Fintech
1. Crypto exchange FTX ordered to pay $12.7 billion to customers, US CFTC says
A U.S. court has ordered bankrupt cryptocurrency exchange FTX to pay $12.7 billion in relief to its customers. (WMBD)
2. Robinhood results beat estimates on meme-stock, crypto-trading boom
Robinhood beat Wall Street expectations for second-quarter earnings on Wednesday, as interest in meme stocks and cryptocurrencies soared, and said it continued to gain retail trading market share from rivals. (MSN)
3. Ripple ordered to pay $125 million in penalty for improperly selling XRP tokens
Ripple Labs Inc. was ordered by a federal judge to pay a civil penalty of $125 million for improperly selling its XRP token to institutional investors, a fraction of what US regulators had sought in a long legal battle with the cryptocurrency company. (Bloomberg)
Tech trends
4. YouTube slowdown in Russia darkens freedom of speech outlook
As Moscow has suppressed independent, Russian-language media, YouTube has remained a bastion of online freedom of expression, giving opposition figures a platform to air their views. (Yahoo Finance)
5. Exclusive: Cybersecurity firm Trend Micro explores sale
Trend Micro, a Japanese cybersecurity firm with a market value of about 950 billion yen ($6.5 billion), is exploring a sale after attracting buyout interest, people familiar with the matter said on Thursday. (Aol.)
6.Turkey blocks Roblox access over abuse concerns, justice minister says
Turkey has blocked access to the popular video game platform Roblox over concerns about content that could lead to child abuse, the country’s justice minister said. (Yahoo News)
7. China’s EV maker BYD launches first model with lidar sensor
China’s electric vehicle (EV) giant BYD on Thursday launched a new version of its Seal EV, the company’s first model equipped with lidar sensors. (Investing)
AI
8. OpenAI is a bigger threat to Google than US regulators
Google is facing a bigger threat from Sam Altman’s OpenAI even as it awaits a decision on how antitrust regulators in Washington plan to level the playing field in the internet search business. (US news)
9. X agrees to not use some EU user data to train AI chatbot
Social media platform X agreed on Thursday not to train its AI systems for now using the personal data collected from European Union users before they had the option to withdraw their consent. (Yahoo Finance)
10. OpenAI appoints veteran AI professor Zico Kolter to board
OpenAI has appointed Zico Kolter, a leading expert in AI safety and alignment, to its board of directors. Kolter, who serves as a professor and director of the Machine Learning Department at Carnegie Mellon University, brings crucial technical expertise to OpenAI’s governance structure. (Maginative)
11. UK starts probe into Amazon’s AI partnership with Anthropic
Britain’s competition watchdog said on Thursday it had started an investigation into whether Amazon’s partnership with AI startup Anthropic raised competition, days after it began a similar probe on Alphabet’s collaboration with the startup. (Reuters)
12. Delta rejects CrowdStrike criticism, sees $500 mln hit from cyber outage
Delta Air Lines said on Thursday it is pursuing legal claims against CrowdStrike and Microsoft after a global outage last month caused mass flight cancellations, disrupting travel plans of 1.3 million customers and costing it at least $500 million. (CNA)
13. Palantir to deploy AI products on Microsoft Azure for U.S. government agencies
Palantir Technologies (PLTR) said on Thursday it will offer its products, including the Artificial Intelligence Platform (AIP) on Microsoft’s (MSFT) cloud platforms, which cater to the US government and federal agencies such as the Department of Defense. (Yahoo Finance)
14. Software provider EPAM beat quarterly results on strong AI adoption
PAM Systems beat quarterly profit and revenue estimates on Thursday, helped by strong demand for its IT services as businesses are increasingly digitizing their operations. (Print)
