China hits Alibaba with record $2.8 billion fine
China slapped a record $2.8 billion fine on Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. after an anti-monopoly probe found it abused its market dominance.
The Chinese government launched an investigation into Alibaba in December to determine whether the company was preventing merchants from selling their products on other platforms, reports TheVerge. China’s market regulator found that Alibaba’s practices had a negative effect on online retail competition and innovation. Alibaba used data and algorithms to strengthen its own position in the marketplace, resulting in an “improper competitive advantage”.
Business Insider noted that the fine comes several months after Alibaba founder Jack Ma angered government officials, including President Xi Jinping. Speaking at a conference last fall, Jack Ma publicly criticized China’s regulatory system, saying that the country’s financial system was “the legacy of the Industrial Age.”
Xi Jinping then reportedly halted a planned $37 billion initial (R540.6 billion) public offering by Ant Group, another Ma company.
After the clash, Ma disappeared from public view for a few months, fueling speculation over his whereabouts.
More Amazon news
Alibaba Launches A Voice Assistant
Can it surpass Duplex by Google? According to Innovation Enterprise, Alibaba impressed delegates with its AI customer service voice assistant which handle calls for its logistics company Cainiao, during a presentation at the 2018 Neural Information Processing Systems...
Amazon expands its fleet
Amazon is reducing reliance on third-party carriers. Amazon's famous drones have yet to deliver much of anything, but its jets are a different story. After launching Prime Air in 2016 with 40 jets, the company appears to have renamed it "Amazon Air" and added 10 more...
Sex, booze, or Amazon?
Millennials pick Amazon over sex: survey According to New York Post, a new survey revealed 77 percent of millennials would go without booze for a year rather than quit Amazon, and 44 percent would forego sex. The survey, conducted by Max Borges Agency, also uncovered...