Terence Tao: Quantitative AI progress needs accurate and transparent evaluation
To use the Mastodon web application, please enable JavaScript. Alternatively, try one of the native apps for Mastodon for your platform.
Stay updated with the latest in technology, AI, cybersecurity, and more
To use the Mastodon web application, please enable JavaScript. Alternatively, try one of the native apps for Mastodon for your platform.
Douglas Rissing/Getty The Trump administration published its AI Action Plan, a 28-page document outlining proposed policies for everything from data center construction to how government agencies will use AI, Wednesday. As expected, the plan emphasizes deregulation, speed, and global dominance while largely avoiding many of the conflicts plaguing the AI space, including debates over copyright, environmental protections, and safety testing requirements. Also: How the Trump administration change
Chipmaking giants like Intel, Samsung, and TSMC see a future where key parts of silicon transistors are replaced with semiconductors that are only a few atoms thick. Although they’ve reported progress toward that goal, that future is generally thought to be more than a decade away. Now, a startup spun out of MIT thinks it has cracked the code for making commercial-scale 2D semiconductors and expects chipmakers to have integrated them in advanced chips in half that time. CDimension has developed
Mike Lindell, the founder and CEO of MyPillow, could be considered a loser in many ways, but not in a way that will cost him $5 million. The New York Times reports that a federal appeals court ruled on Wednesday that Lindell will not have to pay out the prize money for his “Prove Mike Wrong” challenge, which offered up a $5 million reward to anyone who could sufficiently debunk his baseless claim that the 2020 election was stolen from Donald Trump. Lindell offered up the prize money in 2021 dur
The most in-your-face explanation for what’s going on with Peacemaker in the new DCU can be found outside of San Diego Comic-Con. Simply put—as soon as you walk in past the HBO Max activation marquee for the Peacemaker “Peacefest” in the Gaslamp District, you see a sign that reads, “Relax, it’s a state of emergency; you’re fucked’, dude.” io9 was invited to scope out the space, which allowed for some rocking fun as you walk in through a Quantum Portal into the “altered dimension” of the Peacem
Intel provided more detail about the scope of its planned job cuts and other business changes while sharing its second-quarter earnings results . Reports in April suggested that Intel could eliminate around 20 percent of its staff in a restructuring plan. Today, the chipmaker said it anticipates having a core workforce of 75,000 employees by the end of 2025. That's about a third less than the 108,900 people it employed at the close of the previous fiscal year. These cuts are part of the company
This library is designed to solve one of the most important problems in python programming - dividing all written code into 2 camps: sync and async. We get rid of code duplication by using templates. Table of contents Quick start Install it: pip install transfunctions And use: from asyncio import run from transfunctions import ( transfunction , sync_context , async_context , generator_context , ) @ transfunction def template (): print ( 'so, ' , end = '' ) with sync_context : print ( "it's
Looking for the most recent Connections answers? Click here for today's Connections hints, as well as our daily answers and hints for The New York Times Mini Crossword, Wordle, Connections: Sports Edition and Strands puzzles. Today's NYT Connections puzzle features that very rare thing -- an easy purple category! Or maybe my fascination with the royal family helped me out there. Need help? Read on for clues and today's Connections answers. The Times now has a Connections Bot, like the one for
Looking for the most recent regular Connections answers? Click here for today's Connections hints, as well as our daily answers and hints for The New York Times Mini Crossword, Wordle and Strands puzzles. Today's Connections: Sports Edition tested my breadth of sports knowledge. The blue category pays tribute to one of the greatest players of all time. See if you can figure it out. We've got hints and the answers in case you get stuck. Connections: Sports Edition is out of beta now, making its
The Intel logo is displayed on a sign in front of Intel headquarters on July 16, 2025 in Santa Clara, California. Intel reported second-quarter results on Thursday that beat Wall Street expectations on revenue, as the company's new CEO Lip-Bu Tan announced significant cuts in chip factory construction. The stock ticked higher in extended trading. Here's how the chipmaker did versus LSEG consensus estimates: Earnings per share : Loss of 10 cents per share, adjusted. : Loss of 10 cents per sha
Several Bitcoin whales—investors who hold large amounts of the cryptocurrency — have recently started cashing out after leaving their Bitcoin untouched for more than a decade. Last week, one anonymous whale sold 80,000 Bitcoin for a whopping $9.5 billion. A user on X (formerly Twitter) first flagged the massive transaction, which was later reported by Tom’s Hardware. The seller had originally purchased the Bitcoin in 2011 for just $54,000, netting a staggering return of more than 17 million per
No honest person can resist the attraction of Pokemon Gold. That's why Pokemon TCG Pocket's Wisdom of Sea and Sky expansion set is going all in on generation two when it arrives on July 29. This set will be one of the game's larger offerings, featuring more than 200 cards. I'm sure that has the most ravenous collectors breathing a sigh of relief, since the past two expansions -- Eevee Grove and Extradimensional Crisis -- have both had smaller complimentary card lists to build on Celestial Guard
is a senior editor and founding member of The Verge who covers gadgets, games, and toys. He spent 15 years editing the likes of CNET, Gizmodo, and Engadget. In April, Intel attempted to announce layoffs without announcing layoffs. “We have not set any headcount reduction target,” Intel spokesperson Sophie Metzger told The Verge. But the company has laid off thousands of employees since — and today, in the company’s Q2 2025 earnings, it has revealed that Intel will dramatically shrink as a resul
In this article TSLA BTC.CM= Follow your favorite stocks CREATE FREE ACCOUNT Thiago Prudencio | LightRocket | Getty Images Tesla missed on the top and bottom lines in the second quarter, but another miss was buried in its investor deck The company's digital assets are currently valued at $1.24 billion. That's up substantially from $722 million a year ago. But anyone who's been following the crypto market knows that the figure represents a lost opportunity amounting to billions of dollars in m
Keep checking those gold prices—scientists have more news about the coveted metal. An energy startup claims it has the recipe for modern-day alchemy: turning mercury into gold inside a nuclear fusion reactor. Last week, Marathon Fusion, a San Francisco-based energy startup, submitted a preprint detailing an action plan for synthesizing gold particles via nuclear transmutation—essentially the process of turning one element into another by tweaking its nucleus. The paper, which has yet to undergo
To see all available qualifiers, see our documentation . Saved searches Use saved searches to filter your results more quickly We read every piece of feedback, and take your input very seriously. You signed in with another tab or window. Reload to refresh your session. You signed out in another tab or window. Reload to refresh your session. You switched accounts on another tab or window. Reload to refresh your session. Dismiss alert
The ordeal isn't over yet for Tesla or its investors, according to CEO Elon Musk, as it misses heaps of Wall Street targets in its latest earnings report. "We probably could have a few rough quarters," Musk said in a conference call on Wednesday, as quoted by the Financial Times. If past is prelude, he could be onto something. In the second quarter, between April and June of this year, Tesla raked in just $1.2 billion in net income, when during that same period last year it made $1.4 billion.
Apple has released a revised version of iOS 26 and iPadOS 26 beta 4 for iPhone and iPad. This is the second revision to an iOS 26 developer beta version, following a small revision to iOS 26 beta 1 for some iPhones. iOS 26 developer beta 4 (revised version) Apple describes the upcoming iPhone software update by saying that iOS 26 “delivers a stunning new design, powerful Apple Intelligence capabilities, new ways to stay connected in the Phone and Messages apps, and exciting updates to CarPlay,
Elyse Betters Picaro / ZDNET Over the past few decades, I've watched many people spend huge amounts of money keeping their computers running or up to speed with modern technology. I've seen friends take their computers to support specialists to rid them of malware (spending more money than they'd prefer) and, lately, been privy to countless users faced with buying new machines to replace those running Windows 10. Also: The best Linux laptops Every time I see or hear of such things, the first
“It’s not just the tailpipe y’all,” joked one Electrek commenter, alluding to the black discolorations on alloy wheels visible proof of a less infamous city pollutant: brake dust. For decades, exhaust emissions have been the focus of city-air cleaning initiatives, but a new wave of research indicates that the real story goes far beyond the muffler. Image credit to rawpixel.com | License details A trailblazing study by EIT Urban Mobility, surveying the busy streets of London, Milan, and Barcelo
Amazon’s newest Colorsoft e-reader is downgrading storage so it can upgrade your bank account. A new version of the Colorsoft Kindle—Amazon’s first-ever color e-reader—will come in a 16GB version that cuts the e-reader’s storage in half compared to the first generation but also debuts at a slightly cheaper $250 compared to the first-gen’s $280. There’s not a ton going on here other than the lower storage for a lower price tradeoff, but if you’re not someone who needs the whole 32GB of capacity
"Let us know when you're home." How many times have you heard that from friends or family at the end of the night, but forgotten to follow up when you get through the door? Snapchat has added a feature to its popular Snap Map that will take care of it for you. The messaging app launched a new feature on Thursday called "Home Safe," which will alert friends and/or family that you're home safely even when you forget to do so. It's ideal to let folks know when you're back from a vacation, a night
If a country fails to take decisive action to protect the planet from climate change, it could be breaking international law and be held liable for damages caused to humanity. This is one of the conclusions of an unprecedented advisory opinion issued by the International Court of Justice (ICJ) on the legal obligations of states in the face of this environmental crisis. The 15 judges that make up the ICJ, the highest judicial body of the United Nations, described the need to address the threat o
At the end of April, I travelled to Dubai to observe a violin competition. It was a commission for which I was profoundly unqualified, except in one regard: I wanted to visit Dubai. The editor of a classical music website got in touch to offer me a place on the trip after another freelancer dropped out. My lack of musical knowledge would not, he explained, be a hindrance. In fact, it might even help. The aim of the commission was not to evaluate the performances, but to report on what happened,
Xuewu Liu, a Chinese inventor who has no medical training or credentials of any kind, is charging cancer patients $20,000 for access to an AI-driven but entirely unproven treatment that includes injecting a highly concentrated dose of chlorine dioxide, a toxic bleach solution, directly into cancerous tumors. One patient tells WIRED her tumor has grown faster since the procedure and that she suspects it may have caused her cancer to spread—a claim Liu disputes—while experts allege his marketing
Despite raising over $60 billion in venture capital, OpenAI seems to be burning through cash faster than it can raise it. Mere months after wrapping up a $40 billion funding round, the AI company is now said to be reopening the books in search of more money, according to Wired. Investors both new and old are now being asked — again — to consider pouring funds into the company, two unnamed sources told Wired. That last round, which was said to be closed on March 31st, sent OpenAI's valuation to
On Wednesday, the White House released "Winning the Race: America's AI Action Plan," a 25-page document that outlines the Trump administration's strategy to "maintain unquestioned and unchallenged global technological dominance" in AI through deregulation, infrastructure investment, and international partnerships. But critics are already taking aim at the plan, saying it's doing Big Tech a big favor. Assistant to the President for Science and Technology Michael J. Kratsios and Special Advisor f
The unholy alliance between Silicon Valley and the Republican Party is no longer new. Between Elon Musk’s descent upon Washington, the number of Big Tech billionaires flying in to kiss President Donald Trump’s ring, and the expansion of the role of companies like Palantir in the US government, former president Joe Biden’s warning about the impending oligarchy has certainly borne out. All of this raises a question: Six months into Trump’s presidency, just how important are Silicon Valley billion
Despite raising over $60 billion in venture capital, OpenAI seems to be burning through cash faster than it can raise it. Mere months after wrapping up a $40 billion funding round, the AI company is now said to be reopening the books in search of more money, according to Wired. Investors both new and old are now being asked — again — to consider pouring funds into the company, two unnamed sources told Wired. That last round, which was said to be closed on March 31st, sent OpenAI's valuation to
Snapchat can now let your friends know if you're back home from an outing safe and sound without you having to send a message. The app has launched a new feature called Home Safe, which sends one-time alerts to contacts of your choice. You can only send these alerts to people you already share your location with, and since that off by default, you'd have to activate it on Snap Maps for all your friends or for specific ones. Your friends will only get the notification once, and it will shut off a