31 – Breaking News & Latest Updates 2026
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Jacob Kastrenakes

Jacob Kastrenakes

Executive Editor

Executive Editor

    More From Jacob Kastrenakes

    Jacob Kastrenakes
    Jacob Kastrenakes
    TikTok sees an endless loop between its video feed and music streaming service.

    The company’s music head, Ole Obermann, talked to Semafor about how that’ll work:

    “The music that gets served up to you in terms of recommendations in TikTok Music will be heavily influenced by what we already know about your musical tastes through TikTok ... you could also be in TikTok Music with a playlist of your favorite songs, and then, say, go make a video using a particular song as the soundtrack.”

    The service has already debuted in Indonesia and Brazil and is going to expand “eventually.”

    A key feature of NFTs has completely brokenA key feature of NFTs has completely broken
    Jacob Kastrenakes
    Jacob Kastrenakes
    Jacob Kastrenakes
    Eric Schmidt is starting a science nonprofit that revolves around AI.

    Semafor reports that the former Google CEO has hired a biotech researcher and a chemistry professor to run the initiative.

    They’re supposed to focus on cracking “scientific challenges” by using AI — something Schmidt is bullish will “transform the way science gets done.” From Semafor:

    Schmidt wants the new nonprofit to become a big draw for top talent in science and AI, two areas that are converging to potentially create breakthroughs in everything from drug discovery to material sciences ... The project is still in the early stages, the people said, and exact plans could change.

    Jacob Kastrenakes
    Jacob Kastrenakes
    I still want to see Face ID on the Mac.

    Apple was granted a patent today for a “Light Recognition Module for Determining a User of a Computing Device” — aka an infrared light and scanner that could log you in to a MacBook or iMac.

    Unfortunately, there’s no implication that this is actively on its way: the patent was filed back in 2019. We’ve gotten notches on MacBooks since then, and there’s no Face ID in sight.

    A diagram of a MacBook Pro with Touchbar with a notch at the top of the screen.
    A diagram from Apple’s Face ID for Mac patent. Further images show scanning hardware within the notch.
    Image: Apple / USPTO
    Jacob Kastrenakes
    Jacob Kastrenakes
    YouTube is still testing that ad-blocker blocker.

    The crackdown is coming. Search Engine Land spotted the latest test, which tells users to unblock ads or they’ll be blocked from watching any videos. A previous test showed a warning saying people could watch three videos before being blocked.

    YouTube spokesperson Oluwa Falodun previously told us:

    We take disabling playback very seriously, and will only disable playback if viewers ignore repeated requests to allow ads on YouTube.

    Jacob Kastrenakes
    Jacob Kastrenakes
    The Colosseum rumor lives on.

    “Everything done will pay respect to the past and present of Italy,” Elon Musk wrote in an X post this morning. Does the Italian government know this? Does Mark Zuckerberg? I know where I’m putting my money.

    Meanwhile, Musk also mentioned needing shoulder surgery, which would certainly delay a fight. “Recovery will only take a few months,” Musk wrote.

    Jacob Kastrenakes
    Jacob Kastrenakes
    Rough news for the World Scrabble Championship, which was down to a peak of just 900 Twitch viewers this year.

    Wait, sorry, my mistake: 900 is a “Scrabble-record audience,” according to Slate.

    I love Scrabble, but there’s a dude asleep in bed right now who has over 1,000 concurrents.

    Jacob Kastrenakes
    Jacob Kastrenakes
    Some highlights from CNBC’s interview with X CEO Linda Yaccarino:

    -Yaccarino said she has “autonomy” under Elon. “[He] focuses on new technology ... and I’m responsible for the rest.”

    -She demurred on the Musk v Zuckerberg fight. “We’ll see if that cage match really does happen.”

    -But she said Elon really is training for it. “I’ve had a front row seat of witnessing that.”

    -As for Threads, she thinks Meta’s rival is skating to where the puck already is. “They may be building to what Twitter was ... and we’re focused on what X will be.”