The Russian government is suspected of orchestrating a data breach targeting the U.S. court filing system, PACER, according to The New York Times. Anonymous sources indicate Russian involvement in the cyberattack, which focused on mid-level criminal cases, potentially compromising confidential informant identities and sealed documents. The U.S. Courts confirmed the attack and is enhancing security measures. A memo to Justice Department officials highlighted the urgency of the matter. This follows a previous Russian cyberattack in 2020 targeting SolarWinds, which also affected PACER, leading to the theft of sealed court documents.

Indian fintech giant Paytm has received approval from the Reserve Bank of India to operate as a payment services provider, lifting onboarding restrictions imposed in 2022.

This approval comes after a period of regulatory setbacks, including a ban on Paytm Payments Bank from accepting fresh deposits. Paytm has partnered with multiple banks to continue services.

The license was granted just after Ant Group sold its remaining stake in Paytm. Paytm is required to conduct a system audit within six months to maintain the approval.

Paytm reported a net income of ₹1.23 billion for Q1 2026, and its shares have risen 13.25% year-to-date, indicating a recovery in market confidence.

David Petrou, a former Google engineer, has launched Continua, a startup focused on enhancing group chat interactions using AI agents.

Continua has secured $8 million in seed funding led by GV, with participation from Bessemer Ventures Partners and angel investors.

Continua's AI agents aim to reduce group chat chaos by offering relevant information and automating tasks like setting reminders, launching polls, and creating documents.

Users can add Continua to group SMS or Discord chats, and the AI agent can be invoked for assistance or told to hang back if needed.

GV invested in Continua based on Petrou's expertise, recognizing the potential for profitability through event planning and trip booking assistance.

Demand for AI companion apps is surging, with 128 new apps launched in 2025. These apps, which allow users to interact with custom AI characters, have generated $82 million in the first half of the year and are projected to reach $120 million by year-end.

Downloads have increased by 88% year-over-year, reaching 220 million globally as of July 2025. Consumer spending in this category has reached $221 million, with a 64% increase compared to the same period in 2024.

Popular apps include Replika, Character.AI, and Chai. The trend is also attracting larger companies like xAI, which launched AI companions on Grok. OpenAI's ChatGPT users also expressed a strong connection with older models, highlighting the growing importance of AI companionship.

Notably, apps targeting users seeking AI girlfriends are the most prevalent, with 17% of active apps including "girlfriend" in their name.

Meta's Threads has reached 400 million monthly active users (MAUs), according to Instagram head Adam Mosseri. This milestone comes two years after its launch as a competitor to X (formerly Twitter).

Threads added 50 million monthly users in the past quarter. X has over 600 million monthly active users.

Threads is nearing X's daily app users on mobile devices. In June 2025, Threads had 115.1 million daily active users, a 127.8% increase year-over-year, while X had 132 million, a 15.2% decrease.

X's worldwide daily web visits are ahead of Threads. In June, X had 145.8 million average daily web visits, while Threads had 6.9 million.

Threads has introduced new features, including DMs, fediverse integrations, custom feeds, and AI enhancements.

Google is introducing a new feature called "Preferred Sources" in the U.S. and India, allowing users to customize their Top Stories section in search results by selecting preferred news sites and blogs.

Users can add sources by tapping the "star" icon next to the Top Stories section after searching for a topic. Once sources are selected, refreshing the results will display more content from those sources.

For certain queries, a separate "From your sources" section will appear below the Top Stories section.

This feature, initially tested as a Search Labs experiment, is now available to all users for English language searches in the U.S. and India. While it allows users to access information from preferred sources, it may also limit exposure to diverse perspectives.