No, this is not a belated April Fools joke. (Im not good enough at Photoshop tofake a photo like that.)In yet another mind-boggling fast food innovation, Subway has announced a new item in partnership with Frito-Lay: Doritos Footlong Nachos. Thats right, a foot of nachos, made out of Doritos.Im not sure what else you could possibly need to know beyond that, but the fine details, perSubway: The item is freshly prepared to order, starting with classic DoritosNacho Cheese flavored chips, layered with Cheddar Cheese sauce and shredded Monterey cheddar cheese, piled with the perfect amount of spicy jalapeno slices, diced tomatoes and red onions and finished with zesty Baja Chipotle sauce. You can also add chicken or steak at no extra charge, with the option to add a scoop of smashed avocado for an additional cost.SubwaySubwayloading...READ MORE: Fast-Growing Chain Restaurants That Will Be Everywhere SoonVia the press release, here was a statement on this new item from Paul Fabre, Subways Senior Vice President of Culinary and Innovation (which, honestly, sounds like a fabulous job):Subways newest partnership takes everything our fans love about Subway sandwiches from quality veggies, proteins and tasty toppings to the next level with the cheesy flavor and iconic crunch of Doritos...whether youre in the mood for a snack, pairing them with your favorite sub or sharing with friends, Subway and Doritosare serving up even more flavor in every satisfying bite.Doritos are no stranger to the fast food world, although theyre typically associated with Taco Bell, where you can find a Doritos Locos Taco or the Doritos Cheesy Gordita Crunch. How it took this long to make Doritos nachos is a question left to better minds than mine.Subways Doritos Footlong Nachos will be available at Subways nationwide for a limited time. On Thursday, April 10 Subway MVP Rewards members can get a free order of these things with the purchase of a footlong sub. The nachos will otherwise cost five bucks.The Craziest Fast Food Menu Items EverFiled Under: Chain Restaurants, Fast Food, FoodCategories: Longform

Role Overview:We have partnered with a Real Estate Investment Firm and they are seeking a Director of Investments - Real Estate to lead the real estate division's growth. This role will be responsible for sourcing, underwriting, and asset managing private real estate investments.The ideal candidate will blend institutional investment experience with the adaptability to thrive in an entrepreneurial boutique firm setting. Balancing high-level strategic thinking with hands-on execution. Must be comfortable wearing multiple hats, both as a senior leader and an individual contributor, without requiring a big team to be effective. Finds solutions, not excuses!The candidate will be responsible for the expansion of the investment platform. This includes management of firm profitability and investment strategy by utilizing their experience in conjunction with the tools, relationships, and expertise available within the firm.Key Responsibilities:Investment Strategy & Firm Growth:Contribute to the development of the firms long-term investment strategy, portfolio expansion initiatives, and capital allocation.Lead and participate in investment committee discussions and strategic decision-making.Design and implement scalable processes for investment evaluation and asset management as the firm grows.Evaluate and integrate financial technology and data analytics tools to improve operational efficiencies.Ensure legal, compliance and annual tax strategy is executed on-time, coordinating between professionals ongoing and annually.Support in Capital Markets analysis and conversations with family offices, advisors and institutions.Investment Sourcing & Underwriting:Own the investment pipeline, including the identification, evaluation and selection of new acquisition opportunities aligned with the firms investment strategy from existing strategic partners and direct acquisitions channels.Conduct detailed financial modeling, underwriting, and risk assessment for potential investments.Develop sophisticated investment models, including capital stack structuring, sensitivity analyses, and waterfall modeling for intricate equity and debt structures.Perform rigorous due diligence on market conditions, asset performance, and partner/operator capabilities.Craft and present investment memorandums and recommendations for internal review and investor discussions.Asset Management:Oversee asset performance to ensure investments meet or exceed targeted returns at the portfolio level.Advise, implement and refine value-add strategies to optimize asset profitability and operational efficiency.Track KPIs, financial performance, and budget adherence to enhance investment outcomes.Serve as the primary liaison with strategic operating partners, third-party property managers, and financial stakeholders.Ensure clear, high-quality investor reporting that accurately communicates asset performance and future outlooks.Required Qualifications & Experience:10+ years of real estate investment experience with a blend of institutional training and direct boutique firm adaptability.Expertise in private equity real estate underwriting, structuring, and execution.Strong Multifamily background is preferred, however candidates with expertise in other asset classes (office, retail, industrial, private credit) will be considered only if they also possess operational real estate and private equity experience, and demonstrate a rapid learning curve for multifamily.Deep proficiency in financial modeling, risk analysis, and investment thesis development.Demonstrated ability to independently execute deals while maintaining a strategic portfolio perspective.Strong grasp of market dynamics, economic indicators, and investment cycles.Proven ability to manage operator and capital partner relationships to enhance investment performance.Advanced proficiency in Excel, CoStar, Yardi, Juniper Square, and other market research tools.Exceptional priority management, communication, and stakeholder management skills.Adaptability and flexibility to accommodate changing priorities and work demandsExtremely resourceful, highly organized and excellent priority management skillsStrong equity relationships and the ability to contribute to raising capital is a plus.BenefitsCompetitive salary and performance-based bonuses.Potential for increased decision-making authority.Opportunity to shape and grow a high-impact role in a rapidly scaling firm.About The Firm:Founded in 2016, the Firm is a Denver-based alternative asset manager with multifamily real estate,and private credit platforms. The firm has deep experience investing in private markets and creating value for investors via investing capital directly in firm-managed and across the capital structure (joint-venture, private credit, preferred equity). The firm has strong relationships with investors, primarily serving individual investors, advisors and small-family offices. The firm is vertically integrated in the Multifamily sector via strategic partnership, managing all aspects of property and construction management, with a combined JV AUM of over $400M.To-date the firm has raised over $40M of equity and $30M of private credit, invested across over $150M+ of Real Estate located in Colorado and across the Midwest. The firm is positioned for strong growth, under leadership and execution of the Director of Investment.Apply NowLet's start your dream job Apply now

Emma Frost and Ultron are joining the Rivals roster in season 2, and developers are upping the pace to one new hero per month starting with season 3.

April 4, 20254 min readThis AI Speedrunner Taught Itself to Play MinecraftThe Dreamer AI system of Google's DeepMind reached the milestone of mastering Minecraft by imagining the future impact of possible decisionsBy Celeste Biever & Nature magazine Theodore Liasi/Alamy Stock PhotoAn artificial intelligence (AI) system has for the first time figured out how to collect diamonds in the hugely popular video game Minecrafta difficult task requiring multiple stepswithout being shown how to play. Its creators say the system, called Dreamer, is a step towards machines that can generalize knowledge learn in one domain to new situations, a major goal of AI.Dreamer marks a significant step towards general AI systems, says Danijar Hafner, a computer scientist at Google DeepMind in San Francisco, California. It allows AI to understand its physical environment and also to self-improve over time, without a human having to tell it exactly what to do. Hafner and his colleagues describe Dreamer in a study in Nature published on 2 April.In Minecraft, players explore a virtual 3D world containing a variety of terrains, including forests, mountains, deserts and swamps. Players use the worlds resources to create objects, such as chests, fences and swordsand collect items, among the most prized of which are diamonds.On supporting science journalismIf you're enjoying this article, consider supporting our award-winning journalism by subscribing. By purchasing a subscription you are helping to ensure the future of impactful stories about the discoveries and ideas shaping our world today.Importantly, says Hafner, no two experiences are the same. Every time you play Minecraft, its a new, randomly generated world, he says. This makes it useful for challenging an AI system that researchers want to be able to generalize from one situation to the next. You have to really understand whats in front of you; you cant just memorize a specific strategy, he says.Collecting a diamond is a very hard task, says computer scientist Jeff Clune at the University of British Columbia in Vancouver, Canada, who was part of a separate team that trained a program to find diamonds using videos of human play. There is no question this represents a major step forward for the field.Diamonds are foreverAI researchers have focused on finding diamonds, says Hafner, because it requires a series of complicated steps, including finding trees and breaking them down to gather wood, which players can use to build a crafting table.This, together with more wood, can be used to make a wooden pickaxeand so on, until players have assembled the correct tools to collect a diamond, which is buried deep underground. Theres a long chain of these milestones, and so, it requires very deep exploration, he says.Previous attempts to get AI systems to collect diamonds relied on using videos of human play or researchers leading systems through the steps.By contrast, Dreamer explores everything about the game on its own, using a trial-and-error technique called reinforcement learningit identifies actions that are likely to beget rewards, repeats them and discards others. Reinforcement learning underpins some major advances in AI. But previous programs were specialiststhey could not apply knowledge in new domains from scratch.Build me a world modelKey to Dreamers success, says Hafner, is that it builds a model of its surroundings and uses this world model to imagine future scenarios and guide decision-making. Rather like our own abstract thoughts, the world model is not an exact replica of its surroundings. But it allows the Dreamer agent to try things out and predict the potential rewards of different actions using less computation than would be needed to complete those actions in Minecraft. The world model really equips the AI system with the ability to imagine the future, says Hafner.This ability could also help to create robots that can learn to interact in the real worldwhere the costs of trial and error are much higher than in a video game, says Hafner.Testing Dreamer on the diamond challenge was an afterthought. We built this whole algorithm without that in mind, says Hafner. But it occurred to the team that it was the ideal way to test whether its algorithm could work, out of the box, on an unfamiliar task.In Minecraft, the team used a protocol that gave Dreamer a plus one reward every time it completed one of 12 progressive steps involved in diamond collectionincluding creating planks and a furnace, mining iron and forging an iron pickaxe.These intermediate rewards prompted Dreamer to select actions that were more likely to lead to a diamond. The team reset the game every 30 minutes so that Dreamer did not become accustomed to one particular configurationbut rather learnt general rules for gaining rewards.Under this set-up, it takes around nine days of continuous play for Dreamer to find at least one diamond, says Hafner. Expert human players will take 2030 minutes to find a diamond, whereas novices take longer.This paper is about training a single algorithm to perform well across diverse reinforcement-learning tasks, says computer scientist Keyon Vafa at Harvard University in Boston, Massachusetts. This is a notoriously hard problem and the results are fantastic.An even bigger target for AI, says Clune, is the ultimate challenge for Minecraft players: killing the Ender Dragon, the virtual worlds most fearsome creature.This article is reproduced with permission and was first published on April 2, 2025.

Here's a closer look at Kirby and the Forgotten Land's remixed and expanded Switch 2 worldsArriving in new Star-Crossed World edition.Image credit: Nintendo News by Matt Wales News Reporter Published on April 4, 2025 What better way to start winding down from a busy week of Switch 2 news than with a look at the ever-adorable Kirby and the Forgotten Land, now strikingly remixed as part of an expanded edition coming to Nintendo's new console later this year? 'Go outside!' you might suggest, or 'Lie on my face and hum!', but for the purposes of this story it's Kirby, and we now have a clearer idea of what's coming in his previously announced Switch 2 enhanced edition.Nintendo's calling its Switch 2 spruce-up Kirby and the Forgotten Land - Nintendo Switch 2 Edition + Star-Crossed World (let's be thankful we aren't getting tariffs on letters too), and it includes everything seen in the original Switch release - which we gave four stars to back in 2022 - alongside a bunch of new stuff. On the technical front, Kirby also gets a bump from 30fps to 60fps, and it'll be play at 1080p in handheld mode and 1440p docked.The real draw, though, is the new content, which takes the form of a remixed campaign known as Star-Crossed World. As revealed during Nintendo's Treehouse livestream, this begins with a choice of difficulty - Wild Mode or Spring-Breeze Mode - with an on-screen message warning it's "a bit wilder and more challenging" than the base game. On the plus side, it rewards more coins. And, it's worth noting the new content is fully playable in co-op - one player taking on the role of Kirby, the other Bandana Waddle Dee - just like in the original version.Kirby and the Forgotten Land's Switch 2 additions (starts around 1:47:00)Watch on YouTubeStar-Crossed World essentially play out across the base game's map, albeit with each level apparently heavily remixed to suit the expansion's 'mysterious crystal comet comes crashing down causing havoc' theme. Once again, for instance, Kirby's adventure begins on the shore of a sandy cove, but now it's littered with star-like crystals - and some these, crystal flowers, cause previously unseen pathways to form when struck.Before long, Treehouse's demonstration reaches the overgrown city seen in the base game. Only this time - after a massive meteor crashes into a towering skyscraper - the streets are corrupted with shimmering blue hues and crystal protrusions. Some of them have even infected familiar enemies, giving them dainty little crystal mohawks and tougher attacks. And it doesn't take long for the new content to diverge from the original stage's route; rather than leading Kirby through the now-blocked streets, he follows a path of winding platforms up the exterior of a skyscraper, until the city - and the base game's familiar path - stretches out far below.It's a similar story for the remixed version of the dilapidated fairground level shown next, which soon takes players away from ground level onto a vast crystal rollercoaster track winding high above the park. At one point, we see the return of the Mouthful Pipe power-up, as Kirby hurtles with increasing speed along the coaster's dips and rises, but the Treehouse crew stressed new power-ups also come into play. There's an adorable Mouthful Spring power-up transformation, for instance, letting Kirby bounce much higher than usual and slam heavily down.Star-Crossed World also features new mini-bosses alongside tweaked variants of familiar foes, and it all points to an expansion that looks to diverge in some surprising ways despite it utilising existing levels. It's not entirely clear whether every base game stage has been remixed for the new campaign or if it's just a small selection, but Treehouse notes it'll be possible to access both variants on the overworld map once unlocked to make it easier to switch between modes.Kirby and the Forgotten Land - Nintendo Switch 2 Edition + Star-Crossed World comes to the new console on 28th August, and it'll also be available as a paid upgrade for anyone that owns the Switch original - although prices have yet to be confirmed. It's just one of several games getting the enhanced Nintendo Switch 2 Edition treatment, with The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild and Tears of the Kingdom also confirmed, alongside Metroid Prime 4: Beyond, Super Mario Party Jamboree, and Pokmon Legends: Z-A. Free (albeit less substantial) Switch 2 updates are also promised for some other Switch 1 games.So that's that. And if you've yet to catch up with the deluge of Switch 2 news announced this week, why not put the kettle on, grab yourself a custard cream, and settle down to read everything we've learned about Switch 2 so far? And if you're hungry for more after that, Eurogamer's Switch 2 hands-on impressions are over here.

You can trust VideoGamer. Our team of gaming experts spend hours testing and reviewing the latest games, to ensure you're reading the most comprehensive guide possible. Rest assured, all imagery and advice is unique and original. Check out how we test and review games hereThere are new free games to claim and get for Steam Deck including very positive verified freebies, plus Mafia 3. And,for the future, SEGA has confirmed that a new upcoming Sonic game is verified for Valves handheld system, too. While this is all good, Steam Deck users can also now play the incredible Infinity Blade 2 thanks to a PC port.Steam Deck users can now play Infinity Blade 2The first Infinity Blade is playable on Steam Deck thanks to a PC port, and you can check out SteamDeckHQ for more details about said game. While the first game is brilliant, its equally epic sequel has now received a PC port, too.For those not in the know, Infinity Blade 2 is a remarkable action RPG from Epic Games and ChAIR Entertainment. The series is brilliant, but the downside is that they were for iOS devices only and were removed from the App store by Epic.But, thanks to a PC port, fans can now play on Steam Deck rather than Apple devices. Per InfinityBladeStudios on Reddit, the PC port works on Valves handheld system, and it includes the following features:The original Infinity Blade II experienceKeybinds for abilities such as dodging, blocking, stabbing, and moreStandalone launcher to tweak graphical settings and controlsScroll menus naturally by dragging the mouse, or by scrolling the mouse wheel.Improved graphical fidelity over iOSToggleable dynamic shadows and godraysAudio sliders to control music and SFX separatelyEasy save transfer between iOS and PCFor instructions on how to download and install the PC port, check out the official video guide from InfinityBladeStudios below:Remember that this PC port is not official from either Epic Games or CHAIR Entertainment.In other SD news, players still have time to get freebies before they expire including BioShock 2 Remastered.Related TopicsSteam Deck Subscribe to our newsletters!By subscribing, you agree to our Privacy Policy and may receive occasional deal communications; you can unsubscribe anytime.Share

Pay to PlayroomIt should be free, but Switch 2s genius Welcome Tour is nevertheless going to be a must-have gameComplain as I might I know Im probably going to buy this. D'oh. And you probably should too. Thats capitalism, baby!Image credit: VG247 Article by Alex Donaldson Assistant Editor Published on April 4, 2025 Over the last 48 hours, a hell of a lot has been made of the price of the Nintendo Switch 2. The system is pretty expensive, but in a way that I feel was largely expected. The games are more so, in a way that is getting a lot of peoples backs up. But for my money, the most eyebrow-raising price admission made by Nintendo during the Switch 2s reveal was that the company plans to charge for the Nintendo Switch 2 Welcome Tour, a special game designed to introduce players to the system.After playing the Welcome Tour, I can see why Nintendo felt like it could get away with charging a small amount for the game. It seems like an excellent experience, the sort of thing that demonstrates Nintendo at its most zany, experimental best.To see this content please enable targeting cookies. The Switch 2 Welcome Tour casts you as a little tiny person who wanders around the landscape of the Nintendo Switch 2. Thats the whole machine - the Joy Cons, the Screens, even some of the accessories. Or maybe youre a normal sized person exploring a city-sized Switch 2. I dont know. Either way, exploring reveals NPCs to talk to, and its sort of like a theme park. Idle chatter with NPCs reveals factoids about the construction and functionality of the machine, while the rides are these little booths, each of which is home to some sort of mini-game.Each of these games serves to demonstrate some sort of functionality of the Switch 2, be that more active new features like the mouse pointer, or passive stuff that an average member of the public might not fully appreciate, like the full capabilities of the consoles display, or the enhanced clarity and strength of HD rumble.These games are lovely. Theyre cheeky, and genius. I expect some eager tech experts to be exposed by the mini game that aims to showcase the importance of frame rate, which shows you an animation before asking you to identify what frame rate its running at from two options. As the mini game gets more difficult, the gap between the two options youre given narrows.Each time you answer, you see two identical animations split-screen, playing out at different frame speeds - showing the average joe exactly what the difference between 30fps and 60fps, for example, is. Its a fantastic, very Nintendo solution to explaining to a clueless user why the machine being so expensive is necessary - that mini-game aims to scream, 120fps is worth it, you see!. Part-game, part-app, all brilliant. | Image credit: VG247A similar game exists for 4K displays. This takes Super Mario World 1-1, and displays it on-screen without any scaling. That means it takes up a tiny fraction of the screen. But rather than scrolling, the stage expands across the screen, left-to-right, as you play. This is likewise one of the best demonstrations of what higher resolutions actually mean - all of 1-1 fits comfortably into 4K resolution. As well as just beating the stage, various small objectives are available. Completing those gives additional medals which I assume can be spent to unlock new games and areas.HD Rumble is demoed with a cute find the sweet spot mini-game; mouse control gets a showcase with some Mario Paint-esque experiences, and so on. Each demo is reached by exploring this lavish 3D model of the Switch 2, where you can walk up to key components and hit a button to learn more about it. Finally, there are quiz booths where you can answer questions, where demonstrating youve understood the demos garners rewards.Its all lovely. Its all simple, obviously. These are single-player affairs, and youre not going to pump tens of hours into this - but its a delightful distraction and does a fabulous job of introducing people to the machine. I played demos of top ports and hotly-anticipated new games at the Switch 2 reveal - but the Welcome Tour was my most pleasant surprise. Though Im baffled that it costs money. There are a variety of experiences on offer. | Image credit: VG247It is cheap, to be fair. With the Japanese store listing the Welcome Tour at just 990 yen, that means this digital-only title should be around a fiver in the UK (and probably not much more than five dollars in the US), depending on what the yo-yoing markets do. At the same time, though - crikey. Here is a Nintendo that has built a perfect, quirky, charming introduction to the features of its machine. Here is also a Nintendo that is charging more for that hardware than it has ever done before, broadly speaking. Like, surely forgo the fiver a head, and just give it to people for 'free' with their 400-quid console. Soften the blow. Do people a solid.Its hard to look at this game and not offer a sidelong glance to Astros Playroom, a very similar launch title that was wisely packed in with its accompanying hardware. Mario Kart being $80 bucks might have been the lightning rod that has made some think that were seeing a newly emboldened, cocky, greedy Nintendo - but honestly, I think full-on game price increases have been coming for a while, what with everything going on economically.This, though? Charging for this feels a tad cynical - even if its brilliant. Even if its a must-have. Complain as I might I know Im probably going to buy this. D'oh. And you probably should too. Thats capitalism, baby!

The World Wide RoadOn this page: Mario Kart World: Course List - Every Confirmed TrackMario Kart World: Course List - Every Confirmed TrackImage: NintendoUnlike previous Mario Kart games, World groups its circuits differently depending on which game mode you are playing. Grand Prix races will collect together four nearby tracks in a 'Cup', while Knockout Tour will take place across four further apart circuits in a 'Rally'.In the following list, we have grouped the confirmed tracks in their Grand Prix 'Cup' format:Mushroom CupMario Bros. CircuitCrown CityWhistlestop SummitDK SpaceportFlower CupDesert HillsShy Guy BazaarWario StadiumAirship FortressStar CupDK PassStarview PeakSky-High SundaeWario ShipyardShell CupKoopa Troopa BeachFaraway OasisCrown CityPeach StadiumBanana CupTBALeaf CupTBALightning CupTBAMario Kart World - Track FAQsHere are a handful of frequently asked question about Mario Kart World's circuits.How many tracks are in Mario Kart World?Image: NintendoWe don't know for sure yet, but we can make an educated guess. Each Cup consists of four races and there are seven cups that we know of, giving us an estimated total of 28 different tracks.That said, a world map (above) published on the Nintendo website reveals 29 circuit icons. Might one Cup consist of five races? Is one circuit reserved only for Knockout Mode? We'll have to wait and see.Are there any returning tracks in Mario Kart World?There are a couple of returning track names in Mario Kart World (Wario Stadium, Sky-High Sundae, etc.), though we have to imagine that they have been redesigned to account for the game's new features like 24 racers.What's the best Mario Kart World Track?Well, it's too early to comment on that! Editor Gavin had great fun on one that he says was "a bit like Toad's Turnpike with loads of traffic on a bridge."He also says he nearly won, though, so maybe check back later when we've had a chance to verify that this wasn't part of some Switch 2 fever dream brought on by excitement and dehydration.We will be updating this guide as we see more from Mario Kart World. If you're after more Nintendo Switch 2 advice, check out our Switch 2 guides for more useful info.Subscribe to Nintendo Life on YouTube802kUp Next: Donkey Kong RedesignRelated GamesSee Also

DeepSeek has gone viral.Chinese AI lab DeepSeek broke into the mainstream consciousness this week afterits chatbot app rose to the top of the Apple App Store charts (and Google Play, as well). DeepSeeks AI models, which were trained using compute-efficient techniques,have led Wall Street analystsand technologists to question whether the U.S. can maintain its lead in the AI race and whether the demand for AI chips will sustain.But where did DeepSeek come from, and how did it rise to international fame so quickly?DeepSeeks trader originsDeepSeek is backed by High-Flyer Capital Management, a Chinese quantitative hedge fund that uses AI to inform its trading decisions.AI enthusiast Liang Wenfeng co-founded High-Flyer in 2015. Wenfeng, who reportedly began dabbling in trading while a student at Zhejiang University, launched High-Flyer Capital Management as a hedge fund in 2019 focused on developing and deploying AI algorithms.In 2023, High-Flyer started DeepSeek as a lab dedicated to researching AI tools separate from its financial business. With High-Flyer as one of its investors, the lab spun off into its own company, also called DeepSeek.From day one, DeepSeek built its own data center clusters for model training. But like other AI companies in China, DeepSeek has been affected by U.S. export bans on hardware. To train one of its more recent models, the company was forced to use Nvidia H800 chips, a less-powerful version of a chip, the H100, available to U.S. companies.DeepSeeks technical team is said to skew young. The company reportedly aggressively recruits doctorate AI researchers from top Chinese universities. DeepSeek also hires people without any computer science background to help its tech better understand a wide range of subjects, per The New York Times.DeepSeeks strong modelsDeepSeek unveiled its first set of models DeepSeek Coder, DeepSeek LLM, and DeepSeek Chat in November 2023. But it wasnt until last spring, when the startup released its next-gen DeepSeek-V2 family of models, that the AI industry started to take notice.DeepSeek-V2, a general-purpose text- and image-analyzing system, performed well in various AI benchmarks and was far cheaper to run than comparable models at the time. It forced DeepSeeks domestic competition, including ByteDance and Alibaba, to cut the usage prices for some of their models, and make others completely free.DeepSeek-V3, launched in December 2024, only added to DeepSeeks notoriety.According to DeepSeeks internal benchmark testing, DeepSeek V3 outperforms both downloadable, openly available models like MetasLlama and closed models that can only be accessed through an API, like OpenAIs GPT-4o. Equally impressive is DeepSeeks R1 reasoning model. Released in January, DeepSeek claims R1 performs as well as OpenAIso1model on key benchmarks.Being a reasoning model, R1 effectively fact-checks itself, whichhelps it to avoid some of thepitfallsthat normally trip up models. Reasoning models take a little longer usually seconds to minutes longer to arrive at solutions compared to a typical non-reasoning model. The upside is that they tend to be more reliable in domains such as physics, science, and math.There is a downside to R1, DeepSeek V3, and DeepSeeks other models, however. Being Chinese-developed AI, theyre subject tobenchmarkingby Chinas internet regulator to ensure that its responses embody core socialist values. In DeepSeeks chatbot app, for example, R1 wont answer questions about Tiananmen Square or Taiwans autonomy.In March, DeepSeek surpassed 16.5 million visits. [F]or March, DeepSeek is in second place, despite seeing traffic drop 25% from where it was in February, based on daily visits, David Carr, editor at Similarweb, told TechCrunch. It still pales in comparison to ChatGPT, which surged past 500 million weekly active users in March.A disruptive approachIf DeepSeek has a business model, its not clear what that model is, exactly. The company prices its products and services well below market value and gives others away for free. Its also not taking investor money, despite a ton of VC interest.The way DeepSeek tells it, efficiency breakthroughs have enabled it to maintain extreme cost competitiveness. Some experts dispute the figures the company has supplied, however.Whatever the case may be, developers have taken to DeepSeeks models, which arent open source as the phrase is commonly understood but are available under permissive licenses that allow for commercial use. According to Clem Delangue, the CEO of Hugging Face, one of the platforms hosting DeepSeeks models, developers on Hugging Face have created over 500 derivative models of R1 that have racked up 2.5 million downloads combined.DeepSeeks success against larger and more established rivals has been described as upending AI and over-hyped. The companys success was at least in part responsible for causing Nvidias stock price to drop by 18% in January, and for eliciting a public response from OpenAI CEO Sam Altman. In March, U.S. Commerce department bureaus told staffers that DeepSeek will be banned on their government devices, according to Reuters.Microsoft announced that DeepSeek is available on its Azure AI Foundry service, Microsofts platform that brings together AI services for enterprises under a single banner. When asked about DeepSeeks impact on Metas AI spending during its first-quarter earnings call, CEO Mark Zuckerberg said spending on AI infrastructure will continue to be a strategic advantage for Meta. In March, OpenAI called DeepSeek state-subsidized and state-controlled, and recommends that the U.S. government consider banning models from DeepSeek.During Nvidias fourth-quarter earnings call, CEO Jensen Huang emphasized DeepSeeks excellent innovation, saying that it and other reasoning models are great for Nvidia because they need so much more compute.At the same time, some companies are banning DeepSeek, and so are entire countries and governments, including South Korea. New York state also banned DeepSeek from being used on government devices. As for what DeepSeeks future might hold, its not clear. Improved models are a given. But the U.S. government appears to be growing wary of what it perceives as harmful foreign influence. In March, The Wall Street Journal reported that the U.S. will likely ban DeepSeek on government devices.This story was originally published January 28, 2025, and will be updated regularly.

Apex Additive Technologies, a Wales-based company specializing in end-to-end metal additive manufacturing, has installed the first ENESKApostprocess system in the United Kingdom. The system, developed by German manufacturer joke Technology and distributed in the UK by Moleroda Finishing Systems, is designed to reduce health and safety risks during AM post-processing by containing and extracting hazardous dust particles at the source.ENESKApostprocess features a 0.75m sealed cabin that accommodates both small and large metal 3D printed parts. The system uses an ATEX-rated filter to extract airborne particulates during operations such as grinding or polishing. The glove box design prevents operator exposure by locking the access door until air quality inside exceeds ambient standards. Operators are able to use high-rpm air tools and micromotors within the enclosure, eliminating the need for additional personal protective equipment while maintaining ergonomic access and repeatability.The Apex Additive Technologies team at their Digital Manufacturing Centre of Excellence in Wales. Photo via Moleroda Finishing Systems.Post-processing at high surface speeds can be extremely hazardous due to the generation of fine metallic dusts, which pose significant risks to both health and workplace cleanliness, said Youssef Beshay, Founder and CEO of Apex Additive Technologies. These particulates also present a high risk from a DSEAR perspective, demanding stringent control measures. Our ENESKApostprocess addresses all these concerns in one system: fine dusts are contained and immediately extracted through an ATEX-rated filter, ensuring no operator exposure whatsoever, thanks to the glove box design.Apex, which operates from its Digital Manufacturing Centre of Excellence in Wales, collaborated with Moleroda to identify a solution that addressed operator safety while maintaining high-quality output. Since installation, the ENESKApostprocess has been used for support removal, powder elimination, build-plate separation, and fine surface smoothingessential steps in the post-processing of metal 3D printed parts.We are proud to be the first in the UK to install this cutting-edge technology, Beshay added. We expect many AM companies will soon follow suit, given the unparalleled health and safety benefits it provides.The ENESKApostprocess system now in use at Apex. Photo via Moleroda Finishing Systems.Industrial use cases highlight evolving demands in AM post-processingUK-based aerospace firm Airframe Designs recently expanded its additive manufacturing capabilities by acquiring a second Fortus 450mc FDM 3D printer. The industrial-scale printer, supplied by Tri-Tech 3D, has been used in the National Aerospace Technology Exploitation Programme (NATEP) to fabricate airworthy components using water-soluble supports. The equipment has enabled the company to meet accuracy tolerances of 0.5 mm and deliver complex 25-part assemblies in as little as four working days. With its ability to process certified materials for tooling and end-use aerospace parts, the Fortus 450mc has allowed the firm to scale production while maintaining repeatability and reliability.Multi-material printing has also seen recent developments with the installation of an MMJ ProX 3D printer at Fraunhofer IKTS by AMAREA Technology. The MMJ ProX enables the combination of up to six different materials in a single print job using droplet-based thermoplastic deposition. The system allows for precise tuning of properties such as hardness, conductivity, and chemical resistance, while its rapid cooling and material reusability support dimensional stability and process efficiency. With droplet sizes ranging from 0.5 to 50.0 nanoliters and layer thicknesses between 70 and 300 m, the MMJ ProX has been positioned for applications across aerospace, energy, electronics, and medical sectors.Ready to discover who won the 20243D Printing Industry Awards?Subscribe to the 3D Printing Industry newsletter to stay updated with the latest news and insights.Featured image shows the Apex Additive Technologies team. Photo via Moleroda Finishing Systems.