G20 vows to crack down on tech giant tax havens by 2020 June 9, 2019 Tech giants such as Facebook and Google will face a crackdown to ensure they pay their corporate taxes in full, after G20 finance ministers vowed to wrap up new laws by the end of the year. In a communique issued after a meeting in Japan, the finance ministers said they would compile new rules to [...]
Nasa opens International Space Station to tourists from 2020 June 8, 2019 Nasa will allow tourists to visit its International Space Station from 2020. The US space agency announced it would open the station up to tourism and other business ventures. Read more: Elon Musk’s SpaceX has raised more than £1bn in six months It will cost each person $35,000 (£27,500) per night to stay there. The [...]
Would you want to be trained by an AI? June 7, 2019 By 2025, five billion people will be connected to each other through four billion smartphones and 50bn other devices. This will produce new data at unimaginable rates. Add in exponential growth in artificial intelligence (AI) – which is predicted to generate 1.7MB of data for every person every second by this time next year – [...]
Facebook rips apps off new Huawei smartphones June 7, 2019 Facebook has suspended pre-installation of its apps on new Huawei phones, dealing the latest blow against the beleaguered Chinese telecoms giant. The apps affected by the suspension will include Facebook, Instagram and Whatsapp. Customers who already have Huawei phones will still be able to access and update their apps. But the company’s new phones will [...]
Google: Huawei ban is a national security risk June 7, 2019 Google has warned the Trump administration it risks compromising US national security if it pushes ahead with planned restrictions on Huawei. Senior executives at Google are pushing US officials to exempt it from a ban on exports to the Chinese company, according to the Financial Times. The Trump administration announced the ban after trade talks [...]
Fashion app Depop grabs $62m from Airbnb and Uber investor June 7, 2019 British fashion marketplace app Depop has today closed a series C funding round at $62m (£48.8m), led by US venture capital stalwart General Atlantic. Existing investors HZ Holtzbrinck Ventures, Balderton Capital, Creandum, Octopus Ventures and Tempocap also participated in the round, alongside Klarna founder Sebastian Siemiatkowski. Depop said it will use the funding to expand [...]
Barack and Michelle Obama sign podcast deal with Spotify June 6, 2019 Former US President Barack Obama and his wife Michelle have signed on to a multi-year partnership with streaming giant Spotify to produce exclusive podcasts. Obama said he believes podcasts “offer an extraordinary opportunity to foster productive dialogue, make people smile and make people think, and, hopefully, bring us all a little closer together.” The news [...]
Huawei must improve ‘shoddy’ cyber security, says top UK spook June 6, 2019 Chinese tech firm Huawei is “shoddy” and has a lot of work to do to improve its cybersecurity, a top UK spook has said. Read more: US trade ban on Huawei could slow global 5G rollout, warns Barclays Dr Ian Levy, technical director of the National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC), blasted the embattled firm over [...]
Google Cloud buys analytics firm Looker for $2.6bn June 6, 2019 Google will buy analytics firm Looker for $2.6bn (£2bn) as it looks to expand its cloud offerings. Read more: Microsoft and Oracle team up to take on Amazon Web Services The deal is the first big move for the company’s new cloud chief, Oracle veteran Thomas Kurian, who replaced Diane Greene last year. The acquisition [...]
Amazon to deliver packages by drone ‘within months’ June 6, 2019 Amazon will begin delivering packages by drone within months, fulfilling a goal that has eluded the world’s biggest online retailer for years. The new fully-electric drones take off and land vertically like a helicopter. They use visual, thermal and ultrasonic sensors to fly themselves and can avoid objects in the air and on the ground. [...]