Author: IQ TIMES MEDIA

Google Chrome and Apple’s Safari currently dominate the web browser market, with Chrome holding a significant share due to the tech giant’s ongoing innovations, particularly in integrating generative AI into its search functionalities.  However, users seeking alternatives will find a variety of browsers aiming to challenge these industry giants. To help navigate the competitive landscape of the browser wars, we’ve compiled an overview of some of the top alternative browsers available today. This includes browsers leveraging AI, open source browsers that promote customization and privacy, and “mindful browsers” — a new term that refers to browsers designed to enhance user…

Codi, an Andreessen Horowitz-backed startup founded by Christelle Rohaut and Dave Schuman, is launching what it hails as the first AI-powered platform to fully automate office management.   Codi was founded in 2018, in a pre-pandemic world, with a mission to help companies find flexible office spaces. It was more of a marketplace, as TechCrunch previously reported, that matched companies to buildings that offered flexible office arrangements. Codi then assisted with the move-in processes. Rohaut, the company’s CEO, said she and her team back then used to manually manage office spaces and vendors for their clients, but the recent advancements in AI have allowed them to essentially…

OpenAI announced Tuesday the launch of its AI-powered browser, ChatGPT Atlas, a major step in the company’s quest to unseat Google as the main way people find information online. The company says Atlas will first roll out on MacOS, with support for Windows, iOS and Android coming soon. OpenAI says the product will be available to all free users at launch. Browsers have quickly become the AI industry’s next battleground. While Google Chrome has long dominated the space, there’s a sense that AI chatbots and agents are fundamentally changing how people get work done online. A handful of startups have…

When an AI wearable’s ad campaign sparked backlash in New York City, Heineken said: Hold my beer.Friend, the company behind an AI companion you wear around your neck, spent over $1 million to plaster the city’s subway system with 11,000 car cards, 1,000 platform posters, and 130 urban panels on September 25. New Yorkers quickly defaced the ads with graffiti like “surveillance tool” and “AI is not your friend.” A defaced Friend ad in New York City on October 3, 2025. Business Insider Within two weeks, Heineken joined the fray, launching an ad campaign of its own. Friend’s signature pendant…

Elon Musk isn’t feuding with President Donald Trump right now — but he’s having it out with one of his Cabinet secretaries.”Sean Dummy is trying to kill NASA!” Musk wrote on X on Tuesday, referring to Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy.The missive came in response to a report from The Wall Street Journal about a “power struggle” over who will permanently lead the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, or NASA, which Duffy has been leading on an acting basis since July.According to the Journal, Jared Isaacman — a Musk ally who was previously nominated by Trump to lead the agency —…

YouTube revealed on Tuesday that its likeness-detection technology has officially rolled out to eligible creators in the YouTube Partner Program, following a pilot phase. The technology allows creators to request the removal of AI-generated content that uses their likeness. This is the first wave of the rollout, a YouTube spokesperson informed TechCrunch, adding that eligible creators received emails this morning. YouTube’s detection technology identifies and manages AI-generated content featuring the likeness of creators, such as their face and voice. The technology is designed to prevent people from having their likeness misused, whether for endorsing products and services they have not…

Meta on Tuesday introduced new scam detection features for its messaging apps, WhatsApp and Messenger, as part of its broader initiative to crack down on online scams that target older people. The company said it will begin to show warnings in WhatsApp when users try to share their screen during calls, and it will flag possible scam messages in Messenger, which can be sent to AI for review. The tech giant said it’s detected and disrupted about 8 million accounts engaging in scam operations during the first half of 2025, including those associated with scam centers in areas like Myanmar,…

Some startups pride themselves on having prestigious financial backers — but just as important is having prestigious customers. It’s one of the main points of pride for Serval, an enterprise AI company that announced a $47 million Series A round on Tuesday. The round was led by Redpoint Ventures, with participation from heavy-hitting venture firms like First Round, General Catalyst, and Box Group. But even more impressive than the funders is the company’s list of clients, which include major AI players like Perplexity, Mercor, and Together AI. In broad strokes, Serval is using agentic AI models to automate IT service…

NEW YORK (AP) — The Trump administration has agreed to resume student loan forgiveness for an estimated 2.5 million borrowers who are enrolled in certain federal repayment plans following a lawsuit from the American Federation of Teachers.Under the agreement reached Friday between the teachers union and the administration, the Education Department will process loan forgiveness for those eligible in certain repayment plans that offer lower monthly payments based on a borrower’s earnings. The government had stopped providing forgiveness under those plans based on its interpretation of a different court decision.The agreement will also protect borrowers from being hit with high…

Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei published a statement Tuesday to “set the record straight” on the company’s alignment with the Trump administration’s AI policy, responding to what he called “a recent uptick in inaccurate claims about Anthropic’s policy stances.”  “Anthropic is built on a simple principle: AI should be a force for human progress, not peril,” Amodei wrote. “That means making products that are genuinely useful, speaking honestly about risks and benefits, and working with anyone serious about getting this right.”  Amodei’s response comes after last week’s dogpiling on Anthropic from AI leaders and top members of the Trump administration, including AI czar David…