DeepSeek Sharing Data with Tiktok's Parent Company? | Business Matters

and for today's business matters Southwest Airlines announced yesterday that it will cut 15% of its corporate Workforce more than 1,700 people so this is the the first mass layoff actually in the company's history with cuts expected to start in April 11 senior Executives including some vice presidents will be let go Southwest says it expects to layoff to save the company $210 million this year and $300 million next next year Airline CEO Bob Jordan called the layoffs a very difficult and Monumental shift another deep cut for us Steel in its desires to merge with Japan's nepon steel activist investor and core Holdings is demanding company records and heating up its campaign to replace some board members and the CEO in a letter enor said it wants to find out if the board violated its duties to investors by filing a lawsuit with the US Court of Appeals us deal wants the court to overturn former President Biden's block on the deal and K said it also wants to determine if CEO David burrett sought to trade on non-public information us steel has warned it could need uh to make layoffs and close plans if the deal with nepon dies and for the third time Johnson and Johnson will try to convince a judge to approve a bankruptcy to resolve A10 billion settlement more than 60 ,000 people have alleged that J&J's baby powder and other T powders were contaminated with a festos and caused cancers J&J denies the claims courts have rejected two previous attempts to resolve the lawsuits through a subsidiaries bankruptcy but Johnson and Johnson said it believes that this one will succeed be because it has the votes to show a broad level of support critics say the vote was rigged in favor of J&J's preferred outcome j& J argues the bankruptcy will offer a faster and fairer way for payouts all right next Nike is in a slump sales are down and so is its stock value so the company is partnering with Kim Kardashian for a new brand called Nike skims The Collection is based on her popular shapewear line and will focus on female athletes the move is a first for Nike which hasn't partnered with an outside company before to create a new brand it usually relies on acquisition or apparel endorsements with popular athletes like Michael Jordan the new brand will help Nike in the active wear category as it looks to compete against companies like Lululemon and the brand will roll out in the US this spring online and at select retail locations a global launch planned in 2026 taking a full bite back out of Burger King in China Restaurant Brands International now has near total ownership of the business the company acquired Burger King China from its local franchisee for about $18 million restaurant Brands plans to find a new local partner to invest in the burger chain and this comes as the fast food operator works on its China strategy for its Burger King business this restaurants have faced softening demand over consumer spending pressure and stiff competition meanwhile hungry for a competition Uber is now suing door Dash Uber is accusing the Rival delivery company of bullying restaurants to use its service it says its Rivals anti-competitive practices have led to higher costs for both restaurants and consumers Uber also said that door dashes underhanded taces have cost Uber millions in revenue and illegally restricts it from growing Uber direct a door Dash spokesperson said the claims are unfounded and based on Uber's inability to offer restaurants and consumers a quality alternative now Elon musk's favorite candidate for German Chancellor wants to reform the European Union the elections coming this Sunday here's the story it could decide the entire fate of Europe maybe the fate of the world Germany elections for the next Chancellor coming up Sunday Elon musk's favorite party afd and its candidate Alice vital call for major reforms to the European Union the Republicans are making their country great again and we Germany on making our homeland great again make Germany great again vital is in second place in the polls at 21% behind the Christian Democratic Union projected most likely to win but elections are Dynamic voter turnout and shifts in public opinion significantly influen the results there's too much bureaucracy from boss Brussels uh too much control from sort of global Elite Tech billionaire Elon Musk speaking at an afd event last January AR supporting the idea of reforming the European Union the EU has been criticized for its burdensome regulatory environment there's almost like a race to see which politician publishes the most number of laws the most number of regulations and of legal limits they're always trying to present themselves as the solution Spanish Economist Daniel laay says the problem is immense with burdensome regulations greatly hampering Europe's economies we don't need all of these the bureaucrats that have actually who who have no clue what they're doing and um destroying our foundation in the European Union in a Bloomberg interview late last year vital said EU officials are unelected and make laws that harm economies she says the EU needs to be reformed so that every country has the right to veto the commission's proposals she also proposes transforming the EU into a free trade zone which would sign significantly reduce its regulatory structure meanwhile a new competition joins the trendy and growing Prebiotic soda Industries some may recognize the names ollipop and poppy as the current Kings of the segment alipop alone was recently valued at $1.85 billion that's after raising $50 million in its latest funding route and TD sha Marshall has more Coca-Cola is jumping into the rapidly grow in Prebiotic soda industry they're adding Prebiotic products to their simply brand of fruit juices and drinks prebiotics are a type of dietary fiber that feeds the good bacteria in the digestive system Poppy and Olli poop are the best known brands in the Prebiotic soda industry so far and have been pushing the trendy products for some time Coca-Cola's simply pop includes no added sugar in 25 to 30% real fruit juice from concentrate a first for the fast growing segment and and contains six gr of Prebiotic fiber triple poppies fiber content but less than Olli pops n g Becca Kerr cocacola CEO of nutrition says in a press release that the team took a disciplined consumer-driven approach throughout the products Journey from ideation to launch she said we found that consumers especially Wellness focused geners and Millennials were really interested in juice and Prebiotic sodas now that Coca-Cola the top selling soda brand in the US is a rival in the Prebiotic soda industry ollipop and Poppy will possibly be stepping up their marketing and distribution game poppy just had a Superbowl commercial and also caught some online backlash and a publicity stunt for sending influencers and tire vending machines full of their drink simply pop hits shelves later this month at retailers in select regions and online Nationwide via Amazon Fresh the brand will expand to additional markets Nationwide throughout 2025 Sean Marshall ND news and Texas could become a major hub for Taiwanese electronics companies major Investments are expected to be announced for the Lone Star State in May around president Trump's first 100 days in office the chairman for the Taiwan electrical and electronic manufacturers Association said a larger number of his companies will announc investment expansions in Texas chairman Richard Lee made the comments at an event in taipe but did not name any companies this comes as president Trump has criticized Taiwan for taking us semiconductor business and has threatened import tariffs Tesla is hiring signaling that the EV Market has set its designation for India the world's third largest auto market openings have been posted for about a dozen roles this it includes senior staff at back end customer facing roles for a Mumbai India's Financial Capital the post come less than a week after after CEO Elon Musk met with India's prime minister in Washington for years Tesla has planned to enter India's auto market mus as long criticized India for high import tariffs on EVs and has called to relax them but local automakers have pushed back over concerns that Tesla's entri could hit their EV plans Chinese AI model deep seek is facing heavy scrutiny for its potential to share user data with China South Korean Regulators told media today they have conf confirmed deep seek is communicating with chick tox parent company bite Dan Regulators said they have yet to confirm what data was transferred and to what extent this comes after a US data security firm raised concerns earlier this month about bite Dan code being used in deep seek the analysis says those codes could allow the software to track user Behavior collect device metadata and even allow remote control of the users's app last month the app topped app stores in the US UK and many other countries meanwhile concerns are growing over whether the Chinese Communist Party could exploit its stus stored in China since then many governments have banned the app from official devices two weeks ago us lawmakers introduced the bill to ban deep seek on all government devices calling the app quote a five alarm National Security fire Norway's Central Bank says it received 82 applications for the position of CEO of the country's vast Sovereign wealth fund the list includes the current CEO who last year said he would seek a new term and felt his job was not done yet applicants also include the former deputy Minister of Finance and the leader of Green Peace Norway a stand-up comedian several teenagers and some candidates with no current job are also on the list the applicant who selected will manage Norway's $1.8 trillion Sovereign wealth fund is the world's largest and is used to invest the proceeds of Norway state oil and gas revenues