11 – Breaking News & Latest Updates 2026
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Ai Artificial Intelligence Archive

Archives for October 2026

David Pierce
David Pierce
“Instead, I have decided that someone else should stop me.”

I understand the concerns. After all, I am attempting to assemble a living human being from dead human tissue and bring it to life with electricity, which isn’t generally considered something a person does after carefully considering the possible consequences.

But what am I supposed to do—stop?

Tom Warren
Tom Warren
Microsoft: frontier models cannot be trusted.

Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella said earlier this month that we should assume that all AI models are “compromised,” and now Microsoft is going one step further. “Unfortunately, frontier models, regardless of their origin, cannot be trusted,” says Hayete Gallot, executive vice president of Microsoft Security. Microsoft is naturally positioning its new Project Perception as a solution to securing AI models. It’s an agentic security system designed to help cybersecurity professionals secure and control AI agents.

Emma Roth
Emma Roth
US civilian agencies can’t use DeepSeek, DHS says.

The Department of Homeland Security ordered the agencies to remove any technology created by the Chinese AI company over concerns that its models may transfer “​sensitive data to the PRC,” according to Reuters. The ban also prevents civilian agencies from using third-party services that integrate DeepSeek’s AI models.

Jess Weatherbed
Jess Weatherbed
Microsoft abandons the UK’s largest data center project.

Reuters reports that Microsoft pulled out of the deal with British company Nscale to build the AI data center after local electricity grid officials said the site won’t be supplied with power until the 2030s. Construction is still expected to go ahead without Microsoft’s support, and Nscale says it’s partnership with Microsoft on other projects “remains strong.”

Emma Roth
Emma Roth
OpenAI staffer accused of planting bug was allegedly in “frequent” communication with a Saudi royal.

The suspect, Abdulrahman Alfozan, used WhatsApp to communicate with the unnamed royal throughout 2025 and 2026, according to a court filing spotted earlier by CNBC.

Among other things, the individual [Saudi Royal Family member] told the defendant [Alfozan] that an artificial intelligence initiative was being launched in Saudi Arabia and wanted the defendant to join it.

Alfozan allegedly contacted the individual on October 5th, just days before he was arrested on suspicion of planting a bug in an OpenAI conference room.

JB Pritzker thinks AI could help us live to 100 — or threaten us like nukes
Play

The Illinois governor on AI, data centers, privacy, and Trump.

Nilay Patel
Democrats think cracking down on AI could give them an edge

At a moment when voters are fearful of AI, Democrats are finding their footing.

Lauren Feiner
Robert Hart
Robert Hart
In case you couldn’t tell, the House of Mouse was in on Character.AI’s bankruptcy from the start.

Wired reports that Character filing for bankruptcy and agreeing to sell assets to Disney last week was the second of “two interrelated and integrated” transactions. The first, which took place in September, involved Disney hiring a “majority” of the chatbot startup’s employees, a familiar move from the “acquihire” playbook.

Terrence O'Brien
Terrence O'Brien
Anthropic is committing 5 percent of its shares to a ‘Public Benefit Fund’

The new Anthropic Public Benefit Fund will be a wholly owned LLC, which the company says will give it “flexibility.” It offered little information about how it would use the money, other than saying it wouldn’t fund lobbying or political donations. It offered limited examples of what it might do:

… we might explore large donations to traditional nonprofits or direct distributions to specific populations.

One example is labor market impacts. AI may generate enormous economic value, but it could also cause instability for many workers. Anthropic has already committed $200 million to studying and addressing this issue, but given the pace of AI progress, bolder approaches may be needed.

Terrence O'Brien
Terrence O'Brien
Maybe Claude can make your Android TV less crappy too.

The big problem with smart TVs is that they start to slow down, stutter, and generally suck pretty quickly. Ansub Khan figured out a way to get Claude to clean up the mess and make his old Android TV feel new again. Best part: he lays out step-by-step how to do it on your own TV. Though, as with anything involving AI, proceed cautiously.

Terrence O'Brien
Terrence O'Brien
Appeals court upholds Thomson Reuters win in AI training lawsuit.

In February 2025, US District Court of Delaware Judge Stephanos Bibas ruled against Ross Intelligence, which argued that training its legal AI on data scraped from Thomson Reuters was fair use. Now an appeals court has upheld that decision, though it remains sealed.

Terrence O'Brien
Terrence O'Brien
Adam Mosseri says Instagram is ‘working out what to do’ about AI fakes.

It’s not just celebrity deepfakes that are plaguing social media. AI hot girl accounts are stealing comedians’ jokes, and painters are seeing AI versions of their process videos rack up millions of views. Mosseri says it’s “not practical” to ban AI, but it’s not sure how to handle content that isn’t copyrighted, like jokes.

Adam Mosseri offers milquetoast response about AI stealing from creators and what to do about it.
1/2Screenshot: Terrence O’Brien / The Verge