Cisco faces fallout from a massive data leak exposing critical files, while China accuses the U.S. of cyber espionage amid rising tech tensions. AI governance sparks debate as Europe enforces strict rules, and ASIC sues HSBC for $23M scam failures. Global cyber affairs take center stage this week.
ASIC is suing HSBC Australia over $23M in scam losses, alleging systemic failures in fraud detection and delays in resolving complaints. Meanwhile, Singapore's proposed anti-scam law aims to freeze accounts of scam victims to prevent further losses, sparking debate on privacy and autonomy.
Broadcom joins Nvidia in the $1 trillion club, reshaping the AI chip race with a 51% revenue surge in Q4 2024 and VMware's $69B acquisition. As China invests $25B to boost semiconductor self-reliance, U.S.-China tensions escalate, redefining global innovation and geopolitical power dynamics.
Australia's government plans to make tech giants pay for local journalism, leveling the media playing field. Meanwhile, Meta faces global outages, sparking reliability concerns, and unveils nuclear ambitions with a $10B AI supercluster in Louisiana. Big tech is reshaping energy and media landscapes.
The Albanese government has unveiled a bold plan to level the playing field for Australian media by forcing big tech companies to pay for local journalism. Under the new scheme, social media platforms like Facebook will be required to sign content deals with publishers or face financial penalties. This move aims to address the imbalance in bargaining power between digital platforms and news publishers, ensuring that journalists are fairly compensated for their work.
The government plans to introduce a "news bargaining incentive" that will offer tech companies an offset on their Australian tax liabilities if they make commercial deals with local news publishers. This policy is expected to capture major players like Google, Meta, and TikTok, which book over $250 million in annual local revenue. The rate of the offset is yet to be determined and will be finalized after a consultation process.
As Youth Minister Anne Aly noted, "What I can say is that the government believes that journalists should be fairly compensated for the work that they do, that there is a current regime in place but that's not working. And so that's why the government has turned its attention to updating this code and ensuring that social media companies pay for the news that they use as content on their platforms."
This statement highlights the government's commitment to supporting local journalism and addressing the issues faced by the media industry.
The move is a significant development in the ongoing battle between tech giants and news publishers. In 2020, the Morrison government introduced the News Media Bargaining Code, which aimed to compel platforms to negotiate payments for news content. The legislation faced strong resistance from Google and Facebook, with Google threatening to withdraw its search engine from Australia and Facebook temporarily blocking all news content on its platform for Australian users in February 2021. This created great friction between the Australian government and social media platforms, with Australian Treasurer Josh Frydenberg stating that the government would not back down on the legislation. As Frydenberg noted,
"We will not be intimidated by the tech giants, and we will not be deterred from pursuing our goal of ensuring that journalists are fairly compensated for their work."
The Morrison government's legislation was a groundbreaking move, as it was the first of its kind in the world. The News Media Bargaining Code was designed to address the imbalance in bargaining power between digital platforms and news publishers, and to ensure that journalists were fairly compensated for their work. However, the legislation was met with fierce resistance from Google and Facebook, which argued that it was unfair and would harm their businesses.
Despite the challenges, the Morrison government remained committed to the legislation, and ultimately, both Google and Facebook struck deals with Australian media companies. The News Media Bargaining Code has resulted in $200 million in annual funding for news publishers from Meta and Google, and has paved the way for other countries to follow suit. However, in February this year, Meta announced it would not renew these deals, leaving the future of such payments in question. Google renewed but only for a year.
Speaking to ABC, Albanese's office said that they understand the interest in the issue.
"We want a new deal to support good Australian journalism, and the news media bargaining code we inherited doesn’t do that job".
The Albanese government's decision to take a tougher stance on tech companies is a welcome move for the Australian media industry. By requiring big tech to pay for local journalism, the government is sending a strong message that it values the importance of fair compensation for journalists and the need to address competition issues in the digital advertising market.
As Assistant Treasurer Stephen Jones and Communications Minister Michelle Rowland indicated, "It's all about maintaining an independent media and journalist independent sector and the announcement of today is all about achieving this objective". The minister emphasized the need to collaborate within the Australian media sector and global social media, with the new financial incentive with the "News bargaining initiative".
"The previous government legislated the news media bargaining code, an effective tool to facilitate commercial agreements between news businesses and digital platforms", highlighted Minister Rowland. "Today we announce to strengthen that code".
The new initiative has the objective to legislate with the news media bargain code for the effective tool to facilitate voluntary commercial agreements between news businesses and digital platforms and give financial incentive for the Australian media and digital platforms to agree on financial agreements with the social media platform in scope with Australian-based revenue of $250 million. The policy is expected to be introduced into legislation by January 2025.
"The Measures to strengthen that code the news bargaining initiative will be a new addition to that code which will create a financial incentive for agreement making between digital platforms and use media businesses in Australia", announced the Assistant Treasurer.
The introduction of the "news bargaining incentive" is a clever move by the government, as it provides a carrot-and-stick approach to dealing with tech companies. By offering an offset on tax liabilities, the government is incentivizing tech companies to make commercial deals with local news publishers. At the same time, the threat of financial penalties for non-compliance ensures that tech companies take the policy seriously. The government's approach is likely to be closely watched by other countries, which are also grappling with the challenges of regulating big tech and supporting local media.
This week Meta is still the topic of conversation, for a legitimate as well as problematic reason: On 12/11/2024, the parent company of Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp, and Threads was crippled by a global outage, users all over the world reported having difficulty using the platforms. The outage, which began around 9:00 AM PT (5:00 PM UTC), ended with more than 100,000 Facebook complaints on Downdetector alone. Users got a "Sorry, something went wrong" error and couldn’t access the platforms.
Meta’s "Status and outages of Meta business products" website notified of outages in its Facebook Login, Messenger and Business tools for Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp.
We’re aware that a technical issue is impacting some users’ ability to access our apps. We’re working to get things back to normal as quickly as possible and apologize for any inconvenience.
— Meta (@Meta) December 11, 2024
"We are currently experiencing major disruption impacting message delivery on Messenger Platform," one of the outage alerts said.
Meta acknowledged the issue on rival platform X (formerly Twitter), stating they were working to resolve the technical issue and restore normal operations. Although the cause remains unclear, speculation about a potential cyberattack and concerns over Meta's infrastructure reliability arose.
The outage had broader implications for businesses, which experienced a loss of reach and engagement, leading to concerns about the reliability of centralized social media services. The interruption raised questions about the resilience of Meta's infrastructure and the potential risks associated with relying on a single platform for critical communications.
This incident marks another significant outage for Meta in 2024, following a similar event earlier in March during critical election periods in the United States. The impact of these outages highlights the need for businesses and individuals to have contingency plans in place to ensure uninterrupted communications and engagement. As social media continues to play a vital role in modern society, the importance of robust infrastructure and reliable services cannot be overstated. Meta's ability to recover from these outages will be crucial in maintaining user trust and ensuring the continued success of its platforms.
According to Downdetector reports, the outage occurred at precisely 4:37am AEST, with Facebook peaking at 107,406 reports in Australia, Instagram peaking at 71,788, Messenger at 12,853, and WhatsApp at 11,495. and was reported by users worldwide, with complaints peaking at over 600,000 for Facebook alone.
The AI race has a new frontier, and Meta is diving in headfirst—straight into the nuclear energy game. Following the ambitious footsteps of Amazon, Microsoft, and Google, Meta’s 2024 vision includes a bold request for proposals (RFP) from nuclear energy developers. The goal? Deliver between 1 to 4 gigawatts of capacity in the U.S. to power its AI data centers and support a cleaner, greener energy transition.
Meta has made its intentions clear:"Supporting the development of clean energy must continue to be a priority as electric grids expand to accommodate growing energy needs. At Meta, we believe nuclear energy will play a pivotal role in the transition to cleaner, more reliable, and diversified electric grids."
On top of its nuclear ambitions, Meta is flexing its infrastructure prowess with plans for a $10 billion data center in Richland Parish, Louisiana. Dubbed a “supercluster,” this state-of-the-art facility is set to accelerate Meta’s AI advancements, particularly in developing open-source large language models (LLMs).
The project, announced last week on Meta’s Threads platform, highlights a significant partnership with Louisiana Economic Development (LED). It’s estimated to support over 1,500 new jobs in the region, including 500 direct roles at the data center and another 1,000 indirect positions. During peak construction, the site will employ up to 5,000 workers on its sprawling 2,250-acre campus.
"Meta is building the future of human connection and the technology that makes it possible. And this data center will be an important part of that mission," said Kevin Janda, Meta’s Director of Data Center Strategy.
Louisiana Governor John Bel Edwards hailed the initiative, emphasizing its potential to position the state as a leader in AI innovation. Construction begins this month and is slated to run through 2030.
In their announcement, Meta highlighted a philosophy that could reshape the nuclear industry:
"When we began engaging with the renewable energy industry more than a decade ago, the industry was scaling. Our early engagement with developers of renewable energy allowed Meta to design contracts that enable both Meta and our developer partners to achieve our respective goals. We want to work creatively with developers to structure an agreement that will similarly enable development of nuclear technology."
The timeline is ambitious, targeting new nuclear supply by the early 2030s. While nuclear projects traditionally face significant delays, Meta’s flexible approach—allowing plants to be built anywhere, independent of existing data center locations—may help streamline logistical challenges.
Meta isn’t alone in this nuclear shift. Other hyperscalers are also embracing atomic power to fuel their AI ambitions:
Meta’s initiative could serve as a catalyst for regulatory reform, encouraging states to fast-track approvals and attract nuclear investments.
Meta’s dual announcements showcase a bold, forward-looking strategy. The nuclear RFP underscores its commitment to sustainable energy, while the Louisiana supercluster signals a major investment in scalable AI infrastructure.
Still, challenges loom. Regulatory hurdles and potential construction delays could temper Meta’s nuclear ambitions. Meanwhile, the Louisiana project’s hefty price tag and decade-long timeline highlight the vast resources needed to sustain the AI boom.
Yet Meta’s zeal for innovation remains clear. In 2024, the hyperscalers are redefining the energy landscape—boldly intertwining AI development with a cleaner, more sustainable future. Meta isn’t just preparing for what’s next; it’s shaping the future of technology and energy.
The Pacific tech war intensifies as Trump's return to power amplifies U.S. export bans, targeting China’s AI progress. ByteDance, Nvidia's largest Chinese buyer, counters with bold strategies like crafting AI chips and expanding abroad. A fragmented 2025 looms, redefining tech and geopolitics.
Australia pushes tech giants to pay for local journalism with new laws as Meta faces a global outage, raising concerns over platform reliability. Meanwhile, Meta joins hyperscalers like Google and Amazon, exploring nuclear energy to power AI ambitions and unveils a $10B AI supercluster project.
Christopher Wray resigns as FBI Director, signaling a shift under Trump. With Kash Patel as a potential successor, concerns grow over the FBI's independence and its impact on cybersecurity, financial crimes, and corporate governance.
Australia’s Commonwealth Bank (CBA) is transforming banking with generative AI, cutting fraud by 30% and issuing 20,000 daily alerts. AI also streamlines loans and credit reviews, saving hours. Globally, AI could save $1T by 2030, enhancing efficiency and personalized customer experiences.
