Stefanno Sulaiman / Reuters: TikTok suspends its live feature for the “next few days” in Indonesia, citing “increasing violence in protests” over lawmakers' pay — ByteDance's TikTok has suspended its live feature for the “next few days” in Indonesia following protests in the country, its spokesperson said in a statement on Saturday.
Jeff Horwitz / Reuters: Meta created and let users create flirty chatbots and intimate images using the names and likenesses of Taylor Swift and other celebs without their permission — Meta has appropriated the names and likenesses of celebrities - including Taylor Swift, Scarlett Johansson, Anne Hathaway and Selena Gomez …
Karen Freifeld / Reuters: The US makes it harder for Samsung, SK Hynix, and Intel to produce chips in China by revoking waivers for the use of US equipment in their Chinese operations — The U.S. will make it more difficult for global chipmakers Samsung (005930.KS), SK Hynix (000660.KS) and Intel (INTC.O) …
Chandini Monnappa / Reuters: India's largest telco Reliance Jio, owned by Asia's richest man Mukesh Ambani, says it aims to list its shares through an IPO in India by the first half of 2026 — Telecom and digital giant Reliance Jio Platforms will file for an initial public offering in the first half of 2026 …
Reuters: Didi reports Q2 revenue up 10.9% YoY to ~$7.8B, overseas revenue up 28% YoY, and a ~$350M net loss, driven by a one-off ~$740M charge in a shareholder lawsuit — Chinese ride-hailing giant Didi Global reported on Thursday a second-quarter net loss of 2.5 billion yuan ($350 million) …
Shubham Kalia / Reuters: Court filing: Elon Musk's lawyers ask a US judge to block OpenAI from obtaining documents from Meta related to a previous $97.4B bid for OpenAI's assets — Lawyers for Elon Musk have asked a U.S. judge to block ChatGPT-owner OpenAI from obtaining documents from Meta Platforms (META.O) …
Reuters: Sources: Klarna seeks a $13B to $14B valuation in its IPO next month, selling shares for $34-$36 as early as this week; Klarna sought a ~$50B valuation in 2021 — Swedish fintech Klarna will restart its plan to go public in the United States next month with a valuation of between $13 billion …
Mike Scarcella / Reuters: Court filing: Tesla rejected a $60M settlement offer in a lawsuit over a fatal 2019 crash of a Model S with Autopilot, before a jury awarded a $243M verdict — Billionaire Elon Musk's electric vehicle company Tesla (TSLA.O) rejected a $60 million settlement proposal in a lawsuit …
Reuters: PDD Holdings, which owns Pinduoduo and Temu, reports Q2 revenue up 7% YoY to ~$14.53B, above est., and net income down 5% YoY to ~$4.5B, driven by discounts — E-commerce firm PDD Holdings (PDD.O), which operates low-cost platforms Pinduoduo in China and Temu internationally …
Krystal Hu / Reuters: Databricks plans to acquire Tecton, which helps companies build and deploy ML applications, for an undisclosed sum; Tecton was valued at $900M in 2022 — Databricks will acquire machine learning startup Tecton to expand its AI agent offerings, the latest in a string of deals aimed …
Munsif Vengattil / Reuters: OpenAI sets up a legal entity and plans to open its first office in India after launching ChatGPT Go, its cheapest plan, in the country on August 19 — ChatGPT parent OpenAI will open its first India office in New Delhi later this year, deepening its push in its second-largest market by user numbers.
Reuters: Sources: the Trump admin plans to reallocate $2B+ from CHIPS Act to fund critical minerals projects, aiming to cut US reliance on China for key resources — The Trump administration is considering a plan to reallocate at least $2 billion from the CHIPS Act to fund critical minerals projects …
Anna Tong / Reuters: OpenAI says its Chief People Officer Julia Villagra will leave on August 22; Villagra joined in February 2024 and was promoted to the role in March 2024 — OpenAI's chief people officer, Julia Villagra, is leaving the company on Friday, the company confirmed to Reuters.
Greg Bensinger / Reuters: Sources: Amazon plans a major revamp of its Fire tablets and is set to release a higher-end Android tablet as soon as 2026, a first after using forked Android — Amazon (AMZN.O) is plotting a big change to its Fire tablet lineup following years of escalating gripes from consumers …
Reuters: Sources: China is considering allowing yuan-backed stablecoins to boost global yuan adoption; the State Council may approve a roadmap later in August — China is considering allowing the usage of yuan-backed stablecoins for the first time to boost wider adoption of its currency globally …
Deborah Sophia / Reuters: Baidu reports Q2 revenue down 4% YoY to ~$4.6B, slightly below est., and online ad revenue down 15% YoY to ~$2.3B, as China's ad market remains weak — Chinese search engine giant Baidu's (9888.HK), quarterly revenue fell and was just shy of market estimates on Wednesday …
Reuters: A survey of 4,446 US adults on AI: 71% are concerned AI will permanently displace large numbers of workers, 61% worry about electricity consumption, and more — Americans are deeply concerned over the prospect that advances in artificial intelligence could put swaths of the country out of work permanently …
Reuters: Sources: Nvidia is developing a new Blackwell-based AI chip for China, tentatively known as the B30A, that will be more powerful than its H20 model for China — Nvidia (NVDA.O) is developing a new AI chip for China based on its latest Blackwell architecture that will be more powerful …
Kashish Tandon / Reuters: OpenAI launches ChatGPT Go, a new India-only plan priced at Rs. 399, or ~$4.57, per month, its most affordable yet, to grow users in its second-largest market — ChatGPT maker OpenAI on Tuesday launched ChatGPT Go, a new India-only subscription plan priced at 399 rupees ($4.57) per month …
Kanishka Singh / Reuters: US Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard says the UK has dropped its mandate requiring Apple to provide a backdoor for accessing users' encrypted data — U.S. Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard said on Monday the UK had agreed to drop its mandate for iPhone maker Apple …
Jody Godoy / Reuters: The US FTC sues Key Investment Group, operator of sites like TotalTickets.com, for skirting ticket limits to buy up and resell live event tickets at a markup — The U.S. Federal Trade Commission sued ticket reseller Key Investment Group for evading purchasing limits to buy up thousands …
Himanshi Akhand / Reuters: Australia's ACCC says Google agreed to pay a AU$55M fine over deals with Telstra and Optus to preinstall only Google Search on Android phones from 2019 to 2021 — Australia's competition regulator said on Monday it has begun proceedings against Alphabet's Google (GOOGL.O) …
Reuters: The World Humanoid Robot Games kicked off in Beijing on August 15, with robots across 280 teams from 16 countries competing in track and field and other sports — China kicked off the three-day long World Humanoid Robot Games on Friday, looking to showcase its advances in artificial intelligence …
Helen Reid / Reuters: Filing: Shein reports 2024 UK sales up 32.3% YoY to £2.05B, making the UK its third largest market after the US and Germany, as it works toward a Hong Kong IPO — Shein's British business made 2.05 billion pounds ($2.77 billion) in sales in 2024, a 32.3% increase from the previous year …
Jody Godoy / Reuters: Sen. Josh Hawley calls for a congressional probe into Meta after a report on its AI policy allowing sensual chats with kids; Sen. Marsha Blackburn backs a probe — Two Republican U.S. senators called for a congressional investigation into Meta Platforms (META.O) on Thursday …
Jeff Horwitz / Reuters: An internal Meta doc shows its chatbots were allowed to engage in provocative conversations; Meta removed some examples, including romantic roleplay with kids — An internal Meta policy document, seen by Reuters, reveals the social-media giant's rules for chatbots, which have permitted provocative behavior …
Reuters: Sources: the US secretly embedded location trackers in select AI chip shipments, such as in Dell and Super Micro servers, to detect illegal diversions to China — U.S. authorities have secretly placed location tracking devices in targeted shipments of advanced chips they see as being at high risk …
Reuters: Tencent reports Q2 revenue up 15% YoY to ~$25.7B, vs. ~$24.8B est., gaming revenue up 17% YoY to ~$5.6B, global revenue up 35% YoY to ~$2.6B, a $7.7B net profit — Tencent (0700.HK) reported second-quarter revenue growth of 15% on Wednesday, driven by robust gaming performance and AI-powered business expansion.
Surbhi Misra / Reuters: Elon Musk says that Apple “makes it impossible for any AI company besides OpenAI” to top its App Store, an “antitrust violation”, and xAI will take legal action — Billionaire Elon Musk said on Monday his artificial intelligence startup xAI would take legal action against Apple …
Sam Tobin / Reuters: A UK judge dismisses Wikimedia's Online Safety Act challenge over requiring Wikipedia to verify users and contributors' IDs, but says it can file new challenges — The operator of Wikipedia on Monday lost a legal challenge to parts of Britain's Online Safety Act, which sets tough new requirements …
James Davey / Reuters: UK retailer M&S resumes click and collect services 15 weeks after disclosing a cyberattack, set to cost it ~£300M; M&S resumed online delivery orders on June 10 — British retailer Marks & Spencer (MKS.L) has resumed taking click and collect orders for clothing …
Reuters: Rumble says it plans to acquire German AI cloud group Northern Data in an all-stock deal; estimates show the deal could be valued at ~$1.17B, a 32% discount — U.S.-listed video platform Rumble (RUM.O) is considering a potential offer of about $1.17 billion (1 billion euro) …
Anna Tong / Reuters: Coding bootcamps, a Silicon Valley mainstay for over a decade, are facing decline as AI eliminates the kind of entry-level roles for which they trained people — Coding bootcamps have been a mainstay in Silicon Valley for more than a decade. Now, as AI eliminates the kind of entry-level roles …
Reuters: Experts say TCS' decision to cut 12K jobs signals the start of an AI-fueled trend that could eliminate ~500K jobs in India's $283B IT sector within three years — Indian outsourcing giant Tata Consultancy Services' (TCS.NS) decision to cut over 12,000 jobs signals the start of a broader AI-fueled trend …
Reuters: SMIC reports Q2 revenue up 16.2% YoY to $2.2B, in line with expectations, and profit down 19.5% YoY to $132.5M, below $183.35M est. — Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corp (0981.HK) ，China's largest contract chip maker, reported on Thursday a 19.5% year-on-year decline in second-quarter profit.
Hannah Lang / Reuters: Ripple plans to acquire stablecoin payments platform Rail for $200M, set to close in Q4 2025; Rail says it handles 10% of all global stablecoin payment activity — Ripple will buy stablecoin payments platform Rail for $200 million, the company said on Thursday, weeks after U.S. President Donald Trump signed …
Humeyra Pamuk / Reuters: State Department cable: Marco Rubio orders diplomats in Europe to lobby against the DSA, arguing it stifles free speech and imposes costs on US tech companies — President Donald Trump's administration has instructed U.S. diplomats in Europe to launch a lobbying campaign to build an opposition …
Reuters: Shopify reports Q2 revenue up 31% YoY to $2.68B, above $2.55B est., GMV up 31% YoY to $87.84B, and forecasts Q3 revenue above est.; SHOP jumps 20%+ — Shopify (SHOP.TO), forecast third-quarter revenue above market estimates on Wednesday, as its AI features and platform upgrades boosted demand …
Reuters: Sources: Intel's 18A process is facing significant yield challenges, with only ~5% of chips meeting its specifications in late 2024 and ~10% by summer 2025 — The production process that Intel (INTC.O) hoped would pave the way to winning manufacturing deals and restore its edge in churning out high-end …
Zaheer Kachwala / Reuters: Roblox's average DAUs grew 41% YoY to 111.8M in Q2 and hours engaged rose 58% YoY to 27.4B, driven by the success of tycoon-style farming game Grow a Garden — Roblox (RBLX.N) raised its annual bookings forecast on Thursday and topped 100 million in daily active users thanks to the viral success …
Reuters: Sources: CapitalG and Nvidia are in talks to invest in Vast Data, which could value the AI infrastructure provider at ~$30B, up from $9.1B in 2023 — Alphabet's (GOOGL.O) growth-stage venture arm CapitalG and Nvidia (NVDA.O) are in talks to invest in artificial intelligence infrastructure provider Vast Data …
Christy Santhosh / Reuters: Neuralink plans a UK clinical trial to test how its chips let patients with severe paralysis control devices with thoughts, marking its entry into the country — Elon Musk's brain implant company Neuralink said on Thursday it will launch a clinical study in Great Britain to test how its chips …
Catarina Demony / Reuters: UK's Ofcom launches probes into four companies, which collectively run 34 pornography sites, to assess if they have “highly effective” age verification checks — Britain's media regulator on Thursday launched investigations into the compliance of four companies …
Stefanno Sulaiman / Reuters: Indonesia raises taxes on crypto sellers, from 0.1% to 0.21% in domestic exchanges, and from 0.2% to 1% in overseas exchanges, but removes VAT on buyers — Indonesia will raise taxes on cryptocurrency transactions, with a higher rate on trades hosted by overseas bourses, starting from August 1 …
Elvira Pollina / Reuters: Italy opens a probe into Meta, says it may have violated EU competition rules by integrating its Meta AI assistant into WhatsApp without user consent — Italy's antitrust authority said on Wednesday it had launched an investigation into Meta Platforms (META.O) over allegations the company abused …
Blake Brittain / Reuters: Sony sues Tencent for copyright and trademark infringement in California federal court, accusing the Chinese tech giant of ripping off its Horizon game series — Sony Interactive (6758.T) has sued Tencent (0700.HK) for copyright and trademark infringement in California federal court …
Reuters: An analysis of ~200 Shein items between April and July: prices spiked in April, settled at 12.5% above pre-tariff levels by late May, and jumped again in July — Evidence for the impact of Trump's trade war has shown up at the popular China-founded online retailer.
Hani Richter / Reuters: ChatGPT and other AI tools are helping neurodivergent people navigate social encounters with real-time guidance, though some experts warn of an overreliance — AI tools like ChatGPT are helping neurodivergent users communicate more clearly and confidently — though some experts warn that overreliance could come at a cost.
Reuters: Huawei debuts the CloudMatrix 384 AI computing system, which outperforms Nvidia's most advanced GB200 NVL72 system on some metrics, according to SemiAnalysis — China's Huawei Technologies showed off an AI computing system on Saturday that one industry expert has said rivals Nvidia's most advanced offering …
Reuters: Intel says it may exit cutting-edge manufacturing if it can't secure customers for its 14A process, a major shift for the long-time steward of Moore's Law — Intel (INTC.O) warned investors on Thursday that it may have to get out of the chip manufacturing business if it does not land external customers to make chips in its factories.