Competition regulation

Winning the AI race means winning developers in China, says Huang of Nvidia

Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang said China is ‘nanoseconds’ behind the US in AI and urged Washington to lead by accelerating innovation and courting developers globally. He argued that excluding China would weaken the reach of US technology and risk splintering the ecosystem into incompatible stacks.

Huang’s remarks came amid ongoing export controls that bar Nvidia’s most advanced processors from the Chinese market. He acknowledged national security concerns but cautioned that strict limits can slow the spread of American tools that underpin AI research, deployment, and scaling.

Hardware remains central, Huang said, citing advanced accelerators and data-centre capacity as the substrate for training frontier models. Yet diffusion matters: widespread adoption of US platforms by global developers amplifies influence, reduces fragmentation, and accelerates innovation.

With sales of top-end chips restricted, Huang warned that Chinese firms will continue to innovate on domestic alternatives, increasing the likelihood of parallel systems. He called for policies that enable US leadership while preserving channels to the developer community in China.

Huang framed the objective as keeping America ahead, maintaining the world’s reliance on an American tech stack, and avoiding strategies that would push away half the world’s AI talent.

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Salesforce strengthens Agentforce with planned Spindle AI acquisition

Salesforce has signed a definitive agreement to acquire Spindle AI, a company specialising in agentic analytics and machine learning. The deal aims to strengthen Salesforce’s Agentforce platform by integrating Spindle’s advanced data modelling and forecasting technologies.

Spindle AI has developed neuro-symbolic AI agents capable of autonomously generating and optimising scenario models. Its analytics tools enable businesses to simulate and assess complex decisions, from pricing strategies to go-to-market plans, using AI-driven insights.

Salesforce said the acquisition will enhance its focus on Agent Observability and Self-Improvement within Agentforce 360. Executives described Spindle AI’s expertise as critical to building more transparent and reliable agentic systems capable of explaining and refining their own reasoning.

The acquisition, subject to customary closing conditions, is expected to be completed in Salesforce’s fourth fiscal quarter of 2026. Once finalised, Spindle AI will join Agentforce to expand AI-powered analytics, continuous optimisation, and ROI forecasting for enterprise customers worldwide.

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Researchers urge governance after LLMs display source-driven bias

Large language models (LLMs) are increasingly used to grade, hire, and moderate text. UZH research shows that evaluations shift when participants are told who wrote identical text, revealing source bias. Agreement stayed high only when authorship was hidden.

When told a human or another AI wrote it, agreement fell, and biases surfaced. The strongest was anti-Chinese across all models, including a model from China, with sharp drops even for well-reasoned arguments.

AI models also preferred ‘human-written’ over ‘AI-written’, showing scepticism toward machine-authored text. Such identity-triggered bias risks unfair outcomes in moderation, reviewing, hiring, and newsroom workflows.

Researchers recommend identity-blind prompts, A/B checks with and without source cues, structured rubrics focused on evidence and logic, and human oversight for consequential decisions.

They call for governance standards: disclose evaluation settings, test for bias across demographics and nationalities, and set guardrails before sensitive deployments. Transparency on prompts, model versions, and calibration is essential.

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‘Wooing and suing’ defines News Corp’s AI strategy

News Corp chief executive Robert Thomson warned AI companies against using unlicensed publisher content, calling recipients of ‘stolen goods’ fair game for pursuit. He said ‘wooing and suing’ would proceed in parallel, with more licensing deals expected after the OpenAI pact.

Thomson argued that high-quality data must be paid for and that ingesting material without permission undermines incentives to produce journalism. He insisted that ‘content crime does not and will not pay,’ signalling stricter enforcement ahead.

While criticising bad actors, he praised partners that recognise publisher IP and are negotiating usage rights. The company is positioning itself to monetise archives and live reporting through structured licences.

He also pointed to a major author settlement with another AI firm as a watershed for compensation over past training uses. The message: legal and commercial paths are both accelerating.

Against this backdrop, News Corp said AI-related revenues are gaining traction alongside digital subscriptions and B2B data services. Further licensing announcements are likely in the coming months.

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Appfigures revises iOS estimates as Sora’s launch on Android launch leaps ahead

Sora’s Android launch outpaced its iOS debut, garnering an estimated 470,000 first-day installs across seven markets, according to Appfigures. Broader regional availability, plus the end of invite-only access in top markets, boosted uptake.

OpenAI’s iOS rollout was limited to the US and Canada via invitations, which capped early growth despite strong momentum. The iOS app nevertheless surpassed one million installs in its first week and still ranks highly in the US App Store’s Top Free chart.

Revised Appfigures modelling puts day-one iOS installs at ~110,000 (up from 56,000), with ~69,300 from the US. On Android, availability spans the US, Canada, Japan, South Korea, Taiwan, Thailand, and Vietnam. First-day US installs were ~296,000, showing sustained demand beyond the iOS launch.

Sora allows users to generate videos from text prompts and animate themselves or friends via ‘Cameos’, sharing the results in a TikTok-style vertical feed. Engagement features for creation and discovery are driving word of mouth and repeat use across both platforms.

Competition in mobile AI video and assistants is intensifying, with Meta AI expanding its app in Europe on the same day. Market share will hinge on geographic reach, feature velocity, creator tools, and distribution via app store charts and social feeds.

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ACCC lawsuit triggers Microsoft’s rethink and apology on Copilot subscription communications

Microsoft apologised after Australia’s regulator said it steered Microsoft 365 users to pricier Copilot plans while downplaying cheaper Classic tiers. The move follows APAC price-rise emails and confusion over Personal and Family increases.

ACCC officials said communications may have denied customers informed choices by omitting equivalent non-AI plans. Microsoft acknowledged it could have been clearer and accepted that Classic alternatives might have saved some subscribers money under the October 2024 changes.

Redmond is offering affected customers refunds for the difference between Copilot and Classic tiers and has begun contacting subscribers in Australia and New Zealand. The company also re-sent its apology email after discovering a broken link to the Classic plans page.

Questions remain over whether similar remediation will extend to Malaysia, Singapore, Taiwan, and Thailand, which also saw price hikes earlier this year. Consumer groups are watching for consistent remedies and plain-English disclosures across all impacted markets.

Regulators have sharpened scrutiny of dark patterns, bundling, and AI-linked upsells as digital subscriptions proliferate. Clear side-by-side plan comparisons and functional disclosures about AI features are likely to become baseline expectations for compliance and customer trust.

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Jensen Huang of Nvidia rules out China Blackwell talks for now

Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang said the company is not in active discussions to sell Blackwell-family AI chips to Chinese firms and has no current plans to ship them. He also clarified remarks about the US-China AI race, saying he intended to acknowledge China’s technical strength rather than predict an outcome.

Huang spoke in Taiwan ahead of meetings with TSMC, as Nvidia expands partnerships and pitches its platforms across regions and industries. The company has added roughly a trillion dollars in value this year and remains the world’s most valuable business despite recent share volatility.

US controls still bar sales of Nvidia’s most advanced data-centre AI chips into China, and a recent bilateral accord did not change that. Officials have indicated approvals for Blackwell remain off the table, keeping a potentially large market out of reach for now.

Analysts say uncertainty around China’s access to the technology feeds broader questions about the durability of hyperscale AI spending. Rivals, including AMD and Broadcom, are racing to win share as customers weigh long-term returns on data-centre buildouts.

Huang is promoting Nvidia’s end-to-end stack to reassure buyers that massive investments will yield productivity gains across sectors. He said he hopes policy environments eventually allow Nvidia to serve China again, but reiterated there are no active talks.

Circle urges US Treasury to create a clear stablecoin framework under the GENIUS Act

Circle has submitted its comments to the US Department of the Treasury, outlining its support for the GENIUS Act and calling for clear, consistent rules to govern payment stablecoin issuers.

The company emphasised that effective rulemaking could create a unified national framework for both domestic and foreign issuers, providing consumers with safer and more transparent financial products.

The firm urged Treasury to adopt a cooperative supervisory approach that promotes uniform compliance and risk management standards across jurisdictions. Circle warned against excessive restrictions that could harm liquidity, cross-border payments, or interoperability.

It also called for closing potential loopholes that might allow unregulated entities to avoid oversight while benefiting from the US dollar’s trust and stability.

Circle proposed safeguards requiring stablecoins to be fully backed, independently audited, and supported by transparent public reports. The firm stressed recognising foreign regimes, applying equal rules to all issuers, and enforcing consistent penalties.

Circle described the GENIUS Act as a chance to strengthen the stability of digital finance in the US. The company believes transparent, fully backed stablecoins and recognised foreign issuers could strengthen US leadership in secure, innovative finance.

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Doctolib fined €4.67 million for abusing market dominance

France’s competition authority has fined Doctolib €4.67 million for abusing its dominant position in online medical appointment booking and teleconsultation services. The regulator found that Doctolib used exclusivity clauses and tied selling to restrict competition and strengthen its market control.

Doctolib required healthcare professionals to subscribe to its appointment booking service to use its teleconsultation platform, effectively preventing them from using rival providers. Contracts also included clauses discouraging professionals from signing with competing services.

The French authority also sanctioned Doctolib for its 2018 acquisition of MonDocteur, describing it as a strategy to eliminate its main competitor. Internal documents revealed that the merger aimed to remove MonDocteur’s product from the market and reduce pricing pressure.

The decision marks the first application of the EU’s Towercast precedent to penalise a below-threshold merger as an abuse of dominance. Doctolib has been ordered to publish the ruling summary in Le Quotidien du Médecin and online.

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Tinder tests AI feature that analyses photos for better matches

Tinder is introducing an AI feature called Chemistry, designed to better understand users through interactive questions and optional access to their Camera Roll. The system analyses personal photos and responses to infer hobbies and preferences, offering more compatible match suggestions.

The feature is being tested in New Zealand and Australia ahead of a broader rollout as part of Tinder’s 2026 product revamp. Match Group CEO Spencer Rascoff said Chemistry will become a central pillar in the app’s evolving AI-driven experience.

Privacy concerns have surfaced as the feature requests permission to scan private photos, similar to Meta’s recent approach to AI-based photo analysis. Critics argue that such expanded access offers limited benefits to users compared to potential privacy risks.

Match Group expects a short-term financial impact, projecting a $14 million revenue decline due to Tinder’s testing phase. The company continues to face user losses despite integrating AI tools for safer messaging, better profile curation and more interactive dating experiences.

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