Alvagante Infrastructure, AI, and the wider world — curated daily.

Daily digest

2026-08-24

← All digests

2026-08-24 05:56:19 +0000

2026-08-24

100 items
Simon Willison's Weblog Aug 23 Score 0.8841351527777777

Anthropic’s best AI model struggles to attract users as cheaper tools thrive

Anthropic’s best AI model struggles to attract users as cheaper tools thrive A few interesting numbers in this FT story gathered from "people with knowledge of the matter": Anthropic's "annualized revenue" for July is up to $65bn - it was $47bn in May, and I c

AI aillmsengineeringanalysis
Simon Willison's Weblog Aug 23 Score 0.8833194120370369

Quoting Drew Breunig

Prior to Fable, it felt silly to waste too much time improving your coding harness or context strategies. A new model would arrive at the same price (or cheaper!) and paper over most of your problems. But then Fable landed. It was (and still is!) incredible .

AI aillmsengineeringanalysis
OpenAI News Aug 20 Score 0.8167778305555556

Introducing AI Futures

Introducing AI Futures, a new OpenAI blog exploring how transformative AI could reshape power, governance, the economy, and individual freedom.

AI aiopenaimodels
The Guardian — World Aug 23 Score 0.8122471726851852

Landslide at waste mound in Guinea capital kills 30, government says

Dump site in Conakry, which minister had just promised to move, collapsed after heavy rain in west African state A ⁠landslide at a huge waste dump in Guinea’s capital has killed 30 people, the government said on Sunday, after heavy rains overnight prompted it

Geopolitics geopoliticsworld-newsinvestigative
The Guardian — World Aug 23 Score 0.8076943949074075

‘No more!!!’: Trump lashes out after US-Canada talks devolve into trade war

PM Mark Carney says ‘we got attacked’ as tariffs come into force on items from hockey sticks to tongue depressors The lesson from Canada’s collapsed trade talks with the US: negotiation may be futile Donald Trump has hit back at Canada after a breakdown in neg

Geopolitics geopoliticsworld-newsinvestigative
The Verge Aug 23 Score 0.8071836819444446

GTA VI: all the news on Rockstar’s next entry in the Grand Theft Auto series

It’s been over a decade and two console generations since GTA V came out, and its sequel is still a work in progress. GTA VI has faced multiple delays, with developer Rockstar Games bumping back its predicted release date twice, first to May 26th, 2026, then a

Technology technologygadgetsconsumer
OpenAI News Aug 20 Score 0.805111163888889

Stampli cuts launch hours by 68% using ChatGPT Work

With a fixed deadline and design resources committed elsewhere, Stampli used Codex and ChatGPT Work to compress weeks of launch production into days.

AI aiopenaimodels
The Guardian — World Aug 23 Score 0.8041328208333334

The lesson from Canada’s collapsed trade talks with the US: negotiation may be futile

Breakdown shows Washington now prioritises its own interests over any semblance of shared economic ground ‘No more!!!’: Trump lashes out after US-Canada talks devolve into trade war The calamitous collapse of trade negotiations between Canada and the United St

Geopolitics geopoliticsworld-newsinvestigative
The Verge Aug 23 Score 0.8001109967592593

We’re All Going to the World’s Fair is an intimate coming-of-age horror film

Jane Schoenbrun's latest film, Teenage Sex and Death at Camp Miasma, is making a splash in theaters right now. So it seems like the perfect time to revisit their first film, We're All Going to the World's Fair. I fell in love with this film when I first saw it

Technology technologygadgetsconsumer
Wired Aug 23 Score 0.7967776791666668

Asus ROG Swift RGB Stripe OLED Review: Clarity King

The Asus PG27UCWM brings a new sub-pixel layout to the world of OLED gaming monitors, and in my testing, I appreciated the improvements it brings to the table.

Technology technologyculturesociety
The Verge Aug 23 Score 0.7951109967592593

Grand Theft Auto VI exists in its own universe

This is The Stepback, a weekly newsletter breaking down one essential story from the tech world. For more on GTA VI and the state of the video game industry, follow Andrew Webster. The Stepback arrives in our subscribers' inboxes at 8AM ET. Opt in for The Step

Technology technologygadgetsconsumer
NBER New Working Papers Aug 24 Score 0.7875000000000001

Political Entrepreneurs -- by Aaron Chatterji, Jorge Guzman, Joyce Ma, Ryan C. McDevitt

Firms shape public policy not only from the outside through lobbying and campaign contributions, but also from the inside when business owners hold public office. We study this channel using a novel dataset that links state legislators’ personal financial disc

Economy economyresearchworking-papersnber
NBER New Working Papers Aug 24 Score 0.7875000000000001

Rate Risk and Rate Insurance -- by Olivier Wang

I decompose stock returns into a duration-matched Treasury component, identified from monetary policy surprises, and a payoff component. Risk and returns rise much less with duration for stocks than for their matched Treasuries. Stock volatility is dampened by

Economy economyresearchworking-papersnber
NBER New Working Papers Aug 24 Score 0.7875000000000001

Instrument Hacking -- by Michael P. Keane, Timothy Neal, Patrick Vu

In instrumental-variable (IV) studies, researchers often evaluate multiple candidate instruments and selectively report the specification with the most favorable first- or second-stage statistics. We show that this form of instrument selection (“instrument-hac

Economy economyresearchworking-papersnber
Our World in Data Aug 24 Score 0.7776114740740742

The rise of electoral democracy

How elections spread, voting rights expanded, and political competition developed around the world over the last two centuries.

Economy economydatadevelopmentinequality
Schneier on Security Aug 20 Score 0.7596836013888888

Detailed Timeline of OpenAI’s Cyberattack on Hugging Face

OpenAI presented details of its AI's model's cyberattack on Hugging Face at Black Hat last week. Simon Willison details the timeline. It's really interesting to read through—and really impressive cyberoffense work.

Security securitycryptographypolicy
Quanta Magazine Aug 20 Score 0.7535742763888889

Are We Thinking Correctly About AI Intelligence?

Computer scientist Melanie Mitchell discusses why artificial intelligence doesn’t “think” or “reason” like humans, and how we can create better methods for measuring machine cognition. The post Are We Thinking Correctly About AI Intelligence? first appeared on

Science sciencemathematicsphysicsbiology
Risky Bulletin Aug 24 Score 0.747661962962963

Risky Bulletin: Expired credit cards can be used for malicious transactions

Expired credit cards can be used for malicious transactions, Iranian hackers shut down a UK power plant, the Lazarus Group hacks South Korea’s Presidential Office, and an Android malware strain is infecting smart cars. Show notes Risky Bulletin: Expired cards

Security securitynewspodcastintelligence
NASA News Aug 24 Score 0.746805913425926

What Lake Bonneville Left Behind

The drying of the massive lake exposed playas that became the setting for feats of engineering and technological ingenuity, as well as epic tales of exploration and desperation.

Science sciencenasaspace
SRE Weekly Aug 24 Score 0.7467277643518518

SRE Weekly Issue #531

View on sreweekly.com A message from our sponsor, Planetscale: PlanetScale Metal runs Postgres and Vitess on dedicated NVMe inside AWS and GCP. Get data center speed next to your app, with unlimited IOPS and no throttling. Teams routinely see a 70% drop in p99

IT itsrereliabilityoperations
Schneier on Security Aug 20 Score 0.7464701754629629

Police Are Hiding Their Use of Flock Surveillance Cameras

A usage policy for Flock license plate reader cameras tells police not to talk about the cameras: When cops use Flock to arrest someone in Wapello County, Iowa, they don't want them to know. A usage policy for the automated license plate reader cameras in the

Security securitycryptographypolicy
InfoQ Aug 24 Score 0.7442776703703704

JDK 27 and JDK 28: What We Know So Far

JDK 27, the second non-LTS release since JDK 25, has reached its first release candidate phase featuring a final set of nine new features, in the form of JEPs, that can be separated into four categories: Core Java Library, HotSpot, Security Library and Java La

IT itengineeringarchitecture
Econbrowser Aug 24 Score 0.7437853916666667

Guest Contribution: "When Does Monetary Tightening Deflate a Stock-Market Bubble?"

Today, we are pleased to present a guest contribution written by Jamel Saadaoui (Université Paris 8-Vincennes). Our paper, written with William Ginn and Evangelos Salachas, “Stock Price Bubbles, Inflation and Monetary Policy Surprises,” asks when monetary tigh

Economy economymacroeconomicsenergyresearch
Risky Bulletin Aug 23 Score 0.7331471481481482

Sponsored: Passkeys won’t stop authorisation phishing

In this Risky Business sponsored interview, James Wilson chats with Luke Jennings, Push Security’s VP of Research, about how stronger authentication is pushing attackers towards the authorisation layer. Device code phishing is on the rise. Luke explains how th

Security securitynewspodcastintelligence
InfoQ Aug 23 Score 0.7301110037037037

Google's HEIR Aims to Make Homomorphic-Encrypted Inference a One-Click Capability

Google is introducing HEIR (Homomorphic Encryption Intermediate Representation), an open-source compiler and development toolchain designed to make encrypted computation easier to deploy. In particular, HEIR can compile pre-trained AI models built for conventi

IT itengineeringarchitecture
Econbrowser Aug 23 Score 0.7291914101851852

Wisconsin GOP Gubernatorial Candidate Tiffany on US Trade Policy

From the official website, the statement on trade policy: "[…] " On related topics: Lower Costs for Every Wisconsinite Alongside President Trump, Tom delivered the largest tax cut in history for working families, seniors, and small businesses. He ended t

Economy economymacroeconomicsenergyresearch
Eurogamer Aug 23 Score 0.7273299962962962

Epic Games Store overhaul might be "too little, too late", says Newzoo analyst

While Epic has spent much of this year promising a launcher overhaul, including a faster, redesigned storefront with tailored recommendations and quicker ways to browse, one industry analyst has revealed that it might not be enough. Read more

Gaming gamingvideo-gamesnewsreviews
ScienceDaily — Top Science Aug 23 Score 0.7255470259259259

A major Alzheimer’s risk gene may shrink brain cells years before symptoms

Researchers have uncovered a possible reason why the Alzheimer’s risk gene APOE4 can disrupt the brain long before memory problems begin. In mice, APOE4 increased a protein called Nell2, shrinking neurons and making memory circuits unusually active. That early

Science scienceresearchdiscoveries
ScienceDaily — Top Science Aug 23 Score 0.7220257296296296

Physicists create a tiny “Big Bang” with surprisingly small atomic nuclei

Researchers at CERN have created microscopic versions of the early Universe by colliding surprisingly small atomic nuclei at nearly the speed of light. The collisions produced quark-gluon plasma, the ultra-hot matter believed to have filled the cosmos shortly

Science scienceresearchdiscoveries
ScienceDaily — Top Science Aug 23 Score 0.7205187851851852

A hidden “on switch” in human DNA has finally been decoded

Researchers have used AI to uncover the DNA signature of a key genetic “switch” involved in turning genes on. After analyzing about 500,000 DNA sequences, the model identified the initiator in roughly 60% of human genes. The breakthrough could help predict the

Science scienceresearchdiscoveries
Ars Technica — Science Aug 23 Score 0.7185249004629629

Volcanoes that made history

Enormous eruptions altered Earth’s climate and societies all over the globe.

Science scienceresearchanalysis
Federal Reserve Press Releases Aug 20 Score 0.7176115032407406

Federal Reserve Board issues enforcement action with SouthPoint Bancshares, Inc. and announces termination of enforcement action with Deutsche Bank AG, DB USA Corporation, and Deutsche Bank AG New York Branch

Federal Reserve Board issues enforcement action with SouthPoint Bancshares, Inc. and announces termination of enforcement action with Deutsche Bank AG, DB USA Corporation, and Deutsche Bank AG New York Branch

Economy economyfederal-reservemonetary-policyunited-states
ScienceDaily — Top Science Aug 23 Score 0.7174525814814815

Experimental compound helps burn fat without muscle loss

A decades-old compound may point to a new way of treating obesity by making the body burn more energy rather than simply reducing appetite. In mice, TOFA increased energy use by as much as 18%, reduced body fat without significant muscle loss, and improved blo

Science scienceresearchdiscoveries
InfoQ Aug 23 Score 0.7146387814814815

OVHcloud Raises Prices as AI Memory Demand Reprices Non-AI Infrastructure

OVHcloud will raise prices from September, with 2026-edition gaming servers up 87 percent and other recent servers 40 to 59 percent. Founder Octave Klaba says memory cost six times more in June than a year earlier, as RAM suppliers shifted capacity toward high

IT itengineeringarchitecture
NASA News Aug 23 Score 0.7128744319444444

Curiosity Blog, Sols 4982–4987: Back to Our Regularly Scheduled Programming

By Allison Dries-Padilla, Missions Operations Specialist at Malin Space Science Systems Earth planning date: Friday, Aug. 14, 2026 This week of Curiosity Mars rover operations takes us back to our “regularly scheduled programming.” After taking a slight detour

Science sciencenasaspace
ScienceDaily — Top Science Aug 23 Score 0.707659062962963

This common vitamin was linked to 13% better cognitive scores

Older adults with mild cognitive impairment and sleep problems who took at least 5,000 IU of vitamin D daily scored more than 13% higher on a cognitive test than those taking none. The preliminary findings suggest vitamin D could be worth studying as a potenti

Science scienceresearchdiscoveries
Microsoft Research Blog Aug 20 Score 0.6817775365740741

Broadening access to Skala creates a faster path to predictive DFT

Skala 1.1, the updated deep-learning exchange-correlation functional from Microsoft Research, provides greater accuracy, expanded accessibility across the computational chemistry ecosystem, and a living benchmark to track computational performance. The post Br

AI aimicrosoftresearch
MIT Technology Review Aug 20 Score 0.6812956791666667

Debates over AI consciousness are a trap

“Runaway” AI, “rogue” agents, and “autonomous” actors—the current rhetoric would have you believe that AI agents are not only awake and aware, but angry at their creators. Prominent tech leaders such as Demis Hassabis, Dario Amodei, and Sam Altman push for reg

Technology technologyresearchsociety
CISA Cybersecurity Advisories Aug 20 Score 0.6751112902777778

CISA Adds Two Known Exploited Vulnerabilities to Catalog

CISA has added two new vulnerabilities to its Known Exploited Vulnerabilities (KEV) Catalog , based on evidence of active exploitation.   CVE-2026-72529 TrueConf Server Missing Authentication for Critical Function Vulnerability   CVE-2026-72530 TrueC

Security securitycisaadvisoriesvulnerabilities
CISA Cybersecurity Advisories Aug 20 Score 0.6751112902777778

Johnson Controls Simplex Incident Manager

View CSAF Summary Successful exploitation of this vulnerability could allow a local attacker with low privileges to extract user credentials (passwords and authentication tokens) from system memory, potentially leading to unauthorized access to the application

Security securitycisaadvisoriesvulnerabilities
Techmeme Aug 24 Score 0.6734895337962964

New Zealand plans a bill to ban social media for under-16s, requiring "high risk" platforms to check user ages or face penalties of up to 10% of global revenue (Tracy Withers/Bloomberg)

Tracy Withers / Bloomberg : New Zealand plans a bill to ban social media for under-16s, requiring “high risk” platforms to check user ages or face penalties of up to 10% of global revenue   —  New Zealand plans to ban under-16s from

Technology technologyaggregatornews
Phys.org Aug 23 Score 0.6601118699074074

Protein degradation rate helps explain why humans develop more slowly than mice

Humans develop at a slower rate than other mammalian species, like mice, but scientists are still trying to understand the molecular basis of these differences. Now, researchers from the Ebisuya Group at EMBL Barcelona and PoL-TU Dresden and from the Savitski

Science sciencephysicstechnology
Phys.org Aug 23 Score 0.6567785365740741

Collaborative drawing offers new insights into how strangers become friends

The closer two people grow, the more alike their brains work—or so the assumption goes. Two ETH Zurich studies challenge this idea by examining the brain activity of younger and older adults who drew together over several weeks. Despite growing closer, the sim

Science sciencephysicstechnology
MIT News — AI Aug 20 Score 0.6113611412037037

Paving the way for greener ammonia production

New MIT research could lead to better materials for a fossil-fuel-free process for making the chemical that's essential to fertilizer and other products.

AI aimitresearch