Chinese chip making giant plans new $8bn plant to bolster local supply September 3, 2021 One of China’s top chip manufacturers is looking to bolster its factory network with a new $8.87bn plant near Shanghai, while the world squabbles over a reduced supply. The billion-dollar investment signals China’s attempts to build a leading semi-conductor industry, amid a global shortage that has been stoked by the pandemic. The facility will focus [...]
Exclusive: Lawyer warns tech savvy teens could leave Children’s Code efforts futile September 3, 2021 Following a twelve-month grace period, the Age Appropriate Design Code has now come into force. The UK’s new digital privacy regulation will compel social media companies, gaming platforms and video services to protect children’s data online and has been lauded by campaigners as one of the first successful pieces of digital media regulation. The Code’s [...]
Creaking Cairo cedes to new high-tech capital with smart cards and AI-driven apps September 3, 2021 Egypt’s new administrative capital will be hi-tech. Residents will use smart cards and apps to get about, under the watchful eye of a far-reaching surveillance system. Watch the full report.
Global hiring spree: Amazon looking to recruit 55,000 people worldwide September 2, 2021 Amazon confirmed this afternoon it is planning another hiring spree, saying it looks to recruit 55,000 people around the world. The positions range from tech jobs to corporate roles to warehouse work packing and shipping orders for the online shopping giant. While other companies have laid off workers during the pandemic, Amazon’s workforce has ballooned [...]
Protesters with inflatable breasts gather outside Facebook’s London office over nipple images September 1, 2021 Protesters with inflatable breasts have gathered outside the London offices of Facebook to voice concerns about how the social network moderates some images containing nipples. The group has said its aim is to enable medical tattoo artists and breast cancer survivors to freely post images of their experience and areola or nipple tattoos, which they [...]
QuickBooks owner Intuit in early talks for $10bn Mailchimp buyout September 1, 2021 Software developer Intuit, the firm behind TurboTax and QuickBooks, has reportedly entered talks with Mailchimp for a $10bn buyout. The deal’s discussions are still in their early stages, Bloomberg first reported, citing people familiar with the matter. There is room for the potential deal to fall through, or alternatively, a rival bidder may emerge for email [...]
Bucking the trend: Revolut sets no vaccination requirement for US staff September 1, 2021 Bucking the Wall Street trend, Revolut will not require its US staff to be vaccinated in order to get into the office. The US boss of the tech darling told Financial News Revolut had chosen not to make vaccination against Covid-19 a requirement of returning to work in its offices in New York, San Francisco [...]
South Korea outlaws Google and Apple in-app payment systems August 31, 2021 South Korea’s National Assembly has approved legislation that bans app store operators such as Google and Apple from forcing developers to use their in-app payment systems. South Korea is reportedly the first country in the world to pass such a bill, which becomes law when it is signed by the president, whose party has backed [...]
Tencent ends all exclusive music rights deals after Beijing crackdown August 31, 2021 Tencent has ended all its exclusive music licensing agreements with record labels across the world after Chinese regulators ordered it to do so last month, as part of an intensifying crackdown on the country’s tech giants. In a statement released on the Chinese tech conglomerate’s official WeChat page, Tencent said all parties involved in the [...]
Zoom bags first $1bn quarter but demand for the Covid-19 essential is fading August 31, 2021 Zoom, which became a household name amid the pandemic, has recorded its first billion-dollar revenue in just one quarter – but demand for its Covid-19 essential service is quickly weening. The company forecast revenue of between $1.015bn and $1.020bn for its third quarter, which inched past analysts’ average estimate of $1.013bn, according to Refinitiv data. [...]