Apple has released the eighth developer beta of iOS 27, its most AI-centric iPhone update yet, available now to Program members via Settings. The update centers on Siri AI, a rebuilt assistant using new Apple Foundation Models that adds richer conversation, on-screen awareness, and deeper app actions, alongside a refreshed Dynamic Island interface and a standalone Siri app. Apple Intelligence features are also expanding into Photos, Safari, Mail, Messages, and other apps as the company nears a public rollout in the coming weeks.
President Trump posted on Truth Social criticizing the growing local opposition to AI data center construction across the U.S., arguing that communities rejecting these projects are choosing poverty and stagnation over prosperity. He also claimed that China benefits from the anti-data-center sentiment spreading through American towns and cities.
On his final day as Apple's chief executive, Tim Cook sent employees a memo praising incoming CEO John Ternus, the company's senior vice president of hardware engineering, calling him uniquely suited to build products that matter. Cook emphasized he isn't leaving Apple entirely, as he will stay on as executive chairman handling political relationships with figures like President Trump and Chinese officials.
An Entrepreneur opinion piece argues that AI is dismantling the vendor lock-in strategy long used by enterprise software providers, including legacy banking systems and CRM platforms like Salesforce. By cutting the technical cost and effort of migrating data and integrations, AI is making it far easier for companies to switch providers than in the past.
MapQuest declined to rename Lake Ontario to 'Lake America' despite a Trump executive order pushing the change, while Google Maps updated its listing to comply. The decision triggered a surge in downloads, pushing MapQuest to No. 4 overall on the U.S. App Store and No. 1 among navigation apps, with usage spiking 50 times above normal.
Perplexity has extended its agentic AI feature, previously exclusive to Mac, to Windows 10 and 11 users on paid Pro, Max, or Enterprise plans. The tool can access local files, control native Windows applications, and connect to cloud services like OneDrive, Google Drive, Box, and Dropbox to complete multi-step tasks with minimal user input. A ZDNET reviewer tested it on five complex tasks to gauge its real-world usefulness.
Phil Schiller is stepping back from overseeing the App Store and Apple's product events, roles he held even after moving to an Apple Fellow title in 2020. The App Store will now fall under Eddy Cue's services division, with Carson Oliver managing daily operations, while Nola Weinstein takes charge of events reporting to communications VP Kristin Huguet Quayle.
The ZCOM computer museum in Hoyerswerda, Germany, may shut down by year's end after the municipal housing company withdrew its annual €110,000 subsidy. The city council is now deciding whether to continue funding the museum, which has drawn only about 10,000 of its targeted 20,000-25,000 annual visitors since reopening in 2017. Without a new backer, the foundation running ZCOM says it will have to close the institution.
The Zuse-Computer-Museum (ZCOM) in Hoyerswerda, Germany, held its last public opening days before a planned shutdown, with its trustee foundation confirming in July 2026 that the museum will close and its unique computing-history collection dismantled by year's end. Visitor numbers plunged to roughly 3,600 in two months, far below the 30,000 annual target set at its 2017 founding, leaving the institution unable to sustain itself financially.
Bank of England Governor Andrew Bailey told G20 finance ministers that a collapse in AI sector growth could trigger a market correction that ripples across the world economy. He pointed to high stock valuations, rising investor leverage, and growing financial ties between AI firms and major tech companies as factors that could magnify such a shock, while also flagging cyber security risks from coordinated attacks on multiple firms at once.
An attacker manipulated the price of Tectonic's TONIC token by 100x in just 20 minutes, using the inflated collateral to borrow $74 million on the Cronos network. Only about $6 million in Ethereum was actually withdrawn before Cronos halted the chain, with the remainder of the funds left stranded. Cronos validators froze operations, rolled back the chain state to before the exploit, and resumed block production hours later.
A DIY enthusiast connected three existing security camera microphones to BirdNet-Go, an open-source, locally-run AI tool, to automatically identify bird species by song in real time. The system also picks up bats and frogs, runs entirely on local hardware without cloud services, and can send custom alerts—such as via Discord—when specific species are detected.