Inception has released Mercury 2.5, an update to its diffusion-based language model that the company says is 40% more intelligent than Mercury 2 while keeping the same low-latency, low-cost performance. The model runs at over 1,100 tokens per second on standard NVIDIA GPUs, supports a 260K-token context window, and launches at an 80% discount, priced at $0.04 per million input tokens and $0.15 per million output tokens.
A developer published a detailed guide explaining how animation works in the Bevy game engine, aimed at users who understand Bevy's ECS basics but struggle with the official Animated Mesh example. The post builds a mental model step by step, starting from the abstract idea of pairing a spawned 3D model with an animation, then maps that concept onto Bevy's actual AnimationPlayer type and related methods.
The NIH and Department of Defense have quietly confirmed a signed agreement, disclosed the Friday before a US holiday, that redirects part of the NIH's National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases budget toward Pentagon research on pandemic flu, CBRN threats and emerging infectious diseases. The deal runs a decade, and while the exact dollar amount is unspecified, reports indicate the Pentagon sought roughly a third of relevant funding but was steered toward about 10 percent instead.
Victoria's government is weighing a proposal that would give eligible employees a legal right to work from home two days per week. The measure would shift remote-work policy away from individual company decisions and into state law.
A new nationwide class-action lawsuit filed against Amazon alleges the company routinely failed to provide basic workplace accommodations for pregnant employees. Advocates say the suit follows nearly 200 calls in 2026 to a pregnancy rights hotline from Amazon workers reporting similar problems obtaining accommodations on the job.
Google is revising how its Search results appear across the European Union, following an €460 million fine from the European Commission for allegedly favoring its own services over competitors. Under the new format, one specialized comparison engine, such as Expedia or Hotels.com, will appear prominently at the top of results, with two others shown with fewer details, while a carousel for hotels, airlines and restaurants will be stripped of features like real-time pricing. Google's own algorithm will still determine the rankings of these vertical search services.
Counterpoint Research's Q2 2026 report found global smartwatch shipments fell 4% year over year, even as Apple, Huawei and Garmin posted gains. Apple grew 14% to capture a 20.1% share, trailing only Huawei's 21.8% share, with the Watch Series 11 and Watch SE 3 driving over 80% of Apple's volume. Huawei's growth was concentrated in China, which made up about 80% of its shipments.
Meta AI has released Muse, a new personal AI agent available as an iPhone app and through the web at muse.ai for Mac users. The app lets users customize their agent's name and avatar, and offers free access with weekly usage limits, while paid subscribers get expanded access. Muse is currently limited to the US, with plans to expand to more countries over time.
Meta unveiled Muse, an AI assistant app built on its Muse Spark models, that can handle tasks such as booking appointments, filling out forms and watching home security feeds. The app, internally codenamed Hatch, offers a free tier alongside $20 and $100 monthly subscription options depending on usage, according to AI chief Alexandr Wang.
An investigation by education writer Benjamin Riley exposed practices at Alpha School, a private AI-driven K-12 chain, where students must pass an eight-week bootcamp before enrollment. The regimen reportedly includes building X (formerly Twitter) accounts with paid premium status and organic followers, plus a stress test where students are hooked to heart rate monitors while watching recorded criticism from their parents, failing if their pulse rises more than 10 percent above baseline.
A Tech Transparency Project investigation found Meta took days to pull hundreds of Facebook and Instagram ads promoting AI apps that generated child sexual abuse material, some using real photos of children including a European royal and a preteen social media influencer. The ads, mostly linked to Chinese-made AI and 'nudify' apps, digitally altered images of children into sexually explicit videos and used explicit captions to lure users.
A contributor for Entrepreneur argues that founders and business owners are increasingly turning to private capital, not just public markets, to grow wealth. The piece explains that more than 99% of U.S. companies are privately held, and that many valuable businesses build significant worth well before any public listing.
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