AP Technology

February 26, 2025

Amazon’s new AI-powered Alexa promises to be your ‘best friend in a digital world’ for a monthly fee

NEW YORK (AP) — Amazon on Wednesday unveiled a generative-AI infused Alexa that it says will allow the popular voice assistant to have more personality, check a user’s tone and even plan romantic dates. Customers will have to pay Amazon a monthly fee of $19.99 for the revamped voice assistant, which it calls “Alexa+”. However, the generative-AI powered Alexa will be free for Prime members who pay the company a monthly or annual fee for different perks. The company says Alexa+ is able to have conversations with a more natural, humanlike flow. It says its also able to remember handwritten recipes, emails and other documents shared with it.

Not known for political coverage, Wired takes a leading role in tracking Elon Musk’s team

NEW YORK (AP) — The tech outlet Wired set up a new politics team in time for the presidential election — but its most impactful work is coming after the election is over. Wired’s knowledge and focus on Elon Musk has helped its aggressive coverage revealing the young team that is working with Musk to shave the federal bureaucracy — who they are and what exactly they’re doing. The work has attracted notice, and led to a quick jump in its circulation. Some Trump aides have suggested Wired is doxxing the new employees, while the outlet says people engaged in changing the government are fair game.

Wall Street is anxiously watching Nvidia earnings again. What to know, by the numbers

Wall Street is once again fixated on Nvidia, as the main player in the artificial intelligence mania is set to report earnings after the bell Wednesday and give an update on demand for its semiconductors, which are used to power AI applications. This will be Nvidia’s first earnings report since a Chinese upstart, DeepSeek, upended the artificial-intelligence industry by saying it has developed a large language model that can compete with big U.S. rivals without having to use the most expensive chips. Nvidia’s market value saw a one-day drop of nearly $600 billion after the news came out.

Slack platform down as users report service outage

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Workplace communications platform Slack experienced an outage Wednesday morning as thousands of users reported they were unable to use the service. The tech company, based in San Francisco, said it was investigating reports of trouble connecting or loading Slack. On an update on the company’s website, Slack said it had “determined a variety of API endpoints, sending [and] receiving messages, and some threads loading” were impacted.

Fired cybersecurity chief for Veterans Affairs site warns that health and financial data is at risk

BOSTON (AP) — A fired federal employee who oversaw cybersecurity at a flagship website for the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs is warning that sensitive financial and health data could be compromised due to actions taken by the Trump administration’s Department of Government Efficiency. Jonathan Kamens led cybersecurity efforts for VA.gov and was fired this month. Dozens of his colleagues from the U.S. Digital Service were fired the same day. Kamens says he’s concerned he won’t be replaced amid the massive downsizing of the federal government. He said banking and other information is used on the VA site and is at risk. The VA says the loss of one employee won’t affect operations and that many others also focus on cybersecurity.

Federal technology staffers resign rather than help Musk and DOGE

WASHINGTON (AP) — Twenty-one civil service employees have resigned from Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency, saying they’re refusing to use their technical expertise to “dismantle critical public services.” The staffers wrote Tuesday in a joint resignation letter obtained by The AP they “swore to serve the American people” and uphold their oath to the Constitution across presidential administrations but it has become clear they “can no longer honor those commitments.” The staffers who resigned worked for what was once known as the United States Digital Service. Musk called the story “fake news” and said the staffers would have been fired if they didn’t resign.

US energy secretary touts nuclear power as tech sector’s thirst for electricity grows

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) — U.S. Energy Secretary Chris Wright says it’s critical that the nation be out in front when it comes to artificial intelligence. And that means having reliable and affordable sources of electricity to meet the growing demands of the technology sector. Wright made the comments Tuesday before touring Sandia National Laboratories in Albuquerque. It followed a visit to Los Alamos National Laboratory on Monday. Wright says he’s a believer in nuclear energy and that simplifying regulations could provide the nudge needed to develop more next-generation nuclear infrastructure. Utilities in Arizona already teamed up to explore the potential there, while California extended the life of its last remaining nuclear power plant to meet demand.

Apple shareholders reject proposal to scrap company’s diversity programs

Apple shareholders rebuffed an attempt to pressure the technology trendsetter into joining President Donald Trump’s push to scrub corporate programs designed to diversify its workforce. The proposal drafted by the National Center for Public Policy Research — a self-described conservative think tank — urged Apple to follow a litany of high-profile companies that have retreated from diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives currently in the Trump administration’s crosshairs. After a brief presentation about the anti-DEI proposal, Apple announced shareholders had rejected it without disclosing the vote tally. The preliminary results will be outlined in a regulatory filing later Tuesday.

British musicians release a silent album to protest plans to let AI use their work

LONDON (AP) — A new album called “Is This What We Want?” features a stellar list of more than 1,000 musicians — and the sound of silence. The album has contributions from artists including Kate Bush, Annie Lennox, Cat Stevens and Damon Albarn. The protest album features recordings of empty studios and performance spaces and was released Tuesday to protest proposed British changes to artificial intelligence laws. The U.K. government is consulting on whether to let tech firms use copyrighted material to help train AI models unless the creators explicitly opt out. Critics fear that will make it harder for artists to retain control of their work and will undermine Britain’s creative industries.

Apple announces $500 billion investment in US amid tariff threats that could affect the iPhone

NEW YORK (AP) — Apple announced Monday that it plans to invest more than $500 billion in the United States over the next four years, including plans to hire 20,000 people and build a new server factory in Texas. The move comes just days after President Trump said Apple CEO Tim Cook promised him that the tech giant’s manufacturing would shift from Mexico to the U.S. Trump noted the company was doing so to avoid paying tariffs.