NerdNews

Security researchers used OpenAI's GPT-5.6 Sol Ultra to develop a full exploit chain for two critical WordPress Core vulnerabilities, allowing for pre-authentication remote code execution. The vulnerabilities, tracked as CVE-2026-63030 and CVE-2026-60137, affect WordPress Core versions 6.9.x and 7.0.x. WordPress has released version 7.0.2 to address these vulnerabilities, and administrators are advised to manually verify that their sites are running the updated version.

Adobe's Project Indigo camera app now includes AI Playground, offering features like Object Editing, Styles, Photo Guidance, and Custom Edit. These tools utilize generative AI to assist mobile photographers, allowing for removal of distractions, style changes, and photo feedback. The app is currently free, but limited to a few percent of users for a few weeks, with potential for a paid version in the future.

A study found that over 1 in 8 apps built for US service members contain foreign code, including from China and Russia, which could compromise national security and put troops at risk. The code can track user behavior, including location, and share it with outside companies.

A federal judge has given final approval to Anthropic's $1.5 billion settlement of a class action copyright lawsuit. The settlement will deliver $3,000 per work across an estimated 500,000 works, shared among authors and publishers. The ruling found that training an AI model on copyrighted text counts as fair use, but Anthropic's method of obtaining the books was illegal.

OpenAI's head of strategic futures suggests the US government should regulate open-weight models, citing concerns over economic impact and national security. However, experts argue that open-source models can accelerate innovation and coexist with proprietary projects. The US government is considering banning Chinese AI models, including the Kimi K3, due to concerns over data security and bias.

Max Korbacher explains why successful internal development platforms cannot be built on tech alone, and discusses the importance of a clear product mindset and measuring real value using DevEx and SPACE metrics.

The article discusses the need for a context-rich AI coding harness, beyond the traditional grep approach. It features an interview with Vinay Perneti, VP of Engineering at Augment Code, who explains how their context engine works and its advantages in large, private codebases. The article also touches on the debate between building a lean harness versus a more opinionated one, and how the rapidly improving AI models are changing the way software development is done.

Google is designing a new server chip, 'Frozen v2', to make its Gemini models operate more efficiently. The chip could be 6-10 times more efficient than existing AI chips and is slated for release in 2028.

The Model Context Protocol (MCP) is getting a significant update to make it easier to use, especially for large-scale deployments. The new version will take a 'stateless' approach to session IDs, making it easier to maintain and cheaper to run at scale.

Natural, a startup, has raised $30 million to redesign payment infrastructure for AI agents, aiming to enable autonomous transactions and compete with giants like Stripe. The company's platform allows AI agents to move and store funds, making payments and collecting funds without human intervention.

AWS has introduced CloudFormation express mode, which reduces infrastructure deployment times by marking stack operations complete once resource configuration is applied. This new option is intended for faster development workflows and does not require template changes, supporting existing CloudFormation features.

Google is open-sourcing its 3D emoji, allowing developers to use them in their own creations. The company shared its design process and is providing raw .OBJ files for the community to build immersive VR worlds, indie apps, or memes.

Samsung's July 22 Unpacked Event is expected to unveil a new Galaxy Z Fold 8, Watch Ultra 2, and Android XR smart glasses, marking significant upgrades in the company's foldable and wearable technology

X has released a rebuilt Android app after a year-long effort, promising improvements to loading, scrolling, notifications, and more. The new app was built from scratch and is now available to download.

Infinity, an AI infrastructure company, has raised $15 million to develop software that makes it easier for AI chips to run AI models. The company is building a universal inference library to run on all chips, allowing them to automate replicating state-of-the-art research results. Infinity's AI research agent, Ignition, writes low-level code needed for AI inference on Nvidia-alternative chips, tests, debugs, and measures performance, and automatically rewrites code if needed.

Hackers stole $23.7 million in crypto from Ostium's liquidity provider vault by compromising off-chain infrastructure and manipulating prices. Trading is paused, and the company is working to secure the affected infrastructure.

Two men have been sentenced to 5.5 years in prison for the 2024 TfL hack, with police chiefs citing the case as a compelling argument for tougher legal powers, including Cybercrime Risk Orders, to manage the behavior of individuals suspected of cybercrimes

The American Civil Liberties Union of Massachusetts has released an online toolkit for criminal defense attorneys to uncover whether police used surveillance technologies, such as facial recognition and license plate readers, to build cases against their clients. The toolkit includes legal motions that can force prosecutors to reveal surveillance technology use and preservation motions to save surveillance data from being deleted.

Companies like Seneca and Dryad Networks are testing drones that can spray water and fire retardants to stop wildfires early. These drones can work together in swarms and use onboard sensors to spot heat signatures, with the goal of enabling rapid-response firefighting. The California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection has run field tests with autonomous drones, and the XPRIZE competition has given another firefighting drone system a trial by fire in Alaska.

Craneware, a UK-based healthcare billing software maker, has suffered a cyberattack resulting in the theft of a significant volume of customer data. The company's software is used by thousands of clinics, hospitals, and pharmacies across the US. The breach is still under investigation, but it's known that a percentage of employee, customer, and partner data was exfiltrated.