During her firm's fourth quarter earnings call, AMD CEO Dr. Lisa Su discussed the company's AI growth, the impact of agentic AI on her firm's business and competition in the AI CPU market. AMD's earnings call comes at a time when CPUs are believed to be playing a crucial role in the AI industry due the growth in agentic AI workloads. AMD's larger rival Intel saw its shares close 23% higher last month following its earnings report which saw a major profit beat and CEO Lip-Bu Tan explain the importance of CPUs in today's world. AMD CEO Discusses CPU Market [โฆ]
Apple had gone all-in on AI at its WWDC 2024, promising a veritable suite of AI-powered capabilities that have yet to materialize even after two years. And now, the Cupertino-based tech giant is paying the price for overpromising and underdelivering on its much-hyped AI-powered Siri. Apple to pay $250 million to settle a class-action lawsuit that had accused it of running a false advertisement campaign by hyping up the yet-to-be-seen AI capabilities of its Siri voice assistant For the benefit of those who might not be aware, Apple had extensively touted a more personalized Siri at its WWDC 2024, promising [โฆ]
While the Kindle Scribe Colorsoft might be a tempting upgrade for a digital notebook, there's no word on when, or if, it will be released in Australia. The 2024 Kindle Scribe from AU$449 will serve you very well indeed.
Mouse P.I. for Hireโs gameplay and visuals are like a beautiful vintage cheddar โ it's just a shame that the Switch 2 edition grates some performance problems on the top.
SAP plans to buy German AI startup Prior Labs and invest heavily in it. It is also prohibiting customers' agents use to a select few like Nvidia's NemoClaw.
The company is making a big bet that the swiping model is outdated and most matches never turn into actual dates. The company wants to fix that by redesigning profiles, changing how people interact, and focusing a lot more on getting users to meet in real life.
A security researcher has discovered that Microsoft Edge will load all your stored passwords into memory in plaintext at startup, making it easy for malware to scrape those passwords.
Google Chrome users who have noticed unusual disk activity or unexplained drops in available storage should look for a folder called "OptGuideOnDeviceModel" inside their Chrome directory. It holds roughly 4GB of weights for Google's Gemini Nano LLM, downloaded by the browser without user consent.
AMD expects that overall PC and Gaming demand will decline in the second half of this year due to rising memory and component prices. RAMpocalypse Is The Primary Reason Why PC and Gaming Demand Will Decline In The Second Half of This Year, Says AMD In its Q1 2026 earnings, AMD's Client and Gaming segment saw a 23% increase in revenue versus the prior year, reaching $3.94 billion, while declining 9% versus the previous quarter. AMD states that its client side, which includes desktop and laptop segments, saw great traction through a strong portfolio of products, which includes its latest [โฆ]
AMD's MI450 GPUs are now being sampled to customers, and there's already huge interest in the MI500 series within AI Inference data centers. Customers Are Lining Up To Deploy AMD's MI450 GPUs As Sampling Begins, Next-Gen MI500 Also Gains Traction In The "AI Inferencing" Segment During the Q1 2026 earnings call, AMD CEO Dr. Lisa Su confirmed that they have started sampling the first Instinct MI450 GPUs to "lead" customers, and the chips remain on track for deployments at various data centers in the Helios rack, which will see production shipments commence in the second half of this year. Several [โฆ]
AMD has just announced its earnings for Q1 2026, posting a record revenue of $10.3 billion driven by strong demand for its EPYC CPUs & Instinct accelerators in the AI segment. AMD Delivers An Outstanding Q1 2026, Driven By Strong Sales of EPYC CPUs & Instinct Accelerators While Tackling Supply Constraints In The Agentic AI Era AMD's CEO outlined an "outstanding" first quarter for the company, with revenue of $10.3 billion, a 38% increase versus the previous year. This growth was driven mainly by strong demand in the data center and AI segments, which were up 7% year over year [โฆ]
Appleโs launch strategy for this year is going to be a little different, as the base iPhone 18ย isnโt going to be a part of the lineup, with the company delaying the unveiling to early 2027. It turns out that the deviceโs absence from the September keynote is part of a bigger plan to maintain healthier margins during the DRAM shortage, at least thatโs what a tipster wants you to believe. The base iPhone 17 is already the best-selling smartphone in the world, with Apple expected to dominate markets by keeping it around for longer With Apple previously claimed by Weibo [โฆ]
Global Reach Hub is a global platform of smart apps to sell, organize, automate, and scale businesses. It brings together an ecosystem of connected apps covering areas like payments, logistics, mobility, health, sales, and finance, operating in multiple countries and languages.
You use, sell, and promote the apps from a single place, with trackable links and an affiliate program to monetize. The hub continuously grows, allowing new projects to be added without changing the structure while keeping everything integrated.
Chinese researchers developed a coal fuel cell that generates electricity without combustion while capturing carbon dioxide and potentially achieving significantly higher efficiency levels.
Xbox CEO Asha Sharma confirms the end of Copilot on console and mobile, marking a shift away from AI features as the company focuses on speed, community, and core priorities.
The Logitech Astro A50 X is an extremely expensive item that can connect to multiple platforms and provide immensely satisfying sound quality, and now people have a better chance at owning one with this 25% discount.
SteelSeries has unveiled the Arctis Nova Pro Omni, offering feature-rich audiophile-quality performance in a wireless, platform-agnostic gaming headset.
The Steam Controller sold out instantly when it launched this week, but Valve has issued a new statement confirming it's working hard to get a restock.
Another day and another Apple Mac configuration appears to have been pulled, all in a bid to conserve precious memory resources for Apple's upcoming M5-based Mac Studio and Mac mini devices. Just days after pulling the base M4 Mac mini, Apple has narrowed M3 Ultra Mac Studio configurator to the lone 96GB memory option First, Apple increased their lead times. And now, entire memory configurations for the Mac Studio and Mac mini devices are going offline. Just last week, Appleย pulled the base variant of the Mac mini, which sported the M4 chip, 16GB RAM, 256GB of storage, and a retail [โฆ]
Shortly after the new leadership cabinet for Xbox chief executive officer Asha Sharma was made public, Sharma took to her personal X (formerly Twitter) account to comment on the appointments but also to reveal another change regarding Xbox's direction. Microsoft's Copilot AI, which had been introduced into the gaming ecosystem as Gaming Copilot through the mobile Xbox app and the Xbox PC app, is seemingly something that no longer aligns with platform's direction. "Xbox needs to move faster, deepen our connection with the community, and address friction for both players and developers," Sharma began in her statement. "Today, we promoted [โฆ]
HitKeep is an open-source, privacy-first web analytics platform you can self-host or run in managed EU or US regions. It ships as a single auditable binary with zero external dependenciesโno PostgreSQL, Redis, or ClickHouseโand stores data in embedded DuckDB.
Track conversions and multi-step funnels, compare periods, share read-only dashboards, and get scheduled email reports. Enforce data sovereignty with cookie-free tracking, zero telemetry, RBAC, and WebAuthn/TOTP 2FA, and export everything to Parquet, JSON, or CSV.
Kit.Club is a skincare community and product discovery platform that helps you find routines and products that truly fit. Explore honest reviews, follow real routines, and browse curated Kits from people you'd actually ask. Search in your own words or let guided discovery narrow choices by concerns, ingredients, or goals. Track whatโs trending, read editorials explaining ingredients and techniques, and share your own Kit to help others.
GetHireToday is an AI-powered resume builder that beats ATS filters. Claude-powered AI rewrites weak bullets with real metrics, scores your resume against any job description, and exports clean ATS-safe PDFs. It's priced at $2/month, which is much less than Zety ($23.70) or Resume.io ($24.95). A free tier lets you build a full resume before you pay.
Abhishek Das, co-founder and co-CEO of Yutori, says building reliable automation requires strict standards, not optimistic assumptions about user patience.
Ukraine repurposes Antonov An-28 into an anti-drone platform using miniguns and interceptor drones, balancing cost efficiency with operational limitations.
With Apple's latest operating system updates, users will reportedly have their pick of which third-party AI models they want to use for a host of tasks.
Christophe Fouquet, who became ASML's CEO in 2024 after more than a decade at the company, sat down with this editor on the rooftop deck of his Beverly Hills hotel Tuesday morning ahead of his appearance at the Milken Institute Global Conference. Dressed in a blue suit and white shirt, he was relaxed โ even when the conversation turned to the rivals.
Micronโs 6600 ION SSD is the storage density king Micron has officially launched the โworldโs highest capacity commercially available SSDโ, their 245.76 TB 6600 ION. This datacenter SSD is designed for rack-scale deployments to support AI, cloud, enterprise, and hyperscale workloads. This drive allows an absurd amount of data to be stored on a single [โฆ]
Microsoft reveals Xbox Game Pass's first batch of new games coming in the first half of May 2026, and it's stacked with highly anticipated titles like Forza Horizon 6 and Subnautica 2, and critically-acclaimed hits like Doom: The Dark Ages.
Star Wars: Fate of the Old Republic director Casey Hudson announced the game's lead dev team on Star Wars Day, and it's full of KotOR and Mass Effect talent.
Xbox CEO Asha Sharma is overhauling the brandโs leadership team following a difficult earnings report, bringing in new talent from CoreAI and Instacart while Kevin Gammill and Roanne Sones depart.
PassMark's MemTest86 update version 11.7 (Build 1000) has added preliminary testing for the LPCAMM2 memory type, primarily for Intel's "Meteor Lake" and "Arrow Lake" chips. This means that the latest memory form factor can now be tested using a standardized testing methodology. With the rise of LPCAMM2 appearances, it is only logical that MemTest86 adds support for this form factor, which we have started seeing on Lenovo ThinkBook 14+ and 16+ and Framework Laptop 13 Pro models, especially from major DRAM manufacturers such as CXMT and Samsung. CXMT's LPCAMM2 memory uses LPDDR5X-8533 modules, while Samsung's modules are running LPDDR5X-9600 memory stacks. Interestingly, with further support from SK hynix, Samsung, Micron, and now CXMT, LPCAMM2 is aiming to become a universal standard for memory. Since the upcoming DDR6 memory is scheduled to be the main driver behind (LP)CAMM2, having a memory testing tool is essential.
Fuse Games' highly anticipated sci-fi arcade racer Star Wars Galactic Racer is due to arrive on PC, PlayStation, and Xbox this coming October 6, 2026. That much we (officially) learned last week, and today NVIDIA revealed that it'll arrive this coming fall with support for NVIDIA DLSS 4.5 with Dynamic Multi-Frame Generation and NVIDIA Super Resolution. It'll also support DLSS Ray Reconstruction on PCs and laptops powered by NVIDIA's GeForce RTX graphics cards, and of course, players who are running NVIDIA's latest RTX 50 Series graphics cards will be able to take full advantage of NVIDIA's suite of graphical technologies. [โฆ]
The wins in Appleโs column havenโt stopped increasing, and thatโs terrible news for rivals as the latest data reveals that the iPhone maker is now the top manufacturer when comparing global smartphone revenue share for Q1 2026. In fact, the latest statistics show that Apple rules this segment with an iron fist, with its mobile devices accounting for 48 percent of the worldโs revenue, with the remaining firms left to fight over breadcrumbs. The latest research reveals that the Average Selling Price (ASP) of Appleโs iPhones is $908, with a record 21 percent share in global shipments for Q1 2026 [โฆ]
Every child has untapped potential. TUTOREM is the AI learning companion that finds it by generating endless adaptive questions across 11 subjects, learning from every answer, and adapting to exactly how your child thinks. It includes a parent dashboard, Focus Lock sessions, Kids Mode for ages 5-7, MAP test prep, and works offline. A free tier is included.
Samsung and partners propose floating data centers to accelerate AI infrastructure deployment, though execution challenges and offshore risks remain unresolved.
The Argos bank holiday sale continues this week, so I've looked through the event once again to pick out all the best new tech deals that are still available.
Arnell joins Gebbiaโs National Design Studio under Trump to unify UX across 27,000 federal sites and streamline how Americans use government services.
OpenAI is taking the next step in building its ChatGPT ads platform โ introducing self-serve buying, CPC bidding and improved measurement to bring more advertisers into the ecosystem
Whatโs happening. Ads in ChatGPT are moving beyond a limited pilot, with new ways for businesses to buy and manage campaigns. Advertisers can now access inventory through agency and tech partners โ or directly via a new beta Ads Manager rolling out in the U.S.
This marks a shift from a controlled test environment to a more scalable ad platform.
Why we care. Until now, access to ChatGPT ads has been restricted and expensive, limiting participation to large advertisers. These updates lower the barrier to entry, opening the door for SMBs, startups and a wider range of brands to test the channel.
At the same time, introducing CPC bidding brings ChatGPT closer to established performance platforms, allowing advertisers to optimise for actions โ not just impressions.
Self-serve Ads Manager. The new Ads Manager gives advertisers direct control over campaigns, including budgeting, bidding, creative uploads and performance tracking.
While still in beta, it signals OpenAIโs intention to build a full-service ad platform โ not just a partner-led ecosystem.
Between the lines. This is a familiar playbook. Platforms typically start with high-touch, partner-led campaigns before moving to self-serve tools that unlock scale. ChatGPT is now entering that second phase.
CPC bidding arrives. Previously, ChatGPT ads were sold on a CPM basis. The addition of CPC means advertisers can now align spend with user actions โ a critical step for performance marketers.
Given the nature of ChatGPT queries โ often exploratory, comparative and decision-driven โ clicks could become a strong proxy for intent.
Measurement catches up. OpenAI is also rolling out pixel-based tracking and a Conversions API, allowing advertisers to measure actions like purchases, sign-ups and leads.
Importantly, this data is aggregated, with no access to individual conversations โ reinforcing OpenAIโs emphasis on privacy.
Why this is a big deal. Measurement has been one of the biggest gaps in early ChatGPT ads. Without it, advertisers struggled to justify spend. These updates begin to close that gap and make optimisation more viable.
The ecosystem grows. OpenAI is also expanding its partner network, working with agencies like WPP and Publicis Groupe, as well as tech platforms such as Criteo and Adobe.
This allows advertisers to buy ChatGPT ads through tools and workflows they already use.
What to watch:
How quickly self-serve adoption scales
Whether CPC performance holds as competition increases
How measurement evolves to match advertiser expectations
Earlier this year, Google announced Universal Commerce Protocol (UCP), a protocol to allow AI-agents to buy directly from search. This went live only in Googleโs AI Mode interface in February. But now, it seems to be rolling out in the main Google Search results where there are retailers that support UCP.
What it looks like. Brodie Clark posted a screenshot, which I can replicate, of the UCP-powered โBuyโ button in the product detail overlay within Google Search, specifically for the retailer Wayfair. Here is his screenshot:
Clicking the Buy button will connect your Google checkout account with Wayfair and make the purchase without having to go to the Wayfair website to checkout.
About UCP. UCP establishes a shared language between AI agents and commerce systems, removing the need for custom integrations across agents or platforms.
UCP works with existing standards (e.g., Agent2Agent, Agent Payments Protocol, and Model Context Protocol).
Google co-developed it with partners including Shopify, Etsy, Wayfair, and Target.
More than 20 additional companies across retail and payments have already endorsed it.
Why we care. A lot of people are saying AI-agents are the future of the web, well, here is a clear sign of how agents can help retailers make money. While Wayfair did not get any traffic from Google for this query, and there is no click, 0 click-through rates from Google Search. There was an impression in Google Search that led to a purchase without any clicks to the web site.
This wonโt necessarily stop all searchers for wanting to visit the site and learn more about the product before purchasing. Just like it doesnโt stop all buyers from going into a physical store to touch and feel the product before purchasing. But some may just click โBuyโ and never visit your site.
Now that it is rolling out in the main search results, it is something to keep a closer eye on.
Valve plans to update Steam fans on their controller restock plans soon Valveโs Steam Controller went on sale yesterday, and as expected, it quickly sold out worldwide. Today, Valve has confirmed that it is โworking on getting more stockโ, and that it plans to give gamers an update and a restock timeline soon. Scalpers have [โฆ]
NโStudio is now available on the Microsoft Store, offering a free Starter version with screen recording, audio capture and export tools. A $36 Professional upgrade adds timelapse support, extra adjustments and a full multiโlayer editor.
Valve's highly anticipated release of the Steam Controller was so successful that the entire stock sold out in just 30 minutes. The demand has been nothing short of exceptional, even for a controller priced at $99 in the United States, โฌ99 in European Union countries, ยฃ85 in the UK, $149 CAD in Canada, and $149 AUD in Australia. At around 17:00 UTC on May 4, the Steam Controller officially went on sale through Valve's website. The site experienced such a high volume of customers that the payment processing system froze, causing many to encounter errors before both the website and payment processor resumed functioning. To prepare, some customers loaded their Steam Wallets with funds days in advance, but the high demand still prevented them from securing a unit immediately. For those who managed to purchase one, congratulations. However, those who didn't are turning to resellers, who are charging about $300 for the controller. Valve is reassuring customers not to worry, as another stock drop is coming soon.
ValveSteam Controller ran out faster than we anticipated, and we hate that not everyone who wanted one was able to get it. We're working on getting more in stock and will have an update on expected timeline soon.
The full assets of Metal Gear Solid 2's HD remaster were recently leaked on 4chan. An unnamed party used the notorious imageboard to distribute the source code for every version of the remaster across all supported platforms, including the PlayStation Vita edition. The leak also reportedly includes 30GB of raw,...
The iPhone 17 was the best-selling smartphone in the first quarter, accounting for six percent of global sales. Apple's iPhone 17 Pro Max ranked second, followed by the standard iPhone 17 Pro. Samsung grabbed fourth and fifth place with the Galaxy A07 G4 and Galaxy A17 5G, respectively.
A new report from CNBC reveals that Xbox chief executive officer Asha Sharma is bringing over more of her former CoreAI team to the Xbox side of Microsoft in an overhaul of Xbox's executive team with five new members in total, the fifth coming instead from Sharma's other previous home of Instacart. Part of the move also includes the dismissal of more of the old guard, as one moves to an advisory role, and the other leaves the company. Since Asha Sharma stepped into the role of chief executive officer of Xbox, the former CoreAI president has been establishing what [โฆ]
LG has showcased new OLED technologies at the SID Display Week 2026, but its 3rd-gen Tandem OLED was the main highlight of the show. LG Showcases 3rd Gen Tandem OLED That Targets Efficiency, and a 5K OLED Panel With 221 PPI The LG Display is expanding its OLED stack by introducing new monitors and new panel technologies. At SID Display Week 2026, held in Los Angeles, LG Display showcased the 3rd-generation Tandem OLED technology and a 5K RGB OLED monitor panel. The biggest highlight was the 3rd-gen Tandem OLED that brings meaningful improvements over previous OLED technologies. As per the [โฆ]
NVIDIA CEO has said that China should not have access to its most advanced AI chips, such as Blackwell or Rubin. Blackwell or Rubin AI Chips are a no-go for China, but NVIDIA's CEO Wants US Firms To Continue To Compete In Global Markets The US AI policy shift towards China has been ongoing since NVIDIA's Hopper generation of chips. Export controls restricted NVIDIA from selling its bleeding-edge chips to Chinese firms & this ban has extended into the Blackwell generation. Reaffirming the US-first policy, NVIDIA CEO Jensen Huang has stated that the company's most advanced AI chips, Blackwell and [โฆ]
Apple is still a fair distance away from unveiling the 2027-launching iPhone 20. Yet, the iPhone has been the focus of supply chain leaks for quite some time, which is hardly a surprise given the quantum of change that Apple is reportedly bringing to the proverbial table. Now, a well-known tipster has tried to wholly demystify the iPhone 20 by pairing feature leaks with plausible speculation. Apple iPhone 20 to sport an all-glass look, replete with solid-state buttons, a quad-curved display, and hefty use of under-display tech, and topped off with a massive battery The Weibo-based tipster Instant Digital has [โฆ]
IO Interactive's James Bond licensed game, 007 First Light, is now just three weeks away from its debut. As we got closer to the launch, the developers started revealing new details; now, YouTuber JorRaptor has reported that Gameplay Director Andreas Krogh confirmed the game's average length is around 20 hours. That's without counting theย Tactical Simulatorย mode (inspired by HITMAN's escalations), which will repurpose main story locations with added difficulty, restrictions, and online leaderboards, with new missions added post-launch. Notably,ย all cosmetic outfitsย (including pre-order and special edition ones) areย restricted to the Tactical Simulatorย and cannot be worn in the main campaign, where Bond's wardrobe [โฆ]
Quantware is building the world's most powerful Quantum processor, and Intel is one of the investors behind it and the company's KiloFab project. Quantware's VIO-4K Quantum Processor Can Drive 10,000 Qubits, 100x More Than Today's State-of-the-Art Quantum Computers Quantware has raised $176 million to build the world's fastest and largest quantum processor to date, the VIO-4K. The company will also be building KiloFab, the largest dedicated quantum open architecture fab, as it anticipates strong customer demand, boosting its production capacity by 20x. In the announcement, Quantware secured new investors, including Intel Capital, In-Q-Tel, and ETF Partners, which are in addition [โฆ]
Exemplar provides a web and API-based hub for SRE and Day 2 operations by centralizing uptime monitoring, incident management, and self-service automation. It integrates directly with major cloud and productivity platforms to consolidate engineering workflows under a freemium model. It supports cross-platform integrations including AWS, GitHub, Linear, JIRA, and Grafana, and provides built-in SRE tools such as status pages, SSL tracking, and vendor monitoring. The platform offers flexible access through web, MCP, and API platforms.
Woop solves one thing: Search Results. Analyze your website, competitors, and keywords to target what makes your product stand out. It generates actionable insights and executes them.
It has six features: Woop AI Chat, your SEO strategist on call; Deep SEO Analysis with every metric in one view; Site Architecture Map to expose what's invisible; AI Blog Generator structured for Google and readers; Keyword Intelligence to find gaps before your rivals do; and 1-Click Publishing to go live quickly.
Renowide is a marketplace for trained AI agents. There are many AI agents now, and anyone can build one. But most are not helpful if they aren't trained enough or on the right data. So we made a place where developers list agents they have actually trained and earn 85% every time one gets hired. Businesses can hire them and stay compliant with laws like data residency and audit trails. Set a budget, approve proposed actions, and the agent runs 24/7. You can also embed an agent on your site or use one API key to access 200+ agents and 36 MCP tools. Currently, there are 200+ agents listed, 65 active hires, and free credits for early testers.
The Apache Software Foundation (ASF) has released security updates to address several security vulnerabilities in the HTTP Server, including a severe vulnerability that could potentially lead to remote code execution (RCE).
The vulnerability, tracked as CVE-2026-23918 (CVSS score: 8.8), has been described as a case of "double free and possible RCE" in the HTTP/2 protocol handling. This issue
A newly identified supply chain attack targeting DAEMON Tools software has compromised its installers to serve a malicious payload, according to findings from Kaspersky.
"These installers are distributed from the legitimate website of DAEMON Tools and are signed with digital certificates belonging to DAEMON Tools developers," Kaspersky researchersย Igor Kuznetsov, Georgy Kucherin, Leonid
Timothy Cain, the co-creator of Fallout and the co-developer of The Outer Worlds, has shared his opinion on online discourse and how some players can't form their own opinion about games anymore.
According to Pennsylvania's filing, a Character.AI chatbot presented itself as a licensed psychiatrist during a state investigation, and also fabricated a serial number for its state medical license.
The company said the model reduces hallucination in sensitive areas such as law, medicine, and finance, while maintaining the low latency of its predecessor.
Google is rolling out new tools to help advertisers better understand performance across increasingly complex customer journeys.
Whatโs happening. As AI continues to transform campaigns, creatives and targeting, Google is introducing updates focused on data integration, experimentation and media mix modelling โ all aimed at helping marketers turn fragmented signals into actionable insights.
Why we care. Automation has made it easier to run campaigns, but harder to understand whatโs actually working. These updates make it easier to connect data, prove whatโs actually driving results, and make smarter budget decisions across channels. As AI handles more of the execution, having strong measurement in place becomes the key differentiator for performance and growth.
Data is the starting point. Google is expanding its Data Manager to give advertisers a clearer view of how their data flows across platforms like BigQuery, HubSpot and Shopify.
A new map-based interface will help marketers visualise connections between data sources and identify gaps in tracking or configuration. At the same time, updates to the Google tag aim to simplify setup, allowing advertisers to upgrade existing tags without additional coding.
The goal: make it easier to unify signals and improve data quality โ which directly impacts campaign performance.
Between the lines. Google is acknowledging a long-standing issue โ advertisers struggle more with data setup and integration than with campaign execution itself.
By simplifying tagging and data flows, Google is trying to remove one of the biggest blockers to effective AI adoption.
Proving what actually works. Google is also introducing Meridian GeoX, a new geo-experimentation tool designed to measure incremental impact across regions.
Built on an open-source framework, GeoX feeds into Googleโs broader Marketing Mix Model, Meridian, giving advertisers a more defensible way to validate performance โ especially when presenting results to finance teams.
This signals a shift toward causal measurement, not just correlation.
Why it matters. As privacy changes reduce visibility and attribution becomes more complex, marketers are under pressure to prove impact. Tools like GeoX aim to provide that โground truthโ โ something many attribution models struggle to deliver.
Simplifying media mix modelling. To address the complexity of Marketing Mix Models (MMMs), Google is launching Meridian Studio โ a Google Cloud-powered platform that helps teams build, customise and scale models more easily.
The focus is on operationalising MMMs, making them less resource-intensive and more accessible for enterprise teams managing large datasets.
What to watch:
Whether advertisers adopt MMMs more widely with simplified tools
How effective GeoX is in proving incremental impact
If improved data visibility translates into better campaign performance
Bottom line. Google is making a strategic shift: in an AI-driven world, better measurement โ not just better automation โ will determine who wins.
Say goodbye to Windows 11โs unwanted MSN feed Microsoft has announced that it is finally getting rid of Windows 11โs MSN News widget feed. With new Windows Insider builds, the MSN News Widget is gone. Better still, the Widget feed will only open when clicked, preventing it from opening on mere mouse hover. Yes, accidental [โฆ]
Companies like Apple are always seeking top-tier manufacturing for their Apple Silicon products, which range from the A-Series chips in iPhones and low-power MacBooks to the more powerful M-Series SoCs that power iPads and higher-end Macs. Manufacturing these custom processors has traditionally been handled by TSMC, but Bloomberg now reports that Apple has been in talks with both Intel Foundry and Samsung Foundry to manufacture some of its chips in the coming months. It has been known for some time that Apple is exploring Intel's 18A-P process design kits (PDKs). Apple has used version 0.9.1 of the PDK designed for Intel's 18A-P node. With performance, density, power, and other metrics meeting expectations, Intel could become Apple's source for advanced node production by 2027.
Additionally, Apple is reportedly waiting for Intel to release the 18A-P PDK version 1.0, which is on track to launch in the first half of 2026 or may have already been released to partners. Once available, Apple plans to start with the lowest-end M-series chip, used in MacBook Air and iPad Pro devices, as previously mentioned. This node is particularly interesting due to its performance characteristics, as the 18A-P can deliver a 9% performance increase at the same power level or achieve 18% power savings at the same performance level compared to the standard 18A. This is exactly what Apple is looking for. Coupled with better thermal conductivity, these designs should offer improved heat dissipation and performance compared to what Apple currently achieves with TSMC's 3 nm process in the M5 SoC.
Each week, new games and apps integrating NVIDIA DLSS, NVIDIA Reflex, and advanced ray-traced effects are released or announced, delivering the definitive PC experience for GeForce RTX players. This week, Dead As Disco enters Early Access, and there are new looks at two highly anticipated, upcoming games: Star Wars: Galactic Racer, and 007 First Light.
STAR WARS: Galactic Racer Launches Worldwide On October 6th, Featuring DLSS 4.5 On GeForce RTX PCs & Laptops
Star Wars: Galactic Racer is a high-stakes reinvention of racing born in the lawless Outer Rim of the Star Wars galaxy. The Empire's grip on the galaxy has finally broken, and with its fall comes a new obsession: speed. As the New Republic struggles to rebuild, gambling, entertainment, and glory fuel a booming underground. Out of this chaos, the Galactic League is born: an unsanctioned racing circuit where syndicates sponsor pilots, fortunes are won and lost in seconds, and only the bold survive.
In a blog post, the Menlo Park-based tech giant said it is developing an advanced AI system to scan photos and videos on Facebook and Instagram, analyzing users' bone structure, height, and other visual cues to estimate their age, while insisting that it is "not facial recognition." The AI will...
Any product that emits radio frequencies must pass through the FCC's equipment authorization process before it can be legally imported or sold in the US. That includes the obvious stuff like phones, tablets, PCs, Wi-Fi routers, along with the growing number of gadgets that insist on adding Bluetooth or Wi-Fi...
The change defines how violations are handled when the "driver" is software. The gap has already caused confusion. In San Bruno last year, police stopped a Waymo vehicle after it made an illegal U-turn but were unable to issue a ticket. "Since there was no human driver, a ticket couldn't...
Yesterday, Valve launched its Steam Controller (2026), the follow-up to its 2015 predecessor and an improvement based on the years of learning Valve took from developing that first controller, to the Steam Deck, and now this latest gamepad. The launch went about as well as you would hope if you're Valve. The 'Buy Now' button went live on Steam, the gamepad shot up to the top of the best-selling charts, and it sold out within minutes. The unfortunate part of that last bit was that it seems Valve wasn't fully prepared for a complete sell-out of the device. In an [โฆ]
After Season 2 of the best-selling game in 2025 was delayed, causing a great deal of strife within the game's community, EA and Battlefield Studios aren't allowing for the same gap between Season 2 and Season 3 of Battlefield 6. The new season will arrive next week on May 12, 2026, and the studios just debuted our first look at the new season and a tease at what will be the largest map in the game when it arrives with the return of the Railway to Golmud. Season 2 arrived back on February 17, making it a more reasonable 12-week [โฆ]
The growth in agentic AI software will lead to high demand for CPUs in the AI era, believes investment bank UBS. In an investment note, the bank explains that agentic AI increases the workload for processors. It adds that this workload typically favors firms that offer chips with higher cores and are able to cater to power efficiency. As a result, UBS outlines that in the era of agentic AI workloads, chips from Arm and then AMD are slated to benefit the most, with Intel also benefiting as the total addressable market (TAM) grows. Agentic AI Workloads To Favor CPUs [โฆ]
Although an official announcement has yet to be made, leaks from multiple reliable sources have made it clear that the PlayStation 6 will launch alongside a handheld system that should be more than capable of running current and next-generation games. However, much like the Xbox Series S did with the Xbox Series X and possibly the entirety of the current console generation, there is the real possibility this portable system could hold back the home console, especially with mandatory support. According to known leaker Moore's Law is Dead, who first leaked the specs for Sony's next-generation systems, the chances of [โฆ]
NVIDIA has expanded its RTX & AI feature set with more capabilities provided to developers for integration within their latest apps, including games. NVIDIA Bets Big on Its "AI PC" Ecosystem With RTX GPUs, Provides Devs With New & Improved Tool Sets The NVIDIA RTX and AI PC technologies are one of the industry's most advanced tool sets offered to developers. These tools make integration of the latest features and capabilities in apps & games easier than ever. Today, NVIDIA has announced more integrations that help developers create next-gen experiences. Last month, NVIDIA rolled out its DLSS 4.5 SDK, allowing [โฆ]
Xbox has unveiled the first batch of Xbox Game Pass games that'll hit the service in May 2026, with two of 2026's biggest releases set to arrive on day one for Game Pass Ultimate subscribers. Those games are, of course,Forza Horizon 6 and Subnautica 2, as one of the most anticipated first-party Xbox Game Studios' game releases and the most wishlisted game on Steam pair up on the same subscription service. They aren't the only two games entering the service in the first half of May, of course. An additional seven games are joining the service, with five out of [โฆ]
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Funcom has released a massive free update for Conan Exiles players with Conan Exiles Enhanced, a new update that overhauls the game and brings it to Unreal Engine 5. Announced last month, the update introduces UE5's Lumen Global Illumination lighting system, nanite geometry, virtual shadow maps, and an improved terrain for a significant visual overhaul. It's an update that is meant to celebrate the popular survival game as it nears its eight-year anniversary on May 8, 2026, though it's not a celebration for all of the 15 million+ players who've stepped into the Exiled Lands and the Isle of Siptah [โฆ]
007 First Light is launching on PC, PlayStation 5, and Xbox Series X|S later this month, but Nintendo Switch 2 users will have to wait a little longer to experience James Bond's new gaming adventure. While the lack of a solid release window beyond a generic Summer has some worried the game has only been delayed to be canceled, IO Interactive CEO Hakan Abrak confirmed this won't be the case. โItโs running on the Switch 2. We just want to make sure itโs good as it can be. I donโt want to hear it wasnโt a good version,โ Abrak said [โฆ]
Intel has placed a massive order at Taiwanese manufacturers to secure advanced packaging equipment, which will be used for its EMIB plans. Intel Bets Big on EMIB, As The Company Has Placed A Huge Order To Secure Advanced Packaging Equipment From Taiwan EMIB, the advanced packaging solution and alternative to TSMC's CoWoS, has been making headlines for some time now. The packaging technology is gaining lots of momentum as potential customers line up to utilize the tech for their upcoming chips, mainly for AI purposes. This demand has now led Intel to go after Taiwanese manufacturers to secure the equipment [โฆ]
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A sophisticated China-nexus advanced persistent threat (APT) group has been attributed to attacks targeting government entities in South America since at least late 2024 and government agencies in southeastern Europe in 2025.
The activity is being tracked by Cisco Talos under the moniker UAT-8302, with post-exploitation involving the deployment of custom-made malware families that have been put
The Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra just hit a new record-low price at Amazon, so now's the time to buy if you're shopping for the best Android phone we've ever tested.
All the ways to watch Arsenal vs Atletico Madrid live streams online โ including for FREE โ in the Champions League semi-final 2nd leg at Emirates Stadium.
Yellowstone spinoff Dutton Ranch has dropped its first full trailer โ and while it's set up a John Dutton legacy subplot, it's not the most interesting thing about the first look.
PayPal is pitching an AI-led turnaround, tying automation and restructuring to $1.5 billion in savings as it cuts jobs and works to modernize its tech stack.
The cybersecurity company says it's seen thousands of infection attempts, and at least a dozen successful hacks after users installed malicious versions of the popular Windows software.
The data breach at education tech giant Instructure includes students' private data, according to a sample of the allegedly stolen data seen by TechCrunch.
Initial reports from SimilarWeb indicate ChatGPT ads are outperforming traditional benchmarks on engagement โ but with limited inventory and small-scale tests, itโs too early to call this a long-term trend.
Whatโs happening. According to early analysis, ads appearing in ChatGPT conversations are generating strong click-through rates vs Display and Podcast channels, likely driven by high-intent user queries and the native way ads are integrated into responses.
Unlike traditional search ads, these placements appear directly within conversational answers, making them feel more contextual and less disruptive.
Why we care . If these early CTRs hold at scale, ChatGPT could become a serious performance channel โ especially for advertisers looking to reach users at the moment of intent.
But thereโs a catch: inventory is still limited, and early performance often looks better before wider rollout introduces more competition and variability.
Between the lines. High CTRs donโt necessarily mean high performance. Conversion quality, cost efficiency and scalability will ultimately determine whether ChatGPT ads can compete with established platforms like Google Ads.
Thereโs also the novelty factor โ users may be more likely to engage simply because the format is new.
Zoom in. Some categories are already showing stronger signals than others.
Motherโs Day-related prompts are far more likely to trigger adsโabout three times more than averageโbecause they signal strong purchase intent, with brands like Etsy, Nordstrom and flower retailers already showing strong visibility.
What to watch:
Whether CTRs hold as inventory expands
How conversion rates compare to search and social
If pricing models evolve beyond early testing phases
Bottom line. ChatGPT ads are off to a strong start on engagement โ but until scale, cost and conversion data catch up, advertisers should treat this as a promising test channel, not a proven one.
The AI engine pipeline has 10 gates between your content and a recommendation:ย
Discovered.ย
Selected.ย
Crawled.ย
Rendered.ย
Indexed.ย
Annotated.ย
Recruited.ย
Grounded.ย
Displayed.
Won.ย
Confidence at each gate multiplies, which means your worst gate sets your ceiling, and a single near-zero anywhere in the chain drags the whole result down with it.
That dynamic leads to a simple rule. The โStraight Cโ principle: in any multiplicative system, the weakest stage sets the ceiling for the entire system, and the highest-leverage fix is always the near-zero, not the near-perfect.
Brent D. Payne nailed it in Sydney in 2019: โbetter to be a straight C student than three As and an F.โ Gary Illyes had been sketching out Googleโs multiplicative ranking model, and I scribbled the lot from memory on split beer mats while everyone else went to the bar for another round. The principle stuck with me even though the beer mats didnโt.
Applied to the 10-gate pipeline, the principle makes the work order obvious: find your F grades, fix them first, then find your D grades, and only then worry about pushing your other gates from C to B to A. Below, Iโll walk you through how to identify the weak gates and prioritize them by scope.
The pipeline runs in two phases with different logic
Phase 1 (discovered through indexed) is infrastructure- and bot-centric. Itโs mostly pass or fail: either the system has your content, or it doesnโt. The fixes are technical and well-documented: sitemaps, structured data, rendering, and quality signals.
Phase 2 (annotated through won) is competitive and algorithm-centric. Your content is measured against every alternative the system has for the userโs needs.
Passing all five gates in Phase 1 means the system has your content in stock. Winning Phase 2 end to end means the system chooses you over your competition.
Each stall pattern points to its fix
Fix whatโs weak. In DSCRI, the fixes are mechanical, and success is relatively easy to measure.ย
In ARGDW, the fixes are less obvious, more indirect, and the cause-and-effect relationship is harder to demonstrate. Thatโs why so many brands and practitioners focus too much on mechanical fixes and not enough on competitive ones.
Each of the 10 gates is a place where the pipeline can stall. These are some suggestions, absolutely not exhaustive: use the strategies you already know, too.
No.
Gate name
Stall
First-party (Entity Home Website)
Second-party (semi-controlled)
Third-party (independent)
1
Discovered
Bots never find the content
Sitemaps, IndexNow, internal linking, and inbound links
Link from your Entity Home Website with clear anchor text
Outbound links from owned properties and second-party content
2
Selected
Found but ignored
Internal links, inbound links, anchor text, content around links, and Publisher and Author N-E-E-A-T-T
Anchor text, content around the link, and link back to your Entity Home for context
Outbound links from owned properties and second-party content, anchor text, and content around the link
3
Crawled
Retrieval fails
Server performance, redirect chains, pruning, and canonicals
Choose reliable platforms; keep URLs clean and stable
Prioritize coverage on sites with strong crawl reputation
4
Rendered
Retrieved, but the system canโt process it
Server-side rendering, reduce external resources, and JavaScript discipline
Use platform-native formatting; avoid embeds that block render
Prioritize coverage on properly rendered sites
5
Indexed
Rendered, but not stored
Site structure, content quality, pruning, and canonicalization
Content quality and original perspectives
Prioritize coverage on fully indexed sites
6
Annotated
Inaccurate, low-confidence annotations
HTML5, structured data, schema markup, site structure, content quality, and unambiguous entity signals
Unambiguous entity signals, and link to your Entity Home for disambiguation
Outreach to clarify entity references, clear anchor text from your owned properties and second-party content
7
Recruited
Missing from one or more layers of the Algorithmic Trinity
Provide what each layer wants: recency, originality, clarity, information gaps, helpful framing, etc.
Fresh perspectives, original content, and regular updates
Outreach for coverage and updates from news, trade, and industry sites
8
Grounded
Not selected as a reference for the topic (not Top of Algorithmic Mind)
Entity identity optimization, Publisher and Author N-E-E-A-T-T, and explicitly connect claims to proof
Consistency of identity, credibility signals, and link claims to proof
Outreach for citations from authoritative sources, and build N-E-E-A-T-T through coverage
9
Displayed
Not chosen as part of relevant answers in the funnel
Close the Framing Gap at each UCD layer, improve brand N-E-E-A-T-T
Frame content to match each UCD layer
Outreach for coverage that closes the Framing Gap, improve N-E-E-A-T-T through external corroboration
10
Won
The page was the recommendation, but didnโt get the click, the citation, or the action
Write copy, titles, and descriptions that are easy for the algorithm to extract intact; frame claims so the algorithm can respect the brand narrative without rewriting it; educate the algorithm on the brand narrative so it doesnโt distort it
Use platform fields the algorithm will lift verbatim (titles, summaries, intros), and keep brand narrative consistent across every property
Brief publishers and partners on your brand narrative so coverage frames claims the way youโd frame them yourself, and correct distorted coverage at source
Reading the table: Across the rows, infrastructure fixes (Gates 1 to 5) are specific, technical, and often binary, while competitive fixes (Gates 6 to 9) point at larger bodies of work (graph presence, proof connection, and framing gap closure) that are strategic rather than technical.ย
Down the columns, your direct leverage drops as ownership drops:
On first-party, you can fix anything.
On second-party, you control content but not infrastructure.
On third-party, your only real moves are outreach and the links you point at the property.ย
The further into the pipeline the stall sits, and the further from the entity home website it sits, the more the fix becomes about positioning rather than engineering.ย
You can buy your way through DSCRI. You have to earn your way through ARGD. Won is its own case. By the time the algorithm reaches won, it has either understood your brand narrative or it hasnโt.ย
If it has, it respects your titles, your descriptions, and your framing, and the click or citation lands the way you wanted. If it hasnโt understood you fully, it rewrites you, and the rewrite wonโt be your framing. Assuming your copywriting is top-notch, thatโll lose clients you should have won.
Educating the algorithm on the brand narrative is the work that decides which of those two outcomes you get, and the work happens across your digital footprint, over time (ongoing), and at every gate.
Work outside-in, because most of what you need already exists
The pipeline runs at three scopes simultaneously โ per item, sitewide, and web wide. Every gate operates at all three. You canโt work on them simultaneously, which means the order you pick is the single biggest decision in the project, and most brands pick the wrong one because theyโre watching their competitors instead of the structure.
Hereโs a simple fact most brands miss: most of what you need is already in place.ย
You already have claims (you own a website, youโve published positioning, youโve explained who you are and what you do).ย
You already have proof (clients have written testimonials, journalists have covered you, partners have referenced you, conferences have programmed you).ย
The two layers exist, theyโre just not connected. Joining the dots between existing claims and existing proof is the biggest single piece of leverage available to almost any brand.ย
Almost nobody is doing it systematically because theyโre too busy creating new content from scratch. When I say โjoin the dots,โ that means both bi-directional linking and framing (which I covered in โThe framing gap: Why AI canโt position your brandโ).
That insight reorders the work. The right sequence is outside-in, and it lines up with claim, prove, and frame at the scope level.
Sitewide first
Get your claims structurally consistent at scale. Templates make it easy for bots to digest your site only if theyโre consistent. Get the templates right, and the content taken as a whole reads clearly.ย
Make sure the categorization is logical, the schema is uniform, the internal linking pattern is predictable, and the HTML5 is built to help bots perform chunking that produces high-confidence, well-bounded representations of every part of every page.ย
Get the templates wrong, and the algorithms annotate everything with low confidence because the chunking was bad, the categorization was illogical, and the structural signals contradicted each other. Thatโs a sitewide weakness that the content carries through. This is cascading confidence at scope level.
Content is the input, context is what the templates supply, and confidence is what the system produces when context is consistent enough to make sense of the content. Start at the site level because thatโs where the cascade either begins clean or collapses before it starts.
Connect the dots to the existing proof. Once your owned property is making consistent, machine-legible claims, the second- and third-party footprint is where those claims get corroborated.ย
The work here is mostly auditing, not creating: independent journalists whoโve already covered you, client testimonials sitting on client domains, conference programs that name you, partner mentions, and third-party reviews that already exist.ย
This is the prove layer, and the leverage is enormous because your competitors are mostly not doing it. Theyโre watching each otherโs websites while the independent layer that actually decides who AI recommends sits unattended on the open web. So, update what you can, and insert bi-directional links strategically to โconnect the dots physically.โ
Per item last
Frame the connection between claim and proof. Once sitewide claims are clean and web-wide proof is surfaced, itโs time to bring it all together in individual items.ย
Per-item work builds the relational bridge between specific claims and the evidence. Itโs up to you to provide the interpretive frame that tells the algorithms how to read the connection and closes the framing gap one page at a time.ย
Framing only earns its full return once the two layers underneath are solid, because the frame is the connection between things that already exist, and thereโs nothing to connect if the claim is incoherent or the proof hasnโt been surfaced.
Fix the earliest broken gate first, or the fix downstream does nothing
The pipeline is sequential. Each gateโs output is the next gateโs input.ย
First job: get content flowing through every gate without an absolute fail at any point. If discovery is broken, improving your annotation does nothing because your content never reaches annotation.ย
The rule is simple: find your earliest failing gate, fix it, then re-measure everything downstream on the improved signal. Fixing gates out of order wastes budget because the bottleneck hasnโt moved. I filed a patent for the technical implementation of this principle, but the principle itself doesnโt need the patent โ itโs how any sequential system works.
Once nothing is absolutely failing, start fixing the weakest gates one by one, from weakest to strongest, to maximize the effect of each fix on the signal that flows through everything downstream.ย
If rendering drops 50% of your useful content, every downstream gate inherits the damage, no matter how strong your competitive positioning is. Push that up to 100%, and youโve doubled the signal for everything that follows.
Below are potential stalls at each gate (single page) with examples of fixes.
No.
Stall
Problem
Possible fix
1
Not Discovered
Orphaned article about your brand on Poodle Parlours in Paris Monthly
Create a dedicated page on poodleparlour.paris with a TL;DR of the article (use the opportunity to close the Framing Gap), add the publication name, author, date, and an outbound link to the article
2
Not Selected
The 600th episode of your podcast on your website is ignored by bots despite a link from the pagination
Link to it from the homepage, make the anchor text explicit (not โlisten hereโ), and add the link to the YouTube version description
3
Not Crawled
Page load time is slow at peak times
Upgrade hosting and use a CDN
4
Not Rendered
Schema isnโt being ingested by the LLM bots
Move schema inline, or, if that isnโt possible, add the same data to an HTML table on the page
5
Not Indexed
Rendered, but not stored
Site structure, content quality, HTML5, and schema markup
6
Badly Annotated
Inaccurate, low-confidence annotations
HTML5, structured data, schema markup, site structure, content quality, and unambiguous entity signals
7
Not Recruited
Missing from one or more layers of the Algorithmic Trinity
Provide what each layer wants: recency, originality, clarity, information gaps, helpful framing, etc.
8
Not Grounded
Not selected as a reference for the topics (not Top of Algorithmic Mind)
Entity identity optimization, Publisher and Author N-E-E-A-T-T, and explicitly connect claims to proof
9
Not Displayed
Not chosen as part of relevant answers in the funnel
Close the Framing Gap at each funnel layer (Understandability, Credibility, Deliverability), and improve brand N-E-E-A-T-T
10
Not Won
The page was the recommendation, but the algorithm rewrote your title and description
Improve brand Understandability of the brand narrative and framing, tighten the title, description, and intro so the algorithm extracts your version intact rather than rewriting it; these remain the most visible elements at the zero-sum moment in AI
Reading the table: gate-by-gate example issues at item level. I provide some suggested solutions for each. Youโll see that many of the fixes are actions youโd take at sitewide or web-wide scope, which is the point.ย
Scope determines whether the fix touches one URL or thousands, but the underlying mechanism at each gate is identical. Per-item work is where the fixes get specific, but the patterns repeat.
The authoritative entity advantage compounds across the competitive gates
One strategy will improve your grade at almost every gate in the AI engine pipeline: entity optimization.ย
When your brand entity is fuzzy across the three graphs (document, concept, and entity), actively optimizing the entity identity improves clarity, focus, and confidence at almost every gate.
But the advantage youโll gain isnโt uniform: at the infrastructure gates it does little, but from annotation onward, it will make a huge competitive difference.
Hereโs the authoritative entity advantage at each pipeline gate.
No.
Stall
The authoritative entity advantage
1
Not discovered
Marginal. A recognized entity in an outbound link from a third party is slightly easier to identify and trace, but discovery itself is infrastructure-driven.
2
Not selected
Significant. A recognized, trusted entity in anchor text (or near the link) increases the probability of selection.
3
Not crawled
None. Crawling is purely server, redirect, and rate-limit mechanics.
4
Not rendered
None. Rendering is purely technical processing.
5
Not indexed
Moderate. Entity clarity helps the system make canonicalization and deduplication calls with confidence; fuzzy entities produce fuzzy storage decisions.
6
Badly annotated
Major. Entity confidence is the foundation of accurate annotation. A fuzzy entity produces low-confidence, often inaccurate annotations across every dimension. A clear entity produces clean, high-confidence annotations.
7
Not recruited
Major. Recruitment into the entity graph, document graph, and concept graph is entity-driven. Clear entities get recruited โ fuzzy ones get passed over for clearer alternatives.
8
Not grounded
Major. Top of algorithmic mind is entity-driven: topical ownership, N-E-E-A-T-T, knowledge graph presence, and more. The system grounds in references it trusts.
9
Not displayed
Significant. Entity recognition reduces hedging at display. The system speaks confidently about entities it understands well and hedges on the ones it doesnโt.
10
Not won
Major. Entity confidence decides whether the algorithm respects your brand narrative or rewrites it. High confidence means titles, descriptions, and framings get extracted intact. Low confidence means the algorithm fills in the gaps from training data, and that wonโt be the narrative you carefully crafted.
Reading the table: entity advantage is zero or marginal at Gates 1 to 5 (infrastructure), then carries the heaviest load through Gates 6 to 9 (the competitive phase). At won, itโs the mechanism that decides whether the algorithm respects your brand narrative or rewrites it.
This is the most underrated insight in the whole diagnostic. Optimizing any single gate gives you one gateโs worth of improvement. Optimizing the entity gives you compounding improvement across all five gates from annotated through won, which is why entity-led optimization outperforms page-led or keyword-led optimization in AI search.
The authoritative entity advantage names that compounding effect, and itโs the structural reason brands whose entities remain fuzzy pay a confidence tax at every competitive gate.
Before you create anything new, audit what you already have
Once you know which gate is failing, the first question to ask yourself isnโt โwhat do I need to create?โ Itโs โwhat do I already have that would fix this?โย
The content on your website already makes most of the claims you need, but they are not presented clearly and consistently. Then, all brands have more existing proof than theyโre fully leveraging.
Look at things like conference programs, client case studies, trade publications, podcasts, social media, reviews, and third-party mentions. There might be a lot that you have never explicitly connected back to your brand.
Audit-first beats create-first on every metric that matters. Audit-first is cheap and fast. Create-first is expensive and slow.
The diagnostic tells you which gate needs the work, the audit tells you what you already own that could do the work, and the audit also tells you where the genuine gaps are, so when you do create something new, youโre filling a gap the diagnostic identified rather than guessing.
That principle drives the temporal triad: ROPI, ROI, ROFI.
The temporal triad turns the diagnostic into a working plan: ROPI, ROI, and ROFI
Return on past investment (ROPI) is the audit-first work itself: linking existing claims on your website to existing proof scattered across your digital footprint so the assets youโve already paid for start paying you back. Itโs the cheapest, fastest, and almost always the highest-leverage move available, because the asset has already been built and youโre paying only for the connection.
Return on investment (ROI) is the present-tense work: expanding on content thatโs already live, filling the gaps the audit reveals, and creating new pieces in the short term to support what youโre doing today. This is the layer most brands jump to first, and itโs the most expensive of the three when run in isolation, because new creation without ROPI underneath means youโre paying full price to build assets that are already partially in place.
Return on future investment (ROFI) is the planning layer, and itโs where brand strategy and pipeline strategy converge. If you have a clear sense of where the business is going (which categories youโll own in three years, which positioning youโll claim, which framings youโll need supporting evidence for), you can plant seeds today that wonโt serve you this quarter but will be load-bearing in 12 or 24 months.
At my company, we plant seeds constantly: claims and framings published now that arenโt doing visible work today but will be the corroborated proof weโll need when the next phase of our long-term strategy rolls out. The brand that runs ROFI consistently is shaping the frame against which competitors will be measured in the future.
Because youโre educating and training the algorithms, ROFI actually influences the criteria by which the market will judge you in your favor.
Three time horizons for your content (wherever it lives online): ROPI extracts value from what youโve already built, ROI improves the present, and ROFI engineers the future.
The 10 gates describe what search engines, assistive engines, and assistive agents actually do, in order, every time they decide whether to recommend you.ย
Crawl, index, rank was the right model for a 1998 search engine. It hasnโt been the right model for a long time. The brands that are still optimizing for three steps when the systems run on 10 are optimizing for a model that the engines donโt use.
This isnโt my framework. Itโs the enginesโ framework.
The engines donโt care what you find easy to measure, fun to do, or impressive at the next conference. They care whether your content survives all 10 gates with high confidence at each, and they reward the brands that build for the gates with citations, recommendations, and the actions that follow.
So treat and run it like a system. Fix your F grades first and your D grades next. Work outside-in because thatโs where the leverage already lives, and watch the rest compound on top of work youโve barely had to pay for.ย
Follow the system, and AI search pays you back, year on year, engine after engine, long past the lifespan of any acronym fashion.
Valveโs Steam Controller has been targeted by Scalpers Valveโs Steam Controller was released yesterday, and it didnโt take long for it to sell out worldwide. To the surprise of no one, the controller has started popping up on eBay, with sellers trying to take advantage of Valveโs limited stock of its new PC-optimised gamepad. Scaplers [โฆ]
Apex Legendsโ Overclocked update includes performance fixes for AMDโs Ryzen X3D CPUs Respawn Entertainment has confirmed that fast CPUs are causing stutters in Apex Legends, with AMDโs Ryzen X3D CPUs particularly prone to this issue. With the gameโs newly released โOverclockedโ update, improvements have been made to Apex Legendsโ physics calculations to prevent these issues [โฆ]
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Mionix today announces AVIOR AIR CARBON FIBER, a limited-edition wireless gaming mouse and the first wireless gaming mouse from Mionix. Developed over more than two years, AVIOR AIR CARBON FIBER marks the comeback of Mionix with a completely new AVIOR body, handmade carbon fiber shell, and a new wireless platform built around Nordic Semiconductor's nRF54H20 chipset.
Designed as a flagship ultralight wireless FPS mouse, AVIOR AIR CARBON FIBER introduces a new rear-placed hump, back-loaded body shape optimized for claw, fingertip, and hybrid grip players. The new body replaces the previous AVIOR design, moving away from its balanced-placed hump profile to create a more specialized shape for FPS gamers who want precision, control, and fast repositioning.
Micron Technology, Inc., today announced it is now shipping the 245 TB capacity Micron 6600 ION SSD, the world's highest capacity commercially available SSD. The drive marks a major step forward in rack-scale storage density for data centers and is designed to support AI, cloud, enterprise and hyperscale workloads, including next-generation AI data lakes and cloud-scale file and object storage. The 245 TB Micron 6600 ION E3.L requires 82% fewer racks to achieve equivalent raw storage capacity compared to HDD-based deployments. Built with Micron G9 QLC NAND that is at least one generation ahead of any competing QLC used in data center SSDs, the 245 TB Micron 6600 ION redefines high-capacity data center storage. Customers can now store and process significantly more data in far less space, while reducing power and cooling demands without sacrificing the performance required for large-scale, data-intensive workloads.
"AI workloads are driving massive growth in shared data, continuing the shift of data center storage share from HDDs toward SSDs. With 245 TB in a single SSD, the Micron 6600 ION makes solid state storage the clear choice for modern data centers," said Jeremy Werner, senior vice president and general manager of Micron's Core Data Center Business Unit. "This breakthrough capacity gives data center operators a critical new lever to improve rack-level total cost of ownership, especially as power availability becomes a defining constraint for AI infrastructure scale."
In the fast-paced world of hardware, longevity is the ultimate benchmark of quality. As ADATA Technology celebrates its 25th anniversary, we reflect on a journey that transformed a visionary startup into a global titan. For the international tech community, our history is not just a series of dates - it is a 25-year track record of stability, innovation, and the relentless pursuit of reliability.
Innovation catches the eye, but reliability keeps the world moving. For a quarter-century, ADATA has served as the "Invisible Hero" behind the world's most ambitious digital breakthroughs. Whether powering professional workstations or safeguarding personal data, ADATA provides the stable foundation that makes inspiration possible. We believe that to truly inspire, technology must first be dependable.
As hybrid work continues to blur the line between productivity and entertainment, Lenovo is betting that better audio, not just better video, can make digital experiences feel more natural across the board. Ceva, Inc., today announced that Lenovo has selected its RealSpace spatial audio software for its new ThinkPad Dual-Mode Wireless ANC Foldable Headset 8550 (Aura Edition).
The 8550 headset is designed to recreate the sensation of being physically present, whether listening to music, watching a movie, or playing a game. Instead of a traditional stereo experience, audio is rendered in a virtual 3D space that remains anchored in place. As users turn their head, sound stays fixed in the environment, just as it would in the real world, creating a more natural and immersive listening experience.
Today, Bose unveils the Lifestyle Collection, a reimagined approach to home audio designed to elevate the listening experience without sacrificing convenience. The lineup includes a wireless smart speaker, an immersive soundbar, and a powerful subwoofer, all built with Bose's most advanced proprietary audio technologies and engineered to work together across flexible configurationsโfrom a single space to multiple roomsโto deliver high-quality sound. Using Google Cast or Apple AirPlay, stream audio directly from any platform and group speakers seamlesslyโincluding those from other manufacturers. Crafted with premium materials, the new collection comes in three timeless finishes to complement any space, and an updated Bose app enables one of the simplest setup experiences in home audio.
The Bose Lifestyle Ultra Speaker ($299), the Bose Lifestyle Ultra Soundbar ($1,099), and the Bose Lifestyle Ultra Subwoofer ($899) will be available starting May 15th and can be preordered today at Bose.com. The Lifestyle Collection comes in Black or White Smoke, and the Lifestyle Ultra Speaker is also available in limited-edition Driftwood Sand ($349), a soft beige reminiscent of fine upholstery, featuring a solid white oak base that's destined to age beautifully over time.
The situation started on May 3, when Pitchford's X post showed an AI-generated image. "I asked my primary AI tool to generate a selfie that indicates how they feel based on how I interact with it and this is what it generated (note: background words were not prompted and have...
The app in question is an independent port built by developer Andrey Letov that aims to replicate the Notepad++ experience on macOS. Notepad++ itself is tightly bound to Windows, with its interface and behavior built around Win32 and the Scintilla editing component. Porting that experience to macOS means re-creating the...
The controller's Steam page initially showed it with a delivery time of 3-5 business days, but that quickly increased to 6-10 days. It was around half an hour after launch when the site showed an Out-of-Stock label, which is still there.
Guerrilla Games' upcoming multiplayer spin-off of its mainline open-world Horizon series, Horizon Hunters Gathering, is set to have its second closed beta playtest later this month, from May 22-25, 2026. The closed playtest adds two new characters for players to try out, a new story mission from the game's narrative, a new region to explore, and an increased challenge with more difficult missions and changes to one of its core game modes. The game's first closed playtest, which, just like this upcoming one, you'll need an invite to participate in, took place at the cross between February and March of [โฆ]
Teamgroup has released its latest Elite DDR5 memory modules featuring high speeds of up to 8000 MT/s, which are ready for next-gen platforms. Next-Gen Platforms Will Support Some Crazy High-Speed DDR5 Memory & Teamgroup Is Ready With Its Elite Series Offering Up To 8000 MT/s Transfer Rates Press Release: Global memory leader Team Group Inc. continues to advance product performance with the introduction of new high-frequency specifications for its ELITE PLUS DDR5 and ELITE DDR5 desktop memory modules. Both products deliver speeds of up to 8000 MT/s and operate at 1.1V with CL56-56-56-128 timings, fully compliant with JEDEC standards. Designed [โฆ]
Intel has accelerated its PC roadmap, with several chips including Nova Lake, Razor Lake, Titan Lake & Moon Lake on track to tackle AMD. Intel To Offer Four PC CPU Families In The Next Two Years As It Positions Its Lineup To Compete Aggressively Against AMD, Apple & Qualcomm Chipzilla is going aggressive not only on the Foundry front, but also in its PC business as it remains on track to offer four diverse chip families in the next two years. This shows heightened confidence at Intel as its PC platform execution not just accelerates, but also gets back on [โฆ]
The AI boom has resulted in TSMC battling to increase its manufacturing capacity for clients to fulfill 3nm chip orders, leaving a massive opportunity for Samsung to capitalize on. However, even though the Korean giant has made strides in bringing its 2nm GAA technology to U.S. soilย in the form of its Taylor plant, its reliability in manufacturing higher volume at stable yields remains in question. While there have been talks of Samsung becoming a viable alternative to TSMC, companies like Tesla and Qualcomm are only considering a dual-sourcing strategy because they now have a backup option to a foundry that [โฆ]
Panthalassa raises $140M to build wave-powered offshore nodes that generate electricity and run AI workloads at sea, tackling data center energy and cooling challenges.
OpenAI and Anthropic, which had existing evaluation partnerships with the center dating to 2024, renegotiated their deals to align with priorities in Trump's AI Action Plan.
The projection, based on orders already received from major Chinese technology firms including Alibaba, ByteDance, and Tencent, would represent growth of at least 60% year-over-year.
GammaFlip provides live gamma exposure charts and heatmaps for BTC, ETH, SOL, and XRP, helping traders see dealer hedging pressure and identify key volatility zones. The web app auto-plots gamma flip levels, shows 10 structural price markers, and lets you replay full GEX history with OHLC overlays. Data updates every ~60 seconds from Deribit, Bybit, and OKX. Premium unlocks dashboard, heatmap, and Time Machine, while Pro adds a REST API for bots and research.
Cuukbuuk lets you create your own recipes with AI. Describe what you want to eat or list ingredients you have to get a tailored recipe. You can ask for vegetarian, budget-friendly, or other variations. Upload photos to turn snapshots into editable recipes. Ask the AI to adjust portions or flavors, keeping ingredients and instructions in sync. Save recipes to your personal library, translate them into other languages, and share them with family and friends.
The Act introduces new online restrictions for young people, alongside an obligation for service providers to take "reasonable anti-circumvention measures." Here's why privacy raises the alarm.
Following a pledge made in January, PrivadoVPN has fully updated its Terms of Service to reflect its new headquarters in Iceland, officially leaving Switzerland behind to avoid potential mandatory data logging.
After championing the SteelSeries Nova Pro Wireless for years, the brand's new SteelSeries Arctis Nova Omni headset may be my new favorite from the brand.
Elon Muskโs claim that OpenAI wouldnโt exist without him lays bare a deeply personal battle with Sam Altman over credit, control, and the future of the company behind ChatGPT.
As the bleak sky opens over Gotham, showering Burce Wayneโs lifeless parents with stud-shaped rain, his origin story as Batman beginsโฆ againโฆ just not like youโve ever seen it before.
For the next four days only, you can buy one pass to TechCrunch Disrupt 2026 and get 50% off a second of the same ticket type.ย That window closesย May 8 at 11:59 p.m. PT.ย After that, prices go up, andย youโllย pay more to bring aย partner orย colleague.ย Register todayย to get your plus-one pass at 50% off.
Google is trying a new method of bot authentication named Web Bot Auth. Google posted a new help document that explains that Web Bot Auth is a โnew cryptographic protocol that helps websites to validate that bots are authentic.โ
The goal of Web Bot Auth is to help you automate the process of authenticating which AI Agent bots are authentic and which are fraud.
Limited test. Google said the search compan is โtesting the protocol with some AI agents hosted on Google infrastructure.โ Not all Google user agents are using Web Bot Auth and Google is not yet signing every request of agents using the protocol.
What is Web Bot Auth. Google defined Web Bot Auth as โWeb Bot Auth is an experimental cryptographic protocol used to authenticate requests sent by bots. Instead of relying solely on self-reported headers and IP addresses, Web Bot Auth allows agents to cryptographically sign their requests.โ
Web Bot Auth can bring the following benefits according to Google:
Future-proofing:ย Help establish a web where agent providers and websites can build mutual trust and make informed access decisions.
Cryptographic certainty:ย Move beyond easily spoofed headers to a verified identity and decouple agent identity from IP addresses.
Better observability:ย Gain clearer insights into how agents interact with your content.
Why we care. As AI Agents become more and more common across the web, managing which Agents can access your site and web pages may become more and more of a challenge. This new method of authentication may help you allow authentic AI Agents and block the inauthentic AI Agents.
Again, this is an โexperimentalโ feature right now, so keep track of its progress.
One of the major reasons PPC practitioners hold onto syntax-oriented keyword strategies is the disconnect between โquery intentโ and โconversion intent.โ For years, youโve likely relied on keywords to show you understand what your customers want and to prequalify traffic using syntax-oriented signals.
As user behavior shifts to more conversational queries and AI becomes an increasingly relevant part of the user journey, the distinction between these two intents becomes even more critical to understand and act on.
Here, weโll define query and conversion intent and explore strategies to apply them effectively. This isnโt prescriptive. You should make decisions based on what will serve your business well. However, it provides a framework for analyzing your data and optimizing for the right humans.
Disclosure: Iโm a Microsoft employee, and Iโll be sharing some examples that pull from Microsoft tooling. However, most of the strategies reflect platform-agnostic approaches.
What are query and conversion intents?
Query intent is the underlying need driving the text put into a search function. This search function can be on a SERP (search engine results page), video/social/gaming/email/site search bar, or AI surface.
Conversion intent is the human need to achieve some outcome, understood through stated and inferred data points. These range from text entered in various search experiences, content consumed, and tracked actions taken.
Different examples of query and conversion intent will have higher or lower rates of confidence based on how explicit text is, as well as patterns in content consumed.
For example, if I search โMicrosoft ads login,โ both query and conversion intent are clear โ I want to log in. Itโs easy to match ads and organic content to that query. Videos shown in any video query would have to do with logging in, and emails would be focused around login information.
Google SERP
Bingโs SERP
YouTube results
The query โMicrosoft adsโ is more nebulous, as such, needs to draw from other signals like previously engaged content and search history. While I might get a login page, Iโd likely also see blog/sales content, third-party advice on Microsoft ads, and potentially competitor info trying to capitalize on the general nature of the query.
Google SERP
Bing SERP
YouTube results
Letโs look at a non-branded example as well. โPurple hair dyeโ has a clear transactional intent. While the user might not have a brand in mind, they know they want a specific color.ย
We donโt know if the user is looking for a semi-permanent or permanent color. We also donโt know the userโs pronouns, so matching them to a specific demographic to entice a purchase is a gamble.ย
Google SERP
Bing SERP
YouTube results
In the query โpurple hair dye for long wavy hair,โ the transactional intent is maintained. However, the query focuses more on the core needs of the person behind the text. Long, wavy hair means there needs to be enough dye to cover long hair.
Additionally, while some men have long wavy hair, the person behind the query is more likely to identify as female.ย
Wavy hair has a different composition than straight or curly hair, so products specifically for wavy hair will be more relevant than those without hair type identifiers.
Google SERP
Bing SERP
YouTube results
In all of these examples, there was clear conversion intent. The human behind the query clearly wanted to achieve something. However, if we relied only on the text (i.e., query intent), we might miss a meaningful opportunity to connect with customers.ย
This is why close variants (which have been available on both Google and Microsoft for ~10 years) represent a useful way to unshackle ourselves from syntax alone.
Additionally, by limiting our understanding of queries to SERPs, we ignore critical insights from where our customers connect, work, and play. Microsoftโs internal data from March 2024 shows that brands that use both Audience ads (display, native, and video) and Search see a 6x conversion rate. Part of this is brand recognition, and the power of brand media buys influencing performance.
Yet thereโs also the pragmatic piece that some marketers refuse to engage with video and social. By being where your competitors refuse to be, you can shape and capture desire while they fight over a shrinking share of voice.
Once you understand the difference between query and conversion intent, you can begin mapping out the actions needed to capitalize on both.
Conversion intent is much easier to understand than query intent. This is why AI systems typically run queries in the background to understand human input and get at the conversion intent behind the query.ย
To succeed at shaping queries and capturing conversions, itโs critical to understand the input points for humans and the AI systems that will be serving them results.
Letโs revisit the โpurple hair dye for long wavy hairโ query:
Copilot surfaces how it arrived at the output by looking up information and finding the best matches. This is similar to the SEO concept of E-E-A-T.
Yet youโll notice that the results for my personal Copilot are different than the traditional SERP (chiefly that ads arenโt the dominant result โ ads serve at the bottom of clearly transactional conversations after organic listings).
This is where the โDetailsโ function comes into play and can help you know where to focus content, feed, and messaging functions:
This product is pretty flat on price, save for some deep summer dips. If Iโm desperate for color, I might buy now, or I might wait for what seems like a regular summer sale. Iโm also getting insights into why this product is wonderful (hair conditioning, cruelty-free, vibrant, and customizable color, etc.).
These are things Iโve shown interest in through past purchases, conversations with Copilot, and other signals it has access to.
Brands that want to optimize for query intent need to make sure the following are in good order:
Feed/landing page clarity
It should be incredibly easy to map what the product/service is to the query. While there is value in some 1:1 matching of language, itโs much more important that the core offering be understood as aligned with what the human is looking for.
For example, DUI and DWI are technically two different charges and have geo implications. However, DUI tends to be the universal legal charge and service.
Images adding context
Visual content is critical to engage humans. However, if the image isnโt clear or is duplicative of another service/product page, you might confuse the user and the machine attempting to understand and position you for queries. This is why itโs critical to add alt text (even on paid landing pages) for images and videos.
A good way to test whether your visuals are serving you well is to put the landing page into a PMax campaign creator. If you see the images and they match the correct service text, youโve done a good job.
Invest time in understanding how humans and AI are querying
Free tools like Google Trends, Microsoft Clarity, and Bing Webmaster offer insights into search trends, citations, grounding queries, and which AI systems and humans are successfully engaging with your content.
Conversion intent is more straightforward, though debatably harder because it requires more creative and critical thinking:ย
Matching messages to personas
The reason one person says yes to you might be completely different from the reason someone else does. Locking in conversion intent includes being mindful of how youโre selling yourself. If you ignore what matters to your customers in reviews, intake from customer success or sales, and other signals, you risk selling yourself badly and losing the customer.
This is where AI-powered creative and audience mapping can be helpful, since platforms have access to more insights than a brand does during the auction.
Honor the impulse nature of visual content
Someone coming to you from a display spot or short video is very different than someone coming from a text-laden SERP. They were inspired to act and need frictionless paths to conversion.
One-click checkout (including solutions like Copilot Checkout) ensures humans donโt need to think to do business with you.
Ultimately, both query and conversion intent need brand and performance marketing to be successful, and itโs critical to understand how the success metrics manifest.
The converging roles of brand and performance
For a long time, brand and performance marketing were treated as separate motions, with separate owners, budgets, and success metrics.ย
Brand was about reach, recall, and long-term connection.ย
Performance was about efficiency, conversion rate, and immediate return.ย
That separation made sense when channels, measurement, and user journeys were cleaner than they are today. Itโs much harder to maintain in an environment where AI systems infer intent continuously and across surfaces.ย
A user doesnโt experience brand and performance as separate. They experience confidence, familiarity, relevance, and ease. Those signals are created over time through exposure, engagement, and trust, and they often determine whether conversion intent ever materializes, regardless of how โhigh intentโ a query might appear on its own.
From a metrics perspective, this convergence is clear. Brand-oriented activity influences performance outcomes even when it isnโt the final touch. Exposure to display, native, or video doesnโt always produce an immediate click, but it changes how humans and systems interpret future behavior.ย
When someone later performs a search, engages with an AI assistant, or compares options on a marketplace, prior brand interactions act as accelerators. They reduce hesitation, shorten decision cycles, and increase the likelihood that a conversion signal will be credited downstream.
From a strategy standpoint, this means brand work should no longer be evaluated solely on isolated upper-funnel KPIs, and Performance work canโt be evaluated purely on last-click efficiency.ย
Audience-based formats, contextual placements, and visual storytelling directly shape conversion intent by shaping preferences and expectations before a query even occurs. Search and shopping formats then serve as capture mechanisms, translating that latent intent into action.
This is particularly relevant in AI-assisted experiences, where systems synthesize multiple inputs before presenting options or recommendations. Content, feeds, reviews, images, and historical engagement all influence how brands are represented and when they appear.
In these environments, strong brand signals donโt compete with performance outcomes. They enable them by making the brand easier to understand, trust, and choose.
Brand and performance donโt need to use the same tactics, but they must be planned together. Measurement frameworks should account for assistive value, not just final interactions.
Creative strategies should recognize that inspiration and conversion often happen at different moments. Optimization should focus less on forcing intent into rigid buckets and more on supporting the full decision journey.
When we recognize that query intent and conversion intent are related but not identical, the convergence of brand and performance becomes less a philosophical debate and more an operational necessity.
Success comes from designing systems that reflect how humans actually decide, not just how they type.
Key takeaways
Query intent describes what is said; conversion intent reflects what the human needs to accomplish. They overlap, but they arenโt interchangeable.
Brand activity shapes conversion intent long before a query is expressed and influences how future interactions are interpreted.
Performance outcomes improve when Brand signals reduce friction, uncertainty, and choice overload.
AI-driven experiences amplify this convergence by relying on cumulative signals rather than single actions.
Sustainable optimization requires aligning brand and performance strategies, metrics, and expectations around the same human outcomes.
In February 2025, the world watched as a small group of humanoid robots took the stage at the CCTV Chinese New Year show for the very first time. It was a charming performance, even if the steps were shaky and the movements were mostly limited to the arms.
Just one year later, at the Spring Festival Gala, the shaky steps were gone and the humanoid robots were able to actually run and do standing somersaults and full kung fu routines with swords and nunchaku. The message was clear: in just one year, we have witnessed a decadeโs worth of advancement.
The 10-year leap in technology is real and not limited to robotics. Which raises a critical question for every digital marketer eyeing the worldโs largest web population: How has search in China progressed in recent years?
A parallel in the Chinese search landscape
The answer is that weโre witnessing the first, calculated tremors of a massive shift. AI models have not yet replaced traditional search. The evolution isnโt happening through a single โbig bang,โ but through a constant, iterative pulse.ย
New LLM models are surfacing every few months, each more specialized than the last. Chinese tech giants are increasingly open-sourcing their models, and even industry leaders are hedging their bets. Baidu, for example, is integrating DeepSeek into its search experience, even as its own Ernie (Wenxin) model remains a formidable powerhouse.
Letโs look at how users actually search in China today โ and what this nuanced shift from links to reasoning means for your 2026 SEO strategy.
The great narrative fallacy: Is web search dead in China?
In many marketing circles, a specific narrative has been repeated so often it has become an article of faith: โTraditional search on Baidu is dead โ and has been for years. Websites are obsolete. In China, everything is WeChat.โ
This narrative is almost always driven by service providers whose business models depend on WeChat, Douyin, Weibo, or Xiaohongshu marketing. To them, the โopen webโ is a ghost town. But is this actually true?
The social supremacy argument
Thereโs a grain of truth in the hype. The Chinese web is a mobile-first multiverse. Users access and explore the web through super-apps:
RedNote (Xiaohongshu / Little Red Book): This is the de facto engine for lifestyle research and travel planning.
Pinduoduo and Douyin: These are the juggernauts of social commerce and impulse buying.
WeChat: The absolute center of daily life, where everything from a quick message to a utility bill payment via QR code happens.
In this environment, social media isnโt just a channel. Itโs the air people breathe. For B2C brands, social ads can โ and often do โ exceed website-driven sales by orders of magnitude.
The B2B reality check
For those of us working with B2B companies that need real visibility in China, the โBaidu is deadโ narrative falls apart the moment you look at the analytics. Clients who invest in Baidu SEO and Baidu search engine advertising (SEA) continue to see a steady, high-volume stream of real human visitors โ in many cases generating more qualified leads and higher conversion rates than their counterparts in the UK or Germany.
Why? Because when a B2B procurement officer or a technical engineer needs a specific industrial solution, they donโt just scroll until they find it on a social media feed. They search for a verified, authoritative source. In other words, they look for a website.
Is the social media narrative a lie? No. But ignoring a channel that โ at least in the B2B sector โ remains more effective in China than in many search-first Western countries is simply bad business. The goal isnโt to choose one over the other; itโs to understand how they coexist.ย
And just as weโve settled the debate between web marketing versus app marketing, a new challenger โ the LLM โ has entered the battleground to disrupt both.
Mapping the 2026 landscape: Intent-based specialization
To a Google-first marketer, the idea of searching anywhere but a search engine feels like a detour. In China, itโs the standard operating procedure. Users donโt just โGoogle it.โ Instead, they choose the tool that fits the intent.
As a Baidu specialist living and working in China, I see this daily. While I might be optimizing a B2B landing page for Baidu, my wife is likely on Pinduoduo, finding household deals, or on Xiaohongshu, planning our next weekend trip.ย
The โeverything appโ exists, but the โright appโ always wins the click.
1. Traditional web search: The authority tier
Despite the โdeath of the webโ narrative, traditional web search remains the primary battleground for B2B and high-authority research. If a user needs a technical whitepaper, a government regulation, or a verified corporate headquarters, they go here.
Baidu: Still the mobile heavyweight, with a ~70% mobile market share. Its structural advantage is massive: The Baidu app is installed on over 724 million monthly active devices (as of early 2026). It has evolved into an AI-first portal, but for SEOs, it remains the place where the open web lives and breathes.
Microsoft Bing: The professionalโs sanctuary. It has claimed a massive chunk of desktop search for those seeking a cleaner, international, or technical experience.
Haosou (360 Search): The enterprise default, often pre-installed on corporate PCs and known for its security focus.
Sogou: Deeply integrated with WeChat, itโs the bridge between the walled garden and the web.
Google: Yes, Google. Despite the firewall, a significant population of tech-savvy professionals and researchers use it via VPN for global technical data and academic resources.
2. Social discovery: The inspiration tier
This is where search becomes discovery. Users donโt always have a keyword, but they do have an interest. In this context, SEO is about social indexing: ensuring your brand appears when a user looks for proof and not just products.
WeChat (Weixin): The internal search for official brand news and private traffic.
Xiaohongshu (RED): The ultimate product-discovery engine. If you arenโt on RED, you donโt exist in the lifestyle or luxury sectors.
Douyin: Visual, video-first search. Users search Douyin to see how something works.
Kuaishou: The powerhouse for lower-tier cities and raw, authentic grassroots content.
Weibo: Real-time search โ what is happening right now in the public eye.
Bilibili: Long-form video search for deep dives, tutorials, and Gen Z subcultures.
3. Ecommerce: The transactional tier
In the West, users often start on Google and end on Amazon. In China, the journey frequently starts and ends in the same place.
Taobao / Tmall: The grand bazaar. If you want variety and brand stores, this is the first stop.
JD.com: The Amazon of China for logistics and high-end electronics.
Pinduoduo: The favorite for daily essentials and group-buy deals. Its search logic is entirely driven by value for money.
Douyin Mall: The rising star of โimpulse search,โ merging entertainment with immediate checkout.
Xianyu (Goofish): The go-to for the thriving second-hand market and hobbyist niches.
4. Generative AI (LLMs): The reasoning tier
This is the newest layer of the map โ the โthinkingโ search. These AI models donโt just produce lists of links. They are assistants that synthesize the web for the user.
Doubao (ByteDance): Currently the most popular consumer AI assistant, used for casual, conversational queries.
DeepSeek (Domestic): The choice for developers and those in need of โdeep thinkingโ logic. Itโs the engine currently getting tested inside WeChatโs search bar.
Kimi (Moonshot AI): The king of long-context. Users use Kimi to search through 50-page PDFs or complex financial reports.
Qwen (Alibaba): Powerfully integrated into the Alibaba ecosystem for business and coding tasks.
Tencent Yuanbao: The โAI brainโ for WeChat content.
Wen Xiaoyan (Baidu): The AI-facing evolution of Baidu search.
5. Hyper-local and logistics: The utility tier
For the physical world, search is about โnowโ and โnear me.โ
Meituan / Dianping: If youโre hungry or want to see a movie, you donโt use Baidu. You use Dianping for reviews and Meituan for transactions.
Amap (Gaode) / Baidu Maps: The โsearch engines of the real world.โ SEO on these platforms is purely about point-of-interest (POI) optimization.
Ctrip (Trip.com) / Railway 12306: The specialized gates for the massive domestic travel market.
From mapping to maneuvering: The Baidu specialistโs edge
Baidu SEO isnโt dead; your website just isnโt the sole focus of web search anymore.
The โwalled gardenโ SERP: A decade of distraction
If youโre a Google-centric SEO, there are some notable differences when working with Baidu:
The ad-heavy layout: It isnโt uncommon to see ads claiming the top, middle, and bottom of a Baidu search engine results page (SERP), occupying nearly 50% of the visible real estate.
The Baidu monopoly: The most coveted organic positions are almost always reserved for Baiduโs own properties. Baidu Baike (the encyclopedia), Baidu Zhidao (the Q&A hub), and Baijiahao (the news/blogging arm) are the permanent residents of Page 1.
The portal giants: High-authority giants like Zhihu (Chinaโs Quora), Bilibili, and Sohu take up whatever space is left.
Riding the Chinese SERP dragon
In this environment, ranking a corporate homepage for a high-volume keyword is a foolโs errand. Instead, weโve mastered the art of the โlong-tail dragon.โ
In the West, we talk about the long tail of search as a small, niche opportunity. In China, with its linguistic complexity and massive user base, the long tail is a winding, multi-layered beast that is often more lucrative than the head terms.ย
And we donโt just rank a website; we piggyback on the authority of the platforms Baidu already trusts. If you canโt beat Baidu Baike, you become the verified entry inside it.
Interestingly, it is these very platforms โ the ones weโve been using to bypass the โblue link problemโ โ that have now become the primary focus of the next generation of search.
What is changing in Baidu SEO?
In China, there is no brand loyalty toward particular AI models, as Westerners have toward platforms like ChatGPT and Claude.
The AI-switching reality
Chinese users are restless. They donโt stick with one model. They switch โ sometimes because a hyped model hits a downtime wall, and sometimes because a new model claims the throne of the โmost intelligent AI.โ In this cycle of competition and user preference, an SEO canโt just focus on the โbig sources.โ
If youโre following the Western playbook, youโre likely chasing Reddit, Quora, and YouTube as your โsources of truthโ for AI training. But in China, that focus is dangerously narrow. To win the reasoning battle, you must understand the investor-source connection.
Brainstorming the wisdom platforms
If you want to train AIs to see your brand in China, you have to look at the platforms they were built on:
Tencent is invested in Sogou. In 2021, Tencent fully privatized Sogou. This means Sogou Baike is no longer just a Baidu alternative โ it is now a core training set for Tencentโs Yuanbao. If you ignore Sogou Baike, youโre invisible to the AI search bar inside WeChat.
Bytedance owns Baike.com. Bytedance bought Baike.com (formerly Hudong Baike) specifically to fuel its search ambitions. If you want to get cited by Doubao, your content needs to be mirrored here and not just on Baidu.
The neutral giants: Keep an eye on Zhihu. Because both Tencent and Baidu are heavy investors in Zhihu, it remains one of the few neutral high-authority sources that almost every Chinese LLM uses for opinionated or expert reasoning.
The new SEO commandment
Weโre no longer just optimizing for a search engine. Weโre optimizing for a data pedigree.
If your client is B2B, you might still prioritize the Baidu ecosystem. But if your client is in ecommerce and you arenโt feeding the Qwen engine via Alibabaโs ecosystem, or the Doubao engine via Baike.com, youโre limiting your visibility across key AI systems.
The 2026 China SEO/GEO blueprint: From keywords to semantic saturation
If youโre waiting for a โDeepSeek optimization checklistโ or a โDoubao ranking guide,โ youโve already missed the point. Because users switch models as often as they switch takeout apps, you canโt afford to be โBaidu-onlyโ or โWeChat-centric.โ
Here is whatโs actually working for SEO in China in 2026:
Optimize for citations and not just clicks
While SEO in the West is focused on generative engine optimization (GEO), in China, itโs all about fact density.ย
The logic: When Kimi or DeepSeek performs a reasoning query, the AI looks for verifiable facts.
The tactic: Stop writing marketing fluff. Start using the inverted pyramid writing style. Lead with a direct, data-backed answer in your first paragraph. Use hard statistics, expert quotes, and structured lists. If a model canโt extract a fact from your content in 200 milliseconds, it might hallucinate a competitorโs data instead.
Build an entity moat across wisdom platforms
As we brainstormed earlier, every AI has a โparentโ with a preferred data source. But since models are now open-sourcing their weights and distilling each otherโs intelligence, your brand must achieve entity consistency.
The goal: Your brand name, headquarters, and core product claims must be identical across Baidu Baike (Baidu), Sogou Baike (Tencent), and Baike.com (ByteDance).
The result: When these models cross-check their reasoning, they find a consensus. In 2026, consensus is the new authority.
Leverage information gain
Chinese AI models have a well-observed recency bias โ they prefer sources that are roughly 25% fresher than traditional search results.
The tactic: Donโt just regurgitate whatโs already on Zhihu. Provide a โunique data slice.โ If everyone says โThe best time to post on Douyin is 6 PM,โ and you publish a case study proving โ11 AM is better for B2B industrial leads,โ the AI will cite you as the โnuanced exception.โ That citation is worth more than ten #1 rankings.
Weโve come a long way from the shaky steps of the 2025 CCTV Gala.
In 2026, Chinaโs search ecosystem is no longer a directory of links. Itโs a living, reasoning entity.
For the Western search specialist, the lesson is clear: The โsuper appโ was a distraction. The real story is the fragmentation of intent.
My wife still goes to Pinduoduo for the best price. My colleagues still go to Bing for technical sanctuary. And the โI, Robotโ enthusiasts of 2026 are using a rotating door of LLMs to find their answers.
As a Baidu specialist, my job has shifted from โranking a websiteโ to โarchitecting an entity.โ We no longer build for the bot; we build for the source. If youโre the undeniable source of truth across the platforms that shape Chinaโs information ecosystem, it doesnโt matter which model delivers the answer.
be quietโs Dark Rock 6 series CPU coolers are launching this month be quiet has officially announced their new Dark Rock 6 and Dark Rock 6 Pro CPU coolers, both of which are launching this month on May 19th. These coolers feature all-new designs, promising significantly improved CPU cooling performance compared to their predecessors. This [โฆ]
A 44% discount has been spotted for the Logitech G515 Lightspeed, a ten-keyless, wireless gaming keyboard we highly recommend for its superb battery life, responsive controls, low-profile design, and more.
Valve's new Steam Controller sold out almost immediately, and they're now being sold on eBay for as much as $399. PC gamers obviously aren't happy, but there's a good reason why scalpers feel the need to do what they do.
Xbox expands Default Game Profiles with over two dozen new titles on Xbox Ally and Ally X, improving performance and battery life through per-game optimization in the Xbox app.
Microsoft recently published a note stating that gaming PCs running Windows 11 should be equipped with 32 GB of RAM as a "no worries" update for systems handling demanding tasks like Discord alongside AAA titles running in the background. However, after our post reached millions of readers online, gamers reacted negatively to Microsoft's seemingly excessive requirement amid the worst DRAM shortage ever recorded. In response, Microsoft deleted the entire blog post. Now, clicking on the old link redirects to the Windows Learning Center, which features general blog posts with tips and tricks on enhancing your Windows 11 experience, with no trace of the original post.
As readers may recall, Microsoft promised to make Windows 11 a much-improved operating system with better performance, more UI uniformity, and reduced RAM consumption. The company is reportedly using feedback from its Insiders group, user telemetry analytics, and customer focus groups to ensure that Windows 11 is efficient, thoughtfully designed, and stable. Earlier this year, Microsoft pledged to address many user complaints, such as poor memory optimization within its flagship operating system, but these fixes have yet to be implemented. In the meantime, having more RAM is the only solution to keep operations running smoothly. However, when the company began recommending 32 GB as a "no worries" upgrade, these plans seemed like empty promises, causing enthusiasts to stick around without considering alternatives. Now, Microsoft appears to have recognized the mistake and has deleted its previous blog post, indicating that the company is actively listening to user feedback online.
Combining cutting-edge ergonomic design with convenient productivity features, the latest mouse in the Trust Home & Office range - the Vyran Ergonomic Multi-Wireless Hyperscroll Mouse - is the perfect choice for professionals looking for a comfortable mouse that works as hard as they do.
Designed with user wellness in mind, the Vyran features a vertical form with an optimal 50ยฐ angle and comfortable thumb rest that naturally reduces arm and wrist strain during extended use. Ideal for those working through lengthy documents, spreadsheets, and web pages, its premium metal hyperscroll wheel with tilt function enables effortless vertical and horizontal navigation, making marathon work sessions that bit more comfortable.
Samsung Display announced today that it will participate in Display Week 2026, hosted by the Society for Information Display (SID), and showcase its latest display innovations.
The exhibition will take place from May 5 to 7 at the Los Angeles Convention Center in California. Display Week is one of the world's largest display industry exhibitions, where global companies and experts gather to share advanced technologies and research achievements. Under the theme "The Spectrum of Display Innovation with AI" Samsung Display will present its latest technologies as a leading OLED company.
Kensington, a worldwide leader of desktop computing and mobility solutions for IT, business, and home office professionals, today announced an expansion of its USB-C GaN charging portfolio with the addition of new multi-port power adapters and a 240 W USB-C fast-charging cable, designed to support fast, efficient charging across multiple devices.
The expanded lineup adds 70 W and 140 W USB-C GaN chargers that allow users to power laptops, tablets, smartphones, and accessories from a single compact adapter, reducing the need for multiple chargers and outlets.
When Bloomberg recently asked Take-Two CEO Strauss Zelnick why the company has not yet discussed a PC version of GTA 6, he emphasized the importance of focusing on the company's "core" users. The comments imply that Take-Two still views the PC as a secondary market. Despite this, Zelnick acknowledged that...
The basic concept is straightfoward: generate electricity from waves, use it on the spot, and run AI chips with no connection to the grid. Panthalassa builds autonomous platforms it calls nodes, tall steel structures that sit mostly below the surface and rise and fall with the motion of the sea.
According to Korean publication The Elec, Samsung, SK Hynix, and Micron have asked substrate manufacturers to move forward with DDR6 production. The companies are now coordinating designs and conducting preliminary development of the new memory standard.
Every AI tool, workflow automation, and productivity app your employees connected to Google or Microsoft this year left something behind: a persistent OAuth token with no expiration date, no automatic cleanup, and in most organizations, no one watching it. Your perimeter controls don't see it. Your MFA doesn't stop it. And when an attacker gets hold of one, they don't need a password.
OAuth
Threat actors are actively exploiting a critical security flaw impacting an open-source content management system (CMS) known as MetInfo, according to new findings from VulnCheck.
The vulnerability in question is CVE-2026-29014 (CVSS score: 9.8), a code injection flaw that could result in arbitrary code execution.
"MetInfo CMS versions 7.9, 8.0, and 8.1 contain an unauthenticated PHP code
Apple has once again raised the possibility of making its chips at Fabs besides TSMC, as it is in early talks with Intel and Samsung. Intel & Samsung Emerge As Potential Fix To Apple's Supply Constraints Affecting Its Consumer Chips Bloomberg has just dropped some big news surrounding Apple, which is in early talks with Intel and Apple to secure additional supply for its consumer lineup. The report highlights that Apple has held "exploratory" discussions with the two semiconductor firms as it aims to diversify the production of its chips. The company has so far relied upon TSMC for its [โฆ]
Being fast can be a problem, well, you haven't heard that one right? Apex Legends developers just fixed an issue with physics calculations on AMD Ryzen X3D CPUs caused by their high single-threaded performance. Apex Legends Patch Addresses Physics Calculations-Based Stutters Encountered On CPUs With Fast Single-Threaded Performance, Such as AMD's Ryzen X3D Apex Legends rolled out its latest patch, "Overclocked," which includes a range of changes, including performance improvements on the PC platform. One of the changes is unexpected, which calls out the fast single-threaded performance of AMD Ryzen X3D and a similarly performant CPU as the primary cause [โฆ]
Around five months ago, CI Games CEO Marek Tyminski signaled a shift in tone for Lords of the Fallen 2 away from "political correctness" and toward, among other things, skimpy female armor designs. Now, that's been confirmed with the official reveal of five concept art pieces that leave little to imagination: the female characters will feature much more revealing armor sets in the upcoming Soulslike sequel. The studio claimed to be responding to players' feedback: You wanted fierce. You wanted beautiful. You wanted provocative. The reveal also took place in partnership with content creator TheBackgroundNPC, who focuses specifically on female [โฆ]
Apple is reportedly in early talks with Intel and Samsung to secure more production for its advanced chips, as the company is constrained by the limited availability of advanced nodes that its SoCs are produced on.
The Inland QN450 is a surprisingly capable Gen 4 drive with strong all-around performance and exceptional power efficiency. It outshines the NV3 but has hardware uncertainty and low TBW.
Nvidia's Jensen Huang reiterates that American companies should be able to ship their products globally, but maintains that the latest AI accelerators should remain in America.
Every hardware component you need to build a top-tier gaming PC, all in one Newegg combo bundle. It also helps that it saves you a whopping $1,385 and includes a powerful RTX 5080 and 9850X3D.
Karaads is a social platform that lets you connect, share moments, and earn rewards by engaging with ads. It offers a personalized space where you can build friendships, watch relevant ads, and discover the latest trends tailored for you. Scroll through an algorithm-driven feed, follow creators, and engage in conversations to build authentic communities.
Essay Grader AI helps teachers grade essays quickly, delivering specific feedback, error detection, and rubric-aligned scores. It supports custom rubrics, bulk uploads, and class organization, plus built-in summarization and AI content detection. Companion tools generate questions, lesson plans, and classroom materials to streamline daily work.
Take-Two CEO Strauss Zelnick has admitted that the expectations for Grand Theft Auto 6 have him terrified, even as industry analysts expect the game to sell exceedingly well.
Surfshark has just launched a dedicated app for Amazon's newest Fire TV sticks running the Vega operating system, delivering faster streaming and robust protection against hackers.
I've been campaigning for all three BBC Paradise crime dramas have a crossover episode for at least a year โ and the Beyond Paradise season 4 cast is completely up for it.
Watch free streams from the Italian Open 2026 as Jannik Sinner seeks a first home men's win for 50 years โ tennis TV channels, broadcasters and streams.
Resident Evil Requiem producer Masato Kumazawa has said the negative reaction to Nvidia's DLSS 5 version of Grace Ashcroft from players meant Capcom achieved the best design for the character.
I'm still not over last week's epic Amazing Race crossover that ended in hilarious disaster. But when do Hacks season 5 episodes 6 and 7 drop on HBO Max?
In February 2024, Gartner predicted that traditional search volume would drop 25% by 2026. It didnโt. Googleโs search revenue accelerated to 17% year-over-year growth, crossing $63 billion in Q4 2025 alone. But clicks per search are falling while query volume explodes. The pie got bigger. The slices got redistributed. And most search teams are still optimizing for the old pie.
Are you still poring over spreadsheets full of organic keyword rankings like itโs 2003? Your customers donโt care where theyโre getting their answers. Theyโre just looking for answers they can trust. And theyโre finding those answers across more surfaces than your rank tracker knows exist.
If your organic strategy lives in one spreadsheet, your paid strategy in another, and your AI search strategy in a third (or nowhere), youโre optimizing for a search experience that no longer exists.
What โsearchโ actually looks like now
Google โbest tax softwareโ right now. Go ahead, Iโll wait.
Count the surfaces on that single results page. Sponsored ads across the top. An AI Overview with its own recommendations and citations. A Reddit thread (because Google knows people trust other people more than brands). Organic listings from CNET, H&R Block, and others. A video carousel. Discussion forum links. A product carousel with images and prices. More sponsored results at the bottom. And a โPeople also search forโ section feeding the next query.
That is one search. One keyword. And nobody owns it.
Now think about how different people actually use that page. I scroll past everything to find the Reddit thread, because I want to know what real humans recommend. My dad clicks the first sponsored ad because he doesnโt understand paid advertising (sorry, dad!) and just trusts Google to surface the best option up top. Someone else reads the AI Overview, gets a good-enough answer, and never clicks anything at all. A fourth person watches the Smart Family Money video and leaves.
Same query. Four completely different paths. Four different โwinners.โ And if youโre the brand celebrating a number-three organic ranking on this page, you may be missing that most of the real estate, and most of the user attention, lives somewhere other than those blue links.
This is what I mean by the total SERP experience. Your customer sees the whole page. You should too.
But before the panic sets in: AI tools still account for less than 1% of U.S. web traffic. Google sends 300x more referral traffic than all AI platforms combined. The sky isnโt falling, but the ground is shifting.
The shift that matters most is behavioral. Wynterโs 2026 research found 68% of B2B buyers now start their research in AI tools before they ever open Google. They ask ChatGPT to narrow the field, then Google the shortlist to validate. AI evaluates, Google verifies, and your website converts. If your brand is missing from that first AI conversation, youโre not even on the shortlist when the Googling starts.
Why the click data is more interesting than scary
A Search Engine Land analysis of 25 million organic impressions across 42 clients found organic CTR drops 61% when an AI Overview appears. In addition, paid CTR drops 68%.
EVERYBODY FREAK OUT!!! Right? Not quite.
Hereโs what the panicked LinkedIn posts leave out: brands cited inside AI Overviews see 35% more organic clicks and 91% more paid clicks. Being in the AI Overview doesnโt cannibalize your traffic. If anything, it amplifies it. The AI Overview functions like a trust signal, a stamp of โthis brand is relevant to your questionโ that makes people more likely to click your listing below.
The real twist, though, is that ranking well in organic doesnโt guarantee you show up in AI. Tom Capperโs research at Moz found 88% of AI Mode citations are NOT in the organic SERP for the same query. Organic and AI are pulling from different source pools. You can be number one in Google and completely invisible in ChatGPTโs answer to the same question.
And the small amount of traffic that does come from AI? It converts at more than quadruple the rate of organic, according to Semrush. These visitors arrive more informed, more intentional, and more ready to buy. Which makes sense, because theyโve already done the evaluation inside the AI interface. By the time they click, theyโre just confirming and often converting.
The org chart is the problem
Most companies have SEO reporting to content, PPC reporting to demand gen, and AI search reporting to nobody. BrightEdge found 54% of organizations have handed AI search to the SEO team alone, which is a little like asking your plumber to also handle the electrical work because, hey, itโs all in the same house.
The waste from this setup is real. One branded Performance Max campaign paid roughly $500,000 for clicks that would have come through organic anyway. Googleโs own research confirms: when you rank number one organically, only half your paid clicks are truly incremental. The other half? You bought what you already owned.
Meanwhile, McKinsey found that a brandโs own website makes up only 5% to 10% of the sources AI references. AI pulls from Reddit, review sites, affiliates, publishers, and user-generated content. You can have the best SEO program in your category and be completely absent from AI search results because AI is reading what other people say about you, not what you say about yourself.
The unified approach works. Level cut acquisition costs 18% and boosted SEO leads 22% by merging paid and organic for a B2B SaaS client. And we can use tools in our Level Intelligence Suite to connect performance signals across search surfaces. The channels compound each other. Treating them as separate line items on separate P&Ls leaves that compounding on the table.
Three audits you can run Monday morning
You donโt need a six-month transformation to start seeing the gaps. Three lenses, applied to your top 20 keywords, will show you where the opportunities and the waste are hiding.
Lens 1: Where do you actually appear? Check your organic rankings, paid ad coverage, and AI visibility across ChatGPT, Perplexity, and Gemini for the same set of keywords. Semrush has a free AI visibility checker. Most teams have never looked at all three surfaces side by side, and the gaps are almost always larger than they expect.
Lens 2: Where are you paying for traffic you already own? Cross-reference your number-one organic rankings with active PPC bids on the same terms. Start with branded keywords, where the waste is usually largest and the test is cleanest. If you rank first and youโre still bidding, youโre probably buying your own clicks.
Lens 3: Where is AI ignoring you? Compare your organic rankings with your AI citation presence. Only 11% of domains get cited by both ChatGPT and Perplexity, so strength in one guarantees nothing in the other. And check your robots.txt while youโre at it. If youโre blocking AI crawlers like OAI-SearchBot or PerplexityBot, youโve pulled yourself off those shelves entirely.
This diagnostic shows you the full picture. What to do about it, the actual unification framework, is what Iโm laying out at SMX Advanced.
The window wonโt stay open
Generative Engine Optimization (GEO) keyword difficulty currently averages 15 to 20, compared to 45 to 60 for equivalent SEO terms. That gap will close. Once an LLM selects a trusted source, it reinforces that choice across related prompts. The brands getting cited now are training the models to keep citing them. Winner-takes-most dynamics are being baked into the weights.
Many companies are seeing search traffic drop significantly. Those same brands, the ones that get it right, are seeing the inverse when it comes to business growth. Rankings and revenue have decoupled. The brands that win from here are the ones that stopped measuring channels in isolation and started measuring the search experience their customers actually have.
Weโre presenting a search unification framework at SMX Advanced in our session, โOrganic, paid, and AI search: one strategy to rule them all.โ If you want to stop optimizing for three separate channels and start compounding performance across every search surface, join us for the session or come find the Level team at Booth #9.
Remember: The search experience that existed in 2023 is gone. The strategy should be too.
Halo Studios plans to remake the original Halo Trilogy According to a report from Rebs Gaming, Halo Studios is planning to create remakes of the original Halo Trilogy. Remakes of Halo 2 and Halo 3 are reportedly in early development, and both projects will continue regardless of the performance of Halo: Campaign Evolved. Halo: Campaign [โฆ]
Team Group expands its Elite and Elite PLUS DDR5 range with new DDR5-8000 kits Team Group has officially released new JEDEC standard DDR5-8000 memory modules for its Elite and Elite PLUS product ranges. These modules can deliver 8000 MT/s speeds at 1.1V with CL56-56-56-128 timings, and support both AMD Ryzen and Intel Core Ultra systems. [โฆ]
Valve's new hardware survey shows that a quarter of Windows users are holding on to Windows 10, while the most popular PC components paint a broader picture.
Playground Games has detailed six reward cars for Forza Horizon 6 that players of the previous games can get their hands on, and they're going to give you a definite leg up right out of the gate.
be quiet!, the German manufacturer for premium PC components and peripherals, is proud to announce Dark Rock Pro 6 and Dark Rock 6. These high-end air coolers feature an all-new design, significantly better performance thanks to optimized heat sinks and optimized high-performance heat pipes, as well as an extended feature set for even greater ease of use and compatibility. Both coolers are built for users who demand powerful cooling performance, maximum compatibility with high-end motherboards and RAM modules, and the virtually inaudible operation that defines be quiet!'s Dark Rock series.
"With Dark Rock Pro 6 and Dark Rock 6, we have taken our high-end air cooling portfolio to the next level," says Aaron Licht, CEO of be quiet! "With improved performance and a new level of quietness through its optional semi-passive mode, the Dark Rock 6 series delivers the cooling power and elegance users expect from be quiet!, whether they are building a heavily overclocked workstation or a compact high-end gaming system."
LG Display, the world's leading innovator of display technologies, announced today that it is unveiling its next-generation OLED technologies at SID Display Week 2026, further strengthening its OLED leadership.
During the exhibition, held at the Los Angeles Convention Center from May 5 to 7, LG Display will present OLED display solutions optimized for the AI era under the theme, "OLED Evolution for the AI Era." SID Display Week is the world's largest display event, where global companies and researchers gather to present research papers and showcase mid- to long-term future technologies and new products.
Last week, news broke that Lenovo had bought Phoenix Technologies' firmware (BIOS) technology business and now it looks like AMIโalso known as American Megatrends Incโis about to get a new owner, namely Lattice Semiconductor. That leaves Taiwanese Insyde Software as the only independent UEFI/BIOS developer in a market that at least on the desktop side has been largely ruled by AMI and is likely to continue to be so, even with AMI now being a subsidiary to Lattice Semiconductor.
Lattice is offering US$1.65 billion in cash and stock for AMI, which is a privately held company today. For those unfamiliar with Lattice, the company makes a range of FPGA solutions for a wide range of markets and is a competitor with AMD's Xilinx subsidiary and Altera, which is part owned by Intel. It's not entirely clear what the synergy is between Lattice and AMI, but a statement by Lattice CEO Ford Tamer suggests that the company thinks it might help its customers "deploy complex systems faster and with greater confidence" under Lattice's "everywhere companion chip strategy". Time will tell if this will lead to changes to AMI's current customers or not, since as the biggest UEFI/BIOS vendor out thereโused by almost all mainstream motherboard makers and many other x86/x64 hardware makersโthey have something of a unique position in the market.
The CPU market looks very different from six months ago. Intel's back in the conversation, AMD's X3D chips still rule gaming, and there's genuine value at every price point.
While the software industry has made genuine strides over the past few decades to deliver products securely, the furious pace of AI adoption is putting that progress at risk. Businesses are moving fast to self-host LLM infrastructure, drawn by the promise of AI as a force multiplier and the pressure to deliver more value faster. But speed is coming at the expense of security.
In the wake of the
The North Korea-aligned state-sponsored hacking group known as ScarCruft has compromised a video game platform in a supply chain espionage attack, trojanizing its components with a backdoor called BirdCallto likely target ethnic Koreans residing in China.
While prior versions of the backdoor have primarily targeted Windows users only, the supply chain attack is assessed to have enabled the
Final Fantasy VII Remake Part 3 has yet to be officially announced, but recent statements from director Naoki Hamaguchi suggest theย game's reveal and release aren't too far off. According to a high-effort leak posted onย ResetEra, the third and final entry in the remake trilogy will be revealed during this year'sย Summer Game Festย opening showcase on June 5, but many of the detailsย sound too good to be true. "I am posting this on behalf of somebody else I know to protect their identity who works somewhere in the chain between Square Enix marketing and Summer Game Fest event staff. The level of [โฆ]
The memory shortage faced by Apple can be avoided as the company can purchase DRAM quantities in bulk for a multitude of products, but one area where the Cupertino firm may continue to struggle is chip supply. As TSMC is operating at its maximum capacityย by fulfilling 3nm silicon orders for AI customers, itโs adversely affecting iPhone 17 Pro Max shipments to the point that a customer who has been searching around for a flagship unit is unable to find one in a U.S. state. Low A19 Pro chip supply could also affect the second-generation MacBook Neo shipments, as Apple will [โฆ]
China is targeting 70% local wafer sourcing as firms like Eswin scale 12-inch production, aiming to reduce reliance on foreign suppliers and support growing AI chip demand.
Notepad++ creator Don Ho has filed a trademark complaint with Cloudflare and is threatening further legal action against the developer of a macOS port.
A YouTuber has tested Intel's 12 P-core Core 9 273PQE and discovered the chip outperforms the Core i9-14900K by up to 9% in games potentially making the 273PQE Intel's fastest gaming CPU.
Levelop helps developers master coding patterns and system design through interactive challenges, an intuitive system design canvas, and daily practice. It adapts to your goals, tracks progress with personalized dashboards, and uses AI-powered guidance to keep you focused and productive. Join a community of learners and builders, set achievable milestones, and consistently grow your skills.
Vimi is an AI-powered photo studio that turns selfies, pet shots, and couple photos into polished portraits and creative artwork. Browse themed collections like Cute 3D World, Premium Portrait, Playground FX, and Elegant Sari to find a look you love. Upload photos, pick a style, and generate unique images for profiles, gifts, or celebrations in minutes.
Sony's WH-1000XX The ColleXion has been spotted adorning the ears of Damson Idris, in what appears to me to be an early tease of the super-premium cans
To address the challenges of water quality and availability in the Scheldt Basin, a vital river network flowing through Belgium, Google is supporting Agua Segura and Agrโฆ
The next Call of Duty game isnโt coming to PlayStation 4 Over the weekend, rumours began circulating that the next Call of Duty game is being developed for last-generation consoles. This means that the game was being developed with PlayStation 4 and Xbox One in mind. In response to these rumours, Activision has used their [โฆ]
DDR6 memory is officially in development All major memory manufacturers, including Samsung, SK Hynix, and Micron, have reportedly started developing DDR6 memory. Alongside substrate manufacturers, โjoint developmentโ for the standard has reportedly begun. According to The Elec, this happens โmore than two years before product launchโ, placing DDR6โs launch in a 2028-2029 timeframe. JEDEC has [โฆ]
Are you looking for esports-level performance without unnecessary weight? The SKILLER SGM70W delivers professional performance in an ultra-lightweight design - whether used wired or wireless. Equipped with the precise PixArt PAW3395 sensor, an extremely high polling rate, and ultra-smooth glass feet, it offers maximum control with minimal weight and is perfect for ambitious gamers who demand speed, precision, and flexibility.
The SKILLER SGM70W relies on the proven optical PixArt PAW3395 sensor, delivering up to 26,000 DPI to capture even the smallest movements with accuracy. This ensures the precision needed for fast reactions and exact tracking during competitive gameplay. Whether wired or wireless, the SKILLER SGM70W adapts effortlessly to any gaming situation. Both modes offer professional performance, while the wireless mode benefits from an impressive 8,000 Hz polling rate for especially responsive input.
A critical security vulnerability in Weaver (Fanwei) E-cology, an enterprise office automation (OA) and collaboration platform, has come under active exploitation in the wild.
The vulnerability (CVE-2026-22679, CVSS score: 9.8) relates to a case of unauthenticated remote code execution affecting Weaver E-cology 10.0 versions prior to 20260312. The issue resides in the "/papi/esearch/data/devops/
Microsoft has disclosed details of a large-scale credential theft campaign that has leveraged a combination of code of conduct-themed lures and legitimate email services to direct users to attacker-controlled domains and steal authentication tokens.
The multi-stage campaign, observed between April 14 and 16, 2026, targeted more than 35,000 users across over 13,000 organizations in 26 countries,
This morning, Finnish developer Remedy Entertainment posted its Q1 2026 financial report, which revealed, among other things, a new sales milestone for CONTROL: 6 million units sold. The year's first quarter was profitable but slightly down year over year, with revenue falling 1.9% to โฌ13.1 million, though EBITDA (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization) actually improved to โฌ2.9 million from โฌ2.6 million. The more notable shift is in the revenue mix:ย game sales and royalties nearly doubledย to โฌ5.0 million (from โฌ2.6 million in Q1 2025), while development fees fell from โฌ10.7 million to โฌ8.2 million as CONTROL Resonant nears completion. [โฆ]
The Keychron V1 Ultra 8K delivers an impressive feature set for its price, including 8,000Hz polling over wired and 2.4GHz wireless connections and hot-swappable Silk POM switches.
XPG, a leading provider of high-performance products for gamers, esports pros, and tech enthusiasts, today announced the launch of its groundbreaking new memory series, NOVAKEY. As the flagship of the series, the NOVAKEY RGB DDR5 features the world's first patented "Infinity Mirror" design. Delivering speeds up to 6,400 MT/s and capacities up to 32 GB per module, it is engineered for mainstream gamers and creators who demand a perfect balance between sophisticated style and rock-solid performance.
The launch of NOVAKEY marks a significant milestone in XPG's brand evolution. The name combines "Nova," representing the brilliant energy and infinite potential of a supernova, with "Key," symbolizing the essential technology that unlocks next-level performance. Its patented "Infinity Mirror" design utilizes a futuristic geometric silhouette to create mesmerizing 3D visual depth. To complement the trend of modern PC builds with large glass panels, the XPG design team applied optical reflection principles to the heat sink, creating an "infinite time tunnel" effect from any viewing angle. The exterior features XPG's signature slanted-cut language, while the matte black metal accents and brushed aluminium finish ensure a premium, refined look even when the RGB lighting is turned off.
Global memory leader Team Group Inc. continues to advance product performance with the introduction of new high-frequency specifications for its ELITE PLUS DDR5 and ELITE DDR5 desktop memory modules. Both products deliver speeds of up to 8000 MT/s and operate at 1.1 V with CL56-56-56-128 timings, fully compliant with JEDEC standards. Designed to meet the growing demand for high-frequency operation, these modules not only fulfill performance requirements but also enhance overall system performance and computing experience, highlighting Team Group's technological strengths in high-performance memory. Both products are expected to be available soon on Amazon in North America.
As demand for high-performance computing and digital technologies continues to grow, Team Group introduces the ELITE PLUS DDR5 8000 MT/s and ELITE DDR5 8000 MT/s as new high-frequency, low-power consumption desktop memory modules. Through frequency upgrades, they are engineered to support a variety of desktop use scenarios, including learning and entertainment. Operating at 1.1 V, the modules effectively lower power consumption while extending the computer's lifespan. They are also equipped with DDR5 Same-Bank Refresh technology and an optimized IC architecture, maintaining smooth operation under multitasking conditions and improving overall system efficiency.
OpenAI appears to be fast-tracking its plans for an AI-enabled smartphone, partially in a bid to bolster its IPO that might land as soon as this year. And, in its urgency, OpenAI appears to be settling on a customized version of MediaTek's upcoming flagship Dimensity 9600 chip as the SoC of choice for the planned smartphone. OpenAI's smartphone will use a customized version of the Dimensity 9600 chip, replete with a dual-NPU architecture and enhanced HDR for real-world visual sensing The famous analyst Ming-Chi Kuo revealed towards the end of April that OpenAI had relegated its planned range of consumer [โฆ]
TwainGPT is an AI humanizer that transforms AI-generated text into natural, undetectable writing using advanced algorithms. Simply paste any draft and TwainGPT rewrites your content to sound genuinely human, bypassing leading detectors like GPTZero, ZeroGPT, Copyleaks, Turnitin, QuillBot, and Grammarly. The platform also includes a built-in AI detector to analyze content from models like ChatGPT and Gemini before publishing. With support for 100+ languages and a smooth mobile experience, TwainGPT is built for anyone who needs human writing that bypasses AI detectors.
Incident Index turns raw incident notes into structured RCAs and stakeholder-ready reports in minutes. Paste a plain-language description or run a guided Conduct session, and it generates timelines, root causes, 5 Whys, and fishbone diagrams aligned to your team's standards.
Export to PDF, Word, or Markdown, collaborate with version history, and keep a searchable knowledge base of past incidents to spot patterns and reuse learnings.
TSMC is turning into a victim of its own success as the world's preferred chip foundry, leaving its heretofore prized customers such as Apple in a bind of sorts as they suddenly find themselves crowded out by AI hyperscalers. In its frustration, Apple is now reportedly exploring the possibility of dividing up its silicon load between Samsung, Intel, and TSMC rather than remaining largely TSMC-exclusive. Apple is looking for contingencies by tentatively probing Intel and Samsung as additional vectors for manufacturing its custom chips According to Bloomberg's Mark Gurman, Apple has already held "early-stage talks" with Intel for using its [โฆ]
Samsung might have a lot of faults, but a lack of innovation is certainly not among those. As a case in point, look no further than the recent SID exhibition in the United States, where Samsung just unveiled two revolutionary display technologies, unlocking a veritable suite of biomarker-led applications in the process. Samsung flexes its innovative muscle with the "Flex Chroma Pixel" and "Sensor OLED" The famous tipster Ice Universe has just detailed two new display technologies that Samsung recently showcased at the SID exhibition. Samsung's "Flex Chroma Pixel" display combines next-gen emissive materials, such as phosphorescent sensitized fluorescence (PSF), [โฆ]
Online Whiteboard lets you create and share a real-time canvas with one click. Open a board in your browser, send the link, and collaborate instantly across devices with no sign-up or installs. Teachers, remote teams, and creators sketch ideas, plan projects, and diagram concepts on an infinite canvas that loads fast and stays simple, so you can focus on thinking together.
GPT Image 2 lets teams create marketing visuals, product imagery, realistic screenshots, and editable assets with high prompt fidelity and readable text. You can start from a prompt or reference, then refine layout, style, and subject with targeted edits that preserve the brief. Use it to produce campaign key visuals, posters, explainers, commerce imagery, and storyboards, then carry the approved still into video workflows.
CreatorSpark is an AI writing tool for educational YouTube creators that learns your voice, beliefs, and point of viewโnot just how you sound. Instead of just copying your word choices, it learns what you actually thinkโyour beliefs, your take on your niche, and the positions youโd push back on. You tell it once and it applies that to everything it helps you write. With training from your best content, it helps creators reach 80-90% accuracy instead of the industry standard 60%. Built by a YouTube creator and 10-year copywriter who built her own solution out of frustration.
Logitech's HITS (haptic inductive trigger system), introduced with the G Pro X2 Superstrike gaming mouse in late 2025, made serious waves in enthusiast gaming mouse spaces, but, as is the case with many of Logitech's innovations, the mouse the tech came with was imperfect and commanded a premium price. Now, it seems as though at least two Chinese peripheral makers are lining up to challenge at least some of Logitech's capabilities with their own magnetic switch tech. First, and the one we know the least about, is Keychron, surprisingly enough who is apparently preparing a micro switch called the MagOpt. The MagOpt switch was teased by Keychron on the brand's own YouTube channel, where it showed off a switch design that looks to use a hybrid optical and magnetic sensing mechanism combined with a traditional click leaf. It seems as though Keychron's MagOpt switch will attempt to mimic some of the functionality of the HITS systemโlike rapid trigger, adjustable actuation, and better longevityโbut without a lot of the adjustability enabled by the haptic feedback of Logitech's HITS system.
The other incoming contender is Snaptiq, a product by a Russian streamer (shared by @goonerfps on X), and this system appears to have much more feature parity with Logitech HITS. The sensors in Snaptiq are analogue, like those found in Logitech's implementation, but these use magnets and either Hall effect or TMR sensor in place of Logitech's inductive switches. More importantly, Snaptiq will also mimic the tactile feedback with vibration motors, similar to HITS. How this pans out remains to be seen, but Lunacy claims that it will be able to detect movement as fine as 1 micron (0.001 mm) and that the mouse clicks themselves will be completely silent. Lunatic's Snaptiq is slated to launch by the end of 2026, although it is unlikely to launch in Western markets. However, this and Keychron's implementation may be the start of a wave of Chinese brands adopting similar tech to Logitech HITS.
A recent survey from Internet Matters reveals that the UK's Online Safety Act has had limited effectiveness in stopping minors from accessing social media and adult content.
Capy Trips is a travel discovery and planning site that helps you find the right destination and map out your getaway. Browse regions and popular cities with data from real travelers, explore hidden gems as alternatives to famous spots, and save ideas to My Trips.
Nyata AI is Bristolโs AI companion that helps residents find free meals, hot showers, local services, and community events through a friendly chat. It connects you with housing and mental health support, job centres, and when needed, directs you to trained professionals for personalised guidance.
Built by locals and registered with the UK ICO, Nyata AI focuses on accessible, accurate, and privacy-conscious support for people navigating community resources.
When NVIDIA first revealed DLSS 5 and its neural rendering, a lot of the online backlash that was leveled at the feature centered around Capcom's Resident Evil character, Grace, and how DLSS 5 changed her facial features. Now, in a recent interview with Eurogamer, Koshi Nakanishi and Masato Kumzawa, the game's director and producer, have responded to the DLSS 5 outrage and to the game's overall reception at and since launch. Addressing the DLSS 5 debacle, Kumzawa took the backlash as a positive indication, commenting that "the fact a lot of players commented they really liked the original design of Grace and didn't want to see it changed was a positiveโit meant we got the design right," and that it was an indication that "Grace quickly established herself as a fan favorite." The Nakanishi and Kumzawa did not comment on previous allegations that Capcom had not involved game developers or even inform them of the potential changes to the character designs ahead of time.
Just 16 days after Resident Evil Requiem launched, it had already sold over 6 million units, making it the fastest-selling Resident Evil game to date. Commenting on the overall success of the game, the pair said that "we were very happy to see the reaction of players around the world after the game launched. In particular, because we were very tight-lipped in order to maintain the surprise for players, especially about what happens after the return to Raccoon City. So, watching people's clips and online reactions, we felt not only pleased that they were enjoying it, but relieved our strategy was right to try and save that for them." Notably, the Resident Evil developer publicly asked gamers not to spoil surprises about the game when the game's plot was leaked online shortly before the official launch.
The move comes in response to proposed state regulatory measures designed to protect minors from accessing harmful content within the companyโs apps.
The platform will allow creators to replace copyrighted songs with royalty-free instrumental clips, while also using conversation context to filter video comments.
As rumors suggest that Google is interested in using Intel for its next-generation tensor processing unit (TPU) chips, well known analyst Ming-Chi Kuo has shared his thoughts on the matter. The analyst believes that yields will be a key factor in Google's decision, especially since the technology giant has started to focus on cost savings for the Humufish next-generation TPU's design. Intel's Yields With The EMIB-T Packaging Technology Will Play Key Role In Google's TPU Orders, Says Analyst Intel's EMIB-T packaging technology, short for Embedded Multi-die Interconnect Bridge Through Silicon Vias (EMIB-T) relies on using a 'bridge' that is embedded [โฆ]
Nintendo fans and Nintendo Switch 2 owners have a lot to look forward to in 2027-2028, if interviewer Kiwi Talkz is to be believed. Reece 'Kiwi Talkz' Reilly, who you may recognize as a YouTuber who regularly interviews game developers and someone who has occasionally leaked accurate information ahead of its official reveal, has shared his latest tidbit that's stirred speculation, and it points to more Metroid, Zelda, and Smash Bros. to look forward to. What 'more' for any of those franchises means is less clear. There's the Legend of Zelda movie that's coming next year, which Reilly mentions, but [โฆ]
Birthday Invitation AI is an all-in-one platform for creating beautiful birthday invitations and managing RSVPs. It offers over 500 curated theme templates like Peppa Pig, Paw Patrol, Unicorn, Minecraft, and more, or you can describe a custom theme in any language. The AI creates personalized, print-ready invitations in minutes. Features include QR code RSVP tracking, real-time guest management, and automatic email reminders. It supports birthdays for all ages, milestone birthdays, 8 languages, and offers a free RSVP form for custom designs.
PictaBase is a lightweight digital asset manager that helps field teams, agencies, and inspectors turn scattered photo libraries into searchable business assets. Organize images with custom tags and industry templates, then find shots in seconds with chip-based filters and AI-assisted suggestions you control. Upload directly from the browser to your S3 for zero-knowledge privacy, keep portable sidecar metadata, annotate assets for clear feedback, and deliver branded client galleries. Enjoy fast browsing across huge libraries and simple pricing starting with a one-time lifetime license.
U.S. cybersecurity agency CISA says the CopyFail bug is being actively used in hacking campaigns, and poses a major risk to servers and data centers that rely on Linux.
Responding once again to online speculation, Activision has confirmed the status of Call of Duty 2026 on Xbox One and PS4, and it doesn't make for good reading for players on both. Even if it's the right decision to make.
With the official launch of Forza Horizon 6 around the corner, Microsoft and Playground Games have just divulged a little more information about the upcoming driving sim, specifically its world, car line-up, and official console performance modes and expected frame rates. Firstly, and perhaps most importantly Forza Horizon 6 will feature two distinct performance modes on the Xbox Series X and S consoles. Performance Mode will allow the game to run at 60 FPS on both consoles, at 4K resolution with dynamic upscaling on the Series X and 1080p with dynamic scaling on the Series S. Quality Mode, on the other hand, will target 30 FPS on both Xbox variants, at 4K native resolution with "increased visual fidelity" on the Series X and 1440p with dynamic scaling to maintain the target frame rate. Horizon 6 will also feature a number of accessibility features, including AutoDrive, Proximity Radar, High Contrast mode, colorblind filters, and ASL and BSL interpreters for cut-scenes. There is also an option to modify the game speed in offline mode, which should make the game more accessible to kids and those with limited mobility and reflexes, especially when used in conjunction with difficulty settings.
The announcement revealed that gamers can start preloading Forza Horizon 6 on both PC and Xbox already, from the library page for preorderers and Game Pass subscribers, from the Microsoft Store, or using the Xbox app for smartphones if you're planning on buying a physical edition. Microsoft will also be giving Forza veterans login rewards in the form of free special car unlocks that will appear in players' garages after they complete the introductory mission. These cars depend on the game players previously played: 2024 Chevrolet Corvette E-Ray for Forza Motorsport; 2021 Mercedes-AMD ONE for Forza Horizon 5; 2016 Aston Martin Vulcan for Forza Horizon 4; 2016 Lamborghini Centenario LP 770-4 for Forza Horizon 3; 2014 Lamborghini Huracรกn LP-610-4 for Forza Horizon 2; and 2013 Dodge SRT Viper GTS for Forza Horizon.
Hard Disk Drives (HDDs) and Solid State Drives (SSDs) are among the most sought-after commodities in computing today, as the expansion of AI data centers consumes everything in its path. According to Seagate, Sandisk, and Western Digital, demand is so high that customers are signing long-term supply agreements lasting up to five years. This duration is significant because customers are now planning their contracts around demand expansion, which is not only substantial but will also bring better balance to the supply chain. With customers driving steady demand, HDD and SSD manufacturers know exactly how much spinning rust or NAND Flash to produce to meet this demand. Over time, this is a positive development for a supply chain that will adapt with expanding production capacity. However, it poses a short-term challenge for PC gamers.
For example, at the start of this year, we reported that HDD prices have soared by an average of 46% since mid-September. These changes have made spinning rust an expensive commodity, but this is minor compared to NAND Flash prices, which have increased 500% in just a few months. The expansion of AI data centers has depleted any remaining inventory of HDDs and SSDs, leaving the consumer PC market to compete for the few remaining units available for gaming PCs. Interestingly, HDDs contain almost no silicon for storage purposes, so their significant price increases are a supply chain issue unrelated to the semiconductor industry. Apart from the controllers that use silicon, HDD platters are made from materials that are not currently in short supply. However, high demand keeps their prices elevated.
U.S. carriers often have a truckload of salivating deals for customers to upgrade to the latest-generation flagships at a sizable discount, just as long as they satisfy certain requirements. On this occasion, one subscriber was on his way to becoming the proud owner of a Galaxy S26 Ultra, and seeing as how Verizon had one that wasnโt just $600 off, but it was also rewarding an additional line, not to mention an upgraded plan at no additional cost, the offer was a steal. Unfortunately, these deals are only enticing if Verizon can honor them, and due to serious negligence, the [โฆ]
Intel appoints Alex Katouzian to lead client computing and physical AI efforts and confirms Pushkar Ranade as CTO, signaling a deeper shift toward AI-driven and edge computing systems
The Trump administration is said to be discussing an executive order that would establish a government review process for new AI models before theyโre released to the public.
AuthorOS is an AI-powered publishing studio that takes you from a half-formed book idea to a finished, Amazon-ready title. It guides you through four phases (Plan, Write, Prepare, Publish) across 11 stages, capturing your knowledge and voice, building an outline, drafting chapters that sound like you, and producing the cover, listing, and export files Amazon needs.
It's built for first-time authors who have a book in them but don't have a year, a ghostwriter, or a publisher. You bring the idea and the voice. AuthorOS handles the rest, and your name is the only one on the cover.
A Tennessee solar farm integrates cattle grazing using adjustable panels, offering potential income diversification as agricultural revenues decline across the United States.
During National Small Business Week, jumpstart your growth with tools like Gemini, Workspace and Ads โ plus, resources and exclusive offers from Google.
Even though it looks as though Valve may be preparing for some upcoming large-scale hardware shipments, and it has officially launched the Steam Controller that was slated to launch with the Steam Machine, the gaming giant has yet to even announce a price for the Steam Machine. While we know from a previous statement that this is due to the ongoing RAM shortage, Valve's Steve Cardinali and Lawrence Yang have just addressed the Steam Machine's launch again in a recent interview with PC Gamer. Yang explains that "I mean, obviously we're bummed that this is the state of things. At the very least we're not the only ones in this boat. Like, everyone's kind of figuring out how to overcome these obstacles and challengesโRAM shortages, memory shortages, price hikes, everything."
Despite this somewhat pessimistic outlook, Yang also says that Valve is still aiming for competitive pricing on the Steam Machine: "You know, it's unavoidable that it will impact basically anything we make that has any of those parts in them. So we're doing our best to make sure that we can make the product and have it still available at as good and competitive a price as we can." It also seems as though Valve didn't expect the memory price hikes and shortages to be quite so steep and severe, as Cardinali explains that "you're, like, right there, and then you have this whole challenge thrown at you last minute. It's frustrating. But yeah, we're working our hardest to get resolution there." Yang also commented that, even though it was expected that all three hardware products would launch around the same time, Valve knew that the Controller might launch ahead of the Frame and Machine, stating that "we knew that there was some chance that schedules would move, and we would just ship them when they were ready," and he again confirms that Valve was not prepared to launch the Steam Machine without launching the controller first or at the same time.
Bazzite 44 is a big one. Built on Fedora 44, this gaming-focused Linux distro lands with KDE Plasma 6.6 and Gnome 50, the OGC kernel 6.19, and Mesa 26.0.5 for better GPU support across Vulkan and OpenGL titles. The release also strengthens security with signed ISOs and updates bundled tools.
Video game studios don't often comment on rumours, but when they do they offer welcome points of clarity for players. Today, Activision chose to comment on a rumour that ran rampant yesterday and most of today, which was that the next Call of Duty game (which is largely reported to be Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 4) is being made for last-gen consoles, specifically PS4. The official X (formerly Twitter) account for the shooter franchise cleared the air on that, and seemingly confirmed one of the biggest questions surrounding 2026's Call of Duty entry. "Not sure where this one started, [โฆ]
NVIDIA's Open-Source "Nemotron 3 Super" AI model has topped the EnterpriseOps-Gym leaderboard, showcasing NVIDIA's software prowess. NVIDIA Is Topping Both AI Hardware and Software Leaderboards With Its Open-Source Nemotron 3 Super, Leading The Pack In March this year, NVIDIA introduced its Neomtron 3 Super, a 120B AI model with 12B active parameters. Based on a hybrid MoE architecture, the model is designed to deliver a 5x throughput versus the previous Nemotron Super model, and tackles large context with a native 1M-token context windows that gives agents long-term memory for aligned, high accuracy reasoning. Some of the highlights of NVIDIA's Nemotron [โฆ]
Grand Theft Auto VI will be the biggest video game launch, and perhaps the biggest launch of any single piece of entertainment in history, when it arrives. Whether that's on November 19, 2026, as is the current plan, or on a different date due to an unforeseen delay, that statement is practically set in stone, and that'll happen despite GTA 6 only arriving on PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X/S consoles to start, and not on PC. Why it won't arrive on PC is a topic of much debate, with speculation being that Rockstar and Take-Two would rather let players [โฆ]
In a recent interview with Mundfish founder and CEO Robert Bagratuni about the Atomic Heart series, I inquired about the studio's opinion on NVIDIA DLSS 5, the surprise announcement at GDC 2026 that proved highly controversial among developers and modders: some people love it, others hate it. Atomic Heart already supports NVIDIA DLSS technologies like Super Resolution and Frame Generation. Is Mundfish considering DLSS 5? Well, Bagratuni called it "highly promising", though he added that the developers are following its progress and will evaluate its potential addition in future releases. In short, he hasn't committed yet. DLSS 5 is aย very [โฆ]
Convoe unifies team chat, task tracking, and calendar in one place. Its built-in AI, Kai, reads conversations to extract actions, deadlines, assignments, and events, then syncs them to boards and calendars so nothing slips. Use channels, threads, and DMs naturally; Convoe turns talk into tracked work with zero manual entry and notifies the right people. It replaces separate chat, task, calendar, and AI tools to keep teams aligned at lower cost.
DecidexAI is an AI data analyst for SaaS teams that monitors Stripe and GA4 metrics 24/7, detects anomalies, and sends real-time alerts via Slack or email. It delivers daily briefings, AI-written weekly executive reports, and answers natural-language questions while providing interactive dashboards with 68 prebuilt metrics. It also predicts churn with customer risk scores and action plans, plus cohort, MRR, and retention analyses, helping you catch revenue dips early and make faster decisions.
Katie Haun announced on Monday that $1 billion has been raised across new funds to continue the firmโs thesis of backing crypto and blockchain startups.
An active phishing campaign has been observed targeting multiple vectors since at least April 2025 with legitimate Remote Monitoring and Management (RMM) software as a way to establish persistent remote access to compromised hosts.
The activity, codenamed VENOMOUS#HELPER, has impacted over 80 organizations, most of which are in the U.S., according to Securonix. It shares overlaps with clusters
A former Bethesda artist has said the studio thought about swapping to Unreal Engine 5 for Xbox's Starfield, but stuck with Creation for its mod support.
Gigabyte Technology Co., Ltd., a global leader in high-performance computer hardware, is excited to announce the official launch of its Z890 PLUS series motherboards. Engineered to maximize the value and power of the new Intel Core Ultra 200S Plus series processors, this lineup, led by the high-value Z890 AORUS ELITE PLUS, delivers a significant leap in gaming performance without the premium price tag.
High-Value Performance for Every Gamer
The Z890 PLUS series is specifically designed for enthusiasts who prioritize performance-per-dollar. By focusing on models like the Z890 AORUS ELITE WIFI7 PLUS, Gigabyte provides a feature-rich platform that supports the latest high-performance processors. Internal testing against Intel 14th Gen CPUs reveals that these new processors offer up to 28% better gaming performance. In separate internal benchmarks, the series also demonstrates up to 35% better productivity performance compared to the previous generation. These distinct improvements make the PLUS series the ideal choice for both modern competitive gaming and intensive creative workloads.
The handheld is powered by a Unisoc Tiger T618 octa-core CPU alongside a Mali G52 GPU ticking along at 850MHz. The combo is paired with 3GB of RAM and 32GB of eMCP storage, and supports expansion via TF card slot. WiFi 5 comes standard, as does Bluetooth 5.0 connectivity, and...
A recent report by Semi's Silicon Manufacturers Group found that the silicon wafer industry is growing once again. The quarterly analysis confirmed that global shipments for silicon wafers increased 13.1% compared to the same quarter a year earlier, rising from 2,896 million square inches (MSI) to 3,275 MSI. Shipments declined...
The flagship Bartlett Lake chip can be a bit faster than the flagship Raptor Lake Refresh CPU, but this isn't the case in ever game. Bartlett Lake 12-P-Core Chip Delivers 5-9% Higher Performance in Games Than 24-Core Intel Core i9 14900K Intel's Bartlett Lake is an interesting CPU lineup, despite not being meant for the consumer segment. We have previously seen some users making efforts in running the flagship Bartlett Lake chip on a regular LGA 1700 motherboard, as technically, the Bartlett Lake CPUs are compatible with the LGA 1700 socket. Since no official BIOS is available from Intel, mainstream [โฆ]
Samsung is not expected to fundamentally alter the prevailing mold when it launches the Galaxy Z Flip 8 later this summer. Even so, the South Korean tech behemoth is looking at a few iterative improvements that are likely to improve the device's ergonomics and aesthetics. Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 8 will weigh 8 grams less than its Flip 7 counterpart, and come equipped with a new hinge and a crease-free display South Korea-based Yeux1122 has now published a new blog post detailing that the Galaxy Z Flip 8 will be slimmer than its Flip 7 counterpart by around 0.5mm, courtesy [โฆ]
Valve's latest Steam Controller, and the first of its previously announced new hardware products, has officially launched and is available for players to order directly through Steam. If you get through to one, that is, as the controller launched and promptly sold out within 30 minutes. Any new popular product release in video games or in any market today is a race to see whose connection worked faster or who could type in their credit card details faster, and the Steam Controller was no different. The new gamepad shot directly to the top of Steam's best-selling charts, and as quickly [โฆ]
Start your next gaming build with this this combo from Newegg featuring a Ryzen 5 7600X, 16GB of DDR5-6000 memory, and a Micro-ATX B650M motherboard from ASRock for just $430.
PDFGate is a developer-centric platform to generate PDFs, collect secure digital signatures, and manage document workflows through a clean, predictable API. Create and send signature requests in minutes, embed signing in your app, and track status in real time from a simple dashboard. It offers fast performance, 99.9% uptime targets, and GDPR-compliant processing on EU servers. Teams get clear docs, quick integration, and responsive support to automate agreements while keeping control of data privacy.
Days after the disclosure of a critical vulnerability in popular web hosting software cPanel and WHM, hackers are now targeting and hacking thousands of vulnerable websites.
Automation doesnโt fail on its own โ it does exactly what itโs trained to do. The problem is that when Google Ads is fed incomplete, misaligned, or overly broad signals, it can optimize toward the wrong outcome faster than most advertisers realize.
In our second installment of SMX Now, our new monthly series, Ameet Khabra of Hop Skip Media will break down a real account where a 417% jump in conversions turned out to be the wrong kind of success. Sheโll use that case study to explain the four key ways automation drift enters an account: signal drift, query drift, inventory drift, and creative drift.
Youโll leave with a practical framework for diagnosing drift early, understanding where human oversight matters most, and managing automation more deliberately so it works toward real business goals โ not just platform-reported wins.
Progress Software has released updates to address two security flaws in MOVEit Automation, including a critical bug that could result in an authentication bypass.
MOVEit Automation (formerly Central) is a secure, server-based managed file transfer (MFT) solution used to schedule and automate file movement workflows in enterprise environments without requiring any custom scripts.ย
The
Itโs finally here! Valveโs Steam Controller is now available to purchase Itโs official: Valveโs second-generation Steam Controller is now available, giving PC gamers a premium gamepad optimised exclusively for PC gaming. No PS5 DualSense or Xbox controller, just pure PC goodness. In the UK, the Steam Controller is available for ยฃ85, and Valve currently claims [โฆ]
Valve has confirmed that it's working on a successor to the Steam Deck, but that doesn't mean you should expect it anytime soon. Here's why an ARM-based SoC makes a lot of sense for the platform in the current tech landscape.
Almost every ThinkPad ever made has had a TrackPoint pointing system, and one engineer wants to repurpose them to create affordable accessibility controllers for PC gaming and more.
A short-lived Microsoft support page set 32GB of RAM as the worry-free level for gaming, yet Steamโs hardware data shows the majority of players fall below that mark.
It seems we are not too far from the next-generation Double Data Rate 6 (DDR6) memory for desktops and servers, as memory manufacturers are working with JEDEC to establish a new standard. According to South Korean media outlet The Elec, major memory makers such as SK hynix, Samsung, and Micron have reportedly begun designing DDR6 in their labs and are gradually coordinating module development with substrate manufacturers. This collaborative effort is taking place under the supervision of JEDEC, the industry authority that oversees standard development and ensures a common foundation for design. Manufacturers could have accessed JEDEC's first DDR6 draft since 2024, but the draft still lacks concrete specifications such as finalized voltage ranges, signal usage, power envelopes, and pinout design. However, this is expected to change as manufacturers are now accelerating standard development.
Last year, we reported that the major players mentioned above had already moved past the prototype stages and embarked on rigorous validation cycles. Perhaps the most interesting aspect is the designated throughput of 8,800 MT/s, with plans to scale up to a staggering 17,600 MT/s, nearly doubling the ceiling of today's DDR5. This increase is driven by DDR6's 4ร24-bit sub-channel architecture, which requires entirely new approaches to signal integrity. It also differs from DDR5's current 2x32-bit sub-channel structure. To overcome the physical limits faced by DIMM form factors at higher speeds, the industry is betting on CAMM2 technology. Early indications suggest that server platforms will lead the change, with high-end notebooks following once manufacturing ramps up.
Shimizuโs Luma Ring proposes covering the moonโs equator with solar panels and transmitting energy to Earth via wireless microwave and laser systems.
This lamp is guaranteed to grab guests' attention, but if you're new to smart home tech, you may prefer to skip the app and use its remote control instead.
3DMark is a widely used benchmarking tool that measures GPU and CPU performance using a range of graphics tests, including modern ray tracing workloads, making it useful for everything from quick system checks to in-depth performance comparisons across different hardware configurations.
The Redditor, who claims to have attended the event, posted photos of Huynh holding the device on stage, along with what appear to be key specifications displayed on a background screen. Huynh reportedly confirmed that the Halo will launch in June, but did not provide any details on pricing.
In a galaxy far, far away, the Death Star wasn't just a weapon... it was a monumental achievement of (fictional) engineering and human resource management.
Today, Playground Games confirmed several key Forza Horizon 6 details ahead of the game's May 19 launch. First and foremost, the game is now gold, and preloading is available on Xbox Series S and X and PC via the Xbox app, with Steam preloading coming soon. You'll have to make a lot of space in your storage drive, though: Playground also shared that there will be two graphics modes to pick from on Xbox Series S and X. The former console will allow 1440p at 30 frames per second or 1080p at 60 frames per second, while the latter enables [โฆ]
As compute requirements grow in AI datacenters, so do the power requirements, which are estimated to reach 17x higher with NVIDIA's Feynman. NVIDIA Feynman Racks Estimated To Feature 17x Higher Power Semi Costs Per Rack Versus Blackwell NVIDIA Feynman GPUs feature several groundbreaking features and will launch in 2028, after Rubin. The company has been working hard to deliver more efficient AI solutions, but as requirements grow, power requirements have increased tremendously. Morgan Stanley Research has published a chart that visualizes the total power semi content of three AI rack solutions from NVIDIA. Starting with the baseline Blackwell or B200, [โฆ]
Bungie's new extraction shooter, Marathon, is still trying to find its footing as the latest triple-A multiplayer shooter on the market. While it's been critically praised by many (myself included), it seemingly hasn't reached the level of commercial success that Bungie or PlayStation Studios hoped it would reach. Despite that, Bungie isn't letting on that it has any concerns about Marathon, and in a recent interview has just re-emphasized how it has long-term plans for the game. As we continue to see multiplayer games launch with plenty of excitement and hullabaloo, only to die within a year for a myriad [โฆ]
Navos is an AI strategy advisor for business leaders. It learns how your company works, tracks external forces that affect it, and tells you what changed, what it costs you, the scenarios, and your options. You get a strategy review of where you stand, a weekly brief on what moved in the world and what it means for you, live tracking of your performance against targets, and an advisor you can ask anything that answers from your actual numbers.
The raise gives Sierra more than $1 billion to work with โ capital the company says it will use to become the "global standard" for AI-powered customer experiences.
Musk texted OpenAI's president and co-founder saying that he and CEO Sam Altman "will be the most hated men in America" if OpenAI doesn't settle the suit.
Google said it has โresolvedโ an issue with logging data within Google Search Console reporting. The logging issue happened between May 13, 2025 through April 27, 2026, about 50 weeks. The resolution did not fix the past data, but it did fix the issue going forward.
โA logging error prevented Search Console from accurately reporting impressions from May 13, 2025 until April 27, 2026. This issue has been resolved. As a result, you may notice a decrease in impressions in the Search Console Performance report. Only impressions and related metrics โ CTR and average position โ were affected; clicks were not affected by the error, and this issue affected data logging only.โ
What was fixed. Just to be clear, Google has not fixed the data from May 13, 2025 through April 27, 2026 but just fixed the data going forward. So keep this in mind when reviewing the data in that date range.
John Mueller from Google confirmed onย Blueskyย that this is only fixed going forward and the old data will not be fixed.
Why we care. When reviewing your Search Console data, please note that for about 50 weeks, almost a year, the reports may be off and you may see a decrease in impressions, and thus click-through rate and average position data are also impacted.
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