After kicking off an unpopular pilot test last month, Samsung made the practice of having its expensive smart fridges display ads official this week.
The ads will be shown on Samsung’s 2024 Family Hub smart fridges. As of this writing, Samsung’s Family Hub fridges have MSRPs ranging from $1,899 to $3,499. The ads will arrive through a software update that Samsung will start issuing this month and display on the fridge’s integrated 21.5- or 32-inch (depending on the model) screen. The ads will show when the fridges are idle and display what Samsung calls Cover Screens.
Apple Maps could feature integrated ads as soon as next year, Bloomberg's Mark Gurman reports.
In his latest "Power On" newsletter, Gurman said that Apple's plan to bring more ads to iOS is moving "gaining traction," with the Maps app being next in line. The project will apparently give restaurants and other businesses the option to pay to have their details featured more prominently in search.
President Trump has pardoned Changpeng Zhao, the convicted founder of the crypto exchange Binance, following months of efforts by Zhao to boost the Trump family’s own crypto company.
In the midst of a federal government shutdown, the U.S. government’s gross national debt surpassed $38 trillion Wednesday, a record number that highlights the accelerating accumulation of debt on America’s balance sheet.
It’s also the fastest accumulation of a trillion dollars in debt outside of the COVID-19 pandemic — the U.S. hit $37 trillion in gross national debt in August this year.
The $38 trillion update is found in the latest Treasury Department report, which logs the nation’s daily finances.
Nicolas Sarkozy has become the first French ex-president to go to jail, as he starts a five-year sentence for conspiring to fund his election campaign with money from late Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi.
Not since World War Two Nazi collaborationist leader Philippe Pétain was jailed for treason in 1945 has any French ex-leader gone behind bars.
NASA may sideline SpaceX and choose a different company to land its astronauts on the moon later this decade, acting space agency chief Sean Duffy suggested during TV appearances Monday.
Duffy emphasized that he believes SpaceX, which has a $2.9 billion contract to provide the lunar lander astronauts would ride to the moon’s surface, is lagging behind schedule, potentially thwarting NASA’s efforts to return humans to the moon before China amid a new space race.
AI-generated images of extreme poverty, children and sexual violence survivors are flooding stock photo sites and increasingly being used by leading health NGOs, according to global health professionals who have voiced concern over a new era of “poverty porn”.
“All over the place, people are using it,” said Noah Arnold, who works at Fairpicture, a Swiss-based organisation focused on promoting ethical imagery in global development. “Some are actively using AI imagery, and others, we know that they’re experimenting at least.”
A Polish judge has refused to extradite a Ukrainian citizen – suspected by Germany of sabotaging the Nord Stream gas pipelines in September 2022 – arguing that if Ukraine was responsible for the attack, then it was a "just" act.
Volodymyr Zhuravlyov, who was brought to Warsaw District Court in handcuffs, was detained in Poland last month on a European arrest warrant.
Judge Dariusz Lubowski ordered his release, after a ruling that was met with a ripple of surprise from the crowd in court and a smile from the man in the dock.
China announced it has begun mass producing the world’s first ultra-low noise, single-photon detector featuring four channels, suggesting that powerful applications loom in everything from daily communications to national defence.
Dubbed the “photon catcher”, the device can detect a single photon – the smallest unit of energy – making it a core component in cutting-edge technologies such as quantum communication and quantum radar for stealth aircraft detection and tracking.
Scientists have repaired a natural gateway into the brains of mice, allowing the clumps and tangles associated with Alzheimer's disease to be swept away.
After just three drug injections, mice with certain genes that mimic Alzheimer's showed a reversal of several key pathological features.
Within hours of the first injection, the animal brains showed a nearly 45 percent reduction in clumps of amyloid-beta plaques, a hallmark of Alzheimer's disease.
Dozens of reporters turned in access badges and exited the Pentagon on Wednesday rather than agree to government-imposed restrictions on their work, pushing journalists who cover the American military further from the seat of its power. The nation’s leadership called the new rules “common sense” to help regulate a “very disruptive” press.
News outlets were nearly unanimous in rejecting new rules imposed by Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth that would leave journalists vulnerable to expulsion if they sought to report on information — classified or otherwise — that had not been approved by Hegseth for release.
Today’s test flight marked the end of a short but stunning redemption arc for this version of Starship — dubbed Version 2 or V2.
“Every major objective of the flight test was achieved, providing valuable data as we prepare the next generation of Starship and Super Heavy,” a recap of Monday’s mission on SpaceX’s website reads.
After thrice exploding mid-flight earlier this year, Starship soared through its key goals today — including deploying mock satellites and relighting its engine while in space, repeating feats first achieved during V2’s first fully successful test run in August.
Several leading news organizations with access to Pentagon briefings have formally said they will not agree to a new defense department policy that requires them to pledge they will not obtain unauthorized material and restricts access to certain areas unless accompanied by an official.
The policy, presented last month by the defense secretary, Pete Hegseth, has been widely criticized by media organizations asked to sign the pledge by Tuesday at 5pm or have 24 hours to turn in their press credentials.
Ofcom, the UK's Online Safety Act regulator, has fined online message board 4chan £20,000 ($26,680) for failing to protect children from harmful content.
The fine could rise by a further £6,000 – £100 per day for a maximum 60 days – if it continues to ignore its duties to comply with the regulator's request for information regarding two separate matters.
- Nvidia, Amazon and Tesla all fell by about 5% on Friday, pushing the Nasdaq down 3.6%, its worst day since April.
- The slide came after President Trump threatened to slap a “massive increase of Tariffs” on Chinese products imported into the U.S.
- Trump later declared that the U.S. would impose a 100% tariff on China and, on Nov. 1, would apply export controls “on any and all critical software,” pushing the technology stocks lower after hours.
A wave of deals and partnerships are escalating concerns that the trillion-dollar AI boom is being propped up by interconnected business transactions.
Two weeks ago, Nvidia Corp. agreed to invest as much as $100 billion in OpenAI to help the leading AI startup fund a data-center buildout so massive it could power a major city. OpenAI in turn committed to filling those sites with millions of Nvidia chips. The arrangement was promptly criticized for its “circular” nature.
This week, undeterred, OpenAI struck a similar deal. The ChatGPT maker on Monday inked a partnership with Nvidia rival Advanced Micro Devices Inc. to deploy tens of billions of dollars’ worth of its chips. As part of the tie-up, OpenAI is poised to become one of AMD’s largest shareholders.
The world’s fastest production car is now electric, BYD’s Yangwang U9 Extreme blasting to a Bugatti-beating 308mph.
A fire at the National Information Resources Service (NIRS)'s Daejeon headquarters destroyed the government’s G-Drive cloud storage system, erasing work files saved individually by some 750,000 civil servants, the Ministry of the Interior and Safety said Wednesday.
The fire broke out in the server room on the fifth floor of the center, damaging 96 information systems designated as critical to central government operations, including the G-Drive platform. The G-Drive has been in use since 2018, requiring government officials to store all work documents in the cloud instead of on personal computers. It provided around 30 gigabytes of storage per person.
However, due to the system’s large-capacity, low-performance storage structure, no external backups were maintained — meaning all data has been permanently lost.
Sweeping strikes and nationwide protests seized parts of Italy on Friday as pressure mounts on Giorgia Meloni’s government to take a stronger stand against Israel over its war in Gaza.
Trade unionists, students, activist groups and families blocked highways and transport hubs in cities across the country, carrying Palestinian flags and banners calling on Israel to “stop the occupation.” Over 2 million people attended the protests, Italy’s biggest union, CGIL, said.
OpenAI generated US$4.3 billion in revenue in the first half of 2025, according to financial disclosures to shareholders.
The artificial intelligence firm reported a net loss of US$13.5 billion during the same period, with more than half attributed to the remeasurement of convertible interest rights.
Research and development expenses were its largest cost, totaling US$6.7 billion in the first half.
Just hours after Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth delivered a fiery, politically charged speech at Quantico, one of the Air Force’s most powerful commanders—Gen. Thomas Bussiere—called it quits.
“After much reflection and with a full heart, Barb and I have made a difficult decision to request retirement from the United States Air Force for personal and family reasons,” Bussiere, head of Air Force Global Strike Command, announced Tuesday in a Facebook post.
The timing, however, has raised eyebrows across the Pentagon.
- “Super stem cells” improve the memory of monkeys while protecting against neurodegeneration.
- The super stem cells prevent age-related bone loss while rejuvenating over 50% of the 61 tissues analyzed.
- Treatment with stem cells reduces inflammation and senescent cells (cells that accumulate to promote aging).
While small in number, our adult stem cells play a crucial role in regenerating our lost or damaged tissues, rebuilding our body cell by cell. However, with age, our bodies become riddled with inflammation, hardly providing an environment capable of keeping our stem cells healthy. Eventually, our stem cells lose their regenerative capacity, contributing to degenerative aging.
Israel’s nearly two-year war pushed parts of Gaza into “man-made” famine, according to a report published in August by a United Nations-backed initiative, deepening the Palestinians’ struggle for survival under relentless bombing, mass displacement and the spread of disease.
The death of Hunter S Thompson is set to be reviewed, more than 20 years after it was ruled a suicide.
The journalist and author was believed to have killed himself on 20 February 2005 at the age of 67 and while there isn’t any new evidence to suggest otherwise, his widow Anita Thompson has requested that the Colorado Bureau of Investigation conduct a review. Thompson died at his home in Woody Creek, Colorado.
Israel’s defense minister on Wednesday ordered all remaining Palestinians to leave Gaza City, saying it was their “last opportunity” and that anyone who stayed would be considered a militant supporter and face the “full force” of Israel's latest offensive.
Boeing is planning a new single-aisle airplane that would succeed the 737 MAX, according to people familiar with the matter, a long-term bid to recover business lost to rival Airbus during its series of safety and quality problems.
Congress seems to be careening toward a government shutdown, as Democratic and Republican leaders remain at an impasse over funding negotiations and expiring health care subsidies. Lawmakers have less than 24 hours to reach a deal before a midnight deadline.
Senate Democrats have refused to back the spending bill, in an effort to force Republicans to negotiate on federal health care subsidies. They are pushing for an extension of Affordable Care Act subsidies that are set to expire at the end of the year in exchange for their support. Democrats also want to repeal cuts to health care programs that were enacted by the GOP's tax and spending bill passed earlier this summer.
Videogame maker Electronic Arts EA 4.48%increase; green up pointing triangle said it would go private in a $55 billion deal with a group of investors including Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund, private-equity firm Silver Lake and Jared Kushner’s investment firm Affinity Partners.
Microsoft has terminated the Israeli military’s access to technology it used to operate a powerful surveillance system that collected millions of Palestinian civilian phone calls made each day in Gaza and the West Bank, the Guardian can reveal.
Microsoft told Israeli officials late last week that Unit 8200, the military’s elite spy agency, had violated the company’s terms of service by storing the vast trove of surveillance data in its Azure cloud platform, sources familiar with the situation said.
According to the Associated Press’s Farnoush Amiri, an anonymous U.N. official said the escalator in question was actually stopped prematurely by someone from Trump’s group, who ran ahead of the group and accidentally triggered a stop mechanism. The official added that the teleprompter that Trump was so upset about was also being operated by his White House.
A roster of high-profile conservative voices could soon return to YouTube.
YouTube's parent company, Alphabet, said in a letter published Tuesday that it intends to "provide an opportunity for all creators to rejoin the platform" whose accounts had been terminated over repeated violations of its COVID-19 and election integrity policies.
Pope Leo XIV has rejected the idea of an AI Pope, saying in an interview with biographer Eloise Allen that "if there's anybody who should not be represented by an avatar, I would say the Pope is high on the list" (first spotted by The Register). Pope Leo, who is forthright about his views on the new technology, also said that he had been asked for his authorisation to create an AI Pope.
The Supreme Court said Monday it will consider expanding President Donald Trump’s power to shape independent agencies by overturning a nearly century-old decision limiting when presidents can fire board members.
In a 6-3 decision, the high court also allowed the Republican president to carry out the firing of Rebecca Slaughter, a Democratic member of the Federal Trade Commission, while the case plays out.
NVIDIA and OpenAI today announced a letter of intent for a landmark strategic partnership to deploy at least 10 gigawatts of NVIDIA systems for OpenAI’s next-generation AI infrastructure to train and run its next generation of models on the path to deploying superintelligence.
To support this deployment including datacenter and power capacity, NVIDIA intends to invest up to $100 billion in OpenAI as the new NVIDIA systems are deployed. The first phase is targeted to come online in the second half of 2026 using NVIDIA’s Vera Rubin platform.
The network pulled the show after the Federal Communications Commission chair threatened to revoke ABC affiliate licenses after the host's comments about Charlie Kirk's death.
Jimmy Kimmel's late-night show will return to ABC's airwaves on Tuesday, nearly a week after it was suspended amid criticism of the host's remarks about the assassination of conservative activist Charlie Kirk.
"Last Wednesday, we made the decision to suspend production on the show to avoid further inflaming a tense situation at an emotional moment for our country," the Walt Disney Company said in a statement Monday. "It is a decision we made because we felt some of the comments were ill-timed and thus insensitive."
A wave of Israel’s allies are announcing their recognition of the state of Palestine, as part of a wider manoeuvre designed to ostracise Hamas and challenge attempts by the Israeli government to erase the chance of a Palestinian homeland.
But the delicate and partly symbolic move by as many 10 states, pioneered largely by the French government, has the potential to lead to a negative spiral of further confrontation amid fears Israel will respond by annexing parts of the West Bank, leading in turn to European trade sanctions and further political isolation for Israel, including an ultimate possible suspension from the UN.
No one could accuse the European Space Agency and its various contractors of moving swiftly when it comes to the development of reusable rockets. However, it appears that Europe is finally making some credible progress.
This week, the France-based ArianeGroup aerospace company announced that it had completed the integration of the Themis vehicle, a prototype rocket that will test various landing technologies, on a launch pad in Sweden. Low-altitude hop tests, a precursor for developing a rocket's first stage that can vertically land after an orbital launch, could start late this year or early next.
The Canadian government banned the Irish-language rap group Kneecap from the country Friday, saying the group has endorsed political violence and terrorism.
The group has faced criticism for political statements seeming to glorify militant groups like Hamas and Hezbollah. Hungary previously banned the group.
The Trump administration said on Friday it would ask companies to pay $100,000 per year for H-1B worker visas, prompting some big tech companies to warn visa holders to stay in the U.S. or quickly return.
The change could deal a big blow to the technology sector that relies heavily on skilled workers from India and China.
MSNBC’s Lawrence O’Donnell describes how the British government, “in its idiotic attempt to co-opt Donald Trump through flattery, has put their King in the center of the Epstein scandal with Donald Trump sitting at the table” but not former Ambassador Peter Mandelson or Prince Andrew.
The UK is preparing to recognise the state of Palestine as early as Friday, after Israel failed to meet conditions that would have postponed the historic step, including a ceasefire in Gaza.
Keir Starmer insisted the timing of the UK announcement had nothing to do with Donald Trump’s visit, even though the US president said at a press conference that he disagreed with Britain’s decision, without elaborating.
In a surprise announcement that finds two long-time rivals working together, Nvidia and Intel announced today that the companies will jointly develop multiple new generations of x86 products together — a seismic shift with profound implications for the entire world of technology. Before the news broke, Tom's Hardware spoke with Nvidia representatives to learn more details about the company’s plans.
Samsung started rolling out an update to its refrigerators that brought ads to the display, whether you like it or not. The whole situation is rather surreal but not entirely unsurprising.
There were some doubts that the changelog wasn’t real or that it belonged to a different product. Now, Samsung has confirmed to us that ads are indeed coming to its refrigerators.
President Donald Trump suggested that US broadcast networks should face scrutiny over their licenses if their content is overwhelmingly critical of him, and defended ABC’s decision to suspend late-night host Jimmy Kimmel’s show indefinitely over remarks about the death of conservative activist Charlie Kirk.
“That’s something that should be talked about for licensing, too. When you have a network and you have evening shows, and all they do is hit Trump,” Trump told reporters aboard Air Force One. “They’re licensed. They’re not allowed to do that. They’re an arm of the Democrat party.”
Let’s be clear about what just happened: Jimmy Kimmel, a prominent late-night comedian, was just taken off the airwaves because the Trump administration didn’t like what he had to say — and threatened his employer until they shut him up.
The Trump administration, it appears, has learned to effectively weaponize the regulatory powers of the federal government to punish speech it doesn’t like from people it doesn’t like. This is a favored weapon of modern autocrats; its deployment against Kimmel is a qualitative escalation even above the administration’s previous acts of censorship (like targeting the author of a pro-Palestine op-ed for deportation).
Disney’s ABC is taking Jimmy Kimmel’s late night talk show off the air indefinitely amid a controversy over his recent comments about Charlie Kirk’s suspected killer.
“Jimmy Kimmel Live will be pre-empted indefinitely,” an ABC spokesperson said, declining to share any further details.
A representative for Kimmel did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The stunning decision came just a few hours after the Trump administration official responsible for licensing ABC’s local stations publicly pressured the company to punish Kimmel.
TikTok’s U.S. business would be controlled by an investor consortium including Oracle, Silver Lake and Andreessen Horowitz under a framework the U.S. and China are finalizing as talks shift into high gear, according to people familiar with the matter.
China’s internet regulator has banned the country’s biggest technology companies from buying Nvidia’s artificial intelligence chips, as Beijing steps up efforts to boost its domestic industry and compete with the US.
The Cyberspace Administration of China (CAC) told companies, including ByteDance and Alibaba, this week to end their testing and orders of the RTX Pro 6000D, Nvidia’s tailor-made product for the country, according to three people with knowledge of the matter.
Israel has launched its long-planned major ground offensive on Gaza City, conducting heavy air strikes overnight as troops pushed into the edges of the city.
Thousands of Palestinians have been forced to flee down a single coastal road to the centre of the Strip, joining hundreds of thousands who have already fled.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said a "powerful operation" had been launched against Hamas's "last major stronghold" amid sharp criticism from the UK and other countries.
On Sunday, The New York Times reported that tens of millions of people are confessing secrets to AI chatbots trained on religious texts, with apps like Bible Chat reaching over 30 million downloads and Catholic app Hallow briefly topping Netflix, Instagram, and TikTok in Apple's App Store.
In China, people are using DeepSeek to try to decode their fortunes. In her report, Lauren Jackson examined "faith tech" apps that cost users up to $70 annually, with some platforms claiming to channel divine communication directly.