Author: GT

Oil drilling rigs and support equipment stand on the tundra in Deadhorse, Alaska, on Friday, Sept. 5, 2025. Nathaniel Wilder | Bloomberg | Getty ImagesThe Trump administration unveiled plans Thursday for a huge oil drilling expansion off the coasts of Alaska, California and in the Gulf of Mexico. The Department of Interior proposed 34 lease sales to drill in those waters through 2031, a big expansion compared to the Biden administration program that allowed just three lease sales and only in the Gulf. The Trump program would include lease sales in 21 areas off Alaska’s coast, six off the Pacific…

The governments of the United States, United Kingdom, and Australia have sanctioned a Russian “bulletproof” web hosting company and several of its related firms for allegedly being used to launch ransomware attacks against U.S. victims and critical infrastructure.  In a statement Wednesday, the U.S. Treasury said it imposed coordinated sanctions on the Russia-based web host Media Land and three related companies. The sanctions also target several of the company’s executives, including its general director — also known as Yalishanda — who allegedly provided servers and troubleshooting to cybercriminals. Officials say criminal hackers relied on Media Land to launch distributed denial-of-service…

I guess we’re past the era of “and that’s what you missed on Glee.” Amazon’s Prime Video streamer is adding AI-generated “Video Recaps” to help viewers catch up between seasons of shows, the company announced on Wednesday. According to Amazon, the feature “utilizes generative AI to create theatrical-quality season recaps with synchronized narration, dialogue, and music.” It will begin rolling out in beta on Wednesday for select Prime Originals, like “Fallout,” “Tom Clancy’s Jack Ryan,” and “Upload.” Prime Video launched a similar AI-powered feature last year called “X-Ray Recaps,” which summarizes complete seasons, episodes, or parts of episodes — at…

Decentralized social network Bluesky, a competitor to X and Threads, announced on Wednesday that it’s making further changes to its moderation process. Specifically, the company said it’s introducing new updates around how it tracks violations of its Community Guidelines and enforces its policies. This includes the inclusion of new reporting categories in the app, changes to its “strike” system for violations, and more guidance provided to those who violate the rules. The moderation changes are rolling out with the latest version of the Bluesky app (v. 1.110), which also includes a dark-mode app icon and a redesigned feature for controlling…

Fears about the artificial intelligence boom turning into an overblown bubble have evaporated for now, thanks to a stellar earnings report from Nvidia that illustrated why its indispensable chips transformed it into the world’s most valuable company.But that doesn’t mean the specter of an AI bubble won’t return in the months and years ahead as Big Tech gears up to spend trillions of dollars more on a technology the industry’s leaders believe will determine the winners and losers during the next wave of innovation.For now, at least, Nvidia has eased worries that the AI craze propelling the stock market and…

Auckland-founded Kiki Club launched its peer-to-peer subletting startup in New York City in 2023 with the mission of helping renters sublet their apartments while traveling for extended periods.  However, Kiki’s model violated local short-term rental laws, leading to its shutdown this past June. The New York Mayor’s Office of Special Enforcement (OSE) announced on Wednesday that Kiki has agreed to pay more than $152,000 to settle charges.  Backed by Blackbird, the Airbnb competitor aimed to simplify the subletting process and boldly promised a solution that would let users sublet their spaces for up to six months. The platform used a…

The explosive growth of data centers could threaten the stability of the electrical grid this winter, according to an industry overseer. Across North America, demand for electricity this winter is expected to be 2.5% higher than last year for a total of 20 gigawatts, the North American Electric Reliability Corporation (NERC) said in a report released this week. In recent years, winter demand grew by 1% or less.  Data centers are driving a significant chunk of that growth, especially in the mid-Atlantic, U.S. West, and U.S. Southeast, “areas where a lot of data center development is occurring,” Mark Olson, NERC…

If you want insight into just how worried VCs (and Silicon Valley, generally) are over legal challenges to AI training on copyrighted material, look no further than AI music site Suno.  Suno, which allows anyone to create AI-generated songs through prompts, announced on Wednesday that it has raised a $250 million Series C round at a $2.45 billion post-money valuation. The round was led by Menlo Ventures with participation from Nvidia’s venture arm NVentures, as well as Hallwood Media, Lightspeed, and Matrix.   The company offers consumer monthly subscriptions (a free tier plus $8 or $24 per month plans) and launched…

Warner Music Group (WMG) has settled a copyright infringement case with AI music startup Udio, the label announced on Wednesday. The two have also entered into a licensing deal for an AI music creation service that’s set to launch in 2026. In its press release, WMG said that the “next-generation music creation, listening, and discovery platform” will be powered by generative AI models trained on licensed and authorized music. The company says the platform will create “new revenue streams for artists and songwriters, while ensuring their work remains protected.” The subscription service will allow users to make remixes, covers, and…

BARCELONA, Spain (AP) — Spanish legacy media companies in Spain scored a victory against social media giant Meta after a Madrid-based court ordered Thursday that it must pay news outlets nearly half a billion euros in damages.According to a court statement, the mercantile court No. 15 of Madrid ruled that Mark Zuckerberg’s social media giant had exercised an unfair market advantage by extracting personal data of internet users in violation of European law and using it to create more effective advertising.The parent company of Instagram and Facebook will have to pay 481 million ($554 million) in damages to 81 Spanish…