Uber’s luxury clone army: It’s throwing hundreds of millions at Lucid and Nuro to deploy 20,000 self-driving Gravity SUVs by 2030. Lucid builds the luxe EVs, Nuro wires the robot brains, and Uber handles the rides. It’s their biggest AV deal ever. Roll out is in 2026, city TBD.
100,000+
That’s how many accounts Chess.com bans every month for cheating. Turns out a lot of people need engine assistance to lose with dignity. With 20 million games played daily (13,000 per minute!), the site’s 30-member Fair Play Team is part detective squad, part digital janitor and very busy. No rookies allowed.
🎶 Songwriters go social: TikTok just launched a “Songwriter” tag and profile tab, so hitmakers behind the hits can finally get some spotlight, as opposed to solely relying on dancing teens for career stability.
ChatGPT gets a PC now: OpenAI just gave ChatGPT a full-on virtual computer. It can now browse the web, run code, download and edit files, even log into your apps to draft emails or pull info. Basically, it does the annoying computer stuff for you. Available now for $200/month for Pro users. Coming soon to Plus and Team. I’m gonna try it out, so I can let you know how it works, or not.
402 Tbps
That’s the new internet speed record just set in Japan. It’s 4 million times faster than your Wi-Fi, and no, that’s not a typo. We’re talking entire Netflix libraries in seconds, on regular fiber. Somewhere, a Comcast exec just spit out their latte.
🪙 It’s genius: President Trump signed the GENIUS Act, bringing new rules to cryptocurrency, specifically stablecoins like USDC and Tether, which are backed by real assets like the U.S. dollar. The law sets standards for who can issue them and how they’re regulated. Bottom line: Crypto’s going legit, with tracking, taxing and oversight baked in. Sorry, crypto cowboys.
30TB
That’s the size of Seagate’s new monster hard drive, and yes, you can actually buy it. After 20 years of laser dreams, it’s finally here: 30TB for $600. In 2005, that cash got you 400GB, maybe. That’s 75x the space, same price and a lot fewer tangled cables.
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🧀 Cottage cheese is hot: Cottage cheese is having a weird moment. Albertsons says sales are booming thanks to TikTok recipes and a renewed obsession with protein. Sales surged by 18% in a year, hitting $1.75 billion last year. Why? Cottage cheese ice cream, toast, even pancakes. Next up: cottage cheese cold brew. You know it’s coming.
🧲 Planes ditch GPS (kinda): Scientists are turning to the Earth’s crust for next-gen flight nav. Turns out, underground magnetic quirks can help planes figure out where they are, no satellites needed. It’s called magnetic anomaly mapping, and it could be a game changer when GPS gets jammed, spoofed or quiet-quits midair.
Hackers don’t need your permission, just one weak link or data breach, and your identity is theirs. I don’t take chances. I use NordProtect to stay one step ahead. Full protection, 65% off right now. Don’t wait.
🕳️ Who left the door open? Texas-based adoption agency Gladney left 1.1 million records sitting in an open 2.5 GB database like it was a lemonade stand. Data about kids, parents, even employees, all up for grabs, no password. Could’ve been weaponized for scams, blackmail or the worst Facebook friend request ever. It’s now locked, but the damage? TBD.
Fake views, real gas money: A couple drove three hours to visit a scenic cable car spot … that doesn’t exist. It was conjured by Google’s Veo 3 AI video maker and posted by a fake AI news channel on TikTok. Deepfake scams are up 2,137% since 2022, and now your vacation plans might be, too.
📧 Prime-time panic: Amazon just mass-emailed 220 million Prime users about a rise in account impersonation scams. Phishing, phone calls and fake Prime renewals are the flavor of the month. Frequent scams include phony iPhone purchases and “click here to cancel” traps. You’re not special. Everyone got this email. But don’t click anything. Seriously.
📱 I’ve gotta tell you something, switching to Consumer Cellular was one of the smartest moves I’ve made. You can keep your phone and number, or get a deal on a new one. Same reliable coverage at a fraction of the price, and real U.S.-based support folks who are patient and want to help and listen. Check it out! Get $25 off by using code KIM25.
Good in the world: After the horrific July 4th floods tore through Kerr County, Texas, one woman started a Facebook group to reunite survivors with their stuff, and 36,000 strangers joined in. Volunteers are cleaning mud-soaked diaries, baby shoes and wedding rings, then posting photos to help people reclaim what’s left. It’s heartbreak, healing and hope.
77%
The accuracy rate of EchoNext spotting structural heart disease, higher than 13 cardiologists combined. In a medical version of John Henry, AI went head-to-head with humans, and it won. EchoNext nailed diagnoses from ECGs more often than the docs’ 64%. It’s basically the Sherlock Holmes of heart scans, minus the Victorian outfit.
🏡 Yelp is not treason: Turns out, leaving a three-star review can cost you $2K. A Scottsdale renter who dared to complain got fined $4,000 for “negativity.” Why? A sneaky non-disparagement clause in the lease. The company only walked it back after local news and the FTC caught wind.
Zooming on the Autobahn: Mercedes-Benz is letting drivers hop on Microsoft Teams calls while driving. Yes, really. You can use the in-car camera to broadcast your face mid-merge, just no screen sharing (thankfully). It’s launching in the new CLA first, part of a push to make your car a third workspace. Because apparently, two weren’t exhausting enough.
🕵️♀️ Tracked and terrified: A Nebraska woman thought she dropped her AirPods. Instead, she pulled a tracking device from her car, then found four more. The kicker? That’s not illegal in her state. No consent laws, no tracking rules. She installed cameras, caught her ex, and is now pushing to change the law. Here’s what to do if you find one.