Musk Removes Giant, Flashing X Sign after Furore

The company formerly known as Twitter removed a towering, blinking X from atop its San Francisco headquarters Monday after the rebranded tech firm tangled with city officials over the controversial sign.

The X, installed on the roof of the company's downtown office last week, was part of owner Elon Musk's bid to rebrand the troubled social media giant to the 24th letter of the alphabet, AFP said.

But local residents had complained about the brilliant flashing lights emitting from the sign at night. Some also complained about safety, suggesting the sign -- which had loomed over the building's edge -- did not appear securely anchored to the roof.

San Francisco's Department of Building Inspection and City Planning received 24 complaints about the sign, including concerns about its "structural safety and illumination," agency communications director Patrick Hannan told AFP.

"This morning, building inspectors observed the structure being dismantled," Hannan said.

The owner of the property where X is renting offices will have to pay the cost of permits to install and remove the sign, as well as the cost of the city's investigation, according to Hannan.

A building inspector following up on a complaint first went to the tech firm's headquarters on Friday -- but was not allowed onto the roof to check the sign, according to the complaint posted on a city website.

Instead, an X representative told the inspector that the structure was "a temporary lighted sign for an event," the complaint showed.

A second attempt by an inspector to check the sign was also rebuffed on Saturday, according to the city.

The city sent X a notice of violation warning that it needed proper permits for the sign.

When contacted by AFP about the complaint, X replied with an automated message saying it would respond "soon."

BacklashMusk has brushed off the backlash to the sign and to the rebrand in general, responding with a laughing emoji to one X user's post about the city being at odds with him over the new sign.

The billionaire killed off Twitter's globally recognizable bird logo early last week as he rebranded the company he hopes to turn into a super-app inspired by China's WeChat, which would function as a social media platform and also offer messaging and payments.

Since Musk bought Twitter for $44 billion last October, the platform's advertising business has collapsed as marketers soured on Musk's management style and mass firings at the company that gutted content moderation.

In response, he has moved toward building a subscriber base and pay model in a search for new revenue.

Workers last week were stopped while removing the Twitter sign and blue bird logo from the headquarters due to a lack of proper permits. It was also gone Monday.

A group of former Twitter employees who lost their jobs when Musk took over said in a federal civil suit filed against the company in May that the billionaire made it clear that he did not intend to pay expenses such as rent or severance packages.

An attorney for Musk was overheard crudely insulting San Francisco at one point, contending it was unreasonable for landlords to expect Twitter to pay rent given living conditions, the suit maintained.

Elon Musk said in a social media post that his fight with Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg would be live-streamed on social media platform X, formerly known as Twitter.The social media moguls have been egging each other into a mixed martial arts cage match in Las Vegas since June, Reuters said."Zuck v Musk fight will be live-streamed on X. All proceeds will go to charity for veterans," Musk said in a post on X early on Sunday morning, without giving any further details.Meta did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment on Musk's post.

Chinese-owned social media platform TikTok has announced a raft of new features for European users aimed at improving compliance with incoming European Union regulations.

Under the EU's Digital Services Act (DSA), TikTok's owner ByteDance, Alphabet unit Google, other large online platforms will be required to police illegal content on their platforms, prohibit certain advertising practices, and share data with authorities.

But after TikTok agreed to a voluntary "stress test" last month, EU industry chief Thierry Breton said "more work" was needed for the firm to be fully compliant.

"TikTok is dedicating significant resources to compliance," Breton told CNN. "Now it's time to accelerate to be fully compliant."

On Friday, the firm revealed new measures it had taken to comply with the DSA: making it easier for European users to report illegal content, allowing them to turn off personalized recommendations for videos and removing targeted advertising for users aged 13-17.

"We will continue to not only meet our regulatory obligations, but also strive to set new standards through innovative solutions," the company said.

Huawei Technologies' handset business is "on the road to a comeback" the head of the company's consumer business Richard Yu said in his keynote at the company's annual developer conference in the southern city of Dongguan on Friday.

Huawei's share of the domestic smartphone market share grew by 76.1% in the second quarter, and took second spot in the high-end sector, Yu said.

The company held 11.3% of the overall China market in the second quarter, behind five competitors led by Vivo and Apple, according to Counterpoint Research.

Counterpoint attributed Huawei's growth to the resumption of normal product launches after resolving shortages.

Several rounds of US restrictions on US-made technology limited Huawei to producing last-generation 4G handsets, causing its once sizeable handset market share to plummet both at home and abroad.

The US and European governments have labelled Huawei a security risk, a charge the company denies.

Yu said Huawei's in-house Harmony operating system has "overcome many challenges" in the last four years, noting there were now 2.2 million developers for the system.

Last month research firms told Reuters they expect Huawei to return to making 5G smartphones by the end of the year by procuring chips domestically, in spite of the US restrictions.

Huawei declined to comment.

China’s internet watchdog has laid out regulations to curb the amount of time children spend on their smartphones, in the latest blow to firms such as Tencent and ByteDance, which run social media platforms and online games.

The Cyberspace Administration of China on Wednesday published the draft guidelines on its site, stating that minors would not be allowed to use most internet services on mobile devices from 10 p.m. to 6 a.m., and that children between the ages of 16 and 18 would only be able to use the internet for two hours a day.

Children between the ages of 8 and 15 would be allowed only an hour a day, while those under 8 would only be allowed 40 minutes.

Only certain services, such as apps or platforms that are deemed suitable to the physical and mental development of minors, will be exempted. The CAC did not specify which internet services would be allowed exemptions, The Associated Press reported.

The restrictions are Beijing’s latest efforts to attempt to limit internet addiction, a problem it views as widespread among its youth. In 2019, Beijing limited children’s daily online game time to 90 minutes a day and tightened those restrictions in 2021, allowing children only an hour a day of online game play on Fridays, weekends and public holidays.

Short-video and online video platforms like Douyin, Bilibili and Kuaishou have offered youth modes that restrict the type of content shown to minors and the length of time they can use the service. Children are also pushed educational content, such as science experiments.

The latest restrictions would impact firms like Tencent, China’s largest online game company, and ByteDance, which runs popular short-video platform Douyin. Firms in China are often responsible for enforcing regulations.

“To effectively strengthen the online protection of minors, the CAC has in recent years pushed for the establishment of a youth mode on internet platforms, expanding its coverage, optimizing its functions and enriching it with age-appropriate content,” the CAC said.

The Mohammed bin Salman Foundation (Misk) and Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd. have signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) to launch the fifth edition of the Samsung Innovation Program, which aims to give participants the skills they need to use artificial intelligence technologies in the Kingdom.

The Misk Foundation, represented by the Misk Skills, and Samsung have invited 85 trainees in the fields of artificial intelligence and the Internet of Things to participate in the fifth edition of the global educational program in order to empower and develop young energies, equip Saudi competencies with the knowledge and skills they need to advance in their careers, raise the level of beneficiaries, and support the employment and growth of technology in the country.

The 12-week journey, 320 training hours, and graduation project represent Misk's goal of empowering young people and preparing them for a technologically based work market.

China's cyberspace regulator said on Wednesday it has drafted guidelines to strengthen limits around use of apps, smart terminals and app stores by minors.

The regulator set a deadline for public feedback on the guidelines on Sept. 2.

The four propellers hum like a bee, the black drone zips into the air. Mykhailo, a 25-year-old Ukrainian soldier, stands under a tree surveying the whizzing landscape through his goggles, steering with fingertips on the remote.

"Every time I put on my goggles and take the joystick, I think about my mother telling me those video games won't do me any good," he says with a smile.

"Well, if this isn't useful, then what is?"

Drones have played a central role in the Russia-Ukraine war, deployed by both sides. There are big drones that can fly hundreds of miles, some that hover over the battlefield taking pictures and others that carry weapons to drop on targets.

But there may be no more characteristic weapon of this war than the tiny, inexpensive "first-person view" (FPV) drones, designed to crash straight into a target on the battlefield, steered by a pilot wired into a virtual reality headset.

It is a constant game of cat and mouse against enemy troops, who try to interfere with remote signals using electronic warfare (EW) systems, said Mykhailo, who did not give a surname and uses the military call sign "Joker".

"You cannot work from the same position many times, because the enemy reacts to it, turns on the EW, jams our drones," he explained in between test flights of a new batch of drones received by his unit in southern Ukraine's frontline Zaporizhzhia region.

"We need to constantly look for new positions, where to fly from, and for new targets."

Unlike other drones that can be sent up and monitored, the FPV drones never simply hover; they are always flying fast and looking forward. Their cameras don't even point downwards.

"The pilot must always be in full control of the drone, of its flight," Mykhailo says. "It can attack at speed, from height, in various ways - each pilot flies the drone in his own style - but it always attacks at speed."

stc Group announced on Tuesday the successful execution of the first live trials of advanced 5G technology in the Middle East and North Africa, reaching high speeds exceeding 10Gbps using the Millimeter Wave (mmWave) technology, SPA said.The step signifies a new stage in facilitating digital transformation in the region and places the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia at the forefront of advanced nations in the field of telecommunications.These trials come as a complement to a robust infrastructure of the advanced 5.5G network in the Kingdom, enabling data transfer at new record speeds in a live working environment.It will pave the way for a qualitative leap in delivering new services and unprecedented customer experiences, while also opening new communication horizons beyond spatial and temporal boundaries.The success of these trials is a crucial part of stc's “Dare” strategy, which aims at providing access to new services and elevating customer experiences to new levels, in line with the Saudi Vision 2030 and supporting digital transformation in the region.

As Japan enjoys a post-pandemic resurgence in tourism from around the globe, Seibu Railway is testing out an automated translation window to help confused foreigners navigate one of Tokyo's most complex transportation hubs.

The device, developed by printing company Toppan and called VoiceBiz, lets customers speak to a station attendant over microphones while the semi-transparent screen between them spells out their words in Japanese and one of 11 other languages.

More than 2 million visitors arrived in Japan last month, the most since the pandemic kicked off in 2019, and travelers from the United States and Europe exceeded pre-outbreak levels as the weak yen makes the trip the cheapest in decades.

Kevin Khani was among foreign travelers who got turned around in the Seibu-Shinjuku station recently and found the VoiceBiz window helpful.

"The translations were spot on," said the 30-year-old German, who works at Alibaba. "It might sound a bit weird, but you feel safe immediately because you know there's a human on the other side. So you take your time to explain what you need and you will know that they will understand what you need."

Seibu Railway, a unit of the Seibu Holdings conglomerate, installed the translation window this month at its Seibu-Shinjuku station, the terminus of one of its central Tokyo lines, for a three-month trial before considering a wider rollout.

About 135,000 passengers pass through the station daily, including many foreigners shuttling between tourist hot spots, such as Tokyo's new Harry Potter theme park.

"Our goal in introducing this was to improve the smoothness of communication by letting people look at each other's face," said Ayano Yajima, a sales and marketing supervisor at Seibu Railway.

The device was also tested out at Kansai International Airport earlier this year, and Toppan has aims to sell it to businesses and government offices in Japan to contend with both foreign travelers and an ever-growing number of immigrants.

With its many rail lines - some connected, some not - and gigantic bus station, Shinjuku district is the ultimate testing ground for way-finding tech.

Across the road from the Seibu station is Shinjuku's central Japan Railway (JR) station, which is the busiest in the world, with some 3.6 million people passing through daily. A rabbit warren of tunnels connects the JR station to multiple train and subway lines run by other companies.

Weary from a 1 a.m. flight arrival, French tourists Isabelle and Marc Rigaud used the translation window to try to find their way from the Seibu station to the JR station. They still needed help from a bystander to get there.

"It's very Japan," Isabelle, 47, said.

Toyota will strengthen its development of electric vehicle technology in China, the automaker said on Monday, as it looks to catch up with increasingly tough domestic competition in the world's largest auto market.The move is the latest from the world's top selling carmaker that shows a sharper pivot to electric vehicles. It recently detailed an ambitious new EV strategy that includes an overhaul of its supply chain and the development of long-range batteries, Reuters said.China, once seen as an opportunity for potentially limitless growth for foreign automakers, is now regarded as an increasingly competitive market thanks to the rise of fast-moving local companies.Toyota said on Monday it would accelerate powertrain development with suppliers Denso and Aisin as well as local design and development of "smart cockpits" that meet the needs of the Chinese market.It said it would aim to significantly reduce manufacturing costs, including through developing a local supplier base, to become more competitive.It will strengthen development of battery-powered vehicles, plug-in hybrids, hybrids and fuel cell cars in China in order to achieve carbon neutrality through a "multi-pathway"-based approach, it said.

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