Good morning. Let’s get into the tech news.
1. LG to undertake unsafe solar battery crackdown
Around 4,400 LG batteries that are at risk of overheating and combusting are still in use across Australia, with LG providing an enforceable undertaking to the ACCC, saying that it will perform a widespread ad campaign to recall the still-used batteries.
The recall of the batteries, which impacts a wide variety of models, has been occurring since 2020, and if you have a solar battery attached to your home, please check if it’s one of the affected batteries – the ACCC has identifiers for involved batteries on its website, and we often report on the crackdown whenever the ACCC urges customers to check their systems. If you have an affected system, please switch it off and contact LG immediately.
“LG has committed to increase its efforts to alert consumers to the safety risk posed by the affected LG batteries and will take steps to remediate or replace the batteries. LG will also provide compensation to consumers for higher energy bills during the period their battery is switched off,” ACCC Deputy Chair Catriona Lowe said.
2. Deloitte report on Optus data breach to not be hidden
Optus has lost its bid to hide a report undertaken by Deloitte into the company’s 2022 data breach. Optus previously argued that the contents of the report should be protected under legal professional privilege.
“The primary judge’s judgment below is not attended with sufficient doubt to warrant the grant of leave. We have made orders to refuse leave to appeal, and for Optus to pay the respondents’ costs,” the finding reads.
The report will now be made available to lawyers representing a class action against the telco.
3. xAI raises $US6 billion
Elon Musk’s xAI has raised $US6 billion in series B funding, per Reuters. The company, valued at $24 billion, will use the money to take a product to market, no surprises there obviously, and to build out and accelerate generative AI research. “There will be more to announce in the coming weeks,” Musk said.
4. North Korean satellite launch fails after rocket explosion
Bloomberg has the story on a North Korean satellite launch that has failed to take off after its rocket exploded. It was supposed to be a reconnaissance satellite, state media said, with the explosion having been detected by Japan.
5. Nobel prize winner lashes social media giants
Nobel prize winner Maria Ressa has labelled tech bros like Mark Zuckerberg and Elon Musk as the “largest dictators”, arguing that these people have a dictator-like grip over culture, language, and geography, per The Guardian. Ressa won her Nobel Prize for defence of media freedom in 2021, and claims that social media “changes the way we see the world and changes the way we act”.
BONUS ITEM: If you needed someone to tell you to watch Fury Road and Furiosa, here I am telling you to do it.
Hugh Keays-Byrne, the Immortan Joe actor from Mad Max: Fury Road, bigging up the War Boy extras and them all saluting him back in character. pic.twitter.com/QkDOMyHH5e
— Richard (@RichardOcelot) May 27, 2024
Have a lovely day.
Image: ACCC, iStock