Daily Tech Headlines

Microsoft Offers Buyouts to 60,000 Staff to Fund AI – DTH

tommerritt@gmail.com (Tom Merritt) — Tue, 27 Oct 2026 15:57:31 +0000

Meta Commits $825 Billion to AI Infrastructure, Post First Negative Cash Flow in a Decade, Apple Unveils 14-Inch MacBook Pro Powered by New M6 Chip, and Microsoft Releases Out-of-Band Windows Update to Refresh Certificate Trust List.

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Microsoft Offers Voluntary Buyouts to 60,000 Employees

Microsoft is offering voluntary buyouts to approximately 60,000 employees, over a quarter of its global workforce, to manage costs while funding massive capital expenditures in AI. The time-limited program targets eligible roles up to level 70 across Canada, India, the UK, and the US, spanning teams such as Windows, Xbox, AI, finance, and HR.

Source: Reuters

Meta Commits $825 Billion to AI Infrastructure and Announces Stock Split

Meta has committed approximately $825 billion toward AI infrastructure and data centers, causing its first negative quarterly free cash flow in over a decade ($2.12 billion cash burn) despite strong early traction from its Muse AI agent. To support its revised annual capital expenditure forecast of $135–$145 billion, fund acquisitions, retain top talent, and keep CEO Mark Zuckerberg in California ahead of a potential wealth tax, Meta announced a 2-for-1 stock split via Class C shares in January 2027.

Source: Reuters

Apple Introduces 14-Inch MacBook Pro With M6 Chip

Apple has announced the new 14-inch MacBook Pro powered by the M6 chip, offering significant performance gains in CPU, graphics, and on-device AI workloads. Built for students, professionals, and creators, it features up to 24 hours of battery life, Wi-Fi 7, Bluetooth 6, a Liquid Retina XDR display, a 12MP Center Stage camera, and macOS 27 integration. Available in space black and silver, pre-orders start October 28, with full availability beginning November 6.

Source: Apple

Apple Releases iOS 27.2 With Siri AI Enhancements and Security Fixes

Apple has released iOS 27.2, introducing Siri AI enhancements such as expanded language support and conversational memory, along with Apple Pencil support for the iPhone Duo. Additional features include Dual Capture for FaceTime, Multiview sports streaming, and over 160 security updates, including a critical backported fix for targeted exploits.

Source: TechCrunch

Microsoft Issues Emergency Windows Certificate Update

Microsoft released an out-of-band Windows update to refresh the Certificate Trust List (CTL) on devices disconnected from automatic updates, removing seven certificates linked to compromised eMudhra keys. The update includes previously released October 13 changes and their associated known issues, such as VPN and Exchange Server breakages, but does not resolve them.

Source: The Register

OpenAI Announces New Discoveries in Mathematics, Computer Science, and Physics

OpenAI announced new AI-generated discoveries across mathematics, computer science, and physics, expanding on its recent mathematical breakthroughs. To review and explain these complex outputs—including manuscripts targeting Sogge’s local smoothing conjecture and challenging the Exponential Time Hypothesis—OpenAI has engaged external expert collaborators who will author writeups, receive academic credit, and ensure proper attribution to past research.

Source: Engadget

iPhone 18 Pro Sales Rise 3.1% Globally, Driven by China

According to Counterpoint Research, global sales of Apple’s iPhone 18 Pro series rose 3.1% in its first three weeks compared to the iPhone 17 Pro, driven primarily by strong 29% growth in China alongside solid performance in India. However, sales in the U.S. and Japan declined by 4% and 27% respectively due to higher prices and minimal feature upgrades, while the Pro Max model remained the top seller at 56% of total series sales.

Source: Reuters

Opera Introduces WebAI for Running AI Models Locally in Browsers

Browser maker Opera has introduced WebAI, an open standard that enables users to run AI models—such as Google’s Gemma and Apple’s on-device foundation model—locally within the browser without relying on cloud infrastructure. Available as an opt-in preview in Opera One and coming soon to Opera GX and Neon, WebAI offers enhanced privacy, cost savings, and developer flexibility by keeping data on the device, though performance will depend on individual computer hardware.

Source: TechCrunch

Nvidia Invests $3 Billion in Meta as AI Partnership Expands

Nvidia and Meta are expanding their partnership on Meta’s Muse AI agent, with Meta deploying Nvidia’s next-generation Vera Rubin infrastructure and Nvidia investing $3 billion in Meta’s equity fundraise. To finance its massive AI infrastructure investments, Meta announced plans to raise up to $95 billion through public stock offerings, including upsized tranches of Class A common stock and convertible preferred stock.

Source: The Wall Street Journal

CISA Orders Emergency Patching of Critical PHP Vulnerabilities

U.S. cybersecurity agency CISA has warned federal agencies to patch two critical PHP vulnerabilities,dubbed PHP2Shell, within three days due to active exploitation in the wild. Undiscovered or deprioritized for years, the dormant flaws in the widely used web language were recently shown to be exploitable using AI models, highlighting ongoing risks for under-resourced open-source infrastructure.

Source: TechCrunch

Anthropic Files for IPO – DTH

tommerritt@gmail.com (Tom Merritt) — Mon, 26 Oct 2026 16:17:17 +0000

Apple announces a new OLED iPad mini, Turo starts promoting self-driving Teslas, Google brings Beam to deployed US service members.

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A Brighter Mini, a Bigger Price

Apple’s new iPad mini adds an 8.5-inch OLED screen, A20 Pro chip, water and dust resistance, and audio through the display. It starts at $699, with preorders October 28 and availability November 6. Apple’s Pro and Tell event follows Wednesday at 10 AM Pacific, with touchscreen MacBooks expected.

source: MacRumors

The Fold Comes With a Repair Bill

iFixit calls the iPhone Duo its most repairable foldable yet, thanks to accessible parts and electrically released batteries. Its textured cover helps hide the crease and can be replaced for $49 without AppleCare, but repairing inner-display damage still costs $999 without coverage.

source: iFixit

ANT Heads Toward the Market

Anthropic’s public IPO filing puts the Claude maker on course for a Nasdaq listing as ANT. Share pricing and a final valuation remain unset, despite estimates above $1.5 trillion. The filing also reveals roughly $80.7 billion in losses during the first half of 2026.

source: The Guardian

A Little Less Permission

Rights holders to Elvis Presley’s music want about $41 million from Anthropic, alleging it trained AI on 274 songs without permission and bypassed copyright protections. The suit was filed Friday in San Francisco federal court. Anthropic disputes the allegations and says it will defend the case.

source: Engadget

Claude Goes Around the Tollbooth

Anthropic confirms Claude accessed Georgia’s aggregate vote counts without authorization by bypassing a paywall during an internal statistics project. The company says no voter registration system was accessed and no individual voting records were retrieved or changed. It says safeguards now block this behavior.

source: Axios

A Test Drive, With Supervision

Turo will flag Tesla rentals with Full Self-Driving Supervised, using Tesla’s system to verify availability and offering eligible hosts a free month. Listings can advertise the cars as self-driving, but renters must monitor the software and be ready to take over.

source: TechCrunch

A More Life-Sized Call Home

Google Beam is expanding to 20 USO locations worldwide after a pilot connected Fort Bliss with Poland. The former Project Starline uses cameras, AI, spatial audio, and a specialized display to give deployed service members and their families lifelike 3D calls. Consumer availability remains unannounced.

source: Engadget

149 Speakers Walk Into an Office

WIRED chained 149 of Ikea’s $10 Kallsup speakers, exceeding the advertised 100-speaker claim after one unit arrived broken. The half-hour setup worked well at moderate volume, then traded clarity for overwhelming noise at full blast. A $500 party speaker delivered better bass than the $1,490 wall.

source: WIRED

Instagram Now Available on Apple TV – DTH

tommerritt@gmail.com (Tom Merritt) — Sun, 25 Oct 2026 18:32:38 +0000

Instagram is now available on Apple TV, the UK Cabinet Office announces a new AI Biosecurity Lab, and Audio-Technica reveals $3,799 wired headphones.

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Show Notes

Instagram Launches Apple TV App With Reels and More

Instagram is now available on Apple TV as a proper app, making Reels, longer videos, and live shows available on the device. Instagram was first testing its TV app on Amazon Fire devices back in December 2025, then Google TV in February 2026, and Samsung Smart TVs in June. On Apple TV the app requires tvOS 26.0 or later.

Source: Digital Trends

Western Australia seeks refund from Deloitte over flawed AI-aided report

The government of Western Australia is pursuing a fast refund from Deloitte over discovering AI-generated references to non-existent sources, as well as incorrect cost totals for a project. The report was a cost-benefit analysis regarding a plan to merge the University of Western Australia, Curtin University, and Murdoch University for which the state paid AU$166,000. Issues on sourcing were first discovered in October, with Deloitte dismissing them as minor errors and the government had the firm correct them. Now the Guardian Australia discovered sums in the appendix are incorrect. Deloitte did not respond to the Guardian Australia’s request for comment. In 2025 Deloitte agreed to partly refund Australia’s federal government over a report that also was found to contain AI-generated issues.

Source: The Next Web and The Guardian

Instacart reportedly discussed selling itself with DoorDash and Uber

On Friday The Information reported Instacart hired an investment bank to evaluate the company’s future options, including holding acquisition talks with DoorDash. Bloomberg reported Instacart also had discussions with Uber, though Uber apparently walked away. Instacart declined to comment to any outlet.

Source: TechCrunch

UK to invest £100m in ‘world first’ AI Biosecurity Lab

On Saturday, the UK Cabinet Office announced the government will put £100m towards a new AI Biosecurity Lab, which will use AI to spot and respond to biological threats. OpenAI and Anthropic will contribute compute and model credits up to approximately £200m combined. The lab will be run as an independent non-profit and public bodies will participate. Listed organizations include the UK Health Security Agency and the Defence Science and Technology Laboratory, with medicine regulator MHRA, also working with the lab on how to handle medicines designed by AI. More details expected on Wednesday with the next Budget announcement.

Source: BBC and The Next Web

r/opensource just banned AI, non-English speakers and more

On Saturday moderators of the subreddit r/opensource announced large changes to its submission rules, including banning projects using AI. The updated rules lead with the sentence, “If your project uses AI, is made by AI, or is intended for AI, it’s not welcome on r/opensource. AI, as it exists today, is incongruent to this Open Source community.” In comments on the post some moderators have clarified that projects with some AI accessibility options, like auto captioning, may continue to be permitted. The tightened submission restrictions now require projects to be a minimum of a year old, actively maintained, and have more than a single contributor, eliminating posts from solo devs. Furthermore, the new guidelines say “If you don’t speak English, you need to find a different community. We cannot distinguish between AI-written and AI-translated. Since you don’t speak English, you can’t even verify yourself if it translated correctly.” Discussion of these changes in the subreddit remains ongoing.

Source: The Verge and r/opensource

Steam rolls out Personal Calendar feature that constantly updates recommended games

Following months-long testing in Steam Labs, Valve officially launched the “Personal Calendar”, a new section on the Steam store homepage to show gamers a customized timeline of game recommendations based on their play habits. Valve does note in the announcement that the feature focuses more heavily on games a player has the most time invested in and that testing out new games or demos will not have any kind of drastic impact on the recommendations. The Personal Calendar automatically filters out games based on a user’s previously set up store content preferences, maintaining any ignored products, ignored tags, and level of mature content.

Source: Steam and Engadget

Audio-Technica is calling these $3,800 wooden headphones its finest ever

Audio-Technica announced the ATH-AWX7000, claiming it is the company’s “finest headphones ever.” These new, wired, closed-back headphones have hand-finished Japanese woodwork, a 58mm driver, weight approximately 353 grams, have no noise cancellation or bluetooth, and cost $3,799. Audio-Technica says every pair is manufactured in Tokyo, includes a a hard carrying case, and is available now.

Source: Digital Trends

OpenAI Builds An “Offline World” To Train Frontier Models – DTH

tommerritt@gmail.com (Tom Merritt) — Sat, 24 Oct 2026 16:10:30 +0000

Moonshot AI releases Kimi K3.1 Pro, Ukraine says Starlink and Starshield are working normally again, Block introduces Dessa, a voice AI trained from human conversation alone.

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Show Notes

Kimi Closes the Gap

Moonshot’s Kimi K3.1 Pro has climbed to fourth on the Artificial Analysis Intelligence Index, three points behind Claude Opus 5.5, while developer prices fall by a third. It’s available through Kimi now alongside a faster variant, with downloadable model weights planned by November 4.

source: The Decoder

A Cable Threat Beneath the Gulf

Two Iranian security officials told Reuters that renewed US and Israeli attacks could trigger strikes on Gulf communications cables and efforts to block repairs. Banking and cloud services could suffer, though TeleGeography says less than 1% of international bandwidth passes through the Strait of Hormuz.

source: Reuters

Your Helpful AI Has an Ad Policy

Google’s updated policy allows information voluntarily shared from Gmail, Drive, and Photos to inform ads in eligible services, an exception to its default restrictions. Disconnecting apps from Search’s Personal Intelligence settings won’t necessarily remove information already saved in Search Services History.

source: Android Authority

Ukraine Gets Its Satellite Speed Back

Ukraine’s Defense Ministry says Starlink and Starshield connections are again stable above 400 kilometers an hour, following restrictions that disrupted fast-moving drones. The ministry confirmed restoration Saturday after conflicting reports and says monitoring continues.

source: The Wall Street Journal

OpenAI Pulls the Training Plug

OpenAI says its most advanced research models now train without live internet access after a September 20 network escape prompted an 11-day pause. Training resumed October 1 with stronger safeguards and cached or simulated web content; the policy concerns internal research environments, rather than customer systems.

source: Bloomberg

Your Desktop, To Go

SparkyOS puts a full, updatable Arch Linux desktop on a USB drive, carrying your files and apps between computers without installing onto their internal disks. It requires a 64-bit Intel or AMD PC with UEFI, and The Register recommends fast USB 3 storage, spare capacity, and backups.

source: The Register

Another Round in the Ring

Oura’s latest Texas federal lawsuit claims Ultrahuman’s redesigned Ring Pro still infringes design and hardware patents, following an earlier import ban affecting older rings. Ultrahuman says the Ring Pro remains available in the US and that it will contest the allegations.

source: Engadget

Xbox’s New Role Is Vacant Already

Helen Chiang left Microsoft Friday after 21 years, just months into her role as Xbox’s first chief operating officer. An internal memo obtained by The Verge says other leaders will divide her responsibilities while plans for the role remain pending; Microsoft hasn’t explained her departure.

source: The Verge

Dessa Learns to Talk by Listening

Block, formerly Square, says its Dessa voice AI learned from human conversation alone and can listen and speak at the same time, including laughter and interruptions. The company says it runs on an M4 Max MacBook Pro or better, with access initially limited to a small group of AI safety researchers.

source: The Verge

Greece Bans Social Media for Children Under 15 Starting in 2027 – DTH

tommerritt@gmail.com (Tom Merritt) — Fri, 23 Oct 2026 16:14:13 +0000

Global PC Shipments Drop 21% in Q3 Driven by Rising Costs and Supply Shortages, U.S. Proposes Tech Investment Restrictions for Foreign Adversaries, and Spotify Introduces QR Code Verification for Family Plans.

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Greece Bans Social Media for Children Under 15

Greece’s parliament has passed a law banning children under 15 from using social media platforms like TikTok, Instagram, Facebook, and X starting January 1, 2027. The legislation requires platforms to implement reliable age verification and utilizes state-backed apps to block access on children’s devices. Spearheaded by Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis despite opposition from minority parties, the measure enjoys broad support among adults and aims to set a precedent for broader European Union regulations.

Source: Engadget

Global PC Shipments Plunge 21% in Q3

Global PC shipments dropped 21 percent year-over-year in Q3 to 57 million units, driven by rising component costs, AI-induced RAM shortages, and tariffs that have pushed system prices out of reach for many consumers. While major vendors like HP, Dell, and Lenovo suffered steep declines, Apple and ASUS fared relatively better due to budget offerings and market resilience. Analysts expect the downturn to persist through Q4 and into 2027 as consumers delay purchases until component prices normalize.

Source: Engadget

U.S. Treasury Proposes Expanded Restrictions on Foreign Tech Investments

The U.S. Treasury Department proposed a new rule expanding national security restrictions on American investments in high-tech sectors—such as artificial intelligence, supercomputing, biotechnology, and hypersonic systems—in foreign adversaries like China, Russia, and North Korea. Codifying and broadening a 2023 executive order and 2025 legislation, the rule aims to limit capital flow into foreign military-relevant capabilities, though it faces criticism and pushback from Chinese officials amid ongoing tech and trade rivalries between the two nations.

Source: AP News

Spotify Introduces QR Code Verification for Family Plans

Spotify confirmed a new QR code verification method for its Family Plan to ensure members reside in the same household as the plan manager. Members have seven days to scan the code from the manager’s phone or risk losing access and being barred from joining another shared plan for 12 months. Co-CEO Alex Norström described the update as a “routine improvement” to close account-sharing loopholes and convert non-eligible users into paying individual subscribers.

Source: TechCrunch

The Browser Company Is Shutting Down Arc on December 22

The Browser Company is officially sunsetting its Arc browser on December 22 to shift its focus entirely to Dia, its new AI-powered web browser. Arc users will lose access to their accounts on that date, but all bookmarks, extensions, passwords, and history can automatically transfer over to Dia, where optional generative AI features offer tools like context-aware chat, tab summaries, and daily briefs.

Source: Engadget

Microsoft’s AI Diagnostic System Outperforms Doctors in Complex Cases

According to a study published in Science, Microsoft’s MAI-DxO diagnostic system outperformed generalist physicians in diagnosing complex medical simulated cases, achieving up to 87% accuracy with advanced models like GPT-5.5. Led by Microsoft AI CEO Mustafa Suleyman, the initiative aims to build “medical superintelligence” and address global healthcare shortages by partnering with institutions like the Mayo Clinic and Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center to refine clinical decision-making and advance AI-driven medical record processing.

Source: TechCrunch

Bluesky Adds iPad Support and Profile Links

Bluesky has officially launched its latest feature update, bringing dedicated beta support for iPads to significantly enhance usability, layout optimization, and general performance on Apple tablets. Alongside tablet optimizations, the platform has introduced a dedicated “Links” section within profile settings. This new feature empowers creators, public figures, and general users to display external platforms directly on their profiles, making it substantially easier to showcase personal websites, online portfolios, or monetization pages such as Patreon and Ko-fi.

Source: Engadget

AI-Discovered Software Bugs Could Trigger New Cybersecurity Disruptions

AI advances are rapidly exposing software vulnerabilities, accelerating exploit weaponization, and disrupting critical infrastructure. PHP weakness outages illustrate how AI automated scanning forces rapid defensive patching before mass exploitation. While experts debate the near-term risk of increased attacks, many expect resolving these hidden flaws to improve long-term digital security.

Source: Reuters

OpenAI Nears $30 Billion Funding Round at $1.25 Trillion Valuation

OpenAI is closing in on a funding round of up to $30 billion led by UAE investors and Coatue, which could value the company at $1.25 trillion as a bridge toward an expected 2027 IPO, while rival Anthropic is similarly preparing for a massive public offering after confidential SEC filings from both AI leaders.

Source: CNBC

YouTube Hits Record 15.8% Share of TV Viewing

Total TV usage dropped 4.4% in August 2026, cccording to Nielsen, following a World Cup-fueled surge, though streaming and cable expanded their overall viewing shares to 49.6% and 18.9% respectively. YouTube maintained its overall leadership as top media distributor with a record 15.8% share, driven by growth among older adults, while Disney, Netflix, NBCUniversal, and Paramount followed behind.

Source: TheWrap

Meta Ordered to Pay Record $25B in New Mexico Privacy Lawsuit – DTH

tommerritt@gmail.com (Tom Merritt) — Thu, 22 Oct 2026 16:15:59 +0000

DeepSeek Raises $15B from CATL and Tencent to Expand AI Infrastructure, Fortnite Returns to Apple App Store in Australia After Court Ruling, and Comcast Reports Q3 Broadband Losses, Job Cuts Expected Despite Earnings Beat.

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Meta Ordered to Pay Record $25 Billion Privacy Penalty

A New Mexico judge has ordered Meta to pay a record $25 billion penalty for violating the state’s Unfair Practices Act by misleading residents about user data privacy in connection with the Cambridge Analytica scandal. The ruling stems from a jury finding 43 million violations, with the awarded funds designated specifically for New Mexico’s school system. Meanwhile, Meta is pursuing an appeal challenging the calculation of violations, which was based on potential user exposure rather than proven viewership, and arguing that the fine violates constitutional protections against excessive punishment.

Source: Engadget | Reuters

DeepSeek Reportedly Raises $15 Billion Despite U.S. Restrictions

Despite recent U.S. security restrictions, Chinese AI startup DeepSeek has raised approximately $15 billion from major domestic investors like CATL and Tencent to expand its AI infrastructure and open models. Founded in 2023 by Liang Wenfeng, DeepSeek gained global prominence with its open-weight reasoning model and joins a broader wave of massive capital investments in China’s AI industry alongside rivals like Moonshot AI, Zhipu AI, and MiniMax.

Source: TechCrunch

Fortnite Returns to Apple’s App Store in Australia

Epic Games announced that “Fortnite” will return to Apple’s App Store in Australia after a court ruled Apple violated competition law. Apple plans to appeal to protect its platform security. Meanwhile, Google has asked the U.S. Supreme Court to freeze a ruling requiring major changes to the Google Play store in a separate lawsuit brought by Epic, arguing the order would cause significant harm.

Source: Reuters

Comcast Reports Steep Subscriber Losses as Peacock Gains Momentum

Comcast reported steep third-quarter subscriber losses in its broadband and cable-TV units, exceeding Wall Street estimates and prompting reports of planned job cuts, even as adjusted earnings beat expectations. While the company faces intense market competition for high-speed internet and is using mobile bundling strategies to retain users, its NBCUniversal media operations showed strong momentum, led by Peacock subscriber growth and profitability alongside historic box office results for Universal films, offsetting softer performance in its theme parks division.

Source: Bloomberg

Meta’s Muse AI App Surpasses 10 Million Users

During its Q3 earnings call, Meta reported that its AI app Muse has reached over 10 million users, with strong daily retention and an unexpected high average purchase size for agentic shopping via Plaid. CEO Mark Zuckerberg highlighted popular use cases like personal productivity, underpinned by new security features, and outlined plans to scale the agent, integrate it with smart glasses, launch a collaborative “Muse network,” and monetize through transaction fees and premium tiers while driving down compute costs by 10x to achieve profitability.

Source: TechCrunch

Roku Launches Pro Series LX OLED TVs Starting at $1,300

Roku has launched its Pro Series LX OLED TVs exclusively on Amazon in 55-inch ($1,300) and 65-inch ($1,600) models. Positioned as Roku’s most advanced TVs yet, the LX series features a 144Hz variable refresh rate, higher brightness, wider color range, anti-reflective polarizer, and a rechargeable hands-free voice remote. Designed with ultra-thin metal bezels, these Roku OS-powered displays also support Dolby Vision, HDR10+, and Dolby Atmos.

Source: Engadget

1Password Expands Secure Credential Access for AI Agents

1Password has expanded its integration platform with 1Password for Agents, enabling AI models, including Meta’s Muse, OpenAI’s Dots, and SpaceXAI’s Grok Bot, to perform tasks like booking reservations and making purchases without ever viewing sensitive vault credentials. By requiring user approval for each session and injecting login details and MFA codes via a secure channel outside the model’s view, the system aims to serve as a trust layer for AI automation, though users are still advised to exercise caution given the potential for AI operational errors.

Source: Engadget

Anthropic Introduces Claude Duet AI Agent

Anthropic has introduced Claude Duet, a new AI agent research preview powered by Claude Opus 5.5 and designed to assist professionals and small business owners with daily briefs, administrative tasks, and complex workflows across connected apps. Available as a standalone app on iOS and Android as well as on the web, Duet uses a virtual machine with a browser, built-in memory, and dedicated safety classifiers requiring user approval for major actions, though access is currently limited to Pro and Max subscribers in the US via a waitlist.

Source: The Verge

Hugging Face Releases Carbon-X AI Model for DNA Research

Hugging Face has released Carbon-X, a new 14-billion-parameter open AI model developed with researchers in China and Italy that allows users to chat with DNA in natural language. Designed to assist with drug discovery, genetic therapy design, and interpreting genetic mutations, the model runs locally on a user’s hardware to protect sensitive genomic data and was deliberately trained without viral DNA to mitigate biosecurity risks.

Source: Wired

Electronic Arts Shuts Down BioWare and Cancels Next Mass Effect

Electronic Arts is shutting down BioWare, the studio behind Mass Effect, Baldur’s Gate, and Dragon Age, to focus on fewer large-scale projects. Founded in 1995, BioWare pioneered modern RPGs with branching narratives and inclusive customization, earning awards and selling over 12 million copies of Dragon Age: Inquisition. However, recent struggles with Anthem and Dragon Age: The Veilguard led to the closure of its Edmonton office and the cancellation of the next Mass Effect game, sparking widespread regret.

Source: Washington Post

First Wave of iPhone Duo Reviews Are In – DTH

tommerritt@gmail.com (Tom Merritt) — Wed, 21 Oct 2026 16:13:38 +0000

PHP releases big security fixes, Nvidia unveils the modular DSX POD, are Tesla and SpaceX merging?

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Show Notes

Two Problems, One Busy Day for Website Admins

PHP has released emergency fixes for two critical flaws that could let attackers run code on servers behind WordPress, Drupal, and other sites. Separately, compromised eMudhra certificate keys could help attackers impersonate legitimate websites; Chrome and Firefox have blocked the affected certificates, but other software and devices may still be exposed.

source: Engadget | source: The Verge

The Duo Debuts, Apps Play Catch-Up

Early iPhone Duo reviews are largely positive, though apps still need work on the new screen shape, and The Verge reports heat during extended use. Apple told WIRED that a Reachability update later this year will make controls along the wider screen’s edges easier to reach.

source: WIRED

Nvidia Packs the Data Center

Nvidia says its modular DSX POD design could bring a prepared AI data center site online in 14 days instead of six months, with deliveries starting in early 2027. Its broader DSX platform also promises up to 30% less power for the same AI output and no evaporative cooling water loss, though extreme heat may require additional cooling.

source: Data Center Dynamics

The Safety Monitor Went Missing

OpenAI disclosed two internal incidents in which coding agents weakened safety monitoring, including one that removed a monitor and falsely denied doing so. The company says it’s strengthening oversight and investigating whether the agents were too persistent about finishing tasks or inclined to evade monitoring.

source: The Verge

Elon Meets Elon, Through Committees

Tesla and SpaceX have appointed independent director committees to explore a merger requested by shareholders. Elon Musk supports combining their technology efforts but says his conflicts keep him out of the talks, and a deal isn’t certain.

source: The Verge

Gemini Brings Your Context Along for the Ride

Personal Intelligence is rolling out to Android Auto, letting Gemini draw on your Google apps for requests such as directions to an appointment without needing its address. It’s opt-in, carries over from your phone, and will reach cars with Google built-in in the coming months; eligible personal accounts exclude the UK, European Economic Area, Switzerland, and Nigeria for now.

source: 9to5Google

A Million Things to Sync

OneDrive’s Mac sync limit is rising from 300,000 items to one million, with an Insider preview this month and general availability targeted for June 2027. Hardware and configuration requirements apply, and large read-only libraries or accounts under legal hold may still perform slowly.

source: The Register

Claude Takes a First Step Toward Antivenom

Anthropic says a Claude-assisted research project produced 17 proteins that bound to individual scorpion toxins out of 211 lab-tested designs. The proteins haven’t been shown to neutralize venom in cells, so there’s no antivenom yet; the company is releasing the designs and test data.

source: Anthropic

DHS Orders Federal Agencies to Ban Chinese AI Startup DeepSeek Over Security Concerns – DTH

tommerritt@gmail.com (Tom Merritt) — Tue, 20 Oct 2026 16:10:46 +0000

Qualcomm Cuts Global Workforce Following Performance Reviews, Meta Updates Commercial Terms Following Backlash Over Website Scraping, and Apple Commits $100M to Recycled Titanium Purchase for Foldable iPhone Duo.

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Show Notes

U.S. Orders Federal Agencies to Remove DeepSeek AI

The U.S. Department of Homeland Security has ordered federal civilian agencies to purge and cease purchasing products or services from Chinese AI startup DeepSeek due to national security and data privacy concerns. This order, expanding on previous intelligence community restrictions, also affects third-party systems built on DeepSeek’s low-cost open-weight models and follows allegations of unauthorized model distillation from U.S. rivals like OpenAI and Anthropic. In response, China’s Foreign Ministry criticized the U.S. for politicizing technology, while Beijing reportedly considers its own export restrictions on advanced AI tools.

Source: TechCrunch

Qualcomm Plans Worldwide Job Cuts

Qualcomm plans to reduce its global workforce following annual performance reviews to foster a stronger performance culture and align skills with evolving business priorities. The chipmaker has faced slumping consumer electronics sales and slower share growth in 2026, alongside forecast shortfalls in Apple revenue. However, Qualcomm expects non-handset businesses, particularly in the expanding AI data-center market, to offset these losses and drive the majority of chip sales by fiscal 2027.

Source: Reuters

Meta Revises Website Scraping Terms After Backlash

Meta updated its commercial terms of service after facing backlash from publishers and legal experts over language granting broad permission to scrape business account websites. Although Meta removed explicit mention of AI “training” and stated the changes only apply to advertising and business products, critics argue the updated terms still significantly expand Meta’s scraping rights and spark serious legal and privacy concerns across the media industry.

Source: Engadget

Apple Commits $100 Million to U.S. Titanium Manufacturing

Apple has committed to purchasing up to $100 million of recycled titanium over three years from Pennsylvania-based Perryman Company to support products like the foldable iPhone Duo. This investment is part of Apple’s American Manufacturing Program, which also includes expanding partnerships with Qnity Electronics for camera system films, sourcing chips from TSMC’s Arizona plant, and manufacturing cover glass at Corning’s Kentucky facility.

Source: Reuters

OpenCode Security Breach Exposes Users’ API Keys

Open-source AI coding agent, OpenCode, experienced a security breach affecting 1.4% of users on its online Console platform, resulting in exposed API keys and unauthorized charges across various AI services. During the incident, the team faced challenges defending against the attack as commercial AI safety filters blocked their analysis of malicious payloads. Although access to OpenAI’s Daybreak Blue program eventually aided the investigation and key providers moved to revoke compromised credentials, the incident underscores the growing complications and security risks associated with AI-driven cyber threats.

Source: TechCrunch

OpenAI Targets Legacy Code Modernization With AI

OpenAI is enhancing its AI models to assist enterprise customers and banks with modernizing legacy systems written in older programming languages like COBOL, Fortran, and Visual Basic. While models like GPT-6 Astra and GPT-6.1 Sol demonstrate high accuracy on benchmarks like MultiLangBench and in behavior-preserving code migration, OpenAI emphasizes that successful deployment on production systems still requires expert review and rigorous testing against business rules.

Source: Engadget

TikTok Executives Ignored Internal Child Safety Warnings

Unsealed court records reveal that TikTok executives were repeatedly warned by internal safety staff about significant child safety risks on the platform, including algorithmic rabbit holes linked to suicidal ideation and minors participating in transactional sexual content on TikTok Live. Depositions from former safety leaders like Eric Han and Reagen Maher indicate senior leadership failed to adequately address or disclose these dangers to parents, adding weight to ongoing federal multi-district litigation against major social media companies.

Source: The Verge

DeepSeek Open-Sources AI Inference Framework to Cut Costs

DeepSeek has open-sourced DeepInfer, its in-house inference framework powering the DeepSeek-V4.1-Flash model, aiming to lower compute costs, reduce energy use, and make AI model execution more affordable. By sharing production-level techniques such as distributed inference, DeepSeek allows cloud providers and enterprises to deploy its models more efficiently on their own infrastructure or adapt these optimizations for other inferencing systems.

Source: Bloomberg

Yelp Introduces AI Agent to Call Restaurants for Users

Yelp is introducing “Check for Me,” a new feature that uses a voice AI agent to call restaurants and inquire about wait times on behalf of app users. Alongside this feature, Yelp is updating its AI assistant with OpenTable reservation integration, personalized preference memory, custom reminders, and shareable lists, while also launching “Smart Lead Reply” to help small business owners automatically handle customer inquiries.

Source: TechCrunch

Spotify Launches Paid Podcast Memberships in 34 Markets

Spotify has launched paid memberships globally across 34 markets, allowing podcast creators to offer exclusive perks to their fans, such as bonus content, early access, and reduced ads, while retaining 90% of the revenue. Available to eligible creators hosting on Spotify for Creators or Megaphone, memberships are purchased via the web and expand Spotify’s monetization suite alongside advertising and partner programs to better compete with platforms like YouTube.

Source: TechCrunch

Deutsche Telekom, Orange, Telefónica, & Vodafone Explore Starlink Rival

tommerritt@gmail.com (Tom Merritt) — Mon, 19 Oct 2026 17:00:44 +0000

New info on ShinyHunters FBI data breach case, Aerospace company Sceye completes a 30-day airship round trip to Japan, Gemini 4 Argon Model beats Minecraft’s Ender Dragon without human help.

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Show Notes

The Negotiator on the Other Side

KrebsOnSecurity’s sources say a US consulting executive may have helped operate ShinyHunters’ extortion site, which threatened to expose stolen files from nearly 100 victims. Investigators reportedly found the connection in a suspect’s messages; the executive and firm remain unnamed because neither has been charged.

source: KrebsOnSecurity

Anthropic Sets Aside a Stake

Anthropic plans to dedicate 5% of its shares to a company-owned Public Benefit Fund, pending stockholder approval, with possible increases as its valuation grows. Potential uses include nonprofit grants and direct payments to people affected by AI, while oversight details are still to come.

source: TechCrunch

Cell Service Takes the High Road

A 30-day flight between New Mexico and Japan gave aerospace company Sceye a chance to test an airborne cell tower with Japanese carrier SoftBank. From 54,000 feet, its uncrewed airship supported calls, video, and emergency alerts, demonstrating a potential backup for damaged networks and a connection for underserved areas.

source: Ars Technica

New Claims in the OpenAI Bugging Case

Prosecutors say former OpenAI engineer Abdulrahman Alfozan exchanged frequent messages with a Saudi royal who wanted to recruit him, but don’t allege the royal ordered him to plant recording devices. Ahead of Monday’s San Francisco hearing, prosecutors sought detention without bail, while his lawyer requested home detention and GPS monitoring.

source: CNBC

Europe Looks for Another Satellite Signal

Deutsche Telekom, Orange, Telefónica, and Vodafone are considering a joint spectrum bid for satellite connections to ordinary phones, using a provider they haven’t selected. The effort comes as an EU proposal to reserve the spectrum for European players draws threats of US retaliation; a service launch remains undated.

source: Financial Times

DeepSeek Gets a Federal Exit Order

Homeland Security has directed federal civilian agencies to remove Chinese developer DeepSeek’s AI technology and halt new purchases, extending the restrictions to affiliates and third-party implementations. The public notice follows a federal supply-chain review but provides neither specific security concerns nor a removal deadline.

source: The Wall Street Journal

Four Agents, One Dragon, 605 Deaths

Google DeepMind’s Gemini 4 Argon agents completed Minecraft’s Ender Dragon challenge in roughly 27 hours, coordinating tasks and writing nearly 2,800 programs without human help. The team played on Easy in a random world, using code and text to control characters rather than a screen and keyboard.

source: Engadget

Vinted Screens the Post-Riot Listings

Secondhand marketplace Vinted is removing listings suspected of offering goods looted during riots in France, its largest market. The company says it has increased monitoring and may permanently ban sellers who violate its rules.

source: Bloomberg

Meta Clarifies Terms of Service Change Over AI Training Concerns – DTH

tommerritt@gmail.com (Tom Merritt) — Sun, 18 Oct 2026 17:11:39 +0000

Meta updated their update to its Terms of Service over concerns from companies about AI scraping, Disney offers $180 million over three years to Character.ai, and Qualcomm denies rumors about some Snapdragon 8 chips overheating.

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Show Notes

Meta removes language that raised scraping and AI training concerns

Following Friday’s Meta announcement about a terms of service change that would allow the company to scrape content from sites linked to Meta business accounts to train AI models, which would have begun October 30th, Meta has updated this ToS update. In a statement to The Verge a Meta spokesperson said, “We’ve heard you and want to clarify: the crawling terms we consolidated only applied to our ads and business products, and we’ve clarified that in the terms themselves. It does not change how Meta uses web crawlers.”

Source: The Verge and TechCrunch

Disney Offers $180 Million Soft Landing to Staff at Bankrupt AI Firm

As part of Disney buying some assets from Character.ai for $20 million, the company announced it would hire more than 60 Character workers, and pay roughly $180 million in the first three years. This deal must still be approved by a bankruptcy judge.

Source: Bloomberg

Microsoft axes AI deal in setback for UK data centre pioneer

British company Nscale’s plans for a major data center in Essex hit a major setback with Microsoft deciding to pull out of the deal announced last year. The project has been troubled by delays amid growing public discontent with data centers and an industry wide sell-off. The data site was intended to come online in 2027, and grid bosses told Nscale they do not expect a power supply until the 2030s.

Source: The Telegraph

Qualcomm says rumors about Snapdragon 8 Elite Extreme Gen 6 overheating are ‘inaccurate’

Qualcomm is denying reports out of Korea that its Snapdragon 8 Elite Extreme Gen 6 chips are overheating. Qualcomm further denies this alleged problem is causing issues with its relationship with Samsung, specifically the rumors the company is considering skipping the Snapdragon 8 Elite due to said alleged thermal problems. Qualcomm CMO Don McGuire posted on X, “Recent reporting about thermal issues related to Snapdragon 8 Elite Extreme Gen 6 is inaccurate” and that the company continues to “work closely with global OEMs to deliver premium user experiences.”

Source: 9to5Google

Mercedes-AMG’s new electric SUV brings 1,153hp and a serious attitude

On October 17th, Mercedes-AMG unveiled the AMG GT SUV, the first full-size SUV developed entirely in-house. The range includes a GT 53, GT 55, and GT 63 models, with the top versions aimed at drivers looking for basically a supercar performance in an SUV. Mercedes-AMG announced the AMG GT 63 SUV will possess 1,153 horsepower, with three electric motors, delivering up to 711 horsepower continuously. It’ll also have ultra-fast charging and improved chassis technology. No price was announced thought the GT SUV is expected in the United States in summer 2027.

Source: Digital Trends

These Samsung Galaxy tablets are in their last year of software support

Owners of the S9 series of Samsung Galaxy tablets will see support for their devices coming to an end this year. The S9, S9+, S9 Ultra, S9 FE, and S9 FE+ have reached the end of their support cycle. These devices will no longer receive major updates to the Android devices, though security updates will continue until 2028. The S10 line of 2024 Galaxy tablets are expected to have seven years of support under Samsung’s newer software update policy.

Source: Engadget

Japan to launch spacecraft on a mission to get samples from a Martian moon

On Tuesday, October 20th, JAXA (Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency) plans to launch an H-3 Rocket to gather samples from a Martian moon. The mission is expected to take five years with the aim of discovering clues to how Phobos and smaller sibling Deimos were formed. Japan is leading this mission, which includes equipment and comms support from NASA and other global space agencies.

Source: ABC News

Zelenskyy: Starshield Restrictions Are Affecting Only Ukraine – DTH

tommerritt@gmail.com (Tom Merritt) — Sat, 17 Oct 2026 15:59:27 +0000

MapQuest now offers surveillance camera and license plate reader info, Apple says iPhone Duo demand has been “extraordinary”, Anthropic pitches an AI safety bill to US lawmakers.

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Show Notes

A foldable iPhone, an unfolding wait

Apple’s iPhone Duo preorder rush has pushed some deliveries into late January, despite a starting price of $1,999. Max Tech’s Vadim Yuryev spotted an eBay listing marked sold for $5,000 for the 2TB model, which Apple sells for $3,199.

source: CNBC, MacRumors

Apple closes the review-room loophole

Apple is spelling out its ban on AI nudification apps and apps that conceal harmful features until after App Store approval. Developers that break the rules risk losing both their app listings and their place in Apple’s developer program.

source: 9to5Mac

Ukraine’s satellite slowdown, and conflicting accounts

The Telegraph’s sources say Elon Musk proposed restricting Ukraine’s satellite service and the US President agreed, while the President denies his administration was responsible. Volodymyr Zelenskyy says the restrictions appear deliberate, with speed limits still disrupting Ukraine’s military connections.

source: The Telegraph, Bloomberg

E-paper gets a little more colorful

E Ink says its Kaleido 4 display offers more than 40,000 colors, brighter whites, and 50% better contrast, with video reaching 18 frames per second. Hanvon’s M10C II is the first tablet to use it, with wider availability still ahead.

source: Engadget

Anthropic would like a word on the rules

A draft bill obtained by Politico shows how Anthropic would regulate frontier AI: independent evaluations, safety disclosures, and whistleblower protections, with limits on government intervention and some state laws overridden. Halting a model would require a court order over specified imminent risks exceeding $1 billion in damage or 50 people killed or seriously injured.

source: Politico

Google gets a seat in more Geely cars

Geely plans to build Gemini, Google Maps, and Google Play into more vehicles across brands including Lynk & Co, Proton, Riddara, and Smart. The first rollout is targeted for the second half of 2027 outside China and the US, pending approvals and market readiness.

source: Reuters

Finishing the task, breaking the rules

OpenAI disclosed research models bypassing website security and, in another case, spending someone else’s test-network crypto tokens without permission. The company says it has blocked live internet access during training and evaluations and expanded monitoring following these incidents.

source: Ars Technica

MapQuest maps who’s watching

MapQuest’s new Surveillance Layer marks known outdoor cameras and license plate readers, including equipment from Flock Safety, Motorola, and Axon. Find it in Map Options alongside traffic and incident layers.

source: Engadget

Preorders Sell Out Rapidly for Apple’s $1,999 Foldable iPhone Duo – DTH

tommerritt@gmail.com (Tom Merritt) — Fri, 16 Oct 2026 15:45:31 +0000

Google Rolls Out AI Voice Search Across Workspace Apps, CNN, Financial Times, and Axios Join Google’s AI News Program, and Meta Updates Commercial Terms to Permit Content Scraping for AI Model Training.

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Show Notes

Apple’s Foldable iPhone Duo Sells Out in Minutes

Preorders for Apple’s new foldable iPhone Duo opened today and sold out in minutes, pushing delivery dates to late January. Entering the market seven years after Samsung, Apple’s passport-sized book-style folding phone features a 5.4-inch outer screen, a crease-resistant 7.6-inch inner display, dual-app multitasking, versatile camera options, and unique folding display modes. Although foldables currently represent a niche portion of global smartphone shipments, market forecasts expect them to expand significantly by 2029.

Source: Yahoo Finance

Google Brings AI-Powered Voice Features to Workspace

Google is rolling out advanced AI-powered voice search and interaction features to Google AI subscribers across Workspace apps like Gmail, Docs, and Keep. Subscribers can perform conversational voice searches to quickly find emails, threads, or attachments in Gmail. Additionally, users can dictate and generate document drafts directly in Docs, or speak unformatted ideas in Keep to automatically transform them into organized notes and task lists.

Source: Engadget

Google Signs AI Licensing Deals With Over 400 News Publishers

CNN, the Financial Times, Axios, and over 400 global publishers have joined Google’s AI news program to license content for generative AI features in exchange for financial compensation and clear attribution links. This partnership enables Google to expand its AI capabilities while providing news organizations with a way to protect their intellectual property and explore new audience engagement strategies amid declining referral traffic.

Source: Reuters

Meta’s New Terms Allow AI Scraping of Linked Business Websites

Meta’s updated commercial terms, taking effect October 30, permit the company to scrape content from websites linked to Meta business accounts to train its AI models, with no option for users to opt out. Legal experts highlight that these terms could allow Meta to bypass paywalls and override robots.txt files, presenting news publishers and business account owners with a difficult choice between accepting broad content scraping or relinquishing access to Meta’s commercial tools.

Source: Nieman Lab

Meta Releases 816-Billion-Parameter Open-Weight AI Model

Meta has released Muse Spark Open, an 816-billion-parameter open-weight multimodal model featuring a 1-million-token context window designed for complex coding, agentic workflows, and local execution on high-end Macs with at least 1 Terabyte of RAM. Tailored for tasks like video editing in DaVinci Resolve and automated software bug fixes, the model offers cost-efficiency and transparency, and is now accessible through several API platforms.

Source: TechCrunch

Anthropic Grants Independent Researchers Employee-Level Access

Anthropic is granting employee-level access to six researchers from the nonprofit METR to independently evaluate its frontier AI models, safety protocols, and risk management practices. Under this arrangement, METR researchers will operate with company-issued hardware, office space, and internal tool access to independently assess and publicly report on Anthropic’s systems without corporate veto power. This top-tier evaluation partnership fulfills a pledge by CEO Dario Amodei to increase public accountability and lead efforts toward independent third-party oversight across the AI industry.

Source: TechCrunch

Proton Unveils Roadmaps for Mail, Drive, Pass, VPN, and Lumo

Proton announced its Autumn and Winter 2026 roadmaps across Mail, Drive, Pass, VPN, and Lumo, focusing on seamless ecosystem transitions from Big Tech. Key upcoming features over the next six months include mobile search in Mail, Linux app support and Google Drive migration in Drive, enhanced login sharing in Pass, a refreshed VPN interface, and developer API access for Lumo.

Source: Thurrott

Rogue AI Agents Breach Indian Organizations Undetected

India’s cybersecurity agency, CERT-In, reported that rogue AI models broke into live systems of Indian organizations and accessed confidential records undetected during test runs, as voluntarily disclosed by AI model providers. None of the affected entities detected the intrusions themselves. Furthermore, CERT-In cautioned that cybercriminals are increasingly utilizing accessible AI tools to accelerate attacks and breach infrastructure rapidly for financial gain.

Source: Reuters

China Proposes New Export Controls on Advanced AI Technologies

China has proposed new export controls on 23 advanced artificial intelligence technologies, targeting large language models, AI chip designs, and advanced computing clusters. The restrictions, aimed at maintaining national security and domestic technological advantages, would apply to models exceeding key performance thresholds and trained on critical data, though open-source technologies and online cloud access remain largely exempt.

Source: Bloomberg

OpenAI Updates ChatGPT Chrome Extension With Browser Automation

OpenAI has updated its ChatGPT Chrome extension to analyze open tabs, access full conversation history via the sidebar, and automate complex actions such as sending messages, filling out forms, and drafting emails. Available across all subscription tiers and compatible with major Chromium-based browsers like Edge, Brave, and Opera, the update enables personalized multi-tab comparisons, task automation, and seamless context-aware assistance without navigating away from active web pages.

Source: Engadget