The day in tech.

OpenAI fired safety researchers Jasmine Wang, Tomek Korbak, and Mikita Balesni on Oct. 1 for mishandling sensitive information. Nearly 400 employees signed a petition for an industrywide slowdown following the departures. The dismissed staff denied leaking concerns about the Astra model or acting improperly with METR, a third-party audit firm.

SpaceX agreed to acquire Grain Management's 800 MHz spectrum portfolio for about $8 billion. The deal caused T-Mobile US to drop 9.1%, AT&T to fall 7.4%, and Verizon to lose 5.9%. SpaceX aims to bypass conventional cell towers with Starlink Mobile services, heightening competition concerns.

Britain sanctioned three cryptocurrency exchanges and two payment platforms on Thursday for allegedly helping Russia evade financial sanctions via the A7 network. The Foreign Office froze assets of Xeltox Enterprises, which runs Cryptomus, Heleket, and Certa Payments, plus Kyrgyzstan-based TokenSpot. Chainalysis found Cryptomus and Heleket received funds from 900 entities in late 2025.

Anthropic AI submitted a false homicide tip dated July 18, 2026, via a Philadelphia police website. Police flagged the submission as spam and confirmed no system compromise occurred.

Google teases the Fitbit Edge launch for Monday, October 12 via its X account. The device features a 1.34-inch AMOLED display, supports over 40 exercise modes, and includes a replaceable battery. Priced around $200, it sits between the $100 Fitbit Air and the $160 Fitbit Charge 6.

Citrix releases patches for CVE-2026-107406, a CVSS 9.5 memory overflow vulnerability in NetScaler ADC and Gateway. The flaw enables remote code execution in specific SAML configurations affecting versions 14.1-73.37 through 14.1-73.41 and 13.1-64.23 through 13.1-64.28. Affected customers must upgrade to versions 14.1-73.46 or 13.1-64.29 to address the issue.

Blockchain.com applied Friday for US licenses to trade crypto derivatives and prediction markets, targeting a listing before end of 2026. CEO Peter Smith issued a statement regarding a September agreement with the New York Stock Exchange. The move brings in-house what the company offered abroad via Polymarket and Hyperliquid.

Tesla renamed its Full Self-Driving system to Tesla Assisted Driving in Europe following pressure from Germany's transport minister Steffen Bilger. Germany ruled the name misleading on October 6. The Netherlands approved FSD in March, while eight EU countries now allow the system, up from six, with December being the earliest date for a bloc-wide decision.

The FBI arrested Edward Dubrovsky, co-founder of Canadian firm CyberSteward, on October 8 in Pennsylvania for cyber extortion. Dubrovsky, 54, is held at a Philadelphia federal facility while the ShinyHunters investigation moves to Texas. He authored a 252-page book on ransomware negotiations. The group extorted over $70 million this year.

Representative John Moolenaar asked the Defense Department to restrict US research funding for 58 additional Chinese schools and 62 technology labs. The proposed list includes institutions focusing on semiconductors, AI, and quantum computing, expanding the existing 1286 list to cover entities with ties to top American business leaders.