North America
US Army tests robot coyotes to prevent catastrophic bird strikes
AI humanoid robots are stepping into showrooms to greet customers, explain features and pour coffee. Why settle for a regular robot when you can have a robot coyote? That's the innovative question the U.S. Army Engineer Research and Development Center (ERDC) is answering as it rolls out robot coyotes for airfield wildlife control. These cybernetic prairie predators are a creative solution to a very real problem. Sign up for my FREE CyberGuy Report Get my best tech tips, urgent security alerts and exclusive deals delivered straight to your inbox.
"Eddington" Is a Lethally Self-Satisfied COVID Satire
"Eddington" is a slog, but a slog with ambitions--and its director and screenwriter, Ari Aster, is savvy enough to cultivate an air of mystery about what those ambitions are. His earlier chillers, "Hereditary" (2018) and "Midsommar" (2019), had their labyrinthine ambiguities, too, but they also had propulsive craft and cunning, plus a resolute commitment to scaring us stupid. Then came the ungainly "Beau Is Afraid" (2023), a cavalcade of Oedipal neuroses both showy and coy, in which Aster didn't seem to lose focus so much as sacrifice it on the altar of auteurism. With "Eddington," his high-minded unravelling continues. No longer a horror wunderkind, Aster, at thirty-nine, yearns to be an impish anatomist of the body politic.
America's Worst Polluters See a Lifeline in Power-Gobbling AI--and Donald Trump
President Trump speaks to reporters outside the White House on July 15, 2025, in Washington, as Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt watches in reverence.. Manuel Balce Ceneta/AP This story was originally published by WIRED and is reproduced here as part of the Climate Desk collaboration. AI is "not my thing," President Donald Trump admitted during a speech in Pittsburgh on Tuesday. However, the president said during his remarks at the Energy and Innovation Summit, his advisers had told him just how important energy was to the future of AI. "You need double the electric of what we have right now, and maybe even more than that," Trump said, recalling a conversation with "David"--most likely White House AI czar David Sacks, a panelist at the summit. "I said, what, are you kidding? That's double the electric that we have. Take everything we have and double it."
Israel kills 30 in Gaza attacks, using 'drone missiles packed with nails'
At least 30 Palestinians have been killed since dawn across Gaza in Israeli attacks, medical sources have told Al Jazeera, as the besieged and bombarded enclave's decimated health system, overwhelmed by a daily flow of wounded, is forcing doctors to make decisions on who to treat first. In the latest killings on Friday, three people died in an Israeli attack on the Tuffah neighbourhood of eastern Gaza City. Five people were also killed in an Israeli air attack in Jabalia an-Nazla, in northern Gaza. Earlier, an Israeli attack hit tents sheltering displaced Palestinians in al-Mawasi, southern Gaza โ previously designated a so-called "safe zone" โ igniting a major fire and killing at least five people, including infants. Al-Mawasi has come under repeated, deadly Israeli fire.
Russia-Ukraine war: List of key events, day 1,240
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy told the US publication The New York Post that he and United States President Donald Trump are considering a deal that involves Washington buying battlefield-tested Ukrainian drones in exchange for Kyiv purchasing weapons from the US. The US has informed Switzerland of delays to the delivery of Patriot air defence systems, the Swiss Defence Ministry said, adding that Washington wants to prioritise delivery of the systems to Ukraine.
Zelenskyy says he and Trump are considering a drone 'mega-deal'
U.S. President Donald Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy are considering a deal that involves Washington buying battlefield-tested Ukrainian drones in exchange for Kyiv purchasing weapons from the U.S., Zelenskyy said in an interview with the New York Post. Zelenskyy said his latest talks with Trump focused on a deal that would help each country bolster its aerial technology. Ukrainian drones have been able to strike targets as deep as 1,300 kilometers into Russian territory. "The people of America need this technology, and you need to have it in your arsenal," Zelenskyy told the Post in the interview conducted Wednesday. The Ukrainian leader said drones were the key tool that has allowed his country to fight off Russia's invasion for more than three years.
Roblox's New Age Verification Feature Uses AI to Scan Teens' Video Selfies
Roblox is rolling out new features aimed at making the platform safer for minors, including a revamped friend system, privacy tools, and age verification services users submit by recording a video selfie. In Roblox's old friend system, players have no distinction between people they know casually or online versus someone they consider a close friend. The platform's new tiered system introduces Connections and Trusted Connections specifically for people that players know and trust. To access Trusted Connections and its benefits, users first need to complete an age verification, which requires them to submit a video selfie. Once they've submitted their video, the company says it's run against an AI-driven "diverse dataset" to get an age estimation.
OpenAI launches personal assistant capable of controlling files and web browsers
Users of ChatGPT will be able to ask an AI agent to find restaurant reservations, go shopping for them and even draw up lists of candidates for job vacancies, as the chatbot gains the powers of a personal assistant from Thursday. ChatGPT agent, launched by Open AI everywhere apart from the EU, not only "thinks" but also acts, the US company said. The agent combines the powers of AI research tools with the ability to take control of web browsers, computer files and software such as spreadsheets and slide decks. It follows the launch of similar "agents" by Google and Anthropic as interest grows in AI models that can handle computer-based tasks by judging which software is best to use and toggling between systems to autonomously complete assignments like drafting travel itineraries or carrying out work research. "The hope is that agents are able to bring some real utility to users โ to actually do things for them rather than just outputting polished text and sounding impressive," said Niamh Burns, senior media analyst at Enders Analysis.
Fighting AI with AI, finance firms prevented 5 million in fraud - but at what cost?
When most people think of AI, the first thing that probably comes to mind isn't superintelligence or the promise of agents to boost productivity, but scams. There've always been fraudsters among us, that small percentage of the population who'll use any means available to swindle others out of their money. The proliferation of advanced and easily accessible generative AI tools in recent years has made such nefarious activity exponentially easier. In one memorable incident from early last year, a finance employee at a firm based in Hong Kong wired 25 million to fraudsters after being instructed to do so on a video call with what they believed to be company executives, but were in fact AI-generated deepfakes. And earlier this month, an unknown party used AI to imitate the voice of US Secretary of State Marco Rubio on calls that went out to a handful of government officials, including a member of Congress.
Chess Grandmaster Magnus Carlsen Beats ChatGPT Without Losing a Single Piece
The world's top chess player defeated ChatGPT in an online match in only 53 moves. Magnus Carlsen won the game without losing a single piece, while ChatGPT lost all its pawns, screenshots the Norwegian grandmaster shared on X on July 10 showed. "I sometimes get bored while travelling," Carlsen captioned the post. "That was methodical, clean, and sharp. Well played!" ChatGPT said to him, according to the screenshots Carlsen posted.