AP Technology
AP-Technology
Trump says TikTok deal is in the works. Here’s where things stand with the company
In less than a month, TikTok could have one or a few new owners, be banned again, or simply receive another reprieve to continue operating in the U.S. Questions about the fate of the popular app has continued to linger since a law requiring its China-based parent company to divest or face a ban that took effect on Jan. 19. After taking office, President Donald Trump gave the company a 75-day reprieve through an executive order. Trump told reporters on Sunday that a deal with TikTok could come soon. He did not offer any details on the interested buyers, But said the administration was in talks with “four different groups” about TikTok and that “all four are good.”
AI made its way to vineyards. Here’s how the technology is helping make your wine
LOS ANGELES (AP) — As AI continues to grow, experts say that the wine industry is proof that businesses can integrate the technology efficiently to supplement labor without displacing a workforce. New agricultural tech like AI can help farmers to cut back on waste, and to run more efficient and sustainable vineyards by monitoring water use and helping determine when and where to use products like fertilizers or pest control. AI-backed tractors and irrigation systems can minimize water use by analyzing soil or vines, while also helping farmers manage acres of vineyards by providing more accurate data on the health of a crop or what a season’s yield will be.
Elon Musk claims X being targeted in ‘massive cyberattack’ as service goes down
Hours after a series of outages that left X unavailable to thousands of users, Elon Musk is claiming that the social media platform is being targeted in a “massive cyberattack.” Musk said on a post Monday that the attacker is either a large, coordinated group or a country. Complaints about outages spiked Monday at 6 a.m. Eastern and again at 10 a.m, with more than 40,000 users reporting no access to the platform, according to the tracking website Downdetector.com. A sustained outage appeared to begin just after noon, Eastern time.
Trump administration halts funding for two cybersecurity efforts, including one for elections
ATLANTA (AP) — The Trump administration has cut millions of dollars in federal funding from two cybersecurity initiatives, including one dedicated to helping state and local election officials. The U.S. Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, known as CISA, has ended about $10 million in annual funding to the nonprofit Center for Internet Security, a CISA spokesperson said in an email Monday. It’s the latest move by Trump administration officials to rein in the federal government’s role in election security.
‘Nervous and rushed’: Massive Fukushima plant cleanup exposes workers to high radiation and stress
OKUMA, Japan (AP) — The Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant’s radiation levels have significantly dropped since the cataclysmic meltdown 14 years ago Tuesday. Workers walk around in many areas wearing only surgical masks and regular clothes. It’s a different story for those who enter the reactor buildings, including the three damaged in the 2011 earthquake and tsunami. They must use maximum protection — full facemasks with filters, multi-layered gloves and socks, shoe covers, hooded hazmat coveralls and a waterproof jacket, and a helmet. As workers remove melted fuel debris from the reactors in a monumental nuclear cleanup effort that could take more than a century, they are facing both huge amounts of psychological stress and dangerous levels of radiation.
Homeland Security overhauls its asylum phone app. Now it’s for ‘self-deportation’
The Trump administration has overhauled a cellphone app once used to let migrants apply for asylum. The app is now used as a system that allows people living illegally in the U.S. to announce they want to leave the country voluntarily. CBP Home is part of the administration’s campaign to encourage “self-deportations.” The earlier version stopped allowing migrants to apply for asylum, and tens of thousands of border appointments were canceled moments after President Donald Trump took office. More than 900,000 people were allowed in the country on immigration parole under CBP One starting in January 2023.
They were forced to scam others worldwide. Now thousands are detained on the Myanmar border
MAE SOT, Thailand (AP) — Thousands of sick, exhausted and terrified young men and women, from countries all over the world squat in rows, packed shoulder to shoulder, surgical masks covering their mouths and, some, their eyes. Weeks after being released from locked compounds where they were forced to trick Americans and others out of their life savings, they’re still stuck in Myanmar waiting for a way home. Meanwhile, conditions in the place where they’re being held are dire as people complain of no medical attention for illnesses, and few toilets shared among hundreds. They are just a small fraction of what could be 300,000 people working in similar operations across the region, and their release does not mean these scams will be stopped.
Trump tells crypto leaders at White House summit he’s committed to helping their industry
President Donald Trump said Friday that he’s committed to making the U.S. a world leader in cryptocurrencies as industry leaders heaped praise on him for reversing what they said had been unfair attacks on digital assets by the previous administration. The first-ever White House “Crypto Summit” included crypto company executives, cabinet officials and lawmakers, many of whom took turns raving about Trump’s leadership on digital assets. The emboldened industry said it was unfairly treated by the Biden administration and spent heavily to help Trump and Republicans in the last election. Trump reiterated his eagerness to help the crypto industry with friendly legislation and light-touch regulations.
