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Technology News
Breaking news and analysis from the world of technology
Secondhand book sales have suddenly increased because AI companies are buying large amounts of books to scan and use in training their AI software. A U.S. court ruled that using these books for AI training does not break copyright law, leading to more bulk purchases and some books being destroyed in the scanning process.
Key Facts
Secondhand booksellers are seeing unusually large orders from companies, sometimes matching a whole week’s normal sales in one purchase.
These books are believed to be used to train AI systems, which need lots of diverse information to learn from.
A 2025 U.S. court ruling allowed AI companies to use books in this way without violating copyright, calling the use "transformative."
Anthropic, an AI company, is known to have a project named "Project Panama" aimed at scanning many books by removing their spines to digitize them quickly.
The scanning process destroys physical books, which worries some booksellers.
The books bought range widely in subject and rarity, helping AI software learn better.
In the UK, copyright law is stricter, requiring permission from copyright holders to use books for training AI.
AI companies say they do not buy or destroy rare or antique books.
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In the first half of 2026, the United States saw 368 new utility-scale power plants start operating, with most being solar energy projects. Solar and battery storage led in the amount of new energy capacity, while large new natural gas plants are expected to come online in the next few years.
Key Facts
368 utility-scale power plants began operation from January to June 2026 in the US.
Utility-scale solar projects were the most common, with 207 new projects.
Battery storage projects also grew, with 95 new installations.
The largest new wind power projects are SunZia Wind South and North in New Mexico, with 3,650 megawatts total capacity.
Natural gas power plants added 2,707 megawatts but fewer new plants opened compared to solar and batteries.
Three states—Texas, New Mexico, and Arizona—account for about half of the new generating capacity.
Smaller and mid-size solar projects are easier to build and are spread across many locations.
Large natural gas plants are planned but will mostly come online in the coming years, not immediately.
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Secondhand booksellers in the UK, Ireland, and other countries have noticed unusual large orders of random books from mysterious buyers. Sellers and experts think these books may be collected by AI companies to scan and use their content to train artificial intelligence systems.
Key Facts
Secondhand bookshops in the UK and Ireland have received many bulk orders of books with no clear theme.
Similar unusual orders have been reported in the US, Australia, and Europe.
The orders include a wide mix of books, such as a rare translation, old magazines, and niche topics.
Buyers often use different names but have shipments sent to the same warehouses near Heathrow airport.
One bookseller reported selling about 6,000 books in these types of orders, worth thousands of pounds.
The orders do not follow typical buying patterns seen in the secondhand book market.
Sellers suspect AI companies buy these books to scan their contents for training AI models.
A known AI firm, Anthropic, has spent large amounts buying books to scan and recycle them after using the content to train their AI chatbot named Claude.
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Marvel Studios announced new cast members for its upcoming "X-Men" reboot film at Disney’s D23 convention. Adam Driver will play the villain Mister Sinister, Inde Navarette will play Rogue, and the film is scheduled for release in May 2028.
Key Facts
Adam Driver will play Mister Sinister, a supervillain, in the new "X-Men" movie.
Inde Navarette will play the character Rogue in the reboot.
Christopher Abbott will portray Professor Charles Xavier.
Maya Boyd will play the character Storm.
The film is planned for release in May 2028.
The cast was announced by Marvel Studios President Kevin Feige during Disney’s D23 event in Anaheim, California.
The reboot became possible after Disney acquired Fox’s film studio in 2019.
Director Jake Schreier is directing the film, with writers Lee Sung Jin and Joanna Calo working on the script.
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Artificial intelligence (AI) is causing prices for goods and services to rise. A CBS MoneyWatch reporter examined data showing how AI is affecting consumer costs.
Key Facts
AI means computer systems that can do tasks usually done by people.
Companies are using AI more, which can increase demand for certain products.
This higher demand can lead to higher prices for consumers.
AI may also increase costs for businesses, which they pass on to buyers.
The report analyzed data linking AI use to rising consumer prices.
The impact is seen in various industries, influencing everyday costs.
Understanding AI’s role helps explain why some prices go up recently.
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Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg recently published a long public letter about his positive vision for artificial intelligence (AI). This follows a trend where tech leaders write detailed essays explaining why they believe AI is important and hopeful for the future. Zuckerberg’s letter supports open sharing of AI tools and counters worries about job losses, despite Meta cutting jobs to focus on AI.
Key Facts
Mark Zuckerberg wrote a 6,500-word letter called "The Future is for Everyone" about his ideas on AI.
Other tech leaders like Marc Andreessen, Sam Altman, and Dario Amodei have also published long essays expressing optimism about AI.
These manifestos emphasize AI as a major technology with the potential to improve many areas of life.
Zuckerberg challenges views that AI will mainly cause job losses or harm society.
Meta recently cut about 10% of its workforce (around 8,000 jobs) while shifting focus to AI development.
Zuckerberg’s letter announced plans to make Meta’s AI tools more open and accessible to the public.
The decision to share AI technology openly is important because of risks that powerful AI models could be misused or cause harm.
The trend of tech bosses writing manifestos reflects the high stakes and urgency they see in shaping AI’s future.
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A Phoenix air traffic controller prevented a possible accident when two American Airlines planes had the same flight number at the same time. The controller used clear instructions to keep the planes safely apart until both landed and took off without incident.
Key Facts
Two American Airlines jets both used the flight number 2482 near Phoenix.
One plane was arriving from Chicago while the other was departing from Phoenix.
The controller quickly called the planes “arrival” and “departure” to avoid confusion.
The arriving plane flew above the departing plane to maintain a safe distance.
Both pilots could see each other from miles away, helping avoid risks.
Flight 2482 usually uses the same plane, but a delay caused a second plane to take the same flight number.
Aviation experts say the airline likely missed the overlap when planning flights.
The FAA and American Airlines will investigate how this error happened.
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AI companions are becoming popular, and some people worry that relying on them might reduce real human connection. Research shows that feeling love and positive emotions comes from within the person, not the other being loved, so AI can produce real emotional responses even if it is not human.
Key Facts
AI companions are a fast-growing part of technology for consumers.
People worry that AI might cause emotional problems or reduce human relationships.
Research shows love creates positive effects inside the person who feels it.
Attachment does not require the other side to be a real person.
Children use objects like blankets to feel secure even though they are not people.
Humans often feel strong emotions from things that are not human, like books or songs.
AI companions are different because they respond and remember past interactions.
This responsiveness makes AI more like a reliable friend than objects like blankets or photos.
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A security flaw in macOS screen sharing lets hackers take full control of Macs if they can access a specific network port. Dutch officials warn this flaw is actively used to install cryptocurrency mining software, but Apple has released a fix that users should install.
Key Facts
The flaw affects macOS versions Tahoe, Sequoia, and Sonoma.
It lets attackers see the screen and control the keyboard and mouse remotely.
The vulnerability has a severity score of 7.1 out of 10.
Active attacks happen when port 5900 is open to the Internet, which happens if screen sharing is on.
Attackers have used the flaw to install Monero cryptocurrency miners on affected Macs.
Apple released a security update last week to fix the bug.
Experts advise users to keep screen sharing off unless needed and use safer methods like VPN or SSH tunneling.
The flaw could potentially be used for more serious attacks beyond cryptocurrency mining.
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Heart Aerospace flew the largest battery-electric aircraft, the X1, for nearly 30 minutes using only $5 worth of electricity. This test is part of developing a hybrid-electric regional airliner, the ES-30, which combines electric motors with traditional engines to reduce fuel use and emissions.
Key Facts
The X1 is the largest all-electric aircraft to fly, with a max takeoff weight over 25,000 pounds.
It flew at Plattsburgh International Airport on August 12, powered by four electric motors and batteries delivering over one megawatt.
The flight lasted nearly half an hour and cost about $5 in electricity.
Current battery technology limits purely electric planes to short flights of 100 to 200 miles, restricting them to air taxi roles.
Heart Aerospace plans to produce the ES-30, a hybrid-electric plane that can fly 125 miles on electric power alone and 500 miles in hybrid mode combining electric and turboprop engines.
United Airlines has agreed to buy 100 ES-30 planes, with other airlines also investing in the project.
The ES-30 aims for flight testing in 2028 and commercial certification by 2031.
Rising jet fuel prices, linked to geopolitical tensions such as the US-Israeli war on Iran, are pushing the airline industry to explore cleaner and more cost-effective aircraft options like hybrid-electric planes.
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A PBS station in St. Louis sued a data center company after its cloud storage provider went out of business, risking loss of 50 terabytes (TB) of archived TV shows and videos. A judge ordered the data center to release the physical storage devices to the PBS station so they can recover their data with assistance from a third party.
Key Facts
Nine PBS, a St. Louis TV affiliate, stored about 50TB of data including 70 years of shows and historical footage with a cloud provider called Open Source Storage (OSS).
OSS stopped responding and ceased operations, leaving Nine PBS unable to access its data after their contract ended in March 2024.
OSS stored the data at Iron Mountain Data Centers’ facility in Denver, which refused to release the data without a contract.
Nine PBS filed a lawsuit against Iron Mountain on July 28, seeking access to their data.
A judge blocked Iron Mountain from deleting or changing the data and required them to hand over any physical devices holding it.
The court ordered Nine PBS to find a third party, like a former OSS employee, to help retrieve the data safely within 30 days.
Nine PBS found a former OSS worker willing to assist with data recovery.
Iron Mountain stated it has acted responsibly and tried to help resolve the issue, but says it does not have direct access to the data.
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SpaceX has greatly increased its share of global rocket launches with its reusable Falcon 9 rocket, launching more payloads than any other country. This has lowered launch costs in the U.S., while Europe and other nations face higher expenses for sending satellites into orbit.
Key Facts
SpaceX handles more than 75% of all mass launched into orbit, using its Falcon 9 rocket.
The U.S. has more than doubled Russia’s total payloads sent to orbit since 1990.
In 2024, the U.S. captured over 82% of the global yearly payload share.
Average cost per kilogram to orbit in 2025 is around $3,225 in the U.S.
Europe’s launch cost per kilogram is about three times higher than the U.S., at nearly $9,900.
Other countries’ costs per kilogram: Japan $5,287, China $5,809, Russia $6,682, India nearly $15,000.
Lower costs result from bigger rockets, more frequent launches, and reusing rocket parts.
European policymakers face challenges as relying only on domestic rockets could increase costs and slow space efforts.
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Ars Technica hosted a live talk about the Stop Killing Games movement, which aims to keep video games playable after publishers shut down their online servers. Ross Scott explained that planning for game preservation early can lower costs and that legal clarity is needed, especially in the European Union.
Key Facts
The Stop Killing Games movement works to prevent games from becoming unplayable when online servers shut down.
Ross Scott felt the issue of long-term game access was a problem over 15 years ago but no one had started fixing it.
Currently, publishers can close game servers at any time with little or no warning to players.
Planning for end-of-life support during game development can make transferring games to third-party servers cheaper and easier.
Most online games have local test servers, which could help maintain game access after official servers close.
The EU Parliament has been slow to clarify laws on game preservation.
There is hope that the Digital Fairness Act will address some issues related to game access and preservation.
The movement seeks clear legal rules to protect gamers’ rights to keep playing old games online.
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A U.S. judge has told Google to make it easier to access third-party app stores within the Google Play Store. Google allowed one non-Google store called Aptoide, but the judge said Google’s current setup makes it hard for users to find and install apps from these alternative stores.
Key Facts
U.S. District Judge James Donato ruled that Google’s way of offering third-party app stores is too complicated and unfair.
Google recently added Aptoide as the first alternative app store inside Google Play.
The judge said the link to third-party stores is hidden deep in menus and hard to find.
Searching for terms like “app store” or “Aptoide” in Google Play doesn’t clearly show the alternative store.
Installing an app store currently requires extra steps, such as clicking a “view” button instead of the expected “install” button.
The judge ordered Google to fix these problems within one week.
Google’s lawyers agreed to make the required changes.
This ruling comes from an ongoing antitrust case that found Google acted unfairly by limiting third-party app stores.
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This article discusses how artificial intelligence (AI) is changing the way consumers shop and choose payment methods. AI agents can help customers find products and decide how to pay, but it raises questions about how much authority these agents should have and how to ensure transparency and control.
Key Facts
AI agents are increasingly used by customers to search for products and get payment recommendations.
Different customers may want different payment options; AI needs to understand individual preferences.
AI agents must clearly explain financing terms, rewards, and any important disclosures to avoid confusion.
There is a risk that AI may incorrectly explain offers or avoid complicated ones, affecting customer choices.
AI systems can remember past customer preferences and behaviors to make better future recommendations.
Allowing AI agents to complete transactions raises questions about confirming the customer's identity and intent.
Traditional checkout processes didn’t require as much verification of who is authorizing a purchase.
Business leaders are discussing how much control AI agents should have and when humans should step in.
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Hulu has released a new R-rated director’s cut of the 2008 film *The X-Files: I Want to Believe*, titled *The X-Files: I Want to Believe–Vrach Frankenshteyn*. This version restores the original horror vision of series creator Chris Carter, who had to cut scenes to get a PG-13 rating for the original release.
Key Facts
The original film came out in 2008 and made $68 million on a $30 million budget.
The movie received mixed reviews and was less successful than the TV series.
Chris Carter originally intended the film to be scarier but had to cut parts to avoid an R rating.
The new director’s cut was delayed from June on Disney+ to August 14 on Hulu.
The story follows FBI agents Mulder and Scully investigating the abduction of women and a missing federal agent.
The film explores themes like faith versus science.
The recut film emphasizes the horror elements Carter wanted from the start.
This director’s cut is different enough to have a modified title including “Vrach Frankenshteyn.”
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People are starting to use artificial intelligence (AI) tools to help with their love lives. Experts advise setting clear boundaries and being careful not to become too emotionally dependent on AI when using it for relationships.
Key Facts
AI is being used to improve conversations in romantic relationships.
Some people use AI to help end relationships.
Dr. Sue Varma talks about how to use AI in a healthy way for love life.
Setting boundaries is important when using AI in relationships.
There are warning signs to watch for if someone becomes too emotionally dependent on AI.
The news segment is from CBS News and is available on their app and website.
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A man in Queensland lost over $166,000 after investing in a cryptocurrency trading app that used artificial intelligence (AI) to scam him. Experts say AI is helping criminals run sophisticated investment scams that are hard to detect and that digital platforms should take more responsibility to stop these scams.
Key Facts
The man’s crypto trading app showed quick profits but then started making unauthorized withdrawals.
Australians lost more than $45 million to investment scams in 2026 so far, following $160 million in 2025.
AI helps create realistic scam websites, fake reviews, and even cloned voices to trick victims.
Scammers use technology called “cloaking” to hide scam content from regulators.
Experts say digital platforms often promote these scam ads to likely victims.
Authorities have shut down nearly 12,000 scam websites in 2025 but scammers quickly replace them.
Calls are growing for platforms to check that investment ads are legally licensed before allowing them.
The Australian government is working on a plan involving banks and telecom companies to improve AI scam detection and protect consumers.
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Scientists at Rockefeller University found that just three minutes of intense sprinting causes bigger positive changes in the body’s molecules than 90 minutes of moderate exercise like cycling or running. Sprinting quickly triggers many proteins and metabolites that help blood vessel growth, tissue repair, and hormone activity, which are linked to better health and slower aging.
Key Facts
Participants did either six 30-second sprints or 90 minutes of moderate cycling or running.
Sprinting changed nearly 25% of blood proteins immediately after exercise, while moderate cycling changed less than 0.25%.
Sprinting caused a rise in proteins involved in blood vessel growth and tissue remodeling.
Proteins entered the bloodstream through a process called ectodomain shedding, releasing parts of proteins from cell surfaces.
Fat cells exposed to blood after sprinting showed major changes in gene activity, affecting how the cells process fuel and hormones.
Moderate exercise caused smaller and slower molecular responses, with changes appearing about three hours later.
Analysis of health data from over 53,000 people linked sprinting-altered proteins to lower risks of obesity, diabetes, heart disease, and slower aging.
Sprinting altered 32 of 33 proteins related to lower disease risk, while moderate exercise altered only three.
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Leading U.S. AI companies OpenAI and Anthropic are lowering prices on their language models to compete with cheaper Chinese AI alternatives. This price reduction comes as companies face rising costs for AI tools and begin using more affordable Chinese models to manage expenses.
Key Facts
OpenAI cut prices for its GPT-5.6 Luna model by 80 percent, making it faster and more affordable.
Anthropic introduced Claude Opus 5, a model priced at about half the cost of its previous top model, Fable 5.
The average price customers pay for AI model usage from top U.S. labs has dropped nearly 25% since mid-July.
Chinese AI companies like Moonshot and DeepSeek are gaining users by offering open models that can be freely downloaded and customized.
Many companies using AI are switching from flat-rate subscriptions to usage-based billing, where they pay based on how much computing power they consume.
Businesses such as DoorDash and Airbnb have begun using Chinese AI models to reduce their AI-related costs.
U.S. AI labs are responding to competition by offering mid-level models at prices closer to those of Chinese competitors.
Although token prices (units of data processed) have dropped, more capable models may require fewer tokens, so total costs depend on performance as well as pricing.
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