For millions of TikTok users, protection from harmful content spirals depended on which side of an experiment they landed on.
A confidential internal document obtained by Bloomberg Aug. 4 found that TikTok excluded 10 percent of its U.S. users from an algorithmic safety update in early 2022. At the time, that would have amounted to roughly 15 million people.
Samsung might borrow a good Apple feature soon.
And you might not even need new hardware to use it. Leaker Fahad Ali Javed (via AndroidAuthority) posted screenshots of the upcoming One UI 9.5 update, which included several new features for Samsung devices. Perhaps the most noteworthy one, though, is the seeming addition of app mirroring. This feature allows iPhone users to receive notifications and otherwise control their phones using a linked Mac computer.
SpaceX’s first earnings report as a public company blew past expectations. But it continued to burn through cash in pursuit of CEO Elon Musk’s vision for an AI-powered, Mars-colonizing future, putting investors on edge and sending SpaceX shares down in late trading.
The newly public satellite, space, and AI behemoth brought in $7.8 billion in revenue in the April-June quarter, which SpaceX said was up 92% from the same period in 2025. But the company remained unprofitable, losing $541 million in the second quarter, following a $4.3 billion loss in the first three months of the year.
Five months into the war in Iran, rising oil prices and stubborn inflation are driving mortgage rates to the highest level in a year.
The average 30-year fixed mortgage rate climbed to 6.66% this week, the highest since July of last year, according to Freddie Mac. That’s up from 6.58% last week, marking the biggest one-week jump in mortgage rates in 10 weeks.
Just a few months ago, mortgage rates dipped below 6% for the first time in years, fueling hopes that lower borrowing costs would revive the sluggish housing market.
A private mission to rescue an ailing NASA space telescope may now need a rescue of its own. The LINK spacecraft — designed by private company Katalyst Space to boost the orbit of NASA’s ageing Swift Observatory — is reportedly spinning unexpectedly in the weeks after its launch, so much so that stabilizing the spacecraft will likely delay the telescope rescue.
Katalyst’s LINK spacecraft launched July 3 from a mid-air Northrop Grumman Pegasus XL rocket mounted aboard a modified Lockheed Martin L-1011 airliner. The spacecraft lifted off after less than a year of development, on a mission to catch NASA’s nearly 22-year-old Neil Gehrels Swift Observatory before the telescope falls back to Earth.
Skywatchers across North America and Europe should mark Wednesday, Aug. 12 on their calendars. From a daytime solar eclipse to the peak of the Perseid meteor shower beneath a moonless sky, the date offers an exceptionally rare combination of celestial events within a 24-hour period. Add brilliant Venus and the glowing band of the Milky Way after sunset, and the result is a full day of astronomy that could become one of the standout skywatching opportunities of the year.
The first spectacle arrives during daylight as the moon partially covers the sun across Alaska, eastern Canada and parts of the northeastern U.S. A dramatic total solar eclipse will be visible along a narrow path stretching across eastern Greenland, western Iceland and northern Spain — and that’s where eclipse chasers will be. However, about 779 million people in North America, Europe and North Africa will see at least a 10% partial eclipse, according to Time and Date.
Reconfiguring a factory used to mean shutting it down, making costly bets, and hoping the design worked in the real world. PepsiCo found a way around that. Rather than rely on engineering blueprints to solve the problem, the company used a specialized laser to scan the facility and create a digital representation that was accurate to within a millimeter. It then used this 3D model to simulate the current manufacturing process and identify production bottlenecks. This exercise gave engineers a blank canvas to experiment with new layouts that would help expand and speed up production—all before touching a single machine.
“What you’re trying to do is optimize every part of the space, from the hardware and the software to how people navigate through the space,” says Athina Kanioura, PepsiCo’s CEO, Latin America, and global chief strategy and transformation officer. “We’re taking every data point within the design of the physical infrastructure to create millions and millions of simulations to design the perfect building.”
In a transformative leap for the banking sector, Visa has unveiled its AI Financial Assistant, a value-added service designed to integrate artificial intelligence into mobile banking apps. This innovation not only enhances consumer trust but also aims to empower small businesses with direct access to actionable financial insights.
As more consumers turn to AI for financial guidance—over 66% according to recent surveys—banks remain the most trusted institutions for managing personal data. Michele Herron, Visa’s Senior Vice President, noted, “Consumers are already turning to AI for financial advice—but banks have the full financial picture.” By utilizing AI Financial Assistant, banks can elevate their roles from mere transaction facilitators to dynamic financial hubs.
How does this impact small business owners? Here are the key benefits that small businesses can leverage from this new service.
Amid fluctuating oil prices and recent data indicating a significant decrease in crude oil inventories in Cushing, Oklahoma, small business owners may want to keep a close eye on how these developments could impact operational costs. According to the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA), storage facilities at Cushing fell below 20 million barrels recently, raising some concerns about supply levels and pricing dynamics.
Crude oil storage is critical for maintaining the balance of supply and demand in the market. Facilities depend on nuanced operational standards that dictate what constitutes effective storage. “Storage facilities require a minimum volume of product to remain operational, which can vary between different facilities,” explains the EIA. If levels dip below the threshold—a point referred to as “tank bottoms”—facilities cannot effectively function, which could lead to market instability.
Victims of a 2023 data hack at genetics testing company 23andMe are set to receive a multi-million-dollar payout from the firm.
A California bankruptcy court judge ruled on Tuesday that Chrome Holding, which last year took control of 23andMe after its bankruptcy, should pay out $46.75m (£35m) in compensation.
23andMe compiles genetic profiles of people through DNA testing kits, but it was heavily criticised after as many as 6.9 million people had their data breached in the 2023 hack.
Representatives of Chrome Holding and 23andMe have been contacted for comment.
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