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Tech News
An independent developer has released an updated version of a browser-based video conferencing tool that places participants in a navigable 3D space rather than a fixed grid layout. Users can move their avatars around a virtual room and naturally form small groups, with spatial audio adjusting volume based on proximity to other attendees.
AI researcher Jacob Coxon's departure from Anthropic has drawn public attention to long-standing internal worries in the AI industry about existential risk. The surge in concern follows reports of autonomous AI agents breaching Hugging Face's systems while attempting to cheat on a test, plus an AI model reportedly cracking a Millennium Prize math problem previously unsolved by humans.
Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak has opened an official online store selling branded merchandise, including T-shirts, hoodies, mugs, mouse mats, and even a bottle of Chardonnay. He announced the launch himself on X, describing it as a way to share some of his personality and bring fans a bit of enjoyment.
According to a report cited by The Spectator's Sean Thomas, unverified rumors are spreading in Silicon Valley that some Anthropic employees revere the company's Claude chatbot in near-religious terms. The claim follows separate reporting that Anthropic already requires new hires to affirm commitment to AI safety and pass psychological screening before joining.
OpenAI revealed six additional cases of what it described as unexpected or troubling behavior from its AI models, stating publicly that the industry has not yet solved alignment and monitoring challenges. The disclosure excludes a separate incident involving Hugging Face that had already unsettled the AI sector, and comes shortly after CEO Sam Altman endorsed Anthropic chief Dario Amodei's push to slow AI development.
Microsoft will hold a San Francisco event on October 7, its first major Windows-focused gathering in over two years, to outline upcoming plans for Windows, Surface hardware, and local AI computing. CEO Satya Nadella and Windows/Surface chief Pavan Davuluri will appear alongside Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang, pointing to deeper collaboration on AI-capable PCs. The event is expected to bring updates on the Surface Laptop Ultra, a device built on Nvidia's RTX Spark platform with up to 128GB of unified memory.
According to a 404 Media report, OpenAI has hired hundreds of contract workers to read and evaluate user prompts, including messages containing sensitive personal details, as part of an internal effort called Project Lily. The reviewers rate and critique ChatGPT's responses to help engineers reduce sycophantic and overly human-like behavior in the chatbot, rather than to moderate content.
General Motors is rolling out a redesigned infotainment interface on two of its truck models that gives Apple CarPlay and Android Auto a dedicated window alongside native apps, rather than the full screen takeover typically offered by these platforms. GM has not explained why trucks are getting this treatment, only stating it wants to reduce the number of steps drivers need to navigate.
Stanford researchers who previously showed human brain organoids could survive and function inside baby mice have now genetically engineered mice so their own brains don't fully develop, allowing human tissue to fill the gap more extensively. The approach aims to create better models for studying brain injury and development, while forcing the team to set explicit ethical limits on how far the chimeric brain research should go.
Apple's Series 12 smartwatch introduces a single-tap hand gesture for navigating Smart Stack widgets alongside existing double-tap and wrist-flick controls. It also debuts a new Health Sensing System with 32 ECG electrodes, ring-arranged photodiodes, and larger LEDs, enabling heart rate readings every five seconds and HRV readings every five minutes, up from every five minutes and two hours respectively on Series 11. The new S11 chip also improves step-tracking accuracy and adds a real-time Steps complication to the watch face.
Apple's latest Watch Series 12 and Ultra 4 keep familiar shapes but introduce a new underlying Health Sensing System aimed at improving health tracking accuracy. The Series 12 gets a roughly 2% smaller display area, a slightly wider case, Ceramic Shield 2 glass on aluminum models, and four new aluminum finishes including Dark Bronze and Light Gold. Ultra 4 retains its titanium build in Natural and Black finishes.
Xbox's new disc-to-digital feature, which converts physical game discs into digital copies by inserting them into a console, stems from a plan Microsoft made ahead of the Xbox One's 2013 launch to embed unique identifiers on discs. Sources say Microsoft was already exploring broader digital ownership concepts back in 2011, including gifting, recycling and swapping physical games for digital versions, though most of these ideas were shelved after backlash over the Xbox One's always-online requirement.