The Los Angeles Police Department [1]says about 1,500 police agencies across America have drone programs, [2]reports SFGate , and 58 of those drone-using police agencies are in California.

The Sacramento County sheriff's office recently posted [3]drone footage on Instagram set to theme from " Mission: Impossible ," claiming "a nationwide first" where their drone successfully disarmed a felon "seen earlier with a firearm" (though now not moving, but holding a knife while lying face down in a garage). In the video the "not responding" suspect continues not moving as the drone dangles a magnet which catches on the knife. The drone then pulls multiple times until it comes out of the unmoving suspect's hand. The sheriff's office says their footage shows their drone "disarm an armed suspect, helping bring the incident to a safe resolution," in their post on Instagram, "rather than rush into a potentially deadly encounter..."

> Was he pretending to be dead or simply lying in wait for deputies to approach...?

>

> It's also worth noting that our drones are labeled as "military equipment" (even though anyone can purchase them at their local Walmart), but are really just another piece of technology helping deputies resolve dangerous situations safely. Their use protects both law enforcement personnel and suspects.

SFGate offers [4]more reports from around California :

> In Yucaipa, officials launched a Drone as First Responder (DFR) pilot program on May 28, the San Bernardino County Sheriff's Department announced [5]this month . According to the release, drones have already been used to respond to over 100 calls for service, arriving before deputies for 71% of them. "The drones also contributed to 12 arrests, assisted in locating persons of interest on 37 occasions, and provided aerial overwatch during 44 incidents," it continues, though details on how they assisted the police are unclear. The drones, manufactured by Skydio, were also used to locate a young person experiencing a mental health crisis and another person launching illegal fireworks.



[1] https://www.lapdonline.org/drone/

[2] https://www.sfgate.com/bayarea/article/california-police-drone-responders-22315437.php

[3] https://www.instagram.com/reel/DZ4-tdPtbey/

[4] https://www.sfgate.com/bayarea/article/california-police-drone-responders-22315437.php

[5] https://nixle.us/HDYY5?_ga=2.10071797.1527361777.1782136382-1228344719.1778769615

Thursday the Free Software Foundation [1]blogged about this year's 47 'LibreLocal 2026' meetups , highlighting 10 that took place in Australia, Mexico, the United States, New Zealand, Cameroon, Switzerland, Spain, Argentina, China, and Iran. "Far from each other in many parts of the world, they came together around one unifying belief: free software."

> We envisioned LibreLocal as a collage of in-person community meetups that would bring people together to swap ideas, learn from each other, and celebrate free software. When we asked the free software community to organize LibreLocals last year, the response was very inspirational: 29 different meetups were hosted. After we made the global call this year, we were greeted with an even more enthusiastic response... Organizers hosted LibreLocals in cafes, bars, restaurants, libraries, universities, a computer repair shop, and even as part of a field trip to the System Source Museum, a museum dedicated to the history of computing in Hunt Valley, Maryland, USA.

>

> We also learned that a LibreLocal was organized inside Vakil Abad Prison in Mashhad, Iran by a free software supporter. Originally planned to be held in Shiraz, we were informed of this change in location on the [2]LibreLocal wiki page set up for listing all LibreLocals. The updated entry, by another free software supporter in Iran, reads:

>

> "This year, one of our dedicated activists organized a LibrePlanet event from within prison in Iran. Currently serving a sentence for "cyber-crimes" related to his promotion of free software, he continues to introduce the principles of software freedom to his fellow inmates. We have placed this banner to honor his resilience and the community of individuals in prison who continue to stand for technological freedom. His identity will be revealed when it is safe to do so."

>

> Advocating for user freedom should never result in a prison sentence. We especially admire and respect the bravery and strength of those who fight for software freedom in the most dangerous and oppressive of environments.

50 people attended the LibreLocal meetup in Switzerland, according to one of the organizers, "forging connections between several local free software stakeholders and strengthening their cohesion." But the FSF's blog post stresses these are "ten stories among many more of free software supporters from across the globe... We also thank you our donors and associate members for the support that makes such meetups possible."

[3]The GNU Press Shop is now open through [4]July 19 for their biannual fundraiser, offering a variety of freedom-respecting novelties including an [5]FSF-branded antisurveillance webcam guard and both technical and philosophical books, like Richard Stallman's [6] Free as in Freedom (which [7]allegedly has turned up in Anthropic's training data ). Other items include a [8]slick new FSF logo sticker , a brass and zinc [9]GNU "emblem" pin with real gold plating, and a cheeky sticker reminding everyone that " [10]There is no cloud ." And there's even a [11]plush GNU toy .



[1] https://www.fsf.org/blogs/community/2026-librelocal-report-part-1

[2] https://libreplanet.org/wiki/Group:Librelocal/2026

[3] https://shop.fsf.org/?page=0

[4] https://www.fsf.org/blogs/community/2026-gnu-press-shop-summer-opening

[5] https://shop.fsf.org/stickers/antisurveillance-webcam-guard

[6] https://shop.fsf.org/books-docs/free-freedom-20-richard-stallman

[7] https://news.slashdot.org/story/26/03/16/0539240/fsf-threatens-anthropic-over-infringed-copyright-share-your-llms-freely

[8] https://shop.fsf.org/stickers/new-fsf-logo-sticker-pack

[9] https://shop.fsf.org/gear/gnu-emblem-classic-pin

[10] https://shop.fsf.org/stickers/there-is-no-cloud

[11] https://shop.fsf.org/gear/stuffed-baby-gnu-2

[1]The Onion joked the new movie Supergirl is about a hero who must single-handedly save the world "after the catastrophic collapse of interest in the genre."

Unfortunately, [2] The Hollywood Reporter says the film's reviews "range from negative to tepid praise (averaging a 58 percent Rotten Tomatoes score)."

> Many point fingers at the film's script, with [3]Variety's line — "a comic-book movie with the worst script I can remember" — going viral... Not to pile on, but there's another recurring gripe from the reviews that stood out: Critics bashed the film as being murky, dark and gray, with poor VFX: "Muddy CG sludge" wrote one. Another said the film was full of "sludgy browns and grays" and "the visual murkiness of the settings makes it hard to follow the already unintelligible action sequences." A third wrote the "VFX is so rough it makes The Flash look like Avatar ." Moviegoers increasingly despise murky, dark visuals (often used to hide weak effects), along with obvious CGI and incoherent action. They've seen it so many times they've become allergic.

The Bulwark agrees that the action sequences are " [4]terribly lit, incoherently staged, and just generally weightless and ugly ... [I]t's reminiscent of the disaster that was The Flash : It's just very obvious during certain sequences that everyone was in a big green-screen warehouse and the camera was whipping around with the knowledge that everything would be painted in later, so who really gives a crap how anything looks on the day of."

But they also call the movie "a tremendous slog of a film, a real step backwards for the James Gunn-overseen DC Universe of movies and TV shows" that's "neither fun nor exciting" and "feels empty."

> The film does have one bright spot: Lobo, who is played by Jason Momoa as something like Michael Keaton's Beetlejuice by way of Jason Momoa's Aquaman. He's blustery and cantankerous and saucy and just a little menacing; it's a perfect piece of casting and a really nice performance. Unfortunately, it's the only spark of life in what is otherwise a deeply dour, deeply boring piece of filmmaking... Supergirl is just a misfire on nearly every level, one that lacks the sincerity and fun of last year's reboot of this universe or the comic pathos present in Gunn's Peacemaker series on HBO Max.

Reason calls it " [5]dark, depressive, and dull " and "a downer of a movie in nearly every way."

> It's not fun. It's barely even righteous. It's just miserable. At one point, Supergirl flat-out murders a guy by pushing a giant sword through his neck. Somehow, I suspect even Zack Snyder would be appalled.

[6] Time argued fans of last decade's superhero movies "should be demanding more, not less." Though "Will there be rioting in the streets once audiences get some idea of how lousy Supergirl is? Probably not."



[1] https://theonion.com/what-to-know-about-supergirl

[2] https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/movies/movie-news/supergirl-box-office-house-of-the-dragon-review-1236630713/

[3] https://www.yahoo.com/entertainment/movies/articles/james-gunn-called-supergirl-worst-051109241.html

[4] https://www.thebulwark.com/p/supergirl-review

[5] https://reason.com/2026/06/26/supergirl-is-a-bafflingly-grim-violent-and-depressing-take-on-the-superhero-movie/

[6] https://time.com/article/2026/06/25/supergirl-review/

Friday Bitcoin closed at just $59,948 — dropping 19% just for June and more than 50% lower than its record high in October of $124,310.

To commemorate the occasion CNBC [1]interviewed long-time bitcoin skeptic Jeremy Grantham , reporting that the 87-year-old cofounder/chief investment strategist of the massive asset-management firm GMO is "predicting it will gradually fade into irrelevance over decades."

> [The] longtime market commentator known for his calls on asset bubbles said bitcoin is a "useless, speculative" asset without intrinsic value, speaking on CNBC's "Squawk Box" Friday. He also said bitcoin hasn't outperformed during a bull market and questioned its practical use. "[Over] years and years, decades and decades, it will dwindle away, I suspect — not with a bang, but a whimper," he said. "It's not a stable form of value — it just halved ... for no particular reason in a strong economy, so you can't depend on it in that way."

>

> He added that gold has still delivered solid gains over the same period, even after pulling back from its highs. Bitcoin not only hasn't proved itself as a useful asset to speculate on, it doesn't provide any real world utility either, Grantham argued. "People don't use it to make serious trades, they don't use it to buy their dinner and pay at the supermarket. ... What it does is allows crooks to move money around," he said.

>

> Bitcoin has become notorious over the years for its dramatic bear market crashes, which has taken it down at least 70% from its peak in every cycle.

The article adds that "many investors believe the current price slump could drag on for several more months."



[1] https://www.cnbc.com/2026/06/26/billionaire-investor-jeremy-grantham-says-bitcoin-will-dwindle-away-with-a-whimper.html

"The US government has allowed Anthropic to release its powerful Mythos AI model to select companies and organizations," [1]reports CNN , "revising license requirements after ordering an export block earlier this month in the wake of national security fears."

> Since the export ban earlier in June, "Anthropic has worked with the US government to address risks associated with the Covered Models," Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick wrote to the company in a letter dated Friday. In light of progress in that work, Lutnick wrote, "I have determined that appropriate safeguards are in place to permit certain trusted partners to access the Claude Mythos 5 Model."

>

> The letter does not include permission for Anthropic to release Fable, a less powerful version of Mythos. "We received notice from the US government that Mythos 5, our strongest cybersecurity model, can be redeployed to a small group of cyber defenders and infrastructure providers," Anthropic said in a statement...

>

> Conversations between Anthropic and the government are expected to continue into the weekend, with an eye to restoring access to Fable, as well, a source familiar with the discussions told CNN.



[1] https://www.cnn.com/2026/06/26/tech/anthropic-mythos-release

The Jerusalem Post reports that doctors at Haifa's Rambam Health Care Campus "have successfully treated their first Israeli opioid addiction patient using an experimental noninvasive brain technology, [1]easing him through withdrawal in just 20 minutes ..."

> [T]he team of specialists at the Haifa medical center intervened in the electrical activity of an area of the patient's brain called the nucleus accumbens, the core of the brain system responsible for feelings of satisfaction, pleasure, and reward. The treatment, based on technology from the Israeli company Insightec, is similar to the one used to treat symptoms of essential tremor and Parkinsonian tremor, under MRI control. In this case, the treatment was carried out with the help of a new technology that performs noninvasive neuromodulation, without heating or burning tissue, and allows stimulation in the same area of the brain to increase or suppress activity...

>

> "Tests carried out a week later produced negative results for opioids and other substances," [said Dr. Lior Lev-Tov, director of the functional neurosurgery unit in Rambam's neurosurgery division and the one leading the new study at the medical center.] "The patient himself reported a craving score of zero out of 10 for using the drug, and even another side effect, a drastic drop in the desire for cigarettes, from three packs a day to just a few cigarettes, and with no urge to use alcohol. In other words, in a treatment that lasted about 20 minutes net, our patient was completely freed from an extreme dependence that had accompanied him every day for years. This is nothing less than a medical and therapeutic revolution."

Dr. Lev-Tov added that "This experience opens doors for us to treat a wide range of very serious illnesses such as PTSD, OCD, eating disorders, other addictions, severe depression, severe pain disorders, and I hope we will also be able to reach cognitive areas and treat attention deficit disorders, Alzheimer's, Parkinson's, and more."

Thanks to Slashdot reader [2]Bruce66423 for sharing the article.



[1] https://www.jpost.com/israel-news/article-900599

[2] https://www.slashdot.org/~Bruce66423

SpaceX plans to begin [1]building an eight-mile natural gas pipeline called "Starpipe " next month to supply its Starbase launch site with fuel for a much higher cadence of Starship launches. The pipeline is expected to enter service in January 2027. Reuters reports:

> The pipeline plan, previously [2]reported by Rio Grande Valley Business Journal , signals Musk's intent to accelerate Starship's development and lay the groundwork for a faster flight rate. The 40-story rocket is central to SpaceX's push to expand its Starlink broadband network, deploy orbital AI data center satellites, and eventually carry astronauts to the moon and Mars.

>

> Designed to be fully reusable, Starship uses about 630,000 gallons (2.4 million liters) of liquid methane per launch, currently delivered by hundreds of tanker trucks in an hours-long process incompatible with Musk's expansion plans. Starship has completed 12 test launches since 2023, but Musk aims to ramp up to dozens, hundreds and eventually thousands of launches a year.

>

> Though it is unusual for a space company to build its own natural gas pipeline for launchpad fuel, Starpipe might only be an initial step in a longer-term plan for SpaceX, which has spent years exploring its own drilling operations near Starbase and throughout Texas, according to a Reuters review of Cameron County land records. SpaceX President Gwynne Shotwell [3]told CNBC on June 12, when the company went public, that the company planned to build pipelines and process its own propellant, and was looking into drilling its own natural gas.



[1] https://www.reuters.com/business/energy/spacex-plans-build-starpipe-natural-gas-pipeline-fuel-starship-rockets-2026-06-25/

[2] https://www.rgvbusinessjournal.com/news/23/06/2026/spacex-is-planning-a-new-gas-pipeline-across-the-brownsville-ship-channel-heres-what-we-know/

[3] https://www.cnbc.com/video/2026/06/12/spacex-president-and-coo-gwynne-shotwell-exclusive-interview.html

Microsoft has quietly [1]extended free Windows 10 security updates for consumers by another year , pushing the Extended Security Updates (ESU) program's end date [2]from October 12, 2026 , to October 12, 2027. "The [3]ESU support page was updated with that date, and Microsoft's [4]blog post on the program has a new editor's note confirming the change," reports Ars Technica. From the report:

> The prevalence of Windows across so many devices and form factors has given Microsoft a massive customer base for decades, but it has also stymied the company's efforts to roll out new operating systems. Microsoft famously extended the support window for Windows XP numerous times throughout the 2010s as it became apparent that millions of PCs would never be updated. Windows 10 isn't quite as entrenched as XP was, but it has still been a slog getting people to upgrade to Windows 11 even nearly five years after release.

>

> Unlike many past Windows updates, Windows 11 required some users to buy new PCs with specific CPU technologies and a Trusted Platform Module (TPM). Microsoft was widely criticized for excluding perfectly serviceable PCs, and that's turning into a problem in 2026. The AI-driven shortage of storage and memory has made system upgrades vastly more expensive, potentially slowing upgrades. Some have also avoided Windows 11 due to Microsoft's intense focus on AI features.

>

> The result is that Windows 10 remains stubbornly popular. According to [5]StatCounter data , Windows 10 is still running on about 26 percent of PCs, while Windows 11 sits at 72 percent. That means there are still hundreds of millions of active Windows 10 installs, but those machines will be up to date for at least an additional year.



[1] https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2026/06/microsoft-adds-another-year-to-windows-10-extended-update-program/

[2] https://tech.slashdot.org/story/25/10/14/2043238/windows-10-support-ends-today

[3] https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/extended-security-updates#cw

[4] https://blogs.windows.com/windowsexperience/2025/06/24/stay-secure-with-windows-11-copilot-pcs-and-windows-365-before-support-ends-for-windows-10

[5] https://gs.statcounter.com/windows-version-market-share/desktop/united-states-of-america

Researchers say they [1]detected the first gravitational-wave "fingerprints" of a black hole's event horizon by analyzing the final moments of the powerful GW250114 merger. The findings support Einstein's general relativity and may eventually help probe [2]frame dragging and [3]quantum fluctuations near black holes. Phys.org reports:

> For the new research [4]published in Nature , an international team of researchers analyzed data from the strongest gravitational wave ever recorded, [5]known as GW250114 , detected by the LIGO observatory in January 2025. By isolating the last burst of waves -- known as "direct waves" -- from this black hole merger, the scientists said they were able to extract information from closer to an event horizon than ever before. "This black hole horizon concept normally appears in science fiction," lead study author Sizheng Ma of the Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics in Canada [6]told AFP . "But now we are really able to touch the region around the horizon with gravitational data," he added. "Sometimes I cannot believe this is really happening."

>

> The last stage of two black holes merging is like a spoon stirring a glass of water, Ma explained. The resulting swirl in space creates the ripple of gravitational waves that travel at the speed of light in all directions. If the metaphorical spoon is stirring close enough to the black hole's event horizon, "this offers us a chance to decode the physics around that region," Ma said. By supporting the theory of general relativity, the results "proved that Einstein was correct again," he added.

>

> The scientists emphasized that more research was needed to decipher what can be gleaned about event horizons using this method. But they did detect information about how black holes twist space around themselves as they rotate -- a phenomenon known as "frame dragging." "This is similar to pushing a glass into a table and twisting it, so that the tablecloth winds up around it," Maximiliano Isi, a gravitational wave astrophysicist at Columbia University, told AFP. In the future, the scientists hope to find signs of tiny changes known as quantum fluctuations. "In this way, we can really probe this near-horizon region to look for new physics," including searching for a deviation from general relativity, Ma said.



[1] https://phys.org/news/2026-06-fingerprints-black-hole-event-horizon.html

[2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frame-dragging

[3] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quantum_fluctuation

[4] https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-026-10696-0

[5] https://science.slashdot.org/story/25/09/11/2133252/gravitational-waves-finally-prove-stephen-hawkings-black-hole-theorem

[6] https://www.yahoo.com/news/science/articles/fingerprints-black-holes-event-horizon-150738518.html

[1]schwit1 shares a report from The Wall Street Journal:

> The European Union Aviation Safety Agency has [2]ordered (PDF) urgent inspections of 16 Airbus A380 planes operated by Emirates and Qantas, after [3]cracks were found in a wing component on some aircraft (source paywalled; [4]alternative source ). . Cracks were found during earlier inspections of the wing spars structure, a key component of the wing, EASA said in a directive effective Wednesday. EASA determined that they "could reduce the structural integrity of the wing."

>

> "To address this potential unsafe condition, Airbus determined that an additional special detailed inspection has to be accomplished," EASA said. The first group of five aircraft, operated by Emirates, need to be inspected immediately, while the second group of 11 aircraft can be inspected later but within 25 flight cycles, EASA said in a separate statement. From the second group, 10 are operated by Emirates and one by Qantas, the aviation safety agency said.



[1] https://slashdot.org/~schwit1

[2] https://ad.easa.europa.eu/blob/EASA_AD_2026_0119_E.pdf/EAD_2026-0119-E_1

[3] https://www.wsj.com/business/sixteen-airbus-a380s-to-undergo-inspection-after-cracks-found-on-wings-d51229c1

[4] https://people.com/cracks-discovered-on-wings-of-airbus-a380s-prompt-urgent-inspection-of-aircraft-12005843

The Trump administration has reportedly [1]asked OpenAI to stagger the release of GPT-5.6 over security concerns. The model will initially be offered to a small group of partners, with the government "approving access customer by customer during this preview period," reports [2]The Information . The request came from conversations with the Office of the National Cyber Director and the Office of Science and Technology Policy, the report said.



[1] https://www.reuters.com/business/trump-administration-asks-openai-stagger-release-new-model-information-reports-2026-06-25/

[2] https://www.theinformation.com/articles/trump-administration-asks-openai-stagger-release-new-model-security-concerns

An anonymous reader quotes a report from Reuters:

> Spain will [1]require mobile networks to have backup systems that maintain connectivity when power outages occur. [2]Per a royal decree that will be approved by the end of 2026, mobile network operators (MNOs) and infrastructure companies will need to install batteries or other backups to keep service active for at least four hours during a blackout.

>

> The mobile network rules will apply to businesses that serve at least 500,000 users or generate upwards of 50 million euros ($56.9 million) in annual revenue. The decree will stipulate that half of the population will need to be covered by this failsafe within the first year, then 65 percent in the second year and three quarters in the third.

>

> [...] The decree will require other key infrastructure elements to remain up and running for a certain period after a power outage. For instance, control centers that could impact all of Spain if they were to go offline will need to remain in service for at least 24 hours. Emergency call centers will also need to have plans in place to maintain operations, as [3]Reuters notes.

The move is in response to the [4]widespread blackout across the Iberian peninsula in 2025, which left more than 50 million people without power. Experts called it "the most severe and unprecedented blackout that had occurred in Europe in the past 20 years."



[1] https://www.engadget.com/2201931/spain-will-require-carriers-to-keep-mobile-networks-live-during-power-outages/

[2] https://digital.gob.es/comunicacion/notas-prensa/mtdfp/2026/06/oscar-lopez-anuncia-que-el-gobierno-obligara-a-mantener-la-cober

[3] https://www.reuters.com/world/spain-require-minimum-four-hour-mobile-coverage-power-outages-2026-06-25/

[4] https://slashdot.org/story/25/04/28/1245258/widespread-power-outage-is-reported-in-spain-france-and-portugal

Longtime Slashdot reader [1]schwit1 shares a report from autoevolution:

> The U.S. Department of Commerce's Bureau of Industry and Security [2]denied Polestar an authorization under the Connected Vehicle Rule . Polestar will continue to sell its existing inventory of Polestar 3 and 4 crossovers in the United States and will continue to offer support to customers and access to its service network. But no new 2027 models will set wheels on American soil.

>

> The [3]Connected Vehicle Rule is a regulation that restricts the import and sale of vehicles equipped with Vehicle Connectivity Systems (VCS) and Automated Driving Systems (ADS) tied to foreign adversaries, primarily from China and Russia. Polestar is owned by Chinese auto giant Geely, which has also been the parent company of Swedish brand Volvo since 2010. However, Volvo has recently been granted authorization to sell connected vehicles in the United States.

>

> The rule, set out by the Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS), classifies modern vehicles as mobile data centers and is designed to protect national security by keeping sensitive driver data and vehicle control systems out of the hands of foreign governments. Michael Lohscheller, Polestar CEO, confirms that the company is well aware that the automotive industry is entering a new phase, based on regional dynamics. So, Polestar will shift its strategy to its biggest market as it is preparing its exit from the U.S. market.

The report notes that Polestar sold 5,384 cars in the U.S. in 2025, with 60,119 units sold globally.



[1] https://slashdot.org/~schwit1

[2] https://www.autoevolution.com/news/polestar-banned-from-selling-cars-in-the-us-starting-with-model-year-2027-272042.html

[3] https://www.bis.gov/connected-vehicles

Notion [1]announced that it will [2]shut down its email client on September 22. The company says more than half of users already manage email through Notion's AI agents without opening their inbox, so it is shifting its focus from a traditional email client to agent-run workflows. Engadget reports:

> It has published an [3]FAQ for users to make sure that they don't lose any messages or data in the transition. Most emails will still exist in a Gmail inbox, but customers will need to manually export their drafts, scheduled emails, snippets and auto label instructions.

Notion first began offering Notion Mail after acquiring startup Skiff [4]in 2024 .



[1] https://x.com/NotionMail/status/2070177264457715817

[2] https://www.engadget.com/2201940/notion-mail-is-shutting-down/

[3] https://www.notion.com/help/notion-mail-inbox-is-going-away-what-to-do-next

[4] https://it.slashdot.org/story/24/10/24/1437205/note-taking-app-notion-readies-email-product

[1]BrianFagioli writes:

> The Linux Foundation has announced [2]Akrites , a new initiative to coordinate vulnerability disclosure and remediation for critical open source software as AI dramatically speeds up vulnerability discovery. Founding members include AWS, Google, Microsoft, OpenAI, Red Hat, NVIDIA, IBM, Cisco, JPMorganChase, and others. Akrites will provide a shared Security Incident Response Team (SIRT), a standardized coordinated vulnerability disclosure process, and [3]act as a "maintainer of last resort" for abandoned but widely used packages .

>

> The goal is to reduce duplicate reports, avoid conflicting patches, and help upstream maintainers address vulnerabilities before they can be exploited. As AI makes it easier to find security flaws, can a coordinated industry effort help protect open source, or does it risk giving large corporations too much influence over the ecosystem?

"Akrites is the largest coordinated effort in history to create systems and deploy tooling that leverages the collective power of the community to make everyone safer," the Linux Foundation said in an [4]open letter . "Akrites participants will contribute engineering resources; work to build and ship fixes; or fund the engineers who do. Some companies have contributed mightily already. The reality is, collectively, we need to contribute more."



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

[2] https://akrites.org/

[3] https://nerds.xyz/2026/06/linux-foundation-launches-akrites-as-ai-makes-open-source-vulnerabilities-easier-to-find/

[4] https://akrites.org/letter/

Apple has [1]sharply raised prices across its Mac, iPad, HomePod, and Apple TV lineups as surging AI-driven demand creates a global memory and storage shortage. Increases range from $30 for the HomePod mini to $1,300 for the M3 Ultra Mac Studio, with Apple CEO Tim Cook saying efforts to shield customers from higher costs had become "unsustainable." The Verge reports:

> On Thursday, the company adjusted the price of its new MacBook Neo, which will now start at $699 instead of $599, while the base MacBook Air will jump to $1,299 from $1,099, as [2]reported earlier by Bloomberg . The 14-inch MacBook Pro is getting an increase as well, going from $1,699 to $1,999. Meanwhile, the iPad Air will now start at $749 instead of $599, while the iPad Pro is increasing to $1,199 from $999.

>

> As [3]spotted by MacRumors , the M4 Max Mac Studio will now cost $2,499, a big jump from $1,999. The M3 Ultra Mac Studio is now priced at $5,299, up from $3,999. Apple is even raising the prices of its HomePod, which now costs $349 instead of $299, as well as bumping the price of the HomePod mini to $129 instead of $99. The Apple TV also now costs $199 instead of $129.



[1] https://www.theverge.com/tech/952162/apple-price-increase-ram-shortage

[2] https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2026-06-25/apple-raises-mac-and-ipad-prices-to-counter-memory-shortages

[3] https://www.macrumors.com/2026/06/25/apple-just-increased-prices/

LastPass says hackers [1]stole customers' personal information, support case records, and sales data by breaching market research partner Klue. The password manager told TechCrunch that its own systems and password vaults were unaffected. However, the hackers used their access to obtain "reams of data about LastPass customers," the report says. From the report:

> In a [2]blog post that shared information about the incident, LastPass said the hackers took customers' names, phone numbers, email addresses, and physical addresses, as well as customer support case data and sales-related data. It's not yet known what was in the contents of customer support tickets, although they likely contain fragments of potentially private or sensitive information. Customers typically contact customer service when they are having a billing issue or need assistance in gaining access to their accounts. Past incidents involving customer support tickets have included credentials and government-issued identity documents.

The last data breach LastPass reported was [3]in 2022 , when hackers stole the company's entire store of customer password vaults.



[1] https://techcrunch.com/2026/06/23/password-manager-maker-lastpass-says-hackers-stole-customer-support-case-data-during-klue-breach/

[2] https://blog.lastpass.com/posts/klue-supply-chain-incident-and-lastpass-response

[3] https://hardware.slashdot.org/story/22/12/22/2345231/lastpass-hackers-stole-customer-vault-data-in-cloud-storage-breach

An anonymous reader quotes a report from Ars Technica:

> Anthropic has accused the Chinese firm Alibaba of [1]launching the largest attack yet attempting to clone Claude , as China races to match the capabilities of Anthropic's leading model following [2]Mythos' release and [3]subsequent restriction from foreign markets. Ars obtained a June 10 letter sent to Senators Tim Scott (R-S.C.) and Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) one day ahead of a Senate committee hearing on "AI and the American Dream." In the letter, Anthropic shared "new, confidential evidence of the largest campaign to illicitly extract Claude's capabilities we have ever measured."

>

> The attacks occurred between April 22 and June 5, when "operators afliated with Alibaba and Alibaba Qwen, Alibaba's AI lab" allegedly generated "more than 28.8 million exchanges with Claude through almost 25,000 fraudulent accounts," Anthropic said. Violating Claude's terms of service and access restrictions, this campaign "targeted some of Claude's most valuable capabilities, such as agentic reasoning, software engineering, and long-horizon tasks." According to Anthropic, Alibaba evaded detection by "using obfuscation techniques and proxy networks." As Chinese demand for reliable obfuscation techniques increases, Anthropic warned there's already "a growing circumvention economy" to fuel an ever-expanding web of future distillation attacks. [...]

>

> "Alibaba is governed by an independent board, none of whom has any military affiliation," Alibaba said. "Its products and services are built for retail, logistics, and enterprise information technology -- not weapons, defense, or intelligence." Anthropic appears unconvinced, however, that Alibaba isn't working with the Chinese government. In the letter, Anthropic warned that without stronger interventions, these distillation attacks will "help China reach Mythos Preview-level capabilities sooner."

>

> To keep the US ahead of China, Anthropic recommended that Congress pass legislation with three objectives. First, antitrust laws must be updated to allow AI firms to share information about evolving Chinese tactics to deter more threats. Second, the US needs more export controls on chips to hamstring Chinese access to advanced compute so that they simply can't train on US model outputs. That could make conducting distillation attacks pointless, Anthropic suggested. Finally, Congress should pass laws penalizing Chinese labs' "bad behavior" so that it's "more difficult and costly" to rely on distillation attacks to advance Chinese models. Penalties could include limiting Chinese firms from accessing US models or advanced US chips or from relying on data centers outside of China, Anthropic suggested.



[1] https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2026/06/anthropic-claims-alibaba-defied-trump-to-attack-claude-and-steal-capabilities/

[2] https://it.slashdot.org/story/26/04/07/2115208/anthropic-unveils-claude-mythos-powerful-ai-with-major-cyber-implications

[3] https://it.slashdot.org/story/26/04/22/2038241/anthropics-mythos-model-is-being-accessed-by-unauthorized-users

After Ford's automated quality-control systems and AI tools fell short, the automaker [1]hired 350 veteran engineers over the past three years to mentor younger staff and reprogram the underperforming technology. "Artificial intelligence is a fantastic tool, but it's only as good as the information you use to train it," Charles Poon, Ford's vice president of vehicle hardware engineering, told reporters on a call Wednesday. "Over prior years, we didn't pay as much attention as we should have to the experience of our most knowledgeable engineers that have been with us through many product cycles." Bloomberg reports:

> Those engineers were "at the heart" of Ford's efforts to turn around quality problems, said Kumar Galhotra, chief operating officer. They now run mandatory meetings that rigorously troubleshoot quality problems and they have reprogrammed AI tools to head off glitches before they happen. "We had been relying more and more on automated quality systems" and not getting the desired results, Galhotra said. "We brought back technical specialists" and "they hunt for failure points before a part ever reaches the plant floor."

>

> The return of the veteran engineers at Ford cuts against the prevailing wisdom -- and fear -- that AI will replace all kinds of knowledge workers. But Ford found the machines couldn't replace experience. "Mistakenly we thought that by just introducing artificial intelligence and ingesting the design requirements that we had, that that would produce a high-quality product," Poon said. But "we recognized that for us to enhance some of our automation and machine learning and artificial intelligence tools we needed to ensure that they were trained by the most experienced individuals."

>

> As a result of the efforts of the old hands, Ford vaulted above quality stalwarts such as Toyota and Honda on [2]JD Power's bellwether survey that measures the quality of a car during the first three months of ownership. Only luxury brands Porsche and Genesis topped Ford this year.



[1] https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2026-06-25/ford-has-been-rehiring-quality-inspectors-after-ai-fell-short

[2] https://www.cnbc.com/video/2026/06/25/j-d-power-new-auto-quality-survey-here-are-the-results.html

Micron has signed 16 "strategic customer agreements" (SCAs) that include a floor price the company says [1]comes with "a very robust gross margin for Micron , well above our peak quarterly margins in any past cycle." Most of the deals run through 2030 and cover about 40% of Micron's revenue. The Register reports:

> Micron CEO, president and chairman Sanjay Mehrotra explained the SCAs in [2]prepared remarks delivered during the company's Q3 earnings call. He explained that Micron has signed 16 SCAs, most of them covering 2026 to 2030, and that they involve a commitment to buy a certain quantity of product and pay for it in a pricing band that has a floor and a ceiling price. The floor price covers the historically high gross margins mentioned above, and the ceiling price means those who commit to an SCA are insulated if memory prices go even higher.

>

> The CEO said 16 customers have signed SCAs and then explained why it's worth locking into the deals even though they bake in such high margins. "Our customers are recognizing that supply shortages in memory and storage will take considerable time to improve," he said. "Even as we expect industry supply to improve gradually in 2028, we currently do not have line of sight as to when memory supply will be able to catch up with increasing demand."

>

> Even massive efforts to build new chip fabs aren't much help, he said, because the increasing complexity of new memory types means it takes longer to build factories -- and when they come online there still won't be enough capacity to build both the high-bandwidth memory needed for AI and other types of NAND and DRAM. "Supply is structurally constrained in its growth and ability to meet industry demand, despite our comprehensive efforts to increase supply," he said.

>

> Don't assume that SCAs mean your suppliers get price certainty, because Mehrotra said the deals will account for 40 percent of Micron revenue -- meaning the company is reserving most of its inventory to sell at prices it can negotiate. The CEO did have a little good news in the form of predictions that Micron's DRAM output in 2026 will "grow in the low- to mid-20s percentage range, slightly above our prior outlook." He also revealed that the SCAs see customers pay up front, which helps Micron to fund its fab expansions.



[1] https://www.theregister.com/systems/2026/06/25/micron-locks-in-historically-high-memory-prices-for-five-years/5261854

[2] https://investors.micron.com/static-files/631b1a32-5537-46ae-8f40-82e42fc79dfe