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Several Dutch lawmakers on Tuesday challenged the Netherlands’ Trade Minister over whether the U.S. acted correctly in unilaterally imposing new rules regulating the export to China of another chipmaking machine made by Europe’s largest tech firm. In October, the White House blocked Chinese access to equipment needed to make advanced semiconductor chips that could be used in weapons or for the ruling Communist Party’s surveillance apparatus. Washington also has been lobbying European and Asian allies to tighten their controls. The

US tech giant Microsoft has announced an A$5 billion (US$3.2 billion) investment in Australia that will propel its artificial intelligence and cloud computing capabilities within the 13th largest economy in the world. The ambitious project will augment the company’s local data center capacity by 250 percent, enabling it to respond to surging demand for cloud-based AI applications and services as they become increasingly prevalent. The project will also support digital skills training for 300,000 Australians, cultivating a workforce capable of

Bitcoin rose 6% on Tuesday to $35,198, its highest in nearly a year-and-a-half, on mounting speculation that an exchange-traded bitcoin fund is imminent. The cryptocurrency jumped to its highest level since May 2022, and other significant cryptos also gained ground. Investors are fueled by growing hopes that the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) will approve an ETF that invests directly in the world’s most valuable digital currency, boosting demand for the asset and ushering in new investors. The bullishness

The dollar fell to a one-month low on Tuesday against its major peers after U.S. Treasury yields dropped, reducing the likelihood that the Federal Reserve will increase rates soon. The euro wavered as investors weighed a weaker-than-expected European purchasing managers’ index data. Investors are looking to a series of economic reports this week that could inform the Fed’s next monetary policy moves. The critical report is due on Thursday, when the personal consumption expenditures price index, the Fed’s favored inflation

Singapore is set to become the first port in the world to use electronic bunker delivery notes from Nov 1, with the city-state’s Maritime and Port Authority (MPA) launching a digital bunkering initiative. The digital notes will replace the physical documents containing information on fuel oil deliveries to vessels. They will be sent via email or an app to the cargo officers, chief engineers, and bunker surveyors on board the vessel. MPA hopes the move will increase operational efficiency and

The cost of starting a business can vary greatly, and many successful ventures have begun with minimal initial capital. Two friends, Sal Aiello and Monica Powers, have turned a small investment of $185 (around? 15,000) into a lucrative business. They created a tool called DimeADozen, with the help of ChatGPT, to test business ideas. They sold the startup last month, raking in more than $66,000 in profits. “This proves that AI can print money,” Aiello tells CNBC Make It. Aiello

Beijing is weighing holding up U.S. chipmaker Broadcom Inc’s (AVGO.O) $69 billion purchase of cloud computing company VMware Inc (VMW.N), the Financial Times reported on Thursday, citing three sources familiar with the matter. The report said that the government may require Broadcom to hold further discussions with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the State Council before approving the transaction. Shares of VMWare dropped 7.5% in premarket trading on concerns China would delay the deal. Founded in 2004, VMware is

Oktas shares slumped on Friday after it disclosed a breach of its customer support system that allowed some hackers to view files uploaded by specific clients, pushing the software firm’s stock down about 12%. The company did not specify the customers affected or the nature of the compromised data. It did say the hacker gained access to its systems by using a stolen credential at a third-party subprocessor, which it identified as a Miami-based contact center provider called Sykes. The

Germany’s Deutsche Bahn and Miami-based infrastructure investor I Squared Capital have signed an agreement to sell the German rail operator’s international transport business Arriva Group. The transaction is expected to be completed in 2024, subject to the customary closing conditions, including the approval of the Deutsche Bahn’s supervisory board and the German transport ministry, they said in a statement. Arriva is a multi-national passenger transport company that operates bus, coach, and train services in the UK and several continental European

In recent years, Bitcoin holdings in the US Treasury have risen exponentially, making the US government reportedly the largest BTC reserves in the world. This is primarily due to three significant seizures from criminal cases. As of this writing, the US treasury is estimated to have at least 194,188 BTC tokens. The first seizure was from the Silk Road marketplace, a dark web marketplace where people sold drugs and other illegal goods online. In 2021, prosecutors seized over a million