Meta’s WhatsApp launches new AI tools for businesses

By Dani Morera and Andre Romani SAO PAULO (Reuters) -Meta launched its first AI-driven ad targeting program for businesses on WhatsApp, according to a press release Thursday, as it tries to wring revenue out of the popular chat service, the company announced at a conference in Brazil. CEO Mark Zuckerberg announced the new tools in a video which was exhibited during the event. The announcement marks a shift for WhatsApp, an encrypted messaging service that … Read more…

World stocks at record high after cautious ECB rate cut

By Marc Jones and Koh Gui Qing NEW YORK/LONDON (Reuters) -World stocks hit an all-time high and the euro rose on Thursday after the European Central Bank cut interest rates for the first time in nearly five years, but also signalled that further moves could take a while. ECB policymakers duly delivered their widely-flagged quarter-point cut to 3.75%, but markets were left feeling a little deflated after the bank also said it now did not … Read more…

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GameStop surges as ‘Roaring Kitty’ posts upcoming livestream

(Reuters) – Shares of GameStop surged over 30% on Thursday after the online stock influencer known as “Roaring Kitty” posted on YouTube that he would hold a livestream on Friday. Thursday’s surge was the latest in a bout of volatile trading in the struggling videogame seller’s shares that kicked off last month after the influencer, whose real name is Keith Gill, returned to X.com after a three-year hiatus. The “Roaring Kitty” channel on YouTube on … Read more…

$1.3 billion UK lawsuit accuses Amazon of misusing small sellers’ data

LONDON (Reuters) – Amazon is facing a one billion-pound ($1.3 billion) collective lawsuit from British retailers who allege that the online marketplace misused their data to boost its own market share and profits. The British Independent Retailers Association (BIRA), an umbrella body grouping numerous small traders, was due to file the lawsuit on behalf of around 35,000 retailers at the Competition Appeal Tribunal (CAT) in London on Thursday, its lawyers said. The suit alleges that … Read more…

NBA nears rights deal worth $76 billion with NBC, ESPN and Amazon, WSJ reports

(Reuters) -The National Basketball Association is closing in on media rights deals with Comcast-owned NBC, Disney’s ESPN, and Amazon.com that would generate about $76 billion in media revenue over 11 years, the Wall Street Journal reported on Wednesday. Rights to the widely watched professional basketball league are a prized possession for media companies. Sports content continues to attract a reliable and loyal audience at a time when traditional TV businesses are losing millions of subscribers … Read more…

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Nvidia’s stock market value hits $3 trillion for first time

(Reuters) – Nvidia’s stock market value hit $3 trillion for the first time on Wednesday as the chipmaker benefited from a race between Wall Street’s heavyweights to dominate AI technology. Shares of the maker of specialized AI chips were last up 4.75%. Nvidia shares touched an intra-day record high of $1,219.93, giving it a market capitalization of $3 trillion. (Reporting by Medha Singh in Bengaluru; Editing by Shilpi Majumdar and Leslie Adler)

Boeing’s Starliner spacecraft sends first astronaut crew to orbit

By Joey Roulette CAPE CANAVERAL, Florida (Reuters) -Boeing’s new Starliner capsule flew its first crew of astronauts to space on Wednesday from Florida in a much-delayed test mission to the International Space Station, a milestone in the aerospace giant’s ambitions to step up its competition with Elon Musk’s SpaceX. The CST-100 Starliner, with astronauts Barry “Butch” Wilmore and Sunita “Suni” Williams aboard, lifted off from the Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, strapped to an Atlas … Read more…

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Tesla likely to spend $3 billion-$4 billion on Nvidia hardware this year

(Reuters) -Tesla will likely spend between $3 billion and $4 billion on its purchases of chip company Nvidia’s hardware this year, CEO Elon Musk said in a post on X on Tuesday. Musk also said that out of the $10 billion in artificial intelligence-related capital expenditure this year, around half would be internal spend. “For building the AI training superclusters, NVidia (sic) hardware is about 2/3 of the cost,” he said on X. Earlier on … Read more…

OpenAI, Google DeepMind’s current and former employees warn about AI risks

(Reuters) – A group of current and former employees at artificial intelligence (AI) companies, including Microsoft-backed OpenAI and Alphabet’s Google DeepMind on Tuesday raised concerns about risks posed by the emerging technology. An open letter by a group of 11 current and former employees of OpenAI and one current and another former employee with Google DeepMind said the financial motives of AI companies hinder effective oversight. “We do not believe bespoke structures of corporate governance … Read more…

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GameStop mania unfolded: Key milestones in meme stock frenzy

(Reuters) – GameStop is back in the limelight after a hiatus of three years with the return of social media influencer “Roaring Kitty” Keith Gill, a key figure in the Reddit-driven “meme stock” rally of 2021. Here is a timeline of the key developments for the struggling video game retailer: July 27, 2020- “Roaring Kitty” starts posting YouTube videos and posts on the Reddit forum, WallStreetBets, under “DeepF***ingValue” on GameStop. Gill noted he sees value … Read more…