WASHINGTON (AP) — A bill to clear away obstacles to a new era of self-driving cars is facing opposition from safety advocates who say it would give automakers free rein to put unsafe vehicles on the road. A Senate panel is scheduled to take up the measure on Wednesday. It would allow automakers to apply … Continue reading
BRUSSELS (AP) — Amazon has to pay $295 million in back taxes to Luxembourg, the European Union ordered Wednesday, in its latest attempt to tighten the screws on multinationals it says are avoiding taxes through sweetheart deals with individual EU states. Margrethe Vestager, the EU official in charge of antitrust issues, also took Ireland to … Continue reading
NEW YORK (AP) — Google will try to help newspapers and other publishers boost subscriptions by ending a decade-old policy that required them to provide a limited amount of free content before people were asked to pay for it. The “first click free” policy at the world’s biggest search engine was loathed by publishers because … Continue reading
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Federal immigration officials said Friday, Apr. 7 they were deporting a California prostitute to Canada after she completed a jail sentence for involuntary manslaughter for giving a fatal heroin shot to a Google executive she had been entertaining aboard his yacht. Immigration and Customs Enforcement spokesman James Schwab said a judge ordered … Continue reading
SAN JOSE, Calif. (AP) — Like many autistic children, Julian Brown has trouble reading emotions in people’s faces, one of the biggest challenges for people with the neurological disorder. Now the 10-year-old San Jose boy is getting help from “autism glass” — an experimental device that records and analyzes faces in real time and alerts … Continue reading
BRUSSELS (AP) — The European Union is broadening its battle with Google, alleging that the technologygiant rigs the global market for mobile apps by making its Android operating system give preferential treatment to its own products. EU Antitrust Commissioner Margrethe Vestager said Wednesday that “Google’s behavior denies consumers a wider choice of mobile apps and services … Continue reading
LOS ANGELES (AP) — Google wants Congress to create new federal powers that would let the tech giant receive special, expedited permission to bring to market a self-driving car that has no steering wheel or pedals. The proposal, laid out in a letter to top federal transportation officials, reveals Google’s solution to a major regulatory … Continue reading
SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — California regulators deciding how to permit the future rollout of self-driving cars have been told by consumer advocates that their cautious approach was right on, and by companies developing the technology that the current course will delay deployment of vehicles that promise huge safety benefits. The state’s Department of Motor Vehicles … Continue reading
LOS ANGELES (AP) — Google’s futuristic self-driving cars needed some old-fashioned human intervention to avoid 11 crashes during testing on California roads, the company revealed Tuesday, Jan. 12, results it says are encouraging but show the technology has yet to reach the goal of not needing someone behind the wheel. With Google’s fleet logging tens … Continue reading
AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — With Google’s self-driving cars slowed in a gridlock of California regulation, Texas is offering a fast lane. Officials in Austin have embraced the technology, a welcome so warm that the mayor used talking points written by a Google lobbyist when the tech titan began testing prototypes on their streets over … Continue reading
AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — With Google’s self-driving cars slowed in a gridlock of California regulation, Texas is offering a fast lane. Officials in Austin have embraced the technology, a welcome so warm that the mayor used talking points written by a Google lobbyist when the tech titan began testing prototypes on their streets over the … Continue reading
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — After making their fortunes from new software or social networks, some Silicon Valley entrepreneurs have vowed to apply their skills to “hacking” philanthropy and “disrupting” old models for funding charity. Not so Facebook CEO and co-founder Mark Zuckerberg, who isn’t afraid to take a more conventional approach to giving. Local officials … Continue reading
LOS ANGELES (AP) — YouTube on Wednesday unveiled a new $10-a-month subscription plan in the U.S. called Red that combines ad-free videos, new original series and movies from top YouTubers, and on-demand unlimited streaming music. Red builds on Google’s existing music streaming service by providing ad-free access to YouTube programming, along with features such as … Continue reading
MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif. (AP) — After a friend recommended that he join a secret Google project six years ago, Brian Torcellini suddenly found himself on the road to an occupational oxymoron. He became a driver in a driverless car. Torcellini, 31, leads a crew of test, or “safety,” drivers who are legally required to ride … Continue reading
PARIS (AP) — France’s data privacy regulator rejected Google’s appeal of an order to remove search results worldwide upon request, saying Monday that companies that operate in Europe need to abide by the prevailing laws. The agency known as CNIL denied that it was trying to apply French law on the “right to be forgotten” … Continue reading
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