An anonymous reader quotes a report from TechCrunch:

> OpenAI CEO Sam Altman said that the company was forced to [1]stagger the rollout of its newest model, GPT-4.5, [2]because OpenAI is "out of GPUs ." In [3]a post on X, Altman said that GPT-4.5, which he described as "giant" and "expensive," will require "tens of thousands" more GPUs before additional ChatGPT users can gain access. GPT-4.5 will come first to subscribers to ChatGPT Pro starting Thursday, followed by ChatGPT Plus customers next week.

>

> Perhaps in part due to its enormous size, GPT-4.5 is wildly expensive. OpenAI is charging $75 per million tokens (~750,000 words) fed into the model and $150 per million tokens generated by the model. That's 30x the input cost and 15x the output cost of OpenAI's workhorse GPT-4o model. "We've been growing a lot and are out of GPUs," Altman wrote. "We will add tens of thousands of GPUs next week and roll it out to the Plus tier then [] This isn't how we want to operate, but it's hard to perfectly predict growth surges that lead to GPU shortages."



[1] https://slashdot.org/story/25/02/27/2022254/openai-rolls-out-gpt-45

[2] https://techcrunch.com/2025/02/27/openai-ceo-sam-altman-says-the-company-is-out-of-gpus/

[3] https://x.com/sama/status/1895203654103351462

EA has [1]released the source code for several classic Command & Conquer games, [2]including Tiberian Dawn, Red Alert, Renegade, and Generals & Zero Hour . "They're being released under the GPL license, meaning folks can mix, match, and redistribute them to their hearts' content without EA lawyers smashing down the door," adds PC Gamer. Additionally, Steam Workshop support has been added for multiple C&C titles, along with updated mission editor tools and a modding support pack. From the report:

> As for the Steam Workshop? That's getting switched on for C&C Renegade, C&C Generals and Zero Hour, C&C 3 Tiberium Wars and Kane's Wrath, and C&C 4 Tiberium Twilight (they can't all be winners). EA's also gone and "updated all the Mission Editor and World Builder tools so you can publish maps directly to the Steam Workshop." Plus, it's putting out a modding support pack that "contains the source Xml, Schema, Script, Shader and Map files for all the games that use the SAGE engine."

>

> Per C&C producer Jim Vessella, EA commissioned C&C community veteran Luke 'CCHyper' Feenan to officially research improvements to many of the games in the Ultimate Collection," and this is the fruit of his labor.



[1] https://github.com/electronicarts/CnC_Red_Alert

[2] https://www.pcgamer.com/games/strategy/ea-just-released-source-code-for-a-bunch-of-old-command-and-conquer-games-and-added-steam-workshop-support-to-bangers-like-c-and-c-3-tiberium-wars/

Blue Origin on Thursday announced the crew for its next mission. "The crew most notably [1]includes popstar Katy Perry and broadcast journalist Gayle King . They will be joined by two scientists -- Aisha Bowe and Amanda Nguyen -- as well as Jeff Bezos' fiancee, TV personality Lauren Sanchez and film producer Kerianne Flynn," reports TechCrunch. From the report:

> Blue Origin says this marks the first all-female space crew since Soviet astronaut Valentina Tereshkova's 1963 solo mission, which made her the first woman ever to go to space. For the company's New Shepard rocket, this is its 31st trip to space, and its 11th with a crew. This journey is expected to last around [2]10 to 12 minutes ; and if you're willing to drop a [3]$150,000 deposit , you too can reserve a future spot on a short space jaunt.



[1] https://techcrunch.com/2025/02/27/katy-perry-gayle-king-and-lauren-sanchez-headed-to-space-on-blue-origin-mission/

[2] https://www.space.com/space-exploration/private-spaceflight/watch-jeff-bezos-blue-origin-launch-10th-space-tourism-flight-today

[3] https://www.blueorigin.com/new-shepard/reserve-a-seat

Technicolor Group has filed for a court recovery procedure in France after [1]failing to secure new investors , putting its VFX brands, including MPC, The Mill, Mikros Animation, and Technicolor Games, at risk of closure. Variety reports:

> A total shutdown of MPC and Technicolor's operations would affect thousands of visual effects workers in countries include the U.S., UK, Canada and India. The turn in business has raised the alarm and sparked sadness within the VFX community. Parot's memo explains, "In each country, the appropriate framework for orderly protection and way forward is currently being put in place to allow, when possible, to remain in business continuity."

>

> Technicolor has already started to shut down U.S. operations. On Friday, it began alerting customers and employees, sending U.S. employees a WARN notice as required by law for large companies that anticipate closings and mass layoffs. At least one recovery effort already started for roughly 100 U.S. employees of The Mill. The creative leadership and most of the creative staff that was Technicolor's The Mill U.S. is joining forces with Dream Machine FX to launch a new venture, Arc Creative, Variety reported exclusively on Monday. A statement from the artists explains they they are working to launch the new entity amid "the complexities of Technicolor's Chapter 7 proceedings."

>

> Questions remain about how studios will finish upcoming projects that are currently housed at MPC, which include Disney's live-action remake of "Lilo and Stitch" and Paramount's "Mission: Impossible -- The Final Reckoning," as well as Mikros' work, such as Paramount and Nickelodeon's upcoming "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles" sequel.



[1] https://variety.com/2025/film/news/technicolor-begins-to-shut-down-1236319436/

An anonymous reader quotes a report from TechCrunch:

> Security researchers are warning that data exposed to the internet, even for a moment, can linger in online generative AI chatbots like Microsoft Copilot long after the data is made private. [1]Thousands of once-public GitHub repositories from some of the world's biggest companies are affected , including Microsoft's, according to new findings from Lasso, an Israeli cybersecurity company focused on emerging generative AI threats.

>

> Lasso co-founder Ophir Dror told TechCrunch that the company found content from its own GitHub repository appearing in Copilot because it had been indexed and cached by Microsoft's Bing search engine. Dror said the repository, which had been mistakenly made public for a brief period, had since been set to private, and accessing it on GitHub returned a "page not found" error. "On Copilot, surprisingly enough, we found one of our own private repositories," said Dror. "If I was to browse the web, I wouldn't see this data. But anyone in the world could ask Copilot the right question and get this data."

>

> After it realized that any data on GitHub, even briefly, could be potentially exposed by tools like Copilot, Lasso investigated further. Lasso extracted a list of repositories that were public at any point in 2024 and identified the repositories that had since been deleted or set to private. Using Bing's caching mechanism, the company found more than 20,000 since-private GitHub repositories still had data accessible through Copilot, affecting more than 16,000 organizations. Lasso told TechCrunch ahead of publishing its research that affected organizations include Amazon Web Services, Google, IBM, PayPal, Tencent, and Microsoft. [...] For some affected companies, Copilot could be prompted to return confidential GitHub archives that contain intellectual property, sensitive corporate data, access keys, and tokens, the company said.



[1] https://techcrunch.com/2025/02/26/thousands-of-exposed-github-repositories-now-private-can-still-be-accessed-through-copilot/

OpenAI released [1]an early version of its new AI model GPT-4.5 to select users on Thursday, following development challenges that delayed the project last year. The Microsoft-backed startup said the new model responds better to subtle cues in written prompts and excels at chatting, writing and coding. OpenAI expects it will produce fewer fabricated responses than previous versions.

Initially available as a "research preview," access is limited to software developers and users who pay $200 monthly for ChatGPT Pro subscriptions. The company plans to gather feedback before wider distribution. According to OpenAI's blog post, GPT-4.5 will be the company's last model that doesn't use additional computing power to analyze queries before responding. Future releases will incorporate the reasoning approach already used in its newer models like o1 and o3.



[1] https://openai.com/index/introducing-gpt-4-5/

More than 100,000 seeds from across Africa have been [1]deposited in the Svalbard Global Seed Vault , the world's repository for specimens intended to preserve crop diversity in the event of disaster. From a report:

> Among the latest additions are seeds critical to building climate resilience, such as the tree Faidherbia albida, which turns nitrogen into ammonia and nitrates, and Cordia africana, the Sudan teak, a tree renowned for its strength and durability. The seeds, from 177 different species, were delivered to the Norwegian vault on Tuesday by Dr Eliane Ubalijoro, the chief executive of the Center for International Forestry Research and World Agroforestry (Cifor-Icraf).

>

> "For me, seeds are about hope," Ubalijoro said. "They're about moving beyond survival, particularly when you come from places that have gone through really difficult times. When I think of my country of Rwanda and what happened in 1994, seed banks were critical when it came to rebuilding after the genocide." Ubalijoro said countries that had experienced disaster and conflict could emerge as leaders in the fight against climate breakdown.



[1] https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2025/feb/27/more-than-100000-african-seeds-put-in-svalbard-vault-for-safekeeping

Meta has fired "roughly 20" employees who leaked "confidential information outside the company," The Verge reported Thursday, citing the company. From the report:

> "We tell employees when they join the company, and we offer periodic reminders, that it is against our policies to leak internal information, no matter the intent," Meta spokesperson Dave Arnold tells The Verge. "We recently conducted an investigation that resulted in roughly 20 employees being terminated for sharing confidential information outside the company, and we expect there will be more. We take this seriously, and will continue to take action when we identify leaks."

>

> Meta has ramped up its efforts to find leakers due to a recent influx of stories detailing unannounced product plans and internal meetings, including [1]a recent all-hands led by CEO Mark Zuckerberg . After we and other outlets reported on what Zuckerberg said during that meeting, employees were warned not to leak.



[1] https://tech.slashdot.org/story/25/01/31/0349214/everything-i-say-leaks-zuckerberg-says-in-leaked-meeting-audio

An anonymous reader shares a report:

> The company behind WordPress, Automattic Inc., and its founder, Matt Mullenweg, continue to face backlash over a "nuclear war" started with WP Engine (WPE) that allegedly messed with maintenance and security of hundreds of thousands of websites.

>

> In a proposed class action lawsuit filed this weekend, a WPE customer, Ryan Keller, accused Automattic and Mullenweg of "deliberately abusing their power and control over the WordPress ecosystem to [1]purposefully, deliberately, and repeatedly disrupt contracts " -- all due to a supposed trademark infringement claim. If granted, the class would include "all persons in the United States who had ongoing active WPE WordPress Web Hosting Plans on or before September 24, 2024 through December 10, 2024."

>

> WPE had previously sued Automattic and Mullenweg, alleging that the attack on WPE was actually an attempt to extort what Keller alleged was "tens of millions of dollars" in payments from WPE for using the WordPress trademark. Mullenweg made it clear that the value of the payments was "based on what he thought WPE could afford, rather than what the value of the trademark actually was," Keller's complaint alleged. Automattic's "poorly disguised attempt to extort WPE," Keller alleged, was lobbed "against the threat of making it virtually impossible for WPE (and its customers) to conduct its ordinary business."



[1] https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2025/02/automattic-shirked-duty-to-keep-wordpress-free-for-everyone-lawsuit-says/

Microsoft is pushing the Trump administration to loosen and simplify a new system that would restrict the sales of cutting-edge U.S. artificial-intelligence chips to much of the world. From a report:

> In a blog post that is scheduled to be released Thursday, Microsoft will call for Trump's team to ease the limits on chips that can be used in data centers for training AI models so they [1]no longer apply to a group of U.S. allies including India, Switzerland and Israel [ [2]non-paywalled source ] , company officials said. Those countries are in the second tier of a three-tier system that underpins the export controls.

>

> Microsoft says the unintended consequence of that proposed system would be that allies facing limited U.S. chip supply would turn to China to get the tech infrastructure they need. China is using the proposed rule to argue to other countries that it would be a better long-term partner for AI infrastructure than the U.S., Microsoft President Brad Smith said in an interview. "Their message is these countries can't rely on the U.S., but China is willing to provide what they need," he said. "That is not good for American business or American foreign policy."



[1] https://www.wsj.com/tech/microsoft-urges-trump-to-overhaul-curbs-on-ai-chip-exports-4dc48e81

[2] https://www.msn.com/en-us/technology/artificial-intelligence/microsoft-urges-trump-to-overhaul-curbs-on-ai-chip-exports/ar-AA1zTCQU

Amazon has [1]introduced its first-ever quantum processor , dubbed Ocelot, designed specifically to reduce quantum error correction costs by up to 90% compared to existing approaches. The prototype chip uses "cat qubits" -- named after Schrodinger's cat thought experiment -- which intrinsically suppress certain types of quantum errors.

Unlike conventional approaches that add error correction after designing the architecture, AWS built Ocelot with quantum error correction as the primary requirement. The chip consists of two stacked 1cm2 silicon microchips containing 14 core components: five data qubits, five buffer circuits for stabilization, and four qubits dedicated to error detection.

Quantum computers are notoriously sensitive to environmental noise -- including vibrations, heat, and electromagnetic interference -- which disturbs qubits and generates computational errors. These errors multiply as quantum systems scale up, creating a significant barrier to practical quantum computing. Ocelot's high-quality oscillators, made from a thin film of superconducting Tantalum processed using specialized techniques developed by AWS material scientists, generate the repetitive electrical signals that maintain quantum states.

"We're just getting started and we believe we have several more stages of scaling to go through," said Oskar Painter, AWS director of Quantum Hardware, whose team published their findings in Nature. Industry analyst Heather West of IDC was more measured, categorizing Ocelot as "much more of an advancement and less of a breakthrough," noting that superconducting qubits designed to resist certain error types aren't completely novel.



[1] https://www.aboutamazon.com/news/aws/quantum-computing-aws-ocelot-chip

The boss of The Pokemon Company believes the series can [1]last for at least another 50 years if it continues to innovate. From a report:

> First launched on Nintendo's Game Boy in 1996, the video game has expanded into films, TV and toys to become one of the world's highest-grossing media franchise. Most recently, the trading card game based on the cute creatures at the centre of its universe has seen a surge in popularity -- but it has also brought scalpers and frauds to the hobby.

>

> [...] Pokemon has continued to bring new fans to the franchise by expanding into anime, card games, movies and toys alongside its video game titles. CEO Tsunekazu Ishihara says fans now "span several generations" and believes "the biggest reason behind their success is the fact that Pokemon became a tool of communication." Last weekend, about 13,000 Pokemon fans headed to the European leg of the International Championships at London's Excel Centre. It demonstrates Mr Ishihara's point that people have found their way into the series through various means.



[1] https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c5y0v3gd5e5o

New York City's Metropolitan Transportation Authority and Google have successfully tested technology that [1]uses smartphone sensors to detect subway track defects , the MTA said Thursday. The four-month experiment, dubbed TrackInspect, mounted six Google Pixel phones on four A train subway cars traversing Manhattan and Queens. The phones' accelerometers, magnetometers, gyroscopes and external microphones collected 335 million sensor readings and 1,200 hours of audio data, which were processed through 200 prediction models.

The system identified 92% of defects later confirmed by human inspectors, including broken rails and loose bolts. "The goal with this [project] is to find issues before they become a major issue in terms of service," said Demetrius Crichlow, the agency's president. Following the successful trial, the MTA plans to expand to a full pilot where Google will build a production version for track inspectors.



[1] https://www.wired.com/story/the-new-york-city-subway-is-using-google-pixels-to-sense-track-defects/

The number of babies born in Japan last year fell to the lowest level since records began 125 years ago as the country's demographic crisis deepens and government efforts to reverse the decline continue to fail. [1]Financial Times [ [2]non-paywalled source ]:

> Japan recorded 720,988 births in 2024, according to preliminary government figures published on Thursday. The number has declined for nine straight years and appears to be largely unaffected by financial and other government incentives for married couples to produce more children.



[1] https://www.ft.com/content/95d3282e-daef-4670-b704-c1215393e7f8

[2] https://www.independent.co.uk/asia/japan/japan-birth-rate-lowest-population-b2705648.html

The Australian government has banned all Kaspersky Lab products and web services from its systems and devices following an analysis that claims the company [1]poses a significant security risk to the country . From a report:

> "After considering threat and risk analysis, I have determined that the use of Kaspersky Lab, Inc. products and web services by Australian Government entities poses an unacceptable security risk to Australian Government, networks and data, arising from threats of foreign interference, espionage and sabotage," justified Stephanie Foster, Secretary of the Department of Home Affairs.

>

> "I have also considered the important need for a strong policy signal to critical infrastructure and other Australian governments regarding the unacceptable security risk associated with the use of Kaspersky Lab, Inc. products and web services."



[1] https://www.bleepingcomputer.com/news/security/australia-bans-all-kaspersky-products-on-government-systems/

When developers boast "I could write that in a weekend," they're missing the painful reality that haunts software maintainers for years. In [1]a candid blog post , Construct developer Ashley explains why maintaining large software projects is a burden most programmers fail to appreciate. "Writing the initial code for a feature is only a fraction of the work," Ashley explains, estimating it represents just "25% of the total work" in Construct's 750,000-line codebase. The rest? A grinding cycle of "testing, diagnosing and fixing bugs, optimizing performance, upgrading it to work with other changes, refactoring, customer support, writing documentation and similarly revising the documentation over time."

Ashley describes how accepting code contributions feels like someone offering to build you a free extension -- initially attractive until the roof starts leaking years later and the original builder is nowhere to be found. Meanwhile, your tenants (users) are furious, and you're stuck with "no good options." The post recounts Construct's own bruises: a community-contributed storage plugin still causing compatibility headaches a decade later, and third-party libraries that became maintenance nightmares after their creators vanished.

These experiences explain why seasoned maintainers eye large code contributions with deep suspicion rather than gratitude. "If you suggest some software project uses some code -- even a small amount -- will you be there in literally 10 year's time sorting out all the issues that arise from it?" Ashley asks. "Usually the answer is no."



[1] https://www.construct.net/en/blogs/ashleys-blog-2/reality-long-term-software-1892

The JavaScript package world is heating up as startups [1]attempt to challenge npm's long-standing dominance . While npm remains the backbone of JavaScript dependency management, Deno's JSR and vlt's vsr have entered the scene with impressive backing and even more impressive leadership -- JSR comes from Node.js creator Ryan Dahl, while npm's own creator Isaac Schlueter is behind vsr. Neither aims to completely replace npm, instead building compatible layers that promise better developer experiences.

Many developers feel GitHub has left npm to stagnate since its 2020 acquisition, doing just enough to keep it running while neglecting innovations. Security problems and package spam have only intensified these frustrations. Yet these newcomers face the same harsh reality that pushed npm into GitHub's arms: running a package registry costs serious money -- not just for servers, but for lawyers handling trademark fights and content moderation.



[1] https://redmonk.com/kholterhoff/2025/01/30/is-npm-enough/

What Chris Horsley expected to be a 10-minute washing machine installation [1]stretched to four hours and required five trips to the hardware store . The CTO of security consultancy firm documented how unexpected obstacles -- drilling through shelves, replacing incompatible hoses, and removing hidden caps -- derailed his timeline.

Horsley draws a direct parallel to software development, where estimation regularly fails despite experience. "While 90% of the project will be the same, there's going to be one critical difference between the last 5 projects and this project that seemed trivial at the time of estimation but will throw off our whole schedule," he writes in a blog.

These disruptions often appear as unmaintained frameworks, obsolete development tools, or incompatible infrastructure components that weren't visible during planning. The software development environment changes rapidly, creating what Horsley describes as "unknown unknowns." Despite thorough requirements gathering, developers inevitably encounter unanticipated blockers, transforming familiar-looking tasks into complex challenges.



[1] https://www.cosive.com/blog/my-washing-machine-refreshed-my-thinking-on-software-effort-estimation

Derek Harris, born the same year as the iconic K6 red phone box he's fighting to save, has launched what he calls a "David and Goliath" campaign against BT in the Norfolk village of Sharrington. The phone box is [1]among 10 in North Norfolk marked for removal , having logged fewer than 10 calls last year. Harris argues the box remains vital in an area with poor mobile coverage, high elderly population, and proximity to an accident-prone stretch of the A148.

He recounts how it once saved a driver trapped in a snowstorm when mobile networks failed. BT's regulator, Ofcom, protects phone boxes that meet specific criteria, including emergency usage and location in signal-poor areas. Of the UK's original 100,000 phone boxes, only 14,000 remain functional, with 3,000 being the classic red design. For Harris, the fight transcends practicality. "It would be alive, wouldn't it? I feel an empathy for a living thing," he told The Guardian. "The nearer you get to the end, the more you want to see things live."



[1] https://www.theguardian.com/society/2025/feb/27/battle-save-last-phone-box-norfolk-village

Sophisticated electronic devices used by criminals to steal cars are [1]set to be banned under new laws in England and Wales. From a report:

> More than 700,000 vehicles were broken into last year -- often with the help of high-tech electronic devices, including so-called signal jammers, which are thought to play a part in four out of 10 vehicle thefts nationwide.

>

> Until now, police could only bring a prosecution if they could prove a device had been used to commit a specific offence, but under new laws in the Crime and Policing Bill the onus will be on someone in possession of a device to show they had it for a legitimate purpose. Making or selling a signal jammer could lead to up to five years in prison or an unlimited fine.



[1] https://bbc.com/news/articles/c2046qlwzz3o