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Apple on Wednesday raised the prices for a number of its flagship services offerings, including Apple TV+, Arcade and its bundled offering, Apple One. Apple TV+ will now cost $9.99 a month, up from $6.99. The price increase comes after Apple upped the price in 2022 from $4.99. Apple One, the bundle package used by many families to access Apple's services at a lower price will also increase, with the top-end Premier package now costing $37.95 a month. "The subscription prices for Apple TV+, Apple Arcade, Apple News+, and Apple One will increase in the US and select international markets beginning today," an Apple spokesperson told CNBC.

Persons: Apple, Kif Leswing Organizations: Apple, CNBC, Disney, Netflix, Apple Arcade

☆ Sam Bankman-Fried to testify in FTX fraud trial, attorney says
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-25 | by ( Rohan Goswami | In Rohangoswamicnbc | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried will take the stand to testify in his own defense, his attorney said in a conference call Wednesday. The decision by his legal team sets him up for a cross-examination by federal prosecutors, who will be able to press him on the collapse of his crypto exchange FTX. Bankman-Fried's decision to testify came after federal prosecutors and his defense team were able to secure the alleged fraudster an adequate supply of his ADHD medication. The defense will also call three other witnesses besides Bankman-Fried to the stand, defense attorney Mark Cohen said on the call. Bankman-Fried stands accused of fraud and money laundering of his role in the collapse of the multi-billion dollar crypto exchange FTX.

Persons: Sam Bankman, Mark Cohen, Nishad Singh, Caroline Ellison, Fried, Dawn Giel Organizations: Prosecutors, Federal Bureau of, Alameda Research

☆ Coinbase shares rise 7% as Grayscale ETF ruling takes effect
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-24 | by ( Rohan Goswami | In Rohangoswamicnbc | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

Brian Armstrong, CEO of Coinbase, slammed the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. He also said the cryptocurrency exchange is looking to invest more outside of the U.S.Shares of cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase rose about 7% Tuesday afternoon as optimism about a long-awaited bitcoin spot ETF approval buoyed the stock. It could be a turning point for the company, which has been sparring with the Securities and Exchange Commission in Manhattan federal court. Grayscale saw a victory formalized in federal appeals court Monday, when a judge's mandate that the SEC review the company's Bitcoin ETF proposal took effect. The company is one of the largest crypto custodians and has been tapped by a host of prospective ETFs, including BlackRock's proposed Bitcoin ETF, in that capacity.

Persons: Brian Armstrong, BlackRock's Organizations: U.S . Securities, Exchange Commission, U.S, Securities and Exchange Commission, SEC Locations: Manhattan

☆ Okta cybersecurity breach wipes out more than $2 billion in market cap
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-23 | by ( Rohan Goswami | In Rohangoswamicnbc | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +1 min

Okta has shed more than $2 billion from its market valuation since the company disclosed a hack of its support systems Friday. Okta is a lesser-known name but forms a critical part of cybersecurity systems at major corporations. Zoom , for example, uses Okta to give "seamless" access through a single login to the company's Google Workspace, ServiceNow , VMware and Workday platforms. At least one of those clients said it had alerted Okta about a potential breach weeks earlier. In a separate post Friday, privately held identity management firm BeyondTrust said it had told Okta's security teams about suspicious activity in BeyondTrust's own Okta systems on Oct. 2.

Persons: Okta, BeyondTrust, Okta didn't Organizations: VMware Locations: Las Vegas

☆ Okta shares fall 11% after company says client files were accessed by hackers via its support system
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-20 | by ( Rohan Goswami | In Rohangoswamicnbc | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +1 min

Shares of cybersecurity firm Okta closed down 11.5% after the company said an unidentified hacking group had accessed files that "certain Okta customers" had uploaded to Okta's support system. Okta said the hackers were able to access the system using a stolen credential. Some of the largest companies in the world use Okta to streamline their login and identity management systems, including FedEx and Zoom , according to the company. The breach disclosed Friday does not impact client systems, just a support platform Okta uses to help its clients diagnose issues. "We have notified impacted customers and taken measures to protect all our customers," the company said.

Persons: Okta Organizations: FedEx

☆ New York sues crypto firms for alleged $1 billion fraud, cites SBF hedge fund bet
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-19 | by ( Rohan Goswami | In Rohangoswamicnbc | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

Crypto firms Digital Currency Group and Gemini defrauded more than 230,000 investors out of a collective $1.1 billion, New York state prosecutors said in a lawsuit filed in Manhattan Thursday. They cited a series of missteps, including failure to adequately manage the risk associated with exposure to Sam Bankman-Fried's bankrupt and allegedly fraudulent crypto trading firm. For a time, it was very lucrative, until crypto hedge fund Three Arrows Capital defaulted on its loans and sent much of the crypto world into tumult. Gemini would then give Genesis that customer crypto for further lending, collecting a slice of Genesis' interest. By extension, prosecutors say, that meant that Gemini also had exposure to Alameda — and allegedly knew they did.

Persons: Crypto, Sam Bankman, Genesis, Barry Silbert's, DCG, 3AC, Cameron, Tyler Winklevoss, Gemini Organizations: Digital Currency Group, Gemini, Genesis Global Capital, Arrows Capital, New, Genesis's, Alameda Research, Alameda — Locations: New York, Manhattan, Alameda

☆ Man sentenced to prison for tweeting to suppress votes for Trump
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-19 | by ( Rohan Goswami | In Rohangoswamicnbc | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +1 min

A Trump-supporting social media influencer was sentenced to seven months in prison for conspiring to suppress the votes of possibly thousands of people who supported former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton in the 2016 presidential election. Douglass Mackey, who was 33 when he was convicted in March, was also ordered to pay a $15,000 fine. Mackey made podcast appearances and social media posts about those beliefs, prosecutors said. Prosecutors said that 99% of the texts received by that number were sent after Mackey first posted a deceptive Hillary advertisement from one of his social media accounts. Andrew Frisch, Mackey's attorney, told CNBC he remained "optimistic" about Mackey's prospects on appeal, which has not yet been taken up.

Persons: influencer, Hillary Clinton, Douglass Mackey, Mackey, Ricky Vaughn, Hillary, Andrew Frisch Organizations: States, Court, Eastern, of, Trump, Prosecutors, CNBC Locations: of New York, Brooklyn, United States

☆ X, formerly Twitter, tests charging new users $1 to tweet, retweet
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-18 | by ( Rohan Goswami | In Rohangoswamicnbc | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

X, formerly Twitter, will begin a test that charges new users $1 annually in order to "post & interact with other posts," the company said in a recent post. The social media platform said Tuesday evening the move is part of its efforts to combat spam and bot activity. Elon Musk previously said the company planned to move to a subscription fee model in September. Excess bot activity has been a consistent rallying cry for Musk since before he acquired the company in October 2022. Bot activity has reportedly worsened under Musk's ownership.

Persons: Elon Musk, Porte, X, Musk Organizations: SpaceX, Tesla, Viva Technology, Porte de, Twitter, CNBC Locations: Paris, New Zealand, Philippines

☆ Federal regulators open probe into Cruise after pedestrian injury reports
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-17 | by ( Rohan Goswami | In Rohangoswamicnbc | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

Federal regulators have opened a preliminary investigation into whether Cruise autonomous cars exercised "appropriate caution" in and around pedestrians, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration wrote in a filing. The NHTSA probe was prompted by two reports involving pedestrian injuries and Cruise vehicles in recent months. One incident on Oct. 2 involved a situation where a pedestrian was thrown by another vehicle into the path of a driverless Cruise vehicle. Proponents have argued that driverless vehicles are safer than human-driven ones. Other companies, including some based in China, are also testing driverless vehicles on San Francisco streets.

Persons: Cruise, Hannah Lindow Organizations: NBC, Area Investigative Unit, Traffic, Administration, NHTSA, General Motors, San, CNBC Locations: San Francisco, Francisco, China

☆ X, formerly Twitter, amplifies disinformation amid the Israel-Hamas conflict
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-09 | by ( Rohan Goswami | In Rohangoswamicnbc | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +5 min

From the outset of this weekend's Israel-Hamas conflict, graphic footage of abductions and military operations have spread like wildfire on social media platforms, including X, formerly known as Twitter. Under Musk, X has prioritized user-driven content tagging with Community Notes, the preexisting feature formerly known as Birdwatch. While the terrorist organization is banned from most social media platforms, including X, it continues to share videos on Telegram. Paid verification purportedly boosts a user's posts and comments on X, and some posts tagged as misleading have come from those verified users. Correction: This article has been updated to correctly reflect Alex Goldenberg's comment on English-language disinformation on X and Twitter.

Persons: Elon Musk, Musk, Alex Goldenberg, Goldenberg, NCRI, Elon, there's, Paul Bernal, Chris Clarkson, Clarkson, Israel —, we've, " Goldenberg, Alex Goldenberg's Organizations: NBC News, Hamas, U.S, Network, Research, CNBC, Twitter, University of East, BBC, Heywood Locations: Gaza, Sderot, Israel, Covid, University of East Anglia, England, British, Middleton, Ukraine

☆ Kazakh fintech Freedom Holding is being investigated by DOJ, SEC, documents show
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-06 | by ( Rohan Goswami | In Rohangoswamicnbc | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

The SEC's Boston regional office has been probing Freedom for months, according to documents seen by CNBC and people familiar with the matter. The U.S. Attorney's Office for Massachusetts is also making preliminary inquiries into Freedom, documents seen by CNBC show. Nearly 115,000 Freedom shares changed hands in the first half hour of trading, 1.25 times the stock's 10-day average. Turlov and Freedom are aware of the SEC probe, which has been going on for months, a person familiar with the matter told CNBC. An SEC spokesperson told CNBC that it doesn't comment on the existence or nonexistence of an investigation.

Persons: that's, Timur Turlov, Turlov, Hindenburg, Citron Organizations: Nasdaq, Securities, Exchange, CNBC, Boston, Attorney's, Massachusetts, SEC, DOJ, Justice, Hindenburg, Citron Research, Las, Trump, Financial, Financial Industry, Authority, Freedom Locations: Almaty, Kazakhstan, Russian, U.S, Kazakh, Central Asia, Eastern Europe, New York, Las Vegas, New

☆ San Francisco woman trapped under autonomous Cruise vehicle after being struck in hit and run
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-03 | by ( Rohan Goswami | In Rohangoswamicnbc | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +1 min

A San Francisco woman was seriously injured after a hit-and-run driver struck her Monday evening, hurling her underneath the autonomous Cruise vehicle. Police responded around 9:30 p.m. to a hit-and-run incident at the intersection of Fifth and Market Streets, San Francisco police told CNBC. The force of the impact hurled the pedestrian in front of a Cruise vehicle, which applied the brakes "aggressively" and remained in place at the request of police, a Cruise spokesperson and San Francisco police said. The Cruise vehicle did not have a passenger in it. CNBC reviewed footage from the incident, which shows both the Cruise vehicle and the hit-and-run car driving along Fifth Street.

Persons: haven't Organizations: NBC, Area Investigative Unit, Police, San Francisco, CNBC, San, NBC Bay Area, Fifth Locations: San Francisco, San

"I'm very, very lucky because I wouldn't have had the courage to go and do that acquisition, but I give all the credit in the world to Dave Clark," Petersen said. "There's a perfect complement of skill sets," Petersen told Forbes in June 2022. Petersen told Clark he should engage with Shopify's team, according to a person with direct knowledge of the negotiations. Clark, Petersen and Wagers met in Texas in mid-August to fine-tune the forecasts. Flexport told CNBC that an employee's politics are not relevant in personnel decisions.

Persons: Dave Clark, Ryan Petersen, he'd, Petersen, Clark, excoriated Clark, we've, Clark wasn't, Jeff Bezos, It's, Flexport, Clark overspent, Flexport's, He'd, Sanne Manders, Dave, Shopify, Tobias Lutke, Lutke, Shopify's, glanced, didn't, Fund's Trae Stephens, Michael Ronen, SoftBank, Andreessen Horowitz, Bob Swan, Samyukta Lakshmi, Kenny, Stuart Leung, pare, Leung, —, Lindsey Wasson, Clark's, Stephens, Peter Thiel, Trump's, Petersen's, Sen, Joe Manchin, Chris Ferro, Ferro, Parisa Sadrzadeh, couldn't, Amazon, Sadrzadeh, Burak Yolga, Yolga, Nelly Organizations: North, Amazon, Twitter, CNBC, UPS, FedEx, Milken Institute Global Conference, Bloomberg, Getty, Forbes, Deliverr, Shopify's, Anduril Industries, Intel, Intel Corp, U.S ., Clark, Republican, Founders Fund, Democratic, Street Journal, Flexport Locations: Phoenix, Silicon, Clark, Beverly Hills , California, U.S, Flexport, Deliverr, Miami, Flexport's Bellevue , Washington, Bengaluru, India, Flexport's, Asia, U.S . West Coast, Texas, Ohio, Arizona, Thiel's, West Virginia, Seattle, integrations

☆ Bill Ackman says he hasn't talked to Elon Musk about X investment for Pershing 'SPARC'
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-02 | by ( Rohan Goswami | In Rohangoswamicnbc | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

Activist investor Bill Ackman on Monday told CNBC he had not spoken with Elon Musk about a deal involving X, formerly known as Twitter, but that he likes the business and Musk and suggested a deal with X would be welcome if Musk wanted it. The billionaire CEO of Pershing Square Holdings was discussing his new carve-out vehicle, which he called a SPARC, or special purpose acquisition rights company. The product is similar to a SPAC, but Ackman said that Pershing's structure would only invest in companies it views as long-term investments. Ackman made waves in a Sunday interview with the Wall Street Journal, where he said he would "absolutely" invest in X through his new SPARC structure. If part of X were to debut on the market, it would likely be at a valuation far below the $44 billion that Musk paid for it.

Persons: Bill Ackman, Elon Musk, Musk, he's, Ackman, CNBC's Andrew Ross Sorkin, SPACs, Linda Yaccarino's, maven Organizations: Monday, CNBC, Elon, Pershing Square Holdings, SPARC, Financial Times, Wall Street, Meta Locations: —

OpenAI's ChatGPT can now "see, hear and speak" — or, at least, understand spoken words, respond with a synthetic voice and process images, the company announced Monday. Users will also be able to share images with ChatGPT and highlight areas of focus or analysis (think: "What kinds of clouds are these?"). The big feature push comes alongside ever-rising stakes of the AI arms race among chatbot leaders such as OpenAI, Microsoft , Google and Anthropic. Experts have raised concerns about AI-generated synthetic voices, which in this case could allow users a more natural experience but also enable more convincing deepfakes. OpenAI acknowledged those concerns in its Monday announcement, saying that synthetic voices were "created with voice actors we have directly worked with," rather than collected from strangers.

Persons: OpenAI's, OpenAI, Bard chatbot, Bing, Andreessen Horowitz Organizations: Microsoft, Google, Sequoia Capital

☆ 'Cash-flow' podcaster made off with millions in Ponzi scheme, SEC alleges
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-25 | by ( Rohan Goswami | In Rohangoswamicnbc | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

But Motil's self-described success was an elaborate façade, according to regulatory filings and Ohio bankruptcy proceedings. In a 29-page complaint, the SEC laid out how Motil issued "promissory notes" fully collateralized by property across Ohio to dozens of investors. "Nearly everything about his scheme was a lie," the financial regulator's complaint read. In one instance, according to the SEC, Motil managed to get more than $1 million from 20 different investors for just one single-family home valued at no more than $130,000. Motil and his wife, Amy, profited handsomely from the scheme, the SEC alleged.

Persons: Matt Motil, Motil, Amy Organizations: U.S . Securities, Exchange Commission, Washington , D.C, SEC, CNBC, U.S, Trustee, Federal Trade Commission Locations: Washington ,, An Ohio, Ohio

☆ Cisco acquiring cybersecurity company Splunk in cash deal worth $28 billion
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-21 | by ( Rohan Goswami | In Rohangoswamicnbc | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

(Photo by Jakub Porzycki/NurPhoto via Getty Images)Cisco is acquiring cybersecurity software company Splunk for $157 a share in a cash deal worth about $28 billion, the company said Thursday. The acquisition is one of Cisco's largest, and continues an acquisition streak which has built out the company's cybersecurity offerings. Splunk is a cybersecurity company that helps enterprises monitor and analyze their data to minimize the risk of hacks and resolve technical issues faster. If Cisco backs out of the deal or is forced to do so because of regulatory intervention, it will pay Splunk a termination fee of $1.48 billion, according to a regulatory filing. If Splunk backs out of the deal for any reason, it will pay a $1 billion breakup fee to Cisco.

Persons: Jakub Porzycki, Chuck Robbins, Robbins, Simpson Thacher, Moore, Morgan Stanley, Flom, Splunk Organizations: Getty Images, Cisco, Tidal Partners, Qatalyst Partners Locations: Krakow, Poland, Slate

☆ How a North Korean cyber group impersonated a Washington D.C. analyst
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-18 | by ( Rohan Goswami | In Rohangoswamicnbc | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +4 min

Jenny Town is a leading expert on North Korea at the Stimson Institute and the director of Stimson's 38 North Program. She uses publicly available data points to paint a picture of North Korean dynamics. But her colleague didn't believe her, Town said, and decided to ask the doppelganger if he was a North Korean spy. The North Korean doppelganger, in the meantime, had decided to break off contact and in a bizarre turn of events, apologized for any confusion and blamed it on "Nk hackers." "I love it," joked Mandiant North Korea analyst Michael Barnhart.

Persons: Kim Jong Un, Jenny Town, They're, didn't, Michael Barnhart Organizations: Sputnik, Russian, Vostochny, WASHINGTON, WASHINGTON , D.C, —, Stimson Institute, APT43, Google, D.C, U.S, Nk Locations: Amur, WASHINGTON ,, North Korea, Mandiant, Koreans, Korean, Korea, North Korean

☆ FBI director urges private sector to lend government more support in cyber intelligence
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-18 | by ( Rohan Goswami | In Rohangoswamicnbc | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

FBI Director Christopher Wray testifies during a Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Commerce, Justice, Science, and Related Agencies hearing on Capitol Hill May 10, 2023 in Washington, DC. WASHINGTON, D.C. – FBI Director Christopher Wray said Monday that the federal government is relying more than ever on private sector support to ensure that U.S. infrastructure remains secure. Wray said that artificial intelligence may help China's cyber intelligence operations in their efforts to overpower U.S. defenses, and reiterated that Chinese hackers outnumber the FBI's cyber and intelligence agents by at least 50 to 1. China is poised to "use the fruits of their widespread hacking to power, with AI, even-more-powerful hacking efforts," he added. North Korean hacking groups, for example, often seek to generate revenue for the government while gathering espionage for the state.

Persons: Christopher Wray, Wray, it's, Colonial's Organizations: Commerce, Justice, Science, Capitol, WASHINGTON , D.C, Mandiant's mWise Conference, Google, FBI, Cybersecurity Infrastructure Agency, Colonial Pipeline Locations: Washington , DC, WASHINGTON ,, Washington, China, Korean, Ukraine, Eastern Europe, U.S, East

☆ Instacart aims for valuation of up to $10 billion in upcoming IPO
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-15 | by ( Rohan Goswami | In Rohangoswamicnbc | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +1 min

Fidji Simo, CEO of Instacart Inc., speaks during an interview in San Francisco, March 3, 2022. Grocery delivery platform Instacart raised its initial price range to between $28 and $30 per share in a regulatory filing Friday, aiming for a valuation of up to $10 billion. Instacart plans to offer 22 million total shares when it debuts on the Nasdaq, including from current shareholders, and could raise up to $660 million. Despite upping its price range — the day after a successful Arm Holdings debut — Instacart's valuation has plunged significantly since 2021, when it raised $265 million at a $39 billion valuation. Beyond Arm Holdings and Instacart, marketing automation firm Klaviyo and biotechnology firm Neumora are set to list soon.

Persons: Fidji Simo Organizations: Instacart Inc, Nasdaq, PepsiCo, Arm Holdings Locations: San Francisco

The cybercrime group has made a ransom demand to MGM as well, those sources told CNBC's Contessa Brewer. The 8-K report, similar to one filed by MGM Resorts on Wednesday, acknowledges the hack as a material event. The cybercrime group demanded a $30 million ransom from Caesars, but the company ultimately agreed to pay about half that, sources said. Bloomberg previously reported the ransom and that the same group is behind the attacks on both companies. It wasn't immediately clear why Caesars delayed filing the report disclosing the hack and ransom for weeks.

Persons: CNBC's Contessa Brewer, Charles Carmakal Organizations: Caesars, CNBC, MGM, U.S . Securities, Exchange, MGM Resorts, Google, Bloomberg, vx, Twitter, Security, SEC Locations: United States, Twilio

SoftBank CFO Yoshimitsu Goto and Arm Holdings CEO Rene Haas pose for a photo at the Nasdaq MarketSite on September 14, 2023 in New York City. Shares of chip design company Arm Holdings started trading on the Nasdaq Thursday morning in a long-anticipated IPO at a share price of $56.10, valuing the company at $59.9 billion. Arm Holdings sold around 95.5 million shares on the Nasdaq. Softbank, which took the company private in 2016, will control around 90% of Arm's shares outstanding. At a $54 billion valuation, Arm's price-to-earnings multiple would be about 104 based on the most recent fiscal year profit.

Persons: Yoshimitsu Goto, Rene Haas, Arm, Masayoshi Son Organizations: Arm, Nasdaq, Arm Holdings, Apple, Google, Samsung, CNBC Locations: New York City, British

☆ Arm China 'doing well,' CEO says, even as SoftBank's Masa Son reduces China exposure
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-14 | by ( Rohan Goswami | In Rohangoswamicnbc | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

You can watch David Faber's interview with Arm CEO Rene Haas and SoftBank CEO Masayoshi Son live on CNBC Pro. But SoftBank CEO Masayoshi Son, who made a fortune through Chinese juggernaut Alibaba , said SoftBank had reduced its "exposure in China" by a significant amount. Neither Arm nor SoftBank, which acquired Arm for $32 billion in 2016, directly control their China subsidiaries. Arm now only directly owns around 5% of Arm China, but the group still accounts for nearly a quarter of Arm's fiscal 2023 revenue, according to pre-offering filings. Son was focused on SoftBank's stake in Alibaba, which SoftBank has been reducing steadily over the last few years.

Persons: David Faber's, Rene Haas, Masayoshi, Masayoshi Son, Alibaba, SoftBank, Biden, Son, CNBC's David Faber, ByteDance Organizations: CNBC Pro, Arm, CNBC, Nasdaq, Intel, Nvidia, Vision, U.S Locations: China, Alibaba, SoftBank

☆ Elon Musk calls for federal department of AI after Capitol Hill summit
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-13 | by ( Rohan Goswami | In Rohangoswamicnbc | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +1 min

Tesla CEO Elon Musk arrives for a U.S. Senate bipartisan Artificial Intelligence Insight Forum at the U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C., Sept. 13, 2023. Tesla CEO Elon Musk called for a federal department of artificial intelligence in a conversation with reporters following a Capitol Hill summit that featured high-profile tech leaders, activists and researchers. "I think this meeting could go down in history as important to the future of civilization," Musk told reporters after the summit. Musk thought it's likely the federal AI department could operate similarly to the Federal Aviation Administration or the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, adding that those in the space had to be "proactive while reactive." There has been little news from within the company, but Musk has made repeated public statements that AI development must have strong guardrails.

Persons: Elon Musk, Musk, Tesla, Sam Altman, Sundar Pichai, it's Organizations: U.S, Senate, Intelligence, Capitol, Washington , D.C, Google, Federal Aviation Administration, U.S . Securities, Exchange Commission Locations: Washington ,

☆ China says it hasn't banned iPhones or foreign devices for government staff
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-13 | by ( Rohan Goswami | In Rohangoswamicnbc | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +1 min

China has not instituted any laws or regulations prohibiting government employees from using or buying foreign phones, the Chinese Foreign Ministry said Wednesday, addressing media reports that said government staffers had been banned from using Apple iPhones. "China has not issued any laws, regulations or policy documents prohibiting the purchase and use of mobile phones from foreign brands such as Apple," a Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesperson said at a regularly scheduled briefing Wednesday in Beijing. The Foreign Ministry specifically denied the existence of any official policy barring foreign phone use but did not address the informal guidance reported by the Journal. Apple shares were down less than 1% in early trading Wednesday, a day after the company announced the new iPhone 15. The response from the Foreign Ministry spokesperson also noted unspecified "security incidents" linked to iPhones.

Persons: —, Eunice Yoon Organizations: Chinese Foreign Ministry, Apple, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Street Journal, Bloomberg, The, Foreign Ministry, Journal Locations: China, Beijing

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