycott mirror those against Anheuser-Busch InBev in 2023 after it released an ad campaign with transgender influencer Dylan Mulvaney. But the boycott of Bud Light, CNBC contributor Karen Finerman noted on Wednesday, yielded “far greater” destruction than any other recent examples.
“I feel like this will be very fleeting,” Finerman said.
The Carnival Miracle cruise ship is anchored in the Pacific Ocean near Kailua Bay during a 15-day cruise, in Kailua-Kona, Hawaii, on Jan. 14, 2024.
Kevin Carter | Getty Images
The global cruise industry is reporting record demand and renewed consumer enthusiasm, but the leaders helming the world’s largest cruise companies say the sector is also facing some of the most complex challenges it has seen in decades.
“We are not an alternative vacation anymore. We are a vacation,” Carnival Corporation CEO Josh Weinstein said during a keynote panel Tuesday at Seatrade Global, a cruise industry conference.
As demand rises, passengers are getting younger; one-third of cruise travelers are now under 40, according to the 2026 State of the Cruise Industry report released by Cruise Lines International Association (CLIA). One-third of trips are multi-generational, often families traveling together. And nearly a third of cruisers take vacations by ship multiple times a year, according to the report.
The cruise industry hosted 37 million passengers worldwide last year and anticipates reaching 42 million annually by 2029, CLIA found.
“That mainstream demand sets us up very well for volatility,” Weinstein said.
A resilient business in an uncertain world
At least six cruise ships remain stranded in the Persian Gulf by the impasse at the Strait of Hormuz. One of them is the MSC Euribia.
Though roughly 1,500 passengers were safely evacuated amid Dubai airport shutdowns and missile warnings after the U.S. and Israel launched an attack on Iran in late February, there are still some crew on board to maintain the vessel.
“Obviously, we live day by day. The situation is very fluid,” said MSC Cruises Executive Chairman Pierfrancesco Vago during the Seatrade Global keynote.
Already the shutdown of marine traffic in the Strait has disrupted itineraries in the Middle East and southern Europe. Threats of blockades, mines on the sea floor and on-and-off-again negotiations are keeping cruise executives guessing about when they can move their ships.
“Morning is one thing, lunchtime is another, dinner is another again,” Vago said of the numerous and often conflicting announcements from government leaders. “We need to stay cool and actually be ready to move out as soon as the possibility and opportunity comes back.”
Despite these challenges, cruise executives argue the industry has never been better positioned to absorb shocks.
“Every crisis we’ve faced — financial, geopolitical or health-related — we adapted,” Carnival’s Weinstein said. “There’s no reason to believe it will be different this time.”
Fuel costs, sustainability and the push to use less
Fuel price volatility has once again put energy strategy front and center for the cruise industry, particularly for Carnival, which does not hedge fuel prices.
“Nobody asks us about hedging when prices are low,” Weinstein said. “But our strategy has been consistent: use less fuel.”
The cruise industry aims to have net zero emissions by 2050, but CEOs agree that they can’t achieve that goal solely by conserving fuel.
Industry leaders see biofuels, green methanol and synthetic liquid natural gas (produced by combining captured carbon with hydrogen) as the most promising solutions to meet their fuel needs.
Royal Caribbean Group CEO Jason Liberty said cruise lines are already investing hundreds of millions of dollars annually in technology and energy innovation, but availability of alternative fuels remains the bottleneck.
“It’s not about what we want to use,” Liberty said. “It’s about what’s scalable and available.”
“We’re going to have heavy competition with other sectors for those fuels as well. There’s no guarantee we get them,” added Bud Darr, president and CEO of Cruise Lines International Association.
Tailwinds for growth
Even as the industry navigates choppy seas, cruise companies are looking for their next avenues for growth.
Technological advances in artificial intelligence are being used to reduce food waste, plot routes and itineraries and increase efficiency. Cruise line executives say the most important application is to reduce friction in the guest experience.
“A more flexible work environment has been a big demand driver for us,” Liberty said. Most Royal Caribbean ships now host a Starlink connection for fast internet aboard.
Private destinations, the exclusive ports or islands owned or controlled by a cruise line, continue to be a priority for investment. Royal Caribbean, for instance, currently has three private destinations on its itineraries but will have eight by 2028.
It’s developing a major land-based hub in Puerto Williams, Chile, to reduce or eliminate the amount of time passengers to Antarctica have to spend transiting the punishing seas of the Drake Passage.
And the luxury segment, though a small percentage of the overall industry, is growing rapidly. Customers are increasingly interested in exploring health, wellness and longevity — and those trends are showing up in their vacation habits, too.
Smaller ships and river cruising accommodate specialized interests in eco-tourism, off-the-beaten path (not yet discovered by social media influencers) locales and culinary or artistic aficionados.
Social-media driven demand in tourism has also sparked backlash from some destinations, overwhelmed by the crowds. The cruise industry is working with destinations on what it calls managed, predictable tourism.
Vago said MSC worked with Dubrovnik, Croatia, for example, to coordinate the flow of visitors to the medieval town, which wants the tourism spending but without destruction of quality of life for residents.
“Many of these coastal communities actually appreciate that. We plan in advance. We create itineraries three years in advance,” Vago said.
“The strength of this industry is its ability to evolve without losing its soul,” Liberty said. “That soul is hospitality.”
Leadership change and fresh perspective
At Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings, the challenge for new CEO John Chidsey is righting the ship.
In his first earnings call, just days after taking the helm, Chidsey acknowledged the company had committed numerous missteps.
Margins are under pressure. Shares have been volatile. Critics have questioned a push to expand cruise itineraries in the Caribbean before Norwegian’s private island was fully completed.
Earlier this year, Elliott Investment Management took an activist stake in Norwegian, which may have provided impetus for the board to make a leadership change.
Chidsey told CNBC Elliott’s goals align with his own and that he intends to create a culture of accountability and urgency where teams are working together rather than separated into silos.
The Seatrade conference was a cruise industry debut for Chidsey, formerly the CEO of Subway, Burger King and Avis.
When asked what a “sandwich guy knows about cruising,” Chidsey didn’t miss a beat, insisting he’s a “turnaround guy not a sandwich guy.”
“I knew nothing about fast food when I went there. I think having a fresh set of eyes is really what Norwegian needs. And it’s all about execution,” he said.
Business
India rejects US Section 301 allegations, seeks termination; calls for resolution via talks – The Times of India
India has strongly pushed back against the United States’ Section 301 investigations, rejecting allegations of unfair trade practices and seeking immediate termination of the probes.In its submission to the US Trade Representative (USTR), India “firmly denies all allegations made in the initiation notice” related to claims of excess structural capacity and production in manufacturing sectors, PTI reported. “The initiation Notice is premised on aggregate macroeconomic indicators, without identifying any specific act, policy or practice of the Government of India that could be considered ‘unreasonable or discriminatory’ and that ‘burdens or restricts United States commerce’ as required by Section 301(b) of the Act,” the submission said. India said the notice provides no “cogent rationale” or prima facie evidence to support allegations that the country has structural excess capacity leading to a trade surplus with the US. “India submits that the present investigation does not satisfy the requirements for the initiation of this investigation pursuant to Sections 301 and 302 of the Trade Act of 1974. India calls upon the USTR to make a negative determination and terminate the investigation forthwith,” it said. The government also urged that trade concerns be addressed through ongoing bilateral negotiations rather than unilateral measures, noting that both countries are engaged in discussions for a Bilateral Trade Agreement. “India remains willing to constructively engage with the United States in the underlying investigation, including any consultation,” it added. Separately, responding to another Section 301 probe launched on March 12 on alleged failure to act against forced labour, India said the investigation does not meet legal requirements for initiation. “India requests the USTR to make a negative determination and terminate the investigation against India. Additionally, India remains willing to constructively engage with the United States in the underlying investigation, including any consultation,” the submission said. The responses have been filed by the commerce and industry ministry on behalf of the government. On March 11, the USTR initiated investigations into policies and industrial practices of 16 economies, including India, China, Japan and the European Union, to examine “unfair foreign practices” affecting American manufacturing. A day later, on March 12, the USTR launched a broader probe covering 60 economies, including India and China, to assess whether their practices related to forced labour imports are unreasonable or discriminatory and restrict US commerce. India said its submissions represent the public, non-confidential summary of its response, while the full version has been filed separately as confidential.
A sample prompt response in ChatGPT using Starbucks’ beta app.
Source: Starbucks
Starbucks has launched a beta app in ChatGPT to provide inspiration for customers’ drink orders, the company said Wednesday.
To use the beta app, customers need to enable the Starbucks app through ChatGPT’s app directory and then enter a prompt on the chatbot that includes “@Starbucks.” While they can customize their orders and even select what location to order from, consumers will need to complete their order on the Starbucks app or website — a key distinction for a company that relies heavily on its loyalty program.
“Over the past year, one thing has become clear: Customers aren’t always starting with a menu,” Paul Riedel, Starbucks’ senior vice president of digital and loyalty, said in a statement. “They’re starting with a feeling …. We wanted to meet customers right in that moment of inspiration and make it easier than ever to find a drink that fits.”
The announcement on Wednesday marks the latest way that Starbucks is trying to find ways to entice U.S. customers back to its cafes. Under its “Back to Starbucks” turnaround strategy, the company has added seating back to its cafes, trimmed its menu and reintroduced tiers to its loyalty program.
It also helped customers find new drinks on its mobile app, through its trending beverage category or the secret menu under its “offers” tab. Drink discovery is also important for winning over Gen Z consumers, who have shown more of an affinity for unique beverages at U.S. restaurant chains than members of older generations.
So far, Starbucks’ turnaround strategy looks like it is taking hold. After two years of traffic declines, the chain finally reported rising customer transactions in its fiscal first quarter ended Dec. 28.
Wednesday’s announcement is not Starbucks’ first foray into using generative artificial intelligence or partnering with OpenAI. Last year, the coffee company unveiled Green Dot Assist, an AI assistant for baristas created with Microsoft Azure’s OpenAI platform.
Other consumer companies have also been partnering with OpenAI to boost sales. Walmart, Etsy and Booking.com are among the big names that are testing shopping and purchasing through ChatGPT’s interface.
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