Hello, TGIF. It has been a week, so let’s wind down with a little bit of tech news.
1. Antitrust trial hears extent of Google’s alleged Search monopoly
The landmark antitrust trial against Google in the U.S. has heard today how Google allegedly stopped Samsung from installing its own search app. Per Reuters, Google is accused of paying $US10 billion a year based on revenue share agreements to smartphone makers like Samsung Electronics, wireless carriers, and others who agree to make its software the default and maintain its monopoly in search. Reuters is also reporting the CEO of DuckDuckGo as saying his company’s talks with Apple about a potential contract failed because of Google’s multibillion-dollar deals with the smartphone maker.
2. Canva’s $200M plan to make AI less dodgy
In a bid to make shit less sketchy in a world riddled with AI, Aussie startup darling Canva has launched a $200 million fund for creators, paying royalties to those who allow the company to use their content to train its artificial intelligence engine. Per The Australian, new tools alongside the fund will allow companies to make use of AI by delivering a prompt and generating video, audio, imagery, and text for marketing purposes. Elsewhere, The Verge is reporting Getty Images CEO has a plan to defend photography from AI.
3. Tassie AusPost staff go electric
Down to Tasmania now and the state government has amended licensing requirements to allow car licence holders to operate electric delivery vehicles (eDVs) while delivering for Australia Post. The TL;DR: is that Australia Post’s Tasmanian staff no longer need to hold a motorcycle licence to operate an eDV, which can carry up to 100 small parcels and 1,200 letters at a time (heaps more than a traditional motorcycle). It also means more people can sign up to deliver for the postal service and we head further away from petrol in yet another space in Australia.
4. ACMA gives slap on the wrist for Spam Laws breach
The ACMA has accepted enforceable undertakings from trading platform Webull Securities Pty Ltd and alcohol retailer Wine Collective Holdings Pty Ltd, after both businesses failed to comply with Australia’s spam laws. Per the ACMA, the companies have each made two-year court-enforceable commitments to the ACMA after self-reporting they had sent marketing emails to consumers who had unsubscribed. The self-reports were made after both businesses were given a compliance alert raising consumer complaints the ACMA received.
5. Musk ruins X some more
X, formerly known as Twitter, has made another brilliant* decision…. it has stopped showing headlines on articles shared on the platform. Instead of letting you know it’s not just an image, X now only displays an article’s hero pic and a link to the article. As AP notes, plans for the change were first reported by Fortune in August, when Elon Musk confirmed (in a post, of course) that he thought the change would “greatly improve the esthetics” of posts. Ugh. But wait, there’s more…..
BONUS ITEM: Here it is.
Have a great weekend.