Tuesday, August 31, 2021

Autonomous trucking startup Gatik AI raises $85M Series B led by Koch Disruptive Technologies, bringing total raised to $114.5M (Kirsten Korosec/TechCrunch)

Kirsten Korosec / TechCrunch:
Autonomous trucking startup Gatik AI raises $85M Series B led by Koch Disruptive Technologies, bringing total raised to $114.5M  —  In the two years since Gatik AI came out of stealth, the autonomous vehicle startup has launched pilots with Walmart and Canadian retail giant Loblaw in its bid …



China's new 'online gaming ban': What it means, new timings, verification process and all details

China on Monday introduced new rules that limit the amount of time under-18s can spend on video games to three hours a week, a move it said was necessary to combat gaming addiction. https://ift.tt/3ju2Op2

Indonesia probes suspected data breach on Covid-19 app

Anas Ma'ruf, a health ministry official overseeing data, said the government was looking into the potential breach, but said the potential flaw was in an earlier version of the app, which has not been used since July. https://ift.tt/3BtvZPm

Airtel ends silence on Google rumours: This is what it said in response to stock exchanges

Telecom major Bharti Airtel described that the reports on likely investment by Google into the company as speculations. https://ift.tt/3jBS0pb

Indian payments platform BillDesk gets $4.7 billion investment from Prosus

Prosus NV doubled down on its investment in India on Tuesday with a $4.7 billion deal for payments platform BillDesk, making it one of the biggest players in the country's fast-growing fintech sector. https://ift.tt/3kI63bO

Thai crypto exchange Zipmex raises $41 million from Bank of Ayudhya, others

BAY joins Thai media companies, Plan B Media Pcl and Master Ad Pcl, and foreign venture capital funds in the investment round. https://ift.tt/3gO2UWW

Semiconductor shortage hurting production, may impact Aug-Sep automobile wholesales: Report

Semiconductors are silicon chips that cater to control and memory functions in products ranging from automobiles, computers and cell phones to various other electronic items. https://ift.tt/3jswKC6

VPNs in India Should Be Blocked, Parliamentary Panel Again Urges Government

The Parliamentary Standing Committee on Home Affairs has urged the government to block virtual private networks (VPNs) in India, citing VPN services as a "technological challenge" that could lead... https://ift.tt/3t5rPKn

South Korea Passes Bill to Curb Google, Apple Commission Dominance

A landmark bill passed in South Korea's parliament bans major app store operators such as Google and Apple from forcing software developers to use their payment systems, effectively stopping them from... https://ift.tt/3zAZluv

As ad revenue surges, Alphabet shares are up 65% over 2021, and up more than 7% in August to reach a record high of $2,891.81, the longest rally since 2009 (Ryan Vlastelica/Bloomberg)

Ryan Vlastelica / Bloomberg:
As ad revenue surges, Alphabet shares are up 65% over 2021, and up more than 7% in August to reach a record high of $2,891.81, the longest rally since 2009  —  - Shares are poised for their eighth straight month of gains  — Yearly rise nearly twice as much as Facebook, Microsoft



Sources and experts say US-funded Afghan government databases containing sensitive personal data could be used by the Taliban to identify millions of Afghans (MIT Technology Review)

MIT Technology Review:
Sources and experts say US-funded Afghan government databases containing sensitive personal data could be used by the Taliban to identify millions of Afghans  —  By capturing 40 pieces of data per person—from iris scans and family links to their favorite fruit—a system meant to cut fraud …



At the behest of South Korean regulators, payments service Kakao lowers its IPO target to ~$1.3B at the top of the range, down from ~$1.4B (Sohee Kim/Bloomberg)

Sohee Kim / Bloomberg:
At the behest of South Korean regulators, payments service Kakao lowers its IPO target to ~$1.3B at the top of the range, down from ~$1.4B  —  - Regulators asked the startup to revise its IPO prospectus  — Krafton's lukewarm debut has soured sentiment domestically



TikTok parent ByteDance acquires VR headset maker Pico

In a statement issued to the publication, ByteDance said that Pico's "comprehensive suite of software and hardware technologies, as well as the talent and deep expertise of the team, will support both our entry to the VR space and long-term investment in this emerging field". https://ift.tt/3kBpsv7

Google says it removed 95,680 content pieces in July in India

On Tuesday, Google said it had received 36,934 complaints in July from individual users located in India via designated mechanisms, and the number of removal actions as a result of user complaints was 95,680 - the highest so far. https://ift.tt/3BvQcUL

Tata Tigor EV Launched in India: All You Need to Know

Tata Tigor EV has been launched in India. The electric vehicle (EV) is touted to be the cheapest EV in the country. It is available in the three trims - XE, XM, and XZ+ - with a dual-tone colour... https://ift.tt/2YgOybj

Electricians are flocking to regions around the US to build data centers, as AI shapes up to be an economy-bending force that creates boom towns (New York Times)

New York Times : Electricians are flocking to regions around the US to build data centers, as AI shapes up to be an economy-bending force...