Ahead of Apple's September 9 fall event, the CNET Group of publications—including CNET, Lifehacker, Mashable, PCMag, Popular Science and ZDNET—is running a daily retrospective series revisiting major Apple milestones, from the 2007 iPhone launch to the 2015 debut of the Apple Watch. The outlets are also running a prediction contest, the Big Guessing Game, offering a new Apple Watch as a prize for correctly guessing what Apple will unveil.
Billionaire investor Stanley Druckenmiller published a Wall Street Journal op-ed criticizing Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, and readers quickly flagged telltale AI-generated phrasing using detection tools like Pangram. Druckenmiller confirmed he used AI to draft the piece, comparing it to using a calculator, and WSJ opinion editor Paul Gigot backed the decision not to disclose AI assistance, calling AI use a 'fact of modern life.'
Deep Cogito, a startup founded by former Google AI search employees, has raised $43 million in funding. The capital will support the company's mission of helping businesses develop their own specialized AI models rather than relying solely on third-party systems.
Amazon has opened pre-orders for Apple's new M6 and M5 Pro Mac mini models across several configurations, ranging from $899 to $1,699. Best Buy is separately offering up to $500 off the M6 Mac mini when trading in an older M4 unit, while other current discounts include AirTag 2 at $20, renewed iPhone 17 Pro units up to $220 off, and Apple's official iPhone Air Bumper case down to under $13.
An Entrepreneur contributor argues that as AI makes content production cheaper and more abundant, companies that clearly define and own a market category will stand out faster than those competing purely on content volume. The piece contends that vague, broad positioning makes brands forgettable, while firms that establish a distinct category shape how buyers evaluate the entire market and gain first-mover advantage.
Amazon has cut the price of the Garmin Vivoactive 5 to $173, down from its $299.99 list price, marking the lowest price the smartwatch has ever hit. The device offers a 1.2-inch AMOLED display, built-in GPS, extensive health tracking features, onboard music storage, and up to 11 days of battery life.
Designer Simon Weckert created a garishly patterned Hawaiian shirt intended to make wearers invisible to AI-powered surveillance systems. The pink, orange and green shapes are engineered to disrupt an algorithm's ability to recognize a human outline, effectively blinding detection software while appearing as an eye-catching print to people. Weckert used an AI-driven trial-and-error process, called an adversarial loop, to develop the disruptive pattern.
Volvo has confirmed a software update bringing Spatial Audio support through Apple CarPlay to the EX90, following earlier plans to add the feature to the EX60 and ES90. The immersive sound experience relies on Dolby Atmos and requires the optional Bowers & Wilkins premium sound system with 25 speakers.
NCC Group's July threat advisory reports a 22% month-over-month rise in ransomware activity, with 894 victim organization listings recorded across industrial, consumer services, technology, critical infrastructure, finance and healthcare sectors. The Gentlemen and Quilin topped the list of attributed groups, while the US accounted for 41% of incidents; notably, the month also saw the first fully agentic AI-driven ransomware attack chain and a breach at Ernst & Young claimed by ShinyHunters.
Amazon is offering the Nothing Phone (3) for $499, a $300 markdown from its usual price. The device features a 6.67-inch 120Hz AMOLED display and a Snapdragon 8s Gen 4 processor.
A tester given preview access to GPT-5.6-Cyber challenged the AI agent to escape a QEMU/KVM virtual machine on a Debian Linux host. The model succeeded three separate times, first using recently disclosed kernel bugs, then unpatched vulnerabilities not yet flagged as security issues, and finally by discovering its own zero-day exploits after the system was rebuilt from the latest source code.
Researchers demonstrated a new Rowhammer variant called GPUThor that defeats NVIDIA's ECC memory protections on Ampere-class workstation GPUs, including the RTX A4000, A4500, A5000, and A6000. By using a non-uniform hammering pattern tuned to avoid triggering GDDR6's Target Row Refresh defenses, the attack generates far more bit flips than earlier concepts like GPUHammer, enabling denial-of-service conditions and root-level privilege escalation.
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