Bloomberg Facebook Inc. said it acquired visual shopping and artificial intelligence startup GrokStyle Inc. in a move to bolster the social-media company’s own AI work. GrokStyle’s technology, which was integrated into Ikea’s mobile app, was simple in practice. A user takes a picture of a piece of furniture and the technology would match it to similar products that could be ...

Bloomberg Luminance Technologies Ltd., a UK company that sells artificial intelligence (AI) software that helps lawyers review documents and conduct due diligence, has been valued at $100 million in its latest funding round. The company said it got $10 million from existing investors, including venture capital firms Invoke Capital and Talis Capital, as well as the law firm Slaughter and ...

Bloomberg WestJet Airlines Ltd. is outgrowing its crush on Boeing Co.’s Max 7 jet, adding to concerns about the future of the smallest member of the 737 Max family. The Canadian carrier is switching its focus — and some of its orders — to larger, more fuel-efficient versions of the plane that fit better with its cost-cutting goals, Chief Executive ...

Bloomberg One of Ocado Group Plc’s largest UK warehouses is expected to be completely destroyed by a fire, constraining the online grocer’s ability to meet customer demand and cutting sales growth. The blaze hit the 45-million pound ($58 million) automated facility in Andover, England, that manages as many as 70,000 orders a week. Although under control, it caused a collapsed ...

Bloomberg Airbnb Inc isn’t building an airline. It’s not going to start a generic flight booking platform. In fact, years after promising to get into the aviation business, Airbnb still hasn’t “settled on exactly” what it’s doing in air travel, Chief Executive Officer Brian Chesky said in a statement. But the startup is hiring a former top airline executive to ...

Bloomberg African online retailer Jumia is planning an initial public offering in New York this year that could value the business at about $1.5 billion, according to people familiar with the matter. Jumia’s largest shareholder MTN Group Ltd. is planning to raise as much as $600 million from selling its shares through the IPO, said one of the people, who ...

VATICAN / WAM His Holiness Pope Francis, Head of the Catholic Church, reflected on his Journey to the United Arab Emirates, at his General Audience on Wednesday. The journey to the UAE “wrote a new page in the history of dialogue between Christianity and Islam,” His Holiness the Pope said, affirming that the visit underlined the commitment to “promote peace ...

Bloomberg Oil steadied below $54 a barrel as signs of weakening economic growth from Europe to the US and a reported increase in American crude stockpiles were offset by supply curbs from Opec and its allies. Futures in New York fell as much as 1.5 percent before paring losses. Growth concerns were fueled by a drop in German factory orders, ...

Bloomberg The world’s biggest oil companies are pumping out cash like crude’s at $100 a barrel again, and investors love it. Exxon Mobil Corp, Royal Dutch Shell Plc, Chevron Corp and BP Plc smashed analysts’ earnings estimates for the fourth quarter, giving investors assurance that their dividends and buybacks are secure even with oil trading near $60. Those companies together ...

Bloomberg London notched up 16.2 billion pounds ($21 billion) of investment in commercial real estate last year, beating out Manhattan for the top spot globally despite mounting anxiety about Brexit. In fact, the pound’s 13 percent decline against the dollar since Britain’s 2016 vote to leave the European Union, together with enduring demand from tenants for office space, have proven ...