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| Here's today's top business stories: - ⚖️ Tesla loses court case in Sweden as union pressure increases.
- 🤝 European Union and European Commission reach initial agreement on AI regulation.
- ☕️ Starbucks will resume negotiations with workers who demand better salaries in January 2024.
Arbër
p/Arber | |
| 1 | | Tesla has lost its court case over a workers' union strike in Sweden, with the court deciding in favor of the postal service workers who have blocked license plate deliveries. Unions in Denmark, Finland, and Norway could do the same. More: - Postal workers in Sweden have blocked the delivery of Tesla license plates for several weeks in a sign of protest for Tesla's refusal to sign a collective agreement deal with workers.
- Following the blockage, Tesla filed a lawsuit, while Elon Musk called the situation "insane."
- While the Swedish postal company PostNord will be allowed to continue blocking the delivery of license plates of Tesla vehicles, it seems that it will not be the only one taking drastic measures, as multiple unions in Scandinavia have expressed their plans to do the same.
- Norway's largest private sector union has announced its plans to block Tesla shipments from coming to Sweden starting Dec. 20, while all Finnish ports will also block any Tesla shipment coming to Sweden on the same date.
- PensionDanmark, one of the largest pension funds in Denmark, has sold its Tesla shares due to the automaker's refusal to sign a collective agreement deal, something that companies in Scandinavia have traditionally done.
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The story: The European Union and the European Parliament have reached an initial agreement on laws regarding artificial intelligence and the handling of biometric data. Negotiations between the two sides lasted 36 hours. More details: The deal requires LLMs such as ChatGPT to provide technical documentation that shows they are complying with EU privacy laws, conduct regular security rests, report to the EU regulatory authorities over any incidents that affect user data or infrastructure security, etc. Governments will be allowed to use real-time biometric surveillance in public spaces only for the investigation of severe crimes and their prevention. The agreement bans the use of biometric data for cognitive behavioral manipulation, social scoring, and biometric categorization systems regarding political, religious, philosophical, and sexual orientation. Fines for breaking these rules could cost companies up to 7% of their global revenue. What the numbers say: AI could cost Europeans in terms of privacy but also billions of dollars of lost revenue if this opportunity were to be missed. The AI market in Europe is currently valued at $66B. In 2024, this industry is set to reach $83B in value before surpassing $100B in 2025 and reaching $121B in 2026. The continent famously has no hardware or software tech companies that rival FAANG. | | | |
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| 3 | | Starbucks is set to resume negotiations with the baristas' union in January 2024, two years after workers first unionized. Employees are demanding higher wages and more staff members. More: - More than 360 Starbucks locations have unionized in the last two years, while 96% of its locations remain nonunionized.
- In November 2023, Starbucks workers walked out of more than 200 stores on Red Cup Day, one of the most profitable days for the company.
- Starbucks Workers United said the strike resulted in the realization of one of their major demands, which was to turn off mobile orders during busy promotion days.
- Starbucks claims the change to its mobile ordering system was already being implemented before the organized walkout.
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| 4 | | Paramount Global shares surged on Friday as reports claimed that Skydance and RedBird Capital could acquire the company. More: - RedBird has ownership in companies such as Skydance, which has produced "Top Gun: Maverick," "Mission Impossible: Dead Reckoning Part One," "Terminator: Dark Fate," etc.
- Following the news, Paramount shares closed up more than 12% Friday
- The company currently has a market cap of about $10.4B and owes $15.6B in debt.
Zoom Out: - Paramount was recently mentioned as Apple's likely streaming partner, as the two companies could merge their two services, Paramount+ and Apple TV+, to compete with Netflix.
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| 5 | | Beeper Mini, an app that enabled Android users to send iMessage texts, had its access cut by Apple. The company claims one of its services is now back online. More: - Yesterday, users complained on social media about not being able to use the app.
- After an initial investigation, the company stated that all the data suggested that Apple had cut access, showing a server error message to the users.
- Earlier today, Beeper announced that users will now be able to use its universal messaging app, Beeper Cloud, once again as the company has fixed the issue, but Beeper Mini is still down.
- The company offers the service of converting Android text messages to iMessage texts for a monthly fee of $1.99.
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| 6 | | New Zealand's largest carrier, One, is preparing to announce job cuts in 2024. The company has a 38% market share in the country. More: - The number of employees that will be let go is unknown so far, but the company will offer three months' notice.
- While One has added jobs in divisions that are related to AI, it has stated that it needs to reduce and stop its investments in other areas in order to balance its efforts.
- One is the latest company from New Zealand to announce cuts, as rising interest rates and a weaker market have affected their growth.
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| 7 | | Quick Hits: - Want to master Kubernetes? The Kubernetes Cookbook is a must-have guide to discover guidance on cloud architecture analytics, optimization, governance, and more.*
- The direction of the stock market could change significantly this week as investors are waiting for the Federal Reserve to announce its decision on interest rates.
- Logistics company Emergent Cold LatAm has raised a $500M funding round led by Stonepeak Partners, Lineage, and Losa Group. The company is based in Brazil.
- Dental care company SmileDirectClub has announced that it is going to shut down its operations globally.
- Toast to 2024: Key affiliate marketing trends to help your campaigns start off on the right foot in the new year. Get the free report.*
*This is sponsored content. | | | |
 | Writer | | Arbër is an Inside writer who also has experience in entrepreneurship. He has experience covering Consumer Tech, Venture Capital, NFTs, Crypto, etc. Arbër holds a Bachelor's degree in Business from XAMK University in Finland. When he is not reading(and writing) business news, he chooses to watch sports or anime...and then read news about sports or anime. | | This newsletter was edited by Aaron Crutchfield | |
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