Ex-Olympic Snowboarder Pleads Not Guilty to Drug Trafficking, Murder Charges
A former Canadian Olympic snowboarder, Ryan Wedding, pleaded not guilty in a U.S. court on Monday to charges of running an international drug trafficking ring and orchestrating multiple murders, according to Euronews. The 44-year-old, also known as "El Jefe," "Giant," and "Public Enemy," was arrested in Mexico last week and flown to California, Euronews reported.
Wedding is accused of moving cocaine between the United States and Canada and directing the killing of a federal witness in Colombia, Euronews stated. U.S. authorities indicated that he had been hiding in Mexico for over a decade prior to his arrest. He was on the FBI's 10 Most Wanted list.
Google Settles Claims of Voice Assistant Spying for $68 Million
Google agreed to pay $68 million to settle claims that its voice assistant illegally spied on users, Reuters reported via TechCrunch. The class-action lawsuit accused Google of unlawful and intentional interception and recording of individuals' confidential communications without their consent, and subsequent unauthorized disclosure of those communications to third parties.
According to the suit, information gleaned from these recordings was wrongly transmitted to third parties for targeted advertising and other purposes. TechCrunch noted that the case centered on "false accepts," where Google Assistant allegedly activated and recorded users' communications even if they had not intentionally prompted it. Google did not admit wrongdoing as part of the settlement.
Northwood Space Secures $100M Series B, $50M Space Force Contract
Northwood Space, a startup focused on developing modern and efficient ground-based communications infrastructure, announced a $100 million Series B funding round led by Washington Harbour Partners and co-led by Andreessen Horowitz, TechCrunch reported. The El Segundo, California-based company also secured a $49.8 million contract with the United States Space Force to help upgrade the satellite control network.
South Korean Startup Edenlux to Debut Eye-Strain Wellness Device in U.S.
Edenlux, a South Korea-based startup, is set to launch its eye-strain wellness device in the U.S., TechCrunch announced. The company aims to address eye and ear health issues caused by heavy screen use. According to research cited by TechCrunch, people spend an average of over three hours daily on their smartphones, with many adults exceeding six hours of total screen time. This constant close-up screen exposure has been linked to eye-health issues. Edenlux founder and CEO Sungyong Park developed the technology after experiencing eyesight problems himself while serving as a military physician, TechCrunch reported.
The Verge Explores the Potential of AI in the Legal System with "JudgeGPT"
The Verge published an article titled "All rise for JudgeGPT," exploring the potential of artificial intelligence in the legal system. The article, written by Lauren Feiner, discusses how AI could potentially improve the flawed legal system. Bridget McCormack, former chief justice on the Michigan Supreme Court, is working on a new kind of legal decision-maker that, like a judge, would make mistakes, but could potentially offer improvements over the current system.
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FedEx Freight Holding Co. is issuing investment-grade dollar bonds in a four-part offering, with the longest-tenor note priced 1.4 percentage points above Treasuries, as it prepares for its spinoff from FedEx Corp. in June. The bond sale signals significant financial activity surrounding the spinoff, potentially impacting the market's valuation of both FedEx and the newly independent FedEx Freight.
India's reduced demand for Russian crude oil, despite Russia maintaining high production levels at 3.18 million barrels a day, is creating a surplus and logistical challenges for Russian oil exports. This situation highlights the complexities of global energy markets and the impact of geopolitical factors on supply chains, potentially requiring Russia to adapt its export strategies.
Amazon is settling a class-action lawsuit for over $1 billion related to allegedly mishandled returns, highlighting the complexities of managing e-commerce logistics at scale. The settlement, which includes refunds and payments to affected customers, underscores the importance of transparent and reliable AI-driven systems for processing returns and maintaining consumer trust in the digital marketplace.
Moonshot AI has released Kimi K2.5, a multimodal open-source AI model excelling in text, image, and video understanding, trained on 15 trillion tokens. Kimi K2.5 demonstrates strong coding capabilities and agent orchestration, outperforming proprietary models like Gemini 3 Pro and GPT 5.2 in coding benchmarks and achieving top scores in video understanding, signaling advancements in AI-driven development and multimedia processing.
MicroVision has submitted a $33 million bid to acquire Luminar's lidar business, surpassing Quantum Computing Inc.'s previous offer and signaling further consolidation in the disrupted lidar market. The acquisition, which includes key IP, inventory, talent, and commercial contracts, aims to expand MicroVision's sensor portfolio and position it for increased commercial adoption and safety advancements in the automotive sector. The sale is pending court approval following Luminar's bankruptcy case.
A crisis of truth has emerged in Minneapolis following the police shooting of Alex Pretti, exacerbated by the rapid spread of AI-generated imagery and conflicting narratives online. This incident highlights the growing challenge of discerning reality in the age of increasingly sophisticated AI, raising critical questions about trust and the reliability of visual information in the digital sphere. The Vergecast explores this issue.
Samsung's Galaxy Z Trifold, a phone-tablet hybrid featuring a unique trifolding design, launches this Friday with a premium price tag of $2,899 for the 512GB model. This device, one of the first trifolding phones available in the US market, represents a significant advancement in foldable display technology, though its high cost may limit its initial appeal to early adopters.
Pinterest is laying off approximately 15% of its workforce, around 700 employees, by September 2026 to strategically invest in AI-driven initiatives. This restructuring highlights a growing trend of companies prioritizing AI, potentially impacting employment as businesses shift focus towards automation and AI-powered products.
Flora, a node-based design tool utilizing generative AI, secured $42 million in Series A funding led by Redpoint Ventures to advance its platform. The tool allows designers to create and iterate media assets using multimodal inputs like images, text, and video, offering a new workflow to accommodate AI-driven design processes and compete with established players like Adobe and Figma. This investment signals a growing trend towards AI-centric design tools that offer more flexible and iterative creative workflows.
Review Book Reviews A kids' guide to phone-free fun, from the author of 'The Anxious Generation' January 27, 20269:00 AM ET By Tahneer Oksman Jonathan Haidt's 2024 book The Anxious Generation made the case that smartphones and social media had "rewired" kids' brains. His new book, The Amazing Generation, is a collaboration with science journalist Catherine Price and graphic novelist Cynthia Yuan Cheng.
India and the European Union have finalized a comprehensive free trade agreement after nearly 20 years of negotiations, aiming to strengthen economic and strategic relations. The agreement, affecting a substantial portion of the global population and GDP, seeks to eliminate tariffs on most goods and diversify trade partnerships amid rising trade tensions with the United States. Both Indian and EU leaders have expressed optimism about the opportunities the deal will create for their respective economies.
Multiple news sources report that Congressional Democrats are seeking Justice Department records related to the fatal shootings of two U.S. citizens by Border Patrol agents in Minneapolis, alleging obstruction and inappropriate targeting, while Second Amendment advocates criticize potential infringements on gun rights following one of the shootings. Amidst these events, new U.S. visa restrictions on Palestinians are raising diplomatic concerns, and a couple's emotionally taxing journey to Poland, including visits to Warsaw's historical sites and the impending visit to Auschwitz, underscores personal and historical connections to the Holocaust.
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