alphabet

SYDNEY—Australia’s highest court ruled that Alphabet Inc.’s GOOG -0.30% Google isn’t liable for defamatory content that can be accessed via a hyperlink in its search results, a win for Google in a jurisdiction that has at times taken a hard line against tech platforms. The case involved a lawyer, George Defteros, who alleged that a Google search of his name returned a hyperlink to and a snippet of a newspaper article that was…

Australia's highest court overturned on Wednesday a ruling that had found Google engaged in defamation by supplying a link to a contested newspaper article, throwing the spotlight again on how online libel cases are handled in the country.The seven-judge panel of the High Court of Australia voted 5-2 to throw out an earlier finding that the Alphabet unit played a part in publishing the disputed article by acting as a "library" housing it, saying the website had no active role.The decision brings fresh confusion to a…

Alphabet Inc's Google is combining the eyes and arms of physical robots with the knowledge and conversation skills of virtual chatbots to help its employees fetch soda and chips from breakrooms with ease. The mechanical waiters, shown in action to reporters last week, embody an artificial intelligence breakthrough that paves the way for multipurpose robots as easy to control as ones that perform single, structured tasks such as vacuuming or standing guard. Google robots are not ready for sale. They perform only a few…

YouTube is planning to launch an online store for streaming video services and has renewed talks with entertainment companies about participating in the platform, according to people close to the recent discussions.The company hopes the new platform, which it is referring to internally as a “channel store” and which has been in the works for at least 18 months, could be available as early as this fall, some of the people said. YouTube currently allows subscribers to YouTube TV, its $64.99-a-month online package of cable…

Alphabet's YouTube is planning to launch an online store for streaming video services, the Wall Street Journal reported on Friday.The company has renewed talks with entertainment companies about participating in the platform, which it is referring to internally as a "channel store", the report said, citing people close to the recent discussions.The platform has been in the works for at least 18 months and could be available as early as this fall, the report added.Alphabet did not immediately respond to a Reuters request…

Google has grave reservations about developing a self-regulatory body for the social media sector in India to hear user complaints, though the proposal has support from Facebook and Twitter, sources with knowledge of the discussions told Reuters.India in June proposed appointing a government panel to hear complaints from users about content moderation decisions, but has also said it is open to the idea of a self-regulatory body if the industry is willing.The lack of consensus among the tech giants, however, increases the…

The number of teenagers who say they are chronically online has nearly doubled since 2015, according to a new survey from Pew Research Center that also illustrates how rapidly the competitive landscape for social media is changing. YouTube is the most popular platform among U.S. teens, with 95% of the coveted demographic saying they use the site or its mobile app, the survey found. ByteDance Ltd.’s video-sharing platform TikTok, which was launched in the U.S. in 2018 and thus didn’t…

Months into its war against Ukraine, Moscow continues to let its own citizens access YouTube, leaving a conspicuous hole in its effort to control what Russians see and hear about the conflict. YouTube’s availability in Russia has continued for longer than some Google executives themselves initially expected, according to people familiar with the matter, especially given that the Silicon Valley giant has irked Moscow during the war. YouTube has suspended hundreds of channels run by Kremlin-affiliated entities…

WASHINGTON—Congress is set to depart for its August recess soon without acting on a bipartisan antitrust bill targeting the largest U.S. technology companies, in a setback for supporters who had been pushing for a vote before the busy fall election season.Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D., N.Y.) plans to hold a vote on the legislation when Congress returns this fall. But the shrinking number of legislative days available plays to the advantage of the tech companies, which can declare…

EU antitrust regulators have asked app developers whether Alphabet unit Google's threat to remove apps from its Play Store if they use other payment options instead of its own billing system has hurt their business, two people familiar with the matter told Reuters. Critics say fees charged by Google and Apple at their mobile app stores are excessive and cost developers collectively billions of dollars a year, a sign of the two companies' monopoly power. Questionnaires were sent to developers last month, the people said.…