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Tech

AI Summary

  • The tech industry is seeing a massive surge in AI integration, leading to significant funding for AI startups, new business models like ads in chatbots, but also concerns around employee burnout and ethical challenges.
  • Data privacy and security are increasingly under scrutiny, with national digital ID systems facing criticism, a rise in 'stalkerware' app breaches, and platforms implementing stricter age verification.
  • The consumer app and social media landscape is shifting, marked by popular platforms monetizing through ads and paywalls, while new players and content creators are making strategic acquisitions in areas like youth banking.
  • Autonomous vehicle technology is steadily expanding its test operations into new markets, and ride-hailing services are evolving to cater to younger users with enhanced safety measures.
  • Mergers, acquisitions, and substantial funding rounds continue to define the tech industry's growth, especially within the competitive AI and specialized hardware sectors.

TechCrunch


Hacker News


Engadget

  • The best E Ink tablets for 2026 2 hours ago by Valentina Palladino
    Tablets, Technology & Electronics, Handheld & Connected Devices, Consumer Discretionary, site|engadget, provider_name|Engadget, region|US, language|en-US, author_name|Valentina Palladino

    I’m a longtime lover of pen and paper, so E Ink tablets have been intriguing to me ever since they started becoming more widely available. After having hundreds of half-filled notebooks over the years, I, at some point, turned to digital tools instead because it was just easier to store everything on my phone or laptop so I always had my most important information at my fingertips. E-Ink tablets seem to provide the best of both worlds: the tactile satisfaction of regular notebooks with many of the conveniences found in digital tools, plus easy-on-the-eyes E-Ink screens. These devices have come a

  • Riot Games is laying off half of the 2XKO development team 13 hours ago by Anna Washenko
    Video Games, site|engadget, provider_name|Engadget, region|US, language|en-US, author_name|Anna Washenko

    Another day, another wave of gaming layoffs. Today it's Riot Games with the announcement that it's cutting jobs on its pair-based fighting game 2XKO. For context, a representative from Riot confirmed to Game Developer that about 80 people are being cut, or roughly half of 2XKO's global development team.  "As we expanded from PC to console, we saw consistent trends in how players were engaging with 2XKO," according to the blog post from executive producer Tom Cannon. "The game has resonated with a passionate core audience, but overall momentum hasn’t reached the level needed to support a team of this size

  • DOJ may face investigation for pressuring Apple, Google to remove apps for tracking ICE agents 13 hours ago by Anna Washenko
    Politics & Government, site|engadget, provider_name|Engadget, region|US, language|en-US, author_name|Anna Washenko

    House Judiciary Committee member Jamie Raskin (D-MD) has asked the US Department of Justice to turn over all its communications with both Apple and Google regarding the companies' decisions to remove apps that shared information about sightings of US Immigrations and Customs Enforcement officers. Several apps that allowed people to share information about where they had seen ICE members were removed from both Apple's App Store and Google's Play Store in October. Politico reported that Raskin has contacted Attorney General Pam Bondi on the issue and also questioned the agency's use of force against protestors as it executes the immigration

  • ExpressVPN two-year plans are up to 81 percent off right now 14 hours ago by Andre Revilla
    Internet & Networking Technology, site|engadget, provider_name|Engadget, region|US, language|en-US, author_name|Andre Revilla

    If you're looking to up your privacy game on the internet in the new year, you can do so for a little less than usual thanks to ExpressVPN's latest deal. Its two-year plans are up to 81 percent off right now: the Advanced tier is on sale for $88 for two years, plus four additional free months. The Basic plan is where you'll see the biggest discount: it's $68 for two years, plus the same four additional free months. We’ve consistently liked ExpressVPN because it’s fast, easy to use and widely available across a large global server network. In fact, it's

  • Olympics 2026: How to watch, full schedule of events, and everything else you need to know about the Winter Games 15 hours ago by Danica Creahan,Liz Kocan
    Sports & Recreation, site|engadget, provider_name|Engadget, region|US, language|en-US, author_name|Danica Creahan

    The Milano Cortina 2026 Winter Olympics are coming up. (Mattia Ozbot/Getty Images) Mattia Ozbot via Getty Images The 2026 Winter Olympics are taking place in Italy this year, with all the action taking place in Milan and the Alpine city of Cortina. This year marks the fourth time Italy has hosted the Winter Games; most recently, Turin hosted in 2006. Of the 16 sports featured at the Winter Olympics, 15 will return, including figure skating, hockey, luge, speed skating, and one entirely new sport, snow mountaineering. (Will it be as big a hit as the 2024 Summer Games' new addition, breaking? It


The Verge

  • New Mexico goes to trial to accuse Meta of facilitating child predators 9 hours ago by Lauren Feiner
    Meta, News, Policy, Social Media, Tech

    Mark Zuckerberg. | Image: Cath Virginia / The Verge, Getty Images At the center of a consequential case about social media liability is a key question: did Meta lie or mislead the public about the safety of its platform, while knowing something very different? The state of New Mexico opened its case Monday arguing that public statements by Meta's top executives regularly contradicted its own internal discussions and research about the harm Facebook and Instagram posed to teens. According to Don Migliori, an attorney for the state, Meta prioritized profits and its stated commitment to free expression over the safety of young

  • MrBeast just bought a banking app 12 hours ago by Stevie Bonifield
    Apps, Creators, News, Tech

    Beast Industries, owned by YouTuber Jimmy "MrBeast" Donaldson, announced on Monday that it has acquired Step, a banking app designed for teens and young adults. The move comes a couple of months after Donaldson announced plans to start a new YouTube channel centered on personal finance and investing. His main channel has 466 million subscribers and has long been one of the most popular on YouTube, frequently featuring videos where Donaldson gives away huge sums of money. MrBeast's other business ventures also include a chain of ghost restaurants, the Feastables snack brand, and an upcoming phone service company called Beast Mobile.

  • ChatGPT’s cheapest options now show you ads 13 hours ago by Stevie Bonifield
    AI, News, OpenAI, Tech

    Ads will appear as labeled “sponsored” links. | Image: OpenAI ChatGPT users may soon start seeing ads in their chats, as OpenAI announced on Monday that it's officially beginning to test ads on its AI platform. They'll appear as labeled "sponsored" links at the bottom of ChatGPT answers, but OpenAI says the ads "do not influence the answers ChatGPT gives you." Currently, ads will only show up for users on the free version of ChatGPT or the lowest-cost $8 per month Go plan. Users in the Plus, Pro, Business, Enterprise, and Education plans won't see any ads, so anyone who wants to

  • FCC accused of withholding DOGE information ‘in bad faith’ 13 hours ago by Lauren Feiner
    Elon Musk, News, Policy, Politics, Science, Space, SpaceX, Tech

    One year and nearly 2,000 pages of documents later, a group suing to uncover what the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) was doing at the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) says the agency has withheld relevant documents "in bad faith" and is asking a court to allow discovery and depositions to draw out the information. "Thus far, the Defendant has sought to delay document production, and when pressed by this Court to act, Defendant has produced only sanitized email threads," Arthur Belendiuk, attorney for advocacy group Frequency Forward and journalist Nina Burleigh, who together filed the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) re

  • Riot is already cutting staff on its new fighting game 13 hours ago by Jay Peters
    Entertainment, Gaming, News

    Riot Games is already "reducing the size" of the team working on its recently-released free-to-play fighting game 2XKO, according to a post from executive producer Tom Cannon. The game, set in the League of Legends universe, launched in early access on PC in October and hit consoles just a few weeks ago. 2XKO has been in development for years, with Riot first announcing the project under the codename Project L in 2019 as part of broader plans to expand the company's lineup beyond League of Legends. While some of Riot's expansion ideas have worked out, including Netflix's animated series Arcane and


Wired


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