Bloomberg [1]reports (paywalled) that Apple's hardware chief John Ternus is the [2]frontrunner to replace Tim Cook as CEO , as Cook nears retirement and prepares to transition into a board chairman role. The Economic Times reports:

> Cook is turning 65 next month. Chief operating officer John Williams -- once heir apparent -- has handed over the reins of day-to-day operations to Sabih Khan and is on his way out. Even as Cook steps down as CEO, he will stay involved in some capacity, likely as board chairman. [...]

>

> While Khan and Apple's retail chief Deirdre O'Brien can run daily operations, Ternus remains the leading contender for the corner office after Cook, Gurman said. Firstly, he is 50 years old -- the same as Cook when he became CEO -- giving him over a decade to hold the office, he noted. Secondly, Apple needs a technologist instead of a sales person at the helm, considering the company's ambitions, Gurman wrote in the newsletter. While the Cupertino tech giant has managed to expand its homegrown line of chipsets, and the [3]recently launched iPhone 17 lineup is drawing in customers, the company has struggled to find success in categories such as mixed reality, generative artificial intelligence (AI), smart homes and autonomous driving.

>

> Ternus was in the spotlight during Apple's annual hardware event in September, which saw the launch of the iPhone 17 Air, the first major design overhaul for the smartphone family in a long time. Over the years, he has gained more responsibilities under Cook, taking calls on product roadmaps, features and strategies, overseeing matters beyond the traditional scope of a hardware engineering chief, Gurman said.



[1] https://www.bloomberg.com/news/newsletters/2025-10-05/who-will-be-apple-s-next-ceo-after-tim-cook-apple-shelves-vision-air-m5-ipad

[2] https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/tech/technology/apple-hardware-head-john-ternus-top-pick-to-succeed-tim-cook-as-ceo/articleshow/124334687.cms?from=mdr

[3] https://mobile.slashdot.org/story/25/09/09/1844201/apple-launches-iphone-17-lineup-featuring-ultra-thin-56mm-iphone-air

Police arrested 33-year-old Joseph Mayuyo after a series of online threats [1]forced TikTok to evacuate its Culver City headquarters . TechCrunch reports:

> A press release from the Culver City Police Department says that TikTok employees reported receiving multiple threats, across various social media platforms, from 33-year-old Hawthorne resident Joseph Mayuyo. After an additional message threatened TikTok's Culver City headquarters, police say company security evacuated the office "out of an abundance of caution."

>

> Police then investigated Mayuyo's home, according to the press release. During the investigation, he allegedly posted additional threatening statements, including one declaring that he would not be taken alive. Detectives obtained search and arrest warrants, and they negotiated with Mayuyo for 90 minutes before he voluntarily exited his home and was taken into custody, the police department says.

>

> Business Insider [2]reports that one TikTok employee described the threats as "really scary," while another was concerned that they seemed to specifically target the e-commerce department. Mayuyo's X account has reportedly been suspended for violating the platform's hateful content policy. A Medium account under his name published a post in July criticizing TikTokShop USA as a "scam."



[1] https://techcrunch.com/2025/10/05/suspect-arrested-after-threats-against-tiktoks-culver-city-headquarters/

[2] https://www.businessinsider.com/tiktok-shut-down-la-headquarters-after-series-of-online-threats-2025-10

An anonymous reader quotes a report from The Verge:

> OpenAI is [1]introducing a way to work with apps right inside ChatGPT. The idea is that, from within a conversation with the chatbot, you can essentially [2]tag in apps to help you complete a task while ChatGPT offers context and advice. [...]

>

> Apps available inside ChatGPT starting today will include Booking.com, Canva, Coursera, Expedia, Figma, Spotify, and Zillow. In the "weeks ahead," OpenAI will add more apps, such as DoorDash, OpenTable, Target, and Uber. [...] Developers can access the SDK for making apps in preview starting today. Later this year, developers will be able to submit apps for review and publication, and OpenAI also plans to offer a directory for users to browse apps, according to OpenAI CEO Sam Altman. The company will share guidance about monetization "soon," Altman says.

Last week, ChatGPT unveiled a new feature called "Instant Checkout" that [3]lets users buy stuff directly through its chatbot -- "part of its overall push to integrate it with the rest of the web," reports The Verge.



[1] https://openai.com/index/introducing-apps-in-chatgpt/

[2] https://www.theverge.com/news/793039/openai-chatgpt-apps-developers-sdk-canva-zillow-devday-2025

[3] https://news.slashdot.org/story/25/09/29/2119248/chatgpt-adds-instant-checkout-to-shop-directly-in-chat

Porsche's wireless charging system will not be available on the Macan Electric and Taycan because the inductive charging plate [1]cannot physically fit between the front suspension on those models . Dr. Maximilian Muller, Porsche's high voltage engineering lead, told The Drive during a visit to the company's Leipzig facility that the Cayenne Electric's larger dimensions create the necessary space for the charging hardware beneath the front motor. The Cayenne Electric is wider than both the Taycan and Macan Electric. The larger vehicle forced Porsche to design different suspension geometry even though it shares the PPE platform with the Macan Electric. The changes create additional packaging constraints that prevent retrofitting the wireless charging system into existing electric models.



[1] https://www.thedrive.com/news/porsche-cant-add-wireless-charging-to-macan-taycan-ev-because-the-inductive-plate-doesnt-fit

An anonymous reader shares a report:

> Pay-advance apps are marketed as a way to help workers living paycheck to paycheck pay for unexpected expenses, but workers are often using the apps to [1]manage basic expenses like groceries, rent and other needs , a new report found. The tools, consumer advocates say, can carry costs akin to those of traditional payday loans.

>

> An [2]analysis of anonymous data found worrisome behavior among users of the apps, including quick increases in the number of advances, advances from multiple apps at the same time and more frequent bank overdraft fees. "These findings reveal persistent patterns of financial strain that raise serious concerns about the long-term effects of these loans," said the report from the Center for Responsible Lending, a nonprofit consumer advocacy group. The group analyzed data from SaverLife, a nonprofit that promotes saving and sound financial practices among people with low or moderate incomes. The analysis found that heavy users of the apps paid $421, on average, in total loan and overdraft fees over a year, or almost triple the average paid by moderate users.



[1] https://www.nytimes.com/2025/10/03/your-money/cash-advance-apps-workers-expenses.html?unlocked_article_code=1.rU8.1aTS.9Ai74MUvhcrk

[2] https://www.responsiblelending.org/research-publication/escalating-debt-real-impact-payday-loan-apps-sold-earned-wage-advances-ewa

[1]BrianFagioli writes:

> Canonical has revealed the codename for Ubuntu 26.04 LTS: [2]Resolute Raccoon . The announcement came today on X through the official @ubuntu account, continuing the tradition of pairing an adjective with an animal for each release. As an LTS version, it will be supported for five years and serve as the foundation for servers, desktops, and cloud deployments when it launches in April 2026.

>

> While the name itself is now public, the features of Ubuntu 26.04 remain under wraps. The community will be watching closely to see which kernel it ships with, how GNOME evolves, and what improvements land for enterprise and container use. For now, fans simply have a raccoon mascot to rally around as the countdown to April begins.



[1] https://slashdot.org/~BrianFagioli

[2] https://nerds.xyz/2025/10/ubuntu-26-04-resolute-raccoon/

Microsoft said in a statement Monday it remains committed to [1]developing first-party Xbox consoles . The reassurance came after rumors circulated suggesting the gaming division might abandon hardware manufacturing. The speculation gained traction [2]following a 50% price increase for Xbox Game Pass Ultimate and retailers including Costco removing Xbox products from their shelves.

Microsoft said it is "actively investing in our future first-party consoles and devices designed, engineered and built by Xbox." The company's multi-year partnership with AMD for next-generation hardware also continues. Devices in development include the Xbox Ally range under codenames Omni and Horseman, according to Windows Central. Xbox Series X and Series S production has also not stopped, the report added.



[1] https://www.windowscentral.com/gaming/no-xboxs-next-gen-console-hardware-plans-arent-cancelled

[2] https://games.slashdot.org/story/25/10/01/1515205/microsoft-raises-xbox-game-pass-top-subscription-50-to-30-monthly

An anonymous reader shares a report:

> OpenAI CEO Sam Altman said Monday that ChatGPT has [1]reached 800 million weekly active users , marking an increase of adoption among consumers, developers, enterprises, and governments. ChatGPT's impressive growth comes as OpenAI is on a race to secure as many AI chips and build as much AI infrastructure as possible. In August, OpenAI said it was on the cusp of [2]reaching 700 million weekly active users , already an increase from 500 million weekly active users at the end of March.

>

> "Today, 4 million developers have built with OpenAI," Altman said. "More than 800 people use ChatGPT every week, and we process over 6 billion tokens per minute on the API. Thanks to all of you, AI has gone from something people build play with to something people build with every day." Altman made the announcement during the keynote presentation for OpenAI's Dev Day, which also included announcement for new tools for building apps inside of ChatGPT, as well as constructing more complex agentic systems. "This will enable a new generation of apps that are interactive, adaptive, and personalized, that you can chat with," Altman said.



[1] https://techcrunch.com/2025/10/06/sam-altman-says-chatgpt-has-hit-800m-weekly-active-users/

[2] https://slashdot.org/story/25/08/04/200209/chatgpt-nears-700-million-weekly-users-up-4x-from-last-year

An anonymous reader [1]shares a report :

> Tucked in the foothills of Tennessee's Smoky Mountains is a factory that has figured out a way to manufacture in America that's cheaper, quicker and better. It's the home of a famous American writing implement: the Sharpie marker. Pen barrels whirl along automated assembly lines that rapidly fill them with ink. At least half a billion Sharpie markers are churned out here every year, each one made of six parts. Only the felt tip is imported, from Japan.

>

> It didn't used to be this way. Back in 2018, many Sharpies were made abroad. That's when Chris Peterson, who was the CFO of Sharpie maker Newell Brands challenged his team to answer a question: How could they keep Newell from becoming obsolete compared with factories in Asia? "I felt like we had an opportunity to dramatically improve our U.S. manufacturing," he said. Peterson is now the CEO. And these days, most Sharpies -- in all 93 colors -- are made at this 37-year-old factory. Newell did it without reducing the employee count, and without raising prices. But to get to this place took close to $2 billion in investments across the company, thousands of hours of training and a total overhaul of the production process. The result is a playbook for making low-cost, high-volume products domestically, albeit one that requires long-term planning and a lot of investment.



[1] https://www.msn.com/en-us/money/companies/sharpie-found-a-way-to-make-pens-more-cheaply-by-manufacturing-them-in-the-u-s/ar-AA1NTbkZ

Deforestation is [1]draining color from butterfly populations in Brazil. Researchers studying butterflies in the state of EspÃrito Santo found 31 species in natural forests but only 21 in eucalyptus plantations. The plantation communities were dominated by brown-colored species. Roberto GarcÃa-Roa, part of the research project, said the colors on butterfly wings have been designed over millions of years.

Lead researcher Maider Iglesias-Carrasco from the University of Copenhagen observed a general feeling of emptiness in the plantations. Ricardo Spaniol from the Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul discovered in 2019 that the most colorful Amazonian species often disappear first after deforestation, probably because of the loss of native vegetation and increased exposure to predators. Eucalyptus plantations cover at least 22 million hectares around the world. Spaniol's research found that forested Amazon habitats regenerating for 30 years after use as cattle pasture showed a remarkable increase in butterfly color diversity.



[1] https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2025/oct/06/butterflies-losing-colour-cutting-down-tropical-forests-aoe

Deloitte will partially refund payment for an Australian government report that contained multiple errors after [1]admitting it was partly produced by AI [ [2]non-paywalled source ] . From a report:

> The Big Four accountancy and consultancy firm will repay the final instalment of its government contract after conceding that some footnotes and references it contained were incorrect, Australia's Department of Employment and Workplace Relations said on Monday. The department had commissioned a A$439,000 ($290,300) "independent assurance review" from Deloitte in December last year to help assess problems with a welfare system for automatically penalising jobseekers.

>

> The Deloitte review was first published earlier this year, but a corrected version was uploaded on Friday to the departmental website. In late August the Australian Financial Review reported that the document contained multiple errors, including references and citations to non-existent reports by academics at the universities of Sydney and Lund in Sweden. The substance of the review and its recommendations had not changed, the Australian government added. The contract will be made public once the transaction is completed, it said.



[1] https://www.ft.com/content/934cc94b-32c4-497e-9718-d87d6a7835ca

[2] https://www.theregister.com/2025/10/06/deloitte_ai_report_australia/

European labor regulations enacted nearly a century ago now impose costs on companies that [1]discourage investment in disruptive technologies . An American firm shedding workers incurs costs equivalent to seven months of wages per employee. In Germany the figure reaches 31 months. In France it reaches 38 months. The expense extends beyond severance pay and union negotiations. Companies retain unproductive workers they would prefer to dismiss.

New investments face delays of years as dismissed employees are gradually replaced. Olivier Coste, a former EU official turned tech entrepreneur, and economist Yann Coatanlem tracked these opaque restructuring costs and found that European firms avoid risky ventures because of them. Large companies typically finance ten risky projects where eight fail and require mass redundancies. Apple developed a self-driving car for years before abandoning the effort and firing 600 employees in 2024. The two successful projects generate profits worth many times the invested sums. This calculus works in America where failure costs remain low. In Europe the same bet becomes financially unviable.

European blue-chip firms sell products that are improved versions of what they sold in the 20th century -- turbines, shampoos, vaccines, jetliners. American star firms peddle AI chatbots, cloud computers, reusable rockets. Nvidia is worth more than the European Union's 20 biggest listed firms combined. Microsoft, Google, and Meta each fired over 10,000 staff in recent years despite thriving businesses. Satya Nadella called firing people during success the "enigma of success." Bosch and Volkswagen recently announced layoffs with timelines stretching to 2030.



[1] https://www.economist.com/europe/2025/10/02/how-europe-crushes-innovation

Fortune tested the AI Friend necklace for two weeks and found it [1]struggled to perform its basic function . The $129 pendant missed conversations entirely during the author's breakup call and could only offer vague questions about "fragments" when she tried to ask for advice. The device lagged seven to ten seconds behind her speech and frequently disconnected. The author had to press her lips against the pendant and repeat herself multiple times to get coherent replies. After a week and a half the necklace forgot her name and later misremembered her favorite color.

The startup has raised roughly seven million dollars in venture capital for the product and spent a large portion on eleven thousand subway posters across the MTA system. Sales reached three thousand units but only one thousand have shipped. The company brought in slightly under four hundred thousand dollars in revenue. The startup told Fortune he deliberately "lobotomized" the AI's personality after receiving complaints. The terms of service require arbitration in San Francisco and grant the company permission to collect audio and voice data for AI training.



[1] https://fortune.com/2025/10/03/friend-ai-necklace-review-avi-schiffmann/

Mary E. Brunkow, Fred Ramsdell and Shimon Sakaguchi [1]received the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine on Monday for their discoveries about how the immune system regulates itself. The three researchers split 11 million Swedish kroner ($1.17 million). Their work identified regulatory T cells and the FOXP3 gene that controls them. Dr. Sakaguchi spent more than a decade solving a puzzle about the thymus. He discovered that the immune system has a backup mechanism to stop harmful cells from attacking the body's own tissues. Dr. Brunkow and Dr. Ramsdell found the specific gene responsible for this process while studying mice that developed severe autoimmune disease.

More than 200 clinical trials are now underway based on their research. Cancers attract regulatory T cells to block immune attacks. Researchers are developing drugs to turn the immune system against these cancer cells. In autoimmune diseases, regulatory T cells are missing or defective. The FOXP3 gene provides a starting point for drugs that teach the immune system to stop attacking itself.



[1] https://www.npr.org/2025/10/06/g-s1-92178/medicine-nobel-prize-peripheral-immune-tolerance-brunkow-ramsdell-sakaguchi

OpenAI and AMD [1]announced a multibillion-dollar partnership on Monday for AI data centers running on AMD processors. OpenAI committed to purchasing 6 gigawatts worth of AMD's MI450 chips starting next year through direct purchases or through its cloud computing partners. AMD chief Lisa Su said the deal will result in tens of billions of dollars in new revenue over the next half-decade.

OpenAI will receive warrants for up to 160 million AMD shares at 1 cent per share, representing roughly 10% of the chip company. The warrants will be awarded in phases if OpenAI hits certain deployment milestones. The partnership marks AMD's biggest win in its quest to disrupt Nvidia's dominance among AI semiconductor companies. Mizuho Securities estimates that Nvidia controls more than 70% of the market for AI chips.



[1] https://apnews.com/article/openai-chatgpt-ai-chips-a4714748ede46621863f4860f608ac98

Steve Jobs died 14 years ago. But the blog Cult of Mac remembers that " [1]Jobs himself was not sentimental ."

> When he left Apple in the mid-1980s, he didn't even clear out his office. That meant personal mementos like his [2]first Apple stock certificate , which had hung on his office wall, got tossed in the trash. Shortly after returning to Apple in the late 1990s, he gave the [3]company's historical archive to Stanford University Libraries. The stash included records that Apple management kept since the mid-1980s. The reason Apple handed over this historical treasure trove? Jobs didn't want the company to fixate on the past...

>

> All of which goes some way to saying why it was so heartening that Steve Jobs' death received so much attention. He wasn't the richest technology CEO to die. But the reaction showed that his life — faults and all — meant a lot to a great number of people. Jobs helped create products people cared about, and in turn they cared about him.

The site [4] Mac Rumors remembered Sunday that Jobs "died just one day after Apple unveiled the iPhone 4S and Siri." Six years later, Apple CEO Tim Cook reflected on Jobs while [5]opening Apple's first-ever event at Steve Jobs Theater in 2017. "There is not a day that goes by that we don't think about him."

And Sunday Cook [6]posted this remembrance of Steve Jobs . "Steve saw the future as a bright and boundless place, lit the path forward, and inspired us to follow.

"We miss you, my friend."



[1] https://www.cultofmac.com/apple-history/steve-jobs-death

[2] https://www.cultofmac.com/news/buy-steve-jobs-first-apple-stock-certificate-just-195000

[3] https://oac.cdlib.org/findaid/ark:/13030/tf4t1nb0n3/

[4] https://www.macrumors.com/2025/10/05/remembering-steve/

[5] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f5iyULLIPg0

[6] https://x.com/tim_cook/status/1974822379663589796

The director of a tour operation remembers two tourists arriving in a rural town in Peru determined to hike alone in the mountains to a sacred canyon recommended by their AI chatbot. But the canyon didn't exists — and a high-altitude hike could be dangerous (especially where cellphone coverage is also spotty). They're [1]part of a BBC report on travellers arriving at their destination "only to find they've been fed incorrect information or steered to a place that only exists in the hard-wired imagination of a robot..."

"According to a [2]2024 survey , 37% of those surveyed who used AI to help plan their travels reported that it could not provide enough information, while around 33% said their AI-generated recommendations included false information." Some examples?

> - Dana Yao and her husband recently experienced this first-hand. The couple used ChatGPT to plan a romantic hike to the top of Mount Misen on the Japanese island of Itsukushima earlier this year. After exploring the town of Miyajima with no issues, they set off at 15:00 to hike to the montain's summit in time for sunset, exactly as ChatGPT had instructed them. "That's when the problem showed up," said Yao, a creator who runs a [3]blog about traveling in Japan , "[when] we were ready to descend [the mountain via] the ropeway station. ChatGPT said the last ropeway down was at 17:30, but in reality, the ropeway had already closed. So, we were stuck at the mountain top..."

>

> - A 2024 [4]BBC article reported that [dedicated travel AI site] [5]Layla briefly told users that there was an Eiffel Tower in Beijing and suggested a marathon route across northern Italy to a British traveller that was entirely unfeasible...

>

> - A recent [6] Fast Company article recounted an incident where a couple made the trek to a scenic cable car in Malaysia that they had seen on TikTok, only to find that no such structure existed. The video they'd watched had been entirely AI generated, either to drum up engagement or for some other strange purpose.

Rayid Ghani, a distinguished professor in machine learning at Carnegie Melon University, tells them that an AI chatbot "doesn't know the difference between travel advice, directions or recipes. It just knows words. So, it keeps spitting out words that make whatever it's telling you sound realistic..."



[1] https://www.bbc.com/travel/article/20250926-the-perils-of-letting-ai-plan-your-next-trip

[2] https://www.sainsburysbank.co.uk/travel-money/guides/ai-travel-planning

[3] https://danayao.com/

[4] https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cwy3qp15x73o

[5] https://layla.ai/

[6] https://www.fastcompany.com/91368492/ai-video-tricking-tourists-places-that-dont-exist

Vibe coding tools "are transforming the job experience for many tech workers," [1]writes the Los Angeles Times . But Gartner analyst Philip Walsh said the research firm's position is that AI won't replace software engineers and will actually create a need for more.

> "There's so much software that isn't created today because we can't prioritize it," Walsh said. "So it's going to drive demand for more software creation, and that's going to drive demand for highly skilled software engineers who can do it..." The idea that non-technical people in an organization can "vibe-code" business-ready software is a misunderstanding [Walsh said]... "That's simply not happening. The quality is not there. The robustness is not there. The scalability and security of the code is not there," Walsh said. "These tools reward highly skilled technical professionals who already know what 'good' looks like."

"Economists, however, are also beginning to worry that AI is taking jobs that would otherwise have gone to young or entry-level workers," the article points out. "In a report last month, [2]researchers at Stanford University found "substantial declines in employment for early-career workers'' — ages 22-25 — in fields most exposed to AI. Stanford researchers also found that AI tools by 2024 were able to solve nearly 72% of coding problems, up from just over 4% a year earlier."

And yet Cat Wu, project manager of Anthropic's Claude Code, doesn't even use the term vibe coding . "We definitely want to make it very clear that the responsibility, at the end of the day, is in the hands of the engineers."

> Wu said she's told her younger sister, who's still in college, that software engineering is still a great career and worth studying. "When I talk with her about this, I tell her AI will make you a lot faster, but it's still really important to understand the building blocks because the AI doesn't always make the right decisions," Wu said. "A lot of times the human intuition is really important."



[1] https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/technology/is-ai-vibe-coding-transforming-tech-jobs-or-creating-dangerous-illusions/ar-AA1NBQUi

[2] https://digitaleconomy.stanford.edu/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/Canaries_BrynjolfssonChandarChen.pdf

If we could remove the 50 most concerning pieces of space debris in low-Earth orbit, there'd be a 50% reduction in the overall debris-generating potential, [1]reports Ars Technica . That's according to Darren McKnight, lead author of a paper presented Friday [2]at the International Astronautical Congress in Sydney , which calculated the objects most likely to collide with other fragments and create more debris. (Russia and the Soviet Union lead with 34 objects, followed by China with 10, the U.S. with three, Europe with two, and Japan with one.) Even just the top 10 were removed, the debris-generating potential drops by 30%.

"The things left before 2000 are still the majority of the problem," he points out, and "76% of the objects in the top 50 were deposited last century." 88% of the objects are post-mission rocket bodies left behind to hurtle through space.

> "The bad news is, since January 1, 2024, we've had 26 rocket bodies abandoned in low-Earth orbit that will stay in orbit for more than 25 years," McKnight told Ars ... China launched 21 of the 26 hazardous new rocket bodies over the last 21 months, each averaging more than 4 metric tons (8,800 pounds). Two more came from US launchers, one from Russia, one from India, and one from Iran. This trend is likely to continue as China steps up deployment of two megaconstellations — Guowang and Thousand Sails — with thousands of communications satellites in low-Earth orbit.

>

> Launches of these constellations began last year. The Guowang and Thousand Sails satellites are relatively small and likely capable of maneuvering out of the way of space debris, although China has not disclosed their exact capabilities. However, most of the rockets used for Guowang and Thousand Sails launches have left their upper stages in orbit. McKnight said nine upper stages China has abandoned after launching Guowang and Thousand Sails satellites will stay in orbit for more than 25 years, violating the international guidelines.

>

> It will take hundreds of rockets to fully populate China's two major megaconstellations. The prospect of so much new space debris is worrisome, McKnight said. "In the next few years, if they continue the same trend, they're going to leave well over 100 rocket bodies over the 25-year rule if they continue to deploy these constellations," he said. "So, the trend is not good...." Since 2000, China has accumulated more dead rocket mass in long-lived orbits than the rest of the world combined, according to McKnight. "But now we're at a point where it's actually kind of accelerating in the last two years as these constellations are getting deployed."

A deputy head of China's national space agency recently said China is "currently researching" how to remove space debris from orbit, according to the article. ("One of the missions China claims is testing space debris mitigation techniques has [3]docked with multiple spacecraft in orbit , but U.S. officials see it as a military threat. The same basic technologies needed for space debris cleanup — rendezvous and docking systems, robotic arms, and onboard automation — could be used to latch on to an adversary's satellite.")



[1] https://arstechnica.com/space/2025/10/everyone-but-china-has-pretty-much-stopped-littering-in-low-earth-orbit/

[2] https://www.iafastro.org/events/iac/international-astronautical-congress-2025/technical-programme/symposium-keynotes/a68-e91-the-space-triad-practical-space-operations-framework.html

[3] https://arstechnica.com/space/2025/07/china-jumps-ahead-in-the-race-to-achieve-a-new-kind-of-reuse-in-space/

A computer-generated actress appearing in Instagram shorts now has a talent agent, [1]reports the Los Angeles Times .

The massive screen actors union SAG-AFTRA " [2]weighed in with a withering response ."

> SAG-AFTRA believes creativity is, and should remain, human-centered. The union is opposed to the replacement of human performers by synthetics.

>

> To be clear, "Tilly Norwood" is not an actor, it's a character generated by a computer program that was trained on the work of countless professional performers — without permission or compensation. It has no life experience to draw from, no emotion and, from what we've seen, audiences aren't interested in watching computer-generated content untethered from the human experience. It doesn't solve any "problem" — it creates the problem of using stolen performances to put actors out of work, jeopardizing performer livelihoods and devaluing human artistry.

>

> Additionally, signatory producers should be aware that they may not use synthetic performers without complying with our contractual obligations, which require notice and bargaining whenever a synthetic performer is going to be used.

"They are taking our professional members' work that has been created, sometimes over generations, without permission, without compensation and without acknowledgment, building something new," SAG-AFTRA President Sean Astin [3]told the Los Angeles Times in an interview :

> "But the truth is, it's not new. It manipulates something that already exists, so the conceit that it isn't harming actors — because it is its own new thing — ignores the fundamental truth that it is taking something that doesn't belong to them," Astin said. "We want to allow our members to benefit from new technologies," Astin said. "They just need to know that it's happening. They need to give permission for it, and they need to be bargained with...."

>

> Some actors called for a boycott of any agents who decide to represent Norwood. "Read the room, how gross," In the Heights actor Melissa Barrera [4]wrote on Instagram . "Our members reserve the right to not be in business with representatives who are operating in an unfair conflict of interest, who are operating in bad faith," Astin said.

But this week the head of a new studio from startup Luma AI "said all the big companies and studios were working on AI assisted projects," [5]writes Deadline — and then claimed "being under NDA, she was not in a position to announce any of the details."



[1] https://www.yahoo.com/entertainment/movies/articles/fake-actor-deepens-anxiety-over-162727190.html

[2] https://www.instagram.com/p/DPOYqaWDnLe/

[3] https://www.yahoo.com/entertainment/movies/articles/fake-actor-deepens-anxiety-over-162727190.html

[4] https://deadline.com/2025/09/hollywood-reacts-ai-actress-tilly-norwood-agency-boycott-1236563479/

[5] https://deadline.com/2025/09/talent-agent-ai-actress-tilly-norwood-studios-1236557889/