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March 18, 2026, 2:50 PM
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Andy Greenberg / Wired:
Google, iVerify, and Lookout researchers discover DarkSword, a hacking tool used by Russia-sponsored and other hackers to target iOS 18 via Ukrainian websites  —  A powerful iPhone-hacking technique known as DarkSword has been discovered in use by Russian hackers.
ProPublica:
Investigation: the US FedRAMP authorized Microsoft service GCC High to handle sensitive government data in 2024, despite years of concerns about its security  —  In late 2024, the federal government's cybersecurity evaluators rendered a troubling verdict on one of Microsoft's biggest cloud computing offerings.
The Information:
Sources: Apple stops vibe coding apps from pushing updates, citing rules on running code; Replit thinks Apple may approve opening AI-generated apps in a browser  —  Apple has quietly prevented AI vibe coding apps such as Replit and Vibecode, which help people create games and other applications …
Mike Isaac / New York Times:
Sources: several tech companies, including OpenAI, are encouraging the DOD behind the scenes to back away from designating Anthropic a “supply chain risk”  —  Tech companies have been reluctant to directly confront Trump administration officials over their contract feud with the A.I. start-up.
Paresh Dave / Wired:
Filing: the US DOD said it designated Anthropic a supply chain risk over concerns the AI company could disable its tech if the Pentagon crossed its “red lines”
Steven Levy / Wired:
Charles Bennett and Gilles Brassard, who pioneered quantum information theory, win the ACM A.M. Turing Award; the pair developed the BB84 cryptography protocol  —  Charles Bennett and Gilles Brassard pioneered quantum information theory.  Now they've been awarded the highest honor in computer science.
Ben Weiss / Fortune:
Stripe and Paradigm-backed blockchain startup Tempo launch the Machine Payments Protocol, which uses Tempo's new blockchain to handle AI agents' transactions  —  The fintech giant Stripe along with Tempo, a blockchain startup incubated by the payments company as well as the venture firm Paradigm …
Graham Fraser / BBC:
The UK government withdraws a proposal to let AI companies train on copyrighted works unless creators opt out, after backlash from artists like Dua Lipa  —  The UK government has backtracked on its position on copyright and AI, stating it must take time to “get this right”.
Bloomberg:
Chengdu's government says Tim Cook attended Apple's 50th anniversary event in the city; Chinese state media called for Apple to fix its “monopolistic” App Store  —  Apple Inc. Chief Executive Officer Tim Cook showed up at a company event in China on Wednesday after the company lowered …
Brent Lang / Variety:
Director Coerte Voorhees says he is using AI to feature Val Kilmer in “a significant part” in an indie film, with the cooperation of the late actor's estate  —  Five years prior to his death in 2025, Val Kilmer was cast as Father Fintan, a Catholic priest and Native American spiritualist, in “As Deep as the Grave.”
Andrew E. Freedman / Tom's Hardware:
Jensen Huang dismisses social media criticism of DLSS 5 at GTC 2026, asserting that claims that the generative AI tech homogenizes games are “completely wrong”  —  The CEO says artistic control remains with developers. … At a press Q&A with Tom's Hardware at GTC 2026 …
Jon Brodkin / Ars Technica:
A US judge rules Apple can remove apps “with or without cause”, a loss for Musi, a streaming app Apple removed from the App Store that played music from YouTube  —  Musi, a free music streaming app that had tens of millions of iPhone downloads and garnered plenty of controversy …
Yoolim Lee / Bloomberg:
Samsung and AMD sign a preliminary deal for Samsung to supply its next-gen HBM4 for AMD's MI455X accelerators, used in data centers, and DDR5 for AMD's Helios  —  Samsung Electronics Co. agreed to supply and collaborate with Advanced Micro Devices Inc. on next-generation AI memory and computing technologies.
Financial Times:
Sources: Microsoft is weighing legal action against Amazon and OpenAI over whether AWS can offer OpenAI Frontier without breaching OpenAI's Microsoft agreement  —  Rift deepens as start-up tests limits of Microsoft's exclusive rights to host its models  —  Microsoft is weighing legal action …
Reuters:
Sources: Nvidia is preparing to sell a version of its Groq chips to the Chinese market; a source says it's expected to be available in May and is not downgraded
Simon Sharwood / The Register:
The Linux Foundation says Anthropic, Amazon, Google, Microsoft, and OpenAI gave $12.5M in grants to help FOSS maintainers handle AI-generated security findings  —  Half a dozen Big Tech players have together delivered $12.5 million in grants towards a project that aims to help maintainers …
Jasmine Sun / The Atlantic:
How AI's post-training process suppresses the creativity and whimsicality seen in earlier models, like GPT-2, leading to poor writing from many top AI models  —  Why can't language models write well?  —  In a certain, strange way, generative AI peaked with OpenAI's GPT-2 seven years ago.
Lydia Beyoud / Bloomberg:
The SEC and CFTC issue guidance on which digital assets are securities, carving out stablecoins, digital collectives, and digital commodities as non-securities  —  The Securities and Exchange Commission issued a long-awaited “token taxonomy” on Tuesday, a key step forward laying out which types …
Sharon Goldman / Fortune:
RunSybil, whose AI agent runs continuous autonomous penetration testing on live apps to find and document vulnerabilities, raised $40M led by Khosla Ventures  —  RunSybil, an AI cybersecurity startup that uses AI agents to automatically hack company software to find security weaknesses …
More: RunSybil
Kanika Talwar / WWD:
Meta makes its Meta Lab NYC pop-up on Fifth Avenue a permanent flagship location after signing a 10-year lease; it opened its first flagship store in LA in 2025  —  The tech company has signed a decade-long lease for its Meta Lab town house on Fifth Avenue.
Bernard Goyder / Bloomberg:
Sources: Polymarket is looking to hire a chief risk officer following a CFTC demand; the company has expanded its legal team in recent months  —  Prediction markets platform Polymarket is looking to hire a chief risk officer as it works to expand its regulated business in the US, according to people familiar with the matter.
More: The Verge

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This is a Techmeme archive page. It shows how the site appeared at 2:50 PM ET, March 18, 2026.

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From Mediagazer

New York Times:
White House Press Secretary Katie Zacharia was forced out of her role on Friday, after five days on the job and hosting only one press briefing

Washington Post:
Israeli settlers attacked WaPo photographer Heidi Levine, who wore a “PRESS” vest, in the West Bank, kicking her repeatedly and taking her cameras and phone

Alex Weprin / The Hollywood Reporter:
Disney and Dude Perfect sign a broad deal bringing some Dude Perfect content to Disney+; the group will create original content for events like the Super Bowl

More News

Samuel Stolton / Bloomberg:
The EU unveils EU Inc., a single bloc-wide proposal that lets companies incorporate in 48 hours, to help European startups compete with US and Chinese rivals

Earlier Picks

Bloomberg:
Tencent reports Q4 revenue up 13% YoY to ~$28.3B, vs. ~$28.2B est., its fifth quarter of double-digit growth, driven by gaming and ads, as it bets on agentic AI
Esther Fung / Wall Street Journal:
Sources: Amazon, which has long been USPS' biggest customer, is cutting shipments via the service, aiming for 66%+ less by this fall, when its contract expires
Arvelisse Bonilla Ramos / Bloomberg:
AI drone software company Swarmer closed up 520% in its Nasdaq debut, valuing it at $380M+; its tech has been used in 100K+ missions in Ukraine since April 2024
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