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Elon Musk has donated over $276 million to Republican midterm efforts

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So much for doing less political spending. | Image: Cath Virginia / The Verge, Getty Images Elon Musk has handed out at least $276 million to Republican groups since July, The New York Times reports, making him both the party's top known donor and the biggest established midterm donor. $158 million of that money - one of the largest political donations in American history - has been funneled into the Senate Leadership Fund, the main super PAC that aims to secure and maintain a Republican Senate majority. Among others, it's fighting to retain the party's Senate seat in Texas, which serves as a major hub for Musk's business empire. He's also donated over $76 million to America PAC, a super PAC Musk founded in 2024 that canvasses for … Read the full story at The Verge. source https://www.theverge.com/tech/1009604/elon-musk-2026-midterm-republican-donations

Inside the mini factory where GM builds its EV future

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If you're driving through GM's sprawling campus in Warren, Michigan, you'd likely ignore the pair of adjacent, anonymous white buildings tucked away in the upper reaches of the 710-acre space. Inside those buildings, which total half a million square feet together, is a massive construction project that's still in progress. Once completed, it will house GM's new Battery Cell Development Center, where the automaker is working furiously to build new prototype cells with the goal of slashing the cost of its EVs. GM has to build faster and cheaper to meet its goal of selling affordable EVs in much higher volumes. Those EVs will have to compete … Read the full story at The Verge. source https://www.theverge.com/transportation/1008023/gm-bcdc-ev-battery-factory-china-tesla

A college in Illinois tried to cancel its Flock contact and it refused

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BOULDER, CO - MARCH 5:A Flock Safety license plate recognition camera is seen near the intersection of Marine Street and Arapahoe Avenue in Boulder on Thursday, March 5, 2026. (Photo by Matthew Jonas/MediaNews Group/Boulder Daily Camera via Getty Images) | MediaNews Group via Getty Images In April of 2025, Elgin Community College had six Flock safety cameras installed to "enhance the safety and security of students." But by September of that year, the school's administration grew concerned that Flock was sharing data with Customs and Border Patrol, that camera feeds were not properly secured, and that both law enforcement and the company's employees were abusing access to the data. So in October of 2025, Elgin Community College requested Flock to remove its cameras . According to Elgin's President Peggy Heinrich, Flock rejected the request, saying it had not violated its contract. According to the Chicago Sun-Times , school o … R...

The new Apple TV could have a built-in mic and a remote with a speaker

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The latest rumors are that the new Apple TV will have a built-in microphone, while the upgraded remote will get a speaker. The mic would let users control the set-top box using Siri without having to speak into the remote or a connected HomePod device. That could also let the Apple TV serve as a simple smart home hub - controlling thermostats and locking doors - without the need to hunt for the remote. If you happen to misplace the remote, the new integrated speaker should make it easier to track down. It could play an audio alert to guide you to its location, whether it got carelessly kicked under the couch or a child mischievously hid it … Read the full story at The Verge. source https://www.theverge.com/tech/1009397/apple-tv-refresh-built-in-mic-remote-speaker

Learning to use local AI is exciting, overwhelming, and frustrating

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Baby’s first local AI agent. | Photo: Antonio G. Di Benedetto / The Verge I'm embarking on a journey I've so far been hesitant to go on: actually using AI on the regular. Giving my most personal data to cloud services has been a major hold up for me, but it's increasingly possible to run powerful models locally to see what they're capable of. Is this tech so useful that it's worth throwing gobs of money at a computer or a laptop with lots of overpriced RAM? I'll try to help you find out. I'm not an AI expert, it's going to be a journey for me, but maybe I can help you see if that journey is worth taking - and I'll be posting my way through it. A big part of Apple's pitch for its new Mac desktops is how good they … Read the full story at The Verge. source https://www.theverge.com/ai-artificial-intelligence/1008484/learning-local-ai-hermes-qwen-model-mac-studio-testing-diary-progress

Satya Nadella says we should assume all AI models are ‘compromised’

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In a lengthy post on X , Microsoft's CEO laid out his views on the dangers posed by highly advanced AI models and how to confront those risks. Nadella says we can no longer accept a world where AI is treated as a "set of nested black boxes" whose advice and actions we simply accept or reject. He calls for building a more transparent system where models can be contained, observed, and leaves behind "tamper-proof human readable evidence." Many of his recommendations align with what we've heard from others in the industry: timely incident disclosure, independent audits, verifiable data, and containment. It's on that last point that he appears t … Read the full story at The Verge. source https://www.theverge.com/ai-artificial-intelligence/1009337/satya-nadella-says-we-should-assume-all-ai-models-are-compromised

DistroKid has been quietly taking down songs in response to UMG lawsuit

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Artists are taking to social media to complain that DistroKid has unceremoniously removed their work without notice. Now DistroKid has confirmed to The Verge that the takedowns are a direct response to claims made by UMG. The label filed a lawsuit in September claiming that DistroKid has created an "AI-slop pipeline." Artists are saying that their non-AI works are being caught up in the purge, however. Musician and self-described "Video Game boy" McGwire reported that six of his songs had been removed from streaming. As has been the case with others, McGwire says that there was no communication from DistroKid before or after the removals, a … Read the full story at The Verge. source https://www.theverge.com/entertainment/1009309/distrokid-take-down-songs-umg-lawsuit