The U.S. Department of Justice has said it will launch civil legal action against federal contractors if they fail to report cyberattacks or data breaches. The Civil Cyber-Fraud Initiative, introduced by Deputy Attorney General Lisa O. Monaco this week, will leverage the existing False Claims Act (FCA) to “pursue cybersecurity-related fraud by government contractors and […]
‘Fantasy startup investing’ NFT platform Visionrare shuts down paid marketplace after a day in open beta
Just over 24 hours into its open beta, Visionrare, which launched an NFT marketplace for “fantasy startup investing,” is temporarily shutting down and refunding users who purchased shares, saying it will relaunch soon as a free-to-play game. The platform allowed users to bid on auctions of fake NFT shares of real startups, building up a […]
Eighteen former NBA players charged with defrauding league’s health plan
October 7, 2021 NEW YORK (Reuters) – Eighteen former National Basketball Association players were charged on Thursday with defrauding the league’s health and welfare benefit plan out of approximately $3.9 million. According to an indictment filed with the U.S. District Court in Manhattan, the players submitted false reimbursement claims for medical and dental services that […]
Conagra flags price increases to cushion inflation impact, raises sales forecast
October 7, 2021 By Mehr Bedi and Deborah Mary Sophia (Reuters) -Conagra Brands Inc said on Thursday it would increase prices again on its frozen meals and snacks to help cushion the blow of higher inflation, after the diversified food maker raised its annual sales forecast and topped quarterly results. Packaged food companies are grappling […]
Stocks rise as stagflation fears and energy prices ease
October 7, 2021 By Herbert Lash and Marc Jones NEW YORK/LONDON (Reuters) – World equity markets rebounded more than 1% on Thursday as hopes grew that Washington would resolve squabbling over the U.S. debt ceiling, while a global easing in energy prices tempered deepening fears of “stagflation”. European bourses rallied off 2-1/2-month lows and Wall […]
Google to invest $1 billion in Africa over five years
October 7, 2021 LAGOS (Reuters) -Google plans to invest $1 billion in Africa over the next five years to ensure access to fast and cheaper internet and will back startups to support the continent’s digital transformation, it said on Wednesday. The unit of U.S. tech company Alphabet Inc made the announcement at a virtual event […]
Lyft now lets you pay for your Tinder date’s ride
Jon Fingas Contributor Jon Fingas is a contributing writer at Engadget. More posts by this contributor Jeep’s Grand Cherokee plug-in hybrid will arrive in early 2022 Microsoft’s Windows store is now open to third-party app stores Now that in-person dating is making a comeback, Lyft and Tinder want to encourage more of those face-to-face encounters. […]
Cruise plans to have ‘tens of thousands’ of Origin AVs on roads in coming years
Cruise expects to leap from a limited commercial robotaxi and delivery service that will start in earnest in 2022 to a business of “tens of thousands” of its purpose-built Origin AVs on the road over the next few years. The eye-popping projections will be reached, according to CEO Dan Ammann, through a combination of regulatory […]
Chronosphere raises $200M at a $1B valuation for cloud-native monitoring, adds granular, distributed tracing to its dashboard
Data observability — necessary to keep tabs on infrastructure performing as it should; to see if apps are returning errors; and to ensure that critical business data is getting to where it needs to go — is becoming an evermore complicated task as organizations’ cloud-native data demands and data usage grow. Today a startup that’s […]
Tech giants’ slowing progress on hate speech removals underscores need for law, says EC
Tech giants have got worse at removing illegal hate speech from their platforms under a voluntary arrangement in the European Union, according to the Commission’s latest assessment. The sixth evaluation report of the EU’s Code of Conduct on removing illegal hate speech found what the bloc’s executive calls a “mixed picture” with platforms reviewing 81% […]
Twitter invests in avatar startup Facemoji
Avatar startups have come and go over the past few years, but the future that many of the entrepreneurs behind them originally imagined has proven more or less accurate. Apple is increasingly interested in avatar representations through Memoji, Mark Zuckerberg wants Facebook to be a metaverse company, and platforms like Roblox where users enter a […]
Dash for gas sparks oil switch, pushes more suppliers to brink
October 7, 2021 By Noah Browning and Susanna Twidale LONDON (Reuters) – Soaring gas prices are forecast to drive a switch to oil and put more energy suppliers in Britain out of business, while industry groups called on Thursday for government action to ensure there is no supply interruption this winter. Natural gas prices, particularly […]
N.Y. City mayor misused security detail for personal benefit, watchdog says
October 7, 2021 By Joseph Ax (Reuters) – New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio’s security detail was misused for personal tasks, including helping his daughter move and shuttling his son to and from college, a watchdog agency said on Thursday, likening the actions to a “concierge service.” It also said the mayor has not […]
Russian court tells bailiffs to enforce collection of unpaid Facebook fines
October 7, 2021 MOSCOW (Reuters) – A Moscow court told state bailiffs on Thursday to enforce the collection of 26 million roubles ($361,400) in fines imposed on U.S. social media giant Facebook for failing to delete content that Russia deems illegal. Moscow’s Tagansky District Court issued the order over eight fines that Facebook has not […]
Analysis-Fed prepared to handle September jobs report with kid gloves
October 7, 2021 By Ann Saphir (Reuters) – U.S. hiring probably accelerated last month, a range of high-frequency indicators suggests, as the effects of the latest COVID-19 surge began to subside, but even a second straight weak employment report would be unlikely to derail the Federal Reserve’s plans to begin reducing its support for the […]
Geneva motor show postponed further until 2023
October 7, 2021 MILAN (Reuters) – The organizers of the Geneva International Motor Show said on Thursday that they would not organize the event next year due to “industry-wide issues relating to the COVID-19 pandemic”. The organisers said in a statement that direct and indirect issues linked to the pandemic left them “with no alternative”. […]
JPMorgan shares patents to spur low carbon technology development
October 7, 2021 By Elizabeth Dilts Marshall NEW YORK (Reuters) – JPMorgan Chase & Co on Thursday said it would allow others to use its intellectual property in hopes of speeding up the transition to low carbon technology and energy sources. The bank is making several key patents related to how it efficiently cools and […]
Robot response team
I’ve been working on a big project the past several days (more on that soon), which means, unfortunately, I’ve been away from the daily breaking news. That means, in turn, that I really haven’t been on top of the big robotics news this week. So let’s use this column as an opportunity to play a […]
Snapchat is launching new tools to crack down on illicit drug sales on its platform
Snapchat is rolling out new tools and educational resources to prevent younger users from buying counterfeit pills and illicit drugs via the platform. The company said on Thursday that the goal of the new tools is to keep its users safe from “the devastating impacts of the fentanyl crisis.” “We are determined to remove illegal […]
Mark Cuban-backed Otto raises $4.5M to turn car equity into credit
Otto, a fintech startup which aims to allow people to tap into their vehicle’s equity for access to credit, has raised $4.5 million in a seed round of funding. The Dallas-based company is building a mobile platform that will essentially let people borrow against their vehicles at the same interest rate as standard credit cards. […]
