A malfunctioning firewall implemented by a 911 vendor caused a two-hour outage in the emergency calling system in Massachusetts, affecting residents statewide on Tuesday afternoon. The Massachusetts government reported that Comtech, the state’s 911 vendor, has since applied a technical solution to prevent future occurrences. “A preliminary investigation conducted by the State 911 Department and…
On Tuesday, Meta was named in a lawsuit alleging the company overlooks sexist treatment of female employees, including promoting less qualified men over more capable women. The complaint was filed in a US district court in New York by Jeffrey Smith, an engineer who joined Meta in 2018. According to Smith, his promising career trajectory…
AT&T is enforcing monthly price increases of $10 and $20 on its older unlimited wireless plans starting in August 2024, according to an announcement by the company. Single-line users will see a $10 hike, while customers with multiple lines will experience a total increase of $20 per month. The company has offered a variety of…
Apple has abruptly discontinued its “buy now, pay later” (BNPL) service, Apple Pay Later, which turned Apple into a money lender when it launched last March in the US and became widely available in October. The service previously allowed users to split the cost of purchases of up to $1,000 into four installments that were…
T-Mobile has agreed to revise its advertising for the "Price Lock" guarantee, which initially implied a fixed price but allowed for price increases, while maintaining a defense of the promotion. This move follows a challenge from AT&T and a ruling by the National Advertising Division (NAD), part of the Better Business Bureau’s self-regulatory program for…
Adobe prioritized profits while spending years ignoring numerous complaints from users struggling to cancel costly subscriptions without incurring hefty hidden fees, the US Federal Trade Commission (FTC) alleged in a lawsuit Monday. According to the FTC, Adobe knew that canceling subscriptions was hard but determined that it would hurt revenue to make canceling any easier,…
US Surgeon General Vivek Murthy has proposed placing a warning label on social media platforms, cautioning young users about potential mental health harms. Murthy argues in an op-ed published in the New York Times that the mental health crisis among young people is dire, with overuse of social media contributing to anxiety, depression, and body…
Meta has apparently paused plans to process significant amounts of user data to introduce new AI experiences in Europe. The decision follows pushback from data regulators, who disputed the tech giant’s claims that it had ‘legitimate interests’ in processing data from European Union (EU) and European Economic Area (EEA) users, including personal posts and pictures,…
Brussels is preparing to charge Apple with stifling competition on its mobile app store, in what will be the first use of new EU digital regulations to target a major tech company. The European Commission has found that the iPhone maker is not complying with obligations to allow app developers to direct users to offers…
A group of Tesla investors has initiated legal action against Elon Musk and the company’s board, alleging that Musk’s new venture xAI improperly siphoned resources from Tesla. The lawsuit, filed in Delaware Court of Chancery, accuses Musk of hiring AI employees away from Tesla, redirecting microchips to xAI and social media platform X, and using…
Apple has spent years “intentionally, knowingly, and deliberately paying women less than men for substantially similar work,” a proposed class action lawsuit filed in California on Thursday alleged. A victory for women suing could mean that more than 12,000 current and former female employees in California could collectively claw back potentially millions in lost wages…
Microsoft is pivoting its company culture to make security a top priority, President Brad Smith testified to Congress on Thursday, promising that security will be “more important even than the company’s work on artificial intelligence.” Satya Nadella, Microsoft’s CEO, “has taken on the responsibility personally to serve as the senior executive with overall accountability for…
Tesla shareholders have re-approved CEO Elon Musk’s $44.9 billion pay package, the company announced. Brandon Ehrhart, Tesla’s general counsel and corporate secretary, made the announcement at Tesla’s annual shareholder meeting, noting that the stockholders ratified the 100 percent performance-based stock option award initially approved by stockholders in 2018. Ehrhart also stated that shareholders approved a…
An Indiana police officer has stepped down following revelations of his unauthorized usage of Clearview AI’s facial recognition technology to identify individuals on social media who were not involved in any criminal activity. The Evansville Police Department labeled this a clear “misuse” of the technology, according to their press release. Clearview AI, which has been…
Starlink, the satellite internet service provided by SpaceX, has announced a significant price reduction for its user terminal in select regions of the United States. In 28 states, the new cost for the satellite dish is $299 plus shipping and tax, while the rest of the US will maintain the $499 price point. This discount…
Elon Musk’s X Corp. has reportedly demanded money back from at least six former employees in Australia, claiming the company accidentally overpaid them. The Sydney Morning Herald reported that X is threatening to take legal action if the ex-employees do not return the overpaid sums, which are claimed to range from $1,500 to $70,000 per…
When T-Mobile announced price hikes of up to $5 per line on older smartphone plans last month, many customers were shocked. This reaction stemmed from T-Mobile’s earlier promise that prices would never increase as long as clients stayed on the same plan. “New rule: Only YOU should have the power to change what you pay,”…
Elon Musk is so opposed to Apple’s plan to integrate OpenAI’s ChatGPT with device operating systems that he has been heavily criticizing the partnership while seemingly spreading misconceptions. On X (formerly Twitter), Musk criticized alleged privacy and security risks since the plan was announced Monday at Apple’s annual Worldwide Developers Conference. “If Apple integrates OpenAI…
While Elon Musk has been vocal today about his criticism of the Apple/OpenAI deal, he has also taken steps to drop his lawsuit against OpenAI, according to a recent court filing. Musk’s attorney, Morgan Chu, filed a notice with the Superior Court of California in San Francisco requesting the dismissal of Musk’s entire complaint without…
Adobe has promised to update its terms of service to make it “abundantly clear” that the company will “never” train generative AI on creators’ content after days of customer backlash, with some threatening to cancel their Adobe subscriptions over the vague terms. Users grew upset last week when an Adobe pop-up notified them of updates…
Photos of Brazilian children—sometimes spanning their entire childhood—have been used without their consent to power AI tools, including popular image generators like Stable Diffusion, Human Rights Watch (HRW) warned on Monday. This act poses urgent privacy risks to kids and seems to increase risks of non-consensual AI-generated images bearing their likenesses, according to HRW’s report….
Internet service providers are once again advocating for the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to impose new fees on Big Tech companies in an attempt to subsidize broadband network deployment and affordability programs. The proposal, made by USTelecom—a lobby group representing AT&T, Verizon, CenturyLink/Lumen, and smaller telcos—suggests that Big Tech firms should contribute to the FCC’s…
A recent survey suggests that some US companies enforced return-to-office (RTO) policies with the hope that it would lead to voluntary resignations by employees. Conducted by HR software provider BambooHR, the survey indicates this tactic, while potentially aimed at boosting productivity, may not be as effective as intended. BambooHR’s study, conducted between March 9 and…
Google has circumvented a potential jury trial by remitting a $2.3 million payment to the U.S. government, according to recent reports. The unexpected check, sent to the Justice Department, allows Google to secure a bench trial instead, a scenario generally viewed as more favorable for large corporations. This strategic move enables the tech giant to…
Tesla Board Chairperson Robyn Denholm has called on shareholders to re-approve CEO Elon Musk’s $46 billion compensation package, stating the necessity of the plan to maintain Musk’s engagement with the company. In a letter to shareholders on June 5, Denholm emphasized that the vote is “not about the money” and suggested that Musk might leave…