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Congressional Democrats on the Joint Economic Committee released a report this week pinpointing more than $20.9 billion in consumer losses stemming from identity theft that came out of four major breaches of data broker firms. US senator Maggie Hassan launched the investigation in August after an investigation by The Markup and CalMatters, copublished by WIRED, found that some data brokers were hiding opt-out tools from Google and other search engines.The US Department of Justice’s recent release of 3 million documents related to convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein included grand jury subpoenas to Google that shed light on how federal investigators…

China’s humanoid robots grabbed global attention with kung fu flips at the nation’s televised Spring Festival Gala, while Chinese phone maker Honor is set to unveil its first humanoid robot at MWC in Spain.  Robotics was flagged as a priority under the country’s “Made in China 2025” plan, albeit originally focused on factory automation, rather than humanoids. Now, rapid advances in multimodal AI are accelerating so-called embodied AI — autonomous machines operating in the real world — a push officials say could help offset labor shortages and drive productivity gains.  At this early stage of humanoid robot development, Chinese companies…

Missile defense begins with sensors that can detect a launch within seconds. One of the key radars used with THAAD is the AN/TPY-2, a high-frequency X-band radar designed to track small, fast-moving objects at long distances.BARAK (top), PAC-3 MSE (middle) and THAAD (bottom) missiles from Lockheed Martin. Photograph: Leon Neal/Getty ImagesThe radar can detect and track ballistic missiles hundreds of kilometers away, following objects traveling at hypersonic speeds and transmitting that data to command centers in real time.Once a missile launch is detected, defense systems calculate its trajectory and determine where the missile will be at a given moment in…

OpenAI CEO Sam Altman announced late on Friday that his company has reached an agreement allowing the Department of Defense to use its AI models in the department’s classified network. This follows a high-profile standoff between the department — also known under the Trump administration as the Department of War — and OpenAI’s rival Anthropic. The Pentagon pushed AI companies, including Anthropic, to allow their models be used “all lawful purposes,” while Anthropic sought to draw a red line around mass domestic surveillance and fully autonomous weapons. In a lengthy statement released Thursday, Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei said the company…

Residents across Tehran and other Iranian cities were jolted awake by sounds of loud explosions in the early hours of Saturday morning, as Israel and the US launched joint attacks on Iran.The attacks, which the US and Israel are calling “preemptive strikes,” come after a period of failed negotiations between the countries, and on the heels of mass protests in Iran earlier this year that saw the death of at least 3,117 civilians, according to government statistics.Shortly after the first set of explosions, Iranians received bursts of notifications on their phones. They came not from the government advising caution, but…

Xiaomi today launched a slew of gadgets ahead of the Mobile World Congress (MWC) in Barcelona including a camera-focused flagship smartphone, an AirTag clone, Xiaomi Watch 5 smartwatch, and an ultra slim power bank. The China-based company has partnered with camera maker Leica to co-brand its Xiaomi 17 Ultra smartphone. As part of the partnership, it is using Leica lenses and creating filters in the style of the German camera company. The phone has a 50-megapixel main sensor with an F/1.67 aperture and a 1-inch sensor. But the main attraction is the 200-megapixel telephoto camera that has a variable focal…

A big screen, powerful camera system, and top-notch performance can eat right into your battery life, but Xiaomi has managed to pack a 6,000-mAh battery into the 17 Ultra (up from 5,410 mAh last year). The jump gives it serious stamina, and this phone can go a couple of days between charges.I wish Xiaomi had found a way to include Qi2, as magnetic wireless charging is the one thing I missed in switching from the Pixel 10 Pro XL (though you can sort of add it with the photography kit case). The 17 Ultra does support wireless charging at an…

Shopping for a MicroSD card can be a little daunting. There are a ton of numbers to consider, a huge number of brands producing cards with similar-sounding features and names, and words like Pro, Extreme, and Express getting thrown around everywhere.To make a long story short, unless you’re shooting a ton of photos and videos, and doing so even semiprofessionally where losing those shots might be detrimental to your professional reputation, you’re fine to buy a MicroSD card from any company whose name you’ve heard before. I prefer cards from PNY, SanDisk, and Lexar. Keep an eye out for the…

Others We TestedThere were multiple great bags we tried whose features or designs just didn’t add up to a place in the top spots above. However, everyone has something different they’re looking for in a toiletry bag, so while not perfect for us, some of these options may still be perfect for you.Photograph: Kat MerckPatricks BB1 Bathroom Bag for $189: This crush-resistant, shock-absorbing rectangular bag is basically a heavier-duty, unisex version of the Flat Lay, below, except it costs four times as much. I tested it in the Triple Black colorway, which is “strictly limited to 1,000 pieces globally.” This…

The idea of using a laptop cooling pad feels antiquated. These days, laptop chips have become extremely efficient. The fans on MacBooks (if they even have them) are barely used, and both Intel and Qualcomm are pushing efficiency on the Windows front.But people keep buying laptop cooling pads, so surely there is a use case in 2026 that actually makes sense, right? I tried out a couple cooling pads paired with a couple of different gaming laptops, and walked away surprised at how effective they could be.Do Cooling Pads Actually Work?Photograph: Luke LarsenLaptop cooling pads have been around for decades,…

A rise in the need for computers and data centers to power AI is causing a massive shortage of RAM, driving memory prices sharply higher. Now, analyst firm IDC predicts that this will cause smartphone shipments to plummet by 12.9% this year, making it the biggest single-year dip in more than a decade. Hours after IDC published its report, another analyst firm, Counterpoint, made a similar prediction and said the market will dip by 12% this year. Earlier this year, IDC reported that manufacturers shipped 1.26 billion devices in 2025. The firm predicts that figure will drop to just 1.12…

It’s boom time for water filters, ever since the EPA announced that as many as 10 percent of US water systems may have unsafe levels of PFAS, also known as “forever chemicals,” in the water. Lead pipes are still all over the place, even if they’re no longer in Flint, Michigan, as of July 2025. Heck, there are maybe heavy metals in the groundwater, depending where you are, and bottled water risks excess microplastics.I don’t say this to panic you. Your drinking water is probably in compliance with federal standards, and only around 4 percent of water systems end up…

OpenAI has raised $110 billion in private funding, the company announced Friday morning, commencing one of the largest private funding rounds in history. The new funding consists of a $50 billion investment from Amazon as well as $30 billion each from Nvidia and SoftBank, against a $730 billion pre-money valuation. Notably, the round remains open, and OpenAI expects more investors to join as it proceeds. “We are entering a new phase where frontier AI moves from research into daily use at global scale,” OpenAI said. “Leadership will be defined by who can scale infrastructure fast enough to meet demand, and…

Weeks after stepping down as CEO from food delivery service Zomato and its parent Eternal, Indian entrepreneur Deepinder Goyal is back with a $54 million raise for wearable startup Temple, part of what the 43-year-old earlier described as a shift toward “higher-risk exploration and experimentation.” On Friday, Goyal said in a post on X that Temple had raised funds in a friends-and-family round from founder friends and early Zomato backers, at a post-money valuation of about $190 million. More than 30 employees participated at the same valuation, he said. Goyal is leading the funding round, followed by Steadview Capital, according…

Today is it! When the clock hits 11:59 p.m. PT, the lowest ticket rates of the year for TechCrunch Disrupt 2026 go up. No extensions. No second chances. The same access will cost more tomorrow. If you’re planning to attend, this is your final window to lock in up to $680 off your pass or up to 30% off group passes. After tonight, this year’s biggest savings disappear. Register now. Disrupt: Your launchpad in the tech ecosystem If you’re raising capital, hiring top talent, launching your startup, or hunting for your next portfolio company, missing Disrupt from October 13–15 at San Francisco’s Moscone West isn’t just inconvenient. It’s a missed opportunity to move ahead while others hesitate. Here’s what…

Anthropic has reached a stalemate with the United States Department of War over the military’s request for unrestricted access to the AI company’s technology. But as the Pentagon’s Friday afternoon deadline for Anthropic’s compliance approaches, more than 300 Google employees and over 60 OpenAI employees have signed an open letter urging the leaders of their companies to support Anthropic and refuse this unilateral use. Specifically, Anthropic stood in opposition to the use of AI for domestic mass surveillance and autonomous weaponry. The open letter’s signatories seek to encourage their employers to “put aside their differences and stand together” to uphold…