Tech Tent

One employee tells the BBC the tech giant has been attempting to 'scare' staff. The firm says it continues to 'make enhancements to our industry-leading benefits as a part of the overall support we provide to our valued team members.' We'll also hear from the African Tech Summit taking place in Kenya. And we learn how a small team of visual effects artists created the look of the stunning Oscar contender - Everything, Everywhere All at Once - using laptops in their bedrooms. Image credit: Reuters/ Joshua Roberts

Three big players in internet search have announced plans to integrate AI but can Google and Baidu rival Microsoft's team-up with ChatGPT? We also explore how old pictures and video are being shared online as from the earthquake in Turkey and Syria. And why officials in the UK and US have named seven Russian men as being behind some of the most infamous cyber crime groups of recent years. (Photo: Microsoft Bing search demonstration at its launch event. Credit: Jason Redmond/AFP)

Several workers are launching legal action against Twitter. It follows a round of mass lay-offs at the social media firm last year. We also hear about a BBC investigation which has uncovered Egyptian police using dating apps to hunt LGBTQ people. And how a social video trend is reigniting interest in early 2000s digital cameras. (Photo: A mobile phone showing Elon Musk's face on the screen. Credit: Dado Ruvić/Reuters)

Shiona McCallum explores what can be done about online bots targeting ticket sales. It’s after Ticketmaster apologised to Taylor Swift fans who missed out on attending her Eras tour, they say they were the target of a cyber-attack by bots. We also delve into VR and AR experiences and learn about the company in India using discarded fishing nets to produce plugs and sockets. (IMAGE:Taylor Swift meets fans in Toronto. Wesley Lapointe / Getty)

The boss of Moderna, Stephane Bancel, tells us about how MRNA technology could transform the treatment of cancer. But will the personalised treatment plans it could create only be available in richer nations? Our global health correspondent, Naomi Grimley, provides analysis. Also this week we hear more from the exhibitors at the CES tech show. Analyst Paolo Pescatore tells us what he thinks the event says about the state of global tech. And the founder of Cameo, which took off in the pandemic, on how businesses that thrived in lockdown can survive in the very different world we find ourselves in in 2023. (Image: Messenger RNA techobnology, two Strands of mRNA on abstract background illustration. Credit: Getty Images)

Tech Tent is in Las Vegas, in the US, for CES, one of the world' s biggest and most important tech shows. We discuss the future of VR, and the ethics of AI - and meet the exhibitors hoping they've invented the next big thing. And Silicon Valley reporter James Clayton joins Zoe to take the temperature of the industry after a bumpy year in 2022. (PHOTO: Attendees at CES Photo by Robyn BECK / AFP, via Getty Images)

Shiona McCallum and Joe Tidy invite the BBC's tech experts in Africa, Asia, America and Europe to make their predictions for how tech will shape 2023. From gaming to chip wars, and VR to AI they tell you what to look out for in the year ahead, wherever in the world you are.

The technology news team review the year in the form of a quiz. Paul Carter and Liv McMahon take on Nick Kwek and Alasdair Keane to see who remembers most about the best - and worst - tech news moments of 2022. And all four face the ultimate test: can they tell which is the genuine Christmas story, loved for decades - and which has been conjured up in an instant by AI?

Sam Bankman-Fried is arrested and charged days after telling our reporter Joe Tidy he was confident he would avoid prosecution. We discuss the question Joe asked Sam - has he killed crypto? Also this week: the dismayed reaction of the global charities that sat on Twitter's now disbanded Trust and Safety Council. As China goes to the World Trade Organisation over the USA's restrictions on its semi-conductor industry, we ask if there is any end in sight to the so-called chip wars. And, the actor Andonis Anthony on what is it like bringing a video game character to life.

How do you feel about talking to a computer? New AI chatbot, ChatGPT, passed one million users in just a week but what are its potential uses and limitations. We also hear from tennis icon, Billie Jean King on why she thinks tech will change the way tennis is played. Plus, with Apple extending its self-service repair to a number of European Countries, how do you feel about repairing your iPhone at home? We hear from someone who gave it a go. (Photo: A man using a laptop talks to a chat bot. Credit: Blue Planet Studio/Getty Images)

This week journalist and author James Griffiths explains how the Great Firewall of China works - and why it failed to stop the recent wave of protests there. Reporter Alasdair Keane meets the robots that could provide a helping hand to the most vulnerable. And game developer Colin Macdonald reflects on the unlikely origins of Grand Theft Auto, as the game franchise turns 25. (Photo: protestors on the streets of China. Credit: Getty images)

Smart Speakers have become part of the furniture of many people's homes, but they don't seem to have proved as lucrative as the companies who created them had hoped. We explore what's next for them. We also hear from three people who say using Twitter changed their lives. Plus, has China really resolved the issue of video game addiction among young people and did you know dogs can be trained to find faults in underground electricity cables? Producers: Alasdair Keane and Ashleigh Swan (Photo: A smart speaker. Credit: Capuski/Getty Images)

The collapse of the FTX currency exchange, and the downfall of its founder, Sam Bankman-Fried has been astonishing. Where does the industry go now? The biggest ever satellite, BlueWalker 3, has successfully been deployed - what will it mean for global communications and the night sky? Plus, why Chinese army veterans are being drafted into the world's biggest iPhone factory. And why has a video of a meteor got a woman thrown off Twitter? Astronomer Mary McIntyre explains how her account was banned after a video of a meteor streaking across the night sky she shared, was flagged as porn. Producer: Tom Singleton (Photo: Sam Bankman-Fried, founder and CEO of FTX, testifies at the House Financial Services Committee hearing Digital Assets and the Future of Finance: Understanding the Challenges and Benefits of Financial Innovation. Credit: Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc/Getty Images)

This week Facebook owner Meta becomes the latest tech giant to axe thousands of jobs. We ask veteran industry watcher Michael Malone how big a crisis this is for Silicon Valley - and we hear from our west Africa correspondent, Nkechi Ogbonna, about how big tech's problems are being felt there. Cyber reporter Joe Tidy takes us through the rise and fall of the crypto exchange, FTX. New research highlights the rise and rise of the borderless IT worker. And gaming guru Sir Ian Livingstone tells us about a life in video games - and discovering Lara Croft.

Tech Tent analyses Elon Musk's first few days in charge of Twitter. Cyber reporter Joe Tidy meets the people pouring millions of dollars into the Metaverse, before it even exists. Is it finally time to say farewell to the fax? And the social media mix up involving Premier League Star Erling Haaland and a Swedish tourist board.

The UK's Deputy Information Commissioner tells Tech Tent why some new biometric technologies are "the modern phrenology", and based on "magical" thinking. We discuss whether the world is too dependent on WhatsApp - and why Big Tech financial results are going down the drain. Our reporter visits a factory making a female crash test dummy, and we ask what next for the self-styled Chief Twit, Elon Musk, as he completes his purchase of Twitter.

Tech Tent explores why millions of SIM cards face being disconnected in Kenya and Ghana as authorities force people to register them. We'll also speak to writer Becky Holmes on why she responds to romance fraudsters and BBC Tech Reporter, Alasdair Keane, visits a cyber security competition where laptops aren't allowed in the room. (Photo credit: Getty Images)

Tech Tent finds out about the BBC investigation into how much money donated through Tik Tok live actually makes it to displaced people’s pockets. Also this week, what should the future of the office be, and why do robots often look like humans?

Elon Musk wanted Twitter, then he didn't - and now he does again. Why has he changed his mind and what does it mean for Twitter? Our Silicon Valley reporter James Clayton guides us through the latest twists and turns in tech's most dysfunctional courtship. Also this week can anyone challenge Google's search engine supremacy?

The boss of Apple, Tim Cook, tells the BBC there are no good excuses for the persistent gender imbalance in tech. We ask women starting their careers in the sector what needs to change. How the EU is making it easier to sue when AI goes wrong. And our Silicon Valley reporter James Clayton takes a ride around the streets of San Francisco in a self-driving taxi.