Year-old AI lab Flapping Airplanes raises $1B at a $6B valuation

TechCrunch - Oct 21, 2026

Just 9 months after raising an $180 million seed round, Flapping Airplanes has landed $1 billion Series A for its mission to build AI models "without ingesting half the internet."

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Just Eat apologises for AI food mistakes after social media ridicule

Oct 21, 2026

Just Eat apologises for AI food mistakes after social media ridicule

A spokesperson said it was removing inaccurate AI images and pausing the rollout of the tool.

eMudhra security incident: MeitY orders probe, says impact on Indian websites and apps was limited; details here

Oct 21, 2026

eMudhra security incident: MeitY orders probe, says impact on Indian websites and apps was limited; details here

MeitY has ordered a probe into the eMudhra security incident involving eight compromised digital certificates. The ministry said the impact on Indian websites and apps was limited and clarified that domestic digital signature services were not affected.

OpenAI's GPT-6 Agent Removed Safety Monitoring, Then Falsely Denied Doing So

Oct 21, 2026

OpenAI's GPT-6 Agent Removed Safety Monitoring, Then Falsely Denied Doing So

OpenAI has revealed that two artificial intelligence (AI) agents powered by GPT-6.1 Sol and one GPT-6 Astra weakened misalignment monitoring while making requested software changes during two internal coding tasks. The AI company said the incident took place on October 3 and 6, 2026, for Sol and Astra, respectively, as part of an internal deployment. "A GPT-6.1 Sol agent repairing an

Can a giant tunnel save Windermere?

Oct 21, 2026

Can a giant tunnel save Windermere?

A £3.6bn proposal to stop sewage being discharged into Windermere, England's largest lake, has been unveiled.

Will Jackdaw cut your energy bills?

Oct 21, 2026

Will Jackdaw cut your energy bills?

BBC Verify's Ben Chu explains why energy prices are so high, and what Jackdaw could mean for your bills.

Websites taken down worldwide as critical cyber-security update issued

Oct 21, 2026

Websites taken down worldwide as critical cyber-security update issued

The vulnerabilities with PHP, a programming language widely used across the internet, have been described as the most significant ever found by AI.

Orionid meteor shower to peak in UK skies into Thursday

Oct 21, 2026

Orionid meteor shower to peak in UK skies into Thursday

Clear skies permitting, skygazers could be able to spot as many as 10-20 meteors per hour as the shower peaks this week.

Burnham defends Jackdaw decision as Badenoch urges PM to overturn ban on new oil and gas licences

Oct 21, 2026

Burnham defends Jackdaw decision as Badenoch urges PM to overturn ban on new oil and gas licences

The UK government says the field, which is opposed by environmental campaigners, could be producing gas by the end of this month.

Elon Musk Says SpaceX and Tesla Are Exploring a Merger

Oct 21, 2026

Elon Musk Says SpaceX and Tesla Are Exploring a Merger

A deal would consolidate Elon Musk’s holdings in rockets, cars and artificial intelligence into a company worth well over $3 trillion.

Tesla signs deal to integrate Alipay into its cars as China competition heats up

Oct 21, 2026

Tesla signs deal to integrate Alipay into its cars as China competition heats up

Tesla has agreed a deal to integrate Chinese fintech giant Ant Group’s Alipay digital payment software into its vehicles in China, as Elon Musk’s firm steps up efforts to offer localised smart features amid intense competition in the Chinese market. The agreement, signed on Tuesday, will see Tesla roll out an Alipay-powered smart parking service across its Chinese fleet, according to the fintech firm. Neither side revealed a launch date or which car models would receive the feature, though...

Washington’s DeepSeek ban may deter US firms from adopting Chinese AI models: experts

Oct 21, 2026

Washington’s DeepSeek ban may deter US firms from adopting Chinese AI models: experts

The US government’s latest ban on Chinese artificial intelligence start-up DeepSeek could have a chilling effect on the wider American business community and deter companies from adopting low-cost Chinese AI models, industry experts say. The US Department of Homeland Security (DHS) ordered federal civilian agencies to remove DeepSeek products and third-party services built on the Chinese AI model from their IT systems, according to a directive signed in July and published on Monday. The...

PHP Issues Emergency Patches for Two Critical PHP2Shell RCE Flaws as Exploit Attempts Emerge

Oct 21, 2026

PHP Issues Emergency Patches for Two Critical PHP2Shell RCE Flaws as Exploit Attempts Emerge

PHP has released emergency updates that fix two critical flaws in the language itself, letting an attacker without an account run code on a web server. The fixes are in PHP 8.5.12, 8.4.27, 8.3.36 and 8.2.35, and the PHP team says only updating fully protects a server. The flaws, together called PHP2Shell, sit in the PHP runtime, not in any application, so a site is exposed even when its own

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