Business

By Jonathan Stempel NEW YORK (Reuters) – PayPal has been sued by an Asian American businesswoman who accused the digital payments company of racial bias for restricting part of a $535 million investment program to Black and Hispanic applicants, costing her millions of dollars. Thursday’s complaint by Nisha Desai and her New York-based venture capital firm Andav Capital is part of a growing push among some conservatives to curtail diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives in … Read more…

(Reuters) – Nvidia emerged as the biggest global gainer in market capitalization for 2024, driven by surging interest in artificial intelligence and the robust demand for its AI-centric chips across various industries. The chipmaker’s market value increased by over $2 trillion last year, reaching $3.28 trillion at the close of 2024, making it the second-most valuable listed company in the world. Its market value was $1.2 trillion at the end of 2023. Meanwhile, Apple continued … Read more…

By Aditya Soni, Arsheeya Bajwa, Krystal Hu (Reuters) -OpenAI on Friday outlined plans to revamp its structure, saying it would create a public benefit corporation to make it easier to “raise more capital than we’d imagined,” and remove the restrictions imposed on the startup by its current nonprofit parent.  The acknowledgement and detailed rationale behind its high-profile restructuring confirmed a Reuters report in September, which sparked debate among corporate watchdogs and tech moguls including Elon … Read more…

By Manya Saini (Reuters) – Bitcoin more than doubled in 2024 driven by the U.S. markets regulator’s approval for exchange-traded funds tied to its spot price, and optimism over easing regulatory hurdles with Donald Trump set to return to the White House. The world’s largest and most well-known cryptocurrency hit $100,000 earlier this month, a milestone that has ignited ‘animal spirits’ among supporters of the once-nascent asset class. A more than 120% surge in bitcoin … Read more…

(Reuters) – Chipmaker Nvidia has completed its acquisition of Israeli AI firm Run:ai, the startup said on Monday, following antitrust scrutiny over the buyout. The European Commission granted unconditional approval to Nvidia’s $700 million bid for Run:ai, which helps developers optimize infrastructure for AI, earlier in December after saying in October that the deal would require EU antitrust clearance. The EU antitrust watchdog had warned that the deal threatened competition in the markets where the … Read more…

(Reuters) -Tech and growth stocks dragged Wall Street’s main indexes lower on Friday, at the end of an upbeat holiday-shortened week that was driven by expectations around a traditionally strong period for markets. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.95%, the S&P 500 was down 1.33% and the Nasdaq Composite briefly was down 1.72%. COMMENTS: SAM STOVALL, MARKET STRATEGIST, CFRA, ALLENTOWN, PA: “Investors had been saying, oh, I’ll take profits in the new year, and … Read more…

(Reuters) -U.S.-based utility Duke Energy said on Friday it had filed a plan with the Florida Public Service Commission (FPSC) to recover about $1.1 billion in direct costs associated with the company’s emergency activation and response to hurricanes Debby, Helene and Milton. Severe storms this year forced major U.S. utilities to shut down or slow power plant operations. Duke, the largest utility covering North and South Carolina, said the hurricanes hit its service territories and … Read more…

By Nicole Jao NEW YORK (Reuters) -Oil edged lower on Thursday in light holiday trade as the dollar’s strength offset hopes for additional fiscal stimulus in China, the world’s biggest oil importer. Brent crude futures settled down 32 cents, or 0.43%, at $73.26 a barrel. U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude closed at $69.62, down 0.68%, or 48 cents, from Tuesday’s pre-Christmas settlement. Chinese authorities have agreed to issue 3 trillion yuan ($411 billion) worth of … Read more…

By Foo Yun Chee BRUSSELS (Reuters) – Alphabet’s Google’s proposed changes to its search results to comply with EU tech legislation has received the thumbs up from lobbying group Airlines for Europe whose members include Air France KLM and Lufthansa. Google has announced a series of changes in search result formats in recent months following conflicting demands from price-comparison sites, hotels, airlines and small retailers, with the latest tweaks announced last month. It is trying … Read more…

(Reuters) – Elon Musk-owned X raised the price of its premium-plus plan in several markets from Dec. 21 as the social media company looks to boost payment for creators on its platform. The top-tier plan is now priced at $22 a month in the U.S., up from $16 earlier, according to a blog post. Prices for the basic tier and premium subscriptions remain unchanged at $3 and $8, respectively. X changed its revenue-sharing practices in … Read more…