Business

LinkedIn has verified more than 55 million of its users, for free, in order to combat the spread of misinformation fueled by the rise of artificial intelligence, the company told CNBC.The Microsoft-owned service said it has the most verified individual human identities of any major social network. In November, the company will begin showing its user verification badges within the primary LinkedIn feed. "You now see things like deep-fake videos, photos that are increasingly harder with the naked eye to understand if they're real or fake," Oscar Rodriguez, LinkedIn's vice president of trust and safety, told CNBC in an interview. "That line-blurring is what we believe poses a significant challenge in combating things like misinformation, faking expertise and so forth."LinkedIn began verifying...

Investors should start building a position in Builders FirstSource , according to UBS. Analyst John Lovallo initiated coverage on the stock with a buy rating, with his price target of $232 implying more than 27% upside from Thursday's close. Lovallo joins 11 other analysts covering the stock on Wall Street who have a strong buy or buy rating, per LSEG. Of the 16 analysts in total, the remaining four have taken a neutral stance. With a "structurally underbuilt" housing market in the U.S., Lovallo thinks the homebuilder is well positioned for growth ahead, seeing current headwinds subsiding in 2025. "In our view, the market appears overly cautious on BLDR's growth potential over the next few years given ongoing softness in the multi-family market, decreasing building materials per housing st...

Recent consumer survey data on iPhone sales points to a lack of growth for Apple , according to KeyBanc Capital Markets. Analyst Brandon Nispel downgraded the megacap tech name to underweight from sector weight, and his $200 price target reflects more than 13% downside ahead, as of Thursday's close. Shares fell nearly 1% in the premarket following the analyst's move. Year to date, the stock has soared nearly 20%. AAPL YTD mountain AAPL, year-to-date Nispel thinks the iPhone SE is "not purely additive" to overall iPhone sales, citing data from the firm's consumer iPhone survey for September. The survey showed that 59% of respondents are interested in upgrading to the iPhone 16. Additionally, among those who are likely or extremely likely to upgrade to the iPhone 16, 61% are interested in th...

People walk past an advertisement for the iPhone 16 Pro at an Apple store during National Day holiday on October 3, 2024 in Chongqing, China.Cheng Xin | Getty Images News | Getty ImagesApple rejoined the ranks of the top five smartphone vendors in the China in the third quarter, helped by the launch of the iPhone 16, data released on Friday showed — but its growth was still outpaced by domestic rival Huawei.Apple stood at second position by market share in the third quarter, according to International Data Corporation (IDC). The tech giant took a 15.6% slice of the Chinese market over the period, down from 16.1% in the third quarter of last year. The company's shipment growth to China flatlined year-on-year in the third quarter. Apple stood at second position by market share in the third q...

Supporters of the ruling Georgian Dream party at the party's final campaign rally in Tbilisi on Oct. 23, 2024, ahead of the Oct. 26 parliamentary elections.Giorgi Arjevanidze | Afp | Getty ImagesParliamentary elections in Georgia this weekend have been described as the vote "of a lifetime" that will determine whether the country moves toward Russia or the West.The vote on Saturday is being closely watched for whether the ruling "Georgian Dream" party — which has morphed from an expressly pro-Western grouping over its 12 years in power to a decidedly pro-Russia one in recent years — can hold on to office, or whether it will unseated by pro-Western opposition parties.Voter polls in the run-up to the vote are considered unreliable as they have generally been commissioned or conducted by pro-o...

A DJI Inspire 1 Pro drone is flown during a demonstration at the SZ DJI Technology Co. headquarters in Shenzhen, China, on Wednesday, April 20, 2016.Qilai Shen | Bloomberg | Getty ImagesChina's Ministry of Commerce on Thursday emphasized the country's efforts to restrict illegal exports of military goods to Russia as it seeks to cast Beijing as a neutral player amid the ongoing war in Ukraine.The remarks were made during the week of the BRICS summit in Kazan, Russia. In a meeting on the sidelines of the summit, Chinese President Xi Jinping had told Russian President Vladimir Putin the two countries' "profound" relationship will not change despite the turbulence in global geopolitics.China has walked a diplomatic tightrope throughout the Russia-Ukraine war. Beijing has not condemned Russia ...

After the European Central Bank cut interest rates for the third time this year — and inflation fell below target — all eyes are now on policymakers' next move.A slew of Governing Council members spoke to CNBC's Karen Tso at the International Monetary Fund's annual meeting in Washington, D.C. this week. We asked them about the inflation outlook, the chances of a jumbo 50-basis-point interest cut in December, and more.Mārtiņš Kazāks, Bank of LatviaOn a 50-basis-point rate cut: "Well, everything should be on the table, you know, given what the data tells us. But we will have that discussion in December, and we will have the discussion then early next year, and from meeting to meeting ... With us approaching the 2% target, and with the economy being quite weak for the rates, the way is down a...

Vice President and Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris speaks at a campaign event at the Erie Insurance Arena in Erie, Pennsylvania, on October 14, 2024. Dustin Franz | Afp | Getty ImagesA stark shift toward former President Donald Trump on the political gambling platform Polymarket this month stoked scrutiny about four accounts that have collectively spent over $28 million betting on the Republican nominee to win the 2024 presidential election.Polymarket on Thursday confirmed what a number of experts have suspected: All four accounts are controlled by a single trader.A company spokesperson in a statement to CNBC described the whale as a French national with "extensive trading experience and a financial services background."The statement said the trader's accounts were funded f...

MUMBAI, MAHARASHTRA, INDIA - 2024/10/21: Hyundai logo is seen on the Hyundai car showroom in Mumbai. Hyundai Initial Public Offer (IPO) will be listed on the stock exchange on 22nd October 2024. (Photo by Ashish Vaishnav/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images)Sopa Images | Lightrocket | Getty ImagesThis report is from this week's CNBC's "Inside India" newsletter which brings you timely, insightful news and market commentary on the emerging powerhouse and the big businesses behind its meteoric rise. Like what you see? You can subscribe here.The big storyShares of carmaker Hyundai's Indian subsidiary started trading this week with much anticipation, only to drop by some 7% on its debut.The stock has pared back losses since, but is still 5% below its initial public offering price.The Korean...

Brad Garlinghouse, CEO of Ripple, speaks at the 2022 Milken Institute Global Conference in Beverly Hills, California, U.S., May 4, 2022. Mike Blake | ReutersRipple Labs CEO Brad Garlinghouse has been skeptical of crypto regulation in the U.S., but he is feeling highly optimistic about the post-election environment around the corner."This is the most important election we've had, but I also believe no matter what happens, we're going to have a more pro-crypto, more pro-innovation Congress than we've ever had," he said in a Wednesday conversation with CNBC at DC Fintech Week.Ripple, a veteran company in crypto known in part for its close association with the XRP token, operates a global payments business with banks and financial institutions as its main customers. About 95% of its business t...