DEBATE: Is Elon Musk right to predict that AI will overtake humans within five years? August 6, 2020 Is Elon Musk right to predict that artificial intelligence will overtake humans within five years? Chetan Dube, chief executive of IPsoft, says YES. Elon Musk is right. For the last few years we have been saying that by 2025 we will pass someone in the corridor and not know if they are human or android. [...]
Spitting Image unveils puppets of PM and Cummings ahead of relaunch August 5, 2020 Spitting Image has unveiled its puppets of Boris Johnson and his chief adviser Dominic Cummings ahead of its return in the autumn. The show, which will relaunch after 24 years, was made famous in the 1980s for its mockery of politiians. Read more: Spitting Image to return after 24 years following Britbox commission It will [...]
Twitter faces $250m fine after US data probe August 4, 2020 Twitter said it is being investigated by the US Federal Trade Commission (FTC) for alleged violations of a law that prevents it from using personal data to target ads. In a regulatory filing, Twitter said it received a draft FTC complaint alleging data violations, which is provided by users for security purposes, between 2013 and [...]
Sir Richard Branson set for space as Virgin Galactic signs Rolls-Royce deal August 4, 2020 Sir Richard Branson, the billionaire founder of private spaceflight firm Virgin Galactic, will be one of the first to go into space in one of his company’s rockets, it has been revealed. As long as two test flights scheduled for the autumn are successful, Branson will go into orbit early next year, Virgin Galactic said [...]
SpaceX investor pours $50m into London tech startup Complyadvantage July 28, 2020 Fintech startup Complyadvantage has closed a $50m series C round, as it seeks to disrupt the way global banks tackle financial crime. The round was led by the Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan Board, which has CA$207.4bn in net assets. It made the investment through its innovation arm, which invests in late-stage tech companies. Existing investors [...]
Musk’s SpaceX in talks to raise funds at $44bn valuation July 23, 2020 Rocket company SpaceX is said to be in talks to raise a new round of funding at a $44bn valuation, following a successful few months for the tech firm. SpaceX is seeking to raise approximately $1bn priced at $270 per share, people familiar with the matter told Bloomberg. Helmed by tech billionaire Elon Musk, SpaceX [...]
Apple co-founder Wozniak files bitcoin scam lawsuit against Youtube July 23, 2020 Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak is leading a lawsuit launched by tech entrepreneurs against Google and its video site Youtube, over a series of bitcoin scams which use his name and image. Wozniak has accused Youtube of failing to deal with the problem, and ignoring his requests to have the videos taken down. The scam, which [...]
Twitter suffers advertising revenue slump amid pandemic and US protests July 23, 2020 Twitter suffered a 23 per cent slump in advertising revenue in the second quarter due to the coronavirus pandemic and civil unrest in the US. The social media giant said today that advertising revenue was $562m, down 23 per cent year-on-year. The company said it had seen a “gradual, moderate recovery” compared to March, however [...]
High-profile Twitter users’ private messages hacked in cyber attack July 23, 2020 Twitter has admitted that at least 36 users have had their private messages hacked in a cyber attack connected to last week’s high-profile bitcoin-related hack, raising concerns that well-known victims could be extorted. Hackers last week took over the official Twitter accounts of more than 130 blue-ticked users, including politicians such as Joe Biden and [...]
Tesla shares bounce on fourth consecutive quarterly profit July 22, 2020 Tesla has beat analyst estimates to report its fourth consecutive quarterly profit, inching it closer to entering the S&P 500 index. It posted earnings per share of 50 cents for the second quarter, compared to a loss of $2.31 a year earlier. Tesla is now able to qualify for entry into the S&P 500. At [...]