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Reuters exclusively reported that the Biden administration is reviewing its cloud business to determine whether it poses a risk to U.S. national security. The focus of the probe is on how the company stores U.S. clients’ data – including personal information and intellectual property – and whether the Chinese government could gain access to it. If regulators ultimately decide to block transactions between American firms and Alibaba Cloud, it will damage the bottom line of one of the company’s most promising businesses and deal a blow to reputation of the company as a whole.

The post Reuters exclusively reports U.S. examining Alibaba’s cloud unit for national security risks; market reacts appeared first on Reuters News Agency.

For women who assembled iPhones at a Foxconn plant in southern India, crowded dorms without flush toilets and food sometimes crawling with worms were problems to be endured for the paycheck. Reuters took a closer look at the protest that shut down a plant where 17,000 had been working, casting a stark light on living and working conditions at Foxconn, a firm central to Apple’s supply chain.

The post Reuters reveals Women force change at Indian iPhone plant amid complaints of sickness and crowded dorms appeared first on Reuters News Agency.

Big Tech has enjoyed years of unfettered growth, but now the U.S., EU, China and India have launched unprecedented crackdowns on some of the biggest names in the business. Lawmakers and regulators are going after anti-competitive practices and looking at privacy and security at companies such as Facebook and Apple, Google and Amazon. Reuters is keeping clients and readers ahead on this huge story, delivering comprehensive coverage and, in some cases, even spurring action by lawmakers and corporations. 

The post Global tech crackdown appeared first on Reuters News Agency.

Reuters exclusively reported that Facebook is set to gain EU antitrust approval for its acquisition of Kustomer - an acquisition that media have reported would be worth more than $1 billion. The approval comes after Facebook offered remedies that allow rival products to function with those of the U.S. customer service startup.

A buying spree of startups by big companies has triggered concerns on both sides of the Atlantic, with regulators worried about so-called killer acquisitions aimed at shutting down potential rivals before they are big enough to be a threat.

The post Reuters reveals Facebook to win conditional EU nod for Kustomer buy appeared first on Reuters News Agency.

On Friday, Reuters exclusively reported that Microsoft is set to secure unconditional EU antitrust approval for its $16 billion bid for artificial intelligence and speech technology company Nuance Communications. The latest tech deal, Microsoft’s second-biggest after its $26.2 billion LinkedIn purchase in 2016, follows heightened regulatory scrutiny of “killer acquisitions” whereby tech giants buy and shut down nascent start-ups and potential rivals.

The post Reuters exclusively reports Microsoft’s $16 billion Nuance bid set for EU antitrust approval; market reacts appeared first on Reuters News Agency.

Reuters exclusively reported that Uber Technologies is in talks with the management of its Middle East unit Careem to bring outside investors into the business, citing four sources familiar with the matter. The investment would help finance the further roll-out of Careem’s so-called Super App, two of the sources said, which offers services outside its core ride-hailing business such as food delivery, digital payments and courier services.

The post Reuters reveals Uber talks with Mideast unit over outside investment; market reacts appeared first on Reuters News Agency.

Shares of Digital World Acquisition Corp rose as much as 22% after Reuters exclusively reported that the blank-check acquisition firm and former U.S. President Donald Trump’s social media venture were seeking to raise $1 billion for their deal. Trump Media & Technology Group, which has yet to roll out the social media app it says it is developing, already stands to receive $293 million if its deal to list in New York through a merger with blank-check firm Digital World Acquisition Corp is completed. The deal valued Trump Media at $875 million, including debt, and Trump Media is now seeking to raise up to an additional $1 billion at a valuation of close to $3 billion. It is the clearest indication yet that Trump and the Digital World dealmakers are seeking to capitalize on the market euphoria around their venture.

The post Reuters reveals Trump’s social media venture seeks to raise $1 billion; market reacts appeared first on Reuters News Agency.

Reuters exclusively reported on Friday that credit card giant Visa expects to resolve its fee dispute with Amazon.com Inc in Britain and hopes to continue its co-branded credit card partnership with the e-commerce giant in the United States. In an interview with Reuters, Visa’s chief financial officer Vasant Prabhu said Amazon accounted for a relatively small slice of its revenues and that the company had resolved such disputes in the past.

The post Reuters reveals Visa expects to resolve fee row with Amazon; market reacts appeared first on Reuters News Agency.

Reuters exclusively reported that telecoms tycoon Patrick Drahi is looking to increase his stake in BT Group as he seeks to extend his influence at the British company, betting its fiber optic rollout will boost value. Since the billionaire Altice founder bought a 12.1% stake in BT worth about 2.2 billion pounds ($2.95 billion) on June 10, the British telecom giant’s shares have fallen 15% and are down about 46% over the past five years. Drahi has backed BT’s plans to build a fiber optic network serving 25 million homes by the end of 2026.

The post Reuters exclusively reports Altice founder Drahi seeks bigger stake in Britain’s BT appeared first on Reuters News Agency.

Reuters was first to report that OneStream Software, which is backed by private equity firm KKR & Co, has hired advisers to help it prepare for an initial public offering (IPO) in New York that could value the software maker at over $10 billion. Rochester, Michigan-based OneStream, which builds software tools and solutions designed for chief financial officers of companies, has tapped investment bank Morgan Stanley to lead preparations for a stock market launch that is expected to happen early next year. 

The post Reuters first to report KKR-backed OneStream Software hires Morgan Stanley to lead U.S. IPO appeared first on Reuters News Agency.

On Tuesday, Reuters exclusively reported that Amazon is seeking to settle two EU antitrust investigations to stave off potential hefty fines and orders to change its business practices, people familiar with the matter said. Last November, The European Commission charged the world’s biggest online retailer with using its size, power and data to push its own products and gain an unfair advantage over rival merchants that sell on its online platform. It also opened an investigation into Amazon’s possible preferential treatment of its own retail offers and those of marketplace sellers that use its logistics and delivery services.

The post Reuters exclusively reports Amazon seeking to settle EU antitrust investigations; market reacts appeared first on Reuters News Agency.

Reuters exclusively reported SoftBank Group Corp is in talks to sell the Paris-based robotics business behind its Pepper android to Germany’s United Robotics Group, scaling back a business it once touted as a major growth driver. United Robotics Group, which is backed by German industrial robot maker Hahn, became the European master distributor for SoftBank’s struggling Pepper and Nao robots in October. Reuters reported in June that SoftBank had stopped production of Pepper and slashed jobs at its robotics business globally. 

The post Reuters exclusively reports SoftBank in talks to sell French robotics business to Germany’s United Robotics appeared first on Reuters News Agency.

Reuters was first to report that Apple Inc’s talks with China’s CATL and BYD over battery supplies for its planned electric vehicle have mostly stalled after they refused to set up teams and build U.S. plants that would solely cater to the tech giant. Chinese battery makers are more advanced than rivals in the development of lithium iron phosphate (LFP) batteries, which are cheaper to produce, and sources have previously said Apple favors this battery technology. The firms informed Apple sometime in the past two months that they were not able to meet its requirements but the U.S. company has not given up hope of resuming talks with either of them. 

The post Reuters first to report Apple’s talks with Chinese battery makers CATL and BYD mostly stalled appeared first on Reuters News Agency.

Reuters exclusively reported that Rome is drawing up an offer to try to convince Intel to invest billions of euros in an advanced chipmaking plant in Italy, as Germany emerges as frontrunner to land an even bigger megafactory planned by the U.S. company. The plants would be part of a drive by the U.S. group to build cutting-edge manufacturing capacity in Europe to help avoid future supply shortages of the kind currently crippling the automotive industry in particular. 

The post Reuters exclusively reports Italy woos Intel over multibillion-euro chip plant appeared first on Reuters News Agency.

From Brazil’s online lender Nubank to Colombian delivery firm Rappi, Latin American tech startups raised $14.8 billion in new money during the first nine months of 2021, a jump of 174% since last year. Reuters provided a deep dive into how this boom has caught the eye of some of the biggest names in private equity and venture capital, such as SoftBank Group Corp, General Atlantic and Sequoia Capital. Now Wall Street’s banks are looking to tap into the gold rush by taking more Latino “unicorns” public in the United States. 

The post Reuters goes in-depth into tech stampede as investors hunt Latin American unicorns appeared first on Reuters News Agency.

Following a Reuters Special Report published last week, five members of the U.S. House Judiciary committee wrote to Amazon.com Inc’s chief executive and accused the company’s top executives, including founder Jeff Bezos, of either misleading Congress or possibly lying to it about Amazon’s business practices. The letter also states that the committee is considering “whether a referral of this matter to the Department of Justice for criminal investigation is appropriate.”

The Reuters investigation showed that the company had conducted a systematic campaign of copying products and rigging search results in India to boost sales of its own brands - practices Amazon has denied engaging in. 

Last week, U.S. Senator Elizabeth Warren called for breaking up Amazon.com Inc and Indian retailers demanded a government probe of the company after the Reuters report was published.

The post Reuters impact: U.S. lawmakers say Amazon may have lied to Congress, Senator Warren urges breakup, India retailers want probe after Reuters investigation appeared first on Reuters News Agency.

U.S. Senator Elizabeth Warren called for breaking up Amazon.com Inc and Indian retailers demanded a government probe of the company after a Reuters investigation showed the e-commerce giant had copied products and rigged search results in India.

The Reuters report, reviewing thousands of internal Amazon documents, found that the U.S. company ran a systematic campaign of creating knockoffs and manipulating search results to boost its own private brands in India, one of the company’s largest growth markets. It also showed that, at least in India, manipulating search results to favor Amazon’s products, as well as copying other sellers’ goods, were part of a formal strategy at Amazon - and that at least two senior executives had reviewed it.

The post U.S. Senator Warren urges Amazon breakup, India retailers want probe after Reuters report appeared first on Reuters News Agency.

Reuters exclusively reported that Apple is set to be hit with a European Union antitrust charge next year over its tap-and-go NFC chip technology, a move that puts it at risk of a possible hefty fine and an order to open its payment system to rivals. The iPhone maker has been in EU antitrust chief Margrethe Vestager’s crosshairs since June last year when she launched an investigation into Apple Pay.

The post Reuters reveals Apple to face EU antitrust charge over NFC chip; market reacts appeared first on Reuters News Agency.

Reuters exclusively reported that Google has sought to settle an EU antitrust investigation into its digital advertising business, aiming to stave off a lengthy review and possible billion-euro fine. The news, which was widely picked up by other media, comes as the tech giant battles a similar crackdown on its business practices around the world, including the United States.  Hours before, Reuters also exclusively reported that the U.S. and EU are planning a more unified approach to limit the growing market power of Big Tech, according to a draft memo seen by Reuters. Combined, these developments signal an acceleration of and an urgency to defuse the tension between global governments and Big Tech.

The post Reuters ahead with key news on regulation of Big Tech appeared first on Reuters News Agency.

Reuters exclusively reported that Snapchat’s owner has hired a longtime online safety advocate as its first global head of platform safety, as the company continues to ramp up efforts around user safety and as social media firms face mounting global pressure from regulators and lawmakers. Snap said that after a long search it hired Jacqueline Beauchere, who will represent its safety work to regulators, lawmakers and partners and help advise on new policies and initiatives. Child safety advocates and U.S. lawmakers have raised alarms on a wide range of issues faced by users of online platforms including mental health impacts and potential abuses from bullying to child sexual exploitation.

The post Reuters exclusively reports Snap Inc hires first global head of platform safety appeared first on Reuters News Agency.

Reuters reported exclusively that a U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission investigation into the SolarWinds Russian hacking operation has dozens of corporate executives fearful that information unearthed in the expanding probe will expose them to liability. People familiar with the inquiry say the requests may reveal numerous unreported cyber incidents unrelated to the Russian espionage campaign, giving the SEC a rare level of insight into previously unknown incidents that the companies likely never intended to disclose.

The post Reuters exclusively reports wide-ranging SolarWinds probe sparks fear in Corporate America appeared first on Reuters News Agency.

Reuters revealed that Amazon.com Inc plans to take a more proactive approach to determine what types of content violate its cloud service policies, such as rules against promoting violence, and enforce its removal. According to a Reuters source, over the coming months, Amazon will expand the Trust & Safety team at the Amazon Web Services (AWS) division and hire a small group of people to develop expertise and work with outside researchers to monitor for future threats - a move that could turn Amazon into one of the world’s most powerful arbiters of content allowed on the internet and is likely to renew debate about how much power tech companies should have to restrict free speech.

The post Reuters reveals Amazon considers more proactive approach to determining what belongs on its cloud service appeared first on Reuters News Agency.

In an interview with Reuters, Ericsson’s top executive Borje Ekholm vowed to double down on efforts to regain market share lost in China after Sweden blocked Chinese suppliers from its 5G roll-out, a move that antagonized Beijing and has hit the equipment maker’s business. China accounted for about 10% of Ericsson’s revenue last year, but that fell sharply after the company’s home country of Sweden banned Huawei from its 5G networks, citing security risks – a charge that Huawei has strongly denied.

The post Reuters exclusively reports Ericsson CEO to double down on China as 5G tussle rumbles on appeared first on Reuters News Agency.

Reuters was first to report that Japan’s trade ministry is ready to back Western Digital’s bid to merge with memory chipmaker Kioxia provided that control of cutting-edge technology stays in Japan. The tie-up could give Japan greater leverage in geopolitical rivalries increasingly dominated by technology, including over shortages of chips. It could also help Japan forge deeper semiconductor industry ties with its U.S. ally, a commitment that President Joe Biden and Prime Minister Suga made in April. 

The post Reuters first to report Tokyo ready to back Western Digital-Kioxia deal if key tech stays in Japan appeared first on Reuters News Agency.

Reuters broke the news that Apple Inc is facing an antitrust challenge in India for allegedly abusing its dominant position in the apps market by forcing developers to use its proprietary in-app purchase system. The allegations in India, filed by a little-known, non-profit group, are similar to a case Apple faces in the European Union, where regulators last year started an investigation into Apple’s imposition of an in-app fee of 30% for distribution of paid digital content and other restrictions.

The post Reuters reveals Apple hit with antitrust case in India over in-app payments issues appeared first on Reuters News Agency.