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Video shows hippo charging boat full of tourists in Botswana“Once he started charging after us, the adrenaline was unbelievable,” said Oznur Bell, who took the video of the close encounter. Listen to this article with a free profile00:0000:00Aug. 7, 2026, 11:43 PM EDTBy Nollaig O’Connor and Dennis RomeroVideo captured by a tourist on board a…
Steven LevyBusinessAug 5, 2026 12:00 PM4 of Google’s Top AI Brains Are Leaving—and Launching Their Own AI StartupJeff Dean and other high-profile Google executives have founded Discovery Loop, a startup that will seek AI-powered breakthroughs in everything from drug discovery to chip design.Courtesy of Discovery LoopOn July 25, Jeff Dean spoke to 6,000 would-be founders…
Will KnightBusinessAug 5, 2026 2:30 PMAI Hacks Are Bad. AI Worms and Viruses Will Be WorseChinese researchers have shown that AI models have the capacity to act like aggressive and adaptive computer viruses.Photo-Illustration: WIRED Staff; Getty ImagesWhat if an artificial intelligence agent could behave like a malevolent computer worm?One researcher has seen it happen. In…
Steven LevyBusinessAug 7, 2026 11:00 AMZohran Mamdani’s NYC Tech Team Is What DOGE Should Have BeenThe mayor of New York City has assembled a crew of Silicon Valley and United States Digital Service veterans to overhaul city services with better software.Photo-Illustration: WIRED Staff; Getty ImagesA go-kart track is an odd location to launch a tech…
Jorge GarayScienceAug 6, 2026 8:00 AMA Meteor Shower, Eclipses, and More Are on the August 2026 Astronomical CalendarHere’s when some of this year’s most anticipated astronomical events will happen and the best way to observe them.A view of planets in a row, simulating a planetary alignment.Illustration: buradaki/GETTY IMAGESFor astronomy enthusiasts, August 2026 will be a…
Victoria TurkScienceAug 6, 2026 12:23 PMDeepMind Says Its AI Can Predict Hurricanes Earlier Than Everyone ElseIts WeatherNext model, which will be open-sourced, can accurately predict a storm’s track and intensity using lower-resolution weather data. Researchers don’t yet fully understand how it does this.Photo-Illustration: Wired Staff; Getty Images; Google DeepMindIn October 2025, a storm brewed over…
Fernanda GonzálezScienceAug 7, 2026 10:13 AMScientists Used AI to Create 16 New VirusesThe use of AI systems to create viruses opens up new possibilities for combating bacterial resistance. It also raises concerns about the pace at which technology is outstripping regulation.Photograph: Getty ImagesFor the first time, an artificial intelligence system has created a series of…
Matt BurgessSecurityAug 5, 2026 12:26 PMMeta Ran Ads That Contained AI-Generated Child Sexual Abuse ImageryMore than 50 offending image and video ads were published across Facebook, Instagram, Messenger, or Threads, according to Meta’s ad library data. Some ran as recently as this week.PHOTO-ILLUSTRATION: WIRED STAFF; GETTY IMAGESEditor’s note: This article contains descriptions of imagery depicting…
Dell CameronMaddy VarnerSecurityAug 5, 2026 1:24 PMDHS Is Hiring Bounty Hunters to Find and Photograph Deported People’s Homes AbroadHomeland Security told immigrants that leaving the US would wipe out fines it claims they owe. Now it wants private investigators to find them in their home countries and collect.Photo-Illustration: Darrell Jackson; Getty ImagesUS Customs and Border…
Maddy VarnerSecurityAug 5, 2026 4:38 PMDHS Wants Protesters’ Signal Group ChatsA lawsuit accuses Homeland Security of violating protesters’ free-speech rights—but the agency is using it to try to get access to the plaintiffs’ encrypted communications.Photograph: Ryan Murphy/Getty ImagesThe Department of Homeland Security is seeking neighborhood “rapid response” Signal group chats as it defends itself in…