Recent developments highlight California Forever's new tech manufacturing park and Microsoft's environmental investment, alongside Hadrian and Boulevard securing significant funding, while Ami Colé faces closure and a UAE-Nvidia AI chip deal is on hold, reflecting dynamic shifts in tech funding, manufacturing, and corporate strategies.

• ‘Utopian’ city California Forever announces huge tech manufacturing park — TechCrunch -
• Anthropic tightens usage limits for Claude Code – without telling users — TechCrunch -
• Microsoft is buying tons of carbon removal from Xprize startup Vaulted Deep — TechCrunch -

• Hadrian raises $260M to build out automated factories for space and defense parts — TechCrunch -
• After raising over $3M, popular VC-backed beauty brand Ami Colé is shuttering — TechCrunch -
• Rivian restarting work on its Georgia factory, emails show — TechCrunch -
• Substack raises $100M from Chernin Group, Andreessen Horowitz, Skims CEO, and more — TechCrunch -
• Boulevard raises $80M to power self-care boom driven by Botox and GLP-1 surge — TechCrunch -
• UAE’s deal to buy Nvidia AI chips reportedly on hold — TechCrunch -
• Lovable becomes a unicorn with $200M Series A just 8 months after launch — TechCrunch -

Recent advancements showcase ChatGPT's new AI agent capabilities and OpenAI's launch of a general-purpose agent, while Google's research paper hides a secret message and Mistral's chatbot gains deep research mode, alongside Adobe's innovative AI audio tool and Slack's integration of AI for productivity.

• ChatGPT’s new AI agent can browse the web and create PowerPoint slideshows — Ars Technica -
• Google hides secret message in name list of 3,295 AI researchers — Ars Technica -
• OpenAI launches a general purpose agent in ChatGPT — TechCrunch -

• Mistral’s Le Chat chatbot gets a productivity push with new ‘deep research’ mode — TechCrunch -
• Perplexity’s CEO on why the browser is AI’s killer app — The Verge -
• Adobe’s new AI tool turns silly noises into realistic audio effects — The Verge -
• Slack says its AI can make sense of your company’s jargon — The Verge -
• Slack bolsters search with AI, adds transcriptions and summaries for huddles — TechCrunch -

Concerns over digital security persist with GitHub being abused for malware distribution and hackers targeting Signal clone users, while **Meta settles an $8B privacy case and North Korean hackers drive a spike in crypto thefts, prompting Roblox to introduce new age estimation safeguards and a stealth startup, Confident Security, to raise funds for AI privacy**.

• GitHub abused to distribute payloads on behalf of malware-as-a-service — Ars Technica -
• Hackers are trying to steal passwords and sensitive data from users of Signal clone — TechCrunch -
• Zuckerberg and Meta investors reach settlement in $8B privacy case — TechCrunch -

• Confident Security, ‘the Signal for AI,’ comes out of stealth with $4.2M — TechCrunch -
• North Korean hackers blamed for record spike in crypto thefts in 2025 — TechCrunch -
• Roblox will require a facial scan or government ID to have unfiltered chats — The Verge -
• Roblox introduces new safeguards for teens, including age estimation tech — TechCrunch -

The latest in consumer technology includes Dictionary.com facing user backlash for deleting lists and Android phones serving as earthquake warning systems, alongside updates on Pixel Watch repairability and Samsung's 3D monitor, while Spotify expands audiobook access and Apple CarPlay Ultra details emerge, all impacting how users interact with their devices and digital services.

• Dictionary.com “devastated” paid users by abruptly deleting saved words lists — Ars Technica -
• How Android phones became an earthquake warning system — Ars Technica -
• The Pixel Watch 4 might not become e-waste if you damage it — Ars Technica -

• Samsung’s Odyssey 3D monitor delivers great visuals, limited game support — Ars Technica -
• Spotify expands audiobook access to family plan members for the first time — TechCrunch -
• Sony is still stubborn about the size of its cameras — The Verge -
• Dyson’s $500 headphones come in even more colors — The Verge -
• Everything we learned from a week with Apple CarPlay Ultra — Ars Technica -

Policy news includes Trump's Coca-Cola claims going flat and his administration capping bandage prices, while a cop is jailed for bitcoin theft and the Senate votes to cut public broadcasting, and AI pricing is criticized for potentially ending cheap flights, as feds drop fuel economy fines and the EU pauses its X probe.

• Trump’s claims of a Coca-Cola agreement quickly go flat as nutritionists groan — Ars Technica -
• Trump admin to finally cap price of weird bandages that cost $10 billion last year — Ars Technica -
• Cocky cop jailed for stealing bitcoins had log of his crypto theft in his office — Ars Technica -

• Senate votes to kill entire public broadcasting budget in blow to NPR and PBS — Ars Technica -
• Will AI end cheap flights? Critics attack Delta’s “predatory” AI pricing. — Ars Technica -
• Feds tell automakers to forget about paying fuel economy fines — Ars Technica -
• EU presses pause on probe of X as US trade talks heat up — Ars Technica -

Entertainment updates feature **new trailers for TRON: Ares and Alien: Earth, and Karl Urban as Johnny Cage in Mortal Kombat II, alongside a review of a gritty Pac-Man reboot and the movie Eddington's pandemic portrayal, while Apple News+ introduces a new emoji game**.

• Jared Leto is the ultimate soldier in new TRON: Ares trailer — Ars Technica -
• Karl Urban is a wise-cracking Johnny Cage in Mortal Kombat II — Ars Technica -
• Synths hunt down deadly monsters in latest Alien: Earth trailer — Ars Technica -

• A gritty Pac-Man reboot makes for surprisingly solid Metroid-style action — The Verge -
• Eddington gets the pandemic right but still isn’t a great movie — The Verge -
• Apple News+ adds a new game that uses emoji and Genmoji to solve puzzles — TechCrunch -

Online platform news includes Twitch testing vertical video streams and Meta appointing a generative AI VP to run Threads, while TikTok introduces new promotional features for songwriters, and Jack Dorsey invests in an open-source social media nonprofit.

• Twitch starts testing vertical video streams — TechCrunch -
• Meta appoints generative AI VP to run Threads — TechCrunch -
• TikTok lures songwriters with new promotional features — TechCrunch -

• TikTok is putting the spotlight on songwriters — The Verge -
• Jack Dorsey pumps $10M into a nonprofit focused on open source social media — TechCrunch -

Developments in autonomous transport show Uber making multi-million dollar investments in Lucid and Nuro to build a premium robotaxi service, outlining plans for thousands of robotaxis.

• Uber makes multimillion-dollar investment in Lucid and Nuro to build a premium robotaxi service — TechCrunch -
• Uber to invest hundreds of millions of dollars in Lucid and Nuro in massive robotaxi deal — The Verge -