Tech News

Musk says buying Tesla at $420 a share was no joke

Elon Musk on Monday told jurors that his 2018 tweet about taking Tesla private at $420 a share was no joke and that Saudi Arabia's sovereign wealth fund was serious about helping him do it.. Under questioning by a lawyer for the plaintiffs, Musk testified that Saudi Arabia's sovereign wealth fund was "unequivocally, without question" supportive of his project, adding that the head of the fund told him that the crown prince of Saudi Arabia was also on board.

Mon, Jan 23, 2023 2 mins read

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Indian designer evokes mysteries of the 'Cosmos' in Paris

For a man with seemingly infinite creative ambitions, it is fitting that Indian designer Rahul Mishra's latest Paris haute couture collection attempts to encapsulate the entire universe.. "It justifies the name of the collection."

Mon, Jan 23, 2023 2 mins read

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French bakers protest over surging power prices

Dressed in aprons and brandishing baguettes, hundreds of bakers demonstrated in the streets of Paris on Monday to warn that the country's beloved bread and croissant makers were under threat from surging electricity and raw material costs.. Some carried banners reading "Bakeries in Danger", while one man pushed a wooden coffin on wheels with a skeleton inside dressed in a baker's apron and trousers.

Mon, Jan 23, 2023 3 mins read

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Italy says to boost energy ties with gas giant Algeria

Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni agreed Monday to strengthen energy cooperation with Africa's top gas exporter Algeria, the latest European country seeking supply deals to help reduce reliance on Russia.. "Italy is inevitably the gateway for access for this energy and for Europe's supply", Meloni said. 

Mon, Jan 23, 2023 1 mins read

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Microsoft invests billions in ChatGPT firm OpenAI

Microsoft on Monday said it had extended its partnership with OpenAI, the research lab and creator of ChatGPT, an artificial intelligence chatbot that has sparked widespread fears of cheating in schools and universities.. With teachers alarmed by its ability, ChatGPT is banned in universities and school districts - including in New York City and Washington DC - and has sparked nervous debates about the future of office work.

Mon, Jan 23, 2023 2 mins read

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Spotify to cut some 600 staff as tech woes spread

Swedish music streaming giant Spotify said Monday it was cutting six percent of its roughly 10,000 employees in the latest cost-cutting announcement among technology companies.. On Friday, Alphabet announced it would cut 12,000 positions, just a day after Microsoft announced a cut of 10,000.

Mon, Jan 23, 2023 2 mins read

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French government refuses to back down on pension reform

France's government on Monday moved forward with a fiercely contested pensions reform plan that would raise the retirement age to 64, saying balancing the system's books must be top priority.. Dussopt said the government would accept amendments that "improve the text without giving up on getting back to balancing the books by 2030, nor the fundamentals of the reform".

Mon, Jan 23, 2023 2 mins read

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Chinese gamers bid sad farewell to 'World of Warcraft'

Chinese players of roleplaying epic "World of Warcraft" bade a sad farewell to the land of Azeroth on Monday, with the game set to go offline after a dispute between US developer Blizzard and local partner NetEase.. Blizzard's games have been available in China since 2008, through collaboration with internet giant NetEase -- under local law, foreign developers are required to partner with Chinese firms to enter the market.

Mon, Jan 23, 2023 2 mins read

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German antitrust watchdog opens probe into PayPal

Germany's antitrust watchdog said Monday it had launched an investigation into PayPal to examine whether the US online payment giant was using its dominance to restrict competition.. New legislation in 2021 gave Germany's antitrust watchdog sweeping powers to take action against tech companies suspected of abusing their dominant market positions.

Mon, Jan 23, 2023 1 mins read

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Macau ponders future even as tourists and gamblers return

Macau's streets were packed in the run-up to the Lunar New Year after pandemic controls were abruptly lifted but it is far from business as usual as the Chinese casino hub wrestles with questions about its future.. "We don't have enough goods for this Lunar New Year as we didn't expect this," a business owner surnamed Li told AFP. Tourists may now be back, but Beijing wants the former Portuguese colony to diversify its casinos-reliant economy. 

Sun, Jan 22, 2023 4 mins read