Meta's Zuckerberg is hiring for new AI team, Bloomberg News reports
June 10 (Reuters) - Meta Platforms(META.O), opens new tab CEO Mark Zuckerberg is setting up a team of experts to achieve artificial general intelligence, Bloomberg News reported Tuesday.
Reuters could not immediately verify the report.
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Coin Geek
8 minutes ago
- Coin Geek
99.9% of Meta shareholders reject BTC treasury proposal
Getting your Trinity Audio player ready... Meta (NASDAQ: META) shareholders have overwhelmingly rejected a proposal to allocate a portion of the company's cash into BTC despite a push by some Wall Street players and the Trump administration's support for BTC treasuries. In a recent Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) filing, the social media giant revealed that the proposal only received 3.9 million votes in support, with over 4.98 billion votes rejecting it. Of the 14 proposals tabled before the investors, BTC treasury received the least support as Meta investors bucked a trend by some companies in the United States and beyond to hold BTC as a hedge against inflation. The overwhelming rejection indicates that even founder Mark Zuckerberg, who has been described as a digital asset enthusiast, voted against the proposal. While Zuckerberg only holds a 14% stake in the company, he controls 61% of the voting power, giving him a de facto veto on all major corporate motions. The other three largest shareholders are Vanguard, BlackRock (NASDAQ: BLK), and Fidelity, who control 8% of the voting power combined. Despite BlackRock and Fidelity being the two largest BTC exchange-traded fund (ETF) providers, they also rejected the proposal. The proposal was introduced in January by Ethan Peck, who works for the National Center for Public Policy Research, a Washington-based conservative think tank. In his proposal, Peck claimed that Meta was losing 28% of the value of its cash assets to inflation and suggested BTC as the best solution. He also subtly accused Zuckerberg and Marc Andreessen—a Meta director and the founder of the BTC investor Andreessen Horowitz—of denying Meta investors a chance to enjoy market-beating returns. 'Do Meta shareholders not deserve the same kind of responsible asset allocation for the Company that Meta directors and executives likely implement for themselves?' Peck submitted similar proposals to Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT) and Amazon (NASDAQ: AMZN). Microsoft shareholders voted against the proposal last December, with the tech giant's board describing it as 'unwarranted.' Even a 3-minute presentation to the board by Strategy founder Michael Saylor, in which he claimed Microsoft had lost $200 billion in five years by not investing in BTC, couldn't sway them. The $86 billion BTC treasury campaign While Meta rejects the proposal, over 100 other listed firms have aped in. According to one platform tracking the BTC treasuries, 124 public companies now hold 818,000 BTC, worth $86 billion at current prices. On Friday, Japanese firm Metaplanet (NASDAQ: MTPLF) announced it would raise $5.4 billion in 'the largest stock acquisition rights issuance in Japan' to purchase more BTC. *Metaplanet Issues 555 Million Shares of Moving-Strike Warrants, Expected Proceeds: ~$5.4b to Buy Additional $BTC; Largest Stock Acquisition Rights Issuance in Japan Capital Markets History & 1st Moving Strike Warrant Ever Issued Above Market* — Metaplanet Inc. (@Metaplanet_JP) June 6, 2025 Strategy (NASDAQ: MSTR) remains the market leader, holding 580,000 BTC, worth $61 billion (its overall market cap is $104 billion; BTC holdings are worth 60% of its value). The company has shifted its business model from being a software firm to a BTC investment vehicle. Others have joined the bandwagon. Metaplanet, for instance, now fully identifies as a 'Bitcoin Treasury Company,' veering off from its original real estate and hospitality business. The risks abound. For starters, these companies use convertible notes to raise the money to purchase the BTC. If the price of BTC and their stock prices dip, the holders of the convertible notes would demand their cash back, which would force these companies to dump their BTC, kickstarting a spiral that further decimates the digital asset's price. B2B payments surge 288% as stablecoins rise continues Elsewhere, a new report has revealed that real-world stablecoin payments are growing steadily, with business-to-business (B2B) payments surging 288% year over year. The report by blockchain analytics firm Artemis revealed that B2B accounted for $3 billion in stablecoin payments, the largest share ahead of peer-to-peer (P2P) at $1.5 billion and card at $1.1 billion. Source: Artemis USDT dominates stablecoin transfers, accounting for 86.1% of the payments in February and 90% in January, with USDC sitting second. In some economies like Spain, Germany, Japan and South Korea, its dominance topped 98%. The USDT dominance in payments far exceeds its share of the total stablecoin market cap, which stands just over 60%. The report further revealed that the United States accounts for nearly 20% of all stablecoin payments, the highest share globally. However, Singapore was a surprisingly close second, accounting for nearly twice as much as third-placed Hong Kong. Japan and the United Kingdom complete the top five. Additionally, the Singapore-China corridor emerged as the most active globally. However, the next seven largest corridors all involved the U.S. 'Stablecoins fulfill the vision that a generation worth of fintech entrepreneurs having been building towards – collapsing the gap between antiquated financial rails and our digitally native lives through the use of fully programmable internet money,' commented Rob Hadick, whose Dragonfly' crypto'-focused VC also contributed to the report. Watch: Richard Baker on engineering a smarter financial world with blockchain title="YouTube video player" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" referrerpolicy="strict-origin-when-cross-origin" allowfullscreen="">
Reuters
14 minutes ago
- Reuters
Gold rises as US-China trade uncertainty persists, investors eye inflation data
June 11 (Reuters) - Gold prices edged higher on Wednesday as uncertainty surrounding the finalisation of a U.S.-China trade agreement weighed on sentiment and fuelled some safe-haven buying, with investors awaiting key U.S. inflation data for further market direction. Spot gold rose 0.2% to $3,328.89 an ounce, as of 0153 GMT. U.S. gold futures were up 0.2% to $3,349.80. U.S. and Chinese officials agreed on a framework to put their trade truce back on track and resolve China's export restrictions on rare earth minerals and magnets, U.S. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick said on Tuesday at the conclusion of two days of intense negotiations in London. Lutnick said that the U.S. team plans to present the framework to President Donald Trump for approval prior to implementation, while the Chinese delegation will similarly seek an endorsement from President Xi Jinping. "We know that U.S. and Chinese negotiators have agreed on a 'framework', but until Trump or Xi approves them, uncertainty lingers. And that uncertainty is supporting gold heading into the inflation figures," said Matt Simpson, a senior analyst at City Index. The U.S. and China had imposed tit-for-tat tariffs in April, sparking a trade war. Following talks in Geneva last month, both nations agreed to cut tariffs back from triple-digit levels. The World Bank on Tuesday slashed its global growth forecast for 2025 by four-tenths of a percentage point to 2.3%, saying that higher tariffs and heightened uncertainty posed a "significant headwind" for nearly all economies. The U.S. consumer price index (CPI) report due at 1230 GMT could give investors more guidance on the U.S. Federal Reserve's policy path. The Federal Reserve will keep interest rates on hold for at least another couple of months, according to most economists polled by Reuters, as risks linger that inflation may resurge due to Trump's tariff policies. Elsewhere, spot silver was unchanged at $36.53 per ounce, platinum fell 0.4% to $1,216.42, while palladium was up 0.3% to $1,063.62.
The Independent
22 minutes ago
- The Independent
Musk says Tesla's robotaxi service to 'tentatively' launch in Austin on June 22
Elon Musk says Tesla is 'tentatively' set to begin providing robotaxi service in Austin, Texas, on June 22. In a post on his X social media platform, Musk said the date could change because Tesla is 'being super paranoid about safety.' Investors, Wall Street analysts and Tesla enthusiasts have been anticipating the rollout of the driverless cabs since Musk said earlier this year that the service would launch in Austin sometime in June. Last month, Musk told CNBC that the taxis will be remotely monitored at first and 'geofenced' to certain areas of the city deemed the safest to navigate. He said he expected to initially run 10 or so taxis, increase that number rapidly and start offering the service in Los Angeles, San Antonio, San Francisco and other cities. Musk has been promising fully autonomous, self-driving vehicles 'next year' for a decade, but the pressure is on now as Tesla actually begins to operate a self-driving taxi service. Sales of Tesla's electric vehicles have sagged due to increased competition, the retooling of its most popular car, the Model Y, and the fallout from Musk's turn to politics. The Austin rollout also comes after Musk had a public blowup with President Donald Trump over the administration's tax bill. Some analysts have expressed concern that Trump could retaliate by encouraging federal safety regulators to to step in at any sign of trouble for the robotaxis.
