Platform Executive

The full version of the article, along with thousands like it, can be found on the following page: Google told its scientists to ‘strike a positive tone’ in AI research Google this year moved to tighten control over its scientists' papers by launching a "sensitive topics" review, and in at least three cases requested authors refrain from casting its technology in a negative light, according to internal communications and interviews with researchers involved in the work. "Advances in technology and the growing complexity of our outside environment are increasingly leading to situations where seemingly inoffensive jobs raise moral, reputational, regulatory or legal problems," one of the pages for research staff stated. Google declined to comment for this story. The "sensitive topics" process adds a round of scrutiny to Google's standard review of papers for pitfalls such as disclosing of trade secrets, eight current and former employees said. ...

The full version of the article, along with thousands like it, can be found on the following page: Amazon to face US union push in year ahead In 2021, Amazon.com Inc is poised to confront a renewed challenge from groups it has long countered: the unions. Energized by protests at Amazon's US warehouses along with a more labor-friendly administration assuming office, unions are campaigning at the world's largest online retailer to determine if its warehouse or supermarket employees would like to join their ranks. A major test is expected early next year when workers at the same warehouse decide whether to unionize. The business has not faced a union election in the United States since 2014, and a "yes" vote could be the first for a US Amazon facility. Amazon, America's second-biggest private employer behind Walmart Inc , has told workers it already gives the pay and benefits unions promise, and it has trained managers to spot organizing activity. Its performanc...

The full version of the article, along with thousands like it, can be found on the following page: China’s Ant cuts credit limits for some young Huabei users China's Ant Group is lowering borrowing limits for some young users of its Huabei virtual credit card product, the company said on Wednesday, a month after China frozen the fintech beast's $37 billion public record plan. The credit limit reduction is meant to promote more "rational" spending habits among users, Ant added in a text message to journalists at our partner news agency Reuters. It did not provide further specifics. The move comes as Chinese authorities tighten their grasp on fiscal technology companies, amid concerns that lower income borrowers could get into debt trouble. Ant, which can be controlled by Alibaba founder Jack Ma, has two credit subsidiaries, Huabei and short-term consumer loan provider Jiebei, which have been used by around 500 million people in the 12 months to June 30, Ant sai...

The full version of the article, along with thousands like it, can be found on the following page: Cyberpunk 2077 sales miss analyst estimates after refunds Polish video game manufacturer CD Projekt SA said it offered more than 13 million copies of its Cyberpunk 2077 match through Dec. 20, below analyst forecasts, hurt in part by refunds demanded by players who complained it was cluttered with bugs. A futuristic role-playing game featuring Hollywood star Keanu Reeves, Cyberpunk 2077 was broadly seen as one of the greatest premieres this season. "This figure represents the estimated volume of retail sales across all hardware platforms (factoring in returns)," CD Projekt explained. The firm had not given sales forecasts and did not disclose how many refund requests it had received but the sales fell short of market expectations of 16.4 million, said analyst Piotr Bogusz in mBank broker. The game, published on Dec. 10, got off to a rocky start after a backlash over techni...

The full version of the article, along with thousands like it, can be found on the following page: Facebook to add more account security features next year Facebook has said it would start allowing users to prepare physical safety keys as a way to confirm their identity before logging to the social network's mobile app, beginning next year. The business now offers an choice to need a hardware security key to connect to your desktop computer prior to each log-in. Users could purchase a hardware key in retailers, and register with Facebook , the business said, confirming an earlier report by news website Axios . The world's biggest social network said it also intends to enlarge Facebook Protect -its own security program for high-profile accounts for example election applicants - to more kinds of accounts globally next year. The rollout of new safety services follows a July hack of peer social network Twitter Inc which compromised many celebrity accounts, including those of...

The full version of the article, along with thousands like it, can be found on the following page: Biden says President Trump must blame Russia for cyber attack Joe Biden has said he had seen no evidence that a massive cyber attack against the US is under control and warned that the breach will not go unanswered once he takes office on January the 20th. Biden, the Democratic former vice president, said President Trump needs to squarely place blame for the hack on Russia - something he has yet to do even though both Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and Attorney General William Barr have accused Moscow. Trump has floated the idea on Twitter that China might be responsible for the hacking spree. Uncovered last week, it breached at least half a dozen U.S. government agencies and left thousands of American companies exposed. “It is a grave risk and it continues," Biden told reporters in Wilmington, Delaware. "I see no evidence that it’s under control. I see none. Heard of none...

The full version of the article, along with thousands like it, can be found on the following page: ByteDance in talks to buy stake in mobile games firm CMGE ByteDance is currently in talks to buy into mobile games writer CMGE Technology Group, four people with direct knowledge of this matter told journalists, as the owner of short video app TikTok moves to strengthen its next column of expansion. A CMGE spokesman said the company isn't in talks to sell a stake to ByteDance . A ByteDance source stated it had held talks with CMGE but was not considering buying into the business. ByteDance intends to buy a part or all of the 27.6% CMGE stake held by Fairview Ridge Investment, commanded by CMGE chairman Xiao Jian and vice chairman Sin Hendrick, said two of the people. The people declined to be identified because the information is not public. Journalists at our partner news agency Reuters could not reach Fairview Ridge for comment. The talks come as the gambling industry continu...

The full version of the article, along with thousands like it, can be found on the following page: Indian TikTok clone gets significant backing in $100 million fund raise The app, called Josh, is just one of many home-grown short-video platforms that have sprung up because India blocked the popular TikTok in June amidst a boundary crisis with China, bringing worldwide investor interest in applications filling the gap. Bengaluru-based VerSe Innovation, that owns Josh, is valued at greater than $1 billion after the investment, it said in a statement. AlphaWave, part of international asset manager Falcon Edge Capital, also spent in VerSe, as did present investors Sofina Group and Lupa Systems, VerSe stated, adding that it might utilize the funds to scale up Josh. VerSe also owns news and content stage Dailyhunt, which offers content in multiple Indian languages. Back in September, Indian content-sharing platform ShareChat raised $40 million from investors including Twitter Inc and ...

The full version of the article, along with thousands like it, can be found on the following page: Google, Facebook agreed to team up against possible antitrust action, draft lawsuit says Facebook and Alphabet Inc's Google agreed to "cooperate and assist one another" in case of an investigation into their pact to work together in online advertising, the Wall Street Journal has reported. The WSJ report cited an unredacted version of a lawsuit filed by 10 countries against Google last week. The nations had accused Google of working with Facebook within an unlawful manner that violated antitrust law to improve its already-dominant online advertising business. According to the report, the lawsuit said that Google and Facebook were aware that their arrangement could trigger antitrust investigations and discussed how to cope with them. A Google spokesperson told the Journal that such agreements over antitrust threats are incredibly common. The unredacted draft edition...

The full version of the article, along with thousands like it, can be found on the following page: Australian regulator rejects Google’s undertaking over Fitbit competition concerns Australia's antitrust regulator has refused an undertaking by Google that sought to address competition concerns over its projected $2.1 billion acquisition of gym tracker manufacturer Fitbit. The development comes as Google remains at loggerheads with the Australian government over a variety of issues, such as proposed laws that will make Australia the first country in the world to force Google and Facebook to pay for news obtained from local media outlets. In June, the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) voiced concerns within the Fitbit bargain, warning Google's acquisition would give it too much of people's data, potentially hurting competition in health and online advertising markets. Google had sought to address these issues by offering a court enforceable undertaki...

The full version of the article, along with thousands like it, can be found on the following page: Microsoft, Google, Cisco, Dell join legal battle against hacking company Tech giants including Microsoft and Google on Monday joined Facebook's legal struggle against hacking company NSO, submitting an amicus brief in federal court which warned that the Israeli company's instruments were "powerful and dangerous." The brief, filed prior to the US Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, opens a new front in Facebook's lawsuit against NSO, which it registered last year after it was disclosed that the cyber surveillance company had exploited a bug in Facebook-owned immediate messaging program WhatsApp to assist surveil more than 1,400 people worldwide. NSO has argued that, as it sells digital break-in tools to police and spy agencies, it must gain from "sovereign immunity" - a legal philosophy that normally insulates foreign governments from lawsuits. NSO...

The full version of the article, along with thousands like it, can be found on the following page: ‘Dozens of email accounts’ were hacked at U.S. Treasury -Senator Wyden Dozens of email accounts in the US Treasury Department were included by the hackers accountable for a broad espionage campaign against US government agencies, the office of US Senator Ron Wyden has said. In a written statement, Wyden's office said that Senate Finance Committee staff were briefed the hack at the Treasury Department appears to have been a significant one, "the full depth of which isn't known." Wyden, the senior Democrat on the committee, stated that Microsoft advised the agency that dozens of email accounts had been compromised and that the hackers also penetrated the systems at Treasury's Departmental Offices branch, which will be home to its top officials. "Treasury still does not know all of the actions taken by hackers, or precisely what information was stolen,"...

The full version of the article, along with thousands like it, can be found on the following page: Twitter’s Jack Dorsey stops following Trump and Biden Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey appeared to stop following President Donald Trump on the platform this weekend, according to a Twitter account that follows the activity of tech leaders. Dorsey also unfollowed Democratic politicians Kamala Harris and Joe Biden, said @BigTechAlert, as well as the @realDonaldTrump account and the accounts of his daughter, Ivanka Trump. Trump, a successful user of Twitter, has lost 368,743 followers since Nov 17, according to Factba.se, a site which monitors Trump's public statements and tweets. His follower count stands at 88.5 million, however the decrease represents a change for an account which has rapidly increased during his period in office. Biden has organically grown and/or purchased roughly 2.5 million followers since Nov. 17, bringing his follower count to 21.6 million. A Twitter spokesman d...

The full version of the article, along with thousands like it, can be found on the following page: Yandex warns against limiting foreign ownership in Russian online streaming services Draft legislation proposing to restrict overseas shareholdings in Russian companies that offer online video streaming solutions to 20% may worsen the investment climate, a spokesperson for online giant Yandex has told journalists. Russian lawmaker Anton Gorelkin on Friday submitted the draft law into the lower house of parliament, the Duma, saying in a blogpost that new amendments were aimed at protecting the Russian market from "the excessive influence of foreigners". Yandex , which owns Kinopoisk, a film and TV streaming service, might be affected by the proposed laws as it is publicly listed on the US Nasdaq stock market and has a free float of 87%. Presently there's absolutely no limit on foreign ownership of streaming support suppliers whose total crowd internationally is mainly R...

The full version of the article, along with thousands like it, can be found on the following page: Big Tech’s stealth push to influence the Biden administration Silicon Valley is operating behind the scenes to secure senior functions for technology allies in lesser-known but still vital sections of president-elect Joe Biden’s administration, even as the pushback against Big Tech from progressive groups and authorities develops. The Biden transition team has stacked its agency review teams with more technology executives compared to tech critics. It has also added to its employees many officers from Big Tech businesses, which emerged as top donors to this campaign. Currently, executives and employees at tech companies like Alphabet Inc-owned Google, Amazon.com, Facebook, Microsoft are pushing to place candidates in senior roles at government agencies, based on four sources with knowledge of the issue. The bureaus many of these executives are planning for comprise the US Commerce Depart...

The full version of the article, along with thousands like it, can be found on the following page: US lawmakers to back $1.9 billion to replace telecom equipment from Huawei and ZTE US lawmakers are expected to endorse $1.9 billion to fund a program to remove telecom network equipment that the US government says poses national security risks as part of a year-end spending bill and COVID-19 bill, a source briefed on the matter has said. Lawmakers are also expected to back $3.2 billion for an emergency broadband benefit for low-income Americans. The Federal Communications Commission said in June it had formally designated China’s Huawei Technologies and ZTE as threats, a declaration that bars U.S. firms from tapping an $8.3 billion government fund to purchase equipment from the companies. Earlier this month, the FCC finalized rules that require carriers with ZTE Corp or Huawei equipment to "rip and replace" that equipment but is awaiting funding from Congress. Huawei s...

The full version of the article, along with thousands like it, can be found on the following page: Facebook removes anti-vaccine ‘fake news’ in Israel, government says Facebook has taken down content which distribute lies in Israel from coronavirus vaccinations since the government attempts to drum up support to the programme, the Justice Ministry said on Sunday. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Saturday became the first individual to be vaccinated in Israel. Opinion polls reveal some two-thirds of the public want to follow suit. The Justice Ministry reported that, at its request, Facebook took down four classes in the weekend which had disseminated texts, photographs and videos with "deliberately mendacious content designed to mislead about coronavirus vaccines". Such "fake news" included arguments which vaccines could be used to plant government monitoring chips in receivers' bodies, to poison them and thus cull the population or to subject them to ...

The full version of the article, along with thousands like it, can be found on the following page: Second hacking team was targeting SolarWinds at time of big breach Another hacking group, different from the suspected Russian team now associated with the important SolarWinds data breach, also targeted the organization's products earlier this season, according to a safety research site by Microsoft. "The investigation of the whole SolarWinds compromise led to the discovery of an additional malware that also affects the SolarWinds Orion product but has been determined to be likely unrelated to this compromise and used by a different threat actor," the blog said. Security specialists told journalists at our partner news agency Reuters this second attempt is known as "SUPERNOVA." It's a piece of malware that reproduces SolarWinds' Orion product but it is not "digitally signed" like the other attack, suggesting this second group of hackers did...

The full version of the article, along with thousands like it, can be found on the following page: Microsoft Corp says it found malicious software in its systems Microsoft has said that it has found malicious applications from its own systems associated with a huge hacking effort disclosed by US officials this week, including a top technology target to a growing list of attacked government bureaus. The Redmond, Washington company is an individual of Orion, the widely used networking management software from SolarWinds Corp, that was utilized in the suspected Russian attacks on key US agencies and others. Microsoft also had its own products leveraged to assault victims, said people knowledgeable about the issue. "Like other SolarWinds customers, we have been actively looking for indicators of this actor and can confirm that we detected malicious Solar Winds binaries in our environment, which we isolated and removed," a Microsoft spokesperson said, adding that the compan...