IBM secured a legal victory in the UK on March 10, 2025, after the High Court ruled in its favour against LzLabs. The lawsuit, which IBM filed against the Swiss-based company and its owner, John Moores, centred on accusations of stealing trade secrets. IBM claimed LzLabs’ UK subsidiary, Winsopia, misused its mainframe computer licence to reverse-engineer IBM’s proprietary software.
The court sided with IBM, agreeing that Winsopia had violated the terms of its licence agreement. Judge Finola O’Farrell concluded that LzLabs and Moores had unlawfully facilitated these breaches. Although LzLabs defended its actions, arguing that its software was developed independently over many years, the court ruled that the company had acted inappropriately.
This ruling is seen as a major win for IBM, reinforcing the value of its technological investments. The case, which will proceed to a hearing to determine potential damages, reflects the company’s commitment to protecting its intellectual property. LzLabs and Moores did not immediately comment on the decision.
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Coinbase has officially registered with India’s Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU), allowing it to offer crypto trading services in the country, the company announced on Tuesday. The US-based exchange plans to launch its initial retail services later this year, followed by further investments and product rollouts. While a specific timeline has not been disclosed, Coinbase sees India as a key market with strong growth potential.
Interest in cryptocurrency has surged in India, particularly among young investors looking to supplement their incomes. Despite a 30% tax on crypto trading gains—one of the highest globally—the sector remains largely unregulated. Other major exchanges operating in the country include CoinDCX, Binance, and KuCoin.
India requires virtual asset service providers to register with the FIU and comply with anti-money laundering regulations. The government is currently reviewing its stance on crypto, influenced by global regulatory trends and recent policy shifts in the US. As the regulatory landscape evolves, Coinbase aims to establish a strong foothold in the Indian market while adhering to local compliance standards.
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Britain’s Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) has announced its focus will be on interventions that directly affect UK consumers and businesses. The regulator will release a ‘roadmap’ to guide Big Tech companies, clarifying which issues it plans to prioritise and which it may deprioritise. The roadmap will also outline potential future interventions if companies are designated as having strategic market status, including tech giants like Google and Apple.
CEO Sarah Cardell emphasised that the CMA would act with a ‘more nuanced approach’ to promote competition while fostering business growth. With new powers to investigate firms with significant turnover in the UK, the CMA will continue its work to ensure fairness and transparency in the digital markets. The first roadmaps for investigations into search engines and mobile platforms are set to be released in June and July 2025.
The CMA’s strategy aligns with a pro-business direction, as the UK government aims to boost investor confidence while maintaining competitive markets. This initiative follows the appointment of Doug Gurr, former head of Amazon UK, as interim chair, signaling the government’s commitment to balancing regulation with economic growth.
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Poland’s deputy prime minister reaffirmed plans to introduce a new tax on big tech firms despite warnings from the incoming US ambassador, intensifying tensions between Warsaw and Washington. Deputy Prime Minister Krzysztof Gawkowski dismissed Ambassador Thomas Rose’s remarks as interference, calling it ‘sick’ for another country to dictate Poland’s legislation.
The dispute adds to growing friction between the two allies, fueled by a recent online clash involving US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Elon Musk, and Polish Foreign Minister Radoslaw Sikorski over Poland’s funding of Ukraine’s Starlink services. Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk also weighed in, cautioning against ‘arrogance’ from Poland’s allies.
While Gawkowski has not provided specifics on the proposed tax, he suggested it would target the profits of major tech companies operating in Poland and support local tech development. However, some within Poland’s coalition government question the timing, warning of potential trade consequences. Meanwhile, the nationalist opposition party Law and Justice (PiS) argues that the move risks straining relations with Washington.
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New York State has taken legal action against Allstate, accusing its National General unit of mishandling customer data security and failing to report a breach that exposed sensitive information.
The state’s Attorney General, Letitia James, filed the lawsuit in Manhattan, claiming that the breaches, which occurred in 2020 and 2021, resulted in hackers accessing the driver’s license numbers of over 360,000 people.
According to the lawsuit, National General did not notify affected drivers or state agencies about the first breach, which occurred between August and November 2020.
The second, larger breach, was discovered three months later in January 2021. James alleges that National General violated the state’s Stop Hacks and Improve Electronic Data Security Act by failing to protect customer information adequately.
In response, Allstate defended its actions, stating that it had resolved the issue years ago, secured its systems, and offered free credit monitoring to affected consumers.
The lawsuit seeks civil fines of $5,000 per violation, in addition to other remedies. This legal action follows similar penalties imposed on other US companies for data security lapses, including fines for Geico and Travelers.
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WhatsApp is set to introduce a new Meta AI widget that will allow users to access its AI capabilities directly from their home screens.
The widget, now in beta testing, eliminates the need to open the app to interact with Meta’s AI, making it quicker and more convenient to use.
Users can ask questions, upload images, and even activate the AI’s voice mode directly from their device’s home screen.
This new feature is expected to make Meta AI even more accessible, helping to increase its popularity among WhatsApp users.
Powered by the company’s Llama language model, the AI is already capable of answering questions, generating images, and participating in both individual and group conversations.
The widget is adjustable, letting users resize it according to their preferences. While it’s currently only available to a limited group of users, WhatsApp plans to make it available to everyone in the coming months.
However, this addition comes as part of a wider rollout of new features within WhatsApp, including preset chat themes and shareable sticker packs.
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Rep. Jim Jordan, Chairman of the US House Judiciary Committee, has subpoenaed Alphabet, the parent company of Google, demanding documents that show whether YouTube removed content due to requests from the Biden administration.
Jordan has long argued that Big Tech companies, including Google, have collaborated with the US government to suppress conservative speech. He believes that these actions constitute unlawful censorship, with YouTube allegedly playing a role.
This subpoena comes after the Committee’s successful investigation into Meta, which led the company to admit that it had bowed to pressure from the Biden administration, adjusting its content moderation policies and promising to restore free speech on its platforms.
Jordan is now pushing Alphabet to follow Meta’s lead and provide transparency on its own content moderation practices.
Google has responded by stating that its content policies are enforced independently, asserting its commitment to free expression.
However, the company has yet to provide a detailed response to Jordan’s subpoena or the claims of governmental influence. Also, this ongoing investigation signals that the scrutiny of Big Tech’s role in content moderation is far from over.
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A lawsuit filed by authors Richard Kadrey, Sarah Silverman, and Ta-Nehisi Coates against Meta has taken a significant step forward as a federal judge has ruled that the case will continue.
The authors allege that Meta used their books to train its Llama AI models without consent, violating their intellectual property rights.
They further claim that Meta intentionally removed copyright management information (CMI) from the works to conceal the alleged infringement.
Meta, however, defends its actions, arguing that the training of AI models qualifies as fair use and that the authors lack standing to sue.
Despite this, the judge allowed the lawsuit to move ahead, acknowledging that the authors’ claims suggest concrete injury, specifically regarding the removal of CMI to hide the use of copyrighted works.
While the lawsuit touches on several legal points, the judge dismissed claims related to the California Comprehensive Computer Data Access and Fraud Act, stating that there was no evidence of Meta accessing the authors’ computers or servers.
Meta’s defence team has continued to assert that the AI training practices were legally sound, though the ongoing case will likely provide more insight into the company’s stance on copyright.
The ruling adds to the growing list of copyright-related lawsuits involving AI models, including one filed by The New York Times against OpenAI. As the debate around AI and intellectual property rights intensifies, this case could set important precedents.
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NHS is investigating allegations that a software flaw at private medical services company Medefer left patient data vulnerable to hacking.
The flaw, discovered in November, affected Medefer’s internal patient record system in the UK, which handles 1,500 NHS referrals monthly.
A software engineer who found the issue believes the vulnerability may have existed for six years, but Medefer denies this claim, stating no data has been compromised.
The engineer discovered that unprotected application programming interfaces (APIs) could have allowed outsiders to access sensitive patient information.
While Medefer has insisted that there is no evidence of any breach, they have commissioned an external security agency to review their systems. The agency confirmed that no breach was found, and the company asserts that the flaw was fixed within 48 hours of being discovered.
Cybersecurity experts have raised concerns about the potential risks posed by the flaw, emphasising that a proper investigation should have been conducted immediately.
Medefer reported the issue to the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) and the Care Quality Commission (CQC), both of which found no further action necessary. However, experts suggest that a more thorough response could have been beneficial given the sensitive nature of the data involved.
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China’s top universities are set to expand undergraduate enrolment to develop talent in key strategic fields, particularly AI.
The move follows the rapid rise of AI startup DeepSeek, which has drawn global attention for producing advanced AI models at a fraction of the usual cost.
The company’s success, largely driven by researchers from elite institutions in China, is seen as a major step in Beijing’s efforts to boost its homegrown STEM workforce.
Peking University announced it would add 150 undergraduate spots in 2025 to focus on national strategic needs, particularly in information science, engineering, and clinical medicine.
Renmin University will expand enrolment by over 100 places, aiming to foster innovation in AI. Meanwhile, Shanghai Jiao Tong University plans to add 150 spots dedicated to emerging technologies such as integrated circuits, biomedicine, and new energy.
This expansion aligns with China’s broader strategy to strengthen its education system and technological capabilities. In January, the government introduced a national action plan to enhance education efficiency and innovation by 2035.
Additionally, authorities plan to introduce AI education in primary and secondary schools to nurture digital skills and scientific curiosity from an early age.
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