Google warns that new legal orders could put EU users’ privacy at risk.

The European Union is ordering Google to level the playing field for its competitors on two fronts in the latest attempt to curtail Big Tech dominance within the bloc.

A ruling from the European Commission means competitors must be given the same level of access to features on the Android operating system as Google enjoys in order to ensure that their AI services can compete with the likes of Gemini.

A second order asks the tech giant to offer third-party search engines access to search data that only Google can collect given its scale and reach.

The company has until January 2027 to begin sharing its search data, and until July 2027 to open up Android to competing AI providers.

These orders result from EU proceedings that try to detail how the bloc’s strict Digital Markets Act (DMA) rules should be implemented for proper compliance. The Commission began these particular deliberations in January.

In its decision yesterday (16 July), the EU argued that competing AI assistants on Android devices have restricted access to the operating system’s functionalities. Without full access, third-party providers are limited in how they offer their services, making them less attractive to 60pc of Android users in the bloc, the Commission said.

The order, the EU said, would ensure users can activate their preferred AI assistant via voice commands comparable to ‘Hey Google’ and use third-party AI agents on Android devices.

The Commission also wants Google to share anonymised search data with competing search engines – data that it would currently use to optimise its own services.

“[Google] was removing between 90pc and 100pc of unique search queries from the dataset” it had previously shared as part of a DMA compliance proposal, the EU said.

“It was also unduly restricting the potential pool of beneficiaries by excluding AI chatbots that provide search services. As a result, there has been no meaningful uptake by potential beneficiaries.”

Google, however, will maintain the right to assess privacy and security risks before sharing any data.

Kent Walker, Google and Alphabet’s president of global affairs, said that the orders “risk undermining vital privacy and security guardrails for millions of Europeans”.

“We have repeatedly offered solutions to safeguard users while satisfying the DMA’s goals, but these rulings discount extensive evidence of user harm.”

Walker argued that third-party AI assistants can already “safely” access Android functionalities. Phone manufacturers play a key role in vetting eligible AI providers, he added, and suggested the ruling “threatens device security by granting external apps sensitive and powerful device permissions without these safeguards”.

The latest ruling comes just as the EU is expected to hand the tech giant a major penalty over breaching the DMA with its tactics around search ranking and its app marketplace Google Play.

German publication Handelsblatt reported in May that the expected high triple-digit-million-euro penalty could be the highest fine imposed under the DMA since its enactment in 2022.

So far, Apple and Meta are the only companies to be penalised under the law, with Apple receiving a €500m fine last year – the highest penalty yet.

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Updated, 2:31pm, 17 July 2026: This article has been updated with background information in the final three paragraphs.

If you look at the AI landscape, a majority of its usage in the film and television industry has been pretty controversial. Bringing dead actors to life on a screen, using AI to record vintage songs that were never completed, or just using it to film scenes or handle any other part of the creative process — the backlash has been pretty vocal. But there are a few slivers of hopeful AI usage, too, and Google just delivered one of those in a heartwarming fashion using Gemini AI.

I wonder the world never archived

This is how the story goes. In 1959, Brazilian football legend Pele scored a goal. And in his own words, it was the best goal of his career. The “Black Pearl” pulled off three consecutive sombreros past the defenders, performed a knee flick past the goalkeeper, and then headed the ball into the net. Getting past multiple opponents, without the ball ever touching the ground, and finishing it off without a perfect header. It’s something you rarely ever see, even at the highest levels of professional football. The problem? It was never filmed.

The “Gol da Rua Javari” was only witnessed by the thousand of fans and other players on the pitch, only a handful of whom are still alive. The only archival memory was an old photogaraph of the header moment. Google’s team conducted interviews with people how saw the even in person, some six decades, and pieced together Pele’s steps. Then, using photographs of the stadium, fans, and other players on the ground, a vision was developed of how the events unfolded.

Next, Google’s team recreated the whole scene with real humans in the same stadium where Pele scored the goal. For accuracy, they even created the heavy leather ball from that era, alongside Pele’s dark boots, and even the uniforms. The whole act was mapped, somewhat like motion capture in films, but without any of the specialized dresses and gear involved.

The whole foundation was fed into a system, and using Gemini Omni, Nano Banana Pro image generator, and the Google Veo video engine, the captured data was restyled and given a vintage look resembling the old photographs. Characters were replaced (the stunt person wearing the iconic No. 10 jersey was swapped with Pele’s digital likeness) and the whole stadium from that fateful match in 1959 was recreated.

A feat reanimated from the pages of history

“To ensure the generations looked as period accurate as possible, we ran the digital output through a filmout machine, capturing the distinct look and feel of 1950s cinema,” Google writes in its blog. It was a lot of work. But the end result is simply stunning. Seeing Pele’s legendary goal for the first time in action, the sheer ball skill, and on-field mastery come to life on video is a sight to behold.

The fact that it happened with the consent of Pele’s family, and with support from footballers, fans, and real historians, is something that seprates it from your usual cash-grab AI deployment. ““He would be so proud to see all this happening. He’d always say it was a shame that the goal was never recorded. So being able to relive it, with all this technology, is amazing.” Pele’s daughter was quoated as saying.

Apple and the US Department of Justice are in early discussions about settling the 2024 antitrust lawsuit that alleges Apple violated competition law through its iPhone ecosystem, Bloomberg reported on Thursday. Apple has made multiple offers this year to close the case. The discussions are active but there is no guarantee of an agreement, and no trial date has been set.

The DOJ sued Apple under the Biden administration alongside 19 states and the District of Columbia. The complaint alleged Apple blocked super apps, discouraged outside messaging solutions and cloud streaming apps, restricted rival digital wallets, and hindered smartwatch competition. Apple lost a bid to dismiss the case in June 2025. Apple is already dealing with the Supreme Court’s refusal to pause its contempt order in the Epic case, making a DOJ settlement all the more attractive to reduce its legal exposure.

Apple has already addressed several of the original complaints. It launched a mini apps programme, opened Messages to the RCS standard led by Google, allowed cloud-streaming apps, and opened the iPhone’s NFC payment chip to third-party apps. The Apple Watch still does not work with Android, but Apple has improved compatibility with non-Apple watches on the iPhone.

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The Trump administration’s DOJ is pushing to settle antitrust cases inherited from the Biden era. Stanley Woodward, the No. 3 DOJ official overseeing antitrust, views settlements as a way to save taxpayer money and deliver faster consumer relief than multi-year litigation. Whether the 19 state attorneys general are part of the settlement talks is unknown. Regulators globally are pressing Apple to open its platforms, and a DOJ settlement could set the template for how much Apple concedes before its other cases reach trial.

Gaming is better with great gear. A powerful gaming headset and a good keyboard are two must-haves for me, whether I’m playing Stardew Valley or firing up my latest unfinished run of Baldur’s Gate 3 (I’ll move on eventually to Expedition 33, I promise). A longtime favorite brand of WIRED’s for this kind of gaming gadgetry comes from SteelSeries. SteelSeries’ latest gaming headphones and mice have been a hit in testing, and now you can score your very own with the help of a SteelSeries discount code.

Whether you’re shopping for a new gaming headset or keyboard, or looking for a discount on your first order, a SteelSeries coupon code can get you deals on just about anything SteelSeries offers. Here’s where to find the SteelSeries promo codes to save.

SteelSeries Coupon Codes: 15% Off Gaming Headsets

It’s not a great gaming setup if you don’t have a headset to let you immerse yourself into the game. Most of my favorite games stay longtime favorites thanks to their soundtrack, after all, and gaming headsets are also designed to let you both join a Discord call without muting the game’s music. Both the SteelSeries Arctis Nova Elite and Arctis Nova 3P Wireless were recent hits with our reviewers, and now you can use the SteelSeries promo code POWERUP15 for 15% off gaming headsets.

10% Off With a SteelSeries Coupon for First Orders

Making your first order ever from SteelSteries? There’s a discount code for that. The SteelSeries first order coupon code lets you take 10% off your first full-price purchase as a new customer. To use it, skip the sale section, and pick anything else at full price that catches your eye on SteelSeries’ site. It’s a great way to splurge without totally splurging on things like gaming mice and controllers that might not already be on sale.

Get the Latest SteelSeries Deals and Offers

If you’re curious about what’s already on sale without needing a SteelSeries coupon code, check out the SteelSeries deals section. You’ll find headsets, keyboards, controllers, mice and more already on sale, with discounts often up to 30% or more. It’s a great spot to shop if you’re not picky about what you want, and there’s several colors of the Arctis Nova 3P Wireless you can find for sale right now.

Up to 39% Off SteelSeries Bundles

If you know you want a little of everything—a keyboard! A headset! A controller!—then you should look at a SteelSeries bundle to get a better deal. You won’t need a formal SteelSeries coupon code for these, and can instead head to the gaming bundles section of SteelSeries’ site to get up to 39% off bundles of gaming gear. I’m personally a sucker for the White Out Core Bundle that’s 22% off, but there’s tons of bundles that vary for what you might be looking for.

SteelSeries Promos: 30% Off Gaming Controllers

There’s no gaming without a gaming controller for me, at least where most games are involved. Sure, I want a keyboard handy when needed, but I find it infinitely more comfortable to use a controller instead of the keyboard shortcuts to walk around (not everyone feels that way, so you do you.) If you need a new controller, SteelSeries has you covered with discounted gaming controllers on its site. It’s another category you don’t need a formal code for, and instead can just shop around the gaming controllers section to get up to 30% off.

Get 29% Off SteelSeries Keyboards

Finally, gaming keyboards are also discounted, with no SteelSeries promo code required. Our reviewers liked the SteelSeries Apex Pro, and there’s a ton of colorways and versions of that very keyboard already on sale for you to shop on SteelSeries keyboard section. The discounts go as high as 29% off, but not every option is on sale, so choose wisely.

Connecting the dots: Apple and Google have long urged smartphone users to defect from their rival’s platform, going so far as to publish apps on each other’s storefronts to smooth the process. Yet a recent survey suggests there is little movement between users of the two mobile operating systems.

According to the latest survey by analysts at Consumer Intelligence Research Partners (CIRP), the share of iPhone owners who upgraded from another iPhone, as opposed to those switching over from Android, rose this year. The figures suggest Apple users are at least satisfied enough to stick with iOS, while a fair number of Android users are still crossing over to iPhones.

CIRP periodically surveys customers who buy new phones, asking what kind of phone they owned previously. In the quarter ending March 2026, 12% of respondents who bought a new iPhone said they had switched from an Android device, compared to 14% a year earlier and 13% in 2024.

Only 1% upgraded from a feature phone or a smartphone running another operating system this year, down from 2% in each of the previous two years. That leaves the share of iPhone buyers who upgraded from another iPhone at 87%, up from 84% last year and 85% the year before. The figures suggest that most smartphone users have already settled on a preferred platform.

While CIRP does not track how many iPhone users are moving to Android, a similar survey published earlier this year by SellCell found an even higher loyalty rate for Apple in the US. Among more than 5,000 smartphone users, the share planning to stick with the iPhone climbed from 90.5% in 2019 to 96.4% in 2026. Android loyalty, by contrast, sat at 86.4% this year, and Android users were about four times as likely to switch to iOS.

The reasons behind Apple’s edge are unclear. The company’s recent move to support RCS messaging, which lets Android and iPhone users exchange texts with end-to-end encryption and other advanced features, appears to have had little effect on brand loyalty.

Android’s comparatively open platform, which lets users sideload apps, remains one of its most significant advantages over iOS. But Google is preparing to restrict that functionality, a shift that could dull its value proposition for some customers.

Generative AI is another area where the competing smartphone platforms diverge somewhat.

Google has been quicker to weave its Gemini assistant into Android, with features such as auto-scheduling, form auto-completion, dictation, and automatic web browsing. Apple is set to bring comparable capabilities, including visual descriptions, AI web searches, and document drafting, to Siri in iOS 27 this fall.

from the if-only-that-mattered dept

I don’t think it’s terribly controversial to say that this second Trump administration has never shown much concern for the Hatch Act. If you’re not familiar with that particular law, it makes it illegal for most of the members of the executive branch of the federal government, and some state representatives, to engage in partisan political activity. Sometimes the question of whether something violates the Hatch Act can be tricky, or a matter of interpretation.

And sometimes RFK Jr. rides in to provide a nakedly blatant example of a Hatch Act violation. Ron Wyden is calling for an investigation into Kennedy after he reportedly called two different Libertarian candidates in Iowa running for congressional seats to suggest that they drop out. This could be otherwise described as election interference in violation of the Hatch Act.

Wyden cited two instances in which Kennedy may have violated the Hatch Act by encouraging two Libertarian candidates in Iowa to drop out of their respective races.

In a phone call to Libertarian House candidate Marco Battaglia of Iowa’s 3rd Congressional District, Kennedy reportedly said, “If this seat flips, it’ll make my life hell.”

In a phone call to Rick Stewart, another Libertarian House candidate running to represent Iowa’s 2nd Congressional District, Kennedy reportedly suggested Stewart could find another position within federal government but outside elected office, adding that he would help him accomplish this.

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Kennedy is doing this because both races are reportedly quite close and pretty much everyone agrees that the only real impact these Libertarian candidates would have on the election is pulling a few percentage points of the vote away from the Republican candidates. Plainly partisan political influence on an upcoming election, in other words, with something pretty close to bribery to boot when it comes to offering other positions within government in exchange for dropping out.

“Secretary Kennedy called Stewart in his official capacity as a member of the President’s cabinet, and he asked that Stewart suspend his campaign in order to make it easier for the Republican candidate to win the race, easier for the Republican Party to maintain its majority in the House of Representatives, and easier for Kennedy to personally avoid Congressional subpoenas from Democratic committee chairs,” Wyden wrote in his letter to Greer.

“Iowa’s voters should be able to freely choose who represents them in Congress, and our democracy does not allow political appointees to take that power away from them by deleting candidates from the ballot.”

I don’t really know how to argue with any of that. I also don’t have any problem believing that Kennedy has no idea what the Hatch Act is or says, nor that he was violating any laws in making these phone calls. But if the reports are correct, it appears he did. And I also don’t doubt that further reporting will reveal more of Kennedy doing this sort of thing.

That’s the problem with having unprofessional clowns working in your administration.

Filed Under: election interference, hatch act, iowa, marco battaglia, rfk jr., rick stewart, ron wyden

Festivals pose a bit of a conundrum when it comes to charging. It’s really useful to have a phone — for checking programs, finding friends, and snapping photos — but the days are long, and there’s minimal access to power points. A power pack is your best friend, and below I’ve rounded up the best models for festival-goers.

I’ve included a mix of options. There are compact, lightweight power banks that won’t weigh your bag down and can charge your phone while you’re using it. These can generally only manage two charges at the absolute maximum, so they’re best suited to one- or two-day festivals, or festivals where you’ll have overnight access to power. There are also larger power packs that offer multiple recharges, but which are generally too bulky and heavy to carry around all day.

Rewind just a few years and the All Blacks vs Ireland was the foremost fixture in rugby. Although they’ve each won both of their Nations Championship 2026 games so far, neither side has convinced – and against lesser opponents to boot. Saturday’s clash in Auckland, therefore, feels like an opportunity to silence some doubters.

New Zealand narrowly avoided an embarrassing defeat to France’s reserves in their opener, before a comprehensive albeit ragged victory over Italy, while Ireland scraped past a crisis-stricken Australia before being pushed hard by Japan.

As we’ve already noted, plug-in solar is creeping forwards to the point where we’ll all be able to self-install in the near future. Currently, such systems are capped at 800W, and require an electrician to install.

One of the key areas for plug-in solar is people living in flats, with a key question: can you put solar panels on your balcony in the UK? The answer, unsurprisingly, is, it depends.

For a self-install, you’ll need to wait until the new legislation is in place, but once it is, whether it’s possible or not is the same even if you use an installer.

You need lightweight panels

Balcony solar uses thin, light and slightly flexible panels, rather than the hard, rigid and heavy ones for rooftop solar. These lightweight panels are specially designed so that they’re easier to fit safely and don’t put a heavy load on balcony railings.

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These are the kinds of panels that will ship with DIY plug-in solar systems when they’re available later this year. Note that these panels can weigh up to 8kg, so they’re still a bit of a handful.

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You’ll need your balcony to face the right way

We all know that solar requires sunlight, so there’s no point in installing panels if your balcony doesn’t get any sun, either because it’s facing the wrong direction (North), or because there’s shade from trees or other buildings.

If you don’t get much sun, you won’t generate much electricity, so it’s not really worth installing panels.

You might need permission if you live in a conservation area

Installation of solar panels comes under permitted development, so you don’t need to get planning permission for most areas. However, if you live in a conservation area, you’ll need to check to see if you’re allowed panels, and you may need to apply for permission to have them installed.

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You’ll need permission if you rent

Renters will be able to request to install moveable solar systems (DIY systems that they can take with them), and landlords aren’t allowed to reasonably refuse. You’ll still need permission to go ahead, but it should be straightforward to get.

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You might need permission from your management company

Before you install balcony solar, you may need permission from your management company or freeholder, as the lease may preclude you from installing it. This could be more of an issue on high-rise blocks, where any object that could potentially fall would be more dangerous.

Before you do anything, check and make sure that you don’t need to go through additional steps. It’s possible that some buildings will require any system to be professionally installed by an installer with insurance.

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Last August, co-founder and CEO Ali Ghodsi told the Wall Street Journal that, in his view, ‘Databricks has a shot to be a trillion-dollar company’.

US software and data analytics company Databricks is raising a strategic funding round at a $188bn valuation following the signing of a term sheet, it said yesterday (16 July).

The round is led by existing investor Coatue and is expected to feature additional new and existing investors before closing later this summer.

The San Francisco-based company offers a services platform around data and AI that aims to help build and scale apps, analytics, and agents for more than 20,000 client organisations such as Adidas, AT&T, Bayer, Block, Mastercard and Unilever.

Databricks said the new funding would be used to “accelerate its AI strategy” through a focus on three of its core offerings: Unity AI Gateway, a “multi-AI governance solution that helps enterprises govern and control costs of their AI”; Genie, an “AI coworker that turns business data into trusted answers and actions”; and Lakebase, a “serverless Postgres database built for AI agents”.

“Enterprises are moving from tokenmaxxing to valuemaxxing,” said Ali Ghodsi, co-founder and CEO of Databricks. “They don’t want to burn expensive tokens on the smartest model for every task – they want the best outcome per dollar. That means having the freedom to choose the right AI for the job.

“This new capital lets us keep pushing our multi-AI strategy forward to meet massive customer demand.”

The funding would also contribute to supporting future AI acquisitions and deepening AI research, the company said.

In February, Databricks was valued at around $134bn after raising $5bn.

In recent times, the company has launched or expanded partnerships with Microsoft, Google Cloud, Anthropic, SAP and Palantir.

Its five-year deal with Anthropic, valued at $100m, offers Anthropic’s Claude AI models through Databricks’ data intelligence platform, allowing its client companies to build and deploy AI agents that can reason on their own data.

Last August, Ghodsi told the Wall Street Journal that, in his view, “Databricks has a shot to be a trillion-dollar company”.

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