#BrainUp Daily Tech News – (Saturday, June 27ᵗʰ)
Welcome to today’s curated collection of interesting links and insights for 2026/06/27. Our Hand-picked, AI-optimized system has processed and summarized 21 articles from all over the internet to bring you the latest technology news.
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1. Latest Tech News – June 24, 2026 – Tech Company News
@Meta Platforms and @Microsoft are driving an unprecedented $850 billion surge in future data center lease commitments to scale #generativeAI infrastructure, alongside major moves by @SpaceX, @OpenAI, and @Amazon-owned Zoox. Meta reportedly sparked momentum with $79 billion in new obligations, bringing total long term lease commitments to $182.9 billion, while Microsoft increased total obligations to $196.6 billion after reversing a brief leasing pause, moves that benefit developers like Digital Realty and support sustained demand for advanced AI semiconductors and power infrastructure, with costs hitting balance sheets when lease payments begin. SpaceX also signed a $6.3 billion multi year computing infrastructure deal with open source AI startup Reflection AI, under which the @Nvidia-backed company pays $150 million per month starting July 1, 2026 for access to Nvidia GB300 chips in Elon Musk’s Colossus 2 data center in Memphis, with other clients cited including Google and Anthropic. OpenAI unveiled “Jalapeño,” a custom #inference chip built with @Broadcom to cut inference costs and reduce reliance on Nvidia by improving performance per watt in early testing, especially for real time coding models, while still using Nvidia for pre training. Zoox announced passenger focused upgrades to its electric #robotaxi ahead of a commercial launch later this year, keeping its core autonomy setup intact, including 40 sensors, a steering wheel free cabin, and 75 mph capability.
2. IBM Debuts World’s First Sub-1 Nanometer Chip Technology
@IBM announced the world’s first sub-1 nanometer chip technology at the 0.7 nm, or 7 angstrom, node, positioning it as a breakthrough for an industry nearing the physical limits of traditional scaling. The company says the chip packs nearly 100 billion transistors on a fingernail-sized die, nearly double the density of its 2021 2 nm chip, and published results project up to 50 percent more performance or 70 percent greater energy efficiency versus #2nm node chips. The advance is enabled by #nanostack, an industry-first known three-dimensional, nanosheet-based transistor architecture that vertically stacks and staggers transistors via 3D sequential integration and allows different material combinations per layer to independently tune performance and power. IBM reports experimental validation through ultra-thin dielectric bonding in #CMOS integration, dual-channel engineering capability, and functional CMOS inverter operation with expected switching performance, plus VLSI 2026 research indicating 40 percent scaling in #SRAM to better meet high-bandwidth #AI demands. IBM frames nanostack as extending logic below the 1 nm node into angstrom-level scaling, supporting continued performance and efficiency gains for workloads such as generative AI, cloud infrastructure, and next-generation devices.
3. BIO 2026: Making biotech IPOs great again and the forgotten pharma antitrust review
Dealmaking in biopharma is shifting as the SEC moves to make becoming and staying a public company easier and antitrust scrutiny is fading as policy attention shifts toward #drug pricing. At the BIO International Convention, panelists discussed SEC Chair @Paul Atkins’ “#MIOGA” initiative, introduced May 19, which consists of two rulemakings designed to ease disclosure requirements and speed filing for registered offerings, with provisions that effectively reduce burdens during a company’s first years as a public issuer. Goodwin partner Sam Zucker said the changes could make IPOs more attractive to companies wary of public-company transaction costs, while noting biotechs often pursue IPOs aggressively even without sufficient clinical data, and he flagged potential future reforms to “#gun-jumping rules” that currently restrict pre-IPO communications but can be a compliance minefield. EY partner Doreen Levine emphasized that IPO success still depends on a crisp narrative and disciplined disclosures that follow what the SEC has indicated it expects, rather than dumping excessive information to avoid comments. Beyond IPOs, CSL counsel Casarine Chong said #M&A is also seeing a smoother path under a more hands-off FTC, contrasting AbbVie’s $10.9B planned purchase of Apogee with AbbVie’s Allergan deal that previously required an IL-23 asset divestiture.
4. PlayStation Is Deleting Terminator 2 And 550 Other Movies
#PlayStation is telling customers who previously bought #StudioCanal-distributed movies on the #PlayStationStore that those titles will be removed from their video libraries and will no longer be accessible. Sony’s message cites “our content licensing agreements” and sets September 1 as the date when affected purchases, including films like Terminator 2, Total Recall, Rambo: First Blood, Bridget Jones’ Diary, and The Deer Hunter, will be deleted, with a published list covering 551 movies and TV series. The notice, highlighted by X user somatyk and mirrored on PlayStation’s website, does not mention refunds or any compensation. The situation underscores that digital “purchases” function more like time-limited access governed by licensing and #EULA terms, and that content can be taken away even after payment. Kotaku reports it has contacted Sony to ask whether customers will receive refunds or another form of make-good.
5. Mark Cuban pitches Texas data centers as national solution amidst global chip shortage
@Mark Cuban advocates for Texas to capitalize on the national chip shortage by developing more data centers. He highlights Texas’ potential as a hub due to its existing infrastructure and business-friendly climate, supported by the presence of major companies like Apple and Google. Cuban argues that data centers are crucial for technological advancement and economic growth, pointing out their role in supporting the semiconductor industry. This approach emphasizes leveraging Texas’ strengths to address supply chain challenges and boost the tech economy. Ultimately, Cuban suggests that expanding data centers in Texas can position the state as a key player in the evolving global tech landscape.
6. Netflix now requires every user profile to be tied to unique email address
#Netflix has begun permanently requiring each non-child user profile on an account to be tied to a unique email address, effectively pushing profile users to have their own login credentials. The rollout started June 15, 2026, and affected users may see a prompt to add an email to continue, as in the author’s example where an add-on member could no longer use the household login and had to create a separate sign-in, with Netflix also optionally requesting first and last name. Netflix says the change enables easier credential management, device sign-ins, #two-factor authentication use, and independent profile settings like language, audio, and display, without the primary account holder. Critics argue the requirement is confusing for households sharing devices, unnecessary for people who use multiple profiles for organization, and increases tracking and marketing exposure, with Netflix’s privacy policy allowing email sharing with marketing and advertising companies and at least one user reporting program promo emails after providing an address. Separately, concerns that Netflix will mandate #multifactor authentication for regular users appear unfounded, as Ars reports the July 7 MFA note applies only to business partner accounts.
A new GMAC survey suggests #AI is making it harder for Gen Z to get onto the career ladder by replacing some entry-level roles, even as the overall labor market has remained relatively resilient. In GMAC’s Corporate Recruiters survey of 600+ recruiters worldwide, about one-third of employers said they are replacing entry-level jobs with AI, with technology most exposed at 40% reporting such replacement, followed closely by manufacturing, and over half of respondents recruiting for Fortune 100 or Fortune 500 firms. GMAC’s Sabrina White argues this is not a reason to avoid AI, but a signal that routine work in areas like coding, data processing, and customer service is being automated while employers still invest in talent that applies judgment, solves problems, and navigates change, echoing that past tech shifts changed jobs more than they eliminated them. Meanwhile, more people are seeking credentials, with graduate business applications up 13% in 2024 and 2% in 2025, but the survey indicates an MBA is less of a guaranteed shortcut, only 13% of employers hired more MBAs in 2025 than in 2024, hiring fell short of expectations for some business degrees, and median starting salary estimates declined for MBAs and other groups. The article concludes that while payoffs can still be substantial at some top programs, employers are raising expectations for graduates to translate emerging technology into business impact and operate effectively amid complexity and uncertainty.
8. The ‘papers, please’ era of the internet will decimate your privacy
Age verification online is rapidly becoming identity verification, creating a “papers, please” internet that undermines #privacy and #freeExpression, especially when people want to discuss sensitive topics or criticize those in power. The article points to Australia’s under-16 social media ban, effective December 2025, and notes government research and a British Medical Journal study finding little to no immediate reduction in under-16 social media use, with roughly seven in 10 kids still using social media months later. Despite limited effectiveness, the law pressures platforms under threat of major fines to collect biometric data, government-issued IDs, or other personal data, sometimes via third-party verification tools when existing account data is insufficient. It highlights Snapchat’s use of k-ID, a Singapore-based service that can verify through bank connections, ID scans, or selfies that return an age range, raising questions about data retention, security, jurisdiction, and exposure to government demands. Although Australia requires destruction of verification data once “all purposes” are met, the scope of those purposes can include complaints and challenges, leaving unclear how long sensitive identity data may persist and reinforcing the risk that #ageVerification regimes reduce privacy without delivering promised safety gains.
9. Doctors suspected man had brain cancer. He actually had worms.
Doctors in Spain evaluated a 60-year-old man with two weeks of worsening headache and subtle behavioral changes, and initial CT imaging showed multiple brain lesions with swelling, prompting suspicion of metastatic cancer despite mostly normal labs except elevated IgE. After corticosteroids eased his headache, extensive cancer workups, including whole-body contrast CT, colonoscopy, and PET/CT, found no malignancy. A follow-up brain MRI revealed the lesions were encapsulated tapeworm larvae, with visible scolexes, leading to a diagnosis of #neurocysticercosis caused by Taenia solium that was later supported by antibody testing. Because pork tapeworms are not endemic in Spain and the patient reported no travel, clinicians speculated a rare, cryptic fecal-oral exposure through shared meals and bathrooms with coworkers from endemic regions, where one apparently had a tapeworm infection. The report notes that Taenia solium can infect people via undercooked meat or ingestion of eggs from fecal contamination, and when larvae reach the central nervous system, #neurocysticercosis can range from asymptomatic to severe neurological disease such as seizures, deficits, cognitive decline, and stroke.
10. Anthropic says Alibaba must be punished for largest Claude cloning attack
Anthropic alleges that Alibaba ran the largest recorded attempt to clone #Claude, urging US policymakers to impose stronger consequences for #distillation attacks on US frontier models. In a June 10 letter to Senators @Tim Scott and @Elizabeth Warren obtained by Ars, Anthropic claims operators affiliated with Alibaba and its Qwen lab generated more than 28.8 million exchanges with Claude via nearly 25,000 fraudulent accounts from April 22 to June 5, using obfuscation techniques and proxy networks and targeting capabilities like #agentic reasoning, software engineering, and long-horizon tasks. Anthropic argues these efforts avoid training and R&D costs while effectively subsidizing geopolitical competitors and warns of a growing circumvention economy that could accelerate future extraction campaigns. The company says the activity continued even after @Donald Trump issued warnings and steps aimed at curbing AI theft, and notes Alibaba’s US listing and operations increase its accountability to US investors and regulators. The piece also reports Alibaba has sued the Trump administration over an alleged blacklist designation tied to claims of military links, while Anthropic signals skepticism and presses for tougher intervention.
11. Kevin O’Leary reverses claims about China data center
Kevin O’Leary initially claimed that Canadian data would be stored in China due to a partnership with a Chinese company, which raised privacy concerns. However, he later retracted those statements, clarifying the data center project does not involve storing Canadian data in China. This reversal helped address fears over data privacy and national security linked to international data storage. The correction emphasizes the importance of accurate information regarding #data privacy policies and international business partnerships in technology sectors. It also reflects ongoing scrutiny around how data is managed globally, ensuring public concerns are addressed transparently.
12. Scalpers are already selling the Steam Machine for over $3000 on eBay despite Valve’s efforts
Scalpers are already reselling confirmed #Steam Machine reservation spots on eBay for extreme markups before the hardware has shipped, undermining @Valve’s attempt to curb botting and line jumping. The article cites multiple listings for the 512GB bundle priced around $2,800 to $3,200, plus a 2TB model listed as high as $3,500, and notes at least one reservation listing has already sold for $2,800. It warns these sales may be risky because the legitimacy of listings and whether a buyer will receive an actual unit is unverified, making scams possible at this pre-shipping stage. This is happening even though retail pricing is already high, with the 512GB base model starting at $1,049 and the controller bundle at $1,128, prices @Valve says reflect recent component costs amid a global memory shortage driven by AI demand. Despite a randomized #reservation lottery with Steam account eligibility rules and one-per-household checks, the piece argues the system was not enough, echoing earlier #Steam Controller scalping and giving resellers leverage as some buyers may wait until late 2026 or later for availability.
https://www.ft.com/content/bb04671c-4377-4231-96ef-0f8e57ed5d1b N/A
14. NYT slams Microsoft for building copyright-infringing supercomputer for OpenAI
In a heavily redacted filing, @The New York Times asked permission to amend its copyright complaint against @OpenAI and @Microsoft, arguing that Microsoft intentionally induced infringement by building a bespoke, world class supercomputer designed to help train AI on NYT works without permission. The move follows a @Supreme Court ruling in a Sony v Cox dispute that tightened the standard for #contributory infringement, requiring proof that a party intentionally acted to induce illegal conduct, so NYT says it must realign its claim with the new law and discovery evidence. NYT also agreed to voluntarily drop two claims, contributory copyright infringement and trademark dilution, while asserting its core allegations remain that Microsoft and OpenAI copied millions of NYT works, enabled verbatim and derivative outputs, and caused market and reputational harms including lost subscription value and Wirecutter affiliate revenue. NYT now characterizes Microsoft’s computing support not as generic cloud services but as an “unusually complex” system allegedly tailored to select and weight high quality journalism and provide the means to seize copyrighted works, with the goal of mimicking that writing in model outputs. Microsoft called the amendment a last ditch attempt to salvage claims after unfavorable precedent, while NYT argued the change would not prejudice defendants or delay the case because it seeks no additional discovery.
15. Nintendo has raised its employees base salary by 10%
@Shuntaro Furukawa told shareholders that Nintendo has increased employee compensation, including a 10% raise to base salaries, as part of maintaining pay at an appropriate level and retaining talent. He said the company believes it is important to ensure compensation remains at an appropriate standard. The statement was shared with investors via machine translation and frames the increase as a proactive measure to keep Nintendo competitive in talent retention. The update reinforces Nintendo’s approach to #compensation and #talentRetention by directly adjusting base pay rather than only relying on other incentives.
Deep Fission, a Berkeley startup newly trading on Nasdaq, proposes a buried #pressurized water reactor design that replaces much of a traditional plant’s surface steel and concrete with a deep borehole, a column of water, and surrounding bedrock. Its concept lowers a full reactor about a mile (about 1.6 km) down a roughly 30-inch (about 76 cm) borehole so the water above provides about 160 atmospheres of pressure, close to the around 155 atmospheres a typical PWR needs, as noted in an @Nuclear Regulatory Commission pre-application filing. The company says the bedrock supplies shielding and confinement similar to a containment building, while the “Gravity” reactor is rated at 45 MW thermal and produces up to 15 MW electric once steam is brought to the surface to drive a turbine. The approach contrasts with #small modular reactors that focus on factory-built downsizing, and it emphasizes that a 30-inch hole could be drilled with existing oil-and-gas equipment. Deep Fission estimates construction costs could be up to 80% lower than conventional plants, and it frames the borehole as the key pathway to deploying many units, for example 100 reactors on one site totaling about 1.5 GW.
17. PlayStation and Xbox Console Sales Collapse Following Damaging Price Rises
U.S. console sales for #PlayStation and #Xbox slumped in May after recent price hikes made buying new hardware significantly more expensive. After @Sony raised PS5 prices in April to $649.99 for the standard model, $599.99 for Digital, and $899.99 for PS5 Pro, Circana reported PS5 spending fell 43% year-on-year and unit sales dropped 58%, the lowest May unit total since May 2000. @Microsoft’s Xbox Series hardware saw spending rise 7% but unit sales fall 12%, reflecting higher prices after an October increase, and Circana said Xbox hardware unit sales were the lowest ever for a May. Circana also reported the average price paid for new video game hardware hit $502 in May, up 14% year-on-year, with average PS5 pricing up 33% to $672 and Xbox Series up 22% to $524, counter to the usual pattern of consoles getting cheaper over a generation. The article links these increases to the #RAMpocalypse, a global memory shortage as DRAM and NAND capacity shifts toward AI data center demand, with Microsoft warning storage and memory costs have risen over 2.5x and could double again by fall 2027, suggesting pricing pressure and weak sales may persist.
18. OpenAI says US government will vet users of its latest AI model
OpenAI announced that the US government will help vet users of its latest generative AI model to ensure responsible deployment and address security concerns. This measure aims to limit access to individuals and organizations who meet strict criteria, reflecting increased regulatory scrutiny of AI technologies. OpenAI’s approach highlights its effort to balance innovation with safety by involving government oversight in user authorization. Such collaboration could set a precedent for how AI companies and governments jointly manage risks associated with advanced AI systems. This development underscores the growing importance of governance in the evolving AI landscape.
19. Forget the Steam Machine: SteamOS Is What PC Gamers Should Be Excited About
@Valve’s $1,049 Steam Machine is less important than the continued expansion of #SteamOS, a Linux-based gaming OS that is positioning itself as a potential alternative to #Windows11 for gaming PCs. Valve’s SteamOS install tool officially supports only the Steam Deck, Lenovo Legion Go S, and the Steam Machine, but #SteamOS 3.8 cites improved compatibility with recent Intel and AMD platforms plus beta support for other AMD handhelds and systems with AMD discrete GPUs, meaning broader hardware coverage is starting to arrive. For now, installing SteamOS broadly still comes with major caveats, chiefly a reliance on AMD graphics and a beta build, and Valve acknowledges there is not yet an install wizard that makes dual-booting alongside Windows easy on typical consumer hardware. Valve developer @Pierre-Loup Griffais says broader GPU support is in progress, including close collaboration with #Nvidia, though Nvidia support may not arrive in 2026, and the article argues that a simpler, more user-friendly installation across many PC types is the key hurdle to make “the next Steam Machine” effectively the PC you already own. This shift contrasts with the failed 2013 Steam Machines that ran an early SteamOS and supported only a small set of Linux-ported games, whereas today’s SteamOS can run the majority of Windows games on Steam and is being opened to more third-party devices.
20. How to get free Windows 10 security patches until October 2027 – and avoid the $30 fee
Microsoft allows Windows 10 PCs to keep receiving #ExtendedSecurityUpdates until Oct. 12, 2027, extending coverage by a year beyond the originally planned Oct. 2026 end date and helping users avoid the previously announced $30 consumer fee. The article says free ESU enrollment is broadly available for personal devices running Windows 10 version 22H2 on Home, Professional, Pro Education, and Workstation editions, as long as the latest cumulative update is installed, and activation requires signing in with a Microsoft account. One Microsoft account can apply ESU eligibility to up to 10 PCs, and once ESU is activated on a device it keeps receiving security updates even if the user later switches to another Microsoft account or a local account. It notes that customers in the 30 #EEA countries automatically qualify for free ESU subscriptions, and it emphasizes that Windows 10 systems with default settings otherwise stop receiving monthly security fixes delivered via #WindowsUpdate on #PatchTuesday after end of support. The eligibility described excludes Enterprise and Education editions and also does not apply to PCs joined to business network management such as an #ActiveDirectory domain.
21. DuckDuckGo, Unable to Resist the Pull of AI, Mistakenly Claims Trump Died of Rabies
DuckDuckGo’s #AI-generated search results falsely claimed that @Donald Trump and Vice President @J.D. Vance died of rabies, highlighting how #AI search can fabricate events by mishandling sources. The article says the error likely came from models aggregating information poorly and hallucinating connections, amplified by a coordinated effort from anti-#AI activists on Reddit’s r/poisonai to seed misinformation that gets ingested by AI systems, with reports noting Reddit is increasingly cited by mainstream models. DuckDuckGo’s #AI features and Duck.ai rely on third-party models, including Anthropic’s Claude 4.5 Haiku, Mistral Small 3 24B, and multiple OpenAI models, so misleading outputs can reflect flaws in those underlying systems. The piece argues the bigger problem is reputational: DuckDuckGo has been gaining traction by marketing itself as a “No AI” alternative, seeing a reported 30% increase in installs amid backlash to Google’s AI-heavy products, yet keeping AI features invites trust-eroding controversies. It compares this to Mozilla’s embrace of AI during renewed interest in Firefox, suggesting DuckDuckGo risks an unnecessary own goal by not simply rejecting the technology.
That’s all for today’s digest for 2026/06/27! We picked, and processed 21 Articles. Stay tuned for tomorrow’s collection of insights and discoveries.
Thanks, Patricia Zougheib and Dr Badawi, for curating the links
See you in the next one! 🚀
