Minimalist News

Simply the latest news, updated on the hour.

Tech

AI Summary

  • AI is the dominant force across the tech industry, with major investments and product rollouts from giants like Google, Microsoft, Meta, and Tesla, signaling a widespread push towards AI-powered experiences and enterprise solutions.
  • Meta is significantly re-prioritizing its strategy, moving away from its costly metaverse investments and instead focusing heavily on AI, particularly with future smart glasses and "personal super intelligence" planned for 2026.
  • Tesla faces substantial financial challenges, including declining profits and sales, prompting a strategic shift to discontinue its Model S and X vehicles to accelerate the development and production of its Optimus humanoid robots and to invest heavily in Elon Musk's xAI venture.
  • Elon Musk's SpaceX is preparing for a highly anticipated IPO in 2026, with an estimated valuation potentially reaching $1.5 trillion, which could ignite a wave of public offerings for other late-stage tech unicorns.
  • Major tech platforms are grappling with increased regulatory pressure and user-facing policy changes, seen in Apple's subscription mandates for creators, Meta's content blocking decisions, and legal challenges against AI companies over misuse and content moderation.

TechCrunch


Hacker News


Engadget

  • Halide co-founder joins Apple's design team an hour ago by Anna Washenko
    Technology & Electronics, site|engadget, provider_name|Engadget, region|US, language|en-US, author_name|Anna Washenko

    Apple picked up an intriguing new member for its design team today in Sebastiaan de With, co-founder of the iPhone camera app Halide. He announced the move today on Threads, adding, "So excited to work with the very best team in the world on my favorite products." The Halide app has caught our eye at Engadget at several points over the years. de With also is co-founder of Lux, which is Halide's parent company. The other Lux apps also have an emphasis on photography and videography, particularly on Apple devices. Prior to Halide, de With had done other work at Apple,

  • Mark Zuckerberg says Reality Labs will (eventually) stop losing so much money 2 hours ago by Karissa Bell
    Media, site|engadget, provider_name|Engadget, region|US, language|en-US, author_name|Karissa Bell

    Mark Zuckerberg says there's an end in sight to Reality Labs' years of multibillion-dollar losses following the company's layoffs to the metaverse division earlier this year. The CEO said he expects to "gradually reduce" how much money the company is losing as it doubles down on AI glasses and shifts away from virtual reality. Speaking during Meta's fourth-quarter earnings call, Zuckerberg was clear that the changes won't happen soon, but sounded optimistic about the division that lost more than $19 billion in 2025 alone. "For Reality Labs, we are directing most of our investment towards glasses and wearables going forward, while

  • Patreon creators have to switch to subscription billing by November, thanks to Apple 2 hours ago by Will Shanklin
    Software, Mobile Apps, Technology & Electronics, site|engadget, provider_name|Engadget, region|US, language|en-US, author_name|Will Shanklin

    Patreon creators will need to make some changes soon, thanks to Apple. On Wednesday, Patreon said Apple has renewed its requirement that all Patreon creators must move to subscription billing. The deadline to do so is November 1, 2026. Patreon's blog post announcing the change made it clear that it had no other choice. "We strongly disagree with this decision," the company wrote. "Creators need consistency and clarity in order to build healthy, long-term businesses. Instead, creators using legacy billing will now have to endure the whiplash of another policy reversal — the third such change from Apple in the past

  • Astronomers share new insights about the early universe via the Webb Space Telescope 3 hours ago by Anna Washenko
    Science, Space & Astronomy, site|engadget, provider_name|Engadget, region|US, language|en-US, author_name|Anna Washenko

    Researchers using the James Webb Space Telescope have found a galaxy that is offering new data about the early stages of the universe's existence. The latest discovery shared by astronomers is about a bright galaxy dubbed MoM-z14. According to the team, this galaxy existed 280 million years after the Big Bang.  The sounds like a long time, but in the context of the universe's estimated 13.8 billion years of existence, that's actually one of the closest examples astronomers have found to the Big Bang's occurrence. As a result, MoM-z14 can offer some insights and some surprises about what the early stages

  • February’s PS Plus Monthly Games include Undisputed and Subnautica: Below Zero 4 hours ago by Kris Holt
    Media, site|engadget, provider_name|Engadget, region|US, language|en-US, author_name|Kris Holt

    We’ve somehow almost reached the end of January already, which means it’s time for Sony to divulge the list of PlayStation Plus Monthly Games for February. They are Undisputed, Subnautica: Below Zero, Ultros and Ace Combat 7: Skies Unknown. If you have a PS Plus subscription on any tier, you can claim these starting on February 3. After claiming them, these games will stay in your library as long as your PS Plus plan remains active.  Undisputed (PS5) is a 2024 boxing game with dozens of licensed fighters across several weight classes. They include legendary figures like Muhammad Ali and Sugar


The Verge

  • Halide co-founder Sebastiaan de With is joining Apple’s design team 36 minutes ago by Jay Peters
    Apple, News, Tech

    Sebastiaan de With, known for his work on apps like Halide, Kino, and Orion as the co-founder of Lux, is joining Apple's design team, he announced today. "So excited to work with the very best team in the world on my favorite products," de With says in his post. > Some big personal news: I've joined the Design Team at Apple. So excited to work with the very best team in the world on my favorite products. ✌️ > > - Sebastiaan de With (@sdw.bsky.social) 2026-01-28T21:41:08.819Z de With is well-known for his deep dives on Apple's iPhone cameras - I was a big

  • Mark Zuckerberg is all in on AI as the new social media an hour ago by Emma Roth
    AI, Meta, News, Tech

    Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg's metaverse dreams seem to have been replaced by a new vision: an AI-generated social feed. In an earnings call on Wednesday, Zuckerberg reiterated his belief that AI will become the next big media format, making feeds "more immersive and interactive:" > We started with text, and then moved to photos when we got phones with cameras, and then moved to video when mobile networks got fast enough. Soon, we'll see an explosion of new media formats that are more immersive and interactive, and only possible because of advances in AI. Zuckerberg added that apps currently "feel like algorithms

  • Windows 11 has reached 1 billion users faster than Windows 10 an hour ago by Tom Warren
    Microsoft, News, Tech, Windows

    Windows 11 has reached a big milestone | Image: Getty Images Windows 11 now has 1 billion users. Microsoft hit the milestone during the recent holiday quarter, meaning Windows 11 has managed to reach 1 billion users faster than Windows 10 did nearly six years ago. "Windows reached a big milestone, 1 billion Windows 11 users," said Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella on the company's fiscal Q2, 2026 earnings call. "Up over 45 percent year-over-year." The growth of Windows 11 over the past quarter will be related to Microsoft's end of support for Windows 10, which also helped increase Microsoft's Windows OEM revenues. Microsoft

  • Tesla discontinuing Model S and Model X to make room for robots 2 hours ago by Andrew J. Hawkins
    Electric Cars, Elon Musk, Robot, Tech, Tesla, Transportation

    Tesla will discontinue the Model S and Model X in the second quarter of 2026, Elon Musk said in an earnings call with investors today. Musk said the reasons for cancelling the vehicle programs was to make room at Tesla's Fremont factory for production of its Optimus humanoid robot. "It's time to basically bring the Model S and X programs to an end with an honorable discharge, because we're really moving into a future that is based on autonomy," he said. "So if you're interested in buying a Model S and X, now would be the time to order it." The Model S

  • The best iPhones 2 hours ago by Allison Johnson
    Apple, Buying Guides, Gadgets, iOS, iPhone, Mobile, Tech, Verge Shopping

    New iPhones for the AI era. | Image: Cath Virginia / The Verge If you’ve been holding off on getting a new iPhone, now’s the perfect time to size up your options. Apple’s 2025 iPhone lineup is now widely available, which includes the iPhone 17, 17 Pro, 17 Pro Max, and a brand-new model, the ultra-thin iPhone Air. These new phones offer a number of new features over their predecessors, such as upgraded cameras, faster chips, better battery life, and even better screens. Apple Intelligence, however, remains a work in progress. Alongside the new hardware, Apple also launched iOS 26 (yes, the


Wired

  • Data Centers Are Driving a US Gas Boom 35 minutes ago by Molly Taft
    Science, Science / Environment, Altered, Carbon

    Gas projects in the US pipeline explicitly linked to data centers increased by almost 25 times over the past two years, according to new research from Global Energy Monitor.

  • ICE Is Using Palantir’s AI Tools to Sort Through Tips 3 hours ago by Caroline Haskins, Makena Kelly
    Security, Security / National Security, Security / Privacy, Security / Security News, Politics / Policy, Heads, Up

    ICE has been using an AI-powered Palantir system to summarize tips sent to its tip line since last spring, according to a newly released Homeland Security document.

  • Here’s the Company That Sold DHS ICE’s Notorious Face Recognition App 4 hours ago by Maddy Varner, Dell Cameron
    Security, Security / National Security, Security / Privacy, Security / Security News, Politics / Policy, Say, Cheese

    Immigration agents have used Mobile Fortify to scan the faces of countless people in the US—including many citizens.

  • The Doomsday Clock Is Now 85 Seconds to Midnight. Here’s What That Means 4 hours ago by Marta Musso
    Science, Science / Environment, Tick, Tock

    Catastrophic risks are increasing, cooperation is declining, and swift action is needed from global leaders to correct course.

  • The Surface Laptop Is $400 Off 6 hours ago by Brad Bourque
    Gear, Gear / Deals, Gear / Products, Gear / Products / Computers, Deal, of, the, Day

    Take home a sweet discount on Microsoft's first-party laptop.


Looking for more? Search Google News