Technology

Passive social media use linked to loneliness

Passive consumption of social media seems to reinforce feelings of disconnection, according to a JRC policy brief which examines the relationship between social media use and loneliness. Social media has…

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EC makes legally binding Apple’s promises on access to mobile wallet

The European Commission has made commitments offered by Apple legally binding under EU antitrust rules. The commitments address the Commission's competition concerns relating to Apple's refusal to grant rivals access to a…

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Nintendo to reveal details of Switch successor by March 2025

Nintendo said on Tuesday it plans to make an announcement about the successor to its long-lasting Switch console during the financial year ending March 2025. Nintendo has extended the lifecycle…

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Google rolls out changes for users, apps developers as EU tech rules loom

Alphabet's Google on Tuesday outlined changes to search results and new tools for apps developers to promote their products on third-party apps and rival app stores as part of efforts to comply with landmark EU tech rules seeking to curb Big Tech's power. Designated as…

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EU lawmakers back political deal on artificial intelligence rules

Two key committees of lawmakers at the European Parliament on Tuesday backed a provisional agreement on landmark artificial intelligence rules ahead of a vote by the legislative assembly in April.…

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EU’s Vestager doubts if Big Tech will fully comply with landmark EU rules

EU antitrust chief Margrethe Vestager on Thursday voiced doubts as to whether Big Tech will fully comply with landmark EU rules aimed at reining in their power and ensure a…

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Gambling group Flutter bets on US primary listing

Dublin-based online betting company Flutter said on Monday it will propose moving the primary listing of its shares from London to New York at the annual general meeting in May.…

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AI tools will lead to more cyberattacks, spy agency says

The rapid development of novel Artificial Intelligence (AI) tools will lead to an increase in cyberattacks and lower the barrier of entry for less sophisticated hackers to do digital harm,…

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AI in Taxation: Transforming or Replacing?

At the launching of his latest book titled “Our Planet Powered by AI”, Mark Minevich, a renowned AI pioneer and strategist, reaffirmed his belief that in the coming years several…

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Microsoft’s New Wave of AI Advancements Presented at Microsoft Ignite 2023

Eight months ago, Microsoft introduced Copilot for Microsoft 365 to help people focus on uniquely human work. Eight months down the line, a combination of surveys and experiments are already…

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ELT Sector On Path To Full Recovery: One School’s Journey Towards Renewed Growth

A recent newsletter issued by the ELT Council to all English teaching organisations highlighted a sense of optimism that seems to be felt within the industry due to the fact…

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Electric car demand set to stall in Europe’s ‘valley of death’

After years of accelerating growth, Europe's electric car sales appear to be entering a go-slow zone as drivers wait for better, cheaper models that are two to three years down…

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Alliance of 40 countries to vow not to pay ransom to cybercriminals, US says

Forty countries in a U.S.-led alliance plan to sign a pledge never to pay ransom to cybercriminals and to work toward eliminating the hackers' funding mechanism, a senior White House…

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Digital euro package should be focus of next EU Commission – McGuinness

The European Union's financial services chief said on Wednesday that a draft law to underpin a digital euro should not be rushed out ahead of European elections next June and instead be examined…

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GO’s €100 million True Fibre Network To Reach 100% of the Island By End 2024

Malta well on path to being amongst the first EU state to reach nationwide coverage by end 2024. GO has announced that 75% of households and 80% of businesses can…

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Big Tech braces for roll-out of EU’s Digital Services Act

More than a dozen of the world's biggest tech companies face unprecedented legal scrutiny, as the European Union's sweeping Digital Services Act (DSA) imposes new rules on content moderation, user…

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Elon Musk’s X plans to remove headlines from links to news articles

Elon Musk is pushing to change how news links appear on his social media platform X, formerly called Twitter, in a move that could potentially undermine the ability of news…

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Netflix to make its games playable on more devices

Netflix will test games on select TVs and computers in a first step to make them playable on more devices, the company's vice president of Games Mike Verdu wrote in…

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Microsoft Adds Partners To New AI Cloud Partner Program

A global survey conducted recently by Microsoft amongst 3,000 managers, executives and scholars confirmed how 57% of companies are piloting or deploying AI, 59% have an AI strategy and 70%…

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US opens new special probe into fatal Tesla crash

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration said Tuesday it is opening a new special crash investigation into a fatal accident in California involving a 2018 Tesla Model 3 where advanced…

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96% of young people in the EU uses the internet daily

In 2022, 96% of young people aged 16-29 years in the EU reported using the internet every day, compared with 84% of the adult population. Daily internet use among young…

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Meta loses as top EU court backs antitrust regulators over privacy breach checks

Meta Platforms on Tuesday lost its fight against a German data curb order that strikes at the heart of its business model as Europe's top court backed the German antitrust watchdog's power…

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Encrypted phone service ‘Encrochat’ shutdown leads to 6,500 arrests – Europol

European policing agency Europol said on Tuesday that the takedown of Encrochat, an underground company that offered criminals supposedly secure encrypted communications, led to more than 6,500 arrests and 900…

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Google, one of AI’s biggest backers, warns own staff about chatbots

Alphabet Inc is cautioning employees about how they use chatbots, including its own Bard, at the same time as it markets the program around the world, four people familiar with…

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Eurobarometer: Europeans believe digital technologies will be crucial in their daily lives

According to a new Eurobarometer survey released today, four out of five Europeans believe that digital technologies are growing more important in their daily lives and that Europe should take…

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EU seeks top court backing in $14 billion tax fight against Apple

U competition regulators appealed to the bloc's highest court on Tuesday to override a lower tribunal and make Apple AAPL.O pay a record 13 billion euros ($14.3 billion) in Irish back taxes. The case,…

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Regulators dust off rule books to tackle generative AI like ChatGPT

As the race to develop more powerful artificial intelligence services like ChatGPT accelerates, some regulators are relying on old laws to control a technology that could upend the way societies…

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G7 should adopt ‘risk-based’ AI regulation, ministers say

Group of Seven advanced nations should adopt "risk-based" regulation on artificial intelligence, their digital ministers agreed on Sunday, as European lawmakers hurry to introduce an AI Act to enforce rules on…

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Britain to take on Big Tech with new legal powers

Britain said on Tuesday it would introduce a new law to rein in the power that big tech companies such as Google, Facebook and Amazon are able to wield to…

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European privacy watchdog creates ChatGPT task force

The body that unites Europe's national privacy watchdogs said on Thursday it had set up a task force on ChatGPT, a potentially important first step toward a common policy on setting…

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Nintendo to repair for free unresponsive game controllers, EU says

apanese gaming company Nintendo has agreed to repair for free beyond the legal guarantee period unresponsive console controllers following complaints from European consumer groups, the European Commission said on Tuesday. Nintendo found…

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Italy’s ChatGPT ban attracts EU privacy regulators

Italy's move to temporarily ban ChatGPT has inspired other European countries to study if harsher measures are needed to rein in the wildly popular chatbots and whether to coordinate such…

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Elon Musk joins experts in urging AI pause, citing ‘risks to society’

Elon Musk and a group of artificial intelligence experts and industry executives are calling for a six-month pause in developing systems more powerful than OpenAI's newly launched GPT-4, in an…

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UK’s William Hill fined $24 million for widespread gambling failures

Britain's Gambling Commission has slapped a 19.2 million pound ($23.7 million) fine on companies owned by betting shop group William Hill for failing to protect consumers and weak anti-money laundering controls,…

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Amazon deepens tech-sector gloom with another 9,000 layoffs

Amazon.com has announced that it would axe another 9,000 roles, piling on to a wave of layoffs that has swept the technology sector as an uncertain economy forces companies to…

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Facebook, Insta to test monthly subscription service

Meta Platforms on Sunday announced that it is testing a monthly subscription service, called Meta Verified, which will let users verify their accounts using a government ID and get a…

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Big Tech not doing enough to remove fake news, activist NGO says

Twitter, Google's YouTube, Meta Platform's Facebook and TikTok are not doing enough to remove fake news from their platforms, raising doubts about their ability to comply with new EU online…

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How Microsoft Helped Greece’s PPC Cut Carbon Emissions

Since 2019, Greece’s largest electric power company Public Power Corporation has been focusing on innovation with the goal of transforming itself into a modern, data-driven organization. By adopting Microsoft Azure-based…

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EU’s Breton urges rethink on cross-border telecoms mergers

EU industry chief Thierry Breton urged antitrust regulators on Monday to consider allowing more cross-border mergers in the European telecoms industry, backing calls by Deutsche Telekom, Orange, Telefonica and Telecom…

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EU lawmakers aim for common position on draft AI rules by early March

EU lawmakers hope to agree on draft artificial intelligence rules next month, with the aim of clinching a deal with EU countries by the end of the year, one of the…

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Musk to take stand for third day in trial over Tesla funding tweet

Elon Musk, Tesla Inc's chief executive, will take the stand on Tuesday morning in San Francisco a day after telling a jury that he had financial support in 2018 to…

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Microsoft to invest more in OpenAI as tech race heats up

Microsoft Corp announced a further multibillion dollar investment in OpenAI, deepening ties with the startup behind the chatbot sensation ChatGPT and setting the stage for more competition with rival Alphabet…

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“2023 Bound to be the most exciting year for the AI community” – Microsoft

Advances in large AI models and generative AI will continue to boost productivity, creativity, and satisfaction, enabling scientific breakthroughs and helping the world solve some of its biggest challenges. “Within…

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Tech firms lead companies with most December job cuts -report

American technology firms dominated the number of announced job cuts in December, as some employers downsized workforces to brace for the prospect of difficult economic times looming ahead. According to…

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EU is stuck playing catch-up with Amazon and Apple

Europe’s antitrust tsar Margrethe Vestager appears to be clocking up some victories over technology groups like Amazon.com and Apple. But dig into the detail of the behemoths’ possible concessions, and…

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Microsoft offers Sony 10-year contract for ‘Call of Duty’ releases on PlayStation

Microsoft has offered Sony a 10-year contract to make each new "Call of Duty" release available on PlayStation the same day it comes to Xbox, according to an opinion piece…

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Italy outlaws facial recognition tech, except to fight crime

Italy prohibited the use of facial recognition and 'smart glasses' on Monday as its Data Protection Agency issued a rebuke to two municipalities experimenting with the technologies. Facial recognition systems…

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Telcos push EU to make Big Tech pay for network costs

PARIS/STOCKHOLM (Reuters) -Telecom operators are pushing the European Union to implement new laws that would make Big Tech pay for network costs, following Australia's example, according to four sources close…

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China aims to ship 25 million virtual reality devices by 2026

hina released its first action plan dedicated to virtual reality on Tuesday, with an aim its industry ship more than 25 million devices with a value exceeding 350 billion yuan…

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UPDATE – WhatsApp outage: some users have connection restored

BENGALURU, Oct 25 (Reuters) - Popular messaging app WhatsApp was slowly coming back online by 0900 GMT on Tuesday, with some users inn a number of countries, including Malta were saying they…

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Banks, financial services companies tightening controls on Whatsapp exchanges with clients

Asset managers are tightening controls on personal communication tools such as WhatsApp as they join banks in trying to ensure employees play by the rules when they do business with…

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Uber turns cash flow positive for the first time, shares surge

Uber Technologies Inc on Tuesday reported positive quarterly cash flow for the first time ever and forecast third-quarter operating profit above estimates, betting on steady demand for its ride-hailing and food-delivery services.…

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Big tech should share Europe network costs – France, Italy, Spain document

-France, Italy and Spain are stepping up pressure on the European Commission to come up with legislation that ensures Big Tech firms partly finance telecoms infrastructure in the bloc, a document showed on…

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Google, Facebook, Twitter to tackle deepfakes or risk EU fines

Alphabet Inc unit Google, Facebook Inc, Twitter Inc and other tech companies will have to take measures to counter deepfakes and fake accounts on their platforms or risk hefty fines…

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Microsoft renews focus on skills gap in Malta

After last year’s ICT Skills Demand and Supply Monitor by the eSkills Malta Foundation confirmed Microsoft Azure as the most common cloud platform used in Malta, Microsoft, as part of…

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Apple starts manufacturing iPhone 13 in India

Apple Inc has started making the iPhone 13 in India, the company said on Monday, as the U.S tech giant tries to reduce reliance on its Chinese supply chain. The…

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UK to ban celebrities popular with under-18s from gambling ads

Gambling advertisements in Britain featuring celebrities, sports people and social media influencers popular with the under-18s will be banned under a new ruling designed to protect children in one of…

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