Friday, July 17, 2026

FBI arrests man accused of using Steam games to drain victims’ crypto wallets

The FBI arrested Zyaire Wilkins, a 21-year-old Florida resident, for allegedly uploading malware-laden video games to Steam, targeting victims to steal their cryptocurrency. Over two years, Wilkins and co-conspirators published several games, including BlockBlasters and PirateFi, infecting approximately 8,000 users and draining at least $220,000 from around 80 cryptocurrency wallets. The malware was marketed on platforms like Discord and Telegram, and the investigation revealed links to specific crypto accounts used to purchase gift cards, leading to Wilkins' arrest on July 17, 2026.

Fine-tune video and image models at scale with NVIDIA NeMo Automodel and 🤗 Diffusers

NVIDIA and Hugging Face have announced the integration of the NVIDIA NeMo Automodel library with the 🤗 Diffusers framework, facilitating production-grade, distributed training for diffusion models. This collaboration allows users to fine-tune models directly from the Hugging Face Hub without the need for checkpoint conversion or model rewrites. The NeMo Automodel supports various diffusion models, including FLUX.1-dev and HunyuanVideo, and offers scalable training configurations that can adapt from a single GPU to hundreds, enhancing the efficiency of training large models.

Why we remain bullish on this chip stock despite a 30% pullback this month

Intel's stock has plummeted over 30% this month as investors rotate out of semiconductor stocks, yet the CNBC Investing Club remains optimistic about the company's future. Portfolio director Jeff Marks emphasized that the decline is mainly due to forced selling and profit-taking rather than any negative developments in the AI sector. He noted that the Club's recent adjustments, including trimming positions in Corning and exiting Arm, have positioned them to capitalize on potential opportunities. Meanwhile, Apple has reclaimed its status as the world's most valuable company, bolstered by an upgrade from HSBC, which raised its price target significantly due to anticipated growth from new AI features and product launches.

White collar workers are getting paid $200 an hour to train AI on their jobs — but it’s not 'easy money'

White-collar workers are being compensated up to $1,000 per hour to train AI systems, but the reality is often far from easy. Amanda Brown, an assistant professor, shared her experience of tight deadlines and flat-rate gigs that required more hours than anticipated. Mercor, a San Francisco startup, employs around 30,000 contractors, paying them over $4 million daily to provide expertise that AI models need for fine-tuning. However, many contractors report frustrations with the workload and the risk of job scarcity as AI systems improve.

Patreon stops asking AI bots not to scrape — and starts blocking them

Patreon is intensifying its efforts to prevent AI bots from scraping its content for training purposes by partnering with Cloudflare to block these bots directly. The company noted that AI scraping techniques have advanced since it first implemented deterrents in 2023. While its paywall has historically protected much of creators' content, new features like the redesigned Home Feed and tweet-like Quips have inadvertently made more content accessible to crawlers. As a result, Patreon is now using Cloudflare's AI Crawl Control technology to enforce stricter policies, moving from merely requesting compliance to actively blocking unauthorized AI training bots.

California's billionaire tax: What's at risk for the biggest state economy in America

California's proposed billionaire tax, a one-time 5% levy on residents and trusts with a net worth exceeding $1 billion, is set for a November vote. While proponents argue it will generate critical revenue, opponents, including Governor Gavin Newsom, warn it could drive wealthy individuals out of the state, harming its economic competitiveness. Notably, Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang stated he is 'perfectly fine' with the tax, while Google co-founder Sergey Brin is actively lobbying against it, highlighting the contentious nature of this unprecedented measure.

Bunkerhill raises $55M to scale agentic AI across health systems

Bunkerhill Health has successfully raised $55 million in a Series B funding round to enhance its agentic AI platform, Carebricks. This funding saw continued participation from notable investors including Sequoia Capital and Khosla Ventures. Carebricks aims to bridge the gap between AI models that perform well in research and those that can operate effectively within live clinical environments. The platform currently supports over 20 AI agents in hospitals like the University of Texas Medical Branch, where it has significantly improved patient care and operational efficiency.

Apple dethrones Nvidia as world's most valuable company, ending the chipmaker's long run at the top

Apple has overtaken Nvidia to become the world's most valuable company, achieving a market value of $4.88 trillion as Nvidia's market cap fell to $4.84 trillion following a more than 3% drop in its shares. In 2026, Apple has outperformed Nvidia significantly, with its stock rising 22% compared to Nvidia's modest 7% gain. This shift comes as Wall Street's focus has moved towards memory chip stocks, benefiting companies like Micron Technology and Sandisk, while Nvidia has struggled to maintain momentum since the launch of ChatGPT.

Chip stock sell-off, Netflix earnings, Trump's approval rating and more in Morning Squawk

U.S. stock futures are declining, particularly in the tech sector, with Nasdaq-100 futures down as much as 2% in premarket trading. This follows a rough session where the VanEck Semiconductor ETF experienced a nearly 7% drop, largely due to an increased spending forecast from Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. (TSMC). Major chipmakers like Arm Holdings, Micron Technology, and Advanced Micro Devices saw losses exceeding 5%. In addition, Netflix's second-quarter results met expectations, but its stock fell over 11% after the company issued disappointing earnings guidance and announced a reduction in engagement reports.

AI-Based Businesses Are Diversifying and Rejecting AI Model Monogamy

AI-based businesses are increasingly moving away from relying on a single model, driven by concerns over uncertain access to US AI technologies. This shift comes as companies like DeepMind prepare to engage with policymakers; CEO Demis Hassabis is scheduled to meet with US officials next week to advocate for a new international AI regulatory body. The diversification of AI strategies is seen as essential for firms to maintain resilience against potential regulatory changes and market volatility.

No product? No problem. This Disrupt 2026 session shows how to get pre-seed funding with conviction, storytelling

AI startups are increasingly capturing seed funding, creating challenges for pre-seed founders who are now held to higher expectations. At TechCrunch Disrupt 2026, the panel 'Winning Pre-Seed Without a Product' will address how founders with compelling ideas can secure funding despite lacking a minimum viable product. The event, scheduled for October 13-15 at Moscone West in San Francisco, will feature industry experts including Sandhya Venkatachalam of Axiom Partners, Puneet Agarwal of True Ventures, and Austin Clements of Slauson & Co., who will provide valuable insights on navigating the funding landscape.

China Can Still Win the AI Race With Inferior Technology

DeepSeek, a Chinese frontier lab, represents China's strategy to gain a foothold in the AI sector by developing technology on a limited budget. The lab aims to provide AI solutions at a fraction of the cost of competitors, positioning itself to capture market share despite technological disadvantages. This approach reflects China's broader ambitions to advance its AI capabilities while navigating significant challenges in technology development.

Apple TV drops first trailer for ‘The Dynasty: UConn Huskies’

Apple TV has unveiled the first trailer for 'The Dynasty: UConn Huskies,' a three-part docuseries set to debut on August 21, 2026. The series chronicles the University of Connecticut women's basketball program, recognized as the most dominant in college basketball history. It includes exclusive interviews with the 2025 National Championship team and features insights from coaches, athletes, and journalists across generations. Directed by Matthew Hamachek and Erica Sashin, the docuseries aims to explore the pressures and sacrifices involved in building a basketball dynasty.

A scorecard for the AI age

OpenAI has unveiled a new metric called 'Useful Intelligence per Dollar' to help CFOs assess the value derived from AI investments. This scorecard focuses on four key questions: the amount of useful work completed, the cost of successful tasks, the dependability of AI outputs, and whether value increases with usage. The recent launch of GPT-5.6, which includes three model tiers—Sol, Terra, and Luna—aims to optimize the cost-effectiveness of AI tasks. Notably, GPT-5.6 Sol achieved a new record in the Artificial Analysis Coding Agent Index, using 54% fewer tokens than a leading competitor.

The war on ‘woke science’ comes for space research

The Trump administration's Office of Management and Budget (OMB) has introduced a proposal that could significantly undermine space science funding by granting political appointees control over grant allocations. This change threatens critical research initiatives, such as the search for organic compounds on Mars, by allowing grants to be terminated based on the political affiliations of scientists. The Planetary Society has voiced strong opposition, highlighting that the proposal has garnered over 500,000 public comments, mostly negative, and could restrict access to scientific publications funded by taxpayer dollars.

Google explains the design of Android’s new Noto 3D emoji

On World Emoji Day, Google announced a comprehensive redesign of its emoji, transforming all 3,977 characters into three-dimensional models. This shift, previewed at The Android Show in May, aims to enhance expressiveness while avoiding photorealism. Google conducted extensive user studies that revealed preferences for full-body representations over floating heads and highlighted the importance of clarity in design, as minor adjustments can lead to significant misunderstandings. The new emoji will debut on Pixel phones later this year, with plans for broader availability across all Google products, and will be released as open-sourced 3D models.

Linus Torvalds tells AI critics in the Linux kernel community to fork off

Linus Torvalds has publicly endorsed the use of AI tools in Linux kernel development, asserting on the mailing list that 'Linux is not one of those anti-AI projects.' He emphasized that he would firmly support this stance as the top-level maintainer, stating that anyone opposed can either fork the project or leave. This endorsement comes amid discussions surrounding Sashiko, an AI-powered code review system developed by the Linux Foundation, which aims to simplify the review process for maintainers by automatically analyzing proposed code changes. Torvalds acknowledged the mixed feelings within the community but maintained that decisions should be driven by technical merit rather than fear of new tools.

Samsung’s plans for free storage upgrades become clearer as Galaxy Z Fold 8 nears launch

Samsung has clarified its storage upgrade policy for the upcoming Galaxy Z Fold 8 and Galaxy Z Flip 8, confirming that users can upgrade from 256GB to 512GB at no additional cost. This decision reverses earlier reports suggesting that the company would charge 50% of the upgrade cost for all storage increases. However, customers seeking to upgrade from 512GB to 1TB will still face a 50% fee. This move appears to be a response to consumer backlash and aims to reinforce Samsung's commitment to its customers as it prepares for the devices' launch on July 22, 2026.

Chinese startup Moonshot AI unveils Kimi model it says rivals OpenAI, Anthropic

Moonshot AI, a Chinese startup, has launched its Kimi K3 model, asserting it narrows the performance gap with leading U.S. AI systems. While Kimi K3 still falls short of Anthropic's Claude Fable 5 and OpenAI's GPT 5.6 Sol in overall performance, it has outperformed models like Claude Opus 4.8 and GPT 5.5 on specific benchmarks, particularly in coding and general agent tasks. With 2.8 trillion parameters, Kimi K3 is now China's largest AI model, showcasing significant advancements despite ongoing hardware constraints in the country.

Cloud Native Infrastructure Emerges as the Foundation for Trustworthy Agentic AI

A recent analysis from the Cloud Native Computing Foundation (CNCF) asserts that the future of agentic AI will rely on established cloud-native technologies rather than new infrastructure. The study, which draws from the development of a multi-agent cybersecurity platform on Kubernetes, identifies key technologies such as OpenTelemetry, Dapr, and Kafka as vital for providing the necessary orchestration, security, and observability for autonomous AI systems. As enterprises transition to more sophisticated AI agents, the need for robust infrastructure to manage long-running workflows and secure identities becomes paramount, reflecting a decade of solutions developed within the cloud-native ecosystem.

Redmagic’s 9-inch Android tablet launches in August with Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 for $699

The Redmagic Astra 2, a 9-inch Android tablet, is set to launch globally in August with a starting price of $699 for the 12GB/256GB model. This successor to the Redmagic Gaming Tablet 5 Pro features a Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 chipset, a 9.06-inch AMOLED display with a refresh rate of up to 185Hz, and an 8,300 mAh battery that supports 75W charging through dual USB-C ports. The initial release will begin in mid-August for early bird voucher holders, followed by a wider launch later in the month.

Apple sends legal letters to former employees now at OpenAI

Apple has initiated legal action against OpenAI, claiming that former employees have misappropriated trade secrets for the benefit of the AI company. In conjunction with this lawsuit, Apple has sent legal preservation letters to about 40 ex-employees now working at OpenAI, instructing them to retain relevant documents. The lawsuit specifically names OpenAI, io Products, and former Apple employees Chang Liu and Tang Tan, while Apple suspects that the alleged theft of trade secrets may involve additional individuals not identified in the initial filing.

Netflix's 300 AI productions show how fast the technology is spreading through entertainment

Netflix has integrated AI into approximately 300 productions, primarily focusing on post-production processes. Co-CEO Ted Sarandos revealed during the latest earnings call that AI enhances the entire production pipeline, from concept development to delivery. Specific applications include expanding crowd scenes and historical battle sequences that would have otherwise been cut due to budget constraints. For instance, the docuseries 'The American Experiment' features 17 minutes of AI-assisted footage, produced twice as fast and at half the cost, with savings likely directed toward increasing content rather than reducing Netflix's $20 billion budget.

How Uber Builds Zone-Failure-Resilient OpenSearch Clusters

Uber has implemented a robust strategy for maintaining the functionality of its OpenSearch deployments during zone outages by leveraging built-in shard allocation and a novel isolation-group system. This design can withstand a full zone failure plus one additional node failure while ensuring data integrity and avoiding service disruption. By addressing issues related to uneven node distribution across physical zones, Uber's method guarantees equal node counts in isolation groups, leading to improved shard assignment and cluster health. The system has successfully eliminated yellow states and ensures that each index operates with a minimum of two replicas, enhancing resilience against potential failures.