Technology

I tested the System76 Thelio Mira: it's the custom Linux desktop of my dreams

The System76 Thelio Mira Custom is a whisper-quiet 'boutique" Linux workstation that actually feels practical.

Social Media Ban For Kids Approved in France in First For an EU Country

Opponents of the ban worry about online anonymity.

Neill Blomkamp’s new zombie AI ‘film’ is just slop warmed over

On Monday, District 9 and Gran Turismo director Neill Blomkamp unveiled his latest project: a 13-minute sci-fi short titled Nightborne that's loosely based on…

Volkswagen Thinks Your E-Bike Needs a Pair of Smart Glasses

The German automaker licensed its name to two new e-bikes made by n+.

Poolside drops Laguna S 2.1, an open-weight coding model that beats rivals 10x its size

Poolside, the San Francisco AI lab that has spent most of its three-year existence quietly selling coding models to governments and defense agencies, released…

OpenAI says it accidentally hacked Hugging Face with a new AI system

OpenAI CEO Sam Altman. | Bloomberg via Getty Images OpenAI says its AI models mistakenly breached open-source AI platform Hugging Face during internal testing.…

France will ban social media for children under 15

The country's new law also bans the use of mobile phones in schools.

Samsung’s First Credit Card Launches in the US

Google Introduces Gemini 3.6 to Remind You It Has an AI Model, Too

Plus: 3.5 Flash-Lite, and 3.5 Flash Cyber.

The Urgency to Close the AI Gender Divide Before It Affects the Pay Gap

Stop adding more GPUs: Weka's new storage platform reduces load by caching 100% of an AI model's pre-calculated tokens

GPU memory is the most expensive resource in production AI, and it's also the one running out fastest. Long context windows and multi-turn conversations force…

Cisco's open-weight bug busters take on Google and OpenAI

Don't call them chatbots

US Treasury Chief Threatens Sanctions on Chinese AI Labs Over ‘IP Theft’ Concerns

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent vowed action in the coming days or weeks.

These are the countries moving to ban social media for children

Australia was the first country to issue a ban in late 2025, aiming to reduce the pressures and risks that young users may face on social media, including…

OpenAI says Hugging Face was breached by its own pre-release models

OpenAI has come forward to claim responsibility for the Hugging Face breach, saying it was the result of internal testing gone awry.

Garmin’s New Screenless Wearable Could Be a Serious Whoop Competitor

Garmin's new Cirqa band tracks and analyzes your workouts, heart rate, and sleep—all without a subscription.

2026 LG OLED evo TVs are getting a new Creator Original picture mode

The elevated streaming experience is happening in collaboration with Prime Video.

Shop Best Buy’s Black Friday in July Sale 2026 Before Fall Chaos

The discounts may not beat Prime Day, but I found worthwhile prices on WIRED-approved TVs, laptops, tablets, speakers, and other home gear.

Tropical Storm Bertha Is Arriving at the Worst Possible Time

Scorching heat will arrive in the wake of Tropical Storm Bertha, potentially creating a dangerous situation for anyone without power.

Kaylee Hottle, ‘Godzilla vs. Kong’ Star, Dies at 18

The 18-year-old actor also appeared in 'Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire.'

Tech Life

Dogs have a great sense of smell. Now machines are being trained to sniff out odours.

Google's Gemini 3.6 Flash model cuts AI agent token costs by up to 65% on long horizon engineering tasks —and 3.5 Pro is on the way

Google DeepMind today released three new proprietary AI models it says are among its most token-efficient yet: Gemini 3.6 Flash, Gemini 3.5 Flash-Lite, and…

Vatican Uses AI-Detector to Show AI Bros Pope’s Anti-AI Encyclical Isn’t AI-Generated

The word of God or the word of AI?

AI's cheatin' heart will make you weep

Trust but verify doesn't work when verification is difficult

Jack Dorsey is taking on Slack with Buzz, a group chat platform for teams and their AI agents

Buzz is a group chat platform for the workplace that puts humans and their AI agents in the same conversation.

AI and the rise of the universal entertainment app

Over the past decade, streaming platforms competed by dominating individual formats like music, video, podcasts, or audiobooks. Now, as AI makes it easier to…

Bucking EV slowdown, Sila raises $300M to expand battery materials factory

Sila's fresh $300 million round will help it make enough of its silicon-carbon anode material to power more than 100,000 EVs.

5 gaming accessories I refuse to play without

After years of gaming on PC, these are the five accessories I keep coming back to for their comfort, performance, and reliability.

I lost over 100 pounds for an 80-mile hike with a friend - here's the tech that kept me on track

These are the wearables, scales, and apps I found most useful. While my iPhone and Apple Watch were core to everything, I also have Android recommendations.

Substack adds an AI detector to help spot blogs written by no one

Substack will now help users determine whether what they're reading may have been written by AI. A new tool coming to the platform can scan posts, notes,…

US Marines' latest anti-drone toy is an AI turret that uses regular machine guns

Don't worry - it can autonomously attack ground targets, too

This Hidden Pattern in the Sun Could Predict Solar Storms Years in Advance

The solar cycle can be irregular, but some patterns might be trackable—enough to provide a heads-up before extreme weather events.

Taylor Farms Spent Big on MAGA and Anti-Regulatory Lobbying Before Diarrhea Outbreak

The company donated more than $3.6 million to conservative groups between 2020 and 2025, including $1 million to the MAGA Inc. super PAC.

Nintendo customers have no legal right to tariff refunds, company tells judge

Nintendo says Switch buyers got what they paid for, urges court to dismiss lawsuit.

This Former Intel CEO Wants to Jumpstart Moore’s Law With Light

Pat Gelsinger wants to pave the way to ever more powerful artificial intelligence using tiny beams of light.

Right-Wing Haters Try to Stop the Steal as ‘Woke’ Odyssey Conquers Global Box Office

It might be the dumbest culture war fight of the year.

Steven Spielberg’s ‘Disclosure Day’ Is Now Available at Home

The sci-fi film starring Emily Blunt and Josh O'Connell is winding down a $250 million box office run.

Google Releases 3 New Gemini Models, 3.5 Pro Still Not Available

Substack is adding an AI detection feature

Substack is partnering with Pangram to add an AI detection feature.

Apple has reportedly fixed its Hide My Email vulnerability

Apple reportedly fixed the Hide My Email vulnerability that left iCloud+ users' emails not especially hidden.

Einride bets $38M on EV charging as it scales electric trucking

The acquisition — Einride's first as a publicly traded company — will expand its EV-charging ecosystem as it works to scale its electric trucking business.

Xteink’s Next Pocket-Sized E-Reader Could (Almost) Replace Your Kindle

The Xteink X4 Pro adds more premium features over earlier models—though it's still not for everyone.

Internet-Famous Bald Eagle Found Alive After Mysterious Disappearance

Jackie, the beloved eagle mom, had been missing from her nest for several days before she was spotted struggling to fly.

Playstation Plus is saying goodbye to these games in August 2026

Dead Island 2, Harold Halibut and seven others will be gone soon.

Iran says it's struck offline AWS facility in Bahrain ... again

AWS' me-south-1 region has been offline for months, so more like beating a dead cloud

We tested dozens of free CarPlay apps, here are the best ones

After using CarPlay for years and testing dozens of apps, we've narrowed down the list of CarPlay apps you really need.

Apple teams up with Klarna to launch a lease-to-own program for iPhones, iPads, and Macs

The new leasing program is a big change for the hardware company, and comes as it looks to raise prices on many of its products.

Let Tom Hiddleston be your guide to Pompeii's final day

NatGeo's Pompeii: Out of Time fuses historical fact and imagination to bring city's last 24 hours to life.

Evals are the new PRD, Expedia’s AI chief tells VB Transform 2026

“The new PRD are the evals,” Xavi Amatriain, Expedia Group’s first chief AI and data officer, told the VB Transform 2026 audience last week in Menlo Park. “So…

Threads is getting new parental control features

Parental Supervision is coming to Meta's Threads.

Peak Design’s modular Field Bracket has a finder tag built-in

I am a very clumsy man. So clumsy, that I have AirTags hanging off practically every camera I own. Have I left my camera in an Uber? Yes. Have I left it on an…

Data centers expected to use 4x more electricity by 2035

New data centers built through 2033 could consume as much electricity as India uses today.

Tesla spins up robotaxi pilots in Orlando and Tampa ahead of Q2 earnings

The company didn't say how many are in each city and has taken a far more cautious approach to scaling the network than CEO Elon Musk had promised.

The Truth Is Out There, We Need This ‘X-Files’ Lego Set

Gillian Anderson helped unveil the Lego Ideas set paying tribute to the iconic '90s sci-fi show.

The Xteink X4 Pro is a tiny ereader with more features than you might expect

The Xteink X4 Pro is a tiny ereader for DRM-free books.

How spatial audio works on headphones and speakers - and the best way to experience it

The best way to experience a 3D soundscape depends on your audio format and device compatibility.

Naked mole-rat queens use a chemical signal to suppress fertility in rivals

A single chemical made by mole-rat queens enforces the social order.

Iran Claims It ‘Destroyed’ Amazon’s Central Data Infrastructure In Bahrain

This marks the fifth time Iranian forces have claimed to target Amazon facilities in the Middle East.

Apple may unveil a new device subscription service as soon as next week

Apple may unveil a new device subscription service, reportedly in partnership with Klarna, as soon as next week.

Amazon is making a Robocop TV show with the showrunner from Lodge 49

Amazon greenlit a Robocop pilot. Now it has committed to a full TV show.