Shamayita Acharya

FRANKFURT (Reuters) -The German labour union Verdi on Sunday called on employees to strike at seven different Amazon locations in a protracted pay dispute. The strikes are planned to start on Monday at some of the distribution centres and will initially last through Tuesday, a spokesperson said. Amazon said in a statement that it offers excellent pay, benefits and career opportunities. "No-one here earns less than 12 euros ($13.87) gross per hour plus extras," the company added. Without giving exact figures, Verdi has demanded that Amazon raise pay in line with agreements the union has struck with the broader retail and mail-order industries in Germany. ($1 = 0.8650 euros) ... Read More on Datafloq

PRAGUE (Reuters) -Volkswagen's Skoda Auto will resume production on Sunday at most of its production lines after a two-week outage caused by a shortage of semiconductor chips, a spokesperson said. Skoda, the Czech Republic's biggest exporter, has said on Oct. 7 that it would "significantly reduce or even halt" production from Oct. 18 until the end of the year because of the global shortage of chips hobbling the automotive sector. "I can confirm that most of Skoda Auto's production lines will resume work after a two-week outage tonight, starting with the night shift at 10:00 p.m.," Kamila Biddle said, confirming an earlier report by CTK news agency. The Czech Auto Industry Association has said Czech carmakers will produce quarter of a million fewer cars than expected this year because of the global microchip shortage, costing the automotive sector 200 billion crowns ($9 billion) in sales. ... Read More on Datafloq

By Stephen Nellis (Reuters) - Apple Inc on Friday outlined its objections to allowing app developers to link to third-party payment options ahead of a hearing next month that could determine whether a set of antitrust court orders is put on pause. After a lengthy trial earlier this year brought by "Fortnite" creator Epic Games, U.S. District Court Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers issued a ruling that was largely favorable to the iPhone maker and upheld its practice of requiring developers to use its in-app payment system, for which it charges commissions. But Gonzalez Rogers expressed concern that consumers did not have access to information about other ways to pay for apps. She ordered Apple to stop its ban on "buttons, external links, or other calls to action that direct customers to purchasing mechanisms" beyond Apple's own payment systems. ... Read More on Datafloq

One of the most important processes is the 3D cuboid image annotation approach, which aids robots in recognizing all three dimensions of things. This image annotation method is used to recognize objects in more detail, which aids in the training of the 3D visual perception model.It entails using high-quality labeling and a marking approach to highlight things in three-dimensional drawing forms. It aids in calculating the depth or distance of various things such as gadgets, buildings, and cars, as well as identifying the volume and space of the object in people. Construction and building structural disciplines, as well as radiology imaging in medical areas, employ 3D cuboid annotation.Cuboids are similar to bounding boxes annotation. This additional dimension present in cuboid annotation improves the object’s intricacy, allowing aspects like volume to be factored in. This form of annotation is used to tell the distance between objects in self-driving automobiles.The working of 3D cuboid...

By David Shepardson WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has raised significant concerns about a plan to use spectrum for 5G wireless networks on aviation safety and is planning to issue a formal warning about the issue, according to sources and a letter seen by Reuters. The aviation industry has voiced alarm about the plan to use C-Band spectrum for more than a year. Network carriers are expected to begin using the spectrum starting Dec. 5 starting in 46 markets. FAA Deputy Administrator Bradley Mims in a previously unreported Oct. 6 letter said the agency shares "the deep concern about the potential impact to aviation safety resulting from interference to radar altimeter performance from 5G network operations in the C band." An FAA spokeswoman said Friday it ... Read More on Datafloq

By David Shepardson WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A $1.75 trillion Democratic spending proposal could give a big boost to electric vehicles especially to Detroit's Big Three automakers and the U.S. Postal Service. The House plan boosts electric vehicle credits to up to $12,500 per vehicle, including $4,500 for union-made vehicles and $500 for U.S.-made batteries. Vehicles would have to be made in the United States starting in 2027 to qualify for any credit. The EV tax credits would cost $15.6 billion over 10 years and disproportionately benefit Detroit's Big Three automakers - General Motors, Ford Motor and Chrysler-parent Stellantis NV - which assemble their U.S.-made vehicles in union-represented plants. Foreign automakers have harshly criticized the decision to give union-made vehicles a big leg up, while the United Auto Workers union strongly ... Read More on Datafloq

By Foo Yun Chee BRUSSELS (Reuters) - EU countries aim to agree on a common negotiating position on two sets of draft rules to curb the powers of U.S. tech giants on Nov. 25, people involved in the discussions said on Friday, though squabbles among EU lawmakers could delay the rules' adoption. The Digital Markets Act (DMA) sets out a list of dos and don'ts for online gatekeepers - companies that control data and access to their platforms - such as Amazon, Apple, Alphabet unit Google and Facebook. The Digital Services Act (DSA) requires the tech companies to do more to tackle illegal content on their online platforms. Violations can result in hefty fines. EU countries have agreed on most key points for the DSA and will discuss the last ... Read More on Datafloq

By Svea Herbst-Bayliss (Reuters) - GameStop Corp, the company whose stock became a sensation with day traders this year, said on Friday that Jenna Owens agreed to leave, just seven months after joining the video game retailer as it is chief operating officer. It is the first major executive departure at GameStop since the company hired a new chief executive officer, Matt Furlong, in June. Owens, who was a top executive at Amazon.com Inc and Alphabet Inc's Google, joined GameStop in March. She was one of the technology veterans recruited by Ryan Cohen, the co-founder and former CEO of online pet food retailer Chewy Inc, as he laid the groundwork to transform the moribund brick-and-mortar retailer into an e-commerce powerhouse. GameStop did not provide a reason for ... Read More on Datafloq

By Subrat Patnaik (Reuters) -Apple Inc lost its crown as the world's most valuable public company to Microsoft Corp on Friday, as the iPhone maker's shares continued their downward slide. Apple took a $6 billion hit to its sales during the fiscal fourth quarter due to a nagging global supply chain problem, leading to a miss on Wall Street expectations. Top boss Tim Cook said the impact will be even worse in the current holiday sales quarter. "Compared to less hardware focused FAANG peers, Apple is also a lot more exposed to supply chain disruption," said Sophie Lund-Yates, equity analyst at Hargreaves Lansdown. Cupertino, California-based Apple's shares were down 3.6% at $147, implying a market capitalization of $2.41 trillion. The Windows software maker's shares were up 0.7% at $326.8 at a market valuation of ... Read More on Datafloq

THE HAGUE (Reuters) - Twelve suspects believed to have mounted ransomware attacks against companies or infrastructure in 71 countries were "targeted" in raids in Ukraine and Switzerland, Europol said on Friday. A European policing agency spokesperson declined to comment on whether any of the suspects was detained in the raids. The operation was the result of cooperation between law enforcement and judicial authorities in seven European countries and the United States. Europol said the 12 suspects were believed to have mounted cyberattacks that affected 1,800 victims around the globe. One of the firms believed to have been hit by the suspects in the case was metals maker Norsk Hydro ASA, which in 2019 suffered a ransomware attack that paralyzed parts of its production, Norwegian police said in a separate statement. The company refused to pay the hackers, it said at ... Read More on Datafloq

By Gus Trompiz and Gilles Guillaume PARIS (Reuters) - Europe is still not investing enough in the supply chain for electric vehicle batteries and this could leave its planned gigafactories short of coveted minerals, French mining group Eramet said. Eramet is struggling to attract investment from its home region to process its overseas nickel, lithium and cobalt reserves into battery materials and may have to turn to non-European players, Pierre-Alain Gautier, its head of corporate affairs and partnerships, said. Electric vehicles are a key plank of European Union plans to cut emissions. The bloc is trying to reduce reliance on battery supplies from Asia through projects with Europe-based car makers and battery specialists. However, European auto companies are reluctant to invest in battery material production, focusing instead on procurement contracts, ... Read More on Datafloq

By Pratima Desai LONDON (Reuters) - Soaring costs of materials such as lithium and nickel used to make electric vehicle batteries are starting to feed through into prices of these batteries in China, Benchmark Mineral Intelligence said this week. This is contrary to expectations that prices of the lithium-ion rechargeable batteries used to power electric vehicles, vital for the energy transition, would keep falling over time as economies of scale kicked in. However, the initial cost gains from large scale battery production have been achieved with the construction of gigafactories, said Benchmark Mineral Intelligence (BMI) Chief Executive Simon Moores. Now costs of raw materials, particularly lithium, are rising and feeding into battery costs, he added. Electric vehicle ... Read More on Datafloq

(Reuters) -Amazon.com Inc, an early backer of Rivian Automotive, now owns about a fifth of the electric-truck maker, the e-commerce giant disclosed in a quarterly filing on Friday. Ford Motor Co, which has a strategic relationship with Rivian, removed a representative from the startup's board earlier this month. At the end of the third quarter, Amazon had an equity interest of about 20% in Rivian, according to the filing. Rivian is also aiming to raise between $5 billion and $8 billion in a stock market debut later this year, and seeking a valuation of about $80 billion, Reuters reported in September. The company's pre-IPO investors also include T. Rowe Price and BlackRock. Amazon on Thursday reported lackluster quarterly results and warned ... Read More on Datafloq

By Clara-Laeila Laudette and Supantha Mukherjee MADRID/STOCKHOLM (Reuters) - Web Summit, one of the largest tech conference organisers, will open its doors next week in Lisbon for its first in-person event since the pandemic struck, with the likes of Microsoft, Amazon and Apple set to speak. Hot on the heels of the Mobile World Congress (MWC) in Barcelona in June, it will be the next large tech conference to test a return to normal, reuniting entrepreneurs, top executives and major investors after 19 months of video meetings. About 40,000 attendees are slated to join the summit, which will feature 1,000 speakers ranging from Microsoft Vice Chairman Brad Smith to Apple software boss Craig Federighi, addressing audiences including founders of companies which have only recently emerged. "It's almost 100% in-person attendees ... Read More on Datafloq

BENGALURU (Reuters) - India's Reliance Industries said on Friday the smartphone created by its Jio telecom business and Alphabet's Google will be available in stores from the festive season of Diwali for an upfront cost of 6,499 Indian rupees ($86.81). ($1 = 74.8640 Indian rupees) (Reporting by Anuron Kumar Mitra in Bengaluru; Editing by Shinjini Ganguli) ... Read More on Datafloq

By Echo Wang and Krystal Hu (Reuters) - Donald Trump's social media deal partner took advice from a group of China-based businessmen who in the past tried their hand at businesses ranging from Spanish wine to Korean women's fashion, and at one point had their “integrity” questioned by U.S. regulators. The financiers - Abraham Cinta, Sergio Camarero, Carlos Lopez and Jesus Emilio Hoyos Quintero - are managing partners of ARC Group Ltd, a Shanghai-based investment bank listed in a regulatory filing as a financial adviser to Digital World Acquisition Corp, the shell company merging with the former U.S. President’s venture. The chief executive of Digital World is Patrick Orlando, who has acted as the special purpose acquisition company's (SPAC) public face. Digital World touted ARC in one filing as adviser that had contacts in ... Read More on Datafloq

SHANGHAI (Reuters) - China's market regulator on Friday proposed a long list of responsibilities it said it wanted the country's internet platforms to uphold, in the latest effort by Beijing to establish an oversight framework for its technology sector. In a statement the State Administration for Market Regulation (SAMR) for the first time defined what it considered to be "super large platforms", saying more would be expected from them especially in the areas of data protection, treatment of workers and fair competition. Such super large platforms are defined as those having more than 50 million users, a wide range of business types, and a market value of more than 100 billion yuan ($16 billion), it said, a description that would apply to the likes of Alibaba Group, Tencent Holdings and Meituan. The responsibilities outlined by the SAMR relate to issues for ... Read More on Datafloq

By David Kirton SHENZHEN, China (Reuters) - Revenue of China's Huawei Technologies Co Ltd plummeted 38% in the third quarter compared to the same period a year earlier, with U.S. sanctions having hobbled its smartphone business and new potential growth areas still in their infancy. The Chinese telecoms giant posted revenue of 455.8 billion yuan ($71.32 billion) for the first three quarters on Friday, down by almost a third on the same period a year earlier, with a profit margin of 10.2%. Revenue for the third quarter alone came to 135.4 billion yuan, based on Reuters calculations. Performance was "in line with forecast", said rotating Chairman Guo Ping. Former U.S. President Donald Trump put Huawei on an ... Read More on Datafloq

The Azure Portal, is a web based centralized console that allows you to manage all your web and cloud applications in one place. It helps you build, manage and monitor everything from simple web apps to more complex cloud applications from a single unified platform. As a computing platform, Azure also functions as an online portal that can be used to manage and access various services and resources that Microsoft offers. Key features of the Microsoft Azure Portal include access to cloud apps, databases, virtual machines, virtual networks, storage, and Visual Studio team projects. It is a great tool to better manage and secure your data and turn it into easy to write data visualisation. Let’s have a look into the main advantages of Microsoft Azure Portal.   Using Microsoft Azure Portal comes with great advantages Customized dashboards you can share The Azure Portal allows you to create customized dashboards where you can add all the applications you need so you can easily...

HONG KONG (Reuters) - Ether the world's second largest cryptocurrency hit a all time high on Friday, a little over a week after larger rival bitcoin set its own record. The token, which underpins the ethereum blockchain network, rose as much as 2.6% to $4,400 in Asian hours, breaching the previous top of $4,380 set May 12. Cryptocurrency markets have rallied sharply in recent weeks, and ether is up over 60% since its late September trough. Bitcoin, which hit its record high of $67,016 on Oct. 20 was last 1.4% higher at $61,457, up about 50% since late September. Among the biggest recent movers in cryptocurrencies however, is meme-based cryptocurrency shiba inu whose price has rocketed around 160% this week, and is now the world's eighth ... Read More on Datafloq

By John McCrank and Tom Wilson NEW YORK/LONDON (Reuters) - Investors clamoring for Robinhood Markets to host shiba inu, a meme-inspired cryptocurrency that has soared in value this month, may need to bide their time as the app-based brokerage says it is in no hurry to list new currencies and analysts expect revenue growth to come from elsewhere. Shiba inu is a spinoff of dogecoin, itself born as a satire of a cryptocurrency frenzy in 2013, and has almost no practical use. Yet its price has rocketed by as much as 1,000% this month, leapfrogging dogecoin to become the world's eighth largest cryptocurrency with a $42 billion market cap. The currency's eye-watering rally has Robinhood users demanding a piece of the action. The No. 1 question upvotes on ... Read More on Datafloq

By John P. Desmond, AI Trends Editor   The AI stack defined by Carnegie Mellon University is fundamental to the approach being taken by the US Army for its AI development platform efforts, according to Isaac Faber, Chief Data Scientist at the US Army AI Integration Center, speaking at the  AI World Government  event held in-person and virtually from Alexandria, Va., last week.     Isaac Faber, Chief Data Scientist, US Army AI Integration Center “If we want to move the Army from legacy systems through digital modernization, one of the biggest issues I have found is the difficulty in abstracting away the differences in applications,” he said. “The most important part of digital transformation is the middle layer, the platform that makes it easier to be on the cloud or on a local computer.” The desire is to be able to move your software platform to another platform, with the same ease with which a new smartphone carries over the user’s contacts and ...

By John P. Desmond, AI Trends Editor     Advancing trustworthy AI and machine learning to mitigate agency risk is a priority for the US Department of Energy (DOE), and identifying best practices for implementing AI at scale is a priority for the US General Services Administration (GSA).     That’s what attendees learned in two sessions at the  AI World Government  live and virtual event held in Alexandria, Va. last week.      Pamela Isom, Director of the AI and Technology Office, DOE Pamela Isom, Director of the AI and Technology Office at the DOE, who spoke on Advancing Trustworthy AI and ML Techniques for Mitigating Agency Risks, has been involved in proliferating the use of AI across the agency for several years. With an emphasis on applied AI and data science, she oversees risk mitigation policies and standards and has been involved with applying AI to save lives, fight fraud, and strengthen the cybersecurity infrastructure.  ...

By AI Trends Staff     While AI in hiring is now widely used for writing job descriptions, screening candidates, and automating interviews, it poses a risk of wide discrimination if not implemented carefully.   Keith Sonderling, Commissioner, US Equal Opportunity Commission That was the message from Keith Sonderling, Commissioner with the US Equal Opportunity Commision, speaking at the  AI World Government  event held live and virtually in Alexandria, Va., last week. Sonderling is responsible for enforcing federal laws that prohibit discrimination against job applicants because of race, color, religion, sex, national origin, age or disability.      “The thought that AI would become mainstream in HR departments was closer to science fiction two year ago, but the pandemic has accelerated the rate at which AI is being used by employers,” he said. “Virtual recruiting is now here to stay.”     It’s a busy time for HR profess...

By Kanishka Singh (Reuters) -A Russian national appeared in a U.S. federal court on Thursday after he was extradited from South Korea to Ohio to face charges for his alleged role in a cybercriminal organization, the U.S. Department of Justice said. Vladimir Dunaev, 38, was a member of a cybercriminal organization that deployed a computer banking trojan and ransomware suite of malware known as "Trickbot", the Justice Department said. "Trickbot attacked businesses and victims across the globe and infected millions of computers for theft and ransom, including networks of schools, banks, municipal governments, and companies in the health care, energy, and agriculture sectors," Deputy Attorney General Lisa Monaco said. The indictment alleges that beginning in November 2015, and continuing through August 2020, Dunaev and others stole money, confidential information, and damaged computer systems from ... Read More on Datafloq

By David Shepardson WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. Senate voted unanimously on Thursday to approve legislation to prevent companies such as Huawei Technologies Co Ltd or ZTE Corp that are deemed security threats from receiving new equipment licenses from U.S. regulators. The Secure Equipment Act, the latest effort by the U.S. government to crack down on Chinese telecom and tech companies, was approved last week by the U.S. House on a 420-4 vote, and now goes to President Joe Biden for his signature. "Chinese state-directed companies like Huawei and ZTE are known national security threats and have no place in our telecommunications network," Republican Senator Marco Rubio said. The measure would prohibit the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) from reviewing or issuing new equipment licenses to companies on the FCC’s “Covered ... Read More on Datafloq

By Jeffrey Dastin and Nivedita Balu (Reuters) -Amazon.com Inc on Thursday reported a slump in profit that it expects will continue through the holiday quarter, as higher wages and spending to attract workers diminish the company's windfall from online shopping. Shares fell 4% in after-hours trade. After a year of blockbuster results, the world's largest online retailer is facing a tougher outlook. In a tight labor market, it has boosted average U.S. warehouse pay to $18 per hour and marketed ever bigger signing bonuses to attract blue-collar staff it needs to keep its high-turnover operation humming. The company meanwhile is contending with global supply chain disruptions. It has doubled its container processing ability, expanded its delivery service partner program and has ramped up its warehouse investments - all at a noteworthy ... Read More on Datafloq

By Stephen Nellis (Reuters) -Supply chain woes cost Apple Inc $6 billion in sales during the company's fiscal fourth quarter, which missed Wall Street expectations, and Chief Executive Tim Cook said that the impact will be even worse during the current holiday sales quarter. Cook told Reuters on Thursday the quarter ended Sept. 25 had "larger than expected supply constraints" as well as pandemic-related manufacturing disruptions in Southeast Asia. While Apple had seen "significant improvement" by late October in those Southeast Asian facilities, the chip shortage has persisted and is now affecting "most of our products," Cook said. "We're doing everything we can do to get more (chips) and also everything we can do operationally to make sure we're moving just as fast as possible," Cook said. Cook said the company expects year-over-growth ... Read More on Datafloq

By John P. Desmond, AI Trends Editor     More companies are successfully exploiting predictive maintenance systems that combine AI and IoT sensors to collect data that anticipates breakdowns and recommends preventive action before break or machines fail, in a demonstration of an AI use case with proven value.    This growth is reflected in optimistic market forecasts. The predictive maintenance market is sized at $6.9 billion today and is projected to grow to $28.2 billion by 2026, according to a report from  IoT Analytics  of Hamburg, Germany. The firm counts over 280 vendors offering solutions in the market today, projected to grow to over 500 by 2026.     Fernando Bruegge, Analyst, IoT Analytics, Hamburg, Germany “This research is a wake-up call to those that claim IoT is failing,” stated analyst Fernando Bruegge, author of the report, adding, “For companies that own industrial assets or sell equipment, now is the time to invest in ...

By Lance Eliot, the AI Trends Insider     We already expect that humans to exhibit flashes of brilliance. It might not happen all the time, but the act itself is welcomed and not altogether disturbing when it occurs.       What about when Artificial Intelligence (AI) seems to display an act of novelty? Any such instance is bound to get our attention; questions arise right away.       How did the AI come up with the apparent out-of-the-blue insight or novel indication? Was it a mistake, or did it fit within the parameters of what the AI was expected to produce? There is also the immediate consideration of whether the AI somehow is slipping toward the precipice of becoming sentient.       Please be aware that no AI system in existence is anywhere close to reaching sentience, despite the claims and falsehoods tossed around in the media. As such, if today’s AI seems to do something that appears to be a nove...