Intel’s x86 CPU market share fell below 1995 levels, while AMD’s share of server CPUs rose to 46.4% versus Intel’s 53.6%, according to a Mercury Research report. The report adjusts for differing definitions of embedded and networking CPUs and includes semicustom, embedded and IoT products in Intel’s calculations. Intel’s overall x86 share dropped to 69.3% year‑over‑year, a decline of 6.5%, and to 65.9% when including those additional product categories, down 4.6% year‑over‑year. AMD’s server CPU share increased 9.2% year‑over‑year to 46.4%, while Intel’s server share stood at 53.6%. In the broader PC market, AMD’s share rose to 30.3% year‑over‑year while Intel’s fell to 69.7%. Desktop CPUs show Intel at 65.1% versus AMD’s 34.9%, and laptop CPUs show Intel at 71.1% versus AMD’s 28.9%. Desktop PC shipments declined 20% year‑over‑year in the second quarter. Intel’s data center revenue grew 59% year‑over‑year in Q2, but its market share remains under pressure. The findings align with data from Jon Peddie Research, and Intel has indicated that risk production of its 14A node will begin in 2027, with plans to raise capital expenditures significantly next year. The shift in market share underscores evolving dynamics in the semiconductor industry and raises questions about Intel’s ability to sustain its server CPU advantage.

Zillow and Redfin have reached a settlement with the Federal Trade Commission and five state attorneys general, resolving a 2025 antitrust lawsuit over a partnership that limited Redfin’s ability to compete in rental advertising.

The agreement, announced Monday, follows a 2025 deal in which Redfin agreed to display Zillow’s rental listings on its sites, an arrangement that could have barred Redfin from competing for rental advertisers for up to nine years. Redfin owns Rent.com and ApartmentGuide.com.

Under the settlement, Zillow will pay Redfin $100 million. Redfin must reenter the rental advertising market and can again compete for property‑management customers, while the restriction that limited its independent competition is removed. The companies said the partnership expanded listings for renters, whereas the FTC and the states argued the deal suppressed competition, potentially raising prices and reducing quality for property managers. The settlement does not end the companies’ ability to share listings, but it allows Redfin to sell its own advertising and compete for customers without sharing sensitive information.

The case follows the Department of Justice’s recent settlement with Ticketmaster and a separate Live Nation antitrust lawsuit in which most state attorneys general continued their challenge. The settlement leaves the partnership between Zillow and Redfin intact in limited form while restoring competitive options for Redfin in the rental market.

A suspected Iran-linked cyberattack disabled a small UK power plant for four days, the British government said, with no risk to the wider energy system. The incident occurred around the same time that a series of digital intrusions disrupted water utilities in at least 12 US states. UK Energy Minister Michael Shanks said his department briefed energy company executives and provided security advice after the event. The government did not disclose the name of the affected plant and has not formally attributed the attack to Iran or any other group. The Telegraph reported that the outage lasted four days and may represent the first disruptive Iranian cyberoperation in the UK. In July, suspected Iranian operatives interfered with more than 30 water facilities in Minnesota and with utilities in at least 11 other states, though no attribution has been made by state or federal authorities. Private-sector analysts told The Register that Iran is almost certainly responsible for the US water utility intrusions, which they said were a response to the ongoing Middle East conflict. FBI and four other federal agencies warned that attackers are now using AI-generated scripts to exploit internet-exposed Siemens S7 Series programmable logic controllers at water, manufacturing, energy and other critical facilities. Cynthia Kaiser, senior vice president of the Halcyon Ransomware Research Center and former FBI cyber analyst, told The Register that Iran-affiliated actors are targeting operational technology because the PLCs underpin essential health, safety and critical infrastructure. The incident highlights ongoing concerns about the vulnerability of critical infrastructure to state-sponsored cyber operations, and authorities have not indicated a definitive response.

GrapheneOS, an open-source Android distribution emphasizing security and privacy, plans to add support for Motorola’s flagship and foldable smartphones beginning next year, starting with traditional flagship devices and later extending to the Razr Fold and Razr Ultra. The project announced the roadmap in a Mastodon post, noting that current Motorola devices lack mature hardware memory tagging and secure element integration required for its standards. GrapheneOS expects the upcoming Snapdragon 8 Elite chip to satisfy its requirements, targeting 2027‑generation Motorola phones for initial rollout, while Motorola is handling much of the porting work, contrasting with its previous focus on Google Pixel devices that have become more difficult to support due to changes in the Android Open Source Project. Higher-end models are expected to receive longer software support, but cheaper Motorola phones will need improved security features from Qualcomm and extended software commitments from Motorola; the current Moto G Stylus offers only two OS upgrades and three years of security updates. The expansion marks GrapheneOS’s first official support for a non-Pixel device and could broaden privacy-focused options in the foldable market.

Kyoto University researchers have built a silicon carbide (SiC) transistor that operates at 600°C using standard ion implantation and a bottom‑gate design, reducing the threshold voltage variation to under 0.1 V at 400°C. Conventional SiC transistors lose performance above roughly 250°C because dopant scattering and substrate leakage degrade threshold stability. The new device pairs a bottom‑gate structure with a double‑well isolation scheme, keeping the implanted junction stable where silicon devices cease to function. The team, led by Mitsuaki Kaneko, Shunya Shibata and Tsunenobu Kimoto, reported the threshold voltage gap of under 0.1 V at 400°C, down from more than 2 V in earlier layouts, and noted that leakage is near the material’s theoretical limit. NASA Glenn Research Center has previously demonstrated SiC JFET circuits operating above 500°C for more than a year and on a simulated Venus surface at 460°C for 60 days without shielding. The Kyoto approach relies on a fabrication step already widely used in commercial fabs, supporting potential mass production. Although SiC is expanding in power devices, high‑temperature logic remains a niche area. The transistor is normally‑on, preventing direct use in complementary logic, but the group plans to develop normally‑off devices to enable low‑power complementary circuits. Long‑term reliability and packaging for extreme environments such as gas turbines or Venus missions remain challenges.

AI is hitting entry-level jobs hardest, Stanford study finds. The researchers used education levels from O*NET’s occupational database as a proxy for how much a job relies on codified knowledge. They found that occupations requiring high codified knowledge have slower entry-level employment growth, while those that depend on tacit knowledge show faster growth for mid-career and senior workers. College-educated workers appear to experience less disparity between AI-exposed and AI-unexposed occupations. In contrast, occupations with few college graduates show a clear divide: less-exposed jobs are growing while the most AI-exposed occupations are declining. Lead researcher Erik Brynjolfsson warned that the trends suggest a persistent narrowing of entry points for new workers. “The entry-level effects we’re measuring are real, persistent and widening,” he said. If the pattern continues, the labor market may keep overall employment steady while reducing opportunities for those just entering the workforce.

Developer Matt Callaghan reported that visiting the AliExpress homepage in Firefox or Chrome caused audio from his Bluetooth headphones to stop, even though no media was playing. He said the issue persisted until the AliExpress tab was closed, and muting the tab or the browser did not restore playback. Callaghan identified two obfuscated WebAudio scripts in Alibaba’s anti‑abuse code that created a sawtooth oscillator, an analyzer, and a frequency‑reading script, setting the audio gain to zero so the user could not hear anything while the browser processed the waveform. The scripts also harvested data such as screen dimensions, device memory, browser plugins, WebGL rendering, and mouse events to build a comprehensive fingerprint. Mozilla stated that its anti‑fingerprinting measures introduced in Firefox version 118 neutralize the technique by grouping users into hardware‑based categories, rendering the tracking ineffective for most users. Brave, which has blocked the same scripts by default for six years, injects random data into the browser output and resets fingerprints across sessions. Safari uses audio‑error injection to prevent WebAudio‑based tracking, while Chrome relies on broader defenses that privacy consultant Alexander Hanff says include at least thirty active fingerprinting methods. The finding underscores ongoing privacy concerns related to browser‑level tracking and the varying effectiveness of anti‑fingerprinting technologies.

Researcher Dominik Reichel disclosed a previously undocumented Windows backdoor, dubbed Sleepwalker, which remains dormant in memory until a specially crafted packet triggers execution. The malware uses a 23‑instruction command language that is transmitted in encrypted form via a magic packet pattern; decrypted commands consist of raw byte sequences rather than text or documents. Sleepwalker loads by side‑loading a forged DLL that mimics Microsoft’s dpapi.dll, exporting the same seven functions but forwarding calls to a non‑existent file, and it is injected into the ESET Management Agent process after confirming the host executable name. The backdoor does not initiate outbound connections or open listening ports, so conventional network monitoring tools may not detect its presence. Commands can schedule tasks, move data through TCP, UDP, named pipes, or VMware VMCI channels, and can execute code directly in memory. Some instructions embed additional programs, such as a scheduler that waits for a file to be assembled before running it. Reichel noted that the approach reflects a targeted, well‑resourced operation rather than opportunistic activity. He created a toolkit to decode the bytecode, analyze encrypted artifacts and reproduce the receiving pipeline without executing malicious commands, and also provided a mitigation guide with a remediation script. No attribution to a specific group or campaign has been established, and the extent of deployment, variant existence, or broader impact remain unknown.

Microsoft Paint and Photos embed an invisible GUID watermark into locally generated AI images, according to reverse engineering analysis.

The apps include local Stable Diffusion models and send prompts to a remote moderation service that returns a unique identifier, which is then embedded in the image pixels.

Reverse engineering showed that Paint and Photos use a set of ONNX models shipped with Windows; after local inference, the apps call Watermarker.dll, which receives a 16‑byte GUID from the moderation endpoint and modifies selected image blocks using a content‑adaptive algorithm to embed the identifier.

The GUID is also included in the C2PA manifest (caBX chunk for PNG, APP11 for JPEG), where it is linked to the watermarking action.

The visible Copilot logo watermark operates separately and does not affect the invisible embedding.

Failure of the watermark routine aborts image generation in Paint, while Photos continues to return the image despite errors.

Microsoft discloses that the images contain C2PA content credentials and that prompt moderation occurs on a remote server, but it has not detailed the purpose or privacy implications of the pixel‑level GUID.

The finding highlights potential compliance considerations with upcoming AI transparency regulations and raises questions about how users can detect the watermark without specialized tools.

Apple plans to unveil a new Mac mini in the coming days, potentially before the iPhone 18 Pro event on September 9.

The current Mac mini is offered with an M4 or M4 Pro chip, up to 48 GB of RAM and 8 TB of storage. In May Apple removed the 256 GB configuration, leaving the 512 GB model as the lowest‑priced option at $799. In late June Apple reinstated the 256 GB model at $799 after raising prices across its product line.

Mark Gurman of Bloomberg said the new model may be Apple’s final product before Tim Cook steps down as CEO on September 1, indicating an announcement before the end of August. Gurman noted that testing units have used M5 and M6 chips, but the final processor has not been determined. The Mac mini’s demand for on‑device AI and a memory chip shortage have extended delivery estimates to four to ten weeks on Apple’s U.S. store. In February Apple announced that Foxconn will assemble Mac mini units at a Texas facility that opened this month, a point highlighted during the plant’s grand opening with Cook and officials.

Apple has not confirmed the chip generation or the exact announcement date.

Apple is rumored to launch a new home hub in September that will support multiple user profiles and ambient sensing for identity verification. The device is expected to use cameras and presence sensors to detect who is near it and automatically switch profiles. Two models are rumored: a tabletop version with a 7‑inch square display and a wall‑mounted version that includes a speaker base. The hub will run a tvOS‑like operating system, allowing profile selection through the Control Center or Settings app. Code strings found in the macOS Tahoe 26.7 update reference personal content selection and ambient sensing verification. Bloomberg reports the launch could occur between October and early next year, and Apple retail stores are preparing for the new product.

Y Combinator advises universities to emphasize technical building skills to prepare students to start startups. The organization notes that founders need to be proficient in building products, a skill that comes from studying computer science, engineering, or related sciences rather than management or finance. The recommended approach does not require a new entrepreneurship curriculum. Instead, universities should continue to teach existing technical subjects. Founders succeed based on product quality, not on their college major; they can pursue any field as long as they develop the ability to create. Y Combinator partners say two changes would improve founder preparation: making students feel that starting a startup is possible, and encouraging independent project work. Interest in startups varies by institution; alumni of Harvard apply to Y Combinator at roughly twice the rate of alumni from Yale and Princeton, suggesting that campus culture influences participation. Exposure to real founders can help students view startup creation as achievable. Founders who have been active for a few years and whose companies have modest valuations are more familiar to students than highly famous billionaires. Working on independent projects offers several benefits. It deepens understanding of a subject, helps cofounders assess compatibility, makes the startup process feel natural, and sometimes generates ideas that appear unlikely initially but may later prove valuable. Some universities are concerned that giving students free time may reduce overall productivity and that oversight is needed to prevent idle activity. However, the most energetic students are likely to use additional time to create meaningful work, while less engaged students already have limited potential for improvement. Harvard’s reading period, the interval between the end of classes and final exams, provided the conditions that enabled Microsoft and Meta to begin. The lack of immediate deadlines allowed students to focus on projects without competing demands. Universities may resist reducing coursework because they view active measures as necessary. Yet allowing students to pursue self‑directed projects aligns with the goal of fostering a startup culture. Official endorsement of projects can be problematic, as seen in cases where Bill Gates and Mark Zuckerberg faced disciplinary action for work that conflicted with university rules. Teaching students how to start a startup in a traditional classroom setting is impractical. The process requires full‑time commitment that conflicts with a full academic schedule. Y Combinator’s model, which involves actually starting companies, cannot be easily adapted to a university curriculum. Business plan competitions train founders to prioritize fundraising narratives over product development. Users are more important than investors; prototypes, not pitches, help gain user traction. Funding is a necessary step but not the core of startup creation. Focus should be on developing products that appeal to users. The recommended preparation strategy relies on existing technical instruction, student‑led project work, and a campus culture that normalizes startup creation. Reallocating resources toward computer science, engineering, and related departments, and providing students with discretionary time, can support these goals without additional spending. If universities foster a startup environment where multiple students launch successful ventures each year, the impact will become evident to observers.

Lenovo acknowledged that a BIOS update for the Legion Go handheld gaming PC caused blank screens on some devices.

The company said the update, BIOS version V42, was not delivered through Windows Update or the Legion Space application and has been removed from its support website while validation continues.

Lenovo instructed users experiencing the issue to press and hold the power button for approximately 10 seconds, wait about one minute, and then power the device on again; if the screen remains blank, customers are advised to contact Lenovo Support.

A forum user identified as Daniel_Legion wrote that repairs might be provided free of charge for devices under warranty and, where required by local law, for out‑of‑warranty units, though Lenovo has not confirmed this stance.

The problem appears limited to the original Legion Go 8APU1 model that installed BIOS V42 (N3CN42WW) directly from Lenovo’s website prior to its removal; other Legion Go models and devices that did not receive the update were not affected.

A European team reproduced the blank screen on three of three tested devices, while other teams have been unable to reproduce the condition, indicating the issue may be related to specific motherboard components or particular circumstances.

Lenovo has not stated that it will cover repair costs beyond the warranty period and continues to evaluate future BIOS updates for the Legion Go.

Framework, a modular computer company, previously offered free repairs for devices rendered unusable by a BIOS update, a practice Lenovo has not yet announced for its Legion Go devices.

Lenovo said it is monitoring the situation and will provide further updates as its investigation proceeds.

Later this year, Apple will issue new Sign in with Apple email addresses from private.icloud.com, while existing addresses on privaterelay.appleid.com will continue to work.

The addresses were originally created to protect user privacy by routing mail through a relay domain. Apple announced the domain change after reviewing feedback from developers and users.

Developers who integrate Sign in with Apple must configure their email validation and allow‑list settings to recognize both private.icloud.com and privaterelay.appleid.com domains. Apple stated that existing email forwarding will not be interrupted and that no user action is required.

Apple has not indicated a timeline for deprecating the old domain, and future updates will be announced as they become available.

Vintage Artificial Intelligence Collection Highlights Early Chatbots and Games

The Internet Archive announced a Vintage Artificial Intelligence collection that makes emulated software from the 1970s through the 1990s available for research, education, and enjoyment. The collection features early chatbots such as ELIZA, which simulated a therapist through rule‑based dialogue, and Racter, a commercial chatbot that generated stories and short narratives. It also includes role‑playing and strategy titles like Alter Ego, Little Computer People, Murder on the Zinderneuf, Suspended, Deadline, and The Hobbit, which used scripted or autonomous character behaviors to create the illusion of independent agents. Additional items comprise logic‑rule languages and expert system prototypes that were popular in the late twentieth century. These artifacts predate modern large‑language models and illustrate how simple rule sets were employed to suggest autonomy and conversational ability. The archive invites users to explore the material, providing historical context without implying current technological capability.

Desktop processor shipments declined by more than 20% year over year in the second quarter of 2026, according to Mercury Research. The drop was attributed to rising component costs that increased the price of complete systems, especially for desktop PCs. AMD’s desktop market share rose to 34.9%, while Intel’s share fell to 65.1%, the data showed. AMD’s overall x86 share was about 30.7%, rising to 34.1% when including IoT and SoC products. In notebooks, AMD captured roughly 28.9% of shipments, compared with Intel’s higher overall volume. AMD’s server segment remained strong at 34.5% share, surpassing Intel’s 65.5% in that category. The report noted that stronger demand for Ryzen X3D processors and the longer upgrade path of the AM5 platform helped AMD maintain steadier desktop volumes. KitGuru said that a rebound in desktop shipments later in the year appears unlikely given ongoing supply constraints and component pricing pressures.

mVolt+ version 0.36 released adds separate power‑channel limits for GPU core and memory and voltage controls for the core, XBAR, system and video domains on Nvidia GeForce RTX 50 series graphics cards. The software, a relatively new overclocking utility, previously offered basic frequency and voltage adjustments but did not include these granular power controls; comparable tools such as MSI Afterburner currently do not provide the same level of power management. The update enables users to set limits that exceed the power specifications defined in the card’s VBIOS, a capability that was previously limited to custom BIOS modifications or shunt‑mod hardware solutions. Benchmark results posted on Reddit show an RTX 5090 achieving a 3DMark Steel Nomad score with power consumption near 700 W, core clocks ranging from 3.15 GHz to 3.20 GHz and an XBAR frequency of approximately 2.8 GHz. The developer notes that high voltage adjustments may lead to system instability and can void the manufacturer’s warranty, and warns that the increased power draw may not be suitable for continuous operation. KitGuru reported that while the utility can produce higher benchmark results, the substantial rise in power consumption introduces practical risks for long‑term use. The new controls expand the options available to RTX 50 series overclockers but do not eliminate the inherent hardware limitations.

Cody Wilson, the creator of the first 3D‑printed gun, has released a tool that changes the hash of 3D‑printed gun files to evade New York’s required detection software, a mandate enacted under Governor Kathy Hochul’s 2024 law.

New York and California are advancing legislation that would require new 3D printers to incorporate print‑blocking software capable of identifying gun files by their hash values.

Defense Distributed, which operates the DEFCAD repository containing more than 200,000 gun design files, calls the tool “Hochulization” and says it adds bytes to each file to alter its hash without affecting the printed object’s function; Wilson plans to make the tool available to all DEFCAD users and to release it as open source.

Digital‑rights groups and manufacturers warn that widespread file scanning could enable broader surveillance of 3D‑printing activity and generate false positives for non‑weapon files, while noting that the technical feasibility of mandating such software at scale remains uncertain.

Wilson describes the effort as self‑defense against what he calls invasive digital regulation and says it may compel policymakers to adopt more robust detection methods; he argues that hash‑based identification alone is easily defeated.

Although 3D‑printed firearms represent a small fraction of total U.S. weapons, the number of confiscations has risen, with New York reporting 109 seizures in 2024 compared with one in 2021, and similar increases noted in other cities, while the technology has been used in criminal cases and by extremist groups.

Industry experts and regulators continue to evaluate whether mandatory print‑blocking software can be implemented effectively, and Wilson’s tool may shape the ongoing debate over the balance between security and digital freedom.

Moon Studios CEO Thomas Mahler dismissed rumors of a third Ori game, calling them nonsense. The speculation emerged after a Resetera post claimed Microsoft had approved a sequel with Saber Interactive, but Mahler said he had not heard of any such plans and noted that composer Gareth Coker was also unaware. He addressed the claim on X, stating the rumors were nonsense, and added that Moon Studios would develop the game if Microsoft gave the go‑ahead. The studio is currently focused on No Rest for the Wicked, an action RPG in early access that is expected to reach version 1.0 in October for PC and PS5, with other consoles to follow. During early access, the game has sold over two million copies.

Rebel Wolves announced on September 2 that The Blood of Dawnwalker will launch with a 60FPS performance mode on PS5 and Xbox Series X consoles. The studio originally planned to offer two quality modes, targeting 30FPS with maximum visual settings and 40FPS with reduced settings. Fan feedback requesting a higher frame rate prompted the team to accelerate testing of the 60FPS option. The 60FPS mode will be added via a day‑one patch on the console versions. For PC players, the game’s system requirements include 1080p at 30FPS on low settings, 1440p at 60FPS on medium settings, 2160p at 60FPS on high settings, and 2160p at 60FPS on ultra settings, each specifying CPU, GPU, RAM, storage and OS requirements. The game is scheduled for release on September 2 for PC, PS5 and Xbox Series X/S.

The game titled GameCity lets players explore a digital recreation of San Francisco using OpenStreetMap data. Accessible through a web browser, the platform loads a tiled map of the city and provides controls for movement, camera orientation, and glider functionality. The interface includes a teleport button, speed adjustments, and vehicle options while showing the current tile loading status. The project is presented as an interactive way to experience the city's streets. No release date or commercial availability information was provided in the source.

Linus Torvalds submitted a one‑line fix for a boot‑freezing bug in the Intel Xe graphics driver as part of the Linux 7.3 development effort. Work on kernel 7.3 started after the release of kernel 7.2, with many bug reports being addressed. The bug was caused by the i915 driver’s incorrect rounding of memory allocated for the Compute Command Streamer, which marked memory that was already in use as available, leading to a freeze when the system switched to graphics mode for the login screen. Torvalds said the AI tool repeatedly indicated that the issue was unsolvable, but it continued to add debug code and helped generate 42 patches that added diagnostic information. The actual fix required changing a rounding function from round_up() to round_down(), a single line modification that resolved the memory misallocation. Restarting the GNOME Display Manager (GDM) after the freeze could temporarily restore operation by allocating a different memory block. The case illustrates how AI can assist developers in locating and documenting bugs, though it did not produce the final patch. Related patches address broader GPU memory management concerns, including using spare VRAM as swap space and improving VRAM allocation on low‑end AMD GPUs. As memory costs increase due to AI‑driven demand, developers are exploring methods to optimize GPU memory usage, and the industry may adopt architectures that share memory between CPU and GPU, as demonstrated by Apple Silicon.

OX Alpha, a large language model that appeared on OpenRouter, has been identified as GLM, a model developed by Z.ai. The model climbed the platform’s leaderboard and drew attention for its perceived "big model feel." Prompt injection and gzip‑NCD compression analysis extracted the system prompt used by OX Alpha, which states that it identifies as "ox-alpha," an LLM developed by an undisclosed organization. When the system prompt was fed back into the model, it answered that it is GLM and that it would not misrepresent its identity. A parameter‑free k‑nearest‑neighbour classifier based on Normalized Compression Distance was applied to compare OX Alpha’s responses with a reference corpus of prompts from five known models. The classifier assigned OX Alpha’s outputs to GLM‑5.3 in the majority of cases, indicating strong similarity. The findings suggest that OX Alpha is a variant or alias of GLM, raising questions about model transparency and the influence of system prompts on identity disclosure.

Apple is rumored to be developing an updated all‑glass design for the iPhone 20 Pro models that are expected to launch in 2026, coinciding with the device’s 20th anniversary. A Weibo user identified as Fixed Focus Digital posted an update indicating that Apple is using a glass assembly process similar to that employed for the iPhone Air, with modifications that incorporate more rounded materials. The post also noted enhancements in heat dissipation and device thinness. While the exact thickness and overall form factor have not been specified, indications suggest the new model will incorporate design elements from the iPhone Air and iPhone Ultra while maintaining performance and battery life comparable to existing Pro devices. Pro users have historically prioritized performance and battery endurance over extreme thinness, so a moderately slimmer profile with a distinctive glass appearance could be attractive. Apple has not yet confirmed the design plans, and the final specifications remain pending.

A feasibility study commissioned by Chile’s telecom regulator Subtel and financed with partial support from the China‑initiated MCDF Finance Facility concluded that a 1,600‑kilometer fiber‑optic cable crossing the Drake Passage to Antarctica is technically feasible. Current Antarctic research data are shipped out on hard drives transported by ship and plane, a process that has been described as moving data in suitcase‑sized containers. The study, conducted by Salience Consulting and Pioneer Consulting for the telecom regulator and funded in part by the development bank CAF, estimates a minimum configuration near $370 million and an optimal nine‑landing version near $620 million. It recommends a cable with dedicated fiber pairs rated at 15 to 30 Tbit/s per landing, allowing each research base to select its own transmission equipment. To address ice scour and harsh weather, the design calls for horizontal directional drilling at the Antarctic landings, double‑armored cable, and installation scheduled across three austral summer windows. Six suppliers were consulted, including Alcatel Submarine Networks, NEC, SubCom, Xtera, HMN Technologies, and FibreHome. Four distinct features separate the project from commercial cables: Drake Passage weather conditions, ice scour at landings, non‑standard installation methods, and the integration of SMART sensors to measure temperature, pressure, and seismic acceleration for climate and tsunami monitoring. The study acknowledges geopolitical risks related to financing and procurement restrictions, particularly concerning Chinese‑linked entities, and recommends a neutral‑by‑design approach with dark fiber and user‑controlled transmission gear. Chile will forward the report to its Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Antarctic Policy Council, and any construction would require agreement among the nations operating bases along the route. The study calls for a phased path to resolve financing and political questions before supply contracts are signed.

Apple’s rumored foldable iPhone Ultra is expected to launch later this year, according to a Bloomberg report that cites impressions from Apple employees who have tested the device.

The device, rumored to feature a 5.5‑inch outer display and a 7.8‑inch inner screen, has been discussed in Mark Gurman’s Power On newsletter, which references feedback from several Apple insiders.

Testers say the phone fits comfortably in a pocket, the hinge appears durable, and the larger inner display enables iPad‑style app layouts. They note the device will likely cost more than $2,000, will include a main camera and an ultra‑wide camera but omit a telephoto lens, and will use Touch ID for biometric authentication instead of Face ID. Observers compare the form factor to Samsung’s Galaxy Z Fold 8 while noting potential differences from the forthcoming iPhone 18 Pro. No official launch date or pricing details have been confirmed.

The rumored launch is expected this fall, but availability and final specifications remain undetermined.

Northern Ireland’s American Bar became the first venue in the region to ban AI‑generated material, joining other hospitality sites in a backlash against AI content. The bar’s owners, Tomas Gorman and Peter McCloskey, announced the policy after customers asked the venue to print designs created with ChatGPT. Designer Chris Ferry, who produces greeting cards in Derry, said such requests insult his work and the broader creative industry. He noted that AI can make graphic designers redundant, similar to how AI music may affect musicians. Freelance designer Frances Smyth, a lecturer at Ulster University, argued that AI is not inevitable in displacing artists if users become aware of its use. She said many agencies are losing clients as businesses turn to AI to cut marketing costs, but the technology often fails to match the authenticity of human‑made art. Other venues, including Mandela Hall at Queen’s University Students’ Union, have also declared AI‑free policies, citing threats to artists’ incomes and documented environmental impacts of AI systems. Bar owner Mal Houston of Three Rivers Restaurant reversed his earlier use of AI posters after a “Say no to AI” sticker appeared on his flyers, saying the convenience of AI must be balanced against fairness to trained designers. The backlash reflects broader concerns that AI’s rapid spread may undermine creative professions, though participants stressed that they do not blame end users, only the technology’s ease of access. Both supporters and critics agree the debate will continue as AI tools become more ubiquitous, with individuals and businesses weighing convenience against the value of human creativity.

Training AI to Paint with Code. Researchers have trained a language model to generate images by writing and editing code, offering more direct control than traditional text prompts. Current AI image tools require users to modify prompts and resubmit requests to adjust output, limiting fine-grained manipulation. The new system uses the Qwen 3.5 35B model to produce complete p5.brush JavaScript sketches that are rendered in a sandboxed Puppeteer environment, creating PNG images. A separate judge model compares the output against two randomly selected reference paintings from a hand-rated pool of 581 images, converting the judgment into a reward signal for reinforcement learning. The training loop runs thousands of iterations, updating the model with GRPO based on the reward. Researchers evolved the reward function by adding and removing signals such as compile success, code length, and aesthetic judgments, and refined the system prompt through GEPA optimization, narrowing the allowlist of brush methods and removing extensive API documentation. The reference pool consists of 581 hand-rated images, with 117 classified as love-tier, 266 as okay, and 198 as supplemental, all derived from model outputs. Findings indicate that a concise, opinionated prompt reduces hallucinated API references and improves consistency. The project demonstrates that reinforcement learning can be applied to creative tasks when a carefully designed reward function is established, though it remains slower than prompt-only methods. A full technical report is scheduled for release on June 26.

The Corsair Vanguard Air 99 Wireless, priced at £239, is a low‑profile mechanical keyboard that combines optical switches, a 99% layout, an integrated LCD screen, per‑key RGB lighting, and a 8000 Hz polling rate, targeting gamers and productivity users.

The product was reviewed by KitGuru, which examined its specifications, ecosystem integration with Corsair and Elgato software, and real‑world performance.

The keyboard uses CORSAIR OPX low‑profile optical switches with a 1.5 mm actuation distance and a total travel of 2.5 mm, and it supports 2.4 GHz Slipstream wireless, Bluetooth, and wired USB connections. Battery life is listed as up to 57 hours without RGB illumination at 1000 Hz, though full‑feature usage reduces runtime to roughly 10 hours, with recharge times of about 3.5 hours. The LCD screen and per‑key RGB are described as bright and visible in daylight, while the Web Hub software provides configuration options without requiring the iCUE desktop application. However, reviewers noted that the absence of Hall Effect switches limits rapid‑trigger functionality, and the software‑based Snap Tap feature may trigger anti‑cheat measures in titles such as CS2. The stabilizer mechanism is reported to produce noticeable rattling during typing, and the wireless dongle has been observed to interfere with high‑end gaming mice. Wake‑from‑sleep latency can be several seconds, often missing initial keystrokes. These factors, combined with the premium price, have led to criticism that the keyboard offers more features than are practical for most users.

While the device integrates smoothly with the Corsair and Elgato ecosystems and delivers smooth keypresses out of the box, its battery performance, stabilizer noise, and lack of Hall Effect switches have been cited as drawbacks that reduce its overall value proposition compared with competing keyboards.

The AliExpress 828 sale is ongoing, and Flashforge is offering discounts on several 3D printer models and filament products. Customers can use coupon codes to receive reductions based on total purchase amount: $3 off for purchases of $15, $6 off for $36, $12 off for $79, $20 off for $99 or $119, $32 off for $159, $40 off for $239, $55 off for $369, $75 off for $499, and $120 off for $600. Flashforge HS PLA filament, which is designed for faster print speeds and reduced melt viscosity, is among the discounted items. The Adventurer 5M 3D printer, which has a 220 × 220 × 220 mm build volume and can print at speeds up to 600 mm/s with accelerations up to 20,000 mm/s², is available with the promotion. The AD5X model includes an Intelligent Filament System that automatically loads and switches between up to four filament types, such as PLA, PETG, or TPU. The Adventurer 5M Pro features an enclosed chassis, a dual‑layer filtration system with HEPA and activated carbon filters, and maintains the same performance specifications as other models in the series. The sale is part of AliExpress's annual promotional event, where various brands offer reduced prices on selected products. Additional product categories, such as PC hardware, SSDs, storage devices, gaming monitors, graphics cards, gaming chairs, Wi‑Fi routers, motherboards, and CPUs, are also featured on the same sales page.

TechCrunch Disrupt 2026 will take place in San Francisco at Moscone West from October 13 to October 15. The event draws more than 10,000 founders, investors, and startup participants and focuses on AI and related technologies. Attendees can participate in stages such as the Real World AI Stage, Smart Money Stage, Smart Systems Stage, as well as the Disrupt, AI, and Builders Stages. Featured speakers include Rivian CEO RJ Scaringe, Amazon SVP Panos Panay, Bluesky CEO Toni Schneider and COO Rose Wang. The lowest-price registration window ends at 11:59 p.m. PT on August 25, after which standard pricing will apply. The conference offers networking, exhibitor access, and sessions covering robotics, autonomous systems, fintech, payments, chips, compute, and data centers.