Tuesday newspaper round-up: Influencers, Microsoft, Canal+

Britain’s financial watchdog has interviewed 20 social media influencers under caution, as it clamps down on “finfluencers” who may be touting financial services products illegally. The 20 were interviewed voluntarily using the Financial Conduct Authority’s criminal powers. Potential penalties include fines and imprisonment of up to two years. – Guardian

Microsoft is introducing autonomous artificial intelligence agents, or virtual employees, that can perform tasks such as handling client queries and identifying sales leads, as the tech sector strives to show investors that the AI boom can produce indispensable products. The US tech company is giving customers the ability to build their own AI agents as well as releasing 10 off-the-shelf bots that can carry out a range of roles including supply chain management and customer service. – Guardian

The French media giant behind the Paddington films is seeking a valuation of up to €8bn (£6.7bn) when it lists on the London Stock Exchange, which would make it the largest debut listing of the year. Canal+, which owns Paddington producer StudioCanal, is expected to appear on the LSE in mid-December as part of a spinout by its parent company Vivendi. City sources said the debut is likely to value Canal+ in a range between €6bn and €8bn – which would give the embattled market a much-needed boost. – Telegraph

Almost a third of UK businesses are calling for the government to support British trade by reducing Brexit-related regulations and red tape. A survey by Santander found that nearly three quarters (74 per cent) of businesses are confident they will grow in the next three years and 36 per cent are “very confident” about future growth, compared with just 22 per cent a year ago. – The Times

Dow Jones and the New York Post have filed a lawsuit against Perplexity, the artificial intelligence startup, for “shamelessly” ripping off their journalism for its search engine. The News Corp-owned publishers have alleged that Perplexity’s AI-generated “answer machine” has copied “vast” quantities of journalists’ work into its database. – The Times