NSO Group must pay more than $167 million in damages to WhatsApp for spyware campaign

Spyware maker NSO Group will have to pay more than $167 million in damages to WhatsApp for a 2019 hacking campaign against more than 1,400 users. On Tuesday, after a five-year legal battle, a jury ruled that NSO Group must pay $167,254,000 in punitive damages and around $444,719 in compensatory da

Reddit will tighten verification to keep out human-like AI bots

Redditors around the world were scandalized last week after learning that a team of researchers released a swarm of AI-powered, human-impersonating bots on the “Change My View” subreddit. The large-scale experiment was designed to explore just how persuasive AI can be. The bots posted

Patreon’s app can now accept web payments after US App Store changes

Creator platform Patreon has rolled out an updated version of its app that now allows users to make purchases via the web, in the wake of the Apple-Epic court ruling that forced Apple to allow app developers to include links to alternative forms of payment without being subject to Apple’s com

Amazon-owned Zoox issues recall following robotaxi crash

Zoox, the autonomous vehicle company owned by Amazon, paused its driverless testing program for more than a week and issued a voluntary recall of its software following a crash in Las Vegas, according to the company and a filing with federal safety regulators. The April 8 crash, which involved an

FutureHouse previews an AI tool for ‘data-driven’ biology discovery

FutureHouse, an Eric Schmidt-backed nonprofit that aims to build an “AI scientist” within the next decade, has released a new tool that it claims can help support “data-driven discovery” in biology. The new tool comes just a week after FutureHouse launched its API and p

Uber turns to Chinese companies to snap up robotaxi market share in Europe, Middle East

Uber announced its third partnership with a Chinese autonomous vehicle company this week, revealing the ride-hail and delivery giant’s appetite for global domination in the emerging robotaxi sector. Uber said Tuesday it would work with Guangzhou-based Pony AI, which late last year went publi

What OpenAI’s restructuring plan means for its corporate future

OpenAI said on Monday it is pursuing a new restructuring plan after conversations with Delaware’s and California's attorneys general, both of whom were closely watching as OpenAI tried to break free of its odd corporate structure. Currently, OpenAI’s nonprofit board governs the org

Can the Cadillac Celestiq EV make GM’s luxury brand great again? Don't rule it out

Nearly three years after unveiling the concept version of the flagship Cadillac Celestiq EV, GM has finally released the real thing: a “mid-$300,000” electric vehicle that oozes luxury and a come-gawk-at-me exterior designed to lure in passersby. But is this bespoke EV enough for Cadil

Particle brings its AI-powered news reader to the web

Particle, the startup behind an AI-powered newsreader that aims to help publishers, not just steal their work, is bringing its product to the web. On Tuesday, the company announced the launch of the new Particle.news website that connects news consumers with headlines and AI summaries from a variet

Google's new ‘Simplify’ feature for iOS uses AI to make dense text easier to understand 

Google’s iOS app is getting a new “Simplify” feature that uses AI to make complex or technical text on the web easier to understand, all without leaving a web page. Simplify features a prompt refinement approach developed by Google Research and uses Gemini to make complicated tex

Finom, a challenger bank aimed at SMBs, lands $105M in growth funding from General Catalyst

Finom, an Amsterdam-based digital bank for small- and medium-sized businesses, has raised €92.7 million (roughly $105 million) in a growth investment from General Catalyst’s Customer Value Fund, the company tells technewss exclusively. The capital infusion “will be used exclusively

Google debuts an updated Gemini 2.5 Pro AI model ahead of I/O

Google on Tuesday announced the launch of Gemini 2.5 Pro Preview (I/O edition), an updated version of its flagship Gemini 2.5 Pro AI model that the company claims tops a number of widely used benchmarks. Gemini 2.5 Pro Preview (I/O edition) is available via the Gemini API and Google’s Vertex

NewLimit, founded by Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong, raises $130M to develop age-reversing treatments

NewLimit, a startup that aims to increase how long people can live a healthy life by genetically programming their cells, has raised a $130 million Series B led by Kleiner Perkins. New investors Nat Friedman, Daniel Gross, and Khosla Ventures also invested, as did returning backers Founders Fund,

Unblocked raises $20M for AI to help devs understand codebases

Every developer has their own unique style of writing code. Despite companies establishing best practices and drawing up documentation, it can be hard for developers to understand someone else’s codebase. To solve this problem, Dennis Pilarinos built a tool called Unblocked — an AI-powere