News

Privacy groups: TikTok app violating children's privacy

By TALI ARBEL AP Technology Writer Privacy watchdogs say that the popular TikTok video app is violating a children’s privacy law and putting kids at risk. A coalition of 20 groups, including Campaign for a Commercial-Free Childhood and the Center for Digital Democracy, filed a complaint Thursday with the Federal Trade Commission saying that TikTok […]

Faxes and email: Old technology slows COVID-19 response

By FRANK BAJAK AP Technology Writer On April 1, a researcher at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention emailed Nevada public health counterparts for lab reports on two travelers who had tested positive for the coronavirus. She asked Nevada to send those records via a secure network or a “password protected encrypted file” to […]

Why open a store? Chinese merchants go livestreaming instead

By ZEN SOO AP Business Writer HONG KONG (AP) — At the height of China’s coronavirus outbreak, the skincare-products maker Forest Cabin closed more than half of its 300 stores across the nation as shoppers stayed home. With sales plunging, founder Sun Laichun decided it was time to reach his customers more directly. “We knew […]

Virus conspiracy-theory video shows challenges for big tech

By AMANDA SEITZ and BARBARA ORTUTAY Associated Press CHICAGO (AP) — One by one, tech companies across Silicon Valley scrambled to take down a slickly produced video of a discredited researcher peddling a variety of conspiracy theories about the coronavirus. It was all too late. The 26-minute documentary-style video dubbed “Plandemic,” in which anti-vaccine activist […]

Uber considers buying Grubhub, according to newspaper report

NEW YORK (AP) — Uber is considering acquiring Grubhub in a deal that would give the companies control over a majority of the U.S. food delivery business, according to published reports. Ride-sharing and food delivery giant Uber Technologies Inc. approached Grubhub Inc. earlier this year with an all-stock takeover offer, The Wall Street Journal reported […]

Tesla CEO Elon Musk restarts California factory amid lockdown

By TOM KRISHER and BEN MARGOT AP Auto Writer FREMONT, Calif. (AP) — Tesla CEO Elon Musk confirmed Monday that the company has restarted its California factory, a move that defied local government orders involving measures to contain the coronavirus. In a tweet, Musk practically dared authorities to arrest him, writing that he would be […]

Twitter to label disputed COVID-19 tweets

By AMANDA SEITZ Associated Press CHICAGO (AP) — Twitter announced Monday it will start alerting users when a tweet makes disputed or misleading claims about the coronavirus. The new rule is the latest in a wave of stricter policies that tech companies are rolling out to confront an outbreak of virus-related misinformation on their sites. […]

Virus drives new demand for Talkspace's online therapy

By MATTHEW PERRONE AP Health Writer WASHINGTON (AP) — The coronavirus pandemic is driving up stress levels for many Americans — and new business for online therapy companies. More than 4 in 10 U.S. adults say worries tied to the outbreak are impacting their mental health, according to a recent poll by the Kaiser Family […]

Semiconductor companies consider new plants in the U.S.

NEW YORK (AP) — Intel and a Taiwanese company are talking to the Trump administration about building new semiconductor plants in the United States amid concern about relying on suppliers in Asia for chips used in a wide variety of electronics. A spokesman for Intel, the biggest American chip maker, said Sunday that the company […]

Google affiliate scraps plan for Toronto smart-city project

By ROB GILLIES Associated Press TORONTO (AP) — Google abandoned its smart-city development in Toronto on Thursday after more than two years of controversy over privacy concerns and amid economic uncertainty caused by the pandemic. A unit of Google’s parent company Alphabet had been proposing to turn a rundown part of Toronto’s waterfront into a […]