Tech & AI News Roundup — October 1, 2026, 4:01 PM UTC

Quick links to what's actually happening in AI, tech, and IT right now — curated from real reporting, not rewritten, so you can go read the full story wherever it's genuinely worth your time.

Inside Microsoft’s big Copilot rethink

Last week, Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella hosted an intimate, invite-only event for leaders from some of its key enterprise customers. Instead of a flashy media event, Nadella outlined the future of Copilot directly to the customers Microsoft really cares about, pitching its latest rethink of the AI assistant as the "OS for work." Microsoft is adding coding and agent capabilities directly into Copilo — The Verge

One year later, Tesla and Musk still don’t have a good definition of ‘abundance’

The CEO promised to get more specific about his vision. But the details are still absent. — TechCrunch

Brian Chesky interview: AI agents need their own operating system

Brian Chesky on making Airbnb agent-friendly, the state of consumer AI, and why the world needs an AI-native operating system. — TechCrunch

Google Tests Publisher Payments as AI Search Cuts Into Website Traffic

Google is testing payments to publishers whose content contributes to AI search answers, but early payouts vary widely across participating websites. The post Google Tests Publisher Payments as AI Search Cuts Into Website Traffic appeared first on TechRepublic. — TechRepublic

Metaview Raises $60M for AI Agents That Source, Screen and Schedule Candidates

Metaview raised $60 million to expand its AI recruiting platform and autonomous agent fillmore across sourcing, screening and hiring workflows. The post Metaview Raises $60M for AI Agents That Source, Screen and Schedule Candidates appeared first on TechRepublic. — TechRepublic

NYC is now the first city in America that bans sketchy subscriptions

Image: Angela Weiss / AFP via Getty Images | AFP via Getty Images New York City residents struggling to get out of recurring subscription fees can now submit complaints to the city government. As of Thursday, the city's click-to-cancel rule has taken effect, which requires businesses to make it as easy to cancel a subscription as it is to sign up. That means a gym that lets you join online, for ex — The Verge

Safaricom taps Pesapal’s 30,000 POS terminals to take M-PESA contactless

The partnership lets Safaricom put M-PESA on thousands of existing checkout terminals without building its own POS network. — TechCabal

WordPress Backdoor Rebuilds Itself After Cleanup Using Files, Database, and Shared Memory

Cybersecurity researchers have shed light on a WordPress compromise in which threat actors deployed multiple persistence mechanisms to ensure that the final payload kept returning without having to infect the site again. The backdoor has been codenamed SC after the "SC_" markers present in the injected content. Sucuri has described the malware as a "self-healing mesh" that's — The Hacker News