Technology
Mother of Elon Musk's son sues his AI bot over AI-deepfake images
Ashley St. Clair, alleges the his AI chatbot Grok generated sexually explicit deepfake images of her without her consent.
Morning Report Essentials for Friday 16 January
A former All Blacks captain says New Zealand Rugby was left with no option but to sack Scott Robertson; With an internet blackout in place in Iran, only scant details about what is happening on the… Audio
No 8 wire mentality making Kiwis vulnerable to scammers
A new report from a global cybersecurity company says online scammers are using our "number 8 wire" mentality against us. Specialist systems engineer at Norton Gen, Dean Williams spoke to Lauren… Audio
Internet blackout in place as Starlink deployed to Iran
With an internet blackout in place in Iran, only scant details about what is happening on the ground are emerging via the Elon Musk-owned internet satellite Starlink. Geopolitical analyst Dr Geoffrey… Audio
X marks the spot: Has Elon Musk's Grok gone too far?
Explainer - The billionaire has been under fire over AI deepfakes - with Christopher Luxon's office calling them "concerning." What's going on?
Does adding 'please' and 'thank you' to ChatGPT really waste energy?
Analysis - As artificial intelligence use expands, so does its underlying footprint.
'Are you dead?' Chinese app for single living goes viral
China may have up to 200 million one-person households.
Manage My Health data breach: Everything we know so far
At the end of 2025 hackers got access to health data being held by privately owned patient portal Manage My Health.
NZ's health data hack needs a proper diagnosis
Analysis: Two cyber hacks have highlighted the vulnerability of New Zealand's digital health systems.
KFC app 'more secure' than Manage My Health, expert claims
Colonel Sanders has better web security than many digital health providers, an IT expert has claimed, blaming the government for not enforcing standards. Audio
More patient data could be at risk says IT expert
An IT expert says even more of the country's patient information portals are at risk - because there's no-one checking private providers. Callum McMenamin, a web standards consultant who has worked on… Audio
Zuckerberg names ex-Trump advisor as Meta president
She will join the team as it scales what Mark Zuckerberg described as "the massive physical and financial model that will power the next decade of computing".
'We can't rely on goodwill': NZ lags behind on battling AI creation of sexual images
NZ needs have a bigger conversation around what privacy means in the AI era, says an organisation working to prevent child sexual exploitation.
Meta kicks half a million Aussie kids off its platforms
The social media giant says it removed 330,000 users from Instagram, 173,000 from Facebook and 39,000 from Threads in December.
Museum Stop: Faraday Museum
Rather than read and look at pieces of history, our museum stop today is all about doing. Set inside Napier's original power station, the Faraday Museum of Technology makes science, tech and history… Audio
Doctors frustrated amid Manage My Health confusion
GPs are frustrated by what they say are mixed messages about the extent of the Manage My Health data breach. Audio
NZ chip maker Rakon target of a takeover bid
US electronic manufacturer Bourns Inc intends to make an offer of $1.55 cents a share to buy 100 percent of Rakon.
Ignore emails asking for password reset, Instagram warns
The social media company has told users there was no breach of its systems and all accounts were secure.
Northland particularly hit by Manage My Health data breach
New details in the Manage My Health data breach show more than 80,000 of the 125,000 patients affected by the hack are based in Northland. Coast to Coast Healthcare chairperson and specialist GP Dr… Audio
Call for Apple, Google to take X and Grok off app stores over sexual images
Three Democratic senators are citing the spread of nonconsensual sexual images of women and minors on the platform.
