Business news

Consumer & Gadgets

How the cost of living crisis and games industry turmoil could hurt Sony's PlayStation 5 Pro release

In late November 2020, I was one of those people standing in line—or rather, refreshing my browser—hoping to snag a PlayStation 5 during a restock. The pandemic was in full swing, and with most of the world locked indoors, ...

Business

UK govt buys semiconductor facility key to defense

The UK government announced on Friday that it had acquired a key semiconductor factory after fears its imminent closure would hamper a crucial supply chain to Britain's armed forces.

Business

Amazon's $4 billion partnership with AI startup Anthropic gets UK competition clearance

Britain's competition watchdog said Friday that it's clearing Amazon's partnership with artificial intelligence company Anthropic because the $4 billion deal didn't qualify for further scrutiny.

Business

Meta hit with $102 million privacy fine from European Union over 2019 password security lapse

Meta was punished Friday with a fine worth more than $100 million from the social media giant's European Union privacy regulator over a security lapse involving passwords for Facebook users.

Business

OpenAI discusses giving Altman 7% stake in for-profit shift

OpenAI is discussing giving Chief Executive Officer Sam Altman a 7% equity stake in the company and restructuring to become a for-profit business, people familiar with the matter said, a major shift that would mark the first ...

Business

EasyJet founder makes life hard for 'brand thieves'

Daring to prefix a company or even a pop group's name with "easy" could land you with legal action, as the founder of British airline easyJet relentlessly tackles alleged trademark breaches.

Business

'Broken' news industry faces uncertain future

From disinformation campaigns to soaring skepticism, plummeting trust and economic slumps, the global media landscape has been hit with blow after blow.

Business

Regulating artificial intelligence: From BRICS to beyond

Researchers from the Advancing Systems Analysis (ASA) program recently participated in a seminar inviting expert dialogue on the role of BRICS competition authorities in the fast-maturing era of artificial intelligence (AI) ...

Business

Google CEO says antitrust trials could drag on for years

Alphabet Inc. Chief Executive Officer Sundar Pichai said it will take many years to resolve Google's antitrust battles, downplaying the idea that they pose an immediate threat to the company's business.

Business

Can cryptocurrencies ever be green?

Cryptocurrencies have been condemned over their environmental record at a time when traditional investments have been rapidly moving towards greener environmental, social and governance (ESG) values. So how long will it be ...

Business

California farmers are low on water: Why not help them go solar?

It sounds like a climate solution everyone should be able to support: Let's make it easier and cheaper for farmers with dwindling water supplies to convert their lands from crop production to solar energy generation, if that's ...

Business

Ryanair annual profit jumps on higher demand, fares

Irish no-frills carrier Ryanair on Monday said group net profit jumped a third to 1.92 billion euros in its financial year as higher demand and fares offset ballooning fuel costs.

Business

The French 'Erin Brockovich' vs Goodyear

For a decade, French former childcare worker Sophie Rollet carried out her own, lonely investigation to make US auto equipment group Goodyear accountable for the death of her husband, Jean-Paul, in a collision linked to the ...

Business

Spotify sued over alleged unpaid royalties

Music streaming giant Spotify has been sued in a US federal court for allegedly underpaying songwriters, composers and publishers by tens of millions of dollars.

Business

Reddit gives OpenAI access to its wealth of posts

OpenAI will have access to Reddit data for training its artificial intelligence models and will put its technology to work on the popular discussion platform, the companies said Thursday.