Technology category, Page 2
Trump extends TikTok ban deadline for a 3rd time
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump on Thursday signed an executive order to keep TikTok running in the U.S. for another 90 days to give his administration more time to broker a deal to bring the social media platform under American ownership. Trump disclosed the executive order on the Truth Social...
Massive Google Cloud outage disrupts popular internet services
NEW YORK — Popular online services across the globe were disrupted Thursday because of ongoing issues at Google Cloud. Tens of thousands of users of Spotify, Discord and other platforms began noticing issues with their services early in the afternoon, according to Downdetector, which tracks outages. Outage reports for music...
Senate Republicans revise ban on state AI regulations in bid to preserve controversial provision
WASHINGTON — Senate Republicans have made changes to their party’s sweeping tax bill in hopes of preserving a new policy that would prevent states from regulating artificial intelligence for a decade. In legislative text unveiled Thursday night, Senate Republicans proposed denying states federal funding for broadband projects if they regulate...
Fans around the world queue up in long lines for the highly anticipated Nintendo Switch 2 launch
TOKYO — Throngs of gamers stood in long lines outside of stores hours before they opened Thursday from Tokyo to New York City in hopes of snaring a long-awaited Nintendo Switch 2 video game console. Enthusiasts have been clamoring for an upgrade to Nintendo’s eight-year-old predecessor for years. Nintendo, which...
Thai officials seize over 200 tons of illegally imported electronic waste from U.S.
BANGKOK — Thai officials on Wednesday said they seized 238 tons of illegally imported electronic waste from the United States at the port of Bangkok, one of the biggest lots they’ve found this year. The waste, which came in 10 large containers, was declared as mixed metal scrap but turned...
Microsoft to lay off about 3% of its workforce
Microsoft says it is laying off nearly 3% of its entire workforce. The tech giant didn’t disclose the total amount of lost jobs but it will amount to about 6,000 people. Microsoft employed 228,000 full-time workers as of last June, the last time it reported its annual headcount. About 55%...
U.S. expands attempt to blow up Google with proposed teardown of its ad technology
The U.S. Justice Department is doubling down on its attempt to break up Google by asking it to give up the underlying technology powering the company’s digital ad network. The proposed remedy joins a separate federal effort to separate the Chrome browser from its dominant search engine. The government’s latest...
Microsoft hikes Xbox prices worldwide as gaming industry faces tariff uncertainty
NEW YORK — As new tariffs continue to strain global supply chains, some gamers are already feeling price hikes. Microsoft raised recommended retailer pricing for its Xbox consoles and controllers around the world this week. Its Xbox Series S, for example, now starts at $379.99 in the U.S. — up...
Thinking of buying a secondhand phone? Some tips on what to look for
LONDON — New smartphones aren’t cheap and prices could reach even higher as globe trade tensions fueled by U.S. President Donald Trump’s tariff threats throw Asian exports into turmoil. To save money, consider buying a secondhand device. The market for used cell phones is booming. It’s now growing faster than...
Here’s what you need to know about the Signal app
Signal has been the most high-profile app in the news lately because of the controversy surrounding its use by Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth. Signal is a secure messaging platform known for end-to-end encryption, often used for private communication. Concerns about using a commercial messaging app for communicating sensitive military information...
Team that resurrected dire wolf has Pitt, Penn State connections
Some of the scientific groundwork that paved the way for a rebirth of the long-extinct dire wolf took place in Pennsylvania. With much fanfare, Texas company Colossal Biosciences announced April 7 that its scientists had returned the dire wolf, a species extinct for more than 10,000 years, “to its rightful...
Power tools: Robotics research at Carnegie Mellon aims to revolutionize everyday tasks
At this year’s Consumer Electronics Show, the world’s foremost tech conference, farming machinery giant Kubota introduced Flash, a vehicle-mounted camera that creates ultra-detailed images to help farmers care for their crops. It was an idea born in a Carnegie Mellon University robotics lab and another example of the revolutionary technology...
Google’s digital ad network declared an illegal monopoly, joining its search engine
SAN FRANCISCO — Google has been branded an abusive monopolist by a federal judge for the second time in less than a year, this time for illegally exploiting some of its online marketing technology to boost the profits fueling an internet empire currently worth $1.8 trillion. The ruling issued Thursday...
Trump administration plans to end IRS Direct File program for free tax filing, AP sources say
WASHINGTON — The Trump administration plans to eliminate the IRS’ Direct File program, an electronic system for filing tax returns directly to the agency for free, according to two people familiar with the decision. The program developed during Joe Biden’s presidency was credited by users with making tax filing easy,...
Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg takes the stand in historic antitrust trial
WASHINGTON — Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg took to the witness stand on the first day of a historic antitrust trial to defend his company against allegations it illegally monopolized the social media market. The trial could force the tech giant to break off Instagram and WhatsApp, startups Meta bought more...
Kids under 16 will no longer be allowed to livestream on Instagram without parental consent
LONDON — Instagram users under 16 won’t be able to livestream or unblur nudity in direct messages they’ve received without parental approval, owner Meta Platforms said Tuesday as it widened its safety measures for teenagers. The social media company also said it was extending safeguards for users under 18 to...
Trump extends TikTok deadline another 75 days as U.S. continues to look for deal
WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. — President Donald Trump on Friday said he is signing an executive order to keep TikTok running in the U.S. for another 75 days to give his administration more time to broker a deal to bring the social media platform under American ownership. Congress had mandated...
With a TikTok ban looming, Trump signals a deal will come before April 5 deadline
LOS ANGELES — As the deadline to strike a deal over TikTok approaches this week, President Donald Trump has signaled that he is confident his administration can broker an agreement with ByteDance, the social media app’s China-based parent company. Speaking with reporters on Air Force One late Sunday, Trump said...
Scientists release plans for an even bigger atom smasher to address the mysteries of physics
GENEVA — Top minds at the world’s largest atom smasher have released a blueprint for a much bigger successor that could vastly improve research into the remaining enigmas of physics. The plans for the Future Circular Collider — a nearly 56.5-mile loop along the French-Swiss border and below Lake Geneva...
U.S. immigration officials look to expand social media data collection
SAN FRANCISCO — U.S. immigration officials are asking the public and federal agencies to comment on a proposal to collect social media handles from people applying for benefits such as green cards or citizenship, to comply with an executive order from President Donald Trump. The March 5 notice raised alarms...
Shapiro touts AI program for state employees during visit to Carnegie Mellon
Gov. Josh Shapiro unveiled the results of the first-ever generative artificial intelligence pilot program for state employees during a visit Friday to Carnegie Mellon University. Partnered with CMU and OpenAI, an artificial intelligence research organization, Shapiro signed an executive order in September 2023 to expand and govern the use of...
Encrypted messaging apps promise privacy. Government transparency is often the price
As a devastating wildfire burned through a Maui town, killing more than 100 people, emergency management employees traded dozens of text messages, creating a record that would later help investigators piece together the government’s response to the 2023 tragedy. One text exchange hinted officials might also be using a second,...
Vance hopeful ‘high-level’ TikTok deal will be completed by early April
Vice President JD Vance said Friday he is hopeful a deal to keep TikTok operating in the U.S. will be wrapped up by the early April deadline. “There will almost certainly be a high-level agreement that I think satisfies our national security concerns, allows there to be a distinct American...
Microsoft shutting down Skype in May
REDMOND, Wash. — Microsoft is closing down Skype, the video-calling service it bought for $8.5 billion in 2011. The tech giant said Friday it will retire Skype in May and shift some of its services to Microsoft Teams, its flagship videoconferencing platform. Skype users will be able to use their...
Apple announces $500 billion investment in U.S. amid tariff threats that could affect iPhone
NEW YORK — Apple announced Monday that it plans to invest more than $500 billion in the United States over the next four years, including plans to hire 20,000 people and build a new server factory in Texas. The move comes just days after President Donald Trump said Apple CEO...
