Trump demands US Treasury cut of Tiktok sale August 4, 2020 US President Donald Trump has said the US Treasury should be brought in on Microsoft’s potential acquisition of Tiktok’s American arm, arguing the deal wouldn’t happen without its approval. Trump said he told Microsoft the government should receive a “substantial portion” of the deal if an American firm buys the operation. Tiktok’s Chinese owner Bytedance [...]
Mushrooms could be a magic cure for depression, if our draconian drug regulations weren’t stuck in the past August 4, 2020 It should come as no surprise that months of lockdown and social isolation has impacted our mental health. Medical professionals are predicting a “tsunami” of mental illnesses relating Covid-19, while earlier this month, The Lancet published a study showing that young people and women’s mental health has been hit particularly hard during the pandemic. What’s [...]
Fintech review flags sector’s status as one to watch August 3, 2020 | City Talk Six figures from the business world have set sail on a six-month voyage to investigate and recommend priorities for the financial technology sector. Ron Kalifa is helmsman of the ‘Fintech Strategic Review’, announced in March’s Budget but – until now – stuck in the harbour as the coronavirus pandemic took hold. Sherry Coutu, Anne Glover, [...]
Chinese AI firm slaps Apple with $1.4bn patent lawsuit August 3, 2020 Chinese artificial intelligence firm Shanghai Zhizhen Network Technology has filed a $1.4bn lawsuit against Apple, claiming the iPhone giant has infringed on a patent for its voice assistant technology. Shanghai Zhizhen, also known as Xiao-i, is calling for 10bn yuan ($1.4bn) in damages and demands that Apple cease “manufacturing, using, promising to sell, selling, and [...]
Zoom suspends China sales in partial market retraction August 3, 2020 Zoom is to stop selling new or upgraded products directly to customers in China, as it transitions towards a partner-only model in the region. Local Zoom customers were told today that a selection of third-party suppliers will now handle Zoom sales and some operations in China, listing a number of authorised partners that will now [...]
Trump gives Microsoft 45 days to clinch Tiktok deal as owners eye London move August 3, 2020 Microsoft and US President Donald Trump have worked out an agreement which gives the software giant 45 days to finalise a deal for the US arm of Tiktok. The software giant said in a statement that its chief executive Satya Nadella has been in discussions with the President about a potential Tiktok purchase, and that [...]
Big Tech cashes in on worst day for US economy since Great Depression July 31, 2020 The world’s four largest tech firms yesterday announced blockbuster earnings for three months to June, despite the US economy facing its darkest day since the Great Depression. Facebook, Google, Amazon and Apple, worth more than $5 trillion ($3.81 trillion) in total, smashed expectations as they all posted record profits yesterday. The upbeat results were met [...]
A data arms race has begun — it’s not a game, it’s a national security imperative July 31, 2020 Data privacy is a human right. It is also a matter of national — and international — security. If the “new Cold War” is upon us, as has been claimed on City PM, it will be fought with information. However, the west seems less serious about the “data arms race” than China and Russia, leaving [...]
Strong iPhone sales power Apple past expectations July 30, 2020 Sales of Apple’s hallmark iPhone surpassed analyst expectations by $4bn in its fiscal third quarter, pushing the tech firm to report revenue gains in every product category and geography. With 60 per cent of its smartphone sales coming from international markets, the California-headquartered tech giant posted iPhone revenues of $26.42bn, leapfrogging analyst expectations of $22.37bn. [...]
Amazon blows past estimates in revenue and profit beat July 30, 2020 Amazon surprised investors as it beat analyst estimates for second-quarter revenue and profit by a long shot, sealing off a strong quarter for the e-commerce retailer. Amazon reported a net income of $5.2bn in the second quarter, or $10.30 per diluted share, doubling its profit from a year earlier of $2.6bn. Analysts had been expecting [...]
