The Switch: The biggest risk in Google’s rumored $1 billion bet on SpaceX

Today's technology and tech policy news  •  Tue., Jan. 20, 2015 View in your Web browser

The biggest risk in Google’s rumored $1 billion bet on SpaceX Google is pinning its hopes for cheap, space-based Internet on Elon Musk. But can he deliver?The search giant is reportedly close to investing $1 billion into Musk's SpaceX, according to The Information — part of a larger effort by Google to spread the Internet to developing countries and crack open those markets. SpaceX is a natural choice for a partnership: Both it and Google share a fondness for "moonshot" projects and have explored how to provide Internet access to poor and rural areas. In November, Musk suggested that SpaceX was working on the idea; last week, the billionaire investor hosted a private event in Seattle to launch an office dedicated to satellite Internet.  Read full article »

The 4 kinds of people who watch the State of the Union

Watching the State of the Union? The White House is probably watching you back.State of the Union addresses are pretty formulaic and don't actually have much impact on public opinion, but if this year's presidential speech has anything to teach us, it's that we've come a long way from the days when the president spoke for a few minutes on TV and that was that. These days, State of the Union addresses are just as much an opportunity for the White House to study us, the voters, as it is for presidents to present a report card to Congress.  Read full article »

Every time Obama has said ‘innovation’ in his State of the Union speeches

President Obama upped his tech game in a big way last week, previewing a slew of State of the Union proposals having to do with online privacy, data security and broadband. That got us thinking: How has Obama's tech record shifted over the course of his administration?  Read full article »

Let’s play State of the Union Bingo, tech edition

If President Obama's recent remarks on privacy, cybersecurity and Internet freedom are any indication, this could be the most tech-heavy State of the Union address of his presidency.So the Switch team came up with the most likely tech terms that we think -- or hope -- will crop up in his speech Tuesday night and put them on a bingo card. Play along with us and report via Twitter how your games are going.  Read full article »

Innovations: Why the world’s most intelligent people shouldn’t be so afraid of artificial intelligence

Stephen Hawking, Elon Musk and a number of other tech luminaries from MIT, IBM and Harvard recently signed off on an open letter from the nonprofit Future of Life Institute warning about the perils of artificial intelligence. Without the appropriate safety measures built in, they argue, the rapid growth of artificial intelligence could end in disaster for humanity.  Read full article »

The Switchboard: The NSA cyberspied on North Korea years before Sony got hacked

Published every weekday, the Switchboard is your morning helping of handpicked stories from the Switch team.The Switch team will be playing tech-themed State of the Union Bingo tonight. Get your card here and play along with us on Twitter.  Read full article »

Innovations: Eight reasons to support Congress’s net neutrality bill Late last week, Sen. John Thune (R-S.D.) and Rep. Fred Upton (R-Mich.), the chairmen respectively of the Senate and House Commerce Committees, circulated draft legislation aimed at ending once and for all messy political wrangling over the FCC’s proposed open Internet rules, sometimes known as “net neutrality.” Hearings on the bill will take place in both chambers Wednesday.  Read full article »

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