NewsBytes Briefing: There's some Chinese in my Koo, and more
What's the story
A French hacker with a penchant for embarrassing Indian software endeavors claims to have found data breaches in the Koo app. While his claims are hard to verify, the Indian promoters of the Atmanirbhar app have begrudgingly accepted that it has some Chinese investment. They claim the single digit Chinese stake will be sold immediately, but the Indian government should've done its due diligence.
Clone, Acquire, Kill
Unable to pull a Parler on Clubhouse, Facebook copies it
For the Big Tech, competitors are like cockroaches. They kill one and another takes its place. But eliminating the competition isn't always an option, so sometimes they have to improvise. That is precisely why Facebook has chosen to show compassion and just clone Clubhouse instead. That still beats acquiring it since Facebook is already in the anti-competition radar after purchasing WhatsApp and Instagram.
Cosmic delays
Embarrassed government officials must wait until 2024 to leave Earth
In more bad news for the Indian government, the Gaganyaan space mission has been delayed due to the pandemic. India's first manned space mission was originally supposed to coincide with the 75th Independence Day, but now it will not happen anytime until 2024 at least. That's tragic because the infinite darkness of space would be a good place to escape the farmers' protests.
AI versus AI
Microsoft Research inadvertently gives Zoom comedy filters a purpose
Microsoft has been up to no good. It is harnessing the power of AI to monitor people's facial expressions during video calls. That means you basically won't be able to lie to your boss if Microsoft has its way. Fortunately, Zoom has already spent tonnes of money developing cat filters to counter this menace. Thank you, Zoom.
Details
After endlessly vilifying crypto, bankers might finally be conceding defeat
The rate at which the dollar is being printed has shattered the illusion of it being any more real than Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies. The bankers who have been railing against cryptocurrencies (which they absolutely cannot manipulate) until now seem to be finally softening their stand. There isn't a better sign of this change than Mastercard preparing to support cryptocurrencies later this year.