theck1 IT/AI news

Organ donation group accused of trying to take living man’s organs faces shutdown

Beth Mole • August 6, 2026 The US health department is working to shut down a Kentucky-based organ procurement organization that made headlines over a 2021 incident in which it was accused of trying to harvest a man’s organs while he was still alive. In an announcement Wednesday, the Department of Health and Human Services

Remembering the pre-Google web, when search was an experiment

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Alan Bradley • August 7, 2026 In the mid-’90s, the web was exploding, but finding anything of actual value on it felt like an elaborate negotiation with whatever proto-search engine happened to be standing closest to the door. Unlike now, when Google is widely seen as both portal and gatekeeper, sites like AltaVista, Lycos, Excite,

OpenAI is giving ChatGPT free users unlimited text chats

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Jay Peters • August 6, 2026 OpenAI is making a big change for ChatGPT users on its free and Go tiers: Starting next week, users on those tiers will be able to have unlimited text chats with the chatbot, according to OpenAI. Right now, you may run into rate limits if you do too many

Brendan Carr officially unleashes broadcast consolidation

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Lauren Feiner • August 6, 2026 The era of set broadcast ownership limits is officially over, after the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) voted Thursday to end the national ownership cap rule. The agency’s two Republicans, Chair Brendan Carr and Commissioner Olivia Trusty, voted to end the ownership cap, which restricts broadcast owners from holding stations

Suno shares plans to combat spammy AI music

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Terrence O’Brien • August 6, 2026 Suno’s AI vocalists could learn a thing or two from this glitchy image. | Image: Cath Virginia / The Verge, Getty Images Suno announced plans to implement a new watermarking technology and download policy to limit the spread of spammy AI tracks and increase transparency. In a lengthy blog

The Zelda movie’s Ganondorf casting hints at more movies

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Jay Peters • August 6, 2026 Deadline reported Thursday that the upcoming The Legend of Zelda movie will feature Australian actor Uli Latukefu as the villain Ganondorf, and the publication notes that “We hear Latukefu inked a multi-picture deal.” Nintendo or Sony haven’t formally confirmed that there’s more than one movie in the works, though

The AirPods Pro are $60 off, their best price since late June

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Sheena Vasani • August 6, 2026 AirPods Pro 3 | Photo by Amelia Holowaty Krales / The Verge Best Buy kicked off a sale on Apple products with discounts on its latest smartwatches to phones. Another deal that caught our eye is on the latest AirPods Pro, Apple’s flagship wireless earbuds, which are down to

Jony Ive’s first OpenAI gadget is reportedly a hockey puck-sized smart speaker

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Stevie Bonifield • August 6, 2026 The AI device OpenAI is developing with former Apple designer Jony Ive is “essentially a smart speaker without a display” that’s battery-powered, doughnut-shaped and roughly the size of a hockey puck, according to Bloomberg reporter Mark Gurman. The device, expected to launch in 2027 for a price over $300,

Trevor Noah is hosting Google’s Pixel 11 launch event

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Jay Peters • August 6, 2026 Google is set to host its next live Made by Google hardware launch event on August 12th, and the company says in a new video that comedian Trevor Noah will be hosting the show. The video indicates that the event will feature other celebrities and influencers as well, including

Meta ordered to pay an additional $567 million in public nuisance ruling

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Jess Weatherbed • August 7, 2026 Meta has been ordered to pay $567 million in the second phase of New Mexico’s landmark child safety case, bringing total charges to nearly $1 billion for being a “public nuisance.” In a ruling published on Thursday, the Santa Fe district court found that Meta’s platforms are a “significant