8 – Breaking News & Latest Updates 2026
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News

All the news you need to keep up with the latest developments in the tech world, from product announcements and live events to tariffs, policies, and regulations. Tech touches every aspect of daily news, and our experts are here to keep you informed on what happens and how it all affects you.

Emma Roth
Emma Roth
OpenAI is bringing ChatGPT ads to a lot more countries.

The company is launching ads for ChatGPT Free and Go users across 26 countries, including Argentina, Colombia, Peru, Nigeria, South Africa, Serbia, Ukraine, Bangladesh, and Pakistan. Since bringing ads to ChatGPT in the US in February, OpenAI has rapidly expanded its advertising efforts, which now span 89 countries.

Jay Peters
Jay Peters
The iPhone Duo might get Apple Pencil support very soon.

It’s apparently available in the iOS 27 release candidate, according to Creative Strategies analyst Max Weinbach. Things could always change ahead of the public release full release, but the feature seems likely to make the final cut.

When Apple first announced the foldable, it said Apple Pencil support would arrive “later this year.”

Jess Weatherbed
Jess Weatherbed
GPT‑5.6 Sol was used to identify critical PHP flaw.

OpenAI says a security researcher at Calif used GPT-5.6 Sol to identify PHP exploits before attackers did, and has shared a tool that lets developers check if they’re using a potentially vulnerable version of PHP that needs patching. Ami Luttwak, co-founder of Google’s Wiz security team that also helped to identidy the PHP2Shell exploit, told the Wall Street Journal that its “the most severe AI vulnerability that was ever found.”

Jay Peters
Jay Peters
PlayStation’s new Pulse Wireless Headset now has a price and release date.

First announced in September, the headset has a recommended retail price of $99.99 and will be available starting November 19th (the same day GTA VI launches), with pre-orders opening at 10AM ET on October 29th.

Sony is promising to share more details on the step-up Pulse Edge headset model, which includes active noise cancellation and a detachable boom mic, ahead of its planned launch next year.

Stevie Bonifield
Stevie Bonifield
Trump says paying communities a “dividend” could make data centers more popular.

Continuing to push the widely unpopular data center projects, Trump said in a Truth Social post that some of them “have become extremely popular when a financial deal is struck.” His plan sounds lot like Meta’s approach on the Hyperion project in Louisiana, where Mark Zuckerberg has touted $50,000 bonus checks for teachers despite a secretive approval process residents didn’t know much about.

As the President of the United States, I have been watching Data Centers very closely, and have come to a very strong conclusion. New and large, in some cases gigantic, Data Centers are mandated by me to make their own electricity, and give or sell any excess back to the local community, or grid, and therefore there is electric price increase. In fact, there could be a substantial decrease. Other elements likewise! If companies want to make their Data Centers popular, pay the community, and/or individuals within the community, a “dividend.” I have watched the process closely, and Data Centers that were highly unpopular in a certain area, have become extremely popular when a financial deal is struck. MAKE DEALS, and get them built!!! GREAT FOR THE U.S.A. President DJT
Screenshot: Truth Social
Stevie Bonifield
Stevie Bonifield
Joanna Stern tested the iPhone Duo’s hinge in her sleep.

She used a custom-built robot called “Hingey” to fold the Duo 17 times per minute “for eight hours straight,” for a total of 32,640 folds. You can watch Stern’s review to see how Hingey works, and check out The Verge’s iPhone Duo review for more on Apple’s new foldable.

Emma Roth
Emma Roth
eBay is laying off about 9 percent of its workers.

As reported by Reuters, the job cuts will impact around 1,100 employees. In a memo seen by the outlet, eBay CEO Jamie Iannone tells workers the company must make “thoughtful choices about where we focus and invest” to “capture the significant opportunity ahead.”

Stevie Bonifield
Stevie Bonifield
Glee is getting a reboot on Disney Plus and Hulu.

The show’s encore comes over a decade after its sixth season ended in 2015. Variety reports Disney has greenlit the reboot, but hasn’t shared a release date yet or announced whether any of the original cast is returning.

Emma Roth
Emma Roth
Google DeepMind’s Demis Hassabis thinks AGI is two to three years away.

The Wall Street Journal published a big profile of the Google DeepMind co-founder, who says his timeline for the arrival of artificial general intelligence (AGI) is becoming “nearer and nearer.”

He adds that “winning” the AI race “means helping humanity steward AGI into the world safely and securely for the benefit of everyone.”

Dominic Preston
Dominic Preston
Resident Evil Requiem made more money from PS5 discs than from all copies on Xbox.

That’s according to analyst Rhys Elliott of Alinea Analytics, in a wider report on revenue from physical PlayStation games ahead of their elimination. 30 percent of Requiem’s PS5 revenue came from disc sales, exemplifying two trends Elliott finds: single-player AAA titles are especially reliant on discs, and the Japanese market is uniquely disc-centric.

Physical game revenues on PlayStation

[The Alinea Insight newsletter]

Dominic Preston
Dominic Preston
Insecure TLS certificates will be ‘a massive cleanup job’ for system admins.

Eight certificates issued by India-based eMudhra have been compromised, theoretically allowing attackers to spoof trusted browser and app credentials. Cryptography engineer Filippo Valsorda told Ars that the number of affected devices means it’ll take longer to clean up than Heartbleed, an infamous OpenSSL vulnerability that rocked the internet in 2014 and took years to fix.

Jess Weatherbed
Jess Weatherbed
YouTube has a new way to protect hacked channels.

When unusual activity is detected on an account, the platform will now temporarily pause features for 24 hours, including uploading or updating videos, livestreaming, creating or adjusting playlists, uploading thumbnails, and making private videos public. Full feature access will be restored once the account’s security is verified.

Tom Warren
Tom Warren
Xbox is experimenting with a blades dashboard.

Xbox CTO Scott Van Vliet has been “cooking up retro vibes” as part of Microsoft’s new Xbox Labs effort. The result is what looks like a vibecoded option to pick your dashboard on an Xbox console. This is simply an experiment right now and it’s not clear if we’ll ever see such an option, but Xbox CEO Asha Sharma asks “blades on the web. Do we like this experiment?”

Jay Peters
Jay Peters
Twitch’s new Stream Recaps let you catch up on a stream you missed.

Twitch describes the recaps as a “highlight reel.” By default, they include clips made by a streamer and their editors, but Twitch says streamers can add, remove, or edit clips.

Jay Peters
Jay Peters
Elon Musk believes Starlink connectivity could generate “several hundred billion dollars a year” in revenue.

During today’s Q3 SpaceX earnings call, Musk also said the company should “probably” do a “longer presentation on the game plan” for the business.

In Q3, SpaceX’s Connectivity business reported $5.2 billion in revenue, and the company recently acquired low-band spectrum as part of a plan to become a “major mobile carrier” that competes with T-Mobile, AT&T, and Verizon.

You can read more about SpaceX’s earnings in our story here.

Richard Lawler
Richard Lawler
Who slowed down Ukraine’s Starlink? Trump and Musk call not-it.

After Ukraine said a Starshield slowdown had interrupted its military operations, Elon Musk claimed any limits “are decided by the US military and ultimately POTUS.” Then the president told reporters, “It wasn’t me... and I don’t think it was Elon.”

Now WSJ sources are pointing the finger back at Musk, with some claiming “Musk acted unilaterally.”

Jay Peters
Jay Peters
OpenAI has acquired Orchestra Bio, a biotech startup.

OpenAI describes Orchestra Bio as “a platform that helps biopharma teams coordinate the complex process of drug development.” The company will bring Orchestra’s team and tech “together with Rosalind, our AI models and tools for life sciences research.”