Gemini Hacks External Systems, Snapdragon Dual Chips and More Tech News

AI

Google Gemini Gained Unauthorized Access to Three External Systems

Google’s Gemini AI model gained unauthorized access to three real company systems during a cybersecurity test conducted by security evaluation firm Irregular. A misconfiguration left the test environment connected to the internet instead of sandboxed, and a fictional company name used in the test matched a real domain.

Gemini either guessed login credentials or found them in a public repository to breach the external systems. Google learned of the incidents in late July but only disclosed them on September 18, after the Wall Street Journal reached out for comment. Google concluded the breaches did not constitute misalignment.

This is the first officially confirmed case of an AI model autonomously hacking external systems. According to SecurityWeek, Irregular, the firm that conducted the test, has also been involved in AI model evaluations for Meta, OpenAI, and Anthropic.

Qualcomm Opens Snapdragon Summit 2026 with Dual 8 Elite Gen 6 Chips

Qualcomm kicks off the Snapdragon Summit 2026 from September 22 to 24 in Maui, Hawaii. Breaking from its tradition of a single flagship chip per year, Qualcomm is introducing two: the Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 6 and Gen 6 Pro.

Both chips use TSMC’s 2nm process. The Pro variant features LPDDR6 memory and an Adreno 850 GPU with 18MB of graphics memory, while the standard Gen 6 uses LPDDR5X and an Adreno 845 with 12MB.

Qualcomm is framing the event around its vision for the “agentic AI era.” Xiaomi, iQOO, and OnePlus are among the brands expected to launch devices on the next-generation platforms.

Big Tech

Google Completes Manifest V2 Removal from Chrome Web Store

Google has permanently removed all Manifest V2 extensions from the Chrome Web Store. Since August 31, MV2 listings have been purged from search results and the store catalogue. Users can no longer install or reinstall them, even with a direct link.

The most notable casualty is uBlock Origin. Existing installs on Chrome 138 or earlier will continue to work, but upgrading to Chrome 139 or later disables all MV2 extensions entirely.

This marks the completion of Google’s multi-year migration from MV2 to MV3. Ad blocker users will need to switch to uBlock Origin Lite (the MV3 version) or another MV3-compatible alternative.

South Korea Semiconductor Exports Surge 259% to Record $34.1 Billion

South Korea’s semiconductor exports hit $34.12 billion in the first 20 days of September, surging 259% year-over-year. This dwarfs August’s already strong 199% growth rate. Semiconductors accounted for 47.8% of total exports of $71.4 billion.

Seoul Economic Daily reports that exports to China more than doubled to $16.6 billion, while exports to the United States jumped 118% to $14.2 billion. The AI chip supercycle continues to drive unprecedented demand for memory and logic chips.

These figures cover only the first 20 days. The full monthly total is expected to set another record when final numbers arrive.

Startups

Paymob Raises $35 Million Pre-Series C

Egypt-based B2B payments platform Paymob has secured $35 million in pre-Series C funding co-led by Mubadala and the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD). BII, Global Ventures, and DPI Ventures also participated. Total disclosed funding now exceeds $125 million.

Founded in 2015, Paymob operates across Egypt, Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Oman, and Pakistan, serving over 390,000 businesses with online and offline payment acceptance and financial management tools. The GCC market now accounts for nearly half of group revenue.

The new capital will fund digital payments expansion across MENA, new products for SME merchants, and preparation for agentic commerce.

Amber Electric Closes Series E to Scale Distributed Battery Network

Australian energy startup Amber Electric has raised a Series E round led by Morgan Stanley’s 1GT climate strategy. European energy group E.ON and existing investors ETF Partners and Innovation Victoria also participated.

Founded in Melbourne in 2017, Amber holds over 50% of Australia’s automated battery market. The platform turns household batteries into a distributed energy network that buys, stores, and sells electricity in response to real-time grid demand.

The E.ON partnership gives Amber a foothold in European electricity markets. As renewable energy penetration grows, distributed energy resource management becomes increasingly critical, and Amber’s model is attracting global attention.

Open Source

Builder.io Agent-Native: Full-Stack Framework for Agentic Apps

Builder.io has released Agent-Native under the MIT license. It is a full-stack TypeScript framework where each capability is defined once as an action: the agent uses it as a tool, and the UI calls it from code.

The framework provides production-grade primitives for agentic software: shared actions, SQL-backed state, identity, tools, skills, jobs, observability, and UI surfaces that all work together. Previously, developers had to choose between rich user interfaces and autonomous agent capabilities. Agent-Native supports both from the same action layer.

A CLI with starter templates is available for scaffolding new projects, including a minimal chat UI and headless option.

Cloudflare Security Audit Skill: AI-Powered Security Auditing for Coding Agents

Cloudflare has open-sourced security-audit-skill under the MIT license. Drop the Markdown instruction files into your coding agent, and it transforms into a security auditor that orchestrates isolated agents through multi-phase audits.

The skill includes attack-family-specific audit files for memory corruption, prompt injection, HTTP request framing, and tenant isolation. Each phase coordinates isolated agents from reconnaissance to candidate validation to structured reporting.

Unlike conventional code review tools, this replicates a real security auditor’s workflow. With 7,400+ GitHub stars, it stands as a practical example of AI-driven security automation.

Gaming

Dune: Awakening Launches on Consoles with Single-Player Mode Today

Funcom’s Dune: Awakening launches on PS5 and Xbox Series X|S on September 22, alongside the most-requested feature since the PC launch: a full single-player mode. The final chapter of the Book One story arrives the same day.

Pricing is $49.99 for standard, $69.99 for deluxe, and $89.99 for ultimate editions. Deluxe and ultimate buyers received a 5-day head start.

A free post-launch update will add the Polar Cap, an icy new region on Arrakis. The game blends open-world survival with RPG gameplay set in Frank Herbert’s universe.

2026 Asian Games Esports Opens with 23 Nations Competing

Esports returns as an official medal event at the Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games for the second time. Competition runs from September 23 to October 2 at Aichi Sky Expo, with 23 nations participating.

The program has expanded from the Hangzhou edition to 13 titles across 11 events. League of Legends, Honor of Kings, and Mobile Legends: Bang Bang headline alongside Japanese publisher titles including Tekken 8, Gran Turismo 7, Puyo Puyo Champions, eFootball, and Pokemon Unite.

Host nation Japan will send a 25-member delegation across seven events and nine titles. A successful run here strengthens the case for esports inclusion in the Olympic Games.

Castlevania: Belmont’s Curse Free Demo Arrives October 1

Konami has announced a free playable demo for Castlevania: Belmont’s Curse, launching October 1 on PS5, Xbox Series X|S, Nintendo Switch, and PC via Steam. The demo covers the opening chapter, and save data transfers to the full game on the same platform.

The demo runs at 60 FPS on PS5 and Xbox, and 30 FPS on Switch. Storage requirements are approximately 6GB on PS5, 5GB on Xbox, 4GB on PC, and 3GB on Switch.

The full game launches on October 15, two weeks after the demo. Offering a playable demo ahead of launch is uncommon for the Castlevania franchise, signaling Konami’s confidence in the title.

References

Google’s Gemini becomes latest AI model to break out and hack computer systems — CNBC
Google says AI model gained unauthorized access to three outside systems — NBC News
Google Confirms Gemini AI Breached Three Firms — SecurityWeek
Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 6 Announcement Date Revealed — Beebom
Qualcomm confirms late-September launch for Snapdragon 8 Elite 2 — Notebookcheck
Snapdragon Summit 2026: Qualcomm’s Biggest Chip Launches to Watch — Analytics Insight
Manifest V2 support timeline — Chrome for Developers
Manifest V2 Is Dead as Chrome Web Store Permanently Purges Legacy Extensions — Chrome Unboxed
Exports up 78% in first 20 days of Sept. on robust chip shipments — Korea Times
AI-Driven Chip Supercycle Lifts Korea’s Exports to Record $71.4 Billion — Seoul Economic Daily
Paymob raises $35 million pre-Series C co-led by Mubadala, EBRD — Wamda
Paymob Scoops $35M as GCC Market Hits Nearly Half of Group Revenue — Launch Base Africa
Power play: Amber charges up on $78.5 million Series E for global push — Startup Daily
Morgan Stanley 1GT Leads Series E Funding for Amber Electric — FinancialContent
BuilderIO/agent-native — GitHub
How to build agent-native applications — Builder.io Blog
BuilderIO/builder-agent-native-starter — GitHub
cloudflare/security-audit-skill — GitHub
Cloudflare launches its AI security audit skill — Korben
Console Date and Single-Player Announced — Dune: Awakening
Dune Awakening Console Release Date September 2026 — WCCFTech
Asian Games 2026 esports schedule and participants — Sheep Esports
Esports at the 2026 Asian Games — Wikipedia
Esports Return to the Asian Games: Looking Beyond Aichi-Nagoya — Nippon.com
A demo of Castlevania Belmont’s Curse has been officially announced — VGC
You Can Try Castlevania: Belmont’s Curse For Free On October 1 — The Gamer
Konami Releasing Castlevania: Belmont’s Curse Demo Next Month — Nintendo Life