In Short:
– Optus faces pressure after a second emergency service outage, affecting 4,500 customers for nine hours.
– Calls for CEO Stephen Rue’s resignation intensify amid scrutiny over network investment and safety mechanisms.

Australian telecommunications company Optus is under increasing pressure to address leadership concerns following a second emergency service outage in ten days.

The incident occurred in Dapto, south of Sydney, where around 4,500 customers were unable to reach Triple Zero emergency services due to a faulty mobile tower for nine hours.Optus confirmed all affected individuals were safe, but the repeated outages have raised significant alarms. The first incident took place on September 18, when a firewall upgrade blocked approximately 600 emergency calls across multiple states for 13 hours, resulting in at least four fatalities.

Calls for CEO Stephen Rue’s resignation have intensified, with opposition spokeswoman Melissa McIntosh stating that citizens need confidence in the emergency network.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese described the situation as “completely unacceptable.” The response from Optus has faced criticism, especially regarding the delay in notifying emergency services after the September 18 incident.

Efforts to address the failures are underway, with Singtel Group CEO Yuen Kuan Moon scheduled to meet with Australian Communications Minister Anika Wells. The Australian Communications and Media Authority has launched an investigation into the outages.

Governance experts caution that merely replacing leadership will not resolve underlying issues, suggesting that reduced spending on network infrastructure is a contributing factor.

Federal Investigation

New scrutiny has emerged regarding Optus’s network investment, with reports indicating a budget decrease from $850 million in 2024 to $613 million this year.

Concerns have been raised about the absence of critical safety mechanisms, including a reliable system to reroute emergency calls when failures occur.

In Short:
– Meta is launching autonomous robots, beginning with a CA-1 AI robot in Germany for domestic tasks.
– The company plans to hire 100 engineers as part of a $60-65 billion AI investment for 2025.

Meta ventures into robotics, joining a market where Tesla’s Optimus robot showcases in controlled settings. Apple is also exploring robotic devices, with planned humanoid concepts by 2027.

Google is advancing robotics via DeepMind with AI models tailored for robotics applications.

Meta recently launched its first autonomous robot in Germany through a partnership with Circus SE, deploying a CA-1 AI robot at its Munich office.

The initiative is part of Meta’s objective to gather data to support its robotics focus on domestic tasks such as cleaning and laundry folding.

Strategic Investment

Industry analysts point to Meta’s software-licensing strategy as crucial in the competitive landscape, where firms often encounter challenges with hardware costs.

By positioning itself to gain from various robotics manufacturers’ successes, Meta utilises lessons from its virtual reality investments, which have seen substantial spending with limited consumer uptake.

The company is set to hire around 100 engineers for its robotics programme within a broader $60-65 billion AI infrastructure investment plan for 2025.

The indicates a strong commitment to integrating AI into physical applications.

In Short:
– Trump signed an order for American investors to control TikTok’s U.S. operations, finalising previous agreements.
– ByteDance must reduce its ownership in TikTok to under 20% or stop U.S. operations to meet security requirements.

President Trump has signed an executive order that formalises an agreement for American investors to assume control of TikTok’s U.S. operations.

The action sets the groundwork for finalising the deal previously announced.The executive order confirms that the agreement meets security requirements outlined in legislation from last year, mandating TikTok parent ByteDance to reduce its ownership stake in the U.S. operation to below 20% or cease operations in the country.

The deal involves ByteDance duplicating its algorithm and leasing it to the new entity, which will train it using U.S. user data, thereby reducing Chinese influence under the oversight of cloud-computing firm Oracle.

However, some analysts remain concerned about potential Chinese influence over U.S. operations even with this arrangement.

Final Steps

The involved parties still need to confirm the group of new investors, resolve legal aspects, and secure regulatory approval.