TechRadar News

• Virtual Mac on iPad gets macOS running on compatible iPads
• It requires a jailbroken tablet and specific versions of iPadOS
• Its many limitations mean I don’t think it’s worth the hassle

For years, people have been wondering if Apple is ever going to “merge” iPadOS and macOS into some unholy mutant operating system. While Apple has repeatedly and resoundingly denied that’s ever going to happen, one intrepid developer has taken it upon themselves to do the hard work instead. And while the result lets you run full-fat macOS on your iPad Pro or iPad Air, I wouldn’t recommend it to anyone but the hardiest of souls.

Dubbed Virtual Mac on iPad, this GitHub project ports macOS onto Apple’s best iPads. That means it’s nothing like Apple’s Sidecar feature, which lets you use an iPad as a second display for a Mac. In the case of Sidecar, the Mac is doing all the processing. With Virtual Mac on iPad, however, it’s your iPad that’s actually running the operating system.

Unfortunately, getting that to actually happen is more than a little convoluted. You can’t even get started unless you’ve jailbroken your iPad, which means hacking it so it can run apps and systems not authorized by Apple. As well as that, the jailbroken iPad must be running iPadOS 16 to iPadOS 16.3.1 — nothing more, nothing less — in order to harness an exploit that was patched in subsequent editions. The requirements so far will probably be enough to put a lot of people off.

If you’ve persevered, you’ll need to add a specified repository to your device and install Virtual Mac on iPad from there. But you’ll need to be aware that even with macOS successfully set up, you won’t be able to log into your Apple Account — since you’re using a jailbroken device with an unofficial port of macOS, you’ll run into problems if you try to sign in, putting features like Find My and iCloud syncing out of reach.

Is it worth it?

(Image credit: Apple)

Why would you go to all this effort to run macOS on your iPad? Well, there are a few reasons, including accessing Mac-only apps and getting a more portable platform to run macOS on.

But I certainly don’t think it’s a good idea. Apple’s iPadOS and macOS systems have been designed for very different use cases, and simply shoehorning a platform designed for a Mac onto an iPad isn’t a guarantee of success.

For one thing, macOS is made for large screens and input devices like mice and keyboards, while iPadOS works best on smaller screens operated by your fingers and thumbs. Sure, there’s some crossover — I’m aware that you can use mice and keyboards with an iPad, for example — but that doesn’t escape the fact that Virtual Mac on iPad puts the Mac’s operating system on a device it was never intended for.

As well as that, it requires a lot of effort for seemingly very small rewards. There are only a handful of cases where installing Virtual Mac on iPad is worthwhile, at least in my opinion: accessing apps like Xcode and Terminal that aren’t available in iPadOS, for example, or getting macOS on the most portable device possible.

But Apple’s best MacBooks are still lightweight and easy to carry around, and with a touchscreen MacBook Pro rumored to be just around the corner and Sidecar already a thing, the need for something like Virtual Mac on iPad feels limited. Is it worthwhile to go to all this trouble just for an ounce more portability? I’m sure it is for some people, but that number is likely to be vanishingly small.

At the end of the day, I know there will be some people for whom this is a welcome development. But its complicated installation process and limited use case just reinforce for me that Apple is absolutely right not to merge iPadOS and macOS. They’re meant to be separate, just as Apple intended.

• A former FBI counterintelligence supervisor is accused of memorizing seed phrases from bureau systems
• The agent moved roughly $1 million out of wallets tied to a foreign adversary without having to resort to any sort of hacking
• Investigators recovered ChatGPT conversations in which he asked how to invest the money and how to gain EU residency, and the chatbot's replies recited his age, wife, child, and property plans back to him

Patrick Steven Yaroch, a supervisory special agent in the FBI's Counterintelligence and Espionage Division, has been arrested and charged with interstate transportation and receipt of stolen goods.

An affidavit filed in the Eastern District of Virginia, claims Yaroch took roughly a million dollars in cryptocurrency from wallets he encountered while investigating a foreign adversary and then used ChatGPT to determine what to do with it.

The theft, as described, required no technical sophistication whatsoever: Yaroch held a Top Secret clearance with SCI access and had spent 2017 to 2025 on a national security squad at the FBI's Boston division working against a single adversarial nation, which NBC News reports was Russia.

An atypical heist with the alleged mastermind acting out of "frustration"

Patrick Steven Yaroch encountered the cryptocurrency wallets tied to his work in November 2024. He had researched how wallets work, created one of his own, searched the FBI's holdings for the relevant account information, and memorized the recovery seed phrases.

He then made roughly 10-12 transfers to his own wallet. No encryption was broken, and no protocol was exploited because none was in place for a man with his security clearance; he simply read a phrase off an internal system and remembered it.

The incident is particularly interesting because he self-reported, effectively turning himself in to his colleagues: on July 28 2026, he contacted a Justice Department employee he had worked with in Boston over Signal, asking to meet. They met at FBI headquarters the next day, where Yaroch reportedly began breaking down almost immediately, and the conversation moved to the other man's office.

He said the situation was "eating him up inside" and that he wanted to give all the money back. He filed an online self-report to the FBI's Security Division and told headquarters personnel he had screwed up. When agents arrived at his Ashburn home that evening, he told them, unprompted and in blunter terms, that he had messed up.

His defense, as per the affidavit, however, is slightly different from what one would expect: His stated motive was not greed. He told his colleagues he had grown frustrated that the FBI could not or would not act against those accounts, described himself as "spinning out of control" at the time, and said he decided to take matters into his own hands.

Despite this, he seemingly had a change of heart after cooperating earlier, asking for a paper containing his wallet seed phrases, which he had volunteered to agents, while declining to continue the interview without a lawyer while asking for time over the next two days.

This culminated in agents obtaining warrants, executing them on July 31 with SWAT securing the house, and recovering an iPhone, a Trezor hardware wallet, the handwritten seed phrases, a Portuguese power of attorney dated June 15, and three passports, one of them diplomatic.

(Image credit: Marjan Apostolovic / Shutterstock)

Ironically, the most potentially damning evidence of his intentions comes from his conversations with AI, still on his phone and directly linked to him.

His conversations with ChatGPT convey a very different thought process: On May 28, he asked how to invest or spend a million dollars to maximize profit and return. On June 4, he asked what someone with about a million dollars should do to leave the United States and become a resident or citizen of an EU country. On June 17 he asked whether an American connecting through Turkey needs a visa. On June 26 he asked for help drafting an email to an executive about a job opening and life in Greece.

There is more evidence that he might already have acted based on the answers he received: prosecutors have found a power of attorney authorizing two Portuguese lawyers to register him with the country's tax authority and obtain a Portuguese tax identification number, and unreported foreign travel to Germany in May, Portugal later that month, and Grenada in early July, all in breach of bureau reporting rules.

His current investments seem to be equally erratically reasoned: On July 23, five days before he first confessed, Yaroch moved roughly $1.02 million into Suilend, a lending protocol on the Sui blockchain, reaching it through the Slush wallet app, which he then deleted. He parked the funds there to earn interest. When asked why he chose that service, he said he liked its logo, a water droplet.

When agents looked, the position was worth $933,756, roughly 8% below its level a week earlier. His Kraken account held another $188,570, including about $5,000 in a token called Squid and $1.67 in Bitcoin. Agents ultimately swept $925,426 into government wallets, leaving about $165,582 behind because it was dollars and could not be moved to a crypto wallet.

Yaroch is charged under sections 2314 and 2315 of the federal criminal code, the general provisions on transporting and receiving stolen goods. He is not charged with espionage, with computer fraud, or with theft of government property.

The wallets were not the government's, and that might change how they are treated legally, even as it raises important questions about the security protocols at federal agencies regarding cryptocurrencies, since they both monitor and have seized increasingly large amounts of them over the past few years.

In Yaroch's case, if the allegations hold, government protocols failed to identify the theft for nearly eighteen months before the person responsible reported himself, making the case for a potential review by federal agencies about how they handle such matters.

If you like the aesthetic vibes of colonial gothic horror stories such as Jamaica Inn and Wide Sargasso Sea, new Sky TV supernatural thriller Possession is definitely for you. However, a word of warning — the story is going to touch a much more modern nerve.

We're set to follow Claudia (Gugu Mbatha-Raw), an ambitious bi-racial lawyer who travels to Jamaica to challenge an inheritance claim made by a local man against a wealthy white aristocrat.

However, she arrives to find the disputed estate is a former plantation that has long haunted her dreams. Cue a terrifying slew of 1800s flashbacks, curses, and misunderstood spiritual connection.

On a surface level, you can see why someone might find this frightening. The drama isn't just tense to the level of consistent jump scares, but is often violently disturbing in its commitment to guts and gore (think Evil Dead levels of supernatural horror).

But then there's a secondary layer of discomfort when you consider the role that different countries have played in the history of colonialism and enslaved people. Culturally and historically, we know how abhorrently the Western world behaved during the Transatlantic Slave Trade, but here, we also understand how regularly spirituality and beliefs were misunderstood and chastised.

With such a distinct 2026 twist, Possession left me shaken in the entirely opposite way to what I expected. But according to star Gugu Mbatha-Raw, it's not the cast and crew's job to make the uncomfortable comfortable.

'The power of drama is posing these lofty subjects in an accessible way'

"I don't think it's our job to make the audience comfortable... I think probably it's more our job to take you on a journey," Mbatha-Raw tells me when I ask her if it's possible to make the uncomfortable comfortable.

"Claudia goes on this massive journey and it's a quest to find out about her identity. She's dealing with justice and legacy. But even though there's some weighty themes in the show around the legacy of colonialism and the complexity of reparations, I think that that's the power of drama. Pose these lofty subjects, but in a more accessible way."

"I don't know that 'comfortable' is the word. I think that we celebrate discomfort in this genre, and I think that that's okay. It's okay to have difficult conversations and to not shy away from uncomfortable subject matter. I think there's a place for that in drama and in society."

She continues, "Good stories a place for discovery, and I think we want people to lean in and be like, 'whoa, look at this lush, interesting, rich, vibrant world.' Once they're in, they grapple with some hard truths."

It's certainly an apt way of describing the intense viewing journey that unfolds over just five episodes, each being under an hour long. Simply put, Possession is the kind of TV show that sits with you for days and weeks afterward, leaving you with the kind of internal conversation that unpicks the things that you think you already know.

That's a lot for anybody to take on, particularly when you've simply sat down to unwind with some TV of an evening. But what is art when it doesn't challenge us? If you want my advice: Possession is more than worth a watch — and if you're left feeling disturbed, then that's all the better.

Looking for a different day?

A new NYT Connections puzzle appears at midnight each day for your time zone – which means that some people are always playing 'today's game' while others are playing 'yesterday's'. If you're looking for Wednesday's puzzle instead then click here: NYT Connections hints and answers for Wednesday, August 5 (game #1151).

Good morning! Let's play Connections, the NYT's clever word game that challenges you to group answers in various categories. It can be tough, so read on if you need Connections hints.

What should you do once you've finished? Why, play some more word games of course. I've also got daily Strands hints and answers and Quordle hints and answers articles if you need help for those too, while Marc's Wordle today page covers the original viral word game.

SPOILER WARNING: Information about NYT Connections today is below, so don't read on if you don't want to know the answers.

NYT Connections today (game #1152) - today's words

(Image credit: New York Times)

Today's NYT Connections words are…

• SWIMMING POOL
• TENNIS COURT
• FREEWAY
• HOCKEY RINK
• BARCLAYS CENTER
• COLOSSEUM
• SUPERMARKET
• JACOB'S LADDER
• PANTHEON
• BOWLING ALLEY
• LINCOLN LOGS
• SPANISH STEPS
• ALPHABET
• BLOCKS
• FISHING BOAT
• TREVI FOUNTAIN
• CUP-AND-BALL

NYT Connections today (game #1152) - hint #1 - group hints

What are some clues for today's NYT Connections groups?

• YELLOW: Things kids play with
• GREEN: Linked by something you must stay in
• BLUE: Well known tourist attractions
• PURPLE: Linked by something you could get caught in

Need more clues?

We're firmly in spoiler territory now, but read on if you want to know what the four theme answers are for today's NYT Connections puzzles…

NYT Connections today (game #1152) - hint #2 - group answers

What are the answers for today's NYT Connections groups?

• YELLOW: CLASSIC WOODEN TOYS
• GREEN: PLACES WITH LANES
• BLUE: ICONIC ROMAN LANDMARKS
• PURPLE: PLACES WITH NETS

Right, the answers are below, so DO NOT SCROLL ANY FURTHER IF YOU DON'T WANT TO SEE THEM.

NYT Connections today (game #1152) - the answers

(Image credit: New York Times)

The answers to today's Connections, game #1152, are…

• YELLOW: CLASSIC WOODEN TOYS: ALPHABET BLOCKS, CUP-AND-BALL, JACOB'S LADDER, LINCOLN LOGS
• GREEN: PLACES WITH LANES: BOWLING ALLEY, FREEWAY, SUPERMARKET, SWIMMING POOL
• BLUE: ICONIC ROMAN LANDMARKS: COLOSSEUM, PANTHEON, SPANISH STEPS, TREVI FOUNTAIN
• PURPLE: PLACES WITH NETS: BARCLAYS CENTER, FISHING BOAT, HOCKEY RINK, TENNIS COURT

• My rating: Hard
• My score: 2 mistakes

I was utterly confused by today’s game, but somehow managed to get away with just two mistakes.

The only thing I was certain of was that BARCLAYS CENTER is the home of the Brooklyn Nets, but this meager piece of knowledge didn’t help at all. First, I linked BOWLING ALLEY, SWIMMING POOL, HOCKEY RINK and TENNIS COURT thinking these were all amenities every town should have (they are right).

Then after threading together ICONIC ROMAN LANDMARKS with the idea that they all sounded like historical tourist spots, I made another mistake linking ALPHABET BLOCKS, TENNIS COURT, BOWLING ALLEY and BARCLAYS CENTER — reasoning that they all described types of buildings.

Somehow, shuffling around the various options got me over the line, but this really was a game I should have lost.

Yesterday's NYT Connections answers (Wednesday, August 5, 2026, game #1151)

• YELLOW: NAVIGATE: DRIVE, MANEUVER, PILOT, STEER
• GREEN: JEANS BRANDS: DIESEL, GAP, LUCKY, WRANGLER
• BLUE: HOUSE STYLES: CAPE COD, MISSION, RANCH, TUDOR
• PURPLE: WHAT "STOCK" MIGHT REFER TO: BROTH, CATTLE, INVESTMENT, MERCHANDISE

What is NYT Connections?

NYT Connections is one of several increasingly popular word games made by the New York Times. It challenges you to find groups of four items that share something in common, and each group has a different difficulty level: green is easy, yellow a little harder, blue often quite tough and purple usually very difficult.

On the plus side, you don't technically need to solve the final one, as you'll be able to answer that one by a process of elimination. What's more, you can make up to four mistakes, which gives you a little bit of breathing room.

It's a little more involved than something like Wordle, however, and there are plenty of opportunities for the game to trip you up with tricks. For instance, watch out for homophones and other word games that could disguise the answers.

It's playable for free via the NYT Games site on desktop or mobile.

Looking for a different day?

A new NYT Strands puzzle appears at midnight each day for your time zone – which means that some people are always playing 'today's game' while others are playing 'yesterday's'. If you're looking for Wednesday's puzzle instead then click here: NYT Strands hints and answers for Wednesday, August 5 (game #885).

Strands is the NYT's latest word game after the likes of Wordle, Spelling Bee and Connections – and it's great fun. It can be difficult, though, so read on for my Strands hints.

Want more word-based fun? Then check out my NYT Connections today and Quordle today pages for hints and answers for those games, and Marc's Wordle today page for the original viral word game.

SPOILER WARNING: Information about NYT Strands today is below, so don't read on if you don't want to know the answers.

NYT Strands today (game #886) - hint #1 - today's themeWhat is the theme of today's NYT Strands?

• Today's NYT Strands theme is… Blossoming forth

NYT Strands today (game #886) - hint #2 - clue words

Play any of these words to unlock the in-game hints system.

• WRATH
• LION
• GOON
• FLOW
• HATRED
• BEER

NYT Strands today (game #886) - hint #3 - spangram lettersHow many letters are in today's spangram?

• Spangram has 13 letters

NYT Strands today (game #886) - hint #4 - spangram positionWhat are two sides of the board that today's spangram touches?

• First side: bottom, 1st column

• Last side: top, 5th column

Right, the answers are below, so DO NOT SCROLL ANY FURTHER IF YOU DON'T WANT TO SEE THEM.

NYT Strands today (game #886) - the answers

(Image credit: New York Times)

The answers to today's Strands, game #886, are…

• CHERRY
• REDBUD
• DOGWOOD
• HAWTHORN
• MAGNOLIA
• SPANGRAM: FLOWERINGTREE

• My rating: Hard
• My score: 1 hint

This game came to me in stages.

First I managed to find CHERRY while searching for non-game words, then in the belief that we were looking for fruit trees I took a hint and was given REDBUD, which changed my thinking completely.

Spotting “tree” and “flower” I managed to put together the spangram and then complete the board. Like the act of gardening and maintaining a FLOWERINGTREE it felt like a long, but rewarding process.

Yesterday's NYT Strands answers (Wednesday, August 5, game #885)

• IDEA
• THOUGHT
• OPINION
• PLAN
• NOTION
• CONCEPT
• SPANGRAM: BRAINSTORMING

What is NYT Strands?

Strands is the NYT's not-so-new-any-more word game, following Wordle and Connections. It's now a fully fledged member of the NYT's games stable that has been running for a year and which can be played on the NYT Games site on desktop or mobile.

I've got a full guide to how to play NYT Strands, complete with tips for solving it, so check that out if you're struggling to beat it each day.

Looking for a different day?

A new Quordle puzzle appears at midnight each day for your time zone – which means that some people are always playing 'today's game' while others are playing 'yesterday's'. If you're looking for Wednesday's puzzle instead then click here: Quordle hints and answers for Wednesday, August 5 (game #1654).

Quordle was one of the original Wordle alternatives and is still going strong now more than 1,500 games later. It offers a genuine challenge, though, so read on if you need some Quordle hints today — or scroll down further for the answers.

Enjoy playing word games? You can also check out my NYT Connections today and NYT Strands today pages for hints and answers for those puzzles, while Marc's Wordle today column covers the original viral word game.

SPOILER WARNING: Information about Quordle today is below, so don't read on if you don't want to know the answers.

Quordle today (game #1655) — hint #1 — VowelsHow many different vowels are in Quordle today?

• The number of different vowels in Quordle today is 3*.

* Note that by vowel we mean the five standard vowels (A, E, I, O, U), not Y (which is sometimes counted as a vowel too).

Quordle today (game #1655) — hint #2 — repeated lettersDo any of today's Quordle answers contain repeated letters?

• The number of Quordle answers containing a repeated letter today is 1.

Quordle today (game #1655) — hint #3 — uncommon lettersDo the letters Q, Z, X or J appear in Quordle today?

• No. None of Q, Z, X or J appear among today's Quordle answers.

Quordle today (game #1655) — hint #4 — starting letters (1)Do any of today's Quordle puzzles start with the same letter?

• The number of today's Quordle answers starting with the same letter is 2.

If you just want to know the answers at this stage, simply scroll down. If you're not ready yet then here's one more clue to make things a lot easier:

Quordle today (game #1655) — hint #5 — starting letters (2)What letters do today's Quordle answers start with?

• A

• B

• C

• B

Right, the answers are below, so DO NOT SCROLL ANY FURTHER IF YOU DON'T WANT TO SEE THEM.

Quordle today (game #1655) — the answers

(Image credit: Merriam-Webster)

The answers to today's Quordle, game #1655, are…

• AMUSE
• BRAND
• CEDAR
• BLURB

After seeing the two B-words immediately I made a wrong guess with my third word.

Fortunately, the letters I had left meant that after guessing “pause” AMUSE was the only alternative, while CEDAR was just a case of rearranging five letters.

Daily Sequence today (game #1655) — the answers

(Image credit: Merriam-Webster)

The answers to today's Quordle Daily Sequence, game #1655, are…

• WEARY
• THREE
• SUNNY
• TOPIC

Quordle answers: The past 20

• Quordle #1654, Wednesday, 5 August: MOUND, WRONG, STOOD, WEIRD
• Quordle #1653, Tuesday, 4 August: GOOEY, TARDY, HUMAN, CHALK
• Quordle #1652, Monday, 3 August: FUNGI, MUDDY, DEBUT, MANIA
• Quordle #1651, Sunday, 2 August: BOOTH, EASEL, REACH, MAKER
• Quordle #1650, Saturday, 1 August: OMEGA, BIRCH, SMOCK, EERIE
• Quordle #1649, Friday, 31 July: MANIA, SINGE, STOOL, LOFTY
• Quordle #1648, Thursday, 30 July: MODAL, IDLER, CHUMP, LUMPY
• Quordle #1647, Wednesday, 29 July: GAWKY, ALLOY, AUDIT, LATCH
• Quordle #1646, Tuesday, 28 July: SMITE, ROACH, RUDDY, GLOBE
• Quordle #1645, Monday, 27 July: TAFFY, FIGHT, GUILD, WAGER
• Quordle #1644, Sunday, 26 July: STOMP, LIMIT, FUNKY, STEAD
• Quordle #1643, Saturday, 25 July: SALON, SHEEN, BURST, GOURD
• Quordle #1642, Friday, 24 July: DOLLY, EDIFY, LAGER, PRANK
• Quordle #1641, Thursday, 23 July: LADEN, EVICT, WOVEN, SHIRE
• Quordle #1640, Wednesday, 22 July: COYLY, SINGE, AWASH, AWOKE
• Quordle #1639, Tuesday, 21 July: TRUSS, AXIAL, SWINE, THING
• Quordle #1638, Monday, 20 July: ICING, SLICK, GAILY, RISEN
• Quordle #1637, Sunday, 19 July: SPURT, ACRID, THRUM, BLEEP
• Quordle #1636, Saturday, 18 July: KNAVE, TIGHT, BLEAT, CHAOS
• Quordle #1635, Friday, 17 July: CUMIN, PALER, GRASS, INBOX

• Japan ramps up drone production to reduce dependence on Chinese manufacturers
• Defense startups are shifting from civilian projects into military drone manufacturing rapidly
• Japan dramatically increases funding for interceptor drones and autonomous defense systems

Japan's drive toward large-scale drone manufacturing has gained fresh urgency, as a growing cluster of startups, including Eams Robotics and Terra Drone, are now shifting from civilian projects toward defense-oriented drone production.

A report from Nikkei Asia said Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi seeks to reduce the country's reliance on Chinese suppliers.

Chinese firms currently hold about 90% of the global industrial drone market, a dominance Tokyo now views as a strategic vulnerability worth addressing.

Startups pivot from civilian work

Eams Robotics began in 2016 as an aerial photography company serving television broadcasters before moving into drone manufacturing two years later.

The company, based in Minamisoma, has since worked with Sagawa Express, the University of Tokyo, and NTT DoCoMo on autonomous flight systems.

In December 2025, the company flew a fully autonomous drone across an active railway line without a ground observer present.

It now reportedly aims to partner with the American defense firm Anduril, mirroring a wider shift taking place across the industry.

Terra Drone, the more defense-focused of the two firms, is launching mass production of Japan-made batteries for defense and industrial customers.

Batteries account for more than a quarter of a drone's cost, and Japan currently lacks a domestic supplier able to meet defense-grade demands.

Budget and battlefield pressure build

Japan's budget for unmanned defense systems jumped this year to 277 billion yen (~$1.72 billion), up from 111 billion yen (v$705 million) in 2025.

Its total defense spending is also set to rise to 3.5% of GDP, a shift expected to channel further investment into unmanned systems.

The ruling Liberal Democratic Party approved a plan on June 9 to produce roughly 80,000 drones annually by 2030, though funding details remain sketchy.

Japan's Acquisition, Technology and Logistics Agency (ATLA), the defense ministry's procurement arm, has scheduled demonstrations next month, aiming to fast-track acquisition and deployment of interceptor drones near radar sites and bases.

These systems are meant to counter long-range suicide drones such as the Shahed-136, which have flown as far as 1,100 miles in the Middle East.

The push for domestic production comes as reports surface that Tomahawk missile deliveries to Japan could face delays, after the 38-day U.S. campaign against Iran strained the U.S stockpiles.

Defense officials in both Washington and Tokyo have denied any disruption, though Japan's defense minister said domestic missile development will continue.

Unconfirmed reports suggest Anduril has discussed converting Nissan's Oppama plant into a drone production site, amid concerns over a possible Taiwan Strait conflict.

This fits into Japan's wider five-year military buildup, set to wrap up in 2027, which also covers missile networks and unmanned ground and maritime systems.

Terra Drone CEO Toru Tokushige described interest from Japan's defense ministry as "very much positive," citing lessons drawn from Ukraine's battlefield experience.

However, whether that optimism will eventually translate into real, battle-tested capability against long-range drone threats remains genuinely uncertain.

The thought of infusing AI into weapons immediately evokes deep fears, not only based on the idea that autonomous weapons may make life-and-death decisions on our behalf, but also on the prospect of errors creeping in. But for Palmer Luckey, founder of Anduril Industries, there's no alternative but to add intelligence into the weapons systems of tomorrow.

Dumb vs smart weapons

Luckey was speaking in a Q&A portion of a TED talk when he made the comparison between the weapons of today and the AI-powered weapons of tomorrow.

Quote of the day

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The talk was themed around his notion that adding intelligence to weapons systems could prevent future catastrophes, based on the notion of deterrence preventing different superpowers from waging war.

On the subject of the ethics of incorporating AI into weapons, Luckey pointed out that 'dumb weapons' may indiscriminately kill without context or an understanding of a particular target.

He used a land mine as an example of a weapon that may kill innocents or combatants – possibilities that wouldn't be considered ethically superior to his vision for smart weapons.

Intelligence-driven warfare

The rise of AI weapons has been quick but consequential, with new technologies being deployed on battlefields across the world. The war between Russia and Ukraine, in particular, has shown the potential for automated systems to dominate conflicts.

But the use of AI doesn't end at weaponry. It also involves the use of machine learning, for example, to classify different moving elements from several sources of imagery. It's the holistic picture, Luckey argues, from which he draws his conclusions rather than isolated implementations.

• Disney is exploring a free Disney+ tier to bring more viewers into its streaming ecosystem
• CEO Josh D’Amaro says a free offering could help drive subscriber growth
• The idea is for Disney+ to become a broader digital hub beyond movies and TV shows

Disney’s TikTok partnership wasn’t the only streaming news from the House of Mouse today. During the company’s earnings call, CEO Josh D’Amaro revealed that Disney is exploring a free tier of sorts for Disney+ — a move that could eventually give more viewers a way into the platform without paying for a subscription.

That doesn’t necessarily mean free access to the entire Disney+ catalog. The service currently houses a massive library of owned content spanning Disney Animation, Disney Channel, Pixar, Marvel, Star Wars, FX, and more. Disney+ already offers an entry tier with ads, including pre-roll and mid-roll placements during TV shows, movies, and documentaries.

Instead, Disney appears to be viewing a free offering as a potential new funnel to introduce more viewers to the platform and eventually convert them into paying subscribers.

On the call, D’Amaro explained that the idea could help Disney reach a more price-sensitive audience, saying: “First, we see it as a way to expand our reach to a customer segment that’s more price sensitive. Expanding our reach is, as we’ve talked about before, one of our strategic priorities.”

He added that a free tier could also support Disney’s growing advertising business: “Second, unlike a lot of our AVOD competitors, we’re fairly well sold, meaning more inventory would actually help us accelerate our ad revenue growth.”

Finally, D’Amaro noted that a free offering could help drive new subscribers into Disney+: “And then finally, as you mentioned in your question, a free offering could help us drive top-of-funnel Disney+ subscriber growth.”

For now, Disney isn’t committing to a launch date or specific structure. “So nothing specific to announce today, but definitely something that we’re considering,” D’Amaro concluded.

While some of the best streaming services, including Disney’s own Hulu, have offered free tiers, the current market for fully free, ad-supported streaming is largely dominated by platforms like Samsung TV Plus, Tubi, and Roku. Disney+ entering that space could be a compelling move, especially if the company uses its massive portfolio of franchises and recognizable brands to attract viewers.

But the bigger picture may not just be about streaming. D’Amaro also underscored the importance of Disney+ as a “global touchpoint” for the company, suggesting the service could become a much larger gateway into the broader Disney ecosystem.

Today, that ecosystem is still fairly fragmented digitally. Disney+ serves as the primary destination for its streaming content, while other major parts of the company operate through separate experiences — including the My Disney Experience app for Walt Disney World, the Disneyland app for guests in California, Disney Cruise Line’s own digital tools, dedicated apps for international parks, and various gaming platforms including a partnership with Fortnite.

While there have been rumors about Disney+ eventually evolving into something closer to a super app, D’Amaro instead described it as a “digital centerpiece” that could eventually encompass shopping, other brand experiences, and even gaming. The timeline for those expansions may be further out, but it’s clear Disney sees Disney+ as more than just a place to watch movies and TV shows.

A free tier could be the first step in lowering the barrier to entry and getting more people connected to that larger Disney ecosystem — even if they aren’t paying a monthly subscription fee right away

• Ukraine develops ground robot firing nets against incoming FPV drone attacks
• VORON combines drone interception with logistics and battlefield evacuation capabilities effectively
• Net launchers attempt physical drone captures instead of explosive aerial interceptions

Ukrainian firm SMART BIRDS has introduced an Unmanned Ground Vehicle (UGV) called VORON, built specifically to intercept first-person view drones from multiple directions simultaneously.

The system relies on Pavuk net launchers, a defensive mechanism designed to trap incoming drones before they reach their intended target.

The system was unveiled during a closed demonstration organized by the Technological Forces of Ukraine.

Net-launching system functions for drone capture

Each VORON platform can carry up to eight net launcher modules, allowing coverage against threats approaching from any angle around the vehicle.

The system engages targets at distances reaching 45 meters, with nets fully deploying after traveling 5 meters and forming a defensive radius of 5 meters.

Every two-barrel module weighs 4 kg, and operators can reload and fire the launchers repeatedly during a single engagement.

A human operator triggers the system manually through a control panel, using an onboard camera to visually confirm each threat before firing.

"The UGV operator, having seen a threat through the camera, can fire a shot from the control panel,” a company representative said.

“The equipped net gun has two nets for shooting, installed at different angles relative to the horizon, which allows you to neutralize both the "waiting drone" and the drone on the approach. If necessary, the net gun can be recharged and fired repeatedly."

This dual-angle configuration suggests engineers anticipated drones adopting either stationary or approach-based attack patterns.

Additional roles beyond drone interception

According to SMART BIRDS, the VORON platform serves purposes extending well beyond countering aerial threats.

This system also serves for logistics support, casualty evacuation, reconnaissance, and minelaying operations.

The unmanned vehicle weighs 120 kg yet can transport payloads of up to 250 kg under standard conditions.

Figures released by the company claim that the carrying capacity can increase to as much as 400 kg over shorter distances.

"We expected that sometimes the UGV would also have to evacuate personnel, so we built in increased lifting capacity," says a company representative.

The UGV’s top speed reaches 15 kilometers per hour, while the platform's operational range extends to 30 kilometers on a single battery charge.

These specifications place VORON within a category of lightweight ground robots meant for frontline support rather than heavy transport duties.

The vehicle remains in the codification process required for formal military adoption, and the company has indicated plans to integrate further mission-specific modules later.

As of the time of writing, all figures on the interception range and reliability of this device rest solely on manufacturer statements.

Without independent verification from military testing bodies or combat deployment records, these figures remain uncertain.

Net-based counter-drone systems face inherent limitations, particularly against fast-moving or evasive drone maneuvers that could avoid capture entirely.

Whether VORON performs consistently across varied battlefield conditions — weather, terrain, electronic interference — remains an open question until broader field data emerges from actual deployment.

Via Oboronka

• Disney has a new partnership with TikTok
• Select creator-made vertical TikTok videos will appear on Disney+
• The deal marks a shift toward real creators over AI-generated content after Disney's short-lived Sora partnership

Disney+ is soon going to be home to a new content type in the form of vertical videos, and unlike the original deal between Disney and OpenAI that would have had Sora-created videos using famous characters, this one seems a lot better on paper.

In a new deal between Disney and TikTok, select creators on the social platform will have access to the Mouse's IP and can use it to create videos that could land on the Disney+ app within the Verts tab. It will be pretty all-encompassing in terms of topics, featuring characters and stories from across the Disney umbrella, including Star Wars, Pixar, Marvel, and FX.

The idea, it seems, is that Disney is tapping into an already very vocal audience. There are likely hundreds of thousands of Disney creators already on TikTok, sharing thoughts about the Parks or Disney Cruise Line around the world, as well as all the facets of media that Disney creates.

In fact, my feed has been all about theories surrounding Spider-Man: Brand New Day recently, along with Disney World making its switch to Halloween theming — Mickey pumpkins, am I right?

Asad Ayaz, Chief Marketing and Brand Officer of The Walt Disney Company, is quoted in the release as saying, "The best storytellers are fans first; that has always been true at Disney, and today, fans are celebrating our stories in entirely new ways."

"This collaboration creates a new bridge between the stories we tell and the creativity they inspire, giving creators a bigger stage to share what they've made, and audiences more to discover on Disney+ every day."

(Image credit: Disney)

It also shows a focus on creator-made content for Disney and a deeper embrace of this type of content. We'll see the first results in the coming months, initially in the United States, with selected content appearing on Disney+ afterward.

While Disney hasn't shared the specific characters and franchises creators will have access to, the release states, "TikTok will offer their creators access to assets related to hundreds of films and series from Disney's vast library of enduring franchises and beloved IP."

Seemingly, if there's a new series or addition to Disney+, the Verts platform could serve up TikToks of people reacting, sharing a viral dance, or really any medium that relates back to the show, helping to inspire more conversation.

(Image credit: Disney)

The notion of vertical videos within Disney+ is not new, but this deal with TikTok seems to be a swap for the Sora alternative. That is, before Disney pulled away from the OpenAI deal and the AI giant shut down Sora. There, many Disney characters would have been used within Sora to create AI-generated videos. As I wrote back when the deal was announced, it felt like magic lost.

This new approach of working with TikTok — and arguably a community of creators who already post and create content about what's on Disney+ — will likely be a much better combination.

Once approved and accepted into the Disney Creator Ambassador Program within the TikTok x Disney partnership, creators can get access to event invites, increased visibility, and special rewards, though specifics on how to apply or join have not yet been released.

I suspect those details will come in the coming weeks or months, similar to when we see these TikTok-created videos appear in Verts on Disney+. The timing also comes as another arm of Disney is partnering with creators, albeit not just for short-form content but long-form as well.

Dubbed Created in LA and led by the Disney Experiences arm of The Walt Disney Company, this will be a two-day event in Los Angeles. Creators can apply to attend, and it will open with a premiere and screening of creator-made videos — think TikTok creators, YouTubers, and Instagram creators — at the El Capitan Theatre, followed by a summit on the second day at The Walt Disney Studios lot in Burbank.

(Image credit: Disney)

Disney is partnering with creator Jon Youshaei on the event, and it shows yet another embrace of and willingness to partner with creators. In this case, it's helping to spotlight creators, big and small, who apply and get approved, giving them a larger stage while also providing access to Disney and insights from the company.

It will be interesting to see if there's any crossover between Created in LA and this new Disney x TikTok partnership, but time will tell. Either way, it's a better direction to have real creators rather than AI-created content in Sora.

• Korean Air and Archer will modify the Midnight eVTOL for military use
• Archer handles technical support and certification assistance for the military version
• Midnight eVTOL carries four passengers and travels roughly 100 miles per charge

South Korea is moving ahead with plans to adapt electric flying taxis for military missions after Korean Air reached an agreement with California-based Archer Aviation.

Rather than developing an entirely new aircraft, both companies will modify Archer's existing Midnight eVTOL platform to meet South Korean military standards.

The Midnight eVTOL platform has previously been evaluated by the US Air Force, prompting speculation that the service could eventually pursue a similar aircraft.

Existing aircraft could speed military deployment

Korean Air will oversee modifications required for military operations, while Archer Aviation will provide technical support together with assistance throughout the required airworthiness certification process.

The modification plan will shorten deployment timelines and also reduce some engineering and certification challenges facing both companies.

The military version is expected to support troop transportation, cargo delivery, medical evacuation, search and rescue missions, and other special operations.

This military model is also required to support flexible short-range air mobility capabilities.

Midnight eVTOL currently carries four passengers, travels approximately 100 miles (161 Km), and reaches maximum speeds approaching 150 miles (241 Km) per hour.

These performance figures place the aircraft within a category suitable for relatively short missions.

The agreement also arrives as several armed forces continue exploring electric vertical takeoff and landing aircraft for missions requiring quieter operations and greater flexibility

Military partnership could influence South Korea's wider aviation plans

The agreement also extends beyond military transport because both companies expect certification work to support South Korea's broader ambitions for advanced air mobility (AAM) development.

"Military AAM development represents a blue ocean opportunity for Korea to secure leadership in future core aviation power and industry dominance," a Korean Air official said.

"Building on our cooperation with Archer, we aim to seize this critical window for AAM development and build a new model for defense exports."

Archer's ongoing certification process with the US Federal Aviation Administration could provide technical data helping South Korea establish its own certification framework for eVTOL aircraft.

That experience could also benefit the Korean Urban Air Mobility program, which plans to introduce commercial flying taxi services across South Korea during 2028.

Korean Air believes technical knowledge gained from the Midnight project could assist regulators while supporting future commercial operations using similar electric aircraft.

Military demand may also help companies improve production capabilities before commercial operators begin placing larger orders for advanced air mobility platforms.

Neither company has announced when military deliveries could begin, leaving certification schedules and procurement timelines still awaiting further clarification from both governments.

Via The Korean Herald

• Starlink Mobile could become a reality in 2027
• It will likely rely on the very new Starlink V3 satellite
• SpaceX's huge Starship will play a crucial role in the effort to compete with major carriers

SpaceX's first earnings call this week as a publicly traded company was full of promises and hyperbole, including the prediction from boaster-in-chief Elon Musk (also SpaceX CEO and Chief Engineer) that Starlink "will deliver a majority of the world's internet, at least in countries where we're allowed to operate, which is the vast majority of countries." As for a time scale, think not the distant future, but fewer than 10 years.

That's some bold talk, but SpaceX President, COO, and someone far less likely to wax bombastic, Gwen shotwell, backed up those claims. "As far as revenue, I'm just going to take a very high-level kind of top-down. The big three in the U.S., AT&T, Verizon, and T-Mobile, roughly between them, $600 billion a year. I anticipate us to be able to acquire quite a few of their customers because I think our service will be better." Shotwell told investors.

These promises all hinge, in part, on the development and launch of Starlink's V3 satellites, which will, on a per-satellite basis, drastically improve throughput. Starlink's current V2 satellite has a downlink throughput of roughly 80GBps. V3 can, the company claims, deliver 1 Terabit of downlink connectivity. Uplink jumps from roughly 7 Gbps to between 160 and 200 Gbps.

It's not just the speed; Starlink V3 satellites promise exponentially more beams, which is basically support for more concurrent users. V2 offers just under 200 beams while V3 promises 2048 per satellite.

Still, with just a reported 10,918 Starlink satellites in low Earth orbit (LEO), they will need a way of quickly delivering tens of thousands of satellites into orbit to achieve this lofty goal.

And so the other part of this hyperbolic plan hinges on SpaceX's still-in-testing Starship rocket. Granted, the 408ft tall spacecraft is rapidly transitioning to the operational phase and may have a full launch as soon as this month. It's already lifted some V3 satellites into orbit during one of its earlier orbital test flights. Now, to realize Musk's plan, it must shift to rapid launch deployment and then relaunch and deploy again.

Musk told investors that "Starlink V3 satellite is about an order of magnitude more capable than the Starlink V2 satellite." Then he added some color on the scale of what SpaceX and Starlink are planning: "We expect to launch about an order of magnitude more Starlink V3 satellites. That would mean a roughly two-order-of-magnitude increase in the delivered bandwidth."

Musk believes we'll need all that bandwidth, not just for potential consumer mobile broadband users but for the vast amounts of data and connectivity required by AI and robotics (both here and possibly on a Moon base), two other sectors where Musk has a vested interest.

"With the advent of AI, and humanoid robotics and vehicle robotics and just a massive number of robots, the appetite for bandwidth will be much greater than it has been in the past," he explained during the earnings call.

Starlink Mobile reality check

Starlink, though, is quite a distance away from competing directly with Verizon, T-Mobile, or AT&T in the US. Across them, they have more than 300M connections (or customers). Starlink has a reported 12M global customers.

As for those V3 satellites that will help propel Starlink Mobile into the mobile broadband competitive space, they do not officially launch until next year. In the meantime, Starlink's V2 Satellites will fill the gaps and help provide partners like EchoStar with better, faster, and maybe more reliable satellite connectivity.

We do already have some proof of the efficacy of Starlink WiFi connectivity and throughput. Earlier this year, TechRadar US Managing Editor for News Jake Krol took a flight on a Starlink-equipped United Airlines aircraft where he enjoyed incredible connectivity and speed. Krol was a fan: "I could livestream a show or movie, or even select a 'live channel' via Disney+ on an iPad, watch any video on YouTube, and scroll through TikTok or Instagram Reels without the slowdowns or loading issues typical of non-Starlink-equipped United flights."

Of course, that connectivity goes from the Starlink satellites to a responder on the jet, which then feeds the signal to onboard Wi-Fi and connected devices. In the case of Starlink Mobile, there'll potentially be no middleman, just your phone, a satellite, and instant, fast connectivity.

The benefit of the low-Earth-orbit V3 satellites, when they do finally launch and fill the skies, is that they should allow consumers to connect with them just as they would with towers assigned to their favorite carrier.

There is also one major hurdle that SpaceX and Starlink already cleared when the FCC granted Starlink approval in January 2026 for the company's "Next-gen satellite constellation."

Even with all this in place, the stars must align with Starship being fully operational, all those new satellites launched, and customers lined up by the millions. The last bit is surely the biggest question mark. Even if most of their modern cellphones support these direct-to-satellite connections, how likely are consumers to leave their trusted carrier behind?

Shotwell, for one, is bullish: "I'm quite excited about Starlink Mobile going forward," she told investors, "We will start to fly the satellites next year, and we will start providing service end of next year."

• Distillation sidesteps the logic of US export controls, which restrict the chips needed to train frontier models but cannot restrict the text those models produce
• Review of more than 80 Chinese papers and patents found PLA-linked researchers distilling outputs from OpenAI and Anthropic models into small systems they can run locally
• The Trump administration is increasingly critical of the approach and has claimed Chinese research lab-created Kimi K3 distilled Anthropic's Fable model

A new investigation has claimed Chinese military researchers have used outputs from American AI models built by OpenAI and Anthropic to train domestic systems intended to advance the country's defense capabilities.

The findings are based on a Reuters review of more than 80 Chinese academic papers and patents, incorporating research compiled by the Washington-based Jamestown Foundation shared exclusively with the news agency.

Reuters says it independently verified the literature and found a further two dozen military-linked case studies of its own.

A distillation problem in an AI race that continues to heat up

The mechanism at issue is model distillation, in which the outputs of a large, capable system are used as training data for a smaller one. The smaller model inherits selected behaviors at a fraction of the compute cost and, crucially, can run on modest local hardware.

That is the strategic point. Washington's export controls are built to deny China the chips needed to train frontier models. Distillation does not need those chips, because the expensive part has already been paid for by someone else. It sits alongside Beijing's other route around the controls: substituting domestic silicon for American designs, a shift that carries its own long-term threat to Nvidia and AMD.

Sunny Cheung, the Jamestown fellow who analyzed more than 60 of the papers, frames the value as reasoning rather than answers. Getting a model to produce the right output is comparatively easy, he told Reuters, but "teaching it the reasoning behind the answer is much harder."

The papers, on his reading, show Chinese military-linked researchers trying to move that expensive proprietary reasoning into small systems they can control and deploy themselves.

There is an irony in the pattern. Beijing has been moving to restrict consumer access to Western AI models on security grounds, and has pushed its own labs away from US-designed chips, even as its military researchers mine the outputs of American systems.

The asymmetry points at what is wrong with the US instrument. Export controls regulate objects: chips, tools, hardware that crosses a border and can be counted. The thing being transferred here is text a model produced- which crosses no border in any customs sense and cannot be enumerated.

The White House has registered the problem at both the chip and distillation end, but registering it is not the same as having a lever. For now, the debate over whether distillation is theft or standard practice may matter less than the fact that neither answer offers a workable control.

• Some Android apps contain invasive data-gathering SDKs that gather location data without user consent
• Location data is then sold to advertisers, or purchased by law enforcement for targeting and tracking US citizens
• Developers, regulators, and legislators should work together to remove the incentive for SDKs to gather this data

Monetizing an app is a key part of development. But developers frequently use third-party software development kits (SDKs) rather than develop their own monetization tools.

These SDKs often come preloaded with data-collection mechanisms that allow developers to choose what types of user data it would like to collect to sell to advertisers. Sometimes, developers leave every setting on.

According to a warning from the Electric Frontier Foundation, SDKs with their default data collection settings left on are harvesting highly invasive location data, which is then passed on to advertisers and data brokers. Critically, this data can then be purchased and used by intelligence agencies, law enforcement, and even the military.

Authorities using advertising location data for questionable operations

Location data is very lucrative for advertisers. It helps increase the bid-price for advertising space, allowing local businesses or services to target those nearby with adverts.

The level of invasive data collected depends on the permissions the app asks for. But crucially, any permissions granted to the app itself are also passed on to the SDK by default.

Where approximate location data determined by the device IP is accurate to about 1.2 square miles, precise location data can narrow that area down to about 160 feet, or in some circumstances as small as 10 feet.

In some cases, the SDKs include documentation for developers to ensure restricted data processing is turned on for users that are subject to GDPR and COPPA, but these settings are not turned on by default.

Also, some SDKs can gather and share location data without the user’s meaningful consent. Two apps analyzed by EFF that harvested location data through SDKs were downloaded more than 50 million and 10 million times, respectively. Neither app showed a notice or requested consent from the user, and both failed to declare that the apps would share location data with third parties in the Google Play Store Data Safety section.

Some apps require location data as part of their core functionality. For example, your chosen weather app, or a running app, may need your location data. But for many Android apps, the consent provided for this location tracking is also deemed to be consent for SDKs.

“App-level location permissions alone cannot signal meaningful consent to location collection and sharing by third-party advertising SDKs,” the EFF report says.

In many cases, location data sold by advertisers and data brokers has been used by intelligence agencies and law enforcement in highly-targeted operations.

The EFF includes a number of recommendations for developers, regulators, and legislators:

• Developers should have a responsibility to protect the privacy of their users. They should check third-party SDKs and ensure that user data is not shared by default
• Regulators should pursue app developers that fail to ensure user data is not unlawfully passed on to third parties. Additionally, regulators should pursue companies that deliberately develop SDKs that gather invasive amounts of user data by default
• Legislators in the US should work to develop a federal law similar to GDPR to protect users from privacy violations. Banning behavioral advertising would also remove the incentive from companies developing SDKs to gather as much data as possible

• Gigabyte graphics cards are rumored to be set for a big price rise
• It could be a hike of 20% to 40%, and other rumors are also pointing to major price hikes for GPUs more broadly
• This means now is likely a good time to make a purchase, particularly with certain cards which have avoided the worst of the hikes so far

Desktop GPU prices are set to rise if the rumor mill is right – with yet another prediction to that end being aired – and while graphics cards are already costly in some cases, now might be the time to buy certain models, based on a fresh roundup of average pricing.

First off, let's deal with the latest gloom nugget from the grapevine regarding GPU pricing, courtesy of @momomo_us on X (via Wccftech) who picked up a notice from CFD (a Japanese components supplier) warning of substantial price hikes on Gigabyte graphics cards.

The claimed rise (add seasoning, of course) is in the order of 20% to 40%, so at the latter end of that scale, we're looking at prices shooting up by almost a half in some cases. Existing orders from retailers buying boards from CFD may even be cancelled, the notice states.

I perhaps wouldn't put as much stock in this, except that it echoes a rash of recent reports contending that large price hikes are about to happen in the GPU world, which makes it all the more believable.

Only yesterday I reported on the situation in South Korea where RTX 5000 models are rumored to be getting price increases of up to 30%. So again, that's a hefty hike, and it follows other speculation about Nvidia charging its partners more for video RAM (which will push up costs, of course).

This apparent Gigabyte move will affect both Nvidia and AMD graphics cards in Japan, and there have been rumors about Team Red having Radeon price hikes in the pipeline due to more expensive VRAM, too. That only makes sense, as if VRAM is getting more costly for Nvidia, it will be for AMD too. And while some of these reports are based on regional activity, the cost issues will surely apply globally – none of these markets exist in a bubble.

Analysis: I think it's time to buy – especially with certain GPUs

(Image credit: Gigabyte)

The RAM crisis has a lot to answer for, and it very much looks like graphics card prices are going to be jacked up considerably during the remainder of 2026, with video memory being the primary driver here. Given that, it seems that if you are thinking about a GPU upgrade, now is likely the time to go for it, rather than waiting and being hit by price hikes.

That's especially true if you're considering a 16GB graphics card (as more gamers are these days), as the products with more VRAM are going to get hit the hardest for price rises as memory modules become even more expensive.

If we want a snapshot of the current GPU market as price tags stand, fortunately enough, TechSpot has just furnished us with an extensive (multi-region) pricing roundup as of the end of July which highlights some key points.

Firstly, low-end GPUs are still relatively unscathed, with offerings like the RTX 5050 and RTX 5060 8GB, and the 8GB spin on the 5060 Ti, not having been bumped up by all that much in the RAM crisis thus far. However, as for the 16GB incarnation of the RTX 5060 Ti, that has seen major price bumps, reinforcing that observation on 16GB pain (this card is up over 40% since November 2025 in the US, for example – and shows a 14% rise since April 2026).

In the tier above that, the RTX 5070 is holding at a reasonable price, and even if the sub-MSRP levels of late last year are well and truly gone, it remains a decent buy. (As long as you can stomach 12GB of VRAM at this price bracket, of course – and that's one of the reasons why this GPU hasn't been hit so hard, no doubt).

Above this level, Nvidia GPUs have witnessed some of the nastier price increases, as you've probably noticed.

On the AMD side, matters look more promising, particularly in the case of the Radeon RX 9070 and RX 9070 XT, with TechSpot finding that the 16GB models in the RDNA 4 family haven't suffered as much as Nvidia's GeForce offerings. The price of both these 9070 models has remained steady over the last few months, and in many regions, they're only up 10% or so compared to late 2025. (The 9070 XT is an exception in the US, mind, where it has risen by closing on 20% since last year).

If you're inclined towards one of these Radeon mid-rangers, or Nvidia's RTX 5070, I'd strongly suggest you buy now rather than wait based on what we're hearing from the rumor mill. Lower-priced graphics cards are likely worth grabbing, too, because they may be heading upwards in the pricing stakes before long – although notably the RX 9060 XT with 16GB has already become a good deal more costly, much like its RTX 5060 Ti 16GB rival.

As noted, Nvidia's higher-end graphics cards (RTX 5070 Ti and upwards) have already been hit with alarming price hikes, but they're likely to get even worse. So, this could be a case of keeping your wallet shut and holding out for possibly a lengthy time, as I can't really recommend them even at the current pricing.

The trouble is, we don't know how long the RAM crisis will continue, and some of the guesswork on that front is very bleak indeed – suggesting it might be the rest of this decade effectively. At this point, I'm inclined to believe we're in it for the long haul with PC component pricing woes, which is why I think it's best to buy a GPU now, at least with the mentioned models, assuming you're in a position to do so.

• Forescout’s Vedere Labs found 15 flaws in TP‑Link Omada business networking gear, exploitable for RCE when chained with prior CVEs
• Weak trust shortcuts in zero‑touch provisioning exposed devices to client‑side code execution, hijacking, spoofing, and encrypted comms compromise
• TP‑Link released firmware updates; admins should patch immediately, with 1,800+ Omada controllers exposed online

TP-Link has patched more than a dozen vulnerabilities across multiple business networking products which could have been chained to achieve remote code execution (RCE).

Security researchers at Vedere Labs from Forescout found the flaws and published an in-depth report on the issues, which particularly affect TP-Link Omada, the company’s business networking platform for centrally managing enterprise and small-business network infrastructure.

It includes cloud-managed Wi-Fi access points, routers, switches, gateways, and controllers, all of which can be monitored and configured from a single interface.

Enabling "concrete attacks"

These support zero-touch provisioning (ZTP), a mechanism that allows IT managers to deploy and maintain devices without needing to configure each one manually and on site.

However, ZTP has to establish trust between a factory-fresh device, and a controller with no human involved, so TP-Link used different shortcuts: from hard-coded keys and certificates shared across multiple devices, to default credentials, and from guessable serial numbers as “identity”, to weak session-key randomness.

Now, Forescout says 15 vulnerabilities its researchers discovered all allow for different ways of exploiting these shortcuts, meaning a flaw anywhere in the onboarding chain can compromise every device that goes through it. These bugs would need to be combined with two previously disclosed command-injection flaws, though.

“The vulnerabilities fall into four impact categories: client-side code execution, information disclosure, device hijacking and spoofing, and compromise of encrypted communications,” Forescout said. “Combined with two previously disclosed CVEs (CVE-2025-7850 and CVE-2025-7851), these flaws enable concrete attacks that let attackers infiltrate networks through controllers and client devices.”

Out of the 15 discovered flaws, 11 received CVE identifiers, and the rest did not receive a tracking number.

Forescout said there are more than 1,800 Omada controllers accessible from the wider internet. If you are using any of the devices from the platform, you should head over to TP-Link’s download portal and grab the latest firmware for your device model.

When Anthropic's CFO revealed that over 90 per cent of the company's code is now written by its own AI, it landed as a milestone.

Tasks that once consumed hours now take 30 minutes. The productivity gains are significant.

But Anthropic is an AI-native company with some of the world's best engineering talent.

For most enterprises, the question isn't whether AI can generate code at that speed. It's whether they can govern what it generates.

Shadow AI: The new shadow IT

"Vibe coding", the term for generating code via AI, has moved into the mainstream. By some estimates, almost half of all new global code is now AI-generated. Developer productivity is up. So is debt that nobody fully understands.

Part of what's driving this is necessity. AI is helping close the engineering talent gap. Teams that lack experienced developers are using it to build at the pace the business demands. The problem is that the same shortage that makes AI indispensable also means there aren't enough senior engineers to review AI-generated code.

Research across Fortune 50 enterprises found that AI-assisted developers introduce security vulnerabilities at ten times the rate of their peers. Forty-five per cent of AI-generated code contains OWASP Top 10 vulnerabilities. Independent analyses indicate that technical debt increases by 30–41 per cent following the adoption of AI tools.

Traditional technical debt is at least visible. Engineers who cut corners know they did it. Vibe coding debt is different: developers often don't realize they have incurred it, because the code looks correct – right up until it doesn't.

We used to worry about Shadow IT. The new threat is Shadow AI: code generated at pace without architectural review, security auditing or institutional understanding of what's been built.

Unlike Shadow IT, which was typically contained within a department, Shadow AI compounds across organizational boundaries. In enterprises where systems are still deeply siloed, complex problems span multiple departments and platforms; no single team has a complete picture of what's been generated or what it depends on.

Enterprises have spent decades paying for yesterday's shortcuts. AI risks creating the next generation of legacy systems, only much faster.

Repeating the COBOL mistake

The market is flooded with tools promising to read millions of lines of COBOL or Java and convert the functionality into a modern language. This is technically impressive, but strategically flawed.

Legacy systems are full of inefficiencies, redundancies and “swivel chair” workarounds baked in years ago to compensate for other systems' limitations. Translating code line-by-line replicates that bad logic in a newer language, now running on cloud infrastructure with a modern interface on top of old code and dated processes.

To get modernization right, organizations should avoid treating it as a technical exercise. Instead, they should step back and ask whether a process is still valid, not just how to replicate it.

True modernization is about reinventing how work gets done, designed around the employee and customer experience rather than the constraints of systems built decades ago. It is a state of consistent change, and it must be driven by the North Star of clear business objectives.

The agility layer

Probabilistic AI needs to operate within deterministic boundaries to be safe and useful at enterprise scale. AI that can generate anything is not the same as AI that generates the right thing reliably with full traceability, in a context where every decision might be scrutinized by a regulator.

This is why high-stakes organizations are looking for an agility layer: a governed process platform that imposes structure, ensures auditability and keeps AI outputs within maintainable boundaries. The US Army followed this approach for security with agility to operate with certainty at speed.

Ordering ammunition in disconnected field conditions is mission-critical, with zero tolerance for ungoverned outputs. Similarly, pharmaceutical giant Merck's clinical supply chain, where regulatory scrutiny is intense and errors have patient safety consequences, required a platform that could accelerate delivery without sacrificing auditability.

These are examples of organizations trying to address the hardest part of modernization: discovery. They are using AI to extract specifications from even the most poorly documented legacy applications, converting them into visual plans covering UI, data models and process flows.

They're generating software components rather than custom code to reuse in other applications, accelerating development time and reducing technical debt. AI agents then build against those specs under human supervision, with developers assigning tasks and iterating throughout – at roughly 25 per cent of the time traditional approaches require.

The future is bespoke, not general-purpose

There is a temptation to conclude that general-purpose AI will soon render enterprise platforms obsolete. This is premature and in regulated environments, dangerous. General-purpose models are extraordinary at generating plausible outputs. They are not equipped to ensure those outputs are auditable, compliant or maintainable by teams that did not generate them.

The vibe coding wave is real, and so is the debt it is creating. The organizations that navigate the next decade successfully and avoid falling into the same old legacy traps will not be the ones that generated code the fastest in 2025 and 2026.

They'll be the ones to build governance and process boundaries into how AI was used from the start – so what was built quickly can still be understood, maintained and trusted years later.

We've reviewed, rated, and ranked the best laptops for programming.

This article was produced as part of TechRadar Pro Perspectives, our channel to feature the best and brightest minds in the technology industry today.

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It's back-to-school sales season, and Amazon UK is getting in on the action with discounts across laptops, headphones, appliances, and all the useful tech you might need for the year ahead in school, college, or uni. I've had a look through the retailer's latest round of offers and picked out 15 of the best deals that I think are worth buying if you're shopping today.

• See all of today's best deals at Amazon UK

A new year often means a new laptop, and there's one offer in particular that stands out to me as a fantastic all-around choice: it's this Samsung Galaxy Book4 Edge for £549 (was £829). With a Snapdragon X processor, 16GB of RAM and a 1TB SSD, you'll get fast and efficient performance, as well as incredible battery life, and more than enough storage for all of your needs.

If you're just after a few handy extras, then you can get this pair of Anker USB-C Charger Cables for £5.99 (was £7.99), a Warmco Portable Handheld Fan for £19.88 (was £24.99), and an Inui 45W 10,000mAH Portable Charger for £18.66 (was £21.99).

Have a browse through all of my top picks from Amazon's latest sale below, and be sure to stick with TechRadar over the next few weeks for even more back-to-school deals and buying advice from our expert team.

15 best back-to-school deals at Amazon UK

Display - 15.6 inches
Processor - Snapdragon X
RAM - 16GB
Storage - 1TB

It was slightly cheaper over Prime Day, but this is a great price for a relatively modern laptop that comes with a well-performing and efficient Snapdragon X CPU. On top of that, you get 16GB of RAM, a surprisingly large 1TB SSD for storage, and incredible battery life, which represents good value for money overall. I like it as a light, portable and capable all-around everyday machine for school, college, and at home.View Deal

This is the biggest saving I've seen on a Microsoft 365 Family subscription since Black Friday, so it's excellent value for money overall if multiple people prefer to use Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook, and other Microsoft Office programs. This version grants up to six users access across multiple devices for 12 months, so it's better value than the single subscription. If you just want that, though, it's also currently on offer at Amazon for £69.99 (was £84.99).View Deal

It's always handy to have a portable charger to take with you when you're on the go, and this 10000mAh one from popular brand Inui is a smart buy in my eyes. For starters, it's small and super-slim, making it easy to carry around in a pocket or slip into your bag, while still offering enough juice to charge some of the latest phones and tablets to above 50%. It has two USB-C ports and one USB-A, meaning you can charge multiple devices at once. There's even a handy detachable USB-C cable included for free.View Deal

The Nespresso Vertuo Next is a small and convenient pod coffee machine — and it's now back to its lowest price this year. With multiple drinks in multiple sizes available at the touch of a button, it could be the ideal no-fuss pick for your room or shared kitchen.View Deal

If you want a cheap and basic Bluetooth speaker, then you can't go wrong with this Anker Soundcore for almost £25. Sure, it's not going to give you the biggest and boldest audio quality, but it's still a solid option at an affordable price. Battery life is an impressive 24 hours, too, so it's great to use around the home or take it with you when on the go.View Deal

The Google Pixel 10a is our pick for the best bargain phone for its balance between affordability and functionality. It features a Tensor G4 processor and a display with a 120Hz refresh rate, which offers solid performance at this price point. You also get a Gorilla Glass 7i screen for better drop protection and scratch resistance. For £100 off, you can get this smooth and affordable smartphone for its lowest price yet, or save another £50 on top if you're OK with 128GB of storage.View Deal

Can you ever have too many USB cables? The box full of them under my desk would suggest you can. However, if you want a couple more to leave around the house or take with you when out and about, this pair of USB-C to USB-A cables from top brand Anker is now super-cheap.View Deal

Display - 15.6 inches
Processor - Intel Core 3
RAM - 8GB
Storage - 256GB

This version of the Asus Chromebook Plus offers a solid amount of power for the price. It includes 8GB of RAM and an Intel Core 3 processor, boosting performance, boot times, and load times. There's also a standard 256GB of storage for the price, and battery life is solid at up to 12 hours on a single charge. That's more than enough to last a full working day. At a little under £250, it's a smart buy for school or college, or just as a home laptop for light use and everyday tasks.View Deal

The Ninja Blast Portable Blender is a powerful all-in-one portable blender — and it's now got a small price cut at Amazon. It has a 530ml container with a leakproof lid and sip spout, while the carry handle means you can take it with you to the gym or on your walks. It’s capable of blending ice and frozen fruit, as well as any liquids and powders, while one charge gives you up to two hours of battery life.View Deal

This Warmco Portable handheld fan is a slightly more high-tech and serious-looking device. We haven't reviewed it, but it does have good Amazon reviews and the price is right thanks to this latest deal. According to the user reviews, this looks to be a surprisingly powerful little fan that also offers excellent battery life if you need to take it with you when on the go.View Deal

If you picked up those USB cables for cheap, you might also want a charger plug to use with them. There are several on sale right now at Amazon, but I like this Ugreen option the best. It's a 100W fast charger with three USB-C ports and one USB-A port, offering support for multiple phones, laptops, tablets, earbuds, and more, with the option to charge more than one at a single time with the correct arrangement. The small and compact design, is the ideal finishing touch.View Deal

The iO range is usually a more expensive option in Oral-B's range of electric toothbrushes, but this is an excellent deal on an entry-level option that's also bundled with a few handy extras. It doesn't boast many high-end features, but it has the basic ones you really need to brush your teeth effectively and efficiently, including a two-minute timer and a visible pressure sensor. Plus, you get a refill holder and a travel case included for free.View Deal

The Philips OneBlade 360 is a quick, simple and affordable electric razor that's suitable for a wide variety of face and body grooming needs. This jam-packed bundle was a little cheaper over Black Friday, but today's offer is still a solid one. This bundle includes the handle, as well as two spare blades, four different-sized combs, a body kit, and a USB-A charging cable.View Deal

The Wolfbox MF50 is a convenient and extremely easy-to-use air duster, with a single button to cycle through fan speeds, a trigger to fire out the air, and several different attachments to choose between depending on the cleaning job you need it for. It's completely wireless with USB-C charging and lasts up to four hours on a single charge on the lowest setting, too.View Deal

Perhaps you're moving into halls or other university accommodation and want an option to get some exercise in at home, well, this cheap pack of resistance bands could be useful. For under £10, you get five different-strength bands, ranging from light to XX-heavy, that can help with all sorts of different home training, yoga, pilates, and other exercises.View Deal

• Audeze is "deeply involved" with the creation of future PlayStation audio tech
• Peter James, marketing director at Audeze, says there are products in "various stages of development"
• He adds that it's Audeze's goal to bring gamers "better sound"

Premier audio brand Audeze is growing its partnership with Sony and is currently "deeply involved" with the development of future PlayStation audio hardware.

Sony acquired Audeze, a leading audio technology brand and pioneer of high-end gaming headphones, in 2023 to continue its focus on innovation in PlayStation audio. Audeze still operates independently and continues to develop multi-platform products, while also benefiting from access to the PlayStation ecosystem.

Speaking to TechRadar Gaming Managing Editor, Rob Dwiar, during a visit to its California HQ, marketing director Peter James called the partnership "unique" considering Audeze still runs as its own brand.

However, Audeze's "primary function within PlayStation is to develop the next generation of PlayStation audio" and to always offer the "best performance" and "the best sound," he went on to say.

"We're more deeply involved with the creation of PlayStation audio products [than ever before], where you could kind of think of us as the audio Skunk Works for PlayStation."

In terms of specific ways of approaching PlayStation audio products' development, James said, "acoustically speaking, we are developing the sound of all future PlayStation audio products," while he also revealed that there are products that have yet to be released and are in "various stages of development."

The marketing director described how Audeze aims to bring the audio quality of planar magnetic drivers to a wider range of people, and being part of Sony and PlayStation can boost that enormously. "[We're] bringing people to better sound, who in many cases wouldn't know what planar magnetic technology is, [and] wouldn't know why it sounds better."

"They're going to buy [an official headset] because it's a PlayStation headset, but now they're getting an elevated audio experience, and potentially, once they become aware of it, chasing down even more elevated experiences," James said.

"The more people get those [drivers], the more that raises their expectation of the next headphone they buy", he went on to say.

He added that the path ahead is going to make Audeze hardware and the tech more "more ubiquitous" and more accessible: "Previously, the most accessible planar gaming headset was $299, and then we went with Sony and made it $149 [with the Pulse Elite headset], so it's slowly pushing its way down to be much more accessible."

And with Audeze adding another planar magnetic gaming headset to the market in its Audeze Maxwell 2 ANC, as well as being part of every PlayStation audio product henceforth, the future is looking bright and full of premium audio for gamers.