Skip to content
Tech News
clear
Topics: Today This Week This Month This Year

FCC waives foreign-ownership cap, lets Gulf funds hold 49.5% of Paramount-WBD

The FCC has granted Paramount a waiver of its 25% foreign-ownership limit for broadcast licensees, allowing sovereign wealth funds from Saudi Arabia, Qatar and the UAE to collectively hold up to 49.5% equity in the merged Paramount-Warner Bros. Discovery entity. The commission says the funds will hold non-voting stakes, so they won't exercise formal control over the 28 broadcast stations involved. The underlying petition had actually requested approval for up to 100% foreign ownership.

Warren Buffett steps down as Berkshire Hathaway chairman, becomes chairman emeritus

Warren Buffett, 96, announced in a shareholder letter that he is immediately stepping down as chairman of Berkshire Hathaway's board, taking on the title of chairman emeritus while remaining a director. His son Howard Buffett, a 33-year board member, will become the new chairman, working alongside CEO Greg Abel, who took over operations earlier this year.

Federal Register briefly used Alibaba's Qwen AI model, then pulled it after backlash

US officials removed a Chinese-made Qwen AI search tool from the Federal Register website on Wednesday after social media users spotted it powering search of public regulatory comments. The tool, made by Alibaba, had been live for at least a day before removal, and neither the National Archives, the White House, nor the FBI has explained how or why it was deployed.

New AI regulation push ignores unenforced existing laws, critic argues

A wave of alarm over AI risks has spurred calls for new regulatory frameworks, from an FDA-style safety agency to bank-style supervision or even a development pause, with figures like Alex Bores and Bernie Sanders backing such proposals. The author argues that laws and regulators already exist to address many of AI's harms, but enforcement against powerful tech firms has been weak, raising doubts that new rules would fare any better.

Anthropic's Amodei Admits AI Firms Still Can't Explain How Models Think

A leaked resignation post from a junior Anthropic employee, who accused frontier AI companies of racing toward self-improving intelligence, spread widely and reignited public alarm over AI safety. A more senior engineer reportedly echoed internal estimates that the company's work carries roughly a 10 percent chance of catastrophic harm. In response, CEO Dario Amodei published an essay outlining a path toward safer AI, but conceded that researchers still understand only a fraction of how these models actually operate internally.

Apple releases full accessory lineup for iPhone 18 Pro and Apple Watch Series 12

Alongside launching the iPhone 18 Pro, iPhone 18 Pro Max, Apple Watch Series 12, Apple Watch Ultra 4, and AirPods 5, Apple has rolled out its complete range of first-party accessories. This includes multiple Silicone and TechWoven case options with MagSafe support in various colors for both new iPhone models, priced at $49 and $59 respectively.

Second Circuit rules border agents can search phones without a warrant

The Second Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that U.S. border agents may search travelers' electronic devices without any individualized suspicion, rejecting arguments for a warrant requirement. The decision came in United States v. Alisigwe, a case in which prosecutors used evidence from two warrantless cellphone searches conducted at the border. The Knight First Amendment Institute and the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press had filed a brief urging the court to require warrants, citing First and Fourth Amendment concerns.

Cohere CEO Aidan Gomez: China's AI gains go beyond model distillation

Cohere CEO Aidan Gomez said Chinese AI labs have built genuine capabilities that surpass simple copying of American models, even as U.S. companies and officials frame Chinese progress largely as 'distillation' or theft. He noted that some Chinese models now beat top American systems on certain benchmarks, which he argues wouldn't be possible through distillation alone since that technique can only narrow a gap, not exceed it.

EU Lawmakers Demand Meta Probe Over Albanian Protest Account Suspensions

More than 30 members of the European Parliament have asked the European Commission to investigate whether Meta violated the Digital Services Act after accounts posting about Albania's anti-government 'Flamingo Revolution' protests were mass-suspended. The suspensions, traced largely to copyright complaints starting in late August, are suspected by researchers to stem from a coordinated brigading campaign rather than genuine infringement claims.

Today's top topics: openai apple anthropic qualcomm claude opus 5.5 artificial intelligence iphone 18 pro ai safety motorola signature 27 sam altman
View all today's topics →