It was a week punctuated by a major Amazon Web Services (AWS) outage (which took down both Taco Bell's app and the Boston Globe website, among others, so there were some grumpy lunchgoers that day), as well as a massive cyberattack affecting hundreds of businesses, including many U.S. federal agencies.

But the biggest news, according to our readers, is the potential influence that Cisco, Intel and Dell are having on the open RAN ecosystem. As a nascent industry, open RAN is one to watch — the top players can and probably will change as they jockey for market share.

In our other top stories, Executive Editor Dan Meyer looks at Apple's new Vision Pro device (they're calling it a “spatial computer,” but it looks a set of like AR/VR goggles to me) and connects the dots to see how the device might be the first to fully utilize 5G technology.

Our other Dan, Editor in Chief Dan Muse, explores the controversy of ChatGPT in the workplace and whether or not CISOs should block it. He also manages to work the movie Jurassic Park into the story, which — c'mon — who doesn't love AI and dinosaurs in the same storyline?

Without further ado (and because I know Steven Spielberg is calling me in 3, 2, 1...), here are this week's top 5 stories.

1. Why Cisco, Intel and Dell are leading open RAN influencers

Cisco, Intel and Dell Technologies are among a handful of vendors that boast open radio access network (RAN) market influence, but the still-gelling nature of the market means that influencer status can change and so could the open-ness strategies of those players.

Analysys Mason grouped that trio of vendors as well as Samsung, NEC, Rakuten Mobile and Meta in the most influential sphere of open ecosystem players in the open RAN space. That selection was out of 209 total product and service providers the analyst firm said were “active in this segment.”

2. Apple’s Vision Pro might be the first to fully use 5G tech — or not

Apple this week unveiled its highly anticipated Vision Pro “spatial computer” that is viewed by many as an inflection point in the virtual, augmented and extended reality (VR/AR/XR) space, but could it also be the first device to take full advantage of 5G cellular technology?

3. Should CISOs block ChatGPT? Tips on how to find a compromise

The latest technology that users are accessing at work is ChatGPT, which carries unique implications and challenges, leaving some CISOs and other technology leaders wondering if they should block ChatGPT.  And many have. According to a report by HR Brew, many companies — including Apple, JP Morgan Chase, Amazon, Accenture and other — have banned or limited its use.

What approach should you take? Like any critical question, this one isn’t easy to answer.

4. Google’s Secure AI Framework: How to build a safer AI future

Driven by the generative AI storm, the need to build a more secure artificial intelligence (AI) future has become increasingly important. To address this, Google unveiled its Secure AI Framework designed to ensure that AI models are secure-by-default.

5. New Google Cloud generative AI products aim to reduce security risks, address talent gap

Generative artificial intelligence (AI) is working its way into every realm — and cybersecurity is no exception. Today at Google Cloud Security Summit, Google Cloud increased its efforts to combine AI and cybersecurity with the announcement of several new and enhanced products and partnerships.

The goal is to get the “power of generative AI to be a force multiplier across all security,” Sunil Potti, GM and VP of cloud security at Google Cloud, said in a prebriefing. He emphasized that “generative AI has the potential to reduce the toil of repetitive tasks that plague security teams.”