Apple acquisitions: Tech giant buys a company every three to four weeks February 24, 2021 As the giants of Silicon Valley jostle for pole position in the escalating technology arms race, mergers and acquisitions are often the name of the game. But the scale of Big Tech acquisitiveness has been laid bare after Apple boss Tim Cook revealed his company has snapped up roughly 100 companies over the last six [...]
Facebook and Google duopoly is ‘too powerful’ says CMA boss February 23, 2021 Facebook and Google’s duopoly is too powerful, and the pair have too great a share of the UK online advertising space, CMA boss Andrea Coscelli has said. Speaking to the BBC, Coscelli said he would like to see regulatory changes to deal with their market dominance, but stopped short of saying the giants should be [...]
Tesla rival Lucid Motors gears up for $24bn stock market float February 23, 2021 A luxury electric vehicle maker looking to challenge the dominance of Elon Musk’s Tesla is set to go public in a blank cheque deal that will value it at $24bn (£17bn). California-based Lucid Motors has agreed to merge with Churchill Capital IV, a special purpose acquisition company (Spac) set up by former Citigroup banker Michael [...]
Facebook reverses Australia news ban after law changes February 23, 2021 Facebook has backed down in its feud with Australia after negotiating changes to a new law that will force tech firms to pay publishers for news. The social media giant last week blocked access to news in the country in protest at the upcoming legislation, drawing widespread criticism. But following talks between the government and [...]
Is technology a new asset class? February 23, 2021 | City Talk With Covid-19 accelerating digitalisation, the question facing many companies is no longer whether technology is important, but just how important? What percentage of their time should a bank or retailer’s top executives spend thinking about technology? How much investment should a company make in tech? What weighting should institutional and retail investors give the sector? [...]
Pfizer vaccine cuts Covid transmission by up to 85 per cent February 22, 2021 “Vaccines are working,” the health secretary has announced, after new data showed the Pfizer vaccine cuts Covid transmission by up to 85 per cent and reduces the risk of death and hospitalisation by three-quarters. In a major boost for the Prime Minister’s plans to lift lockdown restrictions, early data from Public Health England’s (PHE) first [...]
Covid vaccines reduce hospitalisations by up to 94 per cent in Scotland February 22, 2021 The vaccine rollout has had a signifiant impact on driving down Covid-related hospitalisations and risk of serious illness in Scotland, new data has shown. Research from Public Health Scotland (PHS) found that the Pfizer and Astrazeneca vaccines reduced the risk of hospitalisation from Covid-19 by up to 85 per cent and 94 per cent respectively. [...]
Transferwise rebrands to Wise ahead of London listing February 22, 2021 A decade after its launch Transferwise has rebranded to Wise ahead of its long-awaited IPO. The fintech, which was most recently valued by private investors at $5bn, has come a long way since its launch in 2011 when it initially offered money transfers. It says the new moniker reflects its growth. “Today our name catches [...]
European Commission gives the green light on data adequacy agreement with UK February 19, 2021 The European Commission has said the UK’s data protection laws are in line with the EU’s, paving the way for a long-term adequacy decision. Article 44 of GDPR prohibits the transfer of personal data from the EU/EEA to recipients in jurisdictions outside the bloc, unless specific conditions are met. One of the conditions is an [...]
Time Out boss: Tech giants have destroyed internet freedom February 19, 2021 The unbridled power of tech giants such as Google and Facebook has destroyed the concept of freedom on the internet, the chief executive of Time Out has said. In an interview with City A.M., Julio Bruno said that while tech companies had given us “a lot of good things”, they now exerted too much control [...]