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Anthropic is reportedly struggling to secure enough compute from cloud providers that increasingly view it as a competitor, even as its infrastructure spending balloons ahead of a planned November IPO. https://techcrunch.com/2026/10/20/anthropics-cloud-partnerships-are-getting-messy/?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=mastodon

Security personnel worldwide are on high alert after eight TLS certificates were found with private keys so weak they could allow anyone to mint trusted credentials.
Source: Ars Technica
https://arstechnica.com/security/2026/10/the-internet-goes-on-high-alert-after-discovery-of-8-compromised-tls-certs/

The South African Reserve Bank plans to pilot white-label ATMs from January 2027 and aims to create a shared cash network where withdrawals below a set threshold are free.
Source: Innovation Village
https://innovation-village.com/south-africas-central-bank-wants-to-make-atm-withdrawals-free-and-build-a-shared-cash-network/

The NCC announced plans to expand its phone number verification system beyond telecom to other sectors, aiming to strengthen digital identity verification and curb financial fraud.
Source: Innovation Village
https://innovation-village.com/ncc-plans-wider-phone-number-verification-to-combat-fraud-in-nigeria/
#TechPolicy

SpaceX’s data centers and Grok agents have been more profitable than investors expected in second quarter of the year, as the company leaves its roots as a space company behind to focus on artificial intelligence, which now makes up 52% of its income. Elon Musk’s deep conglomerate reported on Tuesday…

OpenAI announced it is acquiring Orchestra Bio, a startup that creates AI agents for drug development. The deal was revealed on Tuesday.
Source: The Information
https://www.theinformation.com/briefings/openai-buys-drug-development-company-orchestra-bio
#AIAgents #OpenAI

OpenAI says it's adding Orchestra's team and technology to work on Rosalind, its AI model for life sciences research, and to its related Rosalind Workbench tool, a harness that aims to help researchers plan experiments and analyze results. https://techcrunch.com/2026/10/20/openai-acquires-startup-orchestra-bio%e2%81%a0-to-beef-up-its-biotech-business/?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=mastodon

Google is bringing Gemini's Personal Intelligence feature to cars, allowing its AI assistant to draw on information from Gmail, Calendar, Maps, YouTube, and other Google services to deliver more personalized responses while driving. https://techcrunch.com/2026/10/20/google-is-bringing-a-more-personal-version-of-its-gemini-ai-assistant-to-your-car/?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=mastodon

Zeabur announced it is shutting down after a second security breach in two months.
Source: BleepingComputer
https://www.bleepingcomputer.com/news/security/zeabur-shutting-down-after-second-security-breach-in-two-months/

A group of large insurers bought more than $740 million of CoreWeave debt linked to a Meta cloud-computing contract in the second quarter.
Source: The Information
https://www.theinformation.com/briefings/insurers-pump-740-million-coreweave-debt-tied-meta
#Tech #Meta

A Google Cloud outage disrupted banking apps, delivery services and other online platforms in the UK, affecting Revolut, Lloyds Bank, HSBC, Royal Mail, DPD and Rightmove.
Source: Technext
https://technext24.com/news/google-cloud-outage-disrupts-uk-services/
#Tech #Google

South Africa's ATM network could soon operate under a Reserve Bank-backed cash management company, which may change fees, access, ownership and branding nationwide.
Source: Daily Maverick
https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/article/2026-10-20-are-our-atms-about-to-become-less-exciting/

GM is shuttering the Brownstown Battery Assembly Plant, though the closure has nothing to do with the automaker's electrification strategy. https://techcrunch.com/2026/10/20/gm-to-close-detroit-battery-assembly-plant-but-not-for-reasons-you-might-think/?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=mastodon

Google has joined Amazon in releasing a developer tool that makes it easy for PyTorch users to move their apps off Nvidia GPUs.
Source: TechCrunch
https://techcrunch.com/2026/10/20/google-has-joined-amazon-in-attacking-nvidias-stronghold-with-ai-app-developers/
#Tech #Google #Amazon

Google has joined Amazon in releasing a developer tool that makes it easy for PyTorch users to move their apps off Nvidia GPUs. https://techcrunch.com/2026/10/20/google-has-joined-amazon-in-attacking-nvidias-stronghold-with-ai-app-developers/?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=mastodon

The company says the feature is designed for situations where users might be discussing something personal or planning a surprise and want to keep those conversations private when handing their device to friends or family to show them something in another chat. https://techcrunch.com/2026/10/20/chatgpt-now-lets-you-lock-your-chats/?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=mastodon

The former Google CEO owns about 1% stake in the leading AI lab, Bloomberg reported. https://techcrunch.com/2026/10/20/eric-schmidt-reportedly-owns-about-half-as-much-of-anthropic-as-ceo-dario-amodei/?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=mastodon

Asymptote Labs raised $5.5 million in a seed round and will use the money for engineering, hiring and sales.
Source: The Next Web
https://thenextweb.com/news/asymptote-labs-5-5m-seed-ai-agent-security
#Startups

Meta's AI companion Muse has surpassed 10 million U.S. downloads in its first 40 days, joining an exclusive group of apps that includes Threads. New data also shows Muse is retaining users at higher rates than its AI rivals. https://techcrunch.com/2026/10/20/metas-muse-hits-10m-u-s-downloads-in-40-days-a-milestone-reached-by-only-11-other-apps/?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=mastodon

MIT researchers dropped a society of AI agents into a shared world with no instructions.
Source: The Next Web
https://thenextweb.com/news/mit-swarmworld-agent-society-replication-open-weight-consumer-gpus
#AIAgents