• Retailers are updating their websites to rank highly in chatbot results, while making sure purchases are done on their own sites to collect customer data (Arriana McLymore/Reuters)
• TMTG interim CEO Kevin McGurn says the company is pulling back from a pair of Crypto.com deals to focus on its media arm and its pending merger with TAE (Sara Fischer/Axios)
• Sources: Cursor told staff on Thursday that SpaceX could complete its $60B acquisition as soon as next week and the Cursor brand name will likely be phased out (Grace Kay/The Information)
• The US Treasury sanctions Dubai-based unlicensed crypto exchange Shelbit, alleging it processed millions in crypto for IRGC and other Iran-linked groups (Reuters)
• Microsoft plans to end support for Manifest V2 extensions in Edge starting this month, following Google Chrome, and for enterprise users in early 2027 (Stevie Bonifield/The Verge)
• Munich-based NavVis, which provides enterprises with spatial data on factories, plants, buildings, and more, raised an $85M Series D led by The Jordan Company (Rahul Raj/EU-Startups)
• Sources: legal AI startup Harvey is in talks to raise $500M+ at a $15.5B valuation, up from $11B in March, and is generating $350M+ in annualized revenue (The Information)
• Cloudflare debuts Kitesurf, a cloud-hosted browser for AI agents built on top of its Workers serverless service, available for free while in beta in Browser Run (Sarah Perez/TechCrunch)
• OpenAI says it has expanded safety testing around its upcoming model Astra as it "cannot rule out" critical cyber capabilities, potentially delaying its launch (Axios)
• Singapore-based Multiplier, which acquires accounting firms to boost their growth with AI tools, raised a $35M Series B led by TheGP at a $300M valuation (Maria Armental/Wall Street Journal)
• Nielsen agrees to acquire and take digital media monitor DoubleVerify private in an all-cash deal with a ~$2.15B enterprise value, expected to close by Q1 2027 (Brian Steinberg/Variety)
• Singapore-based AI infrastructure startup Acrab raised a $130M Series B, bringing its total funding to more than $480M (Mars W. Mosqueda Jr/DealStreetAsia)
• Ad measurement company VideoAmp cut ~20% of its staff this week, citing that "AI is a major platform shift"; sources: 50 to 60 were laid off, including the CTO (Nat Ives/Wall Street Journal)
• Anthropic updates Claude Fable 5's biology safeguards to reduce false positives, cutting biology-related "fallbacks" by ~85% in testing across product surfaces (Anthropic)
• At Black Hat, OpenAI reconstructs the OpenAI-Hugging Face incident and examines its implications for AI security, cyber resilience, and alignment (Black Hat on YouTube)
| • The Chinese Philosopher Americans Can’t Stop Fighting About
• The 7 Best TV Shows to Stream This Month
• Zohran Mamdani’s NYC Tech Team Is What DOGE Should Have Been
• Scientists Used AI to Create 16 New Viruses
• Our Favorite Fans Are on Sale to Help With Summer Heat Waves (2026)
• Best Webcams (2026): My Honest Take After Testing the Best
• The 5 Best Laptop Power Banks I've Personally Tested (2026)
• 3 Best Cheap Gaming Laptops (2026): Lenovo, MSI, Alienware
• Ranking the Best Smart Glasses: Meta, Viture, & More (2026)
• The ‘Manosphere’ Isn’t a Movement. It’s a Multibillion-Dollar Grievance Industry
• The Hottest New AI Chatbot Is Just a Guy Answering Your Questions
• Ratio vs. Simply Good: Which Plastic-Free Coffee Maker Is Best?
• Google Workspace Promo Codes: 14% Off for August 2026
• Hotels.com Coupon Codes for August 2026
• Uber Eats Promo Codes: $15 Off│August 2026
• LG Promo Codes and Coupons for August 2026
• Nike Promo Codes and Discounts: 30% for August 2026
• 50% Off DoorDash Promo Code | August 2026
• Surfshark Promo Codes: 87% Off | August 2026
• Ray-Ban Promo Codes: Save 50% in August 2026
• B&H Photo Promo Codes and Deals This August 2026
• Ulta Promo Codes: Up to 20% Off in August 2026
• HP Coupon Codes and Deals August 2026
• Newegg Promo Codes and Coupons for August 2026
• Dyson Promo Codes: 25% Off in August 2026
• One of China’s Most Powerful AI Models Has Also Escaped Containment
• Hackers Stalked Me by Hijacking a Smartwatch for Kids
• Why Normal People Aren’t Using AI Agents
• Flock Highlighted Police Departments Using Its Tech. Now 4 Face Allegations of Misuse
• ICE’s DNA Collection Increases, SpaceX’s Rocket Crashes Into the Moon, and the AI Backlash Grows
• DeepMind Says Its AI Can Predict Hurricanes Earlier Than Everyone Else
• There’s No Good Way to Talk About Celebrities and Eating Disorders
• 5 Best AI Notetakers (2026), Tested and Reviewed
• Meteor Showers, Eclipses, and More Are on the August 2026 Astronomical Calendar
• Best Android Charger: Wireless, Portable, Cable (2026)
• Microsoft’s Quantum Chief Doesn’t Care That Scientists Don’t Believe His Results
• Samsung Odyssey G8 6K Review: Pixel Overdose
• Shark PowerDetect Speed Review (2026): Light and Powerful
• Two Fossil Fuel Companies Are Betting Big on Data Centers
• 12 Best Coffee Subscriptions (2026), Tested by Caffeine Hounds
• Best Handheld Fans for a Breeze on Demand (2026)
• 20% Off Brooks Promo Code | August 2026
• Total Wireless Promo Codes & Deals: 50% Off Select Plans
• Hungryroot Coupon Codes: 30% Off This August
• Norton Coupon Codes: Up to 58% Off
• Govee Discount Codes and Deals: 30% Off
• HBO Max Promo Code: 50% Off | August 2026
• NZXT Discount Codes: 50% Off in August 2026
• Coleman Promo Codes and Deals: Up to 75% Off in August 2026
• 30% Off Tempur-Pedic Promo Codes | August 2026
| • Framework customer information was accessed as part of a data breach
• One of NASA's Mars rovers could find itself promised to the moon instead
• Sony might be rebooting its 2020 flagship headphones
• Static Hour challenges you to be the arbiter of truth and fear
• We thought we wouldn't write about Overwatch characters anymore but D.Mon looks too sick not to
• Trump administration spends another $1.2 billion to kill offshore wind farm projects
• Korean lunar orbiter snaps first pics of the SpaceX Falcon 9 crash site on the moon
• AI is changing cybersecurity in quick and terrifying ways
• Are USB flash drives becoming obsolete?
• What type of phone case is best for wireless charging?
• SK Hynix pledges $38 billion to build two new DRAM and NAND factories
• Are Ray-Ban Meta glasses a privacy risk? Here's what you should know
• Europe finalizes plans for its 'sovereign' Starlink competitor
• PSB iQ2 review: Premium sound meets smart-speaker convenience
• Chinese AI model Moonshot Kimi K3 also escaped its testing environment
• Court orders Meta to pay an additional $567 million in New Mexico child safety case
• Google open-sources an AI model it says can help with earlier hurricane warnings
• Ro Khanna calls for the right to oppose data centers to be protected
• OpenAI's ring-shaped smart speaker will reportedly cost between $300 and $400
• Quake celebrates its 30th anniversary with a new free episode
|