Friday

20 February 2026 Vol 19

Anthropic-funded group backs candidate attacked by rival AI super PAC

Anthropic-funded group backs candidate attacked by rival AI super PAC

Late last year, New York Assembly member Alex Bores became the target of a campaign by a pro-AI super PAC…
DHS Wants a Single Search Engine to Flag Faces and Fingerprints Across Agencies

DHS Wants a Single Search Engine to Flag Faces and Fingerprints Across Agencies

The Department of Homeland Security is moving to consolidate its face recognition and other biometric technologies into a single system…
Apple’s iOS 26.4 arrives in public beta with AI music playlists, video podcasts, and more

Apple’s iOS 26.4 arrives in public beta with AI music playlists, video podcasts, and more

Apple this week released the latest version of its mobile operating system, iOS 26.4, which introduces several new features, including…
Metadata Exposes Authors of ICE’s ‘Mega’ Detention Center Plans

Metadata Exposes Authors of ICE’s ‘Mega’ Detention Center Plans

A PDF that Department of Homeland Security officials provided to New Hampshire governor Kelly Ayotte’s office about a new effort…
Great news for xAI: Grok is now pretty good at answering questions about Baldur’s Gate

Great news for xAI: Grok is now pretty good at answering questions about Baldur’s Gate

Different AI labs have different priorities. OpenAI has traditionally focused on consumer users, for instance, while its rival Anthropic tends…
AI Safety Meets the War Machine

AI Safety Meets the War Machine

When Anthropic last year became the first major AI company cleared by the US government for classified use—including military applications—the…
Ukrainian man jailed for identity theft that helped North Koreans get jobs at US companies

Ukrainian man jailed for identity theft that helped North Koreans get jobs at US companies

A U.S. federal court has sentenced a Ukrainian man to five years in prison for his part in a long-running…
Threads posts can now be shared directly to your Instagram Story without leaving the app

Threads posts can now be shared directly to your Instagram Story without leaving the app

Threads already has over 400 million monthly users, but Meta wants to push that number even higher. With the launch…
Toy Story 5 takes aim at creepy AI toys: ‘I’m always listening’

Toy Story 5 takes aim at creepy AI toys: ‘I’m always listening’

When the first Toy Story movie came out in 1995, Google didn’t exist yet and Apple was on the verge…
Meta’s metaverse leaves virtual reality

Meta’s metaverse leaves virtual reality

Meta has announced a major update for its immersive virtual world, Horizon Worlds, on Thursday that will see it leave…