Biden will review tech supply chains to reduce dependence on China

Posted on 24/02/2021 by Engadget

The US is still heavily dependent on other countries for technology manufacturing (among other products), and President Biden is looking for ways to reduce that dependence. The LA Times has learned that Biden is ordering a review of US supply chains...

Google will lift its latest ban on political ads this Wednesday

Posted on 22/02/2021 by Engadget

Google will end its most recent ban on election-related ads on February 24th. In an email obtained by Axios, the company told advertisers it will start accepting all political ads on Wednesday, including those that reference specific elected official...

FAA ends investigations into SpaceX’s recent Starship launches

Posted on 21/02/2021 by Engadget

The regulatory drama around SpaceX's recent Starship launches has simmered down. CNN's Jackie Wattles and The Verge have learned that the FAA ended its investigations into the SN8 and SN9 launches. SpaceX and the FAA "settled" conce...

The US officially rejoins the Paris climate change agreement

Posted on 19/02/2021 by Engadget

One of the first things President Biden did after his inauguration was to sign an executive order saying the US will rejoin the Paris Agreement. Today, that move is official. United States Secretary of State Antony Blinken posted a tweet saying the U...

UK Supreme Court rules that Uber should treat drivers as workers

Posted on 19/02/2021 by Engadget

The UK's Supreme Court has today upheld a judgment (.PDF) that says Uber drivers in the UK are entitled to the legal rights and protections afforded to workers. It is the latest in a series of cases where judges have found that, despite Uber’s cl...

Facebook blocks users from sharing news links in Australia

Posted on 17/02/2021 by Engadget

Facebook wasn't kidding around when it threatened to block Australians from viewing news on the social network. It's now preventing publishers and residents from posting or sharing news content. Facebook users elsewhere can't post or shar...

White House turns to Silicon Valley for help with COVID vaccine rollout

Posted on 16/02/2021 by Engadget

The Biden administration is in talks with Amazon and several other Silicon Valley giants to help roll out COVID-19 vaccines across the country. White House spokesperson Kevin Munoz told Politico that officials are “consulting with many companies, inc...

Qualcomm has reportedly objected to NVIDIA’s $40 billion acquisition of ARM

Posted on 12/02/2021 by Engadget

According to CNBC, chipmaker Qualcomm has quietly objected to NVIDIA's proposed $40 billion acquisition of ARM. The company reportedly told the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), as well as its regulatory counterparts in the UK, EU and China, it has con...

Huawei files lawsuit disputing FCC ‘security threat’ designation

Posted on 10/02/2021 by Engadget

According to The Wall Street Journal, Huawei has filed a lawsuit to challenge a decision the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) made last year when it designated the company as a national security threat. The legal challenge comes as the Chinese...

Facebook experiments with reducing News Feed political content for some