Global tech outage disrupts flights, banks, and hospitals

A global technology outage caused by a faulty software update grounded flights, knocked banks and media outlets offline, and disrupted hospitals, small businesses and other services on Friday, highlighting the fragility of a digitized world dependent on just a handful of providers.

Elon Musk says he’s moving SpaceX, X headquarters from California

Tech billionaire Elon Musk announced that he is moving the headquarters of SpaceX and social media company X from California after the state banned school districts from requiring staff to inform parents about their children's gender identity change.

Nvidia is world's most valuable company

Santa Clara-based Nvidia has surpassed Microsoft as the world's most valued company, with a market cap, Tuesday, that reached $3.3T. Experts said the explosive growth in generative AI has fueled the company's rapid growth.

Analyst dig into privacy implications of new, "Apple Intelligence" features

Among a variety of new features, Apple says it will use the power of ChatGPT to make its virtual assistant Siri more responsive and helpful. During this week's announcement, Apple executives focused on the company's efforts to build strong privacy connections around its AI technology. But industry analysts still have apprehensions about the new features, including Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak. KTVU's Heather Holmes and Alex Savidge discuss the data privacy concerns with Check Point Software's Tony Sabaj.

Study finds growing number of gamers in the U.S.

As students wrap up the school year, some could be looking to video games for entertainment, stimulation and social connection. The According to the Entertainment Software Association, 190.6 million people play video games for at least one hour per week in the U.S., and it's not just kids. In 2004, the average video game player was 29 years old. KTVU's Greg Lee discusses the latest numbers with Aubrey Quinn, ESA's Senior Vice President of Communications and Public Affairs.

Apple unveils "Apple Intelligence" features at WWDC

Apple revealed its next chapter this week, including a partnership with ChatGPT made by San Francisco-based OpenAI. Apple announced a new, artificial intelligence feature called "Apple Intelligence", which the company says will its most widely-used products more useful. KTVU's Heather Holmes breaks down the announcement with technology expert and San Jose State University Professor Ahmed Banafa.

Feds launch antitrust investigations into AI giants

Federal authorities are launching antitrust investigations into some of the biggest players in the AI boom, including two Bay Area tech giants. KTVU's Alex Savidge discusses the DOJ and FTC antitrust probes into Nvidia, Microsoft and OpenAI with Electronic Frontier Foundation Litigation Director Mitch Stoltz.

Tech giants ramp up virtual assistants with generative AI

Amazon's voice assistant Alexa is reportedly getting an AI upgrade. The company plans to launch a more conversational version of Alexa later this year using generative AI but Amazon also reportedly plans to charge customers a monthly subscription fee for the upgrade. The move is part of an effort to compete with some of the new AI powered chat bots hitting the market by OpenAI and Google. KTVU's Alex Savidge discusses the value of AI upgrades with Pete Nicoletti from cybersecurity software company, Check Point.

OpenAI suspends release of controversial virtual assistant

San Francisco-based OpenAI has suspended the released of one of the voice options for its new virtual assistant because it sounds strikingly similar to actress Scarlett Johansson. Johansson played the voice of an AI virtual assistant in the 2013 film "Her" and said in a statement that the voice sounds "eerily similar to mine". OpenAI says the voice was done by a different professional actor, although the company did first ask Johansson to license her voice for the virtual assistant. KTVU's Heather Holmes and Alex Savidge are joined by J.D. Harriman, attorney specializing in intellectual property issues with the Foundation Law Group for more on the legal questions raised by the situation.

13M+ Kaiser Permanente members may have had personal data leaked

Kaiser Permanente says more than 13.4 million members may have had their personal data exposed to third-party vendors and will receive a notification if their information may have been leaked. The Oakland-based healthcare provided says online tools that were installed on its websites and mobile apps were involved in the leaks and the information may have been transmitted to Google, Microsoft or X. KTVU's Heather Holmes speaks with Patrick Harr, cybersecurity expert at Pleasanton-based SlashNext about this latest data breach and the potential risks for millions of former and current Kaiser members.

Pres. Biden signs provision that could ban TikTok in the U.S.

Congress has long had national security concerns about the Chinese-owned social media app TikTok, but has not succeeded in banning the platform from American app stores. A new law requires TikTok's Beijing-based parent company ByteDance to sell its stake within 9 months or face a nationwide ban. Now, TikTok's CEO is pushing back and promising a legal challenge. KTVU's Heather Holmes and Alex Savidge discuss the implications of the bill with Nadine Farid Johnson, Policy Director at the Knight First Amendment Institute at Columbia University.