Tesla launched its fully autonomous robotaxi service in Austin, offering rides for a flat fee of $4.20, marking a significant step in self-driving technology and regulatory progress. The service is scalable, uses only cameras, and requires no specialized equipment, signaling a new era for autonomous mobility.
▶️ Internet Infrastructure
Texas A&M Study Reveals Browser Fingerprinting Buts Privacy Protections
Texas A&M researchers demonstrated that websites use browser fingerprinting for covert user tracking, affecting ad targeting and bypassing cookie-based privacy protections, with implications for stronger privacy regulations.
- Texas A&M University researchers presented at ACM Web Conference 2025 evidence that websites covertly use browser fingerprinting to track users across sessions and sites.
- The study developed FPTrace, a framework analyzing how fingerprinting influences ad bidding and HTTP records, revealing tracking persists even when cookies are cleared or users opt out under GDPR and CCPA.
- Findings indicate fingerprinting impacts real-time ad targeting and backend bidding, raising concerns about current privacy protections and calling for stronger browser defenses and regulatory oversight.
ExTracker: High-Performance Elixir BitTorrent Tracker with Advanced Features
ExTracker is an Elixir-based BitTorrent tracker supporting BEPs 0, 15, 23, 24, 52, with features like high performance, low memory footprint, HTTPS, database backups, peer management, metrics, and GeoIP, available via source, release, or Docker.
- ExTracker is an Elixir-powered BitTorrent tracker with Apache-2.0 license, 287 stars, and 4 forks on GitHub
- Implements high performance, low memory usage (~200MB RAM per 1 million peers), and zero setup operation
- Supports BEP 0, 15, 23, 24, 52, and draft BEPs 7, 21, 31, 41, 48; includes HTTPS, database backups, peer management, metrics, and GeoIP support
Canine: Simple Heroku-Like Kubernetes Deployment Platform
Canine is an intuitive Kubernetes deployment platform combining Kubernetes power with Heroku-like simplicity, requiring Docker 24+ and Docker Compose 2+, with cloud features via canine.sh.
- Canine is an deployment platform for Kubernetes clusters emphasizing simplicity akin to Heroku
- Requires Docker v24.0.0+ and Docker Compose v2.0.0+ for installation
- Installation via script:
curl -sSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/czhu12/canine/refs/heads/main/install/install.sh | bashor manual clone anddocker compose up -d - Supports cloud features including GitHub integration, role-based access, real-time metrics, with more info at canine.sh
- Repository has 1.7k stars, 52 forks, and ongoing activity since initial commit on Sep 25, 2024
LibRedirect Brings Privacy-Focused Frontends to YouTube Reddit and More
LibRedirect is a web extension that redirects sites like YouTube, Reddit, TikTok, and Instagram to privacy-focused frontends such as Invidious, Libreddit, and Nitter, enhancing user privacy.
- LibRedirect is a browser extension that redirects popular websites such as YouTube, Instagram, Reddit, TikTok, and others to privacy-friendly frontends.
- Supports multiple alternative frontends for each service, including Invidious, Piped, Libreddit, Nitter, and more, with links provided for each.
- Covers a wide range of platforms including social media, video, music, search, and content sites, with specific URLs for each alternative frontend.
Tesla Launches Fully Autonomous Robotaxi Service in Austin
Tesla launched its robotaxi service in Austin with a $4.20 flat fee, offering limited rides to invited users; vehicles are fully autonomous, scalable, and require no specialized equipment.
- Tesla launched its first robotaxis to the public in Austin on June 22, 2025, after years of delays
- Limited invited users paid a flat fee of $4.20 per ride; rides were confined to a small area
- Tesla CEO Elon Musk teased the launch earlier in June, emphasizing a “beautifully simple design” and that vehicles are capable of unsupervised self-driving from the factory
HPE Alletra X10000 Delivers Fast Data Recovery and Lower TCO with Scalable Storage
HPE Alletra Storage MP X10000 enables scalable, high-performance data protection with fast restores, leveraging NVMe, 100Gb Ethernet, and integrated backup solutions for up to 6x faster recovery and 20x lower TCO.
- Modern data protection with fast object storage can achieve up to 6x faster restores and 20x lower TCO
- HPE Alletra Storage MP X10000 offers exabyte-scale, high-performance, scalable architecture with NVMe drives and 100Gb Ethernet
- Integrated with backup solutions from Veeam, Veritas, and Commvault, providing rapid recovery, up to 3x faster backups and 6x faster restores
Eutelsat Plans €1.35 Billion Funding to Compete with Starlink and Expand LEO Network
Eutelsat seeks €1.35 billion via share issues to expand its LEO constellation, rival Starlink, and support the EU’s IRIS² project, with backing from the French government and key investors.
- Eutelsat aims to raise €1.35 billion ($1.55 billion) by end of 2025 to expand its Low Earth Orbit (LEO) network and compete with Starlink.
- The capital increase includes a reserved share issue of €716 million to France’s APE and Bharti Space Limited, with APE acquiring shares from Bpifrance and gaining a board seat.
- A subsequent rights issue of €634 million will follow, with the total capital increase expected to boost financial flexibility and fund investments in LEO and the EU’s IRIS² satellite network.
Q1 2025 Data Center Switch Revenue Surges 32.3% Driven by AI and High-Speed Switches
Q1 2025 datacenter switch revenue hit $11.7B, up 32.3% YoY, with 400/800 GbE switches leading growth; Nvidia and Arista gained market share amid AI-driven demand.
- Q1 2025 network switch revenue reached $11.7 billion, up 32.3% YoY, driven by AI workloads.
- 54.7% growth in datacenter switch revenue, with 200/400 GbE switches surging 189.7% YoY; 800 GbE switches generated $350.8 million, 5% of market.
- Nvidia’s datacenter switch revenue increased 760.3% YoY to $1.46 billion; Arista grew 27.1%, Cisco declined 3.2%, overall switch revenues up 4.7%; wireless LAN revenue grew 10.6% with AI influencing demand.
Xlibre Fork Sparks Revival of X.org Amid Security Fixes and Community Support
A new fork, Xlibre, revitalizes X.org development amid security fixes and community support, challenging Wayland’s dominance and emphasizing the importance of legacy features and open-source resilience.
- A new fork of the X.org server, Xlibre, has generated increased activity and support, with dozens of mailing list threads and 2,200 GitHub stars.
- Xlibre was initiated by Enrico Weigelt, who began contributing in early 2024; he is not a project maintainer but has been highly active.
- The X.org team released versions 21.1.17 and 24.1.7 of the X server and Xwayland respectively, fixing multiple security vulnerabilities discovered in March, later superseded by versions 21.1.18 and 24.1.8.
- The project has a Telegram group with nearly 500 members and a dedicated GitHub repository, reflecting growing community interest.
- Support from the Devuan project highlights concerns over corporate influence and the need for forks like Xlibre to preserve community-driven development.
- Ongoing debates include resistance to Wayland, with criticisms of its lack of features like window control and accessibility, and concerns over removal of legacy UI elements.
- Despite the rise of Wayland, issues with modern hardware acceleration and user interface features suggest X11 remains relevant for many users and applications.
OVHcloud Discusses Migration to Sovereign Cloud Amid European Digital Sovereignty Push
OVHcloud reported discussions with the EC on migrating workloads from Microsoft Azure to a sovereign cloud, reflecting European efforts to reduce dependence on US hyperscalers and enhance digital sovereignty.
- OVHcloud claimed to be in discussions with the European Commission (EC) about migrating workloads from Microsoft Azure to a sovereign cloud, via a now-deleted X post by chairman Octave Klaba
- The EC confirmed it has a contract with OVHcloud and maintains a procurement process with ten cloud providers, including several European ones, to ensure market innovation
- Discussions indicate growing European interest in migrating to sovereign cloud solutions amid concerns over dependence on US hyperscalers and US government influence
Broadcom Promotes VCF Bundle Value Amid Rising Private Cloud Adoption
Broadcom asserts VCF bundle offers value if fully utilized, as private cloud adoption grows, with 87% of top customers renewing, amid ongoing debates over licensing costs and workload migration trends.
- Broadcom claims VCF bundle is cost-effective if all components are utilized, despite customer complaints about increased licensing costs post-acquisition
- VMware shifted from perpetual licenses to subscription bundles, with 87% of top 10,000 customers renewing for VCF, mainly large enterprises
- Broadcom emphasizes private cloud’s rising importance, with 53% of firms prioritizing private cloud for new workloads and 69% considering workload repatriation from public clouds
Texas Instruments to Invest $60B in U.S. Semiconductor Fabs and Job Growth
Texas Instruments will invest over $60 billion in seven U.S. semiconductor fabs, including four in Sherman, Texas, to support 60,000+ jobs and advance critical electronics manufacturing.
- TI plans to invest over $60 billion in seven U.S. semiconductor fabs across Texas and Utah, supporting 60,000+ jobs.
- The investment includes four fabs at the Sherman, Texas mega-site, with up to $40 billion allocated for SM1, SM2, SM3, and SM4.
- The expansion builds on TI’s nearly 100-year legacy, focusing on analog and embedded processing chips vital for electronics, vehicles, data centers, and satellites.
▶️ Open Source
Delta Chat: Open-Source Secure Messaging for Decentralized Communication
Delta Chat is an open-source, end-to-end encrypted messaging app supporting decentralized communication via chatmail or email servers, available on mobile and desktop.
- Delta Chat is a decentralized, secure messenger supporting multi-profile and multi-device use
- Offers options to connect via secure chatmail servers or traditional email servers
- Features end-to-end encryption audited for security against network and server attacks
- Built as open-source software based on Internet standards, avoiding proprietary protocols
- Available on mobile (Android, iOS) and desktop platforms, with downloadable clients
MiniMax-M1: World’s First 456B Open-Weight Hybrid-Attention AI
MiniMax-M1 is an open-weight, large-scale hybrid-attention reasoning model with 456B parameters, 1 million token context support, and 25% FLOP reduction at 100K tokens, trained via RL with CISPO, outperforming comparable models on complex benchmarks.
- MiniMax-M1 is the world’s first open-weight, large-scale hybrid-attention reasoning model with 456 billion parameters, supporting a context length of 1 million tokens.
- Developed based on MiniMax-Text-01, it uses a hybrid Mixture-of-Experts (MoE) architecture combined with lightning attention, reducing FLOPs by 25% at 100K token generation compared to DeepSeek R1.
- Trained with large-scale reinforcement learning (RL) using the CISPO algorithm, it outperforms models like DeepSeek-R1 and Qwen3-235B on complex reasoning, long-context, and software engineering benchmarks.
Nanonets-OCR-s: Advanced Markdown Conversion with LaTeX and Table Extraction
Nanonets-OCR-s by Nanonets transforms documents into structured markdown with advanced features like LaTeX equations, image descriptions, signature and watermark detection, and complex table extraction, supporting 3.75B parameters.
- Nanonets-OCR-s is a state-of-the-art image-to-markdown OCR model that converts documents into structured markdown with semantic tagging.
- Features include LaTeX equation recognition, image description, signature detection, watermark extraction, smart checkbox handling, and complex table extraction.
- Model size is 3.75 billion parameters, based on BF16 tensor type, with last month’s downloads at 149,213.
bzip2 0.6.0 Switches to Rust for Faster Cross-Platform Compression
bzip2 0.6.0 switches from C to a Rust implementation (libbz2-rs-sys), enhancing speed, cross-platform compatibility, and safety, with performance gains of up to 14.87% in compression.
bzip2version 0.6.0 now defaults to a Rust implementation (libbz2-rs-sys) instead of C- Rust implementation improves performance: compression speeds up by up to 14.87%, decompression by up to 8.63%
- Enables seamless cross-compilation, including to WebAssembly, Windows, and Android; default symbol export is disabled to prevent conflicts; supports running tests with MIRI
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EDB Enhances PostgreSQL with Open Source Tools for AI and Analytics
EDB’s Postgres AI platform integrates open source add-ons like DataFusion and WarehousePG to support AI and analytics workloads, achieving 30x faster queries and 18x cost savings, without repositioning PostgreSQL as a full analytics engine.
- EDB has enhanced its PostgreSQL platform with open source add-ons, including DataFusion and WarehousePG, aimed at AI and analytics workloads.
- The new engine in EDB Postgres AI scales independently in the cloud, optimized for columnar formats like Iceberg and Delta Lake, delivering 30x faster query performance and 18x cost efficiency.
- DataFusion, written in Rust and using Apache Arrow, enables pushing analytical queries to open source engines, providing 6x better TCO and 30% faster transactional performance than SQL Server.
Lego Unveils NASA Shuttle Carrier Aircraft Set with Boeing 747 and Space Shuttle
Lego’s NASA Shuttle Carrier Aircraft set includes a Boeing 747 and Space Shuttle Enterprise, with detailed mechanisms and scale compromises, costing around £200 and taking about eight hours to build.
- Lego released a NASA-themed set depicting the Shuttle Carrier Aircraft (Boeing 747) with the Space Shuttle Enterprise on top.
- The set costs approximately £200 (€229.99 / $229.99), comprising two models: the Boeing 747 and the Space Shuttle.
- The set measures 27cm high, 53cm wide, and 63cm deep, with 2,417 pieces, featuring mechanisms like deployable landing gear and a sturdy core despite scale compromises.
USPTO Seeks AI Solutions to Accelerate Patent Examination and Reduce Backlog
USPTO plans to use AI to streamline patent examination by analyzing extensive prior art, offering non-monetary compensation, and requiring vendors to supply cloud infrastructure within tight deadlines.
- USPTO seeks AI solutions to automate prior art scanning to reduce patent pendency, with vendor compensation primarily in non-monetary benefits like exposure and market visibility.
- The agency’s request for information emphasizes AI’s role in analyzing US patents, foreign patents, and non-patent literature to identify conflicts and relate prior art to new claims.
- Vendors must provide infrastructure within USPTO’s secure cloud, including compute, storage, and networking, with proposals due by June 24, 2025; timeline for deployment unspecified.
▶️ Software Development
AI and Human Developers: The Future of Software Innovation
The article highlights AI’s role in revolutionizing software development by augmenting developer skills, emphasizing the importance of human expertise, and asserting that now is the best time to learn coding due to accessible AI tools.
- The article discusses the potential of AI, particularly large language models (LLMs), to transform software development and the role of developers.
- It argues that AI enhances developer capabilities, making coding easier and more efficient, while emphasizing the importance of human expertise for accountability.
- The author claims that now is an optimal time to learn software development, as AI tools serve as a moat and amplify human skills rather than replace them.
Unlocking Git Notes: Enhancing Code Review and Metadata Management
Git notes are powerful but underused tools for attaching metadata to git objects, supporting distributed code review and offline review storage, despite limited adoption due to usability issues.
- Git notes enable appending metadata to commits, blobs, and trees without modifying objects directly
- Common uses include tracking review comments, time spent, and linking commits to discussions
- GitHub discontinued displaying commit notes in 2014; interface usability remains a barrier
▶️ Management and Leadership
Iran Urges Citizens to Delete WhatsApp Over Unfounded Data Sharing Claims
Iran advises citizens to delete WhatsApp amid unsubstantiated claims of data sharing with Israel; WhatsApp defends encryption and privacy, but metadata analysis raises privacy concerns.
- Iran’s state television urged citizens to delete WhatsApp, alleging without evidence that it collected user data to send to Israel.
- WhatsApp responded, stating it uses end-to-end encryption, does not track personal messages or location, and does not provide bulk data to governments.
- Experts note that metadata about WhatsApp usage can be understood despite encryption, raising concerns over data sovereignty and privacy.
Scott Aaronson Embraces Rationalist Identity and Debates Community Evolution
Scott Aaronson attended LessOnline, a rationalist conference, and publicly embraced the label, reflecting on community changes, debates on AI, culture, and influence, emphasizing diversity beyond stereotypes.
- Scott Aaronson attended LessOnline, a rationalist blogging conference in Berkeley, featuring prominent figures like Eliezer Yudkowsky and Scott Alexander, with discussions on AI, philosophy, and community.
- Aaronson publicly identified as a Rationalist during the event, reflecting on his previous skepticism and the community’s evolution, including increased family involvement and societal acceptance.
- He debated the community’s cultural stereotypes, such as cult-like behavior and lifestyle, emphasizing the diversity and intellectual engagement beyond these caricatures, and highlighted the community’s influence and internal debates.
Senate Bans State AI Laws in Trump Tax Bill to Protect Big Tech
The Senate’s inclusion of a ban on state AI regulations in Trump’s tax bill favors tech companies by blocking state-level AI laws through federal funding restrictions, approved via budget rules.
- The Senate maintains a provision in Trump’s tax bill that blocks US states from enforcing new AI regulations by withholding federal funding for broadband projects.
- The AI moratorium would prevent states from implementing AI laws, benefiting major tech and AI companies lobbying against a patchwork of state regulations.
- The Senate parliamentarian approved the provision as part of the budget process, which avoids filibuster, though it faces potential floor challenges.
Amazon CEO Warns AI Will Reduce White-Collar Jobs
Amazon CEO Andy Jassy publicly acknowledged in June 2025 that AI will likely reduce white-collar jobs, urging employees to adopt AI responsibly to remain impactful amid technological change.
- Amazon CEO Andy Jassy warned in a June 2025 memo that AI “should change the way our work is done” and will likely reduce white-collar jobs at Amazon.
- Jassy is the most high-profile CEO to acknowledge AI’s potential impact on employment, with Amazon employing approximately 1.5 million workers.
- Industry leaders like Sam Altman, Dario Amodei, and Jensen Huang have also issued AI warnings; Jassy emphasized that embracing AI can position employees for high impact and company reinvention.
Universities Expand Undergraduate AI Programs Amid Industry Growth
Multiple universities, including Rice, Carnegie Mellon, and Penn, now offer undergraduate degrees in AI amid increased industry investment in LLMs and generative AI, expanding educational pathways for AI careers.
- Rice University announced in May it will offer a Bachelor of Science in artificial intelligence.
- Carnegie Mellon has offered a BSc in AI since 2018; University of Pennsylvania launched an undergraduate AI degree in February 2024.
- Over a dozen universities, including Illinois Institute of Technology, Mississippi State, and University of Texas at San Antonio, offer undergraduate AI degrees; numerous others provide minors or concentrations.
Meta CFO Susan Li Reflects on Her Early Career and Industry Age Gaps
Meta’s CFO Susan Li recounted her mortifying first day at Morgan Stanley at age 19, highlighting industry age disparities, her rapid career progression, and influence from mentor Michael Grimes.
- Susan Li started at Morgan Stanley as a 19-year-old college graduate, working on the trading floor at 1585 Broadway.
- Her age was publicly highlighted on her first day, leading to her being “mortified” and receiving special attention from HR.
- Li became Meta’s CFO at age 36, making her one of the industry’s youngest CFOs; the industry average age is 53.
- She worked with Morgan Stanley tech banker Michael Grimes, known for high energy, curiosity, and outworking others, which influenced her professional approach.
- Li discussed her rapid educational progression, graduating college at 19 after early schooling and advanced academic opportunities.
Pavel Durov’s Telegram Becomes $30B Platform with $1B Revenue in 2024
Pavel Durov, Telegram’s founder, is a $17.1 billion billionaire with 1 billion users, making the platform worth $30 billion; it became profitable in 2024 with over $1 billion revenue.
- Pavel Durov, founder and owner of Telegram, is valued at $17.1 billion, with Telegram having 1 billion users and an estimated worth of $30 billion
- Telegram turned profitable in 2024, generating over $1 billion in revenue and holding $500 million in cash reserves; Durov holds 100% ownership and has raised approximately $2.4 billion in debt via bonds from 2021-2024
- Durov previously founded Vkontakte in 2006, sold a 12% stake for $300 million in 2015, and was ousted in 2014 due to Kremlin conflicts; he relocated Telegram to Dubai in 2017 and obtained UAE citizenship in 2021
U.S. Defense Awards OpenAI $200M Contract for National Security AI Development
The U.S. Defense Department awarded OpenAI a $200 million, one-year contract to develop frontier AI prototypes for national security, mainly in Washington, D.C., as part of the OpenAI for Government initiative.
- The U.S. Defense Department awarded OpenAI a one-year, $200 million contract for AI model development, primarily in the Washington, D.C. area.
- The contract aims to develop prototype frontier AI capabilities for national security, including warfighting and enterprise domains.
- This is the first Department of Defense contract listed on OpenAI’s website; OpenAI’s work will support national security missions and enhance operational efficiencies.
Tesla to Launch Robotaxis in Austin Amid New Autonomous Vehicle Laws
Tesla will deploy robotaxis in Austin on June 22, 2025, after Texas legislation requiring permits from September, with Level 4 autonomy using only cameras, emphasizing safety and regulatory compliance.
- Elon Musk announced Tesla will launch robotaxis in Austin on June 22, 2025, with rides starting in the afternoon for a flat fee of $4.20
- Texas Governor Greg Abbott signed legislation requiring autonomous vehicle permits, effective September 1, 2025, with approval and revocation powers assigned to state authorities
- Tesla plans to operate only in designated areas with Level 4 autonomous capability, relying solely on cameras, avoiding adverse weather, difficult intersections, and restricting riders under 18
GitHub Copilot Implements Request Limits Amid Rising Costs and User Concerns
GitHub has introduced limits on high-powered AI requests for Copilot paid plans, requiring higher tiers or metered billing, amid user complaints about low quotas and increased costs.
- GitHub Copilot now enforces monthly limits on high-powered AI requests for paying users, requiring higher tiers for unlimited access.
- Premium requests include Copilot Chat, coding agent, code review, extensions, and Spaces, with usage affected by AI model multipliers.
- Monthly premium request quotas vary by plan: Pro (300), Pro+ (1,500), Business (300 per user), Enterprise (1,000 per user); metered billing at $0.04 per request is available for overages.
Rimini Street Extends SAP Support to 2040 with Cost Savings and Legacy ERP Focus
Rimini Street will support SAP ECC 6.0 and S/4HANA until 2040, offering up to 90% cost savings, amid ongoing reliance on legacy ERP due to high migration costs and complexity.
- Rimini Street will support SAP ECC 6.0 and S/4HANA until 2040, extending beyond SAP’s planned 2027 mainstream support deadline
- Support includes support for SAP’s current ERP platform, S/4HANA, until 2040
- ECC remains widely used, with Gartner estimating over 60% of SAP customers on ECC 6 on-premises and 40% expected to still use ECC in key areas by 2030
- Rimini Street claims up to 90% annual maintenance cost savings compared to SAP support
- SAP extended ECC support to 2033 under special circumstances for customers with RISE agreements
- Moving to S/4HANA involves high costs and risks, especially for complex manufacturing ecosystems
- Rimini Street advocates for on-premises ECC support combined with AI and automation via partnerships like ServiceNow, avoiding vendor lock-in and cloud dependency
UK Higher Education Secures Oracle Deal Saving £45 Million
UK higher education sector secured a collective Java licensing agreement with Oracle, saving up to £45 million, following audits and licensing model changes since January 2023.
- UK higher education institutions negotiated a framework agreement with Oracle, saving up to £45 million compared to standard licensing costs
- The deal was developed after Oracle requested audits with institutions, aiming to mitigate costs from Java SE Universal Subscription introduced in January 2023
- The agreement offers a flat rate per FTE over five years, with a waiver for historical licensing discrepancies, addressing cost and compliance challenges faced by universities and colleges
Desktop Shipments Rise as Windows 10 Support Ends and Windows 11 Adoption Delays
With less than four months before Windows 10 end-of-support, desktop shipments and revenues surge amid delayed notebook upgrades; hardware and economic factors slow Windows 11 adoption.
- In April and May 2025, European distributors shipped 22% more desktops to enterprise customers, with revenue up 17% year-over-year.
- Desktop sales reached nearly 17% of total PC revenue in early Q2, the highest in two years, driven by refresh cycles and OS support deadlines.
- Windows 10 held 53.9% market share in May 2025, while Windows 11 accounted for 43.22%; enterprise resistance and hardware incompatibilities slow migration.
- Major PC manufacturers, including Dell and HP, report delayed Windows 11 upgrades due to economic factors, hardware issues, and market conditions.
- Notebook unit sales increased 2%, revenue up 7%, with AI-ready notebooks comprising 40-41% of volumes, though driven by vendor push rather than customer demand.
- Factors limiting AI PC adoption include high prices (10-20% above traditional devices) and lack of killer apps, favoring desktops for Windows 11 migration.
▶️ Technology
Airpass Mac App Bypasses Wi-Fi Limits by Renewing MAC Addresses
Airpass for Mac renews MAC addresses to bypass Wi-Fi login restrictions by preventing network detection, enabling repeated access despite network-imposed time limits.
- Airpass is a Mac application that renews the device’s MAC address to bypass Wi-Fi time limits
- It prevents Wi-Fi networks from recognizing the device based on MAC address, allowing repeated logins
- Developed by Tiago Alves, available for download on GitHub here
Phoenix.new: The Browser-Based Elixir Coding Agent Transforming Developer Workflows
Phoenix.new is a browser-based, fully isolated Elixir and Phoenix coding agent with root access, real-time UI interaction, and multi-framework support, enabling autonomous app development and workflow automation.
- Phoenix.new is a fully online, browser-based Elixir and Phoenix coding agent developed by Chris McCord at Fly.io, launched in June 2025
- Runs in an ephemeral virtual machine with root access, enabling full environment control, package installation, and environment modifications
- Integrates a headless Chrome browser for real-time UI interaction, live preview, and seamless front-end and back-end development
- Supports full-stack applications with WebSockets, Phoenix Presence, and databases; can explore external databases and generate schemas
- Can build applications across multiple frameworks and languages, including Rails, React Native, Svelte, and Go, with plans to expand language support
- Aims to shift developer workflows toward autonomous agents performing tasks like issue triage, PR generation, and app deployment, reducing manual iteration
Bento: Compact Portable Keyboard Computer Powered by Steam Deck OLED
Bento is a compact, portable computer built into a keyboard, using a Steam Deck OLED mainboard, optimized for spatial display use, with open-source STEP, 3MF, STL files, and modular support.
- Bento is a portable computer designed to fit underneath a keyboard, inspired by the Commodore 64 and cyberdeck creations.
- It uses a Steam Deck OLED main board, with the same cooler and battery, and can accommodate other SBCs; powered by a thin, high-performance mainboard.
- Designed primarily for use with external spatial displays like XREAL One, eliminating built-in displays to reduce weight and enhance portability.
Google’s TPUv4 Achieves 500 TFLOPs with Scalable Hierarchical Design
Google’s TPUs are highly scalable ASICs optimized for matrix multiplication throughput and energy efficiency, employing systolic arrays, AoT compilation, and hierarchical interconnects up to 9216 chips.
- Google’s TPUv4 chip features two TensorCores with shared memory units: 128MiB CMEM and 32GiB HBM
- TPUv4 achieves 500 TFLOPs/sec per chip; TPUv7 “Ironwood” reaches up to 42.5 ExaFLOPS/sec per pod (9216 chips)
- TPU hierarchy includes trays (4 chips), racks (64 chips, 4x4x4 torus), superpods (4096 chips), and multi-pod systems (e.g., 9216 chips for TPUv7)
Google Translate’s NMT Boosted Quality but Human Context Remains Essential
Google Translate’s switch to neural machine translation in 2016 improved accuracy but cannot replace human translators’ contextual and cultural understanding; translation jobs have increased despite AI advances.
- Google Translate transitioned to neural machine translation (NMT) in 2016, significantly improving translation quality.
- Despite advances, translation professionals report increased integration of AI into workflows, not job reduction.
- Machine translation struggles with context, cultural nuance, and ambiguity, exemplified by Norwegian politeness and Japanese grammar differences.
Microsoft suspends ICC prosecutor’s email amid U.S. sanctions fears
Microsoft complied with Trump’s executive order by disabling ICC prosecutor Karim Khan’s email, raising concerns in Europe about U.S. tech tools being used for geopolitical sanctions and sovereignty risks.
- Microsoft helped suspend the ICC prosecutor Karim Khan’s email account following Trump’s February executive order targeting the ICC.
- The order barred U.S. companies from providing services to the ICC, which is investigating Israel for war crimes.
- European policymakers fear U.S. tech dominance could be leveraged for geopolitical sanctions, prompting calls for increased European sovereignty over digital infrastructure.
Scammers Hijack Search Ads for Major Brands to Steal Personal Data
Scammers hijack search results for major brands via paid ads embedding fake help-desk numbers, exploiting reflected input vulnerabilities to deceive victims into sharing sensitive info.
- Attackers hijack search results for brands like Netflix, Apple, BofA, Facebook, HP, Microsoft, and PayPal to promote malicious sites with embedded fake help-desk phone numbers.
- Scammers pay for sponsored ads on Google, creating malicious URLs that mimic legitimate sites, with URLs reflecting user input without sanitization, exploiting reflected input vulnerabilities.
- When users search “24/7 support” or similar terms, ads appear as top results, leading to real-looking pages with pre-populated fake phone numbers, enabling scams that steal personal and financial data.
AI Search Summaries Cut Web Traffic and Revenue for Publishers
AI-generated search summaries from Google and others have decreased web referral traffic by up to 30%, significantly impacting publishers’ revenue amid increased AI web crawling ratios.
- Google AI Overviews launched in May 2024, showing web page summaries atop search results, reducing click-throughs to source sites by 30% (BrightEdge, 2025)
- Search referrals to top US travel, news, e-commerce, finance, food, and fashion sites declined 17-20% year-over-year; AI search referrals account for only 10%
- Web publishers face lower ad and subscription revenues due to diminished visitors caused by increased web crawling ratios by AI models, with OpenAI and Anthropic ratios rising from 250:1 to 1,500:1 and 6,000:1 to 60,000:1 respectively (Matthew Prince, Cloudflare)
Adobe Unveils Free Computational Photography App ‘Project Indigo’ for iPhone
Adobe’s Project Indigo is a free iPhone camera app utilizing computational photography, developed with Marc Levoy, that captures burst images for high-quality, natural-looking photos with manual controls and plans to add advanced features and platform support.
- Adobe released the free ‘Project Indigo’ computational photography app for iPhones, supporting models iPhone 12 Pro/Pro Max, 13 Pro/Pro Max, and all iPhone 14+ (recommended for iPhone 15 Pro+).
- The app captures bursts of photos to produce high-quality images with reduced noise and increased dynamic range, aiming for a natural, SLR-like aesthetic, with manual controls for focus, shutter speed, ISO, and white balance.
- Marc Levoy, a former Google Pixel camera engineer, contributed to the app’s development; Adobe plans to expand features including reflection removal, Android support, portrait mode, and video recording, integrating AI-driven enhancements.
MPK Compiler Boosts LLM Inference Speed with Single Megakernel Approach
Zhihao Jia et al. introduced MPK, a compiler that converts multi-GPU LLM inference into a single megakernel, significantly lowering latency through end-to-end GPU fusion and fine-grained pipelining (source).
- Developed Mirage Persistent Kernel (MPK), a compiler transforming multi-GPU LLM inference into a single megakernel, reducing latency by 1.2–6.7x
- MPK fuses all inference operations, including communication, into one GPU kernel, eliminating launch overhead and enabling pipelining and overlap
- Achieves per-token decoding latency of 12.5 ms on NVIDIA A100 40GB, approaching the theoretical lower bound of 10 ms, outperforming existing systems like vLLM and SGLang