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Garry Tan, CEO of Y Combinator, said at the accelerator's Demo Day that regulators should take no action against AI model distillation, even as OpenAI and Anthropic accuse Chinese firms like DeepSeek, Moonshot AI, and MiniMax of copying their models' outputs to train cheaper alternatives. His comments come days after the NSA, CISA, and FBI issued a joint advisory warning about the practice.
Apple confirmed in a footnote to its iPhone 18 Pro press release that it is once again extending free access to its satellite features, this time covering iPhone 14, 15, and 16 users for an additional year. The offer applies to devices activated in supported countries before midnight PT on September 9, and includes Emergency SOS, Find My, Roadside Assistance, and Messages via satellite.
Ángela Karime Venegas Hernández, a student at CETIS 78 in Altamira, Tamaulipas, built a device using a 12-volt battery, a frequency generator and a speaker producing 30 pulses per second to extinguish flames without water or chemicals. The sound waves displace oxygen from the fire, snuffing it out within five to eight seconds. After more than 100 tests on materials including wood, flammable liquids, cooking grease and electronics, she named the invention 'Vortex Tech' and will represent Mexico at an international science fair.
OpenAI has privately pressed members of Congress for guidance on whether AI labs could legally coordinate to slow the pace of frontier AI development without violating antitrust law. The inquiry follows a blog post from chief scientist Jakub Pachocki calling for industry-wide coordination on safety, including voluntary slowdowns until shared safety standards emerge. Legal experts warn that such coordination could be seen as restricting output under the Sherman Antitrust Act, creating uncertainty that discourages collaboration.
CNET published the hints and full solution for the Sept. 11 NYT Connections: Sports Edition puzzle, number 718. The groups covered NFL injury designations, ways to reach first base, Las Vegas Aces players, and types of dunks.
Apple has begun accepting app submissions built with the iOS 27, iPadOS 27, macOS 27, tvOS 27, visionOS 27, and watchOS 27 SDKs ahead of their September 14 launch. Developers can now download the Xcode 27 Release Candidate to prepare their apps for approval before the public rollout.
The NTSB detailed early findings from the cockpit voice and flight data recorders recovered after 21 Air Flight 7598, a Boeing 767-33A cargo plane, overran the runway at Miami International Airport on Sept. 6. The recorders captured over two hours of audio and 54 hours of flight data, with a timeline showing the crew configuring flaps and gear for landing while one pilot repeatedly warned about excessive approach speed.
A federal judge in California dismissed two proposed class actions accusing LinkedIn of illegally scanning users' browser extensions, ruling that the plaintiffs failed to show they actually had extensions installed that leaked private data to the company. Judge Vince Chhabria allowed the plaintiffs to amend their complaints but expressed skepticism they could ever establish a valid privacy claim, given that browser extensions are voluntarily installed and inherently share data with websites. One plaintiff's attorney says he may refile in state court or appeal to the Ninth Circuit.
Microsoft says threat groups Storm-3032 and Storm-3121 have been calling or texting employees on personal devices since May, posing as internal IT helpdesks to steal credentials and bypass corporate authentication protections. The attackers then abuse the Microsoft Graph API to exfiltrate corporate data at scale, and researchers believe they hand off this access to extortion gangs such as ShinyHunters. No specific breaches have yet been tied directly to these campaigns.
WIRED's Uncanny Valley podcast examines a viral resignation from an Anthropic researcher who argued AI could plausibly cause human extinction within ten years. The episode also covers Apple's newly unveiled $2,000 foldable iPhone Duo, privacy concerns around 'always listening' Apple Watch features, and a WIRED investigation into flawed Census Bureau data cited by the Trump administration.
Apple unveiled the AirPods 5 lineup alongside its new iPhones, splitting it into a $129 standard model and a $149 version with a wireless charging case, swipe-based volume gestures, and Live Translation. Both versions now include active noise cancellation and IP57 water resistance, features previously reserved for pricier AirPods.
A longtime small-business marketing consultant argues that many companies build attractive websites that fail to turn visitors into customers. He recommends prioritizing clear usability, straightforward instructions and essential information over stylish but unclear design, and suggests using digital retargeting ads and direct-mail postcards to re-engage visitors who leave without converting.