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In this articleAAPLThe 2020 MacBook Air on the left versus the 2020 13-inch MacBook Pro on the right.Todd Haselton | CNBCApple is planning to release redesigned MacBook Pro laptops with an updated version of its in-house processor sometime this summer, Bloomberg reported on Tuesday.The update will be followed by new versions of the MacBook Air, the Mac Pro desktop and the entry-level MacBook Pro, likely later in the year, the report said.It shows how Apple is quickly working to capitalize on using its own chips after announcing last year it would transition away from Intel processors. The Apple M1 processor made its debut in the MacBook Air, MacBook Pro and Mac Mini last year and is also used in the new iMac, which launched this spring. The computers will reportedly use newer and more powerful versions of Apple’s processor.Apple’s MacBook customers seem to like the new chip so far. Paired with the at-home work environment of the pandemic and a crop of new M1 computers, Apple’s fiscal Q2 Mac revenue jumped 70.1% year over year from $6.86 billion to $9.1 billion. Apple CEO Tim Cook told CNBC last month that he expects the business to continue to perform well, even after people return to office work.The new MacBook Pro will look different from the current model, according to the report. Its design has been relatively unchanged for the last several years.Apple will add a 14-inch screen, replacing the 13-inch one on the current models, and features such as MagSafe, according to the report. MagSafe, which snaps the charger into the side of the laptop and prevents tripping over the wire since it pops out easily, was last used in the 2017 MacBook Air.It will also include some ports professional users miss from earlier versions, such as an SD card slot for cameras and an HDMI port for easily attaching the computer to another display or a TV, the report said.An Apple representative was not immediately available to comment on the report.Read more on Bloomberg.Subscribe to CNBC on YouTube. 

In this photo illustration, a bitcoin logo is seen displayed on an Android smartphone with a hacker in the background.Miguel Candela | SOPA Images | LightRocket via Getty ImagesLONDON — DarkSide, the hacker group behind the recent Colonial Pipeline ransomware attack, received a total of $90 million in bitcoin ransom payments before shutting down last week, according to fresh research.Colonial Pipeline was hit with a devastating cyberattack earlier this month that forced the company to shut down approximately 5,500 miles of pipeline, crippling gas delivery systems in southeastern states. The FBI blamed the attack on DarkSide, a cybercriminal gang believed to be based in Eastern Europe, and Colonial reportedly paid a $5 million ransom to the group. DarkSide operates what’s known as a “ransomware as a service” business model, meaning the hackers develop and market ransomware tools and sell them to other criminals who then carry out attacks. Ransomware is a type of malicious software that’s designed to block access to a computer system. Hackers demand a ransom payment — typically cryptocurrency — in return for restoring access.On Friday, London-based blockchain analytics firm Elliptic said it had identified the bitcoin wallet used by DarkSide to collect ransom payments from its victims. That same day, security researchers Intel 471 said DarkSide had closed down after losing access to its servers and as its cryptocurrency wallets were emptied. DarkSide also blamed “pressure from the U.S.,” according to a note obtained by Intel 471.In a new blog post Tuesday, Elliptic said DarkSide and its affiliates bagged at least $90 million in bitcoin ransom payments, originating from 47 distinct cryptocurrency wallets. The average payment from organizations was likely $1.9 million, Elliptic said.”To our knowledge, this analysis includes all payments made to DarkSide, however further transactions may yet be uncovered, and the figures here should be considered a lower bound,” said Tom Robinson Elliptic’s co-founder and chief scientist.Elliptic said that DarkSide’s bitcoin wallet contained $5.3 million worth of the digital currency before its funds were drained last week. There was some speculation that this bitcoin had been seized by the U.S. government. There was some speculation that this bitcoin had been seized by the U.S. government.Of the $90 million total haul, $15.5 million went to DarkSide’s developer while $74.7 million went to its affiliates, according to Elliptic. The majority of the funds are being sent to crypto exchanges, where they can be converted into fiat money, Elliptic said.Bitcoin has gained a reputation for its use in criminal activity, as people transacting with the cryptocurrency don’t reveal their identity. However, the digital ledger that underpins bitcoin is public, meaning researchers can trace where funds are being sent.The Colonial Pipeline hack was one of a spate of ransomware attacks to generate headlines last week. A division of Japanese conglomerate Toshiba said its European unit had been hacked, blaming the attack on DarkSide, while Ireland’s health service was also hit by a ransomware attack. On Wednesday, President Joe Biden signed an executive order aimed at strengthening U.S. cybersecurity defenses.

In this articleAAPLApple iMac M1 2021Todd Haselton | CNBCApple just gave the iMac its the first major redesign since 2012, and I’ve been testing one out for a week.It’s insanely thin. Like the 1999 iMac, it ships in a bunch of colors. But most notably, this the first time Apple’s all-in-one desktop computer is using the same M1 chip as the iPad, following the MacBook Air, MacBook Pro and Mac Mini, which received the processor last year.It’s a heck of a time to launch a new Mac. Apple’s Mac sales have continued to grow through the pandemic and were up 70% year over year in its fiscal Q2 as people worked, learned and played at home. That growth may slow as people continue to get vaccinated and head back to our commutes (and our clunky work-issued computers), but the iMac is so nice it may help push Mac sales for people who still need a computer at home.Here’s what you need to know about it.What’s goodSource: Apple Inc.The iMac is just crazy, crazy thin. It’s sort of like a giant iPad with a big bottom chin sitting on a metal stand. It’s also surprisingly light, which means you can easily move it from room to room if you need to, so long as there’s an outlet nearby.Apple iMac M1 2021Todd Haselton | CNBCI love the variety of colors. Apple sent me the blue model, which has a deeper hue on the back than the sort of sky blue below the display on the front. It really looks and feels as if Apple is trying to make this the Mac that people show off around their house again, and I think some people actually will.The screen is another highlight. It’s now 24 inches diagonally, a notable improvement from the 21.5-inch display on the model it replaces. It’s also nice and sharp with a 4.5K resolution and support for HDR content, which more clearly shows the deep darks and bright parts of a movie or TV show. I used the iMac as a computer in my office and also as a TV in my bedroom. I liked that the screen was big enough that I could watch stuff from bed as I would on a TV.Apple iMac M1 2021Todd Haselton | CNBCThe iMac is fast and all the apps I use for work and play are supported. Most people who are casually editing photos and videos will find there’s enough power. Pros who want to edit and render video, however, will naturally gravitate toward Apple’s Pro machines, since there isn’t a big beefy graphics card in here. The same goes for games — you’re fine playing games that are a few years old, or any of the popular iPad or iPhone games that run on M1, like everything in Apple Arcade. But don’t expect to play something like Call of Duty: Warzone.Apple iMac M1 2021Todd Haselton | CNBCThe speakers are also surprisingly good for how thin it is. I normally use a pair of $50 speakers on my desktop PC and this blows them away. There’s also a headphone jack in case you ever want to add a different set of speakers, or you can always use Bluetooth to pair up with a headset or AirPods.Apple iMac M1 2021Todd Haselton | CNBCThere are two Thunderbolt/USB 4 ports on the back of the entry-level $1,299 model, and the $1,499 version I tested has an additional two USB 3 ports (this is true for all more expensive models, too). That was enough for me to drop a few cables on the back for charging my iPhone, AirPods and more at my desk, while also using one of the Thunderbolt ports to add a second display. If you want to avoid dongles, consider getting the model with the additional ports. Speaking of ports, the charger uses a magnet, though it’s not branded MagSafe like the older MacBook and current iPhone 12 chargers. It’s just a power port that’s a bit safer since it’ll pop out if you trip on the cable.Apple iMac M1 2021 Magic Keyboard with Touch ID.Todd Haselton | CNBCThe new Magic Keyboard, which matches the color of the computer you buy (as does the mouse) can be configured with a Touch ID fingerprint sensor for $50 more. You should do that while buying the iMac. It’s really convenient for making purchases (like you would on Apple’s laptops), for logging in in a split second, or for sharing a computer. Each family member just registers their fingerprints and then they can tap it to log in to their account when they jump on the computer.Finally, the camera quality is noticeably better. Apple’s M1 chip offers better quality even compared with the 27-inch iMac it launched last summer, which uses the same camera hardware. It did a good job keeping my image clear and bright, even if the room was a little dark. But I’d love to see Apple add some of the smart tracking so that the camera could follow me around the room — if I’m pacing while talking to my editor over FaceTime. It’s a feature Apple introduced in the new iPad Pros this year, so maybe that will make its way over in future models.All of this comes together to form a really capable desktop computer for the price. But there are still a few things I think could be improved.What’s badApple iMac M1 2021Todd Haselton | CNBCThe thing that stands out to me most here is the lack of a touchscreen. Apple has said Macs serve one purpose and iPads serve another. But I think a touchscreen would work well here. If you’re flipping through recipes, for example, you might want to touch the screen instead of using a mouse. Also, the iMac’s M1 chip lets you run iPhone and iPad apps if they’re supported by the developer. A lot of the ones you might want, like Netflix and YouTube TV (or any of Google’s apps for that matter) aren’t there. But many are designed to be used with touch. Maybe I’m crazy, but I’d love to see an option in macOS that lets you flip to the iPadOS for when you want to use it like a touchscreen, and then switch back to regular macOS when you don’t. Imagine just walking up and tapping Netflix and tapping a TV show. (I’d like to see macOS on an iPad Pro, too.) I can dream.It’s kind of a bummer it doesn’t have an older regular USB 2.0 port. I know it’s old technology, but there are still tons of chargers and accessories that use that type without an adapter, including the Apple Watch.Apple iMac M1 2021Todd Haselton | CNBCI also wish the display supported more angles. You can adjust the vertical angle by tilting it back or forward, but you can’t raise or lower the display or turn it left to right. It’s just locked onto the stand. Normally this works fine, but if you have a shorter desk or sit up higher on your chair, you might want to know you can’t really adjust it to match your height unless you prop it up on some books.My guess is most people are going to use the iMac with just the built-in screen, since it’s pretty big. But the M1 chip only supports one additional monitor, the same as with the MacBook Air, MacBook Pro and Mac Mini. So if you’re like me and normally use three separate displays, you’re going to be limited. I found I was able to get up to three screens by using an iPad Pro with the Side Car app, however. But you won’t get three big screens over HDMI or Thunderbolt.Lastly, it has a big chin under the screen. It doesn’t bug me at all, but I think people who are used to big screens without much of a border might find it a turn-off. That’s just a personal preference thing.Should you buy it?Apple launches new iMac with new colors.Source: Apple Inc.The new iMac is a fantastic desktop computer and worth buying if you need a desktop computer for you or the family. It will make a great home school computer for your kids, or an office desktop. But I also think you should consider buying a MacBook Air, my current favorite computer on the market given its power, battery life and price. Then, you can add a big screen at your desk, like this $400 one from LG, or something more expensive like this from Dell, and just plug the Air in when you want a big, bright display.The catch is that a quality 4K display with the colors, brightness and accuracy of the iMac is going to set you back several hundred dollars or more. You’ll also miss out on the good built-in speakers, added ports and webcam. But you gain portability, since you can take your MacBook Air everywhere you go.It’s a toss-up, but worth considering both options if you’re shopping for a new computer now.Overall, I think Apple has a winner here with an all-around solid computer that checks most boxes for most people. I can’t help but wonder how many of these Apple would have sold if it launched at the beginning of the pandemic.Subscribe to CNBC on YouTube. 

In this articleGOOGLThe Google logo is seen January 8, 2020 at the 2020 Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas, Nevada.ROBYN BECK /AFPAlphabet’s market capitalization of over $1.5 trillion makes it one of the most valuable publicly traded companies in the world, trailing only Apple, Microsoft and Amazon.Created in 2015, Alphabet is essentially a holding company for Google, which generates nearly all of its revenue and profit. Google has always portrayed itself as a tech company and has invested in many far-reaching areas of technology — such as internet search, mobile phones, artificial intelligence, self-driving cars and health technology. Its conference for software developers, Google I/O, which kicks off Tuesday, typically intersperses deep tech talk with far-reaching visions of the future.But Google’s main business is online advertising. In 2020, Alphabet generated almost $183 billion in revenue. Of that, $147 billion — over 80% — came from Google’s ads business, according to the company’s 2020 annual report. Google has been the market leader in online advertising for well over a decade and is expected to command nearly a 29% share of digital ad spending globally in 2021, according to eMarketer. Number-two Facebook is expected to capture less than 24%, while Alibaba is projected to be a distant third, with less than 9%.Over the years, Google has built and acquired a slew of ad tech tools that enable content publishers to make money through advertising and let ad buyers seek out the kinds of people they would like to get in front of on Google Search, YouTube, Maps and on other websites across the internet. While Search and other properties make up the bulk of Google’s ad revenues, its YouTube advertising business, which saw a near 50% year-over-year jump in the first quarter, is increasingly grabbing ad dollars away from traditional linear television. Here are the major pieces of Google’s advertising business and how they make money. Search and other Google propertiesSearch is Google’s most lucrative unit. In 2020, the company generated $104 billion in “search and other” revenues, making up 71% of Google’s ad revenue and 57% of Alphabet’s total revenue.That “search and other” figure includes revenue generated on Google’s search properties, along with ads on other Google-owned properties like Gmail, Maps and the Google Play app store.  Advertisers using Google products can bid on search keywords — specific words and phrases that lead their ads to show up to relevant users in search results.Any advertiser can choose from different bidding strategies. If they want to generate traffic to their site, for instance, they might choose to do “cost-per-click” bidding, where they pay when someone clicks on their ads. They can choose a maximum amount they want to pay for that click, and each time an ad is eligible to appear for a search, an auction will determine whether the ad shows up, and in which position.Zoom In IconArrows pointing outwardsExample of mattress ads on a Google search.Megan Graham “Usually, the more competitive and more expensive an industry is, the more expensive the bid is going to be,” said Joe Balestrino, a digital marketing specialist.”For example, if you’re an attorney and you deal with crane accidents … you’re looking at about millions of dollars in lawsuit, you’re probably going to pay a couple hundred dollars for that click. [Whereas] if you’re running a house-cleaning business, you’re probably paying $7 a click because your average sale is maybe 50 bucks. So depending on how competitive the niche and how much money a business owner stands to make, the more costly those keywords are,” he said.Google also lets advertisers target a location, language and audience — like people who are interested in buying finance-related products or services or who are renters vs. homeowners.Zoom In IconArrows pointing outwardsBuying a Search Ad in Google AdsMegan GrahamThe company primarily shows ads on commercial searches, which means about 80% of searches still aren’t monetized through ads, according to estimates from Wedbush. As buying increasingly moves online, analysts expect ad budgets to continue shifting from areas like linear television and direct marketing into search.But Amazon is increasingly competing with Google on search. Alhough eMarketer expects Google will account for a 56.8% share of all U.S. search ad revenue in 2021, Amazon’s 19% share has been steadily growing. That’s eroding Google’s share of the ad market overall, according to eMarketer forecasts. “The place where they’re losing share is basically all about the search piece, and the reason that they’re losing share of search ads is because more search ad spending is going to sites like Amazon, instead of general search sites like Google or Bing,” said eMarketer principal analyst Nicole Perrin.With people increasingly looking to buy online, it’s not just to Google’s benefit. “It’s happening right now. It’s been happening through the pandemic, there’s been more digital demand for goods and services,” she said. “Google has benefited from that, but Amazon has benefited more.”Analysts who are optimistic about Google’s search business note that it has evolved throughout the years and will continue to do so, whether it’s using voice and image searches or other innovations to get products in front of potentially interested eyeballs. Meanwhile, products like Maps are becoming more strategic on the ad side. Using Google Maps, advertisers can buy ads for local business listings and “pins.” Maps, which only began allowing ads in 2019, has 1 billion monthly active users and it’s updated tens of thousands of times in a day. Zoom In IconArrows pointing outwardsBuying a Maps Ad in Google AdsMegan GrahamGoogle doesn’t break out how much its Maps business makes, but it’s one of Google’s most under-monetized products, Morgan Stanley analyst Brian Nowak told CNBC. He estimated it could be worth $11 billion by the year 2023. Zoom In IconArrows pointing outwardsAds in Google MapsMegan Graham YouTube YouTube is the smallest of Google’s three main advertising revenue sources, accounting for nearly $20 billion in revenue in 2020 — about 13% of Google’s total ad revenues.However, YouTube is growing more quickly than the company’s other major ad sources. The unit brought in $6.01 billion in ad revenue during the first quarter — up from $4 billion from a year earlier, for a growth rate of 49%. In comparison, “search and other” and Google Network revenues each increased 30% from the year-ago quarter in Q1.If YouTube creators want to make money off their channel and are eligible, they can turn on ads for video and share ad revenue with Google for those ads. (To be eligible to monetize videos, a channel needs 4,000 public watch hours within the past 12 months, 1,000 subscribers, and must adhere to number of policies.) Ads are served through AdSense, Google Ad Manager and other YouTube-sold sources, which includes direct-sold deals. For instance, advertisers can buy on programs like YouTube Select, which allows them to buy on “brand-safe” videos and on certain audiences.Creators running ads give a portion of their ad revenue to YouTube. But YouTube also can run ads on videos from channels that aren’t in its partner program, meaning creators of those videos aren’t taking a cut. Creators can also earn money in other ways — for instance, by setting up memberships to their channels, by selling merchandise or by taking a cut when YouTube Premium members watch their videos.A marketer wanting to purchase an ad on YouTube has a slew of options, including skippable or nonskippable ads that appear before, after, or in-stream of the video, video discovery ads (which direct users to other YouTube video or channels) and masthead ads.Zoom In IconArrows pointing outwardsA Chobani Oat pre-roll ad on YouTubeMegan GrahamOver the last several months, YouTube announced experimental features that not only identify products in videos, but also consolidate a list of those items. The recommended algorithms could then show related videos as users scroll through the site. That has gotten the attention of Wall Street analysts who told CNBC they see it as a big potential moneymaker.”Despite the fact that it’s already massive, it still feels like this sleeping giant inside of the Google ecosystem,” said Myles Younger, a senior director at the global data practice at MightyHive.Credit Suisse estimated such product updates will help personalize ads and boost YouTube’s monetization, which stands at about $9.80 per user per year. That would help the company better compete against Facebook, which monetizes at about $30 per user per year, the firm estimated.”I can’t overemphasize how much advertisers love video,” Perrin said. “Advertisers have just been wanting to turn the internet into TV because they want to run video ads against everything. They think that video is so much more compelling than other formats. … Advertisers are very happy to have more video inventory available to them, especially if they can buy it programmatically at scale with data.”Google Network and ad tech for publishersThe third main component of Google’s advertising revenue is the Google Network, which at $23 billion in 2020 made up about 16% of its total ad revenues.This bucket includes revenue generated from selling ads outside of Google’s own properties. Generally speaking, publishers or app makers can use Google platforms such as AdSense, Google Ad Manager, or AdMob to offer ad slots up for sale to advertisers. Publishers use these tools to manage their campaigns, while turning some inventory over to Google to match with advertisers. The publishers and Google split the revenue in various proportions depending on how much work each party is doing.(The correlation between these products and Google’s revenue reporting is not clear — for instance, AdSense not only serves publishers of third-party sites, but also lets YouTube content creators sell advertising on their videos.)Here are the main tools that content creators use to participate in Google’s technologies.AdSense counts more than 2 million content publishers as customers. Approved publishers can enter their Google code onto their sites or videos, and advertisers bid to show up in those ad slots in auctions.If a publisher’s content displays an ad through AdSense, that publisher receives 68% of the revenue recognized by Google in connection with that service.Website makers can also place search ads on their own sites or apps, which lets them earn revenue when their visitors click. Publishers receive 51% of the revenue recognized by Google for AdSense when it comes to search. Zoom In IconArrows pointing outwardsGoogle estimates how much a “food and drink” site could make in North America with just over 2 million monthly page views.Megan Graham Google Ad Manager is an ad management platform for large publishers that have a significant amount of inventory they sell directly to advertisers. The platform supports multiple ad exchanges and networks, including Google’s AdSense, Google’s Ad Exchange (which lets publishers open up their ad inventory to a bigger pool of demand), and other third-party networks and exchanges. It includes pieces of its $3.1 billion DoubleClick acquisition from 2007, including DoubleClick for Publishers and the DoubleClick Ad Exchange.AdMob, which Google acquired in 2009, is a platform for mobile app makers to sell ad space within their apps — like small banners that appear at the top or bottom of an app, or a pop-up that might appear between levels of a game. Makers of devices running on Apple’s iOS and Android can use AdMob to earn money.Google says more than a million apps use AdMob, and more than a million advertisers are on it. For the maker of a fitness and wellness iOS app in North America, Google estimates that appmaker could make more than $6,300 a year if it has 50,000 monthly active users.Zoom In IconArrows pointing outwardsBuying ads in AdMobMegan GrahamOther ad tech productsFinally, Google has a slew of other products for all sorts of participants in the online advertising marketplace, including businesses of all types and sizes.”I’m hard-pressed to think of any other tech stack that is as comprehensive” in terms of what it can do on both the buy side and sell side of advertising, said Younger. “There just isn’t any other stack that offers all those pieces in one place.” Those products include:Google Ads is a platform that helps advertisers run search, display, video, app, shopping and local ads with no minimum spend. The costs of these kinds of campaigns can entirely depend on what the advertiser wants to focus on achieving. Advertisers are charged when users interact with an ad, whether to call a business or to visit the site, and the cost can vary. The platform today is what used to be Google’s AdWords business.Google Marketing Platform has tools for major enterprise advertisers along with analytics tools for smaller businesses. The offering includes DoubleClick advertiser products and Google’s Analytics 360 Suite.Within the Google Marketing Platform sits Display & Video 360 (which contains what once was DoubleClick Bid Manager, Campaign Manager, Studio and Audience Center). DV360 offers a “single tool for planning campaigns, designing and managing creative, organizing and applying audience data, finding and buying inventory, and measuring and optimizing campaigns,” according to Google’s DV360 site.”They’re trying to give you an easy one-stop shop or place to see and manage it all; they’re trying to give you all your data in one place,” said Neil Patel, co-founder of Neil Patel Digital.

LONDON — Starting from June 7, Londoners will officially be allowed to whizz around on an electric kick scooter.City transport regulators said Tuesday that a handful of e-scooter rental firms had been selected to run trials in the U.K. capital next month.The operators include U.S. start-up Lime, German firm Tier and Dutch rival Dott, Transport for London (TfL) said. The pilot will last for 12 months.Areas covered by the trials include Ealing, Canary Wharf, the City of London, Hammersmith and Fulham, Kensington and Chelsea, and Richmond upon Thames.Riders will be able to travel through — but not start or end trips in — Tower Hamlets. The London boroughs of Lambeth and Southwark are also looking to participate in the trials.Rental pricing will be set individually by the operators and has not yet been confirmed.Post-lockdown travelThe British government first announced plans to speed up the rollout of e-scooter rental trials across the country last year.The move was viewed as part of a wider effort to get Brits out and about again post-lockdown with electric bikes and scooters, using a healthier and environmentally-friendly alternative to cars and public transport.In the U.K., the electric kick scooter is classified as a PLEV, or Personal Light Electric Vehicle, and these are illegal on British roads or pavements.A man riding a Lime e-scooter in Berlin, Germany on June 21, 2019.Thomas Trutschel | Photothek via Getty ImagesHowever, hiring scooters from licensed operators is now permitted in several cities and regions in the U.K. thanks to new trials, though privately-owned models remains banned in public spaces. If the trials are a success, the laws will likely be updated.In London, e-scooters will be required to adhere to a maximum speed of 12.5 mph, lower than the national maximum of 15.5 mph. The vehicles must also be fitted with lights on the front and back and audible warning systems that can be used without riders having to adjust their grip on the handlebars.Safety concernsThe legalization of e-scooters has led to safety concerns from campaigners. In 2019, YouTube star and TV presenter Emily Hartridge died after her e-scooter collided with a lorry in London.And some authorities worry e-scooters will be a nuisance. In some cities where they are permitted, the two-wheelers have been thrown in rivers and ridden through shopping malls.”Safety remains our number one priority and we will work closely with the e-scooter operators, London Councils and the boroughs to ensure rigorous standards are consistently met,” Helen Sharp, TfL’s e-scooter trial lead, said in a statement Tuesday.Local authorities participating in the London trials will provide designated parking bays for the scooters, while geo-fencing technology will be deployed to prevent people from taking them outside of accepted areas.Two notable exceptions from the list of approved London e-scooter operators were Sweden’s Voi and Silicon Valley firm Bird. Bird already runs a limited e-scooter trial in London’s Olympic Park, which is classified as private land.Voi said it was “disappointed” to not be included in TfL’s e-scooter pilot and raised concerns over the scale and scope of the trial.”There are also concerns that the chosen operators currently have less than 5% of the U.K. licensed micro-mobility market, meaning their local operating experience is severely limited,” a Voi spokesperson told CNBC.Voi currently operates in 18 locations in the U.K. including the cities of Birmingham, Liverpool and Bristol.Bird was not immediately available for comment when contacted by CNBC.

In this articleTSLATesla CEO Elon Musk speaks at a delivery ceremony for Tesla China-made Model 3 in Shanghai, east China, Jan. 7, 2020.Ding Ting | Xinhua News Agency | Getty ImagesTesla’s reliance on so-called regulatory credits to make money has been thrust back into the spotlight after a regulatory filing revealed investor Michael Burry took a $534 million bet against the electric carmaker.Burry, who was depicted in Michael Lewis’ book “The Big Short,” has a short position on the company — betting that Tesla shares will fall.In a now-deleted tweet, the famous hedge fund manager said Tesla’s reliance on regulatory credits to generate profits is a red flag.Tesla raked in $518 million in revenue from sales of regulatory credits in the first quarter of the year, helping the U.S. electric vehicle maker post another quarter of profit.What are regulatory credits? How do they work?In a push to reduce carbon emissions, governments around the world have introduced incentives for automakers to develop electric vehicles or very low-carbon emitting cars. Credits are given to carmakers that build and sell environmentally friendly vehicles.In the U.S., California and at least 13 other states have rules surrounding regulatory credits. They require auto manufacturers to produce a certain number of so-called zero-emission vehicles (ZEVs) based on the total number of cars sold in that particular state.Automakers that produce such cars will get a certain amount of credits based on factors like the range of the vehicle — longer range ZEVs get more credits.These carmakers are required to have a certain amount of regulatory credits each year. If they can’t meet the target, they can buy them from other companies that have excess credits.Because Tesla only sells electric cars which come under the ZEV category, the company always has excess regulatory credits and can effectively sell them at a 100% profit.Regulatory credits in China and EuropeIt’s not just the U.S. that has such a credit scheme. The European Union and China have similar rules.In China, the regulatory credit requirements for automakers have been steadily increasing since 2019 and will continue to do so. Chinese regulations determine the amount of credit per vehicle based on a number of factors including the range of car.Tesla will also earn these green credits in China, one of its most important markets — but one where it ran into a slew of negative publicity last month.Last month, Reuters reported that a joint venture between German automaker Volkswagen and Chinese state-owned manufacturer FAW, agreed to buy credits from Tesla in China.Tesla was not immediately available for comment when contacted by CNBC.In Europe, lawmakers have been aggressive in trying to reduce emissions from cars. In 2020, the European Union said the average CO2 emissions from cars must be no more than 95 grams per kilometer. Auto companies exceeding this could be forced to pay hefty fines.There are incentives in the form of “super-credits” for vehicles that emit less than 50 grams of CO2 per kilometer in order to push the development of low-carbon emitting vehicles.Tesla’s regulatory credit business modelSince Tesla receives all these regulatory credits for free, it can essentially sell them for a 100% profit. This has been behind its recent profitable quarters.But Burry’s concern about the carmaker’s reliance on these credits is also shared by others.In Tesla’s fourth quarter 2020 earnings call earlier this year, Tesla CFO Zachary Kirkhorn was asked for his outlook on regulatory credit sales in 2021. But he said it was difficult to predict.”What I’ve said before is that in the long-term regulatory credit sales will not be a material part of the business and we don’t plan the business around that,” he said at that time. “It’s possible that for a handful of additional quarters it remains strong. It’s also possible that it’s not.”Tesla relies on large automakers to purchase credits from it.One example is Stellantis, a company formed through the merger of France’s PSA Group and Italy’s Fiat Chrysler Automobiles. Stellantis bought about 2 billion euros ($2.43 billion) of European and U.S. green credits from Tesla between 2019 and 2021, according to Reuters.But Carlos Tavares, the CEO of Stellantis, said in an interview with French publication Le Point, that the company could meet emissions targets this year.That means it would no longer need to buy credits from companies like Tesla, and Tesla could potentially lose a key customer of its regulatory credits.

Southeast Asia’s start-up scene is presenting increased investment potential as the pandemic has shifted dynamics for the long-term, one of the region’s leading venture capital firms said.Despite its “devastating” impact, the downturn has provided “a lot of opportunity” for new start-ups in the region, Roderick Purwana, managing partner at Indonesia-based East Ventures, told CNBC Monday, noting that he has seen many new businesses formed during this period.In particular, new businesses related to digital adoption, including education technology, health technology and financial technology, have been a real success story, he said.With any crisis, it brings also opportunity. We’ve seen that not just in this part of the world.Roderick Purwanamanaging partner, East Ventures”With any crisis, it brings also opportunity. We’ve seen that not just in this part of the world,” Purwana told “Street Signs Asia.””We’ve seen some of the largest or most successful start-ups or tech companies are founded during this time,” he said citing previous historic downturns such as the dot-com bust and 2008 Financial Crisis. “I think this one (will be) no different.”Purwana’s comments come as Southeast Asia’s start-ups have been gaining ground on the global stage.On Monday, Indonesian ride-hailing giant Gojek announced that it had merged with e-commerce player Tokopedia to form GoTo Group. The deal is seen as a preemptive move as the company prepares to go public at an estimated valuation of $35 billion to $40 billion.Ahead of the announcement, Purwana said that valuations have become “a little bit frothy” due to recent hype around the region. Still, he said they remain “reasonable” overall, adding that it is “definitely a positive” to see homegrown names now entering the public markets.That includes public listings via special purpose acquisition companies (SPAC), which have grown in popularity across the region as across the globe. Last month, fellow regional ride-hailing giant Grab announced it would go public on the Nasdaq in a nearly $40 billion SPAC merger.”We’re seeing SPACs as an opportunity for some of these tech companies to tap the U.S. public markets,” he said. “There will probably be some correction on the noise. But in the long run, I think it’s there to stay.”

In this articleAAPLApple Fellow Phil Schiller arrives at federal court on May 03, 2021 in Oakland, California.Justin Sullivan | Getty ImagesOn Monday, former Apple marketing senior vice president and current Apple fellow Phil Schiller testified that Apple does reduce its App Store fees for certain companies from 30% to 15% in exchange for them supporting Apple’s TV app.Schiller was testifying as part of a lawsuit by Fortnite maker Epic Games that is asking a judge to force Apple to allow Epic to install its own app store on iPhones and bypass Apple’s 30% App Store fee.Schiller said that a few years back, the Apple TV department was working on a way to gather video streams from various apps and integrate them all into one experience for users.The result was the Apple Video Partner Program, which allows members to take 85% of sales they make through in-app purchases, instead of paying Apple’s typical 30% fee.”The Apple TV team had a meeting with premium content providers and described the work they were going to do to integrate this new experience. For example, they had to integrate with our Siri voice assistant so we can find any show across any one of those app experiences,” Schiller said. “In talking with those developers, the Apple TV team asked if we could lower the commission to 85/15, not in the second year, but in the first year” to allow them to recoup the engineering costs of supporting the Apple features.Apple charges developers who are not part of the video partner program 15% in the second year of a subscription billed through Apple’s in-app purchases. Schiller said that any company could get the 15% cut if they join the program and do the engineering work to integrate with Apple’s TV app. It’s not only available to large media companies, Schiller said.Schiller also said that the program allowed participants to charge users directly, without using Apple’s in-app purchase feature.”When working with a number of these partners, in particular, the cable providers that are going digital, they had existing movie rental businesses installed as customers. And they asked if they could maintain those existing relationships,” Schiller said, adding that Amazon is one of the companies in the program.Much of Schiller’s testimony on Monday emphasized how much Apple invests in its developer community to maintain a competitive edge against competing app stores. Schiller said that Apple spends about $50 million per year to hold its annual developers conference and that it is building facilities for outside developers at its headquarters.Apple started to call its own witnesses, including Schiller, on Monday, and the trial is expected to run through next Monday. Schiller hasn’t been questioned by Epic Games lawyers yet.Apple and its CEO, Tim Cook, have consistently said that they treat every iPhone developer the same — the same rules for its App Store, the same commissions and the same review process.Last year, the House Antitrust subcommittee published an email showing Apple online services senior vice president Eddy Cue sending an email to Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos in 2016 about the program.”Here are the details of what we discussed on Prime Video — Amazon Prime Video app in iOS and Apple TV — 15% rev share for customers that signup using the app (uses our payment); no rev share for customers that already subscribe,” Cue wrote.Apple’s Premium Video Partner Program was widely reported in April 2020, when the Amazon Prime Video app for iPhones and Apple TV boxes was discovered to be able to charge existing Amazon customers for rentals directly through credit card data it already had — a practice that is usually banned on Apple’s App Store, including for Fortnite.An Apple spokesman said when it was first reported that it was an established program exclusively for “premium subscription video entertainment” providers including Amazon, Altice and Canal that supported Apple features such as the Apple TV app, AirPlay 2, Siri and Apple’s universal search and wanted to bill their existing customers.An internal Apple slide deck published as part of the Epic Games trial this month showed Apple employees debating whether to offer “video partner program benefits” to Netflix in 2018 when the video streamer was considering whether to discontinue using Apple’s in-app purchase software.A page on Apple’s website says the Apple Video Partner Program has existed since 2016 and has 130 participants, including Disney+, HBO Max and the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation.When the Premium Video Partner Program was first reported, Epic Games CEO Tim Sweeney told CNBC in response to the news, in a preview of its lawsuit: “Epic Games wholeheartedly supports smartphone platforms and their digital stores opening up to payment processing competition.”