Top 10 in tech, week of 19 October 2026

Ranked by how many of 23 sources featured the story from 19 to 25 October 2026: 22 outlets' feeds, and Hacker News once a story has 200 points. Ties go to the story with more points on Hacker News (counts as of 25 October 2026). Technology stories only. Each item says what its source says and links it.

1. Apple says developers are optimizing apps for iPhone Duo, its first foldable iPhone. Apple says the inner display is 50 percent larger than iPhone 18 Pro Max's, and that because both displays share the same aspect ratio, apps move from the outer display to the inner one and scale proportionally. Susan Prescott, Apple's vice president of Worldwide Developer Relations, calls the response from developers "incredible". Featured by 9 of 23 sources: Engadget, The Verge and Wired. Source: apple.com · Also: Engadget, The Verge, Wired
2. Musk says merging SpaceX and Tesla "would be a good idea" if shareholders back it. Ars Technica reports that Musk said this on SpaceX's third-quarter earnings call, and that both companies have formed special committees of "independent directors" that have not reached an agreement on terms. Musk said that "the shareholders have to be supportive of this". Featured by 9 of 23 sources: Ars Technica, The Verge and TechCrunch. Source: arstechnica.com · Also: Ars Technica, The Verge, TechCrunch
3. CSO Online reports that a New Mexico judge fined Meta $25 billion over user data privacy violations. The fine covers violations of data privacy laws between 2010 and 2021, including passing data to Cambridge Analytica. Judge Francis Mathew called the harm "difficult to overstate", and Meta is set to appeal. Featured by 9 of 23 sources: CSO Online, The Verge and TechCrunch. Source: csoonline.com · Also: The Verge, TechCrunch
4. Ars Technica reports that EA is closing the BioWare studio after more than three decades. BioWare announced on social media that "after more than three decades of shared adventures, BioWare is closing and early development on the next Mass Effect project is ending." A Bloomberg report put job cuts across parent company Electronic Arts at 400, including 50 at BioWare. Featured by 8 of 23 sources: Ars Technica, The Verge and Hacker News, where it has 706 points and 478 comments. Source: arstechnica.com · Also: The Verge · Discussion
5. The Verge reports that Airbnb is banning hosts from making guests do dishes or take out the trash. Airbnb's updated house rules, for reservations booked on or after 20 November, say hosts cannot ask guests to "complete tasks that require significant effort or time, or would typically be performed by a cleaner." Hosts may still ask guests to put used dishes in the sink or gather used towels. Featured by 6 of 23 sources: The Verge, Wired and Hacker News, where it has 262 points and 235 comments. Source: theverge.com · Also: Wired · Discussion
6. Cloudflare says private keys for eight eMudhra intermediate certificates were compromised. Cloudflare says it became aware of this on 19 October, and that because the keys are weak, an attacker can forge a certificate for any domain. Its security review has not identified active exploitation on Cloudflare services. Featured by 6 of 23 sources: Dark Reading, BleepingComputer and CSO Online. Source: blog.cloudflare.com · Also: Dark Reading, BleepingComputer, CSO Online
7. The Register reports that the US Department of Homeland Security ordered federal civilian agencies to stop using DeepSeek. The order covers "all DeepSeek and DeepSeek-affiliate products, and third-party products and services developed using DeepSeek implementations", and tells agencies to remove existing implementations. The Register calls the order "unhelpfully vague and broad". Featured by 6 of 23 sources: The Register, Engadget and Gizmodo. Source: theregister.com · Also: The Register, Engadget, Gizmodo
8. The Verge reports that Apple has invited press to a second October product event on 28 October. The event is at 1PM ET in Los Angeles. According to Bloomberg, Apple is set to announce new Macs and a refreshed iPad Mini, with a MacBook Pro with an OLED touchscreen expected as the big announcement. Featured by 5 of 23 sources: The Verge, Engadget and The Next Web. Source: theverge.com · Also: The Verge, Engadget, The Next Web
9. OpenAI says it will train frontier models with no internet access. The Register reports that OpenAI said "the responsible approach is to conduct frontier model training with no internet access", and will keep the policy until advances in safeguards justify broader access. The policy follows a report from METR and Redwood Research that found OpenAI's security and monitoring measures over the summer "porous and ineffective". Featured by 5 of 23 sources: The Register, The Verge and Engadget. Source: theregister.com · Also: The Register, The Verge, Engadget
10. The Verge reports, citing court records obtained by NPR, that TikTok staff raised child safety concerns executives did not act on. Employees were frustrated that executives did not act on concerns including minors bypassing age-restricted content. The depositions are part of litigation begun in 2022 that brings together hundreds of lawsuits against TikTok, Meta, Snap and Google. Featured by 5 of 23 sources: The Verge, TechCrunch and Engadget. Source: theverge.com · Also: The Verge, TechCrunch, Engadget

Left out: the Tom's Hardware report on OpenAI and PHP flaws — page text too thin to say what happened; the Starlink slowdown in Ukraine — politics and war; Musk's pledge of SpaceX shares for US children — finance and politics, not technology; Japan's Mars moon sample mission — space science; the ex-OpenAI engineer accused of bugging offices — crime reporting about a person.

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