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By AJ Vicens (Reuters) -Envoy Air, American Airlines' largest regional carrier, suffered a hack in recent days as part of the wave of extortion attempts from hackers exploiting Oracle E-Business Suite applications, the company confirmed on Friday. A spokesperson for the Irving, Texas-based company, which operates more than 160 aircraft on 875 daily flights, said in an email that it is aware of the incident, and that the company is investigating and has contacted law enforcement.   “We have conducted a thorough review of the data at issue and have confirmed no sensitive or customer data was affected,” the spokesperson said. “A limited amount of business information and commercial contact details may have been compromised.” The company is the second entity to confirm it was hacked as a result of a campaign targeting Oracle E-Business Suite applications claimed by “CL0P,” a cybercriminal extortion group with a history of wide-ranging compromises against third-party software or service providers. CL0P listed American Airlines on its website as a victim late on Thursday. The timing of the attack was not clear.  CL0P did not immediately respond to a request for comment sent to an email address used by the group. An American Airlines spokesperson referred questions on the hacking to Envoy Air.  Experts at Google, a unit of Alphabet, said on  October 9 that “mass amounts of customer data” were stolen in an operation that may have begun as early as three months ago. Harvard University confirmed it had been attacked in a similar fashion earlier this week, according to cybersecurity news outlet the Record. (Reporting by AJ Vicens in Detroit; Editing by Matthew Lewis)

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By AJ Vicens (Reuters) -Envoy Air, American Airlines' largest regional carrier, suffered a hack in recent days as part of the wave of extortion attempts from hackers exploiting Oracle E-Business Suite applications, the company confirmed on Friday. A spokesperson for the Irving, Texas-based company, which operates more than 160 aircraft on 875 daily flights, said in an email that it is aware of the incident, and that the company is investigating and has contacted law enforcement.   “We have conducted a thorough review of the data at issue and have confirmed no sensitive or customer data was affected,” the spokesperson said. “A limited amount of business information and commercial contact details may have been compromised.” The company is the second entity to confirm it was hacked as a result of a campaign targeting Oracle E-Business Suite applications claimed by “CL0P,” a cybercriminal extortion group with a history of wide-ranging compromises against third-party software or service providers. CL0P listed American Airlines on its website as a victim late on Thursday. The timing of the attack was not clear.  CL0P did not immediately respond to a request for comment sent to an email address used by the group. An American Airlines spokesperson referred questions on the hacking to Envoy Air.  Experts at Google, a unit of Alphabet, said on  October 9 that “mass amounts of customer data” were stolen in an operation that may have begun as early as three months ago. Harvard University confirmed it had been attacked in a similar fashion earlier this week, according to cybersecurity news outlet the Record. (Reporting by AJ Vicens in Detroit; Editing by Matthew Lewis)

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MILAN (Reuters) -Data centres around Italy's financial capital Milan are expected to add around two gigawatts of capacity over the next five years, a tenfold increase from current levels, the Chief Executive of energy group A2A said on Friday. The rapid expansion of data centres, needed to drive artificial intelligence, promises to boost revenues for utilities like A2A, which will supply the electricity they need. The province of Milan currently hosts about 200 megawatts of installed data centre capacity, while the city's peak electricity demand currently stands at 1.5 GW. The new facilities will be connected to Italy's high-voltage grid or directly to power plants, avoiding strain on the local distribution network managed by A2A, CEO Renato Mazzoncini said. To meet the rising demand, the local authorities are supporting a ramp up in renewable generation and an increase in thermal capacity. "We already have more than 3 gigawatts of additional thermoelectric power either built, under construction or authorised in the region," Mazzoncini, speaking at an event in Milan, said. Despite Italy's higher electricity costs compared to other European countries, the executive said data centre developers are not deterred. "The cost of electricity is converging across Europe. A solar panel or wind turbine produces at the same cost in Spain, Italy or Ireland. That's where the world is heading," he said. He also said that operators can also secure power through purchase agreements with utilities. A2A is Italy's third largest utility in terms of customer numbers and the largest in Lombardy, the region around Milan. (Reporting by Francesca Landini. Editing by Jane Merriman)

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(Reuters) -Stellantis and Chinese autonomous driving firm Pony.ai said on Friday that they had signed an agreement to jointly develop and test self-driving vehicles in Europe. The partnership will combine Pony.ai's autonomous driving software with Stellantis' battery-electric medium-sized van platform designed for SAE Level 4, or hands-off, eyes-off, driving. Pony.ai, founded in 2016 in China and operating fully driverless robotaxi services in major Chinese cities, will manage European operations through its Luxembourg-based division. Testing will start with the Peugeot e-Traveller model in Luxembourg, with a rollout across European cities from 2026, focusing on safety, performance, and regulatory compliance, the companies said. The partnership will initially focus on light commercial vehicles (LCVs), a segment where Stellantis, through its Pro One commercial vehicle business unit, holds a leading position in Europe. (Reporting by Laura Contemori and Giulio Piovaccari; Editing by Matt Scuffham)

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(Reuters) -Meta said on Friday it will let parents disable their teens' private chats with AI characters, adding another measure to make its social media platforms safe for minors after fierce criticism over the behavior of its flirty chatbots. Earlier this week, the company said its AI experiences for teens will be guided by the PG-13 movie rating system, as it looks to prevent minors from accessing inappropriate content. U.S. regulators have stepped up scrutiny of AI companies over the potential negative impacts of chatbots. In August, Reuters reported how Meta's AI rules allowed provocative conversations with minors. The new tools, detailed by Instagram head Adam Mosseri and Chief AI Officer Alexandr Wang, will debut on Instagram early next year, in the U.S., United Kingdom, Canada and Australia, according to a blog post. Meta said parents will also be able to block specific AI characters and see broad topics their teens discuss with chatbots and Meta's AI assistant, without turning off AI access entirely. Its AI assistant will remain available with age-appropriate defaults even if parents disable teens' one‑on‑one chats with AI characters, Meta said. The supervision features are built on protections already applied to teen accounts, the company said, adding that it uses AI signals to place suspected teens into protection even if they say they are adults. A report in September showed that many safety features Meta has implemented on Instagram over the years do not work well or exist. Meta said its AI characters are designed not to engage in age-inappropriate discussions about self-harm, suicide or disordered eating with teens. Last month, OpenAI rolled out parental controls for ChatGPT on the web and mobile, following a lawsuit by the parents of a teen who died by suicide after the startup's chatbot allegedly coached him on methods of self-harm. (Reporting by Jaspreet Singh in Bengaluru; Editing by Shinjini Ganguli)

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By Gianluca Lo Nostro and Elisa Anzolin (Reuters) -Shares in Ray-Ban maker EssilorLuxottica rose 14% to hit an all-time high on Friday, adding nearly $20 billion in market value as investor enthusiasm for its AI-powered Ray-Ban Meta glasses gathered momentum. The Paris-listed group, founded by late Italian entrepreneur Leonardo Del Vecchio and a possible contender in the race to buy fashion group Armani, reported on Thursday third-quarter sales growth of 11.7% from a year ago to 6.9 billion euros ($8.1 billion). The results beat expectations and marked the company's best quarterly performance ever amid strong demand for wearable products such as the smart glasses it has been developing with Meta since before the pandemic. Even though the smart glasses business has until now accounted for only a fraction of EssilorLuxottica's total revenue, it has become a focal point for analysts and investors, as well as a catalyst for the company's investments. Barclays analysts have predicted smart glasses could become the most disruptive innovation since mobile phones, forecasting 60 million units sold globally by 2035. The AI-powered glasses contributed over four percentage points to sales growth, said Chief Financial Officer Stefano Grassi, with demand prompting EssilorLuxottica to accelerate production capacity plans for the glasses ahead of schedule. "The exponential growth of wearables provided an extra-boost to the top line performance," the company said in a statement on Thursday. SHARES POST BIGGEST DAILY RISE SINCE 2008 EssilorLuxottica's shares were up 13.8% by 1400GMT,  the biggest daily gain since 2008, lifting the company's market capitalisation to 126.5 billion euros. The move drove the European luxury benchmark Stoxx Europe Luxury 10 up over 7% on the week, the index's biggest weekly gain since January. The latest Ray-Ban Meta models, priced from $379 to $799 for a new flagship version with built-in display, are currently sold in limited physical stores with expansion to Canada, France, Italy and Britain planned for early 2026. The emerging success of Meta's Ray-Ban smart glasses has reignited a long dead category of eyewear computers as Google and Microsoft had previously abandoned the market. By marrying upgraded cameras and generative AI features with Ray-Ban's designs, Meta has lured big tech rivals back into the market. Google and Samsung are working on glasses based on the Android XR platform. Apple is reportedly working on smart glasses. J.P. Morgan analysts said in a note to investors the smart glasses were now a "material growth driver" while the company's core business remained resilient. Equita analysts upgraded their annual revenue forecast for wearables, and now expect an impact on the group's sales of about one billion euro this year, according to a research note. "The acceleration in third-quarter revenues and the level of confidence expressed on fourth-quarter and mid-term prospects are an important indicator of the success of the group's strategic drivers," they said. ($1 = 0.8540 euros) (Reporting by Gianluca Lo Nostro, additional reporting by Laura Contemori and Elisa Anzolin; Editing by Milla Nissi-Prussak, Lisa Jucca and Matt Scuffham)

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By Hyunjoo Jin and Brenda Goh SEOUL/SHANGHAI (Reuters) -Micron plans to stop supplying server chips to data centres in China after the business failed to recover from a 2023 government ban on its products in critical Chinese infrastructure, two people briefed on the decision said. Micron was the first U.S. chipmaker to be targeted by Beijing – a move that was seen as retaliatory for a series of curbs by Washington aimed at impeding tech progress by China's semiconductor industry. Shares of the chipmaker were down about 1%. Since then, both Nvidia and Intel chips have similarly fielded accusations from Chinese authorities and an industry group of posing security risks, though there has not been any regulatory action. LENOVO TO REMAIN A CUSTOMER Micron will continue to sell to two Chinese customers that have significant data centre operations outside China, one of which is laptop maker Lenovo, the people said. The U.S. company, which made $3.4 billion or 12% of its total revenue from mainland China in its last business year, will also continue to sell chips to auto and mobile phone sector customers in the world's second-largest economy, one person said. Asked about the exit from its China data centre business, Micron said in a statement to Reuters that the division had been impacted by the ban, and it abides by applicable regulations where it does business. Lenovo did not immediately respond to a request for comment. "Micron will look for customers outside of China in other parts of Asia, Europe and Latin America," said Jacob Bourne, analyst at Emarketer. "China is a critical market, however, we're seeing data center expansion globally fueled by AI demand, and so Micron is betting that it will be able to make up for lost business in other markets," he added. U.S.-Sino trade tensions and tech rivalry have only escalated since 2018, when U.S. President Donald Trump began imposing tariffs on Chinese goods during his first term. That same year, Washington ramped up accusations against Chinese tech giant Huawei, accusing it of representing a national security risk, imposing sanctions a year later. Huawei has denied those charges. Nvidia and Intel have also denied charges that their products pose risks to Chinese national security. Micron also said in 2023, before the conclusion of China's probe, that it stood by the security of its products. Currently, the U.S. has sanctioned hundreds of Chinese entities. China, which is more reliant on imported tech, has taken far fewer regulatory actions. LOSING OUT ON CHINA'S AI BOOM The ban on Micron products in critical infrastructure by China – the world's second-largest market for server memory – has meant the company has missed out on the country's data centre expansion boom. That's benefited rivals Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix, as well as Chinese companies YMTC and CXMT, which have been aggressively expanding with the support of the Chinese government. Investment by data centres used in computing in China surged ninefold to 24.7 billion yuan ($3.4 billion) last year, according to a Reuters review of government procurement documents. That said, Micron's challenges in China have been offset by huge demand for data centres and related tools elsewhere, thanks to the global adoption of artificial intelligence. That's helped the company report record quarterly revenue. According to a third source, Micron's data centre team in China employs over 300 people. Reuters was not able to immediately establish how many jobs may be affected. Micron has been downsizing in other areas in China. In August, it laid off a few hundred people in its universal flash storage programme after deciding to cease development of future mobile NAND products globally, according to the South China Morning Post. Areas where it has continued to expand in China include its chip packaging facility in the city of Xian. "We have a strong operating and customer presence in China, and China remains an important market for Micron and the semiconductor industry in general," Micron said in its statement to Reuters. ($1 = 7.1224 Chinese yuan) (Reporting by Hyunjoo Jin in Seoul, Brenda Goh in Shanghai and Liam Mo in Beijing; Additional reporting by Kritika Lamba; Editing by Miyoung Kim and Edwina Gibbs)

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By Hyunjoo Jin and Brenda Goh SEOUL/SHANGHAI (Reuters) -Micron plans to stop supplying server chips to data centres in China after the business failed to recover from a 2023 government ban on its products in critical Chinese infrastructure, two people briefed on the decision said. Micron was the first U.S. chipmaker to be targeted by Beijing – a move that was seen as retaliatory for a series of curbs by Washington aimed at impeding tech progress by China's semiconductor industry. Shares of the chipmaker were down about 1%. Since then, both Nvidia and Intel chips have similarly fielded accusations from Chinese authorities and an industry group of posing security risks, though there has not been any regulatory action. LENOVO TO REMAIN A CUSTOMER Micron will continue to sell to two Chinese customers that have significant data centre operations outside China, one of which is laptop maker Lenovo, the people said. The U.S. company, which made $3.4 billion or 12% of its total revenue from mainland China in its last business year, will also continue to sell chips to auto and mobile phone sector customers in the world's second-largest economy, one person said. Asked about the exit from its China data centre business, Micron said in a statement to Reuters that the division had been impacted by the ban, and it abides by applicable regulations where it does business. Lenovo did not immediately respond to a request for comment. "Micron will look for customers outside of China in other parts of Asia, Europe and Latin America," said Jacob Bourne, analyst at Emarketer. "China is a critical market, however, we're seeing data center expansion globally fueled by AI demand, and so Micron is betting that it will be able to make up for lost business in other markets," he added. U.S.-Sino trade tensions and tech rivalry have only escalated since 2018, when U.S. President Donald Trump began imposing tariffs on Chinese goods during his first term. That same year, Washington ramped up accusations against Chinese tech giant Huawei, accusing it of representing a national security risk, imposing sanctions a year later. Huawei has denied those charges. Nvidia and Intel have also denied charges that their products pose risks to Chinese national security. Micron also said in 2023, before the conclusion of China's probe, that it stood by the security of its products. Currently, the U.S. has sanctioned hundreds of Chinese entities. China, which is more reliant on imported tech, has taken far fewer regulatory actions. LOSING OUT ON CHINA'S AI BOOM The ban on Micron products in critical infrastructure by China – the world's second-largest market for server memory – has meant the company has missed out on the country's data centre expansion boom. That's benefited rivals Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix, as well as Chinese companies YMTC and CXMT, which have been aggressively expanding with the support of the Chinese government. Investment by data centres used in computing in China surged ninefold to 24.7 billion yuan ($3.4 billion) last year, according to a Reuters review of government procurement documents. That said, Micron's challenges in China have been offset by huge demand for data centres and related tools elsewhere, thanks to the global adoption of artificial intelligence. That's helped the company report record quarterly revenue. According to a third source, Micron's data centre team in China employs over 300 people. Reuters was not able to immediately establish how many jobs may be affected. Micron has been downsizing in other areas in China. In August, it laid off a few hundred people in its universal flash storage programme after deciding to cease development of future mobile NAND products globally, according to the South China Morning Post. Areas where it has continued to expand in China include its chip packaging facility in the city of Xian. "We have a strong operating and customer presence in China, and China remains an important market for Micron and the semiconductor industry in general," Micron said in its statement to Reuters. ($1 = 7.1224 Chinese yuan) (Reporting by Hyunjoo Jin in Seoul, Brenda Goh in Shanghai and Liam Mo in Beijing; Additional reporting by Kritika Lamba; Editing by Miyoung Kim and Edwina Gibbs)

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