Author: IQ TIMES MEDIA
Your smartphone’s price might increase in 2026 — and you’ll have AI to thank for that.According to a December 2025 report from global market intelligence firm International Data Corporation (IDC), the manufacturing of Random Access Memory (RAM), used to store data in devices such as computers and phones, is being reallocated to support AI data centers, rather than being incorporated into phones and PCs.Just as your smartphone runs faster with more memory available, so do AI data centers. As more companies rely on AI tools, the importance of reliable processing power increases, leading to the increased usage of more RAM.IDC…
A Catholic influencer said Thursday that his 5-year-old son died from a severe case of the flu.Paul Kim, who posts videos about his Catholic faith and has more than 300,000 followers on Instagram, said in a video on Instagram that his son, Micah, died on New Year’s Eve after “fighting 11 long, hard days.” Previously, Kim said on Instagram that his son was hospitalized after contracting a severe case of the flu.“We are so proud of him. I want to thank you from the bottom of my heart, as his dad, on behalf of my family, for all the ways…
Europe’s banking sector is about to get a tough lesson about efficiency. According to a new Morgan Stanley analysis reported by the Financial Times, more than 200,000 European banking jobs could vanish by 2030 as lenders lean into AI and shutter physical branches. That’s roughly 10% of the workforce at 35 major banks. The bloodletting will hit hardest in back-office operations, risk management, and compliance, the unglamorous guts of banking where algorithms are believed capable of tearing through spreadsheets faster and more effectively than humans. Banks are salivating over projected efficiency gains of 30%, according to the Morgan Stanley report.…
After years of discussion, 2026 is shaping up to be the year when governments around the world take action on kids using social media.Australia, France, Denmark, and Norway are advancing or planning social-media bans for young people under a certain age. In the US, a patchwork of state-based efforts is likely to face tougher prospects.The changes come as concerns mount over the toll that platforms like TikTok, YouTube, and Snapchat can take on young people’s mental health.French President Emmanuel Macron, in a New Year’s Eve speech, reiterated his support for banning social media for children and young teens — setting…
OpenAI is betting big on audio AI, and it’s not just about making ChatGPT sound better. According to new reporting from The Information, the company has unified several engineering, product, and research teams over the past two months to overhaul its audio models, all in preparation for an audio-first personal device expected to launch in about a year. The move reflects where the entire tech industry is headed — toward a future where screens become background noise and audio takes center stage. Smart speakers have already made voice assistants a fixture in more than a third of U.S. homes. Meta…
Cases of influenza in the United States are rising, driven by a new strain that public health officials worry current vaccines may not protect against as effectively.Health officials and researchers say that although the flu season has not reached its peak, the spike in cases is not historically unusual – and they stress vaccines probably still offer protection against the worst effects of the strain.Subscribe to The Post Most newsletter for the most important and interesting stories from The Washington Post. The number of hospitalizations, emergency room and outpatient visits, and deaths associated with the flu have shot up, according…
Changes are coming in 2026 for GLP-1 drugs.Long defined by high prices, shortages and weekly injections, drugs including Wegovy and Zepbound are expected to be easier to access and afford. And new options for people averse to needles are coming.“The GLP-1 landscape is expected to broaden significantly,” said Dr. Christopher McGowan, a gastroenterologist who runs a weight loss clinic in Cary, North Carolina. “For the first time, medical obesity treatment will move away from a one-size-fits-all model.”Weight loss pillsGLP-1 pills for weight loss may mark the most significant shift yet.Last month, Novo Nordisk won Food and Drug Administration approval for…
Elon Musk says he’s planning to ramp up production of his Neuralink brain chips in 2026 and will automate the procedure to implant them into humans.Neuralink “will start high-volume production of brain-computer interface devices” this year, said Musk in a Tuesday X post.The startup, cofounded by Musk in 2016, is developing technology that enables people to control computers using an implanted microchip.Its initial focus is on helping patients with severe neurological conditions — such as Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s, paralysis, or sight impairment — to communicate and regain independence.But Musk has also said that Neuralink’s chips could be used to meld…
Elon Musk and Sam Altman are engaged in a courtroom clash of the titans over the origins of OpenAI, now one of the most important artificial intelligence companies in the world. In San Francisco federal court, they are suing each other in a dizzying series of claims and counterclaims.In Altman’s corner, there’s an arsenal of elite firms — including Morrison & Foerster and Wachtell Lipton Rosen & Katz — with a long track record representing Silicon Valley royalty.Musk has turned to a pair of boutique litigation shops. And at one firm, one of Musk’s lawyers is a clown.Jaymie Parkkinen has been…
Instagram’s top executive thinks AI has made the social media site’s carefully curated grid a thing of the past.In an end-of-year message posted on Threads, Instagram head Adam Mosseri said that the platform would have to evolve to cope with a coming flood of AI-generated content — and warned that the rise of AI had killed off Instagram’s polished aesthetic.”Unless you’re under 25 and use Instagram, you probably think of the app as a feed of square photos. The aesthetic is polished: lots of make up, skin smoothing, high contrast photography, beautiful landscapes,” wrote Mosseri on Wednesday.”That feed is dead.…