Over 1,500 at Google Plan Walkout to Protest Handling of Sexual Harassment
Workers are up in arms over how the company treated accused executives, another sign of growing employee activism at the Silicon Valley behe...
Home / Archive for October 2018
Tech Fix: Spotting Disinformation Online Before the Midterm Elections
Rumors. Inflammatory and divisive messages. Doctored photos. Kevin Roose, technology columnist, explains how he has waded into that shadowy ...
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Tech Tip: Miss Those Video Games of Your Youth? Here’s How to Find Them
The classics can take you back in time — and are probably easier to recapture than you think.
SoftBank Hires a Veteran Corporate Image-Maker
The addition of Gary Ginsberg, a former adviser to Rupert Murdoch with ties to Washington, could help the company wade through a thicket of ...
Samsung Reaps Record Profit, but Tougher Times Could Come
The South Korean giant’s smartphone business is stagnant, and a yearslong run-up in the price of memory chips seems to be cooling down.
Alphabet Executive Resigns After Harassment Accusation
An Alphabet spokeswoman said Mr. DeVaul, who had been accused of harassing a job applicant, received no exit package.
Election 2018 Misinformation Roundup: ‘Problematic’ Text Messages and Doctored Mailers
Midterm elections are seven days away. Here’s a collection of coverage from The New York Times and elsewhere on outreach efforts that have b...
Facebook Reports Slowing Revenue and User Growth
The social network had said earlier this year that its growth was set to decelerate.
Apple Unveils New iPad and MacBook Air
The company showed off a slate of new computers with better screens, faster processors and higher price tags.
Nonfiction: Where Trolls Reigned Free: A New History of Reddit
“We Are the Nerds,” by Christine Lagorio-Chafkin, tells the story of the popular internet platform whose unfettered embrace of free expressi...
At War: With North Korean Threats Looming, the Army Pursues Controversial Weapons
The Army is planning to buy foreign-made cluster munitions after the Pentagon canceled a policy last year that limited their use.
Austerity Is Over, Britain Says, Despite Brexit Uncertainty
The chancellor of the Exchequer promised more money for health, education and even fixing potholes. But worry remains about the country’s wi...
Your Kid’s Apps Are Crammed With Ads
In a new study of the most downloaded apps for children ages 5 and younger, researchers found advertising in almost all of them.
On Social Media, No Answers for Hate
Despite efforts against hateful and false content, those posts and videos are thriving. One Instagram search produced nearly 12,000 posts wi...
China’s King of Internet Fluff Wants to Conquer the World
You may never have heard of Bytedance or used any of its products. But chances are your teenager is already glued to the company’s music vid...
Sunrun Gives Tesla a Fight in the Home Solar Business
Tesla is relying on showrooms to sell electric cars, solar roofs and batteries. But a California rival has made inroads into the residential...
IBM to Buy Red Hat, the Top Linux Distributor, for $34 Billion
The deal is a big move to bring more software developers under IBM’s corporate wing and hints at a bigger push into cloud computing.
THE Week Ahead: A U.S. Trade Complaint, Tech Earnings and Jobs Numbers
Investors will be looking for a turnaround plan from G.E.’s new chief. Data on the eurozone’s economy is due. And Facebook’s earnings will c...
On Gab, an Extremist-Friendly Site, Pittsburgh Shooting Suspect Aired His Hatred in Full
The social media site has become a haven for neo-Nazis, white nationalists and other extremists. It won’t change its policies, its founder s...
Cesar Sayoc’s Path on Social Media: From Food Photos to Partisan Fury
By the time he was arrested, Mr. Sayoc appeared to fit a familiar profile of a modern extremist, radicalized online and sucked into a vortex...
Urban Planning Guru Says Driverless Cars Won’t Fix Congestion
Tech companies claim that autonomous vehicles could reduce traffic. But skeptics argue that they’ll add to gridlock if people are still taki...
Google Workers Fume Over Executives’ Payouts After Sexual Misconduct Claims
Employees protested in meetings, on message boards and on Twitter about the company’s treatment of senior leaders even after finding miscond...
Strategies: Netflix’s Audience Is Multiplying. But So Is Its Debt.
Netflix has enchanted subscribers and investors, and disrupted global media. But its dependence on debt raises questions about its real valu...
Epic, Maker of Fortnite, Raises $1.25 Billion
The creator of the wildly successful video game gained investment firms like KKR, plus the owner of the e-sports company Team Liquid as back...
Facebook Removes Iranian Network That Was Spreading Disinformation
The social network said on Friday that it took down pages, groups and accounts that were distributing divisive content aimed at people in th...
Bits: The Week in Tech: Apple Goes on the Attack
Apple’s C.E.O. slammed his Silicon Valley peers for building a “data industrial complex” but his speech requires context.
A Dark Consensus About Screens and Kids Begins to Emerge in Silicon Valley
“I am convinced the devil lives in our phones.”
The Digital Gap Between Rich and Poor Kids Is Not What We Expected
America’s public schools are still touting devices with screens — even offering digital-only preschools. The rich are banning screens from c...
‘Falling Stars Challenge’ Takes the Humble Out of Humblebragging
The meme began as an unusual way to show off one’s wealth, but it’s taken on new meaning while spreading across Asia.
The Next Big One? Earthquake Scientists Look to A.I.
Scientists have a miserable record of predicting where and when earthquakes will strike. Some are now turning to artificial intelligence for...
Amazon Squeezes Out More Profit as Sales Growth Slows
The company reported a net income of $2.9 billion in the third quarter, partly by being more efficient in its warehouses and data centers.
Snap Continues to Struggle to Gain Users
The social media company lost two million daily active users over the third quarter and reported another financial loss.
Alphabet Shrugs Off Bad News With Big Quarter
Google’s parent company, profitable as usual, also benefited from recent corporate tax cuts.
Can’t Get Enough Fox News? ‘Superfans’ Can Pay $65 a Year for More
Fox Nation, a stand-alone streaming service, is the first test of an online subscription model in the cable news market. It will debut next ...
How Google Protected Andy Rubin, the ‘Father of Android’
The internet giant paid Mr. Rubin $90 million and praised him, while keeping silent about a misconduct claim.
AI Art at Christie’s Sells for $432,500
A portrait produced by artificial intelligence sold for more than 40 times Christie’s initial estimate of $7,000-$10,000.
Twitter Posts Another Profit as User Numbers Drop
The company said that it had shed four million monthly active users from a year ago, but it made its fourth consecutive quarterly profit.
Apple’s Radical Approach to News: Humans Over Machines
While Google, Facebook and Twitter face scrutiny for spreading misinformation, Apple has avoided scandal by using people to pick what news t...
Rites of Passage: How I Discovered This Thing Called Music
I was 27, new to New York and suffering from terrible anxiety. Then, on doctor’s orders, I slapped on some headphones.
China Mocks Report It Tapped Trump’s iPhone (and Plugs Its Own Competitor)
China ridiculed but did not explicitly deny reports by intelligence officials that the Chinese tapped President Trump’s phone calls with old...
Microsoft’s Earnings Surge, as Cloud Bet Continues to Pay Off
Microsoft beat analyst expectations and its own guidance across every segment of its business.
Debunking 5 Viral Images of the Migrant Caravan
A group of Hondurans heading toward the United States has been the subject of misinformation on social media.
Tech We’re Using: Just Embed a Phone Into This Editor’s Mind, Already
Choire Sicha, who runs The New York Times’s Styles desk, has such a close relationship with his smartphone, he says, it may be time to “punc...
INTERNETTING WITH AMANDA HESS: We Answer Your ‘Internetting’ Questions About Drag Queens and Cat Pranks
It’s the stunning season finale of “Internetting After Dark,” the show about the show.
State of the Art: The Problem With Fixing WhatsApp? Human Nature Might Get in the Way
The messaging app, which is owned by Facebook, has been slow to address false news on its service. The problem may be less the company or pr...
Snapchat Helps Register Over 400,000 Voters
Snap, the company behind the popular social media service, said much of the activity happened in key battleground states like Texas, Florida...
Google Is Teaching Children How to Act Online. Is It the Best Role Model?
The tech giant is positioning itself in schools as a trusted authority on digital citizenship at a moment when the company’s data-handling p...
SoftBank Chief Is Said to Have Canceled Appearance at Saudi Conference
Masayoshi Son joins other prominent executives who have decided not to attend the investment conference over the killing of the journalist J...
Tech Fix: The iPhone XR Review: A Cheaper Apple Phone Suited to Most of Us
In an era of skyrocketing smartphone prices, it’s a relief that Apple’s $750 iPhone is just as powerful and nearly as capable as its $1,000 ...
How Many Space Stations Does This Planet Need?
The Trump administration wants to shift to a capitalist free-for-all in orbit. But the readiness of commercial space outposts to take NASA’s...
The Next Tech Talent Shortage: Quantum Computing Researchers
By some estimates, only 1,000 or so researchers can claim to understand the technology. Finding more could become a national security issue....
2018 Digital Misinformation Roundup
The midterm elections are 17 days away. Here is a collection of coverage from The New York Times and elsewhere on efforts to mislead voters ...
Republicans Find a Facebook Workaround: Their Own Apps
Conservative political apps deliver curated partisan messages, free from the strictures and content guidelines imposed by Silicon Valley gia...
How the Blockchain Could Break Big Tech’s Hold on A.I.
Several start-ups hope to use the technology introduced by Bitcoin to give broader access to the data and algorithms behind artificial intel...
Facebook Ads From Unknown Backer Take Aim at Brexit Plan
The anonymous group’s campaign highlights Facebook’s continuing trouble with political advertising.
Disinformation Spreads on WhatsApp Ahead of Brazilian Election
Facebook, which owns WhatsApp, is trying to prove it can curb the spread of false news. But the app’s design makes it difficult.
Julian Assange Says He’s Suing Ecuador for ‘Violating His Fundamental Rights’
The WikiLeaks founder claimed that his longtime hosts at the country’s embassy in London are limiting his contact with the outside world and...
In Liberal San Francisco, Tech Leaders Brawl Over Tax Proposal to Aid Homeless
Jack Dorsey of Twitter and Marc Benioff of Salesforce, among others, are sparring over a Nov. 6 ballot initiative that would impose new corp...
Bits: The Week in Tech: Executives Pull Out of Saudi Conference
Saudi Arabia’s investments in tech put some companies in a tough spot after evidence emerged that Saudi agents may have killed a dissident w...
Weapons: Will There Be a Ban on Killer Robots?
A push for a global agreement on autonomous weapons is stalled, much to the chagrin of advocates who believe a treaty is urgently needed.
Among Amazon HQ2 Watchers, Northern Virginia Checks the Most Boxes
Amazon won’t say a word about where it plans to put its much-hyped second headquarters. But there is a growing consensus that it will go acr...
6 Emerging Players in A.I.
From Singapore to Israel, countries besides the United States and China are striving to play a role in the field of artificial intelligence....
Computer Stories: A.I. Is Beginning to Assist Novelists
Robin Sloan is using a homemade software program to supply phrases and images for his new book.
In Virginia House Race, Anonymous Attack Ads Pop Up on Facebook
The ads, with language and imagery not typically found in even the roughest campaigns, were purchased by a critic of Jennifer Wexton, a Demo...
Netflix’s Cash-Fueled Road to Streaming Dominance
The streaming service surprised Wall Street with huge gains in subscribers in the third quarter. The results showed why AT&T and Disney ...
Tech We’re Using: An Eye for Photography, but a Google Suite for Events
She was a photo editor. Now she’s an events manager. Whitney Richardson discusses how her career shift at The Times has changed her tech hab...
Thousands of Theodore Roosevelt’s Papers Are Now Online
The Library of Congress says it has digitized the largest collection of Theodore Roosevelt’s papers in the world.
Craig Newmark, Newspaper Villain, Is Working to Save Journalism
The tech mogul, whose Craigslist site helped replace newspaper classifieds, has given $50 million to revitalize local reporting in New York ...
Uber and Lyft Charge Toward Potential I.P.O.s Next Year
Bankers have told Uber that its public offering could be worth $120 billion. That puts it in rare company with the likes of Facebook and Ali...
New York Attorney General Expands Inquiry Into Net Neutrality Comments
The office is investigating the source of more than 22 million public comments submitted to the F.C.C. during the battle over internet regul...
Scene City: Wired Magazine Turns 25 With a Brainy Party
Guests included Serena Williams, Anna Wintour, Kevin Systrom and Stewart Brand.
Paul G. Allen, Microsoft’s Co-Founder, Is Dead at 65
Mr. Allen and Bill Gates started the company in 1975, helping to usher in the personal computing revolution. He died after a recurrence of c...
A Genocide Incited on Facebook, With Posts From Myanmar’s Military
With fake pages and sham accounts, the military targeted the mostly Muslim Rohingya minority group, said former military officials, research...
Tech Fix: The Google Pixel 3 Review: Phone’s Smarts Shine Through Its A.I.-Driven Camera
Hardware innovations? Nope. Instead, Google is emphasizing software improvements — particularly for images — with its newest Pixel smartphon...
Infosys Built Its Global Machine With Indian Workers. Can It Adjust to Trump’s ‘Hire American’?
Doing significantly more work in the United States, as the company is being pressured to do, would require an overhaul of its business model...
Google to Charge Phone Makers for Android Apps in Europe
To comply with a European antitrust ruling, Google will begin charging a licensing fee of handset makers.
The Results of Your Genetic Test Are Reassuring. But That Can Change.
Laboratories frequently “reclassify” genetic mutations. But there is no reliable system for telling patients or doctors that the results of ...
U.S. Credit Card Giants Flout India’s New Law on Personal Data
As India develops new rules governing the data of its residents, global firms are the first target. Companies say they need more time to com...
M.I.T. Plans College for Artificial Intelligence, Backed by $1 Billion
The goal, said L. Rafael Reif, the president of M.I.T., is to educate “the bilinguals of the future.” Blackstone’s Steven A. Schwarzman is c...
How an Unlikely Family History Website Transformed Cold Case Investigations
Fifteen murder and sexual assault cases have been solved since April with a single genealogy website. This is how GEDmatch went from a casua...
Jeff Hawkins Is Finally Ready to Explain His Brain Research
He created the mobile computing companies Palm and Handspring. But for decades his passion has been studying how the human brain works.
Facebook Says Russian Firms ‘Scraped’ Data, Some for Facial Recognition
On the same day the company announced it had purged domestic sources of disinformation, it said it had blocked two companies, one of them wi...
The Week in Tech: Fears of the Supply Chain in China
For a week now, people have been buzzing about an article that sounded as if it had come from a high-tech spy thriller. Does it point to lar...
Facebook Hack Included Search History and Location Data of Millions
The company said Friday that a network breach was smaller than originally thought: 30 million profiles. But the hackers stole detailed infor...
Trilobites: Watch This Blob of Cells Become an Embryo in High-Resolution
Researchers developed a new microscope that traces embryonic cell movement in real time, sketching a virtual map of how organ systems develo...
Most White Americans’ DNA Can Be Identified Through Genealogy Databases
A study found that it will soon be possible to identify the DNA of 90 percent of European Americans through cousins in genealogy databases.
Facebook Tackles Rising Threat: Americans Aping Russian Schemes to Deceive
Ahead of the midterm elections, false and divisive messages on social media — once the specialty of Russian-linked operatives — are now incr...
WarnerMedia Plans to Unveil Streaming Service by End of 2019
The service, which will include HBO shows and Warner movies, will put AT&T into direct competition with rivals like Netflix, Disney and ...
Tech Fix: How to Delete Facebook and Instagram From Your Life Forever
Lost faith in Facebook and Instagram after data leakages, breaches and too much noise? Here’s a guide to breaking up with the social network...
Tech We’re Using: It’s Her Job to Get More People to Act Like You Right Now
Millie Tran, the first global growth editor at The Times, discusses how she tries to understand and nurture a worldwide audience. “So many d...
State of the Art: A Future Where Everything Becomes a Computer Is as Creepy as You Feared
Amazon and other tech giants have made devices connected to the internet increasingly prevalent. Now is the time to be freaking out about th...
Lights, Camera, Blastoff: SpaceX Rockets Light Up California’s Night Skies
As SpaceX and other companies use the Vandenberg Air Force Base launch hub near Los Angeles more often, the region can expect more spectacle...
Soldiers in Facebook’s War on Fake News Are Feeling Overrun
The social network turned to Rappler, a scrappy news start-up, to clean up its service in the Philippines. But misinformation comes fast and...
Why Some Amazon Workers Aren’t Happy About Their Raise
Last week the company was praised for increasing what it paid its warehouse workers. Now the company is explaining what that means for bonus...
Yesterday in Styles: 2001: When the Internet Was, Um, Over?
After the 2000 dot-com crash and the Sept. 11 attacks, it seemed as if the era of cocky young Silicon Valley techies minting easy millions w...
Google Will Shut Down Google Plus After User Information Was Exposed
Google did not notify authorities of the vulnerabilities in Google Plus, which exposed the data of up to 500,000 users.
Facebook’s New Gadget Is a Video-Chat Screen With a Camera That Follows You
At a time when trust in its services is eroding, the social network introduced Portal and Portal Plus, its first major effort to build consu...
The New Health Care: That New Apple Watch EKG Feature? There Are More Downs Than Ups
The heart monitor should not be considered a medical device and reflects wider problems with health screens.
Silicon Valley Investors Shunned Juul, but Back Other Nicotine Start-Ups
The willingness to back some nicotine start-ups while condemning others illustrates the delicate ethical dance that investors are trying to ...
Tech Workers Now Want to Know: What Are We Building This For?
Tech employees concerned their products are being deployed for government surveillance or censorship are increasingly asking their employers...
Bits: The Week in Tech: A Breach That Ripples Far Beyond Facebook
The hack of 50 million Facebook accounts affects logins on hundreds of other sites. Plus, two billionaires lost big, and another shared the ...
Inside the World of D.I.Y. Ammunition
Millions of weapons aficionados reload their own ammunition and cast their own bullets, acts of individualism that are hallmarks of the broa...
Update: Believe It or Not, Airport Bathrooms Are Getting Better (and Cleaner)
New technology that draws from user feedback is helping.
Why Is This Happening: Content for Humans About the Content of Humans
Spotify and Ancestry team up for that saliva sample sound.
Rifts Break Open at Facebook Over Kavanaugh Hearing
A prominent show of support from a Facebook executive for Judge Brett M. Kavanaugh as he faced assault claims has brought new turmoil to the...
Tech We’re Using: Setting Up Your Tech on the Assumption You’ll Be Hacked
Sheera Frenkel, who writes about cybersecurity for The Times, explains how she safeguards her devices, and why passwords remain a weak link ...
Police Use Fitbit Data to Charge 90-Year-Old Man in Stepdaughter’s Killing
Anthony Aiello of San Jose, Calif., was charged in his stepdaughter’s death after her Fitbit showed her heart stopped beating while he was i...
Senators Call for Federal Investigation of Children’s Apps
Two Democrats want the Federal Trade Commission to examine whether thousands of apps are violating a children’s online privacy law.
Tech Fix: Wireless Charging Is Here. So What Is It Good For?
The technology, also known as magnetic induction, is a relatively new feature for powering iPhones and popular Android phones. Most people d...
EBay Claims Amazon Illegally Tried to Poach Top Sellers
The auction site said it was tipped off to the situation by an eBay seller who had been contacted by Amazon.
Priyanka Chopra Is a Tech Investor, Too
The actor just made her second start-up investment, in dating app Bumble. Her investments will skew heavily toward companies with an element...
Honda to Invest in Cruise, G.M.’s Venture in Self-Driving Cars
The Japanese automaker will take a $750 million stake and commit $2 billion over 12 years in the race to develop fully autonomous vehicles.
National Theater in London Offers Glasses With Live Subtitles
To help those with hearing problems, speech is shown in real time on the lenses. The technology will be available free during the 2019 seaso...
On Technology: Apple Used to Know Exactly What People Wanted — Then It Made a Watch
The Apple Watch is hardly a failure, but its sluggish takeoff reveals the cracks in the company’s mythology.
THIS IS A TEST: Cellphones Across the U.S. Will Get a ‘Presidential Alert’
The alert, at 2:18 p.m. Wednesday, will be the first nationwide test of a wireless emergency alert system, designed to warn of a major threa...
Facebook Hack Puts Thousands of Other Sites at Risk
Ten years ago, the social network introduced a password system that connected it to a broad swath of the internet. Now we are seeing the dow...
State of the Art: Why You Shouldn’t Use Facebook to Log In to Other Sites
Facebook offered a convenient and secure way to sign up for online services. A major hack shows it failed at its one job.
Amazon to Raise Minimum Hourly Wage to $15 for All U.S. Workers
The hike includes Whole Foods employees and part-time workers, and the company also said it would lobby the federal government for a higher ...
State of the Art: Silicon Valley’s Keystone Problem: ‘A Monoculture of Thought’
In a satirical new novel, a former Google executive identifies the technology industry’s chief issue: its narrow engineering-focused bubble....
Tesla Reports an Upturn in Production
The improvement is welcome news for a company that has been rocked by upheaval since Elon Musk, its chief executive, unveiled an abortive bu...
Unraveling a Tesla Mystery: Lots (and Lots) of Parked Cars
Groups of new vehicles are being detected in unexplained locations across the country. Evidence being posted online has raised questions abo...
Billionaire’s Fight to Close Path to a California Beach Comes to a Dead End
The Supreme Court declined to hear an appeal by Vinod Khosla, a Silicon Valley venture capitalist whose belief in property rights outweighed...
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