Top tech news stories today: July 4, 2024

Top tech news stories today: July 4, 2024 is profiled by BTW Media because public-source evidence links it to internet infrastructure, governance, operational dependencies, or market visibility.

Crypto 1. Russian regulator encourages use of crypto to counter sanctions Russia’s central bank, led by Elvira Nabiullina, advises using cryptocurrencies for international payments due to Western sanctions. Despite booming trade with China and India, recent sanctions disrupted financial operations. ( Reuters ) 2. DWF Labs launches $20M fund for Web3 projects in China DWF Labs has launched a $20 million Cloudbreak Fund to support Web3 projects in Chinese-speaking regions. The fund aims to provide substantial investments and strategic resources to expedite growth in sectors like GameFi, SocialFi, memecoins, and layer-1/layer-2 projects. ( Cointelegraph ) Fintech 3. Mashreq leads with new API-enabled instant payment services in UAE Mashreq has launched an API-enabled instant payments service for corporate clients, integrated with the UAE Central Bank’s Aani platform. This service allows immediate, low-value payments up to AED 50,000, available 24/7/365. ( Fintech Global ) 4. Zimpler and Swish forge new path in Nordic payment solutions Zimpler and Swish have partnered to optimise payment solutions for Nordic merchants. Zimpler connects businesses with over 350 million bank accounts across 25 markets, enhancing transaction speed and compliance. ( Fintech Global ) Internet governance 5. Mailing lists migration from mailman 2 to mailman 3 begins The RIPE NCC is migrating from Mailman 2 to Mailman 3 by 14 July 2024, enhancing the user interface and message archives. Previously, internal and ASO/NRO lists were updated to Mailman 3. ( RIPE NCC ) 6. ARIN’s email public-source context processor has been retired As of 3 June 2024, ARIN has retired the email public-source context processor for reassignments. Users are encouraged to use ARIN’s Reg-RWS service or ARIN Online for submissions. An open-source public-source context processor is available for those preferring email public-source contexts. ( ARIN ) IT infrastructure 7. China designates pilot areas for ‘vehicle-road-cloud integration’ for smart cars China’s industry ministry selected 20 localities, including Beijing and Shanghai, for a pilot programme on “vehicle-road-cloud integration” for intelligent connected vehicles. The aim is to establish a unified standard system by 2026. ( Yahoo! Finance ) Tech trends 8. Microsoft agrees to settle California parental leave investigation for $14 million The settlement resolves California’s Civil Rights Department’s investigation into claims that Microsoft retaliated against employees using parental, disability, and family-care leave. ( The Verge ) 9. OpenAI’s ChatGPT Mac app was storing conversations in plain text Until Friday, OpenAI’s ChatGPT macOS app had a security issue where chats were stored in plain text, accessible to bad actors or malicious apps. Pedro José Pereira Vieito demonstrated this vulnerability. ( The Verge ) AI 10. China leading generative AI patents race, UN report says China leads in generative AI patents, filing six times more than the U.S., with over 38,000 patents from 2014-2023, per WIPO. Generative AI is rapidly growing, with 50,000 patents in the past decade, and notable applicants include ByteDance, Alibaba, and Microsoft’s OpenAI. ( Reuters ) 11. Elon Musk expected to make speech at opening of Shanghai’s World AI Conference Elon Musk will keynote the World AI Conference in Shanghai on Thursday, likely via video. Other attendees include Chinese Premier Li Qiang. Musk, familiar with WAIC, last attended in person in 2019. ( U.S.News ) 12. Cloudflare launches a tool to combat AI bots Cloudflare has introduced a free tool to prevent bots from scraping websites for AI model training data. Developed after analysing AI bot and crawler traffic, it fine-tunes bot detection models to identify bots mimicking human behaviour. ( Best of AI ) 13. Meta plans to bring generative AI to metaverse games Meta is integrating generative AI into VR, AR, and mixed reality games to enhance its Horizon platform, aiming for varied and non-repetitive experiences. ( Datagram News ) 14. AI frenzy expected to have boosted Samsung Q2 profit 13-fold Samsung Electronics is expected to report a 13-fold increase in second-quarter profit to 8.8 trillion won ($6.34 billion), driven by rising demand for AI technology and a rebound in memory chip prices. ( Reuters ) IoT 15. LG strengthens IoT portfolio with Athom purchase LG has acquired an 80 percent stake in Dutch smart home platform Athom, aiming to integrate Athom’s connectivity capabilities with LG’s AI-enabled ThinQ platform. ( IoT News )