Forced to tighten their belts financially by the coronavirus pandemic, businesses are increasingly using software that automates back-office tasks. The technology handles repetitive duties like filling in numbers in a spreadsheet or matching invoice data to payment orders. The idea, of course, is for companies to save money by reducing the number of workers they need to handle clerical work.

Chinese entrants in the race to put autonomous vehicles on the road are bringing "robotaxis" online in hopes that a hired-car format can be the key to unlocking wide acceptance of the futuristic technology.

As it announces better than expected financial results, Apple supplier Foxconn is also reportedly planning to increase moving production away from China. Foxconn, which has just reported second quarter profits 34% up from last year, is now said to believe China's manufacturing supremacy is over.

DARPA is holding a virtual dogfight between AI and an Air Force pilot starting August 18th.

The developer says 25 person-years of work was needed to bring Parallels to Big Sur, but won't comment on whether it will support Windows on Apple Silicon.

Japanese multinational conglomerate Toshiba Corporation has officially exited the laptop industry last week after the company has transferred its remaining minority to Sharp. This ends the 35-year service of the company to the laptop industry.

When Australia's coronavirus lockdown forced bars and restaurants to shut down in March, breweries were left with huge inventories of unsold, stale beer. But instead of going to waste, some expired ales and lagers in the state of South Australia have been serving a new purpose: powering a water treatment plant.

A new analysis has found a link between higher levels of trace lithium in drinking water and lower suicide rates in populations around the world.

Apple CEO Tim Cook has officially become a billionaire, according to a new report from Bloomberg today. The report cites an analysis of regulatory filings and acknowledges that Cook’s net worth “could be lower” if he’s made undisclosed charitable gifts.

When the Covid-19 pandemic made face masks an everyday essential, Japanese startup Donut Robotics spotted an opportunity. They created a smart mask — a high-tech upgrade to standard face coverings, designed to make communication and social distancing easier.

The companies have 10 days to appeal the decision before it goes into effect.

An internal Facebook investigation uncovered thousands of groups and pages with millions of members and followers supporting the QAnon conspiracy theory,

Retaining “meaningful human control” over autonomous weapons systems is an ethical imperative and a moral obligation, according to Human Rights Watch. Governments around the world are increasingly recognising the threat of autonomous weapons systems and ‘killer robots’, according to a new report.

If you're the sort of person who waits until you're sure all the bugs are out before upgrading, you'll be glad to know that Canonical has just released the first point update of April 2020's Ubuntu Linux 20.04 Long-Term Support: Ubuntu 20.04.1.

US sanctions, wanted by the Trump administration, have blocked Huawei from using Google services and other components produced in the United States, which are essential for the functioning of modern smartphones. Huawei is one of the world’s largest manufacturers of smartphones and network equipment and is at the center of a complex battle between the United States and China over security.

Shares of Eastman Kodak Co fell about 40% on Monday and were on track for their worst single-day decline after the U.S. government blocked a $765 million loan to the company, which was going to make drug ingredients for use in possible COVID-19 vaccines, because of "alleged wrongdoing" by executives.

One study found that sitting in a discussion section on the ethics of meat led students to lower their meat consumption.

As millions have cut the cord, cable companies raised prices, banking on sports to keep people hooked. During the pandemic, that strategy has started to backfire.

Google leverages the massive scale of Android to do phone-based earthquake tracking.

Never in our lives have we experienced such a global phenomenon. For the first time in the history of the world, all of humanity, informed by the unprecedented reach of digital technology, has come together, focused on the same existential threat, consumed by the same fears and uncertainties, eagerly anticipating the same, as yet unrealized, promises of medical science.