Apple is finalizing a deal to acquire the team and computer vision technology of Prompt AI. CNBC reports: Leadership at Prompt told employees of the pending transaction at an all-hands meeting on Thursday and said that those who don't end up joining Apple will be paid a reduced salary, and encouraged to apply for open roles at the company, according to audio that was accessed by CNBC.

Prompt was founded in 2023 and raised a $5 million seed round that year led by AIX and Abstract Ventures. Co-founders include CEO Tete Xiao, a notable AI researcher with a Phd in computer science from UC Berkeley, and President Trevor Darrell who was a founder of the Berkeley Artificial Intelligence Research (BAIR) lab. Investors will get paid some money in the deal but "won't be made whole," executives said in the meeting. Prompt employees were asked to refrain from mentioning Apple until further notice while searching for other jobs or updating friends and family on their situation.

Prompt's flagship app, Seemour, connects to home security cameras, adding sophisticated capabilities. The technology helps cameras detect specific people, pets and other animals or objects around a household, and to send alerts and text-based descriptions of unusual activity or answer questions about what's been happening in front of the camera. Xiao told employees at the meeting that while Prompt AI's technology and the Seemour app were working well, the business model wasn't. The company is retiring the Seemour app, and plans to inform users their data will be deleted and privacy protected, executives said.

Toyota is fast-tracking its long-promised all-solid-state EV batteries through a new partnership with Sumitomo Metal Mining, aiming to debut its first production vehicle using the technology by 2027 or 2028. Electrek reports: Toyota said that its new batteries could significantly enhance driving range, charging times, and output, potentially transforming the future of automobiles. Compared to current liquid-based batteries, which use electrolyte solutions, Toyota's all-solid-state batteries utilize a cathode, an anode, and a solid electrolyte. According to Toyota, the next-gen battery tech "offers the potential for smaller size, higher output, and longer life."

The two companies have been developing cathode materials for all-solid-state EV batteries since 2021, focusing on some of the biggest challenges in producing them at a mass scale. Using Sumitomo Metal Mining's proprietary powder synthesis technology, Toyota claimed to have developed a "highly durable cathode material" for all-solid-state batteries. Sumitomo has been supplying cathode materials for electric vehicles for years, but it's now working to introduce the newly developed tech, moving it toward mass production.

An anonymous reader quotes a report from KrebsOnSecurity: The world's largest and most disruptive botnet is now drawing a majority of its firepower from compromised Internet-of-Things (IoT) devices hosted on U.S. Internet providers like AT&T, Comcast and Verizon, new evidence suggests. Experts say the heavy concentration of infected devices at U.S. providers is complicating efforts to limit collateral damage from the botnet's attacks, which shattered previous records this week with a brief traffic flood that clocked in at nearly 30 trillion bits of data per second.

Since its debut more than a year ago, the Aisuru botnet has steadily outcompeted virtually all other IoT-based botnets in the wild, with recent attacks siphoning Internet bandwidth from an estimated 300,000 compromised hosts worldwide. The hacked systems that get subsumed into the botnet are mostly consumer-grade routers, security cameras, digital video recorders and other devices operating with insecure and outdated firmware, and/or factory-default settings. Aisuru's owners are continuously scanning the Internet for these vulnerable devices and enslaving them for use in distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attacks that can overwhelm targeted servers with crippling amounts of junk traffic.

As Aisuru's size has mushroomed, so has its punch. In May 2025, KrebsOnSecurity was hit with a near-record 6.35 terabits per second (Tbps) attack from Aisuru, which was then the largest assault that Google's DDoS protection service Project Shield had ever mitigated. Days later, Aisuru shattered that record with a data blast in excess of 11 Tbps. By late September, Aisuru was publicly flexing DDoS capabilities topping 22 Tbps. Then on October 6, its operators heaved a whopping 29.6 terabits of junk data packets each second at a targeted host. Hardly anyone noticed because it appears to have been a brief test or demonstration of Aisuru's capabilities: The traffic flood lasted less only a few seconds and was pointed at an Internet server that was specifically designed to measure large-scale DDoS attacks.

Aisuru's overlords aren't just showing off. Their botnet is being blamed for a series of increasingly massive and disruptive attacks. Although recent assaults from Aisuru have targeted mostly ISPs that serve online gaming communities like Minecraft, those digital sieges often result in widespread collateral Internet disruption. For the past several weeks, ISPs hosting some of the Internet's top gaming destinations have been hit with a relentless volley of gargantuan attacks that experts say are well beyond the DDoS mitigation capabilities of most organizations connected to the Internet today.

Apple is updating its Security Bounty program this November to offer some of the highest rewards in the industry. From a report: It has doubled its top award from $1 million to $2 million for the discovery of "exploit chains that can achieve similar goals as sophisticated mercenary spyware attacks" and which requires no user interaction. But the maximum possible payout can exceed $5 million dollars for the discovery of more critical vulnerabilities, such as bugs in beta software and Lockdown Mode bypasses. Lockdown Mode is an upgraded security architecture in the Safari browser.

In addition, the company is rewarding the discovery of exploit chains with one-click user interaction with up to $1 million instead of just $250,000. The reward for attacks requiring physical proximity to devices can now also go up to $1 million, up from $250,000, while the maximum reward for attacks requiring physical access to locked devices has been doubled to $500,000. Finally, researchers "who demonstrate chaining WebContent code execution with a sandbox escape can receive up to $300,000."

The Rubik's Cube has been reimagined as a $299 tech gadget featuring 24 mini IPS screens, a gyroscope, accelerometer, speakers, and Bluetooth connectivity. Called the WOWCube, it runs its own "CubiOS" system, supports downloadable games and apps, and can transform into everything from a mini arcade to a virtual aquarium. Ars Technica reports: Rather than a solid-colored sticker, each of the toy's 24 squares is a 240x240 IPS display. The cube itself is composed of eight "cubicle modules," as Cubios, the company behind the toy, calls them. Each module includes three of those IPS screens and a dedicated SoC. [A Cubios support page has additional details.] Each of the 24 displays can be set to show a solid color for solving a simpler, but still captivating, Rubik's puzzle. Alternatively, the screens can be twisted and turned to play dozens of different games, including Block Buster, Space Invaders, and Jewel Hunter.

Also part of the toy is a gyroscope, 6-axis accelerometer, and eight speakers. Cubios claims the integrated battery can last for up to seven hours before needing a recharge. In order to add games or other apps to the WOWCube, you must download the WOWCube Connect iOS or Android app, pair the toy with your phone over Bluetooth, and then use the mobile app to download games onto the WOWCube. Currently, the WOWCube's online app store lists 47 games; some cost money to download, and some aren't available yet. The WOWCube runs its own operating system, dubbed CubiOS, and Cubios (the company) offers a free DevKit. WOWCube attempts to bring additional functionality to Rubik's cubes with, as of this writing, nine additional apps, including a timer and apps that make the toy look like an aquarium or snow globe, for instance.