Meta exits EU political ads race as regulations bite
Meta Platforms has pulled the plug on political advertising across Facebook and Instagram in the EU from early October, citing “significant operational challenges and legal uncertainties” from incoming EU regulations on political advertising.
The strategic retreat follows Alphabet’s Google marking Big Tech’s coordinated pushback against European oversight.
“From early October 2025, we will no longer allow political, electoral and social issue ads on our platforms in the EU,” Meta announced. The company called it a “difficult decision” triggered by the EU’s Transparency and Targeting of Political Advertising (TTPA) regulation, effective October 10.
The TTPA legislation mandates clear labeling of political ads, payment disclosure, and election targeting details. Non-compliance risks fines up to 6% of annual turnover. The EU designed the framework to combat disinformation and foreign interference across the 27-country bloc.
Starlink’s global hiccup exposes satellite dependency
SpaceX’s Starlink was hit with a major global outage on July 24, 2025, disrupting tens of thousands of users and prompting apologies from Elon Musk. More than 61,000 outage reports were submitted to Downdetector during the disruption.
The service interruption, starting around 3 p.m. EDT, stemmed from “a failure of key internal software services that operate the core network.”, as confirmed on X by Michael Nicolls, SpaceX’s vice president of Starlink Engineering.
The outage lasted roughly 2.5 hours, affecting a service that now reaches millions globally. The issue was resolved by 8 p.m., with the company actively probing the root cause to prevent recurrence.
The timing proved particularly awkward, coming just after the launch of Starlink’s T-Mobile satellite service.
India Overtakes China in U.S. Smartphone Exports
India has overtaken China as the primary source of U.S. smartphone imports, achieving a 240% manufacturing surge in Q2 2025, per Canalys. Indian-assembled smartphones captured 44% of U.S. imports, up from 13% last year, while China’s share plummeted to 25% from 61%.
Apple’s pivot to India, driven by U.S.-China trade tensions, spearheaded the shift. “India became the top exporter of smartphones to the U.S. for the first time,” said Sanyam Chaurasia, Canalys principal analyst, noting Apple’s rapid expansion in Indian manufacturing.
Samsung and Motorola are also relocating assembly to India, though their efforts are lagging behind Apple’s, according to Canalys. Agilian Technology’s CEO, Renauld Anjoran, stated: “The plan for India is moving ahead as fast as we can.”
Despite this, iPhone shipments dropped 11% to 13.3 million units, reflecting tariff concerns and competitive pressures in the smartphone market.
Samsung Secures $16.5bn Chip-Supply Deal
Samsung Electronics has signed a $16.5 billion semiconductor supply contract with Tesla, according to a regulatory filing. The South Korean chipmaker’s shares rose nearly 6% following the announcement.
Even though Samsung declined to name the counterparty, citing a request from the second party “to protect trade secrets, Elon Musk confirmed in a reply to a post on social media platform X that Tesla was the counterparty.
The contract spans nine years, from July 26, 2024 to December 31, 2033. The contract reportedly involves Samsung’s new Texas fab, dedicated to producing Tesla’s next-generation AI6 chip.
Samsung operates as the world’s second-largest foundry service provider behind Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC).
The deal comes as Samsung expects second-quarter profits to more than halve, with analysts citing weak foundry orders and the company’s struggle to capture AI demand for memory business.
Aeroflot grounds flights after cyber attack
Aeroflot PJSC, Russia’s state-owned airline, has faced severe disruptions from a cyberattack on its IT systems, canceling at least 50 flights and delaying others at Moscow’s Sheremetyevo airport, per Telegram statements. The breach crippled scheduling and booking operations, stranding passengers.
Russia’s Prosecutor General’s Office has launched a criminal probe into the unauthorised access, Interfax reported, though the attacker’s identity remains undisclosed.
Concurrently, Zhukovsky International Airport in Moscow reported website access issues, though its flights remained on schedule, per Interfax; any link to the Aeroflot hack remains unconfirmed.
The attack adds to recent challenges for Russian airports, with 485 flights canceled and 1,900 delayed earlier this month due to Ukrainian drone threats. Moscow also faced air traffic chaos on May 7-8 during drone-related disruptions amid high-profile visits, including Chinese President Xi Jinping.
