Good morning. It’s a new week and we’ve got five things to catch you up with in the world of tech.
1. TikTok will not run yes or no ads on the Voice to Parliament
Starting the day with some local tech news and The Australian is reporting that TikTok will not run ads in Australia supporting either the yes or no vote on the referendum on an Indigenous Voice to Parliament. Like other social media apps and websites, TikTok has long upheld a ban on political ads, but a spokesperson from TikTok said that “our mission is to inspire creativity and bring joy — we aren’t the go-to-place for politics and/or news, nor do we claim to be”, as summarised by Crikey.
Good morning early birds! TikTok will accept no ads for either the Yes or No case for the Voice to Parliament, and interest rate rises may end sooner than expected.
It’s your morning news and it’s free to read #auspol #socialmedia #rba https://t.co/DS8KJONXNv
— Crikey (@crikey_news) January 22, 2023
2. Prosecutors say Theranos’ Elizabeth Holmes should be behind bars
Prosecutors in the case against Theranos founder Elizabeth Holmes have claimed that the disgraced start-up founder should be in jail at the moment and not residing at an estate as she appeals her sentence. Last year, Holmes was sentenced to 11 years and three months in prison for fraud related to Theranos, and she is expected to report to prison on April 27, 2023.
3. Google is cutting 12,000 jobs
Google told employees in an email on Friday that it would be cutting 12,000 jobs, or 6 per cent of its global workforce, in its largest layoffs in company history. In the email, CEO Sundar Pichai told employees that Google had hired aggressively over the past two years to match the dramatic growth it had experienced. However, much like other tech companies, the company now finds itself facing a different economic reality, Pichai explained, which forced it to make tough choices.
4. The Sun has a big spot on it right now
Moving into space and the Sun has a great big spot on it at the moment, as reported by Mashable. It’s almost five times the diameter of Earth and apparently, it’s so big that you can see it from Earth. I can’t see it at the moment, personally, because Sydney’s cloudy at the moment. It likely poses no threat, but sunspots like this have a habit of exploding.
One of the biggest sunspots in years (AR3190) (4 times wider than Earth) is crossing the solar disk–and you can see it with the naked eye.
Be sure to use safe solar glasses to protect your eyes. 1/2Img: Bum-Suk Yeom via https://t.co/B6qLHgazo3 pic.twitter.com/s9zuZIL3as
— Girl In Space (@ExploreCosmos_) January 17, 2023
5. Elon doesn’t understand how his tweets can impact Tesla stock
Elon Musk’s tweets to his more than 126 million followers have been credited for boosting popularity in everything from AAA video games to meme cryptocurrencies coins, but somehow, according to the CEO, that same Twitter bump doesn’t count when Tesla’s concerned. During his testimony on Friday as part of a Tesla shareholder lawsuit, Musk said he thought it was “absurd” to suggest the content of his tweets could impact Tesla’s stock price. To defend his point, Musk, the debater-in-chief, pointed to an example where Tesla’s stock price apparently rose after he wrote a tweet saying he believed the stock was too high. Though normal observers may read that as an admission his tweets can impact stock prices, Musk said that connection could only be drawn if the stock price went down after he claimed it was too high.
BONUS ITEM: I am obsessed with the Trainblerone.
Under communism all public transit will be on the Trainblerone pic.twitter.com/cZnZm0A8qB
— Bread Pyramid Thing (@redpyrameadhead) January 20, 2023
Have a lovely week.