Bolt CEO Ryan Breslow is raising as much as $27 million from existing investors in a convertible-note bridge round that carries a pay-to-play clause penalizing backers who don't participate. The financing is meant to bridge the checkout company toward a future Series E2 round, after its valuation collapsed from $11 billion in 2022 to roughly $300 million. Breslow says Bolt is nearing profitability but declined to disclose how much cash remains.
President Trump posted on Truth Social criticizing the growing local opposition to AI data center construction across the U.S., arguing that communities rejecting these projects are choosing poverty and stagnation over prosperity. He also claimed that China benefits from the anti-data-center sentiment spreading through American towns and cities.
On his final day as Apple's chief executive, Tim Cook sent employees a memo praising incoming CEO John Ternus, the company's senior vice president of hardware engineering, calling him uniquely suited to build products that matter. Cook emphasized he isn't leaving Apple entirely, as he will stay on as executive chairman handling political relationships with figures like President Trump and Chinese officials.
Perplexity has extended its agentic AI feature, previously exclusive to Mac, to Windows 10 and 11 users on paid Pro, Max, or Enterprise plans. The tool can access local files, control native Windows applications, and connect to cloud services like OneDrive, Google Drive, Box, and Dropbox to complete multi-step tasks with minimal user input. A ZDNET reviewer tested it on five complex tasks to gauge its real-world usefulness.
Phil Schiller is stepping back from overseeing the App Store and Apple's product events, roles he held even after moving to an Apple Fellow title in 2020. The App Store will now fall under Eddy Cue's services division, with Carson Oliver managing daily operations, while Nola Weinstein takes charge of events reporting to communications VP Kristin Huguet Quayle.
The ZCOM computer museum in Hoyerswerda, Germany, may shut down by year's end after the municipal housing company withdrew its annual €110,000 subsidy. The city council is now deciding whether to continue funding the museum, which has drawn only about 10,000 of its targeted 20,000-25,000 annual visitors since reopening in 2017. Without a new backer, the foundation running ZCOM says it will have to close the institution.
The Zuse-Computer-Museum (ZCOM) in Hoyerswerda, Germany, held its last public opening days before a planned shutdown, with its trustee foundation confirming in July 2026 that the museum will close and its unique computing-history collection dismantled by year's end. Visitor numbers plunged to roughly 3,600 in two months, far below the 30,000 annual target set at its 2017 founding, leaving the institution unable to sustain itself financially.
Bank of England Governor Andrew Bailey told G20 finance ministers that a collapse in AI sector growth could trigger a market correction that ripples across the world economy. He pointed to high stock valuations, rising investor leverage, and growing financial ties between AI firms and major tech companies as factors that could magnify such a shock, while also flagging cyber security risks from coordinated attacks on multiple firms at once.
An attacker manipulated the price of Tectonic's TONIC token by 100x in just 20 minutes, using the inflated collateral to borrow $74 million on the Cronos network. Only about $6 million in Ethereum was actually withdrawn before Cronos halted the chain, with the remainder of the funds left stranded. Cronos validators froze operations, rolled back the chain state to before the exploit, and resumed block production hours later.
A DIY enthusiast connected three existing security camera microphones to BirdNet-Go, an open-source, locally-run AI tool, to automatically identify bird species by song in real time. The system also picks up bats and frogs, runs entirely on local hardware without cloud services, and can send custom alerts—such as via Discord—when specific species are detected.
Clinicians at Kaiser Permanente report that staffing cuts paired with growing use of algorithmic and AI-driven triage systems have made it harder for psychiatric patients to reach the right care quickly. Workers in California and Wisconsin describe rising patient frustration, missed diagnoses, and treatment delays tied to automation replacing human judgment in intake decisions. Unions are now pushing for limits on AI in triage as part of contract negotiations, while California lawmakers consider legislation to regulate the technology's use in medical settings.
A 7-Eleven store on a stroad in Williamsburg, Virginia, sits on land owned not by the chain or an individual but by Agree Realty Corporation, a real estate investment trust with nearly 3,000 retail properties nationwide. Agree Realty is roughly one-eighth owned by Vanguard, whose index funds are held by tens of millions of everyday investors through 401(k)s and similar accounts. That means many ordinary savers, without realizing it, hold a small stake in this unremarkable convenience store.
GoKawiil