Five hacker groups with ties to the Chinese government have been extracting data from Linux operating systems—used by most of the world’s web and cloud servers—for a decade, often going unnoticed, according to a new report from the firm. (CTV News)
The Cyberspace Administration of China slammed the internet search giant for not carrying out strict content reviews on some of its news-feed channels. In its lack of oversight, Baidu has “exerted bad influence to the society,” the internet regulator wrote on its WeChat account Wednesday. (Reuters)
The Japanese investment giant dropped the purchase last week, citing ongoing criminal and civil investigations into the co-working company. A two-member committee of The We Company’s board said the move breached contractual obligations. (Reuters)
The deal consists of US$875 million in stock, US$250 million in seller financing debt and US$75 million in cash. (CNBC)
China filed 58,990 international patent applications in 2019, edging out the U.S., which filed 57,840. The latter country had the most filings every year since the Patent Cooperation Treaty was established in 1978. (The Logic)
Judy Wade will be managing director, head of San Francisco and Adam Grosser is joining as a senior adviser. (The Logic)
The Chinese artificial intelligence firm increased revenue by 2.7 per cent in the second half of 2019, compared with a more than tripling of sales in the first half of the year. (Bloomberg)
Pierre Lavallée is leaving to “pursue other opportunities,” the Crown corporation announced in a Friday afternoon news release. Annie Ropar, chief financial and administrative officer, will take interim charge. Sabia, the former CEO of the Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec, will replace ex-RBC CFO Janice Fukakusa as board chair on April 15. (The Logic)
Sixty-two per cent of large-cap equity funds under the environmental, social and governance (ESG) banner beat the MSCI World index in March, which fell 14.5 per cent that month. (Financial Times)
The antitrust agency alleges tobacco giant Altria exited the e-cigarette market and agreed “not to compete in return for a substantial ownership interest in Juul”—35 per cent of the company, for which Altria paid US$12.8 billion in December 2018. The administrative trial is scheduled to begin on Jan. 5, 2021. Juul declined to comment to The Wall Street Journal. Altria general counsel said its investment “does not harm competition.” (The Logic, The Wall Street Journal)