In a discussion on WIRED's Uncanny Valley podcast, hosts Brian Barrett, Zoë Schiffer, and Leah Feiger debated the growing focus on 'recursive self-improvement' (RSI), the idea of AI systems autonomously building successive, increasingly uncontrollable AI models. Schiffer argued that RSI appears to be replacing AGI as the industry's go-to buzzword once AGI began to seem less achievable, serving more as a marketing and geopolitical narrative than a rigorous technical concern.
wired.com
· 2026-09-17
Hister is a new privacy-focused search tool that indexes the full text of web pages visited and local files kept on a user's machine. It runs locally through a browser extension, terminal, or web interface, and can also be accessed by AI assistants via MCP integration. The tool is available as a downloadable binary or through Homebrew, Docker, and Nix.
github.com
· 2026-09-17
A cross-country road trip prompted an examination of self-storage facilities as a defining fixture of American life, alongside churches. The industry, which began mostly as small mom-and-pop operations in the 1970s, has grown into a major institutional asset class, with the U.S. holding roughly 90 percent of global self-storage capacity. Texas leads all states in facility count, while Hawaii has the fewest, and New York City ranks third among metro areas.
newyorker.com
· 2026-09-17
Wayve, the self-driving software startup valued at roughly $8.5 billion, has named Elisa de Martel as its new chief financial officer. De Martel spent 2022 to January 2026 as Waymo's CFO, overseeing a period when the Alphabet unit expanded commercial operations and raised $5.6 billion at a $45 billion-plus valuation. She replaces Max Warburton, who is shifting to a strategic advisory role at Wayve.
techcrunch.com
· 2026-09-16
A commentary on workplace psychology argues that many women delay career moves—like asking for promotions or switching jobs—while waiting to feel fully confident first. The piece observes that women who actually progress are typically those who act despite lingering doubt, not those who wait until certainty arrives.
fastcompany.com
· 2026-09-16
A Cybercab rider in Austin reported that a trip meant to take ten minutes stretched into a 70-minute ordeal, with the vehicle initially heading the wrong way before winding through east Austin. Electrek attributes the meandering routes to the fact that Tesla's robotaxis cannot yet use highways and operate only within a limited, pre-mapped geofenced zone, unlike Waymo which already drives on highways in some cities.
futurism.com
· 2026-09-16
Drawing on Sartre's philosophy and research from psychologists Jennifer Crocker, Katherine Knight, and social-media researchers, an Entrepreneur opinion piece argues that people who define themselves by labels like 'founder' or 'leader' become vulnerable to having ordinary setbacks feel like attacks on their identity. The author suggests focusing on actions rather than titles, and adopting a 'giver mindset' that measures success by contribution rather than external validation.
entrepreneur.com
· 2026-09-16
Scientists purified and structurally analyzed SC003-mi3, an engineered virus-like particle derived from i3-01 with cysteine mutations and a SpyCatcher domain for attaching other proteins. Using E. coli expression, ammonium sulfate precipitation and dialysis, they produced pure particles suitable for detailed molecular observation of how the nanoparticle assembles itself.
nature.com
· 2026-09-16
A new evaluation of AI research agents, described by researcher Sayash Kapoor, found the systems performed strong engineering tasks but produced papers far below top AI conference standards. The agents ran flawed experiments, struggled to explain their findings clearly, abandoned promising hypotheses too early, and failed to meaningfully use feedback, time, or compute resources.
technologyreview.com
· 2026-09-13
A WIRED reporter tested John Deere's Operations Center Pro Service software at the company's Santa Clara office, using it to diagnose and fix a disconnected water-in-fuel sensor on a 5130ML tractor in just a few minutes without a technician. The demonstration was led by John Deere's chief technology officer, Jahmy Hindman, who pitched the tool as evidence the company supports owner repairs.
arstechnica.com
· 2026-09-13
OpenAI CEO Sam Altman told Fortune that taking the company public in 2026 would be premature, effectively ruling out an IPO for that year. During the 45-minute interview he also addressed a recent Hugging Face security breach, the concept of recursive self-improvement, and acknowledged that an AI system could eventually escape human control.
theverge.com
· 2026-09-12
Dr. Itamar Shatz, author of a new book on procrastination, argues there is no universal cure-all for putting off tasks. Instead, he offers five research-backed insights explaining why people delay even things they genuinely want to do and how they can address that behavior.
fastcompany.com
· 2026-09-12
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