Alibaba Launches Qwen3-Coder-Next: High-Speed AI Coding with Unbeatable Pricing.

Alibaba Cloud Unveils Qwen3-Coder-Next: The Lean, High-Performance Open Model for Developers

Alibaba Cloud has officially launched Qwen3-Coder-Next, a specialized Large Language Model (LLM) fine-tuned for programming. Built upon the powerful Qwen3-Next-80B-A3B-Base, this new iteration has been meticulously trained to excel in code generation and complex software development tasks.

The "Self-Correction" Training Advantage

The strength of Qwen3-Coder-Next lies in its training methodology. By leveraging vast repositories of source code alongside verifiable programming challenges, the model utilizes an iterative learning process. This allows the AI to "write, test, and verify" its own code, refining its output until the logic is flawless.

Brace for Impact: RAM Prices Set to Double as TrendForce Forecasts Record-Breaking Surge.

Skyrocketing Hardware Costs: DRAM Prices Projected to Surge 95% in Q1 2026

Market intelligence firm TrendForce has issued a staggering revision to its semiconductor price forecasts. According to their latest report, the tech industry is bracing for a massive price hike in the first quarter of 2026, with DRAM prices expected to soar by 90–95%, while NAND Flash (used in SSDs) is projected to climb by 55–60%.

The Perfect Storm: High Demand & Supply Constraints

The primary drivers behind this unprecedented price surge include:

China Bans Hidden Door Handles Starting 2027: Prioritizing Rescue Access Over Aesthetics

Safety Over Style: China Officially Bans Hidden Door Handles Starting 2027.

The Chinese government has officially announced a ban on flush-fitting (hidden) door handles, effective January 1, 2027. This decisive regulatory move follows a string of high-profile accidents where passengers and first responders were unable to open vehicle doors during life-threatening emergencies.

The Safety Crisis: Seconds Matter

The primary motivation behind the ban is emergency rescue accessibility. Investigation reports revealed that hidden handles often fail to deploy after a collision or electrical failure, trapping passengers inside. Furthermore, rescue teams have reported significant delays when dealing with these designs, as the handles can be difficult to locate or operate while wearing bulky protective gloves.

Impact on Industry Giants: From Tesla to Xiaomi

Google Aluminium OS: The Secret Weapon to Topple the Windows-macOS Duopoly.

The Rise of "Aluminium OS": Google Bold Plan to Unify Android and ChromeOS for the PC Era

Recent leaks from the Chromium Issue Tracker have given the world its first real look at "Aluminium OS" (ALOS) Google’s ambitious unified operating system designed to merge the best of ChromeOS and Android. This project signals Google’s most serious attempt yet to challenge the desktop dominance of Windows and macOS with an "AI-first" philosophy.

A Hybrid Interface: ChromeOS Meets macOS

Leaked screen recordings reveal a sophisticated UI that blends familiarity with modern aesthetics:

• The "macOS-Style" Status Bar: In a shift from the traditional Windows-like tray, Google has moved the date, time, and system settings to a taller top status bar, bearing a striking resemblance to the macOS menu bar.

Windows 10 Resurrection: Why Users are Abandoning Windows 11 After End-of-Support.

The Great Reversal: Windows 10 Reclaims Market Share as Windows 11 Momentum Stalls

Latest data from StatCounter reveals a surprising trend in the desktop operating system market. Despite Windows 11 previously establishing itself as Microsoft’s leading OS, recent months show that Windows 10 is making an unexpected comeback, clawing back market share from its successor.

The Numbers: A Downward Trend for Windows 11

The global desktop Windows version statistics show a steady rise for Windows 10, while Windows 11 has experienced a noticeable decline toward the end of 2025:

xAI Launches Grok Imagine 1.0 Following SpaceX Acquisition.

 

The Video Revolution: xAI Unveils "Grok Imagine 1.0" as Video Generation Surges to 1.2 Billion Clips

Following its high-profile acquisition by SpaceX, Elon Musk’s xAI has officially launched Grok Imagine 1.0, a next-generation AI video generation model. The company describes this release as a "monumental leap forward" in the landscape of creative artificial intelligence.

Pro-Level Features & Enhanced Audio

Grok Imagine 1.0 introduces several key technical upgrades designed to compete at the top tier of the market:

French Police Raid X Paris Headquarters Over Grok AI Generated Child Abuse Content

Tech War in France: X Claims "Political Theater" After Police Raid Paris HQ Over Grok AI Content.

French authorities have conducted a high-profile raid on the Paris offices of X (formerly Twitter) as part of a criminal investigation into the platform’s role in facilitating the spread of illegal content. The probe centers on allegations that X’s AI chatbot, Grok, has been used to generate non-consensual sexual imagery, including child sexual abuse material (CSAM).

Summons for Tech Leadership

In addition to the physical search conducted by the Paris prosecutor's cybercrime unit, voluntary summons have been issued to:

Nintendo Revenue Doubles to ¥1.91 Trillion as Switch 2 Sales Outpace Wii U Lifetime Records.

Nintendo Global Surge: Switch 2 Surpasses Wii U Lifetime Sales in Just Three Quarters

Nintendo has released its financial results for the quarter ending December 2025, revealing a massive leap in growth driven by the unstoppable momentum of the Nintendo Switch 2. For the nine-month period from April to December, revenue skyrocketed by 99% year-on-year, reaching ¥1.91 trillion, while net profit climbed to ¥359 billion.

Hardware Performance: The Rise of a New Icon

The spotlight remains on the Nintendo Switch 2, which sold 7.01 million units in the last quarter alone. Since its launch three quarters ago, total sales have reached 17.37 million units officially surpassing the total lifetime sales of the Wii U in record time. Meanwhile, the original Nintendo Switch continues to show resilience, moving another 1.36 million units during the same period.

Microsoft Issues Out-of-Band Security Update for High-Severity Office Zero-Day (CVE-2026-21509)

Warning: Active Attacks Exploiting Microsoft Office Flaw; Legacy Versions Await Patches.

Microsoft has released an emergency Out-of-band (OOB) security update to address a critical Zero-Day vulnerability in Microsoft Office. The flaw, identified as CVE-2026-21509, is currently being exploited in the wild and carries a high-severity CVSS score of 7.8/10.

Technical Breakdown: OLE Security Feature Bypass

The vulnerability is classified as a Security Feature Bypass. It stems from an improper trust validation within Office, allowing attackers to circumvent OLE (Object Linking and Embedding) protections. These safeguards were originally designed to block malicious interactions from compromised COM/OLE controls.

By bypassing these features, an attacker can execute unauthorized code or plant malware on a victim's system.

Attack Vector: Social Engineering Required

Update Now! WinRAR Version 7.13 Patches Flaw Used by Global Espionage Groups.

Global Alert: Critical WinRAR Zero-Day (CVE-2025-8088) Exploited by Multiple State-Sponsored Groups

The Google Threat Intelligence Group (GTIG) has issued a formal warning regarding a high-severity vulnerability in WinRAR, identified as CVE-2025-8088. The flaw is currently being actively exploited by a wide range of threat actors, ranging from common cybercriminals to sophisticated state-sponsored espionage groups.

The Vulnerability: Path Traversal Execution

The flaw affects WinRAR version 7.12 and older. It is a Path Traversal vulnerability that allows attackers to force the application to extract malicious files into unauthorized locations on a user's system such as the Windows Startup folder.

By simply opening a specially crafted archive file, a user unknowingly triggers the malware to embed itself within the system, allowing it to execute automatically upon the next reboot.

Security Alert: Notepad++ Legacy Update Server Hacked by "Chrysalis" Group.

Notepad++ Update Server Compromised: Users Urged to Update Immediately to Version 8.9.1

The developer of Notepad++, the widely popular open-source text editor, has disclosed a significant security breach affecting its legacy update server. According to the report, hackers successfully compromised the server used throughout last year, allowing them to redirect a portion of user traffic to a malicious download server controlled by the attackers.

The Vulnerability: Shared Hosting Risks

The investigation revealed that the legacy server was running on a shared hosting environment, where multiple websites are hosted on a single physical machine. This configuration likely served as an entry point for the attackers. Security experts believe the campaign was orchestrated by a threat actor group identified by Rapid7 as "Chrysalis."

SpaceX Acquires xAI to Build a 100GW Orbital Supercomputer

100 Gigawatts in Orbit: Inside Musk’s Plan to Move AI Data Centers to Space.

In a move that redefines the boundaries of technology and infrastructure, SpaceX has announced the total acquisition of xAI, Elon Musk’s artificial intelligence venture and the creator of the Grok model. This merger aims to solve the single greatest bottleneck in AI development: the global power crisis.

Escaping the Terrestrial Power Crunch

Elon Musk stated that the primary challenge facing AI today is the inability of Earth’s electrical grids to keep pace with the exponential power demands of massive data centers. His solution? Taking AI into orbit.

By relocating AI processing to space, data centers can bypass the limitations of the terrestrial grid and tap directly into infinite solar energy. This strategy aligns perfectly with SpaceX's recent filing to launch an additional one million satellites into orbit.

OpenAI Launches Dedicated "Codex" App for macOS: An All-in-One AI Command Center for Developers

OpenAI Unveils Codex for macOS: A New Era of Agent-Based Software Development.

OpenAI has officially unveiled a standalone Codex application for macOS, a powerful dedicated tool designed to revolutionize the software development workflow. Powered by the latest GPT-5.2-Codex model, this app transitions from being a simple code assistant to a comprehensive AI agent hub.

The Power of "Context-Aware" Agent Multitasking

According to OpenAI, the decision to launch Codex as a separate application stems from the need to provide a unified workspace for AI Agents. Unlike a standard chat interface, the Codex app can:

Protecting the Nest Egg: How the CPF Safety Switch Halts Scammers in Their Tracks.

Singapore CPF Enhances Security "Trusted Contacts" and "Safety Switch" to Combat Scams

The Central Provident Fund Board (CPF), Singapore social security organization, has introduced robust security measures to protect citizens’ savings from an increasing wave of sophisticated scams and call-center syndicates.

The "Trusted Contacts" Feature

CPF members can now nominate up to two Trusted Contacts individuals such as close family members or trusted friends. These contacts will serve as a second line of defense:

UK CMA Proposes Strict New Rules for Google Transparency AI Overviews and "User Choice" in Focus

The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) of the UK has launched a public consultation on a series of proposed measures to regulate Google. This follows the official designation of Google as having Strategic Market Status (SMS) in the web search market.

The Four Pillars of Proposed Regulation

The CMA is seeking feedback on four key interventions designed to curb Google’s market dominance:

IPPR Calls for UK Regulation as AI Companies Become New Gatekeepers of News.

 

The AI News Gatekeepers: UK Think Tank Urges Government Intervention to Protect Media Integrity

The Institute for Public Policy Research (IPPR), a prominent UK-based think tank, has raised a red flag regarding the rapidly evolving AI-generated news landscape. In a newly released report, the IPPR is calling for urgent government regulation to ensure transparency, fair compensation, and clear source attribution in the age of Artificial Intelligence.

The New "Gatekeepers" of Information

The report highlights a fundamental shift in the media ecosystem: AI tools are increasingly becoming the primary gateway through which the public accesses news. However, this power is concentrated in the hands of a few AI companies that act as "gatekeepers," controlling how citizens consume information and, consequently, shaping public opinion.

The Great AI Purge: YouTube Wipes 4.7 Billion Views in Massive Crackdown on "AI Slop"

YouTube has launched one of its most aggressive cleaning operations to date, targeting low-quality, AI generated content commonly referred to as "AI Slop" This massive crackdown resulted in an immediate disappearance of over 4.7 billion cumulative views across the platform.

The War on Mass Produced Spam

The purge specifically targeted networks of channels utilizing Generative AI tools to mass-produce vast quantities of videos in incredibly short timeframes. These channels aim to "game" the YouTube algorithm and siphon ad revenue through high-volume uploads. Characteristics of the deleted content included:

Google Disables YouTube Background Play Workarounds on Mobile Browsers.

The End of Free Background Play: Google Closes YouTube Workarounds on Mobile Browsers

For years, many smartphone users have shared a popular "life hack": playing YouTube videos in the background or with the screen off by using mobile browsers like Samsung Internet, Brave, or Vivaldi all without paying for a subscription. However, that era is coming to an abrupt end as Google officially moves to bridge this loophole.

The Sudden Silence

Recently, a surge of users particularly those on Samsung Internet noticed that as soon as they minimized their browser or locked their phone screen, the audio from YouTube cut out instantly. This feature, which previously worked as a reliable workaround for non-subscribers, appears to be deactivated globally.

From Courtroom Rivals to Secret Partners: The $800M "Strategic Truce" Between Google and Epic Games

In a turn of events that has left the tech industry stunned, the long-standing legal battle between Google and Epic Games (creator of Fortnite) has concluded not with a definitive verdict, but with a massive, multi-year "Secret Deal" Once bitter enemies in a high-stakes antitrust lawsuit, the two giants have surprisingly transformed into business partners.

The Disclosure: A Deal Hidden in Plain Sight

While both parties announced a settlement last November, the specific "terms" remained a mystery until Judge James Donato recently unveiled details in court. According to reports from The Verge, this is far from a standard settlement. It is a 6-year strategic partnership with several jaw-dropping clauses:

The End of Memory Bugs? Why Meta is Rewriting WhatsApp’s Core in Rust.

Meta’s Rust Revolution: Hardening WhatsApp’s Global Infrastructure for Billions

Meta engineering team has recently pulled back the curtain on its large-scale deployment of the Rust programming language within WhatsApp. This strategic move aims to fortify the platform’s security and system stability at a global scale, serving over two billion users.

Eliminating the "Memory Safety" Crisis

For years, WhatsApp’s core infrastructure relied heavily on C++. While powerful, C++ is notorious for "Memory Safety Vulnerabilities" a recurring class of bugs that lead to crashes and security exploits. Meta identified Rust as the ultimate solution due to its unique ability to: