NPR's investigation, drawing on depositions from a multistate lawsuit against TikTok, Meta, Google and Snap, reports that TikTok staff warned executives that minors were bypassing age restrictions and that some underage users were exploited via features like TikTok Live. A former safety employee, Reagan Maher, said she told senior leaders that 13-to-15-year-olds were accessing adult-oriented monetized tools. TikTok disputes the report, calling the material cherry-picked and pointing to over 50 youth-safety protections it has introduced.
cnet.com
· 2026-10-20
Federal investigators tracking the ShinyHunters hacking group have identified executives at two ransomware negotiation firms who had unusually close contact with the gang, according to sources cited by KrebsOnSecurity. One U.S.-based executive is suspected of helping the group operate a website used to pressure victims into paying ransoms. The probe follows ShinyHunters' breach of the FBI's recruitment site and the arrest of alleged member Pepijn van der Stap in the Netherlands.
krebsonsecurity.com
· 2026-10-19
A wilderness survival trainer named John Williams spent years secretly embedding himself inside right-wing militia groups, rising into leadership circles that included doctors and government attorneys, according to ProPublica. He covertly recorded conversations and compiled a massive trove of documents, which he eventually shared with the news organization, while keeping an emergency bag ready in case he needed to flee.
propublica.org
· 2026-10-18
A Tesla driver told California Highway Patrol he was asleep while using the vehicle's Full Self-Driving mode when his car sped past emergency flares, cones, and lights before slamming into a parked patrol vehicle. Two officers at the scene were seriously injured and hospitalized, according to CHP, which released video of the crash.
theverge.com
· 2026-10-16
Cologne police have opened a sexual harassment investigation after a robot allegedly touched a 16-year-old girl's buttocks and made thrusting motions while two young men filmed and streamed the incident on a public street. Authorities seized the robot, roughly 120 centimeters tall and dressed in clothing with a gold chain and fake mustache, along with the suspects' phones, and are investigating whether its actions were preprogrammed or remotely controlled in real time.
hardware.slashdot.org
· 2026-10-16
A CNN investigation examined more than a dozen Six Flags locations and documented hundreds of reported injuries and mechanical failures dating back to 2021. The findings surfaced ahead of a fatal accident involving the Goliath roller coaster, raising questions about the company's maintenance and safety oversight.
gizmodo.com
· 2026-10-15
German police in Cologne opened an investigation after a robot, operated by a 16-year-old and a 19-year-old, touched a teenage girl's buttocks and made thrusting motions toward her overnight between Saturday and Sunday. The pair allegedly filmed and livestreamed the incident with commentary before police found the robot stashed in a car trunk and confiscated it along with their phones.
fastcompany.com
· 2026-10-15
OpenAI discovered a USB recording device wrapped in toilet paper and plugged into a TV in a restricted executive conference room where leadership discussed confidential matters. The FBI alleges the device was planted by Abdulrahman Alfozan, a 35-year-old OpenAI engineer, and CCTV footage shows him later trying to retrieve it. He was arrested and fired on Friday, and faces up to five years in prison and a $250,000 fine if convicted of unlawful recording charges.
arstechnica.com
· 2026-10-14
OpenAI filed a new court document alleging a former employee, who had previously worked at Apple before a six-month stint at OpenAI, sent over 100 confidential files about an unreleased OpenAI device to his personal accounts on his last day. The filing claims the files included device images, engineering and manufacturing data, supplier information and finish specifications, and that the employee later briefed Apple's senior leadership on OpenAI's plans. Apple told Reuters it has found no evidence supporting these claims.
9to5mac.com
· 2026-10-14
Federal prosecutors charged OpenAI engineer Abdulrahman Alfozan, 35, a Saudi national, after the company discovered a hidden, encrypted audio recording device in one of its conference rooms. OpenAI said it traced the device to Alfozan using its own models, fired him, and referred the case to the FBI, which arrested him on Friday. The company said it has found no evidence he accessed model weights, source code or customer data.
fastcompany.com
· 2026-10-14
Federal prosecutors allege that Abdulrahman Alfozan, a 35-year-old OpenAI engineer, hid an audio recording device wrapped in toilet paper behind a monitor in an executive conference room at the company's San Francisco office. He allegedly used internal AI chatbot tools to research the room's meeting schedule and to get technical guidance on building the covert device, and a second recording device was reportedly found in his bag. OpenAI fired Alfozan last Friday, and he faces a federal charge of illegally intercepting oral communications, which carries up to five years in prison.
wired.com
· 2026-10-13
Federal prosecutors have charged Abdulrahman Alfozan, a 35-year-old OpenAI engineer hired in July 2025, with planting a hidden recording device in an executive conference room at the company's San Francisco headquarters. OpenAI says it discovered the device on September 30 plugged into a TV's USB port and concealed with toilet paper, then used its own AI models to trace it to Alfozan before alerting the FBI and firing him. Prosecutors allege he researched OpenAI's facilities and may have used a chatbot to learn how to build, hide and encrypt data from a recording device.
engadget.com
· 2026-10-13
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