Twenty-six words tucked into a 1996 law overhauling telecommunications have allowed companies like Facebook, Twitter and Google to grow into the giants they are today. A case the U.S. Supreme Court heard Tuesday, Gonzalez v. Google, challenges this law — namely whether tech companies are liable for the material posted on their platforms. Justices will […]
TOKYO (AP) — A Japanese startup announced plans Tuesday to launch commercial space viewing balloon flights that it hopes will bring an otherwise astronomically expensive experience down to Earth. Company CEO Keisuke Iwaya said passengers do not need to be billionaires, go through intense training or have the language skills needed to fly in a […]
WASHINGTON (AP) — The government agency responsible for tracking down contaminated peanut butter and defective pacemakers is taking on a new health hazard: online misinformation. It’s an unlikely role for the Food and Drug Administration, a sprawling, century-old bureaucracy that for decades directed most its communications toward doctors and corporations. But FDA Commissioner Dr. Robert […]
Last year, one of my family’s credit cards was used to rack up hundreds of dollars in bogus charges at Apple.com. Another card was compromised four times in a row, as thieves repeatedly charged merchandise and Uber rides. We ultimately got our money back, but repeated credit card fraud can be frustrating and disheartening. Dealing […]
Meta is testing a new subscription service that would let Facebook and Instagram users pay for a verified account. Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg announced Meta Verified on his social media accounts Sunday. Testing will begin in New Zealand and Australia this week and will roll out to other countries soon, he said. For $11.99 per […]
WASHINGTON (AP) — Islamic State gunmen killed American college student Nohemi Gonzalez as she sat with friends in a Paris bistro in 2015, one of several attacks on a Friday night in the French capital that left 130 people dead. Her family’s lawsuit claiming YouTube’s recommendations helped the Islamic State group’s recruitment is at the […]
WALNUT CREEK, Calif. (AP) — A Tesla driver was killed and a passenger was critically injured Saturday when the car plowed into a fire truck that was parked on a Northern California freeway to shield a crew clearing another accident, fire officials said. Four firefighters who were in the truck when it was struck on […]
NEW YORK (AP) — For two weeks, an owl that escaped from New York’s Central Park Zoo has flown from treetop to treetop, eluding capture and amassing legions of fans worried about its ability to survive alone in the big city. Would Flaco, a majestic Eurasian eagle-owl, go hungry because he hadn’t developed an ability […]
LOS ANGELES (AP) — Twitter users were greeted early Saturday with an ultimatum from the social media app: Subscribe to the platform’s new premium service or lose a popular account security feature. A pop-up message warned users they will lose the ability to secure their accounts via text message two-factor authentication unless they pay $8 […]
NEW YORK (AP) — Amazon will require its corporate employees to return to the office at least three days a week. CEO Andy Jassy announced the policy Friday in a memo to staff. It marks a shift from Amazon’s current policy of allowing leaders to determine how their teams worked. The change will go into […]
LONDON (AP) — TikTok said Friday that it’s planning two more European data centers, as the popular Chinese-owned video sharing app seeks to allay growing concerns about data privacy for its users in the West. TikTok has been under fire from European and American authorities over concerns that it could scoop up masses of user […]
WASHINGTON (AP) — Facebook allowed an exiled Moldovan oligarch with ties to the Kremlin to run ads calling for protests and uprisings against the pro-Western government, even though he and his political party were on U.S. sanctions lists. The ads featuring politician and convicted fraudster Ilan Shor were ultimately removed by Facebook but not before […]
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — Banning TikTok from government devices enjoys bipartsan support across the U.S., but a few Democratic legislators in Kansas object to expanding one imposed by their party’s governor because they don’t want a state law to target a company by name. The Republican-controlled Kansas House voted 109-12 on Thursday to pass a […]
COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — Ohio State University announced plans Thursday to use a $110 million donation from IT innovator and executive Ratmir Timashev’s family foundation to establish a software innovation center with the goal of becoming a new hub for new ideas, entrepreneurship and product development. It is the largest gift in the university’s history. […]
Microsoft’s newly revamped Bing search engine can write recipes and songs and quickly explain just about anything it can find on the internet. But if you cross its artificially intelligent chatbot, it might also insult your looks, threaten your reputation or compare you to Adolf Hitler. The tech company said this week it is promising […]
WILMINGTON, Del. (AP) — A $1.6 billion defamation lawsuit against Fox News by Dominion Voting Systems over the network’s coverage of the 2020 presidential election is an assault on the First Amendment, attorneys for the cable news giant argued in a counterclaim unsealed Thursday. Denver-based Dominion, which sells electronic voting hardware and software, is suing […]
DETROIT (AP) — U.S. safety regulators have pressured Tesla into recalling nearly 363,000 vehicles with its “Full Self-Driving” system because it can misbehave around intersections and doesn’t always follow speed limits. The recall, part of part of a larger investigation by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration into Tesla’s automated driving systems, is the most […]
Susan Wojcicki, a longtime Google executive who played a key role in the company’s creation, is stepping down as YouTube’s CEO after spending the past nine years running the video site that has reshaped entertainment, culture and politics. In an email to YouTube employees that was shared publicly Thursday, the 54-year-old Wojcicki said she is […]
EL SEGUNDO, Calif. (AP) — Bars and restaurants with DirecTV can still show Major League Soccer games. The satellite service announced on Thursday that it has reached an agreement to provide MLS Season Pass to commercial establishments through DirecTV for Business. DirecTV’s residential customers will still need to access MLS Season Pass through the Apple […]
THE HAGUE, Netherlands (AP) — The United States launched an initiative Thursday promoting international cooperation on the responsible use of artificial intelligence and autonomous weapons by militaries, seeking to impose order on an emerging technology that has the potential to change the way war is waged. “As a rapidly changing technology, we have an obligation […]
Several employees at a Tesla factory in New York have been fired a day after launching union organizing efforts, according to Tesla Workers United, but the company says they’re not related. The workers at the Buffalo plant received an email Wednesday evening updating them on a new policy that prohibits them from recording workplace meetings […]
BERLIN (AP) — The internet sites of several German airports were disrupted on Thursday after what may have been a hacker attack, German news agency dpa reported. The disruptions did not appear to have an immediate impact on the country’s air traffic, the agency said. Nuremberg Airport in southern Germany reported that its online site […]
NICOSIA, Cyprus (AP) — A devastating earthquake that toppled buildings across parts of Turkey and neighboring Syria has revived a longstanding debate locally and in neighboring Cyprus about a large nuclear power station being built on Turkey’s southern Mediterranean coastline. The plant’s site in Akkuyu, located some 210 miles (338 kilometers) to the west of […]
WASHINGTON (AP) — Subpoenas were sent to the chief executives of the five largest tech companies on Wednesday as congressional Republicans moved to investigate what they assert is widespread corporate censorship of conservative voices. Rep. Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, the chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, issued the subpoenas as the latest in a series of […]
