June 18, 2026
Today's top tech stories, deduped across the newsletters I read and briefly summarized. Click a source to open the original article.
AI
Midjourney launches Medical — AI for medical image analysis
Midjourney has launched Medical, a dedicated platform for medical image analysis targeting healthcare providers. It marks the company's first major expansion beyond creative image generation.
GLM-5.2: Z.ai releases likely the most powerful text-only open-weights LLM
Chinese AI lab Z.ai released GLM-5.2 under an MIT license, with Simon Willison describing it as likely the most powerful text-only open-weights LLM available today. The model was first available to coding plan subscribers on June 13, then fully open-sourced on June 16.
U.S. holds off blacklisting DeepSeek despite flagging 100+ Chinese firms as security risks
The U.S. has deferred blacklisting DeepSeek even as more than 100 Chinese firms are deemed security risks. The decision suggests a balancing act between national security concerns and broader geopolitical and trade considerations.
Leak confirms OpenAI is testing a ChatGPT for Science subscription
A leak reveals OpenAI is testing a new ChatGPT subscription tier aimed at scientific use cases, though it's unclear whether it will be available to all users regardless of background. The tier appears to include features tailored for academic and research workflows.
Security
"FortiBleed" leak exposes VPN credentials for 73,932 Fortinet devices
A data leak dubbed "FortiBleed" has exposed Fortinet and FortiGate VPN credentials for 73,932 firewall URLs at organizations worldwide. The credentials could enable unauthorized access to vulnerable corporate networks.
Volkswagen blocks GrapheneOS users from its car app
Volkswagen is preventing users of the privacy-focused GrapheneOS Android distribution from using its mobile app. The move has sparked debate about user rights and platform openness in the automotive industry.
Google to use UK and EU user IP addresses for ad personalization
Starting August 3, 2026, Google will use IP addresses from UK, EEA, and Switzerland users for ad personalization and measurement. This reverses Google's own prior stance that using such signals to identify devices was "wrong," and arrives as the UK's ICO weighs new consent rules.
Dev
Lore: new open-source version control system built for scalability
Lore is a new open-source version control system built for scalability, drawing significant attention in the developer community. It positions itself as an alternative to existing tools like Git.
Browser Use cold-starts browsers in under 1 second using Firecracker microVMs inside EC2
Browser Use describes how they run Firecracker microVMs inside EC2 instances to launch browsers in under one second. The approach combines microVM technology with custom infrastructure to deliver browser automation at scale.
Web
RFC 10008 standardizes a new HTTP QUERY method
RFC 10008 introduces a new HTTP method called QUERY, letting clients send structured request bodies in GET-like lookups — a long-requested addition to the HTTP spec. It resolves a common pain point where complex searches had to be crammed into URL parameters or misuse POST.
IT
Microsoft's June updates break Windows Server 2016 installs and Office app launches
Microsoft's June 2026 security updates caused two separate issues: installation failures on Windows Server 2016 systems that weren't fully current, and third-party apps unable to launch Office applications on updated Windows systems. The Server 2016 issue is fixed; the Office launch problem is still under investigation.
India bans Telegram until June 22; Durov accuses Reliance of BGP hijacking
India blocked Telegram until June 22 after the app was used to spread leaked exam papers. CEO Pavel Durov accuses telecom Reliance of BGP hijacking, which he says disrupted the service as far away as the UAE.