EU’s highest court orders Apple and Google to pay billions in back-taxes...

In two separate judgements, the EU’s highest court has ordered US tech giants Apple and Google to pay out billions. The European Court of Justice ruled that Apple must pay 13 billion euros in back-taxes, overturning the decision of a lower court. Separately, the court confirmed a 2.4-billion-euro fine for Google, over the search engine’s breach of EU anti-trust rules.

Israel’s shocking AI tools & Google’s complicity in Gaza

How Google, Facebook and others use our most personal secrets against us

 

Is it possible to use a person's personal Google data to create their doppelganger? To reconstruct their personality, behavior patterns and hidden desires? A cross-media data experiment makes it possible to experience what kind of insights into our most intimate secrets Google, Facebook, and others already have.

Will computers ever become sentient?

In 2022, a Google engineer claimed one of the firm’s artificial intelligence (AI) systems, LaMDA, had become sentient. Google fired the engineer, calling his claims “unfounded”, with experts largely agreeing that the advanced chat bot had not gained consciousness. However, computer sentience has been the subject of fierce debate for decades – and questions remain as to whether AI will, or even can, become conscious.

Welcome Sky Net

Google boss Sundar Pichai warns of threats to free and open internet

 

The free and open internet is under attack in countries around the world, Google boss Sundar Pichai has warned.

Tech Giants Refuse to Take Responsibility for Insurrection

 Mark Zuckerberg and Google CEO Sundar Pichai refused to take responsibility for the spread of disinformation that led to Jan 6 — only Twitter’s Jack Dorsey recognized partial culpability.

Who should pay for news online?

Facebook blocked news content in Australia to protest against proposed payment law.

A battle about news content appearing online is pitting Australia against two of the world’s biggest tech firms.

The government wants to force Google and Facebook to pay media companies for journalism.

 

Australia vs Facebook and Google - what's the row about?

 People have been responding to Facebook blocking its users in Australia from sharing news, in response to a proposed law which would make technology companies pay for news content on their platform.

Can privacy war between tech giants force industry changes?

 Facebook and Apple are at odds over new rules on tracking users’ activity.

Social media tracks a lot of what we say and do online. You Google something you have thought about buying, and then you are hounded by advertisements for whatever that was, seemingly everywhere you look.

Now two of the world’s biggest tech giants – Apple and Facebook – appear to be going to war over just how much data tech companies should take and how much say users should have.

How could Africa benefit from internet expansion?

Africa lags behind other regions in terms of online connectivity and some technology firms are racing to bridge the gap.

From video-chatting to working from home, one thing that has kept many people functioning during the coronavirus pandemic is a good internet connection.

The online world became part of everyday lives, with ordering, banking, educating or building businesses taking place remotely via computers and smartphones.

But in Africa, only four in 10 people have access to the web. Some tech firms see an opportunity and want to develop internet infrastructure across the continent.

Why advertisers are tracking your emojis

With Twitter’s new emoji tracking tool, advertisers can track how and when users post emojis and determine users’ emotional state. Depending on those feelings, they can deliver ads that best match their emotions at that time. Advertisers say that this will allow them to deliver more relevant ads, but there are opposite concerns about consumer privacy. Watch this video to learn how advertisers are using this tool and how it changes the ads users see on Twitter.

Google's China push outweighs censorship concerns

The tech giant's re-entry into China signals a major policy U-turn involving the world's largest market.

A few weeks back, we learned Google was developing something called "Project Dragonfly", a new search 
engine for the Chinese market that would function in compliance with Beijing's strict rules on censorship.

In an organisation that talks up transparency, it is ironic that only a handful of the company's 88,000 employees knew about the project. When some of them caught wind of it, they leaked the story to an online news site, The Intercept, which broke the news and put Google's top brass on the spot.

Bowing to Beijing? Google's Project Dragonfly

Google's planned Chinese search app comes under fire. Plus, censorship in the Occupied Palestinian Territories.

Bowing to Beijing? Google's Project Dragonfly

A few weeks back, we learned Google was working on something called Project Dragonfly, a new search engine for the Chinese market - one that would function in compliance with Beijing's strict rules on censorship. In an organisation that talks up transparency - it is ironic that only a handful of the company's employees knew about the project. When some of them caught wind of it - they leaked the details to an online news site, The Intercept.

Google has ventured into China before, in 2010. But back then it decided it couldn't live with the censorship rules. So it pulled out. This potential re-entry into China signals a major policy U-turn, involving one of the biggest tech companies on the planet and the world's largest market.

Sexism in Silicon Valley

As Google finds itself in the centre of a gender gap media storm, we examine the prevalence of sexism in the workplace.

This week, James Damore, a male software engineer at Google wrote a 10-page "manifesto" criticising his employer for pushing diversity programmes. Damore said women can't get ahead in the tech industry because of biological differences with men. The memo went public and created a social media storm.

While Damore was fired, a huge online debate continues about gender stereotyping and free speech in the workplace. It's highlighting the low numbers of women and minorities in technology companies while exposing attitudes encountered by women working in tech.

East Meets Tech

101 East heads to Silicon Valley to investigate the Asian influence on America's high-tech boom



Beijing, Bangalore, Singapore and Shenzen are vying to become the world's next Silicon Valley, yet the place to find cutting edge Asian-led innovation is the United States.

Dreams of rubbing shoulders with companies like Facebook, Google and Apple is luring high-tech Asian immigrants to the US at an astonishing rate.

Over 100,000 Asians move to California each year, more than any other ethnic group. Stereotypes abound about a "smart race" and start-up companies are seeking out Asian brain power.

In this age of digital transformation, 101 East asks if Asia is losing its best and brightest to the US.