Waymo Launches Robotaxi Service In Miami, Extending US Lead
Waymo has launched its paid robotaxi service in Miami, marking its sixth U.S. market and the company’s first expansion of 2026. CNBC reports: As U.S. competition has lagged, Waymo’s planned 2026 expansions could lock in rider demand and loyalty in the U.S. To start, Waymo will offer its services within a 60-square-mile area that includes Miami’s Design Dist … ⌘ Read more

Google Begins Offering Free SAT Practice Tests Powered By Gemini
An anonymous reader quotes a report from Ars Technica: It’s no secret that students worldwide use AI chatbots to do their homework and avoid learning things. On the flip side, students can also use AI as a tool to beef up their knowledge and plan for the future with flashcards or study guides. Google hopes its latest Gemini feature will help with … ⌘ Read more

NASA Eyes Popular PC Hardware Performance Tool for Its Flight Simulators
NASA Langley has initiated the U.S. government software approval process to install CapFrameX, a benchmarking tool popular among PC gaming enthusiasts, on its cockpit simulators used to train test pilots. The space agency reached out to CapFrameX, not the other way around, according to an X post from the company.

NASA builds cu … ⌘ Read more

Half the World’s 100 Largest Cities Are in High Water Stress Areas, Analysis Finds
Half the world’s 100 largest cities are experiencing high levels of water stress, with 38 of these sitting in regions of “extremely high water stress,” new analysis and mapping has shown. The Guardian: Water stress means that water withdrawals for public water supply and industry are close to exceeding available … ⌘ Read more

Moderna Curbing Investments in Vaccine Trials Due To US Backlash, CEO Says
An anonymous reader shares a report: Moderna does not plan to invest in new late-stage vaccine trials because of growing opposition to immunizations from U.S. officials, CEO Stephane Bancel said in an interview with Bloomberg TV on Thursday. “You cannot make a return on investment if you don’t have access to the U.S. market, … ⌘ Read more

eBay Bans Illicit Automated Shopping Amid Rapid Rise of AI Agents
EBay has updated its User Agreement to explicitly ban third-party “buy for me” agents and AI chatbots from interacting with its platform without permission. From a report: On its face, a one-line terms of service update doesn’t seem like major news, but what it implies is more significant: The change reflects the rapid emergence of what some are cal … ⌘ Read more

Workday CEO Calls Narrative That AI is Killing Software ‘Overblown’
Workday CEO Carl Eschenbach on Thursday tried to ease worries that AI is destroying software business models. From a report: “It’s an overblown narrative, and it’s not true,” he told CNBC’s “Squawk Box” from the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, calling AI a tailwind and “absolutely not a headwind” for the company.

Software stocks … ⌘ Read more

Schools, Airports, High-Rise Towers: Architects Urged To Get ‘Bamboo-Ready’
An anonymous reader shares a report: An airport made of bamboo? A tower reaching 20 metres high? For many years, bamboo has been mostly known as the favourite food of giant pandas, but a group of engineers say it’s time we took it seriously as a building material, too.

This week the Institution of Structural Engineers called for … ⌘ Read more

China Lagging in AI Is a ‘Fairy Tale,’ Mistral CEO Says
Claims that Chinese technology for AI lags the US are a “fairy tale,” Arthur Mensch, the chief executive officer of Mistral, said. From a report: “China is not behind the West,” Mensch said in an interview on Bloomberg Television at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland on Thursday. The capabilities of China’s open-source technology is “probably stressing the … ⌘ Read more

Autodesk To Cut 1,000 Jobs
Autodesk said today it plans to cut approximately 1,000 jobs, or roughly 7% of its workforce, as part of what the company described as the final phase of a global restructuring effort aimed at strengthening its sales and marketing operations.

The maker of AutoCAD and other digital design software said a significant portion of the cuts will fall within customer-facing sales functions.

[![](https://a.fsdn.com/sd/twitter_icon_l … ⌘ Read more

What a Sony and TCL Partnership Means For the Future of TVs
How would Sony ceding control of its TV hardware business change the industry? The Verge has an optimistic take: […] As of today, Sony already relies on different manufacturing partners to create its TV lineup. While display panel manufacturers never reveal who they sell panels to, Sony is likely already using panels for its LCD TVs from TCL Ch … ⌘ Read more

‘Stealing Isn’t Innovation’: Hundreds of Creatives Warn Against an AI Slop Future
Around 800 artists, writers, actors, and musicians signed on to a new campaign against what they call “theft at a grand scale” by AI companies. From a report: The signatories of the campaign – called “Stealing Isn’t Innovation” – include authors George Saunders and Jodi Picoult, actors Cate Blanchett and Scarlett Johans … ⌘ Read more

Nvidia Allegedly Sought ‘High-Speed Access’ To Pirated Book Library for AI Training
An expanded class-action lawsuit filed last Friday alleges that a member of Nvidia’s data strategy team directly contacted Anna’s Archive – the sprawling shadow library hosting millions of pirated books – to explore “including Anna’s Archive in pre-training data for our LLMs.”

Internal documents cited in the … ⌘ Read more

‘No Reasons To Own’: Software Stocks Sink on Fear of New AI Tool
The new year was supposed to bring opportunities for beaten-down software stocks. Instead, the group is off to its worst start in years. From a report: The release of a new artificial intelligence tool from startup Anthropic on Jan. 12 rekindled fears about disruption that weighed on software makers in 2025.

TurboTax owner Intuit tumbled 16% last w … ⌘ Read more

Half of Fossil Fuel Carbon Emissions In 2024 Came From 32 Companies
An anonymous reader quotes a report from Inside Climate News: Just 32 companies accounted for over half of global fossil carbon emissions in 2024, according to a report published Wednesday by the U.K.-based think tank InfluenceMap. That is down from 36 companies responsible for half the global CO2 emissions in 2023, and 38 companies five ye … ⌘ Read more

Wikipedia’s Guide to Spotting AI Is Now Being Used To Hide AI
Ars Technica’s Benj Edwards reports: On Saturday, tech entrepreneur Siqi Chen released an open source plugin for Anthropic’s Claude Code AI assistant that instructs the AI model to stop writing like an AI model. Called “Humanizer,” the simple prompt plugin feeds Claude a list of 24 language and formatting patterns that Wikipedia editors have listed as ch … ⌘ Read more

Blue Origin’s Satellite Internet Network TeraWave Will Move Data At 6 Tbps
Blue Origin has unveiled an enterprise-focused satellite internet network called TeraWave, which promises up to 6 Tbps speeds via a mixed low- and medium-Earth orbit constellation. TechCrunch reports: The TeraWave constellation will use a mix of 5,280 satellites in low-Earth orbit and 128 in medium-Earth orbit, and Blue Origin … ⌘ Read more

Weight-Loss Drugs Could Save US Airlines $580 Million Per Year
An anonymous reader quotes a report from the New York Times: Weight-loss drugs like Ozempic have transformed millions of lives with easily administered treatments and quick results. Now it turns out the dropped pounds may have a surprising perk for airlines, too: lower fuel costs, as slimmer passengers lighten their aircraft’s loads.

According to … ⌘ Read more

FBI’s Washington Post Investigation Shows How Your Printer Can Snitch On You
alternative_right quotes a report from The Intercept: Federal prosecutors on January 9 charged Aurelio Luis Perez-Lugones, an IT specialist for an unnamed government contractor, with “the offense of unlawful retention of national defense information,” according to an FBI affidavit (PDF). The case attracted national att … ⌘ Read more

‘America Is Slow-Walking Into a Polymarket Disaster’
In an opinion piece for The Atlantic, senior editor Saahil Desai argues that media outlets are increasingly treating prediction markets like Polymarket and Kalshi as legitimate signals of reality. The risk, as Desai warns, is a future where news coverage amplifies manipulable betting odds and turns politics, geopolitics, and even tragedy into speculative gambling theater. … ⌘ Read more

Apple Reportedly Replacing Siri Interface With Actual Chatbot Experience For iOS 27
According to Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman, Apple is reportedly planning a major Siri overhaul in iOS 27 and macOS 27 where the current assistant interface will be replaced with a deeply integrated, ChatGPT-style chatbot experience. “Users will be able to summon the new service the same way they open Siri now, by … ⌘ Read more

Spotify Lawsuit Triggered Anna’s Archive Domain Name Suspensions
An anonymous reader quotes a report from TorrentFreak: Spotify and several major record labels, including UMG, Sony, and Warner, have taken legal action against the unknown operators of Anna’s Archive. The action follows the shadow library’s announcement that it would release hundreds of terabytes of scraped Spotify data. Unsealed documents reveal … ⌘ Read more

Apple Developing AI Wearable Pin
According to a report by The Information (paywalled), Apple is reportedly developing an AirTag-sized, camera-equipped AI wearable pin that could arrive as early as 2027.

“Apple’s pin, which is a thin, flat, circular disc with an aluminum-and-glass shell, features two cameras – a standard lens and a wide-angle lens – on its front face, designed to capture photos and videos of the user’s surroundings,” repor … ⌘ Read more

Nova Launcher Gets a New Owner and Ads
Nova Launcher has been acquired by Instabridge, which says it will keep the app maintained but is evaluating ad-supported options for the free version. Android Authority reports: Today, Nova Launcher announced that the Swedish company Instabridge has acquired it from Branch Metrics. Instabridge claims it wants to be a responsible owner of Nova and does not want to reinvent the launcher overnight. Howev … ⌘ Read more

HAM Radio Operators In Belarus Arrested, Face the Death Penalty
An anonymous reader quotes a report from 404 Media: The Belarusian government is threatening three HAM radio operators with the death penalty, detained at least seven people, and has accused them of “intercepting state secrets,” according to Belarusian state media, independent media outside of Belarus, and the Belarusian human rights organization Vi … ⌘ Read more

Ozempic is Reshaping the Fast Food Industry
New research from Cornell University has tracked how households change their spending after someone starts taking GLP-1 medications like Ozempic and Wegovy, and the numbers are material enough to explain why food industry earnings calls keep blaming everything except the obvious culprit.

The study analyzed transaction data from 150,000 households linked to survey responses on medicati … ⌘ Read more

Half of World’s CO2 Emissions Come From Just 32 Fossil Fuel Firms, Study Shows
Just 32 fossil fuel companies were responsible for half the global carbon dioxide emissions driving the climate crisis in 2024, down from 36 a year earlier, a report has revealed. The Guardian: Saudi Aramco was the biggest state-controlled polluter and ExxonMobil was the largest investor-owned polluter. Critics accused t … ⌘ Read more

Adobe Acrobat Now Lets You Edit Files Using Prompts, Generate Podcast Summaries
Adobe has added a suite of AI-powered features to Acrobat that enable users to edit documents through natural language prompts, generate podcast-style audio summaries of their files, and create presentations by pulling content from multiple documents stored in a single workspace.

The prompt-based editing supports 12 distin … ⌘ Read more

The Gold Plating of American Water
The price of water and sewer services for American households has more than doubled since the early 1980s after adjusting for inflation, even though per-capita water use has actually decreased over that period. Households in large cities now spend about $1,300 a year on water and sewer charges, approaching the roughly $1,600 they spend on electricity. The main driver is federal regulation.

Since the Clea … ⌘ Read more

AI Company Eightfold Sued For Helping Companies Secretly Score Job Seekers
Eightfold AI, a venture capital-backed AI hiring platform used by Microsoft, PayPal and many other Fortune 500 companies, is being sued in California for allegedly compiling reports used to screen job applicants without their knowledge. From a report: The lawsuit, filed on Tuesday accusing Eightfold of violating the Fair Credit … ⌘ Read more

Ubisoft Cancels Six Games, Slashes Guidance in Restructuring
Ubisoft is canceling game projects, shutting down studios and cutting its guidance as the Assassin’s Creed maker restructures its business into five units. From a report: The French gaming firm expects earnings before interest and tax to be a loss of $1.2 billion the fiscal year 2025-2026 as a result of the restructuring, driven by a one-off writedown of … ⌘ Read more

Ireland Wants To Give Its Cops Spyware, Ability To Crack Encrypted Messages
The Irish government is planning to bolster its police’s ability to intercept communications, including encrypted messages, and provide a legal basis for spyware use. From a report: The Communications (Interception and Lawful Access) Bill is being framed as a replacement for the current legislation that governs digital communic … ⌘ Read more

Google Temporarily Disabled YouTube’s Advanced Captions Without Warning
Google has temporarily disabled YouTube’s advanced SRV3 caption format after discovering the feature was causing playback errors for some users, according to a statement the company posted. SRV3, also known as YouTube Timed Text, is a custom subtitle system Google introduced around 2018 that allows creators to use custom colors, tran … ⌘ Read more

Japan Restarts World’s Largest Nuclear Plant as Fukushima Memories Loom Large
New submitter BeaverCleaver shares a report: Japan has restarted operations at the world’s largest nuclear power plant for the first time since the 2011 Fukushima disaster forced the country to shut all of its reactors. The decision to restart reactor number 6 at Kashiwazaki-Kariwa north-west of Tokyo was taken despite local r … ⌘ Read more

Comic-Con Bans AI Art After Artist Pushback
San Diego Comic-Con changed an AI art friendly policy following an artist-led backlash last week. From a report: It was a small victory for working artists in an industry where jobs are slipping away as movie and video game studios adopt generative AI tools to save time and money. Every year, tens of thousands of people descend on San Diego for Comic-Con, the world’s premier comic book conven … ⌘ Read more

YouTube CEO Acknowledges ‘AI Slop’ Problem, Says Platform Will Curb Low-Quality AI Content
YouTube CEO Neal Mohan used his annual letter to creators, published Wednesday, to outline an ambitious 2026 vision that embraces AI-powered creative tools while simultaneously pledging to crack down on the low-quality AI content that has come to be known as “slop.”

Mohan identified four AI-relate … ⌘ Read more

CEOs Say AI is Making Work More Efficient. Employees Tell a Different Story.
Companies are spending vast sums on AI expecting the technology to boost efficiency, but a new survey from AI consulting firm Section found that two-thirds of non-management workers among 5,000 white-collar respondents say they save less than two hours a week or no time at all, while more than 40% of executives report the technolo … ⌘ Read more

Verizon Wastes No Time Switching Device Unlock Policy To 365 Days
An anonymous reader quotes a report from DroidLife: When the FCC cleared Verizon of its 60-day device unlock policy a week ago, we talked about how the government agency, which is as anti-consumer as it has ever been at the moment, was giving Verizon the power to basically create whatever unlock policy it wanted. We also expected Verizon to m … ⌘ Read more

Snap Settles Social media Addiction Lawsuit Ahead of Landmark Trial
Snap has settled a social media addiction lawsuit just days before trial, while Meta, TikTok, and Alphabet remain defendants and are headed to court. “Terms of the deal were not announced as it was revealed by lawyers at a California Superior Court hearing, after which Snap told the BBC the parties were ‘pleased to have been able to resolve … ⌘ Read more

Aurora Watch In Effect As Severe Solar Storm Slams Into Earth
alternative_right shares a report from ScienceAlert: Thanks to a giant eruption on the Sun and a large opening in its atmosphere, we’re currently experiencing G4 conditions – a severe geomagnetic storm strong enough to disrupt power grids as energy from space weather disturbances drives electric currents through Earth’s magnetic field and the ground. … ⌘ Read more

Era of ‘Global Water Bankruptcy’ Is Here, UN Report Says
An anonymous reader quotes a report from the Guardian: The world has entered an era of “global water bankruptcy” that is harming billions of people, a UN report has declared. The overuse and pollution of water must be tackled urgently, the report’s lead author said, because no one knew when the whole system could collapse, with implications for peace and social coh … ⌘ Read more

cURL Removes Bug Bounties
Ancient Slashdot reader jantangring shares a report from Swedish electronics industry news site Elektroniktidningen (translated to English), writing: “Open source code library cURL is removing the possibility to earn money by reporting bugs, hoping that this will reduce the volume of AI slop reports,” reports etn.se. “Joshua Rogers – AI wielding bug hunter of fame – thinks it’s a great idea.” cURL maintainer Daniel Stenber … ⌘ Read more

OpenAI and ServiceNow Strike Deal to Put AI Agents in Business Software
According to the Wall Street Journal, OpenAI and ServiceNow signed a three-year deal to embed AI agents directly into ServiceNow’s enterprise workflows. CNBC reports: As part of the deal, ServiceNow will integrate GPT-5.2 into its enterprise workflow platform and create AI voice technology harnessing these models. “Bringing together our … ⌘ Read more

Developer Rescues Stadia Bluetooth Tool That Google Killed
This week, Google finally shut down the official Stadia Bluetooth conversion tool… but there’s no need to panic! Developer Christopher Klay preserved a copy on his personal GitHub and is hosting a fully working version of the tool on a dedicated website to make it even easier to find. The Verge’s Sean Hollister reports: I haven’t tried Klay’s mirror, as bo … ⌘ Read more

HHS Announces New Study of Cellphone Radiation and Health
An anonymous reader quotes a report from U.S. News & World Report: U.S. health officials plan a new study investigating whether radiation from cellphones may affect human health. A spokesperson for the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) said the research will examine electromagnetic radiation and possible gaps in current science. The initiati … ⌘ Read more

UK Mulls Australia-Like Social Media Ban For Users Under 16
The UK government has launched a public consultation on whether to ban social media use for children under 16, drawing inspiration from Australia’s recently enacted age-based restrictions. “It would also explore how to enforce that limit, how to limit tech companies from being able to access children’s data and how to limit ‘infinite scrolling,’ as well as … ⌘ Read more

Majority of CEOs Report Zero Payoff From AI Splurge
A PwC survey of more than 4,500 CEOs found that over half report no revenue growth or cost savings from their AI investments so far, despite massive spending. Of the 4,454 business leaders surveyed, only 12% saw both lower costs and higher revenue, while 56% saw neither benefit. “26% saw reduced costs, but nearly as many experienced cost increases,” adds The Register. From the … ⌘ Read more

Meta’s Oversight Board Takes Up Permanent Bans In Landmark Case
An anonymous reader quotes a report from TechCrunch: Meta’s Oversight Board is tackling a case focused on Meta’s ability to permanently disable user accounts. Permanent bans are a drastic action, locking people out of their profiles, memories, friend connections, and, in the case of creators and businesses, their ability to market and communicate wi … ⌘ Read more

56% of Companies Have Seen Zero Financial Return From AI Investments, PwC Survey Says
More than half of companies haven’t seen any financial benefit from their AI investments, according to PwC’s latest Global CEO Survey [PDF], and yet the spending shows no signs of slowing down. Some 56% of the 4,454 chief executives surveyed across 95 countries said their companies have realized neither higher … ⌘ Read more

Setapp Mobile To Close in February as Alternative iOS App Store Economics Prove Untenable
MacPaw, the Ukraine-based developer, has announced that Setapp Mobile – its alternative iOS app store for European Union users that launched in open beta in September 2024 – will shut down on February 16, 2026, citing “still-evolving and complex business terms” for alternative marketplaces that … ⌘ Read more