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France, Germany block EU deal on scaled-back app worker law
France, Germany block EU deal on scaled-back app worker law
by  AFP

France and Germany on Friday refused to back a watered-down agreement on controversial EU rules covering app workers in the gig economy, European diplomats said. The European Union's objective was to bring in bloc-wide rules that supporters hoped would improve conditions for app workers in the gig economy by reclassifying some as employed.

EU watchdog urged to reject Meta 'pay for privacy' scheme
EU watchdog urged to reject Meta 'pay for privacy' scheme
by  AFP

Civil rights groups on Friday called on an EU watchdog to rule against Facebook owner Meta's scheme to let Europeans pay to opt out of data tracking, which they say violates EU law. The EU regulator, the European Data Protection Board (EDPB), is due to decide shortly on whether a system like Meta's violates the bloc's data privacy laws.

ChatGPT's OpenAI reveals text-to-video tool
ChatGPT's OpenAI reveals text-to-video tool
by  AFP

OpenAI, the creator of ChatGPT and image generator DALL-E, said it was testing a text-to-video model called Sora that would allow users to create realistic videos with a simple prompt. The model could also take an existing still image and generate a video from it, the company said.

Rod Stewart banks $100 million for song catalog: report
Rod Stewart banks $100 million for song catalog: report
by  AFP

Rod Stewart, the singer whose hits include "Maggie May," is the latest artist to sell the rights to his music, The Wall Street Journal said Thursday. The paper said Irving Azoff's Iconic Artists Group acquired Stewart's interests in his recorded music and publishing catalog, as well as some rights to his name as likeness, for a tidy sum of nearly $100 million.

Four Xbox exclusives heading to rivals in big shift
Four Xbox exclusives heading to rivals in big shift
by  AFP

Microsoft on Thursday shook up the video game world with word it is making some once-exclusive Xbox video games available for play on rival consoles. Microsoft makes Xbox consoles along with game software, with titles such as hit "Halo" exclusive to its hardware.

'Sahil Omar': A forever criminal falsely linked to US shooting
'Sahil Omar': A forever criminal falsely linked to US shooting
by  AFP

"Sahil Omar" is 44, an illegal immigrant and has a Muslim-sounding name -- an apparently fictitious punching bag falsely linked to a slew of US crimes including the latest mass shooting in Kansas City. "At least one of the Kansas City Chiefs parade shooters identified as Sahil Omar, a 44 year old illegal immigrant," said one post on X, without offering any evidence.

Four exclusive Xbox games heading to rival consoles
Four exclusive Xbox games heading to rival consoles
by  AFP

Microsoft on Thursday shook up the video game world with word it is making some once-exclusive Xbox video games available for play on rival consoles. "I do have a fundamental belief that over the next five or 10 years, games that are exclusive to one piece of hardware are going to be a smaller and smaller part of the game industry," Xbox head Phil Spencer said in a podcast. gc/arp

Bitcoin's renewed euphoria as price keeps rising
Bitcoin's renewed euphoria as price keeps rising
by  AFP

Bitcoin is forecast to keep on rising after hitting fresh two-year highs above $50,000 on Thursday, leaving analysts to wonder whether investors have moved on from recent cryptocurrency setbacks, including scandals. The world's biggest cryptocurrency reached $52,749, a high since December 2021.