This OS quietly powers all AI - and most future IT jobs, too

Gushwork has raised $9 million in a seed round led by SIG and Lightspeed. The startup has seen early customer traction from AI search tools like ChatGPT.

In the past, forests around the world were cut down on a massive scale. We lost some of the world’s richest ecosystems.In recent decades, the picture has become more complex. Deforestation has not ended, but it is no longer happening everywhere. Since 1990, some regions have continued to lose large areas of forest, while others have slowed this long-run trend — and even reversed it.The map shows regional changes in forest area based on the latest data from the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. Deforestation has been particularly large in South America and Africa. At the same time, the forested area has expanded in Europe, North and Central America, and large parts of Asia. These gains show that deforestation is not inevitable. When pressure on land falls, forests can return.I previously wrote about why deforestation is happening, and what we can do to bring the long history of deforestation to an end.

Seattle-based Vercept developed complex agentic tools, including a computer-use agent that could complete tasks inside applications like a person with a laptop would.

New York Attorney General Letitia James is suing Valve for "illegally promoting gambling" through the loot box systems it has built for video games like Counter-Strike 2, Team Fortress 2, and Dota 2, according to a press release. The attorney general seeks to "permanently stop Valve from promoting gambling features in its games, disgorge all ill-gotten gains, and pay fines for violating New York's laws." "This loot box model that Valve has developed - charging an individual for a chance to win something of value based on luck alone - is quintessential gambling, prohibited under New York's Constitution and Penal Law," the lawsuit says. Valve … Read the full story at The Verge.

"The demand for tokens in the world has gone completely exponential," Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang said about the company's earnings.

Samsung’s Galaxy S26 phones introduce a slate of new AI-powered features, including some new photography tools. | Image: Samsung Samsung has just announced its new Galaxy S26 lineup, which includes the S26, S26 Plus, and S26 Ultra. While they aren't radical departures from last year's models, they bring a handful of notable upgrades. All three run on Qualcomm's Galaxy-centric Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5, which delivers improved performance and powers a slew of new AI-based features. This includes the ability to screen unknown calls and edit photos by typing what you want changed, along with an update to Google Gemini that can carry out certain tasks in supported third-party apps, like Uber and DoorDash, on your behalf. Starting at $899.99, the S26 is the smallest and mo … Read the full story at The Verge.