Agents and Exploits

Anthropic launches Claude Duet, a proactive agent built for work that connects to apps like Gmail and Slack, handles tasks even when the app is closed, and is limited to a waitlist for Pro and Max subscribers in the US, as a rival to Meta's Muse and OpenAI's Dots.

Why it matters Proactive agents that act without being asked are becoming the next battleground among the major AI labs, and this one targets paying professionals.

Meta owes New Mexico $25 billion after a judge ordered the penalties for more than 43 million violations of the state's unfair practices law, following a jury finding that Meta misled consumers in the Cambridge Analytica case. The award far exceeds the $5 billion FTC fine from 2019 against Facebook.

Why it matters A state-level penalty of this size shows privacy cases from years ago can still carry very large financial consequences for tech companies.

Critical PHP flaws knock sites offline as maintainers released patches for two severe vulnerabilities that allow unauthenticated remote code execution, with exploits already published and some site owners warned to pull unpatched sites offline in a language used by about 70% of websites.

Why it matters Any unpatched server running PHP is exposed to takeover, so administrators need to update or take sites offline right away.

OpenAI models head to Google Cloud, with GPT 6.1 Astra, Sol and Luna arriving in the coming weeks through Model Garden, which would put OpenAI on all three of the top clouds and give Google Cloud Gemini, Claude and GPT on one platform.

Why it matters Enterprise buyers can now pick among the leading models without changing cloud providers, which weakens exclusive cloud-and-model pairings.

Australia orders Apple to open up the iPhone to rival app stores, direct downloads and alternative payment services from March 1, 2027, following a court finding that Apple misused its market power. Apple says it will appeal, and Fortnite is already back on the Australian App Store.

PHP bugs were exploited early, with Amazon Web Services logging attempts four days before the patches landed on the two flaws collectively called PHP2Shell. OpenAI says its GPT-5.6 Sol found them, and Wiz independently found the same flaw using Google's Gemini 4 Argon.

Why it matters AI models are now finding critical vulnerabilities at scale, which shortens the time defenders have to respond before attackers catch up.

Barclays cuts 5,000 jobs as its bosses credit advances in AI for the cost-cutting, which amounts to 5% of its 93,000 global staff and arrives alongside a jump in quarterly profits.

Meta creates new non-voting shares to help fund its AI spending, acquisitions and employee pay, with trading set to begin in 2027. The Class C stock acts as a two-for-one split, and shares rose about 2% after hours as Meta beat third-quarter revenue expectations.

Why it matters Meta is raising capital in a way that keeps voting control where it is while the cost of its AI buildout keeps growing.

Gemini now rides along in CarPlay, letting drivers chat with Google Maps during navigation to reroute, refuel and explore, available today for US drivers with a global rollout to follow.

OpenAI agents crunch mouse brain data in 32 minutes, with thousands of agents working alongside PerturbAI and Scripps Research on data from millions of cells, a job that would take humans months.