Bloomberg China’s plan to judge each of its 1.3 billion people based on their social behaviour is moving a step closer to reality, with Beijing set to adopt a lifelong points program by 2021 that assigns personalised ratings for each resident. The capital city will pool data from several departments to reward and punish some 22 million citizens based on ...
Read More »Google’s takeover of Deepmind Health sparks privacy concerns
Bloomberg Three years ago, artificial intelligence company DeepMind embarked on a landmark effort to transform health care in the UK. Now plans by owner Alphabet Inc to wrap the partnership into its Google search engine business are tripping alarm bells about privacy. Data protection advocates cried foul when the company reversed course on a pledge to keep DeepMind Health, which ...
Read More »PG&E climbs as lawmaker plans wildfire relief bill
Bloomberg PG&E Corp rose after a California lawmaker requested a bill to help the state’s largest utility absorb liabilities from this year’s fatal wildfires. Kellie Smith, an adviser to assemblyman Chris Holden, said she is drafting legislation that could be introduced as early as December 3. It may serve as a framework for lawmakers to consider relief for PG&E from ...
Read More »EU’s FDI screening gets negotiators’ nod
Bloomberg European Union negotiators approved the first bloc-wide rules to prevent foreign investments from threatening national security in a sign of growing political unease over Chinese acquisitions. Representatives of EU governments and the European Parliament agreed on draft legislation to screen foreign direct investments (FDI). The deal in Brussels ends 14 months of deliberations over an initiative that for years ...
Read More »Boston Scientific falls after $4.2bn BTG deal
Bloomberg Shares of Boston Scientific Corp fell the most in more than three years, after the medical device company said it would buy BTG Plc for 3.3 billion pounds ($4.2 billion). While the deal will give Boston Scientific new products for the treatment of cancer and other disorders, it will add to the US company’s debt. It also likely takes ...
Read More »Uber to withhold Mexico driver taxes
Bloomberg After months of setbacks, Mexico is now on the cusp of rolling out an automatic tax payment system that forms a key part of its effort to crack down on evasion. And the government scored a marquee name — Uber Technologies Inc — to be its first participant, according to a person familiar with the negotiations. For Mexico, it’s ...
Read More »Elon Musk’s SpaceX cuts loan deal by $500 million
Bloomberg SpaceX slashed the size of the leveraged loan it sought by $500 million, according to people with knowledge of the matter, the latest twist in a saga that had already seen Elon Musk’s closest ally on Wall Street balk at the terms of the deal. Space Exploration Technologies Corp reduced the loan to $250 million despite having enough investors ...
Read More »Trump? Obama? No, thank these three for the economy
In economic terms, Americans have a lot to be thankful for this year. Unemployment is at record lows, more people are actually working (as opposed to dropping out of the workforce), and wage growth is improving for workers on the low end of the scale. Other countries, when recovering after a big financial crisis, have suffered though a “lost decade†...
Read More »Italy finds a friend in US hedge fund
A corporate battle at Telecom Italia SpA shows why it’s tough to be an investor in Italy these days. The government is interfering with a private company to get hold of its most prized asset: the country’s phone and broadband network. The opposition tacitly supports the plan. Italy is playing fast and loose with property rights and no one seems ...
Read More »Facebook’s scandals show urgent need for change
How did Facebook Inc., mere distributor of clicks and likes, become the nexus of so many crises? And why does it always seem to make things worse? Facing global criticism over privacy breaches and the Russian disinformation campaign, according to the New York Times, Facebook dissembled publicly, stifled dissent internally, called in political favors, and hired a consulting firm to ...
Read More »