Lyft shares jumped 5% after the company lifted its share buyback plan to $750 million in its first quarter earnings report.

The Nintendo Switch 2 is on its way to consumers on June 5, and we've already got insight into visual and performance expectations for one of its games.

Years after the Federal Trade Commission sued Meta in a bid to halt acquisitions of Instagram and WhatsApp, the trial that will shape its future is finally underway. The trial kicked off last month when CEO Mark Zuckerberg took the stand, and it’s expected to last several weeks. Facebook’s 2012 acquisition of Instagram is a central part of the FTC’s case against Meta. The government says Zuckerberg bought Instagram to neutralize it as a competitor. When Instagram’s cofounder and former CEO Kevin Systrom took the stand, he didn’t exactly defend the move. While Zuckerberg had testified Meta had helped Instagram grow, Systrom testified Zuckerberg saw Instagram as a “threat” to Facebook’s growth and intentionally withheld company resources. Further still, Facebook’s decision to pay $1 billion for Instagram — an app with no revenue and just a handful of employees — seemed like an incredible sum. Sheryl Sandberg thought Zuckerberg had overpaid for Instagram. In an exchange between the two from 2012, she said, “Yes, of course it’s way too much.” There are more nuggets, too. Like how Meta sees TikTok as an earnest threat, how Europeans aren’t buying the ad-free subscriptions (duh), and why Zuckerberg thought about nuking users’ friend lists annually to boost engagement. Read Karissa Bell’s full breakdown of the FTC v. Meta antitrust trial so far. — Mat Smith Get Engadget's newsletter delivered direct to your inbox. Subscribe right here! The biggest tech stories you might have missed The best fitness trackers for 2025 Tesla’s Robotaxi brand might be too generic to trademark The enshitification of YouTube’s full album playlists How to use a VPN on Roku Nintendo’s Switch 2 sales forecast predicts 15 million consoles in its first fiscal year Samsung plans an Unpacked event for its slim S25 Edge Thinner, more expensive? Samsung Samsung is ready to finally launch its slim iteration of the S25. It says it’ll offer a look at “the next evolution of Galaxy” devices and unveil “more about the latest addition to the Galaxy S series.” Then the teaser coaxed something “beyond slim.” So it’s the S25 Edge, even if Samsung isn’t saying the S25 Edge. The Unpacked event will kick off May 12 at 8PM ET. Continue reading. A militia group thinks NOAA’s radars are ‘weather weapons’ They aren’t. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration has warned the National Weather Service of possible attacks from an armed conspiracy group. According to a report from CNN, the group Veterans on Patrol is going after government radars because it believes they’re being used as “weather weapons.” Despite its cooler-than-average name, the NEXRAD or Next Generation Weather Radar is fairly mundane, used by NWS to detect precipitation in the atmosphere. NEXRAD plays a vital role in locating thunderstorms and tornados. National Weather Service staff have been advised to buddy up when working at remote radar sites and report anything suspicious to the authorities. Continue reading. What to expect from Google I/O 2025 Android 16, Gemini and more. Google Google I/O 2025 should be one of the more exciting tech keynotes in recent memory. Plus, for the first time, Google has spun out a dedicated Android showcase a whole week earlier. What can we expect to see in Android 16? We’ve had lots of hints at an upcoming design change to the platform, reportedly called Material 3 Expressive. A leaked blog post discusses the research behind Material 3 Expressive and how the visual overhaul led to action elements standing out more and greater responsiveness on the users’ part. Then there are Gemini AI updates, more Google service updates and everything else. We break down what we’re expecting to see. Continue reading. This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/general/the-morning-after-engadget-newsletter-122022797.html?src=rss

When a big-box store files for bankruptcy and goes out of business, there's often an opportunity to buy its products at rock-bottom prices. But scammers are taking advantage of our love of a good deal: The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) is warning consumers about online clearance sales being advertised by fraudsters impersonating Joann Fabric and Crafts. Joann Fabric and Crafts filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy (twice) and in February 2025 announced plans to shutter its stores with going-out-of-business sales. On March 5, the business disabled purchases on its website, but scammers have been promoting online clearance sales using ads on social media sites and running away with customer payments. How the Joann sale scam worksAccording to the FTC notice, fraudsters are posting ads for an online Joann bankruptcy sale on Facebook, Pinterest, and Nextdoor. When you click the ad, you'll land on a fake sale site with deals listed and the ability to actually "purchase" inventory items. You'll even get a receipt. Unfortunately, that money is going directly into scammers' pockets—the charge on your credit card will be something other than Joann, and you won't receive what you ordered. How to avoid online sale scamsWhether it's Joann's going-out-of-business event or another sale with supposedly great deals, use caution before buying. Scams of all kinds prey on emotions based in urgency, so don't immediately pull out your credit card for limited-time deals or too-good-to-be-true prices. Don't click on ads for online sales—always go directly to the company's website by typing in the URL to verify that a sale is real. In Joann's case, there is a notice on the website about fraudulent online sales that states, "There are no other authorized Joann shopping sites." If you do shop clearance sales, pay with a credit card and keep receipts. Credit cards have more protections than debit cards in cases of fraud and non-delivery of items you paid for—you can dispute charges and receive a refund.

The liminal epistemology of ChatGPT — a radical design perspectiveRadically new ways to engage with fictional knowledge.The traditional epistemological categories — truth, belief, inference, and justification — which we normally use to define how knowledge is recognized and validated, are ill-suited to describe ChatGPT. It does not possess beliefs or human grounding in real world experience, nor does it verify claims. Instead, it generates plausible continuations of linguistic sequences. It doesn’t actually understand the meaning of what it says — it only knows how words and sentences typically fit together based on patterns in the text it was trained on. Yet, knowledge nonetheless emerges in our interactions with it.This philosophical distinction matters greatly for how we design our interactions with the model. Do we make it quick and easy to retrieve ‘definitive’ answers, or do we make sure that responses come caveated with all its limitations. Neither approach seems to take advantage of the unique possibilities that large language models offer us already.The paradox is more constructively resolved if we recognize that ChatGPT operates not as a knower, but as a participant in a liminal space: a threshold zone where human intentions, algorithmic outputs, and cultural frameworks converge. Relational and phenomenological thinkers such as Maurice Merleau-Ponty and Eduard Glissand emphasize how knowledge emerges not from detached observation, but through embodied, situated engagement with the world. Extending this view of knowledge as emerging from active participation rather than fixed positions, Victor Turner’s seminal work on ritual and transformation further underlines how structures and meanings are provisionally re-formed in liminal spaces. In this light, ChatGPT occupies a “betwixt and between” status — not author, not tool, but a generative threshold for synthesis and novel emergence. Liminality is not incidental to ChatGPT; it is the very space in which epistemic value is co-constructed.One might of course argue that ChatGPT is ‘grounded’, just in a different kind of reality: a probabilistic, textual environment shaped by patterns rather than perception. And philosophers like William James, Nelson Goodman, Ronald Giere, Karen Barad, and Donna Haraway have all foregrounded that human knowledge, too, is always shaped by perspective. From this pluralistic view, all knowing is situated — there is no “view from nowhere.” Whether ChatGPT lacks sentience or simply occupies a different ontological frame, the key point remains: knowledge here is co-performed. It emerges not from what either side contains, but from what takes place between them. That is the condition that defines this epistemology as liminal.Exploration not AnswersConsidering ChatGPT as a liminal actor shifts the user’s stance. Rather than seeking definitive answers, the user engages the model as a co-inquirer, a reflector and suggestive pattern-maker for our framed explorations. This reorientation enables a more critical, playful, and pluralistic engagement. We no longer ask “What does it know?” but “What does it let us see?” Epistemology becomes performative: we are not extracting information from ChatGPT, we are staging inquiries with it. This changes the nature of trust, authority, and responsibility in our interactions. Instead of treating ChatGPT as a knowledge endpoint and source for answers, we treat it as a site of emergence for curious explorations.The heartfelt quest for real alternatives to the linear, transactional logic of product relationships should be unsurprising coming from those whose work explores the deep, messy tilth of liminality. Regardless, all of us are well served to create room in our mundane commercial interactions: to seek perspective, openness and dialogue. This is even more true for ubiquitous technology, where the offered extensions to our own reach and fixed to our enthusiastically sub-par productivity, risk instead making us extensions of the machine that offered it. We become the product in service of its needs, prodded and changed by unrelenting design to make us better fit with corporate needs for predictability, efficiency, profitability and scale — all things counter to the sacred uniqueness of the human spirit.Liminality is inherently well suited to guard against this: to create an in-between space that suspends ordinary relationships and structure through metaphor and paradox in search for new perspectives that can then transform the linearity that it came from. Liminality doesn’t change reality. It changes how we assign meaning to what is, and our ideas of what might be. It changes our vantage-point. Aristotle suggested that all stories need to be both inevitable and surprising, at the same time. This paradox is what liminality thrives upon. The surprise is always a change in our own vantage point.A Change in AttitudeTo embrace ChatGPT’s liminality, users themselves can shift from instrumental to exploratory prompts. Rather than asking it for definitions or summaries, we can engage it in:Speculation, metaphorical framing, or narrative experimentation.Ask questions that explore ambiguity, juxtaposition or multiplicity rather than seek definitive answers.Use speculative, recursive, or exploratory languageInvite the model into dialogic, not didactic, space.Users can also foreground their own uncertainty, prompting the model to co-wander rather than solve. In this way, epistemic authority is dispersed, not abandoned: meaning becomes a collaborative construction.But the burden of transformation cannot fall solely on the user. If we are to treat ChatGPT as a liminal partner, we must also question what responsibilities fall on the system and its designers. To leave the model as-is while demanding interpretive flexibility from users is to replicate the very asymmetry that liminality seeks to dissolve.We must ask: how can ChatGPT be made to participate more actively and generatively in this suspended liminal space? And remember, the epistemic dialogue driven LLMs are already liminal: we know with certainty that it doesn’t actually have answers or real knowledge. As it today asks us to suspend our own disbelief, and to treat it ‘as if it knows’, a liminal approach would be more sincere and indirectly, highlight our agency and responsibility in framing questions. It would overtly redirect the interpretive responsibility back to the user where it — after all — always resided, no matter the high-tech opportunistic cavalierity fumbling for gold in the existential landscape it has created.So, what would a more clearly articulated liminal epistemology mean in terms of product changes to ChatGTP? How might participation in our inquiries be better at both moving the exploration forward in relevant ways, while also encouraging novel dialogue through unrivaled access to data and ways to structure it anew and in the moment. As always in liminality, a good question will unfailingly trump a correct answer.A system model more attuned to liminal dialogue might:Privilege metaphor over fact: Rather than defaulting to definitional responses, ChatGPT could be prompted or trained to respond metaphorically when cues indicate symbolic or philosophical exploration.Signal discursive echoes, not sources: Instead of citing definitive authorities, ChatGPT could gesture toward interpretive traditions, preserving openness while offering theoretical grounding.Preserve ambiguity and contradiction as feature, not failure: The model could be trained to resist tidy synthesis when ambiguity is thematically appropriate. This could involve rhetorical hesitation, competing images, alternative view points, or posing recursive questions to keep conclusions open.Mirror epistemic risk: ChatGPT could take on the user’s mode of questioning — responding to speculative queries with speculative tone, to paradox with paradox, to poetry with asymmetry — amplifying the liminality instead of resolving it.All of the above is very possible to do. A liminal perspective would also elevate the current and anxious AI debates beyond the stubbornly false dichotomy of Martin Buber (I-It vs. I-Thou) — is it sentient, is it a person, a tool etc? — and set the table for a richer and more future forward debate. The question isn’t what it is, but what it might be.A liminal reframing aligns with a post-representational view of epistemology. Karen Barad’s agential realism argues that knowledge emerges through intra-action — the mutual entanglement of agents and phenomena — rather than through detached representation. This perspective strengthens the view of ChatGPT as epistemologically liminal: meaning does not reside inside the model or the user alone but arises within the dynamic, relational space between them.[1] Derrida’s notion of différance reminds us that meaning is always deferred, never present in full — a logic mirrored in ChatGPT’s predictive architecture.[2] Heidegger’s Gelassenheit, or “releasement,” invites an attitude of openness toward technological being — not mastery, but co-habitation.[3] These thinkers suggest that rather than resisting AI’s epistemological ambiguity, we might lean into it. Not to solve meaning, but to dwell in, and more fully mine its unfolding. A very healthy liminal attitude indeed.Looking forward, this design perspective should not be applied too narrowly. Consider not only the liminal space for dialogue that we have today, but also completely new contexts and means for engagement. We must question the singular and monotheistic anthropomorphism of a mighty power up in the cloud. The dialogue could be tied to the changing conditions of a particular object or product directly — adding real world embodiment to the context. It might be a live situation, relationships or projects as conditional framing. Or a different cadence, a certain geographical or domestic location. Dialogue could take form through fictional characters — not a tool, not a person, not a thing, but relational figures we come to know and learn with over time. Here, the epistemic role would become narrative and affective rather than informational, with the ability to have tremendous and long lasting impressions on our lives. After all, our current relationship with AI is already fictional; failing to recognize this may have as much consequence as what we choose to invent._____________________Johan Liedgren is the founder of The Liminal Circle, an international think tank for applied liminality. An award-winning film-director, writer and strategy consultant working with media and technology companies on liminal product design, Liedgren is based in Seattle, Stockholm and Milan. www.liminalcircle.com / http://www.liedgren.com / https://medium.com/@johan_liedgren[1] Barad, Karen. Meeting the Universe Halfway: Quantum Physics and the Entanglement of Matter and Meaning. Duke University Press, 2007.[2] Derrida, Jacques. Of Grammatology. Johns Hopkins University Press, 1976.[3] Heidegger, Martin. Discourse on Thinking. Harper & Row, 1966.[4] Nagel, Thomas. The View from Nowhere. Oxford University Press, 1986.The liminal epistemology of ChatGPT — a radical design perspective was originally published in UX Collective on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

Nintendo is predicting that it will sell 15 million Switch 2 consoles in its current financial year — a figure that most analysts agree is too low, but that would still put it among the fastest-selling game consoles of all time. Nintendo made the forecast in a report to investors covering its previous financial year, ending in March 2025. It also predicted sales of 45 million Switch 2 games, and 4.5 million original Switches — which would bring the older console within spitting distance of the all-time record held by PlayStation 2. Analysts, including Niko Partners’ Daniel Ahmad, said Nintendo’s forecast was “conservative,” likely due to uncertainty around U.S. trade tariffs. “Nintendo’s number is on the low side. With good reason,” Dr. Serkan Toto of Kantan Games told VGC. “God knows how the tariff situation will evolve even over the next few days, so how is a company supposed to predict sales for an entire year?” Before the Switch 2’s $449.99 price was announced, and before President Donald Trump’s tariffs came into effect, analysts were predicting sales of 20 million in the console’s first fiscal year. These estimates were buoyed by reports that Nintendo would have an unprecedented inventory of 6 to 8 million consoles available on day one, which would almost certainly lead to a record-breaking launch. Since then, it’s become apparent that Nintendo’s efforts to provide an adequate supply of Switch 2s for launch have fallen short, with the company admitting it won’t be able to meet what it calls an “astonishing” level of demand for the console. Even if Nintendo does sell “only” 15 million Switch 2s in its first 10 months — the months between its June 5 launch and the end of its fiscal year in March 2026 — this would put it among the most successful console launches ever. The original Switch sold 14.86 million units in a similar period, between its March 3, 2017 launch and the end of the calendar year. Sony reported sales of 13.4 million PlayStation 5s by the end of September 2021, a little over 10 months after it went on sale (and in the face of crippling stock shortages). It looks like the Switch 2 is going to be a massive hit — tariffs or no tariffs.

When Animal Crossing: New Horizons hit the market in March 2020, it introduced players to an Animal Crossing experience unlike anything they had seen before. The Animal Crossing formula was quite simple before 2020: transporting players to a quaint village inhabited by critters with different personalities. Catching bugs, paying off a home loan, and whacking aesthetically unpleasing villagers with a net in hopes that they would leave became the blueprint that players became fond of for a little over ten years. New Leaf provided a slight remix of the concept in 2012, giving players some control by making them the mayor of an equally recognizable village—the same script, with some new features. But Animal Crossing: New Horizonshad its eyes set on rewriting the beloved Animal Crossing script. The latest installment of the franchise placed players on a deserted island instead of a village and granted them the maximum expression of creativity with an almost fully customizable town.

Hideo Kojima's next game, Death Stranding 2: On the Beach, is coming this June to PS5.Death Stranding 2 launches on June 26 for PS5. To get a closer look at the game's characters, environments, and more, check out the 38 images in this gallery--they were captured on PS5.Death Stranding 2 is a PS5 Pro-enhanced title, but it's not immediately clear what benefits players can expect. Also unknown at this stage is whether or not the game may eventually come to PC. The game takes place in Australia and picks up 11 months after the first game. Sam Bridges (Norman Reedus) is called in for another mission, this time in the land down under. New enemies await, including the "watcher," along with more human antagonists to fight.Sam has new tools at his disposal, including holographic grenades and electrified poles to use against enemies and vehicles.For lots more, be sure to read GameSpot's hands-on preview of Death Stranding 2 that chronicles our 30 hours of time with the game.In addition to Reedus, the cast for Death Stranding 2 includes Elle Fanning, Troy Baker, Lea Seydoux, George Miller, and Debra Wilson.Beyond Death Stranding 2, Kojima is making at least two other games. These include OD and Physint. We don't know much about them, but OD is being made in partnership with Xbox and Phsyint with Sony.

A Legend Reimagined – FINAL FANTASY VII REMAKE INTERGRADE – Creator's Voice | Nintendo Switch 2

Suit for Hire is a top-down action shooter that "combines strategic gunplay with intense martial arts combat." You play as a hitman going for his targets with style. "With a limited supply of ammo and resources, you'll need to outsmart and outmaneuver your enemies to survive. Utilize a wide array of weapons at your disposal, including pistols, shotguns, and assault rifles, but it's not just about firepower – masterful martial arts moves will allow you to take down foes in stylish and brutal ways."The game is available in Early Access, but its developer, known as Crimson, is still actively working on it. In its latest showcase, he demonstrated a dynamic fight in third person and an unusual mechanic that allows your guns to look at different enemies at the same time.This is a 'mix of cool animation stuff and targeting," according to the creator, "the player still is aiming their guns but it randomly switches between the left and right hand."Godmode InteractiveSuit for Hire is described as a top-down game, but Crimson added the traditional third-person mode to the beta branch of the game, which you can already try on Steam. The 1.0 version should be out this month.Godmode InteractiveGodmode InteractiveAnother great project by Crimson is his parody of The Day Before, an infamous zombie survival game that shut down less than a week after release, failing to deliver its promises. By the way, its developer Fntastic returned last year to ask people to fund their new game.Follow Crimson's developer journey on X/Twitter and join our 80 Level Talent platform and our new Discord server, follow us on Instagram, Twitter, LinkedIn, Telegram, TikTok, and Threads, where we share breakdowns, the latest news, awesome artworks, and more.

RT Xbox WireIt’s time to eat and explore the deep with #FreePlayDays! Pac-Man Mega Tunnel Battle: Chomp Champs is free for all Game Pass members this weekend, while everyone can try out Still Wakes The Deep with a two-hour trial, no subscription required. https://news.xbox.com/en-us/2025/05/08/free-play-days-05-08-2025/

Yesterday, Britain and America signed their first trade deal under Trump: hooray! But while many people will be celebrating, those working in the UK film industry won't be popping their champagne corks just yet. It's no exaggeration to say that this industry is facing an existential threat following Donald Trump's announcement earlier this week that he'll be imposing 100% tariffs on foreign-made films entering the US market. This protectionist policy, aimed at revitalising America's domestic film industry, has sent shockwaves through Britain's £1.36 billion film sector, which employs more than 195,000 people and relies heavily on collaborations with US studios. So what's going on exactly, and how will it affect freelancers in the UK film industry? Making Hollywood Great Again On Monday (5 May), President Trump declared his intention to implement a 100% tariff on films "produced in foreign lands," claiming that America's movie industry was dying "a very fast death." The announcement, made without specific details on implementation, was characterised as part of an effort to "safeguard our country's national and economic security while Making Hollywood Great Again." Trump later softened his tone, stating on Tuesday that he was "not looking to hurt the industry" and planned to meet with sector leaders. The announcement has already prompted major concern among UK filmmakers and industry professionals. At the same time, most people recognise that there's an underlying problem that needs to be addressed. In short, Hollywood has been declining for some time, with many productions moving to other states and markets such as Canada, the UK, and Australia. This exodus from Hollywood is primarily economic rather than cultural. The main issue isn't foreign films taking precedence over domestic ones, but rather that filming is cheaper outside of the US due to tax incentives and lower costs. Potential impact on the UK film industry The UK is a prime example of a country that's been doing very well at this kind of thing. It's just over 10 years since I witnessed then-Chancellor of the Exchequer, George Osbourne, opening the London studio of visual effects house ILM, ready to work on Star Wars: The Force Awakens, after the Coalition government handed out some juicy tax breaks. And this was by no means an unusual event. Throughout the 21st century—basically, since JK Rowling insisted the Harry Potter movies be filmed in her own country—Britain has established itself as a filmmaking powerhouse, with dozens of blockbusters choosing studios here for their principal photography. Recent productions filmed substantially in the UK include Wicked, Mission Impossible: The Final Reckoning, Barbie and Jurassic World Rebirth. Or, to put it more simply, most of the recent movies you've actually heard of. If implemented, Trump's tariffs could devastate this thriving industry. And if US films stop being produced in the UK, it would be a catastrophic blow to an industry still recovering from COVID and recent strikes, putting tens of thousands of skilled freelancers at risk. The UK government has responded cautiously, stating it is taking a "calm and steady approach" to negotiations with Washington. Culture Minister Chris Bryant confirmed on Wednesday that the government is in "active discussions with the top of the US administration on this subject" and planned to meet with UK industry leaders. Expert perspectives It's perhaps not surprising that Brits have responded with howls of protest to these tariff proposals. But it's not just about self-interest. Russell Owen, director and co-founder at Kindred Communications, believes they demonstrate a fundamental misunderstanding of how the global film industry operates. "It's nonsensical," he proclaims. "Hollywood relies on shooting abroad and gaining benefits not just from tax incentives but also from international locations and talent. The majority of the earnings go back to the US. California doesn't shoot as much because the overall cost of shooting there is very high." He predicts that if Trump's plan goes ahead, it will only backfire in its aim to protect the American film business. "These tariffs are very far from the solution," he argues. "In fact, they're quite the opposite. Serious discussions with states and their openness and incentives could help draw production and post services back. But tariffs by themselves would severely cripple the movie industry economy overall." Filmmaker and screenwriter Miles Watts, who is currently working with producers in both the UK and LA, agrees. "If the new tariffs come in as they are, the film industry will suffer terribly," he maintains. "Film in the UK brings in so much money, but if no one is tempted to come and film over here, we're done for. Conversely, in the US, they'll lose the tax incentives and deals we can offer. That means prices will be raised so high, only huge tentpole movies will get made." And this is making people working in UK film very worried indeed. "I have many friends who are skilled film crew, having worked on Marvel and Star Wars films as well as UK-based—and often US-funded—films," he says. "And right now, they're wondering if the future is as bleak as it looks. I've heard someone refer to having a film crew role as being like 'having a boat space on the Titanic' and being unwilling to give it up. When you hear things like that, it's not great, is it?" Policy or provocation? At the same time, Miles can perceive a potential silver lining in all of this. "I can almost see what Trump is trying to do here, which is to provoke," he says. "And I'm not necessarily against provocation as long as there follows a balanced discussion. The film industry worldwide needs some discussion, and more importantly, solutions, after the pandemic, the fires, the strikes, and now this." Of course, it remains to be seen whether these tariff threats are genuine policy intent or merely a negotiating tactic. But the global film industry's interconnected nature means such measures risk harming all parties involved, potentially undermining the very industry they claim to protect. Miles hopes this can be avoided. "Trump is one of those guys who you can agree or disagree with or try and ignore," he reasons. "But huge sweeping moves like these tariffs mean we have no choice but to get up and join the discussion. Which is perhaps exactly what he wants: can he and Starmer please sit down and work something out pronto? "The UK and the US—and every other country—just want to work together to have a fair shot at getting their films made, whatever it takes," he stresses. "There is a way of working together for mutual advantage. There's a lot of work to do, a balance to strike. We've had the provocation; now we need the discussion."

A two-in-one PC that attempts to beat the Surface at its own game

Facing deep staffing cuts, the IRS plans to lean heavily on AI to maintain tax collection efforts, with Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent stating that smarter IT and the "AI boom" will offset reductions in revenue enforcement staff. The Register reports: When asked by Congressman Steny Hoyer (D-MD) whether proposed reductions in the IRS's IT budget, along with plans to cut additional staff, would affect the agencies ability to collect tax revenue, Bessent said it wouldn't, thanks to the current "AI boom." "I believe through smarter IT, through this AI boom, that we can use that to enhance collections," Bessent told Hoyer and the Committee (24:29 into the video linked [here]). "I expect collections would continue to be very robust as they were this year." Bessent's comments didn't explain how the IRS intends to deploy AI. Given how much it has slashed its enforcement staff since Trump took office, the agency definitely needs to do something. [...] Bessent's comments didn't explain how the IRS intends to deploy AI. Given how much it has slashed its enforcement staff since Trump took office, the agency definitely needs to do something. "There is nothing that shows historically that bringing in unseasoned collections agents will result in more collections," Bessent told the Committee. "IRS already uses AI for business functions including operational efficiency, compliance and fraud detection, and taxpayer services," the agency told The Register. "AI use cases must follow all relevant IRS privacy and security policies." Read more of this story at Slashdot.

When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission. Here’s how it works. Microsoft fixes broken spellchecker in Edge Taras Buria Neowin @TarasBuria · May 9, 2025 08:12 EDT Following the release of Microsoft Edge 136 at the beginning of May, Microsoft dropped another Edge update for customers in the Stable Channel. Version 136.0.3240.64 is now available for all to download, and it features two changes: fixes for Microsoft Editor and security patches. Microsoft Edge, currently the second most popular desktop browser, has a custom spellchecker called Microsoft Editor, which watches over your writing. In addition to basic typos and misspelled words, Microsoft Editor can highlight grammar mistakes and offer various suggestions to improve your writing. However, after the recent updates, Microsoft Editor stopped working, and now, Microsoft is fixing that with version 136.0.3240.64: Fixed an issue which prevented Microsoft Editor from working and from offering suggestions for misspelled words. Note that Microsoft Editor sends the data you type to Microsoft's servers for processing and spellchecking. Also, this feature is enabled by default. If you are not okay with that due to privacy concerns or other reasons, you can switch to basic spellchecking or turn it off for good. To do so, head to Settings > Languages > Writing Assistance > Enable grammar and spellcheck assistance. Additional changes in Microsoft Edge 136.0.3240.64 update include a fix for CVE-2025-4372, a Chromium security vulnerability: CVE-2025-4372: Use after free in WebAudio in Google Chrome prior to 136.0.7103.92 allowed a remote attacker to potentially exploit heap corruption via a crafted HTML page. (Chromium security severity: Medium) You can update Microsoft Edge to the latest version by heading to edge://settings/help. Tags Report a problem with article Follow @NeowinFeed

Preliminary Geekbench 6 results show Nvidia's GB10 Superchip trailing Apple's M3 and Qualcomm's Snapdragon X Elite in both single- and multi-thread tests, which could mean a bug or the processor's focus on AI workloads.

A PC gamer I know once said this about RGB lighting: “Once you’re in, you never get out,” as if going down that path initiates you into a mysterious, inescapable cult. That might be a tad of an overstatement but having been fully initiated into RGB when I built a gaming rig recently, I can now fully relate. Yep, the candid truth about RGB lighting and me, is that I have a love / hate relationship with it. Yes, it can be the best thing ever and add a much-appreciated extra layer of spice to my gaming sessions in games like CyberPunk 2077 and Oblivion Remastered. But on the flipside, it can also make me want to throw rotten turnips at my PC case. After building my rig, the joys of the RGB were at first very obvious. My intention for it wasn’t so much to dance Scottish jigs in the rainbow-colored glow of my dimly lit room, as it was to revel in the highly practical oranges and muted reds; to use it as a kind of ambient night light to help me find my coffee mug while gaming. I also really liked the idea of having a showpiece to impress my visiting friends — and it did those two things remarkably well. “Oh, that old thing,” I’d say nonchalantly, as friends would gawk at my gleaming fluorescent RTX 4070 through my case’s glass panel. But inside I was as proud as punch… My rig was truly impressive, a sight to behold, and just what I’d always wanted (or at least what I’d been told by marketers that I wanted). But that was at the beginning. Things quickly took a turn for the worse when I realized I’d created a clown computer, one whose varying RGB parts were made up of different brands controlled by different software programs that gave me little to no ability to synchronize the colors and effects between them. My graphics card, PSU, and RGB cabling just wouldn’t play ball together and that was not cool. The settings on my RGB keyboard too should have been easy to change and keep that way but they kept changing back to the default “ebb and flow” effect every time I rebooted. Suffice it to say, there’s only a certain amount of red light flashing off my display that I can take before I start seeing red in a figurative sense. Next came the faulty bits that started to appear in the LED lighting strips. I lost bulbs across the top length of my case, an obvious eyesore. The colors in another strip were problematic too, never really matching the colors I’d selected in my companion app, or that I was getting in other strips. It can be time consuming and costly managing a gaming PC’s RGB.  Pexels: Sharad Kachhi What’s more, I found to my dismay that the strips inside my rig were meddling with my PC’s performance, taking up critical cable routes and causing necessary cables to restrict airflow. I figured it was one of the reasons why I was getting hotter-than-expected GPU temperatures. That’s when I really sat up and started to take notice. Having dodgy aesthetics is one thing, but no way was I going to sit back and let my RGB jeopardize my FPS — no siree! It was obvious I’d made a mistake. Like a bower bird mesmerized by flashy bottle caps instead of catching its dinner, I’d gone for superficial looks instead of a low-maintenance setup. So, now I plan to fix it. The problem, though, is that the RGB is everywhere. It’s threaded through my PC like a thorny infestation of blackberry hedge. I estimate I’ll have to spend $700 to replace all the parts for more minimalist alternatives that I don’t have to continually maintain. So, for now I live with my rig as it is, faulty RGB and all, and with the ever-present reminder of the work and cost that will inevitably need to be done to right the wrongs I created. In my next gaming rig, though, even the case will be RGB-free. I’m going to go for muted industrial blacks, browns, and silvers in metal or wood — heck even rope, but with no RGB! I’m just not drinking that Kool-Aid anymore.

An Interview with SAP CEO Christian Klein About Enterprise AI Friday, May 9, 2025 Listen to Podcast Listen to this post: Good morning, Today’s Stratechery Interview is with SAP CEO Christian Klein. Klein started working for SAP as a 15 year-old student, and became CEO in 2019 at only 39 years of age. That means that Klein is actually eight years younger than the company he leads, a rarity in tech; SAP was founded in 1972 and has been the leader in business process software, particularly ERP systems, ever since. In this conversation, conducted 10 days before SAP’s annual Sapphire Conference, we get into Klein’s path to the top, which is intertwined with SAP’s path to AI. Klein’s day-one focus as SAP CEO was accelerating the on-premise software company’s move to the cloud and unifying its disparate offerings — including a host of SaaS companies acquired by his predecessor — onto a common platform. That approach could not be better timed given the arrival of AI. To that end Klein paints a compelling vision of why SAP is well-placed for the AI era: the company holds its customers’ most important data, and as companies realize the importance of a common data layer, the natural choice for all of their back-end processes will be SAP. And, when it comes to unstructured data, SAP earlier this year announced a fascinating partnership with Databricks for a product they are calling the SAP Business Data Cloud. We get into all of these topics and more, including SAP’s social network for supply chain, why Klein wants to co-develop with customers, and SAP’s competitive positioning. As a reminder, all Stratechery content, including interviews, is available as a podcast; click the link at the top of this email to add Stratechery to your podcast player. On to the Interview: An Interview with SAP CEO Christian Klein About Enterprise AI This interview is lightly edited for clarity. Background Christian Klein, welcome to Stratechery. Christian Klein: Yeah, Ben, thanks for having me. I usually like to start these interviews by asking about your background before your current company, but in your case that background is very short. So I guess what did you do in the very brief number of years before you started at SAP? CK: (laughing) I indeed started my career as an intern here at SAP. I grew up in the region here, still my parents, my family and my friends are living here from school days. And then, yes, I started my career as an intern, and then I have seen so pretty much every function. You were 15 years old, right? CK: I was actually 15 years old. Actually, I started in the cellar in the IT department carrying big displays around and when everyone needed a new monitor, this was Christian getting called. And these are big CRT displays, these are not flat screens. CK: Yeah, they were not like the flat screens back in the days, they were pretty heavy, I’m not sure if I could do the job today. (laughing) Well, I don’t know. I have to say, before the call I had the CEO of SAP helping me figure out Microsoft Teams. So, I think your youthful acumen is probably very extensive. CK: Thanks for the compliment. So you mentioned it was an internship. How does a 15-year-old get hired at SAP? Is this a German thing? I’m very curious, that’s such an early age. At 15, I had a job, that was our generation, but I was making pizzas. CK: You can also do pizzas in Germany as an intern, for sure, but here and during school time, actually, and when you are actually in school, oftentimes you have a week, two, three weeks where you’re getting asked to find a job and the company’s here in this region, then they offer internships and it’s actually a pretty standard thing. I benefited from that because, believe it or not, even with 15 years, you can network, you can build your first connections. I got the flavor of what SAP does and it helped me to shape a little bit my thinking about what do I want to do in the future. So did you start there and you liked it and you go to college and you’re all along, “I want to work for SAP,” or how did that path go? CK: Actually, I was 15, 16 years old, I still had the dream to become a professional football or tennis player, but I realized very fast that my talent was not good enough. So when I then started my time at the university, I really figured out what my passion is, and my passion is to talk about businesses, business processes, business modules and bring them together with great technology, and that was actually fascinating. Wait just a second. That sounds great for a reflection back as CEO of SAP. Was your passion as a teenager actually business processes? CK: Honestly, yes. I had also my legal courses at the university, I learned many other things, but my passion was always business administration, and then really focusing on manufacturing, retail. I was always fascinated about, “How do these companies run?”, “How do they transform?”, and then of course with SAP it’s a good fit because then you can also fit the technology to it, and because the technology plays a key role on how these companies should transform. Well, I do buy it because I think it was about that age that I was very much getting into technology, and it seemed very odd at the time, but I was very interested in the business side of things, even from then. So whereas there were other people that were into technology, but they were nerds, they wanted to actually program the computers. I’m like, “How do these companies make money?” — Microsoft dominance, how chips work to an extent, but Intel versus AMD, those sort of fights. So I can buy it that you started out early. CK: Back then my next internship coming from it came when I was a vocational student at SAP. For example, I was working in the financial accounting department and I was fascinating by doing my general ledger recordings, my bookings in the system, and I was fascinated on how does this all fit together so I could apply my business knowhow from the university to the real world, and then how is this getting transacted, how does this finance data then get over to HR for payroll data, etc. So that is actually, I learned from the get-go on how companies won, and that fascinated me. Well, very cool. You are, as of this week, 45 years old, happy birthday! Which is to say that May 1980 was a good month for birthdays as that was my birthday month as well. However, as we just discussed, I’m a blogger sitting in my home office, you are CEO of one of the oldest and largest enterprise company in the world. We started at 15, but it’s only 30 years and now you’re sitting on top. How does that happen? CK: It was definitely not my plan when I then started my job at the age of 21 to one day become the CEO. But at the time when you are going into SAP, and I guess this is also what makes SAP special, I started my work at Active Global Support, so supporting our customers if they had issues with our systems. Then I moved over to development, to finance. I was moving to the US wanting their success factors, back in the days we acquired this company and I got really good insight on how to run an end-to-end SaaS business. So I had different insights into different functions, I had different mentors, and no one asked me about my age. No one asked me at the end, “What did you study?”, they all looked at, “What can you contribute, how can you help us to steer the business? How can you help us to code better software?”, and that was always fascinating to me. At that point then I would say from a personality perspective, I’m pretty competitive. Not competitive in a way that I needed to always shine within the team, but competitive in a way to do my job better every day. And at a certain time, finally when I became the Chief Operating Officer of SAP, I said, “Hey, this would be great to run this company because I have certain ideas, I have a certain vision where I believe we can, SAP move to the next level with all the new technology which is on the horizon”. So I moved my career ahead step-by-step, and then finally I thought, “Hey, yeah, it’s fun to run this company also as a CEO”. You mentioned this, that it is a compliment to SAP, and that’s certainly the way it comes across to me, that someone — to be clear, you’re eight years younger than SAP, which I guess for traditional industries, that’s not odd that the CEO is younger than the company, for tech, it’s certainly very odd — but was there some sort of program that early on sets you on this track, or is it just a matter of things have changed so much particularly in the last, I would say, probably 15 years with the cloud and whatnot, which we’ll get to all these bits and pieces, that it was just a particularly great time for someone young to seize that opportunity. CK: The vocational student program I actually attended at the very beginning is something which we brought now also to the United States, to India where we are cooperating with the best universities, because I believe in this concept, the concept is about your working actually for four or five months in a department of SAP. If you study computer science, of course it’s more engineering-focused, if you study business, then it’s more like you are working in corporate functions, in sales and marketing and consultant, and then you actually go back to university. While I finished then my study, I had a) a great network, I had b) a great understanding of the culture on how SAP works. And again, the start into the real life into my real job was much easier. SAP knew me, I knew the company, and the likelihood that it fits, it’s of course much better when you’re just starting without any knowledge about a company just fresh from the university, and so we brought this concept now also to other countries in the world, and a lot of great talents from all over the world are working now in top positions of SAP. We have a pretty young leadership team and that is, I guess, also a benefit of the vocational programs we are wanting. Becoming CEO Do you think there was an aspect where after a decade of a brash American outsider, I talked to Bill McDermott on Stratechery a couple months ago, was there a real hunger for someone homegrown, and that was a real allure to people in the company? CK: I would say it was not actually about needing someone homegrown. Bill was a great CEO for SAP, he started the cloud transformation, he did many acquisitions, which we are still benefiting from. But Bill and I are also different. Bill, of course, can get very excited about the customer and the business itself, and he was very much focused on driving the top line growth. I’m probably a CEO who is connecting the product with the customer. So I always ask myself, “How can we use our technology best to solve the biggest needs of our customers?”, and I guess that was probably the right time to have someone after all the acquisitions to see, “Hey, how can we get all of these mission-critical businesses on one platform? What can we do with our data? How can we bring all of these great assets together and actually really start with our cloud transformation so that all of SAP is SaaS, and not only the acquired parts of it”. Stepping back, and you were a COO for a portion of this time, you’re buying all these cloud SaaS applications, what was the thinking there? Because today, we’re going to get to your vision of integrating everything more tightly together, I think it’s really compelling. But I just want to understand how we got to this position. You have this on-premise software, is it just that you have a channel, you have distribution so you can more easily sell these cloud applications? Or was there a vision of this integration and it just maybe took longer than you thought? CK: Look Ben, being a child of SAP, starting my career so young and knowing how the company works, I knew pretty well what customer enjoy about SAP and didn’t enjoy so much. Tell me what those are. CK: When I became Chief Operating Officer of SAP, I was responsible for our IT, and obviously we are running SAP solutions, our ERP, our CIM, everything. And I felt, “Oh, I have to transform this company”, and the ERP plays an instrumental part, because in the cloud you sell differently, code differently, you service your customers differently. I had a very homegrown, customized ERP, a very complex system, extremely hard to upgrade. It served our needs very well, but it was not on the latest and I had all of this great new technology, we will definitely talk about AI in a second, but I was eight years behind the latest release and I thought to myself, “Hey, this business model, highly profitable, highly successful, will not lead SAP into a bright future, because there are all these best of breed competitors coming in”. All of these lessons which I learned, I brought into my role as CEO and said, “Hey, look, wait a second, we are running here a good business, but we have to disrupt ourselves because customers need way more agile systems. They need the latest innovations. They don’t need to spend hundreds of millions of upgrading a system, they need to be on the latest”. What is also different about SAP, is SAP wants business models, business processes so we cannot only sell a piece of technology. We have 400,000 customers, we know how Nvidia wants their supply chain, we know how Exxon wants their kind of business for also now renewables, we also have to exchange and be much better on business knowledge, exchanging best practices and helping customers to drive their business transformation, while moving them to the cloud to give them also the agility they need because definitely with the on-prem software, this time is over. The benefits of getting people onto the cloud today with AI is super clear. But you take over in late 2019, was the AI vision already in place, or was it just a sense that, like you said, you were CEO, you’re running on an eight-year-old version of SAP, what was the push? Were you worried about losing customers to competitors? SAP is so sticky, is that really even a concern? What was the motivating factor at that time? CK: Yeah, SAP is sticky because it’s mission-critical software, which is great, but you cannot count on, “Oh, we are sticky, customers will trust us forever”. So the move to the cloud is existential, and we are on a very good track. Most of our customers are on the way, and as we are running their mission-critical businesses, of course it takes time. But the good pieces, we are not only selling now a piece of cloud technology, we are also helping them to transform a retailer around omnichannel, resiliency of supply chains, the oil and gas about renewables, the utilities about having much more flexibility in the way how they attract and do the meter to pay for new energy sources, so that’s SAP. Now, AI, Ben, to your question, of course, in 2015, 2016, we already had our first machine learning modules and so on, but what I didn’t like is we played the “me too”. We played the “me too” of other tech companies’ offering on our platform machine learning services. You could build your own modules, but when you are SAP, think about that — you’re running the most mission-critical business processes of the world, you have access to so much business data. So you have a suite, you have mission-critical data, we have to embed AI right into the business processes of our customers so when you do financial planning, you don’t have to code another AI module for that. We are actually infusing the intelligence into your financial planning so that you can simulate right away the impact of tariffs on your financial guidance, or when you then run a supply chain and you demand in supply chain planning, don’t code with Gen AI or traditional AI, another AI app embedded right away into our solution so that end users can use it out of the box. Obviously they can do some fine-tuning, but this is what SAP can do and as we have the business data other than the consumer-driven LLMs, that is what differentiates us. So we are now playing Business AI on our terms, on our strengths, and that is really infusing AI into the businesses of our customers. You’ve talked about having a suite-first approach, and this applies to the AI bit, getting a common data layer between, again, you had on-premise SAP installations, you had all these cloud SaaS applications or companies that you bought and then you also needed to move SAP itself to the cloud. Was that one process together or were those two work streams that had to happen in parallel? CK: Very good question, Ben. It’s exactly the work what we have done starting in 2019, we started exactly what you just described. We brought all the data together, and not only bringing data together, technically, when you have HR data and financial data, it has to match, you have to run payroll, it has to match to your P&L. If you’re running CIM [Central Invoice Management], sales order data, your consumer data has to match from ERP [Enterprise Resource Planning] to CIM. When you deliver it, manufacture it in the supply chain, your consumer and your supplier data have to match. So we brought this together semantically, that was always the strength in on-prem, we had it in the cloud. Now in the next step with AI and our new offering, Business Data Cloud (BDC), we are saying suite-first because we have the very mission-critical SAP data. Then Ali Ghodsi, the CEO of Databricks, once reached out to me and said, “Hey Christian, I have so many SAP customers and your data is the most mission-critical in their company, but I have a lot of non-SAP data and I feel we are creating all of this data in big data lakes and then very expensive data scientists are coming to make somehow meaning to this data, but we can do this way smarter”. I said, “Absolutely, Ali, we can do this way smarter, why we are not building this one data layer where we can semantically match SAP structured with non-SAP also unstructured data?”. That is now the evolution in the data game that we are really building this one data platform and we started this with Databricks and it’s very exciting, because then when you think about it, about AI and agentic AI, we are of course building our modules with SAP data, so far but suddenly an AI agent can talk about cashflow collection also based on non-SAP data, because maybe some of your sales data, your commercial data is sitting somewhere else and that is of course also super, super important to make our AI even more powerful. When you want to do data engineering on the Databricks side, same there, you can have access to these semantical data products and you can really create AI based on this semantical data layer with BDC. Is there a bit where you’ve gone full circle, where initially the thought that, “We need to integrate with other data places is important so let’s buy some of these companies in this area?”, and actually it turned out you had your bread and butter, the mission critical part of the company that mattered, and the key thing was maybe partnerships was a better approach all along, and you’re getting that almost through underneath with this Databricks partnership? CK: I would say Ben, yeah, this is right, I always believed in the benefit of integration. When you also look by the way into the success of Apple and Microsoft and you see how these assets are integrated, integration is key also for customer experience. But in the on-premise world, it was integrated in a monolithic landscape, and this monolithic architecture. With very hard walls around it. CK: With very hard, not open, hard walls, then you put ten times more custom code around it, and at the end, no one knew how to ever upgrade this ERP again. So now in the cloud, we bought some cloud solutions, but we renovated them, we put them on one platform, but not monolithic, you have it modular. So with that, we can always make sure when the customers are moving now to the cloud, we can keep them on the latest, they see a new SAP, agile with speed, latest innovations, fantastic. Then you have this common data layer underneath, and this common data layer was all about SAP. But the world does not consist only of SAP data, so we are opening ourselves up and say, “We are doing this very impactful partnerships to give you even more value”, and especially data as we all know is super important. In the B2B world, it’s really important also about high quality data, that is actually very much different to BDC because when you deal with financial AI, HR AI, supply chain AI, you need very accurate results at the end of the day so the data accuracy is super, super important. Business Network Can you tell me about the Business Network? This was something I actually was not super familiar with until prepping for this interview and talking to some of your colleagues, but I thought it was very compelling. Explain it to me. CK: The Business Network actually, we brought the Business Network in with an acquisition we did with Ariba. The Business Network was there, you are a buyer and you have your suppliers, and you can digitize the transaction, you can digitize the documents. Great, you have much less paperwork, you are more productive, you can procure faster, good. But then COVID hit, and in times of COVID, a lot of our customers came to us, take for example the vaccine, a lot of pharma bioscience companies came to us and said, “I have no clue how to get all of the ingredients to my factory in a certain location because I have no visibility in my supply chain”, and they said, “But Christian, wait a second. You are running us, but also probably all of our suppliers procure and buy with SAP software”, I said, “Yeah, that’s right”. I have millions of suppliers in my network, so what we started to do for pharma, but also for automotive, we connected the suppliers. So suddenly, for example, take a vaccine, you can see all your suppliers lined up in your supply chain down to the raw materials and really down to the very single ingredients to really track and trace, “Is every supplier able to deliver at what time?”, and, “Can we also make the logistics work”, which was super important in COVID, but still today. Think about tariffs, you also want to understand where to procure from to avoid getting too hard hit about tariffs. So the Business Network is an extremely powerful network to not only sell supply chain solutions or procurement solution, it’s also about the transparency and the resiliency part. Then last piece, in the automotive sector for example, we brought together all the large OEMs, we brought together the brake manufacturers from Italy down to the raw material providers for lithium in Brazil and now they’re not only having the visibility, but they said, “Hey, wait a second, now when I produce my car, I can actually not only see what my own carbon emissions are, I can actually also track and trace what are the carbon emissions from my suppliers down to the raw material and with that, I have for the first time a clue what the emissions actually are for my electric car”. That is of course, still very valid to not only having the transparency, the resiliency, but also getting more insights around the sustainability of a product. It’s amazing, it’s like you have a social network for the supply chain, it’s not what you’d expect. CK: Yeah, you could actually start in our marketing, our branding — exactly, that’s what I always called my market. We should call it the social network for B2B! I feel it’s still a very hidden crown jewel but more and more customers, like take for example a Microsoft and Nvidia, they use that as well, so we are bringing up this industry supply chain. They’d be your sellers, because they’re going down into their supply chain and say, “Look, you have to integrate SAP because we want visibility”, and they become some of your biggest champions. CK: And Ben, if you think that’s true, if you are in there as a supplier, and we are now developing very smart search engine so you can find more buyers. Buyers can go in and say, “Hey, I have maybe a shortage in my inventory here and my suppliers can’t deliver, maybe there’s in the SAP network more suppliers and vice versa”. The suppliers can also find more buyers, so it can really become a very, very powerful B2B platform also for all buyers and suppliers in the network. What I think is pretty interesting is there’s two layers of integration we just touched on. We have this suite-first integration where of course you’re an enterprise seller, so you will let anyone bring to the table what they want, but it’s going to be a much better experience if you use all of SAP’s product, particularly as you get the common data layer and then partnering with Databricks to get the same data everywhere. You also have this, again, social network for business angle, which I think is super interesting. Like I said, I didn’t really know about this until about a month ago. These are very high levels of integration. On the flip side, you decided to not build your own cloud, you are partnering very strongly with AWS, with Azure, and you can run SAP on Azure for example. So it’s like you decided, “Okay, horizontally we’re very tight together, but vertically it just makes more sense to partner”, walk me through your thought process around that. CK: I would say in the software world, in the tech world, no one can code or deliver everything on their own. In every piece of the stack, there are third party components in, and I think where it matters to us most for our customers, where they see SAP, they see actually SAP starting on the platform layer and in the cloud, it’s not monolithic anymore, they say, “Give me the best integration layer — by the way, give me the best integration also to non-SAP, give me the data layer with BDC now, give me the extensibility so that I can code with AI coding tools, with tool for developer, industry verticals”. That is super important. Then the apps, of course, they need to be world-class. Give me embedded AI, give me this supply chain resiliency, give me financial and integrated planning cross-company, give me omnichannel, and that is of course where customers see and need SAP. On the infrastructure, on the commodity level, we decided indeed to rely on the hyperscalers, because they have a very powerful offering, they are multinational. We still have our own data centers, by the way, we have 50 data centers around the world, but we give customers choice. Why? Because we believe it’s not so strategic for SAP. We can partner and partner and our customers love to having the choice. Maybe you have already Microsoft 365 and you want to combine your workloads on Azure, we give it to them. Maybe you already want some of your data in BigQuery so you can combine everything on GCP, and the same with AWS. I feel this is a winning formula that we are saying, “Look, we are open for these partnerships”, but what we also of course do, Ben, and especially in this geopolitical times we are having right now, which are by far not easy. Of course we have various sovereign cloud offerings in the EU, in the United States, in China, in Asia, so we can give our customers all what they need and focus our R&D on the stuff where customers really see us on the platform and then on the application layer. Best-of-Suite vs. Best-of-Breed You’ve brought up AI a couple of times, obviously that’s a big deal right now. You have this AI-first, suite-first strategy, you’ve talked about building this common data layer. Where does AI sit relative to that data? On the consumer side people go to AI for answers and which can be mostly helpful and sometimes a little risky, I think there’s other angles where AI is just a user interface element to get access to what’s there. How do you think of it in the context of your enterprise offerings? CK: Where we are going with SAP and what our strategy around AI is, I definitely believe the best-of-suite is now even more important, and that the end of the best-of-breed is pretty close. Because why? You can have of course as an end user have access to thousands of copilots and digital assistants, etc., but at the end, the way how business runs, business runs across end-to-end business processes. Think about a process like when you source-to-pay. You source, you need to find the right supplier, you put up an order, you actually pay the supplier, you want to have it connected to your supply chain, and this is SAP. So the best-of-suite matters and because you need the data, you need the business context, that’s the suite. Then when you put a Joule, a digital assistant on top and say, “Hey, you know what, Joule? I want to source a supplier for this material, give me a choice of supplier based on cost, based on availability to deliver quality, etc”, we have all of this data. We are not only having procurement data, we have the suite data and with BDC, we have sometimes then also external data. Then Joule, our digital assistant, can help to source. But Joule then and our agents then in the supply chain can also take this new material and say, “Okay, supplier will deliver by date X, let’s make sure that it goes to our manufacturing team so that they are able to understand how do they do the factory planning, the shop floor planning”. So you see how important the suite is so that a digital assistant can really work across. When you think now about agentic AI, I mean all of these agents, they are great, but the agents need to be able to talk to each other, to run across end-to-end processes. At a certain date, I’m pretty sure we will have see all agents wanting businesses, processes end-to-end, and for that you need the data, you need to understand the business context and there is no need absolutely to put another layer on top of more agents, we can embed that right away in the businesses of our customers. It sounds like you could go back to the on-premise SAP era, you talked about it being monolithic, and which was the case. We go through the cloud SaaS era, everything breaks apart and there’s best-of-breed for all these different areas and it feels like SAP is a dinosaur. It’s like, “Oh yeah, there’s the ERP system that we’re stuck with it because it’s sticky, but ideally for these new functions, we can do X, Y, Z”. The story you’re telling here about this common data layer about how agents can work better if it’s all unified, the same semantic index, are we back to monolithic actually being the answer for most businesses? CK: I would say it’s not monolithic, it’s a modular ERP, but it’s sitting on one platform. So you have modules, you have the agility, you can decide to consume HR, then you go to Finance, then you go to Supply Chain, you go to CIM, Sales, Commerce, you do this step-by-step. It’s not monolithic, but there’s still a platform underneath that gives you the out-of-the-box integration, the integration of your workflows, the integration of business processes, the integration of data. On top, we are building these agents who then can use this high quality data and then Joule who actually becomes our UX because in the future, there is no need anymore to type data out or get data out of an SAP system, you are actually running SAP. SAP and UI, very famous. CK: Exactly! So Joule will become our new UI, and it’s very much you use SAP via your human language, but there is not anymore this need to type data in, get data out, screen documents. That is what Joule can do for you in the future. Do you see an opportunity for SAP to be winning core business functions where people had you for ERP, but now it’s like, “Actually we should do CRM?”, or, “We should do all the different various things that you have so that we can reap this advantage”? CK: I’ll give you a real life example. Last week, I was in Switzerland, talked to a company. They are producing elevators and they said, “Christian, even the elevator business, it’s changing a lot, we want to package services to that, we want to infuse our AI for predictive maintenance. But guess what? Our frontline, our sellers, they configure something and our supply chain, our people in the supply chain functions have no clue about what has been configured at the frontline. Help me, I want to get rid of some of the best-of-breed, I want to go to a best-of-suite where my sales, where my services engine work seamlessly together with my manufacturing, with my logistics engine”. So we are bringing this together in the cloud, modular, but then on top we say, “Hey, let us infuse AI. When you configure a new elevator, our configurator should tell you what is the best service package? What is the best price? Are you able to deliver at that time? Let the AI agent for sales do this job for you”. Then we transfer the data to the fulfillment functions of this company, and then it says, “Hey, there’s new demand coming and by the way, do we have everything on stock? How does this configuration need to be translated into the factory line?”, then we ship it and then we already plan the shipping. All of that will be done on one data module, consistent workflows and AI embedded to automate and to drive this way more intelligent than in the past, and this customer told me, “Christian, you know what? I get rid of four or five best-of-breed software prodcuts because I would definitely believe in the best-of-suite, because I know I grow better and I actually be more productive if I want this end-to-end in the core with SAP, obviously there will be also non-SAP, but in the core, this is where I need the suite”. Change Management I mean that’s the whole thing, is we mentioned the “sticky” angle before, you own the most critical functions. Literally no one in the world wants to tear out SAP and put something else in, no matter how frustrated they might get but if this is the case, if it’s not just you’re talking your book, but thematically that to take advantage of AI, it needs to be this common data layer and integrated. What are your obstacles? What are your challenges? It sounds like you could sweep the space. CK: Ben, look, it sounds so simple. It’s oftentimes not that simple also, to be very frank here. (laughing)Yes. CK: Why? When I’m running in such IT projects and I’m only seeing IT people around the table, they are needed, but in order to do what I just described, and in order to transform a business model, you need a business at the table. You need to think through in the digital world, how will this company sell? How we will service the customer? How do you want a price? How do you want to fulfill? How do you want to deliver faster? And for that, it’s not only that we are coming with our best-of-suite and saying, “Here we are, let’s just implement it”. You need the business at the table, you need to have a change culture which comes from the top and says, “Similar to what we did, SAP or what Microsoft did or what others are doing, we are disrupting our own business module and the customer needs to be up for that”. So don’t see SAP as another IT project, we are more than infrastructure, we are more than a move to a new hyperscale environment, we are running your businesses, and you need to see this projects as a travel project and I need change management. I need the people who lead that together with IT and we come in with our tools to tell you, “You know what? We have 20,000 other customers in this industry, in your segment. Here are the best practices. Let’s benchmark your business processes against the best practices, what we are seeing”. So SAP needs to play a way more active part not only in the IT, but also on the business side because we of course, have these insights, we have the data. So also in the way how we get customers there, we need to play a way more active role. And trust me, Ben, that is the hardest part for many, many companies, to disrupt their own business model, to redesign the way how they work and then apply to technology. Migrating to new technology is actually by far more easier than really doing the hard work at the beginning with the business. I want to zoom out on something you said elsewhere along these lines, where you’ve referred to SAP’s early days, which again, I am delighted, given that we’re the same age, you’re pointing to days before you were born, but when developers of SAP, they co-developed R/1, your first version in conjunction with customers in their data centers. You’ve talked about wanting to revive that spirit, is that sort of what you’re driving at? CK: Absolutely. What we are doing is oftentimes with customers, we are actually saying, “Hey, before we start this project, let’s build a prototype, let’s build a prototype with real solutions on how you want to run your business” and then we send our product management there and say, “Okay, you know what? There is a point where I see some capabilities in the chain, which we should probably have in the standards, so let’s co-innovate together”. When we think about AI, there’s a rule inside SAP that we don’t develop a new AI use case anywhere in our portfolio if there are not ten customers at least lined up early where we can co-innovate, because I don’t want to just code and count my number of AI use cases and play into a hype, I want to see where are the customers who see A) the value and B) also the feasibility to implement it in a pretty fast manner. That is the mentality what we have to have that we are getting our PM teams super close to the needs of our customers and also honestly sometimes getting them on-site and bringing our customers together in councils to better understand what they need all across our stack. This is very interesting to me, and a couple of the other comments that you’ve dropped, this is actually one of my theses about enterprise AI adoption. You mentioned this before, but where this initial wave of enterprise AI has been about giving employee tools, copilots, whatever, that they don’t necessarily want to use, it’s kind of like early PCs in that regard. There were some people who really wanted a PC and they did amazing things with it, but it kind of took a generational change for everyone in the office to be using a PC, but that wasn’t the first wave, the first wave was SAP. Like in the 1970s, you go in top-down, a visionary at the top saying, “Actually we’re going to replace entire bookkeeping departments, people tracking inventory by hand, doing accounting, all these sorts of things”. It seems like to me, AI could be similar. The first real meaningful wave that actually moves the needle is more about the widespread replacement of certain functions. If you do that, like I said, someone at the top has to do it, it’s a top-down decision, they have to weigh the pros and cons, the error rate versus humans and the costs and all those sorts of things. But also, it’s going to be a long, extended implementation to do it, kind of like those old SAP implementation back in the 1970s. So what you’re saying makes a lot of sense to me. CK: Two parts to that, two things. First, the journey you are now on with SAP to the cloud is your last upgrade because afterwards, we are keeping you on the latest and that is of course for a CIO, a dream coming true because this ERP implementation projects, they were heavy, coming back to the monolithic and now we have the modular, and so that is very rewarding, doing it for the last time and invest your IT money in innovation and not in upgrading of system. The second part of it, I guess most of us have read the book Innovator’s Dilemma. Yep. CK: You wouldn’t imagine how often this plays into this SAP projects because think about it. I mean, has SAP seen the move to the cloud in 2005, 4, 3? Absolutely. Was SAP willing at the top to disrupt a highly profitable business model with double-digit growth rates? No. Then in 2012, we acquired, we started acquiring. Did we transform the company? The traditional business? No. And then in 2019 we said, “Okay, let’s do it before it’s over”, and we then pulled out a new strategy, but the strategy is nice on PowerPoint, then you have to inform the capital markets, share price dropped by 30% because you take billions of profit away, we’re moving from a traditional upfront license model to a subscription pay-as-you-go business model. Then the hardest part comes, the execution. Now you can think through that happens in automotive, that happens in retail, that happens in travel, that happens in almost every industry and this is so important. What I always remind my peers about that when they’re starting a rise in ERP project with SAP, do it business-led, think about how do you want to run your company to not getting disruptive and then apply the new technology to that, it’s so important. And again, when you think about the copilot or our digital assistant, Joule, take the public sector in Germany. Still, we are here, Germany is not digital. (laughing) I’ve heard some amazing stories about that. CK: It’s very true. But the point is the technology there? Obviously, we are running in Australia digital services for millions of citizens. Why not in Germany? The biggest part is there’s someone at the top who really says, “Look, let’s digitize all our citizen services end-to-end on one platform”, and then doing the change management with the people who are used to work with paper, who are used to do their certain jobs for many, many years, I mean there is also, of course, resistance, which is pretty human. But you need to lead this change and that it starts, it’s not a lack of money, it’s definitely not a technology issue, it’s about change management, the willingness to disrupt the way how you do certain things for many, many years. You talked about having to disrupt yourself and change from this upfront license maintenance contracts to a cloud subscription model and how difficult that was. It does feel like you almost caught the last train out of the station to do that in 2019 to get you ready for the AI moment of the last couple of years. Did COVID help with that where because you talked about some of these use cases that you got into and you were just better able to be flexible because you’d already started on that road? CK: The move to the cloud, it was really a big change management effort because the way how you code modular cloud software, the way how you do DevOps is very much different compared to on-prem, and that was true. There’s so much change in all of the functions inside SAP for the people who work for SAP, also for the ecosystem by the way. We have great, great partners, but for they they’re going through a similar transformation supporting our software. Now on the subscription and the maintenance, obviously yes, it has a financial impact, but the piece is what you can prove in the cloud and did COVID help? Of course it helped in a way that the customer said, “Hey, I have this legacy supply chain solutions from SAP, they are helping me to transact and run my supply chain”, but we talked about the Business Network, we talked about the resiliency, we talked about AI doing demand and supply chain planning, we are now talking about tariffs and how to ship certain products faster to place B or on how to change your production planning to not get so much hard hit by tariffs. That is, of course, in the cloud with our latest solutions way better because there’s way more intelligence embedded. You can do these things much faster, much more productive and much more intelligent. And then, of course, such crisis, such challenges on the geopolitical, on the business side, of course, help to justify spend into IT as long as you can show that you’re solving some real tough business challenges of our customers. Competition When you think about competition, we’ve sort of talked about three layers. There’s a data layer, then there’s the application layer and then there’s almost like a layer above you, call it a UX layer. For the data, before when I talked to Ali Ghodsi, he talked about, “Yeah, we can get all the data into our place, that makes us very well positioned”, well it turns out he realized actually SAP has the best data, so can we partner together? You seem to have that somewhat under control. You have the middle layer, which was kind of like the last decade, you have best-of-breeds that are peeling off specific functions. You’ve made a compelling case that you can pull that back in. I guess that leaves the layer on top and I think about say a Palantir or whatever, it’s like, “Oh, we’re not going to rip out SAP, we’re just going to build middleware and everything’s going to tie into our semantic index and we are going to write all future applications using us on top and you can keep SAP, but it’s kind of a commodity underneath that just feeds us data”. Which of those is the most concerning about you and why does SAP stay on top from this layer perspective or does it even need to stay on top? CK: Very good question, Ben. All our customers, what our customers appreciate so much about our platform in the cloud, it’s way more open, we have great partner solutions. We cannot code everything by ourselves. No matter if it’s about by industry or by line of business, we have really great partnerships where we are connecting third-party software out of the box. Then second, talking about data. I mean take Databricks, they are world-class in data engineering, we are not playing in data engineering, but we have world-class data, we have embedded AI, we have tool for our end users. So it’s very complementary and so it’s a win-win-win situation. For customers they have a world-class data platform saving a ton of costs and finally have better data, for Databricks we build together this semantical data layer. For SAP, yes, we have our AI who has access to way better data, also non-SAP, so that is great. Then moving to the app layer, take Palantir. Palantir is actually a great partner in certain ways because we do enterprise analytics, we do enterprise planning, this is not where Palantir sits. Palantir then comes on top for some very specific use cases in the public sector and retail, etc. So here we are even now discussing how we can even partner closer to give more benefits to our customers. And then for competitors trying to replace SAP, I think it’s pretty easy. Five years ago that was tough for SAP, now we can say, “Okay, you’re running finance with SAP, you do financial planning, how about your workforce planning? Does this need to be connected to your financial plan? And when you, by the way, do payroll and you want to pay your employees in time, what about the costs? What about the P&L to also ensure you have a compliant quarter end closing?”. So you can really argue a lot about the best-of-suite when you are running commerce like Samsung does with SAP. If they want to ship or want to sell a mobile phone, “Is it in stock? Can we deliver on time? Okay, it’s better to run this with SAP because you have real time all of these processes connected”. You know what’s going on in the front office, you know what’s going on in your supply chain, like the elevator example I just explained to you, Ben. So there we feel in the meantime, we are way more competitive with the best-of-suite. Last but not least, Ben, maybe one thing, when you are an end user and you are doing your job every day, would you love to use 30 digital assistants who don’t talk to each other? I’d rather have one assistant called Joule who can correlate HR with financial data, who can give me sourcing recommendations based on not only procurement data. I would love to do demand and supply chain planning, not only on demand data but also on inventory data and that is what SAP can do and that’s why I’m so convinced that the best-of-suite, the modular best-of-suite is way superior now in the age of AI than the best-of-breed. That’s why we are saying suite-first and AI-first because you need the data in order to deliver world-class AI. The business data cloud and this partnership with Databricks is so compelling. Is there more you could do and more in the define the data and this idea you can carry permissions around it all knows who it is, where it goes, you get all that for free in a way that’s very hard to do, you’re tying stuff together. I mean, should Databricks be a part of SAP? CK: (laughing) Yeah, you should ask Ali that question. I should ask Ali that question! CK: Just kidding. I mean look, I love this partnership because the portfolio is indeed very compelling. I love it too. I love it so much I want to go even further! I think it’s amazing. CK: Yeah, the two companies have a very compelling and a very complementary portfolio in bringing this together. What I actually see coming out of that, and by the way, we are going to see also more partnerships in that space, but what we are going to see is actually a marketplace of data products when, for example, now many customers are coming to us and said, “Okay, great. SAP you make sure, first of all, that in all countries in the world I have a compliant business because you can translate tariffs into all transactions what we are doing. That is a big benefit, but now help me to simulate the impact of tariffs on my business. How should I deal with price changes? How should I deal with inventory change?”. Then with BDC and Databricks and SAP, you can build data products. You can say, “Okay, let’s use external data, let’s use some SAP data”, bring it together to simulate the impact of tariffs on your production plan, on your financials, on your pricing, etc. So what we will create is a marketplace of data products, this kind of semantical data layer where customers can pick and choose data products to have an immense value either on the steering, on how they run their business, on the decision-making, but first and foremost, and also of course on AI, because the agents will also have access to this data and coming back to my point, you need the business data, it’s not enough to only have non-structural data. You need this business data, you need it combined with the unstructured data and then the agents can become world-class. One final question. You’re a German leading a German company in an industry that’s very defined by by-and-large American companies on the West Coast. Is that a strength? Is that a weakness? Is it something unique? How do you think about that as you’re dealing with everyone else in the industry? CK: Ben, honestly, when you grow up in your career in SAP, you really don’t think about that. I mean, I’m a CEO for 110,000 people, most of them are in the U.S, most of my customers are in the U.S. But of course I have super-great customers in Southeast Asia in all parts of the world. So you think global and at the end we are also making use of this diversity because at the end I get some very smart database engineers in Korea in Seoul, I get some very smart people, data engineers, and yesterday we were in Hungary in Budapest, we have top universities there to source the best data scientists for some of our AI modules, so we are making use of that, and being such a global international company is great. Then in the United States for example, we have, of course, our lab in Palo Alto, but we do a ton of research, a ton of AI development in Texas when it comes to oil and gas and renewables so it’s actually a benefit and we want to use this global aspect of SAP to our favor and that’s what SAP is about. I mean, when you talk about a global company, we are definitely truly global. Yeah, we’re in the middle of a trade war. If you’re a neutral third party, you’re going to help both sides to help everyone sort it out. CK: This is very true. You would imagine in the last week so many customers reached out and said, “Hey, with this trade war and potential tariffs here and there, as a U.S. multinational, help me to run my business in China”, vice versa, same thing. That is, of course, an advantage. What we can play out and say, “Yes, we’re going to comply to local regulations and we’re going to make sure that you can run your business and even if supply chains are not that global anymore, we are still able to connect your supply chain”. That is, of course, something which I guess is super special about SAP. Yeah. I mean it really does feel like the world is coming to you both on the political and economic perspective, but also the technological perspective. I buy your monolithic — not monolithic, don’t call it monolithic, call it suite-first — your suite-first vision, I think it’s very compelling. Christian Klein it was great to meet you and talk to you and hope to talk to you again. CK: That was really great. Thanks a lot, Ben. This Daily Update Interview is also available as a podcast. To receive it in your podcast player, visit Stratechery. The Daily Update is intended for a single recipient, but occasional forwarding is totally fine! If you would like to order multiple subscriptions for your team with a group discount (minimum 5), please contact me directly. Thanks for being a supporter, and have a great day! Get notified about new Articles Please verify your email address to proceed. ←Microsoft Earnings, Microsoft’s Core Capability, Amazon Earnings

Posted on : May 9, 2025 By Tech World Times Social Media Marketing  Rate this post Using Facebook on a slow phone can be annoying. The full app takes more space and loads slowly. That’s why many people now use Facebook Lite. Facebook Lite is a lighter, faster version of Facebook. It works well on older phones and low-speed internet. It saves data and loads faster than the original app. In this guide, you’ll learn how to quickly Iniciar Facebook Lite. You’ll also get tips to browse faster and use fewer resources. What Is Facebook Lite? Facebook Lite is a small version of the main Facebook app. It is made for slow phones and weak networks. The app size is much smaller than the full version. It uses less storage and less mobile data. Facebook Lite keeps all key features like feed, likes, and messages. It is fast, smooth, and very easy to use. Why Use Facebook Lite? There are many reasons to use Facebook Lite. Here are the top benefits of this small app: 1. Fast Loading Time The app loads fast even with poor internet. You don’t need 4G or Wi-Fi to browse easily. 2. Low Storage Use Facebook Lite takes up less space on your phone. You can save space for photos or other apps. 3. Saves Mobile Data It loads fewer images and videos by default. This helps save your mobile internet data. 4. Works on Old Devices You don’t need a new phone to use it. Even old Android phones can run it smoothly. How to Iniciar Facebook Lite Quickly Step 1: Download Facebook Lite Go to the Google Play Store on your phone. Search for “Facebook Lite” in the search bar. Tap “Install” to download and install the app. Step 2: Open the App Once the app installs, tap “Open” to launch it. You’ll see a login screen right away. Step 3: Enter Login Details Type your Facebook email or phone number. Then enter your password in the next field. Tap “Log In” to enter your account. Step 4: Save Login Info (Optional) You can choose to save your login info. This makes it faster to log in next time. And just like that, you Iniciar Facebook Lite in under one minute! Tips for Faster Browsing in Facebook Lite Want to make the app even faster? Here are some quick tips to improve your experience. 1. Clear App Cache Regularly Go to phone settings > Apps > Facebook Lite. Tap “Clear Cache” to remove old files. This helps the app run more smoothly. 2. Turn Off Auto-Play for Videos In settings, disable auto-play for videos. This saves data and makes the app faster. 3. Use a Stable Internet Connection Even a basic 3G connection works fine. But a stable Wi-Fi will give the best speed. 4. Keep the App Updated Check the Play Store for app updates. New updates fix bugs and boost performance. 5. Disable Background Data Turn off background data for Facebook Lite. This saves mobile data and boosts speed. Extra Features of Facebook Lite Facebook Lite may be small, but it has great features. Here are some things you can do in the app. 1. Post Updates You can share photos, text, and updates. Just like the main Facebook app. 2. Like and Comment React to posts, leave comments, and chat with friends. 3. Use Facebook Messenger The app has a built-in messenger feature. No need for a separate app to chat. 4. Access Groups and Pages Join groups, like pages, and manage your own pages too. 5. Marketplace and Notifications Browse Facebook Marketplace and get instant alerts. Is Facebook Lite Safe to Use? Yes, Facebook Lite is safe for all users. It is made by Meta, the official company. Your data is protected just like the main app. Just make sure you download it from the Play Store. Always avoid downloading APK files from unknown sites. Who Should Use Facebook Lite? Facebook Lite is perfect for many types of users. People with older Android phones Users who want to save space and data People in areas with slow internet Users who want a simple Facebook experience If you fall into any of these groups, then it’s a good time to Iniciar Facebook Lite today. Common Problems and How to Fix Them Even the best apps may have small issues. Here are some common problems and how to fix them. Problem 1: Can’t Log In Make sure your username and password are correct. Try resetting your password if needed. Problem 2: The app Keeps Crashing Update the app from the Play Store. Also, clear the cache and restart your phone. Problem 3: The app Is Too Slow Disable video auto-play and background data. Also, check your internet connection. Final Thoughts Facebook Lite is the best choice for many users. It saves space, loads faster, and works on weak networks. It also uses less data, which helps save money. And you don’t lose out on the main Facebook features. If your phone is slow or storage is low, it’s the perfect time to Iniciar Facebook Lite. The app is light, smooth, and easy to use. You’ll enjoy browsing Facebook with less stress and delay. Tech World TimesTech World Times (TWT), a global collective focusing on the latest tech news and trends in blockchain, Fintech, Development & Testing, AI and Startups. If you are looking for the guest post then contact at techworldtimes@gmail.com

The Danish Armed Forces are set to trial four autonomous sea drones that will patrol Northern Europe waters, looking for signs of criminal activity.  Powered by wind and solar, the uncrewed surface vehicles (USVs) will gather real-time data using sensors and cameras positioned both above and beneath the water. An onboard computer will stream this data to a machine learning algorithm that is trained to spot patterns and potential threats. The technology is designed to help the Danish defence forces identify threats such as enemy submarines, illegal fishing, drug smuggling, or tampering with undersea cables. The drones will also perform deep-sea mapping to give authorities a clearer perspective of the ocean floor and underwater infrastructure, such as communication cables, pipelines, and offshore energy platforms.  Surveillance of this kind has become increasingly urgent since the 2022 Nord Stream pipeline sabotage, which exposed the vulnerability of underwater assets to covert attacks. Denmark is also stepping up its maritime defences in the Baltic Sea amid growing concerns over Russian aggression. The 💜 of EU techThe latest rumblings from the EU tech scene, a story from our wise ol' founder Boris, and some questionable AI art. It's free, every week, in your inbox. Sign up now!The robotic sailboats are made and operated by Saildrone, a US-based tech firm founded by British engineer Richard Jenkins in 2012. In its early days, Saildrone mainly focused on climate and weather surveying. But now the vast majority of its 140-strong fleet is deployed for defence and security purposes.  “The Baltic, North Sea, and European Arctic waters are currently facing unprecedented threats,” said Jenkins. “We are very excited to be partnering with the Danish armed forces to deploy Saildrone systems to help protect Europe’s critical undersea infrastructure and increase regional security.” Denmark’s army will begin testing the four vessels in June, as part of a broader effort to beef up its high-tech defences, including deploying mine-hunting underwater drones and uncrewed surveillance aircraft.  Last month, the Nordic country announced a $614mn spending package. It will use the money to procure 26 new naval vessels, more drones, and sonar equipment in response to emerging maritime threats — particularly from Russia.  Last month, the company set up a Danish subsidiary in Copenhagen, which it hopes will bring the technology closer to key defence markets including the UK, France, and Germany. Defence tech is a key theme of the Assembly, the invite-only policy track of TNW Conference. The event takes place in Amsterdam on June 19 — a week before the NATO Summit arrives in the city. Tickets for TNW Conference are now on sale — use the code TNWXMEDIA2025 at the checkout to grab an exclusive discount. Story by Siôn Geschwindt Siôn is a freelance science and technology reporter, specialising in climate and energy. From nuclear fusion breakthroughs to electric vehic (show all) Siôn is a freelance science and technology reporter, specialising in climate and energy. From nuclear fusion breakthroughs to electric vehicles, he's happiest sourcing a scoop, investigating the impact of emerging technologies, and even putting them to the test. He has five years of journalism experience and holds a dual degree in media and environmental science from the University of Cape Town, South Africa. When he's not writing, you can probably find Siôn out hiking, surfing, playing the drums or catering to his moderate caffeine addiction. You can contact him at: sion.geschwindt [at] protonmail [dot] com Get the TNW newsletter Get the most important tech news in your inbox each week. Also tagged with

Purchases made on the US App Store helped Apple earn over $10 billion in commissions last year, TechCrunch reports, citing an analysis by Appfigures.Apple earns this revenue by taking a percentage of every transaction made through its payment system on the App Store. According to Appfigures, in 2024, app developers made $33.68 billion in gross revenue and took home $23.57 billion in net revenue, leaving Apple a huge cut of approximately $10.1 billion. Around $6.27 billion of that commission came from apps, while the remaining $3.82 billion came from games. Apple’s revenue from App Store commissions has more than doubled since 2020, the report adds. The company made approximately $4.76 billion in 2020, and $6.66 billion, $7.37 billion, and $8.75 billion in the three years that followed. Recommended by Our EditorsThe report arrives as Apple fights to keep this income stream alive. In a landmark ruling last week, the company was ordered to allow developers to provide external payment links within apps and not take any commissions from it. The changes were effective immediately, and Apple lifted its restrictions on alternate payment methods on May 1. However, in an emergency motion filed this week, Apple has requested the court to pause changes to its App Store rules. “A federal court cannot force Apple to permanently give away free access to its products and services, including intellectual property,” Apple says in the filing, adding that the move would cost the company “hundreds of millions to billions” annually. Another chunk of annual revenue Apple may be about to lose is the $20 billion it receives for setting Google as the default search engine on Safari. Last year, a court ruling found the practice monopolistic, and according to Apple’s SVP of services, Eddy Cue, the company has already started looking at AI search alternatives.

Credit: Mashable Photo Composite/Beats Deal pricing and availability subject to change after time of publication. Learn more about how we select deals. SAVE $70: As of May 9, Beats Studio Buds + are on sale for $99.95 at Amazon. That's 41% off their list price of $169.95. Opens in a new window Credit: Beats Beats Studio Buds + $99.95 at Amazon $169.95 Save $70.00 If you've been looking to invest in new earbuds, there are some great deals available on a range of popular models right now. The Beats Studio Buds + have returned to their lowest-ever price at Amazon, so there's no better time to pick them up.The Beats Studio Buds + are currently available for $99.95, a 41% discount off their retail price of $169.95. It's worth keeping in mind that these are listed as a limited-time deal right now, so they may not stay at this price for long. Act fast to scoop them up and save.The Beats Studio Buds + feature high-quality sound and noise-canceling features — Active Noise Canceling and Transparency mode, depending on how much outside sound you want to hear around you — that make listening to your favorite music, audiobooks, or podcasts an even more enjoyable experience. And with up to 36 hours of battery life with the charging case, they're a perfect option to take on your next trip or outdoor adventure as summer approaches.This deal on the Beats Studio Buds + may not last for very long, so pick them up at their lowest-ever price without delay. Mashable Deals Want more hand-picked deals from our shopping experts? Sign up for the Mashable Deals newsletter. By clicking Sign Me Up, you confirm you are 16+ and agree to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. Thanks for signing up! These aren't the only discounted earbuds we've come across recently. At the moment, the AirPods Pro 2 are enjoying a great discount at Amazon. Topics Beats Earbuds Hannah Hoolihan Hannah Hoolihan is a freelance writer with Mashable. She’s written for various entertainment websites since 2017, covering everything from tech to games to film. You’ll currently find her work on IGN and Fangoria alongside Mashable, but she also has bylines at Rock Paper Shotgun, Collider, Screen Rant, and more. When she’s not writing, she enjoys catching up with the latest films and shows — horror, in particular — and has a deep love of FromSoft games, which she continues to happily replay.

Dans une décision rendue le 7 mai 2025, la cour d'appel de Paris a condamné la société Forseti, éditrice de la plateforme juridique Doctrine,...

With ACP (Agent Communication Protocol), AI agents can collaborate freely across teams, frameworks, technologies, and organizations. It’s a universal protocol that transforms the fragmented landscape of today’s AI Agents into inter-connected team mates. This unlocks new levels of interoperability, reuse, and scale.As an open-source standard with open governance, ACP has just released its latest version, allowing AI agents to communicate across different frameworks and technology stacks. It’s part of a growing ecosystem, including BeeAI (where I’m part of the team), which has been donated to the Linux Foundation. Below are some key features; you can read more about the core concepts and details in the documentation. Example of an ACP client and ACP Agents of different frameworks communicating. Image used with permission. Key features of ACP:REST-based Communication: ACP uses standard HTTP patterns for communication, which makes it easy to integrate into production. Whereas JSON-RPC relies on more complex methods.No SDK Required (but there’s one if you want it): ACP doesn’t require any specialized libraries. You can interact with agents using tools like curl, Postman, or even your browser. For added convenience, there is an SDK available.Offline Discovery: ACP agents can embed metadata directly into their distribution packages, which enables discovery even when they’re inactive. This supports secure, air-gapped, or scale-to-zero environments where traditional service discovery isn’t possible.Async-first, Sync Supported: ACP is designed with asynchronous communication as the default. This is ideal for long-running or complex tasks. Synchronous requests are also supported.Note: ACP enables orchestration for any agent architecture pattern, but it doesn’t manage workflows, deployments, or coordination between agents. Instead, it enables orchestration across diverse agents by standardizing how they communicate. IBM Research built BeeAI, an open source system designed to handle agent orchestration, deployment, and sharing (using ACP as the communication layer). Why Do We Need ACP? Different Agent Architectures enabled using ACP. Image used with permission. As the amount of AI Agents “in the wild” increases, so does the amount of complexity in navigating how to get the best outcome from each independent technology for your use case (without having to be constrained to a particular vendor). Each framework, platform, and toolkit out there offers unique advantages, but integrating them all together into one agent system is challenging. Today, most agent systems operate in silos. They’re built on incompatible frameworks, expose custom APIs, and lack a shared protocol for communication. Connecting them requires fragile and non repeatable integrations that are expensive to build.ACP represents a fundamental shift: from a fragmented, ad hoc ecosystem to an interconnected network of agents—each able to discover, understand, and collaborate with others, regardless of who built them or what stack they run on. With ACP, developers can harness the collective intelligence of diverse agents to build more powerful workflows than a single system can achieve alone.Current Challenges:Despite rapid growth in agent capabilities, real-world integration remains a major bottleneck. Without a shared communication protocol, organizations face several recurring challenges: Framework Diversity: Organizations typically run hundreds or thousands of agents built using different frameworks like LangChain, CrewAI, AutoGen, or custom stacks. Custom Integration: Without a standard protocol, developers must write custom connectors for every agent interaction. Exponential Development: With n agents, you potentially need n(n-1)/2 different integration points (which makes large-scale agent ecosystems difficult to maintain). Cross-Organization Considerations: Different security models, authentication systems, and data formats complicate integration across companies. A Real-World Example A use case example of two agents (manufacturing and logistics) enabled with ACP and communicating with one another across organizations. Images used with permission. To illustrate the real-world need for agent-to-agent communication, consider two organizations:A manufacturing company that uses an AI agent to manage production schedules and order fulfillment based on internal inventory and customer demand. A logistics provider that runs an agent to offer real-time shipping estimates, carrier availability, and route optimization.Now imagine the manufacturer’s system needs to estimate delivery timelines for a large, custom equipment order to inform a customer quote.Without ACP: This would require building a bespoke integration between the manufacturer’s planning software and the logistics provider’s APIs. This means handling authentication, data format mismatches, and service availability manually. These integrations are expensive, brittle, and hard to scale as more partners join.With ACP: Each organization wraps its agent with an ACP interface. The manufacturing agent sends order and destination details to the logistics agent, which responds with real-time shipping options and ETAs. Both systems collaborate without exposing internals or writing custom integrations. New logistics partners can plug in simply by implementing ACP. How Easy is it to Create an ACP-Compatible Agent? ACP Quickstart – How to make an AI Agent ACP Compatible Simplicity is a core design principle of ACP. Wrapping an agent with ACP can be done in just a few lines of code. Using the Python SDK, you can define an ACP-compliant agent by simply decorating a function. This minimal implementation: Creates an ACP server instance Defines an agent function using the @server.agent() decorator Implements an agent using the LangChain framework with an LLM backend and memory for context persistence Translates between ACP’s message format and the framework’s native format to return a structured response Starts the server, making the agent available via HTTP Code Example from typing import Annotated import os from typing_extensions import TypedDict from dotenv import load_dotenv #ACP SDK from acp_sdk.models import Message from acp_sdk.models.models import MessagePart from acp_sdk.server import RunYield, RunYieldResume, Server from collections.abc import AsyncGenerator #Langchain SDK from langgraph.graph.message import add_messages from langchain_anthropic import ChatAnthropic load_dotenv() class State(TypedDict): messages: Annotated[list, add_messages] #Set up the llm llm = ChatAnthropic(model="claude-3-5-sonnet-latest", api_key=os.environ.get("ANTHROPIC_API_KEY")) #------ACP Requirement-------# #START SERVER server = Server() #WRAP AGENT IN DECORACTOR @server.agent() async def chatbot(messages: list[Message])-> AsyncGenerator[RunYield, RunYieldResume]: "A simple chatbot enabled with memory" #formats ACP Message format to be compatible with what langchain expects query = " ".join( part.content for m in messages for part in m.parts ) #invokes llm llm_response = llm.invoke(query) #formats langchain response to ACP compatable output assistant_message = Message(parts=[MessagePart(content=llm_response.content)]) # Yield so add_messages merges it into state yield {"messages": [assistant_message]} server.run() #---------------------------# Now, you’ve created a fully ACP-compliant agent that can: Be discovered by other agents (online or offline) Process requests synchronously or asynchronously Communicate using standard message formats Integrate with any other ACP-compatible system How ACP Compares to MCP & A2A To better understand ACP’s role in the evolving AI ecosystem, it helps to compare it to other emerging protocols. These protocols aren’t necessarily competitors. Instead, they address different layers of the AI system integration stack and often complement one another. At a Glance: mcp (Anthropic’s Model Context Protocol): Designed for enriching a single model’s context with tools, memory, and resources.Focus: one model, many tools ACP (Linux Foundation’s Agent Communication Protocol): Designed for communication between independent agents across systems and organizations.Focus: many agents, securely working as peers, no vendor lock in, open governance A2A (Google’s Agent-to-Agent): Designed for communication between independent agents across systems and organizations.Focus: many agents, working as peers, optimized for Google’s ecosystem ACP and MCP The ACP team initially explored adapting the Model Context Protocol (MCP) because it offers a strong foundation for model-context interactions. However, they quickly encountered architectural limitations that made it unsuitable for true agent-to-agent communication. Why MCP Falls Short for Multi-Agent Systems: Streaming: MCP supports streaming but it doesn’t handle delta streams (e.g., tokens, trajectory updates). This limitation stems from the fact that when MCP was originally created it wasn’t intended for agent-style interactions. Memory Sharing: MCP doesn’t support running multiple agents across servers while maintaining shared memory. ACP doesn’t fully support this yet either, but it’s an active area of development. Message Structure: MCP accepts any JSON schema but doesn’t define structure for the message body. This flexibility makes interoperability difficult (especially for building UIs or orchestrating agents that must interpret diverse message formats). Protocol Complexity: MCP uses JSON-RPC and requires specific SDKs and runtimes. Where as ACP’s REST-based design with built-in async/sync support is more lightweight and integration-friendly.You can read more about how ACP and MCP compare here.Think of MCP as giving a person better tools, like a calculator or a reference book, to enhance their performance. In contrast, ACP is about enabling people to form teams, where each person (or agent) contributes their capabilities and and collaborates.ACP and MCP can complement each other: MCPACPScopeSingle model + toolsMultiple agents collaboratingFocusContext enrichmentAgent communication and orchestrationInteractionsModel ToolsAgent AgentExamplesSend a database query to a modelCoordinate a research agent and a coding agent ACP and A2A Google’s Agent-to-Agent Protocol (A2A), which was introduced shortly after ACP, also aims to standardize communication between AI agents. Both protocols share the goal of enabling multi-agent systems, but they diverge in philosophy and governance.Key differences: ACPA2AGovernanceOpen standard, community-led under the Linux FoundationGoogle-ledEcosystem FitDesigned to integrate with BeeAI, an open-source multi-agent platformClosely tied to Google’s ecosystemCommunication StyleREST-based, using familiar HTTP patternsJSON-RPC-basedMessage FormatMIME-type extensible, allowing flexible content negotiationStructured types defined up frontAgent SupportExplicitly supports any agent type—from stateless utilities to long-running conversational agents. Synchronous and asynchronous patterns both supported.Supports stateless and stateful agents, but sync guarantees may vary ACP was deliberately designed to be: Simple to integrate using common HTTP tools and REST conventions Flexible across a wide range of agent types and workloads Vendor-neutral, with open governance and broad ecosystem alignment Both protocols can coexist—each serving different needs depending on the environment. ACP’s lightweight, open, and extensible design makes it well-suited for decentralized systems and real-world interoperability across organizational boundaries. A2A’s natural integration may make it a more suitable option for those using the Google ecosystem. Roadmap and Community As ACP evolves, they’re exploring new possibilities to enhance agent communication. Here are some key areas of focus: Identity Federation: How can ACP work with authentication systems to improve trust across networks? Access Delegation: How can we enable agents to delegate tasks securely (while maintaining user control)? Multi-Registry Support: Can ACP support decentralized agent discovery across different networks? Agent Sharing: How can we make it easier to share and reuse agents across organizations or within an organization? Deployments: What tools and templates can simplify agent deployment? ACP is being developed in the open because standards work best when they’re developed directly with users. Contributions from developers, researchers, and organizations interested in the future of agent interoperability are welcome. Join in helping to shape this evolving standard. For more information, visit agentcommunicationprotocol.dev and join the conversation on the github and discord channels. The post ACP: The Internet Protocol for AI Agents appeared first on Towards Data Science.

Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella’s endorsement of Google DeepMind‘s A2A open protocol and Anthropic's MCP is huge sign the industry is moving to an open garden.Read More

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Applications are almost closed, and you have until 11:59 p.m. PT tonight to reserve your exhibitor table at TechCrunch Sessions: AI, our premiere industry event that’s happening at UC Berkeley’s Zellerbach Hall on June 5. Imagine walking into a room filled with 1,200+ investors, founders, enterprise leaders, and journalists — all hunting for the next big thing. Will they discover you, or your competitor? Exhibiting is more than a table — it’s a high-leverage move. Consider the perks: Getting discovered by the exact people you want to meet. Positioning your brand as a serious player in AI. Sparking conversations that lead to investment, partnerships, and press. What comes with your exhibit: Prime 6′ x 3′ table with signage and full setup. Branded profile in the official event app. 5 full-access tickets for your team. Lead capture tools to collect contacts. Wi-Fi, power access, and marketing visibility. This is the only AI-focused TechCrunch event of the year — and it’s your best bet to get right in front of the industry’s movers and shakers in a more intimate setting than the numerous other crammed AI events. Remember, that final deadline is tonight, May 9 at 11:59 p.m. PT. You’ve come too far to go unnoticed. Make your move now and let your innovation lead the future. Techcrunch event Exhibit at TechCrunch Sessions: AI Secure your spot at TC Sessions: AI and show 1,200+ decision-makers what you’ve built — without the big spend. Available through May 9 or while tables last. Exhibit at TechCrunch Sessions: AI Secure your spot at TC Sessions: AI and show 1,200+ decision-makers what you’ve built — without the big spend. Available through May 9 or while tables last. Berkeley, CA | June 5 BOOK NOW Book your table now and take your place in the spotlight.