X Chat’s standalone app isn’t the only new service X is testing this week. The company has also begun offering select users invites to its X Money payments service, which was previously being tested internally among X employees. These invites, however, were not doled out in the typical way. Instead, X owner Elon Musk worked with William Shatner (yes, the actor) to invite people into the beta in exchange for a $1,000 donation to Shatner’s charity that supports childrens’ and veterans’ organizations.
On X, the “Star Trek” actor has been sharing information about the X Money service and its beta invites, which were made available via an online auction on Monday. Musk reshared one of Shatner’s posts to his own feed, saying simply “X Money.” Musk also reposted another user’s post about X Money, adding, “This will be big.”
The auction, Shatner noted, was conducted with Musk’s blessing after Shatner received payment from Musk via the X Money app. (A screenshot showed that Musk sent him $42, a playful sci-fi reference: the number is, in “The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy” by Douglas Adams, the computed answer to the meaning of life.)
X also offered 42 invites to the X Money beta to those who donated in the auction.
After receiving a notification, the auction winners will be able to see a link to the X Money service appear in the app, just below the link to Premium. They will also be among the first to receive the metal X Money debit card with their username from X’s partner, Visa, which is helping power the person-to-person payments aspect of the service.
The addition of X Money to X is part of Musk’s plan to make the social network more of an “everything app,” offering a variety of features, including private messaging, payments, creator content, subscriptions, video, and more.
All 42 usernames have now been given to X for entry into the Beta. The easiest way to tell if you are active is to look at your profile for the Money Link. pic.twitter.com/Dl39F8aefB
Screenshots posted by Shatner on X showed the X Money interface with three tabs: Account, Rewards, and Activity, along with buttons for making deposits, sending money, and making requests. Users also have the option of setting up direct deposit to earn APY, the screenshots showed. (One screen showed the option of earning up to 6.00% APY.)
Users’ deposits are held by Cross River Bank, Member FDIC, and are insured up to $250,000 per individual, per a screenshot Shatner posted.
X Payments itself is not an FDIC-insured bank, but it has been racking up money transmitter licenses across the U.S. X now has licenses in over 40 U.S. states, and, in X’s public all-hands meeting in February, Musk told staff that the service would enter a limited external beta in a month or two, before going worldwide to all users.
With X Chat, the company hasn’t just launched a new link inside X but is testing giving the messaging service its own standalone app. Potentially, X Money could have its own app as well to better compete with others in the space, like Venmo, PayPal, and Cash App.
Musk’s interest in payments has spanned decades, as he founded an online financial services startup called X.com in 1999, which was later merged into the company that became PayPal. After acquiring Twitter in October 2022, Musk renamed the company X less than a year later, in tribute to his early beginnings.
Apple had promised a “big week” for the company as rumors swirled that it had a number of product announcements lined up. True enough, it unveiled a half-dozen new and refreshed devices over the last few days, along with more powerful chips for MacBook Pros.
In addition, ahead of the official announcement, Apple leaked news of a cheaper MacBook called the MacBook Neo. Whoops! The company confirmed the existence of that system on Wednesday. It starts at $599, making it Apple’s most affordable laptop to date.
Here’s our recap of everything Apple announced this week:
iPhone 17e
Apple
Apple has spruced up this year’s entry-level iPhone with some pretty solid upgrades, though it’s keeping the starting price at $599. The iPhone 17e has double the base storage of the iPhone 16e at 256GB. It also has MagSafe support with Qi2 wireless charging speeds of up to 15W, double that of the iPhone 16e.
Design-wise, Apple hasn’t exactly rocked the boat. The iPhone 17e looks pretty much identical to its predecessor. It appears that Apple is sticking with the same 48MP Fusion camera system as it used in the iPhone 16e too.
That said, the 6.1-inch Super Retina display has Ceramic Shield 2. According to Apple, this provides “3x better scratch resistance than the previous generation and reduced glare.” The company slotted its C1X cellular modem into the iPhone 17e as well. It says this is up to two times faster than the C1 that was in the iPhone 16e. The device has the same A19 chip as the iPhone 17, so it supports Apple Intelligence AI tools, and it runs iOS 26.
In addition, the iPhone 17e has an IP68 rating for water and dust resistance, as well as the promise of “all-day battery life.” It also supports satellite-powered features including Emergency SOS, Roadside Assistance, Messages and Find My.
Pre-orders for the iPhone 17e are now open. It’s available in black, white and soft pink. The device will hit shelves in more than 70 countries and regions on March 11.
iPad Air M4
Apple
The latest iPad Air boasts Apple’s M4 chip. That means the mid-range iPad is effectively remaining a year behind the iPad Pro. The M4 is almost two years old at this point, while the top-end model has the newer M5 chip. Still, if you only use an iPad for casual tasks like watching shows, web browsing, email and so on, the M4 will be more than powerful enough. It will be more adept at handling resource-intensive tasks like video editing than previous iPad Air models too.
Apple has also bumped up the RAM from 8GB from the last-gen model to 12GB. Given the sharp increase in RAM prices in recent months, it’s slightly surprising that Apple is sticking to the same prices for the iPad Air. The 11-inch M4 iPad Air starts at $599 while the 13-inch version starts at $799, each with 128GB of storage. There’s a $50 discount for those buying it for educational use.
Apple claims the M4 delivers up to 2.3 times faster performance compared with the M1 iPad Air and “over 4x faster 3D pro rendering with ray tracing performance.” Of course, the new iPad Air runs iPadOS 26.
Apple gave the iPad Air other internal upgrades by including its N1 and C1X connectivity chips. As such, this is the first iPad Air with Wi-Fi 7 support. As you might expect, 5G cellular connectivity is available as well.
The design of the M4 iPad Air doesn’t seem to have changed, as it appears to have the same LCD display Apple used in the last two iterations of the tablet. The company has stuck with the same rear-facing camera and dual-speaker setup as well.
Pre-orders for the M4 iPad Air are now open. The tablet will hit retailers in 35 countries and regions on March 11. It will be available in blue, purple, starlight and space gray.
Apple MacBook Pro with M5 Pro and Max
Apple
Apple’s most powerful laptop line finally got the chip upgrades that we’d long been expecting. Along with announcing the M5 Pro and M5 Max, the company is offering versions of the MacBook Pro with those chipsets. However, there are price increases to go along with the upgrades.
The new 14-inch MacBook Pro with an M5 Pro chipset (with 15 CPU cores and 16 GPU cores), 24GB of RAM and 1TB of storage starts at $2,199. That’s a $200 increase compared with the base M4 Pro-powered system from late 2024, though Apple has doubled the base storage, which is a welcome touch. If you prefer, you can have a 14-inch MBP with a more powerful M5 Pro (with up to 18 CPU cores and 20 GPU cores) or M5 Max (with 18 CPU cores and 32 or 40 GPU cores). You can double the RAM to 48GB as well.
The 16-inch MacBook Pro has an M5 Pro chipset with 18 CPU cores and 20 GPU cores as standard. Of course, you can swap that out for an M5 Max if you’d rather. The 16-inch model starts at $2,699, a $200 increase from the base M4-powered system. It also starts with 24GB of RAM and 1TB of storage. For what it’s worth, Apple says both the memory and SSD are faster than in previous models.
Apple hasn’t changed the Liquid Retina XDR display and 12MP Center Stage front-facing camera for these models. However, the company has installed its N1 chip to power Wi-Fi 7 and Bluetooth 6 connectivity.
Pre-orders are now open, with general availability to follow on March 11.
Apple said the M5 Pro and M5 Max are built using new “Fusion Architecture” that “combines two dies into a single system on a chip (SoC).” As ever, the goal is to deliver more power and efficiency. We’ll find out for ourselves whether Apple’s performance claims hold up when we’re able to test the chips.
Meanwhile, the base 14-inch MacBook Pro with an M5 chipset also got a $100 price increase to $1,699. To take the sting out of that a bit, Apple doubled the base storage of that model to 1TB as well. Given that Apple usually charges a premium for storage increases, that’s not a terrible tradeoff.
M5 MacBook Air
Apple
A year after Apple upgraded the MacBook Air with an M4 chipset, the company pulled the same trick by swapping in an M5 chip. The company also boosted the base storage from 256GB to 512GB, with an SSD that it claimed can provide “2x faster read/write performance compared to the previous generation.”
While the MBA still has 16GB or RAM as standard, Apple also upgraded the memory to have 153GB/s of bandwidth — the company said that’s a 28 percent improvement over what the M4 MBA offered. Meanwhile, Apple has slapped in the N1 chip to deliver Wi-Fi 7 and Bluetooth 6 connectivity.
Alas, with those upgrades comes a tradeoff. Apple has bumped the starting price of the latest MacBook Air back up to $1,099 after cutting it to $999 for the M4 model. That’s for the 13-inch variant. The 15-inch M5 MacBook Air starts at $1,299.
The latest MacBook Air is available in sky blue, midnight, starlight and silver. You can pre-order one now. It will hit stores in 33 countries and regions on March 11.
MacBook Neo
Apple expanded its laptop lineup even further on Wednesday with the announcement of the MacBook Neo. This is a new entry-level model that starts well below the latest $1,099 MacBook Air at a very reasonable $599 ($499 for educational use). It’s Apple’s least expensive laptop to date, and a clear attempt by the company to wade into a market that’s saturated with cheap Windows laptops and Chromebooks.
As expected, the laptop runs on an A18 Pro chip, which first appeared in the iPhone 16 Pro and iPhone 16 Pro Max. The chipset has a 6-core CPU, 5-core GPU and 16-core Neural Engine, along with 8GB of unified memory. That’s enough for the MacBook Neo to power Apple Intelligence features (of course, it’s a macOS Tahoe machine). Apple also said that the MacBook Neo will run for up to 16 hours on a single charge.
The MacBook Neo has a 13-inch Liquid Retina Display (with 500 nits of brightness and support for 1 billion colors), one USB-C 3 port, a USB-C 2 port and a headphone jack, but no MagSafe connector. There’s a 1080p front-facing FaceTime HD camera, dual mics and side-firing speakers that support Spatial Audio and Dolby Atmos.
The system has a Magic Keyboard with a multi-touch trackpad. However, if you want a TouchID sensor, you’ll need to pay $100 more for it. Ponying up the extra cash will also double the storage from 256GB to 512GB.
Apple claimed that the MacBook Neo is up to 50 percent faster at everyday tasks than “the bestselling PC with the latest shipping Intel Core Ultra 5” with 8GB or RAM and a 256GB SSD. The company also contended that its new laptop is up to three times faster than that Windows system “when running on-device AI workloads like applying advanced effects to photos.”
The MacBook Neo is available in four colors: silver, blush (a light pink), citrus (light yellow) and indigo. It was previously reported that Apple would offer the budget-friendly laptop in some lively iMac-esque colorways. Moreover, Apple says the laptop is “made with a durable recycled aluminum enclosure that helps it reach 60 percent recycled content by weight,” which is said to be the most of any Apple device.
As with the rest of the new devices, pre-orders are open now and the MacBook Neo will be available in stores in 30 countries and regions on March 11.
We’ve already had a chance to go hands-on with the MacBook Neo. Engadget senior editor Devindra Hardawar had generally positive first impressions of the laptop, but felt that the keyboard and touchpad didn’t feel quite as sturdy as those on Apple’s higher-end systems.
Studio Display and Studio Display XDR
I don’t think many people had Studio Displays on their Apple announcements bingo card for this week, but here they are. The Studio Display XDR is completely new.
This is a 27-inch monitor with a 5K Retina XDR screen. It has a mini-LED display with more than 2,000 dimming zones and peak HDR brightness of 2,000 nuts, along with a wider color gamut. The Studio Display XDR boasts a 120Hz refresh rate (an improvement over the 60Hz that previous models were limited to) and a tilt- and height-adjustable stand as standard.
The monitor also has a 12MP Center Stage camera with support for Desk View, a feature that — weirdly enough — lets you show both your face and what’s on your desk. Thunderbolt 5 connectivity allows you to hook up more displays by daisy chaining them. The Studio Display XDR is also a Thunderbolt hub with support for up to 140W of charging power. As such, you’ll be able to fast charge a 16-inch MacBook Pro using the included Thunderbolt 5 Pro cable.
The Studio Display XDR starts at $3,299. A version with nano-texture glass, which is said to further reduce reflectivity, costs $3,599.
Meanwhile, the refreshed Studio Display has an upgraded 12MP Center Stage camera with Desk View. There’s also a “studio-quality” three-microphone array and six-speaker sound system with Spatial Audio. The latest model has Thunderbolt 5 support with the option to daisy-chain displays. The Studio Display can deliver 96W charging as well.
The base monitor is $1,599. It still has a 27-inch 5K Retina display with up to 600 nits of brightness and P3 wide color. It comes with standard glass or, for an extra $300, nano-texture glass. The Studio Display has a tilt-adjustable stand as standard. If you’d prefer to have one that’s height adjustable as well, you’ll need to shell out another $400.
Again, pre-orders for the displays are now open ahead of broader availability on March 11.
OpenAI announced that it’s rolling out an update, bringing the model to ChatGPT-5.3 Instant. The update is said to prevent the model from focusing on lead-up explanations, with the goal of providing more concise and consistent help.
ChatGPT is moving on from 5.2 Instant to 5.2 Instant, according to a news post from OpenAI. In that release, the AI firm says a few key chanegs should be apparent with the release of this new version.
For one, OpenAI says ChatGPT-5.3 should be better at getting to the point. The company cites some examples, with one from the previous model version leading with a long and irrelevant answer. Instead of over-explaining, the new model iteration will focus on answering the question without trying to prove its worth.
OpenAI also notes that 5.3 Instant is built to refuse prompts less often. The company says the previous version would sometimes refuse questions it could answer safely. Instead of “responding in a way that would feel overly cautious or preachy,” the model should now be more direct.
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This update will also tone down ChatGPT’s tendency to provide “cringe” answers. In essence, the tone made popular by OpenAI’s chatbot when answering personal questions should be less forceful or paternal.
In reference, the release uses the example of a “you’re not broken, and it’s not just you” statement that ChatGPT-5.2 would answer with. This sort of response has lost some of its charm as users get more used to contextual answers. Instead, natural conversation seems to be more emphasized.
OpenAI also notes changes to writing advice and web research, with better responses across the board that take into context.
The update to ChatGPT-5.2 Instant will be available starting today. This upgrade is rolling out for the Instant version first, with subsequent upgrades to Thinking and Pro “soon.”
More on AI:
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As competition among AI startups heats up, founders and VCs are turning to novel valuation mechanisms to manufacture a perception of market dominance.
Until recently, the most sought-after companies raised multiple rounds of funding in quick succession at escalating valuations. However, because constant fundraising distracts founders from building their products, lead VCs have devised a new pricing structure that effectively consolidates what would have been two separate funding cycles into one.
Recent rounds employing this scheme include Aaru’s Series A. The synthetic-customer research startup raised a round led by Redpoint, which invested a large portion of its check at a $450 million valuation, The Wall Street Journal reported. Redpoint then invested a smaller portion at a $1 billion valuation, and other VCs joined at that same $1 billion price point, according to our reporting. TechCrunch was the first to report Aaru’s financing, including its multi-tiered valuation.
The approach allows desirable startups like Aaru to call themselves a unicorn — valued at more than $1 billion — even though a significant portion of the equity was acquired at a lower price.
“It is a sign that the market is incredibly competitive for venture capital firms to win deals,” said Jason Shuman, a general partner at Primary Ventures. “If the headline number is huge, it’s also an incredible strategy to scare away other VCs from backing the number two and number three players.”
The massive “headline” valuation creates the aura of a market winner, even though the lead VC’s average price was significantly lower.
Multiple investors told TechCrunch that until recently, they had never encountered a deal where a lead investor splits their capital between two different valuation tiers in a single round.
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Wesley Chan, co-founder and managing partner at FPV Ventures, views this valuation tactic as a symptom of bubble-like behavior. “You can’t sell the same product at two different prices. Only airlines can get away with this,” he said.
In most cases, founders offer a discount to top-tier VCs because their involvement serves as a powerful market signal that helps attract talent and future capital.
But since these rounds are frequently oversubscribed, startups have found a way to accommodate the excess interest: Rather than turning away eager investors, they allow them to participate immediately, but at a significantly higher price. These investors are willing to pay that premium because it is the only way to secure a spot on a high-demand cap table.
Another startup that gave preferential pricing to its lead investor is Serval, an AI-powered IT help desk startup, according to The Wall Street Journal. While Sequoia’s lowest entry price was at a $400 million valuation, Serval announced in December that its $75 million Series B valued the company at $1 billion.
While the high “headline” valuation can help recruit talent and attract corporate customers who may view the company as having a stronger market position than its competitors, the strategy is not without its risks.
Even though the true, blended valuation for these startups is lower than $1 billion, they are expected to raise their next round at a valuation that is higher than the headline price; otherwise it will be a punitive down round, Shuman said.
These companies are in high demand now, but they may face unexpected challenges that will make it very hard for them to justify their high valuations. In a down round, employees and founders end up with a smaller ownership percentage of the company; they can also erode the confidence of partners, customers, future investors, and potential new hires.
Jack Selby, managing director at Thiel Capital and founder of Copper Sky Capital, warns founders that chasing extreme valuations is a dangerous game, pointing to the painful market reset of 2022 as a cautionary tale. “If you put yourself on this high-wire act, it’s very easy to fall off,” he said.
Meta has signed an AI licensing deal with News Corp that will allow the Meta AI maker to use content from The Wall Street Journal and other brands in its chatbot responses and for training of its AI models. News Corp confirmed to Engadget that it had struck a deal with Meta, but didn’t provide specifics on the terms of the arrangement. According to The Wall Street Journal, Meta will pay News Corp. “up to $50 million a year” for a three-year deal that covers content from The Journal, as well as the media giant’s other brands in the US and UK.
News Corp previously struck a five-year deal with OpenAI that was valued at around $250 million. During a recent appearance at Morgan Stanley’s annual Technology, Media & Telecom (TMT) conference, News Corp CEO Robert Thomson hinted that the media company was in the “advanced stage with other negotiations.”
He described the company’s overall approach to such arrangements as “a woo and a sue” strategy, depending on whether companies want to pay for content or scrape it without permission. “We have what you might call a woo and a sue strategy,” he said. “We’ll woo you. We’d like you to be our partner. But if you’re stealing our stuff, we are going to sue you. So there’ll be a discount for those who hand themselves in, and there’ll be a penalty for those that resist.”
A spokesperson for Meta confirmed that the two companies had reached an agreement . The company, which has been reorganizing its AI teams as it looks to create its next model, has struck a number of licensing deals in recent months. It previously signed multi-year agreements with USA Today, People, CNN, Fox News and other outlets. The company said at the time that “by integrating more and different types of news sources, our aim is to improve Meta AI’s ability to deliver timely and relevant content and information with a wide variety of viewpoints and content types.”
Update, March 3, 2026, 4:18PM PT: This story was updated with additional information from a Meta spokesperson.
Besides the new features introduced with Android 16 QPR3, the March 2026 Pixel update includes several bug fixes across Audio, Camera, Display & Graphics, Framework, Telephony, and User Interface.
There are 63 security issues resolved in the Android 16 March patch dated 2026-03-01 and 66 for 2026-03-05. The vulnerabilities range from “High” to “Critical” severity. The dedicated bulletin for Google devices lists 10 additional security fixes.
Global
Pixel 6: CP1A.260305.016
Pixel 6 Pro: CP1A.260305.016
Pixel 6a: CP1A.260305.016
Pixel 7: CP1A.260305.016
Pixel 7 Pro: CP1A.260305.016
Pixel 7a: CP1A.260305.016
Pixel Tablet: CP1A.260305.016
Pixel Fold: CP1A.260305.016
Pixel 8: CP1A.260305.016
Pixel 8 Pro: CP1A.260305.016
Pixel 8a: CP1A.260305.016
Pixel 9: CP1A.260305.016
Pixel 9 Pro: CP1A.260305.016
Pixel 9 Pro XL: CP1A.260305.016
Pixel 9 Pro Fold: CP1A.260305.016
Pixel 9a: CP1A.260305.016
Pixel 10: CP1A.260305.016
Pixel 10 Pro: CP1A.260305.016
Pixel 10 Pro XL: CP1A.260305.016
Pixel 10 Pro Fold: CP1A.260305.016
Pixel 10a: CP1A.260305.016
Use the following device key to interpret the Pixel’s Android 16 March update changelog:
*[2] Pixel 9, Pixel 9 Pro, Pixel 9 Pro XL, Pixel 9 Pro Fold, Pixel 9a, Pixel 10, Pixel 10 Pro, Pixel 10 Pro XL, Pixel 10 Pro Fold
*[3] Pixel 10, Pixel 10 Pro, Pixel 10 Pro XL, Pixel 10 Pro Fold
Audio
Fix for a delay in displaying the speaker icon when adjusting audio settings*[1]
Fix for issue occasionally causing audio crashes*[1]
Camera
Fix for an issue that caused the camera service to crash, improving overall camera stability*[2]
Display & Graphics
Fix for an issue causing system crashes and impacting overall Android stability*[2]
Fix for device screen freezing that occasionally renders the phone unusable*[3]
Fix for issues causing occasional fuzzy or incorrect display behavior*[3]
Fix for the issue where the background blur briefly disappeared in the All Apps screen during search*[1]
Improvement for Pixel 10 GPU performance by optimizing the OpenCL driver to reduce overhead and increase benchmark scores*[3]
Framework
Fix for an issue that could cause the UI to freeze in certain conditions*[2]
Fix for an issue that could cause a temporary freeze or unresponsiveness related to background processing of Android intelligence features*[1]
Fix for an issue that could cause the device to crash when certain services start up*[1]
Fix for issues where the device incorrectly reported battery status (e.g., abnormal temperature or missing battery), particularly when using a wireless charger*[3]
Telephony
Fix for unexpected device instability that could cause temporary loss of cellular service*[2]
General improvements for network connection stability and performance in certain conditions*[2]
User Interface
Fix for an issue that could cause an application to get stuck after quickly using recent apps and navigating home*[2]
Fix for the delay experienced when opening the audio output selector after playing music in the background*[1]
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Take a breath, stop spiraling. You’re not crazy, you’re just stressed. And honestly, that’s okay.
If you felt immediately triggered reading these words, you’re probably also sick of ChatGPT constantly talking to you as if you’re in some sort of crisis and need delicate handling. Now, things may be improving. OpenAI says its new model, GPT-5.3 Instant, will reduce the “cringe” and other “preachy disclaimers.”
According to the model’s release notes, the GPT-5.3 update will focus on the user experience, including things like tone, relevance, and conversational flow — areas that may not show up in benchmarks, but can make ChatGPT feel frustrating, the comapny said.
Or, as OpenAI put it on X, “We heard your feedback loud and clear, and 5.3 Instant reduces the cringe.”
In the company’s example, it showed the same query with responses from the GPT-5.2 Instant model compared with the GPT-5.3 Instant model. In the former, the chatbot’s response starts, “First of all — you’re not broken,” a common phrase that’s been getting under everyone’s skin lately.
In the updated model, the chatbot instead acknowledges the difficulty of the situation, without trying to directly reassure the user.
The insufferable tone of ChatGPT’s 5.2 model has been annoying users to the point that some have even cancelled their subscriptions, according to numerous posts on social media. (It was a hugepointofdiscussion on the ChatGPT Reddit, for instance, before the Pentagon deal stole the focus.)
People complained that this type of language, where the bot talks to you as if it assumes you’re panicking or stressed when you were just seeking information, comes across as condescending.
Often, ChatGPT replied to users with reminders to breathe and other attempts at reassurance, even when the situation didn’t warrant it. This made users feel infantilized, in some cases, or as if the bot was making assumptions about the user’s mental state that just weren’t true.
As one Reddit user recently pointed out, “no one has ever calmed down in all the history of telling someone to calm down.”
It’s understandable that OpenAI would attempt to implement guardrails of some kind, especially as it faces multiple lawsuits accusing the chatbot of leading people to experience negative mental health effects, which sometimes included suicide.
But there’s a delicate balance between responding with empathy and providing quick, factual answers. After all, Google never asks you about your feelings when you’re searching for information.
Apparently, AI data centers are capable of sucking less (power, that is). A recent UK trial demonstrated that they can adjust their energy demands dynamically without disrupting critical workloads. This contrasts with data centers’ current approach of always-on power draw, which can strain grids and drive up prices for everyone.
Over five days in December 2025, more than 200 simulated “grid events” tested a London data center’s ability to adjust its energy use on the fly. The trial used software from Emerald AI, which was involved in the study. Other partners included NVIDIA, National Grid, Nebius and the nonprofit Electric Power Research Institute.
In each simulated grid event, the data center successfully adjusted its energy use to the requested level. It reduced power draw by up to 40 percent, while critical workloads continued to run as normal throughout the trial.
The data center successfully reacted to spikes in demand during soccer match halftimes. In one case, it reduced its power draw by 10 percent for up to 10 hours. It also managed to cut its demand quickly: One event saw the data center reduce its load by 30 percent in only 30 seconds.
The study will serve as a blueprint for a 100MW “power-flexible AI factory” that NVIDIA plans to operate in Virginia. “This trial proves that NVIDIA-powered infrastructure can act as a grid-aware asset, modulating demand in real-time to support stability,” Josh Paker, NVIDIA’s sustainability lead, wrote in a statement. “By making AI workloads responsive, we accelerate deployment while reducing the need for costly grid upgrades.”
The organizations involved in the study say they’ll share their data with the AI industry, regulators and policymakers to try to influence their approach. Fortunately, we don’t need to hope that data center operators’ altruism (ha) will lead to their cooperation. Agreeing to curb usage during peak demand could be good for their balance sheets and lead to faster approvals for new data center grid connections. “We would love to get to a point where we can get customers on the network in two years, and this is part of that,” Steve Smith, president of National Grid Partners, toldBloomberg.
Later this year, Google will release major updates for its Chrome browser on all platforms every two weeks to “get features [out] faster.”
In 2021, Google Chrome started releasing a new milestone (like version 101 -> 102) every four weeks. Google then added a weekly security update in 2023.
Chrome is now switching to a faster, two-week release cycle with Google citing how the “web platform is constantly advancing.”
…our goal is to ensure developers and users have immediate access to the latest performance improvements, fixes and new capabilities. Building on our history of adapting our release process to match the demands of a modern web, Chrome is moving to a two-week release cycle.
Google says the “smaller scope” of these releases “minimizes disruption and simplifies post-release debugging.” The team also cites “recent process enhancements” that will “maintain [Chrome’s] high standards for stability.”
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Stage
M153 (Old)
M153 (New)
M154 (Old)
M154 (New)
Branch
Mon, Aug 24
Mon, Aug 17
Mon, Sep 21
Mon, Aug 31
Beta Promotion
Wed, Aug 26
Wed, Aug 19
Wed, Sep 23
Wed, Sep 2
Stable Cut
Tue, Sep 8
Tue, Aug 25
Tue, Oct 6
Tue, Sep 8
Early Stable Release
Wed, Sep 9
Wed, Aug 26
Wed, Oct 7
Wed, Sep 9
Stable Release
Tue, Sep 22
Tue, Sep 8
Tue, Oct 20
Tue, Sep 22
This starts with Chrome 153 stable on September 8 with a “new beta and stable version of Chrome” shipping every two weeks. There will still be weekly security updates between milestones. This applies to desktop, Android, and iOS, while there are “no changes to the Dev and the Canary channels.”
A Chrome Beta for each version will ship three weeks before the stable release. We recommend developers test with the beta to keep up to date with any upcoming changes that might impact your sites and applications.”
The eight-week Extended Stable release schedule for enterprise customers and Chromium embedders will not change. Chromebooks will also have “extended release options.”
Our priority is a seamless experience, so the latest Chrome releases will roll out to Chromebooks after dedicated platform testing. We are adapting these channels for the new two-week browser cycle and we will share more details soon regarding milestone updates for managed devices.
NPR’s Juana Summers speaks with Amby Burfoot, former editor of Runner’s World, about his longtime friend Jeff Galloway who pioneered the run/walk method. Jeff Galloway died Feb. 25.
JUANA SUMMERS, HOST:
Jeff Galloway was an Olympian. He ran the 10,000 meters for the U.S. in 1972 in Munich, but he is better remembered for what he did after that. As a coach, author, small business owner, race promoter and general running evangelist, he led millions of people to discover the sport at quite literally their own pace. Jeff Galloway died last week at the age of 80. His longtime friend, Amby Burfoot, is the former editor of Runner’s World and joins us now. Hi.
AMBY BURFOOT: Hi. Great to be with you.
SUMMERS: Great to have you, and I’m so sorry for the loss of your friend.
BURFOOT: Well, thank you. It has actually hit quite hard, being a contemporary, essentially the same age as I am and someone who I – as I like to say, I ran a million miles with Jeff in college, and we’ve been very close ever since.
SUMMERS: I mean, I think Jeff Galloway is a household name for so many of us, including myself, who are runners. But how would you sum up his impact on running here in the United States?
BURFOOT: Well, I think his impact was greater than any of us perhaps realized until his passing. And we have seen the outpouring of expressions of love and thank you from so many people who benefited from his help. Jeff was what I would call the community organizer of running. He was out there almost every day talking to everyday people, to more people than any of us ever imagined.
SUMMERS: I want to talk for a moment about his most famous innovation, or, I guess, I’ll say the thing that he became known for, which is that he encouraged people to take walking breaks during their runs to pace themselves. And this was something that Jeff Galloway even did himself as an elite marathoner. Talk to us about that.
BURFOOT: Hey, I was once an elite marathoner, and I’ve been taking walking breaks for 25 years now. We all have to adjust to where we are in life and our fitness and our physical strengths and weaknesses. What’s really important about the run-walk message is that Jeff persisted with it when people kind of ridiculed him at the beginning. It was stupid for them to do it, but people called it gala walking. And people said, well, if you’re walking, you’re not really running. Running 26 miles is impossible for just about anyone (laughter) if you ask me. But if you put a little walking in there as needed, it suddenly becomes something that can be achieved.
SUMMERS: Where did this come from, this desire to really evangelize running to people who are not hardcore endurance athletes, just, like, regular people?
BURFOOT: I think it came from his father, who was an educator and started a private school in Atlanta. And Jeff, in a sense, started this Galloway school of running. He just wanted to help people improve their lives mentally and physically. He realized other people were not going to become Olympians like him or even Boston marathon qualifiers. What’s important is your own personal health and your ability to believe in yourself and to achieve something really remarkable at your own pace. And that’s what he gave people.
SUMMERS: I mean, there are a lot of elite athletes out there who are happy to be done with their sports after their time at the top of their games, but that was not Jeff Galloway. He publicly wanted to run a marathon in eight consecutive decades.
BURFOOT: Well, Jeff and I were going to go to Honolulu in December and run the Honolulu Marathon, which would have been his eighth decade of running marathons. I’m at seven decades. I always wanted Jeff to be the first. He deserved to be the first. I’m so sorry that he couldn’t run Honolulu and, of course, devastated by his recent passing.
SUMMERS: Author and journalist Amby Burfoot remembering a fellow running enthusiast, Jeff Galloway. Thank you so much.
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