China is removing Microsoft’s Windows 10 from state agencies
China is removing a customised version of Microsoft's Windows 10 from state agencies earlier than scheduled due to data security concerns. The Ministry of State Security issued instructions to state-linked entities to uninstall the software, though specific vulnerabilities were not disclosed.
On the Great Barrier Reef, management by Traditional Owners is growing
Traditional Owners in Australia are increasing their management role over the Great Barrier Reef along Queensland's coast. Mercy Singleton, a Yirrganydji director at Dawul Wuru Aboriginal Corporation, emphasizes the importance of protecting the coral network for recovery.
BNB Chain Launches BNB Agent Studio v2, Giving AI Agents the Ability to Earn
AI agents can now earn income and operate within owner-defined financial limits enforced on blockchain through BNB Chain's updated Agent Studio v2 platform. The update expands autonomous agents' capabilities to independently manage money while remaining constrained by onchain financial boundaries set by their owners.
A ukulele pick. A paintbrush. Now a steering wheel. For nearly a decade, Shriners Children’s has helped Shelby pursue what’s next.
Shriners Children's has supported Shelby over nine years as she learned to use various tools including a ukulele pick, paintbrush, and steering wheel. The organization helped her pursue different activities and capabilities across this extended period of care.
Apple overhauls its EU App Store fees, loosens rules for alternative app stores
Apple replaced its per-install fee model with a flat 5% commission for apps distributed outside the App Store in the EU. The company also loosened rules to make it easier for developers to operate alternative app marketplaces.
Indigenous food sovereignty is one of the most overlooked conservation strategies (commentary)
Indigenous communities manage or hold tenure rights to roughly a quarter of Earth's land surface and maintain food sovereignty as an effective approach to addressing biodiversity loss, climate change, and food insecurity. Governments and conservation organizations overlook this strategy despite its proven effectiveness on the ground.
Service dog wouldn’t stop pawing a stranger on a flight. Months later, doctors confirmed why.
A service dog repeatedly pawed a stranger during a flight because the dog detected a health problem. Months later, doctors confirmed the stranger had a heart condition that the dog had identified.
85% of companies burned by an AI mistake are racing to cut the humans who might catch the next one
Nearly half of companies surveyed experienced AI agents that passed testing but failed in production, yet 85% are moving toward removing humans from deployment decisions. Trust in automated evaluation rose from 5% to 13% between June and July, even as 49% of respondents reported customer-facing failures from tested AI features.
Construction Worker Discovers Gold Hoard After Literally Striking a Gold Bar with His Jackhammer
A construction worker in Dendermonde, Belgium discovered gold coins while jackhammering under an old brewery foundation located 19 miles outside Brussels. Police found the hoard during excavation work at the property.
Citi to Debut Bitcoin Custody for Institutional Investors
Citi will launch Custody+ service allowing institutional investors to hold Bitcoin alongside other assets on a single platform. The new offering combines Bitcoin storage with existing custody capabilities for multiple asset types.
OpenAI president urges enterprises to hasten AI security defences
OpenAI's president warns that enterprise security teams must adopt AI defences on a compressed timeline. Organizations need to uplevel security practices at unprecedented speed, according to Brockman's account of the OpenAI-Hugging Face incident.
The ‘Sisterhood’ Protecting Indonesia’s Coral Reefs
A group of women divers began protecting Indonesia's coral reefs after Gabriela Nathania H first dove with four strangers off Gili Air at age 21. The Gili Islands archipelago, comprising three islands, is known worldwide for its marine biodiversity.
Commerce AI is fragmenting. Here is why that matters.
Brands have layered multiple AI tools like search, conversational interfaces, and recommendation engines onto existing systems without designing them to work together. This fragmented approach produces isolated capability improvements but leaves consumers experiencing inconsistency and context loss across the shopping journey.
On an Indonesian island, an ancient ritual evolves to protect an endangered cockatoo
The Huaulu people of Seram Island adapted their centuries-old Cidaku initiation ceremony to protect the endangered salmon-crested cockatoo through collaboration with conservationists and government authorities. A study published in July in the Journal of Ethnobiology documents how this sacred coming-of-age ritual evolved to serve conservation purposes.
Threatened Bird Species Given Tiny Foot Casts to Help Recovery After Hit by Car
A threatened bird species hit by a car received custom cardboard and tape foot casts at an animal hospital. The bird is progressing well and will be released back into the wild.
Enterprises are overpaying for simple AI queries — Snowflake's gateway now auto-routes to cut costs up to 3x
Snowflake's Cortex AI Gateway now automatically routes AI queries to the most cost-effective model, reducing token costs by up to 3x on certain workloads. The system selects between different models based on task complexity rather than using a single fixed model for all queries.
The Download: how people really use AI, and Flock’s design choices
AI companies publish usage reports for their products but release only partial data about how people actually use them. The gap between public metrics and real usage patterns remains largely unknown despite regular disclosures from providers like Anthropic and OpenAI.
Alvys launches AI agents for freight TMS workflows
Alvys released an agentic AI platform called Alvys Foundry that automates operational tasks within its transportation management system for carriers and brokers. The platform includes more than 20 pre-built AI agents that work directly with freight data and workflows stored in the TMS.
From connectivity to intelligence: How Plaid is teaching AI to understand financial behavior
Plaid introduced a two-layer foundation model architecture this year designed to analyze financial data and distinguish credit risk differences between borrowers with identical income and account balances. The transaction model component processes spending patterns to identify behavioral factors that traditional credit assessment methods cannot differentiate.
Unitree CEO’s Wealth Jumps $18 Billion After Blockbuster IPO
Unitree Robotics shares surged more than 600% on their first trading day, increasing founder Wang Xingxing's wealth by nearly $18 billion. Investors proceeded despite new US restrictions on the company's robots.
Reading Zhipu’s GLM-5.3 results past the headline number
Zhipu released GLM-5.3, a model that shows fastest capability growth in cybersecurity areas where the company currently lags furthest behind. The Beijing-based company positioned this result in its release notes, though the detail received limited media coverage in initial reporting.
Mobile queen conch hatcheries strive to help the species, engage Caribbean communities
Mobile hatcheries are breeding queen conch to restore declining populations across the Caribbean and Gulf of Mexico. The program engages local communities while addressing the species' collapse from overfishing and habitat loss.
Would I lie to you? ANZ warns of troubling ‘scam-coaching’ trend
Criminals are training victims to bypass bank security through scripts and cover stories in a growing scam-coaching tactic. ANZ bank is warning customers about this trend where fraudsters provide detailed instructions on how to deceive bank staff during transactions.
AI’s recursive self-improvement might not come so quickly after all
Large language models can write code, generate synthetic training data, and optimize computer chips they run on. Forecasts predict recursive self-improvement is approaching, though the AI industry's boldest promise about rapid autonomous improvement may not materialize quickly.
Scientists may have finally proved that “empty” space isn’t really empty
A magnetar's magnetic field may have revealed vacuum birefringence, a quantum effect predicted by Werner Heisenberg nearly 90 years ago where empty space alters light behavior. If confirmed, this discovery would provide the first direct evidence of this phenomenon and demonstrate that the quantum vacuum affects light propagation.
Einstein’s biggest “mistake” came back — and changed cosmology forever
The cosmological constant that Einstein abandoned is now central to modern cosmology after astronomers discovered the universe's expansion accelerates. This model explains observations effectively but may ultimately prove incorrect.
A therapy that “rewrites” childhood memories can ease fear of failure
Imagery-based therapy allowing people to revisit and mentally modify painful childhood memories reduced fear of failure and associated emotions in young adults. The therapeutic approach produced lasting improvements in fear, guilt, sadness, and stress levels among study participants.
Sources: NBA lacks proof Ballmer paid via firms
The NBA discovered no evidence that Clippers owner Steve Ballmer used team sponsors to channel payments to Kawhi Leonard. The league's finding emerged from recent discussions between NBA officials and representatives from both sides.
Serena, Venus return to doubles, lose thriller
Serena and Venus Williams played their first doubles match together since the 2022 U.S. Open, losing 2-6, 6-1 (10-8) to Marta Kostyuk and Peyton Stearns at the Cincinnati Open. The match ended in a tiebreaker at 10-8 in the final set.
S&P 500 Falls, Bitcoin Surges as Traders Await the Fed Minutes: What Next?
The S&P 500 fell 0.52% while Bitcoin surged past $64,000 on Monday. Markets are awaiting Federal Reserve minutes from its July meeting to determine direction across asset classes.