Technology

British Watchdog is Investigating the AI Market

4May

By Alan LorenzNo Comments

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 ...

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 t...

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 d...

Twitter Invents New Verification Checkmark

9Nov

By Alan LorenzNo Comments

News, Technology, US

Twitter Invents New Verification Checkmark

Twitter seems to be returning to previous plans around the verification check marks. Paid unverified check marks will be added, but Twitter also wants to roll out an extra check mark to recognize the authentic accounts of, for example, governments. Just days after the first announcement of plans for a paid subscription to Twitter, the messaging service appears to be addressing some of the criticisms of those plans. For those lucky enough to have missed all the fuss: it revolves around (among other things) 'blue checkmarks', the check mark next to someone's account name on Twitter. Currently, only accounts whose identity has been verified by the company will receive such a checkmark. Therefore, the check marks are used by, for example, government organizations and public figures,...

Elon Musk Bans People Who Impersonate Him on Twitter

7Nov

By Alan LorenzNo Comments

News, Technology

Elon Musk Bans People Who Impersonate Him on Twitter

Pretending to be someone else without clearly stating it is a parody is no longer possible on Twitter. That has the new boss Elon Musk announced. Such parody accounts will be permanently suspended. The announcement came after several users impersonated Musk himself. Elon Musk goes through Twitter with a coarse brush. After a major layoff, he is now also fighting people who imitate him on Twitter. "In the future, all Twitter addresses that engage in impersonation without clearly identifying 'parody' will be permanently suspended. Previously, we issued a warning before suspending, but now that we are introducing widespread verification, there will be no more warning," the new Twitter boss tweeted Monday night. And he immediately turned that measure into reality. American actres...

2Nov

By Alan LorenzNo Comments

News, Technology

Dropbox Code Partially Stolen

Part of the Dropbox code was stolen in a phishing attack. The company itself has announced this. Online vault service Dropbox says attackers have accessed and copied some 130 of the company's private repositories at Github. As a result, the source code and some of Dropbox's API data were stolen. However, customer data, passwords and payment information would not have been stolen. "We believe the risk to customers is minimal," Dropbox said in a statement. The leak was discovered on October 13 when Github noticed suspicious behaviour with Dropbox's corporate account. After an investigation, Dropbox now says it has been the victim of a phishing attack. The attackers created a fake login page for the coding platform CircleCl. Dropbox employees use the same login in Github as they do...

US Federal Investigation into Tesla Autopilot Claims

27Oct

By Alan LorenzNo Comments

News, Technology, US

US Federal Investigation into Tesla Autopilot Claims

The US Justice Department wants to find out whether Tesla misled its customers with claims about the self-driving capabilities of its cars. The research focuses on the Autopilot software. The Department of Justice started an investigation into Tesla's driver guidance software as early as 2021, the Reuters news agency reported. The so-called Autopilot is sold as 'fully self-driving' in the United States. According to CEO Elon Musk, the software makes Tesla the safest car on the market. However, US regulators do not fully agree. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), among others, has already contradicted the claims. And now, the Ministry of Justice is also going into more detail. According to Reuters, the government wants to determine whether Tesla has misled...

Taiwanese Chip Maker TSMC Wants to Expand in Japan

19Oct

By Alan LorenzNo Comments

Business, Japan, News, Technology

Taiwanese Chip Maker TSMC Wants to Expand in Japan

The Taiwanese chip manufacturer TSMC wants to expand in Japan. With this, the company wants to reduce geopolitical risks in the chip sector, the American business newspaper Wall Street Journal writes based on insiders. Taiwan is de facto independent but is seen by China as a renegade province. In recent years, the Asian superpower has made it increasingly clear that Taiwan must become part of “the motherland” again. Recently, China held a major military exercise around Taiwan. That happened after a visit by American politician Nancy Pelosi to Taiwan. TSMC makes the majority of the chips and does this on behalf of tech companies. The company is already building a factory in Japan and is considering more factories. TSMC is also working on a plant in the US state of Arizona. ...

SWIFT Further Expands Digital Coin Experiment

5Oct

By Alan LorenzNo Comments

Business, News, Technology

SWIFT Further Expands Digital Coin Experiment

After eight months of experimentation, SWIFT presents its plans for its digital coin network. The intention is to require more efficient and fewer connections between banks in the future. SWIFT is the messaging system between banks for, among other things, money transfers between players. For the past eight months, it has been experimenting with different technologies and currencies with the central banks of France and Germany and some major financial players. Naturally, this concerns CBDCs, central bank digital currency. According to Reuters, that first test will continue with more advanced testing in the coming year. The setup is partly similar to how cryptocurrencies work, with different parties connecting to a central hub. Today this happens among financial institutions with...