Google Suspends China's Pinduoduo App Due to Malware Issues

A view of a sign above the entrance of the Google office, ahead of presentation of the detailed investment plan for Germany, in Berlin, Germany, August 31, 2021. REUTERS/Annegret Hilse
A view of a sign above the entrance of the Google office, ahead of presentation of the detailed investment plan for Germany, in Berlin, Germany, August 31, 2021. REUTERS/Annegret Hilse
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Google Suspends China's Pinduoduo App Due to Malware Issues

A view of a sign above the entrance of the Google office, ahead of presentation of the detailed investment plan for Germany, in Berlin, Germany, August 31, 2021. REUTERS/Annegret Hilse
A view of a sign above the entrance of the Google office, ahead of presentation of the detailed investment plan for Germany, in Berlin, Germany, August 31, 2021. REUTERS/Annegret Hilse

Alphabet Inc's Google suspended the Play version of PDD Holdings Inc's Pinduoduo app after malware issues were found on the Chinese platform, a Google spokesperson said on Tuesday.

"The Off-Play versions of the e-commerce app that have been found to contain malware have been enforced on via Google Play Protect," the spokesperson said in a statement, adding that the Play version of the app has been suspended for security concerns.

Google Play Protect scans all of the apps on Android phones and works to prevent the installation of malicious apps.

This comes soon after various efforts by the US government to bolster its cyber defenses amid a steady increase in hacking and digital crimes targeting the country.

The government recently announced a new cybersecurity strategy that named China and Russia as the most prominent cybersecurity threats to the United States.

PDD did not respond to Reuters request for comment.



Adobe Adds AI Models from OpenAI, Google to its Firefly App 

Adobe logo is seen near computer motherboard in this illustration taken January 8, 2024. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration/File Photo
Adobe logo is seen near computer motherboard in this illustration taken January 8, 2024. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration/File Photo
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Adobe Adds AI Models from OpenAI, Google to its Firefly App 

Adobe logo is seen near computer motherboard in this illustration taken January 8, 2024. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration/File Photo
Adobe logo is seen near computer motherboard in this illustration taken January 8, 2024. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration/File Photo

Adobe said on Thursday it is adding image-generation artificial intelligence models from OpenAI and Alphabet's Google to its Firefly app and bringing the app to mobile devices.

Adobe is the owner of multiple software programs such as Photoshop and Premiere that are widely used by creative professionals in the visual arts. Since 2023, the San Jose, California-based company has been developing its own AI models in its Firefly service to generate images and video clips, promising its customers that they won't face legal liability for using the images and video created by those models, Reuters reported.

But last year, Adobe said it was open to also offering third-party models from ChatGPT creator OpenAI and others to its user base.

On Thursday, Adobe said that Firefly users will be able to generate images with OpenAI's GPT image generation, Google Imagen 3, Google Veo 2 and Flux 1.1 Pro, in addition to a new version of its own proprietary Firefly image model. The company plans to offer models from partners including fal.ai, Luma and Runway in the coming months.

"We still have lots and lots of customers for whom taking stuff to production, they will only use Firefly because the commercial safety really matters to them," Ely Greenfield, Adobe's chief technology officer for digital media, told Reuters in an interview on Monday.

"But for other parts of the workflow, like ideation, they're interested in experimenting with other models as well. So we're making that choice available to them."

Adobe's users will be able to generate content with third-party models in Firefly and pull it over into the company's other apps such as Photoshop with a few taps or clicks. They will be able to pay for third-party models with the same system of credits that they use to pay for Adobe's AI models, though Adobe declined to disclose how the revenue will be split between itself and third-party model providers.