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Plenty of Anycubic 3D printers have passed through our studio workshop for testing, and they've impressed us on price and performance, particularly the budget and beginner-friendly models.

One example that's worth looking at is the Anycubic Kobra 4 Combo, now $380 (was $500) at Anycubic. If you're in the UK, switch your location on the site to grab the Kobra 4 Combo for £329 (was £449).

This open-enclosure multi-color 3D printer bundles the machine with Anycubic's ACE 2 Pro filament system for native 4-color printing out of the box. And it's cheaper direct than it is at Amazon, which also has the Anycubic Kobra 4 Combo discounted to $400 in the US and £370 in the UK.

Kobra 4 Combo 3D printer: was $499.99 now $379.99
260mm x 260mm x 260mm build volume, native 4-color printing via the bundled ACE 2 Pro (expandable to 8 colors with a second unit), quick-swap hardened steel nozzle, automatic bed leveling, and a 720p onboard camera with AI print monitoring. Ships nearly fully assembled.

In the UK: now £329 (was £449)View Deal

• Also available for $400 (was $430) at Amazon.com and £370 (was £530) at Amazon.co.uk.

Why we recommend it

Beyond our own experiences testing Anycubic's well-built range of 3D printers, our sister site Tom's Hardware tested this exact Combo configuration and called it a solid machine and a good value, even while noting it is more of a refinement than a leap over Anycubic's previous model.

Arriving almost fully assembled, with the ACE 2 Pro filament system already in the box, the site praised its quick-swap hardened steel nozzle, which lets you change or clear a jammed nozzle without tools. The review also highlighted genuinely quiet operation, with the ACE 2 Pro staying nearly silent outside of active filament drying.

Anycubic has clearly refined its auto bed leveling and Z-offset calibration through this generation, and the reviewer noted the leveling process is thorough, covering PID tuning, resonance testing, and noise cancellation before every print. Loading filament into the ACE 2 Pro was also described as far simpler than the previous generation, which often needed multiple attempts to feed correctly.

The ACE 2 Pro's ability to dry filament while printing is a genuinely useful feature for anyone working with moisture-prone materials like PETG, and the built-in 720p camera adds print monitoring with AI-based failure detection, which the review found worked reliably without being oversensitive.

Also consider

Kobra X Multicolor 3D Printer: was $459.99 now $299.98
This multicolor FDM printer offers native four-color printing, expansion to 19 colors, 600mm/s maximum speeds, a 260mm³ build area, 49-point auto leveling, AI monitoring, dual-band Wi-Fi, and LAN connectivity.

In the UK: now £260 (was £329)View Deal

Price Context & Historical Value

As a new model 3D printer, this is the lowest price yet if you pick it up direct from Anycubic.

Over at Amazon, it's slightly more expensive at $400 (was $430) in the US, and £370 (was £530) in the UK - and that's the lowest price it's been there, too.

Should you buy it?

✅ Buy the Anycubic Kobra 4 Combo if...

You are new to 3D printing and want multicolor output without a steep learning curve, quiet operation matters in your workspace, or you want a filament dryer built into your setup for moisture-sensitive materials like PETG.

❌ Skip the Anycubic Kobra 4 Combo if...

You already own a comparable multicolor printer like the Kobra X, you are tight on desk or shelf space, or fast color-swapping matters more to you than an all-in-one solution for drying and printing.

The Catch: What to know before you buy

Filament swaps between colors can be slow, and the default flushing settings wasted a meaningful amount of filament during testing, close to 40 grams on one multicolor print. The Combo also has a larger footprint than Anycubic's own Kobra X, and running TPU requires bypassing the ACE 2 Pro and loading filament directly into the toolhead, since the system could not run TPU through the standard feed path at the time of review. The reviewer ultimately preferred the Kobra X for value and space efficiency, so if you already own one, this is not an obvious upgrade.

• US: Shop the full 3D printer sale at Anycubic
• UK: See the full Anycubic 3D printer sale

Lawmakers want answers from the Pentagon chief and the U.S. Navy about living conditions aboard the USS Lincoln. NPR's Michel Martin speaks with Democratic Sen. Ruben Gallego of Arizona.

(Image credit: AP)

The recent release of Anthropic Mythos is a wake-up call for the tech industry – and the fact that Anthropic themselves chose not to release it publicly speaks volumes about the level of risk we have now reached. AI agents have evolved from chatbots with upgraded capabilities to effective employees with database access, API keys, and system privileges.

However, the security protecting them is built on the same strategy that failed to stop ChatGPT jailbreaks in 2023. And this time, there’s no human to review an agent’s output, just an autonomous agent carrying out commands in a silo.

AI agents are reshaping enterprise systems and the way work gets done. Securing them requires an equally fundamental shift in thinking. Ultimately, now that agents act independently, resilience must be rooted in foundational controls, including hardware-level and lower-stack security, to be ready when the higher-level safeguards fail.

How AI agents expand the attack surface

Before agentic AI, the biggest AI risks were bad recommendations, inappropriate responses, and conversational data exposure. Human oversight acted as a safeguard for every action, and AI systems operated without direct access to sensitive information. The primary concern was reputational damage rather than risks to underlying infrastructure.

When Anthropic released the Model Context Protocol (MCP) in November 2024, it established a standardized framework that allows AI agents to connect to databases, file systems, and enterprise tools. But within eight months, a critical vulnerability emerged (CVE-2025-49596, CVSS9.4), triggering emergency security responses across the industry.

The risk came from four factors working together. Autonomy means agents can decide and act without human review. Privileged access gives them credentials, tokens and file system permissions. Machine-speed execution leaves little time for human intervention. And cross-system reach means one compromised agent can move across connected environments.

Together, these factors expanded the attack surface far beyond what traditional security controls – even AI-enabled ones – were built to manage.

Why software-only defences keep falling short

The industry is moving quickly to secure AI agents, but the response largely mirrors a familiar approach: adding more layers of software. Most companies are focusing on two main layers: input guardrails – implementing more software tools designed to stop malicious instructions from ever reaching AI agents, and permissions and monitoring – limiting what compromised agents can access.

It’s the same strategy the industry had relied on for decades: deploy quickly, remain agile, and address vulnerabilities as they emerge. Both methods operate inside the software trust boundary.

But history shows this approach often ends the same way: with the need for hardware-layer protections. In the 1990s and 2000s, network security responded to software exploits by deploying additional software layers. Breaches persisted until organizations eventually adopted hardware-enforced network segmentation.

The same pattern played out with endpoint security in the 2000s and 2010s. As malware evolved to bypass detection, the response was behavioral analysis, sandboxing, and endpoint detection and response. Yet more software. Breaches continued until TPM (Trust Platform Module) chips and hardware-enforced secure boot became widely adopted. Cloud security, in the 2010s and 2020s, followed a similar path.

A common lesson runs through each of these domains: when the software trust boundary is compromised, the hardware layer – where data actually lives – must be secured too.

The case for hardware-level security

This time, we cannot afford to learn slowly. Agents are already being connected to the systems that business rely on for their daily operations. Incidents like the MCP critical vulnerability and recent reports of a data leak caused by a Meta AI agent show how quickly the risks can become real.

Guardrails, permissions, and monitoring are necessary, but they are insufficient, and they represent the security layers that history shows will eventually be bypassed. Effective defense requires a third layer – one that exists beyond the software trust boundary and provides oversight at the hardware level, where sensitive data is ultimately stored and processed.

Hardware Root of Trust serves as the final security barrier, helping contain breaches before they escalate into a full system compromise. As the number of companies using AI agents continues to grow, security needs to move deeper than the application layer.

The industry has already learned that software alone cannot secure complex systems – it should not wait for a major compromise to learn the same lesson again.

We've featured the best endpoint protection software.

This article was produced as part of TechRadar Pro Perspectives, our channel to feature the best and brightest minds in the technology industry today.

The views expressed here are those of the author and are not necessarily those of TechRadarPro or Future plc. If you are interested in contributing find out more here: https://www.techradar.com/pro/perspectives-how-to-submit

At least eight people died in Japan as heavy rains flooded roads and disrupted traffic while firefighters from Britain to France and Croatia struggled to contain blazes in Europe's fifth heatwave this summer

(Image credit: PHILIP FONG)

• Insomniac Games explains why Logan's suit in Marvel's Wolverine heals itself
• Head of technology Mike Fitzgerald says there are "some practicalities to it" and "you can’t play through most of the game wearing just shredded rags on his body"
• He adds that the team invested a lot of time in showing damage progression to suits

Insomniac Games has explained why Logan's suit in Marvel's Wolverine regenerates after fights, and its reason makes a lot of sense.

If you've watched any of Marvel's Wolverine trailers, you've probably noticed that after bloody battles, Logan's fancy hero suit heals itself of any combat damage.

Wolverine can heal his injuries very quickly thanks to his innate mutation, and since his skeleton is coated in an alloy called adamantium, he's near-indestructible. Initially, fans thought this might be why his suit was regenerating in the game, or perhaps it was even nanotech; however, Insomniac has settled the matter, explaining that it's simply about keeping the superhero vibe intact.

"I think mostly there’s some practicalities to it,” head of technology Mike Fitzgerald said in an interview with IGN. "You can’t play through most of the game wearing just shredded rags on his body. So we find the right balance between clothing that reflects the gameplay you’re doing and this brutal combat and the realities of that, and then finding the right moments to have it restore itself so you get that right cinematic feel of Wolverine."

Senior project director Jess Reiner-Reed also commented on finding the right balance, adding, "Early on you would be playing through missions and your clothes are shredded for way too long. You don't feel as powerful as you're playing through. So yeah, we definitely found that right balance was the right thing to say."

While Logan's suit will heal after fights, Fitzgerald explained that the team still had to show damage progression across his different suits and enemies, as well.

"We invested a lot in how damage is reflected on him in his suit, on enemies and their suits," Fitzgerald explained. "And then as you attack them, the blood sprays coming off them are some really interesting fluid tech. So it's not just pre-baked visual effects. These are actual blood particles coming out.

"They hit the ground and make the exact splatter mark they would make if they land on Logan. They leave blood there. If he walks through water, it washes off and leaves blood swirls in the water."

Marvel's Wolverine launches on PS5 on September 16. Insomniac recently confirmed that it will be "fully playable" on disc following Sony's decision to end physical disc production.

In today’s supply chain, a week is not merely a long time. It can be the difference between protecting margins and absorbing avoidable cost; maintaining availability and losing sales; or preserving customer trust and explaining why another commitment has been missed.

Geopolitical tensions, tariff changes, economic uncertainty and supplier instability are no longer occasional interruptions to an otherwise predictable operating environment.

They increasingly overlap, interact and move faster than traditional planning cycles.

The external risk picture supports that conclusion. The World Economic Forum’s Global Risks Report 2026 identifies geoeconomic confrontation as the leading risk for both 2026 and the period to 2028. Half of the experts surveyed expect the global outlook over the next two years to be turbulent or stormy.

This is creating a decision-speed challenge at the heart of global commerce.

Research with supply chain leaders, found that only 20% can develop and deploy a response to a geopolitical disruption within 24 hours. A further 38% require more than a week.

During those seven days, transport costs can change, capacity can disappear, inventory can become stranded and competitors can secure alternative sources of supply. By the time a response has passed through every functional review and approval, the original assumptions may already be obsolete.

The critical question is not whether an organization can see disruption. It is whether it can convert that signal into an executable enterprise decision while there is still time to influence the outcome.

Visibility is not the same as readiness

For many years, supply chain transformation focused on improving forecasts, optimizing individual functions and reducing cost. Those disciplines remain important, but many of the operating models surrounding them were designed for a more predictable world.

Today’s disruptions cut across procurement, manufacturing, logistics, inventory, commercial planning and finance simultaneously. Yet many organizations still manage them through separate systems, functional metrics and sequential decisions.

Consider a tariff change. It may require the business to reassess sourcing, production, inventory deployment, pricing, customer allocation and margin exposure. If each function develops its own answer before the enterprise reconciles the trade-offs, valuable time is lost.

A dashboard may reveal the disruption quickly, but it does not determine which customers to prioritize, what financial exposure is acceptable or who has the authority to act.

Visibility without decision rights is simply faster awareness of the same problem.

Confidence is becoming polarized

The research also reveals a decline in overall confidence. Only 66% of leaders now consider their supply chains ready for the future, compared with 73% in 2025.

46% describe themselves as highly optimistic about their supply chains. These leaders are also more likely to report shared cross-functional KPIs, integrated data and stronger end-to-end visibility.

Optimism itself does not create better performance. Rather, confidence appears to reflect the capabilities these organizations have already built.

Less optimistic organizations are 2.3 times more likely to experience slow data sharing and integration, 2.5 times more likely to operate in functional silos and four times more likely to describe their supply chains as disjointed.

The divide is therefore not simply technological. It is organizational and operational. Connected businesses are better positioned to develop a common understanding of events, evaluate enterprise-wide consequences and align teams around one response.

From unified data to unified decisions

Unified data platforms are now the most widely adopted new technology in the survey, deployed by 51% of organizations. Adoption rises to 64% among the more optimistic cohort, compared with 40% among less optimistic leaders.

That foundation is essential, but it is only the beginning.

The real value emerges when common data supports connected decisions across planning and execution. This enables organizations not only to identify disruption, but also to assess its end-to-end impact, evaluate alternative responses and orchestrate action across the network.

Technology provides the foundation, but achieving decision speed also requires shared enterprise outcomes, clearly defined decision ownership, agreed intervention thresholds, pre-modelled scenarios and the authority to act.

European businesses are already adapting. European Commission survey evidence found that 27% of EU firms had changed, or planned to change, their strategies in response to tensions, disruption or policy changes in foreign markets. Among those adapting, 38% were changing sourcing or destination countries, while 22% were increasing inventory buffers.

Resilience is no longer an abstract ambition. Businesses are actively reconfiguring supply networks—but every adjustment carries consequences for cost, working capital, service and risk. The faster those trade-offs can be understood across the enterprise, the more choices leaders retain.

In grocery and consumer goods, the response window is narrower still because shelf life, availability and promotional commitments leave little room for delay.

AI can accelerate decisions - but foundations determine value

AI will play an increasingly important role in reducing the time between signal, insight and action. Machine learning and predictive AI are already used by 45% of respondents, with another 29% implementing them. Generative AI adoption has doubled from 12% to 24%, while agentic AI remains at an earlier stage, with 8% reporting live deployment.

AI can continuously monitor conditions, identify exceptions, evaluate scenarios and recommend responses at a scale human teams cannot match. When connected to planning and execution, it can also help translate those decisions into coordinated action across the network.

However, autonomy is not a shortcut around unresolved transformation challenges. AI operating across fragmented data, conflicting objectives and unclear decision rights may accelerate activity without improving outcomes.

Before giving AI agents greater scope to act, leaders must be confident in the data, guardrails, accountability and operating model surrounding those decisions. The question is not simply, “Can the agent act?” It is: “Should it act, within what boundaries and in pursuit of which enterprise outcome?”

The new measure of resilience

No organization can predict every disruption. A more practical measure of resilience is how quickly the organization can understand what has changed, determine what matters, make the necessary trade-offs and mobilize a coordinated response.

That is the real 24-hour test.

The organizations pulling ahead are not simply those with more information. They are those that can connect intelligence, decisions and execution quickly enough to act while choices still exist.

In an increasingly volatile world, resilience will not be determined by who sees the disruption first. It will be determined by who can make - and execute -the best decision before the window to respond closes.

We list the best data visualization tools.

This article was produced as part of TechRadar Pro Perspectives, our channel to feature the best and brightest minds in the technology industry today.

The views expressed here are those of the author and are not necessarily those of TechRadarPro or Future plc. If you are interested in contributing find out more here: https://www.techradar.com/pro/perspectives-how-to-submit

I didn't set out to build a Breakout clone, but that's what I — or really Claude, under my direction — did, and it took less time than it takes to watch a half dozen cat videos.

Here's how it started. Claude was having issues. Anthropic's powerful and popular generative AI platform was apparently going up and down, and some were complaining, but when I checked, Claude told me, "I'm doing well, thanks for asking!" I realized, though, that if the problems were intermittent, I might need a tougher task to test Claude's overall stability.

More than a year ago, I worked with Claude, or rather guided Claude through the process of recreating the early 1980s arcade game classic: Asteroids. The final game, which Claude exported as a shareable artifact, was the product of hours of guidance and back-and-forth between me and the AI. It didn't start off great, but with each prompt, we iterated, and the game improved until I had a rather robust and true-to-the-original Asteroids knockoff.

With that in mind, I tasked Claude AI, running the free Sonnet 5 model at "Medium" level, with creating a Breakout clone.

Breaking out

Breakout is one of my favorite games, something I've played on early consoles, PCs, and even my old BlackBerry, where "Brick Breaker" was one of the few preloaded games.

The game rules are pretty simple. There's a multi-level brick wall (usually eight bricks deep) at the top of the screen, a paddle at the base, and a bouncing ball you bounce off the paddle to break down the brick wall.

For my prompt, I tried to describe, in some detail, my game, and was not coy about it being an online version of Breakout:

Let's make a quick game. I want an online version of the old Breakout game, but let's replace the bricks with robots that are always slowly marching down toward you (if they reach you, it's game over). The ball that you bounce off your side-sliding controller is a gear that breaks up the robots easily in the first level. In the second level, the robots are shinier and harder, and the gear takes three or more hits to break and make a robot disappear. If you clear the level, the gear turns into a titanium ball that bounces faster but is more powerful. Controls are either keyboard/arrow based and mouseable. Want this to result in a web-based, shareable game, so a link/artifact I can share online.

(Image credit: Claude)

That's all the direction I gave it. I didn't describe colors, the initial speed of the ball, or even how quickly the robots would march down the screen. I didn't get into details about the look of the robots, instead relying on generalities and some material descriptions to help guide Claude.

It took me a minute or two to write the prompt and around three minutes for Claude to deliver the results, which it cleverly called "Gearbreaker".

I got a brief description of gameplay and levels (there are just two for now) :

"How it plays:

Level 1 — matte robots, one hit each from the spinning gear ball. They march downward on a timer; let them cross the dashed red hazard line and it's instant game over.

Level 2 — shinier robots (metallic gradient, cyan eyes) that soak up 3 hits, shown as pips along the bottom of each unit. Same gear ball, tougher targets.

Clear level 2 → the ball forges into a titanium core: bigger, faster, hits for 2 damage instead of 1. Levels keep scaling procedurally after that (more rows, faster march, tougher units), so it runs endless with a local high-score save.

Controls: arrow keys or mouse to slide the paddle, Space or click to launch/pause/restart. Basic touch support too."

On the right side of the screen, there was my playable game. There's also the artifact publish button, which I chose to use so I could share the game with you.

It's a stunningly complete render of a completely playable and, in some ways, challenging Breakout clone, and it took five minutes. I'd call the design clean and efficient. The bricks have a robot look, and the ball is a blue spinning gear (in the first level). The movement and physics are basically perfect, and there's enough on-screen instruction to easily grasp gameplay.

Just the beginning

(Image credit: Claude)

It's just another mind-boggling example of the incredible pace of AI development. While I had expected a playable game, I assumed it would be missing enough crucial components to make it dull or uninteresting — something similar to my earlier AI game development projects. Instead, I got something that displays a clear understanding of the purpose of such a game: challenge, entertainment, and replayability.

Using my mouse, I played through a couple of times, failing to break all the bricks in Level One and ending the game. I realized I had to take Claude's output more seriously, and, with some effort, as I watched the robot bricks steadily march down my screen, I finally cleared all the bricks in Level One and then started in on the tougher Level Two. As I had instructed, the robots on the second level looked and reacted differently. It now took at least three direct hits to make them disappear. I failed and already want to play again.

(Image credit: Claude)

This is by no means the wildest example of the AI development process or vibe coding; it's just me prompting Claude to code a complete game with the barest of instructions.

Claude and these models cannot do this on their own, but it does make you think about the agentic AI that's now being unleashed on the world. It's more powerful and autonomous. I could imagine someone asking one to start work on recreating all the popular video games of the last half century. The only limit would be time and compute tokens.

Speaking of which, Claude just informed me that this Breakout task used up about 90% of my credits for the day. I think it was worth it.

Take the game for a spin and let me know what you think in the comments below.

VPN Super Unlimited has amassed various forms of attention. Be it the experienced lineup of executives, the boom of popularity in Australia, or the reasonable price tag, there are several understandable reasons why.

That said, there's clear room for improvement. We've put it through our rigorous processes involving proprietary testing and everyday use and it raises some concerns.

Barebones feature sets, missing security functionalities, and limited privacy policies raise the biggest alarm bells. That said, what it does have, seems to work very well for such a cheap provider. Read on to see just why it might be the VPN for you, or why you should steer clear for now.

Pricing and plans

Unlike a growing cohort of VPNs that have introduced multiple subscription tiers with varying feature levels, VPN Super Unlimited keeps things simple.

There’s just one subscription tier available, meaning your only decision involves choosing between billing durations: a one-month plan ($8.79), a six-month plan ($5.59/month billed as $33.55), and a one-year plan ($4.79/month billed as $57.50).

(Image credit: VPN Super Unlimited)

Depending on which plan you select, you’ll receive a complimentary eSIM offering progressively larger data allowances: 1GB for monthly subscribers, 3GB for six-month, or 5GB for annual subscribers.

VPN Super Unlimited’s one-month plan substantially undercuts most competitors. For comparison, NordVPN charges $14.99 and Surfshark $16.45 for the same duration – a difference approaching double the cost.

However, the annual pricing strategy reveals a more complicated picture. The yearly rate of approximately $57.50 puts it directly alongside these established providers despite offering considerably less functionality overall, making the price harder to justify.

The six-month option stands out as genuinely uncommon among major VPN providers. Most push binary choices – premium monthly rates or annual discounts only. This middle-ground flexibility bridges the gap between short-term commitment and a meaningful discount.

A free tier exists but carries significant limitations requiring careful consideration. You don’t need to sign up to connect to its servers. However, the service runs on ads.

During testing, my desktop experience (macOS) remained ad-free, but iOS suffered from aggressively intrusive full-screen video pop-ups nearly every time I opened the app or connected to a server. Static banner clutter occasionally appeared beneath the connection interface.

VPN Super requests consent to share personal data with over 300 third-party vendors. Collectible information includes current IP addresses, device identifiers, and browsing history unless specifically toggled off during initial setup – which I strongly recommend you do.

This VPN allows up to 10 devices under its premium subscription, but the restriction is based on registered devices, not simultaneous connections. Once your slot count fills, you’re blocked from adding more until you visit the website to manually remove existing entries – a clunky workaround most competitors have moved beyond.

Most concerning is the platform lock-in baked into the purchase model. Subscriptions bought through Google Play only activate Premium access on Android devices linked to that same Google account. This means buying through an app store effectively traps you in that ecosystem, preventing you from freely mixing devices.

The website advertises a standard 30-day money-back guarantee, which is standard nowadays, though CyberGhost distinguishes itself with 45 days of coverage. Somewhat concerning is VPN Super Unlimited’s abbreviated Terms of Service document, which does not refer to refund procedures or billing processes – a notable omission for purchase protection.

Anonymous payment methods also fail to materialize. Unlike NordVPN, Proton VPN, or Mullvad, which accept cryptocurrency or cash transactions, VPN Super Unlimited limits purchases to credit card, PayPal, and Google Pay.

Features: What can VPN Super Unlimited do?

Available on Google Play since 2020 and iOS since 2022, Super Unlimited brings significant industry credibility with over 100 million Android downloads. It enjoys strong ratings on both Google and the Apple App Store – though these likely come predominantly from free users rather than subscribers.

The executive roster includes a former Rakuten CTO as CEO, an ex-Dropbox CFO as chairman, and an Electronic Arts co-founder on the board – a lineup reflecting deep experience scaling tech products at major firms.

Yet this high-level experience makes certain shortcomings all the more puzzling. Consider the planned support for V2Ray, an open-source VPN protocol for bypassing censorship.

Announced in July 2025, a year later only a support page remains to show for it – there’s no sign of integration within any of the apps. Curiously, however, it continues to appear advertised on the website’s feature page.

(Image credit: VPN Super Unlimited)

Some combination of WireGuard, OpenVPN, and IKEv2 is offered in the apps. For optimal speeds, WireGuard is the best choice.

What’s notably absent, however, is a native kill switch in the Windows and Mac apps. This is a significant oversight, given that a kill switch is a key security feature that cuts internet traffic if the VPN connection drops – protecting your IP address from exposure.

Most major paid VPNs now include this functionality across all major platforms. By comparison, VPN Super Unlimited’s mobile apps do offer “Always-on VPN” options.

Additional feature gaps exist across VPN Super Unlimited’s apps. Split tunneling is a welcome addition on Android, letting you choose which apps bypass the VPN connection. But this functionality is unavailable on iOS, Windows, or Mac.

Aside from a recent eSIM addition, VPN Super Unlimited remains light on features. There are no ad or tracker blockers or Double VPN servers, never mind antivirus software or a password manager, found in some of the best VPN services today.

Server Network and Locations

VPN Super Unlimited is inconsistent in reporting its server network size. The homepage claims 210+ cities across 55+ countries, yet the dedicated server list page states just 100+ locations.

Our testing counted 97 actual locations – the latter figure being far more accurate. While networks can fluctuate at short notice, claiming twice the number is misleading.

Even so, 97 locations remain respectable, rivaling smaller providers like Mullvad. Overall coverage spans 61 countries, putting it on par with PrivateVPN and VyprVPN. If you primarily need servers in the US (33 locations) or Europe (34 locations), VPN Super Unlimited offers plenty of choices. South America is fairly well represented as well, with five locations.

Asia includes servers across 17 locations. Though these cover most major countries, selection lags behind some similarly-sized competitors.

Coverage becomes sparser elsewhere. Africa receives just two locations - a notable limitation. Similarly, Australia gets only one (Sydney), which is surprising when many paid VPNs offer at least three Australian locations.

This makes VPN Super Unlimited’s rise in popularity in Australia following the country’s new age verification measures all the more puzzling, although not too surprising given its free tier.

As for VPN Super Unlimited’s free plan, it provides access to 18 countries, including nearly two dozen US cities, far exceeding offerings from most competing free VPNs.

Tests confirm servers are hosted in or near their claimed locations, which is reassuring. More unexpectedly, the Russian server appears to be hosted in Moscow itself. This is increasingly uncommon in today’s regulatory environment, given Russia’s strict data retention requirements and tightened VPN regulations.

Privacy & Security

VPN Super Unlimited provides scant information about its security features - it doesn’t even specify the encryption employed. Given that WireGuard, OpenVPN, and IKEv2 protocols are offered, the service likely uses ChaCha20 and 256-bit AES encryption, which represent industry-standard security.

More concerning is a significant security flaw discovered during Windows app testing. When our researcher simulated a connection drop, the app did reconnect automatically - but not before exposing users to a brief window for potential IP leaks, with no alert indicating the drop had occurred.

A VPN’s value ultimately hinges on its no-logs policy. VPN Super Unlimited states it doesn’t “inspect or record the contents of what you are browsing, viewing, or doing,” noting that since it collects no information related to your browsing activities, it has nothing of significance to provide even if compelled.

The concern, however, is that unlike most major VPN providers such as ExpressVPN, VPN Super Unlimited has undergone no independent audits to substantiate these claims. That said, there are no publicly reported data breaches or major security incidents associated with it.

The service does automatically collect certain information during use: your IP address (VPN Super Unlimited says this is not stored long-term) and approximate location, app usage patterns, and anonymized usage data.

For free-tier users, additional considerations apply – the version includes ads, and unless opted out, advertisers may collect your device/mobile advertising identifiers alongside your IP address.

As for the privacy policy itself, it’s lengthy and not particularly accessible. However, it is thorough, including coverage of regional rights – a rare plus compared to some competitors’ offerings. Overall, there are no major red flags to be found.

Speed & performance

VPN Super Unlimited proved challenging to test under ideal conditions: the app refused to log in on our data center cloud PC, preventing standard server-location speed testing. We pivoted to 5G home broadband Windows laptop testing instead.

Despite these constraints, the results were encouraging. Against a baseline connection of 135 Mbps, VPN Super Unlimited delivered 118.5 Mbps via UK-to-UK connections and 120 Mbps over UK-US routes - retaining approximately 87.8% of original speeds.

This performance exceeded FastestVPN and held its ground impressively against Mullvad, one of the fastest VPNs in our benchmark tests. Long-distance routes told a different story. Speeds became noticeably less consistent across greater geographic distances, suggesting network capacity strain during peak usage times.

For casual streaming or light browsing, performance remains adequate, though bandwidth-intensive tasks or cross-continent connections may encounter more variance depending on where you connect.

Streaming unblocking

VPNs often struggle with streaming unblocking, yet VPN Super Unlimited excelled here despite lacking dedicated streaming servers. It seamlessly accessed multiple major platforms right out of the gate.

Tested libraries included various Netflix, Disney+, and DAZN regional catalogs, alongside Prime Video and YouTube. Country-specific services also proved reliable – BBC iPlayer, ITVX, and 9Now all streamed without issue.

Nearly everything worked on the first attempt. The UK’s Channel 4 required switching servers once before connecting successfully.

However, two Australian broadcasters posed persistent problems: 7 Plus returned a MEDIA_ERR_ENCRYPTED error we couldn’t bypass, while Channel 10 threw a login error. Both streams functioned properly on competing VPNs during our tests, pointing toward a limitation on VPN Super Unlimited’s end.

A few notable failures round out the picture: Prime Video and YouTube (US), YouTube and Channel 5 (UK), plus TVNZ+ remained inaccessible. Performance isn’t flawless - but very few VPNs achieve perfection when tackling geo-blocking restrictions head-on.

P2P and Torrenting

As for torrenting, we successfully downloaded a test torrent via VPN Super’s Edinburgh location – it worked without issue. This is promising, given that the provider’s support pages do not refer to P2P, while the website ambiguously mentions access to “P2P networks.”

However, significant caveats remain. Beyond the lack of clear information, there are no dedicated P2P servers optimized for file sharing. More critically, VPN Super Unlimited doesn’t offer port forwarding – an important consideration for serious torrent users.

Without port forwarding, your client can’t accept incoming connections from other peers, which typically slows download speeds and hampers efficient seeding. For casual downloading only, this limitation matters less; for regular heavy-duty torrenting, it’s a notable drawback.

Usability & Accessibility

VPN Super Unlimited is available for Windows, Android, macOS, and iOS - downloadable directly from app stores and straightforward to install within minutes. Just be careful: several similarly named VPN apps exist on both platforms.

It doesn’t help either that VPN Super Unlimited operates under two different developer entities on Android and iOS. It’s listed in the Google Play and Apple App Store as “VPN - Super Unlimited Proxy. It’s just that for Android, you’ll want to make sure it’s from VPN Super Inc, whereas on iOS, the company behind it is Mobile Jump Pte Ltd.

However, significant gaps exist elsewhere. There’s no native Linux app, no support for Amazon Fire TV or Apple TV, and no browser extensions. Router compatibility is also absent - a notable omission that may prove limiting for whole-home network protection.

Make no mistake: VPN Super Unlimited’s apps are super simple – and super limited. The conventional interface centers on a convenient quick-connect button and an expandable location menu. Users can scroll through available servers, though there’s neither a search function nor the ability to favorite frequently used locations.

(Image credit: Future)

A “Recents” tab helps locate previously-connected servers. You can also see each server location’s latency and sort servers by speed – useful for when you need optimal speed for streaming or torrenting.

(Image credit: Future)

Feature parity, unfortunately, varies considerably across platforms. Both Android and iOS support OpenVPN and IKEv2 protocols, though only the Android app offers split tunneling. Windows supports WireGuard and OpenVPN, while Mac is limited to OpenVPN alone - neither includes split tunneling either.

The settings menus are similarly sparse. iOS and Mac offer just “Always-on VPN”; Android adds split tunneling; and Windows provides five options (most of which offer only marginal utility).

Whereas the Windows app can automatically connect on launch, the Mac, Android, and iOS apps have no such option.

A further tablet consideration: apps lock to portrait mode without rotating to landscape. This wastes larger screen real estate on larger displays.

Website accessibility scored 71% via AccessibilityChecker - excellent relative to most VPN competitors tested. Some structural issues remain, however, which could hinder screen reader comprehension across sections.

More disappointing was Windows app keyboard navigation: technically functional, yet lacking visible focus indicators, which significantly reduces usability for keyboard-only users.

In-app help varies by platform. Mobile and macOS versions include built-ins covering connection troubleshooting, billing, and FAQs - with screenshots included for key steps.

(Image credit: Future)

Windows lacks this integration; instead, a link redirects to the external support site. While helpful, these web-based guides are less detailed and text-only.

Customer support exists but operates slowly via email only, sometimes taking several days to get a response. Live chat isn’t offered, which is a limitation compared to industry standards.

Verdict

VPN Super Unlimited suits mobile-first users prioritizing streaming on a budget. The annual plan ($57.50) is competitive, with solid speed plus reliable unblocking of Netflix, BBC iPlayer, and Disney+.

However, desktop users should avoid it. Having no kill switch on Windows and Mac creates genuine IP leak risks if connections drop. Multi-platform households face similar hurdles with missing Linux, Fire TV, and Apple TV apps and an absence of router support or browser extensions, limiting flexibility. Split tunneling is Android-only while V2Ray remains unimplemented a year post-announcement.

For true cross-platform support, consider Private Internet Access instead. It delivers broader device coverage - including Linux and Fire TV apps - maintains audited no-logs privacy verified by third parties, and ensures consistent security features like kill switches across all platforms. These differences matter when you need reliability beyond budget-conscious streaming.

VPN Super Unlimited has amassed various forms of attention. Be it the experienced lineup of executives, the boom of popularity in Australia, or the reasonable price tag, there are several understandable reasons why.

That said, there's clear room for improvement. We've put it through our rigorous processes involving proprietary testing and everyday use and it raises some concerns.

Barebones feature sets, missing security functionalities, and limited privacy policies raise the biggest alarm bells. That said, what it does have, seems to work very well for such a cheap provider. Read on to see just why it might be the VPN for you, or why you should steer clear for now.

Pricing and plans

Unlike a growing cohort of VPNs that have introduced multiple subscription tiers with varying feature levels, VPN Super Unlimited keeps things simple.

There’s just one subscription tier available, meaning your only decision involves choosing between billing durations: a one-month plan ($8.79), a six-month plan ($5.59/month billed as $33.55), and a one-year plan ($4.79/month billed as $57.50).

(Image credit: VPN Super Unlimited)

Depending on which plan you select, you’ll receive a complimentary eSIM offering progressively larger data allowances: 1GB for monthly subscribers, 3GB for six-month, or 5GB for annual subscribers.

VPN Super Unlimited’s one-month plan substantially undercuts most competitors. For comparison, NordVPN charges $14.99 and Surfshark $16.45 for the same duration – a difference approaching double the cost.

However, the annual pricing strategy reveals a more complicated picture. The yearly rate of approximately $57.50 puts it directly alongside these established providers despite offering considerably less functionality overall, making the price harder to justify.

The six-month option stands out as genuinely uncommon among major VPN providers. Most push binary choices – premium monthly rates or annual discounts only. This middle-ground flexibility bridges the gap between short-term commitment and a meaningful discount.

A free tier exists but carries significant limitations requiring careful consideration. You don’t need to sign up to connect to its servers. However, the service runs on ads.

During testing, my desktop experience (macOS) remained ad-free, but iOS suffered from aggressively intrusive full-screen video pop-ups nearly every time I opened the app or connected to a server. Static banner clutter occasionally appeared beneath the connection interface.

VPN Super requests consent to share personal data with over 300 third-party vendors. Collectible information includes current IP addresses, device identifiers, and browsing history unless specifically toggled off during initial setup – which I strongly recommend you do.

This VPN allows up to 10 devices under its premium subscription, but the restriction is based on registered devices, not simultaneous connections. Once your slot count fills, you’re blocked from adding more until you visit the website to manually remove existing entries – a clunky workaround most competitors have moved beyond.

Most concerning is the platform lock-in baked into the purchase model. Subscriptions bought through Google Play only activate Premium access on Android devices linked to that same Google account. This means buying through an app store effectively traps you in that ecosystem, preventing you from freely mixing devices.

The website advertises a standard 30-day money-back guarantee, which is standard nowadays, though CyberGhost distinguishes itself with 45 days of coverage. Somewhat concerning is VPN Super Unlimited’s abbreviated Terms of Service document, which does not refer to refund procedures or billing processes – a notable omission for purchase protection.

Anonymous payment methods also fail to materialize. Unlike NordVPN, Proton VPN, or Mullvad, which accept cryptocurrency or cash transactions, VPN Super Unlimited limits purchases to credit card, PayPal, and Google Pay.

Features: What can VPN Super Unlimited do?

Available on Google Play since 2020 and iOS since 2022, Super Unlimited brings significant industry credibility with over 100 million Android downloads. It enjoys strong ratings on both Google and the Apple App Store – though these likely come predominantly from free users rather than subscribers.

The executive roster includes a former Rakuten CTO as CEO, an ex-Dropbox CFO as chairman, and an Electronic Arts co-founder on the board – a lineup reflecting deep experience scaling tech products at major firms.

Yet this high-level experience makes certain shortcomings all the more puzzling. Consider the planned support for V2Ray, an open-source VPN protocol for bypassing censorship.

Announced in July 2025, a year later only a support page remains to show for it – there’s no sign of integration within any of the apps. Curiously, however, it continues to appear advertised on the website’s feature page.

(Image credit: VPN Super Unlimited)

Some combination of WireGuard, OpenVPN, and IKEv2 is offered in the apps. For optimal speeds, WireGuard is the best choice.

What’s notably absent, however, is a native kill switch in the Windows and Mac apps. This is a significant oversight, given that a kill switch is a key security feature that cuts internet traffic if the VPN connection drops – protecting your IP address from exposure.

Most major paid VPNs now include this functionality across all major platforms. By comparison, VPN Super Unlimited’s mobile apps do offer “Always-on VPN” options.

Additional feature gaps exist across VPN Super Unlimited’s apps. Split tunneling is a welcome addition on Android, letting you choose which apps bypass the VPN connection. But this functionality is unavailable on iOS, Windows, or Mac.

Aside from a recent eSIM addition, VPN Super Unlimited remains light on features. There are no ad or tracker blockers or Double VPN servers, never mind antivirus software or a password manager, found in some of the best VPN services today.

Server Network and Locations

VPN Super Unlimited is inconsistent in reporting its server network size. The homepage claims 210+ cities across 55+ countries, yet the dedicated server list page states just 100+ locations.

Our testing counted 97 actual locations – the latter figure being far more accurate. While networks can fluctuate at short notice, claiming twice the number is misleading.

Even so, 97 locations remain respectable, rivaling smaller providers like Mullvad. Overall coverage spans 61 countries, putting it on par with PrivateVPN and VyprVPN. If you primarily need servers in the US (33 locations) or Europe (34 locations), VPN Super Unlimited offers plenty of choices. South America is fairly well represented as well, with five locations.

Asia includes servers across 17 locations. Though these cover most major countries, selection lags behind some similarly-sized competitors.

Coverage becomes sparser elsewhere. Africa receives just two locations - a notable limitation. Similarly, Australia gets only one (Sydney), which is surprising when many paid VPNs offer at least three Australian locations.

This makes VPN Super Unlimited’s rise in popularity in Australia following the country’s new age verification measures all the more puzzling, although not too surprising given its free tier.

As for VPN Super Unlimited’s free plan, it provides access to 18 countries, including nearly two dozen US cities, far exceeding offerings from most competing free VPNs.

Tests confirm servers are hosted in or near their claimed locations, which is reassuring. More unexpectedly, the Russian server appears to be hosted in Moscow itself. This is increasingly uncommon in today’s regulatory environment, given Russia’s strict data retention requirements and tightened VPN regulations.

Privacy & Security

VPN Super Unlimited provides scant information about its security features - it doesn’t even specify the encryption employed. Given that WireGuard, OpenVPN, and IKEv2 protocols are offered, the service likely uses ChaCha20 and 256-bit AES encryption, which represent industry-standard security.

More concerning is a significant security flaw discovered during Windows app testing. When our researcher simulated a connection drop, the app did reconnect automatically - but not before exposing users to a brief window for potential IP leaks, with no alert indicating the drop had occurred.

A VPN’s value ultimately hinges on its no-logs policy. VPN Super Unlimited states it doesn’t “inspect or record the contents of what you are browsing, viewing, or doing,” noting that since it collects no information related to your browsing activities, it has nothing of significance to provide even if compelled.

The concern, however, is that unlike most major VPN providers such as ExpressVPN, VPN Super Unlimited has undergone no independent audits to substantiate these claims. That said, there are no publicly reported data breaches or major security incidents associated with it.

The service does automatically collect certain information during use: your IP address (VPN Super Unlimited says this is not stored long-term) and approximate location, app usage patterns, and anonymized usage data.

For free-tier users, additional considerations apply – the version includes ads, and unless opted out, advertisers may collect your device/mobile advertising identifiers alongside your IP address.

As for the privacy policy itself, it’s lengthy and not particularly accessible. However, it is thorough, including coverage of regional rights – a rare plus compared to some competitors’ offerings. Overall, there are no major red flags to be found.

Speed & performance

VPN Super Unlimited proved challenging to test under ideal conditions: the app refused to log in on our data center cloud PC, preventing standard server-location speed testing. We pivoted to 5G home broadband Windows laptop testing instead.

Despite these constraints, the results were encouraging. Against a baseline connection of 135 Mbps, VPN Super Unlimited delivered 118.5 Mbps via UK-to-UK connections and 120 Mbps over UK-US routes - retaining approximately 87.8% of original speeds.

This performance exceeded FastestVPN and held its ground impressively against Mullvad, one of the fastest VPNs in our benchmark tests. Long-distance routes told a different story. Speeds became noticeably less consistent across greater geographic distances, suggesting network capacity strain during peak usage times.

For casual streaming or light browsing, performance remains adequate, though bandwidth-intensive tasks or cross-continent connections may encounter more variance depending on where you connect.

Streaming unblocking

VPNs often struggle with streaming unblocking, yet VPN Super Unlimited excelled here despite lacking dedicated streaming servers. It seamlessly accessed multiple major platforms right out of the gate.

Tested libraries included various Netflix, Disney+, and DAZN regional catalogs, alongside Prime Video and YouTube. Country-specific services also proved reliable – BBC iPlayer, ITVX, and 9Now all streamed without issue.

Nearly everything worked on the first attempt. The UK’s Channel 4 required switching servers once before connecting successfully.

However, two Australian broadcasters posed persistent problems: 7 Plus returned a MEDIA_ERR_ENCRYPTED error we couldn’t bypass, while Channel 10 threw a login error. Both streams functioned properly on competing VPNs during our tests, pointing toward a limitation on VPN Super Unlimited’s end.

A few notable failures round out the picture: Prime Video and YouTube (US), YouTube and Channel 5 (UK), plus TVNZ+ remained inaccessible. Performance isn’t flawless - but very few VPNs achieve perfection when tackling geo-blocking restrictions head-on.

P2P and Torrenting

As for torrenting, we successfully downloaded a test torrent via VPN Super’s Edinburgh location – it worked without issue. This is promising, given that the provider’s support pages do not refer to P2P, while the website ambiguously mentions access to “P2P networks.”

However, significant caveats remain. Beyond the lack of clear information, there are no dedicated P2P servers optimized for file sharing. More critically, VPN Super Unlimited doesn’t offer port forwarding – an important consideration for serious torrent users.

Without port forwarding, your client can’t accept incoming connections from other peers, which typically slows download speeds and hampers efficient seeding. For casual downloading only, this limitation matters less; for regular heavy-duty torrenting, it’s a notable drawback.

Usability & Accessibility

VPN Super Unlimited is available for Windows, Android, macOS, and iOS - downloadable directly from app stores and straightforward to install within minutes. Just be careful: several similarly named VPN apps exist on both platforms.

It doesn’t help either that VPN Super Unlimited operates under two different developer entities on Android and iOS. It’s listed in the Google Play and Apple App Store as “VPN - Super Unlimited Proxy. It’s just that for Android, you’ll want to make sure it’s from VPN Super Inc, whereas on iOS, the company behind it is Mobile Jump Pte Ltd.

However, significant gaps exist elsewhere. There’s no native Linux app, no support for Amazon Fire TV or Apple TV, and no browser extensions. Router compatibility is also absent - a notable omission that may prove limiting for whole-home network protection.

Make no mistake: VPN Super Unlimited’s apps are super simple – and super limited. The conventional interface centers on a convenient quick-connect button and an expandable location menu. Users can scroll through available servers, though there’s neither a search function nor the ability to favorite frequently used locations.

(Image credit: Future)

A “Recents” tab helps locate previously-connected servers. You can also see each server location’s latency and sort servers by speed – useful for when you need optimal speed for streaming or torrenting.

(Image credit: Future)

Feature parity, unfortunately, varies considerably across platforms. Both Android and iOS support OpenVPN and IKEv2 protocols, though only the Android app offers split tunneling. Windows supports WireGuard and OpenVPN, while Mac is limited to OpenVPN alone - neither includes split tunneling either.

The settings menus are similarly sparse. iOS and Mac offer just “Always-on VPN”; Android adds split tunneling; and Windows provides five options (most of which offer only marginal utility).

Whereas the Windows app can automatically connect on launch, the Mac, Android, and iOS apps have no such option.

A further tablet consideration: apps lock to portrait mode without rotating to landscape. This wastes larger screen real estate on larger displays.

Website accessibility scored 71% via AccessibilityChecker - excellent relative to most VPN competitors tested. Some structural issues remain, however, which could hinder screen reader comprehension across sections.

More disappointing was Windows app keyboard navigation: technically functional, yet lacking visible focus indicators, which significantly reduces usability for keyboard-only users.

In-app help varies by platform. Mobile and macOS versions include built-ins covering connection troubleshooting, billing, and FAQs - with screenshots included for key steps.

(Image credit: Future)

Windows lacks this integration; instead, a link redirects to the external support site. While helpful, these web-based guides are less detailed and text-only.

Customer support exists but operates slowly via email only, sometimes taking several days to get a response. Live chat isn’t offered, which is a limitation compared to industry standards.

Verdict

VPN Super Unlimited suits mobile-first users prioritizing streaming on a budget. The annual plan ($57.50) is competitive, with solid speed plus reliable unblocking of Netflix, BBC iPlayer, and Disney+.

However, desktop users should avoid it. Having no kill switch on Windows and Mac creates genuine IP leak risks if connections drop. Multi-platform households face similar hurdles with missing Linux, Fire TV, and Apple TV apps and an absence of router support or browser extensions, limiting flexibility. Split tunneling is Android-only while V2Ray remains unimplemented a year post-announcement.

For true cross-platform support, consider Private Internet Access instead. It delivers broader device coverage - including Linux and Fire TV apps - maintains audited no-logs privacy verified by third parties, and ensures consistent security features like kill switches across all platforms. These differences matter when you need reliability beyond budget-conscious streaming.

Agentic AI’s prolific use of tokens can create sizeable, unexpected costs for organizations. But saving on token costs without factoring in risk can be a fatal step.

As upfront prices for flagship artificial intelligence models continue to shrink, organizations have begun to wise up to the hidden costs they encounter with agentic AI models.

Specifically, the costs of tokens, which may look tiny when viewed as individual charges, can add up exponentially as AI agents become more active, leaving organizations with hefty AI expenditures they may not have anticipated.

This is putting CISOs in something of a bind. If they seek to save money on inference costs, primarily driven by token generation incurred by agentic AI, they may increase their security risk and accumulate hidden technical debt that puts their Agentic Development Lifecycle (ADLC) in jeopardy. It’s a problem that many CISOs may not have factored into their security budgets, but it cannot be left unaddressed.

The effectiveness of automated security processes is being impeded by fragmented pricing across the AI landscape, whether we’re talking about hyper-optimized nano models (essentially lightweight, yet powerful models built for a specific use, like Google’s Nano Banana 2 image generator) or premium reasoning engines, like Salesforce Atlas or OpenAI o3.

Organizations do have to keep a close eye on token costs to prevent them from spiraling, but CISOs also need to examine how agentic AI is affecting their security.

The hidden costs of AI agents

Erratic pricing has been a trademark of generative AI pretty much from the beginning.

About two years after OpenAI released ChatGPT, the Chinese company DeepSeek shook up the AI market with the release of a powerful, open-weighted large language model whose training parameters were publicly available, allowing users to customize the model and build on the cheap compared with other generative AI models.

ChatGPT-maker OpenAI and other AI companies started doing the same, and suddenly, the costs of using GenAI systems dropped off a cliff. In fact, prices fell faster for GenAI than for any other technology in history.

The emergence of agentic AI has introduced some stealth costs into the equation, however. The costs of agentic software range from free for open-source models to enterprise agents, with prices that vary from one-time fees (roughly $15,000 for basic models to more than $1 million for global enterprise models) to monthly subscriptions (which can range from a few thousand to $13,000 or more).

But those costs are fixed. Inference costs are another story: they scale with usage and can amount to 90% of AI lifecycle costs.

Tokens come into play when an AI agent requests processing from GenAI models, which charge agents for processing information. At a glance, the costs may appear inconsequential. Input tokens generally range from 15 cents to $5 per million requests. Output tokens, which require slightly more processing, cost from about 60 cents to $25 per million.

They may start small, but can add up in no time, thanks to AI agents that work very quickly, autonomously, and unpredictably. They are designed to interact with systems and other agents throughout the enterprise. A single action might generate scores of LLM calls. Token use, which has grown exponentially with the use of AI agents, has already increased IT budgets by about 20% according to recent estimates.

The accelerating cost of agentic AI is prompting CISOs to look for ways to save money where they can, and one way is to identify LLMs that charge the least per token. But what they may not be considering are the risk factors associated with those LLMs. If CISOs concern themselves only with the costs, they may open themselves up to security risks.

But better security doesn’t necessarily have to cost more. Depending on what they’re using agentic AI for, they may find they don’t always have to trade security for lower token costs.

Getting costs (and risks) under control

There are a few things organizations can do to help stop token costs from getting out of hand, including:

Match Agents and LLMs to the Job at Hand. Commodity AI systems can cost little or nothing, but they lack the deep reasoning for complex security synthesis. But not every application or function within the organization requires a reasoning engine. You can set up agents to work with low-cost LLMs on low-risk projects, while preserving higher-cost LLMs for critical tasks. It’s also worth being aware of which agents are likely to request more LLM calls.

Factor Risk Scores in Choosing Agents and LLMs. The security implications of using AI can’t be ignored. When developing a budget plan, include risk factors.

Monitor Workflows. Keeping a close watch on workflows can help you track costs and performance, allowing you to better understand which tools work best in which situations.

Lean on Human Oversight. Despite agentic AI’s autonomy, in fact, because of agentic AI’s autonomy, forgetting about the importance of the human element is risky business. Teams need thorough upskilling in secure development, with clearly defined ownership roles. And they must be given prominent oversight roles throughout the ADLC.

Agentic AI is fast becoming integral to enterprise operations, and organizations must control its associated costs. But a race to the bottom on token pricing creates hidden technical debt. Instead, CISOs need to weigh security performance when choosing AI tools as part of establishing an up-to-date security maturity model and an AI governance policy that emphasizes performance, costs, and risk management.

Only that approach allows agentic AI to be deployed without either breaking the budget or putting your entire organization at risk.

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When my co-founders and I started building our platform, the prevailing industry consensus was that the future of AI belonged exclusively to a tiny handful of elite, hyper-capitalized technology labs. The dominant narrative insisted that massive centralized scale and closed proprietary control were the only viable paths to frontier capabilities.

Today, that multi-billion-dollar bet on proprietary infrastructure is facing a massive market disruption. From my perspective as a founder, the era of treating AI as a rented utility is rapidly drawing to a close, replaced by an urgent global demand for open-source independence and data sovereignty.

The first major driving force behind this change is the reality of corporate accounting. Being fully dependent on a cloud provider for the core infrastructure of cognitive capabilities has transformed from a convenient beginning into a huge liability in strategic and security terms. It simply does not make sense to remain in a permanent closed-door monopoly.

As shown by recent research carried out by a scholar at UC Berkeley, moving an enterprise project from a proprietary API to open-source cuts the cost of computation from $3,000 down to $31. Recent reports say that this economic revolution takes place all over the world due to the fact that the quality difference between open and closed systems has become non-existent.

Independent LMSYS leaderboard shows the leaders of open source solutions to be just two per cent behind the best proprietary systems, such as Claude Opus.

Sovereign AI

Beyond the obvious economic advantages, the call for open architecture has become highly geopolitical. Both within the government sector and the business sector alike, institutions are now realizing that there are real risks involved in being tied to a foreign company's products. We are starting to see how such friction points manifest themselves through governmental actions.

In Germany, the increasing conflicts between Bavaria and Microsoft regarding data protection issues and regulations illustrate precisely why businesses cannot afford to be tied into closed systems and rely on overseas hyperscalers.

This is why I am such an avid supporter of Sovereign AI, where one is able to have complete and absolute control of their own data, their own models, and their own jurisdictions instead of continually leasing it from a third party.

This fast deconstruction will result in a great wave of stranded investments due to the immense amounts of capital being channeled into centralized and monolithic data centers.

The trend of technology is no longer towards a reliance on hyper-scale. With open source becoming so much more efficient and smaller in its footprint, there is no longer any need to do everything within a few large-scale server farms.

Engineering advancements mean that highly specialized architectures can do all of the heavy lifting locally or in a distributed network of various hardware configurations. There will be no competition between monolithic centers meant for renting proprietary compute cycles and sovereign, local networks run by companies themselves.

Open source

It is no secret that I believe that attempts to tame AI by limiting access to closed models will always boomerang against the interests of the proprietary software developer. Once there is a looming possibility that they may lose access or encounter political restrictions on export, they simply get pushed into going for open models that they will own and control themselves in their jurisdiction.

That is the whole idea of the open source philosophy. The results of scientific work and technical progress cannot be confined to just a few private labs of major corporations. With an open model, everyone can adjust its parameters for their particular use cases.

Applications of open model architecture clearly demonstrate just how much open-model architectures can achieve in terms of adaptation to a particular localized purpose. Closed-model architectures will surely remain temporarily ahead in individual benchmarks, especially in terms of the most complex and experimental functions. However, most companies do not require a Porsche on each and every trip.

What they require is a highly advanced model that is completely optimized for a specific task, which they can always have access to without being dependent on the decisions of a couple of tech leaders.

Whereas AI has the potential to revolutionize all aspects of our collective existence as well as business operations in the world, such a process cannot be controlled by a handful of providers in any way that would be safe. The general market simply wouldn’t tolerate it. It would be too risky for any contemporary company to tie its strategic development path to a single provider.

That is exactly the reason why technology leaders are pouring resources into infrastructure that is neutral and open. We can’t just invest in software and hardware; we have to invest in sovereignty.

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Plus, which beloved animal crossed the rainbow bridge, and what bit of papal paraphernalia did Chicago baseball fans get this week?

Details on how ICE cooperation agreements work in practice have been hard to come by. NPR took a close look at how sheriff's deputies in Walton County, Fla., approach immigration-related arrests.

(Image credit: Nicky Quamina-Woo for NPR)

A coalition of landowners, outdoor enthusiasts and business owners that say any work in Big Bend National Park would forever change the place often called "Texas' gift to the nation."

(Image credit: Carlos Morales)

Lawmakers and families raise concerns about conditions aboard USS Lincoln, as the U.S.-Iran war drags on, Iranians seek a break from the conflict, Russian-held Crimea faces Ukrainian drone campaign.

Workers at a Louisiana community center talk about how helping children has enriched their lives.

The Google Pixel 11 range is here with preorders officially underway in Australia, and we’ve covered all the best offers from both retailers and telcos across the country.

While there are plenty of great options out there, for our money, the best preorder deal comes from Vodafone. The telco is quite literally giving away a Sony PlayStation 5 Slim console and an extra DualSense controller for free when you preorder the Google Pixel 11 Pro XL until August 19.

Given that the PS5 Slim has seen multiple price increases since launching in 2020 and discounts are getting harder to come by, this deal is hard to pass up for any gamer looking to upgrade their phone and console at the same time, all from as low as AU$103.30p/m for a 36-month contract.

Google Pixel 11 Pro XL (256GB) | Vodafone Small Plan | 65GB | 24 months | AU$132.45p/m

This offer is available whether you sign up for a 12-, 24- or 36-month plan with the Google Pixel 11 Pro XL. Vodafone is offering the 256GB in only three colours — Canyon, Olive and Obsidian — and the 512GB model is only available in Obsidian. The Small Plan includes 65GB of mobile data, unlimited national calls and texts, unlimited international texts and 5GB of daily roaming for an extra AU$5 per day.View Deal

The Google Pixel 11 Pro XL brings some notable upgrades from its predecessor, headlined by the new Tensor G6 chipset, a brighter display with 3,600 nits peak brightness (up from 3,300 nits) and a new LED notification light in the camera flash module called HiLight.

The cameras also get upgrades, with the main shooter having a new sensor designed to improve low-light performance, as well as boosting the zoom capabilities up to 120x, up from 100x in the Pixel 10 Pro XL.

It’s not all good news, unfortunately, as the base 256GB model only gets 12GB of RAM instead of 16GB in last year’s model (despite the price increase from AU$1,999 to AU$2,099), but it was to be expected given the current climate of component shortages.

Fortunately, this bundle with a PS5 thrown in for free could go some way to softening the blow, and is a deal that you can’t miss if you’re in the market for a new Pixel phone and a new gaming console. The convenience of a monthly payment instead of shelling out AU$3,108 for both devices and a spare DualSense controller makes it an even more compelling buy.

Be quick, as Vodafone is only running this promotion until Wednesday, August 19.

The Pacific-based aircraft carrier USS George Washington has begun heading toward the Middle East as reports have emerged of mental health and supply issues aboard the long-deployed USS Abraham Lincoln.

(Image credit: Victor R. Caivano)

The decision from U.S. District Judge Richard G. Stearns said that President Donald Trump's administration failed to prove an ongoing violation of federal civil rights laws.

(Image credit: Steven Senne)

AeroPress coffee makers are going cheap right now, in a whole rainbow of colours, and you'll find the complete set right here. Almost every colour is 20% off at Rave Coffee right now, except for the rare green model, which is out of stock at most retailers but available with a slightly more modest 16% price cut at Coffee Omega.

These colourful coffee makers are super lightweight, and even more versatile than you might have realised. Did you know that you can use them to make cold brew coffee in just two minutes, for example? No need to spend 24 hours waiting for your drink to brew, and then make a mess straining it through a cheesecloth. Just follow the instructions from AeroPress's official site — and don't forget to stir.

Want to get even more creative? How about using your AeroPress to make an Irish coffee, a carrot cake latte, or a matcha coffee fusion? Once you've picked up your new coffee maker, the sky's the limit.

Colorful AeroPress deals

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