Gold price gains a new demand driver as artificial intelligence fuels investment in semiconductors, data centers and high-performance electronics, says the World Gold Council.

Our gifting experts are obsessively searching for holiday gifts that are unique, thoughtful and suitable for any budget. Microsoft is ending support and updates for Office 2021 on October 13. What does that mean, and what are your alternatives? Lance Whitney is a technology journalist with an IT background. He's written for TechRepublic, PCMag, Macworld, and Time, among others, He also teaches classes in AI, cybersecurity, and social media.

Is the war entering a new phase? Bulgarian Prime Minister Rumen Radev says drones have hit two commercial vessels, sinking one ship and wounding several people, in what he denounced as an "absolutely unacceptable" attack. Speaking to reporters on Tuesday, Radev said the ships were attacked by sea drones and aerial drones at about 3am (00:00 GMT), about 70 nautical miles (130km) off Bulgaria's coast, amid a rise in attacks on Black Sea shipping due to expanding drone attacks related to the Russia-Ukraine war. It is a blatant violation of international law and maritime law," Radev said. The Togo-flagged Alfa Watan suffered critical structural damage and sank at the scene.

Viral internet character Tung Tung Tung Sahur was created in 2025 by an Indonesian teen who goes by the username Noxa, using OpenAI's image-generation tool. Viral internet character Tung Tung Tung Sahur was created in 2025 by an Indonesian teen who goes by the username Noxa, using OpenAI's image-generation tool. Who owns'brain rot'?: inside the international legal drama over a beloved meme O ne of the most beloved characters in an absurdist genre of online video content has become the center of an international legal battle that could determine where human creativity ends and artificial intelligence begins. Tung Tung Tung Sahur, also known as Triple T, was created in 2025 by an Indonesian teen who goes by the username Noxa, using OpenAI's image-generation tool. Based on a kentongan - a type of drum used to wake south-east Asian Muslims for their pre-dawn meal during Ramadan - the character is an anthropomorphized version of the instrument with a broad smile and a vacant stare.

I'm your host, Blake Montgomery, writing to you as I sit under yellowing leaves in New York. Donald Trump made a series of moves over the past week that make it clear his power is becoming synonymous with artificial intelligence. The new tight alliances between the White House, the Pentagon, US intelligence agencies and AI companies loom ominously over governments and companies, particularly in Europe, that rely on American AI. Last Tuesday, Trump and six AI CEOs signed what he called a "morally binding" agreement to put controls on artificial intelligence. The vague agreement stipulates a framework for what Trump called "tremendous self-policing", reiterating his point that AI companies can act as their own watchmen.

Mistral Says Its New AI Model'Le Chonk' Is the Best Open-Weight Offering Outside of China With the release of its new trillion-parameter model, Mistral is hoping to demonstrate it's "still in the race" to build frontier-level artificial intelligence. As tensions mount over who gets access to top-end artificial intelligence, French company Mistral has released a new freely-available model that it claims can compete with the very best from the US and China. The new one trillion-parameter model, Mistral Large 4--nicknamed Le Chonk--can be used and customized by anyone. It's currently available in preview, with a final version to follow by the end of the month. Though Le Chonk is built to compete with leading general purpose models, it's optimized specifically for coding and cyberdefense, as well as tasks particular to manufacturing, finance, electrical engineering, and other niches.

Our gifting experts are obsessively searching for holiday gifts that are unique, thoughtful and suitable for any budget. Mistral's new Le Chonk model brings AI cybersecurity to your business - and you control it Open models are vying to become the everyman defense solution for a growing swarm of agent breaches. Radhika Rajkumar is a senior editor at ZDNET based in New York City. Mistral's open-weight ML4 model Le Chonk is in preview. Open models are positioned as democratic defenders from AI attacks.

Is the war entering a new phase? Ukraine launches major drone attack on Russia's Moscow region, killing two Share Ukraine launches major drone attack on Russia's Moscow region, killing two on social media Ukraine has launched a major drone attack on Moscow, killing two people and setting fire to a warehouse in the capital city, Russian officials say. Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin said on Tuesday that the overnight assault involved 650 drones heading towards the city, most of which were shot down, as both sides intensify long-range strikes on infrastructure before winter. He said seven people had been injured and that 47 houses, four apartments and three cars had been damaged. He said 185 drones were "destroyed or neutralised" over the wider region.

Plus: Musk's new Pentagon role has raised conflict-of-interest fears. Each year, Review puts together a list of the most promising climate tech companies in the world. This year, the stakes feel higher than ever. The world is on track for one of its hottest years on record, climate-fueled disasters are taking lives and costing billions, while political shifts and international conflict have stalled progress. We urgently need to cut emissions and avoid climate change's most harmful effects, and that's where our 10 companies come in. They also reflect the biggest shifts in climate tech--including the surging energy demands of AI data centers.

A civilian cargo ship has sunk and its crew is missing after being attacked by drones in the Black Sea, Bulgarian officials say. A second vessel - carrying grain - was also hit within Bulgaria's exclusive economic zone, Prime Minister Rumen Radev said. Its 18 crew were rescued. Radev did not say who was behind the attacks, which come as Russia intensifies strikes in the Black Sea, particularly the eastern side, as part of its war against Ukraine. Moscow has not commented on the latest incident, a day after it was accused by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky of striking a civilian vessel carrying corn.