We have a buzzy week in the technology news department. It’s Thursday and I’ve registered for a chance to fly to the Moon! It’s another week with Mark Starling, Seth, John, and the First News 570 crew. This week, China sets the US in its cross hairs again, Roblox achieves a $30 billion valuation, and hackers hack a security camera startup. You can listen to Mark and I point and laugh while talking about the wild and crazy technology world every Thursday morning, LIVE at 6:43am Eastern.
KIDS PUSH GAMEMAKER PLATFORM TO 30 BILLION DOLLAR IPO
That’s $30 billion, with a ‘B’. I swear, I’m in the wrong business or I need to get my oldest daughter to begin making games. Roblox, the pixelated, boxy game and game building platform went public yesterday on the NYSE. Roblox’s opening share price started at $45 a share. The platform is aimed at kids between 9 and 12 years old. 3 out of 4 American kids are on the platform, my daughter is one of those 3, and it makes money. Developers who have published Roblox games have made between $10,000 and $100,000. I swear. I’m in the wrong business.
SECURITY STARTUP HACK EXPOSES 150,000 SECURITY CAMERAS
Security startup, Verkada, was hacked yesterday. Tillie Kottman, a hacker connected with an international ring claimed responsibility for the hack which exposed 150,000 security cameras including cameras in a Florida hospital and one of Tesla’s factories. This was a simple hack. Apparently, Kottman got access to a super administrator account and was able to gain access. The account username and password was publicly available using documentation found on the Internet. The moral: change all of the default usernames and passwords for software you use.
IN SERIOUS COMPETITION NEWS: CHINA UNVEILS FIVE YEAR PLAN
China is making waves this week by announcing its 5-year plan. China’s five year plan focuses on GDP growth, led by reducing or eliminating its dependency on foreign technology. China’s plan includes removing the need to import microprocessors, computers, and smartphone technology and instead inventing and building those products in-house. China is forecasting that it will grow it’s economy by 6 percent year over year which will put its economy at the same level of the United States. This year, China will spend 7% of its economy on technology research and development and is attempting to be the leading agent in AI, quantum computing, and smartphone development. Why did I bring this up? For many years, China has been stealing US intellectual property, and continues to be a technology sponge by creating US subsidiaries of technology companies run by proxy boards that take US technological know-how. We all know that the future will be influenced by the countries, companies, and agents that are at the technological forefront. Our current technology companies have left themselves exposed by shipping manufacturing to China, to heads of tech companies watching what they say about Chinese policies, and generally letting the wolves in the hen house. It’s time we start being careful, and time we begin doubling down on stateside manufacturing and innovation. We may need to pay more in order to stay ahead.