James Farrell
Latest from James Farrell
TikTok told to close its business in Canada amid national security concerns
Canada has become the latest country to talk about the threat of the Chinese social media app TikTok, with the government today ordering the closure of TikTok’s business in the country – but not outright banning the use of the app. Following in the footsteps of the U.S. and several other nations, Canada believes that ...
Amazon gets green light to start drone deliveries in Arizona
After receiving approval from the Federal Aviation Administration, Amazon.com Inc. will start a same-day Prime Air drone delivery service for customers in the West Valley Phoenix Metro Area of Arizona. As of today, those people can make an order and expect to wait up to an hour for the drone to arrive with their goods ...
Bad timing for the New York Times as its tech union goes on strike
The New York Times today said it was “disappointed” as its tech union went on strike just one day before one of the most blustery U.S. presidential elections in recent history. About 600 workers at the newspaper, which happens to have the biggest subscriber list of any American newspaper, are represented by the Times Tech ...
Russia hits Google with astronomical fine over YouTube bans
A Russian court today announced that Google LLC owes the Kremlin a staggering 2 trillion rubles for restricting Russian state media channels on YouTube. Two undecillion rubles – a 2 followed by 36 zeroes – amount to $20 decillion, or around $20 billion trillion. Considering International Monetary Fund figures put the world’s gross domestic product ...
White House limits AI and chip investments to China over national security concerns
The Treasury Department today issued a final rule which serves to restrict and monitor U.S. tech investments in China in an effort to bolster national security. The main areas of investment are artificial intelligence, computer chips and quantum computing. The finalized rules build upon an executive order issued by President Biden in 2023, which blocked ...
LinkedIn hit with $334M fine for violating GDPR
The Microsoft Corp.-owned professional networking platform LinkedIn has been ordered to pay €310 million ($334 million) by the European Union’s privacy regulator over targeted advertising practices, one the biggest fines to hit American big tech under the General Data Protection Regulation. The fine was imposed by the Irish Data Protection Commission, the bloc’s privacy watchdog ...
Apple and Goldman Sachs ordered to pay $89 million after Apple Card failures
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, CFPB, announced today it’s fining Apple Inc. and Goldman Sachs $89 million over practices involving the Apple Card. CFPB says hundreds of thousands of Apple Card users were affected when the two companies “illegally mishandled transaction disputes and misled iPhone purchasers about interest-free payment options.” Apple has now been charged ...
Thousands of creatives join forces to combat AI data scraping
Some of the biggest names in the creative arts have added their names to a letter addressing what for them is the growing problem of the unlicensed use of creative works for AI training. The signatories call data scraping a “major, unjust threat to the livelihoods of the people behind those works, and must not be ...
Meta will employ facial recognition technology to fight celebrity scam ads
Meta Platforms Inc. today said it’s in the process of testing new facial recognition technology to help reduce the number of “celebrity bait” ads that appear on the company’s social media platforms. The company explained that when an ad is suspected of being a scam, it will be flagged by technology already in use. Since ...
Meta announces layoffs across several divisions for abusing meal credits
Meta Platforms Inc. has been cutting jobs in various divisions, including letting 24 go from Instagram and Facebook for abusing the company’s $25 meal credit system. In the latter case, it’s reported that the transgressors had not been spending their lunch credits on food, but were buying household items such as toothpaste, laundry detergent and ...
