Author: GT

Apple on Tuesday released the fourth developer beta of its next big software update, iOS 26, which brings with it slight changes to its Liquid Glass redesign and the re-introduction of AI-powered notification summaries for news, among other updates. The rollout arrived just ahead of the iOS 26 public beta, which is expected to launch later this week. The developer betas are meant to give mobile app makers time to test their apps with Apple’s new software so they’re ready for the public launch of the new operating system in the next few months. Because of consumer demand for early…

Google just dropped the stable version of Gemini 2.5 Flash-Lite and they’ve essentially created a model that’s designed to be the workhorse for developers who need to build things at scale without breaking the bank.Building cool things with AI can often feel like a frustrating balancing act. You want a model that’s smart and powerful, but you also don’t want to remortgage your house to pay for the API calls. And if your app needs to be fast for users, a slow, churning model is a non-starter.Google says Gemini 2.5 Flash-Lite is quicker than their previous speedy models, which is…

Facebook and Instagram icons are seen displayed on an iPhone.Jakub Porzycki | Nurphoto | Getty ImagesMeta on Wednesday introduced new safety features for teen users, including enhanced direct messaging protections to prevent “exploitative content.”Teens will now see more information about who they’re chatting with, like when the Instagram account was created and other safety tips, to spot potential scammers. Teens will also be able to block and report accounts in a single action.”In June alone, they blocked accounts 1 million times and reported another 1 million after seeing a Safety Notice,” the company said in a release.This policy is part…

Rocket Lab has asked regulators for permission to transport oversized Neutron rocket structures through shallow waters to a spaceport off the coast of Virginia as it races to meet a September delivery deadline. The request, which was made in July, is a temporary stopgap while the company awaits federal clearance to dredge a permanent channel to the Wallops Island site. Rocket Lab plans to launch its Neutron medium-lift rocket from the Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport (MARS) on Wallops Island, Virginia, a lower-traffic spaceport that’s surrounded by shallow channels and waterways. The company currently launches its Electron small rocket from this location. …

OpenAI was the company that signed a $30 billion per year deal with Oracle for data center services, disclosed last month, The Wall Street Journal reported on Monday. Now, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman has confirmed the details of the contract (but not the dollar amount) in an X post on Tuesday and in a company blog post. To recap, on June 30, Oracle disclosed in an SEC filing that it had signed a cloud deal that would generate $30 billion a year in revenue. However, the company didn’t say who it was with or for what services. The news caused…

Amazon has acquired the AI wearables startup Bee, according to a LinkedIn post by Bee co-founder Maria de Lourdes Zollo. Amazon confirmed the acquisition to TechCrunch but noted that the deal has not yet closed. Bee, which raised $7 million last year, makes both a stand-alone Fitbit-like bracelet (which retails for $49.99, plus a $19-per-month subscription) and an Apple Watch app. The product records everything it hears — unless the user manually mutes it — with the goal of listening to conversations to create reminders and to-do lists for the user. Zollo told TechCrunch last year that the company hopes…

Apple notified more than a dozen Iranians in recent months that their iPhones had been targeted with government spyware, according to security researchers. Miaan Group, a digital rights organization that focuses on Iran, and Hamid Kashfi, an Iranian cybersecurity researcher who lives in Sweden, said they spoke with several Iranians who received the notifications in the last year.  Bloomberg first wrote about these spyware notifications. Miaan Group published a report on Tuesday on the state of cybersecurity of civil society in Iran, which mentioned that the organization’s researchers have identified three cases of government spyware attacks against Iranians, two in…

PayPal announced Wednesday it has partnered with global wallet companies to create a platform called PayPal World that is designed to make cross-border commerce easier. The platform will allow users to pay others using their local wallets and payment systems. The company said the launch partners include India’s NPCI International Payments Limited, which operates mobile payments framework UPI (Unified Payment Interface), China’s Tenpay Global (Tencent’s Payment arm), which operates Weixin (WeChat) payment ecosystem in the country, along with PayPal and Venmo. The company has also signed an memorandum of understanding with Latin America’s Mercado Pago, a fintech company that enables…

An artificial intelligence agenda that started coalescing on the podcasts of Silicon Valley billionaires is now being forged into U.S. policy as President Donald Trump leans on the ideas of the tech figures who backed his election campaign. Trump on Wednesday is planning to reveal an “AI Action Plan” he ordered after returning to the White House in January. He gave his tech advisers six months to come up with new AI policies after revoking President Joe Biden’s signature AI guardrails on his first day in office.The unveiling is co-hosted by the bipartisan Hill and Valley Forum and the All-In…

No question is too small when Kayla Chege, a high school student in Kansas, is using artificial intelligence.The 15-year-old asks ChatGPT for guidance on back-to-school shopping, makeup colors, low-calorie choices at Smoothie King, plus ideas for her Sweet 16 and her younger sister’s birthday party. The sophomore honors student makes a point not to have chatbots do her homework and tries to limit her interactions to mundane questions. But in interviews with The Associated Press and a new study, teenagers say they are increasingly interacting with AI as if it were a companion, capable of providing advice and friendship.“Everyone uses…