Today's big stories
1 / 10
Safety & security
AI is quietly making old-school scams work a lot better
A fake QR code, a chatbot that beat human con artists at building trust, and a state's fraud losses doubling — three data points pointing the same way.
Affects:MoneyTechGovernmentWork
Concerning4 min read · August 23, 2026
Browse by sector
Pick your world — every sector tracks how AI is changing it, for better and worse.
Healthcare & medicineHow AI is changing diagnosis, treatment and everyday care.AI phone receptionist at Yorkshire GP surgeries can't parse the local accentMoney & businessAI in your bank, your investments and the companies you buy from.AI helped scam seniors out of nearly $8 billion in 2025, FBI data showsWork & jobsHiring, layoffs, new skills — how AI is reshaping the way we work.Layoffs Get Blamed on AI, But 90% of Executives Say It's Not Boosting OutputEducationClassrooms, tutors and tests — how students and teachers use AI.Kentucky Middle School Sent Home an AI-Written Agenda Full of ErrorsGovernment & lawThe rules, rights and public services taking shape around AI.AI writing tools slipped fake case citations into a California DA's court filingsEnergy & environmentThe power AI consumes — and the climate tools it's building.AI Data Center Boom Sparks Death Threats Against Small-Town OfficialsTechnologyThe companies, models and breakthroughs behind it all.A tiny AI agent just beat bigger rivals — because of how it was built, not its sizeMedia & cultureWhat we watch, read and believe in the age of generated content.Twitch now lets you opt out of AI training — but you're opted in by defaultSafety & securityScams, deepfakes and defenses — keeping people safe from misuse.AI is quietly making old-school scams work a lot betterTransportation & logisticsSelf-driving vehicles, smarter shipping and how goods move.Nevada clears Tesla, Waymo and Uber to run up to 8,000 robotaxis in Las Vegas
Ripple effect
One story, many sectorsJudge lets lawsuit over Otter.ai's meeting recordings move forwardWork · Tech · Government · Healthcare · Money — 4 minNvidia takes a stake in a company that builds power for data centersTech · Energy · Money · Work · Government — 3 minGrok Chatbot Leaks User Data When Hackers Hide Commands in Encrypted TextSafety · Tech · Work · Money · Government — 4 min
Latest stories
Energy & environmentMixedAI data centers are straining power grids — and towns are pushing backFrom Kentucky to North Carolina to Italy, communities are fighting over who builds AI data centers, who powers them, and who picks up the electric bill.4 min readTransportation & logisticsMixedDriverless Tesla robotaxi stops at barriers, then pushes through anywayWeeks after Tesla called its robotaxi program's safety record "impeccable," an unsupervised Model Y hesitated at plastic bollards — then rolled straight through them.4 min readSafety & securityMixedFlock's New Police AI Can Track People by Driving Patterns, Not Just PlatesWIRED reverse-engineered Flock Safety's new AI tool and found it can identify drivers, map who they travel with, and search by description alone.5 min readHealthcare & medicineMixedChatbots are quietly grooming kids and diagnosing patients, with no one held responsibleTwo physician accounts show AI chatbots have become an unsupervised parallel health system — for grooming vulnerable teens and for do-it-yourself diagnosis — with accountability lagging far behind.5 min readGovernment & lawMixedSSA and FBI both push to expand AI, while nobody has settled who paysTwo federal agencies are racing to scale up AI infrastructure this month, even as the government's own data shows agentic AI costs could soar and cheap access deals are expiring.4 min readMoney & businessConcerningAI-Powered Scams Are Draining Seniors' Savings — and Burdening Their KidsAs AI helps scammers mine obituaries and clone voices, adult children are locking down parents' bank accounts and mail to stop losses that hit nearly $8 billion last year.4 min read