Welcome to Silicon Pulse – your roundup of the latest tech news and developments impacting your business for the week ending 02/06/2023.
TECHNOLOGY POWERING BUSINESS
2023
Amazon To Discontinue Celebrity Voices For Alexa – Report
No more personalisation. Voices of Samuel L. Jackson, Shaquille O’Neal, and Melisssa McCarthy are to stop working on Alexa devices
Mark Zuckerberg Announces Meta Quest 3 VR Headset
Just days before Apple may launch its long-awaited VR headset, Meta attempts to steal its thunder with introduction of the Meta Quest 3
Twitter Value Collapses After Fidelity Writedown
Financial institution slashes estimate value of its Twitter stake, suggesting the Elon Musk firm value has decreased significantly
Meta Warns It May Pull News Content In California
Proposed California legislation to require online platforms to pay news publishers, but Meta says it may withdraw news in its home state
Amazon To Pay $30m Over Alexa, Ring Privacy Violations
Amazon settles with US FTC, after alleged privacy violations with its Alexa voice assistant and Ring doorbell cameras
UK SMEs To Increase IT Investments In 2023
New research from Sharp UK finds nearly half of UK SMEs will invest in new technology in 2023, despite concerns over rising prices
Draft AI Code Drafted Within Weeks – EU Official
EU's Margrethe Vestager says draft code of conduct on artificial intelligence (AI) could be drafted within weeks
Amazon Staff Walkout Over Environment, Return To Office Policies
Challenge to Andy Jassy, as Amazon corporate workers set to walkout over return-to-work and environmental policy frustrations
Twitter Sued By Janitors, As Musk Meets Chinese Officials
As Elon Musk jets into China to meet government officials, Twitter is sued by fired cleaning staff at its offices in New York
AI Leaders Warn Of ‘Extinction’ Risk To Humans
AI poses human extinction risk on par with a nuclear war, AI leaders and academics warn in joint statement
China Urges Japan To Drop Chip Export Restrictions
Minister hits back and says China is “strongly dissatisfied with” Japan’s decision to halt the export of chipmaking equipment
Nvidia Briefly Hits $1 Trillion Valuation
GPU powerhouse Nvidia briefly joins elite $1 trillion valuation club, after its share price continued to rise amid AI boom
Business lunch: Securing Your Enterprise with Data Back-Up and Recovery
China Approves Microsoft-Activision Deal ‘Unconditionally’
Chinese regulator approves $69 Microsoft-Activision Blizzard takeover 'unconditionally' amidst opposition from US and UK
Nvidia Set To Surpass $1tn As AI Surge Continues
Nvidia shares continue to surge as it introduces latest tools for accelerating graphics and training for generative AI large language models
Bitcoin Trades At Steep Discount On Binance Australia
Bitcoin trades at discounts of up to 21 percent on Binance Australia as users seek to cash out ahead of 1 June deadline
Samsung ‘Pushes For Tax Payouts’ In Vietnam
Samsung, other multinationals push for reimbursements as higher OECD-mandated tax regime set to take effect on 1 January
Crypto Bosses Look To China Ahead Of Hong Kong Rules
High-profile cryptocurrency founders say Hong Kong regulatory regime and Beijing white paper show hope for China as future crypto hub
Pension Funds Warn Members Over Capita Breach
Pension funds now warning hundreds of thousands of members over potential loss of personal data from Capita breach earlier this year
The Gravitational Pull of Data
As the quantities of data generated every second continue to expand, how does this affect business processes? All enterprises are data companies. How can businesses manage these massive datasets to minimise the impact of data gravity?
Amazon Offers Term Time-Only Working Amidst Strikes
Amazon offers term time-only working for warehouse staff with children as it faces union recognition bid and ongoing strike action in Coventry
Nvidia Builds AI Supercomputer In Israel Amidst Surging Demand
Nvidia builds supercomputer in Israel data centre for AI tasks as demand around generative artificial intelligence surges
Arm Rolls Out Next-Gen Smartphone Chip Tech
UK-based Arm announces Cortex-X4 core and Immortalis-G720 GPU for next-gen smartphone processing, AI and ML performance
Foxconn Raises Pay At Key China iPhone Plant
iPhone assembler Foxconn raises pay and bonuses at key plant in Zhengzhou following weeks of disruption last year
China ‘To Put Humans On Moon’ By 2030
China confirms objective to put humans on Moon by 2030 as it presents increasingly direct competition to US space programme
Lawyer Submits Brief With False ChatGPT-Generated References
Lawyer faces sanctions after submitting brief that contained multiple references that proved to have been fabricated wholesale by ChatGPT
Twitter Quits EU Code Of Practice On Disinformation
Twitter leaves EU's voluntary code of practice amidst cost-cutting, but industry commissioner Thierry Breton warns obligations remain
Singapore Wealth Fund Cuts Pay Amidst FTX Fallout
Singapore sovereign wealth fund Temasek Holdings cuts staff and senior management pay after writing off $275m FTX investment
If Businesses Are To Get A Grip On Cybersecurity, They Need To Close Gender Gap
Cybersecurity is a pressing concern for businesses, hampered by a skills shortage. But many are failing to tackle the cyber gender gap