This Week in Tech: AI Marketplaces, Phishing, a Cheaper MacBook + More

AI platforms opened storefronts, Google's security tool missed a lot of phishing sites, and Wikipedia briefly locked the doors after an admin compromise. Apple showed off a cheaper laptop and prediction markets discovered college campuses. That’s the week.

Anthropic Launches Claude Marketplace

Anthropic introduced a marketplace for Claude where developers can publish specialized AI tools that run inside the assistant. Think research helpers, coding utilities, or workflow tools built by third parties. It turns Claude into more of a platform instead of just a chatbot. If the model is the operating system, this is the app store layer being born.

GPT-5.4 Thinking and GPT-5.4 Pro

OpenAI rolled out two new variants, GPT-5.4 Thinking and GPT-5.4 Pro. The Thinking model focuses on longer reasoning chains and slower, more deliberate responses. The Pro version targets heavier workloads and enterprise usage, so you have one model optimized for careful reasoning, another built for scale.

Google Safe Browsing Missed Phishing Sites

Researchers reported that Google’s Safe Browsing system failed to catch about 84 percent of confirmed phishing sites in their dataset. Safe Browsing powers warnings across Chrome, Android, and many third-party browsers, so a gap that size is clearly a problem.

Wikipedia Admin Compromise / Read-Only Mode

Wikipedia briefly switched into read-only mode after attackers hit multiple admin accounts. Locking edits prevented further damage while the Wikimedia team investigated and secured access. The site stayed online for readers, but editing paused until control was restored.

Prediction Markets Target College Students

Reporting from several outlets says prediction market platforms are promoting their apps directly on US college campuses. The strategy: student influencers, referral bonuses and events designed to get students trading contracts. The pitch is forecasting but it sure looks a lot like betting.

Apple Announces a Lower Cost MacBook Neo

Apple introduced a lower priced MacBook called the MacBook Neo powered by the A18 Pro chip. They're bringing Apple Silicon performance into a cheaper laptop tier for students and everyday users. If the price lands where people expect, it could become the new entry point to the Mac lineup.

Showmax May Shut Down

Reports say MultiChoice is reviewing the future of Showmax after years of losses in the streaming market. The service launched to compete with global platforms like Netflix across parts of Africa but never reached the scale needed to sustain the spending that streaming requires.

Google Zero-Day Disclosure Window

Google says hackers exploited 90 zero-day vulnerabilities in the wild last year, up from 78 in 2024. Most attacks came from commercial spyware vendors and groups linked to China, according to the company’s annual Threat Analysis report.

That's all. Next week, same time, same place?