BetterHelp has agreed to pay $7.8M to consumers as part of a settlement with the FTC. The online therapy company is accused of mishandling users' data between 2017 and 2020. The payment marks the first proposed FTC order compensating consumers whose health data was compromised. More: - According to the FTC, BetterHelp shared customers' emails, IP addresses, and health questionnaire responses with advertisers like Facebook, Snapchat, and Pinterest.
- BetterHelp had assured customers that it would not share their health data except to provide counseling.
- BetterHelp claims it has never received payment from any third parties for information about its customers.
- Customers who used BetterHelp between Aug. 1, 2017, and Dec. 31, 2020, are eligible for partial refunds.
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India’s Supreme Court has put together a six-person panel to investigate if the country’s securities regulator failed to act on the recent allegations against the Adani Group. The Supreme Court has asked the committee to provide an overall assessment of the situation, including finding the causes of recent market volatility. More: - Adani Group’s listed companies have lost more than $145B in market value since January following a report from short-seller Hindenburg Research accusing the company of widespread fraud.
- Adani Group has denied the allegations, calling Hindenburg Research’s report unresearched and maliciously mischievous.
- Last month, the conglomerate owned by Gautam Adani hired the accounting firm Grant Thornton to audit some of its companies.
- The six-person panel includes former Supreme Court judge Abhay Manohar Sapre, former State Bank of India chair OP Bhatt, Infosys chair Nandan Nilekani, veteran banker KV Kamath, lawyer Somasekhar Sundaresan, and retired judge JP Devadhar.
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Inflation in the Eurozone fell to 8.5% in February from 8.6% reported in January. The EU statistics agency had projected inflation to increase by 8.2% in February compared to last year. Core inflation rose to 5.6% in February, up from 5.3% reported the prior month. More: - While energy price inflation slowed last month, food, goods, and services prices increased.
- The European Central Bank is expected to raise interest rates by 50 basis points on March 16 and continue raising rates for the rest of the year.
- ECB President Christine Lagarde signaled that inflation was on track to fall at a much more significant amount in March due to the base effects of YoY comparisons with last year’s high energy prices.
- Annual inflation rose in 10 of the 20 member countries that comprise the eurozone.
- The inflation increases ranged from more than 20% in Latvia to just under 5% in Luxembourg.
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Macy’s released its Q4 and FY2022 earnings on Thursday, beating analysts’ expectations. The department store company posted $8.3B in net sales, down 4.6% YoY. Same-store sales fell 3.3% compared to last year. Digital sales fell 9% in Q4 compared to the previous year, and brick-and-mortar sales declined 2%. More: - The company’s Macy’s brand reported a 3.9% decline in comparable sales.
- Bloomingdale’s same-store sales were up 1.2%, and Bluemercury’s comp sales were up 7.2%.
- Net income was $508M, down from $742M reported in Q4 FY2021.
- Adjusted diluted EPS was $1.88, down from the $2.45 reported last year.
- The company reported a net credit card revenue of $262M, down $2M YoY.
- Full-year 2022 revenue was $24.44B, with a net income of $1.18B.
- Macy’s shares closed at $22.70 on Thursday, up ~11.1% for the day.
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Apple delayed the approval of an update by email app BlueMail that incorporates AI-powered language tools over concerns that it would produce content that is inappropriate for children. BlueMail’s new AI feature uses OpenAI’s ChatGPT chatbot to help automate emails using the contents of prior emails and calendar events. More: - The decision comes amid growing concerns about whether language-generating AI tools like ChatGPT are ready for widespread use.
- Apple’s app-review team said the app included AI-generated content but does not appear to include content filtering.
- Apple added that because BlueMail could produce content inappropriate for all audiences, the app should raise its age restriction to 17 or older or include content filtering.
- BlueMail disagreed with Apple’s decision, with the co-founder of BlueMail, Ben Volach, implying that Apple has allowed other apps with ChatGPT-like features on its App Store without requiring they have age restrictions.
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Best Buy released its Q4 earnings on Thursday, reporting better-than-expected results. The consumer electronics retailer posted $14.74B in revenue, down from the $16.37B reported last year. Same-store sales fell 9.3% in Q4 compared to the previous year. More: - Best Buy posted a net income of $495M, or $2.23 a share, down 21% YoY.
- Full fiscal year 2023 revenue was $46.3B, down from $51.76B reported for FY2022.
- The company expects FY2024 revenue to fall between $43.8B and $45.2B and expects same-store sales to fall 3% to 6%.
- The company expects to spend about $850M in capital expenditures in FY2024, of which $200M will go toward store remodels.
- Best Buy shares closed at $80.79 on Wednesday, down 2.13%.
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- According to sources, the FDA rejected Elon Musk's Neuralink company's request to begin human trials of its brain implant chip. The company had sought permission from the FDA early last year.
- Chinese leader Xi Jinping is expected to overhaul the country's government at the upcoming annual National People's Congress set to begin on Sunday. Xi is expected to place his most trusted party members in positions to oversee the financial, technology, and other sectors.
- According to a recent study by the Australian Strategic Policy Institute (ASPI), China leads in 37 out of 44 critical and emerging technologies across defense, space, energy, and biotechnology.
- U.S.-based, Australia-listed firm GQG has bought shares worth $1.87B in four Adani Group companies. GQG took a 3.4% stake in Adani Enterprises for about $662M, a 4.1% in Adani Ports for $640M, a 2.5% in Adani Transmission for $230M, and a 3.5% stake in Adani Green Energy for $340M.
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 |  | Vanessa Omeokachie writes the daily Inside Business newsletter. Her interests include finance, technology, and entrepreneurship. In her free time, she enjoys reading, hiking, attending concerts and music festivals, traveling, and exploring. Connect with her on Twitter @VanessaOmeo or on LinkedIn. |   | | Editor | Aaron Crutchfield is based in the high desert of California. Over the last two decades, he has spent time writing and editing at various local newspapers and defense contractors in California. When he's not working, he can often be found looking at the latest memes with his kids or working on his 1962 and 1972 Fords. | |
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