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☆ EU antitrust regulators approve Vivendi, Lagardere deal
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-09 | by ( Foo Yun Chee | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

BRUSSELS, June 9 (Reuters) - Vivendi (VIV.PA), the French media conglomerate controlled by billionaire Vincent Bollore, on Friday won conditional EU antitrust approval for its acquisition of France's largest publisher Lagardere (LAGA.PA). Vivendi last year announced the deal which would give it control of Lagardere's flagship weekly publications Journal du Dimanche (JDD) and Paris Match. Vivendi said in a statement that it was confident it would finalise those two transactions by the end of October. "The remedies proposed by Vivendi will allow for the preservation of existing competition in those markets, to the benefit of consumers." Reuters reported in April that the remedies were sufficient to help Vivendi gain EU antitrust clearance for the acquisition.

Persons: Vincent Bollore, Margrethe Vestager, Daniel Kretinsky, Yannick Bollore, Foo Yun Chee, Bart Meijer, Sudip Kar, Gupta, Louise Organizations: Vivendi, Paris Match, European Commission, Reuters, Le Monde, TF1, Thomson Locations: BRUSSELS, EU, Czech, Le

☆ Stocks making the biggest moves midday: GameStop, Amazon, Carvana and more
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-08 | by ( Samantha Subin | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

GameStop — The meme stock tumbled nearly 18% after the company fired CEO Matthew Furlong and appointed Ryan Cohen as executive chairman, effective immediately. Carvana — Shares popped 56% after the online car seller issued an upbeat outlook for the second quarter. Carvana said it now expects non-GAAP total gross profit per unit to come in above $6,000 in the second quarter. Smartsheet — Smartsheet tanked more than 17.5% after the software company said billings came in at $215.5 million, falling short of a StreetAccount estimate of $217.1 million. Trip.com posted earnings per share of 43 cents, beating a StreetAccount estimate of 26 cents.

Persons: Matthew Furlong, Ryan Cohen, Wells, Carvana, Wolfe, Fisker, Rod Lache, Chris Licht, Jefferies, billings, Lilly Pulitzer, Tommy Bahama, Trip.com, Yun Li, Alex Harring, Sarah Min, Michelle Fox, Tanaya Macheel Organizations: GameStop, Signet, Signet Jewelers, Wolfe Research, Warner Bros, CNN, Wynn Resorts, Sands, Mobile, Adobe —, Adobe, Oxford Industries Locations: Wells Fargo, Las, Macao

☆ Instagram, YouTube, TikTok, Twitter target of EU crypto advertising complaint
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-08 | by ( Foo Yun Chee | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

BRUSSELS, June 8 (Reuters) - Meta Platforms' (META.O) Instagram, Alphabet's (GOOGL.O) YouTube, TikTok and Twitter could face regulatory action after European consumer group BEUC complained to the European Commission and consumer authorities that the online platforms allegedly facilitate the misleading promotion of crypto assets. U.S. regulators suing crypto platforms Coinbase COIN.O and Binance, along with last year's collapse of FTX, have sparked concerns over consumer protection related to crypto assets such as bitcoin and ether. It urged the Consumer Protection Cooperation Network to require the online platforms to adopt stricter advertising policies on crypto and take measures to prevent influencers from misleading consumers. The group called on European consumer authorities to cooperate with European Supervisory Authorities for financial services to ensure the platforms adapt their advertising policies to prevent the misleading promotion of crypto. "This is why we are turning to the authorities in charge of protecting consumers to ensure Instagram, YouTube, TikTok and Twitter fulfil their duty to protect consumers against crypto scams and false promises," she said.

Persons: BEUC, Monique Goyens, Foo Yun Chee, Lisa Shumaker Organizations: YouTube, Twitter, European Commission, European Union, Consumer Protection Cooperation Network, Commission, European, Authorities, Crypto, Consumer, Thomson Locations: BRUSSELS, Denmark, France, Greece, Italy, Lithuania, Portugal, Slovakia, Spain

☆ EU launches 8.1 bln euro microelectronics projects with 56 companies
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-08 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: 1 min

BRUSSELS, June 8 (Reuters) - Fourteen European Union countries will grant up to 8.1 billion euros ($8.7 billion) in public support to 56 companies working together on projects in microelectronics and communication technologies, the European Commission said on Thursday. The projects concern "research and development projects covering microelectronics and communication technologies across the whole value chain from materials and tools to the chip designs and manufacturing processes," the EU executive said. ($1 = 0.9314 euros)Reporting by Foo Yun CheeOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Persons: Foo Yun Chee Organizations: Union, European Commission, Thomson Locations: BRUSSELS

☆ EU's Breton demands Meta act against online content targeting children
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-08 | by ( Foo Yun Chee | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

BRUSSELS, June 8 (Reuters) - EU industry chief Thierry Breton will meet Meta Platforms (META.O) Chief Executive Mark Zuckerberg on June 23 and demand that he act immediately to tackle content targeting children, as Meta's voluntary child protection code seemed not to be working. Social media platforms such as Meta's Instagram, ByteDance's TikTok, Snap's (SNAP.N) Snapchat and Alphabet's (GOOGL.O) YouTube have stirred concerns among regulators and users over content targeted at young children. "#Meta’s voluntary code on child protection seems not to work," Breton said in a Twitter post. Breton said Meta would also have to demonstrate the measures it plans to take to comply with European Union online content rules known as the Digital Services Act (DSA) after Aug. 25 or face heavy sanctions. The DSA bans certain types of targeted advertisements on online platforms such as those meant for children or when they use special categories of personal data, such as ethnicity, political views and sexual orientation.

Persons: Thierry Breton, Mark Zuckerberg, ByteDance's, Breton, Meta, Foo Yun Chee, Mark Heinrich Our Organizations: Meta, YouTube, EU, Reuters, Meta's, European Union, Digital Services, DSA, Thomson Locations: BRUSSELS, Menlo Park, California

☆ Stocks making the biggest moves premarket: Netflix, Tesla, Coinbase, GameStop and more
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-07 | by ( Brian Evans | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

Check out the companies making headlines in premarket trading. GameStop — The meme stock added 2.4% premarket ahead of quarterly results on Wednesday. Petrobras — The Brazilian oil giant rose 2% in premarket trading after Morgan Stanley upgraded the stock to overweight from equal weight. NovoCure — The oncology company added 3.2% before the opening bell. Yext — The online marketing firm soared more than 17% in premarket trading on better-than-expected quarterly results.

Persons: Morgan Stanley, Coinbase, Wood, NovoCure, Yext, CNBC's Hakyung Kim, Jesse Pound, Yun Li Organizations: Netflix, JPMorgan, GameStop, FactSet, Petrobras —, SEC, of Clinical Locations: Krakow, Poland, premarket

☆ Piper Sandler's Rich Repetto on what A.I.-powered trading could look like
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-07 | by ( Yun Li | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +1 min

Rich Repetto, Piper Sandler's managing director, believes artificial intelligence could change the way investors trade securities. I think about speed, convenience and price — that's still what drives trading," Repetto told CNBC's Bob Pisani in an interview from the Piper Sandler Global Exchange Conference on Wednesday. As AI continues to make breakthroughs, Wall Street is curious how the technology could disrupt the asset management and trading businesses. Repetto said AI-powered personal advisers can be personalized and it could address the issue of a crowded trade on Wall Street. "One of the big problems on Wall Street is that when you do have a good trade, it is a crowded trade," Repetto said.

Persons: Rich Repetto, Piper, Repetto, CNBC's Bob Pisani, Piper Sandler, That's Organizations: Piper Sandler Global Exchange Conference Locations: ChatGPT

☆ Citadel's Ken Griffin says the A.I. community is making a mistake by creating so much hype
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-07 | by ( Yun Li | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

Ken Griffin, founder and CEO of Citadel, believes the hype around artificial intelligence could be overblown at this early stage. "I do think the AI community is making a terrible mistake by being full of hype on the near-term implications of generative AI," Griffin said Tuesday during an event for Citadel's new class of interns in Fort Lauderdale, FL. "I think they're actually doing everybody a huge disservice with the level of hype they are creating." One industry that could see a material impact from AI is programming and software engineering, Griffin said. "Programing is going be a big target for generative AI," Griffin said, asked by an intern about AI's impact on his business.

Persons: Ken Griffin, Griffin, chatbot, Warren Buffett Organizations: Citadel, Nvidia, AI Safety, Harvard, MIT, Citadel Securities Locations: Fort Lauderdale , FL, Fort Lauderdale, Palm Beach

☆ Cathie Wood hikes her Coinbase stake by more than $20 million during SEC-fueled plunge
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-07 | by ( Yun Li | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

Ark Invest's Cathie Wood added to her Coinbase holding Tuesday, unfazed by the Securities and Exchange Commission's charges against the crypto exchange. Wood snapped up 329,773 shares of Coinbase for her flagship ARK Innovation ETF in the previous session when the stock tumbled more than 12%. She also added 53,885 shares for ARK Next Generation Internet ETF as well as another 35,666 shares for Ark Fintech Innovation ETF. The crypto exchange is now ARKK's sixth biggest holding with a 5.35% weighting. Wood has been sticking with her bold call on bitcoin despite the regulatory crackdown in the crypto industry.

Persons: Wood, Coinbase, Binance, Changpeng Zhao Organizations: Securities, Exchange, Fintech, SEC, ARK Invest Locations: unfazed, Coinbase, New York

☆ Batman wins EU trademark dispute with Italian designer
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-07 | by ( Foo Yun Chee | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

REUTERS/Henry RomeroBRUSSELS, June 7 (Reuters) - Caped crusader Batman won a trademark fight with an Italian clothing retailer on Wednesday after Europe's second-top court sided with an EU patent office, ruling that the Batman logo is distinctive enough to warrant its EU trademark. The Italian company had asked EUIPO to annul the trademark for clothing and carnival items, saying that it lacked a distinctive character. Judges backed the EU trademark body. The Italian company can appeal to the EU Court of Justice, Europe's highest, on points of law. The case is T-735/21 | Aprile and Commerciale Italiana v EUIPO – DC Comics (Representation of a bat in an oval surround).

Persons: Henry Romero BRUSSELS, Batman, Europe's, EUIPO, Aprile, Foo Yun Chee, Louise Heavens Organizations: DC Comics, REUTERS, EU, Warner Bros, European, Intellectual Property, Commerciale Italiana, Italiana Srl, Justice, Europe's, Commerciale, Thomson Locations: Mexico City, Mexico, Italian, EU, Luxembourg

☆ EU's Breton cites telcos' investment gap for Big Tech network fee push
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-06 | by ( Foo Yun Chee | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

It is better to be a telco in the U.S. than in Europe," Breton told a conference. Adjusted for GDP, 5G investment in the EU is lower than in other regions of the world," he said. He dismissed fears that requiring some users to pay more than others would breach EU net neutrality rules which say all users should be treated equally. "We will not touch net neutrality. It is not a question of changing net neutrality.

Persons: Thierry Breton, Breton, Foo Yun Chee, Richard Chang Organizations: Big Tech, EU, Deutsche Telekom, Telefonica, Telecom Italia, Alphabet's, Google, Apple, Netflix, Microsoft, Thomson Locations: BRUSSELS, Europe, United States, U.S, Breton, Orange

☆ Stocks making the biggest moves midday: Coinbase, GitLab, HealthEquity and more
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-06 | by ( Jesse Pound | In Jesse-Pound | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

Here are the stocks making the biggest moves in midday trading Tuesday, June 6. Coinbase — Shares of the crypto exchange fell 12% after the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission sued Coinbase on Tuesday. GitLab reported a 6-cent loss per share, better than the 14-cent loss per share the consensus anticipated, according to Refinitiv. Thor reported earnings of $2.24 per diluted share, while analysts surveyed by FactSet were expecting $1.07 per share. HealthEquity — The stock added about 11.6% the day after the company beat expectations on earnings and gave positive full-year guidance.

Persons: Coinbase, GitLab, Refinitiv, Thor, FactSet, Zions Bancorporation, KeyCorp, McCormick, Smucker, —, Alex Harring, Yun Li, Samantha Subin Organizations: U.S . Securities, Exchange Commission, SEC, Industries, Thor Industries, Comerica, KeyCorp, Regional Bank ETF, Bank of America, VF Corp, — Locations: KeyCorp —, California

☆ Jeffrey Gundlach sees higher chance of downturn as economic indicators look 'full on recessionary'
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-06 | by ( Yun Li | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

DoubleLine Capital CEO Jeffrey Gundlach said Tuesday that it looks increasingly likely the U.S. will tip into a recession. The yield-curve inversion has been a reliable recession predictor and signs of a reversal could be indicative of an imminent economic downturn. Meanwhile, Gundlach said ISM supplier delivery delays are near their lowest levels in 30 years, showing greater supply than demand, which further indicates a weak economy. Gundlach said his preferred portfolio mix right now consists of 30% stocks, 60% bonds and 10% real assets. In terms of real assets, Gundlach said he favors gold, even though he's now less bullish than he was.

Persons: Jeffrey Gundlach, Gundlach, Goldman Sachs, nonfarm, he's Organizations: DoubleLine, Conference Board, Federal Locations: U.S

☆ AI generated content should be labelled, EU Commissioner Jourova says
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-05 | by ( Foo Yun Chee | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

Unveiled late last year, Microsoft-backed (MSFT.O) OpenAI's ChatGPT has become the fastest-growing consumer application in history and set off a race among tech companies to bring generative AI products to market. "Signatories who integrate generative AI into their services like Bingchat for Microsoft, Bard for Google (GOOGL.O) should build in necessary safeguards that these services cannot be used by malicious actors to generate disinformation," Jourova told a press conference. "Signatories who have services with a potential to disseminate AI generated disinformation should in turn put in place technology to recognise such content and clearly label this to users," she said. Companies such as Google, Microsoft and Meta Platforms (META.O) that have signed up to the EU Code of Practice to tackle disinformation should report on safeguards put in place to tackle this in July, Jourova said. "By leaving the Code, Twitter has attracted a lot of attention and its actions and compliance with EU law will be scrutinised vigorously and urgently," Jourova said.

Persons: Bard, Vera Jourova, OpenAI's ChatGPT, Jourova, scrutinised, Foo Yun Chee, Kirsten Donovan Organizations: Companies, European Commission, Microsoft, Google, Meta, Twitter, Thomson Locations: BRUSSELS, EU

☆ Morgan Stanley's Mike Wilson says don’t buy this breakout, a market correction is coming
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-05 | by ( Yun Li | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

Morgan Stanley's Mike Wilson is sticking with his bearish call for a tactical correction despite the recent rally driven by technology stocks. The widely followed strategist stood by his base case for the S & P 500 to finish 2023 at 3,900, about 9% below Friday's close of 4,282.37. Wilson's forecast is well below the average year-end forecast of 4,157 from Wall Street strategists, according to CNBC Pro's market strategist survey , which rounds up the top 15 strategists' predictions. The S & P 500 has gained more than 2% this month alone, pushing its 2023 gains to nearly 12%. "We don't think the emergence of these factors negates our tactical downside call as we see 2023 earnings facing significant headwinds," Wilson said.

Persons: Morgan, Mike Wilson, Wilson, he's, CNBC's Michael Bloom Organizations: Wall Street, CNBC, Nasdaq

☆ Stocks making the biggest moves premarket: Palo Alto Networks, Apple, Target & more
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-05 | by ( Yun Li | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +1 min

Apple — The tech giant's shares rose about 1% ahead of Apple's Worldwide Developers Conference, which kicks off Monday at in Cupertino, California. Valley National Bancorp — The regional bank climbed more than 4% after JPMorgan upgraded the stock to overweight from neutral. Target — KeyBanc downgraded the retailer to sector weight from overweight, warning that the resumption of student loan repayments could squeeze Target's margins. Shares of Target were down less than 1% in premarket trading. Morgan Stanley downgraded the discount retailer's stock to equal weight from overweight on Sunday, citing its "thesis-shifting quarter."

Persons: Dow, —, Morgan Stanley, Estee Lauder, Oppenheimer, Alex Harring, Jesse Pound Organizations: NYSE, Apple, Apple's, Conference, Alto Networks, Dow Jones, Dish Network, Dish, National Bancorp, JPMorgan, Target Locations: Cupertino , California, premarket, Manhattan

☆ Stocks making the biggest moves midday: Palo Alto Networks, 3M, Amedisys, Target and more
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-05 | by ( Tanaya Macheel | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +4 min

A view of the exterior of the new Dutch head office of international technology company 3M in Delft, Netherlands, November 5, 2014. EPAM Systems — Shares of the software engineering firm tumbled 18% after it cut guidance amid further deterioration in near-term demand. Amedisys — The health care company's shares rallied 14% after it received an unsolicited buyout offer from Optum, a unit of UnitedHealth , to acquire Amedisys for $100 a share in cash. ImmunoGen — The biotechnology company's shares gained 5% after it announced results from ovarian cancer treatment Elahere showing a roughly 35% reduction in the risk of disease progression or death compared to chemotherapy. Dollar General — Shares fell 2.7% after Morgan Stanley downgraded the discount retailer's stock to equal weight from overweight Sunday.

Persons: Dow, Coinbase, Binance, Changpeng Zhao commingled, Robinson, Ford's David Bozeman, Morgan Stanley, KeyBanc, —, Yun Li, Alex Harring, Jesse Pound, Samantha Subin, Brian Evans Organizations: Palo Alto Networks, Dow Jones, Dish Network, 3M, Bloomberg, U.S . Securities, Exchange Commission, Care, Ford, Equitrans Midstream Corporation, Ford Motor Co, Citi, Spotify, Target, Apple —, Developers Conference, Apple Locations: Delft, Netherlands, Optum, Bozeman, U.S, Cupertino , California

☆ Majority of EU countries against network fee levy on Big Tech, sources say
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-02 | by ( Foo Yun Chee | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

BRUSSELS, June 3 (Reuters) - A majority of EU countries have rejected a push by Europe's big telecoms operators to force Big Tech to help fund the rollout of 5G and broadband in the region, people familiar with the matter said. Telecoms ministers from 18 countries either rejected or criticised the proposed network fee levy on tech firms at a meeting with EU industry chief Thierry Breton in Luxembourg on Thursday, the sources said. That echoed comments made last month by EU telecoms regulators' group BEREC. Breton is expected to issue a report by the end of June with a summary of feedback provided by Big Tech, telecoms providers and others which will indicate his next steps. Any legislative proposal needs to be negotiated with EU countries and EU lawmakers before it can become law.

Persons: Thierry Breton, Breton, Foo Yun Chee, Rosalba O'Brien Organizations: EU, Big Tech, Deutsche Telekom, Telefonica, Telecom Italia, France Telecom, French, Google, Apple Inc, Inc, Netflix Inc, Amazon.com Inc, Microsoft Corp, Thomson Locations: BRUSSELS, Luxembourg, Orange, Austria, Belgium, Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, Germany, Ireland, Lithuania, Malta, Netherlands, Cyprus, France, Greece, Hungary, Italy, Poland, Portugal, Romania

Relations between the superpowers are increasingly acrimonious, with friction over issues from Taiwan and China's military activity in the South China Sea to U.S. efforts to hold back China's semiconductor industry. China's leaders, by contrast, have been slow to establish military contacts and quick to shut them down during periods of diplomatic tension. This has frustrated the United States. Then there is China's view of how military talks fit into the broader U.S.-China relationship. From that perspective, military talks are something to bargain with.

Persons: Lloyd Austin, China's, ", Ely Ratner, National Defense Li Shangfu, Li, Zhu Feng, Zhu, Jacob Stokes, Yun Sun, ”, Daniel Russel, William Burns, it’s, Idrees Ali, Phil Stewart, David Brunnstrom, Michael Martina, Yew Lun Tian, Martina Pollard, Laurie Chen, Don Durfee, Alistair Bell Organizations: Pentagon . U.S . Defense, U.S . Army, U.S, National Defense, School of International Studies, Nanjing University, Center, New, New American Security, Stimson, East Asia, Obama, Asia Society Policy Institute, CIA, Washington, Pentagon, Thomson Locations: WASHINGTON, BEIJING, Singapore, Beijing, United States, China, Taiwan, South, U.S, Austin, New American, East Asia, Washington, Ukraine, States, East, Hainan

☆ Stocks making the biggest moves midday: Lululemon, SentinelOne, T-Mobile, MongoDB and more
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-02 | by ( Samantha Subin | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +4 min

MongoDB — Shares of the data developer rocketed 28% after the company forecast strong fiscal first-quarter earnings and boosted its full-year guidance. The company cited macroeconomic pressure as a contributor to slowing sales growth in a shareholder letter and cut its full-year revenue guidance. PagerDuty — Shares slumped 17.1% after the IT cloud company issued second-quarter revenue guidance that missed expectations. Samsara — The cloud company popped nearly 28% after reporting a smaller-than-expected first-quarter loss and lifting its full-year sales guidance. That's above the expected loss of 5 cents a share and $191.9 million in revenue, according to FactSet.

Persons: Lululemon, Amazon, MongoDB, Wall, SentinelOne, Dupont, Dupont de Nemours, Zscaler, Morgan Stanley, PagerDuty, StreetAccount, Dell, Ginkgo, Goldman Sachs, Goldman, Yun Li, Hakyung Kim, Brian Evans, Alex Harring Organizations: Wireless, Bloomberg News, Verizon, Mobile, Amazon, Dish, Broadcom —, Broadcom, Bank of America, Dupont de, DuPont, U.S . Water Systems, Stifel Locations: New York

☆ Stocks making the biggest moves premarket: SentinelOne, Lululemon, Dupont and more
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-02 | by ( Tanaya Macheel | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

SentinelOne — Shares fell more than 35% in premarket trading after cybersecurity company missed revenue expectations for the first quarter and cut its full-year revenue guidance. The company reported first-quarter revenue of $133.4 million, below the consensus estimate of $136.6 million from FactSet. It sees just $141 million in revenue for the second quarter, well below the $152.1 million consensus estimate from FactSet. ChargePoint said revenue would be between $148 million and $158 million this quarter, below the consensus estimate of $165.6 million from FactSet. Asana's revenue last period was $152.4 million,compared to the analyst consensus of $150.5 million from FactSet.

Persons: MongoDB, Lululemon, Dupont De, Corteva, Morgan Stanley, ChargePoint, PagerDuty, CNBC's Hakyung Kim, Jesse Pound, Yun Li Organizations: Dupont De Nemours —, Chemours, U.S . Water Systems, Bloomberg Locations: Canadian, U.S, China, FactSet

☆ Here’s where the jobs are for May 2023 — in one chart
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-02 | by ( Yun Li | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +1 min

Government added 56,000 jobs last month, higher than the average monthly gain of 42,000 over the prior 12 months. The U.S. payrolls report for May blew past expectations , supported by strong jobs gains in the professional and business services sector — as well as a jump in government employment. The unemployment rate rose to 3.7% in May against the estimate for 3.5%. Olu Sonola, head of U.S. regional economics at Fitch Ratings, said the jobs report is a mixed bag. "However, the 0.3% increase in the unemployment rate is the highest monthly increase since April 2020."

Persons: Dow Jones, Olu Sonola Organizations: of Labor Statistics, Dow, Fitch Locations: U.S

☆ Amazon's iRobot deal faces July 6 EU antitrust deadline
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-01 | by ( Foo Yun Chee | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

BRUSSELS, June 1 (Reuters) - EU antitrust regulators will decide by July 6 whether to clear Amazon.com Inc's (AMZN.O) $1.7 billion acquisition of the maker of robot vacuum cleaner iRobot Corp (IRBT.O), according to a European Commission filing on Thursday. The EU competition enforcer can either clear the deal with or without remedies after its preliminary review or it can open a four-month long investigation if it has serious concerns. "We’re working cooperatively with the relevant regulators in their review of this merger," an Amazon spokesperson said. Amazon has said it would continue to supply iRobot products to other retailers and keep them compatible with other companies' voice assistants. Critics say the iRobot acquisition presents a privacy nightmare because it would expand personal home information in the company's arsenal.

Persons: Alexa, Foo Yun Chee, Kirsten Donovan Organizations: Amazon, EU, U.S . Federal Trade Commission, Regulators, Big Tech, Thomson Locations: BRUSSELS

☆ Internet data growth has not pushed up telcos' network costs, Dutch government says
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-01 | by ( Foo Yun Chee | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

BRUSSELS, June 1 (Reuters) - The Dutch government has stepped up its criticism of a push by EU telecoms operators to get Big Tech to help pay for the rollout of 5G and broadband, saying claims that unchecked data growth has pushed up network costs are not backed by facts. "In reality, contrary to all these persistent claims, the strong growth of Internet data in the past did not confront large telecom operators with higher network costs," the paper seen by Reuters said. "In reality the total network costs have remained constant despite the consistently high growth over the last decades, whilst the profit margins of European telecom operators have improved significantly over the last decade," the paper said. They said direct payments are unjustified as end-users already pay for their access line including network traffic costs while such intervention would affect the functioning of the internet. "The synergies for such cross-border mergers to telecom operators are generally considered relatively limited, whilst there don’t seem to be convincing benefits to wider society."

Persons: Foo Yun Chee, Chizu Organizations: EU, Big Tech, European Commission, Reuters, Deutsche Telekom, Telefonica, Telecom Italia, Google, Apple Inc, Inc, Netflix Inc, Amazon.com Inc, Microsoft Corp, Netflix's, Thomson Locations: BRUSSELS, Luxembourg, Orange, Dutch

☆ EU looks to 100 unicorns to boost green, digital goals
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-01 | by ( Foo Yun Chee | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

BRUSSELS, June 1 (Reuters) - The European Commission kicked off an initiative on Thursday to help 100 unicorns scale up to become Europe's deep tech champions and help drive the bloc's green and digital objectives. Unicorns are startups valued at $1 billion or more while deep tech startups focus on significant scientific or engineering developments. The EIC Scale Up 100 initiative will identify and support the growth of 100 promising European deep tech companies with the potential to become unicorns, the EU executive said in a statement. Startups will be picked in areas that contribute to Europe's green and digital transition such as sustainability (climate and energy), digital and health. The selected startups will also get a helping hand from a group called the EIC Scaling Club which includes 100 investors including venture capital, growth and government funds, 100 companies with innovation units and 100 independent mentors.

Persons: Foo Yun, Frances Kerry Organizations: European Commission, Unicorns, Thomson Locations: BRUSSELS

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