TSMC is weighing raising prices for its Chip on Wafer on Substrate (CoWoS) advanced packaging technology by as much as 20%, reports Trendforce, citing supply chain sources and local media. The increase reflects strained capacity amid AI demand and longer delivery times for chipmaking tools. Such a hike would be significant, as CoWoS is already one of the tightest links in the AI supply chain. TSMC has yet to confirm the report.

CoWoS combines logic dies and high-bandwidth memory (HBM) stacks within a single package, which is how AI accelerators get the data bandwidth that demanding workloads require. Building these packages is only getting harder as chip designers cram in more compute and memory. Nvidia’s Blackwell already pairs two large GPU dies with eight HBM3E stacks, whereas the upcoming Rubin and Rubin Ultra are expected to push integration further, which will increase pressure on packaging and the supply chain that supports it.

Testing is turning into another bottleneck. Blackwell reportedly takes three to four times longer to test than Nvidia’s previous-generation Hopper, and Rubin could need as much as seven times longer. Extended test cycles keep equipment occupied for longer, which makes it harder to increase output as demand grows. GPUs are not the only products competing for capacity either, as server CPUs and custom ASICs also need advanced packaging, adding more strain to an already crowded supply chain.

Tools are also taking longer to arrive, as equipment lead times have reportedly stretched from three to six months to as long as eight months, making timely access to fab equipment increasingly important. As a result, TSMC has reportedly placed this year’s equipment orders at existing prices instead of negotiating discounts or extra features — a departure from its customary approach of using its purchasing power to secure better terms. Essentially, getting the tools on time now appears to matter more to the company than getting them cheaply.

The squeeze echoes a report from September, which said that TSMC’s projected semiconductor equipment requirements had almost doubled in six months as the company expanded production to meet AI demand. Cliff Hou, deputy co-COO at TSMC, said that by July the company’s expected equipment needs had reached 1.9 times its original estimate as AI demand accelerated. “Compared with the pattern 30 years ago, we have never seen the demand increase that much, that frequency of changes,” Hou said at the time.

TSMC is also trying to broaden its packaging supply chain. Earlier this month, GlobalFoundries agreed to produce silicon interposers for TSMC’s CoWoS in the U.S. under a five-year contract worth $2 billion, with production expected to ramp up in the first half of 2028. However, interposers are only one part of the packaging flow, so the agreement alone will not eliminate shortages.

Higher costs are not limited to packaging. TSMC is reportedly considering broader price increases for 2027, with wafer prices on advanced process technologies expected to rise by 5% to 10%. Customers using 2nm and 3nm-class nodes could face the steepest hikes, whereas those seeking capacity beyond their original allocations may have to pay additional premiums, which could push some costs up by as much as 25%.

Industry estimates cited by Trendforce put TSMC’s monthly capacity at over 106,000 wafers in 2026, with a target of 227,000 wafers in 2027 as the company works to keep pace with demand for increasingly complex AI processors. If both the packaging and wafer price increases materialize, the cost of AI hardware will likely climb further, and some of that will inevitably be passed down the chain.

It’s a tough time to launch an external SSD, with demand for flash and RAM at all-time highs thanks to AI hyperscaler demand. But content creators, videographers, and media collectors need more, faster, and roomier options, so Samsung has launched its first USB4 external drive, the Portable SSD P9.

It’s offered in 1, 2, 4, and 8TB capacities (but currently only in stock at 2TB as of this writing), with rated sequential read speeds up to 4,000 MB/s and write speeds up to 3,800 MB/s, a slim (0.3-inch) but simple boxy solid shell. It also includes one of the nicest-feeling sleeved cables I’ve come across (that’s also long for an external drive, at 16 inches). The Samsung P9 is a premium, pocket-friendly portable drive that’s speedy enough to potentially knock Corsair’s EX400U out of its top USB4 drive spot on our list of the best external SSDs.

It’s also quite expensive, starting at $339 for the 1TB model, $649 for the 2TB version we tested, and commanding a whopping $2,879 for the 8TB model. Those prices might seem extreme, given Corsair’s competing USB4 drive launched at $119 for 1TB in early 2025. But as we’ll see below in our comparison section, Samsung’s pricing isn’t exactly exorbitant compared to the current price of USB4-based competition – and many alternatives that launched last year are tough to find in stock.

Samsung P9 Specifications

Design and accessories

At 3.5 x 2.6 x 0.3 inches and weighing 0.21 pounds, the P9 is neither the smallest external storage drive, nor the lightest. But it’s slimmer than the company’s previous-generation T9 drive (which is 0.55 inches thick and roughly half as fast, at 20 Gbps). It ditches the rubber, textured, dust-collecting coating of the T9 for a metal shell on the P9 that feels very solid. The bottom of the P9 is coated in rubber to keep it in place on your desk.

There are no IP ratings for dust or wind resistance in Samsung’s spec sheet, and I don’t love the visible seam around the subtly rubberized bottom. But the P9 feels rigid and solid, to the point that I am pretty confident it could sustain more than its rated 2-meter drop rating.

There’s also a lot to like about the included cable, which is the only bundled accessory (unless you count paperwork). The cable is roughly 16 inches long, not counting the USB-C plugs on either end, and braided in a way that feels better than even other braided cables in my USB arsenal. There are even two Velcro-like hook-and-loop fasteners on the cable to keep any excess under control. Yes, it is just a cable, but I appreciate the ample length for us desktop PC users, and it is one of the nicest-feeling cables I’ve used.

Samsung Magician Software

Samsung includes a Samsung Magician Launcher link on the drive, but it’s really just a pop-up box that prompts you to download the latest version of the software. The app has widgets and sections for drive health and management, temperature and performance, diagnostics, monitoring, secure erasing or encrypting the drive (256-bit hardware encryption is supported), and more.

It’s one of the more feature-rich SSD toolboxes, and benefits from Samsung’s long history in the storage realm. But it also has a mobile-app-first design that makes it look big and clunky on a desktop, with rounded corners. On the 65-inch TV that I use as a monitor, the Drive Health gauge defaulted to something close to the size of my head, and toggling to the compact version hides nearly everything but that single gauge widget. While that is of course an extreme example, the software just has a big UI for the information it presents.

Comparison products

Samsung has a fair amount of competition on the USB4 drive front, but much of it is increasingly scarce, likely due to flash availability. Sandisk’s Extreme Pro is the most recent USB4 competitor we’ve tested, with the 2TB version selling for $549, or $100 less than the P9.

LaCie’s Rugged SSD4 launched a little over a year ago and performed very well on both Windows machines and Macs. But it’s listed as sold out or no longer available in many places. As of this writing, it was available at Micro Center and a couple of online outlets, for between $750 and $800 for the 2TB model.

Corsair’s magnetic-backed EX400U has long been our favorite USB4 drive, for its compact size, performance, and value. But Corsair’s drive is also becoming hard to find in stock. And, like everything else in this space, its price has risen as well, with the 2TB version selling for $692 when I wrote this.

For those who don’t absolutely need USB4 speeds, the latest iteration of Crucial’s X10, a 20 Gbps drive with effectively half the bandwidth of these competing USB4 drives, is selling for $399 for the 2TB model. It’s very good for a 20 Gbps drive, but obviously that’s a different performance class than USB4 (40 Gbps).

With all that perspective, the $649 2TB Samsung P9 still feels expensive — if the drive launched a little over a year ago, it would likely have been roughly a third of this price. And it is $100 more than its Sandisk competitor, but it’s still priced a little less than other, older options. Let’s see how it performs.

Storage testbed

In 2025, we updated our external storage testbed to an AMD Ryzen 7600X-based PC with an Asus ROG Crosshair X870E Hero motherboard, installed in Lian Li’s Lancool 217 case. This was done in part because we needed a system with native USB4 support for upcoming drives (like this one).

All the drives in the charts below have been re-tested on the new X870E system, with the exception of the final Iometer sustained sequential test. That benchmark is less about top speed and more about how long a drive can write before depleting any fast cache onboard. We also updated to CrystalDiskMark 8, rather than the older (and non-comparable) version 7 we used on the previous testbed.

Trace Testing - PCMark 10 Storage Benchmark

PCMark 10 is a trace-based benchmark that uses a wide-ranging set of real-world traces from popular applications and everyday tasks to measure the performance of storage devices.

Samsung’s P9 doesn’t start off our test suite looking its best. It (unsurprisingly) falls behind LaCie’s Thunderbolt 5 drive (which is currently priced at $1,999 for the 4TB model we tested), but it also lands behind USB4 drives from LaCie and Sandisk in PCMark 10. It did, though, fare better than Corsair’s USB4 EX400U here.

Transfer Rates — DiskBench

We use the DiskBench storage benchmarking tool to test file transfer performance with a custom 50GB dataset. We copy 4,617 files (images, videos, and software ISO files) to a folder on the test drive (write). Then, after leaving the system idle for five minutes, we run the same test in reverse, moving the test folder to a different location on our PCIe 4.0 testing drive.

Samsung’s P9 led the pack in this real-world write speed test. Although its read speed technically landed it in fourth place, it again easily beat Corsair’s USB4 drive, and was close to Sandisk’s drive, which was less than half as fast when it comes to writes in this test. Note the somewhat odd performance of LaCie’s TB5 drive here, which is capable of being faster on Apple hardware, but did not perform very well on our USB4 testbed in some tests.

Synthetic Testing: CrystalDiskMark

CrystalDiskMark (CDM) is a free and easy-to-run storage benchmarking tool that SSD companies commonly use to assign performance specifications to their products. It gives us insight into how each device handles different file sizes. We run this test at its default settings.

The Samsung P9 looks its best on this synthetic, best-case-scenario benchmark, landing in first place in both reads and writes. Most of the other high-end drives were close, save for SanDisk’s USB4 SSD, which is a few hundred MB/s slower on read speeds, but was still fast.

Sustained Write Performance

A drive's rated write specifications are only a piece of the performance picture. Most external SSDs (just like their internal counterparts) implement a write cache, or a fast area of flash, programmed to perform like faster SLC, that absorbs incoming data.

Sustained write speeds often suffer tremendously when the workload saturates the cache and slips into the "native" TLC or QLC flash. We use Iometer to hammer the SSD with sequential writes for 15 minutes to measure the size of the write cache and performance after the cache is saturated.

Samsung hasn’t disclosed SLC cache size for its P9 drive, whether it’s fixed or dynamic, or if it differs by capacity. In other words, our 2TB P9 drive may be at a disadvantage here, at least compared to the 4TB LaCie and Crucial drives in our chart. But regardless, the Samsung P9’s performance on this test is largely positive, if somewhat complicated.

For roughly the first minute, the P9 wrote close to its max spec, around 3,750 MB/s. It then dropped to a write speed that fluctuated between just below 2,200 MB/s and just above 2,400 MB/s, which is still quite fast. It maintained that speed range for the next 12 minutes of writes, before dropping into the 600-800 MB/s range.

Sandisk’s Extreme Pro USB4 drive maintained its initial speed, around 3,500 MB/s, for roughly three times longer. But when its cache was exhausted, it dropped lower, first to roughly 1,200 MB/s, and then to around 800 MB/s. Looking beyond our usual 15-minute test, the Sandisk drive stayed in the same 800 MB/s range after the 15-minute mark, until we stopped the test at 30 minutes. The Samsung P9, however, recovered a good chunk of its write speed after about 17 minutes, switching back into its “middle” write range of 2,200-2,400 MB/s, from then until the end of the 30-minute test.

Corsair’s EX400U was more consistent in this test, but its write speeds never topped 1,800 MB/s, and it frequently dipped below 1,600 MB/s. Samsung’s P9 is flatly in another class, even though these are both USB4 drives.

Bottom line

As much as $649 for a 2TB external SSD still feels like a lot, the Samsung P9 performed very well in our testing. It wasn’t always at the top of the charts, but it consistently beat Corsair’s EX400U, which costs a little more now, if you can find it.

Sandisk’s Extreme Pro USB4 costs $100 less at 2TB, and $340 less at 4TB (and the P9 wasn’t even in stock at that capacity when this was written). But Sandisk’s drive has been on the market longer, and I would expect the two drives' prices to land close to each other once the P9 has settled into the market — that said, they both very well could go up in price, given recent trends.

Regardless, Samsung’s P9 drive is faster in most scenarios, particularly when it comes to sustained write speeds, which are important to professional users. And Samsung’s drive is about a third smaller, making it more travel-friendly. So while you could easily get by with Sandisk’s drive and save some money, Samsung’s P9 is a better USB4 drive if you want the best, fastest option for serious storage demands.

Police are increasingly using AI-derived pretext to justify pulling drivers over, claims a report by the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) on October 26. According to Jay Stanley, a senior policy analyst with the ACLU Speech, Privacy, and Technology Project, police are using AI algorithms and automated license plate reader (ALPR) surveillance data to flag motorists whose travel histories appear “suspicious,” even without evidence of wrongdoing.

Condemning the approach and the use of mass surveillance in general, Stanley expressed concerns that this approach to law enforcement would lead to an uptick in the controversial “pretextual stops” and that “More and more people will be subject to police encounters as these AI algorithms inevitably sweep in far more innocent people than actual wrongdoers.” The report details several incidents, including one in which a woman claims an officer stopped her during a cross-country road trip because a surveillance system he was using had flagged her movements as suspicious. The system has accessed ALPR data on where she had been driving.

ALPRs installed along roads and highways photograph passing vehicles and record their registration numbers, locations, and timestamps. By combining sightings from different cameras, law enforcement can determine where a vehicle has traveled, which routes it used, and how frequently it visited particular locations. An AI system with access to the surveillance data can quickly analyze huge amounts of data and identify patterns it has been trained to deem as “suspicious,” triggering an alert to law enforcement. Stanley implies officers may receive the alert and look for a minor traffic violation to justify pulling the driver over. In some documented cases, officers have concealed the actual reason for the stop.

The report comes amid growing concerns about the impact of massive mass surveillance camera networks, such as privacy, abuse, and limited regulation. Several officers have been fired for abusing the Flock surveillance system. License plate readers have existed for years and have traditionally helped police track known suspects or locate a vehicle already associated with a crime, such as a stolen car. However, the current scale and blanket surveillance are unprecedented. Security researchers disclosed a network of over 335,000 Flock ALPR cameras across the United States.

Using AI, systems can also now analyze large collections of vehicle movements and generate new suspects based on behavioral patterns. Companies such as Flock Safety have been developing AI-enhanced surveillance systems that can identify “unusual” travel behavior and associations between vehicles, marketing them as effective crime-prevention tools.

Spotted at Walmart today, at a pretty good price, is this RTX 5060-powered MSI Crosshair gaming laptop for just $1,249. With price rises across the board on laptops and PCs, it's important to keep an eye out for large discounts on gaming gear. The MSI Crosshair has been discounted by a hefty $750 from its original $1999 list price. This is classed as a budget-oriented gaming laptop due to the specifications, even if the price of the laptop is still over a thousand dollars.

● Grab this Gaming Laptop deal at Walmart

With a fairly large 16-inch screen, the Crosshair pairs its IPS panel with a very crisp resolution of 2560 x 1600 pixels (QHD) and superb color resolution with a 100% DCI-P3 gamut. A thin bezel around the screen gives you more viewing area.

Inside the chassis of this gaming laptop is Intel's Core i7-14650HX processor with 16 cores. It's perfect for gaming and for work or study applications. The graphics are powered by a dedicated Nvidia RTX 5060 graphics chip with 8GB of VRAM, and for memory and storage, there is 16GB of DDR5 RAM and a 512GB NVMe SSD.

Although for the best gaming performance, the laptop will run best on mains power, should you take the MSI Crosshair on the move, it comes with an 80 Wh lithium-polymer battery. For low-light environments or just for a gamer aesthetic, the Crosshair comes with a 4-zone RGB backlit keyboard with 99-key anti-ghost rollover.

For wireless network connectivity, you have Wi-Fi 6E and Bluetooth 5.3; for ports, the MSI Crosshair sports 2x USB 3.0/3.1 Gen1 ports, 3x USB 3.1 Gen2 ports, and USB-C Power Delivery (PD). An HDMI port for video connectivity and a 3.5mm audio port.

Developer notaroomba (AKA Nathan Alspaugh) has published details of his Keybytes project on GitHub. In essence, this is a modular project where a Keyword hub is magnetically connected to Keybit keys, and each key has its own microcontroller. Hence the number of keys and their layout are entirely up to the user, with a modular design akin to building Lego.

We’ve seen oodles of imaginative and truly excellent mechanical keyboards over recent years, but Keybytes probably offers the greatest flexibility with regard to layout and key selection we’ve ever seen.

It starts with a Keyword, which is the main board that the Keybits connect to. This central component houses a stacked pair of PCBs. The top board packs an Arm Cortex M4-powered microcontroller, Bluetooth antenna, and flash memory. The lower board offers USB-C, charging, and a buck-boost converter.

Adding keys seems like a cinch. Every Keybit, one of the modular keys, contains a CH32V003 RISC-V microcontroller. Moreover, it features pogo pins on all 4 sides of every key for power and I2C. The case is magnetic so you can connect it to any aspect of the Keyword and other Keybits. Atop the Keybit, a Cherry MX switch is installed. We guess you can follow the GitHub MIT-licensed plans for this project and use your preferred variety of mechanical switches.

On the GitHub project page, there are no more than two Keybits together with a Keyword, so you don’t get to see what crazy layout plans he’s hoping to conjure up. However, it is still early days. Per the project journal, Keybytes only became a thing back in March this year, and it was only over the weekend that the developer got to finally boast “it finally works!!”

Both the Keyword and the Keybit modules are 1U sized (19.05 x 19.05mm).

Alspaugh, a student at MIT, has shared all the assets, files, and details you might need to make your own Keybytes keyboard. The GitHub repository says that everything is released under the permissive MIT license.

It might quickly become expensive for individuals to put together a usable layout with, say, 60 keys. Getting the PCBs made, buying and soldering all the components, and 3D printing all the custom bits and pieces is also a considerable task when your proposed keyboard layout is more than a handful of shortcut keys. In the aforementioned journal, Alspaugh actually mentions that he priced up a “full sized keyboard (2 keywords and like 110 keybits) and it's around $900 assembled.”

Keyword has a status light, but the Keybits lack any kind of lighting. My wishlist for Keybytes 2.0 includes customizable RGB lighting, and I would also like to propose Dialbits, a Fingerprintbit, and a matching Touchpadbit.

Apple is updating two more computers to its M6 system-on-chip. The base 14-inch MacBook Pro and the iMac lineup are getting the company's latest processor ahead of tomorrow's "Pro and Tell" event in Los Angeles.

These devices are retaining the same designs that they've had for years. The computers will be available for pre-order on Wednesday at 10:10 a.m. PT (1:10 p.m. ET) and will ship on Nov. 6. The M6 in the MacBook Pro will be configured with 12 CPU cores and 12 GPU cores, alongside dual neural engines for certain on-device AI workloads. On the iMac, there will also be a cut-down option with a 10-core CPU and 10-core GPU.

The MacBook Pro will be configurable with up to 32GB of RAM and is being updated with Wi-Fi 7 and Bluetooth 6 using Apple's N1 networking chip. The iMac is also getting those networking benefits, as well as a 2.5 Gigabit Ethernet port. Like previous iMacs, the number of ports you get is tied to the chip, with two Thunderbolt 4 ports with the base chip or four with the option with more cores.

It's no surprise that Apple is pushing both of these as AI-forward machines, both with the new chips and the recently released Siri AI and Apple Intelligence features in macOS 27 Golden Gate.

The 14-inch MacBook Pro with M6 will start at $1,999 ($1,899 with education discount), while the iMac will begin at $1,499 ($1,449 with education discount) for the 10-core CPU/GPU configuration and $1,699 ($1,599 with education discount) for the full chip.

Both of these new systems are being announced the day before Apple is expected to release a MacBook with an OLED touchscreen. Yesterday, in a week of announcements, Apple debuted a redesign of the iPad Mini with a thinner body and an OLED display.

A hacker used an AI LLM to find a hypervisor bug that allowed security researchers to load Linux on PlayStation 5 consoles, subsequently reported it to Sony, and received a $50,000 bug bounty. IGN reports that the person who discovered the flaw, who goes by Jordy on X, shared the award on the social media platform, drawing significant ire. The biggest driver of the criticism, though, is that Jordy agreed to delay the report until after the launch of GTA VI, but moved forward anyway after someone else discovered the flaw, meaning it would be patched prior to the launch of the game, and possibly denying someone else the payday.

“I can at least buy GTA 6 with this, I think,” Jordy said on their X account. One user called Gille replied to their post, saying, “50k in bank but 0 friends left. Worth it?” Another one named Darth Riker commented, “You did not ‘find this bug yourself’. The flow0 (Andy Nguyen) did that. You, however, didn’t. You’re just a lazy s****** who’s no different to those scammers out there,” while Matthew Cramer added, “The worst thing is not the money grab, it’s the fact that the whole point of exploiting PS5 is freedom, ownership, and control. Sony goes against everything we stand for! If Jordy was in need of money, there are hundreds of bug bounty programs with high paydays… or a better job!”

The ps5-linux-loader GitHub project requires a PS5 Phat, Slim, or Pro running firmware version 3.00 to 13.60 to work as intended. While it’s unclear if Sony had been aware of the flaw that allowed the Linux install on the console before Jordy’s report, it released firmware version 14.20 on Oct. 21, 2026, which patched the flaw. Because the latest games often require the latest firmware on the console before you can install them, the latest update means that users who are experimenting with running Linux on their PlayStation 5 would either have to pick between that and playing GTA VI on launch date.

Another thing that caught the ire of many jailbreaking fans is Jordy’s use of AI. Despite being a useful tool for discovering vulnerabilities when used by professionals, it has also overwhelmed several bug bounty programs with AI submissions. This includes Google, which has frozen its program until 2027, and Linus Torvalds, who switched to a public system as the Linux security mailing list has become “almost entirely unmanageable,” with AI bug hunters finding as many as 2,000 CVEs per release.

“I am stepping away from the PS5 scene and stopping all my work on PS5 Linux. After pouring my heart and months of my life into it, including plans to finish PS5 Pro support and release in 2027, it’s all down the sink,” Nguyen posted on X. He also added, “The scene used to be a group of highly talented researchers, but now it is just a bunch of noobs using LLMs and writing hacks they don’t even understand. Slop kiddies found the only hypervisor bug left, which I had also found a while ago, and decided to report to Sony.”

Jordy told the publication that they agreed with Nguyen to delay the bug report, with the latter asking to only do so after GTA 6 has come out. However, the former admitted to doing it anyway as other researchers using generative AI also found the bug, with Jordy risking losing the $50,000 bounty if somebody else reports the exploit. “I decided I would report it,” Jordy told IGN. “If I and another person can find it with LLM, so can someone else.”

Sony’s PlayStation 5 has been the focus of hacks, emulators, and jailbreaking recently, especially after the company announced that it will end physical game disc production by January 2028. Despite the pushback against this decision, Sony has doubled down on its move and even threatened to cut off customer support and take legal action against harassment from disgruntled customers. This, combined with Jordy’s use of AI and X post sharing the $50,000 award, is what drove the ire of many in the PS5 jailbreaking scene.

Independent 3D modeling community Open3DLab has publicly warned that a web crawler, linked to the gaming platform Roblox, mapped "almost every project" on its website, along with sister sites SFMLab and SmutBase, downloading 145.5GB of data in the process. In a blog post, Open3DLab reports that "complete copies" of 1,027 files from 712 projects were sourced in the process, which it believes were taken for "AI training purposes."

The blog post goes into the specifics of the incident, along with some changes that Open3DLab has made since to try and avoid a repeat. According to the post, Open3DLab's staff noticed a crawler "making a large number of requests to our sites and download infrastructure" on October 18. The crawler used trellis2-data-sourcing/1.0 (3D foundation model research; [redacted]@roblox.com) as its user agent, with the data coming from a single Amazon AWS address. The crawler didn't respect the site's robots.txt file or Terms of Service, which explicitly forbid scraping. It also, according to the report, ignored creator licenses for the projects, which prohibit non-commercial use.

The crawler read "practically [its] entire catalogue" of 18,926 projects in a span of 34 hours over a total of 26,429 requests. Once it was done, the crawler downloaded 1,027 files from 712 projects before it "suspended operations." Files downloaded include 364 files, or 54.8GB worth, from 224 projects hosted on SmutBase, OpenLab's sister site focused on adult content. A further 345 projects of adult-marked SFMLab projects, or 62.6GB worth, were also taken.

According to Open3DLab, the crawler's "main limiting factor" was its use of free download servers that capped speed and concurrent downloads. The scraping was detected on the same day, and blocked by the following morning. Further download attempts were detected on October 19, "neatly within office hours, only briefly pausing for an hour around lunchtime," and despite being blocked, "did not reduce its download attempts."

A final attempt on October 20, with requests tapering, "likely in an effort to test... rate limiting," was made, with requests stopping completely later that day. Open3DLab made another request at this point for comment, although without reply.

The Roblox user agent mentions "3D foundation model research." As Open3DLab's blog post notes, Roblox has been building such a model since March 2025, when it introduced Roblox Cube, its "core generative AI system" for 3D modeling for character rigging, with characters and avatars listed as future goals. Further AI tech that could build in-game models using natural language prompts, called "4D generation," was beta launched in February 2026. The email address listed in the user agent matches one of the researchers listed on the Roblox Cube research paper, according to Open3DLab, although it redacted the name here.

Noting Roblox's "track record," Open3DLab's "most likely explanation" is that the crawler was collecting "training or evaluation data" for its 3D foundation model, although it notes that it can't prove it.

Roblox is a gaming platform and game creation system with over 33 million users and billions of "game experiences" for its player base, 40% of whom are reportedly aged under 12 years old. Open3DLab is clear to state that it "doesn't think Roblox set out to collect adult content" but that "as far as [its] logs show, nobody checked," which, it believes, is "not a good position" for Roblox to be in.

A new "Advanced Performance Extensions (APX)" option has been spotted in a version of Windows 11 made available to Windows Insiders on October 23, with the feature set to enable a boost in application performance on compatible chips. At the moment, those chips don't exist. But when they do, this feature is the one that you'll want to flick on if you're using one of them. The new toggle was reported by Neowin after it was first spotted by a poster on the X social network. The feature debuted in build 29295 as an Experimental build, so it's unlikely that it will make its way to the version of publicly available Windows 11 anytime soon.

Intel announced APX back in 2023, confirming that it features 16 additional general-purpose registers and three-operand instruction formats with a new data destination register for many integer instructions. Doubling the number of general-purpose registers from 16 to 32 will allow code compiled with APX to run with 10% fewer loads and 20% fewer stores than Intel 64's baseline, says Intel. APX has been available in the GCC compiler since version 14, with subsequent versions up to GCC 17, which is targeting a 2027 code freeze, adding additional support. LLVM and MSVC have preliminary support, as well. Although enablement has been going steady for the past two years, developers will still need to recompile their applications with the proper flags for APX-capable CPUs to leverage those instructions.

Not that there's any real need to rush just yet. The fact that no APX-capable chips are on sale yet means that enabling the feature in Windows 11 build 29295 does nothing currently. But it's clear that Microsoft is getting its ducks in a row ahead of time. Intel's Nova Lake Core Ultra 400-series chips are expected to be the first to feature APX support, but they won't break cover until early 2027. Even then, it's likely that the 28-core version will debut first, with the 52-core model made to wait until later in the year. These are consumer chips, of course, with Intel's Xeon 7 'Diamond Rapids' bringing APX support and up to 256 cores to the data center, also in 2027.

The good news is that you might not have to buy a new chip to enjoy improved Windows 11 performance. Five years after Windows 11's debut, Microsoft has already said that it's working to make its operating system play more nicely with machines with just 8GB of RAM. But what Microsoft gives with one hand, it soon takes away: an expansion of the Windows 11 Memory Integrity feature will reduce gaming performance on some systems.

Rather than spending $450 on 32GB of DDR5 all by itself, you can save a ton of money when you pick up RAM as part of Newegg's PC component bundles, $350 in this case. In this bundle, you can pick up four parts you need for $1,180.99 in a set that includes the AMD Ryzen 7 9800X3D with 32GB DDR5, a Gigabyte X870E motherboard, and 2TB of SSD storage.

● Check out this deal at Newegg

The discount knocks $358.99 off the combined price for this kit, meaning you're picking up RAM for the equivalent price of just $151.01. That's a massive discount compared to the current price for 32GB of DDR5 RAM, let alone this particular kit, which would cost you $509.99 if you bought it separately.

The price is even better when you include the freebies. A year's worth of McAfee isn't much to write home about, but a free MSI MAG Coreliquid A13 240mm AIO cooler worth $72.49 certainly is. That'll help you keep the 9800X3D cool, and it's totally free with this kit, too.

This is a significant haul for the price in the current market, giving you several of the components you'd need to kickstart a new 4K gaming PC build. Whether it's $358.99 you're saving, or over $431 if you include the free AIO, you're saving several hundred dollars that you can put towards a case, peripherals, power supply, or that all-important GPU purchase.

The AMD Ryzen 7 9800X3D is one of the fastest gaming CPUs on the market right now, as you'll see in our CPU benchmark data, and it's still the top option in our best CPU guide. Other chips, like the 9950X3D2, have nudged ahead on performance, but with significantly higher power demands.

AMD dominates the market with its 3D V-cache chips: there just isn't a matching alternative from Intel. The extra L3 cache it provides, with a total of 96MB in the 9800X3D, means that your CPU doesn't have to revert to the slower system RAM. The result is better, more stable frame rates, and overall better gaming performance.

As specs go, you're getting a modern Zen 5 CPU with eight cores. All eight have access to the increased 96MB L3 cache, too. You get a clock speed of 4.7 GHz, which boosts up to 5.2 GHz, and a TDP of 120W. This is a CPU that won't struggle with the demands of 4K gaming with ray tracing, as long as you have a GPU able to match it.

This AM5 CPU needs a motherboard to match, and with this bundle, you're getting the Gigabyte X870E Aorus Elite Wi-Fi 7. This is a mid-tier board for gamers from Gigabyte, and it comes with a set of features designed with gamers in mind. You get 12 USB ports at the back here, with two USB-C ports that give speeds of up to 40 Gbps.

You can install a whole set of M.2 SSDs here, and with the 9800X3D installed, three of them are rated for PCIe 5.0 speeds. 2.5G Ethernet and Wi-Fi 7 support is included, and the board also includes support for up to 256GB of DDR5 RAM for speeds up to 8,200 MT/s.

This bundle isn't quite that good, but you do get 32GB here. Two 16GB modules of Team Group T-Force Delta RGB RAM are included, with speeds of 6,000 MT/s, with CAS and memory timings of 38-38-38-78. Good RAM for gaming, especially with customizable RGB lighting, but it's the price that beats it all. As we mentioned, the discounts applied here mean you're getting this $500+ RAM set for the equivalent of just $151.01.

Oh, and 2TB of SSD storage is included, which'll give you plenty of space for big AAA games alongside a Windows installation. The Team Group NV5000 SSD here is an M.2 NVMe SSD with Gen 4 speeds, and it'll be a good start option in a market where, like RAM, SSDs are becoming very expensive.

This $1,180.99 Newegg combo deal for the 9800X3D, 32GB DDR5, a 2TB SSD, and a Gigabyte AM5 gaming motherboard is a real steal in the market, and one that'll save you $358.99. You won't find 32GB of DDR5-6000 RAM for anything close to the equivalent $151.01 cost you're getting it here. This is a good, core set of parts that'll help you build a new, or upgrade an existing, 4K gaming PC, with that freebie AIO from MSI to help keep it cool.

On October 21, during GTC Berlin, Nvidia announced several massive, multi-billion-dollar deals with supply chain partners across substrates, advanced packaging, semiconductor testing, and optical engines to expand production capacity. Aimed at overcoming severe bottlenecks restricting the current and future AI infrastructure buildouts, the deals feature commitments and production roadmaps stretching through 2028, securing capacity for Nvidia and ensuring resiliency and redundancy in its AI accelerator supply chain. “We are in the midst of the largest infrastructure buildout in human history. Demand is extraordinary. Capacity is the constraint,” said Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang. “Our supply chain partners are the world’s best manufacturers. I’m grateful they are expanding capacity around the globe to scale production and help us deliver the AI supercomputing systems powering this new industrial revolution.”

The deals cover two major AI accelerator supply chain categories: hardware interconnects and OSAT (Outsourced Semiconductor Assembly and Test). Under hardware interconnects, Nvidia is securing capacity for both substrates and co-packaged optics. Nvidia has signed deals with Ibiden, Unimicron, and Samsung Electro-Mechanics — three of the world's five largest substrate manufacturers — to support its production capacity expansion and reserve significant portions of that capacity for the chipmaker. The company says it plans to secure 2.5x dedicated substrate capacity over the next three years. Nvidia has also signed agreements with SPIL (Siliconware Precision Industries Co., Ltd) to expand manufacturing capacity for the optical engines used in co-packaged optics by 15x by mid-2027.

On the OSAT side, Nvidia and Amkor are targeting a 300% increase in interposer wafer capacity by the end of 2028 through expanded advanced packaging capacity in South Korea, to support higher production volumes for Nvidia's platform. The company also plans to double its semiconductor testing capacity by 2027, investing $1.1 billion to reserve capacity from KYEC (King Yuan Electronics Co., Ltd.), the world's largest semiconductor testing company, which currently handles nearly all of Nvidia's chip testing.

Nvidia currently leads the AI chip market by a considerable margin, with its extremely powerful accelerators sitting in a vast majority of AI data centers globally. These deals target major bottlenecks in the AI chip supply chain, suggesting Nvidia doesn't plan to relinquish its position soon. So, why these specific deals? What are the exact details? What's the broader play? And where do Nvidia's competitors and the rest of the AI industry stand?

Uncorking bottlenecks

The substrate base, a specialized intermediary layer in every accelerator package that connects the tiny silicon chips above it to the board below, is one of the most critical bottlenecks in the AI chip supply chain. As we detailed in our comprehensive substrates roadmap, this indispensable physical layer, manufactured by only a handful of companies, is expanding in both the X-Y and Z axes as chip makers package an increasing number of components onto one board. Nvidia's Blackwell generation places two reticle-sized GPU dies and eight HBM3E stacks on a single package. Its Rubin and Rubin Ultra architectures mount even more components. As a result, each substrate now consumes much more material and production capacity, even as demand for individual substrates soars.

Fubon Research estimates that Nvidia would supply around 12.4 million data-center AI GPUs in 2028, up from a projected 8.2 million in 2026. Each one would feature a substrate layer. Nvidia is staying ahead of the curve, with a planned 2.5x capacity expansion over the next three years, led by Ibiden. Earlier this year, the company signed a deal to provide a multibillion-dollar capacity reservation advance to support Ibiden's Ono Plant in Japan, targeting 3x the plant’s current individual capacity.

To reach its 2.5x target, Nvidia has also brought on Samsung Electro-Mechanics, Samsung's substrate-manufacturing subsidiary, as a supplier. Beyond the immediate capacity from Samsung Electro-Mechanics’ existing operations, the deal will support facility upgrades and new plants in Busan and Sejong. Nvidia is projected to account for a significant portion of the substrate manufacturer’s output by 2028. To build even more redundancy, Nvidia also signed a capacity reservation agreement with Unimicron, supporting the latter's substrate manufacturing expansion in Taiwan. The expansion will reach full capacity by mid-2028 but is expected to start providing capacity by Q2 2027.

Next on Nvidia's to-expand-capacity list announced on October 21 is co-packaged optics. As next-generation speeds surpass 224 Gbps per lane, traditional copper traces on the board consume considerable power to move data even a few inches from the processor to the edge of the board. To address this, the industry is moving the optical engine into the accelerator package itself via co-packaged optics. Nvidia had long detailed its plans for silicon photonics and co-packaged optics as the standard for future AI accelerator packages. The company has signed a deal with Taiwanese optical engine manufacturer SPIL to expand production capacity by 1,400% by mid-2027, with plans to double again by the end of 2028.

A 4x increase in packaging, double the testing, and $1.1 billion specifically for U.S. facilities

Interestingly, the world's biggest semiconductor company, Nvidia, doesn't own a single Fab. After TSMC manufactures the logic chip and binds it with memory chips on a silicon interposer, final-assembly companies such as Amkor package that integrated module with the substrate and protective casing into the final accelerator package. These final steps are increasingly incorporating co-packaged photonics chips. Nvidia’s deal with Amkor aims to expand the latter's interposer wafer capacity by more than 300% by the end of 2028, through advanced packaging capacity expansions in South Korea. Amkor confirmed the deal is worth $1.3 billion, bringing Nvidia's total investment in Amkor across its Arizona and South Korea facilities to $3 billion.

After final assembly, finished Nvidia AI accelerator packages are shipped to KYEC for extreme testing. KYEC currently handles nearly all of Nvidia's chip testing. It therefore comes as no surprise that Nvidia expects semiconductor testing capacity to double from calendar 2026 to 2027 through buildouts across KYEC’s facilities in the U.S., Taiwan, and Singapore. On October 13, Nvidia signed a deal to pay KYEC $1.1 billion to reserve testing capacity at KYEC's new $1.4 billion U.S. facility, where high-volume production is slated to begin in April 2027. The funds will build domestic testing capacity and bolster the domestic supply chain. At the same time, KYEC is aggressively expanding operations in Singapore, where it expects high-volume production to begin in February 2027.

The bigger picture

Nvidia has been aggressively securing production capacity and long-term supply commitments to meet anticipated demand for its next-generation AI accelerators. According to its August 2026 financial disclosures, the company had accumulated $279 billion in outstanding supply and manufacturing-capacity commitments by July 2026. The company has since signed several additional deals. These commitments cover future component purchases and manufacturing capacity reservations, particularly for memory and chip production. Combined with its more recent agreements, Nvidia is securing nearly every stage of its AI accelerator supply chain, from semiconductor fabrication and HBM memory to substrates, advanced packaging, optical interconnects, final assembly, and testing.

Of course, the rest of the industry isn't standing by. On May 21, 2026, AMD announced over $10 billion in investments across Taiwan's semiconductor ecosystem, specifically targeting advanced packaging and manufacturing partnerships. On October 6, CEO Lisa Su confirmed that AMD intends to increase those investments further. The company is working with TSMC, packaging partners, substrate manufacturers, and memory suppliers to increase production substantially in 2027. Google and Amazon are also aggressively expanding their custom TPU and Trainium accelerator programs.

Intel, meanwhile, is positioning its foundry and advanced packaging operations as alternatives to TSMC's increasingly constrained production capacity. The company is expanding its EMIB-T packaging technology, with reports indicating that Google has already reserved Intel capacity to package more than three million TPUs in 2028. Intel is also advancing its 18A and 14A manufacturing processes as it attempts to attract major external customers.

Samsung is expanding its semiconductor operations as well. The Korean company, which held approximately 5.9% of the global foundry market by revenue in Q2 2026, is ramping up its 2nm manufacturing technology and preparing its Taylor, Texas, facility for volume production in 2027. As detailed in our comprehensive Samsung foundry roadmap, the company is investing heavily in its manufacturing operations as it attempts to close the considerable gap with TSMC.

Perhaps the most ambitious player is new entrant Elon Musk's Terafab, a joint semiconductor manufacturing project involving Tesla, SpaceX, and xAI. The project aims to eventually manufacture the equivalent of one terawatt of AI computing capacity annually, an extraordinarily ambitious target given the industry's current scale. Intel joined the project in April, and Musk later confirmed plans to use the company's 14A fabrication technology. The project aims to deliver its first experimental chips in 2027 and begin high-volume production by the third or fourth quarter of 2028.

Nvidia and other semiconductor firms are continuously fighting against emerging bottlenecks, but compute doesn't come online overnight, and fabs aren't built in a day. So, while almost every inch of the semiconductor supply chain remains constrained, it remains likely that big-name players will continue to invest heavily to ensure that products continue to flow into neoclouds and data centers alike.

Microsoft has offered voluntary buyouts to around 60,000 employees across the United States, Canada, India, and the United Kingdom. The employees, who must have an experience level of 70 or below, make up around 27% of the company's total workforce of 223,000 people, a CNBC report notes. This move comes hot on the heels of a similar move in April when the company announced its first-ever voluntary retirement program. That program was open to around 7% of the company's U.S.-based workforce, but it pales in comparison to this latest move. That time around, more than 30% of those eligible for the program took advantage of it.

The "Voluntary Exit Offer" was announced via a post on the Microsoft blog, penned by Amy Coleman, Microsoft's executive vice president in charge of people. "The Voluntary Exit Offer reflects an important part of how we’re evolving our approach to change: creating greater flexibility and, where possible, more ways for employees to shape their next chapter," Coleman explained, going on to say that the move "builds on what we learned" following the retirement program that was launched earlier in the year. Operationally, Coleman added that those who are eligible for the new program will receive an email with all of the relevant details today.

While the blog post points out that the Voluntary Exit Offer is a time-limited, voluntary program, the fact that it comes so soon after April's retirement program is notable. Companies run programs like this when they are looking for ways to slash their wage bills, something that Microsoft knows all about. The company is in the midst of an Xbox "reset" that includes a plan to cut 3,200 jobs by the end of the year. The company has also seen some studios close, with others merging and yet more being cut adrift to pursue life as independents.

As for why Microsoft has chosen now to make cuts, all fingers point to its ongoing AI data center plans. Last year, it announced plans to open the "world's most powerful" AI data center. Fairwater, in Mount Pleasant, Wisconsin, is now operational, with Microsoft lauding its closed-loop cooling system amid ongoing concern over the impact of data centers on local communities. Since 2023, Microsoft, Amazon, Google, and Meta have spent more than $1 trillion on AI infrastructure. AI data center investment is expected to skyrocket to $32 trillion by 2050, with Microsoft among those spending big.

All of this money has to come from somewhere. For Microsoft, at least some of that looks set to come from global salaries. It's unlikely this will be the last cost-cutting measure put forth by Microsoft execs, with Coleman adding that this voluntary exit program is just one "of the ways we’re trying to meet different business needs while continuing to create opportunities for our own people to grow and contribute."

Claude maker Anthropic has filed for an initial public offering (IPO) that could value the AI company at around $2 trillion, setting the stage for one of the biggest potential stock market debuts in the technology industry, the company announced today.

As per Form S-1 registration statement with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, the firm intends to list its Class A common stock on the Nasdaq Global Select Market under the ticker ‘ANT’, although the number of shares to be offered and the price range have yet to be determined. A report from Reuters suggests the company could seek to raise as much as $100 billion, but those figures are not confirmed offering terms.

On to numbers, Anthropic generated $16.3 billion in revenue during the first half of 2026, up sharply from approximately $1.2 billion in the same period last year. The company’s operating performance also improved, although its reported net loss reached $80.7 billion. Despite the losses, it disclosed enormous commitments to AI computing infrastructure and outlined risks that investors will have to weigh against its rapid growth.

That net loss, however, requires context. It should not be interpreted as $80.7 billion in cash spent running the business, since accounting adjustments related to financing instruments contributed substantially to the reported figure. Even so, Anthropic cautions that its revenue growth rate “may not be sustainable” and could decline.

The company also warns that it may need additional financing sooner than expected and does not anticipate paying dividends in the foreseeable future. Those disclosures will matter to investors considering a company whose expansion depends on access to increasingly expensive computing resources.

Beyond figures, Anthropic’s filing contains warnings about the technology underpinning its business. The company says advanced AI could pose “catastrophic or existential risks to humanity,” including scenarios involving dangerous capabilities, deceptive behavior, and systems that become difficult for humans to control.

“Our development of highly advanced models, platforms, and applications and expansion of use cases could further increase the risk that our models cause harm,” Anthropic’s S-1 prospectus stated.

However, the firm said it is developing safeguards to mitigate AI risks through pre-release testing, red-team assessments, and systems designed to detect harmful outputs. It also said it may delay training or restrict model releases when safety measures are insufficient, while acknowledging that its efforts may not succeed.

Bloomberg Intelligence technology research head Mandeep Singh discussed the disclosures in a Bloomberg segment following the filing. He characterized worst-case scenarios as typical of risk disclosures for emerging technology companies preparing to go public, noting that such language helps address potential liabilities. He also pointed to Anthropic’s improving compute efficiency and an improvement in gross margins as a positive signal for investors. “Gross margins are inching closer to 50%, whereas just a quarter back… it was like… sub 20%.” He stated.

Meanwhile, Anthropic expects to spend up to $120.5 billion on compute involving SpaceXAI and Nvidia, alongside up to $114.5 billion with Google through 2033. Notably, while those massive infrastructure commitments are essential to training and running advanced AI models, they could become a costly burden if demand falls short of expectations.

OpenAI, the maker of ChatGPT, has also been preparing for a potential IPO, doubling down on efforts to scale revenue and computing capacity ahead of a possible debut. However, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman said in September that the company would not go public in 2026, citing concerns about AI safety and saying the company had more work to do before pursuing a listing. Elsewhere, Cerebras, which develops wafer-scale processors for AI workloads, completed its Nasdaq IPO in May after filing for a second time.

Still, Anthropic acknowledges that its growth may slow and that its financing needs could arrive sooner than expected. That said, Anthropic is reportedly targeting a mid-November IPO, with November 19 or 20 floated as possible listing dates. However, the company has yet to confirm a timetable for the offering.

Have you been watching many heist movies lately? Here's a Hollywood-ready script for a new one: Organized crime teams have taken to stealing data center gear off or with their transport trucks, to the tune of tens of millions per shipment. They employ hacking and phishing, vehicular ramming, GPS signal spoofing, and have ties to international crime networks. An extensive report on NBC sheds light on this new trend, remarking that over $100 million dollars of computing and related gear were stolen via transit interception in various guises since June 2026 alone.

This type of heist has been growing over the past couple of years, but just this year the one incident in Reno made $38 million in gear disappear. In the same city, $15m of semiconductors and Apple products got nabbed in July 2025, according to Fortune. The month of June 2026 was particularly profitable for thieves, as they made off with $13m of gear around the Mojave Desert area, and $10m worth of server rack components headed to Texas.

The stolen gear includes servers, fiber-optic and copper cabling, RAM modules, drives, routers, and other miscellaneous gear. Although NBC doesn't mention GPUs by name, stolen data center servers headed for AI buildouts are likely to have some.

Even copper wire is worth a lot these days, as one snagged trailer had $300,000 worth of the now-precious metal. As Keith Lewis from Verisk Cargonet puts it, "it's like stealing pure gold bars [...] it's so much easier to steal [data center shipments] than to rob a bank."

The methods used employ technological smarts and brutality in equal amounts. Each heist is unique, but broad patterns are apparent. Thieves gain access to online accounts of freight brokers and carriers, and from there on they can look up cargo manifests and shipping schedules, as well as impersonate shipping companies. Then they track a shipment or issue a false one, and eventually collect the truck with the precious cargo.

In a few recent cases, the heists involved thieves literally ramming escort cars so that the truck executes a trouble-free getaway. In those cases, the truck driver was likely in on the play, and probably got in the driver's seat thanks to the prevalence of AI-generated IDs coupled with poor personnel vetting practices.

And as for GPS trailer tracking, the malfeasants thought of that too: in one case, they seemingly used GPS beacon impersonation and broadcast fake coordinates so that neither human nor automated system believed anything was amiss.

The first instinct is to assume that all of the gear would end up on the second-hand market. But in an additional twist to the story, the thieves already have overseas buyers ready before the heist actually takes place.

Law enforcement officials believe that the gear is slurped up by entities operating in countries under the U.S.' tight AI export controls, including China. Verified Carrier, a platform for vetting carriers, says that this year, it's seen suspicious activity linked with U.S. cargo theft in India, Uzbekistan, Pakistan, Colombia, and Moldova. Scott Cornell of TAPA Americas estimates that six to seven out of 10 stolen cargo shipments (data center gear or otherwise) end up overseas.

David Warrick, of supply management firm Overhaul, describes the scale of the problem: "These are international syndicates. They run like big corporations…They have penetrated the supply chains at all levels, in terms of drivers, in terms of warehouse operators. They know where all the high-value goods are; they know who transacts them, and they look for the weak points in the supply chain to be able to exploit those."

Elon Musk has confirmed that SpaceX closed $40 billion in debt financing for graphics processing units (GPUs), with the chips expected to arrive in the first half of 2027. He disclosed the deal on X, October 25 (embedded below) while responding to investor Chamath Palihapitiya, who had warned that mounting financing pressures and delays in data center construction could leave AI computing capacity sitting idle next year.

Musk agreed with that assessment, but argued that SpaceX is better positioned than many of its competitors because it can borrow against revenue from businesses outside AI. “Pretty much,” Musk replied to Palihapitiya on X explaining that debt markets had largely shut off funding for companies without substantial revenue independent of AI data centers.

He further said SpaceX had closed $40 billion in debt for GPUs because it has investment-grade status and revenue from its Starlink satellite internet and space businesses. “That means the 200+ neoclouds are going to see guppy-level death and consolidation. Some will make it through, but not many,” Musk wrote.

It is still, however, unclear what Musk meant by “closed” or whether investors had agreed to the final debt pricing. The disclosure comes as SpaceX prepares for another enormous spending period. CFO Bret Johnsen had stated during SpaceX’s Q3 2026 earnings call that the company expects capital expenditure of $35 billion to $40 billion in Q4 “because of the additional capacity coming online this quarter.”

Musk also clarified that the borrowing was primarily callable debt for GPU purchases expected to arrive in the first and second quarters of 2027. “This is primarily callable debt for GPU purchases that will arrive in Q1 and Q2. Not a major factor this quarter,” Musk wrote.

Earlier this month, it emerged SpaceX had proposed a $40 billion debt package for Nvidia hardware, estimating that the proposed funding could cover roughly 360,000 Rubin GPUs across 5,000 Nvidia NVL72 racks. The proposed package reportedly included $10 billion in bank loans and $30 billion in investment-grade debt. Musk has now said the financing has closed, but has not confirmed the specific GPU models or quantities covered by the deal.

The spending fits into Musk’s broader push to expand AI computing capacity. In August, xAI outlined plans to increase its data center capacity sevenfold by 2027, targeting 10 gigawatts. In September, the publication also reported that SpaceXAI planned to add another 660,000 Nvidia GPUs during 2026, potentially bringing its total to around 1.44 million if the planned deployments proceed.

And GPUs are only part of the bill. Data centers need power, cooling, networking equipment, and physical infrastructure before those accelerators can do useful work, which underscores SpaceX’s latest move.

SpaceX, meanwhile, has begun selling access to its own infrastructure. In May, Anthropic secured access to SpaceX’s Colossus 1 supercomputer, which includes more than 220,000 Nvidia GPUs and over 300 megawatts of computing capacity. Later in June, SpaceX struck a separate deal with Google, which agreed to pay $920 million per month for access to approximately 110,000 Nvidia GPUs and related hardware, with payments scheduled to run from October 2026 through June 2029.

Intel has published an internal test driver with the "RPL-NEXT" label, presumably in reference to Raptor Lake Next CPUs that Tom's Hardware first reported on in June. On the same day as the driver was uncovered, shipping manifests from Vietnam were published by Club386, showing exports of CPUs labeled "Raptor Lake Next" dating back to August, complete with cache and clock speed information.

The driver was first spotted by @momomo_us on X, and we were able to find it by searching the name in Intel's software database. The file is locked (hence the padlock icon), and clicking on it will redirect you to an Intel login page. Given that and the "testbuild" label, it looks like this is an internal driver test that wasn't meant to be published.

Judging by the existing conventions, the driver package is for the Smart Sound Technology (SST), a audio digital signal processor integrated into the silicon since the Alder Lake days. Audio codecs like those of Realtek use SST for offloading duties like noise reduction, echo cancellation, low-power audio playback, and wake-on-voice without adding to the CPU load, and saving precious watts in the process.

For broader context, Raptor Lake Next is Intel's refresh of the Raptor family of CPUs, meant to plug into existing LGA-1700 motherboards. Given the currently insane DDR5 memory prices, gamers ought to be happy on two fronts: getting newer chips for their existing motherboards, and the ability to use more affordable DDR4 instead, an ability all but confirmed by Gigabyte's recent BIOS updates.

According to Club386's shipping manifests, there are so far four chip models en route from Intel's Vietnam facilities. Their specs suggest that they're replacements for extant Core i5 and Core i7 models, as a previous leak indicates that Intel doesn't yet have any plans for replacements for its Core i9-14900K chip.

As such, the listed models should top out with the 99DLMV part number, with 16 cores in an 8P + 8E arrangement, a meaty 3.5 GHz base block, and 30 MB of cache (presumably L3). This is the only model with a 125W TDP, and its base clock is higher than that of the Core i9-14900K, so it should be a speedy enough affair despite not having the high core counts of the halo models. Chances are it'll be a nice gaming CPU with pretty high turbo clocks, but only reviews will confirm that.

Interestingly, the 99DLMT has 20 cores (8P + 12E), but its much lower 65W TDP and 2.1 GHz base clock, which indicate that this model might be an efficiency-oriented productivity chip. In the table below, we added our guesses as to which models match existing chips.

There's no word about pricing, but we'd expect the new chips to ring in at roughly the prices of the existing models. As points of reference, the Core i7-14700 is currently $366, or $330 for the "F" variant without integrated graphics. At the lower end of the above table, the Core i5-14400 is sitting at $208, or only $161 without an IGP.

The FlipGo is yet another entry into the portable dual-monitor field from JSAUX (the previous one being the more ambitious FlipGo Horizon Pro), and it definitely makes a good first impression. Not only do you get two 16-inch 2560 x 1600 IPS displays, but the FlipGo also supports touch input (on Windows systems). In addition, it incorporates a built-in USB hub that gives you two additional USB-A ports and one USB-C port for your peripherals.

JSAUX provides all of this functionality in a product that comes in at a bit under $500, which is in line with other portable dual-monitors on the market. However, there’s a hefty toll for the functionality that’s provided in this package for those expecting to actually use it as a travel companion.

Design of the JSAUX FlipGo (PM0204)

When I first received the shipping box for the FlipGo, I was shocked at how large and heavy it was. My shock was made even more apparent when I removed the FlipGo from its protective padding, revealing a massive dual-screen device weighing an incredible 4.18 pounds. That’s more than half a pound heavier than a 14-inch Apple MacBook Pro.

The choice of materials contributes to the 4+ pound weight of the FlipGo. JSAUX uses a thick aluminum chassis that resists flexing and feels incredibly premium to the touch. That premium feel even extends to the hinges that connect the two displays. They are robust, with no play, allowing you to easily open the FlipGo to whatever display angle you desire.

While JSAUX labels the FlipGo as a “portable” monitor, this is not something that you’ll be able to easily slip into a laptop bag or even a backpack. The dual 16-inch screen frame measures 14.41 x 9.45 inches and is 0.7 inches thick. For most people, the FlipGo will take up a permanent residence on your desk, or perhaps travel with you from one side of your office building to the other. But carrying it around for travel seems like a bridge too far.

With that said, the specs on the FlipGo are quite impressive. You get two 16-inch 60 Hz IPS displays, each with a resolution of 2560 x 1600. Considering that most competitors in this space give you dual 1920 x 1080 panels, this resolution upgrade is much appreciated here.

Both screens feature a glossy finish, which is uncommon for dual-screen monitors. However, that’s because both panels support 10-point touch input natively in Windows 11. Unfortunately, touch input is not supported in macOS, so you’ll want to consider the FlipGo (non-touch) if you’re a Mac user.

Connectivity-wise, the FlipGo’s primary ports are on the left side of the bottom panel. Here you’ll find two USB-C ports and two mini-HDMI ports. On the right side of the bottom panel, you’ll find ports provided by the internal USB hub: two USB-A and one USB-C. Adjacent to the USB hub hookups is a three-way jog wheel for the OSD and the power button.

JSAUX offers a stand that allows you to prop the FlipGo up in landscape (one monitor stacked on top of the other) or portrait mode (both monitors standing up vertically, book-style). However, our review unit only came with a red faux leather protective cover. Without the stand, I could use the monitor with the bottom panel sitting flat on my desk and the top panel sitting vertically. Alternatively, I could use it in portrait mode.

JSAUX FlipGo (PM0204) Specifications

OSD on the JSAUX FlipGo (PM0204)

The FlipGo uses a relatively basic on-screen display (OSD), which is controlled using a three-way jog wheel. Despite there being two displays, you don’t have independent control over picture settings. Adjustments made on one display apply to both, for better or worse.

You can flick the wheel right or left to adjust brightness up or down. Moving up and down with the jog wheel navigates through the OSD, while pressing on it takes you one level deeper until you select an option (similar to the previously reviewed FlipGo Horizon Pro). Likewise, pressing once on the power button takes you back one menu, and a long press turns off the monitor.

You’ll find the usual assortment of adjustable settings in the OSD, like brightness, contrast, and sharpness. There’s a separate menu for color temperature, saturation, and hue. There are also options to switch between HDMI and USB-C inputs.

Connecting and Operating the JSAUX FlipGo (PM0204)

The FlipGo comes with an assortment of cables in the box. You get two USB-C cables, a mini-HDMI to HDMI cable, and a USB-C wall adapter. As I previously mentioned, the FlipGo does not support touch input on macOS. In addition, the FlipGo only supports mirror mode for both screens on macOS and requires you to use both USB-C and mini-HDMI to HDMI cables to connect (Windows 11 supports both mirror and extend modes). Because of these limitations and the fact that you’d be better off buying the cheaper non-touch model for macOS, I performed all of my testing with a Windows 11 laptop (HP OminiBook X).

Setting up the FlipGo couldn’t have been easier. Although JSAUX includes two mini-HDMI ports on the FlipGo for use with older laptops, if you have a USB-C port that supports DisplayPort, you can use that instead. With my OmniBook X test laptop, I was able to use just one USB-C cable to handle both power and video/data for the FlipGo. The FlipGo also supports 60-watt power passthrough to your laptop, which you can leverage by running dedicated power through the second USB-C port.

Using just a single cable between the FlipGo and the OmniBook X, I primarily used the two displays in portrait mode. In this mode, I could have two separate webpages open, side-by-side next to the OmniBook X’s internal panel. While I could use the FlipGo in landscape mode, the bottom panel had to lie flat on my desk, given that no stand was provided with my review unit to prop it up.

Touch support functioned, as expected, on both panels without needing to install any additional software. In short, the FlipGo operated flawlessly.

Display Performance on the JSAUX FlipGo (PM0204)

The FlipGo uses two 16-inch IPS panels, each with a resolution of 2560 x 1600 and a refresh rate of 60 Hz. JSAUX listed maximum brightness at 500 nits, but as you’ll see with our test numbers below, that figure was quite optimistic.

As I previously stated, due to the lack of a stand provided with my review unit, I primarily used the FlipGo in portrait mode, and it performed wonderfully here. The large panel sizes combined with the extra resolution over 1080p panels made them ideal for putting two webpages side-by-side. More frequently, I found myself pairing a webpage with an instance of Microsoft Word or Microsoft Excel. I especially appreciated the extra vertical resolution to limit scrolling up and down in Excel.

Compared to the FlipGo Horizon Pro that I previously reviewed, the panels on the “regular” FlipGo were far superior. Not only were they much more colorful and vibrant, but they were also vastly superior in brightness (319 nits versus 247.4 nits). However, I must note that the 319 nits that we recorded were a far cry from the 500 nits that JSAUX claims.

For our color tests, the FlipGo covered 97.2 percent of DCI-P3 and 137.2 percent of sRGB color spaces. That put the FlipGo well ahead of its competition, with the Aura Triple Aero 15.6 Pro Max coming the closest (at 85.4 percent and 120.6 percent, respectively). Given the higher-quality panels on the FlipGo compared to the FlipGo Horizon Pro and the glossy finish on my OmniBook X’s display, overall color balance matched pretty well across all three displays, adding to the enjoyment of using the portable monitor. I’ve often found that portable monitors have slightly (and sometimes far) inferior panels than their laptop counterparts, which can lead to a jarring experience when looking from one to the other. That is definitely not the case with the FlipGo.

Bottom Line

The JSAUX FlipGo is a remarkable piece of hardware for productivity warriors. At first sight, the FlipGo impresses with its high-quality build, stiff hinges, and plentiful video input options. JSAUX even incorporates a USB hub that gives you a couple of USB-A ports and a USB-C port to expand your peripheral footprint.

The FlipGo also tops the charts when it comes to color performance and brightness, more than justifying its $479 street price. I have two reservations concerning my review unit, but only one is really applicable. My review unit lacked a stand to prop the FlipGo up in landscape or portrait modes; however, shipping units from Amazon now include that part. So, crisis averted on that front. My other complaint is unavoidable: the 4.18-pound weight is considerable and is probably a bit more than most people are willing to deal with when traveling. However, it makes a perfect companion for expanding real estate on your desk without the massive footprint that comes with hooking up a traditional desktop monitor.

Whether you've had a NAS drive for a while, or you're looking at setting one up, the most important thing is making sure you have plenty of storage capacity. So, if you're looking to replace or boost your current storage drives, then this double-up deal from Newegg on 2x Western Digital WD Red Pro 10TB Hard Disk Drives for $785.98 might be helpful. The price of storage has skyrocketed over the last year due to the ongoing AI infrastructure rollout, so finding a relative deal on HDD storage has become a rare sight indeed. You can save $134 on this deal. The list price for the two drives is $919.98, with a single WD Red Plus 10TB listed for $459.99.

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WD Red Pro hard drives are designed and constructed to be more reliable. These are not your average consumer drives, as they've been engineered to be more robust and cope with vibrations, small shocks, and continuous operation. With NAS drives often operating 24/7, you want reliable hard drives that are up to the task of sustained use. This two-pack of drives instantly starts you off with 20TB of storage capacity.

The benefits of going with NAS-specific WD Red Plus HDDs include the fact that they are optimized for lower power consumption and lower operating temperatures than standard HDDs, ensuring lower electricity bills and hopefully great longevity. These WD Red Plus 10TB drives come with a 3-year limited warranty, which should help you to replace this expensive drive should there be any unfortunate drive failures.

The WD Red Plus drive has a 512MB cache and is rated to operate at speeds of up to 216 MB/s with a 7200RPM speed, supporting a workload of up to 180TB/year. That's a fair amount of data for a single drive, and should give the Red Plus plenty of longevity in your NAS setup.

For Asus ROG's 20th birthday, the company released a slew of computer parts (enough for a supremely expensive build). But it's not overlooking its more recent entry into gaming handhelds, with the new Asus ROG Xbox Ally X20, a revamped version of the Asus ROG Xbox Ally X, which is already one of the best handheld gaming PCs.

The $1,299.99 gaming handheld ($2,499.99 if you get it in a bundle with XR glasses, a Pelican case, and a Dbrand Killswitch case) doesn't change performance at all. Instead, it makes some common-sense tweaks to its existing $999.99 handheld, adding TMR joysticks, rubberized grips, a see-through design, a transforming D-pad, and, most importantly, an OLED display.

If you already have an Ally X, this isn't a reason to upgrade. But if you're looking to get into handheld PC gaming and are willing to splurge, the changes here sure are nice.

Design and Display on the Asus ROG Xbox Ally X20

If you put the Asus ROG Xbox Ally X20 and the original next to each other, it's impossible not to notice the differences. But still, these are largely the same system, inside and out. They have the same button layout, the same grips, the same screen size, speaker placement, and vents.

The most visible difference is that the X20 has a new, transparent plastic case with a black tint, along with gold menu buttons, a gold stripe across the back (rather than silver), and a large "20th Anniversary" ROG badge on the rear. I prefer the original Xbox Ally X's plainer design; the clear plastic looks more like a toy. I also found that it let the status lights shine through the top of the system, just abover the screen, which is distracting.

There is one minor change in the menu buttons: where the Ally X had a library button, the Ally X20 has a screenshot button. It's more useful in general, but it's also a great way to accidentally take a screenshot.

But once I picked up the Ally X20, the original couldn't compare. The chassis feels more substantial, especially with rubberized grips on the back of the prongs. There's a new directional pad, which feels more substantial; it also twists between a 4-way and 8-way pad, though I found switching between these two modes quite awkward. The 8-way D-pad is better for fighting games, while the 4-way with more distinct cardinal directions will make more sense for action-adventure and platform games.

The new TMR joysticks, which should show less wear with age, feel tighter. All of this adds up, even though there is no performance difference between the two devices. They share the same AMD Ryzen AI Z2 Extreme chip.

The other big change is the screen. Both use 1920 x 1080 touchscreens, but the Xbox Ally X20 has a 7.4-inch OLED panel, slightly larger than the original's 7-inch IPS display. While the screen size isn't much of a difference, the narrower top bezel is noticeable.

And the OLED screen looks great. It's only slightly more vivid on measured color tests. But it's definitely brighter, and it's absolutely an improvement. The OLED screen doesn't measure as well as the OLED screen on the Steam Deck OLED, but in isolation, I thought Asus's panel looked great, and it has a much more recent chip than the Steam Deck.

Forza Horizon 6 looked beautiful, with lush greenery on the sides of tracks and realistic, colorful paint jobs. In God of War: Ragnarok, dark areas with deep blacks made dim light stand out.

Asus ROG Xbox Ally X20 Specifications

Battery Life on the Asus ROG Xbox Ally X20

The Ally X20 has the same 80 Whr battery as its predecessor. To get an idea how long you can play a demanding game for, I booted up God of War: Ragnarok, set the screen to 50% brightness, and used the 17W performance mode. With the game running on low settings with AMD FSR 3.1.4 at 720p, the machine had 47% charge left after an hour and 15 minutes of gameplay.

That suggests that I could have hit about 2.5 hours had I kept going. That's down from about 3 hours on the original Ally, though it's not apples to apples, as I played different games. It's to be expected that an OLED display would use a bit more power, however.

Software and Warranty on the Asus ROG Xbox Ally X20

The ROG Xbox Ally X20 uses the same Full Screen Experience that the original Xbox Ally X originated. Portions of Windows don't even load unless you switch to desktop mode, which saves RAM and helps boost performance.

For some features, Asus includes Armoury Crate SE. That's where you can make changes to the lighting around the joysticks, adjust power management (whether in the app or in the Xbox menu), and calibrate your joysticks and triggers.

Asus sells the ROG Xbox Ally X20 with a 1-year warranty.

Bottom Line

The Asus ROG Xbox Ally X20 is the definitive form of Asus' handheld. It feels better in the hands, has joysticks that should last longer, and the OLED display is a noticeable improvement.

All of that being said, games play the same across the two devices. If you already have an original ROG Ally X, this isn't worth the upgrade. You won't get any more performance, and the IPS screen on the original is still plenty bright and colorful, even if the blacks aren't as good as on an OLED screen.

If you're buying a new machine, it's a tougher choice. The X20 is $1,299.99 — a $300 increase over the original, which is staying on the market. If this is your sole gaming machine, that may be worthwhile for the improved screen, TMR joysticks, and a slightly more solid build. But it's a lot of money; the original Xbox Ally X will play games the same way for $300 less. Neither will play games as well as the Intel Arc G3, but the only system with that available right now is $1,799.

The X20 is worth getting if it's going to be your only gaming PC for a few years. The $1,299.99 price is high for a handheld, but given that the $999.99 version is effectively the best deal in handhelds right now, it makes some sense to invest if you want the best experience.

A Chinese team has claimed a new world record for real-time transfer speeds across 24-core optical fiber cable. The collaboration between the National Key Laboratory of Optical Communication Technology, and Network of China Information and Communication Technologies Group, Pengcheng Laboratory, and Fiberhome Fujikura Fiber Optic Technology Co., Ltd. hit speeds fast enough to download “more than 20,000 4K movies” in one second, reports the Chinese government website for Hubei Province.

We note that this new 3.2 Pb/s real-time optical transfer speed world record comfortably eclipses the 2.5 Pb/s record set by the same teams earlier this year. The improvement represents an almost 30% performance uplift within a year.

According to the source, these speeds could mean, if and when they are successfully rolled out, “3.2 million households simultaneously enjoying gigabit broadband.” Or you could say this speed is roughly 3.2 million times faster than a typical one-gigabit internet connection. Both are probably more useful and practical comparisons than knowing that one person would be able to download 20,000 4K movies in a single second.

In technical terms the 3.2 Pb/s test proved the success of the spatial division multiplexing and S+C+L multi-band transmission technology used by the team. Major hurdles faced by the researchers included crosstalk interference, and handling the varying spec requirements of the S+C+L transmission bands.

The new 3.2 Pb/s transmission record was achieved using commercially compliant hardware architectures in real-time. Thus, the headlining result could be practical and deployable in the real world in the not-too-distant future, with enough will and effort.

Contrast that to pure academic lab optical fiber transmission milestones which have reached transfer speeds (across similar 24-core telecommunications fiber) of up to 5.29 Pb/s. However, these incredibly impressive lab results often lean on advanced or experimental signal processing and laboratory equipment.