Google sued by 130,000 firms over ad dominance November 30, 2022 Google has been sued in a claim by 130,000 firms that argue its advertising strategy has cost them billions of pounds in lost revenues. The competition claim valued at up to £13.6bn at the Competition Appeal Tribunal accuses Google and its parent firm Alphabet of abusing its dominant position in online advertising and “earning super-profits [...]
Govt strengthens cybersecurity laws for public services November 30, 2022 The government said it will strengthen its cybersecurity laws to better protect essential services like water, energy and transport, from online attacks. In response to a public consultation earlier this year, the government has confirmed the Network and Information Systems (NIS) Regulations will be strengthened to protect essential and digital services against increasingly sophisticated and frequent cyber attacks both now [...]
Former Google exec Gill Whitehead named Ofcom lead for online safety November 30, 2022 A former Google executive will be joining Ofcom to oversee its new duties as the regulator for online safety. Gill Whitehead will head up the media watchdog’s Online Safety Group from April 2023, reporting to chief exec Dame Melanie Dawes. Whitehead currently leads the Digital Regulation Cooperation Forum (DRCF) which oversees the digital expertise of four member regulators: the [...]
Musk dumps Twitter’s Covid disinformation policy November 29, 2022 Elon Musk has abandoned Twitter’s Covid disinformation policy in a grand push for free speech. “Effective November 23, 2022, Twitter is no longer enforcing the Covid-19 misleading information policy,” a notice on its website reads. The new owner of the social media firm axed the former “Covid-19 misleading information policy” page, outlining rules surrounding Covid [...]
AstraZeneca buys therapy firm Neogene for £266m in latest bid to tackle cancer November 29, 2022 AstraZeneca has bought cancer cell therapy company Neogene Therapeutics for $320m (£266m), in the company’s latest investment in its oncology offering. The deal, which is set to close in the coming months, will see AstraZeneca pay $200m as cash in hand, and another $120m if Neogene meets certain milestones. The British-Swedish pharmaceutical giant, behind one [...]
Govt boots legal but harmful provision from online safety bill November 28, 2022 The “legal but harmful” provision has been formally scrapped from the online safety bill, in a push to water down moderation and put greater focus on free speech protection. The provision, which would have allowed tech firms to remove content that wasn’t actually illegal, sparked controversy across free speech advocates raising concerns around overcensorship. However, [...]
Mayhem in Chinese hub could mean 6m iPhones losses for Apple November 28, 2022 Mayhem at Apple’s key iPhone hub could mean that six million Pros models are lost this year, in a major blow to the tech firm in the run up to the all-important Christmas period. Production has been stunted by protests at Foxconn Technology’s Zhengzhou production factory over the past few weeks, as well as impending [...]
Carlyle unveils £2.6bn to pump into European technology firms November 28, 2022 US asset manager Carlyle has rallied together over €3bn (£2.6bn) for a European fund to help grow mid-market technology firms in the continent. The fund, called Carlyle European Partners and headed by two former investment bankers, has exceeded its €2.5bn (£2.2bn) target in less than a year of fundraising, the buyout firm told Reuters. The [...]
Semiconductor industry’s grip on globe to loosen next year in economic downturn November 28, 2022 The semiconductor sector is bracing for slipping demand next year, as the grip the industry had on consumer and industrial-facing businesses loosens. Global revenue generated by computer chips, crucial bits of tech used in most of today’s electronics, is expected to fall 3.6 per cent in 2023, according to tech research and consulting giant Gartner. [...]
Drug developer C4X shares fly after signing £330m AstraZeneca licensing deal November 28, 2022 Drug developer C4X Discovery has signed an exclusive licensing agreement worth up to $402m (£334m) with pharma giant AstraZeneca to develop oral therapy to treat inflammatory diseases. London-listed C4XD’s shares have rocketed this morning, up nearly 40 per cent to 28.5p so far. As part of the deal, C4XD will receive pre-clinical milestone payments worth up [...]
