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Tech News
Tehran said seven oil tankers were set on fire or damaged overnight in the Strait of Hormuz, attributing the incidents to Iranian strikes or naval mines. Despite the attacks, tankers continue moving oil through the strait under U.S. military protection, and the episode comes just days before Israel's Oct. 27 election and ahead of U.S. midterms.
Audio obtained by Status reveals CBS News foreign editor Shayndi Raice, appointed by editor-in-chief Bari Weiss, told foreign bureau staff in a virtual meeting that defying editorial hierarchy could constitute insubordination and grounds for termination. The confrontation followed reporting on internal clashes over Israel-Gaza coverage, including disputes between Raice and correspondent Holly Williams over an Oct. 7 anniversary report and whether to include Gaza's Palestinian death toll.
Israeli lawmakers are increasingly enlisting artificial intelligence specialists to shape campaign strategy, including efforts to influence how chatbots respond to political queries. Campaigns are also producing AI-generated advertisements at a pace that outstrips the ability of election regulators to review or control them.
The US central bank lifted its benchmark interest rate, marking the first increase in three years as it responds to persistent inflation pressures. The move comes as American consumers face rising prices, with fuel costs climbing sharply amid geopolitical tensions in the Middle East.
Israeli startup AIR, founded by former Unit 8200 cybersecurity officers Yair Saban and Niv Hoffman, has raised $50 million across two seed rounds to build a platform that monitors and vets the skills, plugins, and MCP servers that AI agents use inside companies. The rounds, led by Sequoia and Greenoaks respectively, closed weeks apart and included several notable angel investors from the cybersecurity world.
Tony Greenstein, a Jewish socialist and peace activist, was prosecuted over three social media posts and a blog piece criticising Israel's actions in Gaza, facing up to 14 years in prison for allegedly inviting support for Hamas. He chose to address the jury directly rather than risk his barrister being punished for a robust defence, and after the judge dismissed his speech as rambling, jurors acquitted him within two hours.
A website posing as the 'Hanover Institute for Public Policy' published over half a million words in nine days, presenting pro-Israel talking points on Gaza and Palestinian prisoners as neutral research. The New York firm Piro Inc registered the site with the US government as material distributed on behalf of Israel, though the institute itself has no verifiable legal existence, address, or staff. It forms part of a larger, multimillion-dollar Israeli government campaign, involving Havas Media and other firms, to shape how AI chatbots frame conversations about Israel.