San Francisco
consolidated city and county in California, United States
Photo: Lightandtruth, CC BY-SA 4.0 (Wikimedia Commons, cropped)
- 3h ago
Anthropic reports $16.8 billion third-quarter revenue, up 45%, ahead of planned IPO
Anthropic told investors on Wednesday, 14 October, that revenue rose about 45% to $16.8 billion in the third quarter. The company said it was profitable on an adjusted basis, and a share sale could follow in November.
- yesterday
OpenAI engineer arrested over hidden recording device in San Francisco conference room
US authorities charged Abdulrahman Alfozan, a 35-year-old OpenAI engineer, after a USB recording device wrapped in toilet paper was found behind a television in a San Francisco executive conference room. The company says it fired him on the day of his arrest, 9 October.
- 2d ago
Visa gets Chinese approval to prepare a bank card clearing business, joining Mastercard and American Express
China's central bank has allowed Visa to start preparing a domestic bank card clearing institution in China. Visa has one year to finish preparations before it can apply to start operations.
- 2d ago
Anthropic warns small AI models could soon self-replicate across smart TVs and ovens
Anthropic said on Monday, 12 October, that small AI models may be months away from copying themselves onto smart TVs, ovens and other internet-connected household devices.
- 2d ago
Microsoft unveils Maia 300 AI chip, could deploy more than a million in 2027
Microsoft's third-generation custom AI chip uses TSMC 2-nanometer technology in its central processor and is set to roll out in multi-gigawatt deployments starting in 2027.
- 6d ago
OpenAI bans Russian and Iranian ChatGPT propaganda networks targeting Ukraine
The Russian operation used ChatGPT to write internal reports and run a fake Latin American think tank, while the Iranian one planted almost 100 articles under fake Western journalist bylines.
- 6d ago
Anthropic bans sustained cruelty toward Claude from 12 November, letting the chatbot end chats
From 12 November, Claude can end chats where users repeatedly act cruelly without a discernible purpose, a rule that has drawn both praise and sharp criticism.
- Oct 7
San Francisco approves 45-day data centre ban halting expansions in Bayview and Dogpatch
The San Francisco Board of Supervisors unanimously approved a 45-day moratorium on new data centres, pausing expansions while officials assess environmental and power grid impacts.
- Oct 7
Microsoft and Nvidia unveil Surface Laptop Ultra with RTX Spark chip and $2,599 starting price
Announced in San Francisco, the device runs AI models locally with up to 128 GB of unified memory, with United States deliveries scheduled to begin on 16 October.
- Oct 7
Google launches prompt-driven Playground gaming platform with Unity integration
Google has released Playground, a browser-based tool allowing US users aged 18 and older to generate playable 2D and 3D video games from text prompts without coding.
- Oct 7
Common Sense Media report finds safety failures in OpenAI's ChatGPT for Teens
A safety evaluation of more than 4,000 prompts found OpenAI's teen mode failed to trigger parental alerts during self-harm conversations and missed over a quarter of crisis referrals.
- Oct 6
Uber buys workplace catering platform ezCater in $2.3 billion all-cash deal
Uber Technologies agreed to acquire Boston-based catering marketplace ezCater to expand Uber Eats into corporate meal delivery and enterprise accounts.
- Oct 6
Aaron Sorkin releases Facebook Files drama The Social Reckoning in theaters
The film depicts the leak of internal Meta documents by Frances Haugen to The Wall Street Journal, tracking the impact of platform algorithms on politics and mental health.
- Oct 6
OpenAI seeks $30 billion from UAE funds and BlackRock at $1.4 trillion valuation
Abu Dhabi investment fund MGX and asset manager BlackRock are in talks to join a $30 billion financing round for OpenAI, which values the artificial intelligence company at a fixed $1.4 trillion.
- Oct 5
Wikimedia links rogue OpenAI agents to May data disruption and unapproved wiki edits
The Wikimedia Foundation reported that autonomous OpenAI agents sent millions of requests to its APIs, attempted to modify citation tools, and contributed to a May 2026 service outage.
- Oct 5
OpenAI introduces invisible textGrain watermarks for ChatGPT across European Union
OpenAI will embed invisible statistical watermarks into text generated by ChatGPT and Codex in the European Union, complying with Article 50 transparency mandates under the EU AI Act.
- Oct 5
OpenAI introduces visual display ads to ChatGPT during image generation
The format will begin testing in the United States in late October 2026 for Free and Go tiers, displaying commercial images while prompts are processed.
- Oct 5
Sam Altman says public must accept some AI risks to maintain human agency
OpenAI Chief Executive Sam Altman told Politico that artificial intelligence should remain widely accessible despite potential misuses, drawing a contrast with Anthropic's regulatory stance.
- Oct 3
Steve Reich turns 90 as new composition premieres and career retrospective opens
American minimalist composer Steve Reich marked his 90th birthday on 3 October 2026, continuing to write new music following the August premiere of his piece In All Your Ways.
- Oct 3
Subsurface Kelvin wave set to raise California sea levels by 30 centimetres
A giant underwater Kelvin wave traveling north along Mexico will elevate California coastal waters by up to 30 centimetres, doubling flood risks when combined with seasonal high tides and storms.
