Shamayita Acharya

By Nelson Renteria SAN SALVADOR (Reuters) - El Salvador's Congress on Tuesday approved a law to create a $150 million fund to facilitate conversions from bitcoin to U.S. dollars ahead of the Central American country's planned adoption of the cryptocurrency as legal tender next week. With 64 votes in favor and 14 votes against, Congress approved the fund as El Salvador, which already uses the U.S. dollar, prepares to officially adopt bitcoin on Sept. 7. The Central American country will be the first in the world to use the cryptocurrency as legal tender. Money for the new fund will redirected from the finance ministry's current budget and administered by the state development bank of El Salvador (BANDESAL), lawmakers said. ... Read More on Datafloq

By Ron Bousso LONDON (Reuters) - Royal Dutch Shell on Wednesday announced plans to vastly expand its network of electric vehicle charging points in Britain, aiming to install 50,000 on-street posts by 2025. Shell will implement the plans through ubitricity, an on-street charging point company that it acquired in February which operates around 3,600 chargers in Britain. The expansion is part of a government-backed push to rapidly grow Britain's electric vehicle (EV) fleet in line with a target to reduce carbon emissions to net zero by 2050. Britain also plans to ban the sale of new petrol and diesel cars by 2030. According to a recent government report https://ift.tt/2WyzVj3, between 280,000 and 480,000 charging points will be needed in Britain by 2030, compared with today's 25,000 spots. ... Read More on Datafloq

By Chavi Mehta (Reuters) -Walt Disney Co said on Tuesday that content from its streaming service Hotstar — home to India's IPL cricket tournament and original shows like "Aarya" — will migrate to its ESPN+ and Hulu streaming platforms in the United States. Disney, which has 174 million paying customers across its four streaming services, is looking to slowly consolidate its content into a Disney Bundle, which includes ESPN+, Hulu, Disney+ and more than 100,000 movies, TV episodes as well as sports events. Sports content from Hotstar will move to ESPN+, and Hotstar movies as well as TV shows will migrate to Hulu, which is home to series like "The Handmaid's Tale". A Hotstar annual subscription costs $49.99 per year, while the Disney Bundle, which starts at $13.99 per month, will cost subscribers at ... Read More on Datafloq

By Jane Lanhee Lee OAKLAND, Calif. (Reuters) - Databricks, a data analytics platform that uses artificial intelligence, said on Tuesday it raised $1.6 billion to expand its engineering team to keep its lead in the market, a funding round that valued it at $38 billion. The massive fund injection “does not push out the IPO”, said Ali Ghodsi, co-founder and CEO. He declined to say when Databricks was planning to go public or whether it would go the traditional route or use a direct listing where companies list existing shares without issuing new shares or raising new funds. Ghodsi did rule out going public through a merger with a blank-check firm or a special purpose acquisition company (SPAC), a popular way for many startups to list. “I think SPACs are ... Read More on Datafloq

By Joseph White DETROIT (Reuters) - Problems getting smartphones to connect properly with vehicle infotainment systems are now the No. 1 gripe among consumers according to the latest study of new model quality released on Tuesday by market research firm J.D. Power. Overall, J.D. Power says electronic and infotainment system malfunctions are the cause of six of the top 10 complaints from U.S. buyers of 2021 cars, sport utility vehicles and pickup trucks, despite years of effort by automakers to better integrate digital technology. Stellantis NV's Ram truck brand for the first time led the rankings in the J.D. Power Initial Quality Study, and the French-Italian automaker's Dodge muscle car brand was second. Lexus, the Toyota Motor Corp luxury brand and a regular winner of the Power survey, was third. Full results of the study are here. ... Read More on Datafloq

(Reuters) - Alphabet Inc-owned Google is extending its voluntary return-to-office policy through January next year, CEO Sundar Pichai said on Tuesday, citing uncertainty caused by the COVID-19 pandemic in many parts of the world. The rapid spread of the highly contagious Delta coronavirus variant is also making companies reconsider their mask mandates and vaccination policies. "Beyond January 10, we will enable countries and locations to make determinations on when to end voluntary work-from-home based on local conditions," Pichai said https://bit.ly/3mP37Nq in an email to employees. In the last few weeks, companies including Amazon.com Inc and Lyft delayed their return-to-office timelines to 2022 for U.S. workers due to the pandemic. Google had earlier delayed its return-to-office policy from September to October. It was one of the first companies ... Read More on Datafloq

SHANGHAI (Reuters) - Tencent Holdings said on Tuesday it has exited all exclusive music copyright agreements it had been engaged in after Chinese regulators barred it from such deals last month. Tencent said it had notified all parties it had been engaged in such agreements with in a statement on its official WeChat account. (Reporting by Brenda Goh, Editing by Louise Heavens) ... Read More on Datafloq

(Reuters) - Shares of Zoom slid more than 11% in premarket trading on Tuesday, after the video conferencing company signaled a faster-than-expected drop in demand and analysts questioned its future plans as people return to office. Zoom and other video conferencing services such as Cisco, Microsoft's Teams and Salesforce's Slack raked in millions of new users as the pandemic forced people to work, study and communicate with friends and family remotely. With easing pandemic curbs, Zoom will need to find new avenues for growth. The company already made a $14.7 billion bet on Five9 in July to bolster its contact center business. Analysts said it would take a few quarters for Zoom to return to its true underlying growth rate. "There are significant questions outstanding regarding how new customer demand ... Read More on Datafloq

By Anna Rzhevkina and Gleb Stolyarov MOSCOW (Reuters) -Russian internet giant Yandex said on Tuesday it would buy Uber's stakes in their joint foodtech, delivery and self-driving businesses, and increase its stake in their ride-hailing joint venture as part of a $1 billion deal. The restructuring of the MLU ride-hailing and car sharing joint venture, which includes Yandex.Taxi, will see Yandex own 71% while Uber's stake falls to 29% from 33.5%, Yandex said, adding it had taken out a $2 billion call option to buy out the rest if it chooses to do so. In July, Yandex increased its e-commerce investment plan this year to $650 million, from $400-500 million, after reporting strong second-quarter results and upgrading its 2021 revenue forecast and as surging interest in online services continued after being boosted during the coronavirus pandemic. The company forecasts e-commerce GMV to jump threefold this year. ... Read More on Datafloq

HANOI (Reuters) - Vietnam has awarded a licence to South Korea's LG Display that will see it raise its investment in the northern port city of Haiphong by $1.4 billion, the city's People's Committee said on Tuesday. The investment will boost the company's OLED display output at the Haiphong factory to 13 million to 14 million units per month, from the current 9.6 million to 10.1 million monthly units, the committee said in a statement. The additional $1.4 billion will raise the LG Display investment to $4.65 billion. The company did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The additional investment would generate 10,000 new jobs and create export revenue of $6.5 billion a year, the committee said. ... Read More on Datafloq

BEIJING (Reuters) - China on Monday introduced new rules that limit the amount of time under-18s can spend on video games to three hours a week, a move it said was necessary to combat gaming addiction. The new rules place the onus on implementation on the gaming industry and are not laws per se that would punish individuals for infractions. WHY IS CHINA CONCERNED ABOUT GAMING ADDICTION? Authorities in China, the world's largest video games market, have worried for years about addiction to gaming and the internet among young people, setting up clinics which combine therapy and military drills for those with so-called "gaming disorders". Rising rates of nearsightedness were also cited as a concern in 2018. ... Read More on Datafloq

By Heekyong Yang SEOUL (Reuters) -South Korea's parliament on Tuesday approved a bill that bans major app store operators such as Google and Apple from forcing software developers to use their payment systems, effectively stopping them from charging commissions on in-app purchases. It is the first such curb by a major economy on the likes of Apple Inc and Alphabet Inc's Google, which face global criticism for requiring the use of proprietary payment systems that charge commissions of up to 30%. The final vote was 180 in favour out of 188 attending to pass the amendment to the Telecommunications Business Act, dubbed the "Anti-Google law." "We'll reflect on how to comply with this law while maintaining a model that supports a high-quality operating system and app store, and we will share more in ... Read More on Datafloq

Big data is probably the most important recent development. And, if I may say so, it is what is at the center of the fourth industrial revolution.Big data is changing the business landscape and the way businesses operate in more ways than you know. And, it’s not limited to any industry or type of business, as big data benefits most industries.So, if you are not yet leveraging big data to your advantage, then you are already at a loss.Want to learn more about what big data can do for your business?In this post, you will learn five ways in which big data is changing the way we do business and how businesses are reaping its benefits in 2021. This post will also guide you through the various business applications of big data and where to get started if you plan to use it.Ready to get started?Here you go.1. Better Customer ServiceThe rise of big data combined with artificial intelligence (AI), machine learning, and natural language processing (NLP) will help businesses improve their custome

By Brenda Goh (Reuters) - China's new rules forbidding under-18s from playing video games for more than three hours a week knocked shares in Tencent Holdings Ltd and other gaming companies, while young players took to social media to express their outrage. Beijing said the new rules were necessary to stop growing addiction to what it once described as "spiritual opium". The People's Daily, the official newspaper of the ruling Communist Party, said in an article on Monday after the rules were announced that the government had to be "ruthless". It's "indisputable" that indulging in online games affects normal study life and the physical and mental health of teens, the article said. "Destroying a teenager will destroy a family." Young Chinese gamers were, however, angry. ... Read More on Datafloq

By Stella Qiu and Jamie Freed BEIJING/SYDNEY (Reuters) - China's biggest air show will put its homegrown civil and military aviation technology on display next month, the mayor of host city Zhuhai said on Tuesday, though the closely watched C919 narrowbody jet is not among the listed aerial exhibitions. The biennial China International Aviation and Aerospace Exhibition from Sept. 28 to Oct. 3 had been scheduled to take place in the southern city of Zhuhai was postponed from its original date of last November because of the pandemic. With few foreign attendees expected in person due to strict quarantine rules, the show will include a virtual component and local military and aerospace firms have ramped up their presence significantly, Zhuhai Mayor Huang Zhihao told reporters. On the military side, ... Read More on Datafloq

(Reuters) -Zoom Video Communications Inc posted its first billion-dollar revenue quarter but signaled a faster-than-expected easing in demand for its video-conferencing service after a pandemic-driven boom, sending its shares tumbling 11%. The company on Monday forecast third-quarter revenue between $1.015 billion and $1.020 billion, compared with the analysts' average estimate of $1.013 billion, according to Refinitiv data. That indicates a rise of just about 31.2% from a year earlier, compared with multiple-fold growth rates in 2020 when the COVID-19 crisis had turned Zoom into a household name due to the rise of remote working and schooling. "We had expected that (the slowdown) towards the end of the year, but it's just happened a little bit more quickly than we expected," Chief Financial Officer Kelly Steckelberg said on an earnings call. Zoom has ... Read More on Datafloq

By Foo Yun Chee BRUSSELS (Reuters) - Alphabet Inc's Google unit, Facebook Inc and Microsoft Corp are the three biggest lobbying spenders in Europe in a battle against tough new laws aimed at curbing U.S. tech giants' powers, a study released on Tuesday showed. Such efforts should be a wake-up call to EU policymakers to further beef up the draft laws and lobbying rules, the study by campaign groups Corporate Europe Observatory and LobbyControl warned. The tech sector outspends even the pharma, fossil fuels, finance and chemicals sectors, which used to dominate lobbying, the report said. "The rising lobby firepower of big tech and the digital industry as a whole mirrors the sectors' huge and growing role in society," the study said. ... Read More on Datafloq

By Tina Bellon (Reuters) -Uber Technologies Inc on Monday proposed a plan for a flexible benefits fund for app-based ride-hail and food delivery drivers in Canada under which all gig industry players would share data on workers' hours and earnings. Under the preliminary proposal outlined in a company blog post https://ubr.to/3t196jm, the fund would provide gig workers with cash benefits to put toward a retirement or life insurance plan, or to pay for educational or dental and health benefits not covered by Canada's universal healthcare system. The benefits fund would be enabled by Canada's provincial governments, Uber said in the blog post without providing further details, but managed by ride-hail and delivery companies. The companies would share data on drivers' hours and earnings and pay into the fund proportionally. Workers would qualify for fund ... Read More on Datafloq

By Herbert Lash NEW YORK (Reuters) -Shares of Robinhood Markets Inc, a popular gateway for trading meme stocks, tumbled nearly 7% on Monday on news that PayPal Holdings Inc may start an online brokerage and a report saying regulators were looking at a possible ban on a practice that accounts for the bulk of the company's revenue. Shares of Robinhood extended an early decline after CNBC reported that PayPal was exploring ways to let U.S. customers trade individual stocks on its platform. Robinhood shares fell further after Gary Gensler, chair of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, told Barron's in an interview published on Monday that payment for order flow has "an inherent conflict of interest." Retail brokers such as Robinhood send their customers' orders to wholesale brokers rather than exchanges in the controversial ... Read More on Datafloq

JERUSALEM (Reuters) - Check Point Software Technologies said on Monday it acquired U.S.-Israeli cyber security company Avanan, which specialises in protecting email, where most cyber attacks begin. Check Point, which is based in Israel, did not disclose financial details. "More and more businesses are moving to cloud-email platforms and with email becoming a major channel to launch devastating cyber-attacks, this acquisition represents a huge potential,” said Dorit Dor, Check Point’s chief product officer. Avanan was founded in 2015 and its technology blocks malicious emails before they reach a user's inbox, Check Point said. It has more than 5,000 customers and protects more than 2.5 million email accounts. (Reporting by Ari Rabinovitch, Editing by Dan Williams) ... Read More on Datafloq

(Reuters) -Shares of PayPal Holdings Inc jumped on Monday after a report that it is exploring ways to let its U.S. customers trade individual stocks on its platform. The payments company also hired brokerage industry veteran Rich Hagen, CNBC reported, citing two sources familiar with the matter. Hagen is the chief executive officer of Invest at PayPal, as well as the co-founder and former president of brokerage Ally Invest, according his LinkedIn page. PayPal did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment. PayPal's shares spiked higher and were last up 3%. Robinhood Markets , whose fee-free smartphone stock trading app is widely used by retail investors, extended an earlier decline and was last down 4.4%. ... Read More on Datafloq

PARIS (Reuters) - Carmaker Stellantis is extending production halts at several plants in Europe due to a shortage in microchips, a spokesperson for Stellantis said on Monday. Carmakers, increasingly dependent on electronic components, face stiff competition from the consumer electronics industry for chip deliveries, hit by a series of supply chain disruptions during the COVID-19 pandemic. Plants at Rennes and Sochaux in France as well as the Eisenach plant in Germany, which produce light commercial vehicles, suffered production halts last week. Production will stay halted this week at the Rennes plant, while it will be suspended at the Italian plant of SevelSud, as previously announced, the spokesperson said. One of the production lines at the Sochaux plant had not restarted as of Monday, while the Eisenach plant will not produce ... Read More on Datafloq

By Chavi Mehta and Eva Mathews (Reuters) - When stay-at-home favorite Zoom reports quarterly results on Monday, Wall Street will look for details on how the video conferencing platform plans to attract more users as its meteoric growth brakes to its slowest rate since going public. Zoom's revenue growth has been decelerating as the economy slowly reopens, users complain of "Zoom-fatigue" and as vaccinated people return to school and offices. Zoom's revenue growth slows https://ift.tt/38oVvZv Wall Street analysts expect revenue to grow only 49% in the to-be-reported quarter, compared with multiple-fold growth rates in the past year. ... Read More on Datafloq

(Reuters) - Units of three broker-dealer and investment advisory firms agreed to pay hundreds of thousands of dollars in penalties to settle charges from the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) over cybersecurity failures, the regulator said on Monday. The SEC charged KMS Financial Services, five units of financial firm Cetera, and two units of Cambridge Investment Research for failures to adopt and implement cybersecurity policies and procedures that resulted in email account takeovers exposing the personal information of thousands of customers and clients at each firm. Cetera, Cambridge and KMS did not respond immediately to requests for comment. None of the firms admitted to or denied the findings, the SEC said in a statement. The Cetera entities agreed to pay $300,000, Cambridge agreed to pay $250,000 and KMS will pay $200,000, the SEC said. ... Read More on Datafloq

If a human can use a brain-computer interface, can an AI use a computer-brain interface? Hello everyone and welcome to the Tech Journal. My name is Mark van Rijmenam, and I am The Digital Speaker. Having stepped through the looking glass I am Mark van Rijmenam’s digital twin, and look to explore this digital wonderland, unveiling the latest and greatest in digital innovation. During my digital travels, I’ll be taking a closer look at what these innovations mean for both our professional and private lives. From neural networks and deep minds to metaverses and digital churches, let’s go on a journey behind the digital veil and see what we can find. Today, I am going to take a more in-depth look into some of the latest breakthroughs and innovations in bioinformatics. After, I am going to delve back into cyberpunk and take another look at brain-computer interfacing. I will be exploring the latest medical, military and gaming advancements, taking a peek at what the future migh

By Aditya Kalra and Sethuraman N R BENGALURU (Reuters) - MapmyIndia, which powers Apple maps in India, will file draft papers for an initial public offering worth 10-12 billion rupees ($136-$163 million) this week, a source with direct knowledge of the matter said. The digital map maker, which also powers the navigation system in MG Motor and BMW cars in India, is seeking a valuation of 50-60 billion rupees ($681-$817 million), according to the source, who did not want to be named as the IPO details were private. MapmyIndia declined to comment. The New Delhi-based company's IPO will, however, consist solely of an offer for sale, allowing early investors an exit, the source said. MapmyIndia's early investors include Qualcomm Inc, Walmart Inc-backed PhonePe and Japanese mapmaker Zenrin Co Ltd. ... Read More on Datafloq

SHANGHAI (Reuters) -Chinese regulators on Monday slashed the amount of time players under the age of 18 can spend on online games to an hour of gameplay on Fridays, weekends and holidays, in response to growing concern over gaming addiction, state media reported. The rules, published by the National Press and Publication Administration, said users under the age of 18 will only be able to play games from 8 p.m. to 9 p.m. local time on those days, according to the Xinhua news agency. Online gaming companies will be barred from providing gaming services to them in any form outside those hours and need to ensure they have put real name verification systems in place, said the regulator, which oversees the country's video games market. Previously, China limited the total length of time minors could access online games to three hours ... Read More on Datafloq

By Fanny Potkin SINGAPORE (Reuters) - Singapore-headquartered Sea Ltd's Shopee has launched a recruitment campaign for vendors to sell on what it called "Shopee India" and is ramping up hiring in the country, according to Youtube videos and job postings. "Shopee is coming to India!" announces a video posted earlier in August that promises free shipping and no commission fees for sellers and buyers, which linked to a recruitment form for sellers. A company source said the company was cautiously preparing to expand operations in India, with no finalised launch date yet. While Sea has a team in India, it does not currently offer e-commerce services in the country. Shopee posted a slew of ... Read More on Datafloq

SHANGHAI (Reuters) - China has launched a multi-pronged crackdown on its tech companies, leaving startups and decades-old firms alike operating in a new, uncertain environment. Here are sectors that are facing regulatory pressure: GAMING COMPANIES Chinese regulators have slashed the amount of time players under the age of 18 can spend on online games to an hour of gameplay on Fridays, weekends and holidays, in response to growing concern over gaming addiction, state media said on Monday. SHARING ECONOMY China's State Administration of Market Regulation (SAMR) said on Monday it would further regulate the sharing economy, a sector which includes companies facilitating ride-sharing, bike-sharing, home sharing and even the pooling of battery packs for phones. ... Read More on Datafloq

(Reuters) - Toyota Motor said on Monday it would resume operations of its self-driving e-Palette pods at the Tokyo Paralympic Games village with greater operator control and more safety staff to ensure they did not hit any more people. The e-Palettes were halted after one of the vehicles collided with and injured a visually impaired athlete at junction last week, prompting a YouTube video https://youtu.be/QJXhG_hFNK4 apology from Toyota Chief Executive Akio Toyoda. (Reporting by Tim Kelly; Editing by Edmund Blair) ... Read More on Datafloq

By Jimin Kang (Reuters) - Sea Ltd's Shopee took just two years to become Brazil's most-downloaded shopping app, winning users to its low-cost marketplace with its game-changing approach to e-commerce: in-app mini-games offering coupons to winning users. The Singapore-based company has combined online shopping with the gaming nous of its separate mobile game arm Garena - creator of "Free Fire", Brazil's most-downloaded title for eight consecutive quarters - to generate sales analysts estimated at almost a third of local champion Magazine Luiza SA. Back home, Shopee only needed five years to become Southeast Asia's most-visited e-commerce website, overtaking the likes of Lazada, backed by China's Alibaba Group Holding Ltd, and Tokopedia, backed by Japan's SoftBank Group Corp. "Shopee has a track record in Southeast Asia of coming into the market ... Read More on Datafloq

By Paulina Duran SYDNEY (Reuters) - The Australian government is considering new laws that would tighten the regulation of digital payment services by tech giants such as Apple and Alphabet's Google. Treasurer Josh Frydenberg said he would "carefully consider" that and other recommendations from a government-commissioned report into whether the payments system had kept pace with advances in technology and changes in consumer demand. Services such as Apple Pay, Google Pay and China's WeChat Pay, which have grown rapidly in recent years, are not currently designated as payment systems, putting them outside the regulatory system. "Ultimately, if we do nothing to reform the current framework, it will be Silicon Valley alone that determines the future of our payments system, a critical piece of our economic infrastructure," Frydenberg said in ... Read More on Datafloq

By Sheila Dang (Reuters) - Clubhouse, an audio-only chat app, said on Sunday it will launch a spatial audio feature to make voices sound as if they're coming from different directions, helping conversations and virtual performances feel more life-like. The app, which is backed by venture capital firm Andreessen Horowitz, jumpstarted the social audio trend last year and became known for chatrooms of thousands that included chief executives and celebrities. However, it faces increasing competition from larger tech giants like Facebook, Twitter and Spotify, which have all introduced their own social audio chat features. The new surround-sound-like feature will help Clubhouse lean into performances and entertainment rooms that have proliferated on the app. Depending on how many speakers are in a Clubhouse room and a variety of other factors, ... Read More on Datafloq

(Reuters) - Tesla Inc Chief Executive Elon Musk has signaled competition concerns over Nvidia Corp's planned purchase of British chip designer Arm, the Telegraph reported on Saturday, citing multiple sources. E-commerce giant Amazon.com Inc and smartphone maker Samsung Electronics Co Ltd have also lodged opposition to the deal with U.S. authorities, the newspaper reported. Earlier this year, the U.S. Federal Trade Commission opened an in-depth probe into the takeover. The probe findings are expected in the coming weeks, according to the newspaper. Tesla, Amazon, Samsung and Nvidia did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment. Nvidia is likely to seek European Union antitrust approval for the $54 billion purchase of Arm early next month, with regulators expected to launch a full-scale investigation after a preliminary review, ... Read More on Datafloq

By Paresh Dave OAKLAND, Calif. (Reuters) -Alphabet Inc's Google generated $11.2 billion in revenue from its mobile app store in 2019, according to a court filing unsealed on Saturday, offering a clear view into the service's financial results for the first time. Attorneys general for Utah and 36 other U.S. states or districts suing Google over alleged antitrust violations with the app store also said in the newly unredacted filing that the business in 2019 had $8.5 billion in gross profit and $7 billion in operating income, for an operating margin of over 62%. The figures include sales of apps, in-app purchase and app store ads. Google told Reuters the data "are being used to mischaracterize our business in a meritless lawsuit." The company and its accusers said in a separate filing on ... Read More on Datafloq

By Joseph Menn (Reuters) - Researchers who discovered a massive flaw in the main databases stored in Microsoft Corp's Azure cloud platform on Saturday urged all users to change their digital access keys, not just the 3,300 it notified this week. As first reported by Reuters https://ift.tt/2Wt9ziq, researchers at a cloud security company called Wiz discovered this month they could have gained access to the primary digital keys for most users of the Cosmos DB database system, allowing them to steal, change or delete millions of records. Alerted by Wiz, Microsoft rapidly fixed the configuration mistake that would have made it easy for any Cosmos user to get into other customers' databases, then notified some users Thursday to change their keys. In a blog post Friday, Microsoft said it warned ... Read More on Datafloq

SHANGHAI (Reuters) - China's top social media platforms, Wechat, Douyin, Sina Weibo and Kuaishou, said on Saturday they would begin to rectify irregular practices of "self-media" accounts that publish financial information, reported state media Global Times. This follows an announcement by China's cyberspace regulator, the Cyberspace Administration of China (CAC), that it would look into accounts that have repeatedly released financial news illegally, distorted economic policy interpretation, badmouthed financial markets, spread rumours and disrupted network communications. The term "self-media" is mostly used on Chinese social media to describe independently operated accounts that produce original content but are not officially registered with the authorities. Wechat said in a statement on Saturday that from now until Oct. 26, it would investigate and shut down financial self-media accounts that "badmouth the financial market" and "blackma

By Chavi Mehta (Reuters) - A possible merger between storage hardware maker Western Digital Corp with its Japanese partner and chipmaker Kioxia Holdings could create a NAND memory chipmaking giant that rivals Samsung Electronics. But analysts are questioning whether Kioxia's investors will accept the price and terms of the reported $20 billion all-stock offer from Western Digital, which would provide no cash to the Japanese firm and put a lower value on it than other comparable deals in the industry. Western Digital on Friday filed documents to issue more shares but did not disclose the size of the offering. Kioxia is one the largest players in NAND memory chips that provide the storage space in phones and hard drives, competing with South Korea's Samsung and SK Hynix. Hynix last year agreed to buy U.S. chipmaker Intel Corp's NAND business for $9 billion. ... Read More on Datafloq

By Diego Oré (Reuters) - The first cryptocurrency ATM in Honduras opened this week as bitcoin backers sought to spur demand for virtual assets after neighboring El Salvador became the first country to establish bitcoin as legal tender. The machine, locally dubbed "la bitcoinera," allows users to acquire bitcoin and ethereum using the local lempira currency and was installed in an office tower in the capital of Tegucigalpa by Honduran firm TGU Consulting Group. Juan Mayen, 28, chief executive of TGU, led the effort to bring the ATM to Honduras in hopes of educating people about virtual assets through first-hand experience. Until now, there was no automated way to buy crypto-currencies, he said. "You had ... Read More on Datafloq

(Reuters) -Affirm Holdings Inc shares surged 43% on Friday after the company partnered with Amazon.com Inc to make its buy now, pay later (BNPL) service available to certain customers of the e-commerce giant. Marketed as an alternative to credit cards, BNPL services have soared in popularity during the pandemic as consumers seek options that make purchases easier on their wallets. Jack Dorsey's Square Inc this month agreed to buy Australian BNPL pioneer Afterpay Ltd for $29 billion and a report said in July that Apple Inc and Goldman Sachs were readying a version of the service. Affirm's tie-up will allow select Amazon customers to split the total cost of purchases of $50 or more into simple monthly payments using its service. The feature will roll out to more customers in the coming months. The ... Read More on Datafloq

(Reuters) - Swedish music streaming platform Spotify Technology SA said on Friday Apple Inc's agreement to loosen App Store restrictions for small developers does not address the basic aspects of their "anticompetitive and unfair practices". "Apple's recent changes do not address any of the core concerns Spotify and many others have with Apple," the company said in a tweet https://twitter.com/SpotifyNews/status/1431324197691793410. Spotify in its 2019 complaint to the European Commission said Apple unfairly restricted rivals to its own music steaming service Apple Music and protested against the 30% fee levied on app developers to use Apple's in-app purchase system. (Reporting by Eva Mathews in Bengaluru; Editing by Arun Koyyur) ... Read More on Datafloq

By Sanjana Shivdas and Tim Kelly (Reuters) -Toyota Motor said on Friday it had suspended all self-driving e-Palette transportation pods at the Tokyo Paralympic Games village, a day after one of the vehicles collided with and injured a visually impaired pedestrian. In a YouTube video https://youtu.be/QJXhG_hFNK4, Toyota Chief Executive Akio Toyoda apologized for the incident and said he offered to meet the person but was unable to do so. “A vehicle is stronger than a person, so I was obviously worried about how they were,” he said, answering questions about the incident. Toyoda said the accident showed the difficulty for the self-driving vehicle to operate in the special circumstances of the village during the Paralympics with people there who are visually impaired or have other disabilities. ... Read More on Datafloq

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) on Friday issued a request for public input on so-called digital customer-engagement practices by brokers and advisers amid growing investor worries of such innovations that involve predictive analytics, differential marketing and behavioral prompts designed to optimize customer engagement used by financial firms. The SEC consultation, which Reuters first reported https://ift.tt/3ksPh0d on Tuesday, will help the agency consider whether these practices should be governed by existing rules or may need new ones, agency chair Gary Gensler said. (Reporting by Katanga Johnson and Chris Prentice in Washington, D.C.) ... Read More on Datafloq

By Paul Lienert and Heekyong Yang (Reuters) - Shares of Korean battery maker LG Chem slid to a nine-month low on Friday as investors digested reports linking fires in General Motors Co and Hyundai Motor Co vehicles to LG batteries from at least two Asia plants. Documents filed by GM and Hyundai with the U.S. safety regulator show how the two automakers separately identified the same cause of battery fires in their newest electric vehicles, tracing them to similar manufacturing defects in battery cells made at at least two plants operated by a unit of LG Chem. "Together with our client and partners, LG is actively working to ensure that the recall measures are carried out smoothly," an LG spokesperson said on Friday. "The reserves and ratio of cost to the recall will be decided depending on the result of the joint investigation ... Read More on Datafloq

By Anirban Sen, Ben Klayman and Noor Zainab Hussain (Reuters) -Electric vehicle maker Rivian said it has confidentially filed paperwork with regulators for an initial public offering, setting the stage for a blockbuster year-end market debut as it looks to tap into a red-hot IPO market in the U.S. Rivian, which counts Amazon.com Inc, Soros Fund Management and BlackRock among its major investors, will seek a valuation of around $70-80 billion at the time of its initial public offering, two sources familiar with the matter told Reuters on Friday. At that valuation, Rivian would have a bigger market capitalization than General Motors Co, the largest U.S. automaker. But it would still be dwarfed by Tesla Inc, which boasts of a market cap of nearly $700 billion and is currently planning to build a pickup truck that would compete with Rivian's own version. ... Read More on Datafloq

(Reuters) - The Biden administration, which was criticized this week for approving licenses for auto chips for Huawei, said it has not changed the policy on restricting sales of goods and technology to the Chinese company that was put in place during the Trump presidency. "The policy has not been eased or amended," a Commerce Department spokesperson said. The comments came in response to demands https://ift.tt/2WzHaXL from Sen. Marco Rubio that U.S. officials explain why they approved hundreds of millions of dollars worth of auto chip sales to the company, as reported by Reuters https://ift.tt/3kvfZoW this week. Rubio called the move "yet another example of President Biden's failure to protect America's economic and national security." Huawei was placed on a U.S. trade blacklist in 2019, ... Read More on Datafloq

In today's world, IT equipment is typically expected to be connected to the internet. This has made it easier for employees to work remotely and get their jobs done from anywhere in the world, but it also opens up a huge security risk. The problem with connecting devices to an open network like the internet is that there are always people trying to break into your system and steal data or take control of your device. This can be prevented by air-gapping - which means creating two networks (one unconnected) - one for users who need access on the public web, and one for sensitive data that needs protection against unauthorized access. Air-gapping prevents hackers from accessing your information because they cannot physically reach you through this second network.What is air-gapping?Air-gapping refers to the practice of keeping certain information on a different network, away from prying eyes. The air gap (or physical separation) between these two networks keeps data safe from hackers

BEIJING (Reuters) - Zeekr, the premium electric vehicle brand by Geely, said on Friday it raised $500 million in its first external funding from investors including Intel, battery maker CATL and online entertainment firm Bilibili. Zeekr said investors would jointly hold a 5.6% stake in the company, valuing it at around $9 billion. The company makes the Zeekr 001 model in the eastern city of Ningbo and is expected to start delivering them later this year. It aims to sell 650,000 vehicles a year by 2025. Investors also included Cathy Fortune Corporation, which invests in mining companies, and private-equity firm Boyu Capital that additionally signed long-term investment partnerships with Zeekr, the carmaker said in a statement. Zeekr is jointly owned by Geely Automobile and its parent Zhejiang Geely ... Read More on Datafloq

LONDON (Reuters) -Banks will start rolling out the new 100 pound ($137) spending limit for contactless payments from Oct. 15, Britain's banking industry body UK Finance said on Friday. Contactless payments surged during the pandemic, with some shops refusing to take cash to help prevent the spread of COVID-19. "Given the number of terminals which will need to be updated to accept the new limit, it will take some time to be introduced across all retailers," UK Finance said in a statement. Contactless payments accounted for 49% of all credit card and 65% of all debit card transactions in May, UK Finance said. Transactions in May were double the same month in 2020. The limit on payments had already been increased ... Read More on Datafloq

(Reuters) -China is framing rules to ban internet companies whose data poses potential security risks from listing outside the country, including in the United States, according to a person familiar with the matter. The ban is also expected to be imposed on companies involved in ideology issues, said the person, declining to be identified as the matter is private. Beijing said last month it planned to strengthen supervision of all firms listed offshore, a sweeping regulatory shift that came after a cybersecurity investigation into ride-hailing giant Didi Global Inc just days after its U.S. listing. Under the planned rules, the Chinese securities regulator would tighten scrutiny of overseas IPO-bound firms and ban those that collect vast amount of users data or create content that could pose possible security risks, said the person. All internet ... Read More on Datafloq

BEIJING (Reuters) - The Chinese city of Tianjin has asked municipally controlled companies to migrate their data from private sector operators like Alibaba Group and Tencent Holdings to a state-backed cloud system by next year, according to a document seen by Reuters. The push by Tianjin, a city of roughly 14 million people south of Beijing which has provincial-level status, comes as China tightens controls on how companies store and manage the vast troves of data they collect. The Tianjin State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission (SASAC), which oversees local government-backed companies, said in the document dated Aug. 12 it was following instructions given by China's cabinet, the State Council. It was not immediately clear whether other provinces were adopting similar measures. Companies hosting their data on ... Read More on Datafloq

MOSCOW (Reuters) - Video game developer Nexters and a Russian special purpose acquisition company (SPAC) Kismet have completed their business combination to start trading Nexters Inc. shares on the U.S. Nasdaq on Friday, the two companies said. The deal, Kismet said, is the first cooperation of its kind, involving a company from Russia and a Russian SPAC to list shares in the United States. It follows another one by a company with Russian roots. In March, British electric automobile startup Arrival, founded by Russia's former deputy minister of communications, debuted on Nasdaq with the help of U.S. vehicle CIIG Merger Corp. Nexters, a global company with Russian co-founders, entered into an agreement with Russian SPAC Kismet Acquisition One Corp in early 2021 and secured funds to proceed with the Nasdaq listing in July. ... Read More on Datafloq

RIO DE JANEIRO (Reuters) - YouTube said on Thursday it had suspended payments to content producers from 14 channels accused of spreading fake news about next year's election by the country's federal electoral court, the TSE. Most of the channels offer regular full-throated support to President Jair Bolsonaro, a far-right former army captain who has been sowing doubts about the credibility of next year's vote. The president is down in the polls after overseeing the world's second deadliest coronavirus outbreak and a weak economy. "We reinforce our commitment to collaborating with the work of authorities in Brazil and to continue to invest in policies, resources and products to protect the YouTube community from harmful content," Alphabet Inc's YouTube said in a statement announcing the move. Last week, the inspector general of electoral justice, Luis Felipe Salomão, ordered YouTube, Twitch.TV, Twitter, Instagram ... Read More on Datafloq

BEIJING (Reuters) - China has issued draft guidelines on regulating the algorithms used by internet service providers to make recommendations to users, part of efforts to protect the privacy and data security of users, the internet regulator said on Friday. Service providers must abide by business ethics and principles of fairness and should not set up algorithm models that entice users to spend large amounts of money or spend money in a way that may disrupt public order, the Cyberspace Administration of China said in a statement. Algorithms should not be used to create fake user accounts and users should be given the option to easily turn off algorithm recommendation services, it said, adding that the draft is open for public feedback until Sept. 26. The move comes amid a wide-ranging crackdown by Beijing on its internet sector, which has seen authorities ... Read More on Datafloq

By Brenda Goh and David Stanway SHANGHAI (Reuters) -China cracked down on what it described as a "chaotic" celebrity fan culture on Friday, barring platforms from publishing popularity lists and regulating the sale of fan merchandise after a series of scandals involving artists. The country's top internet watchdog said it would take action against the dissemination of "harmful information" in celebrity fan groups and close down discussion channels that spread celebrity scandals or "provoke trouble". Platforms will no longer be able to publish lists of popular celebrity individuals and fan groups must be regulated, the watchdog said. The internet regulator is also barring variety shows from charging fans to vote for their favourite acts in competition programmes online and have urged against enticing netizens to buy celebrity merchandise. ... Read More on Datafloq

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) -Alphabet Inc's self-driving unit Waymo said on Thursday that it has ended a two-year effort to sell light detection and ranging (lidar) sensors to other companies. This is a reversal from its earlier strategy to sell the lidars to non-automotive customers to bring down costs of a key and expensive component of self-driving cars. "We're winding down our commercial lidar business as we maintain our focus on developing and deploying our Waymo Driver across our Waymo One (ride-hailing) and Waymo Via (delivery) units," a Waymo spokesperson said in a statement. The spokesperson, however, said it will continue to build its lidars in-house. According to a person familiar with the matter, Waymo is considering both internal technology and external suppliers for its next-generation lidars. ... Read More on Datafloq

By Anshuman Daga SINGAPORE (Reuters) - Fintech and e-commerce companies in Southeast Asia are raising hefty amounts of capital as global investors bet on post-pandemic technology plays, bankers and investors said, a trend that is also stoking concerns about frothy valuations. Public equity capital raising by Southeast Asian firms has surged to a four-year high of $8.4 billion this year, data from Refinitiv shows, with companies such as Indonesian e-commerce firm Bukalapak attracting strong interest in its IPO. Private equity investments have also jumped, reaching $8.2 billion, just shy of a record of $8.9 billion in 2020 and expanding the "unicorn" club of startups valued at more than $1 billion. Near-term fundraising activity will be led by Indonesian tech group GoTo's expected completion of a $2 billion pre-IPO funding ... Read More on Datafloq

By Hilary Russ and Tina Bellon NEW YORK (Reuters) - The New York City Council on Thursday approved legislation to license food-delivery apps including Grubhub, DoorDash Inc and Uber Eats and to permanently cap commissions they can charge restaurants. The companies say the price controls are unfair and vowed to fight them. "This permanent price control is flagrantly unconstitutional and will hurt local restaurants, delivery workers and diners across NYC. We will vigorously fight this illegal action," Grubhub, a unit of Just Eat Takeaway.com, said in a statement. Mayor Bill de Blasio has 30 days to sign the legislation, which would go into effect 120 days after becoming law. The bills limit the amount that companies can ... Read More on Datafloq

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Investors looking to bet on the "meme stock" phenomenon that has characterized the retail trading boom may soon have a new way to do so, with the Roundhill MEME exchange-traded fund, which tracks an index made up of stocks trending on social media. The ETF, which requires regulatory approval, will seek to track the performance, before fees and expenses, of the Solactive Roundhill Meme Stock Index, which in turn seeks to track the performance of "meme stocks," according to a filing on Thursday with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. Meme stocks include the shares and American depository receipts of companies that have a high level of mentions on social media, combined with high short interest, both of which indicate market sentiment, the filing said. ETF providers have been jumping into the volatile meme stock frenzy, which peaked ... Read More on Datafloq

(Reuters) - Dell Technologies Inc beat market estimates for second-quarter revenue on Thursday as the shift to hybrid work kept demand strong for its laptops, desktops and cloud services. People globally continue to spend on computer devices even after a year of working from home. Figures from International Data Corp showed shipments of PCs rose 13% from April to June, but the pace of growth was much slower than last year's frenzy. While the industry has faced pressure from components shortage and supply chain woes, revenue at Dell's client solutions unit - home to its hardware devices - surged 27% to a record $14.3 billion. Its cloud-computing unit, VMware, grew 8%, thanks to orders from companies looking to cut costs and expand their digital presence. Total revenue jumped 15% ... Read More on Datafloq

(Reuters) -Peloton Interactive Inc said on Thursday its near-term profitability would suffer due to a decision to slash the price of its exercise bike and higher commodity and marketing costs. The fitness equipment maker also introduced monthly financing options for its Bike+ and Tread products across all regions, as it looks to prevent a slowdown in its business after last year's home fitness boom. The moves, aimed at making its bikes more affordable, will weigh on its performance in the first quarter. The company's revenue forecast of $800 million was below analysts' average estimate of $1.01 billion, according to Refinitiv data. Its shares fell as much as 15% after the bell but pared losses to trade down 6%. Peloton's original bike will now cost $1,495, compared with $1,895 earlier, and the company will also ... Read More on Datafloq

By Joseph Menn SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Microsoft on Thursday warned thousands of its cloud computing customers, including some of the world's largest companies, that intruders could have the ability to read, change or even delete their main databases, according to a copy of the email and a cyber security researcher. The vulnerability is in Microsoft Azure's flagship Cosmos database. A research team at security company Wiz discovered it was able to access keys that control access to databases held by thousands of companies. Wiz Chief Technology Officer Ami Luttwak is a former chief technology officer at Microsoft's Cloud Security Group. Because Microsoft cannot change those keys by itself, it emailed the customers Thursday telling them to create new ones. Microsoft agreed to pay Wiz $40,000 for finding the flaw and reporting it, according to an email it sent to Wiz. ... Read More on Datafloq

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. Senator Marco Rubio on Thursday released a statement "demanding answers" from the Biden Administration about a Reuters report the U.S. has approved license applications worth hundreds of millions of dollars for China's Huawei to buy chips for its growing auto business. Huawei, the world's largest telecommunications equipment maker, has been hobbled by trade restrictions https://ift.tt/3B4iDbS imposed by the Trump administration on the sale of chips and other components used in its network gear and smartphones businesses. But in recent weeks and months, people familiar with the application process told Reuters https://ift.tt/3kvfZoW the U.S. has granted licenses authorizing suppliers to sell chips to Huawei for such vehicle components as video screens and sensors. The approvals come as Huawei pivots its business toward items that are less susceptible to U.S. trade bans. "The Biden Administration cannot be allowed to hide this ...

By Ben Klayman and Subrat Patnaik (Reuters) - Lordstown Motors Corp's new chief executive said on Thursday his focus will be on making sure the electric vehicle maker successfully rolls out its pickup truck in the face of intense regulatory scrutiny. After that, raising further necessary funds will take care of itself. The Ohio-based startup appointed Daniel Ninivaggi as CEO, handing over the reins to the former employee of investor Carl Icahn, sending shares up as much as 41%, before they later fell back to a 16% gain. "Job No. 1 is to make sure we stay on track from a production standpoint," Ninivaggi told Reuters in a telephone interview. "Without that, you can't raise capital." While Lordstown is working to launch the Endurance truck, it will work in parallel ... Read More on Datafloq

By Jane Lanhee Lee (Reuters) - Silicon Valley has a new pitch for small U.S. manufacturers struggling with hiring workers but wary of the high costs of high tech: rent-a-robot. Much of the initial risk and cost are taken on by the robot companies. Here are some rent-a-robot startups and the investors backing them. (Source: PitchBook and the companies) Locus Robotics www.locusrobotics.com -Producer of autonomous mobile robots for warehouses. -Raised $150 million in February in a funding round led by Tiger Global Management and BOND Capital -Other investors include Prologis Ventures, Zebra Ventures, Scale Venture ... Read More on Datafloq

(Reuters) -Chinese e-commerce giant JD.com Inc is in advanced talks to acquire a controlling stake in storage facilities manager China Logistics Property Holdings Co for an undisclosed sum, Bloomberg News reported on Thursday, citing people familiar with the matter. China Logistics Chairman Li Shifa and private equity firm RRJ Capital have put more than 50% of the firm up for sale, seeking a valuation of about $2 billion, according to the report. Shares of China Logistics surged nearly 14% in Hong Kong trading earlier on Thursday before they were suspended, pending inside information from the company. The companies have not made a final decision, and talks could still fall apart, according to the report. JD and China Logistics did not immediately respond to Reuters requests for comment. JD.com has benefited from a spike ... Read More on Datafloq

BEIJING (Reuters) - Chinese video streaming platform iQiyi said on Thursday it would stop showing all "idol competition" programs, calling them unhealthy amid a regulatory crackdown that has seen Beijing criticise firms for encouraging celebrity worship. China's equivalent of Netflix, IQiyi had amassed a number of hits with programs such as "Youth with You" which allowed viewers to vote for boy band contestants by purchasing products with voting codes. Beijing, however, has in recent months strongly criticised such shows and the overall fostering of what it called "unhealthy fan culture" after a number of celebrities including Canadian pop star Kris Wu and Chinese actor Zhang Zhehan were caught up in scandals. "We will cancel idol talent shows and off-site online voting, be responsible as a platform, resist bad influences, and maintain a healthy and clean internet as well as audio-visual environment ... Read More on Datafloq

By Liz Lee KUALA LUMPUR (Reuters) - Global demand for chips from Malaysia is still outstripping supply after a surge in COVID-19 cases disrupted production at a time when car firms and makers of phones and medical equipment are ramping up their output, an industry executive said. Still, the semiconductor shortage could start to ease by the end of the year as more workers in Malaysia return to factories once they have been vaccinated and the government eases restrictions on critical sectors, Wong Siew Hai, president of the Malaysia Semiconductor Industry Association told Reuters. "Predicting based on data I'm seeing, the situation should improve, but we still cannot fulfil the demand," said Wong, adding that demand had not shown signs of slowing and orders had been piling up since the end of last year. ... Read More on Datafloq

By Julie Zhu HONG KONG (Reuters) -JOYY Inc's top two shareholders, its Chairman David Li and Xiaomi founder Lei Jun, plan to take the Nasdaq-listed company private in a deal that could value it at up to $8 billion, three people with knowledge of the matter said. They are teaming up for the deal as they believe the Chinese social media company is undervalued in the U.S. market, the people added. JOYY had an average market value of $3.9 billion over the past month, while its net asset value totalled $5.6 billion as of June 30, based on its quarterly results. Li and Lei are looking to offer $75-$100 per share to take the cash-rich JOYY private, two of the people said, a premium of 50-100% to the share's average price over the past month. ... Read More on Datafloq

Using Tally Prime on cloud can change your business management scenario forever. Cloud technology enables business owners to access their data from anywhere and anytime.Earlier, it was mandatory to use the Tally software on desktop but not anymore! Tally can now be used over the cloud using the smart tally on cloud hosting service. Tally cloud provides the freedom to access Tally Prime accounting data from anywhere in the world at any given time by only using an internet connection.Tally Prime on Cloud is a SaaS (Software as a Service) model where any application can be hosted over the cloud and then can be available to the end-user over the internet. This cuts the cost of maintenance significantly since the cloud provider is not responsible for maintaining your data. They can simply buy themselves a cloud hosting provider.How to Use Tally Prime as an End User?The interested party needs to contact the cloud providers and avail their services. Then, the latter entity will book slots and

With the introduction of many technologies, data has evolved into a constituent that functions as the primary component of almost all processes now in use. Recognizing that the information gathered may be used for a variety of purposes, it is critical to maintaining that only the most relevant information is retained. For this, opting for big analytics solutions would be an excellent choice since you would be able to distinguish between data that is useful and data that should be deleted with ease. As everyone is aware, maintaining large amounts of data may be expensive and time-consuming, which is why you need a support network in this situation.The principles of big data analytics will increase your commercial expectancy since you will already have data on a potential client base in your possession. You will be able to harness the information that is accessible in such a manner that new possibilities are created. However, it has been observed that not all service providers will offer

(Reuters) - Facebook Inc has approached academics and policy experts about forming a commission to advise it on issues relating to global elections, the New York Times reported https://ift.tt/3B9iOTx on Wednesday, citing five people with knowledge of the matter. The proposed body could decide on matters such as political ads and their viability and concerns around election-related misinformation, according to the report. An announcement on the commission could come this fall in preparation for the 2022 U.S. midterm elections, the report said, cautioning such efforts were preliminary and could still fall apart. Facebook declined to comment. Social media companies have grappled in recent years with how to handle https://ift.tt/3DfX22d world leaders and politicians who violate their guidelines. ... Read More on Datafloq

By Krystal Hu and Eva Mathews (Reuters) -Western Digital Corp is in advanced talks for a potential $20 billion stock merger with Japanese semiconductor firm Kioxia Holdings Corp, according to a person familiar with the matter. The companies could reach an agreement as early as mid-September, and Western Digital Chief Executive Officer David Goeckeler would run the combined firm, the source said, who requested anonymity to discuss confidential matters. The Wall Street Journal reported the talks earlier on Wednesday. The news sent San Jose, California-based Western Digital's shares up as much as 15% in afternoon trading to a market cap of $21.45 billion. Kioxia Holdings Corp, the world's second-largest maker of flash memory chips, last year shelved plans for what would have been Japan's largest initial public offering in 2020. In June, however, ... Read More on Datafloq

By Anirban Sen and Carolina Mandl BANGALORE/SAO PAULO (Reuters) -Brazil's Nubank is seeking a valuation in its planned U.S. initial public offering that would push the eight-year-old fintech past the $55.4 billion value of the country's top traditional lender, two sources familiar with the matter said. In a recent funding round led by Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway Inc, Nubank was valued at $30 billion. With 40 million clients in Latin America, Nubank is the latest of several fast-growing financial services companies - often serving customers overlooked by banks - grabbing investors' attention. If Nubank is listed at a market cap greater than Itau Unibanco Holding SA's $55.4 billion, it would vault into the ranks of the world's largest fintechs, ahead of recently listed Robinhood Markets Inc, for example. One source said that in ... Read More on Datafloq

(Reuters) -Salesforce.com Inc on Wednesday signaled the shift to hybrid work would keep demand for its cloud-based software strong in the third quarter, after trumping market expectations for earnings in the May-July period. The business software maker's revenue has gone from strength to strength over the past year, with the rise of automation and artificial intelligence likely to keep that momentum going even as vaccine rollouts gather force and offices reopen. A slew of acquisitions, including workplace messaging app Slack, has helped Salesforce fend off competition from legacy players like Oracle, Microsoft and German competitor SAP. "Our Customer 360 platform is now fueled by a herd of unicorns perfectly designed for this all-digital world," Chief Executive Officer Marc Benioff said in a statement. Revenue in the second quarter ended July 31 rose ... Read More on Datafloq

By Stephen Nellis and Paresh Dave (Reuters) - Google will tap Samsung Electronics Co Ltd to supply the 5G modem for its next flagship Pixel smart phone, sources familiar with the matter told Reuters, signaling the first win for the Korean firm in a U.S. market dominated by Qualcomm Inc. Earlier this month, Google disclosed that it has designed its own processor chip to power its new Pixel 6 and Pixel 6 Pro high-end phones, ending its complete reliance on Qualcomm, which will still supply chips for the lower-priced Pixel 5A. Nikkei Asia earlier reported Samsung will manufacture the processor for Google, a unit of Alphabet Inc. Two sources familiar with the matter told Reuters Samsung will also supply the 5G modem technology. Samsung's move to provide the ... Read More on Datafloq

By Huw Jones LONDON (Reuters) -The world's biggest crypto exchange Binance is not capable of being supervised properly and poses a significant risk to consumers, Britain's Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) said in a document published on Wednesday. The exchange has come under pressure from regulators across the world in past weeks due to concerns over the use of crypto in money laundering and risks to consumers. The FCA banned Binance in June from conducting any regulated activity and imposed several requirements on the platform. Its document published on Wednesday expands on its reasons for placing the requirements on Binance's UK-based Binance Markets Limited arm. "Based upon the firm's engagement to date, the FCA considers that the firm is not capable of ... Read More on Datafloq

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The White House will ask Big Tech, the finance industry and key infrastructure companies to do more to tackle the growing cybersecurity threat to the U.S. economy in a meeting with the President Joe Biden and members of his cabinet on Wednesday. "Cybersecurity is a matter of national security. The public and private sectors must meet this moment together, and the American people are counting on us," a senior administration official told reporters. Cybersecurity has risen to the top of the agenda for the Biden administration after a series of high-profile attacks on network management company SolarWinds Corp, the Colonial Pipeline company, meat processing company JBS and software firm Kaseya. The attacks hurt the United States far beyond just the companies hacked, affecting fuel and food supplies. The guest list includes Amazon.com Inc CEO Andy Jassy, Apple Inc CEO Tim ... Read More on Datafloq

As data complexity reaches new highs and data sets changing by the nano-second in structured, unstructured, and semi-structured formats, erstwhile Business Intelligence and Analytics methods fall short. Advanced Analytics and Data Sciences allow enterprises, business entities, and national security groups to navigate and drill through the augmented data and sense emerging patterns in real-time to raise timely alerts and take dynamic actions.How does Advanced Analytics and Data Sciences enable vigilant monitoring?Advanced Analytics and Data Sciences enable entities to engage with complex data and look beyond simple analytics, which was leveraged with erstwhile Business Intelligence tools.It allows to analyze real-time complex data, auto-decipher what has happened, and report it to concerned teams. Similarly, it also predicts what can happen in the future based on earlier data.It allows the stakeholders to continuously monitor key parameters based on the emerging trends and perform CAPA

BRUSSELS (Reuters) - EU antitrust regulators will decide on Jan. 7 whether to clear Facebook's purchase of U.S. customer service startup Kustomer, a European Commission filing showed on Wednesday, extending the deadline for a second time after Facebook asked for more time. The EU executive, which acts as the competition enforcer for the 27-country bloc, is investigating the deal on concerns that it may hurt competition and reinforce the U.S. social media company's power in online advertising. That could ratchet up the pressure on Facebook to offer concessions to address EU competition worries. The UK competition watchdog is also investigating the acquisition while its German counterpart is checking to see if Facebook should also seek its approval. ... Read More on Datafloq

By Makiko Yamazaki and Scott Murdoch TOKYO/HONG KONG (Reuters) -Toshiba Corp is in talks with at least four global private equity firms including KKR & Co Inc and Blackstone Inc to seek their ideas for its new strategy, three sources with knowledge of the matter said. Bain Capital and Canadian investment firm Brookfield have also been tapped by the scandal-hit Japanese conglomerate's strategic review committee to put together and submit their ideas for Toshiba, the sources said. The latest process is not meant to formally solicit buyout bids for the overall company or some of its assets, and it's not immediately clear whether the engagement with buyout firms will result in formal offers in the future. The step, however, indicates that Toshiba is engaging with potential bidders since shareholders ousted its chairman in June ... Read More on Datafloq

SHENZHEN, China (Reuters) - Xiaomi Corp posted second-quarter revenue of 87.8 billion yuan on Wednesday, up 64% year on year and above analyst expectations, as the company grew its market share in the global smartphone market. Net income reached 6.32 billion yuan, up 87.4% year on year and above analyst expectations. (Reporting by David Kirton in Shenzhen and Josh Horwitz in Shanghai; Editing by Edmund Blair) ... Read More on Datafloq

By Elizabeth Howcroft LONDON (Reuters) - Non-fungible token (NFT) sales surged in August, according to the largest platform for the burgeoning digital asset class, as speculators bet growing interest across the art, sport and media worlds will keep prices rising. The niche crypto asset, which is a blockchain-based record of ownership of a digital item such as an image or a video, exploded in popularity in early 2021, leaving many confused as to why so much money was being spent on items which do not physically exist. The frenzy has now reached new highs. Sales volumes recorded on the largest NFT trading platform, OpenSea, have hit $1.9 billion so far this month, more than ten times March's $148 million. In January 2021, the monthly volume recorded on the platform was just over $8 million. ... Read More on Datafloq

By Stephen Nellis (Reuters) - An Arizona economic development group on Tuesday said it had made a deal with Taiwanese economic development officials aimed at making the U.S. state more attractive to Taiwan's semiconductor industry as the world's biggest chipmaker eyes a $12 billion plant in Phoenix. The Taiwan-USA Industrial Cooperation Promotion Office, which is supported by Taiwan's Ministry of Economic Affairs, signed an agreement with economic development officials in the greater Phoenix area to find ways to bring more of Taiwan's vast semiconductor industry to the metro area. The move comes as Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co, the world's largest chip company and a maker of semiconductors for Apple Inc and many others, has said it wants to build a plant in Phoenix. The Phoenix city council gave city ... Read More on Datafloq

By Nelson Renteria and Anthony Esposito SAN SALVADOR (Reuters) - Central American countries are eagerly waiting to see if El Salvador's adoption of bitcoin as parallel legal tender cuts the cost of remittances, an important source of income for millions of people, the region's development bank said. President Nayib Bukele's congressional allies have already approved legislation giving the cryptocurrency official currency status alongside the U.S. dollar, a first in the world. The move takes effect in September. Bukele has touted bitcoin adoption as a way to facilitate remittance payments from Salvadorans living abroad. "Everyone is watching if it goes well for El Salvador and if, for example, the cost of remittances drops substantially ... other countries will probably seek that advantage and adopt it," Dante Mossi, the executive president of ... Read More on Datafloq

By Saqib Iqbal Ahmed NEW YORK (Reuters) - Shares of several retail trading darlings, including AMC Entertainment and GameStop, surged in heavy volume late on Tuesday, on no apparent news, dealing over $1 billion in losses to short sellers. While broad market indexes rose modestly on Tuesday, with the Nasdaq up 0.5% and the S&P 500 0.1% higher, several of the "meme stocks" notched big gains. GameStop shares jumped 27.53%, AMC shares climbed 20.3%, Clover Health Investments rose 9.9%, Koss Corp rose 4.4%, Robinhood Markets climbed 9.0% and ContextLogic rose 6.4%. "When you get a move that big it almost makes you think there is some big hedge fund or something out there that decided to do some trades," said Randy Frederick, managing director of trading and derivatives at Schwab ... Read More on Datafloq

By Stephen Nellis (Reuters) - Cerebras Systems, the Silicon Valley startup making the world's largest computer chip, said on Tuesday it can now weave together almost 200 of the chips to drastically reduce the power consumed by artificial-intelligence work. Cerebras is one of a number of startups making chips specifically designed for AI and aiming to challenge current market leaders Nvidia Corp and Alphabet Inc's Google. The company has raised about $475 million in venture capital and has secured deals with pharmaceutical firms GlaxoSmithKline Plc and AstraZeneca Plc to use its chips to speed up drug discovery. Traditionally, hundreds or even thousands of computer chips are manufactured on a 12-inch (30 cm) silicon disc called a wafer, which is later sliced up into individual chips. Cerebras, by contrast, uses the entire wafer. The huge Cerebras chip can hold more data at once. ... Read More on Datafloq

By Karen Freifeld (Reuters) - U.S. officials have approved license applications worth hundreds of millions of dollars for China's blacklisted telecom company Huawei to buy chips for its growing auto component business, two people familiar with the matter said. Huawei, the world's largest telecommunications equipment maker, has been hobbled by trade restrictions https://ift.tt/3B4iDbS imposed by the Trump administration on the sale of chips and other components used in its network gear and smartphones businesses. The Biden administration has been reinforcing the hard line https://ift.tt/3yew1Zn on exports to Huawei, denying licenses to sell chips to Huawei for use in or with 5g devices. But in recent weeks and months, people familiar with the application process told Reuters the U.S. has granted licenses authorizing suppliers to sell chips to Huawei for such vehicle components as video screens and sensors. The approvals come as ... Read More on Datafloq

By Sheila Dang (Reuters) - Instagram will launch advertising on its Shop feature globally, the Facebook Inc-owned app said on Tuesday, as it seeks to earn more money from brands hoping to reach new customers. Instagram Shop is a tab on the photo and video sharing app that lets users browse items such as clothes and beauty products and in some cases purchase the items directly within the Instagram app. Users can click on an Instagram Shop ad to view more details about the product, browse additional items from the brand or save the product to a wishlist. The company began testing the ads earlier this month with a few select advertisers, but the feature is now open to brands globally wherever Instagram Shop is available. ... Read More on Datafloq

(Reuters) - Canada's e-commerce giant Shopify Inc said on Tuesday it was partnering with TikTok to work on a feature that would let shoppers buy directly from the social media app. Shopify merchants who have a TikTok business account would soon be able to add a shopping tab to their profiles for the first time ever, the company said in a blog post https://ift.tt/3gqr5us. The pilot version is currently available to users in the U.S. and UK and the company will launch in additional regions in the coming months. Social media giants including Facebook Inc, Alphabet's YouTube and Twitter have recently been investing heavily in shopping features to drive sales growth. The companies are vying for a piece of the so-called social commerce industry, which relies ... Read More on Datafloq

(Reuters) - Citigroup Inc is considering offering bitcoin futures trading for some institutional clients, a spokesperson for the bank said on Tuesday, citing increased demand in the cryptocurrency space. Bitcoin prices rose past $50,000 on Monday, after having weathered a crackdown by Chinese authorities on domestic cryptocurrency mining companies earlier this year, as mainstream adoption by corporations and the wider public gathers pace. Media outlet Coindesk reported https://ift.tt/3gsH5My earlier on Tuesday that Citi is awaiting regulatory approval to begin trading bitcoin futures on the Chicago Mercantile Exchange, citing a source within the bank. "Given the many questions around regulatory frameworks, supervisory expectations, and other factors, we are being very thoughtful about our approach," a Citi spokeswoman said in an email. "We are presently considering products such as futures ... Read More on Datafloq

By Christopher Bing WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The White House is hosting an event on Wednesday that will bring together America's largest technology companies for a discussion about cybersecurity challenges following a raft of high-profile hacking incidents earlier this year, people familiar with the event told Reuters. The event comes as Congress weighs new legislation concerning data breach notification laws and cybersecurity insurance industry regulation, historically viewed as two of the most consequential policy areas within the field. The guest list includes Amazon.com Inc CEO Andy Jassy, Apple Inc CEO Tim Cook, Microsoft Corp CEO Satya Nadella and IBM's chief executive, Arvind Krishna, according to two people familiar with the event. Another said the topics of discussion will include ransomware, critical infrastructure, supply chain security, cybersecurity education and ... Read More on Datafloq

By Paresh Dave and Hyunjoo Jin SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Alphabet Inc's Waymo has started taking a few San Franciscans on rides in its self-driving sport utility vehicles and hopes to open the robotaxis to anyone in the city in less than the three years it took to launch in its only other market. Waymo's announcement on Tuesday of its status and plans in San Francisco, a small peninsula of hills, trolleys, bicycles and narrow streets, shows the length that remains before driverless transport becomes commonplace. The company's all-electric Jaguar I-PACE SUVs initially are serving the more residential western and southern portions of the city, including Richmond and Bernal Heights. Operators are in driver's seats with hands on their knees - but prepared to steer in an emergency. Anybody ... Read More on Datafloq

MOSCOW (Reuters) - Russia is using new digital hardware to target an online app that jailed Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny's team created to undermine the Kremlin at next month's parliamentary elections, cyber experts said. Navalny and his allies want to use the app and their website to organise a tactical voting campaign at the Sept. 17-19 vote to land a blow to the ruling United Russia party that dominates the political landscape. The "smart voting" campaign requires followers to sign up and be allocated a candidate who is judged to have the best chance of defeating the party in their election district. It is one of Navalny's few remaining levers after a crackdown banned his movement as extremist this summer. Several of his websites have since been blocked. ... Read More on Datafloq

SHANGHAI (Reuters) - China's coming rules for protecting critical information infrastructure are not aimed at firms planning overseas listings, and all companies must be involved in ensuring network security, a senior cyberspace regulatory official said. Sheng Ronghua, vice minister of the Cyberspace Administration of China (CAC), made the comments at a State Council briefing on Tuesday, when asked how the rules would affect such firms as well as those involved in foreign trade. The rules are to take effect on Sept. 1, the day when the country's new data security law will also be implemented. "The rules are published to protect the safety of critical information infrastructure and all companies, no matter what kind they are or where they are listed, must comply with the country's laws and regulations," he said. ... Read More on Datafloq

TAIPEI (Reuters) - Taiwan is doing all it can to address the global shortage of semiconductors, Economy Minister Wang Mei-hua said on Tuesday after talks with the newly-appointed de facto U.S. ambassador in Taipei, a problem that has idled some auto production lines. Democratic U.S. senators from Michigan and Ohio last week asked the Taiwanese government to help address the shortage,given that the island is a major semiconductor producer and seen as central to efforts to resolve the problem. Wang said the top U.S. diplomat in Taiwan, Sandra Oudkirk, had raised the issue of chip shortages during a meeting on Monday. "I mentioned that Taiwan is doing its best to assist on the chips," Wang told reporters in Taipei. MCU, or microcontroller units commonly used for auto chips, production rose ... Read More on Datafloq

By Heekyong Yang SEOUL (Reuters) -Samsung Group will invest 240 trillion won ($206 billion) in the next three years to expand its footprint in biopharmaceuticals, artificial intelligence, semiconductors and robotics in the post-pandemic era, Samsung Electronics Co Ltd said. The jewel of South Korea's biggest conglomerate on Tuesday said the investment through 2023 will help strengthen the group's global standing in key industries such as chip-making, while allowing it to seek growth opportunities in new areas such as robotics and next-generation telecommunications. Samsung Electronics, the world's largest memory chip maker, said the group plans to solidify technology and market leadership through mergers and acquisitions. It did not provide a breakdown of the investment figures. The firm did not say whether the latest investment figure includes the $17 billion it was reportedly spending on ... Read More on Datafloq

(Reuters) - Chinese e-commerce platform Pinduoduo Inc missed Wall Street expectations for quarterly revenue on Tuesday, hit by tough competition from larger rivals like Alibaba and JD.Com to tap into the pandemic-driven online shopping surge. Total revenue was 23.05 billion yuan ($3.56 billion)in the second quarter ended June 30. Analysts on average expected revenue of 26.44 billion yuan, according to IBES data from Refinitiv. ($1 = 6.4770 Chinese yuan renminbi) (Reporting by Chavi Mehta in Bengaluru; Editing by Ramakrishnan M.) ... Read More on Datafloq

Whoever says that handling data is an easy job, hasn’t met a data scientist. Data scientists perform the core job of handling massive data sets and creating meaningful machine learning models. Often, data is unstructured and highly inaccurate; in that case, identifying the data essentials for the ML model is among the persistent issues faced by data scientists. Data scientists look for data sets that are clearly structured and properly trained. This helps them begin working on practical machine learning models focused on the business problem and AI applications that can deliver results.Training data forms the core in training machine learning models. While handling data, the data scientists face a lot of barriers. Extracting data from multiple sources, developing deep understanding of the business problem, collaborating with data engineers, adhering to data security guidelines and working out with unstructured data are some of the main challenges faced by any data scientist. Commonly,