Education on technology

The amendments to the Information Technology Rules, prima facie, do not seem to offer protection to parody and satire, the Bombay High Court said on Monday while hearing a petition filed by stand-up comedian Kunal Kamra. The HC bench also said Kamra's petition challenging the amendments was maintainable. On April 6, the Union government promulgated certain amendments to the Information Technology (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code) Rules, 2021, including a provision of a fact check unit to identify fake or false or misleading online content related to the government. Kamra, in his petition, claimed the new rules could potentially lead to his content being arbitrarily blocked or his social media accounts being suspended or deactivated, thus harming him professionally. He has sought that the court declares the amended rules unconstitutional and give a direction to the government to restrain from taking action against any individual under the rules. The Union...

When the US Supreme Court decides in the coming months whether to weaken a powerful shield protecting internet companies, the ruling also could have implications for rapidly developing technologies like artificial intelligence chatbot ChatGPT . The justices are due to rule by the end of June whether Alphabet's YouTube can be sued over its video recommendations to users. That case tests whether a US law that protects technology platforms from legal responsibility for content posted online by their users also applies when companies use algorithms to target users with recommendations. What the court decides about those issues is relevant beyond social media platforms. Its ruling could influence the emerging debate over whether companies that develop generative AI chatbots like ChatGPT from OpenAI , a company in which Microsoft is a major investor, or Bard from Alphabet's Google should be protected from legal claims like defamation or privacy violations, according to technolo...

A quarter into record layoffs, investors in US tech giants will scrutinize if the cost cuts boosted profits to their satisfaction, while the companies emphasize how artificial intelligence will be their next growth driver. Microsoft , Google parent Alphabet, Instagram owner Meta Platforms , and Amazon.com all report quarterly results in this week. Together, they command more than $5 trillion in market capitalisation, or more than 14 percent of the value of the S&P 500 index. Between Microsoft, Alphabet , and Meta, analysts expect profits to rise 4.5 percent, on average, from the immediately preceding quarter, led by an 11.8 percent jump in Meta's bottom line, according to Refinitiv. From a year earlier, profit is expected to slump nearly 16 percent, on average, with Microsoft expected to perform the least poorly with a 0.5 percent slip. These three companies, along with Amazon, said between November and March they would slash 70,000 jobs in a rapidly w...

Samsung launched the Galaxy S23  series in February and rumours about the next-generation Galaxy S flagship smartphones have already started coming in. The Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra, which is expected to go official in 2024, is tipped to come with a new EV battery technology to offer improved battery life. Samsung's battery manufacturing division is reportedly planning to apply a capacity increase technology used in their electric car cells and inside the Galaxy smartphones and tablets. The Galaxy S24 Ultra is expected to go official alongside the vanilla Galaxy S24 and Galaxy S24+. According to a report by The Elec (in Korean), Samsung's SDI division, that develops and manufactures Li-Ion batteries is looking to implement a new battery stacking method for small batteries aimed at smartphones, tablets, notebooks and other consumer electronics devices. Samsung SDI reportedly collaborated with two Chinese companies to use stacking for the manufacture of Gen 5 batteries aimed a...

China will explore using 3D printing technology to construct buildings on the moon, the official China Daily reported on Monday, as Beijing solidifies plans for long-term lunar habitation. In the 2020 Chinese lunar mission, the Chang'e 5, named after the mythical Chinese goddess of the moon, an uncrewed probe took back to Earth China's first lunar soil samples. China, which made its first lunar landing in 2013, plans to land an astronaut on the moon by 2030. Between now and then, China will launch the Chang'e 6, 7 and 8 missions, with the latter tasked to look for reusable resources on the moon for long-term human habitation. The Chang'e 8 probe will conduct on-site investigations of the environment and mineral composition, and also determine whether technologies such as 3D printing can be deployed on the lunar surface, China Daily reported, quoting Wu Weiren, a scientist at the China National Space Administration. "If we wish to stay on the moon for a long ti...