Digital business models Archives | Page 368 of 569

Sberbank launches Bitcoin-linked bond

Sberbank, Russia’s largest bank, has launched a Bitcoin-linked structured bond, marking a key move towards integrating crypto into Russia’s financial system. The bond ties investor returns to Bitcoin’s performance and the strength of the US dollar against the Russian ruble.

Although only available to qualified investors, the product is fully approved by regulators.

The investment does not involve holding Bitcoin directly. Instead, it gives exposure to price movements while keeping all transactions in rubles and within Russia’s financial infrastructure.

Sberbank is not stopping there. The bank plans to roll out a Bitcoin futures product via its SberInvestments platform, with a launch scheduled for June.

These developments follow a policy shift from the Bank of Russia, which now permits licensed firms to offer crypto-related investment options to selected investors.

Sberbank’s involvement suggests that digital assets may soon become a mainstream feature of Russia’s financial landscape.

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Google’s AI Edge Gallery boosts privacy with on-device model use

Google has released an experimental app called AI Edge Gallery, allowing Android users to run AI models directly on their devices without needing an internet connection.

The app supports several publicly available models from Hugging Face, including Google’s own lightweight Gemma 3n, and offers tools for image generation, Q&A, and code assistance.

The key feature of the app is its local processing capability, which means data never leaves the user’s device.

This addresses rising concerns over privacy and data security, particularly when interacting with AI tools. By running models locally, users benefit from faster response times and greater control over their data.

AI Edge Gallery includes features such as ‘AI Chat,’ ‘Ask Image,’ and a ‘Prompt Lab,’ where users can experiment with tasks like text summarisation and single-turn AI interactions.

While the app is optimised for lighter models like Gemma 3—just 529MB in size—Google notes that performance will depend on the hardware of the user’s device, with more powerful phones delivering faster results.

Currently in Alpha, the app is open-source and available under the Apache 2.0 licence via GitHub, encouraging developers to explore and contribute. Google is also inviting feedback to shape future updates and improvements.

To enhance app security, especially as AI features become more embedded in mobile experiences, Google suggests integrating secure, passwordless login methods.

Solutions like MojoAuth—offering OTP-based logins via phone or email—can reduce risks of data breaches while offering a smooth, user-friendly authentication process.

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France cracks down on organised kidnapping ring targeting crypto leaders

Twenty-five people, including six minors, have been charged in Paris for kidnappings and attempted abductions of France’s crypto leaders. Eighteen are in pre-trial detention, others await court or are under supervision. Ages range from 16 to 23.

The investigation began with a 13 May daylight kidnapping attempt in eastern Paris, aimed at the daughter and grandson of Paymium’s CEO, Pierre Noizat. Prior failed attempts and a separate foiled abduction near Nantes earlier in the week are also linked to the case.

Video footage showed masked attackers assaulting Noizat’s family, who were hospitalised with minor injuries. Noizat praised those who defended his family during the attack.

Most suspects are French-born, with some from Senegal, Angola, and Russia. Authorities say the accused include both those who carried out the abductions and those responsible for logistics.

Defence lawyers highlighted the youth of some defendants and their vulnerability to criminal influence. The wave of kidnappings has raised national security concerns, prompting government efforts to protect wealthy crypto entrepreneurs.

Last January, Ledger co-founder David Balland was kidnapped, tortured, and ransomed before being freed.

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Agentic Intelligence set to automate complex tasks with human oversight

Thomson Reuters has unveiled a new AI platform, Agentic Intelligence, designed to automate complex workflows for professionals in tax, legal, and compliance sectors.

The platform integrates directly with existing professional tools, enabling AI to plan, reason, and act on tasks while maintaining audit trails and data control to meet regulatory standards.

A key component of the launch is CoCounsel for Tax, a tool aimed at tax, audit, and accounting professionals. It consolidates firm-specific data, internal knowledge, and regulatory materials into a unified workspace.

Early adopters have reported significant productivity gains, with one accounting firm, BLISS 1041, cutting time spent on residency and filing code reviews from several days to under an hour.

Agentic Intelligence leverages over 20 billion proprietary and public documents and is supported by a network of 4,500 subject matter experts.

Built on partnerships with OpenAI, Anthropic, Google Cloud, and AWS, the platform reflects Thomson Reuters’ strategic shift towards embedding AI across sectors traditionally dependent on manual expertise.

David Wong, chief product officer at Thomson Reuters, said the new platform represents more than a technological upgrade. ‘Agentic AI isn’t a marketing buzzword. It’s a new blueprint for how complex work gets done,’ he said.

‘These systems don’t just assist — they operate within professional workflows, break down tasks, act independently, and escalate where needed, all under human oversight.’

Following CoCounsel for Tax, the next product — Ready to Review — will focus on automating tax return preparation.

The platform is expected to expand into legal, compliance, and risk sectors throughout 2025, building on previous acquisitions such as Materia and Casetext, which have helped lay the foundation for Thomson Reuters’ AI-centric growth strategy.

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Australia tightens rules for crypto ATMs

Australia has imposed stricter rules on crypto ATM operators to curb scams and ensure compliance with anti-money laundering laws. A $5,000 AUD limit now applies to cash deposits and withdrawals, with scam warnings required on all machines.

Operators must also step up customer verification and improve transaction monitoring. These measures follow an AUSTRAC-led investigation that revealed older Australians, particularly those aged 60 to 70, account for a large share of crypto ATM activity.

Authorities noted that some victims were tricked into handing over life savings via these machines.

AUSTRAC has already denied registration renewal to one provider, Harro’s Empires, due to ongoing misuse risks.

The agency warned that other non-compliant operators could face similar penalties. It also urged broader adoption of cash limits across exchanges to reduce financial crime exposure.

To strengthen awareness, AUSTRAC and the federal police have released educational materials to be displayed near ATMs. The move comes amid rising scam reports, with 150 confirmed cases and over $3.1 million AUD in losses reported within a year.

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Musk’s xAI seeks billions to expand AI data centres

Elon Musk is raising $5 billion in debt for his AI company xAI Corp., in a move that signals a renewed focus on his business ventures after stepping away from a prominent political role.

Investment bank Morgan Stanley is leading the offering, which includes a floating-rate loan, a fixed-rate loan, and senior secured notes — all priced with double-digit interest rates, according to people familiar with the deal.

Proceeds will be used for general corporate purposes, including accelerating development of xAI’s infrastructure, such as its vast Memphis-based data centre, Colossus.

The site currently houses 200,000 GPUs and could soon expand to over one million as Musk ramps up efforts to train advanced AI models. The debt package has already attracted over $3.5 billion in early demand, with commitments due by 17 June.

Musk’s move to raise capital for xAI comes after a string of fundraising rounds across his companies, including $650 million for Neuralink and a $300 million secondary stock sale in xAI.

He has also merged xAI with his social media platform X into a new entity, XAI Holdings, further aligning his ventures in AI, communications, and computing.

Musk’s focus on his business empire follows a controversial period in politics. As a senior adviser and key backer of Donald Trump during the 2024 ele c tion, Musk faced scrutiny both personally and in relation to the performance of Tesla, whose stock has dropped 20% since the presidential inauguration.

Morgan Stanley’s continued involvement underscores the bank’s deep ties with Musk, having previously advised on his $44 billion acquisition of Twitter (now X).

While that deal initially left lenders with billions in risky debt, recent improvements in Musk’s business standing helped the bank clear the remaining liabilities earlier this year.

The latest xAI debt sale is another indicator of investor appetite for AI ventures, especially when tied to high-profile figures like Musk. If successful, it will also strengthen the infrastructure needed to support Musk’s vision of AI leadership through xAI and its associated platforms.

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Singapore orders crypto firms to stop overseas activity by June

Singapore’s central bank, the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS), has mandated all local crypto service providers to halt digital token operations targeting overseas markets by 30 June 2025. Firms failing to comply risk fines of up to S$250,000 (£145,000) and imprisonment for up to three years.

The directive applies to any Singapore-based company, individual, or partnership offering digital token services abroad, regardless of their main business. MAS confirmed no transitional arrangements will be made.

Only firms licensed under current financial laws may continue without breaching the rules.

Licences for overseas digital token services will be rare due to strict AML and CFT concerns. Industry experts advise companies to restructure operations quickly to remove Singapore connections and reduce compliance risks.

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EU fines Delivery Hero and Glovo €329 million over cartel practices

The European Commission has imposed a €329 million fine on Berlin-based Delivery Hero and its Spanish subsidiary, Glovo, for participating in what it described as a cartel in the online food delivery market. According to the Commission, the two companies engaged in illegal practices across Europe between 2018 and 2022, including market sharing, exchanging commercially sensitive information, and entering into a ‘no-poach’ agreement to avoid hiring each other’s employees.

This is the first time the Commission has penalised companies for a no-poach deal, which the EU competition chief, Teresa Ribera, said harmed workers’ job mobility in the digital economy. The anti-competitive behaviour reportedly began in mid-2018 when Delivery Hero took a minority stake in Glovo and persisted in various forms until 2022, when it gained full ownership of the Spanish firm.

Delivery Hero was hit with a €223 million fine, while Glovo received a €106 million penalty. Both companies admitted to their roles in the misconduct and agreed to a settlement. The case emerged not from company complaints but through whistleblowers and the Commission’s own monitoring.

Delivery Hero stated it had fully cooperated with the investigation and noted the final fine was 20% lower than initially expected, due to Brussels’s acknowledgement of a lower intensity of misconduct during some periods. The firm expressed hope that the settlement would allow all involved to move forward.

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OpenAI turns ChatGPT into AI gateway

OpenAI plans to reinvent ChatGPT as an all-in-one ‘super assistant’ that knows its users and becomes their primary gateway to the internet.

Details emerged from a partly redacted internal strategy document shared during the US government’s antitrust case against Google.

Rather than limiting ChatGPT to existing apps and websites, OpenAI envisions a future where the assistant supports everyday life—from suggesting recipes at home to taking notes at work or guiding users while travelling.

The company says the AI should evolve into a reliable, emotionally intelligent helper capable of handling a various personal and professional tasks.

OpenAI also believes hardware will be key to this transformation. It recently acquired io, a start-up founded by former Apple designer Jony Ive, for $6.4 billion to develop AI-powered devices.

The company’s strategy outlines how upcoming models like o2 and o3, alongside tools like multimodality and generative user interfaces, could make ChatGPT capable of taking meaningful action instead of simply offering responses.

The document also reveals OpenAI’s intention to back a regulation requiring tech platforms to allow users to set ChatGPT as their default assistant. Confident in its fast growth, research lead, and independence from ads, the company aims to maintain its advantage through bold decisions, speed, and self-disruption.

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WhatsApp fixes deleted message privacy gap

WhatsApp is rolling out a privacy improvement that ensures deleted messages no longer linger in quoted replies, addressing a long-standing issue that exposed partial content users had intended to remove.

The update applies automatically, with no toggle required, and has begun reaching iOS users through version 25.12.73, with wider availability expected soon.

Until now, deleting a message for everyone in a chat has not removed it from quoted replies. That allowed fragments of deleted content to remain visible, undermining the purpose of deletion.

WhatsApp removes the associated quoted message entirely instead of keeping it in conversation threads, even in group or community chats.

WABetaInfo, which first spotted the update, noted that users delete messages for privacy or personal reasons, and leave behind quoted traces conflicted with those intentions.

The change ensures conversations reflect user expectations by entirely erasing deleted content, not only from the original message but also from any references.

Meta continues to develop new features for WhatsApp. Recent additions include voice chat in groups and a native interface for iPad. The company is also testing tools like AI-generated wallpapers, message summaries, and more refined privacy settings to enhance user control and experience further.

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