Month: January 2026
TikTok says a power outage messed up its algorithm
The company informed employees of the outage on Sunday. That day, TikTok users began reporting issues with their feeds, including seeing a flurry of old or irrelevant posts instead of new videos. The absence of topical content, such as on-the-ground videos from the Minneapolis ICE protests, led to speculation on social media that TikTok’s new
Israel finds the last hostage body in Gaza
Israel said Monday it identified the body of the final Israeli hostage in Gaza and returned it to Israel, paving the way for the long-awaited next steps in President Trump’s peace plan.The military said it launched a “large-scale operation” for his body over the weekend in a cemetery in northern Gaza, acting based on intelligence.
The Chinese Intercontinental ballistic missiles can strike USA within no time
The People’s Republic of China and its People’s Liberation Army (PLA) has the capability to launch conventional intercontinental ballistic missiles that have enough range to strike targets in North America or Western Europe. The Dongfeng DF-31 is an intercontinental ballistic missile has been in service since at least the early 2000s, and has a range
Race to patent plankton genes
The treaty, which took effect a week ago, aims to protect biodiversity in international waters and prevent the takeover of marine life, which belongs to everyone. Among its key concerns are plankton, tiny organisms that drift through the ocean and play a central role in sustaining life on Earth. The first living organisms to appear
Open AI to start advertising business
OpenAI recently announced on its website that it plans to start testing advertisements on ChatGPT in the U.S. The company plans to run ads only on its free and low-cost subscription accounts, while there won’t be ads for ChatGPT Plus, Pro, Business, or Enterprise accounts. The goal, according to the company, is to enable more
Meta Blocks Teens From Chatting With Its AI Characters
Meta is temporarily blocking teenagers from accessing all of its AI characters. The pause, which impacts Instagram, Facebook, and WhatsApp, is set to come into effect in “the coming weeks,” though the company didn’t give a firm date. Meta is by no means the first major AI platform to make these types of restrictions on
Tesla discontinues Autopilot
Tesla has discontinued Autopilot, its basic driver-assistance system, as the company tries to boost adoption of a more advanced version of the technology that it calls Full Self-Driving (Supervised). Autopilot was a combination of Traffic Aware Cruise Control, which sticks to a designated speed while maintaining distance with cars ahead, and Autosteer, a lane-centering feature
Grubhub and Google hacking
First of all (and sadly, personally upsetting to me, who orders entirely too much takeout), food delivery giant Grubhub reported a data breach this week, with the hackers responsible for it already demanding a hefty ransom from the company or else they’ll release the data. The hack was actually part of a massive Salesforce-related breach
A Myanmar military airstrike on civillians
Myanmar has been in turmoil since the army seized power from the elected government of Aung San Suu Kyi on Feb. 1, 2021, triggering widespread popular opposition. After peaceful demonstrations were put down with lethal force, many opponents of the military rule took up arms, and large parts of the country are now embroiled in
Trump signed his Gaza ‘Board of Peace’ into being
U.S. President Donald Trump was surrounded by world leaders as he declared the war in Gaza was “really coming to an end” at a signing ceremony for his “Board of Peace” for the territory.The United Arab Emirates, Hungary and Pakistan were represented at the ceremony at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, on Thursday.