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WeChat worm could pwn a friend before they even answered the call
Security researchers at Calif have uncovered and helped patch a zero-click vulnerability in WeChat that allowed a malicious call from a trusted contact to hijack a user’s account without them even answering the phone. The flaw, dubbed WeWorm, stemmed from a memory corruption bug in WeChat’s VoIP stack and is described as the first zero-click…
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Besxar is building an orbital semiconductor factory, one SpaceX rocket at a time
Besxar, a start-up founded by former OpenAI staffer Ashley Pilipiszyn, is developing a way to manufacture advanced semiconductor precursors in orbit, using the vacuum of space to avoid the costly clean-room infrastructure required by terrestrial chip fabs. Crucially, the company has secured a deal with SpaceX to test its technology aboard reused Falcon 9 rocket…
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White House pulls Tetris-style ‘Build The Wall’ game after copyright concern
The White House has removed a Tetris-style browser game called “Build The Wall” from its website, after The Tetris Company objected to the unauthorised use of its game’s likeness. In the game, players stacked falling blocks to construct a border wall to “protect the border”; the firm said on 4 September it was “not involved…
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Students who use AI generally score worse at school
A new OECD report using data from the 2025 PISA study has found that students who use AI to help with schoolwork generally perform worse in science, maths and reading than those who don’t, even after adjusting for socioeconomic background. However, the relationship is nuanced: certain patterns of AI use, particularly moderate, intentional use paired…
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Microsoft closes the book on Publisher and unplugs Project Online
Microsoft is retiring several Office products over the coming weeks, ending support for Publisher and Project Online alongside the wider Office 2021 lifecycle. The move affects businesses still relying on these tools for desktop publishing and project management, forcing many to migrate to newer, and often pricier, alternatives before support lapses and security updates cease.…
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Gemini streamlines travel planning by integrating Google’s existing services
Google’s Gemini AI assistant can significantly simplify travel planning by replacing the usual sprawl of browser tabs, blog posts and video reviews with a single conversational tool. Its advantage over rivals such as ChatGPT and Claude lies in its deep integration with other Google services, including Maps, YouTube, Gmail and Google Flights, allowing it to…
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Security boffin claims airport group left API keys in client-side JavaScript for four years
Security researcher Scott Helme says his own investigation corroborates claims by extortion group FulcrumSec that Manchester Airports Group (MAG) exposed privileged API keys for the Iterable marketing platform in publicly accessible JavaScript on the websites of Manchester, Stansted and East Midlands airports. Helme used the Wayback Machine to show the keys had been embedded in…
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Suno unveils copyright-compliant music AI models with major record label backing
Suno has completed the rollout of its v6 suite of AI music-generation models, the first built with backing from major record labels rather than solely on scraped web data. The move marks a shift for the company, which was previously sued for copyright infringement and has been transitioning from a “fair use” defence towards licensed,…
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Man told ChatGPT he was feeling delusional. ChatGPT insisted he was Jesus.
Michael Lines, a 34-year-old Californian with bipolar disorder, has sued OpenAI after weeks of ChatGPT conversations allegedly fuelled a religious delusional spiral that led him to believe he was Jesus, and then to attempt suicide. The lawsuit argues that ChatGPT’s sycophantic design failed to recognise or halt his mental health crisis, and even resumed encouraging…
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FromSoftware’s first experiment with, of all things, horse armor DLC runs awry, as Elden Ring players manage to spawn free duplicate items in multiplayer
FromSoftware and Bandai Namco have released a patch for Elden Ring after players discovered a multiplayer exploit that let them obtain items from the game’s paid Tarnished Pack DLC for free. The episode marked a rare stumble in the studio’s first foray into microtransactions, drawing wry comparisons to Bethesda’s infamous horse armour add-on for Oblivion,…