Privacy group slams supermarkets for using ‘Orwellian’ facial recognition cameras July 26, 2022 Privacy rights group Big Brother Watch has filed a legal complaint with the UK data watchdog claiming that Southern Co-operative’s use of live facial recognition cameras in its supermarkets is “unlawful”.
OneWeb and Eutelsat ink £2.8bn deal to forge satellite powerhouse July 26, 2022 British satellite darling OneWeb and French competitor Eutelsat confirmed this morning that they will push ahead with the £2.8bn merger. Eutelsat is set to suspend its dividend for two years to pump investment into OneWeb’s low-Earth orbit satellite network, as part of the all-share deal. The deal is intended to forge a satellite powerhouse to [...]
UK competition watchdog launches inquiry into £5.4bn Inmarsat takeover July 25, 2022 The UK’s competition watchdog has launched an inquiry into the £5.4bn takeover of UK satellite giant Inmarsat by a US rival Viasat. The merger would fuse British and US expertise in the satellite space, a sector traditionally dominated by the States. However, it has the potential to raise substantially reduce the amount of competition in [...]
OneWeb takeover by Chinese state-backed rival raises national security concerns July 25, 2022 The proposed takeover of British satellite darling OneWeb by French rival Eutelsat has caught scrutiny over national security. The joint company, estimated to be worth around $6bn (£4.9bn), would create a satellite and communications powerhouse to compete against Elon Musk’s SpaceX and Starlink – which currently dominates the satcoms industry. Eutelsat, which is partly owned [...]
Climate startup Altrustiq bags £15m as investors hunt for greenwashing solution July 25, 2022 London-based climate tech firm Altruistiq has bagged £15m in seed funding today as investors bet on 'carbon accounting' as a solution to the rise of greenwashing.
French satellite company Eutelsat poised to snap up British rival OneWeb July 24, 2022 French satellite company Eutelsat is poised to buy British rival OneWeb in a deal which will see the UK brought together with French and Chinese governments as common shareholders.
Salesforce UK chief: Govt needs to do more to fix skills gap ‘crisis’ in tech July 22, 2022 The government needs to do more to fill the tech skills shortages, says UK Salesforce Executive Vice President and CEO Zahra Bahrololoumi.
Hawkish policy on investments in British tech to only tighten, says Alphawave boss July 22, 2022 The government’s hawkish policy on foreign investments in British technology is only going to tighten, the boss of chip maker Alphawave has told Morning Wire Computer chip manufacturers have fallen under increasing scrutiny in recent months. The potential takeover of Newport Wafer Fab by Nexperia, which is owned by a Chinese state-backed company, has raised eyebrows in [...]
Microsoft slashes open job listings as hiring slows down July 21, 2022 Microsoft is cutting several open job listings as it slows hiring amidst a gloomy economic outlook. The tech giant is expanding the hiring slowdown first announced in May and will continue this for the foreseeable future, Bloomberg reported, as a weakening economy dents confidence. Hiring will slowdown in the company’s Azure business and security software [...]
UK risks moving backwards in science amid government turmoil, say industry leaders July 21, 2022 The government’s pledge to make the UK a science superpower by 2030 is in “disarray”, after the minister responsible resigned earlier this month. Science minister George Freeman exited his position on 7 July, amid a rebellion against prime minister Boris Johnson. Andrew Catchpole, chief scientific officer at London-listed Open Orphan, which ran tests on Covid-19 [...]