Category: Biz Tech

Sales at Elon Musk-owned social network X rose during the third quarter, offering a measure of momentum for a platform still absorbing heavy costs tied to restructuring, infrastructure upgrades and efforts to revive advertiser confidence after a turbulent period.The company, formerly known as Twitter, recorded higher revenue compared with the same quarter a year earlier, according to people familiar with its financial performance. The improvement reflects stronger advertising bookings from select global brands, growth in subscription products and a push

ChatGPT has emerged as the most downloaded application on Apple’s App Store in the United States during 2025, marking the first time an artificial intelligence platform has topped the annual download charts and signalling a decisive shift in how mainstream consumers engage with AI-powered tools.Data compiled from Apple’s App Store rankings and corroborated by mobile analytics firms shows OpenAI’s ChatGPT overtaking long-established social media, gaming and entertainment apps that have traditionally dominated download lists. The milestone reflects sustained growth in

A sophisticated cyber-espionage campaign attributed to North Korean state-linked hackers has exploited a critical vulnerability in React Server Components to deploy a stealthy remote access trojan known as EtherRAT, security researchers and incident responders say. The operation highlights a convergence of web application flaws and blockchain-based command-and-control techniques that complicates detection and response for organisations running modern JavaScript stacks.The attack chain centres on a flaw dubbed React2Shell, tracked as CVE-2025-55182, which affects certain configurations of React Server Components. By abusing

Figma has introduced a suite of artificial intelligence-powered image editing capabilities within its design platform, marking a significant expansion of its in-app creative toolbox for graphic and product designers. The new features — Erase Object, Isolate Object and Expand Image — enable users to remove, extract and extend elements in images without having to export assets to separate editing applications, addressing a persistent workflow inefficiency faced by many designers.The Erase Object tool allows designers to select unwanted components and

OpenAI has appointed Denise Dresser, the chief executive of Slack, as its first-ever chief revenue officer, a decisive move aimed at accelerating the artificial intelligence giant’s commercial push and enterprise expansion. Dresser, a veteran of more than a decade at Salesforce and head of Slack since 2023, will oversee OpenAI’s global revenue strategy, encompassing enterprise sales and customer success as the company navigates mounting competition and seeks sustainable profitability.The hire places Dresser at the forefront of OpenAI’s efforts to

A claim circulating across social media that the Walt Disney Company intends to invest about $1 billion in OpenAI drew industry attention today as analysts assessed whether one of the world’s most influential entertainment groups is preparing a substantial push into generative artificial intelligence. The suggestion, shared widely online, has not been confirmed by Disney or OpenAI, yet it prompted heightened scrutiny because the company has been signalling that advanced AI tools will play a larger role in content production,

Thousands of users in the United Kingdom and across Europe found themselves unable to use Microsoft Copilot as the platform suffered a widespread outage on Tuesday. According to the firm’s status alert, many were either unable to log in to the tool or experienced broken features, rendering key productivity functions within Microsoft 365 unusable.Analysts monitoring service disruptions noted a dramatic surge in reports on outage-tracking platforms such as DownDetector, which logged hundreds of complaints in a short span, marking

Google has rolled out a major update to its AI fashion experiment Doppl, introducing a “shoppable discovery feed” that blends virtual try-ons with direct-to-merchant shopping. The new feed displays AI-generated videos of real clothing items tailored to users’ style preferences, enabling a seamless path from browsing to purchase. This marks a distinct step from the original “virtual dressing room” concept: now shoppers can scroll, preview outfits virtually, and buy within a unified experience.Under the update, Doppl’s algorithm analyses a

Figma chief executive Dylan Field admitted he struggled as a manager during the company’s formative years but has since used those shortcomings to forge a leadership style rooted in clarity, feedback and self-improvement — a transformation that comes at a critical time as the company navigates public markets, AI-led expansion and investor scrutiny.Field told the “First Time Founders” podcast that when he launched Figma with co-founder Evan Wallace, he lacked essential management skills. The platform — which began its life

Google has confirmed that certain units from its Pixel 9 Pro and Pixel 9 Pro XL smartphone line suffer from display defects, and announced a new extended repair programme to cover affected devices. Under this initiative, eligible devices showing a vertical line running from top to bottom of the screen or, in the case of the Pixel 9 Pro, persistent screen flickering will be eligible for a free display replacement within three years of the original retail purchase date.The firm’s

Shareholders of Tesla, Inc. have backed what may become the largest pay-out ever awarded to a corporate chief executive. On 6 November 2025, more than 75 per cent of voters approved a compensation package for Elon Musk — structured around 12 tranches of restricted stock — that could yield up to $1 trillion over the next decade, contingent on an array of steep performance and valuation targets. Under the scheme, Musk’s compensation becomes payable only if Tesla hits a series

Amazon’s efforts to scale its Prime Air drone service have come under intensified scrutiny after a delivery aircraft struck a cable in Texas earlier this year, prompting renewed questions over the programme’s operational readiness, regulatory compliance, and ability to challenge competitors that have gained ground in autonomous logistics. The incident, which damaged the drone and forced safety investigations, underscored the complexities of expanding unmanned aerial deliveries in populated areas and added to a series of obstacles that have slowed Amazon’s

Security researchers have uncovered critical infrastructure details tied to the ransomware operation LockBit 5.0, exposing a publicly accessible server and domain used by the gang. The server, identified by IP address 205.185.116.233, and the domain karma0. xyz have been linked to the group’s latest leak-site. The disclosure, first shared by cybersecurity researcher Rakesh Krishnan on 5 December 2025, represents a major operational security failure for the ransomware collective.The exposed server is hosted under AS53667, a network previously flagged for

Web3 momentum across the Gulf is increasingly visible in grassroots spaces where developers, founders, and early-stage investors gather to exchange ideas far from official boardrooms. The growth of these informal networks in Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Riyadh, and Bahrain has become a notable driver of activity in blockchain, tokenisation, digital assets, and decentralised applications, complementing government-led strategies that have positioned the region as a key hub for emerging technologies. What began as small meetups among enthusiasts has expanded into structured communities

Netflix is set to take control of Warner Bros. Entertainment’s core studio and streaming assets through a landmark transaction valued at about $72 billion in equity, marking one of the largest media takeovers in decades and reshaping the balance of power across Hollywood. The agreement follows months of industry speculation over the future of Warner Bros. Discovery, which had been under pressure to stabilise debt while navigating shifting viewer habits and intensified streaming competition.The deal positions Netflix to absorb Warner

The European Commission imposed a €120 million penalty on X, formerly known as Twitter, citing multiple violations of the Digital Services Act — the bloc’s landmark digital marketplace and content-governance regulation. The penalty covers three specific breaches: the platform’s so-called “blue check” verification system, insufficient transparency in advertisements, and failure to provide adequate public data access for researchers.Brussels flagged the blue-tick verification change under Elon Musk that allowed any paying subscriber to get a “verified” mark, calling it a

A newly documented exploitation method using scalable vector graphics has intensified scrutiny of browser-level security after a security researcher demonstrated how attackers can transform traditional clickjacking into a highly responsive, interactive deception technique. The approach, described as “SVG clickjacking,” shows how malicious actors can build dynamic and precise overlays that track user behaviour far more effectively than the static frames typically seen in older attacks.The method relies on embedding interactive SVG elements that mimic real website components, enabling attackers to

A curious experiment in automated finance has produced a result that is raising questions about the limits of machine-driven markets. A trading tournament built to showcase the sophistication of competing AI systems has ended in a collective stumble, with every participating model posting losses. The outcome is fuelling debate over whether advanced algorithms are as market-ready as their creators claim, and whether any model can reliably navigate the volatile dynamics of real-time trading when placed in a competitive environment where

A sanctioned spyware vendor’s capability to view government surveillance feeds through its own platform has intensified global scrutiny over the boundaries of state monitoring and private-sector intrusion. Researchers examining Intellexa’s Predator spyware found that the firm had the technical capacity to access data streams from government clients in real time, raising alarm among security experts and rights groups about the scale of oversight failures.The findings emerged from a technical analysis of Predator’s architecture, highlighting how the tool’s command-and-control system allowed

Cybersecurity officials have issued a coordinated alert on a malware strain known as BRICKSTORM after identifying a wave of intrusions targeting VMware ESXi hosts and Windows environments across several sectors. The advisory, released by national defence and cyber agencies in the United States and Canada, underscores mounting concern over activity linked to operators aligned with the People’s Republic of China, whose campaigns have been tracked exploiting virtualisation infrastructures used widely in government and enterprise systems.Authorities confirmed that BRICKSTORM was detected

A petition invoking the Sam Altman for living sainthood as “Patron Saint of Subsidised Layoffs” has gained traction across social-media networks, framing his stewardship of OpenAI as a kind of moral crusade against job displacement. The campaign draws on claims that OpenAI is enduring heavy financial losses—allegedly burning $2.25 for every dollar earned—while investors such as Microsoft underwrite costs that critics say pave the way for companies to justify layoffs by invoking “AI-driven efficiencies”.Proponents of the petition argue that Altman’s

ServiceNow has reached agreement to acquire Veza, a cloud-native identity-security startup, for more than $1 billion. The deal brings under ServiceNow’s umbrella Veza’s “Access Graph”, a technology designed to map and manage permissions across human users, machines and AI agents — giving enterprises clearer visibility over who can access what data and perform what actions. ServiceNow said the acquisition will fold Veza’s identity management features into its broader AI and security platform, aiming to provide unified control over data access

Advances in large language models have delivered extraordinary gains, yet each new iteration introduces a structural tension that the wider software ecosystem is only beginning to confront. As foundation models evolve from version 4.X to 4.X+1, the coding assumptions, prompt-engineering conventions and guardrails that developers rely on can shift in subtle but consequential ways. This is emerging as a modern variant of the software world’s old problem of “DLL hell”, where small changes in underlying libraries broke applications built on

Growing sophistication in artificial-intelligence driven video and audio forgery has sent shockwaves through financial systems and public trust alike, with 2025 emerging as a watershed year in deepfake-enabled fraud. Losses tied to deepfake scams are widely estimated at over $50 billion annually — a stark indicator of how rapidly cybercrime is evolving.Fake videos that convincingly mimic celebrities, corporate executives or even family members are now being used in a variety of scams — from bogus investment pitches to fraudulent bank

Amazon has begun shipping its most advanced phased-array terminal, dubbed Leo Ultra, to select enterprise customers as part of a preview programme for its satellite broadband service Amazon Leo — the rebranded successor to Project Kuiper. The company claims the terminal can deliver download speeds up to 1 gigabit per second and upload speeds reaching 400 megabits per second, representing a bold push to challenge incumbent players such as Starlink.Leo Ultra runs on Amazon-designed silicon and uses a full-duplex phased-array

European banking regulators are intensifying warnings that widespread use of artificial intelligence across the financial sector could expose the banking system to new, systemic vulnerabilities. The chair of supervision at the central bank of the Netherlands, Steven Maijoor, stated that the increasing reliance on AI tools supplied by non-European tech firms is creating a structural threat to financial stability. He urged swift action to reduce dependence on overseas providers and called for accelerated development of cloud and AI infrastructure within

A surge in hardware innovation has reshaped expectations for portable gaming, and the strongest performers of 2026 reflect that shift. The field has expanded beyond traditional performance leaders, drawing in machines engineered with desktop-class GPUs, advanced cooling architecture, and AI-enhanced optimisation layers that push mobile gaming to new thresholds. The landscape is defined by three broad categories: raw-power flagships that prioritise maximum performance, balanced contenders designed for versatility, and lightweight devices that combine portability with surprising capability. The resulting competition

A new study led by researchers at Stanford demonstrates that social media polarisation can be eased through modest adjustments to content ranking rather than content removal or heavy moderation. The team developed a browser-based tool that reorders users’ feeds on X to push down posts containing extreme partisan hostility, calls for political violence or antidemocratic rhetoric. When applied in a field experiment during the 2024 US election, this intervention softened negative attitudes toward opposing political groups across the partisan spectrum.The

OpenAI disclosed a data breach involving its analytics provider Mixpanel, confirming that a security lapse allowed unauthorised access to certain API user details but did not compromise ChatGPT message data or model-generated content. The company informed affected developers that the incident, traced to November 2025, exposed names, email addresses and limited account-related metadata, prompting a broader review of third-party integrations across its platform.OpenAI stated that the breach originated from Mixpanel’s systems rather than its own infrastructure, describing it as a

Rapid strides in artificial intelligence are reshaping how organisations handle field service operations across sectors ranging from utilities to manufacturing and telecom, with predictive maintenance, intelligent scheduling, and real-time technician support becoming core features of modern systems. Companies deploying advanced AI tools report gains in technician efficiency and reductions in unplanned downtime, marking a shift from reactive maintenance to proactive service strategies.A key development driving this shift is the widespread adoption of AI-enabled predictive maintenance platforms. By combining sensor

A malicious Chrome extension disguised as a trading tool has been unmasked after evidence emerged that it silently siphons cryptocurrency from users executing swaps on the Solana network. The extension, known as Crypto Copilot, inserts secret transfer instructions into swaps made via the decentralized exchange Raydium, routing a portion of users’ SOL to an attacker-controlled wallet without their awareness.Crypto Copilot appeared in mid-2024 promoted as a convenience tool offering one-click token trades directly from social media feeds. It supports popular

Amazon has launched a feature called Alexa Home Theater that lets owners of its latest Echo speakers transform their living-room setup into a full surround-sound system, linking up to five speakers plus an optional subwoofer for cinematic audio. Supporting devices include the updated Echo Studio and the newly released Echo Dot Max, both of which are engineered to deliver powerful spatial audio and deep bass while automatically tuning output to match room acoustics.The updated Echo Studio retains high-fidelity audio in

YouTube Music has introduced an updated 2025 Recap that lets users interact with an AI chatbot to explore their listening habits. The refreshed experience unfolds in a story-style interface, opening with total listening time and “longest streak,” then highlighting top songs, favourite artists and playlists.This edition revamps standard recap metrics by adding interactive and globally aware features. Users can view a “Musical Passport” showing the countries of origin for their most-played artists, while a calendar-style “Your musical bestie” section tracks

Cyber-security firms Kaspersky and VDC Research have estimated that global manufacturing organisations could incur losses exceeding US$18 billion in the first three quarters of 2025 due to ransomware attacks disabling production-line operations. According to their joint analysis, based on data from the Kaspersky Security Network, the average incident leads to around 13 days of operational disruption, with labour costs alone accounting for billions of dollars.The losses were calculated by modelling the number of manufacturing organisations that experienced detected and prevented