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. Triple-Zero reforms coming for telcos

The Federal Government has accepted all 18 recommendations made in the review of Optus’ outage late last year, the Sydney Morning Herald reports. Recommendations of the probe include the establishment of a Triple Zero custodian, frequent end-to-end tests for the system, and new rules for telcos on how they disclose outages to customers. “[The review means that] we have a workable blueprint to implement changes that will help improve the resilience of telecommunications in this country. The review identified opportunities every part of the system need to do better, and these recommendations will help us do just that.” Communications minister Michelle Rowland said.

InnovationAus reports that 20 representatives have been appointed to the Copyright and Artificial Intelligence Reference Group, to help steer the Federal Government-established AI and Copyright References Group. It’s the group’s role to “facilitate engagement, information sharing and open discussion between government and non-government sectors on current and emerging copyright-AI issues,” and it met for the first time in late February. The group includes representatives from academia and industry.

3. Mercedes-Benz x Google

Google and Mercedes-Benz are working together to develop driverless car technology, The Australian reports. “We’re partnering on one of the most exciting technology topics in our industry, automated driving,” Mercedes chief executive Ola Kallenius said at Google Cloud’s annual Next event in Las Vegas. “We will use Google Cloud as the backbone helping us to become even more efficient and flexible in our product development, and Google Cloud’s expert knowledge in processing massive amounts of data, and scaling AI workloads will ensure that our cars get even more intelligent.”

4. Speaking of self-driving cars

On a surprise trip to Beijing, Tesla CEO Elon Musk has already struck a deal that’s set to help bring the company’s ‘full-self driving’ car technology to China, The Guardian reports. Web search company Baidu has agreed to give Tesla access to its map data, to help enable the driver assistance tech in the country. “This is a watershed moment for Musk as well as Beijing at a time when Tesla has faced massive domestic EV competition in China along with softer demand,” Wedbush tech analyst Dan Ives wrote in a note to clients.

5. Meta to support Threads creators

Meta is opening up the wallet for creators on its Twitter clone Threads, with a bonus program being introduced, per TechCrunch. The company said that creators will have ‘individualised’ requirements for bonuses, with the hope that the program could expand beyond the U.S. in the future.

BONUS ITEM: You have no idea how much I need this.

Have a lovely day.

Image: iStock


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