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Anthropic, an AI company, is reportedly close to securing a $5 billion funding round, potentially valuing the company at $170 billion. This suggests strong investor confidence and significant growth potential for Anthropic in the AI market.
Google's NotebookLM now features Video Overviews, transforming dense multimedia into visual presentations, complementing the existing Audio Overviews. This new feature allows users to create custom visuals using images, diagrams, and quotes from uploaded documents to explain complex content.
Users can customize Video Overviews by specifying topics, learning goals, and target audiences. The Studio panel is also updated, enabling users to create and store multiple studio outputs and multitask, such as listening to Audio Overviews while exploring Mind Maps.
Video Overviews are currently available in English, with more languages to be supported soon.
The U.K. government is reportedly softening its stance on requiring Apple to create a secret backdoor for accessing customer data, following pressure from the U.S. government. Senator Ron Wyden is now questioning whether other tech companies, like Google, have faced similar demands from the U.K.
Earlier reports indicated the U.K. Home Office sought a secret court order for Apple to provide access to encrypted cloud data, a move criticized as a threat to user privacy. Apple has appealed the order's legality.
Meta has stated they have not received any order to backdoor encrypted services. Google, however, has declined to comment on whether it received a U.K. government order for accessing encrypted data, citing potential restrictions on disclosing such information. Google maintains they have not built any mechanism to circumvent end-to-end encryption.
Wyden has requested U.S. intelligence to assess the national security risks posed by the U.K.'s surveillance laws and secret demands on U.S. companies.
The Tea dating safety app experienced a second data breach, exposing over 1.1 million private messages between users. This follows an initial breach last week that exposed 72,000 sensitive images. The recent issue revealed messages including phone numbers, discussions about abortions, and infidelity. Independent security researcher Kasra Rahjerdi discovered the vulnerability. Tea, which launched in 2023, released a statement about the initial breach, but Rahjerdi's findings revealed messages from early 2023 up to last week.
Orange, a major telecommunications provider, reported a cyberattack on July 25 that affected some of its information systems.
The company isolated affected services, leading to disruptions for business clients and public services, primarily in France.
Orange is working to restore services and stated that there is no evidence of data exfiltration. The company has filed a complaint with authorities and is informing affected customers.
The company serves 291 million customers worldwide.
The Boring Company and Tennessee Governor Bill Lee have announced a plan to construct a 10-mile underground "loop" in Nashville, connecting downtown, the convention center, and the airport. Privately funded, the project aims to ease traffic congestion with potential operation starting as early as fall 2026. This initiative follows The Boring Company's similar project in Las Vegas, while addressing past challenges and safety concerns highlighted by Fortune.