This week’s tech news is a wild mix of societal and security alarms. We’ve got toddlers hooked on algorithms, AI pumping out toxic content on TikTok, and a five-year-long con in your browser. Plus, cars keep getting bigger.
AWS’s big conference is in full swing, with a relentless focus on AI agents that can operate autonomously. The company also announced new AI chips and, to many customers’ relief, long-awaited database discounts.
The Indian government has withdrawn a controversial order that would have forced smartphone makers to preinstall an undeletable government safety app. The reversal came after major pushback from Apple and Samsung, who argued it created security and privacy risks.
The Bolivian Attorney General’s Office has broken ground on a new data center to serve as the judicial system’s technological backbone. The project, partially funded by the EU, will be built in two phases targeting high-availability international standards.
Sony has given the PlayStation 5 Slim a silent but significant hardware upgrade. The new CFI-2116 revision now uses the grooved heatsink design from the upcoming PS5 Pro, which fixes problematic liquid metal distribution. It’s a major reliability fix discovered by modders, not announced by Sony.
A collaborative experiment called Dynamic Targeting has proven that satellites can use onboard AI to look ahead for clouds and autonomously reposition their sensors to capture clear imagery. This breakthrough in “satellite autonomy” promises to make Earth observation far more efficient and flexible
Google’s December Android security bulletin patches 107 vulnerabilities, including two high-severity zero-days that were under active exploitation. The update also addresses seven critical-severity bugs, four in the kernel. Users are urged to update immediately.
Flexiv has unveiled its first self-developed autonomous mobile robot, the FMR 300. Designed as a mobile base for its force-sensing robots, it promises to bring automation to tight, unstructured spaces without needing perfect vision systems.
A new partnership aims to modernize the electronics in satellites and spacecraft. By using a 12-nanometer manufacturing process, they plan to bring space-grade chips up to par with commercial tech.
Wholesale fiber operator Onivia is making a major move in Spain. It’s nearly doubling its fiber footprint and, for the first time, adding mobile services via Vodafone’s network to offer full convergence.
