Technology category, Page 19
Facebook has 3 billion users. Many of them are old.
Facebook says it is not dead. Facebook also wants you to know that it is not just for “old people,” as young people have been saying for years. Now, with the biggest thorn in its side — TikTok — facing heightened government scrutiny amid growing tensions between the U.S. and...
Kids and social media: Here are tips for concerned parents
When it comes to social media, families are seeking help. With ever-changing algorithms pushing content at children, parents are seeing their kids’ mental health suffer, even as platforms like TikTok and Instagram provide connections with friends. Some are questioning whether kids should be on social media at all, and if...
The Last of Us, Wii Sports entering Video Game Hall of Fame
ROCHESTER, N.Y. — The first commercial video game and the first one marketed to girls are headed to the World Video Game Hall of Fame, alongside a post-apocalyptic nail-biter and a system that made gamers out of grandparents. Computer Space, Barbie Fashion Designer, The Last of Us and Wii Sports...
Ban social media for kids? Fed-up parents in Senate say yes
WASHINGTON — Sen. Katie Britt says she hears about it constantly when she is at home in Alabama — at school track meets, basketball tournaments and on her regular morning walks with friends. And when she was running for the Senate last year, Britt says, “parent after parent” came up...
FTC: Facebook misled parents, failed to guard kids’ privacy
U.S. regulators say Facebook misled parents and failed to protect the privacy of children using its Messenger Kids app, including misrepresenting the access it provided to app developers to private user data. As a result, The Federal Trade Commission on Wednesday proposed sweeping changes to a 2020 privacy order with...
Apple, Google partner to combat creepy tracking tactics
SAN FRANCISCO — Apple and Google are teaming up to thwart unwanted tracking through Bluetooth devices that were created to help people find lost keys, keep tabs on luggage or to locate other things that have a tendency to be misplaced or lost. The two companies behind the iPhone and...
‘Godfather of AI’ leaves Google, warns of tech’s dangers
WASHINGTON — Sounding alarms about artificial intelligence has become a popular pastime in the ChatGPT era, taken up by high-profile figures as varied as industrialist Elon Musk, leftist intellectual Noam Chomsky and the 99-year-old retired statesman Henry Kissinger. But it’s the concerns of insiders in the AI research community that...
House votes to restore solar panel tariffs paused by Biden
WASHINGTON — The House voted Friday to reinstate tariffs on solar panel imports from several Southeast Asian countries after President Joe Biden paused them in a bid to boost solar panel installations in the U.S., a key part of his climate agenda. The 221-202 vote sends the measure to the...
Twitter changes stoke Russian, Chinese propaganda surge
WASHINGTON — Twitter accounts operated by authoritarian governments in Russia, China and Iran are benefiting from recent changes at the social media company, researchers said this week, making it easier for them to attract new followers and broadcast propaganda and disinformation to a larger audience. The platform is no longer...
Elizabeth Holmes delays going to prison with another appeal
SAN FRANCISCO — Disgraced Theranos CEO Elizabeth Holmes has avoided starting her more than 11-year prison sentence on Thursday by deploying the same legal maneuver that enabled her co-conspirator in a blood-testing hoax to remain free for an additional month. Holmes’ lawyers on Wednesday informed U.S. District Judge Edward Davila...
Primanti Bros. using artificial intelligence to streamline office work
There is a new employee at Primanti Bros., one who never needs a vacation or asks for a pay raise. This employee is not a person, but rather a digital twin, an IBM artificial intelligence bot. The bot is a software application programmed or trained to do human tasks. ”The...
Twitter begins removing blue checks from users who don’t pay
This time it’s for real. Many of Twitter’s high-profile users are losing the blue check marks that helped verify their identity and distinguish them from impostors on the Elon Musk-owned social media platform. After several false starts, Twitter began making good on its promise Thursday to remove the blue checks...
BuzzFeed to close news division, cut 15% of all staff
Pulitzer Prize-winning digital media company BuzzFeed will shut down its news division as it cuts about 15% of its entire staff. In a memo sent to staff, co-founder and CEO Jonah Peretti said that cuts would also occur across its business, content, tech and administrative teams, according to multiple media...
U.S. invests in alternative solar tech, more solar for renters
The Biden administration announced more than $80 million in funding Thursday in a push to produce more solar panels in the U.S., make solar energy available to more people, and pursue superior alternatives to the ubiquitous sparkly panels made with silicon. The Department of Energy announced the investments in the...
Are you a Facebook user? You could get some settlement cash
Anyone in the U.S. who has had a Facebook account at any time since May 24, 2007, can now apply for their share of a $725 million privacy settlement that parent company Meta has agreed to pay. Meta is paying to settle a lawsuit alleging the world’s largest social media...
Gov. Shapiro calls on tech, robotic companies to join Pittsburgh’s growing innovation industry
Pittsburgh has become a fast-growing hub for many technology and robotics companies, and leaders across the region and state are hoping that expands even more. At the opening night of the Aviation & Robotics Summit in Pittsburgh’s Strip District on Tuesday, Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro heralded the growth of the...
What is Discord, the chatting app tied to classified leaks?Video
PROVIDENCE, R.I. — The chatting app Discord, which is one of the most popular ways gamers communicate online, finds itself at the center of an investigation into the leak of classified documents about the war in Ukraine. The investigation is unfolding as Discord makes an ambitious push to recruit more...
Aurora opens terminal for driverless trucks in Texas
Self-driving vehicle startup Aurora Innovation, Inc. opened its first commercial-ready terminal for autonomous trucks that will serve as a “blueprint” for the Pittsburgh-based company’s future network of 24/7 driverless operations. The terminal in Palmer, Texas, near Dallas, deploys autonomous trucks for Aurora’s pilot customers, including FedEx, Schneider, and Uber Freight,...
New streaming app to ‘Max’ programming from HBO, Discovery
Warner Bros. Discovery unveiled a streaming service Wednesday combining iconic HBO programming such as “The Sopranos” with a mix of unscripted TV series in a push to reap more subscribers from what so far has been a muddled media merger. The $16-per-month service, called Max, will be released May 23...
Are robot waiters the future? Some restaurants think so
MADISON HEIGHTS, Mich. — You may have already seen them in restaurants: waist-high machines that can greet guests, lead them to their tables, deliver food and drinks and ferry dirty dishes to the kitchen. Some have cat-like faces and even purr when you scratch their heads. But are robot waiters...
States and companies compete for billions to make hydrogen
As fossil fuel emissions continue warming Earth’s atmosphere, the Biden administration is turning to hydrogen as an energy source for vehicles, manufacturing and generating electricity. It’s offering $8 billion to entice the nation’s industries, engineers and planners to figure out how to produce and deliver clean hydrogen. States and businesses...
TikTok’s parent has a new app: What to know about Lemon8
NEW YORK — As lawmakers debate whether to ban TikTok nationwide, its Chinese parent company has introduced a new app that’s already getting some traction. The app, called Lemon8, is likely to face some of the same scrutiny as TikTok, which has been dogged by claims the Chinese government could...
Bob Lee, Cash App founder and MobileCoin exec, slain at 43
SAN FRANCISCO — Bob Lee, a technology executive who created Cash App and was currently chief product officer of MobileCoin, was fatally stabbed early Tuesday in San Francisco, according to the cryptocurrency platform and police. Officers responded to a report of a stabbing on Main Street at 2:35 a.m. Tuesday...
U.S. chip controls threaten China’s technology ambitions
BEIJING — Furious at U.S. efforts that cut off access to technology to make advanced computer chips, China’s leaders appear to be struggling to figure out how to retaliate without hurting their own ambitions in telecoms, artificial intelligence and other industries. President Xi Jinping’s government sees the chips that are...
TikTok top attorney reiterates safety measures for users
SAN FRANCISCO — The top attorney for TikTok and its Chinese parent company ByteDance said Friday the Biden administration hasn’t given any feedback to the company since TikTok’s CEO testified in Congress last week. During a panel conversation at a conference in San Francisco that featured top government officials, tech...
