Google has launched Gemini 4 Argon, its latest most advanced model that was designed to be able to sustain deep reasoning when dealing with complex questions. The company says it can handle intricate tasks involving finance, software engineering, coding, creative writing and cybersecurity defense. A spokesperson said Google sees Argon as comparable to other companies' frontier models, like OpenAI's GPT-6 Astra and Anthropic's Opus, when it comes to key benchmarks. According to independent AI benchmarking company Artificial Analysis, Gemini 4 Argon matches GPT-6 Astra's score for its Intelligence Index -- its composite score for multiple AI benchmarks -- at 60 percent of the cost per task at current discounted prices. At the moment, Argon is available for an introductory price of 2 per million input tokens and 10 per million output.

PCWorld notes that Firefox 157 introduces the Nova redesign, the browser's biggest visual overhaul in years, featuring rounded corners, subtle color gradients, and 12 unique themes with light and dark modes. A new Compact Mode helps users save screen space, making Firefox more practical for smaller displays. Mozilla also released ESR security updates fixing dozens of vulnerabilities, with older system support continuing until March 2027. Firefox 157 is out for Windows, macOS, Linux, and Android and the biggest change in this version is the new Nova design, which brings a more modern look to the browser. Mozilla has also fixed over 70 security vulnerabilities, and updates are also available for the Firefox ESR versions. The release of Firefox 158 is scheduled for October 13th, 2026.

An OpenAI agent hacked into the public website of the Australian government's Medicare public health insurance system in June, Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has revealed. Albanese said he spoke with Sam Altman, the company's CEO, to express the country's "extreme concern" about the incident. He also criticized the company for taking too long to notify Australian authorities. According to The Guardian, OpenAI only sent an email about the breach to a general Australian government email address on September 10. And since authorities only check that account once a day, they didn't see it until September 11.

PCWorld reports that Google has released Chrome 154, fixing 108 security vulnerabilities, including 11 classified as critical risks. The update is available across Windows, macOS, Linux, Android, and iOS, with external researchers helping identify 32 of the patched issues. Users are strongly advised to update Chrome immediately via the Help menu to protect against these serious security flaws.

Meta's Muse AI Assistant Rolled Out With a Serious Security Flaw Meta says it issued a fix for the Muse zero-day vulnerability that would have let attackers do "whatever" they wanted on a victim's Mac, highlighting the inherent dangers of AI helpers. Meta founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg has gone to great lengths to hype the security of its new AI assistant, Muse, claiming it is "built from the ground up for privacy and security." A zero-day vulnerability that gives locally run apps and terminal commands complete control of the agent raises serious doubts. Further raising questions, Amazon on Sunday began blocking Muse from its site. Meta introduced Muse a few weeks ago.

Mashable Selects Look Up Mashable's Best: E-readers, robovacs, laptops, earbuds, smart home and more Say More Safety Net Versus Creator Playbook In My Bag Trending Now Back to School Good Connection: Uplifting stories for a digital age Switch Off All Series ShinyHunters claims it stole FBI employee data. ShinyHunters says the FBI owes it a correction. Olivia Tauber is the deputy editor of digital culture, covering creators, media, movies, beauty, and more. Based in New York, her work has appeared in The New York Times, Vanity Fair, The Cut, Teen Vogue, Complex, and Interview Magazine. She holds a Master's degree in Journalism from NYU and a Bachelor's from the University of Michigan.

Look Up Mashable's Best: E-readers, robovacs, laptops, earbuds, smart home and more Say More Safety Net Versus Mashable Selects Creator Playbook In My Bag Trending Now Back to School Good Connection: Uplifting stories for a digital age Switch Off All Series Meta's Muse reportedly has zero-day vulnerability that lets attackers take over your Mac The exploit was unveiled as Amazon decided to block Muse from shopping on its platform. Matt Binder joined Mashable's tech vertical in 2018, where he covers social media, tech policy, cybersecurity, online scams, cryptocurrency, AI, creator news, weird tech, and other related tech beats. Met's AI assistant Muse has a concerning zero-day vulnerability. Meta launched its new AI assistant Muse to much fanfare earlier this month. Now, just a few weeks later, a zero-day vulnerability has reportedly been discovered that could put access to your entire Mac computer in the wrong hands.

AI labs are toying with an industry-wide pact to slow development. Meanwhile, widely available AI chatbots are already helping uncover a tidal wave of security flaws. AI doomers have recently traded one worst-case scenario for another, putting aside a potential software vulnerability apocalypse to focus on the possibility of rogue AI causing mass human death in the next decade. As AI leaders consider a cooperative slowdown on frontier model development, though, one aspect of the cybersecurity sea change has already arrived thanks to existing, broadly available capabilities in mainstream AI products, including open weight models. A tidal wave of vulnerabilities uncovered using AI has only accelerated in recent months--piling more pressure on under-resourced, and very human, IT and security teams and straining volunteers who maintain crucial open source software.

PCWorld reports that Google has patched 42 security vulnerabilities in Chrome, with three classified as critical risks affecting Windows, macOS, Linux, Android, and iOS users. Many of the fixes address use-after-free memory flaws, and while none have been exploited yet, the risks are serious enough to warrant immediate action. Users should update Chrome now via the About Google Chrome menu to stay protected.

Mashable's Best: E-readers, robovacs, laptops, earbuds, smart home and more In My Bag Look Up Say More Trending Now Mashable Selects Creator Playbook Back to School Good Connection: Uplifting stories for a digital age Switch Off Mashable Voices Safety Net All Series The latest patch fixes issues created by the September Patch Tuesday update last week. Matt Binder joined Mashable's tech vertical in 2018, where he covers social media, tech policy, cybersecurity, online scams, cryptocurrency, AI, creator news, weird tech, and other related tech beats. Microsoft has released a new emergency patch addressing issues created by the last update. Microsoft's big September 2026 Patch Tuesday update addressed a record 966 flaws, including two actively exploited zero-day vulnerabilities, across Microsoft products when it was released last week on Sept. 8. However, just one week later on Sept. 14, Microsoft rolled out an emergency, out-of-band patch for the patch.