Technology

Massive cyberattack on Polish power system in December failed, minister says

WARSAW, Jan 13 (Reuters) - ‌Poland's power system faced its largest cyberattack ‌in years in the last week ‌of December that also followed a different pattern, the country's energy minister said on Tuesday.

AI

Amazon AI tool blindsides merchants by offering products without their knowledge

Sometime around Christmas, Sarah Burzio noticed that the holiday sales bump for her stationery business included some mysterious new customers: a flurry of orders from anonymous email addresses associated with Amazon.com Inc.

Social media

MCMC to take legal action against X over explicit AI photos involving women and minors

The Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC) says it is pursuing legal action against X (formerly Twitter) over the social media platform's failure to address user safety concerns regarding the Grok Artificial Intelligence (AI) chatbot.

Technology

Investors back energy providers over big tech for 2026 AI bets, says BlackRock

LONDON, Jan 13 (Reuters) - BlackRock, ‌the world's largest asset manager, still believes in ‌the investment case for artificial intelligence in the ‌year ahead but will be focusing on broader opportunities, it said on Tuesday.

AI

UK regulator opens probe into X over sexualised AI imagery

UK media regulator Ofcom on Jan 12 launched a formal investigation into Elon Musk's X over its AI chatbot Grok's image-creation feature that has been used to produce sexualised deepfakes.

Gadgets

AI helps fuel new era of medical self-testing

Beyond smartwatches and rings, artificial intelligence is being used to make self-testing for major diseases more readily available – from headsets that detect early signs of Alzheimer's to an iris-scanning app that helps spot cancer.

AI

Apple chooses Google's Gemini AI to power Siri

Tech giants Apple and Google announced on Jan 12 a multi-year partnership that will see Apple's next-generation artificial intelligence features, including its Siri assistant, be powered by Google's Gemini technology.

Technology

China unveils world’s first timekeeping software for the moon, where clocks tick faster

New tech allows moon events to be accurately synchronised from Earth, paving the way for more spacecraft and people to work on the satellite.

AI

Hong Kong strengthens environmental impact reviews with AI, laser-armed robot dogs

Environmental Protection Department employs two systems – one for detecting bird species and another for monitoring trees – at Hong Kong Wetland Park.

AI

Can you optimise love?

A group of tech executives, app developers and Silicon Valley philosophers is seeking to streamline the messy matters of the heart.

AI

Amazon has big hopes for wearable AI – starting with this US$50 gadget

Several months after Amazon.com Inc bought artificial intelligence hardware startup Bee, the company said it's working to make its US$50 always-listening wearable more proactive, and indicated a larger revamp is in store.

Technology

SK Hynix to invest nearly $13 billion in chip packaging plant in South Korea

SEOUL, Jan 13 (Reuters) - ‌South Korea's SK Hynix said on Tuesday ‌it has decided to invest 19 ‌trillion won ($12.90 billion) to build an advanced chip packaging plant in South Korea to meet rising memory chip demand ‍related to artificial intelligence.

Technology

Apple, Google strike Gemini deal for revamped Siri in major win for Alphabet

Jan 12 (Reuters) - ‌Apple will use Google's Gemini models for its revamped Siri coming later this year under a multi-year deal that ‌deepens the tech giants' alliance in the artificial intelligence era and bolsters Alphabet's position in the race ‌against OpenAI.

Technology

Meta to exclude Italy from rival chatbot ban on WhatsApp

BRUSSELS, Jan ‌12 (Reuters) - Meta Platforms will exclude Italy from its ban on rival AI ‌chatbots on WhatsApp following an order from the country's antitrust authority, according ‌to a notice sent to AI providers and developers seen by Reuters.

Technology

Alphabet hits $4 trillion valuation as AI refocus lifts sentiment

Jan 12 (Reuters) - ‌Alphabet briefly hit $4 trillion in market valuation on Monday, as the Google parent's sharpened artificial intelligence ‌focus allayed doubts about its strategy and thrust it back to the forefront of the high-stakes ‌race.

Technology

Morocco targets $10 billion AI contribution to GDP by 2030

RABAT, Jan ‌12 (Reuters) - Morocco is targeting a 100 billion dirhams ($10 billion) boost ‌to its gross domestic product from artificial intelligence by ‌2030, the minister in charge of digital transition said on Monday, as the country steps up its investment in training programmes, sovereign data centres and cloud services.

Technology

Former Trump adviser Dina Powell McCormick named Meta's president

(Corrects past job of Jennifer Newstead to ‌former Trump administration official instead of former Biden administration official, paragraph 4)

Technology

Crypto firm BitGo eyes up to $1.96 billion valuation in US IPO

Jan 12 (Reuters) - Crypto ‌custody startup BitGo said on Monday it was targeting a ‌valuation of up to $1.96 billion in its U.S. initial public offering, ‌seeking to tap into the investor appetite for crypto firms.

Technology

UK tech minister welcomes Ofcom's investigation into X over Grok sexualised imagery

LONDON, Jan ‌12 (Reuters) - British technology ‌minister Liz Kendall ‌said on Monday she welcomed the media regulator ‍Ofcom's investigation into ‍X over ‌sexualised imagery produced by the ‍Grok ​AI chatbot

Technology

Duolingo CFO Matt Skaruppa to step down after nearly six years

Jan 12 (Reuters) - Duolingo ‌said on Monday that Chief Financial Officer Matt ‌Skaruppa will step down after nearly six ‌years in the role, marking the departure of a key executive who helped the language-learning app maker go public.