A federal judge rejected Facebook's motion to dismiss a U.S. antitrust case against the company, allowing the amended complaint to move forward. The decision gives the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) a second chance to pursue illegal monopolization charges against Meta's Facebook division. More: - U.S. District Judge James Boasberg originally granted Facebook's motion to dismiss in June, but left the door open for the FTC to file an amended complaint.
- On Tuesday, Boasberg found that the new complaint has enough facts and evidence to show that Facebook holds monopoly power in the personal social networking market.
- The FTC has accused Facebook of employing a “buy or bury” strategy to suppress competition and dominating the market through its acquisitions of Instagram in 2012 and WhatsApp in 2014.
- The agency is seeking a permanent injunction that could force Facebook to divest WhatsApp, Instagram, and/or other assets.
- "Ultimately, whether the FTC will be able to prove its case and prevail at summary judgment and trial is anyone's guess," Boasberg wrote in his decision.
CNET 
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 Checkout.com founder and CEO Guillaume Pousaz London-based payments firm Checkout.com closed a $1B investment round that values the company at $40B, up from $15B a year ago. Checkout will use the funds to expand its U.S. presence, grow its cryptocurrency business, and explore Web3 opportunities. More: - The full-stack payments company offers electronic payment solutions to enterprise companies, like Netflix and Coinbase, that process a high volume of transactions.
- Crypto and fintech transactions now comprise more than half of Checkout’s payments volume. It powers payments features from Coinbase, Novi from Meta, Crypto.com, and others.
- The recent fundraise places Checkout among Europe's most-valuable fintechs. At $40B, it is valued higher than most other startups, including Instacart.
- The Series D round was backed by investors Franklin Templeton, Qatar Investment Authority, Insight Partners, and Tiger Global Management.
- CEO Guillaume Pousaz said he plans to take the company public eventually but not in the near term.
THE WALL STREET JOURNAL
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The U.S. Department of Energy spent roughly $1.1B on carbon capture and storage (CCS) demonstration projects that have mostly failed, according to a recent report from the Government Accountability Office (GAO). The goal was to equip nine coal plants and industrial facilities with technology to scrub large amounts of CO2 from their emissions and store it underground. More: - The DOE provided $684M to eight coal plants and projects. Of those, only one facility came online before it closed in 2021, according to the report.
- While an additional three industrial plants received a combined $438M for CCS, only two were built and became operational.
- The DOE engaged in "high-risk selection" for choosing projects and negotiated and funded them too hastily, the report said.
- The GAO found that the poor success rate is linked to market forces shifting away from coal.
- The agency recommends more congressional oversight and more consistent “scopes, schedules, and budgets” for DOE demonstration projects.
GIZMODO
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 Foxconn reinstated production at its iPhone plant in southern India after it closed last month when 250+ workers fell sick with food poisoning. The illnesses prompted workers to protest substandard housing and food conditions, causing Apple to place the factory on probation. More: - Sources told Reuters that the factory resumed production today at a limited capacity, with one shift and 120 workers.
- The plant, which employs 17,000 people who typically work in three shifts, will take at least two months to produce at full capacity again.
- Women who work at the factory have described crowded dormitories that lack flush toilets and food sometimes being served with worms at dining facilities.
- Foxconn said it has since taken "a rang of corrective actions" and deployed a monitoring system to allow workers to anonymously raise concerns.
- Apple declined to comment on the reopening. The factory produces the iPhone 12 and is testing production of the iPhone 13.
REUTERS
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Sony will continue producing PlayStation 4 consoles this year to help compensate for the ongoing PlayStation 5 shortage, Bloomberg reports. The corporation aims to create around 1 million PS4s in 2022, despite sources who said it planned to discontinue assembly of the console in late 2021. More: - The PS5 has been in scarce supply since its November 2020 release as supply chain disruptions have constrained chip supplies.
- The PS4, which uses less advanced chips than the PS5, will "fill the supply vacuum and keep gamers within the PlayStation ecosystem," a Sony official told Bloomberg.
- Increasing PS4 production could help Sony negotiate better deals with its manufacturing partners, sources said.
- Sony denied reports that it had planned to stop making the PS4, saying it is one of the best-selling consoles and crossover is expected between PS generations.
- As of August, the PS4 had sold 116 million units worldwide.
BLOOMBERG
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IBM announced that its acquired Envizi, a data analytics software provider, to help companies measure the environmental impacts of their supply chains. IBM did not disclose the financial terms of the deal, which was finalized yesterday. More: - Envizi’s software helps companies better analyze and process their emissions data in business operations.
- The software automatically collects and consolidates 500 data types and supports sustainability reporting frameworks.
- IBM plans to integrate Australia-based Envizi into its environmental, social, and governance AI software, including its Environmental Intelligence Suite and Maximo asset management solutions.
- The goal is to help clients monitor their sustainability efforts using a more data-centric approach amid an increasing regulatory landscape, the companies said.
- Earlier this week, IBM announced a partnership with LG Electronics to explore quantum applications in AI, robotics, IoT, and other areas.
TECHCRUNCH
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- Prosecutors proposed a Sept. 12 sentencing date for former Theranos CEO Elizabeth Holmes and agreed to dismiss three counts of fraud that deadlocked the jury in her trial, a new court filing shows.
- A newly filed class-action lawsuit accuses Kim Kardashian, Floyd Mayweather, and others of promoting the EthereumMax cryptocurrency in order to pump up the value and sell their shares for a profit.
- Mobility company Bolt, the largest operator of shared electric scooters in Europe, raised a $711M funding round.
- The Uber Apple Watch app no longer lets users hail rides from the platform.
- Tencent Holdings may acquire Black Shark, the Chinese gaming headset maker, for $470M.
- JD.com has opened two of its Ochama-branded robotics-operated shops in the Netherlands.
- Tesla plans to source 75,000 tons of nickel concentrate for its EV batteries from a Talon Metals mine in Minnesota.
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 |  | Beth is an Inside Analyst and a former public policy/investigative reporter. She has covered AI, VR, technology, and e-commerce for Inside. When she's not busy writing, she's hiking in Arizona's desert, playing pickleball, or trying out new Mexican food recipes. |   | | Editor | Eduardo Garcia is a writer and editor based in New York. He is writing an illustrated book about climate change that will be published by Ten Speed Press, an imprint of Penguin Random House. Bylines in The New York Times, The Guardian, Slate, Scientific American, and others. In one of his previous lives, Eduardo worked as a Reuters correspondent in Latin America for nearly a decade. | |
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