Shamayita Acharya

(Reuters) - Cathie Wood's ARK Investment Management bought more than a million shares of Twitter Inc, a day after Jack Dorsey stepped down as the chief executive of the social networking site. ARK acquired 1.1 million Twitter shares worth $48.9 million at Tuesday's closing price of $43.94, according to the firm's daily trade report. They had lost 3.4% after opening lower. On Monday, after the company named its technology chief Parag Agrawal as the CEO, the shares had closed down 2.7%. Ark on Tuesday also bought 837,248 shares of online brokerage firm Robinhood Markets Inc worth $21.7 million. It had on the previous day bought 915,063 shares, taking an advantage of a pullback in shares. ... Read More on Datafloq

SHANGHAI (Reuters) - Tesla said on Wednesday that a report by Chinese think tank EV100 that quoted the U.S. automaker's vice president as saying that its Shanghai factory was on track to meet its goal of making 500,000 vehicles this year was "inaccurate". EV100 quoted Tao Lin, also known as Grace Tao, as giving the figure in an article published on the think tank's official WeChat account on Wednesday morning. A Tesla representative told Reuters the figure was inaccurate, without elaborating further, but referred to the automaker's third-quarter results during which it said the Shanghai plant's potential annual output exceeded 450,000. EV100 also updated its article to delete the figure without giving a reason, but retained Tao's comment on the Shanghai factory localizing more than 90% of its supply chain. ... Read More on Datafloq

By Leika Kihara TOKYO (Reuters) - Japan's new political leadership is calling on the country's financial bureaucrats to ramp up efforts toward issuing a digital currency, pointing to China's far quicker progress as a potential challenge to the global economic order. The government has increased staff looking into legal and technical aspects of issuing a central bank digital currency (CBDC), which are digital forms of existing currencies. While the political attention has yet to translate into any other direct investment, it is also likely to keep the Bank of Japan (BOJ) under pressure to shift away from its cautious, baby-step approach toward issuing a digital yen, analysts say. "We must think about what could happen to Japan's national security if other countries move ahead on CBDC," said Takayuki Kobayashi, a ... Read More on Datafloq

MANILA (Reuters) - Alphabet Inc's Google said on Wednesday it will ban political advertising on its platform in the run-up to Philippine elections in May next year to choose a successor to President Rodrigo Duterte. The move comes amid pressure on social media platforms over their handling of political advertising during the U.S. presidential election in 2020. Social media platforms have become political battlegrounds in the Southeast Asian nation, with studies showing Filipinos top the rankings globally for time spent on social media. Election advertisements that promote or oppose any political party or the candidacy of any person or party for public office, would not be allowed to run between Feb. 8 to May 9, 2022, Google said in an update to its political content policy. The dates cover ... Read More on Datafloq

(Reuters) - GlobalFoundries posted a 56% rise in revenue on Tuesday, in its first earnings update after going public in October, as the global semiconductor shortage drives companies to secure supplies of chips used in everything from cars to mobile phones. The company makes silicon wafers for chip designers, such as Advanced Micro Devices and Broadcom Inc, that do not have their own fabrication plants, called fabs. The supply shock triggered by the shortage has helped the company, which makes chips that are seen as being non-cutting edge but are important at the same time. The chipmaker said revenue rose to $1.7 billion from $1.09 billion in the quarter ended Sept. 30. It forecast current-quarter sales to be between $1.8 billion to $1.83 billion. ... Read More on Datafloq

By Jonathan Stempel NEW YORK (Reuters) - New York state's attorney general on Tuesday asked a state judge to appoint a monitor to oversee worker safety at an Amazon.com Inc fulfillment center in New York City, citing the retailer's alleged rollbacks of COVID-19 safety measures that were "already inadequate." Letitia James, the attorney general, also wants a court order requiring the rehiring of Christian Smalls, who Amazon fired for allegedly violating a paid quarantine by leading a March 2020 protest over conditions at the Staten Island facility. Amazon did not immediately respond to requests for comment. James, a Democrat running to become New York governor, sued Amazon in February in a New York state court in Manhattan over its safety protocols for thousands of workers at the Staten Island ... Read More on Datafloq

By Krystal Hu and Sheila Dang (Reuters) - At a packed Miami conference in June, Jack Dorsey, mused in front of thousands of attendees about where his real passion lay: "If I weren't at Square or Twitter, I'd be working on bitcoin." On Monday, Dorsey made good on one part of that, announcing he would leave Twitter for the second time, handing the CEO position to a 10-year veteran at the firm. The 45-year-old entrepreneur, who is often described as an enigma with varied interests from meditation to yoga to fashion design, plans to pursue his passion which include focusing on running Square Inc and doing more philanthropic work, according to a source familiar with his plan. Well before the surprise news, Dorsey had laid the groundwork for his next chapter, seeding both companies with crypto-related projects. ... Read More on Datafloq

(Reuters) - Salesforce.com Inc forecast current-quarter profit below Wall Street estimates on Tuesday as it faces stiff competition from rivals including Microsoft Corp, sending its shares down 6% in extended trading. The San Francisco, California-based company also picked insider Bret Taylor to co-lead the company alongside top boss Marc Benioff. Taylor was named the chairman of Twitter Inc's board on Monday. He will also be the vice chair of Salesforce's board, effective immediately, the company said. Salesforce, a bellwether in the Customer Relationship Management (CRM) sector, has seen a boost in demand due to the pandemic accelerating businesses' transition to cloud-based platforms. However, the company continues to face stiff competition from competitors including Microsoft Corp's Azure, Amazon.com Inc's Amazon Web Services and Alphabet Inc's Google Cloud. ... Read More on Datafloq

LONDON (Reuters) - Governments, tech leaders and policymakers discussed working together to ensure the internet remains open and democratic, and to improve online safety by better regulation at a conference in London, a British minister said. The two-day Future Tech Forum, which marked the end of Britain's G7 Digital and Tech Presidency, built on a declaration in April to create a more productive and resilient global economy with digital technology at its heart, Minister for Tech and the Digital Economy Chris Philp told Reuters.  "The conference has been about setting the future agenda for the way we cooperate and collaborate on technology," he said in an interview on Tuesday. "It's been about how we can harness technology for good, around for example the challenges of climate change, around health challenges, and around tackling global problems like the digital divide." ... Read More on Datafloq

By Joseph White DETROIT (Reuters) - Auto industry executives expect electric vehicles will make up just over half of new vehicle sales in the United States and China by 2030, and could do so without receiving government subsidies, according to a new survey by accounting and consulting firm KPMG. But combustion vehicles, including hybrids, are expected to retain a significant share of most major vehicle markets for years to come, according to KPMG's latest annual survey of 1,000 auto industry executives. The speed at which automakers can phase out combustion engines and the carbon dioxide they emit is a pivotal issue for the global auto industry. A group of automakers and countries signed a statement earlier this month calling for phase-out of combustion vehicles globally by 2040 https://ift.tt/3kqYnLI, and by 2035 in richer nations. ... Read More on Datafloq

(Reuters) - Twitter Inc on Monday appointed technology chief Parag Agrawal as its chief executive officer, replacing Jack Dorsey. The social media networking platform joins tech giants Apple, Amazon and Alphabet in tapping a company insider for the top job. Here are some facts about Agrawal: DECADE WITH TWITTER Agrawal joined Twitter more than a decade ago as a software engineer and was appointed chief technology officer in October 2017. He oversaw Twitter's technical strategy and was responsible for improving the pace of software development while advancing the use of machine learning across the company. At 37, Agrawal is the youngest CEO of an ... Read More on Datafloq

(Reuters) - Twitter Inc said on Tuesday it will not allow sharing of personal media such as photos and videos on its platform without the consent of the person. The social media company's privacy policy already prohibits sharing of other people's private information such as phone numbers, addresses and IDs. "When we are notified by individuals depicted, or by an authorized representative, that they did not consent to having their private image or video shared, we will remove it," Twitter said in a blog post. The microblogging site's co-founder Jack Dorsey stepped down as the chief executive of the company on Monday, handing over reins to its technology chief Parag Agrawal. (Reporting by Chavi Mehta ... Read More on Datafloq

MADRID (Reuters) - Spanish ride-hailing app Cabify will begin offering grocery deliveries in its Latin American markets next year after debuting the service in Spain a month ago, Lucia Chavarri, the vice president of new business, said on Monday. "We will launch our Cabify Super service next year in Latin America," Chavarri told reporters at an event celebrating the multi-mobility company's 10th anniversary, saying the move made sense amid a pandemic-fueled boom in quick e-commerce. The service, which allows users to place orders from nearby partnered supermarkets, is likely to land in the first Latin American market in the first half of 2022, a source within the company told Reuters. The company operates in Argentina, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, Mexico, Peru and Uruguay. It did not specify in which market it would launch first. ... Read More on Datafloq

By Helena Soderpalm STOCKHOLM (Reuters) - Volvo Cars warned on Tuesday that the sector-wide semiconductor shortage would continue into next year, as its first quarterly report since listing on the stock market a month ago confirmed a dip in revenue and profit. The Gothenburg-based carmaker said supply chains were still constrained but while production remained lower than demand, it had "improved month by month" since September. "The supply situation has improved going into the fourth quarter, but we expect the industry-wide shortage of semi-conductors to remain a restraining factor,” Chief Executive Hakan Samuelsson said in a statement. Volvo's initial public offering (IPO) on Oct. 29 was the biggest in Europe so far this year, a sign of strength for the European automotive industry which is in the midst of a ... Read More on Datafloq

STOCKHOLM (Reuters) - Sweden's Ericsson on Tuesday raised its global forecast for 5G mobile subscriptions to 660 million by the end of this year, citing stronger than expected demand in China and North America. The telecom equipment maker, which had previously forecast 580 million subscriptions, said it expected 4.4 billion 5G subscriptions by the end of 2027, accounting for almost half of all mobile subscriptions at that time. Ericsson said in its biannual Mobility Report that the strong demand in China and North America was driven partly by decreasing prices of 5G devices. While 5G will become the dominant mobile access technology by subscriptions in 2027, Ericsson foresees 4G subscriptions to peak in Q4 2021, then decline as subscribers migrate to 5G. Ericsson, which competes with China's Huawei and Finland's ... Read More on Datafloq

MILAN (Reuters) - U.S. fund KKR's proposal to buy Telecom Italia (TIM) includes a letter of commitment by JPMorgan to support the 45 billion euros ($51 billion) financing needed for the deal, Italian daily Il Messaggero reported. JPMorgan said in the letter it was ready to lift its commitment above 45 billion euros if necessary, the newspaper added. JPMorgan and KKR both declined to comment. Two sources familiar with the matter confirmed JPMorgan's role in arranging the financing for the bid. Sources had previously said JPMorgan was advising KKR together with Citi and Morgan Stanley. In the non-binding proposal submitted to TIM's board, KKR has set an indicative price of 0.505 euros a share, valuing Italy's biggest phone group at 10.78 billion euros or 33 billion euros including TIM's ... Read More on Datafloq

(Reuters) - U.S. based Factorial Energy said on Tuesday it had entered into agreements with Daimler AG owned Mercedes-Benz and Stellantis NV, in a bid to commercialize its battery technology. Under the partnerships, both Daimler and Stellantis will make a strategic investment in the solid-state battery maker, Factorial Energy said in a statement, without providing any financial details. As transition towards greener mobility gets more traction, demand for electronic vehicles is expected to surge, more so after Daimler and five other car manufacturers committed to a pledge earlier this month to phase out fossil-fuel vehicles by 2040. These partnerships follow Stellantis's deal with lithium developer Vulcan Energy Resources and Daimler's investment in electric vehicle charging venture Ionity's latest funding round. "With our new partners we can develop ... Read More on Datafloq

BEIJING (Reuters) -China outlined new rules on Tuesday to safeguard the rights of drivers in its giant ride-hailing industry, requiring operators of the services to provide them with social insurance and make their earnings public. In a statement, the transport ministry said ride-hailing companies should improve income distribution mechanisms. It also said anti-monopoly measures will be stepped up against such companies and a "disorderly expansion of capital" will be prevented in the sector. The rules came after Chinese regulators told companies including Didi Global, Meituan, Alibaba Group's Ele.me and Tencent Holdings in September to improve how they distributed incomes and ensure rest periods for drivers and food-delivery riders. They come as President Xi Jinping has called for China to achieve "common prosperity", seeking to narrow a yawning wealth gap that threatens the country's economic ascent and the legitimacy of Communist Party rule. ... Rea

SHANGHAI (Reuters) - China's industry ministry called for a strengthening in the cross-border security management of big data during the period from 2021 to 2025, in a document published on Tuesday. (Reporting by Josh Horwitz; Editing by Clarence Fernandez) ... Read More on Datafloq

SEOUL (Reuters) - Samsung Electronics on Tuesday revealed new auto chips targeting demand for advanced chips in cars, including one mounted in Volkswagen's infotainment system developed by LG Electronics. Demand is rising for "high-tech" automotive chips that can handle more entertainment consumption and increased electrical components in cars, Samsung said in a statement, saying that it plans to actively respond to the growing demand. The chips, developed by Samsung's logic chip design business System LSI, include a chip enabling 5G-based telecommunications for downloading high-definition video content during transit, and a power management chip for stable electricity supply. A third chip, an infotainment processor that can control up to four displays and 12 cameras at once, has been mounted in Volkswagen's high-performance computer called In Car Application Server (ICAS) 3.1, developed by LG Electronics' vehicle components business, Samsung said. ...

By Uday Sampath Kumar (Reuters) -U.S. retailers' online sales likely slowed this Cyber Monday, as fewer discounts and limited choices due to global supply-chain disruptions deterred shoppers, but other data points suggested American consumers are in pretty good health. Retailers had also spread out promotional deals across more weeks to protect profit margins from surging supply chain costs and to better manage inventories amid widespread product shortages ahead of the Christmas shopping season. Those attempts have pinched sales on what are traditionally some of the biggest shopping days of the year, with Adobe Analytics data over the weekend showing spending online during Black Friday fell for the first time ever. "Online sales on big shopping days like Thanksgiving and Black Friday are decreasing for the first time in history, and it is ... Read More on Datafloq

By Gertrude Chavez-Dreyfuss NEW YORK (Reuters) - Cryptocurrency products and funds posted record inflows in the first 11 months of the year, as institutional investors flocked into the space despite price declines in the last few weeks, data from digital asset manager CoinShares showed on Monday. Total inflows into the sector were $9.5 billion as of Nov. 26, an all-time high. In 2020, total bitcoin inflows were $6.7 billion. On the week, inflows reached $306 million. Bitcoin saw its largest inflows in five weeks totaling $247 million, CoinShares data showed, following the launch of another investment product in Europe. Invesco has launched a bitcoin exchange-traded product in Europe, media reports said. CoinDesk meanwhile reported that ... Read More on Datafloq

By Julia Love SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - A group of former Google employees sued the Alphabet Inc unit on Monday alleging that it breached their employment contracts by not honoring its famous motto "don't be evil." In the lawsuit filed in California state court in Santa Clara county, former Google employees Rebecca Rivers, Sophie Waldman and Paul Duke alleged that they were fired two years ago for fulfilling their contractual obligation to speak up if they saw Google violating its "don't be evil" pledge. Google did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The company has said before that the employees violated data security policies. Their firings also have led to an ongoing National Labor Relations Board trial over whether the company engaged in ... Read More on Datafloq

(Reuters) - Twitter Inc on Monday promoted company insider and technology head Parag Agrawal to replace Chief Executive Officer Jack Dorsey. The social media networking platform joins tech giants Apple, Amazon and Alphabet in tapping a company insider for the top job. Here are some facts about Agrawal: DECADE WITH TWITTER Agrawal joined Twitter as a software engineer and has been with the company for over a decade. He was appointed chief technology officer in October 2017. He oversaw Twitter's technical strategy and was responsible for improving the pace of software development, while advancing the use of machine learning across the company. PROJECT BLUESKY ... Read More on Datafloq

(Reuters) -CD Projekt, the Polish video game maker behind "Cyberpunk 2077", missed expectations on Monday with its third-quarter net profit, weighed down by higher costs. The company's flagship game has helped to boost sales and earnings this year but its third-quarter net profit of 16.3 million zlotys ($3.92 million) was down 30% from the same period last year, missing analyst expectations of 36 million zlotys. "This year-on-year reduction in net profit is mainly due to expenses related to updating Cyberpunk and exploratory work on new projects at an early stage of development," finance chief Piotr Nielubowicz said in a statement. CD Projekt has been mired in efforts to fix Cyberpunk after a bug-ridden launch last December led Sony to keep it off its PlayStation Store for six months, returning in June. Revenue in the ... Read More on Datafloq

BEIJING (Reuters) - Security officials in one of China's largest provinces have commissioned a surveillance system they say they want to use to track journalists and international students among other "suspicious people", documents reviewed by Reuters showed. A July 29 tender document published on the Henan provincial government’s procurement website - reported in the media for the first time - details plans for a system that can compile individual files on such persons of interest coming to Henan using 3,000 facial recognition cameras that connect to various national and regional databases. A 5 million yuan ($782,000) contract was awarded on Sept. 17 to Chinese tech company Neusoft, which was required to finish building the system within two months of signing the contract, separate documents published on the Henan government procurement website showed. Reuters was unable to establish if the system is currently operating. ... Read More on Datafloq

By Lisa Pauline Mattackal and Medha Singh (Reuters) - Cryptocurrencies survived one of the largest market shocks since the earliest days of the pandemic last week, with El Salvador a notable dip buyer, while investors decided not to share Adidas' excitement over a foray into the buzzy metaverse. El Salvador's plans to build the world's first "Bitcoin City" https://ift.tt/3FHPndg and Adidas's entry were the bright spots for digital assets in a week that saw major cryptocurrencies clobbered by fears over the new coronavirus variant Omicron. Bitcoin was down 0.5% on Monday and has lost about 17% of its value from a record $69,000 over the past 19 days. But rival currency ether and tokens linked to the metaverse and decentralized finance applications have fared better. Adidas's move made waves ... Read More on Datafloq

(Reuters) - Jack Dorsey on Monday stepped down as the chief executive officer of Twitter Inc, the social media firm he helped found in 2006 and steered through a high-profile hack and the controversial banning of former U.S. President Donald Trump. Dorsey, who also helms fintech firm Square Inc, will be succeeded by Chief Technology Officer Parag Agrawal. Here is a timeline of milestones in Dorsey tenure at Twitter: 2006 https://twitter.com/jack/status/20?s=20: Typed out the microblogging platform's first post: "just setting up my twttr". 2008 https://ift.tt/3cWSYbn Co-founder Evan Williams took over as CEO after the board pushed Dorsey out. Dorsey assumed the role of chairman. 2013 https://ift.tt/3p9nX9B Twitter went public at a valuation of $31 billion. ... Read More on Datafloq

By Tom Wilson LONDON (Reuters) - As global markets fell last week on news of the new Omicron coronavirus variant, one cryptocurrency with the same name soared after the Greek letter entered the investor lexicon. The price of the hitherto-obscure digital token, whose Twitter feed has little more than 1,000 followers, rose almost ten-fold from Friday to Monday morning when it hit $688, before tumbling as much as 75%, crypto tracker CoinGecko said. Omicron the token, which its website describes as "a decentralized treasury-backed currency protocol," was trading at about $371 at 1435 GMT. On Thursday it was worth about $65. The World Health Organization, which on Friday named the new COVID-19 variant Omicron, said as more countries reported cases it carries a "very high" global risk of surges, ... Read More on Datafloq

IntroductionLifestyles have slowly become more digital over several years now, and this trend has been accelerated since the beginning of the pandemic, even in regions of slower adoption. Having transformed the way customers interact, telcos have since been trying to keep up not only with unprecedented demand for digital services but also the need to engage with customers using contactless methods. As more operators modernize their networks, zero-touch networks help pave the way forward, helping telcos remain relevant and competitive by providing a digital-first customer experience (CX).How does the zero-touch strategy work?The all-digital network strategy takes all customer interactions online. It revolutionizes the customer lifecycle from end to end, which includes:Enabling faster lead generation and management, attracting younger and more digital lifestyle-oriented customersRunning marketing campaigns directed at specific customer segmentsAcquiring new customers and activating their

BERLIN (Reuters) - Volkswagen's premium automaker Audi's joint venture to build electric vehicles in China with state-owned FAW Group is behind schedule due to a delay in approval by the relevant authorities, Audi said on Monday. Building work would be initiated as soon as possible, the spokesperson added, without giving a start date for either the construction of the plant or the production of cars. German auto publication Automobilwoche first reported on Monday that the licence for Audi and FAW to begin building the plant, which was due to start producing cars from 2024, is expected to arrive in December after intervention from Germany's economic ministry. The German economic ministry was not immediately available to comment. Audi signed a memorandum of understanding with China's state-owned FAW Group in October 2020 ... Read More on Datafloq

By Gleb Stolyarov MOSCOW (Reuters) - Russia will continue slowing down the speed of Twitter on mobile devices until all content deemed illegal is deleted, state communications regulator Roskomnadzor told Reuters, as Moscow continues to make demands of Big Tech. Russian authorities have taken steps recently to regulate technology giants more closely by imposing small fines for content violations, while also seeking to force foreign companies to have official representation in Russia and store Russians' personal data on its territory. Twitter has been subjected to a punitive slowdown in Russia since March for posts containing child pornography, drug abuse information or calls for minors to commit suicide, Roskomnadzor has said. Twitter, which did not immediately comment on Monday, denies allowing its platform to be used ... Read More on Datafloq

SYDNEY (Reuters) - Facebook Inc will show it has no interest in making the online world safe if it quits Australia over laws holding it liable for defamation on its platform, Prime Minister Scott Morrison said on Monday. In the latest of several attempts to hold global internet companies to greater account for content on their platforms, Australia plans to make them share the identities of people with anonymous accounts if another person accuses them of defamation. If the social media company fails to give that information, it must assume legal liability. The proposed law would also make social media operators legally responsible for defamatory comments beneath publishers' posts on their platforms. Asked on TV station Nine News if he was worried Facebook might quit Australia over the new law, Morrison said doing that "would be an admission that they have no ... Read More on Datafloq

A solar battery is a type of energy storage device that may be used in conjunction with off-grid and hybrid solar systems. A solar panel battery, solar power battery, or solar battery storage is another name for it. For power backup, solar batteries are intended to work with a solar charger controller or solar inverter. You can use the surplus electricity generated by your solar panels during the day by storing it in a solar battery and using it later as needed.The utilisation of solar electricity is altered when you utilise a solar battery. Installing a solar battery at your home allows you to use more of your solar energy at home while using less grid electricity. Once your battery is fully charged, your solar system will provide power to the grid. If your grid power goes down regularly and you need backup power, a solar battery could be worth investigating. ... Read More on Datafloq

By Mike Spector NEW YORK (Reuters) - A senior Amazon.com Inc executive said it remains too early to predict how the Omicron coronavirus variant will impact consumer spending during the holiday season but suggested that shoppers will press ahead for now. "It’s very early in the process of understanding what’s happening with the new variant," said Dave Clark, chief executive of Amazon's worldwide consumer business, during a Sunday morning interview on CBS' "Face the Nation." Clark said he was "incredibly optimistic" about the ability of scientists and pharmaceutical companies that have developed effective vaccines to respond to the new variant while shoppers take stock of developments. "Consumers are going to wait and see in terms of what happens ... but are going to move on with their lives ... Read More on Datafloq

By David Shepardson WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo will on Monday make a pitch in Michigan for Congress to approve $52 billion to expand U.S. semiconductor manufacturing even as it continues to review data on the chips market from companies around the world. Raimondo is visiting a United Auto Workers local hall and meeting with Michigan politicians, officials from General Motors Co, Ford Motor and Chrysler-parent Stellantis on the chips push. Detroit's Big Three automakers and other global automakers have been forced to cut production and even make some vehicles without features like heated seats or digital speedometers because of semiconductor shortage. In September, the Commerce Department issued a request for information on the chips market to automakers, chip companies and others, saying the information would ... Read More on Datafloq

By Foo Yun Chee BRUSSELS (Reuters) - U.S. tech giants should bear some of the costs of developing Europe's telecoms networks because they use them so heavily, chief executives of Deutsche Telekom, Vodafone and 11 other major European telecoms companies said on Monday. The call by the CEOs comes as the telecoms industry faces massive investments for 5G, fibre and cable networks to cope with data and cloud services provided by Netflix and Google's YouTube and Facebook. Investments in Europe's telco sector rose to 52.5 billion euros ($59.4 billion) last year, a six-year high. "A large and increasing part of network traffic is generated and monetized by big tech platforms, but it requires continuous, intensive network investment and planning by the telecommunications sector," the CEOs said in a joint ... Read More on Datafloq

SHANGHAI (Reuters) - China's foreign exchange regulator said it fined Tencent Holding's Tenpay for violating foreign exchange rules, as authorities step up supervision of the country's fintech industry. The State Administration of Foreign Exchange (SAFE) Shenzhen branch fined Tenpay, Tencent's online payment platform, 2.78 million yuan ($436,000) for misconduct, including conducting foreign exchange business beyond the scope of its registration, according to a statement posted late Friday on the regulator's website. The FX regulator also gave the company a number of warnings, ordered it to rectify the violations and confiscate illegal gains, the statement said. "In response to the problems found in the routine inspection in 2019-2020, Tenpay has immediately formulated an improvement plan and implemented it item by item, and has now completed the rectification of all of them," Tenpay said in a statement to Reuters on Monday. ... Read More on Datafloq

(Reuters) -The UK competition regulator is expected to block Meta Platforms' acquisition of online GIF platform Giphy in the coming days, the Financial Times reported https://ift.tt/3E5WU5i on Monday. The Competition and Markets Authority is set to reverse the deal in what would be the first time the watchdog has reversed a Big Tech acquisition, the report said, citing individuals close to the matter. Meta Platforms and the regulator did not respond to requests for comment from Reuters sent outside working hours. The regulator had in October fined the U.S. social media giant Facebook, now Meta, 50.5 million pound ($67.35 million) for breaching an order that was imposed during an investigation into its purchase of the GIF platform, Giphy. Facebook bought Giphy, a website for making and sharing animated images, or GIFs, in May last ... Read More on Datafloq

What is Document Scanning Software? Document Scanning is also commonly referred to as document conversion or document imaging. Document Scanning Software is designed to convert paper documents into digital images, capturing valuable information, and saving it into paperless filing system for easy access. These scanned searchable documents can be routed among a group or sent as an email attachment straight from the paperless filing system itself. Document scanning software solutions often provide the ability to store and manage documents that were scanned previously. Why Use Document Scanning Software? Here are a few key benefits of Document Scanning Software that may help you to understand the potential of scanning documents. Document Scanning for Regulatory Compliance One of the important reasons for document scanning is to make regulatory compliance easier. Document Scanning Software with OCR (optical character recognition) helps convert paper documents into full-text searchable PDFs

DUBAI (Reuters) - Amazon has partnered with Abu Dhabi Investment Office (ADIO) to establish a fulfilment centre by 2024 to be built in accordance with the company's carbon-reduction strategies, the Abu Dhabi government's media office said on Sunday The project will create thousands of jobs, boosting Abu Dhabi's logistics sector and retail ecosystem and will be in line with the UAE's ambition to achieve net-zero emissions by 2050, the media office added. (Reporting by Nadine Awadalla; Writing by Lina Najem; Editing by David Goodman) ... Read More on Datafloq

By Nupur Anand MUMBAI (Reuters) - Singapore-based virtual currency exchange Coinstore has begun operations in India at a time when the Indian government is preparing legislation to effectively bar most private cryptocurrencies. Coinstore has launched its web and app platform and plans branches in Bangalore, New Delhi and Mumbai which will act as its base in India for future expansion, its management said. "With nearly a quarter of our total active users coming from India, it made sense for us to expand into the market," Charles Tan, head of marketing at Coinstore told Reuters. Asked why Coinstore was launching India despite the pending clampdown on cryptocurrencies, Tan said: "There have been policy flip-flops but we hope things are going to be positive and we are optimistic that the Indian government ... Read More on Datafloq

MELBOURNE (Reuters) - Australia will introduce legislation to make social media giants provide details of users who post defamatory comments, Prime Minister Scott Morrison said on Sunday. The government has been looking at the extent of the responsibility of platforms, such as Twitter and Facebook, for defamatory material published on their sites and comes after the country's highest court ruled that publishers can be held liable for public comments on online forums. The ruling caused some news companies like CNN to deny Australians access to their Facebook pages. "The online world should not be a wild west where bots and bigots and trolls and others are anonymously going around and can harm people," Morrison said at a televised press briefing. "That is not what can happen in the ... Read More on Datafloq

SHANGHAI (Reuters) - Chinese smartphone giant Xiaomi Corp will build a plant that can produce 300,000 vehicles annually in Beijing for its electric vehicle unit, authorities in the capital said on Saturday. The plant will be constructed in two phases and Xiaomi will also built its auto unit's headquarters, sales and research offices in the Beijing Economic and Technological Development Zone, the government-backed economic development agency Beijing E-Town said on its official WeChat account. Beijing E-Town said it anticipated the plant reaching mass production in 2024, a goal announced by Xiaomi's Chief Executive Lei Jun in October. In March, Xiaomi said it would commit to investing $10 billion in a new electric car division over 10 years. The company completed the business registration of its EV unit in late August. ... Read More on Datafloq

NEW DELHI (Reuters) -The Indian government advised people against subscribing to Starlink Internet Services, a division of billionaire Elon Musk's SpaceX aerospace company, as it does not have a licence to operate in the country. A government statement issued late on Friday said Starlink had been told to comply with regulations and refrain from "booking/rendering the satellite internet services in India with immediate effect". Starlink registered its business in India on Nov.1. It has begun advertising, and according to the government, it has started pre-selling its service. Responding to a Reuters email, Starlink said: "No comment for now". A growing number of companies are launching small satellites as part of a low-Earth orbiting network to provide low-latency broadband internet services ... Read More on Datafloq

BRUSSELS (Reuters) - Facebook has offered remedies in a bid to secure EU antitrust approval for its acquisition of U.S. customer service startup Kustomer, a European Commission filing showed. Facebook, now Meta Platforms, submitted its package on Wednesday. The EU competition enforcer, which did not provide details of the remedies in line with its policy, extended its decision deadline to Jan. 28. It is expected to seek feedback from rivals and customers before deciding whether to accept the offer or demand more. The Commission has previously said the deal may hurt competition and reinforce the U.S. social media company's power in online advertising. Facebook has won unconditional clearance from regulators in the UK and Australia for the deal. ... Read More on Datafloq

By Aditya Kalra NEW DELHI (Reuters) - WhatsApp has won regulatory approval to double the number of users on its payments service in India to 40 million, a source with direct knowledge told Reuters on Friday. The company had requested that there should be no cap on users of its payment service in India. Instead, the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI)this week told the company it could double the user base to which it can offer its payment service - currently restricted to 20 million - the source said. WhatsApp is owned by Facebook, which recently changed its name to Meta. The source said the new cap would still hinder the company's growth prospects given ... Read More on Datafloq

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Apple's global battery development chief, Ahn Soonho, has moved to Volkswagen to lead the automaker's development of electric vehicle batteries, according to his Linkedin profile. This is the second time in recent months that an Apple executive has left for an automaker. Apple lost its head of car project, Doug Field, to Ford Motor in September. Ahn this month became chief technology officer at the battery division of Volkswagen Group Components, according to his Linkedin profile. In 2018, Apple had hired Ahn, a former executive at Samsung SDI's next-generation batteries division. Apple uses batteries not only in its mobile phones and laptops, but electric vehicles which are under development. Industry sources told Reuters last year that Apple was aiming ... Read More on Datafloq

“People will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.” — Maya Angelou, American poet and activistIf this quote is accurate, then understanding customers’ sentiment is essential for business success. If a company fails to make a good impression, clients will leave. With research showing that gaining a new customer is six to seven times more expensive than keeping an existing one, understanding people’s sentiment seems like a “cheaper” path to success. Are you interested in AI-powered sentiment analysis but not sure how to proceed? Do you doubt whether to opt for a ready-made solution or turn to AI software consultants to develop a custom tool? Hopefully, this article will resolve your doubts. If not, get in touch. We will be happy to help.Introduction to AI sentiment analysisWhat is sentiment analysis?Sentiment analysis (or opinion mining) is the process of identifying emotions expressed in words using artificial intelli

STOCKHOLM (Reuters) - Losses for Swedish payments firm Klarna deepened in the year to the end of September, while transactions using its platform jumped in the final three months of the period, results published on Friday showed. Operating losses at Klarna, a "buy now, pay later" company, widened to 3.13 billion crowns ($344.1 million) in the January-September period, from 801 million crowns a year ago. Net credit losses rose by over 80% to 2.9 billion crowns, Klarna, which rivals Affirm and Afterpay, said. In the third quarter, the firm's gross merchandise volume (GMV) - the value of transactions made using its payment platform - grew to over $57 billion in the third quarter from $35 billion. "The US continues to be Klarna's fastest growing market with over 300% GMV ... Read More on Datafloq

Satellite images from a vast distance can capture a wide-angle viewing zone, making artificial intelligence more effective in a range of fields. Furthermore, AI systems that employ satellite images may learn to foresee different circumstances after analyzing the situation with satellite imaging datasets created particularly for AI models.Furthermore, a considerable quantity of training data is required to build such models using machine learning or deep learning approaches. Different sorts of aerial views of various objects, such as agricultural fields, forests, cities for urban planning and management, and numerous other manmade structures, are included in this satellite image data.Significance of high-quality Satellite Image DatasetIt doesn't matter how brilliant a model architecture is if it isn't trained with adequate data. On the other hand, if given a suitable dataset for training, even the most basic model architecture may be sufficient to complete the task.And, while th

By Brenda Goh SHANGHAI (Reuters) - Lotus Technology, a new unit of China's Geely set up to develop the technology to power Lotus sports cars, is planning to raise $400 million to $500 million before the end of this year, its chief financial officer told Reuters. Lotus Technology, part of Group Lotus which is in turn owned jointly by the Chinese automaker and Malaysia's Etika Automotive, intends to kick off the funding round before Christmas, Alexious Lee said in an interview. That will give Lotus Technology a post-money valuation - value of a company after a round of financing from external investors - of $5 billion to $6 billion, Lee added. Lee said the firm will launch its first product - an electric sports utility vehicle - in the ... Read More on Datafloq

By Paul Sandle LONDON (Reuters) - Google has pledged more restrictions on its use of data from its Chrome browser to address concerns raised by Britain's competition regulator about its plan to ban third-party cookies that advertisers use to track consumers. The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) has been investigating Google's plan to cut support for some cookies in Chrome - an initiative called the "Privacy Sandbox" - because it is worried it will impede competition in digital advertising. Alphabet Inc's Google has said its users want more privacy when they are browsing the web, including not being tracked across sites. Other players in the $250 billion global digital ad sector, however, have said the loss of cookies in the world's most popular browser will limit their ability to collect ... Read More on Datafloq

By Tom Wilson LONDON (Reuters) -Bitcoin tumbled almost 8% on Friday after the discovery of a new, potentially vaccine-resistant coronavirus variant saw investors dump riskier assets for the perceived safety of bonds, the yen and the dollar. Bitcoin, the largest digital currency, fell as much as 7.8% to $54,377, its lowest since Oct. 12. It was on track for its biggest one-day drop since Sept. 20, and has slumped by more than a fifth since hitting a record high of almost $70,000 earlier this month. Scientists said the variant, detected in South Africa, Botswana and Hong Kong, has an unusual combination of mutations and may be able to evade immune responses or make it more transmissible. "The spread of (the variant), ... Read More on Datafloq

SHANGHAI (Reuters) -China's market regulator proposed new rules on Friday that would increase online advertising oversight, including stipulating that adverts should not affect normal internet use or mislead users. Authorities in China have tightened regulation across a range of industries this year, with an emphasis on technology. Search giant Baidu Inc and game publisher Tencent Holdings warned during recent quarterly results that the short-term outlook for advertising sales looked weak, impacted by the pandemic and China's regulatory crackdown. Internet advertising must "meet the requirements for the establishment of socialist spiritual civilization and the promotion of excellent traditional culture of the Chinese nation", the State Administration for Market Regulation said. The proposed rules call on platform operators to establish a system for registering and reviewing advertisers and adverts, and "monitor and inspect the content of ... Read More on D

Analytics is more than just a buzzword. Nearly all types of businesses are focusing on leveraging data analytics for driving success. The insurance industry is swiftly implementing data analytics into business processes. Need, availability, and affordability are the key factors driving the growth of insurance analytics. Nowadays, insurance agencies are under immense pressure to innovate and keep up with ever-growing customer demands. In order to survive the highly competitive market, insurers must be able to make strategic decisions in response to market-driven forces. And, insurance data analytics is a promising way for gaining insights needed to make such decisions. Let’s explore the key points highlighting the importance of insurance data analytics. 1. MarketingNowadays, owing to the digital revolution, insurance agencies can leverage a number of marketing tactics such as social media, texts, and emails for attracting and engaging prospective customers. The targeted marketing strat

(Reuters) -U.S. chipmaker Micron Technology Inc and Taiwanese peer United Microelectronics Corp (UMC) have agreed to withdraw complaints against each other following a years-long legal dispute over intellectual property (IP). UMC will make a onetime payment to Micron of an undisclosed amount, the pair also said in separate statements on Thursday, without elaborating on reasons for their withdrawal agreement. Micron had accused UMC of misappropriating trade secrets and passing them to a Chinese state-backed firm. UMC had alleged patent infringement by two of Micron's China-based subsidiaries. Their agreement to withdraw the complaints comes amid broader concerns from the U.S. government about technology theft, particularly in relation to China. Last year, the United States fined UMC $60 million after the Taiwanese firm pled guilty to stealing Micron designs and sharing them with China's state-backed Fujian ... Read More on Datafloq

LONDON (Reuters) - Improving digital trade would provide huge opportunities for British businesses and help boost economic growth, the government's Board of Trade said, setting out how it aims to become a world leader in modern services and online goods. In a report on digital trade to be published on Friday, the board, headed by trade minister Anne-Marie Trevelyan, said the government should look to strike digital trade deals and help shape global trade rules suitable for the modern world. "By addressing digital protectionism on the global stage and championing a free, open, and competitive digital economy, more UK companies will be able to export their innovative, high-quality services and goods globally," Trevelyan said in a statement. In October, Britain helped broker a deal between the Group of Seven wealthy nations on principles to govern cross-border data use and digital ... Read More on Datafloq

By Valentina Za and Elvira Pollina MILAN (Reuters) - U.S. private equity firm KKR has submitted a non-binding proposal https://ift.tt/3xkUf5a to take Telecom Italia (TIM) private, valuing Italy's former phone monopoly at 33 billion euros ($37 billion) including net debt. KKR is the latest investment firm to get involved with TIM, in which French media group Vivendi is the largest single shareholder. WHY NOW? KKR already has skin in the game, having spent 1.8 billion euros on a 37.5% stake in TIM's last-mile network reaching into people's homes. Italy lags behind other European Union countries in provision of fast broadband services to homes and business but is preparing to deploy 6.7 billion euros of EU recovery funds ... Read More on Datafloq

(Reuters) -KKR & Co and CVC Capital Partners are considering teaming up on a bid for Italy-based Telecom Italia SpA, Bloomberg News reported https://bloom.bg/3cNCTED on Thursday, citing people with knowledge of the matter. The two private-equity firms have held exploratory talks about the potential for a joint offer, the report added, quoting people asking not to be identified as the talks are private. CVC Capital declined to comment. KKR and Telecom Italia did not respond to a Reuters request for comment. CVC has been studying a possible acquisition of Telecom Italia for several months, the people were quoted as saying in the Bloomberg News report, adding that the private-equity firms are still discussing the merits of teaming up for the joint bidding. KKR had made a 10.8 billion euro ($12 billion) offer in the ... Read More on Datafloq

JERUSALEM (Reuters) - Israel slashed its list of countries eligible to buy its cyber technologies following concern over possible abuses abroad of a hacking tool sold by Israeli firm NSO Group, Israel's Calcalist financial newspaper reported on Thursday. The newspaper, which did not disclose its sources, said Mexico, Morocco, Saudi Arabia, Mexico and the United Arab Emirates were among countries which would now be barred from importing Israeli cyber tech. The list of countries licensed to buy it had been cut to just 37 states, down from 102. Israel's Defence Ministry, responding to the report, said in a statement it takes "appropriate steps" when terms of usage set in export licenses it issues are violated, but stopped short of confirming any licenses had been revoked. Israel has been under pressure to rein in exports of spyware since July, when a group of international ... Read More on Datafloq

By Elvira Pollina MILAN (Reuters) -Telecom Italia's (TIM) auditors and risk committee will examine its financial health on Thursday ahead of a board meeting which could decide the future of Italy's biggest phone group and its chief executive, two sources told Reuters. Italy's former telecoms monopoly has received a 10.8 billion euro ($12 billion) buyout approach from U.S. private equity group KKR in the midst of a boardroom row between CEO Luigi Gubitosi and TIM's top investor Vivendi. Vivendi is pushing for change at the helm of TIM after two profit warnings since July, partly due to a costly deal with sport streaming service DAZN to screen Italy's top soccer matches, which failed to boost its revenue. Auditors will examine TIM's earnings and discuss whether a third profit warning may be necessary as a ... Read More on Datafloq

MOSCOW (Reuters) - Russia is investigating Netflix after its public commissioner for protecting families accused the streaming company of violating Russian law on "gay propaganda", the Vedomosti daily reported. The commissioner, Olga Baranets, complained to the Interior Ministry that Netflix was in breach of a 2013 law that bans disseminating "propaganda on non-traditional sexual relations" among Russians under the age of 18 when broadcasting LGBT-themed series with a 16+ label. Her appeal is being considered by the Moscow department of the Interior Ministry, Vedomosti cited a source as saying in a report published late on Wednesday. Netflix declined to comment. The U.S. company could face a fine of up to 1 million roubles ($13,400) or a temporary suspension of its service if found to have violated the law, Vedomosti said. ... Read More on Datafloq

MADRID (Reuters) - The Spanish market regulator scolded soccer star Andres Iniesta on Wednesday evening after he promoted cryptocurrency exchange platform Binance on his Twitter and Instagram accounts. "I'm learning how to get started with crypto with @binance #BinanceForAll," the player said on his social media accounts, with photos of himself in front of a laptop computer apparently making transactions on Binance's website. The posts did not give any indication whether or not the content was paid for by the company. Iniesta did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Reuters sent via Twitter. Iniesta, who played most of his career for Barcelona, was part of the Spanish national team that won World Cup in 2010 and now plays for Kobe in Japan. He has 25 million followers on Twitter and 38 million on Instagram. The post was liked 270,000 times ... Read More on Datafloq

By Sarah Kinosian and Rodrigo Campos SAN SALVADOR (Reuters) - El Salvador's President Nayib Bukele took the stage last weekend at the end of "Bitcoin Week" to the cheers of fans delighted his Central American country has become the first to adopt crypto currency as legal tender, alongside the U.S. dollar. Bukele, 40, wearing his signature backwards baseball cap, referred to himself as a "savior" as he unveiled plans to build "Bitcoin City" at the base of the Conchagua volcano overlooking the Pacific. Funded by bitcoin-backed bonds and powered by geothermal energy, the city would offer a tax-free haven. "Invest here and earn all the money you want," he told the euphoric crowd. Supporters have hailed Bukele's plans ... Read More on Datafloq

By Aditya Kalra NEW DELHI (Reuters) - Amazon.com Inc has asked India's Supreme Court to pause an expedited review of allegations that the U.S. firm concealed information while seeking antitrust clearance for a 2019 deal with India's Future Group, legal papers seen by Reuters showed. The Competition Commission of India (CCI) in June accused Amazon of concealing facts and making false submissions when it sought approval for the $200 million investment into a Future unit in 2019, a deal that is now at the heart of protracted legal disputes between the two sides. Amazon told Reuters at the time that it was confident of addressing the watchdog's concerns. The Supreme Court approach by Amazon comes as the CCI on Wednesday held a closed-door hearing where the U.S. firm's lawyers declined ... Read More on Datafloq

By Julia Love SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - A former Apple Inc employee who had filed a whistleblower complaint related to Apple's use of non-disclosure agreements (NDAs) has inspired draft legislation in Washington state that seeks to restrict companies' use of NDAs in settlements of workplace harassment and discrimination claims. The draft legislation in Washington state comes on the heels of a similar law in California. Washington state Senator Karen Keiser and Representative Liz Berry, both Democrats, are working on bills in their respective houses, which they plan to introduce in the next legislative session, their offices confirmed this week. Cher Scarlett, a former Apple employee and Washington state resident who has played a leading role in worker activism, said she reached out to Keiser in October to raise awareness about ... Read More on Datafloq

By Tina Bellon AUSTIN, Texas (Reuters) - Williamson County Judge Bill Gravell is the first to admit few people had heard of his small town of Taylor in Central Texas before South Korean conglomerate Samsung announced it was building its new $17 billion chip factory there. The Electronics Co Ltd plant, which is expected to produce advanced high-performance chips, is hailed by local, state and U.S. officials as an important step in shoring up domestic chip supply and reducing dependence on Chinese production. "Today, Taylor, Texas might be better known around the world than any other city in central Texas," Gravell, the county's top elected official, said during a Wednesday interview. Gravell attributed the success of Tuesday's announcement to direct collaboration with Texas Governor Greg Abbott's office, who he said ... Read More on Datafloq

By David Shepardson WASHINGTON (Reuters) -AT&T and Verizon Communications on Wednesday agreed to adopt new precautionary measures to address air safety concerns raised from the planned use of C-Band spectrum for 5G wireless. The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and the aviation industry have raised concerns about potential interference caused by the 5G deployment with sensitive aircraft electronics like radio altimeters. AT&T and Verizon said they had committed for six months to take "additional steps to minimize energy coming from 5G base stations – both nationwide and to an even greater degree around public airports and heliports," and said that should address altimeter concerns. Earlier this month, AT&T and Verizon agreed to delay commercial launch of C-band wireless service until Jan. 5 after the FAA issued a Nov. 2 bulletin warning that action may be ... Read More on Datafloq

TAIPEI (Reuters) - Taiwan is looking at cooperating with three Eastern European countries on semiconductors, a minister said on Thursday, a move likely to find favour in Brussels which has been courting Taiwanese semiconductor firms to manufacture in the bloc. Tech powerhouse Taiwan, home to companies such as Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co Ltd (TSMC), has become front and centre of efforts to resolve a shortage of chips that has shut some auto production lines around the world and whose impact is now being felt in consumer electronics too. While TSMC is building a $12 billion chip fabrication plant in the U.S. state of Arizona, it has given no suggestion of interest in a similar facility in Europe, despite EU efforts https://ift.tt/3E31GjW to spur such investment. Kung Ming-hsin, who heads Taiwan's National Development Council, told reporters following his visit to Slovakia, the Czech Republic ... Read More on Datafloq

ROME (Reuters) - Italy could limit the areas a single broadband provider can win in tenders for those places where high-speed services are offered by one operator, three sources close to the matter said. The move being considered by Innovation Minister Vittorio Colao aims to promote competition, as Rome prepares to deploy almost 7 billion euros ($8 billion) of European recovery funds to expand ultra-fast connectivity, the sources told Reuters. One option under discussion envisages a 50% cap, meaning a single bidder could not secure more than half of the single-provider areas, known as "grey areas", one of the sources said adding the scheme was not final. The cap is consistent with the approach of Colao, a former Vodafone CEO, in protecting competition. It would mark a U-turn from the previous government's plan to merge the fixed line of sector incumbent Telecom Italia ... Read More on Datafloq

BERLIN (Reuters) -The German labour union Verdi on Wednesday called on employees to strike at three different Amazon locations to coincide with "Black Friday" discount shopping on Nov. 26, as part of an international campaign against exploitation at retail groups. Scheduled to begin on Thursday night, Verdi said employees want to strike at Amazon's shipping centers in Rheinberg, Koblenz and Graben, Germany, - the company's biggest market after the United States. It said further action was being prepared at other locations. The company said it sees no impact on customers from the action. A spokesperson for Amazon in Germany said the company offered excellent pay, benefits and career opportunities in a safe, modern working environment. "The employees in our logistics network have already been receiving higher wages since the summer," the spokesperson said. ... Read More on Datafloq

AMSTERDAM (Reuters) - Uber Technologies Inc. said it would halt operations in Brussels from Nov. 26 after a court ruled that a 2015 ban on private individuals offering taxi services also applies to professional drivers. Uber said the decision by the Brussels Appeals Court on Wednesday will affect around 2,000 drivers, and it urged the Belgian government to quickly change taxi service laws. (Reporting by Toby Sterling;Editing by Elaine Hardcastle) ... Read More on Datafloq

By Panu Wongcha-um and Fanny Potkin BANGKOK (Reuters) - Apple Inc issued on Wednesday alert messages to at least six Thai activists and researchers who have been critical of the government, warning it believed their iPhones had been targeted by "state-sponsored attackers", according to activists and the alerts reviewed by Reuters. Apple and Thailand's Digital Ministry did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Prajak Kongkirati, a political scientist at Bangkok's Thammasat University, said he had received two emails from Apple warning it believed his iPhone and iCloud accounts had been targeted, along with a "threat notification" on his Apple account. Researcher Sarinee Achananuntakul and Thai activist Yingcheep Atchanont of Legal Monitoring group iLaw said they had received similar emails, while a rapper, a political activist, and a politician ... Read More on Datafloq

By David Shepardson WASHINGTON (Reuters) -The U.S. Federal Communications Commission (FCC) on Wednesday asked a federal appeals court to reject China Telecom Corp's bid to continue providing services in the United States, after the telecommunications regulator revoked its authorization to operate last month. The U.S. arm of China's largest Chinese telecommunications company asked the U.S. Appeals Court for the District of Columbia this month to block the order. "China Telecom has no likelihood of succeeding on its claims," lawyers for the Justice Department and FCC wrote in a court filing Wednesday. China Telecom Americas, which declined to comment Wednesday, was ordered on Oct. 26 by the FCC to discontinue U.S. services by early January over national security concerns. The FCC ... Read More on Datafloq

BEIJING (Reuters) - China will accelerate its technology system reforms and strengthen technology innovations, state media quoted a top-level meeting chaired by President Xi Jinping as saying on Wednesday. (Reporting by Kevin Yao; editing by Philippa Fletcher) ... Read More on Datafloq

SHANGHAI (Reuters) - China's ByteDance plans to spin off its real estate listing service to focus on its core businesses, a company representative said on Wednesday, as the TikTok owner undergoes a reorganisation. The company is preparing to hive off Xingfuli, the name of which translates to "happy place", by introducing external investors, the spokesperson said, confirming plans first reported by Chinese media outlet The Paper on Wednesday. Xingfuli was set up in 2018, joining the many apps ByteDance operates alongside Douyin, the Chinese equivalent of TikTok, news aggregator Toutiao and others. Beijing-based ByteDance this month outlined the creation of six business units in its biggest organisational change since co-founder Zhang Yiming said in May that he would step down as CEO. ... Read More on Datafloq

SHANGHAI (Reuters) -China has required Tencent Holdings submit any new apps or updates for inspections before they can be uploaded after a number of its apps were found to have committed violations, Chinese financial media outlet Yicai reported on Wednesday. Yicai, citing unnamed sources, said the Chinese social media and gaming giant had been required to do so by China's Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT) after some of its apps were found to have infringed users' rights and interests. It also said that MIIT had recently issued a notice to say that between Nov. 24 to Dec. 31, all mobile apps and their updates will need to undergo a roughly seven-day-long review before they can be uploaded to app stores. Tencent said its apps remained functional and available for download in response to Yicai's and other local media reports. ... Read More on Datafloq

By Anthony Esposito and Sharay Angulo AGUASCALIENTES, Mexico (Reuters) - A global semiconductor shortage is hitting Mexico's auto workers hard as employers slash output, reduce shift work and cut jobs due to supply-chain breakdowns. The pain is acute in the central Mexican state of Aguascalientes and its namesake capital, one of the country's top automotive centers, where the chip crunch has forced rolling shutdowns at employers large and small. The temporary closures have translated into lost wages for tens of thousands of workers here and across Mexico due to furloughs and layoffs, according to interviews with laborers, union leaders and industry executives. Cuitlahuac Perez is general director of Aguascalientes-based auto parts firm Maindsteel, and head of one of the state's automotive clusters, which promotes the industry. He said his firm ... Read More on Datafloq

By Mathieu Rosemain PARIS (Reuters) -Orange CEO Stephane Richard said on Wednesday it was up to the board of France's biggest telecoms company to decide whether he should remain after a Paris appeal court convicted him of complicity of misuse of public funds. Richard said in a statement he would appeal the court's verdict, which handed him a one year suspended prison sentence, adding it was "deeply unfair". "I place my mandate within the hands of Orange's board of directors," said Richard, who was acquitted in a first trial. French Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire has repeatedly said that the government position is that bosses of state-owned companies should quit if convicted of a crime. A finance ministry statement noted the verdict and said it was paying close attention to the proper functioning ... Read More on Datafloq

SHANGHAI (Reuters) - Shipments of smartphones within China rose 30.6% year-on-year to 32.7 million handsets in October, the China Academy of Information and Communications (CAICT) reported late on Tuesday. The figures follow a large fall that began in the first half of the year, with the revival driven by the release of the latest models of Apple Inc's iPhone, according to a research firm. Shipment numbers were up from about 25 million in October 2020 and 20.8 million in September 2021, according to the CAICT, a state-backed think-tank. Research firm Jefferies stated in a note published late on Tuesday that the surge stemmed from the release of the latest iPhone series, as well as Android players getting ready for a sales surge for the then-upcoming nationwide Singles' Day sales period. ... Read More on Datafloq

SINGAPORE (Reuters) -DBS Group Holdings Ltd, Southeast Asia's largest bank, is facing disruptions in its online banking services for the second consecutive day on Wednesday after service outages began on Tuesday morning, leading to complaints from customers. "Services were restored early this morning. Unfortunately yesterday's digital banking issue has recurred and this has affected our services," Singapore-based DBS said on its Facebook page on Wednesday. The disruption in its online services, including a payments app, is the biggest faced by DBS in about a decade. Singapore is the biggest retail and wealth management market for DBS, which also has operations in places including Hong Kong, Indonesia and India. DBS did not elaborate on the cause of the disruption. DBS' Facebook post ... Read More on Datafloq

(Reuters) -Tesla Inc Chief Executive Elon Musk sold another 934,091 shares of the electric vehicle maker worth $1.05 billion after exercising options to buy 2.15 million shares, U.S. securities filings showed on Tuesday. The world's richest person had on Nov. 6 tweeted that he would sell 10% of his stock if users of the social media platform approved. A majority of them had agreed with the sale. Since then, he has sold 9.2 million shares worth $9.9 billion. Last Tuesday, Musk sold 934,091 shares to meet tax withholding obligations related to the exercise of stock options. (Reporting by Maria Ponnezhath in Bengaluru; Editing by Arun Koyyur) ... Read More on Datafloq

By Leika Kihara TOKYO (Reuters) - A consortium of roughly 70 Japanese firms, including the country's three mega-banks, will begin experiments to launch a digital currency as early as the latter half of 2022, the Nikkei newspaper said on Wednesday. The digital currency will be backed by bank deposits and use a common platform to speed up large-scale fund transfers and settlement among companies, and cut costs, the paper said. The consortium, including Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group Inc, Mizuho Financial Group Inc and Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group Inc, have been meeting regularly since last year to study ways to build a common settlement infrastructure for digital payments. The three banks have each rolled out their own digital payment systems but lag efforts by tech firms such as SoftBank Group unit ... Read More on Datafloq

By Pete Schroeder WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. banks must seek and obtain written permission from their bank supervisors before engaging in certain activities involving cryptocurrency, a major regulator said on Tuesday. The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency said banks must be able to demonstrate they have appropriate risk management tools before taking on activities like providing custody services for customers' crypto holdings. “Because many of these technologies and products present novel risks, banks must be able to demonstrate that they have appropriate risk management systems and controls in place to conduct them safely," said acting Comptroller Michael Hsu in a statement. The new stance from the regulator places a higher bar on banks considering some crypto activities, after the agency under former President Donald Trump cleared the way ... Read More on Datafloq

By David Shepardson WASHINGTON (Reuters) - T-Mobile USA agreed to settle a U.S. probe for $19.5 million after a massive 2020 outage led to more than 20,000 failed 911 emergency calls. The settlement was prompted by a Federal Communications Commission investigation into a more than 12-hour outage in June 2020 that led to congestion across No. 3 wireless carrier T-Mobile’s networks, and caused "the complete failure of more than 23,000 911 calls." T-Mobile as part of the consent decree with the FCC has also agreed to make new commitments to improve 911 outage notices. An October 2020 FCC report found the T-Mobile outage disrupted calling and texting services nationwide and access to data service in some areas. It resulted in at least 250 million total calls failing. ... Read More on Datafloq

(Reuters) - Laptop maker Dell Technologies Inc on Tuesday forecast current-quarter revenue above estimates, highlighting strong demand for its personal computers and servers from companies moving toward a hybrid work model. The company said it was expecting fourth-quarter revenue from continuing operations in the range of $27 billion to $28 billion, above analyst estimates of $26.23 billion, according to Refinitv IBES. Revenue at Dell's client solutions business, home to its hardware devices, rose 35% in the quarter on booming demand from companies upgrading their computer systems to meet work-from-home challenges. Dell benefits from having a diverse portfolio of software and hardware revenue streams, and it is now trying to tap into high-growth markets, such as edge computing, cloud and telecoms, that have gained traction since the pandemic began. Revenue ... Read More on Datafloq

By Stephen Nellis (Reuters) -Apple Inc said on Tuesday it has filed a lawsuit against Israeli cyber firm NSO Group and its parent company OSY Technologies for alleged surveillance and targeting of U.S. Apple users with its Pegasus spyware. The iPhone maker said it is also seeking to ban NSO Group from using any Apple software, services or devices to prevent further abuse. Apple is the latest in a string of companies and governments to come after NSO, the maker of the Pegasus hacking tool that watchdog groups say targeted human rights workers and journalists. Earlier this month, U.S. officials placed the company on a trade blacklist. NSO has also faced either legal action or criticism from Microsoft Corp, Meta Platforms Inc, Alphabet Inc and Cisco Systems Inc. NSO is allegedly involved in ... Read More on Datafloq

By Alexander Marrow and Gleb Stolyarov MOSCOW (Reuters) -Russia has demanded that 13 foreign and mostly U.S. technology companies be officially represented on Russian soil by the end of 2021 or face possible restrictions or outright bans. The demand, from state communications regulator Roskomnadzor late on Monday, gave few details of what exactly the companies were required to do and targeted some firms that already have Russian offices. Foreign social media giants with more than 500,000 daily users have been obliged to open offices in Russia since a new law took effect on July 1. The list published on Monday names the companies for the first time. It lists Alphabet's Google, Facebook, Twitter, TikTok and messaging app Telegram, all of which Russia has fined this year for failing to delete content it ... Read More on Datafloq

(Reuters) - Tesla founder Elon Musk on Tuesday delivered a stinging rebuke to Binance Chief Executive Changpeng Zhao on Twitter after the cryptocurrency exchange limited withdrawals of meme-based digital currency dogecoin. The cryptocurrency market has seen major fluctuations this year, often in response to Musk's tweets. His comments on dogecoin have fueled a dizzying rally in the cyptocurrency's value this year. "Hey @cz_binance, what's going on with your doge customers? Sounds shady," Musk tweeted on Tuesday. Binance responded saying it is rebuilding its dogecoin wallet entirely, resulting in a delay in withdrawals that may continue for another week. Binance, one of the largest cryptocurrency exchanges by trading volumes, has come under scrutiny from regulators, according to reports. ... Read More on Datafloq

(Reuters) - Reddit is pulling the plug on its TikTok-like platform, Dubsmash, the social network said on Tuesday, just a year after buying it for an undisclosed sum to bolster its video creation tools. The standalone Dubsmash app will not be available for download after Feb. 22, Reddit said, as it rolled out new camera and editing features as part of its video tools. TikTok's massive success with short-form videos has driven other social networks to incorporate the format on their platforms, with Snap Inc rolling out Spotlight; Facebook, now Meta Platforms, launching Instagram Reels; and Alphabet's YouTube launching Shorts. "The Dubsmash team has been accelerating Reddit's video, so parts of Reddit will feel familiar to Dubsmashers," the company said in a blogpost https://ift.tt/3kYyX8A. Since Dubsmash's acquisition, Reddit said it ... Read More on Datafloq

By Pete Schroeder WASHINGTON (Reuters) -U.S. banking regulators intend to clarify in 2022 what role traditional banks can legally play in the cryptocurrency market, they said on Tuesday. In a statement, regulators said they plan to make clear what sort of activities banks can engage in involving cryptocurrency, including holding it on their balance sheets, issuing stablecoins and holding crypto assets and facilitating crypto trading on behalf of customers, among other currently murky areas. The joint statement from the Federal Reserve, Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation and Office of the Comptroller of the Currency is an update on work done by an interagency "sprint" team convened earlier this year. While not providing details, the agencies said the rapid growth of cryptocurrency presents "potential opportunities and risks" for traditional banks. They ... Read More on Datafloq

(Reuters) - Music streaming platform Spotify Technology said on Tuesday it has introduced a new hub where fans can listen to all the official soundtracks, playlists and podcasts related to Netflix Inc's shows. The Netflix Hub, as the companies are calling the new feature, will contain playlists from hit shows such as "Money Heist" and "Bridgerton", as well as the official soundtrack from shows such as "Squid Game". It can be accessed by both free and premium listeners. The hub would also contain Netflix-tied podcasts including "Okay", "Netflix Is A Daily Joke" and "The Crown: The Official Podcast", the Swedish company said in a blog post. https://bit.ly/3xhJtws Spotify, which saw a rise in premium subscribers in the third quarter, has benefited from the pandemic as people turned to its music platform to stay entertained. But with growing competition from Apple Music and Amazon ... Read More on Datafloq

By Mathieu Rosemain and Sudip Kar-Gupta PARIS (Reuters) -Orange, France's largest telecoms operator, set out a shift into Belgium's fixed line business on Tuesday, with plans to buy a majority stake in VOO SA in a deal valuing the firm at 1.8 billion euros ($2 billion). The move illustrates Orange's strategy of being able to deliver 'convergent offers' in both broadband and mobile to customers in all European countries where it operates and follows a surge in interest in telecoms dealmaking. The broader sector is seeing an increase in potential M&A, with KKR approaching Telecom Italia about what would be Europe's biggest ever private equity buyout. Orange Belgium, its listed Belgian subsidiary, owns its cellular network but has costly contracts with rivals in order to offer broadband services on top of mobile contracts. ... Read More on Datafloq

By Sarah Wu TAIPEI (Reuters) - Taiwan and the United States discussed chip shortages and how to respond to China's economic "coercion" during the second session of an economic dialogue launched last year, Taiwan Economy Minister Wang Mei-hua said on Tuesday. The talks came a week after a virtual meeting between U.S. President Joe Biden and Chinese leader Xi Jinping. After that meeting, Xi warned that supporters in the United States of Taiwanese independence were "playing with fire". China claims fiercely democratic Taiwan as its own and has not ruled out the use of force to ensure eventual unification. Speaking to reporters in Taipei after five hours of online talks, led on the U.S. side by Under Secretary of State for economic growth, energy and the environment, Jose Fernandez, ... Read More on Datafloq

MIZATA, El Salvador/LONDON (Reuters) - El Salvador plans to build the world's first "Bitcoin City" with money from a $1 billion bitcoin-backed bond the country's President Nayib Bukele said on Saturday. Here is what we know about the proposed bond and some of the details that still need to be filled in. WHAT WE KNOW Bukele said El Salvador planned to issue the bond in 2022, suggesting it could be as soon as in 60 days time. Half of the $1 billion sum would be converted to bitcoin and the other half used for infrastructure and bitcoin mining. Samson Mow, chief strategy officer of blockchain technology company Blockstream who was on stage with ... Read More on Datafloq

MILAN (Reuters) - Vivendi has no plans to sell its stake in Telecom Italia, the French group said on Tuesday, reiterating it was a long-term investor in Italy's biggest phone group and wanted to work with all stakeholders for its success. The comments came after U.S. fund KKR made a non-binding proposal for the former phone monopoly at an indicative price of 0.505 euros a share, which Vivendi said did not adequately reflect Telecom Italia's (TIM) value. Vivendi has spent on average 1.07 euros a share for its 24% TIM stake, and carries it on its books at 0.83 euros. "Vivendi wishes to clarify that the group is very attached to Italy and to Telecom Italia (and) has no intention to sell its stake in Telecom Italia," a spokesperson for the company said. ... Read More on Datafloq

By Agustinus Beo Da Costa and Stanley Widianto JAKARTA (Reuters) - Indonesian authorities are assessing a draft bill that could compel tech giants like Facebook and Google to negotiate with media firms for fairer revenues, media groups said on Tuesday, a move inspired by a groundbreaking new Australian law. Wenseslaus Manggut, chairman of Indonesia's cyber media association (AMSI), which was involved in drafting the bill, told Reuters the aim was to ensure fairer revenues for outlets that produce core news and "good journalism". Algorithms of big tech companies can have a significant impact on income for digital news media, by determining how prominently an article appears in a Google search or on a Facebook news feed. The draft, seen by Reuters, has yet to go to parliament. ... Read More on Datafloq

The healthcare industry has always benefited from technological advances and their offerings. From pacemakers and X-Rays to electronic CPRs and more, healthcare has been able to add value to society and its evolution immensely due to the role of technology. Taking the evolution forward at this phase of advancements is Artificial Intelligence (AI) and its allied technologies such as machine learning, deep learning, NLP, and more.In more ways than imaginable, AI and machine learning concepts are helping doctors and surgeons save precious lives seamlessly, detect diseases and concerns even before their advent, manage patients better, engage more effectively in their recovery process, and more. Through AI-driven solutions and machine learning models, organizations around the world are able to better deliver healthcare to people.But how exactly are these two technologies empowering hospitals and healthcare providers? What are the real-world tangible applications of use cases that make them