UK’s CMA slaps Google Search and its 90%+ market share with an antitrust investigation
The Competition and Markets Authority — the U.K.’s antitrust watchdog — is wasting no time in lodging its first official investigation of 2025 under its new rules that came into effect this month. It’s looking into the market dominance of Google in search, including the new work it’s doing in
Read moreHow Can South African Banks Leverage Generative AI for Growth?
The global banking landscape is experiencing seismic shifts, driven by the rapid advancement of technology and evolving consumer expectations. South Africa, with its robust financial sector and growing technological infrastructure, is positioned to spearhead a transformative revolution in the banking industry through the use of generative AI (Gen AI). According
Read moreBioptimus raises $41M to develop a ‘GPT for biology’
A fledgling French AI startup has raised $41 million to develop a foundational AI model for biology. Just as OpenAI’s ChatGPT has taken the world by storm for a super-smart generative AI tool capable of natural language conversation in text form, Bioptimus is taking that concept but training its model
Read moreHayo Appoints Industry Veteran as Executive Vice President (EVP)
Hayo, a global developer in digital solutions, has named Paul Loveridge as Executive Vice President (EVP) to drive the company’s global expansion. Hayo blends networking, technology, telecommunications, and digital solutions to provide on-the-ground innovation that benefits local communities. It offers substantial coverage on the African continent, as well as over
Read moreLemFi moves remittances further into Asia and Europe with $53M in new funding
For many emerging market economies, remittances have become a lifeline. Inflows surpassed $669 billion in 2023, according to World Bank research, and they now represent significant portions of GDP in these countries, often outpacing foreign direct investment as the primary source of foreign exchange. Traditional banks and agents maintain a
Read moreHow Barcelona became an unlikely hub for spyware startups
Barcelona's mix of affordable cost of living and quality of life has helped create a vibrant startup community — and become a hotbed for the creation of surveillance technologies. © 2024 TechCrunch. All rights reserved. For personal use only.
Read moreChina is reportedly open to Elon Musk acquiring TikTok US
Chinese government officials have reportedly discussed a scenario where ByteDance sells TikTok’s United States arm to Elon Musk, should the Supreme Court uphold the law banning the app on January 19th. Bloomberg reports that China would strongly prefer for TikTok to stay under ByteDance’s ownership, but says government officials have
Read moreAs TikTok faces a US shutdown, here are some alternative apps to check out
TikTok has warned of a looming shutdown in just six days, as the Supreme Court is currently weighing the law that would ban the app. So we thought it’s time to take a look at other platforms that may be able to fill the TikTok-shaped hole in our lives. The
Read moreRobinhood agrees to pay $45M in SEC settlement
Robinhood has agreed to fork out $45 million to settle an investigation by the Securities and Exchange Commission over several alleged violations, reported the Wall Street Journal on Monday. The settlement is being made via two of Robinhood’s brokerage units. One of the violations relates to Robinhood’s November 2021 confirmation
Read moreMicrosoft forms new internal dev-focused AI org
Microsoft has created a new engineering org aimed at accelerating AI infrastructure and software development within the company. According to Bloomberg, Jay Parikh, previously VP and global head of engineering at Meta, will lead the new division. He’ll report to Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella, and oversee groups including the company’s
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