Dan Goodin / Ars Technica: Servers operated by Ubuntu and its parent company Canonical have been down for more than a day, following a “sustained, cross-border attack”  —  Servers operated by Ubuntu and its parent company Canonical were knocked offline on Thursday morning and have remained down ever since …

In the first week of the landmark trial between Elon Musk and OpenAI, Musk took the stand in a crisp black suit and tie and argued that OpenAI CEO Sam Altman and president Greg Brockman had deceived him into bankrolling the company. Along the way, he warned that AI could destroy us all and sat through…

Joe Rossignol / MacRumors: Apple has stopped offering a 256GB storage option for the Mac mini globally; Mac mini now starts at 512GB for $799 in the US  —  Apple this week stopped offering a 256GB storage option for the Mac mini worldwide.  As a result, the desktop computer now has a higher starting price.

Op-ed: Valve has made a dent in Windows' gaming share, but can it keep going?

Lisa Richwine / Reuters: The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences issues new rules saying acting and writing must be performed by humans and not AI to be eligible for Oscars  —  Academy Awards organizers issued new rules on Friday to clarify that acting and writing must be performed by humans …

Orbon Alija/Getty Images I got my kids Canadian citizenship to give them more options for their future. It opens doors for lower-cost college, global work, and easier travel. It also gives me peace of mind about healthcare and long-term security. My children have been to 28 countries on six continents. I like to think that makes them citizens of the world. However, crossing borders isn't that easy, even for my well-traveled family. We still need to apply for visas for many countries, and ensure we don't overstay our welcome. I'm always looking for ways to make freedom of movement easier, and to give my children advantages I never had. While doom scrolling one night, a post from a neighbor stopped me in my tracks. Her children and husband had recently become Canadian citizens through a new law that allows almost any descendant of a Canadian to claim a passport emblazoned with a maple leaf. My children are descended from Canadians on their father's side, and I didn't waste any time getting their citizenship applications submitted. I want my children to have more options to follow their dreams As newlyweds, my husband and I visited British Columbia. We fell in love with the province's beauty and slower pace of life. We immediately started looking into various paths to moving to Canada, but none were viable. At that time, nearly 20 years ago, my husband wasn't eligible to claim Canadian citizenship, even though his Grandfather was born and raised in Ontario. We spent several hours researching our options and even visited a Canadian consulate to make sure we weren't missing anything. Eventually, my husband and I realized that the only way we could legally spend time in Canada was as tourists, so we gave up on our dream of living there. Canada is a viable option for college Because I have two children in high school, we often talk about the best options for college and a realistic budget. With Canadian citizenship, my children have more options for higher education. Since applying for citizenship, the discussion has changed radically. In Canada, my children will be able to get a great education for a fraction of the cost of attending college in the United States. Because Canada borders the US, instruction is in English, and there are many cultural similarities, attending college in Canada is a viable option. Even though my husband and I had help paying for college and graduate school, we still spent many years paying down student loan debt. With the lower cost of higher education in Canada, I hope my children can avoid a similar fate. Canadian citizenship opens work options for my children when they become young adults Even if my children stay in the United States for college, Canadian citizenship opens up the possibility of living and working abroad — and not just in Canada. International Expereince Canada, colloquially known as the Working Holiday visa, allows young Canadians ages 18 to 35 to work in more than 35 countries and territories worldwide. When I was fresh out of college, I wanted to spend a couple of years working abroad, but I couldn't get a visa. Although I traveled as much as I could, it wasn't the same. I'm glad that, as Canadians, my children will have more opportunities to experience working anywhere from Costa Rica to Korea as they launch into adulthood. Canadian citizenship means more secure access to healthcare Although my family has excellent health insurance in the United States, I always worry that our access to medical care could change at any point. That's especially true for my oldest daughter, who is disabled and medically complex. Although we don't want to burden the Canadian medical system, I can sleep better at night knowing that my children will be able to access Canada's national healthcare system if they need to. Canada has a more powerful passport than the United States Every year, Hensley and Partners issues the Passport Index ranking the most powerful passports in the world. The United States currently stands at the 10th most powerful passport, while Canada is ranked at number seven. With a Canadian passport, my children will have visa-free access to more countries, which makes travel easier. I want my children to be able to explore every corner of the world, and anything that makes that easier is an advantage. Read the original article on Business Insider

Bloomberg: Sources: Cerebras is seeking to raise as much as $4B in its IPO and is targeting a valuation of about $40B  —  Cerebras Systems Inc. is seeking to raise as much as $4 billion in its initial public offering, according to people familiar with the matter, as demand for the artificial intelligence chipmaker …

Doctors suspect three factors, each unremarkable on its own, contributed to his fate.

Taylor Lorenz / Wired: How influencers boosting US-based AI and opposing Chinese AI are paid with money tied to Leading the Future, funded by execs from OpenAI, Palantir, a16z, others  —  Build American AI, a nonprofit linked to a super PAC bankrolled by executives at OpenAI and Andreessen Horowitz …

An Air Force F-16 flies over a Dark Eagle Long Range Hypersonic Weapon vehicle launcher during a training exercise at Nevada's Nellis Air Force Base in 2024. 1st Lt. David Kim/US Army The US Army's hypersonic Dark Eagle missile can travel nearly 1,725 miles faster than the speed of sound. Dark Eagle's long-range capabilities could make it useful against targets deep inside Iran. The advanced missile was plagued by years of delays and setbacks during its testing. The US Army's new hypersonic missile, Dark Eagle, could emerge from the shadows should the fragile ceasefire with Iran break down. Dark Eagle, as the Army's long-delayed Long Range Hypersonic Missile is known, has been a priority system for the Army to defeat all existing air defenses. Its potential deployment to the Middle East was floated amid stalled negotiations between the US and Iran, the ongoing blockade and closure of the Strait of Hormuz, and the US' continued military presence in the region should fighting continue. The movement of Dark Eagle was reported by Bloomberg, which cited the requested deployment of the missile by US Central Command to a person with direct knowledge of the matter. Business Insider wasn't able to independently verify the report. CENTCOM told Business Insider it had no further comment. Dark Eagle could give US forces a weapon to hit Iranian targets at long distances beyond weapons like the Army's Precision Strike Missile, but it doesn't add new capabilities to the current war, given that the US and Israel have crippled Iran's air defenses — the kind of systems Dark Eagle was built to evade. The Army deployed Dark Eagle to northern Australia in 2025 for an exercise — the first time the new weapon has been deployed outside the US. Sgt. Perla Alfaro/US Army What is the Dark Eagle hypersonic missile? The Dark Eagle is a hypersonic boost-glide vehicle weapon that can travel at speeds exceeding Mach 5 and with a reported range of nearly 1,725 miles. That's roughly the distance between New York City and Denver, Colorado. Its development and testing were delayed over several years due to launcher problems before successful end-to-end flight tests, the most recent of which occurred in December 2024. Dark Eagle is deployed via a truck that sets up a transport-erector launcher carrying the missile. What makes its yet-to-be-seen capabilities potentially a generation beyond ballistic missiles is its ability to maneuver towards its target. Existing air defenses rely on the prediction of a projectile's path, but the Dark Eagle, if it works, can scramble that by using control surfaces like fins to change its movement, similar to a jet maneuvering to avoid incoming missiles at many times the speed. The Pentagon has said Dark Eagle is a critical capability for engaging enemy high-value and time-sensitive targets, and this maneuverability would make it difficult to intercept in flight. The US, China, and Russia are in a race to develop their own hypersonic missiles. US and Russian developments were delayed by the now-shuttered Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty, which prohibited the use and development of ground-launched ballistic and cruise missiles with ranges of between 500 kilometers to 5,500 kilometers. The advanced missile was plagued by years of delays and setbacks during its testing, before finally being fielded, though exactly when the weapon became operational is unclear. Since its inception in early March, the US war in Iran has become a proving ground for other rarely-used weapons, such as the Precision Strike Missile, the deployment of which US Central Command chief Adm. Brad Cooper called "a historic first" and "an unrivaled, deep-strike capability." The short-range PrSM ballistic missile has been in use by the US military for just over two years. CENTCOM's newly-created Scorpion Strike attack-drone task force has been among the first US units to use attack-drones abroad, employing the American answer to Iranian-made Shahed drones, the Low-Cost Unmanned Combat Attack System, or LUCAS, which costs around $35,000 each. US Army Contracting Command released this image of a Dark Eagle launch on April 20. Sarah Nelson/US Army What Dark Eagle would bring to the fight The US has amassed a massive force around the Middle East during the war in Iran. Prior to the ceasefire, the US launched large amounts of Tomahawk land-attack cruise missiles, PrSM, M142 High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems GPS-guided rockets, and other weapons to strike over 13,000 Iranian military targets. Those targets have included air defenses, command and control networks, ballistic missile sites, naval assets, defense-industrial infrastructure, and storage sites for missiles and drones. The US has also employed Patriot interceptors and Terminal High-Altitude Area Defense systems to defend itself and its allies from Iranian ballistic missiles and drones. Dark Eagle would extend the reach of US firepower beyond even the range of Tomahawk cruise missiles, although it is clear that the US has had no trouble striking Iran from even short distances, including bombing runs directly overhead. Dark Eagle's speed and range would make it particularly useful for striking targets deeper in Iran. The ceasefire, which began on April 8th, remains on shaky ground. The Strait of Hormuz is effectively closed by both of the combatants, and President Donald Trump said Friday that he was not satisfied with Iran's latest offer. Read the original article on Business Insider

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North Korean threat actors are pulling off historic cryptocurrency heists on a yearly, sometimes weekly basis now. AI might be helping them.

Build American AI, a nonprofit linked to a super PAC bankrolled by executives at OpenAI and Andreessen Horowitz, is funding a campaign to spread pro-AI messaging and stoke fears about China.

Ben Shimkus / Business Insider: Pushing back on AI job loss fears, AWS CEO Matt Garman says Amazon plans to hire 11,000 software engineering interns in 2026, a figure in line with recent years  —  - AWS's CEO, Matt Garman, said Amazon sees demand for hiring new software engineers “accelerating.”

OpenAI CEO Sam Altman Alex Brandon/AP OpenAI CEO Sam Altman said thanks to AI, it's finally a great time to be that guy. More specifically, "the idea guy" who was once laughed out of Silicon Valley. Thanks to generative AI coding tools, technical expertise isn't the barrier it once was, making it easier to bring ideas to life. The idea guy's time has finally come. OpenAI CEO Sam Altman, who previously led the famed startup incubator Y Combinator, said that before AI, people used to joke about those who had the next great idea for an amazing startup but lacked the technical expertise to translate their vision into something real. "All of a sudden it's like the revenge of the idea guys," Altman told Stripe CEO Patrick Collison during an onstage appearance at Stripe Sessions. When Collison asked what has changed about startup culture, Altman said technical talent isn't as critical as it once was. "For a long time, I think the most important ingredient that I looked for — YC looked for, that kind of this part of our industry looked for on a founding team — was technical talent," Altman said. "And that's still very important, but now people who just really deeply understand their users and can't code at all. I want to fund those people." Altman said "it's a big turnaround" from where even he used to be, which is when Silicon Valley used to laugh the "idea guys" out of the room. "There were these people that wanted to start a company and they'd say like, 'I have the best idea. I'm not going to tell you what it is. I have the best idea. I just need a coder to build it for me and then I'm going to be in great shape,'" Altman said. "And we would make fun of these people." While ChatGPT has made Altman a household name, his early fortune is thanks to his well-timed investments in companies like Reddit, Stripe, and Airbnb. Altman has continued to be a prolific investor in startups since leaving Y Combinator, even as he runs OpenAI. AI hasn't changed everything It's tempting for would-be investors to want to sit on the sidelines to monitor AI advancements. Altman said it's the wrong move. "I think to do anything at this point on a 10-year time horizon requires a real suspension of disbelief, and yet that's probably the right way to live your life," he said. " I don't think it works to say there's this singularity in three years or five years, whatever, we can't see past it." AI also hasn't changed one of Altman's long-held views that the best startups have founders who truly know each other. "The teams that came together seven days before applying to YC on a cofounder matching side or whatever, that didn't work too often," he said. "It was not impossible. I think there were one or two cases where it did work, but it was rare." Altman, who cofounded OpenAI in 2015 alongside Greg Brockman, Ilya Sutskever, Elon Musk, and others, talked about how knowing Brockman has been a major asset. Left unsaid was the fact that Musk had a famously acrimonious split and is now suing the company and Altman. "I think we had this deep mutual respect and complimentary skillset that has just worked really well," Altman said of Brockman. "I'm extremely grateful. I think having to go through any startup experience, but particularly an intense one without a cofounder, you have a deep connection trust to is really hard." Read the original article on Business Insider

<p><strong>Tool:</strong> <a href="https://tools.simonwillison.net/inat-sightings">iNaturalist Sightings</a></p> <p>I wanted to see my <a href="https://www.inaturalist.org">iNaturalist</a> observations - across two separate accounts - grouped by when they occurred. I'm camping this weekend so I built this entirely on my phone using Claude Code for web.</p> <p>I started by building an <a href="https://github.com/simonw/inaturalist-clumper">inaturalist-clumper</a> Python CLI for fetching and "clumping" observations - by default clumps use observations within 2 hours and 5km of each other.</p> <p>Then I setup <a href="https://github.com/simonw/inaturalist-clumps">simonw/inaturalist-clumps</a> as a <a href="https://simonwillison.net/series/git-scraping/">Git scraping</a> repository to run that tool and record the result to <a href="https://github.com/simonw/inaturalist-clumps/blob/main/clumps.json">clumps.json</a>.</p> <p>That JSON file is hosted on GitHub, which means it can be fetched by JavaScript using CORS.</p> <p>Finally I ran this prompt against my <a href="https://github.com/simonw/tools">simonw/tools</a> repo:</p> <blockquote> <p><code>Build inat-sightings.html - an app that does a fetch() against https://raw.githubusercontent.com/simonw/inaturalist-clumps/refs/heads/main/clumps.json and then displays all of the observations on one page using the https://static.inaturalist.org/photos/538073008/small.jpg small.jpg URLs for the thumbnails - with loading=lazy - but when a thumbnail is clicked showing the large.jpg in an HTML modal. Both small and large should include the common species names if available</code></p> </blockquote> <p>Tags: <a href="https://simonwillison.net/tags/tools">tools</a>, <a href="https://simonwillison.net/tags/claude-code">claude-code</a>, <a href="https://simonwillison.net/tags/inaturalist">inaturalist</a>, <a href="https://simonwillison.net/tags/generative-ai">generative-ai</a>, <a href="https://simonwillison.net/tags/ai">ai</a>, <a href="https://simonwillison.net/tags/llms">llms</a></p>

Emily Nicolle / Bloomberg: Some retail traders are training AI agents to buy and sell assets on their behalf, as exchanges like Polymarket and Bybit roll out agent-friendly interfaces  —  Jake Nesler's AI trading bot got one big decision right in its first week.  It ignored the chase.

Greg Otto / CyberScoop: The US, UK, Australia, Canada, and New Zealand publish guidance on orgs' use of agentic AI systems, saying many give AI more access than can be safely monitored  —  The guidance warns that agents capable of taking real-world actions on networks are already inside critical infrastructure …

The outage has hampered communication concerning a critical vulnerability that gives root.

Issie Lapowsky / Bloomberg: The gender gap in AI use may be a matter of visibility more than usage, as data suggests women face more judgment for using AI and are less likely to admit it  —  Women are using artificial intelligence at lower rates than men.  But are they being “left behind”?