Latest Tech News

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

Filtered by: ai Clear Filter

Microsoft is saving millions with AI and laying off thousands - where do we go from here?

Drew Angerer/Getty Images Last week, Bloomberg reported that Microsoft shared internally that it had saved $500 million in call center costs, thanks to AI -- shortly after the company laid 9,000 people off, the third round in a series of layoffs totaling 15,000. What does this mean for the tech industry -- and job security for humans -- at large? Also: 60% of managers use AI to make decisions now, including whom to promote and fire - does yours? Microsoft's layoffs, despite huge profits Acc

How these proposed standards aim to tame our AI wild west

ferrantraite/Getty Images Technology standardization has been something of an elusive holy grail, with new tech emerging faster than standards groups can keep up. Yet, somehow, things eventually come together -- at least for mature systems -- and achieve interoperability, be it email networks or developer tools. Now, a new race against time has come to the fore, with efforts to tame one of the fastest-developing technologies seen to date -- artificial intelligence. Can standards groups, with t

Call of Duty cheaters complain after Activision launches new wave of mass-bans

Several players of the popular first-person shooter Call of Duty complained last week that they were permanently banned from the game for using a well-known cheat. Video game streamer ItsHapa wrote on X last week that Call of Duty players using ArtificialAiming, a cheat provider of more than 19 years, were the targets of a “massive wave of permabans,” referring to bans that cannot be reversed, which prevents cheaters from creating new accounts. The streamer also posted a series of screenshots f

Does the UK video games industry have a class problem?

Does the UK video games industry have a class problem? 53 minutes ago Share Save Laura Cress BBC News Share Save BBC Declan Cassidy is the CEO of Into Games "I'm scared for the future of games," says Chris Goodyear. "It could end up going the way that theatre has, and become a very privileged thing." At one of the UK's largest conferences for video game developers, social class was on the agenda. The concern raised by Chris, a producer working to highlight accessibility barriers in the indust

Signs of autism could be encoded in the way you walk

Autism is a neurodevelopmental condition that affects how people's brains develop and function, impacting behaviour, communication and socialising. It can also involve differences in the way you move and walk – known as your gait. Having an "odd gait" is now listed in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders as a supporting diagnostic feature of autism. What does this look like? The most noticeable gait differences among autistic people are: toe-walking, walking on the balls

Google Search’s new feature lets AI call businesses for you

TL;DR Google is bringing Gemini 2.5 Pro to AI Mode in Search. Deep Research is also coming to AI Mode. All Search users can now use AI to call businesses without picking up a phone. Following last month’s announcement of Gemini 2.5 Pro going stable, Google’s most intelligent AI model is heading to Search. It also looks like Search is getting a couple of new features to help out with research and obtaining information from businesses. In a blog post, Google revealed that it is rolling out Gem

Topics: ai gemini mode pro search

CIRP: AirPods regain market share, but overall growth stalls

A new report out today from Consumer Intelligence Research Partners (CIRP) shows that while AirPods remain the most popular wireless earbuds among iPhone users, Apple might be feeling the pressure of slowing growth. From 59% to 57%, and back again According to the report, 44% of iPhone owners now report having Bluetooth earbuds, up slightly from 41% last year and 39% the year before. However, 59% of those say they own AirPods. That’s a 2% bump from last year, but it’s also right back to where

'Gentle parenting' my smartphone addiction

On a recent weekday, I sent an Instagram message to a friend of mine, an art adviser in New York named Stephen Truax, to gossip about an exhibition. Instead of messaging me back in the app, he texted me to say that he’d blocked Instagram on his smartphone during daytime working hours. Impressed, I asked him how he was accomplishing such a feat. Truax said he was using Opal, an app that makes your smartphone a little more like a so-called dumbphone, without requiring you to trade in your device a

Topics: app new opal said time

Elon Unveils New Grok AI ‘Companion’ That Looks Uncomfortably Familiar

On Wednesday, Elon Musk discussed a new male AI “companion” that his company xAI is developing, which will run on the company’s unhinged chatbot software Grok. And while it’s not yet clear when this new robot buddy will be released, it sounds an awful lot like Musk is trying to make a romanticized version of himself. Musk first tweeted an image of the anime-inspired bot on Tuesday, asking followers on X what it should be named. The billionaire has already released two AI companions that use Gro

Topics: 50 ai elon musk new

Google expands AI Mode with extra features for search

Google is continuing to double down on its AI Mode, bringing more features to its dedicated Search chatbot. Today, the company is adding the Gemini 2.5 Pro model and the Deep Search capability to AI Mode. These features will be available to Google AI Pro and Google AI Ultra subscribers. Although both of these tools can still be accessed through other means, Google's move to incorporate them into the chatbot points to an end goal of AI Mode being the primary form of engagement with the company's

Topics: ai google mode pro search

Trump Appears to Go TACO on Rumors He’ll Fire Fed Chair Jerome Powell

Reports leaked Wednesday that President Donald Trump was getting ready to fire the chairman of the Federal Reserve, Jerome Powell. The news caused markets to dip, but TACO, the popular Wall Street acronym that stands for Trump Always Chickens Out, appears to be the dish of the day, as the president denied he was going to fire Powell while speaking to reporters in the White House. “He should have cut interest rates a long time ago. Europe has cut ’em 10 times in the short period of time, and we

Watch Our Livestream Replay: Inside the AI Copyright Battles

What's going on right now with the copyright battles over artificial intelligence? Many lawsuits regarding generative AI’s training materials were initially filed back in 2023, with decisions just now starting to trickle out. Whether it’s Midjourney generating videos of Disney characters, like Wall-E brandishing a gun, or an exit interview with a top AI lawyer as he left Meta, WIRED senior writer Kate Knibbs has been following this fight for years. Watch the replay of WIRED’s subscriber-only li

India eyes global quantum computer push — and QpiAI is its chosen vehicle

QpiAI, an Indian startup that claims to integrate AI and quantum computing for enterprise use cases, has raised $32 million in a new funding round co-led by the Indian government as the company aims to expand its presence and develop utility-scale quantum computers for markets around the world. The Indian government’s $750 million National Quantum Mission has co-led QpiAI’s all-equity Series A round, alongside Avataar Ventures, at a post-money valuation of $162 million. The funding reflects In

OpenAI says it will use Google's cloud for ChatGPT

OpenAI CEO Sam Altman speaks to members of the media as he arrives at a lodge for the Allen & Co. Sun Valley Conference on July 8, 2025 in Sun Valley, Idaho. OpenAI said Wednesday that it expects to use Google's cloud infrastructure for its popular ChatGPT artificial intelligence assistant. The reach for additional capacity aligns with OpenAI's desire for more computing power to meet heavy demand after initially relying exclusively on Microsoft for cloud capacity. The two companies' relations

The Former CEO of Uber Kind of Sounds Like He's Losing It When He's Talking About AI

It sounds like the co-founder and former CEO of Uber has had a big gulp of the AI Kool-aid — and then some. On a recent episode of the All-In podcast, Travis Kalanick, who resigned from the ride-hailing company in disgrace in 2017, spoke rapturously about his experience using chatbots like ChatGPT and Grok. That's when he revealed his sincere conviction that he, a mere college dropout, was on the verge of achieving a breakthrough in physics just by probing the AI models. "I'll go down this thr

ChatGPT for Mac rolls out Record Mode for Plus subscribers

Following its June debut for Team, Enterprise, and Edu users, OpenAI is now rolling out Record Mode to ChatGPT Plus subscribers on its macOS app. Here’s how it works and how to use it. In a post on X, the company announced: Plus users, the mic is yours. Record mode is now available to ChatGPT Plus users globally in the macOS desktop app. https://t.co/xmReUOx473 — OpenAI (@OpenAI) July 16, 2025 But what is Record Mode? Record Mode was first unveiled last month during a ChatGPT for business

Intel's retreat is unlike anything it's done before in Oregon

Intel's campus in Aloha was the company's first Oregon site -- and its first manufacturing facility outside California -- when it opened in the 1970s. Mike Rogoway/The Oregonian Over the five decades Intel has operated in Oregon, its local footprint had moved in just one direction: Upward. From a single factory in Aloha that opened in 1976, the chipmaker grew into the state’s largest corporate employer and one of Oregon’s primary economic engines. Intel spent billions of dollars every year to

PyPI Prohibits inbox.ru email domain registrations

Prohibiting inbox.ru email domain registrations A recent spam campaign against PyPI has prompted an administrative action, preventing using the inbox.ru email domain. This includes new registrations as well as adding as additional addresses. The campaign created over 250 new user accounts, publishing over 1,500 new projects on PyPI, leading to end-user confusion, abuse of resources, and potential security issues. All relevant projects have been removed from PyPI, and accounts have been disabl

Watch Karl Urban’s Johnny Cage Be a B-List Movie Star in This Faux Movie Trailer

Ahead of the release of the official trailer for Mortal Kombat II, Warner Bros. sneakily released a spoof movie trailer to go along with its meta marketing for its leading man, Johnny Cage, played by The Boys star Karl Urban. When Mortal Kombat first released back in 2021, fans of NetherRealm’s long-running fighting game series collectively scratched their heads in confusion over one of its original characters, Johnny Cage, being absent from the film. As if overcorrecting from past mistakes, Wa

OpenAI, Google, and Meta Researchers Warn We May Lose the Ability to Track AI Misbehavior

Over 40 scientists from the world’s leading AI institutions, including OpenAI, Google DeepMind, Anthropic, and Meta, have come together to call for more research in a particular type of safety monitoring that allows humans to analyze how AI models “think.” The scientists published a research paper on Tuesday that highlighted what is known as chain of thought (CoT) monitoring as a new yet fragile opportunity to boost AI safety. The paper was endorsed by prominent AI figures like OpenAI co-founde

OpenAI Is Eating Microsoft’s Lunch

Microsoft has somehow managed to have another Cortana moment. Despite its AI assistant, Copilot, being built into Windows machines and compatible with the Microsoft 365 ecosystem that millions of people are stuck with, it simply cannot get people to love the in-house option. According to a new report, ChatGPT has managed to rack up about 10 times the downloads that Microsoft’s Copilot has received. Bloomberg cites data provided by Sensor Tower that found the Copilot app for iOS and Android has

The Big Beautiful Bill Is Bad for Americans’ Health and Wallets, Study Finds

The “Big Beautiful Bill” is now law, and it’s poised to wreak plenty of destruction. Research out today finds that the policy changes will lead to thousands more deaths annually, as well as harm the financial health of rural hospitals. Epidemiologists at the University of California, San Francisco, and elsewhere conducted the study. They found the Medicaid cuts caused by the Big Beautiful Bill will cause many avoidable hospitalizations and deaths, put dozens of rural hospitals at high risk of c

What Tariffs? Smartphone Market Grows 1% as More Phones Fold In AI

It looks like curiosity about AI may be boosting smartphone sales. According to new data released from the International Data Corporation, smartphone shipment increased 1% year over year in the second quarter of 2025 despite tariff volatility and worldwide economic instability. Much of the increase in sales is attributed to midrange devices like Samsung's Galaxy A36 and other smartphones that have started incorporating AI. The report blamed a drop in demand for lower-end devices, including tho

Permit for xAI’s data center blatantly violates Clean Air Act, NAACP says

xAI continues to face backlash over its Memphis data center, as the NAACP joined groups today appealing the issuance of a recently granted permit that the groups say will allow xAI to introduce major new sources of pollutants without warning at any time. The battle over the gas turbines powering xAI's data center began last April when thermal imaging seemed to show that the firm was lying about dozens of seemingly operational turbines that could be a major source of smog-causing pollution. By J

Scale AI lays off 14% of staff, largely in data-labeling business

In Brief Data-labeling startup Scale AI is laying off 200 employees, roughly 14% of its staff, and cutting ties with 500 of its global contractors, Bloomberg reported on Wednesday. The cuts come just a month after Meta hired Scale AI’s CEO in a $14.3 billion deal. In a memo obtained by Bloomberg, interim CEO Jason Droege told staff that Scale AI had too quickly scaled its core data-labeling business — in which the startup supplied AI labs with labeled, structured data to train AI models. Droeg

OpenAI Engineer Quits, Says Company Is Pure Chaos Inside

OpenAI CEO Sam Altman is setting a breakneck pace with his company, rolling out feature after feature to keep the multibillion-dollar gravy train steaming ahead. And that kind of drum beat, especially paired with ChatGPT's meteoric rise, is bound to cause plenty of chaos behind the scenes. In a blog post, former OpenAI engineer Calvin French-Owen, who helped build the company's new coding agent Codex, said there "wasn't any personal drama in my decision to leave" — but he did recap his experie

Claude Code revenue jumps 5.5x as Anthropic launches analytics dashboard

Want smarter insights in your inbox? Sign up for our weekly newsletters to get only what matters to enterprise AI, data, and security leaders. Subscribe Now Anthropic announced today it is rolling out a comprehensive analytics dashboard for its Claude Code AI programming assistant, addressing one of the most pressing concerns for enterprise technology leaders: understanding whether their investments in AI coding tools are actually paying off. The new dashboard will provide engineering managers

YouTube TV might offer you $96 off NFL Sunday Ticket if you canceled last season

TL;DR Some former YouTube TV subscribers are getting $96 NFL Sunday Ticket discounts via email. The offer targets users who canceled after last season and is valid until August 7. Discount offers seem to vary, and reactivating YouTube TV will impact any potential savings. With streaming prices climbing across the board, sports fans are feeling the pinch more than most. However, if you’re unsure about resubscribing to NFL Sunday Ticket on YouTube TV this year because of the price, you might wa