Google in Talks with Character.AI; China's E-Commerce Sales Drop; Apple to Challenge EU's Digital Markets Act

Tech giants make moves in AI, e-commerce, and legal arenas amid global market shifts

Google is reportedly in talks to invest in AI chatbot startup Character.AI, potentially through the purchase of convertible notes.
Character.AI, founded by two former Google researchers, allows users to create customized AI chatbots modeled after celebrities and fictional characters.
Sales from China’s annual biggest e-commerce shopping festival fell by 9.75% to 277.6 billion yuan ($38 billion).
The Singles’ Day shopping event is usually a barometer of consumer sentiment in China.
Apple is set to dispute the European Union’s decision that put the App Store on an antitrust list under the Digital Markets Act.