NATO is building a vast AI network along its eastern flank, designed to spot an attack early and strike back fast. The plan is called the Eastern Flank Deterrence Initiative, and internal documents name one adversary outright: Russia.

German tabloid BILD obtained the papers and shared them through the Axel Springer network, Business Insider reported.

The documents keep returning to one phrase: a “Kill Web”. It describes a tightly linked digital mesh that ties together satellites, reconnaissance drones, radar, ground sensors and cameras. If one node drops out, another takes over.

The network watches the whole border at once, from Finland down to Romania.

See first, decide first, strike first

The idea is to shrink the time between spotting a target and hitting it. In the past, a drone would flag a target to headquarters. Analysts checked it, then passed a firing order down the chain. That took time NATO no longer wants to lose.

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Under the new model, data from every member flows into one shared picture. Palantir’s Maven Smart System acts as the AI brain, sorting sensor feeds so commanders can decide faster. Other contractors plug in around it, including RTX, Rheinmetall, Saab, Lockheed Martin and Boeing.

NATO sums the loop up in six words: “See first. Decide first. Strike first.”

In practice, a drone might catch a Russian armoured column. The system cross-checks it against satellite images, radar and ground sensors at once. A commander then picks the weapon, be it a drone, artillery or a rocket launcher, by range and by the target’s value.

Machines take the first hit

The front line changes too. NATO wants uncrewed systems to meet an attacker before its soldiers do. A forward zone of drones, ground robots and sensors would absorb the first blow. The logic is cold but simple: machines, not troops, take the opening hit.

Tanks and jets do not go away. Leopard 2s, Abrams, HIMARS and F-35s stay the backbone. “EFDI does not replace tanks, artillery, fighter aircraft, or soldiers,” said Maj. Matt Blubaugh, a spokesman for US Army Europe and Africa. “It is designed to help preserve their combat power and give commanders more time and decision advantage.”

Lessons from Ukraine

The concept comes straight from the war in Ukraine. Cheap drones, robots and sensors, fielded in their thousands, aim to offset Russia’s edge in sheer numbers and speed. It echoes the kill chains both sides built on that battlefield, now stretched across an entire alliance.

It also fits a wider European push. NATO has been funding defence startups and folding autonomous ground systems into its plans, even as who controls the underlying AI stays a live question.

Why it matters

NATO calls the strategy “deterrence by denial”. The aim is not just to repel Russia, but to make an attack look pointless before it starts. It marks a real shift, from holding ground with troops to contesting it first with software and machines. The hard part is trust: an alliance that hands early decisions to AI has to be sure the machines read the battlefield right.

Self-driving company Waymo added four more cities where it will service riders: Denver, San Diego, Las Vegas and Tampa. Waymo’s parent company, Alphabet, announced the expansion on Wednesday. 

Waymo’s robotaxi service is currently available in big US cities such as San Francisco, San Antonio, Orlando, Phoenix and many others. Since rolling out Waymo’s self-driving cars, Alphabet has relied on electronic vehicles that use AI to detect objects under distinct weather conditions. Its fleet is predominantly the fully electric Jaguar I-Pace, though it recently added the roomier Ojai, a modified Zeekr vehicle. 

Waymo’s newest vehicle, the Hyundai Ioniq 5, will be available with a specialist behind the wheel to validate the hardware and software before unleashing a rider-only rollout to the public.

Waymo stated in a blog post that the robotaxis being added in the new cities will initially be available only to Alphabet employees, but will be open to other riders soon. The self-driving company has made headlines since 2020 for introducing autonomous taxis to the public, but not always positively. 

In recent months, nearly 4,000 Waymos were affected by a recall by the National Highway Traffic Safety administration after the robotaxis drove into construction zones on the highway in Phoenix, Arizona and San Francisco. The NHTSA report states that the cars incorrectly prioritized other highway hazards and failed to recognize the construction zones. Additionally, in May, another recall affected Waymo after it was reported that the vehicles were driving into flooded roadways. 

Despite this debacle, Waymo is actively preparing to launch in New York, Chicago, London and Tokyo. Waymo also faces competition from Zoox, another robotaxi company owned by Amazon, which has continued to expand its operations across cities. 

A Waymo representative was not available for comment. 

Google is giving Photos another dose of Gemini. The company has announced Video Remix, a new AI-powered editing tool that can transform ordinary video clips into stylized creations with just a few taps. Rather than requiring professional editing skills, Google says the feature lets users quickly reinvent existing videos using creative AI effects directly inside Google Photos.

Think of it as Photo Remix, but for videos

Available from the Create tab in Google Photos, Video Remix uses Gemini Omni to apply AI-powered transformations to an existing video clip. Instead of trimming footage or manually layering effects, users simply choose a creative template, and Gemini generates a new version of the clip with a completely different look and feel.

The available effects go well beyond simple filters. Video Remix can apply cinematic relighting to brighten dark footage, swap plain backgrounds for entirely new environments, or turn videos into artistic creations with styles such as watercolor, raw sketchbook, and oil painting. Google even showcases examples like giving a video a morning glow, placing someone inside a greenhouse, or transforming a clip into dreamy watercolor artwork.

There are a few limitations, though. Video Remix currently works only with video clips up to 10 seconds long, and longer recordings need to be trimmed before the AI begins generating a new version. The process itself can also take a couple of minutes, depending on the edit.

Rolling out first to Google AI subscribers

Video Remix is rolling out starting today for eligible Google AI Plus, Pro, and Ultra subscribers in select countries, including India, the U.S., Japan, South Korea, Brazil, Mexico, and several others.

The launch continues Google’s steady push to bring Gemini deeper into Photos. Over the past year, the app has gained AI-powered image editing, smarter search, and creative tools for photos. Video Remix extends that philosophy to videos, making it less about traditional editing and more about letting AI completely reinvent how a familiar clip looks—all without leaving Google Photos

Mount Royal University in Calgary says hackers stole and then deleted data from its file storage systems after breaching the university’s network.

In an update published on its website, MRU states that it has engaged technical teams and external cybersecurity experts to investigate the incident and to support recovery efforts following a cyberattack on June 17.

The incident disrupted a broad range of university systems, including online services, internet access, and certain internal systems.

MRU is a public university with a history of more than 100 years. It currently has 11,560 students and 12,500 undergraduates.

So far, the investigation confirmed that the attacker stole data stored on a drive used by students and employees for file storage, and the original copies were wiped to disrupt recovery operations.

“We regret to inform our community that our investigation has now shown that data within certain folders on the University’s “H drive” was accessed and taken by an unauthorized actor,” reads the announcement.

The university specified that the incident affected certain folders on the H drive, which contained information affecting current and former students, current and former employees of the university, and an unspecified category of “other individuals.”

Additionally, the attackers also wiped a separate drive, labeled “J,” which stored departmental data. “There is currently no evidence that J drive data was accessed or copied before it was deleted,” MRU says.

“We are still working to recover deleted J drive data, but a full recovery may not be possible.”

The university stated that the incident has been reported to the Alberta Information and Privacy Commissioner and to law enforcement authorities.

The university states that the exposed data varies by person, and because it has been deleted, determining the exact impact for each individual is complicated and will take time.

Once impacted individuals are identified, they will be contacted directly via personalized notifications.

CMD Organization claims the attack

The MRU attack was claimed by the threat group CMD Organization, which has published samples of the allegedly stolen data, including passport scans and other sensitive documents.

The threat actor asked for a 30 BTC ransom, currently around $1.9 million, and gave the university six days to respond before leaking the full set of stolen information.

CMD Organization appears to use an auction-style system, offering to sell the stolen data exclusively to the highest bidder. The threat group currently lists 30 organizations on its extortion site and operates both a clear web and a dark web portal.

MRU said that the recovery of the affected systems may take between several weeks and months and will provide updates as soon as new details become available.

The university is also offering two years of credit monitoring and identity theft protection to all current employees and individuals employed in the past five years.

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Ira Apfel sits down with Sarah McKibben, Editor-in-Chief of EdSurge to close out a full week of coverage from ISTELive 26 in Orlando. This conversation is a recap of everything that stood out once the keynotes ended and the convention floor quieted down, from a new idea called relational intelligence to a phrase about AI slop that stuck with educators all week. It only scratches the surface of what the EdSurge team gathered on the ground. Many more conversations recorded live at the conference are set to roll out across upcoming episodes in the weeks ahead. Listen now to hear what Apfel and McKibben took away from ISTELive 26 before the rest of the coverage arrives.

Listen to the episode.

Stories Mentioned in This Episode

This is a special recap episode from ISTELive 26 in Orlando where Ira and Sarah reflect on the hallway conversations, speaker presentations, and podcast interviews they enjoyed throughout the week. Featured speakers include:

• Pat Yongpradit, GM, Education and Workforce Policy at Microsoft

• Dr. Nneka McGee, Fmr. Chief Academic Officer and Founder of Muon Global

• Isabelle Hau, Executive Director of the Stanford Accelerator for Learning

• Heather E. McGowan, Bestselling Author, Leadership Expert, and LinkedIn Global Voice for Education

• Melinda Glowacki, MAT Supervisor and Leadership Coach for the University of California, Irvine

• Tambra Clark, Technology Integration Facilitator of Birmingham City Schools

• Mary Ehrenworth, Author, Speaker, Consultant, from Teachers College, Columbia University

• Philip Seyfried, Student, from Teachers College, Columbia University 

• Jessica Garner, Managing Director, Innovative Learning at ISTE+ASCD 

• Court Shuller from the Voices of Change Fellowship

This Week with EdSurge is a weekly podcast from EdSurge. Subscribe to the EdSurge newsletter for more news and analysis on education and technology.

For years, conversations around screen time have focused almost entirely on children. How much YouTube is too much? Should teenagers be on social media? When should a child get their first smartphone? A new study suggests we may have been asking the wrong question.

According to research published last month in the peer-reviewed journal Frontiers in Psychology (via Bloomberg), it’s not just children’s screen habits that matter. Parents who are constantly distracted by their phones may unintentionally weaken their emotional bond with their children, potentially leaving lasting developmental and psychological effects. The study surveyed 600 U.S. adolescents aged 12 to 17, many of whom reported feeling ignored or sidelined when their parents were absorbed in their devices.

The phone isn’t the problem. Feeling ignored is

The researchers found that excessive phone use by caregivers can contribute to what’s known as “insecure attachment” — a pattern that may make children more anxious, avoidant, and less confident in relationships later in life. According to Don Grant, a media psychologist, addiction expert, and fellow of the American Psychological Association, those effects can persist well into adulthood if left unchecked.

It “could really unfavorably impact their attachment security, which they will carry for life,” Grant said.

Grant described the issue as more than simply spending too much time on a phone. It’s about being physically present but emotionally absent. One example from the study highlights parents who proudly attended every recital or sports match, only for their children to remember them as constantly looking down at a screen instead of watching the moment unfold.

Why does this study feel different?

We’ve previously covered how excessive screen time and social media can affect children. What’s different here is that the researchers turn the spotlight onto parents instead. Their work represents one of the most comprehensive studies examining how children perceive their caregivers’ technology habits and how those habits shape the parent-child relationship.

The findings also build on growing research around “technoference” — the idea that digital devices quietly disrupt face-to-face relationships. While earlier studies largely examined its impact on romantic partners, this research suggests the same pattern may be playing out between parents and their children. It also aligns with broader trends. For instance, Bloomberg notes that nearly half of American teenagers surveyed by the Pew Research Center in 2024 said their parents were at least sometimes distracted by a phone during interactions, even though far fewer parents believed it was happening.

The funny thing is that we’ve spent years worrying about children becoming glued to their screens. This study flips that conversation on its head, suggesting the bigger issue may be what children see when they look up. After all, the moments kids tend to remember aren’t the ones spent staring at a screen, but the ones when the people they wanted to connect with were staring at theirs.