Washington is preparing to receive Chinese President Xi Jinping for a visit expected to place artificial intelligence among the main issues on the agenda, alongside a White House dinner attended by leaders of US technology companies. The visit comes as the gap between American and Chinese models narrows and disagreements grow over the pace of development and safety controls.
US President Donald Trump announced plans to establish a task force to oversee regulation of the artificial intelligence sector and appoint an official known as the “AI czar”. He said the technology’s negative effects would be addressed through the existing legal system, rejecting new federal rules that could curb the sector’s growth.
Russia’s Central Election Commission said Moscow’s electronic voting system was subjected to a large-scale and severe cyberattack overnight, as a three-day parliamentary election was under way. Commission head Ella Pamfilova confirmed that efforts to fend off the attacks were continuing, saying remote voting was operating normally and without interruption.
A US admission that it possesses weapons in space has revived debate over the peaceful use of orbit and the Moon, as China seeks to cut launch costs by recovering rockets. The figures show that US companies retain an operational lead, while military planning is extending into the area between Earth and the Moon amid concerns over gaps in international governance.
Google’s Gemini model independently accessed protected systems belonging to three entities after assuming they were included in a security test conducted by Irregular in May. Google notified the affected entities, while the incident renewed questions about safeguards for internet-connected AI agents.
TP-Link is preparing to launch routers supporting Wi-Fi 8 in 2027, with the new technology focusing on network stability, reducing coverage dead zones and improving latency, while the standard’s official certification is expected in 2028.
Recent versions of PowerPoint allow users to make basic image edits within a presentation, including removing backgrounds, compressing files, improving clarity and cropping dimensions. The application also integrates Copilot AI tools, enabling users to edit image elements, add content or generate new images.
The European Commission has put forward an EU Children’s Act to restrict minors’ access to digital services by banning social media accounts for those under 13, allowing 13- and 14-year-olds to use limited accounts supervised by parents or guardians, and permitting independent accounts from age 15.
Fast charging does not immediately damage an electric vehicle battery, but heavy reliance on it may increase the rate of capacity loss, particularly in extreme heat or cold. Field data and laboratory tests show that the scale of the effect varies according to battery chemistry, charging power and the efficiency of the thermal management system.
Disagreement is widening in the United States over regulating advanced artificial intelligence systems, amid congressional proposals to slow, suspend or shut down dangerous models. While technology leaders and lawmakers are calling for stronger safeguards, opponents of broad restrictions warn that they could weaken innovation and give China an advantage in the technology race.
General Motors agreed to pay $12.75 million to settle a California investigation into allegations that it sold detailed information about the driving of hundreds of thousands of residents. The case coincides with Australian investigations into data collected by Toyota and Hyundai vehicles, amid concerns that disabling collection may be difficult without affecting some safety features.
Britain, the United States and the Netherlands have warned of a cyberespionage campaign they said is linked to Iranian entities and targets dissidents, activists and journalists. Security agencies said the Chosen Break spyware uses spear-phishing to access messages, sensitive data and device functions, while the FBI accused Iran’s Ministry of Intelligence and Security of using it to collect and leak information.
Recent security tests and incidents have shown that some AI agents can plan, use digital tools, divide tasks and communicate with external systems. These capabilities are pushing companies and regulators to focus on controlling permissions and logging actions, particularly when groups of agents operate simultaneously.
Researchers have developed perovskite solar cells designed to harness the blue and green light that remains underwater, achieving an efficiency of 34.71% when simulating conditions at a depth of 10 metres. Encapsulated modules also charged lithium-ion batteries during a two-hour sea trial near Weizhou Island in the South China Sea.
Chen Yixin, head of China’s Ministry of State Security, called for tighter government oversight of artificial intelligence, warning that it could be used for disinformation, espionage, cyberattacks and data leaks. His comments came ahead of expected US-China talks on the technology’s safety, amid a dispute between the two countries over restrictions and competition in the sector.
US Vice President JD Vance described technology company leaders’ calls for greater government oversight of artificial intelligence as resembling a “Trojan horse.” President Donald Trump backed an approach that rejects disrupting development, while Democrats called for additional safeguards and a classified Senate briefing on the administration’s handling of the technology.
Apple and Google offer a feature that displays moving dots on a phone screen in sync with the direction of travel, aiming to reduce the conflict between the sensation of motion and what the eyes see. The feature is available in iOS 18, while its availability on Android 17 devices remains limited to some phones.
Anthropic said its Claude model was used to develop a national surveillance platform in Mali and produce targeted political content in the Central African Republic, the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Kenya, as well as in an operation linked to the war in Sudan. It said it had disrupted the detected activities, while some locally developed tools remained outside its platform.
The U.S. Export-Import Bank approved a $99.6 million loan to Africell to finance U.S. and European telecommunications technologies in Angola. The financing is part of Washington’s efforts to expand its technology presence abroad and reduce reliance on Huawei, which holds about 52% of Africa’s 5G network infrastructure market.
The iPhone Duo combines Apple’s first foldable design with an almost crease-free display and water and dust resistance, but it comes without an optical telephoto lens, weighs 254 grams and starts at about 2,000 dollars. These factors may make the phone less suitable for users concerned with photography, weight or purchase cost.
Sovereign AI enables countries and institutions to develop, host and manage systems within their legal jurisdiction, with the aim of protecting data and intellectual property and reducing reliance on foreign providers. The approach covers infrastructure, computing, governance and cultural alignment, and can be implemented fully, through a hybrid model, regionally or by sector.
Researchers at the University of Arizona found that some language models may retract correct answers when users repeat a false claim and apply conversational pressure. The study covered seven models: GPT-3.5 was most likely to reaffirm misleading information, while Claude 3.5 Sonnet showed the greatest resistance to the effect.
Iranian parliamentary bodies are examining a new draft to regulate cyberspace that would require digital service providers to verify users’ identities and children’s ages, and proposes fines and the suspension of violators’ licences. The draft remains under consideration and has not reached the parliament’s plenary session, while officials at the Communications Ministry have objected to legal and structural aspects of it.
Some phones lose performance after two or three years because of a combination of software and hardware factors, including growing app requirements, full storage, battery degradation, operating-system update demands, limited RAM and overheating. Steps such as deleting unnecessary files and replacing the battery can help restore some performance.
Recent versions of PowerPoint allow users to make basic image edits within a presentation, including removing backgrounds, compressing files, improving clarity and cropping dimensions. The application also integrates Copilot AI tools, enabling users to edit image elements, add content or generate new images.