Business news

Business

Trump's bitcoin reserve a 'digital Fort Knox'

The creation of a "Strategic Bitcoin Reserve" in the United States is further proof of President Donald Trump's support for the cryptocurrency sector.

Business

When a robot becomes the boss: Exploring authority, obedience and relationships with machines

How does a robot perform as a boss at work? The results of research by Polish scientists published in Cognition, Technology & Work suggest that while robots can command obedience, they are not as proficient at it as humans. ...

Business

Tech stocks keep tumbling this year; here's why

When President Trump returned to the White House, tech executives from Apple, OpenAI, Oracle and other companies pledged to create thousands of jobs, fuel innovation and invest billions of dollars in the United States.

Business

Intel hires former board member as new CEO in struggling chipmaker's latest comeback attempt

Struggling chipmaker Intel has hired former board member and semiconductor industry veteran Lip-Bu Tan as the latest in a succession of CEOs to attempt to turn around a once-dominant company that helped define Silicon Valley.

Business

Games industry still a hostile environment for many women

Five years on from a first wave of harassment scandals that rocked the world of gaming, multiple women working in the industry tell AFP they have seen or experienced sexism in the workplace, fearing economic hardship in the ...

Business

US tech firm Salesforce to invest $1.0 bn in Singapore

US cloud software giant Salesforce said Wednesday it planned to invest $1.0 billion in Singapore over the next five years to boost the use of artificial intelligence agents (AI) in the workforce.

Consumer & Gadgets

What is the 'digital gender gap?'

Digital technologies, such as the internet and mobile phones, have spread widely, and become integral to many parts of our lives. Yet women continue to lag behind men in digital access in many countries.

Consumer & Gadgets

The impact of app crashes on consumer engagement

High-profile mobile app crashes reveal how life can be upended when an app freezes abruptly or shuts down. The Sonos app crash in May of last year left users of the wireless multi-room sound systems unable to do things like ...

Business

Texas tech boom: Silicon Valley's southern outpost rises

Held every year in the capital of conservative-leaning Texas, the South by Southwest festival increasingly celebrates the state's emergence as a technology hub stepping out of Silicon Valley's shadow.

Business

US Supreme Court agrees to hear TikTok ban case

The US Supreme Court agreed on Wednesday to hear TikTok's appeal of a law that would force its Chinese owner to sell the online video-sharing platform or shut it down.

Business

AI startup Databricks raises $10 bn as value soars

Young startup Databricks, which specializes in scaling and building artificial intelligence, said Tuesday it raised $10 billion, bringing the company's valuation to $62 billion.

Business

Ireland fines Meta 251 mn euros over Facebook hacks

An Irish regulator helping police European Union data privacy on Tuesday said it had fined Facebook-owner Meta 251 million euros ($263 million) for a data protection failure that saw users' accounts hacked.

Business

Dynamic model reveals best policies for clean energy adoption

How can we ensure that as many households as possible adopt not only solar panels, but also their own battery to store solar energy, a heat pump, and an electric car? Researchers at the Universities of Basel and Geneva have ...

Internet

Australia to force tech titans to pay for news

Australia will force Meta and Google to pay for news shared on their platforms under a new scheme unveiled Thursday, threatening to tax them if they refuse to strike deals with local media.