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Twitter suspends 1,600 accounts linked to state disinformation networks
It blocked accounts allegedly run by Iran, Saudi Arabia, Cuba and Thailand.
MIT suspends its research partnerships with Huawei and ZTE
The Massachusetts Institute of Technology is putting its funding and research ties with Huawei and ZTE on hold due to US investigations against the Chinese companies. The university will also add extra layers of scrutiny to projects and funding linked with China, Russia and Saudi Arabia.
Iranian hackers stole terabytes of data from software giant Citrix
Citrix is best-known for software that runs behind the scenes, but a massive data breach is putting the company front and center. The FBI has warned Citrix that it believes reports of foreign hackers compromising the company's internal network, swiping business documents in an apparent "password spraying" attack where the intruders guessed weak passwords and then used that early foothold to launch more extensive attacks. While Citrix didn't shed more light on the incident, researchers at Resecurity provided more detail of what likely happened in a conversation with NBC News.
Google won't pull controversial Saudi government app
App store curators frequently have to walk a fine line when deciding what to ban, and Google is proof positive of this. The internet giant told California Rep. Jackie Speier that it wouldn't ban Saudi Arabia's Absher app from Google Play despite calls from Speier and other members of Congress to remove it. The mobile software lets Saudi men control and track travel permissions for women and migrant workers, leading to an outcry that Google and Apple were promoting "sixteenth century tyranny." However, Google determined that Absher didn't violate its agreements and could remain on the store.
Saudi Arabia and UAE test cryptocurrency for cross-border payments
A government-developed cryptocurrency isn't unheard of -- Venezuela controversially launched "Petro" in 2018 in an effort to get around sanctions. Now, it's Saudi Arabia's and the UAE's turn to launch a cryptocurrency of their own: one they jointly developed to work between both countries. The nations, which are close allies and two of the richest in the world, have even already started testing their digital currency. This pilot program will help them see if the blockchain technology truly can enable seamless cross-border transactions with lower remittance costs. It will also help them figure out how a state-owned cryptocurrency will impact monetary policies.
When you’re the only company at CES from your country
There are more than 1,700 American companies at CES, 1,200 official exhibitors from China, and several hundred from France and South Korea. Many of them are veterans of the trade show circuit, one-upping each other's booths with elaborate curved OLED TV installations and Disney-fied cart rides. There are entire government-sponsored showcases to feature the best of their country's tech scene.
Netflix pulls Hasan Minhaj episode critical of Saudi Arabia government
Netflix rarely finds itself thrust into political debates like other internet giants, but it won't enjoy that luxury in 2019. The streaming service has pulled the second episode of Patriot Act with Hasan Minhaj in Saudi Arabia after the country alleged that it violated a cybercrime law barring content that threatens "public order, religious values, public morals, and privacy." The episode is critical of the Saudi government's apparent murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi as well as the war in Yemen, and suggests that both tech companies and the US as a whole should "reassess" their connection to the kingdom.
With Khashoggi, tech confronts its blood money
In 2015 we laughed at Hacking Team for getting hacked. Their profit-driven facilitation of human rights abuses around the world was somehow barely competent, but notorious. They sold illegal hackware and surveillance tech to brutal regimes and trained them in attacking citizens and journalists. We knew they were evil clowns. We just didn't expect what happened next.
Richard Branson steps down as Virgin Hyperloop One chairman
Richard Branson is stepping down as chairman of Virgin Hyperloop One. He confirmed the decision to Reuters, claiming that the company needs a more heavily involved leader on its mission to build a fully functional hyperloop transportation system.
Saudi Arabia reportedly asked Twitter employee to spy on dissidents
Saudi Arabia may have done more than use large-scale social media campaigns to stifle political opposition. New York Times sources claim the country was "grooming" a Twitter engineer, Ali Alzabarah, to snoop on the accounts of dissidents and other targets. Western officials reportedly warned Twitter in late 2015 that Alzabarah had not only grown close to Saudi intelligence agents, but had agreed to spy on multiple user accounts. The social network suspended him and conducted an investigation that turned up no evidence of handing data to the Saudis, but they fired him all the same in December the same year.
Lucid Motors gets $1 billion to help build its EV
Lucid Motors, a struggling electric car startup, has just won itself a reprieve. Saudi Arabia's sovereign wealth fund invested $1 billion in the Tesla competitor; the money will be put towards the company's first production vehicle, the Lucid Air, which is due out in 2020.
Elon Musk explains funding plans for taking Tesla private
When Elon Musk said he was seriously looking at taking Tesla private, he still left a few open questions. Why did he decide to not only disclose it with a tweet, but shout "funding secured" from the rooftops? He's now offering an explanation -- not that it'll make everyone happy. In a blog post, Musk claimed that it "wouldn't be right" to limit talks of going private to just the largest investors. The tweets kept everyone in the loop, he said. He also insisted that he was speaking for himself as a "potential bidder" for his company.
Tesla may get help from Saudi Arabia in its bid to go private
Tesla may recruit an unusual ally in its effort to become a private company and take more control over its fate. A Bloomberg source has claimed that Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund is in talks that could make it a "significant investor" in Tesla as part of the electric car company's plan to go private. The funding arm has already amassed a five percent stake in Tesla, but this suggests it would grab a larger slice if the plan went forward.
SoftBank and Saudi Arabia to build world's biggest solar farm
SoftBank and Saudi Arabia have drawn up plans to build the world's biggest solar farm, which, if realized, would create 100,000 jobs in the kingdom and produce 200 gigawatts (GW) of energy. That's a third more than the global photovoltaic industry supplied worldwide last year.
Apple and Amazon may set up shop in Saudi Arabia soon
Saudi Arabia has slowly been changing its attitude toward tech over the past two years, trying to lure in foreign investment from Silicon Valley. Now, Reuters reports that both Apple and Amazon are in talks to set up shop in the conservative country.
Saudi Arabia arrests one of tech's biggest investors
Saudi Arabia is in the midst of a crackdown on alleged corruption, and its dragnet has caught one of the tech world's most important investors: the country has arrested Prince al-Waleed bin Talal over money laundering charges. He has major stakes in satellite TV providers and in recent years has been one of the largest individual investors in a number of well-known tech giants, including Apple and Lyft. The royal is particularly important to Twitter's fate. He poured $300 million into the social network in 2011, and his stake is second only to that of Twitter co-founder Ev Williams -- even CEO Jack Dorsey has a smaller financial commitment.
Saudi Arabia plans $1 billion investment in Virgin's space tourism
Richard Branson has gained a powerful and extremely wealthy ally that can make his space tourism dreams a reality: Saudi Arabia. The kingdom will invest $1 billion in the Virgin Group's space companies and might even add $480 million more in the future. This investment will fund three companies within the Virgin Group, starting with Virgin Galactic, which is responsible for developing the VSS Unity (also known as SpaceShipTwo) designed to fly paying tourists to suborbital space. Part of the money will also go to The Spaceship Company and Virgin Orbit. The former manufactures Virgin Galactic's spacecraft, while the latter provides launch services for small satellites.
Saudi Arabia lifts ban on messaging apps like Skype and Snapchat
Saudi Arabia will lift a ban on internet calls at 8PM ET today that had stood since 2013. Services that follow rules set by the country's Communications and Information Technology Commission (CITC) will be allowed to operate, according to a spokesman's statement and tweet (below).
Al Jazeera’s Snapchat channel blocked in Saudi Arabia
Al Jazeera's Snapchat presence is the latest casualty in the ongoing diplomatic crisis between Qatar and its neighbors in the Middle East. The Wall Street Journal is reporting that Snap has blocked the news outlet's channel in Saudi Arabia. Al Jazeera is describing the ban as "an attempt to silence freedom of expression."
US lifts laptop ban from final Middle Eastern airline (updated)
If you're a business traveller who wants to use your laptop on a flight originating in the Middle East, things are looking up. The US started to lift restrictions for passengers carrying large electronics like laptops on flights originating in the Middle East earlier this month, including lifting the ban at Abu Dhabi airport, and exempting Emirates and Turkish Airlines from the ban. Now, according to a report by Reuters, the US Transportation Security Administration (TSA) has finally lifted the laptop ban on inbound passengers on Saudi Arabian Airlines, the final airline to be under restriction.
