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☆ China targeting German tech 'through back door' with licences: report
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-10 | by ( ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +1 min

(Photo by John MACDOUGALL / AFP) (Photo by JOHN MACDOUGALL/AFP via Getty Images)China is going after licences to boost its access to German technology as investment regulation makes company acquisitions in the sector increasingly difficult, the Handelsblatt newspaper reported on Wednesday, citing a study. The study conducted by the IW economic institute, analysing Bundesbank data on behalf of the newspaper, found German licence revenues from China more than tripled in 2022 compared to 2014. Compared with 2020, the increase was about half. "There is a clear early indication that Chinese companies are looking for a new way to get access to German technology," said Juergen Matthes, head of IW's global and regional markets research unit. Tech licences are one way for China to try to get in "through the back door", he told Reuters.

Persons: John MACDOUGALL, JOHN MACDOUGALL, Juergen Matthes Organizations: AFP, Getty Images, Tech, Reuters Locations: Berlin, Germany, China, Russia

☆ China targeting German tech 'through back door' with licences - report
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-09 | by ( Reinhard Becker | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

The flags of Germany and China are seen ahead of a meeting between German Chancellor Olaf Scholz and Chinese Premier Li Qiang in Berlin, Germany, June 19, 2023. REUTERS/Fabrizio BenschBERLIN, Aug 9 (Reuters) - China is going after licences to boost its access to German technology as investment regulation makes company acquisitions in the sector increasingly difficult, the Handelsblatt newspaper reported on Wednesday, citing a study. Tech licences are one way for China to try to get in "through the back door", he told Reuters. As a result, direct investments and takeover bids by Chinese companies have attracted scrutiny in Berlin in recent months. Through licensing agreements, Chinese companies can gain legal permission to use German technology.

Persons: Olaf Scholz, Li Qiang, Fabrizio Bensch BERLIN, Juergen Matthes, China's Cosco, Rachel More, Kirsti Knolle, Sharon Singleton Organizations: REUTERS, Tech, Reuters, Thomson Locations: Germany, China, Berlin, Russia, Hamburg

☆ Vietnam's EV ownership will see 'strong growth' in 2023, says new report
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-07 | by ( Sheila Chiang | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +1 min

Vietnam's electric vehicle market appears poised for rapid expansion in the next decade, but there could be significant headwinds blunting that growth. According to BMI Research, a Fitch Solutions research unit, passenger EV sales in the country is expected to at least double this year. "In 2023, we expect passenger EV sales to expand by 114.8% year-on-year to reach around 18,000 units," said BMI's report published Thursday. Specifically, sales for battery electric vehicle (BEV) could surge by 104.4% compared to the previous year to nearly 17,000 units, the report said. The penetration rate for passenger EVs — defined as passenger EV sales as a percentage of the country's total passenger vehicle sales — is set to increase to 13.6% by 2030.

Persons: BEV Organizations: BMI Research, Fitch Solutions, Vietnam Automobile Manufacturers Association, Electric Locations: Vietnam, That's

☆ India's rice export ban to hurt millions globally. These countries will be the worst hit
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-02 | by ( Lee Ying Shan | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +5 min

20 Xinhua News Agency | Xinhua News Agency | Getty ImagesIndia's rice export ban could ripple across global rice markets — and millions are expected to be impacted, with Asian and African consumers set to bear the biggest brunt. The scale of people impacted by Indian rice ban will be in millions. Other affected regionsAsia is not the only region hit by India's rice export ban, many African and Middle East nations are also vulnerable. That means up to 40% of India's rice exports are now offline, according to BMI forecasts. India's rice export ban is expected to ripple across global rice markets.

Persons: Mohanty, Samarendu Mohanty, Narendra Modi Organizations: Xinhua News Agency, Getty, Barclays, El Nino, BMI, Fitch Solutions, Workers, International Potato Center, CIP Locations: Nagaon district, India's, Assam, India, Malaysia, Asia, Singapore, Thailand, Pakistan, Vietnam, Philippines, Saharan Africa, East, North Africa, Djibouti, Liberia, Qatar, Gambia, Kuwait, Cambodia, Indonesia, Bangladesh, Nepal

☆ Orcas may just be the beginning. Whales and humans are likely to have more strange encounters in the future.
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-13 | by ( Kelsey Vlamis | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Orcas are targeting boats near Spain while gray whales in Baja let humans pet them. "It isn't people running up to whales, it's whales coming to people." The gray whales befriending boats is especially interesting because just decades ago they were hunted to the brink of extinction in those same lagoons. But after conservation measures made whaling illegal, the North Pacific gray whales have dramatically recovered, allowing for these more friendly, social interactions between whales and humans. And it's not just the gray whales.

Persons: Leigh Torres, —, Andrew Trites, Torres Organizations: Service, Oregon State, Mammal Institute, Marine Mammal Research, University of British Locations: Spain, Baja, Wall, Silicon, Mexico's Baja California, University of British Columbia, Pacific, Atlantic, Portugal

☆ Gray whales were nicknamed 'devil fish' for fighting back when harpooned by whalers. Now they approach boats and let humans pet them, baffling scientists.
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-13 | by ( Kelsey Vlamis | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

Now gray whales in Baja California frequently interact with humans in a remarkable shift. The video showed a gray whale right beside a boat, allowing the captain to pick whale lice off its head. Still, the fact that the gray whales of the Baja lagoons interact with boats and humans at all baffles researchers. The gray whales then make the longest migration of any mammal, with most traveling more than 10,000 miles to their foraging grounds near Alaska. Hunting gray whales is illegal, with some exceptions for Indigenous peoples in Alaska, Canada, and Mexico.

Persons: Gray, that's, Andrew Trites, Trites, he's, Guillermo Arias, Leigh Torres, Torres, it's Organizations: Service, Marine Mammal Research, University of British, Getty, Oregon State, Mammal Institute Locations: Baja California, Wall, Silicon, Ojo, Baja, University of British Columbia, Alaska, Pacific, Canada, Mexico, Guerrero Negro, Baja California Sur, Coast, Pacific Northwest, Oregon

☆ Google's top AI researchers, including all the authors behind a landmark paper, have left for competitors. Here's where they are now.
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-13 | by ( Thomas Maxwell | Hugh Langley | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +13 min

Top AI researchers have been leaving for startups where their work can have more impact. That frustration over Google's slow movement has been corroborated by other former Google researchers who spoke to Insider. Niki Parmar left Google Brain after five years to serve as a cofounder and CTO of Adept, though in November, she left to found a stealth startup. Lukasz Kaiser left Google Brain after working there for more than seven years to join OpenAI in 2021. Sharan Narang, another contributor to the T5 paper, left Google Brain in 2022 after four years there.

Persons: it's, Llion Jones, OpenAI's, ChatGPT, Sundar Pichai, Bard, Daniel De Freitas, Noam Shazeer, Ilya Sutskever, Sutskever, OpenAI, Ashish Vaswani, Niki Parmar, Jakob Uszkoreit, Aidan Gomez, Nick Frosst, Lukasz Kaiser, Kaiser, Illia Polosukhin, Meena, De Freitas, Romal Thoppilan, Character.AI, LaMDA, Elon Musk, Character.ai, Winni Wintermeyer, Thoppilan, Alicia Jin, BERT BERT, BERT, Jacob Devlin, Colin Raffel, Raffel, Sharan Narang, He's, Azalia Mirhoseini, Anna Goldie, Mirhoseini, Goldie, Claude, DeepMind Mustafa Suleyman, Mustafa Suleyman, DeepMind, Suleyman, Reid Hoffman Organizations: Google, Bloomberg, New York Times, Microsoft, Street Journal, Neural Networks, OpenAI, YouTube, Elon, UNC Chapel Hill, Meta, Anthropic, Society Locations: ChatGPT, Character.AI, DeepMind

☆ India's tomato prices surge over 300%, sparking theft and turmoil
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-13 | by ( Lee Ying Shan | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +1 min

Tomato prices surged 366.86% from 26.76 rupees per kg at the start of the year to 108.92 rupees per kg as of July 11. India is facing a tomato crisis as prices have skyrocketed more than 300% due to extreme weather conditions. Tomato prices surged 341% year-to-date, from 24.68 rupees per kg to 108.92 rupees per kg as of July 11, data from the Department of Consumer Affairs showed. "Due to excess rainfall in these states, tomato [crops have] been highly affected… A large part of the tomato crop has been destroyed due to rains and flood," the council stated. Another popular Indian dish, the Andhra Tomato Kura (tomato curry) is also widely enjoyed by locals.

Persons: Damien Yeo Organizations: Department of Consumer Affairs, National, BMI, Fitch Solutions Locations: Kolkata, India, Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra, Karnataka

☆ Elon Musk launches new company xAI, which proclaims a lofty mission to 'understand the true nature of the universe'
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-12 | by ( Sindhu Sundar | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Elon Musk officially unveiled his new company xAI on Wednesday. Musk publicly introduced a new company called xAI, whose stated aim is to glean "the true nature of the universe." And an apparently all-male, 12-person team including Musk has been detailed to the heady task, according to its website, which doesn't list any female employees. Hendrycks has published about the potential dangers of AI, including the technology's ability to spread disinformation. With the launch of xAI, Musk now owns or is in charge of half a dozen companies, including Tesla, SpaceX, Neuralink, The Boring Company, and Twitter.

Persons: Elon Musk, Musk, xAI's, Tesla, Musk helms, Dan Hendrycks, Hendrycks, Musk's Tesla, Insider's Kali Hays, — Manuel Kroiss, Igor Babuschkin, Babuschkin, Brian Philip Organizations: Morning, X.AI, Tesla, Twitter, X Corp, Microsoft, AI Safety, SpaceX, Center, AI, Palo Alto Police Department, The Boring Company Locations: Nevada, Hendrycks, Palo Alto

☆ Thames Water: Why Britain's water industry is struggling with sewage spills, huge leaks and crushing debts
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-08 | by ( Hanna Ziady | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +8 min

The UK water sector is “clearly in a state of multiple crises,” said Dieter Helm, a professor of economic policy at the University of Oxford. Thames Water in troubleThe industry’s long-running problems have been thrust into the spotlight by a looming cash crunch at Thames Water, which serves 15 million people in London and the southeast of England. An aerial view of a Thames Water sewage treatment works in west London. A screen displays real-time notifications of sewage leaks into waterways in the region controlled by Thames Water in January 2023. Will Thames Water be nationalized?

Persons: ”, Dieter Helm, “, ” Helm, Ofwat, Abu Dhabi, David Black, Ben Stansall, Iain Coucher, they’ve, ” Black, Margaret Thatcher’s, David Hall, Leon Neal, ” Hall, Sarah Bentley “, Maureen McLean, Helm Organizations: London CNN —, University of Oxford, CNN, Thames, Getty, Yorkshire Water, Margaret Thatcher’s Conservative, Public Services International Research Unit, University of Greenwich, Thames Water, Ontario, BBC Locations: England, Wales, London, China, Abu, AFP, Yorkshire, Windsor, UK

☆ Australia and Indonesia have signed a 'win-win' EV battery deal, analyst says
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-05 | by ( Lee Ying Shan | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +1 min

Mining giants Australia and Indonesia have signed a "win-win" EV battery deal, said Sabrin Chowdhury, head of commodities analysis at BMI, a research unit of Fitch Solutions. Indonesian President Joko Widodo met his Australian counterpart Anthony Albanese on Tuesday during a three-day state visit to Australia. The two countries welcomed "new commercial deals between Australian and Indonesian business across the health, mining and digital economy sectors," according to a government press release. "[Indonesia] has a major aim to develop its EV manufacturing industry. "Lithium and nickel together, they're very important parts of EV batteries.

Persons: Sabrin Chowdhury, Joko Widodo, Anthony Albanese, Chowdhury Organizations: Mining, EV, BMI, Fitch Solutions, CNBC Locations: Australia, Indonesia, Indonesian

☆ Stop calling the killer whale encounters with boats 'attacks'
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-28 | by ( Kelsey Vlamis | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Killer whales near the Iberian Peninsula have been striking boats since 2020. No doubt the encounters feel like attacks to the boaters, but experts say that may not be accurate. But in at least three cases the killer whales have managed to sink sailboats, prompting talk of an "orca uprising" in which the whales were finally fighting back. Despite one theory about a "traumatized" killer whale seeking revenge on boats, Trites and other experts have said they believe the orcas are most likely just playing. They appear to be picking up and mimicking the play behavior of other killer whales, suggesting it is being positively reinforced, or that they are getting pleasure or some sort of benefit from it.

Persons: Andrew Trites, Trites Organizations: Service, Marine Mammal Research, University of British Locations: orcas, Spain, Portugal, University of British Columbia, Canada

☆ Orcas in general don't pose a threat to humans — but any encounter with a massive, wild animal has its risks
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-28 | by ( Hannah Getahun | Kelsey Vlamis | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

Generally speaking, orcas in the wild do not pose a threat to humans. But the boat encounters are still dangerous, and swimming with a massive wild animal can be risky. Generally speaking, killer whales do not pose much of a threat to humans. The Iberian population members targeting boats also do not seem to be interested in humans, Strager noted. However, Strager said it's impossible to draw any conclusions about wild orcas based on the behavior of captive orcas, as they are in such an artificial environment.

Persons: orcas, Hanne Strager, Strager, Andrew Trites, Tilikum, Trites Organizations: Service, Marine Mammal Research, University of British, SeaWorld Orlando Locations: Spain, Portugal, Danish, Norway, University of British Columbia, Canada, Florida

☆ Hundreds of Sea Lions Are Dying. Is an Algal Bloom to Blame?
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-21 | by ( Livia Albeck-Ripka | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

The calls came in, one after the other, with reports of sea lions swaying their heads back and forth, foaming at the mouth, or slumped, lifeless on the beach. Rescuers along the central California coast struggled to keep up as they captured the sick animals in the hopes of saving them. Already, hundreds of sea lions and dozens of dolphins had died. “It’s been really sad,” said Michelle Berman Kowalewski, a biologist and the director of the Channel Islands Cetacean Research Unit, a nonprofit that has been responding to the beached dolphins. Algal blooms are not uncommon, but Ms. Berman Kowalewski said that, even in a bad year, she might respond to 30 to 40 poisoned dolphins.

Persons: they’ve, “ It’s, ”, Michelle Berman Kowalewski, Berman Kowalewski Organizations: Islands, Research Locations: California, Santa Barbara, San Luis Obispo County

☆ Killer Whales Targeting Boats Could End Badly for the Orcas
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-20 | by ( Kelsey Vlamis | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Killer whales near Spain and Portugal have been confronting, and even sinking, boats. The killer whales typically approach the ship from behind and then try to strike the rudder until the boat is immobilized. People online have joked the killer whales are "orcanizing" an "orca rebellion," with many social media users rooting for the whales. But the result could be an increase in fear of killer whales in the popular imagination, similar to what the movie "Jaws" did for sharks. In reality, killer whales — which got their names from hunting other whales — do not pose a significant risk of harm to humans.

Persons: —, Andrew Trites, Trites, Deborah Giles, Evan Brodsky, Luna Organizations: Service, Marine Mammal Research, University of British, NBC, Area, Nootka Locations: Spain, Portugal, University of British Columbia, Monterey Bay, Monterey, West, British Columbia, Canada, —

☆ Orca attacks on boats aren't out of revenge, killer whale experts say. They're just having fun.
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-17 | by ( Erin Heger | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

"I certainly think orcas are capable of complex emotions," Monika Wieland Shields, director of the Orca Behavior Institute told Insider. And yet, these situations haven't resulted in wild orcas attacking boats, Shields said. Orcas in captivity have attacked and killed humans, but there are no records of orcas killing humans in the wild. The orcas are trying to playAccording to Shields, orcas' natural curiosity and playfulness are likely the cause for these encounters and not revenge. According to Trites, orcas might simply enjoy the sensation of ramming into boats.

Persons: —, they've, Andrew Trites, Sailor Werner Schaufelberger, orcas, Trites, White, Monika Wieland Shields, Suzanne Allee, Magnolia Pictures Shields, Shields, Orcas, that's, Hanne Strager, Strager Organizations: Service, Marine Mammal Research, University of British, Orca Behavior Institute, Magnolia Pictures Locations: Spain, Portugal, University of British Columbia, Canada, Blackfish, Washington

☆ Britain's Covid inquiry has become a political farce
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-17 | by ( Luke Mcgee | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +8 min

London CNN —Britain’s Covid inquiry was supposed to give closure to people who lost loved ones in the pandemic. It’s instead become a political circus that could hurt both Boris Johnson and Rishi Sunak. Johnson undercut Sunak by directly handing his own information to the inquiry. This is the committee’s investigation into the infamous Partygate scandal, which led to Johnson being fined by police for breaking Covid rules. Johnson had initially told parliament that all rules were followed at all times.

Persons: Boris Johnson, Rishi Sunak, Johnson, Sunak, Deborah Doyle, ” Boris Johnson, Dan Kitwood, Sunak’s, ” Jack Rodgers, Christina Pagel, Pagel, “, Peter Summers, Lorelei King, ”, Baroness Hallett, ” King Organizations: London CNN, Justice, CNN, University College London’s, Research Unit, Conservative, “ Locations: Sunak, Britain, Covid

☆ El Nino is approaching and your next cup of coffee could be at risk
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-06 | by ( Lee Ying Shan | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +1 min

Extreme weather conditions brought on by an approaching El Nino are fueling concerns that robusta beans in major coffee producers like Vietnam and Indonesia could be hit, resulting in soaring prices. "The now widely-expected transition to El Nino conditions in Q323 has stoked fears of reduced output in Vietnam and Indonesia, both major coffee robusta producers," Fitch Solutions' research unit BMI said in report dated May 24. Robusta beans are known for their bitter characteristics and higher acidity, containing more caffeine than their premium and pricier arabica counterpart. El Nino is a weather phenomenon that typically brings hotter and drier than usual conditions to the central and eastern tropical Pacific Ocean. Climate scientists are predicting that this year's El Nino could descend in the second half of 2023.

Persons: El, El Nino Organizations: Fitch Solutions, BMI Locations: El Nino, Vietnam, Indonesia, Southeast Asia

☆ Chinese quants redouble AI bets amid ChatGPT frenzy
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-05 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

REUTERS/Thomas White/Illustration/File PhotoSHANGHAI/SINGAPORE, June 5 (Reuters) - Chinese quant hedge fund managers are rushing to explore ChatGPT-style tools, embracing the emerging AI technology that has sparked a global frenzy since the release of the widely popular Microsoft-backed OpenAI chatbot. His hedge fund already uses ChatGPT to better understand a company's fundamentals and avoid value traps, project earnings power, and identify investment opportunities and risks. A ChatGPT-like tool boosts quants' ability to process text-related data, said Feng Ji, chairman of Baiont Capital. Feng's hedge fund, backed by former Google China chief and AI veteran Kai-Fu Lee, has invested heavily in hardware to enhance computing power required for model-training. Regulators are looking for ways to tackle the impact of generative AI technology.

Persons: Thomas White, Steve Chen, Feng Ji, ChatGPT, Feng, Kai, Fu Lee, Feng's, Larry Cao, Cao, it's, Samuel Shen, Tom Westbrook, Himani Sarkar Organizations: Microsoft, Baiont, Google China, Flyer, Zhishan Investment, Wall, Regulators, HK, Baidu, CFA Institute, Thomson Locations: SHANGHAI, SINGAPORE, Shanghai, Beijing, Feng's Nanjing, China

☆ Sleep apnea linked to smaller brain volume, study finds
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-31 | by ( Sandee Lamotte | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +7 min

However, people who snore heavily or who have sleep apnea can experience hundreds of mini-arousals per night — even though they don’t realize it. The study group underwent brain scans, memory tests that were repeated at about 21 months, and an overnight sleep study done at their homes. Severe sleep apnea was associated with worrisome changes in the brains of middle-aged and older adults, a July 2018 study found. “We surmise that hypoxia may also have a deleterious effect on the volume of the regions of the medial temporal lobe. Studies such as these reinforce the need to be assessed by a sleep specialist and treated for sleep apnea.

Persons: ”, Géraldine Rauchs, ” Rauchs, “, Rudy Tanzi, ” Tanzi, Tanzi, Rauchs Organizations: CNN, National Institute of Health, Medical Research, Harvard Medical School, Massachusetts General Hospital Locations: Caen, France, Boston, Massachusetts

☆ China's Wuhan finance regulator urges hundreds of firms to repay debt, local media report
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-27 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

BEIJING, May 27 (Reuters) - The financial regulator of China's Wuhan city publicly exposed 259 firms with debt to the government and urged them to immediately pay up, local media reported on Saturday. The rare action from Wuhan's finance bureau on Friday comes as local governments in China become increasingly pressed by higher debt and expenses. The debtors, their corresponding guarantors and successors were requested to repay their debts to the asset management firm immediately after May 26, Yicai reported. State-owned Wuhan Yangtze River Asset Management Co is a professional platform responsible for the disposal of various non-performing assets in the central city, according to its official website. Wuhan's local budget revenue slid 8.5% year-on-year in the first quarter of 2023, according to data released by local the finance bureau.

☆ Researchers think other orcas are imitating a single killer whale that first started targeting boats, leading some to sink
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-27 | by ( Kelsey Vlamis | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

Killer whales near the Iberian peninsula are colliding with, and sinking, boats. Researchers think they may be imitating the behavior of a single female named White Gladis. In these encounters, the orcas' behavior generally follows the same pattern: approaching the back of the ship and hitting the rudder until successfully causing the boat to stop. They keep apart," Trites said, noting that orca populations represent different ecotypes that eat different foods and display different behaviors. Or, Trites said, the killer whales might just get bored with the boats and stop taking part.

☆ Milk prices in the world's dairy powerhouse India have spiked 15%
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-25 | by ( Lee Ying Shan | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +4 min

India is facing an increase in milk prices, and it's not expected to ease up until November. Matthew Lloyd | Bloomberg | Getty ImagesIndia, the world's dairy powerhouse, is facing an increase in milk prices, and it's not expected to ease up until November. India, the world's leading producer of milk, accounts for 22% of global milk production and followed by the U.S. China, Pakistan and Brazil. Higher feed costsHigher cattle feed prices that coincide with the peak demand season are feeding into the spike in milk prices. India is facing an increase in milk prices, and it's not expected to ease up until November.

☆ Killer whales near Spain have sunk 3 sailboats. A lonely orca named Luna who got separated from his family 20 years ago also damaged boats — but scientists say he just wanted to play.
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-24 | by ( Kelsey Vlamis | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

Killer whales near Spain and Portugal have sunk three sailboats in recent years. An orca name Luna that was damaging boats near Vancouver Island in the 2000s just wanted to play. A population of killer whales near Portugal and Spain's Iberian Peninsula first began having "disruptive" interactions with boats in 2020. However, the encounters reminded him of a young male orca named Luna that engaged in similar behavior with boats around 20 years ago. "Being a social animal, he got very lonely and became quite attached to boats," Trites said.

☆ DOJ charges former Apple engineer with alleged theft of autonomous car tech for China
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-16 | by ( Rohan Goswami | In Rohangoswamicnbc | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

A former Apple software engineer was charged with allegedly stealing Apple's autonomous technology for a Chinese self-driving car company, the Department of Justice announced Tuesday. Weibao Wang worked as a software engineer at Apple from 2016 to 2018, a DOJ indictment said. Wang worked on Apple's Annotation Team, and was granted "broad access" to databases which the Justice Department said could only be accessed by 2,700 of Apple's 135,000 employees. An even smaller segment, around 2%, had access to "one or more" of the databases Wang accessed, the indictment continues. The charges were announced as part of a sweeping enforcement action led by the Disruptive Technology Strike Force.

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