World tech news and tech tweets

Britain's finance ministry plans "robust" regulations for crypto assets, following the collapse of crypto exchange FTX last year, which left millions of people nursing billions of dollars in losses. Crypto is currently unregulated globally, with firms only having to carry out checks to prevent money laundering. However, Britain's Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has said that more than 80 percent of license applicants were unable to show they could do this properly as "dark money" flows through the sector. The draft rules, to be published on Wednesday, would ensure robust, transparent, and fair standards, consistent with the approach to traditional finance, Financial Services Minister Andrew Griffith said in a statement on Tuesday. "We remain steadfast in our commitment to grow the economy and enable technological change and innovation – and this includes cryptoasset technology," Griffith said. The new rules come after rising interest rates le...

ChatGPT creator OpenAI on Wednesday released a tool designed to detect AI-generated text. While the tool is in public beta, OpenAI says it is very "unreliable" on texts under 1,000 characters, adding that the AI-written text can also be edited to trick the detection tool. from Gadgets 360 https://ift.tt/ULKyWQ5

Union Budget 2023-24 will be presented in the Indian Parliament by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Wednesday, February 1. A day before the budget announcement, the finance minister tabled the Economic Survey 2022-23 in the Lok Sabha on January 31, giving a detailed report on the expenditures and earnings of the country in the ongoing financial year. As the Ministry of Finance gets all set to announce the Union Budget 2023-24 on Wednesday, here is all the information you need to watch the live screening. Union Budget 2023-24: When to watch Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman will be presenting the Union Budget 2023-24 in the Lok Sabha on February 1. The announcements will begin at 11 am IST. The budget speech is likely to last for around two hours. The longest budget speech in India's history, which continued for 2 hours and 40 minutes, was presented by FM Sitharaman in 2020. It is to be noted that this will be the last full budget for the Narendra Modi government before t...

The Union Budget 2023-24 will be presented in the Indian Parliament by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Wednesday, February 1. The announcements will begin at 11 am IST. The budget speech is likely to last for around two hours. from Gadgets 360 https://ift.tt/6cE3WZG

Apple maintains workplace policies that unlawfully discourage employees from discussing working conditions, a US labour agency has found. The National Labor Relations Board will issue a complaint targeting the policies and claiming Apple executives made comments that stymied worker organising unless the company settles first, an agency official said on Monday in an ... from Gadgets 360 https://ift.tt/bT3NE6R

Apple maintains workplace policies that unlawfully discourage employees from discussing working conditions, a US labour agency has found. The National Labor Relations Board will issue a complaint targeting the policies and claiming Apple executives made comments that stymied worker organising unless the company settles first, an agency official said on Monday in an email reviewed by Reuters. The official had sent the email to Ashley Gjovik, a former Apple senior engineering manager who filed complaints against the company in 2021. The NLRB investigates charges filed by workers and unions and decides whether to issue formal complaints against companies. The agency can seek to strike down workplace policies and require employers to notify workers of legal violations. Apple did not respond to a request for comment. The company has said it takes worker complaints seriously and thoroughly investigates them. An NLRB spokeswoman did not immediately respond to a request for comm...

Samsung on Tuesday reported its lowest quarterly profit since 2014 and said persistent macroeconomic uncertainty will make for a tough first half year, though demand is likely to start recovering in the second half. Sluggish demand and inventory adjustment will continue to impact the chip business in the first quarter, Samsung said in a statement, adding it expects "smartphone demand to decline year-on-year due to the economic slowdown in major regions". The world's biggest maker of memory chips and smartphones reported a 69 percent plunge in fourth-quarter profit, as consumer demand for electronic devices dropped while clients spent less in a weak economy, dragging down memory chip prices. At KRW 4.3 trillion (roughly Rs. 29,000 crore), October-December operating profit was Samsung's lowest quarterly profit in eight years. Revenue fell 8 percent to KRW 70.5 trillion won (roughly Rs. 4.7 lakh crore). With memory chip prices falling by double-digit percentages in ...

Croma Smartphone Carnival sale 2023 is live with deals and bundled offers on a large selection of popular smartphones. We’ve handpicked the best deals you can grab today. If you’re looking to upgrade, we’ve got something for you. from Gadgets 360 https://ift.tt/4hY5wkf

Twitter is working to introduce payments on the social media platform and has begun applying for regulatory licenses, the Financial Times reported on Monday, citing people familiar with the matter. New boss Elon Musk is pushing Twitter to create new streams of revenue as it faces a drop in advertising income, following his $44 billion (roughly Rs. 3.6 lakh crore) takeover of the company in October. The development of the payments feature is being led by Esther Crawford, a director of product management at Twitter, according to the report, which added that the executive was emerging to be a key lieutenant to Musk. Twitter did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment. Musk had previously said that the Twitter acquisition would be part of a master plan to create "the everything app", a service that would offer social networking, peer-to-peer payments and e-commerce shopping. Prior to Musk's takeover, Twitter in early 2021 was exploring allowing its use...

The Croma Smartphone Carnival Sale is a much-awaited event for smartphone enthusiasts. This year, the sale promises to be bigger and better than ever, with exciting offers and prizes that are too good to miss.   Highlights of the sale include up to 50 percent off on the latest smartphone models, assured benefit vouchers worth Rs. 10,000, and the chance to win a Tata Nexon EV Car and Revamp Moto Electric Bikes. If you're planning to purchase a smartphone during the sale, here are seven options you should consider: Oppo A78 5G (Rs. 18,999) If you're in the market for a good 5G smartphone, then the Oppo A78 is a great choice. During the Croma Smartphone Carnival Sale, it's available at   a discounted   price of Rs. 18,999 (MRP Rs. 21,999). The Oppo A78 is powered by a   MediaTek Dimensity 700 processor and 8GB of RAM, ensuring you can multitask and run your apps smoothly. The 6.56-inch display with a 90Hz refresh rate provides a smooth and responsive...

A US judge on Monday said the names of two people who helped guarantee bail for indicted FTX cryptocurrency exchange founder Sam Bankman-Fried should be made public, but put his ruling on hold pending an expected appeal. US District Judge Lewis Kaplan in Manhattan ruled in favour of several media outlets including Reuters that sought the names. The judge said that while the public had only a "weak" right to know who Bankman-Fried's guarantors were, it outweighed Bankman-Fried's arguments for confidentiality, including that the guarantors' safety could be imperilled. Kaplan also said the names will remain under seal until at least February 7, because "the question presented here is novel and an appeal is likely." A spokesman for Mark Cohen and Christian Everdell, who represent Bankman-Fried, declined to comment. Bankman-Fried, 30, has been confined at his parents' home in California, after pleading not guilty to fraud for allegedly looting billio...

The Biden administration has stopped approving licenses for US companies to export most items to China's Huawei, according to three people familiar with the matter. Huawei has faced US export restrictions around items for 5G and other technologies for several years, but officials in the US Department of Commerce have granted licenses for some American firms to sell certain goods and technologies to the company. Qualcomm , in 2020, received permission to sell 4G smartphone chips to Huawei. A Commerce Department spokesperson said officials "continually assess our policies and regulations" but do not comment on talks with specific companies. Huawei and Qualcomm declined to comment. Bloomberg and the Financial Times earlier reported the move. One person familiar with the matter said US officials are creating a new formal policy of denial for shipping items to Huawei that would include items below the 5G level, including 4G items, Wi-Fi 6 and 7, artificial intelligence, a...

Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania is poised to kickstart Phase 5 of the Marvel Cinematic Universe in style, transporting us to the populated, urban megacity of Quantum Realm. In what feels like a redemption arc for the often ridiculed and not-so-popular Avenger that is Ant-Man (Paul Rudd), the film sets the first faceoff for the perils to come in the form of the hostile Kang the Conquerer (Jonathan Majors) — in the larger Multiverse Saga. Marking the longest runtime in the shapeshifter trilogy, Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania releases February 17 in theatres worldwide. While you wait for that superhero affair, why not treat yourself to a taste of Old Hollywood with Damien Chazelle's latest epic Babylon ? It's a wild ride, tracking the outsized ambition of eccentric characters, as they bask in the fame before eventually falling off. The film waltzes into cinemas on February 3. Coming to local fare, we've got two Hindi-language remakes of South Indian movies. First up, Kar...

Oppo confirmed the arrival of the Oppo Reno 8T 5G in India. The new Reno 8 series smartphone will launch on February 3. It is expected to be powered by a Snapdragon 695 SoC and could pack a dual rear camera unit headlined by a 108-megapixel main sensor. from Gadgets 360 https://ift.tt/BWAms3t

Elon Musk's enigmatic personality and unconventional tactics are emerging as key exhibits in a trial revolving around one of his most polarizing pursuits — tweeting. The trial, centred on a pair of tweets announcing Musk had obtained the money to take Tesla private in 2018, reeled the 51-year-old billionaire into a federal courtroom in San Francisco for three days of testimony that opened a peephole into his often inscrutable mind. Musk, who now owns the Twitter service that he deploys as his megaphone, was often a study in contrasts during his roughly eight hours on the stand. The CEO of the electric carmaker is facing a class-action lawsuit filed on behalf of Tesla shareholders after Musk tweeted about a company buyout that didn't happen. Through both his testimony and the evidence submitted around it, Musk came across as impetuous, brash, combative and contemptuous of anyone who questioned his motives as a game-changing entrepreneur who has inspired comparisons to Apple...

Elon Musk, who now owns the Twitter service that he deploys as his megaphone, was often a study in contrasts during his roughly eight hours on the stand during the ongoing Tesla tweet trial. The CEO of the electric carmaker is facing a class-action lawsuit filed on behalf of Tesla shareholders after Musk tweeted about a company buyout that didn’t happen. from Gadgets 360 https://ift.tt/VMzKw09

Bitcoin is set for its best January since 2013 on bets that monetary tightening and the crypto-sector crisis are both ebbing. The largest token is up over 40 percent since the turn of the year, a first-month gain bettered only twice before when crypto was in its infancy. Smaller coins like Solana, Axie Infinity and Decentraland have doubled in value, part of a $280 billion (roughly Rs. 22.8 lakh crore) January climb in digital assets overall, CoinGecko figures show. The rebound from last year's deep rout is part of a wider revival in risk appetite on expectations that central banks will slow interest-rate hikes and perhaps even cut borrowing costs later this year as high inflation moderates. The rally in virtual coins has weathered ongoing fallout from the collapse of Sam Bankman-Fried's FTX exchange — such as the bankruptcy of crypto lender Genesis Global Holdco LLC and a spate of layoffs across the industry. January “feels like a month of new beginnings, with emerging cl...

Chinese Internet giant Baidu is planning to launch an artificial intelligence chatbot tool similar to OpenAI's ChatGPT in March, a person familiar with the matter told Reuters. Baidu plans to debut the application by initially embedding it into its main search services, Bloomberg News reported earlier. ChatGPT's tech works by learning from vast amounts of data how to answer any prompt by a user in a human-like way, offering the information like a search engine would or prose like an aspiring novelist. Microsoft  has a $1 billion investment in San Francisco-based OpenAI that it has looked at increasing, Reuters has reported. The company has also worked to add OpenAI's image-generation software to its Bing search engine in a new challenge to Alphabet Inc's Google. Last week, the company 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 r...

Baidu, the Chinese Internet giant, is planning to launch an artificial intelligence chatbot tool similar to OpenAI's ChatGPT in March. ChatGPT's tech works by learning from vast amounts of data how to answer any prompt by a user in a human-like way, offering the information like a search engine would or prose like an aspiring novelist. from Gadgets 360 https://ift.tt/m0o1N3S

Reliance Jio, Bharti Airtel cumulatively gained nearly 25 lakh mobile subscribers in November, while Vodafone Idea lost nearly 18.3 lakh customers, according to TRAI data. Reliance Jio cemented its lead in the market adding 14.26 lakh net subscribers in November, whereas Airtel added 10.56 lakh users. The top five service providers constituted over 98 per cent market ... from Gadgets 360 https://ift.tt/CgVuOxA

Sciences Po, one of France's top universities, has banned the use of ChatGPT, an artificial intelligence-based chatbot that can generate coherent prose, to prevent fraud and plagiarism. ChatGPT is a free programme that generates original text about virtually any subject in response to a prompt, including articles, essays, jokes and even poetry, raising concerns across industries about plagiarism. The university said on Friday the school had emailed all students and faculty announcing a ban on ChatGPT and all other AI-based tools at Sciences Po. "Without transparent referencing, students are forbidden to use the software for the production of any written work or presentations, except for specific course purposes, with the supervision of a course leader," Sciences Po said, though it did not specify how it would track usage. ChatGPT has already been banned in some public schools in New York City and Seattle, according to US media reports, while several US universities h...

The House Foreign Affairs Committee plans to hold a vote next month on a bill aimed at blocking the use of China's popular social media app TikTok in the United States, the committee confirmed on Friday. The measure, planned by the panel's chair Representative Michael McCaul, a Republican, would aim to give the White House the legal tools to ban TikTok over US national security concerns. "The concern is that this app gives the Chinese government a back door into our phones," McCaul told Bloomberg News, which reported the vote timing earlier. In 2020, then-President Donald Trump attempted to block new users from downloading TikTok and ban other transactions that would have effectively blocked the app's use in the United States, but lost a series of court battles over the measure. The Biden administration in June 2021 formally abandoned that effort. Then in December, Republican Senator Marco Rubio unveiled bipartisan legislation to ban TikTok, which would also ...

ChatGPT usage has been banned at Sciences Po, one of France's top universities, to prevent fraud and plagiarism. The university said on Friday the school had emailed all students and faculty announcing a ban on ChatGPT and all other AI-based tools at Sciences Po. ChatGPT has already been banned in some public schools in New York City and Seattle, as per reports. from Gadgets 360 https://ift.tt/WrneK3D

Twitter users will be able to appeal account suspensions and be evaluated under the social media platform's new criteria for reinstatement, starting Feb. 1, the company said on Friday. Under the new criteria, which follow billionaire Elon Musk's purchase of the company in October, Twitter accounts will only be suspended for severe or ongoing and repeat violations of the platform's policies. Severe policy violations include engaging in illegal content or activity, inciting or threatening violence or harm, and engaging in targeted harassment of other users, among others. Twitter said that going forward, it will take less severe action, in comparison to account suspension, such as limiting the reach of tweets that violate its policies or asking users to remove tweets before continuing to use the account. In December, Musk came under fire for suspending accounts of several journalists over a controversy on publishing public data about the billionaire's plane. He later...

The US panel will hold a vote on TikTok ban bill next month. The measure would aim to give the White House the legal tools to ban TikTok over US national security concerns. A ban on TikTok, owned by ByteDance and is popular among teens, would face significant hurdles in Congress to pass, and would need 60 votes in the Senate. from Gadgets 360 https://ift.tt/5VpvsGh

Twitter users can appeal account suspension starting February 2023 under the new criteria for account suspension and reinstatement announced by the company. Under the new criteria, Twitter will take less severe action, in comparison to account suspension. Elon Musk came under fire for suspending the accounts of several journalists in December. from Gadgets 360 https://ift.tt/KXhjoQt

The rapid take-up of electric vehicles in India's fledgling market has prompted a major rethink about the country's long-term fuel needs as refiners in Asia's third-largest economy hasten their shift away from oil production. India, one of the world's fastest growing oil markets, has lagged major economic peers in Europe and Asia in the adoption of EVs but sales are now picking up and investment in the production of new autos and energy infrastructure is accelerating. The faster-than-anticipated industry growth means India's gasoline consumption will peak sooner than previously thought, some analysts and industry participants say, forcing top oil firms to expedite transition plans to alternative business lines, notably increased petrochemical manufacturing. "We were anticipating that peak gasoline demand will be around 2040-2045 earlier, but going by the trend and the speed with which we are developing the ecosystem around EVs, the peak demand would be mid-...