Then-U.S. cybersecurity soordinator Michael Daniel answers a question during an event in Washington in May 2014. Washington - Companies and government agencies rushed last week to patch two critical flaws in PHP, the programming language that runs a large share of the world's websites. The vulnerability to potential hackers was found by using a powerful model from OpenAI in one of the most high-profile demonstration of AI's cybercapabilities. Reporters spoke with Michael Daniel, president of the Cyber Threat Alliance and a onetime White House cybersecurity coordinator under former U.S. President Barack Obama, about what the episode means as AI tools find software flaws faster than ever. In a time of both misinformation and too much information, quality journalism is more crucial than ever. By subscribing, you can help us get the story right.

U.K. politicians are testing their messages on AI-generated focus groups U.K. Artificial Intelligence Minister Kanishka Narayan leaves No. 10 Downing Street in London in July. U.K. politicians looking to gauge how British voters will react to their policies have a new cohort on which to test their ideas: AI-generated focus groups. Startups Electric Twin and Artificial Societies, and more established research firms GWI and Toluna are using data from real focus groups and surveys to build AI personas able to react to political messages within minutes. Another firm, London-based Synthetic Respondents, charges $16 (£12) a project, which it says is a thousandth of the cost of a traditional piece of focus group research. Critics warn that reliance on AI-generated focus groups could detach politicians from reality. But the technology also has the potential to transform their ability to sense-test their ideas, making it quicker and more affordable to gauge how real-life voters may react to policies, and giving backbenchers access to analysis that might previously have been outside their budget.

Tesla's spending has again fallen short of Wall Street expectations, clouding Elon Musk's plan to transform the maker of electric vehicles into an artificial intelligence and robotics company. Capital expenditures totaled $4.73 billion in the third quarter, Tesla said Wednesday in a statement. Analysts had expected $7.95 billion on average according to estimates. On the company's call with analysts, Chief Financial Officer Vaibhav Taneja said Tesla was cutting its 2026 capital expenditure target to $20 billion, down from more than $25 billion it had previously projected. Tesla invested $8.3 billion over the first six months of the year. In a time of both misinformation and too much information, quality journalism is more crucial than ever.

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SoftBank is said to weigh buying top U.S. security firm allied SoftBank head Masayoshi Son is exploring the use of AI-powered robots across various industries. SoftBank Group is considering an acquisition of Allied Universal, the largest security services company in the U.S., people familiar with the matter said, as founder Masayoshi Son explores ways to deploy AI-powered robots across industries. The potential transaction may give closely held Allied an equity value of as much as $18 billion, said some of the people, who asked not to be identified because the deliberations are private. The security company, whose backers include private equity firm Warburg Pincus and Canadian pension fund La Caisse, also has about $12 billion of publicly traded debt, across loans and bonds, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. That could bring a total deal value close to $30 billion.

A Ukrainian serviceman prepares a Starlink satellite internet systems near the front line in Donetsk region, Ukraine, in 2024. WASHINGTON - Ukraine said on Wednesday that Elon Musk's SpaceX had restricted "military-grade" Starlink services, hampering Ukrainian drone strike missions and air defenses. The complaint has drawn renewed attention to the distinction between Starlink, SpaceX's commercial satellite internet service, and Starshield, a military version developed for the Pentagon. While Musk has said the two systems are separate, in many cases they share the same underlying satellite technology. "Starshield systems are owned and controlled by the U.S. government," Musk said on Wednesday in a post on social media platform X, adding that any limits on speed or usage are decided by the U.S. military or the U.S. president.

Banking watchdogs are ramping up their scrutiny of artificial intelligence as fears mount over its effect on stability, sources say. NEW YORK/LONDON - Banking regulators are stepping up efforts to contain growing artificial intelligence risks, six people familiar with the matter have said, with some pointing to the potential for cyberattacks on banks or rogue agents undermining global financial stability. The regulatory scrutiny reflects growing recognition that advances in frontier AI may require costly investments in cyberrecovery, greater attention to dependencies on external technology providers and in some jurisdictions more formal regulatory guidance, sources said. Three top regulators in the United States, including the Federal Reserve, are quizzing banks about their use of advanced artificial intelligence models, two of the people said, which adds to prior scrutiny. In a time of both misinformation and too much information, quality journalism is more crucial than ever.

International Monetary Fund Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva speaks during the IMF/World Bank 2026 Annual Meetings in Bangkok on Monday. The head of the International Monetary Fund has warned of the disruptive threat from artificial intelligence to the labor market and taxation, urging policymakers to rethink education and act now to help society adapt. "It is a slow-moving tsunami, but tsunami none the less," Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva said Monday during her first appearance at the annual meetings of the IMF and World Bank in Bangkok. Speaking at a session on AI's impact on employment, she said the technology is already hollowing out demand for many human workers by taking over routine, repetitive tasks. At the same time, it is increasing low-paying jobs in sectors like construction, which she said is "not a story to celebrate."

Trump's AI liability push opens blame game for models gone rogue The Trump administration's embrace of legal liability to enforce artificial intelligence safety sets the stage for future conflicts over who foots the bill when AI models go rogue: the companies that design the systems or the people that deploy the technology. Holding AI developers financially responsible for the safety of their products has won support from Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and former White House AI czar David Sacks, who argue that existing liability laws would be more effective than new rules. President Donald Trump, in spurning new AI safeguards, has taken it a step further, saying the Justice Department should intervene if models get out of hand. In a sign of the administration's increased willingness to invoke current law to address safety concerns, Trump's newly launched AI task force late Friday warned developers that they are required to report and resolve security incidents or face potential unspecified consequences. In a time of both misinformation and too much information, quality journalism is more crucial than ever.

Modi wants India to power the AI age. Residents hold placards during a protest against Amazon's planned data center, in Thane, on the outskirts of Mumbai, India, last month. What was once a stretch of lush greenery outside his 21st-floor window is now a scar of red earth where trees were felled to make way for an Amazon facility that forms part of the tech giant's planned $21 billion investment in AI infrastructure in India by 2030. "I would not have bought the house if I had known," said the 46-year-old, lamenting a purchase made just five months ago. In a time of both misinformation and too much information, quality journalism is more crucial than ever.