GoKawiil
Tech News
A group of American defense startups is establishing drone production operations in Taiwan, aiming to build unmanned systems without relying on Chinese components or supply chains. The move supports both U.S. military procurement needs and Taiwan's push to expand its own defense capabilities.
A quirk in Apple's Clock app has resurfaced online: rapidly scrolling the hour and minute wheels when setting an alarm hits a hard stop at 4:39 (16:39 in 24-hour format), rather than scrolling infinitely. The behavior doesn't restrict users from actually setting an alarm for any time; it only affects how far the scroll wheel spins before snapping to an end.
A U.S. Army field exercise in the desert tested new AI-enabled equipment and found significant shortcomings, including technical malfunctions and organizational obstacles to adoption. The trial was part of a broader Army effort to modernize its forces and integrate artificial intelligence into combat operations.
Retired General David Petraeus, former CIA director, said on the Forecast2050 podcast that by 2030 militaries could deploy 'agentic AI staff officers' coordinating networks of autonomous sensors and weapons with little or no human input. He described these systems as tireless AI officers directing operations across groups of machines rather than controlling single drones, and said he expects platoon- or battalion-sized autonomous units to coordinate without human intervention. He also predicted Ukraine will expand use of autonomous unmanned systems by the end of 2026.
Prosecutors in Taiwan have charged ten company executives over the illegal export of military-grade chips from US manufacturers Texas Instruments and Analog Devices to China. The chips, falsely declared as made in Taiwan and ordered under the guise of Taiwan defense institute names, were allegedly diverted to Chinese military projects including missile and radar systems. The investigation revealed that the chips originated from multiple countries and were shipped through Taiwanese distributors using forged documentation to bypass export restrictions.
The U.S. Army ran a military exercise in Indonesia in which soldiers used smartphones integrated into their combat gear to share data and coordinate on the battlefield. The drill served as a demonstration of emerging digital warfare tools, though technical problems surfaced during the exercise.
Soldiers conducting a routine search in South Korea discovered a metal object they initially suspected was a landmine, which experts later identified as an antique firearm estimated to be around 600 years old. Researchers say the find could push back the known timeline of firearm use in Korea by roughly a century, though the exact dating remains disputed among specialists.
The Defense Manpower Data Center is notifying more than 3 million people—about 2.8 million living individuals and 294,000 deceased—that hackers accessed their personal data after exploiting a vulnerability in its file-sharing system. Unauthorized users reportedly had access between October 2025 and July 2026, obtaining Social Security numbers, names, birth dates, contact details, sex, race, and military personnel information. The Pentagon is offering affected individuals 12 months of free credit monitoring through IDX, with enrollment required by August 19, 2027.
A months-long hack of the Defense Manpower Data Center compromised unencrypted personal data for about 2.8 million living current and former U.S. military personnel and nearly 300,000 deceased individuals. Attackers reportedly exploited a file-sharing vulnerability between October 2025 and July 2026, gaining access to Social Security numbers, birth dates, demographic details, and service records. The Department of Defense says it has no indication the data was misused but has not explained how it reached that conclusion.
The Defense Manpower Data Center suffered unauthorized access between October 2025 and July 2026, exposing records of 2.76 million living personnel and 294,000 deceased individuals. Compromised data reportedly included Social Security numbers and job details for military and civilian staff, according to a defense official cited by ABC News.
A report from inside Kyiv's tech scene describes secretive startups, government engineers, and soldiers collaborating in ordinary-looking buildings and testing fields to rapidly develop new weapons technology. The reporting focuses on figures like Serhii Kupriienko, who is developing systems he says represent the next phase of warfare, built under wartime urgency and secrecy.
Ukraine's Third Army Corps used heavy bomber drones to air-drop explosive ground robots more than six miles behind Russian lines on September 21, 2026, targeting supply routes as part of Operation Vivaldi. Separately, ground robots cleared antipersonnel mines from over 18 miles of routes, a task that would normally require two sapper companies, according to Militarnyi and United24.