Top Financial Media Stories Thursday, September 22: Facebook Sued For Bypassing Apple Privacy Rules, Walmart Slows Hiring Plans Ahead Of Holiday Season, China Blames US For Northwestern Polytechnical University Hack And More..

Reuters

CATL's 3rd Largest Customer After Tesla, Nio Cuts Reliance On Battery Giant In Bid For Diversification

• XPeng Inc XPEV has diversified its battery suppliers and does not count industry giant CATL as its primary supplier, said Brian Gu, President of the Chinese electric car maker.
• As per Chinese consulting firm Gaogong Industry Institute, XPeng was CATL's third-largest client after Tesla Inc TSLA and NIO Inc NIO in terms of battery volumes installed in 2021.

Renault Claims To Accomplish EV Goals Well In Advance

• Renault SA RNLSY aims to own an 80% integrated electric vehicle (EV) chain before its initial date of 2030.
• Collaboration remained a key aspect regarding thermal engine vehicles.
• Recently, Qualcomm Inc QCOM, Alphabet Inc GOOG GOOGL Google joined hands to design an in-vehicle experience for Renault's next-generation electric vehicle, the new Mégane E-TECH Electric.

Honda Plans To Cut Car Production In Japan On Supply Issues

• Honda Motor Co Ltd HMC is planning to cut its car output by 40% at two Japanese plants.
• The automaker took the decision after considering the prevailing supply chain and logistical problems.
• The cut raises concern about the company as it gears to compensate for lost production in the year's first half.

Bloomberg

More US-China Tensions: China Claims US Took Control Of Telecom Network Post Space Research University Hack

• The U.S. intelligence agents hacked into a government-funded Northwestern Polytechnical University known for its aeronautics and space research programs and gained control of parts of China's telecommunications network.
• The National Security Agency's cyber-warfare unit "penetrated and controlled" unnamed telecom operators.
• The U.S. gained remote access to the core networks through an email phishing attack on a leading university, opening a route into the carriers.

Facebook Parent Sued Over' Secret Work-Around' To Bypass Apple's Privacy Rules And Spy On Users

• Meta Platforms Inc META is being sued for coming up with a workaround to Apple Inc's AAPL privacy protection safeguards in 2021.
• Two of Meta-owned Facebook's users have filed a class-action lawsuit in the San Francisco federal court, alleging that the company built a "secret workaround" to get through the defenses of Apple's 2021 privacy rules, the report said.

Wall Street Journal

Meta Platforms To Cut Costs By 10%: Does The Tech Stock Offer 'A Lot Of Value' At Current Levels?

• Meta Platforms Inc META executives have mentioned cost-cutting and hiring freezes in response to slowing growth and increasing competition.
• The report indicates that Meta has started quietly pushing out several employees by reorganizing departments and offering limited windows to apply for other roles within the company, citing current and former managers familiar with the matter.

Financial Times

Credit Suisse Mulls Splitting Investment Banking Unit, Outlines Plans

• Credit Suisse Group AG CS weighs splitting its struggling investment bank business into three parts, which could involve thousands of job cuts as the Swiss bank reshapes its business.
• The bank has drawn up plans to split its beleaguered investment banking unit, including resurrecting a so-called 'bad bank' to hive off unwanted assets.

Benzinga

Fed Raises Rates 0.75% For Third Straight Time: 'We Will Keep At It Until We're Confident The Job Is Done'

• The SPDR S&P 500 SPY is volatile after the Federal Reserve raised its benchmark rate by 0.75% for the third time and indicated that it would continue to hike well above the current level. The 0.75% rate hike brings the target fed funds rate up to a new range between 3% and 3.25%, the highest levels seen since before the 2008 financial crisis.
• The Fed also said it would continue with its plan to let Treasury securities and agency debt, and agency mortgage-backed securities roll off its balance sheet on a monthly basis.

Apple Didn't Wreck Any Cars To Show How iPhone 14 Crash Detection Works, But This YouTuber Had A Different Idea

• Apple Inc AAPL may not have showcased crashing vehicles as a way to demonstrate its latest iPhone 14 crash detection feature, but a YouTuber has gone ahead and done just that.
• YouTube channel "TechRax" set up a remote-controlled car to crash head-on into a pile of junk yard-grade vehicles to test out iPhone 14 Pro's crash detection capabilities.
• The people behind the channel crashed the vehicle twice. The iPhone activated the crash detection on both occasions and attempted to call emergency services following a ten-second countdown.

More Antitrust Pain For Amazon, Microsoft And Google: UK Regulator Promises Action

• U.K. digital regulator Ofcom proposed investigating digital markets, including cloud computing, internet messaging, and smart devices.
• Ofcom will first probe whether the so-called hyperscale cloud providers, Amazon.com Inc's AMZN Amazon Web Services, Microsoft Corp's MSFT Azure, Alphabet Inc's GOOG GOOGL Google Cloud, hampered innovation and growth.
• Collectively, these three firms generate 81% of revenues in the U.K. public cloud infrastructure services market worth £15 billion.

Slowdown? Walmart Goes Cautious On Its Hiring Plans Ahead Of This Holiday Season

• Walmart Inc WMT looks to hire 40,000 workers in seasonal and full-time roles ahead of the big holiday season.
• Walmart, in September 2021, shared plans to hire 150,000. The hiring included seasonal staff, which led to overstaffing, denting Walmart's profits in the first quarter of 2022.
• The leading U.S. retailer sounded cautious about holiday retail sales, planning to hire fewer workers than last year for the critical season in the middle of a slowing economy.

Toyota Cuts October Production As Supply Chain Woes Continue

• Toyota Motor Corp TM plans to produce about 800,000 vehicles in October, about 100,000 vehicles short of the previously announced production estimate.
• The company attributed the decision to the impact of semiconductor shortages resulting from the spread of COVID-19.
• Toyota had previously estimated an average monthly vehicle production of 900,000 units for three months (September through November).

Spero Therapeutics Stock More Than Doubles On GSK Pact For Its Lead Antibiotic

• GSK Plc GSK has entered into an exclusive license agreement for Spero Therapeutics Inc's SPRO late-stage antibiotic asset, tebipenem HBr.
• Tebipenem HBr is being developed as the first oral carbapenem antibiotic for complicated urinary tract infections (cUTI).
• Spero expects to start a new phase 3 trial in 2023, following encouraging FDA regulatory feedback on the proposed trial design.

Novartis Unveils New Strategy Focused On US-First, Eight Blockbuster Brands

• Novartis AG NVS has revealed insights into the updated company strategy. The company said that a 'US-first' mindset, increasing the share of U.S. patients in clinical trials, and building capability and talent, among other actions, will enable Novartis to achieve this objective.
• Novartis' aspiration is "to improve competitive positioning and organically build its U.S. business to become a top-five player in the U.S. by 2027," it said in a statement.

Amazon's Challenge Against 'Burdensome' Jeff Bezos Testimony In Unfair-Practices Probe Rejected By FTC

• The U.S. Federal Trade Commission on Monday rejected Amazon.com Inc's AMZN bid to quash demands for testimonies from founder Jeff Bezos and CEO Andy Jassy in the federal agency's probe into unfair practices at the company.
• The FTC had called for Bezos and Jassy to testify as part of the civil investigative demands issued in June as it probes whether Amazon engaged in "unfair or deceptive acts or practices" in its use of recurring or negative option subscriptions to Prime and other services.

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