U.S. private equity firm General Atlantic LLC and SoftBank Group Corp invests $107 million in Brazilian facial recognition startup Acesso Digital

In a statement Brazil’s facial biometrics and digital admission startup Acesso Digital said, Japan’s SoftBank Group Corp and U.S. private equity firm General Atlantic LLC are leading a $107.25 million (580 million reais) funding round. Following the investment, both, General Atlantic and SoftBank, will hold a minority stake in Acesso Digital. Founded in 2007, Acesso…

Trump does not want ByteDance to have controlling stake in TikTok: senior administration official

According to a senior administration official who spoke on the condition of anonymity, regardless of how China’s ByteDance positions the divestment of its short video sharing app TikTok, U.S. President Donald Trump does not want it to have a controlling stake in TikTok, since it will place Americans’ personal information at risk. Despite China’s bravado…

Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development readies launch of global digital tax readies

France has accused the United States of trying to undermine international negotiations on updating the cross-border taxation regime; Paris has urged the EU to prepare for an EU tax as a fallback option if negotiations fails. Nearly 140 countries are negotiating the first major rewrite of the international tax framework to account for the rise…

Portland’s city council bans govt and corporate use of facial recognition technology

Portland has voted for the first ever ban on facial recognition in the United States in private entities, including restaurants and retail stores, as well as in public places in the city. Portland’s city council voted to ban local government bureaus from acquiring or using facial recognition surveillance technology. Other U.S. cities which have previously…

Samsung Electronics bags $6.6 Billion Verizon 5G network equipment contract

In a significant development, Samsung Electronics has won a $6.64 billion order to provide wireless communication solutions to Verizon in the United States. The development marks the bagging of a major order by the South Korean company in the burgeoning 5G telecommunications market. The company’s global prospects have risen significantly following U.S. sanctions on Huawei,…

Dating app Bumble preparing for U.S. IPO, aims for valuation between $6 to $8 billion

According to sources familiar with the matter at hand, Bumble, a dating app, is preparing for an initial public offering (IPO), which could see the company being valued between $6 billion to $8 billion. Bumble’s IPO could come early next year, said a report from Bloomberg citing sources. Sources cautioned that Bumble’s IPO plans have…