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Windows 11 Search is becoming a system launcher: Insiders can toggle Bluetooth or dark mode, minimize windows, and open apps side-by-side from typed commands. Built on WinUI 3, it previews files and can send Phone Link texts.
On open model Kimi K3, Goodfire monitored 1,500 sessions for about $51—versus $233 for a cheaper conventional monitor and ~$10,000 for a top-tier system. Its probes caught 94% of malicious hacking sessions with under 2% added latency.
Launched in 2026 by former federal inmate Richard Bronson, Commissary Club uses AI to help people with criminal records find jobs and housing while building community. The first 10 applications are free; 10 more cost $149.
New York alleges TikTok secretly gave thousands of users, including children and teens, nonfunctional “ghost” safety tools. In an October 2026 update to its 2024 lawsuit, the state says an Algo Refresh experiment left feeds unchanged while users believed they had reset them.
Anthropic’s October 2026 policy update adds bans on sustained, needless abuse of Claude, weapons software and components, and arming drones or autonomous vehicles. Conversations remain the primary enforcement mechanism; the company hasn’t said whether user bans are planned.
From December 12, 2026, LTE Pixel Watch 2 and 3 users will need a paid carrier plan for cellular Emergency SOS, Fall Detection and Safety Check. The features remain available over Wi-Fi or Bluetooth, with Google notifying users by email and in-app alerts.
In October 2026, SpaceXAI said its $1.5 million in Grok tokens will fund Omarchy development, code review and bug fixes through the Omacom Foundation. The contribution may renew scrutiny of creator David Heinemeier Hansson’s controversial political statements.
USA Today Co. is seeking more than $250 million, alleging OpenAI copied “hundreds of thousands” of articles without permission to train its models. The October 2026 case also names The Tennessean, Indy Star and other local papers.
At 19, Cal AI co-founder Zach Yadegari raised $10M for Persona, an AI agent that handles bookings, email and purchases. Its $179 band ships in December 2026, activates by button or wrist flick, and promises encrypted data and no sales to advertisers.
Google’s enterprise Gemini agent keeps context across mobile, desktop, web, Slack and Microsoft 365, while working inside Gmail, Drive, Docs, Sheets and Calendar. It’s in private preview and can act as a coworker with an @agents.company.com email.
Spotify is formalizing a software business built from tools created to support its 777 million monthly active users. Its portfolio includes Backstage, open-sourced in 2020, Confidence (2023), Portal (2024), and Xirp, an AI-coding-agent tool released in 2026.
Google’s experimental Foresight transcribes and summarizes meetings entirely on-device, so audio, files, and notes never leave the computer. Free on macOS since October 2026, it uses EmbeddingGemma 2 and is optimized for Apple Silicon Macs.
The administration will reject new and pending permanent labor-certification applications tied to the suspended firms, Secretary Keith Sonderling said. The move affects H-1B-linked residency pathways, with nearly three-quarters of approved visas going to workers from India, according to AP.
Vesta says revenue rose 12x year over year, but CEO Mike Yu estimates the AI mortgage startup still has under 5% market share. Its $30 million round, led by Conversion Capital, brings total funding to $85 million, with Pennymac and New American Funding participating.
The round follows Chinese authorities’ April 2026 order to unwind Manus’s planned $2B Meta acquisition over concerns about AI talent moving West. Led by Boyu and IDG, it included Tencent, HSG and ZhenFund; valuation was undisclosed, with a Hong Kong listing reportedly under consideration.
Google’s Mac app processes meetings entirely on-device with the 740-million-parameter EmbeddingGemma 2 model, enabling offline transcription and notes. It also uses a Gemma 4 assistant to query transcripts and uploaded PDFs, Docs, Office files, and more.
Mecka AI will use its $60M Series B, led by Sequoia with Nvidia and M12, to scale motion-data collection for robot training. Founded in 2024, it pays people to record tasks like making coffee and fixing cars with sensors and smartphones.
Nous Research’s open-source Hermes agent has been cloned over 24 million times and accounts for an estimated 2.5% of global AI token usage. Its $90M round will support enterprise-focused Hermes for Businesses, with revenue expected to surpass $100M in 2026.