Blogs

• Lawmakers say TikTok is a national security threat, but evidence remains unclear -As TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew prepares for his first congressional grilling on Thursday, much of the focus will undoubtedly be on the short-form video app's potential national security risks.
• TikTok says it has 150 million US users amid renewed calls for a ban -TikTok now has 150 million monthly active users in the United States, CEO Shou Chew confirmed on Tuesday, in a clear attempt to highlight the platform's vast and growing reach in the country amid renewed calls for a ban.
• Google was beloved as an employer for years. Then it laid off thousands by email -On the morning of January 20, one Google employee had to call tech support after getting hit with an unusual error message when they tried to log in to their work system.
• Google begins rolling out its ChatGPT rival -Google is opening up access to Bard, its new AI chatbot tool that directly competes with ChatGPT.
• Google suspends Chinese shopping app Pinduoduo over malware -Google has suspended Pinduoduo, a popular Chinese budget shopping app, from its Play Store after finding malware in versions of the app.
• China imports 27 foreign video games as it reopens market to global titles -China has approved 27 foreign video games, including titles to be released by Tencent, NetEase and Bilibili, as it gradually reopens the world's largest mobile entertainment market to international titles.
• Amazon to lay off 9,000 more workers -Amazon is cutting 9,000 more jobs, CEO Andy Jassy announced Monday in a memo to staff.
• The way we work is about to change -In just a few months, you'll be able to ask a virtual assistant to transcribe meeting notes during a work call, summarize long email threads to quickly draft suggested replies, quickly create a specific chart in Excel, and turn a Word document into a PowerPoint presentation in seconds.
• The US government is once again threatening to ban TikTok. What you should know -Nearly two-and-a-half years after the Trump administration threatened to ban TikTok in the United States if it didn't divest from its Chinese owners, the Biden administration is now doing the same.
• US government launches criminal investigation into TikTok parent, reports say -The US government has launched a criminal investigation into TikTok's parent company, ByteDance, over improper access to the personal information of several US citizens, according to Forbes and The New York Times.
• Meta rolls out paid verification option for Facebook and Instagram users in US -Facebook and Instagram users in the United States will soon be able to pay to get a coveted blue check on their account.
• YouTube restores Donald Trump's channel -YouTube on Friday said it would restore former President Donald Trump's channel, more than two years after suspending it following the January 6 attack on the US Capitol.
• FCC cracks down on spammy text messages -The Federal Communications Commission is cracking down on spammy text messages with new rules for telecom companies, citing a surge of consumer complaints in recent years tied to unwanted robotexts.
• Baidu stock rebounds after falling sharply in wake of ChatGPT-style bot demo -Shares in Chinese search giant Baidu rebounded sharply a day after it unveiled ERNIE Bot, its answer to the ChatGPT craze.
• New Zealand joins US push to curb TikTok use on official phones with parliament ban -New Zealand will ban TikTok on all devices with access to its parliament by the end of this month, becoming the latest country to impose an official bar on the popular social media platform owned by a Beijing-based tech conglomerate.
• 'I am personally sticking with SVB.' Prominent tech figures pledge support?for bank -After a rollercoaster week for Silicon Valley Bank's customers, some prominent voices in the tech world are now publicly saying they will keep their money with the embattled lender -- and they're urging others to do the same.
• Google will stop selling Glass as it looks to cut costs -Google will no longer sell the latest Enterprise Edition of Google Glass, the company announced this week, effectively killing off an innovative but failed wearable product line from another era that many consumers may have assumed was long gone.
• UK bans TikTok on government devices -The United Kingdom banned TikTok from official government devices on Thursday, adding to similar restrictions imposed by allies in Canada, the European Union and the United States.
• Microsoft is bringing ChatGPT technology to Word, Excel and Outlook -Microsoft on Thursday outlined its plans to bring artificial intelligence to its most recognizable productivity tools, including Outlook, PowerPoint, Excel and Word, with the promise of changing how millions do their work every day.
• 5 jaw-dropping things GPT-4 can do that ChatGPT couldn't -In the first day after it was unveiled, GPT-4 stunned many users in early tests and a company demo with its ability to draft lawsuits, pass standardized exams and build a working website from a hand-drawn sketch.