List of All Articles with Tag 'tec'

By Hannah Lang Coinbase, the largest U.S. cryptocurrency exchange, is stepping up its grassroots advocacy campaign in a

Google's Bard artificial intelligence chatbot is evolving.

By Anna Tong Alphabet Inc's Google said on Tuesday that Bard, its generative artificial intelligence, will have the

Ocado Group Plc said its online retail joint venture is making some progress, with volumes showing a slight

YouTube has suspended the monetisation of Russell Brand’s channel for “violating” its “creator responsibility policy”. In a statement to the PA news agency, a spokesperson for the Google-owned company said: “If a creator’s off-platform behaviour harms our users, employees or ecosystem, we take action to protect the community.” The news comes after the remaining shows of Brand’s Bipolarisation tour were postponed and the Metropolitan Police said it had received a report of an alleged sexual assault in the wake of media allegations about the comedian and actor. Brand’s YouTube account, which has 6.6 million subscribers, has been suspended from YouTube’s partner account “following serious allegations against the creator”, meaning the channel is no longer able to make money from advertising on the platform. The statement added: “This decision applies to all channels that may be owned or operated by Russell Brand.” The 48-year-old actor has been accused of rape, assault and emotional abuse between 2006 and 2013, when he was at the height of his fame and working for the BBC, Channel 4 and starring in Hollywood films, following a joint investigation by The Times, Sunday Times and Channel 4’s Dispatches. He has strongly denied the allegations, which also include claims of controlling, abusive and predatory behaviour. Read More Charity boss speaks out over ‘traumatic’ encounter with royal aide Ukraine war’s heaviest fight rages in east - follow live

By Sarah Wu TAIPEI (Reuters) -The U.S. state of Arizona is in talks with Taiwanese chipmaker TSMC on advanced packaging,

Elon Musk said X is looking to charge users a “small monthly payment” to tackle bots on the social network. X, previously known as Twitter, underwent a number of changes soon after Mr Musk, the multibillionaire owner of X Corp, bought it. The platform is now “moving to having a small, monthly payment for use of the X system” to combat “vast armies of bots”, Mr Musk said during a livestreamed conversation with Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Monday. However, the Tesla and SpaceX boss did not reveal how much the new plan would cost X users or what additional features subscribers would get. During the interaction with Mr Netanyahu, the Tesla titan said X currently has 550 million “monthly users” who generate 100-200 million posts per day, adding that the new change to include a “small amount of money” would be necessary to deal with the problem posed by bots. It is unclear whether the multibillionaire’s figure of 550 million monthly users includes bots and also doesn’t allow comparison with the metric the company has used to estimate its user base, called the “average monetizable daily active users” or mDAUs. But the Tesla chief said a subscription fee would make it more difficult for bots to create accounts as each bot would need a new credit card to register on the platform. “It’s the only way I can think of to combat vast armies of bots,” Mr Musk said. “Because a bot costs a fraction of a penny – call it a tenth of a penny – but even if it has to pay a few dollars or something, the effective cost of bots is very high,” he explained. The platform has historically struggled to curb the activity of bots, with the company’s former security chief Peiter Zatko telling the US Congress last year that Twitter does not even know how many automated accounts are on the site. Mr Musk even cited bots as a reason to back out of buying the social platform before he went on to complete the deal. He has also previously discussed putting all of Twitter behind a paywall. Now the Tesla boss says the rebranded X plans to introduce a new “lower tier pricing” than the $8 monthly fee it currently charges subscribers of its premium Blue service. The conversation between Mr Musk and the Israeli prime minister also touched on topics like AI regulation as well as hate speech and antisemitism on X. Mr Musk claimed during the discussion that he’s “against antisemitism” and “anything that promotes hate and conflict”. “I’m sort of against attacking any group, you know. Doesn’t matter who it is,” the Tesla chief said. Online safety experts have warned about the social media platform under “free speech absolutist” Mr Musk offering “amnesty” to accounts previously suspended for hate speech and instigating violence. Under the Tesla titan, the platform restored the account of former US president Donald Trump who was banned following the 2021 Capitol riots, as well as the profiles of Republican Marjorie Taylor Greene and neo-Nazi website founder Andrew Anglin. Read More The ex factor: the very complex love life of Elon Musk Netanyahu visits Elon Musk in California with plans to talk about artificial intelligence Turkey's President Erdogan and Elon Musk discuss establishing a Tesla car factory in Turkey Elon Musk’s X finally agrees to try and settle Twitter’s mass layoffs lawsuit Musk the messiah (or a very naughty boy?) Elon Musk warns of ‘civilisational risk’ posed by AI at historic gathering

The cost of batteries fell by nearly 10 per cent in August, taking them past a key milestone that is seen by energy analysts as a “tipping point” to supercharge the transition to electric vehicles. The price of lithium-ion battery cells, which power everything from smartphones to the International Space Station, fell below $100/ kilowatthour (kWh) last month – a 33 per cent drop from March 2022 and an 8.7 per cent month-on-month drop. Energy analytics firm Benchmark Mineral Intelligence, who compiled the figures, noted that battery pack prices need to reach $100/kWh for electric vehicles to reach price parity with fossil fuel-burning vehicles. “Decreasing cell prices could allow [manufacturers] to sell mass market electric vehicles at comparable prices to internal combustion engine vehicles, with the same margin, improving the attractiveness of the EV transition for both consumers and automakers,” said Benchmark analyst Evan Hartley. “Falling cell prices are of particular concern for companies investing in cell production outside of China, particularly when there is already concern surrounding the profitability of factories in regions such as Europe.” The drop in price could also have implications for other technologies, the report noted, including for solar and wind installations that need to store excess energy during periods of overproduction. “The energy and transport revolution continues,” energy analyst Gerard Reid wrote on LinkedIn. “Lithium battery cell prices are now below $100 per kWh, down 80 per cent in a decade. Going forward we will see even lower costs and better performance, which is why the death of the internal combustion engine is near.” The falling prices have been attributed to decreasing raw material costs, with lithium prices more than halving since the start of 2023. The price could continue to fall following the discovery of massive lithium deposits in recent months, most notably within an extinct supervolcano on the border of Nevada and Oregon. The McDermitt caldera could contain up to 120 million tonnes of lithium, according to recent estimates from geologists, which could potentially meet global battery demand for decades. Read More Battery breakthroughs are about to trigger a transport revolution Volcano discovery could power electric cars for decades, scientists say Battery prices plummet as electric cars approach ‘tipping point’ New invention will lead to ‘battery revolution’, scientists say Volcano discovery could power electric cars for decades, scientists say

By Hannah Lang Bitcoin isn't the only asset experiencing a late summer slump. Stablecoins, cryptocurrencies typically pegged to

HANOI Vietnam's Prime Pham Minh Chinh has visited the headquarters of Nvidia and Synopsys, encouraging them and other

Alyssa Henry, the CEO of Square -- a unit of Jack Dorsey's fintech company, Block -- will leave her post at the company next month.

By Sheila Dang and Ari Rabinovitch Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu urged Elon Musk to strike a balance