Lawmakers on both sides of the Atlantic criticized Facebook and its chief executive, Mark Zuckerberg, after reports surfaced that another company, Cambridge Analytica, improperly harvested information from 50 million Facebook users. A British lawmaker accused Facebook on Sunday of misleading officials by downplaying the risk of users’ data being shared …
At this week’s three-day Energy Innovation Summit, organized annually by the U.S. Department of Energy’s Advanced Research Projects Agency, or ARPA-e for short, experts, entrepreneurs, investors and government officials shared ideas, research results and experiences about challenges facing the generation, transformation, distribution and storage of all forms of energy. VOA’s …
Facebook Inc. on Friday said it was suspending political data analytics firm Cambridge Analytica, which worked for President Donald Trump’s 2016 election campaign, after finding data privacy policies had been violated. Facebook said in a statement that it suspended Cambridge Analytica and its parent group Strategic Communication Laboratories (SCL) after …
Fingerprints can unlock doors, phones and more, but are consumers ready to pay with them? Visa thinks so. More companies are exploring biometrics, the analysis of unique biological traits to verify identity, but how secure is the technology? Tina Trinh reports from New York …
A one-page job application filled out by Steve Jobs more than four decades ago that reflected the Apple founder’s technology aspirations sold for $174,000 at a U.S. auction, more than three times its presale estimate. An Internet entrepreneur from England was the winning bidder, Boston-based auction house RR Auction said …
South by Southwest is a pop-up marketplace of ideas. Held in Austin, Texas, it combines music and film festivals with a tech conference. Its nine days of events draw people from around the world, including Africa, as Tigist Geme of VOA’s Horn of Africa Service reports. …
Tossing swimmers and boaters a lifeline when they get into trouble on the water takes on a new meaning when that lifeline is attached to a robot. Faith Lapidus explains. …
France added more kindling to a growing commercial dispute between Europe and the United States, announcing Wednesday it would sue American tech giants Google and Apple over allegedly abusive business practices. After peanut butter, cranberries and bourbon, Google and Apple are the latest American icons in Europe’s crosshairs. Speaking to …
Only one of 118 gender discrimination complaints made by women at Microsoft was found to have merit, according to unsealed court documents. The Seattle Times reports the records made public Monday illustrate the scope of complaints from female employees in technical jobs in the U.S. between 2010 and 2016. And …
Chinese telecoms giant Huawei says it will continue to invest in the United States despite recent setbacks in its efforts to boost sales there. Xu Qingsong, also known as Jim Xu, Huawei’s head of sales and marketing, told reporters in Shenzhen he was “confident” Huawei smartphone sales would triple this …
Alphabet’s Google said on Tuesday that it will launch a network of free Wi-Fi hotspots across Mexico, part of the search giant’s effort to improve connectivity in emerging markets and put its products in the hands of more users. Google Station, an ad-supported network of Wi-Fi hotspots in high-traffic locations, …
Scientists are always on the lookout for affordable and efficient methods for capturing carbon dioxide, responsible for global warming and the rising acidity of seawater. A new procedure, developed at the University of York in Britain, promises to extract large amounts of CO2 from seawater and store it safely, and …
U.N. human rights experts investigating a possible genocide in Myanmar said Monday that Facebook had played a role in spreading hate speech there. Facebook had no immediate comment on the criticism Monday, although in the past the company has said that it was working to remove hate speech in Myanmar …
The inventor of the worldwide web, Tim Berners-Lee, called on Monday for powerful internet platforms and social media companies to be regulated to prevent the internet from being “weaponized at scale.” The British computer scientist, in an open letter published on the 29th anniversary of the creation of the web, …
What originally started as a music festival in the 1980s has evolved into an event that is much bigger and harder to define. Imagine networking and partying for more than a week. That is what is happening in Austin, Texas. Musicians, film promoters and tech companies from around the world …
Space scientists say the satellites and other spacecraft orbiting the Earth, including the International Space Station, are in increasing danger of collision with pieces of junk. Engineers are working hard to solve the problem of removing the trash that threatens functioning satellites worth millions of dollars. VOA’s George Putic reports. …
French President Emmanuel Macron pledged over $850 million for solar projects in emerging economies, as both India and France called for affordable solar technology for emerging nations at the first conference of the International Solar Alliance (ISA) held in New Delhi. The alliance was co-founded by both countries two …
A quick and reliable way of detecting carbon monoxide gas in the bloodstream could act as an early warning system for doctors trying to diagnose diseases. Faith Lapidus reports. …
Technology increasingly relies on rechargeable batteries as a source of energy. Today’s batteries are better and last longer, but when their capacity drops under a certain level they have to be replaced. Some experts say that, even with a half of their capacity, batteries can be used for less critical …
Facebook is getting deeper into the professional sports streaming game, partnering with Major League Baseball to air 25 weekday afternoon games in an exclusive deal. The games will be available to Facebook users in the U.S. on Facebook Watch, the company’s video feature announced last August, via the MLB Live …
Researchers in Sweden have embarked on a four-year project whose aim is to understand one of the most complex animal “languages” — the one dolphins use to communicate with each other. VOA’s George Putic has details. …
A Canadian company’s hardware is being used to hack internet users along Turkey’s border with Syria, researchers said Friday, adding that there were signs that Kurdish forces aligned with the United States might have been targeted. The revelation comes as Turkey presses its offensive against the Kurds dug in along …
Students around the United States are creating virtual businesses that produce simulated products, which are marketed and sold for virtual money. Mike O’Sullivan reports that hundreds of student entrepreneurs came to Pasadena, California, to promote the virtual companies they have created. …
A federal judge is expected to hear arguments on Thursday about whether President Donald Trump violated Twitter users’ free speech rights under the U.S. Constitution by blocking them from his account. The arguments before U.S. District Judge Naomi Reice Buchwald in Manhattan are part of a lawsuit brought last July by the Knight First Amendment …
Nine teams with members from 25 countries entered the final phase of the $7 million Ocean Discovery XPRIZE competition for technologies that could cheaply and efficiently map the floors of the world’s oceans. Using current technology this feat would take up to 600 years. VOA’s George Putic reports. …
The FBI views companies hit by cyberattacks as victims and will not rush to share their information with other agencies investigating whether they failed to protect customer data, its chief said Wednesday. Christopher Wray, director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, encouraged companies to promptly report when they are hacked …