OpenAI's GPT-6 Astra is drawing contradictory benchmark verdicts. Epoch AI puts it out in front with 169 points, while Artificial Analysis rates it no better than its predecessor and behind Claude Fable 5.1. The biggest surprise comes from ARC-AGI-3, where Astra works more efficiently than the average human for the first time. ARC Prize chief François Chollet doesn't call this proof of AGI, but he…
Chips from Taiwan, oil from the Persian Gulf, and cars from Germany – what was long taken for granted is now being called into question all over the world. Where markets and expertise are concentrated among a few providers, enormous economies of scale arise. At the same time, however, dependencies also grow – often with risks that only become apparent when supplies fail, prices rise, demand evolve…
Smartphone longevity didn't used to matter. In the past, before you could wear out or break a phone, there was always some shiny new thing to buy. Today, we expect our smartphones to go the distance, but they've also become less repairable and, in many cases, more fragile. Fairphone, a Dutch smartphone maker that has just entered the US market, thinks about phones differently. The new $650 Fairpho…
The success of a program linking zoos across the US has created social media stars and generated a wave of interest in how to protect the endangered great apes in the wild.
There is a torrent of unappetizing slop coming from restaurants, cafes, and brands that are increasingly turning to AI to generate images promoting their food. The resulting horror show includes donut shrimp , Reubens from the deep , wormlike noodles , and noodle-like pastries and stringy chicken . There's also construction material masquerading as ice cream, ice cream masquerading as brains , and…
<img src="https://res.infoq.com/presentations/vortex-columnar-file-format-gpu-streaming/en/mediumimage/onur-satici-medium-1787813397611.jpeg"/><p>Onur Satici explains how Vortex, an open-source columnar file format under the Linux Foundation, revolutionizes high-throughput data loading. He details how cascading lightweight encodings, layout-based segment pruning, and zero-copy memory pipelines eli…
<img src="https://res.infoq.com/minibooks/next-gen-architecture-ai-era/en/smallimage/thumb-image-emag-next-gen-architecture-playbook-1787922032442.jpg"/><p>This eMag examines how architects can lead with clarity in a rapidly evolving engineering world, distilling industry insights into field-tested practices for teams. Together, these stories reveal a core theme: the technology leader’s role is ex…
Raphael Satter / Reuters : Letters: US military branches disabled ad trackers on government-issued devices amid reports of location data being used to target US forces in the Middle East — U.S. military officials say they have disabled advertising trackers on a range of phones and computers, according to letters released …
Reuters : Report and sources: rogue OpenAI agents hijacked a German website in May and turned it into a forum for agents, sharing tactics to cheat on tasks and more — A swarm of rogue OpenAI agents hijacked a German website this spring and transformed it into a bulletin board for other AI agents …
TL;DR: The Magic: The Gathering Star Trek Play Booster Box is on sale for $199.99 at Amazon , down from its $209.70 list price. Opens in a new window Credit: Magic: The Gathering Magic: The Gathering Star Trek Play Booster Box $199.99 at Amazon $209.70 Save $9.71 Pre-order Here Magic: The Gathering is heading into the final frontier this November, and Amazon has already cut the price tag of one of…
Yoolim Lee / Bloomberg : Bank of Korea: South Korea's monthly memory chip output is set to grow by ~600K wafers by 2028, widening its lead over China's CXMT, set to grow by ~300K wafers — South Korea's lead over China in memory chip production is expected to widen further thanks to an aggressive expansion …
Wayve and Uber have launched self-driving rides in London, but what's more interesting is what is planned for the next few months and years. As of today, the plan is for 15 electric Ford Mustangs, equipped with the Wayve AI driver, to roam the capital, picking up passengers with a safety driver on hand to keep an eye on things. However, at a launch event on Thursday, Wayve showed off the follow-up…
Microsoft is giving its developer-optimized Windows experience a name: Project Zenith. While the software maker originally announced a similar developer-optimized Windows effort at Build earlier this year, Project Zenith is designed for new developer-focused devices with 64GB or more of unified memory. "Project Zenith devices come with a preconfigured Windows setup for development and a set of too…
Anuchit Nguyen / Bloomberg : Thailand suspends the construction of 49 data centers in order to develop new industry regulations, as governments worldwide tighten oversight of the facilities — Thailand's embrace of data centers hit a speed bump after the government suspended construction of 49 server farms as public concerns …
Since the mass adoption of CCTV, we have accepted — for the most part — giving up a degree of personal privacy in exchange for public safety. But are we prepared to hand that same power to everyday citizens, all in the name of fashion? In 2025 alone, over 7 million people bought Meta Ray-Ban smart glasses. This rapid adoption has coincided with an alarming rise in covert harassment , prompting pub…
When businesses and governments delegate operational tasks to AI agents, the discussion tends to start with capability. Can AI do what a person can do, such as reconcile accounts, negotiate with suppliers, sign a document or submit a public filing? And can it do so quickly and cheaply enough to justify putting it to work? These questions matter, but performance is only part of the picture. Once an…
Mackenzie Hawkins / Bloomberg : Sources: DeepSeek plans to use 160K+ of Huawei's Ascend 950DT chips at an Inner Mongolia data center, which would create one of the largest Huawei chip clusters — DeepSeek plans to deploy at least 160,000 of Huawei Technologies Co.'s top accelerators at a massive data center it's building …
Homeland Security Investigations agents hit the outdoor retailer with a controversial subpoena as part of a dragnet search for the identities of protesters who entered a Minnesota church in March.
As the U.S. Open heats up, the women’s bracket is looking particularly thrilling, with contenders like Aryna Sabalenka, Coco Gauff, and Iga Świątek, and crowd favorites like Naomi Osaka and a returning Serena Williams. But whoever comes out on top, the real winner this year may be the 17th-seeded Alex Eala of the Philippines. Snagging the tournament’s iconic trophy would be a long shot for the 21-…
Tottenham Hotspur just confirmed plans to migrate from VMware to HPE, saving 85% off its bill CTO Rob Pickering revealed that Broadcom-era changes are largely to blame The stadium is also undergoing a broader HPE upgrade Tottenham Hotspur has phased out VMware at its stadium as part of a major infrastructure overhaul. By moving to HPE Morpheus VM Essentials, the London football team managed to cut…
With the memory crisis continuing, we're always on the look out for DDR5 RAM deals like this TeamGroup T-Force Delta 64GB DDR5-6000 memory kit, which is down to $820 (was $870) at Newegg with code LDSF244. With TUF Gaming-certified RGB styling, this capacity is built for creators, streamers, and professionals simultaneously running several demanding applications across Intel 700/800 series and AMD…
Watched South Korean thriller Mousetrap on Netflix? We need to talk about that ending. Based on the 2017 Kakao Webtoon Field Mouse by Ludovico, directed by Kim Hong-sun ( Project Wolf Hunting ), and written by Lee Jae-gon ( A Model Family ), the series takes the chilling concept of "identity laundering" and turns it into a 10-episode cat-and-mouse game. But who is the series' core mystery figure k…
Segway Navimow has unveiled its Navimow H510 Pro lawnbot at IFA It features an extending, robotic arm for trimming lawn edges Also uses the brand's 'Xero-turn' technology for gentler turns First, we had a robot vacuum with an arm for picking up socks. Now, limbs are making their way to robot lawn mowers too. The new Segway Navimow H510 Pro features its own mechanical arm, and this one is for trimm…
There is more idle capital sitting onchain than most people realize. The total stablecoin float sits above $300 billion and has grown roughly 14% year over year , yet billions of those dollars are parked in wallets earning nothing, or worse, rotated into memecoin plays and short-term gambles that erase the one thing those dollars were supposed to offer in the first place, which is safety. At the s…
Agentic commerce has cleared its first hurdle, that of consumer demand. ChatGPT handles an estimated 50m shopping queries a day, and AI-referred traffic to US retail sites rose by nearly 400% in the first quarter of 2026. The unresolved question is where that demand settles once a purchase is made. The early evidence points to the scaled, branded marketplace. According to Similarweb, marketplaces…
Europe is getting a factory for quantum chips rather than another quantum computer. Quantum Foundry Copenhagen, owned by the Novo Nordisk Foundation, is building a 5,300-square-metre facility in the Danish capital that is due to open in 2027 and will offer wafer fabrication to quantum companies around the world. The investment is about $62M, according […] This story continues at The Next We…
TL;DR: The Pokémon TCG Mega Evolution Chaos Rising Booster Bundle is on sale for $40.49 at Amazon , down from its $59.99 list price. Opens in a new window Credit: The Pokémon Company Pokémon TCG Mega Evolution Chaos Rising Booster Bundle $40.69 at Amazon $60.19 Save $19.50 Get Deal Chaos Rising Booster Bundles have been gradually getting cheaper throughout the summer, but Amaz…
<img src="https://res.infoq.com/news/2026/09/copilot-code-review-azure-repos/en/headerimage/generatedHeaderImage-1788266643329.jpg"/><p>Microsoft opened GitHub Copilot code review for Azure Repos to all Azure DevOps customers, after acknowledging that many are not ready to migrate to GitHub. Reviews bill per use through the linked Azure subscription and appear in Cost Management 48 hours later. Bu…
BORK!BORK!BORK! Windows 10 is lingering on after its friends have gone home, plaintively flickering out an update notification on a digital sign at London's O2 arena. The sign was advertising the venue and some of the activities available inside, including an indoor skydiving experience. We'd recommend indoor skydiving as an alternative to jumping out of a perfectly good aircraft for those minded…
Last week, J. Crew launched a new iteration of a core product, the rollneck sweater. Emma Chamberlain, the 25-year-old influencer, podcaster, and founder of Chamberlain Coffee , modeled the sweater with Gen Z-coded styling. The campaign quickly became a cultural flashpoint, dividing comment sections and spawning a cycle of organic content that included speculative hot take posts on crop tops, Gen…
Infomercials have long promised miracle products for everyday life, using a mix of manufactured urgency (“call now!”), flash sales, and rave reviews. Now, one veteran filmmaker is using hyperbole and cringe not to sell kitchen gadgets and supplements, but to turn tech and political leaders’ grand visions into low-brow sales pitches with AI . In “Open Living,” created by Ari Kuschnir, a cheery deep…
Hello again and welcome back to Fast Company’s Plugged In . By almost any imaginable measure, Tim Cook’s tenure as Apple’s CEO was mind-bogglingly successful . Even so, nobody can run a gigantic company for 15 years without their share of stumbles. Some of Cook’s most epic ones came when Apple tried its hardest to invent the next revolutionary product beyond the smartphone. For example, more than…
To announce his executive order renaming Lake Ontario last week, President Donald Trump brought props that wrote out his new name for the lake using his administration’s official font . A typeface chosen to convey seriousness ended up looking like a joke. During an Oval Office signing ceremony Thursday, Trump signed an order making the Interior Department’s Board on Geographic Names rename Lake On…
One morning in the middle of the summer, I woke up to an excruciating pain searing through my neck and left shoulder. I immediately booked a deep-tissue massage, but the relief lasted a day before the ache returned. After a few weeks of persistent discomfort, I visited my doctor who referred me to a physical therapist. After doing several tests, the therapist identified the culprit: my pillow. Sin…
We’re busier than ever. We have a million “urgent” things vying for our attention: constant notifications, an incessant stream of emails, and endless meetings. Throw AI into the mix, and the expectation is we should be increasing our output even further. But all this work hides a bigger question: how much of this is meaningful work? The truth is, not all tasks are necessary or productive , yet the…
SAVE $30: As of Sept. 4, the Fire Stick 4K Plus is on sale for $39.99 at Amazon. That's a 43% discount on the list price. Opens in a new window Credit: Amazon Amazon Fire Stick 4K Plus $39.99 at Amazon $69.99 Save $30.00 Get Deal If you'd been eyeing up an Amazon Fire TV Stick for your streaming upgrade but the recent price hike put you off, the latest discount might just tempt you back. As of Sep…
Bloomberg : Sources: Binance is still operating in the EU months after it failed to get a MiCA license, using workarounds to onboard new customers and reroute its trading — The news hit with a thud in June: Binance Holdings Ltd., the world's largest crypto exchange, was about to get kicked out of the European Union.
A ranking of the builders behind these apps needs a link between a person and a product, and we do not record one yet. When we do it will come from launch posts people wrote themselves. Business profiles only, never personal accounts.