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See 6 Planets Align in the Night Sky This August

On August 10, six planets—Mercury, Venus, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune—will line up in an arc in the night sky. Four of these planets—Mercury, Venus, Jupiter, and Saturn—can be seen with the naked eye, while Uranus and Neptune will be visible through a very strong pair of skywatching binoculars or a backyard telescope. While August 10 marks the beginning of this planetary parade, these six planets will be visible until the final days of August, when Mercury sinks lower on the horizon an

Microsoft makes OpenAI’s new open model available on Windows

is a senior editor and author of Notepad , who has been covering all things Microsoft, PC, and tech for over 20 years. Posts from this author will be added to your daily email digest and your homepage feed. OpenAI released a new free and open GPT model yesterday that can run on a PC, and now Microsoft is making that easy to do for Windows users. The lightweight gpt-oss-20b model is now available on Windows AI Foundry, and will be coming soon to macOS, too. You’ll need a PC or laptop with at l

Microsoft brings OpenAI’s smallest open model to Windows users

Microsoft is making OpenAI’s new free and open GPT model, gpt-oss-20b, available to Windows 11 users via Windows AI Foundry, the tech giant’s platform that lets users tap AI features, APIs, and popular open-source models on their computers. The company said in a blog post that gpt‑oss-20b is “tool-savvy and lightweight,” adding: “Optimized for agentic tasks like code execution and tool use, it runs efficiently on a range of Windows hardware, with support for more devices coming soon. It’s perfe

Topics: 20b ai gpt model oss

Qwant and Ecosia debut Staan, a European search index that aims to take on Big Tech

European search engines Qwant and Ecosia said on Wednesday that they have both started serving search queries through an index they developed together, Staan, which aims to be a cheaper, more privacy-focused alternative to Google and Bing. Last year, French privacy-focused search engine Qwant struck a joint venture with German non-profit search engine Ecosia, to develop a European search index. Called European Search Perspective (EUSP), the JV now aims to serve around 50% of French queries and

OpenAI returns to its open-source roots with new open-weight AI models, and it's a big deal

Beata Zawrzel/NurPhoto via Getty Images We all know AI relies on open-source software, but most of the big AI companies avoid opening their code or their large language model (LLM) weights. Today, things have changed. OpenAI, the artificial intelligence titan behind ChatGPT, announced a landmark return to its open-source origins. The company unveiled two new open-weight language models, gpt-oss-120b and gpt-oss-20b, marking its first public release of freely available AI model weights since GP

Topics: ai gpt models open openai

Trouble with Elections: Everything We Thought We Knew About Democracy Is Wrong

ARCHIVE CHAPTER 1. Introduction Entire chapter 1 audio 1× 0:00 -51:10 Audio playback is not supported on your browser. Please upgrade. PART I: THE CURRENT SITUATION CHAPTER 2. The Hopes and Claims of Democracy by Election Entire chapter 2 audio 1× 0:00 -53:59 Audio playback is not supported on your browser. Please upgrade. CHAPTER 3. Electoral Imperatives Entire chapter 3 audio 1× 0:00 -1:01:08 Audio playback is not supported on your browser. Please upgrade. CHAPTER 4: Election Ref

OpenAI could launch GPT-5 any minute now - what to expect

Elyse Betters Picaro / ZDNET ZDNET's key takeaways OpenAI GPT-5 will be released "soon," which could be this week. It will automatically select the best model for prompts. It should help produce higher-quality and faster answers. Despite OpenAI just launching its highly anticipated open-source models on Tuesday, people are already on the lookout for OpenAI's next big move, with rumblings of an even bigger release on the near horizon: GPT-5. Also: ChatGPT can no longer tell you to break up

The best laptop deals you can get right now

If you want a great laptop, you’re going to have to fork over a ton of money, right? Not necessarily. There are dozens of good laptops on the market at various price points. However, it can feel overwhelming to find the right one for your needs (some are better suited for, say, college students, whereas others are ideal for gamers). That’s why we’ve come up with this list of some of the best laptop deals available right now. In addition to the latest discounts, we’ll share each discounted model

OpenAI Finally Lives Up to Its Name, Drops Two New Open Source AI Models

For the first time in five years, OpenAI has released two new free and open-source AI models that are lightweight and designed to be easily integrated into other software programs. In a blog post on Tuesday, the company characterized gpt-oss-120b and gpt-oss-20b as flexible but powerful AI algorithms that can perform a variety of tasks and be used in numerous settings. The company also included a feedback portal and a more extensive blog that further explains the models and how they work. OpenA

Stay Bite-Free With the Best Bug Sprays for 2025

What we like about it: For those who want to avoid chemicals altogether, a lemon eucalyptus insect repellent is a gentler way to stave off bugs and their bites. I tried a few different lemon eucalyptus bug sprays, and Natrapel came out on top. Lacking the two chemicals proven to repel insects, it's natural to think this bug spray isn't as effective as its DEET- or picaridin-containing counterparts. The CDC and EPA recognize lemon eucalyptus oil as an effective insect repellent. The Natrapel bott

When Can You Get the iPhone 17? A New Leak Suggests a Possible Release Date

Leaks and speculation about the new iPhone have been popping up everywhere lately. But there's still one question that could resolve all the others: When will the iPhone 17 be released? Once the rumored iPhone 17 -- as well as the iPhone 17 Air, Pro and Pro Max -- is revealed, we'll be able to confirm speculation about colors, display, cameras and more. We'll also learn how much the new iPhone will cost, which is also still up in the air, thanks in part to looming tariffs. Based on previous re

Coinbase shares slide Tuesday as crypto play takes double-digit fall from July record

Shares were last down more than 5%. The decline occurred as investors adopted a risk-off stance on Tuesday and the three major averages declined. Coinbase is now off more than 30% from its all-time high of $444.65, reached on July 18. Shares popped in mid-July as legislators voted on a series of crypto-related bills, ending with President Donald Trump signing the GENIUS Act stablecoin legislation — the nation's first-ever crypto law. Shares have been collapsing since then. Shares of the crypto

Coinbase shares slide Tuesday, as crypto play takes double-digit fall from July record

Shares were last down more than 5%. The decline occurred as investors adopted a risk-off stance on Tuesday and the three major averages declined. Coinbase is now off more than 30% from its all-time high of $444.65, reached on July 18. Shares popped in mid-July as legislators voted on a series of crypto-related bills, ending with President Donald Trump signing the GENIUS Act stablecoin legislation — the nation's first-ever crypto law. Shares have been collapsing since then. Shares of the crypto

OpenAI returns to open source roots with new models gpt-oss-120b and gpt-oss-20b

Want smarter insights in your inbox? Sign up for our weekly newsletters to get only what matters to enterprise AI, data, and security leaders. Subscribe Now OpenAI is getting back to its roots as an open source AI company with today’s announcement and release of two new, open source, frontier large language models (LLMs): gpt-oss-120b and gpt-oss-20b. The former is a 120-billion parameter model as the name would suggest, capable of running on a single Nvidia H100 graphics processing unit (GPU)

OpenAI's first new open-weight LLMs in six years are here

For the first time since GPT-2 in 2019, OpenAI is releasing new open-weight large language models. It's a major milestone for a company that has increasingly been accused of forgoing its original stated mission of "ensuring artificial general intelligence benefits all of humanity." Now, following multiple delays for additional safety testing and refinement, gpt-oss-120b and gpt-oss-20b are available to download from Hugging Face. Before going any further, it's worth taking a moment to clarify w

I tested Dell's XPS successor, and it made my $3,000 Windows laptop look bad

Dell Premium 16 ZDNET's key takeaways The Dell Premium 16 starts at $1,800. This is a premium laptop capable of handling heavy workloads, especially graphic design, thanks to its top-notch hardware. However, it does share some of the same issues as its predecessor, like its tendency to run warm and power-hungry battery. View now at Dell I've been dying to get my hands on the new Dell Premium 16, mainly because it is a follow-up to the Dell XPS 16, a laptop that I reviewed back in early 2024 a

OpenAI announces two “gpt-oss” open AI models, and you can download them today

OpenAI is releasing new generative AI models today, and no, GPT-5 is not one of them. Depending on how you feel about generative AI, these new models may be even more interesting, though. The company is rolling out gpt-oss-120b and gpt-oss-20b, its first open-weight models since the release of GPT-2 in 2019. You can download and run these models on your own hardware, with support for simulated reasoning, tool use, and deep customization. When you access the company's proprietary models in the c

OpenAI offers 20 million user chats in ChatGPT lawsuit. NYT wants 120 million.

OpenAI is preparing to raise what could be its final defense to stop The New York Times from digging through a spectacularly broad range of ChatGPT logs to hunt for any copyright-infringing outputs that could become the most damning evidence in the hotly watched case. In a joint letter Thursday, both sides requested to hold a confidential settlement conference on August 7. Ars confirmed with the NYT's legal team that the conference is not about settling the case but instead was scheduled to set

OpenAI Just Released Its First Open-Weight Models Since GPT-2

OpenAI just dropped its first open-weight models in over five years. The two language models, gpt-oss-120b and gpt-oss-20b, can run locally on consumer devices and be fine-tuned for specific purposes. For OpenAI, they represent a shift away from its recent strategy of focusing on proprietary releases, as the company moves towards a wider, and more open, group of AI models that are available for users. "We're excited to make this model, the result of billions of dollars of research, available to

Substack rival Ghost connects to the open social web with its latest public release

After months of beta testing, newsletter platform Ghost has shipped a new version of its software, Ghost 6, that allows its publishers to share their long-form content natively with the broader open social web. That means in addition to publishing their newsletters to the web, RSS, and sending them out via email, Ghost’s users can also natively connect with services like the decentralized X rival Mastodon; Meta’s Threads; Flipboard; WordPress sites that have integrated with ActivityPub, Surf, an

iPhone 17 event scheduled for September 9, according to carrier documents

We’ve previously suggested Tuesday, September 9 as the most likely date for the iPhone 17 event, and a new report says that internal documents held by carriers confirms this. That would mean pre-orders on September 12, shipping on September 19 … Sep 9 had always looked likely Back in July, we looked at what history could tell us about the iPhone 17 release date. Based on the patterns seen between 2021 and 2024, we narrowed it down to the week commencing September 8. We noted that Tuesday was

Trump says he’ll announce semiconductor and chip tariffs

The semiconductor industry’s rollercoaster year continues with another major development. President Donald Trump said on CNBC’s Squawk Box on Tuesday that his administration is planning to announce tariffs on semiconductors and chips as soon as next week. However, the specifics of these tariffs remain unclear. Such tariffs could cause quite a disruption for U.S. hardware and AI companies. When the U.S. CHIPs and Science Act was signed in 2022 — providing $52 billion in subsidies to boost domes

When will Apple announce the iPhone 17 event?

The most likely iPhone 17 event date is now the rumored iPhone 17 event date. No surprises there. But when should we expect Apple to actually confirm the date of its next big product reveal? iPhone 17 event in five weeks Save for a few exceptions, Apple typically announces new flagship iPhone models in the second week of September each year. This year appears to be following the pattern with an event rumored for Tuesday, September 9th. If the usual pattern sticks, we should expect iPhone 17 pr

Apple May Announce Entire iPhone 17 Family on September 9

September is right around the corner, and you know what that means—the iPhone 17 launch event is almost here. German blog iPhone-Ticker (via 9to5Mac) claims Apple will announce the iPhone 17 family—that includes the regular iPhone 17, super-thin iPhone 17 Air, and camera-focused iPhone 17 Pro and 17 Pro Max—on Tuesday, Sept. 9. That’s according to documents from a local wireless carrier that the blog has reportedly seen. Apple tea readers—including yours truly, who needs to plan his life aroun

Only 2 days left to save $675 on your TechCrunch Disrupt 2025 ticket

TechCrunch Disrupt 2025 marks 20 years of driving the startup world forward — and you’ve got just two days left to join the movement and save up to $675 on your ticket. From October 27–29, Moscone West becomes the home base for over 10,000 movers and makers in the tech world. Join us in San Francisco as we celebrate two decades of startup breakthroughs, VC connections, and industry-shifting ideas. The deadline to lock in savings is August 6 at 11:59 p.m. PT. Don’t wait — register now to save b

Crack the code to startup traction with insights from Chef Robotics, NEA, and ICONIQ at TechCrunch Disrupt 2025

Finding product-market fit isn’t a milestone — it’s a messy, make-or-break journey. And at TechCrunch Disrupt 2025, a founder who’s been through the fire and two investors who’ve helped startups hit escape velocity will break down how to do it right. On the Builders Stage, Rajat Bhageria (Founder & CEO, Chef Robotics), Ann Bordetsky (Partner, NEA), and Murali Joshi (Partner, ICONIQ) join forces to unpack the most critical — and elusive — phase in a startup’s life cycle. They’ll dive into smart

After a Deluge of Mental Health Concerns, ChatGPT Will Now Nudge Users to Take ‘Breaks’

It’s become increasingly common for OpenAI’s ChatGPT to be accused of contributing to users’ mental health problems. As the company readies the release of its latest algorithm (GPT-5), it wants everyone to know that it’s instituting new guardrails on the chatbot to prevent users from losing their minds while chatting. On Monday, OpenAI announced in a blog post that it had introduced a new feature in ChatGPT that encourages users to take occasional breaks while conversing with the app. “Starting

Jury rules Meta violated California privacy laws by quietly collecting Flo users’ menstrual health data

A California jury has found Meta in violation of state user privacy laws in a class-action suit brought by users of period tracking app, Flo, who alleged that the tech giant collected private menstrual health data without users’ consent and used it for ad-tracking purposes. The plaintiffs, claiming to represent millions of Flo users, had accused Flo and Meta of collecting private health data, like their period dates and fertility goals, via Flo’s app without permission, therefore violating Cali

ChatGPT can no longer tell you to break up with your boyfriend

Elyse Betters Picaro/ZDNET ZDNET's key takeaways OpenAI adds reminders to take a break. ChatGPT will also have improved functions for mental health support. The company is working with experts, including physicians and researchers. As OpenAI prepares to drop one of the biggest ChatGPT launches of the year, the company is also taking steps to make the chatbot safer and more reliable with its latest update. Also: Could Apple create an AI search engine to rival Gemini and ChatGPT? Here's how