OpenAI said Wednesday it has raised $6.6 billion in venture capital investments as part of a broader shift by the ChatGPT maker away from its nonprofit roots.

Led by venture capital firm Thrive Capital, the funding round was backed by tech giants Microsoft, Nvidia and SoftBank, according to a source familiar with the funding who was not authorized to speak about it publicly.

2. EU's top court dismisses Apple's final appeal against order to pay Ireland 13B euros in back taxes - Friday, September 6, 2024

BRUSSELS (AP) — Apple on Tuesday lost its last bid to avoid paying 13 billion euros ($14.34 billion) in back taxes to Ireland, in a finale to a dispute with the European Union that centered on sweetheart deals that Dublin was offering to attract multinational businesses with minimal taxes across the 27-nation bloc. The final decision by the EU's top court was quickly hailed as a landmark victory over corporate greed.

3. Party of one: Restaurants are catering to a growing number of solo diners - Friday, August 30, 2024

NEW YORK (AP) — Parisa Imanirad, a scientist and cancer researcher from San Francisco, is married and has a wide circle of friends. But once or twice a week, she goes to a restaurant by herself.

Imanirad said dining alone gives her time to think or read. She tries not to touch her phone and relishes the silence. "It's like a spa, but a different type," Imanirad said during a recent solo lunch at Spruce, an upscale restaurant in San Francisco.

4. Yacht that sank off Sicily was carrying people celebrating tech magnate's acquittal; 6 missing - Friday, August 16, 2024

PORTICELLO, Sicily (AP) — Police divers resumed searching Tuesday for six people believed trapped in the hull of a superyacht that sank in deep seas off Sicily, including a British tech magnate who was celebrating his recent acquittal on fraud charges with the people who had defended him at trial.

5. Katy Perry and Rihanna didn't attend the Met Gala. But AI-generated images still fooled fans - Friday, May 3, 2024

NEW YORK (AP) — No, Katy Perry and Rihanna didn't attend the Met Gala this year. But that didn't stop AI-generated images from tricking some fans into thinking the stars made appearances on the steps of fashion's biggest night.

6. Apple is making big App Store changes in Europe over new rules. Could it mean more iPhone hacking? - Friday, March 8, 2024

Apple is opening small cracks in the iPhone's digital fortress as part of a regulatory clampdown in Europe that is striving to give consumers more choices — at the risk of creating new avenues for hackers to steal personal and financial information stored on the devices.

7. Houthi attacks in the Red Sea are idling car factories and delaying new fashion. Will it get worse? - Friday, January 26, 2024

WASHINGTON (AP) — Car factories have idled in Belgium and Germany. Spring fashion lines are delayed at a popular British department store. A Maryland company that makes hospital supplies doesn't know when to expect parts from Asia.

8. At Davos, leaders talked big on rebuilding trust. Can the World Economic Forum make a difference? - Friday, January 19, 2024

DAVOS, Switzerland (AP) — Business and political elites descended on the Swiss Alpine snows of Davos to suss out "rebuilding trust" in a splintering world. If there's any takeaway from the World Economic Forum's annual meeting — boldly touting that theme — it's that we still have a long way to go.

9. Ready, set, travel: Holiday rush to the airports, highways underway - Friday, December 22, 2023

It's beginning to look a lot like a hectic holiday travel season, but it might go relatively smoothly if the weather cooperates.

Travel over Christmas and New Year's tends to spread out over many days, so the peaks in the U.S. are likely to be lower than they were during the Thanksgiving holiday. That is making airlines and federal officials optimistic.

10. 'Addictive' social media feeds that keep children online targeted by New York lawmakers - Friday, October 13, 2023

New York would restrict the way online platforms like Instagram and YouTube can collect and share children's personal information and let parents keep their kids from being bombarded by "addictive" feeds from accounts they don't follow, under legislation proposed Wednesday.

11. Airlines halt flights in and out of Israel after a massive attack by Hamas ignites heavy fighting - Friday, October 6, 2023

Major airlines have suspended flights in and out of Israel after the nation declared war following a massive attack by Hamas.

Israel hit more than 1,000 targets in Gaza and Palestinian militants continued firing barrages of rockets, setting off air raid sirens in Jerusalem and Tel Aviv. Video posted online appeared to show a plume of smoke near a terminal at Tel Aviv's Ben Gurion International Airport.

12. Tech titans will give senators advice on artificial intelligence in a closed-door forum - Friday, September 8, 2023

WASHINGTON (AP) — Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer has been talking for months about accomplishing a potentially impossible task: passing bipartisan legislation within the next year that encourages the rapid development of artificial intelligence and mitigates its biggest risks. On Wednesday, he's convening a meeting of some of the country's most prominent technology executives, among others, to ask them how Congress should do it.

13. EU investigates Microsoft over concerns bundling Teams with Office eliminates competition - Friday, July 28, 2023

BRUSSELS (AP) — The European Union said Thursday that it has opened an antitrust investigation into Microsoft over concerns that bundling its Teams messaging and videoconferencing app with its Office productivity software gives it an unfair edge over competitors.

14. Judge: Microsoft can move ahead with record $69B acquisition of Activision Blizzard - Friday, July 7, 2023

A federal judge has handed Microsoft a major victory by declining to block its looming $69 billion takeover of video game company Activision Blizzard. Regulators sought to ax the deal saying it will hurt competition.

15. What is Threads? All your questions about Meta's new Twitter rival, answered - Friday, July 7, 2023

NEW YORK (AP) — Threads, a text-based app built by Meta to rival Twitter, is live.

The app, billed as the text version of Meta's photo-sharing platform Instagram, became available Wednesday night to users in more than 100 countries — including the U.S., Britain, Australia, Canada and Japan. Despite some early glitches, 30 million people had signed up before noon on Thursday, Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg said on Threads.

16. Facebook content moderators in Kenya call work 'torture.' Their lawsuit may ripple worldwide - Friday, June 30, 2023

NAIROBI, Kenya (AP) — On the verge of tears, Nathan Nkunzimana recalled watching a video of a child being molested and another of a woman being killed.

Eight hours a day, his job as a content moderator for a Facebook contractor required him to look at horrors so the world wouldn't have to. Some overwhelmed colleagues would scream or cry, he said.

17. Artificial intelligence raises risk of extinction, experts say in new warning - Friday, May 26, 2023

Scientists and tech industry leaders, including high-level executives at Microsoft and Google, issued a new warning Tuesday about the perils that artificial intelligence poses to humankind.

"Mitigating the risk of extinction from AI should be a global priority alongside other societal-scale risks such as pandemics and nuclear war," the statement said.

18. Meta sells Giphy for $53M to Shutterstock after UK blocked GIF - Friday, May 19, 2023

WASHINGTON (AP) — Shutterstock said Tuesday it's buying Giphy from Meta Platforms for $53 million, the final step to unwind the deal blocked by British regulators, who prevented the Facebook owner from purchasing the GIF-sharing platform over competition concerns.

19. Harris meets with CEOs about artificial intelligence risks - Friday, May 5, 2023

WASHINGTON (AP) — Vice President Kamala Harris met on Thursday with the heads of Google, Microsoft and two other companies developing artificial intelligence as the Biden administration rolls out initiatives meant to ensure the rapidly evolving technology improves lives without putting people's rights and safety at risk.

20. NPR quits Elon Musk's Twitter over 'government-funded' label - Friday, April 7, 2023

National Public Radio is quitting Twitter after the social media platform owned by Elon Musk stamped NPR's account with labels the news organization says are intended to undermine its credibility.

Twitter labeled NPR's main account last week as "state-affiliated media, " a term also used to identify media outlets controlled or heavily influenced by authoritarian governments, such as Russia and China. Twitter later changed the label to "government-funded media," but to NPR it's still misleading.

21. Twitter hunts Github user who posted source code online - Friday, March 24, 2023

NEW YORK (AP) — Some parts of Twitter's source code — the fundamental computer code on which the social network runs — were leaked online, the social media company said in a legal filing that was first reported by The New York Times.

22. Why does US see Chinese-owned TikTok as a security threat? - Friday, March 24, 2023

BEIJING (AP) — U.S. lawmakers have grilled TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew about data security and harmful content, with some pushing to ban the popular short-video app nationwide.

Chew, a native of Singapore, told the lawmakers that TikTok prioritizes user safety as he sought to avert a U.S. ban on the app by downplaying its ties to China.

23. Skeptical US lawmakers grill TikTok CEO over safety, content - Friday, March 24, 2023

WASHINGTON (AP) — U.S. lawmakers grilled the CEO of TikTok over data security and harmful content Thursday, responding skeptically during a tense committee hearing to his assurances that the hugely popular video-sharing app prioritizes user safety and should not be banned.

24. At Davos, Thunberg visit spotlights lack of climate action - Friday, January 20, 2023

DAVOS, Switzerland (AP) — Swedish climate campaigner Greta Thunberg on Thursday slammed corporate bigwigs meeting in Davos, Switzerland, for "fueling the destruction of the planet" by investing in fossil fuels and prioritizing short-term profits over people affected by the climate crisis.

25. Minimal airline delays, cancellations a day after US outage - Friday, January 13, 2023

Delays and cancellations among flights across the United States were minimal on Thursday, a day after a system that offers safety information to pilots failed, grounding U.S. air traffic and leading to thousands of stranded travelers.

26. Air travel across US thrown into chaos after computer outage - Friday, January 6, 2023

NEW YORK (AP) — Thousands of flights across the U.S. were canceled or delayed Wednesday after a government system that offers safety and other information to pilots broke down, stranding some planes on the ground for hours.

27. Twitter suspends journalists who wrote about owner Elon Musk - Friday, December 16, 2022

Twitter suspended the accounts of several journalists who cover the social media platform, the latest battle over what can and cannot be said on the site since billionaire Elon Musk took control of it.

28. Women sue Musk's Twitter alleging discriminatory layoffs - Friday, December 9, 2022

Two women who lost their jobs at Twitter when billionaire Elon Musk took over are suing the company in federal court, claiming that last month's abrupt mass layoffs disproportionately affected female employees.

29. EU court largely upholds $4B Google Android antitrust fine - Friday, September 9, 2022

LONDON (AP) — A top court largely rejected Google's appeal of a record European Union antitrust fine imposed for throttling competition and reducing consumer choice through the dominance of its mobile Android operating system. It marks another win for EU regulators taking a global lead in controlling the power of big tech companies.

30. Tomorrow's 'Top Gun' might have drone wingman, use AI - Friday, July 22, 2022

FARNBOROUGH, England (AP) — Maverick's next wingman could be a drone.

In the movies, fighter pilots are depicted as highly trained military aviators with the skills and experience to defeat adversaries in thrilling aerial dogfights.

31. Firm behind popular US dollar stablecoin to launch Euro Coin - Friday, June 17, 2022

NEW YORK (AP) — Cryptocurrency company Circle said Thursday that it will start issuing its first euro-denominated cryptocurrency, a stablecoin known as Euro Coin, later this month.

It would be the first stablecoin in euros — the world's second-most-important reserve currency after the U.S. dollar — backed by a large player in the industry and could potentially become a major conduit for moving cryptocurrencies throughout Europe.

32. Zelenskyy urges 'maximum' sanctions on Russia in Davos talk - Friday, May 20, 2022

DAVOS, Switzerland (AP) — Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy called for "maximum" sanctions against Russia during a virtual speech Monday to corporate executives, government officials and other elites on the first day of the World Economic Economic gathering in Davos.

33. 'I can't see the light': War fuels surging prices in Europe - Friday, May 20, 2022

MILAN (AP) — Edoardo Ronzoni inspects a construction site near Milan that he shut down in March as costs for materials skyrocketed. He can't complete a half-built roundabout at an intersection known for fender-benders because asphalt, cast-iron pipes and concrete are too expensive — prices exacerbated by Russia's war in Ukraine.

34. Musk wars with Twitter over his buyout deal - on Twitter - Friday, May 13, 2022

Tesla CEO Elon Musk promised that taking over Twitter would enable him to rid the social media platform of its annoying "spam bots." Now he's arguing — without presenting any evidence — that there might be just too many of those automated accounts for the $44 billion deal to move ahead.

35. Ukraine cuts Russia gas at 1 hub, underlining risk to supply - Friday, May 6, 2022

ZAPORIZHZHIA, Ukraine (AP) — Ukraine stopped the flow of Russian natural gas through one hub that feeds European homes and industry on Wednesday, while a pro-Kremlin official in a southern region seized by Russian troops said it would ask Moscow to annex it.

36. European Union moves forward in antitrust case against Apple - Friday, April 29, 2022

BRUSSELS (AP) — The European Union stepped up its antitrust case against Apple on Monday, accusing the company of abusing its dominant position by limiting access to technologies allowing contactless payment.

37. Will Musk's hands-off ideal for Twitter have broad appeal? - Friday, April 22, 2022

Coming up with $44 billion to buy Twitter was the easy part for Elon Musk. Next comes the real challenge for the world's richest person: fulfilling his promise to make Twitter "better than ever" as a lightly regulated haven for free speech.

38. Elon Musk buys Twitter for $44B and will privatize company - Friday, April 22, 2022

Elon Musk reached an agreement to buy Twitter for roughly $44 billion on Monday, promising a more lenient touch to policing content on the platform where he promotes his interests, attacks critics and opines on social and economic issues to more than 83 million followers.

39. Tech leaders face threat of prison under new UK online bill - Friday, March 18, 2022

LONDON (AP) — Tech bosses face criminal prosecution if they fail to comply with proposed British rules aimed at ensuring people are safe online, the U.K. government said Thursday as it unveiled the draft legislation in Parliament.

40. Russian airlines will keep planes leased from foreign firms - Friday, March 11, 2022

The fate of hundreds of planes leased by Russian airlines from foreign companies grew murkier Monday after Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a law letting the airlines register those planes and continue flying them.

41. Russia's war spurs corporate exodus, exposes business risks - Friday, March 4, 2022

LONDON (AP) — Car factories idled, beer stopped flowing, furniture and fashion orders ceased, and energy companies fled oil and gas projects.

Russia's invasion of Ukraine has thrown business plans into disarray and forced a growing number of the world's best known brands — from Apple to Mercedes-Benz and BP — to pull out of a country that's become a global outcast as companies seek to maintain their reputations and live up to corporate responsibility standards.

42. Inflation in 19 nations using euro sets record for 4th month - Friday, February 25, 2022

LONDON (AP) — Surging energy costs have driven inflation in Europe to another record high, raising questions about when the central bank should step in to ease the pain to people's wallets while Russia's invasion of Ukraine rattles the global economy.

43. Big tech grapples with Russian state media, propaganda - Friday, February 25, 2022

WASHINGTON (AP) — As Russia's war in Ukraine  plays out for the world on social media, big tech platforms are moving to restrict Russian state media from using their platforms to spread propaganda and misinformation.

44. Russia eyes sanctions workarounds in energy, gold, crypto - Friday, February 25, 2022

WASHINGTON (AP) — The harsh sanctions imposed on Russia and the resulting crash of the ruble have the Kremlin scrambling to keep the country's economy running. For Vladimir Putin, that means finding workarounds to the Western economic blockade even as his forces continue to invade Ukraine.

45. Ruble plummets as sanctions bite, sending Russians to banks - Friday, February 25, 2022

MOSCOW (AP) — Ordinary Russians faced the prospect of higher prices and crimped foreign travel as Western sanctions over the invasion of Ukraine sent the ruble plummeting, leading uneasy depositors to line up at banks and ATMs on Monday in a country that has seen more than one currency disaster in the post-Soviet era.

46. Wall Street reels then recovers after invasion of Ukraine - Friday, February 25, 2022

NEW YORK (AP) — Markets shuddered Thursday and then swung wildly after Russia's invasion of Ukraine threatened to push the high inflation squeezing the global economy even higher.

Initially, stocks tumbled as prices surged for oil, wheat and other commodities on worries the conflict would disrupt global supplies. But the moves moderated as the day progressed, particularly after President Joe Biden said he wanted to limit the economic pain for Americans and announced new sanctions that fell short of what some had suggested.

47. France fines Google, Facebook millions over tracking consent - Friday, January 7, 2022

LONDON (AP) — French regulators on Thursday fined Google and Facebook a total of more than 200 million euros ($226 million) for not making it as easy for people to opt out of online tracking as it is for them to accept it.

48. To grandmother's house or no? Omicron disrupts holiday plans - Friday, December 24, 2021

Dave Fravel and his wife invited several relatives to their Cape Cod home for Christmas to share food, gifts and the togetherness they've longed for during the lonely days of the pandemic. They were also looking forward to a holiday sightseeing trip to New York City.

49. Omicron casts a new shadow over economy's pandemic recovery - Friday, December 17, 2021

Just as Americans and Europeans were eagerly awaiting their most normal holiday season in a couple of years, the omicron variant has unleashed a fresh round of fear and uncertainty — for travelers, shoppers, party-goers and their economies as a whole.

50. UK competition watchdog orders Facebook to sell off Giphy - Friday, November 26, 2021

LONDON (AP) — The United Kingdom's antitrust watchdog has blocked Facebook's acquisition of Giphy and ordered the social network to sell off the GIF-sharing platform, saying the deal hurts social media users and advertisers by stifling competition for animated images.

51. Key reason for supply shortages: Americans keep spending - Friday, November 12, 2021

DETROIT (AP) — Take a step back from the picked-over store shelves, the stalled container ships and the empty auto showrooms, and you'll find a root cause of the shortages of just about everything.

52. Automakers step up pace on electric vehicle battery plants - Friday, October 15, 2021

DETROIT (AP) — Global automakers and tech companies are stepping up the pace when it comes to building factories and prepare for what many believe will be a fast-moving transition from internal combustion engines to electric vehicles.

53. Google in court to appeal EU's 2018 Android antitrust case - Friday, September 24, 2021

LONDON (AP) — Google headed to a top European Union court Monday to appeal a record EU antitrust penalty imposed for stifling competition through the dominance of its Android operating system.

The company is fighting a 2018 decision from the EU's executive Commission, the bloc's top antitrust enforcer, that resulted in the 4.34 billion-euro ($5 billion) fine — still the biggest ever fine Brussels has imposed for anticompetitive behavior.

54. Crushed by pandemic, conventions mount a cautious return - Friday, September 10, 2021

In pre-COVID times, business events __ from small academic conferences to giant trade shows like CES __ routinely attracted more than 1 billion participants each year. The pandemic brought those global gatherings to a sudden halt, emptying convention centers and shuttering hotels.

55. Microsoft Exchange email hack was caused by China, US says - Friday, July 16, 2021

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Biden administration on Monday blamed China for a hack of Microsoft Exchange email server software that compromised tens of thousands of computers around the world earlier this year.

56. Google delays plan to phase out Chrome ad-tracking tech - Friday, June 25, 2021

LONDON (AP) — Google says it's delaying plans to phase out Chrome web browser technology that tracks users for ad purposes because it needs more time to develop a replacement system.

The tech giant said Thursday that its deadline to remove so-called third-party cookies will be pushed back to late 2023, nearly two years later than the initial timing of January 2022.

57. EXPLAINER: Just how vulnerable is the internet? - Friday, June 4, 2021

BOSTON (AP) — An outage at a little-known firm that speeds up access to websites knocked a lot of top internet destinations offline on Tuesday, disrupting business and leisure for untold millions globally. The problem was quickly resolved. The company, Fastly, blamed a configuration error in its technology.

58. Huawei ex-exec on trial, accused of spying for China - Friday, May 28, 2021

WARSAW, Poland (AP) — Two men accused of spying for China went on trial Tuesday in the Polish capital of Warsaw: a Chinese citizen who is a former sales director of Huawei in Poland and a Polish cybersecurity expert.

59. How vaccine passports for global travel would work - Friday, May 21, 2021

LONDON (AP) — Boarding pass, suitcase, passport and ... digital vaccination certificate?

Keen to avoid losing another summer of holiday revenue to the coronavirus pandemic, the European Union, some Asian governments and the airline industry are scrambling to develop so-called COVID-19 vaccine passports to help kickstart international travel.

60. Russia won't block Twitter, but partial slowdown to continue - Friday, May 14, 2021

MOSCOW (AP) — Russian authorities on Monday backed away from threats to block Twitter, saying that the social media platform deleted most of the banned content identified by Moscow and expressed "readiness and interest in building a constructive dialogue."

61. Amazon wins EU court fight over $300 million tax ruling - Friday, May 7, 2021

BRUSSELS (AP) — In the latest setback to European Union efforts to tackle corporate tax avoidance, a court on Wednesday annulled a ruling by the European Commission that a tax deal between Amazon and Luxembourg's government amounted to illegal state support.

62. Russia fines Twitter for not taking down calls to protest - Friday, April 2, 2021

MOSCOW (AP) — A court in Moscow on Friday fined Twitter for not taking down calls encouraging minors to take part in unauthorized rallies, the latest in a series of moves against the social media giant that has been used to amplify dissent in Russia.

63. WeWork attempts to go public again, this time through a SPAC - Friday, March 26, 2021

NEW YORK (AP) — Nearly two years after its attempted initial public offering of shares disintegrated, WeWork is going public in a merger with a special-purpose acquisition company.

WeWork is merging with BowX Acquisition, a SPAC, in a transaction that would value the embattled communal office-space company at $9 billion plus debt, the companies said in a joint statement Friday.

64. Uber to give UK drivers minimum wage, pension, holiday pay - Friday, March 12, 2021

LONDON (AP) — Uber is giving its U.K. drivers the minimum wage, pensions and holiday pay, following a recent court ruling that said they should be classified as workers and entitled to such benefits.

65. Russia threatens to block Twitter in a month - Friday, March 12, 2021

MOSCOW (AP) — Russian authorities said Tuesday they would block Twitter in a month if it doesn't take steps to remove banned content, a move that escalates the Russian government's drawn-out standoff with social media platforms that have played a major role in amplifying dissent in Russia.

66. Russia slows down Twitter, part of social media clampdown - Friday, March 5, 2021

MOSCOW (AP) — Russian authorities said Wednesday they are slowing down the speed of uploading photos and videos to Twitter over its failure to remove banned content — part of growing efforts to clamp down on social media platforms that have played a major role in amplifying dissent.

67. Vaccination 'passports' may open society, but inequity looms - Friday, February 26, 2021

TEL AVIV, Israel (AP) — Violet light bathed the club stage as 300 people, masked and socially distanced, erupted in gentle applause. For the first time since the pandemic began, Israeli musician Aviv Geffen stepped to his electric piano and began to play for an audience seated right in front of him.

68. Microsoft, EU publishers seek Australia-style news payments - Friday, February 19, 2021

LONDON (AP) — Microsoft is teaming up with European publishers to push for a system to make big tech platforms pay for news, raising the stakes in the brewing battle led by Australia to get Google and Facebook to pay for journalism.

69. GameStop's saga may be over; its effect on Wall Street isn't - Friday, February 12, 2021

NEW YORK (AP) — The frenzy around GameStop's stock may have quieted down, but the outsized influence small investors had in the saga is likely to stick around.

No one expects another supernova like GameStop to happen again, where a band of smaller-pocketed investors helped boost a struggling company's stock 1,000% in two weeks. But the tools they employed can be used again and again, if those smaller investors stay connected on social media forums and if regulators don't change the rules to hinder them.

70. Digital siege: Internet cuts become favored tool of regimes - Friday, February 12, 2021

LONDON (AP) — When army generals in Myanmar staged a coup last week, they briefly cut internet access in an apparent attempt to stymie protests. In Uganda, residents couldn't use Facebook, Twitter and other social media for weeks after a recent election. And in Ethiopia's northern Tigray region, the internet has been down for months amid a wider conflict.

71. UK strips Chinese state-owned TV channel of broadcast permit - Friday, February 5, 2021

LONDON (AP) — U.K. regulators stripped China's state TV channel of its national broadcasting license on Thursday, after an investigation cited lack of editorial control and links to China's ruling Communist Party.

72. Panel overturns 4 Facebook content takedowns in first ruling - Friday, January 29, 2021

LONDON (AP) — Facebook's quasi-independent oversight board issued its first rulings on Thursday, overturning four out of five decisions by the social network to take down questionable content.

The social media giant set up the oversight panel to rule on thorny issues about content on its platforms, in response to furious criticism about its inability to respond swiftly and effectively to misinformation, hate speech and nefarious influence campaigns.

73. Norway fines Grindr dating app $11.7M over privacy breach - Friday, January 22, 2021

LONDON (AP) — Gay dating app Grindr faces a fine of more than $10 million from Norwegian regulators for failing to get consent from users before sharing their personal information with advertising companies, in breach of stringent European Union privacy rules.

74. Google threatens to pull search engine in Australia - Friday, January 22, 2021

WELLINGTON, New Zealand (AP) — Google on Friday threatened to make its search engine unavailable in Australia if the government went ahead with plans to make tech giants pay for news content.

75. EU, Britain to toughen rules, fines for tech giants - Friday, December 11, 2020

LONDON (AP) — Big tech companies face hefty fines in the European Union and Britain if they treat rivals unfairly or fail to protect users on their platforms, in proposed regulations unveiled Tuesday by officials in Brussels and London.

76. After years grappling with Google, Europe has tips for US - Friday, October 16, 2020

LONDON (AP) — The U.S. antitrust crackdown on Google might seem like deja vu for European Union regulators.

By U.S. standards, the Justice Department's move to sue Google this week for abusing its dominance in online search and advertising was a bold move. But it treads on ground already broken years before by EU officials in Brussels.

77. Google to pay $1 billion over 3 years for news content - Friday, October 2, 2020

LONDON (AP) — Google will pay publishers $1 billion over the next three years for their content, the company's latest effort to defuse tensions over its dominance of the news industry.

The company said Thursday that it has signed agreements for its news partnership program with nearly 200 publications in Germany, Brazil, Argentina, Canada, the U.K. and Australia.

78. Uber gets 18-month London license after winning court appeal - Friday, September 25, 2020

LONDON (AP) — Uber can keep operating in London for another year and a half after winning its appeal of a decision by the British capital's transit regulator not to renew its license.

The San Francisco-based ride-hailing company had challenged Transport for London's decision in late 2019 not to renew its operating license over safety concerns involving impostor drivers.

79. Facebook may have to stop moving EU user data to US - Friday, September 11, 2020

LONDON (AP) — Facebook may be forced to stop sending data about its European users to the U.S., in the first major fallout from a recent court ruling that found some trans-Atlantic data transfers don't protect users from American government snooping.

80. 3 charged in massive Twitter hack, Bitcoin scam - Friday, July 31, 2020

MIAMI (AP) — A British man, a Florida man and a Florida teen hacked the Twitter accounts of prominent politicians, celebrities and technology moguls to scam people around globe out of more than $100,000 in Bitcoin, authorities said Friday.

81. Twitter says hackers used phone to fool staff, gain access - Friday, July 31, 2020

LONDON (AP) — Twitter says the hackers responsible for a recent high-profile breach used the phone to fool the social media company's employees into giving them access.

The company revealed a few more details late Thursday about the hack earlier this month, which it said targeted "a small number of employees through a phone spear-phishing attack."

82. Garmin fitness tracking service goes down, frustrating users - Friday, July 24, 2020

LONDON (AP) — GPS device-maker Garmin's online fitness tracking service has gone down, leaving runners and cyclists struggling to upload data from their latest workouts.

Garmin Connect, an app and website that works with the company's popular line of fitness watches, remained out of service on Friday. The U.S. company had apologized for the disruption a day earlier, when it indicated the problem was more widespread and also affected its communications systems.

83. European countries slam US withdrawal from tech tax talks - Friday, June 19, 2020

PARIS (AP) — European countries are slamming the Trump administration's withdrawal from negotiations over a major tax on big tech companies.

French Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire, speaking on France Inter, called it a "provocation" and said France will still implement the tax regardless of the U.S. change of heart.

84. Cubicle comeback? Pandemic will reshape office life for good - Friday, May 8, 2020

LONDON (AP) — Office jobs are never going to be the same.

When workers around the world eventually return to their desks, they'll find many changes due to the pandemic. For a start, fewer people will go back to their offices as the coronavirus crisis makes working from home more accepted, health concerns linger and companies weigh up rent savings and productivity benefits.

85. Here come COVID-19 tracing apps - and privacy trade-offs - Friday, May 1, 2020

As governments around the world consider how to monitor new coronavirus outbreaks while reopening their societies, many are starting to bet on smartphone apps to help stanch the pandemic.

But their decisions on which technologies to use — and how far those allow authorities to peer into private lives — are highlighting some uncomfortable trade-offs between protecting privacy and public health.

86. European virus tracing apps highlight battle for privacy - Friday, May 1, 2020

LONDON (AP) — Goodbye lockdown, hello smartphone.

As governments race to develop mobile tracing apps to help contain infections, attention is turning to how officials will ensure users' privacy. The debate is especially urgent in Europe, which has been one of the hardest-hit regions in the world, with nearly 140,000 people killed by COVID-19.

87. Virus casts a dark cloud over once-thriving home market - Friday, April 10, 2020

BOSTON (AP) — When Rebeka McBride and her husband put their home in Washington state on the market in early March, the coronavirus outbreak was just taking hold in the United States. They managed to hold two open houses and a smattering of private viewings before accepting an offer.

88. Virus casts a dark cloud over once-thriving home market - Friday, April 3, 2020

BOSTON (AP) — When Rebeka McBride and her husband put their home in Washington state on the market in early March, the coronavirus outbreak was just taking hold in the United States. They managed to hold two open houses and a smattering of private viewings before accepting an offer.

89. Online grocery services struggle to meet spike in demand - Friday, April 3, 2020

LONDON (AP) — A pandemic forcing everyone to stay home could be the perfect moment for online grocery services. In practice, they've been struggling to keep up with a surge in orders, highlighting their limited ability to respond to an unprecedented onslaught of demand.

90. EU proposes rules for artificial intelligence to limit risks - Friday, February 14, 2020

LONDON (AP) — The European Union unveiled proposals Wednesday to regulate artificial intelligence that call for strict rules and safeguards on risky applications of the rapidly developing technology.

91. Google CEO calls for regulation of artificial intelligence - Friday, January 17, 2020

LONDON (AP) — Google's chief executive called Monday for a balanced approach to regulating artificial intelligence, telling a European audience that the technology brings benefits but also "negative consequences."

92. Facebook bans deepfakes in fight against online manipulation - Friday, January 3, 2020

LONDON (AP) — Facebook says it is banning "deepfake" videos, the false but realistic clips created with artificial intelligence and sophisticated tools, as it steps up efforts to fight online manipulation.

93. NATO researchers: Social media failing to stop manipulation - Friday, December 6, 2019

LONDON (AP) — Social media companies are failing to stop manipulated activity, according to a report Friday by NATO-affiliated researchers who said they were easily able to buy tens of thousands of likes, comments and views on Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and Instagram.

94. Google wins case over reach of EU 'right to be forgotten' - Friday, September 20, 2019

BRUSSELS (AP) — Google won a major case in the European Union on Tuesday, when the bloc's top court ruled that the U.S. internet giant doesn't have to extend the EU's "right to be forgotten" rules to its search engines outside the region.

95. Hong Kong stock exchange swoops in for London rival - Friday, September 6, 2019

LONDON (AP) — The Hong Kong stock exchange wants to buy its London counterpart to create a company worth more than $70 billion that could shore up the U.K. capital's status as a global financial hub after Brexit.

96. Cryptocurrencies, digital tax top the agenda for G-7 meeting - Friday, July 12, 2019

PARIS (AP) — Finance officials from the Group of Seven rich democracies will weigh risks from new digital currencies and debate how to tax tech companies like Google and Amazon when they meet this week in the Paris suburb of Chantilly.

97. Huawei calls on US to lift export restrictions - Friday, July 12, 2019

SHENZHEN, China (AP) — The chairman of Huawei said Friday the Chinese tech giant has yet to see any benefit from President Donald Trump's promise to allow U.S. companies to sell some components to the company and called on Washington to remove it from a security blacklist.

98. Facebook limits livestreaming ahead of tech summit in Paris - Friday, May 10, 2019

PARIS (AP) — Facebook toughened its livestreaming policies Wednesday as it prepared to huddle with world leaders and other tech CEOs in Paris to find ways to keep social media from being used to spread hate, organize extremist groups and broadcast terror attacks.

99. US abstains from global pledge to curb online violence - Friday, May 10, 2019

PARIS (AP) — The White House is not endorsing a global pledge to step up efforts to keep internet platforms from being used to spread hate, organize extremist groups and broadcast attacks, citing respect for "freedom of expression and freedom of the press."

100. New French rules for Facebook? Zuckerberg likes the idea - Friday, May 10, 2019

PARIS (AP) — France welcomed Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg to Paris on Friday with the threat of sweeping new regulations against his social media behemoth — and Zuckerberg himself called that proposal a good thing.