A federal judge ruled on August 28, 2026, that the Pentagon’s decision to blacklist AI company Anthropic was unconstitutional, handing the company a win in a months-long legal dispute with the Trump…
On Aug 27, 2026, Bluesky added an account-level opt-out that prevents public posts from appearing in the algorithmic Discover feed, with changes taking up to an hour after enabling. It doesn’t make posts private, and AT Proto third-party apps can choose independently whether to respect the preference.
Anthropic released details in August 2026 of a new framework called the Model Hardware Standard, designed to govern how AI agents interact with physical equipment such as microscopes, liquid-handling…
A Georgia police officer used a license plate reader system to surveil two fellow officers — including a former romantic partner — dozens of times over several months, according to internal investigation records obtained by WIRED through a public records request.
Google announced in August 2026 that it will begin enforcing memory usage limits on Android apps distributed through the Play Store, with consequences ranging from reduced app performance to removal…
Google has added a feature to its AI note-taking app, Gemini Notebook, that lets users pull information from books they have purchased through Google Play Books. The update, announced in August 2026,…
Barret Zoph returns to Google as VP of Research, bringing RL and post-training know-how to Gemini after bouncing back to OpenAI in January 2026 for five months. He’d exited in October 2024 to co-found Thinking Machines with Mira Murati.
On Aug 27, 2026, YouTube let eligible U.S. creators tag Amazon products directly in Shorts, long-form videos, and livestreams to earn commissions, using its Shopping Affiliate Program instead of Associates links in descriptions. YouTube also added an auto-tagging option that reviews recent uploads to find eligible products. Daily earnings appear in YouTube Studio (no per-item breakdown), returned purchases deduct commissions, and the tags are visible globally.
Google’s AI Mode (announced Aug 2026) can now track flight prices, book hotels, and show point/mile costs. It surfaces options from 300+ airlines and sites, monitors fares with email alerts (180+ countries), and begins U.S. English hotel booking via partners like Booking.com, Expedia, Hilton, and Marriott.
OpenAI is developing a new “Persistent mode” for its AI coding agent Codex that would allow the agent to continue working autonomously until it is “put to sleep,” according to code reviewed by WIRED…
In 2026, Palo Alto startup Hoomanely launched the EverBowl, using sensors and AI to track how dogs eat and drink and alert owners when patterns deviate from a per-dog baseline. In an 18-month beta with ~5M data points across 80+ dogs, it flagged issues later linked to an infected chipped tooth and tick fever.
More than a hundred technology companies — including OpenAI, Anthropic, Google, and Microsoft — signed an open letter in August 2026 calling on both the private and public sectors to strengthen…
