Issue #64

App pretends Filipinos are an AI bot, UK employers hold back hiring, Wall Street profits from tariff chaos, and more. 

News from April 10 - April 17, 2025

App Pretends Filipinos Are an AI Bot

The US Department of Justice charged the founder and former CEO of Nate, an AI-driven shopping app, with defrauding investors by pretending that hundreds of Filipino call centre contractors were an AI bot. 

Founded in 2018, Nate enabled users to make one-click purchases on eCommerce sites using what they claimed was an AI bot. Albert Saniger, the founder and former CEO, raised over $50 million from investors by claiming so. It’s alleged that Nate relied on hundreds of Filipino call centre workers to complete transactions. 

This is one in a long line of similar cases. Presto Automation, an AI-powered fast food drive-thru app, also used Filipino workers instead of what they said was a bot. EvenUp, an AI legal app, relied on humans, not bots. Albert Saniger, no longer CEO, didn’t wish to comment on the case. 

Source

UK Government Nationalises British Steel

The UK government rushed through emergency legislation to take ownership of British Steel. 

This came after the Chinese firm Jingye said it would shut down the Scunthorpe plant’s last two blast furnaces. Jingye had rejected the government’s offer to buy raw materials to keep the furnaces going. Tensions then rose between workers and management, with the steelworkers and their families gathering in the local football stadium, chanting, “We want our steel back”.

UK politicians were abruptly summoned back to work from their Easter holidays to debate whether to nationalise the UK’s last major steel plant, which employs 2,700 people. British Steel worker Rob Barroclough: "Who knows... my boys might end up working there one day, if it can be saved."

Source

‍Zuckerberg Defends Meta

Mark Zuckerberg defended his purchases of WhatsApp and Instagram in a Washington, DC court during a monopoly case brought by the Federal Trade Commission (FTC). 

The antitrust watchdog FTC, which wants to break up Meta, claims the tech company has unfairly dominated the social media market through its acquisitions of Instagram and WhatsApp. Its lawyers said Zuckerberg bought the apps instead of developing rival apps, and even attempted to evade regulatory scrutiny by selling some of his purchases.

During the court case, an email Zuckerberg sent in 2012 was shown in which he suggested that Meta buy Instagram because the photo-sharing app was growing faster. Zuckerberg was candid when questioned by FTC lawyers. Zuckerberg: "Many more times than not, when we've tried to build a new app, it hasn't gotten a lot of traction.”

Source

Bulletin Board

• UK Employers Hold Back Hiring. UK job vacancies are at their lowest level in 4 years. The Office for National Statistics (ONS) says payroll numbers have declined and vacancies have fallen to 781,000. Commentators say hikes in National Insurance contributions and the Minimum Wage have caused employers to curb hiring. Sarah Coles, head of personal finance at Hargreaves Lansdown: “It's far cheaper and less damaging than letting people go, so it may be a sign of things to come". Source
• Google Working with the US Government. Google is working with the US Customs and Border Patrol (CBP) to modernise its AI surveillance system. In this multi-company venture, Google will provide its cloud computing program to process the video feed of people and vehicles approaching cameras in the Tucson area. This comes after Google Cloud CEO Thomas Kurian said Google was “not working on any projects associated with immigration enforcement at the southern border.” Google did not respond to questions about the project. Source
• NVIDIA Suffers After Trump Restricts Chip Exports. Chip-maker NVIDIA said it's on track to lose $5.5 billion every quarter after the US imposed export restrictions on its chips. The company must now obtain a license to export the H20 graphics processing chips to China, after the US authorities claim they can be used to power military-grade supercomputers. The chips, which powered DeepSeek’s landmark AI model, were designed to comply with Biden’s 2020 restrictions. They have slower bandwidth and interconnection speed. Following the Tuesday announcement, NVIDIA shares fell 6%. Source
• Wall Street Profits From Tariff Chaos. The biggest Wall Street banks made $12 billion in trading fees last quarter from worried investors. Goldman Sachs, JP Morgan & Chase, and Morgan Stanley profited as investors repositioned their portfolios in response to market disruptions caused by a mounting global trade war. Goldman CEO David Solomon: “So far, the business is performing very well and clients are very active.” Source
• China Grows Due to Tariff Fear. Chinese GDP grew 5.4% in the first quarter of 2025, three percentiles higher than expected. Economists say much of this was driven by foreign companies rushing to buy Chinese goods in anticipation of higher tariffs. Trump recently announced a 145% tariff on Chinese goods after China introduced retaliatory tariffs on US goods. Sheng Leiyun, deputy director of BNS: “It cannot change the general trend of China’s continued long-term economic improvement.” Source

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