Good morning, folks, a little bit happened over the weekend in tech land, so let’s summarise it real quick.
1. Australia slaps X with $611K fine
Elon Musk’s X (the social media platform, not his son) has been issued with an infringement notice for $610,500 after failing to respond to reports of child sexual exploitation on the site formerly known as Twitter. The eSafety Commissioner issued legal notices to X, Google, TikTok, Twitch, and Discord under Australia’s Online Safety Act earlier this year, calling out Google and X for not complying with the notices, saying that both companies failed to adequately respond to a number of questions. Google escaped a fine and has been issued a formal warning, as eSafety said Twitter/X’s non-compliance was found to be more serious.
2. Microsoft finally completes Activision Blizzard deal
Microsoft finalised its purchase of Activision Blizzard Inc. for $US69 billion after it received approval from UK regulators on Friday local time. The Xbox maker’s acquisition of the gaming company known for its Call of Duty franchise marks the end of a nearly two-year fight with regulators who attempted to block the deal. Read more over here.
3. New iPads reportedly on the way this week
We’ve just wrapped our heads around the new iPhone 15 range, and now, Apple looks like it’s going to unveil upgraded iPads this week. Per Supercharged and 9to5Mac, the iPad Air, iPad mini, and the base model iPad are expected to be refreshed as early as Wednesday (our time). Per both reports, updates will likely comprise smaller spec bump updates rather than significant design changes. The announcements will take place on Apple’s website and its YouTube channel, following the trend of quietly dropping iPads without any iPhone-esque fanfare.
4. Qld gets data breach reporting scheme
Over to Queensland now and the state has introduced a Bill to set up a mandatory data breach notification scheme. Brought to our attention by iTnews, the introduction of the scheme comes about 15 months after it was recommended, and Queensland joins NSW as the only two states to have a localised regime. If a Queensland government agency suspects it has been breached, it must “take all reasonable” containment steps, and will generally have up to 30 days to assess the incident, although it can extend the assessment period via a written notice.
5. Google vs Murdoch
Our friends over at the AFR have revealed News Corp chairman Lachlan Murdoch made a personal plea to Google boss Sundar Pichai to remove a ban on an Australian startup he backed, noting that newly tabled legal claims document that the tech boss refused and declared Google would take its chances in court. Per the report, Australian tech entrepreneur Matt Berriman, who is undertaking legal action in his capacity as the founder of Unlockd, is hoping to show Google acted in an anti-competitive manner by banning his company’s app from its platforms and, in effect, killing the company.
BONUS ITEM: A new AI model has some head-scratching ideas that diverge from the traditional path of evolution. Read more here or check out the video embedded below.
See you tomorrow.