Technologies

Apple’s plan to scan phones for child abuse worries privacy advocates

The tech giant said its iPhone, iPad and Mac software updates planned for the fall will include a new feature to fight child exploitation.

Apple for years has focused on adding new programs to its phones, all designed to make life easier. Its systems scan emails for new calendar appointments, and its Siri voice assistant suggests to call friends on their birthdays. But Apple’s latest feature is focused on abuse.

The tech giant said in a new section of its website published Thursday that it plans to add scanning software to its iPhones, iPads, Mac computers and Apple Watches when the new iOS 15, iPad OS 15, MacOS Monterey and WatchOS 8 operating systems all launch in the fall. The new program, which Apple said is designed to «limit the spread of child sexual abuse material» is part of a new collaboration between the company and child safety experts.

Apple said it’ll update Siri and search features to provide parents and children with information to help them seek support in «unsafe situations.» The program will also «intervene» when users try to search for child abuse-related topics. Apple will also warn parents and children when they might be sending or receiving a sexually explicit photo using its Messages app, either by hiding the photo behind a warning that it may be «sensitive» or adding an informational pop-up.

But the most dramatic effort, Apple said, is to identify child sexual abuse materials on the devices themselves, with a new technology that’ll detect these images in Apple’s photos app with the help of databases provided by the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children. Apple said the system is automated and is «designed with user privacy in mind,» with the system performing scans on the device before images are backed up to iCloud. If the program is convinced it’s identified abusive imagery, it can share those photos with representatives from Apple, who’ll act from there. The Financial Times earlier reported Apple’s plans.

While some industry watchers applauded Apple’s efforts to take on child exploitation, they also worried that the tech giant might be creating a system that could be abused by totalitarian regimes. Other technology certainly has been abused, most recently software from Israeli firm NSO Group, which makes government surveillance tech. Its Pegasus spyware, touted as a tool to fight criminals and terrorists, was reportedly used to aim hacks at 50,000 phone numbers connected to activists, government leaders, journalists, lawyers and teachers around the globe.

«Even if you believe Apple won’t allow these tools to be misused there’s still a lot to be concerned about,» tweeted Matthew Green, a professor at Johns Hopkins University who’s worked on cryptographic technologies.

Apple didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.

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To be sure, other tech companies have been scanning photos for years. Facebook and Twitter both have worked with the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children and other organizations to root out child sexual abuse imagery on their social networks. Microsoft and Google, meanwhile, use similar technology to identify these photos in emails and search results.

What’s different with Apple, critics say, is that it’s scanning images on the device, rather than after they’ve been uploaded to the internet.

Technologies

Today’s NYT Mini Crossword Answers for Tuesday, Jan. 6

Here are the answers for The New York Times Mini Crossword for Jan. 6.

Looking for the most recent Mini Crossword answer? Click here for today’s Mini Crossword hints, as well as our daily answers and hints for The New York Times Wordle, Strands, Connections and Connections: Sports Edition puzzles.

Need some help with today’s Mini Crossword? The Across clues were tricky, but the Down clues helped me fill in the blanks. Read on for the answers. And if you could use some hints and guidance for daily solving, check out our Mini Crossword tips.

If you’re looking for today’s Wordle, Connections, Connections: Sports Edition and Strands answers, you can visit CNET’s NYT puzzle hints page.

Read more: Tips and Tricks for Solving The New York Times Mini Crossword

Let’s get to those Mini Crossword clues and answers.

Mini across clues and answers

1A clue: When pigs fly
Answer: NEVER

6A clue: Courtroom excuse
Answer: ALIBI

7A clue: «That’s a ___!» («Seems unlikely!»)
Answer: BIGIF

8A clue: Cash register compartment
Answer: TILL

9A clue: She, in French
Answer: ELLE

Mini down clues and answers

1D clue: Catch, as a crook
Answer: NAB

2D clue: Designation for prolific Yelp reviewers
Answer: ELITE

3D clue: Candlelight ___ (solemn observance)
Answer: VIGIL

4D clue: Online invoice
Answer: EBILL

5D clue: Piece of equipment in a Winter Olympics biathlon
Answer: RIFLE

Don’t miss any of our unbiased tech content and lab-based reviews. Add CNET as a preferred Google source.

Technologies

Samsung to Supercharge 800 Million Devices With AI This Year, Report Says

This could exacerbate the global RAM crunch.

Samsung is doubling the number of devices it’ll deliver with Galaxy AI this year to 800 million units, the company’s co-CEO TM Roh told Reuters on Monday.

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«We will apply AI to all products, all functions and all services as quickly as possible,» Roh told Reuters.

Galaxy AI includes features like circle to search, live translate on phone calls, real-time translation, a writing assistant, generative photo editing and generative wallpaper.

The AI features are currently available on the Samsung Galaxy S25 series of phones, the Galaxy S24 series, the Galaxy S23 series; the Galaxy S23 FE, Galaxy S24 FE and Galaxy S25 FE; the Galaxy Z Fold 5, Z Fold 6 and Z Fold 7; the Galaxy Z Flip 5, Z Flip 6 and Z Flip 7; the Galaxy Tab S10 Plus, S10 Ultra and Galaxy Tab S11; and the Galaxy Tab S9 series.

Although Samsung is also a manufacturer of RAM, it is facing supply issues caused by exceedingly high demand resulting from the rise of AI.

«As this situation is unprecedented, no company is immune to its impact,» Roh told Reuters. The co-CEO also didn’t rule out price increases, but said he’s working with partners to find solutions.

A representative for Samsung didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.

The AI push from Samsung comes during a memory chip crunch fueled by AI data centers, causing the cost of certain electronics to surge. Analysts predict that high demand and low supply will result in price increases across multiple product categories, including phones and cars.

AI systems require more RAM, which is why, for example, the iPhone 16 shipped with 16GB of RAM to power Apple Intelligence. The demand for power from AI data centers that run ChatGPT is so high that US memory manufacturer Micron killed off Crucial, its consumer RAM business, to pivot toward enterprise clients. Crucial had been around since 1996.

ChatGPT maker OpenAI will use up about 40% of DRAM output from South Korean firms Samsung and SK Hynix alone, according to Reuters. DRAM refers to Dynamic Random-Access Memory, the main working memory in computers, phones and servers, and AI relies heavily on it.

This memory crunch has reportedly left Google and Microsoft scrambling to secure supply for 2026, leading to firings and heated exchanges, according to South Korean publication Seoul Economic Daily. As a result, consumers may see devices with less RAM hit the market, reminiscent of products from years ago, such as 4GB smartphones and potentially 8-12GB graphics cards.

Technologies

Today’s NYT Connections: Sports Edition Hints and Answers for Jan. 6, #470

Here are hints and the answers for the NYT Connections: Sports Edition puzzle for Jan. 6, No. 470.

Looking for the most recent regular Connections answers? Click here for today’s Connections hints, as well as our daily answers and hints for The New York Times Mini Crossword, Wordle and Strands puzzles.

Today’s Connections: Sports Edition is a tough one. Remember that athlete surnames sometimes look like regular nouns, especially since Connections lists all its words in all caps, so you can’t tell if they’re a name or not. If you’re struggling with today’s puzzle but still want to solve it, read on for hints and the answers.

Connections: Sports Edition is published by The Athletic, the subscription-based sports journalism site owned by The Times. It doesn’t appear in the NYT Games app, but it does in The Athletic app. You can also play it for free online.

Read more: NYT Connections: Sports Edition Puzzle Comes Out of Beta

Hints for today’s Connections: Sports Edition groups

Here are four hints for the groupings in today’s Connections: Sports Edition puzzle, ranked from the easiest yellow group to the tough (and sometimes bizarre) purple group.

Yellow group hint: Go the other way.

Green group hint: Nothing but net.

Blue group hint: Fire it in there.

Purple group hint: Not front.