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NYC to bar AI tools from classrooms for students below high school in 2026

New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani unveiled a one-year moratorium starting in the 2026-2027 school year that blocks roughly 600,000 students from pre-K through eighth grade from using AI in class, and bars teachers from using AI to grade their work. Companion and mental-support chatbots will be prohibited at all grade levels, individual screens are banned until third grade, and screen time guidance caps middle schoolers at 45 minutes daily. High schoolers will get limited AI access, twice-yearly AI literacy lessons, and a small pilot program testing vetted AI tools in a handful of classrooms.

Study: Google AI Mode shows shopping prices 21.6% higher than regular search

E-commerce SEO firm Productrise found that identical products listed through Google's AI Mode averaged 21.6 percent higher prices than the same items shown via traditional Google Search. The study also found AI Mode listings appeared 49 percent more prominently to users, and nearly half the time recommended a different primary retailer than standard search results.

Multiverse Computing's Quasar 438B tops European AI models on intelligence index

Multiverse Computing has launched Quasar 438B, a reasoning model for enterprise agents and coding that operates in English and Spanish. It scored 43 on the Artificial Analysis Intelligence Index, the highest mark of any European model, surpassing Mistral Medium 3.5, NVIDIA Nemotron 3 Ultra and Inkling, though still trailing global leader Claude Opus 5 at 63. It also responds quickly, generating 500 tokens including reasoning time in 15.3 seconds, and is accessible via the CompactifAI API.

Acronis outlines six-point ransomware recovery checklist for MSPs

Acronis has published a checklist defining six required capabilities for MSP ransomware protection services, spanning exposure reduction, early detection, round-the-clock incident response, isolated backup preservation, clean recovery, and consistent enforcement across all client tenants. The guidance draws on Acronis's Cyberthreats Report, which documented 143 ransomware victims among MSPs, IT service providers and telecoms in 2025, with phishing responsible for 52% of initial breaches and unpatched systems for 27%.

Google's Android 17 QPR2 Beta 4 adds status bar customization to Pixel phones

Google has released Android 17 QPR2 Beta 4 to supported Pixel devices, a smaller update than the previous beta but one that introduces meaningful refinements. The standout addition lets users control which notification and system icons appear in the status bar through a new settings menu, alongside a Voice Broadcast option added to Quick Settings.

Chosen, owner of Nexus Mods, acquires SteamDB from founder Pavel Djundik

SteamDB, the widely used Steam analytics and database site, has been sold to Chosen, the company behind Nexus Mods. Co-founder Pavel Djundik said running the site solo had become unsustainable after burnout following years of increasing workload since launching it in 2013 with Marlamin. Chosen CEO Victor Folmann said the site will be commercialized through partnerships and affiliate links rather than ads, while preserving what makes it useful to users.

Prop 65 warning labels turn 40, still baffling shoppers in California

California's Proposition 65, the 1986 law requiring warnings on products that may expose consumers to chemicals linked to cancer or reproductive harm, is marking its 40th anniversary this year even as many consumers remain confused by its labels. The law does not ban the chemicals in question but forces businesses to disclose their presence above certain thresholds, leaving buyers to decide for themselves whether to avoid a product.

Acer unveils Project DualPlay Mini, a handheld that folds into a laptop

Acer showed off a concept device called Project DualPlay Mini, an 8-inch Windows handheld gaming PC that opens up like a laptop to reveal a backlit physical keyboard, with the screen swiveling inward to complete the transformation. Alongside it, Acer launched the Predator Atlas 7, a smaller 7-inch sibling to the Predator Atlas 8 handheld released earlier this year.

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