The developer behind the PJON networking protocol spent two months building TERMy, a natural-language terminal assistant that avoids using large language models entirely. The project began as an attempt to train small transformer models from scratch on aging consumer hardware, including a GTX 1050 Ti and an i7-4790K, but those experiments produced incoherent or unsettling text outputs.
github.com
· 2026-09-04
An executive order signed by President Trump declares a national emergency over foreign-made bulk-power equipment, giving the Energy Department authority to block or restrict transactions involving certain grid and data center components. Analysts say Chinese suppliers provide significant portions of the transformers, switchgear, batteries and optical technology that power U.S. data centers, exposing a vulnerability in America's AI infrastructure buildout even as U.S. firms lead in chips and compute hardware.
cnbc.com
· 2026-09-03
Acer showed off Project DualPlay Mini, a concept device that folds like a mini laptop with a built-in keyboard and flip-up 8-inch screen, but converts into a standard handheld gaming device when closed. The company says it isn't a shipping product yet, though it would use the same Intel chips found in its newly announced Predator Atlas 8 and Atlas 7 handhelds.
cnet.com
· 2026-09-02
Veteran voice actor Peter Cullen has recorded what is being described as his final performance as Optimus Prime for a new short titled 'Optimus Prime: Awakening.' The short will screen alongside select theatrical showings of 'The Transformers: The Movie.'
gizmodo.com
· 2026-09-01
A researcher built and trained a small transformer model from scratch in 1.5 hours on a single RTX 5090 GPU, achieving 44% accuracy on the ARC-AGI-1 public evaluation set and 7% on ARC-AGI-2. The model, an upgraded and cheaper version of a previous open-source release, matches the performance of existing test-time-training approaches like TRM and HRM while using far less compute.
mvakde.github.io
· 2026-09-01
Across decades of reboots, films and animated series, Peter Cullen has consistently returned as the voice of Optimus Prime, providing continuity to the Transformers franchise regardless of who else is involved in a given production. His presence has become a defining thread linking the many different creative visions the property has cycled through.
gizmodo.com
· 2026-08-29
Hasbro has notified regulators that attackers gained unauthorized access to an employee account, exposing personal and financial details of staff. Massachusetts filings show at least 436 employees in that state had Social Security numbers, financial account data, card numbers, and driver's license information compromised. Hasbro says it disabled the compromised account, cut off unauthorized access, and added new safeguards, though it hasn't disclosed the full scope of the breach or when it was discovered.
bleepingcomputer.com
· 2026-08-28
Peter Cullen, the Canadian voice actor who gave life to Optimus Prime across Transformers films, TV shows and games, has died at his Los Angeles home. He was also known for voicing Eeyore in Winnie the Pooh productions, King Kong in the 1976 remake, and the villainous K.A.R.R. on Knight Rider. His family confirmed he passed peacefully, surrounded by loved ones.
hollywoodreporter.com
· 2026-08-27
Rising electricity demand from AI data centers is spurring investment in solid-state power transformers, which use semiconductor switching instead of the century-old copper-coil design of conventional transformers. Unlike traditional units, which are hand-built and face multi-year delivery backlogs, solid-state versions can be mass-produced using materials like silicon carbide, making them smaller, lighter, and modular. Tech companies building AI infrastructure are especially drawn to them because they suit the direct current power setups increasingly used to run dense racks of AI chips.
arstechnica.com
· 2026-08-24