Tech News: 5 Things to Know in Australia Today

Tech News: 5 Things to Know in Australia Today

Good morning! Let’s get into the tech news.

1. AI joining the Australian curriculum

The Australian Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Authority’s new resource on AI provides a broad look at what kids will learn about through AI, covering the benefits of it, and the biases, hallucinations, and issues that can arise from it. “Learning about AI by applying curriculum content to real-world contexts that increasingly involve AI in some way increases students’ awareness and provides opportunities for them to realise its potential, risks and limitations,” the resource notes. Ethics and digital literacy obviously play a big part in this, and there’s a specific note in the resource about applying consideration when it comes to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples and their works.

2. 6Ghz battle to come

The Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA) is currently in the process of drafting its five-year spectrum outlook, and is preparing for discussions with stakeholders over the incoming 6Ghz band, iTnews reports. While it’s a popular band for Wi-Fi, it’s also in the sights of 5G operators. “We expect our consultation on potential expanded use of the band to generate robust discussion,” the ACMA said.

3. New Zealand slams China for ‘malicious hacking’

Bloomberg reports that New Zealand has joined the UK and the U.S. in blasting China for state-sponsored malicious cyber activity. New Zealand’s Government Communications Security Bureau (the GCSP) claims the country’s parliamentary network was breached in 2021. “The GCSB’s National Cyber Security Centre completed a robust technical assessment following a compromise of the Parliamentary Counsel Office and the Parliamentary Service in 2021, and has attributed this activity to a PRC state-sponsored group known as APT40,” GCSP Minister Judith Collins said.

4. X (not) gonna give it to ya

Via Reuters, Twitter’s (now X’s) case against the non-profit Center for Countering Digital Hate (the CCDH) has been thrown out of court. The CCDH published a report last year that found rising hate on the X platform, and that X was profiting from the hate. Why was it thrown out of court? “X Corp has brought this case in order to punish CCDH for CCDH publications that criticised X Corp – and perhaps in order to dissuade others who might wish to engage in such criticism,” U.S. District Judge Charles Breyer said. “It is impossible to read the complaint and not conclude that X Corp is far more concerned about CCDH’s speech than it is its data collection methods.” X Corp is planning an appeal.

5. Tech giants under the microscope

Wrapping things up, it’s the European Union investigating tech giants again. This time, the region is investigating Apple, Meta, and Google, over noncompliance with the Digital Markets Act. According to European Union executive vice president in charge of competition policy Margrethe Vestager, the investigations “concern Alphabet’s rules on steering in Google Play and self-preferencing in Google Search, Apple’s rules on steering in the App Store and on choosing browsers and changing defaults, and Meta’s ‘pay or consent model’.” Vestager added “We suspect that the suggested solutions put forward by the three companies do not fully comply with the DMA. We will now investigate the companies’ compliance with the DMA, to ensure open and contestable digital markets in Europe.”

BONUS ITEM: I swear Windows is filled with this kind of stuff.

Have a lovely day.

Image: Photo: Noah Berger (AP)


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