Roundup – Digital euro plans deepen; Google sued over ads

Digital euro will be free but non-competitive, ECB says

The European Central Bank is devising a free-to-use digital version of its currency, however it said it does not want to keep any personal data on its users. The ECB added that it hopes to alleviate concerns over disruption to the financial system.

Banks have been apprehensive about the digital euro as they worry it would make their own services redundant, yet the ECB said it would not offer accounts to citizens or allow people to make direct regular payments such as bills or rent as it is not its intent to create competition for commercial banks.

The ECB is still only in the planning process of a digital euro and actual issuance remains years away.

https://www.financedigest.com/digital-euro-will-be-free-but-limited-in-scope-ecb-says.html

Apple aims to raise India production share to up to 25%

The current Apple production in India sits between 5% – 7%, however the manufacturer aims to increase this, continuing to move its manufacturing away from China. Apple has not disclosed when it intends to meet the new target. Ashwini Vaishnaw, Indian’s electronics and information technology minister, tweeted on Monday that Apple’s exports from India had hit $1 billion in December. JP Morgan analysts estimated last year that a quarter of all Apple products would be made outside China by 2025, from 5% currently.

https://www.thehindu.com/business/Industry/apple-targets-raising-india-production-share-to-up-to-25-goyal/article66424524.ece#:~:text=Apple%20Inc.%20wants%20India%20to,as%20a%20competitive%20manufacturing%20destination.

US sues Google over dominance of online ad market

The US Justice Department has sued the California-based tech giant for its dominance of the online advertising market. Google’s ad dealings have cashed-in over $200 billion in sales in 2021 and is parent company Alphabet’s biggest money-maker by a wide margin. Prosecutors have asked that it be broken up to level the playing field for other companies.

“Google has used anticompetitive, exclusionary, and unlawful means to eliminate or severely diminish any threat to its dominance over digital advertising technologies,” the suit said.

However, a Google spokesperson reacting to the lawsuit said in an email that it attempts to “pick winner and losers in a highly competitive advertising technology sector”.

https://www.bangkokpost.com/world/2491085/us-sues-google-over-dominance-of-online-ad-market

Rocket Lab widens launch footprint with first mission from US

The successful launch took place on Tuesday, marking an expansion of the company’s business that adds to a surge in private rocket activity at US space ports. The Electron rocket, an expendable launcher standing at 12 meters tall, lifted off from its new launch pad at the NASA-operated Wallops Flight Facility in Virginia. The mission had been rescheduled several times due to a lengthy certification review of Electron’s automated termination system, as well as bad weather. The uptick in launches is expected to grow as a handful of US startups plan to lift-off into space for the first time in 2023.

https://indianexpress.com/article/technology/rocket-lab-electron-rocket-us-launch-8403470/