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LONDON (Reuters) -Britain said on Monday it had issued U.S. internet forum site 4chan with a 20,000 pound ($26,644) fine for failing to provide information about the risk of illegal content on its service, marking the first penalty under the new online safety regime. Media regulator Ofcom said 4chan had not responded to its request for a copy of its illegal harms risk assessment nor a second request relating to its qualifying worldwide. Ofcom said it would take action against any service which "flagrantly fails to engage with Ofcom and their duties under the Online Safety Act" and they should expect to face penalties. The act, which is designed to protect children and vulnerable users from illegal content online, has caused tension between U.S. tech companies and Britain. Critics of the law have said it threatens free speech and targets U.S. companies. Technology minister Liz Kendall said the government "fully backed" Ofcom in taking action. "This fine is a clear warning to those who fail to remove illegal content or protect children from harmful material," she said. The U.S. site, along with another forum site Kiwi Farms, filed a case in the United States against Ofcom in August, saying its enforcement of the online safety law violated Americans' right to freedom of speech. The lawsuit said Ofcom sent "threatening communications" to U.S.-based internet companies that interfered with their constitutional rights and operations. Ofcom said the fine would increase by 100 pounds a day from Tuesday for either 60 days or until 4chan provided the information. If 4chan ignores the fine, Ofcom can take steps to stop internet service providers allowing access to its site in Britain. Ofcom said two file sharing services had acted to prevent the spread of child sexual abuse material after it had identified concerns. Four other file sharing services had "geo-blocked" access to their sites from UK-based IP addresses in response to the regulator's enforcement action, it said. ($1 = 0.7506 pounds) (Reporting by Paul Sandle; editing by Sarah Young)

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(Reuters) -British autonomous driving technology group Wayve is in talks with investors, including Microsoft and SoftBank, to raise as much as $2 billion in funding, which could value the start-up at about $8 billion, the Financial Times reported on Monday, citing sources. Reuters was not able immediately confirm the report. (Reporting by DhanushVignesh Babu in Bengaluru; Editing by Tasim Zahid)

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LONDON (Reuters) -Britain said on Monday it had issued U.S. internet forum site 4chan with a 20,000 pound ($26,644) fine for failing to provide information about the risk of illegal content on its service, marking the first penalty under the new online safety regime. Media regulator Ofcom said 4chan had not responded to its request for a copy of its illegal harms risk assessment nor a second request relating to its qualifying worldwide. Ofcom said it would take action against any service which "flagrantly fails to engage with Ofcom and their duties under the Online Safety Act" and they should expect to face penalties. The act, which is designed to protect children and vulnerable users from illegal content online, has caused tension between U.S. tech companies and Britain. Critics of the law have said it threatens free speech and targets U.S. companies. Technology minister Liz Kendall said the government "fully backed" Ofcom in taking action. "This fine is a clear warning to those who fail to remove illegal content or protect children from harmful material," she said. The U.S. site, along with another forum site Kiwi Farms, filed a case in the United States against Ofcom in August, saying its enforcement of the online safety law violated Americans' right to freedom of speech. The lawsuit said Ofcom sent "threatening communications" to U.S.-based internet companies that interfered with their constitutional rights and operations. Ofcom said the fine would increase by 100 pounds a day from Tuesday for either 60 days or until 4chan provided the information. If 4chan ignores the fine, Ofcom can take steps to stop internet service providers allowing access to its site in Britain. Ofcom said two file sharing services had acted to prevent the spread of child sexual abuse material after it had identified concerns. Four other file sharing services had "geo-blocked" access to their sites from UK-based IP addresses in response to the regulator's enforcement action, it said. ($1 = 0.7506 pounds) (Reporting by Paul Sandle; editing by Sarah Young)

(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) -Private equity firm Warburg Pincus struck a deal to buy Germany's PSI Software for more than 700 million euros ($811 million), with shareholder E.ON remaining a strategic investor, the companies said on Monday. Reuters first reported on both a nearing takeover of PSI on Friday and Warburg Pincus' offer for the maker of software for energy networks on Sunday. Having jumped nearly 11% on Friday after the news broke, PSI shares had gained a further 35% at 0733 GMT, reaching 44.7 euros – their highest since January 2022. That was close to the offered price of 45 euros apiece in Warburg Pincus' deal, amounting to a premium of about 50% from the company's closing price on Thursday. MANAGEMENT STRUCTURE TO BE MAINTAINED PSI's software helps run power and gas transmission grids as well as factories and Reuters has reported that it was seeking funding for the development of product upgrades. It is recovering from a cyberattack last year and on Friday it confirmed that it was in talks to sell itself, following the Reuters report. PSI said its board supports the suitor's offer and intends to recommend it to its shareholders. PSI plans to delist from the German stock exchange after the closing of the deal. PSI added that Warburg Pincus would maintain the company's management structure and its headquarters in Berlin. Warburg Pincus has signed agreements for about 28.5% of PSI's equity with its anchor shareholders, PSI said. The statement said that an unnamed anchor shareholder will partially reinvest its proceeds alongside Warburg Pincus into PSI's holding structure. German businessman and newsletter publisher Norman Rentrop is PSI's largest shareholder with a 23% stake, while German utility E.ON is its second-largest investor with around 18%. E.ON will retain its stake in PSI as a strategic investor, Warburg and PSI said. For the purpose of the transaction, the power utility will be regarded as acting jointly with Warburg Pincus, according to the statement. Last year, PSI posted a loss before interest and taxes of 15.2 million euros ($17.6 million) as it was hobbled for weeks by the cyberattack. Goldman Sachs is running the sale process. ($1 = 0.8607 euros) ($1 = 0.8631 euros) (Reporting by Rishabh Jaiswal, Shubham Kalia and Disha Mishra in Bengaluru and Alexander Huebner in Munich, Christoph Steitz and Ludwig Burger in Frankfurt ; Editing by Sherry Jacob-Phillips, Thomas Derpinghaus, Aidan Lewis)

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

LONDON (Reuters) -Britain said on Monday it had issued U.S. internet forum site 4chan with a 20,000 pound ($26,644) fine for failing to provide information about the risk of illegal content on its service, marking the first penalty under the new online safety regime. Media regulator Ofcom said 4chan had not responded to its request for a copy of its illegal harms risk assessment nor a second request relating to its qualifying worldwide. Ofcom said it would take action against any service which "flagrantly fails to engage with Ofcom and their duties under the Online Safety Act" and they should expect to face penalties. The act, which is designed to protect children and vulnerable users from illegal content online, has caused tension between U.S. tech companies and Britain. Critics of the law have said it threatens free speech and targets U.S. companies. Technology minister Liz Kendall said the government "fully backed" Ofcom in taking action. "This fine is a clear warning to those who fail to remove illegal content or protect children from harmful material," she said. The U.S. site, along with another forum site Kiwi Farms, filed a case in the United States against Ofcom in August, saying its enforcement of the online safety law violated Americans' right to freedom of speech. The lawsuit said Ofcom sent "threatening communications" to U.S.-based internet companies that interfered with their constitutional rights and operations. Ofcom said the fine would increase by 100 pounds a day from Tuesday for either 60 days or until 4chan provided the information. If 4chan ignores the fine, Ofcom can take steps to stop internet service providers allowing access to its site in Britain. Ofcom said two file sharing services had acted to prevent the spread of child sexual abuse material after it had identified concerns. Four other file sharing services had "geo-blocked" access to their sites from UK-based IP addresses in response to the regulator's enforcement action, it said. ($1 = 0.7506 pounds) (Reporting by Paul Sandle; editing by Sarah Young)

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

LONDON (Reuters) -Britain said on Monday it had issued U.S. internet forum site 4chan with a 20,000 pound ($26,644) fine for failing to provide information about the risk of illegal content on its service, marking the first penalty under the new online safety regime. Media regulator Ofcom said 4chan had not responded to its request for a copy of its illegal harms risk assessment nor a second request relating to its qualifying worldwide. Its director of enforcement Suzanne Cater said the fine "sends a clear message that any service which flagrantly fails to engage with Ofcom and their duties under the Online Safety Act can expect to face robust enforcement action". The act, which is designed to protect children and vulnerable users from illegal content online, has caused tension between U.S. tech companies and Britain. Critics of the law have said it threatens free speech and targets U.S. companies. The U.S. site, along with another forum site Kiwi Farms, filed a case in the United States against Ofcom in August, saying its enforcement of the online safety law violated Americans' right to freedom of speech. The lawsuit said Ofcom sent "threatening communications" to U.S.-based internet companies that interfered with their constitutional rights and operations. Ofcom said the fine would increase by 100 pounds a day from Tuesday for either 60 days or until 4chan provided the information. If 4chan ignores the fine, Ofcom can take steps to stop internet service providers allowing access to its site in Britain. Ofcom said two file sharing services had acted to prevent the spread of child sexual abuse material after it had identified concerns. Four other file sharing services had "geo-blocked" access to their sites from UK-based IP addresses in response to the regulator's enforcement action, it said. ($1 = 0.7506 pounds) (Reporting by Paul Sandle; editing by Sarah Young)

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

By Ben Blanchard and Wen-Yee Lee TAIPEI (Reuters) -TSMC, the world's largest manufacturer of advanced artificial intelligence chips, is expected to post a 28% jump in third-quarter profit to a record due to the insatiable demand for AI infrastructure, though U.S. tariffs could impact its outlook. Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co, the world's No. 1 contract chipmaker and a key supplier to Nvidia and Apple, is forecast to report a net profit of T$415.4 billion ($13.55 billion) for the three months through September 30, according to 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 mark the company's highest-ever quarterly net income and its seventh consecutive quarter of profit growth. Mario Morales, group vice president at research firm IDC, said he expects TSMC's revenue to grow at least 30% to 35% this year. "I am expecting that TSMC will continue to outperform its peers given the ongoing exponential growth of AI infrastructure investments and that the leading chip suppliers such as Nvidia and AMD have only one place to go – TSMC," he said. Morales said that even as tariffs and trade disputes add uncertainty, AI infrastructure remains a "strategic land grab" for cloud-service providers, manufacturers and companies, ensuring investment continues to concentrate in that space. TSMC, Asia's most valuable listed company with a market capitalisation of around $1.22 trillion – nearly three times that of South Korean rival Samsung Electronics – is due to report on Thursday and will provide fourth-quarter guidance in an earnings call scheduled for 0600 GMT. 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 the production is on the island.  Taiwan has rejected that idea, and TSMC is already investing $165 billion building factories in the U.S. in the state of Arizona. Shares in TSMC have gained 30% so far this year on optimism over AI, largely brushing off tariff concerns. The heavyweight's rise has powered the benchmark Taiwanese index's 16.9% advance over the same period. ($1 = 30.66 Taiwan dollars) (Reporting by Ben Blanchard and Wen-Yee Lee; Editing by Muralikumar Anantharaman)

(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) -Private equity firm Warburg Pincus struck a deal to buy Germany's PSI Software for more than 700 million euros ($811 million), with shareholder E.ON remaining a strategic investor, the companies said on Monday. Reuters first reported on both a nearing takeover of PSI on Friday and Warburg Pincus' offer for the maker of software for energy networks on Sunday. Having jumped nearly 11% on Friday after the news broke, PSI shares had gained a further 35% at 0733 GMT, reaching 44.7 euros – their highest since January 2022. That was close to the offered price of 45 euros apiece in Warburg Pincus' deal, amounting to a premium of about 50% from the company's closing price on Thursday. MANAGEMENT STRUCTURE TO BE MAINTAINED PSI's software helps run power and gas transmission grids as well as factories and Reuters has reported that it was seeking funding for the development of product upgrades. It is recovering from a cyberattack last year and on Friday it confirmed that it was in talks to sell itself, following the Reuters report. PSI said its board supports the suitor's offer and intends to recommend it to its shareholders. PSI plans to delist from the German stock exchange after the closing of the deal. PSI added that Warburg Pincus would maintain the company's management structure and its headquarters in Berlin. Warburg Pincus has signed agreements for about 28.5% of PSI's equity with its anchor shareholders, PSI said. The statement said that an unnamed anchor shareholder will partially reinvest its proceeds alongside Warburg Pincus into PSI's holding structure. German businessman and newsletter publisher Norman Rentrop is PSI's largest shareholder with a 23% stake, while German utility E.ON is its second-largest investor with around 18%. E.ON will retain its stake in PSI as a strategic investor, Warburg and PSI said. For the purpose of the transaction, the power utility will be regarded as acting jointly with Warburg Pincus, according to the statement. Last year, PSI posted a loss before interest and taxes of 15.2 million euros ($17.6 million) as it was hobbled for weeks by the cyberattack. Goldman Sachs is running the sale process. ($1 = 0.8607 euros) ($1 = 0.8631 euros) (Reporting by Rishabh Jaiswal, Shubham Kalia and Disha Mishra in Bengaluru and Alexander Huebner in Munich, Christoph Steitz and Ludwig Burger in Frankfurt ; Editing by Sherry Jacob-Phillips, Thomas Derpinghaus, Aidan Lewis)

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

By Toby Sterling AMSTERDAM (Reuters) -The Dutch government said it is taking control of Dutch chipmaker Nexperia, which manufactures computer chips for the car and consumer electronics industries, due to worries about the possible transfer of crucial technology to its Chinese parent company, Wingtech. The move prompted a 10% fall in Wingtech's shares in Shanghai on Monday, and the firm said in a statement it was consulting with lawyers and seeking government support to "protect the legitimate rights and interests of the company." The Dutch Ministry of Economic Affairs said its intervention was "exceptional" and came in reaction to "acute signals of serious administrative shortcomings and actions" at the company. The move allows the government to reverse or block management decisions it sees as harmful, but the company's regular production may continue. "These signals threaten the continuity and safeguarding of crucial technological knowledge and capabilities on Dutch and European soil," the statement said. "The loss of these capabilities could pose a risk to Dutch and European economic security." Wingtech said in a stock exchange filing that its control over Nexperia will be temporarily restricted due to the Dutch order and court rulings, affecting decision making and operational efficiency.  Chairman Zhang Xuezheng was suspended from Nexperia's boards by an Amsterdam court order on October 6, and an independent non-Chinese person with a "deciding vote" would be appointed in his place, Wingtech said. A spokesperson for Nexperia said the company adheres to "all existing laws and regulations, export controls and sanction regimes," and declined further comment. Nexperia is one of the world's largest makers of simple computer chips such as diodes and transistors, though it also develops more advanced technologies aimed at using chips to make batteries more efficiently.  Wingtech purchased 100% of Nexperia, once part of Dutch firm Philips, for around $3.63 billion in 2018. Wingtech was placed on the United States' "entity list" in December 2024, identifying it as a national security concern. Nexperia said at the time that it would comply with the U.S. rules, but that would not greatly impact Nexperia's operations, which it argues are kept at arm's length from Wingtech. However, last month the U.S. expanded entity list rules to automatically include subsidiaries that are 50% or more owned by companies on the entity list. It was not immediately clear whether that move was linked to the Dutch government action, though the two countries cooperate closely on computer chip industry export controls. (Reporting by Toby Sterling; additional reporting by Samuel Shen and Brenda Goh in Shanghai. Editing by Diane Craft, Edmund Klamann and Michael Perry)

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

By Toby Sterling AMSTERDAM (Reuters) -The Dutch government said it is taking control of Dutch chipmaker Nexperia, which manufactures computer chips for the car and consumer electronics industries, due to worries about the possible transfer of crucial technology to its Chinese parent company, Wingtech. The move prompted a 10% fall in Wingtech's shares in Shanghai on Monday, and the firm said in a statement it was consulting with lawyers and seeking government support to "protect the legitimate rights and interests of the company." The Dutch Ministry of Economic Affairs said its intervention was "exceptional" and came in reaction to "acute signals of serious administrative shortcomings and actions" at the company. The move allows the government to reverse or block management decisions it sees as harmful, but the company's regular production may continue. "These signals threaten the continuity and safeguarding of crucial technological knowledge and capabilities on Dutch and European soil," the statement said. "The loss of these capabilities could pose a risk to Dutch and European economic security." Wingtech said in a stock exchange filing that its control over Nexperia will be temporarily restricted due to the Dutch order and court rulings, affecting decision making and operational efficiency.  Chairman Zhang Xuezheng was suspended from Nexperia's boards by an Amsterdam court order on October 6, and an independent non-Chinese person with a "deciding vote" would be appointed in his place, Wingtech said. A spokesperson for Nexperia said the company adheres to "all existing laws and regulations, export controls and sanction regimes," and declined further comment. Nexperia is one of the world's largest makers of simple computer chips such as diodes and transistors, though it also develops more advanced technologies aimed at using chips to make batteries more efficiently.  Wingtech purchased 100% of Nexperia, once part of Dutch firm Philips, for around $3.63 billion in 2018. Wingtech was placed on the United States' "entity list" in December 2024, identifying it as a national security concern. Nexperia said at the time that it would comply with the U.S. rules, but that would not greatly impact Nexperia's operations, which it argues are kept at arm's length from Wingtech. However, last month the U.S. expanded entity list rules to automatically include subsidiaries that are 50% or more owned by companies on the entity list. It was not immediately clear whether that move was linked to the Dutch government action, though the two countries cooperate closely on computer chip industry export controls. (Reporting by Toby Sterling; additional reporting by Samuel Shen and Brenda Goh in Shanghai. Editing by Diane Craft, Edmund Klamann and Michael Perry)

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