Category Archives: Technology sector

UK cybersecurity agency warns over risk of quantum hackers

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Organisations including energy and transport firms told to guard systems against powerful new computers

The UK’s cybersecurity agency is urging organisations to guard their systems against quantum hackers by 2035, as the prospect of breakthroughs in powerful computing threaten digital encryption.

The National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) has issued new guidance recommending large entities including energy and transport providers introduce “post-quantum cryptography” in order to prevent quantum technology being deployed to break into their systems.

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EU accuses Google and Apple of breaking its rules, risking Trump clash

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Tech companies could be fined billions if EU finds they have breached the Digital Markets Act

The European Commission has accused the US tech companies Google and Apple of breaking its digital rules, in a landmark action that could escalate transatlantic tension with Donald Trump.

The US president has sought to exert pressure on the EU to back away from tougher regulation of American technology groups, warning that he could retaliate by imposing tariffs on foreign companies.

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Some British firms ‘stuck in neutral’ over AI, says Microsoft UK boss

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Survey of bosses and staff finds that more than half of executives feel their organisation has no official AI plan

Some companies are “stuck in neutral” in their approach to artificial intelligence, according to Microsoft’s UK boss, who said a significant number of private and public sector organisations lack any formal AI strategy.

A Microsoft survey of nearly 1,500 UK senior leaders across public and private sectors, as well as 1,440 employees, found that more than half of executives feel their organisation has no official AI plan. Roughly the same proportion report a growing gap in productivity – a measure of economic efficiency – between employees who use AI and those who do not.

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Apple to fix iPhone dictation bug that replaces word ‘racist’ with ‘Trump’

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Tech company blames ‘phonetic overlap’ for problem where US president’s name appears

Apple has promised to fix a bug in its iPhone automatic dictation tool after some users reported it had suggested to them “Trump” when they said the word “racist”.

The glitch was first highlighted in a viral post on TikTok, when the speech-to-text tool sometimes briefly flashed up the word “Trump” when they said “racist”, and was later repeated by others on social media.

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Telegram fined nearly $1m by Australian watchdog for delay in reporting about terrorism and child abuse material

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Telegram took 160 days to provide information, with the delay obstructing online safety scrutineer from doing its job, commissioner says

Encrypted messaging app Telegram has been fined nearly $1m by Australia’s online safety regulator for failing to respond on time to questions about what the company does to tackle terrorism and child abuse material on its platform.

The notice was issued to Telegram, among other companies, in May last year, with a deadline to report back in October on steps taken to address terrorist and violent extremism material, as well as child exploitation material on its platform.

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Xi Jinping tells Alibaba’s Jack Ma and Chinese tech chiefs to ‘show their talent’

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Analysts say address to symposium suggests crackdown on sector may be ending in effort to tackle economic slump

China’s president, Xi Jinping, has told businesses to “show their talent” at a meeting of Chinese industry leaders including the Alibaba founder, Jack Ma, as he attempts to halt an economic slump in the world’s second-largest economy.

Xi met Ma, who was at the centre of a crackdown on the tech industry in recent years, as well as the bosses of the electric carmaker BYD, the battery manufacturer CATL, Tencent, Xiaomi, and the founder of Huawei, Ren Zhengfei

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Amazon accused of targeting Coventry union members after failed recognition vote

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GMB says 60 workers have been targeted, with disciplinary action increasing significantly, but company denies claims

Amazon has been accused of targeting 60 trade union members with disciplinary action after narrowly defeating a recognition vote at its Coventry warehouse last summer.

The GMB trade union said all 60 workers were involved in action at the warehouse – where it has about 700 members out of a workforce of at least 1,500 – that culminated in a ballot on formal recognition in July last year that failed by only a handful of votes.

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SoftBank ‘in talks’ to invest up to $25bn in OpenAI

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Reported move would make Japanese group largest financial backer of US startup behind ChatGPT

The Japanese investment group SoftBank is reportedly in talks to invest up to $25bn (£20bn) in OpenAI in a deal that would make it the biggest financial backer of the startup behind ChatGPT.

The lender is considering putting a sum of between $15bn and $25bn into the San Francisco-based company, according to the Financial Times.

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US tech stocks partly recover after Trump says DeepSeek AI chatbot is ‘wake-up call’

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Tentative rise comes after emergence of cheaper Chinese rival wiped $1tn off the value of leading US tech companies

US tech stocks tentatively recovered on Tuesday after Donald Trump described the launch of a chatbot by China’s DeepSeek as a “wake-up call” for Silicon Valley in the global race to dominate artificial intelligence.

The emergence of DeepSeek, which has built its R1 model chatbot at a fraction of the cost of competitors such as OpenAI’s ChatGPT and Google’s Gemini, wiped $1tn (£800bn) in value from the leading US tech index on Monday.

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New CMA chair will have to assess curbs on his former employer Amazon

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Doug Gurr will lead board as watchdog rules on Microsoft and Amazon’s dominance of cloud computing market

The new chair of the UK competition watchdog will have to assess whether to curb the position of his former employer, Amazon, after an independent inquiry found that a lack of competition in the £9bn cloud computing market could mean British businesses are overpaying for services.

The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA), which last week announced the surprise appointment of former Amazon UK boss Doug Gurr as its interim chair, said that Microsoft and Amazon’s dominance of the cloud computing market could mean that British businesses are paying as much as £430m more annually for services than in a “well-functioning market”.

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Apple suspends AI-generated news alert service after BBC complaint

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Inaccurate notices branded with broadcaster’s logo sent to iPhone users but tech firm works on improvements

Apple is suspending an artificial intelligence feature that made inaccurate summaries of news headlines.

The tech company received a complaint from the BBC after the AI-generated service issued a news alert branded with the corporation’s logo falsely telling some iPhone users that Luigi Mangione, who is accused of killing the UnitedHealthcare chief executive, Brian Thompson, had shot himself.

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Donald Trump reportedly weighing up TikTok ban delay

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President-elect ‘has warm spot’ for platform and wants political solution to ‘preserve app but protect data’

Donald Trump is considering suspending a TikTok ban in the US with an executive order when he enters the White House on 20 January, according to a report.

The president-elect is exploring an executive order that would postpone enforcement of a sale-or-ban law due to come into force on 19 January, said the Washington Post. The report added, however, that Trump’s legal grounds for suspending a law passed by Congress are questionable.

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Escalating armed conflict is most urgent threat for world in 2025, say global leaders

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World Economic Forum says responses from experts in business, politics and academia also highlight climate crisis

Global leaders have said that escalating armed conflict is the most urgent threat in 2025 but the climate emergency is expected to cause the greatest concern over the next decade, according to the World Economic Forum.

Ahead of its yearly gathering in the Swiss ski resort of Davos next week, the WEF asked more than 900 leaders from business, politics and academia about the risks that most concern them.

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Halt illegal imports of conflict minerals from DRC, campaigners urge EU

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Law to stop armed groups profiting from trade in gold, tin, tungsten and tantalum is being breached, rights groups say

The European Union has been urged to clamp down on illegal imports of conflict minerals from the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) after evidence was found that current regulations had been breached.

The advocacy group Global Witness (GW) said there remained a “high risk” of the EU’s mineral imports being used to fund militias and state repression in several countries.

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Apple asks investors to block proposal to scrap diversity programmes

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Conservative thinktank wants firm to end its DEI efforts because they create ‘litigation, reputational and financial risks’

Apple has asked shareholders to vote against a proposal to scrap its diversity, equity and inclusion programmes, as tech rivals scale back similar schemes before Donald Trump’s return to the White House.

The National Center for Public Policy Research, a conservative thinktank, wants the iPhone maker to end its DEI efforts because they expose companies to “litigation, reputational and financial risks”. The proposal will be voted on at Apple’s annual general meeting on 25 February.

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Ireland prices corporation tax loss from Trump policies at €10bn

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Figure costed for three multinationals repatriating to US after nomination for commerce secretary hits out at Ireland’s tax regime

Ireland’s prime minister has said the country could lose €10bn (£8.35bn) in corporate tax if just three US multinationals were repatriated to America under a hostile Donald Trump administration.

His remarks come just days after Trump nominated the Wall Street investor Howard Lutnick to lead the Department of Commerce with direct responsibility for trade.

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Google must sell Chrome to end search monopoly, says US justice department

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Court filing comes after landmark ruling in August and judge will consider arguments from both sides next year

The US Department of Justice has proposed a far-reaching overhaul of Google’s structure and business practices, including the sale of its Chrome browser, in a bid to end its monopoly on internet search.

The DoJ proposals follow a landmark court ruling in August in which a federal judge ruled that Google maintained an illegal monopoly over search services.

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Musk’s influence on Trump could lead to tougher AI standards, says scientist

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Tycoon might help president-elect realise race for artificial general intelligence is a ‘suicide race’, says Max Tegmark

Elon Musk’s influence on a Donald Trump administration could lead to tougher safety standards for artificial intelligence, according to a leading scientist who has worked closely with the world’s richest person on addressing AI’s dangers.

Max Tegmark said Musk’s support for a failed AI bill in California underlined the billionaire’s continued concern over an issue that did not feature prominently in Trump’s campaign.

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Intel wins lengthy EU legal battle over £880m competition fine

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Chipmaker disputed 2009 decision that it abused its market position in case dating back two decades

The US chipmaker Intel has won a long-running battle to quash a fine of more than €1bn imposed by the European Commission for allegedly abusing its market dominance in the sale of computer chips.

In a final ruling on Thursday, theEuropean court of justice upheld an earlier judgment that had quashed the €1.06bn (£880m) fine and partly dismissed the charges of anticompetitive behaviour.

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Tesla’s value drops $60bn after investors fail to hail self-driving ‘Cybercab’

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Analysts criticise lack of detail about the ‘robotaxi’ showcased by CEO Elon Musk

Tesla shares have fallen by 8%, wiping about $60bn (£45bn) from the company’s value, after the long-awaited unveiling of its so-called robotaxi failed to excite investors.

Shares in the electric carmaker fell to $219.40 in early trading on Friday after an event in Hollywood, where the chief executive, Elon Musk, revealed a much-hyped driverless vehicle.

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