AI and Tech News, 18 Oct 2026: Starshield, DeepSeek, Meta Terms

Today's eight biggest tech and AI stories cover a lot of ground, from Zelenskyy's claim that Starshield limits target only Ukraine and DeepSeek's latest model update all the way to a 1,153 hp electric SUV from Mercedes-AMG.

1. Zelenskyy says Starshield limits only apply in Ukraine, and look deliberate

According to him, tests with Starlink-equipped vehicles in EU countries showed the speed restrictions kick in only inside Ukraine, and he called it a planned operation. Trump and the White House deny ordering any limits.

2. DeepSeek ships its V4.1-Flash-1017 model update

It's live now on DeepSeek's web, app and API, pricing hasn't changed, and the open weights are on Hugging Face. DeepSeek says it beats larger rivals on some coding and agent benchmarks.

3. Meta drops terms language that raised AI scraping concerns

The wording sat in business terms due October 30, and experts said it could let Meta crawl news and other sites tied to business accounts. Meta deleted it, saying the crawling terms only applied to ads and business products.

4. TikTok suspends the Musk documentary's ad account, then reinstates it

TikTok pointed to the severity of political-policy violations, just as Alex Gibney's film about Elon Musk was widening its theatrical release. Distributor Bleecker Street said it was appealing, and TikTok later restored the account, calling the suspension an error.

5. OpenCode says a breach exposed provider API keys for 1.4% of console users

The coding agent's maker blamed unauthorized access to a legacy system it was retiring. Affected users got an email, and they're being urged to revoke saved keys, such as OpenAI and Anthropic ones.

6. Engineer charged over a recording device at OpenAI asks for bail

Abdulrahman Alfozan is accused of hiding an audio recorder in OpenAI's offices. His lawyers say his one-way ticket to Saudi Arabia was booked before the federal investigation began, and deny that he planned to flee.

7. Turkey confirms the arrest of Hex founder Richard Heart and a $7.15M cash seizure

Police also seized six cold wallets, according to Justice Minister Akin Gurlek. Heart, who's the subject of a Finnish Interpol Red Notice, was detained in Istanbul with his wife on October 14.

8. Up to 1,153 HP: Mercedes-AMG unveils an electric GT SUV

Three motors power the top GT 63 version. Mercedes says the 128 kWh models charge at up to 710 kW, going from 10% to 80% in about 12 minutes. US arrivals are due in summer 2027.