Neocities founder Kyle Drake has spent weeks trapped in Microsoft's automated support loop after discovering that Bing quietly blocked all 1.5 million websites hosted on his platform, a free web-hosting service that has kept the spirit of 1990s GeoCities alive since 2013. Drake first noticed the issue last summer and thought it was resolved, but a second complete block went into effect in January, cratering Bing traffic from roughly half a million daily visitors to zero. He submitted nearly a dozen tickets through Bing's webmaster tools but could not get past the AI chatbot to reach a human. After Ars Technica contacted Microsoft, the company restored the Neocities front page within 24 hours but most subdomains remain blocked. Microsoft cited policy violations related to low-quality content yet declined to identify the offending sites or work directly with Drake to fix the problem.

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

The tenure of a presidential council that has been running Haiti expires on Saturday. It’s unclear what will come next.

In Milan this week, Olympics officials signaled a willingness to ease years of restrictions imposed on the country over its state-backed doping program and invasion of Ukraine.

Waymo's robotaxis have racked up at least 24 safety violations involving school buses in Austin since the start of the 2025 school year, and a voluntary software recall the company issued in December after a federal investigation has not fixed the problem. Austin Independent School District initially reported at least 19 incidents of Waymo vehicles failing to stop for buses during loading and unloading -- illegal in all 50 states -- prompting NHTSA to open a probe. At least four more violations have occurred since the software update, including a January 19th incident where a robotaxi drove past a bus as children waited to cross the street and the stop arm was extended. Waymo also acknowledged that one of its vehicles struck a child outside a Santa Monica elementary school on January 23rd, causing minor injuries. Austin ISD has asked Waymo to stop operating near schools during bus hours until the issue is resolved. Waymo refused. Three federal investigations have been opened in three months.

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

The F.BI. and local law enforcement gave no details about the note, which came on the sixth day of the search for Ms. Guthrie, the mother of the “Today” host Savannah Guthrie.

The ruling by China’s highest court followed a recent meeting between China and Canada’s top leaders that led to a thaw in the two countries’ relations.

President Trump said the negotiations would resume next week. Abbas Araghchi, the Iranian foreign minister, said the talks were off to a “good start.”

The video clip that President Trump posted in a late-night flurry of social media activity caused an unusually strong and public outcry from members of his own party.

Mr. Hegseth’s order appeared to target his alma mater, Harvard’s Kennedy School for public policy.

Regulating the industry is useful. Shaming it is crucial.

Nearly all of the work had stopped on Friday while negotiations continued in Washington and litigation played out in court.

Can the two sides get past Iran’s claim that it has a “right” to enrich uranium?

Hollywood's recent attempts to build entertainment around AI have consistently underperformed or outright flopped, whether the AI in question is a plot device or a production tool. The horror sequel M3GAN 2.0, Mission: Impossible -- The Final Reckoning, and Disney's Tron: Ares all disappointed at the box office in 2025 despite centering their narratives on AI. The latest casualty is Mercy, a January 2026 crime thriller in which Chris Pratt faces an AI judge bot played by Rebecca Ferguson; one reviewer has already called it "the worst movie of 2026," and its ticket sales have been mediocre. AI-generated content hasn't fared any better. Darren Aronofsky executive-produced On This Day...1776, a YouTube web series that uses Google DeepMind video generation alongside real voice actors to dramatize the American Revolution. Viewer response has been brutal -- commenters mocked the uncanny faces and the fact that DeepMind rendered "America" as "Aamereedd." A Taika Waititi-directed Xfinity commercial set to air during this weekend's Super Bowl, which de-ages Jurassic Park stars Sam Neill, Laura Dern and Jeff Goldblum, has already been mocked for producing what one viewer called "melting wax figures."

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

The Dow Jones industrial average surpassed 50,000 points for the first time, as old line stocks come back into vogue.

The Democratic primary to replace Gov. Mikie Sherrill of New Jersey in Congress is still too close to call. Much of the advertising focused on opposition to the president and his immigration policies.

Liam was detained last month near Minneapolis during an immigration enforcement operation in which his father was also taken into custody by federal agents.

High-profile abductions, like those of Patty Hearst and J. Paul Getty III, have captured the nation’s attention, but experts say kidnappings by strangers are exceedingly rare.

Problems with homelessness and open-air drug use have been widely broadcast, but many visitors this week said they found the city surprisingly pleasant.

Our sports correspondent Tariq Panja talks with Katrin Bennhold about the security at the Olympics in Italy, including the presence of Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents, who the U.S. says are there only in an advisory role.

Administration officials told the top Senate Democrat the president would release frozen funding for the Gateway project if the transportation hubs were renamed for him.