Mastodon is making changes in the hopes of making its social networking service more appealing and easier to use, especially for more mainstream users looking for an alternative to X or Threads. On Thursday, the decentralized social networking software maker said it’s redesigning a key part of its platform by giving people’s user profiles a…
AI was once again the buzzword for this latest batch of YC Demo Day companies. Nearly 190 companies participated in Y Combinator’s Winter ‘26 cohort and presented their startups in a Demo Day on Tuesday. These companies are working on products across industries such as law, transportation, and healthcare. I did not, admittedly, listen to every single…
OpenAI has put the kibosh on yet another project—at least for the time being. On Thursday, the Financial Times reported that the AI company would be “indefinitely” pausing plans to develop an “erotic” mode for ChatGPT. The proposed “adult mode,” which CEO Sam Altman first floated in October, had inspired considerable controversy from tech watchdog…
The common assumption among iPhone security experts has been that finding vulnerabilities and developing exploits for iOS was difficult, requiring a lot of time, resources, and teams of skilled researchers to break through its layers of security defenses. That meant iPhone spyware and zero-day vulnerabilities, which aren’t known to the software vendor before they are…
Google announced on Thursday that it’s expanding its AI-powered conversational search feature, Search Live, globally to all languages and locations where AI Mode is available. With this expansion, people in more than 200 countries and territories will get access to the feature, Google says. First launched in July 2025, Search Live allows users to point…
OpenAI may be dialing back its efforts in the video generation market with the shutdown of its Sora app, but ByteDance on Thursday confirmed that its new audio and video model, Dreamina Seedance 2.0, is now rolling out in its editing platform, CapCut. ByteDance says the model allows creators to draft, edit, and sync video…
Security researchers have uncovered a series of cyberattacks targeting Apple customers across the world. The tools used in these hacking campaigns have been dubbed Coruna and DarkSword, and they have been used by both government spies and cybercriminals to steal data from people’s iPhones and iPads. It’s rare to see widespread hacks targeting iPhone and…
WhatsApp is rolling out a slew of new features and updates, including one that generates AI-powered suggested replies based on your conversations. The Meta-owned messaging platform is also launching other features, including a new way to free up space, the ability to touch up photos with Meta AI, and more. Most notably, however, is the…
The signs that AI could lead to mass job displacement are already piling up: entry-level job postings in the U.S. have sunk 35% since 2023, mass layoffs have swept across Big Tech, and even AI leaders themselves are warning about what’s coming. Backstage at the Axios AI Summit in Washington on Wednesday, Sen. Mark Warner…
Would-be Reddit competitor Digg just shut down because it couldn’t get a handle on the bots overrunning its site. On Wednesday, Reddit said it’s taking on the challenge itself. The company will begin labeling automated accounts that are providing a service to users, similar to how the “good bots” are labeled on X, and it…