Business/Brands & Marketing
TECH ROUNDUP! Pornhub acquired by equity firm, Microsoft integrates ChatGPT into products
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Pornhub has been sold to a private firm
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SpaceX now offers a global roaming option
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Microsoft has integrated ChatGPT into its various Microsoft 365 products
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TikTok is reportedly speaking to a buyer
The operator of Pornhub, the controversial but wildly popular adult website, has been sold to a Canadian private equity firm.
Ottawa-based Ethical Capital Partners (ECP) said on Thursday it had bought MindGeek, the company that owns Pornhub and several other pornographic websites.
The terms of the deal were not publicly disclosed.
Pornhub, one of the most visited sites on the planet, has attracted controversy in recent years amid claims its owners have profited off child sex abuse material, rape videos, revenge porn and other non-consensual content
SpaceX announced yesterday that it now offers a global roaming option for customers travelling to locations where connectivity has been unreliable or completely unavailable. The roaming service allows users to surf the internet in regions without a connection. “Global Roaming makes use of Starlink’s inter-satellite links (aka space lasers) to provide connectivity around the globe. Because it’s a newly launched technology, it operates on Starlink’s typical high-speed, low-latency service, intermixed with brief periods of poor connectivity or none at all. However, this will improve over time,” SpaceX said.
Google announced a price increase for its YouTube TV subscription, from $65 per month to $73 per month starting in April. “As content costs have risen and we continue to invest in the quality of our service, we are updating our price to keep bringing you the best possible service,” the company said in the email to subscribers.
Microsoft has announced the integration of ChatGPT generative AI technology into its various Microsoft 365 products. Specifically, the program called Copilot will be made available in business applications such as Word, PowerPoint, and Excel.
POLITICS
The Federal Government of Nigeria has launched a ₦309.5 billion ($672 million) fund to help young tech and creative entrepreneurs with funding in the country. Vice President, Yemi Osinbajo, launched the fund through the Investment in Digital and Creative Enterprises (IDCE) programme. The fund is focused on young Nigerian entrepreneurs between the ages of 15 and 35 who are actively involved in developing original, cutting-edge, and tech-enabled ventures.
WORLD NEWS
Conversations between TikTok and potential buyers are heating up, as the American government call for a ban of the app. TikTok is mulling over its options and exploring possible deals it considered when President Trump had threatened to ban the app in 2020.
Amazon did not alert its New York City customers that they were being monitored by facial recognition technology, a lawsuit filed Thursday alleges. Lawyers for Alfredo Perez said that the company failed to tell visitors to Amazon Go convenience stores that the technology was in use. “To make this ‘Just Walk Out’ technology possible, the Amazon Go stores constantly collect and use customers’ biometric identifier information, including by scanning the palms of some customers to identify them and by applying computer vision, deep learning algorithms, and sensor fusion that measure the shape and size of each customer’s body to identify customers, track where they move in the stores, and determine what they have purchased,” the suit says.
