Switzerland vies to become Europe’s AI hub June 15, 2021 | City Talk With approximately 8.6 million people and four official languages (German, French, Italian, and Romansh), Switzerland is uniquely at the heart of Europe but without being a member of the European Union. In global terms, Switzerland does not even enter the top five as an ‘AI leader’. But when it comes to Europe and its place [...]
Apple and Google under scrutiny from regulator over smartphone dominance June 15, 2021 Apple and Google are facing an investigation by UK competition authorities over concerns their dominance in the smartphone market is harming consumers. The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) today said it will examine whether the companies’ “effective duopoly” over the supply of operating systems, app stores and web browsers should be curbed. The market study [...]
City watchdog vows Big Tech crackdown over scam adverts June 15, 2021 The City watchdog has pledged to use post-Brexit powers to crack down on tech giants such as Google over online fraud. The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has warned platforms they must do more to block scam adverts following a surge in cases during the pandemic. The regulator added it would not hesitate to take tough [...]
Ecommerce fintech Booste plots London launch after €12m funding round June 15, 2021 Booste, a Polish fintech offering revenue-based financing to ecommerce companies, is planning to launch in London after raising €12m (£10m) in a fresh funding round. The startup, which was co-founded by former Uber Eats executive Jakub Pietraszek, provides ecommerce firms with funding to finance growth through digital ads on Facebook and Google, marketing campaigns and [...]
US Supreme Court gives LinkedIn fresh chance to stop data harvesters June 14, 2021 The US Supreme Court today granted LinkedIn another chance to prevent a rival recruitment data company from scraping personal data from its platform. LinkedIn previously tried to use the the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act to prevent rival hiQ from harvesting customer data from their public-facing user profiles. The Act prohibits accessing a computer without [...]
Peak times: Ticket for space trip with Jeff Bezos sells for $28m June 14, 2021 A mystery bidder has splashed out $28m (£20m) for a ticket to travel to space with Amazon boss Jeff Bezos. The sky-high bid was made at a live phone auction on Saturday, concluding a lengthy bidding process for a seat on the maiden voyage of the billionaire’s Blue Origin company. Bids reached $20m within four [...]
Qualcomm ready to swoop on Arm if $40bn Nvidia deal is blocked June 14, 2021 US tech giant Qualcomm has said it is ready to invest in British chipmaker Arm if a planned $40bn (£28bn) takeover by rival Nvidia is blocked by regulators. Nvidia last year agreed the bumper takeover deal for Cambridge-based Arm, but the merger is facing a national security review and competition probes in the UK and [...]
Huawei profit slumps as UK ban hammers sales June 13, 2021 The UK’s decision to blacklist Huawei has hammered sales and profit at the controversial Chinese tech giant, new figures have shown. Accounts for Huawei Technologies, the company’s UK subsidiary, reveal revenue slumped 27.5 per cent to £913.3m in 2020. Pre-tax profit fell from £48m to £36.5m. The government last year banned Huawei from building the [...]
Screenshot: How did a software glitch break the internet? June 11, 2021 This week **Media Moment of the Week: Motty goes off the rails **How did a software glitch break the internet? **BT’s bolt from the blue Media Moment of the Week: Motty goes off the rails Look, everyone loves John Motson. He’s a juggernaut of football broadcasting and I don’t have a bad word to say [...]
UK competition regulator secures commitments from Google on third-party cookies June 11, 2021 The UK’s competition watchdog has said it has secured commitments from Google on its proposal to remove third-party cookies from its Chrome browser. Third-party cookies are used by digital advertising companies to personalise and target advertising. The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) said the commitments came after it took action in January over concerns Google’s [...]
