Bloomberg Volkswagen AG will spend more than 34 billion euros ($40 billion) over the next five years to develop automotive technology for an era of electric robo-taxis. With the unprecedented investment through 2022, Volkswagen is accelerating its push into battery-powered vehicles, autonomous-driving features and ride-hailing systems, the Wolfsburg, Germany-based company said in a statement. Volkswagen is seeking to defend its ...

Bloomberg AT&T Inc. has deployed a drone to act as a “cell tower in the sky” to help provide communication services in hurricane-ravaged Puerto Rico, the first time the technology has been used to reconnect residents after a disaster, the company said. The Federal Aviation Administration announced its approval for the use of the vehicle, which resembles a small helicopter. ...

Bloomberg Apple Inc. is working on a rear-facing 3-D sensor system for the iPhone in 2019, another step towards turning the handset into a leading augmented-reality device, according to people familiar with the plan. Apple is evaluating a different technology from the one it currently uses in the TrueDepth sensor system on the front of the iPhone X, the people ...

Bloomberg China’s central bank said it will closely monitor liquidity conditions amid its campaign to reduce debt levels, in a quarte-rly report where it reiterated a commitment to “prudent and neutral” monetary policy. The People’s Bank of China seeks an “optimal” environment to help stabilize economic growth, while facilitating dele-veraging, curbing bubbles and preventing risks, according to a quarterly report ...

Bloomberg Canadian inflation eased for the first time in four months in October as gasoline prices fell and the economy showed few signs of price pressure, bolstering the view the central bank can afford to wait before it tightens policy further. Annual inflation decelerated to 1.4 percent, from 1.6 percent in September, Statistics Canada reported in Ottawa. That matched the ...

Bloomberg New rules that were supposed to protect depositors may end up making them vulnerable to fraudsters. Changing the account data of about a million clients at banks including Barclays Plc and HSBC Holdings Plc is a golden opportunity for hackers, the UK’s Financial Conduct Authority has warned banks. The FCA has briefed lenders about its concerns, as British banks ...

Bloomberg Polish wages grew at the fastest pace in more than five years, casting fresh doubt over the central bank’s ability to keep a lid on inflation. The readout showed a 7.4 percent wage increase in October from a year earlier, exposing a steeper acceleration than forecast by 23 of the 24 economists surveyed by Bloomberg. Wage growth was distorted ...

Bloomberg It’s only a matter of time before central banks adopt blockchain to settle high-value, interbank fund transfers, according to the head of Ripple, whose technology has won support from former Fed Chairman Ben S. Bernanke. As the technology, which is based on encrypted distributed ledgers, catches on, central banks around the world will be afraid to miss out, Ripple ...

Bloomberg President Donald Trump has compared landing at Los Angeles International and other US airports to arriving in a third-world country. But a provision in the tax bill passed by the House of Representatives would eliminate a tool central to his $1 trillion pledge to upgrade airports and other public works. The House measure would eliminate a form of tax-exempt ...

Bloomberg Coca-Cola Co., facing a world where consumers fill up Amazon baskets instead of grocery carts, is trying to raise its tech game. The 131-year-old beverage company is taking its understanding of driving real-life traffic to the world of e-commerce. That includes upping the appearance of its “digital shelf,” integrating with voice products like Amazon’s Echo, and adding impulse buy ...