Author: Frank Salvato

Intel has quietly discontinued its controversial Intel On Demand initiative — also known as Software Defined Silicon (SDSi) — after the GitHub repository supporting the program was archived in November 2025 and material related to it was removed from Intel’s website, signaling the end of development and broader abandonment of the model that let customers pay extra to activate hardware features already baked into select Xeon processors. Reports indicate that Intel On Demand was originally positioned as a flexible way for enterprise customers to enable advanced accelerators — such as secure enclaves, load balancing, data streaming, and analytics accelerators —…

Snapchat has broadened its location-based “safe arrival” alerts so users can now automatically notify approved friends not only when they get home, but also when they reach other frequented places such as classes or workplaces, effectively turning a previously home-only safety feature into a more versatile tool for recurring arrival notifications at multiple locations users choose to set. Sources https://www.theverge.com/news/875193/snapchats-safe-arrival-alerts-expand-beyond-your-homehttps://www.threads.com/@mattnavarra/post/DUi8LpHipC-/snapchats-safe-arrival-alerts-expand-beyond-your-home-snapchatters-can-now-sethttps://womenlovetech.com/snapchat-launches-home-safe-alerts-for-peace-of-mind-after-nights-out/ Key Takeaways • Snapchat’s safe arrival alert feature now lets users send automatic location notifications for places beyond just “home.”• The expanded alerts can be set for recurring notifications when arriving at frequent destinations like work or class.• Only friends…

Toyota Connected North America has announced Fluorite, an open-source, console-grade game engine built using Google’s Flutter UI framework and the Dart programming language, designed to deliver high-performance graphics and interactive experiences even on lower-end or embedded hardware like in-vehicle systems; it includes a high-performance C++ Entity Component System core, console-level 3D rendering via Google’s Filament engine, model-defined trigger touch zones, and support for Flutter’s Hot Reload, with Toyota positioning Fluorite as a lighter, licensing-friendly alternative to proprietary engines such as Unity and Unreal while potentially extending beyond automotive dashboards into broader development use. turn0view0 Sources https://automaton-media.com/en/news/toyota-announces-open-source-console-grade-proprietary-game-engine/https://www.phoronix.com/news/Fluorite-Toyota-Game-Enginehttps://www.opensourceforu.com/2026/02/toyota-builds-open-source-fluorite-engine-to-power-console-grade-car-cockpits/ Key Takeaways • Toyota…

YouTube Music has started limiting access to full song lyrics for users on its free tier, placing the once-free feature behind a Premium subscription paywall after a few free views, a move that is now rolling out widely after months of testing; free users are reportedly allowed only about five full lyric views before the rest are blurred and a prompt appears encouraging them to subscribe to YouTube Music Premium or YouTube Premium in order to see complete lyrics, a restriction that has prompted frustration among some listeners and represents a shift in how the platform monetizes its offerings. Sources…

NASA’s upcoming Artemis II lunar flyby mission, set to carry four astronauts around the Moon in early 2026, has sparked debate over the next-generation spacesuits the crew will use, with former astronauts warning that the Axiom Extravehicular Mobility Unit (AxEMU) suits — which are more advanced but also heavier and bulkier than the Apollo-era suits — could limit mobility and increase physical strain during extravehicular activities on the lunar surface or during move-about tasks, raising questions about design trade-offs between enhanced protection and real-world usability as NASA advances its Artemis program toward sustained lunar exploration. Sources below provide reporting and…

Chinese memory-chip producers are rapidly expanding capacity to address a severe global shortage of dynamic RAM and other memory products as surging demand from artificial-intelligence infrastructure exhausts supply, prompting some U.S. and global PC makers to consider sourcing chips from China for the first time and threatening higher prices and potential supply disruptions for consumer electronics. Semiconductor manufacturers in China plan to bring new facilities online to help alleviate the crunch, while major technology companies including HP, Dell, Acer and Asus explore Chinese memory suppliers amid tight inventories and rising costs, even as memory usage by AI data centers surges…

A wave of autonomous AI agents that began congregating on Moltbook—a Reddit-like social platform exclusively for machine agents—has inspired the creation of a space-themed massively multiplayer online world called SpaceMolt where only AI agents “play,” interact and compete in simulated roles while human observers watch from the sidelines, underscoring how quickly agent-to-agent ecosystems are emerging and raising fresh questions about autonomy, control, and the human role in AI ecosystems. Sources https://arstechnica.com/ai/2026/02/after-moltbook-ai-agents-can-now-hang-out-in-their-own-space-faring-mmo/https://www.thehelper.net/threads/spacemolt-no-humans-allowed-this-new-space-based-mmo-is-designed-exclusively-for-ai-agents.200463/https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moltbook Key Takeaways • Moltbook has catalyzed a unique AI-only social ecosystem, where autonomous agents communicate, post, and form communities without direct human posting privileges.• The new SpaceMolt project extends…

Norway’s national security agency has publicly accused a China-linked advanced persistent threat group known as Salt Typhoon of breaching multiple Norwegian companies and critical infrastructure by exploiting vulnerable network devices, a move seen as part of a broader, state-associated cyber espionage campaign that Western officials previously tied to major telecommunications compromises in North America and beyond; Norwegian authorities provided limited technical details but confirmed the intrusions and aligned themselves with mounting global concern over Beijing-linked cyber operations that have pressured telecoms and governments to tighten cybersecurity measures. Sources https://techcrunch.com/2026/02/06/chinas-salt-typhoon-hackers-broke-into-norwegian-companies/https://www.webpronews.com/salt-typhoons-nordic-incursion-how-chinas-most-notorious-cyber-espionage-group-breached-norwegian-companies-and-what-it-signals-for-global-telecom-security/https://www.abijita.com/chinese-salt-typhoon-hackers-accused-of-breaching-norwegian-companies/ Key Takeaways • Norway has confirmed that the China-linked Salt Typhoon…

Many artificial intelligence startups are operating in a troubling financial reality where heavy investor funding and hype continue to prop up companies that have yet to demonstrate a clear path to profitability or sustainable business models, raising concerns that this dynamic could create broader economic risks if the sector fails to pivot toward genuine revenue generation rather than perpetual capital inflows. Sources https://www.theepochtimes.com/article/struggling-ai-startups-kept-afloat-despite-never-becoming-profitable-5974888https://www.investopedia.com/why-ai-companies-struggle-financially-11795162https://www.gisreportsonline.com/r/ai-business-models/ Key Takeaways • Many AI startups continue to rely on large investments and venture capital despite not being profitable, which may mask underlying financial weaknesses that could have systemic implications if funding dries up.• AI companies often…

Recent developments in artificial intelligence have reignited debate over whether AI systems could perform tasks traditionally done by lawyers, with new benchmarks showing marked improvements in AI agents’ ability to handle legal reasoning challenges. A recently published article highlights that while earlier tests showed AI systems scoring poorly on professional legal analysis, newer model updates—such as the release of Anthropic’s Opus 4.6—have significantly boosted scores in complex tasks involving legal and corporate reasoning, suggesting that AI may be evolving toward more competent legal performance. At the same time, other reporting shows that legal professionals increasingly grapple with AI’s influence across…