Internet giants like Facebook, Google and Amazon have disrupted markets and culture in a lucrative rise to power that have regulators launching probes, imposing fines and even threatening to break the companies up.

Microsoft on Monday announced a $1 billion investment in an OpenAI ethical artificial intelligence project backed by Tesla's Elon Musk and Amazon.

The Czech unit of telecoms giant Huawei secretly collected personal data of customers, officials and business partners, Czech public radio reported Monday, fanning concerns about security risks linked to the Chinese group.

An Israeli spyware firm thought to have hacked WhatsApp in the past has told clients it can scoop user data from the world's top social media, the Financial Times reported Friday.

Poland and Lithuania said Thursday they were looking into the potential security risks of using a Russian-made face-editing app that has triggered a viral social media trend where users post "aged" selfies.

Instagram started hiding "likes" on its platform in Australia, Brazil and several other major markets Thursday, saying it wanted to ease pressure on users, following criticism about its impacts on mental health.

The Facebook-owned social media giant's trial changes mean users in the six countries will no longer be able to see the number of likes other people's posts receive.

France on Wednesday expressed defiance in a row with the United States over taxing tech giants that threatens to dominate a G7 meeting, saying an international accord was the only way to solve the dispute.

The Bank of England on Monday said World War II code-breaker Alan Turing had been chosen to feature on the back of Britain's new £50 bank note ($63, 56 euros).

A row over taxing tech giants is set to dominate a meeting of G7 finance ministers near Paris this week, with the world's leading industrialized nations already riven by disruptive US trade policies.

Facebook's planned virtual unit Libra, already under heavy attack from U.S. President Donald Trump and global regulators, faces skepticism among the wider cryptocurrency community as well.