Tom Williams

Tom Williams is a senior journalist at Information Age, with key interests in consumer technology, artificial intelligence, gaming, space and cyber security.
He was previously a digital journalist at ABC News, where he covered technology and breaking news.

Tim Cook, Apple CEO
Business

The ATO said it has ‘issues with the tech sector’ as report reveals Apple’s taxable income is just 4% of local revenue

- November 8, 2024 3 MIN READ

Australian and international technology companies are among more than 1,200 organisations which did not pay tax in the 2022-23 financial year, according to an Australian Taxation Office (ATO) report. The ATO’s tenth corporate tax transparency report, released last Friday, showed around 30% of the 3,985 entities that lodged tax returns for 2022–23 did not pay any… Read more »

AI/Machine Learning

‘Near tech’ workers are the solution to Australia’s cyber security & AI skills shortfall: ACS

- October 23, 2024 3 MIN READ

Australia is struggling to find technology workers with the right cyber security and artificial intelligence skills but could tap 1.1 million “near tech” workers with similar capabilities to reskill and support the workforce, the 10th annual ACS Australia’s Digital Pulse report has found. Demand for cyber security skills has increased by 80% in Australia since… Read more »

Gadgets

Australians won’t get Apple Watch sleep apnoea alerts because they’ve not yet had the nod from regulators

- September 25, 2024 4 MIN READ

Apple customers in Australia are going without some key software features in their iPhones and Apple Watches after the company released its major operating system updates last week. Unlike in the United States and more than 150 other countries, Australian users who have updated their Apple Watch software are unable to use their devices’ sleep… Read more »

Lucinda Longcroft
Global tech

‘Who, moi?’ Australian Google exec denies the tech giant dominates search at a Senate hearing

- August 20, 2024 3 MIN READ

Google has claimed it does not dominate search engine services in Australia after a judge earlier this month found the tech giant operated an illegal search monopoly in the United States. Representatives from Google responded to questions from Australian senators during a meeting of the Select Committee on Adopting Artificial Intelligence on Friday, which also… Read more »

Elon Musk, Donald Trump, Vladimir Putin
AI/Machine Learning

Elon Musk’s AI generator, Grok, is lacking filters, so nudity and political deepfakes are running amok on X

- August 16, 2024 3 MIN READ

Note: This article contains images generated by artificial intelligence. Elon Musk’s artificial intelligence company xAI has released Grok-2, the latest version of its Grok artificial intelligence chatbot, which can now generate images with what appears to be very few guardrails to prevent potential abuse. Grok-2 and Grok-2 mini, which are only available to subscribers of Musk’s social… Read more »

Cyber security

Scam warning alert after half of Australia’s population falls victim to MediScare’s data hack

- July 23, 2024 3 MIN READ

Approximately 12.9 million Australians had their personal and health information stolen during a data breach involving MediSecure, the defunct electronic prescriptions company has confirmed. The figure means almost half of the Australian population was likely impacted by the breach of scripts distributed by MediSecure up until November 2023, making it one of the largest cyber… Read more »

Telstra pointless ad 1
Business

Telstra cops new rules after it ‘put people’s privacy and safety at risk’ in 163,000 license breaches

- July 12, 2024 3 MIN READ

Australia’s communications watchdog has imposed new rules on Telstra after the telecommunications giant was found to have leaked the details of more than 140,000 people who requested their phone numbers not be shared publicly. The Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA) said it had issued Telstra with “a remedial direction” following an investigation of the… Read more »

AI/Machine Learning

A photographer trolled an AI art competition with a real photo – and won

- June 21, 2024 2 MIN READ

A photographer disqualified after winning an AI image competition with a real photo says playing a trick on the judges proved “nature still outdoes the machine”. Miles Astray’s photo ‘FLAMINGONE’ won the People’s Vote and a Jury Award after he entered it into the artificial intelligence category of the 1839 Awards for photography this month, but was… Read more »

Melbourne laneway
Global tech

Sydney slides as Melbourne, Brisbane and Adelaide rise in global startup cities rankings

- June 13, 2024 3 MIN READ

Melbourne and Brisbane have continued their rise through the ranks of the best global startup ecosystems, but Sydney remains the most favourable location for burgeoning companies in Oceania, according to a new report. Innovation development organisation Startup Genome’s annual Global Startup Ecosystem Report uses research and analysis of data from 4.5 million startups to paint… Read more »

AI/Machine Learning

Apple put AI into its series 15 phones and M1 chip Macs, but please don’t call it artificial intelligence

- June 11, 2024 3 MIN READ

Apple has announced how it will integrate generative artificial intelligence into its iPhones, iPads and Macs, following months of speculation. The company’s AI system, dubbed Apple Intelligence – the company has resisted using the words artificial intelligence – was announced at its annual Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC) in Cupertino, California on Tuesday. Already lagging behind… Read more »

Cyber security

Ticketmaster is the latest company to leave Australians exposed with data hack

- June 1, 2024 2 MIN READ

Australian consumers may have had their personal data compromised in an alleged data breach impacting ticketing and events giant Ticketmaster. Hacking group ShinyHunters claims to have stolen 1.3 terabytes of data on 560 million Ticketmaster customers globally, including names, addresses, credit card details and phone numbers. The group is reportedly seeking $756,000 ($US500,000) for a… Read more »