Month: June 2022

A tech watchdog group reveals users can purchase materials to build high-powered, automatic weapons in a few clicks Guns, weapon parts and ammunition are widely available for sale on Facebook and Instagram, new research shows, as experts say Meta is not doing enough to stop deadly weapons getting into the wrong hands. Meta policy since …

Meta banned firearms sales. Why are they still available on Facebook and Instagram? Read More »

It’s easy to be fooled by the mimicry, but consumers need transparency about how such systems are used The Google engineer Blake Lemoine wasn’t speaking for the company officially when he claimed that Google’s chatbot LaMDA was sentient, but Lemoine’s misconception shows the risks of designing systems in ways that convince humans they see real, …

Human-like programs abuse our empathy – even Google engineers aren’t immune | Emily M Bender Read More »

Company says decision to disable desktop app comes as web developers less likely to make sites compatible with browser, which first graced computers in 1995 Microsoft has announced it will kill off its much-maligned legacy internet browser Internet Explorer close to 27 years after it graced desktop computers in 1995. From 15 June, the desktop …

Microsoft to retire Internet Explorer browser and redirect users to Edge Read More »

Deal – which would require approval from US and Israel – would give L3Harris control over controversial Pegasus tool The US defence contractor L3Harris is in talks to take over NSO Group’s surveillance technology, in a possible deal that would give an American company control over one of the world’s most sophisticated and controversial hacking …

US defence contractor in talks to take over NSO Group’s hacking technology Read More »

Employees hit by cryptocurrency crash as bitcoin price has plummeted in recent weeks Crypto exchanges Coinbase and BlockFi are laying off hundreds of staff members, equivalent to a fifth of their workforces, as they struggle to survive the second wave of the ongoing crypto crash. Employees at Coinbase, once the flagship US cryptocurrency exchange, will …

Crypto exchanges Coinbase and BlockFi lay off hundreds of staff Read More »

World’s richest person to take questions from employees amid concerns over attempted takeover Elon Musk will speak to Twitter employees this week for the first time since launching his $44bn (£36bn) bid in April, a source said on Monday, citing an email from Twitter chief executive, Parag Agrawal, to staff. The meeting is scheduled for …

Elon Musk to hold first meeting with Twitter staff since $44bn bid Read More »

Consortium plans to adapt turboprop aircraft with 40-80 seats to run on environmentally friendly fuel The world’s first hydrogen-fuelled commercial flight of a passenger plane could take place between Rotterdam and London in six years’ time, under a plan to make short-haul air travel more environmentally friendly. The 2028 target set by a Dutch consortium …

Dutch group targets hydrogen-fuelled commercial flight in 2028 Read More »

More than 100 of the coffee shop’s locations have unionized, while just one Amazon warehouse has managed it In a historic win in December, baristas in Buffalo voted to make their Starbucks the first of more than 9,000 corporate-operated Starbucks in the US to unionize. Since then, 143 other Starbucks have unionized and workers at …

Why is Starbucks’ union drive speeding ahead while Amazon’s founders? Read More »

The Last Week Tonight host examined Google, Amazon and Apple and efforts to address ‘anti-competitive conduct’ John Oliver has called out “anti-competitive conduct” of big tech, urging bipartisan support of bills that would help curb such behaviour. On Last Week Tonight, the host said that “our experiences on the internet are now dominated by a …

John Oliver on big tech: ‘Ending a monopoly is almost always a good thing’ Read More »

Blake Lemoine claims of sentience for artificial intelligence bot described as ‘ball of confusion’ by Steven Pinker The suspended Google software engineer at the center of claims that the search engine’s artificial intelligence language tool LaMDA is sentient has said the technology is “intensely worried that people are going to be afraid of it and …

Google engineer says AI bot wants to ‘serve humanity’ but experts dismissive Read More »