Tag: Alphabet

YouTube suspends Sky News Australia channel

YouTube said Sunday it had barred Sky News Australia from uploading new content for one week, citing concerns about Covid-19 misinformation. The move comes after a review of posts uploaded by the Rupert Murdoch-owned TV channel, which has a substantial online presence. “We have clear and established Covid-19 medical misinformation policies… to prevent the spread of Covid-19 misinformation that could cause real-world harm,” a YouTube statement said. With 1.86 million YouTube subscribers, the channel — […]

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Alphabet’s Waymo raises $2.25 bn to rev up autonomous projects

SAN FRANCISCO, United States (AFP) — Waymo said Monday it had raised $2.25 billion in its first external funding round to help the former Google car unit accelerate its deployment of autonomous cars and trucks. Born in a Google lab devoted to big-vision new technology, Waymo became a subsidiary of Alphabet in 2016 — and has been one of the tech giant’s “other bets” that have been losing money in recent years. Leading the investment round […]

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Google HR chief stepping aside as worker activism rises

SAN FRANCISCO, United States (AFP) — Google on Monday confirmed that head of human resources Eileen Naughton was stepping away from her job as “vice president of people operations” at the internet company. “We’re grateful to Eileen for all she’s done and look forward to her next chapter at Google,” Sundar Pichai, the head of Google and its parent company Alphabet, said in a statement. Google added more than 70,000 employees during Naughton’s time as […]

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Disappointing growth hits Google parent Alphabet shares

by Glenn CHAPMAN Agence France-Presse SAN FRANCISCO, United States (AFP) — Google parent Alphabet missed revenue expectations in the fourth quarter despite stellar growth at YouTube and in the cloud, earnings figures released Monday showed. Detailing its cloud computing and YouTube revenues for the first time, Alphabet reported that profits rose 19 percent from a year ago in the quarter to nearly $10.7 billion as revenues increased 17 percent to $46 billion. Alphabet and Google chief […]

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Another exec out amid sex harassment tension at Google

  SAN FRANCISCO, United States (AFP) — Google parent Alphabet on Wednesday confirmed that an executive accused of sexual harassment left the company without an exit package as tension over its handling of such matters heightened. Word that Rich DeVaul, a director at X lab devoted to “moonshots” such as internet service from balloons, was out came with reports that women employees were organizing a walk-out on Thursday to protest lenient handling of sexual misconduct […]

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Google parent Alphabet sees record highs despite EU fine

WASHINGTON, United States (AFP)–Google parent Alphabet shares lifted Monday on a stronger-than-expected earnings report for the past quarter, as the tech giant’s results eased concerns over huge fines imposed by the European Union for antitrust actions. Profit dipped 9.3 percent to $3.2 billion in the second quarter after accounting for the EU fines, the company said. Revenues meanwhile jumped 26 percent from a year ago to $32.7 billion, better than most analysts expected. Shares in […]

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In court clash, Waymo says Uber decided ‘to cheat’ to get ahead

SAN FRANCISCO, United States (AFP) – Two tech giants racing for a lead in autonomous driving clashed Monday in court as former Google car unit Waymo’s lawyer argued that Uber’s boss deliberately chose “to cheat” to get a leg up on competitors. The accusations flew in the opening day of a trial in which Google parent Alphabet’s Waymo division is seeking at least $1 billion over the theft of trade secrets from its self-driving car program. In opening remarks […]

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Balloons to help restore Puerto Rico’s cell networks

  NEW YORK, United States (AFP) — Google’s parent company is set to launch balloons into the Caribbean skies in an attempt to restore telephone networks in hurricane-ravaged Puerto Rico. Alphabet Inc., which controls Google, obtained authorization from the US Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to deploy the devices — developed from 2013 as part of a project known as “Loon.” It aims to temporarily re-establish Puerto Rico’s cellular network — where 83 per cent of cell […]

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Alphabet profit slumps on record $2.7 bln EU fine

CALIFORNIA, United States (Reuters) — Alphabet Inc reported a 27.7 percent drop in quarterly profit Monday (July 24) as the company recorded a previously announced charge related to a record $2.7 billion fine imposed on its Google unit by the European Union. EU antitrust regulators last month hit Google with a record 2.4-billion-euro ($2.7 billion) fine for favoring its own shopping service, taking a tough line in the first of three probes of its dominance […]

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Google steps up efforts to block extremism, following Facebook

WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) – Google is stepping up its efforts to block “extremist and terrorism-related videos” over its platforms, using a combination of technology and human monitors. The measures announced Sunday come on the heels of similar efforts unveiled by Facebook last week, and follow a call by the Group of Seven leaders last month for the online giants to do more to curb online extremist content. “While we and others have worked for […]

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