U.S. Supreme Court weighs South Dakota e-commerce sale tax fight

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. Supreme Court on Tuesday will consider whether to let states force out-of-state online retailers to collect sales taxes on purchases in a fight potentially worth billions of dollars pitting South Dakota against e-commerce businesses.

U.S.-based cryptocurrency exchange Kraken quits Japan: Bloomberg

(Reuters) - U.S.-based cryptocurrency exchange Kraken will stop its trading services in Japan, citing rising costs of doing business there, Bloomberg reported on Tuesday.

Walmart gives its website a makeover in latest e-commerce push

CHICAGO (Reuters) - Walmart Inc, the world's largest brick-and-mortar retailer, said on Tuesday it has made extensive changes to its website, betting that a cleaner, more modern walmart.com will help it win market share from Amazon.com Inc.

Elon Musk's Boring Co raises $112.5 million in funding, most from Musk

(Reuters) - Elon Musk's Boring Co said on Monday it raised $112.5 million in equity, with 90 percent coming from Musk himself, as the company seeks to build underground tunnels for its hyperloop transportation project.

Tesla says Model 3 production shut down temporarily

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Tesla Inc has temporarily suspended its Model 3 assembly line in what the company said on Monday was a planned production pause, as the automaker continues to face challenges ramping up its new sedan.

Facebook must face class action over facial recognition: U.S. judge

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - A U.S. federal judge ruled on Monday that Facebook Inc must face a class action lawsuit alleging that the social network unlawfully used a facial recognition process on photos without user permission.

Tesla temporarily shuts down Model 3 production in Fremont

(Reuters) - Tesla Inc on Monday said it was having a planned downtime on the Model 3 production, after a BuzzFeed report said the carmaker had temporarily shut down Model 3 production in the company's Fremont, California, plant without warning.

Netflix programming binge pays off with subscriber surge

(Reuters) - Netflix Inc's blitz of original programs attracted a surprisingly high 7.4 million new customers from January to March, reassuring investors who are betting the video streaming pioneer's massive spending will fuel growth around the world.

Elon Musk's Boring Company raises $112.5 million for hyperloop

(Reuters) - Elon Musk's Boring Company has raised $112.5 million in equity, the firm said in a regulatory filing on Monday, as it seeks to build underground tunnels for its hyperloop transportation project.

Exclusive: BlackRock's biggest stock-picking fund likes Facebook shares

NEW YORK (Reuters) - The biggest stock-picking fund at BlackRock Inc raised its bet on Facebook Inc in March, a source familiar with the matter said, making the social media company a top 10 equity holding and apparently betting that Facebook's privacy scandal will not weigh on the stock for long.

Netflix original shows lure more new subscribers than expected

(Reuters) - Netflix Inc's blitz of new programming attracted a surprisingly high 7.4 million new customers from January to March, reassuring investors who are betting the video streaming pioneer's massive spending will fuel growth around the world.

T-Mobile to pay $40 million over false ring tones on rural U.S. calls

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - T-Mobile USA Inc agreed on Monday to pay $40 million to resolve a government investigation that found it failed to correct problems with delivering calls in rural areas and inserted false ring tones in hundreds of millions of calls, the Federal Communications Commission said.

Majority of divisive Facebook ads bought by "suspicious groups" - study

(Reuters) - Most of the political ads about divisive issues that ran on Facebook Inc before the 2016 U.S. presidential election were sponsored by "suspicious groups" with no publicly available information about them, according to a study released on Monday and based on a database of five million ads...

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Lawmakers publish evidence that Cambridge Analytica work helped Brexit group

LONDON (Reuters) - British lawmakers on Monday published evidence that Brexit campaign group Leave.EU benefited from work by Cambridge Analytica, a political consultancy at the center of a recent storm over use of Facebook data.

Toyota to launch 'talking' vehicles in United States in 2021

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Toyota Motor Corp plans to start selling U.S. vehicles that can talk to each other using short-range wireless technology in 2021, the Japanese automaker said on Monday, potentially preventing thousands of accidents annually.

Zuckerberg testimony undermines Facebook stance in terrorism case: U.S. court filing

NEW YORK (Reuters) - A lawyer for victims of terrorist attacks in Israel on Monday urged a federal appeals court to revive their lawsuit against Facebook Inc, saying Mark Zuckerberg's congressional testimony undermined the social media company's argument that it bore no responsibility for content on...

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Exclusive: Google unveils vetting process for drug rehab ads

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Google told Reuters Monday it would resume accepting ads from U.S. addiction treatment centers in July, nearly a year after the Alphabet Inc unit suspended the lucrative category of advertisers for numerous deceptive and misleading ads.

France builds WhatsApp rival due to surveillance risk

PARIS (Reuters) - The French government is building its own encrypted messenger service to ease fears that foreign entities could spy on private conversations between top officials, the digital ministry said on Monday.

EU digital chief to meet with Facebook CEO amid privacy scandal

BRUSSELS (Reuters) - The European Union's digital chief will meet with Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg in San Francisco as the world's largest social network faces increasing scrutiny over its use of personal data.

British facial verification tech firm secures U.S. border contract

LONDON (Reuters) - A British technology firm has been awarded a contract by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to use biometric facial verification technology to improve border control, the first foreign firm to win such a contract in the United States.

Barclays targets technology with venture capital-style business

LONDON (Reuters) - Barclays said it has set up a venture capital-style unit to drive innovation and returns within its UK business.

Russia starts blocking Telegram messenger

MOSCOW (Reuters) - Russia's state telecommunications regulator said on Monday it had begun blocking access to Telegram messenger after the company refused to comply with an order to give Russian state security access to its users' secret messages.

Philippines complains Facebook fact-checkers are biased

MANILA (Reuters) - The Philippines government criticized on Monday Facebook's choice of two independent online news platforms to help fight the spread of fake news, saying they are biased against President Rodrigo Duterte.

UK pubs group JD Wetherspoon drops social media in protest

(Reuters) - British pubs group JD Wetherspoon closed all its social media accounts on Monday, saying it was taking a stand against an industry accused of misusing personal data and allowing bullying to run rife.

Russia starts blocking Telegram messenger: regulator

MOSCOW (Reuters) - Russia's state telecommunications regulator said on Monday it had begun blocking access to messenger service Telegram, implementing a decision by a Russian court.

Oracle co-CEO Catz expects acceleration in cloud business

TEL AVIV (Reuters) - Oracle Corp co-CEO Safra Catz said on Monday she expects an acceleration in the company's cloud business after the software maker last month reported sales from its cloud business that fell short of Wall Street expectations.

Indian ride-hailing firm Ola to add 10,000 electric three-wheelers to fleet

NEW DELHI (Reuters) - Indian ride-hailing firm Ola, backed by Japan's SoftBank Group, said it will add 10,000 electric three-wheelers to its fleet over the next 12 months as part of a plan to promote the use of electric vehicles.

Italian minister calls Vivendi 'awful' investor in Telecom Italia

MILAN (Reuters) - Vivendi has been an "awful" investor in Telecom Italia (TIM) , Italy's outgoing Industry Minister Carlo Calenda told la Repubblica daily on Monday, as the French media group fights to keep its grip on Italy's biggest phone group.

Qualcomm to refile China antitrust application for $44 billion NXP takeover: sources

BEIJING (Reuters) - U.S. chipmaker Qualcomm will refile as early as Monday an application with the Chinese government to clear its $44 billion takeover of NXP Semiconductors , sources said, giving regulators more time to decide on the deal and averting a collapse.

Singapore proposes allowing some Airbnb type rentals but with cap

SINGAPORE (Reuters) - Singapore proposed on Monday allowing private home owners to let out their property for short-term rentals but with an annual cap of 90 days a year - part of a consultation process welcomed by rental service Airbnb.