Thursday, June 18, 2026
The Guardrails Alliance, which has raised $5 million, is positioning itself as a populist effort that will take on the pro-A.I. interests trying to influence this year’s elections.
Wall St indexes advance with boost from chips, falling oil prices Reuters
Ukraine brings the war to Moscow as huge blasts shake refinery Reuters
Vance warns Israeli critics over Iran deal: Trump is your only ally Reuters
Nintendo of America has confirmed to BleepingComputer that threat actors stole survey data from the third-party TinyPulse service used internally, but its systems were not compromised. [...]
A hacker could have "Rickrolled" the World Cup — or worse — thanks to FIFA's unenforced Entra access controls.
It's unclear whether the system is currently intact.
While neither company has publicly discussed the deal, it would be a big break for Intel, which sold a 10 percent stake to the U.S. government last year.
Obama Center’s opening draws former presidents, music legends and A-list celebrities AP News
Attack on Niger airport kills 11 members of security forces, government says Reuters
US Supreme Court limits ban on gun ownership by marijuana users Reuters
One previously unreported SpaceX investor has ties to Chinese military contractors.
SpaceX bankers prepare for potential $20 billion bond offering, source says Reuters
For the past four years, a sprawling Android-based botnet called Popa has forced millions of consumer TV boxes to relay Internet traffic linked to advertising fraud, account takeovers, and mass data-scraping efforts. This week, researchers from multiple security firms concluded that the Popa botnet is linked to NetNut, a "residential proxy" provider operated by the publicly-traded Israeli firm Alarum Technologies Ltd [NASDAQ: ALAR].
Hegseth attacks NATO allies and announces a review of US forces in Europe AP News
EU leaders weigh tougher measures to combat China trade imbalance Reuters
Residents return to war-ravaged southern Lebanon with hope and sorrow after the US-Iran deal AP News
Biggest AI firms will likely recoil at Bernie Sanders' AI wealth fund.
FDA panel considers a first-of-its-kind flu vaccine using mRNA technology AP News
Ukrainian drones set a Moscow refinery ablaze in a major attack on the Russian capital AP News
Oil touches pre-Iran war lows after ceasefire deal Reuters
Klue's Battlecards is now the third integrated application that has been compromised to steal customers' Salesforce data, and victims include Huntress, the cybersecurity vendor.
The Silicon Valley company’s ambitions to roll out autonomous cars nationwide have hit political roadblocks in some of the country’s biggest markets.
Threat actors targeting cryptocurrency wallets have been distributing clipboard-stealing malware with self-spreading capabilities and using the Tor network to conceal communication. [...]
The employees encouraged limits on the complexes in a series of hearings in the tech giant’s hometown, Seattle.
Ebola cases increase almost 40% in a week as death toll passes 200 AP News
A city’s push for facial recognition on public buses ignites debate over security and privacy AP News
Artificial intelligence is expensive to use, many companies discovered. That has led to a new era of saving costs.
We can't blame the Neolithic Transition for the plague anymore.
Two expeditions, two spacewalks, 322 days in space.
Market intelligence platform Klue suffered a OAuth breach that enabled the "Icarus" threat actors to steal Salesforce CRM data from multiple organizations in an ongoing extortion campaign. [...]
Supreme Court sides with a Texas man who says it’s not a crime for marijuana users to have guns AP News
Microsoft 365 helps keep services running, but protecting and recovering business data remains your responsibility. Acronis breaks down five gaps organizations should consider when evaluating Microsoft 365 data protection. [...]
International law enforcement agencies cleaned nearly 15,000 malware-infected WordPress websites and took down more than 100 servers linked to the SocGholish botnet and the Evil Corp Russian cybercrime group. [...]
Teams digging out of security debt need to answer only two simple questions: Which vulnerabilities in our systems are exposed, and how long should they stay that way?
Multiple WordPress plugins from ShapedPlugin were compromised in a supply chain attack that distributed infected releases to paying customers via the vendor's official update system. [...]
A newly discovered data leak dubbed "FortiBleed" has exposed what appears to be a collection of Fortinet and FortiGate VPN credentials for 73,932 firewall URLs at organizations worldwide. [...]
Apple has released security updates to patch a high-severity flaw affecting the Beats Studio Buds wireless earbuds that could allow attackers in Bluetooth range to spy on users' conversations. [...]
Several countries have restricted the messaging app, a valuable platform for dissidents, criminals and extremists. Here’s an overview.
"Shield-6G" will combine AI threat detection, digital twins, honeypots, and more, to help carriers protect 6G networks against the threats of tomorrow.
Peter Parker to Bruce Banner: "I didn't know you could get that big."
Some shareholders might object, but there is little they could do, legal experts say.
Maggot therapy lacks robust data, but it has fans and a fail-safe "bacon therapy."
Apple reportedly has 15+ new products launching this fall, but according to Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman, 2027 will be even bigger for the company. Here’s what’s coming.
Musk: Oh yeah? Could a failure of an AI company do this? (Produces infinite CSAM)
The Apple TV horror comedy slipped some clever visual and thematic references into its first season.
Researchers discovered an unusual, nationwide shift when examining GPS records of the Tohoku earthquake.
The oddly shaped rock is likely the byproduct of a catastrophic collision millions of years ago.
An issue that caused a degraded YouTube TV experience for some Roku users is the result of an update from Google, and it’s doing more than disrupting background playback.
The next Formula 1 race will stream completely for free on the Apple TV app in the United States, no subscription required. Most races this year require an Apple TV subscription to view, but when the deal was announced, Apple said that select races will be in front of the paywall altogether. The Austrian Grand Prix (June 26 – June 28) is the first time they are delivering on that promise.
Whether you’re shopping for yourself, Father’s Day, or graduation season, Apple’s Beats brand makes a wide lineup of excellent options. Here are my top recommendations (with some big discounts).
A bug in Gmail affecting Google Pixel owners is making it difficult to reply to emails, as the AI-powered “Help me write” is getting in the way.
Google today published an update on Android developer verification, which is set for its initial launch later this year and will continue into 2027.
iOS 27 adds a variety of new features and changes for Apple Wallet, including one that’s been on my wishlist for years: the ability to import physical passes.
Waititi says 'Klara and the Sun' might be his most dramatic film.
Widgets have long been a useful part of the Android homescreen and, for many, they’ve solidified their spot and functionality for years. That’s why it’s pretty frustrating that, for some Google Pixel owners that have upgraded to Android 17, homescreen widgets haven’t just been removed from the homescreen, but they’re not even available to come back.
Although hinted at almost two months ago, it seems that Google Meet is now truly rolling out for Android Auto.
Women actively taking a combined contraceptive pill seem more likely to emotionally eat, a new study has found.
Google Health’s work to address issues and make improvements to the redesigned Android and iOS app continues today with version 5.02.
Logitech's folding mouse may fit in your pocket or backpack, but it won't offer the perfect PC controls we hoped for.
It's an aggressive move that'll effectively force operators of critical French infrastructure to move away from traditional cryptographic systems.
For a limited time, you can save up to $100 off on the Gigabyte M27Q2 27-inch 200 Hz gaming monitor on Newegg.
Today’s 9to5Toys Lunch Break is headlined by the most affordable Galaxy Tab S11 plummeting to a new Amazon all-time low at over $300 off alongside these Samsung Galaxy S26 deals – $150 off at Best Buy for today only, or this open-box 512GB model at a massive $525 off. We also have Amazon’s Ring early Prime Day deals live today at up to 50% off including the latest Wired Pro and Battery models at all-time lows, as well these Prime Day Blink deals from just $18, and all-time low pricing now live on Samsung’s 49-inch ultrawide 240Hz Odyssey G9 gaming monitor at $665. Head below for a closer look.
Alongside all of the early Prime Day deals now live, today’s 9to5Toys Lunch Break is headlined by rare early Prime Day deals on Apple Watch Ultra 3 at nearly $100 off (additional colors and band options are now live), alongside ongoing Series 11 discounts starting from $299 with up to $160 in savings. We also have a rare deal on this entry 1TB M5 MacBook Pro with the official 96W Apple charger upgrade live at $200 off alongside Apple’s mid-range 512GB M5 iPad Pro back down to one of its best prices today at nearly $150 off, and this load of Beats headphones at up to $220 off via Best Buy. Head below for a closer look.
We tested 20 laptop and phone chargers, ranging from cheap no-name 15W options to 140W beasts. Find out what stood out as the best.
iPhone 18 Pro and Pro Max are expected to have largely the same dimensions as their predecessors, except in one key area: the camera plateau. Here’s why iPhone 18 Pro’s camera bump is expected to get even larger this year.
Starting today, app developers will be able to distribute apps through alternative app marketplaces in Brazil, as part of a broader set of changes to the app distribution and payment rules in the country. Here are all the details.
Samsung’s Galaxy Watch series has a decent slice of the overall smartphone market, but it’s off to a rough start for 2026.
MSI's new Arc G3 Extreme-based handheld costs nearly $2,000 but the company is rather apologetic about it, even if it's warning that the price may rise in the future.
Apple TV just announced the release date for Brothers, a new comedy series starring Matthew McConaughey and Woody Harrelson. Here are the details.
Pre-orders for Grand Theft Auto 6 open in just one week.
As new data center buildouts hit planning walls and AI inference providers hike costs, is the future of AI to roll your own models?
We test Noctua’s first attempt at an all-in-one liquid cooler, focusing specifically on pump performance to determine whether Noctua’s AIO is truly a viable alternative to swapping the fans on another unit and the brand’s own legendary air cooler.
A UK man has been sentenced after pleading guilty to the unauthorized mixing and selling of music CDs, and thus breaking copyright laws. It is 2026.
Built to be shown off, CyberPower’s latest gaming desktop expertly combines style and speed while keeping the price reasonable.
A new “pure” PLA from Bambu Lab isn’t what you think it is.
A proposed undersea cable from Chile to Hong Kong promised to connect South America directly to Asia. Instead, it became a test of how far the U.S. will go to curb Chinese telecom ambitions.
In a series of posts on X, Iranian Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei said that President Donald Trump "used all kinds of leverage" out of desperation to get the agreement signed.
US unemployment benefits applications fell to 226,000 last week, with layoffs remaining historically low, offering a real-time indicator of how the labor market is doing
While the legislature will certainly make its opinions known, it remains unclear whether any lawmakers would oppose the agreement should Trump send it to Congress.
The cost of compliance, according to U.S. Housing and Urban Development Secretary Scott, adds $31,000 to the cost of a home and adds to the housing shortage Americans are facing.
The Iran deal does not involve the U.S. making a direct $300 billion payment to Iran, but point 6 of the Memorandum of Understanding, which both nations signed, does refer to establishing a fund to reconstruct the country.
The man told a local television station that he had placed a MAGA hat on the cross and intended the act to be a protest of the "ruling class" and Christian nationalists who support Trump.
He did not elaborate on any unwritten agreements with respect to specific terms.
Senior Israeli officials, such as National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir, have been vocally critical of the Iran deal and called on Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to ignore to key terms.
Dan Moren: Second only in speculation to the folding iPhone might be the reported MacBook Pro that will be Apple’s first Mac with a touchscreen. […] A preponderance of drawing related features are specifically making their way to the Mac, including both in Notes and in Freeform. Those features have existed on Apple’s touch-first platforms […]
macOS Golden Gate 27 Beta Release Notes: AppKit adds NSRefreshController, providing pull-to-refresh functionality for NSScrollView. […] NSToolbarItemGroup adds the role property and the NSToolbarItemGroupRole enum, allowing toolbar item groups to be tagged with a semantic role. NSSegmentedControl similarly adds a role property and the NSSegmentedControlRole enum, including a tabs role for controls that represent tab-based […]
iOS & iPadOS 27 Beta Release Notes: [You] can use UIScene.extendStateRestoration and UIScene.completeStateRestoration to extend state restoration for UIScene.ActivationState.background to UIScene.ActivationState.foreground lifecycle transitions. […] iOS and iPadOS apps built with the 27.0 SDK or later are required to include a launch screen. […] Siri can load resources from drag interactions installed in your app’s interface. […]
Meet Core AI: Discover Core AI, Apple’s new framework for on-device AI model deployment. Tour the ecosystem, from Python libraries for converting, authoring, and optimizing models, to a Swift API for simple plug-and-play inference and advanced use cases with strict latency and memory requirements. Explore the new Core AI models repository with ready-to-run examples for […]
Last month on Phoronix was an exclusive first look at the NVIDIA Vera CPU performance compared to prior-generation NVIDIA Grace as well as the current AMD EPYC and Intel Xeon competition. Following that was looking at how the ARM Linux server performance has evolved over the past eight years of AArch64 Linux servers. A Phoronix Premium supporter recently requested wanting to see how Vera compares to Ampere Altra. While Ampere Altra has been in the marketplace now for more than five years, they are some of the most readily available ARM Linux server options for DIY/enthusiast builds given the scarcity of AmpereOne and lack of other readily available socketed ARM CPU options. This article shows how the performance compares between Ampere Altra Max and NVIDIA Vera.
Check these out if you’re looking for more creepy, intense psychological stalkery.
Google has begun rolling out Android 17, the June Pixel Feature Drop, and Wear OS 7 simultaneously across supported Pixel phones and watches. Highlights include floating app bubbles, improved foldable multitasking and gaming, tighter location and contact permissions, stronger lost-device protections, new Pixel AI tools, and up to 10% better Pixel Watch battery life. PhoneArena reports: Pixel owners are the clear winners, since everything here reaches Pixel first and a lot of it goes back to the Pixel 6. Fold owners get the most toys, with the Bubble Bar and foldable gaming mode built for the big screen. Watch wearers get the quietly important upgrade. Better battery and Live Updates make an everyday wearable easier to rely on, especially if you keep it on overnight. Google's latest Pixel Drop combines several AI-powered tools with a broader slate of Android 17 upgrades. Pixel owners gain Lyria 3 for generating music from text or images, Gemini Omni for creating custom video clips, enhanced call translation and screening, AirDrop-compatible Quick Share, expanded Magic Cue support, and conversational photo editing. Android 17 builds on those additions with floating app Bubbles, selfie-camera Screen Reactions, and a split-screen gaming mode for foldables, while also strengthening privacy and security with more granular location and contact permissions, improved lost-device protection, tighter PIN-guessing limits, and enhanced threat detection. Other additions include expanded parental controls, separate assistant volume and app memory settings, and an option to hide app names for greater privacy. You can read more about everything new in Android 17 in Google's blog post. Read more of this story at Slashdot.
The EXT4 file-system improvements were merged today for Linux 7.2 with some enticing optimizations...
Ooh-ing and ahh-ing over fireworks is a summertime tradition, but for some people (and pets), all of those booms and bangs can be a troubling source of fear and anxiety. Noise from fireworks can reach levels as high as 160 decibels or more. That’s louder than the sounds of a jackhammer or a jet plane…
Until recently, my top drawer was stuffed with ill-fitting, outfit-spoiling underwear — and I know I’m not the only one with this problem. The woes that plague women’s underthings are so numerous, in fact, that a whole vocabulary has sprung up to describe them: muffin top, camel toe, whale tail, wedgie, and of course, visible…
Now I can turn on my AC from my phone, so my room is already cool when I walk in the door.
If you've watched every episode of "The Office," here are some similar shows you're sure to love.
You can get a Walmart+ subscription for 50% off, which grants you early access to the sale.
The Rust PNG crate, image-png, for PNG image encoding and decoding was already claimed to be the fastest PNG decoder in the world for the past year. Now with the latest optimizations, it's even faster...
Security researcher Justin O'Leary says Google initially accepted his Config Connector privilege-escalation report as a high-priority, high-severity bug, then denied a bounty by declaring the behavior "working as intended." According to The Register, a Google rep initially praised O'Leary's report with a "Nice catch!" before the cloud giant reversed course, declaring that no vulnerability existed and therefore no fix or reward was warranted. "The bug report, however, is still marked high-priority and accepted," the publication notes. The alleged flaw, dubbed ConfigConfusion, could let a Kubernetes namespace user exploit an overprivileged service account to become a GCP organization owner with only a few lines of YAML and little apparent audit visibility. O'Leary details the incident in a blog post. The Register reports: According to O'Leary, Config Connector doesn't perform an authorization check, and this allows any Config Connector service account with org-level permissions to bypass Identity and Access Management (IAM) authorization and gain the highest level of control (roles/owner) to an entire GCP Organization -- the root node of all of a company's resources within Google Cloud. On March 27, a Google security engineer accepted O'Leary's report and told him: "Nice catch!" The employee said that they filed a bug based on O'Leary's report with the relevant product team and assured him the Chocolate Factory's security squad would work with relevant Google Cloud people to fix the flaw. "We'll work with the product team to ensure this issue is address. We'll let you know when the issue was fixed," the engineer said. "In the meantime, review the payment option selected in your bughunters.google.com profile." Google assigned the bug P1 priority and S1 severity, signifying a flaw worthy of urgent repair because it affects a large percentage of users and can disrupt core organizational functions. "I figured that was the end of that," O'Leary said in a phone interview with The Register. Eleven days later, on April 7, he received a new message from a Google Security Bot reversing the earlier decision. The Reg viewed the email, and O'Leary included a screenshot in his Thursday writeup. The message said that the Cloud Vulnerability Reward Program panel decided that the "security impact of this issue does not meet the criteria to qualify for a reward." After reviewing the bug report, Google determined the software "is working as intended," the message continued. It also noted that the program's decision not to pay a bounty "does not mean that the product team won't fix the issue." Nearly three months later, the case remains P1/S1 with the status "in progress (accepted)." Google hasn't assigned a CVE or issued a fix. O'Leary didn't receive any reward for his research. [...] "This is a pattern," O'Leary told [The Register]. "This is just how these trillion-dollar companies deal with people like me. In my day job, we use GKE, and it's incredibly frustrating on my end, when I find a critical vulnerability in the system that's being widely used, and I can't even get the vendor to patch their own stuff." A Google spokesperson told The Register: "The issue reported does not qualify for a reward because the GCP IAM authorization bypass is only exploitable if an attacker has access to a Config Connector Service Account that's been granted the Organization Admin role by the organization (i.e., it is privileged). Additionally, an attacker would first need to gain entry to an organization's environment (e.g., an exposed container) in order to leverage the privileged Config Connector instance and execute commands with administrative authority, such as the IAM bypass. Granting this level of access to the Config Connector Service Account goes against Google Cloud's publicly shared best practices and the principle of least privilege." Read more of this story at Slashdot.
You can save some cash on these devices ahead of Prime Day.
Chances are, your cable internet provider charges you a hefty modem-rental fee every month, a price that can increase on an annual basis. But if you buy your own modem, it should pay for itself in the first year or two of ownership, even if you also have to buy a wireless router too, and…
When I was a little kid, the only thing I enjoyed more than borrowing my mom’s jewelry was sorting through her jewelry box. I liked the organizational wonder of it, each ring nestled into its own soft nook, each bracelet at rest in its right compartment, every piece undisturbed by the clasps or gems of…
An anonymous reader quotes a report from MacRumors: Apple is raising its prices to offset the high cost of memory and storage, CEO Tim Cook told The Wall Street Journal. Apple is no longer able to absorb the increased prices and will need to pass some of the cost on to consumers. "Unfortunately, price increases are unavoidable," said Cook. "We're doing our best to mitigate the huge increases that are being passed to us, and we've been trying to shield our customers from the increases, but the situation has become unsustainable." Growing demand for memory and storage chips from AI companies has led to chip shortages and higher costs. The Wall Street Journal suggests Apple will need to increase device costs "substantially" to maintain its current profit margins given the cost of memory chips and SSDs. Research firm TechInsights claims Apple will need to make the iPhone 18 Pro around $270 more expensive to keep its existing profit margin. Apple is struggling more with memory chips, but storage chips are also an issue. "There's less supply at a time when consumers want devices and the memory guys are passing along huge price increases," Cook told The Wall Street Journal. Cook said Apple will use its cash to increase memory supply, but he did not give details on what that means. Apple does not plan to create its own memory and storage factories. "We can't do everything," Cook said. "We know what we're good at." Cook likened the memory shortages to a hundred-year flood. "I've never seen anything like it in any area in over 40 years," he said. Further reading: Smartphone Market To Shrink 15% This Year Due To Memory Crisis Read more of this story at Slashdot.
There’s no one magical laptop that fits everyone’s needs. People of any age need a laptop for everyday tasks like checking email, watching media, shopping, and connecting with family and friends. But some older adults may have health issues that necessitate buying a laptop (or tablet) with specific accessibility features. Of course, “older adults” is…
College is expensive — including tuition, housing, and textbooks, not to mention food and other miscellaneous costs. So students need a reliable laptop that’ll last for years of taking notes, writing papers at 3 in the morning, and editing slides for a group project. But choosing the right laptop can be more challenging than writing…
Buy, renew, or upgrade to a 12-month Nintendo Switch Online + Expansion Pack membership before July 28 and Nintendo will throw in a free extra month of service.
It's official. Prime Day 2026 is on the horizon, with an avalanche of deals promised on June 23 — and we’re already seeing some prices drop early. Originally an Amazon-specific quasi-clearance event, Prime Day has become much more since Wirecutter first covered it in 2015. Retailers including Walmart, Target, and Best Buy usually offer their…
Longtime Slashdot reader schwit1 shares a report from PetaPixel: China dominates the consumer drone market, so it is perhaps surprising that it is no longer possible to fly or even purchase a drone in Beijing. The new law that passed last month makes it illegal to buy, rent, or fly a drone without prior approval from the authorities. Users must also complete an online training session and pass a test on drone regulations. Under the new rules, drone users are also not allowed to repair or replace their drones in Beijing. Not only that, but a drone in a repair shop must be picked up in-person, rather than sent back by delivery. The BBC reports that drones must now be registered before being brought into and out of the Chinese capital. "I have to apply for permission for each flight, which is very inconvenient," drone enthusiast Steven Wang tells CNN. "And starting this year, the wait time is getting longer, and the reasons for rejection are becoming more vague." Despite China being the birthplace of the consumer drone industry, it is increasingly difficult for hobbyists to fly there. Beijing authorities say that the rules are made to "strengthen the management of unmanned aerial vehicles" and "safeguard the security of the capital." Read more of this story at Slashdot.
The memory shortage has finally come for Apple.
Smartphones may have captured much of our screen time, but sometimes a task calls for a real computer — and for most people, that means a laptop. For school and office work like creating spreadsheets and editing video, there’s no good substitute for a decent keyboard and a spacious screen. But which laptop you should…
A bug in the AMDGPU Linux kernel graphics driver leading to some laptop displays freezing after periods of use may finally be close to being resolved. Given the length and quantity of bug reports and one of the problematic commits being tracked back to 2017, it's a heavy hitting issue for some Linux users. With the help of Claude Code, it looks like a fix is on the way to the Linux kernel...
You can get easier access to your apps in the latest version of Android.
The cryptographic subsystem updates have been merged for the ongoing Linux 7.2 kernel merge window...
Canonical and the Ubuntu Release Team have implemented an important policy change for Ubuntu flavors moving forward. If they are to have an official release, they must now successfully submit a beta release...
Special-effects designer Brian Johnson, known for his groundbreaking work on Space: 1999, The Empire Strikes Back, Alien, and Aliens, has died at the age of 86. Johnson began his career creating models and explosions for Gerry and Sylvia Anderson productions, later designed the iconic Eagle Transporter, and became one of science fiction cinema's most influential behind-the-scenes artists. Longtime Slashdot reader sandbagger remembers the SFX legend, writing: "The Space: 1999 Eagle is one of the great space ships of science fiction." Read more of this story at Slashdot.
With the ongoing work around the AMD GFX1250 (and GFX1251) in the open-source AMD Linux driver stack, it's led to a lot of speculation about these parts in the GFX12 series associated with RDNA4. RDNA4 refresh? Or a lot of signals have pointed to GFX125x being possible AI/HPC accelerators such as for the upcoming Instinct MI400 series. Adding to the intrigue is GFX1251 being an APU. The latest LLVM compiler activity is further pointing to GFX1250/GFX1251 being for enterprise hardware...
The Error Detection And Correction (EDAC) drivers, such as for dealing with ECC memory error reporting, are heavy on the Intel side with Linux 7.2 in preparing for upcoming hardware...
Longtime Slashdot reader schwit1 shares a report from Autoblog: For years, the Chinese auto industry has employed a hostile price war to kneecap global competitors. Armed with massive state subsidies, cheap raw materials, and an aggressive "scale-first" business model, Chinese automakers flooded the market with electric vehicles priced so low that legacy manufacturers stood no chance to compete. How did they do it? Simple, they couldn't. They did it anyway. Reports from CarNewsChina show that Chinese automakers have been selling vehicles at a loss until a recent law passed by the Chinese government banned below-cost sales of new vehicles. During the ongoing sales slump in China caused by rolled-back subsidies and direct government intervention banning below-cost sales, the truth behind the rapid expansion of the Chinese auto industry has been exposed. "By the first quarter of 2026, China captured 32 percent of the global auto market, with its New Energy Vehicles (NEVs) controlling an incredible 61 percent of global share," the report notes. Yet that dominance has come at a steep cost: throughout 2025, "the profit margin for China's auto industry plunged to 4.4 percent and dropped further to a historic low of 3.2 percent in early 2026." "Gross profit, not net profit, per vehicle, plummeted to a mere $2,000. We can expect the net figure to be loss-making." Autoblog adds: "Data shows over 70 percent of Chinese car sales were loss-making. This left more than half of the country's auto industry in the red. Great Wall Motor (GWM) even saw net profits drop 17 percent despite steady revenue growth." China's EV price war has now hit a wall. New regulations are discouraging below-cost sales, rising material costs are forcing automakers to cut discounts and raise prices, and reduced tax incentives are weakening domestic demand. To sustain growth, manufacturers are increasingly turning to exports. Read more of this story at Slashdot.
An anonymous reader quotes a report from Ars Technica: Tesco, a retail conglomerate headquartered in the United Kingdom, is moving 40,000 server workloads off of VMware amid "abusive conduct" from Broadcom, recent legal filings claim. Tesco filed a lawsuit in the UK's High Court against Broadcom alleging breach of contract last year. According to a September report from The Register, the lawsuit claimed that in January 2021, Tesco bought perpetual licenses for VMware's vSphere Foundation and Cloud Foundation, a subscription to VMware Tanzu, plus support services until 2026, with the option to extend support for four additional years. But when Broadcom took over VMware in November 2023, it would not honor the deal and instead tried to get Tesco to pay "excessive and inflated prices for virtualization software for which Tesco has already paid" and would not allow it to buy support services for its perpetually licensed software without buying "duplicative subscription-based licenses for those same Software products," the initial complaint read, The Register reported at the time. Tesco, which reported 73.7 billion pounds (about $98.7 billion) in revenue in its fiscal year 2026, has since started migrating away from VMware and Broadcom's mainframe products, according to late-May court filings reported on by The Register today. In January, Broadcom stopped supporting Tesco's VMware products, Tesco said, and Tesco has been paying for third-party support since. In its initial filing, Tesco also said that Broadcom refused to upgrade software or provide all security updates to customers without subscriptions. One of Tesco's recent filings, per The Register, reads: "Faced with Broadcom's abusive conduct, and given the criticality of virtualization and mainframe software and services to its business, Tesco has been forced to incur material costs to procure alternative solutions with reduced functionality, and to migrate to that software in a manner, and on a timeframe, that creates very significant risks to its business." If it works "at exceptional pace," Tesco will be completely off VMware by the end of 2027 at the earliest. However, "the timeframe in which that migration must be undertaken has created and continues to create operational and commercial risk, and at material ongoing cost and disruption to the business," Tesco reportedly noted. Tesco is also dealing with migration challenges related to data security because its new, unnamed virtualization software is incompatible with the Veeam and Zerto products it uses. Tesco initially requested at least 100 million pounds (about $133.6 million) in damages each from Broadcom, VMware, and reseller Computacenter, plus interest. In its recent filings, Tesco said it turned down at least four offers from Broadcom to continue using VMware and Broadcom's mainframe tech. [...] The case is expected to go to court between November 1, 2027, and February 25, 2028, The Register reported. Afterward, it could go to trial. Further reading: HPE Tempts VMware Users, Partners With Year of Free Virtualization Software Read more of this story at Slashdot.
wiredmikey shares a report from SecurityWeek: Microsoft on Wednesday published an advisory acknowledging the public disclosure of a vulnerability in Defender that could lead to privilege escalation. The security defect, tracked as CVE-2026-50656 (CVSS score of 7.8), was dropped last week by security researcher Nightmare Eclipse (also known as Chaotic Eclipse). "We are working to provide a high-quality security update that addresses this vulnerability. We will provide information in this CVE when the update is available," Microsoft adds. RoguePlanet, Nightmare Eclipse explained last week, targets a race condition in Microsoft Defender and allows attackers to gain System privileges. The researcher released a proof-of-concept (PoC) exploit that demonstrates local privilege escalation (LPE) on Windows 11 and Windows 10 systems with the June 2026 patches installed. [...] On Wednesday, Nightmare Eclipse pointed out that the PoC works regardless of whether Defender's real-time protection is enabled or disabled. It may even work in passive mode, the researcher said. Read more of this story at Slashdot.