Good morning. We are close to the end of the week. Let’s get into the tech news.
1. Apple warns of mass surveillance from Australian proposal
The Guardian reports that Apple has warned the Australian Government against its proposal to force tech companies to introduce scans on cloud services and messenger apps for child abuse material, claiming that this would lead to mass surveillance. “We recommend that eSafety adopt a clear and consistent approach expressly supporting end-to-end encryption so that there is no uncertainty and confusion or potential inconsistency across codes and standards,” Apple’s submission to the proposals said. “Scanning for particular content opens the door for bulk surveillance of communications and storage systems that hold data pertaining to the most private affairs of many Australians.”
2. Tangerine hit by cyber incident
NBN provider Tangerine Telecom has been hit by a cyber incident, with the company claiming that data was accessed on February 18, and first reported to the company on February 20. No credit or debit card numbers have been authorised, however customer full names, dates of birth, mobile numbers, email addresses, postal addresses and Tangerine account numbers have been accessed of 232,000 current or former Tangerine customer accounts. All impact customers have been sent an email by Tangerine. “Moving forward, we are fully committed to learning from this incident and implementing necessary improvements to prevent similar occurrences in the future,” Tangerine CEO Andrew Branson said.
3. Google reveals Gemma
Fresh off of changing Bard’s name to Gemini, Google has revealed a new LLM more suited for chatbots and with an open-source approach. Gemma is an ‘open’ model with a focus on helping researchers build AI apps responsibly. It’s also permitted by Google for commercial use for all organisations. The model can be accessed for free on Kaggle.
✨ We’re SO excited to welcome @Google’s Gemma to Kaggle!
— Kaggle (@kaggle) February 21, 2024
Gemma is Google’s new family of OPEN models built from the same research and tech used to create Gemini. The 2B and 7B versions are available now on Kaggle w/ implementations in 8 different frameworks & amazing code… https://t.co/94zbpMEVYm
4. Microsoft to build its own processor with Intel
Via Bloomberg, Intel will provide Microsoft with made-to-order chips, with the beast of Redmond poised to use Intel’s 18A manufacturing tech to build chips specifically for its own range of products (which remain unnamed). The company is also trying to keep the semiconductors coming in. “We need a reliable supply of the most advanced, high-performance and high-quality semiconductors,” Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella said in a statement. “That’s why we are so excited to work with Intel.”
5. Nokia and Nvidia team up
Nokia and Nvidia are teaming up to revolutionise the Finnish company’s phone network capabilities with… You guessed it… AI. Nokia’s Cloud RAN solutions will begin to leverage Nvidia’s chips, and Nvidia GPUs will be used for AI applications and vRAN, “paving the way for AI-RAN”, Nokia claims. “This is an important collaboration with NVIDIA that will explore how artificial intelligence can play a transformative role in the future of our industry. It is a further example of our anyRAN approach that is helping to make Cloud RAN a commercial reality. The strength of our industry collaborations means we can drive efficiency, innovation, openness, and scale by delivering competitive advantage to operators and enterprises,” president of mobile networks at Nokia Tommi Uitto said.
BONUS ITEM: My new editor is a massive Swiftie and I’m counting on her to add in a Swift-adjacent train pun for this item.
Editor’s note: Hoping for a Swift train journey on Monday night, rather than a find a Getaway Car.
Tay Tay Express from Sydney Trains pic.twitter.com/NpvUGo9RF2
— Evan (@fictillius) February 20, 2024
Have a lovely day.
Image: iStock