Elon Musk
Global tech

A billionaire who spent 10 years predicting things his companies still haven’t achieved gets triggered by tech prophecy

- January 6, 2025 3 MIN READ

In October last year, the world’s richest conspiracy theorist, Elon Musk, announced plans for a robotaxi, the Tesla Cybercab. Production would begin he said “in 2026”, before correcting himself to “before 2027”, because “I tend to be a little optimistic with timeframes”. That observation is an understatement inversely proportional to Musk’s wealth. So it wasn’t… Read more »

Global tech

NOT API JAN: How social media’s throttling access to news is reshaping democracy

- December 5, 2024 3 MIN READ

Just days out from the United States presidential election last month, X (formerly Twitter) suddenly crippled the ability of many major media and political organisations to reach audiences on the social media platform. Without warning, the platform, under tech billionaire Elon Musk’s stewardship, announced major changes to the main pathway these organisations use to disseminate… Read more »

pot of gold
Business

Fresh from its $272 million win against Uber, class action lawyers Maurice Blackburn are now eyeing off Google’s adtech

- December 3, 2024 2 MIN READ

Law firm Maurice Blackburn is wading into an issue that’s vexed the federal government, competition watchdog the ACCC, as well as the media, investigating a potential class action against Google for alleged anti-competitive conduct in Australia’s digital advertising market. The idea is likely to be tempting to publishers Google has not struck deals with under… Read more »

Uber, crash
Global tech

Nearly 9000 taxi drivers just scored $152 million from Uber as compensation for its illegal launch in Australia

- December 2, 2024 3 MIN READ

The $271.8 million settlement by US ride-sharing giant Uber against a class action by the Australian taxi industry is now official, eight months after it was struck, with the Victorian Supreme Court ratifying the deal today. Justice Patricia Matthews approved the settlement of the group proceedings brought by Nicos Andrianakis and Jamal Salem on behalf of… Read more »

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 »

Global tech

Australia’s plan to ban under 16s from social media is yet another messy global fight over science

- November 8, 2024 4 MIN READ

As governments worldwide move to restrict teenagers’ access to smartphones and social media, a fierce scientific debate has erupted over whether these digital technologies actually harm young people’s mental health. The controversy, sparked by an influential recent book blaming phones for rising youth anxiety, has exposed deep uncertainties in the research evidence – even as… Read more »

Alastair Macgibbon
Cyber security

Tech giants are ‘wilfully blind towards criminality on their sites’ says Australia’s former cybersecurity boss

- November 1, 2024 3 MIN READ

Social media companies are being “contemptuous” to the Australian people and have done “nothing” to help protect their users from scams and crimes, according to former government cyber security tsar Alastair MacGibbon. MacGibbon, who after a 15-year career with the Australian Federal Police served as special adviser to the Prime Minister on Cyber Security and… Read more »

Twitter, X, rebrand, Elon Musk
Global tech

Elon Musk’s microblogging site tried to avoid a $610,500 Australian government fine because its name changed – but lost in court

- October 9, 2024 3 MIN READ

X’s attempt to have a $600,000 fine thrown out as it was issued to its previous company name has been rejected by an Australian court, in a significant legal win for the eSafety Commissioner. Federal Court of Australia Justice Michael Wheelahan ruled on Friday that X could not wriggle out of an Australian government infringement… Read more »

Global tech

When researchers tried to analyse if Facebook was causing harm, the data was manipulated in a move straight from the tobacco playbook

- October 7, 2024 3 MIN READ

For almost a decade, researchers have been gathering evidence that the social media platform Facebook disproportionately amplifies low-quality content and misinformation. So it was something of a surprise when in 2023 the journal Science published a study that found Facebook’s algorithms were not major drivers of misinformation during the 2020 United States election. This study… Read more »

Caroline Ellison
Cryptocurrency

Caroline Ellison, who ran the FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried’s trading firm, handed 2-year sentence over the crypto fraud

- October 1, 2024 3 MIN READ

 Caroline Ellison, the ex-girlfriend of crypto fraudster Sam Bankman-Fried who turned star witness against him, has been sentenced to two years in prison over her role in the $16 billion FTX cryptocurrency scam. Ellison was the CEO of Alameda Research, the trading branch of Bankman-Fried’s cryptocurrency exchange FTX. Alameda was found to have taken funds… 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 »

Singapore
Business

Australian investors spent $24 billion backing Asian startups over the past decade

- September 12, 2024 4 MIN READ

The fight for venture capital in Australia isn’t just between local startups – they’re also increasingly competing with international founders for investor attention according to a new report from Asialink Business and the Tech Council of Australia (TCA). The Building the Australia-Asia Tech Corridor report explores the vital connections between Australia’s and Asia’s tech ecosystems… Read more »