Technology

Europe should not cede its sovereignty to Silicon Valley when it comes to using technology to help trace those at risk of coronavirus infection, the German developers of a smartphone app said on Tuesday.

A global race is on to develop smartphone apps and other types of mobile phone surveillance systems to track and contain the spread of the novel coronavirus.

Autodesk Inc on Tuesday said it would take a minority stake in a Texas company that makes software for planning and building infrastructure projects such as roads and bridges.

Amazon.com Inc said on Tuesday it terminated two employees, who criticized the working conditions at the e-commerce giant's warehouses in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic, for "repeatedly violating internal policies".

Lightspeed Venture Partners said on Tuesday it raised more than $4 billion for three new funds to support early and growth stage entrepreneurs even as the coronavirus outbreak threatens the global economy.

Cisco Systems Inc on Tuesday launched a $2.5 billion financing program that lets its customers defer 95% of payments until 2021, giving companies additional leeway at time when some are facing a cash crunch but also need more remote-work tools.

SoftBank Group Corp's estimate it will post a record $13 billion full-year loss, dragged down by its spluttering $100 billion Vision Fund, has renewed attention on a planned asset sell-down aimed at raising cash and restoring confidence.

Britain's media regulator Ofcom is assessing an ITV programme after a presenter questioned why the mainstream media had slapped down a conspiracy theory linking the spread of the coronavirus to 5G masts.

The world's leading economies need to plug gaps in their rulebooks to avoid digital currencies like Facebook's planned Libra stablecoin from undermining financial stability, the Group of 20 Economies' (G20) regulatory watchdog said on Tuesday.

Coupang Corp, one of South Korea's biggest e-commerce firms, said on Tuesday its operating loss shrank by a third last year, helped by a 64% climb in revenue as it expanded its customer base and online demand for home appliances and groceries surged.

Apple Inc shipped roughly 2.5 million iPhones in China in March, a slight rebound after one of its worst months in the country ever, according to government data published on Friday.

SoftBank Group Corp shares fell 3.5% on Tuesday morning after estimating the Vision Fund will record a 1.8 trillion yen ($16.73 billion) loss in the year ended March due to the tumbling value of bets on unproven startups.

As lockdowns worldwide drive a surge in internet use, boosting online sales for businesses as varied as gaming and food delivery, the stocks of internet providers are an unlikely laggard on global markets.

Amazon will begin to put new grocery delivery customers on a wait list and curtail shopping hours at some Whole Foods stores to prioritize orders from existing customers buying food online during the coronavirus outbreak, the company said on Sunday.

About 1.7 million people downloaded the new entertainment streaming app Quibi during its first week on the market, Chief Executive Meg Whitman told CNBC television on Monday.

Dish Network Corp has cut staff and is re-evaluating its business to cope better with the fallout from the coronavirus pandemic, the U.S. satellite TV provider told Reuters, without disclosing the number of employees laid off.

EBay Inc on Monday named Walmart executive Jamie Iannone as its top boss, handing over the reins to an outsider as the e-commerce firm deals with pressure from activist investor Starboard Value to shake up its management.

Amazon.com Inc said on Monday it would hire 75,000 more people for jobs ranging from warehouse staff to delivery drivers as the coronavirus epidemic keeps Americans locked in their homes and demand for online orders surge.

Authorities in northern Vietnam have ordered people working at a unit of Samsung Display in the country to be quarantined after a worker there tested positive for the new coronavirus.

Several Dutch cellular broadcasting towers have been damaged by arson or sabotage in the past week by opponents of a rollout of a new 5G telecommunications network, newspaper De Telegraaf reported on Saturday.