ThreatDown researchers identified a botnet called Carbonato that targets Docker servers with exposed, unauthenticated daemons on port 2375. After gaining access, attackers launch a privileged container, install a persistent SSH backdoor, and embed an AI agent built on the open-source Hermes Agent framework that receives commands via Telegram and harvests stolen credentials. The infrastructure, exposed since May, was also linked to a separate operation distributing trojanized cryptocurrency wallet apps.
An independent developer released Jeff, a set of small fine-tuned models (based on Qwen3.5 and Gemma 4) that return calibrated probabilities across user-defined options in a single forward pass, taking roughly 22-28ms per decision on consumer hardware like an RTX PRO 6000 or Apple M4 Max. The models share Jev's request format but were trained entirely locally using synthetic data generated by an open model, with no cloud GPUs or closed-model training data involved. Three model variants are available on Hugging Face: Jeff-Qwen3.5-0.8B, Jeff-Qwen3.5-2B, and Jeff-Gemma4-E2B.
A voting format has been described in which each matchup between two entries is settled by the votes of everyone who has faced that specific pairing, with the winner determined by share of votes received. In cases of ties or pairings that have not yet been voted on, the entry with the stronger overall record advances instead.
Litigation funder Burford Capital's stock jumped more than 9% in London trading after it revealed a financial entitlement in Taction Technology's $5.7 billion patent verdict against Apple over the Taptic Engine. Burford said it could receive up to $1.4 billion if the verdict is paid in full, split roughly equally between its balance sheet and investment funds. Court records show Taction's litigation funding came through Kenosha Investments LP, an indirect Burford subsidiary, and Gronostaj Investments LLC.
World Labs has signed a definitive agreement to be acquired by AMD, with the deal expected to close by the end of 2026 pending regulatory approval. Founder Fei-Fei Li will join AMD as Executive Vice President and Chief Scientist reporting to CEO Lisa Su, while co-founders Justin Johnson and Ben Mildenhall continue leading the World Labs team within AMD.
Android Authority found new text strings in a Google Messages beta build (version messages.android_20260924_00_RC00) referencing RCS video calling features, including a confirmation screen with a 'Call' button. The feature builds on the RCS Universal Profile 4.0 standard, which introduced native video calling within chat threads, and follows an earlier single string spotted in May pointing to early development.
Nothing has released the Headphone (1) Pro, a flagship follow-up to last year's Headphone (1), featuring a new three-driver system with bass, precision, and treble xMEMS drivers tuned with London's Metropolis Studios. The headphones add a 10-microphone adaptive noise cancellation system rated up to 46 dB, Hi-Res wireless and wired audio support up to 24-bit/192kHz, five Dynamic Spatial Audio modes, and an aluminum-and-titanium build with Nothing's signature transparent design.
Matt Groening said Futurama still has 'lots more stories to tell,' even as the animated series approaches the close of its 14th season. Three additional specials are already planned, but that season's conclusion could mark the show's series finale.
California vineyard owners report they cannot find buyers for large portions of this year's wine grape harvest, as US and global wine consumption has fallen more than 20% over five years. Growers say roughly a quarter of the state's vineyards are being taken out of production, with some leaving grapes to rot or replacing vines with crops like almonds and pistachios. Lodi-area grower Bill Berryhill says he cannot sell grapes from 200 of his 500 acres and plans to remove 50 acres after harvest.
NorthPoint Development is offering $10,000 checks to households near its proposed 1,300-acre data center site in Hazle Township, Pennsylvania, on top of up to $120 million pledged over 15 years for local services. The Wall Street Journal reports most residents interviewed remain opposed, citing worries about property values, noise, and distrust of both the developer and local officials. Hazle Township's government previously rejected the project on zoning grounds and has imposed a temporary moratorium on data center construction.
A study published in JAMA and led by patent-law researcher S. Sean Tu found that the average number of patents on small-molecule drugs rose from 2.1 per drug approved in 1990 to 6.9 for drugs approved in 2019. Most of the increase came from 'nonprimary' patents covering things like inactive ingredients, usage instructions, or delivery devices rather than the drug's core active ingredient. The researchers calculated that this expanded patent protection now extends effective monopoly periods from an average of two years to about 6.1 years.
A New York Times op-ed calls for a congressional fact-finding investigation into OpenAI and Anthropic, questioning what AI research projects the labs are running, how they conduct them, and for what purposes. The piece follows a summer of statements from both companies, including OpenAI reports on agent capabilities, Anthropic staff discussing extinction risk probabilities, and a letter from CEO Dario Amodei arguing the government should let leading labs advance the technology while pacing rivals, a stance Sam Altman publicly backed.
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