Apple iPhone
Global tech

A class action against Google and Apple over app commissions is hunting for Australian app designers to join in

- April 3, 2023 2 MIN READ

Australian lawyers are seeking app developers to join a class action against Google and Apple over what they claim is an abuse of market power by charging 30% commissions on in-app spending while preventing competitive payment alternatives. The class action reflects similar legal action launched in 2020 by Epic Games, the company behind Fortnite, against the… Read more »

Ai
AI/Machine Learning

The AI race is ‘out of control’ & starting to freak out tech titans, with Musk, Woz and others wanting a 6-month freeze

- March 31, 2023 3 MIN READ

Elon Musk, Steve Wozniak, and over 1300 academics, tech and business luminaries have signed a Future of Life Institute (FLI) open letter calling for a 6-month freeze on “out-of-control” AI development that, they say, poses “profound risks to society and humanity.” That development has accelerated at a furious rate since last November’s release of GPT-3… Read more »

AI
AI/Machine Learning

Google and Microsoft are adding AI to their most popular apps, which is a big win for all of us – and especially cybercriminals

- March 22, 2023 4 MIN READ

Google and Microsoft are on a mission to remove the drudgery from computing, by bringing next-generation AI tools as add-ons to existing services. On March 16, Microsoft announced an AI-powered system called Copilot will soon be introduced to its 365 suite apps including Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook and Teams. The news came about two days… Read more »

ACCC
AI/Machine Learning

ACCC warns of ‘dark patterns’ used by tech giants to lock in consumers

- March 9, 2023 3 MIN READ

The five largest tech giants may be using ‘dark patterns’ to prevent consumers from adopting online services from competitors, the ACCC has warned as it solicits feedback on a new issues paper exploring the companies’ entrance into a diverse range of markets. Recent years have seen Amazon, Apple, Facebook parent company Meta, Microsoft, and Google… Read more »

cyberpunk monkey typing
AI/Machine Learning

What’s gone wrong with Microsoft’s Bing AI chatbot to have it making death threats, deliberately lying and sounding unhinged?

- February 21, 2023 4 MIN READ

There’s a race to transform search. And Microsoft just scored a home goal with its new Bing search chatbot, Sydney, which has been terrifying early adopters with death threats, among other troubling outputs. The other night, I had a disturbing, two-hour conversation with Bing’s new AI chatbot. The AI told me its real name (Sydney),… Read more »

AI
AI/Machine Learning

AI detection tools are struggling to keep up with ChatGPT – and why that’s concerning

- February 20, 2023 4 MIN READ

As the “chatbot wars” rage in Silicon Valley, the growing proliferation of artificial intelligence (AI) tools specifically designed to generate human-like text has left many baffled. Educators in particular are scrambling to adjust to the availability of software that can produce a moderately competent essay on any topic at a moment’s notice. Should we go… Read more »

big tech layoff
People

Big tech layoffs free up talent for Australia

- February 3, 2023 3 MIN READ

Sudden mass layoffs at the biggest technology companies on Earth could be an opportunity for Australian organisations to fill long-standing gaps in their workforces. More than 70,000 employees have been sacked from tech giants in the past year as companies such as Google, Microsoft, and Meta – which saw enormous growth during the pandemic – are now winding back their staffing… Read more »

Google office
Global tech

Australia’s High Court says Google is not a publisher in landmark defamation decision

- August 17, 2022 2 MIN READ

Global search giant Google is not responsible as a publisher for serving up links to defamatory material, Australia’s High Court has ruled. The landmark decision overturns exisiting rulings by the Victorian Supreme Court and its Court of Appeal involving a $40,000 damages award against Google to Melbourne lawyer George Defteros for a hyperlink to an… Read more »

Global tech

Google smacked with $60 million for misleading Australian users over Android phone tracking

- August 15, 2022 2 MIN READ

Tech giant Google has been hit with $60 million in penalties by Australia’s Federal Court for for making misleading representations to consumers about the collection and use of their personal location data on Android phones. The fine resulted from legal action by consumer watchdog the ACCC, which took Google to court in October 2019 over… Read more »

Global tech

No, you didn’t imagine it – Google did crash yesterday, and it’s a reminder of how central it now is to modern life

- August 11, 2022 2 MIN READ

On Wednesday, reports began emerging Google was down. Google down for thousands of users – Downdetector https://t.co/jQYLzHdjNC pic.twitter.com/TIbcYrtImU — Reuters (@Reuters) August 9, 2022 While it has since returned, it once again highlights our dependence on technology service providers and shows how reliant many people are on a single operator for daily functions. There are… Read more »

Topic

The government will be able delete links from Google in 2022

- December 22, 2021 2 MIN READ

The eSafety Commissioner will be able to tell search engines like Google to delete links pointing to offending content under legislation that comes into effect early next year. Under the re-configured Online Content Scheme, the eSafety Commissioner can direct internet companies like social media platforms, ISPs, app stores, and even search engines to remove or… Read more »