The day in tech.

A New Mexico judge ordered Meta to pay a $25 billion penalty on Wednesday regarding the Cambridge Analytica scandal. This ruling follows a September jury finding of liability for 43 million violations, though the original state award was $219.5 billion. Former AG Hector Balderas filed the 2021 lawsuit while Current AG Raúl Torrez oversaw the trial.

On October 21, 2026, AI tools from OpenAI and Google's Wiz detected critical flaws in PHP affecting roughly 70% of websites. The U.S. NSA warned agencies to take systems offline, while Finland, Netherlands, and France shut down state services. Flaws rated 9.2 on the CVSS severity scale.

A New Mexico judge ordered Meta to pay $25 billion on Wednesday for misleading consumers about data privacy. This ruling follows a jury finding 43 million violations of state consumer privacy laws, cutting an initial $219.5 billion award. The case concerns the 2018 Cambridge Analytica scandal involving 87 million users.

On October 21, 2026, Anthropic launches Claude Duet, an always-on AI agent running on Claude Opus 5.5. It costs $20 per month for Pro plan users and requires explicit approval for payments, signatures, or deletions before acting. The tool sends daily briefs and handles tasks like scheduling and forecasting across connected apps. Connects to 6,000 online services.

OpenAI launches GPT-6 Astra, GPT-6.1 Sol, and GPT-6 Luna models on Google Cloud for select enterprise customers today, expanding distribution beyond Microsoft and adding coding and research tools. OpenAI valued at $1.4 trillion. Google Cloud revenue grew 82% in second quarter.

On October 21 at 2:00 p.m. UTC, PHP maintainers released emergency patches for CVE-2026-109618 and CVE-2026-109619. The flaws affect versions 5 through 8, impacting an estimated 1.3 million hosts. Experts warn attackers could exploit these within 15 minutes, prompting some government sites to go offline.

Meta introduced new non-voting shares on Wednesday to fund AI expansion as its consumer agent, Muse, grew to 10 million users in the US and Canada. The company reported fourth-quarter revenue of $64.60 billion, exceeding Wall Street estimates, while raising its annual spending forecast to between $135 billion and $145 billion.

Meta announced a new class of non-voting shares to fund AI initiatives, with trading set to begin in January 2027. The company reported Q3 revenue of $64.6bn and forecasts full-year capital expenditures up to $145bn. This move preserves founder control while addressing significant investment needs for infrastructure and acquisitions.

Stockholm-based legal AI startup Legora raised $550 million in Series E funding on Wednesday, reaching an $8.8 billion post-money valuation. The firm plans to expand offices in North America, Europe, and Asia-Pacific while investing in its agentic operating system, Legora aOS, following rapid growth from $1m to over $200m in annual recurring revenue within 18 months.

AI startup Flapping Airplanes raised $1 billion on Wednesday, valuing the San Francisco firm at $6 billion. The round, co-led by Index Ventures and Lux Capital, quadrupled the company's prior January valuation of $1.5 billion. Nvidia also participated in the financing. Founders include former Neuralink founder Aidan Smith. Round includes Sequoia Capital, Alphabet Inc.'s GV, and Kleiner Perkins.