https://www.voanews.com/z/621 science-technology https://www.voanews.com/Content/responsive/VOA/en-US/img/logo.png https://www.voanews.com/z/621 en 2026 - VOA 60 Mon, 22 Jun 2026 01:12:49 -0400 Pangea CMS – VOA A Friday report by the United Nations says Iran is using advanced technology, including drones, facial recognition and a citizen-reporting app to crack down on violations of its mandatory hijab laws.A key element of the effort is the government-backed Nazer app, which enables the police and "vetted" members of the public to report alleged violations by women in vehicles, including those in ambulances, mass transit and taxis. The report describes the app as allowing users to upload... https://www.voanews.com/a/un-iran-using-drones-to-enforce-hijab-law/8011563.html https://www.voanews.com/a/un-iran-using-drones-to-enforce-hijab-law/8011563.html Sat, 15 Mar 2025 04:49:23 -0400 Iranwebdesk@voanews.com (VOA News) BRUSSELS — Belgian federal prosecutors announced Thursday the arrests of several people as part of a corruption probe linked to the European Parliament amid reports in local media that Chinese company Huawei bribed EU lawmakers.The arrests came as an investigation by Le Soir newspaper and other media said lobbyists working for the Chinese telecoms giant are suspected of bribing current or former European Parliament members to promote the company’s commercial policy in Europe.About 100... https://www.voanews.com/a/belgium-makes-arrests-in-corruption-probe-linked-to-eu/8009509.html https://www.voanews.com/a/belgium-makes-arrests-in-corruption-probe-linked-to-eu/8009509.html Thu, 13 Mar 2025 11:42:42 -0400 Europewebdesk@voanews.com (Associated Press) SAN FRANCISCO — Social media giant Meta on Thursday announced it would begin testing its new "Community Notes" feature across its platforms on March 18, as it shifts away from third-party fact-checking toward a crowd-sourced approach to content moderation.Meta's chief executive Mark Zuckerberg announced the new system in January as he appeared to align himself with the incoming Trump administration, including naming a Republican as the company's head of public policy.The... https://www.voanews.com/a/meta-tests-community-notes-to-replace-fact-checkers/8009430.html https://www.voanews.com/a/meta-tests-community-notes-to-replace-fact-checkers/8009430.html Thu, 13 Mar 2025 10:36:37 -0400 USAwebdesk@voanews.com (Agence France-Presse) CAPE CANAVERAL, Florida — A launch pad problem prompted SpaceX to delay a flight to the International Space Station on Wednesday to replace NASA's two stuck astronauts.The new crew needs to get to the station so that Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams can head home after nine months in orbit.Concerns about a critical hydraulic system arose less than four hours before the Falcon rocket's planned evening liftoff from NASA's Kennedy Space Center. As the countdown clocks ticked down,... https://www.voanews.com/a/launch-pad-problem-delays-spacex-flight-to-replace-nasa-s-stuck-astronauts/8009048.html https://www.voanews.com/a/launch-pad-problem-delays-spacex-flight-to-replace-nasa-s-stuck-astronauts/8009048.html Wed, 12 Mar 2025 21:44:41 -0400 Technologywebdesk@voanews.com (Associated Press) An innovative solution to remotely power devices using natural biological processes could help farmers get the most from their fields. VOA’s Kane Farabaugh has more. https://www.voanews.com/a/dirt-powered-sensors-help-farmers-optimize-their-fields/8008724.html https://www.voanews.com/a/dirt-powered-sensors-help-farmers-optimize-their-fields/8008724.html Wed, 12 Mar 2025 19:12:37 -0400 USAwebdesk@voanews.com (Kane Farabaugh) NEW DELHI — Encouraged by the enthusiastic reception to its DeepSeek artificial intelligence platform in January, China's leaders are going all out to encourage AI companies to harness the power of this technology to compete with the United States and other countries in business and military spheres.China considers AI an important tool to handle U.S. restrictions on Chinese business, particularly after DeepSeek shook up Wall Street, resulting in a loss of $589 billion for Nvidia... https://www.voanews.com/a/china-boosting-development-of-ai-for-use-in-trade-war-with-us/8007739.html https://www.voanews.com/a/china-boosting-development-of-ai-for-use-in-trade-war-with-us/8007739.html Wed, 12 Mar 2025 00:12:00 -0400 China Newswebdesk@voanews.com (Saibal Dasgupta) The U.S. Department of Justice dropped a proposal Friday to force Alphabet's Google to sell its investments in artificial intelligence companies, including OpenAI competitor Anthropic, to boost competition in online search. The DOJ and a coalition of 38 state attorneys general still seek a court order requiring Google to sell its Chrome browser and take other measures aimed at addressing what a judge said was Google's illegal search monopoly, according to court papers filed in... https://www.voanews.com/a/us-drops-antitrust-case-against-google-over-ai-not-chrome/8003388.html https://www.voanews.com/a/us-drops-antitrust-case-against-google-over-ai-not-chrome/8003388.html Fri, 07 Mar 2025 21:57:47 -0500 USAwebdesk@voanews.com (Reuters) Just as discoveries of fossil fuel reserves helped to shape the 20th century, the race for critical minerals is shaping the 21st. These minerals are seen as strategically crucial for modern economies, including those used in construction, energy and manufacturing — particularly for semiconductors and other technology applications. Where mineral resources are located and extracted has often played a major role in geopolitical and economic relations. Today, the world’s attention is turning to... https://www.voanews.com/a/greenland-and-afghanistan-frontiers-in-race-for-critical-minerals/8003142.html https://www.voanews.com/a/greenland-and-afghanistan-frontiers-in-race-for-critical-minerals/8003142.html Fri, 07 Mar 2025 18:50:41 -0500 Technologywebdesk@voanews.com (Alex Gendler) WASHINGTON — U.S. President Donald Trump on Friday hosts top cryptocurrency players at the White House, a political boost for an industry that has struggled to gain legitimacy -- and where the Republican president faces conflict of interest concerns. The president's "crypto czar," Silicon Valley investor David Sacks, has invited prominent founders, CEOs and investors along with members of a Trump working group, to craft policies aimed at accelerating crypto growth, and... https://www.voanews.com/a/trump-to-host-white-house-crypto-summit/8002141.html https://www.voanews.com/a/trump-to-host-white-house-crypto-summit/8002141.html Fri, 07 Mar 2025 04:08:40 -0500 USAwebdesk@voanews.com (Agence France-Presse) President Donald Trump is signaling a major change in how the U.S. will support growth in key domestic industries such as semiconductors. Michelle Quinn reports. https://www.voanews.com/a/trump-calls-to-end-us-government-s-semiconductor-subsidy-program/8002022.html https://www.voanews.com/a/trump-calls-to-end-us-government-s-semiconductor-subsidy-program/8002022.html Thu, 06 Mar 2025 20:50:45 -0500 USAwebdesk@voanews.com (Michelle Quinn) SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA — A U.S. judge on Tuesday denied Elon Musk's request to prevent OpenAI from becoming a for-profit business in a loss for the Tesla tycoon amid his feud with Sam Altman.  U.S. District Court Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers ruled that Musk and his xAI startup failed to prove an injunction against OpenAI was necessary as the case heads to trial.  Musk sued in California federal court to stop OpenAI from transitioning from a nonprofit to a for-profit business,... https://www.voanews.com/a/musk-fails-in-bid-to-block-openai-becoming-for-profit-business-/7998259.html https://www.voanews.com/a/musk-fails-in-bid-to-block-openai-becoming-for-profit-business-/7998259.html Tue, 04 Mar 2025 23:09:56 -0500 USAwebdesk@voanews.com (Agence France-Presse) Chinese tech firms and state media have spotlighted humanoid robots, which have grown in popularity since the Unitree G1 appeared to run, jump, dance and perform martial arts-like movements in a recent demonstration. Both the United States and China are leaders in humanoid robot technology. But industry analysts believe that the United States is superior in AI technology, which is responsible for the robot's "brain," while Chinese technology companies have flourished in the... https://www.voanews.com/a/voa-mandarin-who-has-better-humanoid-robots-us-or-china-/7996311.html https://www.voanews.com/a/voa-mandarin-who-has-better-humanoid-robots-us-or-china-/7996311.html Tue, 04 Mar 2025 03:06:13 -0500 China Newswebdesk@voanews.com (Adam Xu) The United States may become the second country after Australia to ban China’s DeepSeek artificial intelligence on government devices. U.S. Representatives Josh Gottheimer and Darin LaHood introduced a bipartisan bill proposing the ban. In their letter to 47 U.S. governors and the mayor of Washington, the congressmen warned that DeepSeek could pose security risks to sensitive government data and cybersecurity and Americans’ privacy, NBC News reported on March 3. China denies the... https://www.voanews.com/a/china-uses-deepseek-ai-for-surveillance-and-information-attacks-on-us/7996271.html https://www.voanews.com/a/china-uses-deepseek-ai-for-surveillance-and-information-attacks-on-us/7996271.html Tue, 04 Mar 2025 00:46:14 -0500 Polygraphwebdesk@voanews.com (Fatima Tlis) WASHINGTON — Chip giant Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. announced on Monday plans to make an additional $100 billion investment in the United States and build five additional chips factories in the coming years. TSMC CEO C.C. Wei announced the plan in a meeting at the White House with President Donald Trump. "We must be able to build the chips and semiconductors that we need right here," Trump said. "It's a matter of national security for us." TSMC, the... https://www.voanews.com/a/trump-taiwanese-chipmaker-announce-new-100-billion-plan-to-build-five-new-us-factories-/7995845.html https://www.voanews.com/a/trump-taiwanese-chipmaker-announce-new-100-billion-plan-to-build-five-new-us-factories-/7995845.html Mon, 03 Mar 2025 16:51:16 -0500 USAwebdesk@voanews.com (Reuters) WASHINGTON — More than 50 years passed between the last Apollo mission and the United States' return to the lunar surface, when the first private lander touched down last February 2024. Now, starting Sunday, two more missions are set to follow within a single week, marking a bold push by NASA and its industry partners to make moon landings a routine part of space exploration. First up is Firefly Aerospace's Blue Ghost Mission 1, nicknamed "Ghost Riders in the... https://www.voanews.com/a/lunar-landings-in-a-week-for-nasa-s-private-moon-fleet/7993730.html https://www.voanews.com/a/lunar-landings-in-a-week-for-nasa-s-private-moon-fleet/7993730.html Sat, 01 Mar 2025 12:49:10 -0500 USAwebdesk@voanews.com (Agence France-Presse) Apple announced this week it would spend $500 billion in the U.S. over the next four years and create 20,000 jobs, signaling its pro-U.S. jobs and investment policy. U.S. President Donald Trump also announced he would double tariffs on China, where most Apple products are made. Michelle Quinn reports. https://www.voanews.com/a/with-500b-us-investment-apple-pulling-away-from-china-analysts-say/7991204.html https://www.voanews.com/a/with-500b-us-investment-apple-pulling-away-from-china-analysts-say/7991204.html Thu, 27 Feb 2025 22:25:51 -0500 USAwebdesk@voanews.com (Michelle Quinn) CAPE CANAVERAL, Florida — A private company launched another lunar lander Wednesday, aiming to get closer to the moon's south pole this time with a drone that will hop into a black crater where the sun never shines.  Intuitive Machines' lander, named Athena, caught a lift with SpaceX from NASA's Kennedy Space Center. It's taking a fast track to the moon, with a landing on March 6. The company hopes to avoid the fate of Athena's predecessor, which tipped over at... https://www.voanews.com/a/private-company-s-craft-rockets-toward-moon-in-latest-rush-of-lunar-landing-attempts/7989713.html https://www.voanews.com/a/private-company-s-craft-rockets-toward-moon-in-latest-rush-of-lunar-landing-attempts/7989713.html Wed, 26 Feb 2025 20:21:25 -0500 Technologywebdesk@voanews.com (Associated Press) LONDON — More than 1,000 musicians including Kate Bush and Cat Stevens on Tuesday released a silent album to protest proposed changes to Britain's copyright laws which could allow tech firms to train artificial intelligence models using their work. Creative industries globally are grappling with the legal and ethical implications of AI models that can produce their own output after being trained on popular works without necessarily paying the creators of the original content. Britain,... https://www.voanews.com/a/musicians-release-silent-album-to-protest-uk-s-ai-copyright-changes/7986931.html https://www.voanews.com/a/musicians-release-silent-album-to-protest-uk-s-ai-copyright-changes/7986931.html Mon, 24 Feb 2025 20:35:23 -0500 Europewebdesk@voanews.com (Reuters) U.S. tech giant Apple has announced plans to create some 20,000 jobs and invest $500 billion over the next four years in the United States.  Apple says it will expand teams and facilities in nine states across the country and that it aims to open a 23,200-square-meter server manufacturing facility in Texas in 2026.  The announcement comes just days after Apple CEO Tim Cook met with U.S. President Donald Trump.  “We are bullish on the future of American innovation, and we’re proud to build... https://www.voanews.com/a/apple-to-build-23-200-square-meter-facility-in-texas/7986112.html https://www.voanews.com/a/apple-to-build-23-200-square-meter-facility-in-texas/7986112.html Mon, 24 Feb 2025 11:33:59 -0500 USAwebdesk@voanews.com (VOA News) Sydney — Australia's online safety regulator fined messaging platform Telegram about $640,000 on Monday for its delay in answering questions about measures the app took to prevent the spread of child abuse and violent extremist material. The eSafety Commission in March 2024 sought responses from social media platforms YouTube, X and Facebook to Telegram and Reddit, and blamed them for not doing enough to stop extremists from using live-streaming features, algorithms and recommendation... https://www.voanews.com/a/australia-fines-telegram-for-delay-in-answering-child-abuse-terror-questions/7985591.html https://www.voanews.com/a/australia-fines-telegram-for-delay-in-answering-child-abuse-terror-questions/7985591.html Sun, 23 Feb 2025 19:38:08 -0500 East Asiawebdesk@voanews.com (Reuters)