Tesla is under investigation for faulty electronic door handles that can trap people inside their vehicles. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) launched the probe, saying it was responding to numerous complaints filed by Tesla owners, with a particular focus on children who have been locked inside the vehicle without any way to get out. The news comes a few days after Bloomberg published a bombshell report about Tesla owners who have been seriously injured after becoming trapped in their vehicles after crashes. Tesla’s door handles, which operate electronically and sit flush against the vehicle for improved aerodynamics, have been the source of some consternation for some time. China’s government is considering banning electronic door handles for safety reasons. And now NHTSA says it is investigating instances in which Tesla’s handles become inoperable as a result of low-voltage battery problems. The investigation specifically focuses on an estimated 174,290 Model Y SUVs, though the regulator said the investigation could widen:This investigation will also assess the approach used by Tesla to supply power to the door locks and the reliability of the applicable power supplies. At this time, NHTSA’s investigation is focused on the operability of the electronic door locks from outside of the vehicle as that circumstance is the only one in whichthere is no manual way to open the door. The agency will continue to monitor any reports of entrapment involving opening doors from inside of the vehicle, and [Office of Defects Investigation] will take further action as needed.NHTSA says its investigation was prompted by nine instances of children becoming trapped inside a Tesla vehicle as a result of low-voltage battery problems. Typically, parents were unable to reopen their Tesla’s doors to retrieve their children from the backseat. Tesla’s vehicles contain manual door releases, but the agency notes that certain people, especially children, may not be able to operate them. “Entrapment in a vehicle is particularly concerning in emergency situations, such as when children are entrapped in a hot vehicle,” the agency states.This is the latest investigation to target Tesla. The company is also being examined for failing to report crashes involving its partially autonomous driving technology in a timely manner, and for its remote parking feature after several crash incidents were reported.

Editor's note: This issue of Regulator was sent to subscribers prior to the release of the indictment against Tyler Robinson. Though we have more hints about Robinson's motives, what follows is still accurate about the videogame-referencing memes being a red herring.Hello and welcome to Regulator. For a moment, the fatal shooting of conservative activist and influencer Charlie Kirk last week pushed an already divided nation to its brink. Members of Congress screamed at each other on the House floor: Democrats blamed Republicans for fostering gun culture and mass shootings, while Republicans blamed Democrats for branding them "Nazis" and …Read the full story at The Verge.

The Palm Lock’s infrared sensor identifies users through the veins in their hands. | Image: Wyze Wyze has announced its first smart door lock that can be opened by simply hovering your open hand over it. The Wyze Palm Lock is launching today for $129.98 making it more affordable than similar palm-scanning smart locks including the $359.99 Philips Smart Deadbolt that launched last year. But your palm isn’t the only way to unlock it. If it’s the dead of winter and you’re wearing gloves the Palm Lock can also be opened using a physical key, by punching in a code, or using Wyze’s mobile app.It’s not as cheap as Wyze’s $80 Wyze Lock Bolt that we called the “Best budget smart(ish) lock” in our buying guide, but the Palm Lock includes more functionality. Battery life is rated at up to six months thanks to the use of low-power millimeter wave radar that only wakes the lock when a person is detected nearby. Its primary battery can be removed so you can recharge it indoors, while a smaller secondary battery will keep the lock powered for up to two weeks. Should both batteries die, an external power source can be temporarily connected to a USB-C port allowing it to be unlocked using an access code.Palm vein recognition has been shown to be a more secure and accurate method of biometric security than fingerprint readers, and simply waving your hand over an infrared sensor requires less precision than scanning a fingerprint. The Wyze Palm Lock can store palm vein IDs for up to 50 users, and generate up to 50 unique entry codes giving access to people whose palms haven’t been registered.Wyze’s Palm Lock is Wi-Fi connected so it can also be locked and unlocked from anywhere your phone has internet access or using voice commands through smart assistants like Amazon’s Alexa or Google Assistant. For added security, the lock incorporates a gyroscope that detects the door’s angle and movements. It can be set to automatically lock the door when it senses it’s been closed all the way, or start audibly chirping after a set period of time if it detects the door has been left open.

Consumer Reports is calling on Microsoft to extend the October 14th deadline that will cut off free security updates for Windows 10 computers. In a letter to Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella, Consumer Reports says the move will “strand millions of consumers” who have machines incompatible with Windows 11.As noted by Consumer Reports, data suggests that around 46.2 percent of people around the world still use Windows 10 as of August 2025, while around 200 to 400 million PCs can’t be upgraded to Windows 11 due to missing hardware requirements.In the letter, Consumer Reports calls Microsoft “hypocritical” for urging customers to upgrade to Windows 11 to bolster cybersecurity, but then leaving Windows 10 devices susceptible to cyberattacks. It also calls out the $30 fee Microsoft charges customers for “a mere one-year extension to preserve their machine’s security,” as well as the free support options that force people to use Microsoft products, allowing the company to “eke out a bit of market share over competitors.”Consumer Reports asks that Microsoft continue providing support for Windows 10 computers for free until more people have upgraded to Windows 11. A Public Interest Research Group (PIRG) has also petitioned for an extended deadline, saying “as many as 400 million perfectly good computers that can’t upgrade to Windows 11 will be thrown out.”

I write a lot: articles, novel drafts, research notes. The struggle isn’t always the writing itself, it’s managing everything around it. I have so much scattered research and half-written drafts that always end up buried somewhere. I’ve also tried dozens of notes apps and AI tools, but many of them overwhelm me with features or give me generic results.

Whether it's a research assistant like NotebookLM, a new foldable, or a handy Gmail feature, Google is always working on something or another. But one thing we don't see the tech giant do often is drop a dedicated Windows app.

On Tuesday, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman said that the company was attempting to balance privacy, freedom, and teen safety - principles that, he admitted, were in conflict. His blog post came hours before a Senate hearing focused on examining the harm of AI chatbots, held by the subcommittee on crime and counterterrorism and featuring some parents of children who died by suicide after talking to chatbots."We have to separate users who are under 18 from those who aren't," Altman wrote in the post, adding that the company is in the process of building an "age-prediction system to estimate age based on how people use ChatGPT. If there is doubt, we'l …Read the full story at The Verge.

I'm currently majoring in computer science, and most of my daily classes revolve around coding. And while I’ve always been passionate about my major and genuinely enjoy coding, I’d be lying if I said it’s easy. It can get overwhelming at times, and learning (let alone retaining) everything taught in class isn’t always straightforward.

If you read my recent piece on switching from Windows to Mac, you might know that Raycast is one of my absolute favorite pieces of software ever. I absolutely love everything it offers, and when I heard it was coming to Windows, needless to say, I was ecstatic. The beta opened up recently, and I finally got an invite to try it for myself.

The post was up on Natalie's private Facebook page for 20 minutes - a crude joke about Charlie Kirk's death. When her husband suggested the comment was a bit much, she deleted it. The next day, Natalie received the first email telling her to kill herself. It didn't even take 24 hours to go viral.In the 20 minutes the post was live, someone had taken a screenshot of it. She doesn't know how the screenshot got to the right-wing influencer who posted it. Natalie, who owns her own small business, was on a client call as the death threats started to roll in. She told herself to focus on the call, but she was shaking so hard that she was having …Read the full story at The Verge.

Microsoft’s former store in London. | Photo: Getty Images Microsoft is announcing that it’s investing £22 billion (around $30 billion) in the UK to help support AI infrastructure and ongoing operations from 2025 through 2028. The investment includes $15 billion in capital expenditures to build a supercomputer to support AI demand and adoption.“This will account for more than two-thirds of the tech sector’s total investment announcements in the UK that are being made this week,” says Microsoft vice chair and president Brad Smith in a press briefing attended by The Verge. “We’re focused on British pounds, not empty tech promises, because it’s easy to have big numbers, but we’ll be good for every cent of this investment.”Smith is clearly referencing Google’s own investment of £5 billion (around $6.8 billion) that it announced earlier today to help power the UK’s AI efforts. Smith says Microsoft’s latest UK investment is a “very substantial increase” over its previous investment in 2023.“This investment will enable us to build the country’s largest supercomputer — with more than 23,000 advanced GPUs — in partnership with Nscale,” says Smith. “We’re not just investing in the UK, we’re investing with partners in the UK. It includes the data centers we have today and an expansion of them.”Microsoft’s multibillion-dollar investments in the UK come on the same day President Donald Trump arrives in Britain for a second state visit, in what’s meant to be seen as a clear collaboration between the US and UK. Smith told reporters that the investment wasn’t requested by the Trump administration, but it’s clearly been well timed on the UK government side.The announcement is a big change from Microsoft’s issues with the UK only a few years ago. Smith openly criticized the UK’s Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) during Microsoft’s giant Activision Blizzard acquisition in 2023. Smith said his confidence in the UK had been “severely shaken” after the CMA originally blocked Microsoft’s giant gaming deal, and even said “the European Union is a more attractive place to start a business” than the UK. Smith later described the regulator as “tough and fair” last year, and said he “might choose slightly different words” to make his point about the CMA.Smith praised both former Prime Minster Rishi Sunak’s and Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s governments during his briefing with reporters today. “Our ability to make an investment of this size is based in no small measure on the work the government is doing to reform planning, grow electricity capacity, and foster a more stable and open regulatory environment,” says Smith.Google is also opening a new data center in Waltham Cross, Hertfordshire, that Chancellor Rachel Reeves calls a “powerful vote of confidence in the UK economy and the strength of our partnership with the US.” Microsoft managed to one-up Google and get Starmer to comment on its own investment, and he also called it “a powerful vote of confidence in UK’s leadership in AI and cutting-edge technology.”The other half of Microsoft’s $30 billion investment will be used to support the company’s ongoing operations across the UK, including its 6,000 employees that are based in Britain. Microsoft did close its 21,000-square-foot store in the heart of London earlier this year, but the company still holds offices at Microsoft Research in Cambridge, the Microsoft UK headquarters in Reading, Microsoft AI in London, and elsewhere.

Waymo is now permitted to test its robotaxi service at San Francisco International Airport (SFO), a big win for the company as it seeks to expand its service area and tackle more popular, revenue-generating destinations. After years of back-and-forth negotiations, Waymo signed “Testing and Operations Pilot Permit” with SFO, San Francisco Mayor Daniel Lurie said in a release. Under the agreement, Waymo will roll out its service to SFO in three phases, including testing vehicles with a human driver, testing without a driver, and eventually beginning commercial service. Waymo will start its tests with employees before eventually inviting members of the public to take trips to and from the airport. Pickups and dropoffs will initially take place at SFO’s Kiss & Fly lot, which is accessible to the terminals via the AirTrain. Waymo operates in five cities, but currently only serves one airport: Phoenix’s Sky Harbor. The company has been locked in negotiations with SFO for several years as it seeks to assure regulators that its vehicles can handle their chaotic environments, with thousands of cars, taxis, shuttles, and passengers constantly intermixing everyday. But airports represent a huge money-making opportunity for robotaxis, with airport trips accounting for an estimated 20 percent of human-driven ridehail car trips. Waymo will need airport access if it hopes to eventually compete with Uber and Lyft — to say nothing of earning enough money to make a profit.