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Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg testifies before the U.S. House Financial Services Committee during a hearing on Capitol Hill in Washington on Oct. 23, 2019.

Xinhua News Agency | Getty Images

Facebook users have less than one month left to apply for their share of a $725 million settlement over the social network’s privacy violations, part of the lengthy fallout from the Cambridge Analytica scandal that rocked the U.S. electoral process and Silicon Valley.

The settlement, signed in December 2022, was the largest class action settlement of its kind, according to Keller Rohrback, the law firm that brought the class action suit. It ended years of litigation over Facebook’s role in improper data sharing with a data consultancy firm used by Donald Trump’s 2016 presidential campaign.

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In all, the Cambridge Analytica scandal cost Meta, Facebook’s parent company, nearly $5.9 billion. Beyond the $725 million settlement, the company paid a record $5 billion settlement to the Federal Trade Commission, alongside a further $100 million to the Securities and Exchange Commission.

People who had an active U.S. Facebook account between May 2007 and December 2022 have until Aug. 25 to enter a claim. Individual settlement payments haven’t yet been established because payouts depend on how many users submit claims and how long each user maintained a Facebook account.

Facebook users can make a claim by visiting Facebookuserprivacysettlement.com and entering their name, address, email address, and confirming they lived in the U.S. and were active on Facebook between the aforementioned dates.

Facebook rebranded itself as Meta in 2021 and settled the class action suit a year later. In some ways, it’s a much different company than it was during the Cambridge Analytica scandal. The company has since expanded further into the metaverse with new hardware products such as the Quest 3, coming this fall. It’s also revealed its Llama 2 large language artificial intelligence model; Reels, to compete with TikTok; and, more recently, Threads, which is taking on Twitter.

The breach forced Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg to testify before Congress and to take out full-page ads where he apologized for the missteps. “I’m sorry we didn’t do more at the time. We’re now taking steps to ensure this doesn’t happen again,” Zuckerberg said.

The $725 million settlement was not an admission of wrongdoing.

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Samsung launches thin S25 Edge as Apple reportedly prepares the iPhone ‘Air’

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Samsung launches thin S25 Edge as Apple reportedly prepares the iPhone 'Air'

Samsung launched the Galaxy S25 Edge, a thinner version of its flagship smartphone.

Arjun Kharpal | CNBC

Samsung on Tuesday unveiled a thin version of its flagship smartphone in an unusually timed launch as it looks to maintain momentum in its mobile divison against an uncertain consumer backdrop and U.S. tariff policy.

The Samsung Galaxy S25 Edge is just 5.8 millimeters thin and weighs 163 grams, making it one of the thinnest smartphones on the market.

Samsung said the device starts at $1,099 and goes on sale on May 30.

The launch comes just under four months after Samsung staged its annual flagship phone launch for the S25 series. It is unusual for Samsung to launch a new high-end device this soon after the January event with the normal timeline generally being the middle of the year for the unveiling of its latest foldable phones.

The move highlights the South Korean tech giant’s desire to capitalize on the success of the S25 range as it faces rising competition from Chinese players and an uncertain macroeconomic environment.

Samsung reported last month that it saw a jump in revenue and profit in the first quarter of the year at its mobile division thanks to strong sales of its S25 series.

However, Daniel Araujo, vice president at Samsung’s mobile division, warned on an earnings call last month that smartphone demand is expected to decrease in the second quarter due to “seasonality trends” and forecasts could be “adjusted” further due to global tariff policy.

U.S. President Donald Trump’s “reciprocal” tariffs took effect in April though they were paused shortly after. The White House exempted certain tech products such as smartphones and chips, providing some reprieve for companies like Samsung and Apple. The U.S. and China meanwhile agreed on Monday to pause most of their tariffs on each party.

Araujo said that the S25 Edge could help “sustain flagship-centric sales,” underscoring why Samsung has decided to launch the phone now.

Apple reportedly working on thin iPhone

Thinner phones have become an obsession with smartphone makers who are hoping these devices will appeal to people who want the flagship experience without the size of a traditional device. Samsung’s S25 Edge has a 6.7-inch display, the same as the Galaxy S25+, but it is thinner and lighter.

The Samsung Galaxy S25 Edge on display during a briefing at the Samsung KX store in London, U.K.

Arjun Kharpal | CNBC

The phone also packs a dual camera system and Samsung’s latest AI features.

“For the second half of 2025 ‘thin is most definitely in’,” Ben Wood, chief analyst at CCS Insight, told CNBC.

“Samsung is first out the gate with a slim design, but Apple is expected to follow in September, and the burgeoning Chinese brands such as Honor and Xiaomi probably won’t be far behind.”

Samsung may be trying to get ahead of its closest rival Apple, which is gearing up to launch a thin version of its flagship device dubbed the iPhone 17 Air, according to a Bloomberg report this year.

“It is hard to believe this is not a pre-emptive strike following the widespread speculation that Apple will have a thin iPhone in its next line-up,” Wood added.

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Coinbase joining S&P 500 days after bitcoin soared past $100,000

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Coinbase joining S&P 500 days after bitcoin soared past 0,000

Brian Armstrong, CEO of Coinbase, speaking on CNBC’s Squawk Box outside the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland on Jan. 21st, 2025.

Gerry Miller | CNBC

Coinbase is joining the S&P 500, replacing Discover Financial Services in the benchmark index, according to a release on Monday. Shares of the crypto exchange jumped 8% in extended trading.

The change will take effect before trading on May 19. Discover is in the process of being acquired by Capital One Financial.

Since going public through a direct listing in 2021, Coinbase has become a bigger part of the U.S. financial system, with bitcoin soaring in value and large institutions gaining regulatory approval to create spot bitcoin exchange-traded funds.

Bitcoin spiked last week, topping $100,000 and nearing its record price reached in January.

However, Coinbase has been a particularly volatile stock and is trading well below its peak from late 2021. The shares closed on Monday at $207.22, giving the company a market cap of $53 billion. At its high, the stock traded at over $357.

Stocks added to the S&P 500 often rise in value because funds that track the S&P 500 will add it to their portfolios.

The index, which is heavily weighted towards tech because of the massive market caps of the industry’s heavyweights, continues to add companies from across the sector. In September, Dell and defense software provider Palantir were added to the S&P 500, following artificial intelligence server maker Super Micro Computer and security software vendor CrowdStrike earlier last year.

To join the S&P 500, a company must have reported a profit in its latest quarter and have cumulative profit over the four most recent quarters.

Coinbase last week reported net income of $65.6 million, or 24 cents a share, down from $1.18 billion, or $4.40 a share a year earlier, after accounting for the fair value of its crypto investments. Revenue rose 24% to $2.03 billion from $1.64 billion a year ago.

Also last week, Coinbase announced plans to buy Dubai-based Deribit, a major crypto derivatives exchange for $2.9 billion. The deal, which is the largest in the crypto industry to date, will help Coinbase broaden its footprint outside the U.S.

Coinbase shares are down 17% this year, underperforming bitcoin, which is now up about 10% over that stretch.

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Perplexity AI wrapping talks to raise $500 million at $14 billion valuation

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Perplexity AI wrapping talks to raise 0 million at  billion valuation

Dado Ruvic | Reuters

Perplexity AI is in late-stage talks to raise $500 million at a $14 billion valuation, a source familiar with the situation confirmed to CNBC Monday.

Accel, the Palo Alto-based venture capital firm, will lead the round, according to the source, who spoke anonymously because the round is not yet finalized. The Wall Street Journal first reported on the late-stage numbers.

The funding is on the lower end of Perplexity’s planned raise, which CNBC reported in March. During those early-stage talks, Perplexity was looking to raise between $500 million and $1 billion in funding at an $18 billion post-money valuation, per a source familiar.

The artificial intelligence search engine company competes against the likes of Google and Microsoft-backed OpenAI. Its valuation in December was $9 billion, triple its $3 billion valuation in June 2024.

Read more CNBC reporting on AI

Perplexity has just under $100 million in annual recurring revenue, or ARR, the source told CNBC in March.

Perplexity has been in the middle of the generative AI boom that began in late 2022 with the launch of OpenAI’s ChatGPT, and it’s betting big on its upcoming AI agent web browser, called Comet. But Perplexity faces increasing competition in the AI search market.

In March, Anthropic launched its web search product, allowing its chatbot Claude to display real-time search results to a subset of users.

Last fall, OpenAI launched a search feature within ChatGPT, its viral chatbot, that positioned it to better compete with Perplexity, as well as leading search engines such as Google and Microsoft‘s Bing.

Google has released AI Overviews within its search product as well, though it sparked controversy over high-profile errors soon after its release.

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