Latest Tech News

Stay updated with the latest in technology, AI, cybersecurity, and more

Filtered by: pan Clear Filter

Silicon Valley’s AI Spend Goes Berserk as Microsoft Starts Cashing In

Meta, Apple, Microsoft, and Amazon all reported quarterly earnings this week, and there was a common thread tying them together: a boom in AI spending and plans to increase it even more, beyond analyst expectations. Although capital expenditures above expectations often don’t tend to make investors particularly happy, it had pretty much the opposite effect this week, especially for Meta and Microsoft, both of which saw a pop in their stock following the releases. And for Microsoft, which poste

Financial lessons from my family's experience with long-term care insurance

[EDITOR'S NOTE: Looking to supercharge the way you plan for retirement? Boldin is a financial planning platform that can help WCIers answer critical questions and model key financial issues for the future (Dr. Jim Dahle has called it “ an online retirement calculator on steroids ”). Boldin will help you build your retirement plan and keep you on track for the future you deserve. If you’re a DIY investor, Boldin is a fantastic resource. Make sure to check it out today!] By Adam Safdi, WCI Column

Tim Cook reportedly tells employees Apple ‘must’ win in AI

In Brief Apple CEO Tim Cook held an hourlong all-hands meeting in which he told employees that the company needs to win in AI, according to Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman. The meeting came after an earnings call in which Cook told investors and analysts that Apple would “significantly” increase its AI investments. It seems he had a similar message for Apple employees, reportedly telling them, “Apple must do this. Apple will do this. This is sort of ours to grab.” Despite launching a variety of AI-po

Fired by video: Atlassian terminates 150 workers using pre-recorded video, sparking criticism

Cutting corners: Receiving a layoff notice is always hard, but the way the message is delivered can make the experience even more painful. The latest example: Atlassian's termination notification to 150 employees through a pre-recorded video. The restructuring not only highlights concerns about impersonal layoff announcements but also reflects the increasing influence of AI on jobs in the technology industry. Australian software giant Atlassian has eliminated 150 jobs as part of a major restruc

Thousands of private ChatGPT conversations found via Google search after feature mishap

What just happened? Numerous organizations have repeatedly warned ChatGPT users over the years never to share personal information with OpenAI's chatbot. A recent incident involving a now-removed feature reveals that potentially thousands of people disclosed deeply intimate information with ChatGPT and also inadvertently made it discoverable through Google search. OpenAI recently confirmed that it has deactivated an opt-in feature that shared chat histories on the open web. Although the functio

Financial Lessons from My Family's Experience with Long-Term Care Insurance

[EDITOR'S NOTE: Looking to supercharge the way you plan for retirement? Boldin is a financial planning platform that can help WCIers answer critical questions and model key financial issues for the future (Dr. Jim Dahle has called it “ an online retirement calculator on steroids ”). Boldin will help you build your retirement plan and keep you on track for the future you deserve. If you’re a DIY investor, Boldin is a fantastic resource. Make sure to check it out today!] By Adam Safdi, WCI Column

9 Best Indoor Security Cameras (2025): For Homes and Apartments

Compare Indoor Cameras Best MicroSD Cards Photograph: Amazon Many security cameras support local storage, enabling you to record videos on the camera or a linked hub. A few hubs have built-in storage, and some provide slots for hard drives, but most rely on microSD cards. Here are some details on what to look for (and a few recommendations). The microSD card you choose should have fast read and write speeds so that you can record high-quality video and play it back without delay. We recommen

What founders should think about if looking to raise a Series C

Startup founders face a perplexing and even contradictory capital market in 2025, according to Sapphire Ventures partner Cathy Gao. “Capital isn’t scarce. But access to that capital is harder than ever,” she said. Gao, who spoke at TechCrunch’s All Stage conference in July, said it’s possible for startup founders, especially those in later Series C stage, to navigate this particular economic environment. And they need to start with a reality check. To begin, she said, it’s important to note th

Palo Alto Networks agrees to buy CyberArk for $25B

In Brief Cybersecurity giant Palo Alto Networks announced on Wednesday its intent to acquire identity management and security company CyberArk for $25 billion. The deal, a mix of cash and stock, marks Palo Alto’s entrance into the identity security space, according to a company press release. Palo Alto has been on a shopping spree since Nikesh Arora took over as CEO and chairman of the company in 2018, according to the Financial Times, which estimated the company has spent more than $7 billion

More details emerge on how Windsurf’s VCs and founders got paid from the Google deal

Weeks after the revelation that Google paid Windsurf $2.4 billion to license its technology, while simultaneously hiring away its CEO and top talent, the deal’s implications are still rattling some founders and startup employees across Silicon Valley. Google’s payment to the startup was effectively split in two equal parts, according to two people familiar with the deal. Investors’ portion was $1.2 billion. The other half was in the form of compensation packages for approximately 40 Windsurf e

Tim Cook says Apple ‘must’ figure out AI and ‘will make the investment to do it’

is a news editor covering technology, gaming, and more. He joined The Verge in 2019 after nearly two years at Techmeme. Posts from this author will be added to your daily email digest and your homepage feed. Apple CEO Tim Cook boasted about the potential of AI and the company’s approach to developing it in a rare all-hands today that was reported on by Bloomberg. Apple has been slow to roll out some of its AI features and has stumbled with a planned AI-powered upgrade to Siri, which it delayed

Delta’s dynamic AI pricing plan sounds different now

is a news editor covering technology, gaming, and more. He joined The Verge in 2019 after nearly two years at Techmeme. Posts from this author will be added to your daily email digest and your homepage feed. Delta Air Lines is explaining more about its AI-assisted dynamic pricing model after coming under scrutiny for recent comments about the pricing. In November, Delta president Glen Hauenstein said at an investor day that “we will have a price that’s available on that flight, on that time,

Figma stock pops 5% in second day of trading after colossal debut

Figma celebrates its initial public offering at the New York Stock Exchange on July 31, 2025. Shares of design software vendor Figma popped more than 5% on Friday, a day after the stock more than tripled in its New York Stock Exchange debut. Figma opened at $85 on Thursday under the ticker FIG, and shares closed at $115.50 for a 250% gain. On Friday, the stock traded above $120. Figma is the latest tech company to hit the public markets after an extended IPO drought. Artificial intelligence i

Tesla Ordered to Pay More Than $200 Million Over Fatal Autopilot Crash

A jury in Florida found Tesla partially liable for a fatal 2019 crash involving one of the company’s vehicles operating in Autopilot mode. The jury awarded a combined $243 million in punitive and compensatory damages to Tesla, according to The New York Times. The incident in question occurred in Key Largo, Florida, in 2019. George McGee was behind the wheel of a Tesla Model S and had the company’s Autopilot software activated while traveling down a two-lane road at night. As the car drove throu

OpenAI is removing ChatGPT conversations from Google

OpenAI has removed a feature that made shared ChatGPT conversations appear in search results. The "short-lived experiment" was based on the chatbot's link creation option. After complaints, OpenAI's chief information security officer, Dane Stuckey, said the company is working to remove the chats from search engines. The public outrage stems from a Fast Company article from earlier this week (via Ars Technica). Fast Company said it found thousands of ChatGPT conversations in Google search result

Philz Coffee close to closing deal to sell to private equity firm for $145M

Los Angeles-based private equity firm Freeman Spogli & Co. is in the process of buying Philz Coffee for $145 million, according to documents shared with stockholders and obtained by Mission Local. Philz board members, which include former CEO Phil Jaber and his son, Jacob Jaber; representatives from investment firms Summit Partners and TPG Growth; and CEO Mahesh Sadarangani will receive payouts or bonuses from the deal. Those who hold common stock, like employees who bought stock during or aft

Apple’s Tim Cook Talks Trump Tariffs and AI

On Thursday, Apple CEO Tim Cook said the Silicon Valley company could end up spending nearly $2 billion thanks to President Donald Trump’s tariffs. “For the June quarter, we incurred approximately $800 million of tariff-related costs,” Cook told investors on an earnings call. He added that the company expects those costs to climb to $1.1 billion in the quarter ending in September if Trump’s tariff policies remain unchanged. As Apple watchers know, that’s the same month when the new round of iPh

Why Nintendo didn’t raise the price of the Switch 2 (yet)

Just about every piece of hardware that Nintendo sells is getting a little more expensive in the US — with the exception of the Switch 2. That includes all models of the original Switch, a bunch of accessories, and even a motion-activated alarm clock. The changes were made ahead of sweeping Trump administration tariffs that are scheduled to go into effect in August, and they show Nintendo is leaning on a strategy that it has employed across its business: largely avoiding risk. Raising the price

Google has dropped more than 50 DEI-related organizations from one of its funding lists

Google CEO Sundar Pichai gestures to the crowd during Google's annual I/O developers conference in Mountain View, California, on May 20, 2025. Google has purged more than 50 organizations related to diversity, equity and inclusion, or DEI, from a list of organizations that the tech company provides funding to, according to a new report. The company has removed a total of 214 groups from its funding list while adding 101, according to a new report from tech watchdog organization The Tech Transp

Reddit puts its plans for paid subreddits on hold

Reddit is reversing course on its plans to put some subreddits behind a paywall, at least for now. CEO Steve Huffman said the company is "shifting resources away" from the effort as it doubles down on search . During the company's recent earnings call, Huffman said that Reddit was "deprioritizing" its work on "user economy" initiatives in order to put more resources into turning the site into a "go-to search engine." In a follow-up AMA on Reddit, he confirmed this includes pausing work on paid

Some goo.gl URLs will live to fight another day

Google's shortened URLs are the horror movie monster of the Google Graveyard: They keep finding a way to stay alive. On Friday, the company said goo.gl links that don't show the above warning will work for the foreseeable future. In 2018, Google cut off the ability to create new shortened links. But it kept existing URLs active as a courtesy to those who relied on them. Then, a year ago, the company said its bit.ly rival would shut down completely on August 25, 2025. That appeared to be the fin

ChatGPT users shocked to learn their chats were in Google search results

Faced with mounting backlash, OpenAI removed a controversial ChatGPT feature that caused some users to unintentionally allow their private—and highly personal—chats to appear in search results. Fast Company exposed the privacy issue on Wednesday, reporting that thousands of ChatGPT conversations were found in Google search results and likely only represented a sample of chats "visible to millions." While the indexing did not include identifying information about the ChatGPT users, some of their

Google has dropped more than 50 DEI-related organizations from its funding list

Google CEO Sundar Pichai gestures to the crowd during Google's annual I/O developers conference in Mountain View, California, on May 20, 2025. Google has purged more than 50 organizations related to diversity, equity and inclusion, or DEI, from a list of organizations that the tech company provides funding to, according to a new report. The company has removed a total of 214 groups from its funding list while adding 101, according to a new report from tech watchdog organization The Tech Transp

Nintendo has sold over 6 million Switch 2s but still can't keep up with demand

Engadget has been testing and reviewing consumer tech since 2004. Our stories may include affiliate links; if you buy something through a link, we may earn a commission. Read more about how we evaluate products . Nintendo sold 5.82 million Switch 2s in less than four weeks and is on pace to hit its target of 15 million units by April 2026, the company said in its latest earnings report. If that pans out, the Switch 2 would easily outsell the original Switch, which took a full year to hit that s

Figma stock pops in second day of trading after colossal debut

Figma celebrates its initial public offering at the New York Stock Exchange on July 31, 2025. Shares of design software vendor Figma popped 6% on Friday, a day after the stock more than tripled in its New York Stock Exchange debut. Figma opened at $85 on Thursday under the ticker FIG, and shares closed at $115.50 for a 250% gain. On Friday, the stock traded above $120. Figma is the latest tech company to hit the public markets after an extended IPO drought. Artificial intelligence infrastruct

Fundamental Research Labs nabs $30M+ to build AI agents across verticals

Applied AI research company Fundamental Research Labs (formerly known as Altera) announced today that it has raised $33 million in Series A funding led by Prosus with participation from Stripe co-founder and CEO Patrick Collison. The company has a curious structure as it is working on multiple AI applications in different fields. When it raised its seed funding, Fundametal Research Labs was developing bots that could play Minecraft with you. Today, the company has a games team, a prosumer team

Apple's tariff costs and iPhone sales are soaring - how long until device prices are too?

Elyse Betters Picaro / ZDNET ZDNET's key takeaways Tariffs cost Apple approximately $800 million last quarter. That bill will go up to about $1.1 billion this quarter. Apple says 1 in 10 iPhone sales in April were due to tariff fears. Apple earnings calls usually have a theme, and there's usually a word associated with that theme that ends up being repeated many times throughout the call. During yesterday's call, the theme and repeated word was "tariffs." iPhone sales were up Because of

Klarna might reschedule its IPO for September

In Brief Klarna might look to IPO as early as September, sources told Bloomberg. The news comes as fintech stock prices surge and the US IPO market strengthens. Klarna filed for IPO back in March but paused such plans only a month later after President Trump’s tariff announcements rattled the market. At the time, Klarna was looking to raise at least $1 billion and nab a $15 billion valuation. By June, however, Klarna’s co-founder and CEO, Sebastian Siemiatkowski, took a different turn. When as

Nintendo sold 5.82 million Switch 2s in 7 weeks but still can't keep up with demand

Engadget has been testing and reviewing consumer tech since 2004. Our stories may include affiliate links; if you buy something through a link, we may earn a commission. Read more about how we evaluate products . Nintendo has already sold 5.82 million Switch 2s since the console went on sale on June 6th and still expects to sell 15 million units by the end of its fiscal year in March 2026, the company said in its latest earnings report. If that pans out, the Switch 2 would easily outsell the or

Uber’s Drive to Become the Kleenex of Robotaxis

“To them, it doesn’t really matter who ultimately succeeds,” says Sam Abuelsamid, who writes about the self-driving-vehicle industry and is the vice president of marketing at Telemetry, a Michigan research firm. “If you’ve got a car that works and can drive safely, you’re welcome to come onto Uber and provide rides.” Still, it’s too early to say whether the Kleenex gambit will work. Plenty has changed since 2015. Kalanick is no longer at Uber, deposed by a hostile board in 2017. The company ma