ICYMI: the week’s 7 biggest tech stories from Nintendo’s last Switch direct to the Google Pixel 9a finally getting a release date

Summary Generative AI is increasingly marketed with human names and personas, making it feel more like a co-worker than code. This trend, driven by a growing number of startups, aims to build trust and mitigate fears about AI's potential threat to human jobs through anthropomorphism. However, this approach raises concerns about dehumanization and is accelerating rapidly in the market. Full Article

Two information disclosure flaws, CVE-2025-5054 and CVE-2025-4598, have been discovered in the crash reporting tools apport and systemd-coredump in Ubuntu, Red Hat Enterprise Linux, and Fedora, allowing local attackers to access sensitive information through race condition exploits. While Red Hat rated CVE-2025-4598 as Moderate in severity due to the complexity of the exploit, Canonical has released updates for the affected Ubuntu releases, urging users to upgrade their packages. Additionally, advisories were issued by Gentoo, Amazon...

This year's event will include the Green Games Showcase, focusing on games that support environmental initiatives and real-world sustainability, scheduled for June 7 at 4:00 PM ET, streamed live. Organized by PlanetPlay, the showcase celebrates game studios that have collectively raised over $100,000 for various certified environmental projects, including initiatives in South Africa, Timor-Leste, Kenya, and New Zealand. The Green Games Showcase is part of a series of events leading up to the Xbox Games...

Elon Musk's interview with CBS Sunday Morning began awkwardly when reporter David Pogue inquired about his views on Donald Trump's policies, particularly regarding restrictions on international students. Musk redirected the conversation, emphasizing a desire to focus on the day's subject, which was space exploration, specifically spaceships. This exchange highlighted Musk's intent to steer clear of political discussions in favor of discussing his work at SpaceX. Full Article

SummaryChaos erupted on German roads as Google Maps incorrectly reported widespread highway closures during a busy holiday, causing significant traffic disruptions. The issue lasted only a few hours, with reports of congestion on alternative routes and a surge in inquiries to police and traffic authorities, while other navigation apps showed normal traffic flow. Google is reviewing the situation, which is reminiscent of past technical issues with the platform, including a March incident where some users...

SummaryThe antitrust trial against Google concluded its closing arguments, with the tech giant planning to appeal the ruling that deemed its search engine practices monopolistic. The Department of Justice's 2020 lawsuit proposed remedies such as licensing Google's search technology and selling the Chrome browser, which the company argues would harm consumers and raise privacy concerns. The ruling could significantly impact the future of AI in the search market, with potential competitors like OpenAI showing interest...