Author: GT

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — South Korea launched its largest satellite yet on its nationally developed space rocket early Thursday, the fourth of six planned launches through 2027.The three-stage Nuri rocket lifted off from the country’s spaceport on an island off the southwestern coastal county of Goheung. Aerospace officials said the rocket placed a 516-kilogram (1,137-pound) science satellite and 12 microsatellites into a target orbit about 600 kilometers (372 miles) above Earth. The Korea Aerospace Administration was expected to verify in the coming hours whether the satellites were successfully transmitting signals.The main satellite is equipped with a wide-range airglow camera…

Major tech companies aren’t just using AI to help you generate or summarize content — they also want you to use it for shopping. OpenAI, Google, and Amazon have heavily invested in AI assistants that research new product categories for you and suggest the right ones to buy. Startups like Perplexity, Daydream, and Cherry have also built businesses around AI for product discovery. All these efforts have resulted in customers using more AI for shopping. Onton (previously known as Deft), an AI-powered furniture shopping platform, says it has seen its user base grow from 50,000 monthly active users to over…

An aerial view of a 33 megawatt data center with closed-loop cooling system on October 20, 2025 in Vernon, California. Mario Tama | Getty ImagesThe data centers that power the artificial intelligence revolution are driving up electricity prices for households — and price relief may not be coming anytime soon, according to energy experts.Residential retail electricity prices in September were up 7.4%, to about 18 cents per kilowatt hour, according to the most recent data from the Energy Information Administration. Electricity prices closely tracked inflation from 2013 to 2023, but will likely outpace inflation at least through 2026, according to…

MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) — The Australian government said young children will be banned from social media next month as scheduled despite a rights advocacy group on Wednesday challenging the world-first legislation in court.The Sydney-based Digital Freedom Project said it had filed a constitutional challenge in the High Court on Wednesday to a law due to take effect on Dec. 10 banning Australian children younger than 16 from holding accounts on specified platforms.Communications Minister Anika Wells referred to the challenge when she later told Parliament her government remained committed to the ban taking effect on schedule. “We will not be intimidated…

Manufacturers today are working against rising input costs, labour shortages, supply-chain fragility, and pressure to offer more customised products. AI is becoming an important part of a response to those pressures.When enterprise strategy depends on AIMost manufacturers seek to reduce cost while improving throughput and quality. AI supports these aims by predicting equipment failures, adjusting production schedules, and analysing supply-chain signals. A Google Cloud survey found that more than half of manufacturing executives are using AI agents in back-office areas like planning and quality. (https://cloud.google.com/transform/roi-ai-the-next-wave-of-ai-in-manufacturing)The shift matters because the use of AI links directly to measurable business outcomes. Reduced downtime,…

A year after launching a commercial robotaxi service in Abu Dhabi, Chinese autonomous vehicle technology company WeRide and partner Uber can finally call that service driverless. The companies said the commercial robotaxi service, which will no longer have a human safety operator behind the wheel, is open to the public and will start with routes on Yas Island, a tourist district that is home to the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix Formula 1 racing circuit. Image Credits:Uber/WeRide Robotaxi operations in Abu Dhabi will work similarly to Uber’s partnership with Waymo in Austin. Uber riders that select Uber Comfort or UberX in…

Finding a YouTube video that truly matches our interests can sometimes be a challenge. The video-sharing platform appears to have recognized this issue and is taking steps to address it with its new experimental feature, “Your Custom Feed.”  The new test aims to tackle the frustration users often face with algorithm-driven recommendations that sometimes miss the mark. Historically, YouTube’s algorithm has been reported to frequently misjudge user intentions. For instance, watching a few Disney videos could lead the platform to presume you’re a loyal fan, resulting in an overwhelming amount of similar content — even if that isn’t what you…

Italian company Bending Spoons flew largely under the radar — until last month. In a span of 48 hours, the company announced the acquisition of AOL and a massive $270 million raise, quadrupling its valuation to $11 billion, up from $2.55 billion set in early 2024. Bending Spoons has grown rapidly by acquiring stagnating tech brands like Evernote, Meetup, and Vimeo, then turning them profitable through aggressive cost-cutting and price increases. While the company’s approach is similar to private equity, there is one key difference: Bending Spoons has no plans to sell these businesses. Andrew Dumont, the founder and CEO…

NORTH SEA, Denmark (AP) — Appearing first as a dot on the horizon, the remote Nini oil field on Europe’s rugged North Sea slowly comes into view from a helicopter.Used to extract fossil fuels, the field is now getting a second lease on life as a means of permanently storing planet-warming carbon dioxide beneath the seabed.In a process that almost reverses oil extraction, chemical giant INEOS plans to inject liquefied CO2 deep down into depleted oil reservoirs, 1,800 meters (5,900 feet) beneath the seabed.The Associated Press made a rare visit to the Siri platform, close to the unmanned Nini field,…

If you’re a fan of the punk scene from the early 2000s, you may recognize Nick Gross, the drummer for the band Goldfinger.  Now he’s empowering young people to pursue their passions through his career exploration platform, Find Your Grind. The platform highlights alternative professions not usually emphasized in schools, including being a pop-punk band member, content creator, social media manager, and even a professional esports player. The company announced on Tuesday a $5 million Series A funding round, bringing its total funding to $8 million. The round was led by Echo Investment Capital, with support from Gross’ investment firm,…