Google is accused of abusing monopoly powers by the U.S. government, hackers are using cyber crime for good, and Microsoft debuts Azure – in spaaace.
It’s all the tech news that’s popular right now. Welcome to Hashtag Trending! It’s Wednesday, October 21, and I’m your host Baneet Braich.
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Google has found itself in the middle of a landmark U.S. case after being accused of abusing monopoly powers. In its complaint, the government says that Google controls about 90 per cent of the online search market in the U.S.. That it is the “unchallenged gateway” to the internet, the complaint says, adding Google uses anticompetitive practices to maintain and extend its monopoly in search, effectively stifling competition. According to Bloomberg, Google says the government’s lawsuit is heavily flawed and that people choose Google because they want to, not because they have to. The publication is also reporting that other states, including Colorado and Texas, are planning to launch similar complaints against Google over its activities in the digital advertising market.
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Robinhood is out there donating stolen money to charities. Yes, you heard right. A group of hackers are using cyber crime to give back. In a post on the dark web, the group posted receipts for $10,000 in Bitcoin donations to two charities. However one charity, Children International says it will not keep the money. The hackers claim they only target large-scale companies. The attacks work like this: hackers hold organizations’ IT systems hostage until a ransom is paid and some of that is donated to charities.
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More space news! After Nokia announced it was planning to build a 4G network on the moon, Microsoft debuted Azure Space to contribute to the space industry alongside SpaceX. Azure will partner for Starlink’s data centre broadband. The cloud computing platform will focus on services like the simulation of space missions, gathering and interpreting satellite data to provide insights, and providing global satellite networking capabilities. Microsoft’s new Azure Modular Datacenter (MDC) is an on-demand container data center unit that can be deployed in remote locations. Microsoft has also revealed the Azure Orbital Emulator which will train AI for orbital spacecraft before its actually launched, identifying potential problems faster.
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That’s all the tech news that’s trending right now. Hashtag Trending is a part of the ITWC Podcast network. Add us to your Alexa Flash Briefing or your Google Home daily briefing. I’m Baneet Braich, thanks for listening