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Archives for May 2026

Elizabeth Lopatto
Elizabeth Lopatto
OpenAI has called Sam Altman as a witness.

He is being sworn in now.

Jay Peters
Jay Peters
“I just find AI to be creatively soulless.”

That’s a quote given to Bloomberg by Casey Hudson, who directed Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic at BioWare and is helming a spiritual successor. “It’s hard to imagine where it’s actually helpful in the process. I’m just really unimpressed with it.”

Game developers I spoke with at GDC this year shared similar sentiments.

Tom Warren
Tom Warren
Microsoft’s Israel chief is leaving amid investigation allegations.

Microsoft quietly announced last week that its Israel general manager, Alon Haimovich, is stepping down at the end of the month after four years. Israeli newspaper Globes now reports that Haimovich is leaving amid a Microsoft investigation into Microsoft Israel’s work with the Israeli Ministry of Defense. Microsoft blocked the Israeli military from some cloud and AI services last year after The Guardian revealed its services were being used for mass surveillance of Palestinians.

Elizabeth Lopatto
Elizabeth Lopatto
We’ve talked about how this case isn’t just for whatever happens in the court...

But also about some light character assassination. It looks like Musk now has a broader strategy to try to make Altman a liability to OpenAI.

TC Sottek
TC Sottek
Kickstarter clutches its pearls.

Back in 2019 we covered the censorship that was hurting the sex toy industry. One of the offenders was Kickstarter, which later changed its ways and became more welcoming.

But it seems like the company has regressed. “Sexual pleasure” is now a banned concept for rewards, though Kickstarter says pleasure might be fine as long as the product is not designed for “insertion or penetration.” I want to know what’s going on over at Kickstarter HQ but I fear nobody is having fun.

There’s an internet choke point in the Middle East — is the solution in the North Pole?

90% of Europe’s internet passes through the Red Sea. An audacious cable plan in the Arctic could solve that.

Josh Dzieza
Mia Sato
Mia Sato
The Iran war is affecting another kind of chip.

Calbee, the Japanese snack company, is temporarily switching its packaging on some items to grayscale, citing “supply instability affecting certain raw materials amid ongoing tensions in the Middle East.” CNN reports that it wasn’t clear what component was at risk — but it’s just the latest industry to feel the pinch as a result of the US and Israel attacking Iran in February.

Image: Calbee
Emma Roth
Emma Roth
LinkedIn power users can soon get paid to give advice.

This month, users with a LinkedIn Business account will be able to offer one-on-one consultation sessions from their profiles. Users will be able to manage bookings, take payments, and host video calls directly from LinkedIn.

Users can select the ‘Get advice from me’ to book a session.
Users can select the ‘Get advice from me’ to book a session.
Image: LinkedIn
Andrew Liszewski
Andrew Liszewski
The 8,278-piece Minas Tirith is Lego’s largest Lord of the Rings set.

Available starting on June 1st for Lego Insiders or June 4th for everyone else, Lego’s $650 Minas Tirith is larger and more expensive than its $500 Rivendell and $460 Barad-dûr LOTR sets. Up front it’s a micro-scale recreation of the fortified city but on the back you’ll find scenes scaled up for the set’s 10 included minifigures.

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1/7Image: Lego