Eric Wengrowski spent nearly a decade on a steganography PhD at Rutgers. Now, that tech is the core of Steg.AI, a startup thrust into the spotlight to combat AI image fraud. It’s a classic story of obscure research meeting a moment of crisis.
The U.S. government has extended the deadline for TikTok’s potential ban for a fourth time. The new date for ByteDance to divest its U.S. operations is now January 23, 2026. This follows a reported $14 billion sale plan involving Oracle, but major obstacles remain.
In a move to counter a legal challenge, X has updated its Terms of Service to explicitly state it still owns the Twitter trademark. This comes days after a startup petitioned the USPTO to cancel the mark, claiming abandonment.
Apple is already planning its 2026 fitness kickoff with a new Apple Watch challenge. The “Ring in the New Year” award requires users to close all three Activity rings for seven consecutive days. The challenge window runs from January 7 through January 31.
OpenAI is bringing former UK Chancellor George Osborne on board to head its international “OpenAI for Countries” initiative. This is part of the massive $500bn “Stargate” project to build AI data centers. The move follows rival Anthropic’s hiring of another ex-UK PM, Rishi Sunak.
Apple has pushed out a new firmware update for the Powerbeats Pro 2 wireless earbuds. The update, version 8A359, replaces the previous 8A353 firmware from September.
Unitree has launched what it calls the world’s first app store for a humanoid robot. The store, currently in beta, offers a few entertainment apps for its $13,500 G1 robot. It’s a clear play to attract developers for a future where robots could do real work.
Apple has seeded the first beta of macOS Tahoe 26.3 to developers just three days after the public launch of version 26.2. The update’s contents are currently unknown, with a public beta expected later this week.
Luminar Technologies is filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy and selling its chip subsidiary, Luminar Semiconductor, to Quantum Computing Inc. for $110 million. This comes after the loss of its largest client, Volvo, and a quarterly net loss exceeding $189 million.
Nearly two dozen states have joined the FTC’s lawsuit against Uber over its Uber One subscription practices. The complaint alleges deceptive billing and an intentionally difficult cancellation process requiring up to 32 actions.
