OpenAI expands ChatGPT for Teachers to 55 U.S. school systems, adding secure AI tools and training for over 100,000 more educators.
OpenAI announced that ChatGPT for Teachers is expanding to 55 U.S. school systems. The rollout brings secure AI tools, training, and support to more than 100,000 additional educators and staff. The expansion marks a significant scale-up of OpenAI's education product in the U.S. K-12 market.
Microsoft signed legally binding AI privacy and safety standards for schools with the American Federation of Teachers, effective November 1.
Microsoft's agreement with the American Federation of Teachers prohibits using student or educator data to train AI systems, bans selling data or using it for ads and product development, and forbids AI companions designed to foster emotional dependency, with third-party audits required. The standards apply to all schools under Microsoft contract starting November 1. NYC and LA school districts announced one-year moratoriums on student AI use, while OpenAI and Anthropic pursue similar pacts and Google remains noncommittal.
Microsoft agreed to enforceable AI safety and privacy principles with the AFT and UFT after New York City and Los Angeles imposed one-year bans on student-facing AI.
Microsoft committed to ten contractually enforceable principles covering AI use in schools, including not training models on student or educator data, limiting data collection, plain-language disclosure to families, prohibiting AI companions, and requiring human review for high-risk decisions. The agreement with the American Federation of Teachers and its NYC affiliate comes after NYC and LA implemented one-year bans on student-facing AI. Districts can adopt the terms into new or existing contracts starting in November.
A new book warns AI firms are repeating Big Tech's education playbook, as New York City and Los Angeles restrict classroom AI use.
NYT education reporter Natasha Singer's book 'Coding Kids' documents how Apple, Microsoft and Google embedded proprietary curricula and Chromebooks in US schools over 15 years, building product loyalty and market position. Google's Chromebook and Classroom dominance positioned it to promote generative AI in classrooms. New York City banned AI in elementary and middle schools and Los Angeles imposed broader restrictions including high schoolers, as parents and teachers push back against screens and AI in classrooms.
Meta launched Muse, a consumer AI agent powered by Muse Spark that connects to users' apps to execute tasks like emailing, booking travel, and payments.
Meta introduced Muse, a personal AI agent for US users that connects to email, calendars, payments, shopping, and other services to execute tasks such as booking travel, lowering bills, and completing purchases via Link by Stripe. The agent runs in a dedicated Muse Secure VM with a separate Sentinel agent kept apart at the system level, and Meta claims it cannot see passwords or payment data and does not share conversations with ad systems. Muse is free to start, with Power ($20/month) and Maximum ($100/month) subscription tiers, and is available on the web, iOS, Android, and WhatsApp, with Meta AI glasses support planned. The launch follows Meta's $18 billion multistate consumer-harms settlement and comes as rivals like Gemini Spark and Claude Cowork push agentic AI.
Google launches the Fairwind Program giving governments and enterprises access to Gemini 3.8 Flash Cyber and CodeMender for autonomous vulnerability finding and patching.
Google DeepMind announced the Fairwind Program, a limited-access offering giving Google Cloud customers, government agencies, and cybersecurity partners access to Gemini 3.8 Flash Cyber and the CodeMender harness to autonomously find, verify, and fix vulnerabilities. Initial access prioritizes governments, critical infrastructure operators in healthcare, telecom, energy, and finance, and core technology platforms, with over 650 partners participating. Google also raised its total global cybersecurity funding commitment above $100 million, including $36 million for 35 US cyber clinics.
Google launches the Fairwind Program giving governments and enterprises access to Gemini 3.8 Flash Cyber and CodeMender for autonomous vulnerability discovery and patching.
Google announced the Fairwind Program, a limited-access offering bringing its cyber defense capabilities to government agencies, critical infrastructure operators, and trusted partners, with more than 650 participating organizations. It combines the Gemini 3.8 Flash Cyber model with the CodeMender harness to autonomously find, verify, and fix vulnerabilities, generating deployment-ready patches in minutes inside customers' cloud environments. Google also raised its total cybersecurity funding commitment above $100 million, including $36 million granted to 35 US cyber clinics supporting hospitals, school districts, and municipal utilities.
Meta agreed to pay up to $18 billion and cap teen Facebook and Instagram use at two hours daily, settling child-safety lawsuits from most US states.
Meta settled claims that it deliberately designed Facebook and Instagram to addict children, ending a federal trial as Instagram head Adam Mosseri began testifying and Mark Zuckerberg was expected to testify. Of roughly $16.7 billion for 47 states and territories, $12.7 billion is guaranteed and $5 billion is contingent on Snapchat, TikTok and YouTube adopting similar teen protections. The deal also resolved state privacy claims tied to Cambridge Analytica for an additional $459 million, while New Mexico (a $567 million ruling) and Florida opted out of the settlement.
Meta settles states' kids' online safety lawsuit for $17 billion, agreeing to landmark usage limits, age restrictions, and independent auditing.
Meta agreed to pay $17 billion to settle a civil suit from nearly every US state and territory alleging it hid research showing Facebook and Instagram are addictive to minors and violated COPPA by collecting data on children under 13. The settlement imposes reforms including two-hour daily limits for users under 18, a midnight-to-6am usage block, non-personalized feed options, and an independent auditor. Meta also settled separately with Texas for about $1 billion.
Ukrainian national Oleksii Lytvynenko sentenced to four years in US prison for his role in Conti ransomware attacks on 1,000+ victims.
Oleksii Oleksiyovych Lytvynenko, 44, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit wire fraud for working as a developer and intruder in the Conti ransomware operation, coding a malware loader and handling data stolen from 12 victims. Conti compromised over 1,000 victims across 47 US states and 31 foreign countries between 2020 and 2022, generating more than $150 million in ransoms. He was arrested in County Cork, Ireland in July 2023 and extradited to the US. The sentencing is part of a wider US investigation into the Conti and TrickBot ecosystem.
Google highlights AI-for-science advances: AlphaGenome Atlas mapping 9 billion genetic variants, WeatherNext 3 weather model, and global health AI tools.
Google detailed AI advances across science and health, including AlphaGenome Atlas, which mapped all 9 billion possible single-letter genetic changes in the human genome and was made openly available. WeatherNext 3 delivers 50% more accurate precipitation forecasts a day or more ahead and is already in products. AlphaFold is used by 4 million researchers in 190 countries, TB chest X-ray screening has processed 25,000+ scans across six nations, and the diabetic retinopathy model has supported 1.15 million screenings. Google also released its AI & Economy ATLAS global usage insights.
OpenAI committed $1 billion to subsidize Daybreak cyber model access, training, and support for water, grid, government, banking, nonprofit, and open-source defenders.
OpenAI committed $1 billion in credits to subsidize access to its Daybreak cyber models, along with training and technical support, for defenders of water and wastewater systems, the electric grid, state and local government, community banks, nonprofits, and open-source projects. The commitment is targeted for consumption over roughly six months, starting in the United States, and follows a smaller $1 million program offered after recent attacks on US water systems. A pilot with MS-ISAC pairs Daybreak access with guided training, and more than 35 partner products joined the Daybreak Defense Network. Thousands of defenders across 2,000 approved organizations already use the service, and OpenAI also published the architecture of its agent-first Defense Factory.
Ex-Google DeepMind researcher Danijar Hafner founded a stealth robotics startup applying world models and model-based reinforcement learning to humanoid agents.
Danijar Hafner, 31, left Google DeepMind in fall 2025 to found a stealth San Francisco startup developing humanoid robots that plan ahead using world models trained via model-based reinforcement learning. His prior work includes PlaNet, Dreamer 2 (first human-level Atari agent in a world model), Dreamer 3 (solved the Minecraft Diamond challenge), Dreamer 4 (learned diamond mining from offline video), and DayDreamer, which let robots adapt to novel situations without task-specific training. The profile covers his career from Google Brain intern to founder aiming to handle unfamiliar real-world environments.
A 17-year-old from Maine became the first minor federally adjudicated for 764 extremist crimes, including child exploitation, signaling a policy shift on prosecuting juveniles.
The FBI said a Maine teenager is the first child federally charged and adjudicated for crimes tied to the nihilistic violent extremist collective 764, part of The Com network. Charges include conspiracy to sexually exploit a child, distributing CSAM, interstate threats, cyberstalking, and identity theft. The case marks a turning point in federal policy on prosecuting juveniles and continues heightened enforcement: Kyle Spitze was sentenced to 77 years and Alexis Chavez to 40 years in related cases. The FBI is investigating more than 500 subjects connected to 764 and its offshoots nationwide.