Tech News

1. AI and Security:

   • X is piloting a program to allow AI chatbots to generate Community Notes to combat misinformation. 👉 theverge.com 👉 techcrunch.com
   • Cloudflare is launching a marketplace called "Pay per Crawl" that enables website owners to charge AI companies for accessing their content and blocking AI crawlers by default, giving content creators more control over how their data is used. 👉 techcrunch.com 👉 blog.cloudflare.com
   • Sam Altman, CEO of OpenAI, criticizes Meta's AI talent poaching with a memo to staff emphasizing "missionaries will beat mercenaries," following reports of Meta offering AI researchers significant compensation packages. 👉 wired.com
   • Mark Zuckerberg has reportedly offered AI research talent pay packages of up to $300 million over four years to staff Meta's new superintelligence lab. 👉 wired.com
   • AI engineer salaries are rising, with top engineers earning over $10 million annually due to high demand, leading OpenAI to seek creative ways to retain talent. 👉 ft.com^$
   • Grammarly acquires email startup Superhuman to build an AI productivity suite, valued at $825M in August 2021. 👉 reuters.com
   • The US Senate voted 99-1 to remove a provision from Trump's tax bill that would have barred states from regulating AI, reflecting concerns about limiting state control over AI regulation. 👉 bloomberg.com^$ 👉 techcrunch.com

2. Data Breaches and Security Incidents:

   • AT&T launches a new "Account Lock" feature to prevent SIM swapping attacks, providing customers with control over unauthorized account changes. 👉 theverge.com
   • Kelly Benefits says that a 2024 data breach impacted 550,000 customers, and a disgruntled IT worker was sentenced for sabotaging his employer's network, causing significant financial harm. 👉 theregister.com
   • A California jury ruled Google misused Android cell phone data, and Google has been ordered to pay $314.6M+. 👉 reuters.com
   • Apple has sued a former Vision Pro engineer for allegedly stealing trade secrets before joining Snap. 👉 siliconvalley.com
   • The FCC will suspend enforcement of rules that would lower prison phone and video call prices until April 1st, 2027, citing "negative, unintended consequences." 👉 docs.fcc.gov
   • Senator Wyden chides FBI for weak advice on mobile security. 👉 krebsonsecurity.com
   • Over 1,200 Citrix servers remain unpatched against a critical authentication bypass flaw. 👉 bleepingcomputer.com

3. Malware and Cybercrime:

   • The U.S. government took down a North Korean operation that impersonated 80+ people to secure remote IT jobs at 100+ US firms, using "laptop farms" to generate illicit revenue. 👉 techcrunch.com
   • The U.S. Department of Justice has sanctioned Funnull Technology Inc., a Philippines-based company, for providing infrastructure for virtual currency investment scams, resulting in over $200 million in U.S. victim losses. 👉 krebsonsecurity.com
   • Pakistan arrested 21 individuals for operating Heartsender, a malware and spam service linked to $50 million in losses. 👉 krebsonsecurity.com
   • Microsoft Defender for Office 365 now blocks email bombing attacks. 👉 bleepingcomputer.com

4. Vulnerabilities and Patches:

   • Google has released emergency updates to fix a Chrome zero-day vulnerability, the fourth such flaw fixed since the start of the year. 👉 bleepingcomputer.com
   • Microsoft warns of Windows security update delays due to wrong timestamp. 👉 bleepingcomputer.com
   • A new FileFix attack runs JScript while bypassing Windows MoTW alerts. 👉 bleepingcomputer.com

5. Cloud Security and Infrastructure:

   • Surge AI is reportedly targeting $1 billion in first-ever fundraise. 👉 pymnts.com
   • AI firm Anthropic’s revenue said to hit $4B. 👉 theinformation.com
   • A new report from the Financial Times indicates that AI researcher salaries are steadily rising, with mid to senior-level scientists commanding total pay packages of $500K to $2M at Big Tech firms. 👉 t.co
   • A new bank called “Erebor" is geared toward crypto clients. 👉 t.co

6. Government and Regulation:

   • The US Senate strikes AI regulation ban from Trump megabill. 👉 cryptopolitan.com
   • The U.S. warns of Iranian cyber threats on critical infrastructure. 👉 bleepingcomputer.com
   • Germany asks Google, Apple to remove DeepSeek AI from app stores due to GDPR violations. 👉 bleepingcomputer.com
   • Hikvision Canada ordered to cease operations over security risks. 👉 bleepingcomputer.com

7. Social Media and Messaging:

   • Threads launches DMs for users aged 18 and older, without support for E2EE, and announces a “highlighter” feature to emphasize trending topics. 👉 theverge.com
   • Meta adds business voice calling to WhatsApp, explores AI-powered product recommendations. 👉 techcrunch.com

8. Hardware and Devices:

   • Nothing unveils the $799 Phone 3, with a 6.7" AMOLED display, Snapdragon 8s Gen 4 chip, three 50MP rear cameras, and the $299 Headphone 1, both shipping July 15. 👉 bloomberg.com^$
   • Kuo reports that Apple plans to launch a cheaper, ~13" MacBook powered by iPhone 16 Pro's A18 Pro chip, expected to enter mass production in late Q4 2025 or early Q1 2026. 👉 9to5mac.com

9. Space and Technology:

   • Congress just greenlit a NASA moon plan opposed by Musk and Isaacman. 👉 techcrunch.com

10. Cryptocurrency and Blockchain:

    • CoinMarketCap indicates bitcoin's share of crypto market value grew to 64% in 2025, the highest since January 2021, and altcoins lost $300B+, as investors buy BTC ETFs. 👉 bloomberg.com^$
    • American Bitcoin, a bitcoin mining and holding company backed by Eric Trump and Donald Trump Jr., raised $220M. 👉 fortune.com
    • Europol helps disrupt $540 million crypto investment fraud ring. 👉 bleepingcomputer.com

11. Legal and Financial:

    • A judge has sentenced a disgruntled IT worker to more than seven months in prison after he wreaked havoc on his employer's network following his suspension. 👉 theregister.com
    • The Senate voted 99-1 to remove the state AI pause from the reconciliation bill, a wake-up call to Silicon Valley on how unpopular their preferred AI policy is. 👉 bloomberg.com^$
    • Anika Arora Seth reports that Google Owes $314 Million for Misusing Android Cell Phone Data. 👉 bloomberg.com^$
    • There's a high demand in the market for a new bank called "Erebor", that's geared toward crypto clients, has submitted an application for a national bank charter. 👉 t.co
    • Brooke Crothers reports that Trump says “We might have to put DOGE on Elon”, “DOGE is the monster that might have to go back and eat Elon”, and “We'll have to take a look” at deporting Musk. 👉 axios.com
    • Zoe Schiffer reports that Mark Zuckerberg has, on 10+ occasions, offered to pay AI research talent up to $300M over four years, with $100M+ in compensation for the first year. 👉 wired.com

12. Other News:

    • In climate related events, a report published found that human-caused global warming is now increasing by 0.27 degrees Celsius per decade. 👉 essd.copernicus.org
    • Law360 now requires every story to go through an AI-powered “bias” detection tool before publication after a LexisNexis exec accused the newsroom of liberal bias. 👉 mediagazer.com
    • An immigration judge grants bond to Spanish-language journalist Mario Guevara, after he was arrested while covering a protest and turned over to ICE. 👉 apnews.com
    • This article covers information from different social platforms such as Bluesky, Mastodon, and X (Twitter). 👉 mas.to

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