Technology

Stellantis is in a crisis of its own making

Published

6 days ago

February 21, 2026

Stellantis is in a crisis of its own making

Demand for EVs has gone glacial, and one automaker after another is running aground: General Motors threw $7.6 billion overboard. Ford washed $19.5 billion off its books. Leave it to Stellantis to face the most titanic charge yet, a $26.5 billion bill for its own misplaced bet on EVs.

The Jeep, Dodge, and Chrysler parent company hasn’t said how much of that unfathomable sum is explicitly due to EV losses, as the write-down wiped away about 25 percent of the company’s stock value overnight. Every automaker faces the same cooling EV demand and whipsawing political climate, yet Stellantis appears the most exposed, due in part to longstanding failures to keep up with evolving tech or consumer tastes. Don’t forget quality. An additional $16.7 billion charge for warranty and recall claims, including a recall of 320,000 Jeep 4xe plug-in hybrids for battery-fire risks, adds insult to financial injury.

The names may change — Stellantis, Fiat Chrysler, DaimlerChrysler, Chrysler Corp. — but the company stays frustratingly familiar. It’s the slightly off-key sister in the Motown trio. It’s an automaker enamored of the quick fix, the low-hanging fruit.

In America, that low-hanging fruit tends to come in bunches of eight, with Hemi V8s below the hood of a thirsty pickup, SUV, or muscle car. Now it’s déjà vu all over again. Stellantis plans to ship 100,000 Hemi engines from its Saltillo, Mexico, factory in 2026, tripling output to power Ram 1500 pickups, Jeep Wranglers, and other models. For now, the demand appears there, and executives intend to give the people what they want.

During an analysts’ call last year, Stellantis CEO Antonio Filosa said the so-called Big Beautiful Bill — making sure to give President Trump credit — allows the company “more flexibility in choosing… a mix between ICE and electric versions that we sell. And this will mean, to us, a lot of additional profit.”

A driver from Stellantis takes a journalist on a drive in a 2026 Jeep Gladiator Rubicon during the 2026 Chicago Auto Show Media Preview at McCormick Place in Chicago in February of 2026.

Photo by Joel Lerner/Xinhua via Getty Images

After a bad EV bet, automakers hope for an ICE winning streak

It’s hard to blame automakers for wanting to make back these brutal EV losses. Like GM, Ford, or Toyota, Stellantis is forecasting a financial windfall from the Trump administration’s blank check on pollution and mileage rules. But the pendulum will inevitably swing, and if this automaker doesn’t invest in affordable passenger cars and tech, it’s going to get its head lopped off.

Certainly, Stellantis’ EVs weren’t getting it done in America. The hunky Dodge Charger Daytona was a valiant-but-failed attempt at updating Mopar muscle for an electric age. Dodge was forced to add a gasoline version. A half-baked Jeep Wagoneer S EV, at more than $70,000 with options, fell flat in showrooms. The 2026 Jeep Recon is the company’s next shot at luring Tesla Model Y buyers, though the Mexico-built SUV will also start from $67,000, and with no $7,500 consumer tax credit to soften the blow.

The names may change — Stellantis, Fiat Chrysler, DaimlerChrysler, Chrysler Corp. — but the company stays frustratingly familiar

Those models aren’t what the Trump administration has in mind to “assist” the industry, as it locks fuel-economy and emissions rules into a time machine, seemingly bound for the Eisenhower administration. A yearlong spree against regulations culminated with last week’s killing of the “endangerment finding,” the historic ruling that required the Environmental Protection Agency to regulate greenhouse gases as a threat to public health and safety.

Automakers will no longer face fines for failing to meet tailpipe pollution or fuel-economy standards. They will no longer be required to buy pricey climate credits from the likes of Tesla, or spend billions developing EVs that weren’t boosting the bottom line.

In the face of such regulatory monkey business, the Detroit Three are naturally tempted to play see no evil, hear no evil. Automakers are free to make whatever cars they like, at least until the next sheriff rides into Washington. “Choice” is their new mantra. Unsurprisingly, their choice is to make hay and haul it in fossil-fueled SUVs and pickup trucks that generate virtually all its profits.

Washington insists this is all about making cars more affordable. That includes a vindictive axing of fuel-saving stop/start technology, which the EPA calculated was trimming owners’ gasoline bills between 7.3 and 26.4 percent. (Wait, doesn’t gasoline cost money?) And it’s precisely those feature-stuffed trucks and SUVs that drove the price of the average new car past $50,000 in the first place. Today’s cheap gasoline also encourages automakers to party now and pay later. Longer memories will recall the old Chrysler getting caught with its pants down whenever fuel prices spiked, its showrooms overflowing with unsold, guzzling trucks. Churlish types may even recall Chrysler’s 2009 bankruptcy and subsequent federal bailout.

Still Top-Heavy with Trucks

Like its automaking peers, Stellantis insists it won’t walk away from EVs. But it remains more reliant on trucks and SUVs than any rival. Stellantis would at least try to own its area of expertise. Yet sales of its bread-and-butter Ram pickup, after briefly nosing past the mighty Ford F-150, have fallen off a cliff. Sure, some of that drop came from Ram’s controversial decision to drop a V-8 in favor of a more-efficient “Hurricane” inline V-6. But it’s more related to the botched rollout of a redesigned 2025 Ram, with production bottlenecks, quality glitches, and the elimination of an affordable “Classic” model in favor of moneymakers like the $87,000 Tungsten edition.

Try this for market malpractice: Prior to the launch of the 2026 Jeep Cherokee, a critical hybrid SUV that revives a storied Jeep nameplate, Stellantis didn’t even have a straight-up rival for the Toyota RAV4, Honda CR-V, or other wildly popular compact SUVs. (The Jeep Compass is much smaller and not up for that fight).

“That’s really where the market is, and the Koreans and Japanese are all over those segments,” says Tom Libby, director of industry analysis for S&P Global Mobility.

Like its automaking peers, Stellantis insists it won’t walk away from EVs. But it remains more reliant on trucks and SUVs than any rival

Compact SUVs are one of 33 market segments, by S&P’s count, yet those models account for 21 percent of all US sales. Stellantis, in effect, “was only competing in four-fifths of the market,” Libby says.

A revolving door of management hasn’t helped. Filosa is the latest CEO following the abrupt resignation of Carlos Tavares in December 2024, with Tavares facing pressure from all sides. Dealers, suppliers, the UAW, key shareholders, and the managing board were in near-revolt over slumping sales and Tavares’ relentless cost-cutting. Like a perpetually rebuilding sports franchise, each new company chief arrives with high hopes and fresh strategies, then gets replaced before he or she can see it through.

“You can’t keep changing course and expect things to improve,” Libby says.

In Europe, Stellantis’ Peugeot and Citroen brands were doing solid EV sales. Now the EU is watering down an EV mandate for 2035. So Stellantis plans to resurrect diesel engines in at least seven European models. Some analysts see this as smart business, with Chinese automakers having no diesels to sell. But this is also Stellantis at its blast-from-the-past best. In Europe, diesels have fallen from more than half the market in 2015 to 7.7 percent today. EVs are at nearly 20 percent and rising fast, driven by the arrival of Chinese models from BYD and others.

Image: Stellantis

Too Many Brands, Not Enough Stars

Notoriously, Stellantis has too many underperforming brands, with 14 core outfits including a superfluous Lancia, Vauxhall, and DS in Europe. (I’ll leave Maserati off that list, hoping this once-glorious brand can survive). By this point, a boss-baby CEO would realize he has too many toys to play with. Yet each new chief has resisted making tough calls on which brands to cut loose. As brands such as Chrysler wither, executives publicly proclaim their love and commitment, only to neglect them.

Attempts to reestablish Fiat and Alfa Romeo in America were noble, especially for enthusiasts who crave some la dolce vita in their cars. But Alfa Romeo sold 5,600 cars here last year and a paltry 1,300 for Fiat. Sorry, but the experiment has failed. And despite having seven brands in America, none is the kind of mainstream anchor provided by GM’s Chevrolet, Ford, Toyota, or Honda.

Yet for all that, Stellantis doesn’t have a mainstream domestic car brand to take on Toyota, Honda, or Hyundai. It doesn’t have a high-margin luxury brand akin to Cadillac, whose thriving EV sales (prior to the kibosh on consumer credits) saw it pass a stumbling Audi in the US luxury ranks.

“You can’t keep changing course and expect things to improve.”

— Tom Libby, director of industry analysis for S&P Global Mobility

Things hit bottom in August, when Stellantis’ share of the US retail market reached a record-low 5.4-percent, according to S&P Global. The company has begun to turn things around, with retail share rising to 6.3 percent in November. But after shedding market share to Toyota or Honda for decades, the company is now losing it to Hyundai and Kia, whose sales have exploded. Not coincidentally, those Korean brands have invested in full lineups that encompass affordable sedans, SUVs, and smartly designed EVs.

One ominous number illustrates the depth of the problem. Stellantis’ percentage of repeat customers, which S&P calls its manufacturer loyalty measure, sunk to around 41 percent in August, before recovering to 47 percent for the fourth quarter. In other words, fewer than half of current owners are buying another Stellantis model, and that’s with seven brands to choose from. Among automakers that offer at least two brands here, only Volkswagen was lower at 44 percent.

At GM, a healthy 66 percent of owners end up buying another GM model, followed by Toyota and Ford at a respective 64 and 61 percent. That loyalty has become a critical indicator of long-term success, as a growing number of automakers fight over a limited (or shrinking) pie of new-car buyers. The winners are those who can steal customers from rivals, win over younger generations, and ideally keep them for life.

Can Stellantis Turn Things Around?

The frustrating part is that Stellantis, when it’s on its game, can deliver compelling cars and trucks, full of charm and personality.

The plush-and-powerful Ram. The Jeep Wrangler, which experienced a massive sales renaissance as Americans rediscovered the joys of authentic off-roaders. The Dodge Challenger and its Hellcat and Demon offshoots. The overlooked Maserati GranTurismo Folgore, a sweet-driving, 202-mph electric indulgence that makes a Lucid look like a Hertz rental.

Stellantis has little choice but to lean into its traditional customer base for now. But Stellantis must keep investing in electrification and other advanced tech, before the winds change again. Chinese EVs already have a foothold in Europe and a coming toehold in Canada and will inevitably blow into America as well.

The Ram 1500 REV pickup, serially delayed, remains an intriguing tech play. This type of “extended range electric vehicle,” or EREV, uses an ICE engine solely to generate electricity for a battery, which then efficiently powers the wheels. With much longer electric ranges than today’s plug-in hybrids, and the ability to fill a gas tank when needed, EREVs could prove popular with Americans who are leery over EV range or long charging times. Ram says the REV can cover 145 miles on plug-in electricity alone, with 690 miles of total range.

Filosa intends to revitalize a near-dormant Chrysler brand, including an actual sedan (possibly electric) based on the Halcyon concept, and perhaps a sporty small car priced below $30,000. The company is also readying a demo fleet of Charger Daytonas, powered by semi-solid-state batteries — from the Massachusetts-based Factorial Energy — that helped a lightly modified Mercedes EQS sedan cover 749 miles from Stuttgart to Sweden, with 85 miles of range to spare.

If Stellantis can get in on the ground floor of crazy-ranging, rapid-charging solid-state batteries, it and other homegrown automakers could leapfrog the best lithium-ion technology in all of China. Stellantis would be viewed as a tech leader, not a follower. Show them 500 miles of range and a 15-minute charge, and EV fans might consider a Dodge, Chrysler, or Ram for the first time in their lives. Don’t laugh. Remember how Tesla was going to drive every legacy automaker out of business? The clock may be ticking on Stellantis, but it’s not too late to change.

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Lawrence Ulrich

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Technology

Here’s your first look at Kratos in Amazon’s God of War show

Published

34 minutes ago

February 27, 2026

Press Room

Here’s your first look at Kratos in Amazon’s God of War show

Amazon has slowly been teasing out casting details for its live-action adaptation of God of War, and now we have our first look at the show. It’s a single image but a notable one showing protagonist Kratos and his son Atreus. The characters are played by Ryan Hurst and Callum Vinson, respectively, and they look relatively close to their video game counterparts.

There aren’t a lot of other details about the show just yet, but this is Amazon’s official description:

The God of War series storyline follows father and son Kratos and Atreus as they embark on a journey to spread the ashes of their wife and mother, Faye. Through their adventures, Kratos tries to teach his son to be a better god, while Atreus tries to teach his father how to be a better human.

That sounds a lot like the recent soft reboot of the franchise, which started with 2018’s God of War and continued through Ragnarök in 2022. For the Amazon series, Ronald D. Moore, best-known for his work on For All Mankind and Battlestar Galactica, will serve as showrunner. The rest of the cast includes: Mandy Patinkin (Odin), Ed Skrein (Baldur), Max Parker (Heimdall), Ólafur Darri Ólafsson (Thor), Teresa Palmer (Sif), Alastair Duncan (Mimir), Jeff Gulka (Sindri), and Danny Woodburn (Brok).

While production is underway on the God of War series, there’s no word on when it might start streaming.

Technology

300,000 Chrome users hit by fake AI extensions

Published

1 hour ago

February 27, 2026

Press Room

300,000 Chrome users hit by fake AI extensions

NEWYou can now listen to Fox News articles!

Your web browser may feel like a safe place, especially when you install helpful tools that promise to make your life easier. But security researchers have uncovered a dangerous campaign in which more than 300,000 people installed Chrome extensions pretending to be artificial intelligence (AI) assistants. Instead of helping, these fake tools secretly collect sensitive information like your emails, passwords and browsing activity.

They used familiar names like ChatGPT, Gemini and AI Assistant. If you use Chrome and have installed any AI-related extension, your personal information may already be exposed. Even worse, some of these malicious extensions are still available today, putting more people at risk without their knowing.

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More than 300,000 Chrome users installed fake AI extensions that secretly harvested sensitive data. (Kurt “CyberGuy” Knutsson)

What you need to know about fake AI extensions

Security researchers at browser security company LayerX discovered a large campaign involving 30 malicious Chrome extensions disguised as AI-powered assistants (via BleepingComputer). Together, these extensions were installed more than 300,000 times by unsuspecting users.

Some of the most popular extensions included names like AI Sidebar with 70,000 users, AI Assistant with 60,000 users, ChatGPT Translate with 30,000 users, and Google Gemini with 10,000 users. Another extension called Gemini AI Sidebar had 80,000 users before it was removed.

These extensions were distributed through the official Chrome Web Store, which made them appear legitimate and trustworthy. Even more concerning, researchers found that many of these extensions were connected to the same malicious server, showing they were part of a coordinated effort.

While some extensions have since been removed, others remain available. This means new users could still unknowingly install them and expose their personal data. Here’s the list of the affected extensions:

AI Assistant
Llama
Gemini AI Sidebar
AI Sidebar
ChatGPT Sidebar
Grok
Asking ChatGPT
ChatGBT
Chat Bot GPT
Grok Chatbot
Chat With Gemini
XAI
Google Gemini
Ask Gemini
AI Letter Generator
AI Message Generator
AI Translator
AI For Translation
AI Cover Letter Generator
AI Image Generator ChatGPT
Ai Wallpaper Generator
Ai Picture Generator
DeepSeek Download
AI Email Writer
Email Generator AI
DeepSeek Chat
ChatGPT Picture Generator
ChatGPT Translate
AI GPT
ChatGPT Translation
ChatGPT for Gmail

FAKE AI CHAT RESULTS ARE SPREADING DANGEROUS MAC MALWARE

These malicious tools were listed in the official Chrome Web Store, making them appear legitimate and trustworthy. (LayerX)

How the fake AI Chrome extension attack works

These fake extensions pretend to offer helpful AI features, such as translating text, summarizing emails, or acting as an AI assistant. But behind the scenes, they quietly monitor what you are doing online.

Once installed, the extension gains permission to view and interact with the websites you visit. This allows it to read the contents of web pages, including login screens where you enter your username and password.

In some cases, the extensions specifically targeted Gmail. They could read your email messages directly from your browser, including emails you received and even drafts you were still writing. This means attackers could access private conversations, financial information and sensitive personal details.

The extensions then sent this information to servers controlled by the attackers. Because they loaded content remotely, the attackers could change their behavior at any time without needing to update the extension.

Some versions could also activate voice features through your browser. This could potentially capture spoken conversations near your device and send transcripts back to the attackers.

If you installed one of these extensions, attackers may already have access to extremely sensitive information. This includes your email content, login credentials, browsing habits and possibly even voice recordings.

We reached out to Google for comment, and a spokesperson told CyberGuy that the company “can confirm that the extensions from this report have all been removed from the Google Web Store.”

BROWSER EXTENSION MALWARE INFECTED 8.8M USERS IN DARKSPECTRE ATTACK

Once installed, the extensions could read emails, capture passwords, monitor browsing activity and send the data to attacker-controlled servers. (Bildquelle/ullstein bild via Getty Images)

7 ways you can protect yourself from malicious Chrome extensions

If you have ever installed an AI-related Chrome extension, taking a few simple precautions now can help protect your accounts and prevent further damage.

1) Remove any suspicious or unused browser extensions

On a Windows PC or Mac, open Chrome and type chrome://extensions into the address bar. Review every extension listed. If you see anything unfamiliar, especially AI assistants you don’t remember installing, click “Remove” immediately. Malicious extensions depend on going unnoticed. Removing them stops further data collection and cuts off the attacker’s access to your information.

2) Change your passwords

If you installed any suspicious extension, assume your passwords may be compromised. Start by changing your email password first, since email controls access to most other accounts. Then update passwords for banking, shopping and social media accounts. This prevents attackers from using stolen credentials to break into your accounts.

3) Use a password manager to create and protect strong passwords

A password manager generates unique, complex passwords for each account and stores them securely. This prevents attackers from accessing multiple accounts if one password is stolen. Password managers also alert you if your login credentials appear in known data breaches, helping you respond quickly and protect your identity. Check out the best expert-reviewed password managers of 2026 at Cyberguy.com.

4) Install strong antivirus software and keep it active

Good antivirus software can detect malicious browser extensions, spyware, and other hidden threats. It scans your system for suspicious activity and blocks harmful programs before they can steal your information. This adds an important layer of protection that works continuously in the background to keep your device safe. Get my picks for the best 2026 antivirus protection winners for your Windows, Mac, Android & iOS devices at Cyberguy.com.

5) Use an identity theft protection service

Identity theft protection services monitor your personal data, including email addresses, financial accounts, and Social Security numbers, for signs of misuse. If criminals try to open accounts or commit fraud using your information, you receive alerts quickly. Early detection allows you to act fast and limit financial and personal damage. See my tips and best picks on how to protect yourself from identity theft at Cyberguy.com.

6) Keep your browser and computer fully updated

Software updates fix security vulnerabilities that attackers exploit. Enable automatic updates for Chrome and your operating system so you always have the latest protections. These updates strengthen your defenses against malicious extensions and prevent attackers from taking advantage of known weaknesses.

7) Use a personal data removal service

Personal data removal services scan data broker websites that collect and sell your personal information. They help remove your data from these sites, reducing what attackers can find and use against you. Less exposed information means fewer opportunities for criminals to target you with scams, identity theft or phishing attacks.

Check out my top picks for data removal services and get a free scan to find out if your personal information is already out on the web by visiting Cyberguy.com.

Get a free scan to find out if your personal information is already out on the web: Cyberguy.com.

Kurt’s key takeaway

Even tools designed to make your life easier can become tools for cybercriminals. Malicious extensions often hide behind trusted names and convincing features, making them difficult to spot. You can significantly reduce your risk by reviewing your browser extensions regularly, removing anything suspicious and using protective tools like password managers and strong antivirus software.

Have you checked your browser extensions recently? Let us know your thoughts by writing to us at Cyberguy.com.

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Kurt “CyberGuy” Knutsson is an award-winning tech journalist who has a deep love of technology, gear and gadgets that make life better with his contributions for Fox News & FOX Business beginning mornings on “FOX & Friends.” Got a tech question? Get Kurt’s free CyberGuy Newsletter, share your voice, a story idea or comment at CyberGuy.com.

Technology

Anthropic refuses Pentagon’s new terms, standing firm on lethal autonomous weapons and mass surveillance

Published

13 hours ago

February 26, 2026

Press Room

Anthropic refuses Pentagon’s new terms, standing firm on lethal autonomous weapons and mass surveillance

Less than 24 hours before the deadline in an ultimatum issued by the Pentagon, Anthropic has refused the Department of Defense’s demands for unrestricted access to its AI.

It’s the culmination of a dramatic exchange of public statements, social media posts, and behind-the-scenes negotiations, coming down to Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s desire to renegotiate all AI labs’ current contracts with the military. But Anthropic, so far, has refused to back down from its two current red lines: no mass surveillance of Americans, and no lethal autonomous weapons (or weapons with license to kill targets with no human oversight whatsoever). OpenAI and xAI had reportedly already agreed to the new terms, while Anthropic’s refusal had led to CEO Dario Amodei being summoned to the White House this week for a meeting with Hegseth himself, in which the Secretary reportedly issued an ultimatum to the CEO to back down by the end of business day on Friday or else.

In a statement late Thursday, Amodei wrote, “I believe deeply in the existential importance of using AI to defend the United States and other democracies, and to defeat our autocratic adversaries. Anthropic has therefore worked proactively to deploy our models to the Department of War and the intelligence community.”

He added that the company has “never raised objections to particular military operations nor attempted to limit use of our technology in an ad hoc manner” but that in a “narrow set of cases, we believe AI can undermine, rather than defend, democratic values” — going on to specifically mention mass domestic surveillance and fully autonomous weapons. (Amodei mentioned that “partial autonomous weapons … are vital to the defense of democracy” and that fully autonomous weapons may eventually “prove critical for our national defense,” but that “today, frontier AI systems are simply not reliable enough to power fully autonomous weapons.” He did not rule out Anthropic acquiescing to the military’s use of fully autonomous weapons in the future but mentioned that they were not ready now.)

The Pentagon had already reportedly asked major defense contractors to assess their dependence on Anthropic’s Claude, which could be seen as the first step to designating the company a “supply chain risk” – a public threat that the Pentagon had made recently (and a classification usually reserved for threats to national security). The Pentagon was also reportedly considering invoking the Defense Production Act to make Anthropic comply.

Amodei wrote in his statement that the Pentagon’s “threats do not change our position: we cannot in good conscience accede to their request.” He also wrote that “should the Department choose to offboard Anthropic, we will work to enable a smooth transition to another provider, avoiding any disruption to ongoing military planning, operations, or other critical missions. Our models will be available on the expansive terms we have proposed for as long as required.”