Science and Tech

TikTok owner, ByteDance, says it has sacked an intern for “maliciously interfering” with the training of one of its artificial intelligence (AI) models. But the firm rejected claims about the extent of the damage caused by the unnamed individual, saying they “contain some exaggerations and inaccuracies”. It comes after reports about the incident spread over the weekend on social media. …

The US agency in charge of regulating road safety revealed Friday that they are probing Tesla’s self-driving software systems. The evaluation by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) covers 2.4 million Tesla vehicles across multiple models manufactured between 2016 and 2024. NHTSA’s action is the first step toward any potential recall that the agency might seek against the company, …

Donald Trump has claimed he received a phone call on Thursday from Apple’s chief executive Tim Cook, in which the tech boss shared concerns about the European Union. He says Mr Cook told him he was concerned about recent financial penalties issued by the EU, which ordered Apple to pay Ireland €13bn (£11bn; $14bn) in unpaid taxes in September. Mr …

Getty Images “What are some signs the FBI is after you” is one of the alleged hacker’s searches, according to court documents A man arrested in connection with a hack of the US markets regulator’s X account searched “how can I know for sure if I am being investigated by the FBI,” according to court documents. Eric Council Jr, 25, …

Getty Images Iceland is one of the world’s most volcanically active places I’m in one of the world’s volcanic hotspots, northeast Iceland, near the Krafla volcano. A short distance away I can see the rim of the volcano’s crater lake, while to the south steam vents and mud pools bubble away. Krafla has erupted around 30 times in the last …

Netflix Netflix is starting to raise prices in some countries, as growth spurred by its crackdown on password sharing starts to fade. The company told investors on Thursday that it was “working to improve our monetization by refining our plans and pricing” and had already increased prices in Japan and parts of Europe, the Middle East and Africa over the …

Workers at Meta have reportedly been sacked for abusing the tech firm’s meal voucher system, such as using it to buy toothpaste and washing powder. Other breaches of the policy included sharing the vouchers with others or going over budget, according to people who said they work at Meta. There are differing accounts over how much warning, if any, the …

Getty Images The NSPCC said the moves by Instagram were a “step in the right direction”, but wanted preventative measures to be rolled out on WhatsApp too Instagram will stop people from being able to screenshot or screen-record images and videos intended to be viewed once, as part of “ongoing efforts” to prevent sextortion on the platform. Its parent company …

Getty Images The Online Safety Act, which aims to make the internet safer for children, became law just under a year ago in October 2023 Social media companies will face punishments for failing to keep children safe on their platforms, communications watchdog Ofcom has warned. Services like Facebook, Instagram and Whatsapp could face fines from the regulator if they do …

The US Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has adopted a ‘click to cancel’ rule, which aims to make it easier for people to end subscriptions. It will force companies to make subscription sign-ups and cancellations equally straightforward. Businesses, including retailers and gyms, will also have to get consent from customers before renewing subscriptions or converting free trials into paid memberships. The …