Sony injects $250m into Fortnite creator Epic Games July 10, 2020 Sony has invested $250m in the game studio behind Fortnite, giving the tech giant a reported 1.4 per cent stake in the business. Epic Games is now said to be valued at $17.9bn after the deal. The two companies said the deal will allow them to “broaden their collaboration across Sony’s leading portfolio of entertainment [...]
Financial services sector banks on a digital future July 9, 2020 | City Talk “We know you enjoy a little trip into town, but you can do your banking online these days…”: a typical multi-generational conversation as a growing number of people turn to online tools to help with their finances. Inevitably it’s not been a smooth journey. Many find comfort in the familiarity of a bricks-and-mortar bank branch [...]
Tiktok removed more than 49m videos for content violations in six months July 9, 2020 Tiktok took down more than 49m videos worldwide in the second half of 2019, it said today in a transparency report, as scrutiny of the platform ramps up. The removed videos represented less than one per cent of all posts on the app in that time. Tiktok said the videos were taken down for violations [...]
UK data watchdog opens joint probe of controversial tech startup Clearview AI July 9, 2020 The UK’s Information Commissioner’s Office today launched a joint investigation with the Australian data watchdog of Clearview AI, a facial recognition startup. The ICO said the probe will focus on the data handling practices of Clearview AI, which scrapes data and biometrics of individuals from photos uploaded onto sites such as Facebook. Clearview AI describes [...]
Apple’s retail network pays just £6.2m tax on £1.4bn UK sales July 9, 2020 Apple’s UK retail arm paid just £6.2m in tax last year, despite raking in sales of almost £1.4bn as demand for its products boomed. Accounts filed today for Apple Retail, which manages its UK store network, showed revenue jumped 15 per cent in the 12 months to September 2019, despite not opening any new stores. [...]
Huawei says US sanctions have no immediate impact on UK 5G supplies July 8, 2020 US sanctions targeting China’s Huawei have had no immediate impact on its ability to supply 5G equipment to the UK, a senior company executive said today. Huawei vice president Victor Zhang said it would take months to establish the impact of the US measures announced in May, which aim to cripple the firm’s ability to source the advanced [...]
Five steps to put digital at the heart of Britain’s recovery July 8, 2020 If, at the start of this year, you’d have told me that I was going to celebrate my brother-in-law’s thirtieth birthday via Zoom, I would probably have asked you what Zoom was. I certainly wouldn’t have guessed that I would have ministerial meetings, museum tours and even makeup lessons on the platform. But the world [...]
British tech firm Arm to offload IoT units to Softbank July 8, 2020 Chipmaker Arm is to spin off its internet of things (IoT) software and services divisions to parent Softbank, as it focuses on its core business. Japanese giant Softbank purchased the Cambridge tech firm in 2016 for £24.3bn. The deal triggered a review of foreign takeover rules in the UK after ministers became concerned the country [...]
Farewill raises £20m from Matches Fashion backer Highland Europe July 8, 2020 Will-writing tech startup Farewill has today closed a £20m investment led by Highland Europe, tripling its funding to date. New backers Keen Venture Partners, Headspace chief executive Rich Pierson, Broadhaven Ventures, and Venture Founders also participated. They joined previous investors, including London-listed fund Augmentum Fintech, Transferwise co-founder Taavet Hinrikus and Kindred Capital. Farewill, which is [...]
Hong Kong: All the tech firms pausing activity after China’s security law July 7, 2020 A host of tech giants have said they will be pausing the processing of requests by authorities in Hong Kong to review user data, following a strict new security law passed by China last week. China’s parliament has approved the national security law in Hong Kong, which pushes the city state towards a more authoritarian [...]