American social network owned by Meta Platforms, founded 2004
TikTok is launching a standalone commerce app in Southeast Asia featuring live streams, short-form video shopping, in-app checkout and exclusive offers. The move aligns TikTok Shop with a broader push toward a super-app model, competing with Amazon, Temu, Yelp and Google Maps while expanding beyond the main platform.
Microsoft has offered voluntary exit packages to about 60,000 employees in the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom and India, available to staff at level 70 and below on select teams. The company has framed the programme as time‑limited and similar to standard severance; it expects only a small share of eligible staff to accept while continuing heavy AI capital spending.
Egyptian authorities have ordered independent news site Mada Masr closed and fined its editor‑in‑chief, Lina Attalah, 3 million Egyptian pounds; the outlet has shuttered its Cairo newsroom while it awaits an appeal. The UN and multiple rights groups have condemned the prosecutions, and six journalists from fact‑checking platform Matsadaash remain in pretrial detention amid allegations of torture and forced confessions.
Russia has expanded the deployment of Volna Kupol Garant jammers to counter Ukraine’s use of Starlink and to disrupt satellite links over front-line areas. Ukrainian analysts warn these systems can be mobile, camouflaged, and operate from generators, creating local satellite blackout zones. Tech and defense reporting also highlights Ukraine’s countermeasures in drone and fiber-optic communications.
A series of first-person accounts highlights how AI, venture capital and fintech culture are reshaping career journeys across global tech hubs. From STEM pivots into AI-enabled advisory roles to startups redefining capital markets, the stories illustrate a rapid shift in how professionals learn, adapt and scale in the age of AI.
Tech giants are pouring billions into AI infrastructure. Investors are worried that heavy capex outpaces revenue growth, free cash flow is turning negative for several leaders, and monetization remains uncertain as Alphabet, Amazon, Meta, and Microsoft push into AI builds. The sector faces a delayed payoff as data centers and compute power scale up.
Advanced AI models and open-source hacking tools have exposed and helped exploit long-hidden software vulnerabilities. Firms have linked autonomous tools like Artex to active attacks, while frontier models have found thousands of bugs in PHP and other critical codebases. Organisations are patching systems and warning that AI will accelerate both discovery and malicious reuse of flaws.
Courts have seen settlements with Meta, TikTok and YouTube in youth-social media litigation. Snap’s California trial proceeds, with ongoing concerns about how platforms’ features affect teens' mental health.
Filipinos abroad observe Undas, the All Saints’ and All Souls’ Day tradition, by combining virtual and physical observances. Immigrants in Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, and beyond still honor ancestors with altars, candles, and prayers while maintaining ties with loved ones back home through video calls and remembrances.
AI-driven post-training, embodied AI, and robotics research are accelerating investment and development globally. Startups and legacy players are racing to enable robots to learn tasks from minimal demonstrations, while women’s leadership and regional policies shape the adoption and governance of these technologies.
The High Court is hearing challenges to Australia’s Online Safety Act ban that bars children under 16 from holding social media accounts on major platforms. Government argues the measure is modest but necessary for safety; challengers say it infringes political expression and privacy. Verdicts are expected in coming months.
Tech names face renewed selling as investors reassess the AI buildout. CNBC and Insider UK report that AI-related equities have entered a regime of tighter cash flows and slower capital expenditure, with hyperscalers signaling a potential peak in compute demand. The pullback follows earlier rallies and comes amid higher yields and political headwinds.
Google has set Gemini, Gemini Notebook, Gemini in Classroom and Google Search off by default for K–12 student accounts and said school administrators must explicitly enable them. Google has also said its Search features are "deeply integrated" with AI, so schools that block AI entirely will lose access to Google Search until they re-enable it.
SpaceX plans to build a terrestrial wireless network to complement Starlink, using Qualcomm Dragonwing tech and tens of thousands of cell sites in a bid to rival the big carriers. The move includes spectrum acquisitions and talks to acquire Boost Mobile, with deployment expected from 2027.
Google has drawn criticism after reports that K–12 students were able to use its Gemini chatbot and Search AI in school accounts. The company has rolled out controls that turn Gemini, Gemini Notebook and Search AI off by default for student accounts, but critics say schools that fully opt out will lose Google Search access and that Google is pressuring districts.
A wave of AI agents is shifting shopping, work automation, and robotics. Retailers tailor product pages for bot discovery, firms test multi-agent collaboration, and startups push synthetic data for training physical AI models. The pace of change is accelerating as companies experiment with autonomous agents and human-in-the-loop safety measures.
California’s new law restricting addictive features on youth social media platforms has sparked lawsuits from Google, Meta and TikTok. The companies contend it violates First Amendment rights and Section 230, arguing the law oversteps government power and blocks parental control. The law takes effect Jan. 1, 2027, and follows settlements over teen online health concerns.
The European Commission has issued preliminary findings that TikTok's 'For You' recommender feed breaches the Digital Services Act by repeatedly serving users similar videos that push them into harmful 'rabbit holes' on topics such as body image and isolation. Brussels has asked TikTok to change the feed design and given the company a chance to respond before a final decision that could include fines of up to 6% of global turnover.
Measles has reemerged at levels not seen in more than three decades as vaccination rates fall. CDC has confirmed 5,182 infections in 2026, with several states reporting deaths. Most cases are among unvaccinated people; Wisconsin, Pennsylvania and New York are among affected states.
Government ministers are actively considering extending the under-16s social media ban to online marketplaces such as eBay, Vinted and Facebook Marketplace. The move aims to curb grooming risks by limiting messaging and interaction features for younger users. The policy, due for details before Christmas, could come into force next spring.
NVIDIA has expanded its fleet intelligence program, requiring regional customers to enroll AI accelerators as part of becoming official NCPs, as it scales its fleet-tracking system amid regional expansion.
Meta has begun globally expanding its AI age-estimation system to place users who appear to be teens into Teen Accounts on Instagram and Facebook, with stricter safeguards and time limits. The rollout follows settlements with US states over alleged harm to minors and adds enforcement through context clues, visual cues, and Apple-age checks in some regions.