Good morning and happy hump day. Let’s get you updated on five things headlining tech news in Australia today.
1. Tradie platform Hipages admits it likely engaged in misleading or deceptive conduct
Hipages, an online platform that pairs tradies with clients after home or business construction work, has admitted that it “likely engaged in misleading or deceptive conduct”, according to the ACCC. Between October 2018 and 2022, the ACCC said that Hipages failed to disclose contract terms on automatically renewable subscriptions and early termination fees. Hipages has provided the ACCC with a court-enforceable undertaking, committing to disclosing subscription and renewal policies going forward.
Hipages has admitted it likely engaged in misleading or deceptive conduct in breach of the Australian Consumer Law by failing to adequately disclose contract terms that allowed it to automatically renew subscriptions and charge an early termination fee. https://t.co/BeftrrbF4w pic.twitter.com/u1zRdGmxsU
— ACCC (@acccgovau) May 30, 2023
2. Austrac accepts an enforceable undertaking from the Bank of Queensland
The Australian Transaction Reports and Analysis Centre (Austrac) has accepted an enforceable undertaking from the Bank of Queensland to improve Australia’s laws surrounding anti-money laundering and counter-terrorism financing (AML/CTF laws). “Businesses which do not have a strong AML/CTF program in place are vulnerable to exploitation by criminals, which is why Austrac has been working with [the Bank of Queensland] to harden their processes,” Austrac CEO Nicole Rose said. The Bank of Queensland will work with an external auditor, which will report work back to Austrac.
3. Nvidia has high hopes for its new supercomputer
Nvidia’s CEO Jensen Huang claimed at Computex that anyone can code now with artificial intelligence and that a new era of technological literacy is upon us. Giving a keynote speech at the tech show, Huang revealed its newest supercomputer, the DGX GH200, and discussed how it uses artificial intelligence to empower the user. The CEO said “We have closed the digital divide. Everyone is a programmer. Now, you just have to say something to the computer,” as reported by CNBC. Sounds like quite the breakthrough for a little-known company.
Nvidia’s new AI supercomputer is a giant 144TB GPU system. Microsoft, Google, and Meta are all testing generative AI workloads on it https://t.co/SIso9F8GzB pic.twitter.com/PwZCYzkC38
— Tom Warren (@tomwarren) May 29, 2023
4. The Pixel Watch may get a battery boost
A report from 9To5Google indicates that the next generation of Google’s Pixel Watch could have a significantly improved battery life. The battery was one of the major criticisms of the Pixel Watch when it was first released, but now sources speaking to the publication have revealed major battery life upgrades and a switch to a Snapdragon chipset.
5. Elizabeth Holmes heads to jail
The day is finally here – disgraced Theranos founder Elizabeth Holmes has surrendered to the Bureau of Prisons to serve an 11-year sentence for defrauding investors. Holmes founded Theranos in 2003, boasting a product that could identify health issues based on a non-invasive blood test, but The Wall Street Journal discovered and subsequently reported that she had lied to investors and customers about the reliability of the tests. Holmes was indicted on 12 criminal charges in 2018.
BONUS ITEM: More tech should have a burrito holder.
Burrito is @OnDeck pic.twitter.com/j6N52BGV3i
— dbrand (@dbrand) May 30, 2023
Have a terrific day.