Hello, friends, hope you’re doing OK. We’ve got some tech news for your Wednesday.
1. Canada swings the banhammer
Starting over the other side of the world with Canada, and our friends at Gizmodo U.S. are reporting the country has banned WeChat on government-issued phones, roughly two years after the U.S. lifted American bans on the Chinese “everything” app. The Chief Information Officer of Canada reckons WeChat presents an unacceptable level of risk to privacy and security. But it’s not just WeChat. Russian antivirus program Kaspersky was also removed from all Canadian officials’ mobile devices. The Treasury Board of Canada says WeChat’s data collection methods provide considerable access to the device’s content. There is no evidence that government information has been compromised, and the public is still free to use WeChat.
2. 200,000 Cybertrucks no one asked for
Reuters is reporting Mr Tesla reckons his company will make 200,000 units of its very not pretty Cybertruck. The report notes Tesla had previously said it had the capacity to make more than 125,000 Cybertrucks annually, with Musk adding there was potential to lift it to 250,000 in 2025. But…. He took to the Joe Rogan Experience to say it was definitely 200,000 electric pickups his company aims to make per year, adding, “I just can’t emphasize enough that manufacturing is much much harder than the initial design”. There’s so much to unpack here.
3. A pledge to not pay ransom
Government leaders in more than 40 countries are signing a pledge agreeing never to pay a ransom to cybercriminals again. U.S. President Joe Biden introduced the International Counter Ransomware Initiative in 2021 and will discuss countries agreeing to push back against cybercriminals and cutting off their revenue source in the hope that it will deter future cyberattacks at a meeting in Washington on Friday.
4. New MacBooks and they’re super powerful
Apple held its Scary Fast event yesterday morning, and while it wasn’t exactly scary, it was fast. Tim Cook announced a “new family of breakthrough chips” that his company was “bringing them to the world’s best Pro laptop”. Those chips are the M3, M3 Pro, and M3 Max. The M3 is shipping in the new 14‑inch MacBook Pro; the 14- and 16‑inch MacBook Pro gets the M3 Pro chip; and the 14- and 16‑inch MacBook Pro boast the super powerful M3 Max. The MacBook Pro also now comes in Space Black.
5. Atlassian continues shopping spree
Ending with Australian startup darling Atlassian and the AFR is reporting the company has followed up the biggest acquisition in its history with the buyout of a six-year-old Melbourne developer, AirTrack, which the report notes will be used by Atlassian to beef up its Jira service management product. Company filings show Atlassian took ownership of AirTrack at the start of October, but it is planning to unveil the deal at a conference in Sydney on Wednesday, where it will promote new artificial intelligence-based product developments.
BONUS ITEM: The bonus item today is for the Marvel fans out there.
See you tomorrow!