The European Union is seeking information from social media platform X about cuts to its content moderation resources as part of its first major investigation into the company under its tough new laws governing online content.

The European Commission, the EU executive arm, said in a statement Wednesday that it’s requested information from X under the Digital Services Act, its groundbreaking tech law which requires online platforms to take a far stricter approach to policing illegal and harmful content on their platforms.

The Commission said it was concerned about X’s transparency report submitted to the regulator in March 2024, which showed it had cut its team of content moderators by nearly 20% compared to the number of moderators it reported in an early October 2023 transparency report.

X reduced linguistic coverage within the EU from 11 languages to seven, the Commission said, again citing X’s transparency report.

The Commission said it’s seeking further details from X on risk assessments and mitigation measures linked to the impact of generative artificial intelligence on electoral processes, dissemination of illegal material, and protection of fundamental rights.

X, which was formerly known as Twitter, was not immediately available for comment when contacted by CNBC.

X must provide information requested by the EU on its content moderation resources and generative AI requested by May 17, the Commission said. Remaining answers to questions from the Commission must be provided no later than May 27, the agency said.

The Commission said its request for information was a further step in a formal probe into breaches of the EU’s recently introduced Digital Services Act.

The Commission initiated formal infringement proceedings against X in December last year after concerns were raised over its approach to tackling illegal content surrounding the Israel-Hamas war.

The Commission at the time said its investigation would focus on X’s compliance with its duties to counter the dissemination of illegal content in the EU, the effectiveness of the social media platform’s steps to combat information manipulation and its measures to increase transparency.

EU officials said the requests for information aim to build on evidence gathered so far in relation to its DSA investigation into X. That evidence includes X’s March transparency report, as well as replies to previous requests for information addressing what X is doing to tackle disinformation risks linked to generative AI risks.

The DSA, which only came into effect in November 2022, requires large online platforms such as X to mitigate the risk of disinformation and institute rigorous procedures to remove hate speech, while balancing this with freedom-of-expression concerns.

Companies found to have breached the rules face fines as high as 6% of their global annual revenues.

Shopify reported first-quarter earnings and sales on Wednesday that were ahead of Wall Street expectations, but it gave a downbeat forecast for the current quarter.

Shares of Shopify dropped 19% in early trading.

Here’s how the company did for the quarter, compared with consensus expectations from LSEG:

• Earnings per share: 20 cents adjusted vs. 17 cents expected
• Revenue: $1.86 billion vs. $1.85 billion expected

Gross margins for the second quarter are expected to decrease by about 50 basis points compared with the first quarter, as a result of the sale of Shopify’s logistics business to freight forwarder Flexport last May.

Shopify said it expects second-quarter revenue to grow at a high-teens percentage rate year over year, a slowdown from the previous period. The company has posted year-over-year revenue growth in the low-to-mid twenties for the past six quarters. Second-quarter revenue would grow in the “low-to-mid-twenties” year-over-year when adjusting for the divestiture of the logistics business, Shopify said.

The company reported a net loss of $273 million, or 21 cents a share, compared with a profit of 68 million, or 5 cents a share, during the year-ago quarter.

Shopify, which makes tools for companies to sell products online, said gross merchandise volume, or the total volume of merchandise sold on the platform, increased 23% to $60.9 billion. That surpassed consensus expectations of $59.5 billion, according to StreetAccount.

Uber reported first-quarter results on Wednesday that came in slightly above analysts’ estimates for revenue, but the ridesharing company posted an unexpected net loss.

Shares fell more than 6% in premarket trading Wednesday.

Here’s how the company did:

• Loss per share: 32 cents. That may not compare with the 23 cent earnings expected by LSEG
• Revenue: $10.13 billion vs. $10.11 billion expected by LSEG

Uber’s revenue grew 15% in its first quarter from $8.82 billion a year prior. The company reported $37.65 billion in gross bookings for the period, which is short of the $37.93 billion expected by analysts, according to StreetAccount.

The company’s net loss widened to $654 million, or a 32 cent loss per share, from a loss of $157 million, or an 8 cent loss per share, in the same quarter last year. Uber said its net loss includes a $721 million net headwind from unrealized losses related to the reevaluation of its equity investments.

In an interview with CNBC’s “Squawk Box” on Wednesday, Uber CEO Dara Khosrowshahi said the company’s move to a loss had “nothing to do with the operating business.”

“We did have to mark down those equity stakes that resulted in a loss,” he said. “We don’t expect that to keep happening going forward.”

However, Uber cannot predict the markets, Khosrowshahi added.

Uber reported adjusted EBITDA of $1.38 billion, up 82% year over year and slightly above the $1.31 billion expected by analysts polled by StreetAccount.

For its second quarter, Uber said it expects to report gross bookings between $38.75 billion and $40.25 billion, compared with StreetAccount estimates of $40 billion. Uber anticipates adjusted EBITDA of $1.45 billion to $1.53 billion, compared with the $1.49 billion expected by analysts.

The number of Uber’s monthly active platform consumers reached 149 million in its first quarter, up 15% year over year from 130 million. There were 2.6 billion trips completed on the platform during the period, up 21% year over year.

“Demand for Uber remains robust across our platform, supported by our improving marketplace experience, the continued shift of consumer spending from goods to services, and the secular trend towards on-demand transportation and delivery,” Khosrowshahi said in prepared remarks Wednesday.

Here’s how Uber’s largest business segments performed:

Mobility (gross bookings): $18.67 billion, up 25% year over year.

Delivery (gross bookings): $17.7 billion, up 18% year over year.

Uber’s mobility segment reported $5.63 billion in revenue, up 30% from the year earlier and 2% quarter over quarter. StreetAccount analysts were expecting $5.52 billion. Uber said “business model changes” negatively impacted its mobility revenue margin by 180 basis points during the period.

“To drive user growth and win more of their daily trips, we are focused on increasing our penetration of core use cases, while also expanding into new consumer segments,” Khosrowshahi said in his prepared remarks.

The company’s delivery segment reported $3.21 billion in revenue, up 4% from the year prior and 3% quarter over quarter. Analysts were expecting $3.28 billion, according to StreetAccount. Uber said its delivery revenue margin was negatively impacted by 230 basis points due to “business model changes” in the first quarter.  

The company’s freight business booked $1.28 billion in sales for the quarter, a decrease of 8% year over year and flat quarter over quarter.

Uber will hold its quarterly call with investors at 8:00 a.m. ET.