Tired of colonial artefacts being hoarded, Chidi Nwaubani and Ahmed Abokor use tech to redistribute them from museums in audacious digital heistsIn March last year, two men in tracksuits, wearing hockey masks and carrying matching laundry bags, headed for the British Museum. Just outside, patrolling police asked the two strange-looking men where they were going. “We’re going to the British Museum to loot back stolen goods,” one of them said. “Well, we’ll see you in there then!” the policewoman answered.But no arrests were made, as nothing incriminating happened. What did take place was a “digital heist” of one of the most famous objects in the British Museum, an artefact that is, according to Egyptologist Monica Hanna, “a symbol of western cultural power” and “of British imperialism”: the Rosetta Stone. Continue reading...
A bill passed by Congress and signed by Biden requires owner ByteDance to sell or face a US ban – it’s its biggest threat yetSenate passes bill banning TikTok if parent company does not sell itThe House of Representatives passed a bill that would require TikTok owner ByteDance to sell the social media platform or face a total ban in the United States. The Senate passed it less than a week later. Joe Biden signed it a day after the Senate voted yes.TikTok is facing its biggest existential threat yet in the US. The app was banned in Montana last year, but courts found that prohibition unconstitutional, and it never went into effect. Continue reading...
Service suspended in France and Spain amid safety and addiction concerns among children, in first use of new digital lawsA TikTok service offering rewards such as gift vouchers for watching videos has been suspended by the company shortly after the EU threatened to block it amid fears of addiction among children.On Monday the digital commissioner, Thierry Breton, said the Chinese-owned video-sharing platform had “failed to prove” the feature on TikTok Lite, which launched recently in France and Spain, complied with obligations under sweeping new Digital Service Act (DSA) laws. Continue reading...
Shares jump after carmaker says it is looking to accelerate production of lower-price EVsTesla sees biggest revenue drop since 2012 but shares still surgeElectric and hybrid car sales to rise to new global record in 2024Tesla’s plans to bring a more affordable electric vehicle to the market appear to have moved a step closer.On Tuesday, the company’s share price shot up by 12% after an update revealed the carmaker was hoping to accelerate the production of lower-priced EVs, with production of the first cars beginning as early as this year. Continue reading...
Harry Daniels’s TikToks of him singing awkwardly at stars alternate between trolling and displays of love for celebrities – but how does he do it?Billie Eilish has run from him. Doja Cat stopped her security detail to allow for a sidewalk serenade of Paint the Town Red. Charli XCX let him sing a few bars from I Got It before telling him “You need to work on it,” turning on her heel, and strutting back to her car.Harry Daniels stakes out celebrities such as Dua Lipa, Katy Perry, Ellie Goulding – and, uh, Joe Biden – and serenades them while filming their responses for TikTok. Most of these interactions appear spontaneous, as if the celebrities are genuinely surprised to be accosted by a 20-year-old man singing at them, usually terribly and oftentimes with their own songs. When Daniels found Jacob Elordi at a restaurant, the Saltburn star stayed across the room next to a bodyguard-type, looking amused but slightly wary as Daniels crooned Murder on the Dancefloor his way. Continue reading...
Shares up despite dip in revenue and profits after company said it expects to release new vehicle models sooner than expectedTesla shares surged nearly 10% in after-hours trading on Tuesday after posting earnings results, despite a revenue miss for the first quarter of 2024, a steep decline in profits, and a recall of its most recently released car, the $100,000 Cybertruck.The electric vehicle manufacturer posted $21.3bn in revenue, lower than the $21.48bn that was estimated and a 9% drop year over year – marking its biggest decline since 2012. Profit was $1.1bn, a 55% decline from the first quarter of 2023, the company said. Continue reading...
The head of the company’s gaming subscription service explains its priorities as it anticipates the Vision Pro revolution, and tries to bring originality to a market still dominated by free to play mobile titlesWhen Apple launched its games subscription service, Arcade, in September 2019, it drew a huge amount of attention – as with everything the company does. Offering 100 premium (ie, not ad-infested) mobile games for a monthly subscription fee of £4.99/$4.99 (now £6.99), and the promise of more titles to come, it was an attempt to bring the Netflix business model to gaming.It offered an alternative in a mobile gaming market in which free-to-play and ad-supported games were dominant. The dominance of behemoths such as Genshin Impact, Clash of Clans and Candy Crush previously made it difficult for the makers of paid-for, premium games to find an audience, but Arcade offered a range of curated titles that could run across Apple’s devices – iPhone, iPad, Mac and Apple TV – with no ads or in-app purchases. Games also worked offline, eliminating the annoyance of being kicked out of a game on the London Underground. Continue reading...
Internet Watch Foundation has found a manual on dark web encouraging criminals to use software tools that remove clothingPaedophiles are being urged to use artificial intelligence to create nude images of children to extort more extreme material from them, according to a child abuse charity.The Internet Watch Foundation (IWF) said a manual found on the dark web contained a section encouraging criminals to use “nudifying” tools to remove clothing from underwear shots sent by a child. The manipulated image could then be used against the child to blackmail them into sending more graphic content, the IWF said. Continue reading...