Tech boss outlines £300m plan to reclaim UK chip plant if China deal blocked August 11, 2021 The former boss of tech firm Imagination Technologies has reportedly pledged to spend £300m on Britain’s biggest microchip factory should a Chinese-led takeover fall through. Six companies, led by Ron Black, are ready to make a bid for Newport Wafer Fab if the government blocks its sale to Shanghai-owned firm Nexperia, the Telegraph reported. Last [...]
NortonLifeLock to buy UK cyber firm Avast in $8bn deal August 11, 2021 US cyber firm NortonLifeLock has confirmed it will buy British rival Avast in a deal that values the London-listed company at up to $8.6bn (£6.2bn). In a statement yesterday the two companies said Avast shareholders will receive a combination of cash and newly-issued shares in Norton, with alternative options available. Based on the US firm’s [...]
Twitter to introduce autoblocking after Euro 2020 racist abuse August 10, 2021 Twitter will trial automatic blocking of accounts that post harmful language after Brits used the platform to hurl racist abuse at England footballers following the Euros final. The social media giant said the UK was “by far” the biggest source of abusive tweets sent on the night of England’s defeat to Italy and in the [...]
Salesforce enters streaming wars with Netflix-style business service August 10, 2021 Software giant Salesforce has waded into the increasingly crowded streaming market with the launch of a new platform offering business-focused content on demand. The San Francisco-based company said its in-house studio had produced the core programming for Salesforce Plus, which will launch at its Dreamforce event next month. The service will look to harness the [...]
Chinese social media giant Weibo’s ex-PR director arrested on bribery charge August 10, 2021 Chinese authorities have arrested today a top communications director at Chinese social media giant Weibo accused of taking bribes. Mao Taotao, former senior public relations director at Weibo, was detained by police on suspicion of accepting bribes and committing fraud. Weibo, part-owned by e-commerce giant Alibaba Groups, said the company had fired Mao and will [...]
Global chip crisis boosts Arm sales amid Nvidia takeover row August 10, 2021 A global chip shortage has helped drive a surge in sales at British semiconductor giant Arm ahead of its planned $40bn (£29bn) takeover by US rival Nvidia. Cambridge-based Arm reported a 57 per cent rise in total net sales to $675m in the three months to the end of June thanks to increases in both [...]
Home working win: HR software firm Gusto hits $10bn valuation and mulls IPO August 10, 2021 HR software firm Gusto has hit a $10bn valuation following its latest funding round, amid work-from-home measures in which it thrived. The company secured $175m in a funding round in recent weeks, its CEO Josh Reeves told Forbes, after bagging $200m in capital last year. The capital rally was led by T. Rowe Price and [...]
Amazon to pay compensation to shoppers injured by third-party products August 10, 2021 Amazon will start paying customers who are impacted by dangerous goods sold by third-party merchants on its US platform in a move that could reduce litigation. The ecommerce giant today said it will start offering compensation for personal injury or property damage of up to $1,000, effective from 1 September. Amazon added it may step [...]
How a combination of skilled people and AI will shape tech and telecoms August 5, 2021 | City Talk Machines will undertake more tasks than humans by 2025, compared to 71 per cent being performed by humans in 2018. Although this finding, from the World Economic Forum, might seem scary, the good news is that the evolution of artificial intelligence (AI) could create 58 million ‘net’ new jobs. But if you’re in the tech [...]
Olympics going high-tech: Artificial intelligence to prevent Tokyo heatstroke August 1, 2021 In addition to conventional measures like water spray and mist fans, Olympic organizers are going high-tech. This weekend, they have started deploying a cloud-based system from Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba Group to monitor workers’ real-time conditions and send warnings and advice at signs of heatstroke danger. Watch the full report. WATCH DOZENS OF OTHER VIDEO [...]