Kyiv under fire, Google’s EU fine upheld, and China’s GLM-5.2 shakes AI
Overnight, Russia launched its deadliest assault on Kyiv this year, killing at least 27 people and injuring 91 in a wave of 74 missiles and 496 drones, according to city officials [1]. About 130 buildings were damaged and a Ukrainian Red Cross warehouse storing roughly $2.5 milli
Overnight, Russia launched its deadliest assault on Kyiv this year, killing at least 27 people and injuring 91 in a wave of 74 missiles and 496 drones, according to city officials [1]. About 130 buildings were damaged and a Ukrainian Red Cross warehouse storing roughly $2.5 million worth of medical and emergency equipment was destroyed [1]. President Volodymyr Zelenskyy cut short a trip to Ireland and blamed the scale of destruction partly on allies' failure to deliver promised air defenses, warning that missile shortages would be a key issue at next week's NATO summit in Turkey [1].
In tech regulation, the European Union's top court dismissed Google's final appeal of a €4.1 billion antitrust fine tied to Android's dominance [2]. The European Court of Justice ruling, issued Thursday, ends a case that began in 2018 over claims Google forced manufacturers to pre-install Google Search and Chrome and blocked alternative Android forks [2]. Google said the judgment fails to recognize Android's openness, but the decision confirms one of three Commission penalties totaling more than $8 billion imposed on the company between 2017 and 2019 [2].
On the AI front, Beijing-based startup Z.ai is drawing Silicon Valley attention with GLM-5.2, a model launched last month whose coding and agent capabilities are being called a "mini DeepSeek moment" for nearly matching leading U.S. offerings at a lower price [3]. The buzz underscores how Chinese labs continue to challenge American AI leaders on cost and capability.
Meta, meanwhile, quietly rolled out Pocket, a new app that lets users generate and share small interactive "gizmos" built from AI prompts [4]. The product follows Meta's acquisition of the team behind vibe-coded gaming platform Gizmo and arrives as the company pushes AI creation tools across its apps [4][5]. Pocket is not yet available everywhere and Meta has not officially announced the launch, suggesting it remains experimental [4][5].
Together, the stories show a tense Friday: geopolitical violence, regulatory finality in Brussels, and a race in AI and social products that keeps accelerating.