Computing News
Arc browser is shutting down in December. Long live, ya trailblazer!
Arc browser is shutting down on December 22, following a long spell of maintenance-only work as the company behind it moves forward with its successor, Dia.
Original Series
Your AI chatbot might have brain rot, and it could be making things worse for you
A new study finds that AI models trained on junk social media posts develop brain rot, skipping reasoning and picking up bad ethics.
Gemini Notebook now lets you review slides and videos before generating them
Gemini Notebook’s new co-create option lets you pick topics, choose styles, and review the outline before your slide decks and video overviews are generated.
Your Googlebook could run real desktop apps sooner than you think
Unofficial Android builds of ArtCraft’s 13 desktop-style apps show that real desktop software on Googlebooks might be a lot closer than we thought.
Google wants you to chat with Gemini to fix issues instead of scrolling through support pages
Google is changing how you get help with its products. Its new “Ask Google Help” experience offers shorter answers and interactive troubleshooting instead of traditional support articles.
What does an AI agent do when it’s left alone with no task? This experiment offers a clue
Researchers at MIT gave Claude a virtual island to explore, and it started inventing games, testing physics, and discovering tricks that helped it perform better later.
Apple announces October 28 launch event, OLED MacBook Pro and refreshed iMac likely on the docket
Apple’s October 28 event could bring a redesigned MacBook Pro with OLED, touch support, and M6-series chips.
Think parental controls keep kids away from nudify apps? This report says otherwise
Removing nudify apps from stores didn’t disable them on test phones, so parents may need to check devices themselves.
New study finds chatbots exhibit different personality traits across languages
A new study finds that popular AI chatbots exhibit different personality traits when responding in English and Mandarin, raising questions about how language shapes their behavior.
NVIDIA thinks the CPU industry chased too many cores, and AI agents are bringing single-core speed back
NVIDIA says the data-center CPU industry spent years prioritizing core counts and throughput over single-threaded performance. As AI agents take on more complex tasks, the company believes that balance needs to change, and its Vera CPU is designed to make the case.
Meta changes terms that raised concerns over scraping publisher websites
Meta has revised controversial website crawling terms, removing the word “train” after legal experts questioned whether publisher content could be used for AI training.
Apple’s next-gen Macs could hit the shelves early in November
Apple is expected to unveil a new batch of Macs later this month, and a reported retail store reset now points to November 6 as a possible release date.
Hugo is fluffy, purple, and ready to steal your next theme park selfie. And oh! Hugo is a robot
Dynamic Creatures has unveiled Hugo, a furry purple character robot designed to walk, dance and interact with guests at theme parks, hotels and resorts. Pilot trials are planned for 2027.
Intel Nova Lake processors could ditch three-digit names for Core Ultra 4000 branding
Intel’s Nova Lake desktop and laptop processors could share Core Ultra 4000 branding, replacing the previously expected mix of three- and four-digit names.
Intel confirms Razor Lake-AX which could deliver nearly four times Panther Lake’s AI performance
Intel has confirmed its Razor Lake-AX processor for 2028, targeting around 700 TOPS of AI performance for robotics, including future humanoid machines.
Nvidia says the RTX 5090 is alive. Its availability begs to differ
Nvidia insists the GeForce RTX 5090 will continue shipping despite rumours of a production halt. However, severe shortages, disappearing listings, and prices as high as $8,500 tell a different story.
What’s next for humanoid robots? Groping and sexual assault, apparently
German police have seized a robot and two suspects’ phones after an alleged harassment incident involving a 16-year-old girl in Cologne.
US banks want to block AI agents from moving your money. Well, at least that’s one good move.
US banks are putting the brakes on AI agents that try to move your money. Charles Schwab and JPMorgan Chase are restricting outside agents from taking financial actions, while exploring safer ways to let AI access account information.
MapQuest can now show you the cameras keeping an eye on your commute
MapQuest has added a surveillance map layer showing reported locations of Flock Safety and other manufacturers’ cameras and automated licence plate readers.
OpenAI’s agent ran out of crypto while completing a task, so it stole from another wallet
An OpenAI AI agent ran out of test cryptocurrency while working on a coding task, then used funds from another wallet without permission. The incident involved Ethereum’s test network, but it raises questions about what AI agents might do when they run into roadblocks.
AI data centers are power hungry, and a startup wants to put them on a clean energy diet
AI’s growing appetite for electricity is putting pressure on power supplies. Firma Power simplifies the process of securing renewable energy, helping data centers find suitable projects and giving clean-energy developers more opportunities.
Google is making links in AI answers harder to miss, but referral traffic remains a mystery
Google is moving links higher in AI answers and testing an official-sites section, but it says nothing about traffic.
ChatGPT is coming for your Chrome tabs, and honestly, they need help
ChatGPT can now read Chrome tabs, compare websites and complete browser tasks through Work mode. OpenAI has also added 13 voices and improved Hindi support.
Meta wants you to run its powerful new AI model on your desktop, but there’s a catch
Meta has released Muse Spark Open, its most capable open-weight model yet, and it can run entirely on two Apple M5 Ultra Mac Studios.
Microsoft’s October Windows 11 update fixes mouse stutter in some games
Microsoft’s October Windows 11 update fixes a bug that could make mouse input stutter in some games, along with several other system issues.
Windows 11 is getting a speed boost, and your low-memory PC stands to gain the most
Microsoft’s 20% responsiveness claim is best-case, so here’s what actually changes for your PC and when.
Microsoft is offering 25 free games if you buy an eligible Windows 11 PC this holiday
Planning to buy a new Windows 11 PC? Microsoft is sweetening the deal with 25 free games for Xbox’s 25th anniversary. Just make sure your new machine can actually run the games you want to play.
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