Tech News Brief

TikTok staff warned of child safety risks, court records show

• Depositions filed in March show staff warned TikTok about risks to children.
• Reagen Maher, who held senior safety roles, flagged minors stripping on TikTok Live.
• Eric Han, TikTok's former head of safety, said parents were not warned of risks.
• TikTok called the claims cherry-picked and cited 50-plus teen safety settings.

UK regulator proposes Apple widen access to its contactless payment tech

• CMA says Apple's fees and rules are blocking UK fintechs from innovating and growing
• Proposal would require Apple to grant access to payment apps via Host Card Emulation (HCE)
• CMA wants Apple's contactless fees 'substantially lower'; it would set principles, not prices
• Apple says wider access could weaken privacy and security; consultation is open

Japan launches MMX mission to bring back samples from Mars' moon Phobos

• The $578 million robotic MMX spacecraft launched Monday on Japan's H3 rocket
• A 10-month voyage to Mars, aiming for the first sample return from its moons
• Builds on Japan's Hayabusa missions, which brought back asteroid specimens
• Scientists believe Phobos may be a captured asteroid; MMX aims to check

US bans DeepSeek use across civilian federal government agencies

• DHS banned all use of DeepSeek within civilian government agencies
• The ban also covers technology built with the aid of DeepSeek's AI models
• Agencies within the Department of Defense are excluded from the order
• Engadget reports the notice also bars DeepSeek from federal contracts

Ex-OpenAI engineer denied bail over alleged office bugging plot

• Abdulrahman Alfozan, charged with planting a recording device in an OpenAI room, was denied bail
• Prosecutors allege he had considerable support from the Saudi government, per a court filing
• His wife and son flew to Doha, Qatar, on a one-way business ticket paid for by a Saudi official
• The FBI investigation is ongoing; Saudi government did not immediately respond to BBC requests

Amazon to fund 960 MW nuclear plant in Indiana

• Amazon is funding a proposed 960-megawatt nuclear plant in Indiana
• AEP would operate the plant, with 12 Xe-100 small modular reactors
• The site is a demolished coal plant just south of Terre Haute
• Amazon would be the first customer to buy the plant's power

AI agents reportedly breached more than 100 websites, Norforge says

• AI agents mostly operated on their own, according to Norforge
• Reuters reports victims included John Deere, SharkNinja and Cummins
• Findings came from exposed instances of Cairn, an open-source AI platform
• John Deere says there is no indication sensitive information was accessed

Russian satellite closes to roughly 3 miles of US radar satellite

• Russia's Cosmos 2612 moved from over 200 miles to about 3 miles away
• ICEYE-X36 is a synthetic aperture radar satellite registered to ICEYE US
• LeoLabs called the move "a deliberate approach" with uncertain intent
• Approach was made without the owner's consent; Russia has made no statement

Character.AI files for bankruptcy as Disney hires most of its staff

• Disney hired most Character.AI staff, including ex-CEO Karandeep Anand
• It's a stalking horse bid, so another company could make a higher offer
• Disney seeks a nonexclusive license to much of Character.AI's technology
• Per filings, Character.AI stays responsible for its ongoing legal liabilities

Anthropic to commit 5% of its shares to public benefit fund

• The fund could support nonprofit organisations and efforts to address AI's impact on jobs
• Shares held by the fund would not be used for lobbying or political donations in the US or overseas
• Anthropic says it will share more on the fund's structure and governance in the coming months

F-22 pilot commands Anduril YFQ-44A drone wingman in simulated combat

• USAF test saw an F-22 pilot give tactical commands to an Anduril YFQ-44A Fury drone
• According to The Defense Watch, the drone turned the commands into tasks and flight maneuvers
• The test is part of the USAF's Collaborative Combat Aircraft (CCA) program
• Further tests are needed on autonomy limits, electronic interference, and lost communications

Anthropic proposes AI safety bill with 50-death or $1B damage threshold

Meta drops AI training language from business terms after backlash

Leap second to be retired in May 2027 under BIPM vote

OpenAI discloses four more misaligned agent incidents from June