World desk
Tech & AI
Technology, science and the companies building both.
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PC shipments fall 20.1 percent in “sharpest decline” since Q1 2023
"The current decline may be just the beginning of a new downward cycle."
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AI disqualification yields new Nikon Small World in Motion winner
New winner is Nguyen Nam Nhat of Vietnam for video of a roundworm and single-celled Dileptus.
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Your artwork could be featured in the next Debian release
Debian Linux has put a call out for artist submissions for its next release: Forky.
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Brendan Carr says he’ll let Pete Hegseth decide whether TV networks can air the public execution
FCC chairman Brendan Carr said he will defer to Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth on whether TV networks can air the planned execution of convicted Fort Hood shooter Nidal Hasan by firing squad. The Pentagon has said the execution will be…
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Starlink spectrum deal boosts Musk plan to beat AT&T, T-Mobile, and Verizon
Nationwide 800 MHz spectrum to help Starlink provide mobile coverage indoors.
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Nikon microscopic video competition winner disqualified for using generative AI
Nikon says the video that originally won first place in its Small World in Motion contest "did not comply with the competition rules regarding generative AI." BBC reports that the original first place video from Dr. Ning Xu claimed to…
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Google teases Fitbit Edge launch next week
It looks like Google is getting ready to take the wraps off its rumored Fitbit Edge next Monday. In a post on X, Google posted a picture of what appears to be the side of the fitness tracker, with the caption: "Get an Edge on your health…
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The Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra is down to $950 after Prime Day
Amazon has the Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra in black with 256GB of storage discounted to $949.99, a healthy discount from its usual price of $1,399.99. This phone’s standout feature is the adjustable privacy display, which can hide your…
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Amazon’s new Kindles appear to have a light leak problem
Some users are reporting that the new Kindles have a light leak issue that is especially apparent when using dark mode. The latest base-model Kindles have a flush bezel that gives them a sleek appearance and looks great… as long as you…
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Microsoft tries to spark new life into Windows
When Microsoft released Windows 11 five years ago, it felt like an operating system that was still being renovated, a work in progress. You'd think by now that those renovations would be complete, with Microsoft turning its attention to…
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Frances Haugen hopes The Social Reckoning will inspire more whistleblowers
Facebook whistleblower Frances Haugen was mostly unfazed watching Oscar-winning actress Mikey Madison play a character named after her in The Social Reckoning, except for one thing: the wrist warmers. In Aaron Sorkin's new thriller, the…
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Apple and LG leak shows new ‘tap to control’ HomeKit features
A post on X from "pdfu," who has previously posted leaks and renders of suspected Apple features and LG smart home gear, shows new details of rumored Apple Home accessories from LG. According to the new leak, they could include an…
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YouTube, Meta, and Twitch won’t say if they’ll allow the US government to livestream an execution
YouTube, Twitch, Meta, and X aren't saying whether they'll allow the US government to livestream an execution on their platforms. The four companies didn't respond to The Verge's requests for comment after an unnamed Pentagon official…
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The AI is in the computer
It's gadget season, and a lot of companies are launching a lot of new products. But whether it's Microsoft dropping a high-end laptop, Amazon shipping a fancy Android tablet, or Apple diving headlong into the smart home, the actual…
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Microsoft barred from sponsoring foreign workers for US residency
The US says Microsoft abused immigration rules; the company disputes the claim.
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The Download: AI’s refusal problem and weight-loss drug side effects
This is today’s edition of The Download, our weekday newsletter that provides a daily dose of what’s going on in the world of technology. We’re putting too much faith in AI’s ability to say no Today’s AI models are trained to refuse a…
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Rocket Report: A rare Falcon 9 scrub; is it just about Vulcan's time to shine?
"I can say we’re weeks away from launching on Vulcan."
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Volkswagen's replacement for the ID.4 crossover is here
The new EV’s digital cockpit can mimic instrument displays from VWs of old.
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We’re putting too much faith in AI’s ability to say no
Ever since people first seriously contemplated giving machines an intelligence modeled on our own, there has never been any question that they would, like us, be able to say no. The sci-fi canon is full of stories of robotic disobedience…
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Job titles of the future: Delivery drone air traffic controller
The moment Trevor Wischnewsky heard that drones were delivering pizza and sushi around his Texas neighborhood, his mind was made up. “It was super fascinating,” he says. “I just immediately wanted to be a part of it.” Wischnewsky is now…
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We’re still figuring out the side effects of GLP-1 weight-loss drugs
This week my colleague Antonio Regalado had an interesting update on GLP-1 weight-loss drugs. According to research presented at an aging meeting in Boston, these drugs seem to affect at least some measures of biological age. Overweight…
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Roundtables: A Conversation With the Creator of AI-Designed Viruses
Friday, October 16, 2026 Can AI design new life forms? In 2025, Stanford University PhD student Samuel King came up with a preliminary answer when he used a generative AI model to propose genetic blueprints for microscopic viruses. It…
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SpaceX calls for better coordination in orbit after near-misses with Starlink
"These led to conjunctions of tens of meters to hundreds of meters. Way too close to comfort."
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Judge weighs if Trump can charge $100K for early access to Truth Social posts
Judge questioned if Trump delaying access to Truth Social posts by a second harms the press.
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Trump Mobile hack and apparent lack of FCC authorization raise security alarms
After hack and data breach, senator asks why Trump Mobile lacks some FCC filings.
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Feds get ready to rewrite car headlight rules
Reducing glare and allowing modern light technologies will be two goals.
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RIP Margaret Hamilton, whose code saved the Apollo 11 Moon landing
Hamilton also coined the term "software engineering" and founded two successful software companies.
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Let's Encrypt cuts certificate lifetimes to 64 days starting February 2027
Free SSL/TLS certificate lifetimes reduce to 64 days in February.
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Driver wins $76 after ALPR led to bogus traffic stop, drug searches
Mass surveillance gets stupider.
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RFK Jr. unveils sweeping federal initiative to find evidence of vaccine injuries
"[T]he Trump-RFK Jr. anti-vax agenda keeps getting more corrupt and dangerous."
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An experimental tour-de-force: Entanglement between glass bead and light
Getting a glass bead to act like a quantum object by entangling it with light.
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Amazon's new Alexa Tablets drop the Fire branding but are more Android than ever
Amazon killed its app store, so Google Play it is.
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Amazon builds 1,000th satellite, will launch space internet service by end of year
"If this was easy, everybody else would be doing it."
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Internal files add to evidence of an ExxonMobil climate deception campaign
Court filings reveal new details about Exxon's decades of internal climate deliberations.
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The Download: AI roadblocks for humanoids and portable rubber dams
This is today’s edition of The Download, our weekday newsletter that provides a daily dose of what’s going on in the world of technology. AI breakthroughs in robotics won’t change your life any time soon The hype around humanoid robots is…
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Nvidia's big bet on physical AI aims for safer robotaxis, humanoid robots
Full-stack safety solution for physical AI is being used by robotics companies.
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Why we’re watching these climate tech companies
This week, we released our 2026 version of our Climate Tech Companies to Watch list. It’s an annual project that the MIT Technology Review team puts together. Our goal is to highlight some of the promising, interesting advances and firms…
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AI breakthroughs in robotics won’t change your life any time soon
The story is a collaboration between MIT Technology Review and Aventine, a non-profit research foundation that creates and supports content about how technology and science are changing the way we live. A robot shaped like a human—white…
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Building a safer path to autonomous industrial AI
Industrial AI is entering a new phase. After decades of predictive analytics and other specialized applications, advances in foundation models, physical AI, and agentic AI are making it possible to automate more complex tasks across…
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The Download: weight-loss drugs slowing aging and carbon dioxide batteries
This is today’s edition of The Download, our weekday newsletter that provides a daily dose of what’s going on in the world of technology. Weight-loss drugs show signs of slowing biological aging, say drugmakers Popular weight-loss drugs…