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By Foo Yun Chee BRUSSELS (Reuters) -Apple was hit with a complaint to EU antitrust regulators by two civil rights groups on Wednesday over the terms and conditions of its App Store and devices for allegedly breaching landmark rules aimed at reining in Big Tech. The joint complaint by Article 19 and Germany's Society for Civil Rights to the European Commission could pose yet another headache for Apple, which was fined 500 million euros ($583 million) in April for violating the Digital Markets Act. Apple did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The EU executive, which acts as the bloc's competition enforcer, said it was aware of the submission. "Third party contributions are very important for the effective enforcement of the DMA," a Commission spokesperson said. "We are already looking into (some of) those issues, as we are currently seeking feedback from market participants in relation to Apple business terms and we are regularly supervising gatekeepers' compliance." The complaint, not previously reported, was shared with Reuters ahead of its publication. The DMA sets out a list of dos and don'ts for Big Tech firms aimed at allowing smaller rivals entry into markets dominated by the largest companies and giving users more choice. The complaint targets Apple's business terms and conditions for its App Store, iOS and iPadOS operating systems, saying that these prevent and impede interoperability for small businesses with Apple devices. It also takes aim at restrictions on the installation and use of third-party software apps and app stores which it said harm business users and end users in breach of the DMA. The civil rights groups singled out a stand-by letter of credit (SBLC) of 1 million euros required from developers who want to develop apps for distribution in Apple's App Store or who want to install a third-party app store as a native app in Apple's iOS and iPadOS. "A 1,000,000 euro SBLC can impose a recurring annual cost and collateral requirements that many SMEs cannot meet," said the 16-page complaint seen by Reuters. The groups urged the Commission to fine Apple. DMA penalties can be as much as 10% of a company's global annual revenue. ($1 = 0.8575 euros) (Reporting by Foo Yun Chee; Editing by Joe Bavier, Kirsten Donovan)

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By Greg Bensinger MILPITAS, California (Reuters) -In its relentless drive to bring everyday items to customers faster, Amazon has shifted expectations from two-day delivery to same-day and even within an hour. Now, with robots, artificial intelligence and even eyewear, it is working to pare seconds off each delivery. On Wednesday, Seattle-based Amazon showed off advanced eyeglasses for delivery workers for the first time publicly after Reuters exclusively reported the company was developing them last year. Known internally as Amelia, the glasses have a small screen that gives turn-by-turn directions, scans package codes and takes photos for proof of delivery. The glasses could replace the bulky handheld Global Positioning System devices drivers use today and give helpful navigation tips like which way to turn when leaving an apartment elevator or how to avoid an aggressive dog at a customer’s home. The glasses rely on a paired controller placed in a driver’s vest and Amazon solved the challenge of battery life by having swappable battery packs, the company said. The announcements made at Amazon’s annual “Delivering the Future” logistics event are part of the firm’s particular focus on the "last 100 yards," which contribute to the expensive final steps in a delivery’s journey to customers. Last year, it unveiled a delivery van scanner to direct drivers to packages for each stop by shining a green spotlight on them, shaving seconds off time usually spent reading labels. And in June, it showed reporters new digital maps that gave far more detail about neighborhoods, building shapes and obstacles, than, say, Google Maps. Beryl Tomay, Amazon transportation vice president, said hundreds of delivery drivers had already tested the glasses along their routes. "It reduces the need to manage a phone and a package," Tomay said at the event. "It helps them stay at attention, which enhances their safety." It was not immediately clear how Amazon planned to ensure the glasses are used by drivers, most of whom are contract employees.   Also on Wednesday, the online retailer showed off a robotic arm that it says can work in concert with warehouse employees picking items off shelves and sorting them for faster and more accurate order fulfillment. Amazon claimed the robot, dubbed Blue Jay, could reduce injury rates and work in a smaller space than equivalent robots that previously required three separate stations. The robot is in use already at a warehouse in South Carolina, Amazon said, and it plans to roll it out to more facilities in the coming months, particularly what are known as sub-same-day sites focused on delivery in a few hours or less. Additionally, Amazon said it plans to deploy an artificial intelligence system at warehouses, starting at one in Tennessee, that can help manage operations at a high level, to prevent gridlock and other challenges that can slow operations. It was not immediately clear how Amazon planned to institute the software or who would have access to it. "We now have a tool to analyze all the site data as it happens," said Tye Brady, chief technologist of Amazon robotics, at the event on Wednesday. "When it's fully implemented, we will be able to help operators with their daily planning." He said the company planned to offer the software across its warehouse network, but did not provide details on how it would be rolled out. The company's expansion of warehouse robots is expected to reduce its U.S. hiring by 160,000 workers over the next two years, the New York Times reported on Tuesday. Amazon said it planned to hire 250,000 temporary workers for the holiday season. Amazon shares were down 2.4% to $216.78 on Wednesday. It is the only one among the so-called Magnificent Seven technology stocks to record a year-to-date decline.  (Reporting by Greg Bensinger; Editing by Lisa Shumaker and Nia Williams)

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By Suzanne McGee and Arasu Kannagi Basil (Reuters) -T. Rowe Price is seeking regulatory approval to launch an actively managed exchange-traded fund tied to multiple digital currencies, according to a filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission on Wednesday. It is the first foray into the cryptocurrency space by the $1.77 trillion asset management firm, nearly two years after the SEC's approval of spot bitcoin ETFs. "It's a surprise to see them as a relatively late entrant, but they're planning to offer something differentiated to try and break into the space," said Bryan Armour, an ETF analyst at Morningstar. While asset managers have flooded the SEC with applications to launch ETFs tied to individual coins, it remains rare to see proposals for new multi-coin products that are actively managed, Armour added. The proposed ETF would offer investors exposure to anywhere from five to 15 coins that meet the fund's eligibility standards, a list that currently ranges from bitcoin and ether to solana, dogecoin and Shiba Inu, according to the prospectus. Managers would seek to outperform the FTSE Crypto US Listed Index and use fundamental, valuation and momentum factors to determine which assets to hold and their relative weights within the portfolio, a spokesman told Reuters.  As outflows continue from its traditional mutual funds, T. Rowe Price has been seeking to diversify into new areas, Armour said. It has launched 24 ETFs in recent years, and last month announced a new partnership with Goldman Sachs to explore ways to develop new private market products for retail investors. As part of that agreement, Goldman said it will buy up to 3.5% of T. Rowe shares, an investment that could top $1 billion. "This is a firm looking for new niches," said Armour. T. Rowe Price has been monitoring developments in the digital assets space closely and developed the ability to trade digital assets in recent years, the firm's spokesman said. In 2022, it hired Blue Macellari, a former crypto hedge fund executive, to become head of its digital assets strategy. "It's exciting to see them expand their ETF lineup beyond stock and bond exposure," said Todd Rosenbluth, head of research at VettaFi, an ETF market analysis firm. Scores of cryptocurrency ETFs await SEC approval in the midst of a government shutdown that has reduced the agency's staffing to skeletal levels. They are unlikely to get the green light until the shutdown ends, in spite of the SEC's adoption of new listing standards clearing the way for a host of new products such as the T. Rowe Price ETF. (Reporting by Suzanne McGee in Providence, Rhode Island, and Arasu Kannagi Basil in Bengaluru; Editing by Alden Bentley, Shilpi Majumdar and Matthew Lewis)

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(Reuters) -Social media platform Reddit sued artificial intelligence startup Perplexity in New York federal court on Wednesday, accusing it and three other companies of unlawfully scraping its data to train Perplexity's AI-based search engine. Reddit said in the complaint that the data-scraping companies circumvented its data protection measures in order to steal data that Perplexity "desperately needs" to power its "answer engine" system. The case is one of many filed by content owners against tech companies over the alleged misuse of their copyrighted material to train AI systems. Reddit filed a similar lawsuit against AI startup Anthropic in June that is still ongoing.  "Our approach remains principled and responsible as we provide factual answers with accurate AI, and we will not tolerate threats against openness and the public interest," Perplexity said in a statement. "AI companies are locked in an arms race for quality human content—and that pressure has fueled an industrial-scale 'data laundering' economy," Reddit chief legal officer Ben Lee said in a statement.  Reddit, which features thousands of interest-based "subreddit" web communities, said in the lawsuit that it is the most commonly cited source for AI-generated answers to user questions. It has licensed its content to Google, OpenAI and others for their AI training.  Reddit said that Lithuania-based Oxylabs, Russia-based AWMProxy and Texas-based SerpApi scraped Reddit data from billions of search results without permission and that Perplexity, which does not have a license to use Reddit content, worked with at least one of the data-scraping companies to obtain Reddit material. Spokespeople for Oxylabs and SerpApi did not immediately respond to requests for comment on the case. AWMProxy could not be reached for comment. Reddit said it sent Perplexity a cease-and-desist letter last year, after which it "increased the volume of citations to Reddit forty-fold." Reddit asked the court for unspecified monetary damages and an order blocking Perplexity from using its data. (Reporting by Blake Brittain in WashingtonEditing by Nick Zieminski)

(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 Suzanne McGee and Arasu Kannagi Basil (Reuters) -T. Rowe Price is seeking regulatory approval to launch an actively managed exchange-traded fund tied to multiple digital currencies, according to a filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission on Wednesday. It is the first foray into the cryptocurrency space by the $1.77 trillion asset management firm, nearly two years after the SEC's approval of spot bitcoin ETFs. "It's a surprise to see them as a relatively late entrant, but they're planning to offer something differentiated to try and break into the space," said Bryan Armour, an ETF analyst at Morningstar. While asset managers have flooded the SEC with applications to launch ETFs tied to individual coins, it remains rare to see proposals for new multi-coin products that are actively managed, Armour added. The proposed ETF would offer investors exposure to anywhere from five to 15 coins that meet the fund's eligibility standards, a list that currently ranges from bitcoin and ether to solana, dogecoin and Shiba Inu, according to the prospectus. Managers would seek to outperform the FTSE Crypto US Listed Index and use fundamental, valuation and momentum factors to determine which assets to hold and their relative weights within the portfolio, a spokesman told Reuters.  As outflows continue from its traditional mutual funds, T. Rowe Price has been seeking to diversify into new areas, Armour said. It has launched 24 ETFs in recent years, and last month announced a new partnership with Goldman Sachs to explore ways to develop new private market products for retail investors. As part of that agreement, Goldman said it will buy up to 3.5% of T. Rowe shares, an investment that could top $1 billion. "This is a firm looking for new niches," said Armour. T. Rowe Price has been monitoring developments in the digital assets space closely and developed the ability to trade digital assets in recent years, the firm's spokesman said. In 2022, it hired Blue Macellari, a former crypto hedge fund executive, to become head of its digital assets strategy. "It's exciting to see them expand their ETF lineup beyond stock and bond exposure," said Todd Rosenbluth, head of research at VettaFi, an ETF market analysis firm. Scores of cryptocurrency ETFs await SEC approval in the midst of a government shutdown that has reduced the agency's staffing to skeletal levels. They are unlikely to get the green light until the shutdown ends, in spite of the SEC's adoption of new listing standards clearing the way for a host of new products such as the T. Rowe Price ETF. (Reporting by Suzanne McGee in Providence, Rhode Island, and Arasu Kannagi Basil in Bengaluru; Editing by Alden Bentley, Shilpi Majumdar and Matthew 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 Suzanne McGee and Arasu Kannagi Basil (Reuters) -T. Rowe Price is seeking regulatory approval to launch an actively managed exchange-traded fund tied to multiple digital currencies, according to a filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission on Wednesday. It is the first foray into the cryptocurrency space by the $1.77 trillion asset management firm, nearly two years after the SEC's approval of spot bitcoin ETFs. "It's a surprise to see them as a relatively late entrant, but they're planning to offer something differentiated to try and break into the space," said Bryan Armour, an ETF analyst at Morningstar. While asset managers have flooded the SEC with applications to launch ETFs tied to individual coins, it remains rare to see proposals for new multi-coin products that are actively managed, Armour added. The proposed ETF would offer investors exposure to anywhere from five to 15 coins that meet the fund's eligibility standards, a list that currently ranges from bitcoin and ether to solana, dogecoin and Shiba Inu, according to the prospectus. Managers would seek to outperform the FTSE Crypto US Listed Index and use fundamental, valuation and momentum factors to determine which assets to hold and their relative weights within the portfolio, a spokesman told Reuters.  As outflows continue from its traditional mutual funds, T. Rowe Price has been seeking to diversify into new areas, Armour said. It has launched 24 ETFs in recent years, and last month announced a new partnership with Goldman Sachs to explore ways to develop new private market products for retail investors. As part of that agreement, Goldman said it will buy up to 3.5% of T. Rowe shares, an investment that could top $1 billion. "This is a firm looking for new niches," said Armour. T. Rowe Price has been monitoring developments in the digital assets space closely and developed the ability to trade digital assets in recent years, the firm's spokesman said. In 2022, it hired Blue Macellari, a former crypto hedge fund executive, to become head of its digital assets strategy. "It's exciting to see them expand their ETF lineup beyond stock and bond exposure," said Todd Rosenbluth, head of research at VettaFi, an ETF market analysis firm. Scores of cryptocurrency ETFs await SEC approval in the midst of a government shutdown that has reduced the agency's staffing to skeletal levels. They are unlikely to get the green light until the shutdown ends, in spite of the SEC's adoption of new listing standards clearing the way for a host of new products such as the T. Rowe Price ETF. (Reporting by Suzanne McGee in Providence, Rhode Island, and Arasu Kannagi Basil in Bengaluru; Editing by Alden Bentley, Shilpi Majumdar and Matthew 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.)

(Reuters) -Meta is cutting around 600 positions out of the several thousand roles in its Superintelligence Labs, the Facebook owner said on Wednesday as it looks to make its artificial intelligence unit more flexible and responsive. The job cuts will affect Facebook Artificial Intelligence Research (FAIR) unit, as well as teams focused on product-related AI and AI infrastructure, the company said. The newly formed TBD Lab, which comprises "a few dozen" researchers and engineers developing Meta's next-generation foundation models, will not be affected. Axios first reported the job cuts announcement, citing a company memo. Chief AI Officer Alexandr Wang said fewer team members would streamline decision-making and increase the responsibility, scope and impact of each role. The company said it was encouraging affected employees to apply for other jobs within Meta. Meta on Tuesday struck a $27 billion financing deal with Blue Owl Capital, the company's largest-ever private capital agreement, to fund its biggest data center project. Some analysts said the deal will allow Meta to achieve its massive AI ambitions by shifting much of the upfront cost and risk to external capital, while retaining a smaller ownership share in the project. The parent of Facebook and Instagram reorganized its AI efforts under Superintelligence Labs in June after senior staff departures and a poor reception for its open-source Llama 4 model. CEO Mark Zuckerberg personally led an aggressive hiring spree for the unit to revitalize Meta's AI efforts. Superintelligence Labs includes Meta's foundations, product and FAIR teams as well as TBD Lab that is focused on developing the company's next generation of AI models. The company began investing in AI in 2013 by launching FAIR unit and recruiting Yann LeCun, its chief AI scientist, to lead the effort and building a global research network focused on deep learning. (Reporting by Jaspreet Singh in Bengaluru; Editing by Vijay Kishore and Arun Koyyur)

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By Greg Bensinger MILPITAS, California (Reuters) -In its relentless drive to bring everyday items to customers faster, Amazon has shifted expectations from two-day delivery to same-day and even within an hour. Now, with robots, artificial intelligence and even eyewear, it is working to pare seconds off each delivery. On Wednesday, Seattle-based Amazon showed off advanced eyeglasses for delivery workers for the first time publicly after Reuters exclusively reported the company was developing them last year. Known internally as Amelia, the glasses have a small screen that gives turn-by-turn directions, scans package codes and takes photos for proof of delivery. The glasses could replace the bulky handheld Global Positioning System devices drivers use today and give helpful navigation tips like which way to turn when leaving an apartment elevator or how to avoid an aggressive dog at a customer’s home. The glasses rely on a paired controller placed in a driver’s vest and Amazon solved the challenge of battery life by having swappable battery packs, the company said. The announcements made at Amazon’s annual “Delivering the Future” logistics event are part of the firm’s particular focus on the "last 100 yards," which contribute to the expensive final steps in a delivery’s journey to customers. Last year, it unveiled a delivery van scanner to direct drivers to packages for each stop by shining a green spotlight on them, shaving seconds off time usually spent reading labels. And in June, it showed reporters new digital maps that gave far more detail about neighborhoods, building shapes and obstacles, than, say, Google Maps. Also on Wednesday, the online retailer showed off a robotic arm that it says can work in concert with warehouse employees picking items off shelves and sorting them for faster and more accurate order fulfillment. Amazon claimed the robot, dubbed Blue Jay, could reduce injury rates and work in a smaller space than equivalent robots that previously required three separate stations. The robot is in use already at a warehouse in South Carolina, Amazon said, and it plans to roll it out to more facilities in the coming months, particularly what are known as sub-same-day sites focused on delivery in a few hours or less. Additionally, Amazon said it plans to deploy an artificial intelligence system at warehouses, starting at one in Tennessee, that can help manage operations at a high level, to prevent gridlock and other challenges that can slow operations. It was not immediately clear how Amazon planned to institute the software or who would have access to it. The company's expansion of warehouse robots is expected to reduce its U.S. hiring by 160,000 workers over the next two years, the New York Times reported on Tuesday. Amazon said it planned to hire 250,000 temporary workers for the holiday season. (Reporting by Greg Bensinger; Editing by Lisa Shumaker)

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By Alexandra Alper, Michael Martina, Jeffrey Dastin and Karen Freifeld (Reuters) -The Trump administration is considering a plan to curb a dizzying array of software-powered exports to China, from laptops to jet engines, to retaliate against Beijing's latest round of rare earth export restrictions, according to a U.S. official and three people briefed by U.S. authorities. While the plan is not the only option on the table, it would make good on President Donald Trump's threat earlier this month to bar "critical software" exports to China by restricting global shipments of items that contain U.S. software or were produced using U.S. software. On October 10, Trump said in a social media post that he would impose additional tariffs of 100% on China's U.S.-bound shipments, along with new export controls on "any and all critical software" by November 1 without further details. To be sure, the measure, details of which are being reported for the first time, may not move forward, the sources said.  But the fact that such controls are being considered shows the Trump administration is weighing a dramatic escalation of its showdown with China, even as some within the U.S. government favor a gentler approach, according to two of the sources.  U.S. stock indexes briefly extended losses on the news, with the S&P 500 down 0.8% and the Nasdaq 1.3% lower before paring their losses. The White House declined to comment. The Commerce Department, which oversees export controls, did not respond to requests for comment. A spokesperson for the Chinese embassy did not comment on the specific U.S. measures under consideration but said China opposed the U.S. "imposing unilateral long-arm jurisdiction measures" and vowed to "take resolute measures to protect its legitimate rights and interests" if the U.S. proceeds down what it views as a wrong path. MEASURE COULD BE USED TO PRESSURE CHINA Administration officials could announce the measure to put pressure on China but stop short of implementing it, one of the sources said. Narrower policy proposals are also being discussed, two of the people said. "Everything imaginable is made with U.S. software," one of the sources said, highlighting the broad scope of the proposed action. The sources declined to be named because the matter was not public. The move could disrupt global trade with China, especially for technology products, and could come at a cost to the U.S. economy if fully implemented. The measure, if adopted, would echo restrictions that the Biden administration imposed on Moscow after its 2022 invasion of Ukraine. Those rules restricted exports to Russia of items made globally using U.S. technology or software. Trump's Truth Social post came just three weeks before a previously announced meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping in South Korea, and a day after China dramatically expanded its export controls on rare earth elements. China dominates the market for such elements, which are essential to tech manufacturing. In his post, Trump said China's action, also effective November 1, represented "a moral disgrace" that would impose controls on "virtually every product they make." But questions have swirled about what Trump meant in his response by "critical software" controls. While Trump has slapped a series of tariffs on China since taking office in January, he has wavered in his use of export restrictions against Beijing, first imposing strict new curbs on shipments of Nvidia's AI chips as well as chip design software to China, and later removing them. China expressed its opposition to a Trump administration rule last month that restricts U.S. companies from shipping goods and technology to companies at least 50% owned by sanctioned Chinese firms. Chinese imports currently face U.S. tariffs around 55%, which could shoot up to 155% if Trump follows through on his threatened tariff hike. But Trump appeared to soften his posture on Beijing following the threats, posting on Oct. 12 that: "The U.S.A. wants to help China, not hurt it!!!" U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said Friday he expected to meet with Chinese vice premier He Lifeng in Malaysia this week, ahead of the meeting between Trump and Xi in South Korea later this month. (Reporting by Alexandra Alper and Michael Martina in Washington, Jeffrey Dastin in San Francisco and Karen Freifeld in New York; Editing by Chris Sanders and Edmund Klamann)

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By Hannah Lang (Reuters) -Apollo Global Management, Oppenheimer, Jane Street and HSG, formerly known as Sequoia Capital China, invested in crypto exchange Kraken's recent funding round that valued the company at $15 billion, said two sources familiar with the matter. Fortune reported last month that Kraken closed the $500 million round, but Reuters is naming the firms, which are major investors and financial players, for the first time. Their participation underscores how institutional players are moving into the digital asset sector, which has benefited from U.S. President Donald Trump's pro-crypto stance and his administration's push for friendly regulations. Qube Research & Technologies; Kraken's co-CEO Arjun Sethi; and Tribe Capital, a venture capital firm that Sethi co-founded, also bought into the fundraising round, which paves the way for the crypto firm to go public in coming months, one source said. Spokespeople for Kraken, Qube and Jane Street declined to comment. Spokespeople for Apollo, Oppenheimer, HSG and Tribe Capital did not provide comment. Kraken, one of the world's largest crypto trading platforms, is expected to confidentially file a registration statement for an initial public offering with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission by year-end, with plans to go public in the first quarter, one of the sources added, although it was unclear how the U.S. government shutdown might affect that timeline. Several other crypto companies including Circle, Gemini and Bullish have capitalized on crypto exuberance with IPOs this year. Kraken has been expanding aggressively, buying retail futures trading platform NinjaTrader for $1.5 billion in May and futures exchange Small Exchange from IG Group for $100 million this month, paving the way for the company to launch a fully U.S.-based derivatives platform. Growing institutional and corporate participation in crypto markets has helped push up the value of major tokens over the last year. Bitcoin, the world's largest cryptocurrency, is up more than 20% so far this year, after hitting a record high above $126,000 this month. (Reporting by Hannah Lang in New York; additional reporting by Anirban Sen in New York; editing by Michelle Price and Richard Chang)

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