(Reuters) -Oracle said on Thursday it expects cloud infrastructure revenue to be $166 billion in fiscal 2030. (Reporting by Harshita Mary Varghese in Bengaluru; Editing by Vijay Kishore)
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SINGAPORE (Reuters) -Singapore will introduce a new online safety commission with powers to order social media platforms to block harmful posts, according to a new bill that was tabled in parliament on Wednesday. The new law comes after researchers from the Infocomm Media Development Authority found in February that more than half of legitimate user complaints about harmful posts relating to issues like child abuse and cyber-bullying had not been immediately addressed. The new commission will be empowered under a new law to address local user reports of harms like online harassment, doxxing, online stalking, the abuse of intimate images and child pornography by the end of the first half of 2026. It will also have powers to direct social media platforms to restrict access to harmful material within Singapore, give victims a right to reply, and ban perpetrators from accessing their platform. The commission will also be able to order internet service providers to block access to specific online locations, such as group pages or even a social media platform's website. More harms, including the non-consensual disclosure of private information and "the incitement of enmity", will be introduced over stages following the initial launch. The new commission will be set up under a new online safety bill that was introduced to lawmakers on Wednesday. It will be debated at the next available session of parliament. The setting up of an online safety commission was first mooted during the Ministry of Digital Development and Information's budget debate in March this year. "More often than not, platforms fail to take action to remove genuinely harmful content reported to them by victims,” said Josephine Teo, Minister for Digital Development and Information. The government recently targeted Meta with the first order issued under the nation's new Online Criminal Harms Act, which came into force in February 2024. In September, the home affairs ministry threatened Meta with a fine of up to S$1 million ($771,664) and fines of up to S$100,000 per day after the end of the month if it failed to introduce measures like facial recognition to curb impersonation scams on its social network Facebook. The home affairs ministry could not immediately be reached to confirm if Meta complied with the order. ($1 = 1.2959 Singapore dollars) (Reporting by Jun Yuan Yong; Editing by David Stanway)
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(Reuters) -Electronic Arts' "Battlefield 6" has hit all-time highs for franchise sales during the first three days of its launch, selling over seven million copies, the video game publisher said on Thursday. EA was betting on the latest "Battlefield" title to restore the franchise's reputation and loosen the dominance of "Call of Duty," published by Microsoft-owned Activision Blizzard, in the first-person shooter genre. "Battlefield 6" was launched on October 10, weeks after EA agreed to a $55 billion sale to a Saudi-backed investor group in a deal fueled by its prized gaming portfolio. The game had over 172 million matches played online and accumulated over 15 million hours watched on streaming services over the three-day weekend, EA said in a statement. It recorded the highest number of concurrent players ever for "Battlefield." "Battlefield 6's" Season 1 will be released on October 28. Seasonal content will be rolled out regularly, with the next two phases of the season arriving later this year. EA's other shooter games such as "Apex Legends," "Titanfall" and "Star Wars Battlefront" have lost steam, forcing it to rely on one of its best-known franchises to attract consumers who are sticking with proven titles amid tariff-led economic worries. (Reporting by Juby Babu in Mexico City; Editing by Shreya Biswas)
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(Crrects paragraph 5 in October 15 story to say BlackRock-Preqin deal was valued at $3.2 billion, not $3.5 billion) (Reuters) -S&P Global has agreed to buy private markets data provider With Intelligence, the company said on Wednesday, as it looks to expand its products for the fast-growing segment of financial services. Private markets are seeing increased investor interest as years of higher interest rates and muted exits have pressured private valuations at a time when industry executives are concerned about asset price bubbles in public markets. Insights into pricing and comparables for private assets have become valuable because of the historical opacity around such investments. The trend has drawn BlackRock, with the world's largest asset manager spending $12.5 billion to buy Global Infrastructure Partners last year. It also spent $3.2 billion for private markets data provider Preqin in February and $12 billion for private credit firm HPS Investment Partners in July. Private markets also received a boost from U.S. President Donald Trump's executive order in August, aiming to ease access to nontraditional assets like private equity and private credit in 401(k) plans. Founded in 1998, With provides data and analytics for alternative and private markets to around 3,000 customers globally. It is expected to generate around $130 million in revenue in 2025, with annual contract value growth expected in the high teens. The deal is set to close in 2025, or early 2026, and is expected to be add to the company's adjusted profit per share in 2027, S&P Global said. Citi advised S&P Global, while Centerview Partners was the financial advisor for With. (Reporting by Ateev Bhandari in Bengaluru; Editing by Arun Koyyur)
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(Reuters) -Apple and Comcast's NBCUniversal will launch a bundle of Apple TV and Peacock Premium streaming services next week, the companies said on Thursday, combining award-winning originals such as "Ted Lasso" and "The Traitors" for $14.99 a month. The bundle, which launches on Monday, offers U.S. customers more than 30% savings and the option to combine Apple TV with Peacock Premium Plus for $19.99 per month. Media companies are unlocking more value from their streaming content by teaming up with rival platforms, providing customers with discounted pricing and a larger library of shows and movies. "With this first-of-its-kind initiative with Apple, we're redefining what the customer journey should be for a streaming bundle with rich sampling and a smooth sign-up process, and we're broadening the reach of Peacock to even more audiences," said Matt Strauss, chairman, NBCUniversal Media Group. As part of the deal, Apple TV app users and Peacock subscribers will be able to sample a curated selection of the partner service's shows, including marquee live events and sports, popular franchises, and blockbuster movies, in their respective apps. At launch, Peacock subscribers will have access to three episodes of "Stick", "Slow Horses", "Silo", "The Buccaneers", "Foundation", "Palm Royale" and "Prehistoric Planet" from Apple TV for free. Apple TV app users will be able to watch up to three episodes of "Law & Order", "Bel-Air", "Twisted Metal", "Love Island Games", Happy's Place, "The Hunting Party" and "Real Housewives of Miami" from Peacock. (Reporting by Harshita Mary Varghese in Bengaluru; Editing by Shailesh Kuber)
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By Elizabeth Howcroft and Marc Jones PARIS/LONDON (Reuters) -There are "significant gaps" in countries' attempts to regulate fast-growing crypto markets, which could potentially harm financial stability, the G20's risk watchdog warned on Thursday. The Financial Stability Board (FSB), a body founded in the aftermath of the global financial crisis, made a series of recommendations on rules for crypto in 2023, to try to bring it in line with the mainstream financial sector. In Thursday's review, it said while some progress had been made, international implementation and coordination of rules remained too "fragmented, inconsistent, and insufficient to address the global nature of crypto-asset markets". Financial stability risks remain "limited at present" it assessed, but they are now rising with the surge in bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies having doubled the value of the global crypto market to $4 trillion over the last year. "This is consequential," FSB secretary general John Schindler told Reuters, describing the concerns raised in the review. "These crypto assets can move across borders very easily, much more easily than other financial assets." STABLECOIN RULES LACKING This year's surge in the value of the crypto market has come against a backdrop of U.S. President Donald Trump's pro-crypto stance. Schindler said there was a need for close monitoring as crypto becomes increasingly connected with the traditional financial system and stablecoins – cryptocurrencies pegged to the dollar for the most part – become more widely used. One of the key concerns flagged by the FSB's report was that hardly any countries have complete regulatory frameworks for stablecoins yet. While still small in comparison to the bitcoin-dominated cryptocurrency markets, the market for stablecoins has grown by almost three-quarters over the last year to just under $290 billion, a trajectory expected to continue with U.S. rules on them now in place The FSB's report reviewed 29 jurisdictions' implementation of crypto and stablecoin recommendations, including the U.S., EU, Hong Kong and the UK, although the U.S. only participated in the stablecoin aspect. El Salvador, where the world's largest stablecoin, Tether, is based did not take part, however. Schindler said the latest review had still been worthwhile even without El Salvador's input given the FSB was already aware of the risks, but stressed the need for better global cooperation and coordination from all jurisdictions going forward. "We can all put in place frameworks, but if there are people who are not cooperating and helping each other, it's just going to be really challenging because these things just they don't observe borders," he said. RISKS 'LIMITED AT PRESENT' BUT GROWING Global rulemakers were jolted in action by the collapse of crypto exchange FTX and demise of TerraUSD/Luna coins in 2022. There has been major jitters over the last week too, with the largest crypto crash in history on Friday triggering almost $20 billion of liquidations in the market. The FSB's report laid out a list of eight recommendations for jurisdictions to speed up the implementation of comprehensive and globally consistent rules and for better cross-border cooperation and coordination. They follow similar concerns raised by the European Union's securities watchdog in April that even small markets can be the source of bigger problems in the financial system. Even if countries have their own regulatory regimes, they can still be impacted by the activities of crypto companies who are headquartered offshore, Schindler said. (Reporting by Elizabeth Howcroft in Paris and Marc Jones in London; Editing by Louise Heavens)
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(Reuters) -Apple and Comcast's NBCUniversal will launch a bundle of Apple TV and Peacock Premium streaming services next week, the companies said on Thursday, combining award-winning originals such as "Ted Lasso" and "The Traitors" for $14.99 a month. The bundle, which launches on Monday, offers U.S. customers more than 30% savings and the option to combine Apple TV with Peacock Premium Plus for $19.99 per month. Media companies are unlocking more value from their streaming content by teaming up with rival platforms, providing customers with discounted pricing and a larger library of shows and movies. "With this first-of-its-kind initiative with Apple, we're redefining what the customer journey should be for a streaming bundle with rich sampling and a smooth sign-up process, and we're broadening the reach of Peacock to even more audiences," said Matt Strauss, chairman, NBCUniversal Media Group. As part of the deal, Apple TV app users and Peacock subscribers will be able to sample a curated selection of the partner service's shows, including marquee live events and sports, popular franchises, and blockbuster movies, in their respective apps. At launch, Peacock subscribers will have access to three episodes of "Stick", "Slow Horses", "Silo", "The Buccaneers", "Foundation", "Palm Royale" and "Prehistoric Planet" from Apple TV for free. Apple TV app users will be able to watch up to three episodes of "Law & Order", "Bel-Air", "Twisted Metal", "Love Island Games", Happy's Place, "The Hunting Party" and "Real Housewives of Miami" from Peacock. (Reporting by Harshita Mary Varghese in Bengaluru; Editing by Shailesh Kuber)
(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) -The chair of the House Select Committee on China said Thursday that a licensing agreement for use of the TikTok algorithm as part of a deal by Chinese-based ByteDance to sell U.S. assets of the short video app would raise "serious concerns." Representative John Moolenaar, a Republican, is waiting for briefing to get more details on the deal that White House officials said previously would include the new owners of TikTok's U.S. assets licensing the algorithm. "I think anytime you have (China) with leverage over the algorithm, I think that's a problem," Moolenaar said at a forum. President Donald Trump signed an executive order on Sept. 25 declaring the plan to sell TikTok's U.S. operations to a consortium of U.S. and global investors meets the national security requirements set out in a 2024 law. (Reporting by David Shepardson and Alexandra Alper, Editing by Franklin Paul)
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(Reuters) -Electronic Arts' "Battlefield 6" has hit all-time highs for franchise sales during the first three days of its launch, selling over seven million copies, the video game publisher said on Thursday. EA was betting on the latest "Battlefield" title to restore the franchise's reputation and loosen the dominance of "Call of Duty," published by Microsoft-owned Activision Blizzard, in the first-person shooter genre. "Battlefield 6" was launched on October 10, weeks after EA agreed to a $55 billion sale to a Saudi-backed investor group in a deal fueled by its prized gaming portfolio. The game had over 172 million matches played online and accumulated over 15 million hours watched on streaming services over the three-day weekend, EA said in a statement. It recorded the highest number of concurrent players ever for "Battlefield." "Battlefield 6's" Season 1 will be released on October 28. Seasonal content will be rolled out regularly, with the next two phases of the season arriving later this year. EA's other shooter games such as "Apex Legends," "Titanfall" and "Star Wars Battlefront" have lost steam, forcing it to rely on one of its best-known franchises to attract consumers who are sticking with proven titles amid tariff-led economic worries. (Reporting by Juby Babu in Mexico City; Editing by Shreya Biswas)
(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) -Electronic Arts' "Battlefield 6" has hit all-time highs for franchise sales during the first three days of its launch, selling over seven million copies, the video game publisher said on Thursday. EA was betting on the latest "Battlefield" title to restore the franchise's reputation and loosen the dominance of "Call of Duty," published by Microsoft-owned Activision Blizzard, in the first-person shooter genre. "Battlefield 6" was launched on October 10, weeks after EA agreed to a $55 billion sale to a Saudi-backed investor group in a deal fueled by its prized gaming portfolio. The game had over 172 million matches played online and accumulated over 15 million hours watched on streaming services over the three-day weekend, EA said in a statement. It recorded the highest number of concurrent players ever for "Battlefield." "Battlefield 6's" Season 1 will be released on October 28. Seasonal content will be rolled out regularly, with the next two phases of the season arriving later this year. EA's other shooter games such as "Apex Legends," "Titanfall" and "Star Wars Battlefront" have lost steam, forcing it to rely on one of its best-known franchises to attract consumers who are sticking with proven titles amid tariff-led economic worries. (Reporting by Juby Babu in Mexico City; Editing by Shreya Biswas)
(The article has been published through a syndicated feed. Except for the headline, the content has been published verbatim. Liability lies with original publisher.)
