Tech

Insiders think Google’s unprecedented deal with UK government has given Boris Johnson the chance to lead the tech policy agenda at the G7 summit

Published 17 mins ago - iNFO Vi

Summary List PlacementThe UK government is attempting to lead the global conversation on technology regulation as it plays host to a crowd of partner nations at the G7 this week, experts say.
Regulating the tech industry has been a major theme at this year's summit, after finance ministers from the US, Canada, the UK, France, Germany, Japan, and India pledged to introduce a new corporate rate of tax on giants like Amazon, Facebook, and Google.
On Friday morning, less than 24 hours after British Prime Minister Boris Johnson and US President Joe Biden greeted one another at the annual summit, UK officials revealed Google had offered them full oversight of its new "Privacy Sandbox", which would kill off third-party cookies from its Chrome browser.
The tech giant's plans to do away with third-party cookies, which help businesses target individual users with online ads, sent the advertising industry into a tailspin when it was first announced in January 2020.
But the proposed new deal between Google and the UK's Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) has been received positively by those in the marketing industry. The agreement gives the watchdog the power to block the changes to Chrome for up to 60 days after they're introduced.
Some insiders believe the timing of the announcement has given the UK an opportunity to steer the conversation on tech regulation at the G7.
James Rosewell, the founder of Marketers for an Open Web, which filed the original complaint against Google's cookie changes with the CMA, told Insider the move "clearly presented an opportunity" for the UK to bolster its tech policy credentials.
"Given the G7 are meeting as we speak, I find it hard to believe the timing of this announcement was entirely coincidental," he said. "I'm fairly confident someone in Westminster will have connected the dots up."
Tommaso Valletti, a professor of economics at Imperial College Business School and previously the chief competition economist at the EU Commission, agreed, telling Insider it was "very likely that the announcement has been coordinated."
"It's a very good initiative...unprecedented – and the right direction to go," he said. "With Big Tech and business models that revolve around data, competition and privacy are so intertwined that they must be integrated with each other. The historical silos approach has not worked at all."
As part of a statement posted online on Friday, the CMA said that although the partnership aims to address UK competition concerns, "they are likely to have implications for the global implementation of Google's Privacy Sandbox proposals."
Justin Taylor, the UK managing director at adtech firm Teads, said the boost given to the UK amid the G7 talks indicated that there had been "pressure from the government" to get the deal agreed with Google.
"The CMA is now intrinsically linked to implementation of new technologies for billions of users and thousands of businesses around the world," he said. "By tying itself to the CMA, the UK has a huge influence on what the privacy-first future of the web will look like."
Third-party cookies have been used to enable advertisers to follow users around the web and target them with personalized ads. Marketers were concerned that without the availability of cookies it gave Google the potential to exercise greater control over the ad market.
In the deal agreed with the CMA, Google put forward commitments to improve transparency, place substantial limits on how the tech giant would use Chrome data for advertising, as well as not discriminate against its rivals in favor of its own ad products.Join the conversation about this story » NOW WATCH: Why some Coca-Cola bottles have a yellow cap

Some employees are quitting their jobs over return-to-office policies. A strategic-thinking expert explains how leaders can maintain a flexible approach to keep workers on board.

Published 18 mins ago - iNFO Vi

Summary List PlacementAs the world starts to reopen, return-to-office plans are slowly coming into effect. Companies, such as Apple, have announced a plan that expects employees to come back to the office three days a week fr... More »

Euro 2020: Best odds and price boosts for England vs Croatia, Netherlands vs Ukraine and Austria vs North Macedonia

Published 28 mins ago - iNFO Vi

England get their Euro 2020 campaign up and running this afternoon against Croatia. Elsewhere Netherlands face Ukraine and Austria play North Macedonia. We have teamed up with Paddy Power, William Hill, BoyleSports, 888 Sport... More »

Naftali Bennett: The tech millionaire son of Berkeley ‘left-wingers’ who is poised to take over from Israel’s Benjamin Netanyahu

Published 1h ago - iNFO Vi

Summary List PlacementIsrael's longest-serving prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, could soon be out of office after an unlikely coalition of eight opposition parties successfully reached a deal to form a new government. If t... More »

Load more posts Loading more posts... No more posts to load

Go to the 0 slide

Go to the 1 slide

Go to the 2 slide

Sports

Denmark head coach Kasper Hjulmand praises reaction of his ’emotionally exhausted’ players to Christian Eriksen’s collapse

Published 1 hour ago - iNFO Vi

Tech

A venture capital firm that only invests in space is going public so retail investors can take a shot at backing the next Elon Musk

Published 1 hour ago - iNFO Vi

Summary List PlacementA venture capital fund that focuses on space startups is going public, giving retail investors a potential shot at backing the next SpaceX.
London-based Seraphim Capital is aiming to raise $211 million as part of plans to IPO in on the London Stock Exchange in the summer. It's targeting a net asset value return of 20% on an annualized basis in the long term.
Founded in 2016, Seraphim Capital has invested in over 50 companies to date, several of which are unicorns above a valuation of $1 billion. One firm, quantum computing startup Arqit, is set to list in a SPAC deal at a $1.4 billion valuation.
"Space is a massive sector already and the broad consensus is that over course of next of the next 10 to 20 years we are set for major growth," James Bruegger, chief investment officer at Seraphim told Insider. "Our decision to go public is informed by the same fundamental changes that brought around our first fund in 2016, which is that we feel the sector is at a key inflection point."
The newly public entity, Seraphim Space Investment Trust PLC, will continue to invest in startups in the industry. It will also buy up some of Seraphim Capital's existing seed assets as part of the deal, including stakes in Arqit; Spire Global, a provider of satellite-based global weather forecasting, and cellular broadband company AST & Science. Seraphim Capital's investors will use the cash to buy shares in the public entity.Space tech has had something of a PR boost thanks to commercial space firms SpaceX, Virgin Galactic, and Blue Origin.
Private investment into the commercial space industry is booming more generally, reaching a record $8.9 billion last year, according to figures from Space Capital. The wider market is estimated to be worth $366 billion, and could be worth as much as $1.4 trillion by 2030, per Bank of America.
It's unusual for venture capital companies to go public, and Seraphim's aim is to open up the mostly privately-funded space tech market to a wider set of investors in the public markets.
This would give the opportunity for retail investors to benefit if Seraphim's investments ended up being the next SpaceX, unlike private funds. Another London-based venture capital firm, Draper Esprit, went public in 2016 and has backed successful startups such as neo-bank Revolut, car marketplace Cazoo, and software startup Uipath.
While venture capital funds must return their investors' cash and raise again in tight lifecycles, Seraphim can operate an "evergreen" fund topped up by investor money.
"The opportunity in space is bigger than what we can cover with a traditional fund and the vision of the companies we're backing is making science fiction into science fact and we want to remove constraints on how long we can support companies we want to back."
The company also runs a space tech accelerator called Space Camp which is aimed at early-stage startups looking to raise seed funding, and it also helps prepare companies for Series A rounds. Seraphim ran this event remotely during COVID-19.
"There's a halo effect in this industry where top entrepreneurs like Elon Musk, Jeff Bezos, and Richard Branson all pouring their own private wealth into space," Bruegger added. "This is a lead indicator for the industry and an area we think our new vehicle can capitalize on and public market investors will benefit from."Join the conversation about this story » NOW WATCH: Inside a $3 million doomsday condo that can sustain 75 people for 5 years

Sports

Jose Mourinho wants Jack Grealish and Phil Foden but Gareth Southgate not expected to follow advice for England’s Euro 2020 opener against Croatia with Raheem Sterling set to start – predicted line-up

Published 1 hour ago - iNFO Vi

Jose Mourinho revealing his England XI on talkSPORT appeared to get everyone talking, even the England players themselves, as he lavished praise on a number of the Three Lions’ young stars. However, fans have been warned not to expect ‘fantasy football’ from Gareth Southgate, by one of his own backroom staff, and it appears the […]

Tech

As travel picks up, hotels are looking for ways to cut labor costs by removing daily room cleanings

Published 4h ago - iNFO Vi

Summary List PlacementHotels are considering cutting back services like daily room cleaning as they struggle to some struggle to hire enough workers while others have yet to bring back all of their staff, The Washington Post reported. Analysts told the outlet... More »

4+ Years in Prison for Home Security Worker Who Accessed Security Cameras to Spy on Women

Published 5h ago - iNFO Vi

A federal judge just ruled against over 100 Houston hospital workers who will be fired if they don’t get the COVID-19 vaccine

Published 6h ago - iNFO Vi

Seat On Jeff Bezos’ Space Trip Sells For $28 Million

Published 8h ago - iNFO Vi

Jose Mourinho loves Croatia midfield and England shouldn’t underestimate Ballon d’Or winner Luka Modric and Chelsea star Mateo Kovacic in Euro 2020 opener

Published 2h ago - iNFO Vi

The Croatia team which broke English hearts three years ago at the World Cup in Russia certainly has a different feel to it – but they remain a dangerous outfit. The general feeling is that they are not the side they once wer... More »

Nate Diaz being a legend vs Leon Edwards: Refuses fist bump, applauded being put on his ass and landing a Stockton slap

Published 2h ago - iNFO Vi

Nate Diaz is truly one of a kind. The legendary MMA fighter, who is 20-13 after his loss to Leon Edwards at UFC 263, is still maybe the most beloved fighter on the planet today. Still, a loss for Diaz is nothing when you’ve r... More »

Mason Mount reveals he was left stunned by Luka Modric asking him for his shirt after Champions League clash as England man eyes Euro 2020 reunion

Published 2h ago - iNFO Vi

Mason Mount is champing at the bit to go head-to-head with Luka Modric again – just a month on from when the England star was left gobsmacked when one of his boyhood heroes asked for his shirt. The Chelsea midfielder went toe... More »

UFC 263: Israel Adesanya beats Marvin Vettori so bad he has time to slap challenger’s ass, pretend he’s hurt plus stop and look for him after missed punch

Published 3h ago - iNFO Vi

Marvin Vettori previously gave Israel Adesanya the hardest middleweight fight of his UFC career, but that was not the case at UFC 263. The champion came out a unanimous 50-45 winner in a complete shut out of Vettori, even tho... More »