Google Bows Gemini 3 AI & Antigravity Agent; iPhone 17 Powers Apple to 25% of China’s Phone Sales; Cloudflare-Latent Bug Caused Huge Outage; Anthropic Now Valued at $350 Billion

Posted: November 18, 2025 | Author: | Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: , , , , | Leave a comment

Google has released its Gemini 3 AI, and a new agent called Antigravity. Arstechnica.com reports that the release of Gemini 3 Pro is just available in a limited form today, though. Google is touting more immersive, visual outputs and fewer lies, Google says. The company also says Gemini 3 sets a new high-water mark for vibe coding. In addition to Gemini 3, Google has also unveiled a new AI-first integrated development environment…or IDE…named Antigravity. Google says 3 has improved simulated reasoning abilities, and better understanding of text, images, and video. Google says math and coding are the primary focus of this release. Google says people should think of Antigravity  as a “mission control” for creating and monitoring multiple development agents. The AI in Antigravity can operate autonomously across the editor, terminal, and browser to create and modify projects, but everything they do is relayed to the user in the form of “Artifacts.” 

The lower priced iPhone 17 has helped Apple to pick up 25% of China’s smartphone sales. According to bgr.com, the base model 17 made up 80% of Apple’s iPhone sales in China. Apple sold 37% more iPhones than last year in China. The top line iPhone 17 Pro Max is experiencing shipping delays in China, but just 2-5 days. The premium phone segment is still hotly contested…The Huawei Mate 80 flagship phone is coming out, and that is expected to cut into Apple’s market share. 

Cloudflare had a major outage this Tuesday morning that took down or snarled a significant piece of the internet. TechCrunch.com says the outage hit ChatGPT, Claude, Spotify, X, and others. In a post on X, Cloudflare’s chief technology officer Dane Knecht said a latent bug was responsible, and he apologized for the outage. The problem occurred when Cloudflare’s bot mitigation system started to crash after a routine configuration change. A few users were still having some issues logging onto their Cloudflare dashboards by late morning.

As part of new strategic partnerships with both Nvidia and Anthropic, Microsoft will pour up to $5 billion into Anthropic, while Nvidia will dump $10 billion into the AI startup. Cnbc.com notes that this will put the valuation of Anthropic…maker of the Claude AI model…at around $350 billion, up from $183 billion in September. Anthropic has committed to purchasing $30 billion of Azure compute capacity from Microsoft and has contracted for additional compute capacity up to 1 gigawatt, according to a blog post. Anthropic has also committed to purchase up to 1 gigawatt of compute capacity with Nvidia’s Grace Blackwell and Vera Rubin systems. Amazon Web Services continue to be Anthropic’s primary cloud provider, however.

I’m Clark Reid and you’re ‘Technified’ for now. 

Bezos Co-CEO in AI Startup; Major Tech Investor Dumps Nvidia; Door Dash Data Breach; Steam Machine-Easy Cheats in Games an Issue

Posted: November 17, 2025 | Author: | Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: , , , | Leave a comment

Jeff Bezos has apparently decided he couldn’t stay away from running a company, even with all his billions. Bezos is now co-CEO of an AI startup called Project Prometheus…which has raised $6.2 billion in funding. This will be the first time the former Amazon founder and CEO has been in an actual working executive role since leaving the Amazon CEO position in 2021. The details are scant about Project Prometheus. On LinkedIn, the only description is ‘AI for the physical economy.’ The other co-CEO is Vic Bajaj, who formerly worked in research at Alphabet’s ‘moonshot’ division Google X. Vic is also a director at biotech startup in Seattle called Xaira Therapeutics. Bezos said earlier this year that there are signs of an AI “industrial bubble” — but also said the technology will bring massive benefits to society. “When the dust settles and you see who are the winners, society benefits from those inventions. … The benefits to society from AI are going to be gigantic,” according to Bezos.

Just last week, we reported on a major investor-a Japanese billionaire- selling all his Nvidia stock. Now comes word that tech venture capitalist Peter Thiel has sold ALL his Nvidia stock. According to raw story.com, the sale had amounted to about 40% of a Thiel controlled hedge fund. One post on line said just “Uh, oh.” This is another red flag that there is very likely an AI bubble, and that it may be getting precariously close to popping. There has been some $350 billion pumped into AI this year just in the US. The AI boom reportedly now makes up about a third of the value of the entire stock market. It isn’t helpful that Sam Altman – CEO of OpenAI – about the U.S. government being the “insurer of last resort,” suggesting that taxpayers may be forced to bail AI companies out should they financially collapse. Well, the government has bailed out banks and savings and loans…but of course, not the poor, working poor, or middle class…nor has it helped younger people get into homes. Kamala Harris’ plan to give new home buyers $25 grand to do that seems like it might have been a lot better investment for the government than bailing out billionaires that have bet big on a flaky at this point but promising technology. 

DoorDash has had a data breach that includes user phone numbers and physical addresses. Techcrunch.com says that DoorDash hasn’t released a number affected…but that it does include customers, delivery workers, and merchants. The company did say that “no sensitive information was accessed by the unauthorized third party and we have no indication the data has been misused for fraud or identity theft at this time.” No social security numbers or driver licenses, or bank information or credit card info was exposed in the hack. All affected users have been notified. 

A lot of gamers are looking at jumping to the new Linux-based Steam Machine from Valve. One sticky issue is keeping some popular games off the platform and may keep some gamers from switching. Engadget.com reports that the problem is its Linux OS. It is apparently way easy to make cheating software for Linux based operating systems. This has kept some big games like Fortnite and Rainbow Six Siege from porting to the platform. Still, for a lot of folks that are unhappy with the intrusiveness of Windows 11…and the specter of Windows 12 even possibly being subscription based like Office 360…something Microsoft has backed off of for now…I expect to see a good minority of users jump to the Steam Machine. As with the Mac Mini, you do need to get your own keyboard, mouse, and monitor…but those things are widely available. 

I’m Clark Reid and you’re ‘Technified’ for now. 

Anthropic Will Pour $50 Billion into AI Infrastructure; Apple Launches Digital ID-Passports on Your iPhone; People Can’t Tell If a Song is AI or Not; Airbnb Tests Ordering Groceries via Instacart

Posted: November 12, 2025 | Author: | Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: , , , | Leave a comment

We have just reported in the past couple days on eye-watering billions being dropped on AI infrastructure by Meta and others…now comes Anthropic, announcing plans to drop $50 billion on custom data centers in Texas and New York. Cnbc.com reports that the facilities are being developed in partnership with Fulidsack…an AI cloud platform that supplies large-scale graphics processing unit (GPU) clusters to clients like Meta, Midjourney, and Mistral. Anthropic is also planning to build out several other locations…but these will be live in 2026 if all goes well. The AI firm said they would create some 2,000 construction jobs and about 800 permanent jobs. Meanwhile, arch-competitor OpenAI has locked up some $1.4 trillion in long term infrastructure commitments. We are in the crazy money spending stage of AI infrastructure building apparently. 

Apple has rolled out Digital ID…in beta at least.. it’s a way to carry your passport on your iPhone or Apple Watch that is useable at TSA checkpoints. According to techcrunch.com, up to 250 airports will allow this for domestic travel. A number of states already allow a version of driver’s licenses to live in Apple Wallet. Note that it isn’t intended to replace your physical passport. Also, for international travel, you will still need the real thing…no way to stamp your phone at this point…although a digital way to do that might be possible. The TSA website has a list of states that support mobile ID, by the way. 

This is maddening for artists and musicians, but according to music streamer Deezer, a huge majority of people can’t tell AI generated music from the real thing…composed and performed by actual humans! Gizmodo.com notes that Deezer did a joint survey with Ipsos, and queried 9,000 people across eight countries: the US, Canada, Brazil, the UK, France, the Netherlands, Germany, and Japan. Sadly, 97% of those surveyed couldn’t tell the difference. 80% of participants did say that AI generated music should be clearly labeled. Deezer already does this. As of September, the streamer found that 28% of music uploaded to its platform was completely AI generated. Of course the AI is trained on the actual works of real musicians…so it could be thought of as a type of theft of intellectual property…but copyright laws are unclear about this right now. 

So you are headed out for a little getaway and have rented an Airbnb. When you get there, you are gonna need groceries. Well now, Airbnb is testing out letting you order them either ahead of time or upon arrival using Instacart. Engadget.com reports that Airbnb will give hosts who do the ordering $25 for every completed order, so long as the food is put away before the guests arrive. Customers will be able to place orders on Instacart up to 3 weeks before their stay. The service is being tested out in Phoenix, Orlando, and LA.

I’m Clark Reid and you’re ‘Technifled’ for now. 

Next Year’s iPhone’s May Get Big Overhaul; SoftBank Sells All Its Nvidia Stock; Meta’s Top AI Scientist Leaving to Found Startup; Sony-84.2 Million PS 5s Sold

Posted: November 11, 2025 | Author: | Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: , , , , | Leave a comment

Apple may be making some major changes to next year’s iPhones. At the top of the list…adding a 2nd camera to the poor-selling iPhone Air. 9to5mac.com reports that the new model may be delayed until Spring 2027 in order to redesign and add a second camera. The other big change to the line will be adding the new iPhone Fold…or whatever they end up calling it. Right now, it looks like the Fall 2026 rollout will only include the iPhone 18 Pro, Pro Max, and Fold. The base iPhone 18 may be joining the Air in a Spring rollout. 

In a big move in the AI world, SoftBank has sold its entire stake in Nvidia for $5.83 billion. According to cnbc.com, the company is going ‘all in’ on its stake in OpenAI, the maker of ChatGPT. SoftBank said in a statement this wan’t a knock on Nvidia, of which they were an early backer, but that they needed some $30 billion in capital as they continue to pump money into ChatGPT and other investments. OpenAI is now showing up as worth some $500 billion…while Nvidia is a leader in the trillion dollar valuation club. 

Meta has paid astronomical amounts to steal AI experts from other companies, but now their top AI scientist is bailing…to found his own startup. Gizomodo.com notes that Yan LeCun is in talks to raise capital. Meta, like Apple, is admittedly running behind leaders like OpenAI, Google, and Anthropic in the AI race. Meta has taken out some $27 billion in loans to pour into their AI race.

Sony has announced that they have now sold 84.2 million PlayStation 5s since it was introduced. Engadget.com says that they actually sold more PS5s last quarter than a year ago…3.9 million compared to 3.8 million. The company is still concerned due to the flaky tariff regime of the Trump administration and also the delay of Grand Theft Auto VI. That said, Sony now predicts they will make $29 billion in gaming revenue for the full year ending March 31, 2026. 

I’m Clark Reid and you’re ‘Technified’ for now. 

Apple-Working on More iPhone Satellite Features; Spyware ‘Landfall’ Was on Samsung Phones for a Year; AI Isn’t Replacing Jobs-AI Spending Is; Lawyers- Not Checking AI Writing Means Bad Legal Briefs

Posted: November 10, 2025 | Author: | Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: , , , , | Leave a comment

Satellite features have been pretty limited on phones to now. Apple’s iPhones have really only been able to send a call for emergency help or send messages via satellite when a cellular connection is unavailable….like at the beach, or hiking in the woods. Now, engadget.com reports that Mark Gurman says Apple is planning on adding to their satellite feature offerings. Personally, I’m betting this is ahead of making satellite connection a paid monthly charge, adding to Apple’s quiver of monthly charges that give them a nice cash flow! Right now, you can send and receive texts via the Messages app over satellite when you are out in the boonies. Now Apple is looking to let you send photos, too. They are also aiming to enable 5G NTN support. That allows cell towers to get a coverage boost by tapping into satellites. For anyone who needs directions in a remote area without a cellular or Wi-Fi connection, Apple reportedly has plans to introduce satellite connectivity to Apple Maps. Boy, I could have used that a few times! In a really cool possible upgrade, Apple is working on ‘natural usage.’ That would mean you won’t have to hold the phone up and point it towards a spot in the sky to connect to a satellite. They are working to make it possible to stay connected even without a clear view of the sky or indoors. All this could be a couple years away…and some features no doubt will be needing the latest greatest iPhone hardware. As a friend of mine frequently says, ‘That’s how they getcha!’ 

It has reportedly been patched as of last April, but for over a year, a very sophisticated spyware called ‘Landfall’ was making the rounds on Samsung Galaxy phones. According to arstechnica.com, it was one of those nasty ‘zero-click’ hacks, which can get into your phone without your direct involvement. The spyware was picked up by Researchers at Unit 42, the intelligence arm of Palo Alto Networks. They only found it because of a couple of similar bugs found in Apple’s iOS and on WhatsApp. The hack involved images. The attackers used modified DNG files, which are a modified type of file based on the TIFF format. They imbedded ZIP archives with the bad programs in them. The hack basically gave the bad actors pretty complete access to user information on the phones. It is pretty tough to remove, too. The good news…the hack was mainly confined to Iraq, Iran, Turkey, and Morocco. If you didn’t travel to those countries, you are probably fine, but these zero-click hacks are pretty scary. 

Lately, there has been a pretty substantial number of layoffs across industry. A good deal of them have been blamed…at least partially, on AI. As it turns out, that isn’t exactly accurate. AI itself isn’t replacing jobs, so much as spending on AI. Fastcompany.com notes that an MIT Media Lab study has found that 95% of generative AI pilot business projects were failing. Another survey by Atlassian concluded that 96% of businesses “have not seen dramatic improvements in organizational efficiency, innovation, or work quality.” Still another study found that 40% of the business people surveyed have received “AI slop” at work in the last month and that it takes nearly two hours, on average, to fix each instance of slop. In addition, they “no longer trust their AI-enabled peers, find them less creative, and find them less intelligent or capable.” What IS sucking up money that had been going to salaries is the massive amount of money being poured into spending on AI infrastructure. Just Amazon…which chopped some 14,000 last month with another 14,000 jobs to go in January…has increased capital spending from $54 billion in 2023 to $118 billion in 2025! Meta is working to lock up at $27 billion credit line to build data centers. Oracle will borrow $25 billion a year the next few years to cover its AI contracts. Financial stress…especially in the tech sector makes the C Suite folks look for some easy cuts…it’s always headcount…the employees that take it in the tail. 

A bit more AI-related news. Attorneys have been using AI to more quickly turn out legal briefs, and the stories continue to come out about those who aren’t double checking the work of the AI bots, and ending up with the likes of fake case citations. Gizomdo.com reports that more courts are levying fines or the like. Now, some lawyers have started a tracking system to compile information on cases involving AI misuse. A French attorney is presently in the forefront of this with a website…Damien Charlotin has listed some 509 cases so far. At this point, sadly, no bar association has meted out any punishment for the sloppy briefs, only some courts.

I’m Clark Reid and you’re ‘Technified’ for now. 

Softbank, Others Drop on AI Jitters; Tesla Euro and Chinese Sales Tank; Cloud Streaming Here for Playstation Portal; Google Maps Gets Gemini-You Can Chat Conversationally

Posted: November 5, 2025 | Author: | Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: , , , , | Leave a comment

Japan’s Softbank shares were down 10% on Wednesday, which was a loss of $23 billion in market capitalization. Cnbc.com reports most of the drop was due to investor worry about what most observers are calling the AI bubble. Billions have been pumped into AI, but at this point, no one is making any kind of real money from it. Softbank has a controlling stake in ARM Holdings, which designs mobile processors and AI processors. Softbank also has money in OpenAI, and a few other AI application level startups. Other Asian stocks are also down, including Samsung Electronics, which was down 4.1% and Taiwan’s TSMC, the biggest contract chip maker on earth, was down 2.99%. The declines come after U.S. software company Palantir dropped about 8% overnight, even after topping expectations for the third quarter. Some analysts say valuations of AI companies increasingly resemble the dot-com boom of the late 1990s, with share prices soaring far ahead of credible profit expectations. Hey, my son and I have been saying this for over a year, and we aren’t even analysts!

Yet another speed bump in Elon Musk’s quest for his trillion dollar, 10 year pay package from Tesla. Just ahead of the shareholder vote tomorrow, too. According to arstechnica.com, new car registrations in Europe show Tesla sales down anywhere from 89% in Sweden to 34% in Spain. France was the outlier…Tesla sales were up 2% year over year there. In China, sales were down 9.9% in October, year over year. Anti-Musk sentiment aside, there is now a much wider selection of electric vehicles from a number of manufacturers. Tesla’s line is pretty stale, with the sales-leading Models 3 and Y barely getting a facelift…a slight change in the rear, and light bar in the front like the Cyber Truck. Over the weekend, Musk teased on a major podcast that a much delayed roadster was coming, and said it would have cool features like every James Bond car ever, and might even fly. It may be that HE was flying a bit on that one…heavy batteries have made electric planes a tall order, and his roadster will be no different. 

Cloud streaming is officially rolling out to Playstation Portal. There has been a beta running of it since last year. Theverge.com notes that Premium Plus members will be able to stream select titles from their own library without the need to connect to their PS5 console. The device also has a newly updated menu, with three tabs to swipe through for Remote Play from your PS5, cloud streaming, or search. Over 2,000 games are available for cloud streaming at launch. As with so much on the web, the update is a rolling one, so expect it to take a few weeks to get to everyone. 

Google is now including Gemini in Google Maps for both Android and iOS. Zdnet.com says the update is rolling out this month, and with it updated, you can use Talk to Google Maps to find your destination. You can also use Lens to learn more about your present location. You could ask if there is a steak house nearby that doesn’t require reservations, for example. With directions, instead of ‘turn right in 300 feet,’ you can hear ‘turn right after the Starbucks on the corner.’ With Lens, you can ask in a conversational manner for Maps to tell you more about a place like a restaurant…like if the food is worth a few minutes of wait time, or if it is noisy. 

I’m Clark Reid and you’re ‘Technified’ for now. 

Galaxy S26 Price Hike Rumor; Apple-Budget MacBook in 2026; OpenAI Launches Sora on Android; Norway Wealth Fund Thumbs Down on Elon Billion $ Payday

Posted: November 4, 2025 | Author: | Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Samsung is expected to goose prices on the Galaxy S26 models. Bgr.com reports that no exact money amount has been leaked, but with suppliers struggling to crank out memory and storage chips due to AI, it is looking more and more likely. Samsung upped prices in 2024 by $100. Apple effectively did this with its iPhone line…although Apple just quietly dropped lower memory options, which was an effective price hike…but needed, since the cheaper phones wouldn’t run their AI backed systems. With mobile chip prices up about 12% year over year, and camera modules up 7%, some sort of increase seems highly likely. Since they raised last year by $100, maybe we will see something like just a $49 increase if you preorder. We should know something before the end of the year.

A contingent of users of Windows, led by gamers, is not happy with a lot of Windows 11 features…Copilot for one, but especially the intrusive Recall feature that saves screenshots of everything you do. Some users have bailed for Linux, but a lot of people don’t have the tech knowhow or inclination for that. With the possibility of Windows 12 being subscription based, even more folks will be unhappy. There’s always Chromebook…and now, another option may be coming for those that want to ditch Windows. According to macrumors.com, Apple may launch a budget MacBook in the first half of 2026. A Bloomberg report has it coming in at ‘well under $1,000,’ which puts it in direct competition with reasonably priced Windows and Chromebook laptops. Right now, the cheapest Mac is $999, with $100 off for educational buyers. You can always get a Mac Mini for $599…but have to tack on a monitor, keyboard, and mouse…so no bargain there. The cheaper MacBook will allegedly have a 13 inch display and an A series iPhone processor instead of the beefier Mac processor….probably the A18 that came out in the iPhone 16 Pro. Bright colors are forecast like with an iMac…Silver, Blue, Pink, and Yellow. If they are able to do it for…say, $600, it might be a really big hit for Apple.

Android is finally getting OpenAI’s video app, Sora. Theverge.com notes that this will let users on Android create, share, and remix AI generated videos. You can download it from the Google Play Store now. The app has been out since September on Apple’s iOS. The app has gotten flack for its approach to deepfakes and copyright protections. OpenAI had to reverse its opt-out policy for rights holders and go to opt-in. OpenAI has also introduced the ability to create “character cameos” with reusable avatars, and eventually plans to give rightsholders the ability to “charge extra for cameos of beloved characters and people.”

Norway’s wealth fund has given a ‘thumbs down’ to Elon Musk’s trillion dollar pay package. TechCrunch.com says that at a bit over 1% of Tesla stock, this alone may nt be enough to defeat the proposal, but it will add to the recommendations of ISS and Glass Lewis that have recommended votings against the ludicrous package. Musk insists the compensation isn’t so much about money as control. Tesla doesn’t throw off near the profit to cover this kind of pay over a 10 year period, and Elon’s promise of robots and an upcoming ‘flying electric car’ hasn’t really moved anyone to throw strong support towards making him the first ‘Trillion Dollar Baby.’

I’m Clark Reid and you’re ‘Technified’ for now.

OpenAI Cuts Training Deal With Amazon; Microsoft AI Head Says Only Biological Beings Can Be Conscious; Apple Will Upgrade Siri with Google Gemini; Neural Net Finds Enzyme That Can Break Down Polyurethane

Posted: November 3, 2025 | Author: | Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: , , , , | Leave a comment

OpenAI has made a deal for some $38 billion for AI training with Amazon. Theverge.com reports that Amazon Web Services that will give the AI giant access to “hundreds of thousands” of Nvidia GPUs to power its AI models. The seven-year partnership comes as Microsoft continues to loosen its grip on OpenAI, dropping its status as its exclusive cloud provider and losing the first right of refusal to host its AI workloads. In a press release, OpenAI said it will “immediately” start using AWS compute to train its AI models, with “all capacity targeted to be deployed before the end of 2026, and the ability to expand further into 2027 and beyond.”

The CEO of Microsoft AI, Mustafa Suleyman, has come out and said what a lot of us have believed to be true….that only biological beings are capable of consciousness, and that developers and researchers should stop pursuing projects that suggest otherwise. According to CNBC.com, he told a conference in Houston,  “If you ask the wrong question, you end up with the wrong answer. I think it’s totally the wrong question.” Suleyman says it is particularly important to draw a clear contrast between AI getting smarter and more capable versus its ability to ever have human emotions. “Quite simply, we’re creating AIs that are always working in service of the human,” he said.

Apple has of late being using ChatGPT to answer more detailed queries that Siri gets, buy handing off to the large language model…but first asking you if it is ok if your prompt leaves the Apple private server system. Now, a change is afoot. 9to5mac.com picked up a report from Mark Gurman that says starting this spring, Apple will use a bulked up version of Siri, backed by Google Gemini models. Here’s the difference, though. The Gemini models will run on Apple’s private servers, giving the user much more privacy than with the old system. The new Siri setup will have three distinct components; a query planner, a knowledge search system, and a summarizer. Google Gemini models will run on Apple’s servers and provide planner and summarizer capabilities. It should be able to do much more personalized questions, like ‘What was that book Mom recommended?’ This setup is similar to what Samsung does with its Galaxy phones. Many Galaxy AI features are really Google Gemini with a light Samsung coat of paint on them.

With the continuing issues around plastic pollution, here’s a bit of a ray of sunshine…A neural network has found an enzyme that can break down polyurethane. Arstechnica.com notes that the plastic is often found in the soles of shoes…which get thrown out when worn and the plastic remains for the ages. The enzyme can break the plastic down into useable chemicals within 12 hours! The new enzyme is compatible with an industrial-style recycling process that breaks the polymer down into its basic building blocks, which can be used to form fresh polyurethane. This may help reduce the some 22 million metric tons of polyurethane that was made in just 2024! 

I’m Clark Reid and you’re ‘Technified’ for now. 

Nvidia Breaks $5 Trillion Barrier; Samsung-Ads on Smart Fridges Coming; OpenAI Finally Moves from Nonprofit; Westinghouse-New Nuke Reactors Deal for More US Electricity

Posted: October 29, 2025 | Author: | Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: , , , , | Leave a comment

https://youtu.be/q7icACPfq50

No more than a day after I reported about Apple getting into the $4 trillion valuation club, and mentioned that Nvidia was the first member of that elite group…things have changed. Cnbc.com reports that Nvidia has just pierced the $5 trillion valuation mark. The stock was up 3% Wednesday, which gets them across the line. The latest move higher comes shortly after CEO Jensen Huang said Nvidia expects $500 billion in AI chip orders and announced plans to build seven new supercomputers for the U.S. government. The stock price, which closed up 5% in the previous session, has climbed nearly 50% year-to-date.

I am pretty happy with my ‘dumb’ fridge, and have friends and neighbors that are as well. Meanwhile, appliance makers are forging ahead with more ‘smart’ refrigerators…and now comes the inevitable…Samsung has fridges with integrated displays. If you guessed that they are going to start serving ads on the displays, you aced the test! According to macrumors.com, Family Hub refrigerators in the US are getting a widget that shows ads. Samsung is calling it a ‘pilot program,’ and says the promotions and curated advertisements will be ‘offered’ to some fridge owners. Family Hub refrigerators start at $1899, but go up to $3499. They come with 21.5 and 32 inch screens….hey, that’s bigger than my monitor I use with the computer I do these videos on! The initial ads will just be for Samsung products. The ads are opt out…but you know a lot of people won’t be able to figure out how to do that, or won’t take time to try. Oh, boy. I’ll be keeping my old, dumb fridge for a while longer!

This is a big non-newsy story. It finally happened, but the battle over it has been going on for over a year. OpenAI has finally announced that it completed its recapitalization, and is becoming a for-profit corporation. Gizmodo notes that this is in spite of one of the company’s co-founders, Elon Musk. Of course, Musk has his Grok, integrated with the X platform that is AI and definitely not non-profit! Back to OpenAI…the new structure will have 2 separate entities….the OpenAI foundation, which will remain a nonprofit and which will have partial control over OpenAI Group, which is the new ‘public benefit’ corporation. Under the new structure, OpenAI Group will be able to do things that a for-profit entity can (and a non-profit can’t), like raise more money and acquire companies. It will also get its own board of directors, which the Foundation will appoint. OpenAI Foundation will own 26% of the now for-profit OpenAI Group, valued at around $130 billion, and will continue to be granted shares of the company as it grows. Microsoft will hold a 27% stake in the for-profit arm, which is currently valued at about $135 billion. Microsoft also announced that, as a part of this shift, it will continue to hold intellectual property rights to OpenAI models and future products through 2032. The remaining 47% of the company’s stock will be held by other investors and the employees of OpenAI Group.

In an announcement that was a bit light on details, Westinghouse announced it has a deal with the Trump administration to build $80 billion worth of new nuclear reactors for power generation. Arstechnica.com reports that the government has also indicated it has finalized plans with GE Vernova and Hitachi to build the reactors. During Trump’s Japan visit, it was announced that “Japan and various Japanese companies” would invest “up to” $332 billion for energy infrastructure. This specifically mentioned Westinghouse, GE Vernova, and Hitachi. Westinghouse claims the $80 million will be enough to build out 8 reactors, but it is only enough for 5 larger sized reactors. The deal mentions some smaller modular reactors, but right now the Nuclear Regulatory Commission hasn’t approved that type of reactor. 

I’m Clark Reid and you’re ‘Technified’ for now. 

Australia Sues Microsoft-365 Pricing; Gemini Can Create Presentations Now; Apple iPhone Wallet Getting Passport; AI Being Used to Fake Expense Reports

Posted: October 27, 2025 | Author: | Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: , , , , | Leave a comment

Australia has sued Microsoft over AI linked subscription price increases. Reuters.com reports that the suit claims that Microsoft has mislead millions of users into paying more of its Microsoft 365 product after bundling it with AI tool Copilot. The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission says about 2.7 million users were affected, as they were led to believe they had to move to higher priced Microsoft 365 personal and family plans that included Copilot. The price increase with Copilot per year was a fat 45% more for the personal plan and 29% for the family plan. According to the suit, Microsoft didn’t clearly explain that people could use the cheaper ‘classic’ plan that omitted Copilot. A Microsoft spokesperson says they are reviewing the legal action.

A number of new features are out with the October update to Google’s Gemini. According to bgr.com, you will now be able to create presentations with the AI chatbot. Essentially, you will be able to drop any source into Gemini, and it will use that to create slides for a presentation. If you aren’t satisfied with the output, you can export them to Google Slides, and then edit and refine the idea further. 

A number of state driver licenses can be saved in the iPhone Wallet, and can be used for some things…not for police stops, though. Now, Apple is going to add a digital version of your passport to the Wallet. Apple VP of Apple Pay and Apple Wallet Jennifer Bailey said the update will be coming later this year. She didn’t specify if it would be with an iOS update or just something Apple will do server side. You will be able to show the digital passport to the TSA in select US airports if you are flying domestically. If you are going to fly internationally or cross a border, you will still need a physical passport. You will also be able to use the Digital ID for age and identity verification in apps, online, and in stores. 

 Workers with expense reimbursement are getting crafty. Some are using image-generating AI to fake expense reports! Financialtimes.com reports that models from both OpenAI and Google are cranking out the fakes. Software provider AppZen says fake expense reports added up to about 14% of those submitted in September…that compares with none last year. The realistic fakes sometimes even have wrinkles in the paper, a coffee stain, detailed itemization, and even signatures! Some systems can detect metadata and toss the fakes, but savvy employees can easily remove that info. No Photoshop skills are needed, just write a prompt. This is going to be a serious issue for companies starting now. 

I’m Clark Reid and you’re ‘Technified’ for now.

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