According to Bloomberg, Discord has [1]confidentially filed for a U.S. IPO . Reuters reports:

> The U.S. IPO market regained momentum in 2025 after nearly three years of sluggish activity, but hopes for a stronger rebound were tempered by tariff-driven volatility, a prolonged government shutdown and a late-year selloff in artificial intelligence stocks.

Discord, which was founded in 2015, offers voice, video and text chatting capabilities aimed at gamers and streamers. According to [2]a statement in December, the platform has more than 200 million monthly users.



[1] https://www.reuters.com/business/chat-platform-discord-confidentially-file-us-ipo-bloomberg-news-reports-2026-01-06/

[2] https://discord.com/press-releases/discord-introduces-a-new-commerce-experience-for-gaming-communities

Boris Cherny, the creator of Claude Code at Anthropic, revealed a deceptively simple workflow that [1]uses parallel AI agents, verification loops, and shared memory to let one developer operate with the output of an entire engineering team. "I run 5 Claudes in parallel in my terminal," Cherny wrote. "I number my tabs 1-5, and use system notifications to know when a Claude needs input." He also runs "5-10 Claudes on claude.ai" in his browser, using a "teleport" command to hand off work between the web and his local machine. This validates the " [2]do more with less " strategy Anthropic's President Daniela Amodei recently pitched during an interview with CNBC. VentureBeat reports:

> For the past week, the engineering community has been dissecting a [3]thread on X from Boris Cherny, the creator and head of Claude Code at Anthropic. What began as a casual sharing of his personal terminal setup has spiraled into a viral manifesto on the future of software development, with industry insiders calling it a watershed moment for the startup.

>

> "If you're not reading the Claude Code best practices straight from its creator, you're behind as a programmer," wrote Jeff Tang, a prominent voice in the developer community. Kyle McNease, another industry observer, went further, declaring that with Cherny's "game-changing updates," Anthropic is "on fire," potentially facing "their ChatGPT moment."

>

> The excitement stems from a paradox: Cherny's workflow is surprisingly simple, yet it allows a single human to operate with the output capacity of a small engineering department. As one user noted on X after implementing Cherny's setup, the experience "feels more like Starcraft" than traditional coding -- a shift from typing syntax to commanding autonomous units.



[1] https://venturebeat.com/technology/the-creator-of-claude-code-just-revealed-his-workflow-and-developers-are

[2] https://www.cnbc.com/2026/01/03/anthropic-daniela-amodei-do-more-with-less-bet.html

[3] https://x.com/bcherny/status/2007179832300581177

[1]schwit1 shares a report from Gothamist:

> Wegmans in New York City has [2]begun collecting biometric data from anyone who enters its supermarkets , according to new signage posted at the chain's Manhattan and Brooklyn locations earlier this month. Anyone entering the store could have data on their face, eyes and voices collected and stored by the Rochester-headquartered supermarket chain. The information is used to "protect the safety and security of our patrons and employees," according to the signage. The new scanning policy is an expansion of a 2024 pilot.

>

> The chain had initially said that the scanning system was only for a small group of employees and [3]promised to delete any biometric data it collected from shoppers during the pilot rollout. The new notice makes no such assurances. Wegmans representatives did not reply to questions about how the data would be stored, why it changed its policy or if it would share the data with law enforcement.



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

[2] https://gothamist.com/news/nyc-wegmans-is-storing-biometric-data-on-shoppers-eyes-voices-and-faces

[3] https://x.com/_elkue/status/1846653125287203172/photo/1

[1]sinij shares a [2]news release from the Utah Department of Commerce:

> The state of Utah, through the Utah Department of Commerce's Office of Artificial Intelligence Policy, today announced a first-of-its-kind partnership with Doctronic, the AI-native health platform, to give patients with chronic conditions a faster, automated way to renew medications. This agreement marks the first state-approved program in the country that [3]allows an AI system to legally participate in medical decision-making for prescription renewals , an emerging model that could reshape access to care and ultimately improve care outcomes.

Politico provides additional context in its reporting:

> In data shared with Utah regulators, Doctronic compared its AI system with human clinicians across 500 urgent care cases. The results showed the AI's treatment plan matched the physicians' 99.2 percent of the time, according to the company. "The AI is actually better than doctors at doing this," said Dr. Adam Oskowitz, Doctronic co-founder and an associate professor of surgery at the University of California San Francisco. "When you go see a doctor, it's not going to do all the checks that the AI is doing."

>

> Oskowitz said the AI is designed to err on the side of safety, automatically escalating cases to a physician if there's any uncertainty. Human doctors will also review the first 250 prescriptions issued in each medication class to validate the AI's performance. Once that threshold is met, subsequent renewals in that class will be handled autonomously. The company has also secured a one-of-a-kind malpractice insurance policy covering an AI system, which means the system is insured and held to the same level of responsibility as a doctor would be.

>

> Doctronic also runs a nationwide telehealth practice that directs patients to doctors after an AI consultation. In Utah, patients who use the system will visit a webpage that verifies they are physically in the state. Then the system will pull the patient's prescription history and offer a list of medications eligible for renewal. The AI walks the patient through the same clinical questions a physician would ask to determine whether a refill is appropriate. If the system clears the renewal, the prescription is sent directly to a pharmacy. The program is limited to 190 commonly prescribed medications. Some medications -- including pain management and ADHD drugs as well as injectables -- are excluded for safety reasons.



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

[2] https://commerce.utah.gov/2026/01/06/news-release-utah-and-doctronic-announce-groundbreaking-partnership-for-ai-prescription-medication-renewals/

[3] https://www.politico.com/news/2026/01/06/artificial-intelligence-prescribing-medications-utah-00709122

An anonymous reader quotes a report from the New York Times:

> On Monday, [Jensen Huang, the chief executive of the chip-making giant Nvidia] said the company would [1]begin shipping a new A.I. chip later this year , one that can do more computing with less power than previous generations of chips could. Known as the Vera Rubin, the chip has been in development for three years and is designed to fulfill A.I. requests more quickly and cheaply than its predecessors. Mr. Huang, who spoke during CES, an annual tech conference in Las Vegas, also discussed Nvidia's surprisingly ambitious work around autonomous vehicles. This year, Mercedes-Benz will begin shipping cars equipped with Nvidia self-driving technology comparable to Tesla's Autopilot.

>

> Nvidia's new Rubin chips are being manufactured and will be shipped to customers, including Microsoft and Amazon, in the second half of the year, fulfilling a promise Mr. Huang made last March when he first described the chip at the company's annual conference in San Jose, Calif. Companies will be able to train A.I. models with one-quarter as many Rubin chips as its predecessor, the Blackwell. It can provide information for chatbots and other A.I. products for one-tenth of the cost. They will also be able to install the chips in data centers more quickly, courtesy of redesigned supercomputers that feature fewer cables. If the new chips live up to their promise, they could allow companies to develop A.I. at a lower cost and at least begin to respond to the soaring electrical demands of data centers being built around the world.

>

> [...] On Monday, he said Nvidia had developed new A.I. software that would allow customers like Uber and Lucid to develop cars that navigate roads autonomously. It will share the system, called Alpamayo, to spread its influence and the appeal of Nvidia's chip technology. Since 2020, Nvidia has been working with Mercedes to develop a class of self-driving cars. They will begin shipping an early example of their collaboration when Mercedes CLA cars become available in the first half of the year in Europe and the United States. Mr. Huang said the company started working on self-driving technology eight years ago. It has more than a thousand people working on the project. "Our vision is that someday, every single car, every single truck, will be autonomous," Mr. Huang said.

The Rubin chips are named for the astronomer Vera Rubin, a pioneering astronomer who [2]helped find powerful evidence of dark matter .



[1] https://www.nytimes.com/2026/01/05/technology/nvidia-chips-mercedes.html

[2] https://science.slashdot.org/story/16/12/28/008240/vera-rubin-pioneering-astronomer-who-confirmed-existence-of-dark-matter-dies-at-88

Google will begin releasing Android Open Source Project (AOSP) source code [1]only twice a year starting in 2026 . "In the past, Google would release the source code for every quarterly Android release, of which there are four each year," notes Android Authority. From the report:

> Google told Android Authority that, effective 2026, Google will publish new source code to AOSP in Q2 and Q4. The reason is to ensure platform stability for the Android ecosystem and better align with Android's trunk-stable development model.

>

> Developers navigating to [2]source.android.com today will see a banner confirming the change that reads as follows: "Effective in 2026, to align with our trunk-stable development model and ensure platform stability for the ecosystem, we will publish source code to AOSP in Q2 and Q4. For building and contributing to AOSP, we recommend utilizing android-latest-release instead of aosp-main. The aosp-latest-release manifest branch will always reference the most recent release pushed to AOSP. For more information, see [3]Changes to AOSP ."

>

> A spokesperson for Google offered some additional context on this decision, stating that it helps simplify development, eliminates the complexity of managing multiple code branches, and allows them to deliver more stable and secure code to Android platform developers. The spokesperson also reiterated that Google's commitment to AOSP is unchanged and that this new release schedule helps the company build a more robust and secure foundation for the Android ecosystem. Finally, Google told us that its process for security patch releases will not change and that the company will keep publishing security patches each month on a dedicated security-only branch for relevant OS releases just as it does today.



[1] https://www.androidauthority.com/aosp-source-code-schedule-3630018/

[2] https://source.android.com/

[3] https://source.android.com/docs/whatsnew/site-updates?year=2025#aosp-changes

Vietnam will begin enforcing new online advertising rules in February 2026 that [1]ban forced video ads longer than five seconds and must allow users to close ads with just one tap. "Furthermore, platforms must provide clear icons and instructions for users to report advertisements that violate the law, and allow them to opt out, turn off, or stop viewing inappropriate ads," reports a local news outlet (translated to English). "These reports must be received and processed promptly, and the results communicated to users as required." From the report:

> In cases where the entity posting the infringing advertisement cannot be identified or where specialized laws do not have specific regulations, the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism is the focal agency to receive notifications and send requests to block or remove the advertisement to organizations and businesses providing online advertising services in Vietnam.

>

> Advertisers, advertising service providers, and advertising transmission and distribution units are responsible for blocking and removing infringing advertisements within 24 hours of receiving a request from the competent authority. For advertisements that infringe on national security, the blocking and removal must be carried out immediately, no later than 24 hours.

>

> In case of non-compliance, the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism, in coordination with the Ministry of Public Security, will apply technical measures to block infringing advertisements and services and handle the matter according to the law. Telecommunications companies and Internet service providers must also implement technical measures to block access to infringing advertisements within 24 hours of receiving a request.



[1] https://www.phunuonline.com.vn/tu-15-2-quang-cao-video-khong-duoc-ep-nguoi-dung-xem-qua-5-giay-a1571286.html

An anonymous reader quotes a report from IGN:

> Last year, Intel had the best iGPU on the market. This year, it's broken that record by over 70% with Panther Lake and it's a huge win for handhelds. "We've overdelivered" is how Intel CEO Lip Bu Tan categorized the [1]Panther Lake launch during the company's CES 2026 Keynote address, and that really does seem to be the case. But the real highlight of the keynote speech wasn't the engineering behind Panther Lake, but rather the iGPU and the "handheld ecosystem" Intel is [2]building to capitalize on the iGPU's performance gains .

>

> Formerly known as the 12 Xe-core variant, the new Intel Arc B390 iGPU offers up to 77% faster gaming performance over Lunar Lake's Arc 140V graphics chip. Intel's VP and General Manager of PC Products, Dan Rogers detailed the Arc B390's performance gains and announced a "whole ecosystem" of gaming handhelds. That ecosystem includes partnerships with MSI, Acer, Microsoft, CPD, Foxconn, and Pegatron. So we'll finally see more Intel handhelds hit the market.

>

> [...] Since Intel's Core Ultra 300 Panther Lake chip is built on Intel's proprietary 18A Foundry process node, it can be cut in a variety of different die slices. According to sources at Intel close to the matter, the company is planning a hardware-specific variant or variants of the Panther Lake CPU die. Currently branded as "Intel Core G3" these processors will be custom-built for handhelds. That means Intel can spec the chips to offer better performance on the GPU where you want it, with potential for even better performance than the current Arc B390 expectations.



[1] https://slashdot.org/story/25/10/09/1753223/intels-next-generation-panther-lake-laptop-chips-could-be-a-return-to-form

[2] https://www.ign.com/articles/exclusive-intel-is-making-its-own-handheld-gaming-pc-chips-at-ces-2026

Jupiter's moon Europa is on the short list of places in our solar system seen as promising in the search for life beyond Earth, with a large subsurface ocean thought to be hidden under an outer shell of ice. But [1]new research is [2]raising questions about whether Europa in fact has what it takes for habitability . Reuters:

> The study assessed the potential on Europa's ocean bottom for tectonic and volcanic activity, which on Earth facilitate interactions between rock and seawater that generate essential nutrients and chemical energy for life. After modeling Europa's conditions, the researchers concluded that its rocky seafloor is likely mechanically too strong to allow such activity.

>

> The researchers considered factors including Europa's size, the makeup of its rocky core and the gravitational forces exerted by Jupiter, the solar system's largest planet. Their evaluation that there probably is little to no active faulting at Europa's seafloor suggests this moon is barren of life.

>

> "On Earth, tectonic activity such as fracturing and faulting exposes fresh rock to the environment where chemical reactions, principally involving water, generate chemicals such as methane that microbial life can use," said planetary scientist Paul Byrne of Washington University in St. Louis, lead author of the study published on Tuesday in the journal Nature Communications. "Without such activity, those reactions are harder to establish and sustain, making Europa's seafloor a challenging environment for life," Byrne added.



[1] https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-025-67151-3

[2] https://www.reuters.com/science/study-casts-doubt-potential-life-jupiters-moon-europa-2026-01-06/

Nvidia's G-Sync Pulsar technology, first announced nearly two years ago as a solution to display motion blur caused by old images persisting on the viewer's retina, is [1]finally arriving in consumer monitors this week . The first four Pulsar-equipped displays -- from Acer, AOC, Asus and MSI -- hit select retailers on Wednesday, all sharing the same core specs: 27-inch IPS panels running at 1440p resolution and up to 360 Hz refresh rates. Nvidia claims the technology delivers the "effective motion clarity of a theoretical 1,000 Hz monitor."

The system uses a rolling scan scheme that pulses the backlight for one-quarter of a frame just before pixels are overwritten, giving them time to fully transition between colors before illumination. The approach also reduces how long old pixels persist on the viewer's retina. Previous "Ultra Low Motion Blur" features on other monitors worked only at fixed refresh rates, but Pulsar syncs its pulses to G-Sync's variable refresh rate.

Early reviews are mixed. The Monitors Unboxed YouTube channel [2]called it "clearly the best solution currently available" for limiting motion blur, while PC Magazine [3]described the improvements as "minor in the grand scheme of things" and potentially hard for casual viewers to notice.



[1] https://arstechnica.com/gaming/2026/01/nvidias-new-g-sync-pulsar-monitors-target-motion-blur-at-the-human-retina-level/

[2] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SXwXGYhi8_I

[3] https://www.pcgamer.com/nvidias-g-sync-pulsar-hopes-to-banish-a-form-of-motion-blur-thats-plague-pc-gaming-for-years/

The Lego Group today [1]unveiled Smart Bricks , a tiny computer that fits entirely inside a classic 2x4 brick and which the company is calling the most significant evolution in its building system since the introduction of the minifigure in 1978. The Smart Brick contains a custom ASIC smaller than a single Lego stud and includes light and sound output, light sensors, inertial sensors for detecting movement and tilt, and a microphone that functions as a virtual button rather than a recording device.

The bricks detect NFC-equipped smart tags embedded in new tiles and minifigures, and they form a Bluetooth mesh network to sense each other's position and orientation. They charge wirelessly on a pad that can handle multiple bricks simultaneously. The first Smart Brick sets ship March 1 and are all Star Wars themed, ranging from a $70 Darth Vader's TIE Fighter at 473 pieces to a $160 Darth Vader's Throne Room Duel at 962 pieces.

Lego confirmed [2]there is no AI or camera in the product . The company quietly piloted the technology in a 2024 Lego City set and says Smart Play will continue to expand through new updates and launches.



[1] https://www.lego.com/en-us/aboutus/news/2026/december/lego-smart-play-announcement

[2] https://www.theverge.com/tech/854556/lego-announces-smart-brick-the-most-significant-evolution-in-50-years

The "talent is everywhere" approach that U.S. employers adopted during the white-hot pandemic job market is quietly giving way to something much older and more familiar: [1]recruiting almost exclusively from a small set of elite and nearby universities . A 2025 survey of more than 150 companies by Veris Insights found that 26% were exclusively recruiting from a shortlist of schools, up from 17% in 2022.

Diversity as a priority for school recruiting selection dropped to 31% of employers surveyed in 2025, down from nearly 60% in 2022. GE Appliances once sent recruiters on one or two passes through 45 to 50 schools each year; now the company attends four or five events per semester at just 15 universities, including Purdue and Auburn. McKinsey, the consulting firm that expanded recruitment well beyond the Ivy League after George Floyd's murder, recently removed language from its career page that said "We hire people, not degrees." The firm now hosts in-person events at a shortlist of about 20 core schools, including Vanderbilt and Notre Dame.

Most companies now recruit at up to 30 American colleges out of about 4,000, said William Chichester III, who has directed entry-level recruiting at Target and Peloton. For students outside elite schools or those located near company headquarters? "God help you," he said.



[1] https://www.msn.com/en-us/money/careersandeducation/elite-colleges-are-back-at-the-top-of-the-list-for-company-recruiters/ar-AA1TzuPM

Book publisher HarperCollins said it will [1]start translating romance novels under its famous Harlequin label in France using AI, reducing or eliminating the pay for the team of human contract translators who previously did this work. 404Media:

> Publisher's Weekly broke the news in English after French outlets reported on the story in December. According to a joint statement from French Association of Literary Translators (ATFL) and En Chair et en Os (In Flesh and Bone) -- an anti-AI activist group of French translators -- HarperCollins France has been contacting its translators to tell them they're being replaced with machines in 2026.

>

> The ATFL/ En Chair et en Os statement explained that HarperCollins France would use a third party company called Fluent Planet to run Harlequin romance novels through a machine translation system. The books would then be checked for errors and finalized by a team of freelancers. The ATFL and En Chair et en Os called on writers, book workers, and readers to refuse this machine translated future. They begged people to "reaffirm our unconditional commitment to human texts, created by human beings, in dignified working conditions."



[1] https://www.404media.co/harpercollins-will-use-ai-to-translate-harlequin-romance-novels/

A survey of 2,000 teachers, students and parents conducted by the New York Times found that many high schools have [1]stopped assigning full novels to students , opting instead for excerpts that are often read on school-issued laptops rather than in print. The shift stems from multiple factors: a belief that students have shorter attention spans, pressure to prepare students for standardized tests, and the influence of Common Core standards adopted by many U.S. states more than a decade ago.

Schools increasingly rely on curriculum products like StudySync, which takes an anthology approach to literature rather than requiring complete books. Teachers acknowledge that teens now read far fewer full novels than previous generations, though some educators push back against the trend. "Many teachers are secret revolutionaries and still assign whole books," said Heather McGuire, a New Mexico English teacher who responded to the survey.



[1] https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2026/jan/06/many-schools-are-assigning-excerpts-of-novels-to-read-instead-of-full-books-why

Razer today unveiled Project Motoko, a concept pair of over-ear headphones [1]equipped with dual cameras that the gaming peripherals company believes could serve as an alternative to the smart glasses that have proliferated across the wearable AI market. The headphones feature two 4K cameras positioned on the earcups along with near and far field microphones, all powered by a Qualcomm Snapdragon chip. Users can point the cameras at objects and ask questions to AI assistants including those from OpenAI, Anthropic, xAI and Microsoft.

Basic queries run locally on the device while more complex requests require a phone or PC connection. Razer's pitch centers on battery life: the wireless headset has achieved up to 36 hours on a charge during testing, according to the company, compared to the eight hours rated for Meta's second-generation Ray-Ban AI glasses. The company also argues that over-ear headphones offer more privacy since audio responses aren't audible to bystanders.

The concept remains unfinished, Bloomberg News cautioned. During a product demonstration, the headset's dual cameras [2]failed occasionally to recognize objects even in a moderately lit room. Razer has not committed to final pricing but indicated the headphones would command a "slight premium" over other high-end headphones and would be available later this year. The company's most expensive current headset costs $400.



[1] https://www.theverge.com/tech/855307/razer-project-motoko-hands-on-wearable-ai-headphones

[2] https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2026-01-06/razer-ceo-min-liang-tan-interview-at-ces-2026-strategy-investment-and-ai-focus

HP this week [1]announced the EliteBoard G1a at CES 2026, a Windows computer built into a full-size 93-key desktop keyboard that the company is marketing to businesses where employees use hot desks and need a portable computing environment they can carry between workstations.

The device connects to a USB-C monitor for both video output and power delivery over a single cable, and HP includes a USB-to-HDMI adapter for displays that lack USB-C input. Inside runs an AMD Ryzen AI 5 or 7 processor paired with AMD Radeon 800 integrated graphics and an NPU capable of up to 50 TOPS, qualifying it as a Copilot+ PC by Microsoft's standards.

The device can be configured with up to 64GB of DDR5 RAM and 2TB of SSD storage. The keyboard weighs between 1.49 and 1.69 pounds depending on configuration and measures 14.1 by 4.7 by 0.7 inches, lighter than most laptops but longer and thicker than some. An optional 32Wh battery offers up to 3.5 hours of unplugged use. The EliteBoard G1a ships in March.



[1] https://www.theregister.com/2026/01/06/hp_keyboard_pc/

New York Governor Kathy Hochul has signed S4505, a law that requires websites to display warnings claiming that features like algorithmic feeds, push notifications, infinite scroll, like counts, and autoplay cause addiction -- despite, as TechDirt argues, [1]the absence of scientific consensus supporting such claims .

State Senator Andrew Gounardes sponsored the legislation. The law's constitutional footing appears precarious. Courts have already rejected nearly identical compelled-speech schemes, most notably in the Texas pornography age-verification case that reached the Supreme Court. The Fifth Circuit, in that case, refused to uphold mandatory health warnings about pornography, ruling that such public health claims were "too contentious and controversial to receive Zauderer scrutiny" -- the legal standard that sometimes permits government-mandated disclosures.

The science around social media's purported addictiveness is even more disputed than the pornography research the Fifth Circuit rejected. Hochul's signing statement asserts that studies link increased social media use to anxiety and depression, but researchers in the field note these studies demonstrate correlation rather than causation. Some experts have suggested the causal relationship may run in the opposite direction: teenagers struggling with mental health issues turn to social media for community and coping mechanisms. The law's broad definitions could sweep in far more than major platforms like Facebook and TikTok. News sites, recipe apps, fitness trackers, and email clients could theoretically face enforcement if they employ the targeted features. New York's Attorney General holds sole authority to grant exemptions.



[1] https://www.techdirt.com/2026/01/05/ny-orders-apps-to-lie-about-social-media-addiction-will-lose-in-court/

An anonymous reader shares a report:

> The Open Rights Group is warning politicians that the UK is leaning far too heavily on US tech companies to run critical systems, and wants the Cybersecurity and Resilience Bill to [1]force a rethink .

>

> The digital rights outfit says the bill, which is due to receive its second reading in the House of Commons today, represents a rare opportunity to force the government to confront what it sees as a strategic blind spot: the UK's reliance on companies such as Amazon, Google, Microsoft, and data analytics biz Palantir for everything from cloud hosting to sensitive public sector systems.

>

> "Just as relying on one country for the UK's energy needs would be risky and irresponsible, so is overreliance on US companies to supply the bulk of our digital infrastructure," said James Baker, platform power programme manager at Open Rights Group. He argued that digital infrastructure has become an extension of geopolitical power, and the UK is increasingly vulnerable to decisions taken far beyond Westminster's control.



[1] https://www.theregister.com/2026/01/06/uk_urged_to_unplug_from/

Longtime reader [1]joshuark [2]shares a report :

> As spotted by Bluesky user DodgerFanLA, going to Office.com now greets you with the following helpful explainer: "The Microsoft 365 Copilot app (formerly Office) lets you create, share, and collaborate all in one place with your favorite apps now including Copilot.*"

>

> Never has an asterisk been more relevant to me than following the words "your favorite apps now including Copilot."

>

> About a decade ago, hardware company Corsair attempted to pivot from its classic logo -- a subtle trio of ship sails -- to a newer, edgier look, a pair of crossed swords that gave off regrettable '2000s tribal tattoo' energy. The rebrand didn't last long: after a fierce outcry from people who correctly thought the new logo sucked, Corsair swapped to a refreshed take on the sail logo, which it's been using ever since. Corsair was established in 1994, and made about $1.4 billion last year -- which I bring up because today Microsoft, a slightly bigger company, has slipped on its own rebranding banana peel. The company is seemingly all but ditching the Office name -- which it introduced four years before Corsair existed, and which drove more than $30 billion in revenue just last quarter -- with a catchy new name: "Microsoft 365 Copilot app."

>

> The company had already downplayed the Office name, despite it being perhaps the most universally recognized software in existence, by renaming its cloud version of Word, Powerpoint, etc. Office 365 in 2010, then Microsoft 365 in 2017. Now when you want to open up a Word document, you can get to them by launching the Microsoft 365 Copilot app. Intuitive!

>

> Should Microsoft just go ahead and rebrand Windows, the only piece of its arsenal more famous than Office, as Copilot, too? I do actually think we're not far off from that happening. Facebook rebranded itself "Meta" when it thought the metaverse would be the next big thing, so it seems just as plausible that Microsoft could name the next version of Windows something like "Windows with Copilot" or just "Windows AI."

>

> Copilot is the app for launching the other apps, but it's also a chatbot inside the apps. Any questions?

Correction : Office [3]hasn't been renamed to "Microsoft 365 Copilot app." The Verge adds:

> The confusion comes from Microsoft's own Office.com domain, which for the past year has acted as a way to push businesses and consumers to use the Microsoft 365 Copilot app. This app is a hub app that provides access to Copilot, as well as all the Office apps. Microsoft used to call this app simply Office, before the company rebranded Office to Microsoft 365 in 2022.

>

> If you visit Office.com you'll see a big welcome to the Microsoft 365 Copilot app, and a note from Microsoft that would confuse anyone not following the company's confusing branding: "The Microsoft 365 Copilot app (formerly Office)..." That mention of "formerly Office" is Microsoft referring to the very old Office app that launched in 2019 as a way to try and convince people to use online versions of Word, Excel, and PowerPoint. Until a year ago it used to be called the Microsoft 365 app. Microsoft then announced it was rebranding its Microsoft 365 app in November 2024 to a Copilot one, which I and everyone else were very confused at. The new app icon and name -- Microsoft 365 Copilot -- then rolled out on January 15th last year to Windows, iOS, and Android users.



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

[2] https://www.pcgamer.com/software/windows/in-a-truly-galaxy-brained-rebrand-microsoft-office-is-now-the-microsoft-365-copilot-app-but-copilot-is-also-still-the-name-of-the-ai-assistant/

[3] https://www.theverge.com/tech/856149/microsoft-365-office-rebrand-copilot

Stratechery's Ben Thompson has [1]published a lengthy rebuttal to Dwarkesh Patel and Philip Trammell's widely discussed winter break essay " [2]Capital in the 22nd Century ," arguing that even in a world where AI can perform all human jobs, people will still prefer human-created content and human connection.

Patel and Trammell's thesis draws on Thomas Piketty's work to argue that once AI renders capital a true substitute for labor, wealth will concentrate among those richest at the moment of transition, making a global progressive capital tax the only solution to prevent extreme inequality. The logic is sound, writes Thompson, but he remains skeptical on several fronts.

His first objection: if AI can truly do everything, then everyone can have everything they need, making the question of who owns the robots somewhat moot. His second: a world where AI is capable enough to replace all human labor yet still obeys human property law seems implausible. He finds the AI doomsday scenario -- where such powerful AI becomes uncontrollable -- more realistic than a stable capital-hoarding dystopia.

Thompson points to agricultural employment in the U.S., which dropped from 81% in 1810 to 1% today, as evidence that humans consistently create new valuable work after technological displacement. He argues that human preferences for human connection -- from podcasting audiences to romantic partners -- will sustain an economy for human labor simply because it is human. Sora currently ranks 59th in the App Store behind double-digit human-focused social apps, for instance.



[1] https://stratechery.com/2026/ai-and-the-human-condition/

[2] https://philiptrammell.substack.com/p/capital-in-the-22nd-century