Amazon buys self-driving startup Zoox for $1bn June 26, 2020 Amazon has acquired US self-driving startup Zoox, marking its first major step into the driverless cars market. The deal is valued at more than $1bn, the Information first reported. Amazon declined to confirm the size of the acquisition. Zoox chief executive Aicha Evans and chief technology officer Jesse Levinson will continue to lead Zoox as [...]
Microsoft to permanently close all retail stores June 26, 2020 Microsoft has said it intends to keep all of its retail locations closed permanently, as it reorganises its sales offering towards online shopping. It said its retail team members will “continue to serve customers from Microsoft corporate facilities”, remotely providing sales, training, and support. No job losses were mentioned. It added that it will reimagine some of its [...]
France and UK offer concessions on digital tax after US tariff threat June 26, 2020 The Treasury is offering to reduce the scope of its digital services tax if the US promises to come back to the negotiating table on a global proposal, it has emerged. Alongside the finance ministers of France, Italy and Spain, the UK said in a letter to US Treasury secretary Steven Mnuchin it would “considerably [...]
Google reveals coronavirus support package for UK businesses June 26, 2020 Google has today launched a number of pledges to support British small businesses during the pandemic, as part of a bid to help companies stay open through boosting online performance. The tech firm said it has set a goal of helping 1m businesses by the end of 2021, particularly focusing on those which rely on [...]
Huawei wins fight to build £1bn UK chip facility June 25, 2020 Huawei was today given the green light by planning authorities to build a £1bn research and development facility in Cambridgeshire. The 500-acre facility will hold around 400 staff, and be focused on the production of technology for use in fibre-optic communication systems. Once up and running, it will become Huawei’s international headquarters for its optical [...]
Virgin Media down: Broadband outage hits thousands working from home June 25, 2020 Virgin Media appeared to suffer an outage this morning, leaving thousands of customers working remotely without broadband. The broadband operator had not acknowledged the issue by 10.15am on Twitter despite a flood of angry complaints from customers. Downdetector, a website that records outages by tracking social media mentions, registered a surge of complaints of Virgin [...]
Google to pay select publishers for news content June 25, 2020 Google will begin paying some publishers for their news content, after regulators threatened to force the tech giant to share the revenue it receives from articles. Google’s vice president for news Brad Bender said it would start paying some publishers in Germany, Australia and Brazil for “high-quality content”, with talks continuing regarding licences in six [...]
Google to automatically delete search and location data June 25, 2020 Google will now automatically delete your search and location history after 18 months, as it attempts to assuage concerns from regulators that it controls too much information about individuals. Users will be able to toggle in their settings to wipe their data every three or 18 months, with the latter now automatically turned on. The [...]
Softbank boss steps down from Alibaba board June 25, 2020 Softbank Group chief executive Masayoshi Son is to step away from his position on the board of Alibaba, as he defended the firm’s financial health and prospects. Son said he sees the move as “graduating” from Alibaba, a month after the e-commerce firm’s founder Jack Ma resigned from his own position on Softbank’s board. Son [...]
Half of all equity investment goes to UK tech businesses June 25, 2020 Nearly half of the total equity investment in UK SMEs last year went to tech firms, as the sector continues to remain attractive to investors. Equity investment in the UK’s tech firms increased 27 per cent to £4bn in the last year, its highest level since 2011. The growing tech sector in the UK remains [...]