One in 4 Fortune 500 companies experienced a service disruption due to Friday's global IT outages and likely lost a combined $5.4 billion, according to a new report from cyber insurer Parametrix.
Why it matters: The report provides some of the first estimates on how damaging the recent CrowdStrikes outages were to the global economy.
CrowdStrike is adding more steps to its internal review process for software updates after shipping faulty content data last Friday that crashed millions of Windows devices worldwide, the company said in a blog post Wednesday.
Why it matters: Microsoft estimates that 8.5 million Windows devices went down on Friday after CrowdStrike pushed a faulty software update to its popular endpoint detection tools.
A group of bipartisan lawmakers on Wednesday sent Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg a letter asking the firm to delay shutting down CrowdTangle for six months.
Why it matters: The lawmakers argue Meta has a responsibility to be transparent about the content being shared on its platform ahead of the 2024 election.
Heavy security restrictions ahead of the Olympics Opening Ceremony meant that only those with a pass or official accreditation are allowed along the Seine. I had a lovely walk along the river on Tuesday, with only the occasional worker putting on the finishing touches, along with police on land and in boats.
In a quiet industrial park in Charlotte, a small company is building drones and robots to revolutionize the American blue-collar workforce. And soon, those robots will be artificially intelligent.
Why it matters: Lucid Bots aims to become a leader in embedding AI into physical devices for a real purpose — creating robots that can take on dangerous work and freeing humans to pursue other meaningful tasks.
A secretive drone designed to reap intelligence from faraway targets flew for at least three days straight in recent testing, a feat its maker shared first with Axios.
Why it matters: The marathon flight — possibly twice as long as other drones' — could shake up how the U.S. military approaches overhead surveillance, for which there is an insatiable appetite.
Meta, the parent company of Facebook and Instagram, has removed roughly 63,000 accounts and is banning all future content from a notorious online cybercriminal ring that's targeted U.S. adults in financial sextortion scams.
Why it matters: This is the toughest enforcement action against a financial sextortion from a social media company to-date.
A growing number of women are seeking connection and comfort in relationships with chatbots — and finding their approximation of empathy more dependable than many human partners' support.
Why it matters: These female AI users, flipping the stereotype of under-socialized men chatting with AI girlfriends in their parents' basement, are challenging assumptions about the nature of human intimacy.
Last week's global IT outage is a reminder of how far corporate networks have to go to diversify their tech stacks and strengthen their supply chain security.
Why it matters: Nation-state hackers already have a history of hijacking companies to send out malicious software updates that can wreak havoc on computer systems for days on end.
Election officials are already preparing for how best to fight a fresh wave of disinformation about the voting process following President Joe Biden's decision to drop out of the presidential race.
Why it matters: Americans were already highly susceptible to lies about the voting process — and they're expected to be even more susceptible to those about the process to pick a new Democratic candidate, experts warn.
Spotify on Tuesday reported its most profitable quarter ever, a signal to investors that its efficiency efforts are working and its business is growing, despite a slowdown in the ad market.
Why it matters: It marks the second consecutive quarter of record profit growth for the company, following several quarters of heavy losses last year.
Cadillac's latest vision for the future is a gorgeous, buttercream-colored convertible that taps into one of the hottest hobbies on the planet: bird-watching.
Why it matters: While only a design exercise at this point, Cadillac's Sollei concept reimagines the bespoke American luxury drop-top, with a personalized driving experience connecting drivers with the natural world around them.
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