VLC crosses 7 billion downloads
In our world of expensive streaming platforms, the very free and offline VLC media player has crossed 7 billion downloads.
Clipto uses AI to search terabytes of video and is now valued at $250M
The three-year-old startup says it reached $15 million in ARR and profitability before raising its latest $15 million round.
Sony Argues in Court That Digital Games Can’t Be Owned
The PlayStation maker is fighting a California class action over “Buy Now” buttons, and has asked the judge to send the case to arbitration.
Bitmine now controls 4.9% of Ethereum supply after adding 53.5K ETH
Bitmine has bought Ether for 65 consecutive weeks, maintaining its accumulation strategy through a prolonged crypto downturn and $5.1 billion in paper losses.
Blackboard to Open Alpha on September 1
Singapore, Singapore, August 31st, 2026/Chainwire/–Onchain trading platform Blackboard will open its Alpha on September 1, giving its first users access to a trading experience designed to make onchain markets easier to discover, access, and trade. Blackboard is a non-custodial, multi-product trading terminal that connects markets fragmented across protocols, applications, and chains through a single interface. … Read more
Debian won’t ban AI code from its Linux distribution
Debian voted to allow developers to use AI tools in their contributions to the Linux distribution’s “development, maintenance, [and] documentation.” The new policy on AI acknowledges that “responsible” use of AI can improve developers’ productivity, and goes on to say, “generative AI is neither exempt from nor subject to special rules beyond the standards already … Read more
Kalshi lays down first lifetime ban for ex-member of Congress George Santos
The prediction market platform banned Santos for manipulation as part of the industry’s ongoing efforts to show it’s dealing with bad behavior.
Sony’s WH-1000XM5 headphones are back down to their lowest price
Sony is one of many companies offering Labor Day discounts on tech products, though its week-long sale on the last-gen WH-1000XM5 is one of the most attractive deals I found upon logging in this morning. The comfy over-ear headphones offer some of the best sound quality and active noise cancelling, and are down to $198 … Read more
Paybis Rolls Out Major Upgrade to Its Crypto On/Off Ramp, Expanding Partner Integrations
Riga, Latvia, August 31st, 2026/Chainwire/–Paybis, a global crypto infrastructure provider, today announced a wave of upgrades to its On/Off Ramp. The updates streamline integration for partners and add a new payment method. Paybis On/Off Ramp is the embedded buy/sell crypto with cards and local methods partners use to let their own users buy and sell … Read more
How AI could make it harder for governments to use hacking tools
AI is proving effective at finding and exploiting vulnerabilities. Some say this will make it harder for governments to use hacking tools and spyware and could reignite calls to backdoor devices.
Nvidia’s $3.5B MediaTek bet reveals its plan for tackling Big Tech’s AI chip buildout
Nvidia invests $3.5 billion into Taiwanese chipmaker MediaTek. The deal shows how Nvidia plans to stay essential to AI infrastructure as Big Tech begins to build its own AI chips.
Strive buys 1,800 Bitcoin for $143M, becomes fifth-biggest corporate holder
Strive’s latest Bitcoin purchase lifted its holdings to 23,156 BTC, making it the fifth-largest publicly traded corporate holder as crypto markets rebound.
A Two-Source Analysis of AI Bot Fetches and AI Overview Impressions
Two independent measurement systems, the same site, the same weeks — and a trend that turned out to be a lot less tidy than my first chart made it look. In July, I published a piece on this platform about an odd pattern in my analytics: my small bilingual tech site, TechNovice, was logging more … Read more
Tom Lee’s Bitmine Buys $131M of ETH in Largest Ethereum Purchase Since June
The purchase lifts Bitmine’s stash to 5.9 million ETH—4.9% of supply—as chairman Tom Lee points to crypto’s strong third quarter.
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MapQuest’s app surges to No. 1 in Navigation after refusing to rename Lake Ontario
MapQuest is getting an unexpected boost from its decision to defy President Trump’s renaming of Lake Ontario.
Russian crypto trading to bring $46B to regulated exchanges in first year after legalization: Report
Regulated cryptocurrency exchanges may see more than $46 billion in crypto trading volume during the first year after legalization, according to estimates from the country’s largest bank.
Modeling Valve-Closure Pressure Spikes in Miniature Fluid Systems
When a miniature liquid-handling system behaves well at steady state but produces a sharp pressure pulse at every valve transition, the valve is not necessarily defective. The transient can be the predictable result of stopping a moving liquid column faster than the rest of the fluid path can absorb its momentum. This matters in IVD … Read more
NYSE owner ICE taps tZERO for tokenized securities push, takes stake in firm
The deal adds transfer-agent and settlement infrastructure to ICE’s plans for an NYSE-affiliated market for tokenized stocks, tZERO said.
Prompt Debt: How Old Instructions Break New AI Models
In software development, “technical debt” describes expedient design or implementation choices that make future changes harder or more expensive. The debt accrues interest as new work builds on those choices. In 2026, the AI equivalent became difficult to ignore. It affects programming as well as many other forms of knowledge work. In June, data engineer … Read more
New York governor to 3D-printed gun leader: ‘tell Cody I will get ahead of him’
Cody Wilson, the creator of the first 3D-printed gun, announced a tool last week aimed at skirting a New York law that prevents 3D printers from making firearms – and taunting governor Kathy Hochul in the process. But Hochul isn’t having it. In this week’s episode of Decoder, Hochul responded to Wilson’s “Hochulization” tool, warning … Read more
South Korea Will Give Every Citizen Free AI Access With Unlimited Tokens
Three consortia will run the service, sharing up to 512 Nvidia B200 chips supplied by the state, with beta testing due in September.
New York Governor Kathy Hochul thinks AI should be ‘less evil’
Today, I’m talking with New York Governor Kathy Hochul, and I’ll just warn you — this episode moves really fast. It’s an election year, after all, with a shocking amount of tech policy at stake, and Governor Hochul has taken strong positions on almost every major tech issue there is. For example, Meta just reached … Read more
Mystery surrounds why an OG burned $1M in Bitcoin
The million dollar question is what prompted a Bitcoin OG to send 20 BTC to a custodian, retrieve it back, and then deliberately burn it?
Ireland bars crypto from new tax-advantaged investment accounts
Eligible assets for the new accounts include listed stocks, bonds, and ETFs, with providers handling tax reporting to simplify investor compliance.
ChatGPT to face tougher regulation in the EU
OpenAI will soon be held accountable for mitigating risks related to ChatGPT’s impact on minors, user mental health, and the spread of illegal content in the European Union. That’s because ChatGPT is now considered a Very Large Online Search Engine under the EU’s Digital Services Act, a set of laws regulating major online services and … Read more