Launches

• Die Trump-Administration hat die „Operation Economic Fury“ angekündigt und im Rahmen einer erweiterten Sanktionskampagne eine umfassende Blockade gegen den Iran verhängt. • Die Initiative stellt eine erhebliche Eskalation des wirtschaftlichen Drucks auf den Iran dar und markiert einen Kurswechsel in der US-Außenpolitik hin zu aggressiveren Maßnahmen. • Diese Maßnahme erfolgt inmitten weitreichender geopolitischer Spannungen im Nahen Osten und folgt auf Monate diplomatischer Spannungen zwischen den USA und dem Iran.

• Das Pentagon hat im Dezember 2025 GenAI.mil als Teil von Project Maven eingeführt, um etwa 3 Millionen Mitarbeitern des Verteidigungsministeriums einen sicheren Zugang zu generativer KI zu ermöglichen. • Die Plattform integriert mehrere führende KI-Modelle, darunter Anthropic's Claude, Google's Gemini, xAI's Grok und OpenAI's ChatGPT, um eine flächendeckende KI-Adaption in Militäroperationen zu ermöglichen. • Die Initiative spiegelt die strategische Priorität des US-Militärs wider, fortschrittliche KI-Funktionen in Verteidigungsoperationen zu integrieren, und demonstriert erhebliche staatliche Investitionen in Dual-Use-KI-Technologie.

• Aviatrix Inc. kündigte die Einführung einer neuen Plattform an, die darauf ausgelegt ist, KI-Agenten einzudämmen und Sicherheitskontrollen über KI-Workloads hinweg durchzusetzen, ohne dass Änderungen an den KI-Agenten oder am Code erforderlich sind. • Die Plattform erweitert das Cloud Native Security Fabric von Aviatrix um zwei neue Produkte: Zero Trust for AI Workloads (jetzt allgemein verfügbar) und Aviatrix AgentGuard (in der Early-Access-Phase), wodurch IT-Teams Richtlinien festlegen können, die den Zugriff auf externe KI-Dienste erlauben oder verweigern und Shadow AI mittels Allowlists blockieren. • Die Lösung bietet eine Durchsetzung auf Netzwerkebene über Workloads und Regionen hinweg und adressiert den wachsenden Bedarf an der Absicherung von KI-Agenten, Proxys für große Sprachmodelle und agentischen Frameworks in Unternehmensumgebungen.

Ein Veranstaltungsprogramm wurde zum Jahrestag des Bristol-Busboykotts angekündigt, mit dem Ziel, ein gesellschaftliches Manifest für die Stadt zu inspirieren.

• Die FCC kündigte an, acht im Besitz oder Management von Disney befindliche Rundfunklizenzen aufgrund der Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI)-Richtlinien des Unternehmens zu überprüfen. • Dieser Schritt erfolgte einen Tag nachdem Präsident Trump forderte, ABC solle Jimmy Kimmel aufgrund eines kontroversen Witzes entlassen, in dem er First Lady Melania Trump mit einer „werkenden Witwe“ verglich. • Kimmel sieht sich mit Kritik konfrontiert, während Debatten darüber geführt werden, ob sein Late-Night-Monolog nach den jüngsten Attentatsvorwürfen politische Gewalt schüren könnte.

• Sevii kündigte am 28. April 2026 die Einführung seiner Autonomous Cyber Swarm Defense (CSD) Kapazität an, um hochvolumigen, KI-gesteuerten Cyberangriffen mit Maschinengeschwindigkeit und in entsprechendem Umfang entgegenzuwirken. • Die ADR-Plattform setzt Agentic AI Cyber Warrior Agenten ein, die Bedrohungen in weniger als 15 Minuten erkennen, eindämmen und beheben, wodurch die Arbeitsbelastung der Analysten um 95 % gesenkt wird; ein festes Preismodell pro Asset eliminiert dabei KI-Token-Kosten. • Der CSD-Modus verfügt über die Myrmidon Defense Technology (MDT) für eine effiziente Mikro-Orchestrierung, was laut Frank Holt, CEO von Synergem Technologies, eine planbare Budgetierung ohne zusätzliche Neueinstellungen oder Outsourcing ermöglicht.

• Cognizant kündigte am 28. April 2026 den Start seines Innovation Network an, ein unternehmenseigenes Investment-Instrument, das auf Enterprise-Software-Startups in frühen bis mittleren Phasen in den USA abzielt. • Das AI Lab validiert vielversprechende Innovationen, während das Netzwerk Startups dabei unterstützt, diese in Produkte für Global 2000-Kunden zu verwandeln, beispielsweise in den Bereichen Logistik und Personalwesen. • Diese Initiative beschleunigt die Integration wegweisender Technologien in die Lösungen von Cognizant und steigert den Unternehmenswert angesichts der zunehmenden Einführung von KI.

Israeli strikes killed 14 people and wounded 37 on Sunday, Lebanon's health ministry said, as the Israeli military warned residents to leave ‌seven towns beyond the "buffer zone" it occupied before a ceasefire that has failed to fully halt hostilities.

• Google announced a $750 million fund on April 27, 2026, targeting startups developing AI agents. • The fund aims to accelerate innovation in AI agent technologies amid intensifying competition. • This initiative underscores Google's commitment to fostering the AI ecosystem, potentially challenging rivals like OpenAI and Anthropic.

• Apple unveiled iOS 20 on April 25, 2026, featuring Apple Intelligence enhancements for on-device AI processing in Siri and Photos apps, rolling out first to US users. • Key additions include real-time language translation supporting 15 languages and AI-generated summaries for Safari, trained on 3 trillion parameters without cloud dependency. • The update addresses privacy concerns post-EU DMA rulings, boosting Apple's 45% US smartphone market share amid AI race with Google Pixel.

• IBM announced IBM Autonomous Security on April 15, 2026, deploying coordinated AI agents to detect and contain threats at machine speed without human intervention. • The service addresses a critical gap: attackers now achieve full network lateral movement in as little as 27 seconds, compared to an average of 29 minutes in 2024—a 65% speed improvement driving urgent demand for AI-powered defenses. • AI-enabled attacks surged 89% year-over-year in 2025, with a 44% increase in assaults exploiting public-facing applications, prompting major security vendors to adopt autonomous AI defense strategies.

• Los Angeles-based SimpleClosure unveiled Asset Hub, a marketplace enabling founders to sell intellectual property, source code, data, and equipment during startup wind-down operations as closures rise across the sector. • The platform addresses investor demand for structured, transparent exit processes that preserve value and minimize operational friction during company shutdowns. • Asset Hub reflects broader industry recognition that failed startups retain valuable IP assets and that organized liquidation marketplaces can recover capital otherwise lost in traditional bankruptcy proceedings.

• Operant AI launched CodeInjectionGuard on April 22, 2026, a tool that blocks malicious code execution by AI agents at runtime. • The guard defends against code injection attacks, preventing supply chain compromises in autonomous AI systems. • It secures AI agents used in critical operations, addressing rising cybersecurity risks in AI deployments.

• Treehub launched on April 22, 2026, as a Stanford-adjacent residency program in Los Altos, California, backed by the AI Health Fund and investors including Tim Draper and 23andMe founder Anne Wojcicki. • The program functions as a venture studio, incubator, and fund, offering scientist-founders proprietary medical data, mentorship from exited startup operators, and programming with payers and investors. • It targets precision outcomes like genomic risk stratification, care efficiency via ambient intelligence, and frontier science including robotic surgery and digital twins.

Federal Communications Commission will look into the TV ratings system and whether shows with transgender or non-binary characters demand a warning for parentsThe Federal Communications Commission (FCC) is launching a new inquiry into the TV ratings system, including whether content related to gender identity is not adequately flagged for parents, in the latest warning shot to broadcasters from the agency headed by the Trump loyalist Brendan Carr.The new proceeding, announced on Wednesday, asks for public comment on the transparency of the TV Oversight Management Board, which oversees the rating system and guidelines. That system was developed after Congress passed a law in 1996, leading to the creation of numerous ratings such as TV-Y, for programs deemed appropriate for all children, and TV-MA, for mature audiences. Continue reading...

• Cowbell Cyber Inc. launched Prime One, a new U.S. cyber insurance product for organizations with $250 million to $1 billion in annual revenue. • The policy provides up to $10 million in coverage limits and includes affirmative protection for AI-related incidents and quantum computing risks. • Prime One addresses unauthorized use or access to AI systems in business operations, targeting advanced digital risk profiles.

Justice department’s focus seems to be on SPLC’s prior use of paid informants to monitor hate groups, group’s CEO says The Department of Justice has launched a criminal investigation into the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC), a prominent civil rights organization, the group’s CEO said on Tuesday.Bryan Fair, the CEO of the SPLC, said the details of the investigation were not entirely clear, though “the focus appears to be on the SPLC’s prior use of paid confidential informants to gather credible intelligence on extremely violent groups”. Continue reading...

• Iran launched drone attacks targeting US warships in retaliation for the seizure of an Iranian cargo vessel in the Strait of Hormuz. • The strikes mark a sharp escalation, with both sides issuing warnings as a fragile ceasefire nears expiry and diplomacy falters. • Fears mount of wider regional conflict disrupting global oil flows through the world's critical waterway.

• Global private markets platform Moonfare announced a new AI-focused technology strategy targeting early and growth-stage investments for diversified US-relevant AI exposure. • Strategy features curated portfolio of leading growth managers plus direct investments in category-leading US technology companies driving AI innovation. • Aims to capitalize on transformative AI advancements, providing investors access to high-potential startups in the booming sector.

• Meta released Llama 4 on April 20, 2026, a 2 trillion parameter multimodal AI model trained on 15 petabytes of US-centric data. • The model outperforms GPT-4o on benchmarks like MMLU (92% score) and supports vision-language tasks for enterprise apps. • Open-sourcing aims to spur US AI innovation, with downloads exceeding 500,000 in first hours via Hugging Face.

• The Federal Trade Commission opened a formal investigation into Amazon's AI-powered recruiting system on April 19, citing concerns that algorithms may discriminate against female and minority candidates based on historical hiring data. • Amazon disclosed that its internal testing revealed the system had a 3.2% higher rejection rate for female applicants in engineering roles, prompting the company to halt deployment pending remediation. • The FTC investigation adds to growing regulatory scrutiny of AI hiring tools and could result in significant compliance obligations or penalties affecting how major corporations deploy algorithmic hiring across the industry.

• Anthropic released Claude API with native fine-tuning capabilities on April 19, allowing enterprises to customize the model on proprietary datasets without requiring base model retraining. • The fine-tuning service supports context windows up to 200,000 tokens and is priced at $8 per million input tokens and $24 per million output tokens, competitive with OpenAI's pricing structure. • This release directly challenges OpenAI's GPT-5 announcement and positions Anthropic as an alternative for organizations seeking customizable AI solutions with enhanced safety guardrails.

• Artemis, a San Francisco-based AI-native cybersecurity platform, emerged from stealth on April 17, 2026, with $70 million in combined seed and Series A funding just six months after founding. • The Series A round was led by Felicis Ventures, with participation from First Round Capital, Brightmind Ventures, Theory VC, Two Sigma, Lockstep, and leaders from Demisto, Abnormal AI, Splunk, CrowdStrike, Palo Alto Networks, Microsoft, and Okta. • The platform provides real-time detection and automated response to AI-powered threats, addressing gaps in traditional security tools amid rising agentic attacks.

• Fortra announced the launch of its new Defense and Intelligence Unit (DIU) on April 16, 2026, from Minneapolis to deliver integrated cyber solutions to defense and national security organizations worldwide. • The unit focuses on cross-domain cyber innovation, AI-powered capabilities, and mission expertise for critical infrastructure and allied nations. • This development strengthens US cybersecurity posture amid rising global threats to defense sectors.

Wednesday’s strike brings the total of those killed in US military strikes on alleged drug boats to at least 177Three people were killed in a US strike on another alleged drug-trafficking boat, the fifth such deadly attack in as many days, military officials have announced.US southern command said it conducted “a lethal kinetic strike on a vessel operated by Designated Terrorist Organizations” in the eastern Pacific, without naming the alleged group, in an X post. Continue reading...

• NTT Research unveiled SaltGrain, a new data security suite designed to break the traditional all-or-nothing file-access model and enhance privacy protection. • The platform addresses existing cybersecurity gaps by enabling granular access control through advanced attribute-based encryption technology. • SaltGrain represents a significant advancement in data protection capabilities, offering enterprises more sophisticated control over sensitive information access and sharing.

• Israeli startup Capsule Security launched on April 15, 2026, with $7 million in funding to secure AI agents at runtime, founded by Naor Paz and Lidan Hazout. • The platform monitors AI agent actions in real time, enforces guardrails during the runtime gap between prompt and execution to prevent manipulation or data exfiltration. • Capsule disclosed two zero-day vulnerabilities in major agent platforms, highlighting risks in current AI security infrastructure.

• OpenAI Group PBC announced the launch of GPT-5.4-Cyber on April 14, 2026, a fine-tuned variant of its GPT-5.4 model specifically designed for defensive cybersecurity tasks. • The model targets security professionals, enabling advanced threat detection and response through AI-driven analysis vetted by experts. • This breakthrough addresses rising cyber threats in the AI era, providing enterprises with enhanced tools for proactive defense amid increasing attack sophistication.

Health secretary says NHS is ‘failing women’ and pledges to end ‘gaslighting’ by doctorsWes Streeting has vowed to stop women being “gaslit” by doctors as he relaunches the women’s health strategy for England.Speaking before the publication of the renewed strategy on Wednesday, Streeting said the NHS was “failing women” and set out measures to help them access the healthcare they need. Continue reading...