Gaming on Linux used to be in a nasty catch-22. People wouldn't develop games for Linux because gamers didn't use it, and gamers didn't use Linux because people wouldn't develop games for it. However, with the advancement of tech like Proton, we're beginning to see people take Linux seriously as a gaming powerhouse.
Still, that doesn't mean that the Linux community won't welcome developers who create Linux-native versions of their games and related apps. So, when the news broke that GOG was hiring a developer to help get its library app over into the world of FOSS, it was good news for everyone who wants to bring the classics over to Linux.
Tesla CEO Elon Musk said on Wednesday that the automaker is ending production of its Model S and X vehicles, and will use the factory in Fremont, California, to build Optimus humanoid robots.
“It’s time to basically bring the Model S and X programs to an end with an honorable discharge,” Musk said on the company’s fourth-quarter earnings call. “If you’re interested in buying a Model S and X, now would be the time to order it.”
After the original Roadster, the two models are Tesla’s oldest vehicles, and in recent years the company has slashed prices as global competition for electric vehicles has soared. Tesla started selling the Model S sedan in 2012, and the Model X SUV three years later.
US technology giant Amazon has confirmed it will cut 16,000 jobs - hours after it told staff about a new round of global redundancies in an email apparently sent in error.
The email, which has been seen by the BBC, was sent late on Tuesday and refers to a swathe of employees in the US, Canada and Costa Rica having been laid off as part of an effort to "strengthen the company."
The message was apparently shared by mistake, as it was quickly cancelled.
Early on Wednesday, Amazon announced job reductions as part of a plan to "remove bureaucracy" at the firm.
The European Union and India have announced a landmark trade deal after nearly two decades of on-off talks, as both sides aim to deepen ties amid tensions with the US.
"We did it, we delivered the mother of all deals," European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said at a media briefing in Delhi. Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi called the pact "historic".
It will allow free trade of goods between the bloc of 27 European states and the world's most populous country, which together make up nearly 25% of global gross domestic product and a market of two billion people.
The deal will see a number of huge tariff cuts across a range of goods and services, and a joint security partnership.
EFF last summer asked a federal judge to block the federal government from using Medicaid data to identify and deport immigrants.
We also warned about the danger of the Trump administration consolidating all of the government’s information into a single searchable, AI-driven interface with help from Palantir, a company that has a shaky-at-best record on privacy and human rights.
Now we have the first evidence that our concerns have become reality.
“Palantir is working on a tool for Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) that populates a map with potential deportation targets, brings up a dossier on each person, and provides a “confidence score” on the person’s current address,” 404 Media reports today. “ICE is using it to find locations where lots of people it might detain could be based.”
The Trump White House yesterday posted a manipulated photo of Nekima Levy Armstrong, a Minnesota civil rights attorney who was arrested after protesting in a church where a pastor is allegedly also an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) official.
Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem posted what seems to be the original photo of Armstrong being led away by an officer yesterday morning. A half hour later, the official White House X account posted an altered version in which Armstrong’s face was manipulated to make it appear that she was crying.
Love it or hate it, Tesla has been responsible for helping to shape the tastes of automotive consumers over the past decade-plus. Over-the-air updates that add more features, an all-touchscreen human-machine interface, large castings, and hands-free driver assists were all introduced or popularized by Tesla’s electric vehicles, prompting other automakers to copy them, mostly in the hopes of seeing the same stratospheric gains in their stock prices. But starting on Valentine’s Day, if you want your Tesla to steer itself, you’ll have to pay a $99 monthly subscription fee.
President Donald Trump delivered a defiant and combative address at the World Economic Forum on Wednesday, using the annual gathering of world leaders and business executives to tout America’s role as the world's main peacekeeper and economic engine, and make his most explicit case yet for the U.S. to acquire Greenland from Denmark.
Calling for “immediate negotiations” with Denmark, Trump asserted that Greenland was essential to American and global security, even as he insisted he would not use military force to obtain it—his clearest effort yet to somewhat soften the threat behind a demand that has already unsettled NATO allies.
Danish pension fund AkademikerPension said on Tuesday it would sell off its holding of U.S. Treasuries, worth some $100 million, by the end of this month, blaming weak U.S. government finances.
AkademikerPension said the decision was not intended as a political statement linked to the rift between Denmark and the United States over Greenland.
Apple is testing a new design for App Store search ads on iPhone. Some users on iOS 26.3 are noticing that the blue background around sponsored results is no longer shown, blurring the line between what paid ad results look like and the real search results that follow.
This means the only differentiator between organic results and the promoted ad is the presence of the small ‘Ad’ banner next to the app icon. Right now, it appears to be in some kind of A/B test phase.
In a massive shift in North American trade policy, Prime Minister Mark Carney announced today a new “strategic partnership” with China that effectively reopens the Canadian border to Chinese electric vehicles.
The move marks a significant departure from the United States’ hardline protectionist stance and could bring affordable EV options like the BYD Seagull to Canadian roads as early as this year.
For the last two years, Canada has largely walked in lockstep with the US regarding Chinese EV tariffs. Following the Biden administration’s move to impose 100% tariffs on Chinese EVs, Canada implemented similar surtaxes, effectively freezing companies like BYD, Nio, and Zeekr out of the market.
Last year China installed more than half of all wind and solar added globally. In May alone, it added enough renewable energy to power Poland, installing solar panels at a rate of roughly 100 every second.
The massive buildout is happening across the country, from crowded eastern cities increasingly topped by rooftop solar panels to remote western deserts where colossal wind farms sprawl across the landscape.
Apple is teaming up with Google to use Gemini models for an AI-powered Siri.
Reports swirled in August that Apple was in early talks with the search giant to use a custom Gemini model to power a new iteration of Siri.
Apple has mostly stayed out of the AI frenzy that’s swept Wall Street since the launch of OpenAI’s ChatGPT.
When Americans begin taking appetite-suppressing drugs like Ozempic and Wegovy, the changes extend well beyond the bathroom scale. According to new research, the medications are associated with meaningful reductions in how much households spend on food, both at the grocery store and at restaurants.
The study, published Dec. 18 in the Journal of Marketing Research, links survey data on GLP-1 receptor agonist use – a class of drugs originally developed for diabetes and now widely prescribed for weight loss – with detailed transaction records from tens of thousands of U.S. households. The result is one of the most comprehensive looks yet at how GLP-1 adoption is associated with changes in everyday food purchasing in the real world.
The headline finding is striking: Within six months of starting a GLP-1 medication, households reduce grocery spending by an average of 5.3%. Among higher-income households, the drop is even steeper, at more than 8%. Spending at fast-food restaurants, coffee shops and other limited-service eateries falls by about 8%.
In a surprisingly user-friendly move, Bose has announced it will be open-sourcing the API documentation for its SoundTouch smart speakers, which were slated to lose official support on February 18th, as reported by Ars Technica. Bose has also moved that date back to May 6th, 2026.
When cloud support ends, an update to the SoundTouch app will add local controls to retain as much functionality as possible without cloud services. Users will still be able to stream music to SoundTouch speakers with Bluetooth, AirPlay, and Spotify Connect (plus physical AUX connections). Remote control features and grouping speakers will also continue to work, and users will still be able to set up and configure their SoundTouch speakers.
Popular shadow library Anna's Archive has lost control over its main domain name. Annas-archive.org was suspended and put on serverHold status, which is an action that's typically taken by the domain name registry. The site's operator doesn't believe that the actions are related to its recently announced Spotify backup and stresses that the site remains accessible through alternative domains.
On the evening of December 30, Chinese DRAM leader ChangXin Memory Technologies Group Co., Ltd. (CXMT) formally submitted its prospectus to the Shanghai Stock Exchange, applying for a listing on the STAR Market. The offering is being sponsored by state-backed investment bank CICC and Chinese securities firm CSC Financial.
CXMT plans to raise up to CNY 29.5 billion, equivalent to approximately USD 4.22 billion, with proceeds earmarked for three core projects: upgrading mass-production DRAM wafer manufacturing lines, advancing DRAM process technologies, and funding forward-looking research and development for next-generation dynamic random-access memory.
- President Donald Trump says the United States has ‘captured’ Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro and his wife Cilia Flores and flown them out of the country after “large-scale” strikes.
- Vladimir Padrino Lopez, Venezuela’s defence minister, says the country “will prevail … not negotiate … not give up”. Earlier, Venezuela’s government accused the US of attacking civilian and military installations in multiple states, as it rejected “military aggression” by Washington. The government of President Maduro had declared a national emergency following the series of attacks.
The U.S. has carried out strikes inside Venezuela, a U.S. official said, as explosions rocked the capital Caracas following months of threats by President Donald Trump against Venezuela's President Nicolas Maduro.
The Venezuelan government said attacks also took place in the states of Miranda, Aragua and La Guaira, prompting Maduro to declare a national emergency and mobilize defense forces.
- Legendary investor Warren Buffett steps down as Berkshire Hathaway CEO after 60 years, handing control of the $1-trillion conglomerate to Greg Abel.
- Buffett remains as chair and plans daily office visits, but Abel must navigate slowing growth and mounting pressure to distribute Berkshire’s $382-billion cash pile.
- Abel has already managed Berkshire’s noninsurance operations for seven years, and company leadership says the decentralized culture that built the empire will endure.
On Monday, the US Department of the Interior announced that it was pausing the leases on all five offshore wind sites currently under construction in the US. The move comes despite the fact that these projects already have installed significant hardware in the water and on land; one of them is nearly complete. In what appears to be an attempt to avoid legal scrutiny, the Interior is blaming the decisions on a classified report from the Department of Defense.
The Justice Department released thousands of new records on convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein on Friday, but at least 550 pages in the documents were fully redacted in the initial release, CBS News has found.
The newly released files included photos of several prominent people in Epstein's orbit, images from his homes and investigative records that detail disturbing allegations against the late sex offender. But the heavy redactions in many of the records have drawn criticism from Democrats and some Republicans, as the department defends its handling of the files.
There were rumblings about this for a while, but it looks like the Trump TikTok deal is done, and it’s somehow the worst of all possible outcomes, amazingly making all of the biggest criticisms about TikTok significantly worse. Quite an accomplishment.
The Chinese government has signed off on the deal, which involves offloading a large chunk of TikTok to billionaire right wing Trump ally Larry Ellison (fresh off his acquisition of CBS), the private equity firm Silver Lake (which has broad global investments in Chinese and Israeli hyper-surveillance), and MGX (Abu Dhabi’s state investment firm), while still somehow having large investment involvement by the Chinese:
“The new U.S. operations of TikTok will have three “managing investors” that will collectively own 45 percent of the company: Oracle Corporation, Silver Lake, and MGX. Another 5 percent will be owned by other new investors, 30.1 percent will be “held by affiliates of certain existing investors of ByteDance; and 19.9 percent will be retained by ByteDance.”
There’s also a smattering 5% of investors that may or may not include folks like right wing media mogul Rupert Murdoch. It’s worth noting that none of this was really legal; the law technically stated that TikTok shouldn’t have been allowed to exist for much of this year. Everyone just looked the other way while Trump and his cronies repeatedly ignored deadlines and hammered away at the transfer.
FORD IS ONCE again shifting its electric vehicle manufacturing plans, a response to a year that’s been tough for the powertrain technology that’s still making waves overseas but has seen domestic government support cut and customer enthusiasm weaken.
Australia on Wednesday became the first country to ban social media for children under 16, blocking access in a move welcomed by many parents and child advocates but criticised by major technology companies and free-speech advocates.
David Ellison-run Paramount Skydance is launching a hostile bid to buy Warner Bros. Discovery.
Paramount will go straight to WBD shareholders with an all-cash, $30 per share offer.
Netflix won a bidding war for the Warner Bros. film studio and HBO Max streaming service, but it doesn’t plan to buy WBD’s TV networks.
Paramount has repeatedly contended keeping Warner Bros. Discovery whole was in the best interest of its shareholders.
For years, the U.S. government has published an annual National Security Strategy that lays out how Washington sees the world and its approach to dealing with looming threats, from China to Russia to drug-traffickers in Latin America.
This week, the Trump administration’s version seemed to reserve its harshest tone for a new target: America’s closest allies in Europe.
Thailand launched airstrikes against Cambodia on Monday as a new wave of fighting erupted between the southeast Asian neighbors, marking the potential collapse of a peace plan presided over by US President Donald Trump just two months ago.
Both sides accused the other of launching strikes along their disputed border Monday morning, after weeks of simmering tension and the earlier suspension of progress on the ceasefire agreement by Thailand.
The government of Benin says it has foiled an attempted coup by members of the West African nation's armed forces.
"The Beninese armed forces and their leadership, true to their oath, remained committed to the republic," Interior Minister Alassane Seidou said in a televised address.
Earlier on Sunday, a group of soldiers made a broadcast in which they said they had ousted President Patrice Talon. Eyewitnesses told the BBC that they had heard gunshots, and some journalists working for the state broadcaster had been held hostage.
SpaceX is kicking off a secondary share sale that would value the rocket maker at $800 billion, people familiar with the matter said, surpassing OpenAI to make it the most valuable U.S. private company.
Today, Netflix, Inc. (the Company) and Warner Bros. Discovery, Inc. (WBD) announced they have entered into a definitive agreement under which Netflix will acquire Warner Bros., including its film and television studios, HBO Max and HBO.
On Wednesday, Micron Technology announced it will exit the consumer RAM business in 2026, ending 29 years of selling RAM and SSDs to PC builders and enthusiasts under the Crucial brand. The company cited heavy demand from AI data centers as the reason for abandoning its consumer brand, a move that will remove one of the most recognizable names in the do-it-yourself PC upgrade market.
Two oil depots in Russia’s Tambov and Voronezh regions were hit in overnight Ukrainian drone strikes early on Wednesday, Dec. 3, according to regional authorities.
Tambov governor Yevgeny Pervyshov reported on Telegram:
“A fire broke out at an oil depot in the Tambov region after debris from a Kyiv regime terrorist drone fell.”
“Fire crews and law enforcement officials quickly arrived at the scene. All necessary forces and resources have been deployed,” he added.
European governments have taken another step toward reviving the EU’s controversial Chat Control agenda, approving a new negotiating mandate for the Child Sexual Abuse Regulation in a closed session of the Council of the European Union on November 26.
The measure, presented as a tool for child protection, is once again drawing heavy criticism for its surveillance implications and the way it reshapes private digital communication in Europe.
Unlike earlier drafts, this version drops the explicit obligation for companies to scan all private messages but quietly introduces what opponents describe as an indirect system of pressure.
It rewards or penalizes online services depending on whether they agree to carry out “voluntary” scanning, effectively making intrusive monitoring a business expectation rather than a legal requirement.
Instagram chief Adam Mosseri is ordering most US staff in his organization back to the office five days a week starting February 2, according to an internal memo obtained by Business Insider.
The memo, titled "Building a Winning Culture in 2026," says the change applies to employees in US offices with assigned desks and is part of a broader push to make Instagram "more nimble and creative" as competition intensifies.
The change was first spotted by users on Reddit and confirmed in an updated Netflix support page (via Android Authority), which now states that the streaming service no longer supports casting from mobile devices to most TVs and TV-streaming devices. Users are instead directed to use the remote that came with their TV hardware and use its native Netflix app.
Vladimir Putin signed Presidential Decree No. 858 on 25 November 2025, establishing Russia's "State National Policy Strategy" through 2036—a document that explicitly incorporates four occupied Ukrainian oblasts into Moscow's long-term ethnic assimilation framework and sets target metrics for erasing Ukrainian identity.
OpenAI is now internally testing 'ads' inside ChatGPT that could redefine the web economy.
Up until now, the ChatGPT experience has been completely free.
While there are premium plans and models, you don't see GPT sell you products or show ads. On the other hand, Google Search has ads that influence your buying behaviour.
An experimental reactor developed in the Gobi Desert by the Chinese Academy of Sciences’ Shanghai Institute of Applied Physics has achieved thorium-to-uranium fuel conversion, paving the way for an almost endless supply of nuclear energy.
The achievement makes the 2 megawatt liquid-fuelled thorium-based molten salt reactor (TMSR) the only operating example of the technology in the world to have successfully loaded and used thorium fuel.
According to the academy, the experiment has provided initial proof of the technical feasibility of using thorium resources in molten salt reactor systems and represents a major leap forward for the technology.
We pointed an ultrasound probe at the scent-processing region of the brain to obtain different sensations. Different focal spots corresponded to different smells, which we’ve replicated first-try on two people and validated with a blind trial. The sensations we obtained are:
The sensation of fresh air, with a lot of oxygen
The smell of garbage, like few-day-old fruit peels
An ozone-like sensation, like you're next to an air ionizer
A campfire smell of burning wood
One of the nation’s poorest states has launched one of its most ambitious social policies: universal child care.
New Mexico this month became the first state to guarantee free care, regardless of income, starting at six weeks of age. The state says the plan—covered largely by a fund set up with oil-and-gas revenues—should save families roughly $16,000 a year on average on full-time daycare bills.
Providers of operating systems such as Microsoft, Apple, or Google will in the future have to ensure that they have a "youth protection device".
This is intended to ensure that porn filters are installed at the fundamental level of PCs, laptops, smart TVs, game consoles, and smartphones, and that age ratings for websites and apps are introduced. This is stipulated by the latest reform of the Interstate Treaty on the Protection of Minors in the Media (Jugendmedienschutz-Staatsvertrag, JMStV), which the state parliaments passed on Wednesday after Brandenburg relented with the 6th Interstate Media Amendment Treaty.
Mustafa Suleyman says people that are unimpressed with AI's capabilities are mind blowing to him, after recent backlash around Copilot and Windows as an agentic OS.
US President Donald Trump says he has approved a bill that orders the release of government files on the late convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein - a significant turning point in a months-long fight over the documents.
The justice department now has 30 days to publicly share all information from federal investigations into Epstein. However, it can withhold files that relate to active criminal investigations or are deemed to invade personal privacy.
The near-unanimous vote came after President Donald Trump -- Epstein's one-time close friend -- walked back months of opposition to the release, endorsing legislation that now moves to the Senate for approval.
Called Project Prometheus, the company is focusing on artificial intelligence for the engineering and manufacturing of computers, automobiles and spacecraft.
Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin has landed the booster of its New Glenn mega-rocket on a drone ship in the Atlantic Ocean on just its second attempt — making it the second company to perform such a feat, following Elon Musk’s SpaceX.
It’s an accomplishment that will help the new rocket system become an option to send larger payloads to space, the moon, and beyond.
Thursday’s launch wasn’t just about the landing attempt, though. Roughly 34 minutes after takeoff, the upper stage of New Glenn successfully deployed the rocket’s first commercial payload: twin spacecraft for NASA that will travel to Mars to study the red planet’s atmosphere.
On Sunday, Senate leadership inserted a hemp-recriminalization clause into the must-pass funding bill that would end the longest shutdown in American history, reported Marijuana Moment. On Monday, Cannabis Business Times confirmed that intoxicating hemp is being targeted as part of the three-bill spending package tied to reopening the government.
Not a standalone bill. Not a debate on cannabis reform. A shutdown ransom note.
Sixteen years ago, engineers working on the Google self-driving project conducted their first autonomous vehicle tests on the freeway that connects Silicon Valley to San Francisco.
The company would eventually become Waymo, autonomous vehicle testing would expand — fanning out to other cities. Eventually, the company launched commercial robotaxi services in Phoenix, San Francisco, and Los Angeles. Other cities soon followed.
But freeways, despite some of that early testing, would remain out of reach. Until today.
Blue Origin stands ready to help NASA achieve its goals with regard to landing humans on the Moon as soon as possible, the company’s chief executive said Saturday in an interview with Ars.
“We just want to help the US get to the Moon,” said Dave Limp, CEO of the space company founded by Jeff Bezos. “If NASA wants to go quicker, we would move heaven and Earth, pun intended, to try to get to the Moon sooner. And I think we have some good ideas.”