Chinese Users Bid Farewell To AI Companions
fjo3 quotes a report from Agence France-Presse: Chinese users of AI-powered companion bots have bid heart-rending farewells to their virtual buddies as national regulations took…
US Suffered a Major Power Outage Every Month of 2026
An anonymous reader quotes a report from Electrek: A Reddit post making the rounds this week claims the U.S. has experienced at least one major power outage every month of 2026 --…
FCC Plans To Repeal 39% TV Ownership Cap
The FCC plans to vote on repealing local TV ownership limits, including the 39% national audience cap that currently restricts how much of the U.S. market a single broadcast group…
Stripe, Advent Offer to Buy PayPal For More Than $53 Billion
Stripe and private equity firm Advent International have reportedly made a joint $60.50-per-share offer to buy PayPal, valuing the payments company at more than $53 billion. The…
FreeBSD 16 Retires the Last of Its GPL Code
FreeBSD 16 has removed the last GPL-licensed code from its base system, retiring the old GNU 'dialog' implementation after the installer moved to 'bsddialog' and the final…
Physicists Create First Room-Temperature Quantum Material
alternative_right shares a report from Phys.org: In a study published in Nature, LSU physicists have developed the first room-temperature quantum material capable of…
House Votes For Permanent Daylight Saving Time
The House voted 308-117 to pass the Sunshine Protection Act, which would make daylight saving time permanent nationwide and end the twice-yearly clock change. The bill faces an…
Book Publishers Sue Google For Copyright Infringement Over Gemini AI Training
Major publishers Hachette, Cengage, Elsevier, and author Scott Turow have sued Google, accusing it of using millions of copyrighted books to train Gemini without permission or…
OpenAI Launches a Keypad for AI Agents
OpenAI's first hardware device is a limited-edition desktop keypad called the Codex Micro that lets users monitor and control AI coding agents. Axios reports: Codex Micro is a…
OpenAI's First Device Will Be Moveable, Screenless Speaker Built as AI Companion
OpenAI is reportedly developing a screen-free, portable smart speaker meant to act as a personalized home computer and humanlike AI companion. "It will help control smart-home…
StubHub, CEO Hit With 'Deceptive Practices' Class Action Over Mass Scalping
An anonymous reader quotes a report from the BBC: StubHub and its CEO, Eric Baker, have been hit with a proposed $5-million class-action lawsuit in the United States over the…
States Sue to Block Paramount-Warner Bros Merger, Defying DOJ
A coalition of 12 states led by California is suing to block the $111 billion Paramount Skydance-Warner Bros. merger, arguing it would reduce competition in theatrical…
Microsoft Patches a Record 570 Security Flaws
An anonymous reader quotes a report from Krebs on Security: Microsoft today released software updates to plug at least 570 security holes in its Windows operating systems and…
Social Media Limits Are Coming For Teens Across Europe
The European Union is considering major new restrictions on children's access to social media, including age limits, phased access, and an outright ban. "This is not about whether…
OnePlus Is Reportedly Shutting Down In the US, Europe
OnePlus will reportedly announce this week that it is shutting down its brand in the U.S. and Europe, following months of signs that parent company Oppo was winding down the…
Over 200 Economists Say 'We Must Act Now' On AI's Economic Impact
An anonymous reader quotes a report from the Associated Press: Hundreds of economists say in an open letter that institutions "must act now" to address how artificial intelligence…
New York Becomes First State To Impose Data Center Moratorium
New York has become the first U.S. state to impose a moratorium on large new data centers, pausing construction for one year over concerns that AI-driven data center growth is…
Google Images Gets a Pinterest-Like Redesign Focused On Discovery
Google Images is getting a Pinterest-like redesign that turns image search into a personalized discovery feed, with "For You" galleries, real-time updates, and collections for…
Linux Foundation's Latest Foray Is To Standardize Internet-Native Payments For AI Agents
Today, the Linux Foundation launched the x402 Foundation to standardize internet-native payments for AI agents, APIs, and applications, based on Coinbase's contributed x402…
Google DeepMind Calls For US To Spearhead AI Standards Body
Google DeepMind chief Demis Hassabis is calling for a U.S.-led AI standards body to review frontier models for national security risks such as cybersecurity and biological…
Astronauts Take First X-Rays In Space
Astronauts on SpaceX's Fram2 mission successfully captured diagnostic X-ray images in orbit for the first time. The milestone gives space medicine a second imaging option beyond…
Why 55% of Americans Stopped Posting On Social Media
A new Incogni survey suggests Americans are pulling back from social media, with more than half saying "maintaining an online presence feels like work" and 55% reporting they post…
Microsoft Promises To Fix Search With Major Windows 11 Overhaul
Microsoft is overhauling Windows 11 search to prioritize local apps, files, and settings over web results while removing ads, promotions, MSN/Bing clutter, and other distractions.…
Cloudflare Precursor Watches Your Mouse and Keyboard To Decide If You Are Human
BrianFagioli writes: Cloudflare has launched Precursor, a new behavioral bot detection system that monitors mouse movement, typing cadence, scrolling, clipboard activity, page…
US Government Warns That Russia State Hackers Are Coming After Your Router
CISA and allied governments are warning users to secure their routers as Russian state-backed hackers continue compromising the devices and turning them into proxy nodes to…
Apple Reportedly Agreed to Intel Chips To Avoid White House Tariffs
According to the Wall Street Journal (paywalled), Apple agreed to use Intel's U.S. chipmaking plants after White House officials pressured Tim Cook during tariff-relief talks last…
Google and Epic Cancel Settlement; Third-Party App Stores Coming To Google Play
An anonymous reader quotes a report from Ars Technica: Big changes are coming to Android apps, but they're not the changes Google wanted. The settlement between Google and Epic…
German Firm Files For Insolvency After Cybercriminals Shut Down Production For 6 Weeks
German textile firm ZEGO has filed for insolvency and is blaming a March cyberattack that shut down production for nearly six weeks. "ZEGO's filing adds another name to the short…
Indian Scientists Produce Most Detailed 3D Atlas of the Human Brainstem
Scientists at the Indian Institute of Technology, Madras (IIT-M) have created what they describe as the world's most detailed 3D cellular atlas of the human brainstem, linking…
IBM Stock Collapses After a Grave Warning About AI
IBM shares plunged after the company warned that Q2 revenue and earnings would miss expectations, blaming customers' sudden shift in spending toward AI hardware instead of…
Iran Abused Mobile Networks' Vulnerabilities To Locate US Military In Middle East
An anonymous reader quotes a report from TechCrunch: The Iranian government abused well-known vulnerabilities in the global telecoms infrastructure to locate U.S. military…
Spotify Is Now an AI Chatbot, Too
Spotify is testing a new "Talk to Spotify" AI feature for Premium subscribers that will let them chat with an AI assistant to explore music, podcasts, and audiobooks. The feature…
Scientists Find Sugar Deep In Our Galaxy
Astronomers have detected erythrulose, a sugar found in raspberries and self-tanners, in a gas cloud near the center of the Milky Way. While not essential for life itself, the…