French regulator fines Google €220m over advertising practices June 7, 2021 Google has agreed to pay €220m to settle a French investigation over its abuse of power in online advertising. The French Competition Authority said Google has been unfairly sending business to its advertising server and its online advertising auction house, at an unfair advantage to its rivals. It came after a complaint lodged by Rupert [...]
Klarna likely to choose US over London for stock market listing June 6, 2021 Sebastian Siemiatkowski, boss of pay now, pay later business Klarna, has said the firm is likely to choose the US over London for its stock market debut. In an interview with The Sunday Times, Siemiatkowski said: “It’s more likely that Klarna will list in the US. “The majority of my investors would say that’s where [...]
Donald Trump banned from Facebook for at least two years June 4, 2021 Former US President Donald Trump has been banned from Facebook until at least 2023 after months of debate. The social media company’s independent oversight board upheld Trump’s decision last month, which was enforced in the wake of the Capitol riots over concerns his posts were inciting violence. However the board ruled the decision was “not [...]
20 times that AI has tried to make it in the music business June 4, 2021 | City Talk Artificial intelligence (AI) is becoming omnipresent across every segment of cultural and economic activity. But this phenomenon is not new – AI has been trying to carve a name for itself in the music business as a collaborator, composer, artist and lyricist since 1951… 1) The first computer generated music (1951) In 1951 British mathematician Alan [...]
How did we get here? A short history of artificial intelligence June 4, 2021 | City Talk For over seventy years the story of artificial intelligence (AI) has been one of saturating the capabilities of AI to the level of computational power available, and then waiting for Moore’s Law to catch up. During that time there have been bubbles of AI hype, research booms, funding busts and a quiet rebirth. Here we [...]
Facebook hit with double data crackdown as UK and EU open competition probes June 4, 2021 Facebook is facing a two-pronged attack after UK and EU regulators both opened investigations into alleged monopolistic behaviour in the tech giant’s use of advertising data. The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) will examine whether the social media platform has gained an unfair advantage over rivals through how it gathers and uses data for classified [...]
Grocery delivery app Getir bags $7.5bn valuation as it gears up for expansion June 4, 2021 Getir, an app that promises grocery deliveries in 10 minutes, has secured a $7.5bn (£5.3bn) valuation as it gears up to launch across Europe and in the US. The Turkish tech firm raised more than $550m in a series D funding round backed by existing investors such as Tiger Global and Sequoia Capital. It has [...]
Apple staff called back to the office for three days a week June 3, 2021 Apple employees must return to the office for three days a week from September, chief executive Tim Cook has said, as the tech giant signalled an end to the work-from-home era. In a company-wide memo, the Apple boss said: “For all that we’ve been able to achieve while many of us have been separated, the [...]
Watchdog clears Ebay’s $9.2bn classified ads deal with Adevinta June 3, 2021 The competition watchdog has cleared Ebay’s $9.2bn (£6.5bn) sale of its classified ads business to Norwegian rival Adevinta. In March the two companies said they would sell off three British divisions to secure regulatory approval for the tie-up. Adevinta said it will divest Shpock, while US ecommerce giant Ebay will sell Gumtree and Motors.co.uk. The [...]
Prosus snaps up Stack Overflow in $1.8bn edtech deal June 2, 2021 Prosus has bought Stack Overflow, an online community for software developers, in a $1.8bn deal as it seeks to capitalise on the demand for online learning. Prosus is one of Europe’s most valuable tech companies and investors and is the largest shareholder in Chinese tech giant Tencent. It is its first acquisition in the edtech [...]