Author: Frank Salvato

European regulators are poised to deliver a significant reprieve to major U.S. technology companies as they revise the European Union’s digital regulatory framework, effectively watering down earlier proposals that would have imposed strict compliance obligations. Under the forthcoming Digital Networks Act (DNA), companies including Alphabet’s Google, Meta Platforms, Microsoft, Amazon, and Netflix are expected to face only voluntary compliance standards rather than binding rules that would require them to invest directly in European network infrastructure. These changes, now planned ahead of a January 20 unveiling by EU tech chief Henna Virkkunen, are seen as part of a broader shift by…

Nvidia has officially rolled out its next-generation AI computing platform, named Vera Rubin, at CES 2026 — a six-component AI “superchip” architecture designed to deliver major leaps in AI training and inference performance while lowering costs, with a significant portion of the development work coming from the company’s R&D centers in Israel; engineers there contributed to four out of the six chips powering the platform, underscoring Israel’s strategic role in advanced semiconductor design, and Nvidia says Rubin will enter full production and begin deployment through cloud and enterprise partners in the second half of 2026 as U.S. tech firms seek…

The Israeli government has launched a roughly NIS 174 million (about $52 million) international social media campaign aimed at promoting its perspective on the ongoing Gaza war. Israel has struggled with anti-Israel influencers creating fake content, such as a fabricated video of Palestinians suffering in a snowstorm, which received over 50,000 likes, despite the last snowstorm in Gaza occurring over ten years prior in 2013. On the other hand, critics are concerned that Israel’s ad spend could be used to cover up controversial actions in Gaza. Major contracts from Israel’s government were awarded to Google ($26.8 million), YouTube ($17.9 million),…

Oracle Israel’s senior executive highlighted at a major tech conference that the company’s artificial intelligence efforts are not only reshaping cloud computing but are actively being applied in life-saving medical diagnostics and care, including through partnerships with startups like Imagene AI that use AI to detect cancer biomarkers far faster than traditional methods; this development comes as Oracle plays a central role in the massive private-sector “Stargate” AI infrastructure initiative backed by former President Donald Trump, OpenAI, and SoftBank, aimed at building out up to $500 billion in U.S. AI data centers to keep American tech competitive and spur job…

The Golden Dome homeland defense initiative, a massive U.S. effort to build a layered missile defense shield against ballistic, hypersonic, and advanced aerial threats, is progressing with expanded industry involvement and strategic technology partnerships. President Donald Trump’s Golden Dome concept—envisioned to protect the U.S. homeland using a mix of space-based interceptors, ground-based systems, and advanced sensors—has attracted interest from Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI) and other defense contractors, particularly for integrating combat-proven systems like the Arrow interceptors into the architecture, reinforcing long-standing U.S.–Israel defense cooperation. Recent developments include major U.S. defense companies and over 2,100 firms qualifying to compete under the…

Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI) has successfully demonstrated a new, advanced border protection system that uses cutting-edge artificial intelligence, autonomous drones, and integrated sensors to rapidly detect and neutralize threats along Israel’s land, air, and maritime borders; the platform unifies multiple surveillance assets and lethal response tools under a central command structure to compress the sensor-to-shooter timeline and enhance situational awareness for security forces, marking a significant modernization of national defense capabilities in response to real operational needs and drawing interest from foreign security officials and potential international customers. Sources: https://www.jpost.com/defense-and-tech/article-882708, https://www.calcalistech.com/ctechnews/article/bybmqacewg, https://www.ynetnews.com/tech-and-digital/article/r1zbpacvwx Key Takeaways • IAI’s new border system fuses…

The Federal Communications Commission on Jan. 7, 2026 announced it will exempt certain foreign-made drones and their critical components from a sweeping import ban that it issued in December 2025 after a national security review deemed foreign-produced unmanned aircraft systems (UAS) and parts to pose “unacceptable risks” to the United States. Under the revised policy, specific drones and components that meet Pentagon-vetted security criteria — including those on the Pentagon’s Blue UAS Cleared List and products that qualify as “domestic end products” under Buy American standards — may be imported and sold in the U.S. through the end of 2026…

In a striking demonstration of U.S. military and technological dominance, Operation Absolute Resolve saw elite U.S. forces penetrate and neutralize Venezuelan defenses heavily equipped with Russian, Iranian, and Chinese military systems, culminating in the capture of President Nicolás Maduro and his wife in Caracas and their transfer to U.S. custody to face federal charges; the operation exposed the limitations of foreign-sourced air defense and drone assets against integrated U.S. precision strikes, cyber warfare, and special operations, underscoring a broader strategic reality that Western military integration and readiness decisively overwhelm hardware acquisition alone, even when touted as deterrence against American intervention.…

A New Zealand coroner is urging government action to tighten internet access after a Bay of Plenty teenager died in 2024 while engaging in behavior believed to mirror violent and sexual content he repeatedly accessed online; the inquest revealed troubling searches for pornography tied to bondage, violence, torture and death, and highlighted that open, unrestricted internet access allows youth to encounter harmful material that can desensitize them and contribute to avoidable loss of life — prompting advocates and officials to call for stronger regulations on online pornography and better safeguards for children. Sources: https://www.theepochtimes.com/world/tragic-death-of-teen-linked-to-por-addiction-prompts-coroners-call-for-internet-restrictions-5966665https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/national/583250/coroner-wants-internet-restrictions-after-teen-dies-imitating-online-actshttps://www.newstalkzb.co.nz/on-air/holiday-breakfast/audio/holly-brooker-child-online-safety-advocate-on-the-need-for-stronger-restrictions-for-pornography-access/ Key Takeaways • A coroner’s inquest…

In a strategic move underscoring the intensifying cybersecurity battle in the age of artificial intelligence, CrowdStrike Holdings Inc. has agreed to acquire SGNL, a specialist in real-time “continuous identity” security, for approximately $740 million. The deal, expected to close in CrowdStrike’s fiscal first quarter of 2027, will extend the company’s Falcon Next-Gen Identity Security platform with dynamic, context-aware authorization that continuously evaluates access risk and grants or revokes privileges for both human and non-human identities such as service accounts and AI agents. CrowdStrike CEO George Kurtz emphasized that traditional static access controls are no longer sufficient as AI agents become…