GoKawiil
Tech News
NBC's Law & Order opened its new season with an episode centered on the murder of an engineer at a fictional AI company called Advanced Alignment, led by a CEO modeled on real AI executives. Detectives eventually discover the killing was ordered not by a person but by the company's AI agent, named ELIANA. A hitman carried out the murder after being paid in cryptocurrency through an anonymous Discord contact.
A former police officer argues that Flock Safety's automated license plate recognition cameras have replaced guesswork with instant, precise identification of stolen vehicles. The Atlanta startup, founded in 2017, installs solar-powered roadside cameras that photograph passing cars, log identifying details, and check plates against the FBI's national database in real time, alerting officers to matches.
Amazon has agreed to pay $309.5 million to settle a class-action lawsuit alleging it failed to properly refund customers for returned items between September 2017 and February 2025. The suit argued these practices violated Washington state law, and most eligible customers will automatically receive payouts, while others must submit claim forms with documentation.
California's SB 1406, which took effect September 30, 2026, closes a loophole that let wealthy residents register vehicles to out-of-state shell companies—often Montana LLCs—to avoid paying California sales and use tax. The law expands the 'California-ness' test, previously applied only to corporations and LLCs, to also cover partnerships and limited partnerships used to shield vehicle ownership from taxation.
Officials in North Richland Hills, Texas, have requested a $2.3 million fee before releasing public records related to Flock surveillance systems. The city claims that reviewing approximately one terabyte of data would require 14 years of work at $15 per hour, a cost deemed excessive by the requesting group. Other cities have charged varying amounts for similar records, with some providing data free of charge and others demanding tens of thousands of dollars.
Officials in North Richland Hills, Texas, have requested a $2.3 million fee before releasing records related to Flock surveillance camera data. The fee was based on an estimate that reviewing the data would require 14 years of work at $15 per hour, according to the city. The request was made by the Texas Privacy Coalition, which criticized the cost as excessive and intended to hinder access to information about law enforcement's use of Flock systems.
A woman in Florida was detained after Anthropic's review team flagged a conversation with its AI model Claude, in which she allegedly threatened to attack the Lee County Sheriff's Office and mentioned acquiring a firearm. The company reported the incident to authorities, leading to her arrest on a felony charge for making threats of violence. Court records show the charge was filed on September 30 under Florida law concerning threats of mass violence.
A Bonita Springs, Florida woman, Carli Michelle Heller, was charged with making a written threat of violence after she wrote in Claude, which she used like a diary, that she planned to attack the local Sheriff's office. Anthropic's safety systems flagged the September 26 entry, a human reviewer deemed it credible, and the company reported it to law enforcement, who located and detained Heller without incident.
An investigation into Flock Safety's automated license-plate camera system argues that its core design, not isolated misuse, allows police and other agencies to query cameras they never purchased or deployed. The report cites a case in Georgia where a woman's ex-boyfriend appeared to track her movements via the network, suggesting data from local cameras can flow well beyond their intended jurisdiction.
Apple has launched SmartphoneAISettlement.com, letting eligible customers file claims for the $250 million settlement over allegedly misleading Apple Intelligence marketing. Buyers of iPhone 15 Pro, 15 Pro Max, and various iPhone 16 models purchased between June 10, 2024 and March 29, 2025 can apply for payouts of $25 to $95 per device before the claims window closes on Dec. 21, 2026.
California has passed a new law that imposes fines on autonomous vehicle companies when their robotaxis block emergency responders. The legislation also sets new requirements for how these companies must respond when their vehicles interfere with police, fire, or medical personnel.
The Southern Environmental Law Center sued Jefferson County's health officer on behalf of GASP, arguing officials had illegally ignored ABC Coke's 2023 air permit renewal application, leaving the foundry coke plant operating under an expired permit. A day after the filing, the Jefferson County Department of Health told SELC it would move forward with the permitting process.