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☆ PDD's Temu app tops U.S. iOS downloads for second year running amid greater scrutiny of China companies
▼ + stars: | 2024-12-17 | by ( Dylan Butts | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

Temu, which ships cheap goods from China, first entered the U.S. market in 2022. As the likes of Temu and Shein attract American consumers with cheap goods and aggressive advertising, they have also caught the attention of Washington. U.S. officials are not the only ones concerned about Chinese imports flooding their domestic markets. In Southeast Asia, Vietnam and Indonesia have imposed a range of anti-dumping tariffs on Chinese goods, while Thailand recently announced measures to monitor cheap imports. Nomura estimates a U.S. ban on all de minimis imports from China could reduce the latter's annual export growth by 1.3% and drag GDP growth down by 0.2%.

Persons: Trump, ByteDance's TikTok, China's PDD, Biden, Donald Trump's, Nomura Organizations: Amazon, China's, China's PDD Holdings, iOS, CNBC Locations: China, U.S, StatCounter, Washington, Southeast Asia, Vietnam, Indonesia, Thailand

☆ The DOJ wants Google to sell its Chrome browser. Here are the winners and losers if that happens.
▼ + stars: | 2024-11-21 | by ( Hugh Langley | Lara O'Reilly | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +8 min

The Justice Department on Wednesday asked the judge in its antitrust case against Google to force the company to sell its Chrome browser. "Advertisers would find competitors for their business, rather than needing to pay a dominant search engine." When you open Chrome and type something into the search bar at the top, these words are automatically transformed into a Google Search. And when there's an option for users, Google pays partners billions of dollars to set its search engine as the default. For instance, if most people click on the third result, Google's Search engine will likely adjust and rank that result higher in the future.

Persons: Mehta's, John Kwoka, Judge Mehta, Bing, There's, Bill Gurley, Sridhar Ramaswamy, Neeva, Ramaswamy, Teiffyon Parry, Equativ, Parry, Ben Thompson, John Gruber, Lee, Anne Mulholland Organizations: DOJ, Google, Department, Wednesday, Northeastern University, Chrome, Lens, Google's, Gmail, YouTube, Bloomberg

☆ Cramer names the No. 1 underappreciated megacap to buy in the recent tech stock sell-off
▼ + stars: | 2024-09-04 | by ( Morgan Chittum | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +4 min

Jim Cramer said Microsoft shares could bottom Wednesday — and out of all the megacap tech stocks, this Club name is the one to buy. Wells Fargo also highlighted Microsoft's cybersecurity business. Similar to others in the sector, Microsoft's cybersecurity business can continue to rake in major corporations as clients as the threat of hacks and breaches remains elevated. In 2023, Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella said the company's cybersecurity business had surpassed $20 billion in revenue over a 12-month period. As a subscriber to the CNBC Investing Club with Jim Cramer, you will receive a trade alert before Jim makes a trade.

Persons: Jim Cramer, Wells, Jim, Wells Fargo, Bing, Satya Nadella, Wells Fargo's bullishness, Piper Sandler, Jim Cramer's, Microsoft Corporation Satya Nadella, Chalinee Thirasupa Organizations: Microsoft, Wall, CNBC, Microsoft Corporation Locations: U.S, Bangkok, Thailand

☆ Search competition fears hit Alphabet stock yet again. We see no reason to join the sellers
▼ + stars: | 2024-07-26 | by ( Paulina Likos | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +6 min

ChatGPT creator OpenAI on Thursday announced a prototype of its search engine, SearchGPT, in an effort to directly compete with Google Search. "Not really seeing any decline in web traffic away from web search" despite the popularity of AI chatbots," Marks said Friday. Alphabet's efforts to incorporate generative AI into Google Search — dubbed "AI Overviews" — are resonating with users, CEO Sundar Pichai said on the conference call. He added that people are looking for help with complex topics are engaging more and keep coming back for AI Overviews. To be sure, the AI threats to Google Search is not the only question on Alphabet investors' minds.

Persons: OpenAI, Jeff Marks, It's, Marks, OpenAI's SearchGPT, Bing, That's, Rosenblatt, Alphabet's, Sundar Pichai, Pichai, There's, Jim Cramer's, Jim Cramer, Jim, Idrees Abbas Organizations: Google, Microsoft, Nasdaq, Investor, Rosenblatt, Bing, Bank of America, Citigroup, Citi, Management, CNBC, Getty

☆ Microsoft really wants you to start using its Edge web browser
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-13 | by ( Jyoti Mann | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

Microsoft is adding an AI feature to its Edge web browser in an apparent bid to win more users. Rival web browsers Chrome and Safari are far more popular than Edge, StatCounter data shows. Microsoft plans to launch an "AI theme generator" next month that will let users create their own browser themes by using a text prompter to create images. AdvertisementMicrosoft Edge launched in 2015 to rival web browsers Google Chrome and Apple's Safari. Chrome is the web browser for most internet users.

Persons: —, it's, Safari Organizations: Microsoft, Google, Apple, Service, Chrome, Edge, Worldwide Developers Conference, Business

☆ Google says Microsoft offered to sell Bing to Apple in 2018, but search-quality issues got in the way
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-24 | by ( Jordan Novet | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

Microsoft offered to sell its Bing search engine to Apple in 2018, Google said in a court filing earlier this month. In the fourth quarter, Microsoft generated $3.2 billion from search and news advertising, while Google search and other revenue totaled $48 billion. Google said in its filing that when Microsoft reached out to Apple in 2018, emphasizing gains in Bing's quality, Microsoft offered to either sell Bing to Apple or establish a Bing-related joint venture with the company. Google said Apple CEO Tim Cook sent an email to Apple executives about the assessment of Bing, but his remarks are redacted in the filing. Cue testified that "if Apple did not receive the massive payments it sought from Google, Apple would have developed its own search engine," the Justice Department asserted in its filing.

Persons: Tim Cook, Eddy, Apple's, Bing, Apple, Satya Nadella, Rob Sanderson Organizations: Apple, Allen, Co . Media, Technology Conference, Microsoft, Google, U.S . Justice Department, Bing, Safari, Justice Department, Windows, MSN, Department, Bloomberg Locations: Sun Valley , Idaho

☆ Microsoft's Super Bowl ad is a sign of the company's shifting AI priorities
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-07 | by ( Aaron Mok | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Read previewMicrosoft's appears to be focusing its artificial intelligence efforts more on its AI companion Copilot over its revamped Bing search engine — and the tech giant's latest Super Bowl ad may be a sign of the company's changing priorities. On Wednesday, Microsoft revealed its Super Bowl ad for Copilot's standalone smartphone app that can answer user queries akin to OpenAI's ChatGPT. But viewers who've been following Microsoft's AI efforts may be wondering: what about Bing chat, the AI-powered search engine that the company launched months before Copilot? Bing, which added AI capabilities to its search engine last February, had around only 3% of the search market within that same time frame. Microsoft's shift from Bing to Copilot comes as the tech company seeks to integrate Copilot across its product lines.

Persons: —, Bing, Yusuf Mehdi, . Bing, doesn't, We've, Mehdi, Microsoft didn't, Copilot, chatbot Organizations: Service, Microsoft, Business, Google, Excel Locations: .

☆ Microsoft is bringing its Copilot chatbot to Windows 10
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-16 | by ( Jordan Novet | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

Microsoft said Thursday it will soon start testing the Copilot chatbot in an update to the widely used Windows 10 operating system. Microsoft on Oct. 31 started rolling out an update that features Copilot to Windows 11, its latest operating system. But among Windows PCs, Windows 11 has about 27% share, and Windows 10 leads with about 68%, according to StatCounter estimates. In Windows, Copilot can serve as "the everyday AI companion," Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella said on an October conference call with analysts. It will be similar to the Copilot in Bing and won't be able to perform as many PC-related functions as the Copilot in Windows 11, because some elements of Windows 11 aren't present in Windows 10, Woodman said.

Persons: Bing, Satya Nadella, Aaron Woodman, Copilot, Woodman, Malcolm Ethridge Organizations: Microsoft, Technology, Home, Security, Windows Locations: Bing

☆ Microsoft is fine avoiding China as U.S. considers national security implications, CEO Satya Nadella says
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-15 | by ( Jordan Novet | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

Microsoft is not focused on China as a domestic market, though the company has notable Chinese customers with operations outside the world's second most-populous country, CEO Satya Nadella said on Wednesday. "A lot of the Chinese multinationals operating outside of China are our bigger AI customers, perhaps." Microsoft provides artificial intelligence services to electric vehicle maker Li Auto and consumer electronics company Xiaomi, among others. Still, Nadella acknowledged on Wednesday that the U.S. government has important restrictions to follow when it comes to doing business in China. The U.S government uses Microsoft Azure cloud services and Microsoft 365 productivity apps.

Persons: Satya Nadella, Nadella, CNBC's Jon Fortt, Li, Nadella's, Joe Biden, Xi Jinping, Meta's, Bing, Deepwater's Gene Munster Organizations: Microsoft, Microsoft's Ignite, Li Auto, U.S, . Commerce Department, Meta's Facebook, Baidu, USG, LinkedIn Locations: China, Seattle, San Francisco, Bing, Beijing, United States, U.S, Europe, Asia

☆ Microsoft releases big Windows 11 update with Copilot AI assistant included
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-31 | by ( Jordan Novet | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +10 min

Microsoft on Tuesday said it started rolling out the next major update to its Windows 11 PC operating system. Windows 11 now represents about 24% of desktop PCs, according to StatCounter data, while Windows 10, which will be supported until October 2025, controls almost 72% of the market. After that, Windows 11, which debuted in 2021, could become more popular. Copilot is probably the biggest part of this year's Windows 11 release. Here's a list of some of the other new features of the Windows 11 2023 Update, also known as 23H2:A virtual video editor.

Persons: OpenAI, Siri, Satya Nadella, It's, Clipchamp, You'll, Notepad Organizations: Microsoft, Windows, Bluetooth, BP, RBC, Adobe, Bing, Google Locations: Kantar, United Kingdom, India, OneDrive, North America, Asia, South America

☆ Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella gets honest about Bing's chances against Google
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-03 | by ( Aaron Mok | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Satya Nadella, CEO of Microsoft, said Google's dominance of online search is hurting Bing, WSJ reported. Bing is struggling to compete with Google, even with its new AI developments, Nadella said. AdvertisementAdvertisementEven Satya Nadella, the CEO of Microsoft, may not think the company's search engine Bing has a chance against Google. "You get up in the morning, you brush your teeth, and you search on Google," Nadella told the Justice Department. AdvertisementAdvertisementThe result for Microsoft, Nadella said, is a "vicious cycle" — and Bing can't keep up.

Persons: Satya Nadella, Bing, Nadella, —, Google's, Sundar Pichai, Bard, Daniel Tunkelang Organizations: Microsoft, Google, Service, US Department, Street Journal, Apple, Justice Department, DOJ, Bing Locations: Washington, OpenAI, —

☆ The Big Yawn: You really think the FTC will win against Amazon?
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-27 | by ( Alistair Barr | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +7 min

Insider has asked Apple, Google and Amazon for comment on various antitrust allegations in the past. But consumers don't pay for Google Search. The results of a Google search Alistair Barr/Insider/GoogleThe Amazon situation is similar. Marketpulse estimated earlier this year that Amazon sellers pay more than 50% of their revenue to Amazon in fees now. The results of an Amazon search Alistair Barr/Insider/AmazonEven Apple does this in its App Store.

Persons: —, Mark Schlisky, didn't, Lina Kahn, haven't, Vail, Alistair Barr, superstores, Burton Organizations: FTC, Amazon, DOJ, Google, Apple, Service, Bernstein, Big Tech, Ikon, Epic's, Epic, Vail Resorts

Besides YouTube's 2.6% first quarter ad revenue decline, Google is facing multiple challenges to its advertising business. While Google's search revenue was up about 2%, Microsoft is in the early stages of a big play to go after it. Matthew Bailey, principal analyst at research firm Omdia anticipates Google will post digital ad revenue growth at around 5% in 2023 and in 2024. Google's monolithic search ads business is starting to see real competitionMost of Google's ad revenue is driven by its ubiquitous search engine. But Amazon, which has a $31 billion ad business, and Walmart, which has a $2.7 billion ad business, grab roughly 80% of retail ad spend.

Google's monolithic search ads business is starting to see real competitionMost of Google's ad revenue is driven by its ubiquitous search engine. But neither pose the threat to Google's search dominance that ChatGPT-powered Bing does today, according to an agency source. But ChatGPT-Bing has a bigger opportunity to grab budgets earmarked for Google search because it will change the entire way consumers search for information. But Amazon, which has a $31 billion ad business, and Walmart, which has a $2.7 billion ad business, grab roughly 80% of retail ad spend. Morgan Stanley recently estimated that adtech firms are poised to win $26 billion out of a $130 billion retail media market by 2025.

☆ Why India is so important to Apple
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-18 | by ( Kif Leswing | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +6 min

Cook said in February that Apple had its best sales quarter ever for iPhones in India in the quarter ending in December. Most phones sold in India are priced below even the least-expensive new Apple iPhone. India could end up being a big winner as Apple looks for non-Chinese manufacturing options. Tim Cook, Apple's Chief Executive Officer (CEO) reacts as a man shows him Apple's Macintosh outside the Apple store at Jio World Drive mall, Mumbai, India on April 18, 2023. Apple was bullish on India back then, too: "India will be the most populous country in the world in 2022," Cook told CNBC's Jim Cramer at the time, saying it had "huge market potential."

☆ Alphabet shares dip on report Samsung phones may switch to Microsoft Bing search
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-17 | by ( Rohan Goswami | In Rohangoswamicnbc | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

Alphabet shares slumped more than 3.5% on Monday morning after The New York Times reported Samsung is considering ditching Google as the default search engine on its phones in favor of Microsoft 's Bing. Google pays billions of dollars every year to phone manufacturers, including a reported $20 billion annually to Apple, to serve as the default search engine. Samsung and Google's deal is up for renewal soon, the Times reported, and is worth an estimated $3 billion in revenue to Google. Samsung is a major Android manufacturer, and the news that Samsung would consider a switch reportedly surprised Google employees. Microsoft's Office apps are preloaded on Samsung phones, for example, and Samsung phones have built-in software that makes it easier to connect them to Windows computers.

☆ In the Microsoft vs. Google battle for AI search, we opt to own both stocks — here's why
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-17 | by ( Paulina Likos | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +7 min

This access, however, allows Google to stay ahead of competition like Microsoft, while generating heaps of search traffic that Alphabet then monetizes with advertising. Alphabet vs. Microsoft Since Bing was first introduced in 2009, Microsoft has been trying to dethrone Google in search. About a month after unveiling the new Bing, Microsoft said in a blog post that the search engine topped 100 million daily active users (DAUs). By comparison, Google search gets more than 1 billion DAUs. Morgan Stanley said Alphabet's full integration of Bard into search is an important next step to showcase the company's "leading multiyear AI search and development."

☆ We're downgrading one of our tech stocks and raising the price target on another
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-17 | by ( Jeff Marks | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +4 min

We're downgrading our rating on one tech stock in the portfolio whose AI initiatives may be lagging its competitors and increasing the price target on another that is gaining market share. Google search has become too ingrained in today's society. Given the mounting uncertainties facing the tech giant, it is only prudent to downgrade our rating to a 2 from a 1. Palo Alto Networks (PANW): Shares of this leader in cybersecurity are brushing up against our initial price target of $200. As a subscriber to the CNBC Investing Club with Jim Cramer, you will receive a trade alert before Jim makes a trade.

☆ Baidu says its alternative to ChatGPT is coming to the public in March
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-23 | by ( Evelyn Cheng | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +5 min

Sun Yilei | ReutersBEIJING — Chinese tech giant Baidu said Wednesday its artificial intelligence product Ernie bot is set to open to the public next month. "We will embed Ernie bot into Baidu search first and we'll open it to the public in March," Baidu CEO Robin Li said Wednesday during an earnings call, according to a FactSet transcript. Stock Chart Icon Stock chart icon Baidu 12-month share performanceDespite widespread assessments that ChatGPT is transformative for tech, businesses don't have a clear path to monetization yet. For Ernie bot, public partnership announcements include Baidu-backed video streaming platform iQiyi's plans for connecting to the bot for search and AI-generated content. Baidu-backed electric car startup Jidu — which is set to start deliveries this year — also said it plans to incorporate Ernie bot.

☆ Microsoft cofounder Bill Gates says the rise of AI poses a threat to Google's search engine profit
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-22 | by ( Huileng Tan | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Bill Gates said in a podcast Google's search engine profits could fall as Microsoft moves into AI. Gates said AI is the "biggest thing in this decade" and could reshuffle the tech space. Microsoft unveiled an AI-powered Bing in a challenge to Google's search engine dominance. His comments came two weeks after Microsoft unveiled an AI-powered version of its Bing search engine, which pits itself as a challenger to Google's dominance in the search space. Just as Microsoft launched Bing, Alphabet — Google's parent company — also unveiled an AI service called Bard.

☆ Exclusive: Microsoft's Bing plans AI ads in early pitch to advertisers
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-17 | by ( Sheila Dang | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

Last week, Microsoft and Alphabet's (GOOGL.O) Google announced new generative AI chatbots a day apart from the other. Microsoft expects the more human responses from the Bing AI chatbot will generate more users for its search function and therefore more advertisers. Advertisements within the Bing chatbot may also enjoy more prominence on the page compared to traditional search ads. loadingMicrosoft's Edge web browser, which uses the Bing search engine, has a market share under 5% worldwide, according to one estimate from web analytics firm StatCounter. Parts Geek did not immediately respond to questions about whether it was aware of its ads appearing in the new Bing chatbot.

☆ Bing's first week with AI superpowers was a Wild West of excitement, misinformation, and dystopia — and showed Google has nothing to worry about just yet
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-17 | by ( Hasan Chowdhury | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

Microsoft Bing had an up-and-down first week after relaunching with new AI superpowers. Bing, Microsoft's search engine, has been revamped with artificial intelligence superpowers. Google's eponymous search engine is getting the same treatment. For one, its launch hasn't gone completely to plan — and even Microsoft admitted Bing has gone rogue in certain circumstances. And in Google, Bing faces a mighty foe.

☆ Here's the bear case for artificial intelligence
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-16 | by ( Sarah Min | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +5 min

Now that ChatGPT unleashed a firestorm of interest in artificial intelligence investing, it may be time to urge some calm for investors. AI YTD mountain AI software provider C3.ai has seen its stock more than doubled as investors look to hop on the artificial intelligence trend. Here's the bear case for artificial intelligence. That's about seven times more than the cost to run a typical Google search, which Nowak estimated to be $0.003, or not even half of one cent. Separately, the lack of proper citation from generative AI could mean future lawsuits for AI companies.

☆ Heavyweight tech battle: How Microsoft and Alphabet stack up against each other in the A.I. war
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-10 | by ( Samantha Subin | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +9 min

"It's a new day in search," Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella said Tuesday during an AI event held at the company's headquarters, saying that the "race starts today." So far, Microsoft is making significant headway within AI and rising in popularity in the tech world. Alphabet, he added, "got beaten to market by Microsoft" despite its investments in the space. Alphabet Microsoft may be taking the lead on AI in the near term, but investors shouldn't sleep on Alphabet just yet. "We believe GOOGL has the AI tech and scale to maintain/grow its leading user base," said Morgan Stanley's Brian Nowak in a Thursday note.

☆ Apple and Google have a symbiotic deal: ChatGPT will pressure the former to evaluate this relationship
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-10 | by ( Thomas Maxwell | Alistair Barr | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

Google has long benefited from a costly deal to be the default search engine on Apple devices. On top of the Apple deal, Google controls Android and Chrome, with roughly 71% and 65% of the smartphone and browser markets, respectively. Based on its understanding of Google's deal with Apple, Bernstein believes that a 3-year default search deal is coming up for renewal later this year. It's unclear whether Apple would want to change the default search engine to Bing, but it's always had a contentious relationship with Google. Apple's services business, which includes the search deal, was a bright spot in the company's most recent earnings report.

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