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☆ Jana Partners calls for strategic review, possible sale at Frontier Communications -letter
▼ + stars: | 2023-12-04 | by ( Svea Herbst-Bayliss | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

Small toy figures with laptops and smartphones are seen in front of displayed Frontier Communications logo, in this illustration taken December 5, 2021. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration/File Photo Acquire Licensing RightsDec 4 (Reuters) - Activist investment firm Jana Partners is urging Frontier Communications (FYBR.O) to begin a strategic review, including a possible sale of the telecommunications company, arguing that its shares will continue to lag unless corrective action is taken. In the letter, the partners said they have spoken with potential strategic and financial buyers who have "indicated interest in participating in a company-initiated review process." A Jana spokesman declined to comment and a representative for Frontier did not immediately respond to a request for comment. In the letter Jana said Frontier's lagging stock price is linked to the fact the company hasn't been able to attract new investors since exiting bankruptcy in 2021.

Persons: Dado Ruvic, Jana Partners, Jana, Barry Rosenstein, Scott Ostfeld, Goldman Sachs, hasn't, Frontier's, Svea Herbst, Bayliss, Nick Zieminski Organizations: REUTERS, Frontier Communications, Reuters, Board, Frontier, Wall, Svea, Thomson

☆ Spotify to reduce staff by 17%
▼ + stars: | 2023-12-04 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: 1 min

Small figurines are seen in front of displayed Spotify logo in this illustration taken February 11, 2022. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Ilustration/File Photo Acquire Licensing RightsSTOCKHOLM, Dec 4 (Reuters) - Spotify (SPOT.N) will reduce its total headcount by around 17% across the company, it said in an email on Monday. Reporting by Supantha Mukherjee, writing by Anna Ringstrom, editing by Essi LehtoOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Persons: Dado Ruvic, Supantha Mukherjee, Anna Ringstrom, Essi Organizations: REUTERS, Rights, Thomson

☆ Brookfield's $10.6 billion bid for Origin Energy expected to fail on Monday
▼ + stars: | 2023-12-03 | by ( Scott Murdoch | Thomson Reuters | Scott Murdoch Has Been A Journalist For More Than Two Decades Working For Thomson Reuters | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration/File photo Acquire Licensing RightsSYDNEY, Dec 4 (Reuters) - The outcome of a Brookfield consortium's $10.6 billion bid for Australia's Origin Energy (ORG.AX) will be officially known on Monday, with investors expected to vote down its year-long attempt to buy the country's largest power retailer. Origin’s largest shareholder, A$300 billion ($198.36 billion) pension fund AustralianSuper, has said it would reject the A$9.39 per share offer. "If the Brookfield consortium comes back with a hostile off-market offer, there could be upside to the share price." "We will do this work before considering whether to continue pursuing a proposal to acquire Origin Energy or the Origin Energy Markets business," he said. The company's board last week rejected a revised back-up bid from the Brookfield consortium that the energy firm said was too complex and highly conditional.

Persons: Dado Ruvic, AustralianSuper, Adrian Atkins, Luke Edwards, Scott Murdoch, Jamie Freed Organizations: Brookfield, REUTERS, Rights, Origin Energy, Origin Energy Markets, Thomson Locations: Sydney, Brookfield, Brookfield Australia

Russia has increasingly had to turn to a so-called "ghost fleet" of aging tankers to ship oil and avoid the cap. Panama, the Republic of the Marshall Islands, and Liberia have allowed some of those ships to carry their flags, according to Lloyd's List Intelligence and oil analysts. Lloyd's List Intelligence has said nearly 40% of the about 535 dark-fleet tankers have registered ownership via companies incorporated in the Marshall Islands. It also seeks to give leverage to countries buying oil outside the price-cap coalition to get discounted oil from Russia. The group is asking Liberia and the Marshall Islands to increase awareness among those in the trade that its flag should not be used for tankers transporting oil priced above the cap.

Persons: Dado Ruvic, Lindsey Whyte, John Berrigan, Brian Nelson, Timothy Gardner, Simon Webb, Rosalba O'Brien Organizations: REUTERS, Rights, Marshall, Intelligence, Britain's Treasury, U.S . Treasury, Reuters, EU, Thomson Locations: WASHINGTON, U.S, Liberia, Marshall Islands, Panama, Moscow, Ukraine, Russia, China, India, Republic, Marshall, Washington, British

☆ Meta must provide details on measures against child sexual abuse by Dec. 22, EU says
▼ + stars: | 2023-12-01 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: 1 min

EU flag and Meta logo are seen in this illustration taken, May 22, 2023. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration/File Photo Acquire Licensing RightsBRUSSELS, Dec 1 (Reuters) - EU tech regulators on Friday ordered Meta Platforms (META.O) to provide details on measures taken to tackle child sexual abuse material on Instagram by Dec. 22. "Information is also requested about Instagram's recommender system and amplification of potentially harmful content," the European Commission said in a statement. The request for information was done under the EU's Digital Services Act (DSA), new tech rules requiring Big Tech to do more to police illegal and harmful content on their platforms. Reporting by Foo Yun Chee in Brussels and Charlotte Van Campenhout in Amsterdam;Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Persons: Dado Ruvic, Foo Yun Chee, Charlotte Van Campenhout Organizations: REUTERS, Rights, European Commission, EU's Digital Services, Big Tech, Thomson Locations: EU, Brussels, Amsterdam

☆ Alibaba dips on MS downgrade as PDD grabs spot of most valuable Chinese e-commerce firm
▼ + stars: | 2023-12-01 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Meanwhile, shares of PDD Holdings (PDD.O) have surged this week following stellar quarterly results from the Temu parent. The company closed with a market capitalization of nearly $196 billion on Thursday, surpassing Alibaba's market value of $190.45 billion. They also noted uncertainties from Alibaba's decision to scrap the spin-off of its cloud business. Morgan Stanley cut its price target on the stock to $90 from $110, the second lowest among analysts, as per LSEG data. PDD shares were down 2.1% at $144.4 but have surged almost 80% in 2023, handily outperforming its peers.

Persons: Dado Ruvic, Morgan Stanley, PDD, Alibaba, Morgan Stanley's Eddy Wang, Sruthi Shankar, Sriraj Organizations: REUTERS, Alibaba, PDD Holdings, Wall, Vipshop Holdings, Thomson Locations: China, Alibaba's, Bengaluru

☆ Apple, Paramount discuss bundling their streaming services - WSJ
▼ + stars: | 2023-12-01 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

[1/2] Toy figures of people are seen in front of the displayed Paramount + logo, in this illustration taken January 20, 2022. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration/File Photo/File Photo Acquire Licensing RightsDec 1 (Reuters) - Apple (AAPL.O) and Paramount Global (PARA.O) have discussed bundling their streaming services at a discount, the Wall Street Journal reported on Friday. The companies have talked about offering a combined Paramount+ and Apple TV+ offering that would cost less than subscribing to both services separately, the report said, citing people familiar with the discussions. The talks are in their early stages, and it is unclear what shape the bundle could take, the report added. Apple and Paramount did not immediately respond to Reuters requests for comment.

Persons: Dado Ruvic, Chavi Mehta, Pooja Desai Organizations: REUTERS, Paramount Global, Wall Street, Paramount, Apple, Thomson Locations: Bengaluru

REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration/File photo Acquire Licensing RightsLONDON, Dec 1(Reuters) - The Ethereum blockchain's historical greenhouse gas emissions before a major software upgrade last year were equivalent to the yearly emissions of Honduras, a University of Cambridge study showed on Friday. From its launch in 2015 until the Merge, Ethereum's greenhouse gas emissions totalled 27.5 million tonnes carbon dioxide equivalent (MtCO2e), the study showed. Its current yearly emissions are around 2.8 kilotonnes carbon dioxide equivalent, the study found - around the same as five round-trip flights from London to New York. It is generally thought that blockchain is "a highly emitting technology," said Anna Lerner, executive director at the Ethereum Climate Platform, an organisation that seeks to use blockchain tech to accelerate climate finance. The annual emissions of Bitcoin, the largest blockchain and cryptocurrency, are therefore roughly equivalent to those of Cambodia in 2020, according to Climate Watch.

Persons: Dado Ruvic, Anna Lerner, Ethereum, Alexander Neumueller, Neumueller, Tom Wilson, Alexandra Hudson Organizations: REUTERS, University of Cambridge, Global, Climate Watch, Reuters, Alexandra Hudson Our, Thomson Locations: Honduras, Dubai, London, New York, Bitcoin, Cambodia

☆ OpenAI delays launch of custom GPT store to early 2024
▼ + stars: | 2023-12-01 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration/File Photo Acquire Licensing RightsDec 1 (Reuters) - ChatGPT maker OpenAI has delayed the launch of its custom GPT store until early 2024, according to an internal memo seen by Reuters on Friday. During its first developer conference in November, OpenAI introduced the custom GPTs and store, which were set to be launched later that month. The company is continuing to "make improvements" to GPTs based on customer feedback, the memo said. The GPTs are early versions of AI assistants that perform real-world tasks such as booking flights on behalf of a user. It is also expected to allow users to share their GPTs and earn money based on the number of users.

Persons: Dado Ruvic, OpenAI, Sam Altman, Arsheeya, Shailesh Kuber, Arun Koyyur Organizations: REUTERS, Reuters, Thomson Locations: Bengaluru

☆ Ukraine conducts new attack on Russian railway deep in Siberia - source
▼ + stars: | 2023-12-01 | by ( Tom Balmforth | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration/File Photo Acquire Licensing RightsKYIV, Dec 1 (Reuters) - Ukraine's domestic spy agency has detonated explosives on a Russian railway line deep in Siberia, the second attack this week on military supply routes in the area, a Ukrainian source told Reuters on Friday. The train had been using a backup railway line after an attack on a nearby tunnel a day earlier caused trains to be diverted, the source said. The Ukrainian source, who said both operations were conducted by the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU), gave a similar assessment of the damage, citing Russian Telegram channels. Russia's Trans-Siberian Railway is widely seen as more important for Russian freight transport than the Baikal-Amur Mainline. A Russian industry source who declined to be identified said the backup route was functioning and being used by trains carrying freight on Friday afternoon.

Persons: Dado Ruvic, Tom Balmforth, Gleb Stolyarov, Timothy Organizations: REUTERS, Rights, Security Service of Ukraine, Russian, Reuters, Russian Railways, Russia's, Railway, Timothy Heritage, Thomson Locations: Ukraine, Siberia, Ukrainian, Russia, Siberia's Buryatia, Mongolia, Russian, Buryatia, Moscow, Chertov, Russia's Baikal, Russia's, Baikal, Amur, Kyiv

☆ Crypto stocks set to start December on high note as bitcoin hits near 19-month high
▼ + stars: | 2023-12-01 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Shares of bitcoin miners - whose profitability improves as bitcoin climbs - including Riot Platforms (RIOT.O), Marathon Digital (MARA.O) and TeraWulf (WULF.O) rose between 1.7% and 4%. "Higher crypto prices should lead to a boost in transaction volume and transaction revenues for Coinbase as we enter 2024," said CFRA Research analyst Michael Elliott. However, Elliott cautioned the crypto exchange faces both legal challenges and new regulations that are likely to take time to play out and will continue to result in volatility for the stock. The ETF approval bets have helped counter latest concerns after Changpeng Zhao, the founder of the world's largest crypto exchange, stepped down and pleaded guilty to breaking U.S. anti-money laundering laws. Among other gainers were U.S. software developer and bitcoin investor Microstrategy (MSTR.O), up nearly 3.5%, and ProShares Bitcoin Strategy ETF (BITO.P), which added 2.1%.

Persons: Dado Ruvic, Noelle Acheson, J.P.Morgan, Iris, Michael Elliott, Elliott, Changpeng Zhao, Microstrategy, Medha Singh, Sriraj Kalluvila, Krishna Chandra Organizations: REUTERS, Cipher Mining, Iris Energy, Marathon, CFRA, Thomson Locations: bitcoin, Bengaluru

☆ Norway sovereign wealth fund to co-lead class action in SVB bankruptcy
▼ + stars: | 2023-12-01 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

Silicon Valley Bank (SVB) logo is seen through broken glass in this picture illustration taken March 16, 2023. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration/File Photo Acquire Licensing RightsOSLO, Dec 1 (Reuters) - Norway's $1.5 trillion sovereign wealth fund, the world's largest, said on Friday it has been appointed by a U.S. court to co-lead an ongoing U.S. securities class action relating to the now-bankrupt Silicon Valley Bank (SVB). The Norwegian fund said the SVB case raised significant concerns regarding the integrity of the public markets, the governance of large financial institutions and the interests of the investor community more broadly. It held a 1% stake in SVB at the end of 2022, valued at $137.9 million, according to data on the fund's website. The other co-lead plaintiff in the class action is Swedish pension fund Sjunde AP-fonden (AP7), the Norwegian fund said.

Persons: Dado Ruvic, Nicolai Tangen, Nerijus Adomaitis, Jane Merriman, Kirsten Donovan Organizations: Bank, REUTERS, Rights, fund's, Thomson Locations: Rights OSLO, U.S, SVB, Swedish

EU flag and TikTok logo are seen in this illustration taken, June 2, 2023. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration//File Photo Acquire Licensing RightsBRUSSELS, Dec 1 (Reuters) - Chinese conglomerate ByteDance's TikTok has asked Europe's second highest court to suspend its designation as a gatekeeper under onerous new EU tech rules until judges rule on its challenge against the label. TikTok last month challenged the EU decision at the Luxembourg-based General Court, saying its designation risks undermining the DMA goal of protecting gatekeepers from newer competitors like itself. "We have applied for interim measures," a spokesperson said. The bar for the court to approve interim measures is very high.

Persons: Dado Ruvic, TikTok, Europe's, Foo Yun Chee, Barbara Lewis Organizations: REUTERS, Rights, Markets, Google, Apple, Microsoft, EU, Companies, Commission, Thomson Locations: Luxembourg

Saudi Arabia, Russia and other members of OPEC+ pump more than 40% of the world's oil, or some 43 million bpd. Two OPEC+ sources told Reuters a preliminary agreement has been reached for a cut of more than 1 million bpd. This would include Saudi Arabia extending the voluntary cut of 1 million bpd it has had in place since July plus additional contributions from other members, sources said. "It depends on other group participants, could be near or more," the third source said when asked about the possible 1 million bpd cut. The OPEC+ meeting coincides with the opening of the United Nations' COP28 climate summit being hosted by OPEC member the United Arab Emirates.

Persons: Dado Ruvic, Helima Croft, Alex Lawler, Olesya Astakhova, Maha El Dahan, Ahmad Ghaddar, David Goodman, Jason Neely Organizations: REUTERS, OPEC, Reuters, Saudi, Brent, RBC Capital Markets, International Energy Agency, United Nations, United, United Arab Emirates, Thomson Locations: OPEC, MOSCOW, DUBAI, Saudi Arabia, Russia, United Arab

Paxton said the claim was based on only two months of clinical trial data, and vaccine recipients' "absolute risk reduction" showed that the vaccine was just 0.85% effective. Infectious disease experts have said relative risk reduction is a more meaningful way to judge a vaccine's efficacy than absolute risk reduction. Relative risk shows how well a vaccine protects recipients relative to a study's control group. "Pfizer did not tell the truth about their COVID-19 vaccines," Paxton said in a statement. The status of the probe into Moderna and Johnson & Johnson was not immediately clear.

Persons: Dado Ruvic, Ken Paxton, Paxton, BioNTech, Biden, Johnson, Pfizer, Jonathan Stempel, Caroline Humer, Chizu Nomiyama, Daniel Wallis Organizations: Pfizer, REUTERS, Texas, Republican, Moderna, Johnson, Thomson Locations: Lubbock County, New York, Texas, Moderna

☆ Celsius Network faces roadblocks in pivot to bitcoin mining
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-30 | by ( Dietrich Knauth | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration//File Photo Acquire Licensing RightsNEW YORK, Nov 30 (Reuters) - Crypto lender Celsius Network may have to seek a new creditor vote on its proposed transformation into a bitcoin mining business, a U.S. bankruptcy judge said during a court hearing on Thursday. Celsius said last week that it had reduced its post-bankruptcy business plans to focus only on bitcoin mining, citing the skepticism of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) about its other planned business lines. The SEC did not definitively object to Celsius' bankruptcy plan before it was approved, but Celsius said the agency was unwilling to approve crypto lending and staking activity that the agency has opposed in the past. Celsius attorney Chris Koenig argued at Thursday's hearing that Celsius's court-approved bankruptcy plan gave the company flexibility to pivot to a mining-only business. Celsius creditors can expect a 67% recovery under the new plan, an increase from 61.2% under the Fahrenheit deal, according to court documents filed on Thursday.

Persons: Dado Ruvic, Martin Glenn of, Glenn, Chris Koenig, Koenig, Arrington, BRIC, Dietrich Knauth, Alexia Garamfalvi, Grant McCool Organizations: REUTERS, U.S . Securities, Exchange Commission, SEC, Bankruptcy, US Bitcoin Corp, Arrington Capital, Recovery Investment, US, Thomson Locations: U.S, Martin Glenn of New York

☆ US judge blocks Montana from banning TikTok use in state
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-30 | by ( David Shepardson | Companies Need To Integrate Climate Reporting Across Functions To Comply With California S New Law | Henry Engler | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration/File Photo Acquire Licensing RightsCompanies TikTok FollowNov 30 (Reuters) - A U.S. judge late on Thursday blocked Montana's first-of-its kind state ban on the use of short-video sharing app TikTok from taking effect on Jan. 1, saying it violated the free speech rights of users. U.S. District Judge Donald Molloy issued a preliminary injunction to block the ban on the Chinese-owned app, saying the state ban "oversteps state power and infringes on the constitutional rights of users." TikTok users in Montana also filed suit to block the ban. During an October hearing, Molloy questioned why no other state had followed Montana in banning TikTok and asked if the state was being "paternalistic" in arguing the ban was necessary to protect the data of TikTok users. Montana could have imposed fines of $10,000 for each violation by TikTok in the state but the law did not impose penalties on individual TikTok users.

Persons: Dado Ruvic, Montana's, Donald Molloy, China's ByteDance, TikTok, Molloy, Bill Clinton, Donald Trump, David Shepardson, Chris Reese, Sonali Paul Organizations: REUTERS, U.S, District, Montana, Democratic, Biden, Thomson Locations: U.S, Montana

REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration/File Photo Acquire Licensing RightsBRUSSELS, Nov 30 (Reuters) - Meta Platforms' (META.O) paid no-ads subscription service, which it rolled out in Europe this month, breaches EU consumer laws, Europe's largest consumer group said on Thursday as it took its grievance to consumer protection authorities. Meta has said it launched the paid no-ads subscription service, which applies to Facebook and Instagram, to comply with EU rules requiring companies to give users a choice on whether their data can be collected and used for targeted ads. It also took issue with the "very high subscription fee for ad-free services" which could deter users. The ad-free service cost 9.99 euros ($10.96) monthly for Web users and 12.99 euros for iOS and Android users. Meta has said these prices are in line with Google's (GOOGL.O) YouTube and Spotify's (SPOT.N) premium services and with Netflix (NFLX.O).

Persons: Dado Ruvic, NOYB, Meta, BEUC, Ursula Pachl, Pachl, Foo Yun Chee, Matthew Lewis Organizations: Meta, REUTERS, Rights, European Consumer Organisation, CPC, Facebook, EU, YouTube, Netflix, Thomson Locations: Rights BRUSSELS, Europe, Austrian, Brussels

☆ Cognizant ropes in JLL for sale of its world's largest facility: sources
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-30 | by ( Sai Ishwarbharath B | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

JLL and SIPCOT did not respond to Reuters' requests for comment. The campuses sit on land spanning over 49 acres having 16,500 seats, according to the company's presentations done for green energy certifications. It is an attempt "by Cognizant and other IT firms to decentralize their talent models to lower-cost locations," said Peter Bendor-Samuel, CEO at research firm Everest Group. The focus on smaller cities also comes at a time when many IT employees are reluctant to move back to big cities after shifting to their hometowns during the worst of the pandemic. Reporting by Sai Ishwarbharath B; Editing by Dhanya Skariachan and Shweta AgarwalOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Persons: Dado Ruvic, Cognizant, SIPCOT, Peter Bendor, Samuel, Sai Ishwarbharath, Dhanya Skariachan, Shweta Agarwal Organizations: REUTERS, Rights, Software, Reuters, State Industries Promotion Corporation, Tamil, Everest Group, Thomson Locations: Chennai, Teaneck , New Jersey, Tamil Nadu

The French bank also did not comment on plans to end its research partnership with Morningstar after more than four years. The expansion of the equities business by BNP comes as its Wall Street peers have reduced investment banking headcount this year amid sluggish trading and dealmaking activities. In Asia, BNP competes with large Western banks including Morgan Stanley (MS.N), Goldman Sachs (GS.N), JPMorgan (JPM.N) and UBS (UBSG.S), as well as a host of local investment banks in the cash equities business. One of the sources said BNP could boost its Asia equities headcount by as much as 20 over the next year. The bulk of BNP's in-house equities research team, mainly in Hong Kong and Singapore, departed as a result of that deal.

Persons: Dado Ruvic, Morningstar, Jean, Laurent Bonnafe, Morgan Stanley, Goldman Sachs, Jason Yates, BNP's, William Bratton, Exane, Bratton, " Yates, Selena Li, Sumeet Chatterjee, Jamie Freed Organizations: BNP, Bank, REUTERS, Morningstar, Deutsche, JPMorgan, UBS, Thomson Locations: HONG KONG, Asia, Asia Pacific, Europe, U.S, Russia, Ukraine, Pacific, BNP's, Hong Kong, Singapore, China, South Korea, India

☆ ChatGPT one year on: From viral AI bot to OpenAI's boardroom battle
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-30 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration/File Photo Acquire Licensing RightsNov 30 (Reuters) - We asked ChatGPT, OpenAI's viral chatbot, how it felt on its first birthday. The generative AI craze has disrupted several industries from cloud computing and customer service to movie editing and screenplay writing. Reuters GraphicsCHATGPT APP DOWNLOADSSix months after ChatGPT's website launch, OpenAI introduced the chatbot application to Apple's (AAPL.O) iOS in May and later on Android in July. With these applications running mostly on the cloud, vendors of cloud computing services, including Microsoft, Amazon and Alphabet, have also seen their shares surge. Microsoft (MSFT.O) and Alphabet (GOOGL.O) have invested billions to improve their cloud computing capabilities and take on more AI workloads as businesses embrace such tools.

Persons: Dado Ruvic, ChatGPT, Sam Altman, chatbots, Bard, Anthropic's Claude, Character.AI, Microsoft's, OpenAI, John Grisham, George R.R, Martin, Jonathan Franzen, Akash Sriram, Harshita Mary Varghese, Zaheer Kachwala, Jaspreet Singh, Sweta Singh, Saumyadeb Organizations: REUTERS, Microsoft, Reuters, Android, Nvidia, Nasdaq, TECH, Thomson Locations: Bengaluru

☆ Tech companies to sign agreement with UK government to tackle online fraud
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-30 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration/File Photo Acquire Licensing RightsLONDON, Nov 30 (Reuters) - Eleven of the world's biggest tech companies, including Amazon.com (AMZN.O), Alphabet's (GOOGL.O) Google and Microsoft (MSFT.O), will sign an agreement with the British government on Thursday to step up their efforts to tackle online fraud, the interior ministry said. Under the "Online Fraud Charter," due to be signed at a meeting chaired by Interior Minister James Cleverly in London, the companies pledge to take further action to block and remove fraudulent content from their sites, the government said. "Fraud is now the most common crime in the UK, with online scammers targeting the most vulnerable in society," British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said in a statement. "By joining forces with these tech giants we will continue to crack down on fraudsters, making sure they have nowhere to hide online." The British government says fraud accounts for around 40% of all crime in England and Wales, with data from industry body UK Finance showing almost 80% of all authorised push payment fraud originates online.

Persons: Dado Ruvic, James, ByteDance's, Rishi Sunak, Kylie MacLellan, Matthew Lewis Organizations: REUTERS, Google, Microsoft, Interior, eBay, Facebook, YouTube, Finance, Thomson Locations: London, England, Wales

REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration/File Photo Acquire Licensing RightsBRUSSELS, Nov 30 (Reuters) - EU countries and EU lawmakers on Thursday agreed to rules to protect laptops, fridges, mobile apps and smart devices connected to the internet from cyber threats following a spate of such attacks and ransom demands in recent years around the world. It sets out cybersecurity requirements for the design, development, production and the sale of hardware and software products. They must be more transparent on the security of hardware and software products for consumers and business users, and report cyber incidents to national authorities. Importers and distributors will have to verify that products conform with EU rules. The Commission has said the cybersecurity rules could save companies as much as 290 billion euros ($316 billion) annually versus compliance costs of about 29 billion euros.

Persons: Dado Ruvic, Jose Luis Escriva, Foo Yun Chee, Josie Kao Organizations: REUTERS, Rights, European Commission, Manufacturers, EU, Thomson Locations: Rights BRUSSELS

REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration Acquire Licensing RightsLONDON/NEW YORK, Nov 30 (Reuters) - After making hay when a summer bond rout propelled the U.S. dollar to 10-month highs, hedge funds are now pondering what lies ahead for the greenback. Five funds shared their views on the fate of the dollar. This does not represent recommendations or trading positions, which some hedge funds cannot reveal for regulatory reasons. He expects the U.S. economy to slow sharply which, alongside falling inflation, will likely hurt the dollar against some emerging market currencies. The Brazilian real, trading at 4.8908 per dollar , is up roughly 8% so far this year against the dollar.

Persons: Dado Ruvic, Jonathan Fader, Fader, Doug Greenig, Florin Court's, Greenig, Tara Hariharan, Hariharan, NWI, Carlos Calabresi, Michael Sager, Sager, Nell Mackenzie, Carolina Mandl, Dhara Ranasinghe, Kirsten Donovan Organizations: REUTERS, U.S, greenback, Swiss, Reuters, FLORIN, China Foreign Exchange Trade, Long, Garde, CIBC, Thomson Locations: U.S, American, Brazil, Colombia, Hungary, Poland, China, Asia, Brazilian, London, Carolina, New York

REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration/File Photo Acquire Licensing RightsNov 29 (Reuters) - Microsoft will take a non-voting, observer position on OpenAI's board, CEO Sam Altman said in his first official missive after taking back the reins of the company on Wednesday. The observer position means Microsoft's representative can attend OpenAI's board meetings and access confidential information, but it does not have voting rights on matters including electing or choosing directors. The new OpenAI board is on an active search for six new members with expertise in fields from technology to safety and policy. OpenAI's chief scientist Ilya Sutskever will no longer be part of the board, Altman said. Apart from Altman, Brockman, Sutskever, D'Angelo, OpenAI's previous board consisted of entrepreneur Tasha McCauley, Helen Toner, director of strategy at Georgetown's Center for Security and Emerging Technology.

Persons: Dado Ruvic, Sam Altman, Satya Nadella, Altman, OpenAI, Bret Taylor, Larry Summers, Adam D'Angelo, Mira Murati, Greg Brockman, Greg, Ilya Sutskever, Sutskever, Ilya, Brockman, D'Angelo, OpenAI's, Tasha McCauley, Helen Toner, Akanksha, Krystal Hu, Sayantani Ghosh, Stephen Coates Organizations: REUTERS, Microsoft, U.S . Treasury, Reuters, Georgetown's Center for Security, Emerging Technology, Thomson Locations: OpenAI, Bengaluru, New York, San Francisco

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