89 – Breaking News & Latest Updates 2026
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Richard Lawler

Richard Lawler

Senior News Editor

Senior News Editor

    More From Richard Lawler

    Netflix snagged global streaming rights for NFL Christmas Day gamesNetflix snagged global streaming rights for NFL Christmas Day games
    Richard Lawler
    Richard Lawler
    Microsoft’s new Windows 11 update brings fixes for the VPN problems from the last update.

    It’s Patch Tuesday, and Microsoft says a problem that caused VPN connections to fail after installing the April 2024 security update can be resolved by installing an update released today, May 14th.

    According to the notes for KB5037771:

    This update addresses a known issue that might cause your VPN connection to fail. This occurs after you install the update dated April 9, 2024, or later.

    May 14, 2024—KB5037771 (OS Builds 22621.3593 and 22631.3593) - Microsoft Support

    [support.microsoft.com]

    Richard Lawler
    Richard Lawler
    Android will use Gemini Nano AI for TalkBack image descriptions.

    At Google I/O 2024 today, Google announced a multimodal version of Gemini Nano, allowing the on-device processing-powered AI model to recognize images, sounds, and spoken language in addition to text.

    Those multimodal capabilities are also coming to the Android accessibility feature TalkBack, using AI to fill in missing information about unlabeled images, without requiring a connection to the internet.

    Animation showing Google Talkback powered by Gemini Nano AI recognizing an image and describing it for a user as “A close-up of a black and white gingham dress. The dress is shor with a collard and long sleeves. It is tied as the waist with a big bow.”
    Google notes that “Description of images may vary.”
    Image: Google
    Richard Lawler
    Richard Lawler
    How many times did Google say AI today?

    Obviously, someone noticed our video that clipped every single AI mention at I/O 2023 last year. Sundar Pichai closed the 2024 keynote by showing how AI can save us some work by using it to keep track. At the time, it was up to 121 AI mentions.

    ...by the time they were finished, it was probably more like 124.

    Google CEO Sundar Pichai in front of a sign showing how many times “AI” was said during the I/O 2024 keynote (at that point, it was 121).
    Image: Google
    Apple News Plus is ready to work offlineApple News Plus is ready to work offline
    Richard Lawler
    Richard Lawler
    OpenAI’s “ChatGPT and GPT-4” Spring Update stream starts in 20 minutes.

    What is the company announcing one day ahead of Google’s presumably AI-heavy I/O 2024 event tomorrow? According to Sam Altman, what OpenAI has in store is not the rumored search engine or GPT-5 updates, but we’ll find out what it really is at 1PM ET / 10AM PT.

    Richard Lawler
    Richard Lawler
    Nintendo Switch direct sharing to X / Twitter ends on June 10th.

    Just like PlayStation a few months ago and the Xbox platform last spring, Nintendo’s Twitter sharing features are disappearing as the X API lockdown tightens. (The send friend requests to social media from your Switch feature is also going away.)

    The X Gaming account claims “Our partnership with Nintendo remains strong,” so we’ll see which integrations end up on the “Switch 2.”

    Microsoft’s ‘air gapped’ AI is a bot set up to process top-secret infoMicrosoft’s ‘air gapped’ AI is a bot set up to process top-secret info
    Richard Lawler
    Richard Lawler
    The first Boeing Starliner flight with astronauts is delayed again.

    The Crew Flight Test was scrubbed Monday night just as the astronauts settled into position, but now NASA says the launch will be pushed back by a couple of weeks, at least.

    NASA’s Boeing Crew Flight Test now is targeted to launch no earlier than 6:16 p.m. EDT Friday, May 17, to the International Space Station. Following a thorough data review completed on Tuesday, ULA (United Launch Alliance) decided to replace a pressure regulation valve on the liquid oxygen tank on the Atlas V rocket’s Centaur upper stage.

    NASA’s Boeing Crew Flight Test Targets New Launch Date

    [NASA]

    Richard Lawler
    Richard Lawler
    What’s next for Bluesky?

    Even without one Jack Dorsey, the social platform does have some new features on the roadmap, including:

    DMs, video, improved Custom Feeds, better anti-harassment features, and a new login tool called “OAuth”

    These are coming “over the next few months,” with a plan for off-protocol, one to one direct messages, and 90 second video clips.

    Product Roadmap - Bluesky

    [Bluesky]

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