Airbnb billionaire co-founder Joe Gebbia is growing his team at the U.S. National Design Studio, the Trump initiative focused on improving the government’s online presence. On Monday, Gebbia announced that American designer Peter Arnell joined the team to become the first U.S. chief brand architect. Gebbia shared the news of Arnell’s hire during the The…
Threads is rolling out messaging on the web, bringing one-on-one and group chats to desktop, the Meta-owned social network announced on Tuesday. By bringing messaging to the web, Threads is aligning its desktop experience more closely with competitors like X and Bluesky. Connor Hayes, Meta’s head of Threads, said in a post that web messaging…
On Monday, OpenAI released a new foundation model called GPT-5.5 Instant, which will replace GPT-5.3 Instant as the default ChatGPT model. The company said the model reduces hallucination in sensitive areas such as law, medicine, and finance, while maintaining the low latency of its predecessor. OpenAI released the latest GPT-5.5 model last month with the…
PayPal is looking towards the future, despite its falling stock and looming layoffs. In its first-quarter earnings call, CEO Enrique Lores told investors that PayPal needs to “recommit to the fundamentals,” which included “becoming a technology company again.” There was no need to read between the lines — PayPal was pitching an AI-powered turnaround. Lores…
Education tech giant Instructure has confirmed a data breach affecting students’ private information. The hacking and extortion gang ShinyHunters claimed responsibility for the breach. The hackers claim to have stolen students’ names, their personal email addresses, and messages sent between teachers and students — the same type of data Instructure admitted was stolen. Instructure is…
Four days. That’s all that’s left to lock in one of the smartest advantages you can give yourself as a founder, investor, or operator right now. For the next four days only, you can buy one pass to TechCrunch Disrupt 2026 and get 50% off a second of the same ticket type. That window closes May 8 at 11:59 p.m. PT. After that, prices go…
It’s not just you: restaurants, malls, and offices on steamy summer days really are kept colder than necessary. Air conditioning is as much about dehumidification as it is about cooling, especially in hot, humid climates like the U.S. South, where buildings can be fertile ground for hazardous molds. “The reason they blast the air conditioner…
Elyse Betters Picaro / ZDNET Follow ZDNET: Add us as a preferred source on Google. ZDNET’s key takeaways Google Maps wins for fast routing, AI, and rich discovery features. Apple Maps is cleaner, simpler, and geared toward Apple users. Both apps are close, but Google Maps is more powerful overall. I’ll admit it: I’m a…
Getty Follow ZDNET: Add us as a preferred source on Google. ZDNET’s key takeaways The CloudZ Trojan steals data through Microsoft Phone Link. The campaign has been active since at least January 2026. Follow our practices to protect yourself from the CloudZ Trojan. Cisco Talos researchers have revealed the exploits of a Remote Access Trojan (RAT) that…
Your phone is one of the most target-rich devices you own. It carries your banking apps, saved passwords, private messages, and years of photos. Most people treat mobile security as an afterthought, but the threat is real and growing. The good news is that today’s mobile antivirus apps do a lot more than scan for…