Rocket Padel raises £7m ahead of West London and East Croydon club openings Sport Business Rocket Padel has raised €8m (£6.8m) as the international club operator pushes ahead with plans to open two major new sites in West London and East Croydon. The funding round values the business, which runs five clubs in Denmark, four in the UK and is building its first in Spain, at an undisclosed eight-figure sum, [...]
Google DeepMind’s London AI drug spinout eyes $50bn valuation Tech London-based AI drug discovery firm, Isomorphic Labs, is reportedly seeking a valuation of up to $50bn (£37bn) in fresh funding talks, just five months after raising $2.1bn from investors. The Google DeepMind spinout, led by Nobel Prize-winning scientist Sir Demis Hassabis, is in early discussions to raise new capital at a valuation of at least [...]
AI rivals not guaranteed spot on Google search screens under UK plans Tech ChatGPT and other AI assistants are not guaranteed a place on Google’s search choice screens under new UK competition rules, City AM understands, despite proposals to open the door to rival services. The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) is still consulting on the criteria AI providers will have to meet to qualify for inclusion, with [...]
Tribunal thumbs up £260m legal settlement against Google September 16, 2026 A UK specialist court has greenlit a £260m settlement in a class action against Google’s parent company, Alphabet, following an agreement last week. The settlement is the largest payout for class members the Competition Appeal Tribunal (CAT) has ever approved, though it is significantly lower than the £1.04bn the claim was estimated to be worth [...]
Government plots university spinout crackdown September 16, 2026 The government is plotting to clamp down on the number university spinouts that shift their operations abroad or float overseas, the boss of the body responsible for research investment has said, in a move likely to spark unrest among founders and the venture capital industry. Sir Ian Chapman, the chief executive of UK Research and [...]
London Lions and NordVPN owner signs up NBA legend Shaquille O’Neal September 14, 2026 The owners of cybersecurity firm NordVPN and British basketball champions London Lions have signed up NBA legend Shaquille O’Neal as an ambassador. The 7ft 1in O’Neal, a four-time NBA champion and member of the USA Dream Team who won Olympic gold at the Atlanta 1996 Games, is promoting NordVPN under the slogan “Go big on [...]
Apple and Google defend safety records as UK clamps down on explicit teen content September 10, 2026 Apple and Google have defended their child safety records after the government said it would force tech giants to block under-18s from sending or viewing nude images on smartphones. The Silicon Valley pair told City AM they had made progress on introducing new safeguards for teenagers after three months of talks with ministers failed to [...]
Google to pay £260m to settle ‘unfair’ pricing class action lawsuit August 28, 2026 Google’s parent company, Alphabet, has agreed to pay £260m to settle a class action lawsuit that alleged the US company imposed “unfair and excessive” charges on app developers selling apps on the Google Play Store. The case, brought to the Competition Appeal Tribunal (CAT) by competition law professor Barry Rodger on behalf of UK app [...]
Reform sidelines crypto industry at pivotal conference August 28, 2026 Reform UK is set to sideline crypto companies at its conference next week and cut the industry’s access to senior figures after backlash over Nigel Farage’s £5m gift from a bitcoin billionaire, City AM can reveal. Reform was an early champion of the digital currency and tokenisation industries, which have been a mainstay at previous [...]
Top FTSE headhunter rescued by rival after plunging into administration August 25, 2026 A City-based boutique headhunter which won executive-level talent for a host of FTSE 250 firms and collapsed after pumping investment into an AI platform has been purchased by one of its competitors, City AM can reveal. 6 Group, a global executive recruitment consultancy, purchased Savannah Group and its AI platform, MapX, in July after founder [...]