Category: Companies

China-Backed Hackers Targeting Critical US Infrastructure, Microsoft and Five Eyes Warn

A Chinese cyber espionage group has been targeting a wide range of networks across U.S. critical infrastructure sectors, from telecommunications to transportation hubs, since at least mid-2021, according to Microsoft and various cybersecurity agencies under the Five Eyes alliance. Microsoft announced on Wednesday that the “stealthy and targeted malicious activity” is carried out by Volt Typhoon,…


US Tech Sector Continues Laying Off Large Number of Employees

American tech firms have announced thousands of layoffs this year so far, with reasons for these terminations ranging from over-hiring during the pandemic, worries about a potential recession, and efforts to cut costs. Salesforce set the tone for the tech industry’s layoffs this year in January when it announced that 8,000 employees would be terminated….


China Is Both Supplier and Saboteur of America’s Electric Grid, Experts Say

Simultaneous with efforts by the Biden administration to “green” America’s energy infrastructure, Chinese companies have become key suppliers of hardware to the U.S. electric grid that analysts fear could give China the ability to crash the grid if hostilities were ever to escalate. Americans have become so used to an uninterrupted supply of electricity that…


Oklahoma Offers Enel Solar Panel Manufacturing Facility $180 Million Incentive Package

Enel North America, through its affiliate 3Sun USA, LLC, announced on May 22 that it plans to build a solar cell and panel manufacturing facility in Inola, Oklahoma, after the state legislature agreed to a $180 million incentive package. Enel North America, a part of Italian energy company Enel Group, will receive up to $36 million…


Netflix Seeks to Limit Password Sharing in US

Streaming giant Netflix is cracking down on the practice of subscribers sharing passwords with non-household members in the United States. “Your Netflix account is for you and the people you live with—your household,” the company said in an email posted to a blog on May 23. Netflix gives two options for subscribers looking to share…


Microsoft Integrating AI ‘Personal Assistant’ Into Windows 11

Microsoft is adding its centralized AI-assisted feature Copilot to Windows 11, the company announced on May 22. In a blog post, Panos Panay, Microsoft’s chief product officer, said the new chatbot—which like Chat GPT-4 is powered by artificial intelligence that uses large language models (LLMs)—will help assist users to complete complex tasks. Such tasks will…


Reporters Pushed Twitter to Change System, Shared ‘Intel’ on Competitor: Twitter Files

Reporters helped Twitter develop products and shared intelligence on a major competitor, according to newly released internal Twitter files. Reporters from NBC, Fox News, the New York Times, and Reason, including NBC’s Ben Collins, helped Twitter develop its Birdwatch “fact-checking” tool, according to one of the files. Collins and a slew of other reporters later…


Richard Branson’s Virgin Orbit to Cease Operations After Failed Rocket Launch

Richard Branson’s rocket company Virgin Orbit will cease operations after its failed rocket launch out of the United Kingdom, officials announced. The company said in a May 23 statement that it will sell its assets and equipment to four winning bidders in a “comprehensive sale process and competitive auction” and cease operations. The announcement comes just…


Russia Extends Arrest of US Journalist Evan Gershkovich by 3 Months

MOSCOW—A Russian court on Tuesday extended the arrest of Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich by three months in a closed-door hearing emblematic of the secrecy that has marked the case against the first United States correspondent since the Cold War to be detained in Russia on spying charges. Gershkovich, a 31-year-old American citizen, was…


Ford Reverses Course, Will Include AM Radio in New Cars

Ford has announced that it will install AM radio functionality in all its new vehicles after earlier planning not to, a change in policy triggered due to concerns that the removal will affect the government’s ability to issue emergency alerts. Ford is among the many automakers who decided to ditch AM radios in their new…