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targeted advertisements and give researchers more access to data on how its products work, to comply with landmark European Union online content rules, the Alphabet unit said on Thursday. Known as the Digital Services Act (DSA), the new rules are more onerous for Meta Platforms, Microsoft, Twitter, booking.com, Pinterest, Snap Inc's Snapchat, Wikipedia, Zalando and Alibaba's AliExpress because of their large number of users. The DSA will go into effect on Friday and requires companies to do more to tackle child sexual abuse material and disinformation, be more transparent on their algorithmic processes, bots and targeted advertisements and to remove illegal, unsafe or counterfeit products sold on their platforms. «We will be expanding the Ads Transparency Center, a global searchable repository of advertisers across all our platforms, to meet specific DSA provisions and providing additional information on targeting for ads served in the European Union,» Google's vice president for trust and safety, Laurie Richardson, said in a blogpost. «We will increase data access for researchers looking to understand more about how Google Search, YouTube, Google Maps, Google Play and Shopping work in practice, and conducting research related to understanding systemic content risks in the EU,» she said. The U.S.

The numbers tell the story. Just before the pandemic, India was spending a paltry 1.2 trillion rupees ($15 billion) on research and development. Since at least 1995, R&D expenditure has remained stuck at around 0.7% of gross domestic product, with less than two-fifths of it coming from the private sector.

If Microsoft Corp completes its acquisition of Activision Blizzard in the coming months, the $69 billion deal will go down as one of the biggest comeback stories in the history of mergers. By this past April, the gaming industry’s biggest acquisition ever appeared doomed. US regulators had filed a challenge to the takeover and their counterparts in the UK had blocked it outright.

Meta Platforms, Microsoft, Twitter, TikTok and other tech giants should use EU online content rules that apply to them this Friday to restore trust and safety in their platforms, EU industry chief Thierry Breton said on Wednesday. The rules known as the Digital Services Act (DSA) require the companies to perform risk management, conduct external and independent auditing, share data with authorities and researchers and adopt a code of conduct. Obligations for the companies, which also include booking.com, Pinterest, Snap Inc's Snapchat, Wikipedia, Zalando and Alibaba's AliExpress are more onerous than others because they have more than 45 million users. These very large online platforms and very large online search engines have until Friday to provide their first annual risk assessment to the European Commission. «Complying with the DSA is not a punishment — it is an opportunity for these online platforms to reinforce their brand value and reputation as a trustworthy site,» Breton said in a statement. «Child protection will be an enforcement priority, as will be fighting disinformation, including pro-Russian propaganda, in particular as we are entering a period of elections in Europe,» he said. The DSA also forces the companies to be more transparent on their algorithmic processes, bots and targeted advertisements that amplify content and do more to tackle illegal, unsafe or counterfeit products sold on their platforms. Breton, who can hand out fines up to 6% of a company's global turnover for violations, said he would not hesitate to act. «My services and I will thoroughly enforce the DSA, and fully use our new powers to investigate and sanction platforms where warranted,» he said.

ChatGPT and similar language-generation systems made by Google, Microsoft and others. Nvidia has invested in making chips and software for AI for more than a decade and has no competitors who can yet match it. In May, the company said it expected revenue to be around $11 billion for its fiscal second quarter, almost $4 billion more than Wall Street expected.

Vikram Sarabhai to India's first privately made rocket Vikram-S, which was launched last year by Hyderabad-based startup Skyroot Aerospace, to the Vikram lander, all these milestones of India's space journey bear the name of the man who put India on the space map. India's moonshot, and indeed its whole sprawling space programme, had begun at an unlikely place.A dream was born in a tiny outhouse Just as many immensely successful tech companies such as Microsoft started out from garages, India's space programme too had humble beginnings.

Microsoft has revamped its bid to buy video game maker Activision Blizzard to appease British competition regulators

Wall Street closed mixed, holding a bit firmer following its three-week losing streak

British competition regulators have opened a new investigation into Microsoft’s revamped bid to buy video game maker Activision Blizzard

Investing.com — The Dow closed lower Tuesday under pressure from regional banks and a tumble in retailers following disappointing quarterly results from Macy’s and Dick’s Sporting Goods.

Ramp, a developer of financial management software, has raised $300 million in its latest funding round to accelerate expansion in new categories, the company said on Tuesday, notching up a valuation of $5.8 billion. The new funding is at a lower valuation from the $8.1 billion achieved by the New-York based startup in a funding round last year, a spokesperson of the company confirmed. Valuations of financial technology startups have been hit as interest rates remain high and investors fret over a looming economic slowdown, leading to a shift away from cash-burning firms and toward those with greater focus on profitability. The latest funding round was co-led by Thrive Capital and Sands Capital along with existing investors Founder's Fund and General Catalyst among others. Ramp, which offers a corporate card platform used by over 15,000 businesses, was founded in 2019.

Software companies have a point in asking GoI for changes to local value addition rules for public procurement. Software value chains are typically global with the intellectual property (IP) residing in one country, research being conducted in a second, and development happening in a third. Government local sourcing orders are broad, leaving nodal ministries to decide how to determine it.

Activision Blizzard proposes to sell its streaming rights to Ubisoft Entertainment in a fresh attempt to win approval from UK Competition and Markets Authority for its $69 billion sale to Microsoft. The shares of Activision were trading 1.1% higher, while Microsoft was up 0.7% before noon in New York. Shares of Ubisoft listed in Paris closed 8.8% higher.

By Stephen Nellis

Check out the companies making headlines in midday trading.

By Shashwat Chauhan

By Kate Holton and Paul Sandle

Investing.com — U.S. futures traded higher Tuesday, continuing the previous session’s tech-led rally as investors digest more corporate earnings, particularly from the retail sector.

Investing.com -- Chip designer Arm announces plans for a much-anticipated initial public offering, although the Softbank-owned group stops short of specifying its valuation. Elsewhere, tech stocks remain resilient in the face of surging bond yields as excitement for Nvidia's latest quarterly earnings report grows, while Microsoft restructures its mega-merger with Activision Blizzard to appease U.K. regulators.