Tech News – Page 24 – by Arlin Schaffel

NPM flooded with malicious packages downloaded more than 86,000 times

Attackers are exploiting a major weakness that has allowed them access to the NPM code repository with more than 100 credential-stealing packages since August, mostly without detection. Anyone who regularly downloads packages from NPM should check the Koi post for a list of indicators that their system has been compromised through PhantomRaven. These indicators can be used in system scans to determine whether they’ve been targeted.
https://arstechnica.com/security/2025/10/npm-flooded-with-malicious-packages-downloaded-more-than-86000-times/

Grammarly is changing its name to Superhuman

AI writing aid Grammarly is now part of Superhuman, alongside Coda, Superhuman Mail, and a new AI assistant called Superhuman Go. The new Superhuman suite, including all those tools, will be available starting today for everyone with a paid Grammarly Pro subscription. After the company’s rebranding, the standalone writing tool Grammarly still exists, but it’s taking a backseat as Superhuman shifts its focus to offering an AI agent-powered work platform that works in every tab of your browser and knows enough about what’s going on to offer useful suggestions.
https://www.theverge.com/news/808472/grammarly-superhuman-ai-rebrand-relaunch

Photoshop and Premiere Pro’s new AI tools can instantly edit more of your work

Adobe has kicked off its annual Max event, giving us a first look at new and upcoming generative AI tools launching for the company’s Photoshop, Premiere Pro, and Lightroom Creative Cloud apps. These include updates to Photoshop’s Generative Fill feature that aim to give creators more control over adding, removing or modifying content, and tools that can automate some of the more time-consuming elements of editing photos and videos.
https://www.theverge.com/news/807811/adobe-photoshop-lightroom-premiere-pro-ai-max-2025

Adobe’s SLR-Like Camera App Adds iPhone 17 Support, But There’s a Catch

If you've got an iPhone 17 and have been waiting to try Adobe's Project Indigo app for photography, there's good news. After long delays over hardware compatibility issues, Adobe has found a workaround to offer partial support. Project Indigo rolled out in June and uses computational photography to offer SLR-like results for iPhone users. For photography nerds, the app offers more manual control over focus, exposure, ISO, shutter speed, and more.
https://www.pcmag.com/news/adobes-slr-like-camera-app-adds-iphone-17-support-but-theres-a-catch

Meet Mico, Microsoft’s AI version of Clippy

It’s been nearly 30 years since Microsoft’s Office assistant, Clippy, first graced our screens as an annoying paperclip. Now Microsoft is ready to try again with Mico, a new character for Copilot’s voice mode. “Clippy walked so that we could run,” jokes Jacob Andreou, corporate VP of product and growth at Microsoft AI, in an interview with The Verge. Microsoft has been testing Mico (rhymes with “pico”) for a few months now, as a virtual character that responds with real-time expressions when you talk to it. Mico is now being turned on by default in Copilot’s voice mode, where you’ll also have the option to turn the bouncing orb off.
https://www.theverge.com/news/804106/microsoft-mico-copilot-ai-assistant-clippy

OpenAI’s Chrome Killer Is Here: Meet the ChatGPT Atlas Browser

OpenAI jumped into the browser wars today with ChatGPT Atlas, which puts AI at the center of your web surfing, but only on macOS to start. Atlas is built on Google’s Chromium engine and operates like other browsers, offering traditional features such as tabs, bookmarks, password autofill, and an incognito mode. Still, it promises to stand out from the competition by integrating OpenAI’s chatbot into the browsing experience.
https://www.pcmag.com/news/openais-chrome-killer-is-here-meet-the-chatgpt-atlas-browser