World · Cybersecurity
Trump’s Midterm Mission Leads Bloomberg Government Newsletter Preview
Jonathan Tamari previews a weekday Washington newsletter led by Trump’s midterm Republican turnout mission.
Latest news, developments and reporting on World.
Jonathan Tamari previews a weekday Washington newsletter led by Trump’s midterm Republican turnout mission.
Bloomberg reports that Russian disinformation operators are using bots to inflate view counts on AI-fabricated videos attacking Democratic candidates ahead of the U.S. midterms. Videos featuring celebrities including Taylor Swift, Julia Roberts, Robert De Niro and Cher appeared on X starting in early September, with some promoting #AllDemocratsAreCriminals.
Prima, a retinal implant with camera glasses, is approved in Europe and awaits FDA clearance for advanced AMD.
France, the UK and the EU are advancing social media bans for minors, but early evidence from Australia shows most under-16s still get onto barred platforms. MIT Technology Review argues enforcement alone could push children to riskier spaces and weaken privacy.
A near-270 km/h crash in China GT Shanghai trapped Ollie Millroy in a burning Ferrari; a rival pulled him out in 59 seconds, while official medical help arrived minutes later. The incident and a Guangdong crash highlight racing's layered safety system.
Seoul’s KOSPI closed up 2.05% at 5,668.05 on Oct. 16, snapping a seven-day losing streak, as chip shares recovered and Fed Chair Kevin Warsh’s comments on the U.S. economy and AI boosted risk appetite. The won rose to 1,331.4 per dollar.
President Donald Trump’s AI task force agreed at its first meeting to address cybersecurity, biosecurity and model control risks, and will commission a report on those and other concerns.
Cologne police seized a robot and are investigating two teens after it allegedly touched a 16-year-old girl on camera.
Shield AI expects its first full-scale X-BAT VTOL combat drone by the end of October 2026 and flight tests later this year, after the U.S. Navy added $150 million to bring external funding to $200 million.
Ukrainian bureau says its balloon-launched Mara drone can strike beyond 1,000 km for up to $6,000; independent verification is lacking.
The IMF warns that weaker AI investment, inflation and cyber threats could tighten financial conditions, while South Korea's record chip profits fail to prevent market panic and trading halts.
A printed internet packet flown by carrier pigeon in a 2001 experiment has sold at Christie's for $24,600, far above its $4,000 listing, according to TechRadar.
Trump shared a White House restoration photo on Truth Social that The Verge says was flagged as AI-edited.
Citizen Lab says mercenary hackers used targeted ads to deliver zero-click exploits that infected 45 Al Jazeera devices in 2024 and 2025, likely the first confirmed case of ad-delivered zero-click mercenary spyware.
The Traitors Telugu debuted Oct. 15 on Prime Video, while The Celebrity Traitors season 2 aired episode 5 the same day on BBC One and iPlayer. Both shows face regional streaming limits, with new episodes continuing through Nov. 5 and Oct. 30 respectively.
Uber has started testing autonomous vehicles in Manchester with partners Pony and Verne as it moves toward UK robotaxi services, while unions and London politicians object.
Microsoft, Proofpoint and Japanese law enforcement dismantled YAM Store, CoGUI and Iron Man, a Chinese-language cybercrime marketplace that sold phishing tools, accounts and infrastructure. Microsoft says the network facilitated more than a billion phishing messages this year before domains were seized and over 20,000 accounts disabled.
Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang called on Europe to dream bigger about artificial intelligence, with Nvidia’s help, at an event in central London on Wednesday evening. He cheered “Go, go UK!” beneath stained glass windows at a church-turned upmarket restaurant. The report also referenced UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer and Peter Kyle.
Citizen Lab and Confiant say Discover-Tech worked with spyware companies to deliver zero-click attacks through targeted ads, including Candiru-linked spyware that hit at least 45 Al Jazeera devices in 2024 and 2025. Google, Beeswax and IAB Europe have taken action.
At Open Source Summit Europe 2026 in Prague, openKylin introduced KART, a unified AI runtime, and a system-level agent execution environment, while detailing AI features in openKylin 3.0 and RISC-V optimizations.
An OpenAI engineer was arrested after a hidden recorder was found in a confidential meeting room, as 151 Chinese apps refused Doubao phone assistant GUI automation and Tencent launched a short-drama mini-program.
Memory stocks fall on China competition and 2029 oversupply fears, hitting SK Hynix, Samsung and Micron.
The Verge reports that Energize Lab’s Eiliko robot toy left 13 million conversations and detailed user profiles on unprotected Chinese servers. A researcher could access about 68,000 active robots, including more than 31,000 child profiles in the United States, and the company did not meaningfully respond to questions.
Citizen Lab says online ad networks were abused to deliver zero-click spyware, including attacks on Al Jazeera devices.