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Microsoft refreshes its smaller Surface Pro and Laptop with Qualcomm’s X2 Plus
The Surface Pro 12-inch Second Edition comes in black, silver, or violet. | Image: Microsoft
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Microsoft’s new Surface Mouse has haptic feedback and a customizable action button
Microsoft is launching a second generation of its Surface Mouse next month that includes haptic feedback support. The Surface Mouse also has a customizable action button for the first time, which is primarily designed…
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XPRIZE Wildfire winners spotted fires within 10 min—but couldn’t stop them
Wildfire detection from space and firefighting drones featured among the finalists honored in the $11 million XPRIZE Wildfire competition. Although no team walked away with either of the two grand prizes, such…
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Discord age verification rolls out today with changes spurred by user backlash
Discord today is rolling out an age-verification system that estimates each user's age and requires some users to prove they are old enough to access age-restricted content. Discord said it will take a few days for the…
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YouTube promises custom feeds and a lot more AI later this year
The annual Made on YouTube event has just wrapped up, offering an early look at the features you can expect to come to Google's dominant online streaming platform in the coming months. Yes, there's plenty of AI for both…
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Meta’s AI agent is a cute little guy who’s great at spending my money
An adorable little bear that wants to help you buy things.
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Contrary to some reports, you don't have two brains
Late last week, we started seeing headlines about how new research was suggesting we might have two brains instead of the one that seems to show up on MRI scans. As is so often the case, these rumors can be traced back…
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Netflix releases trailer for Brad Bird's Ray Gunn
Brad Bird has directed some of our all-time favorite animated films: The Iron Giant (1999), The Incredibles (2004), and Ratatouille (2007), with the latter two snagging well-deserved Oscar wins. He's back with a new…
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Data centers are black boxes, but California wants to change that
California Gov. Gavin Newsom signed a slate of bills on Monday that could finally give communities better data - and more say - on how data centers impact their electricity bills and water supply.
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Anthropic’s biolab made a discovery it’s comparing to Crispr
Anthropic says its AI Claude has "autonomously discovered" a new enzyme system similar to machinery behind the powerful gene-editing tool Crispr. It's the first result from Anthropic's newly-launched wet lab and an…
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Owners mourn spoiled food after firmware update bricks Samsung smart fridges
Some Samsung smart fridges stopped working on Tuesday due to a firmware update.
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Former NASA chief sounds alarm on China's lunar "exploration" plans
In a forthcoming memoir, former US politician and NASA Administrator Bill Nelson offers a blistering assessment of China, saying the United States must do all it can to retain its leadership in space exploration.
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Bernie Sanders proposes banning ‘superintelligence’ and putting violators in prison
Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) and Rep. Greg Casar (D-TX) have introduced new legislation that would ban anyone from developing artificial superintelligence - a technology the bill describes as capable of the "destruction…
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Logitech’s new Blue Yeti 2 mic adjusts itself to where you are
The LED control display includes a Yeti mascot, because of course it does. | Image: Logitech G
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Logitech’s new haptics-based gaming mouse is a little better and $20 more
The X3 also comes in black. “Lunar eclipse” remains an option for the $179.99 X2. | Image: Logitech
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Pornhub investigated over its age checks
The regulator says it has concerns over how the site is relying on third party checks provided by Apple for some users.
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Xbox’s Mythic achievements sound like PlayStation’s Platinum trophy
Xbox appears to be ready to launch its own version of PlayStation's platinum trophies. A new update to the Xbox PC app has revealed Mythic achievements, which according to data in the app will appear once a player…
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Xbox’s Mythic Achievements sound like PlayStation’s Platinum trophy
Xbox appears to be ready to launch its own version of PlayStation's platinum trophies. A new update to the Xbox PC app has revealed Mythic Achievements, which according to data in the app will appear once a player…
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One of the best Metroid games for the Switch is 30 percent off
Nintendo’s “Customer Appreciation” sale continues through September 26th. It includes discounts on Switch games and accessories, and I thought I’d call out one of my favorite games that’s cheaper than ever. Metroid…
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This $199 GPS sports watch is repairable, modular, and open-source
The Una Watch costs less than most Garmin watches now that its price has been lowered from the Kickstarter offer of $350 to $199, but its modular, repairable design grabbed my attention first. It features a 1.2-inch MIP…
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YouTube is building AI creator tools that do almost everything for them
Part of the job of a content creator is to figure out how to get their work in front of the most people. Cracking - or fighting - the algorithm has historically been a frustration for creators, but YouTube is…
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Discord will now automatically estimate your age
Discord is rolling out a new global age assurance system, seven months after pausing its previous verification measures following backlash from users. Starting today in every country except Australia and the UK, Discord…
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After multiple deaths and injuries, NHTSA is investigating comma.ai
Aftermarket devices that can boost or augment a vehicle’s native advanced driver assistance systems are the target of a new federal investigation this week. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration’s Office of…
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McDonald’s is testing ads on its drive-thru menus
McDonald's is putting ads on its drive-thru menu as part of a "limited" pilot at company-owned restaurants, according to a report from Bloomberg. Drive-thru locations included in the test will show ads from other brands…
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Nobody does it like Remedy
Video games have given us plenty of ways to traverse huge open worlds, but none have felt quite as oddly exhilarating as manipulating gravity in Control Resonant's twisted version of New York City. It's a game that lets…
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America gave up its rare earth edge. China took full advantage.
Look around you, and you’ll see rare earth elements at work. A phone vibrates because a magnet moves a weight. Its screen was polished with cerium powder. Its connection to the rest of the world crosses oceans on cables…
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Xiaomi’s new 18 Pro phones improve on Samsung’s privacy display
Both 18 Pro phones feature rear displays, just like last year’s 17 Pro models. | Image: Xiaomi
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OpenAI gives cyber defence tools to Ukraine
Ukraine will get access to OpenAI's advanced GPT 5.6 Sol model under the deal - a rival to Anthropic's Mythos and Fable
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Small undersea volcanoes may unleash outsized tsunamis
Krakatau, a volcanic island in Indonesia, killed more than 30,000 people when it erupted in 1883. One might assume that volcanic debris posed the major threat, yet many of the victims died from a tsunami caused by the…
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OpenAI nabs key Patreon execs ahead of upcoming announcement
Patreon cofounder Sam Yam is joining OpenAI to lead Creator Product. | Image: The Verge
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A new report from Europe raises serious alarms about orbital collisions
The 2013 sci-fi blockbuster film Gravity, starring Sandra Bullock and George Clooney, popularized the notion of the Kessler syndrome. In the movie, Russia shoots down a defunct satellite and creates a cloud of debris,…
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Eight Sleep’s new cooling hub is small enough to hide under your bed
Eight Sleep announced the next version of its "intelligent sleep system" designed to regulate the temperature of your bed in response to tracked health and sleep metrics like breathing and heart rate. The company calls…
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Ofcom launches investigation into Pornhub over its age checks
The regulator said it had concerns Aylo "may not have conducted sufficient due diligence" over verifying the age of its users.
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Will Trump's AI rebrand as 'super intelligence' catch on?
Some people close to the president have started to use the term but experts say it is unlikely to catch on.
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US criticises Australia's proposed algorithm opt-out laws as 'censorship'
Under the draft laws, tech firms face fines if they do not give users the option to switch off algorithms.
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OpenAI wants to consult elite mathematicians about how to not fumble again
After turning a string of spectacular mathematical results into a reputational crisis, OpenAI is consulting human mathematicians to help it figure out a less disastrous path forward.
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Will a switch to light speed cut power use at data centres?
To save power and add capacity, data centres are switching from copper wires to tech using light.
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Paramount will need to release way more movies to make this merger work
Now that Paramount has reached a settlement with the 12 states that were suing to block its $110 billion merger with Warner Bros. Discovery (WBD), the studio is even closer to becoming one of the world's biggest…
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A new skyline of data centres is rising from the rolling plains of rural China
Potato farmers rub shoulders with rows of gleaming new data centres as Trump and Xi meet to discuss AI safety.
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As Trump and Xi talk, China surges ahead with its AI ambitions
The BBC visits Inner Mongolia, where Beijing's AI infrastructure is progressing at "China speed", says one worker.
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A new skyline of data centres is rising in rural China
The BBC visits Inner Mongolia, where Beijing's AI infrastructure is progressing at "China speed", says one worker.
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Huge data centres rise at 'China speed' to power its AI ambitions
The BBC visits Inner Mongolia, an unlikely frontier in Beijing's AI race with Washington.
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Rare look at the remote engine rooms powering China's AI ambitions
The BBC is in Inner Mongolia where dozen of Chinese data centres are being constructed, as the country aims to lead the world in artificial intelligence.
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Rare look at the remote engine rooms fuelling China's AI boom
The BBC is in Inner Mongolia where dozen of Chinese data centres are being constructed, as the country aims to lead the world in artificial intelligence.
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Woman's brain worm infection confirmed after eggs grow tails in lab test
Out of nowhere, a woman's right arm and leg started shaking uncontrollably. In the moments leading up to the experience, she seemed well; she had no headache, confusion, or weakness. But for about a minute, half of her…
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New Anthropic, OpenAI models make same promise: A little more for a lot less money
OpenAI and Anthropic both recently released new models aimed at lowering costs. Anthropic announced Opus 5.5, the latest version of its main mass-market workhorse model, used for tasks like coding and other complex…
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Rabbit’s new AI agent doesn’t need an R1 to run
Rabbit, the company behind the underwhelming R1 device, is rolling out a standalone AI agent that you don't need its hardware to use, as reported earlier by Wired. The startup says its new OS3 "agentic operating system"…
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Cities across US oppose Trump FCC plan to preempt local broadband rules
Cities and counties around the US are angry at the Trump administration over a proposal to override local rules that govern the deployment of wired broadband networks.
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Saudi Arabia’s new Exobot EVs make the Cybertruck look normal
The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia is mostly known for its global dominance over petroleum production and oil reserves - not necessarily cars and auto manufacturing, and certainly not electric vehicle production. So it was a…
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China is competing with the United States and other nations to develop AI.
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Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 6 comes in an Extreme version too
The 8 Elite Extreme Gen 6 and 8 Elite Gen 6 share most of their specs in common. | Image: Qualcomm
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Motorola’s wild-looking Signature 27 runs Qualcomm’s new Extreme chipset
You couldn’t accuse Motorola of designing a boring phone. | Image: Motorola
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China is competing with the United States and other nations to develop AI.
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China is competing with the United States and other nations to develop AI.
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Apple clarifies that Texture and Grain controls are exclusive to the latest iPhones’ cameras
Apple's new texture and grain controls for stylizing photos will be more limited on older phones than initially expected.
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Microsoft disrupts AI-assisted platform that compromised 12,000 accounts
Microsoft said Tuesday that it led an industry-wide disruption of a subscription-based scam platform that used an AI chatbot to compromise 12,000 Microsoft accounts over a few-month span.
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Score free Pixel Buds 2A when you preorder a Googlebook at Best Buy
An early look at the first set of Googlebooks
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Lawsuit demands OpenAI pay for new school after ChatGPT used in shooting
The families of victims killed in one of the deadliest mass shootings in Canada’s history have already sued OpenAI over its failure to warn law enforcement after discovering in advance that the shooter was using ChatGPT…
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Adobe Premiere finally brings powerful video editing to Android, and it's free
Video editing has never been Android's strong suit. While Apple has long offered iMovie for iPhone and iPad, Google has never had a comparable offering. Adobe is now stepping up to fill this feature gap with a proper…
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Save $30 on Apple’s Magic Keyboard with Touch ID and a numpad
A rare discount on Apple’s dark color keyboard. | Image: The Verge