The promise of CRISPR for curing congenital eye disorders May 11, 2021 | City Talk Genome editing is emerging as a powerful tool with the potential to eliminate a range of genetic disorders. Now the CRISPR-cas9 gene-editing tool, which is adapted from the bacterial anti-viral defense system, has broken new scientific ground by being directly administered into the body of live patients for the first time, in an attempt to [...]
Queen’s speech: Anger over social media safety laws as online scams excluded May 11, 2021 Campaigners have hit out at the government’s decision not to include scams in new legislation aimed at stamping out online harms. Plans to hold tech firms liable for harmful material posted to their platforms moved forward today after the Online Safety Bill was confirmed in the Queen’s Speech. The draft laws will force companies such [...]
Regulating the robots – unpacking the EU’s new AI Regulation May 11, 2021 | City Talk The European Commission recently publish a first draft of its new Artificial Intelligence Regulation (AI Regulation). The AI Regulation covers both Providers (i.e. developers) and business Users of AI systems. Providers have a broad set of obligations owed to Users. Under the AI Regulation, AI systems are categorised as: – Prohibited: certain “manipulative” and “exploitative” uses of AI are outlawed [...]
Rhyme or treason: Chinese tech giant Meituan’s boss in hot water over ancient poem May 11, 2021 Shares in Chinese tech giant Meituan have dropped sharply after its chief executive posted an ancient poem on social media that was interpreted as a veiled criticism of President Xi Jinping. Wang Xing, the billionaire boss of the food delivery app, posted The Book Burning Pit by Zhang Jie on a Chinese social media platform [...]
Apple hit with £1.5bn UK lawsuit over ‘excessive’ app store charges May 11, 2021 Apple is being sued for £1.5bn in a landmark UK class action lawsuit that accuses the tech giant of charging “excessive and unlawful” fees on its App Store. The claim, which has been filed in the Competition Appeal Tribunal in London, alleges that Apple deliberately shuts out competition by forcing consumers to use its own [...]
Pandemic drives 15-fold rise in online scams, say UK cyber spooks May 10, 2021 UK spooks took down more online scams last year than in the previous three years combined as the Covid-19 pandemic fuelled an increase in cyber crime. Experts oversaw a huge 15-fold increase in the number of scams removed from the internet, the National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) said today. It comes as unscrupulous hackers tried [...]
Elon Musk reveals he has Asperger’s in Saturday Night Live appearance May 9, 2021 Eccentric billionaire Elon Musk has revealed he has Asperger’s syndrome during an appearance on US sketch show series Saturday Night Live. The Tesla founder told viewers he was the “first person with Asperger’s” to host the show, “or at least the first person to admit it”. It is thought to be the first time the [...]
City Corporation calls on policymakers to help UK compete with US for tech listings May 7, 2021 | City Talk The City of London Corporation has today (7 May) published a new research report calling on policymakers to take vital steps to improve the UK’s attractiveness as a destination for new listings. London’s Equity Capital Markets Ecosystem finds that the UK should act to address the current disparity which exists with competitors, notably the US which [...]
AI is growing: How do we create fair technology we can trust in, and minimise the risks of gender bias? May 7, 2021 | City Talk This year marks 20 years since Spielberg’s sci-fi / drama movie came to our screens: A.I. Artificial Intelligence – and in 2021, AI is no longer the work of science fiction. In the last 20 years, AI uses have been explored for human benefits in numerous industries. AI has played a key role in developing vaccines against [...]
Rocket debris racing for Earth, expected to arrive tomorrow May 7, 2021 Debris falling from a Chinese rocket is expected to land on Earth tomorrow, amid concerns it could cause damage upon re-entry into the atmosphere. A Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin urged today that most of the debris will be burned up on re-entry and is highly unlikely to cause any harm. The Defence Department [...]