Technology

• This torpedo could glide through the air before quietly entering the ocean
• Silent Anvil must enter the water at angles between 45 and 90 degrees
• Its glide phase could extend submarine hunting far beyond torpedo range

The US Navy is weighing two paths toward a new class of Silent Anvil Air-Launched Torpedo (SAA-LT) meant to enter the water quietly and track threats beneath the surface.

One route involves building an entirely new torpedo designed from the ground up to glide toward its target before submerging.

The alternative approach would attach a glide kit onto a torpedo already in service, extending its reach without a full redesign.

Weight and size requirements

Officials have set strict limits on the weapon's physical dimensions, capping it at 268 pounds with a maximum length of 70 inches and a diameter reaching up to 7.5 inches.

These figures place Silent Anvil in a similar weight class to existing torpedoes, though officials have not disclosed how far the weapon must travel before impact.

By comparison, the Mark 54 torpedo currently in Navy inventory carries a range of roughly 5.7 miles, giving industry a rough benchmark even though exact figures for the new system remain undefined.

"The Government is seeking industry input on the maximum standoff glide range achievable," the Navy said.

Officials have also outlined specific launch conditions, requiring the weapon to operate across three distinct speed bands measured at Mach 0.25, 0.50 and 0.85.

Altitude requirements stretch from as low as 10 feet to as high as 60,000 feet, a ceiling that exceeds the operational limits of the P-8 Poseidon aircraft.

That upper range instead aligns more closely with the capabilities of the MQ-4C Triton, a high-altitude surveillance drone already flying missions for the fleet.

Strict water entry requirements

Engineers must also account for how the weapon behaves once it approaches the ocean surface, since prolonged airborne travel offers a stealth advantage.

"SAA-LT shall maximize aerial flight endurance while minimizing aquatic immersion time, restricting water residence strictly to the minimum duration required for successful mission execution," the Navy said.

Under the glide-kit configuration, the torpedo would need to strike the water somewhere between 45 and 90 degrees, moving at a velocity ranging from 40 to 120 feet per second.

Development is expected to move quickly once a contract is finalized, with a working prototype required within 18 months of any award.

Should that early test succeed, the program would then scale toward 180 additional units built within three years.

This effort unfolds as China has been steadily enlarging its submarine fleet in recent years, adding vessels with far greater technical capability than before.

Among these additions are unmanned underwater vehicles engineered to operate effectively across great distances without needing any human crew aboard.

In response, the US Navy is also developing a separate weapon known internally as the Long-Range Antisubmarine Warfare system, still early in testing.

That system would let torpedoes launch from tubes built into ship decks and strike enemy submarines from a much greater distance.

Via Defense News

Two of the country’s largest internet service providers are going to court over the use of the word “fiber” in advertising.

Dennis Gabor was a Hungarian-British physicist who's widely credited with inventing holography, a photographic technique that can record and reconstruct three-dimensional images. This is an invention for which he received the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1971. But his legacy extends to his philosophy on the nature of innovation

Go your own way

Gabor wrote this iconic passage in his now-extremely rare book 'Inventing the Future', in which he sketched out an optimistic vision for the future.

Quote of the day

This article is part of TechRadar Pro's QOTD project to provide an insight into the minds of the brightest and most recognized figures in the technology industry today and in years gone by. Read the full series here.

At the core of his belief was that there was no need to any longer passively predict what may come to pass in the years ahead. Instead, the influence and strength of science and industry was such that mankind could forge its own future.

The comments also focused on that pivot point of the industrial revolution, before which the possibilities of the future were fairly limited, in his view. As each wave of innovation comes to pass, the possibilities continue to expand.

Charting a path

There's no understating the influence that Gabor had in modern science and industry. His comments were routinely quoted, and even adopted, by others. Chief among the figures that took this philosophy to heart was Alan Kay, described as one of the true luminaries of personal computing.

Kay, whose career spanned stints at Apple and HP among other industry titans, used this idea of inventing, not predicting, the future as a core maxim from 1971. He used the phrase to inspire his work in pioneering elements like the graphical user interface and laptops many years before they were realized.

Although Gabor was a very influential figure in the technology world, his predictions weren't always on the mark. In 1962, for instance, he said sending documents via telephone wires was possible, but only in principle. That's because the equipment required was so expensive that he didn't see a world in which they'd be cheap enough for the technology to become practical.

NFL technology executives share how AI-driven social engineering makes attacks faster and more convincing, offering practical strategies for IT leaders to build non-punitive, multi-channel defenses.

The post What the 49ers and Giants Teach IT Pros About AI Social Engineering appeared first on TechRepublic.

• Ukraine has deployed a turbojet interceptor specifically designed to hunt Russian attack drones
• The compact aircraft can return home when an interception attempt fails
• Multiple warhead options allow the interceptor to tackle different aerial targets

Ukraine's defense ministry has confirmed a new turbojet-powered aircraft built to shoot down Russian attack drones has now entered military service.

Dubbed Alexa Spatium, the compact v-tail craft was engineered domestically to intercept small aerial and surface threats across the battlefield.

It was built chiefly to engage Russia's Geran-3, Geran-4 and Geran-5 kamikaze drones, together with the frequently deployed Shahed-131 loitering munition.

Built for speed and reuse

The aircraft measures 1.5 by 1.7 meters and is fired from a portable catapult stationed close to the front line.

If it fails to strike anything on a given mission, the interceptor is designed to fly back toward its own launch point.

It can be fitted with thermobaric, shaped-charge, fragmentation or high-explosive warheads, depending on the kind of threat it aims to destroy in the air.

Guidance comes either from coordinates loaded before launch or through direct operator control once the aircraft is already flying toward its objective.

Detection relies on an electro-optical camera paired with an infrared sensor, allowing it to spot enemy aircraft even in low visibility conditions.

As of the time of writing, Kyiv has not officially revealed the interceptor's top speed, and a statement from the Ukrainian Ministry of Defence left several performance figures undisclosed.

A wider race against faster threats

Ukraine is not the only country fielding this kind of weapon, since Britain introduced a comparable system earlier in the year.

Known as Skyhammer and built by Cambridge Aerospace, it also runs on a turbojet engine and hunts down Shahed-style drones.

It relies on a nose-mounted radar seeker and a fragmentation warhead built to disable rather than fully destroy its objective.

Neither weapon, however, offers real protection from ballistic missiles, which travel far faster than any propeller or jet drone can manage.

This gap matters a great deal for Ukraine, whose stock of American-supplied Patriot missiles has thinned after years of steady combat use.

Ten European countries, Ukraine and the United Kingdom, formed an Anti-Ballistic Missile Coalition in July to help Ukraine close the gap.

During a Kyiv visit marking Ukraine's independence anniversary, held every August 24th, the U.K.’s Prime Minister Andy Burnham confirmed its desire to help Ukraine.

London cleared MBDA, the joint European missile maker, to hand over classified data on the Storm Shadow's internal components to Ukrainian engineers.

The move should let Ukraine begin producing its own version of the joint British and French cruise missile domestically.

Even so, none of these interceptors solve the core problem, since drones and missiles remain two very different categories of threat entirely.

Whether new missile production can scale quickly enough to matter will likely depend more on politics than on engineering alone.

That question, more than any single weapon unveiled this month, may ultimately decide how well Ukraine's skies are defended through the coming winter months.

Via The Register

Google DeepMind tested Gemini 2.5 Flash Lite behind a cryptographic wall designed to protect confidential AI benchmarks and proprietary model weights.

The post Google DeepMind Seals Gemini Test to Protect AI Benchmarks appeared first on TechRepublic.

Crazy Taxi: World Tour brings back memories of a time when all a game needed was an unhinged premise and gameplay to match.

Anthropic eyed up to 5GW of AI data center capacity in NSW. Here’s what the potential buildout could mean for Australia’s power grid and IT leaders.

The post Anthropic Eyed 5GW of AI Data Centers in Australia: Could the Grid Handle It? appeared first on TechRepublic.

• Russia is offering the Garpia-A1E to foreign military customers
• The drone can reportedly travel up to 1,000 kilometres
• Garpia-A1E carries over 50kg payload and endures for over six hours

Moscow has begun marketing a long-range loitering munition built by a state defense manufacturer to foreign militaries.

The weapon, known as the Garpia-A1E, has drawn interest from buyers abroad following a series of live demonstrations.

Officials confirmed the export plan, but declined to name which countries have expressed interest so far.

A weapon built for distance

Unlike drones designed for repeated missions, this class of weapon flies toward its programmed coordinates and detonates on arrival, destroying itself in the process — a one-way flight profile that has earned the informal label "suicide drone."

The aircraft spans 3.4 meters in length, carries a takeoff weight of 250 kilograms, and stretches 3 meters across its wings.

Engineers built the airframe around an existing gasoline-powered munition design, relying on a tailless layout and a rear-mounted propeller to strike fixed coordinates set before launch.

It tops out near 170 kilometers per hour, can remain airborne for more than six hours, and operates at altitudes ranging from 50 to 2,500 meters.

"Today, the Garpia-A1E is the only loitering munition on the global market with a range of up to 1,000 kilometers," said Alexander Mikheev, general director of Rosoboronexport.

The payload capacity exceeds 50 kilograms, and the system's accuracy keeps errors within four meters of the intended point of impact.

Prospective buyers overseas have already shown interest following a round of live testing, the director added.

Rosoboronexport remains open to negotiating direct sales agreements, along with arrangements to manufacture the drone inside countries considered friendly toward Moscow.

Meanwhile, the drone's maker, Almaz-Antey, has expanded output at its production facilities, supporting the defense sector's ability to fulfill international orders on competitive timelines.

Domestic orders come first

Any commercial arrangement involving Russian military hardware must account for existing domestic commitments before new contracts move forward.

However, it seems Russia’s domestic needs will not be a problem because the company has since expanded production.

Almaz-Antey has now reached a production capacity sufficient to meet foreign orders within competitive delivery windows.

That balance between domestic obligation and export ambition now defines Russia's approach to marketing kamikaze drones internationally.

"When conducting contract and supply work regarding Russian military products, Rosoboronexport primarily considers the need for the manufacturer to fulfill its obligations to the Russian Ministry of Defence," said Alexander Mikheev, general director of Rosoboronexport.

“Almaz-Antey has mastered the series production of the Garpia-A1E system and reached a level that enables it to fulfill contracts with foreign customers…without compromising the country’s defence capability.”

Loitering munitions have grown into one of the defining weapons of current conflicts, prompting analysts to closely track their battlefield influence and cost.

As of the time of writing, no delivery timeline has been disclosed publicly, though analysts expect pricing and rival systems to shape eventual contract decisions.

Via The Drone Front

September brings dazzling planets, a harvest moon and the official shift to autumn.

More than 100 companies signed onto an open letter calling for more urgency in fixing bugs and shoring up cybersecurity.

I've hand-picked my 12 favorite Mac mini alternatives for Windows, from budget picks to high-end content creation stations. There's no denying Apple's newly unveiled Mac mini with M6 chip is a seriously cool piece of hardware, but fixed memory and limited port selection mean it's definitely not for everyone.

If you want upgradable RAM and additional connectivity like USB4 for hooking up an external GPU, these are the Windows Mac mini alternatives I really like. I've included top-tier compact machines from brands we've reviewed highly during our mini PC testing, including Beelink, Geekom, GMKtec, Minisforum, and Asus. Whether you need a cheap mini PC for the office or a high-performance powerhouse for heavier workloads, these are the machines I recommend.

My top 12 Windows mini PCs

Geekom A8

Minisforum UM890 Pro

Beelink SER9 Pro

GMKtec EVO-X1

AceMagic K1

Kamrui E3B

Geekom A8 Max

GMKtec NucBox G10

Asus Nuc 15 Pro

Peladn HO5

Bosgame P3 Lite

Acemagic X3

Why I chose these mini PCs

I had three key areas of focus when selecting these mini PCs — performance, connectivity and value for money.

Performance was obviously high on my list, which is why I've included mini PCs powered by some seriously capable AMD Ryzen and Intel Core processors. The Beelink SER9 Pro ranked as our best mini PC for business.

I also wanted plenty of memory and storage, although upgradeability obviously varies considerably between these machines.

There are some particularly well-connected choices among my top 12, too. The Minisforum UM890 Pro has two USB4 ports, OCuLink for connecting high-speed external hardware, dual 2.5GbE ports and enough display connections to drive four screens simultaneously.

The GMKtec EVO X1 also combines USB4 and OCuLink with dual 2.5GbE networking, alongside HDMI and DisplayPort outputs.

Price was important as well, so I tried to include options for different budgets rather than filling the list with flagship machines. We rate Acemagic's K1 as our best mid-range mini PC, and at under $290, GMKtec's G10 Mini PC is a very affordable choice.

For more options, check out the best mini PCs we've tested, and for more savings, see our round-up of this week's best mini PC deals.

Fancy getting into vinyl, or upgrading your existing setup? This year has delivered some especially interesting new turntables, ranging from the classy to the tacky, and from the practical to the surely-just-for-show. I've rounded up some of our favorites below.

Oxblood is clearly in vogue, because we have not one but two decks in the moody hue: Technics' Friz Hansen turntable with a matching lamp, and Pro-Ject's ultra-minimalist Debut Evo 2.

Looking for something less understated? Rammstein fans should gear up to grab one of respected turntable brand Clearaudio's limited-edition themed decks when they finally become available in October. The brand's love letter to the German metal gods isn't simply a band logo slapped onto an existing turntable either — it was created in collaboration with Rammstein as a "fully independent model" featuring a metallic lacquer finish and dimmable LED lighting.

If you think that's bold, wait until you see Technics' other notable 2026 release. This limited-edition turntable is based on the SL-1200 model, and designed to mark its 55th anniversary. The inner workings remain largely untouched compared to the base model, but the exterior is altogether flashier: the theme here is gold, and lots of it. Everything from the tonearm to the controls to the platter has had the Midas touch applied — it even has a gold slip mat.

Scroll down for a closer look at all these decks and more — and hit the More details button for links to additional info.

Top turntables

Fluance RT87 turntable

View at Fluance

Technics Direct Drive Turntable System 55th Anniversary Edition

Read more: Technics' classic SL-1200 turntable is getting a 55th anniversary edition — and the big upgrade is 'lots of gold'

View at Technics

Goldring GR3

Read more: Goldring's GR3 turntable is all about style and convenience, but there's one aspect I wish I could switch off...

View at Goldring

Pros

• Detailed, rhythmically adept and confident sound
• Excellent pre-fitted cartridge is part of its plug-and-play convenience
• Great standard of build and finish

Cons

• Can sound slightly insubstantial at the top of the frequency range
• Phono stage really should be defeatable
• Not short of competition

Philips Fidelio FT1 (UK only)

Read more: I tested the Philips turntable with a CD player squirreled away in its plinth and honestly, for this money it's hard to argue with the versatility

View at Philips

Pros

• +Energetic and quite communicative sound
• Specified like a music centre of the old school (with some wireless stuff thrown in too)
• Tremendous flexibility where partnering equipment is concerned

Cons

• Splashy treble response
• Low frequencies sound slightly remote
• Quieter when physically connected than when using Bluetooth

Technics Limited Edition Fritz Hansen Turntable

Read more: 'Music is an art of time. Time flows without form': Technics releases a burgundy turntable, ties itself in knots over a matching 1930s lamp collab, we're all confused (but secretly I love it)

View at Technics

Sony PS-LX5BT turntable

Read more: It ain't heavy, but Sony's new budget Bluetooth turntable is still a winner eight days a week

View at Sony

Pros

• Energetic and forward, but not unsubtle, sound
• aptX Adaptive compatibility = lossy 48kHz wireless connectivity
• Integrated phono stage and fully automatic operation

Cons

• Little issues at either end of the frequency range
• Construction feels a little insubstantial
• Fixed counterweight

Pro-Ject Debut Evo 2

View at Pro.ject

Clearaudio Rammstein turntable (available Oct 2026)

Read more: Clearaudio just unveiled a stunning Rammstein turntable and truly, ich will!

• The Garmin Enduro 4 might have appeared in a new leak
• Details emerged in Indonesian regulatory filings
• The device might arrive before the end of 2026

We’ve barely had time to catch our breath after the Garmin Fenix 9 and Fenix 9 Pro announcement, but here comes news of another high-end Garmin watch looming over the horizon. Only this time, it’s not an official announcement that has shone a light on the device, but instead an intriguing leak that Garmin would probably rather you didn’t see.

The leak in question first appeared in regulatory filings from Indonesia (via Garmin News). There, listings mentioned an unnamed Garmin device bearing the model number A05197 in the “Outdoor Product” category.

Other details are pretty thin on the ground, but there is reason to believe it could point towards the unreleased Enduro 4. For one thing, Garmin News reports that Garmin uses the Outdoor Product category for “almost all of its high-end multisport smartwatches during testing phases, including past Fenix, Tactix, and Enduro generations.” That could therefore be an indicator that this mystery device belongs to one of those product families.

Then there’s the issue of previously leaked code references. We’ve already seen mention of the Enduro 4 in code contained within the Garmin Connect app, suggesting that the wearable is in development at the very least. Combine that with the new Indonesian regulatory filings and an Enduro 4 launch is looking increasingly likely.

A battery champ

(Image credit: Garmin)

Prior to the Fenix 9 Pro announcement, we had hopes that the Enduro 4 would also appear at Garmin’s launch event. That never came to pass, but it hasn’t dampened our expectations that the device exists and is on the way.

Interestingly, the unnamed Garmin device was granted regulatory approval in Indonesia on August 25 — the same day as the Fenix 9 event. Garmin News notes that it can take one to three months for a Garmin device to be unveiled after it is approved, suggesting that we could see the Enduro 4 — or whatever this unknown wearable is — before the end of 2026.

If and when that happens, it should be good news for fans of the best Garmin watches who want a device with phenomenal battery life. After all, as our Garmin Enduro 3 review noted, this line of watches “puts battery first.” We can expect the Enduro 4 to continue that tradition.

• McKinsey report into the state of AI finds more businesses are deploying agentic solutions
• 20% of organizations have been constrained by operating costs but plan to increase investments into AI
• However some are still concerned about job cuts due to AI replacement

More companies are adopting agentic AI solutions, but are also facing difficulties in making the technology pay for itself, according to new research from McKinsey - however, there is good news on the horizon, with reports of an encouraging financial impact attributed to AI use.

Several cost-saving advantages of AI adoption have been found, with almost 33% of respondents saying they had moved away from software procurement in favor of developing in-house solutions with agentic coding tools.

Interestingly, the survey has found that while AI use for organizations at large seems relatively muted, it is boosting the performance of individual employees. But on the downside, 39% of those who responded expect a decline in the size of their organization’s workforce due to AI.

Reshaping businesses

Many organizations have explored AI, with 40% of those surveyed with annual revenues of more than $1 billion are scaling AI agents, an increase on last year’s survey which recorded 27%.

In smaller organizations, just 22% reported scaling, a figure that hasn’t improved notably since the previous survey. It’s a figure that suggests – unsurprisingly – that the larger organizations are more suited to exploring AI and scaling agentic applications. This is something that is highlighted in McKinsey’s report.

“Organizations’ conviction in AI is growing faster than the immediate financial returns they can attribute to it,” McKinsey said. “More expect AI to reshape their business over the next three years than did a year ago, and they continue to plan to invest more.”

So, the EBIT (Earnings Before Interest and Taxes) factor, where at least 5% goes into AI, may seem low, and seems pretty flat with just 6% of respondents, but it has not declined, which at this stage is vital.

The downside of agentic AI

This survey reveals some significant trends, however, that could be seen as challenging for any business putting their eggs into a basked marked “AI.”

A key challenge is proving to be the token cost, with 20% reporting reduced use of AI due to operating costs. However, while 80% have reported that increases in “individual productivity” and 50% have claimed improved decision making, the use of AI seems to be making the changes that many observers have predicted over recent years.

The survey’s respondents are not optimistic on the impact of AI on the size of their workforce. 39% expect workforce declines caused by AI over the coming 12 months. This is up from 32% in McKinsey’s previous report, although it is important to note that 43% expect no AI-related decline or increase.

• Digital Foundry says getting Grand Theft Auto 6 to run at 60fps on current-gen consoles is "extremely unlikely"
• The tech experts say the 30fps footage from the Extended Look was "the most impressive example of real-time game rendering" they've seen
• It says the eventual PC version running at 60fps would be "genuinely challenging"

Tech analysts have suggested that getting Grand Theft Auto 6 to run smoothly at 60 frames per second would be a massive challenge on console.

After Grand Theft Auto 6's Extended Look, which finally offered a deep dive into Rockstar's biggest game yet running on the base PS5, reports confirmed that the game will run at 30fps on PlayStation and Xbox, with the possibility of 60fps being added post-launch.

That's no surprise considering the scale and how hyper-realistic GTA 6 looks, but according to the tech experts at Digital Foundry, it may be impossible for current-gen consoles to even hit 60fps.

Speaking about last night's extended look footage, the folks at Digital Foundry said it looks like "the most impressive example of real-time game rendering" they've ever seen; the gameplay shown is "relatively stable and well-paced 30fps output, with only very occasional single frame drops (though the nature of the 30fps asset means there could be more, unseen)."

It's believed that, while 30fps might seem low for a current-gen title such as GTA 6, Rockstar appears to be targeting this level to maximize the game's level of visual detail.

"It's clear that the focus was absolutely maximizing the level of visual detail at a fixed 30fps frame rate on all platforms," Digital Foundry wrote. "The rendering, simulation and presentation have all been tuned around that constraint — and the result is an unprecedented level of density, material quality and world coherence, with trade-offs landing primarily in image quality and animation smoothness rather than systemic scale or fidelity."

It continued, "The evidence suggests that the game maintains its 33.3ms cadence with care, and Rockstar has clearly spent immense effort balancing CPU and GPU workloads to fully saturate the hardware."

For this reason, Digital Foundry believes "a 60fps version extremely unlikely on console hardware — there's no way to regain enough GPU and particularly CPU time to make a 16.7ms update rate work without compromising the world."

It also suggests that the game could look better on PS5 Pro, thanks to the console's powerful GPU with PSSR upscaling, but Rockstar has yet to reveal official gameplay running on the hardware.

As for the eventual PC release, which hasn't been announced yet, "some level of caution is required" as while the platform could allow higher resolutions and benefit from upscalers like Nvidia DLSS, the CPU demand of GTA 6's complex world could "make hitting 60fps genuinely challenging in a way we don't often see, and will likely require a high-end CPU like a recent Ryzen X3D to avoid bottlenecks."

GTA 6 launches on November 19 for PS5, Xbox Series X, and Series S, and Rockstar has confirmed that the game can take up to 80 hours to beat.

Operation Bluebird has launched Twitter.now while fighting X over rights to the Twitter name, betting nostalgia and AI tools can build a new social network.

The post A Startup Brought Back ‘Twitter’ — Now X Is Suing appeared first on TechRepublic.

Plaud One uses AI earbuds and a 4G-connected case to record, summarize, and act on workplace conversations without relying on a nearby smartphone.

The post Plaud One: AI Earbuds That Listen, Summarize, and Take Action appeared first on TechRepublic.

• An X investigation just found 200k Chinese bot accounts, including 200 posting anti-AI content
• The posts were targeting and amplifying legitimate US citizen concerns about data centers
• Is this part of a Chinese effort to slow down American innovation, to race ahead?

X's Global Government Affairs account has revealed it "identified a bot farm of approximately 200,000 accounts," 200 of which "posting in a manner that could manipulate a legitimate debate about American AI and energy policy."

Some of the narratives that these 200 accounts were promoting included that: AI data centers are pushing up household electricity prices, rapid data centre construction is placing excessive strain on the US grid, and ordinary households are subsidising wealthy AI and data center companies.

Among the post types were visual, cartoon-like illustrations depicting data center operators getting rich, while consumers picked up the cost.

X Chinese bot accounts

X described the activity as an attempt to interfere with what it explicitly acknowledged as "legitimate debate" about American AI and energy – many of the underlying concerns about electricity demand and consumer bills are indeed supported by genuine data, but the platform worries these accounts could skew public discourse.

The company now says it's suspended the accounts that violate its authentication policy, stressing that while it wants X to remain an "open and authentic platform," fake accounts and bots are not welcome.

The post describes the offenders as "suspected Chinese inauthentic accounts," but no further detail was shared about the operators, the ties to China, engagement and reach figures, and what the other 199,000+ accounts were doing.

Is China targeting US AI?

In a similar vein, OpenAI also recently uncovered a similar operation, implying this X case isn't alone. The ChatGPT maker called that earlier operation a 'Data Center Bandwagon', when it banned a cluster of likely Chinese accounts using ChatGPT to produce propaganda-like material and other similar social media content criticizing US AI data centers.

According to the company, the accounts responsible prompted in Simplified Chinese, often requested English outputs and used VPNs to avoid the restrictions placed on mainland China.

More broadly, Axios previously reported pro-AI organizations were worried that China-linked bot campaigns were promoting opposition to US data centers, possibly in a bid to slow America's ability to build out its AI infrastructure while buying China time to get ahead.

"Industry, governments, civil society and the public should remain alert for similar attempts to scale these messages and foreign interference activities," OpenAI warned in its June 2026 report.

Together, these two cases imply that China-linked operators are deliberately experimenting with ways to boost American opposition to AI infrastructure using existing concerns, but what sort of an impact these accounts are actually having on public perception is not yet so clear.

"We take seriously any attempts to undermine the integrity of the global town square and suspend accounts that violate our Authenticity policy," X wrote.

Since I started my monthly Blu-ray Bounty column in November 2024, I’ve tested more than 100 4K Blu-rays. In that time, as well as finding that a lot of highly anticipated discs — such as Fight Club — lived up to the hype, there have also been some pleasant surprises, including the reference-quality Speed Racer and the spectacularThe Super Mario Galaxy Movie. The latter two are now part of the selection of discs I use to test the best TVs and best soundbars.

While I haven’t managed to test every disc I’ve wanted to (and certainly not every 4K disc released), one has remained frustratingly elusive: Hard Boiled. One of John Woo’s most iconic films, it's a cornerstone of Hong Kong action cinema, and I'd been keen to get my hands on the 4K release.

After failing to snag the Limited Edition, released in March 2026 in the UK, and every subsequent restock, I was starting to wonder if a Hard Boiled was destined to stay on my testing wishlist. July saw the arrival of a standard edition — and it shot to the top of my July 2026 most anticipated 4K list. After yet more courier delays, Hard Boiled finally made it into our testing lab — so, at long last, I was able to give it a spin to see whether the 4K disc is worth all the hype.

Awesome Atmos audio

Hard Boiled's numerous chaotic shootouts sound superb thanks to its engaging and immersive Dolby Atmos soundtrack (Image credit: Arrow Video / Future )

There are three soundtrack options on this disc: Cantonese Mono, Cantonese Dolby Atmos, and English Mono. I primarily used the Cantonese Dolby Atmos, to see how effective the upscaled audio track would be, although I was impressed by the clarity of the Cantonese Mono.

There're no shortage of action-packed scenes in Hard Boiled, in particular a number of gunfights, and the disc's Dolby Atmos soundtrack makes the most of them. During testing, I used a Samsung HW-Q990C 11.1.4 channel soundbar system, and the Atmos mix really came alive. As bullets tear through the room, ricocheting bullets can be heard bouncing off walls with impressive detail and precision. In the opening gunfight, as sprays of bullets from sub-machine guns fly, the trajectory of these bullets was precisely mapped to the rear channels, and as the camera moved around the room, the sound of the bullets moved with it.

While bullets generate impact, it’s the big explosions that deliver the meaty bass. While these explosions didn’t always resonate from the Q990C’s subwoofer (down to the older mix), there was still plenty of oomph to each one. The Atmos soundtrack also displays great balance and range. As Tequila and Ah Long are caught in a shootout with one another, the sound of bullet casings hitting the floor is audible in the loud gunfire, which is in turn well balanced with raised voices and the often-lively score.

4K picture wins again

The 4K Blu-ray delivers excellent colors, giving Hard Boiled a lively and rich picture (Image credit: Arrow Video / Future )

Arrow Video’s 4K discs are among the strongest when it comes to restoration, and this remains true with Hard Boiled. Textures have been finely restored, with details such as skin taking on a remarkably natural, almost 3D quality. In some scenes, the movie looks like it could have been shot only a few years ago rather than in 1992. Close-up shots reveal an impressive level of refinement, too, from the texture of a gun to the tiny details of a bullet. Having recently visited Silver Salt Restoration, which occasionally works with Arrow Video, I know just how much hard work goes into restoring films to such a standard.

Elsewhere, this 4K disc showcases bold, vibrant colors that really pop off the screen. The neon signs of downtown Hong Kong have a gorgeous richness to them, while restaurant interiors benefit from punchy yet natural-looking hues – such as a vivid green door in the opening gunfight. And then there's the blood — of which there is plenty in Hard Boiled — that displays real vibrancy, but in some scenes, also appears deep, rich and convincingly realistic. It really highlights the disc’s color reproduction.

This scene really shows off the 4K disc's contrast, but also the bright sparks looked great on the LG G6, showcasing its strong HDR highlights Arrow Video / Future The dimly lit jazz club shows lifelike contrast that looks fantastic on the G6Arrow Video / Future

Throughout the movie, there are plenty of scenes that, displayed on the right TV, really highlight the 4K disc’s excellent contrast. In the dimly lit jazz club during the opening credits, the dim surroundings contrast well with the wall and stage lights. A later scene of a parade of motorcyclists escorting a car along the docks also show deep black tones, which balance nicely with the headlamps from the vehicles.

Finally, there are plenty of moments that can give a good TV a chance to shine, too. Throughout the movie, bright sparks fly from car collisions, showers of bullets and explosions, and on the LG G6 I used for testing, they really showed off the G6’s strong HDR highlights. The film grain has also been cleaned up. There’s still enough to satisfy cinephiles, but the clean-up job gives Hard Boiled a more contemporary look without stripping away any character.

My 4K Blu-ray love grows

(Image credit: Arrow Video / Future )

I’ve written plenty about how much I love what 4K Blu-ray can do for more classic movies, with titles such as 1938’s Captain Blood, 1944’s Double Indemnity and 1950’s Sunset Boulevard from Hollywood’s Golden Age all given a new lease of life. Even "more recent" thrillers such as To Live and Die in L.A. — also from Arrow Video — have received stunning 4K makeovers, while remaining crucially faithful to the original, filmmaker-intended look.

Hard Boiled is just the latest in a series of titles I’ve tested that showcase just what 4K Blu-ray can do. It retains the movie’s iconic look, both of early-'90s Hong Kong cinema and John Woo’s distinctive style, while also giving the movie a new coat of paint. The superb new Atmos soundtrack adds another layer, bringing out a wealth of intricate detail and making the explosive action even more immersive. It's yet another fantastic 4K Blu-ray release that I’ll be adding to my now bursting 4K Blu-ray shelves.