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☆ Russia fines WhatsApp for first time for not deleting banned content
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-01 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

SummarySummary Companies This content was produced in Russia where the law restricts coverage of Russian military operations in UkraineMOSCOW, June 1 (Reuters) - A Russian court on Thursday fined messenger service WhatsApp three million roubles ($37,080) for not deleting banned content, its first fine in Russia for that offence. Other Meta services, Facebook and Instagram - now banned in Russia - have been fined over content, as have the likes of Twitter and Alphabet's (GOOGL.O) Google. WhatsApp, however, has previously been fined for its alleged refusal to comply with Russian data law and store Russian users' data on servers in the country. It has previously said information that Russian authorities complained about was well-sourced and in line with Wikipedia standards. Moscow has for years clashed with Big Tech over content, censorship, data and local representation in disputes that escalated after Russia sent its armed forces into Ukraine on Feb. 24, 2022.

Persons: Meta, Alexander Marrow, Guy Faulconbridge, Gareth Jones Organizations: Meta, Inc, Facebook, Twitter, Google, Wikimedia Foundation, Russia, Wikimedia, Big Tech, Reuters, Thomson Locations: Russia, Ukraine MOSCOW, Moscow, Ukraine

☆ Nvidia set to become first US chipmaker valued at over $1 trillion
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-30 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

May 30 (Reuters) - Nvidia Corp (NVDA.O) is close to breaching $1 trillion in market capitalization, making it the first U.S. chipmaker to join the trillion-dollar club. The gaming and AI chip company, whose shares rose 3.8% in trading before the bell on Tuesday, was valued at $998 billion. AI took center stage after Nvidia stunned investors with a revenue forecast last week that surpassed analysts' expectations by more than 50%. The highest price target valued the company at about $1.6 trillion, on par with Google-parent Alphabet. Reuters GraphicsReporting by Medha Singh, Akash Sriram and Samrhitha Arunasalam in Bengaluru; Editing by Shounak DasguptaOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Twitter cannot hide from EU rules after exit from code, EU's Breton says
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-26 | by ( Foo Yun Chee | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

BRUSSELS, May 26 (Reuters) - Twitter cannot run away from its obligations even after quitting a voluntary EU code of practice to tackle disinformation, EU industry chief Thierry Breton warned the company late on Friday. Companies which signed up to the code are required to provide regular progress reports with data on how much advertising revenue they had averted from disinformation actors. "Twitter leaves EU voluntary code of practice against disinformation. You can run but you can't hide," Breton said in a tweet. Twitter, which no longer has a public relations department, responded to an emailed request for comment with a poop emoji.

For now, tech companies seem to view both trust and safety and AI ethics as cost centers. That included all but one member of the company's 17-person AI ethics team, according to Rumman Chowdhury, who served as director of Twitter's machine learning ethics, transparency and accountability team. Chowdhury referenced an initiative in July 2021, when Twitter's AI ethics team led what was billed as the industry's first-ever algorithmic bias bounty competition. Still, sources familiar with the matter said that following the layoffs, the company has fewer people working on misinformation issues. watch nowFor those who've gained expertise in AI ethics, trust and safety and related content moderation, the employment picture looks grim.

☆ Meta hit by record 1.2 bln euro fine by EU over U.S. data transfers
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-22 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: 1 min

[1/2] A security guard stands watch by the Meta sign outside the headquarters of Facebook parent company Meta Platforms Inc in Mountain View, California, U.S. November 9, 2022. REUTERS/Peter DaSilvaDUBLIN, May 22 (Reuters) - Meta (META.O) was hit on Monday with a record 1.2 billion euro ($1.3 billion) fine by its lead privacy regulator in the European Union for its handling of user information and given five months to stop transferring users’ data to the United States. The fine imposed by Ireland's Data Protection Commissioner (DPC) concerned Meta's continued transferring of personal data and topped the previous 746 million euro record EU privacy fine by Luxembourg on Amazon.com Inc (AMZN.O) in 2021, according to a DPC statement. Reporting by Padraic HalpinOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Meta fined $1.3 bln over data transfers to US - WSJ
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-22 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: 1 min

May 22 (Reuters) - Facebook owner Meta Platforms Inc (META.O) has been fined $1.3 billion by European Union privacy regulators for sending user information to the United States, the Wall Street Journal reported on Monday. Reporting by Shivani Tanna in Bengaluru; Editing by Saumyadeb ChakrabartyOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ WhatsApp allows users to edit messages
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-22 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

May 22 (Reuters) - WhatsApp has granted users one of its most awaited features - the ability to edit messages. "For the moments when you make a mistake or simply change your mind, you can now edit your sent messages on WhatsApp," the Meta Platforms Inc-owned (META.O) messaging app said in a blog post on Monday. With the feature rolling out globally in the coming weeks, senders will be able to modify their messages within 15 minutes of hitting send. The function can be accessed by long-pressing the message and choosing "edit" in the drop-down menu. Competing apps such as Telegram and Signal already allow users to edit messages, while microblogging site Twitter rolled out the ability to edit tweets to select users last year.

Xbox Game Pass vs. PlayStation Plus: GamesHorizon: Forbidden West is one of the latest high-profile games to hit PlayStation Plus. Horizon Forbidden West / SonyThe main selling points of Game Pass and PlayStation Plus are their Netflix-style libraries of downloadable games. Xbox Game Pass' recent day-one releases include the cooperative shooter Redfall, and the rhythm-based action game Hi-Fi Rush. Game Pass members get a 10% discount when buying games that are already on Game Pass, so you can always get a deal before a game leaves the service entirely. That 10% discount also applies to downloadable content and add-ons for Game Pass games, which aren't always included with the base version.

☆ WhatsApp faces first fine in Russia for failure to delete 'banned' content
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-19 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

MOSCOW, May 19 (Reuters) - Messenger service WhatsApp faces a maximum fine of 4 million roubles (51,500) after Russia accused it of failing to delete banned content, state-owned news agency RIA reported on Friday, citing a Moscow court. Although WhatsApp's parent company Meta Platforms Inc (META.O) was last year banned in Russia as an "extremist" organisation, the messenger app - which is widely popular in Russia - has not previously been threatened with legal proceedings for failing to remove prohibited information. The RIA report did not specify what information WhatsApp had allegedly failed to delete. At the outset of its military campaign in Ukraine, Russia introduced harsh new military censorship laws under which technology companies including Google, Wikipedia and Discord have been fined. ($1 = 77.7205 roubles)Reporting by Reuters Editing by Mark HeinrichOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ NYSE to bust erroneous CDW Corp trades as shares briefly dive 96%
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-18 | by ( Medha Singh | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

May 18 (Reuters) - NYSE Arca Equities is looking into likely erroneous trades in the shares of IT solutions provider CDW Corp (CDW.O) after they briefly plunged as much as 96% to $7 in premarket trading on Thursday. The exchange operator, owned by Intercontinental Exchange (ICE.N), said it would bust all trades in the stock between 04:00 a.m. CDW Corp shares quickly recouped most of their losses and were last down 0.7% at $172.09 before the bell. ET, closed at $173.25 with a market value of $23.35 billion on Wednesday. CDW Corp and CaliberCos did not immediately respond to a Reuters requests for a comment.

☆ US exchanges to bust erroneous CDW Corp trades after shares briefly dive 96%
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-18 | by ( Medha Singh | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

They would bust all trades in the stock between 04:00 a.m. CDW Corp shares quickly recouped most of their losses and were last up 0.2% at $173.50. ET, closed at $173.25 with a market value of $23.35 billion on Wednesday. Scottsdale, Arizona-based CaliberCos jumped 44.8% to $8.65, a day after it jumped in its Nasdaq debut to notch a market value of $123.7 million. CDW Corp and CaliberCos did not immediately respond to a Reuters requests for a comment.

REUTERS/Dado RuvicMay 17 (Reuters) - Meta Platforms Inc (META.O) is set to face a record European Union privacy fine related to data transfer of Facebook's EU users to U.S. servers for failing to comply with a warning by a top EU court, two sources familiar with the matter said. The penalty will be higher than the previous record 746 million euros ($821.20 million) fine for Amazon.com Inc (AMZN.O), according to the sources. Meta declined to comment, while the Irish Data Protection Commission (DPC) and the European Commission did not immediately respond to Reuters' requests for comment. EU regulators led by Ireland's Data Protection Commissioner Helen Dixon have been finalising a ban on the legal tool used by Facebook to transfer European user data because of concerns U.S. intelligence agencies could access the information. Europe's highest court ruled in 2020 that an EU-U.S. data transfer agreement was invalid, citing surveillance concerns.

☆ Asian hedge funds piled to China education, U.S. AI shares in Q1
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-16 | by ( Summer Zhen | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

Investors poured money into private tutoring leaders, including New Oriental and TAL Education (TAL.N), that have come through a near two-year crackdown in China on after-school education. Greenwoods also built a new position in TAL Education by acquiring 2.2 million shares. The fund run by ex-Alibaba CTO John Wu bought 2.1 million more shares to boost its stake in the tutoring giant. Share prices of both New Oriental and TAL collapsed over 90% from its peak after Beijing’s ban on K-12 private tutoring. The price of two stocks have doubled from the low point in October after China dropped its strict controls against COVID-19.

☆ Asia stocks shrug off China data disappointment, Japan index pierces 33-year high
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-16 | by ( Selena Li | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

HONG KONG, May 16 (Reuters) - Asia stocks mostly held firm on Tuesday, despite weaker-than-expected Chinese economic data, with Japan's broad share index hitting a 33-year high on a rally in chipmakers following U.S. tech sector gains. read moreJapan's Topix (.TOPX) was up 0.5% to 2,125.45 in afternoon trade, after earlier hitting 2,126.14, its highest since August 1990. MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan (.MIAPJ0000PUS) edged 0.32% higher. The dollar index fell 0.029%, with the Japanese yen strengthening 0.10% versus the U.S. currency at 135.98 per dollar. China's benchmark stock index keeping the momentum from Monday's rally and climbing 0.93%.

☆ China's Tencent Music revenue beats estimates on jump in paying users
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-16 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

May 16 (Reuters) - China's Tencent Music Entertainment Group (1698.HK), topped quarterly revenue estimates on Tuesday as the Spotify-like music streaming platform benefited from growth in paying users, sending its U.S. shares 2% higher in premarket trading. That helped the Tencent Holdings Ltd-controlled company, which owns platforms including QQ Music, Kuwo Music and WeSing, snap five consecutive quarters of revenue declines. Total revenue rose 5.4% to 7.00 billion yuan ($1.01 billion) in the first quarter, beating analysts' estimates of 6.86 billion yuan, according to Refinitiv data. "We are glad to achieve a record-high online music paying ratio and expand ARPU for the fourth consecutive quarter. Net profit attributable to equity holders was 1.15 billion yuan, compared with 609 million yuan a year earlier.

☆ Dow, S&P edge up as data, debt ceiling curb gains
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-15 | by ( Chuck Mikolajczak | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

The Dow Jones Industrial Average (.DJI) rose 47.98 points, or 0.14%, to 33,348.6, the S&P 500 (.SPX) gained 12.2 points, or 0.30%, to 4,136.28 and the Nasdaq Composite (.IXIC) added 80.47 points, or 0.66%, to 12,365.21. Meta Platforms Inc (META.O) climbed 2.16% as one of the top boosts to both the Nasdaq and S&P 500 after Loop Capital upgraded it to "buy" from "hold." Traders work on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) in New York City, U.S., May 11, 2023. REUTERS/Brendan McDermidIn a relatively light week for economic data, investors will focus on retail sales, weekly jobless claims and housing data. The S&P 500 posted nine new 52-week highs and seven new lows; the Nasdaq Composite recorded 59 new highs and 136 new lows.

☆ OpenAI readies new open-source AI model - The Information
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-15 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

May 15 (Reuters) - OpenAI is preparing to release a new open-source language model to the public, The Information reported on Monday, citing a person with knowledge of the plan. OpenAI's ChatGPT, known for producing prose or poetry on command, has gained widespread attention in Silicon Valley as investors see generative AI as the next big growth area for tech companies. Meta Platforms Inc (META.O) is now rushing to join competitors Microsoft and Google in releasing generative AI products capable of creating human-like writing, art and other content. OpenAI is unlikely to release a model that is competitive with GPT, the report said. Reporting by Ananya Mariam Rajesh in Bengaluru; Editing by Shinjini GanguliOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Atlanta Fed President Raphael Bostic said on Monday he does not expect any interest-rate cuts this year, while Minneapolis Fed President Neel Kashkari said inflation is "much much too high" despite the rate hikes. Investors now await comments from Fed Chair Jerome Powell on Friday for any clues on potential rate cuts this year. Shares of Magellan jumped 13.7%. Advancing issues outnumbered decliners by a 2.14-to-1 ratio on the NYSE and by a 1.92-to-1 ratio on the Nasdaq. The S&P index recorded six new 52-week highs and seven new lows, while the Nasdaq recorded 44 new highs and 110 new lows.

"And as Washington leaks out increments with rolling disclosure about how the discussions are proceeding ... that probably is bolstering confidence in investors." ET, Dow e-minis were up 51 points, or 0.15%, S&P 500 e-minis were up 7.5 points, or 0.18%, and Nasdaq 100 e-minis were up 20.75 points, or 0.15%. Atlanta Fed President Raphael Bostic said on Monday he does not expect any interest-rate cuts this year as he does not see inflation going down as fast as market participants believe. Chicago Fed President Austan Goolsbee, Minneapolis Fed President Neel Kashkari and Fed Board Governor Lisa Cook are among other Fed officials set to speak later in the day. Reporting by Shreyashi Sanyal in Bengaluru; Editing by Nivedita BhattacharjeeOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Arrowstreet, Coatue Management among big hedge funds buying Meta in first quarter
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-15 | by ( David Randall | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

NEW YORK, May 15 (Reuters) - Prominent hedge funds including Arrowstreet Capital LLC, D1 Capital Partners and Coatue Management LLC were among the investors that bought shares of Meta Platforms Inc in the first quarter of the year, amid an eye-popping rebound in the Facebook-parent’s stock. Arrowstreet Capital added about 5 million shares during the quarter, brining its total position to slightly more than 7 million shares, while Coatue more than doubled its position in the company by buying 4.2 million shares. Winslow Capital Management, meanwhile, initiated a new position in the firm by buying about 927,000 shares, and D1 Capital Partners bought slightly more than 1 million shares. Norges Bank, the central bank of Norway, was the largest seller among all firms, unloading more than 35 million shares during the quarter. Two Sigma Investments sold its entire stake of about 569,000 shares, while Glenview Capital Management, run by billionaire Larry Robbins, sold its entire stake of about 526,000 shares, according to filings.

☆ Ireland wants to put its soaring corporate tax receipts into a new sovereign wealth fund
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-10 | by ( Jenni Reid | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

The Meta Platforms Inc. office building in the 'Silicon Docks' area in central Dublin, Ireland, on Tuesday, Nov. 29, 2022. Ireland is considering funneling some of the bumper tax income it's receiving from the many multinationals based in the country into a new sovereign wealth fund. Ireland's corporate tax receipts have rocketed over the last decade and have hit record highs since the pandemic, rising 30% year-on-year in 2021 and up another 48% in 2022 to a record 22.6 billion euros ($24.8 billion). That has come from tech giants including Alphabet, Meta, Intel, LinkedIn and Amazon, along with firms like Pfizer and Johnson & Johnson. The government expects this to swell further in the coming years, with the surplus totaling 65 billion euros over four years and potentially hitting 6.3% of gross national income — GDP plus all net receipts — by 2026.

☆ LinkedIn cuts over 700 jobs, phases out China app as demand wavers
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-09 | by ( Stephen Nellis | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

In the past six months, more than 270,000 tech jobs globally have been cut, according to Layoffs.fyi, which has been tracking the fallout. A LinkedIn spokesperson said the vendors were "external partners" who would take on new and existing work. The remaining China app, called InCareers, will be phased out by Aug. 9, LinkedIn said. LinkedIn will retain a presence in China to help companies operating there to hire and train employees outside the country, the company spokesperson said. Before LinkedIn's announcement, 5,000 technology jobs had been in eliminated in May alone, according to Layoffs.fyi.

☆ Facebook is wrong to say news lacks economic value, says Canada PM Trudeau
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-09 | by ( Ismail Shakil | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Speaking to a parliamentary committee about the Trudeau government's legislation on Monday, a Meta official said news has a social value, but not an economic value to the company. "If we are being asked to compensate these publishers for material that has no economic value to us, that's where the problem is," Meta's head of public policy in Canada, Rachel Curran, told the committee. Facebook's stance against paying news content "shows how deeply irresponsible and out of touch they are," Trudeau told reporters in Ottawa. Their main objection is paying for links to news articles posted on their websites that they say would be unsustainable for their businesses. "Someone reporting on the horrors in Bucha (in Ukraine) is not trying to get likes on their Facebook page," Trudeau said.

☆ Meta Platforms scoops up AI networking chip team from Graphcore
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-05 | by ( Katie Paul | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

May 5 (Reuters) - Meta Platforms Inc (META.O) has hired an Oslo-based team that until late last year was building artificial-intelligence networking technology at British chip unicorn Graphcore. "We recently welcomed a number of highly-specialized engineers in Oslo to our infrastructure team at Meta. Meta, which owns Facebook and Instagram, has become increasingly reliant on AI technology to target advertising, select posts for its apps' feeds and purge banned content from its platforms. The 10 employees' job descriptions on LinkedIn indicated the team had worked on AI-specific networking technology at Graphcore, which develops computer chips and systems optimized for AI work. A new category of network chip has emerged to help keep data moving smoothly within those computing clusters.

☆ Meta Platforms scoops up A.I. networking chip team from Graphcore
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-05 | by ( ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

Meta Platforms Inc. has hired an Oslo-based team that until late last year was building artificial-intelligence networking technology at British chip unicorn Graphcore. "We recently welcomed a number of highly-specialized engineers in Oslo to our infrastructure team at Meta. They bring deep expertise in the design and development of supercomputing systems to support AI and machine learning at scale in Meta's data centers," said Jon Carvill, the Meta spokesperson. Meta, which owns Facebook and Instagram, has become increasingly reliant on AI technology to target advertising, select posts for its apps' feeds and purge banned content from its platforms. The 10 employees' job descriptions on LinkedIn indicated the team had worked on AI-specific networking technology at Graphcore, which develops computer chips and systems optimized for AI work.

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