'According to Kurz, technological moguls have long seen themselves as superior beings whose natural role is to shape society - so they have no problem disrupting the institution of democracy.' 'According to Kurz, technological moguls have long seen themselves as superior beings whose natural role is to shape society - so they have no problem disrupting the institution of democracy.' 'Capitalism has to become more humane': a Stanford economist on big tech, power hoarding and democracy T he billionaires of today are unusually aggressive in their hoarding of cultural and technological influence, according to Mordecai Kurz, a Stanford economist whose research connects monopoly power with political and economic inequality. In his new book, Private Power and Democracy's Decline, publishing 19 May, he argues the US is living through an extreme version of a pattern that has repeated itself since industrialization: technological power concentrating in the hands of a few, which is eroding democracy. According to Kurz, technological moguls have long seen themselves as superior beings whose natural role is to shape society - so they have no problem disrupting the institution of democracy.

PCWorld explores seven overlooked laptop utility features that offer genuine value, from Asus's AI noise-canceling and MyAsus Target Mode to Samsung's connected ecosystem controls. These hidden capabilities matter for productivity and comfort, including eyestrain reduction, touchpad customization, and automatic system maintenance across major brands. Standout features include Lenovo Vantage's self-healing diagnostics and Surface app's customizable right-click regions, though some implementations like HP's Enhanced Lighting have practical limitations. One of the unsung productivity heroes of your laptop is the humble utility app. It's the piece of software your laptop manufacturer installs to manage and customize your device.

When you purchase through links in our articles, we may earn a small commission. Anker's 20,000mAh Zolo power bank has two built-in USB-C cables and fast 45-watt charging. It's now on sale at Amazon, all colors included. You know what's better than a power bank with a built-in USB-C charging cable? This 20,000mAh Anker Zolo power bank is excellent for couples, friends, or even coworkers who are constantly on the go together and regularly in need of portable charging. The power bank delivers 45 watts of power when a single USB-C is used, enough to fast-charge a phone from zero to full in about an hour.

Is there any way of fighting back? Anthony "Bingy" Arillotta waited years to become a made man in the Genovese crime family, and when at last the call came in August 2003, he followed directions to the letter. According to sworn testimony, Arillotta was summoned to a steak house in the Bronx, where he was made to hand over his cellphone, beeper, and jewelry before being driven to an apartment building. When he got there, he was taken to a small bathroom and strip-searched for electronic devices. For his big meeting with the boss, he was given a bathrobe to wear. Until recently, only spies and criminals had to worry this obsessively about their private statements being picked up by electronic equipment.

Papa Johns launches drone delivery testing with Wing in Indian Trail, North Carolina, starting with sandwiches while custom pizza packaging is developed for future flights.

Musk v. Altman week 3: Musk and Altman traded blows over each other's credibility. Now the jury will pick a side. In the final week of the Musk v. Altman trial, lawyers attacked the credibility of the two tech leaders. Sam Altman was accused of lying and self-dealing, while Elon Musk was portrayed as a power-seeker trying to control artificial general intelligence. The case unearthed new details about the two arch-rivals and OpenAI's contested nonprofit status, as well as a golden trophy of a donkey's ass awarded to an employee who challenged Musk. Michelle Kim, who's also a lawyer, has been in court throughout the Musk v. Altman trial.

Use of AI is a valuable tool for weather prediction but only when it's trained with ample data, experts say Mon 18 May 2026 08.00 EDTLast modified on Mon 18 May 2026 08.01 EDT As the US prepares for hurricane season and a summer of record-breaking heat, experts fear the Trump administration's cuts to climate and weather data programming could make the federal government's weather forecasts less reliable when they are needed most. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (Noaa) late last year launched a suite of artificial intelligence-powered global weather forecast models which it said would improve "speed, efficiency, and accuracy". In March, an agency official said those models are being trained with centuries of weather data. Artificial intelligence is a valuable tool for weather prediction, but only when it is well-trained with ample data, said Monica Medina, who served as Noaa's principal deputy undersecretary of commerce for oceans and atmosphere from 2009 to 2012. Under Trump, climate and weather data collection has declined, said Medina.

When you purchase through links in our articles, we may earn a small commission. Bored.com is back, and it feels like the Internet remembered how to be weird Bored.com Back in the Flash era, it was packed with browser games, weird quizzes, and random internet junk you'd spend hours perusing. Then Flash died, most of those old sites faded away, and Bored.com It just reinvented itself into something even better: A user-curated collection of the best online time-killers.

Once-speculative concerns about the technology have now become pressing matters. AI has ascended to the role of main character. When Donald Trump traveled to Beijing for an historic summit last week, AI was one of the central topics of his discussions with Xi Jinping. As the two nations remain locked in a technological arms race, the president brought along some of the United States' most powerful AI executives, including Elon Musk and Nvidia's Jensen Huang. A continent away, the European Union has been unsuccessfully petitioning Anthropic to grant access to its advanced cybersecurity model, Mythos. Back in the United States, millions of students and teachers are dealing with the fallout of a devastating ransomware attack on the software platform Canvas--a hack that was likely aided by AI tools.

Google I/O is back with updates to Search, Android, Gemini, and a fresh peek at upcoming Android XR smart glasses. Here's how to watch the announcements live and what to expect. This is the annual developer event and product showcase where Google shows off all the shiny new updates to its Android operating system and other platforms, as well as new features and improvements to its artificial intelligence models. The big announcements at Google I/O usually come in the form of a livestreamed keynote event at the Shoreline Amphitheatre in Mountain View, California, hosted by Alphabet CEO Sundar Pichai. That starts on Tuesday, May 19, at 10 am Pacific time (1 pm Eastern).