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John Carmack reacts to massive layoffs at id Software: ‘My ‘Microsoft will probably be a good steward of the brand’ statement isn’t aging well’
Programmer John Carmack, the co-founder of id Software and creator of Doom and Quake, has publicly criticised parent company Microsoft following a fresh round of layoffs at the storied studio. Carmack noted that his earlier optimism about the acquisition had proved misplaced, remarking that his previous statement that “Microsoft will probably be a good steward…
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Guy Ritchie’s ‘Sherlock Holmes 3’ Officially Gets Its Biggest Update in 15 Years
Sherlock Holmes 3 writer Chris Brancato has confirmed that he has written a draft of Robert Downey Jr.’s long-awaited sequel.
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Flores Hobbits’ eating habits offer clues about their evolutionary past
A new study led by University of Tübingen anthropologist Elizabeth Veatch challenges the long-held assumption that Homo floresiensis — the diminutive extinct hominins nicknamed “Hobbits” who lived on the Indonesian island of Flores until around 60,000 years ago — were capable big-game hunters. Rather than hunting and butchering the island’s pygmy elephants (Stegodon), the researchers…
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OpenAI launches its new family of models with GPT-5.6
OpenAI has unveiled GPT-5.6, a new family of AI models comprising three variants: Sol (its flagship “workhorse”), Terra (an intermediate option) and Luna (a budget-friendly tier). The launch intensifies competition in an increasingly crowded market, with the models pitched at enterprise work, coding and scientific research, and marketed heavily against rival Anthropic. OpenAI also introduced…
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Instagram’s AI image generator alarms privacy experts
Meta has drawn criticism from privacy advocates over its new AI image generator, Muse Image, which by default can create pictures drawing on the faces of Instagram users with public profiles. Released on Tuesday, the tool lets people tag public Instagram accounts and generate images pulling from the faces featured in those posts, without notifying…
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How an app in South Korea will let victims track their stalkers
South Korea’s government has launched a new smartphone app that allows stalking victims to track the real-time location of the people who are stalking them. Authorities say the tool is intended to strengthen protection for victims, giving them advance warning of an offender’s movements, though some experts have questioned whether it will genuinely make people…
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An AI agent startup just let its agent run its $100 million fundraise
Lyzr, a three-year-old enterprise AI-agent startup based in Jersey City, New Jersey, has raised a $100 million Series B at a valuation of roughly $500 million — and, according to Bloomberg, it let its own AI agent run the fundraise. The system, named SivaClaw, reportedly fielded questions from more than 130 investors, drafted investment memos…
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OpenAI is shutting down Atlas, but its AI browser ambitions are still growing
OpenAI is closing down Atlas, the AI-powered web browser it launched in October with ChatGPT at its heart, but it is not abandoning the wider goal of using AI to help people browse the web. Rather than maintaining a standalone browser, the company is redistributing the agentic browsing features it trialled in Atlas across ChatGPT’s…
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Elon Musk praises Mythos/Fable, promises not to ‘cut off’ Anthropic
Elon Musk has publicly praised Anthropic and pledged never to abruptly “cut off” the AI lab from SpaceX’s servers, after users on X suggested he could disable a rival that relies on his infrastructure. Musk went so far as to admit he was “clearly wrong about Anthropic,” reversing his September 2025 claim that “winning was…
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Playdate is helping Big Ben ring on time
A gaming handheld console, the Playdate, has found an unexpected role in maintaining one of London’s most famous landmarks. The device featured in an episode of the National Geographic travel show Best of the World with Antoni Porowski, in which the former Queer Eye presenter visited Big Ben alongside Andrew Strangeway, a clock mechanic for…