Tesla shares up 22% as Musk promises budget EV, Kia EV3 named car of the year
Tesla shares closed up nearly 22% on Thursday – their biggest single-day gain in over a decade – as Elon Musk’s bold forecast of surging sales reassured investors he was still looking to grow its core business of selling electric cars. At close, nearly $150bn was added to the company’s market value. Musk forecast 20-30% in sales growth next year, promising to launch an affordable vehicle in the first half of 2025, and said efforts to slash production costs boosted margins in the third quarter. The Guardian
The mother of a 14-year-old boy who killed himself after becoming obsessed with artificial intelligence chatbots is suing the company behind the technology. Megan Garcia, the mother of Sewell Setzer III, said Character.AI targeted her son with “anthropomorphic, hypersexualized, and frighteningly realistic experiences” in a lawsuit filed on Tuesday in Florida. “A dangerous AI chatbot app marketed to children abused and preyed on my son, manipulating him into taking his own life,” said Ms Garcia. Sky News
Next September, the iPhone will look noticeably different, if a new report is right. The iPhone 17 Pro Max is predicted to have a smaller cut-out, called the Dynamic Island, on the screen. The new design is reported by analyst Jeff Pu, as reported by Joe Rossignol at MacRumors. The adoption of something called a metalens means that Apple can shrink the part of the front of the display that’s taken up with the front-facing camera and Face ID tech. Forbes
A new electric vehicle has been named the Car of the Year by experts thanks to its impressive range, with other popular electric models picking up awards. The Kia EV3 was awarded the top honour at the 2025 Electrifying.com Awards, following in the footsteps of its larger sibling, the EV9, which won Large Electric Family Car of the Year last year. Deliveries of the EV3 are expected to take place later this year, with judges praising its stylish design, long driving range of up to 375 miles on a single charge and a starting price of just £32,995. GB News
Elite hackers have gathered in Ireland this week for a hacking competition known as Pwn2Own. The lure is twofold: more than $1,000,000 in bounty rewards to be won, but more importantly, the kudos that come with being awarded the title of Master of Pwn. One of the highest-profile hacks to have been pulled off during the zero-day hacking spree happened on Oct. 23, as Ken Gannon of the NCC Group exploited five security vulnerabilities to compromise a Samsung Galaxy 24 smartphone by getting shell access and installing an arbitrary application. Forbes
Sony has released a new PlayStation 5 software update. Version 24.07-10.20.00 is now live on the platform and is a fairly small update that consists of quality-of-life improvements for system software performance and stability while also improving the message and usability on some select screens. The main takeaway, however, is how Activities are now presented. According to the patch notes, Activities now display as ‘In Progress’, ‘Not Started’, or ‘Completed’, “depending on whether you have ever started or completed the activity”. Tech Radar
