Artificial intelligence has uncovered a decade-old flaw in PHP, the code behind most websites, Reuters reported. Governments are urging website owners to patch the software or take their sites offline. Axios reported that attempts to exploit the weakness jumped from thousands to millions after it was disclosed.
AI is also showing up on the offensive side of cybercrime. The Information reported that hackers used the Claude and Grok models to automate attacks on more than 400 banks, with AI agents targeting financial institutions in Latin America. Axios separately reported that unvetted AI agents are accessing bank accounts in the United States. The Guardian reported that Barclays says AI is allowing it to cut 5,000 jobs.
On security policy, CNN reported that the Pentagon has cleared the Department of Homeland Security to test a heat ray weapon that could be used for crowd control at the southern US border. According to Axios, the device uses invisible energy beams to produce a burning sensation.
In biotechnology, the New York Times reported that a startup says AI-designed viruses have treated their first patient, in an experimental therapy aimed at drug-resistant E. coli. Futurism noted that the company has not published peer-reviewed results. The field's origins are recent. In 2025, Stanford University PhD student Samuel King used a generative AI model to propose genetic blueprints for microscopic viruses. That work was not an example of AI-generated life, but MIT Technology Review suggests it could be the next step.
Meta faces a $25 billion penalty over the Cambridge Analytica scandal, CNBC reported. The ruling came from New Mexico, and the company says it will appeal.
Elsewhere in science, Japan hopes to return the first samples from Mars's moons, and its spacecraft is now on its way to Phobos, the Guardian reported. The mission aims to reveal whether Mars was once habitable. Nature reported that a new antimatter experiment could open the door to new physics, as scientists hope to spot differences between matter and antimatter.
A feature in MIT Technology Review's print magazine asks how far computing can be pushed. It recalls physicist Richard Feynman's 1959 lecture "There's Plenty of Room at the Bottom," in which he argued that no physical law prevented writing the entire Encyclopædia Britannica on the head of a pin. For decades, shrinking transistors took computing into that space almost for free. That easy descent has stalled, and the industry is increasingly turning to ever-bigger data centers to boost performance. Writer Volkan Gurses argues that the laws of physics still leave plenty of room for improvement.
The magazine's climate coverage looked at permafrost. Reporter James Temple travelled by helicopter into Alaska's forests to report on fires that threaten the frozen soil and on their complicated potential climate effects.
Some of the week's stories were lighter. The South China Morning Post reported that China's Unitree is pitching its latest humanoid, the H2-X, as a robot bodyguard, with a promotional clip showing it disarming attackers. The BBC reported that Just Eat apologised for bizarre AI-generated menu pictures, including bacon in cola and cheese sushi. Wired reported that Airbnb hosts are furious they can no longer make guests do chores, and are threatening to strike while guests celebrate.
