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Tesla may be misleading consumers by advertising its vehicles as “self-driving,” according to California authorities.

The state’s Department of Motor Vehicles is reviewing whether the Elon Musk-owned electric automaker is violating a law that prohibits advertising vehicles as autonomous unless the vehicle meets strict regulatory criteria.

A DMV spokesperson told The Post on Tuesday that the agency “has the matter under review.” 

All Teslas since 2020 have come with “self-driving” computers, but owners must pay an extra $10,000 to unlock the feature, according to Car and Driver. The self-driving feature allows cars to change lanes, exit highways and stop at traffic lights, but drivers are required to remain alert and awake at the wheel.  

According to California law, “autonomous technology” must allow vehicles to move without “the active physical control or monitoring by a human operator.” Car manufacturers and salespeople are forbidden from advertising vehicles for sale or lease that do not meet this definition. 

If California authorities find that Tesla violated California law, the agency could potentially revoke the company’s permits and licenses, which could lead to Teslas being removed from public roads, according to the DMV spokesperson. 

Tesla did not immediately reply to a request for comment on the review, which was first reported by the Los Angeles Times. 

This is not the first time Tesla has found itself in hot water over its autonomous driving claims. 

In July 2020 a German court banned Tesla from using the phrases “full potential for autonomous driving” and “autopilot inclusive” in advertising in the country. 

New York Attorney General Letitia James has threatened to sue photography company Eastman Kodak and its CEO over alleged insider trading, the company revealed Monday.

The expected lawsuit focuses on a stock purchase made by the company’s top executive, Jim Continenza, ahead of a since-derailed $765 million deal with the US government to produce drug ingredients, Kodak said in its quarterly earnings report.

The disclosure from Kodak, which was listed under commitments and contingencies, said the alleged violations were in connection with Continenza’s purchase of 46,737 shares of Kodak stock on June 23.

About a month later, Kodak and the Trump administration announced a deal that would give the ailing camera company a shot at a $765 million loan under the Defense Production Act to support the production of drug ingredients critical to fighting the pandemic.

The expected lawsuit will specifically look at over 46,000 stocks bought by Jim Continenza last June 23.Mario Tama/Getty Images

The announcement sent shares of the company soaring from just over $2 per share to a peak of $60.

But the stock price had already begun to move a day before after Kodak prematurely announced the deal to news outlets in the company’s hometown of Rochester. 

The Wall Street Journal reported at the time that Kodak had sent out an early notice to local outlets — then scrambled to get them to delete the stories and tweets until it was formally announced.

The mess prompted the Securities and Exchange Commission and several Congressional committees to investigate the handling of the deal — as well as the questionable stock option grants awarded to Continenza and other executives ahead of the announcement.

In 2020, it had been announced that Kodak would get a federal loan to work on pharmaceuticals, but the deal was later nixed.Steve Marcus/Reuters

In early August, the federal government said it was halting the deal as regulators looked into suspicious trading activity.

The company retained the DC law firm Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld last year to conduct an internal review, which found that Continenza’s transactions did not violate company policy or securities laws.

However, the law firm did find “gaps” in the company’s insider-trading policies, though none specifically related to Continenza’s transactions. 

In Monday’s disclosure, Kodak said Continenza’s stock trades were made during an acceptable “open window” period. It added that the transactions were preapproved by Kodak’s general counsel. 

An internal review of the company said Jim Continenza’s stock trades didn’t violate securities law.Reuters

Continenza has never sold any Kodak shares, the company added Monday. 

“The company considers the threatened claim to be unsupported by law or fact and intends to vigorously defend itself against the threatened claim should it be filed,” Kodak said in the disclosure.

The New York attorney general’s office did not return The Post’s request for comment.

The race to succeed Jamie Dimon at the helm of JPMorgan Chase just entered a new stretch — and it’s being led by a pair of female bankers.

In an internal memo Tuesday, Chairman and Chief Executive Dimon named Marianne Lake, the Wall Street giant’s CEO of consumer lending; and Jennifer Piepszak, the bank’s chief financial officer, as co-heads of consumer and community banking.

The two women, both 51, will be replacing Gordon Smith, Dimon’s longtime right hand, who claims the titles of co-president, chief operating officer, and CEO of consumer and community banking.

Other key announcements include promoting Daniel Pinto, JPMorgan’s 58-year-old co-president and head of corporate and investment banking, to become sole president and COO of the firm. The head of Global Research for CIB, Jeremy Barnum, will become the new CFO.

Smith, 62, has been one of Dimon’s closest advisers since 2007 but was always an unlikely successor for Dimon, 65, given the two were so close in age. Smith turned down an opportunity to serve as CEO at Wells Fargo in 2019 and remains loyal to his firm. He will stay on as an adviser in his retirement. Dimon called Smith “one of the best hires I’ve ever made” in his statement.

Marianne Lake has long been rumored as a prospective successor to Jamie Dimon.

Consumer banking is one of JPM’s key divisions — generating over $50 billion last year through its credit card, home lending, auto finance, and US wealth management businesses. The promotions position Lake and Piepszak as the lead contenders for the top job at JPM when Dimon leaves.

Pinto, however, is still reportedly designated “emergency CEO,” known internally as the “Jamie got hit by a bus,” according to the Wall Street Journal.

Nevertheless, Dimon doesn’t appear to be even considering an exit anytime soon. People close to the longtime leader say he’ll stick around at least five or six more years. Still, the bank tries to always be ready for the unexpected. Last year, Dimon received an emergency heart surgery and both Pinto and Smith were at the helm in his absence.

Walmart raised its full-year earnings forecast on Tuesday and beat estimates for same-store sales as it benefited from additional stimulus checks that put more money in consumers’ pockets and boosted demand for apparel and electronics.

Sales at US stores open at least a year rose 6 percent, excluding fuel, in the first quarter ended April 30. Analysts had estimated growth of 0.86 percent, according to IBES data from Refinitiv.

“Our optimism is higher than it was at the beginning of the year. In the US, customers clearly want to get out and shop … We anticipate continued pent-up demand throughout 2021,” Chief Executive Doug McMillon said.

Online sales lost some momentum, rising 37 percent, compared with a surge of 74 percent in the year-earlier period and 69 percent in the prior quarter.

Walmart said it now expects fiscal 2022 earnings to increase in high single digits, while previously the company had forecast a slight drop in profit for the year.

Increased clothing sales were key in Walmart’s impressive first quarter.Corbis via Getty Images

Operating income rose 32.3 percent to $6.91 billion in the quarter, while adjusted earnings was $1.69 per share. 

Shares of Walmart were up 2.2 percent, to 141.96, in early afternoon trading.

Walmart recently relaxed pandemic-related policies allowing fully vaccinated employees and shoppers to go maskless in most cases.

Bill Gates has transferred $850 million more in stock to his estranged wife, Melinda, amid their split after 27 years of marriage.

The Microsoft co-founder transferred 2.25 million shares of the equipment manufacturer, Deere, to Melinda through his investment firm on Thursday, the Wall Street Journal reported.

Cascade Investment, a holding company that Gates formed to manage much of his financial assets, disclosed the transferred shares, which were about 7% of his stake in the manufacturer, on Friday night, the newspaper reported.

The move brought the total value of publicly disclosed transfers to his wife to more than $3 billion since the couple filed for divorce on May 3.

The transferred shares come just days after Gates fessed up to having an affair with a Microsoft employee.

The shares of Deere are worth about $850 million.Getty Images

Microsoft hired an outside law firm to investigate a relationship between Gates and a company engineer, the Wall Street Journal reported.

The woman penned a letter about her relationship over the years with Gates, the newspaper reported. She demanded changes to her job and also asked that Melinda read her letter.

The company’s board became aware of the letter in 2019 and brought in a law firm to investigate before Gates stepped down to focus on his philanthropy.

“Microsoft received a concern in the latter half of 2019 that Bill Gates sought to initiate an intimate relationship with a company employee in the year 2000,” a Microsoft spokesman said.

A Gates spokeswoman also acknowledged the relationship, “There was an affair almost 20 years ago which ended amicably.”

Univision Communications, the largest Spanish-language media company in the US, says advertisers have overlooked Hispanic American audiences for far too long, and it will announce new programming and features on Tuesday to draw more marketers to Univision and its audience.

Its presentation during the “Upfronts,” an annual event where major TV broadcasters preview the fall television season to advertisers, comes after Univision last month announced plans to merge with Mexico City-based media network Televisa. They launched a free streaming service called PrendeTV in an effort to grow amid increasing consolidation in the U.S. media industry.

Univision said it will launch a free 24/7 news channel in early 2022 that will air on PrendeTV.

To help advertisers target ads to Hispanic audiences, Univision will build an “audience data graph” that uses viewer data from its digital properties and other sources to help brands more effectively target ads to Hispanic viewers, Donna Speciale, president of ad sales and marketing at Univision, said in an interview.

The data graph will launch during the fourth quarter of this year, said Speciale, who previously served as president of ad sales at AT&T media unit Turner, which includes networks like CNN and TNT.

While advertisers used to treat multicultural marketing as an add-on, more brands are realizing they need to be inclusive and communicate with customers of all backgrounds, Speciale said.

“[Marketers] are realizing that if they really want to grow their business… they need to advertise to this community,” she said.

In the four months since Speciale joined Univision, the company said it has added over 100 new advertisers.

According to a study Univision commissioned with audience measurement firm Nielsen, brands that do not advertise in Spanish have a 39 percent lower return on investment in their ad spending than companies that do.

The new data set will also help power a test with TV manufacturer Vizio and satellite TV provider Dish Network to build “addressable advertising” strategies, which will help advertisers target audiences more precisely.

Michael Burry, who shot to fame for predicting and profiting off of the 2008 subprime mortgage crisis, has revealed a more than half-a-billion-dollar bet against Elon Musk’s Tesla.

Burry’s firm, Scion Asset Management, said Monday in a regulatory filing that it owned puts against 800,100 shares of Tesla as of March 31 with a total value of $534 million. The puts, which are bearish options, give Scion the right to sell Tesla shares at a set price on or before a specified date. 

Investors profit from puts when the underlying stock price falls.

The filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission did not reveal the set price of the puts nor their expiration date. The filing also did not reveal when Burry initiated the wager against Tesla nor how much Burry’s firm paid for the puts.

Shares of Tesla fell more than 4 percent Monday after the disclosure, but were up nearly 2 percent in midday trading Tuesday. Shares of the company are down almost 20 percent since Jan. 1. 

Tesla shares fell more than 4 percent Monday after Scion Asset Management disclosed their holdings.The Washington Post via Getty Images

Burry was propelled to fame when he and his firm predicted the 2008 mortgage crisis well before just about anyone else. He was depicted in Michael Lewis’ book “The Big Short” and portrayed by Christian Bale in the Oscar-winning movie of the same name.

More recently, Burry was vocal about his bet on video game-retailer GameStop, helping to spark the Reddit-fueled short squeeze that sent shares of the company skyrocketing earlier this year. However, Burry’s firm cashed out of its position in the company in 2020, missing out on the most wild gains, which were seen in January. 

Michael Burry has criticized Tesla’s reliance on regulatory credits to generate profit.dpa/picture alliance via Getty Images

Burry’s latest bet against Tesla isn’t necessarily surprising. He said in a since-deleted tweet in December that his firm was betting against shares of Tesla. He added at the time that Tesla’s reliance on regulatory credits to hit profit targets raised red flags.

Tesla critics have long pointed to the company’s sale of regulatory credits to generate profit as unsustainable. 

Macy’s emerged from an unprecedented year with a surprising swing back into the profit column and it boosted its guidance for all of 2021.

Sales were fueled by government stimulus checks and the massive rollout of vaccines that have emboldened Americans to head outdoors again, the company said.

“Clearly our customer is ready to get on with life,” Jeff Gennette, Macy’s CEO, told analysts during the earnings call on Tuesday. “We don’t see this as a short-term pop.”

Sales of merchandise that was strong during the pandemic, such as home goods, continue to move well, and customers are spending more in other categories as well, Gennette said. He noted that customers are feeling increasingly confident to get dressed up to venture outside. So, sales of special-occasion items like prom dresses are doing well.

Luggage sales are also starting to show solid improvement. At Bloomingdale’s, business in dressy sandals and tailored suiting are starting to tick up.

Net income hit $103 million after massive losses during the same period last year when stores were forced to lock their doors.

On a per-share basis, net income at the New York company was 32 cents, or 39 cents if one-time charges are removed. Wall Street was looking for losses of about 41 cents per share, according to a survey by Zacks Investment Research.

Revenue of $4.71 billion also exceeded analyst projections.

Macy’s expects full-year revenue in the range of $21.73 billion to $22.23 billion, up from its previous projections of $19.75 billion to $20.75 billion.

Macy’s has pushed much of its sales online and expects digital sales to reach $10 billion within the next three years, but noted that online sales are two to three times higher in markets where Macy’s stores exist.

During the pandemic, the company pared back inventory and closed some stores. It also launched curbside pickup last year and is expanding its off-price concept BackStage.

Shares of Macy’s Inc. rose 26 cents, or more than 1 percent, to $19.44 in late morning trading on Tuesday.

The Colonial Pipeline communication system reportedly went down Tuesday, nearly a week after the fuel company recovered from a crippling cyberattack that sparked panic buying and gas shortages.

Two market sources familiar with the system said the company’s so-called nomination system was shut on Tuesday, leaving shippers unable to plan fuel shipments, Reuters reported.

It’s unclear what caused the issue, but barrels are continuing to flow on the line despite the downed nomination system.

GasBuddy Patrick DeHaan said this issue isn’t as consequential as the pipeline being down, as was the case when the company was hit by a ransomware attack just over a week ago.

But DeHaan added that if it’s not resolved quickly, it could become more disruptive.

The company did not immediately return The Post’s request for comment.

Colonial Pipeline fell victim to a cyberattack that the FBI said was orchestrated by Russia-based cybergang DarkSide. The attack shuttered the largest US oil pipeline for almost a week, and Colonial paid nearly $5 million in ransom to unlock its stolen data and safely resume operations.

With Post Wires