Alphabet Unveils Business Unit Devoted to Cyber Security

Eric Ervin, chief executive officer of Reality Shares Inc., talks about why the firm developed a blockchain ETF rather than a cryptocurrency fund. The Reality Shares Nasdaq NexGen Economy ETF, ticker BLCN, started trading last week. Ervin was interviewed on Jan. 16. Comments have been edited and …

Investors in social media businesses such as Facebook Inc., Twitter Inc. and Google’s YouTube, a part of Alphabet Inc., will be asked “to consider the social impact of the tech companies they are investing in.” In a recruitment drive among the global elite, May wants those with the biggest stakes in these …

NO PENCILS ALLOWED Tech companies wanting to access Russia’s large market are often required to seek certification for their products from Russian agencies, including the FSB security service and Russia’s Federal Service for Technical and Export Control (FSTEC), a defense agency tasked with …

I’ve been writing a tech predictions column for over 30 years now. I study research from my firm, Creative Strategies, and look for data that provides hints of what might be the hot topics, trends or issues in the coming year. Here’s what I see on the horizon for tech in 2018.

They are accused of fomenting political polarization. They are portrayed as stifling competition. And their work on artificial intelligence is predicted to displace millions of workers and potentially alter what it means to be human. Executives from the largest technology companies are on the defensive this …

It seems like only yesterday that journalism faced existential challenges from technology platforms that helped anyone publish whatever they wanted, took over the distribution of news, and usurped the advertising market with promises of precise targeting. It turns out that the news profession can be quite …

Wells Fargo Securities has installed a new senior dealmaker in London, as the traditionally consumer-focused US bank aims to become a bigger investment banking player. In a further sign of London’s growing importance to the US-focused bank, Wells Fargo has hired Julien Pajot as a managing director …

France recently appointed a tech ambassador to the Silicon Valley. French President Emmanuel Macron named David Martinon as “ambassador for digital affairs”, with jurisdiction over the digital issues that the foreign affairs ministry deals with. This includes digital governance, international negotiations …

The investor love affair with tech megacaps is showing signs of heating up to dangerous levels just ahead of a busy slate of earnings. A net 39 of the Nasdaq 100 Index’s constituents are trading at a relative strength above 70 — the most since June 2. The last time the group was flashing an overbought …

SoftBank Leads $865 Million Investment in Construction Tech Startup Katerra. Katerra, now valued at about $3 billion, wants to control every step of the … In December, the fund put $450 million into Compass, a real-estate tech firm. The fund made about 100 investments last year with a total value of $36 …