Benoît Berthelot

Sex-for-Work Allegations Hang Over Tycoons’ Rubber Plantations Hubert Fabri and Vincent Bolloré own plantations accused of land appropriation and labor abuses. Their company says it has taken steps to improve matters, but a trip to West Africa shows sexual coerci...

Relire notre enquête Bloomberg sur le sujet, en avril dernier : www.bloomberg.com/features/202...

Bolloré Companies Excluded by Norway Fund on Human Rights Issues Norway’s sovereign wealth fund, the world’s largest, has excluded companies tied to billionaire Vincent Bolloré from its investment portfolio, citing “human rights violations,” after a review and foll...

Le fonds souverain norvégien a exclu de son portefeuille le groupe #Bolloré pour « violations des droits humains » à la suite de rapports faisant état d'abus dans les plantations de caoutchouc dont il est copropriétaire en Afrique www.bloomberg.com/news/article...

Is Europe’s AI Darling Mistral Becoming a Consultant? The startup embeds AI engineers with its biggest European clients

Is Europe’s AI darling Mistral becoming a supercharged AI consultant ? www.bloomberg.com/news/newslet...

Debunking the AI food delivery hoax that fooled Reddit A “whistleblower” tried to corroborate his viral post with AI-generated evidence. This is how I caught him. PLUS: Grok's image-generation crisis, and the rapture over Claude Opus 4.5

Great work from @caseynewton.bsky.social and an illuminating case study in how journalists authenticate allegations/sources in an age of generative AI

www.platformer.news/fake-uber-ea...

Amazon European Hub in Luxembourg Braces for Record Job Cuts Amazon.com Inc.’s decision earlier this year to ax 14,000 employees around the globe is reverberating at the company’s European headquarters in Luxembourg.

Amazon’s decision earlier this year to cut 14,000 employees around the globe is reverberating at the company’s European headquarters in Luxembourg, with record job cuts www.bloomberg.com/news/article...

Xavier Niel Buys $45 Million Property Built for Louis XV’s Lover Billionaire Xavier Niel has bought a historic residence near Versailles built for Louis XV’s royal mistress, adding to his growing portfolio of prestigious real estate holdings in France.

Billionaire Xavier Niel has bought the "Pavillon de Musique de la Comtesse du Barry," a historic residence near Versailles built for Louis XV’s royal mistress, adding to his growing portfolio of prestigious real estate holdings in France www.bloomberg.com/news/article...

France Risks Trump Ire as Lawmakers Vote to Raise Big Tech Tax French lawmakers voted to double its tax on large technology companies, risking a backlash from Donald Trump who has long threatened to retaliate against the measure with trade tariffs.

French lawmakers voted to double its tax on large technology companies, risking a backlash from Donald Trump www.bloomberg.com/news/article...

The German Owner of Politico Wants Another US Media Outlet After taking full control of publisher Axel Springer, Mathias Döpfner has a pile of cash and the desire to grow.

After taking full control of German publisher Axel Springer (Politico, Business Insider), Mathias Döpfner says he’s interested in bringing another US media startup under his roof : www.bloomberg.com/news/feature...

First AI Billionaires Emerge From French Homegrown Startup The three founders of Mistral AI emerged as France’s first artificial intelligence billionaires after a funding round valued the tech firm at €11.7 billion ($13.7 billion).

The three founders of Mistral AI emerged as France’s first AI billionaires after a funding round valued the tech firm at €11.7 billion www.bloomberg.com/news/article...

Mistral Emerges as Last, Best Hope for European AI Contender ASML Holdings NV’s €1.3 billion investment in Mistral gives the French startup a valuable dose of capital and credibility as it seeks to build an artificial-intelligence champion for Europe. Yet Mistr...

Dutch chipmaker ASML's €1.7 billion investment in French AI startup #Mistral has sparked hope that the company can offer a compelling alternative to American and Chinese AI. Story with
Yazhou Sun : www.bloomberg.com/news/article...

Mistral in Talks With MGX, Others to Raise Up to $1 Billion French artificial intelligence startup Mistral AI is in talks to raise as much as $1 billion in equity from several investors including Abu Dhabi fund MGX, according to people familiar with the matter...

French artificial intelligence startup Mistral AI is in talks to raise as much as $1 billion in equity from several investors including Abu Dhabi fund MGX, according to people familiar with the matter : www.bloomberg.com/news/article...
With @mhbergen.bsky.social, Dinesh Nair

Trump Movie Tariff Plan Steals Spotlight at Cannes Film Festival The Hungarian film institute’s booth at the Cannes Film Festival has a glossy brochure promoting a studio complex on the outskirts of Budapest. Next to a mock medieval village, it has a cluster of woo...

🎬 Donald Trump's threat to impose a “100% tariff” on films shot outside of the US was the talk of Cannes’ Film Market, where 15,000 movie professionals jostle in a vast, underground conference space to get deals done www.bloomberg.com/news/article... #Cannes2025

French Producer Woos Hollywood With Epic That Inspired Game of Thrones His godfather is Francis Ford Coppola and his family is French cinema royalty, but Dimitri Rassam says he’s carving his own path with plans to make a global blockbuster

🇫🇷 🎬 French producer Dimitri Rassam is the godson of Francis Ford Coppola. He is also betting tens of millions of euros on “The Accursed Kings”, an epic medieval saga destined to revive French cinema on the world scene.

By @benoitberthelot.bsky.social ⤵️
www.bloomberg.com/news/feature...

Sex-for-Work Allegations Hang Over Tycoons’ Rubber Plantations Hubert Fabri and Vincent Bolloré own plantations accused of land appropriation and labor abuses. Their company says it has taken steps to improve matters, but a trip to West Africa shows sexual coerci...

Sex-for-work allegations are widespread at Socfin rubber plantations co-owned by French billionaire Vincent Bolloré — even after management promised to improve conditions.
Read our Bloomberg investigation, reporting by @sheridanprasso.bsky.social, with Gaspard Sebag
www.bloomberg.com/features/202...

Sex-for-Work Allegations Hang Over Tycoons’ Rubber Plantations Hubert Fabri and Vincent Bolloré own plantations accused of land appropriation and labor abuses. Their company says it has taken steps to improve matters, but a trip to West Africa shows sexual coerci...

My latest: sexual violence/harassment, land appropriation, labor rights violations at African plantations co-owned by French billionaire Vincent Bollore.
Rubber made by this woman, "Rebecca," who faces daily sexual coercion, is imported by Michelin for US tires.

www.bloomberg.com/features/202...

US, EU Should Unite to Fight China on Trade, Politico Owner Says The German billionaire who owns Politico and Business Insider said he is “more optimistic than ever” that the US and Europe can establish a trade alliance to take on China.

Mathias Döpfner, the German billionaire and CEO of Axel Springer, who owns Politico and Business Insider, said he is “more optimistic than ever” that the US and Europe can establish a trade alliance to take on China www.bloomberg.com/news/article...

Amazon Turned Drivers Into First Responders in Europe Experiment Amazon.com Inc. equipped some delivery vans in Europe with defibrillators to see if drivers crisscrossing residential areas could speed up aid to heart-attack victims.

#Amazon equipped some delivery vans in London, Amsterdam and Bologna with defibrillators, to see if drivers crisscrossing residential areas could speed up aid to heart-attack victims :
www.bloomberg.com/news/article...

EU Answer to Trump May Involve Data Use by Big Tech, France Says The European Union’s response to US tariffs could include regulating the use of data by American big tech groups, France’s finance minister said in an interview with the JDD newspaper.

EU Answer to Trump May Involve Data Use by US Big Tech, France Finance Minister Says
www.bloomberg.com/news/article...

The Unbelievable Scale of AI’s Pirated-Books Problem Meta pirated millions of books to train its AI. Search through them here.

NEW: LibGen contains millions of pirated books and research papers, built over nearly two decades. From court documents, we know that Meta torrented a version of it to build its AI. Today, @theatlantic.com presents an analysis of the data set by @alexreisner.bsky.social. Search through it yourself:

Billionaire Bolloré Keeps Investors on Edge About His Endgame The ‘French Murdoch’ is overseeing a fast-paced overhaul of his empire, three years after he signaled his retirement.

Vincent Bolloré, the billionaire "French Murdoch", planned to retire three years ago. Instead, he's overseeing the most sweeping overhaul yet of his sprawling empire.
Story with Tara Patel (gift link) :
www.bloomberg.com/news/article...

Teleperformance Uses AI to ‘Neutralize’ Indian Accents of Agents Teleperformance SE, the largest call-center operator in the world, is rolling out an artificial intelligence system that softens English-speaking Indian workers’ accents in real time in a move the com...

Today, in dystopia:

The world's largest call center operator is using AI to make its staff sound less Indian

by @benoitberthelot.bsky.social

www.bloomberg.com/news/article...

Teleperformance, the largest call-center operator in the world, is rolling out an AI system that softens English-speaking Indian workers’ accents in real time in a move the company claims will make them more understandable
www.bloomberg.com/news/article...

Publicis CEO Sees Upside With Merger of Omnicom and Interpublic The chief executive officer of Publicis Groupe SA said the merger of rivals Omnicom Group Inc. and Interpublic Group could be good for business, with less competition for key customers and more talent...

The CEO of Publicis Arthur Sadoun said the merger of rivals Omnicom and Interpublic could be good for business, with less competition for key customers and more talent available to poach www.bloomberg.com/news/article...

Mistral’s Secret Powerbroker Keeps Europe’s AI Hopes Alive Arthur Mensch is the public face of French AI champion Mistral, but another startup’s CEO has been critical to its $6 billion valuation

Arthur Mensch is the public face of French AI champion Mistral, but a behind-the-scenes powerbroker has been critical to its success

Story with @mhbergen.bsky.social, editing @oliviasolon.bsky.social

www.bloomberg.com/news/article...

French AI Champion Mistral Isn’t for Sale, CEO Mensch Says European artificial intelligence champion Mistral AI is “not for sale” and instead is working toward an initial public offering, according to Chief Executive Officer Arthur Mensch.

European AI champion Mistral is “not for sale” and instead is working toward an initial public offering, CEO Arthur Mensch told Bloomberg www.bloomberg.com/news/article...

A fun one for NYE - I looked at club listings going back a decade in 15 cities to show that the trend for dance events to end earlier is global - with UK cities seeing some of the biggest shifts 📉🪩

Who killed the rave? (Gift link) on.ft.com/3PhQuY7

LVMH Bought a €50 Million Villa in Cannes for Brand Events French luxury group LVMH has acquired a historic villa in Cannes, France, for around €50 million ($52.7 million), to showcase its brands during the city’s star-studded festivals, people familiar with ...

French luxury group LVMH has acquired a historic villa in Cannes, France, for around €50 million, to showcase its brands during the city’s star-studded festivals, sources say www.bloomberg.com/news/article...

Eurovision Meets Shark Tank at Europe’s Premier Startup Conference The saunas were hot and the money was flowing at Slush, which featured demos, DJs and a growing emphasis on defense technology.

saunas, startups, "spank me with your term sheet"

a dispatch from Slush in our weekend edition (🎁 link 4 u)

LVMH Scion Lays Out Plan to Bring Paris Football Club to the Top Antoine Arnault, the scion of the LVMH luxury empire led by his father, plans to turn second-tier football club Paris FC into a rival for Qatar-backed Paris Saint-Germain.

The Arnault family plans to turn second-tier football club Paris FC into a rival for Qatar-backed PSG, while French football has been struggling with poor finances, an underwhelming media deal and constant infighting
www.bloomberg.com/news/article...

French AI Startup Backed by Arnault Plans to Raise More Funds H, the French artificial intelligence startup founded by veterans of Google’s DeepMind AI lab and backed by billionaires including LVMH Chief Executive Officer Bernard Arnault, is preparing for anothe...

French AI startup "H", backed by Accel, Amazon, Arnault, plans to raise more funds www.bloomberg.com/news/article...