Tech News

1. OpenAI and Microsoft Relationship:

   • OpenAI is reportedly seeking to revise its agreement with Microsoft, requesting a 33% stake in exchange for relinquishing rights to future profits. 👉 theinformation.com
   • OpenAI executives have considered filing an antitrust complaint against Microsoft, its largest investor, due to concerns over Microsoft's dominance in cloud services and contractual leverage. 👉 arstechnica.com

2. AI and Job Displacement:

   • Amazon CEO Andy Jassy said AI adoption will reduce the company's corporate workforce in the coming years. 👉 nbcnews.com
   • Jassy directed employees to learn AI tools to "get more done with scrappier teams," following over 27,000 layoffs since 2022. 👉 cnbc.com
   • Daily AI usage among U.S. workers has doubled in the past year, with 40% now using AI tools at least a few times annually. 👉 gallup.com

3. Cybersecurity Incidents and Threats:

   • Pro-Israel hacktivist group Predatory Sparrow claims responsibility for a cyberattack disrupting services at Iran's state-owned Bank Sepah. 👉 cyberscoop.com
   • Iran has restricted internet access in response to Israeli cyberattacks, blocking some Western communication apps. 👉 nbcnews.com
   • A cyberattack on Iran's Bank Sepah, claimed by pro-Israel hackers, disrupted services and gas stations. 👉 jpost.com
   • The U.S. Senate passed the GENIUS Act to regulate stablecoins, but some critics warn it favors crypto corruption and weakens consumer protection. 👉 cnbc.com
   • The Iranian government has restricted internet access in response to alleged Israeli cyberattacks. 👉 nbcnews.com
   • A cyberattack claimed by the pro-Israel group Predatory Sparrow has reportedly disrupted services at Iran's state-owned Bank Sepah. 👉 cyberscoop.com

4. AI Model Updates and Releases:

   • Google has made Gemini 2.5 Flash and Pro generally available and introduced 2.5 Flash-Lite, which it says is its most cost-efficient and fastest 2.5 model yet. 👉 blog.google
   • MiniMax, a Shanghai-based AI company, launched MiniMax-M1, an open-source model for complex tasks supporting 1M input tokens, surpassing DeepSeek's R1-0528. 👉 bloomberg.com^$
   • LiveCodeBench Pro benchmark shows LLMs still lag behind elite human coders, solving only 53% of medium-difficulty tasks on the first attempt. 👉 arxiv.org

5. Reusable Rocket Test:

   • Honda successfully conducted a surprise launch and landing test of its prototype reusable rocket, aiming for suborbital spaceflight by 2029. 👉 reuters.com

6. Social Media and Video Content Changes:

   • Facebook will soon share all videos as reels by default, regardless of length or orientation, renaming the "Video" tab to "Reels". 👉 techcrunch.com

7. Stablecoin Regulation:

   • The U.S. Senate passed the GENIUS Act, establishing a regulatory framework for stablecoins, now moving to the House. 👉 cnbc.com

8. Cybersecurity and Data Breaches:

   • Paddle will pay $5 million to settle FTC allegations of facilitating deceptive tech support schemes. 👉 bleepingcomputer.com
   • Scania confirmed a data breach where hackers stole insurance claim documents. 👉 bleepingcomputer.com
   • Iranian government says it has restricted internet access in response to Israeli cyberattacks; some Western communication apps have reportedly been blocked. 👉 nbcnews.com
   • A pro-Israel hacktivist group claims responsibility for an alleged Iranian bank hack. 👉 techcrunch.com
   • The U.S. Senate passed the GENIUS Act, which establishes a regulatory framework for stablecoins. 👉 cnbc.com
   • The Iranian government says it has restricted internet access in response to Israeli cyberattacks; some Western communication apps have reportedly been blocked. 👉 nbcnews.com
   • Instagram ads are using AI deepfakes to scam banking customers. 👉 bleepingcomputer.com
   • 23andMe was fined £2.31 million ($3.12 million) by the UK for a 2023 data breach. 👉 bleepingcomputer.com
   • A hacker stole 1 million Cock.li user records in a webmail data breach by exploiting flaws in its now-retired Roundcube webmail platform. 👉 bleepingcomputer.com
   • Police seized the Archetyp Market drug marketplace and arrested its administrator. 👉 bleepingcomputer.com
   • Meta is making all Facebook videos reels. 👉 theverge.com

9. Microsoft Product Updates and Issues:

   • Microsoft released security updates addressing 67 vulnerabilities, including an actively exploited zero-day flaw in Windows WebDAV. 👉 bleepingcomputer.com
   • Microsoft fixed Surface Hub boot issues with an emergency update. 👉 bleepingcomputer.com
   • A Windows 11 24H2 emergency update addresses a Blue Screen of Death (BSOD) issue related to Easy Anti-Cheat. 👉 bleepingcomputer.com
   • Microsoft shared a temporary fix for classic Outlook crashes when opening emails. 👉 bleepingcomputer.com
   • Microsoft acknowledged that June Windows Server security updates are causing DHCP service issues. 👉 bleepingcomputer.com
   • Microsoft shares temp fix for Outlook crashes when opening emails. 👉 bleepingcomputer.com
   • Microsoft: June Windows Server security updates cause DHCP issues. 👉 bleepingcomputer.com
   • A new Veeam RCE flaw lets domain users hack backup servers. 👉 bleepingcomputer.com

10. Government and Legal Actions:

    • The U.S. Senate passed the GENIUS Act, which establishes a regulatory framework for stablecoins. 👉 cnbc.com
    • The US Senate passes GENIUS stablecoin bill in 68-30 vote. 👉 cointelegraph.com
    • Trump to give TikTok another extension before enforcing sale-or-ban law. 👉 rawstory.com
    • The U.S. appeals court ruled in Apple's favor, overturning a $300M verdict that found it infringed on Optis' wireless tech patents. 👉 reuters.com
    • US Senate passes landmark GENIUS stablecoin bill in 68-30 vote. 👉 cointelegraph.com

11. Gaming and Xbox:

    • Microsoft and AMD announce a “strategic, multi-year partnership” to design custom silicon for a number of devices, including next-generation Xbox consoles. 👉 windowscentral.com

12. Netflix Documentary:

    • A new Netflix documentary details the events leading up to the destruction of OceanGate's submersible, Titan, which imploded on June 18, 2023. 👉 netflix.com

13. Uncrewed Robotic Sailboats:

    • Denmark has deployed four uncrewed robotic sailboats for a three-month trial to boost maritime surveillance in the Baltic region. 👉 apnews.com

14. Firefox Declining:

    • Veteran columnist Steven J. Vaughan-Nichols declared that Firefox was "dead" due to Mozilla's strategic missteps and the browser's declining technical performance. 👉 theregister.com

15. Salesforce Price Increase:

    • Salesforce will raise prices by an average of 6% across its Enterprise and Unlimited Editions starting August 1, 2025. 👉 salesforce.com

16. Workplace Trends:

    • Meetings starting after 8 p.m. are up 16% compared to a year ago, and at 10 p.m. almost a third of active workers are still monitoring their inboxes, according to research from Microsoft. 👉 bloomberg.com^$

17. Spanish Blackout Cause:

    • The Spanish government blamed the national grid operator and private power generation companies for an energy blackout that caused widespread chaos in Spain and Portugal earlier this year. 👉 bbc.com

18. AI Model Performance:

    • A new benchmark, LiveCodeBench Pro, indicates that large language models are not yet capable of beating elite human coders in competitive programming. 👉 arxiv.org

19. New Microbe Discovery:

    • A newly discovered microbe, Sukunaarchaeum, appears to be a parasite with a very small genome focused on replicating itself. 👉 science.org

1750205400000