Author: IQ TIMES MEDIA

OpenAI recently announced a $200 million deal with the U.S. Department of Defense, which has us wondering: Could this further strain the company’s relationship with its biggest backer, Microsoft? After all, there have been numerous reports about growing tensions between the two companies, particularly as they become more competitive over enterprise deals. Today, on TechCrunch’s Equity podcast, hosts Anthony Ha and Max Zeff discuss how the OpenAI/DoD deal reflects Silicon Valley’s increasingly cozy relationship with the military and why industry leaders are calling for an AI “arms race.” Listen to the full episode to hear more highlights from the week,…

LOS ANGELES (AP) — The Los Angeles Dodgers have donated $1 million to assist families impacted by two weeks of immigration raids in Southern California.The defending World Series champion Dodgers also said Friday that they intend to form partnerships with the California Community Foundation, the Los Angeles County Federation of Labor and other organization to continue providing aid to immigrant families.“What’s happening in Los Angeles has reverberated among thousands upon thousands of people, and we have heard the calls for us to take a leading role on behalf of those affected,” Dodgers president Stan Kasten said. “We believe that by…

For one day only: The Brad Blizzard, available at Dairy Queen.The snack story of the Stanley Cup playoffs — did Brad Marchand eat a Blizzard between periods of a playoff game or not? — reached its celebratory peak Friday. A Dairy Queen in Sunrise, Florida, where the Panthers play their home games, renamed the treat for the day in honor of the now two-time Stanley Cup winner.The Brad Blizzard was one of his favorites: the chocolate chip cookie dough flavor, though on Friday, the primary ingredient wasn’t called chocolate chips but rather chocolate “chirps” — a nod to the verbal…

CROMWELL, Conn. (AP) — Scottie Scheffler provided hope with a late double bogey. Tommy Fleetwood charged through with two eagles in three holes, and so did Justin Thomas with five straight birdies. They wound up tied for the lead on a blustery Friday at the Travelers Championship.All it took was the fate of the wind, good or bad, to shape the leaderboard going into the weekend at the TPC River Highlands, with 12 players separated by four shots.Scheffler was comfortably in front when the left-to-right wind his tee shot had been riding laid down, sending his ball into the fairway…

Several weeks after Anthropic released research claiming that its Claude Opus 4 AI model resorted to blackmailing engineers who tried to turn the model off in controlled test scenarios, the company is out with new research suggesting the problem is more widespread among leading AI models. On Friday, Anthropic published new safety research testing 16 leading AI models from OpenAI, Google, xAI, DeepSeek, and Meta. In a simulated, controlled environment, Anthropic tested each AI model individually, giving them broad access to a fictional company’s emails and the agentic ability to send emails without human approval. While Anthropic says blackmail is…

The best cell phone plans primarily include sufficient data for your needs. Additionally, a plan can offer relevant perks and features, including bundled discounts on streaming services, multi-line discounts, inexpensive plans for connected devices, or international features. However, the ideal plan is useless if the carrier backing it doesn’t adequately cover the areas you frequent.An ideal cell phone plan also largely hinges on how many lines you want. Solo users are often stuck with a daunting monthly bill with the major carriers, but if you’re looking for three or more lines, then prices start to come crashing down, unlocking premium…

LOS ANGELES (AP) — San Diego Padres closer Robert Suarez was suspended for three games and fined an undisclosed amount Friday for intentionally hitting Shohei Ohtani of the Los Angeles Dodgers with a pitch during the NL West rivals’ contentious meeting Thursday night.Suarez will appeal the suspension, keeping him eligible to play for San Diego on Friday night against Kansas City.Padres manager Mike Shildt and Dodgers manager Dave Roberts also received one-game suspensions and undisclosed fines for their roles in the brouhaha that occurred in both halves of the ninth inning during the Padres’ 5-3 victory at Dodger Stadium.“I support…

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Rafael Devers had a consistent mantra when he addressed the Boston media for the first time since his surprising trade from the Red Sox to the San Francisco Giants five days ago.“The past is in the past,” Devers said repeatedly Friday when asked about his time with the Red Sox and why the relationship deteriorated so much this season that the team traded him less than two years into a 10-year, $313.5 million contract he signed in 2023.Devers did give one piece of insight when asked what he would tell Red Sox fans about why he…

The University of Wisconsin and its NIL collective VC Connect filed a joint lawsuit on Friday against the University of Miami alleging it knowingly induced one of the Badgers’ football players to abandon a lucrative name, image and likeness contract to play for the Florida school this upcoming season. Allegations of tampering rarely get to this level and the 23-page lawsuit, which was filed in state court in Wisconsin and obtained by The Associated Press, is unusual. Depending on its resolution, it could have a a wider impact on future NIL deals across college athletics. The player in question in…

CHICAGO (AP) — Cal Raleigh broke Hall of Famer Johnny Bench’s 1970 record for home runs by a catcher before the All-Star break, hitting his major league-leading 28th and 29th in the Seattle Mariners’ 9-4 victory over the Chicago Cubs on Friday.Raleigh put Seattle ahead and moved past Bench in the seventh inning with No. 29, a drive to the back of the left-field bleachers off Caleb Thielbar.“Any time you’re mentioned in even the same sentence with one of the best, if not the best ever do it is a special thing,” Raleigh said. “I’m just very grateful. He’s one…