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SEOUL (Reuters) -Shares of South Korean chipmaker Samsung Electronics rose as much as 2% on Thursday to an all-time high on investor optimism surrounding the semiconductor industry. Shares of the world's leading memory chip maker were up 0.95% at 95,900 won ($67.52) per share as of 0022 GMT, after hitting a record 96,900 won earlier in the session, surpassing the previous record of 96,800 won on January 11, 2021. Samsung Electronics shares have risen 80% so far this year. ($1 = 1,420.2400 won) (Reporting by Jihoon Lee; Editing by Kim Coghill)

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SEOUL (Reuters) -Shares of South Korean chipmaker Samsung Electronics rose as much as 2% on Thursday to an all-time high on investor optimism surrounding the semiconductor industry. Shares of the world's leading memory chip maker were up 0.95% at 95,900 won ($67.52) per share as of 0022 GMT, after hitting a record 96,900 won earlier in the session, surpassing the previous record of 96,800 won on January 11, 2021. Samsung Electronics shares have risen 80% so far this year. ($1 = 1,420.2400 won) (Reporting by Jihoon Lee; Editing by Kim Coghill)

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(Reuters) -Alphabet-owned YouTube was down for thousands of users across the United States, Canada, Australia and the UK, according to Downdetector. YouTube said in a statement published on its status page on Wednesday that it is aware of users experiencing issues watching videos, and added that it is investigating the issue. It was not immediately clear what caused the issue. As of 8:05 p.m. ET, 293,240 users have reported issues with YouTube just in the U.S., per Downdetector, which tracks outages by collating status reports from a number of sources. Downdetector's numbers are based on user-submitted reports. The actual number of affected users may vary. Google did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment. (Reporting by Gursimran Kaur in Bengaluru; Editing by Alan Barona)

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(Reuters) -Alphabet-owned YouTube was down for over 320,000 users in the United States on Wednesday evening, according to Downdetector. As of 7:47 p.m. ET, 321,990 users reported issues with YouTube, per Downdetector, which tracks outages by collating status reports from a number of sources. Downdetector's numbers are based on user-submitted reports. The actual number of affected users may vary. Google did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment. (Reporting by Gursimran Kaur in Bengaluru; Editing by Alan Barona)

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(Reuters) -Apple's Ke Yang, the newly tapped executive leading an effort to develop a ChatGPT-like AI-driven web search, is stepping down to join Meta, Bloomberg News reported on Wednesday, citing people with knowledge of the matter. Just weeks ago, Yang was appointed head of a team called Answers, Knowledge and Information, or AKI, which is central to the Siri voice assistant's overhaul, planned for March, the report said. Apple, Meta and Yang did not immediately respond to Reuters' requests for comment. Yang has been with Apple since 2019, according to his LinkedIn profile. Meta has intensified Silicon Valley's talent war through aggressive hiring aiming to challenge rivals, including OpenAI, Google and Anthropic, as the tech firms pour significant investment into AI in the race to superintelligence. The Mark Zuckerberg-led company had poached top AI executives from the iPhone maker before, including Robby Walker and Ruoming Pang, as earlier reported by Bloomberg News. (Reporting by Ruchika Khanna in Bengaluru; Editing by Alan Barona)

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WASHINGTON (Reuters) -U.S. government officials said on Wednesday that federal networks are being targeted by an unidentified "nation-state cyber threat actor" that's trying to exploit vulnerabilities in products made by the cybersecurity company F5. In a statement and an accompanying emergency directive, the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency said hackers had compromised F5's systems and extracted files, including a portion of its source code and information about vulnerabilities, and could use the knowledge as a roadmap to break into F5 devices and software, something that could eventually lead to a full compromise of the targeted networks.  "The cyber threat actor presents an imminent threat to federal networks" using F5 products, CISA said. CISA's Executive Assistant Director for Cybersecurity Nick Andersen told reporters that government officials were being ordered to identify F5's devices on their network and apply urgent updates. Andersen encouraged others to do the same, noting that "the risk of this vulnerability extends to every organization and sector that's using this product." Andersen refused to say who the hackers were and said there had so far been no evidence of any compromise at a U.S. civilian agency.  Earlier, F5 said it had detected unauthorized access to certain company systems by a threat actor, but the breach had no impact on its operations. The company discovered the intrusion on August 9 and took "extensive actions" to contain the threat, engaging external experts, including CrowdStrike, Mandiant, NCC Group and IOActive, to assist with the investigation, it said in a filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. The company said it found no signs that its software development process had been tampered with. F5, which has clients across the private and public sector, said information from a few customers was involved in the breach, and it was reaching out to those affected directly. The company continues to strengthen its security controls and infrastructure following the incident, it said, adding that the U.S. Department of Justice had approved a delay in publicly disclosing the breach until September 12, citing national security considerations. British authorities also issued an alert urging F5 users to update their software. (Reporting by Akash Sriram in Bengaluru and Raphael Satter in Washington; Editing by Shilpi Majumdar, David Gregorio and Diane Craft)

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TAIPEI (Reuters) -TSMC, the world's largest manufacturer of advanced artificial intelligence chips, is set to post a 28% jump in third-quarter profit to reach a record high due to surging demand for AI infrastructure, though U.S. tariffs may complicate its outlook. Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co, the world's biggest contract chipmaker and a key supplier to Nvidia and Apple, is likely to report a net profit of T$417.7 billion ($13.65 billion) for the three months through September 30, showed an LSEG SmartEstimate compiled from 20 analysts. SmartEstimates place greater weight on forecasts from analysts who are more consistently accurate. TSMC has already flagged a market-forecast-beating rise in third-quarter revenue of 30%. Any profit result above T$398.3 billion would be the chipmaker's highest-ever and its seventh consecutive quarter of profit growth. TSMC, Asia's most-valuable listed company with a market capitalisation of around $1.2 trillion – nearly three times that of South Korean rival Samsung Electronics – will report financial results on Thursday and provide fourth-quarter guidance in an earnings call scheduled for 0600 GMT. On Wednesday, top semiconductor equipment maker ASML, for whom TSMC is a major customer, said third-quarter bookings beat market forecasts but that it expected a significant fall in demand from China next year. Samsung on Tuesday said it expected its biggest quarterly profit in over three years, also on the AI boom. It remains unclear how much U.S. President Donald Trump's tariffs will affect TSMC. Taiwan's exports to the United States are currently subject to a 20% tariff, but that excludes chips. U.S. Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick proposed last month that Taiwanese companies split their production of chips 50-50 between Taiwan and the U.S., compared to the current setup where the vast majority of production is on the island.  Taiwan has rejected that idea. TSMC is already investing $165 billion building factories in the U.S. in the state of Arizona. Shares in TSMC have gained 36% so far this year on optimism over AI, largely brushing off tariff concerns. The heavyweight's rise has powered the benchmark Taiwanese index's 18% advance over the same period. ($1 = 30.6110 Taiwan dollars) (Reporting by Ben Blanchard; Editing by Christopher Cushing)

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(Reuters) -Apple's Ke Yang, the newly tapped executive leading an effort to develop a ChatGPT-like AI-driven web search, is stepping down to join Meta, Bloomberg News reported on Wednesday, citing people with knowledge of the matter. Reuters could not immediately verify the report. Apple, Meta and Yang did not immediately respond to Reuters' requests for comment. (Reporting by Ruchika Khanna in Bengaluru; Editing by Alan Barona)

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-Capita has been fined 14 million pounds ($18.7 million) for failing to protect personal data during a 2023 cyber attack, the British outsourcing firm said on Wednesday, as part of a settlement with the UK's privacy watchdog. The company, which provides business support services to government and corporate clients, disclosed in 2023 that the breach compromised some data on its servers and estimated a financial impact of up to 20 million pounds. The incident compromised the personal data of 6.7 million individuals, as per an Information Commissioner's Office report published on Wednesday. Capita said it has since strengthened its cyber security measures and built in advanced protections. The settlement underscores rising regulatory pressure on UK firms hit by cyber attacks, amid heightened scrutiny following high-profile breaches at Marks & Spencer, Co-op and luxury carmaker Jaguar Land Rover. "With so many cyber attacks in the headlines, our message is clear: every organisation, no matter how large, must take proactive steps to keep people's data secure," said John Edwards, UK Information Commissioner. ICO said Capita failed to implement adequate measures to prevent privilege escalation and unauthorised lateral movement through its network, and did not respond effectively to security alerts. "Following an extended period of dialogue with the ICO over the last two years, we are pleased to have concluded this matter," Capita CEO Adolfo Hernandez said in a statement. The company now expects to record a free cash outflow of 59 million-79 million pounds for 2025, up from previous estimates of 45 million-65 million pounds. All other annual and mid-term targets remain unchanged. "Highly significant" cyber incidents have doubled in Britain year-on-year, the head of National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) said on Tuesday. ($1 = 0.7493 pounds) (Reporting by Yamini Kalia in Bengaluru; Editing by Sumana Nandy and Janane Venkatraman)

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(Reuters) -Salesforce expects revenue of more than $60 billion in 2030, above Wall Street estimates, as the company rapidly rolls out AI features across its cloud services. Investors are pressuring cloud firms to show returns on the billions poured into AI, while an uncertain macro environment and volatile customer spending weigh on growth prospects. The forecast excludes the impact from its deal to acquire software-maker Informatica, according to a presentation made at Salesforce's Dreamforce event. Analysts, on average, expect Salesforce to report annual revenue of about $58.37 billion in 2030, according to data compiled by LSEG. Its shares rose by nearly 4% in aftermarket trading. The stock has lost 29% this year. Salesforce agreed to buy Informatica for around $8 billion in May to boost its AI capabilities by integrating Informatica's data management, integration, and governance tools into its platform. Its Agentforce AI agent platform automates tasks and helps streamline operations, boosting margins. Agentforce 360 will be available globally across its suite of cloud-based tools, Salesforce said on Monday. The company forecast third-quarter revenue below Wall Street estimates in September, signaling lagging monetization for its highly touted AI agent platform as clients dial back spending due to macroeconomic uncertainty. It also outlined plans on Wednesday to buy back shares worth about $7 billion over the next six months. (Reporting by Juby Babu in Mexico City; Editing by Pooja Desai)

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