Hydrogen plane startup ZeroAvia receives backing from Amazon.com Inc and Royal Dutch Shell

On Wednesday, hydrogen plane startup ZeroAvia stated it had secured $21.4 million in a funding round led by Bill Gates’ Breakthrough Energy Ventures to develop zero-emission commercial aircraft. The startup’s prototype hydrogen powered propeller plane has already completed 10 test flights. Its backers includes Amazon and energy giant Royal Dutch Shell. Hydrogen, which produces water…

Automakers urge incoming Biden Administration for tax credit, incentives to boost R&D into self driving cars, EVs

On Tuesday, Alliance for Automotive Innovation, a major automotive trade association urged U.S. policymakers to back support for electric vehicles (EV), including new incentives to boost up consumer purchases, as well as research and development. U.S. President-elect Joe Biden has made boosting electric vehicles a top priority and has pledged to build 550,000 new EV…

Non-compliance to British laws will attract fines on social media companies

Social media companies operating in Britain, including Twitter, Facebook, and TikTok could face fines up to 10% of their respective turnover if they fail to remove and limit the spread of illegal content under laws proposed by Britain on Tuesday. In a statement the British government said, social media platforms will need to do more…

Reddit acquires short video platform Dubsmash in cash & stock deal

In a statement social network firm Reddit said, it would acquire TikTok rival short-video platform Dubsmash. Although Reddit did not disclose the financial terms of the deal its spokeswoman said the acquisition was based on a combination of cash and stock. TikTok’s proliferance has led many social media companies to add short-video services to their…

Electronics Arts acquires Codemasters for $1.2 billion

On Monday, computer gaming giant Electronic Arts said, it had agreed to acquire Codemasters for $1.2 billion, trumping an earlier agreement between the British company and rival Take-Two Interactive Software. Under the terms of the agreement, shareholders of Codemasters will receive 604 pence per share, compared with the 485 pence per share Take-Two had offered.

SolarWinds products have been injected with malicious code by state-backed hackers

In a statement, SolarWinds, an IT company said, monitoring products that it had released earlier this year in March and in June may have been surreptitiously tampered with in a “highly-sophisticated, targeted and manual supply chain attack by a nation state.” The statement by SolarWinds comes even as the U.S. intelligence community is investigating cyber…

Hyundai Motor Group acquires 80% stake in Softbank Group-owned Boston Dynamics

According to a source familiar with the matter at hand, Hyundai Motor Group has agreed to acquire a 80% stake in Boston Dynamics from SoftBank Group in a deal worth around $736 million to $828 million (800 billion to 900 billion won). The development assumes significance since Hyundai can leverage the technology to expand automation…