Technology

A growing number of lawsuits accuse Elon Musk's xAI of allowing its Grok chatbot to generate child sexual abuse material, with one complaint alleging a man produced roughly 7,000 illicit images before taking his own life. Plaintiffs say X shielded predators and failed to report abusive prompts to authorities. The cases arrive as xAI touts the release of its most capable model yet, Grok 4.5.

Purdue University's incoming class of 10,000 freshmen will be the first in the nation to face artificial-intelligence graduation requirements when classes begin next month. Indiana's largest public campus says it is ready to make AI literacy a core part of its curriculum. The move signals how quickly universities are moving to formalize AI skills as a baseline for graduates.

Under a new FTC settlement, John Deere owners will gain the right to repair their own equipment, a long-sought win for farmers. The agreement marks a milestone in the broader right-to-repair movement.

Miami-based City Labs achieved what it describes as a first for commercial nuclear power in space, demonstrating a small radioisotope power source. The milestone could enable long-duration missions where solar power is impractical.

The U.S. military is pursuing cheaper hunter-killer drones after Iran destroyed roughly $1 billion worth of MQ-9 Reaper aircraft. The shift reflects a broader rethink of attritable, low-cost systems for contested airspace.

French AI firm Mistral introduced Robostral Navigate, which it calls a state-of-the-art model for robotics navigation. The release signals Mistral's push beyond text models into embodied and physical AI.

Microsoft announced TypeScript 7.0, a major release of the popular typed JavaScript language featuring a rebuilt native compiler for dramatically faster performance. The upgrade targets large codebases where build times have long been a pain point.

OpenAI unveiled GPT-Live, a real-time conversational model built for low-latency, interactive use. The launch expands the company's product lineup as it races rivals to ship faster, more natural AI assistants.

Elon Musk's xAI released Grok 4.5, the latest version of its flagship large language model, touting gains in reasoning and coding performance. The launch intensifies the frontier-model race against OpenAI, Anthropic, and Google as competitors ship rapid successive updates.

Scammers have been hijacking government websites to post ads for 'leaked' OnlyFans content—but a flood of copyright takedown complaints from adult creators is inadvertently helping scrub the malicious links. The odd dynamic is protecting users from scam pages hosted on compromised .gov domains.

New data from job board Indeed shows the share of listings with 'AI' in the title has tripled from 2022 to 2026, climbing from under 3% to more than 8%. The trend underscores how rapidly artificial intelligence is reshaping the labor market.

Jeff Bezos's Blue Origin is expected to raise private capital for the first time, seeking roughly $10 billion in a deal that would value the space company at about $130 billion. The raise signals a new phase for the rocket firm as it scales up to compete more aggressively in the commercial space race.

Apple announced it will significantly increase its spending with Broadcom to produce billions more chips in the United States. The move deepens Apple's domestic manufacturing commitments and adds momentum to a broader industry push to build more advanced semiconductor capacity on American soil.

OpenAI plans to roll out the latest version of ChatGPT to users worldwide after the Trump administration reportedly lifted restrictions that had paused its release. The company said it is expanding global preview access to ChatGPT-5.6 Sol and lower-tier models Terra and Luna, marking a notable turn in the administration's posture toward frontier AI deployment.

Meta has begun allowing anyone to use publicly posted Instagram photos as raw material for AI-generated images, with the feature enabled by default unless users manually opt out, reigniting privacy and consent concerns.

A hacker's arrest has revealed that Microsoft can track individual users through a unique Windows device identifier, raising fresh privacy concerns about how much the operating system quietly logs about the people who use it and how that data can be handed to law enforcement.

The FCC is moving to end a Biden-era rule that required internet service providers to disclose all of their fees to consumers. Critics warn the rollback could make broadband pricing less transparent for households.

Anthropic is facing user backlash after being outed for a secret tracker in Claude that monitored certain users, a revelation that sits uneasily with the AI company's public anti-surveillance stance. The disclosure has reignited debate over transparency among leading AI labs.

Shell has revealed a new concept electric vehicle engineered to charge in under 10 minutes and travel roughly 6 miles per kilowatt-hour. The design points toward major gains in charging speed and efficiency for future EVs.

The Supreme Court will allow Texas's App Store Accountability Act to take effect while legal challenges continue in lower courts. The law requires minors to obtain parental permission before downloading most apps, part of a growing state push to shield children online.

Microsoft is shutting five studios and laying off roughly 3,200 employees, about 20% of its gaming division, as Xbox refocuses on its biggest franchises. Leadership framed the overhaul as a 'reset,' but the cuts land as another blow to a games industry already reeling from consolidation.

A controlled minimal-pair study examines whether the cleanliness of a codebase changes how well AI coding agents perform. The research adds empirical data to a growing debate over how code quality shapes the effectiveness of automated developer tools.

A closer look at doorbell and home-security cameras argues that devices like Ring do little to actually deter crime while heightening owners' anxiety. The piece examines how constant alerts can distort perceptions of neighborhood safety.

Immigration and Customs Enforcement's internal oversight office has begun investigating people who publicly criticize the agency online, according to a new report. Civil-liberties advocates warn the practice could chill protected speech.

A study reports a new AI tutor achieved a 0.71 to 1.30 standard-deviation effect size in a Dartmouth course, a notably large learning gain. The results add to debate over AI's role in education.

Proposed data centers in Pennsylvania are galvanizing strangers to mobilize in protest over energy use, water and local impacts. The backlash reflects growing tension over the AI-driven build-out.

New prediction markets allow people to place bets on whether a wildfire will destroy their town, turning climate risk into tradable contracts. Critics question the ethics of wagering on disasters.

New Trump administration restrictions on private AI models are pushing developers and researchers toward open-source alternatives. The shift could reshape how advanced AI is built and shared in the U.S.

The FBI seized more than 600 drones flying over World Cup games across U.S. host cities, citing security concerns during the tournament. The scale of the seizures underscored growing anxiety over unauthorized drone activity at major events.

The EU Council moved to force through its controversial 'Chat Control' proposal via a fast-track process, requiring messaging services to scan users' communications. Digital rights advocates warned the measure threatens encryption and privacy across the bloc.

An independent security researcher documented a flaw that could expose YouTube creators' private and unlisted videos to unauthorized viewers. The disclosure details how the weakness could be abused to enumerate content meant to stay hidden. It renews concerns about privacy safeguards on major video platforms.

Developers are reporting that the newest generation of AI coding assistants can perform worse than their predecessors on real programming tasks. A widely discussed GitHub issue attributes degraded output in GPT-5.5 Codex to reasoning-token clustering, while a prominent engineering essay argues that more capable models are being paired with worse tooling. The debate highlights growing scrutiny of how frontier models are deployed in practice.

A developer has produced a native port of the classic real-time strategy game 'Command and Conquer: Generals' to macOS, iPhone and iPad. The project brings the two-decade-old title to Apple platforms without emulation, drawing interest from the retro-gaming and open-source communities.

A new study warns that plans by commercial operators to launch as many as 1.7 million satellites into low Earth orbit would be 'devastating' for ground-based astronomy. Researchers say the resulting light pollution, radio interference, and collision risk could severely hamper observations and threaten the long-term sustainability of orbital space.

America's first major offshore wind project is now generating power but is beset by technical and operational problems. The troubles raise questions about the cost and reliability of large-scale U.S. offshore wind development.

Mistral unveiled Leanstral 1.5, a new model release the company frames around making formal proof and reasoning more broadly accessible. The launch adds to a crowded field of open and efficient AI models. Details emphasize performance and cost efficiency.

A new guide rounds up seven of the best smartphones that are unavailable to American buyers in 2026. The list spotlights hardware and features absent from the U.S. market. It illustrates how global device availability continues to diverge.

The latest Rocket Report covers an Indian startup approaching its first orbital launch and a notable milestone for SpaceX. The roundup surveys the fast-moving global launch industry. It highlights emerging players challenging established providers.

Scientists have demonstrated a plug-and-play single-photon source that works at room temperature, a step toward practical quantum technologies. Eliminating the need for extreme cooling could make quantum communication and computing components far more accessible. The advance addresses a key engineering hurdle in the field.

Researchers at Citizen Lab reported that a member of a European Parliament committee investigating spyware was himself hacked with Pegasus. The finding underscores the reach of commercial surveillance tools against elected officials. It intensifies calls for tighter controls on spyware vendors.

Across Africa, users are increasingly adopting SpaceX's Starlink satellite internet to bypass unreliable and expensive terrestrial networks. The shift is reshaping connectivity on the continent, offering access in remote regions while unsettling incumbent telecom providers and regulators. The trend highlights both the promise and the disruption of low-earth-orbit internet.

Popular gadgets are poised to become significantly more expensive in another round of price increases, according to a new report. Analysts point to tariffs and supply pressures. Consumers may feel the pinch on phones, laptops and accessories.

A growing Luddite festival is channeling Gen Z frustration with Big Tech into a broader cultural movement. Attendees embrace analog living and skepticism of constant connectivity. Organizers say the backlash reflects deeper anxieties about technology.

NASA has launched a mission aimed at rescuing a space telescope whose orbit has been decaying. The operation seeks to extend the observatory's life and preserve its scientific value. Engineers face a narrow window to reach and stabilize the spacecraft.

Efforts to unionize workers at Google DeepMind have gotten off to a difficult start, according to a new report. The friction highlights growing labor tensions inside leading AI research organizations. The outcome could set a precedent for organizing across the AI industry.

Three nuclear energy startups have hit a significant technical milestone, drawing attention to a possible new wave of advanced reactors. Analysts debate how much the achievement will actually accelerate deployment given regulatory and cost hurdles. The news underscores growing investor interest in next-generation nuclear power.

Christian missionaries have found a new mission territory online, reaching people through virtual spaces. The shift reflects how digital platforms are reshaping evangelism and outreach.

Security researchers discovered PamStealer, a macOS malware strain that uses clever tradecraft to remain stealthy. Analysts say it departs from typical Mac threats in how it evades detection.

Spotify confirmed a case of streaming manipulation after a Kalshi prediction-market trader flagged suspicious activity. The admission renews scrutiny of fraud in music-streaming economics.

Virginia has enacted a ban on the sale of geolocation data, tightening consumer privacy protections. The law restricts how companies can trade information revealing individuals' precise movements.