Latest news with #ThierryBreton
Straits Times
2 hours ago
- Business
- Straits Times
Elon Musk, the Rocket Man who fell to Earth
The writer says we are no longer in the realm of enterprising conquistadors but conflicted taxpayer-backed trade empires. PHOTO: REUTERS The popcorn emoji is out in force as the world's richest person feuds with its most powerful leader. Even Mr Thierry Breton, the European regulator who was a frequent target of Mr Elon Musk's ire, is at it. Still, as entertaining as the billionaire's spat with US President Donald Trump may be, it also carries costly lessons for a US$630 billion (S$811 billion) space economy dominated by Mr Musk's Space Exploration Technologies, or SpaceX – such is the danger of codependence between de facto monopolies and increasingly protectionist states. Join ST's Telegram channel and get the latest breaking news delivered to you.
Bloomberg
9 hours ago
- Business
- Bloomberg
Musk Is the $350 Billion Rocket Man Who Fell to Earth
The popcorn emoji is out in force as the world's richest person feuds with its most powerful leader. Even Thierry Breton, the European regulator who was a frequent target of Elon Musk's ire, is at it. Still, as entertaining as the billionaire's spat with Donald Trump may be, it also carries costly lessons for a $630 billion space economy dominated by Musk's Space Exploration Technologies Corp. — such is the danger of codependence between de facto monopolies and increasingly protectionist states. This danger wasn't high on the agenda at the peak of Trump's bromance with Musk, when the president-elect described SpaceX's reusable rocket revolution in the way a Renaissance monarch might have praised a successful colonial expedition — with a mix of national pride, geopolitical influence and financial potential: ' I called Elon. I said, 'Elon, was that [landing maneuver] you?' He said, 'Yes, it was.' I said, '...Can Russia do it?' 'No.' 'Can China do it?' 'No.' 'Can the United States do it, other than you?' 'No, nobody can do that.' 'That's why I love you, Elon.''
Yahoo
5 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
X Adds Verification Explainers to Avoid EU Fines
This story was originally published on Social Media Today. To receive daily news and insights, subscribe to our free daily Social Media Today newsletter. X has added a new overview of what checkmarks in the app now actually represent, as EU investigators continue to examine the app's change in approach on verification, and whether it violates the EU Digital Services Act (DSA). Last year, then EU Commissioner Thierry Breton publicly criticized X's change to its verification system, saying that X's 'X Premium' subscription package is deceptive, and infringes DSA regulations. More specifically, the EU Commission found that in enabling users to buy blue ticks, that's potentially created a new vector for the promotion of misinformation, because the appearance of a checkmark adds legitimacy to an account, as established by Twitter's previous verification system. As per the EU Commission: 'Since anyone can subscribe to obtain such a 'verified' status, it negatively affects users' ability to make free and informed decisions about the authenticity of the accounts and the content they interact with. There is evidence of motivated malicious actors abusing the 'verified account' to deceive users.' And there is at least some evidence of exactly that, with various brands being impersonated, complete with blue ticks on their accounts, on X. In response to these initial findings, however, X owner Elon Musk was defiant, noting that X was looking 'forward to a very public battle in court, so that the people of Europe can know the truth.' Because everything's, apparently, part of a deeper conspiracy, but it seems that X is now changing its tune, in the hopes of avoiding potentially costly penalties as a result of the EU investigation. As reported by Bloomberg, X has now added this new explainer in the app, which provides a more detailed overview of what checkmarks now actually represent: ** As you can see, X is trying to reduce potential confusion, as well as accusations that it's misleading users, by providing more context on its updated checkmark system. It's also got explainers within its Help platform that outline its full verification requirements, though some of them are also slightly contradictory. For example, here, X explains that: 'Accounts that receive the blue checkmark as part of a Premium subscription will not undergo review to confirm that they meet the active, notable and authentic criteria that was used in the previous process.' I know what X is trying to say here, that the updated system is different from the Twitter verification approach of old. But the note that Premium subscribers will not undergo a check seems to run counter to this element within the X's listed Premium requirements: 'Your account must be active in the past 30 days to subscribe to X Premium.' So they do have to be active, but X won't check for such? Of course, miscommunication is all part of the X experience, with half of its Help articles still referencing 'Twitter,' 'tweets,' and 'retweets' in varying capacity. As such, contradictory messaging is pretty much par for the course, and X still doesn't have an official communications department either, so there's not a lot of uniformity checking. But this is all an aside, what X is trying to do in this instance is provide a more thorough explanation of what the verification checkmark actually means in 2025, versus what it used to mean on Twitter-past. Will that get the EU investigators off its back? I mean, probably not. Elon himself has been highly critical of the EU Commission, which likely hasn't endeared him to them in any way, while any analysis will also be assessing both historic and current violations within that review. And if it finds that X's updated checkmark approach is against the rules, it'll still issue a fine, whether it's changed things now or not. This new explainer is likely also still not upfront enough. The Commission will no doubt argue that the average user would not have been made aware of this change before it was enacted, which has led to confusion in the app. In which case, X will have to fix things moving forward, but that'll likely include a notification sent out to all users to outline the full changes to the process. I mean, that's what Meta does when it falls foul of the EU rules, and it seems to generally be enough. Though Meta has also been fined a billion dollars in Europe over the past year, so… (Side note: Meta's also selling blue ticks, so it's probably under the same scrutiny.) Essentially, I doubt this new explainer is going to have much impact, but X also has to do something if it wants to appease the EU digital police. Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
Yahoo
09-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Britain can work with EU on space research in Brexit reset victory
Britain can pitch for lucrative EU space research projects after Brussels agreed to stop freezing the UK out of the competitive sector as part of the Brexit reset deal. The UK secured access to the Horizon Europe research programme in the Brexit negotiations as a fee-paying associate member of a fund worth about £80 billion. But the EU barred British companies and scientists from bidding for projects in the sensitive and competitive space and quantum sectors. Those restrictions were dropped after what the UK government called a 'period of constructive collaboration' between British and European negotiators. The breakthrough comes before a UK-EU summit in London on May 19, where the reset deal will be launched and will build expectations that agreement is close. European sources confirmed to the Telegraph that the decision was to build positive momentum behind the reset and help sell the expected deal in Britain. But they ruled out a wholesale negotiation of the Brexit trade deal, which would require a fresh mandate from EU capitals happy with an agreement weighted in their favour. The UK rejoined Horizon in January last year. It had negotiated continued membership of the programme during the Brexit negotiations before Britain left the EU. But the Commission blocked the associate membership of the programme for about three years during a long-running row with London over Northern Ireland's Brexit deal. Once the then-Conservative government shelved its threats to tear up the treaty, negotiations resumed. At the time, the commission said it was limiting space and quantum projects to EU members only out of fears trade secrets could be passed to non EU powers. The move also protected European firms from having to compete with world-leading British space-tech firms for tenders. The UK space sector employs 52,000 people and generates £18.9 billion each year. Since 2015, the UK has attracted more private investment in space than any other country outside of the United States. The hardline stance, which was opposed by many member states and European universities, was driven by France's then EU Commissioner Thierry Breton. Paris continues to insist that the UK must not be allowed to cherry-pick the benefits of EU membership from outside of the bloc. It has also warned that Britain must do a deal continuing EU access to its fishing waters in exchange for the defence pact, which is the cornerstone of the reset. Ending the Horizon restrictions suggests a deal on defence, which is seen by London and Brussels as a sign of unity in response to Russia's illegal invasion of Ukraine, is close. Space and quantum, which involves superfast computers, have uses in security and defence. A leaked copy of the draft defence agreement, obtained by the Telegraph, states the UK and EU will 'develop cooperation on space-related security issues.' 'The EU and the UK will therefore establish regular exchanges on space security to discuss, inter alia, threats and respective policy frameworks with a view to strengthening cooperation in areas of shared interest.' Tory Brexiteers fear that Sir Keir Starmer's reset could take Britain back into the EU through the backdoor. The Government insists it has no plans to rejoin the EU's Single Market or Customs Union but is focused on economic growth. Broaden your horizons with award-winning British journalism. Try The Telegraph free for 1 month with unlimited access to our award-winning website, exclusive app, money-saving offers and more.
Telegraph
09-05-2025
- Business
- Telegraph
Britain can work with EU on space research in Brexit reset victory
The hardline stance, which was opposed by many member states and European universities, was driven by France's then EU Commissioner Thierry Breton. Paris continues to insist that the UK must not be allowed to cherry-pick the benefits of EU membership from outside of the bloc. It has also warned that Britain must do a deal continuing EU access to its fishing waters in exchange for the defence pact, which is the cornerstone of the reset. Ending the Horizon restrictions suggests a deal on defence is close. Space and quantum, which involves superfast computers, have uses in security and defence. A leaked copy of the draft defence agreement, obtained by the Telegraph, states the UK and EU will 'develop cooperation on space-related security issues.' 'The EU and the UK will therefore establish regular exchanges on space security to discuss, inter alia, threats and respective policy frameworks with a view to strengthening cooperation in areas of shared interest.' Tory Brexiteers fear that Sir Keir Starmer's reset could take Britain back into the EU through the backdoor. The Government insists it has no plans to rejoin the EU's Single Market or Customs Union but is focused on economic growth.
