Anthropic: 250 Malicious Documents Can Backdoor LLMs — Summary & Implications Anthropic, in collaboration with the UK AI Security Institute and the Alan Turing Institute, released a report showing that a surprisingly small number of malicious documents can poison large language models during pretraining. Key points: Core finding: Injecting as few as 250 malicious documents into pretraining data can backdoor LLMs across model sizes (tested from ~600M to 13B parameters). Why it matters: The result challenges the assumption that attackers need to control a large percentage of training data to succeed. Small, targeted data injections can induce dangerous or unwanted behaviors. Evidence: Anthropic’s report and accompanying PDF detail experiments and results. An arXiv version is also available. Collaborators: UK AI Security Institute; Alan Turing Institute. Links for more information: Anthropic…

Mario & Wario lands on Nintendo Switch Online SNES — now worldwide Nintendo quietly released the Japan-only Super Famicom title Mario & Wario to the SNES library on Nintendo Switch Online. Originally released in 1993 and never officially available outside Japan until now, the point-and-click puzzle game puts Mario (after a bucket is dropped on his head by his money-obsessed doppelganger) through 100 mouse-driven levels. How it plays on Switch The original game required a mouse to control a fairy that helps Mario; the Switch release keeps that mouse-driven design. On current Switch models you can use a USB mouse. On the Nintendo Switch 2, Joy-Cons can be flipped and used as a mouse — a neat additional use for the new controllers. Other SNES additions Alongside Mario & Wario,…

Lyft + Tensor Auto: 'Lyft‑ready' Robocars and what it means for owners Lyft has partnered with San Jose‑based Tensor Auto, reserving “hundreds” of Tensor Robocars and planning to operate its own fleet. Tensor will ship Robocars that are "Lyft‑ready" straight from the factory, allowing owners in Level‑4 approved regions to list their vehicles on Lyft and earn income when the cars aren’t in personal use. Key specs 37 cameras 5 LiDARs 11 radars 8 NVIDIA Blackwell chips (Tensor claims ~8,000 trillion ops/sec) Planned deliveries begin by end of 2026 Production in Vietnam via VinFast partnership; Tensor spun out from AutoX and divested China ops Why it matters Tensor's approach flips traditional car ownership by turning private luxury vehicles into productive assets that can generate income when regulatory frameworks allow. It's…

OpenAI’s Sora Hits 1 Million Downloads in Under Five Days OpenAI’s Sora — an app that serves an endless vertical feed of AI-generated short videos — reached over 1 million downloads in less than five days, according to Sora head Bill Peebles. That milestone came despite the app being invite-only and only available in North America. What Sora Does Feeds: An endless, TikTok-like vertical feed of AI-generated videos rather than user uploads. Creation: Users can generate a 10-second video by prompting OpenAI’s Sora 2 model in the app. Cameo: Lets people create videos of themselves or anyone who has agreed to share their likeness. Growth & Availability Sora’s rapid download pace — reportedly faster than ChatGPT’s early run — shows strong interest. However, download counts don’t always equal active users,…

Monarch Money — 30% off annual plan (WELCOME) Monarch Money is a highly customizable budgeting app. Right now new users can use the code WELCOME at checkout to get 30% off the annual plan — typically $100/year, reduced to $70. Key caveats: this discount is for new users only, cannot be combined with other offers, and must be redeemed through the Monarch website (it won’t redeem via the mobile app). Why consider Monarch? Detailed dashboard: net worth, latest transactions, spending vs prior month, income, upcoming bills, investments, and goals. Month-in-review page for in-depth monthly breakdowns. Connects to banks and tracks Apple Card, Apple Cash and Savings; imports transaction and balance history and detects recurring expenses/income. Can keep car valuation updated. Note: Monarch can take more setup and has a steeper…

Sony & AMD Tease "Project Amethyst" Sony and AMD released a discussion video featuring Mark Cerny (lead architect of PS4/PS5) and Jack Huynh (SVP & GM, AMD Computing and Graphics Group) outlining early research collectively called Project Amethyst. The demo technologies—Neural Arrays, Radiance Cores, and Universal Compression—are intended to improve ray tracing, ML-based upscaling, and GPU efficiency for Sony's next PlayStation and future AMD GPUs. Key Technologies Neural Arrays Neural Arrays enable compute units to work together and share data across a larger tile of the screen, improving efficiency for machine-learning workloads such as upscaling (e.g., FSR/PSSR) and ray regeneration. AMD says this will deliver a "whole new level of machine learning performance." Radiance Cores Radiance Cores are a new fixed-function hardware block designed to accelerate ray and path tracing…

YouTube launches ‘Second Chances’ pilot for some terminated creators YouTube has started a pilot “second chances” program allowing some previously terminated creators to request a fresh channel on the platform. The company says eligible creators can apply to create a new channel, but they will not regain access to their old channels, subscribers, or content. Key details New channels only: Anyone approved can create a brand-new channel; terminated channels and subscriber lists remain inaccessible. Eligibility is limited and vague: YouTube says only "qualified creators" can apply and hasn’t published a full list of eligible termination types. Not for copyright repeat offenders: Creators banned for copyright infringement are explicitly excluded from applying. Review process: YouTube will roll the pilot out over months and review requests carefully, considering severity and persistence of…

Logitech MX Master 4: Our impressions of the new mouse generation Since last month we've been rolling out the new Logitech MX Master 4 at our Mac workstations. Previously we mainly used ergonomic, vertical designs like the Logitech Lift because their pronated (vertical) hand position reduces strain on the joints. Moving back to a classic mouse shape naturally came with some reservations. What’s new in the MX Master 4 Haptic feedback built into the thumb rest for tactile shortcuts. Action Ring: an on-thumb circular menu for app-specific shortcuts (media, file manager, AI tools, etc.). Available in multiple colors and partly made from post-consumer recycled plastics. Wireless, high-precision sensor and a host of customizable buttons geared toward productivity users. Our experience Switching from the Lift to the MX Master 4 felt…

Proton VPN Free Plan Adds Canada & Norway — Now 8 Countries Proton VPN has expanded its Free plan to include servers in Canada and Norway, bringing the total number of countries with free servers to eight: United States, Netherlands, Japan, Poland, Romania, Singapore, Canada and Norway. How the Free Plan Works Free users cannot manually select a server location. The Proton VPN app auto-selects the fastest available free server when you connect. This means you may not be able to pick a specific country (for example, Norway) for streaming or geo-unblocking unless you upgrade to a paid plan. Why the Update Matters Adding more free server locations helps reduce congestion on existing free servers, which can improve speeds for everyone on the free tier. It also means users in…

Indiana Jones and the Great Circle — Anniversary Update (Oct 10, 2025) MachineGames is releasing a free anniversary update for Indiana Jones and the Great Circle on October 10, 2025 for PS5, Xbox Series X/S and PC. The update adds a number of new features, quality‑of‑life improvements and bug fixes. What’s new New Game+: Replay the main story with most upgrades carrying over, including adventure books (skills), medicine bottles, currency and any unspent adventure points. Completing New Game+ unlocks a new after‑credits ending sequence. Cairo outfit: The classic outfit Indiana Jones wore in Raiders of the Lost Ark is now available (wearable when Indy isn’t disguised). More outfits are promised soon. Voice language mixing: Mix any of the 9 voice languages with any of the 14 text/subtitle languages in the…