Analysis: Chinese tech start-ups pull IPO plans as Beijing tightens scrutiny

By Samuel Shen and Scott Murdoch SHANGHAI/HONG KONG - A growing number of Chinese tech start-ups are cancelling plans to list on Nasdaq-style markets at home with some eyeing Hong Kong share sales instead, as regulators tighten scrutiny of IPO applicants after the halting of Ant G...

Microsoft in talks to buy AI firm Nuance Communications for about $16 billion -source

By Krystal Hu -Microsoft Corp is in advanced talks to buy artificial intelligence and speech technology company Nuance Communications Inc at about $16 billion, according to a source familiar with the matter. The price being discussed could value Nuance at about $56 a sh...

Microsoft in talks to buy AI firm Nuance Communications for about $16 billion

By Krystal Hu -Microsoft Corp is in advanced talks to buy artificial intelligence and speech technology company Nuance Communications Inc at about $16 billion, according to a source familiar with the matter. The price being discussed could value Nuance at about $56 a sh...

Microsoft in talks to buy AI firm Nuance Communications for about $16 billion - Bloomberg

- Microsoft Corp is in advanced talks to buy artificial intelligence and speech technology company Nuance Communications Inc, Bloomberg News reported on Sunday. An agreement could be announced as soon as this week, Bloomberg said citing people familiar with the matter. ...

Canada's Telesat takes on Musk and Bezos in space race to provide fast broadband

By Steve Scherer OTTAWA - Canada's Telesat is racing to launch a low-earth-orbit (LEO) satellite constellation to provide high-speed global broadband from space, pitting the satellite communications firm founded in 1969 against two trailblazing billionaires, Elon Musk and Jeff Bez...

Exclusive: China's antitrust regulator bulking up as crackdown on behemoths widens

BEIJING/HONG KONG - China's competition watchdog is adding staff and other resources as it ramps up efforts to crack down on anti-competitive behaviour, especially among the country's powerful companies, people with knowledge of the matter told . Beijing's plan to bulk up the Stat...

S.Korean battery makers agree last-minute deal in boost to Biden's EV policy

(Restores dropped word in headline) By David Shepardson and Hyunjoo Jin WASHINGTON - South Korean battery makers LG Chem and rival SK Innovation Co have agreed to settle a trade secrets dispute that has threatened a key Georgia plant and the electric vehicle plans o...

Korean battery companies agree to settle U.S. trade dispute -sources

(Restores dropped word in headline) By David Shepardson and Hyunjoo Jin WASHINGTON - South Korean battery makers LG Chem and rival SK Innovation Co have agreed to settle a trade secrets dispute that has threatened a key Georgia plant and the electric vehicle plans o...

China's graft watchdog rebukes 'mukbang' binge-eating, drinking videos

SHANGHAI - China's corruption watchdog has called on online video-sharing platforms to take action against "mukbang" shows, in which people livestream themselves eating - or drinking - excessively, saying such content encourages food waste. Mukbang videos originated in South Korea...

Amazon's win in union fight shows harsh realities facing labor movement

By Jeffrey Dastin and Mike Spector -Amazon.com Inc's fierce resistance to unionization, skepticism among workers that organizing could get them a better deal and decisions on election parameters all contributed to the apparently lopsided defeat of a labor drive at the company's wareho...

U.S. senators criticize Apple for not testifying on antitrust concerns

Apple Inc is refusing to testify at an upcoming U.S. Senate subcommittee hearing on competition issues related to mobile app stores, the bipartisan leaders of the panel said on Friday.

Elon Musk's Neuralink shows monkey with brain-chip playing videogame by thinking

- Billionaire entrepreneur Elon Musk's brain-chip startup released footage on Friday appearing to show a monkey playing a simple videogame after getting implants of the new technology. The 3-minute video by Neuralink https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rsCul1sp4hQ shows Pager, a male ...

Spain to subsidise electric car sales with 800 million euros to 2023

MADRID - The Spanish government has approved a plan to spend up to 800 million euros ($950 million) until 2023 to encourage electric car sales, the Energy Ministry said on Friday. Private buyers would be entitled to subsidies of up to 7,000 euros per car, while authorities in smal...

Amazon.com warehouse workers vote to reject forming union in Alabama

-Efforts to unionize Amazon.com warehouse workers in Alabama were defeated on Friday by a more than 2-to-1 margin in a major win for the online retailer, but the union trying to organize workers was set to challenge the results, assailing the company's methods. According to the lates...

Amazon.com warehouse workers reject union drive in majority vote

-Efforts to unionize Amazon.com warehouse workers in Alabama were unofficially defeated on Friday by a more than 2-to-1 margin with more than half of the ballots counted. So far, over 1,700 voted against forming a union, with nearly 700 ballots in favor. A simple majority is needed f...

Union appears headed to defeat in Amazon.com election

-Ballot counting resumed Friday in a union election at an Amazon.com warehouse in Alabama, with the union that hopes to change U.S. labor history well behind in the vote count. Amazon workers at the warehouse in Bessemer voted to reject unionization by a more than 2-1 margin as of Fr...

Facebook removes 16,000 groups for selling fake reviews after UK intervention

(Corrects headline, paragraph 1 to say Facebook "removes", not "suspends", 16,000 "groups", not "accounts") - Social media company Facebook Inc removed 16,000 groups for selling or buying fake reviews of products and services on its platforms, after the Britain's competition watc...

LinkedIn says some user data scraped and posted for sale

-Some LinkedIn data, including publicly viewable member profile, has been scraped and posted for sale, Microsoft Corp's professional networking site said based on an investigation. The incident was not a data breach and no private member account data from the platform was included, Li...

Facebook to turn Menlo Park headquarters into vaccination site

- Facebook Inc said on Friday it is converting a part of its Menlo Park headquarters into a vaccination site, joining the government effort to speed up the vaccination drive in the United States. For this initiative, the company is teaming up with Ravenswood Family Health Centre, ...

Ballot counting resumes in union election at Amazon.com

- The union hoping to change U.S. labor history by organizing Amazon.com warehouse employees in Alabama faces a steep uphill slog when vote counting resumes on Friday. Amazon workers at the warehouse in Bessemer were on track to reject unionization by a 2-1 margin, with almost hal...

Uber, Lyft use rides to vaccines to get drivers, customers back on the platform

By Tina Bellon - Uber Technologies Inc and Lyft Inc are spending millions of dollars to provide drivers with access to COVID-19 vaccines and offering tens of millions of free or discounted rides to vaccination sites for people in communities that lack access to transportation and ...

Chinese film, TV firms warn short video platforms -newspaper

BEIJING -More than 70 Chinese film and television show makers and associations said they would take "necessary legal action" against short video platform operators for unauthorised use of their content, a state-run newspaper reported on Friday. The group, which includes video streamin...

Explainer: Fight over Amazon U.S. union could continue after the vote

By Daniel Wiessner - Officials with the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) will continue counting ballots on Friday in the closely watched union election at an Amazon.com Inc warehouse in Bessemer, Alabama, after supporters of management took an early lead. The wa...

Chinese film and TV show companies threaten legal action against short video platforms: Securities Times

BEIJING - More than 70 Chinese film and television show makers and associations said they would take "necessary legal action" against short video platforms for unauthorised use of their content, a state-run newspaper reported on Friday. The companies and associations, including vi...

LinkedIn says some user data extracted and posted for sale

- Some LinkedIn data, including publicly viewable member profile, has been extracted and posted for sale, Microsoft Corp's professional networking site said based on an investigation. The incident was not a data breach and no private member account data from the platform was inclu...

Biden faces key test on EV battery trade dispute

By David Shepardson WASHINGTON - U.S. President Joe Biden faces a Sunday deadline to decide whether to intervene in a trade dispute between two South Korean electric vehicle battery makers that could impact a Georgia factory and his push for more electric vehicles. T...

Facebook axes 16,000 accounts for trading fake reviews after UK intervenes

-Social media company Facebook Inc suspended 16,000 accounts for selling or buying fake reviews of products and services on its platforms, after the Britain's competition watchdog intervened for the second time, the regulator said. U.S.-based Facebook also made further changes to dete...

Facebook suspends 16,000 accounts for selling fake reviews after UK intervention

- Britain's competition watchdog said on Friday social media company Facebook Inc suspended 16,000 accounts that were selling and buying fake reviews of various products and services, the second time the regulator had to intervene. Facebook has also made further changes for detec...

Exclusive: China's Didi picks Goldman, Morgan Stanley for mega U.S. IPO - sources

By Julie Zhu HONG KONG - China's top ride-hailing firm Didi Chuxing has mandated Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley to lead its blockbuster IPO and plans to file confidentially for the New York float this month, two people with knowledge of the matter said. Didi, backe...