An anonymous reader quotes a report from VentureBeat: The viral fervor we saw earlier this year around OpenClaw, the open source AI harness that turns powerful language models into autonomous workers the user can message via their favorite channels (Telegram, iMessage, WhatsApp, Discord etc), has cooled off substantially from its peak in March 2026. But over the weekend, OpenClaw's creator Peter Steinberger and current team of co-developers gave the world -- especially enterprises -- a reason to look at it again, announcing OpenClaw 2.0, billed as the most significant update to the harness and surrounding platform yet.

OpenClaw 2.0 seeks to transform what began largely as a personal agent harness into something increasingly designed for teams, shared infrastructure and enterprise workflows. OpenClaw 2.0 introduces a rebuilt browser interface that brings conversations, files, approvals, configuration and live agent activity into a common workspace. It adds shared cloud sessions and multi-user collaboration. And it expands the security model with stronger sandboxing, role-based permissions, approval controls, secrets handling and auditing.

Together, those additions move OpenClaw closer to being infrastructure that an organization could deploy for employees rather than simply a powerful agent an individual developer runs locally. They also sharpen a competitive question surrounding the project: whether OpenClaw has addressed the security and isolation concerns that helped inspire newer alternatives such as NanoClaw. The answer is increasingly yes at the capability level -- but not necessarily by default. Over the past two months, OpenClaw has been "build[ing] OpenClaw with OpenClaw," shifting its team from individual local coding tools to a shared agent environment at team.openclaw.ai that can see what everyone is working on. Steinberger called "multiplayer coding + infinite compute with nodes and cloud sessions" a "game changer," adding that local coding harnesses now "feel like relics of the past."

VentureBeat highlights a use case from Solvely CEO Colin Johnson that shows how OpenClaw's multiplayer WebUI can improve collaboration between developers and AI agents. Instead of simply "messaging a bot," multiple developers can now join the same live session, see the same history and artifacts, and work "inside the same context." In Johnson's case, that meant a developer taking over his project could simply join the existing agent thread rather than rely on a separate handoff document. As he put it, "the session itself became the handoff document."

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Anthropic has reportedly signed a $35 billion cloud-computing deal with Nvidia-backed Lambda for a roughly 350-megawatt Texas data center being developed by Hut 8. "Lambda will install Nvidia chips at the Hut 8 facility, with the arrangement designed to expand the pool of Nvidia computing resources available to power Anthropic's Claude AI products," reports Quartz. From the report: The arrangement is a further sign of how Nvidia is positioning itself as a facilitator of computing access across the AI industry. It also benefited Lambda, which counts Nvidia as an investor and was able to land a major Anthropic contract without having to independently source or lease the underlying data center space, according to the Journal.

The data center covers roughly 350 megawatts of capacity, according to Bloomberg. Hut 8, which began as a bitcoin mining company before moving into AI data centers, disclosed in July that an investment-grade customer had signed 15-year leases for its Texas campus, with a base contract value of $19.6 billion, without naming the tenant.

The Lambda deal is the latest in a series of large computing agreements Anthropic has pursued. Last week, the company agreed to spend $45 billion to rent capacity from Nscale's West Virginia data center campus. It has also signed deals worth $50 billion with neocloud Fluidstack Ltd. and $45 billion with SpaceX, according to Bloomberg.

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TIME's 2026 list of the 100 most influential people in AI omits Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang and AMD CEO Lisa Su, despite both having appeared on previous editions and playing central roles in the hardware powering the AI boom. Nvidia's only representative this year is sustainability chief Josh Parker, while the list includes figures such as Ben Affleck and Paris Hilton alongside major tech executives and policymakers. Tom's Hardware reports: Broadcom CEO Hock Tan, Micron CEO Sanjay Mehrotra, SMIC co-CEO Liang Mong Song, and Huawei HiSilicon president He Tingbo all appear on the 2026 list, joined by Cerebras' Andrew Feldman, CoreWeave's Michael Intrator, and Nscale's Josh Payne. Together, the roster includes Nvidia's HBM supplier, two of its biggest GPU cloud customers, its custom-accelerator rivals, and China, which is trying -- and so far struggling -- to replace Nvidia altogether.

Parker's profile, which appears under the Thinkers category, focuses on data center energy and water consumption, alongside Nvidia's tripling of Scope 3 emissions in two years, and the Rubin platform's shift to 100% liquid cooling. "Nvidia is at the center of the AI revolution," Parker told TIME.

TIME editor-in-chief Sam Jacobs wrote in the list's accompanying article that selection was led by editor Ayesha Javed, and that the 100 honorees represent the year's "key storylines and who, in our opinion, are having the most influence in driving these developments." Now in its fourth year, this edition of the TIME100 AI appears to have focused especially on featuring the new additions to TIME's community of AI leaders, with Mark Zuckerberg, Demis Hassabis, Sundar Pichai, and Satya Nadella representing four other honorees, arguably deserving of a space on this year's list, churned out.

Su's strong TIME back catalog makes her omission all the stranger still. The magazine named her its 2024 CEO of the Year, put her on the 2024 AI list and the main TIME100 in 2025, and included her among December's Architects of AI.

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F1.com's Lawrence Barretto assesses the current state of the F1 driver market after the likes of Max Verstappen and Lando Norris signed contract extensions.

Japan’s collision with Donald Trump reveals the dilemma facing Britain: economic independence is becoming more necessary – and more tricky to achieve

“In the midst of every crisis lies great opportunity” is an aphorism attributed to Albert Einstein. It seems to be taken to heart by this White House. A global bond sell-off sparked by an inflationary shock emanating from the Gulf sees Donald Trump seeking to restrict plans by Japan – a longtime ally – to reduce dependence on an international system America dominates.

Japan, a successful exporter, has long done things its own way. For years Tokyo saw off the bond vigilantes despite running enormous deficits and a huge national debt. It demonstrated how a central bank could fund public spending and keep interest rates low if it wanted to. This economic model was refined by Shinzo Abe, Japan’s longest-serving prime minister. However, this week the US treasury secretary, Scott Bessent, called time on Abenomics as his price for US help in stabilising Japan’s currency. Japan’s Sanae Takaichi, he indicated, should shrink her $2tn spending plans and raise rates. Abenomics did not suddenly become financially impossible. It became inconvenient to the issuer of the world’s reserve currency.

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Problems with housing, jobs and technology have dented young people’s confidence in the future and each other

Hope, Raye told a crowd at Reading festival on Saturday, was the theme of a set inspired by her second album. Having established through a show of hands that most of the audience had just done their GCSEs, and after recounting her own rocky road to stardom, the 28-year-old singer led a series of upbeat chants of “it’s gonna be all right”.

For anyone who thinks adolescence ought to be a time of optimism, it was a charming spectacle. But a new report from the Institute for Public Policy Research thinktank paints a much gloomier picture. Building on existing evidence of declining wellbeing, such as Alan Milburn’s report on young people who are not in education or work, the IPPR’s researchers found that 11- to 24-year-olds in England (gen Z and older members of gen Alpha) are increasingly lonely. They have fewer friends than young people in the past and are less contented with those they do have. One in 20 say that they have no friends at all. A series of interviews produced worrying evidence of their lack of confidence about the future.

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Move from Washington quashes hopes that exchange of fire last weekend might not presage ⁠wider renewal of hostilities

• Middle East crisis live – latest updates

The US launched new airstrikes on Iranian targets on Tuesday, quashing hopes that an exchange of fire last ⁠weekend might not presage a ⁠wider renewal of hostilities.

Oil prices had ​already risen after that first exchange of direct attacks since July and after reports of two tankers being hit leaving the strait of Hormuz, the global oil supply waterway that Iran has effectively closed to shipping.

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Government says ‘dangerous behaviour’ is part of effort by Moscow to cause damage with hybrid attacks

The German government has blamed Russia for the drone attack on Leipzig airport last month, calling it “dangerous behaviour” and part of a systematic and concerted effort by Moscow to “cause great damage” through a large number of hybrid attacks.

The interior minister, Alexander Dobrindt, and the foreign minister, Johann Wadephul, ended weeks of speculation and the government’s hesitancy to blame Russia, saying in a brisk 10-minute briefing in Berlin that all indications were the Russian state had provided the knowhow and equipment for the planned attack and “low-level agents” were recruited to carry it out.

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EINDHOVEN (ANP) - De prijs voor benzine in Nederland bereikt woensdag een recordhoogte, verwacht consumentencollectief UnitedConsumers. Door de opgelopen spanningen tussen Iran en de Verenigde Staten vervliegt de hoop dat de Straat van Hormuz snel open kan. Die zeestraat is belangrijk voor olie en brandstoffen uit de Golfregio, maar wordt sinds het begin van de Iranoorlog zo goed als geblokkeerd door Iran.

Het leidde deze week al tot stijgende prijzen aan de pomp. UnitedConsumers verwacht dat de landelijke gemiddelde adviesprijs woensdag stijgt tot net geen 2,67 euro per liter Euro95, bevestigt brandstofexpert Derk Foolen na berichten van NU.nl en RTL Nieuws. Het record staat nu nog op 2,646 euro per liter. Die prijs werd 6 mei bereikt.

UnitedConsumers houdt de adviesprijzen van vijf grote oliemaatschappijen met tankstations in Nederland bij en baseert daar de gemiddelde prijs op. Op dit moment zijn de adviesprijzen van vier bedrijven binnen.

NICOSIA (ANP) - Zoekteams zijn het voor de kust van Cyprus gezonken hogesnelheidsveer op het spoor. Dat meldt Cyprus Mail op gezag van de president van de zelfverklaarde Republiek Noord-Cyprus, Tufan Erhurman.

De locatie van het vaartuig zou duidelijk zijn, al houdt Erhurman nog wel een slag om de arm. Het veer zonk zondag plotseling toen het op weg was van Cyprus naar het Turkse Taşucu. Zeker acht van de meer dan 250 opvarenden vonden daarbij de dood. Nog een twintigtal mensen wordt vermist. De kapitein en bemanning werden gearresteerd op verdenking van nalatigheid.

Om de schipbreukelingen in veiligheid te brengen, werd een grootscheepse reddingsactie opgezet, ondersteund door helikopters. Vaartuigen die de zeebodem in kaart kunnen brengen, zochten vervolgens naar het gezonken schip. De zwarte doos van het veer is nog niet geborgen. De autoriteiten hopen daarin het antwoord te vinden op de vraag hoe het veer plotseling kon kapseizen en zinken.

OVERASSELT (ANP) - De politie krijgt ondersteuning van de mobiele eenheid (ME) in het onderzoek dat zij doet na het geweld in Overasselt dinsdag. In het buitengebied van het Gelderse dorp zijn agenten nog altijd bezig met onderzoek en zoekacties. Ook in het dorp zelf is nog veel politie aanwezig, ziet een ANP-verslaggever.

Een politiewoordvoerster legt uit dat de ME daar niet aanwezig is om groepen uit elkaar te drijven of mensen te arresteren: "zij zijn er puur voor de veiligheid van hun collega's, zodat zij hun werk kunnen doen."

De politie hield dinsdag 34 mensen uit verschillende landen aan nadat een 51-jarige man uit Wijchen werd doodgeschoten en twee agenten zwaargewond raakten. Ook werden op meerdere plekken wapens gevonden en in beslag genomen. De politie kan niet uitsluiten dat er in en rondom Overasselt nog wapens liggen. Of en hoeveel betrokkenen nog voortvluchtig zijn, zegt de politie ook niet.

MONZA (ANP) - Formule 1-coureur Kimi Antonelli van Mercedes start zondag bij de Grote Prijs van Italië achteraan op de grid. De Italiaanse WK-leider krijgt de straf vanwege een motorwissel voor de race op Monza. Dat maakte teambaas Toto Wolff bekend in een voorbeschouwing op de website van Mercedes.

"Voor ons begint Monza met een uitdaging", zei Wolff. "Kimi krijgt een straf voor het vervangen van de motor en moet achteraan op de grid starten. Dat is teleurstellend voor hem en voor de fans die hem tijdens zijn thuisrace graag voorin de strijd hadden willen zien, maar in onze sport telt sentiment niet."

"Als je beslissingen neemt die gunstig zijn voor de strijd om het kampioenschap, betaal je daar soms op de korte termijn een prijs voor. Het doel is nu duidelijk: zoveel mogelijk plaatsen goedmaken en het maximale aantal punten binnenhalen", aldus de teambaas.

The thing about me is if I see a making-of video for pencils, I’m gonna stop and watch it and then post it to my website, especially if said pencils are Blackwings, made in Japan.

Take a first-ever, in-depth look at the Blackwing pencil manufacturing process. This short film gives a glimpse into its manufacturing facilities in Japan and California. Beginning in Kofu, Japan, the film details the intricate graphite formulation and cutting process, then transitions to the woodworking facility in Tokyo where the pencils are pressed and lacquered.

Finally, it ends in Stockton, California at Blackwing’s headquarters where the pencils are imprinted, assembled with its signature ferrule, quality-checked, and hand-packed. Each and every Blackwing pencil is thoughtfully made to help you slow down and have the best tools for your creative journey.

I’m always so curious about what’s being blurred out in making-of videos like this!

See also See How Pencils Are Made in a Japanese Factory, How Pencils Are Made, A Visit to an American Factory That’s Been Producing Pencils Since 1889, and A History of Pencil Lead and How Pencils Are Made. (via NaOH)

Tags: Blackwing · how to · pencils · video

Vakantiegangers die vanaf Rotterdam The Hague Airport vliegen, zorgen voor overlast in de Overschiese wijk Nooddorp, vlak naast de luchthaven. Daar kunnen ze gratis hun auto parkeren en daar is niet iedereen blij mee. "Van auto’s die hier lange tijd staan, worden soms de banden leeg gelaten.”

Feyenoord heeft zich versterkt met Florian Kastenmeier. De 29-jarige Duitse doelman komt transfervrij naar Rotterdam en gaat fungeren als tweede keeper achter zijn landgenoot Tjark Ernst.

Een Italiaanse internetserviceprovider staat sinds een week op de Amerikaanse terrorismelijst. Lukt het in Europa websites in de lucht te houden als je de Amerikaanse regering tegen je hebt?