TGIF. Let’s see what’s happening in the world of tech.
1. Westpac bans customers from controversial Binance
In a power move it’s calling a “trial”, Westpac has banned customers from transacting with Binance. The red and white bank said the ban is all about “protections for some cryptocurrency payments to reduce scam losses”. “The latest Westpac data shows investment scams account for approximately half of all scam losses and a third of all scam payments are transferred directly to a cryptocurrency exchange,” Westpac said. As the Australian Financial Review reports, this ban came at the same time as the controversial cryptocurrency exchange was stripped of its ability to accept PayID funds transfers from Aussies.
2. Legit ChatGPT app unleashed
After months of fake ChatGPT apps duping users into paying money for what is still a free service, OpenAI has finally come around to creating its own mobile version of its ultra-popular AI chatbot. The new iPhone-only version of ChatGPT can accomplish important tasks like creating a screenplay of Batman buying Robin a hotdog, now with a slimmed-down, mobile-friendly UI. Read more about it here, but, good luck finding it.
Good luck finding it with an App Store search, though. You’ll get an endless list of third-party chatbots instead.
It’s mid-2023. How is it still this hard? I’m sure it’ll be there in a few hours, but… https://t.co/TM8uE5JTrY pic.twitter.com/xnDHp18F91
— Chris Welch (@chriswelch) May 18, 2023
3. An updated list of ‘critical’ tech
The Australian government this morning updated its List of Critical Technologies, themes it considers important for securing the country’s future. “The updated list focuses on key enabling technology fields that will have a high impact on our national interest, including by providing opportunities to grow our economy, provide well-paying jobs and improve the lives of Australians,” a statement from our innovation minister, Ed Husic. The list includes: Advanced manufacturing and materials technologies; artificial intelligence; advanced information and communication technologies; quantum; autonomous systems, robotics, positioning, timing, and sensing; biotechnologies; and clean energy generation and storage technologies.
4. Today in Twitter land
According to a report from Reuters, Twitter has alleged that Microsoft may have violated an agreement over using the social media company’s data, with lawyers representing Twitter saying Microsoft had used more Twitter data than it was supposed to, and also shared the Twitter data with government agencies without permission. Twitter has also, for some reason, now allowed two-hour videos to be uploaded so I guess the privacy debate is gonna be well and truly back on.
Twitter Blue Verified subscribers can now upload 2 hour videos (8GB)!
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) May 18, 2023
5. ACMA publishes 3-month telco stats
Every quarter, the ACMA publishes a report on the state of the Aussie telco consumer protections space. The report can be found here, but some interesting stats to ponder this morning include telcos having blocked over 192.1 million scam calls and over 82.3 million scam SMS; the ACMA kicking off investigations into nine telcos’ compliance with financial hardship and disconnection notification rules; and starting 39 compliance assessments and completed 78 compliance assessments into telco compliance with a range of consumer safeguards.
BONUS ITEM: A terrible render, but a fabulous idea (I’m a completely biased sauce goblin).
Have a wonderful weekend, everyone.