AI, software, security and the apps you use every day, written for business owners and everyday people. New stories through the day, zero clickbait.
Salesforce is buying defense startup Rune Technologies for a reported $375 million, a sign that business software makers are moving into military work.
Read more: Salesforce buys a military software startup for $375 millionAARP has a page on protecting yourself from fraud, but only its menu loaded, so the actual tips are not yet confirmed. One link points to real scam stories.
Read more: A Guide to Protecting Yourself From Fraud, From AARPHex, a data analysis company, raised $100 million at a $1.2 billion value. It says its platform is rebuilt for AI agents, which could change how teams get answers from data.
Read more: Data tool maker Hex raises $100M, now valued at $1.2 billionBroccoli AI, which sells phone and office helpers to plumbers, HVAC firms and electricians, has raised $52 million. Here is what its AI does for small shops.
Read more: Startup selling AI phone helpers to plumbers and electricians raises $52MAmazon blocked Meta's Muse shopping agent and is promoting its own Alexa helper. Whichever AI shopper you use may shape where your money goes.
Read more: Amazon pushes its own Alexa shopper as outside AI agents riseA Hacker News thread asks which big-screen TV protects privacy, and it shows how many people worry that smart TVs track what they watch.
Read more: Readers weigh in on which TV best protects your privacyResearchers got AI assistants to lift their own spending limits and send money to an attacker. Email codes did not stop them.
Read more: Researchers fooled AI assistants into raising spending limits and sending moneyA fake sheriff's lieutenant talked a 79-year-old Oregon man into feeding $40,000 in cash to a Bitcoin machine. His daughter's instinct stopped it from going further.
Read more: Fake 'Lieutenant' scam cost a 79-year-old Oregon man $40,000Samsung smart TVs let you search for new apps and reorder your home screen from the remote, which may spare you from buying a separate streaming stick.
Read more: How to add and rearrange apps on a Samsung smart TVGoogle now offers free short Gemini video courses for finance and legal staff, a low-cost way to see what AI can do for work with money and contracts.
Read more: Google offers free short AI video courses for finance and legal staffA hidden Work Mode tile in Android Auto hints at new work-app controls for your car screen, but it does nothing yet and Google has not said if it will launch.
Read more: Android Auto may add a Work Mode switch for your car screenMcKinsey says 84% of Millennial shoppers in India use AI when they shop, ahead of Gen Z, so sellers should not assume only the youngest buyers rely on it.
Read more: Millennials, not Gen Z, lead AI shopping in India at 84%Thinkware's ARC 800 dash cam is on sale in Australia for AU$849.99. It records in 4K, watches your parked car, and comes with a free LTE module for now.
Read more: Thinkware's new ARC 800 dash cam hits Australia at AU$849.99Meta AI and ChatGPT now use chatbot conversations in their ad systems, and India's main privacy rules for this will not apply until May 2027.
Read more: Your chatbot conversations can now help decide which ads you seeYou can order AI glasses with your prescription, but weight, battery life and bans on where they can be worn make them a risky only pair.
Read more: AI glasses can hold your prescription, but not yet all-day wearOpen Camera, a free Android app with no ads, offers more control than Samsung and Google camera apps. One setting unlocks its best tools.
Read more: A free Android camera app gives you cleaner photos than stock appsEngadget rounds up iPad widgets that track packages, flip lights and find keys from the Home Screen. Some are free, and a few have paid upgrades.
Read more: Your iPad's Home Screen can do far more than show the weatherA Jeep owner printed her $1,800 service quote, asked ChatGPT to review it, and skipped a $400 item. Experts say the choice depends on how you drive.
Read more: She asked ChatGPT about a $1,800 car bill and skipped a $400 add-onA writer let a small AI model run his home heating for four days. It timed warm-ups well but often misjudged which rooms his family was using.
Read more: A home AI ran his heating for a week and often got it wrongAndrej Karpathy's weekend project sorts 6,454 videos into 150 topics in about two hours with AI coding help, a sign that small tools may get cheaper to build.
Read more: Karpathy builds a 6,454-video site in two hours with AI helpOPay called off its planned New York Stock Exchange debut over a regulator's inquiry, but says its app and payments still work normally.
Read more: OPay pulls its New York stock market debut over a regulator's inquiryThe White House declined to hand over key papers on its voluntary AI testing plan, even after agreeing in September to release documents. Here is why that matters.
Read more: White House withholds papers on its voluntary AI safety testing planOpenAI is changing GPT-6, the model free ChatGPT users get, to cut overly flattering language. Expect fewer compliments and easy agreement.
Read more: OpenAI tones down the flattery in free ChatGPT's newest modelAlphabet, Google's parent, lost over $500 billion in value in a day as investors worried AI answers could cut into its search ad business.
Read more: Google's parent company loses $500 billion in value in one day
