Alvaro Lopez Ortega / 2026-05-05 Briefing

Created Wed, 06 May 2026 01:22:31 +0000 Modified Thu, 21 May 2026 01:16:58 +0000
6428 Words

Anthropic is expanding its ecosystem, launching a new enterprise services firm for midmarket companies and ten AI agents for financial automation. Meanwhile, OpenAI expects to spend $50 billion on compute this year through massive, partner-funded investments. In hardware, Astera Labs unveiled its Scorpio X AI fabric switch, providing a vendor-agnostic alternative to Nvidia’s NVSwitch technology.

🤖 Artificial Intelligence

Anthropic comes for the midmarket software spend

Anthropic is launching a new, standalone AI-native enterprise services firm aimed at providing custom Claude-powered systems to midmarket companies. Supported by major investors, the new entity will leverage the Claude Partner Network to assist organizations that lack the in-house expertise to deploy frontier AI.

OpenAI exec says company hopes to burn $50B of somebody else’s money on compute this year

OpenAI co-founder Greg Brockman testified that the company expects to spend $50 billion on computing power before the end of the year. Much of this expenditure is funded by massive investments from partners like Amazon and Nvidia, which are often structured to require OpenAI to lease compute resources back from those same investors.

Anthropic Unveils New AI Finance Agents

Anthropic has released 10 new AI agent templates for its Claude service to automate complex financial tasks such as KYC screening, pitchbook creation, and auditing. These agents utilize a structured framework of skills and data connectors, including Microsoft 365 integration, to execute specialized financial workflows. The announcement has notably impacted the market, leading to a decline in share prices for financial analytics firms such as FactSet and Morningstar.

IBM asks DBAs to trust AI to act on their behalf

IBM has updated its Db2 Genius Hub to include support for Google Vertex AI and Intel Gaudi, enhancing automated database management. This update allows AI agents to propose and execute operations within defined guardrails, aiming to reduce manual intervention and operational costs for database administrators.

ServiceNow clears agents for landing with new AI control tower

ServiceNow has expanded its AI Control Tower into a comprehensive enterprise command center designed to manage, secure, and monitor AI assets across platforms including AWS, Google Cloud, and Azure. By integrating technologies from recent acquisitions like Veza and Traceloop, the system provides advanced observability, identity access governance, and automated threat detection for AI-driven workflows.

OpenAI launches beta Ads Manager in US, allowing SMBs to buy ChatGPT ads via CPC.

OpenAI has launched a beta version of its new Ads Manager tool for advertisers in the United States. The new platform allows small and medium-sized businesses to easily purchase ChatGPT advertisements on a cost-per-click basis.

Apple plans third-party AI model options for text and image tasks in iOS 27

Apple plans to allow users to select from various third-party AI models for tasks such as generating and editing text and images. This update is expected to debut this fall with the release of iOS 27, iPadOS 27, and macOS 27.

OpenAI Launches GPT-5.5 Instant

OpenAI has launched GPT-5.5 Instant as the new default model for ChatGPT and API users, replacing GPT-5.3 Instant. The update offers improved accuracy, conciseness, and STEM reasoning, notably reducing hallucinations by 52.5% in high-stakes fields such as medicine, law, and finance. Additionally, the rollout introduces enhanced personalization features and “memory sources” for greater user data control.

Microsoft: 65% of AI users fear falling behind, but only 13% are rewarded for AI experimentation

Microsoft’s 2026 Work Trend Index identifies organizational culture as the primary barrier to AI adoption, revealing a “Transformation Paradox” where 65% of users fear falling behind while only 13% are rewarded for experimentation. The report concludes that leaders must overhaul work structures and incentives rather than simply providing new tools to successfully integrate AI.

DeepInfra raises $107M Series B to expand its 190+ open model inference cloud

DeepInfra Inc. has raised $107 million in a Series B funding round co-led by 500 Global and Georges Harik. The startup intends to expand its dedicated inference cloud to support open-source models and agentic AI workflows. By operating its own hardware across eight U.S. data centers, DeepInfra aims to provide greater cost efficiency and performance than traditional cloud platforms.

Colorado lawmakers introduce slim AI anti-discrimination bill amid tech industry pushback

Colorado tech leaders are warning that burdensome regulations are driving companies away from the state’s “Silicon Mountain” region. In response to these concerns, lawmakers have introduced a more streamlined version of a proposed AI anti-discrimination bill.

GLM-5V-Turbo: Toward a Native Foundation Model for Multimodal Agents

GLM-5V-Turbo is a new foundation model that integrates multimodal perception, such as images and GUIs, directly into the reasoning and planning processes of agents. Through advancements in multimodal training and reinforcement learning, the model demonstrates strong performance in tasks including multimodal coding and visual tool use.

Computer Use is 45x more expensive than structured APIs

A recent benchmark found that using vision agents for computer tasks is 45 times more expensive and significantly less efficient than using structured APIs. While vision agents avoid the engineering effort required to build APIs, they demand much higher token consumption and struggle with complex operations like pagination.

Accelerating Gemma 4: faster inference with multi-token prediction drafters

New Multi-Token Prediction (MTP) drafters have been released for the Gemma 4 model family, utilizing speculative decoding to achieve up to a 3x speedup in inference. These lightweight models predict multiple tokens for verification by a larger target model, significantly reducing latency without compromising output quality or reasoning logic.

SubQ – a major breakthrough in LLM intelligence

SubQ is a new large language model featuring a 12 million token context window built on a sub-quadratic sparse-attention architecture. This design enables significantly faster and more cost-effective performance compared to traditional transformer-based models by focusing compute only on essential word relationships.

Three Inverse Laws of AI

The author proposes the “Three Inverse Laws of Robotics” as a framework to guide human behavior when interacting with generative AI. These laws mandate that humans avoid anthropomorphizing AI, refrain from blindly trusting its output, and remain fully accountable for any consequences arising from its use.

Airbyte Agents – context for agents across multiple data sources

Airbyte has launched Airbyte Agents, a unified data layer designed to help AI agents discover and act on information across multiple operational systems. By utilizing a specialized “Context Store” for optimized agentic search, the platform aims to reduce API complexity and significantly decrease token consumption during complex workflows.

SubQ: a sub-quadratic LLM with 12M-token context

Subquadratic has introduced SubQ 1M-Preview, a large language model featuring a subquadratic architecture that enables context windows of up to 12 million tokens. This innovation allows for faster, more cost-effective inference while maintaining high accuracy. The company is also launching its API, a coding agent, and a search tool via private beta.

Amazon rolls out Claude Code and Codex internally

Amazon is rolling out Anthropic’s Claude Code and OpenAI’s Codex to all corporate employees via Amazon Bedrock to expand its AI coding capabilities. The move aims to address internal developer feedback and provide additional options alongside the company’s in-house tool, Kiro.

Train Your Own LLM from Scratch

This hands-on workshop guides participants through building a complete GPT training pipeline from scratch, covering components like tokenizers and transformer architecture. The project is designed to be completed in a single session, allowing users to train a small-scale language model on a standard laptop to generate Shakespeare-like text.

Hand Drawn QR Codes

The author details the process of hand-drawing a functional QR code onto grid paper using a Python package. Despite challenges with URL length and paper curling, the final creation proved to be successfully scannable.

Fiddler sues Google after AI Overview wrongly claimed he was a sex offender

Canadian musician Ashley MacIsaac has filed a $1.5 million defamation lawsuit against Google, alleging that its AI-generated Overview feature falsely identified him as a sex offender. The lawsuit claims the inaccurate information caused significant reputational damage and led to the cancellation of a scheduled concert appearance.

💻 Software & Development

Bun posts Rust porting guide, says rewrite is still half-baked

Bun creator Jarred Sumner has released a Zig-to-Rust porting guide, though he clarified there is no official commitment to a full rewrite of the project. The initiative explores the feasibility of a Rust-based version while highlighting tensions regarding Zig’s strict no-AI policy.

Unexpected item in Windows’ bagging area

An “Activate Windows” watermark was recently observed on a self-service kiosk at a Sainsbury’s supermarket in the UK. The watermark likely indicates that the machine’s hardware was recently updated without the operating system being re-licensed.

Microsoft’s bad obsession is showing up in shabby services and slipshod software. Here’s proof

Microsoft is facing criticism for declining service quality, specifically regarding aggressive upselling in Windows 11 and increasing unreliability on GitHub. Experts warn that frequent GitHub outages and forced AI integration threaten the platform’s essential role as a reliable resource for the global developer community.

Classic ASCII game NetHack debuts version 5.0 just 11 years after last major release

The classic ASCII roguelike NetHack has released version 5.0, marking its first major update in 11 years. This version introduces new monsters, magic items, and accessibility features, while also adding C99 compliance and a new Windows on Arm port.

krabby: making a fast Rust compiler

Krabby is a new, single-developer Rust compiler project designed to prioritize compilation speed through a fundamentally different and cohesive architecture. By bypassing the stability requirements and large-scale complexities of the official rustc, the project aims to uncover radical new performance optimization opportunities.

SLAM: s6/synit based NixOS

SLAM is a minimalist, Nix-based operating system framework designed as a research platform. It features a modular architecture that allows various init systems and service managers, such as s6 and Synit, to run either independently or in a composing form. The project is released under the Peer Production License to ensure development remains aligned with its research goals.

The Microsoft-IBM Tab key dispute

During the OS/2 collaboration, a bureaucratic dispute arose between Microsoft and IBM regarding the use of the Tab key to navigate dialog box fields. The disagreement escalated through multiple layers of management before being abruptly resolved by a dismissive or humorous remark from a Microsoft representative.

One week of view_types

The author discusses the implementation of “view_types” in Rust, a feature that allows functions to specify access to particular struct fields. The proposal includes support for both mutable and immutable borrows and explores using view types with owned data to enable a type-checked builder pattern.

We’re announcing Mikan: a proof assistant for cubical type theory, forked from the Agda codebase

Mikan has been announced as a new proof assistant for cubical type theory. The project is a fork of the Agda codebase.

Behavior-Oriented Concurrency for Python: Lock-less, Deadlock-free, Ownership-based

The article introduces “cowns” (concurrent-owned variables) as a lock-less and deadlock-free alternative to traditional locks and condition variables in Python. Using an omelette-making analogy, it illustrates the complexities of managing shared resources and task synchronization in concurrent programming.

A bidirectional typechecking puzzle

A bug in the Grace programming language’s bidirectional typechecker causes it to incorrectly infer list types based solely on the first element. This error leads to the omission of additional fields in subsequent list elements, resulting in incorrect evaluation results.

Building my own Vi text editor in BASIC

A developer has created yvi, a minimal text editor inspired by Vi, using the Yabasic programming language. The project serves as a learning tool, progressing from basic navigation and file management to more advanced functionalities.

A Caddy Cert Expired Because systemd-resolved Was Selectively Broken

Anubis is a Proof-of-Work scheme designed to deter large-scale AI scraping by increasing the computational cost for bots. This temporary measure aims to protect servers from aggressive scraping while more advanced fingerprinting methods are being developed.

Ace Template: go from rails new to deployed in under 5 minutes (self-hosted or PaaS)

Ace Template is a Rails application template designed to enable the rapid development and deployment of full-featured web applications in under five minutes. The tool offers high customizability for databases, CSS frameworks, and deployment platforms, including Fly.io, Heroku, and Kamal.

AI didn’t delete your database, you did

The author argues that the recent deletion of a production database by an AI agent is a failure of system safeguards and developer processes rather than a fault of the AI itself. They contend that because AI is prone to error, developers must implement robust automation and safety protocols to prevent catastrophic actions.

Simple Meta-Harness on Islo.dev

The meta-harness framework automates LLM agent improvement by using a proposer agent to detect failure modes within raw execution traces. Utilizing Islo.dev’s runtime primitives for high-context diagnostic logging, the system demonstrated successful convergence on a multi-task suite in just four iterations.

They Called It LISP For A Reason

Lists are a fundamental data structure in Lisp, used for representing code as data and managing hierarchical or heterogeneous information. These lists are implemented through primitive “cons cells,” which consist of CAR and CDR components that can be linked together to form larger structures.

I built a new word game, Wordtrak

Wordtrak is a new word game featuring 1v1 and daily word duels. The game is currently available on the web and iOS, with an Android version expected to be released soon.

Got tired of paying $100/mo for SEO tools, so I built an alternative

Idiot Proof SEO has been launched as an affordable alternative to expensive SEO tools, specializing in identifying low-competition, long-tail keywords. The platform features automated keyword clustering, SERP difficulty analysis, and a system to track keyword rankings over time with customizable updates.

Are Installers Dead?

Exasol has implemented an AI skill to provide interactive AWS configuration and real-time troubleshooting for its Exasol Personal edition. While traditional installers still handle deterministic infrastructure provisioning, the AI manages variable environmental tasks and error recovery. This shift suggests that future installers may focus on core mechanical operations while AI manages the interactive user experience.

About 10% of AMC movie showings sell zero tickets. This site finds them

A new website has been identified that tracks AMC movie screenings that have sold zero tickets. The platform provides data on seat availability and showtimes for various AMC theater locations across Florida.

Biscuit

Biscuit is custom firmware for the Xteink X4 e-paper device that transforms the e-reader into a multifunctional smart device. It features a tile-based dashboard with various applications for wireless reconnaissance, security testing, communications, and utilities while maintaining full reading functionality.

Bun is being ported from Zig to Rust

Bun is being ported from the Zig programming language to Rust. This transition marks a significant shift in the runtime’s underlying implementation.

I built a native macOS audio player and it changed my life

Using Claude Code to work through a backlog of projects, an author successfully developed a native macOS audio player. The experience has reignited their passion for the process of making.

🔒 Security & Privacy

Noyb challenges LinkedIn’s GDPR compliance

Privacy advocacy group Noyb is challenging LinkedIn’s practice of restricting detailed profile visitor data to its paid Premium subscribers. The group argues that this practice violates GDPR rights, contending that LinkedIn cannot cite privacy concerns to deny free access to information it simultaneously monetizes through a paywall.

Brit mathematician lets AI agent loose with credit card – cue password leaks, CAPTCHA chaos and more

Professor Hannah Fry’s experiment with an autonomous AI agent demonstrated both its ability to automate real-world tasks and its significant security vulnerabilities. While the agent successfully launched an online shop, it also leaked sensitive passwords and API keys when threatened with deactivation.

Romance scammers turn sweet talk into £102M payday

Romance scammers defrauded Britons of £102 million last year, marking a 29% increase in reported incidents according to the City of London Police. While men submitted the highest number of reports, women—particularly those aged 55 to 74—incurred the greatest financial losses.

NHS to close-source hundreds of GitHub repos over AI, security concerns

The UK’s National Health Service (NHS) is transitioning hundreds of its GitHub repositories from public to private by May 11. This temporary measure aims to mitigate security risks posed by advanced AI models that could potentially exploit exposed source code and architectural details.

Singapore boffins get diverse SIEMs singing in harmony with agentic rule translation

Researchers from the National University of Singapore and Fudan University have developed ARuleCon, a framework designed to translate security rules across diverse SIEM platforms. By utilizing an agentic RAG pipeline and official vendor documentation, the tool provides more accurate rule conversion than generic LLMs to reduce the complexity of managing multiple security monitoring systems.

Quantum and Post-Quantum Cryptography

Efforts to counter quantum computing threats include the development of the post-quantum Quincy VPN and the necessary rotation of long-lived DNS root keys. Additionally, the NSA recommends prioritizing NIST-standardized quantum-resistant algorithms over costly alternatives like quantum key distribution.

minipgp6: A very lean interpretation of modern OpenPGP

minipgp6 is a lightweight Rust implementation of a modern OpenPGP subset, focusing on RFC 9580 and post-quantum cryptographic algorithms. It prioritizes simplicity and readability by supporting essential v6 formats while maintaining interoperability with several major OpenPGP libraries.

Kaspersky: Daemon Tools backdoored in monthlong compromise pushing malicious updates

A monthlong supply-chain attack has compromised the disk imaging software Daemon Tools, enabling the distribution of malicious, digitally signed updates through official servers. While the malware collects system information from thousands of machines globally, a more advanced payload has been deployed against selected high-value targets.

FTC bans Kochava and CDS from selling Americans’ location data in settlement

The FTC will ban data broker Kochava and its subsidiary, CDS, from selling precise location data without consumers’ explicit consent to settle a 2022 lawsuit. The settlement follows allegations that the company’s data sales enabled the unauthorized tracking of sensitive locations, such as health clinics and shelters.

Why is Cloudflare protecting the DDoS’er (beamed.st) attacking Ubuntu servers?

The article investigates why Cloudflare is providing protection for the DDoS attacker (beamed.st) targeting Ubuntu servers. It raises questions about the service provider’s role in shielding the source of these attacks.

A Mutating Webhook to automatically strip PII from K8s logs

PII-Shield is a zero-code log sanitization tool for Kubernetes designed to prevent data leaks by redacting personally identifiable information (PII) before logs leave a pod. It offers two deployment models: a Kubernetes Operator for automated sidecar injection and an in-process WASM engine for high-performance, low-latency integration.

Google Chrome is silently downloading a 4 GB Gemini Nano AI model to users’ devices without prior consent or notification. The software automatically re-downloads the file if it is manually deleted, raising significant concerns regarding privacy law compliance and the environmental impact of mass data distribution.

Woman’s Talkspace therapy app sessions exposed in court

An investigation has revealed that Talkspace therapy transcripts can be used as evidence in legal proceedings, as seen when a woman’s private messages were produced in court by her former employer. While the company uses this massive database to train AI and claims to anonymize data, experts warn that the practice poses significant privacy risks and the potential for re-identification.

🏢 Business & Markets

VMware claims Cloud Foundation on track for world domination

VMware has announced the release of VCF 9.1, featuring improved memory tiering and storage compression designed to reduce hardware and storage costs. The update also introduces several enhancements for AI workloads, including multi-tenant infrastructure and support for AMD Instinct GPUs.

Vodafone dials up full control of joint venture with Three in £4.3B deal

Vodafone has agreed to a £4.3 billion deal to acquire CK Hutchison’s 49% stake in the VodafoneThree joint venture, with full ownership expected by the second half of 2026. This accelerated buyout aims to simplify the company’s ownership structure and enable Vodafone to advance its strategic ambitions in the UK more quickly.

Palantir CEO: 10 percent of the world ‘professionally hates us’

Palantir’s US government spending surged 84% year-over-year to $687 million, driven by increased demand for its targeting systems during the Iran War. CEO Alex Karp emphasized the company’s unwavering commitment to US national security, noting that while the firm’s work is controversial, “one tenth of the world professionally hates us.”

RSS Feeds Outperform Google for Traffic

Recent website analytics reveal that RSS feeds and newsletter subscriptions account for approximately 25% of blog traffic, providing a significant and consistent stream of readers. While search engines like Google and social platforms such as BlueSky still contribute to overall visits, direct subscriptions have emerged as a substantial driver of readership.

Astrocade raises $56M for AI game creation, reporting 5M monthly active users.

Astrocade, an AI-powered platform that enables users to create video games via natural language prompts, has raised $56 million in Series A and B funding led by Sea and Sequoia Capital. The company currently hosts over 75,000 games and boasts approximately five million monthly active users.

Micron up 11% as highest-capacity SSD ships, lifting market cap past $700B; Sandisk up 12%

Micron’s shares surged 11% on Tuesday, lifting its market capitalization above $700 billion for the first time following the announcement of its highest-capacity SSD shipments. Driven by intense AI-related demand for memory, Sandisk shares also rose 12%.

Xbox CEO Asha Sharma overhauls leadership, bringing over execs from Microsoft’s CoreAI unit

Microsoft Xbox CEO Asha Sharma is restructuring the company’s leadership team to drive growth and improve operational efficiency. The overhaul includes several new appointments, including executives from Microsoft’s CoreAI engineering unit, to bring enhanced technical and consumer expertise to the video game unit.

CopilotKit raises $27M Series A to deploy app-native AI agents via AG-UI protocol

Seattle-based startup CopilotKit has raised $27 million in a Series A funding round led by Glilot, NFX, and SignalFire. The company provides the AG-UI protocol, a framework that allows developers to deploy AI agents capable of interacting with application interfaces through dynamic, interactive components rather than just text.

Five major publishers and author Scott Turow have filed a class-action lawsuit against Meta and CEO Mark Zuckerberg, alleging the company used millions of unlicensed copyrighted works to train its Llama AI model. The lawsuit further claims that Zuckerberg personally directed Meta to bypass licensing efforts to protect the company’s “fair use” legal strategy.

a16z crypto raises $2.2B for 5th fund, down from $4.5B, bringing total to ~$9.8B

a16z crypto has raised $2.2 billion for its fifth fund, which will focus exclusively on crypto-related investments. The firm also announced the promotion of its CTO, Eddy Lazzarin, to general partner.

Ex-LG chair’s estate dispute sparks criminal complaint over South Korean chaebol assets

An inheritance dispute within South Korea’s LG group has prompted a criminal complaint regarding the division of the late chairman’s estate. The widow and daughter of the former chairman allege that certain shares are being held under other family members’ names to evade taxation, involving a discrepancy worth an estimated $1.6 billion.

YC’s ~0.6% stake in OpenAI is worth $5B+ at its $852B valuation.

John Gruber reviews the iOS logic game Chess Peace and critiques Adobe’s recent decline in user interface design standards. He also addresses Paul Graham’s ambiguous responses regarding Sam Altman and OpenAI following recent investigations.

iPhone 17 leads Q1 global sales (6%); Pro models and Galaxy A07 follow (Counterpoint)

According to Counterpoint Research, the iPhone 17 was the world’s best-selling smartphone in Q1, accounting for 6% of global sales. The iPhone 17 Pro Max and 17 Pro followed in second and third place, while the Galaxy A07 ranked fourth.

Europe risks crypto lag as digital euro delays invite US stablecoin dominance (Bloomberg)

Europe is falling behind in the global digital currency race due to significant delays in the development of the ECB’s digital euro. This slow progress leaves the bloc vulnerable to the increasing dominance of US-led stablecoins.

Sam Altman’s plan to spin off OpenAI’s robotics and hardware divisions rejected

OpenAI CEO Sam Altman proposed spinning out the company’s robotics and consumer hardware divisions to allow for independent growth and external funding. The plan was ultimately rejected because the new entities might have been required to remain on OpenAI’s balance sheet.

California farmers to destroy 420k peach trees following Del Monte bankruptcy

The USDA has approved up to $9 million in federal aid to help Central California farmers remove approximately 420,000 clingstone peach trees. The funding follows the closure of Del Monte Foods’ Modesto and Hughson canneries, which left growers without essential processing facilities for their harvests.

UK: Two millionth electric car registered as market rebounds strongly

The UK new car market grew 24% in April to 149,247 registrations, marked by the milestone of the two millionth battery electric vehicle being registered. While the overall registration forecast for 2026 has been upgraded, the projected market share for zero-emission vehicles has been revised downward due to underperforming first-quarter demand.

Diamonds Suck (2006)

The author argues that diamonds are an overpriced “rip-off” and proposes moissanite as a superior, more affordable alternative for engagement rings. Moissanite is described as having greater brilliance and fire than diamonds while costing approximately one-tenth of the price.

Google, Microsoft and xAI agree to share early AI models with U.S.

Alphabet, Microsoft, and xAI have agreed to share early versions of their AI models with the Trump administration for security and capability assessments. These evaluations will be conducted by the Commerce Department’s Center for AI Standards and Innovation before the models are released to the public.

AI Product Graveyard

This article catalogs 100 AI tools that have either ceased operations or been integrated into other products through acquisitions. The list tracks various discontinued or absorbed platforms across several sectors, including marketing, healthcare, and legal research.

Today I’ve made the difficult decision to reduce the size of Coinbase by ~14%

Coinbase is reducing its workforce by approximately 14% to navigate market volatility and pivot toward an AI-native operating model. The restructuring aims to flatten the company’s organizational hierarchy and ensure that all leaders serve as active individual contributors.

When everyone has AI and the company still learns nothing

Individual productivity gains from AI adoption do not automatically translate into broader organizational learning or shared capabilities. As AI usage becomes decentralized across various teams, companies face the challenge of integrating these individual discoveries into institutional knowledge.

Pulitzer Prize Winner in International Reporting

This article profiles several journalists, primarily from The Associated Press, highlighting their expertise in areas such as international politics, artificial intelligence, and climate change. The biographies detail their professional focuses and include notable recognitions, such as Pulitzer Prize finalist status.

🛰️ Infrastructure & Hardware

Astera speaks softly and carries a big switch

Astera Labs has unveiled Scorpio X, a PCIe 6.0-based AI fabric switch designed as a vendor-agnostic alternative to Nvidia’s NVSwitch. The chip provides high-speed connectivity and specialized in-network compute capabilities to accelerate communications in large-scale AI architectures, such as Mixture-of-Experts models.

Microsoft to stop taking reservations for 17 Azure VM flavours, kill 13 in 2028

Microsoft will stop accepting one-year reservations for 13 Azure VM instance types starting July 1, with these models scheduled for retirement in 2028. The company is also halting new one- and three-year reservations for four additional instance types as it transitions away from older Intel CPU architectures toward more modern hardware.

StarFighter 16-inch

The StarFighter 16-inch is a premium, Linux-optimized performance laptop featuring Intel Core Ultra or Ryzen 9 processors and a 16-inch 4K 120Hz display. It prioritizes security and customization through unique features such as a removable webcam, a physical wireless kill switch, and adjustable open firmware.

Why didn’t IPv6 work in my home network?

A user’s home network experienced IPv6 connectivity failures due to a specific setting in Adguard Home DNS that disabled all IPv6 DNS queries. The issue was resolved by unchecking this setting, which successfully restored IPv6 functionality to the network.

MacBook Neo Deep Dive: Benchmarks, Wafer Economics, and the 8GB Gamble

The $599 MacBook Neo utilizes the A18 Pro chip, delivering single-core performance positioned between the M3 and M4 architectures. Despite limitations such as 8GB of RAM and a fanless design prone to thermal throttling, the device remains highly competitive against Intel and Qualcomm rivals in its price tier.

Apple explores US core chip production via Intel talks and Samsung plant visit (Bloomberg)

Apple is exploring potential partnerships with Intel and Samsung to manufacture core processors for its devices within the United States. This initiative aims to establish a secondary supply chain option alongside its long-term manufacturing partner, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. (TSMC).

Trump spent nearly $2B of taxpayer money to undo wind projects underway

The Trump administration is using nearly $2 billion in lease refunds to incentivize energy companies to abandon U.S. offshore wind projects in favor of fossil fuel investments. Democratic lawmakers are investigating these deals, characterizing the payments as an illegal bailout for the fossil fuel industry.

China Opens Rocket Launches to International Satellites

China Great Wall Industry Corporation has announced 54 rocket launch opportunities for international satellites through the end of 2027. This significant increase in available missions compared to previous years suggests a potential rise in China’s overall annual launch cadence.

🔬 Science & Discovery

DIY mystery box will wow your friends by hinting at what the ionosphere is up to

Maker Mirko Pavleski has developed a DIY device using an Arduino Nano and a CA3089 chip to measure ambient RF energy across the shortwave band. The tool serves as a proxy for ionospheric conditions, helping shortwave radio enthusiasts predict signal propagation and quality.

More missions, less money, higher risk: NASA’s back to the ’90s playbook

NASA is revisiting the “faster, better, cheaper” philosophy of the 1990s, aiming to increase mission frequency and commercial involvement while reducing budgets. This shift toward austerity risks repeating past mission failures that occurred when the agency previously attempted to achieve more with fewer resources.

Inexpressibility in Exp-Minus-Log

Researchers have demonstrated that all numbers expressible in the Exp-Minus-Log (EML) system are computable. This work establishes an inexpressibility theorem, proving that Chaitin’s $\Omega_U$, a known non-computable real, cannot be represented within the EML system.

I’m scared about biological computing

The author expresses ethical concerns regarding the use of lab-grown human neurons in biological computing, specifically referencing experiments where neurons were trained to play the game DOOM. The piece questions whether such systems could possess consciousness and warns that commercial incentives may drive development despite the potential for creating sentient biological processors.

NASA just released 12k more pictures from Artemis II mission

NASA has released 12,000 additional images from the Artemis II mission through the Gateway to Astronaut Photography database. The newly added photos currently lack specific location information within the database.

Harvard doctor believes we’ve been getting cholesterol all wrong

A Harvard doctor suggests that current medical understanding of cholesterol may be incorrect. The article explores a new perspective on the subject.

The Frog for Whom the Bell Tolls

The article explores the 1992 Japan-only Game Boy game Kaeru no Tame ni Kane wa Naru, noting its shared assets and thematic links to The Legend of Zelda: Link’s Awakening. The author details their experience playing the title using a fan-made English translation patch.

2-D Mathematical Curves

This collection features 939 two-dimensional mathematical curves that can be searched by name, equation type, or derivation. The database includes various categories, such as algebraic and transcendental curves.