Top tech news stories today: July 2, 2024

Top tech news stories today: July 2, 2024 is profiled by BTW Media because public-source evidence links it to internet infrastructure, governance, operational dependencies, or market visibility.

Fintech

1. Robinhood resolves issue that impacted trading platform services

Robinhood resolved a trading platform issue causing disruptions for users, with roughly 3,600 reported problems at its peak, as per Downdetector. The company apologised for the inconvenience. (Investing.com)

IT infrastructure

2. Affirm card users’ personal information possibly compromised in Evolve Bank cyber attack

Affirm Holdings confirmed that personal information of Affirm card users may have been compromised in Evolve Bank and Trust’s recent cybersecurity incident. Affirm’s systems were unaffected, and it continues to work independently to assess any potential data breaches. (U.S. News)

3. PomeGran secures $172M to bring gigabit broadband to Northern Ontario

PomeGran Inc. has secured a $172 million Fibre-to-the-Home (FTTH) project, backed by federal and provincial funds, to bring gigabit broadband to Northern Ontario. (Capacity)

4. Optus to use Ericsson’s 5G interference sensing software

Optus and Ericsson have successfully completed a pioneering pilot using Ericsson’s Interference Sensing technology in a live network, enhancing user throughput by 22% through real-time interference management. (Erisson)

Tech trends

5. Nvidia set to face French antitrust charges, sources say

Nvidia faces potential charges from the French antitrust regulator over alleged anti-competitive practices, following raids and inquiries into its graphics cards and cloud computing sectors. (Reuters)

6. Italy picks KPMG to value digital payment platform PagoPA, sources say

Italy’s Treasury has chosen KPMG to assess PagoPA for a sale to the state mint and Poste Italiane. PagoPA handled €46.66 billion in public administration payments this year. (The Star)

7. Google buys stake in Taiwan solar power firm owned by BlackRock

Google has invested in Taiwan’s New Green Power and may purchase up to 300 megawatts of renewable energy to reduce carbon emissions. This supports Taiwan’s solar goals and aids Google’s carbon-free energy ambitions amid rising data-processing demand. (Yahoo! Finance)

8. PayPal Ventures-backed fintech Mesh partners with Italy’s crypto wallet Conio

Mesh, supported by PayPal Ventures, will allow Conio’s 430,000 Italian users to access 10 major crypto exchanges through the Conio App. This partnership will enable instant bitcoin transfers to Conio wallets and is backed by Poste Italiane and Banca Generali. (933 The Drive)

9. Amazon’s last-gen Kindle Paperwhite is on sale for 50 bucks right now

The 2018 Kindle Paperwhite, a last-gen e-reader, is available used on Amazon for $49.99. It features a six-inch, 300ppi display, IPX8 water resistance, and Audible support via Bluetooth. (The Verge)

10. Spotify tests emergency alerts in Sweden

Spotify is testing an emergency alerts system in Sweden, possibly to enhance user engagement by providing crucial public announcements like accidents or service disruptions. (Tech Crunch)

AI

11. Northern Data considers AI unit US IPO at up to $16 billion, Bloomberg News reports

Germany-based Northern Data AG is considering a U.S. IPO for its AI cloud computing and data centre units, potentially valuing them at $16 billion. The units, Taiga and Ardent, may list on Nasdaq in early 2024. (Yahoo! Finance)

12. AI-focused tech firms see big jump in market cap in June

At the end of June, AI-focused companies, mainly chipmakers, saw significant market capitalisation gains. Nvidia’s value briefly reached $3.34 trillion, surpassing Microsoft, but later dropped due to profit booking. (Investing.com)

13. Anthropic looks to fund a new, more comprehensive generation of AI benchmarks

Anthropic is launching a program to fund the development of new benchmarks for evaluating AI models, including generative models like Claude. The program, announced on Monday, will provide payments to third-party organisations that can effectively measure advanced AI capabilities. (Tech Crunch)

14. YouTube now lets you request removal of AI-generated content that simulates your face or voice

Last month, YouTube introduced a policy allowing users to request the removal of AI-generated content featuring their likeness. Factors for removal include realism, disclosure, and potential parody. (Engadget)

15. European autonomous vehicles to receive Japanese boost

TIER IV introduces cutting-edge automotive cameras to Europe, enhancing autonomous vehicle capabilities with high dynamic range and LED flicker mitigation. (IoT news)