On Friday, OpenAI announced it will begin testing advertisements inside the ChatGPT app for some US users in a bid to expand its customer base and diversify revenue. The move represents a reversal for CEO Sam Altman, who in 2024 described advertising in ChatGPT as a “last resort” and expressed concerns that ads could erode...
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Mandiant releases rainbow table that cracks weak admin password in 12 hours
Security firm Mandiant has released a database that allows any administrative password protected by Microsoft’s NTLM.v1 hash algorithm to be hacked in an attempt to nudge users who continue using the deprecated function despite known weaknesses. The database comes in the form of a rainbow table, which is a precomputed table of hash values linked...
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TSMC says AI demand is “endless” after record Q4 earnings
On Thursday, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC) reported record fourth-quarter earnings and said it expects AI chip demand to continue for years. During an earnings call, CEO C.C. Wei told investors that while he cannot predict the semiconductor industry’s long-term trajectory, he remains bullish on AI. TSMC manufactures chips for companies including Apple, Nvidia, AMD,...
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How Activists in Iran Are Using Starlink to Stay Online
Activists spent years preparing for a communications blackout in Iran, smuggling in Starlink satellite internet systems and making digital shutdowns harder for the authorities to enforce.
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A.I. Has Arrived in Gmail. Here’s What to Know.
Google’s A.I. assistant, Gemini, can create a to-do list based on recent emails, among other new tricks. There are implications for your privacy.
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Coinbase, the Biggest U.S. Crypto Company, Asserts Its Power in Washington
The top executive of the crypto exchange Coinbase scuttled a planned Senate committee vote on a major cryptocurrency bill after voicing his concerns, a sign of the company’s clout.
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State and Federal Lawmakers Want Data Centers to Pay More for Energy
Despite many proposals, there is little consensus among governors, lawmakers and tech executives about exactly how much the companies behind data centers should pay for electricity.
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Elon Musk’s X Restricts Ability to Create Explicit Images With Grok
Bowing to pressure, the company said it would restrict X users from generating explicit images of real people in jurisdictions where such content is illegal.
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Wikipedia signs AI training deals with Microsoft, Meta, and Amazon
On Thursday, the Wikimedia Foundation announced licensing deals with Microsoft, Meta, Amazon, Perplexity, and Mistral AI, expanding its effort to charge major tech companies for using Wikipedia content to train the AI models that power AI assistants like Microsoft Copilot and OpenAI’s ChatGPT. While these same companies previously scraped Wikipedia without permission, the deals mean...
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2026 May Be the Year of the Mega I.P.O.
If SpaceX, OpenAI and Anthropic go public, they will unleash gushers of cash for Silicon Valley and Wall Street.