Tag: Internet Media and Services

Alphabet shares dropped about 7% in premarket trading on Wednesday as investors were disappointed by the company’s slowing cloud growth and concerned about its hefty investment to build artificial intelligence (AI) infrastructure.

Uber Technologies on Wednesday reported a lower-than-expected profit in the October-December period on rising costs, and forecast first-quarter bookings short of estimates due to a strong dollar, sending its shares 6% down before the bell.

Spotify reported its first ever full year of profitability, fueled by record user growth and austerity measures after years of heavy spending on growth initiatives such as podcasts.

China imposed targeted tariffs on American imports on Tuesday and put several U.S. companies, including Google, on notice for possible sanctions, in a measured response to the sweeping duties on Chinese imports imposed by President Donald Trump.

Facebook-parent Meta Platforms reported strong fourth-quarter earnings results Wednesday afternoon. Its post-release gain, however, looked tepid relative to the results.

Google is making a fresh investment of more than $1bn into OpenAI rival Anthropic, boosting its position in the start-up as Silicon Valley titans rush to develop cutting-edge artificial intelligence systems.

The Beijing-based company has budgeted Rmb40bn ($5.5bn) to acquire AI chips in China in 2025, according to two people familiar with the plans, which would double the amount it spent last year. The group also plans to invest about $6.8bn overseas to beef up its foundation model training capabilities using advanced Nvidia chips.

OpenAI CEO Sam Altman, SoftBank CEO Masayoshi Son, and Oracle Chairman and CTO Larry Ellison joined President Trump to announce an investment of as much as $500 billion in artificial intelligence infrastructure in the U.S.

Meta Platforms Inc. is cutting roughly 5% of its staff through performance-based terminations and plans to hire new people to fill their roles this year, according to an internal memo sent to all employees.

Ocado Group said revenue from Ocado Retail its joint venture co-owned with Marks & Spencer Group grew sharply, driven by improved volumes and a record Christmas performance.

The Chinese government is considering a plan that would have Elon Musk acquire TikTok’s U.S. operations to keep the app from being effectively banned, Bloomberg News reported Monday.

Meta Platforms Inc. offered to publish listings from classified ads rival eBay Inc. on Facebook Marketplace in an effort to comply with a landmark European Union antitrust order that was accompanied by a €798 million ($822 million) fine.

Delta Air Lines will link its lucrative SkyMiles loyalty program to Uber this spring, the companies announced Tuesday, as the airline ends its eight-year partnership with smaller ride-hailing rival Lyft.

Getty Images stock skyrocketed in premarket trading Tuesday after the company said it plans to merge with rival stock photography service Shuttershock.

Taiwan has blocked Uber Technologies’  planned $950 million takeover of Foodpanda’s local delivery business on anticompetition concerns, thwarting the U.S. company’s efforts to expand in Asia.

Dutch technology investor Prosus NV said on Monday it would buy Latin America-focused online travel agency Despegar.com Corp for about $1.7 billion in cash, as it looks to expand its services across Latin America.

The US Supreme Court on Wednesday said it will hear TikTok’s appeal against a divest-or-ban law that will determine the video app’s fate in the US.

Facebook owner Meta Platforms will face a trial in October 2025 in Spain over a 551 million euro ($582 million)complaint lodged by more than 80 media companies accusing it of unfair competition in advertising, a Madrid court said on Friday.

U.S. regulators want a federal judge to break up Google to prevent the company from continuing to squash competition through its dominant search engine after a court found it had maintained an abusive monopoly over the past decade.

Audio-streaming giant Spotify forecast fourth-quarter profit above Wall Street estimates on Tuesday, betting on cost cuts and strong subscriber growth in the crucial holiday season.