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SoftBank bulks up its robotics portfolio with ABB Group’s robotics unit; also, Square launches AI voice ordering and an integrated Bitcoin solution for merchants Oct 08, 2025

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Japanese investing conglomerate SoftBank Group is buying a robotics company as the financial behemoth says physical AI is its next frontier.

SoftBank announced on Wednesday that it has acquired Zurich, Switzerland-based ABB Group’s robotics business unit for more than five billion dollars. The deal is subject to regulatory approval; SoftBank predicts the deal will close in mid-to-late twenty twenty six. Sami Atiya, the head of the division, will exit the company once the acquisition is complete.

Square has launched new features for merchants, including AI-powered voice ordering for restaurants, enhancements to its AI assistants, such as providing local insights and an integrated Bitcoin solution to accept and hold the digital currency.

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ICE bought vehicles equipped with fake cell towers to spy on phones; also, North Korean hackers stole over $2 billion in crypto Oct 08, 2025

Show notes

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement paid eight hundred twenty five thousand dollars earlier this year to a company that manufactures vehicles equipped with various technologies for law enforcement, including fake cellphone towers known as “cell-site simulators,” which can be used to spy on nearby phones.

Also, hackers working for the North Korean government have stolen more than $2 billion in crypto so far this year. That’s according to blockchain analysis firm Elliptic.

On Tuesday, Elliptic published a blog post with this new estimate, which the company says is the “largest annual total on record, with three months still to go,” and is based on more than thirty hacks this year.

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Deloitte goes all in on AI — despite having to issue a hefty refund for use of AI; plus Taylor Swift fans accuse singer of using AI in her Google scavenger hunt videos Oct 07, 2025

Show notes

Deloitte is rolling out Claude to its nearly 500,000 employees after issuing a refund for a report that contained AI hallucinations.

Plus, Taylor Swift fans love a good puzzle, but some were rubbed the wrong way by a promotional scavenger hunt which appeared to use AI-generated videos.

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AMD to supply 6GW of compute capacity to OpenAI in chip deal worth tens of billions Oct 07, 2025

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AMD has signed a multi-year chip supply deal with OpenAI that could generate tens of billions in revenue for the chipmaker, helping accelerate its momentum in the AI industry. AMD has agreed to supply 6 gigawatts of compute capacity to OpenAI, which is enough to power up to 4 ½ million homes, across multiple generations of its Instinct GPUs, starting with the Instinct MI450 GPU. OpenAI will receive the first gigawatt of capacity in the second half of next year, when the new chip is scheduled for deployment.

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Waffles eat Bluesky, plus Suspect arrested after threats against TikTok’s Culver City headquarters Oct 06, 2025

Show notes

A waffle-centric controversy underlines ongoing tensions between Bluesky and some of its most vocal users.

Also, police say they have arrested a suspect allegedly connected to multiple online threats that led TikTok to evacuate its headquarters near Los Angeles on Friday.

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Tesla’s insurance arm accused of ‘egregious delays’ and ‘systemic failures’ by CA regulator; also, Bezos predicts that millions will live in space in ‘couple of decades’ Oct 06, 2025

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California's Department of Insurance has been warning Tesla to fix its claims process since 2022, but consumer complaints have skyrocketed anyways.

Amazon founder Jeff Bezos made a rare public appearance at Italian Tech Week in Turin on Friday and used the opportunity to predict that millions of people will be living in space “in the next couple of decades,” the Financial Times reports.

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Apple removes ICEBlock and similar tracking apps from the App Store; also, Hacking group claims theft of 1 billion records from Salesforce customer databases Oct 03, 2025

Show notes

A notorious predominantly English-speaking hacking group has launched a website to extort its victims, threatening to release about a billion records stolen from companies who store their customers’ data in cloud databases hosted by Salesforce.

Apple has removed ICEBlock and other apps from its App Store that allow users to anonymously report sightings of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents, following pressure from the Trump administration.

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Hackers are sending extortion emails to executives after claiming Oracle apps’ data breach; also, OpenAI is the world’s most valuable private company Oct 03, 2025

Show notes

Google says hackers associated with a prolific ransomware group are sending extortion emails to executives at “numerous” large organizations after claiming to have stolen their sensitive information from a suite of business software products developed by Oracle.

Also, OpenAI has sold 6.6 billion dollars in shares held by current and former employees, according to a new report from Bloomberg. The sale pushed OpenAI’s total valuation to 500 billion dollars, the highest ever achieved by a privately held company. Purchasers included SoftBank, Dragoneer Investment Group, Thrive Capital, MGX, and T. Rowe Price, the report said.

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Hollywood is not taking kindly to the AI-generated actress Tilly Norwood, plus, Apple is shelving Vision Pro overhaul to focus on AI glasses Oct 02, 2025

Show notes

London-based actress Tilly Norwood has about 40 thousand Instagram followers. One thing to know though is she’s not real. She is an AI-generated character created by Xicoia, the AI division of the production company Particle6.

Also, Apple is sidelining plans to overhaul its Vision Pro VR glasses to focus on developing AI smart glasses that can compete with products from Meta, according to a new report from Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman.

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OpenAI staff grapples with the company’s social media push Oct 02, 2025

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Current and former OpenAI researchers seem torn over how the company's Sora app fits in with its broader mission.

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