Happy hump day. Let’s just jump straight into it, eh?
1. Two electricity providers each pay $33K penalty
The ACCC has issued electricity retailers CovaU Pty Ltd and ReAmped Energy Pty Ltd with a $33,300 fine, each, after it issued each retailer with three infringement notices for alleged contraventions of the Electricity Retail Code. The Code requires retailers to provide detailed information to consumers about pricing, to allow them to compare electricity plans, and make informed decisions about the best deal for them. The ACCC alleges that when sending information to customers about price changes to their electricity plans last year, CovaU and ReAmped each failed to include the information required.
2. Crypto mines in rural QLD
Per the ABC, an outback sheep station is being converted into a Bitcoin mine in what the publication has labelled an “ambitious collaboration” between Bengal Energy and a Queensland farmer by the name of Stuart Mackenzie. Over on the ABC you’ll find a video on the story, but the gist is that old gas wells are being used to perform bitcoin mining. The natural gas is processed by a generator that powers 66 bitcoin mining computers inside the donger (they’re connected to the internet via satellite). Wild.
3. Google goes after OpenAI, again
Back in 2016, an AI program called AlphaGo (from Google’s DeepMind AI lab) made history by defeating a champion player of the board game Go. Now, according to a report from Wired, DeepMind co-founder and CEO Demis Hassabis reckons his engineers are using techniques from AlphaGo to make an AI system dubbed Gemini that’ll be more capable than the tech behind OpenAI’s ChatGPT. Gemini is still in development, but once complete, it’s expected it’ll be a large language model that works with text and is similar in nature to GPT-4.
4. Google to merge Waze with Maps and cut jobs
CNBC is reporting that Google is cutting jobs at its mapping app Waze, with the company looking to merge the unit with its own map products. “We have decided to transition Waze’s ads monetization to be managed by the Global Business Organization (GBO), similar to Google Maps,” CNBC said Phillips wrote in a memo to staff. “Unfortunately, this will result in a reduction of Waze Ads monetization-focused roles in sales, marketing, operations and analytics”. Google acquired Waze for about $US1.3 billion in 2013. Elsewhere in Googleland, Reuters is reporting a Russian court has fined the company 4 billion roubles (around $US47 million) for failing to pay an earlier fine over alleged abuse of its dominant position in the video hosting market.
5. Government could step in on social media monitoring
Brought to our attention by iTnews, the government has released a draft Bill that suggests the digital platforms’ voluntary misinformation and disinformation codes should remain, but also that the ACMA should be able to deem them ineffective, register its own codes, and fine platforms for breaches. The Bill suggests providing ACMA with the option to impose multimillion-dollar fines in response to systemic failures to prevent misinformation and disinformation.
BONUS ITEM: The secondhand embarrassment/shock/anxiety is real with this one.
Have a fantastic day, folks.