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Louis Vuitton announces "Treasure Trunk" NFTs costing 39K each and granting access to future products and experiences, in a hard pivot from an NFT-based game (Maghan McDowell/Vogue Business)

Nigeria-based Tingo, which offers mobiles and credit to farmers, fell ~80% after Hindenburg alleged the Nasdaq-listed fintech is an "exceptionally obvious scam" (Financial Times)

Google Cloud partners with Priceline to help the travel agency develop an AI chatbot for planning trips, suggesting hotels like a "personal concierge", and more (Jeffrey Dastin/Reuters)

Google is adding more Indian languages to its services and developing an AI model that would be able to handle 100+ Indian languages across speech and text (Sankalp Phartiyal/Bloomberg)

Sources: the EU is considering a mandatory ban on using equipment from companies like Huawei that are deemed to present a security risk in 5G networks (Javier Espinoza/Financial Times)

Google, Temasek, and Bain report: India's internet economy to hit $1T by 2030, up from $175B in 2022, accounting for 12-13% of India's GDP, up from 4-5% in 2022 (Livemint)

London-based GetHarley, a telehealth service connecting consumers to skincare clinicians offering consultations and products, raised $52M led by Index Ventures (Paul Sawers/TechCrunch)

Montreal-based GSoft, which offers employee experience software for Microsoft 365 management, onboarding, skills development, and more, raised CA$125M from CDPQ (Charlize Alcaraz/BetaKit)

Samsung plans to hold its next Unpacked event in late July 2023 in Seoul, the first time in its home country, where it will unveil next generation foldables (Ben Schoon/9to5Google)

iOS 17 beta enables editable text and threaded replies in iMessage group chats with Android users, but Android users can't see the edited messages (XDA Developers)

Source: Nuview, which wants to map Earth's entire landmass on an annual basis using space-based lidar, raised a $3M seed and $12M for an in-progress Series A (Aria Alamalhodaei/TechCrunch)

Court filing: the SEC asked a DC court to grant a temporary restraining order that would freeze assets tied to Binance.US' holding and operating companies (Nikhilesh De/CoinDesk)

Apple makes iOS 17, iPadOS 17, watchOS 10, and macOS Sonoma developer betas free for anyone with an Apple ID, not just users with $99/year developer accounts (Michael Potuck/9to5Mac)

1Password launches a passkey public beta for Chrome, Edge, Safari, Firefox, and Brave but not its mobile apps, after announcing passkey support in November 2022 (Jess Weatherbed/The Verge)

Apple acquires Los Angeles-based Mira, which makes AR headsets for companies and the US military; the startup had raised ~$17M and was once advised by Jony Ive (The Verge)

A look at the similarities and differences between the SEC's lawsuits against Coinbase and Binance, as the SEC views every crypto exchange in the US as illegal (Matt Levine/Bloomberg)

Email: Reddit lays off ~90 employees, or ~5% of its workforce, and slows hiring, as the company restructures key parts of its business to break even in 2024 (Sarah E. Needleman/Wall Street Journal)

GitLab reports Q1 revenue up 45% YoY to $126.9M vs. $117.8M est., 2024 revenue guidance above estimates, and unveils generative AI plans; GTLB jumps 30%+ (Jordan Novet/CNBC)

Instagram appears to be testing an AI chatbot option with 30 AI personalities that answer questions and give advice (Sabrina Ortiz/ZDNet)

US-based human resources company UKG acquires Irish payroll software developer Immedis, in a deal understood be worth well in excess of 500M (Will Goodbody/RT)

A look at why AI will "save the world", including by augmenting human intelligence, a case against the moral panic about AI, and the risks of not pursuing AI (Marc Andreessen/Andreessen Horowitz)

Apple accidentally made the iOS 17, iPadOS 17, watchOS 10, and macOS Sonoma developer betas available to all, including those without paid developer accounts (Stephen Warwick/iMore)

A task force of ten state regulators, including California and Washington's, issues a Show Cause Order against Coinbase for allegedly violating securities law (Zhiyuan Sun/Cointelegraph)

Bermuda-based Meanwhile, which aims to offer life insurance to US citizens with large BTC holdings, raised $19M across two seeds led by Sam Altman and others (Jamie Crawley/CoinDesk)

FIFA report: 50%+ of soccer players in two 2021 tournaments received social media abuse, a third of which was racist; some players and clubs demand change (Associated Press)

Enterprise software startup Instabase raised $45M led by Tribe Capital at a $2B valuation, after raising $105M at a $1.05B valuation in October 2019 (Sarah McBride/Bloomberg)

Counterfeit tech scams run amok on Walmart and eBay because the platforms, despite their resources, have failed to properly vet sellers and products (Scharon Harding/Ars Technica)

Apple Vision Pro will take at least five years to supplant the iPhone, reflected by Tim Cook not wearing one; the spatial computing UI is what's most impressive (Mark Gurman/Bloomberg)

Curri, a last-mile logistics service for the construction industry, raised a $42M Series B, taking its funding to $48.2M, and launches an API to book vehicles (Kyle Wiggers/TechCrunch)

Apple Vision Pro is incredibly compelling as a product and for its potential use cases; what the device says about society, though, is a bit more pessimistic (Ben Thompson/Stratechery)

The SEC sues Coinbase in New York court, alleging the exchange acted as an unregistered broker since at least 2019; COIN drops 10%+ (Austin Weinstein/Bloomberg)

Nansen: investors pulled ~$780M from Binance and $13M from its US affiliate in the past 24 hours, following the SEC's lawsuit (Tom Wilson/Reuters)

At TSMC's annual meeting, geopolitics took center stage for the first time, as CEO Mark Liu defended the US expansion, saying the plans were "not all downside" (Kathrin Hille/Financial Times)

Reddit defends its usage-based API pricing, arguing the company "needs to be fairly paid to continue supporting high-usage third-party apps" (Priya Anand/Bloomberg)

Sequoia plans to split into three firms, Sequoia in the US and Europe, HongShan in China, and Peak XV in India and Southeast Asia, "no later than" March 2024 (Alex Konrad/Forbes)

Internal 4chan emails, chat logs, and moderation decisions reveal how the site's team of moderators, called "janitors", allowed racism and violence to take over (Justin Ling/Wired)

Apple avoided mentioning AI at WWDC, instead referring to machine learning and transformers while describing features; M2 Ultra was touted for training models (Benj Edwards/Ars Technica)

Filing: Intel plans to sell 35M+ shares in Mobileye, raising around $1.48B for its spending plans; after the sale, Intel will retain an ~88% stake in Mobileye (Ian King/Bloomberg)

Intel details PowerVia, a backside power delivery technology promising performance and manufacturing benefits, set to be introduced in its chips in 2024 (Ryan Smith/AnandTech)

An interview with Craig Federighi on the new privacy and safety enhancements across iOS 17, iPadOS 17, watchOS 10, and macOS Sonoma, working with AI, and more (Michael Grothaus/Fast Company)

Byju's files a complaint in the New York Supreme Court claiming lenders "unlawfully" accelerated the terms of a $1.2B loan it raised in November 2021 (Manish Singh/TechCrunch)

In its Binance lawsuit, the SEC cited 12 coins as assets falling under its purview, taking the value of tokens categorized as unregistered securities to $115B+ (Yueqi Yang/Bloomberg)

An overview of updates and announcements that didn't make it into the WWDC keynote, including iOS 17 dropping support for iPhone 8, iPhone 8 Plus, and iPhone X (Dan Moren/Six Colors)

Lagos-based Helium Health, which provides SaaS tools, financing, and insights for health care providers and public health organizations, raised a $30M Series B (Tage Kene-Okafor/TechCrunch)

In a draft, a trade group including the NYT, WaPo, Disney, and NBCUniversal warns publishers that AI tools built on their archives could break copyright laws (Ryan Barwick/Marketing Brew)

Hands-on with Apple Vision Pro, which appears to be a genuine leapfrog in capability and execution of XR, with near perfect eye tracking and gesture control (Matthew Panzarino/TechCrunch)

Microsoft will pay $20M to settle US FTC charges that the company violated COPPA by collecting personal information from children without their parents' consent (Kanishka Singh/Reuters)

In a filing, Twitter's lawyers say "Twitter Files" show no government interference at the company, implying Elon Musk is wrong about what the files revealed (Mike Masnick/Techdirt)

Gigabyte releases BIOS updates to remove a backdoor that was found in over 270 motherboard models and could let hackers install malware when the PC restarts (Ionut Arghire/SecurityWeek)

Apple Vision Pro will launch with Disney+ and hundreds of thousands of existing iPhone and iPad apps, including Word and Excel, and support Unity game engine (Todd Spangler/Variety)

Apple Vision Pro will have an Optic ID feature that authenticates users with an iris scan; Apple says Optic ID is more secure than Face ID, which twins can fool (Wesley Hilliard/AppleInsider)

Apple says iOS 17 will include a Sensitive Content Warning feature, which processes content on-device to help adult users avoid unwanted nude images and videos (Amanda Silberling/TechCrunch)

A look at the Apple Vision Pro: much better-looking than other AR/VR headsets with silver sci-fi googles, cable, and battery pack, which offers two hours of use (David Pierce/The Verge)

Apple Vision Pro specs: 12 cameras, five sensors, and six mics, an M2 and a new R1 chip, a digital crown, 23M pixels, and Zeiss lenses for vision correction (Romain Dillet/TechCrunch)

Apple announces visionOS, which powers the Vision Pro and displays icons and windows floating over real-world spaces; demos include Safari, a cinema, and gaming (Jay Peters/The Verge)

Apple announces watchOS 10 with an updated user interface, including widgets, group FaceTime audio, new fitness and health features, and topographic maps (Sarah Perez/TechCrunch)

Tim Cook announces the Apple Vision Pro, a "Spatial Computing" headset controlled with just the eyes, hands, and voice (Adi Robertson/The Verge)

Apple updates AirPods with new features, including Adaptive Audio that blends noise cancellation and transparency passthrough based on the surroundings (Chris Welch/The Verge)

Apple announces tvOS 17 with a redesigned Control Center, a way to find the Apple TV remote using an iPhone, and a FaceTime app that requires an iPhone or iPad (Benjamin Mayo/9to5Mac)

Apple unveils Journal, an E2EE journaling app for iOS users to log their thoughts and activities that uses on-device machine learning for writing suggestions (Jess Weatherbed/The Verge)

Apple announces macOS Sonoma, adding support for desktop widgets, a new Game mode to reduce audio latency, Safari updates, web apps in Dock, and more (Jon Porter/The Verge)

Apple announces iPadOS 17, adding many of the same features as iOS 17, including lock screen customization, interactive widgets, and a Health app (Chris Welch/The Verge)

Apple announces a landscape StandBy mode for iOS 17 lock screen on iPhone, NameDrop contact sharing, changing the "Hey Siri" trigger to just "Siri", and more (Hartley Charlton/MacRumors)

Apple unveils iOS 17 with redesigned contact cards, live voicemail transcription, FaceTime video messages, Messages, autocorrect, and AirDrop updates, and more (Zac Hall/9to5Mac)

Apple updates the Mac Studio and Mac Pro with M2 Ultra and Max chips; Mac Studio starts at $1,999 and Mac Pro starts at $6,999 (Apple)

Apple unveils an M2 Max with a 12-core CPU, 30-core GPU, and support for 96GB of RAM and M2 Ultra with 24-core CPU, a 60-core GPU, and support for 192GB of RAM (Filipe Espsito/9to5Mac)

Apple announces a 15.3-inch MacBook Air for $1,299+, with an M2, six speakers, a 25% brighter display, a headphone jack, and a 1080p webcam, shipping on June 13 (Monica Chin/The Verge)

Live blog of WWDC 2023, where an MR headset, a 15" MacBook Air, iOS 17, macOS 14, and more are expected (Jacob Kastrenakes/The Verge)

Live stream of Apple's WWDC 2023 keynote (Apple on YouTube)

India's government-backed, non-profit e-commerce network Open Network for Digital Commerce expands to B2B transactions (Jagmeet Singh/TechCrunch)

Stack Overflow moderators strike over a prohibition on moderating AI-generated content, announced last week; Stack Overflow says 11% of mods are participating (Kevin Hurler/Gizmodo)

BA, the BBC, and others warn staff that their data may have been stolen in Progress' MOVEit hack; thousands of companies could be impacted by the vulnerability (William Turton/Bloomberg)

A deep fake video of Putin declaring martial law was broadcast on TVs and radios in some Russian cities on Ukraine's border; Russia says it was due to a "hack" (Jenna Moon/Semafor)

The SEC sues Binance and CEO Changpeng Zhao, accusing the company of mishandling billions in customer funds, lying to regulators and investors, and more (New York Times)

Microsoft attributes recent zero-day attacks on the MOVEit Transfer tool to the Clop ransomware gang; responders say the gang can take weeks to issue demands (Lawrence Abrams/BleepingComputer)

Stanford researchers: Twitter failed to stop 40+ known CSAM images from being posted in recent months; the issue seemed to be fixed in May after staff were told (Alexa Corse/Wall Street Journal)

Google opens a beta for passkeys on Workspace accounts, letting staff at 9M+ organizations sign in without a password, rolling out in the coming weeks (Jess Weatherbed/The Verge)

Carbon Health launches a GPT-4-based tool to create medical records, using Amazon Transcribe Medical for transcription, and says ~90% are accepted without edits (Ilena Peng/Bloomberg)

Tech layoffs, compounded by rising interest rates and inflation, lead to high unemployment levels and falling wages in California, Oregon, and Washington (Wall Street Journal)

To protest API pricing for third-party Reddit apps, r/videos, r/reactiongifs, r/earthporn, and other large subreddits plan to go private on June 12 for 48 hours (Jon Porter/The Verge)

Business Headlines Today
[Wed-07-Jun-2023]

$10bn spent on Nigeria's Refineries which produced no petrol over a decade - BusinessDay

5 Easy Things You Can Do to Boost Company Morale - Entrepreneur

7 Strategies to Master the Art of Mergers and Acquisitions - Entrepreneur

7 Tips for Protecting Your Business Against Inflation - Entrepreneur

9mobile Reaffirms Commitment To SME Growth - Leadership

AfDB: No justification for absymal power supply in Nigeria - New Telegraph

Africa's Smartphone market falls as inflation reduces demand 'IDC - Tribune

Agric Export Rises By 39% In Q1 - Leadership

Aig-Imoukhuede Foundation Receives Productivity Award For Reforms - Leadership

Aig-Imoukhuede Foundationreceives merit award - Vanguard

AIICO responds to misleading allegation of breach of contract - The Sun

Aircraft used for Nigeria Air unveiling was chartered flight from Ethiopian Airlines ' MD - BusinessDay

Allied Integrated Promotion plans summit for innovation - Punch

Ardova scheme shareholders approve share transfer at N17.88 - New Telegraph

As maritime industry awaits Tinubu's economic agenda implementation - Guardian

BAT Nigeria Begins Pilot Phase Of Post- Consumer Waste Recycling Initiative - Daily Independent

California Colleges Are Flooded With 'Ghost Students' Attempting to Steal Financial Aid - Entrepreneur

Chicken Royale Opens Local, Continental Foods Outlet In Ibadan - Daily Independent

Collaboration, resilience key to success in business - New Telegraph

Commodities Export Will Grow Economy 'SEC - Leadership

Companies mull hybrid work on petrol price hike - BusinessDay

Danbatta, Adebayo, Rudman, Uzor To speak At NDSF 2023 - Daily Independent

Electricity: Metering created 50,000 jobs for support services personnel, others - Vanguard

Experts in agric sector set agenda for Tinubu - The Sun

Experts seek data, better monitoring of informal cross-border trade - Guardian

Explainer: Why microfinance banks are endangered species - BusinessDay

External reserves sustain slide, drop to $34.95bn - New Telegraph

Five things to know to start your Wednesday - BusinessDay

FreshYo to reward consumers - BusinessDay

Fuel Subsidy removal: Experts identify pensioners, state workers, others as beneficiaries - Vanguard

Generative AI could radically alter the practice of law - The Economist

Health benefit driving Golden Terra Soya Oil's inroads into Nigerian kitchens, says TGI Group - Guardian

Heirs Life urges retirees to adopt annuity as retirement succour - The Sun

Here are top 5 Microfinance Banks - BusinessDay

How AI Is Transforming the Accounting Industry ' and What the Future Will Look Like - Entrepreneur

How FCW's backward integration is creating value, jobs for smallholder farmers - Guardian

How These Robots Are Bringing 24/7 Automated Convenience Stores to Your Neighborhood - Entrepreneur

How to establish a garri processing factory - BusinessDay

Is Salesforce (CRM) A HOT Buy This Week - Entrepreneur

Kenyan, South African banks outperform Nigerian peers in ROE - BusinessDay

McDonald's Apparently Sells Sheet Cakes and the Internet Is Very Confused: 'I Feel Like I'm in a Parallel Timeline - Entrepreneur

Meter manufacturers seek intervention to scale up production - Guardian

Miscreants wreak havoc, vandalise imported vehicles along port access roads - The Sun

MTN Nigeria Invests Over N100m In Media Innovation Programme - Daily Independent

Naira redesign, high inflation, FX shortage slows Nigeria's growth momentum ' World Bank - BusinessDay

NBS upgrades Nigeria's tax-to-GDP ratio to 10.86% ' NBS - Vanguard

NCC holds stakeholders consultative forum in Bayelsa - Tribune

New administration must integrate risk management into national security agenda Expert - The Sun

NGX RegCo, other to deliberate on sustainability disclosure standards - New Telegraph

NHIA warns HMOs against sabotaging health insurance inclusion, service delivery - The Sun

Nigeria begins MNVO operations, 25 firms get licences - Guardian

Nigeria loses N150bn to gas flaring in 4 months - Vanguard

Nigeria records second highest cyberattacks in Africa, says Kaspersky - Punch

NUBIFIE pickets Polaris Bank over unjust sacking of workers, violation of labour laws - The Sun

Obi: Removing petrol subsidy suddenly is like forceful removal of tooth - The Cable

Okonjo-Iweala reiterates importance of trade in ensuring food security - Guardian

Otunba Subomi Balogun was a symbol of the Nigerian dream - Tribune

Paris Club Refund: Again, Court Summons Emefiele Over $53m Debt - Leadership

Petrol Import Bill Drops To N1.49trn In 3 Months - Leadership