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AI and the Future of Defense: Mach Industries’ Ethan Thornton at TechCrunch Disrupt 2025

From stealth mode to center stage, Mach Industries is bringing AI into one of the world’s most complex and controversial sectors: defense. At TechCrunch Disrupt 2025, Ethan Thornton, CEO and founder of Mach Industries, steps onto the AI Stage to share what it takes to build in high-stakes environments where speed and autonomy matter most — and why next-gen infrastructure starts with rethinking the fundamentals. Inside the AI arms race — and the founder aiming to rewrite it Thornton launched Ma

Scientists Working on "Smart Dust" That Can Spy on a Room While Drifting Throught the Air

In his 1963 scifi story "The Invincible," the Polish writer Stanisław Lem imagined an artificial species of free-floating nanobots which roamed the atmosphere of a far-off planet. Like tiny bugs, the microscopic beings were powerless alone, but together they could form cooperative swarms to gather energy, reproduce, and ultimately defend their territory from predators with deadly force. Unlike the story’s human protagonists, the "black cloud" of bots was incapable of reasoning beyond the simple

Charlie Kaufman Holds Hollywood Responsible for Today’s ‘Terrible’ World

Filmmaker Charlie Kaufman’s got a lot to say about the state of the world—and why he thinks Hollywood is at least partially to blame for it. In a new interview with The Guardian, the mind behind 2004’s Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind and this year’s short How to Shoot a Ghost said the film industry has “everything to do with [why] the world is in a terrible, terrible situation right now.” As part of said industry, Kaufman considers it a personal responsibility to “not put garbage into th

Mysterious Object Headed Into Our Solar System Is Changing Shape, New Image Shows

"Even the most fleeting visitors can leave a lasting impact." Astronomers have been racing to get a better look at 3I/ATLAS, a mysterious object screaming into our solar system from far beyond. While there's a broad consensus among experts that the object is a comet, observations by four NASA telescopes have defied expectations, showing that it bears a much higher proportion of carbon dioxide gas than expected. Now, as the BBC reports, new observations by the Gemini South telescope at Cerro P

Dyson’s New Stick Vacuum Just Solved My Biggest Problem With Cordless Models

Dyson is one of the best-known cordless vacuum manufacturers, and its V-series vacuums are flagship models that usually earn top marks in our testing. With strong suction and innovations including dust detection, the best Dyson vacuums can usually be counted on to bring something new to the table. I got to go hands-on with the Dyson V16 Piston Animal (there’s also a Submarine variant), the company’s newest cordless vacuum that’s expected to launch in the US in 2026. It offers the top-of-class c

Mads Mikkelsen Reunites With ‘Hannibal’ Creator Bryan Fuller to Slay Monsters in ‘Dust Bunny’

We may never get another season of Hannibal, but there’s some comfort to be found in Dust Bunny, Hannibal creator Bryan Fuller‘s feature directorial debut—which just so happens to star Dr. Lecter himself, Mads Mikkelsen. He plays a hired killer who befriends his young neighbor after she loses her family; she believes a monster did it, but he’s got an equally scary, more real-world idea of the culprit. Check out the first trailer for Dust Bunny here: Written and directed by Fuller, Dust Bunny a

CEO Who Created AI Startup to Cheat on Homework Complains That AI Is Destroying Education

Months after debuting Cluely, the "undetectable AI that thinks for you," 21-year-old tech entrepreneur Chungin "Roy" Lee is decrying the dismal state of education due to AI. Indeed, there's little doubt that AI has completely flipped education on its head. The availability of large language models (LLMs) at the press of a finger is all but obliterating the minds of an entire generation of students, making literacy a thing of the past as big tech money floods into schools and teachers unions. I

Nvidia Is Not Happy With the Gain AI Act, Says As Much

In a move drawing considerable attention across the tech industry, Nvidia Corporation has publicly critiqued the recently proposed Gain AI Act, emphasizing its potential to stifle competition in the rapidly evolving artificial intelligence sector. The GAIN AI Act, which stands for Guaranteeing Access and Innovation for National Artificial Intelligence Act, was introduced as part of the U.S. National Defense Authorization Act, with the goal of ensuring that the United States is the dominant mark

Google’s AI Ambitions An ‘Existential Crisis’ For News Online

Amid mounting concerns over its monopoly in online search, Google’s intensified integration of artificial intelligence into how it presents the world’s news outlets is prompting a seismic shift in the digital journalism landscape. Major publishers worldwide report plunging traffic and revenue, fueling fears that their traditional business models are under existential threat, The Guardian reports in a deep dive into how the industry is reacting. It posits that Google’s rapid rollout of AI-drive

New Webb image shows star formation as glittering, craggy peaks

If "chaos is a ladder," then brilliant stars forming from discordant gas and dust are the ultimate example of that. The James Webb telescope has imaged one of the more dramatic stellar nurseries in the galaxy called Pismis 24, showing swirling dust and infant stars in unprecedented detail. The image was captured in infrared light by Webb's NIRCam (near-infrared camera), with false color detail added afterwards. It shows the Pismis 24 star cluster located in the Lobster Nebula around 5,500 light

Adapting to Industry Changes in an AI-Driven Future

“AI won’t take your job; someone using AI will,” according to Forbes . It’s hard to open LinkedIn or a news app without being inundated with artificial intelligence (AI) upheaval. From new large language models (LLMs) to consumer apps to flashy agents, it’s impossible to ignore that AI is drastically changing the modern workforce. Whether it’s a mid-career professional watching peers get laid off or a new graduate navigating a tough job market amid AI changes, everyone is adapting to the new pa

Got AI skills? You can earn 43% more in your next job - and not just for tech work

Andrii Zastrozhnov/iStock/Getty Images Plus via Getty Images Follow ZDNET: Add us as a preferred source on Google. ZDNET's key takeaways Demand for AI skills is on the rise across industries. A single AI skill makes a huge difference in listed salaries. Different industries are looking for different AI skills. As businesses race to adopt AI, they're placing a higher premium on job candidates who know their way around the technology. A recent study from labor market research firm Lightca

I Tried It: Dyson's Newest Stick Vac Empties So Neatly, I Could Do It in Bed

Dyson is one of the best-known cordless vacuum manufacturers, and its V-series vacuums are flagship models that usually earn top marks in our testing. With strong suction and innovations including dust detection, the best Dyson vacuums can usually be counted on to bring something new to the table. I got to go hands-on with the Dyson V16 Piston Animal (there’s also a Submarine variant), the company’s newest cordless vacuum that’s expected to launch in the US in 2026. It offers the top-of-class c

China's Electric Car Industry Is in Deep Trouble

China's electric vehicle industry is, by most accounts, experiencing unprecedented boom times: the cars are cheaper, consumers more primed to purchase them, and there are lots of viable options outside of Tesla. Unfortunately, that competition comes with a price — or rather, with a price war. As the New York Times reports, rabid competition among about 50 of the country's top EV automakers has led to repeated price-slashing in a manic hunt for new buyers. As those manufacturers race to the bott

How Often Should You Vacuum to Get Rid of Microplastics and Other Particulates? (2025)

Global Earth Day published studies that found pets and babies are especially at risk for microplastic exposure from household dust. Both household members stay low to the ground—closer to dust, microplastics, and particulates that are invisible to the naked eye on carpets and floors—and put everything in their mouths, making it easier for them to ingest microplastic dust that could be on those objects. While that household dust could be anywhere in your home, carpet turns out to have its own is

Revolving door: Ex-senator becomes cable industry’s top lobbyist

The cable industry's top lobbying group has a new president and CEO. Cory Gardner, a Republican who spent 10 years in Congress, was announced today as the new head of NCTA-The Internet & Television Association. Gardner represented Colorado in the US senate from 2015 to 2021 and was in the US House of Representatives from 2011 to 2015. He had to leave the Senate after losing a re-election bid and later became chairman of the Senate Leadership Fund, a super PAC devoted to "protecting and expandin

India's billion-dollar e-waste empire

In the dead of a cold December night in 2023, at a dump near Delhi, hundreds of men huddled around small bonfires, clutching paper cups of tea. They tossed plastic bags into the flames as they waited for a fleet of trucks to arrive. The trucks rolled in one by one, full of electronic marvels now reduced to e-waste: Nokia, Itel, and Samsung smartphones; Sony and LG LCD screens; Tata air conditioners; Canon and Epson printers. As the trailer gates opened at the back of one truck, Rashid Khan and

India's Reliance ties up with Google and Meta to drive AI push

Mukesh Ambani, Chairman and Managing Director of Reliance Industries, arrives to pay his last respect to Indian industrialist Ratan Tata at the National Centre for the Performing Arts (NCPA) ahead of its cremation in Mumbai on October 10, 2024. Indian conglomerate Reliance Industries on Friday announced new partnerships with Google and Meta to accelerate the company's push into artificial intelligence. Speaking at an annual shareholders' meeting on Friday, Reliance Chairman Mukesh Ambani also

Computing’s Top 30: Theofanis Raptis

Transitioning between two different cultures and professional roles—from working at a university in Greece to joining the National Research Council of Italy—presented Theofanis Raptis with several valuable lessons, including an understanding of what he calls an intellectual “fermentation” process. Triggered by internationalization, bilateral cooperation, and cross-discipline collaborations, this fermentation included the dynamic exchange and blending of ideas across disciplines and cultures, le

Silicon Valley is pouring millions into pro-AI PACs to sway midterms

In Brief Andreessen Horowitz and OpenAI President Greg Brockman are among the Silicon Valley veterans putting more than $100 million into a network of political action committees (PACs) that will advocate against strict AI regulations in next year’s midterm elections, reports The Wall Street Journal. The new pro-AI super-PAC network dubbed “Leading the Future” aims to use campaign donations and digital ads to advocate for favorable AI regulation and oppose candidates that the group thinks will

Tech’s Heavy Hitters Are Spending Big to Ensure a Pro-AI Congress

Much of the American public is dubious to neutral when it comes to artificial intelligence. A recent poll found that 71 percent of Americans were concerned about the technology “permanently” displacing human workers. Since we ostensibly live in a democracy, you’d think that would be bad news for the AI industry; unfortunately, many of the folks who are central to our economy are all-in. What do you do when you can’t win in the court of public opinion? The next best thing is to work the refs, a

Silicon Valley is pouring millions into pro-AI PACs to sway midterms

In Brief Andreessen Horowitz and OpenAI President Greg Brockman are among the Silicon Valley veterans putting more than $100 million into a network of political-action committees (PACs) that will advocate against strict AI regulations in next year’s midterm elections, reports The Wall Street Journal. The new pro-AI super-PAC network dubbed “Leading the Future” aims to use campaign donations and digital ads to advocate for favorable AI regulation and oppose candidates that the group thinks will

Google says the quiet part out loud: IP68 protection doesn’t last

Designed to comply with dust and water protection rating IP68 under IEC standard 60529 when each device leaves the factory but the device is not water or dust proof. The accessories are not water or dust resistant. Water resistance and dust resistance are not permanent conditions and will diminish or be lost over time due to normal wear and tear, device repair, disassembly or damage. Phone is not drop/tumble proof and dropping your device may result in loss of water/dust resistance. Damage from

India bans real-money gaming, threatening a $23 billion industry

India’s lower house of parliament on Wednesday passed a sweeping online gaming bill that, while promoting esports and casual gaming without monetary stakes, imposes a blanket ban on real-money games — threatening to disrupt billions of dollars in investment and significantly impact the real-money gaming industry, which could see widespread shutdowns. Titled the Promotion and Regulation of Online Gaming Bill, 2025, the legislation aims to prohibit real-money games nationwide — whether based on s

AI Industry Trembles as Nvidia's Stock Nosedives

Shares of AI chipmaker Nvidia plunged on Wednesday, dropping by more than three percent in early trading — for a total slide of over five percent in the past week. Other major AI players fell as well, including Google, Meta, and Tesla. AI software company Palantir's stock fell by nearly nine percent this morning. Nvidia is particularly interesting, though, because while those other companies mainly produce software, Nvidia has been making bank by selling the hardware powering the AI industry's

The AI Industry Is Still Light-Years From Making a Profit, Experts Warn

Were you to glance at the trajectory of top AI stocks — OpenAI, Microsoft, Nvidia, and the like — you'd be convinced the industry is making money hand over fist. Look a bit deeper, however, and cracks start to show in that facade, betraying one massively inconvenient truth: that the AI industry has not yet figured out how to be profitable, and possibly never will. In interviews with the New York Times, even the most enthusiastic AI proponents were unable to spin the technology (and the industr

IEEE Computer Society Announces Recipients of Inaugural Career Catalyst Scholarship

LOS ALAMITOS, Calif., 15 August 2025 – The IEEE Computer Society (CS) is pleased to announce the first recipients of its inaugural Career Catalyst Scholarships. Evaluated by a set of criteria that includes academic performance; technical skills and experience; leadership and extracurriculars; statement of purpose; industry readiness and professionalism; and letters of recommendation, each candidate underwent a rigorous review by a panel of industry judges. Selected from a pool of over 105 applic

As People Ridicule GPT-5, Sam Altman Says OpenAI Will Need ‘Trillions’ in Infrastructure

People have ridiculed GPT-5, the newest large language model release from OpenAI, since the second it launched, with many users complaining that it’s dumb, boring, and not as good as the last LLM that the company released. Sam Altman, the company’s CEO, has some comforting words for those who may be concerned about the direction his company is headed: AI is a bubble, and oh, also btw, my company is about to spend the GDP of France to build out our AI infrastructure. That seems to be the gist of

Inside the Biden Administration's Gamble to Freeze China’s AI Future

Alan Estevez was sitting at his dining room table wearing a t-shirt when Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo called on Zoom to ask if he wanted to be the Biden administration’s top export control official. “You’re going to have to sell me on this,” Estevez recalls telling her. It was 2021, and the outspoken New Jersey native thought he had finally left public service behind. After more than three decades at the Pentagon, he had left and taken a job in consulting. He wasn’t sure if he was ready

The AI Industry Just Got Some Horrible News

For years now, big tech and its financial backers have been blowing past the warning signs that human-level AI — the theoretical technology with hundreds of billions of dollars riding on it — could turn out to be a pipe-dream, at best. Now, however, Wall Street appears to be yanking its money out of one of the largest datacenter providers in the game, possibly an early indicator that reality could be finally catching up to the massively hype-dependent AI industry. On Tuesday, datacenter and te