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By David Shepardson WASHINGTON (Reuters) -Republican U.S. Senator Marsha Blackburn wants the CEOs of AT&T, Verizon and T-Mobile to disclose whether they received or objected to subpoenas for phone data from eight U.S. senators related to a probe of the January 6, 2021 Capitol riot, according to letters seen by Reuters on Friday. On Monday, Senate Republicans disclosed a 2023 document that showed the FBI obtained phone data known as "toll records" from senators' phones, including Blackburn, tied to the U.S. Justice Department's investigation of the riot. She wants the telecom companies to answer questions including whether they provided "the cell phone records of their personal devices, their official government devices, or both?" Separately, Republican Senator Bill Hagerty — who is among the eight lawmakers whose information was seized — said he had written to Verizon seeking answers about the disclosure of his phone records. Verizon on Friday told Reuters it had provided the requested customer information and call records. "Federal law requires companies like Verizon to respond to grand jury subpoenas," Verizon said. "We received a valid subpoena and a court order to keep it confidential. We weren't told why the information was requested or what the investigation was about." Blackburn said all three companies got subpoenas for phone records related to "time, recipient, duration, and location of calls placed on our devices from January 4, 2021, to January 7, 2021." The records were part of special prosecutor Jack Smith's investigation into President Donald Trump’s effort to overturn his loss of the 2020 election to his Democratic opponent, Joe Biden. Trump was charged in the Capitol assault but the case did not go to trial, having been delayed and buffeted by a series of legal challenges. Smith dropped the case after Trump won the 2024 election against Biden's Vice President Kamala Harris. Smith cited a longstanding Justice Department policy against prosecuting a sitting president, but issued a report saying the evidence he gathered would have been enough to convict Trump at trial. Federal Communications Commission Chair Brendan Carr said Friday in an interview he had previously raised concerns about prior disclosures of lawmaker records. "We will be part of the effort to get to the bottom of what happened here," Carr said. (Reporting by David Shepardson; Editing by Nia Williams and David Gregorio)

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By David Shepardson WASHINGTON (Reuters) -Republican U.S. Senator Marsha Blackburn wants the CEOs of AT&T, Verizon and T-Mobile to disclose whether they received or objected to subpoenas for phone data from eight U.S. senators related to a probe of the January 6, 2021 Capitol riot, according to letters seen by Reuters on Friday. On Monday, Senate Republicans disclosed a 2023 document that showed the FBI obtained phone data known as "toll records" from senators' phones, including Blackburn, tied to the U.S. Justice Department's investigation of the riot. She wants the telecom companies to answer questions including whether they provided "the cell phone records of their personal devices, their official government devices, or both?" Separately, Republican Senator Bill Hagerty — who is among the eight lawmakers whose information was seized — said he had written to Verizon seeking answers about the disclosure of his phone records. Verizon on Friday told Reuters it had provided the requested customer information and call records. "Federal law requires companies like Verizon to respond to grand jury subpoenas," Verizon said. "We received a valid subpoena and a court order to keep it confidential. We weren't told why the information was requested or what the investigation was about." Blackburn said all three companies got subpoenas for phone records related to "time, recipient, duration, and location of calls placed on our devices from January 4, 2021, to January 7, 2021." The records were part of special prosecutor Jack Smith's investigation into President Donald Trump’s effort to overturn his loss of the 2020 election to his Democratic opponent, Joe Biden. Trump was charged in the Capitol assault but the case did not go to trial, having been delayed and buffeted by a series of legal challenges. Smith dropped the case after Trump won the 2024 election against Biden's Vice President Kamala Harris. Smith cited a longstanding Justice Department policy against prosecuting a sitting president, but issued a report saying the evidence he gathered would have been enough to convict Trump at trial. Federal Communications Commission Chair Brendan Carr said Friday in an interview he had previously raised concerns about prior disclosures of lawmaker records. "We will be part of the effort to get to the bottom of what happened here," Carr said. (Reporting by David Shepardson; Editing by Nia Williams and David Gregorio)

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BRUSSELS (Reuters) -The European Commission is scrutinising safeguards for minors on Snapchat, YouTube, the Apple App Store and Google Play under its Digital Services Act (DSA), it said on Friday. The Commission is asking the businesses to provide information on their age verification systems, as well as on how they prevent minors from accessing illegal products, including drugs and vapes, or harmful material, such as contents promoting eating disorders. "Today, alongside national authorities in the member states, we are assessing whether the measures taken so far by the platforms are indeed protecting children," EU tech chief Henna Virkkunen said. Google in a response said it had already put in place measures to ensure its platforms offered age appropriate experiences and had "robust" controls for parents. "We keep expanding these efforts (and) continue to engage with the Commission on this critical area," a Google spokesperson said. The DSA is an EU landmark law that requires online companies to do more to tackle illegal and harmful content on their platforms. (Reporting by Charlotte Van Campenhout and Bart Meijer. Editing by Benoit Van Overstraeten and Mark Potter and Inti Landauro)

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By Nora Eckert STANTON, Tenn (Reuters) -Stanton, Tennessee – population 450 – welcomed a massive new neighbor a few years ago: a Ford electric-truck and joint venture battery plant slated to employ 6,000 workers. Ford’s 2022 groundbreaking triggered an influx of construction activity into the former cotton-and-soybean farmlands outside of Memphis. Hard-hatted workers filled local diners. Developers scrambled to build homes and fire stations. Stanton is quieter these days. Ford over the past 18 months repeatedly delayed phases of the project. The EV truck plant is slated to begin initial production in 2027 and start sending deliveries the next year, a timeline delayed several times from the original plan of coming online in 2025. Ford said it "will be nimble in adjusting our product launch timing to meet market needs and customer demand while targeting improved profitability." The Ford complex is part of the so-called Battery Belt, a swath of factories stretching across the U.S. heartland that spans from Georgia to Indiana. Roughly two dozen battery projects worth tens of billions in investment have been announced this decade, promising to inject tens of thousands of jobs in Republican-dominated states like Georgia and Kentucky. By last year, though, Americans’ waning enthusiasm for electric cars led automakers to delay or scrap some factory projects. Now, the additional fallout from U.S. President Donald Trump’s recent policy changes is descending on the Battery Belt. Ford CEO Jim Farley last week offered the prediction that electric-car sales could fall by around 50% following the Sept. 30 expiration of a $7,500 tax credit for buyers, echoing other gloomy forecasts for the EV market. The uncertain fate of these massive, high-tech factories and their employment has rattled the small rural communities that spent years hitching their economic futures to these projects. "That's on everybody's mind, quite frankly," said Allan Sterbinsky, who retired as mayor of Stanton in December and advocated for the site for years before Ford came to town. Some residents worry that Ford will never follow through on the plant, the former mayor says. Others hope the company will repurpose the 3,600-acre site if demand doesn't increase for EVs. A Ford spokesperson pointed to the automaker's community work in Stanton, including grants to public safety organizations as part of a broader $9 million commitment to the area.  A Reuters review of U.S. battery-investment plans shows those worries are justified. The industry appears headed toward a huge glut of factory capacity, if all those projects were to move ahead as planned.  By 2030, the planned battery plants would provide the capacity to produce 13 million to 15 million EVs annually, according to figures provided to Reuters by research firm Benchmark Intelligence. But the industry now might only need about one-quarter of that factory space. S&P Global Mobility predicts only around 3 million EVs will be produced that year, and some would likely use batteries imported from other countries. Some of that excess roughly 10 million-EV worth of battery capacity would likely be used for hybrids and extended-range EVs as well as the booming energy storage industry, but there is still a sizable gulf, said Stephanie Brinley, S&P Global Mobility automotive analyst. The demise of the $7,500 tax credit – which had been in place for more than 15 years to persuade Americans to try green cars – is only the highest profile of several anti-EV measures put forth by the Trump administration. Combined, they further jeopardize battery projects and other electric-car-related investments, experts say. In the last few months, several automakers have canceled, delayed or downsizedEV projects.  Meanwhile, a pot of tens of billions of dollars available to companies that make EV batteries domestically has tighter restrictions that will likely reduce the amount of federal money that flows to the battery sites. “All of a sudden, much of what was originally going to benefit from these credits now no longer can to a large degree,” said Jennifer Stafeil, tax auto sector lead for KPMG. Trump has said he is not anti-EV, but prefers that consumers decide what cars to buy, without government influence. He also has criticized EV-friendly regulations implemented under former President Joe Biden, which Trump has said were costly and threatened American auto jobs. One of the nation’s largest EV projects, Hyundai Motor’s $12.6 billion assembly plant and joint-venture battery factory near Savannah, Georgia, is moving ahead. Last month the project suffered a setback when federal law enforcement raided it. Hyundai has said the fallout would delay the battery plant by at least two to three months.  In the three years since Hyundai announced the megasite, 21 suppliers have opened operations near the site. "Hyundai is committed to offering a diverse product lineup, including internal combustion, hybrid, plug-in hybrid, and EV models. We understand that every customer is unique, and we strive to meet a wide range of needs," a spokesperson said.  The complex is gearing up to hire 8,500 employees by 2031, and is paying wages 25% above the county average, said Trip Tollison, president of the Savannah Economic Development Authority. Tollison acknowledged that some in the community worry about the uncertain future of the nascent EV industry that underpins all that development. He is hopeful Hyundai can flexibly shift to hybrid production if the EV market doesn’t take off. “That's how you provide opportunities like this to lift people out of poverty,” he said. (Editing by Mike Colias and Anna Driver)

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BUENOS AIRES (Reuters) -OpenAI and Sur Energy have signed a letter of intent for a data center project in Argentina requiring an investment of up to $25 billion, the nation's government said on Friday. (Reporting by Walter Bianchi; Editing by Natalia Siniawski)

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(Reuters) -A federal jury in Marshall, Texas found on Friday that Samsung Electronics owes patent owner Collision Communications nearly $445.5 million in damages for infringing on patents related to 4G, 5G and Wi-Fi communications standards. The jury said that Samsung's laptops, Galaxy smartphones and other wireless-enabled devices infringe four Collision patents. (Reporting by Blake Brittain in Washington)

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BUENOS AIRES (Reuters) -OpenAI and Sur Energy have signed a letter of intent for a data center project in Argentina requiring an investment of up to $25 billion, the South American nation's government said on Friday. The project would involve a large-scale facility with a capacity of up to 500 megawatts to support advanced artificial intelligence computing, according to a government statement. Structured under Argentina's RIGI tax break scheme which went into effect last year, the project, if completed, would be "one of the largest technology and energy infrastructure initiatives," in the country's history, the statement said. OpenAI, which now has more than 800 million weekly ChatGPT users, became the world's most valuable startup, with a $500 billion valuation, after completing a secondary share sale last week. "We are proud to announce plans to launch Stargate Argentina, an exciting new infrastructure project in partnership with one of the country's leading energy companies, Sur Energy," OpenAI CEO Sam Altman said on social media. Altman added that it was the first Stargate project in Latin America, a region "full of talent, creativity and ambition." Earlier this week OpenAI had touted new partnerships at its developer conference, revealing a flurry of collaborations with companies including Spotify Zillow and Mattel while debuting a set of fresh tools to help developers build new applications. (Reporting by Walter Bianchi; Editing by Natalia Siniawski and David Gregorio)

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By Blake Brittain (Reuters) -A federal jury in Marshall, Texas found on Friday that Samsung Electronics owes patent owner Collision Communications nearly $445.5 million in damages for infringing on patents related to 4G, 5G and Wi-Fi communications standards. The jury said that Samsung's laptops, Galaxy smartphones and other wireless-enabled devices infringe four Collision patents. The verdict is one of several nine-figure patent infringement verdicts that Samsung has been hit with in the same Marshall, Texas court in recent years. Spokespeople and attorneys for the companies did not immediately respond to requests for comment. Peterborough, New Hampshire-based Collision sued Samsung in 2023 for infringing patents related to improving wireless network efficiency. Collision said in the lawsuit that the patents stemmed from research conducted by defense contractor BAE Systems, which is not involved in the case. Samsung denied the allegations and argued that the patents were invalid. (Reporting by Blake Brittain in Washington, Editing by Alexia Garamfalvi and Diane Craft)

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By Jonathan Stempel (Reuters) -A Delaware judge said former Activision Blizzard officials including Chief Executive Bobby Kotick must face most of a lawsuit alleging they shortchanged shareholders when Microsoft bought the "Call of Duty" game maker for $75.4 billion. Chancellor Kathaleen McCormick of the Delaware Chancery Court said on Thursday the shareholders in the proposed class action can pursue their "core" claim that Kotick and other Activision directors breached their fiduciary duties. She dismissed two claims against Microsoft. Shareholders led by Swedish pension fund Sjunde AP-Fonden accused Kotick of rushing into the merger so he could keep his job and $400 million of change-of-control benefits, and insulate himself from claims he knew about widespread sexual harassment at Activision. They also said the $95 per share takeover price was too low from the outset, and looked worse as Activision's performance improved during the 21-month regulatory approval process for the merger, which closed in October 2023. In an October 7 letter sent after publication of this article, Kotick's defamation counsel disputed claims of widespread harassment at Activision. “Not a single investigation, court finding, verdict, or ruling ever concluded that there was any merit" to the allegations of widespread harassment at Activision, Tom Clare and Nick Brechbill of Clare Locke wrote. In an 83-page decision, McCormick found sufficient allegations that Kotick manipulated the sale process to favor Microsoft, which "offered speed, deal certainty, and–inferably a friendly landing place." She also found it reasonably conceivable that Activision directors put Kotick's interests ahead of those of shareholders, including by allowing a lowball takeover price while harassment concerns were depressing Activision's stock. She dismissed claims that Microsoft aided and abetted the alleged breaches, even if the Redmond, Washington-based company may have "passively stood by" while they occurred. She also dismissed other claims against the Activision defendants. "Litigation on the merits of a trimmed-down version of the plaintiff's complaint can now launch," McCormick wrote. "Game on." A Microsoft spokesperson said that the company believes the remaining claims will be disproved. "This acquisition was fairly negotiated and delivered great value to Activision's shareholders," the spokesperson added. The shareholders' lawyers did not respond to requests for comment. The case is Sjunde AP-Fonden v Activision Blizzard Inc et al, Delaware Chancery Court, No. 2022-1001. (Reporting by Jonathan Stempel in New York; Editing by Bill Berkrot and Diane Craft)

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By Jonathan Stempel (Reuters) -A Delaware judge said former Activision Blizzard officials including Chief Executive Bobby Kotick must face most of a lawsuit alleging they shortchanged shareholders when Microsoft bought the "Call of Duty" game maker for $75.4 billion. Chancellor Kathaleen McCormick of the Delaware Chancery Court said on Thursday the shareholders in the proposed class action can pursue their "core" claim that Kotick and other Activision directors breached their fiduciary duties. She dismissed two claims against Microsoft. Shareholders led by Swedish pension fund Sjunde AP-Fonden accused Kotick of rushing into the merger so he could keep his job and $400 million of change-of-control benefits, and insulate himself from claims he knew about widespread sexual harassment at Activision. They also said the $95 per share takeover price was too low from the outset, and looked worse as Activision's performance improved during the 21-month regulatory approval process for the merger, which closed in October 2023. In an October 7 letter sent after publication of this article, Kotick's defamation counsel disputed claims of widespread harassment at Activision. “Not a single investigation, court finding, verdict, or ruling ever concluded that there was any merit" to the allegations of widespread harassment at Activision, Tom Clare and Nick Brechbill of Clare Locke wrote. In an 83-page decision, McCormick found sufficient allegations that Kotick manipulated the sale process to favor Microsoft, which "offered speed, deal certainty, and–inferably a friendly landing place." She also found it reasonably conceivable that Activision directors put Kotick's interests ahead of those of shareholders, including by allowing a lowball takeover price while harassment concerns were depressing Activision's stock. She dismissed claims that Microsoft aided and abetted the alleged breaches, even if the Redmond, Washington-based company may have "passively stood by" while they occurred. She also dismissed other claims against the Activision defendants. "Litigation on the merits of a trimmed-down version of the plaintiff's complaint can now launch," McCormick wrote. "Game on." A Microsoft spokesperson said that the company believes the remaining claims will be disproved. "This acquisition was fairly negotiated and delivered great value to Activision's shareholders," the spokesperson added. The shareholders' lawyers did not respond to requests for comment. The case is Sjunde AP-Fonden v Activision Blizzard Inc et al, Delaware Chancery Court, No. 2022-1001. (Reporting by Jonathan Stempel in New York; Editing by Bill Berkrot and Diane Craft)

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