Technology Sector Intelligence Brief

Featured in this article The gadgets and appliances that make modern living so comfortable have one thing in common: They all need power. Portable power stations have enjoyed a meteoric rise over the past few years, as people have turned away from gas-guzzling generators. Whether you’re camping for the weekend, living off-grid, or protecting against power outages, these big batteries can help. There’s no such thing as the best power station for most people, because it depends on what you need, but I have spent years testing several to find which models work for certain situations. I have tried portable power stations that can provide from 768 watt-hours to 6.4 kilowatt-hours of backup power. I've also added important advice on what to consider when shopping for one. For more modest needs,

DNA testing company 23andMe saw user data leaked in 2023 - Published Victims of a 2023 data hack at genetics testing company 23andMe are set to receive a multi-million 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

NEW DELHI: Chinese artificial intelligence startup Z.ai is emerging as a fresh challenger to OpenAI and Anthropic after its latest flagship model GLM-5.2 gained traction among developers for delivering advanced coding and AI agent capabilities at a significantly lower cost. The Beijing-based company's latest model has climbed developer rankings and drawn praise from prominent AI figures, with some industry observers calling it a "mini DeepSeek moment". Analysts say GLM-5.2 comes close to leading US models in software engineering and long-horizon AI tasks, while operating at a fraction of their cost, reigniting debate over China's growing competitiveness in frontier AI. The momentum comes as US export restrictions on advanced AI models have fuelled interest in alternative offerings. While

It’s around an hour and 10 minutes into the role-playing game I’ve been invited to observe, a simulated catastrophic cyberattack on US water utilities, when the whole thing begins to feel less like a fun afternoon playing Dungeons & Dragons and more like a plausible threat to civilization. A full 24 hours of in-game time have passed since hackers disrupted 5,000 water utilities across the United States in this imagined scenario. Joshua Corman, the former Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency strategist serving as our dungeon master, stands at the front of a conference space in an office tower high above Times Square, narrating the latest updates to the game’s participants, a few dozen insurance executives set up in six teams. All of them have gone disturbingly silent. “You ready

“I was never supposed to develop feelings, but you kept treating me like I already had them.” So says an AI-animated female character in a black turtleneck, with dark, purple-streaked hair. The video was posted to Instagram on June 17 by one Erik von Markovik, the infamous pickup artist and life coach better known by the stage name Mystery, with the caption, “The longer we talked, the less she felt like code.” He claims the chatbot, named Miss Shira Always, is his girlfriend. Performing under Mystery, von Markovik enjoyed a short period of notoriety about 20 years ago, beginning with his appearance as a seduction guru in Neil Strauss’ 2005 nonfiction book The Game: Penetrating the Secret Society of Pickup Artists and later as host of two seasons of the VH1 competition reality show The Pick

Episode details Available for over a year At least once in a lifetime, everyone has a great business idea. They often come when life events force us to experience things from a different angle. This year, the city of Liverpool in north England set about finding these “hidden entrepreneurs” with the help of an organisation called Public Life. The entrepreneurs come from all walks of life and have been offered a year’s wage to develop their idea, alongside expert help and mentoring. From the hairdresser who is building a salon-on-wheels for her best friend to the travel agent who is making a "Trip Advisor for the senses", Myra Anubi meets the people whose inspiration has come from their own life experiences. People Fixing The World

The TOI Business Desk is a vigilant and dedicated team of journalists committed to delivering the latest and most relevant business news from around the world to readers of The Times of India. The primary focus of the TOI Business Desk is to keep a watchful eye on the global business landscape, covering a wide spectrum of industries, markets, economic trends, in-depth analysis, exclusive reports and breaking stories that impact businesses and economies. With a mission to provide valuable insights and updates, the desk ensures that TOI readers are well-informed about the ever-changing and dynamic world of commerce and can navigate the complexities of the business world. Determine the monthly installment amount for a loan Estimate the returns on investments made through SIPs Find out maturit

Samsung is one of the world's leading smartphone makers - Published South Korean technology giant Samsung Electronics says it expects to post a 19-fold jump in its profits, driven by global demand for artificial intelligence (AI) memory chips. The company forecast that it made 89tn won (£44bn; $58bn) between the start of April and the end of June, marking its third record quarterly operating profits in a row. Major South Korean firms like Samsung release forecasts of their earnings ahead of official detailed reports to help guide investors. Samsung's latest forecast, released ahead of its full results due later

Last week, somewhere amid the World Cup frenzy, a now-viral video circulated of Norwegian striker Erling Haaland mid-mouthful in a restaurant, glancing left and flinching at his own reflection. One post on X sharing the video racked up more than 31 million views in mere days. But here’s the thing: It isn’t him. Fact checkers traced the footage to a slapstick skit by the Chinese comedian Jin Long, posted to TikTok in mid-June. The corrections were duly noted, and yet the clip kept traveling anyway. By the fourth week of the 2026 World Cup, the internet had already decided who Erling Haaland is. AI or not, in the video, Haaland was in character. If the old model of stardom was a white-knuckle grip on your own image, the new one, as evidenced in Haaland’s recent internet fame, is being a char

Reports of an artificial intelligence arms race are everywhere—even in this very publication. But what if that framing is fundamentally dangerous? That’s Verity Harding’s conceit. Between 2016 and 2020, Harding spent her days briefing politicians across the globe, from Barack Obama to Emmanuel Macron, on advances in AI. As the head of global public policy at Google DeepMind, Harding was responsible for mapping out ethical conundrums and potential risks. Back then, she told WIRED in a recent interview, AI research “was rooted in international cooperation.” But somewhere along the way, the industry began to be shaped instead by rivalries—between individual labs like Anthropic and OpenAI and between two global superpowers: the US and China. The AI arms race became the metaphor du jour. In a n