Florida has filed a lawsuit against Netflix, alleging the streaming company misled subscribers about its privacy practices while secretly gathering detailed data on users' devices, locations and viewing habits. The suit contends this tracking extended to children and families who were unaware of the extent of the surveillance.
Employees are increasingly suspicious of coworkers who use AI tools, largely because organizations haven't established clear guidelines on when and how AI use is appropriate. This ambiguity is creating friction and eroding trust among team members who lack a shared understanding of acceptable practices.
At its annual Developers Conference, Roblox announced plans to let players jump into games directly from a browser without downloading anything, starting with Chrome by the end of 2026. In mid-2027, the platform will also add offline solo play for spotty-connection areas, with early access arriving sooner, alongside a push to let creators publish standalone apps across mobile, PC and consoles under a 'Play Roblox Everywhere' initiative.
A group of parents and children in Illinois and California filed a proposed class-action lawsuit in Chicago federal court, claiming Meta harvested their Facebook and Instagram photos without consent to build NameTag, an unreleased face-recognition feature for its smart glasses, and to train generative AI models like Emu and Muse Image. The suit alleges these actions violated state biometric and privacy laws in Illinois and California.
Silkroad Innovation Hub and TechCrunch picked Cerberus, WeGlobal AI, and LOOQ as the top three startups from Central Eurasia's Road to TechCrunch Startup Battlefield 2026 regional final. The trio beat out 22 finalists chosen from a record 726 applications spanning 39 countries, and will now pitch at Startup Battlefield 200 during TechCrunch Disrupt 2026 in San Francisco this October.
Switzerland's Federal Chancellery and its Armed Forces Cyber Command are separately moving away from Microsoft 365 toward openDesk, a German-built open-source workplace suite covering email, calendars, documents and video conferencing. The Chancellery plans to run openDesk alongside Microsoft 365 for about 3,000 of 47,000 federal employees by the end of 2027, at an estimated cost of 9 million Swiss francs, while the military is proceeding faster on sensitive systems.
Apple has begun selling accessories for the iPhone 18 Pro and Pro Max in its stores, a week before the phones launch and a day before pre-orders open. The lineup includes a $49 Silicone Case, a redesigned Clear Case with MagSafe, a $59 TechWoven Case, updated FineWoven Wallets, and a new $29 Wrist Strap made from recycled polyester with embedded magnets.
GrapheneOS has shipped version 13 of its Messages app, rebuilding the interface with Jetpack Compose and Material 3 design. The update adds conversation management tools like pinning, snoozing, archiving, and multi-select actions, plus support for large-screen two-pane layouts and a redesigned recipient picker.
Researchers applied mass spectrometry-based proteomics to analyze adhesives and glues found on a range of ancient Egyptian artifacts without damaging them, publishing their findings in Science Advances. Alongside expected animal collagens and egg proteins, they identified plant-derived proteins from sesame and moringa (drumstick tree) sources, expanding the known palette of binding materials used by ancient craftspeople.
CISA, the FBI and international partners published a joint advisory this month titled 'Communicating Under Pressure: Best Practices for Service Providers,' addressing poor communication during IT and OT outages. The guidance calls on companies to move away from PR-driven messaging and instead give users transparent, actionable updates about root causes and expected impacts during disruptions.
A newly revealed short titled 'Optimus Prime: Awakening' will feature Peter Cullen's final performance as the iconic Transformers character. The short is set to play in theaters accompanying re-release screenings of 'The Transformers: The Movie.'
The CIA, under Director John Ratcliffe, has publicly released 71 President's Daily Brief intelligence products covering the period before and immediately after the September 11, 2001 attacks. The release, timed to the 25th anniversary of 9/11, totals more than 100 pages and marks the agency's largest disclosure of PDB material on the attacks to date, showing how analysts tracked al-Qa'ida and Usama Bin Ladin despite limited intelligence.