FTI Consulting News Bytes – 23 May 2025

FTI Consulting News Bytes

No better way to start the bank holiday weekend than with a fresh batch of TMT’s News Bytes. First up, we’ve got the news that UBS has launched AI-generated analyst avatars, signalling a new era in finance where automation and client engagement go hand-in-hand. In gaming, Fortnite has returned to Apple’s U.S. App Store after a major legal victory for Epic Games, highlighting growing pressure on platform giants. The EU is advancing proposals to curb under-age social media use, targeting persuasive design and calling for stricter age verification. Elsewhere, Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang criticised U.S. chip export controls, warning they’re accelerating China’s AI development. Meanwhile, Paris has overtaken London as Europe’s top tech hub, raising concerns over the UK’s ability to retain its tech edge.

This week’s news

UBS beckons in a new era of banking with AI-generated avatars

UBS has introduced AI-generated avatars of its equity analysts to deliver research insights via lifelike video summaries. As reported by the Financial Times, these digital replicas, which mimic human gestures and expressions, aim to enhance client engagement and have matched traditional briefings in effectiveness. While banks like Morgan Stanley and Goldman Sachs use AI internally, UBS’s public-facing application marks a significant shift. Despite the innovation, UBS maintains human oversight to ensure regulatory compliance. The move highlights AI’s growing role in finance, offering potential productivity boosts and cost savings. Though currently focused on efficiency and aiding camera-shy staff, the broader trend suggests increasing automation in the sector.

Fortnite reunited with App Store

Fortnite has returned to Apple’s U.S. App Store nearly five years after its removal in 2020 for bypassing Apple’s 30% in-app purchase commission, as covered by BBC News. This led to a high-profile legal battle with developer Epic Games, which accused Apple of monopolistic practices. The game is also available via the Epic Games Store and AltStore in the EU, following competition-boosting legislation. Experts view the development as a major win for Epic, signalling a shift in power toward developers. With around 400 million registered users, Fortnite remains a global gaming giant, best known for its popular online battle royale mode involving 100-player matches.

EU wide pressure to cap under-age social media gains momentum

The European Union is planning to put forward proposals which would further curb children’s social media use, notably across popular apps such as TikTok, Instagram and Snapchat. According to an exclusive by Politico, the proposals form part of an EU paper calling for an EU-wide age of digital adulthood and international concern at the excessive screen time children are currently exposed to. If successful, it could see mandatory, built-in age verification and parental control on devices, as well as “European norms” to minimise persuasive architectures. These include features like autoplay, personalisation and pop-ups. The proposal is set to be discussed by EU digital ministers at a meeting in early June and coincides with Denmark taking on the rotating presidency of the Council of the EU and has already committed to action in Brussels. 

Huang takes aim at US chip export controls as China benefits in AI race

Speaking at the Computex conference in Taiwan this week, Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang called out the US’s attempts to impose restrictions on the sale of AI chips to China, describing it as a “failure” and only accelerating the speed at which China develop its own. His visit came just days after further US restrictions banned shipments to China of Nvidia’s H20 datacenter GPUs, a lower-powered version of other Nvidia chips which were designed specifically to comply with Biden-era restrictions. The Guardian reports that Huang lamented recent export controls that banned Nvidia’s product from being sold to the Chinese market and resulted in local companies and tech rival Huawei turbocharging its AI hardware development.

France takes the crown as Europe’s leading tech hub from the UK

According to Dealroom’s 2025 global tech ecosystem index, Paris is now the leading tech hub in Europe. As reported in City AM, nearly half of Paris’ $7.8bn in funding last year went to AI, including standout rounds from Mistral AI, Poolside, and Electra. The news coincides with Revolut’s announcement that Paris will become its European headquarters. In reaction to the index publication, Mark Pearson, Chief Executive at Fuel Ventures, warned, “It’s a clear signal that the UK is losing its grip on scaling and retaining its own tech champions.” The article also cited the collapse of one of the UK’s best-known AI unicorns, Builder.ai, and Deliveroo’s takeover by its larger US rival, DoorDash, as signs of declining tech performance in the UK.

Top Tweets of the Week

• Martin Lewis, Founder of Money Saving Expert: When did journalism change? When I did my journalism postgrad, we were taught to ensure the opening sentence summarised the key info. Today’s online ‘news’ writers must’ve been taught to ‘hide the key info until paragraph 14!’ so people must tediously scroll through copious ads
• The Wall Street Journal: Breaking: Jony Ive, a chief architect of the iPhone, is taking creative control of OpenAI, where he will design a new generation of devices
• Financial Times: BYD sells more electric vehicles in Europe than Tesla for first time

Number of the week

€1bn The amount Revolut plans to invest in a new Western Europe HQ based in France