Why the Path From Public Service to Private Riches Erodes Trust
By: The FT December 14, 2020 From a certain point of view, Doug Band, who started out in Washington as a lowly personal assistant and last week quit the 800-person company he built from scratch, is living proof that America rewards big dreams and hard work. But because Mr Band’s early work was in […]
US Agencies, Companies Secure Networks After Huge Hack
By: AP December 15, 2020 WASHINGTON (AP) — U.S. government agencies and private companies rushed Monday to secure their computer networks following the disclosure of a sophisticated and long-running cyber-espionage intrusion suspected of being carried out by Russian hackers. The full extent of the damage is not yet clear. But the potential threat […]
Ant Group: List and Desist
By: The FT October 8, 2020 Control technology and finance and one controls the future. Huawei and ByteDance are some of the key Chinese tech companies that have suffered setbacks from US restrictions. When it comes to China’s financial sector, restrictions on Ant Group, the Alibaba fintech affiliate — not the banks — would […]
EU companies left in limbo over US data transfers
By: The FT September 13, 2020 Some of Europe’s largest companies have called for guidance on how they should transfer data to the US, after facing legal challenges from activists. Meal delivery group Just Eat Takeaway, Danske Bank and the University of Luxembourg all said they wanted clarification from regulators after Noyb, a […]
Bank Branches Set to Disappear From High Streets by 2035 Despite Demand – Full Details
By: Express November 27, 2020 BANK branches and cash points have been one of the main financial casualties of coronavirus as lockdown rules forced industries to adapt. In recent months, the government and financial regulator (FCA) have stepped forward to ensure physical cash use is protected but if current trends continue, bank branches could […]
Covid-19 Spurs National Plans to Give Citizens Digital Identities
By: The Economist December 7, 2020 WHEN MILLIONS of migrant workers were forced by India’s sudden covid lockdown to return to their villages from the cities where they worked, many feared destitution. But Aadhaar, the country’s pioneering biometric ID system, came to the rescue. Under an income scheme for farmers launched in 2014 that […]
Tech Giants May Face Billions of Pounds in Fines From New UK Watchdog
By: The Guardian December 8, 2020 The UK’s new technology regulator should have the power to fine Google, Facebook and other large firms in the industry billions of pounds if they fail to stick to a new code of conduct, according to proposals from the competition regulator. The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA), which will host the […]
DeepMind AI Cracks 50-Year-Old Problem of Protein Folding
By: The Guardian November 30, 2020 Having risen to fame on its superhuman performance at playing games, the artificial intelligence group DeepMind has cracked a serious scientific problem that has stumped researchers for half a century. With its latest AI program, AlphaFold, the company and research laboratory showed it can predict how proteins fold into […]
Pope Francis Urges Followers to Pray That AI and Robots ‘Always Serve Mankind’
By: The Verge November 11, 2020 Pope Francis has asked believers around the world to pray that robots and artificial intelligence “always serve mankind.” The message is one of the pope’s monthly prayer intentions — regular missives shared on YouTube that are intended to help Catholics “deepen their daily prayer” by focusing on particular topics […]