Wikipedia won’t comply with Online Safety Bill if passed, its charity warns April 28, 2023 Wikipedia will not comply with aspects of the Online Safety Bill if passed, the website’s charity has warned. The bill — currently sitting in the House of Lords — will compel social media platforms and tech companies to police and remove hateful content. It will also require platforms to keep adult content out of reach [...]
Analysis: Big tech beats forecasts – but they’re not out of the woods yet April 28, 2023 Meta, Microsoft, and Google’s parent, Alphabet, Amazon all showed signs of resilience this week after a bruising period for the tech sector. After many US tech firms laid off thousands of staff in response to low growth and inflationary pressures, each of these leading tech giants reported quarterly revenues and profits that beat analyst estimates, [...]
Amazon share price tanks after software giant announces fall in cloud spend April 28, 2023 The brakes appeared to be coming on to Amazon’s cloud growth spending as the tech giant said it was looking to cut costs. The news overshadowed the company’s quarterly sales, and an announcement that its profits that topped expectations. Amazon’s value rose $125bn (£100bn) but remarks by its chief financial officer Brian Olsavsky, drove the [...]
Vodafone appoints Margherita Della Valle as new chief executive April 27, 2023 Vodafone has appointed interim chief executive Margherita Della Valle to the top role permanently, the company announced on Thursday. Vodafone’s chair, Jean-François van Boxmeer, said Della Valle was selected after a “rigorous internal and external search.” “Over the last few months as interim group chief executive, the board and I have been impressed with her [...]
Facebook owner Meta touts AI might as digital ads boost outlook April 27, 2023 Meta Platforms CEO Mark Zuckerberg said on Wednesday that AI was helping the company boost traffic to Facebook and Instagram and earn more in ad sales, as it forecast quarterly revenue well above analyst expectations. Meta shares surged 12 per cent in after hours trading, adding over $50bn (£40.06bn) to its market value and continuing a rally [...]
Game Over? CMA block of Activision deal to set the tone for other regulators April 26, 2023 The UK competition regulator today blocked Microsoft’s $70bn bid for the video game publisher, Activision Blizzard, citing concerns over competition in a fledgling cloud market. The move by the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) to scupper the deal — Microsoft’s largest acquisition — comes as a blow to the tech giant, which has already announced [...]
Microsoft’s £55bn acquisition of Call of Duty games creator blocked by UK’s competition authority April 26, 2023 Microsoft has had its $68.7bn (£55bn) acquisition of Activision Blizzard blocked by the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA), the regulator confirmed on Wednesday. The CMA blocked the deal over concerns it would lessen competition in the UK cloud gaming market by giving Microsoft it control over where Activision games are available. “Cloud gaming needs a [...]
Google parent Alphabet announces stock buyback after modest beat on ad sales April 26, 2023 Alphabet Inc said on Tuesday it would buy back $70bn (£56.3bn) in stock and posted first-quarter profit and revenue above estimates as demand rose for cloud services and ad sales held up better than expected. Investors cheered the buyback plan, sending shares of the Google parent as much as 4 per cent higher in after-hours trade before [...]
Microsoft: Shares jump eight per cent as AI helps software giant’s sales beat expectations April 26, 2023 Microsoft beat Wall Street’s estimates for quarterly revenue and profit on Tuesday, driven by growth in its cloud computing and Office productivity software businesses, and the company said artificial intelligence products were stimulating sales. The company forecast revenue in its main segments for the current quarter would match or top Wall Street targets. Shares gained 8.3 per cent in after-market [...]
UK venture capital investment tumbles to pre-pandemic levels as market jitters linger April 26, 2023 Venture capital investment in the UK tumbled back to pre-pandemic levels in the first three months of the year as a slump in start-up valuations and volatile markets continue to spook investors.