In a place denied access to basic forensic technology--and where people disappear into Israeli detention--the fate of thousands remains unknown. One of them is an autistic teenager. In the early morning dark, Abeer Skaik turned to her husband, Ali Al-Qatta, and said that today would be the day they would find their son. Ali nodded in silence, and she handed him the stack of flyers. Each bore a photograph of 16-year-old Hassan smiling widely, his shoulders loose, wearing a plain red T-shirt. He is looking directly at the camera, unguarded. On top of the page, in large letters, Abeer had written a single word in bold red ink: --an appeal. Abeer watched as Ali stepped into a car with a few close friends and drove away. They started the 30-kilometer trip south, from al-Tuffah, east of Gaza City, to the European Hospital in Khan Younis. They had heard that a group of people detained by Israel, including children, would be released there. The gate was already crowded. Families stood shoulder to shoulder, wrapped in blankets against the cold, clutching photographs and ID cards. Ali distributed the flyers among his friends. When the buses of released detainees arrived, he and the others moved slowly through the narrow gaps between clusters of people. Some of those who had just been released were being pulled into embraces. Ali waited at the edge of each reunion. "Have you seen my son?" he asked. One after another, people shook their heads.

Don't Listen to Anyone Who Thinks Secession Will Solve Anything Americans increasingly fantasize about a divorce between red and blue states--but they dread the thought of civil war. You can't have one without the other. It's become almost like a histamine response: After a shocking national event like the assassination of Charlie Kirk, or Donald Trump's deployment of the military to Los Angeles last June, mentions of the term " civil war " and calls for secession surge online. This kind of talk flared again in January, when two citizens were shot and killed by immigration agents on the streets of Minneapolis, and governor Tim Walz mobilized the Minnesota National Guard to be ready to support local law enforcement. "I mean, is this a Fort Sumter?" Walz said in an interview with The Atlantic, invoking the battle that sparked the Civil War.

In its early days, the AI initiative known as Project Maven had its fair share of skeptics at the Pentagon. Today, many of them are true believers. The rise of AI warfare speaks to the biggest moral and practical question there is: Who--or what--gets to decide to take a human life? And who bears that cost? In 2018, more than 3,000 Google workers protested the company's involvement in "the business of war" after finding out the company was part of Project Maven, then a nascent Pentagon effort to use computer vision to rifle through copious video footage taken in America's overseas drone wars. They feared Project Maven's AI could one day be used for lethal targeting. In my yearslong effort to uncover the full story of Project Maven for my book,, I learned that is exactly what happened, and that the undertaking was just as controversial inside the Pentagon. Today, the tool known as Maven Smart System is being used in US operations against Iran . How the US military's top brass moved from skepticism about the use of AI in war to true believers has a lot to do with a Marine colonel named Drew Cukor. In early September 2024, during the cocktail hour at a private retreat for tech investors and defense leaders, Vice Admiral Frank "Trey" Whitworth found his way to Drew Cukor. Now Project Maven's founding leader and his skeptical successor were standing face-to-face. Three years earlier, Whitworth had been the Pentagon's top military official for intelligence, advising the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and running one of the most sensitive and potentially lethal parts of any military process: targeting.

This easy-to-use, Wi-Fi-enabled bean-to-cup brewer is good, but not quite great. App is simple and works well. "Smart" features only work with Amazon Alexa and Google Assistant. Integrating with HomeKit via third-party apps is not worth the effort. Pricey for what's essentially an auto-drip machine that works with an app, which is no longer novel or futuristic.

The AI Race Is Pressuring Utilities to Squeeze More From Europe's Power Grids As data center developers queue up to connect to power grids across Europe, network operators are experimenting with novel ways of clearing room for them. European countries are racing to bring new data centers online as AI labs across the globe continue to demand more compute. The primary limiting factor is energy--and specifically, the ability to move it. Though Europe is on track to generate enough energy, utilities experts say, grid operators broadly lack the infrastructure needed to transport it to where it needs to go. That's throttling grid capacity and, by extension, the number of new power-hungry data centers that can connect without risking blackouts.

You don't have to upload your video to the cloud or pay a monthly fee to secure your home. In the age of state surveillance, with big tech trampling our data privacy rights and gouging us for every penny, there are plenty of reasons to keep your security camera footage local. Whether you want to save money or ensure your video doesn't end up in the hands of persons (or AI) unknown, subscription-free security cameras are the way to go. The good news is that locally recording security cameras are better than ever. I've been testing security cameras for a decade, and the gap between the best cloud-connected and local cameras is closing. You don't necessarily have to give up the best features to shirk that subscription anymore.

The app reads your email inbox and your meeting calendar, then gives you a short audio summary. It can help you spend less time scrolling, but of course, there are privacy drawbacks to consider.

The launch of "Xoli" adds to the technological efforts promoted by the federal government to turn the 2026 World Cup into an engine of development for the entire country. Xoli, the new chatbot, is named after the axolotl, a salamander with external gills. The Government of Mexico City has launched Xoli, a chatbot that will provide information on services, tourism, and cultural offerings. The platform was designed to meet the demand of the millions of visitors expected to arrive during the 2026 FIFA World Cup . However, the authorities assure that the tool will remain active once the sporting event is over, with the aim of promoting economic activities and facilitating access to public services in the capital.

Now outfitted with AI computer vision, Aiper's new pool cleaner can actively search for debris. AI vision helps to power excellent cleaning. Charging stand makes topping up the battery easy. Only spends 10 minutes at the waterline after each run before sinking. Cleanup can be a bit of a bear.

The Amazon Prime prank series amplifies the hijinks of workplace dynamics, while showing how people find purpose--and community--in their jobs despite impossible situations. Anthony Norman is your typical Gen Z worker: 25, a little wayward, and struggling to find a full time job. Unemployment rates are high . AI is creating a crisis for young people trying to enter the workforce. And several companies--including Amazon, Block, and Meta --have embraced tech's latest era of layoffmaxxing, with some cutting their staff by 20 percent.