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Simply the latest news, updated on the hour.

Sat, Apr 18, 2026, 8:33 AM EDT

Tech

AI Summary

  • Stripe and Airwallex are intensifying competition, shifting from potential acquisition targets to direct rivals in the financial tech space.
  • Sam Altman's World project is expanding its human verification services, notably partnering with Tinder and Zoom, to combat bots and ensure authentic interactions.
  • OpenAI is streamlining its operations, shedding 'side quests' and seeing departures like Kevin Weil and Bill Peebles, amidst a continued focus on core AI development.
  • The tech industry is grappling with the productivity paradox of 'tokenmaxxing,' where efforts to optimize AI token usage may inadvertently decrease developer efficiency.
  • Cybersecurity remains a critical concern as hackers exploit unpatched Windows vulnerabilities, while Bluesky experienced significant outages attributed to a DDoS attack.

TechCrunch


Hacker News


Engadget

  • Cyberpunk platformers, gallivanting geckos and other new indie games worth checking out 2 hours ago by Kris Holt
    Media, Video Games, Arts & Entertainment, site|engadget, provider_name|Engadget, region|US, language|en-US, author_name|Kris Holt

    Welcome to our latest roundup of what's going on in the indie game space. Once again, there are some neat new games for you to check out this weekend. We've got a bunch of updates and announcements for upcoming titles to tell you about too. There have been a bunch of solid indie showcases lately (and highlights from another one to tell you about below). If you want to learn about a ton of other games ASAP, you might want to set your alarm pretty early on April 25. Starting at 5AM ET that day, the latest edition of Indie Life Expo

  • 15 years after 'Video Games,' Lana Del Rey has an actual video game song 15 hours ago by Ian Carlos Campbell
    Music, Media, Arts & Entertainment, site|engadget, provider_name|Engadget, region|US, language|en-US, author_name|Ian Carlos Campbell

    The James Bond franchise has a long history of getting pop stars to record its theme songs (perhaps most memorably with Live and Let Die), and it looks like that tradition will now extend to video game adaptations about the fictional spy. IO Interactive has announced that Lana Del Rey co-wrote and performed the theme for 007 First Light, the developer's playable James Bond origin story. "First Light" is written and performed by Lana Del Rey and composer David Arnold, and like the moody and abstract opening credits released alongside the song, could vaguely gesture at the themes of the game.

  • The PBS Artemis II documentary is streaming on YouTube 16 hours ago by Ian Carlos Campbell
    Science, Space & Astronomy, site|engadget, provider_name|Engadget, region|US, language|en-US, author_name|Ian Carlos Campbell

    The crew of NASA's Artemis II mission have safely returned to Earth, but if your Moon fever has yet to break, or you're curious to get a big picture view of how the second of a planned five Moon missions was pulled off, PBS has a new documentary you'll want to watch. The hour-long Return to the Moon was produced for PBS' NOVA and aired on TV on April 15, but you can view the episode in its entirety on YouTube right now. Return to the Moon covers the history of NASA's Artemis program, and specifically the planning and preparation that

  • A lot of you panic-bought PCs to avoid RAMaggedon 2026 17 hours ago by Ian Carlos Campbell
    Sectors & Industries, site|engadget, provider_name|Engadget, region|US, language|en-US, author_name|Ian Carlos Campbell

    The specter of price hikes caused by the current AI-driven demand for memory and storage appears to have convinced a fair share of people to buy a new computer. According to data analyzed by Counterpoint Research, global PC shipments grew around 3.2 percent year-over-year in Q1 2026, "driven by pre-emptive buying before memory-led price increases hit the retail level" and Microsoft forcing some customers to upgrade by ending support for Windows 10 last year. Sales hit 63.3 million units during the first quarter, Counterpoint says, and were particularly concentrated in five high-end PC makers: Lenovo, ASUS, Apple, HP and Dell. Of

  • Sam Altman's 'human verification' company thinks its eye-scanning orbs could solve ticket scalping 20 hours ago by Karissa Bell
    Software, Media, Arts & Entertainment, site|engadget, provider_name|Engadget, region|US, language|en-US, author_name|Karissa Bell

    Sam Altman's cryptocurrency turned identity verification startup Tools for Humanity is offering a new set of perks to people who scan their eyes at one of the company's orbs. Among them, is a new tool called Concert Kit that could help bands and artists fight back against ticket scalping bots.  The new feature relies on the revamped World ID, the orb-based verification system that scans users eyeballs and faces to create a "proof of human" signature that lives on users' mobile devices. "It's basically like a little human passport for the internet that lets you prove on apps and websites that


The Verge

  • There’s nothing like an RPG over vacation an hour ago by Jay Peters
    Entertainment, Games Review, Gaming

    With a vacation comes a big choice: What game should I focus on during the trip? I thought about grinding out the harder levels of Super Meat Boy 3D, but I was looking for something more chill. I could have dabbled more with Slay the Spire II, but I already know that's a game I'll be playing for a long time. I wanted something that I could really get lost in and finish in a little over a week. People of Note, a new music-focused RPG from Annapurna Interactive and Iridium Studios, turned out to be exactly what I needed. In

  • The AI apps are coming for your PC an hour ago by David Pierce
    Apps, Gadgets, Installer, Tech

    Hi, friends! Welcome to Installer No. 124, your guide to the best and Verge-iest stuff in the world. (If you're new here, welcome, send me your Coachella fits, and also you can read all the old editions at the Installer homepage.) This week, I've been reading about restaurant bread and GLP-1s and Lenny Rachitsky and Artemis II fashion, watching the new boy band doc because I will always watch a boy band doc, also watching every clip I can find from Justin Bieber's Coachella set, filling the Schitt's Creek-shaped hole in my heart with Big Mistakes, getting increasingly excited about The

  • OpenAI’s former Sora boss is leaving 16 hours ago by Jay Peters
    AI, News, OpenAI

    Last month, OpenAI gave up on its Sora video generation tool, and on Friday, the Sora team's leader, Bill Peebles, announced that he is leaving the company. OpenAI has been shifting its priorities as part of an effort to avoid "side quests," and Peebles' departure is just one of many recent changes as the company moves to focus more on coding and enterprise use. As part of a note Peebles posted on X, he said: > I am immensely grateful to Sam, Mark, Aditya and Jakub for fostering a research environment that allowed us to pursue ideas off-the-beaten path from the company's

  • Should you stare into Sam Altman’s orb before your next date? 16 hours ago by Stevie Bonifield
    AI, News, Tech

    Tinder users who prove they're a real person by visiting an identity-verifying orb will soon be able to get five free boosts in the app - and it's just the latest service to embrace the orb. World, which was co-founded by OpenAI CEO Sam Altman, initially tested Tinder verification using its facial scanning orbs through a pilot program in Japan last year. It's now expanding the service to "select markets, including Japan and the United States." To verify that they're not a bot or an AI agent, users have to physically visit one of World's orbs in person. According to World,

  • Anthropic’s new cybersecurity model could get it back in the government’s good graces 17 hours ago by Hayden Field
    AI, Anthropic, News, Policy

    The Trump administration has spent nearly two months fighting with AI company Anthropic. It's dubbed the company a "RADICAL LEFT, WOKE COMPANY" full of "Leftwing nut jobs" and a menace to national security. But some of the ice may reportedly be melting between the two, thanks to Anthropic's buzzy new cybersecurity-focused model: Claude Mythos Preview. Anthropic's relationship with the Pentagon soured quickly in late February after the company refused to budge on two red lines: using its technology for domestic mass surveillance or lethal fully autonomous weapons with no human in the loop. Anthropic's tech has in the past been used


Wired


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