30 – Breaking News & Latest Updates 2026
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Tech Archive

Archives for May 2026

Jess Weatherbed
Jess Weatherbed
Google is working on a new smart display.

A new “Google Home Display” has been spotted in the code for the iOS Google Home app. We already knew that Google is launching a Gemini-powered Home Speaker this spring, but this suggests that a Nest Hub-like device is also in the works — Google’s first since 2021.

Richard Lawler
Richard Lawler
AI cybersecurity updates for MDASH, Mythos, and GPT-5.5.

On Wednesday, the AISI, which evaluates AI models for the British government, said both Anthropic’s Claude Mythos Preview and OpenAI’s GPT-5.5 showed progress well above previous trends on cybersecurity testing. Separately, XBOW released data suggesting “frontier models have taken a major step forward in vulnerability discovery.”

Meanwhile, Microsoft said its multi-model agentic setup, MDASH, was used to discover 16 CVEs in this week’s Patch Tuesday updates and is the leader on the CyberGym security evaluation framework.

graph showing the average number of steps completed on a cybersecuirty benchmark comparing various models across how many tokens spent
Image: AISI
Hayden Field
Hayden Field
Musk left the country with President Trump despite a judge’s orders.

U.S. District Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers, the judge presiding over Musk v. Altman, had told Musk when he left the stand that he was not excused from the trial and that he was still under “recall status,” meaning he should stay nearby and ready to testify. But he’s currently in Beijing

Elon Musk’s post

[X (formerly Twitter)]

Stevie Bonifield
Stevie Bonifield
Qualcomm is getting in on the Googlebook action.

Intel chips won’t be the only CPUs powering Google’s new Android-based laptops. Qualcomm also confirmed on Wednesday that it’s working on Googlebooks, but, like Intel, hasn’t given any details about the specific chips the laptops will feature:

Something special is coming this fall. In partnership with @Google, we’ve created Googlebook, a category of premium, powerful laptops built for intelligent experiences.

Sean Hollister
Sean Hollister
Epic and Google will be back in court on July 16th.

We already know what this hearing is about: three weeks ago, Judge Donato told Epic and Google they’d answer six specific pointed questions. The big one: would Google’s “Registered App Stores” really be better at curbing Google’s monopoly? Or should he keep forcing Google to carry rival stores inside its own?

I’ll be there.
I’ll be there.
Image: US District Courts
Elizabeth Lopatto
Elizabeth Lopatto
Microsoft and OpenAI rest.

There is no rebuttal case from Musk’s team. We will get closing statements tomorrow.

Elizabeth Lopatto
Elizabeth Lopatto
In the most boring expert testimony yet, Louis Dudney, a forensic accountant, testified about how those funds were spent.

It was on “functional expsenses,” ie, salaries, compute, etc. The cross is just arguing about the methodology of accounting for commingled money in the donated accounts. I can’t believe we are having a methodology dispute about this. I may die.

Victoria Song
Victoria Song
Do you also hate the new Gemini bar in Google Docs?

Turn it off by going to Gemini > Bottom Bar Preferences > Turn off.

Elizabeth Lopatto
Elizabeth Lopatto
The shade we are getting in here is incredible.

John Coates noted that he’s worked for a lot of law firms as an expert witness, including Quinn Emanuel, Musk’s primary firm — and not the one trying the case today. He is excused. The judge is now huddling in sidebar with the primary lawyers for the case, and an animated discussion is taking place.

Elizabeth Lopatto
Elizabeth Lopatto
The cross is focusing on Coates’ pay.

Also, he apparently has worked as an expert witness on a few Twitter cases, including the one where Musk tried to get out of buying Twitter. Incidentally, OpenAI’s lawyers are also the ones who made Musk buy Twitter. Is that deliberate shade? Who can say.

Elizabeth Lopatto
Elizabeth Lopatto
John Coates, OpenAI’s expert witness, is running a demolition derby on Musk’s expert witness.

Some highlights:

  • (while looking at a chart that the plaintiffs showed the jury) I paraphrase but: I don’t know how he thought his slide was a fair representation of anything, much less reality
  • “If he’s saying [the nonprofit] would own more of the for-profit if they hadn’t taken outside investment, that’s true, but then the pie would have been significantly smaller.” Coates would prefer 30 percent of a $200 billion than “a much larger share of a much smaller pie.”
  • The nonprofit has “benefitted enormously” from the for-profit “so I don’t understand his argument.”