Category: Technology

Amazon founder Jeff Bezos said he does not think SpaceX CEO Elon Musk will use his close ties with US President-elect Donald Trump to undercut his space company Blue Origin, adding he feels “very optimistic” about the incoming administration’s space agenda. “Elon has been very clear that he’s doing this for the public interest and not for his personal gain. And I take him at face value,” Bezos, founder of Blue Origin which rivals SpaceX in the space industry, told Reuters in an interview on Sunday. Jeff Bezos spoke with Reuters in Cape…

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Imagine a world where truth feels increasingly fragile, where falsehoods spread faster than facts, and trust in institutions, media, and even one another erodes by the minute. This is not a dystopian fantasy; it is our reality. From online conspiracies that undermine trust in institutions to viral misinformation that fuels division across political lines and distorts public perception, disinformation affects all sides of the spectrum. Its appeal lies in its simplicity: false narratives often provide quick fixes or affirm comforting biases, making them more palatable than the complexities of reality.…

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The massive asteroid (887) “Alinda” has made its closest approach to Earth in decades and is set to reach peak brightness in a rare and once-in-a-decade event. The event can be observed this weekend using basic stargazing binoculars or via a free livestream, according to Live Science. The near-Earth asteroid, designated (887) Alinda, is estimated to be 2.6 miles (4.2 kilometres) wide — roughly the width of Manhattan — as per Nasa’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory. The massive space rock made its closest approach to Earth in decades on Wednesday, coming…

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WASHINGTON: TikTok and its Chinese parent company ByteDance’s lawyer warned during Supreme Court arguments over a law that would result in its ban in the United States or would compel the sale of the app. If Congress could do this to TikTok, it could do this to other companies too. The law was the subject of arguments before nine justices on Friday and sets a January 19 deadline for TikTok’s parent company to sell the short-video social media app or face a ban on national security grounds in US. The…

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WASHINGTON: A global network on Thursday cautioned that there would be “real-world harm” if Meta expands its decision to do away with fact-checking on Facebook and Instagram, while refuting Mark Zuckerberg’s assertion that this kind of moderation is tantamount to censorship. Countries like Australia and Brazil are alarmed by surprise announcement of Mark Zuckerberg, the founder and CEO of Meta, this week to drastically reduce content filtering regulations in the US. The tech tycoon said fact-checkers were “too politically biased” and the programme had led to “too much censorship”. But…

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Global temperatures over the past two years have, on average, exceeded a critical warming threshold for the first time, reaching levels “beyond what modern humans have ever experienced,” an EU agency reported on Friday. While this does not indicate that the internationally-agreed 1.5 degrees Celsius warming limit has been permanently breached, the Copernicus Climate Change Service warned that it is alarmingly close to being crossed. The EU monitor confirmed that 2024 was the hottest year on record, surpassing 2023 and extending a streak of extraordinary heat that fuelled climate extremes…

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Meta-owned WhatsApp, which is known for bringing updates and new features to improve the user experience, is developing a new “events” feature. The new feature will ensure that events are also present in regular chats after community tabs for a more seamless experience for all users, according to WABetaInfo. The platform’s feature is scheduled for release in a future update. The events which will be created by users in their individual chats will be similar to the ones created in the group chats in order to maintain consistency across the platform.…

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In a positive development, the Pakistan Telecommunication Company Ltd (PTCL) said Wednesday that a complete resolution of the internet slowdown is expected in the next few days. The telecom company issued an update on the on the AAE-1 submarine cable issue, saying it added an additional bandwidth which has majorly resolved the matter of internet slowness. “However, slowness might be experienced on Meta-related services (WhatsApp, Facebook, and Instagram) during peak hours,” the PTCL said. The statement added that PTCL and Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) were working diligently to ensure the earliest…

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PALM BEACH: Emirati billionaire Hussain Sajwani promised a $20 billion investment in the booming US data centre industry in the coming years, he and US President-elect Donald Trump announced on Tuesday at Trump’s home in Palm Beach, Florida. With an election victory largely driven by voters’ economic concerns, Trump has doubled down on bolstering investments in domestic industries and proposed higher tariffs on Chinese goods as the US tries to curb China’s access to the chips needed for advanced data centres. “We’re planning to invest $20 billion and even more…

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WASHINGTON: It has been revealed that the suspect involved in the Cybertruck outside the Trump International Hotel in Las Vegas on New Year’s Day, used artificial intelligence chatbot ChatGPT to plan the blast, officials told reporters on Tuesday. The suspect, identified as Matthew Livelsberger, 37, used ChatGPT to try and work out how much explosive was needed to trigger the blast, the officials added. Authorities last week identified Livelsberger, an active-duty Army soldier from Colorado Springs, and said that he acted alone. Authorities last week identified the person found dead inside the Cybertruck as Matthew…

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