Good morning, hope you’re keeping warm. Let’s jump straight into what’s doing in tech land today.
1. ACMA takes action against illegal ‘skins’ gambling site
Online gaming company Feral Holdings Limited has been given a formal warning by the ACMA and its CS:GO Roll website has been withdrawn from Australia after the company was found to be providing prohibited interactive gambling services. The ACMA said CS:GO Roll was providing casino-style online games, which are illegal under the Interactive Gambling Act 2001 if the games are played for money or anything else of value. CS:GO Roll allowed users to deposit ‘skins’ from popular video game Counter Strike: Global Offensive in exchange for in-game coins that could be used to gamble on casino-style games. Winnings from CS:GO Roll would then be paid out in the form of skins, which could be converted into real money using third-party platforms.
2. $236M investment to fix flood warning network
This week the federal government announced it would be spending $236 million over 10 years to set up a national flood warning network, with the funding to be used to purchase and upgrade high-priority flood gauges that are currently owned by local, state, and territory governments in flood-prone areas. Based on the advice of the Bureau of Meteorology, work in Queensland will be prioritised.
Helping communities be prepared and keeping them safe.
Read more: https://t.co/rrFdniEsDO pic.twitter.com/qHE3wSA4YK
— Tanya Plibersek (@tanya_plibersek) May 15, 2023
3. OpenAI CEO wants regulation, apparently
OpenAI CEO Sam Altman made his Congressional debut before a Senate Judiciary subcommittee today. He rolled out the charm offensive to try and convince lawmakers to pursue light-handed legislation that gives artificial intelligence—company’s product ChatGPT first among them—a wide runway to rapidly advance. Altman’s rosy testimony expounding on the societal virtues of generative AI ran counter to other expert witnesses, who expressed more scepticism and brought up discrimination and other unintended AI harms. Read more over here.
4. Government considers tougher crackdown on Twitter
The Guardian is reporting that the Australian government would consider a tougher crackdown on Twitter if the company fails to comply with online safety laws and takedown notices. Following an investigation by The Guardian (which a summary is not doing any justice, go ahead and read it for yourself over here), Communications Minister Michelle Rowland said, “I could not be clearer that we do not rule out the potential for further regulation in this area, or at least enforcement of the existing regulatory regime, in the event that they are failing to live up to the expectations of industry.”
5. Apple launches Tap to Pay on iPhone in Australia
In February of last year, Apple launched a product called Tap to Pay on iPhone, but it was only available in the U.S.. Today, Apple is making this feature live in Australia. With Tap to Pay on iPhone, the customer doesn’t need to have an iPhone – they just need an NFC-enabled payment type. That means you can pay on an iPhone using a Google Pixel or other Android phone. We don’t know what fees banks/payments platforms will charge businesses to use the feature, but Westpac and Tyro Payments are the first payment platforms in Australia to offer Tap to Pay on iPhone to their business customers. Read more over here.
BONUS ITEM: Why.
See you beautiful people tomorrow.