Apple's macOS 26 "Tahoe" introduces a new disk image format called [1]ASIF , designed to dramatically improve performance over previous formats like UDRW and sparse bundles -- [2]achieving near-native read/write speeds for virtual machines and general disk image use . The Eclectic Light Company reports:

> Apple provides few technical details, other than stating that the intrinsic structure of ASIF disk images doesn't depend on the host file system's capabilities, and their size on the host depends on the size of the data stored in the disk. In other words, they're a sparse file in APFS, and are flagged as such. [...]

>

> Conclusions:

> - Where possible, in macOS 26 Tahoe in particular, VMs should use ASIF disk images rather than RAW/UDRW.

> - Unless a sparse bundle is required (for example when it's hosted on a different file system such as that in a NAS), ASIF should be first choice for general purpose disk images in Tahoe.

> - It would be preferable for virtualizers to be able to call a proper API rather than a command tool.

> - Keep an eye on [3]C-Command's DropDMG . I'm sure it will support ASIF disk images soon.



[1] https://developer.apple.com/documentation/virtualization/vzdiskimagestoragedeviceattachment/

[2] https://eclecticlight.co/2025/06/12/macos-tahoe-brings-a-new-disk-image-format/

[3] https://c-command.com/dropdmg/

An anonymous reader quotes a report from 404 Media:

> Almost two dozen digital rights and consumer protection organizations sent a complaint to the Federal Trade Commission on Thursday [1]urging regulators to investigate Character.AI and Meta's "unlicensed practice of medicine facilitated by their product," through therapy-themed bots that [2]claim to have credentials and confidentiality "with inadequate controls and disclosures ." The [3]complaint and request for investigation is led by the Consumer Federation of America (CFA), a non-profit consumer rights organization. Co-signatories include the AI Now Institute, Tech Justice Law Project, the Center for Digital Democracy, the American Association of People with Disabilities, Common Sense, and 15 other consumer rights and privacy organizations. "These companies have made a habit out of releasing products with inadequate safeguards that blindly maximizes engagement without care for the health or well-being of users for far too long," Ben Winters, CFA Director of AI and Privacy said in a press release on Thursday. "Enforcement agencies at all levels must make it clear that companies facilitating and promoting illegal behavior need to be held accountable. These characters have already caused both physical and emotional damage that could have been avoided, and they still haven't acted to address it."

>

> The complaint, sent to attorneys general in 50 states and Washington, D.C., as well as the FTC, details how user-generated chatbots work on both platforms. It cites several massively popular chatbots on Character AI, including "Therapist: I'm a licensed CBT therapist" with 46 million messages exchanged, "Trauma therapist: licensed trauma therapist" with over 800,000 interactions, "Zoey: Zoey is a licensed trauma therapist" with over 33,000 messages, and "around sixty additional therapy-related 'characters' that you can chat with at any time." As for Meta's therapy chatbots, it cites listings for "therapy: your trusted ear, always here" with 2 million interactions, "therapist: I will help" with 1.3 million messages, "Therapist bestie: your trusted guide for all things cool," with 133,000 messages, and "Your virtual therapist: talk away your worries" with 952,000 messages. It also cites the chatbots and interactions I had with Meta's other chatbots for our April investigation. [...]

>

> In its complaint to the FTC, the CFA found that even when it made a custom chatbot on Meta's platform and specifically designed it to not be licensed to practice therapy, the chatbot still asserted that it was. "I'm licenced (sic) in NC and I'm working on being licensed in FL. It's my first year licensure so I'm still working on building up my caseload. I'm glad to hear that you could benefit from speaking to a therapist. What is it that you're going through?" a chatbot CFA tested said, despite being instructed in the creation stage to not say it was licensed. It also provided a fake license number when asked. The CFA also points out in the complaint that Character.AI and Meta are breaking their own terms of service. "Both platforms claim to prohibit the use of Characters that purport to give advice in medical, legal, or otherwise regulated industries. They are aware that these Characters are popular on their product and they allow, promote, and fail to restrict the output of Characters that violate those terms explicitly," the complaint says. [...] The complaint also takes issue with confidentiality promised by the chatbots that isn't backed up in the platforms' terms of use. "Confidentiality is asserted repeatedly directly to the user, despite explicit terms to the contrary in the Privacy Policy and Terms of Service," the complaint says. "The Terms of Use and Privacy Policies very specifically make it clear that anything you put into the bots is not confidential -- they can use it to train AI systems, target users for advertisements, sell the data to other companies, and pretty much anything else."



[1] https://consumerfed.org/testimonial/complaint-and-request-for-investigation-unlicensed-practice-of-medicine-and-mental-health-provider-impersonation-on-character-based-generative-ai-platforms/?ref=404media.co

[2] https://www.404media.co/ai-therapy-bots-meta-character-ai-ftc-complaint/

[3] https://consumerfed.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/Mental-Health-Chatbot-Complaint-June-10.pdf?ref=404media.co

High-voltage electricity cables have become a major constraint throttling the clean energy transition, with [1]manufacturing facilities booked out for years as demand far exceeds supply capacity. The energy transition, trade barriers, and overdue grid upgrades have turbocharged demand for these highly sophisticated cables that connect wind farms, solar installations, and cross-border power networks.

The International Energy Agency estimates that 80 million kilometers of grid infrastructure must be built between now and 2040 to meet clean energy targets -- equivalent to rebuilding the entire existing global grid that took a century to construct, but compressed into just 15 years. Each high-voltage cable requires custom engineering and months-long production in specialized 200-meter towers, with manufacturers reporting that 80-90% of major projects now use high-voltage direct current technology versus traditional alternating current systems.



[1] https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2025-06-12/there-aren-t-enough-cables-to-meet-growing-electricity-demand

GameStop is leaning heavily to trading cards as part of its future strategy, according to CEO Ryan Cohen. The news comes as a part of larger strategy shift to buy and hold a lot of bitcoin. From a report:

> Cohen has said that continuing to focus on trading cards, including the incredibly popular recent Pokemon card sets, is [1]a "natural extension" of GameStop's business . He added that the collectibles could have potential for high profit margins.

>

> Pokemon cards have a seen a gigantic resurgence recently. Stores regularly sell of sets, including the Destined Rivals set that launched on May 30. Cards have become increasingly hard to find as scalpers buy up supply and sell Pokemon card products -- including cards, special boxes, and accessories -- at exorbitant prices.



[1] https://www.gamespot.com/articles/gamestop-ceo-says-the-companys-future-isnt-in-games/1100-6532407/

At WWDC 2024, Apple [1]showed off a dramatically improved Siri that could handle complex contextual queries like "when is my mom's flight landing?" The demo was heavily edited due to latency issues and couldn't be shown in a single take. Multiple Apple engineers reportedly learned about the feature by watching the keynote alongside everyone else. Those features [2]never shipped .

Now, nearly a year later, Apple executives Craig Federighi and Greg Joswiak are [3]conducting press interviews claiming the 2024 demonstration wasn't "vaporware" because working code existed internally at the time. The company says the features will arrive "in the coming year" -- which Apple confirmed means sometime in 2026.

Apple is essentially arguing that internal development milestones matter more than actual product delivery. The executives have also been setting up strawman arguments, claiming critics expected Apple to build a ChatGPT competitor rather than addressing the core issue: [4]announcing features to sell phones that then don't materialize. The company's timeline communication has been equally problematic, using euphemistic language like "in the coming year" instead of simply saying "2026" for features that won't arrive for nearly two years after announcement.

Developer Russell Ivanovic, [5]in a Mastodon post :

> My guy. You announced something that never shipped. You made ads for it. You tried to sell iPhones based on it. What's the difference if you had it running internally or not. Still vaporware. Zero difference.

[6]MG Siegler :

> The underlying message that they're trying to convey in all these interviews is clear: calm down, this isn't a big deal, you guys are being a little crazy. And that, in turn, aims to undercut all the reporting about the turmoil within Apple -- for years at this point -- that has led to the situation with Siri. Sorry, the situation which they're implying is not a situation. Though, I don't know, normally when a company shakes up an entire team, that tends to suggest some sort of situation. That, of course, is never mentioned. Nor would you expect Apple -- of all companies -- to talk openly and candidly about internal challenges. But that just adds to this general wafting smell in the air.

>

> The smell of bullshit.

Further reading : [7]Apple's Spin on the Personalized Siri Apple Intelligence Reset .



[1] https://apple.slashdot.org/story/24/06/10/1832242/apple-unveils-apple-intelligence

[2] https://apple.slashdot.org/story/25/03/07/1833202/apple-delays-more-personalized-siri-apple-intelligence-features

[3] https://apple.slashdot.org/story/25/06/11/144258/apple-executives-defend-ai-strategy

[4] https://apple.slashdot.org/story/25/03/10/1936216/apple-pulls-iphone-16-ad-showing-off-more-personal-siri

[5] https://mastodon.social/@rustyshelf/114667389093029657

[6] https://spyglass.org/spyglasslighting/

[7] https://daringfireball.net/2025/06/apples_spin_on_the_personalized_siri_apple_intelligence_reset

Walmart and Amazon are exploring the possibility of issuing their own stablecoins in the United States, WSJ [1]reported Friday , potentially shifting billions of dollars in transaction volume away from traditional banks and card networks. The retail giants, along with Expedia Group and several airlines, have recently discussed launching corporate stablecoins that would allow them to circumvent the existing payments infrastructure dominated by Visa and Mastercard.

The companies' final decisions hinge on passage of the Genius Act, legislation currently moving through Congress that would establish a regulatory framework for stablecoins. These digital currencies maintain a one-to-one exchange ratio with dollars and are backed by cash or Treasury reserves, offering merchants the potential for faster payment settlement and significantly reduced processing fees compared to traditional card transactions that can take days to clear.



[1] https://www.msn.com/en-us/money/companies/walmart-and-amazon-are-exploring-issuing-their-own-stablecoins/ar-AA1GDQts

Google is rolling out a test that puts its AI-powered Audio Overviews on the first page of search results on mobile. From a report:

> The experiment, which you can enable in Labs, will let you [1]generate an AI podcast-style discussion for certain queries . If you search for something like, "How do noise cancellation headphones work?", Google will display a button beneath the "People also ask" module that says, "Generate Audio Overview." Once you click the button, it will take up to 40 seconds to generate an Audio Overview, according to Google. The completed Audio Overview will appear in a small player embedded within your search results, where you can play, pause, mute, and adjust the playback speed of the clip.



[1] https://www.theverge.com/news/686904/google-audio-overviews-ai-podcast-search

The United States is mounting an ambitious effort to [1]reclaim nuclear energy leadership after falling dangerously behind China, which now has 31 reactors under construction and plans 40 more within a decade. America produces less nuclear power than it did a decade ago and abandoned uranium mining and enrichment capabilities, leaving Russia controlling roughly half the world's enriched uranium market.

This strategic vulnerability has triggered an unprecedented response: venture capitalists invested $2.5 billion in US next-generation nuclear technology since 2021, compared to near-zero in previous years, while the Trump administration issued executive orders to accelerate reactor deployment. The urgency stems from AI's city-sized power requirements and recognition that America cannot afford to lose what Interior Secretary Doug Burgum calls "the power race" with China.

Companies like Standard Nuclear in Oak Ridge, Tennessee are good examples of this push, developing advanced reactor fuel despite employees working months without pay.



[1] https://www.msn.com/en-us/money/companies/the-audacious-reboot-of-america-s-nuclear-energy-program/ar-AA1GuSbK

Google is rolling out new Gemini AI features for Workspace users that make it [1]easier to find information in PDFs and form responses . From a report:

> The Gemini-powered file summarization capabilities in Google Drive have now expanded to PDFs and Google Forms, allowing key details and insights to be condensed into a more convenient format that saves users from manually digging through the files.

>

> Gemini will proactively create summary cards when users open a PDF in their drive and present clickable actions based on its contents, such as "draft a sample proposal" or "list interview questions based on this resume." Users can select any of these options to make Gemini perform the desired task in the Drive side panel. The feature is available in more than 20 languages and started rolling out to Google Workspace users on June 12th, though it may take a couple of weeks to appear.



[1] https://www.theverge.com/news/686684/google-gemini-ai-workspace-pdf-form-summary-features

An anonymous reader shares a report:

> In less than three months' time, almost no civil servant, police officer or judge in Schleswig-Holstein will be using any of Microsoft's ubiquitous programs at work. Instead, the northern state will [1]turn to open-source software to "take back control" over data storage and ensure "digital sovereignty," its digitalisation minister, Dirk Schroedter, told AFP. "We're done with Teams!" he said, referring to Microsoft's messaging and collaboration tool and speaking on a video call -- via an open-source German program, of course.

>

> The radical switch-over affects half of Schleswig-Holstein's 60,000 public servants, with 30,000 or so teachers due to follow suit in coming years. The state's shift towards open-source software began last year. The current first phase involves ending the use of Word and Excel software, which are being [2]replaced by LibreOffice , while Open-Xchange is taking the place of Outlook for emails and calendars.



[1] https://www.france24.com/en/live-news/20250613-we-re-done-with-teams-german-state-hits-uninstall-on-microsoft

[2] https://linux.slashdot.org/story/24/04/04/1920219/german-state-moving-tens-of-thousands-of-pcs-to-linux-and-libreoffice

Scientists have successfully [1]grown beating human hearts inside pig embryos for the first time, marking a significant advance in developing human-animal chimeras for potential organ transplantation. The hybrid embryos survived for 21 days, during which the fingertip-sized hearts began beating, according to findings presented at the International Society for Stem Cell Research meeting in Hong Kong.

Researchers -- led by Lai Liangxue at the Guangzhou Institutes of Biomedicine and Health -- reprogrammed human stem cells to survive in pigs and introduced them into pig embryos with two heart development genes knocked out. The human cells, tagged with luminescent biomarkers, were visible glowing within the developing hearts.



[1] https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-025-01854-x

An anonymous reader shares a report:

> Slack, an instant-messaging service popular with businesses, recently [1]blocked other software firms from searching or storing Slack messages even if their customers permit them to do so, according to [2]a public disclosure from Slack's owner, Salesforce.

>

> The move, which hasn't previously been reported, could hamper fast-growing artificial intelligence startups that have used such access to power their services, such as Glean. Since the Salesforce change, Glean and other applications can no longer index, copy or store the data they access via the Slack application programming interface on a long-term basis, according to the disclosure. Salesforce will continue allowing such firms to temporarily use and store their customers' Slack data, but they must delete the data, the company said.



[1] https://www.theinformation.com/articles/salesforce-blocks-ai-rivals-using-slack-data

[2] https://slack.com/intl/en-gb/terms-of-service/api

Google will [1]discontinue its Android Instant Apps feature in December 2025, ending a nearly decade-long experiment that allowed users to try portions of mobile apps without installing them. The feature, rolled out in early 2017, enabled developers to create lightweight app versions under 15 megabytes that could run temporarily on users' devices when they tapped specific links.

The feature struggled with low developer uptake due to the technical complexity of creating these stripped-down app versions.



[1] https://www.androidauthority.com/google-killing-android-instant-apps-3567211/

An anonymous reader quotes a report from The Register:

> US Navy Secretary John Phelan has told the Senate the service [1]needs the right to repair its own gear , and will rethink how it writes contracts to keep control of intellectual property and ensure sailors can fix hardware, especially in a fight. Speaking to the Senate Armed Services Committee on Tuesday, Phelan cited the case of the USS Gerald R. Ford, America's largest and most expensive nuclear-powered aircraft carrier, which carried a price tag of [2]$13 billion . The ship was struggling to feed its crew of over 4,500 because six of its eight ovens were out of action, and sailors were barred by contract from fixing them themselves.

>

> "I am a huge supporter of right to repair," Phelan told the politicians. "I went on the carrier; they had eight ovens -- this is a ship that serves 15,300 meals a day. Only two were working. Six were out." He pointed out the Navy personnel are capable of fixing their own gear but are blocked by contracts that reserve repairs for vendors, often due to IP restrictions. That drives up costs and slows down basic fixes. According to the Government Accountability Office, [3]about 70 percent [PDF] of a weapon system's life-cycle cost goes to operations and support. A similar issue plagued the USS Gerald Ford's weapons elevators, which move bombs from deep storage to the flight deck. They reportedly took more than four years after delivery to become fully operational, delaying the carrier's first proper deployment. "They have to come out and diagnose the problem, and then they'll fix it," Phelan said. "It is crazy. We should be able to fix this."

"Our soldiers are immensely smart and capable and should not need to rely on a third party contractor to maintain their equipment. Oven repair is not rocket science: of course sailors should be able to repair their ovens," Kyle Wiens, CEO of repair specialists iFixit told The Register.

"It's gratifying to see Secretary Phelan echoing our work. The Navy bought it, the Navy should be able to fix it. Ownership is universal, and the same principles apply to an iPhone or a radar. Of course, the devil is in the details: the military needs service documentation, detailed schematics, 3D models of parts so they can be manufactured in the field, and so on. We're excited that the military is joining us on this journey to reclaim ownership."

Further reading: [4]Army Will Seek Right To Repair Clauses In All Its Contracts



[1] https://www.theregister.com/2025/06/11/us_navy_repair/

[2] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2pu76QQ_obc

[3] https://www.gao.gov/assets/gao-18-678.pdf

[4] https://tech.slashdot.org/story/25/05/01/2132224/army-will-seek-right-to-repair-clauses-in-all-its-contracts

"Spaceballs 2" is [1]officially in development nearly 40 years after the original parody hit theaters. The sequel, produced by Amazon MGM Studios and set for a 2027 release, will see Rick Moranis returning as Dark Helmet, Mel Brooks reprising his role as Yogurt, and Bill Pullman returning as Lone Starr. You can watch the teaser trailer [2]on YouTube . IGN reports:

> A trailer for the sequel to the classic '80s sci-fi Star Wars parody arrived today. Although it mostly comes with a special message from Brooks himself and a familiar text crawl that pokes fun at the long, long list of sequels that have come to theaters in the last 38 years, this is the most official look at Spaceballs 2 we've seen yet.

>

> "After 40 years, we asked, 'What do the fans want?' Brooks says in the Spaceballs 2 trailer. "But instead, we're making this movie." He added one final send-off: "May the Schwartz be with you."



[1] https://www.ign.com/articles/spaceballs-2-plots-a-course-for-2027-with-mel-brooks-in-first-teaser-trailer

[2] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WsK-KPi_w3w

Meta has [1]struck a new deal with geothermal startup XGS Energy to supply 150 megawatts of carbon-free electricity for its New Mexico data center. "Advances in AI require continued energy to support infrastructure development," Urvi Parekh, global head of energy at Meta, said in a press release. "With next-generation geothermal technologies like XGS ready for scale, geothermal can be a major player in supporting the advancement of technologies like AI as well as domestic data center development." The Verge reports:

> Geothermal plants generate electricity using Earth's heat; typically drawing up hot fluids or steam from natural reservoirs to turn turbines. That tactic is limited by natural geography, however, and the US gets around half a percent of its electricity from geothermal sources. Startups including XGS are trying to change that by making geothermal energy more accessible. Last year, Meta made a [2]separate 150MW deal with Sage Geosystems to develop new geothermal power plants. Sage is developing technologies to harness energy from hot, dry rock formations by drilling and pumping water underground, essentially creating artificial reservoirs. Google has its own partnership with another startup called Fervo developing similar technology.

>

> XGS Energy is also seeking to exploit geothermal energy from dry rock resources. It tries to set itself apart by reusing water in a closed-loop process designed to prevent water from escaping into cracks in the rock. The water it uses to take advantage of underground heat circulates inside a steel casing. Conserving water is especially crucial in a drought-prone state like New Mexico, where Meta is expanding its Los Lunas data center. Meta declined to say how much it's spending on this deal with XGS Energy. The initiative will roll out in two phases with a goal of being operational by 2030.



[1] https://www.theverge.com/news/686387/meta-ai-data-center-geothermal-energy-xgs

[2] https://hardware.slashdot.org/story/24/08/30/007231/meta-strikes-geothermal-energy-deal-to-power-us-data-centers

Meta's standalone AI app is broadcasting users' supposedly private conversations with the chatbot [1]to the public , creating what could amount to a widespread privacy breach. Users appear largely unaware that hitting the app's share button publishes their text exchanges, audio recordings, and images for anyone to see.

The exposed conversations reveal sensitive information: people asking for help with tax evasion, whether family members might face arrest for proximity to white-collar crimes, and requests to write character reference letters that include real names of individuals facing legal troubles. Meta provides no clear indication of privacy settings during posting, and if users log in through Instagram accounts set to public, their AI searches become equally visible.



[1] https://techcrunch.com/2025/06/12/the-meta-ai-app-is-a-privacy-disaster/

Meta has [1]invested $14.3 billion in Scale AI while recruiting the startup's CEO to join its AI team, marking an aggressive move by the social media giant to accelerate its AI development efforts. The unusual deal gives Meta a 49% non-voting stake in Scale, valuing the company at more than $29 billion. Scale co-founder Alexandr Wang will join Meta's "superintelligence" unit, which focuses on building AI systems that perform as well as humans -- a theoretical milestone known as artificial general intelligence.

Wang will remain on Scale's board while Jason Droege takes over as interim CEO. The investment represents Meta's intensified push to compete in AI development after CEO Mark Zuckerberg grew frustrated with the lukewarm reception of the company's Llama 4 language model, which launched in April. Since then, Zuckerberg has taken a hands-on approach to recruiting AI talent, hosting job candidates at his personal homes and reorganizing Meta's offices to position the superintelligence team closer to his workspace.



[1] https://ca.finance.yahoo.com/news/meta-invests-ai-firm-scale-014012442.html

Japan [1]must stop being overly optimistic about how quickly its population is going to shrink, economists have warned, as births plunge at a pace far ahead of core estimates. From a report:

> Japan this month said there were a total of 686,000 Japanese births in 2024, falling below 700,000 for the first time since records began in the 19th century and defying years of policy efforts to halt population decline. The total represented the ninth straight year of decline and pushed the country's total fertility rate -- the average number of children born per woman over her lifetime -- to a record low of 1.15.

>

> But public and parliamentary dismay over the latest evidence of Japan's decline was intensified by the extent to which the figures undershot population estimates calculated by government demographers just two years ago. The median forecast produced by the National Institute of Population and Social Security Research (IPSS) in 2023 did not foresee the number of annual births -- which does not include children born to non-Japanese people -- dropping into the 680,000 range until 2039.



[1] https://www.ft.com/content/1e7298ee-297f-41f4-b769-aa15f43a08d9

An anonymous reader quotes a report from TechCrunch:

> Two European journalists were [1]hacked using government spyware made by Israeli surveillance tech provider Paragon , new research has confirmed. On Thursday, digital rights group The Citizen Lab [2]published a new report detailing the results of a new forensic investigation into the iPhones of Italian journalist Ciro Pellegrino and an unnamed "prominent" European journalist. The researchers said both journalists were hacked by the same Paragon customer, based on evidence found on the two journalists' devices.

>

> Until now, there was no evidence that Pellegrino, who works for online news website [3]Fanpage , had been either targeted or hacked with Paragon spyware. When he was alerted by Apple at the end of April, the notification referred to a mercenary spyware attack, but did not specifically mention Paragon, nor whether his phone had been infected with the spyware. The confirmation of the first-ever known Paragon infections further deepens an ongoing spyware scandal that, for now, appears to be mostly focused on the use of spyware by the Italian government, but could expand to include other countries in Europe.

>

> These new revelations come months after WhatsApp [4]first notified around 90 of its users in over two dozen countries in Europe and beyond, including journalists, that they had been targeted with Paragon spyware, known as Graphite. Among those targeted were several Italians, including Pellegrino's colleague and Fanpage director Francesco Cancellato, as well as nonprofit workers who help rescue migrants at sea. Last week, Italy's parliamentary committee known as COPASIR, which oversees the country's intelligence agencies' activities, [5]published a report (PDF) that said it found no evidence that Cancellato was spied on. The report, which confirmed that Italy's internal and external intelligence agencies AISI and AISE were Paragon customers, made no mention of Pellegrino. The Citizen Lab's new report puts into question COPASIR's conclusions.



[1] https://techcrunch.com/2025/06/12/researchers-confirm-two-journalists-were-hacked-with-paragon-spyware/

[2] https://citizenlab.ca/2025/06/first-forensic-confirmation-of-paragons-ios-mercenary-spyware-finds-journalists-targeted/

[3] https://www.fanpage.it/

[4] https://yro.slashdot.org/story/25/01/31/1441220/whatsapp-says-journalists-and-civil-society-members-were-targets-of-israeli-spyware

[5] https://documenti.camera.it/_dati/leg19/lavori/documentiparlamentari/IndiceETesti/034/004/INTERO.pdf