Google has signed a “world first” deal to buy energy from a fleet of mini nuclear reactors to generate the power needed for the rise in use of artificial intelligence.The US tech corporation has ordered six or seven small nuclear reactors (SMRs) from California’s Kairos Power, with the first due to be completed by 2030 and the remainder by 2035.Google hopes the deal will provide a low carbon solution to power datacentres, which require huge volumes of electricity.The US company, owned by Alphabet, said nucl ...

A federal watchdog on Friday criticized the Federal Aviation Administration’s oversight of Boeing airplane production, saying it did not have an effective system to oversee the US plane maker’s individual manufacturing facilities.The transportation department’s office of inspector general said in a report the FAA’s current audit processes “are not comprehensive enough to adequately identify key discrepancies and noncompliances within the Boeing production line” and said the FAA has not addressed longstandin ...

Core Viewpoint - The US government is considering legal actions to break up Google's monopoly in the internet search market, citing antitrust violations and the need to restore competition [1][2]. Group 1: Legal Actions and Proposals - The Department of Justice (DoJ) is contemplating "structural remedies" that would limit Google's use of its products like Chrome, Android, and Play, which are seen as giving it an unfair advantage [1][2]. - Other potential actions include prohibiting Google from paying for its search engine to be pre-installed on devices, which could impact its market dominance [1][2]. - The DoJ's recent filing follows a court ruling that found Google controls 90% of the global search market and has built an illegal monopoly [2]. Group 2: Impact on Competition - The filing emphasizes that Google's conduct has caused "interlocking and pernicious harms" to users, highlighting the critical need to restore competition in the market [2]. - The judgment suggests that remedies should prevent Google from leveraging its products to favor its search engine over competitors, including emerging technologies like artificial intelligence [2][3]. - Google's dominance in distribution channels has left rivals with little incentive to compete, necessitating measures to ensure future competition [3]. Group 3: Google's Response - Google has stated it will challenge the DoJ's proposals, arguing that they represent an "overreach" that could harm consumers and businesses [1][3]. - The company claims the case is focused on search distribution contracts, but the government's approach could have broad implications across various industries [4]. - Google is expected to submit its proposed remedies by December 20, following the DoJ's detailed proposals due by November 20 [4].

A US judge on Monday ordered Alphabet’s Google to overhaul its mobile app business to give Android users more options to download apps and to pay for transactions within them, following a jury verdict last year for the Fortnite game maker Epic Games. The injunction by US district judge James Donato in San Francisco outlined the changes Google must undertake to open up its lucrative app store, Play, to greater competition, including making Android apps available from rival sources.Donato’s order said that fo ...

Meta, the owner of Facebook and Instagram, announced on Friday it had built a new artificial intelligence model called Movie Gen that can create realistic-seeming video and audio clips in response to user prompts, claiming it can rival tools from leading media generation startups like OpenAI and ElevenLabs.Samples of Movie Gen’s creations provided by Meta showed videos of animals swimming and surfing, as well as clips using people’s real photos to depict them performing actions like painting on a canvas.Mov ...

Nike pulled its financial guidance for the year, reported a steep drop in revenue and postponed a highly anticipated update for shareholders, days after announcing the replacement of its CEO.Profits at the American sportswear giant, grappling with falling sales and intense competition from fast-growing rivals, also declined. “A comeback at this scale takes time,” it said.Shares in the firm dropped 8% during out-of-hours trading in New York.Revenue at Nike fell 10% to $11.59bn in the three months to 31 Augus ...

The US Department of Justice sued Visa for alleged antitrust violations on Tuesday, accusing one of the world’s largest payment networks of suppressing competition by threatening merchants with high fees and paying off potential rivals.Visa processes more than 60% of debit transactions in the US, bringing it $7bn each year in fees collected when transactions are routed over its network, the justice department said. The company protects that dominance through agreements with card issuers, merchants and compe ...

More than 7,000 workers at CVS stores across California are holding a strike vote this week after accusing the US’s largest pharmacy chain of shortchanging staff and failing to provide affordable healthcare.CVS and its union remain far apart in negotiations on a new contract. Their current union contract expired on 30 June 2024.The union said the average CVS clerk makes less than $20 an hour, and the union wants improved healthcare costs for employees, and improvements to safety and staffing.The United Food ...

Boeing’s CEO said on Wednesday that the company would begin furloughing “a large number” of employees to conserve cash during the strike by union machinists that began last week.The chief executive, Kelly Ortberg, said the layoffs would be temporary and affect executives, managers and other employees.About 33,000 Boeing factory workers in the Pacific north-west began a strike on Friday after rejecting a proposal to raise pay by 25% over four years. They want raises of at least 40% and other improvements in ...

Amazon said on Monday it would require employees to return to the office five days a week, effective 2 January.“We’ve decided that we’re going to return to being in the office the way we were before the onset of COVID. When we look back over the last five years, we continue to believe that the advantages of being together in the office are significant,” Andy Jassy, the CEO, said in a note to employees.The e-commerce giant’s previous office attendance requirement for its workers was three days a week. Amazon ...