tech giants

Google is appealing European Union regulatory demands concerning access to Android's AI features and the sharing of search data with rivals. According to a Wall Street Journal report, the company is contesting requirements imposed under EU digital competition rules, arguing over how its Android platform and search data should be opened to third parties. The appeal sets up a fresh confrontation between the tech giant and European regulators.

Reports say China could permit its major technology companies to purchase new Nvidia chips, a shift in its stance on the US chipmaker's products. The move would matter for both Chinese AI development and Nvidia's access to a key market, though details on which chips and under what conditions remain unclear.

Samsung has committed $1 billion to an AI infrastructure company backed by KKR and Nvidia, according to a Wall Street Journal report. The investment places the South Korean tech giant among major corporate backers of the rapidly expanding buildout of data centers and computing capacity needed to power artificial intelligence services.

Amazon has blocked Meta's Muse AI agent from making purchases on its platform, according to a report by Mashable. The move prevents Meta's automated shopping assistant from completing transactions on Amazon. It highlights growing tension between major tech companies over access to e-commerce platforms as AI agents increasingly attempt to act on users' behalf in online shopping.

France has proposed that fines collected by the European Union from Google be used to reduce the budget contributions paid by member states. The idea would channel antitrust penalties against the US tech giant into easing national payments to the EU budget. The proposal is drawing attention as the EU weighs how to spend the multi-billion-euro fines imposed on Google under competition rules.

Reports indicate China may permit ByteDance and Alibaba to purchase Nvidia's RTX PRO 5500 chips, a possible easing of restrictions on access to advanced Nvidia hardware. The news drew attention because it concerns which Chinese tech giants can obtain powerful AI-capable chips amid ongoing US-China tensions over semiconductor export controls. Details on timing and conditions of any approval were not provided.

Senator Elizabeth Warren has sent questions to Meta, Google, Amazon and Microsoft regarding tax subsidies connected to their artificial intelligence investments. The inquiry targets whether the tech giants are benefiting from tax breaks tied to massive AI data center spending. The move adds to Washington's scrutiny of how the largest technology companies fund and profit from the AI boom.

AI companies and labor unions have joined forces in a push over data center development, Axios reports in an exclusive. The unusual alliance pairs technology giants with union backing on issues surrounding the massive facilities needed to power artificial intelligence. Details of the partnership and its targets remain limited to the initial report.

China may permit Alibaba and ByteDance to purchase Nvidia chips, according to a report by Kursiv Media. The move would ease earlier restrictions on Chinese tech giants acquiring US-made semiconductors and could signal a softening in the trade standoff between Washington and Beijing over advanced AI hardware.

Meta has launched a new enterprise AI platform and brought in MongoDB's chief executive to run the initiative, according to a TechCrunch report. The move signals a push by the social media giant to expand its artificial intelligence business beyond consumer products and compete for corporate customers in the fast-growing enterprise AI market.

Sony is reportedly withdrawing from CES 2027, breaking an unbroken presence at the consumer electronics show that dates back to 1967. The move, reported by gadget outlet Gadget Review, would mark the first time in nearly six decades that the Japanese electronics and entertainment giant is absent from the Las Vegas event, prompting questions about its trade-show strategy.

Nvidia is raising its dividend for 2026, a move highlighted by Morningstar as drawing fresh attention to dividend growth stocks. While the chipmaker's payout remains small relative to its size and growth focus, the increase underscores how even tech giants are leaning into shareholder returns, prompting investors to revisit dividend growth strategies more broadly.

The Center for Data Innovation argues that Europe should strengthen its commitment to open-source artificial intelligence, positioning open models as a strategic advantage for the continent's tech sector. The think tank's stance feeds an ongoing debate in Europe over how to compete with US and Chinese AI giants while shaping regulation that supports rather than stifles home-grown innovation.

Brooklyn Sports & Entertainment has named Alibaba Group an official technology and cloud partner of the Brooklyn Nets, the NBA franchise based in New York. The partnership makes the Chinese e-commerce and cloud computing giant a technology provider for the team, underlining its push into sports and entertainment partnerships in the US market.

China is considering granting approval for ByteDance and Alibaba to purchase Nvidia's new RTX Pro 5500 chips, according to a report by The News International. The move would mark a notable step amid ongoing US-China tensions over advanced semiconductors, as Chinese tech giants seek access to Nvidia hardware for AI and computing work.

The Financial Times reports that AI hyperscalers — the largest cloud and AI infrastructure providers such as Microsoft, Amazon, Google and Meta — are transforming debt markets. Their enormous spending on data centres and computing power is driving new borrowing at historic scale, changing how credit is priced and who dominates corporate bond issuance.

Amazon has blocked Meta's Muse AI shopping agent from operating on its platform, according to a report by The Register. Muse, Meta's AI assistant designed to help users shop, is reportedly being denied access to Amazon's storefront. The move highlights growing tensions between tech giants over AI agents that browse and purchase on behalf of users, raising questions about who controls automated shopping on retail platforms.

Tencent has arranged to lease around 100,000 chips from Oracle to boost its artificial intelligence capabilities, according to a Financial Times report carried by Reuters. The deal would give the Chinese tech giant access to computing power outside China's borders, highlighting how its biggest firms are working around Washington's export restrictions on advanced AI hardware to stay competitive in the AI race.

Meta has opened its first retail store in Texas at the Galleria shopping center in Houston. The store lets visitors try the company's hardware products and get hands-on demonstrations. The opening marks an expansion of Meta's physical retail presence in the state, and local coverage in Houston is highlighting the arrival of the tech giant's storefront in the city's premier shopping destination.

Food giant Conagra says American shoppers are increasingly using AI tools to decide which snacks to buy, asking AI assistants for recommendations rather than searching for specific products, according to Reuters. The company also says consumers are examining ingredient labels more closely, combining tech-driven research with growing scrutiny of what goes into packaged foods.

A new roundup names five major technology companies that failed to keep up in the mobile phone market, despite once dominating consumer tech. The piece revisits how these firms missed the smartphone shift that rivals like Apple and Samsung capitalised on. No specific companies are detailed in the available information.

Google has rolled out Gemini 4 Argon, which the company describes as its most advanced AI model to date. The release adds to the intensifying competition among major tech firms racing to ship ever more capable artificial intelligence systems. Details beyond Google's characterization of the model as its top-tier offering were not immediately available, and reaction from users and industry watchers is still forming.

An expert argues that AI safeguards and regulations effectively build a protective moat around large US AI companies while holding back open-source models from advancing. The claim suggests compliance costs and restrictions favor established firms with resources, disadvantaging smaller developers and the open-source community. The comment adds to ongoing debate over whether AI regulation protects the public or entrenches incumbent tech giants.

President Trump and leading technology companies have reached a voluntary agreement on artificial intelligence safety. The accord commits participating firms to safety measures without binding regulation, but the specific commitments, the companies involved, and how compliance will be monitored have not been detailed in the available reporting.

Huawei and Alibaba announced progress on their artificial intelligence hardware and software, highlighting new AI chips, large computing clusters, and AI models. The announcements underline China's push to build domestic AI capabilities amid US export restrictions on advanced semiconductors, positioning the two tech giants as leading domestic alternatives in the AI infrastructure race.

Former Stripe employees are seeding a growing wave of startups across the financial technology field, prompting commentary that the digital payments processor has become a founders' factory. Observers note the company's alumni network is shaping the next generation of payments ventures, much as early employees of other tech giants went on to build influential companies of their own.

Following its stock market debut, SpaceX briefly rose above both Amazon and Microsoft in market capitalization, an extraordinary milestone for a company that began as a private rocket maker. Analysts and investors are now debating whether the company can sustain a valuation at that level, weighing its launch business, Starlink growth and broader space ambitions against concerns the early trading surge may not last.

A French government minister has suggested that fines imposed on American technology companies could be used as a source of funding for European Union spending, describing the penalties as a kind of piggy bank for Brussels. The remarks highlight growing friction between the EU and US tech giants over regulation, taxation and who benefits from multi-billion-euro penalties.