Business news

Business

Google will pay Texas $1.4B to settle claims the company collected users' data without permission

Google will pay $1.4 billion to Texas to settle claims the company collected users' data without permission, the state's attorney general announced Friday.

Business

Tech execs give Congress AI wish list

Tech leaders representing four major players in artificial intelligence appeared before Congress on May 8, urging looser regulation and heavier investment in energy to support the technology's growth.

Business

Bill Gates speeds up giving away fortune, blasts Musk

Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates announced Thursday an accelerated timeframe for giving away his fortune as he touted artificial intelligence as a game-changer to boost public health and save lives globally.

Business

OpenAI can't have its money both ways

Sam Altman's reputation for spin was out in full force this week in a published "letter to employees" announcing that he was abandoning plans to turn OpenAI into a for-profit company. Instead, it will "continue to be overseen ...

Business

Decentralized finance is booming, and so are the security risks

When the first cryptocurrency, Bitcoin, was proposed in 2008, the goal was simple: to create a digital currency free from banks and governments. Over time, that idea evolved into something much bigger: "decentralized finance," ...

Business

Apple eyes move to AI search, ending era defined by Google

Apple Inc. is "actively looking at" revamping the Safari web browser on its devices to focus on AI-powered search engines, a seismic shift for the industry hastened by the potential end of a longtime partnership with Google.

Business

Trump to rescind chip curbs after debate over AI rules

The Trump administration plans to rescind Biden-era AI chip curbs as part of a broader effort to revise semiconductor trade restrictions that have drawn strong opposition from major tech companies and foreign governments, ...

Business

Google reserves key search data for Gemini, not rival AI apps

Google last year began offering some artificial intelligence firms a way to anchor chatbot responses in its search results, but still reserves key features for its own AI service, Gemini, a company executive testified.

Business

US asks judge to break up Google's ad tech business

Google on Friday faced a demand by the US government to break up its hugely profitable ad technology business after a judge found the tech giant was commanding an illegal monopoly.

Business

Are hotel managers becoming obsolete in the age of AI?

With the hospitality industry embracing algorithmic management (AM)—a type of intelligent system that delegates managerial functions to algorithmic and automated programs—frontline hotel managers find themselves caught ...

Business

South Africa's shift from coal to renewables: How it's going

Just over 74% of South Africa's electricity still comes from burning coal. In 2021, the country negotiated the Just Energy Transition Partnership with Germany, the UK, France, the US and the European Union. They committed ...

Business

Is the UK's energy storage growing fast enough?

Britain's booming green energy generation has a costly side-effect: the national electricity system operator has had to compensate wind turbine operators that could have produced more clean electricity than the grid could ...

Consumer & Gadgets

Bay Area mom creates app to help parents find childcare on demand

The COVID-19 pandemic forced hundreds of daycare providers across the Bay Area to shut down, creating a "childcare desert." That shortage inspired entrepreneur Gretchen Salyer to launch June Care, a platform that connects ...

Business

Meta releases standalone AI app, competing with ChatGPT

Social media behemoth Meta unveiled its first standalone AI assistant app on Tuesday as it tries to take on ChatGPT by giving users a direct path to its generative artificial intelligence models.