Keep your receipts, Tech Insiders.
Uber and DoorDash have few outside AI-agent orders to tally, Anthropic is shopping a $1.4 trillion valuation, and Apple's support forum is closing the help desk. Let's see what makes it through checkout. |
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Here's what you need to know today: |
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Uber and DoorDash Deflate AI Shopping Hype |
The personal shopping assistants have plenty of personal time.
So much for robot overlords doing the grocery runs. Uber and DoorDash say outside AI shopping agents are generating practically nonexistent order volumes. During Halloween week, third-party bots booked just four rides and 500 Eats deliveries against Uber's 320 million total transactions. The AI revolution has a surprisingly light receipt pile. DoorDash's CEO sounded equally underwhelmed, reporting just "several hundred" external agent orders cumulatively. For scale, the delivery giant handled 993 million orders in Q3 alone. |
Image created with ChatGPT |
The travel sector isn't sweating yet, either. Airbnb reports practically zero agent bookings, and Booking.com and Expedia are seeing similar tumbleweeds. Beating Uber's 50-second app booking time is tough, and Airbnb noted travelers actually like planning vacations. Bots are losing to both extreme convenience and the human urge to daydream.
Even if consumers wanted them, agents keep hitting closed doors. United Airlines just grounded unauthorized agents from completing bookings, while eBay is actively restricting access. A smart assistant isn't very useful if it gets stopped by the digital bouncer.
Granted, DoorDash's developer connector remains in a restricted beta, and these bleak figures exclude in-house tools. Uber already offers an AI cart assistant, and Airbnb is plotting a proprietary travel agent for early 2027. The platforms aren't anti-AI—they just want to keep your data for themselves.
Why it matters: Low third-party usage proves that impressive AI demos still have to earn their place at checkout. Businesses must measure completed sales, operating costs, and fail rates before buying into the hype. |
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How much buying power would you give an AI assistant? |
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Results from Yesterday's Pulse Check |
What's your biggest concern about a flying security camera at home? |
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Dell AI Data Platform Review: What It Offers for Enterprise RAG, AI Agents, and Production GenAI
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Enterprise RAG and AI agents depend on current, governed data, but getting that data into production can add storage and integration complexity. See how the Dell AI Data Platform combines storage, metadata, retrieval, and NVIDIA technologies to support enterprise AI while reducing unnecessary data movement. |
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Apple's Support Forum Is Logging Off for Good |
The troubleshooting forum has encountered a permanent error.
Apple is closing its Support Community on Nov. 20, pulling the plug on a user-help hub dating all the way back to 1998. New questions and replies abruptly stopped on Nov. 10; existing threads are currently readable. Of course, much of the advice came from fellow users anyway, proving that an apple.com URL never actually guaranteed a response from a Cupertino employee.
Enjoy that read-only access while it lasts. AppleInsider reports that Apple confirmed the archives are going completely offline, so save any miracle fixes now. As for your user profile and hard-earned reputation points? Consider them digital casualties. Apple's terse closure notice completely ignores their fate, and the old sign-in button already dumps you at an internal employee portal anyway.
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Image via Apple; modified with ChatGPT |
Apple told MacRumors it assessed its strategy and customer needs, offering precisely zero actual details. What a beautifully corporate retirement speech for a community that spent decades providing free tech support.
I've contributed there, found answers, and frequently come away frustrated. But even if you didn't get a fix, a thread could at least confirm your weird glitch wasn't just a hallucination. There's real value in knowing your troubleshooting misery has company.
For new questions, Apple points users to official support channels. Meanwhile, TechRepublic's forum recently relaunched, welcoming broader tech discussions (with more categories on the way). For Apple-specific venting, try the MacRumors forums, AppleInsider forums, or subreddits like r/applehelp.
Have you tried turning the entire community off and leaving it off? |
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Stop Collecting AI Tips. Start Using Them. |
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iPhone Apps Could Snoop on Their Neighbors |
Apple's famous walled garden has a nasty new peephole. An iOS sandbox exploit lets a malicious iPhone app rummage through its neighbors' files, potentially swiping wallet secrets and logins. Binance warns the worse_query flaw affects iOS 26.7.1, 27.0.1, and 27.2, though researchers outline an even broader blast radius.
The proof-of-concept WQ Files requires an installed app but no fancy jailbreak. Fortunately, the true danger hinges on individual app security; merely reaching the files won't instantly bypass iOS Keychain encryption. No attacks or thefts using the flaw have been confirmed yet. |
Image created with ChatGPT |
Update your software and nuke any sketchy sideloaded apps, even though Apple hasn't explicitly confirmed that iOS 27.2.1 or 26.7.3 plugs this exact leak.
If you suspect a compromise, Binance advises fleeing to a new wallet created on a clean device and resetting active login sessions. Patching your phone won't save an already-stolen seed phrase. Your calculator app doesn't need your wallet's life story. |
Outlook's Zero-Day Tops Microsoft's Patch Pile |
Microsoft's November sweep dropped 1,235 patches, because the ecosystem apparently needs that much digital duct tape. The headliner is an Outlook zero-day that hackers are actively abusing, prompting a Nov. 24 federal patching deadline. CVE-2026-124194 exposes NTLM authentication hashes the moment a user opens a booby-trapped message file. Fortunately, just viewing the email in your Preview Pane won't trigger the exploit.
Don't get complacent after a reboot. A green Windows Update checkmark doesn't mean your inbox is safe—you must apply the Office-specific patches separately.
Admins have extra homework: test the new NTLM and PowerShell script validations, prep for new features like Cloud Rebuild, and upgrade any Windows 11 23H2 Enterprise and Education machines. They received their final security update on Nov. 10 and are officially living on borrowed time.
Hitting "Remind me later" is just rolling out the red carpet for attackers. |
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Anthropic's IPO Valuation Needs a Refresh Button |
Image created with Gemini |
The underlying business is undeniably expanding at breakneck speeds. Anthropic hit an $81 billion annualized revenue run rate by Halloween, with nine-month sales rocketing to $33.24 billion. But there's a reason they're passing the world's largest collection plate: the AI lab is staring down nearly $900 billion in compute commitments.
Google and Nvidia are tossing $10 billion apiece into the private placement. Coincidentally, several of Anthropic's biggest backers also happen to sell the very chips and cloud services the AI lab desperately needs. That means a healthy chunk of this fresh capital will simply U-turn right back into their own revenue streams. It's easy to applaud an IPO when you're standing in the billing department.
Meanwhile, the company's seven co-founders could each walk away with about $250 million in liquid cash while safely keeping their super-voting grip on the steering wheel.
For enterprise Claude users and channel partners, the real question is how the unrelenting glare of public-market scrutiny will warp pricing and service road maps. Raising tens of billions is impressive, but somebody still actually has to deliver the AI. Please refresh your trillion-dollar expectations before completing checkout. |
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| Writer/Editor at TechnologyAdvice |
Justin Meyers is an investigative writer and editor who draws on over a decade of meticulous hands-on research to deliver the full, trustworthy story behind consumer and enterprise tech, including cybersecurity. |
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Curious about where AI is really headed? |
The Neuron cuts through the noise to bring you smart, hype-free takes on the latest AI trends, tools, and breakthroughs. Join 700,000+ professionals from top companies like Microsoft, Apple, Salesforce, and more.
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