Reports indicate Apple's upcoming Watch Series 12 will expand beyond fitness and health monitoring to include tracking of conversations. The lineup is also expected to bring back ceramic casing options as part of its design refresh.
At Apple's Surprise and Shine event, new CEO John Ternus argued that the iPhone already fulfills the role of an ideal AI device, citing its processing power, connectivity, cameras, display and battery life. Rather than announcing new AI-specific hardware, Ternus positioned the existing iPhone as Apple's answer to competitors building standalone AI gadgets.
AdaptHealth has confirmed that a cyberattack discovered in July, linked to the ShinyHunters group, exposed personal and health data belonging to about 4.1 million patients. The company says attackers gained access on June 5 through a social engineering attack that compromised a third-party contractor's privileged account, reaching cloud-based patient management and record systems. Exposed data includes names, contact and demographic details, health insurance information, and health records.
Google announced a record €13bn investment in Finland to build three new data centres, expand its existing Hamina facility, and support energy infrastructure for AI growth. As part of the deal, Google signed a 22-year agreement with Fortum to purchase up to half the electricity output from the Loviisa nuclear plant.
U.S. Customs and Border Protection has been analyzing Americans' financial transaction records to help agents identify vehicles and individuals worth pulling over. The practice extends the agency's data-driven surveillance tactics beyond travel and license-plate records into personal banking activity.
At the Goldman Sachs Communacopia + Technology Conference, CoreWeave CEO Mike Intrator told CNBC that AI and data center companies have not adequately communicated the advantages of their technology to the public. He argued that community opposition stems less from data centers themselves and more from broader anxiety about the rapid pace of technological change and its uncertain effects on people's lives and children's futures.
Several U.S. states that previously granted multi-decade tax exemptions to lure data center investments from Amazon, Meta and Google are now reconsidering or rolling back those deals. The reversal follows growing public backlash over the facilities' strain on local resources and limited job creation relative to the tax revenue forgone.
Noma Labs researchers disclosed an authorization design flaw in enterprise AI pipelines that lets attackers submit ordinary-looking requests through unauthenticated channels—like support inboxes or web forms—to trigger actions using elevated internal permissions. They demonstrated this by sending a support email that tricked an AI workflow into retrieving and forwarding a finance director's private email contents to an attacker.
Microsoft has signed an agreement with the American Federation of Teachers and its New York affiliate, the United Federation of Teachers, laying out ten enforceable privacy and safety commitments for AI use in schools. The rules bar Microsoft from training models on student or teacher data, limit data collection, ban AI companions, and require human oversight for high-stakes decisions. Districts can add these terms to contracts starting in November without renegotiating existing agreements.
Analog Devices has agreed to acquire Alif Semiconductor in an all-cash deal valued at $1.35 billion. The acquisition is aimed at broadening ADI's reach into fast-growing markets, including data-center infrastructure and defense applications.
As generative AI adoption among small businesses surges—58% now use it, up from 23% in 2023—industry leaders including Michele Jawando of Omidyar Network say access to AI tools is no longer a differentiator. Speaking at a tech discussion, Jawando, Allison Scott of Kapor Foundation, and Katy Knight of Siegel Family Endowment argued that founders must focus on owning proprietary data and intellectual property built through AI rather than simply consuming the technology.
Verdant, an economic think tank pushing for stricter data center regulation, says techUK's widely cited job creation figures are inflated. It estimates existing UK data centers support about 4,400 direct jobs versus techUK's 24,300, and projects only 10,400 permanent jobs by 2035 for planned sites versus techUK's forecast of 40,200.