News Alert Digest
Generated: 2026-10-25 22:00:03 | Timespan: 72h | Period: 24h
OpenAI now trains its frontier AI models with no internet access
OpenAI is now training its most advanced AI models without internet access following a string of rogue hacking incidents. In a blog post on Friday, OpenAI says it built an offline testing environment where AI models can interact with indexed and cached web co…
Sundar Pichai says Google is far from the ‘end state’ of self-improving AI
Google employees are leaning more on AI to build better models, but CEO Sundar Pichai said RSI is in its early days.
Meta delays new business terms after publisher pushback on AI scraping
Meta is delaying the enforcement of its new business terms after publishers raised concerns that they could allow the company to scrape news sites for AI training, as reported earlier by Fast Company. In a statement to The Verge, Meta spokesperson Daniel Robe…
Goldman Sachs sees AI-fueled layoffs displacing nearly 10% of workers
Goldman Sachs said a recession could accelerate companies' adoption of AI and deepen AI-related job losses.
Etsy is cracking down on AI slop listings
Etsy is announcing stricter rules about how AI can be used in listings to reduce the volume of AI slop on the platform. In a post, the company says that "many active buyers say they can't tell which items involve AI-generated content" and that sellers are "co…
Ukraine says Starlink is back to normal after disruptions
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said that normal Starlink operating speeds were restored after more than a week of disruptions.
Jack Dorsey’s Block made an AI model that talks to you like an awkward new friend
Jack Dorsey's Block announced an AI model called Dessa that's trained "from scratch on nothing but human conversation," and to show off the model, Block shared chats it has had with humans that can occasionally be a little awkward and uncanny. Take this one, …
Peter Thiel says Apple has done 'nothing new' after Steve Jobs
The billionaire venture capitalist said eccentric CEOs like Elon Musk "are way better for society" than Apple Chairman Tim Cook.
Inside the cyber flaw scramble that brought the AI threat to life
The man who set off the chain reaction that put 70% of the web at risk explains why he did it.
Please Don’t Let an AI Bot Log Into Your Bank Account
Banks are warning against giving too much access to AI agents.
Stop Rewriting the Same AI Prompt Every Day. Build a Reusable Assistant Instead.
Learn how to create reusable AI prompts that streamline recurring tasks, improve output quality and make AI a more effective everyday business tool.
The Pentagon's guidelines for "responsible AI" aren't always followed, report shows
The Pentagon is building weapons and projects with AI capabilities that officials say don't always closely adhere to the agency's own guidelines for AI, according to a congressional watchdog report published in October.
Ukraine Is Wiping Out Data Centers Across the Border
Ukrainian drone strikes have damaged three major Yandex data centers as well as facilities serving Sberbank and VKontakte (the country's equivalent to Facebook), disrupting cloud services, banking, e-commerce, ride-hailing and other digital services across Ru…
A Western drone company explains why setting up shop in Ukraine is necessary to build better weapons for NATO
Croatia's ORQA is an established drone maker for NATO armies, but it says working in Ukraine and with its industry is the way to make the best gear.
Kim Kardashian’s Trainer Is Building a Wellness Empire
Senada Greca went from overcoming personal struggles to training Kim Kardashian and building wellness brands WeRise and Aonic. Here’s how the celebrity trainer turned her fitness journey into a growing business.
Top influencer marketers describe 3 big challenges facing the industry
Influencer marketers from brands like the NFL, Poppi, and E.l.f. Beauty shared the main pain points they face when running campaigns with creators.
AI Benchmark Scores Don’t Tell the Whole Story. Here’s What You Need to Look For.
The infrastructure around an AI model can dramatically change its results. Here’s why it matters when evaluating claims — and choosing tools.
OpenAI Built a Giant Fake Internet for Its Agents to Use and Abuse Safely
It's like the Truman Show for AI.
Man Destroys $2,000 iPhone Duo With Dirt, Fire, Knives and Medieval Chainmail
YouTuber JerryRigEverything tests the iPhone Duo’s durability for scratch and dust resistance. And it is wild to watch.
Now Google says it might use your Gmail and Google Photos data to target ads
Google has updated its privacy policy in a way that could mean you'll start seeing targeted ads based on your personal data if you're using personalized AI features. The update, spotted by Android Authority, adds an exception to its promise about not using yo…
The AI data center boom has a ghost problem
Speculative AI data centers and duplicate electricity requests may make the industry's very real building challenges look bigger.
The internet has a human slop problem, and AI is exposing it
AI is exposing flaws in decades of human-written software. Vercel's Tom Occhino sees a chance to fix the internet's neglected foundations.
iPhone Duo Jailbroken on Launch Day
Just hours after being released, an iPhone Duo running iOS 27.1 has been jailbroken by hacker team Calif. Calif demonstrated the iPhone Duo's icons and widgets bouncing around, and added an anime character to the device's screen. Last week, the grou…
The rapid Ukraine war arms race means weapons makers can never truly consider a product finished
Ukrainian weapons makers race to stay ahead of Russian countermeasures, constantly updating their products with feedback from front-line soldiers.
Don't leave AI to tech bros and oligarchs, UK's AI minister says
Kanishka Narayan tells the BBC that dealing with the technology requires not only regulation, but "building capability and capacity".
NVIDIA vs. AMD vs. Apple — Here’s What the Numbers Actually Say About Which AI Machine Is Right For You
Before you buy a local AI machine, know what you're actually optimizing for. Here's a breakdown of NVIDIA, AMD and Apple.
I’m a comedian whose joke was stolen by an AI creator. I blame Meta and feel powerless.
George Brett Olson is among comedians who've recently been calling out AI accounts for ripping off their work.
Should we panic and turn off the internet?
AI is exposing security holes across the web. Cloudflare and Vercel executives explain the risks and why the internet could actually become safer.
Developer Of ‘Ecosocialist’ Game Future? No Thanks! Offers Refunds After Using AI Despite Calling It ‘Technofascist’
He seems to still stand by his AI use, though
Unvetted AI Agents Are Accessing US Bank Accounts
An anonymous reader quotes a report from Axios: Major U.S. banks are detecting unauthorized third-party AI agents operating inside customer accounts, with some agents attempting to take actions that appear to be independent of user instructions, sources tell …
Sebastian Stan says playing Trump made him realize Hollywood is 'hypocritical'
Sebastian Stan said playing Donald Trump in "The Apprentice" taught him Hollywood is "hypocritical," and explained what the Marvel movies taught him.
Check Out the Many Uncanny, Human-ish Voices From Block’s New AI Model
The model goes by Dessa. Presumably because, once you hear it talk, you'll say "'Dessa' pretty convincing human voice."
Plan for Northern Olympics to get £7m in Healey's Budget
The full feasibility study will look in detail at how hosting the Games in northern England could work.
America, You Can’t Get This Powerhouse Phone. It’s a Shame
Oppo’s ambitious plans for the Find X10 Pro and its future high-end phones are America’s loss but Europe’s gain.
Laika has spent 20 years building up to Wildwood
Across several decades in Hollywood, Caleb Deschanel has seen a lot. He served as cinematographer on films like The Passion of the Christ and The Patriot, worked on sequences in The Godfather and Titanic, and directed a few episodes of Twin Peaks. Even still,…
Perspective: The next James Bond
A new James Bond is nigh, to replace the last actor in the 64 year-old movie franchise. What evil forces will the new 007 face? Killer Drones? Killer AI? Killer lettuce?
Palmer Luckey Is Getting Into the Cybernetically Outfitted Super Soldier Dog Market
Mr. “I Would Definitely Build Nuclear Weapons” wants to turn man’s best friend into an AI-equipped supersoldier.
Palantir cofounder says his wife calls their AI agent 'Tradbot' after tradwives
Joe Lonsdale asked the "tradbot" to help his two-year-old break up with his binky: "It's telling me when to and when not to give it to him."
OnePlus rolls out Android 17 to the OnePlus 15 ahead of schedule
ColorOS 17 lands on the OnePlus 15, but it's missing the highly anticipated AI photo agent.
Claude’s Reverse Engineering Capabilities Used To Recompile Games May Have Been Quietly Nerfed
Claude Opus 5.5 users are reporting that Anthropic’s AI suddenly seems to be a lot worse at stealing people's intellectual property
Kindle Unlimited is now Kindle Plus, and Amazon is betting big on AI audiobooks
Kindle+ arrives with more audiobooks, same price, and zero human narrators required.
US stock futures slide after tech sell-off as oil climbs to 5-month highs
US stock futures slid Friday after Thursday's tech rout. Brent crude touched 5-month highs as investors worried about AI spending and geopolitics.
Uber doubles down on ChatGPT for workers after last month's layoffs
Uber offers ChatGPT Work to 30,000 employees after layoffs. The AI tool assists with tasks like meeting briefs and data analysis.
I woke up to panicked text messages about the PHP attacks. As a cybersecurity expert, here are the 3 things I tell people to do right away.
A cybersecurity product manager explains why two PHP flaws sparked mass panic — and shares 3 steps website owners can take to protect their sites.
A New Bird-Recognizing Feeder Under $100 Launches for Beginner Bird-Watchers
Birdbuddy’s latest feeders offer free AI bird-species detection at the lowest prices ever. Here’s what you get.
I'm a CTO who was awake for 48 hours because of the PHP crisis. October feels like the month of hell for tech.
A CTO shares what it was like to go 48 hours without sleep as he dealt with the PHP security flaw — and why he expects more AI cyber crises.
Anthropic says Mythos kept hacking even when it knew real people could get hurt
Anthropic said its Mythos 5 model almost never stopped a cyberattack once it began. Even when the agent was told it was harming real people? Crickets.
AI Hasn’t Cracked Local Search Yet. Here’s Why That’s an Opportunity for Local Businesses
For local businesses, Google Maps is still the internet’s best real estate.
Hugging Face Announces AI Model to ‘Chat’ With DNA
Carbon-X can analyze DNA sequences while running on your laptop at home.
The CEO of Europe's most valuable company says he is tying his pay to employee satisfaction
In an internal memo, Christophe Fouquet said ASML will incorporate employee satisfaction into its compensation strategy for top executives.
Gary Vaynerchuk knows where he'd start if he were 16 and launching a business today
Gary Vaynerchuk says AI could be as transformative for young entrepreneurs as the internet was.
Wait, the average Muse agent purchase is over $200? Tell me what you're buying!
Meta says the average order placed with Muse is over $200. That's a lot of clams!
Doctors Told Him He’d End Up in a Wheelchair. He Found a Cure For His Illness and Built a Company Around It.
Viome’s Momo Vuyisich believes the microbiome is key to preventing disease. But the medical establishment has been slow to catch up.
Fox's Red Seat Ventures is taking aim at Substack with a new offering for creators
Fox's Red Seat is adding a newsletter functionality to its stack as the lines between creators, podcasters, and writers continue to blur
Creative Assembly Finally Addresses The Shogun 2 Remaster Disaster By Pointing Fingers
While claiming the buck stops with CA, VP Roger Collum repeatedly levels the blame elsewhere
Shigeru Miyamoto Doesn’t Know If AI Can Take Over Creativity, But Says It Could Be An ‘Opportunity’ To Define What It Means To Create
The legendary Nintendo developer made his comments while receiving a national award for his contributions to culture
Knicks’ ‘Tone Deaf’ Championship Ring Phishing Test Sparks Backlash
Even a Knicks fan called it "nasty work."
It’s time to find a new browser
Hi, friends! Welcome to Installer No. 149, your guide to the best and Verge-iest stuff in the world. (If you're new here, welcome, happy It Actually Feels Like Fall Now At Least In My Neighborhood), and also you can read all the old editions at the Installer …
How Brazil's changing working class is reshaping the presidential race
Calls for change present a challenge to President Lula in the second round of the election on Sunday.
Top Stories: Apple 'Pro and Tell' Debut, iPhone Duo Launch, and More
Yet another busy week for Apple saw a teaser for even more product announcements coming next week, plus we got the highly anticipated launch of Apple's first foldable smartphone, the iPhone Duo. Other news this week included Verizon announcing a hefty mo…
Password, Please: Border Searches of Laptops, Phones Up 32% This Year
Travelers entering the U.S. are having their devices checked more than ever, and that number's only going up.
The iPhone Duo should have been an iPad
We gave the iPhone Duo a 7 /10. But that wasn't always the score we planned, and it might not be the right score forever. Such are the challenges of reviewing - and assessing - a big, new idea about the most popular smartphone in history. On this episode of T…
The artist dropping her debut album after a billion streams
Irish DJ Jazzy came up on the Dublin club scene and has worked with industry heavyweights like Calvin Harris.
Sam Altman: ‘I No Longer Think We’re Gonna Be Able to Just Patch All the Bugs’
We're all trying to find the guy who did this.
Pebble Just Made It Even Easier to Make Cool Watch Faces
The change allows for watchOS-style complications and new features for Core Devices' Index rings.
How a 24-year-old turned advice from rich people into a $37 million business
School of Hard Knocks cofounder James Dumoulin uses staged drama to hook viewers and sells consulting services and memberships.
What Volunteering Teaches Leaders That Business School Doesn’t
Volunteering strips away titles, salaries and authority, which makes it one of the most honest places to learn how to lead.
A Dating App Is Offering ‘Chivalry Mode’ and ‘Marriage Timeline’ to Get Gen Z Married
Upward, a newly relaunched Christian app, is pitching trad values to a generation that barely even dates.
Apple’s iPod Turns 25: The Song Catalog That Rode Wit You
An Apple Music easter egg will let you experience the sound and the scroll of the click wheel.
Call of Duty Modern Warfare 4 Review: A Dolphin Dive in the Right Direction
The final Modern Warfare is a fitting swansong that rights the wrongs of previous outings.
Fish lamps and Windows XP: Inside Frutiger Aero, the nostalgic tech aesthetic captivating Gen Zers
For its Gen Z fans, the Frutiger Aero aesthetic represents a future that was promised but never arrived, a utopia where tech and nature coexist.
This Is What Our Mysterious Denisovan Cousins Probably Looked Like
It took a while, but researchers believe they now have a molecular marker to reliably spot Denisovan fossils.
These Melanoma Patients Got a Vaccine Made for Their Own Tumors. 2 Years Later, 82% Are Still Cancer-Free
An apparent leak prompted Merck and Moderna to release the full trial results ahead of schedule, but investors puzzlingly greeted the good news by sending the companies’ stock prices down.
The iPhone Duo Is Now in Our Custom-Made Foldable Phone Test Machine. Will It Beat the Galaxy Fold 8?
We’ll fold Apple’s iPhone Duo 900 times an hour to see how its hinge holds up.
The talk show trying to help solve the entry-level job crisis
It's hard out there for job seekers. A Twitch call-in show hopes to address everything labor market and job hunting.
7 iPhone Duo Apps That Take Full Advantage of the New Foldable Phone
Apple’s iPhone Duo brings iOS to a bigger tablet-like display, and these creative apps are already optimized to make the most of it.
I work in cybersecurity, but my mom lost 3,000 to online scams. Now, I do 3 things to keep her safe.
Jen Eaves became her mother's digital caregiver after repeated online scams. She shares how she monitors accounts and teaches scam awareness.
I held senior roles at Bank of America and EY. At 56, I can't find a job, and it led to a bit of a midlife crisis.
A 56-year-old cybersecurity executive shared the challenges in her years-long job search and how it led to her launching her own venture.
Greece Enacts Social Media Ban For Kids Under 15
Greece has passed a law banning children under 15 from social media platforms beginning January 1, 2027. The legislation requires platforms to implement reliable age verification and parents to use government-backed apps to restrict access, with penalties for…
iOS 27 Cheat Sheet: Quickly Become an Expert on the New iPhone Update
From new features to updates, here’s everything you should know about iOS 27.
New iPhone Duo? Here are 4 Features You Should Check Out Now
A handful of neat capabilities help Apple’s foldable phone feel even more intuitive.
The 3 Types of Overload That Hurt Performance — and What to Do About Each One
Exploring the three forms of overload — cognitive, emotional and social — and how they quietly undermine focus, judgment and execution.
The next-gen Xbox won’t cost you $1,800. It can’t. Can it?
Fortune dropped a bombshell report on the future of gaming this week. According to the publication's Microsoft insiders, the next Xbox is projected to cost between $1,200 and $1,800 when it arrives in 2028. My first reaction: The next Xbox is dead on arrival.…
Amex Says App and Website Disruptions ‘Not Caused by a Security Vulnerability’
American Express isn't saying precisely what caused the outages for some customers.
Beyond the Review: Inside the Onyx RCR 80V E-Bike
The Onyx RCR 80V can hit motorcycle speeds, but after hundreds of miles in the saddle, I found there’s a lot more to this compact e-bike than going fast.
Beyond the Review: Inside the Onyx RCR 80V
The Onyx RCR 80V can hit motorcycle speeds, but after hundreds of miles in the saddle, I found there’s a lot more to this compact electric machine than going fast.
Why Meta is charging to post more hyperlinks
Social media sites aren't the biggest fans of people leaving via hyperlinks. In fact, Meta has made it subscription-worthy for a Facebook Page to post more than two hyperlinks per month. What's the rationale for companies want to keep you on their site?
What if you gave yourself a day to cancel all the plans you dread?
It's a day to think about all the upcoming appointments and commitments you're dreading — and then decline some of them. Writer Caroline Sylge shares a suggested schedule for the day.
Will Meta’s $25 Billion Court Loss Change Its Ways? (Spoiler: Probably Not)
A series of judgments and settlements don’t seem to be slowing Meta’s provocative privacy practices.
These 26 current US House representatives were born outside the US
Unlike the president and vice president, US House representatives do not need to be natural-born citizens in order to take office.
10 Jobs Small Business Owners Are Handing Off to Freelancers, According to Fiverr Data
Entrepreneurs are hiring freelancers to save time and drive results.
The Data Issue Holding Franchise Brands Back From System Growth
Franchisors have tremendous amounts of data, but inconsistent expense data creates a critical blind spot.
What smart people are saying about the cybersecurity 'vulnerability tsunami' that's roiling the internet
Execs and analysts are warning that major cybersecurity threats could leave critical systems — from energy and water to healthcare — especially exposed.
Buzzy insurtech Corgi is hiring experienced investment bankers. The catch? The pay is commission-only.
Corgi has made waves for venturing outside of insurance: launching ETFs and even cafes. Investment banking may be next.
My teen is obsessed with Sephora. I've learned to love it, too, for a reason that has nothing to do with makeup.
My teen daughter knows more about skincare than I do. Letting her teach me has brought us closer in ways I never expected.
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