Clothes, furniture, souvenirs - for all this, the Moscow company wants to register the FreeDurov brand.

The founder of Telegram was given bail of €5 million. He was released during the investigation on an obligation not to leave the country and to report to the gendarmerie twice a week.

Amazon Says 'Error' Caused Alexa to Give Reasons to Vote for Harris — But Not for Trump.

Amazon Alexa provided an answer to the question of why someone should vote for Vice President Kamala Harris in the 2024 U.S. presidential election but declined to answer the same question about former President Donald Trump.

In early September 2024 — just weeks away from the November U.S. presidential election — social media users discussed a discrepancy involving Amazon Alexa's responses when asking the digital assistant why someone might want to vote for former President Donald Trump versus asking the same about Vice President Kamala Harris.

In the videos, Alexa declined to provide an answer for Trump, citing the reason as not wishing to espouse "political views." Seconds later, after being asked the question about Harris, Alexa listed several reasons why someone might want to vote for her.

By email, an Amazon spokesperson acknowledged the issue, saying, "This was an error that was quickly fixed." They also said Alexa does not have political opinions and that the company continually audits and improves the systems it has in place for detecting and blocking content that violates its policies, and has teams dedicated to preventing similar situations in the future.

The spokesperson did not answer a question about whether this error previously affected questions one way or the other about voting for President Joe Biden, before he dropped his reelection bid in July 2024.

Image of Getty Images

In Telegram, you can now turn "stars" into TON.

Channel administrators can now output Telegram Stars to TON. A new feature is already available in the channel settings.

You can withdraw at least 1 thousand "stars". The rate is still 1 "star" = $0.013 per TON. New "stars" are available for withdrawal 21 days after receipt.

Have you already given a "star" to this post?

The demand for used goods is growing on marketplaces.

Sales of used goods on Amazon increased by 15% in 2023, while eBay expects a 50% growth in used goods sales on its platform by 2025.

On second-hand marketplaces like Depop and Vinted, sales grew by 51% and 8% respectively over the past year.

Telegram has reached 10 million paid subscribers. 10 million people are now enjoying Telegram Premium.

While 99.999% of Telegram users have nothing to do with crime, the 0.001% involved in illicit activities create a bad image for the entire platform, putting the interests of our almost billion users at risk.

"That’s why this year we are committed to turn moderation on Telegram from an area of criticism into one of praise", - said Pavel Durov.

OpenAI's Subscription Cost Could Increase 100-Fold

Currently, it is only $20, but the price might increase to $2,000.

This is due to high expenses: this year, the company might incur a loss of $5 billion. Most of the funds are spent on training and launching AI programs. According to The Information, OpenAI plans to spend around $7 billion on new projects in 2024.

Increasing the subscription cost could become one of the ways to "survive" in the market. However, there is a chance that the high price will only affect new projects, Strawberry and Orion.

U.S. authorities have asked Amazon to provide discounts on VPN services.

A meeting was held in Washington, where the White House discussed with representatives of major U.S. tech companies, including Amazon, Google, Microsoft, and Cloudflare, the possibility of providing additional resources to develop tools for circumventing internet censorship in various countries. This was reported by Reuters.

These tools, supported by the Open Technology Fund (OTF), are widely used in countries with restricted internet access, such as Russia, Iran, and Myanmar, according to the agency. Laura Cunningham, President of OTF, stated that in recent years, demand for virtual private network (VPN) applications has significantly increased, particularly among users in Russia and Iran.

During the meeting, the possibility of providing discounts or subsidies on server bandwidth to meet the demand for VPNs in the mentioned countries was discussed. Representatives of the tech companies, including Amazon, have not yet commented on this initiative.

The implemented AI tools have increased conversion rates on Amazon.

At the end of 2023, Amazon implemented an AI tool that places items from product listings into generated landscapes (e.g., a sofa in a room instead of on a white background).

This solution increased the click-through rate by 40%.

When can we expect the new James Bond movie?

The creators of the Bond franchise are planning its development for years ahead, as the rights were acquired by the wealthy company Amazon, which means there are no longer any financial problems.

For the next James Bond film, there is currently no finalized script, director, or lead actor, even though three years have passed since the last movie was released. This is due to funding issues with the franchise, according to The Times, citing industry insiders.

Barbara Broccoli, who, along with her half-brother Michael G. Wilson, has creative control over the franchise, announced that they currently have no script, director, or actor who could succeed Daniel Craig. The Times notes that even if all these problems were resolved, it would still take another two years to release a new film.

According to Ajay Chowdhury, former president of the International James Bond Fan Club and an entertainment lawyer, the delay is not due to inaction by the creators but rather a series of business restructurings, as Amazon acquired the film studio Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, which owns the rights to Bond, in 2021. This acquisition ended decades of financial difficulties for the studio, and the franchise's producers, Michael Wilson and Barbara Broccoli, are now relieved of many financial problems.

Photo: Leon Neal / Getty Images

How much will the new iPhone cost in Europe?

The base iPhone 16 with 128 GB will cost around €949 in Germany, while the most advanced model, the iPhone 16 Pro Max with 1 TB, will be priced at €1949. The difference is significant, so only citizens with suitable incomes can afford a European iPhone.

For comparison, prices in Spain are 10 to 20 euros higher, and in France, they are 30 to 40 euros higher depending on the model and memory configuration.

Last year, one of the most expensive European iPhones was found in Poland, with the top 15th Pro Max 1 TB model costing €2073, but this year it unexpectedly dropped to €1940, cheaper than in Germany.

A ceramic mug with the Toncoin logo is being sold on eBay for nearly $19.

Drink and feel like a crypto millionaire.

Foreign Services Suspend Operations in Russia Due to U.S. Sanctions.

A new package of restrictions comes into effect today, September 12. From now on, foreign companies are prohibited from providing consulting and project services in the IT field to Russian citizens. Additionally, it is forbidden to offer support for enterprise management software and production software.

The following companies have already announced their exit from Russia:

🔡 Website builder Wix;
🔡 Collaboration platforms Miro and Coda;
🔡 Note-taking and list-making service Notion;
🔡 Project management service ClickUp;
🔡 AI design service Recraft.

Internet users fear that these sanctions could also affect larger companies, such as Figma, Zoom, and Google. However, these organizations have not yet responded to the imposed ban.

OpenAI's valuation could rise to $150 billion.

The company is in talks to raise funds, reports Bloomberg. OpenAI aims to raise $6.5 billion in equity from investors, with an additional $5 billion in bank loans.

This would strengthen the company's position as one of the most valuable startups in the world, notes the publication.

Earlier this year, OpenAI was valued at $86 billion.

Experts are confident that marketplaces will earn revenue from advertising.

Now a marketplace earns money from two things: commissions and advertising. Amazon has been making more money from advertising and third-party services over the last 5-10 years.

This is no secret, and all companies are looking in that direction as well.

India accuses Samsung, Xiaomi of colluding with Amazon.

Samsung, Xiaomi and other smartphone companies colluded with Amazon, opens new tab Flipkart to exclusively launch products on the e-commerce firms' Indian websites in breach of antitrust laws, according to regulatory reports seen by Reuters.
Antitrust investigations conducted by the Competition Commission of India (CCI) have found that Amazon and Flipkart violated local competition laws by giving preference to select sellers, prioritising certain listings, and steeply discounting products, hurting other companies, Reuters reported.

The CCI's 1,027-page report on Amazon also said the Indian units of five companies - Samsung (005930.KS), opens new tab, Xiaomi, Motorola, Realme and OnePlus - were "involved in the practice of exclusive" phone launches in "collusion" with Amazon and its affiliates, breaking competition law.
In Flipkart's case, a 1,696-page CCI report said the Indian units of Samsung, Xiaomi, Motorola, Vivo, Lenovo (0992.HK), opens new tab and Realme conducted similar practices.

The inclusion of smartphone makers like Samsung and Xiaomi in the case could increase their legal and compliance headaches.

TON is now even more accessible to users in the EU and the UK.

TON has appeared on Revolut, one of the most influential and prominent fintech platforms in Europe. Over 45 million users now have the opportunity to trade "the diamond" on their platform.

The book about Toncoin on Amazon.

An e-book about Toncoin in Japanese has appeared for sale on Amazon. The 33-page book describes the evolution of Toncoin.

Read about these and other new products on global marketplaces here: https://t.me/marketplace_bestsellers

The owner of the Russian marketplace Wildberries, Tatyana Bakalchuk, has become nearly 4 billion rubles poorer.

The fortune of Tatyana Bakalchuk has decreased from $7.9 billion to $4.1 billion following the merger of the marketplace with the outdoor advertising operator Russ, according to estimates by American Forbes. During the deal, Bakalchuk "essentially gave up 35% of her company's shares," the publication writes. Her wealth also declined due to the depreciation of the ruble, the publication notes. Despite this, Bakalchuk remains the richest woman in Russia.