Author: GT

Hopefully not Grok’s companions … A new study by a U.S. nonprofit focused on the lives of kids and families, Common Sense Media, has found that a vast majority of U.S. teens (72%) have tried an AI companion at least once. By “companion,” the study is focused on AI chatbots that are designed for users to have more personal conversations with, not AI assistants that work as homework helpers, image generators, or voice assistants that just answer questions. For instance, the study’s definition of AI companions could include those digital AI personas provided by companies like Character.AI or Replika, but it…

Beata Zawrzel | Nurphoto | Getty ImagesGoogle announced Monday the removal of nearly 11,000 YouTube channels and other accounts tied to state-linked propaganda campaigns from China, Russia and more in the second quarter.The takedown included more than 7,700 YouTube channels linked to China. These campaigns primarily shared content in Chinese and English that promoted the People’s Republic of China, supported President Xi Jinping and commented on U.S. foreign affairs.Over 2,000 removed channels were linked to Russia. The content was in multiple languages that supported Russia and criticized Ukraine, NATO and the West. Google, in May, removed 20 YouTube channels, 4…

The hackers behind the initial wave of attacks exploiting a zero-day in Microsoft SharePoint servers have so far primarily targeted government organizations, according to researchers as well as news reports. Over the weekend U.S. cybersecurity agency CISA published an alert, warning that hackers were exploiting a previously unknown bug — known as a “zero-day” — in Microsoft’s enterprise data management product SharePoint. While it’s still early to draw definitive conclusions, it appears that the hackers who first started abusing this flaw were targeting government organizations, according to Silas Cutler, the principal researcher at Censys, a cybersecurity firm that monitors hacking…

TEHRAN, Iran (AP) — Iran tested one of its satellite carrying rockets with a suborbital flight on Monday, state media reported, the first such test since a ceasefire was reached after a 12-day war waged by Israel against Iran in June, which also saw the United States strike nuclear-related facilities in the Islamic Republic. The test was the latest for a program that the West says improves Tehran’s ballistic missiles.A report by the official IRNA news agency said the Ghased satellite carrier test aimed at “assessing some emerging new technologies in the country’s space industry.” It said the test results…

In this photo illustration, the logo for the US tech firm “Block” is displayed and reflected in a number of digital screens on March 03, 2023 in London, England. Leon Neal | Getty ImagesBlock shares jumped 7% on Monday after S&P Global said the company will join the S&P 500, replacing Hess, which was acquired by Chevron’s for $54 billion.The stock rose following the announcement late Friday as investors sought to get in ahead of index fund managers, who will need to buy shares to mimic the changes. Square’s $48 billion market cap at Monday’s close places it well above the…

Chris Martin of Coldplay performs live at San Siro Stadium, Milan, Italy, in July 2017.Mairo Cinquetti | NurPhoto | Getty ImagesAstronomer’s interim CEO said in his first public comment since unexpectedly taking over the role on Saturday that he hopes to move the tech startup past the viral moment that captured national attention last week.Pete DeJoy was appointed to the top job due to the resignation of CEO Andy Byron, days after he was caught on video in an intimate moment with the company’s head of human resources at a Coldplay concert. Astronomer said over the weekend that it would begin…

The U.S. federal government and cybersecurity researchers say a newly discovered security bug found in Microsoft’s SharePoint is under attack.  U.S. cybersecurity agency CISA sounded the alarm this weekend that hackers were actively exploiting the bug. Microsoft has not yet provided patches for all affected SharePoint versions, leaving customers across the world largely unable to defend against the ongoing intrusions. Microsoft said the bug, known officially as CVE-2025-53770, affects versions of SharePoint that companies set up and manage on their own servers. SharePoint lets companies store, share, and manage their internal files. Microsoft said it is working on security fixes…

PARIS (AP) — Elon Musk’s social media platform X on Monday denied accusations from French prosecutors of alleged data tampering and fraud, calling them politically motivated. X was responding to an announcement earlier this month from the Paris prosecutor’s office, which said it was opening an investigation into the two alleged offenses. Both offenses involved an “automated data processing system,” according to prosecutors, who provided scant details of the alleged wrongdoing. They are potentially punishable in France with a jail term of up to 10 years.The platform said French authorities were carrying out a “politically-motivated criminal investigation into X over…

India’s largest crypto exchange CoinDCX has confirmed that one of its internal operational accounts was compromised in a recent security breach, allowing the hackers to make off with millions in crypto. On Saturday, CoinDCX co-founder and CEO Sumit Gupta disclosed in a post on X that an internal account “used only for liquidity provisioning on a partner exchange” was compromised during the hack. The executive assured that the incident did not affect customer funds and that all its customer assets remain secure. Earlier in the day, crypto security researcher ZachXBT reported that around $44.2 million was drained from CoinDCX’s coffers…

LONDON (AP) — A routine moment of crowdwork at a Coldplay concert went viral last week when a couple tried to avoid the spotlight after they were caught hugging on the jumbotron. Internet sleuths quickly figured out that they were the CEO and chief people officer of a little-known tech company called Astronomer. The snippet of video set the internet alight, fueling a wave of memes and drawing attention to the erosion of privacy in public spaces. Here are some things to know: What happened at the concert During the concert on Wednesday at Gillette Stadium in Foxborough, Massachusetts, lead…