The Spotify AI DJ is getting its biggest personalization update since it debuted in 2023: nine new voices with distinct personalities, and a setting that strips out most of the talking. The changes began rolling out on November 10 to Premium subscribers in every market where the feature is already available.

Nine voices, each with its own attitude

Spotify is adding seven English-language voices and two in Spanish. The English lineup covers British, American, Irish, Australian and Indian accents, and each host gets a name and a temperament. Among the three American options, Casey is laid-back and warm, Tess is direct with “a bit of an edge,” and Lane brings a Southern accent and youthful energy. Australian host Sam is described as gregarious and not-so-serious.

The Spanish additions are Nico, who is down-to-earth, and Fabi, who is witty and friendly. Engadget and CNET both describe the two as Mexican-accented. They replace the earlier Spanish voice, Livi, so Spanish-speaking listeners lose that option. The original English voice, known as “X” and based on recordings of a real Spotify employee, stays.

Turning down the talk

The second change may matter more to some listeners. Until now, the defining trait of the Spotify AI DJ was its running commentary: explaining why it picked a set of songs and what ties them together. A new toggle limits that to brief acknowledgments. According to the reports, you will still hear a short line when the session starts, and when you ask the DJ to change direction or turn it off.

Spotify frames this as a way to win back moments when people would normally pick a static playlist, such as a dinner party or a gathering where music should stay in the background. CNET’s reviewer was less convinced, noting that without the announcer it could be hard to tell a DJ mix from a plain shuffled one.

Why the update matters

The timing reflects how popular the feature has become. TechCrunch reports that more than 94 million Premium listeners use the DJ, which makes it one of Spotify’s most successful AI products. Since launch, the company has layered on conversational AI chat, prompt-based recommendation tuning, AI playlist creation and integrations with third-party assistants like ChatGPT and Claude. Letting users choose a voice and a talkativeness level borrows from the personalization options common in AI assistants, and it is a sign Spotify sees the DJ as a product to refine rather than a finished novelty.

The DJ is supported in more than 95 markets, in English, Spanish, French, German, Italian and Brazilian Portuguese. The new voices cover only English and Spanish for now.

How to find the new settings

To change your host, search for “DJ” in the Spotify mobile app, then tap the three-dot menu to pick a voice and set the commentary level. While the DJ is playing, tapping the DJ button again lets you shift the genre, artist, mood or recommendations. Premium plans start at about $13 a month, according to CNET.

For listeners who found the original patter either charming or grating, the Spotify AI DJ now offers a choice between a character with opinions and something close to a quiet radio station.

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File photo: Spotify, King’s Cross Railway Station.JPG by Philafrenzy, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.

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David Ellison, chief executive of Paramount Skydance, told investors this week that artificial intelligence “really has the potential to be the biggest creative unlock in modern history.” The remark came during his first earnings call leading a combined Paramount and Warner Bros., and it set out how the new studio giant plans to use the technology while courting an industry wary of it.

Ellison’s CGI comparison

Ellison placed AI in the lineage of the early-1990s shift to CGI and digital compositing. That era, he said, produced films such as Jurassic Park and Terminator 2, and he finds it “hard to imagine” AI won’t have a bigger effect. His argument is mostly about economics. The original Terminator, he noted, was made in 1983 for about $4 million, while a shot-for-shot remake today would cost $60 to $70 million.

That gap, in his telling, is why studios take so few risks on original ideas. If AI tools make budgets “more digestible,” he said, studios can afford to bet on new stories. It is a pitch aimed at creative anxiety as much as at spreadsheets, though it is a claim about the future, not a result anyone has yet demonstrated.

A tech pitch with a hand-crafted caveat

Ellison also tried to reassure artists. He said “in a world of AI slop” there will always be a premium for truly hand-crafted storytelling, and that AI is “a tool for artists” that “will never be a replacement for them.” The Hollywood Reporter called this a “two-step” that isn’t easy to pull off, since AI is widely viewed as a threat to traditional production workflows even as it is increasingly adopted. It pointed to Ben Affleck’s VFX firm, which has reportedly helped Netflix use AI on more than 300 titles.

Ellison argued that premium franchise IP and live events become more valuable, not less, in an age of cheap synthetic content. He described a portfolio of roughly 40 billion-dollar franchises as a moat, serving more than 203 million subscribers across a soon-to-be-merged Paramount+ and HBO Max. The Verge reported that the bundle is slated for “early 2027.”

The cost-cutting subtext

The enthusiasm for the biggest creative unlock in modern history sits alongside hard financial targets. The company plans to spend about $30 billion a year on content, from HBO dramas to CBS procedurals, MTV reality shows and NFL rights. It is also looking for roughly $6 billion in cost synergies from the merger. Those savings are expected to come from overlapping corporate overhead, real estate and facilities, consolidated back-office functions, and AI workflows scaled across the combined company.

Ellison called merging the two streaming services within a year an “ambitious target” that is “possible because of the latest tools in artificial intelligence.” He said the company has been developing its own AI tools and that, as a result, “content will be easier to produce, projects across the organization will speed up, and how we work will transform.”

Ellison is also the heir to Oracle’s AI-linked fortune, a background the Hollywood Reporter said is central to his effort to rebrand legacy studios as technology-driven businesses. He has an ally in Terminator director James Cameron, whose Lightstorm company bought an AI-driven 3D post-production firm in September.

What to watch

Related coverage notes that James Gunn is out as DC movie leader and that Skydance’s games division is laying off staff, so the studio is already restructuring. How much of the promised savings come from automation, and what that means for the people who build sets, work as extras and finish visual effects, is the open question. Ellison’s claim that AI will be the biggest creative unlock in modern history is a bet. The first evidence will be whether cheaper production produces the bolder original films he describes, or simply a leaner cost base.

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Meta is extending its AI age checks to Instagram users around the world, using automated estimation to find teenagers who signed up with an adult birthdate and move them into restricted Teen Accounts. The expansion, announced on November 9, widens a system that until now covered a limited set of markets.

How the AI age checks work

The technology looks for signals that an account belongs to someone aged 13 to 17. If it concludes that is likely, the account is moved into a Teen Account regardless of the age the user entered. Those accounts make profiles and posts private by default, block strangers from messaging teens, apply daily time limits and offer parental controls. Teen Accounts also exist on Facebook and Messenger.

The rollout has been gradual. The sources differ slightly on the earliest markets: one lists the US, UK, Canada and Australia, the other the US, EU and Brazil. They agree on the broad pattern of staged expansion, with the EU’s 27 member states and Brazil added in May. Facebook is still being rolled out, and Threads is due to follow later this year.

Engadget also corrected its original report. Methods such as analyzing bone structure in photos, or scanning for mentions of school grades and birthday celebrations, are used to find and remove children under 13, Meta told the outlet. They are not part of the process for placing teens in Teen Accounts.

Apple’s signal and the push on app stores

In Australia, Meta has begun using Apple’s age-range signal as an extra check. Parents can ask the App Store to verify a child’s age, and Apple then shares an age range with apps such as Instagram when a teenager downloads them. In the US, parents will also start seeing a video in their Instagram feeds explaining how teens are placed into age-appropriate settings and how they can help confirm a child’s age.

The Apple integration fits Meta’s long-running lobbying position. The company supports laws that would require app stores to verify ages and obtain parental consent, arguing that one verified signal shared across all apps is more effective and more private than every platform running its own checks. It has urged TikTok and YouTube to take the same approach. The position also shifts some responsibility for age verification onto Apple and Google.

The legal backdrop

The timing is hard to separate from the litigation. In August, Meta agreed to settlements worth up to $18bn with 52 attorneys general. As part of that deal it said it would invest in stronger technology to catch accounts that may belong to children under 13 and to identify 13- to 17-year-olds. Last month it settled a teenager’s case in a Los Angeles trial over claims that Instagram and Facebook were designed to be addictive. Earlier this year, a New Mexico jury found Meta liable for failing to protect children from predators on its platforms and ordered it to pay $375m.

The sources do not say how accurate the system is, how many accounts it has moved, or whether users can easily contest a wrong estimate. Those questions will probably decide whether the AI age checks satisfy regulators, parents and the courts, or simply invite the next round of scrutiny.

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File photo: Meta (Facebook) campus in Bellevue, Washington.jpg by Exilexi, CC BY 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.

Nvidia shares tumbled on Wall Street on Monday, falling about 8% at one point and shedding more than $300 billion (£222 billion) in market value, after the company’s board opened an investigation into reports that chief executive Jensen Huang was the target of a foreign intelligence effort.

The stock recovered some ground during the session and settled about 4% lower. Even so, the sell-off was a stark reminder of how much of the market now rests on a single company.

What triggered the sell-off in Nvidia shares

Nvidia announced the board investigation on Sunday, after Mr Huang admitted to having an affair with a business executive. In an open letter posted on the company’s website, he apologised to his wife and to Nvidia.

The New York Times reported that US intelligence had concluded the woman, a former executive at Singapore-based data centre firm Megaspeed International, was gathering information on behalf of Beijing. Those claims are allegations, and the sources do not say the US government or Nvidia has confirmed them. Nor do they say Mr Huang himself is accused of wrongdoing beyond the affair he has admitted. The board’s inquiry is focused on reports that he was targeted.

China rejected the claims on Monday, calling them unsubstantiated and part of a smear campaign against Beijing.

Why the stakes are higher than one executive

The timing is awkward for the chipmaker. Its stock reached an all-time high only last month, driven by the AI boom, and it ranks alongside Apple and Microsoft among the world’s most valuable listed companies. Its chips power many of the data centres and systems used to train and run AI models.

China adds another sensitivity. Nvidia’s chip sales there have at times drawn the attention of US regulators trying to limit Beijing’s access to advanced technology. A story that links the company’s leader to alleged Chinese intelligence activity lands in an already politically charged area.

Analysts split on what comes next

Market commentators disagreed over how far the damage could spread. Neil Wilson, investor strategist at Saxo UK, said Nvidia sits so close to the heart of the AI supply chain that its fortunes matter to the wider market. He warned the story could hit sentiment that is “already pretty fragile”. Tech stocks fell sharply at the end of last week before rallying on Friday, and Mr Wilson said he did not think the lows had been found yet. He described the situation as “a bubble deflating” over many months rather than a bursting.

Amish Patel, head of equity research at Raymond James, took a more measured view. He said underlying demand for AI computing power remains “exceptionally strong”, and that limits on power and data-centre capacity are not going away. But he acknowledged that risks have risen, pointing to a tougher political debate in the US over data-centre development and the “additional uncertainty” now surrounding Nvidia.

For investors, the key questions are what the board’s investigation finds and whether any US authorities respond. Until then, Nvidia shares are likely to stay sensitive to each new development, and so, given the company’s weight in the AI trade, may the sector as a whole.

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File photo: Director Lê Nguyễn Thiên Nga and NVIDIA Founder and CEO Jensen Huang.jpg by VQTCS, CC BY 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.

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France has formally accused Iran’s Revolutionary Guards of carrying out a supermarket fridge cyberattack that spoiled food and caused fires at stores across the country. It is one of the most direct public attributions yet in a conflict that has so far played out largely in scattered, hard-to-trace digital incidents.

Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot made the announcement on Monday. “I can confirm that this attack was carried out by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps of the Islamic Republic of Iran,” he said. He added that the Iranian ambassador had been summoned and that sanctions against Tehran would be pursued at “a European level”.

Arrest warrants requested

The Paris prosecutor’s office said it has requested international arrest warrants for the head of Shahid Kaveh, an offensive cyber unit affiliated with the Revolutionary Guards, and for his two deputies. These are allegations and requests at this stage. No court has ruled on them, and no one has been convicted.

Barrot described the operation as “unprecedented in its level of aggression” and called it the first large-scale cyberattack for sabotage purposes on French soil. “It will not go unanswered,” he said, promising “proportionate and necessary” measures, public or private, to deter anyone considering a repeat.

Investigators say the attackers used Farsi and IP addresses linked to devices in Iran. According to the account given to reporters, they reached the refrigeration systems over the internet and remotely pushed temperatures up to 50 degrees Celsius (122 Fahrenheit) overnight on 11 and 12 October. Iran’s mission to the United Nations did not respond to requests for comment. Iran routinely denies carrying out malicious cyber operations.

Fires, spoiled stock and a heavy bill

The physical damage was considerable. In some stores the heat melted equipment or set it alight. Staff were photographed hauling spoiled meat and melted ice cream into large waste containers. Retailers put the losses in the millions of euros, and one supermarket owner estimated that the nationwide cost of the supermarket fridge cyberattack could reach tens of millions.

Several of the country’s biggest grocery groups were affected. At least 300 Intermarché stores and its Netto brand were hit. Coopérative U said more than 100 of its supermarkets were targeted, Carrefour put its figure at 80, and Monoprix said about 5 percent of its roughly 490 stores were affected. E.Leclerc was also hit.

Cybersecurity experts told Reuters the intrusion appeared easy to pull off. The company behind many of the affected units said several were obsolete or running outdated firmware, which may have made them simple to break into. The case shows how ordinary connected equipment can become a lever for physical sabotage.

A second wave and a possible US link

The trouble did not stop in France. On 2 November, supermarkets in Belgium, Estonia, Ireland, Luxembourg and Sweden reported overnight temperature spikes. Reuters reported that more than 100 establishments across Europe were affected in this second wave, including refrigerators used by French blood banks. Staff there had to move some of the blood to other cold storage. Dozens of stores and a food distribution hub were among the sites hit.

A similar incident preceded the European attacks in the United States. In August, refrigerators in at least half a dozen military commissaries failed. Pentagon investigators are treating that as a suspected cyberattack and are working with French officials, Reuters reported. A person familiar with the matter said the Pentagon considers Iran a suspect, but the investigation is ongoing. Reuters could not establish how that conclusion was reached, whether other suspects are being examined, or whether the US, French and wider European incidents are formally linked. The Pentagon said it was aware of “speculation regarding a potential cyber incident” but declined to comment further for security reasons.

The accusation comes against the backdrop of the war involving the United States and Iran that began in February. That conflict has seen alleged digital disruption of a Los Angeles transit system in March, US water treatment plants in July and US-bound ships in August. France’s move puts an official name and a unit behind one of the most disruptive episodes, while the threat of EU sanctions suggests the response will be diplomatic and legal rather than digital. Whether Tehran will answer the allegations, or whether any suspect will ever face a courtroom, remains unclear.

The Nvidia investigation into CEO Jensen Huang is testing one of the world’s most valuable companies. Its board has launched an independent inquiry after reports that Huang had a relationship with a businesswoman US intelligence officials suspected of working for Beijing. Shares were down about 6% two hours into Monday’s trading session.

The affair itself is not in dispute. Huang acknowledged it in a message to staff, writing: “I was unfaithful to my wife. My actions hurt her and our children. There is no excuse for what I did. I am deeply sorry.” He said he took “full responsibility” and had fallen short of his duties to employees, the board and shareholders. Whether his conduct created a national security problem is another matter, and it is what the board’s inquiry is meant to establish.

What the Nvidia investigation will examine

The allegations come from a New York Times report. It said US intelligence officials believed Alice Huang, a Chinese businesswoman unrelated to Jensen Huang, was spying for China. She is linked to Singapore-based data centre firm Megaspeed. The company told the Times its current leadership was taking the allegations seriously and had hired outside legal advisers for an internal investigation.

Nvidia’s board said it was acting in light of reporting that Huang “has been the target of a foreign intelligence effort”. It also said it had “no reason to believe that either national security or Nvidia secrets were compromised,” but promised to “examine all available information.” Huang said he would cooperate fully, and the company said he will keep running the business during the inquiry. According to the Times report, US officials did not believe Huang knew of any intelligence activity by Alice Huang.

China’s foreign ministry has rejected the claims. A spokesperson called them “entirely groundless, speculative and intended to smear and malign China.” None of the allegations about espionage have been proven publicly, and no court has made findings on them.

Can the board remove Huang?

Analysis from crypto outlet Protos lays out how his job could be at risk. Nvidia’s bylaws say officers serve “at the pleasure of the board” and can be removed with or without cause by a majority of directors. With 11 directors, that means six votes. Removing him as a director would be harder, because shareholders would need a supermajority.

Corporate history offers precedents. Intel, Boeing and HP have all lost chief executives over personal conduct, though in those cases the issues were workplace rules or judgment, not espionage concerns. Nvidia has no published rule that explicitly bars a CEO from dating a customer. Its code of conduct does flag personal relationships as a possible conflict of interest. If the inquiry found Huang shared sensitive information or hid the relationship, the board could have grounds to argue for removal “for cause.”

Even a dismissal would not leave him poor. Huang held about 870.6 million shares, roughly 3.58% of the company, worth around $150 billion. Nvidia’s proxy also says it has no severance agreements with its executive officers.

Washington and Wall Street react

President Donald Trump has defended Huang. “I think he’s an honorable guy,” he said, though he added, “you never know what’s going on.” The Times reported that Trump was briefed on the intelligence last year. Asked whether he wished he had acted on it, he said no. Secretary of State Marco Rubio declined to comment, citing the nature of the matter. The Times also reported that he oversaw a memo last spring warning the administration about Huang’s relationship.

Investors and tech figures have sounded a mix of loyalty and alarm. Bill Ackman called Huang an “incredible human” but said that if the matter proved to be more than an affair, “it is obviously a real problem.” Elon Musk agreed with a post saying Huang “did something incredibly dumb” but remains “irreplaceable for America’s AI leadership.”

That last point explains the stakes. Nvidia, now worth about $4.5 trillion, supplies chips to leading AI developers such as OpenAI and Meta. Huang has run the company for more than 30 years. Concern about China’s progress in AI is a central argument in Washington against slowing US development, so any suggestion of a security lapse at Nvidia carries weight beyond one company.

The next few days will be telling. Nvidia reports earnings on November 17, and three House committee chairs have reportedly requested a closed-door briefing, tentatively set for November 18. The Nvidia investigation has no announced timetable, and until it reports, the board’s statement that nothing was compromised stands as a claim yet to be tested publicly.

File photo: Jen-Hsun Huang 2025.jpg by The White House, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons.

The Nvidia investigation announced Sunday puts one of the most powerful figures in the AI industry under formal board scrutiny. The company’s directors said they are examining reports that founder and CEO Jensen Huang was “the target of a foreign intelligence effort,” and the inquiry will be run by a committee of independent directors with the help of outside independent counsel.

The announcement followed a New York Times report last month that Huang had a “close relationship” with Alice Huang, an executive at Megaspeed, an Nvidia customer. According to The Verge’s account of that reporting, US officials believe she was recruited by China’s Ministry of State Security and passed information on to Beijing. Those claims are allegations attributed to officials and press reports. The sources do not describe any charges or findings.

What Huang and the board have said

Business Insider published what it describes as a note Huang sent to staff, in which he apologized for being “unfaithful” to his wife. The Verge reports that he acknowledged in a memo to the company that the relationship was romantic. In the portion of the note quoted by Business Insider, he does not name anyone. He takes “full responsibility,” asks that his family be given privacy, and says he supports the investigation and will cooperate fully.

He also addressed the national security questions directly. “I love our country and our company,” he wrote, adding that he is committed to protecting Nvidia and supporting America’s national security.

The board’s statement strikes a careful balance. It says national and economic security are “paramount” to the interests of Nvidia and its shareholders, and that it has “no reason to believe that either national security or NVIDIA secrets were compromised.” It also says the inquiry will look at “all available information,” and that it has confidence in Huang and his leadership team. More updates will come “as appropriate.”

Why the stakes extend beyond one executive

The Nvidia investigation matters because of what the company sells. Its AI chips are widely viewed as central to US technological leadership, and both the Biden and Trump administrations have restricted their sale to China. According to The Verge, President Trump has eased some of those limits but still bars sales of Nvidia’s most powerful chips to Chinese firms, and the Commerce Department must approve individual companies that handle them.

Megaspeed adds another layer. The Verge reports that the company is the subject of a Commerce Department investigation into whether it smuggled AI chips into China. That inquiry is separate from the board’s review, and nothing in the sources establishes its outcome.

There is also a political dimension. The Verge notes that Huang has grown close to Trump, and that this raises questions about what he might have learned about the administration’s internal deliberations on AI policy. It also raises the question of whether any of it reached Alice Huang and, from there, Beijing. That is a concern rather than an established fact, and the board has said it sees no sign of compromised secrets.

What remains unknown

The sources leave major questions unanswered. Neither says how long the Nvidia investigation will take, who is on the independent committee, or what outside counsel has been engaged. Neither includes a response from Alice Huang or Megaspeed. Neither details what evidence US officials hold for their belief that she was feeding information to China.

For now, the facts on record are narrow. The CEO has publicly admitted personal misconduct and pledged to cooperate. The board says it has seen no evidence of a security breach, yet it judged the allegations serious enough to warrant an independent review. How that review defines its scope, and whether it ever reports its findings publicly, will shape how investors, regulators and Washington view the company’s leadership.

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File photo: Jen-Hsun Huang 2025.jpg by The White House, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons.

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The Apple Music Classical icon has dropped its red-and-white look for black and white, and the change suggests Apple has no plans to walk back the monochrome identity it introduced for its main Music app only weeks ago. The update arrived on November 6, according to reports from 9to5Mac and Engadget.

What changed in the Apple Music Classical icon

The new design keeps the G-clef symbol that has defined the standalone classical app, but the clef is now black against a white background. The most notable detail is what Apple chose not to flatten. The main Apple Music icon was redone as a flat, one-dimensional graphic, while the classical version holds on to subtle lighting, shading and transparency that give it a sense of depth. Engadget points out that the old red-and-white icon also had a translucent clef, so the effect is a carryover rather than something new.

The change goes beyond the home screen. According to 9to5Mac, Apple updated the app’s interface as well, replacing the red accents on buttons with a blue that is closer to the default color used across Apple’s other apps. That makes the update a visual realignment of the whole app, not just a new tile.

A rebrand that keeps spreading

The timing matters. Apple changed the main Music app’s famous red icon last month and followed it with a branding campaign that it said defines the service’s “new identity.” 9to5Mac notes that the campaign was far more colorful than the app icon, with visuals made by using sound waves to move water. That led some observers to assume Apple might eventually adopt the livelier look for the icon itself.

The classical app’s update points the other way. If Apple were planning to revisit the monochrome icon, there would be little reason to extend it to a second app now. For the moment, black and white appears to be the direction for Apple’s music apps, even if the marketing around them is vivid.

Less backlash this time

The main Music icon’s redesign drew plenty of criticism. By Engadget’s account, the reaction to the classical app’s makeover has been much quieter. Engadget’s writer also argues that this version looks better than the main app’s new logo, since the retained depth keeps it from looking as stark. Engadget suggests the muted response may simply reflect the app’s far smaller audience. That is speculation, but it is plausible: a niche app tends to draw fewer strong opinions than one that sits on a huge number of home screens.

What the app is, and what it costs

For those who have never opened it, Apple Music Classical is a separate app built for one genre. Every track in it is also available in the main Music app, as Engadget notes. The difference is in discovery. The app makes it easier to browse classical music and to find specific recordings of pieces that countless artists have performed over the years.

The app comes at no extra charge, but it requires an active Apple Music subscription. In the US, the individual plan is listed at $11.99 per month, with a one-month free offer noted by 9to5Mac, or it can come through the Apple One bundle. Engadget adds that a Family plan covering up to six people runs $20 a month.

The new Apple Music Classical icon is unlikely to change how anyone listens to Bach or Beethoven. But it does show how far Apple is carrying its new design language, and that it intends to apply it consistently across its music offerings.

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The Tajani data leak has pulled Italy’s foreign minister into the growing wave of cyber-pressure aimed at European governments. Antonio Tajani, who is also deputy prime minister, said on X that criminals have spent days publishing his personal information on the dark web while asking for more.

“For days now, cyber-criminals have been publishing my personal data on the dark web and seeking further information, effectively exposing me to new threats and intimidation,” he wrote. He said his relatives were also in the line of fire, adding that the hackers “are willing to pay for more details about me and my loved ones.” His answer was blunt: “I will not be intimidated in any way.”

What Tajani has and has not said

Tajani did not say what kind of information was exposed, and he did not describe the threats he mentioned. He suggested the problem is still going on rather than being a single, finished breach. He said the Foreign Ministry was taking the matter seriously and coordinating its response with allied countries.

He offered a political motive. “Our position on Ukraine is the political reason I have been targeted,” he said, arguing that backing a sovereign state’s democracy and independence is seen as “dangerous in the eyes of these criminal entities.” Al Jazeera reported that he also floated another possibility: the attacks could be a reaction to Rome’s efforts to strengthen the ministry’s digital defences.

Meloni points to pro-Russian hackers

Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni backed her colleague publicly and put the blame on pro-Russian hackers. She offered Tajani her “full solidarity” and described the sale of confidential information about public officials as a matter of grave concern that must be tackled “with the utmost determination.”

The sources do not include technical evidence tying a specific group to the Tajani data leak, and the attribution so far comes from the government itself. Moscow has not publicly responded to the allegations, according to the BBC.

Meloni also raised a separate worry: the circulation of false images, which she said had been shared by members of Italy’s opposition. She did not say what the images showed or how they relate to the hacking, so that part of the story remains unclear.

A wider pattern across Europe

The episode lands amid a run of disruptive incidents across the continent. Al Jazeera noted a spate of hoax bomb threats that have diverted flights and triggered security alerts at broadcasters, as well as attacks on supermarket refrigeration systems. The BBC separately reported that shop freezers in seven European countries were hit by a cyber-attack days earlier. The sources do not establish that the same actors are behind all of these events, and the Tajani case is described as a distinct targeting of a senior official.

Italy has given Ukraine both humanitarian and military support since Russia’s invasion, which is the backdrop to Tajani’s argument that his position makes him a target. For now, the key unanswered questions are what data was exposed, who is behind the postings, and how far the exposure of the foreign minister’s relatives could go. Rome says it is working with allies to find out.

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File photo: Antonio Tajani 2025.jpg by European People’s Party, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons.

Two weeks after Apple’s first foldable went on sale, the company says the number of iPhone Duo apps built for its 4:3 inner display has passed 100,000. That figure comes from Apple itself, and it arrives just as early owners have begun complaining that some favorite apps don’t fill the bigger screen.

Apple gave the same statement to several outlets on November 6. Susan Prescott, vice president of Worldwide Developer Relations, said there are “well over 100,000 apps built for iPhone Duo already live on the App Store,” with “thousands of optimized apps” being added each day. She credited developer enthusiasm and said she expects updates to keep accelerating.

Why the iPhone Duo app count matters

A foldable with an unusual aspect ratio is only as good as the software running on it. CNET’s reporting describes a familiar early-adopter problem: it launched Discord and found the app floating in the middle of the inner display with black bars on both sides instead of using the whole panel. CNET notes this is common with new hardware designs and was seen on many Android foldables, where optimized apps took time to arrive.

Apple’s number is meant to show the gap is closing fast. The company says thousands of developers have attended workshops in 19 cities over the past month. 9to5Mac reports that Apple put the total at more than 2,000 developers across more than 50 in-person sessions. Apple is also promoting the effort in the App Store, with editorial collections such as “Popular Apps on iPhone Duo” and “Great Games on iPhone Duo,” plus a “Made for iPhone Duo” badge on the product pages of optimized apps.

Which apps have been updated

Apple shared a long list of recently optimized titles sorted by category. Some of the more notable examples:

• Work: Microsoft Word, Outlook, Excel and PowerPoint, plus Zoom and monday.com. CNET says Word and Outlook have been adjusted to resemble their desktop versions, while Zoom uses the inner screen as a larger video meeting space.
• Sports and entertainment: the NBA and NHL apps, Spotify, Tubi, BBC iPlayer in the UK and Apple Music Classical.
• AI and news: ChatGPT, Grok and Microsoft Copilot, along with Substack, The Washington Post and Yahoo News.
• Creative and shopping: Halide Mark III, Canva, Suno, Etsy and LTK Creator.
• Everyday services: Strava, MyFitnessPal, Kroger, Domino’s, Taco Bell, The Weather Channel and Transit.

The camera app Halide Mark III is a good example of what developers can do with the hardware. According to CNET, it shows a viewfinder on the cover screen when the phone is closed and can switch to a waist-level viewfinder when the phone is half open. CNET also says iOS 27.2 should add Apple Pencil (USB-C) support, which would let Duo owners write directly in compatible apps such as Apple Notes.

Optimized does not always mean polished

The headline number comes with caveats. The Verge points out that the “Made for iPhone Duo” label doesn’t guarantee a clean experience. At launch, users described the Instagram app as messy despite the badge, and Instagram chief Adam Mosseri called the Duo a “bit of a tricky form factor.” The same report says apps can still have issues even after they’ve been updated.

There is encouraging evidence on that front, though. 9to5Mac’s editor-in-chief says apps that supported the Duo at launch have since received follow-up updates that improve how they handle both the inner and outer displays. A reader comment on that story praised a recent Google Maps update as a big improvement. That’s anecdotal, but it suggests the first wave of support is being refined and not just checked off.

What to watch next

Apple didn’t say how many apps in total were on the App Store or what share of the most-used titles have been updated. It also didn’t define “built for” or “optimized,” so 100,000 shows momentum but not how well any given app performs. The more useful signals will be whether big names that still look awkward on the inner display, such as Discord in CNET’s early test, get updates in the coming weeks, and whether the rate of new iPhone Duo apps holds at “thousands a day.”

For now, the early picture matches earlier foldable launches. Hardware arrives first and software catches up, and Apple’s developer push appears to be shortening that wait.

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File photo: Apple iPhone Duo.jpg by SimonWaldherr, CC BY 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.