OpenAI acquires startup Orchestra Bio⁠ to beef up its biotech business

TechCrunch - Oct 20, 2026

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.

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UK asks Apple to widen access to its payment tech

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UK asks Apple to widen access to its payment tech

Proposed changes could lead to new digital wallets and keys as well as ticketing apps, the regulator says.

China creates state-owned firm in Xiongan to develop nation’s AI data resources

Oct 20, 2026

China creates state-owned firm in Xiongan to develop nation’s AI data resources

China has set up a new state-owned enterprise dedicated to managing the country’s massive data resources, a significant move designed to turbocharge the nation’s artificial intelligence industry and bolster its digital economy. The National Data Group Co – based in China’s “city of the future”, Xiongan New Area in northern Hebei province – is tasked with “developing and utilising data resources, unlocking the value of data elements, serving AI development and fostering a data industry...

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Oct 20, 2026

Moment giant fin whale's huge mouth engulfs thousands of gallons of water

Videographer Rhys Morgan captured footage of the worlds second largest whale lunge feeding on his drone.

WhatsApp Hid Instructions in Help Pages Telling Its AI Chatbot Not to Recommend Privacy Regulators

Oct 20, 2026

WhatsApp Hid Instructions in Help Pages Telling Its AI Chatbot Not to Recommend Privacy Regulators

WhatsApp's help pages carried hidden instructions for its support chatbot that told it not to recommend a data protection authority or regulator to users who could no longer delete their accounts, even though WhatsApp's own privacy policy for Europe tells users they can complain to one. The text sat in the pages' code, never shown on screen, until it was removed by October 18. Whether the

What Security Teams Can Do To Tame Wild Code

Oct 20, 2026

What Security Teams Can Do To Tame Wild Code

A sales manager builds an AI-assisted workflow to route leads. It connects to customer records, summarizes inbound requests, and posts updates to a shared channel. The workflow saves time, reduces manual work, and soon becomes part of the team’s daily routine. Across the same organization, employees are building useful apps, agents, and automations faster than existing processes can support them

Go Issues Emergency Update Blocking Eight CA Keys Over Undisclosed Security Concerns

Oct 20, 2026

Go Issues Emergency Update Blocking Eight CA Keys Over Undisclosed Security Concerns

Go 1.27.3 and Go 1.26.10, released on October 20, make Go's certificate verifier reject any certificate chain that passes through one of eight intermediate certificate authority keys. Programs built on the new release will refuse connections to sites and services whose certificates were issued under those keys. The Go team says the keys belong to one certificate authority it has not

SpaceX Falcon 9 successfully launches Bandwagon-5 mission with 32 payloads

Oct 20, 2026

SpaceX Falcon 9 successfully launches Bandwagon-5 mission with 32 payloads

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Who is Yuki Chen, China’s ‘superstar’ hacker who just joined AI leader Z.ai?

Oct 20, 2026

Who is Yuki Chen, China’s ‘superstar’ hacker who just joined AI leader Z.ai?

Yuki Chen, a prolific Chinese cybersecurity researcher, has joined leading Chinese artificial intelligence model company Z.ai as the country’s AI sector grapples with the technology’s growing impact on global cyberspace. Chen’s appointment comes amid growing concern over AI-assisted cyberattacks and autonomous agents acting beyond their instructions, including recent cases involving Chinese tech giant Tencent Holdings as well as US start-ups OpenAI and Anthropic. “New journey, new mission!” Chen...

Russian APT28 Breaches NATO Naval Shipbuilder in NATO Country, Deploys New Reflective Loader

Oct 20, 2026

Russian APT28 Breaches NATO Naval Shipbuilder in NATO Country, Deploys New Reflective Loader

The Russia-linked state-sponsored threat actor tracked as APT28 (aka BlueDelta, Fancy Bear, and Forest Blizzard) has been attributed to attacks targeting two member states of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO). The Symantec Threat Hunter Team, which is tracking the activity cluster under the moniker Swallowtail, involved the use of a backdoor called HOOKEDGE and a previously

ConnectWise Resets Credentials as Cloud Backup Remains Offline After Security Incident

Oct 20, 2026

ConnectWise Resets Credentials as Cloud Backup Remains Offline After Security Incident

ConnectWise on Monday said it has taken remediation measures, including strengthening administrative-access protections and resetting accounts and replacing application credentials, as it continues to respond to a security incident that led to unauthorized access to application identities associated with Cloud Backup. The company said it has completed the following actions since it began

Britain seeks to break Apples grip on contactless payments

Oct 20, 2026

Britain seeks to break Apples grip on contactless payments

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French retailers begin filing insurance claims after weekend of looting

Oct 20, 2026

French retailers begin filing insurance claims after weekend of looting

Shop owners in France are counting the cost of the weekend's riots as the government works on new measures to help them recover from widespread looting. Also in this edition: Germany welcomes new investments from Nvidia into its tech scene, and energy prices continue to climb after new Houthi attacks in Saudi Arabia.

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