Author: GT

This photo illustration created on Jan. 7, 2025, in Washington, D.C., shows an image of Mark Zuckerberg, CEO of Meta, and an image of the Meta logo.Drew Angerer | AFP | Getty ImagesMeta’s core online advertising business could take a $7 billion hit this year due to President Donald Trump’s tough China tariffs impacting retailers in the country.That’s according to a MoffettNathanson research note published Tuesday that analyzes the potential impact of China-linked retailers like Temu and Shien slashing their Facebook and Instagram advertising budgets amid the U.S. and China trade dispute.The MoffettNathanson analysts pointed to Meta’s latest annual report in…

Bluesky’s launch of a verification system has raised a slew of questions among its user base, from who will be picked — and why — to what outside organizations might be involved and whether the self-verification process will end. TechCrunch has some answers. After a leak last week, Bluesky officially announced Monday the arrival of its verification system, which is designed to ensure that notable people are who they say they are on the social network. While similar in some respects to the system that Twitter had once used before pivoting to paid verification under Elon Musk, Bluesky’s verification builds…

(Bloomberg) — Bitcoin advanced to the highest level since early March, fueling optimism that the biggest digital token is finally breaking free of a longstanding tendency to move in tandem with US tech stocks. Most Read from Bloomberg After briefly succumbing to the risk-asset selloff that followed US President Donald Trump’s announcement of sweeping tariffs on geopolitical allies and rivals alike, Bitcoin has rallied almost 20% from an April 7 low. In doing so, it has begun trading more akin to gold, the standout asset in markets roiled by tariff uncertainty. The decoupling from US assets — in large part…

Bitcoin surged past $90,000 today, breaking through this price level for the first time in 45 days. Source: CoinMarketCap The leading cryptocurrency has staged a remarkable comeback after falling from its all-time high of $109,114.88 recorded on January 20, 2025, when President Trump was inaugurated. The rally comes as the U.S. dollar index (DXY) plummeted to 98.29 on Monday, its lowest point in three years. Source: MarketWatch The dollar’s weakness stems largely from the intensifying conflict between President Trump and Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell. Trump has publicly criticized Powell’s monetary policy decisions, claiming the Fed chair is “too late…

Instagram Edits app.Courtesy: InstagramInstagram on Tuesday launched its standalone Edits video creation app that offers features similar to those already available from TikTok parent Bytedance.The new app allows creators to organize project ideas, shoot and edit video, and access insights about content. Edits includes background replacement, automatic captioning and artificial intelligence tools that can turn images into video.”There’s a lot going on in the world right now and no matter what happens, we think it’s our job to create the most compelling creative tools for those of you who make videos for not just Instagram but for platforms out there,”…

Chatbots and other kinds of AI agents may feel like a dime a dozen these days. But the truth is that, for both businesses and consumers, some may be infinitely more useful (and perhaps less dystopian) than others. Today, a startup that’s built a successful business around that concept is announcing a major growth round to expand its business. Manychat, which provides a tool for managing and automating conversations and engagement across multiple messaging channels, has picked up $140 million in a Series B round led by Summit Partners. The funding is coming on the heels of strong growth for…

Photo: Joe Readle (Getty Images) Bitcoin prices have been on a tear lately, punching through the $90,000 mark for the first time in six weeks Tuesday. And analysts say it could be on the verge of a broader comeback. The cryptocurrency, which has been holding in a range of $75,000 to $90,000, will break out if it tops $90,000, wrote Larry Tentarelli, chief technical strategist for Blue Chip Daily Trend Report. Until recently, Bitcoin had been in a steady slide since Trump was inaugurated. It’s currently 20 percent off its $107,000 high, hit before President Trump’s inauguration. But recent market…

As geopolitical events shape the world, it’s no surprise that they affect technology too – specifically, in the ways that the current AI market is changing, alongside its accepted methodology, how it’s developed, and the ways it’s put to use in the enterprise. The expectations of results from AI are balanced at present with real-world realities. And there remains a good deal of suspicion about the technology, again in balance with those who are embracing it even in its current nascent stages. The closed-loop nature of the well-known LLMs is being challenged by instances like Llama, DeepSeek, and Baidu’s recently-released…

Chevron is not seeing signs that the U.S. is close to a recession even as President Donald Trump’s tariffs weigh on expectations for oil demand, CEO Mike Wirth said Tuesday.”There’s no signs that we see at this point that we are in or close to a recession,” Wirth told CNBC’s “Squawk Box.” “There are signs that growth may be slowing and we have to always be prepared for that.”The International Monetary Fund on Monday cut its growth outlook for the U.S. this year to 1.8%, down from 2.7% previously.The oil market is expecting reduced demand as a consequence of Trump’s…

We know that social media can be harmful to teens. Meta has found in its own research that Instagram makes body image worse for one in three teen girls, and Snapchat has been sued several times for not doing enough to mitigate cyberbullying. Even the former U.S. Surgeon General issued an advisory on the risk of youth social media use. But a new report shows how social media can sometimes have positive impacts on teenagers, despite its harms. According to a study conducted by the Pew Research Center, 74% of U.S. teens said social media makes them feel more connected…