15 – Breaking News & Latest Updates 2026
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Tech Archive

Archives for April 2026

Elizabeth Lopatto
Elizabeth Lopatto
We have a jury.

Opening statements tomorrow.

Elizabeth Lopatto
Elizabeth Lopatto
Elon Musk’s lawyer tried to get some jurors thrown out for disliking Musk.

YGR denied those challenges. “The reality is that people don’t like him,” she said. “Many people don’t like him. but that doesn’t mean that Americans nevertheless can’t have integrity for the judicial process.”

Richard Lawler
Richard Lawler
“The Abstraction Fallacy: Why AI Can Simulate But Not Instantiate Consciousness.”

That’s the title of a paper that 404 Media reports was recently published by Alexander Lerchner, a Senior Staff Scientist at Google DeepMind. Regardless of grand pronouncements from folks, including DeepMind CEO Demis Hassabis, about AGI’s potential, the paper states that “phenomenal consciousness” is a physical state, and “not a software artifact that can be accidentally or deliberately created.”

After 404 reached out for comment, the DeepMind letterhead was removed, and a disclaimer about it representing the author’s “personal views” was moved to the top.

Elizabeth Lopatto
Elizabeth Lopatto
Apparently things are exciting outside.

While the lawyers ask questions of prospective jurors, apparently there are Happenings outside the courtroom.

Andrew Liszewski
Andrew Liszewski
KitKat’s new wrapper forces you to take a break without your phone.

To encourage breaks that focus on carbs instead of doomscrolling and texting, KitKat in Panama created a limited edition Faraday cage wrapper for your phone that blocks cell signals. The wrapper is made from layers of copper, polyester, and polypropylene and is expected to work for about a year at which point you can recycle it.

Jay Peters
Jay Peters
Our Steam Controller AMA for subscribers is starting soon!

If you have any burning questions about Valve’s new gamepad after reading our reviews, Cameron Faulkner and I will be responding in the comments of this article starting at 3PM ET.

Nilay Patel
Nilay Patel
Sergey Brin, MAGA warrior.

The NYT has a deep dive into the Google co-founder’s hard turn to the right, which is either because he hates the proposed billionaire tax in California or because he’s super into his hardcore MAGA girlfriend. (Or both.) In any case, he’s having “intimate” dinners with Trump — and bringing Sundar Pichai along for the ride.

Elizabeth Lopatto
Elizabeth Lopatto
We have gone through the first 20 potential jurors.

We’ll get another set of 20 shortly. So far, five people have disliked Musk enough to bring it up, but all but one say they can be fair. Lots of people have used AI, with varying opinions on it.

Sean Hollister
Sean Hollister
Lose the new Steam Controller? You can ring it like a phone.

Every controller should have this, right? With most pads, you’d be lucky to even vibrate them at a distance — but TIL that official Nintendo Switch 2 pads do this too.

Emma Roth
Emma Roth
Block’s new crypto wallet has a screen.

Jack Dorsey’s Block has launched a follow-up to its coaster-like Bitkey wallet, featuring an OLED touchscreen display that crypto holders can use to verify transactions and “authorize every security-critical operation in the wallet,” according to a post on X. The hardware wallet costs $250 and is available to preorder now.

Valve’s new Steam Controller is as good as I hoped

It’s not perfect, but I’m buying one anyway.

Jay Peters