Technology

Skynet has missed another appointment. Depending on which Terminator timeline you prefer, the murderous artificial intelligence should have become self-aware in 1997, 2004, 2011, 2017, or perhaps last Tuesday. Each date has passed without a nuclear exchange. The machines have mostly occupied themselves by flattering users, mangling fingers in photos, and confidently inventing facts for gullible people to believe.

That has not stopped Silicon Valley from treating artificial general intelligence as both an imminent miracle and an approaching monster. AGI supposedly marks the moment a machine can match human intelligence across a broad range of tasks, though nobody can agree on which tasks, which humans, or what counts as intelligence.

Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang thinks it already happened and nobody noticed. “For many tasks, we could say that we’ve already achieved AGI,” he said during Nvidia’s latest earnings call. He added that such milestones are “kind of senseless at this point.” So much for Skynet.

But he is right that AGI has become close to useless as a measure of progress. Companies can redefine it according to whatever their newest model happens to do well. It's a promotion, not a scientific standard.

Apocalyptic decoy

But AI isn't harmless even if it's not inclined to play with nuclear bombs. There are less theatrical dangers from AI fueled by old-fashioned human greed and malevolence.

Today’s AI can produce endless fodder for scams. It can clone voices and faces well enough to trick loved ones out of money, use phishing messages to hack secure servers, and flood social networks with synthetic accounts that never tire of arguing. None of this qualifies as AGI under any serious definition, but the distinction offers little comfort to the person hearing a fake recording of a relative begging for money.

The fixation on AGI may actually make life harder for regulators.

Profit isn't a good yardstick

Huang argued that the concept of AGI should be replaced. We should consider if it is “doing productive and useful work” and “generating profitable tokens.” That makes sense for Nvidia, but to ordinary people worried about AI, profitability is not much of a safety test.

Scams are profitable. That's why there are so many. Firing human employees for an AI model that is 30% as good at 10% the price is profitable (in the short term). Neither result is something to brag about when describing the result of your product.

Retiring AGI as the organizing obsession and fear of the industry makes sense, but that doesn't mean AI companies can relax. Intelligence is too complex to serve as the sole trigger for concern. Power might be a better lens. We can measure who uses AI, and how, as well as who is expected to clean up when they fail. Then we'll know how explosive an impact it's had on our lives.

Conversations about liability, identity verification, ownership, and other legal details don't have the visual excitement of mushroom clouds, but regulators should make AI companies discuss them instead. We need to keep an eye on the human hands on the keyboard, not the perpetually delayed Skynet.

• Sony is launching a new free ad-supported service on PS5 consoles
• Its 100 live channels cover a wide range of titles across film, TV, news, sports, and more
• Live TV on PS5 is available to US users now, with availability for Canada and other regions to follow

Sony is dipping its toes back into free streaming channels with its new Live TV on PS5 platform — following platforms such as Tubi, Google TV Freeplay, and The Roku Channel.

The gaming and entertainment giant announced Live TV on PS5 yesterday (August 31), revealing that PS5 owners in the US can now access the service’s 100 ad-supported live channels and on-demand titles. Sony also has plans to expand Live TV on PS5 to Canada and additional regions, and will roll out the free service to Bravia TVs later this year.

For a new free streaming platform, Sony is already going big with its entertainment offerings. As far as its movie channels go, Live TV on PS5 has a slew of titles spanning action, horror, sci-fi, and more, all while housing popular anime titles from Crunchyroll.

The service also has a rich catalog of TV titles, including shows such as Community, The Shield, Hell’s Kitchen, The Walking Dead, Forensic Files, Unsolved Mysteries, Deal or No Deal USA, and Fear Factor.

Movies and shows aside, current affairs and news viewing is also available for free, offering programming from NBC News Now, Fox Weather, and LiveNOW from FOX. Additionally, you can also access channels including FOX Sports, NASCAR, NBC Sports Now, and UFC, so sports fans aren’t being left out of the experience.

Just like other platforms in our roster of best streaming services, Sony will keep Live TV on PS5 refreshed with new programming, titles, and channels to expose you to new content and keep you on your toes. Hopefully its library won’t remain stagnant and outdated, but it’s not as if Sony doesn’t know what it’s doing — it’s dipped its toes into the FAST channels waters before.

PlayStation Vue was a live TV service that allowed you to watch titles without the need for a cable box, before Sony axed it in 2020. It’s safe to say that PlayStation Vue was a widely admired service, and countless PS owners have been reminiscing about its nostalgia on Reddit following the announcement of Live TV on PS5 — however, whether the new platform will be a welcomed addition is debatable.

Comment from r/gaming

Sony’s decision to kill off physical games and shift to digital ownership is still under intense scrutiny, not to mention the uproar that came when Sony deleted 500 movies users paid for following a licensing conflict. So there’s still the burning question regarding ownership: if everything is digital, do users really own it? There’s also the question of how different Sony’s FAST streaming service is to existing platforms.

In the Reddit discussion mentioned earlier, some users flagged that a lot of the FAST channels available on Live TV on PS5 are strikingly similar to the ones already available on services such as Tubi and Pluto TV, as one user said it ‘sounds like the same channels as [my] Roku TV’. Similarly, another commenter wrote that Sony’s streaming platform looks ‘like a copy of Roku TV, where they only show reruns and older shows, or lesser known shows’.

The common denominator with the best free streaming services are the providers, as another user highlights in the thread, so running into the same types of programming across these platforms isn’t out of the ordinary. For users who use their PS5 consoles as their main media hub, it’s a solid free upgrade and it’s there if you want to use it. At the same time, you can already download Tubi and Pluto TV on PS5, so the competition is tough.

• Most specs of the upcoming Enough Phone have been revealed
• Highlights include a tiny 5.3-inch screen and a 3,500-4,000mAh removable battery
• The Enough Phone will be coming to Kickstarter soon

Compact smartphones are almost impossible to come by these days. Apple hasn’t made one since the iPhone 13 mini in 2021, and most Android phones have screens of over 6 inches. But while the industry is trending larger, there is still a market for small phones, and the Enough Phone aims to serve it.

This handset was first announced in late June, but back then, little was known about it. Now, the company behind it has revealed many of the specs and shared photos of a dummy unit.

The Enough Phone is intended to have a 5.3-inch 720 x 1520 LCD screen, making its display marginally smaller than the iPhone 13 mini’s 5.4-inch one. Its overall dimensions are 132.8 x 63.8 x 12mm, making it similar in length and width but far thicker than the 131.5 x 64.2 x 7.7mm Apple device.

(Image credit: Enough Phone)A relatively large battery but basic specs

That chunky design might be disappointing, but it allows for a far higher-capacity battery, with the manufacturer aiming for one of 3,500-4,000mAh. Plus, this will be a user-replaceable battery.

Not all the specs have been confirmed yet, but other ones listed here include a mid-range MediaTek Dimensity 7500 chipset, 8GB of RAM, 128GB of storage, a single-lens 50MP rear camera, a 32MP front-facing one, Android 17 with an OdysseyOS overlay, a fingerprint sensor, 5G, NFC, a microSD card slot, eSIM support, and a polycarbonate back.

So, in all, the Enough Phone sounds fairly basic, but between its compact screen, removable battery, and microSD card slot, it could stand out — if the price is right.

Sadly, the price is still to be confirmed, and in fact there’s no guarantee that it will launch at all, as the company hopes to fund it via Kickstarter, with a campaign said to be starting soon. So, if you’re interested, keep an eye out for that — or sign up to the company’s mailing list.

The Shards episode 8 is streaming on Hulu for US viewers and Disney+ internationally soon, and you won't want to miss it after last week's tense double bill.

In Homecoming part 1 and 2, we saw a homecoming queen crowned (naturally), creating some tensions between Debbie and Susan. With the latter winning something again, this strained friendship group is only becoming more complicated.

But with The Trawler still out there, teen drama around popularity seems irrelevant. The killer's identity has not been unmasked yet, and is anyone really safe? Disturbingly, the killer left the severed head of Matt for Bret to find, and that unsettling visual has no doubt stuck with you.

We'll be picking up after this shocking moment in episode 8, titled Hamlet. Here's what you need to know about it.

What time can I watch The Shards episode 8 on Hulu?

For US viewers, The Shards episodes 6 and 7 will drop on Wednesday, September 2 at 6pm PT/ 9pm ET.

Here's when you can stream the new episodes in other countries.

• US – Wednesday, September 2 at 6pm PT / 9pm ET
• Canada – Wednesday, September 2 at 6pm PT / 9pm ET
• UK – Thursday, September 3 at 2am BST
• India – Thursday, September 3 at 6:30am IST
• Singapore – Thursday, September 3 at 9am SGT
• Australia – Thursday, September 3 at 11am AEDT
• New Zealand – Thursday, September 3 at 12pm NZDT

When do new episodes of The Shards come out?

(Image credit: Hulu)

The season finale is right around the corner, as episode 8 marks the penultimate episode of The Shards. It's just one episode this week after last week's double bill, but I'm sure it'll be no less thrilling.

For dates as well as the episode titles for the upcoming The Shards releases, take a look below.

• The Shards Episode 1 “Pilot”: Out now
• The Shards Episode 2 “Don’t You Want Me”: Out now
• The Shards Episode 3 “Help Me! Rhonda!”: Out now
• The Shards Episode 4 “Robert’s Party”: Out now
• The Shards Episode 5 “Murder on the Dancefloor”: Out now
• The Shards Episode 6 “Homecoming Part One”: Out now
• The Shards Episode 7 “Homecoming Part Two”: Out now
• The Shards Episode 8 “Hamlet”: Wednesday, September 2
• The Shards Episode 9 “Stairway to Heaven”: Wednesday, September 9

Dyson’s entry into dental care makes your standard toothbrush look like a caveman’s toothbrush.

• JBL has just unveiled its new Cove line of home speakers
• 3 models which vary in shape and size (but note the Denon resemblance)
• Designed for home use, and to work with various JBL technologies

When you think of JBL speakers, your mind probably goes to the likes of the JBL Go 5 or JBL Xtreme 5: portable party devices which you take on the go. However, the brand's new offerings are totally different.

JBL has unveiled its Cove range, consisting of three speakers that are designed to stay at home. That's not to say they're not portable, but you're not meant to take them camping or to the beach.

The family is made up of the smaller Cove M1, larger (but portable) Cove P1, and even larger (and not quite portable) X1. All three models are set to sell from October 2026.

All three models have a range of useful features: they can self-tune depending on the room they're in, automatically apply balances to avoid distortion, and pair together to create multi-room noise. They don't just pair with each other: they can also connect with the JBL Bar Mk2 to add real surround sound to your movies and TV.

These are all Wi-Fi enabled speakers, though they can connect via Bluetooth. This means they support Google Cast, AirPlay 2, Spotify Connect, Roon Ready, Tidal Connect and Qobuz Connect, and they'll apparently also support Alexa+ at some point after launch.

Their design makes us think about two things. Firstly, they'll be able to fight for a spot in our best wireless speakers guide, and second, their resemblance to the Denon 200, 400 and 600 range is hard to overlook — and given our glowing review of the Denon Home 400, JBL's Cove X1 (main image) is up against some stiff competition. That's not to say the new range can't wow us, just that it's tough at the top.

Music at home? Head to the Cove

(Image credit: JBL)

The cheapest model of the family is the JBL Cove M1, which is due to sell for €229.99 (about $260, £200, AU$400). This has 2x 30mm and 1x 20mm silk dome tweeters, and a 4" woofer.

It's the only model to lack Dolby Atmos support, and it's designed to be compact so it can fit in various nooks of your home.

Next up, the Cove P1 will sell for €449.99 (about $520, £380, AU$760), and it has all the same drivers as the M1.

So why the higher price? Well, it's the only model with a built-in battery, letting you bring the sound into your garden. It'll last for 14 hours, with a recharging dock included to power it up. IT also has an IP56 rating, unlike the other models, in case it gets caught in a spell of rain.

For a little more, you can buy the Cove X1, which will go for €499.99 (about $580, £430, AU$860). It has 4x 30mm tweeters and 2x 4" woofers, so it'll offer a much more advanced sound than its siblings.

It's designed to offer "3D room-filling" sound, and for that price you'd hope so.

We’ve arrived at something of a crossroads for the world’s favorite smartphone manufacturer and maker of shiny things. On August 24, 2011, Steve Jobs resigned as Apple CEO and Tim Cook took over. Today, September 1, Cook leaves the CEO role as new CEO John Ternus steps in.

Fifteen years ago, Apple had to prove that it could survive without Steve Jobs. We now know the answer to that question. Yes, it could — but it stopped behaving quite so much like the maverick company that had thrived on innovation, arrogance, and boldly striking out into new territory. Under Cook, Apple became more disciplined, more predictable, and increasingly focused on refining its established product lines.

It’s perhaps unfair to paint Cook purely as a custodian and refiner of Jobs’ greatest hits — Apple did release the Apple Watch and Vision Pro under his guidance, after all — but history will remember him as the great refiner rather than as a creative genius like Jobs. As Cook hands over the reins to Ternus and Apple prepares for its next chapter, let’s look back at his tenure and how he changed the company.

1. He made Apple rich

(Image credit: Apple)

The first thing Cook did was not try to be Steve Jobs. When he inherited the role, Cook was looking at a product lineup that was the envy of every smartphone and computer manufacturer in the world — Apple had the iPhone, iPad, Mac, iPod, App Store and iTunes — and he exploited it to the max.

Cook turned Apple into an incredibly efficient global machine, and perhaps we should have seen it coming. Before becoming CEO, he had been Apple’s COO, responsible for worldwide sales, operations, and its supply chain.

Cook turned Apple into a money machine. When he took over, Apple was worth just under $350 billion. That was nothing to be sniffed at, but this year its market value briefly crossed $5 trillion. Apple’s entire revenue in 2011 was $108 billion; in Q3 2026 alone, it generated $109.4 billion. Incredibly, Apple now makes as much money in three months as the company Cook inherited made in an entire year.

2. He made Apple a services company

Tim Cook and Alicia Keys on stage at Apple's 50th anniversary celebrations. (Image credit: Apple)

Considering how many services Apple now runs, and how much money I give it every month, it’s easy to forget that it wasn’t always like this. When Steve Jobs was in charge, Apple was very much a hardware and software company. Of course, it had iTunes, which gave it incredible connections to the music industry because of its iPod heritage, but in those days you bought music; you didn’t rent it. Now that has all changed.

In 2011, when Cook took over, Apple essentially had iTunes, the App Store and AppleCare. Cook-era Apple gave us Apple Music, Apple TV+, Apple Pay, Apple Card, Apple News+, Apple Arcade, Fitness+, iCloud+ and the much bigger subscription business around them. It was an impressive shift in Apple’s direction, giving it a reliable stream of recurring revenue while pulling customers even deeper into its ecosystem.

3. Apple Watch and AirPods expanded the ecosystem

(Image credit: Getty Images)

Rather than arriving with a bang, the Apple Watch was something of a slow burn. It’s hard to imagine it now, but at launch it felt as though Apple didn’t really know what it wanted the Watch to be. It was several things at once — a fitness tracker, a fashion object, an app platform and a luxury item. There was even an 18-karat gold Apple Watch Edition, with prices ranging from $10,000 to $17,000.

In classic Tim Cook fashion, however, the product was refined over time. Apple added increasingly sophisticated health features, including ECG readings and fall detection, allowing the Watch to build up a much more useful picture of your health. What started as a product with a heart-rate monitor and three activity rings developed into a health and fitness watch that deserved its place in the market.

AirPods were a different story altogether. I remember people thinking they were too expensive for earphones, but they hadn’t factored in how easy AirPods made connecting Bluetooth earphones to an iPhone, or switching between other Apple devices such as a MacBook and Apple Watch. They were a big success almost immediately.

Together, Apple Watch and AirPods also made the iPhone more valuable. They weren’t simply accessories; they extended Apple’s ecosystem onto our wrists and into our ears, making its products harder to leave behind.

4. Apple silicon demonstrated that Apple could still execute huge technological transitions

(Image credit: Apple)

Apple silicon is probably Cook’s biggest technological achievement. Moving the Mac from Intel processors to Apple’s own chips in 2020, while bringing its huge library of existing software and millions of users along with it, was an immense challenge. Yet Apple made the transition look almost routine.

The M-series chips transformed the Mac. They delivered far better performance per watt, substantially longer battery life and much less heat than the Intel processors they replaced. Suddenly, even Apple’s thinnest MacBook Air could offer the sort of performance that had previously required a much bigger, hotter and noisier machine.

The transition also gave Apple control over the Mac’s technological roadmap and brought its computers onto the same fundamental architecture as the iPhone and iPad. Apple had changed the Mac’s processor architecture twice before, but the smoothness of the Apple silicon transition showed that Cook’s Apple could still make an enormous technological bet — and execute it brilliantly.

5. Privacy became a defining philosophy

(Image credit: Getty Images / Justin Sullivan)

Perhaps Cook’s most important contribution was turning privacy into one of Apple’s defining principles. Cook repeatedly described privacy as a fundamental human right, but Apple also backed up that language with features that materially changed how its products worked. Even today I still associate Apple with privacy, and I think a lot of other people do as well.

Under Cook, Apple introduced the controversial App Tracking Transparency, which forced apps to ask before tracking people across other apps and websites. It added privacy labels to the App Store, Mail Privacy Protection, Sign in with Apple and more on-device processing, while expanding end-to-end encryption across its services.

Apple even took on the FBI in 2016 rather than create software that could bypass the security of a locked iPhone.

Of course, privacy also became extremely effective marketing for Apple, and it was a lot easier for Apple to go down this route when it made money from hardware instead of selling ads. Apple's record on respecting privacy in China isn't spotless, but under Cook it felt like Apple genuinely cared about protecting your data.

Gone but not forgotten

Tim Cook isn't actually leaving Apple. He's still on the board, just not the CEO. While Cook’s record of being in charge has been more than impressive, he never quite managed to produce a product that changed the world the way the iPhone did. The Apple Vision Pro was perhaps his biggest attempt, but its timing was unfortunate. Just as it tried to persuade the world to put on a headset, Apple was being blindsided by the rise of generative AI, which left Siri looking seriously underpowered.

Perhaps judging Cook’s reign against the Apple that produced the iPhone is unfair — a product like that is a once in a lifetime event. Now it is John Ternus' turn at the helm, and he’s going to need to get a grip on Apple’s AI experiments and produce a coherent vision for the future. Tim Cook has put him in a very good position.

• The EU just added ChatGPT to its list of Very Large Online Search Engines, alongside Google
• Reddit and Roblox have also been designated as Very Large Online Platforms
• They'll need to adhere to greater requirements by January 2027

The European Union has designated ChatGPT as a Very Large Online Search Engine (VLOSE) and Reddit and Roblox as Very Large Online Platforms (VLOP), putting them in the same enhanced regulatory tier as the likes of Google, Facebook, TikTok and Amazon.

The three companies triggered the switch when they amassed around 45 million monthly average users within the EU, which correlates to 10% of the bloc's rough population.

Importantly, the European Commission effectively ended up treating ChatGPT's web search functionality as part of the search market, rather than seeing the platform as a GenAI platform.

EU adds three more platforms to its 'Very Large' list

ChatGPT had reported around 120 million monthly users in the European Union alone in September 2025, putting it way above the 45 million threshold. By March 2026 it had surpassed 159 million monthly EU users.

Reddit and Roblox count 57 million and 48 million respectively, sitting them much closer to the threshold.

As for the impacts, the VLOSE/VLOP rules extend much further than the standard DSA requirements the three companies are already subjected to, spanning "the dissemination of illegal content, the negative effects on minors, users' physical and mental well-being, fundamental rights, electoral processes and public security." They'll also be subjected to greater transparency and reporting requirements, with the Commission getting more oversight over their ongoings.

"These new designations mean that ChatGPT, Reddit and Roblox will now be held to a higher standard of scrutiny and accountability in the European Union," EVP Henna Virkkunen wrote.

The three companies will need to comply with the greater requirements by January 2027.

The way people search for information is changing. Increasingly, they’re turning to AI tools such as Google AI Overviews, ChatGPT, Perplexity and Claude instead of traditional search engines. That changes what businesses need to optimize for.

Content quality, authority and trust still matter enormously. But they're no longer enough by themselves. Even the best content won’t do much if AI struggles to find it or understand it.

The CMA's decision to give publishers more control over how their content appears in Google’s AI search is another reminder that AI is changing how people find information online. That's creating new opportunities, particularly for smaller organizations. AI doesn't necessarily favor the biggest brands; it favors sources it can understand and trust.

Why aren’t search rankings enough anymore?

Search rankings alone aren’t enough anymore because many people now receive answers directly from AI rather than clicking through search results. Traditional SEO has always been about helping people find your website.

You create useful content, build authority, improve the technical health of your site and compete for the search terms that matter most. The difference is that users don't always follow the same journey anymore.

Someone researching providers might never look beyond an AI-generated summary. Instead of opening multiple browser tabs and comparing businesses themselves, they ask a question and receive a recommendation in seconds.

For example, the best independent café within walking distance that's open now, clothes stores nearby running a 50% sale, or where to find a family-friendly Italian restaurant with good reviews. The AI does the searching, filtering and comparing before presenting a shortlist.

That changes what businesses need to optimize for. Success is no longer measured purely by where your website ranks—it's also influenced by whether AI systems recognize your content as accurate, trustworthy and useful enough to reference.

AI doesn't create answers in isolation. It still relies on information published across the web. Websites are the source AI uses to understand businesses, compare different services and then create a recommendation. If anything, they're becoming more important because they now serve two audiences: the people visiting them and the AI systems interpreting them.

That's why treating AI visibility as purely a marketing challenge misses part of the picture. From an engineering perspective, the quality of the underlying website matters just as much as the quality of the content published on it.

Why does website performance matter to AI search?

Website performance matters because AI systems can only recommend content they can easily find, access and understand. Before AI can reference a website, it needs to crawl it, collect information and understand the content before it can include that information in a response.

Sites that are too difficult to navigate, slow to load or poorly structured make that process more difficult. Important information that’s buried behind scripts or inconsistent page structures also makes it harder for AI to interpret, meaning they’re less likely to use it as a source.

That's why technical performance influences visibility in ways many businesses haven't considered before. Website speed, uptime, structured data, accessibility and clear information architecture have traditionally been viewed as operational concerns. They're becoming visibility signals too.

Performance has always mattered because users expect fast, reliable websites. AI search gives businesses another reason to invest in those fundamentals.

What should businesses do differently?

The first step is to look at the parts of your website that are often overlooked. Does it still perform well when traffic suddenly spikes? Are pages loading quickly for real users? Can people, and AI systems, find the information they're looking for easily?

Good hosting and reliable infrastructure play a much bigger role than many businesses realize. A website that's fast, stable and able to handle busy periods gives customers a better experience and makes it easier for AI systems to access and understand your content.

If your website struggles when demand increases, it's not just visitors who notice. AI-powered monitoring tools can also help identify unusual traffic patterns and potential issues before they begin affecting users or AI systems trying to access your site.

It's also worth looking beyond performance scores alone. A website might perform well in a controlled speed test but still struggle during a seasonal sale, a product launch or a viral social media campaign. Those are often the moments when visibility matters most, and when businesses need confidence that their infrastructure will scale without compromising the user experience.

One of the simplest things businesses can do is make their website easier for AI to understand. That means keeping pages well organized, using structured data where it makes sense and making sure important information isn’t buried or difficult to find. Paired with reliable hosting and solid infrastructure, businesses can give both customers and AI a much better experience.

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If eating like cows wasn't entertaining enough in last week's episode of Stuart Fails to Save the Universe, now our gang are all instantly telepathic in their latest universe.

Is any of this getting anyone close to solving the bigger issues at play? Absolutely not. But with season 2 now officially renewed, that was unlikely to happen anyway.

With four episodes left to go, let's get back to what's important. When does Stuart Fails to Save the Universe episode 7 arrive on HBO Max?

What time can I watch Stuart Fails to Save the Universe episode 7 on HBO Max?

For US viewers, Stuart Fails to Save the Universe episode 7 will drop on Thursday, September 3 at 6pm PT/ 9pm ET.

Internationally, you're looking out for these timings:

• US – Thursday, September 3 at 6pm PT / 9pm ET
• Canada – Thursday, September 3 at 6pm PT / 9pm ET
• UK – Friday, September 4 at 2am BST
• India – Friday, September 4 at 6:30am IST
• Singapore – Friday, September 4 at 9am SGT
• Australia – Friday, September 4 at 11am AEST
• New Zealand – Friday, September 4 at 1pm NZST

When do new episodes of Stuart Fails to Save the Universe come out?

(Image credit: HBO Max)

New episodes of Stuart Fails to Save the Universe will make landfall every Thursday in the US, and on Fridays everywhere else. Here are the all-important dates you need to know about:

• Episode 1: out now
• Episode 2: out now
• Episode 3: out now
• Episode 4: out now
• Episode 5: out now
• Episode 6: out now
• Episode 7: September 3
• Episode 8: September 10
• Episode 9: September 17
• Episode 10: September 24

• Bailey warns that AI models are getting better at exploiting vulnerabilities
• Concentrated and intertwined investments could lead to a correction
• Not all countries and entities are as well equipped as each other

Bank of England Governor Andrew Bailey has warned that frontier models are becoming a bigger risk to financial stability.

In a letter to G20 finance ministers and central bank governors ahead of a major meeting, Bailey warned that the increasing sophistication of AI models could be changing the speed, scale and impacts that cyberattacks could be having on the sector.

Bailey is especially worried about the interconnected nature of global finances together with AI systems that are quicker at discovering vulnerabilities, faster at exploiting them and more accessible to criminals.

Bank of England warns of AI's impacts on global economy

"The global financial system is highly interconnected, and cyber disruption can spread across jurisdictions through common technology providers, shared infrastructure, and cross-border financial activity," Bailey wrote, arguing that a concentration risk could increase the reach of any incidents.

Different countries also have significantly different levels of cyber resilience, regulation, incident response capabilities, legal protection and recovery readiness – so while one target country may be at a lower risk, other countries involved in an incident could compromise all others.

In his warning, Bailey argues that financial institutions should prepare for much more severe scenarios rather than smaller, more isolated cases.

His words also highlight a second, separate AI-related financial risk. Bailey argues valuations of risky assets remain elevated and is worried that a major shock, or multiple simultaneous shocks, could expose financial vulnerabilities. For example, multiple AI firms, cloud providers and chip companies are highly intertwined financially, and this cross-investment could be disastrous in any future corrections.

The G20 Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors Meeting is now ongoing – any remedies or responses to the letter are yet to be confirmed.

Ten years from now, it will feel astonishing that there was around a fifty-year gap between the mainstreaming of Service Level Agreements (SLAs) and Experience Level Agreements (XLAs). While SLAs have been common since the 1980s, it’s only in the last few years that XLAs have started to gain momentum.

The imminent adoption of ISO 20000-18 will propel XLAs even further. To comply with the new standard, organizations will be required to manage the digital experiences of both customers and users, integrating Experience Management (XM) into existing governance, management, and implementation processes.

Suddenly, demonstrating that your business delivers good digital experiences isn’t just an esoteric nice-to-have, but a critical part of winning new contracts. But although the idea of XLAs has been around for a while, few organizations have the institutional knowledge of how to practically implement these changes.

Why bother with XLAs?

Before that, it’s worth asking why XLAs are necessary in the first place. Understanding what SLAs are missing is essential before starting to reformulate existing processes.

The simple answer is that what a system shows and what a user experiences are not the same thing. It doesn’t matter if a cloud application is ‘technically’ available if the experience is so glitchy that you abandon it after twenty seconds to never use it again.

That’s not to say that SLAs are now useless. Metrics like performance, ticket resolution times, and system availability still matter – they’re just no longer sufficient. You need to know whether your system is functioning, but you also need to know if an application is unresponsive for the user.

XLAs offer a different framing for the relationship between supplier and customer. Looking at metrics, like session stability during peak trading hours, tells you a lot more about how employees are able to perform than many SLA numbers.

What does measuring ‘experience’ mean?

It can be hard to know where to start as experience is a very broad term. Plus, it’s hard to measure something if you haven’t even defined it yet. As a result, there are hundreds of different metrics for experience measurement which fall, broadly speaking, into three main buckets:

Technical Data (T-Data): The technical performance of the product or service (for example, outages, freezes, crashes, etc.) provided by the Nexthink DEX platform.

Operational Data (O-Data): How well a given service performed and how well it was supported, which is usually captured through SLAs/KPIs.

Sentiment Data (X-Data): How the users themselves describe their feelings / perception (the truth according to them) toward a digital tool or service.

When considering how to reengineer existing processes to be ISO compliant, it’s essential to have data sources from all three. Operational data is already generally well-covered by SLAs, and sentiment data is achieved via targeted survey campaigns that capture examples of technical issues. It’s the technical data that can be tricky for organizations attempting to use XLAs.

The technical data is essential because it brings together complete visibility across every endpoint and interaction, which means faster diagnostics. If an organization spots that users of a given browser are regularly having issues and can cross-reference that with the applications most disrupted, it can quickly identify root causes and implement remediations.

Moreover, this technical data is critical to pre-emptive and preventative IT by flagging which specific devices are non-compliant with the latest updates.

Embracing DEXOps

However, one of the key mistakes that businesses make when bringing in Digital Employee Experience (DEX) platforms for the first time is starting by asking ‘what can this platform do?’ This is the wrong question to ask.

As the new ISO itself attests, IT’s job is no longer simply pushing technology, but delivering the services and infrastructure that employees need in ways that improve outcomes across the business through an experience-centric approach.

This is the core principle at the heart of DEXOps, a philosophy that takes experience as the central pillar of an employee’s day (and therefore their productivity and engagement).

DEXOps operationalizes experience by starting with the immediate concerns and frustrations of individual business units, understanding what the consequences of these issues are, and finding technological solutions that eliminate the root causes of digital friction.

Rather than focusing on technical capabilities, IT leaders should start by asking other business units:

What are your team’s top priorities?

Where are you experiencing friction or risk?

What does success look like for you and how is that measured?

Do you know what value you bring to the overall business?

It’s amazing how much more engaged other parts of the business will be when, instead of diving into ISO compliance requirements, the conversations revolve around how their most pressing challenges can be fixed.

XLAs are an opportunity as well as a challenge

Many businesses immediately tend to view new regulation as a burden. But ISO 20000-18 and the increasing role of XLAs also represent an opportunity to accelerate the changes already happening to the role of the IT department. The shift from infrastructure to experience is tricky and requires businesses to be open to significant realignment across traditional roles, responsibilities, and metrics.

Some organizations will continue to ignore the importance of experience, but the broader changes that have driven the drafting and implementation of the regulations are here to stay. Businesses that see the new standard as an opportunity to use regulation to create a competitive advantage will have a crucial head start on those that are still stuck in the old, outdated, reflexive IT model.

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If you struggle with high humidity or dry air, you may be surprised what today’s advanced thermostats can do to help. Here’s how I use mine.

I think I know the exact date Apple will release iOS 27.

• Microsoft warns of TerminalFix, a campaign abusing compromised sites with fake Cloudflare CAPTCHAs
• Victims paste malicious PowerShell commands, sideloading DLLs and deploying a Python implant
• Implant enables encrypted reverse tunnels, giving attackers pivot access into internal networks

Security researchers from Microsoft are warning of an ongoing malicious campaign that uses compromised websites to trick users into installing a powerful backdoor.

Whenever people visited any of the tainted websites, they would see a custom overlay instructing them to complete a fake Cloudflare CAPTCHA verification by copying and running a malicious PowerShell command into Terminal, or PowerShell. Microsoft named the campaign “TerminalFix”, since it is rather similar to the classic ClickFix attack.

“While traditional ClickFix campaigns direct victims to the Windows Run dialog, TerminalFix campaigns apply the same technique but direct users to Windows Terminal or PowerShell instead, increasing the likelihood that complex, multi-line scripts execute successfully,” the researchers explained.

Look for lateral movement

Unlike classic ClickFix campaigns that try to deliver simple infostealers, TerminalFix tries to deploy a more complex solution. After running the command in the Terminal, the victim would receive two files - a legitimate binary, and a malicious DLL file. The binary would sideload the malicious DLL which, in turn, delivers a hidden payload called “client.py”.

It is a custom Python implant that creates an encrypted WebSocket connection back to the attackers and gives them SOCKS5-style proxy access into the victim’s internal network.

In other words, the attackers are deploying a remote-access/network tunneling implant that can connect to internal machines, probe domain controllers, run commands, maintain access after reboots and ultimately use the compromised machine as a pivot point for lateral movement.

“This type of intrusion is particularly dangerous because it provides attackers with direct access to an organization’s internal network through the reverse tunnel,” Microsoft explained. “The observed reconnaissance and reverse-tunnel capability could enable an attacker to identify and reach additional systems from a compromised host.”

Microsoft did not observe the attackers actually carrying out lateral movement, so it is difficult to say what they’re using the access for. Still, the researchers are urging caution:

“Organizations should treat affected devices as potential network pivot points and investigate for lateral movement and credential exposure. In the hands-on-keyboard phase that typically follows, attackers leverage this access to escalate privileges, disable security controls, exfiltrate sensitive data, and deploy ransomware across the organization.”

Here are the answers for today’s NYT Mini Crossword for Sept. 1, 2026.

Every F-35 pilot in the US Air Force gets their own custom-fitted $400,000 helmet, which lets them peer through the cockpit mid-flight to see what's going on in the surrounding airspace and the ground below.

This is possible through six infrared cameras embedded on to the flight's exterior, broadcasting a 360-degree video stream straight into the pilot's visor. Pilots say it's like being able to see through the hull of the aircraft, as if it were made of glass.

No expense spared

Lockheed Martin's F-35 Lightning II is one of the world's most expensive fighter jets, priced anywhere between $80-110 million USD. These are single-seat, supersonic, stealth fighter jets designed for air strikes and electronic warfare.

Each fighter jet also comes equipped with a Gen III Helmet Mounted Display System (HMDS). A single F-35 Gen III helmet costs four times more than what the older F-16 jets came equipped with. To be more specific, an investigation by Air Force Times in 2015 put their per-unit pricing at roughly $400,000.

Given that the United States Air Force has a contract with the helmet manufacturer, Collins Elbit Vision Systems, to build thousands of these helmets — that makes the combined project cost for the headgear alone in the billions of dollars.

What do Air Force pilots get for the exorbitant price tag? When looking down through the visor, they get a real-time view of the airspace and ground below, the closest that the US military has come to X-ray vision.

Mark Welsh III, a retired four-star general who served as the Air Force's 25th Chief of Staff, remarked that "the helmet is a workspace," adding "It's an interpretation of the battle space. It's situational awareness. Calling this thing a helmet ... we've got to come up with a new word."

(Image credit: United States Air Force)What makes the helmet special

The new F-35 Gen III helmets were designed by Collins Elbit Vision Systems, a joint venture between Collins Aerospace and Elbit Systems of America. Through their contract with the F-35 Joint Program, Collins Elbit has so far shipped more than 3,000 units of these helmets to the United States Air Force.

Each helmet is custom-built to match an individual pilot's skull and facial structure, assigned right away during training, and retained by the pilot for all future flight runs.

The flagship feature of the Gen III helmets is that they let Air Force pilots see through the floor of their aircraft, using a Distributed Aperture System (DAS) designed by Northrop Grumman. This system consists of a set of cameras and built-in sensors, all connected using a software module that lets pilots track nearby aircrafts or missiles. Pilots can even lock on to targets as far as 800 miles away simply by looking at them.

Apart from the mounted display system and cameras, F-35 helmets are also equipped with digital night vision and thermal imaging. The visor uses high-resolution LCD lenses for improved picture clarity, plus the helmet itself is equipped with head and eye tracking systems to adjust to the pilot's motions.

A vast improvement over previous models

Earlier versions of the F-35 helmet suffered from jittery visuals and ejection issues, so much so that the Pentagon funded a backup program with BAE Systems in case Lockheed Martin wasn't able to deliver.

It took years for the joint venture to get the helmet designs right. There were multiple design iterations and several rounds of reviews before the Pentagon finally cleared the helmets for Air Force use, with the current version improved in mobility and vision.

Bob Hess, a senior director at Elbit America, went on record claiming that the Gen III HMDS was "the most advanced helmet-mounted display system in the world" in a 2024 press release. "The system’s next-generation user interface serves as a pilot’s primary display system, providing them with vital flight, tactical and sensor information day or night," he said.

The MSI PRO MP243 is a slim-bezel monitor that delivers nearly everything you would want from a low-cost display. At the same time, it’s exactly what you would expect when you hear the words “budget monitor.”

It’s not going to impress you with flashy features, and it’s not going to win any performance awards. It's not the very best business monitor we've ever tested. But what it does offer, however, is a sleek design, an easy setup, and enough of what most people need to make it a practical choice for everyday work in the office or home.

Maybe you need a larger screen for your home office, or perhaps you just bought a mini PC or Mac mini and need an affordable display to go along with it. It could also work well as a second monitor in a dual-screen setup. In those cases, the MP243 does the job.

MSI PRO MP243: Price and availability

(Image credit: Collin Probst // Future )

The price is where the MP243 really starts to make sense.

At around $120, you are getting a 23.8-inch IPS panel, a 144Hz refresh rate, Adaptive-Sync, HDMI, DisplayPort, built-in speakers, VESA support, and a clean white design.

That is a good group of features for a monitor in this price range.

One of the closest alternatives is the Dell SE2426HS. It has a similar 23.8-inch Full HD IPS panel, 144Hz refresh rate, Adaptive-Sync, and VESA support. The Dell also has a height-adjustable stand, which is a real advantage over the tilt-only stand on the MSI.

The MSI does have a few advantages of its own. It includes built-in speakers and DisplayPort, and the white finish gives it a cleaner look than most budget monitors.

At a lower sale price, the MSI is an easy monitor to recommend. At around $120, it is still a good option, but there are more competitors worth considering.

It really comes down to what matters more to you. If you want the white design, built-in speakers, and DisplayPort, the MSI is a good pick. If you care more about stand adjustment (and a higher resolution), there are better options.

(Image credit: Collin Probst // Future )MSI PRO MP243: Unboxing and First Impressions

Most of the monitor and stand are plastic, but they don’t really feel cheap. It’s lightweight enough that I’d still be careful when putting it together and taking it apart.

Everything included in the box is white, even down to the cables, which gives the setup a uniform look. If you’re someone who likes a certain aesthetic, I think you’ll appreciate that everything matches.

The monitor is really simple to put together. Everything just clicks in, and then you’re good to go. The back of the stem includes a cable-management clip for routing your power and display cables. It is a small feature, but it helps keep the back of your desk a little cleaner.

The top of the base includes a simple organizer slot. It’s big enough that you can put a USB adapter, thumb drive, or anything else in there that would otherwise just be sitting on top of your desk. It's an unexpected little feature that actually turned out to be useful.

MSI advertises it as a spot to hold your phone. You can place your phone in landscape and, depending on your workflow, use it as a secondary screen or simply keep it visible for notifications, your calendar, or something similar. It’s not a huge feature by any means, but it’s another small touch I appreciated that adds to the overall practicality of the monitor.

MSI PRO MP243: Design & Build Quality

The monitor’s control button is on the back right side. It doubles as both the power button and the joystick for navigating the menu.

The monitor keeps things simple when it comes to connectivity. It has one HDMI port, one DisplayPort, and one 3.5mm headphone jack. Both display inputs support 1080p at refresh rates up to 144Hz.

Honestly, support for up to 144Hz is a nice bonus for this price range, even if it’s clearly built for office work first. It's not necessary, but it's handy and opens up the customers for this monitor a little bit as well.

The MP243 has the standard settings you would expect, including brightness, contrast, sharpness, volume, and color controls. It also includes a few MSI-specific features that are worth mentioning.

MSI’s EyesErgo features include Less Blue Light, Anti-Flicker, and an anti-glare coating. These are all meant to make the monitor easier on your eyes during longer work sessions. If you spend most of your day reading emails, writing, or working through spreadsheets, they are nice features to have.

There is also an Eye-Q Check feature that gives you basic reminders for posture, eye fatigue, and taking breaks. It is not a feature I would buy the monitor for, but it makes sense on something that is primarily designed for office use.

The monitor supports Adaptive-Sync, HDR Ready, and refresh rates up to 144Hz. Adaptive-Sync can help reduce screen tearing, while 144Hz makes scrolling through webpages and moving things around the screen feel smoother than it would on a basic 60Hz monitor.

One of the more useful features of this monitor is its support for VESA mounting. The obvious benefit is that the monitor can be attached to a compatible wall mount or monitor arm. However, I think the more interesting use case is mounting a compatible mini PC directly to the back of the monitor.

Pairing this monitor with any of the best mini PCs is a more affordable alternative to a prebuilt all-in-one desktop. The computer stays out of sight, you can use shorter cables, and the whole setup takes up less space and looks cleaner.

I’m a stickler for cable management and keeping electronics as organized as possible. Being able to mount a mini PC behind the monitor, hide most of the hardware, and cut down on visible cables really adds to the value of this monitor.

The MP243 uses a 24-inch IPS panel with a claimed viewing angle of 178 degrees.

The bezels are thin along the left, right, and top edges, while the bottom bezel is slightly thicker. Combined with the white finish, the slim borders give the monitor a more high-end appearance than its price might suggest.

That is where this monitor arguably shines the most. It looks sleek, occupies relatively little space, and can blend naturally into a clean home-office environment.

The actual display is more conventional. Its 1080p resolution and standard image-quality features are appropriate for email, web browsing, documents, spreadsheets, and other everyday office tasks.

You can do just about anything with it, of course, but if you're trying to edit photos or creative content on this, you may miss some things you would catch on a higher end monitor, it also just won't look as clear.

MSI PRO MP243: In use

(Image credit: Collin Probst // Future )

One thing I actually didn’t mind was virtual meetings on this monitor. While I didn't have the clearest images of everyone, I didn't feel the virtual meeting was degraded or compromised in any way when using this screen.

The monitor includes two built-in 2W stereo speakers. The best comparison I can make is that they sound like basic laptop speakers without Dolby features or any other processing trying to make them sound better than they are.

It was good enough to hear clear audio, but I won't be listening to music through this anytime soon. If you do not already own desktop speakers, they are enough to get started. You can always add better speakers or headphones later.

I also connected an Xbox Series X and tested the monitor with Overwatch. It worked and the game was “playable.” However, the deficiencies were pretty noticeable when compared to my dedicated gaming monitor, which was already around five years old.

The 144Hz refresh rate may make it seem gaming-friendly on paper, but refresh rate alone doesn’t define the overall experience. For casual gaming, especially with a system limited to Full HD, it gets the job done.

I would not buy it specifically for gaming, though. Anyone shopping primarily for gaming should look elsewhere, which makes sense as this is more of a budget business monitor, despite the 144Hz tag that will get gamers excited.

MSI PRO MP243: Final verdict

(Image credit: Collin Probst // Future )

The MSI PRO MP243 is best suited to someone who wants to upgrade or expand a home-office setup without spending much money.

Its strongest qualities are its clean design, compact footprint, useful stand, cable-management features, built-in speakers, and support for VESA mounting systems. It provides the basic features most people need for regular office work while looking better than many inexpensive monitors.

Its limitations are just as clear, though. It’s only 1080p, the build is lightweight, and while it supports 144Hz, I wouldn’t recommend buying it specifically for gaming. That doesn’t make it a bad product. It just means it should be purchased for the right reasons.

This is a practical choice for emails, documents, web browsing, secondary-screen use, casual media consumption, and compact desktop setups. If you’re not concerned about having 4K, it offers a straightforward and affordable way to add more screen space to your desk.

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Review: I wanted to love Onimusha’s return, but I got tired of engaging the same fight over and over again.

Just in time for Labor Day weekend, Google launches upgraded travel features to book flights, hotels and more.