Britain begins trials of Valneva vaccine December 15, 2020 Valneva will begin phase one and two UK trials of its coronavirus vaccine today, boosting Britain’s chances of wide-scale inoculation next year. The Scottish-based vaccine company will initially test its jab on 150 British volunteers in England. Early stage trials will attempt to prove whether the vaccine produces a safe and effective immune response against [...]
Twitter pulls ‘unsustainable’ Periscope app December 15, 2020 Twitter has announced plans to shut down its live-streaming app Periscope after seeing a decline in usage. The app has been in an “unsustainable maintenance-mode state… for a while”, Twitter said in a blog post. “Over the past couple of years, we’ve seen declining usage and know that the cost to support the app will [...]
Europe lays out new rules that could force the breakup of big tech December 15, 2020 Europe has laid out sweeping new tech regulation that could see big firms face huge fines in a further crackdown on big tech companies. The European Commission today set out two new pieces of legislation as it looks to curb the power of some of the world’s most popular firms. The EU has long had [...]
Toy subscription service Whirli raises £4m seed funding round December 15, 2020 A London-based toy sharing subscription service has raised £4m in its seed round led by Octopus Ventures just in time for Christmas. Rather than a usual subscription service, Whirli subscribers borrow toys instead of purchasing them and any unloved or outgrown toys can be sent back and swapped for another item. Whirli’s service, which starts [...]
Artificial intelligence: people – not robots – are in the driving seat December 15, 2020 | City Talk Like it or not, artificial intelligence (AI) is already part of our daily lives. From smartphones to Alexa virtual assistants, AI and its applications are accepted norms today.While we appreciate that AI can automate repetitive workplace tasks or even drive a car, its implications are much further reaching. Luminaries including Elon Musk and Bill Gates [...]
Fines, bans and directors liable: Government plans Big Tech crackdown December 15, 2020 The government is set to announce sweeping new measures for social media companies, as part of a crackdown on big tech. Digital Secretary Oliver Dowden and Home Secretary Priti Patel will today propose plans to hand Ofcom considerable powers over social media firms. Ofcom handed new powers The regulator will be able to fine companies [...]
Exclusive: Tech Nation’s top London startups revealed December 15, 2020 Tech Nation has announced London’s top five early stage tech companies as part of its Rising Stars competition. In what has been a difficult year for small firms, Tech Nation has picked some of the most innovative startups from the capital. In its third year, the Rising Stars programme is a national competition for innovative [...]
Chinese regulator fines Alibaba and Tencent under antitrust laws December 14, 2020 The Chinese markets regulator has fined Alibaba and Tencent for a string of deals in its latest bid to clamp down on tech companies. The State Administration for Market Regulation announced on Monday it had fined Alibaba, Tencent-backed China Literature and Shenzhen Hive Box Technology 500,000 yuan. It comes after the regulator published draft regulations [...]
Google accounts back up again after global outage December 14, 2020 Google’s UK accounts appear to be up and running again after multiple services including Gmail and Youtube all experienced outages. There was a huge downtime spike for Google’s services at around 11.30am GMT according to outage site Down Detector. Google’s Play Store, Drive and Calendar were also all reportedly down. Problems have mainly been reported [...]
Astrazeneca to buy US drugs firm Alexion for $39bn December 12, 2020 Astrazeneca has agreed to buy US drugmaker Alexion in a $39bn (£29.5bn) cash and share deal, as the British pharmaceuticals giant bolsters its presence in the immunology field. The Cambridge-headquartered firm, which is currently one of the frontrunners in the Covid vaccine arena, announced this afternoon that Alexion shareholders would receive $60 in cash and [...]