European Union regulators have opened a formal investigation into claims that Microsoft is unfairly bundling its Teams video conferencing app with its popular Office software as Brussels intensifies its scrutiny of big technology groups.

The UK government has announced an investment of up to GBP1 billion (US$1.24 billion) in the domestic semiconductor industry, but has been criticized for declining to join the spending race that has seen the US and EU announce significantly bigger programs.

The United States and European Union on Friday announced an agreement to speed up and enhance the use of artificial intelligence to improve agriculture, healthcare, emergency response, climate forecasting and the electric grid.

A third of the global economy will be in recession this year, the head of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) has warned.

Tech giants currently under investigation by the EU are unlikely to be calmed by the General Court's judgment, especially with the Digital Markets Act (DMA) set to come into force next year.

The European Central Bank has announced a record rise in eurozone interest rates as it seeks to fight inflation. Prices in the bloc are rising at the highest pace for half a century as energy costs soar.

European Commission regulators have suggested that smartphones and tablets sold there offer 15 different kinds of spare parts for at least five years, as part of a broad effort to lessen their environmental impact.

EU antitrust regulators will not appeal a court ruling scrapping its EUR997 million (US$991 million) fine against Qualcomm, people familiar with the matter said, in a major win for the US chipmaker that ends a long-running saga.

Japan will stop exporting semiconductors to Russia next week, joining the US and its European allies in efforts to cripple Russia's military capability.

The European Commission will ease funding rules for innovative semiconductor plants under plans announced on Tuesday as the European Union looks to boost its chip industry and cut its dependence on US and Asian supply.

EU antitrust regulators have resumed investigation of Nvidia's deal for British chip designer ARM, setting a new deadline of May 25 for their decision, a European Commission filing showed.

The world is in a "race against time" with the Omicron coronavirus variant, said European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen on Sunday, warning during a visit to Latvia that scientists and manufacturers will need weeks to fully understand the new variant.

The EU must offer at least EUR20 billion (US$23.51 billion) in subsidies if it wants to "move the needle" on computer chipmaking in the bloc, according to the head of Soitec.

Intel has said investment in its planned new European $20bn semiconductor factory could be spread across several EU member states, as it lobbies to win the bloc's financial and political support for the project.

Intel and SK Hynix have moved closer to completing their memory and storage business transaction after securing EU approval.

Reasons for the ongoing global chip shortage, which is set to last into 2022 and possibly 2023, are complex and multifaceted. However, nations are planning to pump billions of dollars into semiconductors over the coming years as part of an effort to sure up supply chains and become more self-reliant, with money going toward new chip plants, as well as research and development.

The EU's industry commissioner Thierry Breton is to meet with Intel chief executive Pat Gelsinger and a top TSMC executive this week as the bloc seeks added sway in the semiconductor supply chain.

The EU body said personal data may have been accessed from its servers. And it had pulled its entire email system offline while it assessed the damage.

The European Union is planning to produce its own advanced semiconductors by 2030, part of the bloc's plans to reduce "high-risk dependencies" on technology companies in the US and Asia.

The European Union is considering building an advanced semiconductor factory in Europe in an attempt to avoid relying on the US and Asia for technology at the heart of some of its major industries.

An EU plan for a fifty-fold increase in electric cars this decade to help cut greenhouse gas emissions will require an 80 billion euro ($96.5 billion) investment in charging points to support it, power industry group Eurelectric said on Tuesday.

Digital decoupling between China and the United States could severely impact EU businesses in China and they should "prepare for the worst" and may be forced into a costly separation of their international operations, European business groups said.

The European Union has signed a declaration that focuses on ensuring that the EU will create a 2nm node and a custom processor.

The Commission on Thursday set out a number of commitments that Google must follow over the next 10 years.

The European Union has unveiled formal antitrust charges against Amazon for abusing its dominance in online shopping and opened a second investigation into the company's business practices.

It won't surprise you who might be on the short list.

Orange and Proximus have picked Nokia to help build 5G networks in Belgium as they drop Huawei amid U.S. pressure to exclude the Chinese firm from supplying key telecoms equipment.

The European Commission launched an investigation on Thursday into imports of optical fibre cable from China, which EU manufacturers believe are being sold in Europe at artificially low prices.

The European Commission will carry out a full-scale probe into Google's takeover of Fitbit.

Google's $2.1 billion bid for fitness tracker maker Fitbit will face a full-scale EU antitrust investigation next week, people familiar with the matter said on Thursday.

Slack says Microsoft Teams is a 'weak, copycat product' that's forced on Office users.

Chinese Commerce Ministry weighs export controls on Nokia and Ericsson China-made products

EU competition regulators are seeking information from 400 companies to establish if there are problems in the market for voice assistants such as Alexa and Siri and other internet-connected devices that could lead to antitrust cases.

Europe's second top court on Wednesday cut Infineon Technologies' cartel fine by 7% to 76.87 million euros ($86.7 million), saying that the German chipmaker had fewer anti-competitive contacts with other cartel members than EU antitrust regulators had said.

Big tech companies including Google parent Alphabet Inc., Amazon.com Inc. and Facebook Inc. face a swath of proposed European regulations aimed at curbing their alleged anticompetitive behavior, making them pay more taxes and compelling them to shoulder more responsibility for illegal content on their platforms, said a top European Union official.

The EU's top Brexit negotiator has said the UK wants "the best of both worlds" in its future economic relationship with the bloc. The OSCE said the UK may feel the effects of the pandemic recession worse than EU members.

U.S. chipmaker Broadcom has offered to scrap its exclusivity deals with TV and modem makers to end an EU antitrust investigation and stave off a possible hefty fine.

Governments have started tapping geolocation data from phones to help track the pandemic, and privacy advocates are concerned about the lack of formal restrictions.

Germany is to close its borders with neighbouring countries including France, the latest in a string of tough actions by EU member states to fight the coronavirus pandemic.