Techs

We Need a Public Service Internet to Free Us from Big Tech’s GraspThe profit-led business models of big tech are harming democracy. We should look to the tradition of public media to help us find alternativesBy Helen Jay Credit: rob dobi/Getty Images“Big tech”—aka Google, Facebook, Apple, Microsoft—now outdoes the notorious trusts of the Gilded Age in their raw power. Much of it rests in the hands of some of the wealthiest men in the world. They share not just vast reach and influence, but a common thirst for maximum…

As the world's biggest tech companies revamp their core online services to comply with the European Union's landmark Digital Markets Act, the changes could give some smaller rivals and even peers a competitive edge.The DMA is Europe's attempt to rein in Alphabet's Google, Amazon, Apple, TikTok owner ByteDance, Meta Platforms and Microsoft and create a level playing field for smaller rivals and ultimately more competition for Europeans.Elevate Your Tech Prowess with High-Value Skill CoursesOffering…

The Flipper Zero may be one of the most versatile, and most controversial keychain-sized devices ever put to market. The device can scan, receive, send, and mimic several types of signals. It can scan NFC and RFID signals used by many common products. It can replicate the frequency used for your workplace’s ID card. It’s a $169 doohickey useful for everyday operations like opening your garage door or pen-testing security systems. It’s also been accused by the Canadian government of being capable of replicating vehicle key…

Credit: Pixabay/CC0 Public Domain Big Tech stocks created, and have so far dominated, the trillion-dollar club in the U.S. For the first time, there's a race brewing for an outsider to join their ranks. Rallies since the start of the year in Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway Inc.—which has its hands in businesses ranging from Dairy Queen to Fruit of…

Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) has led a public crusade to demand that the Biden administration push Big Tech’s anti-regulation agenda worldwide — despite the fact his wife owns up to $3 million worth of stock in major tech companies that could benefit from the effort, according to financial disclosure records.  Wyden has long been an ally of the tech industry, and his wife is quite wealthy. Ethics experts tell Rolling Stone that the situation does not violate any laws or congressional ethics rules, but could pose a…

All across the country, lawsuits are piling up challenging state laws that attempt to regulate Big Tech platforms in one way or another. Some of the suits take aim at laws requiring new safeguards for kids online. Others are targeting attempts to govern how social media platforms can moderate political speech. All of the litigation has at least one thing in common: the Big Tech lobbying firm behind it. Over the past few years, NetChoice, which was founded in 2001, has emerged as the tech industry’s first line of defense…

On February 6, Meta said it was going to label AI-generated images on Facebook, Instagram, and Threads. When someone uses Meta’s AI tools to create images, the company will add visible markers to the image, as well as invisible watermarks and metadata in the image file. The company says its standards are in line with best practices laid out by the Partnership on AI, an AI research nonprofit. Big Tech is also throwing its weight behind a promising technical standard that could add a “nutrition label” to images, video,…

French competition watchdog probes big tech's AI dominance; US AI giants collaborate on federal safety standards; Microsoft teams up with Sarvam AI for voice-based GenAI tools; government says AI will have jobs impact, but will create opportunities too- this and more in our daily roundup. Let us take a look. 1. French Competition Watchdog probes big tech's AI dominanceFrance's competition authority has initiated a public consultation on the AI sector, aiming to assess big tech firms' strategies. With a focus on companies…

If the after-hours drop materialises when the Nasdaq reopens, the founders’ holdings will fall by nearly $US1 billion each.Atlassian recently marked 1000 days of running a fully geographically spread workforce, and was one of the most aggressive companies to enact a remote-work policy during the pandemic.“Atlassians can choose to work from one of our offices, or not, on any given day,” the company says.It was a different story for US tech giant Meta, parent company of Instagram and Facebook, which jumped more than 11 per…

The action targets Amazon, Google, and Microsoft and their sway over the generative AI boom that’s fueled demand for chatbots such as ChatGPT, and other AI tools that can produce novel imagery and sound.“We’re scrutinizing whether these ties enable dominant firms to exert undue influence or gain privileged access in ways that could undermine fair competition,” said Lina Khan, chair of the U.S. Federal Trade Commission (FTC), in opening remarks at a Thursday AI forum.Khan said the market inquiry would review “the…