In this episode of the MadTech Podcast, ExchangeWire editor Aimee Newell Tarín is joined by head of content John Still and Dion Bailey, co-founder / chief product and tech officer of The News Movement. 

They discuss the Daily Mail’s plan to carry out a strategic overhaul, two lawsuits being brought against Google by Australian publishers, and new AI laws within the EU. 

Daily Mail owner to merge print and online teams (FT)

The Daily Mail owner is planning to make job cuts across the newspaper group as well as merging its print and online teams into a single operation. The strategic overhaul will result in less than 100 job losses. It will also see the Mail on Sunday publications becoming more closely integrated into the newsroom. 

Google hit with two class-action lawsuits by Australian publishers (The Guardian) 

Google is facing two class-action lawsuits from Australian publishers over its dominance in ad tech. The claimants say that Google’s actions have led to publishers receiving less in ad revenue than they otherwise would. On Friday, a hearing took place for the class-action brought by law firm Piper Alderman on behalf of a range of publications. The court also heard a proposed class-action brought by Maurice Blackburn on behalf of regional outlet Riverine Grazier, which is due to be launched in the coming weeks. 

AI systems with ‘unacceptable risk’ now banned in the EU (TechCrunch) 

As of Sunday, the EU has the power to ban the use of AI systems which they deem to pose “unacceptable risk” or harm. This is under the region’s new EU AI Act, which is designed to cover a range of cases where AI might appear and interact with people, from consumer applications to physical environments. The Act’s first compliance deadline was 2nd February.