UK Budget extends temporary VAT relief on domestic electricity £100 million of funding will support more residential public charge points Yet the future of the £3,750 Electric Car Grant remains unclear Labour Party chancellor John Healey has announced his first budget statement under the recently-installed Prime Minister Andy Burnham — and while there was some welcome news for owners of internal c…
OpenAI has reorganised its Model Spec, the public rulebook for its AI, around five values led by faithfulness to human intent. It adds guidance on context and human agency, drops most style rules and renames the model GPT. OpenAI admits its models do not yet fully follow it. OpenAI has rewritten its Model Spec, the […] This story continues at The Next Web
Olivier Pailhès, who co-founded Aircall in Paris in 2014, has returned as its chief executive. He replaces Scott Chancellor and takes over a business phone company that now sells AI voice agents. Aircall announced the change on Thursday in a press release. Pailhès was Aircall CEO from its founding until 2023 and has stayed on […] This story continues at The Next Web
Attackers used SEO-poisoned GitHub pages and fake AI clients to lure victims into downloading malware The Yoba malware establishes persistence, evades analysis, and ultimately deploys XMRig cryptominers Campaign abuses interest in popular AI tools like GPT and Claude to monetize victims’ computing resources Cybercriminals are, once again, exploiting people’s interest in AI tools to distribute cryp…
Rather than directly converting photons into electricity, concentrated solar energy uses mirrors to turn sunlight into heat, which can then be used to drive traditional generating turbines. Up to about a decade ago, there was a case to be made that concentrated solar energy had a bright future, as improvements in heat storage had turned it into a way to generate power around the clock. It wasn't t…
We called Windows 11 "the best operating system made by Microsoft," when we took the OS out for a spin in our review. Since then, I'd argue it's grown from strength to strength. And while I'm not sure the company will ever hit the highs of Win98 and XP, Windows 11 still the operating system I use on all my personal and professional computers. And I've just found a Windows 11 Pro license with BitLo…
OpenAI : OpenAI updates Model Spec to reorganize it around five values: faithfulness to human intent, harm minimization, honesty and transparency, human agency, and care — As our models get smarter and take more consequential actions in the world, it becomes increasingly important that they go beyond …
Voice AI company Deepgram is buying Daily, the maker of Pipecat, an open-source framework for building voice agents. Pipecat will stay open source and free under its existing BSD V2 licence. The companies are also setting up an independent Pipecat Foundation. Deepgram announced the deal on Thursday in a blog post, on the day of […] This story continues at The Next Web
Uno reverse! After Wispr added meeting notes to its dictation app, Granola is adding dictation to its meeting notetaker. The voice AI wars are getting interesting.
Amii, the Alberta Machine Intelligence Institute, will work with 25 more small businesses in Alberta, Saskatchewan and Manitoba after federal agency PrairiesCan added C$2.5M. Total federal support is now C$5.6M, and the programme has helped 30 firms since 2024. Amii, the Alberta Machine Intelligence Institute, will help 25 more small businesses in Canada’s Prairie provinces […] This story c…
The new MacBook Pro brings with it a bunch of firsts for Apple laptops, the two flashiest being an OLED display and touchscreen functionality. But as an image-accuracy enthusiast, trained calibrator, and resident display expert, what excites me most about the MacBook Pro with PROLED XDR Display is the technology it uses to display an accurate picture. It's the first laptop, and only the second pro…
Serval has raised $150m in a Series C round led by Sequoia, valuing the San Francisco company at $3bn. That is three times the $1bn valuation it reached in December, when it raised $75m. Serval announced the round on Thursday in a blog post and a press release. Co-founder and chief executive Jake Stauch spoke […] This story continues at The Next Web
Your JBL, Sony, or Bose Bluetooth headphones got a top-to-bottom wireless makeover — not just Auracast.
Republican megadonors are motivated by crypto and AI this midterm cycle. Among the top 10 donors for the 2026 midterm elections, eight are pushing for Republican control of Congress. The top 40 donors gave over $2.5 billion by mid-October 2026, compared with a much smaller inflation-adjusted total of $197.5 million in 2014, the Brennan Center for Justice found. That year, the top donors favored De…
The popular Ridge Wallet lives up to the hype and is on sale, along with other Ridge gear. Plus, you can try it risk-free for 99 days.
Kalshi CEO Tarek Mansour. | Michael Nagle/Bloomberg via Getty Images Utah has filed criminal charges against Kalshi and its executives, accusing the prediction market of breaking anti-gambling laws, as reported by The Salt Lake Tribune and the Associated Press . The state has filed 14 charges against Kalshi, as well as CEO Tarek Mansour and COO Luana Lopes Lara, including 12 counts of illegally pr…
Would you feel comfortable leaving the keys to your car inside your vehicle unattended? Actually, let's rephrase that. Would you feel comfortable leaving the keys to your rare $3.3 million Bugatti inside your vehicle unattended? Well, that's exactly what Mate Rimac, founder and CEO of Bugatti's parent company Rimac Group, did. And his multimillion-dollar Bugatti Chiron was stolen as a result. Mate…
If you’ve just picked up a shiny new iPhone 18 Pro or iPhone 18 Pro Max , you’re probably sifting through a gazillion case options to better protect it from drops and scratches. The very best iPhone cases are stylish, durable, and feel great in the hand, but having tested hundreds of different models over the years, let me tell you: not all iPhone cases are created equal. So, to help you find the…
Oppo Pad 5: two-minute review The Oppo Pad 5 delivers in almost every area that matters. It has a delightfully vibrant display with a smooth 120Hz refresh rate, a user-friendly interface with years' worth of OS and security updates, and boasts a huge battery life to boot. I’ve been testing the tablet for three weeks now and, overall, I think that it’s worth the £349 asking price, which gives you 8…
In the past few weeks, I have written about how colleagues can make significant requests of each other and how a boss can approach big requests of one of their direct reports. This week, I’ll complete the cycle by thinking about how you can make a big ask of your boss. Before discussing some specific issues, there is a general point to make. You’re probably more worried about making this request t…
The Celebrity Traitors season 2 episode 9 is out tonight, and we're desperate to see it. We're all dying to know who Youtuber King Kenny has banished. After (hilariously) being voted the three most trustworthy, the three traitors were awarded a dagger which gave the holder two votes at that evening's round table. Maya and James decided to let Kenny have the dagger, and we've been waiting all week…
ExpressVPN's latest Android update adds three new ways to sign in: an email code, a login token, and a passkey. Login tokens expire after a short time and are replacing ExpressVPN's old, never-changing activation codes. The options are rolling out gradually, and ExpressVPN expects every Android user to have them by the end of the year. ExpressVPN has released a fresh version of its Android app, an…
The iPhone Duo is still facing a lengthy backorder at T-Mobile, but that hasn't stopped the carrier from listing an extremely strong deal on Apple's first foldable. Right now, you can get an increased discount of up to $1,200 with either a trade-in or a new line on the carrier's Experience Beyond plan . That's a $200 increase over the previous deal that we saw during the initial pre-order phase. A…
Alphabet’s quarterly filing, published on Thursday, puts its future payments for computing, energy and data centres at more than $1tn. These Alphabet commitments do not appear on its balance sheet, the filing says. Davey Alba reported the figures for Bloomberg. Chief financial officer Anat Ashkenazi had given the $1tn-plus total on Wednesday’s earnings call, Bloomberg […] This story continu…
By 9:35am in New York on Thursday, Alphabet had lost $511bn in market value, Julia Love and Davey Alba reported for Bloomberg. The shares were down more than 12%. It was the company’s biggest market value loss on record. A close more than 9.77% lower would be Alphabet’s worst reaction to results since its 2004 […] This story continues at The Next Web
The US power sector could release 42 percent more planet-heating carbon dioxide pollution by 2030 than it did in 2025 as it builds out more fossil fuel infrastructure to meet data center electricity demand, according to a new analysis by the Sierra Club . That would essentially wipe out 15 years of greenhouse gas reductions. CO2 emissions from electricity generation would increase by 618 million t…
Solink raised more than $100M led by Vertu Capital, with Goldman Sachs Alternatives, Golub Growth and Comcast Ventures joining. Its AI turns existing cameras in shops, restaurants and warehouses into data on theft, service and safety. It covers 35,000 locations in 65 countries. Solink, an Ottawa startup that turns shops’ security cameras into a source […] This story continues at The Next We…
Move aside, Benoit — Madame Blanc is back to solve more crimes and mysteries. This quaint British crime drama, starring Sally Linsday and Steve Edge, delivers headscratchers, a gentle spot of comedy, and a healthy dose of intrigue. Think Sherlock, with less sarcasm... This time around, Jean and Dom are planning their wedding in France, while a spate of murders and unexpected obstacles get in their…
Ivan Mehta / TechCrunch : SuperMe, which generates AI-powered chats with simulated profiles of prominent industry experts to let users ask questions, raised $20M — When people have career or job questions, they usually tap into their network to find experts who've faced a similar predicament and can offer answers.
No US stock trades under X since Nippon Steel bought US Steel last year. With SpaceX and Tesla exploring a merger, investors say Musk could claim the symbol, though he has not said so. Only five single-letter US tickers are free. The stock ticker X is free, and some investors think Elon Musk could claim […] This story continues at The Next Web
Rocket Drew / The Information : Source: Dulo, a startup co-founded by Google veteran Sebastian Thrun to build “foundation models for hardware design”, raised a $130M seed — Sebastian Thrun, the computer scientist who pioneered several AI projects at Google, has co-founded a new startup focused on creating AI models …
A top executive of a Singapore AI cloud company that was accused of illegally selling Nvidia chips to China could also have been a Chinese spy, sources have told the New York Times.
Bloomberg’s Chris Welch tried Apple’s first touchscreen MacBook Pro and found Apple took a measured approach, adding touch without reshaping macOS. Gestures felt smooth, but the tiny window buttons are awkward to tap. The laptop ships on 6 November from $2,899. Apple’s first touchscreen MacBook Pro does not turn the Mac into an iPad, according […] This story continues at The Next Web
ServiceNow shares fell as much as 25% to $112.37 after markets opened in New York on Thursday. It was the biggest intraday drop since the company went public in 2012, Brody Ford reported for Bloomberg. The stock was on course for its worst day on record, according to Dow Jones Market Data cited by MarketWatch. […] This story continues at The Next Web
The latest version of Firefox fixes 167 security vulnerabilities, most of which are of high severity, while the newest version of Chrome patches 52 flaws, four of which are critical.
Davey Alba / Bloomberg : Alphabet discloses $1T+ in purchase commitments, future leases, and other obligations; its Q3 filing shows $98.5B in contingent commitments, up ~$23B from Q2 — Alphabet Inc. has said demand for its cloud services is increasing at a rapid clip, pointing to growth in its backlog, or cloud contracts it hasn't yet fulfilled.
Stephen Morris / Financial Times : Alphabet's stock falls 12%+, wiping a record $500B from its market cap, after reporting negative cash flow amid its AI spending; the Nasdaq falls 1.4%+ — Google owner admits ‘AI mode’ has hurt traditional search as sales and profits undershoot expectations
Google parent Alphabet reported its Q3 financial results on Wednesday afternoon, showing a healthy rise in revenue for the months of July to September. But the company's stock price has taken a beating, marking one of the largest post-earnings drops in its history. It comes down to several troubling aspects of the new report, including an admission by the company that AI search isn't earning as mu…
Records on more than 41,000 employees and contractors of the US Department of Homeland Security (DHS) are now online. They include names, email addresses, phone numbers, job titles and office locations. The staff work for Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), Customs and Border Protection (CBP) and other DHS agencies. WIRED, which was given a preview […] This story continues at The Nex…
rained on 100 million square feet of building permits, dream wants to disrupt Autodesk with AI.