Topic: regulatory approval
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Tesla's Full Self-Driving Hits Major EU Roadblock
Tesla's plan to deploy Full Self-Driving (FSD) in Europe by February 2026 has been disputed by Dutch regulators, contradicting the company's earlier announcement of approval. The Netherlands Vehicle Authority clarified that a final decision on FSD approval is not guaranteed, emphasizing that traf...
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XBase Wins Dubai VARA Approval for Broker-Dealer Licence
XBase, a subsidiary of XBD Group, has received In-Principle Approval from Dubai's VARA for a Broker-Dealer Services Licence, advancing it toward full operations and supporting Dubai's status as a regulated virtual assets hub. This approval aligns with the UAE's rapid digital finance growth, posit...
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Bybit Partners with QNB Group to Accept QCDT, Unlocking Institutional Crypto Access
Bybit has partnered with QNB Group and DMZ Finance to integrate QCDT, the first DFSA-approved tokenized money market fund, as collateral, bridging traditional and digital finance. QCDT is backed by U.S. Treasuries and operates under regulatory frameworks, offering institutional-grade security and...
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iPhone Air China Launch Delayed Due to eSIM Problems
Apple has delayed the iPhone Air launch in China due to regulatory issues with its eSIM-only design, which conflicts with the country's preference for physical SIM cards. The delay affects preorders, with all three major Chinese carriers awaiting approval to support eSIM functionality, indicating...
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Waymo Robotaxis Now Serve San Francisco International Airport
Waymo has launched a commercial service providing autonomous rides to and from San Francisco International Airport, a key expansion of its geographic reach and a highly requested feature. The launch occurs amid safety scrutiny, as federal agencies are investigating incidents involving Waymo vehic...
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Paramount's $108B Hostile Bid for Warner Challenges Netflix
Paramount has made an unsolicited, all-cash $108 billion bid to acquire Warner Bros. Discovery, directly challenging a prior deal with Netflix. The company argues its offer is superior, providing a significant cash premium and a simpler, faster transaction compared to Netflix's riskier, mixed-fin...
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Waymo Cleared to Expand Robotaxi Service Across California
Waymo has received regulatory approval to expand its autonomous vehicle testing and deployment across much of California, including the Bay Area, Sacramento, and a Southern California corridor from Santa Clarita to San Diego. The company must secure additional clearances before offering paid ride...
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AI's New Role in Measuring Pain
Artificial intelligence is being used for objective pain assessment through facial analysis, with the PainChek app already deployed in aged care in Australia and other countries, showing reductions in antipsychotic use and falls. The AI system provides a quick, standardized pain score via smartph...
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Starlink's $20/mo 5G Phone Service to End Dead Zones
Starlink's Direct-to-Cell service, enabled by a $17 billion spectrum acquisition, aims to provide global, affordable connectivity and eliminate dead zones worldwide. The service is expected to cost $10 to $20 per month, leveraging SpaceX's advanced satellites and Starship rocket to bypass traditi...
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Waymo Expands Robotaxi Service to 3 New Cities
Waymo is expanding its commercial robotaxi service to San Diego, Las Vegas, and Detroit, with a planned public rollout next year to accelerate its driverless technology deployment. The expansion requires regulatory approvals in Nevada and Michigan, and the company faces local opposition in other ...
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Kalshi Hits $11B Valuation With $1B Funding Round
Kalshi raised $1 billion in funding, increasing its valuation to $11 billion, with backing from investors like Sequoia and CapitalG, reflecting rapid growth and investor confidence. The platform and its competitor Polymarket gained user traction by enabling bets on events like the U.S. presidenti...
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Adobe Buys Semrush in $1.9 Billion Cash Deal
Adobe is acquiring Semrush for $1.9 billion, integrating its SEO and AI-driven visibility tools into Adobe's Digital Experience portfolio to enhance search marketing capabilities. The acquisition, expected to finalize in the first half of 2026, will undergo regulatory review and aims to address t...
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Vay's Remote Driving Tech Could Secure $410M From Grab
German startup Vay secured a $60 million investment from Grab, with potential to grow to $410 million if performance targets are met, aimed at expanding its remote-controlled car rental service in the U.S. Vay's business model uses human operators to remotely deliver rental vehicles, targeting co...
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Tesla's Cybercab Production Starts in April, Musk Says
Tesla will begin manufacturing its fully autonomous Cybercab in April at its Austin facility, featuring no traditional controls like a steering wheel or pedals. The Cybercab is designed for the lowest cost-per-mile autonomous operation, with an ambitious production target of a 10-second cycle tim...
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SpaceX's FCC Push Secures $17B EchoStar Spectrum Deal
SpaceX has secured a $17 billion deal to acquire spectrum licenses from EchoStar, strengthening its satellite communications market position and resolving regulatory issues. The agreement includes $8.5 billion in cash, an equivalent in SpaceX stock, and $2 billion in debt interest payments, follo...
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GE Aerospace Invests $300M in Beta Tech for Hybrid-Electric Power
GE Aerospace is investing $300 million in Beta Technologies to co-develop a next-generation hybrid-electric turbogenerator, aiming to enhance aircraft performance and sustainability. The partnership combines GE's extensive engine expertise with Beta's cutting-edge electric propulsion knowledge to...
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Warner Bros. Discovery Urges Shareholders to Reject Paramount Bid
Warner Bros. Discovery's board unanimously recommends shareholders reject a higher $108 billion offer from Paramount Skydance, deeming it inadequate and risky. The board endorses Netflix's $82.7 billion bid instead, citing it as providing superior and more certain value for shareholders and a bet...
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OnePlus 15 US Release Date: What We Know
The OnePlus 15 US release is delayed due to a backlog in FCC certification caused by the government shutdown, despite the phone already launching in China with a set price of $899. The device features a 7,300mAh silicon-carbon battery, providing exceptional performance and the potential for two-d...
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Apple Watch Expands Hypertension Alerts to 7 New Countries
Apple has expanded its hypertension notification feature for the Apple Watch to seven new countries, including Australia and Brazil, bringing it to a total of 170 countries and regions worldwide. The feature uses the watch's heart sensor and an algorithm to passively monitor for signs of elevated...
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Netflix ups Warner Bros. bid with all-cash offer
Netflix has revised its offer for Warner Bros. Discovery to an all-cash deal valued at $27.75 per share, aiming to accelerate the sale process and counter Paramount's competing hostile bid. The all-cash structure is intended to provide greater financial certainty and facilitate a quicker sharehol...
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Elon Musk Misses Full Self-Driving Deadline Again
Tesla has delayed its timeline for achieving unsupervised Full Self-Driving, with CEO Elon Musk now stating the company must first accumulate about 10 billion miles of data, moving the goalposts again. The current robotaxi service remains a supervised, limited test far from the promised national ...
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Miraqules to Unveil Blood-Clotting Tech at TechCrunch Disrupt 2025
Miraqules will debut its revolutionary blood-clotting nanotechnology at TechCrunch Disrupt 2025, a powder that mimics natural clotting proteins to stop bleeding in one to two minutes, promising to transform emergency medical responses. The innovation originated from an accidental discovery by CEO...
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SoftBank Expands Robotics Empire with ABB Unit Acquisition
SoftBank Group has agreed to acquire ABB's robotics division for $5.375 billion, marking a strategic expansion into "physical AI" and robotics as a core growth area, with the deal expected to close by late 2026. The ABB robotics unit, which employs 7,000 people and generated $2.3 billion in reven...
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Tesla's Full Self-Driving Under Investigation for Traffic Violations
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration is investigating approximately 2.8 million Tesla vehicles with Full Self-Driving technology for traffic violations like running red lights and wrong-way driving. The probe includes 58 safety incidents, with 14 collisions and 23 injuries, where FS...
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Dead Bacteria Turned Into Dog Treats - Human Snacks Next?
MicroHarvest produces nutrient-rich protein from agricultural waste using bacteria, offering a sustainable alternative with 60% protein content for pet food and potential human snacks. Their fermentation process is highly efficient, taking less than 24 hours and reducing land use, deforestation, ...
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Lyft and Baidu Plan Robotaxi Expansion in Europe by 2025
Lyft partners with Baidu to launch self-driving taxis in Europe by 2026, integrating Baidu's Apollo Go vehicles into its platform pending regulatory approval in markets like Germany and the UK. The collaboration reflects Lyft's hybrid network strategy, combining human-driven and autonomous vehicl...
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Trump Media Merges with Nuclear Fusion Firm
Trump Media, parent of Truth Social, is merging with a nuclear fusion firm to form a new entity valued over $6 billion, marking a dramatic pivot from social media to advanced energy. The merged company, led by Donald Trump Jr. on its board, plans to break ground on a utility-scale fusion power pl...
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Starship's Fuel Hurdle: SpaceX's Ingenious Solution
SpaceX must overcome major logistical hurdles to achieve its high-frequency Starship launch goals, including building one Starship per day at its Texas facility and managing two launch pads. Each Starship launch requires over a million gallons of propellant, far exceeding industry norms, and curr...
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G2 Acquires Gartner Division in Strategic Power Move
G2 is acquiring three major software review platforms from Gartner, consolidating a large portion of the B2B review landscape under one company. The combined platform aims to simplify software discovery for buyers and provide vendors with better tools, positioning itself as a trusted data foundat...
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Netflix Enters the Big Leagues
Netflix's $83 billion acquisition of Warner Bros. transforms it into a Hollywood studio powerhouse, granting control of major franchises like Harry Potter and HBO to secure long-term subscriber-retaining content. The sale concludes a period of financial strain for Warner Bros. Discovery, driven b...
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Max Hodak's Next Venture: Beyond Neuralink
The global brain-computer interface (BCI) sector is rapidly advancing, with nearly 700 companies involved and significant investment from major tech firms and national governments like China. Science Corp., led by former Neuralink co-founder Max Hodak, is focusing on near-term commercial applicat...
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FCC Filing Reveals New MacBook Pro Details
FCC filings reveal unreleased Apple products, including a new MacBook Pro and iPad Pro models, with model numbers not matching current devices. The documents suggest the new iPad Pro models will support Wi-Fi 7, while the MacBook Pro may not, and approvals hint at a near-term launch timeline. App...
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SoftBank Bets $5.4 Billion on AI-Powered Robotics
SoftBank is investing $5.4 billion to acquire ABB's robotics division, marking a major return to robotics and expanding its automated systems portfolio despite past setbacks like the Pepper robot. The acquisition strengthens SoftBank's position in industrial robotics and aligns with founder Masay...
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OpenAI Acquires Statsig for $1.1B in Major Executive Reshuffle
OpenAI has acquired Statsig for $1.1 billion to enhance its product development and analytics capabilities, integrating A/B testing expertise and appointing Vijaye Raji as CTO of Applications. The company is restructuring its leadership, promoting Srinivas Narayanan to CTO of B2B Applications and...
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Google Transforms Cloud Security with $32B Wiz Acquisition
Google's $32B acquisition of Wiz marks a significant milestone in enhancing its cloud security capabilities. Discover the strategic implications and future prospects of this groundbreaking move.
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EA Buyout Stuns Gaming Industry: Key Reactions
A private-equity consortium, including Saudi Arabia's PIF, Silver Lake, and Affinity Partners, has acquired Electronic Arts in a $55 billion leveraged buyout, marking a major shift in the gaming industry. The deal raises concerns about creative control, increased soft power for state-controlled f...
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SpaceX's Falcon Heavy Awaits Customer Demand for California Launch
The Department of the Air Force has authorized SpaceX to conduct up to 100 missions per year from Vandenberg Space Force Base, significantly increasing the launch rate from historical levels. Vandenberg specializes in polar orbit launches, which are crucial for Earth observation satellites and se...
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Fivetran and dbt Merge to Power AI Data Pipelines
Fivetran and dbt are merging to create a unified platform, combining data movement and transformation capabilities to simplify complex data architectures. The new entity will focus on open data infrastructure, supporting multiple cloud environments and tools while maintaining dbt Core as an open-...
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Verizon Names New CEO to Lead Post-5G Era
Dan Schulman, former PayPal CEO, has been appointed as Verizon's new CEO to lead the company's expansion, replacing Hans Vestberg who will stay on as an advisor until 2026. Under Vestberg's leadership, Verizon launched its nationwide 5G network, adapted to longer consumer device replacement cycle...
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Nvidia Demands Upfront Payment for H200 AI Chips in China
Nvidia now requires Chinese customers to pay the full cost upfront for its H200 AI chips, with no refunds or cancellations, marking a stricter sales policy. The policy is a response to geopolitical risks, as final U.S. and Chinese regulatory approvals are pending, with China expected to impose st...
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Qualcomm Acquires Arduino, Launches New Raspberry Pi Rival
Qualcomm has acquired Arduino, which will continue to operate under its own brand and uphold its open-source principles while expanding Qualcomm's reach in prototyping and education. The acquisition will give Arduino's 33 million users access to Qualcomm's advanced technology, benefiting develope...
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ÄIO Makes Edible Fat From Sawdust and Farm Waste
ÄIO, an Estonian startup, produces edible fats from agricultural byproducts like sawdust and farm waste using a unique yeast strain that converts sugars into fats instead of carbon dioxide or alcohol. The resulting fats are versatile, resembling chicken fat in solid form or vegetable oils like ca...
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Drone Delivery: The Future of Burritos?
Zipline, a drone delivery company, has completed millions of deliveries since 2016, ranging from consumer goods in the US to critical medical supplies in Africa, with its reach expanding significantly. The company operates two drone systems: the fixed-wing P1 for long-range medical deliveries in ...
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Apple's 25W MagSafe Charger Now Works With Android Phones
Apple's new 25W MagSafe Charger now supports select Android devices in addition to Apple products, enhancing flexibility for users in the MagSafe ecosystem. The charger, available in 1-meter and 2-meter cable options for $39 and $49 respectively, was first noted in regulatory filings in Taiwan be...
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Fivetran and dbt Labs Merge in Major Data Infrastructure Shift
Fivetran and dbt Labs have merged in an all-stock deal to create an open data infrastructure platform that integrates data movement, transformation, and activation, aiming to simplify workflows and support various tools and AI models. The merger reinforces a commitment to open-source development,...
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Fertility Startup Revitalizes Human Eggs to Improve Conception Odds
A groundbreaking fertility startup is pioneering new methods to enhance human egg quality, potentially transforming IVF success rates for hopeful parents.Based in Germany, Ovo Labs has developed innovative therapies designed to "rejuvenate" aging eggs, addressing one of the biggest challenges in reproductive medicine. The technology could significantly improve outcomes for women undergoing in vitro fertilization (IVF).
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