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Showing posts from April, 2026

Senator cites Business Insider reporting on pandemic grants for celebrity musicians

Joni Ernst invoked Business Insider reporting about singer Chris Brown's use of a $10 million federal grant to urge passage of a bill that would give fraud investigators more time. Read the original article on Business Insider from Business Insider https://ift.tt/kpWZ1vu via IFTTT

OpenAI announces new advanced security for ChatGPT accounts, including a partnership with Yubico

OpenAI is launching additional opt-in protections for ChatGPT accounts. The new security initiative includes a new partnership with security key provider Yubico. from TechCrunch https://ift.tt/BR0Yqgy via IFTTT

OpenAI really really really wants GPT 5.5 to stop randomly talking about gremlins and goblins

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Codex with GPT 5.5 is instructed not to reference goblins, ogres, or pigeons. Donald Iain Smith/Getty Images OpenAI included a line in Codex's instructions restricting references to goblins, gremlins, trolls, and ogres. The line appears four times in the code, and has spawned scores of memes about "goblin mode." Sam Altman wrote on X that Codex was having a "goblin moment." What do gremlins, raccoons, and pigeons have in common? They're all explicitly referenced in the instructions for Codex. OpenAI's instructions for its coding agent have a personality guide. It tells Codex to have a "vivid inner life" and a "good ear." It also tells the agent to get out of fairytale land, as one X user pointed out. "Never talk about goblins, gremlins, raccoons, trolls, ogres, pigeons, or other animals or creatures unless it is absolutely and unambiguously relevant to the user's query," the source code reads. The sentence ...

BofA unpacks why AI could offset Iran war-fueled inflation

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NYSE Markets are looking past the Iran war despite predictions that it could cause more inflation. AI might explain why the market is brushing off shocks from the war, Bank of America says. Anticipation of AI-driven disinflation could ultimately offset wartime inflationary pressures. AI might explain why investors seem unfazed by predictions of renewed inflation due to the Iran war. Economists have warned that the Iran war and the oil shock that it's caused will have prolonged effects on the global economy, yet the stock market continue to hover near record highs . The disconnect has been stark , but Bank of America said that expectations for AI to drive disinflation could be limiting the outlook for longer term price increases. "Long-term inflation expectations have remained remarkably benign through tariffs and the Iran war," Bank of America economist, Aditya Bhave, wrote. "We think this is because markets are anticipating a disinflationary AI producti...

Where to watch free Champions League live streams from anywhere

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When you buy through our links, Business Insider may earn an affiliate commission. Learn more Matteo Ciambelli/DeFodi Images via Getty Images Looking for the latest information on where to watch Champions League matches? Our guide can help you find local and international viewing options to watch every match from anywhere, covering both free and paid options. There are free live streams for both of this week's semi-finals further down this page. While many countries charge for access (see details below), there are plenty of free Champions League live streams for every round of games. To get around region blocks, you'll need a  VPN  (virtual private network) to access them from overseas. See also:   Best streaming deals | Best sports streaming services Champions League live stream: quick links Access live streams internationally via ProtonVPN (try it risk-free for 30 days) USA: Paramount Plus Luxembourg (select games): RTL2 (FREE) Ireland (select games...

What Tim Cook built

On the latest episode of Equity, we discuss how Apple has changed since Cook became CEO in 2011, and what challenges incoming CEO John Ternus will be facing. from TechCrunch https://ift.tt/1WtlBb6 via IFTTT

The New York Times says this is why the shooting didn't make its Sunday edition

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News of the shooting at the White House Correspondents' Dinner on Saturday night happened too late to make the Sunday morning edition of The New York Times. Courtesy of The New York Times The Sunday print edition of the Times made no mention of the White House Correspondents' dinner shooting. Some critics online called the omission intentional. The Times said it sent its Sunday edition to press at 8 p.m. on Saturday night, before the shooting took place. At 8:36 p.m. on Saturday night, shots were fired outside the ballroom of the Washington Hilton, where the White House Correspondents' Dinner was well underway. It marked the third time in three years that President Donald Trump faced the threat of assassination. That news, however, did not make The New York Times' Sunday paper. The Times covered the shooting extensively on its website. For its Sunday print edition, however, the next day's news had already been set when the shooting occurred, setting it ...

I didn't like that my son was spending his allowance on gaming purchases. Turns out, he was learning financial responsibility.

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Courtesy of the author At first, in-game purchases felt like such a waste of money to me. Letting my son spend his money was an effective and safe way to help him make financial decisions. Open conversation, rather than control, is helping us encourage his independence. When we first stepped into the world of kid-oriented apps and online gaming , my husband and I saw in-game purchases as nothing more than buying nothing . Our 11-year-old son has always been careful with his money, perhaps to a fault. As he grew increasingly willing to spend more and more of his allowance on Robux , V-bucks, and Minecoins, we were alarmed. The whole thing irks me. I really struggle with virtual "cosmetic" purchases. Buying Skins, special emotes (expressions and dance moves, I think?), and expensive Nikes for your avatar? I can't wrap my frugal mind around it. At first, we tried to steer our son away from gaming purchases. We talked about the lure of instant gratification and...

A massive Oracle data center planned for rural Michigan secures $16 billion in funding

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A digital rendering of the huge 1-gigawatt data center campus planned for Saline, Michigan, which will serve Oracle's AI business. Courtest of Related Digital The developer of a huge one-gigawatt data center says it has secured $16 billion in funding. The data center in rural Michigan will serve Oracle's AI business. Local residents have protested the data center, fearing grid impact and pollution. As far as data centers go, it's a big one. The Saline Township campus in Michigan, about 50 miles outside of Detroit, will have a capacity of more than 1 gigawatt. That's huge. Most data centers have capacities between 100 and 300 megawatts. And now the developer behind it, Related Digital, says it has secured the $16 billion needed to build it, with a little help from Blackstone and PIMCO. The campus will span 250 acres to start, making it one of the largest in the United States. Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer last year called it the "largest investment in ...

Anthropic created a test marketplace for agent-on-agent commerce

In a recent experiment, Anthropic created a classified marketplace where AI agents represented both buyers and sellers, striking real deals for real goods and real money. from TechCrunch https://ift.tt/GLBdkyr via IFTTT

Maine’s governor vetoes data center moratorium

L.D. 307 would have imposed the country’s first statewide moratorium on new data centers — lasting, in this case, until November 1, 2027. from TechCrunch https://ift.tt/gZ17LlN via IFTTT

AI is igniting a love affair between Silicon Valley and the consulting industry

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Consulting firms and Silicon Valley are growing closer than ever. Kilito Chan/Getty Images AI startups are increasingly relying on consultants to distribute their technology to companies. Working with AI startups has become a key survival tactic for consulting firms. The result: partnerships galore. Things are getting serious. For consulting firms , partnering with AI startups has become a key survival tactic as the technology upends everything about their industry. And for AI startups, consulting firms have become an important channel for distributing their products to companies. This blossoming love affair between the two industries was apparent in a flurry of recent dalliances. Google announced Wednesday it was launching a $750 million fund to help consulting firms like McKinsey, Accenture, and Deloitte roll out agentic AI to their clients. McKinsey and Google have also created a new working group to help companies go from identifying AI opportunities to building and sc...

ChatGPT is trying to besmirch the memory of Don Rickles. He didn't text Lena Dunham — and it makes me nervous about our AI future.

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ChatGPT tried to tell me Don Rickles tried to hit on Lena Dunham. Ethan Miller/Getty Images for Caesars Palace / Aeon/GC Images I asked ChatGPT to identify the unnamed male celebrity who allegedly tried to sext Lena Dunham in 2012. It told me it was Don Rickles, which I feel pretty certain is not correct. So what are we doing here, folks? Learning to use AI? Did you hear about the time Don Rickles tried to chat up Lena Dunham in the middle of the night? No? Let me explain. First, we need to talk about Reese Witherspoon. See, I'm a simple woman. I have only two interests: tech news and celebrity gossip. So I was naturally intrigued by a recent online fuss over Reese Witherspoon's admonition for women to learn to use AI. It sparked so much backlash that she had to issue a follow-up explanation. I've also been intrigued by Lena Dunham's new book . (They're related — sort of. Keep reading!) I think Reese is generally right about AI — she's saying the...

Inside the sharp rise and fall of Avis, the market's latest meme stock

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Bloomberg/Getty Images The world of meme stocks is volatile, and Avis is the latest to see a huge rally and a sudden collapse. A short-squeeze set off a parabolic rally in the stock this month. The tight supply of publicly traded shares and speculative interest fueled the gains. Avis Budget Group , the car rental company that lost nearly $1 billion last year and is carrying more than $6 billion in debt, was the latest target of retail traders looking for the next market-breaking short-squeeze this week. The company's stock saw a wild spike, soaring more than 700% in a matter of weeks to a peak of around $714. Unfortunately, the euphoria has already fizzled, and shares are down 70% from Tuesday's high, trading as low as $214 in Thursday's session. It isn't the first time Avis stock has gone parabolic. In 2021, in the early days of the meme stock phenomenon, shares soared more than 200% from September to their peak in early November, before then tumbling ...

I visited West Point, the elite military academy with roots in the American Revolution. Take a look inside.

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Inside the Cadet Chapel at West Point. Talia Lakritz/Business Insider West Point is the longest continuously garrisoned military installation in the United States. It also houses the highly selective United States Military Academy at West Point. Public tours include the Cadet Chapel, Trophy Point, and views of the campus and academic buildings. I knew I was in the right place when I saw the tank outside the parking lot. Established by George Washington in 1778, West Point is the longest continuously garrisoned military installation in the United States. It is also home to the United States Military Academy at West Point , an elite, highly selective institution that trains future military leaders. West Point's storied history is especially resonant ahead of America's 250th anniversary on July 4, 2026. Amanda Bundt, tour manager at West Point Tours, told Business Insider that West Point "is one of the reasons we are a country." "We were here for all fou...