Simply the latest news, updated on the hour.

Sun, Oct 18, 2026, 1:02 PM EDT

Tech

AI Summary

  • Disney is reportedly looking to hire a significant portion of Character.AI's workforce, signaling a move to bolster its AI capabilities.
  • Rivian is pivoting its strategy, focusing on its next phase of growth and development in the electric vehicle market.
  • Meta has adjusted its platform's language to address concerns regarding data scraping and the use of user data for AI training.
  • TikTok has permanently banned the advertising account for a documentary about Elon Musk, citing policy violations.
  • Leading AI companies like Anthropic are observing a shift in their workforce demographics, with a trend towards more experienced employees and increased meeting times.

TechCrunch


The Verge

  • Video game ownership bill introduced in Congress an hour ago by Terrence O’Brien
    Gaming, News, Policy, Politics

    Rep. Ritchie Torres of New York's 15th congressional district in the Bronx introduced the Power To The Players Act this week. If passed, the bill would direct the Federal Trade Commission to establish regulations that guarantee consumers ownership of a game when they pay for it, rather than a licensing agreement. It's increasingly common for games sold to require a connection to a server. Meaning that when a company decides to shut down those servers, the games often become unplayable. Rep. Torres singles out NBA 2K25 as a recent example. 2K will be delisting the game from storefronts at the

  • Lenovo’s fast, comfy SteamOS handheld is hundreds off 2 hours ago by Cameron Faulkner
    Deals, Gadgets, Gaming, PC Gaming, Verge Shopping

    The Legion Go S with SteamOS is a pretty solid alternative to the $789 Steam Deck OLED. It runs identical software, but ships in a design with two-stage triggers, a bigger eight-inch IPS screen (1080p and up to 120Hz versus 800p and 90Hz in the Deck OLED), and it’s got double the RAM and storage (32GB and 1TB, respectively), not to mention a slightly faster processor in the Ryzen Z1 Extreme. At $999.99, its current discounted price at Best Buy , it’s worth considering if you’re deciding on a handheld. The Legion Go S is not as powerful as the

  • J Mascis has nothing better to do 3 hours ago by Terrence O’Brien
    Entertainment, Interview, Music, Report

    J Mascis on stage during Dinosaur Jr.’s Baby’s Alright show in NYC. | Photo: Terrence O’Brien Dinosaur Jr. frontman J Mascis is known as something of a slacker guitar god. He stands stoically onstage, barely moving, as he seemingly effortlessly works through deft guitar solos and lopsided riffs. Unfortunately, Mascis has developed a similar reputation as an interview subject, quietly sitting and offering deft nonanswers. That's not to say that Mascis can't be funny or charming. As our interview was winding down and I was thanking him for his time, he started to loosen up a bit. He told me

  • Trump says Google kisses his ass 4 hours ago by Terrence O’Brien
    Google, Policy, Politics, Tech

    During a rally on Saturday, October 17th, in Highland Heights, Kentucky, Donald Trump bragged about how much more powerful and influential he was during his second term. While listing off his accomplishments, he mentioned his decision to rename the Gulf of Mexico and Lake Ontario . "This is a much more powerful term. I can do stuff that's unbelievable … I called Google, Google Maps. See, Google wouldn't have taken my call in the first term. Now they kiss my ass." Trump seems to be implying that he convinced Google to reflect the name change personally. That would seem to

  • The best gadget I bought this year is a milk frother 4 hours ago by Elizabeth Lopatto
    Gadgets

    Back in February, I went to Los Angeles to take in some art and stayed in Koreatown. Down the street from my hotel, there was this little coffee shop - Stagger - that is, I think, best known for its matcha, which is good. But the drink I unexpectedly found myself obsessed with was their cream top, an iced Americano with, yep, vanilla cream on top. When I got back to Oakland, I kept thinking about how badly I wanted one. For more than 20 years, I've been drinking my coffee - iced or otherwise - black. Originally this was


Wired


OpenAI News


Google AI

  • What’s new with Google Cloud 2 days ago by Google Cloud Content & Editorial
    Google Cloud, Inside Google Cloud

    Want to know the latest from Google Cloud? Find it here in one handy location. Check back regularly for our newest updates, announcements, resources, events, learning opportunities, and more. Tip : Not sure where to find what you’re looking for on the Google Cloud blog? Start here: Google Cloud blog 101: Full list of topics, links, and resources . aside_block Oct 12 - Oct 16 AI tokenomics in action: Enforcing tiered token budgets with Apigee Scaling artificial intelligence across an enterprise requires clear token governance to keep LLM spend predictable across departments. Join Tarun Abraham on Thursday, November

  • 3 Highlights from Thomas Kurian’s Keynote at the Goldman Sachs Communicopia & Technology Conference a month ago by Google Cloud Content & Editorial
    Inside Google Cloud

    On Tuesday, September 8, Thomas Kurian participated in the Goldman Sachs Tech Conference, providing an update on Google Cloud’s business and strategy. Here are the highlights: Full Stack Approach: Google Cloud is the only provider to offer solutions across the entire AI stack, which expands our total addressable market, differentiates our products from the point of view of performance, cost and quality; and enables us to diversify our revenue streams as the market grows. We have 17 product lines with more than $1 billion in revenues and our customers on average exceeded their commitments by more than 50%. We have

  • From AI potential to agentic reality: Driving the UK’s next chapter 4 months ago by Maureen Costello
    AI & Machine Learning, Data Analytics, Security & Identity, Sustainability, Customers, Partners, Startups, Inside Google Cloud

    The United Kingdom, and London in particular, continues to be one of the great hubs for AI development in Europe and the world. We’re home to Google DeepMind, of course, as well as significant AI unicorns — and Google Cloud customers — like Ineffable Intelligence , which is today announcing an important partnership with us. A year ago, we joined you for the London Summit to showcase the vast potential of generative AI , including a major investment in upskilling the UK civil service. Today, as we welcome our partners once again to the historic vaults of Tobacco Dock, that

  • What’s new with Google Cloud - 2025 10 months ago by Google Cloud Content & Editorial
    Google Cloud, Inside Google Cloud

    Want to know the latest from Google Cloud? Find it here in one handy location. Check back regularly for our newest updates, announcements, resources, events, learning opportunities, and more. Tip : Not sure where to find what you’re looking for on the Google Cloud blog? Start here: Google Cloud blog 101: Full list of topics, links, and resources . Dec 22 - Dec 26 To design production-ready AI agents, you must choose the right tools for memory, reasoning, and orchestration. To simplify this process, Choose your agentic AI architecture components provides an iterative framework to help you select products and

  • The Year in Google Cloud — 2025 10 months ago by Google Cloud Content & Editorial
    Inside Google Cloud, Google Cloud

    In the AI era, when one year can feel like 10, you’re forgiven for forgetting what happened last month, much less what happened all the way back in January. To jog your memory, we pulled the readership data for top product and company news of 2025. And because we publish a lot of great thought leadership and customer stories, we pulled that data too. Long story short: the most popular stories largely mapped to our biggest announcements. But not always — there were more than a few sleeper hits on this year’s list. Read on to relive this huge year,


The Deep View

  • AI is turning specialists into generalists a day ago by The Deep View

    Hello, friends. As AI disrupts the traditional career ladder and democratizes a great number of skills, the most important qualities in an employee have little to do with technical prowess. That’s the topic of this special weekend edition, presented in partnership with Rokt . Let us know what you think! — Nat Rubio-Licht AI is turning specialists into generalists Though AI is undoubtedly changing the roles of engineers, it may be poised to shift the DNA of the workforce entirely. Bill Barton, chief operating officer at ecommerce tech firm Rokt , has seen the company transform as a result of

  • Anthropic’s audit push tests AI transparency 2 days ago by The Deep View

    Welcome back. As enterprises seek to reel in AI spending, Meta and Nvidia released open models that home in on efficiency and on-premise usage. Meanwhile, Amazon's new AI wearables push could offer seamless integration that gives it an edge over competitors. And Anthropic has unveiled its plan to let third-party evaluators inspect its models as frontier AI safety concerns continue. — Nat Rubio-Licht IN TODAY’S NEWSLETTER 1. Anthropic’s safety audits face a trust test 2. Meta, Nvidia give US open models a boost 3. Amazon’s edge in AI wearables is its ecosystem GOVERNANCE Anthropic’s audit push tests AI transparency As

  • The music industry's AI reckoning is already here 3 days ago by Jason Hiner

    The music industry is facing its own Turing test. While practically every field is reckoning with how to navigate AI's impending transformation, the music industry sits at a unique crossroads: When a creation that we once believed to be distinctly human can be automated, what happens to the artist? The question about where AI fits into the music industry has evolved from debate into a cacophony. While the loudest voices are aggressively for it or against it, the reality of how musicians are using AI and the tech's risks are far more nuanced, according to a variety of experts we

  • Why rogue agents demand a global response 3 days ago by The Deep View

    Welcome back. Nvidia explains how its strategy for rapidly expanding AI data centers involves digital twins, or virtual replicas of physical environments. Meanwhile, Apple may have found its edge in the smart home space by relying on user context. And a fleet of rogue agents from a Chinese lab highlights how AI containment has become an international problem. — Nat Rubio-Licht IN TODAY’S NEWSLETTER 1. China’s rogue agents widen AI’s safety problem 2. Apple turns user context into a smart home edge 3. Nvidia's secret weapon for accelerating AI factories GOVERNANCE Why rogue agents demand a global response New research

  • AI’s containment problem is getting urgent 4 days ago by The Deep View

    Welcome back. Though Meta's new camera-free glasses provide a lighter, more socially-acceptable alternative to its previous iterations, they also forgo the visual context that makes its AI more useful. Meanwhile, a coalition of authors is fighting for control over how their content is used by AI labs. And hundreds of researchers are urging the AI industry to create stronger sandboxes as rogue AI incidents pile up. — Nat Rubio-Licht IN TODAY’S NEWSLETTER 1. Why AI labs face a growing containment problem 2. Publishers seek leverage in the AI copyright fight 3. Meta's Audio glasses make a context trade-off GOVERNANCE AI’s


Looking for more? Search Google News for Tech