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Policy advocates who have been pushing for new legislation reining in Big Tech’s power have seen their hopes lifted and shattered several times throughout the past few months.

Last week marked one of the brighter notes for those supporting the push for new antitrust laws, when the House passed a package of bills giving enforcers more resources to go after anti-competitive mergers and giving state attorneys general more power over in which courts they can bring antitrust lawsuits.

While the legislation that passed 242-184 is less ambitious in scope than some of the more sweeping proposals making their way through both chambers of Congress, it is cause for hope, according to a new memo from the Tech Oversight Project, a nonprofit that advocates for antitrust reform.

“Big Tech never loses a legislative fight – and they just did,” Executive Director Sacha Haworth said in a memo to allies Thursday that was shared exclusively with CNBC. Recipients included Democratic offices on Capitol Hill, think tanks and a coalition of advocacy organizations, according to the group.

The Tech Oversight Project receives funding, as The Washington Post has reported, from the Omidyar Network, created by regulation advocate and eBay founder Pierre Omidyar, and from the advocacy arm of the Economic Security Project, a nonprofit led by Facebook co-founder Chris Hughes who has called for his former company’s break up.

Haworth, a Democratic political campaign veteran, makes the case that the decisive passage of the legislation last week shows there is still a chance for two other key bills to pass in the lame-duck session later this year. Those bills are the American Innovation and Choice Online Act (AICO) and the Open App Markets Act (OAMA), which would essentially bar large platforms like Amazon, Apple and Google from favoring their own products over rivals that rely on their marketplaces (the latter bill is focused squarely on mobile app stores).

Earlier this summer, antitrust reform advocates looked to the lame duck only as a Hail Mary, since many felt there was still a chance to schedule a vote before the August recess, an informal marker of when midterm electioneering gets into full swing, making it harder to pass new laws. But as the legislative days ticked away, it became clear advocates would need to refocus their sights on the weeks following the midterms.

According to Haworth, last week’s vote provided some reason for optimism.

She notes House Democrats who voted against the package were not among those in the top 20% most competitive districts in the country, based on data from the Cook Political Report. That runs counter to speculation that congressional leaders may be hesitant to schedule a vote on AICO and OAMA to spare Democrats in competitive races from having to vote on an issue that could be used against them.

Haworth goes as far as to say, “if this voting pattern holds, AICO and OAMA will breeze past both chambers with ease.”

She contends Rep. Ken Buck, R-Colo., the key Republican champion of tech antitrust reform in the House, delivered on his promise of “a tidal wave of Republican votes,” despite opposition from other prominent party members like House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., and Judiciary Committee Ranking Member Jim Jordan, R-Ohio.

“Despite attempts by Big Tech to discredit Grassley and Buck’s efforts, they proved their hypothesis right: If brought to the full floor, a significant portion of Republicans would cross over to join Democrats in holding Big Tech accountable,” Haworth wrote, referring to Senate Judiciary Committee Ranking Member Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, who has championed the bills in that chamber.

Haworth wrote that the contradictory reasons given by Jordan and Rep. Zoe Lofgren, D-Calif., to oppose antitrust reform should prove that “their argument is a red herring meant to muddy the waters.” While Jordan contended the bills on the table would help platforms censor information, Lofgren argued it would do the opposite, making it harder for them to moderate content.

“Democrats have been pretty open about the fact that they want these bills because they believe it will help them censor conservatives,” Jordan spokesperson Russell Dye said in a statement. A spokesperson for Lofgren did not immediately provide a comment.

Adam Kovacevich, CEO of the tech-funded left-of-center advocacy group Chamber of Progress similarly pushed back on Haworth’s critique.

“Our polling this week makes it obvious that voters’ top priority on tech policy is content moderation, an issue which AICOA and the Open Apps Market Act make worse,” he said in a statement. The bills’ Democratic sponsors have said they would not weaken content moderation. “More than a dozen Democrats have raised serious concerns that these bills would stop platforms from taking down harmful content, and that issue still hasn’t been resolved.”

Finally, the memo contends that lame-duck legislation is becoming more common, citing a Pew Research Center article from last year that found a significant percentage of legislation passed in recent years has been in the lame-duck period. In the 116th Congress spanning from 2019 to 2020, for example, nearly 44% of bills passed did so in the lame duck.

“Big Tech and their allies will continue to push the narrative that bipartisan antitrust reform is dead,” Haworth wrote. “Not so fast. While anti-Big Tech advocates remain clear-eyed about the task at hand, the outcome is not set in stone.”

Read the full letter from The Tech Oversight Project below:

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World’s largest chipmaker TSMC says it has discovered potential trade secret leaks

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World's largest chipmaker TSMC says it has discovered potential trade secret leaks

TSMC workers walk down a hallway in a chipmaking fab in Taiwan. The company is building three such plants in Arizona.

TSMC

Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. said on Tuesday that it had detected “unauthorized activities” that lead to the discovery of potential trade secret leaks.

The world’s biggest semiconductor manufacturer told CNBC that it has taken “strict” disciplinary action against the personnel involved and that it has also launched legal proceedings.

“TSMC maintains a zero-tolerance policy toward any actions that compromise the protection of trade secrets or harm the company’s interests,” the company said.

“Such violations are dealt with strictly and pursued to the fullest extent of the law. We remain committed to safeguarding our core competitiveness and the shared interests of all our employees.”

Semiconductors have grown in strategic importance in recent years as they have become the key pillar in the boom in artificial intelligence models and applications. Rising geopolitical tensions has put the spotlight on the competitive technological advantages of major firms in the chip supply chain like TSMC and other leaders across the board.

TSMC, headquartered in Taiwan, dominates the market for the manufacturing of the world’s most advanced chips and counts major tech giants including Apple and Nvidia as clients.

As the case is now under judicial review, TSMC is unable to provide further information, the firm said.

TSMC identified the issue early due to its “comprehensive and robust monitoring mechanisms,” the company said, adding that it carried out swift internal investigations.

Nikkei Asia, citing multiple sources familiar with the matter, reported on Tuesday that several former employees of TSMC are suspected of attempting to obtain critical proprietary information on 2-nanometer chip development and production while they were still working at the company.

Production of the 2-nanometer chip is among the leading edge manufacturing processes in the semiconductor industry currently. TSMC said it did not have any additional information to share when asked by CNBC about the Nikkei report.

As the world’s leading chipmaker, TSMC has a treasure trove of intellectual property. By its own account, the company has previously said it has more than 200,000 trade secrets recorded in its internal system.

It is not the first time that TSMC has been the target for potential theft. In 2018, a Taiwanese court indicted a former employee for copying trade secretes related to the 28-nanometer fabrication process, with intent to transfer them to a semiconductor company in mainland China.

In 2023, ASML, which makes machines that are required to manufacture the most advanced chips, said that it discovered that a former employee in China had misappropriated data related to its proprietary technology.

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Hims & Hers stock falls 10% on revenue miss

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Hims & Hers stock falls 10% on revenue miss

The Hers app arranged on a smartphone in New York, US, on Wednesday, Feb. 12, 2025. 

Gabby Jones | Bloomberg | Getty Images

Shares of Hims & Hers Health fell 9% in extended trading on Monday after the telehealth company reported second-quarter results that missed Wall Street’s expectations for revenue.

Here’s how the company did based on average analysts’ estimates compiled by LSEG:

  • Earnings per share: 17 cents adjusted vs. 15 cents
  • Revenue: $544.8 million vs. $552 million

Revenue at Hims & Hers increased 73% in the second quarter from $315.6 million during the same period last year, according to a release. Hims & Hers reported a net income of $42.5 million, or 17 cents per share, compared to $13.3 million, or 6 cents per share, during the same period a year earlier.

For its third quarter, Hims & Hers said it expected to report revenue between $570 million to $590 million, while analysts were expecting $583 million. The company said its adjusted EBITDA for the quarter will be between the range of $60 million to $70 million. Analysts polled by StreetAccount were expecting $77.1 million.

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Hims & Hers has faced controversy in recent months over its continued sale of compounded GLP-1s, which are cheaper, unapproved versions of the blockbuster diabetes and weight loss drugs. Compounded drugs can be mass produced when brand-name treatments are in shortage, but the U.S. Food and Drug Administration announced in February that ongoing supply issues had been resolved.

Some telehealth companies, including Hims & Hers, have continued to offer the compounded medications. It’s legal for patients to access personalized doses of the knockoffs in unique cases, like if they are allergic to an ingredient in a branded product, for instance. Hims & Hers has said consumers may still be able to access personalized doses through its site if clinically applicable. 

In June, Hims & Hers shares tumbled more than 30% after a short-lived collaboration with Novo Nordisk fell apart. The drugmaker said Hims & Hers “failed to adhere to the law which prohibits mass sales of compounded drugs” under the “false guise” of personalization.

Hims & Hers reported adjusted EBITDA of $82 million for its second quarter, up from $39.3 million last year and above the $73 million expected by StreetAccount.

Hims & Hers will host its quarterly call with investors at 5 p.m. ET.

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YTD chart of Hims & Hers Health.

–CNBC’s Annika Kim Constantino contributed to this report

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Palantir tops $1 billion in revenue for the first time, boosts guidance

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Palantir tops  billion in revenue for the first time, boosts guidance

Palantir reports $1 billion in revenue for the first time

Palantir topped Wall Street’s estimates Monday, surpassing $1 billion in quarterly revenue for the first time, and hiking its full-year guidance.

Shares rallied more than 5%.

Here’s how the company did versus LSEG estimates:

  • Earnings per share: 16 cents adj. vs. 14 cents expected
  • Revenue: $1.00 billion vs. $940 million expected

The artificial intelligence software provider’s revenues grew 48% during the period. Analysts hadn’t expected the $1 billion revenue benchmark from the Denver-based company until the fourth quarter of this year.

“The growth rate of our business has accelerated radically, after years of investment on our part and derision by some,” wrote CEO Alex Karp in a letter to shareholders. “The skeptics are admittedly fewer now, having been defanged and bent into a kind of submission.”

The software analytics company also boosted its full-year outlook guidance. For the full year, Palantir now expects revenues to range between $4.142 billion and $4.150 billion, up from prior guidance of $3.89 billion to $3.90 billion.

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For the third quarter, Palantir forecast revenues between $1.083 billion and $1.087 billion, beating an analyst estimate of $983 million. Palantir also lifted its operating income and full-year free cash flow guidance.

Palantir’s U.S. revenues jumped 68% from a year ago to $733 million, while U.S. commercial revenues nearly doubled from a year ago to $306 million.

The software analytics company has seen a boost from President Donald Trump‘s government efficiency campaign, which included layoffs and contract cuts. Palantir’s U.S. government revenues jumped 53% from the year-ago period to $426 million.

“It has been a steep and upward climb — an ascent that is a reflection of the remarkable confluence of the arrival of language models, the chips necessary to power them, and our software infrastructure,” Karp wrote in a letter to shareholders.

During the quarter, Palantir said it closed 66 deals of at least $5 million and 42 deals totaling at least $10 million. Total value of its contracts grew 140% from last year to $2.27 billion.

Net income rose 144% to about $326.7 million, or 13 cents a share, from about $134.1 million, or 6 cents per share a year ago.

Palantir shares have more than doubled this year as investors bet on the company’s AI tools and contract agreements with governments.

Its market value has accelerated past $379 billion and into the list of top 20 most valuable U.S companies, surpassing SalesforceIBM and Cisco to join the top 10 U.S. tech companies by market cap. Shares hit a new high Monday.

At its size, buying the stock requires investors to pay hefty multiples.

Shares currently trade 276 times forward earnings, according to FactSet. Tesla is the only other top 20 with a triple-digit ratio at 177.

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Palantir one-day stock chart.

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