2 – Breaking News & Latest Updates 2026
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Microsoft

It might not get the same kind of attention as Google and Apple, but Microsoft is still one of the biggest and most powerful tech companies operating today. It runs Azure, one of the biggest cloud computing services, and maintains Windows 11 and the whole Office suite of software. It also makes plenty of Surface hardware and has a whole slew of gaming products, including the Xbox Series X. But the company is ever expanding — building new hardware, acquiring new game studios, and making sure that even if Microsoft doesn’t run your phone, it can touch plenty of the apps on it.

Antonio G. Di Benedetto
Antonio G. Di Benedetto
MSI put Vincent van Gogh paintings on two limited edition laptops.

MSI is making limited edition versions of the Prestige 14 Flip AI Plus with two different van Gogh paintings on the lid: Starry Night and Starry Night Over the Rhône. I think I prefer last year’s Great Wave edition, but these are also lovely.

I called the Prestige one of the sleekest MSI laptops I’ve seen, but it didn’t look like this.

1/2Image: MSI
Antonio G. Di Benedetto
Antonio G. Di Benedetto
Only MSI could put this much dragon on a laptop.

MSI has made ridiculous dragon-themed laptops before, but this one takes the cake. Announced at Computex, the Titan 18 HX Dragon Edition Draco Epic takes the standard 18-inch Titan gaming laptop but adds the new flagship Intel Core Ultra 9 290HX Plus CPU, a 240Hz 4K screen, and a massive dragon design that’s etched and anodized right into the lid.

Never change, MSI.

<em>MSI didn’t share pricing, availability, or info about just how limited this limited edition will be.</em>
<em>It’ll come in a bundle that includes a matching mouse, desk mat, and collectible gold coin. Because dragons love gold, I suppose?</em>
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MSI didn’t share pricing, availability, or info about just how limited this limited edition will be.
Image: MSI
Antonio G. Di Benedetto
Antonio G. Di Benedetto
The MSI Katana and Venture laptops are getting a fresh redesign, but details are sparse.

MSI is announcing new versions of its Venture business laptops and Katana gaming laptops for Computex. Both have new designs, but MSI shared few details — not even availability or pricing. The key facts we know so far is that the Venture will get Intel Panther Lake chips and the Katana will have older Intel Raptor Lake Refresh CPUs and up to an RTX 5070 GPU.

<em>The new MSI Venture, which gets the same revised lid logo we first saw on the <a href="https://thevergetoday.pages.dev/news/851382/these-are-the-sleekest-msi-laptops-ive-ever-seen" target="_blank">recent Prestige models</a>.</em>
<em>The new MSI Katana, which will go up to an Intel Core i9 14900HX</em>.
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The new MSI Venture, which gets the same revised lid logo we first saw on the recent Prestige models.
Image: MSI
This extravagant gaming laptop could ruin other screens for you

I still love OLEDs, but the Asus ROG Strix Scar 18’s ELMB Mini LED display is amazing.

Antonio G. Di Benedetto
Emma Roth
Emma Roth
OpenAI’s Codex can now control your Windows computer, too.

After launching on Mac, Codex’s computer use feature is headed to Windows, which means the app can “see” your screen and perform tasks on your device. OpenAI says you can also manage and review Codex’s jobs while away from the computer using the ChatGPT app.

Jay Peters
Jay Peters
Microsoft is reportedly working on its own AI “super app.”

The app will combine GitHub Copilot, the Copilot chatbot, Copilot Cowork, and a “new agentic workflow capability internally named Autopilot” into one place, Fortune reports. Sounds like a Microsoft version of something like OpenAI’s “super app” ambitions.

Perhaps it will be shown off at Microsoft Build next week?

Stevie Bonifield
Stevie Bonifield
Microsoft launches preview of Copilot Health AI that can analyze your medical records.

Copilot Health, first announced in March, is now open to Microsoft 365 subscribers. Microsoft says they can use it to find doctors and get insights on data from connected medical records, wearables, and other apps like Apple Health, similar to health AI models from OpenAI and Anthropic.

Copilot Health: Now in Preview

[Microsoft Copilot Blog]

Jay Peters
Jay Peters
Microsoft is testing a screen tint feature for Windows 11.

It’s available for users in the Experimental Windows Insider channel. Microsoft says you can pick from six preset options or a custom color.

A screenshot of Windows 11’s screen tint feature.
Image: Microsoft
Stevie Bonifield
Stevie Bonifield
ChatGPT for PowerPoint generates presentations with prompts.

The new ChatGPT integration for Microsoft PowerPoint, like an earlier add-on for Excel and Google Sheets, adds a sidebar where users can create or edit presentations using chatbot prompts along with documents, images, and other source material.

The feature is available now in beta for ChatGPT users with Business, Enterprise, Edu, Teacher, K-12, Free, Go, Pro, and Plus plans.

A screenshot of a ChatGPT add-on running in Microsoft PowerPoint
Image: OpenAI / Microsoft
Richard Lawler
Richard Lawler
Anthropic is in talks to use Microsoft’s AI chips too.

Apparently, that SpaceX $15 billion per year megadeal isn’t even enough capacity for Claude, as The Information reports Anthropic is in early talks to rent Azure servers with Microsoft’s chips, and that “Anthropic has been steadily increasing its Azure usage.”

Like OpenAI, Microsoft’s arrangement with Anthropic runs hot and cold, but its Maia 200 chips are designed to help run existing models like Claude, even if they aren’t as fast at helping to train new ones.

Emma Roth
Emma Roth
GitHub says a data breach impacted 3,800 internal repositories.

The company traced the incident to a “poisoned” VS Code extension on an employee’s device. While the hacking group TeamPCP has claimed responsibility for the breach, GitHub says it has since removed the malicious extension and that the exfiltration was limited to internal data, as reported by Bleeping Computer.

Andrew Liszewski
Andrew Liszewski
You can now feel every intense PowerPoint image alignment through your mouse.

Logitech has announced its vibrating MX Master 4 mouse that debuted last September now natively supports Windows 11’s Advanced Haptics. A new firmware update now available adds haptic feedback effects to mundane actions like snapping windows during a resize and aligning PowerPoint objects, with additional effects being rolled out in the coming months.

The Logitech MX Master 4 mouse on a desk next to a keyboard, glass of water, and monitor displaying Windows 11.
Image: Logitech
Musk v. Altman proved that AI is led by the wrong people

Public opinion of the AI industry is already sinking. A parade of untrustworthy executives makes it look worse.

Hayden Field
Xbox is now XBOXXbox is now XBOX
Tom Warren
Elizabeth Lopatto
Elizabeth Lopatto
Apropos of nothing in particular...

I enjoyed reading this story about Bill Gates’ malevolent influence on the current crop of Silicon Valley megalomaniacs. If you remember his pre-Gates Foundation reputation, you will particularly appreciate it.

Whither the Nerd-Bully?

[The New York Review of Books]

I’m obsessed with Forza Horizon 6, and I’ve barely even raced

The latest open-world racer is a stunning virtual road trip through Japan, and it’s perfect for explorers.

Andrew Webster
Dominic Preston
Dominic Preston
A secret third thing.

New Xbox boss Asha Sharma is asking fans whether it should be Xbox or XBOX, when the real answer is right there, if only she could see it.

Chris K.:

Give it the gamertag treatment: xXxBOxXx

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