Global Edition

US stocks reach new peaks as investors digest US GDP

  • Despite the positive market sentiment, Nvidia shares fell 0.82 percent, adding to recent declines even after posting a profit of $26.4 billion on record revenue of $46.7 billion in the second quarter. 
  • Two of Wall Street's major indexes closed at record highs Thursday, lifted by an upward revision to second-quarter US GDP data and strong earnings from AI chip giant Nvidia.
  • Despite the positive market sentiment, Nvidia shares fell 0.82 percent, adding to recent declines even after posting a profit of $26.4 billion on record revenue of $46.7 billion in the second quarter. 
Two of Wall Street's major indexes closed at record highs Thursday, lifted by an upward revision to second-quarter US GDP data and strong earnings from AI chip giant Nvidia.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.16 percent to a record 45,636.90, while the broad-based S&P 500 Index gained 0.32 percent to 6,501.86, also a record. 
The Nasdaq Composite Index added 0.53 percent to 21,705.16.
The United States saw its gross domestic product grow at an annualized rate of 3.3 percent in the second quarter, according to Thursday's official update -- higher than previously calculated and above market expectations. 
The initial GDP estimate published in late July showed annualized growth of 3.0 percent, while investors had expected a revision to only 3.1 percent.
The upward revision mainly reflected improvements in investment and consumer spending, the Commerce Department said. 
Growth was also bolstered by a decline in US imports, which are subtracted from GDP calculations. This drop occurred as businesses pulled back on shipments after rushing to stock up ahead of President Donald Trump's tariff hikes.
Markets are anticipating a potential Federal Reserve rate cut at its September meeting, which could stimulate economic activity. 
The market "is waiting a little bit to get some more information feeding into Fed decisions," including next week's job numbers, Victoria Fernandez of Crossmark Global Investments told AFP.
"After the initial release, there were concerns that the domestic economy was slowing quite sharply," said Richard Flax, chief investment officer at Moneyfarm. "But these latest data suggest that the economy is a bit stronger than initially feared."
The focus now shifts to Friday's release of a key inflation reading and its potential impact on the outlook for additional rate cuts.
Despite the positive market sentiment, Nvidia shares fell 0.82 percent, adding to recent declines even after posting a profit of $26.4 billion on record revenue of $46.7 billion in the second quarter. 
Investors had keenly awaited Wednesday's earnings update from the California-based firm, whose remarkable growth has driven strong gains for tech stocks in recent months.
The earnings report comes amid market concerns over a potential spending bubble in the artificial intelligence sector that could hurt the chip giant's prospects.
In Europe, the Paris stock market extended its recovery after tumbling early in the week on fears that France's minority government could be toppled. 
Prime Minister François Bayrou had proposed a confidence vote over his budget cuts. 
France's borrowing costs have soared since the vote was called Monday, as the government struggles to find around 44 billion euros ($51 billion) in savings.

Key figures at around 2045 GMT

New York - Dow: UP 0.16 percent at 45,636.90 points 
New York - S&P 500: UP 0.32 percent at 6,501.86
New York - Nasdaq: UP 0.53 percent to 21,705.16
London - FTSE 100: DOWN 0.4 percent at 9,216.82 
Paris - CAC 40: UP 0.2 percent at 7,762.60 
Frankfurt - DAX: FLAT at 24,039.92
Tokyo - Nikkei 225: UP 0.7 percent at 42,828.79 (close) 
Hong Kong - Hang Seng Index: DOWN 0.8 percent at 24,998.82 (close)
Shanghai - Composite: UP 1.1 percent at 3,843.60 (close)
Euro/dollar:  UP at $1.1680 from $1.1633 on Wednesday
Pound/dollar: UP at 1.3508 from $1.3496
Dollar/yen:  DOWN at 146.97 from 147.51 yen 
Euro/pound: UP at 86.46 from 86.20 pence 
West Texas Intermediate: UP 0.70 percent at $64.60 per barrel
Brent North Sea Crude: UP 0.84 percent at $68.62 per barrel
bur-arp/sla

business

Need a pee? Japan has QR code for that

  • Now users can scan a QR code with their phones to access a website showing restroom locations and live congestion levels.
  • Japanese toilet giant TOTO has launched a service allowing those caught short in public to locate the nearest washrooms and see how busy they are real-time with a phone and QR code.
  • Now users can scan a QR code with their phones to access a website showing restroom locations and live congestion levels.
Japanese toilet giant TOTO has launched a service allowing those caught short in public to locate the nearest washrooms and see how busy they are real-time with a phone and QR code.
Japan like other countries struggles with managing long queues outside public toilets, particularly for women, in its teeming train stations and other places.
The system launched this month by TOTO -- famous for its water-spraying, musical toilets -- links consumers up with existing internet-connected facility management systems.
This was developed to automatically notify facility staff if a particular cubicle is dirty or occupied for an unusually long time.
Now users can scan a QR code with their phones to access a website showing restroom locations and live congestion levels.
"In addition, a QR code inside a restroom stall brings you to a website where a user can report problems, like being unable to flush or something broken," TOTO spokesman Tasuku Miyazaki told AFP on Thursday.
The service is multi-lingual and available in English, Chinese and Korean.
The government is also trying to relieve the problem of long queues for women, with the transport ministry seeking extra funds in the budget for the coming fiscal next year.
These will be used to set up digital signage displays and movable toilet walls that can increase the number of stalls for women, according to local media.
kh/stu/tym

smartphones

South Korea to ban mobile phones in school classrooms

  • The bill, which will take effect in March next year, bans smart devices including mobile phones in classrooms and was passed Wednesday, a National Assembly spokeswoman told AFP. The move makes South Korea the latest country to restrict social media use among schoolchildren, following similar steps in countries including Australia and the Netherlands.
  • South Korea has passed a bill banning the use of mobile phones in school classrooms nationwide, officials said Thursday, joining other countries in efforts to curb social media use among minors.
  • The bill, which will take effect in March next year, bans smart devices including mobile phones in classrooms and was passed Wednesday, a National Assembly spokeswoman told AFP. The move makes South Korea the latest country to restrict social media use among schoolchildren, following similar steps in countries including Australia and the Netherlands.
South Korea has passed a bill banning the use of mobile phones in school classrooms nationwide, officials said Thursday, joining other countries in efforts to curb social media use among minors.
One of the world's most wired nations, South Korea has recently sought to tighten rules on electronic devices in schools, citing concerns over smartphone addiction among students.
The bill, which will take effect in March next year, bans smart devices including mobile phones in classrooms and was passed Wednesday, a National Assembly spokeswoman told AFP.
The move makes South Korea the latest country to restrict social media use among schoolchildren, following similar steps in countries including Australia and the Netherlands.
Seoul's Education Ministry said in a statement that the law bans the use of smartphones in classrooms except when needed as assistive tools for students with disabilities or special education needs, or for educational purposes.
The measure also establishes a legal basis to "restrict the possession and use of such devices to protect students' right to learn and support teachers' activities", it added.
Lawmakers including opposition People Power Party member Cho Jung-hun, who introduced the bill, said the issue had long been "contentious amid concerns over human rights violations".
But the country's National Human Rights Commission recently changed its stance, saying limits on phone use for educational purposes do not breach rights given their negative impact on students' learning and emotional well-being.
Against this backdrop, the law was needed to ease social conflict "by clearly defining rules on smart device use in schools", the lawmakers said in a document introducing the bill.
But it has drawn backlash from groups including the left-wing Jinbo Party, which said the law will "infringe on students' digital rights and right to education".
The measure "prevents adolescents from learning to make responsible decisions on their own and deprives them of opportunities to adapt to the digital environment", the party said in a statement.
cdl/ceb/sco

internet

AI giant Nvidia beats earnings expectations but shares fall

BY GLENN CHAPMAN

  • - Fortune in play - The earnings report comes amid market worries about an AI spending bubble that could burst and hurt the chip giant's fortunes. 
  • AI powerhouse Nvidia reported quarterly earnings Wednesday that beat expectations, but shares slipped amid concerns about an AI chip spending bubble and the company's stalled business in China.
  • - Fortune in play - The earnings report comes amid market worries about an AI spending bubble that could burst and hurt the chip giant's fortunes. 
AI powerhouse Nvidia reported quarterly earnings Wednesday that beat expectations, but shares slipped amid concerns about an AI chip spending bubble and the company's stalled business in China.
The California-based firm posted profit of $26.4 billion on record revenue of $46.7 billion in the recently ended quarter, driven by intense demand for chips from major tech companies powering AI datacenter computing.
While overall revenue significantly increased year-over-year, money taken in from Nvidia's Data Center compute products like its coveted graphics processing units (GPUs) declined 1 percent from the previous quarter. 
The drop was driven by a $4 billion decrease in sales of H20 chips—specialized processors the company designed for the Chinese market, according to the earnings report.
For the current quarter, Nvidia projected $54 billion in revenue but said its forecast assumes no H20 sales.
Nvidia's high-end GPUs remain in hot demand from tech giants building data centers for artificial intelligence applications. However, investors are questioning whether the massive AI investments are sustainable.
"The data center results, while massive, showed hints that hyperscaler spending could tighten at the margins if near-term returns from AI applications remain difficult to quantify," said Emarketer analyst Jacob Bourne. 
"At the same time, US export restrictions are fueling domestic chipmaking in China."
Nvidia shares fell slightly more than 3 percent in after-market trading.

US takes a cut

Earlier this month, President Donald Trump confirmed that Nvidia would pay the United States 15 percent of its revenues from sales of certain AI chips to China. 
Trump called Nvidia's H20 chips "obsolete," despite their previous targeting under export restrictions.
Beijing has responded by expressing national security concerns about Nvidia chips and urging Chinese businesses to rely on local semiconductor suppliers instead.
Nvidia developed the H20 specifically for export to China to address US concerns that its top-tier chips could be used for weapons development or AI applications in the rival nation.
"There is interest in our H20s; we have supply ready to ship," Nvidia chief executive Jensen Huang said of the China market, which he estimated to be a $50 billion opportunity for Nvidia this year.
"We're still waiting on several of the geopolitical issues going back and forth between the governments and the companies trying to determine their purchases and what they want to do."
Huang said Nvidia is talking with the Trump administration about the importance of US companies being able to compete in China.
"We just have to keep advocating the sensibility of, and the importance of, American tech companies to be able to lead and win the AI race and help make the American tech stack the global standard," Huang said.

Fortune in play

The earnings report comes amid market worries about an AI spending bubble that could burst and hurt the chip giant's fortunes. 
Nvidia serves as a bellwether for the AI market and became the first company to reach $4 trillion in market value last July.
"We're just seeing just enormous amount of interest in AI and demand for AI right now," Huang said on an earnings call.
The top four cloud computing service providers are on pace to spend about $600 billion on AI infrastructure this year, and it's reasonable to think Nvidia is in line for a lot of that money, Huang reasoned.
gc/sla

internet

'Old things work': Argentines giving new life to e-waste

BY TOMáS VIOLA

  • Visitors also lined up to play the "Ventilastation," a gaming console made from an industrial fan, and to learn how to run AI applications locally on old computers.
  • Need a new gaming console?
  • Visitors also lined up to play the "Ventilastation," a gaming console made from an industrial fan, and to learn how to run AI applications locally on old computers.
Need a new gaming console? Just make one yourself with an old ventilator. Got an old payment terminal? Turn it into a camera.
These are just some of the creations of Argentina's Cyber Dumpster Divers, a collective of ingenious tech aficionados who turn e-waste into new products.
"We experiment with technology by trying to recycle it and repurpose items that other people would simply throw away," said Esteban Palladino, a musician who goes by the pseudonym Uctumi on social media.
"It's a movement that has a charitable side, a techno-political side, and also a playful side," he added.
Argentina produces an estimated 520,000 tons of electronic waste per year, making it fifth in the Americas after the United States, Brazil, Mexico and Canada, according to a 2024 report by the UN Research Institute.
In 2022, the world generated a record 62 million tons, the report said.
The manifesto of the Cyber Dumpster Divers, who have dozens of members across Argentina, says that faced with "the immorality of equipment thrown in the trash, the... diver rebels against the authority of the market."
The waste pickers see themselves as revolutionaries at war with the tech "oligarchy."
They call their provincial chapters cells, their manifesto is modelled on that of Karl Marx, and their posters feature a cyborg Che Guevara, who was born in Argentina.
The movement began in 2019 with hardware soup kitchens where people exchanged electronics parts.
During the Covid pandemic, it gained impetus because many people suddenly needed computers to study or work at home.
In stepped the recyclers.
They resurrected old machines from the rubbish heap, fitted them with free operating systems and donated them to people and organizations in need.

'Old things work'

The collective's third annual meeting in Buenos Aires included a workshop on reviving defunct smartphones.
Visitors also lined up to play the "Ventilastation," a gaming console made from an industrial fan, and to learn how to run AI applications locally on old computers.
"Old things work," read a slogan on the screen.
Electronics engineer Juan Carrique traveled 470 kilometers (290 miles) from the central province of Santa Fe to present "roboticlaje" or robotic recycling.
Carrique goes into schools to teach children how to use e-waste to build temperature sensors or motor controls.
"It's not the same to buy something ready-made as having to make it yourself, using pieces of trash," he said.
The 47-year-old diabetic is a fierce critic of planned obsolescence -- companies programming products to become out of date after a certain period.
He used a free app to make his blood sugar monitor compatible with his phone, extending the device's manufacturer-specified lifespan.
It's about "reclaiming the right to recognize when things work or don't work, not being told they work or don't work," he said. 
While giving a second life to old electronic devices may seem the height of geekiness, the Cyber Dumpster Divers are wary of the impact of smartphones, particularly on Argentina's youth.
"It's this ecosystem that is destroying the social fabric, destroying the psyche of young people," one of the recyclers, Cristian Rojo, said.
tev/lm/cb/dw/sco

education

What is swatting? Shooting hoaxes target campuses across US

BY BILL MCCARTHY

  • The University of South Carolina said two students received minor injuries in the rush out of its library.
  • Students at the University of South Carolina were sent into panic when they received an active shooter alert and police rushed to the library.
  • The University of South Carolina said two students received minor injuries in the rush out of its library.
Students at the University of South Carolina were sent into panic when they received an active shooter alert and police rushed to the library.
The university had fielded two separate calls on Sunday that included sounds of gunfire.
But the reports turned out to be false, part of a wave of so-called "swatting" hoaxes that have targeted American universities as students returned to campuses for fall classes.
Similarly baseless reports hit Villanova University and the University of Tennessee-Chattanooga last week, and at least seven more schools on Monday, according to campus alerts and school and police statements.
West Virginia University responded to yet another hoax Tuesday morning.
Experts warn that swatting -- deliberately phoning in a false emergency to trigger a law enforcement response -- traumatizes students, depletes security resources and risks desensitizing Americans to alerts in a country where mass shootings are a legitimate threat.
"It plays on our fears because bad things really do happen," said former police chief John DeCarlo, a criminal justice professor at the University of New Haven.
"They can trigger, with just one call, lockdowns, mobilizations, closings of buildings and a lot of media coverage."
The FBI told AFP it is aware of the recent incidents targeting colleges and is "seeing an increase in swatting events across the country."
The agency said it has received thousands of swatting reports since creating a database for law enforcement agencies to log incidents in 2023, adding that the practice "drains law enforcement resources, costs thousands of dollars, and, most importantly, puts innocent people at risk."

Persistent problem

At the University of Tennessee-Chattanooga, first responders from at least 10 agencies were mobilized to the campus and cleared multiple buildings before concluding there was no threat.
The University of South Carolina said two students received minor injuries in the rush out of its library.
A third was falsely branded as a gunman after social media users and Congresswoman Nancy Mace shared footage of him carrying an umbrella that resembled a firearm.
Swatting began in gamer and hacker communities and has been wielded against judges, election officials and lawmakers in recent years.
Schools are "especially vulnerable" due to their visibility and student populations, DeCarlo said.
Keven Hendricks, a cybercrime expert, told AFP perpetrators are frequently linked to extremist groups and ideologies and are often juveniles who are emboldened when they are not caught.
"A lot of swatters do it simply because they can."
Experts called for stronger laws to combat the problem, as well as investments in technologies to identify callers who conceal their voices or IP addresses.
"It is, in reality, a form of domestic terrorism that's very easy to get away with because we don't have the wherewithal to investigate or prosecute it well," DeCarlo said.
"It seems to be running away unbridled."
bmc/mgs/bgs/sco

internet

Meta to back pro-AI candidates in California

  • According to Meta, state-level regulation of AI threatens to hamper development of the technology at a time when US tech firms are in a fierce innovation race with Chinese rivals.
  • Meta is launching a political action committee in California to support candidates who favor lighter regulation of artificial intelligence in the state that is home to Silicon Valley.
  • According to Meta, state-level regulation of AI threatens to hamper development of the technology at a time when US tech firms are in a fierce innovation race with Chinese rivals.
Meta is launching a political action committee in California to support candidates who favor lighter regulation of artificial intelligence in the state that is home to Silicon Valley.
The tech world powerhouse on Tuesday confirmed plans for a super-PAC called Mobilizing Economic Transformation Across California dedicated to backing pro-AI candidates regardless of party affiliation.
"As home to many of the world's leading AI companies, California's innovation economy has an outsized impact on America's economic growth, job creation, and global competitiveness," a Meta spokesperson told AFP.
"But Sacramento's regulatory environment could stifle innovation, block AI progress, and put California's technology leadership at risk."
According to Meta, state-level regulation of AI threatens to hamper development of the technology at a time when US tech firms are in a fierce innovation race with Chinese rivals.
The tech industry is lobbying hard to avoid regulation of AI's development, and in July it narrowly failed to win a federal ban by US Congress that would have prevented states from passing or enforcing AI laws for as long as a decade.
Meta pointed to the more than 50 AI-related bills that have been introduced this year in California alone, many of which could hinder advancement of the technology, the company claimed.
One such law, which will be effective on January 1, requires developers of generative AI with large user bases to disclose summaries of training data, provide free AI detection tools, and ensure clear labeling of AI-generated content. 
gc-arp/jgc

trade

The European laws curbing big tech... and irking Trump

  • But while he did not explicitly name the EU, the US leader cast new doubt on the status quo Monday by threatening fresh tariffs on countries with regulations that sought to "harm" American technology.
  • Fresh off a trade truce with Donald Trump, the EU is back in the US leader's crosshairs after he vowed to punish countries that seek to curb big tech's powers.
  • But while he did not explicitly name the EU, the US leader cast new doubt on the status quo Monday by threatening fresh tariffs on countries with regulations that sought to "harm" American technology.
Fresh off a trade truce with Donald Trump, the EU is back in the US leader's crosshairs after he vowed to punish countries that seek to curb big tech's powers.
Brussels has adopted a powerful legal arsenal aimed at reining in tech giants -- namely through its Digital Markets Act (DMA) covering competition and the Digital Services Act (DSA) on content moderation.
The EU has already slapped heavy fines on US behemoths including Meta and Apple under the new rules, which have faced strong pushback from Trump's administration.
The bloc's trade chief Maros Sefcovic insisted last week that Brussels successfully "kept these issues out of the trade negotiations" with Washington -- and that the bloc's "regulatory autonomy" was not up for debate.
But while he did not explicitly name the EU, the US leader cast new doubt on the status quo Monday by threatening fresh tariffs on countries with regulations that sought to "harm" American technology.
Here is a look at the EU rules drawing Trump's ire:

Digital Services Act

Rolled out in stages since 2023, the mammoth Digital Services Act forces online firms to aggressively police content in the 27 countries of the European Union -- or face major fines.
Aimed at protecting consumers from disinformation and hate speech as well as counterfeit or dangerous goods, it obliges platforms to swiftly remove illegal content or make it inaccessible.
Companies must inform authorities when they suspect a criminal offence that threatens people's lives or safety.
And the law instructs platforms to suspend users who frequently share illegal content such as hate speech -- a provision framed as "censorship" by detractors across the Atlantic.
Tougher rules apply to a designated list of "very large" platforms that include US giants Apple, Amazon, Facebook, Google, Instagram, Microsoft and Snapchat.
These giants must assess dangers linked to their services regarding illegal content and privacy, set up internal risk mitigation systems, and give regulators access to their data to verify compliance.
Violators can face fines or up to six percent of global turnover, and for repeated non-compliance, the EU has the power to ban offending platforms from Europe.

Digital Markets Act

Since March 2024, the world's biggest digital companies have faced strict EU rules intended to limit abuses linked to market dominance, favour the emergence of start-ups in Europe and improve options for consumers.
Brussels has so far named seven so-called gatekeepers covered by the Digital Markets Act: Google's Alphabet, Amazon, Apple, TikTok parent ByteDance, Facebook and Instagram parent Meta, Microsoft and travel giant Booking.
In a bid to limit the ability of online giants to snuff out potential rivals, the rules require all buyouts to be notified to the European Commission, the EU's competition regulator.
Gatekeepers can be fined for locking in customers to use pre-installed services, such as a web browser, mapping or weather information.
The DMA has forced Google to overhaul its search display to avoid favouring its own services -- such as Google flights or shopping.
It requires that users be able to choose what app stores to use -- without going via the dominant two players, Apple's App Store and Google Play.
And it has forced Apple to allow developers to offer alternative payment options directly to consumers -- outside of the App Store.
The DMA has also imposed interoperability between messaging apps WhatsApp and Messenger and competitors who request it.
And it imposes new obligations on the world's biggest online advertisers -- namely Google's search engine and Meta's Facebook and Instagram -- by forcing them to reveal much more to advertisers and publishers on how their ads work.
Failure to comply with the DMA can carry fines in the billions of dollars, reaching 20 percent of global turnover for repeat offenders.
bur-ec/del/fg

internet

Perplexity AI to share search revenue with publishers

  • A revenue-sharing model by Perplexity would be a peace offering to publishers and bolster its defenses against accusations of free-riding on their work.
  • Perplexity AI on Monday said it will begin paying out millions of dollars to media outlets as part of a new model for sharing search revenue with publishers.
  • A revenue-sharing model by Perplexity would be a peace offering to publishers and bolster its defenses against accusations of free-riding on their work.
Perplexity AI on Monday said it will begin paying out millions of dollars to media outlets as part of a new model for sharing search revenue with publishers.
The company's media partners will soon get paid when their work is used by Perplexity's browser or AI assistant to satisfy queries or requests, according to the San Francisco-based startup.
"We're compensating publishers in the model that's right for the AI age," the Perplexity team said in a blog post.
The payouts will be administered via a subscription service to be rolled out in the coming months, dubbed Comet Plus, which the startup described as a program that ensures publishers and journalists benefit from new business models enabled by AI.
A $42.5 million pool of money has been set aside to share with publishers and is expected to grow over time, according to Perplexity.
"As the web has evolved beyond information to include knowledge, action, and opportunities, excellent content from publishers and journalists matters even more," the Perplexity team said.
The company will charge a $5 monthly subscription for Comet Plus, which will be an added perk for those who already pay for premium versions of Perplexity.
Perplexity is one of Silicon Valley's hottest startups, whose AI-powered search engine is often mentioned as a potential disruptor to Google.
But the company has been targeted with lawsuits by media outlets, including the Wall Street Journal, the New York Times, and Japan's Yomiuri Shimbun newspaper, claiming the startup unfairly profits from their work.
One suit accuses Perplexity of illegally copying and reproducing copyrighted content from the Wall Street Journal and the New York Post to power its AI-driven "answer engine."
A revenue-sharing model by Perplexity would be a peace offering to publishers and bolster its defenses against accusations of free-riding on their work.
Unlike ChatGPT or Anthropic's Claude, Perplexity's tool provides up-to-date answers that often include links to source materials, allowing users to verify information.
And unlike a classic search engine, Perplexity provides ready-made answers on its webpage, making it unnecessary for users to click through to the source website.
Google, meanwhile, has built powerful AI into its search engine and offers AI-generated summaries with query results.
After a lawsuit by the Wall Street Journal and the New York Post in October, Perplexity criticized the "adversarial posture" of many media as "shortsighted, unnecessary, and self-defeating."
They "prefer to live in a world where publicly reported facts are owned by corporations, and no one can do anything with those publicly reported facts without paying a toll," it said at the time.
"We should all be working together to offer people amazing new tools and build genuinely pie-expanding businesses."
gc-juj/jgc

AI

Musk's xAI sues Apple, OpenAI alleging antitrust violations

  • The plaintiffs claim Apple holds 65 percent of the US smartphone market, while OpenAI controls at least 80 percent of the generative AI chatbot market through ChatGPT. Apple and OpenAI announced their partnership in June 2024, making ChatGPT the exclusive AI assistant accessible through Apple's Siri voice assistant and other iPhone features.
  • Elon Musk's companies xAI and X filed a sweeping US antitrust lawsuit Monday against Apple and OpenAI, alleging the tech giants formed an illegal partnership to stifle competition in artificial intelligence and smartphone markets.
  • The plaintiffs claim Apple holds 65 percent of the US smartphone market, while OpenAI controls at least 80 percent of the generative AI chatbot market through ChatGPT. Apple and OpenAI announced their partnership in June 2024, making ChatGPT the exclusive AI assistant accessible through Apple's Siri voice assistant and other iPhone features.
Elon Musk's companies xAI and X filed a sweeping US antitrust lawsuit Monday against Apple and OpenAI, alleging the tech giants formed an illegal partnership to stifle competition in artificial intelligence and smartphone markets.
The 61-page complaint, filed in federal court in Texas, accuses Apple and OpenAI of entering an exclusive deal that makes OpenAI's ChatGPT the only generative AI chatbot integrated into Apple's iPhone operating system, while blocking rivals like xAI's Grok.
"This is a tale of two monopolists joining forces to ensure their continued dominance in a world rapidly driven by the most powerful technology humanity has ever created: artificial intelligence," the lawsuit states.
The plaintiffs claim Apple holds 65 percent of the US smartphone market, while OpenAI controls at least 80 percent of the generative AI chatbot market through ChatGPT.
Apple and OpenAI announced their partnership in June 2024, making ChatGPT the exclusive AI assistant accessible through Apple's Siri voice assistant and other iPhone features.
The lawsuit alleges this arrangement gives ChatGPT exclusive access to "billions of user prompts" from hundreds of millions of iPhone users.
The complaint also accuses Apple of manipulating App Store rankings to favor ChatGPT while delaying approval of updates to the Grok app.
Musk's companies are seeking billions in damages and a permanent injunction to stop the alleged anticompetitive practices. They have demanded a jury trial.
"This latest filing is consistent with Mr Musk’s ongoing pattern of harassment," OpenAI said in a statement to AFP.
Apple did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The lawsuit follows threats Musk made earlier this month that triggered a fiery exchange with OpenAI CEO Sam Altman.
Altman called Musk's accusation of ranking manipulation "remarkable," charging that Musk himself "manipulates X to benefit himself and his own companies and harm his competitors and people he doesn't like."
Musk called Altman a "liar" in the heated exchange.
Both men were original founders of OpenAI before Musk's departure in 2018 and now have a highly conflictual relationship.
Musk founded xAI in 2023 to compete with OpenAI and other major AI players that have poured billions of dollars into AI since the blockbuster launch of the first version of OpenAI's ChatGPT in late 2022.
arp/des

Gamescom

US studio unearths fossilized dinosaur game 'Turok'

  •   - 'Turok' reboot -   The result is "Turok: Origins", part of which was presented at Gamescom in Germany, one of the biggest gaming trade shows in the world, which ended on Sunday after welcoming more than 357,000 visitors.
  • Everything old is new again, especially for gamers at the Gamescom trade fair, who got a preview of upcoming video game "Turok: Origins" -- a third-person shooter pitting the player against dinosaurs and aliens.
  •   - 'Turok' reboot -   The result is "Turok: Origins", part of which was presented at Gamescom in Germany, one of the biggest gaming trade shows in the world, which ended on Sunday after welcoming more than 357,000 visitors.
Everything old is new again, especially for gamers at the Gamescom trade fair, who got a preview of upcoming video game "Turok: Origins" -- a third-person shooter pitting the player against dinosaurs and aliens.
The original arrow-twanging Turok was a character in 1950s comic books, who made his way to Nintendo 64 consoles in a series of successful games in the late 1990s and then to other consoles in the 2000s.
After that, its eponymous native American adventurer was largely forgotten -- until US studio Saber Interactive dug him up for "Turok: Origins" and developed him into a game that looks like a blend of the "Jurassic Park" and "Predator" movie franchises.
When Universal Studios -- producer of the "Jurassic Park" movies -- tapped Saber in 2020 to develop its Turok intellectual property (IP), the gaming company was "shocked", its studio head, Jesus Iglesias, told AFP.
"It's been sleeping for a long time," he noted.
But Saber -- founded in Russia but now based in Florida in the United States -- had a track record of reviving some memorable but neglected titles.
"Saber Interactive is known for taking, from time to time, some dead IPs and rebooting them, like we did with (Warhammer 40,000's) 'Space Marine', we did with 'Evil Dead'," Iglesias said.
 

'Turok' reboot

 
The result is "Turok: Origins", part of which was presented at Gamescom in Germany, one of the biggest gaming trade shows in the world, which ended on Sunday after welcoming more than 357,000 visitors.
The game, which Iglesias said had 250 people working on it at the peak of its development, offers single-player and multi-player modes to tackle AI-controlled enemies.
Whereas the original run of Turok was reminiscent of early-stage Lara Croft in a prehistoric setting, the "Origins" reboot promises a fluid, fast-moving and more cinematic experience, as demanded from today's players.
"We are being respectful with the originals, especially with Turok 1 and Turok 2, and also adding some elements that help to make the universe a little bit more consistent," Iglesias said.
"The games that they released after the first one, they were, in a way, going away from the original one. And that ended up in the game that was released in 2008 that was almost a disaster."
That 2008 game, simply called "Turok", had aimed to reboot the series but it got a mixed reception. A 2019 Turok title followed, but it was unconnected to the main series.
There is no release date yet for "Turok: Origins", which will be available on Xbox, Playstation and PC.
kf/clr/rmb/rlp

internet

France's regulator says unable to block dead streamer's channel

  • Kick has come under intensified scrutiny in France after a 46-year-old Frenchman died August 18 during a 12-day marathon live streaming episode on his channel, which specialised in him enduring abuse or humiliation dished out by other participants.
  • The head of France's broadcast and online regulator said on Sunday it did not have the authority to block an online channel used by a streamer who died while live-casting.
  • Kick has come under intensified scrutiny in France after a 46-year-old Frenchman died August 18 during a 12-day marathon live streaming episode on his channel, which specialised in him enduring abuse or humiliation dished out by other participants.
The head of France's broadcast and online regulator said on Sunday it did not have the authority to block an online channel used by a streamer who died while live-casting.
Because the channel was hosted on an Australian platform, Kick, which has no representation in France, "it does not come under the direct authority of ARCOM", the agency chief, Martin Ajdari, said in an op-ed published by Le Monde.
Kick has come under intensified scrutiny in France after a 46-year-old Frenchman died August 18 during a 12-day marathon live streaming episode on his channel, which specialised in him enduring abuse or humiliation dished out by other participants.
A post-mortem found that the man -- real name Raphael Graven, but known online as "Jean Pormanove" or "JP" -- was not killed by trauma or by someone else.
The cause of death was likely a medical issue, possibly in conjunction with substances, a public prosecutor, Damien Martinelli, said on Thursday. He added that Graven may have suffered from heart problems and was undergoing medical treatment for his thyroid gland.
Graven had built a following of hundreds of thousands on Kick with his live streams.
"This tragedy obviously raises the question about the responsibility of the platform that broadcast the images," Ajdari said.
But he said only a judge, not ARCOM, could weigh the legality of online content posted by individuals.
The agency was limited, he said, to imposing EU laws "on those that have a presence in France".
Ajdari said the fact that Graven's previous videos of abuse had remained online for months without any complaints being lodged "is obviously incomprehensible".
"That indicates that a new phase of digital regulation is now needed, so that we no longer let such a situation pass us by, collectively."
hh/mch/rmb/jhb

AI

UK's mass facial-recognition roll-out alarms rights groups

BY CLARA LALANNE

  • UK police have deployed the live facial-recognition system around 100 times since late January, compared to only 10 between 2016 and 2019.
  • Outside supermarkets or in festival crowds, millions are now having their features scanned by real-time facial-recognition systems in the UK -- the only European country to deploy the technology on a large scale. 
  • UK police have deployed the live facial-recognition system around 100 times since late January, compared to only 10 between 2016 and 2019.
Outside supermarkets or in festival crowds, millions are now having their features scanned by real-time facial-recognition systems in the UK -- the only European country to deploy the technology on a large scale. 
At London's Notting Hill Carnival, where two million people are expected to celebrate Afro-Caribbean culture over Sunday and Monday, facial-recognition cameras are being deployed near entrances and exits.
The police said their objective was to identify and intercept wanted individuals by scanning faces in large crowds and comparing them with thousands of suspects already in the police database. 
The technology is "an effective policing tool which has already been successfully used to locate offenders at crime hotspots resulting in well over 1,000 arrests since the start of 2024," said Metropolitan Police chief Mark Rowley.
The technology was first tested in 2016 and its use has increased considerably over the past three years in the United Kingdom. 
Some 4.7 million faces were scanned in 2024 alone, according to the NGO Liberty.
UK police have deployed the live facial-recognition system around 100 times since late January, compared to only 10 between 2016 and 2019.

'Nation of suspects'

Examples include before two Six Nations rugby games and outside two Oasis concerts in Cardiff in July.
When a person on a police "watchlist" passes near the cameras, the AI-powered system, often set up in a police van, triggers an alert. 
The suspect can then be immediately detained once police checks confirm their identity.
But such mass data capture on the streets of London, also seen during the coronation of King Charles III in 2023, "treats us like a nation of suspects", said the Big Brother Watch organisation.
"There is no legislative basis, so we have no safeguards to protect our rights, and the police is left to write its own rules," Rebecca Vincent, its interim director, told AFP.
Its private use by supermarkets and clothing stores to combat the sharp rise in shoplifting has also raised concerns, with "very little information" available about how the data is being used, she added.
Most use Facewatch, a service provider that compiles a list of suspected offenders in the stores it monitors and raises an alert if one of them enters the premises.
"It transforms what it is to live in a city, because it removes the possibility of living anonymously," said Daragh Murray, a lecturer in human rights law at Queen Mary University of London.
"That can have really big implications for protests but also participation in political and cultural life," he added.
Often, those using such stores do not know that they are being profiled.
"They should make people aware of it," Abigail Bevon, a 26-year-old forensic scientist, told AFP by the entrance of a London store using Facewatch. 
She said she was "very surprised" to find out how the technology was being used.
While acknowledging that it could be useful for the police, she complained that its deployment by retailers was "invasive".

Banned in the EU

Since February, EU legislation governing artificial intelligence has prohibited the use of real-time facial recognition technologies, with exceptions such as counterterrorism.
Apart from a few cases in the United States, "we do not see anything even close in European countries or other democracies", stressed Vincent.
"The use of such invasive tech is more akin to what we see in authoritarian states such as China," she added.
Interior minister Yvette Cooper recently promised that a "legal framework" governing its use would be drafted, focusing on "the most serious crimes".
But her ministry this month authorised police forces to use the technology in seven new regions.
Usually placed in vans, permanent cameras are also scheduled to be installed for the first time in Croydon, south London, next month. 
Police assure that they have "robust safeguards", such as disabling the cameras when officers are not present and deleting the biometric data of those who are not suspects.
However, the UK's human rights regulator said on Wednesday that the Metropolitan Police's policy on using the technology was "unlawful" because it was "incompatible" with rights regulations.
Eleven organisations, including Human Rights Watch, wrote a letter to the Metropolitan Police chief, urging him not to use it during Notting Hill Carnival, accusing him of "unfairly targeting" the Afro-Caribbean community while highlighting the racial biases of AI.
Shaun Thompson, a 39-year-old black man living in London, said he was arrested after being wrongly identified as a criminal by one of these cameras and has filed an appeal against the police. 
cla/jwp/jkb/djt/rsc

Gamescom

Firefighting games spark at Gamescom 2025

BY TOM BARFIELD

  • "For a lot of people it's a childhood fantasy they want to play out, to do the heroic stuff... drive the big machines, extinguish fires," said Fabian Winkhardt, head of a 30-strong development team that worked for three years to build the game.
  • In a video gaming landscape often dominated by fantasy duels and kinetic gunfights, one different genre is standing out in the Gamescom trade fair in Germany: firefighting.
  • "For a lot of people it's a childhood fantasy they want to play out, to do the heroic stuff... drive the big machines, extinguish fires," said Fabian Winkhardt, head of a 30-strong development team that worked for three years to build the game.
In a video gaming landscape often dominated by fantasy duels and kinetic gunfights, one different genre is standing out in the Gamescom trade fair in Germany: firefighting.
Both "Firefighting Simulator Ignite" from German developer Weltenbauer and French studio Exkee's "Rescue Ops: Wildfire" see themselves as having a social impact beyond fun -- whether raising fire safety awareness or highlighting the impact of climate change on vulnerable ecosystems.
"Firefighting Simulator" has a September 9 release, and promises a grounded firefighting experience in a fictional American city.
The team ran demos at Gamescom showing off the first missions, in which players are coached through hauling civilians from a blazing building, forcing doors, hooking up hoses to trucks and hydrants and extinguishing fierce fires with water or foam.
Players can head up a squad of computer-controlled firefighters or take on missions cooperatively in groups of up to four.
"For a lot of people it's a childhood fantasy they want to play out, to do the heroic stuff... drive the big machines, extinguish fires," said Fabian Winkhardt, head of a 30-strong development team that worked for three years to build the game.
But the other part of the core audience for high-fidelity simulation games is made up of "people who actually do the job they're playing, they enjoy it so much," he added.
Such fans scrutinise "every detail", Winkhardt said, recalling disputes about the correct colour for helmets or how to hold a spurting hose.
Both details can vary from one American fire department to another, with no single correct answer.
Art lead Manuel Palme said that the team nevertheless aimed "to make a very action-oriented game".
"It's not supposed to be dry" or bog players down in excessive nitpicking before the fun can begin, he said.
What's more, "we try to portray firefighting in the positive light that it deserves... we do hope that we can inspire young people to get into the fire service" or even just learn about surviving fire's dangers as a civilian.

'Preserving nature'

Where "Firefighting Simulator" depicts urban emergencies, "Rescue Ops" is set in the wooded coastal hills around the French Mediterranean city of Marseille, where developers Exkee are based.
The team has worked with France's Valabre public safety school to produce a fine-grained rendition of firefighting work, where forgetting to hook up a hose can empty a truck's water reserve, sending players scrambling to fetch more as a blaze spreads through vegetation.
With southern France repeatedly ravaged in recent years by extensive wildfires, chief executive Toni Doublet hopes their "Rescue Ops" game "will contribute to raising awareness about the impact of global warming... preserving nature and how quickly it can be destroyed".
Also included in the game once it's ready for release will be elements such as animals fleeing fires or challenges finding water in drought-stricken environments.
The 20-strong development team has also had an eye on fun experiences, such as allowing players to heli-drop firefighters into blaze zones or call in water dumps from Canadair planes.
New technology has brought firefighting games on in leaps and bounds compared with older titles such as "Rosco McQueen" on the PlayStation 1 or "Fire Department" on PC.
"Five years ago, it wasn't possible. The hardware wasn't there, PCs weren't powerful enough," Doublet said.
"We didn't have tools like Unreal Engine 5 that allow you to display so many objects on screen" at once, as in detailed woodlands.
The teams hope the new higher fidelity will please both professionals and gamers looking for entertainment.
"The firefighters are really excited because we worked on their simulator 10 years ago -- although that was quite abstract and technical," Doublet told AFP.
"Now they see a very realistic game coming together that they could use for training, that could be a recruitment tool."  
tgb/rmb/rsc

SKorea

'KPop Demon Hunters' craze hits theaters after topping Netflix, music charts

BY ANDREW MARSZAL

  • Released in June, "KPop Demon Hunters" is already Netflix's most-watched animated offering, and sits second on the all-time chart for any original film.
  • Netflix's gargantuan hit film "KPop Demon Hunters" has captured the global zeitgeist this summer, smashing streaming and music chart records.
  • Released in June, "KPop Demon Hunters" is already Netflix's most-watched animated offering, and sits second on the all-time chart for any original film.
Netflix's gargantuan hit film "KPop Demon Hunters" has captured the global zeitgeist this summer, smashing streaming and music chart records. Now it is coming for movie theaters.
An animated musical about a trio of Korean pop starlets who fight demons with infectious songs and synchronized dance moves, "Demon Hunters" has been watched 210 million times and currently has five of the global top 10 songs on Spotify.
In an unlikely journey, the streaming mega-hit is tipped by analysts to hit number one at the box office this weekend, with thousands of cosplaying fans headed to sold-out "singalong screenings" in theaters across five countries.
"Insane, crazy, surreal," singer EJAE, who co-wrote the film's biggest track "Golden" and performs heroine Rumi's songs, told an advance screening at Netflix's Hollywood headquarters this week.
"I'm just really grateful I'm able to be part of this crazy cultural phenomenon."
For the uninitiated, the film's premise is bizarre yet simple.
Demons who feed on human souls have been trapped in another realm by the powerful voices of girl group HUNTR/X.
To fight back, the demons secretly send their own devilishly handsome boy band to steal HUNTR/X's fans and feast on their essences.
Rivalries ensue, loyalties fray, and an unlikely romance evolves over 90 minutes of power ballads and pop earworms, all against anime-style backdrops of Seoul's modern skyline and traditional bathhouses and thatched hanok homes.
Released in June, "KPop Demon Hunters" is already Netflix's most-watched animated offering, and sits second on the all-time chart for any original film. It is likely to take the top spot within the week.
"This movie is a triple threat. It's got fantastic writing. It has got stunning animation. And the songs are bangers," said Wendy Lee Szany, a Los Angeles-based movie critic and KPop devotee.
Indeed, songs by the movie's fictional HUNTR/X and boy-band rivals Saja Boys occupy three of the Billboard top 10 -- a feat no movie soundtrack has achieved since the 1990s.

'Memes'

While combining the global KPop craze with sexy supernatural monsters might sound like an obvious recipe for Netflix's much-vaunted algorithm, nobody expected "Demon Hunters" to take off on this scale.
It was made by Hollywood studio Sony Pictures, intended for the big screen, but sold to Netflix during the pandemic when many theaters were shuttered.
That may have worked to the film's advantage, said John Nguyen, founder of pop culture website Nerd Reactor.
"If Sony had released it in theaters, I don't think it would have been as big," he said.
"It's word-of-mouth. People shared it, talked about it, posted videos on social media of fans and families singing along in their living rooms."
Endless homespun TikTok dance videos have added to the momentum.
"People who haven't seen the movie yet are seeing these memes, they can't escape it, so they just end up like, 'Okay, I'm gonna sit down this weekend (and watch) on Netflix," said Szany.
"And then they fall in love with it."

'Shattered'

Seeking to capitalize, Netflix -- usually averse to movie theaters -- is hosting "singalongs" at 1,700 North American cinemas this weekend.
Fans are invited to dress up, whip their phones out and film themselves singing at their top of their voices.
The approach has cinema traditionalists despairing, but earned Taylor Swift's concert movie $260 million at the box office in 2023.
Early estimates suggest "KPop Demon Hunters" could make $15 million in domestic theaters and top this weekend's box office.
Analyst David A. Gross of Franchise Entertainment Research said that figure seemed "reasonable... for now," but could get "shattered" if a rush of demand causes theater owners to add extra screenings. 
That would be a welcome shot in the arm for movie theaters, after the bleak years of Covid-19, Hollywood strikes, and younger audiences migrating to -- ironically -- streaming.
"There were literally so many kids singing their hearts out," said Szany, who attended Netflix's advance singalong, and has watched the film at least eight times.
"I was like, wow, they know all the lyrics better than I do." 
amz/sst

Intel

Trump, Intel announce deal giving US a 10% stake in chipmaker

  • Referring to a meeting with Intel last week, Trump told reporters Friday: "I said, I think you should pay us 10 percent of your company."
  • Chipmaker Intel has agreed to give the US government a 10-percent stake in its business, the company and President Donald Trump announced Friday.
  • Referring to a meeting with Intel last week, Trump told reporters Friday: "I said, I think you should pay us 10 percent of your company."
Chipmaker Intel has agreed to give the US government a 10-percent stake in its business, the company and President Donald Trump announced Friday.
The deal came after Trump's administration said Intel should give Washington an equity stake in exchange for large grants committed when Joe Biden was president.
Under the agreement, the US government will receive 433.3 million shares of common stock, representing a 9.9 percent stake in the company, Intel said in a statement.
This amounts to an $8.9 billion investment, funded partially by $5.7 billion in grants awarded but not yet paid under the CHIPS and Science Act -- a major law passed during Biden's term that Trump has criticized.
The other $3.2 billion comes from an award to the company as part of the Secure Enclave program, Intel said.
The $8.9 billion investment would be in addition to $2.2 billion in CHIPS grants Intel has already received, taking the full amount to $11.1 billion, the company added.
"The United States of America now fully owns and controls 10% of INTEL," Trump posted on Truth Social.
He claimed that the country "paid nothing for these shares" after negotiations with Intel CEO Lip-Bu Tan.
Intel noted in its statement: "The government's investment in Intel will be a passive ownership, with no board representation or other governance or information rights."
Referring to a meeting with Intel last week, Trump told reporters Friday: "I said, I think you should pay us 10 percent of your company."
"I said, I think it would be good having the United States as your partner... they've agreed to do it, and I think it's a great deal for them."
Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick said Friday on X: "This historic agreement strengthens US leadership in semiconductors."
- 'Slippery slope' - 
Intel is one of Silicon Valley's most iconic companies, but its fortunes have been dwarfed by Asian powerhouses TSMC and Samsung, which dominate the made-to-order semiconductor business. 
The CHIPS and Science Act was aimed at strengthening the US semiconductor industry, and the Biden administration had unveiled billions in grants through it.
It finalized a $7.9 billion award in direct funding to Intel in November 2024, according to a US Department of Commerce statement.
"This is a slippery slope," independent tech analyst Rob Enderle said of the United States taking a stake in Intel. 
"This is one of those things that kind of brings chills because it's a step toward nationalizing private business."
Scott Lincicome of the Cato Institute, a Washington think tank that promotes limited government, said on X Friday that the government having a stake in Intel would be "a terrible decision, bad for almost everyone."
He said it would be "bad for Intel's long-term viability, as politics, not commercial considerations, increasingly drive its decisions" and that "foreign governments might also target it."
In a statement, Tan of Intel said it is "deeply committed to ensuring the world's most advanced technologies are American made."
The company said it is investing more than $100 billion to expand its US sites.
Earlier this month, Trump had demanded Tan resign after a Republican senator raised national security concerns over his links to firms in China.
Japan-based tech investor SoftBank Group also recently said it would invest $2 billion in Intel.
aha-acb-dl/bys/jgc