Technology Archives

17Feb

By Alan LorenzNo Comments

News, Technology, US

Meta is Working on Humanoid Robots

Meta wants to play a major role in the development of humanoid robots and the AI associated with them. However, it is not yet certain whether it wants to market such a robot itself. According to Bloomberg sources, Meta has set up a new division within Reality Labs, the branch where AI and VR headsets are developed, among other things. At the same time, the company is in talks with robot companies such as Unitree Robotics and FIGure AI Inc. Meta aims to use its existing software, sensors and computing components from existing products for robot development. However, it would not yet be about building humanoid robots itself. However, that is not entirely out of the question. Meta has hired Marc Whitten to lead the new robotics department. He spent the last nine months as CEO ...

Russian Hackers Trick Diplomats With WhatsApp Codes

20Jan

By Alan LorenzNo Comments

Business, Russia, Technology, US

Russian Hackers Trick Diplomats With WhatsApp Codes

A hacking group with Russian ties attempts to convince diplomats to join a WhatsApp group through targeted attacks to take over the entire account. According to a Microsoft Threat Intelligence Report, Russian Star Blizzard, a group operating on behalf of Russia, is attempting to take over users' accounts with a spear phishing campaign. Spear phishing is a highly targeted attack, often targeting high-ranking people. According to Microsoft, this method has been attempted since mid-November. In it, the victim supposedly receives an email from a US government employee inviting them to a WhatsApp group about non-government initiatives to support Ukraine. Microsoft warns that the campaign explicitly targets government or diplomatic employees, including predecessors and successors to...

Microsoft Will Pump $80 Billion into Data Centres for AI Applications This Year

6Jan

By Alan LorenzNo Comments

Business, News, Technology, US

Microsoft Will Pump $80 Billion into Data Centres for AI Applications This Year

Microsoft's chairman, Brad Smith, announced that it will invest $80 billion in data centre expansion by 2025. This is necessary to enable the enormous computing power required for AI applications. More than half of the investment is in the United States. "This reflects our confidence in the American economy," Smith said in a blog post. He also called on the new US President, Donald Trump, to support the sector and not to hinder it with "heavy regulations" regarding artificial intelligence. Race for computing powerIn the previous fiscal year, which ended in June 2024, Microsoft spent more than $50 billion on data centres. The major cloud infrastructure providers, such as Microsoft and Amazon, seem to have recently been engaged in a race for the most computing power to meet the g...

OpenAI Wants to Get Rid of Nonprofit Structure

30Dec

By Alan LorenzNo Comments

Business, News, Technology

OpenAI Wants to Get Rid of Nonprofit Structure

ChatGPT maker OpenAI is changing its structure and looking to give its for-profit arm a more significant role to attract big investors. OpenAI began in 2015 as a nonprofit organization focused on making significant steps in AI development through research. Now, the company says it needs to transform to meet that mission. Today, OpenAI has a for-profit division, which is the branch that Microsoft has been investing in for the past few years. However, that division still falls under the nonprofit OpenAI. The plan is to transform that for-profit division into a public benefit corporation (PBC). Such a PBC structure makes it easier for investors to get involved and receive shares in return. That is what OpenAI is mainly concerned with. The company acknowledges that when it started...

Google is Working on an Anti-Scam Tool for Chrome

23Dec

By Alan LorenzNo Comments

News, Technology, US

Google is Working on an Anti-Scam Tool for Chrome

A new feature in the Chrome browser is supposed to warn users when a site is trying to scam them. The feature, which appears to use AI, is currently being tested. If you enable the feature, Chrome will automatically scan various web pages for possible scams. It uses a large language model (LLM) for this on your device itself. We say it is because the feature is not usable for the general public yet. A researcher on X/Twitter discovered them in Chrome Canary, a browser's beta version. According to the description, the LLM looks for the brand behind the web page and tries to determine its intentions. That way, it could also identify possible scams. Interestingly, the LLM appears to be on the user's device, and from there, it analyses your browser traffic. This way, your surf...

TeamViewer Aims to Expand with US Acquisition

10Dec

By Alan LorenzNo Comments

Business, Europe, Germany, News, Technology, US

TeamViewer Aims to Expand with US Acquisition

German TeamViewer is acquiring American 1E for 720 million dollars. In addition to remote support, it also wants to improve the user experience, supplemented with AI. 1E is a 300-person company with $77 million in recurring revenue, 99 percent of which comes from enterprise customers. It is positioned in the market with its digital employee experience (DEX) platform, primarily intended to make the experience more pleasant for end users. TeamViewer sees this as an excellent extension to evolve its remote assistance tool into an end-to-end offering. It will include management of digital workplaces and predictive maintenance, which should reduce irritation for the end user. 1E is an American company (with offices in the UK, India, and Ireland), which gives TeamViewer an extra foo...

British Watchdog is Investigating the AI Market

4May

By Alan LorenzNo Comments

Business, News, Technology, UK

British Watchdog is Investigating the AI Market

The British competition watchdog CMA has launched a broad investigation into the development of the artificial intelligence (AI) market. The regulator wants to know what impact this fast-growing technology will have on competition in the technology sector and whether more rules are needed to protect consumers. Artificial intelligence develops computer systems that come close to human intelligence. For example, chatbots such as ChatGPT can write texts that appear to have been written by a human. The increasing possibilities offered by AI systems have prompted major technology companies such as Microsoft and Alphabet, the owner of Google, to accelerate investments in the sector. “The potential benefits of this transformative technology must be easily accessible to UK businesses ...

Lego Builds First Factory in the United States

17Apr

By Alan LorenzNo Comments

Business, News, Technology, US

Lego Builds First Factory in the United States

Lego wants to build its first factory in the United States, specifically in Virginia in the east. The toy manufacturer intends to increase its market share in this way. It concerns an investment of 1 billion dollars. “If we look at the potential in the US, we still have a long way to go,” US chief operating officer Carsten Rasmussen told Bloomberg news agency. The popularity of colourful building blocks across the ocean is much lower than in Europe. “We are already strong on the east coast and the north, but there is still much potential elsewhere. We think we can succeed in the coming years.” The Danish company competes globally for first place with American toy giants Mattel and Hasbro. Over the past four years, Lego has doubled its turnover in the US, but there is still much r...

Timer for TikTok Teens: Need Code for App After an Hour

1Mar

By Alan LorenzNo Comments

News, Technology

Timer for TikTok Teens: Need Code for App After an Hour

Teenagers on TikTok receive a warning if they spend more than an hour on social media daily. A special timer locks the app after 60 minutes. In addition, users under 18 can only continue browsing after entering a PIN code. The adjustment will take effect in the coming weeks. The minimum age for TikTok is 13 years old. With the adjustment, the social medium wants to respond to criticism that it is too addictive for young people. The young users must actively choose whether to continue watching by entering a pin code. TikTok will also send weekly overviews to teenagers, showing their total screen time. The app also advises teenagers to set a timer of 100 minutes if they find 60 minutes too little. Parents or guardians with a linked profile can also set their children's screen ti...

13Feb

By Alan LorenzNo Comments

Business, News, Technology

Fired from GitHub and GitLab

Both GitHub and competitor GitLab are putting people on the street. GitHub even wants to do without offices in the future. GitLab wants to cut 7 percent of its workforce. The company does not give an exact figure, but according to CNBC, it concerns about 130 people. Techcrunch puts it at 114 people, based on stock exchange documents that speak of 1,630 employees in total. At the same time, GitHub, now a Microsoft subsidiary, also comes with plans for dismissal. Here ten percent of the people have to leave in the course of this year. Again, no exact number is mentioned, but Microsoft blogger Paul Thurrott speaks of a total workforce of three thousand people, which translates to 300 redundancies. GitHub currently has offices in San Francisco and Amsterdam, which will close in du...