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OpenAI has announced that it will be partnering with the US General Services Administration (GSA) to offer ChatGPT Enterprise practically free of charge to the entire executive-branch federal workforce for one year. The dozens of agencies under this umbrella encompass over two million civilian workers. Each agency will be able to access ChatGPT Enterprise for $1 for the year-long period. The year-long trial will also include an additional 60 days of ChatGPT’s most advanced models like Deep Research and Advanced Voice Mode with no use limits. This comes one day after the GSA approved OpenAI, Google and Anthropic for the federal AI vendor list.

In the blog post announcing the partnership, OpenAI said: “This effort delivers on a core pillar of the Trump Administration’s AI Action Plan by making powerful AI tools available across the federal government so that workers can spend less time on red tape and paperwork, and more time doing what they came to public service to do: serve the American people.”

Part of the administration’s plan calls for any AI used in the federal government to be free of ideological bias, yet simultaneously President Trump’s “Preventing Woke AI” executive order directs that AI must not favor “ideological dogmas such as DEI.” How OpenAI will deal with the administration’s own ideological slant remains to be seen. Current attempts at creating a “maximally truth-seeking AI” have not gone as planned.

According to Bloomberg, OpenAI will not use data from federal workers to train or improve ChatGPT. Addressing whether the $1 price point will buy future loyalty from the current administration, commissioner of the GSA’s Federal Acquisition Service Josh Gruenbaum told Bloomberg that no agency would be required to renew after the first year. “These technologies are changing and evolving at breakneck speed. We don’t want to commit ourselves. This is almost like it’s a trial run in some ways.” CEO of OpenAI Sam Altman had previously donated $1 million to President Trump’s inauguration fund.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/ai/openai-is-giving-chatgpt-enterprise-to-the-executive-branch-workforce-for-1-165812036.html?src=rss 

Israel has allegedly been recording and storing millions of phone calls made by Palestinians in Gaza and the West Bank as part of a large surveillance effort dating back to 2022, according to reporting by The Guardian, +972 Magazine and Local Call. The report suggests that the country has been shuttling these recordings to Microsoft Azure cloud servers.

Company CEO Satya Nadella allegedly okayed the effort personally after meeting with a commander from Israel’s military surveillance agency, Unit 8200. He reportedly gave the country a customized and segregated area within the Azure platform to store millions of phone calls made each day without knowledge or consent from Palestinians.

According to sources within Unit 8200, these recordings have assisted in the preparation of deadly airstrikes and helped shape military operations throughout the region. Israel has long been intercepting calls in the occupied territories, as it basically controls the entire Palestinian telecommunications infrastructure.

This new method, however, reportedly captures the conversations of a large pool of regular civilians. The mantra when building out the project was to record “a million calls an hour.” Leaked Microsoft files suggest that the lion’s share of this data is being stored in Azure facilities in the Netherlands and Ireland.

Microsoft has been facing increased scrutiny regarding its role in Israel’s 22-month offensive in Gaza. CEO Nadella was interrupted by an employee at a keynote speech in May, with the worker pleading for the executive to “show how Israeli war crimes are powered by Azure.”

Earlier this year, the company commissioned an external review that “found no evidence to date” that Azure or its AI products were “used to target or harm people” in the territory. Today’s reporting suggests otherwise. Unit 8200 sources indicate that intelligence drawn from this data was used to identify bombing targets. Microsoft says it has “no information” about the kind of data stored by Israel on its servers.

“At no time during this engagement,” a company representative added, “has Microsoft been aware of the surveillance of civilians or collection of their cellphone conversations using Microsoft’s services, including through the external review it commissioned.” Sources say that usage of the surveillance system increased during the campaign in Gaza. So far, 60,000 people in the territory have been killed, including over 18,000 children.

Microsoft isn’t the only company that has been accused of assisting Israel in what many are calling a genocide in Gaza. A report recently found that Google employees have repeatedly worked with the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) and Israel’s Defense Ministry (IDM) to expand the government’s access to AI tools.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/big-tech/israel-is-reportedly-storing-millions-of-palestinian-phone-calls-on-microsoft-servers-161127912.html?src=rss 

It’s almost the end of the road for Hulu as a standalone app. Now that it fully owns Hulu, Disney will entirely integrate the streaming service into Disney+. It will roll out a new, unified app next year.

This doesn’t necessarily mean that the price of a Disney+ subscription is going to skyrocket in 2026. A Disney spokesperson told Variety the company will still offer standalone plans for Disney+ and Hulu.

Disney CEO Bob Igor said on an earnings call that having Disney+ and Hulu on the same tech platform should help the company reduce costs and provide it with more ways to package ad sales. For users, Iger said the unified app will offer an “improved consumer experience.” Iger and Disney CFO Hugh Johnston said merging the services “will create an impressive package of entertainment, pairing the highest-caliber brands and franchises, great general entertainment, family programming, news and industry-leading live sports content in a single app.” Disney+ is also slated to get a more personalized homepage and other new features in the coming months.

There will be a notable change for Disney+ users outside of the US as well. Disney will rebrand the Star tile in the app to Hulu starting this fall.

Disney has been nudging its streaming services more closely together for a while. Last year, it integrated Hulu content into Disney+ in the hopes of getting more people to pay for a bundle that includes the two services.

On top of all that, Disney says it will soon (for the most part) stop disclosing subscriber numbers for Disney+, Hulu and ESPN+, following the likes of Netflix in taking such a step. Between them, Disney+ and Hulu had 183 million subscribers at the end of June, up 2.6 million from the end of March. Meanwhile, the new ESPN streaming service is set to debut on August 21.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/entertainment/streaming/disney-will-unhinge-its-jaw-and-swallow-hulu-in-2026-144458503.html?src=rss 

ESPN’s long-awaited new standalone streaming service will launch on August 21, alongside an overhauled ESPN app that gives users a “more personalized, dynamic viewing experience.” Simply (and potentially confusingly) called ESPN, the new platform arrives just ahead of the new NFL season and the US Open tennis competition, as well as a number of other returning sports that ESPN broadcasts.

ESPN’s streaming service will be offered with a choice of two plans. The $30 per month ($300 annually) “unlimited” offering includes access to all of ESPN’s linear networks, as well as ESPN on ABC, ESPN+, ESPN3, SECN+ and ACCNX. With this plan, you’ll have access to all of ESPN’s live events, on-demand content and original documentaries, and if you bundle it with Disney+ and Hulu you’ll pay nothing extra for the first 12 months. This is a launch offer, so no guarantees it’ll apply for long.

The alternative is ESPN’s “select” plan, which costs $12 per month ($120 per year) and includes access to all content on ESPN+, the company’s other streaming subscription service that will continue to operate beyond the arrival of the new platform. ESPN says existing ESPN+ subscribers will automatically be put onto an ESPN select plan.

ESPN also announced today that it has agreed a deal to exclusively broadcast all WWE Premium Live Events in the US, from 2026. All WWE PLEs will stream on ESPN’s new platform, with major events like WrestleMania, SummerSlam and the Royal Rumble available to watch in their entirety. You’ll be able to stream 2026’s NFL Draft, as well as a new daily show dedicated to the draft.

Alongside the new streaming service, ESPN has also redesigned its app to offer a more personalized experience. New features include an updated multiview screen, integrated game stats, betting information and built-in fantasy sports management.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/entertainment/streaming/espns-new-streaming-service-arrives-august-21-150026297.html?src=rss