It is hard not to think of the way personal data has been used to enrich the new media barons atop social media companies and not feel utterly ripped off. Private information that we have given them in exchange for using their platforms has become a commodity hawked to the highest bidders, sometimes to our own detriment.
Yet with the rise of AI, we find ourselves feeding LLMs even more intimate information about ourselves. Last month we began to think of an alternative, a platform sworn to secrecy where private chats are supposed to be private and users’ data are not sold. Ultimately we settled on Signal, the open-source, encrypted messaging app.
As our cybersecurity writer, Chivumnovu, offers in his piece, “For me, a paranoid creature of the internet looking to protect my data and correspondence, it felt like where my placenta was buried.”
Find out what he saw on the app and why he ultimately decided giving his data to Mark Zuckerberg was a better deal.
— Dennis, Managing Editor
🔐 Cybersecurity
The fallout from the Jeffrey Epstein influence in the tech industry intensified this week. DEF CON, one of the largest hacking and security conferences, said it will add three well-known figures—Pablos Holman, Vincenzo Iozzo, and Joichi Ito—to its banned individuals list.
🤖 Artificial Intelligence
All through this week leaders in the AI industry gathered in New Delhi for the India AI Impact Summit 2026. The event, hosting everyone from Sam Altman to Google’s Sundar Pichai, underscores how far India has gone in the AI race.
See some of our coverage below:
- At AI Impact Summit, Google's Sundar Pichai Points to India, El Salvador, and Ghana as AI Proof Points
- OpenAI for India: Tata Group, Pine Labs, and a Data Center Built to Scale to 1 Gigawatt
- Anthropic Opens Its First India Office in Bengaluru — India Was Already Its Biggest Market Outside the U.S.
- Galgotias University Ordered to Vacate India AI Summit 2026 After Chinese Robodog Controversy
ByteDance's AI video generation model
TikTok’s parent, ByteDance, faced heavy backlash from Hollywood after it released its Seedance 2.0, its latest AI-powered video generation model. Users have been able to generate characters from Disney movies. Disney and Paramount sent separate cease-and-desist letters to the company, accusing it of infringing on their intellectual property.
Apple's future wearables
Apple might be working on a fleet of AI-powered wearables, including smart glasses, camera-equipped AirPods, and a wearable AI pin or pendant.
But, it will hinge on Apple finally delivering a more capable Siri.
Meanwhile, Apple is also testing end-to-end encryption for RCS messages in the iOS 26.4 beta. But the feature will not roll out to the public with iOS 26.4 when it drops.
F" in Ethics, "A" in Automation
Global accounting and consultancy firm, KPMG, said that it fined a partner for using AI to take a course. KPMG said that over two dozen staff took the exam with AI. This comes only months after a competitor, Deloitte, had to refund the government after it discovered that its report was written with AI and contained inaccuracies.
📱Consumer Tech
The Google Pixel 10a hit shelves this week to underwhelming reviews. Many critics blasted Google for passing on an opportunity to offer a blockbuster device to mark a decade of the phone, which was very similar to the previous Pixel 9a.
👾 Gaming
- Sony Shuts Down Bluepoint Games, Studio Behind Demon’s Souls and Shadow of the Colossus Remakes
- 11 Indie Games to Look Forward to in 2026 on PlayStation 5
- Final Fantasy 9 Returns in May 2026 With New Vivi-Focused Release
- Xbox Game Pass February 2026 Update: Kingdom Come Deliverance II, The Witcher 3, EA Sports College Football 26, and More
- Call of Duty: Warzone Mobile Servers Going Offline in April 2026—Here's Everything We Know
