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A hardware tinkerer combined a cheap unlocked 4G wireless hotspot, a spare Clicks iPhone keyboard, and an Adafruit Sharp memory display to build a standalone texting device. The project relies on the open-source Openstick effort, which lets Linux replace the Android software running on these budget modems, exposing GPIO and other hardware features needed for the build.
Major AI labs have moved their attention from building ever-larger models to running inference—the process of using trained models to generate text, code, and images. This shift is driven by growing real-world use of large language models, the rise of reasoning models that repeatedly reprompt themselves, and autonomous AI agents that run continuously rather than just responding to single queries. Amazon Web Services, for instance, has split inference tasks between its Trainium chips and Cerebras's wafer-scale hardware.
Yamaha has unveiled the B200A, a compact soundbar measuring just 23.5 inches wide and 2.5 inches tall, designed to fit under monitors or mount on walls. Despite having only two drivers and a built-in subwoofer, Yamaha claims it delivers 3D immersive Dolby Atmos sound, complete with a Bass Extender mode and Clear Voice dialogue enhancement. It ships in November with a single HDMI port, a 3.5mm jack, and Bluetooth streaming, priced at $250.
Rune Kvist, a former Anthropic employee, and Rajiv Dattani, ex-COO of AI safety group METR, launched a startup called Artificial Intelligence Underwriting Company (AIUC) that builds a third-party audit and certification system for AI agents, modeled on the SOC 2 cybersecurity standard. The company, whose clients include Cursor, Lovable, Harvey, and ElevenLabs, just raised a $40 million Series A led by Ribbit Capital with First Harmonic, adding to a prior $15 million seed round, bringing total funding to $55 million.
Bill Gates told Reuters that no government has adequately studied or planned for the risks AI poses to jobs and society, comparing the technology's arrival to an alien invasion in movies where global powers unite to respond. He said he has discussed these concerns with leaders including Donald Trump and is seeking a meeting with Xi Jinping, and suggested some jobs should be designated 'Human Reserved.'
CenterPoint Energy has confirmed in an SEC filing that an unauthorized party accessed customer personal information through one of its external-facing systems. The disclosure follows claims from a hacker who says they exfiltrated 7.49 million records—including names, addresses, account numbers, billing details and partial Social Security numbers—by exploiting an unprotected public API lacking rate limiting or firewall defenses.
Eye drop products sold at a major grocery chain have joined a growing list of recalls tied to inadequate sterility assurance. The manufacturer flagged that the products may not meet sterility standards required for products applied directly to the eye, raising the risk of contamination.
The Atlantic hurricane season has passed its usual mid-September peak without producing a single hurricane, an unusual lull caused by Saharan dust and strong wind shear suppressing storm development. Records dating to 1851 show only one prior year, 1941, without a hurricane by mid-September, and the National Hurricane Center says essentially no chance of one forming before Thursday.
President Trump used social media posts to reject growing concerns about AI expansion and data centers, dismissing them as a 'hoax' and 'scam' while crediting AI investment for America's tech lead. Separately, Microsoft released a draft code of conduct that would impose limits on future AI models, following calls from Anthropic and OpenAI for a slower pace of AI development. Meanwhile, Bank of America CEO Brian Moynihan warned that investment banking fees could drop more than 10% in the third quarter after a strong prior quarter.
A developer built Fugleramme, an open-source project that uses a Raspberry Pi, a microphone, and BirdNET-Go's local AI audio classifier to identify birds singing outside a window in real time. Instead of showing a photo or text, the system matches each detected species to one of over 800 hand-curated public-domain natural-history illustrations and renders them on an Inky Impression e-ink panel or a web kiosk, updating only when the birds heard actually change.
Bitcoin, XRP and crypto-linked stocks including Coinbase traded lower in premarket sessions as investors awaited a Senate vote on the Clarity Act, legislation that would establish regulatory rules for digital assets. Market sentiment across the sector has turned cautious ahead of the outcome.
Analyst Mark Gurman reports Apple's roadmap through early 2027 includes three new iPhones—the iPhone 18, iPhone Air 2, and budget iPhone 18e—all built around an A20 chip, with the Air 2 gaining a second ultra-wide camera. The plans also cover refreshed iPads, including an OLED iPad Air and a budget model for students, new Apple Pencils, updated MacBook Air laptops, and a MacBook Neo successor.