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Phil Spencer Retiring After 38 Years At Microsoft

Xbox chief and Microsoft Gaming CEO Phil Spencer is leaving Microsoft after nearly 40 years at the company. "Meanwhile, Xbox President Sarah Bond, "long thought by many both inside and outside of Microsoft to be Spencer's heir apparent, has resigned," reports IGN. From the report: The new CEO of Microsoft Gaming will be Asha Sharma, currently the President of Microsoft's CoreAI product. Finally, Xbox Game Studios head Matt Booty is being promoted to Chief Content Officer and will work closely with Sharma. "I want to thank Phil for his extraordinary leadership and partnership," Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella said in an email sent to Microsoft staff. "Over 38 years at Microsoft, including 12 years leading Gaming, Phil helped transform what we do and how we do it." [...]

Spencer was named Head of Xbox in March of 2014, when he was tasked with righting a ship that had made a number of product choices and policy decisions that rubbed core gamers the wrong way in the run-up to the launch of the Xbox One in Fall 2013. Long hailed by gamers as being one of their own, Spencer could frequently be found on Xbox Live, playing games regularly with fellow Xbox gamers and racking up a healthy Gamerscore. His first major move when put in charge was decoupling the Kinect 2.0 peripheral from the Xbox One package, thus immediately reducing the new console's price by $100 to $399, matching the day-one price of Sony's PlayStation 4. He spearheaded the much-heralded backwards compatibility movement within Xbox, the Xbox Game Pass service was born under his watch, and accessibility made major advances during his tenure in both hardware and software. Xbox Play Anywhere, which sought to let gamers play their Xbox games on any device, be it a PC, console, or handheld, isn't new but has been a big recent focal point.

Spencer's time running Xbox will perhaps be most remembered for Microsoft's $69 billion acquisition of Activision-Blizzard-King in 2022, which took almost two years to achieve regulatory approval from various agencies around the world. But Spencer began trying to solve for Xbox's dearth of first-party games in 2018, when the first wave of studio acquisitions occurred. Prior to the Activision deal, Spencer's biggest move came with the $7.5 billion acquisition of ZeniMax, parent company of Bethesda, in 2020. The deal gave Xbox total ownership of Bethesda Game Studios and its Fallout and Elder Scrolls franchises along with id Software and its Doom and Quake IPs, among many others. Questions arose from there about whether or not that meant all of Xbox's new studios would produce games exclusively for Xbox consoles, and while some games were kept off of PlayStation platforms temporarily, many weren't and most now seem to come to PS5 eventually, if not on day one.

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Wikipedia Blacklists Archive.today, Starts Removing 695,000 Archive Links

An anonymous reader quotes a report from Ars Technica: The English-language edition of Wikipedia is blacklisting Archive.today after the controversial archive site was used to direct a distributed denial of service (DDoS) attack against a blog. In the course of discussing whether Archive.today should be deprecated because of the DDoS, Wikipedia editors discovered that the archive site altered snapshots of webpages to insert the name of the blogger who was targeted by the DDoS. The alterations were apparently fueled by a grudge against the blogger over a post that described how the Archive.today maintainer hid their identity behind several aliases.

"There is consensus to immediately deprecate archive.today, and, as soon as practicable, add it to the spam blacklist (or create an edit filter that blocks adding new links), and remove all links to it," stated an update today on Wikipedia's Archive.today discussion. "There is a strong consensus that Wikipedia should not direct its readers towards a website that hijacks users' computers to run a DDoS attack (see WP:ELNO#3). Additionally, evidence has been presented that archive.today's operators have altered the content of archived pages, rendering it unreliable."

More than 695,000 links to Archive.today are distributed across 400,000 or so Wikipedia pages. The archive site, which is facing an investigation in which the FBI is trying to uncover the identity of its founder, is commonly used to bypass news paywalls. "Those in favor of maintaining the status quo rested their arguments primarily on the utility of archive.today for verifiability," said today's Wikipedia update. "However, an analysis of existing links has shown that most of its uses can be replaced. Several editors started to work out implementation details during this RfC [request for comment] and the community should figure out how to efficiently remove links to archive.today."

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

Microsoft Deletes Blog Telling Users To Train AI on Pirated Harry Potter Books

Microsoft pulled a year-old blog post this week after a Hacker News thread flagged that it had encouraged developers to download all seven Harry Potter books from a Kaggle dataset -- incorrectly marked as public domain -- and use them to train AI models on the company's Azure platform.

The blog, written in November 2024 by senior product manager Pooja Kamath, walked users through building Q&A systems and generating fan fiction using the copyrighted texts, and even included a Microsoft-branded AI image of Harry Potter. The Kaggle dataset's uploader, data scientist Shubham Maindola, told Ars Technica the public domain label was "a mistake" and deleted the dataset after the outlet reached out.

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Several Meta Employees Have Started Calling Themselves 'AI Builders'

An anonymous reader shares a report: Meta product managers are rebranding. Some are now calling themselves "AI builders," a signal that AI coding tools are changing who gets to build software inside the company. One of them, Jeremie Guedj, announced the change in a LinkedIn post last week. "I still can't believe I'm writing this: as of today, my full-time job at Meta is AI Builder," he wrote.

Guedj has spent more than a decade as a traditional product manager, a role that sets the road map and strategy for products then built by engineering teams. He said that while his title in Meta's internal systems still lists him as a product manager, his actual work is now full-time building with AI on what he calls an "AI-native team." Another Meta product manager also lists "AI Builder" on her LinkedIn profile, while at least two other Meta engineers write the term in their bios, Business Insider found.

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OpenAI Has No Moat, No Tech Edge, No Lock-in and No Real Plan, Analyst Warns

OpenAI faces four fundamental strategic problems that no amount of fundraising or capex announcements can paper over, according to analyst Benedict Evans: it has no unique technology, its enormous user base is shallow and fragile, incumbents like Google and Meta are leveraging superior distribution to close the gap, and its product roadmap is dictated by whatever the research labs happen to discover rather than by deliberate product strategy.

The company claims 800-900 million weekly active users, but 80% of them sent fewer than 1,000 messages across all of 2025, averaging fewer than three prompts a day, and only 5% pay. OpenAI has acknowledged what it calls a "capability gap" between what models can do and what people use them for -- a framing Evans reads as a polite way to avoid admitting the absence of product-market fit. Gemini and Meta AI are meanwhile gaining share rapidly because the products look nearly indistinguishable to typical users, and Google and Meta already have the distribution to push them. Evans compares ChatGPT to Netscape -- an early leader in a category where the products were hard to tell apart, overtaken by a competitor that used distribution as a crowbar.

On capex, Evans argues that Altman's ambitions -- claiming $1.4 trillion and 30 gigawatts of future compute -- amount to an attempt to will OpenAI into a seat at a table where annual infrastructure spending may need to reach hundreds of billions. But a seat at the table is not leverage over it; he compares this to TSMC, which holds a de facto chip monopoly yet captures little value further up the stack.

OpenAI's own strategy diagrams from late last year laid out a full-stack platform vision -- chips, models, developer tools, consumer products -- each layer reinforcing the others. Evans argues this borrows the language of Windows and iOS without possessing any of the underlying dynamics: no network effect, no lock-in preventing developers from calling a different model's API, and no reason customers would know or care which foundation model powers the product they are using.

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Formula 1 News

Formula 1® - The Official F1® Website

Watch as F1 TV unpack Day 3 of second Bahrain test

With the final day of pre-season testing coming to a close, join the F1 TV crew as they discuss all the big talking points from Friday’s running in Bahrain.

The top tech innovations from 2026 pre-season testing

Formula 1 teams ramped up their preparations for the 2026 campaign across pre-season testing, with some innovative developments appearing on the cars.

The Register

Biting the hand that feeds IT — Enterprise Technology News and Analysis

PayPal app code error leaked personal info and a 'few' unauthorized transactions

About 100 customers affected

PayPal has notified about 100 customers that their personal information was exposed online during a code change gone awry, and in a few of these cases, people saw unauthorized transactions on their accounts.…

Anthropic: No, absolutely not, you may not use third-party harnesses with Claude subs

Legal language change aims to make longstanding policy clear

Anthropic this week revised its legal terms to clarify its policy forbidding the use of third-party harnesses with Claude subscriptions, as the AI biz attempts to shore up its revenue model.…

Friday Squid Blogging: Squid Cartoon

I like this one.

As usual, you can also use this squid post to talk about the security stories in the news that I haven’t covered.

Blog moderation policy.

Eliminating the Impossible

'If you've eliminated a few possibilities and you can't think of any others, your weird theory is proven right' isn't quite as rhetorically compelling.

The Guardian

Latest news, sport, business, comment, analysis and reviews from the Guardian, the world's leading liberal voice

Why the supreme court’s tariffs ruling is a win for world trade – but also tricky

The decision adds to economic uncertainty, as deals Donald Trump struck with other countries are upended

It is refreshing to witness the US supreme court recover its spine and stand up to Donald Trump’s most extreme caprices. The 6-3 decision on Friday to strike down his barrage of tariffs on imports from virtually everywhere based on the preposterous argument that they addressed national emergencies will reassure the world that the US’s system of government – based on the separation of powers, checks and balances, and the rule of law – has not collapsed entirely.

But let’s hold the (imported) champagne. The court’s ruling will not restore the United States to its former place as a reasonable, trustworthy player in the world economy. The rules-based economic architecture that underpinned the integration of the world economy over the decades that followed the second world war remains fractured. Trump is still intent on its disintegration. And he retains power to do so.

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California bill would ban ICE agents from being near polling sites

Legislation responds to concerns that immigration officers could interfere with voting during November midterms

A bill introduced this week by California lawmakers would ban federal immigration agents from being stationed outside polling places, responding to concerns that Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officers could interfere with voting during the November midterm elections.

The legislation was introduced on Thursday by state senator Tom Umberg and co-authored by state senator Sabrina Cervantes. Umberg said the measure aimed to safeguard voters from “ruthless intimidation” near polling locations.

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UK clinical trial into puberty blockers paused after medicines regulator raises concerns

Study set to delay recruitment after warning participants should be a minimum of 14 years old

A clinical trial into puberty blockers for children has been paused after the medicines regulator warned it should have a minimum age limit of 14 because of the “unquantified risk” of “long-term biological harms”.

Discussions between the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) and the trial sponsor, King’s College London, will begin next week to discuss the wellbeing concerns, the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) said on Friday evening.

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Olympic speed skater Sellier in hospital after taking blade to the face

  • Opponent’s blade slices above Kamila Sellier’s eye

  • Polish skater was given stitches at arena

  • Collision occurred during 1500m quarter-finals

Short-track speed skater Kamila Sellier of Poland was immobilized on a stretcher and wheeled out of the Milano Ice Skating Arena on Friday night after a competitor’s blade sliced her above her left eye during the women’s 1500m at the Milano Cortina Olympics.

Sellier went down along with 14-time Olympic medalist Arianna Fontana of Italy and American skater Kristen Santos-Griswold, who was penalized for an illegal lane pass that contributed to the accident. That kept Santos-Griswold from advancing through the quarter-final round.

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Wel.nl

Minder lezen, Meer weten.

Politie prijst kritische blik Big Brother Award

AMSTERDAM (ANP) - De Nationale Politie heeft de kritische blik van Bits of Freedom gebruikt om de werkwijze aan te passen. Dat zei plaatsvervangend korpschef Wilbert Paulissen in een videoboodschap bij de uitreiking van de Big Brother Awards, de 'prijs' voor de grootste privacyschenders van 2025.

"Je bent nooit blij dat je een prijs als deze wint, maar het is altijd goed dat er kritisch meegekeken wordt naar het handelen van de politie. En ik vind het ook mooi om hier te melden dat we op basis van die kritische blik onze werkwijze aangepast hebben en hier nu anders mee omgaan", aldus Paulissen. "Het gaat over het evenwicht tussen de bescherming van de privacy van mensen en onze taak als het gaat over het waarborgen van de veiligheid. Daar zit een soort spanningsveld tussen."

De Nationale Politie won met 30 procent van de stemmen de publieksprijs. Aanleiding was het monitoren van activisten via sociale media en ze vervolgens thuis opzoeken zonder wettelijke grondslag. Intimiderend, vindt Bits of Freedom.


Nederland met acht keer goud op vierde plek in medaillespiegel

MILAAN (ANP) - Nederland staat met nog twee dagen te gaan stevig op de vierde plaats in het medailleklassement van de Olympische Spelen in Milaan en Cortina d'Ampezzo. Vrijdag bezorgden langebaanschaatsster Antoinette Rijpma-de Jong (1500 meter) en de shorttrackmannen (aflossing) TeamNL de zevende en achtste gouden medaille.

Daarmee werd het recordaantal gouden medailles van Sotsji (2014), Pyeongchang (2018) en Beijing (2022) geëvenaard. Die drie Winterspelen eindigde Nederland met acht keer goud.

Noorwegen leidt het klassement in Italië met een recordaantal van zeventien gouden medailles, gevolgd door de Verenigde Staten (tien) en Italië (negen).

Spelen van 1972

Nederland eindigde bij de Spelen van 1972 in Sapporo op de vierde plaats van de medaillespiegel. In Sotsji en Beijing was de zesde plaats de eindklassering voor TeamNL en in Pyeongchang de vijfde plaats.

Bij de Winterspelen zijn nu 102 van de 116 onderdelen afgewerkt.


Schulting ziet abrupt einde aan rentree op shorttrackijs Milaan

MILAAN (ANP) - Voor Suzanne Schulting zat het olympisch shorttracktoernooi er ineens op in de halve finale van de 1500 meter. De 28-jarige Friezin ging halverwege haar halve finale in een duel met de Italiaanse Elisa Confortola plots onderuit. "Ik viel uit het niets, ik brak gewoon weg op mijn linkerschaats en that's it", zei de drievoudig olympisch kampioene. Landgenote Xandra Velzeboer kwam in dezelfde halve finale ook ten val.

"In de kwartfinale merkte ik dat mijn benen er echt even in moesten komen", zei Schulting over haar eerste internationale shorttrackwedstrijd sinds de WK van 2024. "Maar ik voelde me heel goed en sterk. Ook in de actie die ik opzette voelde ik me sterk en dan is het heel frustrerend dat je op deze manier het ijs moet verlaten. Maar het was ook heel mooi om weer terug te zijn op het ijs."


TeamNL evenaart recordaantal van acht keer goud op Winterspelen

MILAAN (ANP) - De Nederlandse deelnemers aan de Winterspelen in Milaan en Cortina d'Ampezzo hebben vrijdag een record geëvenaard. De Nederlandse shorttrackmannen zorgden met hun zege op de aflossing voor de achtste gouden medaille.

Nederland sloot de vorige drie Winterspelen, in Sotsji (2014), Pyeongchang (2018) en Beijing (2022), af met acht keer goud. Het team van chef de mission Carl Verheijen krijgt zaterdag twee laatste kansen om het record alleen in handen te krijgen. Daarvoor moet bij het langebaanschaatsen goud worden gewonnen bij de massastart. Zowel de vrouwen als mannen komen op dat onderdeel in actie. De Nederlandse bobbers komen zaterdag en zondag nog uit in de viermansbob, maar zijn geen medaillekandidaat.

De Winterspelen van Sotsji zijn voor Nederland met 24 medailles het succesvolst. Naast acht keer goud werd er toen ook zeven keer zilver en negen keer brons behaald.

Nederland gaat die 24 medailles dit keer niet halen. De teller staat nu op achttien keer eremetaal.


Nederland heeft in Milaan meer medailles dan vorige Winterspelen

MILAAN (ANP) - Nederland heeft bij de Olympische Spelen in Milaan meer medailles behaald dan tijdens de vorige Winterspelen in Beijing. De shorttrackmannen wonnen de aflossing en zorgden daarmee voor de achttiende plak voor TeamNL. Langebaanschaatsster Antoinette Rijpma-de Jong won eerder op vrijdag verrassend de 1500 meter.

Vier jaar geleden waren de zeventien medailles van Nederland in China onderverdeeld in acht gouden, vijf zilveren en vier bronzen. Nu staat de teller op acht keer goud, zeven keer zilver en drie keer brons.

Het record van Nederland zijn de Winterspelen van Sotsji met 24 medailles. Toen waren er acht van goud, zeven van zilver en negen van brons.