Alphabet, the parent company of Google, is likely to join the list of Big Tech companies going for large-scale layoffs. With this, almost the entire universe of FAANG - acronym for Facebook, Amazon, Apple, Netflix and Google - has now come under the layoff turbulence hitting tens of thousands of tech jobs around the world. Reports surfaced on Tuesday about the Mountain View (California)-headquartered tech giant planning to fire around 10,000 employees.
Tech giant Alphabet on Monday launched a privacy feature on its app marketplace Google Play Store that will require developers to give people more information about how apps collect, share and secure users' data. Users will start seeing the data safety section in Google Play on Tuesday, and developers are required to complete this section for their apps by July 20. As app developers update their functionality or change their data handling practices, they will show the latest in the apps' data safety section.
The pleas of Google India and social networking site Facebook, challenging a trial court summons to them for allegedly webcasting objectionable material, would be taken up for hearing by the Delhi high court on January 23.
Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal's scathing remarks on Indian startup ecosystem and its innovation priorities have drawn sharp reaction from the industry, with Zepto CEO Aadit Palicha putting up a strong defence citing the company's contribution to jobs, FDI and terming it a "miracle in Indian innovation".
'As you're watching the IPL live, there's a conscious effort to showcase the entertainment portfolio.'
He said that fact-checkers are a reference point to fight against misinformation and rejected arguments that it will adversely impact "free speech".
Post elections, the company has been making frequent visits to various ministries, including the IT ministry, commerce ministry, as well as different agencies to get the hang of things in the administration.
The change comes with a new logo designed like an infinity-shaped symbol, slightly askew, almost like a pretzel.
At 250 million unique visitors a month, MX Player has for long been in the same bracket as YouTube (454 million) and Meta (324 million) in reach.
The sources said Twitter has not sent details of Chief Compliance Officer to the ministry and only shared details of a lawyer working in a law firm in India as their Nodal Contact Person and Grievance Officer.
With Donald Trump all set to become US president, Indian exporters may face high customs duties for goods like automobiles, textiles and pharmaceuticals if the new US administration decides to pursue the 'America First' agenda, opined trade experts. Experts also said that Trump could also tighten H-1B visa rules, impacting costs and growth for Indian IT firms. Over 80 per cent of India's IT export earnings come from the US, making it vulnerable to changes in visa policies.
Though Google's investment is minuscule and will not move the needle, it will attract other investors to the company and be a morale booster. Pursuing Vodafone Idea would potentially pit Google against Facebook and an increasingly dominant Jio.
'We must all commit to sharing less nonsense and quarrelling less on social media.' 'We could use that time instead to meeting and speaking to our friends and family instead of 'liking' their posts.' 'Zuckerberg will be the poorer for that, but our lives will be so much richer,' says Rahul Jacob.
Facebook removed 25 million pieces of content identified as 'spam,' 1.8 million pieces of content containing 'adult nudity and sexual activity', reports Neha Alawadhi.
Social media giant Facebook is planning to rebrand the company with a new name next week. As per The Verge, the company is planning to change its name to reflect its focus on building the metaverse, according to a source with direct knowledge of the matter. The name change, which CEO Mark Zuckerberg plans to talk about at the company's annual Connect conference on October 28, but could unveil sooner, is meant to signal the tech giant's ambition to be known for more than social media and all the ills that entail.
'The startup ecosystem, the government, and the owners of large pools of Indian capital need to actively support the creation of these local champions, not pull down the teams that are trying hard to get there.'
Global investment management firm Bernstein has pegged the enterprise valuation of Reliance Industries (RIL)'s 85 per cent stake in Reliance Retail at $111 billion, while valuing the Mukesh Ambani-led company's 66.5 per cent stake in telecom and digital platform arm Reliance Jio at $88 billion. Reliance Industries had earlier planned to list both its subsidiaries to unlock value for its shareholders but hadn't fixed any timeline. The report said that Reliance Retail had raised $6 billion by diluting a 10.1 per cent stake, while Jio Platforms raised $20 billion from investors by selling 33 per cent in 2020.
A total of Rs 396 crore has been mopped up, as on August 20 against Rs 407 crore collected in the same period last year. This was despite the expansion of the levy to online e-commerce players from this financial year.
The cumulative spends on Google are in excess of Rs 27.4 crore. There have been 14,837 advertisements on Google platforms.
The company said this new approach allows developers to train artificial intelligence models without the user data leaving the device, while allowing it to do more with less data.
'This is the first time there has been an attempt to use market forces to counter disinformation on social media,' notes Devangshu Datta.
Gangster Anmol Bishnoi had ordered the hit on Nationalist Congress Party leader Baba Siddique for his 'association with Dawood Ibrahim and involvement in the 1993 Bombay blasts', alleged main shooter Shivkumar Gautam in his confessional statement to the police.
Here's what you must know about the new rule, its implications, and whether it affects taxpayers' rights and privacy.
The police took action after cyber patrolling revealed that 60 fake lottery apps, 25 fake Facebook profiles and 20 websites are connected to the scam, the SPMC release said.
With 60 per cent of India's online audience logging on to social networks, according to online audience measurement and analytics platform ViziSense, the introduction of Google's latest social networking site, Google+, has made Facebook and Orkut users sit up and take notice.
Vaishnaw told reporters that the government had recently issued a notice to companies on the deepfake issue, and the platforms responded, but added that the firms will have to be more aggressive in taking action on such content.
Google has emerged as top choice in the Top 100 Ideal Employer Rankings in a survey conducted among Indian management and engineering students.
Social media giant Facebook has named Spoorthi Priya as its grievance officer for India on its website.
Alphabet Inc's Google has paid Rs 33,737 crore for a 7.73 per cent stake in Reliance Industries Ltd's (RIL) digital subsidiary, Jio Platforms Ltd, joining the list of global investors such as Facebook, billionaire Mukesh Ambani's firm said. The transaction also marks the US technology giant's biggest-ever investment in an Indian company. With this, Jio Platforms has raised a total of Rs 1.52 lakh crore by selling nearly 33 per cent stake to 13 financial and strategic investors in just 11 weeks.
All the fixes require either the enactment of a data-protection law, or the amendment of our existing competition law. This can take many years. However, there is an opportunity for the government to act immediately if it wishes to, says Sunil Abraham.
Ashok Kumar Gupta, chairman of the Competition Commission of India (CCI), has never minced words while talking about the giant technology companies, referring to them on multiple occasions as "centres for entrenched and unchecked dominance". The anti-trust regulator has, in fact, been cracking down on big technology companies such as Google, Apple, Facebook, and others, after they were hauled up by regulators and lawmakers in Europe and Australia. However, in several instances, existing regulations have prevented the CCI from going all out against these companies for anti-competitive activities.
The partnership will also see the two parties cooperate on technology initiatives, including development of affordable smartphones.
Mukesh Ambani-owned RIL's JioMart is set to launch a slew of new products including financial services, electronics to airline tickets to take on the competition from upcoming rivals like the Tata Super app and other established players including PayTM, Amazon and Flipkart. This comes at a time when RIL's e-commerce revenues are set to grow by 35 per cent to $15 billion within four years and its core retail revenue is expected to grow at the same pace to $44 billion, as per a forecast by Goldman Sachs. "The Tata vs JioMart war will be the next big corporate battle to watch. "While Tata has an upper hand like in-house products and brands, RIL has the backing of global biggies like Google, Facebook and Microsoft," said head of a rating firm asking not to be quoted.
Tech and startup industry bodies have again pushed back against calls by telecom operators to bring over-the-top (OTT) services under a licensing regime similar to telcos, and open them up to taxation. Ahead of public consultations on the issue later this week, the Internet & Mobile Association of India (IAMAI), Nasscom and the US India Strategic Partnership Forum (USISPF), among others, have written to the government arguing against such efforts.
These women may not have founded the current-day tech giants but they surely have made them successful.
Tech giant says it's also targeting millions of small ventures and other potential users.
Facebook's "News Feed" that streams updates from friends will give priority to important posts, images shared at the website will be displayed larger, and a "Ticker" chat column is being added for real-time conversations.
These women may not have founded the current-day tech giants but they surely have helped to make these firms successful.
Oh to be rich and famous!
Google's latest offering 'Google Plus' is steadily gaining ground in the social networking space, so far dominated by Facebook, with the internet giant's social network attracting about 20 million visitors in the initial three weeks and nearly half of these visitors hailing from US and India.
