Debates over AI benchmarking have reached Pokémon

Not even Pokémon is safe from AI benchmarking controversy. Last week, a post on X went viral, claiming that Google’s latest Gemini model surpassed Anthropic’s flagship Claude model in the original Pokémon video game trilogy. Reportedly, Gemini had reached Lavender Town in a developer’s Twitch stream; Claude was stuck at Mount Moon as of late … Read more

Trump hosts El Salvador’s Bukele amid deportation controversy

President Donald Trump on Monday is hosting El Salvador’s President Nayib Bukele, the self-described “world’s coolest dictator” who has become a key ally in the administration’s controversial migrant deportations. The two men will greet each other at the White House around 11 a.m. ET for a bilateral meeting in the Oval Office. There, they will … Read more

Blue Origin mission with all-female crew, including Katy Perry, completes space trip

Blue Origin’s all-female crew, which includes pop star Katy Perry, completed their trip into space Monday morning. It marks the first all-female spaceflight since 1963, according to the company. The window for the latest New Shepard rocket launch opened on Monday morning at about 8:30 a.m. CDT, according to Blue Origin. A handout photo published … Read more

Autonomous trucking startup Kodiak Robotics to go public via SPAC

Self-driving truck startup Kodiak Robotics plans to go public via a merger with special purpose acquisition company Ares Acquisition Corporation II. The transaction values Kodiak, which has raised around $243 million to date, at about $2.5 billion pre-money. New and existing Kodiak institutional investors, like Soros Fund Management, ARK Investments, and Ares, have funded or … Read more

Mississippi auditor Shad White slashes Magnolia State waste

EXCLUSIVE: On Monday, Mississippi state auditor Shad White will release a compilation of audits conducted by his office that tabulated a collective $400 million in waste over the course of his tenure. “In the last few weeks, we’ve jokingly started calling ourselves MOGE, the Mississippi Office of Government Efficiency, like Elon Musk’s DOGE,” White told … Read more