FTI Consulting News Bytes – 26 May 2023

This week’s news

Meta fined £1bn under GDPR

U.S. technology giant and Facebook owner, Meta, has been fined a record £1bn by the Irish Data Protection Commission for violating GDPR. The ruling came during the same week as the fifth anniversary of GDPR and claims that Meta unlawfully transferred Europeans’ data to the U.S., violating the privacy rules set out by the General Data Protection Regulation. According to Politico, Meta also has until November to delete or move back to the EU the personal data of European Facebook users transferred and stored in the U.S. since 2020 and until a new EU-U.S. deal is reached. Meta plans to appeal the ruling.

Google CEO: building AI responsibly

New generative AI products and use cases have exploded in recent months as companies race to develop the next AI-powered innovation. Sundar Pichai, CEO of Google and Alphabet, has long been invested in the future of AI, but just this week, published his thoughts on the current AI race and what he believes is the best way to approach future AI innovation. In his op-ed (first-person thematic article) in the Financial Times, Pichai outlines a three-pillar approach to building AI responsibly including: pursuing innovations to make AI more helpful to everyone, ensuring the development and deployment of the technology is beneficial to society, and lastly, regulating AI. Pichai argues that fulfilling the technology’s potential will require increased international cooperation and pro-innovation frameworks based on shared values and goals.

Netflix crack down on password sharing 

Netflix has begun its crackdown on password sharing in the UK as it sends out emails to customers who are sharing their accounts with those “outside their household”. On Tuesday Sky News reported, the company said it was sending emails about account sharing to customers in 103 countries and territories, including the UK, France, Germany, the U.S., Australia, Singapore, Mexico and Brazil. The emails remind sharers that Netflix accounts should just be used in one household. The streaming service has been looking for new revenue streams amid fears of market saturation, with efforts including limits on password borrowing and a new advert-supported option. Paying customers can add a member outside their homes for an additional fee.

Meta sells Giphy to Shutterstock following anti-trust ruling

Shutterstock said this week it would buy animated-images platform Giphy from Meta for $53m in cash, months after the Facebook owner had agreed to divest the company on competition concerns according to City AM. Britain’s competition regulator last year ordered Meta to sell Giphy over fears that it could deny or limit competitors such as Snapchat and Twitter access to the target’s content. Meta had reportedly paid $400m for New York-based Giphy in 2020. A year later the deal was challenged by Britain’s Competition and Markets Authority and its successful campaign was the first time a regulator had forced a U.S. tech giant to sell an already acquired company.

Patrick Drahi ups his stake in BT — but won’t make an offer 

Patrick Drahi has increased his stake in BT to almost 25 per cent (from 19 per cent) but said he has no plans to launch a takeover offer for Britain’s biggest telecoms group. Altice UK, part of Drahi’s telecoms empire, said it had raised its shareholding, reported The Times. Drahi’s move comes after shares in BT weakened last week following cashflow guidance and plans to cut between 40,000 and 55,000 jobs by the end of the decade. Drahi is now bound by City takeover rules, preventing Altice from making an offer for BT for six months unless circumstances change, such as if BT’s board agrees to a deal or if an offer is made for BT by another bidder.

Top Tweets of the Week

• UK Competition and Markets Authority: We’ve provisionally found that 5 major banks broke competition law on UK government bonds by unlawfully exchanging sensitive information in one-to-one online chats.
• Rishi Sunak, UK Prime Minister: Done safely and securely, AI has the potential to be transformational and grow the economy. This evening I met with @sama, @demishassabis and @AnthropicAI’s Dario Amodei to discuss how the UK can provide international leadership on AI.
• Zoe Kleinman, BBC Technology Editor: Thomson Reuters plans to invest $100m per year in AI capabilities. I know I keep banging on about this but the money that is pouring in makes it very unrealistic to imagine anyone putting the brakes on AI development any time soon.

Number of the Week

$1tn  – Nvidia races towards $1tn as AI frenzy drives chip stocks higher, according to The Financial Times

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