S. African president eyes better US tariff deal ‘soon’
South African President Cyril Ramaphosa said Wednesday that his country has advanced to “text-based” negotiations with Washington towards securing a better tariff deal — and hoped one would materialise “soon”. The South African government has been seeking to negotiate a better tariff deal with the United States, after US President Donald Trump’s administration hit the […]
Google parent Alphabet posts first $100 bn quarter as AI drives growth
Google parent Alphabet reported its first-ever $100 billion quarterly revenue on Wednesday, powered by strong growth across its core search business and rapidly expanding cloud division that was buoyed by artificial intelligence. The tech giant’s revenues jumped 16 percent year-on-year to $102.3 billion in the third quarter, beating analyst expectations and marking a milestone for […]
Meta and TikTok to obey Australia under-16 social media ban
Tech giants Meta and TikTok said Tuesday they will obey Australia’s under-16 social media ban but warned the landmark laws could prove difficult to enforce. Australia will from December 10 force social media platforms such as Facebook, Instagram and TikTok to remove users under the age of 16. There is keen interest in whether Australia’s […]
Anthropic announces massive AI chip deal with Google
Artificial intelligence giant Anthropic said Thursday it was expanding its use of Google cloud computing and specialized chips in a deal worth tens of billions of dollars. The arrangement will include Anthropic buying as many as one million Tensor Processing Units (TPUs), which are integrated circuits custom-designed by Google, according to the San Francisco-based startup. […]
Australia sues Microsoft over ‘misleading’ AI offer
Australia’s competition watchdog accused Microsoft on Monday of misleading people into paying for its AI assistant Copilot. The authority said it had filed a suit in the Federal Court against Microsoft Australia and its parent Microsoft Corp. The software giant is accused of making “false or misleading” statements to around 2.7 million Australians who subscribe […]
Asian markets cool as Trump hails ties on Japan trip
Asian markets cooled off Tuesday after the previous day’s surge as traders digested Donald Trump’s visit to Asian ally Japan, ahead of his high-stakes talks with Chinese President Xi Jinping later this week. The US president is due to meet Xi Thursday in South Korea, and rosy comments by Trump have fuelled optimism that the […]
Amazon to cut 30,000 office jobs: media reports
Amazon did not specify where the job cuts will be made – Copyright AFP ANDREW CABALLERO-REYNOLDS Amazon will lay off tens of thousands of office workers as the e-commerce and tech giant trims costs amid ramped-up investments in artificial intelligence, according to US media reports. Some 30,000 positions will be cut in a belt-tightening move […]
Musk launches Grokipedia to rival ‘left-biased’ Wikipedia
Elon Musk’s company xAI has launched a website called Grokipedia to compete with online encyclopedia Wikipedia, which he and others on the American right wing have accused of ideological bias. The site, dubbed version 0.1, had more than 885,000 articles by Monday evening after its launch, compared to Wikipedia’s more than seven million in English. […]
Celebrating Hispanic Heritage Month with Daniel Gomez — From TV Detective to Filmmaker
As Hispanic Heritage Month shines a spotlight on Latino creators breaking barriers across industries, Dallas native Daniel Gomez stands out as a powerful example of reinvention and perseverance. For decades, Gomez has built a reputation as a sharp-minded private investigator and charismatic television personality, captivating national audiences as the lead detective on hit TV shows […]
Outsourced Contractor Blamed for Maintenance Failures in Vaca Muerta Explosion
A well at Argentina’s giant Vaca Muerta shale formation suffered an explosion that released gas and crude oil for more than three weeks, causing multimillion-dollar losses for state oil company YPF and significant environmental damage in the region. The accident occurred at well LLLO X-2, where a maintenance error on the wellhead triggered a pressure […]