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Technology news: AI, chips and devices, programming, security, crypto and the companies building them.

2299 articles · page 12 of 48 · The Tech front page

Tech

Microsoft breaks Exchange Server with October Windows Server updates, forces admins into weekend fixes

Microsoft has acknowledged that its October 2026 Windows Server updates are destabilising Exchange Server, causing OWA connection glitches and email queues that grind to a halt. The bug, affecting Exchange running on Windows Server 2016, 2019, 2022 and 2025, has forced administrators into marathon weekend repair sessions. Microsoft has provided a registry-based workaround but warned against uninstalling the update.

Hardware & Devices

Arm says AGI CPU nearly doubles modelled rack performance over AMD

Arm has announced that its AGI data centre CPU delivers nearly twice the performance per rack as AMD's EPYC 9755 in agentic AI workloads, according to results modeled using a new CPU evaluation methodology developed with support from Fujitsu, Meta, and OpenAI. The analysis, commissioned by Arm and independently verified by Signal65, positions the chip as a leader in handling tool execution, retrieval, and state management tasks crucial for AI agents, though Arm acknowledges the method is not yet an industry standard.

AI

Musk pledges SpaceX shares to every US child in $10.7bn giveaway

Elon Musk has pledged to give one of his own SpaceX shares to every child in America next year, a promise worth roughly $10.7 billion at current prices, as major tech figures respond to mounting public anxiety over the risks of artificial intelligence. The announcement came a day after AI company Anthropic said it would commit 5% of its shares to a new fund dedicated to the "public good," subject to shareholder approval.

· 4 sources
Hardware & Devices

Huawei unveils OceanStor M900 memory storage to tackle AI inference bottleneck

Huawei has introduced OceanStor M900 Context Memory Storage at HUAWEI CONNECT 2026 in Shanghai, a storage platform designed to ease the memory bottleneck facing AI inference as context windows grow and agentic workloads multiply. The company claims the system can deliver up to 64PB of shared cache capacity, cut access latency to 60 microseconds and roughly double token throughput in typical AI coding workloads.

AI

EU publishes first harmonised AI Act standard, giving high-risk providers a compliance route

The European Commission has published the first harmonised standard supporting the EU Artificial Intelligence Act, creating a clear legal pathway for providers of high-risk AI systems to meet the regulation's quality management requirements. The standard, EN 18286:2026, was published through Commission Implementing Decision 2026/2274 and applies a presumption of conformity with Article 17 of the AI Act.

Security

Critical Linux KVM Flaw PwnEscape Enables Novel Guest-to-Host Attack

A critical vulnerability in the Linux Kernel-based Virtual Machine (KVM), tracked as CVE-2026-99999 and dubbed PwnEscape, has been disclosed by security researcher Paulos Yibelo. Rated 9.3 on the CVSS severity scale, the flaw allows a guest virtual machine to send malformed IPv4 packets that can corrupt the host operating system's network stack, potentially enabling arbitrary code execution on the host, denial of service, or memory disclosure.

AI

Sydney man accused of plotting childcare mass shooting in AI chatbot chats, court told

A Sydney man has been remanded in custody for a mental health assessment after a court heard he allegedly told an AI chatbot that he planned to carry out a mass shooting at a childcare centre near his Hurstville home. David Lan Thackray, 29, was arrested on Sunday after Interpol flagged his interactions with Claude, an AI assistant developed by Anthropic, and has been charged with using a carriage service to menace, harass or offend.

· 4 sources
Crypto

Major companies object to tokenized stock platform as OKXICE faces issuer resistance

Nine major U.S. companies, including Broadcom, Verizon, and UnitedHealth, have objected to having their shares traded on OKXICE TSV, the planned tokenized stock venue from crypto exchange OKX and New York Stock Exchange owner Intercontinental Exchange. Nasdaq has separately said it will opt its own shares out of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission's temporary framework, citing concerns about real-time pricing and trade reporting. The pushback highlights growing resistance from issuers and market operators to the SEC's five-year Innovation Exemption for onchain stock trading.

· 2 sources
AI

Musk vows to hand AI shares directly to public as Anthropic fund pledge divides tech

Elon Musk says he will give shares directly to the public rather than route AI wealth through institutional funds, as reaction to Anthropic's plan to commit 5% of its stock to a 'public benefit fund' splits Silicon Valley between praise, suspicion and mockery. The exchange comes as Anthropic prepares for what could be the largest initial public offering in history, with reports pointing to a listing within weeks.

· 10 sources
AI

Police AI misuse: Investigators uploaded 350,000 lines of audio to unsecured platform, documents show

New Zealand Police investigators repeatedly misused artificial intelligence translation tools, including uploading 350,000 lines of Chinese audio to Google Translate and breaking bans on transcribing English audio, official documents released under the Official Information Act show. The breaches occurred during a period of intense pressure on investigators and after an initial success using the Whisper AI system to translate Chinese-language phone intercepts in the 2024 Gulf Harbour body investigation.

Hardware & Devices

Tom's Hardware reviews Asus ROG Strix XG27AQGNV gaming monitor with G-Sync Pulsar

Tom's Hardware has reviewed the Asus ROG Strix XG27AQGNV, a 27-inch QHD IPS gaming monitor featuring Nvidia's G-Sync Pulsar technology. The review notes that G-Sync Pulsar, which syncs the backlight with the frame rate, provides smooth motion clarity without the brightness penalty typical of strobing, making this display a strong alternative to OLED for gamers prioritizing motion resolution.

Crypto

Crypto hacks cost $1.18 billion in Q3 as audits face scrutiny, Hacken report says

Blockchain security firm Hacken reported that hackers stole $1.18 billion from crypto projects in the third quarter of 2026, a 55% increase from the previous quarter, as the company warned that security audits often fail to cover the systems attackers actually target. According to Hacken, $906.8 million of the losses came from compromised suppliers or developer tools, uninstalled security fixes, or components excluded from the latest security review.

AI

Swedish researchers use Wi-Fi and AI to detect concealed handguns

Researchers at the Swedish Defense Research Agency (FOI) have developed an AI system, WiFireNet, that can identify concealed handguns by analyzing distortions in ambient Wi-Fi signals. The system, described in a paper posted on arXiv, uses channel state information to distinguish handguns from everyday objects. In controlled tests, it achieved an average detection precision of 72.5% but struggled with exact localisation and unfamiliar layouts. The project has been made open source to encourage further research.

Crypto

Joint operation targets West African crypto scams, over $11 million flagged

A coordinated international crackdown on scam networks in West Africa has resulted in 28 arrests and flagged over $11 million in funds linked to cryptocurrency investment fraud. The operation, hosted by the UK's National Crime Agency (NCA) and involving authorities in Ghana, Nigeria, and the US alongside private sector partners including Binance and Coinbase, marks the first such joint effort focused on the region.