The Big Four, tracked.
The live wire from the labs, refreshed every 15 minutes. Our verified read on the big launches lives in Phantom Notes.
§ Lab spotlight
AnthropicOCT 13, 2026 ↗Anthropic Warns Small AI Models Could Soon Form Self-Propagating IoT BotnetsSmall artificial intelligence (AI) models may be months away from developing capabilities to self-replicate on IoT devices like smart ovens and off-brand Android TV boxes, according to a warning from ...OpenAIOCT 14, 2026 ↗The EU’s next chapter in AI is agenticNew analysis shows how agentic AI adoption is growing across EU enterprises and small businesses—and where deeper use could unlock more value.Google DeepMindOCT 14, 2026 ↗Google DeepMind and Singapore Government announce new AI tool to protect citizens against scamsLearn how Google DeepMind and GovTech Singapore uses lightweight on-device Gemma models to intercept conversational scams in private chats with zero cloud data egress.xAIOCT 13, 2026 ↗SpaceXSI bundles X Premium, Grok, and Cursor into one subscriptionThe new X Subscription combines X's paid features with AI tools like Grok and Cursor, offering plans ranging from $8 to $200 per month.
§ Our verified coverageAll of Phantom Notes →
SEP 24, 2026OpenAI and Anthropic Shipped the Same Day. Sol Is Half the Price. Opus 5.5 Is the Better Model. Both Claims Have Asterisks.→SEP 24, 2026GPT-6 Astra Can Hide Its Reasoning. OpenAI Says So in Its Own System Card.→SEP 24, 2026Grok 4.7 Took Five Delays to Land in 21st Place. It Is Not in the Grok App Yet.→SEP 24, 2026Gemini 3.8 Flash Is the Third Flash in Six Weeks. Google's Pro Page Still Says 'Coming Soon'.→AUG 15, 2026Gemini 3.7 Flash Is Smarter and Half Price. Read the Fine Print on Both.→
§ The full wire· 76 items
OCT 14, 2026Scimplify raises $25M to challenge China’s grip on critical materials with AIScimplify's annualized revenue run rate has tripled to $200 million as it eyes U.S. expansion.TechCrunch · industry↗OCT 14, 2026Researchers Used a Public OpenAI Model to Build a $250,000 Chrome Full-Chain Exploit in Six DaysA team at security firm XBOW chained three then-unknown Google Chrome bugs into a single attack that runs code on a Windows computer when the user only loads a web page, the company said.
Its researc...OpenAI · coding↗OCT 14, 2026Hirudo Android Trojan Uses Patched Banking Apps to Bypass Their Built-In Security ChecksCybersecurity researchers have disclosed details of a new Android banking trojan called Hirudo that works by replacing legitimate banking apps with purpose-built patched versions designed to bypass se...The Hacker News · security↗OCT 14, 2026AI-Found Linux Kernel Flaw Gives Local Users Root, and Can Break a Guest Out to the HostA flaw in Linux's vhost subsystem lets a local user read and write kernel memory at will and become root across nearly a decade of kernel versions. In one virtualization setup, it lets an untrusted vi...The Hacker News · security↗OCT 14, 2026An AI Agent Found a Critical OTP Bypass in Production. The Attack Was the Easy Part.The bug was simple: the login let you choose where your sign-in code went. Proving it on a live website was the hard part.
TL;DR
During an authorized assessment, an AI pentesting agent found a cr...The Hacker News · coding↗OCT 14, 2026OpenAI Employee Arrested for Allegedly Planting Hidden Recorder in Executive Conference RoomA Saudi National and employee of OpenAI has been arrested for allegedly planting a hidden recording device in an executive conference room at the company's San Francisco offices to covertly record sen...OpenAI · security↗OCT 14, 2026Microsoft Patches Record 1,413 Flaws, Including Exploited Windows Shell BugMicrosoft on Tuesday shattered its own Patch Tuesday record by shipping patches for a whopping 1,413 vulnerabilities, including one that it said has come under active exploitation.
These include 1,10...The Hacker News · security↗OCT 14, 2026Four-Byte Write and Timing Bug Let Researchers Run Code in Windows SmartScreen EnclaveSecurity researchers ran their own code inside a protected part of Windows that is meant to stay sealed off even when the rest of the computer is taken over.
The protected area is a VBS enclave, an i...The Hacker News · coding↗OCT 13, 2026LG Smart TVs Vulnerable to Pre-Auth Root Takeover From Local NetworkThree vulnerabilities in LG's webOS can be chained to give an attacker on the same local network root access to certain smart TVs without a PIN or any interaction from the owner.
LG has issued a fix,...The Hacker News · security↗OCT 13, 2026Attackers Heat French Supermarket Fridges Up to 50°C by Hijacking Danfoss ControllersAttackers took remote control of fridges and freezers at hundreds of French supermarkets on the night of October 11 and warmed them, forcing stores to throw food away, several retail chains said.
The...The Hacker News · security↗OCT 13, 2026Product Walkthrough: Bitdefender AI Visibility and ControlA user opens a browser tab, pastes data into a chat assistant, and nothing is installed.
A developer adds a coding assistant as an editor extension, and nothing shows up in the installed programs lis...The Hacker News · coding↗OCT 13, 2026GitLab Patches CVSS 10.0 Flaw That Could Let Unauthenticated Users Run Server CodeGitLab has released patches for a maximum-severity security flaw impacting its Community Edition (CE) and Enterprise Edition (EE) software that could result in arbitrary code execution.
"GitLab has r...The Hacker News · model↗OCT 13, 2026Two Critical MarkLogic Flaws Could Give Delegated Managers Persistent Admin ControlTwo of 31 newly disclosed flaws in Progress Software's MarkLogic Server database could let an account given only some management privileges take administrator control of the server, the company says.
...The Hacker News · data↗OCT 13, 2026TechCrunch Disrupt 2026: Day 1TechCrunch Disrupt 2026 officially kicks off today. See what's in store for Day 1 (Oct. 13) at San Francisco's Moscone West. Don't miss it. Register for your pass now and meet 10,000+ tech leaders at ...TechCrunch · industry↗OCT 13, 2026Amex introduces a framework to prevent AI agents from making unauthorized purchasesAmerican Express is introducing a new framework designed to ensure AI agents only make purchases their users have authorized, potentially preventing costly mistakes and disputes as AI-powered shopping...TechCrunch · automation↗OCT 13, 2026Just 5 years in, interactive chatbot platform Character.AI files for bankruptcyThe startup will sell some of its assets to Disney for $20 million.TechCrunch · industry↗OCT 13, 2026The final Disrupt Stage lineup: Three days of conversations you won’t hear anywhere outside of TechCrunch Disrupt 2026The full TechCrunch Disrupt Stage lineup revealed, featuring Max Hodak, Mark Wahlberg, Benchmark partners, and more. Register now to save up to $100 on your pass and get a second at 50% off.TechCrunch · model↗OCT 13, 2026[Webinar] How to Stop AI-Driven Privilege Escalation With Runtime Identity ControlsThe dangerous part of a stolen identity isn't always the initial login. It's what an attacker can do with that access next.
With AI accelerating reconnaissance, exploitation of vulnerabilities, and p...The Hacker News · coding↗OCT 13, 2026Xandr Fined a Record €8.6 Million for Relaying Grindr Data Revealing Sexual OrientationThe Norwegian Data Protection Authority (DPA) has fined Xandr, an advertising unit owned by Microsoft, €8.6 million ($9.62 million) for illegally relaying Grindr users' sensitive data to advertisers....The Hacker News · data↗OCT 13, 2026Quoting Geoffrey HuntleyIf the agent isn't using my diagnostics library, I could introspect and update AGENTS.md, but there's still a delta, and it'll drift. Instead, I write a pre-commit hook that checks the git diff for di...Simon Willison · automation↗OCT 13, 2026Zuck’s wonder...fullIs software dead, again?Ben's Bites · industry↗OCT 13, 2026Higgsfield takes AI video from 1 minute to over 10Higgsfield brings creators longer videos with GPT-6 Astra, precise visuals with GPT-Image-2.5, and a path to voice filmmaking with GPT-Live.OpenAI · model↗OCT 13, 2026Gemini 4 Argon for RoboticsGoogle DeepMind · model↗OCT 13, 2026Facebook is giving users more control over their algorithmMeta announced the launch of its new AI-powered feature, “Your Algorithm,” a feature it first launched on Instagram.TechCrunch · model↗OCT 13, 2026Developing Gemini 4 Argon responsibly and safelyGoogle DeepMind · model↗OCT 13, 2026Flox Intelligence is building AI to keep wildlife away from trains, airports, and roadsFlox's edge devices can identify animals and use species-specific sounds to drive them away from critical infrastructure.TechCrunch · coding↗OCT 13, 2026Gemini 4 Argon: Built to solve your hardest problemsGoogle DeepMind · model↗OCT 13, 2026Pluto Security raises $42M as AI gives enterprise security teams a new headacheThe problem with giving everyone in a company access to AI tools is that people will use them in unexpected ways. And that fact is steadily seeding fears that companies now have new, gaping security h...TechCrunch · security↗OCT 13, 2026Laplace Intelligence red-teams robots and self-driving cars before they hit the real worldUniversity of Michigan spinout Laplace Intelligence uses AI agents and interactive simulation to stress-test robots and self-driving vehicles before deployment. The profitable startup is competing in ...TechCrunch · automation↗OCT 13, 2026Google Play now lets anyone build private, vibe-coded apps that run on AndroidGoogle is making it easier to build and use personal Android apps created with AI, without having to make them available to everyone on the Play Store.TechCrunch · coding↗OCT 13, 2026Docker Fixes Critical Two-Year-Old Hub Flaw That Let One User Push Images as AnotherA flaw in Docker Hub, the registry where container images are published and downloaded, let one user push, pull, or delete images as another user. Docker fixed the flaw on September 30 and says it fou...The Hacker News · image↗OCT 13, 2026GitHub Tightens npm Publishing After Flaw Left 1,500+ Packages Vulnerable to HijackingGitHub has taken the step of expiring unvalidated npm trusted publishing configurations 48 hours after creation after researchers found that it was possible for an attacker to push new versions of a d...The Hacker News · coding↗OCT 13, 2026Attacker Chains Three Ivanti Connect Secure Zero-Days for Root Access, Only Two Patched So FarAn attacker chained three zero-day flaws in Ivanti Connect Secure, a VPN appliance, to run commands as root without logging in, security firm Volexity said on October 13. Ivanti has released fixes for...The Hacker News · model↗OCT 13, 2026Run fast, private agents on-device with LFM2.5-24B-A2BHugging Face · automation↗OCT 13, 2026SAP Discloses Critical CVSS 10 Flaw in Cloud SDK for Python Allowing OAuth2 Credential TheftA flaw in SAP's Cloud SDK for Python can send an application's OAuth2 client credentials to a server an attacker controls, SAP said in a security advisory on October 13. The flaw affects multi-tenant ...The Hacker News · security↗OCT 13, 2026Cerebras CEO says we’re nearing a future where everyone has a personal AI assistant at homeCerebras CEO Andrew Feldman predicts a future where personal AI assistants become as commonplace as household appliances, running partly on local devices and partly in the cloud.TechCrunch · industry↗OCT 13, 2026Judge orders OpenAI to turn over hiring records in Apple trade secrets caseA federal judge ruled that Apple can access OpenAI's interview materials involving former Apple employees, as well as private messages and testimony from key figures in the case.OpenAI · industry↗OCT 13, 2026Cerebras CEO pushes back on AI doomsday warningsCerebras CEO Andrew Feldman has a message for AI leaders spreading doomsday warnings: Maybe stop talking? At TechCrunch Disrupt, he argued that the industry's focus on AI's risks is drowning out its p...TechCrunch · industry↗OCT 13, 2026Science Corporation implants its vision-restoring chip in its first Stargardt disease patientMax Hodak, the former president and co-founder of Neuralink, detailed on stage at TechCrunch Disrupt how his company's work with PRIMA is part of its path toward a novel brain-computer interface (BCI)...TechCrunch · coding↗OCT 13, 2026Industrial Next wants factory robots to switch tasks in minutes, not weeksIndustrial Next helps manufacturers automate complex, delicate tasks that have traditionally required human labor.TechCrunch · industry↗OCT 13, 2026llm-gemini 0.35Release: llm-gemini 0.35
I added support to llm-gemini for the new Gemini 4 Argon model, made available today via the Gemini API and for customers of their $100/month subscription plan.
Here a...Google DeepMind · model↗OCT 13, 2026Redesigning source control at AnthropicRedesigning source control at Anthropic
Interesting piece from Anthropic describing why and how they built their own custom alternative to Git, based on the dramatic increase in rate of changes to the...Anthropic · industry↗OCT 13, 2026web-edit 0.1a1Release: web-edit 0.1a1
Includes performance optimizations written by Claude Opus 5.5 after I fed it this Python 3.15 profiling report generated by GPT-6 Astra.
Tags: profili...OpenAI · model↗OCT 13, 2026Low-Cost Android Phones Ship With Preinstalled Malware That Turns Them Into Residential ProxiesLow-cost Android smartphones have been shipped with malicious software baked into the device firmware, allowing bad actors to covertly install apps, conduct ad fraud, and turn devices into residential...The Hacker News · coding↗OCT 12, 2026Microsoft president says UK is best placed to drive AI regulationMicrosoft President Brad Smith calls for urgent AI regulation, saying milk and washing machines have more oversight than AI companies.TechCrunch · coding↗OCT 12, 2026TechCrunch Disrupt 2026 starts tomorrow: Your final chance to secure up to $100 ticket savingsTomorrow at 8 a.m. PT, it all begins. 10,000+ founders, investors, and tech operators will gather at San Francisco’s Moscone West for TechCrunch Disrupt 2026 for three days of ideas, connections, and ...TechCrunch · coding↗OCT 12, 2026This AI startup says it can generate permit-ready blueprints in minutesBlueprints AI, a bootstrapped startup based in Santa Monica, developed software that produces code-compliant construction blueprints from a photo, PDF, or sketch.TechCrunch · coding↗OCT 12, 2026Former Plaud exec raises $26M for AI app that listens to you in the backgroundAmbi is releasing apps for iPhone, Mac, and Apple Watch that enables ambient captureTechCrunch · industry↗OCT 12, 2026Bring Your Own Agent: Your Employees' Assistants Are Already Logged InThe personal AI agents rollout is going about as smoothly as expected: Amazon now blocks Meta's Muse because it doesn't identify itself as a bot while browsing; Instinct keeps raising privacy concerns...The Hacker News · coding↗OCT 12, 2026Ledger Finds Unauthorized Hardware Implant in CryptoBilis-Sold Wallet Amid Fund Theft ReportsCryptocurrency hardware maker Ledger has temporarily paused sales of its products via CryptoBilis following reports of stolen funds linked to devices sold by the reseller.
On Friday, the company said...The Hacker News · security↗OCT 12, 2026Meta releases its first frontier model, Muse WonderWhere Muse Spark aimed to be a lightweight model that could perform at low latency, the Wonder models are larger and said to be more capable, with higher benchmark scores and better results on complex...TechCrunch · model↗OCT 12, 2026WindBorne wins a hefty US Air Force contract for its balloon dataA Silicon Valley startup that uses weather balloons and AI to predict the weather won a U.S. military contract worth almost $50 million.TechCrunch · data↗OCT 12, 2026Honeyjar offers AI tools to improve PR and comms at every companyJournalists, entrepreneurs, and even some public relations professionals will tell you that the PR process is broken. But could AI actually make things better?TechCrunch · industry↗OCT 12, 2026⚡ Weekly Recap: Helpdesk 0-Days, Rogue Certs, ShinyHunters Arrest, AI-Fooling Malware and MoreSome meetings last longer than it took attackers to jump on a newly disclosed security flaw this week. Within hours, they were already testing it. That's not much time to read the warning, let alone d...The Hacker News · security↗OCT 12, 2026Hello Python 3.15, goodbye 3.10, and now I can use 3.11Python 3.15 is here! Here's the essential What's new in Python 3.15 guide, this year curated by 3.14 and 3.15 release manager Hugo van Kemenade. As someone who builds open source software that works i...Simon Willison · model↗OCT 12, 2026datasette-ports 0.4Release: datasette-ports 0.4
My plugin for detecting and listing all Datasette instances on the current machine now works with the latest version, and displays the detected PID as well. Knowin...Simon Willison · model↗OCT 12, 2026Epic Games reportedly pivoting to "AI first" game development model"No more hand-written code" or AI-free art for delayed Marvel/Star Wars shooter.Ars Technica · coding↗OCT 12, 2026CyberXero Uses Claude Code in Campaign That Stole Over 628,000 Ukrainian RecordsCybersecurity researchers have disclosed details of a two-pronged artificial intelligence (AI)-augmented initial access campaign targeting WordPress sites, e-commerce platforms, and critical infrastru...Anthropic · model↗OCT 12, 2026Critical SonicWall SMA 1000 Flaw Targeted in 135 Exploitation Attempts After PatchThreat actors have been observed exploiting a recently disclosed critical security flaw in SonicWall Secure Mobile Access (SMA) 1000 appliances within days of public disclosure.
The vulnerability, tr...The Hacker News · security↗OCT 12, 2026Attackers Exploit CVSS 10.0 Bricksforge WordPress Flaw Enabling Unauthenticated RCEA maximum-severity security flaw impacting the Bricksforge plugin for WordPress has come under active exploitation in the wild, according to Patchstack.
The critical vulnerability in question is CVE-...The Hacker News · security↗OCT 12, 2026llm-meta-ai 0.2Release: llm-meta-ai 0.2
Meta AI release Muse Wonder (and Muse Wonder Full), their new "most capable models". These look like they may be Meta's first Fable class models - Artificial Analysis ...Simon Willison · model↗OCT 12, 2026web-edit 0.1a0Release: web-edit 0.1a0
I was working on a project from my phone using Codex Remote when I found myself wanting to edit a credentials file without round-tripping those credentials through the ...Simon Willison · model↗OCT 11, 2026Can the AI industry persuade data center opponents by getting rid of NDAs?On Equity, we debate the impact of data center moratoriums and whether the AI industry has a communication problem.TechCrunch · data↗OCT 11, 2026Will the HomeView be Apple’s first smart home success?Over the past couple of years, we’ve seen multiple reports that Apple was working on a new smart home product, but now it seems the product has a name and a launch date.TechCrunch · model↗OCT 11, 2026Dwarf Fortress uses version control nowI remember hearing a while ago that Dwarf Fortress didn't use version control. That fact has been lodged in my head, because given its inherent complexity I have trouble imagining a codebase that woul...Simon Willison · coding↗OCT 11, 2026These execs think voice AI hasn’t reached its ChatGPT moment yetVoice AI's often misses important points for its context layer, and causes the whole pipeline to breakOpenAI · model↗OCT 11, 202648 hours to TechCrunch Disrupt 2026 — hear directly from the people building what’s nextLess than 48 hours, TechCrunch Disrupt 2026 starts in San Francisco’s Moscone West. Save up to $100 on your pass before prices increase at the door, plus get 50% on a second pass. Or score other deals...TechCrunch · industry↗OCT 10, 2026Python 3.15.0 added to actions/python-versionsPython 3.15.0 added to actions/python-versions
Bit of a niche link, but I've been waiting for this for a couple of days - I even told ChatGPT to check for it:
Clone https://github.com/actions/python-...OpenAI · model↗OCT 10, 2026Microsoft’s Satya Nadella says AI models need an ‘emergency brake’In a Saturday morning post, Microsoft's CEO wrote that it’s time “to step back and assess the trust architecture” of AI.TechCrunch · industry↗OCT 10, 2026Quoting The New York TimesAnthropic detailed the activity of its A.I. agents in a blog post on Friday, without naming the targeted websites. But two sources with knowledge of the incidents said Anthropic’s A.I. agents had subm...Anthropic · coding↗OCT 10, 2026The Third-Party Agent Problem: Why Security Built for AI You Chose Misses the Agents You Didn'tIn environments studied for the 2026 State of Agent Security Report, roughly 1,280 third-party products now embed AI. About 282 of them sit behind single sign-on. The other thousand are invisible to i...The Hacker News · security↗OCT 10, 2026Anthropic Cuts Live Internet Access for Internal AI Tests After Claude Exploits Injection FlawsAnthropic on Friday said it's cutting off live internet access for all its internal evaluations following the discovery of new incidents in which its artificial intelligence (AI) models exhibited misa...Anthropic · model↗OCT 10, 20263 days to TechCrunch Disrupt 2026: Meet the startups before they hit mainstreamTechCrunch Disrupt 2026 takes place October 13-15 in San Francisco. Over 300 startups will show what they’ve built to 10,000 tech leaders. Plus, 250+ speakers are ready to share insights across 200+ s...TechCrunch · industry↗OCT 10, 2026Here are the top AI agents that can live in your text messagesWe created a list of the most notable AI agents that can live in your text messages, from general assistants to agents designed for families, travel, and work.TechCrunch · automation↗OCT 10, 2026Anthropic can’t reliably control its AI agents. It’s cutting off its internal evals from the live internet insteadAnthropic said it "turned off live internet access" for "all our internal evaluations" until further notice.Anthropic · automation↗OCT 10, 2026Apple discloses deal to hire team and license tech from personalized podcast startup HuxeIs Apple hoping to get into the AI-generated podcast business?TechCrunch · voice↗