Tag Archives: rival

DoorDash Proposes Acquisition of UK Rival Deliveroo for $3.6 Billion

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Doordash has proposed acquiring UK rival Deliveroo for $3.6 billion (£2.7 billion), as announced by Deliveroo on Friday.

In a statement to the Guardian, Deliveroo mentioned that its board is discussing the offer with Doordash, but no formal proposal has yet been made. They noted that if shares are valued at £1.80 ($2.40), it may be a challenge to recommend such an offer to shareholders.

“We cannot confirm that Doordash’s offer to Deliveroo will materialize. At this point, shareholders are advised to refrain from taking any action concerning potential offers,” stated the company.

The proposal from Doordash is valid until May 23rd. Reuters.

Doordash is currently the leading food delivery app in the United States, boasting 42 million active users monthly in 2024 and generating $10.7 billion in revenue that same year. Founded in 2012 in San Francisco, it operates in over 25 countries.

In 2021, Doordash acquired the Finnish delivery service Wolt for 7 billion euros, equivalent to approximately $8.1 billion at the time.

Deliveroo, based in London and founded in 2013, ranks as the second largest food delivery app in the UK. In 2024, it reported an average of 7.1 million active users and earnings of £2.07 billion, as mentioned in a statement.

Both companies have expanded into grocery delivery in recent years and are exploring ways to grow their user base beyond food delivery.

In a February interview with Fortune, Doordash CEO Tony Xu described the company’s presence as feeling like a “spot of dust.”

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“We are actively addressing challenges related to first-party delivery and first-party ordering,” Xu stated. “To establish yourself as a digital powerhouse, you must go beyond these fundamentals.”

Source: www.theguardian.com

Amazon launches satellite to rival Musk’s Starlink in the US

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The rocket carrying the initial batch of Amazon satellites, set to rival Elon Musk’s Starlink, faced weather-related delays on Wednesday, causing a setback in the Project Kuiper network.

The United Launch Alliance (ULA), a partnership between Boeing and Lockheed Martin, cited challenging weather conditions like cumulus clouds and strong winds that made it unsafe for liftoff at the scheduled time of 7pm (2300 GMT) from Cape Canaveral, Florida.

ULA emphasized the dangers of cumulus clouds for rocket launches due to the potential for lightning strikes.

Live video footage showed the Atlas V Rocket releasing steam as it waited to launch 27 Project Kuiper satellites.

Similar to Starlink, Project Kuiper aims to provide internet access to remote areas, including regions affected by disasters or conflicts.

These satellites, once in orbit, will form the backbone of Project Kuiper, which Amazon plans to expand with over 3,200 satellites.

Amazon, led by Jeff Bezos, intends to launch its internet service later this year, promising competitive pricing in line with its reputation as a cost-effective retailer.

This launch puts Amazon in direct competition with SpaceX’s Starlink and other satellite internet providers.

SpaceX, owned by Elon Musk, launched its initial batch of over 6,750 operational Starlink satellites in 2019, establishing itself as a major player in the industry with millions of customers globally.

Unlike traditional internet services that rely on satellites stationed 35,000 km above Earth, Musk and Bezos opt for low Earth orbits between 550-1,300 km for faster data transmission to unserved areas.

Amazon notes the challenges of traditional connectivity in remote regions, making satellite-based solutions more attractive.

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While low Earth orbits enhance data transmission speed, the coverage area is limited, necessitating more satellites for global reach.

Amazon sees this as a lucrative opportunity to compete against established players in the satellite internet market.

The company plans to ramp up satellite launches in collaboration with ULA, Blue Origin (Bezos’ space venture), and even SpaceX, with over 80 flights ordered.

As more satellites are deployed in low Earth orbits, competition in the sector intensifies, with players like OneWeb, Guwan, and Starlink vying for market share.

Concerns about satellite congestion and collisions raise questions about the impact of commercial satellite ventures on space activities and astronomy.

The involvement of private entities in space operations also sparks political debates, especially given Musk’s advisory role in the Trump administration.

Source: www.theguardian.com

BYD, a Chinese EV manufacturer, claims their new rapid charging system could rival the speed of filling up a gas tank

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BYD, a Chinese electric vehicle (EV) maker, has announced plans to construct a charging network across China. This network aims to enable EVs to charge as quickly as refilling with gasoline.

Founder Wang Chuanfu revealed the “supere platform” at a home event in Shenzhen on Monday. This platform will support a peak charging speed of 1,000 kW, allowing cars to travel 400 km on a five-minute charge.

BYD’s 1,000 kW charging speed is double that of Tesla superchargers, offering faster charging speeds than before in the industry. Fast charging technology is crucial for increasing EV adoption.

Tesla, already struggling, saw its shares drop 15% on March 10, prompting concerns for owner Elon Musk. The company faces challenges in meeting sales targets and producing self-driving cars, with increasing competition from more affordable EV models from Chinese companies like BYD.

Tesla stocks dropped 4.8% on Wall Street, marking an eighth consecutive weekly decline. Baron.

Wang emphasized the goal of reducing EV charging times to match gasoline vehicle refueling times. The new charging architecture will debut with the Han L Sedan and Tang L SUV, priced from 270,000 yuan ($37,330).

BYD plans to build over 4,000 ultra-fast charging stations to support the new platform, but no specific timeline for construction was provided. Previously, BYD owners relied on public charging poles from other manufacturers or third-party operators.

While Tesla has been offering superchargers in China since 2014, other Chinese EV companies like NIO, Li Auto, Xpeng, and Zeekr have also established charging facilities.

BYD’s sales primarily come from plug-in hybrids, with aims to sell 5-6 million units this year.

Reuters and

Source: www.theguardian.com

Amazon Introduces Affordable Online Storefront to Rival Temu’s Pricing

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Amazon has introduced a budget-friendly online store featuring electronics, clothing, and other items priced under $20 to compete with discount retailers encroaching on its market.

The company announced the launch of Amazon Haul, a storefront primarily showcasing items under $10 with free delivery on orders over $25. Orders will be shipped to U.S. customers from Amazon warehouses in China, with delivery expected within one to two weeks.

Many products on Amazon Haul resemble those found on Chinese e-commerce platforms Shein and Temu, which have gained popularity in recent years.

Shein targets young women with affordable apparel, while Temu offers a variety of products for bargain hunters.

Both Shein and Temu have faced criticism for their fast-fashion business models and are under scrutiny from regulators for various issues.

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Amazon’s new storefront on its shopping app and mobile website offers unbranded items like phone cases and hairbrushes for $2.99, and sleeveless dresses for $14.99, emphasizing “incredibly low prices” and “budget-friendly activewear.”

Vice President of Worldwide Sales Partners, Dharmesh Mehta, stated, “Finding great products at extremely low prices is important to our customers, and we continue to work with our partners to offer products at affordable prices.”

Importing goods from China could become costlier for Amazon due to new regulations targeting cheap Chinese products which aim to reduce U.S. reliance on China and might lead to price increases for U.S. consumers.

President-elect Donald Trump has also suggested imposing tariffs on Chinese products.

Source: www.theguardian.com

Mastodon Founder Champions Thread Federation, Recommends X Rival as “a More Appealing Choice”

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Mastodon founder Eugen Roszko praised Threads’ entry into the decentralized social media space, saying: say the movement I plan to make mastodon — Open source Twitter/X rival — “It’s a much more attractive option.” Mastodon’s app, powered by decentralized social networking protocol ActivityPub, has gained more attention in the wake of Elon Musk’s acquisition of Twitter. Ta. The network has since been renamed X, reflecting Musk’s ambitions to turn the microblogging platform into an all-encompassing app for creators. , payments, video, live audio, shopping.

People dissatisfied with Twitter’s changes are seeking challengers from other platforms, including the open source alternative Mastodon, and other startups such as Spill, Spoutible, Post, and Bluesky. However, things have changed again with Instagram’s entry into the “Twitter clone” field. There are now Twitter alternatives backed by Meta’s vast resources, which helped him grow his monthly active users to nearly 100 million in just three months.Today’s Mastodon Only 1.5 million monthly activesfor comparison.

More importantly for Mastodon, Meta has promised to integrate Threads and ActivityPub. This means users can find and follow both Mastodon users and Threads users across both services. Many expected that the integration wouldn’t happen until early 2024, but Meta surprised everyone yesterday by announcing that he would begin testing the ActivityPub integration.

“Making threads interoperable gives people more choice in how they interact and allows content to reach more people. I’m pretty optimistic about this.” Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg said: In a post on the thread.

Zuckerberg did not explain how the integration would work, but Roshko cleared up the confusion in a post on Mastodon, explaining that a federation (a thread connecting to a broader group of servers running decentralized social apps) “It’s one way at the moment,” he said. ” That means Mastodon users can follow a “selected few” threads on her profile. Like Adam Mosseri, Head of Instagram — In Mastodon, however, the reverse is still not true.

Threaded users’ profiles on Mastodon were not backfilled with old posts before the integration began. Instead, your profile will display posts from this point on, but with the message “Old posts from other servers are not displayed.” Clicking on the “See more of the original profile” link will take the user to the thread instead.

Rochko is generally positive about getting tech giants to embrace ActivityPub and decentralized social media. said before“The fact that large platforms are adopting ActivityPub not only validates the movement towards decentralized social media, but also provides a path forward for people locked into these platforms to switch to better providers. There is also.”

The Mastodon founder also said that the entry of the meta “Status of “acceptance, extension, extinguishment” The ActivityPub protocol is a reference to how large companies can enter the market using an existing standard and extend that standard with unique features to beat the competition.

“…even if Threads ultimately abandons ActivityPub, where we end up is exactly where we are now,” Rochko pointed out. Blog posts this summer.

Image credits: Mastodon Eugen Roshko

As the merger gets underway, Rochko touted the move as “exciting” and “a huge deal for Mastodon.” Posts on the platform This is “a step towards the interoperable social web that we have been advocating for.”

In addition, he points out Having access to all thread users from your Mastodon account means the app becomes even more appealing when you consider other perks.

The same claim has been made by Mammoth, a third-party client of Mastodon that is backed by Mozilla. Mammoth believes its app offers a viable alternative to Threads with a competitive user interface that is more approachable for newcomers to decentralized social media. This includes users who do not want to create an account on Meta. While Threads distances itself from news, saying it doesn’t “amplify” news on its platform, Mammoth is open to news partnerships and curation, which could lead to people switching from Twitter/X to other apps. I hope that it will appeal to people.

With Threads integrated into the Mastodon ecosystem, users have more options for how they want to engage with Threads users and content, including accessing their accounts from their apps of choice.

Source: techcrunch.com

Chinese tech giants vie for $340 million investment in rival to OpenAI

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It is becoming increasingly clear that two parallel AI universes are forming between the United States and China. While the US has produced notable players such as her OpenAI and Anthropic, China has its own emerging candidates. One of these basic model developers, Zhipu AI, announced Today, the company announced that it has raised a total of 2.5 billion yuan ($340 million) so far this year.

Established in 2019, Chipu was Spun out from China’s prestigious Tsinghua University and is led by Tang and Jieprofessor in the university’s Department of Computer Science and Technology.

This announcement came at a sensitive time. This week, the Biden administration imposed additional restrictions on Nvidia AI chip exports to China, further hampering rivals’ ability to train large-scale language models. In anticipation of Washington’s semiconductor ban, China’s deep-pocketed AI companies are stockpiling semiconductors, spending hundreds of millions of dollars on these coveted chips.

To stay in this expensive AI race, Zhipu is keeping itself well-funded by raising money from local investors. The $340 million investment was made from a renminbi-denominated fund, marking a shift from a two-decade trend in which US dollar funds were the preferred funding source until geopolitical tensions created a technology gap.

In August, President Joe Biden signed the agreement. presidential order Excludes U.S. investments in key Chinese technology areas including AI, semiconductors, and quantum computing. Although aimed at curbing China’s military buildup, the order also had a negative impact on China-focused U.S. venture capital, which currently avoids investing in sensitive areas. Some companies, such as Sequoia Capital China and GGV Capital, which were renamed Hongshan, are looking for solutions to continue operating in the market by spinning off their China divisions.

HonShan invested in Zhipu along with other prominent VCs such as Shunwei Capital and Hillhouse Capital, as well as state funds managed by Legend Capital.

The AI ​​startup has also raised funding from an impressive roster of Chinese internet giants, bringing together even its biggest rivals like Alibaba and Tencent, which rarely co-invest. The lineup includes Ant Group, Alibaba, Tencent, Xiaomi, Meituan, Kingsoft, TAL Education Group, and Boss Zhipin.

Zhipu recently open sourced a bilingual (Chinese and English) conversational AI model. Chat GLM-6Bhas been trained with 6 billion parameters and claims to be able to: Run inference on a single consumer graphics card. We also have an open source foundational model, GLM-130B, trained with 130 billion parameters.

Source: techcrunch.com