[10/17 18:00] SoftBank weighs $18 billion Allied Universal deal, eyes replacing some guards with robots / Texas promises a data center water crackdown, but the penalty tops out at $500

AI News Flash for October 17, 2026 at 18:00 UTC.

Topics: 1. SoftBank weighs $18 billion Allied Universal deal, eyes replacing some guards with robots https://www.kslm.news/news/softbank-weighs-18-billion-acquisition-of-allied-universal-bloomberg-news-reports-mvbf93hc 2. Texas promises a data center water crackdown, but the penalty tops out at $500 https://www.yahoo.com/news/us/articles/texas-promises-data-center-water-172100238.html 3. Monday.com faces wave of senior exits amid AI-centered restructuring https://www.calcalistech.com/ctechnews/article/2wsa7rgfb 4. Malwarebytes warns phishing emails are baiting AI assistants with hidden instructions https://futurism.com/artificial-intelligence/ai-agent-sucker-phishing-emails 5. Japan turns to AI maps, robot wolves and drones to fight record bear attacks https://www.yahoo.com/news/world/articles/japan-deploys-robots-pepper-spraying-133936830.html