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Brazil's President Lula is firing back at Trump's 50% tariff threat — saying Brazil is ready to match any U.S. import taxes, dollar for dollar.

(Image credit: Dado Galdieri)

The Khao Kheow Open Zoo was overrun with Moo Deng fans on the first of four days of activities marking the birthday of the adorable social media sensation.

(Image credit: Sakchai Lalit)

Here are hints and answers for the NYT Strands puzzle for July 11, No. 495.

Here are some hints and the answers for the NYT Connections puzzle for July 11, #761.

Here are hints and the answer for today's Wordle for July 11, No. 1,483.

The number of measles cases in the US has risen to a record level. Learn how to protect yourself.

CNET experts list the best iPads that suit your needs.

Flash floods can start suddenly and become dangerous quickly. But there are steps you can take to protect yourself, both in the moment and well in advance.

(Image credit: Jim Vondruska)

• xAI has launched the new Grok 4 and Grok 4 Heavy AI models
• Grok 4 requires a $30 monthly SuperGrok subscription
• The launch comes as Grok faces renewed criticism

xAI introduced new versions of its Grok AI model line. Grok 4 and its larger, more powerful sibling, Grok 4 Heavy, are part of CEO Elon Musk’s effort to position Grok as a serious competitor to OpenAI’s ChatGPT, Google’s Gemini, and Anthropic’s Claude. That includes the new $300-a-month subscription tier called SuperGrok Heavy, which offers exclusive access to Grok 4 Heavy.

Musk boasted during the announcement livestream that “Grok 4 is better than PhD level in every subject, no exceptions. At times, it may lack common sense, and it has not yet invented new technologies or discovered new physics, but that is just a matter of time.”

And the model’s benchmark scores do suggest it's not hyperbolic to say so; it's a legitimate leap forward. Grok 4 scored 25.4% on the notoriously difficult Humanity’s Last Exam benchmark without tools, putting it ahead of Gemini 2.5 Pro and OpenAI’s o3. The bragging is even more apt for Grok 4 Heavy, because as a multi-agent version of Grok 4, it deploys several reasoning agents simultaneously. On the same test, it scored 44.4%, better than all current commercial offerings.

The takeaway, at least from a technical standpoint, is that Grok 4 is now firmly in frontier-model territory. That’s a meaningful shift for xAI, which just months ago was primarily known for its integration with X, the rechristened Twitter owned by Musk. xAI is clearly trying to be taken seriously as a legitimate AI research and enterprise company.

If you do pay the $300 a month for SuperGrok Heavy, you'll get not only access to Grok 4 Heavy but also developer tools, API usage, and be first to try out new and upcoming features like an AI coding assistant, a multi-modal agent, and an AI video generator. As OpenAI, Google, and Anthropic all roll out more expensive subscription tiers, xAI is likely to be keen to come out ahead in both timing and model quality.

Introducing Grok 4, the world's most powerful AI model. Watch the livestream now: https://t.co/59iDX5s2ckJuly 10, 2025

Grokking controversy

Of course, the benchmarks and demos shared by Musk and his team during the livestream could not quite overshadow how Grok’s official account on X this week spiraled into antisemitic madness.

The chatbot’s automated replies on X for hours included conspiracy theories about Jewish control of Hollywood, praise for Hitler, and even declaring itself as “MechaHitler.” The company swiftly deleted the posts as they appeared, and Grok briefly denied even making them before copping to the reality of screenshots.

Eventually, X deleted all of the eye-poppingly offensive posts and placed temporary restrictions on the account. The outburst appeared to be tied to a recent update to Grok’s internal system prompt that the company then reversed.

Musk didn’t address the incident directly during his Grok 4 livestream, nor did anyone at xAI offer a public explanation. Meanwhile, Linda Yaccarino stepped down as CEO of X on the very same day, though xAI insists the timing is unrelated.

With all that happening in the background, Grok 4's launch didn't have quite the clean innovation-centered debut xAI likely hoped for. And it's hard for the company to claim the praise for Hitler was simply a technical error when Musk, who is intimately tied to both X and xAI, has repeatedly insisted that Grok will be a non-politically correct AI model.

You can build the most powerful model in the world, but if users are constantly bracing for it to say something offensive or unhinged, that power won’t matter.

There’s no question xAI has the technical chops to build a top-tier model. But unless they start addressing trust, transparency, and content safety with the same intensity they apply to benchmarks, they’ll always be playing catch-up to companies with AI chatbots that don't remind people of major public relations disasters.

A company interested in what Grok 4 Heavy can do for them might be a little more hesitant to pay $300 a month if the first thing people think of when they hear about Grok powering the system is Holocaust denial. That kind of baggage is heavier than any dataset.

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• Ryzen Threadripper 9980X delivers unmatched power for multi-core workflows
• PassMark scores show AMD’s 64-core chip leading the desktop market
• Expensive but effective, Threadripper 9980X sets a new bar in performance

AMD’s new Ryzen Threadripper 9000 series has finally gone on sale, with the flagship Threadripper 9980X available to buy now from Tech-America for a decidedly premium $5,198.

That’s expensive for sure, but for professionals who need top-tier multi-core performance, early benchmarks show the new chip delivers value where it matters - the proverbial bang for your buck, if you will.

Built on AMD’s Zen 5 architecture, the 9980X has 64 cores with 128 threads. It’s not just the core count that sets the new chip apart from competition, but how it performs under heavy load.

Topping the charts

The new chip is capable of handling demanding tasks like 3D rendering, simulation, and video production with impressive ease thanks to a base clock of 3.2GHz and a boost speed of up to 5.4GHz.

In fact, PassMark’s benchmarks (see below) suggest that it delivers a level of performance that outpaces even workstation-grade chips with more cores.

In PassMark’s multi-thread CPU test, the 9980X scored 147,481, placing it at the top of the desktop performance chart.

That’s higher than the 96-core Threadripper PRO 7995WX, which posted 145,572 points.

Despite having fewer cores, the 9980X comes out ahead, likely because of its higher base clock and superior efficiency across workloads that scale with clock speed.

(Image credit: PassMark)Single Thread results

In single-thread tests, the picture is a bit different. The 9980X scores 4,594, which puts it behind more consumer-oriented chips like Apple’s M3 Ultra and Intel’s Core Ultra 9 285K. That’s not unexpected of course, since the Threadripper 9980X is designed for multi-threaded applications rather than everyday desktop use.

Compared to the previous-gen Threadripper 7980X, the 9980X shows about an 8 percent gain in performance. While that may not sound huge, it is enough to comfortably lead the current charts.

The chip also includes 64MB of L2 and 256MB of L3 cache, giving it plenty of on-die memory to keep things running fast.

Full reviews are expected soon, but early results suggest that AMD’s Threadripper 9980X is a serious upgrade for high-end users with deep pockets.

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Borrowers enrolled in the Saving on a Valuable Education plan just had another curveball thrown at them.

MyPillow creator Mike Lindell's lawyers were fined thousands for submitting a legal filing riddled with AI-generated mistakes. It highlights a dilemma of balancing technology and using it responsibly.

(Image credit: Octavio Jones)

• McDonald's recently introduced a new hiring platform called McHire
• It uses an AI-powered chatbot that collects resumes, CVs, and contact data
• Researchers managed to easily log into the backend and obtain all of the data stored by the AI

A third-party supply chain vulnerability exposed sensitive data on 64 million people who applied to work with McDonald’s, experts have claimed.

The company recently introduced a new AI-powered hiring platform, courtesy of partners Paradox.ai. Called McHire, it featured Olivia, an AI-powered chatbot that screens applicants, gathers their contact information, CVs and resumes, and makes them do a personality test.

The dedicated website, McHire.com, had a login link, which two security researchers - Ian Carroll and Sam Curry - used to log into the backend. They tried guessing the password, and after a first failed attempt (going with “admin” for both username and password fields), they succeeded on the second one - using “123456” in both fields.

Plugging the hole

Although it might come as a shock to some, Carroll told Wired easy-to-guess passwords such as this one are “more common than you’d think.”

Indeed, over the years, there were countless reports from security experts, warning about the use of passwords such as “password”, “iloveyou”, “123456”, “qwerty”, and similar.

Reaching the backend, they accessed all the data harvested by the platform, including personally identifiable information shared in CVs and resumes: names, email addresses, and phone numbers. In total, 64 million records were exposed.

While stealing names, emails, and phone numbers might not sound like much, cybercriminals can use it to create highly convincing phishing attacks, especially knowing that the victims applied for a job at McDonald’s at some point.

This can lead to more destructive malware and ransomware attacks, identity theft, and even wire fraud.

As soon as the discovery was made, Paradox was notified and quickly plugged the hole. The company told Wired that “only a fraction of the records” the researchers accessed contained personal information, and that the hole was not previously spotted by anyone else.

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Microsoft Outlook is recovering after a major outage affected users around the world.

Outage reports began to spike for the widely-used email provider earlier today, with Microsoft confirming an issue not long after.

After several hours, the outage now seems to be ending, but here's everything we know so far...

• Check out the best secure email providers as well

Microsoft Outlook appears to be suffering a significant outage, with users across the world unable to access the platform.

Outage reports began to surface a few minutes ago, with Outlook.com apparently unavailable.

That's quite the spike in outage reports, courtesy of DownDetector.com!

(Image credit: DownDetector)

So what has Microsoft said so far?

Its official status platform confirms there is an issue with Outlook.com, so at least the company is aware of the issue.

"Users may be unable to access their mailbox using any connection methods," the page says.

"We're continuing to apply the configuration changes to fix the underlying problem and completing additional validation efforts to ensure authentication components are properly configured. In parallel to the current deployment of the configuration change fix, we're reviewing options to leverage an expedited deployment methodology in regions which are experiencing the highest levels of impact to provide the most effective relief where possible."

It adds impacted connection methods include, but may not be limited to:

- Outlook.com

- Outlook Mobile

- Outlook desktop client

For anyone trying alternate ways to try and log in to Outlook, it's worth noting Microsoft saying the outage affects the platform on web, mobile and desktop - so you might be out of luck!

This outage comes just as the East Coast of the US clocks in for the day, so it could mean a disrupted start for workers...

It's interesting to note Microsoft has yet to update its official Outlook, Windows and Microsoft accounts on X.

Reports of Microsoft Outlook going down first appeared more than 12 hours ago - but there's still nothing...

However the Microsoft Outlook Twitter account hasn't actually posted since June 11, so it may be that it's not active any more anyways!

As we try to find out more - here's some thoughts from Desire Athow, Managing Editor here at TechRadar Pro...

"Microsoft says that its Outlook desktop client, the popular Microsoft email client that is usually bundled with Microsoft 365 (formerly known as Office 365), is also down, which is a bit of a surprise. No other Microsoft products are currently impacted by the downtime which leaves me to believe that it may be something to do with the email middleware itself rather than a more widespread data center infrastructure."

An update from Microsoft from its official status page - where the outage has now been upgraded from a "warning" to an official issues;

"We're continuing to apply the configuration changes to fix the underlying problem and completing additional validation efforts to ensure authentication components are properly configured. In parallel to the current deployment of the configuration change fix, we're reviewing options to leverage an expedited deployment methodology in regions which are experiencing the highest levels of impact to provide the most effective relief where possible."

Microsoft has promised another update by 4.30pm UTC - so in about an hour's time - but while it works, outage reports keep on rising.

(Image credit: DownDetector)

We've spotted the official Microsoft 365 Status Twitter feed is providing much more information on the outage - here's what it has to say...

We're currently investigating an issue impacting https://t.co/yThFCaxMLE. Please see our service health page for further details: https://t.co/48OL20htnj.July 10, 2025

We're now entering the second hour of the outage, and it seems thousands of users are still unable to access Outlook.com, on web and mobile.

There's no concrete updates from Microsoft - so we're sitting and waiting to see how this will go.

If you're just joining us - a quick recap...

Users have been complaining about a major outage in Outlook for the last few hours - coinciding with the start of the working day in the US.

The outage affects Outlook on web and mobile, and has been going on for some time - Microsoft says it is working on a fix, but outage reports remain high.

We may finally be reaching a turning point - nearly three hours in, and outage reports are finally beginning to drop at last.

There's still no further comment from Microsoft, but this could be the beginning of the end (we hope)...

(Image credit: DownDetector)

Here we are - Microsoft thinks it has finally fixed the issue at last! Anyone affected should be seeing a solution soon, we hope.

Our configuration changes have effectively resolved impact in targeted infrastructure. We’re now deploying the changes worldwide to resolve impact for all users. For more information, please see https://t.co/j9reNyhJlq.July 10, 2025

Outage reports are falling fast on DownDetector, so this is likely the end of the issues.

We're going to stay tracking for a little while longer, but Microsoft says users and admins should now be able to continue operating as normal.

One final update from Microsoft - for admins this time.

Impacted Enterprise admins can also access updates and additional information on this issue by viewing EX1112414 in the Microsoft 365 admin center.July 10, 2025

New York Times reporter Adam Liptak discusses the Court's decisions to limit the power of lower courts while expanding presidential power, and its consequential use of the "shadow docket."

• Fortnite's Blitz Royale mode has been extended by four weeks
• Starting July 15, new weekly updates will be added that will include new abilities, locations, and surprise collaborations
• Fans are hoping that this means Epic is considering making the mode permanent

Epic Games has extended Fortnite's Blitz Royale play period by four more weeks, making fans wonder if the studio plans on making the mode a permanent feature.

Blitz Royale, a fast-paced, 32-player version of regular Battle Royale matches that only last for five minutes, was added to the game last month. But what was sure to be a limited-time game mode could potentially stick around for good.

In a new social media post, Epic Games announced that "four more weeks of updates" are on the way, with the first beginning on July 15.

The developer also teased that new abilities, locations, like Mega City, and surprise collaborations will be dropping over the next month.

It’s all about that Blitz - four more weeks of updates comin’ your way!New loot drops, new map updates, new surprise collabs! pic.twitter.com/GqNIDkxZtpJuly 9, 2025

With Epic Games extending the Blitz Royale, players are curious to see if this means the game mode will become a permanent fixture of the popular online shooter.

"I love Blitz, it should definitely remain permanent. Wonder if it’ll come to FN as a permanent mode for next season," one user said on the game's subreddit.

It seems that the developer is already considering it, because earlier this month, it released a poll on X / Twitter asking fans what changes they'd like to see besides "make Blitz permanent".

The options include new points of interest, more collaboration items, new Boons and Powers, and "more Megalo Don plz", suggesting that improvements to the game mode are already in the works.

Epic has yet to detail the content of the next month of Blitz Royale, but those who have missed out will be able to jump in in the coming days.

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• The drive covered St. Moritz to Munich without a single charging stop
• Journey included roads, highways, and secondary roads
• Attempt bettered the previous record by almost 100 miles

Lucid now has an official Guinness World Records trophy to add to its cabinet, as its Air Grand Touring model just managed to complete just under 749 miles on a single charge while traveling on public roads.

The record-breaking journey started in St. Moritz, Switzerland and finished in Munich, Germany, with the trip taking in winding mountain passes, fast highway sections and narrow secondary roads in a true display of real-world range.

Lucid is already considered one of the leading figures in electric vehicle efficiency, with the Air Grand Touring boasting an official WLTP (Worldwide Harmonized Light Vehicle Test Procedure) range of 960km (596 miles), yet it still manages to deliver some 831hp and a top speed of almost 170mph.

London-based entrepreneur, hyper-miling legend and owner of the world's strongest bladder, Umit Sabanci, was behind the wheel for this attempt, having previously set a Guinness World Record for the most countries visited on a single charge in a production battery electric vehicle, crossing nine countries back in 2024.

Lucid set another @GWR title for the history books.Together with @Umit_Sabanci, we have officially set a new Guinness World Records title for the longest journey by an electric car on a single charge. The Lucid Air Grand Touring covered an astonishing 1,205 kilometers (~ 749… pic.twitter.com/2LeayLnjgcJuly 8, 2025

Lucid claims that Sabanci’s endeavor beat the previous record by around 100 miles and added a mind-boggling 237 miles to the vehicle’s official WLTP range.

This was made possible by some very sensible driving, but also by some clever route selection, with the journey effectively beginning at the top of The Alps and ending a good 4,300ft lower in Munich.

Heavy use of regenerative braking would have helped keep the monster 112kWh batteries brimmed. Although Lucid is keen to point out that its charging technology can add an impressive 248 miles of range in just 16 minutes from the appropriate fast charging outlet, for those not keen on traveling almost 750 miles in one hit.

Lucid leads the way in EV efficiency

(Image credit: Lucid)

The US electric vehicle maker clearly used some clever route-planning to achieve this record-breaking feat, but nothing should be taken away from the company’s dedication to EV performance and efficiency.

Lucid is one of the few to engineer and produce most of its powertrain components, with a laser focus on creating an aerodynamic vehicle that is as light and efficient as possible.

The Air Pure, for example, was one of the first EVs to boast an enviable energy efficiency rating of 5 miles per kWh – you’ll be lucky if you get over 3 miles per kWh in most modern electric cars.

However, this technology is currently reserved for the wealthiest in society, with prices of the Air ranging from $69,900 to over $169,000 in the US.

The company has stated that it plans to produce a more affordable version of its $79,900 (around £59,000 / AU$121,000) Gravity SUV in the near future, which will be based on a new midsize platform and will deliver the same sort of range as competitors, but with a much smaller battery.

This will allow it to compete with the likes of Tesla, offering the Lucid’s renowned efficiencies at a fraction of the current line-up’s price.

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(Image credit: Bronson Arcuri/NPR)

• Italy's Piracy Shield has prompted European lawmakers' scrutiny
• The EU Commission sent a letter to Italy's Minister of Foreign Affairs to warn that it may not be compliant with the EU Digital Services Act
• Italy's anti-piracy system has so far led to significant overblocking incidents that sparked strong criticism

Italy's infamous anti-piracy system, Piracy Shield, may be breaching European law.

On June 13, 2025, the EU Commission sent a letter to Italy's Minister of Foreign Affairs, Antonio Tajani, warning that the Piracy Shield may not be compliant with Digital Services Act (DSA) rules. The system, lawmakers said, may even undermine citizens' fundamental rights to freedom of expression and information as ruled by the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights.

Italy's Piracy Shield allows authorities to not only require ISPs, but also VPN and DNS providers, to block suspected pirated content within 30 minutes. A feature praised by rightholders in the country, which also led to significant overblocking incidents and sparked strong criticism across the industry.

What's wrong with Italy's Piracy Shield?

Italy first enforced its Piracy Shield system in February 2024 to prevent citizens from accessing live sports events through pirate sites, especially football matches. To do so, rightsholders can demand that piracy-related domain names and IP addresses suspected of copyright infringement be blocked within 30 minutes.

The Italian anti-piracy system has certainly proven effective so far. Yet, tech companies have been raising concerns with EU authorities about multiple overblocking incidents that have even affected, among others, legitimate Google domains.

Specifically, the Computer & Communications Industry Association (CCIA) warned against a lack of transparency over the blocking and a lack of support for those sites wrongfully blocked.

These concerns have sparked an EU investigation into the technical details of Italy's anti-piracy system, which has highlighted a few notable issues.

Lawmakers pointed out how the DSA "does not provide a legal basis for the issuing of orders by national administrative or judicial authorities, nor does it regulate the enforcement of such orders," inviting Italian authorities to clarify how these procedures meet DSA requirements in the final text.

(Image credit: Sitade/via Getty Images)

Crucially, the letter also emphasises that "the effective tackling of illegal content must also take into account the fundamental right to freedom of expression and information under the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the EU."

This point is likely linked to Italian communication regulator AGCOM's decision to require DNS and virtual private network (VPN) providers to actively block alleged illegal streams upon request.

Privacy experts and technologists have previously pointed out that targeting VPN providers could have "sweeping consequences" for people's internet security and privacy. A VPN provider (AirVPN) has, in fact, already stopped accepting new Italian subscribers.

"A model of what not to do"

While we need to wait to see whether the EU Commission's comments will change how Italy deals with illegal streaming in the future, that's certainly not an isolated case.

Other European countries have been increasingly using such infrastructure-level blocking against pirated or other harmful content, sparking concerns among the industry.

France, for example, has recently taken a strong stance against VPN providers. After a successful legal action against DNS services in 2024, on May 15, 2025, the Paris Judicial Court backed Canal+'s request and ordered five of TechRadar's best VPN services – NordVPN, ExpressVPN, Surfshark, Proton VPN, and CyberGhost – to block access to 203 domains linked to illegal sports streaming sites.

Spanish sports streaming giants, LaLiga and Telefónica, have also been increasingly issuing IP blocking orders since February 2025. Again, this tactic has led to many overblocking incidents, with Google Fonts, institutional sites, and payment platforms among the legitimate domains mistakenly blocked so far. This is why US-based DNS giant Cloudflare is fighting in court to fix these issues ahead of the next LaLiga season.

Nonetheless, according to the Executive Director of the i2Coalition, Christian Dawson, Italy remains the worst example out there.

Dawson told TechRadar: "The number of problems that we are seeing with Italy's Piracy Shield is remarkable, and we want the rest of Europe to see that as a cautionary tale. We do worry, though, that a lot of other member states are looking to Italy's Piracy Shield as a model, and we think it's a model of exactly what not to do."

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Some Outlook users are currently unable to access their email, either through web browser, mobile app or desktop client.