Coronavirus: UK tech sector ‘at risk’ as firms miss out on loans April 8, 2020 The thriving UK tech sector is under threat as firms are missing out on a £330bn coronavirus support plan, Deliveroo, Citymapper and more have warned. In a letter to chancellor Rishi Sunak, 12 of the UK’s most prominent tech chiefs today called for an urgent meeting with officials to find a way for tech firms [...]
Amazon to suspend third-party delivery service due to coronavirus April 8, 2020 Amazon will suspend its third-party delivery service in the US as it diverts resources to deal with a huge surge in orders from its own customers. Amazon Shipping, which competed with UPS and Fedex, allowed the ecommerce giant’s drivers to pick up packages from businesses and deliver them to customers — an alternative to shipping [...]
Tesla to furlough workers and cut salaries due to coronavirus April 8, 2020 Tesla will furlough all non-essential employees and roll out salary cuts after it was forced to shut its factories in the US due to the coronavirus outbreak. Employees who cannot work from home and have not been assigned to critical work will be furloughed, according to an internal email seen by Reuters. Workers who are [...]
Whatsapp limits message forwarding to fight coronavirus fake news April 7, 2020 Whatsapp will impose a limit on message forwarding in a bid to halt the rapid spread of misinformation about coronavirus on its platform. The social media firm said that when users receive a message that has already been forwarded multiple times, they will only be able to send it on to one chat at a [...]
Coronavirus: Google bans adverts on 5G conspiracy theories April 7, 2020 Google has rolled out new measures to crack down on misleading health claims about 5G and conspiracy theories that the mobile technology is linked to coronavirus. The search giant has banned advertising on search terms and keywords that relate to false information about 5G to prevent profiteering from the public health emergency. Youtube, which is [...]
Wework sues Softbank over scrapped $3bn tender offer April 7, 2020 Wework’s special committee is suing Softbank over the Japanese investment giant’s decision to abandon a $3bn (£2.4bn) share purchase, the company confirmed today. Softbank, which holds a controlling stake in Wework, agreed to the tender offer last year as part of a dramatic rescue plan, but withdrew citing the coworking firm’s failure to meet “certain [...]
Imagination Technologies boss poised to quit over China Reform raid April 6, 2020 The boss of Imagination Technologies is reportedly on the brink of resigning as a state-owned Chinese company attempts to seize control of the board. Chief executive Ron Black, who has run the firm since December 2018, has signalled his intention to quit in protest at China Reform’s move to appoint four new directors, according to [...]
Facebook classified ads under scrutiny amid EU competition probe April 6, 2020 EU regulators have turned their attention to Facebook’s classified advertising business as part of an ongoing competition probe into the tech giant. The next stage of the antitrust investigation will examine whether the social media platform is distorting the classified ads market by promoting its free Marketplace service to users. Regulators have sent a 14-page [...]
Pressure builds on social media firms to stamp out ‘crazed’ 5G conspiracy theories April 6, 2020 Social media firms are under fierce pressure to stamp out misinformation about 5G amid fears the spread of conspiracy theories is putting lives at risk. Phone masts have been set alight in locations across the UK due to posts circulating online falsely claiming that there is a link between mobile phone technology and the coronavirus [...]
Apple to make 1m coronavirus face shields per week April 6, 2020 Apple has outlined plans to manufacture 1m face shields per week as it ramps up its efforts to tackle the coronavirus outbreak. Chief executive Tim Cook said the tech giant had so far sourced 20m face masks from its global supply chain to distribute to health workers around the world. Apple’s design and engineer teams [...]