Trump's doctor says he's in excellent health - but are US presidents' health checks a PR exercise?

Every president in modern history - including Donald Trump this week - has taken an annual physical exam that is as much about messaging as it is about health.

from BBC News https://ift.tt/HdpXtQL

SoftBank pledges to invest up to €75B in AI computing clusters in France, first leading a €45B investment to build 3.1GW of capacity by 2031 in Hauts-de-France (Financial Times)

Financial Times:
SoftBank pledges to invest up to €75B in AI computing clusters in France, first leading a €45B investment to build 3.1GW of capacity by 2031 in Hauts-de-France  —  Masayoshi Son places France at the centre of his global AI ambitions  —  SoftBank has pledged to invest up to €75bn …

from Techmeme https://ift.tt/Aa2h3Eo

China's tech boom is creating a new kind of tech tourism where visitors pay for curated robotaxi rides and tours of EV factories and AI and robotics companies (Kinling Lo/Rest of World)

Kinling Lo / Rest of World:
China's tech boom is creating a new kind of tech tourism where visitors pay for curated robotaxi rides and tours of EV factories and AI and robotics companies  —  Foreign visitors are flocking to China's factories and AI startups in search of the next technological breakthrough.

from Techmeme https://ift.tt/vOAF6NW

US Space Force says SpaceX won a $4.16B contract to build a space-based tracking network as part of President Trump's Golden Dome defensive shield (Sana Pashankar/Bloomberg)

Sana Pashankar / Bloomberg:
US Space Force says SpaceX won a $4.16B contract to build a space-based tracking network as part of President Trump's Golden Dome defensive shield  —  SpaceX has won a contract for more than $4 billion to build satellites to track foreign aircraft and missiles as part of President Donald Trump's Golden Dome defensive shield.

from Techmeme https://ift.tt/3PZJm4s

Sources: Microsoft is working on an app that will include GitHub Copilot, Copilot chat, Copilot Cowork, and a new agentic workflow tool called Autopilot (Sebastian Herrera/Fortune)

Sebastian Herrera / Fortune:
Sources: Microsoft is working on an app that will include GitHub Copilot, Copilot chat, Copilot Cowork, and a new agentic workflow tool called Autopilot  —  Microsoft needs to solve a nagging problem: It has various Copilot AI assistants throughout its portfolio of products, irking customers who seek a single destination.

from Techmeme https://ift.tt/iYUHW8F

ElevenLabs launches Dubbing v2, which it says preserves the original speaker's emotion, tone, and pacing across 90+ languages while staying synced to content (ElevenLabs)

ElevenLabs:
ElevenLabs launches Dubbing v2, which it says preserves the original speaker's emotion, tone, and pacing across 90+ languages while staying synced to content  —  Today we're launching Dubbing v2, our revolutionary new AI dubbing model.  —  For the first time, the emotion and performance …

from Techmeme https://ift.tt/PKCRjtg

Anthropic says it expects Mythos-class models to be available to all customers "in the coming weeks" following the development of stronger safeguards (Madison Mills/Axios)

Madison Mills / Axios:
Anthropic says it expects Mythos-class models to be available to all customers “in the coming weeks” following the development of stronger safeguards  —  Anthropic released Claude Opus 4.8 Thursday, an upgrade to its flagship AI model with better coding and knowledge work skills, all for the same price as its prior version.

from Techmeme https://ift.tt/u6pDxWw

Anthropic launches Opus 4.8, saying it's "more likely to flag uncertainties about its work and less likely to make unsupported claims", at the same price as 4.7 (Russell Brandom/TechCrunch)

Russell Brandom / TechCrunch:
Anthropic launches Opus 4.8, saying it's “more likely to flag uncertainties about its work and less likely to make unsupported claims”, at the same price as 4.7  —  On Thursday, Anthropic released Opus 4.8, the newest version of its most advanced publicly available model.

from Techmeme https://ift.tt/WCp2HJt

Valve raises Steam Deck OLED prices due to "rising memory and storage costs"; the 512GB model is now $789, up from $549, and the 1TB model is $949, up from $649 (Jay Peters/The Verge)

Jay Peters / The Verge:
Valve raises Steam Deck OLED prices due to “rising memory and storage costs”; the 512GB model is now $789, up from $549, and the 1TB model is $949, up from $649  —  The 1TB OLED model got a $300 price increase, and now costs $949. … Valve has significantly increased the price …

from Techmeme https://ift.tt/mqHiOUP

Meta rolls out Plus plans for Instagram, Facebook, and WhatsApp globally, will test $7.99/mo. and $19.99/mo. Meta AI plans, a $49.99/mo. creator plan, and more (Sarah Perez/TechCrunch)

Sarah Perez / TechCrunch:
Meta rolls out Plus plans for Instagram, Facebook, and WhatsApp globally, will test $7.99/mo. and $19.99/mo. Meta AI plans, a $49.99/mo. creator plan, and more  —  Meta is doubling down on its subscription offerings.  On Wednesday, the social networking giant announced it's now rolling …

from Techmeme https://ift.tt/2L1OdTA

OpenAI announces partnerships to combat election misinformation, offering cybersecurity products to state officials and backing legislation to curb deepfakes (Maria Curi/Axios)

Maria Curi / Axios:
OpenAI announces partnerships to combat election misinformation, offering cybersecurity products to state officials and backing legislation to curb deepfakes  —  OpenAI is announcing new partnerships to combat misinformation, offering its cybersecurity products to state officials …

from Techmeme https://ift.tt/TIfDRXF

Starlette, an open-source Python framework underpinning FastAPI, has a vulnerability, called BadHost, that can allow hackers to bypass authorization (Dan Goodin/Ars Technica)

Dan Goodin / Ars Technica:
Starlette, an open-source Python framework underpinning FastAPI, has a vulnerability, called BadHost, that can allow hackers to bypass authorization  —  Millions of AI agents and tools around the world have been imperiled by a critical vulnerability that can allow hackers to breach …

from Techmeme https://ift.tt/fVGW0EF

Australia confirms first diphtheria death amid worst outbreak in decades

Most cases are in the Northern Territory with some also in Western Australia, South Australia and Queensland.

from BBC News https://ift.tt/iSzhMgd

London-based Perceptic, which says its end-to-end AI platform for drug development is being used by top pharmaceuticals, raised a $12M seed led by Accel (Jeremy Kahn/Fortune)

Jeremy Kahn / Fortune:
London-based Perceptic, which says its end-to-end AI platform for drug development is being used by top pharmaceuticals, raised a $12M seed led by Accel  —  A trio of former Palantir executives who helped spearhead that company's Life Sciences practice have founded a startup called Perceptic …

from Techmeme https://ift.tt/LHJpoK0

Q&A with Sundar Pichai about reshaping the information ecosystem with Search changes, putting AI agents in everything, when AI will replace him as CEO, and more (Nilay Patel/The Verge)

Nilay Patel / The Verge:
Q&A with Sundar Pichai about reshaping the information ecosystem with Search changes, putting AI agents in everything, when AI will replace him as CEO, and more  —  Today, I'm talking with Google and Alphabet CEO Sundar Pichai, in a conversation we recorded just after the Google I/O developer conference.

from Techmeme https://ift.tt/RcLI6Eb

Osaka sparkles in golden French Open outfit

Naomi Osaka continues her tradition of serving jaw-dropping looks at Grand Slams with an outfit that reminds her of "the Eiffel tower at night".

from BBC News https://ift.tt/ziw6QLa

Netanyahu says Israel will intensify strikes against Hezbollah

The Israeli military hits targets in eastern Lebanon after the prime minister announces further strikes.

from BBC News https://ift.tt/2CrHqyB

Report: the EU plans to fine Google a high triple-digit million euro amount as part of a 2025 probe over concerns it favors its own services in search results (Reuters)

Reuters:
Report: the EU plans to fine Google a high triple-digit million euro amount as part of a 2025 probe over concerns it favors its own services in search results  —  The European Union is planning to fine Alphabet's (GOOGL.O) Google a high triple-digit million euro amount as part of an antitrust investigation …

from Techmeme https://ift.tt/Rn3gJPO

Watch: Only world record broken at Enhanced Games won't be recognised

The BBC's Shaimaa Khalil explains why the achievement by Greek swimmer Kristian Gkolomeev will not be accepted by official sporting bodies.

from BBC News https://ift.tt/xpqv4OQ

Man killed in shark attack off Australia's north-east coast

The 39-year-old was fatally injured at a shoal off the Cassowary Coast in Queensland, apparently while spearfishing.

from BBC News https://ift.tt/35PEUJ4

The ECB summons Eurozone banks to a meeting on Tuesday to discuss risks posed by the latest AI models and hopes US banks with Mythos access will share lessons (Martin Arnold/Financial Times)

Martin Arnold / Financial Times:
The ECB summons Eurozone banks to a meeting on Tuesday to discuss risks posed by the latest AI models and hopes US banks with Mythos access will share lessons  —  Supervisor to stress seriousness of risks to financial system at hastily arranged meeting  —  The European Central Bank …

from Techmeme https://ift.tt/fB4jVlS

Trump tells US negotiators 'not to rush' into deal with Iran

The deal under discussion would involve a 60-day ceasefire extension during which the Strait of Hormuz would be reopened, according to US media.

from BBC News https://ift.tt/myUx8Pt

A look at the scourge of smartphone thefts in London, as victims describe receiving texts threatening them into unlinking Apple IDs from stolen iPhones (New York Times)

New York Times:
A look at the scourge of smartphone thefts in London, as victims describe receiving texts threatening them into unlinking Apple IDs from stolen iPhones  —  Tens of thousands of smartphones were reported stolen in the British capital in recent years.  For some victims, losing their phone was only the beginning.

from Techmeme https://ift.tt/JR9OKhY

Race for French presidency sees ex-PM Philippe as early favourite to beat populists

Latest polls suggest the centre-right figure is the only candidate who can defeat Marine Le Pen or Jean-Luc Mélenchon.

from BBC News https://ift.tt/Or5mIfQ

Dell says it has 5,000 clients for its AI Factory, a product line of servers with Nvidia chips, software, and services, including 1,000 new clients last quarter (Dina Bass/Bloomberg)

Dina Bass / Bloomberg:
Dell says it has 5,000 clients for its AI Factory, a product line of servers with Nvidia chips, software, and services, including 1,000 new clients last quarter  —  Dell Technologies Inc. said it added 1,000 customers for a key AI product line in the past quarter as the company tries …

from Techmeme https://ift.tt/eXTvJUh

'No means no': Greenlanders protest against Trump outside new US consulate

The inauguration of the new consulate comes amid a push by the US president for greater control over the island.

from BBC News https://ift.tt/1hbgLsZ

Activision shareholders reach a $250M settlement over allegations that Microsoft and Activision underpaid them during Microsoft's 2023 acquisition of Activision (Tom Hals/Reuters)

Tom Hals / Reuters:
Activision shareholders reach a $250M settlement over allegations that Microsoft and Activision underpaid them during Microsoft's 2023 acquisition of Activision  —  Shareholders of Activision Blizzard reached a $250 million settlement over allegations that Microsoft and former executives of the maker of the …

from Techmeme https://ift.tt/LorGRHY

August Robotics, which makes autonomous robots for construction and industrial applications, raised $30M led by Big Pi Ventures (Kyt Dotson/SiliconANGLE)

Kyt Dotson / SiliconANGLE:
August Robotics, which makes autonomous robots for construction and industrial applications, raised $30M led by Big Pi Ventures  —  August Robotics Ltd., a robotics automation company for construction and industrial applications, today announced it raised $30 million in new funding led by Big Pi Ventures.

from Techmeme https://ift.tt/kBehxvF

Charges dismissed against official at school where six-year-old shot teacher

The child fired a single shot at a teacher, who had to have surgery after the incident in 2023.

from BBC News https://ift.tt/2aQWN9X

Apple plans to broadcast an MLS game on Saturday shot entirely on 15 iPhone 17 Pros, the first major live sports event to be captured using only smartphones (Todd Spangler/Variety)

Todd Spangler / Variety:
Apple plans to broadcast an MLS game on Saturday shot entirely on 15 iPhone 17 Pros, the first major live sports event to be captured using only smartphones  —  Apple has frequently touted the use of professional-grade iPhones by filmmakers to make shorts, commercials and even feature-length movies.

from Techmeme https://ift.tt/XJZIfSz

Could a football match soften North Korea-South Korea relations?

A North Korean women's football team played in South Korea marking the first time athletes from the North have crossed the border in nearly 8 years.

from BBC News https://ift.tt/ZMvU9Le

Google says it is testing new ad formats in search results and AI Mode, including Conversational Discovery ads, Highlighted Answers, and AI-powered Shopping ads (Anu Adegbola/Search Engine Land)

Anu Adegbola / Search Engine Land:
Google says it is testing new ad formats in search results and AI Mode, including Conversational Discovery ads, Highlighted Answers, and AI-powered Shopping ads  —  Google is introducing a new generation of Gemini-powered ad formats across AI Mode and Search designed to make ads feel more conversational …

from Techmeme https://ift.tt/fQqg6vB

Airbnb says it is adding luggage storage, airport pickups, car rentals, grocery delivery, and thousands of boutique and independent hotels to its platform (Jacob Passy/Wall Street Journal)

Jacob Passy / Wall Street Journal:
Airbnb says it is adding luggage storage, airport pickups, car rentals, grocery delivery, and thousands of boutique and independent hotels to its platform  —  Platform ramps up hotel-booking options, car rentals and AI-enabled features, expecting World Cup to drive record use

from Techmeme https://ift.tt/KBs2cgj

Google unveils conversational features for Gmail, Docs, and Keep, letting users ask natural language questions, rolling out to AI Pro and Ultra subs this summer (Daniel Cooper/Engadget)

Daniel Cooper / Engadget:
Google unveils conversational features for Gmail, Docs, and Keep, letting users ask natural language questions, rolling out to AI Pro and Ultra subs this summer  —  It can pluck answers to questions out of the data in your apps.  —  Google thinks that it's good to speak out loud and so …

from Techmeme https://ift.tt/0vIbdPe

Judge rules gun and writings are admissible in Luigi Mangione's New York murder trial

Other items found with Mangione at a Pennsylvania McDonald's will not be allowed to be presented in court, the judge ruled.

from BBC News https://ift.tt/hY42ayV

Sigma, which sells a cloud-native analytics platform that sits on top of data warehouses, raised an $80M Series E led by Princeville Capital at a $3B valuation (Cristian Dina/The Next Web)

Cristian Dina / The Next Web:
Sigma, which sells a cloud-native analytics platform that sits on top of data warehouses, raised an $80M Series E led by Princeville Capital at a $3B valuation  —  The round was led by Princeville Capital, with new strategic investors Databricks Ventures, ServiceNow Ventures, and Workday Ventures also participating.

from Techmeme https://ift.tt/w8Pk72E

Musk v. Altman jury unanimously rejects Elon Musk's claims against Sam Altman; the judge dismisses two additional claims citing the statute of limitation (CNBC)

CNBC:
Musk v. Altman jury unanimously rejects Elon Musk's claims against Sam Altman; the judge dismisses two additional claims citing the statute of limitation  —  After less than two hours of deliberations, a jury rejected Elon Musk's claims against OpenAI CEO Sam Altman, ending a dramatic chapter …

from Techmeme https://ift.tt/sHYN6Cc

Cursor releases Composer 2.5, saying it's better at sustained work on long-running tasks and follows complex instructions more reliably; it's built on Kimi K2.5 (Cursor)

Cursor:
Cursor releases Composer 2.5, saying it's better at sustained work on long-running tasks and follows complex instructions more reliably; it's built on Kimi K2.5  —  Composer 2.5 is now available in Cursor.  —  It's a substantial improvement in intelligence and behavior over Composer 2.

from Techmeme https://ift.tt/JyOjrNq