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By Jonathan Stempel (Reuters) -A federal judge on Monday decertified a class action by tens of millions of Apple customers who accused the company of monopolizing the market for iPhone apps by banning purchases outside its App Store, leading to higher prices. U.S. District Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers in Oakland, California, reversed her February 2024 decision allowing Apple account holders who spent $10 or more on app or in-app content to sue as a group. Rogers said the plaintiffs failed to provide a model "capable of reliably showing classwide injury and damages in one stroke" by matching Apple accounts to consumers, while limiting the number of "unharmed" consumers in the class. She ruled after an expert hired by Apple found "alarming" errors in the plaintiffs' model. These included that named plaintiff Robert Pepper and supposed claimant "Rob Pepper" were different people despite sharing home addresses and credit card information. They also included the lumping together of more than 40,000 payment records for people whose first name was "Kim," but who otherwise had nothing in common. Mark Rifkin, a lawyer for the plaintiffs, in an email said "we are of course disappointed" with the decision, and reviewing the next steps to protect consumers "harmed by Apple's unlawful App Store monopoly." Cupertino, California-based Apple and its lawyers did not immediately respond to requests for comment. Class actions can result in greater recoveries at less cost than if plaintiffs sue individually. The plaintiffs said Apple's monopoly included charging excessive commissions to app developers, which would be passed on to consumers through higher prices to download apps or make in-app purchases. Lawyers for the plaintiffs had estimated that classwide damages could total billions of dollars. The lawsuit began in December 2011, and the class had covered users of iOS-powered devices since July 10, 2008. The case is In re Apple iPhone Antitrust Litigation, U.S. District Court, Northern District of California, No. 11-06714. (Reporting by Jonathan Stempel in New York; Editing by Nia Williams and Bill Berkrot)

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By Greg Bensinger SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) -Amazon is planning to cut as many as 30,000 corporate jobs beginning on Tuesday, as the company pares expenses and compensates for overhiring during the peak demand of the pandemic, according to three people familiar with the matter. The figure represents a small percentage of Amazon's 1.55 million total employees, but nearly 10% of its roughly 350,000 corporate employees. This would mark Amazon's largest job cut since late 2022, when it started to eliminate around 27,000 positions. An Amazon spokesperson declined to comment. Amazon has been trimming smaller numbers of jobs over the past two years across multiple divisions, including devices, communications and podcasting. The cuts beginning this week may affect a variety of divisions, including human resources, known as People Experience and Technology or PXT; operations, devices and services; and Amazon Web Services, the people said. Managers of impacted teams were asked to undergo training on Monday for how to communicate with staff following email notifications that will start going out on Tuesday morning, the people said. Amazon CEO Andy Jassy is undertaking an initiative to reduce what he has described as an excess of bureaucracy, including by reducing the number of managers. He installed an anonymous complaint line for identifying inefficiencies that has elicited some 1,500 responses and over 450 process changes, he said earlier this year. Jassy said in June that the increased use of artificial intelligence tools would likely lead to further job cuts, particularly through automating repetitive and routine tasks. "This latest move signals that Amazon is likely realizing enough AI-driven productivity gains within corporate teams to support a substantial reduction in force," said Sky Canaves, an eMarketer analyst. "Amazon has also been under pressure in the short-term to offset the long-term investments in building out its AI infrastructure." The full scope of this round of job cuts was not immediately clear. The people familiar with the matter said the number could change over time as Amazon's financial priorities shift. Fortune earlier reported that the human resources division could be targeted with a cut of roughly 15%. A program begun early this year to bring employees back in the office five days per week, among tech's most stringent, has failed to generate sufficient attrition, said two of the people, citing that as another reason for the size of the layoff. Some of the employees who are not swiping in daily because they live far from corporate offices, or for other reasons, are being told they have voluntarily quit Amazon and must leave without severance, a savings for the company. Layoffs.fyi, a website tracking tech job cuts, estimated that about 98,000 jobs have been lost so far this year among 216 companies. For all of 2024, the figure was 153,000. Amazon's largest profit center, cloud computing unit AWS, reported second-quarter sales of $30.9 billion, a 17.5% increase that was well below gains of 39% for Microsoft's Azure and of 32% for Alphabet's Google Cloud.  Estimates indicate that AWS will have boosted third-quarter sales by about 18% to $32 billion, a slight slowdown from last year's 19% increase. AWS is still reeling from a roughly 15-hour internet outage last week that felled many of the most popular online services, like Snapchat and Venmo. Amazon appears to be expecting another big holiday selling season. It plans to offer 250,000 seasonal jobs to help staff warehouses, among other needs, the same as in the prior two years. Amazon on Friday also announced a reorganization of a segment of its PXT unit focused on diversity initiatives, a memo reviewed by Reuters showed. The changes largely involved promoting people to new roles. Amazon shares rose 1.2% to $226.97 on Monday. The company plans to report third-quarter earnings on Thursday.  (Reporting by Greg Bensinger in San Francisco; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama, Matthew Lewis and Richard Chang)

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(Reuters) -Educational technology company Chegg said on Monday it would cut 388 roles globally, or about 45% of the workforce, to reduce costs and streamline operations as it works to adapt to the growing shift toward AI-powered tools. The company, which offers textbook rentals, homework help and tutoring, said the "new realities of AI and reduced traffic from Google to content publishers have led to a significant decline in Chegg's traffic and revenue". Chegg also said Dan Rosensweig would return as CEO effective immediately, replacing Nathan Schultz, who has stepped down and would serve as an executive adviser. Rosensweig had previously led the company from February 2010 to June 2024. The Santa Clara, California-based company expects to incur charges of roughly $15 million to $19 million related to the restructuring by the first quarter 2026, and $12 million to $16 million by the fourth quarter of 2026. It had 1,271 employees as of December 31, 2024, according to its latest annual report. Chegg, which sued Google over its AI summaries hurting traffic, had initiated a strategic review and was exploring a sale or take-private transaction. The company said on Monday it had concluded the review and would continue to operate as a standalone company. Its shares have fallen more than 10% so far this year, after slumping 85.6% in 2024. (Reporting by Vallari Srivastava in Bengaluru; Editing by Shilpi Majumdar)

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(Reuters) -Cadence Design Systems forecast fourth-quarter profit just shy of market estimates on Monday, as Sino-U.S. trade tensions threaten to hurt demand for its chip design software from key market China. Uncertainty around China-U.S. trade relations has cast doubt over Cadences' business in one of the largest markets for semiconductors, overshadowing the benefits of artificial intelligence-linked demand from American tech firms. Cadence forecast adjusted profit of between $1.88 per share and $1.94 per share for the fourth quarter. The midpoint of this range of $1.91 per share came in below analysts' estimates of $1.92 per share, according to data compiled by LSEG. That sent its shares down nearly 2% in extended trading. While the U.S. lifted brief export curbs on chip design software to China in July, tensions between the two biggest economies in the world have persisted with Beijing prompting domestic businesses to reduce reliance on American tech. Still, global firms elsewhere that either design or manufacture AI chips, such as Nvidia and TSMC, rely heavily on software from Cadence, boosting overall sales. The company expects fourth-quarter revenue of between $1.41 billion and $1.44 billion, compared with analysts' average estimate of $1.41 billion, according to data compiled by LSEG. It also raised its 2025 revenue forecast to a range of $5.26 billion to $5.29 billion, up from its earlier expectations of $5.21 billion to $5.27 billion. Cadence reported third-quarter revenue of $1.34 billion, beating estimates of $1.32 billion. (Reporting by Arsheeya Bajwa in Bengaluru; Editing by Anil D'Silva)

(The article has been published through a syndicated feed. Except for the headline, the content has been published verbatim. Liability lies with original publisher.)

(Reuters) -A federal judge on Monday decertified a class action by tens of millions of Apple customers who accused the company of monopolizing the market for iPhone apps by banning purchases outside its App Store, leading to higher prices. U.S. District Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers in Oakland, California, reversed her February 2024 decision allowing Apple account holders who spent $10 or more on app or in-app content to sue as a group. Rogers said the plaintiffs "failed to provide a model capable of reliably showing classwide injury and damages in one stroke." (Reporting by Jonathan Stempel in New York; Editing by Nia Williams)

(The article has been published through a syndicated feed. Except for the headline, the content has been published verbatim. Liability lies with original publisher.)

(Reuters) -A federal judge on Monday decertified a class action by tens of millions of Apple customers who accused the company of monopolizing the market for iPhone apps by banning purchases outside its App Store, leading to higher prices. U.S. District Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers in Oakland, California, reversed her February 2024 decision allowing Apple account holders who spent $10 or more on app or in-app content to sue as a group. Rogers said the plaintiffs "failed to provide a model capable of reliably showing classwide injury and damages in one stroke." (Reporting by Jonathan Stempel in New York; Editing by Nia Williams)

(The article has been published through a syndicated feed. Except for the headline, the content has been published verbatim. Liability lies with original publisher.)

(Reuters) -U.S. utility NextEra Energy and Alphabet's Google have singed a power supply deal, which would help restart the Duane Arnold nuclear plant in Iowa. After years of stagnation, the nuclear industry is witnessing a renaissance, driven by a huge surge in power demand as Big Tech looks for clean energy sources to power their data centers. Shares of NextEra Energy rose over 1% to $87.24 after the bell. The over 600-megawatt Duane Arnold Energy Center was shut in 2020 after operating for 45 years. No fully shut U.S. nuclear reactor has been brought back to life, but Duane Arnold would be among three plants in the country in the process of attempted restarts. Duane Arnold Energy Center, located in Palo, Iowa, is the only nuclear power plant in the state and is expected to reopen by first quarter of 2029, NextEra said. Under the 25-year agreement, the tech giant will purchase power from the 615-MW plant for its growing cloud and AI infrastructure in the state, while also driving significant economic investment to the Midwest region. One of the plant's minority owners, Central Iowa Power Cooperative (CIPCO), will purchase the remaining portion of the plant's output on the same terms as Google, NextEra said. The utility added that it had also signed agreements to acquire CIPCO and Corn Belt Power Cooperative's combined 30% interest in the Duane Arnold plant, bringing NextEra's ownership to 100%. (Reporting by Vallari Srivastava in Bengaluru; Editing by Maju Samuel)

(The article has been published through a syndicated feed. Except for the headline, the content has been published verbatim. Liability lies with original publisher.)

(Reuters) -U.S. utility NextEra Energy and Alphabet's Google have singed a power supply deal, which would help restart the Duane Arnold nuclear plant in Iowa. After years of stagnation, the nuclear industry is witnessing a renaissance, driven by a huge surge in power demand as Big Tech looks for clean energy sources to power their data centers. The roughly 600-megawatt Duane Arnold Energy Center was shut in 2020 after operating for 45 years. No fully shut U.S. nuclear reactor has been brought back to life, but Duane Arnold would be among three plants in the country in the process of attempted restarts. Duane Arnold Energy Center, located in Palo, Iowa, is the only nuclear power plant in the state and is expected to reopen by first quarter of 2029, NextEra said. (Reporting by Vallari Srivastava in Bengaluru; Editing by Maju Samuel)

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(Reuters) -Cybersecurity firm F5 on Monday forecast first-quarter revenue below Wall Street estimates, citing near-term disruption to sales cycles following the recent cybersecurity breach at the company. F5 expects first-quarter revenue in the range of $730 million to $780 million, compared to analysts' average estimate of $791 million, according to data compiled by LSEG. (Reporting by Nithyashree R B in Bengaluru; Editing by Anil D'Silva)

(The article has been published through a syndicated feed. Except for the headline, the content has been published verbatim. Liability lies with original publisher.)

(Reuters) -Cybersecurity firm F5 on Monday forecast first-quarter revenue below Wall Street estimates, citing near-term disruption to sales cycles following the recent cybersecurity breach at the company. F5 expects first-quarter revenue in the range of $730 million to $780 million, compared to analysts' average estimate of $791 million, according to data compiled by LSEG. (Reporting by Nithyashree R B in Bengaluru; Editing by Anil D'Silva)

(The article has been published through a syndicated feed. Except for the headline, the content has been published verbatim. Liability lies with original publisher.)