OpenClaw released version 2026.8.1, branded as 2.0, marking its biggest update since launching last November. The overhaul began as a plan to simplify installation and rebuild the browser client but expanded into a full codebase rework, involving 933 contributors and over 16,000 merged pull requests.
Nvidia's newly released 615.56 driver blocks the core power limit adjustments that the third-party utility mVolt+ used to push RTX 50-series GPUs well past their rated power limits. Users report the screen goes black, mimicking a driver crash, whenever the tool tries to apply extra current, regardless of the settings used. The app had previously let enthusiasts drive cards like the RTX 5090 to 650-700W and an Asus ROG Astra RTX 5080 to 680W without VBIOS swaps or hardware mods.
The European Commission classified OpenAI's ChatGPT, Reddit, and Roblox as very large online platforms under the Digital Services Act after each surpassed 45 million monthly EU users. This status brings tougher requirements including removing illegal content and safeguarding minors' privacy and security, with a deadline of end of December to comply.
The founder of Monica, an open source personal CRM with over 25,000 GitHub stars, has announced that the project is being rebuilt from scratch and launched a new blog series called Building Monica to document the process. The series will cover the problems the team is trying to solve, the design decisions being made, and the missteps along the way. The founder explains that after nearly a decade of accumulated decisions, the current codebase no longer reflects how he would build the product today.
OpenAI CEO Sam Altman acknowledged in a Time interview that public sentiment has turned sharply against AI and the data centers powering it. Communities nationwide are protesting roughly $130 billion in data center construction, citing strained water supplies, rising living costs and pollution, forming a bipartisan opposition movement. Altman also revealed he's faced personal threats, including a molotov cocktail thrown at his home and a shooting, linked to anti-AI safety activism.
OpenAI announced its advertising unit, launched within ChatGPT in February, now generates $1 billion in annualized revenue run rate. The ads are now live in over 40 countries, with self-service access expanding Monday to India, Europe, the Middle East and North Africa, primarily reaching free-tier and Go subscription users.
OpenAI confirmed a partial outage of ChatGPT Work beginning around 11:04 AM ET on Monday, August 31, causing elevated errors and latency for users on multiple subscription tiers. Plus subscribers appear hit hardest, with Work mode unavailable for some, leaving them unable to start or continue tasks. As of 12:02 PM ET, OpenAI said the issue was still unresolved and a fix was in progress.
A ZDNET contributor shares how they've been using ChatGPT Work, OpenAI's agentic AI tool, to handle five recurring small-business tasks, including sorting through PR email correspondence from OpenAI and other outlets. The writer describes connecting Gmail to the tool only temporarily for large tasks and disconnecting afterward as a security precaution, while noting prompts often need refinement to get useful results.
The Debian Project has decided against banning AI-generated contributions to its Linux distribution, instead requiring that all submissions meet existing standards for quality, correctness, maintainability, and legal compliance regardless of the tools used. Contributors must review, test, and modify AI-assisted output before submission, though disclosing AI involvement remains optional rather than mandatory.
An international research team published a paper in AI & Society introducing the concept of 'robotoid humanness,' arguing that frequent interaction with AI chatbots in customer service settings could push people toward more machine-like patterns of speech and behavior. The researchers describe this as a two-way process where bots increasingly mimic human traits while humans adapt to communicate in ways that are more legible to machines. The framework outlines three stages of this shift but has not yet been tested empirically.
Microsoft is rolling out a new button in Windows 11's full-screen backup prompt that lets users permanently dismiss repeated nudges to enable OneDrive backup through Windows Backup. Windows Latest spotted the option on two PCs running stable Windows 11 25H2 builds, even on machines without the OneDrive sync client installed. Microsoft says clicking it won't delete existing OneDrive files or change sync settings—it simply stops the recurring prompt.
Floe is a new open-source sample-based instrument plugin available in CLAP, VST3, and AU formats, running on Windows, macOS, and Linux. It works with major DAWs including Logic Pro, Cubase, Studio One, FL Studio, Ableton Live, and Reaper, and relies on Floe's own open sample library format. The project comes from Sam Windell, also behind FrozenPlain, though Floe is built as an independent, broader platform.