Credit Karma to launch free ID monitoring following Equifax hack

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Credit Karma Inc is launching a new free service that will alert customers if their identity data has been compromised in hacks, the San Francisco-based fintech company said on Friday in the wake of massive breach at credit monitoring agency Equifax Inc(EFX.N). The new ID monito...

Continue reading

Senator Warren introduces Equifax bill, launches industry probe

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. Senator Elizabeth Warren said on Friday she has begun an investigation into Equifax’s (EFX.N) massive data breach and, along with 11 other Democratic senators, introduced a bill to give consumers the ability to freeze their credit for free. Warren, who has built a r...

Continue reading

U.S. push for self-driving law exposes regulatory divide

NEW YORK (Reuters) - As the U.S. Congress moves quickly to pass the first federal law governing self-driving cars, some state and city officials are pushing back over fears that the measure will limit their ability to regulate vehicle safety at the local level. The debate highlights the challenges o...

Continue reading

Facebook hires AI expert, launches lab in Canada's Montreal

TORONTO (Reuters) - Facebook Inc (FB.O) has hired artificial intelligence academic Joelle Pineau to head its new research lab in Montreal, the Silicon Valley social media company said on Friday. Once the exclusive domain of academic researchers, artificial intelligence has grabbed the attention of t...

Continue reading

Facebook hires prominent artificial-intelligence expert to open Montreal lab

TORONTO (Reuters) - Facebook Inc (FB.O) plans to open an artificial-intelligence laboratory in Montreal, which will be run by prominent AI researcher Joelle Pineau, two people familiar with the plan said on Friday. The company will invest $7 million to support AI research at academic institutions in...

Continue reading

Praesidium cuts stake in Progress Software, seeks board seats

(Reuters) - Activist investor Praesidium Investment Management on Friday cut its stake in Progress Software Corp and urged the company’s chairman of the board, Jack Egan, to resign. Praesidium, which trimmed its stake to 8.8 percent from 9.05 percent, also urged the company to add five members...

Continue reading

Beijing cryptocurrency exchanges told to announce trading halt: source

SHANGHAI (Reuters) - Chinese authorities have ordered Beijing-based cryptocurrency exchanges to cease trading and immediately notify users of their closure, signaling a widening crackdown by authorities on the industry to contain financial risks. Exchanges were also told to stop allowing new user re...

Continue reading

BMW says car keys may be replaced by mobile phone apps

FRANKFURT (Reuters) - BMW (BMWG.DE) is reviewing the necessity of car keys, Ian Robertson, the company’s board member responsible for sales told Reuters. The fact that customers now all carry a smartphone and the availability of a BMW App which allows customers to unlock their vehicle, has mad...

Continue reading

Beijing crypto-currency exchanges told to announce trading stop by Friday: Securities Times

SHANGHAI (Reuters) - Chinese authorities have ordered Beijing-based crypto-currency exchanges to cease trading and to tell users by Friday about when trading will end, the Securities Times newspaper reported citing industry sources and a government notice. The newspaper said the Beijing city regulat...

Continue reading

Angry Birds maker Rovio moves forward with $1 billion IPO

HELSINKI (Reuters) - Finnish mobile games maker Rovio Entertainment Ltd set a price range on Friday for its planned listing that would value the maker of “Angry Birds” at up to $1.1 billion, well below potential values cited in media reports. The company, whose business is recovering aft...

Continue reading

Angry Birds maker Rovio sets price range for $1 billion IPO

HELSINKI (Reuters) - Finnish mobile games and animation studio Rovio Entertainment Ltd on Friday set the initial price range for its planned IPO which would value the company at around 1 billion dollars. The preliminary price range of 10.25-11.50 euros per share would give Rovio a market value of be...

Continue reading

China body calls digital tokens risky, two bitcoin platforms to shut

SHANGHAI (Reuters) - A senior executive at China’s state-backed internet finance body said on Friday “stateless” digital tokens such as bitcoin posed risks as they could be used for illegal actions, and rules are needed to support the development of “legal” digital curr...

Continue reading

China internet finance body suggests framework for virtual currencies

SHANGHAI (Reuters) - A senior executive at China’s internet finance body has urged Chinese regulators to create a tougher framework of regulations to support the development of digital currencies amid Beijing’s crackdown on trading on virtual tender such as bitcoin. Chinese regulators ar...

Continue reading

Portland probe finds Uber used software to evade 16 government officials

(Reuters) - A sweeping investigation by the city of Portland, Oregon, found that Uber Technologies Inc [UBER.UL] used a software tool to intentionally evade 16 government officials whose job it was to regulate the ride-services company, city officials said on Thursday. When Uber began operating in P...

Continue reading

China internet finance body suggests framework to support virtual currencies

SHANGHAI (Reuters) - A senior executive at China’s internet finance association has urged Chinese regulators to create a framework of regulations to support the development of digital currencies amid a fierce crackdown on trading on virtual tender such as bitcoin. Li Lihui, a senior official a...

Continue reading

Alphabet talks with Lyft about possible investment: source

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Alphabet Inc (GOOGL.O) is in discussions with Lyft Inc about a possible investment in the ride-hailing company, potentially deepening an existing partnership between the two firms, a person familiar with the talks said on Thursday. An injection of support from one of Silico...

Continue reading

Facebook removes feature that let ads reach 'Jew haters'

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Facebook Inc (FB.O) this week stopped advertisers from targeting messages to people interested in topics such as “Jew haters” and “how to burn Jews” after journalists inquired about it, the news organization ProPublica reported on Thursday. ProPublic...

Continue reading

Oracle's profit beats as shift to cloud gains momentum

(Reuters) - Oracle Corp reported a better-than-expected quarterly profit on Thursday, in the latest indication that the business software maker’s shift to cloud is gaining traction after years-long effort. The company’s shares were down 2.5 percent in after-market trading. They had gaine...

Continue reading

Kaspersky Lab co-founder accepts invitation to testify to U.S. Congress

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Eugene Kaspersky, the co-founder and chief executive of Moscow-based anti-virus firm Kaspersky Lab, said on Thursday he accepted an invitation to testify to U.S. lawmakers later this month over the security of his company’s products, but that he needed an expedited visa ...

Continue reading

U.S. election agency seeks comment after Facebook cites Russian ads

(Reuters) - The U.S. Federal Election Commission voted on Thursday to seek public comment on possible regulatory changes after Facebook Inc (FB.O) said that Russians bought ads on the No. 1 social network during the U.S. presidential campaign. Commissioners agreed to accept comment for 30 days on wh...

Continue reading