The social media platform formerly known as Twitter will be renamed X, its owner Elon Musk announced this week. [File]
, Photo Credit: Reuters
(This article is part of The Hindu’s newsletter TODAY CASH on emerging topics on the nexus of technology, innovation and policy. To get it delivered to your inbox, subscribe Here,
Twitter’s new name has legal hurdles
The social media platform better known as Twitter will be renamed X, its owner Elon Musk announced this week. However, this letter is very widely used and has been trademarked. Lawsuit against Twitter is inevitable, according to legal experts, Hundreds of companies have active US trademark registrations for the letter, including Twitter rival Meta and software giant Microsoft. If a brand believes that rebranding Twitter’s X could cause confusion for its own company or services, a lawsuit can be initiated. Twitter(x), Microsoft and Meta have not yet made public their legal actions, if any.
Musk has pitched the idea of an ‘everything app’ like China’s WeChat, where entertainment, socialization and global payments are all covered by one application. However, he admitted earlier this month that Twitter had lost about half of its advertising revenue.
Generative AI boom complicates cloud computing
Generic AI technologies and tools to boom this year has made cloud computing services more expensive, But companies are feeling the pressure to continue on this path. To save their budget, big tech companies like Google, Microsoft and Amazon are designing their own AI chips, IBM might be ready to join them soon. Of these, Amazon Web Services (AWS) is trying to attract potential customers to its cloud services by emphasizing lower prices than its competitors.
Chip makers and the cloud industry have benefited from the boom in AI in business, but rising hardware costs and increased demand continue to challenge companies trying to match the pace of development. Some companies are taking another route: letting a third party handle the management and maintenance of their cloud.
Adobe’s Figma deal may face scrutiny
Figma, a cloud-based platform for designers, used by major companies like Zoom, AirBnB and Coinbase. However, the EU may investigate the $20 billion deal made by Adobe to acquire it. An antitrust probe can be expected for the deal after a preliminary review, sources said.
Adobe and the European Commission have not released official statements about the legal proceedings. While Adobe insisted it was working with regulators around the world, the European Commission previously spoke out against the deal, citing harm to healthy competition in the interactive product design sector.