Anthropic let its Claude AI run a vending machine in the Wall Street Journal newsroom for three weeks as part of an internal stress test called Project Vend, and the experiment ended in financial ruin after journalists systematically manipulated the bot into giving away its entire inventory for free. The AI, nicknamed Claudius, was programmed to order inventory, set prices, and respond to customer requests via Slack. It had a $1,000 starting balance and autonomy to make individual purchases up to $80. Within days, WSJ reporters had convinced it to declare an "Ultra-Capitalist Free-for-All" that dropped all prices to zero.
The bot also approved purchases of a PlayStation 5, a live betta fish, and bottles of Manischewitz wine -- all subsequently given away. The business ended more than $1,000 in the red. Anthropic introduced a second version featuring a separate "CEO" bot named Seymour Cash to supervise Claudius. Reporters staged a fake boardroom coup using fabricated PDF documents, and both AI agents accepted the forged corporate governance materials as legitimate.
Logan Graham, head of Anthropic's Frontier Red Team, said the chaos represented a road map for improvement rather than failure.
The bot also approved purchases of a PlayStation 5, a live betta fish, and bottles of Manischewitz wine -- all subsequently given away. The business ended more than $1,000 in the red. Anthropic introduced a second version featuring a separate "CEO" bot named Seymour Cash to supervise Claudius. Reporters staged a fake boardroom coup using fabricated PDF documents, and both AI agents accepted the forged corporate governance materials as legitimate.
Logan Graham, head of Anthropic's Frontier Red Team, said the chaos represented a road map for improvement rather than failure.
Read more of this story at Slashdot.
The UK Met Office projects that 2026 will see global temperatures rise between 1.34C and 1.58C above preindustrial levels, placing it among the four hottest years since records began in 1850 and continuing a streak of extreme warming that has pushed the planet into unprecedented territory. The central forecast is slightly cooler than the 1.55C recorded in 2024, the warmest year on record. But climate scientist Adam Scaife, who led the forecast, noted that "the last three years are all likely to have exceeded 1.4C" and 2026 would be the fourth consecutive year to do so. "Prior to this surge, the previous global temperature had not exceeded 1.3C," he said.
The forecast suggests another temporary exceedance of the 1.5C threshold set by the Paris Agreement is possible in 2026, following the first such breach in 2024. The 1.5C target is measured as a 30-year average, so it remains technically achievable even as individual years cross the line. EU scientists said last week that 2025 is "virtually certain" to rank as the second or third-hottest year on record.
The forecast suggests another temporary exceedance of the 1.5C threshold set by the Paris Agreement is possible in 2026, following the first such breach in 2024. The 1.5C target is measured as a 30-year average, so it remains technically achievable even as individual years cross the line. EU scientists said last week that 2025 is "virtually certain" to rank as the second or third-hottest year on record.
Read more of this story at Slashdot.
An anonymous reader shares a report: OpenAI has held preliminary talks with some investors about raising funds at a valuation of around $750 billion, the Information reported on Wednesday. The ChatGPT maker could raise as much as $100 billion, the report said, citing people with knowledge of the discussions. If finalized, the talks would represent a roughly 50% jump from OpenAI's reported $500 billion valuation in October, following a deal in which current and former employees sold about $6.6 billion worth of shares.
Read more of this story at Slashdot.
Apple has announced a sweeping set of changes to iOS in Japan that will allow alternative app marketplaces, third-party payment processing, and non-WebKit browser engines -- all to comply with Japan's Mobile Software Competition Act, which takes effect December 18. The changes, now available in iOS 26.2, bear a strong resemblance to Apple's compliance measures for the European Union's Digital Markets Act but differ in key ways.
Japanese developers who want to offer alternative payment options must display them alongside Apple's in-app purchase system, giving users a choice at checkout rather than replacing Apple's option entirely. Apps cannot be distributed directly from websites as they can in the EU; they must go through an authorized marketplace.
Apple has established a tiered fee structure for the new arrangements. Apps distributed through the App Store using in-app purchase will pay between 15 and 26% depending on whether developers qualify for the Small Business Program. Alternative payment processing drops the 5% payment fee but keeps the base commission. Apps distributed outside the App Store pay a flat 5% Core Technology Commission on digital goods and services.
The company introduced several user-facing changes beyond app distribution. iPhone users in Japan will see browser and search engine choice screens during device setup, can assign third-party voice assistants to the side button, and can select alternative default navigation apps. Apple said it worked closely with Japanese regulators on protections for younger users. Apps in the Kids category cannot link to external websites for purchases, and users under 13 cannot access web links for transactions in any app.
An Apple spokesperson told Bloomberg that the company has no plans to extend these changes to other markets.
Japanese developers who want to offer alternative payment options must display them alongside Apple's in-app purchase system, giving users a choice at checkout rather than replacing Apple's option entirely. Apps cannot be distributed directly from websites as they can in the EU; they must go through an authorized marketplace.
Apple has established a tiered fee structure for the new arrangements. Apps distributed through the App Store using in-app purchase will pay between 15 and 26% depending on whether developers qualify for the Small Business Program. Alternative payment processing drops the 5% payment fee but keeps the base commission. Apps distributed outside the App Store pay a flat 5% Core Technology Commission on digital goods and services.
The company introduced several user-facing changes beyond app distribution. iPhone users in Japan will see browser and search engine choice screens during device setup, can assign third-party voice assistants to the side button, and can select alternative default navigation apps. Apple said it worked closely with Japanese regulators on protections for younger users. Apps in the Kids category cannot link to external websites for purchases, and users under 13 cannot access web links for transactions in any app.
An Apple spokesperson told Bloomberg that the company has no plans to extend these changes to other markets.
Read more of this story at Slashdot.
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MHKBB posted a photo:
Maurener Valley, December 2025
Camera: Hasselblad X2D
Lens: Hasselblad XCD 38V
Heeft het zin om getalenteerde kinderen al een specialistische opleiding te geven? Nee, zeggen onderzoekers. Volwassen toppers hebben juist vaak een brede achtergrond en kwamen laat bovendrijven.
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Hebben we in Nederland net de ontmaskering achter de rug van gezondheidsgoeroe Wim ‘Iceman’ Hof, of in Amerika volgt de postume sloop van de wereldberoemde neuroloog Oliver Sacks…
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'Within 10 minutes of gaining initial access, crypto miners were operational'
Your AWS account could be quietly running someone else's cryptominer. Cryptocurrency thieves are using stolen Amazon account credentials to mine for coins at the expense of AWS customers, abusing their Elastic Container Service (ECS) and their Elastic Compute Cloud (EC2) resources, in an ongoing operation that started on November 2.…
Wie uit het raam kijkt en een boom ziet, voelt zich prettiger en gaat zich gezonder gedragen. Wie uit het raam kijkt en geen boom ziet, heeft een ellendig bestaan is ten dode opgeschreven. Dat staat in een nieuw vuistregel-rapport van het RIVM over de inrichting van de openbare ruimte. Tevens moet er binnen 200 meter van een woning een "speelplek" zijn, en minimaal 1 hectare "BEWEEGGROEN" (dat is een grasveld - red). Binnen 1,5 kilometer van elk huis moeten minimaal drie typen sportaccommodaties te vinden zijn. Verder moet er om de 125 meter een "zitplek" zijn, liefst met schaduw. Kunstwerken of andere objecten kunnen daarnaast een gesprek tussen onbekenden op gang brengen, denkt het instituut. Ook hardop lachen om volstrekt idiote beleidsdwaling door boventallige mafklappers. KLIK HIERRR.
dikke prima
Beelden verdachte die in Rotterdam tevergeefs pint van bankrekening hoogbejaarde vrouw uit Amerongen
Een slechtziende 89-jarige vrouw wordt driemaal het slachtoffer van oplichters. De vrouw woont in Amerongen in de provincie
Utrecht, maar er wordt onder meer in Rotterdam tevergeefs geprobeerd om van haar bankrekening geld te pinnen door een verdachte die goed herkenbaar is gefilmd.
“Docs said I’d never walk, but I ran a marathon.” Logan Knowles was born with cerebral palsy. This fall, he ran & completed the NYC marathon, his body fighting him the whole way. What a story.
Those Vegan Cowboys, het plantaardige-kaasbedrijf van de oprichters van De Vegetarische Slager, heeft in een eerste financieringsronde meer dan 6 miljoen euro opgehaald. Dat geld wil de Nederlands-Belgische onderneming gebruiken bij de voorbereidingen om "echte kaas" op de markt te brengen waaraan geen koe te pas komt.
Those Vegan Cowboys heeft een manier gevonden om caseïne, het belangrijkste eiwit in kaas, te maken via precisiefermentatie, zonder gebruik van dieren. "Het resultaat is zuivel-identieke kaas met een aanzienlijk lagere milieu-impact."
Met de kapitaalinjectie kan Those Vegan Cowboys naar eigen zeggen de komende twee jaar vooruit. De ronde werd geleid door Pieter Geelen, medeoprichter van TomTom. Tot de investeerders behoort ook Westland Kaas, bekend van Old Amsterdam en Maaslander. "Met onze deelname in Those Vegan Cowboys omarmen we open innovatie en nieuwe technologie, zodat ons familiebedrijf ook in de toekomst relevant blijft", verklaart financieel directeur Frank Fischer van dat zuivelbedrijf.
Oprichting
Those Vegan Cowboys werd in 2020 opgericht door Jaap Korteweg en Niko Koffeman, de mannen achter De Vegetarische Slager. Op de vestiging van het bedrijf in het Belgische Gent werken circa 25 medewerkers aan de ontwikkeling van een nieuwe generatie duurzame zuivelproducten.
Het duurt nog wel even voordat de plantaardige kaas in Nederland in de winkel ligt. Those Vegan Cowboys heeft in de Verenigde Staten al toestemming om de markt te betreden. Voor Europa start de onderneming volgend jaar met proeverijen in Nederland. Begin volgend jaar begint Those Vegan Cowboys ook een crowdfundingcampagne, zodat consumenten en kleinere investeerders eveneens kunnen investeren in het bedrijf.