Five big tech stories to watch in 2023 after a tumultuous year - Sky News

Few would reason that 2022 coiled down successful a alternatively tumultuous manner for the tech world.

As Meta laid disconnected much than 11,000 staff to combat its fiscal woes, Twitter began to acquisition aggravated country astatine a rather astonishing complaint following the takeover by Elon Musk.

Elsewhere, 1 of the world's largest cryptocurrency exchanges suddenly collapsed, a record-breaking takeover effort has been brought into doubt, and TikTok is warring a bid to person it banned successful the US.

And successful different motion of politicians throwing their value around, Apple has reluctantly accepted that the plan of its flagship merchandise is present taxable to the whim of an EU directive.

But determination volition nary uncertainty beryllium much play to travel successful the adjacent 12 months.

The authorities of societal media

Plenty of eyes volition beryllium connected Twitter to spot however the level develops nether its caller owner's already melodramatic reign.

"Views are up, but successful the aforesaid mode that radical assemblage to ticker a burning gathering to ticker it spell down," observed writer and sci-fi writer Cory Doctorow astatine Sky News' Big Ideas Live event.

New features volition apt travel and go, more arguable accounts whitethorn return, and Musk's "chainsaw" strategy could spot the fig of employees dwindle further.

Musk could besides extremity up butting caput with politicians, having been warned helium could look EU sanctions for banning salient journalists whose sum helium disproved of.

Various alternatives began to emerge towards the extremity of 2022 arsenic immoderate users sought pastures new, with the decentralised Mastodon the aboriginal front-runner - decidedly 1 to support an oculus connected this year.

Of course, Twitter's accepted rivals are inactive around, though looking alternatively battle-scarred.

Facebook and Instagram users whitethorn find themselves increasing disgruntled if genitor institution Meta keeps batting its eyelashes towards the metaverse instead, arsenic the once-almighty institution continues to effort to reinvent itself aft a disastrous twelvemonth for its banal prices.

And past there's TikTok, which has grown to much than a cardinal users worldwide successful possibly the biggest menace to the dominance of Mark Zuckerberg's platforms.

"So overmuch of this is simply a conflict for attention," says Chris Kelly, Facebook's erstwhile caput of planetary nationalist policy.

"There's robust and wide unfastened contention for idiosyncratic attraction […] and that's beauteous exciting."

But portion TikTok threatens Meta, TikTok itself is being threatened with an outright prohibition successful the US implicit what immoderate politicians spot arsenic a nationalist information hazard from China.

Would the US truly prohibition 1 of the world's astir fashionable apps? The coming twelvemonth whitethorn springiness america the answer.

Race to the metaverse

Zuckerberg's aforementioned pivot to the metaverse represents an tremendous gamble for a institution that has mislaid much than fractional a trillion dollars successful worth since rebranding from Facebook to Meta.

"If helium gets it right, helium saves the company," net entrepreneur Amber Ghaddar told Sky News.

"If helium gets it wrong, I deliberation Facebook is going to beryllium a batch of trouble."

No unit then, Mark.

Not that it's each down to Meta and its absorption connected virtual world erstwhile it comes to the metaverse.

What Meta is gathering should truly beryllium seen arsenic a level wrong the metaverse, though admittedly 1 with tens of billions of dollars being thrown astatine it, and determination are different players successful the space.

There are gaming behemoths similar Fortnite, virtual spaces similar Decentraland, and starring brands looking to merchantability you integer garments, souvenirs and different merchandise - each feeding into this thought of online spaces wherever our virtual selves go conscionable arsenic important arsenic our existent selves.

The contention to the metaverse has been hailed arsenic "the contention for the aboriginal of the internet" - and it's going nowhere.

Crypto nether fire

A propulsion for regularisation is inevitable aft the stunning illness of FTX and apprehension of its founder, charged with "one of the biggest fiscal frauds successful American history".

The downfall of Sam Bankman-Fried volition nary uncertainty animate an Elizabeth Holmes-style media blitz, each portion the manufacture wherever helium made his sanction faces much scrutiny than ever.

Bipartisan authorities is successful the offing successful the US which would clasp cryptocurrency firms to the aforesaid regulations arsenic corporations and banks, portion the Treasury is reportedly acceptable to tighten the UK's ain rules too.

The precocious appointed seat of the UK's fiscal watchdog does not look to beryllium a instrumentality of cryptocurrency, with a Financial Times study quoting him arsenic describing crypto firms arsenic "deliberately evasive" and suggested the assemblage facilitated wealth laundering.

Brian Armstrong, main enforcement of crypto speech Coinbase, told Sky's Ian King the world's fiscal hubs indispensable amended their "crypto-specific regulation", and it seems each but inevitable that we'll spot conscionable that successful 2023.

The accelerated ascent of AI

The net had a caller favourite artifact by the extremity of 2022: ChatGPT.

San Francisco steadfast OpenAI's caller chatbot released to overmuch fanfare, leaving users stunned by its quality to execute everything from recommending fixes for machine coding bugs to meal recipes.

It adjacent helped constitute a Sky News article.

But propulsion it hard capable and its limitations go clearer, often offering overly verbose and surface-level answers reminiscent of idiosyncratic blagging their mode done a occupation interview.

By taking the satellite by tempest overnight, though, it was a reminder of however rapidly almighty caller AIs are emerging.

"Inevitably determination volition beryllium much robots successful everybody's life," Stewart Miller, the caput of the UK's largest and astir precocious robotics centre, told Sky News earlier this year.

"They'll beryllium helping you astatine home, erstwhile you spell retired shopping, erstwhile you spell to a hotel, they'll beryllium progressive successful hospitality, erstwhile you spell to a theatre, everything."

Whether it's ChatGPT taking a large measurement further towards genuine quality intelligence, oregon thing wholly caller emerging from elsewhere, AI is processing accelerated - and we request to support up.

A shake-up for the gaming industry

Microsoft spent overmuch of 2022 trying to person authorities regulators that it could beryllium trusted to implicit what stands to beryllium the biggest takeover successful tech history, arsenic it tries to seal a $69bn (£56bn) woody to bargain Activision.

The institution down the Xbox wants to bring the steadfast liable for Call Of Duty nether its wing, and has faced monstrously stubborn absorption from rival Sony, which says the determination could 1 time spot the blockbuster shooter franchise removed from its PlayStation consoles.

Regulators are taking notice, with the EU and UK contention watchdogs some conducting investigations - and the US's going further by formally moving to artifact the deal.

While Microsoft and Activision stay assured of completing the deal, the FTC has acceptable a proceeding earlier an administrative instrumentality justice for August, truthful expect this 1 to rumble on.

Whatever the outcome, it volition correspond a large shake-up for an manufacture expected to invited astatine slightest 1 large merchandise motorboat successful 2023, with PlayStation's caller VR headset connected the way and persistent rumours of a long-awaited console update from Nintendo.