An anonymous reader quotes a report from Ars Technica: After the Trump administration confirmed a rumor that the US is planning to buy a 10 percent stake in Intel, US Senator Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) came forward Wednesday to voice support for the highly unusual plan, finding rare common ground with Donald Trump. According to Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, the plan would see the US disbursing approved CHIPS Act grants only after acquiring non-voting shares of Intel and likely other chipmakers. That would allow the US to profit off its investment in chipmakers, Lutnick suggested, and Sanders told Reuters that he agreed American taxpayers could benefit from the potential deals.

"If microchip companies make a profit from the generous grants they receive from the federal government, the taxpayers of America have a right to a reasonable return on that investment," Sanders said. While Lutnick gave Trump credit for coming up with what White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt described as a "creative idea that has never been done before" to protect US national and economic security, it appears that Lutnick is driving the initiative. "Lutnick has been pushing the equity idea," insiders granted anonymity previously told Reuters, "adding that Trump likes the idea."

So far, Intel has engaged in talks, while the Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC) and other major CHIPS grant recipients like Samsung and Micron have yet to comment on the potential arrangement the Trump administration seems likely to pursue. They may possibly risk clawbacks of grants if such deals aren't made. On Wednesday, Taiwan Economy Minister Kuo Jyh-huei said his ministry would be consulting with TSMC soon, while noting that as yet, it's hard to "thoroughly understand the underlying meaning" of Lutnick's public comments. So far, Lutnick has only specified that "any potential arrangement wouldn't provide the government with voting or governance rights in Intel," dispelling fears that the US would use its ownership stake to try to control the world's most important chipmakers. Further reading: Intel is Getting a $2 Billion Investment From SoftBank ... [>>>]

Google announced Gemini for Home, a new AI-powered voice assistant that will replace Google Assistant on Nest smart speakers and displays starting in October. Powered by Gemini's advanced reasoning and conversational capabilities, it promises more natural interactions, complex task handling, and features like Gemini Live for back-and-forth conversations. The Verge reports: According to a blog post by Anish Kattukaran, chief product officer of Google Home and Nest, using Gemini for Home will "feel fundamentally new." He says the new voice assistant leverages the "advanced reasoning, inference and search capabilities" of Google's AI models, along with adaptations for the home that allow for more natural interactions to complete more complex tasks. In short, it should be an assistant that can better understand context, nuance, and intention -- a complete change from its predecessor.

For example, Kattukaran says Gemini for Home can accurately respond to requests like "turn off the lights everywhere except my bedroom," "play that song from this year's summer blockbuster about race cars," or "set a timer for perfectly blanched broccoli." It will also create lists, calendar entries, and reminders more easily than before, he says.

Another big upgrade is that Gemini Live will be part of Gemini for Home, bringing more conversational back-and-forth voice interactions to Google Home without needing to repeatedly say "Hey Google." Kattukaran says this will allow for more detailed and personalized help -- from cooking ("I have spinach, eggs, cream cheese, and smoked salmon in the fridge. Help me make a delicious meal") to brainstorming how to buy a new car or figuring out how to fix your dishwasher, as well as more creative tasks like generating bedtime stories. [...] Google hasn't announced pricing for the paid tier of Gemini for Home, but Gemini Live, with its more advanced capabilities, is a likely candidate for a premium plan.

[ Read more of this story ]( https://tech.slashdot.org/story/25/08/20/2044250/gemini-for-home-is-googles-biggest-smart-home-play-in-years?utm_source=atom1.0moreanon&utm_medium=feed ) at Slashdot. ... [>>>]

Amazon is plotting a big change to its Fire tablet lineup following years of escalating gripes from consumers and app developers over the company's homegrown operating system. Reuters: As part of a project known internally as Kittyhawk, Amazon plans to release a higher-end tablet as soon as next year offering the Android operating system software for the first time, according to six people familiar with the matter. Since the Fire tablet's introduction in 2011, Amazon has used what is known as a "forked" version of Android with custom modifications that make it work like a unique operating system.

[...] The first Amazon Android tablet, slated for next year, will be pricier than current models, the people said. One of them said Amazon had discussed a $400 price tag, nearly double the cost of its current higher-end $230 Fire Max 11 tablet. IPads, by comparison, range from $350 to $1,200. Reuters could not learn additional specifications for the planned Amazon tablet, such as screen size and speaker quality or memory capacity. Amazon historically has avoided using software or other products from third parties, preferring to develop the services in-house or, barring that, to acquire a competitor.

[ Read more of this story ]( https://slashdot.org/story/25/08/20/201240/amazon-looks-to-ditch-homegrown-software-for-android-in-fire-tablet-revamp?utm_source=atom1.0moreanon&utm_medium=feed ) at Slashdot.

Abu Dhabi is gathering the DNA of Emirati newborns in a significant expansion of a national genomic sequencing project that aims to put the UAE on the cutting-edge of health care. From a report: The UAE capital has so far mapped the genomes of 68% of Emirati citizens, a spokesperson for M42, the firm running the program, told Semafor, while at-birth sequencing is being offered to parents on a voluntary basis across several hospitals, and aims to detect over 800 treatable childhood genetic conditions. Only around 1% of the world's mapped genomes are of Arab descent. The UAE is looking to address the gap while tackling public health issues and expanding personalized health care offerings.

[ Read more of this story ]( https://news.slashdot.org/story/25/08/20/1948219/uae-adds-newborns-to-major-genome-project?utm_source=atom1.0moreanon&utm_medium=feed ) at Slashdot.

Windows 11 users will receive significant UI refinements and AI improvements starting next month as Microsoft prepares its September feature drop followed by additional updates through fall. The update, Windows Central reports, will bring customizable lock screen widgets globally after months of European exclusivity, photo grid views in Windows Search, and a redesigned Windows Hello authentication interface.

Copilot+ PCs will gain a revamped Recall application with workflow suggestions and File Explorer AI integration through Click To Do. October and November releases will introduce a larger, customizable Start menu allowing removal of the Recommended section and expanded dark mode support for legacy File Explorer dialogs.

[ Read more of this story ]( https://tech.slashdot.org/story/25/08/20/192259/microsoft-readies-big-feature-updates-for-next-month-and-beyond?utm_source=atom1.0moreanon&utm_medium=feed ) at Slashdot.

AI-powered salespeople are outperforming their human counterparts on Chinese e-commerce platforms, working around the clock without fatigue to sell products ranging from printers to wet wipes. Shanghai marketing firm PLTFRM has deployed 30 virtual avatars across Taobao and Pinduoduo using Baidu video models and DeepSeek language models. Brother's AI avatar generated $2,500 in printer sales within two hours and increased livestream revenue 30 percent. The company now checks overnight AI sales data each morning as routine.

Livestreaming drives over one-third of China's e-commerce sales, with half the population shopping via broadcast in 2024. Baidu's June livestream featuring an AI version of influencer Luo Yonghao drew 13 million views and generated $7.7 million in sales. American and European companies have expressed interest, Wired reports, after PLTFRM successfully tested English-language avatars on YouTube, TikTok, and Facebook.

[ Read more of this story ]( https://slashdot.org/story/25/08/20/1844240/chinese-virtual-human-salespeople-are-outperforming-their-real-human-counterparts?utm_source=atom1.0moreanon&utm_medium=feed ) at Slashdot.

FTC, in a press release Wednesday: The Federal Trade Commission today sued the operators of LA Fitness and other gyms over allegations they make it exceedingly difficult for consumers to cancel their gym memberships and related services that continued indefinitely unless cancelled. The agency is seeking a court order prohibiting the allegedly unfair conduct and money back for consumers harmed by the difficulty in cancelling memberships.

"The FTC's complaint describes a scenario that too many Americans have experienced -- a gym membership that seems impossible to cancel," said Christopher Mufarrige, Director of the Bureau of Consumer Protection. "Tens of thousands of LA Fitness customers reported difficulties -- cancellation was often restricted to specific times or required speaking to specific managers who were often not present or available. The FTC will not hesitate to act on behalf of consumers when it believes companies are stifling consumers' ability to choose which recurring charges they want to keep."

[ Read more of this story ]( https://news.slashdot.org/story/25/08/20/180201/ftc-sues-la-fitness-for-making-it-difficult-for-consumers-to-cancel-gym-memberships?utm_source=atom1.0moreanon&utm_medium=feed ) at Slashdot.

India has moved a legislation to ban online money gaming due to rising instances of addiction, money laundering and financial frauds through these apps. From a report: A bill passed in the lower house of Parliament on Wednesday seeks to prohibit promotion and operation of gaming apps that require users to pay money for the chance to win cash. The move threatens India's $3.8 billion gaming industry that has drawn global investors and also fostered homegrown fantasy sports betting apps such as Dream11, Games24X7 and Mobile Premier League.

"People lose their life's savings in online money gaming," India's Minister for Information and Broadcasting Ashwini Vaishnaw told lawmakers in New Delhi. He said the government intends to curb the addiction and financial harm that comes with online money gaming, but will promote e-sports and social gaming.

[ Read more of this story ]( https://news.slashdot.org/story/25/08/20/1718225/india-seeks-ban-on-online-betting-apps-to-curb-addiction?utm_source=atom1.0moreanon&utm_medium=feed ) at Slashdot.

Google announced its Pixel 10 smartphone lineup today, introducing the Tensor G5 processor and Qi2 magnetic wireless charging across four models priced from $799 to $1,799. The base Pixel 10 adds a 5x telephoto lens for the first time at $799. The Pixel 10 Pro maintains its $999 starting price in a 6.3-inch size while the Pro XL starts at $1,199 for the 6.8-inch variant.

The $1,799 Pixel 10 Pro Fold becomes the first foldable phone to achieve IP68 water and dust resistance through a redesigned gearless hinge. All models feature 3,000-nit peak brightness displays, Android 16, and Google's Material 3 Expressive interface redesign. The Tensor G5 enables on-device AI features including Magic Cue for contextual information retrieval and Camera Coach for photography guidance. Pro models gain 100x hybrid zoom capabilities through computational photography. Preorders begin today for August 28 availability, except the Pro Fold which ships October 9.

[ Read more of this story ]( https://tech.slashdot.org/story/25/08/20/1651216/google-refreshes-pixel-lineup-with-tensor-g5-and-qi2-charging-across-four-models?utm_source=atom1.0moreanon&utm_medium=feed ) at Slashdot.

Sony will increase PlayStation 5 console prices by $50 across all models in the United States starting August 21. The standard PS5 rises to $550, the Digital Edition to $500, and the PS5 Pro to $750. The company cited navigating a challenging economic environment for the increases.

[ Read more of this story ]( https://games.slashdot.org/story/25/08/20/1528221/sony-raises-ps5-prices-by-50-across-all-models-in-us?utm_source=atom1.0moreanon&utm_medium=feed ) at Slashdot.

In a pair of class actions filed this week, passengers from each coast quibbled with United Airlines and Delta Air Lines' policies charging extra for window seats that are not actually beside windows, instead offering a view of a blank aircraft wall. From a report: "Delta indicated to the plaintiff and class members that the particular seats they chose had a 'window'; even though Delta knew full well they did not," the plaintiffs taking on Delta said in an 18-page complaint filed in federal court in New York, accusing the airline of false advertising and deceptive business practices.

Half of Delta's fleet of nearly 1,000 aircraft comprises Boeing 737s, Boeing 757s and Airbus A321s -- all of which have at least one wall-adjacent seat with no window, according to the plaintiffs. It's where vertical air conditioning riser ducts are located, making putting a window there impossible, the competing Alaska Airlines explains on its website. But unlike Alaska and others, the plaintiffs complain, Delta advertises the seats as having a window, offering them as a "window seat" option on its seat map during checkout.

[ Read more of this story ]( https://yro.slashdot.org/story/25/08/20/1452208/passengers-sue-delta-united-over-windowless-window-seats?utm_source=atom1.0moreanon&utm_medium=feed ) at Slashdot.

An analysis of Rotten Tomatoes data reveals average Tomatometer scores have climbed steadily since Fandango's 2016 acquisition of the review aggregation platform. The average number of reviewers per mainstream film release increased by 40 to 70 critics following the purchase. New additions to the critic pool include smaller outlets such as Denerstein Unleashed and KKFI-FM Kansas City. Prior to 2016, critic and audience scores demonstrated stable correlation year-over-year. Post-acquisition data shows the two metrics diverged sharply as Tomatometer ratings rose.

Fandango, America's largest movie-ticketing platform, is partially owned by NBCUniversal and Warner Bros. Discovery. In 2023 Vulture reported PR firms court reviewers from smaller outlets to secure higher Tomatometer scores before film releases.

[ Read more of this story ]( https://entertainment.slashdot.org/story/25/08/20/1436205/is-rotten-tomatoes-still-reliable-a-statistical-analysis?utm_source=atom1.0moreanon&utm_medium=feed ) at Slashdot.

Microsoft is testing a COPILOT function in Excel that uses OpenAI's gpt-4.1-mini model to automatically fill spreadsheet cells through natural language prompts. The function can classify feedback, generate summaries, and create tables based on specified cell ranges. Microsoft warns against using the AI function for numerical calculations or scenarios involving legal, regulatory, and compliance implications because COPILOT "can give incorrect responses." The feature processes up to 100 functions every 10 minutes and cannot access information outside the spreadsheet.

[ Read more of this story ]( https://it.slashdot.org/story/25/08/20/128217/microsoft-warns-excels-new-ai-function-can-give-incorrect-responses-in-high-stakes-scenarios?utm_source=atom1.0moreanon&utm_medium=feed ) at Slashdot.

The melting of sea ice in the Arctic has slowed dramatically in the past 20 years, scientists have reported, with no statistically significant decline in its extent since 2005. From a report: The finding is surprising, the researchers say, given that carbon emissions from fossil fuel burning have continued to rise and trap ever more heat over that time. They said natural variations in ocean currents that limit ice melting had probably balanced out the continuing rise in global temperatures. However, they said this was only a temporary reprieve and melting was highly likely to start again at about double the long-term rate at some point in the next five to 10 years.

The findings do not mean Arctic sea ice is rebounding. Sea ice area in September, when it reaches its annual minimum, has halved since 1979, when satellite measurements began. The climate crisis remains "unequivocally real," the scientists said, and the need for urgent action to avoid the worst impacts remains unchanged. The natural variation causing the slowdown is probably the multi-decadal fluctuations in currents in the Atlantic and Pacific oceans, which change the amount of warmed water flowing into the Arctic. The Arctic is still expected to see ice-free conditions later in the century, harming people and wildlife in the region and boosting global heating by exposing the dark, heat-absorbing ocean.

[ Read more of this story ]( https://news.slashdot.org/story/25/08/20/1155233/dramatic-slowdown-in-melting-of-arctic-sea-ice-surprises-scientists?utm_source=atom1.0moreanon&utm_medium=feed ) at Slashdot.

US tech stocks sold off as warnings that the hype surrounding AI could be overdone hit some of the year's best-performing shares. From a report: Nvidia, the chips group that has surged to become the world's first $4tn company on the back of AI, fell 3.5 per cent on Tuesday, while software group Palantir dropped 9.4 per cent and chip designer Arm shed 5 per cent.

The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite closed down 1.4 per cent, the biggest one-day drop for the index since August 1. The blue-chip S&P 500 fell 0.7 per cent. European and Asian markets largely followed Wall Street lower on Wednesday. [...] Japan's Nikkei 225 index fell 1.5 per cent and South Korea's Kospi slipped 0.6 per cent. Futures price indicated moderate declines when Wall Street opens.

Traders pinned some of the declines in the US on a critical report on Monday authored by a branch of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Researchers said "95 per cent of organisations are getting zero return" from their investments in generative AI, the technology that has sent US stocks soaring to record highs in recent months.

[ Read more of this story ]( https://tech.slashdot.org/story/25/08/20/0821214/us-tech-stocks-hit-by-concerns-over-future-of-ai-boom?utm_source=atom1.0moreanon&utm_medium=feed ) at Slashdot.

India Dispatch: The strongest case for India is not merely that it is young, but that it still has time, and it may be the only continental-scale economy that still has it in abundance. India won't cross the demographic threshold for an "old" country -- a median age of 41 -- until the late 2050s, while China reaches that point now. India requires 10.4% sustained GDP growth over 35 years to become rich before aging, compared to China's needed 32% annual growth rate. India's working-age population will increase from 67.5% in 2021 to 69.2% by 2031, with the median age remaining at 34.5 in 2036. The report adds: China's compressed dilemma mirrors what is gripping the developed world, where Europe's share of population over 65 is on track to hit 30% by 2050, up from 8% in 1950. Raising retirement ages -- what economists describe as the closest thing to a silver bullet -- faces older voting blocs, who now make up roughly 40% of those who turn up at the polls in European elections. In the U.S., what J.P. Morgan analysts term a "Social Security cliff" looms by 2033, when the system's trust funds are projected to be exhausted, and hopes that productivity miracles (powered by, hopefully AI) will quietly square this circle look optimistic, leaving much of the rich world and North Asia out of time.

[ Read more of this story ]( https://news.slashdot.org/story/25/08/19/2356238/indias-got-time?utm_source=atom1.0moreanon&utm_medium=feed ) at Slashdot.

An anonymous reader shares a report: Apple is manufacturing more of its iPhone 17 phones for the US in India instead of in China, and for the first time, the full lineup of new models will ship from India at launch, according to Bloomberg. The company is also working on a successor to the iPhone 16E that it plans to make in India, Bloomberg says.

Apple has increasingly been moving iPhone production to India to reduce its dependence on manufacturing in China. The company already expects to pay $1.1 billion in tariffs for the current quarter, but Bloomberg reports that currently, Apple's exports of iPhones to the US from India are exempted from tariffs. That's despite the Trump administration's 50 percent tariff on many imports from India, and while analyst Patrick Moorhead says the move "does dodge some tariffs," he noted that iPhone subassemblies are still mostly produced in China then shipped to India for final assembly.

[ Read more of this story ]( https://apple.slashdot.org/story/25/08/19/2351234/apple-is-reportedly-making-more-of-its-new-iphones-in-india-instead-of-china?utm_source=atom1.0moreanon&utm_medium=feed ) at Slashdot.

Electricity prices have increased at more than double the inflation rate over the past year, according to NPR reporting. Florida Power & Light customers face monthly bills exceeding $400 during summer months, prompting the utility to seek a 13% rate increase over four years that drew tens of thousands of petition signatures in opposition.

The Energy Department projects data centers will consume more electricity than residential customers for the first time in 2026. Natural gas costs for power generation rose 40% in the first half of 2025 compared to 2024, and the department expects another 17% increase next year. Natural gas generates more than 40% of U.S. electricity. One in six households currently struggles to pay electric bills. The federal government provides $4 billion annually in energy assistance for low-income families.

Further reading: Big Tech's AI Data Centers Are Driving Up Electricity Bills for Everyone.

[ Read more of this story ]( https://hardware.slashdot.org/story/25/08/19/2347235/electricity-prices-are-climbing-more-than-twice-as-fast-as-inflation?utm_source=atom1.0moreanon&utm_medium=feed ) at Slashdot.

Pakistan's internet connectivity dropped to 20% of normal levels Tuesday, affecting the country's 116 million internet users, according to NetBlocks. The outage primarily impacted backbone operator PTCL. It's unclear what caused the outage. The Wireless and Internet Service Providers Association of Pakistan noted the date coincided with a similar collapse in 2022. Pakistan suffered $1.62 billion in economic losses from internet disruptions in 2024, the highest globally. The country confirmed installing a national internet firewall months earlier.

[ Read more of this story ]( https://tech.slashdot.org/story/25/08/19/233241/pakistans-internet-connectivity-abruptly-plummets-to-20?utm_source=atom1.0moreanon&utm_medium=feed ) at Slashdot.

Google's AI Overviews has returned fraudulent customer service phone numbers in multiple reported incidents.

A Reddit user reported their friend received a fake number when searching "Swiggy [an Indian food delivery firm] customer care number," leading to attempted screen-sharing and money request scams. Facebook user Alex Rivlin encountered scammers after searching "royal caribbean customer service phone number 24 hours usa." The fraudulent representative requested credit card information before Rivlin detected the scam. Google said it is "aware" of the issue and has "taken action" against identified numbers. The company stated it is working to "improve results."

[ Read more of this story ]( https://it.slashdot.org/story/25/08/19/1849240/googles-ai-overviews-led-users-astray-reports-say-some-phone-numbers-are-scams?utm_source=atom1.0moreanon&utm_medium=feed ) at Slashdot.

An anonymous reader shares a report: After years of research, the Wyoming Stable Token Commission has unveiled the mainnet launch of its first official state-backed stablecoin. The so-called Frontier Stable Token (FRNT), marking the first time a U.S. state has issued a blockchain-based, fiat-pegged token meant to be used by retail and enterprises alike, according to an announcement on Tuesday.

"FRNT is designed to provide secure, transparent, and efficient digital transactions for individuals, businesses, and institutions -- worldwide," the commission wrote in a statement. "This groundbreaking initiative cements Wyoming at the forefront of digital finance and blockchain innovation."

Indeed, the Cowboy State has long been ahead of the curve when it comes to crypto regulation, including in recognizing DAOs as legal entities, creating a framework for "crypto-banks" under the Special Purpose Depository Institutions charter, and passing the state's Stable Token Act -- all meant to draw economic activity to the region.

[ Read more of this story ]( https://news.slashdot.org/story/25/08/19/1844245/wyoming-launches-first-state-backed-stablecoin-on-seven-blockchains?utm_source=atom1.0moreanon&utm_medium=feed ) at Slashdot.

Kyte, a rental car startup once touted as a modern alternative to Hertz, has shut down after years of rapid growth followed by mounting financial troubles. From a report: Founded in 2017, the San Francisco company built its brand by delivering rental cars directly to customers' doors, eliminating the paperwork and long waits of traditional counters. At its peak, Kyte operated in 14 U.S. cities, managed a fleet of more than 2,000 vehicles and raised nearly $300 million from backers including Goldman Sachs and Ares Management.

[ Read more of this story ]( https://tech.slashdot.org/story/25/08/19/1840255/san-francisco-car-rental-startup-kyte-once-seen-as-hertz-rival-shuts-down?utm_source=atom1.0moreanon&utm_medium=feed ) at Slashdot.

Matt Garman, Amazon's cloud boss, has a warning for business leaders rushing to swap workers for AI: Don't ditch your junior employees. From a report: The Amazon Web Services CEO said on an episode of the "Matthew Berman" podcast published Tuesday that replacing entry-level staff with AI tools is "one of the dumbest things I've ever heard."

"They're probably the least expensive employees you have. They're the most leaned into your AI tools," he said. "How's that going to work when you go like 10 years in the future and you have no one that has built up or learned anything?" Garman said companies should keep hiring graduates and teaching them how to build software, break down problems, and adopt best practices.

He also said the most valuable skills in an AI-driven economy aren't tied to any one college degree. "If you spend all of your time learning one specific thing and you're like, 'That's the thing I'm going to be expert at for the next 30 years,' I can promise you that's not going to be valuable 30 years from now," he said.

[ Read more of this story ]( https://slashdot.org/story/25/08/19/1838224/amazon-cloud-chief-says-replacing-junior-staff-with-ai-is-dumbest-idea?utm_source=atom1.0moreanon&utm_medium=feed ) at Slashdot.

Meta announced today that it is splitting its Meta Superintelligence Labs into four divisions focused on AI research, superintelligence development, products, and infrastructure. The reorganization accompanies potential downsizing of the AI division's thousands of employees and executive departures, according to New York Times.

Vice President of Generative AI Loredana Crisan is expected to announce her departure Tuesday. The company is exploring third-party AI models for its products rather than relying solely on internal technology. Chief AI Officer Alexandr Wang's team has abandoned Meta's previous frontier model Behemoth and is developing a new model from scratch, the report added.

[ Read more of this story ]( https://tech.slashdot.org/story/25/08/19/1748256/mark-zuckerberg-plans-to-shake-up-metas-ai-efforts-again?utm_source=atom1.0moreanon&utm_medium=feed ) at Slashdot.

Microsoft has removed the ability to disable automatic app updates in the Microsoft Store, according to screenshots from Deskmodder.de. Windows users can now only pause updates for one to five weeks. The Registry tweak that previously allowed users to modify update behavior has been removed. Group Policy editor remains the sole method for creating update exemptions on workstations and enterprise systems, but this tool is unavailable in Windows Home editions. The change is being deployed gradually to all Windows users. Microsoft has not commented on the modification, which affects all apps distributed through the Microsoft Store including both UWP and Win32 applications added in 2024.

[ Read more of this story ]( https://it.slashdot.org/story/25/08/19/1719236/windows-power-users-frustrated-as-microsoft-forces-automatic-app-updates?utm_source=atom1.0moreanon&utm_medium=feed ) at Slashdot.

Global fertility rates have fallen from five children per woman in the mid-twentieth century to 2.2 today, with approximately half of countries now below the 2.1 replacement threshold, according to data from the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation at the University of Washington.

Mexico's rate dropped from seven children in 1970 to 1.6 in 2023. South Korea recorded 0.75 in 2024, down from 4.5 in 1970. The IHME projects over three-quarters of countries will fall below replacement level by 2050. A UN survey of 14,000 people across 14 countries found 39% cited financial limitations as a primary reason for not having children. China's population peaked around 2022 at 1.4 billion, while the U.S. Census Bureau predicts America's population will peak in 2080 at 370 million.

[ Read more of this story ]( https://news.slashdot.org/story/25/08/19/162258/three-quarters-of-countries-face-below-replacement-fertility-by-2050?utm_source=atom1.0moreanon&utm_medium=feed ) at Slashdot.

Bill Gates is funding a $1 million competition to spur the use of AI to find innovative treatments for Alzheimer's disease, the latest effort to deploy the promising technology to find cures for humanity's toughest illnesses. From a report: The Alzheimer's Insights AI prize will be awarded to the team that comes up with the most original way to program AI-powered agents that are "capable of independent planning, reasoning, and action to accelerate breakthrough discoveries from existing Alzheimer's data." Â

The winning tool will be released for free on the Alzheimer's Disease Data Initiative's cloud "workbench" to be used by scientists globally, the organisation said on Tuesday. The prize is being financed by Gates Ventures, the family office of the billionaire philanthropist and Microsoft co-founder.

[ Read more of this story ]( https://science.slashdot.org/story/25/08/19/150204/gates-funds-1-million-ai-alzheimers-prize?utm_source=atom1.0moreanon&utm_medium=feed ) at Slashdot.

The GenAI Divide: State of AI in Business 2025, a new report published by MIT's NANDA initiative, reveals that while generative AI holds promise for enterprises, most initiatives to drive rapid revenue growth are falling flat. Fortune: Despite the rush to integrate powerful new models, about 5% of AI pilot programs achieve rapid revenue acceleration; the vast majority stall, delivering little to no measurable impact on P&L. The research -- based on 150 interviews with leaders, a survey of 350 employees, and an analysis of 300 public AI deployments -- paints a clear divide between success stories and stalled projects.

To unpack these findings, I spoke with Aditya Challapally, the lead author of the report, and a research contributor to project NANDA at MIT. "Some large companies' pilots and younger startups are really excelling with generative AI," Challapally said. Startups led by 19- or 20-year-olds, for example, "have seen revenues jump from zero to $20 million in a year," he said. "It's because they pick one pain point, execute well, and partner smartly with companies who use their tools," he added.

But for 95% of companies in the dataset, generative AI implementation is falling short. The core issue? Not the quality of the AI models, but the "learning gap" for both tools and organizations. While executives often blame regulation or model performance, MIT's research points to flawed enterprise integration. Generic tools like ChatGPT excel for individuals because of their flexibility, but they stall in enterprise use since they don't learn from or adapt to workflows, Challapally explained.

[ Read more of this story ]( https://slashdot.org/story/25/08/19/146205/mit-report-95-of-generative-ai-pilots-at-companies-are-failing?utm_source=atom1.0moreanon&utm_medium=feed ) at Slashdot.

Epic Games CEO Tim Sweeney told the Financial Times that the UK Competition and Markets Authority's December decision to delay mandating alternative app stores on iPhones was a "blunder" that leaves Britain "well behind" other jurisdictions.

The CMA postponed until next year whether to require Apple to allow third-party app stores or sideloading, unlike the EU's Digital Markets Act. Fortnite remains unavailable on UK iOS devices following Epic's years-long dispute over Apple's 30% commission fees. The regulator said it would prioritize forcing Apple and Google to allow alternative payment systems.

[ Read more of this story ]( https://news.slashdot.org/story/25/08/19/1123215/uk-is-lagging-behind-rest-of-world-in-tackling-big-tech-says-fortnite-chief?utm_source=atom1.0moreanon&utm_medium=feed ) at Slashdot.

The U.S. Federal Trade Commission sued ticket reseller Key Investment Group for evading purchasing limits to buy up thousands of tickets to live events including Taylor Swift's Eras tour and resell them at a markup, according to a complaint filed in Maryland federal court on Monday. From a report: The Baltimore, Maryland-based company, which operates ticket resale sites including TotalTickets.com, used thousands of Ticketmaster accounts, including fake or purchased accounts, the FTC said.

Ticketmaster faced intense criticism after its botched 2022 sale of tickets to Swift's much-hyped Eras tour, when billions of requests from Swift fans, bots and ticket resellers overwhelmed its website and the company canceled a planned ticket sale to the general public.

For one Swift concert in Las Vegas in March 2023, Key Investment Group and its affiliates used 49 different accounts to purchase 273 tickets and evade a 6-ticket purchase limit, netting more than $119,000 in revenue on resales, the FTC said on Monday. The company made more than $1.2 million reselling 2,280 Swift concert tickets it purchased in 2023, the agency said.

[ Read more of this story ]( https://news.slashdot.org/story/25/08/19/0716252/us-ftc-sues-ticket-reseller-for-evading-taylor-swifts-eras-tour-ticket-limits?utm_source=atom1.0moreanon&utm_medium=feed ) at Slashdot.

The UK government has agreed to withdraw its order requiring Apple to create backdoor access to encrypted iCloud data following intervention from the Trump administration. Vice President JD Vance negotiated the agreement during his recent UK holiday after the January order issued under the UK Investigatory Powers Act prompted Apple to pull its iCloud Advanced Data Protection service from Britain in February. Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard said the UK agreed to drop demands for access to "the protected encrypted data of American citizens." Apple had filed a complaint with the Investigatory Powers Tribunal scheduled for hearing early next year.

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OpenAI has launched ChatGPT Go, a $4.57 monthly subscription tier initially available only in India. The service provides, compared to the free tier, extended access to GPT-5, image generation, file uploads, advanced data analysis, longer conversation memory, and custom GPTs at Rs 399 per month. ChatGPT Go excludes features found in the $20 ChatGPT Plus tier including legacy models like 4o, Sora video generation, deep research, agent mode, and connectors. OpenAI said "other countries and regions may be eligible in the future" for ChatGPT Go.

India has emerged as a key market for American technology firms looking for users. In the past 15 years, firms like Amazon, Google, and Meta, alongside venture capitalists and private equity, have poured more than $200 billion into the country, all chasing its vast pool of users and the businesses serving this population. India is the second largest market for OpenAI, startup's chief executive Sam Altman said in a podcast recently. Perplexity partnered with Indian telecoms giant Bharti Airtel last month to provide its premium Pro service to 360 million customers for free for an entire year.

[ Read more of this story ]( https://slashdot.org/story/25/08/19/0333218/openai-launches-46-budget-ai-subscription-tier-in-india?utm_source=atom1.0moreanon&utm_medium=feed ) at Slashdot.

Intel and SoftBank announced on Monday that the Japanese conglomerate will make a $2 billion investment the embattled chipmaker. SoftBank will pay $23 per share for Intel's common stock. The investment is a vote of confidence in Intel, which has not been able to take advantage of the AI boom in advanced semiconductors and has spent heavily to stand up a manufacturing business that has yet to secure a significant customer.

"Masa and I have worked closely together for decades, and I appreciate the confidence he has placed in Intel with this investment," Intel CEO Lip-Bu Tan said in a statement. Intel shares lost 60% of their value last year, their worst performance in the company's more than half-century on the public market.

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Hollywood comedy production has declined 27% since 1990 despite audience demand ranking the genre second among those viewers "want to see more of," according to Letterboxd genre data and a 68,000-consumer survey. Comedy films average $26.5 million production budgets and double their investment returns at 102%, yet represent just 9.3% of sequel releases compared to action's 27.6%.

The shift reflects studios prioritizing internationally marketable franchises over domestically-focused comedies, which earn most revenue from US and Canadian audiences. Films like 1984's Beverly Hills Cop ($977 million inflation-adjusted) and Ghostbusters ($882 million) remain unmatched by contemporary releases -- with half of Letterboxd's most popular 2020s "comedies" being either non-comedic films like Saltburn or IP-driven movies like Barbie.

[ Read more of this story ]( https://entertainment.slashdot.org/story/25/08/18/2333256/why-did-hollywood-stop-making-comedies-a-statistical-analysis?utm_source=atom1.0moreanon&utm_medium=feed ) at Slashdot.

Fujifilm will increase prices on most of its US camera lineup starting August 30, marking the second price adjustment this month following retailer-announced increases two weeks earlier. The company cited "volatile market conditions" in its official statement. The recently released X half and X-E5 cameras will maintain their launch prices, while the backordered X100 VI faces price changes. The company characterized the adjustments as a long-term solution to uncertainties including tariffs and manufacturing circumstances.

[ Read more of this story ]( https://slashdot.org/story/25/08/18/2330231/fujifilm-announces-second-us-price-increase-in-august?utm_source=atom1.0moreanon&utm_medium=feed ) at Slashdot.

England has declared a "nationally significant" water shortage as reservoirs dropped to 67.7% capacity, their lowest levels in at least a decade. The UK Centre for Ecology and Hydrology warned of exceptionally low river flows while groundwater continues dwindling across the country. Hosepipe bans now affect all of England, with additional restrictions probable in coming months.

Water companies lose approximately one trillion litres annually through leaky pipes -- 20% of all treated water -- while the annual pipe replacement rate remains at 0.05%. No new reservoir has been built in 30 years despite population growth. Government forecasts project England's public water supply could fall short by 5 billion litres daily by 2055 without urgent infrastructure investment. The economic cost of water scarcity could reach $11.48 billion over this parliament, according to thinktank Public First.

[ Read more of this story ]( https://news.slashdot.org/story/25/08/18/2323214/how-can-england-possibly-be-running-out-of-water?utm_source=atom1.0moreanon&utm_medium=feed ) at Slashdot.

Traditional business applications will become the mainframes of the 2030s - functioning but obsolete systems replaced by AI agents, predicts Microsoft corporate vice president Charles Lamanna. AI agents featuring generative AI interfaces, goal-oriented processing, and vector databases will supplant today's form-driven, workflow-based enterprise software within five years, said Lamanna, who leads Microsoft's business applications and platforms division.

The executive projects industry patterns for agent-based systems will solidify within 6-18 months. Microsoft MVP Rocky Lhotka called the 2030 timeline "very forward-looking and optimistic," noting that capital-intensive industries cannot readily replace existing infrastructure with virtual agents.

[ Read more of this story ]( https://slashdot.org/story/25/08/18/181255/ai-business-agents-will-kill-saas-by-2030-says-microsoft?utm_source=atom1.0moreanon&utm_medium=feed ) at Slashdot.

Trading volume on AI prediction markets reached approximately $20 million this month across platforms including Kalshi and Polymarket. Kalshi reports ten times the AI trading volume compared to early 2025.

Bettors place wagers on outcomes including monthly AI model rankings, federal AI regulation prospects, and Sam Altman's potential OpenAI equity stake.

[ Read more of this story ]( https://news.slashdot.org/story/25/08/18/1655234/gamblers-now-bet-on-ai-models-like-racehorses?utm_source=atom1.0moreanon&utm_medium=feed ) at Slashdot.

Prospect magazine, in a recent piece: "LinkedIn doesn't know me anymore," someone complained to me recently. "What do you mean?" I asked. She explained that the platform has replaced the old "recommended jobs" section, which used to show her quite useful job openings based on her previous searches and CV, with an AI search engine that asks you to describe your ideal job in freeform text. The results it brings up aren't nearly as relevant.

This is just one of many ways in which the professionals' social media platform, which has embraced artificial intelligence with ferocious zeal, is being gradually "enshittified," to borrow tech writer Cory Doctorow's phrase. Each new embrace of AI tools promises to make hiring, job searching, networking and even posting a bit easier or more fruitful. Instead, AI seems to have made the user's experience more alienating, and to have helped foster a genre of LinkedIn-speak which bears all the hallmarks of the worst AI writing on the internet.

Let's start with my opening example -- which, to be fair, is in beta testing mode and can be switched off. Instead of the AI assistant being like an intuitive digital servant, pulling up the best jobs based on your ruminations, users are confronted with a new and annoying task: crafting prompts for the AI. But the non-AI search bar worked perfectly well as it was.

Then there is the AI writing assistant, which is available to users who pay for the platform's $40 per month premium service to help them craft their posts. LinkedIn's CEO Ryan Roslansky recently admitted that users aren't using the tool as much as he anticipated. It seems that sounding like a human being to your colleagues and clients is put at, well, a premium.

And then there are the ways in which users are deploying outputs from external AI chatbots on the platform, something with which LinkedIn is struggling to cope. According to the New York Times, the number of job applications submitted via the platform increased by 45 per cent in the year to June, now clocking in at an average of 11,000 per minute. ... [>>>]

Dust is that "feature" or drawback, The Verge's reviewer Allison Johnson argues. Samsung's head of smartphone planning Minseok Kang told her earlier this year that creating dustproof foldable phones remains technically challenging but "not impossible." Current flagship foldables from Samsung and Motorola carry IP48 ratings that protect against particles larger than one millimeter, while traditional smartphones at similar price points offer full IP68 dust and water resistance. The durability gap persists five years after Samsung's original Galaxy Fold experienced screen failures from small particles entering the hinge mechanism.

[ Read more of this story ]( https://tech.slashdot.org/story/25/08/18/102226/the-one-feature-that-keeps-me-from-recommending-flip-phones?utm_source=atom1.0moreanon&utm_medium=feed ) at Slashdot.

Wikipedia volunteer Grnrchst uncovered a decade-long campaign that created articles about composer David Woodard in 335 languages. The investigation identified 200 accounts and IP addresses systematically creating Woodard articles across 92 languages between 2017 and 2019, averaging one new article every six days. From December 2021 through June 2025, 183 unique accounts each created a single Woodard article in different languages after establishing credibility through unrelated edits.

Wikipedia stewards removed 235 articles from smaller wikis. Larger Wikipedia communities banned numerous accounts and deleted 80 additional articles. Twenty Woodard articles remain. Grnrchst called it "the single largest self-promotion operation in Wikipedia's history."

[ Read more of this story ]( https://news.slashdot.org/story/25/08/18/0953228/wikipedia-volunteer-uncovers-decade-long-campaign-that-created-335-articles-about-one-composer?utm_source=atom1.0moreanon&utm_medium=feed ) at Slashdot.

"The U.S. is currently home to more than 18 million cancer survivors," reports the Wall Street Journal, "over 5% of the total population" (including those who are living with the disease).

Their article tells the story of Gwen Orilio, who was diagnosed with stage-four lung cancer at age 31. Ten years later she's still alive — and she still has metastatic cancer...

Keeping her going is a string of new treatments that don't cure the disease but can buy months — even years — of time, with the hope that once one drug stops working a new one will come along. Orilio started on chemotherapy, and then switched to a new treatment, and then another, and another, and another... A small but growing population is living longer with incurable or advanced cancer, navigating the rest of their lives with a disease increasingly akin to a chronic illness. The trend, which started in breast cancer, has expanded to patients with melanoma, kidney cancer, lung cancer and others. The new drugs can add years to a life, even for some diagnoses like Orilio's that were once swift death sentences. They also put people in a state of limbo, living on a knife's edge waiting for the next scan to say a drug has stopped working and doctors need to find a new one. The wide range of survival times has made it more difficult for cancer doctors to predict how much time a patient might have left. For most, the options eventually run out....

More than 690,000 people were projected to be living with stage-four or metastatic disease of the six most common cancers — melanoma, breast, bladder, colorectal, prostate or lung cancer — in 2025, according to a 2022 report from the National Cancer Institute. That's an increase from 623,000 in 2018 and a significant rise since 1990, the report found... Nearly 30% of survivors diagnosed with metastatic melanoma and 20% of those diagnosed with metastatic colorectal or breast cancer had been living with their disease for a decade or more, the NCI paper estimated... Even for lung cancer, the biggest U.S. cancer killer, the five-year relative survival rate for advanced disease has inched up, from 3.7% for patients diagnosed in 2004 to 9.2% for patients diagnosed in 2017, federal data show. The overall lung cancer survival rate has risen by 26% in the past five years, according to the American Lung Association, as declining cigarette use, screening and new drugs have driven down deaths. ... [>>>]

The women-only dating-advice app Tea "has been hit with 10 potential class action lawsuits in federal and state court," NBC News reported last week, "after a data breach led to the leak of thousands of selfies, ID photos and private conversations online."

The suits could result in Tea having to pay tens of millions of dollars in damages to the plaintiffs, which could be catastrophic for the company, an expert told NBC News... One of the suits lists the right-wing online discussion board 4chan and the social platform X as defendants, alleging that they allowed bad actors to spread users' personal information.
But meanwhile, a new competing app for men called "TeaOnHer" has already been launched. And it was also found to have enormous security flaws, reports TechCrunch, that "exposed its users' personal information, including photos of their driver's licenses and other government-issued identity documents..."

[W]hen we looked at the TeaOnHer's public internet records, it had no meaningful information other than a single subdomain, appserver.teaonher.com. When we opened this page in our browser, what loaded was the landing page for TeaOnHer's API (for the curious, we uploaded a copy here)... It was on this landing page that we found the exposed email address and plaintext password (which wasn't that far off from "password") for [TeaOnHer developer Xavier] Lampkin's account to access the TeaOnHer "admin panel"... This API landing page included an endpoint called /docs, which contained the API's auto-generated documentation (powered by a product called Swagger UI) that contained the full list of commands that can be performed on the API [including administrator commands to return user data]...

While it's not uncommon for developers to publish their API documentation, the problem here was that some API requests could be made without any authentication — no passwords or credentials were needed...

The records returned from TeaOnHer's server contained users' unique identifiers within the app (essentially a string of random letters and numbers), their public profile screen name, and self-reported age and location, along with their private email address. The records also included web address links containing photos of the users' driver's licenses and corresponding selfies. Worse, these photos of driver's licenses, government-issued IDs, and selfies were stored in an Amazon-hosted S3 cloud server set as publicly accessible to anyone with their web addresses. This public setting lets anyone with a link to someone's identity documents open the files from anywhere with no restrictions... ... [>>>]

A real estate developer searched Google for a cruise ship company's customer service number, reports the Washington Post, calling the number in Google's AI Overview. "He chatted with a knowledgeable representative and provided his credit card details," the Post's reporter notes — but the next day he "saw fishy credit card charges and realized that he'd been fooled by an impostor for Royal Caribbean customer service."

And the Post's reporter found the same phone number "appearing to impersonate other cruise company hotlines and popping up in Google and ChatGPT" (including Disney and Carnival's Princess line):

He'd encountered an apparent AI twist on a classic scam targeting travelers and others searching Google for customer help lines of airlines and other businesses... The rep knew the cost and pickup locations for Royal Caribbean shuttles in Venice. [And "had persuasive explanations" when questioned about paying certain fees and gratuities.] The rep offered to waive the shuttle fees...
Here's how a scam like this typically works: Bad guys write on online review sites, message boards and other websites claiming that a number they control belongs to a company's customer service center. When you search Google, its technology looks for clues to relevant and credible information, including online advice. If scammer-controlled numbers are repeated as truth often enough online, Google may suggest them to people searching for a business.

Google is a patsy for scammers — and we're the ultimate victims. Google's AI Overviews and OpenAI's ChatGPT may use similar clues as Google's search engine to spit out information gleaned from the web. That makes them new AI patsies for the old impostor number scams.

"I've seen so many versions of similar trickery targeting Google users that I largely blame the company for not doing enough to safeguard its essential gateway to information," the reporter concludes, (adding "So did two experts in Google's inner workings.") The Post is now advising its reader to "be suspicious of phone numbers in Google results or in chatbots." ... [>>>]

Take a look at what being called "a stunning phenomenon," captured in a photo taken from the International Space Station as it passed above a thunderstorm over Mexico and the American Southwest.

So what was it? "A rare form of Transient Luminous Event (TLE) called a gigantic jet," according to a new blog post at Notebookcheck.net:

A gigantic jet happens above thunderstorms, firing powerful bursts of electrical charge from the top of the thunderstorm (about 20 km [12.4 miles] above the ground) into the upper atmosphere (about 100 km [62.1 miles] above the ground). The upper part of gigantic jets produces red emissions identical to sprites [large-scale electric discharges above thunderclouds]. But while gigantic jets burst directly from the top of thunderstorms, sprites form independently, much higher in the atmosphere, appearing around 50 miles (80 km) above the Earth's surface.

"If ordinary lightning seems pretty ordinary, upper-atmosphere lightning is something else — an entire zoo of various upper-atmosphere electrical discharges," writes the Severe Weather Europe site.
And NASA made a request in a new blog post this week to any aspiring citizen scientists. "Have you captured an image of a jet, sprite, or other type of TLE? Submit your photos to Spritacular.org to help scientists study these fascinating night sky phenomena!"

Click here to see some of the photos from around the world that have already been uploaded and collected at Spritacular.org.

[ Read more of this story ]( https://science.slashdot.org/story/25/08/18/0423227/rare-upper-atmosphere-lightning-photographed-from-iss?utm_source=atom1.0moreanon&utm_medium=feed ) at Slashdot.

A real estate developer searched Google for a cruise ship company's customer service number, reports the Washington Post, calling the number in Google's AI Overview. "He chatted with a knowledgeable representative and provided his credit card details," the Post's reporter notes — but the next day he "saw fishy credit card charges and realized that he'd been fooled by an impostor for Royal Caribbean customer service."

And the Post's reporter found the same phone number "appearing to impersonate other cruise company hotlines and popping up in Google and ChatGPT" (including Disney and Carnival's Princess line):

He'd encountered an apparent AI twist on a classic scam targeting travelers and others searching Google for customer help lines of airlines and other businesses... The rep knew the cost and pickup locations for Royal Caribbean shuttles in Venice. [And "had persuasive explanations" when questioned about paying certain fees and gratuities.] The rep offered to waive the shuttle fees...
Here's how a scam like this typically works: Bad guys write on online review sites, message boards and other websites claiming that a number they control belongs to a company's customer service center. When you search Google, its technology looks for clues to relevant and credible information, including online advice. If scammer-controlled numbers are repeated as truth often enough online, Google may suggest them to people searching for a business.

Google is a patsy for scammers — and we're the ultimate victims. Google's AI Overviews and OpenAI's ChatGPT may use similar clues as Google's search engine to spit out information gleaned from the web. That makes them new AI patsies for the old impostor number scams.

"I've seen so many versions of similar trickery targeting Google users that I largely blame the company for not doing enough to safeguard its essential gateway to information," the reporter concludes, (adding "So did two experts in Google's inner workings.") The Post is now advising its reader to "be suspicious of phone numbers in Google results or in chatbots." ... [>>>]

14 months ago a jury ruled against Boeing, awarding $81 million in damages to failed electric airplane startup Zunum. "Zunum alleged that Boeing, while ostensibly investing seed money to get the startup off the ground, stole Zunum's technology and actively undermined its attempts to build a business," the Seattle Times reported at the time.

But two months later that verdict was overturned, Reuters reports, with U.S. District Judge James Robart deciding that Zunum "did not adequately identify its secrets or show that they derived their value from being kept secret."

And then three days ago a U.S. appeals court reinstated the original $81 million award, reversing that district judge's decision and "rejecting his finding that the information Boeing allegedly stole was not entitled to trade-secret protection."

[T]he district court erred in concluding that "Zunum failed to identify any of its alleged trade secrets with sufficient particularity"... Here, the court rejected Zunum's repeated attempts to introduce comprehensive trade secret definitions into evidence and instead provided the jury with a court-created exhibit enumerating Zunum's alleged trade secrets with a short description of each. Zunum's witnesses identified the trade secrets by number, provided a basic explanation of each, and used exhibits and demonstratives to exemplify information comprising specific trade secrets.
"internal Boeing communications introduced at trial suggesting that Boeing intended to modify its own in-house designs, methods, and strategies to incorporate information from certain Zunum trade secrets..." according to the new ruling. "Under the parties' agreement, Boeing was not permitted to use Zunum's confidential information for any reason other than to manage its investment in Zunum."

Reuters adds that "A spokesperson for Boeing declined to comment on the appeals court's decision"
One final note:
The appeals court also ordered the case to be assigned to a new judge after Robart revealed that his wife had acquired Boeing stock through a retirement savings account during the litigation. ... [>>>]

EV sales are up 27% for the first seven months of 2025 — for the world. But in America "For the first half of 2025, EV registrations rose 7% to 620,642, with market share inching up just 0.1 percentage point to 7.5 percent," reports Automotive News.

America's new EV registrations were up 4.6% in June (compared to June of 2024), "But EV market share fell for the month and stayed flat for the first half of the year, according to the most recent S&P Global Mobility data."

June's 113,460 EV registrations represented 8.6% of U.S. light-vehicle market share, down from 8.8% a year earlier... The data, which serves as a sales proxy since some EV makers don't report U.S. numbers, shows continued flattening of EV market share ahead of the Sept. 30 repeal of the $7,500 federal tax credit.
The S&P Global Mobility numbers include only battery-electric vehicles and not hybrids.

In June Tesla led with 57,260 registrations — more than 6x its next competitor. (Although Tesla's share of the EV segment dropped 6.8% to 43.7 percent in the first half of 2025).
Ranking #2 in June registrations was Chevrolet with 9,517 — a 152% gain over Chevrolet's June 2024 registrations. (Pointing out that the Chevy Equinox EV starts at under $35,000," Electrek writes that "America's most affordable EV with over 315 miles of range, as GM calls it, is quickly winning over buyers.") Automotive News reports Equinox EV registrations surged 722% to 6,239 in June, with Chevy's share of the EV segment more than doubling to 7.7%.

Chevy pulled ahead of Ford (5,759 registrations), Hyundai (5,227 registrations), Rivian (4,613 registrations) and Cadillac (4,121 registrations). Although maybe it's just as interesting that the complete chart shows electric vehicle registrations for 33 different automakers...

[ Read more of this story ]( https://news.slashdot.org/story/25/08/17/2312222/americas-ev-registrations-rise-7-in-2025---giving-evs-a-75-market-share?utm_source=atom1.0moreanon&utm_medium=feed ) at Slashdot. ... [>>>]

Protected KVM (pKVM), the hypervisor powering the Android Virtualization Framework, has officially achieved SESIP Level 5 certification (in testing by cybersecurity lab Dekra against the TrustCB SESIP scheme).

Google's security blog called the certification "a watershed moment," and a "new benchmark" for both open-source security — and for the future of consumer electronics. "It provides a single, open-source, and exceptionally high-quality firmware base that all device manufacturers can build upon."

This makes pKVM the first software security system designed for large-scale deployment in consumer electronics to meet this assurance bar. The implications for the future of secure mobile technology are profound. With this level of security assurance, Android is now positioned to securely support the next generation of high-criticality isolated workloads. This includes vital features, such as on-device AI workloads that can operate on ultra-personalized data, with the highest assurances of privacy and integrity...

Achieving Security Evaluation Standard for IoT Platforms (SESIP) Level 5 is a landmark because it incorporates AVA_VAN.5, the highest level of vulnerability analysis and penetration testing under the ISO 15408 (Common Criteria) standard. A system certified to this level has been evaluated to be resistant to highly skilled, knowledgeable, well-motivated, and well-funded attackers who may have insider knowledge and access. This certification is the cornerstone of the next-generation of Android's multi-layered security strategy. Many of the TEEs (Trusted Execution Environments) used in the industry have not been formally certified or have only achieved lower levels of security assurance...

Looking ahead, Android device manufacturers will be required to use isolation technology that meets this same level of security for various security operations that the device relies on. Protected KVM ensures that every user can benefit from a consistent, transparent, and verifiably secure foundation. ... [>>>]

Duolingo's stock peaked at $529.05 on May 16th. Three months later, it's down 38% — with that drop starting shortly after backlash to the CEO's promise to make it an "AI-first" company.

Yet "The backlash against Duolingo going 'AI-first' didn't even matter," TechCrunch wrote August 7th, noting Duolingo's stock price surged almost 30% overnight. That surge vanished within two days — and instead of a 30% surge, Duolingo now shows a 5% drop over the last eight days.

Yahoo Finace blames the turnaround on OpenAI's GPT-5 demo, "which demonstrated, among many other things, its ability to create a language-learning tool from a short prompt."

OpenAI researcher Yann Dubois asked the model to create an app to help his partner learn French. And in a few minutes GPT-5 churned out several iterations, with flashcards, a progress tracker, and even a simple snake-style game with a French twist, a mouse and cheese variation to learn new vocab....

[Duolingo's] corporate lawyers, of course, did warn against this in its annual 10-K, albeit in boilerplate language. Tucked into the risk factors section, Duolingo notes, "It is possible that a new product could gain rapid scale at the expense of existing brands through harnessing a new technology (such as generative AI)." Consider this another warning to anyone making software. [The article adds later that "Rapid development and fierce competition can leave firms suddenly behind — perceived as under threat, inferior, or obsolete — from every iteration of OpenAI's models and from the moves of other influential AI players..."]

There's also irony in the wild swings. Part of Duolingo's successful quarter stemmed from the business's efficient use of AI. Gross margins, the company said, outperformed management expectations due to lower AI costs. And AI conversational features have become part of the company's learning tools, helping achieve double-digit subscriber growth... But the enthusiasm for AI, which led to the initial stock bump this week, also led to the clawback. AI giveth and taketh away. ... [>>>]