Here is the top trending news from the world of technology. News that I feel every tech enthusiast must keep a tab on.
1)
Jack Dorsey’s startup Block accused of misleading the investors
Jack Dorsey’s fintech startup Block has become the latest company to come under the scanner of Hindenburg Research. The investment research firm Hindenburg Research has said in its report that it has held short positions in Block inc, accusing that the Jack Dorsey led company overstated its user counts and understated its customer acquisition cost to mislead the investors. Following the Hindenburg report, Dorsey’s wealth has reportedly plummeted by more than $500 Mn. So far Jack Dorsey has not commented on the report. Few months back Indian billionaire Gautam Adani’s firm Adani Enterprise had come under the scanner of Hindenburg Research.
2)
TikTok CEO Testifies before Congress
TikTok CEO Shou Chew finally testified before Congress on Thursday amid unprecedented media hype. In his first ever Congressional hearing, Chew sticked to his script and left no stone unturned in defending TikTok. During his hearing, the TikTok CEO repeatedly reminded about the ‘Texas Project.’ Texas Project is an ambitious project started by TikTok’s parent company Bytedance to protect the data of TikTok’s U.S. users. However, several American lawmakers seemed unimpressed and unconvinced about the ‘Texas Project.’ One American lawmaker described the ‘Texas Project’ as marketing scheme and added that it is not a feasible solution to the data privacy issue.
3)
ChatGPT’s new Plugin will provide real-time stats
ChatGPT’s human like responses to queries has created more than a stir across the world. However, it more or less relies on the existing data set as offering real stats and data is beyond its capabilities. But this is likely to change as ChatGPT’s parent company OpenAI has announced a new plugin. OpenAI has claimed that this new plugin will interact with 3rd party APIs, customizing its responses to specific circumstances while increasing the bot’s range of capable actions. But mind you the plugin is still in alpha stage and OpenAI has granted the access of plugin to limited number of clients including Expedia, Instacart, Slack and Shopify.
4)
Accenture to layoff 19,000 employees
Layoffs continue to haunt American tech companies as Accenture has become the latest big tech company to announce job cuts. On Thursday the consultancy giant Accenture announced it is laying off nearly 19,000 employees or 2.5% of its total global workforce. The company has also lowered its annual revenue and profit forecast for fiscal year 2023 in a clear indication that the prolong recession is likely to impact its future performance. Accenture now joins the list of big tech companies including Google, Microsoft, Amazon and Meta that have opted for mass layoff to cope with the economic downturn.
5)
Edtech giant Byju’s claims it is not acquiring Unacademy
India’s edtech giant Byju’s has completely refuted the media reports that it is in talks to acquire SoftBank backed firm Unacademy. Byju’s downplayed the media reports, after Indian news portal MoneyControl reported that Unacademy is exploring merger with Byju’s sister firm Akash. Valued at nearly $3 Bn, Unacademy is one of the largest edtech startups in India. However, owing to the funding crunch the Bengaluru based startup has been struggling to control its operational cost. On other hand, Byju’s recently has been jumping from one crisis to another. From allegations of financial malpractices, mass layoffs to its struggle to raise funds at a higher valuation, the Indian edtech giant has been besieged with problems of its own.