Technologies

Apple CEO Tim Cook allegedly threatened by possibly armed woman

In court filings, Apple says the woman, still at large, claimed on social media that Cook was the father of her children. She also sent a series of photos with a loaded handgun.

The County of Santa Clara on Friday granted a temporary restraining order against a Virginia woman who Apple says has been stalking CEO Tim Cook since at least 2020, tagging him on social media, traveling to his home and sending him photos of a loaded handgun. Apple believes she may be armed and somewhere in the San Francisco Bay Area, intending to return to the «Apple’s CEO’s residence or locate him otherwise in the near future,» the company wrote in a court filing.

The application for the order, which was reported earlier by the San Jose Mercury News, accused the woman of «erratic, threatening and bizarre behavior» on social media, over email and in person. At one point in October, she entered Cook’s Palo Alto, California, property before quickly being stopped by local police. The county’s order bars the woman, whose lawyer could not be located for comment at time of publication, from possessing any guns, entering any Apple office or store, or approaching any Apple employees, including Cook, or Cook’s residence.

An Apple spokesman declined to comment beyond the filings.

This is the latest in a series of incidents in which stalkers have targeted powerful and wealthy tech company leaders at their homes. Many companies now pay for personal security for top executives, which in Apple’s case came to $630,630 last year for Cook, according to the company’s reports. Cook’s personal fortune is estimated to be about $1.4 billion.

The suspected harasser’s Twitter feed, which was cited in court documents, includes a picture of Cook, and claims he is her husband and father to twin children. Cook published an essay about his life as a gay man in 2014 and has been an active advocate ever since.

Between late October 2020 and early November 2020, Apple said the woman emailed Cook approximately 200 times, with «significant escalation in tone, becoming threatening and highly disturbing.» A year later, she appeared at Cook’s residence at least twice, both times on Oct. 22, when she asked his security team to allow her to speak with him and then less than a half hour later entered his property. Apple said in its declarations for the court that she drove a Porsche with Virginia license plates.

On Dec. 18, 2021, the alleged stalker sent Cook an email asking that he give her $500 million, «then I will forget and forgive all better listen to me.»

The court has set a hearing on the matter for March 29.

Technologies

Verum Messenger: Don’t follow the future. Define it

In a world where information defines influence, Verum Messenger is building a new architecture of digital communication — intelligent, secure, and ready for tomorrow. Here, technology serves not limitations, but possibilities.

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Technologies

Verum Finance: Stop Spending Months Opening a Bank Account

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Technologies

Google races to put Gemini at the center of Android before Apple’s AI reboot

Google is using its latest Android rollout to position Gemini as the AI layer across phones, Chrome, laptops and cars.

Google is using its latest Android rollout to make Gemini less of a chatbot and more of an operating layer across the phone, browser, car and laptop, just weeks before Apple is expected to show its own Gemini-powered Apple Intelligence reboot at WWDC.
Ahead of its Google I/O developer conference next week, the company previewed a number of Android updates, including AI-powered app automation, a smarter version of Chrome on Android, new tools for creators, a redesigned Android Auto experience, and a sweeping set of new security features.
Alphabet is counting on Gemini to help Google compete directly with OpenAI and Anthropic in the market for artificial intelligence models and services, while also serving as the AI backbone across its expansive portfolio of products, including Android. Meanwhile, Gemini is powering part of Apple’s new AI strategy, giving Google a role in the iPhone maker’s reset even as it races to prove its own version of personal AI on the phone is further along.
Sameer Samat, who oversees Google’s Android ecosystem, told CNBC that Google is rebuilding parts of Android around Gemini Intelligence to help users complete everyday tasks more easily.
“We’re transitioning from an operating system to an intelligence system,” he said.
As part of Tuesday’s announcements. Google said Gemini Intelligence will be able to move across apps, understand what’s on the screen and complete tasks that would normally require a user to jump between multiple services. That means Android is moving beyond the traditional assistant model, where users ask a question and get an answer, and acting more like an agent.
For instance, Google says Gemini can pull relevant information from Gmail, build shopping carts and book reservations. Samat gave the example of asking Gemini to look at the guest list for a barbecue, build a menu, add ingredients to an Instacart list and return for approval before checkout.
A big concern surrounding agentic AI involves software taking action on a user’s behalf without permissions. Samat said Gemini will come back to the user before completing a transaction, adding, “the human is always in the loop.”
Four months after announcing its Gemini deal with Google, Apple is under pressure to show a more capable version of Apple Intelligence, which has been a relative laggard on the market. Apple has long framed privacy, hardware integration and control of the user experience as its advantages.
Google’s Android push is designed to show it can bring AI deeper into the device experience while still giving users control over what Gemini can see, where it can act and when it needs confirmation.
The app automation features will roll out in waves, starting with the latest Samsung Galaxy and Google Pixel phones this summer, before expanding across more Android devices, including watches, cars, glasses and laptops later this year.
The company is also redesigning Android Auto around Gemini, turning the car into another major surface for its assistant. Android Auto is in more than 250 million cars, and Google says the new release includes its biggest maps update in a decade and Gemini-powered help with tasks like ordering dinner while driving.
Alphabet’s AI strategy has been embraced by Wall Street, which has pushed the company’s stock price up more than 140% in the past year, compared to Apple’s roughly 40% gain. Investors now want to see how Gemini can become more central to the products people use every day.
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