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Google agrees to 68 million settlement in voice assistant privacy lawsuit

Engadget

Apple could unveil Gemini-powered Siri in Feb. Plaintiffs claimed they saw ads based on conversations Google Assistant shouldn't have heard. Google has agreed to a $68 million settlement regarding claims that its voice assistant inappropriately spied on smartphone users. Plaintiffs claimed that the company's Google Assistant platform began listening to them after it misheard conversations that sounded like its wake words. The suit argued that private information that Google Assistant shouldn't have heard was then used to deliver those individuals targeted ads. The preliminary class action settlement was filed on Friday and now awaits approval from U.S. District Judge Beth Labson Freeman.


Palantir Defends Work With ICE to Staff Following Killing of Alex Pretti

WIRED

"In my opinion ICE are the bad guys. I am not proud that the company I enjoy so much working for is part of this," one worker wrote on Slack. After federal agents shot and killed Minneapolis nurse Alex Pretti on Saturday, Palantir workers pressed for answers from leadership on the company's work with Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) --and many questioned whether Palantir should be involved with the agency at all. Leadership defended its work as in part improving "ICE's operational effectiveness." Internal Slack messages reviewed by WIRED reveal growing frustration within Palantir over its relationship with the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), and in particular, ICE's enforcement and investigations teams.


I'm a neurologist... here are three simple tricks to help you kick any bad habit

Daily Mail - Science & tech

Tom Homan pushes Border Patrol out of Minneapolis in sweeping shake-up as Trump's'little Napoleon' Greg Bovino faces humiliating exit Insiders reveal the REAL misstep that got Kristi Noem humiliatingly sidelined by Trump... and the weak excuse she's peddling to try and save her own skin Insidious secret life of promiscuous neurosurgeon found dead in his $2.5m mansion'He has no loyalty': The bitter secret fallout between One Direction star Harry Styles and his former bandmates - as insiders reveal for the first time what really happened at Liam Payne's funeral The $1 supplement that will protect you from winter viruses... including new'super flu' Is Angelina Jolie quitting America? Private struggles emerge... as actress weighs major lifestyle that threatens to rupture her family Young single mother's selfless final act after finding out she had just weeks to live Seven dead in private jet crash as audio reveals voice said'Let there be light' seconds before tragedy at snowy Maine airport Gisele Bundchen relaxes with new husband and baby on boat after ex Tom Brady admits divorce'took a lot out of me' Defiant Trump dismisses Alzheimer's fears as he struggles to recall name of disease in interview America's best and worst states to retire revealed - and why Florida is no longer the obvious winner I'm a neurologist... here are three simple tricks to help you kick any bad habit Furious family hit out at Kate Hudson's'abominable' Oscar nomination amid toxic feud NFL's'scripted' conspiracy theory resurfaces as fans find five-month old post hinting at Super Bowl 60 matchup I'm a neurologist... here are three simple tricks to help you kick any bad habit Some bad habits are small. But over time, they add up, and suddenly you're wondering how you ended up here. Now, a neurologist says three simple tricks can help break the cycles that quietly take over our lives. Dr Arif Khan, a pediatric neurologist, outlined'cue shift,' the'one-step rule' and'reward rewrite' as practical tools to stop negative patterns in their tracks.


TikTok Data Center Outage Triggers Trust Crisis for New US Owners

WIRED

The technical failure coincided with TikTok's ownership transition, leading users to question whether videos criticizing ICE raids in Minnesota were being intentionally censored. TikTok is currently experiencing a widespread service outage in the US, causing disruptions for millions of users only a few days after the company officially transferred control of its American business to a group of majority-US investors . The technical issues led many TikTok users to speculate about whether the app's new owners were intentionally suppressing videos about political topics, particularly content related to recent federal immigration operations in Minnesota. TikTok has denied the allegations, attributing the problems to a power outage. TikTok users began reporting on Sunday that they were having trouble uploading videos to the app as well as viewing content that had already been posted on the platform.


Prophecy from apocalyptic 'messiah' warns of death so widespread 'even birds won't escape'

Daily Mail - Science & tech

Insidious secret life of promiscuous neurosurgeon found dead in his $2.5m mansion America's best and worst states to retire revealed - and why Florida is no longer the obvious winner Texas Gov. Abbott warns ICE'losing respect' as Minneapolis shooting scandal rocks Trump Is Angelina Jolie quitting America? Private struggles emerge... as actress weighs major lifestyle that threatens to rupture her family Young single mother's selfless final act after finding out she had just weeks to live Seven dead in private jet crash as audio reveals voice said'Let there be light' seconds before tragedy at snowy Maine airport Defiant Trump dismisses Alzheimer's fears as he struggles to recall name of disease in interview NFL's'scripted' conspiracy theory resurfaces as fans find five-month old post hinting at Super Bowl 60 matchup Stunning twist of fate that saw Brittany leave Patrick Mahomes weeks after he was drafted by the Chiefs... Kate Hudson's Oscar nomination torched as an'abomination' amid toxic family feud over Song Sung Blue Mystery of Egypt's Giza pyramids deepens as hidden megastructure 4,000 feet below is revealed Prophecy from apocalyptic'messiah' warns of death so widespread'even birds won't escape' A poem written over 120 years ago by a revered religious figure has resurfaced as some fear its prediction of an apocalyptic event could be coming true today. Hazrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmad, also known as the Promised Messiah and the Imam Mahdi, wrote a 1905 poem describing massive earthquakes and destruction across the world, which some have now interpreted as a warning of World War III . In the poem, published around the time of his death in 1908, Ahmad predicted streams of blood flowing from widespread death, entire regions being wiped out, a massive earthquake, and even strange sky events beyond scientific explanation. It mentions of calamity befalling the Czar of Russia has been seen by some as foreshadowing modern conflicts involving Russia, such as the war in Ukraine and continued tensions with the US and NATO .


New whitening powder activates with your electric toothbrush

Popular Science

It may even repair damaged enamel and improve your oral microbiome. Breakthroughs, discoveries, and DIY tips sent six days a week. Whitening your teeth often comes at a financial and physical cost. Many of today's most popular products including gels, strips, and rinses rely on peroxide-based bleaching solutions. While effective, the chemical processes generate reactive oxygen species (ROS) compounds that not only destroy staining molecules--they can eventually erode tooth enamel .


AI robot brings emotional care to pets

FOX News

Tuya Smart introduces Aura, its first AI-powered companion robot for pets at CES 2026. The robot uses artificial intelligence to recognize behaviors and provide updates.


Mysterious, numbered mollusk discovered on Australian beach

Popular Science

Researchers are urging beachgoers to report the endangered, tagged sea snails. Breakthroughs, discoveries, and DIY tips sent six days a week. The black abalone mollusk () is a delicacy in many regions of the world, with fancy restaurant diners doling out as much as $40 per 6 to 8 ounce serving . Although the sea snails are often grown in oyster farms, they are now considered critically endangered due to overdemand and black market harvesting. But while a woman's recent abalone discovery along a beach in Australia is attracting worldwide attention, it's not due to any illegal activity or a lucrative payout.


Google to pay 68m to settle lawsuit claiming it recorded private conversations

BBC News

Google has agreed to pay $68m (£51m) to settle a lawsuit claiming it secretly listened to people's private conversations through their phones. Users accused Google Assistant - a virtual assistant present on many Android devices - of recording private conversations after it was inadvertently triggered on their devices. They claimed the recordings were then shared with advertisers in order to send them targeted advertising. The BBC has contacted Google for comment. But in a filing seeking to settle the case, it denied wrongdoing and said it was seeking to avoid litigation.


Inside OpenAI's big play for science

MIT Technology Review

An exclusive conversation with Kevin Weil, head of OpenAI for Science, a new in-house team that wants to make scientists more productive. In the three years since ChatGPT's explosive debut, OpenAI's technology has upended a remarkable range of everyday activities at home, at work, in schools--anywhere people have a browser open or a phone out, which is everywhere. Now OpenAI is making an explicit play for scientists. In October, the firm announced that it had launched a whole new team, called OpenAI for Science, dedicated to exploring how its large language models could help scientists and tweaking its tools to support them. The last couple of months have seen a slew of social media posts and academic publications in which mathematicians, physicists, biologists, and others have described how LLMs (and OpenAI's GPT-5 in particular) have helped them make a discovery or nudged them toward a solution they might otherwise have missed. In part, OpenAI for Science was set up to engage with this community.