Ukraine said Monday that its interceptor drones have led to the emergence of Russian jet-powered drones. Kay Nietfeld/picture alliance via Getty Images Russia has started using its new jet-powered attack drone, the Geran-4, in combat. Ukraine said Monday this is in response to the effectiveness of its interceptor drones. Jet-powered drones are faster and more difficult to shoot down than propeller-driven variants. Russia has started using a new jet-powered attack drone in response to Ukrainian interceptor drones, which are becoming increasingly effective in combat, Kyiv said Monday. Russia routinely uses propeller-driven drones called the Geran-2 — based on the notorious Iranian Shahed — to attack Ukrainian cities, but has developed faster variants powered by jet engines known as the Geran-3, Geran-4, and Geran-5. The Geran-3 made its combat debut last year. On Monday, Ukraine's military intelligence agency, the GUR, said Russia had started using the newer Geran-4 in attacks this month "as a countermeasure against the effectiveness of our interceptor" drones. Cheap interceptor drones are a critical tool in Ukraine's air defense arsenal as it faces worsening Russian bombardments. Mykhailo Fedorov, Ukraine's defense minister, recently told reporters that the number of Geran-type drones downed by interceptor drones has doubled since the start of the year, while deliveries to the military have increased at the same time. The interceptor drones are armed with small warheads and eliminate their targets by colliding with them or exploding nearby. But they are primarily designed to engage the Geran-2, which can reach speeds of 115 mph, not the faster variants. The Geran-4 is powered by a Chinese-made turbojet engine and can fly as fast as 500 km/h (roughly 310 mph) and cruise at an altitude of 5,000 meters (1,640 feet), the GUR said. The drone can carry a highly explosive warhead over a distance of 450 kilometers (280 miles). Jet-powered drones are launched by long rails and accelerate to flight speed before the engine takes over. The GUR said the Geran-4 has an improved airframe, a more reinforced structure, and an engine that provides greater thrust than its predecessor variants. The design allows for active maneuvering. A rendering of the Geran-4. Main Directorate of Intelligence of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine/Screengrab Neither Russia's defense ministry nor its US embassy responded to requests for comment on the GUR assessment. Russia's jet-powered drones have not been used as widely in combat as the propeller-driven Geran-2, although Moscow has expanded the infrastructure to support their launches at various air bases. Serhii "Flash" Beskrestnov, an advisor to Ukraine's defense ministry, said Russia used both the Geran-3 and Geran-4 to attack Kyiv during a massive bombardment over the weekend that killed at least two people and injured dozens more. Ukraine has signaled that it is preparing for an uptick in Russian jet-powered drones. For instance, interceptor drone makers have said they are developing faster models to chase down the newer Gerans. Fedorov, the defense minister, told reporters that Ukraine is focused on developing a stockpile of low-cost interceptor missiles "to prepare for the emergence of jet-powered" drones, and that Kyiv has already begun testing. Ukraine aims to scale production and build out a stockpile before the fall, Fedorov said, as Russia typically ramps up missile and drone strikes during the colder months. The rise of interceptor drones, followed by the debut of jet-powered Gerans, and Ukraine's development of cheap missiles in response to that, follows a similar trend throughout the conflict, where one side fields a new technology that forces the other to adapt and counter. Ukrainian and Western officials have often described the conflict as a cat-and-mouse arms race, as both sides seek to gain an edge on the battlefield through tactical and weapons innovation. Read the original article on Business Insider

As attackers ramp up their AI exploit development, the search for software vulnerabilities is changing rapidly.

Joshua McElwee / Reuters: In his ~43,000-word encyclical, the Pope urged governments to slow down AI development and decried “new forms of slavery” in AI and tech supply chains  —  Pope Leo urged governments to slow down the development of AI systems in his first major document, released on Monday …

Ionut Arghire / SecurityWeek: More than 5,500 GitHub repositories were infected with malware in a supply chain attack, dubbed Megalodon, on May 18 that relies on automated commits  —  Fake automated commits injected GitHub Actions workflows containing payloads to steal credentials, CI secrets, keys, and tokens.

Carol Merlo built websites with WordPress, Weebly, and Wix. Her son, Kevin Masterson, taught her to vibe code her own with Claude Code. Kevin Masterson Carol Merlo wanted to build her own website without Weebly or Wix. She asked her son, Kevin Masterson, to help. Masterson taught her to vibe code. "Sometimes thirty seconds can save her an hour of headache," he said. Merlo was worried about clicking the "enter" key. "You're not going to break it," he assured her. This as-told-to essay is based on a conversation with Carol Merlo and her son, Kevin Masterson. Merlo is a 73-year-old entrepreneurship coach from Dallas. Masterson is a 41-year-old AI mentor from Lewisville, Texas. It's been edited for length and clarity. Carol Merlo: I used ChatGPT for personal stuff, like, what supplement should I take for this? What do you think of that? What's wrong with this bush? Kevin Masterson: It's real! She totally doctored up a bush and brought it back to life with AI. Merlo: I use ChatGPT for that because it doesn't need to speak in complete sentences. I still rely on ChatGPT for images. Claude is great for human language. It's not stilted. My husband uses Gemini. I don't know why. Masterson: I've been vibe coding for about a year, getting really into the meat and potatoes. I trained a friend of mine, with whom I worked at a restaurant, and we got good enough together to win a hackathon. I thought: This is duplicatable. Who do I care about more than anybody? My mom. She talked about building a website, and she didn't want to be dependent on Weebly. I was like, "Do you want to learn how to do it yourself? I can walk you through stuff. I'm not going to be on the keyboard. I'll just say words." Merlo: I've been building websites for as long as we've had the internet. WordPress was really hard and labor-intensive. Then I switched over to Wix for a minute, then Weebly. My husband also has a website, and we've got a third website for something else. I got an email about a month or two ago, saying they were going to make me pay for two years and that they were raising my rate. At that point, I went to Kevin. I said: "What can I do so that I'm not having to pay so much for a website?" He started with this ideation phase. What do you want? What's it look like? What's it feel like? We had a long conversation. Masterson: The lessons were in-person. I'd sit in the corner of the room, and she'd be on her computer. At the beginning, it's so important to have a face. It was more structured sessions and more handholding. Kevin Masterson sat in the corner while his mom, Carol Merlo, learned to vibe code. Kevin Masterson Merlo: The difference between this and the drag-and-drop interfaces is that it's all words. You have to be able to type the words of the thing you want. With ChatGPT, I'll send it a picture or a clip. Well, no pictures here. This is coding. I'm old, so I come from the world of reading. I'm highly academic, and everything I do is words. Nowadays, people don't have the patience for it. They don't even have the patience for videos. You need a clip. How are you going to learn this in a clip? So, people have to learn patience and the willingness to do it. Masterson: She was a little timid at times. Like, "I don't want to bother you, but I've got another question." That's what I'm here for! Sometimes thirty seconds can save her an hour of headache. Merlo: It was completely new for me. I developed a Word document that tells me what to do here, what to do there, and what this word means. The other thing that was the most challenging was acronyms. Kevin started talking to me, and I was like: What the heck is he saying? Like, what's a CLI? I said, "You've got to dumb it down for me." Sometimes I'd go into regular Claude to ask what terms meant so I could get context. I would be hesitant to click "enter." I'd say: "I've typed this thing in. Now what?" He'd say: "Click 'enter.'" He told me, "You're not going to break it, and you can go back to the original, so you don't have to worry about it being wrong." Many people are worried about it being wrong, especially when you're learning something. That was very encouraging for me. Masterson: It became more back-and-forth. She sent me a few emails, and we did a bit of video conferencing. Merlo: What Kevin taught me is that there's no limit. Whatever you can envision, you can ask Claude Code to do for you. I'm no longer limited by knowledge; now I'm only limited by my imagination. That's huge. I'm paying way less: $9.99 a month for another platform that works using Claude Code. Now I have this thing, and nobody's going to upsell me or do things that are going to cost me money that I don't want to spend. Right now, the website is basic. Now, I'm going in and doing refinements. There are other things I've done on other websites that are more fun and not as boring as the one I have. It's great, it's just not spiffy. I'm spiffing it up. Read the original article on Business Insider

Walmart's AI shopping assistant is called Sparky. Scott Olson/Getty Images Major retailers, such as Walmart and Sephora, are integrating AI into their shopping experiences. Tech companies, including OpenAI and Google, are also racing to win in AI-driven online shopping. Today's AI assistants can help with product recommendations, checkout, and customer service. Retail is becoming a big battleground in the artificial intelligence arms race. In the past year, more major retailers have gotten in on the hype, unveiling AI tools for shoppers to use both in stores and online. Some, including Amazon and Walmart, have built AI-powered shopping assistants, while others, such as Target, have added AI features to their shopping apps or partnered with tech companies on AI tools. Some of the most popular uses of AI for shopping are for research and comparisons, according to an April study from global consulting firm McKinsey and Company. Retailers aren't the only companies trying to use AI to change the way people buy things. Tech companies, including OpenAI and Google, have introduced new AI shopping features and partnered with top brands. EMARKETER, a sibling company of Business Insider, projects that AI platforms will drive $144 billion in US e-commerce sales by 2029. It hasn't all been smooth sailing. OpenAI earlier this year pivoted away from a feature called Instant Checkout that allowed users to make purchases within ChatGPT from retailers like Walmart. Many consumers are still building trust with the AI, McKinsey also wrote in its report. Still, early adopters show that the opportunity is big. Amazon said in February that customers who used its old AI assistant Rufus while shopping were 60% more likely to complete a purchase. And Walmart has said that those using its shopping bot, Sparky, spend more per order on average than those who didn't. Here are the ways that AI agents and chatbots are quietly reshaping online shopping — and why you'll probably start seeing them more often. OpenAI was an early mover in AI shopping and works with retailers like Walmart and Target Illustration by Justin Sullivan/Getty Images OpenAI has emerged as a prominent player in AI-powered shopping through a growing number of retail partnerships. It experimented with Instant Checkout before shifting toward product discovery and visual shopping features inside ChatGPT. It has struck major deals with retailers, including Walmart, Target, Etsy, and Sephora, which have launched apps with ChatGPT. Some apps allow shoppers to search for, compare, and get recommendations directly from the chatbot. Retailers such as home improvement retailer Lowe's, have made AI-powered assistants in collaboration with OpenAI, like Lowe's virtual home improvement assistant, Mylow. The retailer said it provides customers with the expertise of a Lowe's associate. Google is trying to get people to shop within Gemini and striking deals with major retailers Illustration by Matteo Della Torre/NurPhoto via Getty Images Google, which already plays a major role in online shopping through its search business, has made major moves this year to expand its AI presence. Through Gemini, Google has forged partnerships with large retailers and apparel brands to bring their products to its app and AI mode in Google search. The collaborations are meant to make it easier to find and purchase items. For example, brands including Target, Gap Inc., and Nike said shoppers would be able to browse and shop their products through Google's Gemini app and AI Mode shopping experiences. Meta AI is coming for your Instagram feed Marcin Golba/NurPhoto via Getty Images Meta is bringing AI-powered shopping to your Instagram and Facebook feeds. In March, the company said it was testing new AI features that let users see product information and a summary of user reviews after clicking ads on Facebook or Instagram. Shopping was also part of Meta's April rollout of its AI model, Muse Spark, in Meta AI before expanding to Meta's broader family of apps. It includes a feature in Meta AI's shopping mode that can search and map Facebook Marketplace listings near a user alongside options from other sites, and a new way to browse products from brands and creators. Amazon is making a new bet on Alexa for shopping The Amazon logo on the façade of Amazon Germany's headquarters in Parkstadt Schwabing in Munich. Matthias Balk/picture alliance via Getty Images Amazon pivoted in May away from its AI-powered shopping assistant Rufus. The e-commerce giant said it would roll Rufus' capabilities into Alexa+, the generative AI-version of its voice assistant, to create Alexa for Shopping. The new effort aims to be more personalized and conversational. Alexa for Shopping can help compare products, provide recommendations, track prices, and manage your cart, for example. It also works across your phone, laptop, and Echo devices. Rajiv Mehta, Amazon's vice president of conversational shopping, described it as an "expert personal shopper who already knows you." Walmart's Sparky is gaining traction with shoppers Joe Raedle/Getty Images Walmart introduced its AI shopping assistant, Sparky, in 2025. Shoppers can use the chatbot in the Walmart app or website to find products, read reviews, and receive personalized purchase recommendations. In May, the retail giant said Sparky's weekly active users were up over 100% from the previous quarter. Walmart said that orders from customers using Sparky were 35% more valuable on average. Beauty brands are getting in on the AI chatbot wave Kevin Carter/Getty Images In 2025, beauty retailer Sephora launched AI Beauty Chat, a generative AI chatbot, on its website and app. The company's AI tools aim to provide "insightful recommendations to enhance a personalized shopping experience and smart gift giving," Nadine Graham, senior vice president and general manager of e-commerce at Sephora North America, told Business Insider. Its rival, Ulta, has also launched an AI shopping assistant to guide customers through its website and app. It allows them to compare and shop for beauty products. Ulta AI is meant to make "beauty discovery more seamless, personalized and shoppable wherever it happens," said Lauren Brindley, chief merchandising and digital officer at Ulta Beauty. Editor's note: This story was first published in November 2025 and has been updated to reflect recent developments. Read the original article on Business Insider

Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang says blaming AI for layoffs is "lazy." I-Hwa Cheng/AFP/Getty Images Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang says blaming AI for layoffs is "just too lazy." Huang says it "doesn't make sense" to blame AI before the tech became widely useful. His comments come as companies rush to roll out AI tools across their businesses Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang criticized CEOs who blamed artificial intelligence for layoffs, calling the narrative "lazy." "I think the narrative that connects AI to job loss for many of the CEOs that are doing it, it is just too lazy," Huang told Singapore broadcaster Channel NewsAsia in an interview on Monday. "AI has just arrived. 
How is it possible they're already losing jobs?" he asked. Huang said it "doesn't make any sense" for companies to link layoffs to AI before generative AI tools became widely useful in the workplace. "How is it possible that AI became productive and useful only six months ago, and they were somehow laying people off two years ago because of AI?" Huang told CNA in Taiwan. Huang said some executives were blaming layoffs on AI "to sound smart." "I really hate that," he said. Huang's comments come as companies across industries race to integrate AI tools into their businesses, while workers increasingly worry about automation replacing human jobs. The anxiety has intensified amid a wave of tech layoffs and corporate restructuring tied to AI. The trend has also fueled debate over whether companies are genuinely replacing workers with AI or simply using the technology to justify broader cost-cutting. Huang argued that leaders should strike a more balanced tone when discussing the technology's impact. "I think we're scaring people and that's irresponsible," he said. Huang said the industry should present a "balanced narrative" about AI that acknowledges both the technology's potential and the importance of advancing it safely, with proper security measures, guardrails, and supportive government and industrial policies. "On the other hand, tell a story that's optimistic so that people want to be part of it," he added. Huang also talked about joining President Donald Trump on his recent trip to Beijing after receiving a last-minute call from the president. Huang said Trump called him the morning he was leaving and "insisted" that he get on the plane, initially thinking Huang was in Washington, DC. Huang said he was on the West Coast, so Trump told him to meet Air Force One in Alaska. "He called me in the morning — he didn't realize I wasn't going — and he insisted that I get on the plane and go," Huang said, adding he packed in a hurry. Huang said he then flew to Alaska, boarded Air Force One, and traveled to China with a group of other US executives representing a broad range of industries. "We were there to really represent the United States and support the president," Huang said. Read the original article on Business Insider

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Build professional-grade visuals instantly with ARTA AI. The post Turn Prompts Into Pro Visual Content Fast For Just $64 appeared first on TechRepublic.

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SoftBank Group Corp. shares climbed to a record high, spurred by hopes of big returns from the Japanese investor’s stakes in OpenAI and SB Energy Corp., should the two go public.

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No AI Alliance Should Be Treated as Permanent: The Microsoft-OpenAI Lesson  For three years, enterprise AI … Enterprise AI Had a Default Stack, Microsoft and OpenAI Just Made It OptionalRead more The post Enterprise AI Had a Default Stack, Microsoft and OpenAI Just Made It Optional appeared first on .

SoftBank Group Corp. plans to raise ¥260 billion ($1.6 billion) through another sale of subordinated bonds aimed mainly at individual investors, about two months after a similar retail offering.

Ben Jiang / South China Morning Post: A look at Xiaomi's AI push to future-proof its hardware and EV ecosystem, as it recently committed ~$8.8B in AI investments over the next three years  —  Xiaomi is betting on artificial intelligence to future-proof its sprawling hardware empire, pouring massive resources into open-source models …

“Bloomberg: The China Show” is your definitive source for news and analysis on the world's second-biggest economy. From politics and policy to tech and trends, Yvonne Man and Avril Hong give global investors unique insight, delivering in-depth discussions with the newsmakers who matter. (Source: Bloomberg)

China’s crackdown on cross-border stock trading could affect up to HK$250 billion ($32 billion) in Hong Kong-linked assets, according to Citic Securities. The move aims to tighten capital outflows and reshape investor access. William Ma, CIO of GROW Investment Group, discussed the potential impact with Paul Allen on Insight with Haslinda Amin. (Source: Bloomberg)