विज्ञान

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 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." Lawyers for the individual defendants and Microsoft did not immediately respond to requests for comment on Friday. The shareholders' lawyers did not immediately respond to similar requests. 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)

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

(Corrects paragraph 2 in Oct. 2 story to say market is facing slower growth, not a downturn. Also corrects paragraph 8 to say PIF, and not its gaming arm, has bought or made major investments. The error also appeared in an earlier version of the story) By Zaheer Kachwala (Reuters) -Electronic Arts' record $55 billion leveraged buyout by Saudi Arabia's sovereign wealth fund and two other firms marks a turning point in the videogame industry, as companies look to capitalize on intellectual property through media crossovers. Despite being the largest entertainment industry in the world, the videogame market is facing slower growth as consumers rein in spending in response to higher prices, forcing companies and executives to think of other ways to leverage successful IP. One way they're doing that is through other types of media – like film and television. Acquiring EA means the company's incoming owners, Silver Lake, Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund (PIF) and Jared Kushner's Affinity Partners, get their hands on properties including "Battlefield", "Apex Legends" and "The Sims." Other companies of late have found success in translating wildly popular video games into film and television franchises, whereas in decades past, such adaptations – such as 2005's "Doom" or 2009's "Street Fighter: The Legend of Chun-Li" – often received poor reviews and stumbled at the box office. The global success of Sony's "The Last of Us" television series in 2023 spurred Hollywood studios and gaming publishers to greenlight the film and TV adaptations of popular videogame intellectual properties. Those include Amazon Prime's "Fallout" series, a new season of Riot Games' "Arcane", Warner Bros' "A Minecraft Movie", and sequels to Nintendo's "Super Mario Bros" film and the "Mortal Kombat" movie. "Call of Duty" is also expected to be adapted for the big screen in a Paramount Skydance production. EA, which is gearing up to launch the highly anticipated "Battlefield 6", already announced plans last year to partner with Amazon's MGM Studios to produce a film based on its simulation role-playing game, "The Sims". "The direction of travel is clear in the longer term, and the value of high-end video gaming IP is only increasing as players continue to concentrate engagement among fewer, more popular franchises and games," Raymond James analysts said.  PIF has bought or made major investments in other video game companies such as Take-Two Interactive and Nintendo and has also bet big on growing other entertainment sectors, having signed deals to expand cinemas in the kingdom and taking a stake in Japanese animation firm Toei Co.  "The PIF has shown heightened interest in entertainment assets with prominent positions in popular culture. I would expect them to be more focused on digital media and less on print media, or traditional film and TV delivery models like linear television and movie theaters," said Jon Wakelin, Partner at tech strategy consulting firm Altman Solon. Experts say that while paying hefty amounts to own large IP could benefit in the long run, high production and development costs could pose a financial risk if it is not deployed appropriately. For example, Swedish videogame group Embracer went on an acquisition spree over the last three to four years, buying up dozens of smaller studios and beefing up its portfolio of games. However, poor critical reviews for big titles and canceled projects hit the firm, leading to a three-way split of the company last year. "Consolidating IP during a down market has its short-term benefits, but more often than not, ends up running into inefficiencies and a devaluation," said Joost van Dreunen, games professor at NYU Stern School of Business. (Reporting by Zaheer Kachwala in Bengaluru; Editing by Pooja Desai)

(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 Kanishka Singh WASHINGTON (Reuters) -Apple said on Thursday that it had removed ICEBlock and other similar ICE-tracking apps from its App Store after it was contacted by President Donald Trump's administration, in a rare instance of apps being taken down due to a U.S. federal government demand. The app alerts users to Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents in their area, which the Justice Department says could increase the risk of assault on U.S. agents.  ICE has been a central part of Trump's hardline immigration agenda. Its agents have regularly raided and arrested migrants, and rights advocates say free speech and due process are often being infringed in the government's deportation drive. Apple's action may increase scrutiny of tech firms' growing ties to the Trump administration. Many companies, including the iPhone maker, have sought to avoid clashes with a White House that has not been shy about issuing threats – particularly around tariffs – against specific firms. "Based on information we've received from law enforcement about the safety risks associated with ICEBlock, we have removed it and similar apps from the App Store," Apple said in an emailed statement. Fox Business first reported the app's removal on Thursday. The Justice Department later confirmed that it had contacted Apple to pull the app and that the company complied. "ICEBlock is designed to put ICE agents at risk just for doing their jobs, and violence against law enforcement is an intolerable red line that cannot be crossed," U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi said in a statement. Joshua Aaron, the Texas-based creator of ICEBlock, disputed that characterization and criticized Apple's decision. "I am incredibly disappointed by Apple's actions today. Capitulating to an authoritarian regime is never the right move," Aaron told Reuters in an emailed response. Bondi has previously argued that Aaron is "not protected" under the Constitution and that they are looking at prosecuting him, warning him to "watch out." Civilian surveillance of federal immigration agents has grown more assertive since Trump returned to office, with activists saying they aim to protect their communities from aggressive ICE enforcement. In cities such as Washington, residents also rely on encrypted chats to share enforcement updates, though how often apps like ICEBlock actually alerted neighbors remains unclear. Six legal experts have told Reuters that surveillance of ICE is largely protected under the U.S. Constitution – as long as the activists don't interfere with that work. Courts have long held that recording law enforcement activists in public areas is legal. CHINA MAKES THE MOST DEMANDS Since Trump took office, ICE has raided multiple facilities with immigrants who are in the U.S. illegally, and has ramped up enforcement with $75 billion in new funding through 2029 for ICE. The agency has also arrested visa holders and permanent U.S. residents targeted by the Trump administration over pro-Palestinian advocacy. Legal experts have told Reuters that surveillance of ICE is largely protected under the U.S. Constitution, as long as they do not try to obstruct law enforcement. Apple removed more than 1,700 apps from its App Store in 2024 in response to government demands, but the vast majority – more than 1,300 – came from China, followed by Russia with 171 and South Korea with 79. Over the last three years, the United States has not appeared as one of the countries where apps were removed due to government demands, according to company application transparency reports. A majority of Apple's iPhones are manufactured in China, making the company particularly sensitive to tariff policies. The White House has floated potential taxes on imports of chips included in devices that would hit the company's substantial imports from China and other countries.  Apple removes thousands of apps from its app store every year, including more than 82,500 in 2024, for other reasons, including design-related issues, fraud or intellectual property infringement. Apple shares were down fractionally on Friday. (Reporting by Kanishka Singh in Washington and Jaspreet Singh in Bengaluru; additional reporting by Ted Hesson in Washington; Editing by Edwina Gibbs and 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) -Telstra, Australia's no.1 telecom firm, has been fined A$18 million ($11.87 million) by the Federal Court for lowering internet speed plans for about 9,000 customers without informing them, the country's competition watchdog said on Friday. Australian telecom firms are facing heightened scrutiny over governance, particularly after Optus' two back-to-back emergency call outages last month affected thousands of customers, with the first outage linked to four deaths. The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) said on Friday that Telstra migrated 8,897 customers of its low-cost value brand, Belong, to a lower-speed plan without notifying them that their maximum upload speed had been halved. The migration occurred during October-November 2020, the regulator said. "Telstra's failure to inform customers that their broadband service had been changed denied them the opportunity to decide whether the changed service was suitable for their needs," ACCC Commissioner Anna Brakey said in a statement. In addition to the penalty, Telstra has either already compensated or will compensate all affected customers with a credit or payment of A$15 for each month they were on the lower upload speed plan, the regulator said on Friday. Telstra has accepted the court's findings and is completing remediation for one group of customers, a company spokesperson told Reuters in an emailed response. Telstra shares were trading 0.7% lower, as of 0408 GMT, while the broader benchmark was up 0.5%. ($1 = 1.5161 Australian dollars) (Reporting by Nikita Maria Jino in Bengaluru; Editing by Subhranshu Sahu)

(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 Greg Bensinger SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) -Just days after putting on its annual devices and services showcase, Amazon is losing a vice president who helps oversee the division. Rob Williams, vice president of device software and services and a member of the elite internal group known as the S-team advising CEO Andy Jassy, left his post and will step down entirely from Amazon at year's end, according to a memo sent internally Thursday and reviewed by Reuters. Amazon confirmed the memo after a query from Reuters without providing additional detail. "Rob has had a big impact on the software and experiences of nearly all of the products we’ve created and shipped," said Panos Panay, the senior vice president of devices and services, in the memo. He said Williams decided to "retire from Amazon," but Reuters could not learn his future plans. Panay also announced the consolidation of several teams in his unit, including moving the Alexa Smart Vehicle team into the broader Alexa group. He said the changes were effective Thursday including the elevation of Tapas Roy, previously a vice president overseeing Fire TV product and engineering, to Williams' former post.  Williams will remain an advisor to Panay and on the S-team through the end of 2025, according to the memo.  It is rare for S-team, or senior leadership team, members to depart, as the group is regarded as a badge of honor within the company with unique access to the CEO. Williams, who joined the 29-member S-team in late 2022 and worked at Amazon for 12 years, did not immediately respond to a request for comment. He attended Amazon’s devices event on Tuesday in New York where the firm showed off an array of new products like refreshed Echo voice assistant speakers, color Kindle e-readers and Fire TV sets with improved screen quality. The money-losing devices and services unit has undergone multiple rounds of layoffs as it pares back on products. A multi-year project to update its Alexa voice assistant with embedded generative artificial intelligence has rolled out slowly and has no clear path to profitability and Amazon is overhauling its Fire tablets with Android operating software for the first time, Reuters reported in August. Earlier this week, Williams in a LinkedIn post touted the debut of a new operating system called Vega that will be in use in forthcoming Fire TV devices, including a streaming stick available later this month. Amazon’s proprietary Vega is meant to replace Google’s Android software and promises faster speeds at lower prices. “No one else has anything like it,” said Williams in the post, only his second in the past two years. (Reporting by Greg Bensinger; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama)

(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 Elvira Pollina and Giulio Piovaccari TURIN (Reuters) -Amazon founder Jeff Bezos predicted on Friday gigawatt-scale data centres will be built in space within the next 10 to 20 years and that continuously available solar energy meant they would eventually outperform those based on Earth. Speaking at the Italian Tech Week in Turin, Bezos also compared the surge in artificial intelligence to the internet boom of the early 2000s, urging optimism despite the risk of speculative bubbles. The concept of orbital data centres has gained traction among tech giants as those on Earth have driven up demand for electricity and water to cool their servers. "These giant training clusters, those will be better built in space, because we have solar power there, 24/7. There are no clouds and no rain, no weather," Bezos said in a public conversation with Ferrari and Stellantis Chairman John Elkann. "We will be able to beat the cost of terrestrial data centres in space in the next couple of decades." Bezos said the shift to space infrastructure is part of a broader trend of using space to improve life on Earth. "It's already happened with weather and communication satellites," he said. "The next step is data centres, then other kinds of manufacturing." Hosting data centres in space has its own challenges, including the difficulty of maintenance and carrying out upgrades and the cost of launching rockets, as well as the risk the launches may fail. The executive chair of Amazon said the AI wave shares traits with the dot-com era, when massive hype was followed by a crash. "We should be extremely optimistic that the societal and beneficial consequences of AI, like we had with internet 25 years ago, are for real and there to stay," he said. "It is important to decorrelate the potential bubbles and their bursting consequences that might or might not happen from the actual reality," Bezos said, adding that the benefits of AI were expected "to be broadly diffused and it will go everywhere". (Reporting by Elvira Pollina and Giulio Piovaccari; Writing by Elvira Pollina; Editing by Emelia Sithole-Matarise and Barbara 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.)

Washington (dpa) – A large new study shows that poor sleep habits may make the brain look physically older than about a year on average. For the study, researchers examined brain scans and sleep patterns of more than 27,000 middle-aged and older adults in the UK. The study, published in eBioMedicine, used advanced brain imaging and artificial intelligence to estimate 'brain age' based on over 1,000 brain features. Meanwhile, to measure sleep quality, the researchers looked at five factors – whether someone is a morning or night person, how many hours they sleep (with seven to eight considered best), whether they have insomnia, whether they snore, and whether they feel very sleepy during the day. Based on these traits, they gave each person a 'sleep score.' People with four or five healthy sleep traits were considered good sleepers, those with two to three were intermediate, and those with zero or one were poor sleepers. Only 41% of participants were classified as good sleepers, more than half fell into the intermediate group, and about 3% had poor sleep. For every one-point drop in sleep score, the gap between brain age and actual age widened by about half a year. Being a night owl, sleeping too much or too little, and snoring showed the strongest links to older-looking brains. However, the encouraging news is that sleep habits can be improved. Keeping a regular sleep schedule, avoiding caffeine, alcohol, and screens before bedtime, and creating a quiet, dark sleep environment can all help improve sleep quality and protect brain health. The following information is not intended for publication dpa yyfx n1 coh

(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 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 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." Lawyers for the individual defendants and Microsoft did not immediately respond to requests for comment on Friday. The shareholders' lawyers did not immediately respond to similar requests. 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)

(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 Mike Stone WASHINGTON (Reuters) -The much-needed modernization of the U.S. Army's battlefield communications network being undertaken by Anduril, Palantir and others is rife with "fundamental security" problems and vulnerabilities, and should be treated as a "very high risk," according to a recent internal Army memo. The two Silicon Valley companies, led by allies of U.S. President Donald Trump, have gained access to the Pentagon's lucrative flow of contracts on the promise of quickly providing less expensive and more sophisticated weapons than the Pentagon's longstanding arms providers.   But the September memo from the Army's chief technology officer about the NGC2 platform that connects soldiers, sensors, vehicles and commanders with real-time data paints a bleak picture of the initial product. "We cannot control who sees what, we cannot see what users are doing, and we cannot verify that the software itself is secure," the memo says. Palantir and Anduril did not comment for this story.  The assessment, seen by Reuters and first reported by Breaking Defense, comes just months after defense drone and software maker Anduril was awarded a $100 million to create a prototype of NGC2 with partners including Palantir, Microsoft and several smaller contractors. The Army should treat the NGC2 prototype version as “very high risk” because of the “likelihood of an adversary gaining persistent undetectable access," wrote Gabrielle Chiulli, the Army chief technology officer authorizing official. Despite the early September memo's scathing critique, Leonel Garciga, Army chief information officer and Chiulli's supervisor, said in a statement to Reuters that the report was part of a process that helped in "triaging cybersecurity vulnerabilities" and mitigating them. In March, the 4th Infantry Division used the system in live-fire artillery training at Fort Carson, Colorado, in an exercise Anduril described as demonstrating faster and more reliable performance than legacy systems. The Army memo identifies some major security gaps. The report says the system allows any authorized user to access all applications and data regardless of their clearance level or operational need. As a result, "Any user can potentially access and misuse sensitive" classified information, the memo states, with no logging to track their actions. Other deficiencies highlighted in the memo include the hosting of third-party applications that have not undergone Army security assessments. One application revealed 25 high-severity code vulnerabilities. Three additional applications under review each contain over 200 vulnerabilities requiring assessment, according to the document. (Reporting by Mike Stone; editing by Chris Sanders and Sergio Non)

(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 Greg Bensinger SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) -Just days after putting on its annual devices and services showcase, Amazon is losing a vice president who helps oversee the division. Rob Williams, vice president of device software and services and a member of the elite internal group known as the S-team advising CEO Andy Jassy, left his post and will step down entirely from Amazon at year's end, according to a memo sent internally Thursday and reviewed by Reuters. Amazon confirmed the memo after a query from Reuters without providing additional detail. "Rob has had a big impact on the software and experiences of nearly all of the products we’ve created and shipped," said Panos Panay, the senior vice president of devices and services, in the memo. He said Williams decided to "retire from Amazon," but Reuters could not learn his future plans. Panay also announced the consolidation of several teams in his unit, including moving the Alexa Smart Vehicle team into the broader Alexa group. He said the changes were effective Thursday including the elevation of Tapas Roy, previously a vice president overseeing Fire TV product and engineering, to Williams' former post.  Williams will remain an advisor to Panay and on the S-team through the end of 2025, according to the memo.  It is rare for S-team, or senior leadership team, members to depart, as the group is regarded as a badge of honor within the company with unique access to the CEO. Williams, who joined the 29-member S-team in late 2022 and worked at Amazon for 12 years, did not immediately respond to a request for comment. He attended Amazon’s devices event on Tuesday in New York where the Seattle firm showed off an array of new products like refreshed Echo voice assistant speakers, color Kindle e-readers and Fire TV sets with improved screen quality. (Reporting by Greg Bensinger; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama )

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