Author: ALJAZEERA

Yerevan, Armenia – The rugged mountains of the southern Caucasus are not an obvious location for a thriving tech startup scene. Situated 7,000 miles from Silicon Valley, landlocked Armenia is buffeted by geopolitical headwinds from all sides. To the north and south, respectively, lie Russia and Iran, two of the most heavily sanctioned countries on the planet. To the east and west, it faces Turkiye and Azerbaijan, adversaries whose relations with Yerevan, respectively, are marked by tensions over the 1915-1916 Armenian genocide and armed conflict over the disputed Nagorno-Karabakh region. Home to fewer than 3 million people, the ex-Soviet state…

The case is a part of a wave of lawsuits against OpenAI over data used to train generative AI systems.Five Canadian news media companies have filed a legal action against ChatGPT owner OpenAI, accusing the artificial intelligence company of regularly breaching copyright and online terms of use. The case, filed on Friday, is part of a wave of lawsuits against OpenAI and other tech companies by authors, visual artists, music publishers and other copyright owners over data used to train generative AI systems. Microsoft is OpenAI’s major backer. In a statement, Torstar, Postmedia, The Globe and Mail, The Canadian Press,…

Brushing snowflakes off her hair, Teagan Hickson walked into a Walmart Supercenter in Fort Wayne, Indiana, with hopes of picking up a few holiday deals on Black Friday. The first thing the mother of two spotted: a pallet stacked high with Gourmia digital air fryer ovens for $50 each. Her sister Jordan had been wanting one, she said, but money was tight right now for everyone in her family. She worried about expenses next year after reading posts on Facebook about price hikes if President-elect Donald Trump’s planned tariffs go into effect in January. “I’m trying to not spend too…

The antitrust watchdog wants Google to sell two ad tech tools and is seeking a penalty as well.Canada’s Competition Bureau is suing Alphabet’s Google over alleged anti-competitive conduct in online advertising, the antitrust watchdog has said. The Competition Bureau, in a statement on Thursday, said it had filed an application with the Competition Tribunal seeking an order that, among other things, requires Google to sell two of its advertisement tech tools. It is also seeking a penalty from Google to promote compliance with Canada’s competition laws, the statement said. Google said the complaint “ignores the intense competition where ad buyers…

Chair of Australia’s national broadcaster claims podcaster preys on ‘people’s vulnerabilities’ and ‘fear’.The chair of Australia’s national broadcaster has accused popular podcaster Joe Rogan of preying on “people’s vulnerabilities” and treating the public as “plunder”. Kim Williams, chair of the Australian Broadcasting Corporation, said on Thursday that he found Rogan’s influence to be “deeply repulsive” and a source of disbelief. “I think people like Mr Rogan prey on people’s vulnerabilities. They prey on fear. They prey on anxiety. They prey on all of the elements that contribute to uncertainty in society, and they entrepreneur fantasy outcomes and conspiracy outcomes as…

The S&P 500 rises 0.57 percent after US president-elect’s tariff announcements roil European and Asian markets.US stocks have hit record highs despite United States President-elect Donald Trump’s pledge to impose sweeping tariffs that threaten to upend international trade. The S&P 500, which measures the performance of 500 of the biggest US firms, rose 0.57 percent on Tuesday to top its previous high set on November 11. The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite climbed even higher, gaining 0.63 percent. The Dow Jones Industrial Average, which tracks 30 large companies including Microsoft, McDonald’s and Goldman Sachs, rose 0.3 percent. Some big-name individual stocks fell,…

United States President-elect Donald Trump has pledged to slap a 25 percent tariff on all goods from Mexico and Canada and an “additional” 10 percent tariff on Chinese products in response to irregular border crossings and drug trafficking. Trump’s announcement on Monday rattled international markets and offered the clearest indication yet that he intends to implement a concentrated form of the unorthodox “America First” economic policies that fueled his return to the White House. In a post on his social media platform Truth Social, Trump said he would impose tariffs on Mexican and Canadian imports on day one of his…

The Department of Justice said Google had ‘deprived rivals’ of opportunities to expand their search engine market share.Alphabet’s Google should be forced to sell its Chrome browser and share data with competitors, prosecutors in the United States have argued, as part of a list of proposals intended to end the tech giant’s monopoly on searching the internet. In a court filing on Wednesday, the US Department of Justice (DOJ) argued that Google, which controls about 90 percent of the online search market, should not be allowed to re-enter the browser market for five years and should sell its Android mobile…

The deals had been sharply criticised over lack of transparency and value for money.Kenyan President William Ruto has ordered the cancellation of a procurement process that had been expected to award control of the country’s main airport to India’s Adani Group after its founder was indicted in the United States. Ruto made the announcement on Thursday in his state of the nation address. Under the proposed deal worth nearly $2bn, the Adani Group was to add a second runway at Jomo Kenyatta International Airport and upgrade the passenger terminal in exchange for a 30-year lease. Ruto also said he was…

Known for his hard-charging style, Gary Gensler led an ambitious agenda to boost transparency, reduce systemic risks, and stamp out conflicts of interest on Wall Street.United States Securities and Exchange Commission Chair Gary Gensler will step down on January 20 when US President-elect Donald Trump’s administration takes over, the agency has said, ending an ambitious tenure that saw Gensler clash with Wall Street and the crypto industry. “I thank President Biden for entrusting me with this incredible responsibility. The SEC has met our mission and enforced the law without fear or favor,” Gensler, who was nominated by Democratic President Joe…