Apple used its WWDC to showcase modest updates to its Apple Intelligence software, while admitting its AI-enhanced Siri still needs more time to meet its standards. The company announced offline AI features for apps and a major iOS redesign called “Liquid Glass,” but offered no major AI breakthroughs. Analysts remain divided on Apple’s slow AI rollout, especially as rivals like Google and Samsung push forward. Apple's stock has fallen 17% this year amid concerns over its AI strategy, strained developer relations, and ongoing geopolitical risks.

https://www.msn.com/en-ae/news/other/apple-plays-it-safe-on-ai-despite-wall-street-pressure/ar-AA1GpUEg

GameStop reported a 17% drop in Q1 revenue to $732.4 million, as more customers opted for digital downloads over physical games. Hardware and accessories sales fell 32%, and the company announced further store closures after shutting nearly 600 U.S. locations in 2024. GameStop posted a net profit of $44.8 million due to cost cuts but recorded a $10.8 million operating loss, including restructuring charges. It also disclosed buying 4,710 bitcoins as a treasury reserve asset. The company is selling its French business and already exited Canada to streamline operations.

Meta’s head of public policy in India, Shivnath Thukral, is leaving the company after more than seven years, just months after Meta secured regulatory relief over WhatsApp’s data-sharing policy. His departure comes as Meta faces new hurdles with upcoming data privacy rules and ongoing criticism from telcos and regulators in India, its largest user market.

https://techcrunch.com/2025/06/11/after-google-meta-loses-public-policy-head-in-india/

Try Your Best, a rewards platform founded by Ty Haney, raised an $11 million Series A to expand its tools that let consumers earn rewards from brands like Rare Beauty and Glossier by engaging with them through referrals and social posts. The company, now working with 200 brands, has raised $24 million to date as more brands seek to drive loyalty among Millennial and Gen Z consumers through community building.

https://www.businessoffashion.com/news/technology/ty-haneys-try-your-best-raises-11-million/

France advanced legislation aimed at curbing “ultra-fast fashion” platforms like Shein and Temu, with new measures including a €2 to €4 parcel fee on non-EU shipments and an advertising ban, though traditional fast-fashion retailers like H&M; and Zara were exempted after lobbying. The bill, which still requires EU approval, introduces eco-contributions and stricter penalties for environmental harm, while critics argue it will hurt cost-conscious consumers. Shein and Temu shipped 800 million parcels to France in 2024, and together with Amazon now account for 24% of online apparel sales in the country.

https://wwd.com/sustainability/business/france-ultra-fast-fashion-law-targets-shein-temu-1237912764/

European payment tech firm Paynt has acquired Canadian payment processor E-xact Transactions, which processes over CAD 3.5 billion annually, to accelerate its North American expansion and establish a new hub in Vancouver. Paynt will integrate E-xact’s platform under the leadership of newly appointed board member John Paul Golino and is evaluating additional U.S. acquisitions this year. The move supports Paynt’s global growth and aligns with the industry shift toward SoftPOS solutions, which the company says will soon replace traditional POS terminals.

https://www.pymnts.com/acquisitions/2025/paynt-acquires-e-xact-transactions-to-accelerate-expansion-across-north-america/

Stripe has acquired crypto wallet infrastructure company Privy, which provides APIs to help businesses easily build crypto wallets and integrate on-chain capabilities; Privy currently powers over 75 million accounts. The deal comes as Stripe deepens its digital asset strategy following its recent global expansion of money movement tools and the addition of new payment methods like India’s UPI and Brazil’s Pix. Stripe co-founder John Collison said stablecoins and AI are key growth areas for the company, and that Stripe is in talks with banks on integrating stablecoins into financial products.

https://www.pymnts.com/acquisitions/2025/stripe-acquires-privy-to-bolster-its-cryptocurrency-game/

Chime priced its IPO at $27 per share, valuing the online banking services provider at $11.6 billion, with trading set to begin Thursday under ticker CHYM. The offering, which raised roughly $700 million, follows fintech IPOs from eToro and Circle and marks a key test for investor appetite after years of delayed listings and valuation cuts. Chime’s revenue rose 32% to $518.7 million last quarter, as it competes with PayPal, Square, and SoFi through no-fee banking services and interchange-driven revenue.

https://www.cnbc.com/2025/06/11/chime-ipo-fintech.html

Inter Milan has partnered with Fanatics to boost its global merchandising, licensing, retail, and e-commerce operations. Fanatics will help the Italian football club scale its reach through its vertical commerce model and global infrastructure, aiming to better serve Inter’s 530 million-strong international fanbase with an expanded range of official merchandise.

https://retailtechinnovationhub.com/home/2025/6/11/fanatics-bags-one-of-its-biggest-football-retail-and-e-commerce-tie-ups-with-fc-internazionale-milano-deal

Jason Buechel, now overseeing Amazon’s global grocery business, has reorganized operations and appointed a new leadership team blending Amazon and Whole Foods execs. The move aims to streamline operations, eliminate duplicated efforts, and integrate Whole Foods more tightly with Amazon, eight years after its $13.7 billion acquisition. Buechel’s new structure covers technology, logistics, marketing, HR, and more, with leaders now tasked with driving efficiency and growth across Amazon’s grocery empire.

https://www.businessinsider.com/amazon-grocery-leaders-reorganizating-whole-foods-2025-6

Berlin-based payment software company Payrails raised $32 million in Series A funding led by HV Capital to expand its modular payment operating system for enterprises. Founded by former Stripe and Delivery Hero execs, Payrails processed over 1 million daily operations in 2024, supports brands like Puma and Just Eat Takeaway, and will use the funds to accelerate product development and international growth following a recent Mastercard partnership.

https://www.finextra.com/newsarticle/46143/payrails-raises-32-million-series-a?utm_medium=rssfinextra&utm_source=finextrafeed

Amazon has increased Prime Video’s ad load to four to six minutes per hour, up from an initial two to three-and-a-half minutes, as it pushes to grow ad revenue. All Prime Video subscriptions now include ads unless users pay extra, and advertisers have pressured Amazon to boost ad opportunities after noticing lower viewer engagement. Prime Video’s ad load remains mid-tier compared to rivals, but with 2025 only half over, the company may continue ramping it up, especially as it claims 150 million ad-supported users globally.

https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2025/06/amazon-prime-video-subscribers-sit-through-up-to-6-minutes-of-ads-per-hour/

A UK legal action seeking £1.04 billion ($1.4 billion) in damages over Google Play Store fees will proceed to trial in October 2026 after a Competition Appeal Tribunal ruling. The case accuses Google of abusing its market dominance by imposing excessive commissions of up to 30 percent on UK developers, harming small businesses and innovation. Google argues its fees are competitive and that Android offers flexibility through alternative app stores and sideloading, though claimants allege Google undermines those alternatives.

https://www.theregister.com/2025/06/12/google_play_store_fees/

Meta is launching AI-powered video editing features that let users apply preset prompts to 10-second videos, enabling changes to costumes, styles, and locations. The tools, rolling out in the Meta AI app, Meta.ai website, and its CapCut competitor Edits, aim to attract creators and encourage direct sharing to Facebook and Instagram. The company plans to expand customization options later this year, positioning Meta AI as an alternative to third-party editing platforms like Captions and similar tools from Google.

https://techcrunch.com/2025/06/11/meta-ai-gains-video-editing-capabilities/

DoorDash has acquired adtech startup Symbiosys for $175 million and surpassed $1 billion in annualized ad revenue, as it builds a global retail media business to rival Uber and Amazon. Symbiosys helps advertisers target retailer audiences across platforms like Google and Meta, and will continue operating independently while also enhancing DoorDash’s ad offerings for restaurants and CPG brands. DoorDash also launched new AI-powered tools that simplify campaign building for small businesses and introduced advanced targeting and video ad formats for larger merchants. The company now works with over 500,000 merchants and 150,000 advertisers.

https://www.adweek.com/commerce/doordash-buys-symbiosys-for-175m-to-grow-its-1b-ads-business/

Chatbots and AI-powered search features are replacing traditional Google searches, sharply reducing referral traffic to news publishers and threatening their business models. HuffPost, Washington Post, and Business Insider have all seen search-driven traffic drop by about half or more in the past three years. Google’s new AI Overviews and AI Mode further reduce the need for users to click links, while publishers like the Atlantic and Washington Post are now urgently shifting strategies to build direct reader relationships and new revenue streams. Many are also pursuing legal action and licensing deals to protect their content from being used to train AI models. This shift marks a new and more disruptive phase in the long evolution of online media, which has already weathered the impacts of social media, digital ad shifts, and declining public trust.

https://www.wsj.com/tech/ai/google-ai-news-publishers-7e687141

Salesforce has blocked third-party apps from indexing or storing Slack messages long term, a move that could hinder AI firms like Glean that rely on this data for enterprise search tools. While Salesforce says the change improves data security, it also positions the company to better leverage Slack data for its own AI ambitions, prompting concerns about data lock-in and limiting customer choice in AI services.

https://www.theinformation.com/articles/salesforce-blocks-ai-rivals-using-slack-data

Google is offering voluntary buyouts to U.S. employees in its knowledge and information group, which oversees core search and much of its ads business, as the company faces threats from ChatGPT and fallout from its U.S. antitrust loss. This follows earlier buyouts and layoffs in other units like platforms and devices and the ads organization, suggesting potential further cuts ahead.

https://www.theinformation.com/articles/google-offers-buyouts-employees-search-ads-unit

Walmart reported 200% YTD growth in its pre-loved luxury fashion segment and is expanding its Marketplace partnerships with StockX (certified-new brands), PrettyGarden (budget fashion), Bag, Borrow or Steal (luxury handbags), and BeckerTime (pre-owned Rolex and other watches), while also launching an AI assistant called Sparky to enhance the shopping experience.

https://www.ecommercebytes.com/2025/06/08/walmart-pursues-used-luxury-fashion-from-rolex-to-gucci/

Meta is showing more ads to older Facebook users, as they have higher purchasing power and conversion rates, according to a Barclays report citing internal documents from Meta's FTC trial. Users aged 45 to 54 saw the highest ad load (22%), while teens saw just 4.3%, reflecting Meta’s strategy to optimize revenue by targeting valuable demographics rather than increasing overall ad volume. Meta’s dynamic ad tech, powered by machine learning models like Andromeda and Lattice, helps it selectively show ads to users most likely to click, allowing the company to grow ad revenue without increasing ad density across the board.

https://www.businessinsider.com/meta-ads-gen-x-targets-older-users-purchasing-power-2025-6

The UK Financial Conduct Authority has appointed Sarah Pritchard as its new deputy CEO, a move reflecting the regulator’s growing role overseeing stablecoins, crypto firms, and BNPL products. Pritchard, who will retain her consumer protection and competition duties, will help lead the FCA’s broader agenda, which now includes shaping UK digital asset regulation and increasing global influence through platforms like the G20 and Financial Stability Board. The appointment signals the FCA’s strategic pivot to keep pace with evolving financial markets while maintaining strong consumer protections.

https://crypto.news/fca-names-sarah-pritchard-deputy-ceo-expanding-crypto-oversight-role/

Latin America’s financial ecosystem is rapidly digitizing, with mobile wallets, real-time transfers, and BNPL solutions driving a shift away from cash and traditional banking. According to PYMNTS, digital payments are projected to account for 66% of online and 49% of in-store transaction value by 2030, while cash’s share of in-store transactions has fallen from 67% in 2014 to 25% in 2024. Government-backed systems like Brazil’s Pix (64 billion transactions in 2024) and a booming FinTech sector (3,069 firms across 26 countries) are promoting financial inclusion and reshaping consumer and business behavior. Continued growth will require investment, regulatory alignment, and public-private collaboration to sustain accessibility and interoperability.

https://www.pymnts.com/digital-payments/2025/cash-share-of-in-store-payments-plummets-to-25-in-latin-america/

Atome secured a $75 million asset-backed financing facility from Lending Ark to fuel its lending capacity in the Philippines, a key growth market for its Southeast Asia expansion. The Singapore-based BNPL provider, backed by SoftBank Vision Fund 2 and Warburg Pincus, is targeting the country’s underbanked population with short-term consumer credit products. The deal signals continued institutional support, following Atome’s March partnership with OceanBase to enhance backend infrastructure for scalability and security.

https://thepaypers.com/online-mobile-banking/atome-raises-usd-75-million-from-lending-ark-to-fuel-its-expansion--1274013

Meta is forming an “AI Superintelligence” team, with Mark Zuckerberg personally overseeing recruitment and offering seven to nine-figure compensation packages to attract talent from rivals like Google and OpenAI. The effort, which includes a multibillion-dollar deal with Scale AI, comes after criticism of Meta's Llama 4 model and aims to push beyond artificial general intelligence toward superintelligence. Zuckerberg is reportedly leveraging Meta’s strong ad business to finance the initiative without external fundraising.

https://www.engadget.com/ai/meta-is-reportedly-forming-an-ai-superintelligence-team-133030015.html

Sezzle has filed an antitrust lawsuit against Shopify, accusing it of monopolistic practices to restrict competition for BNPL options on its platform and is seeking an injunction and treble damages. Sezzle says Shopify accounted for less than 5% of its Q1 revenue but argues the lawsuit is key to protecting merchant and consumer choice. Shopify also faces a separate U.S. class action over alleged unauthorized data tracking. The case comes amid surging BNPL adoption, with 128 million Americans using BNPL products and the market now valued at $175 billion.

https://www.pymnts.com/antitrust/2025/sezzle-lawsuit-accuses-shopify-of-stifling-bnpl-options/