Here are the top trending stories from the world of technology. News that we feel every technology enthusiast should keep a tab on
1)
Disney+ surpasses Netflix in subscriber game
The entertainment giant Disney’s streaming service Disney+ has now more subscribers than Netflix. While announcing its latest quarterly results, Disney said that its streaming services now have 221 Mn subscribers globally, which is a tad more than Netflix’s current subscriber numbers that stands at nearly 220 Mn. But mind you, Disney+’s subscriber numbers are cumulative numbers as it includes subscribers of other streaming services like Hulu and ESPN+. This means that on a standalone basis Disney+ is still behind Netflix when it comes to paid customers. Besides, Disney is still not making any profit from its streaming business, reporting a loss of nearly $1.1 Bn in the quarter.
2)
Elon Musk has just offloaded $7Bn worth of Tesla shares
Elon Musk has just sold nearly $7 Bn worth of shares in his electric vehicle company Tesla. Musk sold the shares between August 5 and August 9, as per the regulatory filings. This stake sale has come at a time when Musk has been locked in a high-profile legal battle with Twitter. This is also the first time that Musk has sold shares in his electric vehicle company since April this year. Back then he had sold shares worth $8.5 Bn for financing the $44 Bn Twitter deal. But as things stand today the Tesla boss wants to exit the Twitter deal and is all set to gear up for a long legal battle against the microblogging company.
3)
SoftBank plans to sell Partial stake in Alibaba
SoftBank is planning for a big stake sale in the Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba, according to Reuters. The Japanese technology and telecom giant is planning to raise nearly $34 Bn through this stake sale, which will eventually reduce its stake in Alibaba from 23% to 14%. This stake sale will help in improving the cash flow for SoftBank, after announcing a net loss of whopping $23 Bn during the first quarter. As for Alibaba, SoftBank’s partial exit has come at a time when the Chinese government has been unleashing a crackdown against the company. As a result of this crackdown, Alibaba is reportedly planning to delist its stocks from the New York stock exchange.
4)
Ex-Twitter Employee found guilty of spying for Saudi Arabia
A former Twitter employee Ahmad Abouammo has been convicted by a U.S. court for spying for the Saudi Arabian government. Abouammo worked as a media manager for Twitter between November 2014 and December 2015. The U.S. court found him guilty of passing e-mail addresses and phone numbers of several people to the Saudi Arabian government. These people were actually those who repeatedly tweeted against the Saudi Arabia and created negative sentiments against the middle eastern kingdom on Twitter. The court also found that Abouammo also took expensive gifts from Saudi Arabia for spying on their behalf.
5)
Meta’s new AI Chatbot Bashes Mark Zuckerberg
Last week Meta introduced the prototype of its new AI chatbot BlenderBot to couple of journalists and media personnel, hoping that this will create a buzz for its chatbot in the media. However, to the embarrassment of Meta, its chatbot proved to be way too smart. Responding to a query by a BuzzFeed journalist on Mark Zuckerberg, the chatbot called Meta’s boss creepy and manipulative. Causing further embarrassment for Meta, the chatbot went on to add that Facebook is a breeding ground for scandals and his life has been much better after deleting his account from Facebook.
