arXiv:2605.00875v1 Announce Type: new Abstract: Technical traders have long relied on visual analysis of candlestick charts to identify market patterns and predict price movements. While deep learning has achieved remarkable success in image classification, its application to financial chart images remains underexplored. This paper presents a systematic study comparing different visual representations for cryptocurrency regime prediction. We evaluate three image encoding methods (raw candlestick charts, Gramian Angular Fields, and multi-channel GAF), five chart component configurations, four neural network architectures (CNN, ResNet18, EfficientNet-B0, and Vision Transformer), and the impact of ImageNet transfer learning. Through eight controlled experiments on Bitcoin, Ethereum, and S&P 500 data spanning 2018-2024, we identify optimal configurations for visual regime classification. Our results show that a simple 4-layer CNN on raw candlestick charts achieves 0.892 AUC-ROC, outperforming larger pretrained models. Surprisingly, simpler representations (price-only charts, 128x128 resolution) consistently outperform more complex alternatives. We provide interpretability analysis using GradCAM and demonstrate that transfer learning improves performance by 4-16% despite the domain gap between natural images and financial charts.

arXiv:2605.00878v1 Announce Type: new Abstract: In real-world scenarios, image defogging is an inverse problem due to unknown scene depth, atmospheric scattering, and the common absence of ground truth . To resolve the issue, we propose a hybrid defogging model that integrates a fourth-order nonlinear PDE with a physical haze formation model. We used Dark Channel Prior to estimate atmospheric parameters and to generate a guidance image, while the final restoration is performed via a fourth-order PDE-based evolution. A fourth-order PDE of the type telegraph is then evolved, incorporating an edge-adaptive diffusion coefficient and a fidelity term weighted by the transmission map. Fourth-order diffusion effectively suppresses haze while preserving structural details, and the hyperbolic formulation improves numerical stability and convergence behavior. We use relative error norm criteria for the convergence of our PDE. The proposed method is compared with Dark Channel prior, modified Dark Channel prior, and variational-based single-image defogging techniques. When we have ground truth available, we use MSE and SSIM for quantitative evaluation, whereas no-reference metrics, including FADE, Contrast Restoration Index, Average Gradient, and Entropy, are applied to real-world foggy images. Experimental results demonstrate that the proposed hybrid PDE-based method provides comparable visual quality and maintains structural details.

arXiv:2605.00882v1 Announce Type: new Abstract: Remote Photoplethysmography (rPPG) enables convenient non-contact physiological measurement. Existing Self-Supervised Learning (SSL) methods commonly fall into a correlation trap: they tend to learn the most dominant periodic signals in the data, such as high-energy motion or illumination noise, rather than the faint, true rPPG signal, leading to poor model generalization. To address this, we propose a new SSL paradigm, Physiological Causal Probing (PCP), which treats the latent rPPG signal as the underlying physical source and the resulting pixel chrominance variations as its visual manifestation. Its core idea is to shift from passive correlation learning to active, precise intervention: it intervenes on the video based on a proposed rPPG hypothesis, and verifies whether the post-intervention changes match physical expectations. We propose the Interv-rPPG framework to implement PCP: an rPPG extractor named PhysMambaFormer hypothesizes the rPPG signal, while a Controllable Physiological Signal Editor conducts precise chrominance-domain interventions on videos based on this hypothesis. Interv-rPPG validates the physical realism of the hypothesis through `Falsifiability via Nulling' and `Axiomatic Equivariance'. Our editor achieves precise editing of the rPPG signal by intervening in the low-frequency chrominance components of the video. Our method improves both in-domain and cross-domain performance on challenging datasets such as VIPL-HR and MMPD. Furthermore, it surpasses the supervised baseline in complex cross-dataset settings, while remaining competitive on clean datasets where the intervention mechanism may introduce slight residual chrominance noise. Extensive experiments, including diagnostic analysis of nuisance sensitivity, demonstrate that the PCP paradigm effectively resists motion and illumination artifacts.

arXiv:2605.00883v1 Announce Type: new Abstract: Face swapping has witnessed significant progress in recent years, largely driven by advances in deep generative models such as GANs and diffusion models.Despite these advances, existing methods remain fragmented across different paradigms, and their evaluation is highly inconsistent due to the lack of standardized datasets and protocols. Moreover, prior surveys primarily focus on broader deepfake generation or detection, leaving face swapping insufficiently studied as a standalone problem. In this paper, we present a comprehensive survey and benchmark for face swapping. We provide a structured review of existing methods, organizing them into five major paradigms and systematically analyzing their design principles, strengths, and limitations. To enable fair and controlled evaluation, we introduce CASIA FaceSwapping, a high-quality benchmark with balanced demographic distributions and explicit attribute variations, and establish standardized protocols to assess the robustness of different face swapping methods. Extensive experiments on representative approaches yield new insights into the performance characteristics and limitations of current techniques. Overall, our work provides a unified perspective and a principled evaluation framework to facilitate the development of more robust and controllable face swapping methods. More results can be found at https://github.com/CASIA-NLPRAI/face-swapping-survey.

arXiv:2605.00884v1 Announce Type: new Abstract: Vision-language-action (VLA) models have shown strong semantic grounding and task generalization in manipulation, but aerial deployment remains difficult because drones require low-latency closed-loop guidance under strict onboard compute and communication constraints. We present LiteVLA-H, a compact 256M-parameter VLA system designed for dual-rate operation on an NVIDIA Jetson AGX Orin: a fast outer-loop guidance mode for short action-token outputs and a slower semantic mode for scene understanding, hazard description, and operator-facing narration. The central empirical observation is that, in this compact edge regime, end-to-end latency is dominated by multimodal pre-fill rather than by the marginal cost of decoding a few extra tokens. This motivates a scheduler that issues reactive action tokens at 50.65,ms (19.74,Hz) while still supporting sentence-level semantic outputs at 149.90--164.57\ms (6.08--6.67,Hz) on the same embedded platform. To specialize the model without collapsing its descriptive competence, we use a knowledge-preserving fine-tuning recipe that mixes reactive flight data, aerial semantic data, and generic caption/VQA supervision. Beyond reporting current latency measurements, we position the system against recent state-of-the-art architectures, including AnywhereVLA, FutureVLA, and ReMem-VLA, showing that the measured action branch reaches a higher edge inference rate under our deployment conditions while retaining periodic semantic awareness.

Bloomberg: Sources: Apple held exploratory talks with Intel and its executives visited a Samsung plant in Texas to explore producing core chips for its devices in the US  —  Apple Inc. has held exploratory discussions about using Intel Corp. and Samsung Electronics Co. to produce the main processors …

The Nvidia CEO seems to feel that claims of AI's job-killing potential have been greatly exaggerated.

Discussion | Link

Mike Wheatley / SiliconANGLE: Inference cloud startup DeepInfra raised a $107M Series B co-led by 500 Global and Georges Harik; it currently supports more than 190 open models  —  Dedicated inference cloud startup Deepinfra Inc. is looking to expand its global capacity after raising $107 million in a Series B round …

Beyoncé attends the 2026 Met Gala. Theo Wargo/FilmMagic All across Manhattan, stars powdered their noses, smoothed down wrinkles on gowns and suits, and did one final look in the mirror. That might seem like a lot of fuss for a Monday, but it wasn't just any Monday. It was the first Monday in May, which means one thing in New York City: Met Gala day. Celebrities gathered at the Metropolitan Museum of Art for the 2026 Met Gala. From A-list arrivals to the best and worst Met Gala outfits, here's how the night unfolded. That's a wrap on fashion's biggest night! Cardi B attends the 2026 Met Gala. Angela Weiss / AFP via Getty Images This year's red carpet had some looks that will go down in Met Gala history — we won't forget Beyoncé's anytime soon — but not every outfit was a hit. Some celebrities didn't seem to understand the "Fashion is Art" dress code, while others just left us wanting more. See who made our worst-dressed list (sorry). It's not really a Met Gala until Rihanna closes out the carpet. Rihanna attends the 2026 Met Gala. Mike Coppola/Getty Images As per her tradition, Rihanna was the last of the stars to arrive at the Met Gala on Monday night. The Fenty mogul — who revealed her third pregnancy on the carpet last year — made her way to the Metropolitan Museum of Art after the red carpet shows had already wrapped up. She sported a long-sleeved gown with a jeweled bodice and a shimmering silver skirt that matched her cape. And now, it's time for the stars to party! Timothée Chalamet swapped the Met for the Mecca. It was the first Monday in May, and Timothée Chalamet was dressed in his best cobalt blue, ready to walk inside… Madison Square Garden. The star skipped the fashion event for the first playoff game between the New York Knicks and the Philadelphia 76ers. The Knicks confirmed his presence with a video that showed Chalamet walking into the famous arena. Many had hoped that Chalamet and his girlfriend, Kylie Jenner, would make their Met Gala couple debut, but Jenner walked the red carpet solo on Monday night. Marty Supreme would be proud. Kris Jenner brings her bob to the Met Gala. Kris Jenner attends the 2026 Met Gala. Kevin Mazur/MG26/Getty Images for The Met Museum/Vogue The Kardashian-Jenner matriarch was the last of her famous clan to arrive on the Met's steps, and she didn't play it safe. Jenner sported a sparkling white-and-orange robe, with a shade that coordinated with Kim Kardashian's metallic-orange bodysuit. Her robe featured illustrations of leaves and sculptures, and she accessorized the ensemble with a Cleopatra-style bob. Beyoncé reminded us why she's known as Queen Bey. Beyoncé attends the 2026 Met Gala. Kevin Mazur/MG26/Getty Images for The Met Museum/Vogue In a night of surprisingly lackluster fashion, Beyoncé has been one of the rare outliers. The legendary singer — who is back as a co-chair after skipping the Met Gala for the past decade — made her entrance in a sheer, diamond-covered Olivier Rousteing dress designed to look like a skeleton. Beyoncé paired the ensemble with a diamond headpiece, gloves, and a feathered cape. She walked the red carpet with her 14-year-old daughter, Blue Ivy, who made her Met Gala debut. Blake Lively returns to the Met Gala just hours after settling her lawsuit with Justin Baldoni. Blake Lively attends the 2026 Met Gala. Theo Wargo/FilmMagic Blake Lively made it clear she's ready to move on after she and Baldoni put their lawsuit to rest following years of controversy from their movie "It Ends With Us." Lively, once a fixture of the first Monday in May, returned to the carpet for the first time since 2022. She wore an archival Atelier Versace 2006 dress inspired by the 18th-century Rococo paintings. The cream gown featured a voluminous skirt with pink, lavender, and peach fabric. She paired the ensemble with a custom Judith Leiber bag featuring artwork by her and Ryan Reynolds' four children. Read full story Kim Kardashian stuck to her form-fitting signature for the Met Gala. Kim Kardashian attends the 2026 Met Gala. Angela Weiss / AFP via Getty Images Kim Kardashian has gone to extreme lengths for the Met Gala, from taking breathing lessons to fit in a Thierry Mugler corset to shedding 16 pounds so she could wear Marilyn Monroe's dress. So it's no surprise that Kardashian went with another Met ensemble that showed off her body, this time wearing a custom piece by Allen Jones and Whitaker Malem, who describe themselves as a "body-based designer/artisan duo." She paired the metallic-orange bodysuit with blonde hair. Kardashian posted pictures of Jones' 1970 artwork "Pour les Lèvres," which appeared to be the ensemble's inspiration. Bad Bunny showed up as an aged version of himself. Bad Bunny attends the 2026 Met Gala. Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty Images for The Met Museum/Vogue The singer's outfit was pretty simple — except for his makeup and accessories. He wore a black suit and oversized bow tie and carried a cane. He also wore makeup that made him look over 50 years older. On the red carpet, he said the look took "53 years." Janelle Monáe used her outfit to send a message about AI. Janelle Monáe attends the 2026 Met Gala. Kevin Mazur/MG26/Getty Images for The Met Museum/Vogue So many people argue that the takeover of AI is inevitable, but Janelle Monáe's dress imagines a different world. Monáe's custom Christian Sirano gown features recycled electric cables and wiring, threaded through real moss and succulents, and decorated with black-and-white butterflies. During the E! red-carpet show, Siriano said the dress symbolized how Earth can fight through AI. Kendall Jenner took inspiration from a famous statue in the Louvre. Kendall Jenner at the 2026 Met Gala. Kevin Mazur/MG26/Getty Images for The Met Museum/Vogue Kendall Jenner wore a draped gown inspired by "The Winged Victory of Samothrace," which is on display in the Louvre Museum. Though she worked with a different designer — Zac Posen designed Kendall's dress — the bodice of her gown was similar to her sister Kylie's. Hudson Williams traded his jersey for a bolero. Hudson Williams attends the 2026 Met Gala. Julian Hamilton/Getty Images The "Heated Rivalry" star's appearance was highly anticipated, and he brought some much-needed color to a red carpet full of black and white designs. Williams worked with Balenciaga for his very first Met Gala, sporting a baby-blue bolero jacket and matching pants decorated with black embroidery. He went shirtless underneath the matador-inspired look, which also featured a flowing black train. Metallic eyeshadow, applied "Black Swan"-style, completed the look. Hailey Bieber is a 24-karat golden girl. Hailey Bieber attends the 2026 Met Gala. Kevin Mazur/MG26/Getty Images for The Met Museum/Vogue If April was all about Bieber fever, then May is Hailey's time to shine. And the Rhode founder did so, literally, with a custom Saint Laurent dress featuring a solid 24-karat gold bodice. The dress also featured a blue chiffon skirt with a flowing train, adding to the Greek goddess effect. Sabrina Carpenter's Met Gala dress had a sneaky tribute to her name. Sabrina Carpenter attends the 2026 Met Gala. Theo Wargo/FilmMagic Sabrina Carpenter walked the red carpet in a halter dress made out of film strips. The custom tulle gown, designed by Jonathan Anderson at Dior, featured strips from the iconic 1954 rom-com "Sabrina," starring Audrey Hepburn. Carpenter paired her ensemble with a beaded headpiece and Old Hollywood curls. Don't burst Eileen Gu's bubbles. Eileen Gu attends the 2026 Met Gala. Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty Images for The Met Museum/Vogue The Olympic champion arrived at the Met Gala in a strapless dress covered in tiny translucent bubbles. Her strapless minidress even released bubbles as she walked up the Met steps. Gu revealed on the red carpet that the Iris van Herpen dress featured 15,000 glass bubbles and took 2,550 hours to make. The celebrity arrivals aren't slowing down, but we already have some favorite looks. Zoë Kravitz at the 2026 Met Gala. Mike Coppola/Getty Images Lauren Sánchez Bezos, Zoë Kravitz, and Naomi Osaka are among the best-dressed celebrities so far. Read full story Kylie Jenner rocked a nude gown and bleached eyebrows. Kylie Jenner attends the 2026 Met Gala. Michael Loccisano/GA/The Hollywood Reporter via Getty Images The long-running love affair between Schiaparelli and the Kardashian-Jenner family continued as Kylie Jenner made her grand entrance. Jenner walked the carpet sans boyfriend Timothée Chalamet — maybe he's busy watching the Knicks game? — in a strapless gown by the Italian fashion house. Her dress featured a nude top with a corset back, a common design feature tonight, and a ball-gown cream skirt covered in sparkles. Lisa and Gigi Hadid bring back the naked dress. Gigi Hadid and Lisa at the 2026 Met Gala. Gilbert Flores/Variety via Getty Images; Michael Buckner/Penske Media via Getty Images The naked dress is no stranger to the Met Gala, first making its debut with the help of Cher and an iconic Bob Mackie gown in 1978. And the trend showed no signs of slowing down on Monday night, as both Lisa and Gigi Hadid opted for sheer gowns. Lisa wore a long-sleeved white gown covered in crystals, with a flowing train and a veil held over her head by 3D recreations of her own arms. Hadid sported a custom black Miu Miu dress decorated with flames and florals. Heidi Klum looked in her element on the red carpet. Heidi Klum attends the 2026 Met Gala. Jamie McCarthy/Getty Images Klum, queen of Halloween, put her costume skills to good use at the Met Gala, walking the red carpet in an ensemble that made her look like a living sculpture. Klum said on the red carpet that her outfit, made of latex and foam, was inspired by "The Veiled Vestal." Did it look more like a costume than a red carpet outfit? Sure, but we have to give Klum props for committing to the dress code. Naomi Osaka graced the Met Gala with not one but two showstopping outfits. Naomi Osaka had a dramatic outfit change at the 2026 Met Gala. Kevin Mazur/MG26/Getty Images for The Met Museum/Vogue; Jamie McCarthy/Getty Images The tennis star returned to the Met Gala in a custom Robert Wun ensemble that included an outfit change right on the red carpet. Osaka first showed off an ivory coat and a matching floppy hat. The gown featured slits that gave a peek at what was hidden beneath, as did Osaka's red gloves. Underneath was a form-fitting red gown with a high neck and open back. According to Vogue, Wun's creation featured 659,000 stitches and thousands of Swarovski crystals arranged in the form of the human anatomy. The Met Gala raised a record $42 million this year. The "Costume Art" exhibit. TIMOTHY A. CLARY / AFP via Getty Images The 2026 Met Gala broke its own fundraising record, easily surpassing the $31 million it raised in 2025. A spokesperson for the Costume Institute confirmed the $42 million figure to Business Insider. Helping add to the Costume Institute's coffers was a hike in individual ticket prices to $100,000, up from $ 75,000 last year. The Costume Institute is the only department at the Metropolitan Museum of Art that is required to be self-funded, so the money will go a long way to keeping the department running for decades to come — no matter what happens to fashion's biggest night. Katy Perry channeled a famous Kim Kardashian Met Gala look. Katy Perry attends the 2026 Met Gala. Matt Winkelmeyer/MG26/Getty Images for The Met Museum/Vogue Perry left the chandelier and burger costumes at home for something more subdued on Monday night. The singer returned to the Met Gala for the first time since 2022, wearing a strapless white dress with matching opera gloves. But what everyone will surely be talking about was the main accessory: a netted face mask with a chrome plate, which seemed to mimic a fencer's mask. The look was reminiscent of Kim Kardashian's 2021 Met Gala ensemble, which featured a Balenciaga bodysuit and mask that completely covered her head. Sergey Brin and his girlfriend, Gerelyn Gilbert-Soto, had a matching moment. Sergey Brin and Gerelyn Gilbert-Soto attend the 2026 Met Gala. Jamie McCarthy/Getty Images The Google cofounder and his girlfriend, a wellness influencer who featured in a season of "Vanderpump Rules," made their Met Gala debut together on Monday night. Gilbert-Soto sported a white coat with sparkling blue figures dancing across the train, appearing to pay tribute to Henri Matisse's iconic "Dance" painting. She later shed the coat to reveal a strapless white gown with a feathered blue skirt and thigh-high slit. Brin matched his girlfriend in a black tuxedo adorned with a sparkling blue design. Venus Williams, another co-chair, wore a dramatic black gown inspired by her own portrait. Venus Williams and Andrea Preti attend the 2026 Met Gala. Kevin Mazur/MG26/Getty Images for The Met Museum/Vogue Williams has been a frequent Met Gala attendee in recent years. This time around, she went for drama, wearing a sparkling black gown with a train and a large jewelry piece around her neck and chest. On the red carpet, she said the outfit was inspired by her own portrait commissioned by the National Portrait Gallery. She walked the steps of The Met with her husband, Andrea Preti. "Heated Rivalry" star Connor Storrie is making his Met Gala debut. Connor Storrie leaves The Carlyle Hotel before the 2026 Met Gala. John Nacion/Getty Images Storrie has quickly been rising in the fashion ranks since starring in the steamy hockey series "Heated Rivalry," so it's no surprise he snagged an invite to one of the biggest fashion events. He was spotted leaving The Carlyle Hotel in a black suit and polka-dot blouse, complete with a long neck scarf. Lauren Sánchez Bezos' dress is surprisingly muted, but holds a hidden message. Lauren Sánchez Bezos is a sponsor of the 2026 Met Gala. ANGELA WEISS / AFP via Getty Images Lauren Sánchez Bezos' involvement in the Met Gala has drawn protests from some groups around New York City, which may be why she decided to keep things (deceptively) simple on Monday night. She walked the red carpet sans husband, although they are both honorary co-chairs, opting for an off-the-shoulder navy gown with jeweled straps by Schiaparelli, one of her favorite designers. According to a post on her Instagram, Sánchez Bezos' outfit was inspired by John Singer Sargent's 1884 portrait of Madame X. The painting — which featured a well-known American socialite — was considered vulgar in Parisian society at the time, forcing Sargent to repaint one of her gown's shoulder straps. Read full story Nicole Kidman, a co-chair this year, turned the Met Gala into a mother-daughter date. Sunday Rose Kidman Urban and Nicole Kidman attend the 2026 Met Gala. Julian Hamilton/Getty Images Kidman arrived in a sparkly red gown with a feathered tutu around the waist. It's not immediately clear how her outfit relates to the dress code, but the look works for her. From the colorful dress to her icy blonde hair, Kidman was styled to perfection. She walked the carpet with her daughter, Sunday Rose Kidman Urban, who is making her Met Gala debut tonight. Kidman said on the red carpet that her daughter "has to go to school tomorrow morning" at 8 a.m. Ben Stiller and his wife coordinated to support the New York Knicks. Ben Stiller and Christine Taylor enter The Carlyle Hotel before the 2026 Met Gala. John Nacion/Getty Images The first Monday in May coincides with the NBA playoffs, and Ben Stiller wasn't going to let the Met Gala dress code stop him from supporting his favorite basketball team. Stiller and his wife, Christine Taylor, stepped out in coordinating outfits to match the Knicks' official colors, with the actor sporting a bright-orange tie and Taylor wearing a strapless cobalt-blue gown. As the couple dances the night away at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Knicks will be playing the Philadelphia 76ers three miles away at Madison Square Garden. The Met Gala has a strict no-phones policy, so TBD if Stiller — a die-hard Knicks fan — will be able to keep up with the score. It wouldn't be a Met Gala red carpet without Anna Wintour's iconic sunglasses. Anna Wintour attends the 2026 Met Gala. Mike Coppola/Getty Images Take a look through Wintour's past Met Gala looks, and you'll notice she loves two things: sunglasses and feathers. She arrived on the red carpet in a turquoise-and-black, beaded dress and a feathery cape reminiscent of the one she wore in 2019 for the "Camp: Notes on Fashion" gala. Emma Chamberlain kicks things off on a high note. Emma Chamberlain at the 2026 Met Gala. Theo Wargo/FilmMagic Emma Chamberlain is hosting Vogue's official livestream, so the pressure was on to wear something fabulous. And the influencer delivered in her hand-painted Mugler gown. The custom ensemble was designed by Miguel Castro Freitas, the brand's creative director. In a video from Vogue, Chamberlain said the dress made her feel like she was in a "Van Gogh painting." We have to agree with her assessment: "It's so elegant, but so major." The Met Gala carpet has us seeing double. The 2026 Met Gala red (or rather, green) carpet. Gilbert Flores/Variety via Getty Images We've got our first peek of the Met Gala's carpet, and it looks… sort of familiar. The Metropolitan Museum of Art's iconic steps have been covered with a design reminiscent of the 2024 carpet for the "Garden of Time" dress code. Both predominantly featured green and white, though this year's carpet has also been designed to mimic stone. Framing the steps is a backdrop of flowers and drooping trees. Beyoncé's Met Gala history No one can forget Beyoncé's iconic look at the 2015 Met Gala. Mike Coppola/Getty Images Few celebrities do the Met Gala quite like Beyoncé. She's attended seven times since 2008, and she's made an iconic entrance every time. Designers like Emilio Pucci, Givenchy, and Armani have dressed her in an array of elegant and daring gowns. Ty Hunter, who styled Beyoncé for each event, previously told Business Insider that many of her outfits were planned only a day or two in advance. Despite her icon status, Beyoncé last attended the Met Gala in 2016 — marking her as one of the most highly anticipated stars expected to walk the red carpet this year. No one has a bigger impact on the Met Gala than Anna Wintour. Anna Wintour at the Met Gala in May 2025. TheStewartofNY/GC Images/Getty Images Wintour, now Vogue's global editorial director, has been a staple of the Met Gala for over 30 years. She first co-chaired the gala in 1995, and by 1999, she was chairperson. As chairperson, she doesn't pick the theme, but Wintour decides who gets invited. She's also said it's not uncommon for her to offer outfit advice to attendees and designers. Wintour herself most often wears Chanel for the gala — paired with her iconic sunglasses — though she sometimes switches it up. In 2025, she wore Loewe. Read full story Jeff Bezos and Lauren Sánchez Bezos are sponsors of this year's gala, much to the dismay of protesters. Lauren Sánchez Bezos attends the press conference for the 2026 Met Gala. Roy Rochlin/Getty Images After attending past Met Galas as guests, the billionaire couple is taking on a new role at this year's ball. They're helping fund this year's exhibit and gala, alongside Saint Laurent and Condè Nast. They're also honorary co-chairs. Sánchez Bezos first attended the Met Gala in 2024, walking the red carpet solo in a statement Oscar de la Renta gown. The Amazon founder, on the other hand, has never walked the event's red carpet, but he's been photographed inside. Though the couple has said they're excited for the Met Gala, protest groups have posted boycott signs and other displays across New York City. Read full story The guest list is largely a mystery, but we know some stars who will be there. Sabrina Carpenter attends the 2025 Met Gala. Dia Dipasupil/Getty Images We know that the Met Gala's host committee members will be in attendance. That includes Anthony Vaccarello, the creative director of YSL, and Zoë Kravitz (no word yet on whether Kravitz will bring Harry Styles as her plus-one), as well as stars like Sabrina Carpenter, Teyana Taylor, and Lisa. Others have indicated they'll be there by attending pre-Met Gala celebrations, such as Colman Domingo, who attended Wayman + Micah's party, and Kris and Kendall Jenner, who were spotted at Jeff Bezos and Lauren Sánchez Bezos' bash. Of course, we'll be on the lookout for the stars who always make a splash, like Rihanna. Sometimes, though, it's first-time attendees who make the biggest impact, as Tyla did in 2024 when she arrived in a gown made of sand. How to watch the Met Gala red carpet Neilson Barnard/MG25/Getty Images for The Met Museum/Vogue Though we won't be able to see what happens inside the famous gala, the red carpet will be filmed from start to finish. Vogue will livestream Met Gala arrivals on YouTube, TikTok, and its other digital platforms beginning at 6 p.m. ET. Model Ashley Graham, actor La La Anthony, and model Cara Delevigne will host, and influencer Emma Chamberlain will return as a Vogue red-carpet correspondent. You can also watch the red carpet on E! starting at 6 p.m. ET. Meryl Streep won't be making an appearance — as herself or Miranda Priestly. Meryl Streep won't be attending the Met Gala. Michael Buckner/Variety via Getty Images "The Devil Wears Prada 2" begins with Meryl Streep in an opening scene clearly inspired by the Met Gala, but life won't be imitating art at this year's event. A spokesperson for the Oscar-winning actor confirmed that Streep will not be attending fashion's biggest night on Monday, as per her tradition. "Meryl has been invited to the Met Gala for many years but has never attended," the representative told People, adding that the star-studded event "has never quite been her scene." The absence still comes as a surprise, given Streep's recent media blitz for "The Devil Wears Prada 2," which included posing on the cover of Vogue alongside Anna Wintour, who has chaired the Met Gala for three decades. Streep — who plays a fashion magazine editor in chief inspired by Wintour in the film — also sat next to the legendary Vogue editor at a Dolce & Gabbana fashion show during Milan Fashion Week in September. Three iconic women are serving as co-chairs. Venus Williams attends the 2025 Met Gala. Dia Dipasupil/Getty Images Anna Wintour, Vogue's former editor in chief, works with a set of famous Met Gala co-chairs each year to bring the event to life. For 2026, Wintour tapped Nicole Kidman, Venus Williams, and Beyoncé. Kidman and Williams have been familiar faces at the Met Gala in recent years, but Beyoncé hasn't attended the event since 2016 for the "Manus x Machina: Fashion in an Age of Technology" gala. The theme of the 2026 Met Gala is "Costume Art." Guests wander the Metropolitan Museum of Art exhibition during a press conference for the 2026 Met Gala celebrating "Costume Art." Roy Rochlin/Getty Images Unlike some A-list events, the Met Gala always has a theme. It coordinates with the Costume Institute's annual exhibit, which attendees can explore once they enter the gala. For 2026, museum curator Andrew Bolton created a "Costume Art" exhibit, saying he "wanted to focus on the centrality of the dressed body within the museum." The Met Gala's red carpet also has a dress code that dictates the eye-catching looks celebrities wear. This year, stars will dress to the "Fashion is Art" dress code, as Vogue announced in February, advising guests to "consider the many ways that designers use the body as their blank canvas." That description leaves plenty of room for guests to interpret the theme as they see fit, particularly compared to stricter Met Gala dress codes of years past, so we'll likely see a variety of different takes on "Fashion is Art" attire. The 2026 Met Gala has arrived at last. The outside of the Metropolitan Museum of Art ahead of the Met Gala in May 2026. Christina Horsten/picture alliance via Getty Images It's time to roll out the fancy carpet because fashion's biggest night is just hours away. Held annually at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Met Gala raises funds for the museum's Costume Institute and is the place to be for celebrities on the first Monday in May. A night of glamour doesn't come cheap, though. This year, individual tickets cost $100,000. More often than not, fashion houses and other corporate sponsors buy tables and bring guests to fill them (though Anna Wintour is said to have final say on who gets in). Tables cost $350,000 for 2026. Read full story Read the original article on Business Insider

<p><strong>Release:</strong> <a href="https://github.com/datasette/datasette-llm/releases/tag/0.1a7">datasette-llm 0.1a7</a></p> <blockquote> <ul> <li>Mechanism for <a href="https://github.com/datasette/datasette-llm/blob/main/README.md#configuration">configuring default options</a> for specific models.</li> </ul> </blockquote> <p>Part of Datasette's evolving support mechanism for plugins that use LLMs. It's now possible to configure a model with default options, e.g. to say all <a href="https://github.com/datasette/datasette-enrichments-llm">enrichment</a> operations should use a specific model with temperature set to 0.5.</p> <p>Tags: <a href="https://simonwillison.net/tags/llm">llm</a>, <a href="https://simonwillison.net/tags/datasette">datasette</a></p>

<p><strong>Release:</strong> <a href="https://github.com/simonw/llm-echo/releases/tag/0.5a0">llm-echo 0.5a0</a></p> <blockquote> <ul> <li>New <code>-o thinking 1</code> option to help test against <a href="https://llm.datasette.io/en/latest/changelog.html#a0-2026-04-28">LLM 0.32a0</a> and higher.</li> </ul> </blockquote> <p>This plugin provides a fake model called "echo" for LLM which doesn't run an LLM at all - it's useful for writing automated tests. You can now do this:</p> <pre><code>uvx --with llm==0.32a1 --with llm-echo==0.5a0 llm -m echo hi -o thinking 1 </code></pre> <p>This will fake a reasoning block to standard error before returning JSON echoing the prompt.</p> <p>Tags: <a href="https://simonwillison.net/tags/llm">llm</a></p>

Berber Jin / Wall Street Journal: Sources: Sam Altman discussed spinning out OpenAI's robotics and consumer hardware divisions in late 2025 to give them more room to grow; the plan was rejected  —  Company is considering an Alphabet-like structure for its portfolio of products, though no discussions are currently active

Owen Tucker-Smith / Wall Street Journal: As Colorado tech leaders say that burdensome regulations are driving companies away, lawmakers introduce a slimmer version of an AI anti-discrimination bill  —  Proposed AI bill has many wondering whether state's regulations killing its entrepreneurial spirit

<blockquote cite="https://daringfireball.net/2026/05/y_combinators_stake_in_openai"><p>So it’s well known that Y Combinator owns <em>some</em> stake in OpenAI. But how big is that stake? This seems like devilishly difficult information to obtain. I asked around and a little birdie who knows several OpenAI investors came back with an answer: Y Combinator owns about 0.6 percent of OpenAI. At OpenAI’s current <a href="https://openai.com/index/accelerating-the-next-phase-ai/">$852 billion valuation</a>, that’s worth over $5 billion.</p></blockquote> <p class="cite">&mdash; <a href="https://daringfireball.net/2026/05/y_combinators_stake_in_openai">John Gruber</a>, Y Combinator’s Stake in OpenAI</p> <p>Tags: <a href="https://simonwillison.net/tags/openai">openai</a>, <a href="https://simonwillison.net/tags/y-combinator">y-combinator</a>, <a href="https://simonwillison.net/tags/ai">ai</a>, <a href="https://simonwillison.net/tags/john-gruber">john-gruber</a></p>

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Enhanced geothermal startup Fervo Energy’s IPO could value the company at up to $6.5 billion.

OpenAI expands ChatGPT ads with a beta self-serve Ads Manager, CPC bidding, and enhanced measurement tools—built to protect privacy and keep conversations separate from ads.

<p><strong><a href="https://simonw.github.io/granite-4.1-3b-gguf-pelicans/">Granite 4.1 3B SVG Pelican Gallery</a></strong></p> IBM released their <a href="https://research.ibm.com/blog/granite-4-1-ai-foundation-models">Granite 4.1 family</a> of LLMs a few days ago. They're Apache 2.0 licensed and come in 3B, 8B and 30B sizes.</p> <p><a href="https://huggingface.co/blog/ibm-granite/granite-4-1">Granite 4.1 LLMs: How They’re Built</a> by Granite team member Yousaf Shah describes the training process in detail.</p> <p>Unsloth released the <a href="https://huggingface.co/unsloth/granite-4.1-3b-GGUF">unsloth/granite-4.1-3b-GGUF</a> collection of GGUF encoded quantized variants of the 3B model - 21 different model files ranging in size from 1.2GB to 6.34GB.</p> <p>All 21 of those Unsloth files add up to 51.3GB, which inspired me to finally try an experiment I've been wanting to run for ages: prompting "Generate an SVG of a pelican riding a bicycle" against different sized quantized variants of the same model to see what the results would look like.</p> <p>Honestly, <a href="https://simonw.github.io/granite-4.1-3b-gguf-pelicans/">the results</a> are less interesting than I expected. There's no distinguishable pattern relating quality to size - they're all pretty terrible!</p> <p><img alt="Six different SVG images from models ranging in size from 1.67GB to 1.2GB. They are almost all an abstract collection of shapes - weirdly the smallest model had the best version of a bicycle, while the largest one had something that looked a tiny bit like a pelican." src="https://static.simonwillison.net/static/2026/granite-3B-pelicans.jpg" /></p> <p>I'll likely try this again in the future with a model that's better at drawing pelicans. <p>Tags: <a href="https://simonwillison.net/tags/ibm">ibm</a>, <a href="https://simonwillison.net/tags/ai">ai</a>, <a href="https://simonwillison.net/tags/generative-ai">generative-ai</a>, <a href="https://simonwillison.net/tags/llms">llms</a>, <a href="https://simonwillison.net/tags/pelican-riding-a-bicycle">pelican-riding-a-bicycle</a>, <a href="https://simonwillison.net/tags/llm-release">llm-release</a></p>

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