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An exterior view of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) headquarters in Washington.

Jonathan Ernst | Reuters

The Securities and Exchange Commission released new guidance Thursday, requiring companies that issue securities to disclose to investors their exposure and risk to the cryptocurrency market.

The guidance comes about a month after FTX, one of the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchanges, filed for bankruptcy after loan customer funds to a risky trading company that was founded by FTX’s former CEO Sam Bankman-Fried. Over 100,000 customers were affected by the exchange’s failure.

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On Wednesday, SEC Chair Gary Gensler fended off accusations that the agency has failed to prevent crypto firms from misusing customer funds. Gensler also said the SEC would take more enforcement actions if the firms fail to comply with existing rules.

Under the new guidance, companies will have to include crypto asset holdings as well as their risk exposure to the FTX bankruptcy and other market developments in their public filings. The company’s bankruptcy filings indicate the company has over 1 million creditors.

The SEC’s Division of Corporation Finance developed a sample letter after a selective review of findings made under the Securities Act of 1933 and the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, which directs companies to disclose “such further material information, if any, as may be necessary to make the required statements, in light of the circumstances under which they are made, not misleading,” according to the guidance.

A suggested item within the letter asks the issuer to describe how company bankruptcies and subsequent effects “have impacted or may impact your business, financial condition, customers, and counterparties, either directly or indirectly.” Another asks for a description of “any material risk to you, either direct or indirect, due to excessive redemptions, withdrawals, or a suspension of redemptions or withdrawals, of crypto assets. Identify any material concentrations of risk and quantify any material exposures.”

The SEC’s corporate finance division encouraged companies to adopt these recommendations as they prepare documents “that may not typically be subject to review by the Division before their use.”

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Amazon’s cloud business giving federal agencies up to $1 billion in discounts

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Amazon's cloud business giving federal agencies up to  billion in discounts

Attendees walk through an exposition hall at AWS re:Invent, a conference hosted by Amazon Web Services, in Las Vegas on Dec. 3, 2024.

Noah Berger | Getty Images

Amazon Web Services has agreed to provide U.S. federal agencies with up to $1 billion in discounts for cloud adoption, modernization and training through 2028, an agency overseeing government procurement announced Thursday.

The agreement is expected to speed up migration to the cloud, as well as adoption of artificial intelligence tools, the General Services Administration said.

“AWS’s partnership with GSA demonstrates a shared public-private commitment to enhancing America’s AI leadership,” the agency said in a release.

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Amazon‘s cloud boss Matt Garman hailed the agreement as a “significant milestone in the large-scale digital transformation of government services.”

The discounts aggregated across federal agencies include credits to use AWS’ cloud infrastructure, modernization programs and training services, as well as incentives for “direct partnership.”

The GSA announced a similar deal last month with cloud rival Oracle. The agency also reached an agreement with OpenAI on Wednesday that will give federal agencies access to ChatGPT for $1 through the next year.

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Duolingo stock skyrockets 30% on boosted guidance as AI powers user growth

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Duolingo stock skyrockets 30% on boosted guidance as AI powers user growth

A Duolingo logo is seen on a smartphone.

Pavlo Gonchar | LightRocket | Getty Images

Duolingo shares skyrocketed more than 30% after the language learning platform boosted its guidance due to strong user growth driven by artificial intelligence.

The mobile learning platform hiked its full-year guidance to between $1.01 billion and $1.02 billion, up from a prior range of $987 million to $996 million. Duolingo also lifted its bookings guidance to between $1.15 billion and $1.16 billion.

“We exceeded our own high expectations for bookings and revenue this quarter, and did it while expanding profitability,” said co-founder and CEO Luis von Ahn in a release.

Daily active users jumped 40% to nearly 48 million from about 34 million in the year-ago period.

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In an effort to expand its course offerings and boost users, Duolingo has implemented AI tools, including a video-call conversation practice feature for some paying subscribers. The company has also expanded beyond language learning with new course such as chess.

Duolingo also announced the acquisition of London-based music gaming startup NextBeat for an undisclosed amount as it looks to broaden its app products.

The company’s CEO said Duolingo is still in the early stages of its growth trajectory.

Revenues jumped about 41% year over year to $252 million and beat a Wall Street estimate of $241 million. Net income grew 84% from a year ago to about $45 million, or 91 cents per share.

For the third quarter, Duolingo projects revenues between $257 million and $261 million, surpassing the $253 million forecast from Wall Street analysts.

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Democrats question Google’s Trump talks over censorship suit and possible ‘quid-pro-quo’ deal

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Democrats question Google's Trump talks over censorship suit and possible 'quid-pro-quo' deal

Ranking Member, U.S. Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) speaks during a Senate Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs Committee confirmation hearing on President Trump’s nominees to lead the National Economic Council, Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and Federal Housing Finance Agency, on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C., U.S., February 27, 2025.

Annabelle Gordon | Reuters

Senate Democrats, including Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts, are asking Google and its YouTube unit whether discussions with lawyers for President Donald Trump have included the possibility of settling a censorship suit in exchange for potentially favorable treatment from the administration.

In a letter sent Thursday to Google CEO Sundar Pichai and YouTube CEO Neal Mohan, the senators asked the executives about conversations with President Trump’s lawyers over an ongoing lawsuit that was filed by Trump more than four years ago, accusing the online video platform of unlawful censorship.

The lawsuit stemmed from the suspension of Trump’s accounts on social media sites after the January 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol. Trump filed suits against Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube later that year.

The senators highlighted reports of a court filing from May indicating that lawyers representing YouTube and President Trump were “engaged in productive discussions.” In that filing, the two parties asked the judge to delay a June court hearing until Sept. 8. 

“We are concerned about the possibility that Google could settle the lawsuit against YouTube in a quid-pro-quo arrangement to avoid full accountability for violating federal competition, consumer protection, and labor laws, circumstances that could result in the company running afoul of federal bribery laws,” the letter states.

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Twitter (now X) and Facebook (now Meta) settled lawsuits with Trump this year, for about $10 million and $25 million, respectively. Trump’s 2021 suit claimed unconstitutional censorship after his accounts were suspended. A judge dismissed the Twitter case in 2022, but Trump appealed.

Under the 1996 Communications Decency Act, social media platforms are allowed to moderate content on their platforms and exempt themselves from liability for the material that users post.

The senators noted in their letter that Google is a defendant in multiple unfair labor and antitrust lawsuits brought by the U.S. government. It also pointed to the company’s donation of $1 million to President Trump’s inaugural fund, and noted that Pichai attended the president’s inauguration and dined with him at Mar-a-Lago.

Google currently faces the potential of being broken into parts, after the company lost an antitrust case last year brought by the Department of Justice related to Google’s dominance in search.

The company argued that any kind of breakup could result in the U.S. ceding tech competition to China. The judge is expected to rule on the penalties this month. 

Google also has several open cases from the National Labor Relations Board, alleging unfair labor practices, the senators said.

“The company has substantial interests in almost every aspect of the federal government, from tax policy to energy and environmental policy, and much more,” they wrote. “Google stands to benefit from how the federal government proceeds in these matters, and Google may settle this lawsuit in the hopes of securing outcomes favorable to the company.”

Despite calls for answers, Democratic senators have limited ability to force action as Republicans control the White House and both houses of Congress.

Google didn’t immediately provide a comment.

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