Global News

1 SKYDIO - CALIFORNIA

Is Apple about to join the cloud computing fray?

Redwood City, California-based drone manufacturer Skydio, which specialises in autonomous flight, raised its latest $170mn Series D led by Andreessen Horowitz’s Growth Fund. The company said it would use the funds to accelerate product development and expand globally. 3 UBER - UK

The gig economy: why Uber is giving UK drivers worker status

Uber announced it is to grant its “drivers” worker status in the UK, entitling them to all the benefits required under UK law. The move was prompted by a Supreme Court ruling. Uber said its UK mobility business represented 6.4% of all bookings in the fourth quarter of 2020, and while it would increase costs in the UK, it did not intend to pass those on to customers.

2 TESLA - TEXAS

Is Elon Musk planning a battery-powered utility company?

A Tesla subsidiary known as Gambit Energy Storage is plugging a giant battery into the Texas energy grid by constructing a 100-megawattplus energy storage facility in Angleton, around 40 miles south of Houston - enough to power some 20,000 homes.

4 VOLKSWAGEN - GERMANY

Volkswagen backs electric vehicles with \6 battery factories

Volkswagen announced its

intention to build six electric vehicle battery-cell manufacturing plants in Europe. The so-called gigafactories are intended to unlock synergies in Volskwagen’s supply chain and thus bring down the price of electric vehicles for consumers, with all expected to be established by the end of the decade.

5 AMAZON - SINGAPORE

Whose satellites did SpaceX launch in world record flight?

Technology giant Amazon

announced it is to build a 62 megawatt solar project in the city-state of Singapore. The project, which is scheduled for completion in 2022, features movable panels to make the most of the sun, and expects to generate 80,000 megawatt hours of clean energy per year. 6 RAKUTEN - JAPAN

India’s Jio tests 5G and aims to rid country of 2G networks

Japanese internet giant

Rakuten received investment from the likes of Tencent, which took a 3.6% stake, alongside Walmart at 0.9% and Japan Post at 8.3%, raising $2.2bn. The deal was framed as bolstering the Japanese company against competition from western leaders such as Google and Amazon.