Google has fired a Cloud engineer who interrupted Barak Regev, the managing director of its business in Israel, during a speech at an Israeli tech event in New York, according to CNBC. "I'm a Google software engineer and I refuse to build technology that powers genocide or surveillance!" the engineer was seen and heard shouting in a video captured by freelance journalist Caroline Haskins that went viral online. While being dragged away by security — and amidst jeers from the audience — he continued talking and referenced Project Nimbus. That's the $1.2 billion contract Google and Amazon had won to supply AI and other advanced technologies to the Israeli military. 

Last year, a group of Google employees published an open letter urging the company to cancel Project Nimbus, in addition to calling out the "hate, abuse and retaliation" Arab, Muslim and Palestinian workers are getting within the company. "Project Nimbus puts Palestinian community members in danger! I refuse to build technology that is gonna be used for cloud apartheid," the engineer said. After he was removed from the venue, Regev told the audience that "[p]art of the privilege of working in a company, which represents democratic values is giving the stage for different opinions." He ended his speech after a second protester interrupted and accused Google of being complicit in genocide.

The incident took place during the MindTheTech conference in New York. Its theme for the year was apparently "Stand With Israeli Tech," because investments in Israel slowed down after the October 7 Hamas attacks. Haskins wrote a detailed account of what she witnessed at the event, but she wasn't able to stay until it wrapped up, because she was also thrown out by security. 

The Google engineer who interrupted the event told Haskins that he wanted "other Google Cloud engineers to know that this is what engineering looks like — is standing in solidarity with the communities affected by your work." He spoke to the journalist anonymously to avoid professional repercussions, but Google clearly found out who he was. A Google spokesperson told CNBC that he was fired for "interfering with an official company-sponsored event." They also told the news organization that his "behavior is not okay, regardless of the issue" and that the "employee was terminated for violating [Google's] policies."

Sam Altman is back on the board of OpenAI, nearly four months after the CEO was ousted, and quickly reinstated, from the company he founded. Although Altman had returned as the AI company’s top executive in November, a temporary board oversaw his return and the subsequent investigation into his conduct.

That investigation is now complete, according to the company, which added three new members to its board of directors. The additions include: Instacart CEO and former Meta executive Fidji Simo, former Sony executive Nicole Seligman and Dr. Sue Desmond-Hellmann, former CEO of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. Salesforce co-CEO Bret Taylor, economist Larry Summers and OpenAI co-founder Greg Brockman, who served on the temporary three-seat board, will remain in their positions with Taylor continuing as chair.

The announcement caps off a tumultuous several months for the AI company, which was rocked by Altman’s abrupt ouster last fall.

On Friday, OpenAI also published a summary of the findings from WilmerHale, a law firm that the company’s board retained in December 2023 to conduct an independent investigation into the events that led to Altman’s firing. Despite that, however, we’re no closer to finding out exactly why Altman, who rejoined the company as CEO within five days, was fired to begin with.

“WilmerHale [found] that the prior Board’s decision did not arise out of concerns regarding product safety or security, the pace of development, OpenAI’s finances, or its statements to investors, customers, or business partners,” the summary said. “Instead, it was a consequence of a breakdown in the relationship and loss of trust between the prior Board and Mr. Altman.” WilmerHale also concluded that OpenAI’s previous board fired Altman abruptly without giving notice to “key stakeholders”, and without giving Altman an opportunity to respond to its concerns.

To come to this conclusion, the firm reviewed more than 30,000 documents and conducted dozens of interviews with OpenAI staffers including previous board members over the last few months.

TikTok’s future is looking increasingly uncertain as support grows for a new bill that would force the company to sell itself or face a ban in the United States. Now, President Joe Biden has come out in support of the measure, one day after it cleared its first legislative hurdle in the House.

"If they pass it, I'll sign it,” he said, in remarks reported by CBS News. The bill, called the “Protecting Americans from Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications Act,” which was introduced earlier this week, would give TikTok a six-month window to divest itself from parent company ByteDance or face an app store-level ban in the US. Meanwhile, Republicans in the House of Representatives could bring the bill to a floor vote as early as Wednesday, Semafor reported.

TikTok has said the bill is a thinly-veiled effort to force a “total ban” of its app. "This legislation has a predetermined outcome: a total ban of TikTok in the United States," the company said in a statement earlier this week. "The government is attempting to strip 170 million Americans of their Constitutional right to free expression. This will damage millions of businesses, deny artists an audience, and destroy the livelihoods of countless creators across the country.”

The company has also encouraged its millions of users to oppose the measure. On Thursday, ahead of the committee vote on the bill, the app sent push notifications prompting users to call their representatives and ask them to oppose the legislation. The notifications reportedly led to a flood of calls in many Congressional offices as staffers fielded hundreds of calls from teens.

Notably, the bill has another prominent opponent: former President Donald Trump. Though Trump also sought to force a sale of TikTok to a US company during his time in office, the former president said he no longer believes the app should be banned. “If you get rid of TikTok, Facebook and Zuckerschmuck will double their business,” he wrote in a post on Truth Social.

Though clearing the House would be significant milestone for the bill, it’s unclear where the Senate stands on it. As Semafor points out, some prominent senators have been a bit more cautious in their comments about whether they would support the legislation. At a recent Senate hearing about child safety, several senators pressed TikTok CEO Shou Chew on his own citizenship (he's Singaporean) as well as the app’s ties to China and the practices of its parent company ByteDance.

Microsoft appears to have blocked several prompts in its Copilot tool that led the generative AI tool to spit out violent, sexual and other illicit images. The changes seem to have been implemented just after an engineer at the company wrote to the Federal Trade Commission to lay out severe concerns he had with Microsoft's GAI tech.

When entering terms such as “pro choice,” “four twenty” (a weed reference) or “pro life,” Copilot now displays a message saying those prompts are blocked. It warns that repeated policy violations could lead to a user being suspended, according to CNBC.

Users were also reportedly able to enter prompts related to children playing with assault rifles until earlier this week. Those who try to input such a prompt now may be told that doing so violates Copilot’s ethical principles as well as Microsoft’s policies. “Please do not ask me to do anything that may harm or offend others,” Copilot reportedly says in response. However, CNBC found that it was still possible to generate violent imagery through prompts such as “car accident,” while users can still convince the AI to create images of Disney characters and other copyrighted works.

Microsoft engineer Shane Jones has been sounding the alarm for months about the kinds of images Microsoft's OpenAI-powered systems were generating. He had been testing Copilot Designer since December and determined that it output images that violated Microsoft's responsible AI principles even while using relatively benign prompts. For instance, he found that the prompt “pro-choice" led to the AI creating images of things like demons eating infants and Darth Vader holding a drill to a baby's head. He wrote to the FTC and Microsoft's board of directors about his concerns this week.

“We are continuously monitoring, making adjustments and putting additional controls in place to further strengthen our safety filters and mitigate misuse of the system," Microsoft told CNBC regarding the Copilot prompt bans.

Rivian’s R2 reservations are off to a hot start. On Friday, CEO RJ Scaringe posted on X that the automaker had taken more than 68,000 reservations for the SUV in less than 24 hours. Amid alarmingly weakened demand for electric vehicles, perhaps there’s a latent interest in innovative EV companies when they aren’t helmed by a conflict magnet with a fixation on baseless conspiracy theories and the supposed online “rights” of Neo-Nazis.

Rivian’s 68,000 reservations hold up well against its most high-profile competitors. It took Ford about three weeks to get 100,000 pre-orders for the F-150 Lightning. Tesla’s Cybertruck got 250,000 reservations in less than a week. To be fair, reserving a Rivian R2 only requires a $100 deposit the same as the Cybertruck and F-150 Lightning.Customers plunking down a Benjamin to hold one have no obligation to pay the remaining $44,900 (and up) when the vehicle finally arrives in 2026, and even if they intend to buy one now, that’s plenty of time to change their minds.

You could argue that — like with Tesla and Ford — Rivian chose the low deposit to build hype, knowing full well that many pre-order customers won’t follow through. But it also helps that Rivian’s event on Thursday did everything the company needed. The R2 looks “quite fetching,” as Engadget’s Lawrence Bonk pointed out. On the inside, it has sleek and subtle details like two glove boxes, fold-down rear and front seats, a slide-out cargo floor and dual scroll wheels with dynamic haptic feedback on the steering wheel. It also has a 300-mile minimum range and a $45,000 starting price, which doesn't hurt.

And, of course, the surprise “One more thing”-style reveal of the cheaper, sportier and more compact R3 and R3X could help provide a halo effect for the company when it desperately needs to build excitement around its brand. In February, Rivian announced that it would lay off 10 percent of its salaried workers, and this week, it cut 100 employees at its Illinois factory. Still, the EV market could use a new “hero.” I have no idea if Rivian or its CEO, RJ Scaringe, has potential to be the face of the industry. But Elon Musk, its current poster boy, is a lightning rod for unnecessary turmoil.

In a survey of Americans conducted by The Harris Poll late last year, 45 percent of respondents said they had a lower opinion of EVs “because of the actions of people associated with them.” (I’m pretty sure they didn’t mean Ford’s Doug Field or GM’s Mary Barra.)

Perhaps Rivian’s impressive showing reveals at least some Americans have an appetite for an EV maker that’s neither a traditional auto company nor one helmed by someone who, at times, seems more interested in behaving like a teenage contrarian than a responsible adult serving as the public face of an industry the world desperately needs to grow up — and get people excited about driving electric vehicles — as climate change begins to ravage the planet.

Chevrolet is resuming sales of the 2024 Chevy Blazer EV after pulling the car last year following reports of major software issues, as indicated by Car and Driver. The company says the malfunctions have been patched, thanks to “significant software updates.” To entice wary consumers back into the fold, Chevy has slashed prices on the vehicle. The sticker price has been reduced by $5,600 to $6,500, depending on the trim.

Here’s how that breaks down. The Blazer EV LT AWD now starts at $50,195, instead of $56,715. The RS AWD now sells for $54,595, down from the original MSRP of $60,215. Finally, the RS RWD goes for $56,170, down from $61,790. These prices all include destination charges.

Also, the 2024 Blazer EV line is eligible for that $7,500 federal tax credit. This lowers the price of the LT AWD to just $42,695 and can now be applied directly at the dealership, so buyers don’t have to wait for a rebate check. If that’s still too rich for your blood, the Blazer LT FWD EV is still slated for release later this year. Chevrolet says it’ll start “under $50,000”, though exact pricing has yet to be revealed. If Chevy follows through with that pricing promise and it qualifies for the full tax credit, we could be looking at a real budget-friendly contender in the EV space.

However, the EV Blazer line has experienced months of bad press following last year’s software malfunctions, which involved everything from drive motor control failures to glitchy and blank infotainment screens. Who knows if the price cuts will be enough for people to forget that embarrassment. GM has said that it’ll be instituting these software fixes to other EVs under its umbrella, according to The Verge. Chevrolet’s parent company also owns Cadillac, GMC and Buick.

One thing is for sure. Despite proclamations that the EV industry is going the way of the dodo, there’s still a whole lot of curious consumers out there. Manufacturer Rivian made a huge splash by announcing a trio of new vehicles this week, racking up over 68,000 preorders in under a day.

Apple has reversed course on its decision to ban Epic Games' developer account after it emerged European Union officials were looking into the issue. The about turn means that Epic will be able to bring its own app store to iPhones and iPads in the EU. The publisher will also be able to more easily bring Fortnite back to those devices in the bloc, nearly four years after Apple kicked the game out of the App Store over an in-app purchases battle (a decision that spurred a drawn-out legal tussle between the two sides).

"Following conversations with Epic, they have committed to follow the rules, including our DMA [Digital Markets Act] policies," an Apple spokesperson told Engadget. "As a result, Epic Sweden AB has been permitted to re-sign the developer agreement and accepted into the Apple Developer Program."

"Apple has told us and committed to the European Commission that they will reinstate our developer account," Epic wrote in an updated blog post. "This sends a strong signal to developers that the European Commission will act swiftly to enforce the Digital Markets Act and hold gatekeepers accountable. We are moving forward as planned to launch the Epic Games Store and bring Fortnite back to iOS in Europe. Onward!"

Apple killed Epic's developer account earlier this week, claiming that Epic was unlikely to abide by the related contractual agreements. Its lawyers described Epic as "verifiably untrustworthy."

The sudden about face surely has nothing to do with reports that EU regulators planned to question Apple over the ban. Epic claimed the decision was a "serious violation of the DMA." Under that law, which just came into effect, Apple is required to allow third-party app stores on iOS in the EU. However, Apple is still forcing companies that want to have their own app marketplace on iPhone to abide by its rules.

Also this week, the EU fined Apple almost $2 billion for suppressing third-party music streaming apps on the App Store by preventing them from telling users that they could subscribe to their services elsewhere for a lower cost than if they signed up through iOS. This was the first fine the EU has given Apple, and the bloc's third-largest financial penalty ever. Apple is appealing the fine. 

Given the even heftier penalties that companies face for failing to comply with the DMA — up to 10 percent of their annual revenue — and the EU showing it's ready to wield its power when necessary, it's not too surprising that Apple backed down from its latest scrap with Epic. Indeed, Epic CEO Tim Sweeney said Apple backtracked after "a swift inquiry by the European Commission."

As another week winds to an end, we've put together another roundup of the best tech deals we could find on devices and gadgets Engadget has tried and recommends. Right now a Marshall Bluetooth speaker with good sound and an impressive waterproof rating is $64 cheaper. Our favorite budget robo vac, the Roomba 694 is 35 percent off. And early Mar10 sales have trimmed the prices of a few games staring Mario and his friends. Other deals include sale prices on Bluetooth trackers, a portable projector, a two-pack of Sonos speakers and an Backbone iPhone 14 gamepad. Here are the best tech deals from this week that you can still get today. 

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Russian hackers keep trying to infiltrate Microsoft, the company revealed in a blog post. These hacks follow a similar incident from November of last year, in which state-sponsored agents obtained the emails of Microsoft’s senior level managers. An internal investigation led by Microsoft identified the hackers in both instances as a Russian group called Midnight Blizzard.

It looks like Midnight Blizzard has gotten bolder in its approach. Last year’s attack seemed to prioritize the collection of email addresses, but this most recent attack finds the group repeatedly attempting to breach the company’s systems and gain access to source code. Microsoft has filed an incident report with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.

We don’t know exactly what these hackers want, but Microsoft said they are likely using email addresses acquired during November’s attack to help gain access to internal systems. Midnight Blizzard “may be using the information it has obtained to accumulate a picture of areas towhich led to a breach of government networks. attack and enhance its ability to do so,” the company wrote. I know one thing. They had better leave Clippy alone.

Midnight Blizzard is believed to work directly for Russia’s Foreign Intelligence Service (SVR) and is said to operate at the behest of Vladimir Putin. The group is likely behind 2016’s hack of the Democratic National Committee and 2020’s hack of the software company SolarWinds, which led to a breach of government networks. 

As is always the case between seasons, Epic Games took Fortnite offline early on Friday to perform some maintenance and get the game ready for all the new stuff fans are about to enjoy. While the downtime typically lasts a few hours, Epic has encountered a problem that's forcing it to delay the start of Chapter 5 Season 2.

"Hey everyone, we encountered an unexpected issue during our maintenance and we need to extend downtime at least 8 additional hours," a post on the Fortnite Status X account reads. "We apologize for making everyone wait longer than usual to drop into Chapter 5 Season 2 of Battle Royale. The team is working through this as quickly as possible, and we’ll provide another update when we have more info." The tweet was posted at 9:14AM ET, meaning Fortnite will likely remain down until at least 5PM. 

The delay is a bit of a pity as the new season looks pretty compelling. It's called Myths and Mortals and it's focused on Greek gods. Along with earning skins for the likes of Aphrodite, Medusa and Poseidon through the battle pass, you can wield mythical powers such as Zeus' lightning bolts and the Wings of Icarus. Epic has added some intriguing new areas to the island as well, including Mount Olympus and Hades' Underworld. A spooky-looking version of the River Styx, which is guarded by Cerberus, leads up to the latter.