Michael Simon, staff writer for PCWorld, discusses President Obama's comments in an interview with Prince Harry where he warned against the misuse of social media, hinting at leaders that use platforms to divide and spread misinformation.
Simon discusses how news outlets play to their specific partisan audiences, MSNBC to its liberal viewers and Fox to conservatives. Simon predicts that the shift will be to more opinion-based news as opposed to fact-based sources. And in this age of targeted advertising, that is what works
Meanwhile, Vladimir Putin is putting new laws in place that will oversee use of the internet in his country. The Russian president has acknowledged that he will be monitoring the activity of certain companies more closely as they head into the upcoming Russian election.
Autonomous car companies Waymo and Cruise are one step closer to offering driverless ridesharing in California after receiving approval from the state's DMV to begin charging fees for their services. Both companies still need approval from the California Public Utilities Commission before offering rides to the public.
Honda is looking to get more futuristic. The automaker announced a $45 billion, six-year investment into developing rockets, robots, and flying cars, noting that these areas of R&D are extensions of their core business.
The FAA has completed its investigation of Virgin Galactic’s Unity 22 test flight on July 12 after the aircraft flew out of protected airspace on its descent back to Earth. Virgin Galactic has been given the green light to resume flights but must request a larger share of protected airspace for future missions.
