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Nov 20, 2023 • 4 min read

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Alibaba’s Cloud Business:

Alibaba, a leading Chinese e-commerce company, has reversed its decision to separate its cloud service division and make it public. The company attributes this decision to U.S. restrictions on Chinese exports of semiconductor technology. These curbs impact artificial intelligence applications and have raised concerns about Alibaba's ability to upgrade its hardware.
Alibaba stated that these restrictions could significantly impact the Cloud Intelligence Group’s operations and financial health. Instead of spinning off the unit, Alibaba now plans to develop a sustainable growth model for it under these challenging conditions. This shift comes after an initial announcement to divide the company into six units, which would have been its most significant restructuring in 24 years. The U.S. has been tightening controls over semiconductor technology exports to China since 2019, starting with a ban on Huawei.
Further restrictions were introduced in August 2022 and in recent months under the Biden administration, targeting specific Chinese chip designers and prohibiting the sale of advanced semiconductor technologies to certain countries. Despite these challenges, Alibaba reported a 9% increase in revenue year-on-year in its third quarter. Daniel Zhang, Alibaba's CEO, who was expected to lead the Cloud Intelligence Group, stepped down from the cloud business in September.

Truepill Data Breach:

Truepill, an online pharmacy service also known as Postmeds, has reported a data breach affecting over 2.3 million patients. This breach compromised personal details including patient names, types of medication, and in some cases, demographic data and prescribing doctors' names. The company began notifying affected patients on October 30.
The breach occurred between August 30 and September 1, after an unauthorized party accessed files related to pharmacy management and fulfillment. Truepill has since reported the incident to the Department of Health and Human Services and stated that 2.36 million individuals were impacted. In response, Truepill has strengthened its security measures and is training employees to prevent future breaches. The company advises affected individuals to monitor their information for accuracy.
A class action lawsuit has been filed against Postmeds, alleging that the breach was foreseeable and preventable, blaming inadequate data security measures. This incident follows Truepill’s settlement with the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) for operating an unregistered online pharmacy and other regulatory breaches. Truepill has provided a confidential call center number for patients with concerns about the hack. Experts advise those affected by data breaches to take immediate action to protect their information.

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