Natasha Lomas
Senior Reporter
The Latest from Natasha Lomas
Report details how Big Tech is leaning on EU not to regulate general purpose AIs
It’s still pretty early in the year but the disruptive power of general purpose AI (GPAI) already looks cemented as the big tech story of 2023, with tech giants including Microsoft and Google du
Spoke AI is using generative AI to pull signal from workplace noise
As generative AI’s fast-unfolding power to supercharge content-creation amps up concern over what automation might mean for free access to quality information online, Berlin-based startup Spoke
Taking Ultrahuman’s sleep & fitness tracking Ring for a spin
Indian startup Ultrahuman has made a name for itself since 2019 by building out a subscription fitness platform which offers a range of workout and wellness-related content, integrating with third par
Google starts beta testing its rebrand of interest-based ad-targeting on Android
Google has begun letting Android developers kick the tyres of its claimed reboot of ad-targeting — announcing the launch of the first Beta for its “Privacy Sandbox”, an adtech stack
Adtech joint venture by European telcos DK, Orange, Telefonica, Vodafone not a competition concern, finds EU
A joint venture (JV) between four big European carriers to build cross-network ad-targeting infrastructure — which they claim will rely on “affirmative” consent to target mobile and/
Musk’s Twitter gets ‘yellow card’ for missing data in EU disinformation report
The first batch of reports by tech giants, adtech entities and others on how they’re tackling online disinformation in the European Union since the bloc unveiled a strengthened version of its Co
Musk’s Twitter is facing tricky questions over data deletion
European data protection regulators are “engaging” with Twitter following a series of complaints from users that it’s ignoring requests to delete their direct messages, TechCrunch has learne
Senate committee presses Meta over data access by developers in ‘high risk’ countries, per 2018 app audit
Facebook’s murky history of letting third party apps help themselves to user data which you may recall blew up into a major global privacy scandal back in 2018 (aka, Cambridge Analytica), gougin
EU’s top diplomat fires warning shot at Elon Musk over Twitter disinformation
A controversial move by Twitter-owner Elon Musk to end free access to its APIs by February 9 has attracted criticism from the European Union’s top diplomat who has warned it could threaten the a
Neko, Daniel Ek’s next play, is another spin on preventative healthcare
Make room for yet another preventative health play: Spotify founder Daniel Ek officially confirmed rumors of his new “health tech” startup, Neko, Friday by quietly kicking off a body scann
Replika, a ‘virtual friendship’ AI chatbot, hit with data ban in Italy over child safety
San Francisco-based AI chatbot maker, Replika — which operates a freemium ‘virtual friendship’ service based on customizable digital avatars whose “personalized” response
Political ads face tougher targeting restrictions in EU if MEPs get their way
Europe has moved a step closer to having dedicated rules on online political ad targeting and transparency after the European Parliament fixed its negotiating position — paving the way for talks
European Parliament agrees a way forward on platform workers’ rights
A European Union legislative proposal targeting the gig economy’s tendency to ride rough-shod over workers’ rights has inched a step closer today as the parliament agreed its negotiating p
EU lawmakers launch tips hotline to catch Big Tech’s ‘shady’ lobbying
‘Astroturfing’ and other non-transparent lobbying tactics used to target digital policymakers in the European Union in recent years — including during a blitz of spending aimed at in
Amazon’s sales terms and delivery ‘dark patterns’ face probe in Poland
If you’ve ever made an Amazon order with a particular seller because the estimated delivery for the item appears to match when you need it, only to be frustrated when a different (later) deliver
Teal unwraps $8.8M to build out a telehealth platform for women — starting with cervical cancer screening
Female-focused telehealth startup, Teal Health, is popping up today to announce an $8.8 million seed round with a roster of heavy hitting investors on board — including (Serena Williams’)
Big changes coming for GDPR enforcement on Big Tech in Europe?
Big Tech take note: In what looks like a meaningful — and long overdue — reforming step, the European Commission has committed to dial up its monitoring of how data protection authorities
Fairphone nabs $53M in growth capital for ‘sustainable’ consumer electronics
Dutch social enterprise Fairphone, which makes modular and — the claim is — more sustainable and ethical consumer electronics, has nabbed a chunk of funding to continue scaling a circular-
Put a (smart) ring on it: Movano on why its health wearable will put women first
Movano Health turned heads at CES with an ouroboros-esque smart ring designed for women. In the crowded field of fitness wearables, where the mainstream heavy hitter of the Apple Watch heads up a very
Upp wants to add more broccoli to the plant-protein mix using big automation
What is automation good for? Harvesting more broccoli than human laborers can, according to Upp, a Shropshire, U.K.-based agtech startup that’s using computer vision AI plus farm-sized proprieta