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Blizzard explains its philosophy for 'Classic Plus' — The WoW: Forever team on the design pillars it uses to 'stay true to the core design, pacing, and tone of the original game'

Blizzard Entertainment has shared its design philosophy for creating an authentic "classic" World of Warcraft: Forever experience The studio says there are four design pillars it uses to build on the vanilla However, since the game is releasing in 2026, there's a challenge in balancing the game's look, with Blizzard saying, "We need to hit that vanilla era for the long-term sustainability of this…

Goodfire says its new ‘inside-out’ monitors catch rogue AI agents at a fraction of the cost

Goodfire just launched what it says is a cheaper way to keep AI agents in check: instead of paying a second AI to read everything an agent does, its monitors peek inside the model while it works and only call in backup when something looks fishy.

Natura’s $99 smart ring puts AI agents on your finger

Natura’s $99 Interface smart ring lets you summon AI agents with the press of a finger to complete tasks, capture thoughts, and control devices — while doubling as a health tracker.

Hurricane Isaias tracker: Live maps show the storm’s path in real time as Gulf states brace for landfall

Tropical storm Isaias is building momentum in the Gulf and, as of Wednesday evening, strengthened into the first Atlantic hurricane of the season. The National Hurricane Center (NHC) announced the news on Thursday, October 8, at 7 a.m. It explained that Isaias was about 385 miles southwest of the mouth of the Mississippi River, with maximum sustained winds of 80 mph. “Residents from Louisiana to t…

20VC x SaaStr with MongoDB’s Dev Ittycheria: OpenAI Reaccelerates to a $70B Run Rate, a CRO Jumps to a Direct Competitor, and Agents Start Picking Your Vendors

With Harry Stebbings, Jason Lemkin, Rory O’Driscoll, and special guest Dev Ittycheria, back in the CEO seat at MongoDB Dev Ittycheria joined us one week into his second run as CEO of MongoDB. CJ Desai stepped down on September 28, effective immediately, and the board named Dev interim President and CEO. Desai left to run Meta’s new enterprise platform, reporting to Mark Zuckerberg. Dev ran MongoDB…

Pentagon offers PsiQuantum a conditional loan of up to $150m

PsiQuantum has received a conditional commitment for a loan of up to $150 million from the US Department of War’s Office of Strategic Capital. The quantum computing company announced the commitment on Thursday. It is the second conditional loan from the same Pentagon office in two days. On Wednesday, the Office of Strategic Capital offered […] This story continues at The Next Web

US bars Microsoft, Adobe, and major IT firms from green card program for skilled foreign workers

The other firms being suspended from the program include Capgemini, Cognizant, HCL, Infosys, Tata, and Wipro.

No Prime needed: Amazon quietly keeps top coffee maker deals live after Prime Day

The October Amazon Prime Day sale is officially over, but some of the best deals are still running — including big savings on coffee makers from Ninja, De'Longhi, and Breville. After browsing today's deals, I discovered that most of the best Prime Day offers are still running — and now they're available to everyone, not just Prime subscribers. • Browse all of today's deals at Amazon To save you ti…

Careful out there: latest GTA 6 leak has major story spoilers

If you can't help yourself, maybe don't watch it at work... If you can't help yourself, maybe don't watch it at work...

Amazon replaces Fire tablets with Android Alexa Tablets from $229.99

Amazon is replacing its Fire tablets with a new line of Alexa Tablets. They are the first Amazon tablets to run Android with full access to the Google Play Store. The company announced three models on Thursday, from $229.99 to $549.99. All three ship on 14 October in the US, Canada and Mexico, and on […] This story continues at The Next Web

Amazon builds 1,000th satellite, will launch space internet service by end of year

The world's largest retailer wants to sell you something else—Internet from space. Amazon has been developing a constellation of satellites to deliver broadband Internet from low-Earth orbit for the better part of a decade, and the company is just about ready to pull back the curtain. It is entering a market that SpaceX, with its Starlink Internet, has dominated for the last half-decade. Amazon's…

Google’s AI note-taking app transcribes your meetings completely offline

Google has released an experimental note-taking app that can transcribe meetings and audio files entirely offline, as reported earlier by TechCrunch . The app, called Google AI Edge Foresight , is free to use and runs on macOS using the company's on-device EmbeddingGemma 2 model . Similar to AI note-taking apps like Granola and Wispr Flow, Foresight summarizes your meetings while providing a space…

US suspending permanent residency programme for Microsoft and Capgemini, officials say

The US is suspending eight technology firms from PERM, the labour certification step that precedes an employer-sponsored green card, citing alleged fraud. Capgemini is the only European company named, and North America is its fastest-growing region at 29% of group revenue. The US has suspended eight technology companies from the programme that lets employers sponsor […] This story continues…

ChatGPT has just changed how it works with 'Intelligent UI'

OpenAI really likes to drop stealth upgrades to ChatGPT onto us with no warning. Sometimes these are really minor , but the latest one adds an entirely new way for it to respond to your queries, and utilizes the power of GPT-6 . Instead of just providing the usual text-based answers to your queries, you now get text, visuals, and interactive elements all mixed together in whatever way best suits t…

Listen to a preview of GTA 6's in-game radio stations right now as Rockstar confirms 'a series of on-demand podcasts' for the first time ever in-game

Rockstar Games just released a sneak preview of six Grand Theft Auto 6 radio stations They include Cocoteo FM, Back Country Radio, AfroBank FM, The Chamber 106.6, Flash FM, and Dirty South Classics The studio also confirmed that " a series of on-demand podcasts" will also be available to listen to in-game "in vehicles or on foot" Rockstar Games just dropped a preview of Grand Theft Auto 6 's radio…

Meta brings Muse to iPad with new tools for small businesses

Your iPad already has your inbox, shopping tabs, and unfinished to-do list. Now Meta wants to put an AI agent in charge of making some progress on them. Meta’s Muse is now available on iPad, as announced in an Oct. 7 Threads post , following its Sept. 8 mobile debut. The free app’s latest update adds iPad support alongside more connections to the services people use for work and everyd…

Grand Theft Auto 6 in-game radio stations and podcasts detailed by Rockstar

With just over a month until Grand Theft Auto VI launches and America experiences an unprecedented flood of PTO requests , Rockstar has given us another taste of the game's musical identity. The GTA VI developer posted an entry on its official website detailing several of the game's in-game radio stations, giving us an idea of what to expect both in terms of music and their interstitial talking bi…

Crunchyroll just rolled out a major free manga upgrade for subscribers

Crunchyroll Manga has rolled out to subscribers in the UK and Australia It's available as part of the Crunchyroll Ultimate plan, or as a separate add-on The service includes access to hundreds of titles, including some big hits Crunchyroll Ultimate subscribers in the UK and Australia just got a major free upgrade as the popular anime streaming service rolls out its manga (Japanese comic book) offe…

CIA officer said he was developing hacking tools, but actually stole $190 million in top secret fraud scam

Former CIA official admitted falsifying credentials, securing a senior role with top-level clearance He allegedly stole nearly $194 million through a fake intelligence program scheme FBI seized gold, cash, luxury assets; he faces up to 20 years in prison A 49-year-old man lied on his resume to get hired by the CIA - and when he got a high-ranking position, he used it to steal millions of dollars f…

Digital sovereignty has become Europe’s top priority — here's how open source is helping pave the way

Digital sovereignty in Europe has grown from a simple talking point into a strategic priority, and open source software (OSS) is perceived as the continent's way of achieving that goal. However, there is no sovereignty without security. At the recent Linux Foundation Open Source Summit Europe, the Foundation’s Madalin Neag and Mirko Boehm argued that many of Europe's seemingly separate technology…

Elon Musk questions Ambani’s influence as Starlink India launch stalls

“Is Ambani the real boss of India?” Elon Musk asked as he questioned why Starlink has yet to launch its satellite internet service in the country.

IPVanish has launched a major new update — improved antivirus and new plans for its new, expanded mission to help users 'Control your digital world'

IPVanish has announced a swathe of changes as it embarks on a broader mission to help users outside of its VPN Key changes include an improved antivirus, alongside 3 new subscription tiers. The new antivirus product is being integrated across Windows and Mac IPVanish has announced how it plans to transition from a traditional VPN to a comprehensive digital security solution. The move aims to addre…

Waymo closes a $5bn loan, its first debt deal, to fund robotaxi growth

Waymo has closed a $5bn term loan, the first time the Alphabet-owned robotaxi company has raised money through debt. Pimco, Blackstone and Sixth Street led the loan, Waymo said on Thursday. The money will go into expanding Waymo’s driverless ride-hailing service across the US and abroad, according to the company. “Our strong momentum has enabled […] This story continues at The Next Web

Sources: the IPO of Nvidia-backed data center provider Firmus is uncertain after failing to attract adequate support, underscoring concerns over AI funding (Bloomberg)

Bloomberg : Sources: the IPO of Nvidia-backed data center provider Firmus is uncertain after failing to attract adequate support, underscoring concerns over AI funding — The sudden plunge in demand for an Nvidia-backed data center company's initial public offering is revealing fresh cracks in the AI funding boom.

New GTA 6 Cyberleek video has story clips, gameplay footage, and one very NSFW detail

We thought we were done with notorious Grand Theft Auto VI leaker known only as Cyberleek , but we were proven wrong on Thursday with a fresh GTA 6 leak. The still-anonymous leaker (or group of leakers) posted their first update since late August, in the form of a nearly 25-minute-long video that's easy enough to find on social media. It's our most detailed look yet at the hotly anticipated game f…

New York alleges TikTok gave teens, children a placebo safety feature instead of a real one

New York’s lawsuit against the company is one of more than two dozen cases brought by states accusing the social media giant of designing its platform to encourage addictive use among children.

The ASUS ROG Strix OLED monitor is $215 off after October Prime Day — record-low deal still live

SAVE $215 : As of Oct. 8, the ASUS ROG Strix 27-inch Glossy OLED monitor (XG27AQDMGR) is on sale for just $384 at Amazon instead of its usual $599. That's 36% in post-Prime Day savings. Opens in a new window Credit: ASUS ASUS ROG Strix 27-inch OLED Monitor (XG27AQDMGR) $384 at Amazon $599 Save $215 Get Deal If you have the post-Prime Day blues, this gaming monitor deal might cheer you up. For thos…

eRoaming eSIM review

For the longest time, I used to land in a new country and start desperately looking for a SIM kiosk. Even when I knew that they were charging a lot for a bare-minimum data/ calls plan, I used to buy it right away. That’s because, from booking a cab to searching for your hotel in a new country, you would need an internet connection. Well, if you’re coming from India, buying an international roaming…

Nvidia commits $1bn to US science over the next five years

Quantum computing, healthcare and energy security are the fields Nvidia wants to strengthen with commitments it values at $1 billion. The money will be spread over the next five years. The company announced the commitments on Thursday at the Science: A New Golden Age event in Washington, DC. US officials, industry leaders and members of […] This story continues at The Next Web

Leonardo DiCaprio backs Swedish energy firm Elvy

The new Mac mini is still on sale for a record-low price after October Prime Day: Last chance to save $150

SAVE $150: Amazon still has the brand-new Apple Mac mini on sale following its Prime Big Deal Days event. Some of the M6 and M5 Pro variants are down to all-time low prices. Opens in a new window Credit: Apple Apple Mac mini (M6, 16GB RAM, 512GB SSD) $949.99 at Amazon $1,099 Save $149.01 Get Deal Opens in a new window Credit: Apple Apple Mac mini (M5 Pro, 24GB RAM, 512GB SSD) $1,549 at Amazon $1,6…

Asos confirms breach of customer data after hackers send rogue app notification

The hackers alerted the fashion giant's customers through a push notification that said they had "fully compromised" the company's cloud storage.

Hear from Ambrosia Energy and Bloom Energy execs on where the AI infrastructure boom is creating opportunity at TechCrunch Disrupt 2026

Ambrosia Energy CEO Ben Longmier and Bloom Energy SVP Bill Thayer join the Smart Systems Stage at TechCrunch Disrupt. Register now to save up to $100. Grab a second of the same pass to save 50%.

Europe’s startups had their best quarter in 4 years, Crunchbase data shows

European startups raised $25bn in the third quarter, their strongest quarter for venture funding in four years. In North America, startup funding fell 35% from the previous quarter to $92bn, Crunchbase data shows. Europe’s total was up 77% on the $14bn raised in the third quarter of 2025, Gené Teare reported for Crunchbase News on […] This story continues at The Next Web

The US suspends Microsoft, Adobe, Cognizant, Infosys, and others from a program that lets skilled foreign workers gain permanent residency, citing alleged fraud (Dan Rosenzweig-Ziff/Reuters)

Dan Rosenzweig-Ziff / Reuters : The US suspends Microsoft, Adobe, Cognizant, Infosys, and others from a program that lets skilled foreign workers gain permanent residency, citing alleged fraud — US Vice President JD Vance said on Thursday that the federal government was suspending Microsoft from a program …

GTA VI will have in-game podcasts and at least six radio stations

Music is always a major part of a Grand Theft Auto game, and Rockstar Games says GTA VI will have the series' "biggest and widest-ranging selection of in-game radio yet." There will be at least six radio stations players can listen to in vehicles or on foot, ranging from talk radio to classic rock: Cocoteo FM, Back Country Radio, AfroBank FM, The Chamber 106.6, Flash FM, and Dirty South Classics.…

The Retro Song Bird plays just the music from your favorite Game Boy cartridges

The Retro Song Bird may look similar to devices like Epilogue's GB Operator with a slot on top for Game Boy cartridges, but it's not designed for playing retro games. The featureless box is instead a media player designed to play through all the music and sound effect files on Game Boy cartridges using a basic set of play controls on board for skipping tracks and adjusting the volume of its built-…

Maya Mobile eSIM (2026) review

Ever since I first came across eSIMs and the whole concept around them, one thing remained consistent in my head. Which eSIM is best for which country? For example, three years back I decided to go backpacking in Northern Thailand. And before I boarded my flight from New Delhi, India, I went through more than 12 eSIM providers. Well, I ended up not being convinced by any of them cause after Thaila…

OpenAI’s ChatGPT for Teens poses an ‘unacceptable risk’ to kids, says watchdog

Some of the guardrails that OpenAI included in its ChatGPT for Teens product don’t work as intended and the chatbot poses an “unacceptable risk” to children, according to a report Wednesday by Common Sense Media. The watchdog group urged OpenAI to restrict the chatbot to adults “until it can offer a safe, developmentally appropriate experience.” OpenAI said the group’s testing doesn’t reflect how…

ICO secures data protection changes from 10 AI developers, turns to agents

Ten of the biggest AI developers have made, or committed to make, changes to how they handle personal data. The UK’s Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) secured the changes after two years of scrutiny. The data regulator named them on Thursday: Amazon, Anthropic, Apple, Cohere, DeepSeek, Google, Meta, Microsoft, OpenAI and Stability AI. The changes include […] This story continues at Th…