This Week In Techdirt History: February 8th – 14th

Summary:
Five Years Ago As you probably know, we marked the 30th anniversary of Section 230 this week, so it’s not surprising that this same week in 2021 we were celebrating its 25th anniversary with a special online event where we were joined by Chris Cox and Ron Wyden. We also wrote about the many reasons […]

A deep dive into a global money-laundering ecosystem powered by crypto and messaging apps like WeChat and Telegram, used by drug cartels and criminal groups (Jessica Brice/Bloomberg)

Summary:

Jessica Brice / Bloomberg:

Real-time AI simulations change how zero-energy buildings get designed

Summary:
As cities push to cut carbon emissions, buildings are under growing pressure to use less...

Current and former senior employees say AWS is undergoing a strategic shake-up amid fears it is losing ground to competitors in securing corporate AI contracts (Rafe Rosner-Uddin/Financial Times)

Summary:

Rafe Rosner-Uddin / Financial Times:
Current and former senior employees say AWS is undergoing a strategic shake-up amid fears it is losing ground to competitors in securing corporate AI contracts  —  Shake-up follows fears tech giant missed early AI boom as Microsoft and Google challenge cloud business

Voltage pulses allow hair-thin carbon fibers to move like microscopic tweezers

Summary:
In laboratories around the world, scientists have long dreamed of building machines so small that...

HackerOS is what a Linux enthusiast’s OS should be

Summary:

There are over 1,000 Linux distributions on the market. Throw a rock into the tech pond, and I guarantee that

The post HackerOS is what a Linux enthusiast’s OS should be appeared first on The New Stack.

ByteDance launches Doubao 2.0, an "agent era" upgrade of China's most widely used AI app capable of executing multi-step tasks, ahead of the Lunar New Year (Eduardo Baptista/Reuters)

Summary:

Eduardo Baptista / Reuters:
ByteDance launches Doubao 2.0, an “agent era” upgrade of China's most widely used AI app capable of executing multi-step tasks, ahead of the Lunar New Year  —  China's ByteDance has rolled out its Doubao 2.0 model, an upgrade of the country's most widely used artificial-intelligence app, the company said on Saturday.

Archaeologists uncover rare 2,000-year-old staircase in Roman governor’s palace

Summary:
In anticipation of the construction of a museum in Cologne, Germany, archaeologists discovered a praetorium,...

Anker's Weekend Sale Includes Big Savings on Newest Prime Chargers

Summary:
Earlier this month, Anker debuted its new Prime 3-in-1 Wireless Charging Station with a launch discount on Amazon. If ordered this week, you can clip the on-page coupon on Amazon to get the accessory for $119.99, down from $149.99.

Note: MacRumors is an affiliate partner with Amazon. When you click a link and make a purchase, we may receive a small payment, which helps us keep the site running.

The Prime 3-in-1 Wireless Charging Station features Qi2.2 support, which lets a compatible MagSafe ‌iPhone‌ charge at up to 25W. It's the same speed as Apple's ‌MagSafe‌ charger, and it i [...]

Arcjet reaches v1.0, promises stable security for JavaScript apps

Summary:

Arcjet this week released v1.0 of its JavaScript SDK, moving it from beta to a stable, production-ready API. Arcjet’s security

The post Arcjet reaches v1.0, promises stable security for JavaScript apps appeared first on The New Stack.

Top Stories: iOS 26.3 Released, New Siri Snags, and More

Summary:
Apple continued to keep users waiting for new hardware this week, as we've yet to see any of the significant product launches we're expecting to see in the first few months of the year.


News on the software side was a bit of a mixed bag this week, with iOS 26.3 and other updates finally seeing their public releases, though they mainly focus on security fixes with only a few user-facing changes. And the highly anticipated iOS 26.4 coming up next might not arrive with everything many users have been hoping for, so read on below for all the details on these stories and more!

Top Stories

iOS 26.3 Features: Everything New in iOS 26.3

Dealroom and NATO Innovation Fund: European defense, security, and resilience startup funding rose 55% YoY to a record $8.7B in 2025, with AI accounting for 44% (Ingrid Lunden/Resilience Media)

Summary:

Ingrid Lunden / Resilience Media:
Dealroom and NATO Innovation Fund: European defense, security, and resilience startup funding rose 55% YoY to a record $8.7B in 2025, with AI accounting for 44%  —  Ahead of the big Munich Security Conference later this week, the analysts at Dealroom teamed up with the NATO Innovation Fund …

2,000-year-old Vietnamese burial produces oldest evidence of tooth blackening

Summary:
The ancient Southeast Asian practice of tooth blackening was once thought to have emerged in...

Chinese fighter jets in 800-meter range tangle with foreign stealth aircraft, PLA claims

Summary:
The People’s Liberation Army (PLA) claims that one of its fighter jets was able to...

Chinese firm’s giant electric loader with 280,000-pound payload hits dirt to beat diesel

Summary:
XCMG marked a major milestone in heavy-duty electrification by handing over two of its largest...

China’s ‘floating’ 3D origami brain implant could prevent thread retraction seen in Neuralink

Summary:
Chinese researchers have developed a new soft and stretchable origami-inspired brain implant. Designed to move...

Scientists manage to read information stored in Majorana qubits using new technique

Summary:
Researchers have managed to read information stored in Majorana qubits, which are a form of...

Time crystals promise to power a new generation of ultra-precise quantum clocks

Summary:
Keeping perfect time is far trickier than it sounds. The world’s best clocks that are...

BNP Paribas analysis: Anthropic saw visits to its site jump 6.5% after its Super Bowl ad and DAUs jump 11% post-game, outperforming other AI companies (Samantha Subin/CNBC)

Summary:

Samantha Subin / CNBC:
BNP Paribas analysis: Anthropic saw visits to its site jump 6.5% after its Super Bowl ad and DAUs jump 11% post-game, outperforming other AI companies  —  The Seahawks may have won the Super Bowl, but Anthropic also walked away with bragging rights, according to data analyzed by BNP Paribas.

Summary:

“Greedy work” refers to jobs in which earnings are convex in hours - meaning that working longer, more continuous, and less flexible hours is rewarded disproportionately rather than proportionally. {Summarized by the robot.}

And, from Claudia Goldin:

Greedy work can be defined as a job that pays disproportionately more on a per-hour basis when someone works a greater number of hours or has less control over those hours. It could be a rush job, a demanding client who calls at 11 PM, or a supervisor who asks that the worker give up a vacation day for the project. The firm has deemed the additional payment worth it to have the work done over more hours, at a particular time, or during odd hours. The other critical aspect is that the worker agrees to do it at that wage. Supply a

Sources: TSMC plans to invest another $100B to build four more US fabs to ensure tariff-free chip sales; analysis: its Arizona site has land for four more fabs (Financial Times)

Summary:

Financial Times:
Sources: TSMC plans to invest another $100B to build four more US fabs to ensure tariff-free chip sales; analysis: its Arizona site has land for four more fabs  —  Agreements reached between Taiwan and Trump administration imply big expansion for world's biggest chipmaker

India partners with Alibaba.com to help Indian startups and small businesses reach overseas buyers, highlighting its selective engagement with Chinese platforms (Jagmeet Singh/TechCrunch)

Summary:

Jagmeet Singh / TechCrunch:
India partners with Alibaba.com to help Indian startups and small businesses reach overseas buyers, highlighting its selective engagement with Chinese platforms  —  India's government has partnered with China's Alibaba.com on an export-focused program aimed at helping startups and small businesses reach overseas buyers.

Record high fusion plasma temperature achieved in US to boost path to commercial fusion

Summary:
A Washington-based company has achieved a new industry-first fusion energy milestone. Helion becomes the first...

Sources: OpenAI is charging $60 per 1,000 impressions for ads in ChatGPT, a high price similar to Netflix's rate when it introduced ads (Financial Times)

Summary:

Financial Times:
Sources: OpenAI is charging $60 per 1,000 impressions for ads in ChatGPT, a high price similar to Netflix's rate when it introduced ads  —  In May 2024, the big question for OpenAI was how it would make money with its revolutionary ChatGPT tool.  At a talk at Harvard, chief executive Sam Altman …

SoftBank-owned Japanese payments app PayPay files for a US IPO, and reports a $675.47M profit on ~$1.82B revenue for the nine months ending December 31, 2025 (Arasu Kannagi Basil/Reuters)

Summary:

Arasu Kannagi Basil / Reuters:
SoftBank-owned Japanese payments app PayPay files for a US IPO, and reports a $675.47M profit on ~$1.82B revenue for the nine months ending December 31, 2025  —  PayPay publicly filed its paperwork for a U.S. initial public offering on Thursday, as the SoftBank-backed Japanese payments app moves ahead …

Sources: the US DHS recently sent hundreds of administrative subpoenas, which do not need a judge's approval, to tech firms to identify people critical of ICE (New York Times)

Summary:

New York Times:
Sources: the US DHS recently sent hundreds of administrative subpoenas, which do not need a judge's approval, to tech firms to identify people critical of ICE  —  The department has sent Google, Meta and other companies hundreds of subpoenas for information on acco

UK Supreme Court Affirms Ruling That Oatly Can’t Use ‘Milk’ In Its Almond Milk Branding

Summary:
Back in 2023, we talked about a strange trademark dispute out of the UK concerning oat-based milk products. Specifically, Oatly, a large producer of oat milk, applied for a trademark in the UK for its slogan, “Post Milk Generation.” Dairy UK, a lobbying organization representing dairy farmers in the country, opposed the trademark in the […]

A matplotlib maintainer explains how an AI agent that suggests code changes on open source repos wrote a hit piece on him after a rejection, and the aftermath (Scott Shambaugh/The Shamblog)

Summary:

Scott Shambaugh / The Shamblog:
A matplotlib maintainer explains how an AI agent that suggests code changes on open source repos wrote a hit piece on him after a rejection, and the aftermath  —  Context: An AI agent of unknown ownership autonomously wrote and published a personalized hit piece about me after I rejected its code …

Three New Apple Home Products Rumored for 2026

Summary:
Apple has a long list of new products rumored for 2026, including a series of home products that will see the company establishing more of a presence in the smart home space. Robots are on the horizon for 2027, but the 2026 releases will be a little tamer.

HomePod mini

Copyright Kills Competition

Summary:
Copyright owners increasingly claim more draconian copyright law and policy will fight back against big tech companies. In reality, copyright gives the most powerful companies even more control over creators and competitors. Today’s copyright policy concentrates power among a handful of corporate gatekeepers—at everyone else’s expense. We need a system that supports grassroots innovation and […]

Disney sent a cease-and-desist letter to ByteDance, claiming it infringed on Disney's works to train its Seedance 2.0 video generation model without pay (Sara Fischer/Axios)

Summary:

Sara Fischer / Axios:
Disney sent a cease-and-desist letter to ByteDance, claiming it infringed on Disney's works to train its Seedance 2.0 video generation model without pay  —  The Walt Disney Company on Friday sent a cease-and-desist letter to ByteDance, alleging the Chinese tech giant has been infringing …

Is Apple Phasing Out the iWork Brand?

Summary:
With the launch of the Creator Studio subscription app offering, Apple may be phasing out the iWork branding that it has used since 2005 for Pages, Keynote, and Numbers.


Apple today removed the iWork section on its website, and the URL now redirects to a more generic "apps" page that features Creator Studio, Apple Arcade, Apple Invites, Image Playground, and other Apple apps.

The iWork page that Apple removed was dedicated solely to Pages, Numbers, and Keynote, featuring information on each app along with a link. Apple's apps page offers some of the same information in a dedicated productivity secti [...]

Apple Launching New 'Sales Coach' App

Summary:
Apple plans to launch a rebranded "Sales Coach" app on the iPhone and iPad later this month, according to a source familiar with the matter.


"Sales Coach" will arrive as an update to Apple's existing "SEED" app, and it will continue to provide sales tips and training resources to Apple Store and Apple Authorized Reseller employees around the world. For example, there are articles and videos highlighting everything from reasons to upgrade to a newer iPhone to popular iPad features.

Apple is aiming to release the "Sales Coach" app on Monday, February 23, our source said. It will have two major changes compared to the "SEED" app, including an all-new Liquid Glass design, and later an AI chatbot that can provide Apple Store and Apple Authorized Resel [...]

Sources: Grafana Labs, which makes cloud and AI monitoring tools, is in talks to raise at a $9B valuation, up from $6.6B in 2024; its ARR hit $400M in Sept. (The Information)

Summary:

The Information:
Sources: Grafana Labs, which makes cloud and AI monitoring tools, is in talks to raise at a $9B valuation, up from $6.6B in 2024; its ARR hit $400M in Sept.  —  Grafana Labs, a software startup that helps companies monitor cloud and AI activity and spending, is finalizing a new funding round …

Cops Criticize Flock Safety After It’s Caught Handing Out Access To Federal Agencies

Summary:
A California police department is none too happy that its license plate reader records were accessed by federal employees it never gave explicit permission to peruse. And, once again, it’s Flock Safety shrugging itself into another PR black eye. Mountain View police criticized the company supplying its automated license plate reader system after an audit […]

Blockchain-based lending company Figure confirms a data breach; ShinyHunters hacking group published 2.5GB of data, saying Figure refused to pay a ransom (Lorenzo Franceschi-Bicchierai/TechCrunch)

Summary:

Lorenzo Franceschi-Bicchierai / TechCrunch:
Blockchain-based lending company Figure confirms a data breach; ShinyHunters hacking group published 2.5GB of data, saying Figure refused to pay a ransom  —  Figure Technology, a blockchain-based lending company, confirmed it experienced a data breach.  —  On Friday, Figure spokesperson …

Han shot first (Friends)

Summary:
Our ol' friend, Brett Cannon, is back to talk all things Python. But first! Star Wars, Machete Order, Lost, Babylon 5, Game of Thrones, Murderbot, Ted Lasso, Project Hail Mary, David Attenborough, perpetual voice rights, and the AI uncanny valley.

The first Android 17 beta is now available on Pixel devices

Summary:
Don't expect big changes yet.

Apple says 74% of iPhones launched in the last four years and 66% of all iPhones are running iOS 26; 68% of iPhones were running iOS 18 as of Jan. 21, 2025 (Joe Rossignol/MacRumors)

Summary:

Joe Rossignol / MacRumors:
Apple says 74% of iPhones launched in the last four years and 66% of all iPhones are running iOS 26; 68% of iPhones were running iOS 18 as of Jan. 21, 2025  —  Apple has shared updated iOS 26 and iPadOS 26 adoption figures, revealing how many iPhones and iPads are running those software versions.

News Publishers Are Now Blocking The Internet Archive, And We May All Regret It

Summary:
Last fall, I wrote about how the fear of AI was leading us to wall off the open internet in ways that would hurt everyone. At the time, I was worried about how companies were conflating legitimate concerns about bulk AI training with basic web accessibility. Not surprisingly, the situation has gotten worse. Now major […]

Apple Reveals How Many iPhones Are Running iOS 26

Summary:
Apple has shared updated iOS 26 and iPadOS 26 adoption figures, revealing how many iPhones and iPads are running those software versions.


These adoption numbers are based on iPhones and iPads that transacted on the App Store on February 12, 2026, according to Apple.

The statistics are as follows:

• 74% of all iPhones introduced in the last four years are running iOS 26.


• 66% of all iPhones are running iOS 26.


• 66% of all iPads introduced in the last four years are running iPadOS 26.


• 57% of all iPads are running iPadOS 26.

TypeScript 6.0 Sets Stage for Performance-Focused 7.0

Summary:

MAGA’s Always Bogus “Antitrust Movement” Comes To A Screeching Halt With Firing Of Gail Slater

Summary:
The Trump administration has fired one of the few remaining members of the administration that had even a passing interest in antitrust enforcement. DOJ antitrust boss Gail Slater has been fired from the administration after having repeated contentious run ins with key officials. It’s the final nail in the coffin of the log-running lie that […]

Daily Deal: Hypergear 3-in-1 Wireless Charging Dock

Summary:
The Hypergear 3-in-1 Wireless Charging Dock is meticulously engineered to reduce the cable clutter and streamline your daily routine. Featuring 2 dedicated wireless charging surfaces, you can power up your phone and AirPods easily. In addition, you can charge your Apple Watch with the built-in charger mount. Stylish and compact, the dock is perfect for […]

Judge Accuses DOJ Of Telling Court To “Pound Sand,” In Case Over Venezuelans Sent To Salvadoran Concentration Camp

Summary:
Judge Boasberg got his vindication in the frivolous “complaint” the DOJ filed against him, and now he’s calling out the DOJ’s bullshit in the long-running case that caused them to file the complaint against him in the first place: the JGG v. Trump case regarding the group of Venezuelans the US government shipped off to […]

The MacRumors Show: Revamped Siri Delayed Again?

Summary:
We discuss the upcoming iPhone 17e and iPad models, as well as Apple's apparent issues finalizing the revamped version of Siri, on this week's episode of The MacRumors Show.

Text Shortcuts You Should Be Using on iPhone and Mac

Summary:
Apple's autocorrect on iPhone and iPad always aims to help when you're typing a message, but it's by no means perfect, and some of the replacements it continually spews out can be frustrating. Fortunately, Apple's software includes a feature called Text Replacement that allows you to specify what word or phrase replaces the specific text you type in.


Even if you haven't set up Text Replacement, you can try it out with Apple's pre-set example: In any app that accepts text input, type "Omw" followed by a space, and it will change to "On my way!" automatically.

The following steps guide you through the process of setting up your own handy shortcut phrases with text replacements on both iOS devices and Mac.

How to Set Up Text Replacement on iPhone

1. Launch th

Apple Now Testing Flip-Style Foldable iPhone

Summary:
Apple is testing a different kind of foldable iPhone with a flip-style design, according to a known leaker based in Asia.


Citing supposedly verifiable supply chain information, the Weibo user known as "Fixed Focus Digital" says that Apple has tested a flip-style foldable ‌iPhone‌. Such a device would compete with devices such as Samsung's Galaxy Z Flip 7 and the modern-day Motorola Razr.

The rumored flip-device comes in addition to the wide foldable ‌iPhone‌ that is expected to launch later this year. Whether the flip-style foldable ‌ [...]

Five iPhone 18 Pro Features Revealed in New Report

Summary:
While the iPhone 18 Pro and iPhone 18 Pro Max are still seven months away, an analyst has revealed five new features the devices will allegedly have.

Rumored color options for the iPhone 18 Pro models

• Smaller Dynamic Island: It has been rumored that Face ID's flood illuminator will be moved under the screen on the iPhone 18 Pro models, paving the way for a smaller Dynamic Island on the devices.

Mainframe Code Modernization Patterns

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Open Source’s ‘Eternal September’, GitHub Keeps Maintainers Covered for All Seasons

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AI Is Normal Now - The Enterprise Is Not

Summary:

Original Content

• Enterprise AI needs new apps, enterprise AI doesn’t need new platforms - I’ve been circling a theme this week after reading “AI as a Normal Technology” (Spring, 2025). This is some stream of conscious on it.

• Enterprises are gonna enterprise-y, especially with AI. Also available in LinkedIn, if you prefer that kind of thing.

• A series of OODA loops, Software Defined Talk #559 - This week, we discuss the future of SaaS, OpenAI vs. Anthropic strategies, and cloud capex. Plus, when will yo

Tanzu Catsup: The Risk of Relying on AI for Platform Engineering

Summary:

Internal development teams and executives are increasingly looking at AI to automate the creation of internal developer platforms. However, cobbling together open-source components with AI is a far cry from building a scalable, secure, and “enterprise-grade” environment. In this conversation, we explore why betting your internal infrastructure on AI-generated platforms is a high-stakes risk and why human-led architecture still dictates the long-term success of a platform.

There’s also an excerpt.

Best Apple Deals of the Week: AirPods and Apple Watch Low Prices Arrive on Amazon

Summary:
We're recapping this week's best Apple-related deals below, and it includes solid discounts on AirPods 4, AirPods Pro 3, Apple Watch Series 11, and a few sales from Samsung and Satechi.

Note: MacRumors is an affiliate partner with some of these vendors. When you click a link and make a purchase, we may receive a small payment, which helps us keep the site running.

AirPods

• What's the deal? Take $30 off AirPods 4 and $39 off AirPods Pro 3


• Where can I get it?

Relative to your interests, Friday afternoon

Summary:

• What’s a software CEO to do in the current climate? Here’s the urgent 2026 playbook - Playbook for software companies that are (forced to) switch from growth mode to normal company mode.
• Anthropic raises $30 billion in Series G funding at $380 billion post-money valuation \ Anthropic - “Today, our run-rate revenue is $14 billion, with this figure growing over 10x annually in

GitHub’s Agentic Workflows bring “continuous AI” into the CI/CD loop

Summary:

A lot of the hype around agents has been around writing code, but what if you could have an agent

The post GitHub’s Agentic Workflows bring “continuous AI” into the CI/CD loop appeared first on The New Stack.

Why 40% of AI projects will be canceled by 2027 (and how to stay in the other 60%)

Summary:

The agentic AI race is on, and most organizations are at risk of losing it. Not because they lack ambition,

The post Why 40% of AI projects will be canceled by 2027 (and how to stay in the other 60%) appeared first on The New Stack.

Shedding old code with ecdysis: graceful restarts for Rust services at Cloudflare

Summary:
ecdysis is a Rust library enabling zero-downtime upgrades for network services. After five years protecting millions of connections at Cloudflare, it’s now open source.

macOS Tahoe Finder Bug Underscores Apple's Slipping UI Polish

Summary:
Apple released macOS Tahoe last September, but despite two point updates since then, it is still struggling to resolve an embarrassing interface issue in Finder that appears to have been introduced with its Liquid Glass redesign.


If you updated your Mac to macOS Tahoe and you prefer to work in Finder's column view, there's a good chance you've been frustrated by the glitch, which developer Jeff Johnson has been admirably tracking over on his blog.

CBS Staffers Jump Ship Ahead Of More Layoffs From Another Pointless Media Merger

Summary:
U.S. media mergers always follow the same trajectory. Pre-merger, executives promise all manner of amazing synergies and deal benefits. Post-merger, not only do those benefits generally never arrive, the debt from the acquisition spree usually results in significant layoffs, lower quality product, and higher rates for consumers. The Time Warner Discovery disaster was the poster child […]

SRE vs. DevOps is a False Choice: Here’s the Unified Model That Works

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Meta Plans 'Name Tag' Facial Recognition for Ray-Ban Smart Glasses

Summary:
Meta plans to add a facial recognition feature to its Ray-Ban smart glasses as soon as this year, reports The New York Times ($).


According to people involved in the plans who spoke to the publication, the feature is internally called "Name Tag," and would let wearers identify people and get information about them via Meta's artificial intelligence assistant. Mark Zuckerberg reportedly wants the feature to differentiate the devices and to make the AI assistant in the glasses more useful.

According to an internal document seen by NYT, Facebook's parent company has been in discussions since early last year about releasing the feature, which carries obvious civil liberty and privacy ris [...]

How to ground AI agents in accurate, context-rich data

Summary:

AI agents are all the rage in enterprises today. CEOs and CTOs want them brought into their businesses ASAP to

The post How to ground AI agents in accurate, context-rich data appeared first on The New Stack.

Beyond Automation: How Generative AI in DevOps is Redefining Software Delivery

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AppleCare+ Coverage Launches in Indonesia

Summary:
Apple today announced the launch of AppleCare+ coverage in Indonesia, bringing the option of additional hardware protection and technical support to customers across the country.


Most Apple products come with a one-year limited warranty that covers hardware failures and manufacturing defects, and up to 90 days of complimentary technical support. AppleCare+ extends coverage for devices like iPhone, iPad, Mac, Apple Watch, Pro Display XDR, and Apple TV, including accidental damage protection for incidents like drops and spills, battery replacement when capacity drops below 80 percent, and 24/7 priority access to support.

"AppleCare brings peace of mind and mind to our cust

Microsoft’s AI-Powered Copyright Bots Fucked Up And Got An Innocent Game Delisted From Steam

Summary:
At some point, we, as a society, are going to realize that farming copyright enforcement out to bots and AI-driven robocops is not the way to go, but today is not that day. Long before AI became the buzzword it is today, large companies have employed their own copyright crawler bots, or employed those of […]

What's Next for the Mac Studio

Summary:
Apple is working on an updated version of the Mac Studio, and the new machine is expected to launch in the first half of 2026. We've rounded up what we know about the next-generation ‌Mac Studio‌ so far.

Design

The reason AI agents shouldn’t touch your source code — and what they should do instead

Summary:

Dynatrace is experiencing a major moment in its history. It’s expanding from an observability platform what might be described as

The post The reason AI agents shouldn’t touch your source code — and what they should do instead appeared first on The New Stack.

Apple Wins Third Jury Trial Against Optis, Avoiding Hundreds of Millions in Patent Damages

Summary:
Apple did not infringe on any patents owned by Texas-based company Optis Wireless, a jury ruled today. In a verdict shared by Reuters, the jury decided that Apple did not infringe any of the five LTE patents that Optis sued over back in 2019. If Optis had won, Apple could have faced hundreds of millions in damages.


Optis Wireless initially won $506 million from Apple in a 2020 jury trial, but the damages were thrown out after Apple appealed because the jury didn't calculate damages with an understanding of fair and reasonable essential patent (FRAND) terms. A second jury trial was held in 2021 to recalculate damages, and the jury awarded Optis $300 million. Apple again appealed, and t [...]

Go 1.26 brings Green Tea GC, SIMD operations, and secret mode

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Apple Confirms Revamped Siri is Still Coming in 2026

Summary:
Apple is still planning to launch the smarter, more capable version of Siri in 2026, the company told CNBC today. Apple's statement comes just a day after Bloomberg reported Apple is having issues with the updated version of ‌Siri‌, leading to potential delays of the feature.


Apple initially intended to launch the Apple Intelligence-powered version of ‌Siri‌ in spring 2025, but right around when a debut was expected in March 2025, Apple said that Siri wasn't ready and needed more t [...]

Statistical language R is making a comeback against Python

Summary:

The latest iteration of the TIOBE Index of programming languages indicates that more specialized languages are creeping up on Python’s

The post Statistical language R is making a comeback against Python appeared first on The New Stack.

Bridging the Dev–Security Gap With Smarter Authorization

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Sony Launches $330 WF-1000XM6 Earbuds to Take on AirPods Pro 3

Summary:
Sony today announced a new set of earbuds that are designed to compete with the AirPods Pro 3. The $330 WF-1000XM6 Truly Wireless Earbuds feature Active Noise Cancellation with a 25 percent reduction in noise compared to the prior-generation XM5 earbuds, with improved performance in the mid-to-high frequency range that's common in everyday environments.


The earbuds use Sony's HD Noise Canceling Processor QN3e with an adaptive noise canceling optimizer and four microphones on each earbud to detect sound to cut out. The earbuds analyze external noise and wearing conditions in real time to improve noise canceling performance.

Sony's XM6 earbuds are smaller than the ‌AirPods Pro 3‌ because there i [...]

Live Activities Taking Over Your Apple Watch? Here's the Fix

Summary:
In watchOS 26, the Smart Stack for your Apple Watch is pretty clever. The collection of widgets can be pulled up with a scroll of the Digital Crown, and shows you relevant information throughout your day. But sometimes, its eagerness to help can be a bit much, especially when it comes to Live Activities.


You're probably familiar with this scenario: You raise your wrist expecting to see your customized watch face, but it's been replaced by media playback controls because someone's watching your Apple TV, or a timer you set earlier for cooking that still has ages left to run. Live Activities in the Smart Stack can clearly be useful, but having them automatically take over your display isn't always ideal. Here's how to take back control:

1. Open Settings on your Apple Watch.


2. Tap

DIY PC maker Framework has needed monthly price hikes to navigate the RAM shortage

Summary:
And Framework expects things to get worse before they get better.

Your RAG System is probably image-blind, but it doesn’t have to be

Summary:

In the race to deploy generative AI, most enterprises have mastered “text RAG” to chat with PDFs and spreadsheets. However,

The post Your RAG System is probably image-blind, but it doesn’t have to be appeared first on The New Stack.

It took two years, but Google released a YouTube app on Vision Pro

Summary:
App arrives months after Google requested takedowns of third-party options.

Apple Releases New Beta Firmware for AirPods Pro 2, AirPods Pro 3 and AirPods 4

Summary:
Apple today released new beta firmware for the AirPods Pro 2, AirPods Pro 3, and AirPods 4. The firmware is limited to developers at the current time, and it has a build number of 8B5034f.


Apple is not testing any iOS updates right now, so it is unclear what's in the AirPods firmware beta.

With iOS 26, iPadOS 26, and macOS Tahoe, Apple added a beta firmware update installation option that's available from the AirPods settings interface when the AirPods are connected to an [...]

VS Code becomes multi-agent command center for developers

Summary:

With its Visual Studio Code (VS Code) January 2026 release (v1.109), Microsoft is making the code editor “the home for

The post VS Code becomes multi-agent command center for developers appeared first on The New Stack.

OpenAI’s new Codex Spark model is built for speed

Summary:

OpenAI’s new GPT-5.3-Codex-Spark model is a bit of a departure for the company’s family of Codex software development models: its

The post OpenAI’s new Codex Spark model is built for speed appeared first on The New Stack.

How low-bit inference enables efficient AI

Summary:
Making products like Dropbox Dash accessible to individuals and businesses means tackling new challenges around efficiency and resource use.

How intelligent orchestration transforms software innovation

Summary:

The software industry reached an inflection point in November and December 2025. Three breakthrough AI model releases, Gemini 3 by

The post How intelligent orchestration transforms software innovation appeared first on The New Stack.

The hidden reason database debt is ten times harder to fix than code

Summary:

Technical debt is an inevitable byproduct of software development as complexity grows. However, unlike stateless application code, the stateful nature

The post The hidden reason database debt is ten times harder to fix than code appeared first on The New Stack.

Arcjet SDKs Make It Simpler for Developers to Include Security Functions

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Introducing Markdown for Agents

Summary:
The way content is discovered online is shifting, from traditional search engines to AI agents that need structured data from a Web built for humans. It’s time to consider not just human visitors, but start to treat agents as first-class citizens. Markdown for Agents automatically converts any HTML page requested from our network to markdown.

ShareChat hit a billion features per second, then it had to make it 10x cheaper

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“Great system…now please make it 10 times cheaper.” That’s not exactly what the ShareChat team wanted to hear after completing

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Secure DevOps at Scale: Integrating SRE, DevSecOps and Compliance

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When Open Networks Meet AI Coding: A Tsunami of Smart Enterprise Apps

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Related to your interests, Thursday

Summary:

• Why it was a Boston vacation.
• Europe set to treble sovereign cloud investment - “European spending on sovereign cloud infrastructure services is forecast to more than triple from 2025 to 2027 as geopolitical tension drives investment in homegrown services, according to Gartner.” More context:
• Sovereign Computing, panel - This was a great panel, very detailed on topics and actually trying to figure out what to do, talking through hurdles, etc.
• Anthropic’s breakout moment: how Claude won busines

You can’t fire a bot: The blunt truth about AI slop and your job

Summary:

Matan-Paul Shetrit puts it bluntly: “If you generate slop, I’m not blaming the AI, I’m blaming you.” As Director of

The post You can’t fire a bot: The blunt truth about AI slop and your job appeared first on The New Stack.

CodeHunter API Integrates Deterministic AI Models into DevSecOps Workflows

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Byte magazine artist Robert Tinney, who illustrated the birth of PCs, dies at 78

Summary:
He became one of the first to visualize personal computing by painting vivid cover art.

Building the machine that builds the machine (Interview)

Summary:
Paul Dix joins us to discuss the InfluxDB co-founder's journey adapting to an agentic world. Paul sent his AI coding agents on various real-world side quests and shares all his findings: what's going to prod, what's not, and why he's (at least for a bit) back to coding by hand.

"Windows 11 26H1" is a special version of Windows exclusively for new Arm PCs

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Arm PCs have enjoyed special treatment from Microsoft for the past two years.

Google recovers "deleted" Nest video in high-profile abduction case

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Users only get three hours of free Nest video storage, but Google can retrieve videos much later.

Bluefin Linux: ChromeOS simplicity meets Linux power

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Imagine you could use an operating system that’s as easy as ChromeOS, while also being as powerful as Linux. What

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Apple releases iOS 26.3 with updates that mainly benefit non-Apple devices

Summary:
It's getting a little easier to move from iOS to Android, if that's your thing.

Smart home PSA: Apple's "new architecture" for Home app becomes mandatory today

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Updated Home app is required for Matter support and some types of accessories.

Your infrastructure is evolving, but is your operational framework still stuck in the past?

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Major service outages are becoming more frequent, more severe, and taking longer to resolve. According to recent survey data, the

The post Your infrastructure is evolving, but is your operational framework still stuck in the past? appeared first on The New Stack.