#culture

Anthropic says a new funding round values the company above OpenAI, but the comparison comes with major caveats about timing, accounting, and private-market hype.

Turkey’s hair-transplant industry is being framed not just as medical tourism, but as a system built on equipment innovation, process optimization and algorithmic tooling.

Australia’s ageing population and care workforce shortages are driving new interest in AI, robots, and virtual experiences, but experts warn that technology must support care rather than replace it.

Kane Parsons’ viral Backrooms project is becoming a feature film for A24, turning a web-born horror myth into a studio-backed debut.

As Sony and Microsoft prepare future consoles, the debate over disc drives is turning into a larger argument about backward compatibility, ownership, and media access.

A TUC-backed IPPR report argues workers need stronger influence over how AI is introduced, including consultation duties and a portable support levy.

A crypto-backed PAC claimed victory in a Texas Democratic runoff as proof that opposition to the industry now carries electoral risk for incumbents.

NASA says Blue Origin will conduct the first of three uncrewed lunar missions planned for 2026 as the agency begins building toward a long-term moon base.

Pope Leo XIV’s first encyclical on artificial intelligence drew attention not only for its warning about technocracy, but for a Tolkien quotation that sharpened its critique of power, efficiency and tech ambition.

Current and former Krispy Kreme employees affected by a 2024 data breach have only a short window left to claim compensation from a $1.6 million class-action settlement.

A report says scientists have identified a clathrate crystal structure in fallout from a nuclear detonation, a finding presented as the first of its kind.

A University of Washington research plan involving teacher-worn cameras in preschool classrooms has raised concerns about consent, privacy, and how AI training data is gathered in sensitive settings.

A 404 Media podcast episode ties together several flashpoints in the AI debate, from commencement-speech backlash to questionable training-data ideas, highlighting a wider cultural resistance to elite enthusiasm for AI.

Waymo has reportedly suspended service in Atlanta, Dallas, Houston and San Antonio as it works on a flooding problem that left at least one vehicle entering high water.

A key enforcement provision tied to the Take It Down Act is now in force, requiring digital platforms to provide a clear process for reporting nonconsensual intimate imagery and remove matching copies within 48 hours.

Former Google CEO Eric Schmidt’s commencement speech at the University of Arizona turned into a visible backlash moment when repeated AI remarks were met with boos from graduates.

X is rolling out a new History tab on iOS that combines bookmarks with records of long videos, articles, and likes, broadening the app’s internal memory of what users read and watch.

Microsoft’s new Xbox Mode is pitched as a more controller-friendly, couch-ready layer for gaming PCs, with a unified library and navigation designed to make Windows gaming feel less like desk software and more like a set

Rising military use of fiber-guided drones and surging demand from AI-linked data center construction are driving sharp increases in fiber-optic cable prices.

Samsung’s Galaxy XR headset is being framed less as the end state of wearable computing than as the early hardware foundation for lighter glasses-based devices built around Android XR and immersive AI.