The Big Four, tracked.
The live wire from the labs, refreshed every 15 minutes. Our verified read on the big launches lives in Phantom Notes.
§ Lab spotlight
AnthropicNOV 03, 2026 ↗Anthropic is still grappling with the economics of computeAt a moment when Anthropic's compute margins should be getting better, they’re getting worse.OpenAINOV 03, 2026 ↗Heimstaden is changing residential real estate management with AIDiscover how Heimstaden uses OpenAI’s ChatGPT Enterprise and Codex to transform property management, cut costs, and empower employees across Europe.Google DeepMindNOV 03, 2026 ↗Agentic cheminformatics with Google AntigravityLearn how Google Antigravity and our Cheminformatics Skills accelerate drug discovery workflows, search compounds, and propose novel rigidified macrocycles.xAINOV 02, 2026 ↗Elon Musk throttles Grok Bot limits due to ‘unsustainably high’ costsMusk recently referred to Grok Bot as having "the fastest growth of a product that I've ever seen in my life."
§ Our verified coverageAll of Phantom Notes →
OCT 30, 2026Clover-35B-A3B Claims 73.6 on SWE-bench Verified. Every Number Is the Vendor's, and the Decision Model Is Not Out.→OCT 29, 2026Pika H3 Flex Ships Open Weights for 768p. 4K, Five Audio Stems, and Fast Serving Stay on Pika's Hosted Stack.→OCT 29, 2026Swiss Lab Giotto Posted Vendor Scores for Its Sovereign Alto and Solo Models. There Is No Model Card, No Independent Board, and No Parameter Count.→OCT 29, 2026Mistral Large 4 Weights Shipped Under a Modified MIT. Host It Yourself for Free; Host It as a Service and You Need Mistral's Separate License.→OCT 28, 2026The Information Says DeepSeek and Moonshot Trained on GPT-6 Astra. Nobody Has Confirmed It, and OpenAI's Anti-Distillation Rule Starts November 20.→
§ The full wire· 76 items
NOV 03, 2026Hackers Exploit BTCPay Server Flaw to Steal Bitcoin and Litecoin From Hot WalletsBTCPay Server, a self-hosted, open-source cryptocurrency payment processor, has urged users to install the latest version of its software in response to reports of Bitcoin and Litecoin being stolen fr...The Hacker News · security↗NOV 03, 2026Apple restricts dating apps and AI companions to users 18 and upApple's new App Store rules will require 18+ ratings for dating apps and AI companions that offer sexual or romantic content.TechCrunch · writing↗NOV 03, 2026The TechCrunch Founder Summit agenda is only half the reason to be in Boston on Nov. 4On Nov. 4, TechCrunch Founder Summit 2026 brings founders and VCs to Boston's SoWa Power Station for practical insights and connections. Register before prices increase at the door.TechCrunch · industry↗NOV 03, 2026Tomorrow: TechCrunch Founder Summit takes over Boston and when pass rates increaseSecure your TechCrunch Founder Summit pass savings before prices increase tomorrow at 9 a.m. ET. Save up to $100 on your pass, and get a second for free.TechCrunch · industry↗NOV 03, 2026Google Warns LLMjacking Attacks Are Costing Some Enterprises Up to $1 Million in Cloud ChargesGoogle on Monday warned that threat actors are hijacking enterprise access to Large Language Models (LLMs) to fraudulently leverage expensive computing resources and AI services.
The tactic is called...The Hacker News · security↗NOV 03, 2026cPGuard Update Channel Hijacked to Backdoor Linux Servers and Collect Password HashesAn attacker broke into the update system of the cPGuard security tool on November 2 and used it to send a malicious script to customers' Linux servers.
The script installed a backdoor and collected p...The Hacker News · security↗NOV 03, 2026Russia-Aligned Gorbag Hackers Exploit WinRAR Flaw to Deploy Data-Stealing MalwareA Russia-aligned threat actor known as Gorbag has been observed using simple information stealer malware in attacks targeting Ukrainian organizations.
"Active since at least February 2025, the group ...The Hacker News · security↗NOV 03, 2026Same Model, Different Harness: CUGA, Hermes, and Deep Agents — When to Pick CUGA?Hugging Face · automation↗NOV 03, 2026Red Hat Patches 9.8-Rated Linux TCP RCE Flaw While Ubuntu Releases Fixes for TestingFixed kernels for a use-after-free vulnerability in the Linux kernel's IPv4 TCP code are now available for Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8, 9, and 10, while Ubuntu's fixes for its three newest long-term-su...The Hacker News · model↗NOV 03, 2026The 4 Elements of Exposure Prioritization and How to Operationalize ThemYour team is remediating more vulnerabilities than ever, yet your breach risk has barely changed. You’re spending too much time and effort on exposures attackers may never exploit, while higher-risk e...The Hacker News · security↗NOV 03, 2026Finding my thingNobody knows anythingBen's Bites · industry↗NOV 03, 2026Accelerating engineering for the physical worldDiscover how ChatGPT and Codex are helping engineers accelerate CAD, PCB design, simulation, and other workflows across the physical world.OpenAI · model↗NOV 03, 2026NYT demands Brave shut down its paywall blocker and end deals with AI firmsLawsuit calls Brave "supplier, dealer, and distributor" of stolen news content.Ars Technica · writing↗NOV 03, 2026AI inference startup Fal doubles its valuation to $16B as demand surgesThe five-year-old startup raised a $1.3 billion round led by Bessemer.TechCrunch · industry↗NOV 03, 2026Chainstack Reports Production Systems Breach Exposing Customer Data and Password HashesBlockchain infrastructure provider Chainstack on Tuesday disclosed that it was targeted in a cyber attack that allowed an unauthorized party to gain access to some parts of its infrastructure.
The in...The Hacker News · coding↗NOV 03, 2026Binance Reveals How Fake Job Interviews and AI Tool Abuse Led to $6.43 Billion TheftBinance on Tuesday said the record-setting theft of $6.43 billion in assets from the world's largest cryptocurrency exchange was the culmination of a "sophisticated, multi-stage campaign" that involve...The Hacker News · security↗NOV 03, 2026StateBench: Testing how language models track state changes over long documentsHugging Face · model↗NOV 03, 2026Netflix’s new AI Discover tab helps you find something to watch based on your moodThe first experimental feature under the tab will allow users to get recommendations based on what they're currently in the mood for.TechCrunch · industry↗NOV 03, 2026Google will let schools disable its AI tools, but not without sacrificing SearchSchools choosing to restrict AI altogether will no longer be able to access Google Search, as AI features are now integrated into the search engine.TechCrunch · industry↗NOV 03, 2026mSecure Warns Users to Change Passwords, Reset 2FA and Passkeys After Suspicious ActivityCustomers of the mSecure password manager are being urged to act now to protect the confidential information they store in it, possibly by changing passwords, resetting two-factor authentication (2FA)...The Hacker News · coding↗NOV 03, 2026Barracuda Flaws Could Be Chained to Bypass Authorization and Gain Root AccessBarracuda has disclosed details of two vulnerabilities affecting its products that, if chained together, could allow an attacker to bypass authorization controls and gain root access to a susceptible ...The Hacker News · security↗NOV 03, 2026Palette: teaching a small model to build decks in your design languageHugging Face · model↗NOV 03, 2026CWE-bench v2: More coverage, quality, and transparencyHugging Face · model↗NOV 03, 2026Google takes Dreambeans to India in bid to bring AI-generated personal stories to the massesGoogle's Dreambeans, its latest AI experiment, now supports 13 Indian languages.TechCrunch · industry↗NOV 03, 2026Qwen 3.8 27B on my laptop can interpret model weights, tooYesterday's hot paper was Sparks of Weight-Space Programming: LLMs can natively read write neural network weights by Rikiya Takehi, Jayden Teoh, Alex Zhang, and Omar Khattab. The paper (OK, the auth...Simon Willison · coding↗NOV 03, 2026Apple may try to increase revenue by doing…something with third-party AI appsApple hinted at ways that it could spur revenue through third-party "opportunities" during its Monday night earnings call.TechCrunch · industry↗NOV 03, 2026Y Combinator’s Garry Tan uses AI agents so much, he spends up to $200K a year on tokensY Combinator Garry Tan has jokingly admitted that he's suffered from "cyber psychosis” and barely sleeps sometimes because he’s so excited to be working with his AI agents. On a new episode of Walter ...TechCrunch · model↗NOV 03, 2026OpenAI appoints Jill Hazelbaker as Chief Corporate Affairs OfficerJill Hazelbaker will join OpenAI as Chief Corporate Affairs Officer, leading the company’s global communications and corporate positioning.OpenAI · model↗NOV 03, 2026How Cisco defends at machine speed with OpenAICisco combines network intelligence with OpenAI models to strengthen enterprise security. Learn how it is building more adaptive defenses.OpenAI · security↗NOV 03, 2026Data centers are turning to old jet engines as the wait for power growsThe years-long wait for access to the grid and new turbines is causing data center builders to turn to an unusual, less-efficient and less environmentally friendly solution: once-discarded jet engines...TechCrunch · data↗NOV 03, 2026Hiding inside Palantir’s skyrocketing quarter is a foreboding signalPalantir's U.S. commercial revenue surpassed U.S. government revenue for the first time ever.TechCrunch · coding↗NOV 03, 2026Anthropic is working on a system to prove AI models’ identityCalled FlashProve, the system would let anyone check that an AI response really came from the model it claims to be from.Anthropic · coding↗NOV 03, 2026Ted Schlein’s Ballistic Ventures seeks $490M for new funds amid AI-driven cybersecurity boomCybersecurity-focused Ballistic Ventures is seeking to raise $360 million for a new flagship fund and another $130 million for a separate investment vehicle.TechCrunch · security↗NOV 03, 2026Apple Watch’s AI features for rewinding and recapping conversations begin beta testingNow in beta: Apple's new Audio Intelligence features can help you remember what someone said or take notes on conversations.TechCrunch · voice↗NOV 03, 2026New Wave of Refrigeration Cyberattacks Hits Supermarkets Across Europe, Forcing Stores to Pull FoodAttackers remotely changed the settings on refrigeration controls at supermarkets in Belgium, Sweden, Estonia and other European countries overnight into Monday, November 2, warming fridges and freeze...The Hacker News · security↗NOV 03, 2026I discovered a sound that leaks your exact location (and it's everywhere) - YouTubeI discovered a sound that leaks your exact location (and it s everywhere) - YouTube
Genius piece of OSINT by Colsto, who demonstrates how you can take almost imperceptible background noise of planes f...Simon Willison · industry↗NOV 03, 2026Attackers Exploit Critical Siemens IoT2050 Flaw to Plant Remote Command BackdoorsA maximum-severity security flaw impacting Siemens SIMATIC IoT2050 Advanced devices has come under active exploitation, VulnCheck has revealed.
The vulnerability, tracked as CVE-2026-58115 (CVSS scor...The Hacker News · security↗NOV 03, 2026Transformers Model Integration ContractsHugging Face · model↗NOV 03, 2026October sponsors-only newsletterI sent out the October edition of my sponsors-only monthly newsletter. If you are a sponsor (or start a sponsorship now) you can access it here. This month:
The October inflection point for vibe game...Simon Willison · industry↗NOV 03, 2026Synology NAS Devices Targeted in Ransomware Attacks Exploiting Patched DSM FlawSynology is urging customers to update the DiskStation Manager (DSM) software powering its Network Attached Storage (NAS) devices following ransomware attacks.
The Taiwanese vendor said it observed t...The Hacker News · security↗NOV 03, 2026Attackers Target Unpatched CryptoPayment Gateway Flaw That Can Expose Wallet CredentialsThreat actors are attempting to exploit an unpatched maximum-severity security vulnerability in the CryptoPayment Gateway WordPress plugin, according to findings from Defused Cyber.
The vulnerability...The Hacker News · security↗NOV 02, 2026Introducing the Grid Protectors ProgramOpenAI’s Grid Protectors Program will work with utilities to help future compute campuses support grid reliability and protect consumer electricity costs.OpenAI · model↗NOV 02, 20262 days till TechCrunch Founder Summit: Boston founders don’t need a Silicon Valley address to build something bigTechCrunch Founder Summit happens on November 4 in Boston for a founder-focused agenda and impactful connections. Save up to $100 or get discounts with group passes.TechCrunch · industry↗NOV 02, 2026Omen AI adds liquid know-how in $16 million Aquatic Labs acquisitionTwo startups tackling the data center water problem are joining forces in a $16 million deal.TechCrunch · data↗NOV 02, 2026OpenAI is finally merging ChatGPT’s chat and Work tabsOpenAI said that ChatGPT and Codex will draw usage from the same allocation pool after this change.OpenAI · model↗NOV 02, 2026DarkBlinders Compromises Israeli Target and Iraqi Kurdish Government Cloud EnvironmentCybersecurity researchers have disclosed details of a cyber espionage campaign targeting Israel and the Kurdistan Region of Iraq by an Iran state-aligned threat actor between August and October 2026.
...The Hacker News · security↗NOV 02, 2026Critical Langflow Flaws Could Let Unauthenticated Attackers Run Code on ServersTwo critical flaws in Langflow could let a remote attacker with no account bypass authentication or run arbitrary code, IBM said last week.
Langflow is an open-source tool for building AI agents and ...The Hacker News · coding↗NOV 02, 2026Is Your SOC Ready for AI Agents? A Maturity Check Before You DeployForty percent of security teams now use AI every day, and another 56% are testing it. Only 4% have no plans to adopt it, according to Prophet Security's State of AI in Security Operations 2026 survey ...The Hacker News · security↗NOV 02, 2026The U.S. Census Bureau and “Super Intelligence”I was reminded today of AI Adoption Rate Trending Down for Large Companies, a chart produced by Apollo Global Management in September 2025, which appeared to show a slowdown in U.S. corporate AI adopt...Simon Willison · industry↗NOV 02, 2026Qodo builds context into AI code review with CodexQodo brings company knowledge and coding standards into Codex, helping developers catch P0 issues across repositories before opening a pull request.OpenAI · coding↗NOV 02, 2026LifeValIntroducing LifeVal, a benchmark measuring how well AI helps people complete everyday tasks, from finding childcare to managing finances and government paperwork.OpenAI · model↗NOV 02, 2026New York Times and other outlets sue web browser Brave over alleged content scrapingThe New York Times is suing privacy-focused web browser company Brave for allegedly scraping the outlet’s copyrighted and unlawfully distributing it to its own customers, like Anthropic and Perplexity...Anthropic · security↗NOV 02, 202642AI comes out of stealth with $62.5M and a world model that can ‘predict human behavior’Here's a question straight out of sci-fi: What if AI could predict what you were going to do before you decided to, even in a completely new situation?TechCrunch · coding↗NOV 02, 2026⚡ Weekly Recap: Critical CVEs, Linux DDoS Botnet, Device-Code Phishing, Android Spyware and MoreSome attacks this week didn't need much of a trick. A fake support call, a trusted extension, a shared link, or a device with no password. Small things that people barely think about. Yet each was eno...The Hacker News · coding↗NOV 02, 2026Google Disrupts 1.3 Million-Device Android Botnet, Says TV Box Maker Sold Criminal AccessA botnet of more than 1.3 million Android devices, mostly TV set-top boxes, lost control of its servers in late October in a takedown led by Google.
Google says it is highly confident that device mak...The Hacker News · coding↗NOV 02, 2026Scaling Git at OpenAIHow OpenAI built Pando, a Git-compatible backend designed for the scale of development that Codex makes possible.OpenAI · coding↗NOV 02, 2026New VOLTA Infostealer Uses Claude, Gemini, and Kimi AI to Rank Victims by Financial ValueCybersecurity researchers have discovered a new Windows infostealer malware called VOLTA-AUTODOXER (aka VOLTA) that makes use of a large language model (LLM) to rank a victim's stolen data by their mo...Anthropic · model↗NOV 02, 2026Trajectory raises $45M to make AI model training accessible to nontechnical expertsThe one-year-old startup is now valued at $300 million.TechCrunch · industry↗NOV 02, 2026Anthropic warns that it’s very close to RSI capability, aka self-building AIRSI is the point at which AI grows so good at training itself that it spawns a dramatic acceleration of AI capabilities. To the AI doomers, RSI represents the cataclysm from which there is no return.Anthropic · industry↗NOV 02, 2026Web host Squarespace lays off 19% of its employeesThe website builder said that the job losses are part of a broader restructuring of its organization.TechCrunch · industry↗NOV 02, 2026Preparing our next security sprint to harden OpenAIOpenAI is preparing its next internal security sprint with Cathedral Systems to test and strengthen its defenses using AI.OpenAI · security↗NOV 02, 2026Attackers Pose as IT Support on Microsoft Teams, Abuse AD CS to Steal Company DataAttackers posing as IT support on Microsoft Teams talked employees into giving them remote control of their PCs. They then used insecure Active Directory Certificate Services (AD CS) settings to obtai...The Hacker News · security↗NOV 02, 2026Government Linux Servers Targeted With SysGoRAT and Suspected AI-Generated ScriptsCybersecurity researchers have disclosed details of a cyber espionage campaign specifically targeting Linux infrastructure associated with government entities and state-affiliated infrastructure.
The...The Hacker News · security↗NOV 02, 2026Rewarding defenders with bigger bug bountiesOpenAI is raising Security Bug Bounty rewards and introducing report quality, loyalty, and priority campaign bonuses for independent security researchers.OpenAI · security↗NOV 02, 2026llm 0.37Release: llm 0.37
There's a lot of stuff in this new release of my LLM CLI tool and Python library, representing around two months of accumulated features and fixes.
I added gpt-6.1-sol and gp...OpenAI · model↗NOV 01, 2026AI can make tech CEOs’ lives easier. What about everyone else?On Equity, we discuss why tech CEO statements can seem so tone deaf.TechCrunch · industry↗NOV 01, 2026OpenAI might rebrand its data centers as ‘AI compute campuses’Data centers are deeply unpopular. But what if we called them something else?OpenAI · data↗NOV 01, 2026If in doubt, delete the uv.lock fileI've been getting the occasional confusing Python dependency error since switching over to Python 3.15 and the rule I'm having to remember is:
If in doubt, delete the uv.lock file
Most of my projects ...Simon Willison · industry↗NOV 01, 2026NetamLoader Malware Targets Government Windows 10 Systems in Asia via .NET InjectionCybersecurity researchers have disclosed details of what has been described as a "highly sophisticated infection chain" targeting government organizations in Asia.
The activity, detailed by Kaspersky...The Hacker News · security↗NOV 01, 2026Hackers Steal About $2.7 Million From Polymarket Traders via Hijacked DebugBear ScriptMalicious code on the website of prediction market Polymarket sold some signed-in traders' positions and moved their funds to the hackers on October 29. The code had replaced a page-speed script that ...The Hacker News · coding↗NOV 01, 2026FBI Links North Korea's TraderTraitor to Record $6.43 Billion Binance Crypto HeistThe U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) has officially attributed the theft of more than $6 billion in virtual assets to TraderTraitor, a North Korea-aligned elite hacking group also tracked as...The Hacker News · security↗NOV 01, 2026CVSS 10.0 LXD, MicroCloud Flaw Lets Attackers Impersonate Trusted Clients Without a Private KeyA critical flaw in Canonical's LXD and MicroCloud let an attacker log in as a trusted client without holding that client's private key. To do it, the attacker had to reach their HTTPS API over the net...The Hacker News · security↗NOV 01, 2026Quoting Kyle KingsburyMore broadly, the use of LLMs erodes trust in documentation, in software, and in the organizations which produce them. Perhaps engineers will begin to treat any new software project with suspicion—the...Simon Willison · industry↗OCT 31, 2026A Shared ChatGPT Link Could Run Attacker Code in Your Session and Read Private ChatsA malicious ChatGPT share link could run an attacker's code in the logged-in session of anyone who opened it, allowing them to read their private conversations, researchers at the security firm Parame...OpenAI · model↗OCT 31, 2026Cloudflare Reports 18.2 Million Network-Layer DDoS Attacks in Q3, Up 38%Threat actors are launching about 8,226 network-layer distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attacks per hour, Cloudflare revealed Thursday.
The web infrastructure and security company said it autonomo...The Hacker News · model↗OCT 31, 2026datasette-llm 0.1a9Release: datasette-llm 0.1a9
I have some big upgrades to Datasette Agent in the pipeline, but in the meantime here's a tiny user experience improvement to the underlying datasette-llm plugin. ...Simon Willison · model↗