Posts by Liam Redmond
Consumers aren’t clicking the PayPal button. It’s a big problem for California’s fintech pioneer
PayPal, once the cutting-edge trailblazer of digital payments, is struggling to cash in on consumer clicks like it used to. The San José fintech giant is losing market share to competitors and had to swap out its leadership recently as its shares plunged, and it scrambled for a faster fix. When online shoppers reach the…
Read MoreOracle lays off thousands in latest sign of tough times for tech industry
Software giant Oracle on Tuesday started laying off workers as it looks to rein in costs and double down on artificial intelligence. On LinkedIn, Oracle employees, including software engineers, account executives and program managers, shared publicly that they were affected by a mass layoff at the company and were looking for new jobs. Oracle was…
Read MoreApple turns 50: How a garage startup became a $3.5-trillion titan
Fifty years ago, Steve Wozniak knew he built a great personal computer, but the young engineer couldn’t convince his employer, Hewlett-Packard, to buy into the big idea. “Five times they turned me down for the personal computer. I wanted Hewlett-Packard to do it. I loved my company, but now Steve Jobs and I had to…
Read MoreL.A. social media addiction verdict set to unleash more lawsuits — and force changes
Two of America’s largest tech companies suffered stunning defeats in court this week, sustaining early jolts in what could prove to be a seismic shift in how social media operates amid a new landscape of legal risk. Meta and Google both vowed to appeal verdicts that were handed down by civil juries in Los Angeles…
Read MoreNetflix prices are rising again, hitting $27 a month
Netflix prices in the U.S. are going up — again. For the second time in a little over a year, the streaming service will demand a few more dollars a month from its subscribers. Netflix’s standard plan with ads will now cost $8.99, up $1. Both the prices for the standard plan with no ads…
Read MoreCommentary: Sora’s demise doesn’t mean the AI bubble is bursting anytime soon
ChatGPT would like you to know that, despite what you may have heard on social media, the abrupt closing of Sora, OpenAI’s nascent platform for creating video shorts, “does not” mean that the public is increasingly disenchanted with AI-generated video content. Or “AI slop” as it is known in online vernacular. Yes, ChatGPT concedes, Sora…
Read MoreSupreme Court makes it harder for music and movie makers to sue for online piracy
WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court on Wednesday made it harder for music and movie makers to sue for online piracy, ruling that internet providers are usually not liable for copyright infringement even if they know their users are downloading copyrighted works. In a 9-0 decision, the justices threw out Sony’s lawsuit and a $1-billion jury verdict against…
Read MoreNew Mexico social media lawsuit ends in $375-million verdict against Meta
Jurors in New Mexico handed down a $375-million verdict against Meta for endangering children, leapfrogging their California peers in a similar lawsuit that was still pending in Los Angeles County. The jury in Santa Fe came back with a decision Tuesday in just hours while the L.A. panel slogged through its eighth day of deliberations…
Read MoreWalmart delivery by Google company drone may soon be coming to the San Francisco Bay Area
San Francisco Bay Area residents who want food, groceries or other small items sent to their homes will soon have another option: drone delivery. Wing, a California startup owned by Google’s parent company Alphabet, said it is expanding its service to that area in the coming months. The company’s yellow-and-white drones can deliver small packages…
Read MorePentagon’s Anthropic bashing rekindles Silicon Valley’s resistance to war
Artificial intelligence powerhouse Anthropic’s battle with the Pentagon has sparked some soul-searching in Silicon Valley that could reshape the tech sector’s complicated relationship with war and the White House. Anthropic is the San Francisco-based startup behind the chatbot Claude and some of the most powerful AI on the market. In its negotiations with the military,…
Read MoreAI pilot program in L.A. County courts will help judges craft rulings in some cases
Judges in one of the nation’s largest court systems have started using artificial intelligence, testing a tool that can rapidly distill hundreds of pages of legal motions and use samples of a jurist’s writing style to help reach conclusions and even draft tentative rulings. The program, which launched last month, gave half a dozen Los…
Read MoreGrindr says users can now tap AI for better matches
Grindr Inc. has unveiled new features for its premium subscribers, hoping to leverage artificial intelligence to help users get better matches. The West Hollywood-based LGBTQ+ dating platform said Monday that its premium plan now allows access to new AI features and deeper personalization. The company has dubbed its AI gAI, which is pronounced “gay eye.”…
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