Technology

One of the big benefits of the outsourced, cloud-based infrastructure model is speed. There are several facets to this; performance clearly being among the most important. Another is speed of provisioning, which remains a major selling point for cloud, given that IT buyers can spin up new resources according to need and in near real time.

Take a manager responsible for buying infrastructure for a large enterprise, for example. When considering various providers, the criteria they apply might typically address factors such as price, compute capacity, storage, bandwidth, and geographic location. This is very helpful for narrowing down the choice, but it doesn’t show how easily the organization can deploy and operate the chosen environment.

At the same time, infrastructure procurement processes have become so quick and convenient that they are almost as frictionless as buying something from Amazon, and that’s where problems can start.

Although it can feel like it, infrastructure is not a one-off, fire-and-forget choice; the operational impact persists throughout its lifecycle in production environments. A decision that appears straightforward at the start can quite easily become more consequential or expensive once migration or day-to-day management begins.

For example, migration might require more internal effort than initially expected, or the organization may discover it lacks some or all of the skills or support capabilities to manage the environment as intended.

So, how can these issues be addressed? It is important to plan for the possibility that migration may require more engineering time and coordination than expected. Many IT teams will be familiar with the need to reconfigure existing applications or data before they can run in the new environment, among other common scenarios.

Taking it one step further, when a new or upgraded service is more successful than anticipated, costs can easily grow with usage levels and capacity. Addressing this issue may require additional scaling, which can itself introduce additional management or security complexity.

Very few of these issues are insurmountable, but they can take longer to resolve if responsibilities between the customer and provider have not been clearly established.

Understand your operational requirements

Instead, buyers need to establish who is responsible for what. This should certainly cover day-to-day management, incident response, support escalation, and the process for adding capacity, but every organization will have its own version of this. When these points are on the table and agreed, providers should be able to explain the practical effect that scaling will have on the customer’s internal team.

Another often overlooked consideration is that infrastructure services ultimately rely on physical data center capacity, power, network connectivity, and hardware supply chains. These capabilities have always been important but have jumped up the agenda since AI and other data-intensive workloads increased demand for compute capacity, and at a pace few anticipated.

Today, buyers also need to understand whether the capacity they expect to use will be available where they need it, and on the timescale they require. Identifying these potential constraints early on allows the organization to account for them in its deployment plan rather than discovering them once a project is underway and, potentially, it’s too late to get what they need.

Bring the right people into the discussion

Clearly, some infrastructure decisions are more important than others, but in certain cases, they can affect engineering, security, compliance, finance, and the business teams, all of whom rely on the service in question.

Each group may also introduce requirements that should be fully considered before contracts are signed. If not, problems can arise when a need is identified after a provider has been selected or a deployment plan has been agreed. Involving the relevant stakeholders early also creates a clearer link between the infrastructure decision and the business outcome it is intended to support.

It may be tempting to keep some stakeholders on the periphery and decide for them, but having a say is not the same as making the final decision. The difference is that early input allows potential issues to be identified while options remain open, rather than giving every stakeholder some measure of control over the selection process, which is also not ideal.

Ask the right questions before committing

When looking at potential infrastructure providers, buyers should be able to define, in simple terms, the problem the new environment is intended to solve. At that point, it’s time for buyers to ask some serious questions.

For example, what will success look like once the service has been deployed and is supporting live workloads? How will the environment change when demand increases, including the likely effect on costs and internal management effort? Which activities will still require manual intervention from the customer’s team? What support is available during an incident, who owns each stage of the response, and how will escalations be handled?

Getting satisfactory answers is one thing, but it should get buyers to a point where they can properly test the assumptions within their cost model against the capacity they expect to use over time.

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

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• The Ninja Crispi Microwave is on sale in the UK today for £359.99
• It has eight microwave modes and five air-frying presets
• Like all Crispi air fryers, it comes with a set of non-toxic glass dishes for storing, cooking, and serving food

Got a small kitchen? Ninja's new air fryer and microwave combo might be exactly what you need, with capacity and cooking features that rival those of your conventional oven, so you could replace it with an extra cupboard.

The Ninja Crispi Microwave has a flatbed-style design rather than a traditional microwave turntable, giving you more space to cook, and lets you combine cooking modes so you can defrost, cook, and crisp foods like fries and nuggets all in one go.

This isn't the first air fryer and microwave combo we've seen at TechRadar (we awarded the Samsung Combi Smart Microwave four stars out of five when we tested it), but the new Ninja Crispi has some advantages over its rivals.

Like all Crispi air fryers, it comes with a set of non-toxic glass dishes that you can use to store, cook and serve food, plus a specially designed steam lid that's ideal for safely cooking foods like vegetables and dumplings.

(Image credit: SharkNinja)

It has the same five air-frying presets as other Crispi fryers too (air fry, max crisp, air roast, air bake, and air grill), but also has eight microwave modes, including some unusual but very useful options such as 'soften butter' for baking, and 'beverage' for when your tea has gone cold, or you're in the mood for hot chocolate now that the evenings are drawing in.

The Crispi Microwave is a particularly good option for families as well; not only does it have a huge capacity, it has a two-step child lock to prevent curious little ones opening the door during use.

The Ninja Crispi Microwave is available from today (September 2) direct from Ninja for £359.99, and comes in four colours: silver, black, stone gold, and dark blue. We'll be putting it through our usual battery of tests, so if you're not sure whether it's the right appliance to replace your regular oven, check back again soon to see how it performed.

Is it just me, or is Taylor Sheridan's idea to have two simultaneous timelines in Lioness season 3 making the show harder to follow by the minute?

Over the course of the five episodes we've seen, the plot has followed Joe being kidnapped by unknown Russian operatives, and, the six months leading up to her capture. But with three episodes left to go, nothing is adhering to a traditional structure of revealing plot twists, and that's leaving my head scrambled.

Still, things are incredibly fun, which is unusual to say about subject matter that's this dark. So, when does Lioness season 3 episode 5 arrive on Paramount+?

What time can I watch Lioness season 3 episode 6 on Paramount+?

Lioness season 3 episode 6 will drop on one of the world's best streaming services in the US and Canada on Sunday, September 6 at 12am PT / 3am ET.

Here's when it will be released in other nations globally:

• US – 12am PT / 3am ET
• Canada – 12am PT / 3am ET
• UK – 8am BST
• India – 12:30pm IST
• Singapore – 3pm SGT
• Australia – 5pm AEST
• New Zealand – 7pm NZST

When do new episodes of Lioness season 3 come out?

(Image credit: Paramount+)

Lioness season 3 will have a total of eight episodes, with new entries airing weekly. That gives us the following schedule:

• Episode 1: out now
• Episode 2: out now
• Episode 3: out now
• Episode 4: out now
• Episode 5: out now
• Episode 6: September 6
• Episode 7: September 13
• Episode 8: September 20

Enterprises once relied on perimeter-first security because enterprise systems operated like traditional single player games where data, servers and the game application resided in a single device or within one network boundary. This model worked brilliantly when users, workloads, and trusted networks were co-located.

Today, enterprise security resembles a modern multi-player online gaming where players connect from everywhere, game assets are distributed across servers around the world, and the experience relies on a complex, interconnected ecosystem.

In the same way, enterprise users, devices, applications, and data, now span clouds, edge locations, branches, partner environments, and mobile workforces, and are so distributed that trust can no longer be assumed based on location alone.

As a result, perimeter‑only approaches have become inadequate since legacy architectures struggle with cloud‑native applications, edge computing, hybrid workstyles, and API‑driven ecosystems. VPN‑led access creates blind spots in visibility, inconsistent policy enforcement, and weak session‑level control.

Enterprises scaling across branches, cloud workloads, partner ecosystems, and remote users, therefore, need a more unified approach that focuses on continuous verification, consistent policy, and real‑time monitoring.

This is why Zero Trust has shifted from a theoretical framework to an operational imperative that addresses compromised credentials, excessive privileges, insider misuse, and inconsistent enforcement, and organizations that adopt Zero Trust report reduced lateral movement and lowered breach impact.

The limitations of perimeter-led security in a cloud-first world

In the past, organizations secured a network perimeter and assumed everything inside was trustworthy. As businesses distributed across geographies, applications, and users, this boundary became blurred.

This is like hackers scanning online games for exploits to steal virtual assets; enterprises face continuous, automated scanning for any weakness.

In Zero Trust security model, each user, machine, and application is constantly verified and authenticated regardless of location. This makes Zero Trust an excellent security strategy for today’s borderless digital landscape.

What Zero Trust means in practical enterprise terms

Zero Trust is not a single product, it is a discipline for managing and granting access. In practical terms, this translates into:

• User and device verification before granting access, using identity, device posture, and context
• Applying least privilege to limit access to only what is needed, for just the time required
• Enforcing consistent policies across devices, networks, clouds, and partners
• Continuously monitoring sessions and telemetry to detect and contain threats in real time

The result is targeted access management, reduced attack surface, faster containment, and clearer audit trails.

A network‑embedded Zero Trust architecture drives concrete outcomes: lower mean time to detection, narrower blast radius, unified policy control, and simplified compliance.

Embedding Zero Trust into the network layer

Security threats span users, devices, branches, and cloud paths. The network layer has a bird’s‑eye view of traffic, telemetry, and connection patterns, making it a natural control plane for Zero Trust.

Implementing Zero Trust by piecing together point solutions creates complexity and siloed visibility. Zero Trust is most effective when native capabilities are built into the network stack itself, including:

• Identity‑aware policy at the network edge
• End‑to‑end telemetry for real‑time risk scoring
• Centralized policy enforcement that travels with the workload

Network‑level capabilities reduce dependency on fragile add‑ons and enable consistent controls across branches, clouds, and partner links.

Practical network components include integrated SD‑Wan, dedicated secure internet links, private connectivity options, and managed security services that provide a stable foundation for Zero Trust.

Network‑led Zero Trust in practice

1. Manufacturing: Embedded access controls can isolate OT traffic from enterprise IT, preventing production impacts from IT compromises.
2. Logistics: Device‑bound certificates on private wireless prevent unauthorized access to tracking systems and asset controls.
3. Mining and remote operations: Private networks with segmentation maintain operational safety while limiting exposure to external threats.
4. Financial services: Consistent policy enforcement across clouds and branches reduces fraud surface and speeds incident response.

In these settings, Zero Trust must be embedded into network design and not applied as an afterthought.

Reducing exposure and ensuring resilience

The most important outcome of Zero Trust is risk reduction. In practical terms, this means:

• Minimizing unnecessary access and privileges
• Constraining lateral movement through segmentation
• Accelerating detection with rich network telemetry
• Automating containment to limit impact

In hybrid and distributed work models, a compromised credential or an unsecured device can rapidly spread risk. A strong Zero Trust framework narrows attack paths and makes it harder for threats to escalate.

Priorities for enterprises adopting Zero Trust

Organizations should strengthen security without creating operational friction. Key priorities include:

• Start with high‑value use cases: Protect sensitive data, critical applications, and operational networks first.
• Phased implementation: Roll out Zero Trust in iterative sprints, validating operations after each phase.
• Align policy with business objectives: Balance security rigor with user experience to avoid productivity loss.
• Engage stakeholders: Include IT, security, business leads, and end users to ensure practical, scalable controls.
• Measure and improve: Track metrics like time to detect, time to remediate, and reduction in lateral movement.

Zero Trust – From strategy to execution

1. Map critical resources: Identify data, apps, and network segments that require priority.
2. Inventory users and devices: Establish identity sources, device posture checks, and third‑party access rules.
3. Define least‑privilege policies: Apply just‑in‑time and just‑enough access for sensitive workloads.
4. Build network telemetry pipeline: Consolidate logs, flow data, and risk signals into a central platform.
5. Automate policy enforcement: Use network‑based controls to apply consistent policies across clouds and branches.
6. Run tabletops and red‑team exercises: Validate controls and measure blast radius reduction.

Building trust into architecture, not around it

As enterprises adopt SD‑WAN, private wireless, cloud‑connected branches, and segmented digital operations, the question is no longer whether to implement Zero Trust, but how deeply to embed it into infrastructure.

The organizations that will scale with confidence are those that treat Zero Trust not as a security overlay, but as a foundational design principle that is built into network architecture, measured through operational outcomes, and continuously refined through real-world validation.

Zero Trust is not a destination but a discipline that evolves with threat landscapes, business models, and technology platforms. Enterprises that start today, iterate rapidly, and embed controls at the network layer will be better positioned to defend critical assets, maintain operational resilience, and adapt to tomorrow's risks with speed and clarity.

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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

The company also unveils the sleekest Swift yet and a Swift Air update at IFA 2026.

If it’s going to do double duty as a computer, it might as well have a keyboard, right?

• The Oukitel WP70 Ultra is a new rugged phone with a 16,000mAh battery
• It also has a night vision camera and thermal imaging
• Oukitel claims it's the “slimmest 16,000mAh rugged smartphone”

Oukitel has landed at IFA 2026 with two new phones, the most intriguing of which is probably the WP70 Ultra — the “slimmest 16,000mAh rugged smartphone.” So, yes, this thing has a 16,000mAh battery, dwarfing most other battery beasts like the 10,000mAh Xiaomi Redmi Note 17 Pro Max.

Compared to a typical smartphone, this battery capacity is even more impressive — the iPhone 17 Pro Max, for example, has a 5,088mAh battery in its eSIM-only configuration, and a lower capacity for versions with physical SIM card slots. Similarly, the Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra has a 5,000mAh battery. So the Oukitel WP70 Ultra has over triple the capacity.

It also charges at a decent 66W, though despite the company’s claims of a relatively slim design — and the use of a dense silicon-carbon battery to keep the size down — this is still a very chunky device at 16.4mm thick.

Still, considering the battery capacity and that this is a rugged phone with a tough outer shell, it doesn’t sound too bad.

Built for challenging environments

The Oukitel WP70 Ultra in orange (Image credit: Oukitel)

The Oukitel WP70 Ultra has all sorts of other tech packed into it too, including pro-grade thermal imaging to help you “identify risks and locate heat sources,” even in total darkness or smoke and fog.

Other specs include a 6.78-inch 120Hz AMOLED screen, a mid-range MediaTek Dimensity 7200 chipset, a 108MP main camera, a 64MP night vision camera, and Android 16.

Pricing and availability are yet to be confirmed, but even with such a massive battery, this is sure to be a niche device — aimed more at people whose work or hobbies put them in challenging outdoor environments than at the average smartphone user.

But if you want a battery that can last for days paired with a durable device that sports night vision and thermal imaging, then the Oukitel WP70 Ultra could be one of the best rugged phones on the market.

Stay online across 18 Asian destinations with instant setup, and no physical SIM card to swap.

The post Skip Roaming Fees with 20GB of Asia Data for $25 appeared first on TechRepublic.

The big question remains: How much will they cost?

Can you believe that the Dyson Supersonic turned 10 in April this year? When it arrived back in 2016 we were all amazed at its feat of engineering, with Dyson using its expertise in airflow to create a hair dryer that styles and dries hair quickly, efficiently and with minimal heat damage.

Since then, though, the original Supersonic has spawned new models, such as the Supersonic Nural and Supersonic r, but for simple, everyday drying, the OG is tough to beat. And while it still commands Dyson money, the Supersonic Origin is at the receiving end of a 45% price cut at David Jones and can be yours for AU$299.

The Supersonic Origin might only be the bare bones model of Dyson’s famed hair dryer, coming supplied with a single attachment in the styling concentrator, but it’s still more than capable of quickly drying and styling hair from its ergonomically designed body. View Deal

In our original Dyson Supersonic review, we were thoroughly impressed with its ability to try long, relatively thick hair — it managed to fully remove moisture from towel-dried hair in just under four minutes on the lowest heat setting and highest fan speed. Increasing the temperature and lowering the fan speed resulted in a quicker two and a half minutes.

On that note, the Supersonic offers three fan speeds and three temperature settings, giving you a good amount of control and the ability to prevent heat damage. We also loved how it leaves hair silky smooth.

Of course, the ‘standard’ Dyson Supersonic comes with extra attachments compared to the Origin model on sale, which are designed to be used with specific hair types or use cases — a diffuser for curly hair or a styling nozzle for straightening, for example. If you know you’d benefit from extra attachments, you can still buy them from Dyson directly with the cash you’ll save from this deal.

I’ve seen the Dyson Supersonic Origin drop to AU$299 before, but that was last year during the Black Friday sales and only as an exclusive deal on the company’s eBay store. That means this monster saving at David Jones is one to consider if you’ve always wanted the capable hair dryer, but haven’t wanted to splurge at full price.

Please note that while David Jones lists the RRP as AU$499, Dyson lists it at AU$549, making this a truly stunning discount.

More Dyson deals

If it's a Dyson hair straightener you seek, the Airstrait works wonders. It can be used on wet hair without causing damage to not only dry and straighten hair, but style it too.

Also available in Bright nickel/Rich copper and Amber Silk for the same price.View Deal

The V8 Cyclone is a fantastic stick vacuum for everyday cleaning. It delivers more powerful suction than the regular V8, a longer runtime of up to 60 minutes and 3 suction modes. View Deal

V16 Piston Animal: was $1399 now $999
Dyson’s most powerful vacuum to date not only benefits from exceptional suction power but also incorporates a few useful design additions, such as a lever to squish dust in the canister to help extend cleaning sessions (and to easily push it out when you’re done), and a cuff at the top of the wand that releases nozzle attachments without you having to bend down. It also gets the company’s All Floors Cones Sense floorhead to help prevent tangled hair.View Deal

Robot vacuums aren’t very good at deep cleaning carpets. Roomba is about to show me how it’s fixed this problem.

• TANK 5 Pro covers a 95-degree field with its thermal sensor
• The battery holds 17,600mAh and recharges fully within 90 minutes
• Dimensity 9400e reportedly outscores Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 on AnTuTu benchmarks

8849, a Chinese company known for producing rugged smartphones, has introduced the TANK 5 Pro, a device engineered for outdoor and industrial use cases.

This smartphone measures 177.1 x 87 x 33.8mm and weighs 715g, a build that supports its shockproof, reinforced construction.

A built-in toolbox app adds a compass, bubble level, protractor, barometer, and speedometer, tools aimed at fieldwork rather than everyday convenience.

Rugged design, flagship chip, and a 2k projector

The 8849 TANK 5 Pro includes a 1200-lumen camping light with SOS and strobe modes, alongside red and blue warning lights meant for roadside or rescue situations.

Inside sits a MediaTek Dimensity 9400e processor on a 4nm process, which the seller claims scores above 2.3 million on AnTuTu, edging past the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3, which scores about 2.2 million.

It uses a 6.73-inch AMOLED panel supporting 1440×3200 resolution with a 120Hz refresh rate and 3000-nit peak brightness.

Memory options include 18GB of physical RAM plus an additional 18GB of virtual allocation, alongside 512GB of storage expandable via an microSD card.

A 17,600mAh dual-cell battery anchors this rugged phone, supporting 120W wired charging that the listing says fills the cell in roughly 90 minutes.

This mobile phone also comes with a 2K 220-lumen projector with laser autofocus and ±45° keystone correction for distortion-free setup in varied lighting conditions.

The same laser module doubles as a four-meter rangefinder, while the projector lens can also serve as a high-intensity flashlight.

It supports IP68 and IP69K certification under the IEC 60529 standard, tested in static fresh water up to 1.8 meters deep for as long as 30 minutes.

8849 cautioned that seawater, pool water, soapy water, and hot water can all reduce that protective performance over time.

An ultra-wide 'predator' thermal camera behind the lens

The infrared module, nicknamed for its wide, predator-style field of view, covers 95° horizontally, nearly double the 50° span found on most rival thermal phones.

It uses a FLIR Lepton 3.1R sensor with 160×120 resolution, translating to 19,200 individually calibrated temperature-reading pixels rather than a simple heat-blob overlay.

Sensitivity is rated below 50 millikelvin, meaning it can register shifts as small as 0.05°C, a spec aimed at building inspectors, electricians, and search-and-rescue teams.

Two gain modes stretch the measurable range from −10°C up to 400°C, covering tasks from cold-storage checks to industrial machinery diagnostics.

FLIR's own MSX and Vivid-IR processing sit on top of the sensor, sharpening edges and reducing blur in the thermal feed.

A 50MP main sensor, 50MP telephoto lens, and separate 50MP night vision camera round out the rear array, supported by four infrared LEDs for low-light capture.

A 32MP front-facing camera completes the setup, handling calls and selfies with fixed-focus clarity.

None of these individual specs is unheard of on its own, but bundling a wide-view thermal sensor, projection, and flagship-tier processing into one rugged shell is unusual.

In terms of its durability, the company listed some caveats, including the variability of drop resistance depending on impact angle and surface hardness. It therefore recommends the original case for added durability.

Water, dust, and shock resistance are described as non-permanent, gradually declining through daily wear rather than remaining fixed for the device's lifespan.

Recommended operating temperature sits between 0°C and 35°C, with prolonged ultraviolet exposure noted as a factor that can affect the housing over time.

The phone is listed at £903.01 (about $1,224), with the seller citing rising memory, chip, and tariff costs as the reason for no launch discount.

A group of developers reportedly lost their jobs during what their employer called an “AI Transformation.” Their response was unusually literal. They built OpenExecutive, an open-source system designed to perform work associated with a CEO and the rest of the executive suite.

The employer and CEO have not been named in the online discussion, and OpenExecutive’s own materials don't present it as revenge for a particular firing. That said, it's hard not to see some specific grievances in both the project and the response online, with lots of comments gleefully welcoming senior management to the automation discussion.

The appeal is easy to understand after several years of executives explaining that AI will make organizations leaner, usually while standing a comfortable distance from the part being trimmed.

OpenExecutive presents one AI executive to the user, but that voice is backed by eight specialist agents. The virtual management team includes equivalents of everything from a chief strategy officer and chief operating officer to general counsel and a board communications director. It can draw on company documents, remember previous decisions, and surface follow-up actions later.

Org chart forked

OpenExecutive uses Anthropic’s Claude models by default, with an executive agent routing requests to whichever specialists seem relevant. The developers pitch it as a C-suite group chat in which everyone responds promptly. The project is distributed under the permissive Apache 2.0 license. Anyone can inspect it, modify it, run it internally or build a commercial product around it.

That open-source element gives the project more weight than a chatbot sold as a digital chief executive might usually represent. It also allows workers to experiment with the same logic their employers have been applying to them. If a company can divide software development into tasks, feed those tasks to models, and keep a few people around for supervision, it can do so.

The comparison is not entirely frivolous. Executive work involves processing information, preparing scenarios, comparing trade-offs, and producing documents for other executives. Those are all activities developers think AI models can handle. It makes OpenExecutive both a product and a satire of AI products.

AI replacement has often been discussed as something that moves upward from the bottom of an organization, consuming routine work before eventually reaching management. The developers have turned the telescope around and discovered that a surprising amount of executive labor also looks like information moving between boxes.

Human accountability

OpenExecutive is still an executive adviser, not a legal chief executive. It cannot accept responsibility or sign documents on behalf of a company. A human must decide whether to act on its recommendations and remain accountable if those recommendations fail.

That's where human leadership can't really be replaced. Analysis is part of the job, but it also involves making choices under uncertainty and accepting responsibility for the consequences. A model can recommend closing an office or cutting a team without feeling the weight of the people affected, while the humans deploying it may find the machine’s apparent neutrality rather convenient.

The project therefore reveals one of the stranger assumptions behind AI-driven layoffs. Companies often judge workers by how much of their output software can reproduce. Executives are more often judged on relationships and judgment.

AI does not erase that distinction, but it makes the special exemption harder to defend. If a developer must prove that their work contains something beyond the code an AI can generate, senior leaders should be expected to prove that their value exceeds AI recommendations. A large salary should buy more than the ability to schedule another meeting about efficiency.

Recent corporate experiments also suggest that replacing people can be easier to announce than to sustain. For instance, Duolingo’s CEO softened an “AI-first” memo after backlash over plans to phase out contractors where automation could handle their work.

Automation keeps happening, but there should be more questioning of its benefits. AI can help a small group start a company without immediately assembling a miniature court of consultants and executives. It can also give existing leaders a new justification for concentrating control while reducing the workforce beneath them.

OpenExecutive will not make CEOs obsolete, at least today. Its recommendations require scrutiny and auditing. But it shows the rhetoric of AI efficiency goes both ways in corporations. Once leaders decide that every job should be broken into tasks and measured against a machine, their own work becomes fair material for the same experiment. The resulting AI CEO may never fire its human counterpart, but it has already made the performance review considerably more awkward.

AI data centers in space apparently weren’t enough, so the company decided to give interstellar travel a try.

• Anthropic wants AI agents to control programmable machines through common software rules
• Model Hardware Standard (MHS) can connect microscopes, robotic arms, and liquid handling equipment
• MHS allows different laboratory devices to communicate through standardized software drivers

Anthropic opened a preview of its Model Hardware Standard (MHS), designed to let AI agents control programmable machines through shared rules.

The proposed system is intended for laboratories, factories, and workplaces where different instruments must work together without custom software links.

MHS uses software drivers that translate between computer systems and individual machines, allowing equipment with different interfaces to communicate consistently.

A common system for physical machines

Its drivers rely on basic commands for reading measurements or changing settings, giving agents a method for controlling connected equipment.

The system records machine details that might otherwise remain inside manuals or depend on knowledge held by experienced laboratory staff.

Users can enter such information through natural language, after which MHS creates reference material describing capabilities, adjustments and safety restrictions.

Agents can then discover compatible equipment across networks without requiring separate software bridges for every machine they need to operate.

The standard supports microscopes, liquid handlers, robotic arms and other equipment that offers some form of programmable interface for agents.

The company claims integration that once required weeks or months could instead take hours or minutes when equipment supports MHS.

According to Anthropic, Claude was tested with physical experiments, including laser alignment supported by camera-based observation during early physical trials.

The model successfully adjusted the laser, checked the image, and repeated the process while assessing each change carefully.

The design also lets agents combine commands from several devices, creating automated sequences for work that might otherwise require coordination.

Physical limits remain a concern

Anthropic said Claude interacts with experiments and hardware in an “exploratory manner, much as a scientist would,” during physical testing.

That model can then coordinate several instruments through one interface, rather than requiring separate control software for every connected device.

The company has shared MHS with manufacturers and research groups working across biotechnology, robotics and quantum computing fields.

Anthropic intends the preview to help establish safety checks before the standard becomes available widely to developers and equipment makers.

Amazon Web Services, Automata, Danaher, Doosan Robotics, MBF Bioscience, QIAGEN, Tecan and Universal Robots are among the early participants now.

Anthropic acknowledges that AI agents still require expert supervision because language models have clear limits when reasoning about physical equipment.

MHS cannot currently support equipment lacking a programmable interface, leaving some laboratory and industrial machines outside its current technical scope.

Anthropic says it plans to work with manufacturers to add drivers while expanding compatibility with more devices and robotics platforms.

The preview will also support new safety tests and practical rules for deploying AI agents around physical equipment.

The company says its eventual open-source release will include findings from these tests alongside detailed guidance for safer implementation.

The project therefore remains experimental, with practical limits still depending heavily on hardware design, software access and human oversight.

The next iPhone Pro lineup might not repeat any colors from last year, with silver reportedly not in production.

The legal fight could force Sony to change how it presents digital game purchases to California customers.

The gaming hardware company’s new game controller folds in half to make it easier to take with you.

• X-Bow received nearly $11 million under a new interceptor development contract
• The new interceptor system targets a cost below $750,000 per launch
• Patriot missiles currently cost roughly one-fifth more than this new target

The Pentagon has awarded X-Bow Systems almost $11 million to develop a lower-cost interceptor system under a missile defense program.

The project falls under the Missile Defense Agency's Rapid Response Small Launcher Technology program and seeks to create a weapon that could cost below $750,000 per launch.

That figure amounts to roughly one-fifth the cost of a Patriot missile, the current top-tier standard for air defense systems.

X-Bow develops a new interceptor approach

The Missile Defense Agency selected X-Bow through its Low-Cost Interceptor program, which focuses on developing affordable systems against advanced aerial threats.

The company will use the funding to continue propulsion work and prepare a prototype for a planned flight demonstration.

X-Bow produces its solid rocket motors and propellant internally, allowing the company to control more parts of its manufacturing process.

The agreement requires the firm to deliver a prototype system by late 2027, although that stage will not represent a fully operational weapon.

The Pentagon has faced pressure because existing interceptor systems remain expensive and difficult to produce quickly.

The war in Iran revealed a major setback as the U.S. is now left with about 250 THAAD rounds and less than 1,000 Patriot interceptors.

Patriot replacement rounds cost around $3.9 million each, while manufacturing takes years and depends on a small number of established suppliers.

“The contract will aim to address the critical need to expand the SRM industrial base, which is currently reliant on a duopoly of two primary manufacturers,” said the US Department of Defense in its contract announcement.

X-Bow said its production methods could help create affordable weapons while increasing manufacturing speed for military requirements.

“America can’t out-produce today’s threats with yesterday’s supplier base,” said Jason Hundley, founder and CEO of X-Bow Systems.

The company is examining ways to reduce costs across interceptor components, including propulsion systems and other expensive sections.

Other nations explore cheaper missile defense systems

The search for lower-cost interceptors has expanded beyond the United States as allies face similar concerns.

Ukraine and European partners have started developing alternative approaches that could reduce reliance on existing expensive missile defense weapons.

One European effort called Freyja has been linked with an interceptor costing around $700,000 per round.

Lockheed Martin has also introduced the PAC-3 ACE missile concept, which the company says could lower costs compared with current Patriot versions.

The US Air Force previously requested proposals for a counter-air missile that could cost below $500,000.

That effort reflected wider interest in producing larger numbers of affordable weapons for future defense requirements.

The X-Bow project remains in an early development stage because testing and evaluation are still required before deployment.

Military officials will need to confirm whether the system can achieve lower costs while meeting operational standards.

“We’re taking a look at propulsion, we’re taking a look at all the expensive parts of an interceptor to look for opportunities to drive down every bit of cost,” said Lt. Gen. Heath Collins, director of the Missile Defense Agency.

The program shows the Pentagon is exploring alternatives as demand for missile defense grows worldwide.

However, the outcome will depend on whether new production methods can deliver affordable systems without reducing expected performance levels.

Via Defense News

• Supermicro's new workstation costs nearly $93,000 before any tax or shipping
• It carries 748GB of memory split across CPU and GPU pools
• The system delivers up to 20 PFLOPS of FP4 performance overall

Supermicro has begun selling a workstation built around Nvidia's GB300 Grace Blackwell Ultra superchip, priced at $92,887.47 before tax and shipping costs.

That figure makes the machine roughly seven times costlier than a comparably specced Mac Studio running Apple's M5 Ultra chip, which retails at $12,299.00.

The total memory on the Supermicro workstation reaches 748GB, compared with just 256GB on Apple's Mac Studio with an M5 Ultra chip.

Built for heavy AI workloads

Nvidia's platform instead splits its 748GB total between 496GB of system memory attached to the Grace CPU and 252GB of HBM3e memory sitting on the Blackwell Ultra GPU.

Despite that structural difference, the combined pool still gives buyers nearly three times the addressable memory found in the Apple alternative.

The workstation pairs a 72-core Grace processor with a Blackwell Ultra GPU, forming a coherent memory architecture Nvidia says supports trillion-parameter models locally.

Storage includes two 1.92TB and two 960GB M.2 NVMe drives, giving buyers a flexible mix of fast local capacity.

Additional M.2 slots support PCIe 5.0 and PCIe 6.0 standards, allowing further expansion for datasets used in extended research work.

Networking runs through dual 400GbE ports paired with Nvidia's ConnectX-8 SuperNIC, alongside a dedicated management LAN port for remote administration.

For connectivity, the system includes several USB ports, a mini display output, and IPMI support for remote diagnostics and monitoring.

Nvidia claims the platform delivers up to 20 PFLOPS of FP4 performance, tripling inference speeds compared with its H200 chip.

The system also supports continuous agent workloads, generating as much as 1200 tokens per second at no additional token cost.

Cooling relies on a direct-to-chip liquid system, paired with several fans mounted inside a tower or rack-mount chassis.

Its power draw comes from a single 1600W supply rated at 94% Titanium-level efficiency for sustained heavy operation.

The chassis weighs about 88 pounds unloaded, reflecting how densely its components are packed into a compact frame.

Pricing puts it far beyond consumer reach

Supermicro built the workstation for research labs and enterprises running large models locally, away from typical home or office computing needs.

Apple's Mac Studio, meanwhile, serves creative professionals and general users who need strong performance without specialized AI infrastructure at home.

Buyers seeking lower entry costs may find a 3% discount available for new customers on the Gold Series model.

That discount brings the price down to roughly $90,101.05, still far above what most buyers would consider for a desktop workstation.

Volume buyers can also request quotes for larger discounts, a common practice among vendors selling into research and laboratory settings.

Supermicro lists the workstation under model number ARS-511GD-NB-LCC-01-G2, part of its Gold Series lineup aimed at research labs.

For most buyers, a device like this only makes sense if trillion-parameter models must run entirely on-site, without cloud reliance.

Otherwise, the price gap compared with prosumer alternatives seems difficult to justify for typical research budgets outside well-funded organizations.