SAN FRANCISCO, United States (AFP) – Fallen US biotech star Elizabeth Holmes was convicted on Monday of defrauding investors in her blood-testing startup Theranos, in a high-profile case seen as an indictment of Silicon Valley culture. Jurors found Holmes guilty of tricking investors into pouring money into what she said was a revolutionary testing system, but also acquitted her on some charges, and failed to agree on others. The 37-year-old now faces the possibility of […]
Tag: Silicon Valley
US slaps Google with antitrust suit, eyes possible breakup
by Rob Lever Agence France Presse WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — The US government filed a blockbuster lawsuit Tuesday accusing Google of maintaining an “illegal monopoly” in online search and advertising in the country’s biggest antitrust case in decades — opening the door to a potential breakup of the Silicon Valley titan. The politically charged case, which could take years to play out, draws new battle lines between the US government and Big Tech […]
Far more COVID-19 cases in Silicon Valley than official figure: study
WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — The true number of COVID-19 cases in California’s Silicon Valley is at least 50 times higher than the official figure, according to a preliminary study that took blood samples from a group of residents and tested them for viral antibodies. Stanford researchers used Facebook to recruit 3,300 volunteers from Santa Clara County and estimated that between 2.5 to 4.1 percent of the population had been infected, which is 50 […]
Facebook crisis prompts Silicon Valley soul-searching
by Glenn Chapman Agence France Presse SAN FRANCISO, United States (AFP) — With Facebook mired in its worst-ever crisis, the rest of Silicon Valley is looking to come to terms with the dark side of its data-driven business model where tech titans have mined fortunes from what people reveal online. There are signs the crisis could spread to other internet firms that have made no secret about using what they glean from digital data […]
Kalanick denies plot to steal secrets in tense courtroom exchange
by Julie Charpentrat Agence France-Presse SAN FRANCISCO, United States (AFP) – Former Uber chief executive Travis Kalanick on Wednesday denied conspiring to steal autonomous driving technology in a tense courtroom appearance that could be key to a blockbuster trial over allegedly ill-gotten trade secrets. In a second day of testimony in the trial pitting former Google car division Waymo against Uber, Kalanick maintained he did not ask for proprietary data when he hired a star engineer from […]
VW to build autonomous cars with Silicon Valley firm
FRANKFURT AM MAIN, Germany (AFP) — The world’s largest carmaker Volkswagen said Thursday it would work with Silicon Valley firm Aurora to create self-driving cars, hoping to deploy fleets of autonomous taxis to city streets by 2021. “With Aurora, VW gains access to an experienced and globally leading development team in software and hardware for driverless vehicles,” the Wolfsburg-based group said in a statement. Founded by former autonomous driving chiefs from Google, Tesla and Uber, […]
Ford plans self-driving car for ride share fleets in 2021
(REUTERS) Ford Motor Co plans to offer a fully automated driverless vehicle for commercial ride-sharing in 2021, the automaker announced Tuesday, expanding its efforts in driverless cars and ride sharing – two areas where rivals have already made inroads. To help speed development of self-driving cars, Chief Executive Mark Fields said Ford is hiking investments in Silicon Valley technology firms, tripling its investment in semi-autonomous systems, and more than doubling the size of its […]
California surpasses France as world’s sixth largest economy
(REUTERS) California is now the sixth largest economy in the world, surpassing France thanks to a robust state economy and the strength of the U.S. dollar. California was the world’s eighth-largest economy as of last year, according to Irena Asmundson, chief economist of the California Department of Finance. “California did exceptionally well in 2015,” said Asmundson. “Lots of sectors did well.” California is home to diverse strong economies, including Silicon Valley and Hollywood. Manufacturing has […]





