Technology

Bloomberg Microsoft Corp. and video-game chat company Discord Inc. have ended takeover talks after Discord rejected a $12 billion bid, according to people familiar with the matter. Discord is now focused on a potential public listing in the long term, the people said, asking not to be identified because the deliberations are private. Twitter Inc also expressed interest in buying ...

Bloomberg The European Union (EU) is poised to ban artificial intelligence systems used for mass surveillance or for ranking social behaviour, while companies developing AI could face fines as high as 4% of global revenue if they fail to comply with new rules governing the software applications. The rules are part of legislation set to be proposed by the European ...

Bloomberg Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co., the world’s largest contract chipmaker, warned for the first time that trade tensions may disrupt its access to key production equipment and hit its operations, amid increasing friction between the US and China. The company, which produces semiconductors for Apple Inc. and other major global tech companies, said in its annual report that “ongoing trade ...

Bloomberg Apple Inc has been a laggard in the smart-home space, but a versatile new device in early development could change that. The company is working on a product that would combine an Apple TV set-top box with a HomePod speaker and include a camera for video conferencing via a connected TV and other smart-home functions. The device’s other capabilities ...

Bloomberg Microsoft Corp. is buying speech-recognition pioneer Nuance Communications Inc. in an all-cash deal valued at $19.6 billion, gaining artificial-intelligence technology aimed at helping doctors predict patients’ needs and upgrading hospitals’ digital record-keeping. The software giant is offering to purchase Nuance at $56 a share, ccording to a statement, which confirmed an earlier Bloomberg report. The deal marks Microsoft’s largest ...

Bloomberg Apple Inc. is refusing to participate in an upcoming Senate hearing about anti-competitive practices at online app stores, according to a letter addressed to CEO Tim Cook from Democrat Amy Klobuchar and Mike Lee, a Republican. The letter says the Cupertino, California-based company declined to send a witness for an upcoming hearing of the Senate Judiciary Committee’s antitrust panel ...

Bloomberg Samsung Electronics Co.’s profit for the first quarter rises 44% from the prior year as the early release of a new flagship smartphone and strong gadget sales softened the blow from a Texas power failure that took one of its factories offline. South Korea’s biggest company posted operating income of 9.3 trillion won ($8.3 billion) for the three months ...

Bloomberg Google promised not to silence workers who talk about their pay, part of a settlement resolving one of the first legal complaints filed by a new union representing hundreds of employees and contract workers at the internet giant. “We will not tell you that you cannot discuss policies with other employees,” states the notice to staff, signed by an ...

Bloomberg John Krafcik stepped down as chief executive officer of Alphabet Inc.’s Waymo self-driving vehicle division, making way for two tech industry veterans to jointly take over the business, the company said in a memo. Krafcik, 59, will be replaced by Tekedra Mawakana, Waymo’s chief operating officer, and Dmitri Dolgov, chief technical officer, who will serve as co-CEOs. Mawakana was ...

Bloomberg Intel Corp. unveiled an ambitious bid to regain its manufacturing lead by spending billions of dollars on new factories and creating a foundry business that will make chips for other companies. The plan, launched by new Chief Executive Officer Pat Gelsinger, is an aggressive move that puts Intel into direct competition with Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co., the world’s most-advanced ...