In DM exchange Tesla boss offers $5,000 for takedown but 19-year-old replies: ‘Any chance to up that to $50K?’
A row has broken out between the world’s richest person, Elon Musk, and a 19-year-old student and aviation enthusiast from Florida.
Jack Sweeney created the Twitter bot @ElonJet, which tracks Musk’s Gulfstream private jet and posts real-time updates of its location.
Continue reading...Podcast host apologises to streaming service, which has faced criticism over episodes featuring guests who shared Covid conspiracy theories
Joe Rogan has addressed controversy over his Spotify podcast, hours after the streaming service announced a plan to tackle the spread of Covid-19 misinformation.
In a 10-minute video posted to Instagram on Sunday night, the comedian and host pledged to “try harder to get people with differing opinions on” and “do my best to make sure I’ve researched these topics”.
Continue reading...Streaming platform publishes rules for creators and announces plan to tackle misinformation, including ‘content advisories’
Spotify is adding a message that will direct listeners to correct Covid-19 information as controversy over misinformation shared on Joe Rogan’s podcast continues to grow, with the streamer losing billions in market value and more musicians withdrawing their music.
On Sunday, the CEO of Spotify, Daniel Ek, released an official statement setting out the streaming platform’s plan to tackle misinformation. New content advisories will direct listeners of any podcast that discusses coronavirus to a dedicated website that “provides easy access to data-driven facts, up-to-date information as shared by scientists, physicians, academics and public health authorities around the world, as well as links to trusted sources”.
Continue reading...The cryptocurrency consumes more energy than Norway. As countries consider copying China’s ban, experts disagree on whether a greener version is possible
When bitcoin mining company Bit Digital started shipping its energy-intensive computers out of China in early 2021, eyebrows were raised. “A lot of people thought we were being overly paranoid,” says chief strategy officer Sam Tabar, who helped relocate all of the company’s machines to the US and Canada.
But the company’s paranoia paid off. China’s bitcoin mining ban last summer, driven partly by environmental concerns, sent the industry spinning into chaos. The announcement sparked a fire sale of the computers used to power bitcoin, with mining companies scrambling to ship more than 2m of the machines out of China. They arrived by the crateload in countries like the US, Russia and Kazakhstan.
Continue reading...Tang Mingfang is willing to risk reprisals to clear his name over Foxconn revelations – and to get backing from Jeff Bezos
A whistleblower who exposed illegal working conditions in a factory making Amazon’s Alexa devices says he was tortured before being jailed by Chinese authorities.
Tang Mingfang, 43, was jailed after he revealed how the Foxconn factory in the southern Chinese city of Hengyang used schoolchildren working illegally long hours to manufacture Amazon’s popular Echo, Echo Dot and Kindle devices.
Continue reading...Modern TVs gather data that can be monetised. How much of this surveillance can you avoid without turning your smart TV dumb?
Watching TV feels like a benign pastime, but as all TVs become “smart” – connected to the internet via your router – they are gaining the ability to watch you too. As soon as you switch them on, smart TVs made by the likes of LG, Samsung and Sony are gathering data from the TV itself, as well as from the operating system and apps. Then there are the devices you plug into your TV, such as Google’s Chromecast, Apple TV and Amazon’s Fire Stick.
A TV is no longer just a device for showing you content – it has become a two-way mirror allowing you to be observed in real time by a network of advertisers and data brokers, says Rowenna Fielding, director of data protection consultancy Miss IG Geek. “The purpose of this is to gather as much information as possible about your behaviour, interests, preferences and demographics so it can be monetised, mainly through targeted advertising.”
Continue reading...Center for Countering Digital Hate research calculates that anti-vaccine figures could be making $12.5m from the online platform
A group of vaccine-sceptic writers are generating revenues of at least $2.5m (£1.85m) a year from publishing newsletters for tens of thousands of followers on the online publishing platform Substack, according to new research.
Prominent figures in the anti-vaccine movement including Dr Joseph Mercola and Alex Berenson have large followings on Substack, which has more than 1 million paying subscribers who sign up for individual newsletters from an array of authors who include novelist Salman Rushdie, the writer musician Patti Smith and former Downing Street adviser Dominic Cummings.
Continue reading...After Jeremy Grantham’s warning, analysts fear more volatility ahead – and will be watching tech’s latest results with interest
The tech sector led US stock markets on a pandemic boom last year. Now markets are whipsawing on fears that the Federal Reserve will end the era of easy money, all while a potential war in Ukraine looms. Some warn of a bigger correction to come on a scale not seen since the dotcom collapse of the late 1990s.
On Monday, US stock markets crashed then rallied. The Dow Jones at one point lost more than 1,000 points before ending up just over 100. Tuesday was more of the same with the Dow losing 800 points only to gain most of it back. Analysts expect more volatile days ahead. The Fed on Wednesday issued its latest update on its plans to raise rates in order to curb inflation, and the world’s largest tech firms are preparing to issue their latest results to investors, who appear to have grown more skeptical about their prospects.
Continue reading...Facebook founder’s planned metaverse, blending reality with digital experiences, will require enormous computing power
Mark Zuckerberg has announced his social media empire is building what he claims is the world’s fastest artificial intelligence supercomputer as part of plans to build a virtual metaverse.
The Facebook founder said in a blogpost that the metaverse, a concept that blends the physical and digital world via virtual and augmented reality, will require “enormous” computing power. The AI supercomputer, dubbed AI Research SuperCluster (RSC) by Zuckerberg’s Meta business, is already the fifth fastest in the world, the company said.
Continue reading...Technology stocks have been tumbling in the new year; now all eyes are on the sector’s giants as they report results
Tech stocks have been nursing a new year hangover, pushing the Nasdaq into correction territory. Momentum is building against companies with exciting promises to reshape the world, as investors turn to “value” alternatives such as oil and banking.
The tech sector now faces a crunch fortnight as its biggest names report results, including Microsoft on Tuesday, Tesla on Wednesday and Apple on Thursday. They must prove they can thrive in a post-lockdown world where the cost-of-living squeeze is leaving people with less money for tech products and services.
Continue reading...When inventor David Mayman took to the skies, it seemed he’d answered an age-old longing. So why did no one seem to care?
We have jetpacks and we do not care. An Australian named David Mayman has invented a functioning jetpack and has flown it all over the world – once in the shadow of the Statue of Liberty – yet few people know his name. His jetpacks can be bought but no one is clamouring for one. For decades, humans have said they want jetpacks, and for thousands of years we have said we want to fly, but do we really? Look up. The sky is empty.
Airlines are dealing with pilot shortages, and this promises to get far worse. A recent study found that, by 2025, we can expect a worldwide shortfall of 34,000 commercial pilots. With smaller aircraft, the trends are similar. Hang-gliding has all but disappeared. Ultralight aircraft makers are barely staying afloat. (One manufacturer, Air Création, sold only one vehicle in the US last year.) With every successive year, we have more passengers and fewer pilots. Meanwhile, one of the most dreamed of forms of flight – jetpacks – exists, but Mayman can’t get anyone’s attention.
Continue reading...French luxury brand says Mason Rothschild’s furry MetaBirkins digital tokens ‘rip off’ its trademark
French luxury group Hermès has started legal proceedings against an American artist over virtual versions inspired by its famous Birkin bags.
Mason Rothschild creates digital art that he sells as non-fungible tokens, or NFTs, which can be traded online but ownership cannot be forged.
Continue reading...Improved automated drug detection systems and enhanced partnerships with law enforcement are among changes
Snapchat has announced new efforts to combat drug dealing on the platform, changes that come as drug-related deaths among US high school and college-aged youth are exploding.
The company said it has improved automated drug detection systems, enhanced partnerships with law enforcement, and launched a new portal educating users on the dangers of drugs.
Erin McCormick contributed reporting
Continue reading...The company’s bottomless appetite for buying new studios means the art of the deal is threatening the art – and heart – of the game
In 2014, Microsoft bought Minecraft’s developer Mojang for what seemed, at the time, an eye-popping figure: $2.5bn (£1.8bn). It was the first in a series of bullish video-game studio acquisitions by the tech giant, whose games division has been led by executive Phil Spencer, a long-time advocate for video games within Microsoft and the wider business world, for the past eight years. More studios followed, for undisclosed amounts: beloved Californian comedy-game artists Double Fine, UK studio Ninja Theory, RPG specialists Obsidian Entertainment. It seemed that under Spencer’s leadership, Microsoft was cementing its commitment to the Xbox console and the video-games business by investing in what makes games great: the people who make them.
Then came 2020’s deal to acquire Zenimax (and with it Bethesda), for a properly astonishing $7.5bn. This was different. This wasn’t the Xbox division acquiring studios to make games for its consoles. This was an entire publisher, with several different studios and a whole portfolio of popular game series. At this point Microsoft’s spending started to look like a monopoly move – a bid to sew up the market by closing off hugely popular games behind Microsoft’s own consoles and services. When it was confirmed that Bethesda’s forthcoming games, including this year’s space role-playing epic Starfield and the next fantasy Elder Scrolls game, would be exclusive to Xbox and Microsoft Game Pass, I started to wonder whether Microsoft’s stated aim to make video games more widely available to everyone was lining up with its actions in the market.
Continue reading...Activision Blizzard deal would help Xbox compete against PlayStation – but will regulators play along?
Microsoft’s planned takeover of Activision Blizzard puts the tech company at the centre of two big issues facing the sector: the metaverse and Washington’s determination to rein in big tech.
The metaverse is where the physical and digital worlds come together, although it is very much at the concept stage. The idea is that you will put on a virtual reality headset and a digital representation of yourself – an avatar – will interact with others at work and play in a combination of virtual and augmented reality.
Continue reading...Investigation alleges Israeli police carried out phone intercepts without court supervision or monitoring of how data was used
The Israeli police allegedly conducted warrantless phone intercepts of Israeli citizens, including politicians and activists, using the NSO group’s controversial Pegasus spyware, according to an investigation by the Israeli business media site Calcalist.
Among those described as having been targets in the report were local mayors, leaders of political protests against the former prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu, and former government employees.
Continue reading...In his book Reality+ David Chalmers says the material world may lose its allure as VR technology advances
It is hard to imagine humans spending their lives in virtual reality when the experience amounts to waving your arms about in the middle of the lounge with a device the size of a house brick strapped to your face.
But this is where humanity is heading, says the philosopher David Chalmers, who argues for embracing the fate. Advances in technology will deliver virtual worlds that rival and then surpass the physical realm. And with limitless, convincing experiences on tap, the material world may lose its allure, he says.
Continue reading...Claim comes as Microsoft warns hack that hit government websites could be worse than first feared
Ukraine has said it has “evidence” Russia was behind a massive cyber-attack that knocked out key government websites last week, while Microsoft warned the hack could be far worse than first thought.
Tensions are at an all-time high between Ukraine and Russia, which Kyiv accuses of having massed troops on its border before a possible invasion. Some analysts fear the cyber-attack could be the prelude to a military attack.
Continue reading...Overwhelmed by messages, notifications and distractions? You can reclaim your focus without a full digital detox
Are you in control of your smartphone or is it in control of you? Sometimes it is difficult to tell. One minute you might be using FaceTime to chat with loved ones or talking about your favourite TV show on Twitter. Next, you’re stuck in a TikTok “scroll hole” or tapping your 29th email notification of the day and no longer able to focus on anything else.
We often feel like we can’t pull ourselves away from our devices. As various psychologists and Silicon Valley whistleblowers have stated, that is by design.
Becca Caddy is the author of Screen Time: How to Make Peace With Your Devices and Find Your Techquilibrium (Blink, £14.99). To support the Guardian and Observer order your copy at guardianbookshop.com. Delivery charges may apply
Continue reading...Newly revealed documents from the complaint against Google shed light on potential advertising sales manipulation
Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg and Google CEO Sundar Pichai were allegedly aware of and approved a deal to collaborate on the potential manipulation of advertising sales, according to newly revealed documents.
The documents, which came to light on Friday, were filed as part of a lawsuit against Google brought by the attorneys general of multiple US states. The lawsuit was first filed in December 2020 and claimed Google misled publishers and advertisers about the price and process of advertising auctions. At that time, many documents and parts of the lawsuit were redacted, but court rulings have since made them public.
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