The day in tech.

Binance prepares to resume withdrawals in phases after recovering bulk of $6 billion in stolen funds from its Oct. 29 hack. The exchange committed company funds to replace stolen assets while investigators expanded their review of the breach. Approximately $5 billion in matching tokens cover about 80% of losses, with partners freezing roughly $3 billion onchain.

Malaysia Airlines states its own IT systems remain secure, but a third-party Amadeus breach between August 2023 and September 2026 may have exposed certain customer information. The carrier confirms no evidence of accessed financial data, while other airlines like Cathay Pacific and Japan Airlines report specific numbers of affected bookings ranging from 53,000 to 92,000 records.

OpenAI reduces its fundraising target to $20 billion with a $1.25 trillion valuation, down from the previous $30 billion ask and $1.4 trillion valuation reported on October 19. This adjustment follows a 2.9% Nasdaq decline on October 30, 2026, driven by AI stock losses.

French lawmakers voted 11-10 on October 30 to approve a proposed internet tax costing 0.55 euros per gigabyte. The law targets major tech firms like Google and Meta, aiming to generate 10 billion euros annually for the government by 2027. Internet service providers must measure traffic volume to identify responsible content providers under this new regulation.

General Motors pays $220 million to 35 US states and the District of Columbia over selling drivers' Smart Driver data. The settlement requires express consent before collecting or sharing driving and location data. Washington receives $12.3m and New York about $12.1m. GM made more than $20m from these sales nationwide.

Binance announced it covered 90% of the $6.3 billion cryptocurrency stolen in a record hack, pledging to absorb the full financial impact. The exchange replenished assets using treasury funds and reserves, aiming to resume withdrawals by Sunday after the breach caused a six-week low for Bitcoin at $76,469.82.

Binance co-CEO Richard Teng announced the exchange replenished 90% of stolen assets from the record hack, pledging to cover the remaining 10%. The company used $6.34 billion in internal funds, including its $1 billion Secure Asset Fund, to replace tokens lost to a North Korea-sponsored group. Withdrawals are scheduled to reopen Sunday.

Cryptocurrency groups have contributed more than $200 million to congressional races in 2026 to pressure Congress on favorable rules. Fairshake, a super PAC, supports 33 House candidates and injected $1 million into six incumbents. Coinbase donated $25 million to Fairshake's midterm efforts in 2025, following a $79 million contribution in 2024.

Cisco Talos researchers discovered a new infostealer malware named Volta-Autodoxer that uses AI to automatically profile victims and identify high-value targets. The malware, often hidden in counterfeit software, collects credentials and feeds data to models like Claude Opus 4.6, Moonshot AI Kimi K2, or Google's Gemini 2.5 Flash.

South Korea exports nearly doubled to US$115.28 billion in October, a 93.7% rise marking the strongest growth since January 1974. Semiconductor sales jumped 259.4% while computer sales surged 496.6% due to AI demand, though the trade surplus narrowed to US$42.50 billion.