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Tag - big-tech

 
 

BIG TECH

A new report from a California-based nonprofit says the artificial intelligence features built in to Alphabet¡¯s Google Search pose an "unacceptable risk¡± to children.
BUSINESS / Companies
Jul 17, 2026
Google Search AI poses ¡®unacceptable risk¡¯ to kids, report finds
The ubiquitous search engine¡¯s AI features failed to detect suicide risks, said an eating disorder symptom was normal, and provided instructions for creating deepfakes, it says.
Google's bureaucracy, fragmented AI strategy and internal management problems are threatening to erode its leadership in artificial intelligence.
COMMENTARY / World
Jul 15, 2026
Google¡¯s power struggles are killing its AI mojo
Google¡¯s messy history in product development, including a culture of launching new products and then moving on, has tainted its AI coding efforts and led to a lack of focus.
Australia's online watchdog says young men and boys are being targeted for sexual extortion on social media platforms, with Instagram and WhatsApp most often named in complaints.
ASIA PACIFIC / Crime & Legal
Jul 15, 2026
Young Australian men falling victim to online sexual extortion, regulator says
Australia¡¯s eSafety Commissioner received more than 2,200 complaints in the six months to December about sexual extortion, a third of them from men age 18 to 24 years old.
Online platforms are failing to use available technologies that can identify well-known coercion ?scripts used by sexual extortion offenders, Australia's internet regulator said in a transparency report.
BUSINESS / Tech
Jul 14, 2026
Australia finds serious gaps in Big Tech¡¯s response to online child sexual abuse
Online platforms are failing to use available tech that can identify well-known coercion ?scripts used for sexual extortion, the nation¡¯s internet regulator said.
OpenAI CEO Sam Altman speaks during the Microsoft Build conference at the Seattle Convention Center Summit Building in Seattle in May 2024.
BUSINESS / Tech
Jul 11, 2026
Apple sues OpenAI for trade secret theft in pivotal case
The iPhone maker said in a suit Friday that OpenAI encouraged Apple employees to share information, components, drawings and other materials related to upcoming products.
Workers package and cube pallet bricks for shipping at Belden Brick in Sugarcreek, Ohio, in November 2025.
BUSINESS / Tech
Jul 8, 2026
U.S. Rust Belt factories get shock as Big Tech data centers drive up power bills
Factory electricity bills, a core expense, are rising faster than for many homes and other businesses, a review of U.S. energy data shows.
Sudanese women gather for a hot meal in al-Rahmaniyah camp for displaced people, near the city of El-Obeid in the southern Kordofan region of Sudan on Tuesday.
WORLD / Politics
Jul 8, 2026
Misinformation inciting harm to refugees, UNHCR says
Artificial intelligence is exacerbating the spread of such misinformation and hate speech, according to the U.N. refugee agency.
During an internal sales meeting in July 2025, Judson Althoff, Microsoft's chief commercial officer at the time, touted the company¡¯s rapid artificial intelligence growth in China.
BUSINESS / Tech
Jun 18, 2026
Microsoft makes big AI inroads in China by selling OpenAI models
The tech giant counts ByteDance, Ant Group, Meituan and Tencent Holdings among its Chinese customers.
A growing number of young consumers are turning to analog and single-purpose devices like cyberdecks and e-readers as a form of resistance to AI-first platforms and automated digital systems.
COMMENTARY / World
Jun 15, 2026
What is the hottest Gen-Z tech trend? Anti-AI
Many of the models now being hunted online were released before their new owners were born.
Visitors attend Google's I/O 2026 developer conference in Mountain View, California, on May 19. The event primarily focused on the next generation of artificial intelligence and developer tools.
COMMENTARY / World
Jun 9, 2026
Google¡¯s AI shift is causing a collective freak-out
The new dark art of search engine optimization is known as GEO (generative is now the first word) and it paradoxically has a more human flavor than the era of backlinks.
Google and Apple are among a group of technology companies that have expressed opposition to a proposed law in Canada allowing police more access to citizens¡¯ data.
BUSINESS / Tech
May 27, 2026
Apple and Google blast Canada¡¯s plan to give police more access to citizen data
The Canadian government is defending the Lawful Access Act, saying it¡¯s designed to ensure police have the legal tools to ¡°prevent, investigate and respond¡± to modern crime.
Apple CEO Tim Cook applauds as the iPhone 17 series goes on sale at the Apple Store in New York City last September.
COMMENTARY / World
May 20, 2026
Apple grandmaster Tim Cook is playing 3D chess with AI
The smartphone is the most valuable choke point in the modern economy. It¡¯s the primary entry to the electronic world ¡ª and Apple dominates.
Liberal Democratic Party cybersecurity affairs leader Masaaki Taira speaks during an interview in Tokyo on Monday.
BUSINESS / Tech
May 19, 2026
Japan¡¯s Mythos response ¡®must involve Big Tech,¡¯ says LDP cybersecurity chief
Anthropic allows only a limited number of companies and groups to access the AI model given the risks it poses.
Alphabet, the parent of Google, sold ?576.5 billion ($3.6 billion) in bonds in the largest ever yen deal by a non-Japanese company as competition to fund data centers and AI infrastructure intensifies.
BUSINESS / Companies
May 15, 2026
Alphabet sells biggest yen bond on record by foreign issuer
The Google parent sold ?576.5 billion ($3.6 billion) of bonds as competition to fund centers and AI infrastructure intensifies.
Alphabet¡¯s Gemini artificial intelligence model is considered one of the best in the industry.
BUSINESS / Tech
May 11, 2026
AI wins have Alphabet poised to become world¡¯s biggest company
Over the past year, Alphabet?has gone from an artificial intelligence afterthought to the one firm in the market with dominant positions in nearly every aspect of the technology.
Mitsubishi UFJ is enhancing its services partly by leveraging expertise from technology giants.
BUSINESS / Companies
May 7, 2026
MUFG to form strategic partnership with Google
The two firms will develop a service to assist customers in online shopping and payments with the help of artificial intelligence.
A top Google scientist warned EU antitrust regulators that its proposal ?requiring the company to share search engine data with rivals risked exposing ?users' private information.
BUSINESS / Tech
May 6, 2026
Top Google scientist says EU data measures pose privacy risk for users
The European Commission, which acts as the EU competition enforcer, has in recent years cracked down on Big Tech via a slew of legislation.
Under Mark Zuckerberg, Meta plans to use employee computer activity data to train AI systems while investing heavily in automation that could replace human workers.
COMMENTARY / World
May 3, 2026
Meta is making workers train their AI replacements
Meta plans to put tracking software on its employees¡¯ computers to track their mouse movements, clicks and keystrokes.
The Google logo during the CERAWeek energy conference 2026 in Houston, Texas, on March 24. A reported agreement between Google and the U.S. Department of Defense requires the tech giant to help adjust its AI safety settings and filters at the government's request.
BUSINESS / Tech
Apr 28, 2026
Google inks deal allowing Pentagon to use AI models for classified work
A reported agreement requires the tech giant to help adjust its AI safety settings and filters at the government¡¯s request.
The California State Capitol building in Sacramento. A pressure campaign waged by tech companies, spearheaded by the California Chamber of Commerce and the big tech trade group Chamber of Progress,  has quashed a California legislative measure that pitted giants such as Apple and Google against smaller rivals.
BUSINESS / Tech
Apr 28, 2026
Apple and Google crushed California bill helping smaller rivals
The bill had sought to stop major technology platforms from favoring their own products over those of competitors in places such as Apple¡¯s App Store.

Longform

For many people, utility poles and power lines have become such a familiar part of Japan¡¯s landscape that they often go unnoticed.
Why Japan¡¯s utility poles won¡¯t be disappearing anytime soon

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