Security researchers at Sophos and Cisco report that a suspected Russian state actor, previously tied to the Sandworm group linked to Russia's GRU, is exploiting two vulnerabilities in Cisco's Secure Firewall Management Center software. The attackers chain a maximum-severity authentication bypass flaw with a lower-severity privilege escalation bug to install a reverse shell and then deploy an updated version of the Cyclops Blink implant, which can steal credentials, map internal networks, and intercept live traffic.
A leaker known as pdfu shared iOS 27 and macOS Golden Gate framework code showing Siri AI can hand off tasks to Anthropic's Claude or OpenAI's GPT-5.6 models, with Siri acting as an intermediary for system-level access. One demo even shows GPT-5.6 fully replacing Siri as the on-device agent, searching emails and sending iMessages while logging activity in OpenAI's interface.
Rocket Lab has filed a protest with the Government Accountability Office challenging NASA's decision to award Blue Origin a contract worth roughly $700 million to build, launch and operate a Mars Telecommunications Network spacecraft. Rocket Lab argues NASA's selection violated eligibility criteria set by Congress in the funding legislation and that its own technical proposal was reviewed unfairly.
Several AI industry leaders have publicly urged a slower pace of AI development, citing safety and societal risk concerns. Lawmakers and policymakers, however, have largely declined to act on these calls, continuing to prioritize competitive advancement over caution.
Valve designer Pierre-Loup Griffais told IGN the company is still working out 'how and when' to release a next-generation Steam Deck, even after unveiling its full 2026 hardware lineup including the Steam Controller, Steam Machine, and Steam Frame. He said the current RAM shortage hasn't really changed Valve's thinking on developing the handheld, though no timeline was given.
Elon Musk's xAI has withdrawn the antitrust allegations it previously filed against Apple, which had accused the iPhone maker of favoring OpenAI's products within its ecosystem. The company is continuing to pursue its separate antitrust lawsuit against OpenAI.
Fitness app SmartGym has released version 8, adding a feature called SmartGym Intelligence that lets users build workout routines by typing natural-language requests, such as specifying exercise types or restrictions. Because SmartGym isn't yet eligible for Apple's Private Cloud Compute, developer Matt Abras built a similar anonymized cloud infrastructure that routes requests to frontier AI models without logging or linking them to user identities. The update also deepens Siri integration and adds features tied to iOS 27, iPadOS, and watchOS 27.
Executives from OpenAI, Anthropic, Google DeepMind and SpaceX loosely agreed over the weekend to slow AI development, backing a three-step proposal from Anthropic's Dario Amodei that calls for third-party auditors, domestic lab oversight and a global slowdown agreement. Critics argue the move looks less like genuine safety policy and more like an attempt by dominant firms to block competitors and open-source rivals while sidestepping binding legal rules.
Anthropic co-founder Jack Clark told the BBC that regulators may eventually need to require AI companies to have a verifiable shutdown mechanism, checkable by outside parties, to disable systems that become too dangerous. He said most AI labs already have some way to pull the plug internally, but argued this should become part of the broader policy debate rather than left to individual firms.
The Trump administration has appealed a federal court ruling that blocked its policy allowing detention and deportation of noncitizen researchers who study harmful online content, arguing they pose national security risks. Separately, a judge dismissed a related lawsuit from Imran Ahmed of the Center for Countering Digital Hate, ruling that courts lack jurisdiction to stop deportation proceedings even though she criticized Secretary of State Marco Rubio's justification for targeting him.
Researchers led by Simin Ma at Yunnan University developed perovskite solar cells specifically tuned to convert the blue-shifted light that penetrates several meters underwater into electricity. They addressed the material's usual weakness to moisture by adding polyhexamethylene guanidine hydrochloride, which forms a water-repelling layer and strengthens the crystal structure, improving both durability and power output.
Amazon has discounted the TCL TAB 10 Gen 4, a 10.1-inch Android tablet, by 15% off its retail price, bringing it down to $169.99. The price cut positions the device as an affordable option in the budget tablet segment.