Technology

Circle surges as US Senate clears path for stablecoin regulation

(Reuters) -Shares of Circle Internet jumped 16% in morning trading on Wednesday after the U.S. Senate approved a milestone stablecoin bill, fueling hopes for broader adoption of what was once a niche corner of the crypto sector.

Technology

Zoox launches its first robotaxi production facility, taking on Tesla and Waymo

(Reuters) -Amazon's Zoox has opened its first robotaxi serial production facility, it said on Wednesday, marking a crucial step towards launching a commercial robotaxi service that will compete with Alphabet's Waymo and Tesla. Zoox is testing in various U.S. cities with more than 20 vehicles and plans to launch the commercial services in Las Vegas this year, followed by San Francisco, where it seeks to expand areas of operation.

Technology

Stablecoins' market cap surges to record high as US senate passes bill

(Reuters) -The total market capitalization of stablecoins surged to a record high on Wednesday, data showed, as the U.S. Senate passed a bill to regulate the sector, a major step towards legitimising a once-niche but now fast-growing corner of the crypto market.

Technology

Intel appoints engineering hires as part of CEO Tan's turnaround strategy

(Reuters) -Intel hired three chip industry executives in engineering and networking roles on Wednesday, as part of CEO Lip-Bu Tan's plans to overhaul top management and turn around the embattled chipmaker.

Technology

Texas Instruments plans $60 billion US investment amid Trump's onshoring push

(Reuters) -Texas Instruments said it would spend more than $60 billion to expand its U.S. manufacturing footprint, the latest chipmaker to ramp up domestic production amid pressure from the Trump administration to reshore the semiconductor supply chain.

Technology

Nvidia-backed AI startup SandboxAQ creates new data to speed up drug discovery

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) -SandboxAQ, an artificial intelligence startup spun out of Alphabet's Google and backed by Nvidia, on Wednesday released a trove of data it hopes will speed up the discovery of new medical treatments by helping scientists understand how drugs stick to proteins.

Technology

Ride-hailer Careem to suspend decade-old Pakistan service

ISLAMABAD (Reuters) -Careem, Uber's ride-hailing arm in the Middle East, will suspend its Pakistan service on July 18, citing economic challenges, rising competition, and capital constraints, ending its core business in a country where it helped pioneer app-based transport nearly a decade ago.

Technology

UBS and Pictet report data leak after cyber attack on provider, client data unaffected

ZURICH (Reuters) -Swiss banks UBS and Pictet said on Wednesday they had suffered a data leak due to a cyber attack on a provider in Switzerland that did not compromise client information, although a report said thousands of UBS workers' data was affected.

Internet

EU says AliExpress failed to stop illegal sales in digital probe

The European Union escalated a probe against Alibaba Group Holding Ltd's e-commerce service AliExpress, accusing it of failing to tackle the spread of illegal products on its platform.

Technology

EU accepts AliExpress' commitments to catch illegal online products

BRUSSELS (Reuters) -The European Commission has accepted commitments made by Alibaba's AliExpress to address concerns over the dissemination of potentially illegal and pornographic materials through its platform, the EU executive arm said on Wednesday.

Console

Microsoft working on next-gen Xbox video game console

Xbox president Sarah Bond on June 18 confirmed that her team is working on a new Xbox video game console.

Technology

Energy majors lock onto Southeast Asia in race for more gas for AI power demand

KUALA LUMPUR (Reuters) -Energy majors are pouring money into gas exploration and production in Malaysia and Indonesia to meet rising power demand from growing populations and a proliferation of data centres in the region.

Social media

Dutch government recommends children under 15 stay off TikTok and Instagram

The Dutch government advised parents on June 18 not to have children under 15 use social media platforms such as TikTok and Instagram, citing psychological and physical problems among children using them, including panic attacks, depression and difficulties sleeping.

Technology

BOK chief says he is not against won-based stablecoins but has forex concerns

SEOUL (Reuters) -South Korea's central bank governor said on Wednesday he was not against issuing won-denominated stablecoins but had concerns about managing capital flows.

Internet

Is brain rot real? Here's what brain health experts say

Last year, Oxford University Press designated "brain rot" as its word of the year, defining it as the "supposed deterioration of a person's mental or intellectual state" caused by overconsuming "trivial or unchallenging" material found on social media and other online platforms.

AI

ChatGPT image generation comes to WhatsApp. What's the catch?

The image generation process takes about two minutes.

Social media

Instagram wants Gen Z. What does Gen Z want from Instagram?

Young people are using Instagram for everything except the app's original function.

Mobile apps

Trump to again extend TikTok’s reprieve from US ban

The US president plans to sign another executive order this week that would give the popular video app more time to change its ownership structure.

Social media

Meta makes a home on Threads for ‘fediverse’ posts

Meta on July 17 gave posts from apps or servers synched to the "fediverse" a dedicated feed at Threads, its challenge to the X platform originally known as Twitter.

Mobile apps

Iran asks its people to delete WhatsApp from their devices

Iranian state television on July 17 urged people to remove WhatsApp from their smartphones, alleging without specific evidence that the messaging app gathered user information to send to Israel.