U.S. Agencies Warn of AI-Driven Cyberattacks on Critical Infrastructure - DTH

These are the daily tech headlines for Thursday, August [music] 20th, 2026. I'm Rob Dunwood. US security agencies, including CISA, the FBI, and the NSA, have issued warnings regarding ongoing cyber attacks on Siemens S7 programable logic controllers within critical infrastructure sectors like water and energy. Hackers are leveraging AI to generate exploit scripts targeting poorly secured or outdated devices, potentially causing significant operational disruption. These incidents, often linked to suspected Iranian hackers, have impacted various US states, prompting officials to reiterate the importance of keeping critical systems disconnected from the internet to mitigate risk. Australia's new news bargaining incentive legislation imposes a 2.5% tax on the advertising revenue of major tech companies, including Meta, Google, TikTok, and Microsoft, unless they establish commercial agreements with local Australian news publishers. Platforms can offset this levy by reaching deals with at least eight publishers, with financial incentives favoring agreements with smaller and medium-sized outlets to support domestic journalism. Google has introduced new AI-powered study tools for search and Gemini, aimed at enhancing learning and competition with other educational platforms. These features include interactive 3D simulations, custom study documents created from uploaded files, personalized practice quizzes, and a new lens-based problem-solving experience. Additionally, Gemini now offers multi-step research report capabilities live, and a dedicated learning hub to centralize study materials like flashcards and notes, providing students with a comprehensive interactive academic assistant. Meta recently faced scrutiny for running advertisements for Chromix, an AI-powered tool capable of generating non-consensual pornographic deepfakes, including images of female US politicians, which violated the company's policies against sexual content. Despite claims by Meta and Apple that they employ automated systems and strict policies to block such harmful material, both platforms continue to struggle with effective enforcement with critics pointing to Meta's heavy reliance on AI moderation over human oversight as a key factor in these repeated failures. Samsung Galaxy users switching to new devices are reporting widespread RCS connectivity issues in Google Messages, often manifesting as error code 3100 after using Samsung Smart Switch. Google suggests these problems may stem from corrupted cache files transferred during the setup process, recommending that users update the app, clear the carrier services data, and toggle RCS on and off. While some users find these steps ineffective and occasionally resort to factory resets, the underlying cause remains a significant point of frustration for those migrating data to new handsets. In July, US gaming market revenue fell by 10% year-over-year to $4.5 billion with console sales experiencing their worst July performance since 2020, dropping 29% due to waning Nintendo Switch 2 interest and memory crisis-related price hikes. Additionally, gaming accessory sales fell 6% and overall video game sales declined 9% largely due to mobile segment setbacks, while the Call of Duty: Black Ops 2 port emerged as the month's top-grossing game. Roblox has entered a court-enforceable agreement with Australia's eSafety Commissioner to significantly enhance child safety on its platform following findings that it failed to prevent unauthorized adult-child contact and visibility of sensitive underage user data. While Roblox has implemented tiered age gating and verification measures globally, it must now further commit to making children's accounts private by default, restricting adult-initiated contact without parental consent, and undergoing third-party safety audits within the next 3 months to address ongoing regulatory concerns and lawsuits. OpenAI has targeted 2027 or earlier for its IPO with CFO Sarah Fryer emphasizing that the move is a strategic milestone rather than a financial necessity. Despite projecting strong revenue growth and enterprise momentum, the company faces significant challenges including intensified competition from Anthropic. Slack has launched Slack Code, a new feature that creates dedicated project-specific channels for teams to collaborate with AI coding agents like Claude and Devin. These channels allow users to build features, fix bugs, and update pages with full visibility featuring real-time code auditing, live previews, and automated archiving upon task completion. Available on all plans, the feature integrates seamlessly with major AI agents from partners like Vercel and GitHub to enable collaborative development directly within the Slack workspace. And finally, YouTube is offering millions of financial incentives to popular creators for content exclusivity aiming to counter Netflix's efforts to license their videos for concurrent release. While Netflix appeals to creators with additional revenue and exposure for its vast subscriber base, YouTube argues that cross-posting undermines its viewership and its advertising value. Consequently, YouTube is strengthening its stance threatening to deprioritize creators who work with Netflix while leveraging exclusive deals to maintain its position as the primary platform for these influencers. For more analysis of the tech news of the day, subscribe to dailytechnewsshow.com. And if you enjoy the show, remember to tell a friend to check us out. Thanks for listening. [music] We'll talk to you next time.