Author: Olivia Hartman
Olivia Hartman is GeekBlog's general technology reporter, covering the wider world of tech beyond smartphones: AI and software, laptops and PCs, gaming, streaming, space, science, consumer gadgets, deals and the policy stories shaping the industry. A versatile journalist with a nose for what actually matters, Olivia turns breaking news and product launches into accessible, no-hype reporting for everyday readers.
Amazon’s planned Pecos County data center comes with its own 35-turbine gas plant, permitted to release 33 million tons of CO2 a year. That is roughly double the emissions of the dirtiest power plant currently running in the United States.
The Senate Commerce Committee advanced KOSA, the CHATBOT Act, and two more AI chatbot bills for kids on August 5. Here’s what each one requires, and why child safety groups, privacy advocates, and Big Tech all reacted differently.
OpenAI slashed GPT-5.6 Luna prices 80%. Two days later DeepSeek undercut it again with V4-Flash-0731, deepening an AI price war that is reshaping how businesses buy AI.
The Government Accountability Office reviewed DOGE’s Wall of Receipts and found 2,503 contracts listed as terminated that were never cancelled, plus 96% of grant savings it could not verify at all. Here is what the audit actually found and why the dashboard was the problem.
Meta open-sourced Muse Glimmer, a 30-billion-parameter agentic model that runs entirely on a single consumer GPU. Here is how it works, how it benchmarks against Gemma and Qwen, and why it matters.
An NTSB preliminary report confirms that scheduled military GPS jamming from White Sands Missile Range was active when a Beechcraft King Air air ambulance flew into the Capitan Mountains in New Mexico, killing all four people aboard.
Apple updated its trade-in table on August 6, raising credit across most iPhone, iPad, Mac and Apple Watch models. The Mac Studio gained $260, the iPhone 16 Pro gained $70, and a handful of Android phones quietly went down.
A total solar eclipse crosses Greenland, Iceland and Spain on August 12, 2026, with a partial eclipse over much of the northern US. NASA’s guidance is blunt: an unfiltered phone camera aimed at the sun can suffer permanent sensor damage.
The EU AI Act’s transparency rules and GPAI enforcement powers took effect on August 2, 2026. Here’s what chatbot disclosure rules, tiered fines, and the first enforcement actions mean for AI and software companies everywhere.
Cillian Jackson was two, could not walk, and could not get a powered wheelchair — because qualifying for one required proving he could already drive one. So his father asked his old high school’s robotics team.