Google, Tencent Eye Collaboration on New Technologies

The Google logo is seen at the Google headquarters in Mountain View, California November 13, 2015. REUTERS/Stephen Lam
The Google logo is seen at the Google headquarters in Mountain View, California November 13, 2015. REUTERS/Stephen Lam
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Google, Tencent Eye Collaboration on New Technologies

The Google logo is seen at the Google headquarters in Mountain View, California November 13, 2015. REUTERS/Stephen Lam
The Google logo is seen at the Google headquarters in Mountain View, California November 13, 2015. REUTERS/Stephen Lam

Alphabet Inc's Google and Tencent Holdings Ltd on Friday signaled possible future collaboration on developing new technologies as the US and Chinese firms announced a long-term patent-sharing agreement.

The companies gave no details on the scope or nature of the potential cooperation but said in a joint statement that they "are open to deeper collaboration in the future on innovative new technologies".

"By working together on agreements such as this, tech companies can focus on building better products and services for their users," Google’s head of patents, Mike Lee, was quoted saying. 

Sam Xu, head of intellectual property at Tencent, added that the patent agreement would "advance the collaboration between two leading technology companies".

The US technology company has signed similar agreements before with Samsung Electronics, LG Electronics and Cisco Systems Inc, but the deal with Tencent is a first with a large Chinese tech firm.

Tencent oversees China's top social media and payments app, WeChat, which has close to a billion users. It also oversees one of the country's most popular app stores and hosts the country's biggest gaming and livestream platforms.

Any cooperation between the US search giant and China's all-conquering tech leader -- the world's second- and fifth-largest companies by market value, according to Bloomberg News -- is bound to generate buzz in the IT world.



Microsoft Server Hack Has Now Hit 400 Victims, Researchers Say

A view shows the Microsoft logo on the day of the Hannover Messe, one of the world's largest industrial trade fairs with this year's partner country being Canada, as both Canada and the European Union face new US tariffs, in Hanover, Germany, March 31, 2025. (Reuters)
A view shows the Microsoft logo on the day of the Hannover Messe, one of the world's largest industrial trade fairs with this year's partner country being Canada, as both Canada and the European Union face new US tariffs, in Hanover, Germany, March 31, 2025. (Reuters)
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Microsoft Server Hack Has Now Hit 400 Victims, Researchers Say

A view shows the Microsoft logo on the day of the Hannover Messe, one of the world's largest industrial trade fairs with this year's partner country being Canada, as both Canada and the European Union face new US tariffs, in Hanover, Germany, March 31, 2025. (Reuters)
A view shows the Microsoft logo on the day of the Hannover Messe, one of the world's largest industrial trade fairs with this year's partner country being Canada, as both Canada and the European Union face new US tariffs, in Hanover, Germany, March 31, 2025. (Reuters)

A sweeping cyber-espionage campaign organization centered on vulnerable versions of Microsoft's server software has now claimed about 400 victims, according to researchers at Netherlands-based Eye Security.

The figure, which is derived from a count of digital artifacts discovered during scans of servers running vulnerable versions of Microsoft's SharePoint software, compares to 100 organizations cataloged over the weekend. Eye Security says the figure is likely an undercount, Reuters reported.

"There are many more, because not all attack vectors have left artifacts that we could scan for," said Vaisha Bernard, the chief hacker for Eye Security, which was among the first organizations to flag the breaches, Reuters reported.

The spy campaign kicked off after Microsoft failed to fully patch a security hole in its SharePoint server software, kicking off a scramble to fix the vulnerability when it was discovered. Microsoft and its tech rival, Google owner Alphabet, have both said Chinese hackers are among those taking advantage of the flaw. Beijing has denied the claim.

The details of most of the victim organizations have not yet been fully disclosed. Bernard declined to identify them.