The Daily Stack

Tesla announces plans to wind down Cybertruck production as sales falter well below capacity. Congressional leaders summon Nvidia chief executive Jensen Huang over reported Chinese espionage concerns, and a decade-old authentication flaw in Alpine Linux leaves servers open to passwordless root access.

Stories covered:

• Tesla Winding Down Cybertruck Production to Shift Texas Factory to Cybercab (Electrek)
• Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang Summoned by Congress Over Chinese Espionage Concerns (Ars Technica)
• Critical 'sshole' Vulnerability Allows SSH Authentication Bypass on Alpine Linux (Ars Technica)
• Meta, Google, and TikTok Sue California AG to Block Youth Social Media Law (TechCrunch)
• Fox Formally Closes $22 Billion Acquisition of Roku (The Verge)
• Security Researcher Uncovers Vast iOS Autocomplete Word Suppression List (The Verge)
• US Government Issues Alert Over Cyber Attacks Targeting Industrial Freezers and Storage (TechCrunch)
• European Commission Accuses TikTok Recommendation Algorithm of Creating 'Rabbit Hole' Harms (The Verge)
• Anthropic Integrates Read-Only Personal Finance Analysis into Claude (TechCrunch)
• Perplexity Unveils 'Teammates' AI Agents for Autonomous Workplace Tasks (Engadget)
• Warby Parker Leak Points to Imminent Debut for Google's Android XR Smart Glasses (Engadget)
• BYD Electric Hypercar Tops 312 MPH to Set Production Speed Record (Electrek)

Voters across the United States reject data center expansion in local midterm elections, forcing major AI infrastructure shifts. Meta acquires AI coding startup Conductor while Discord ditches Electron for a native Rust desktop client. Plus, Agility Robotics goes public and Amazon partners with Uber Eats.

Stories covered:

• US Voters Reject Local Data Centers in Midterms, Forcing Big Tech and OpenAI Reaction (Engadget)
• Meta Acquires AI Coding Startup Conductor to Expand Multi-Agent Workflows (TechCrunch)
• Discord Rewriting Desktop App in Rust to Replace Resource-Heavy Electron (The Verge)
• Agility Robotics Goes Public on Nasdaq as First Pure-Play Humanoid Robot Company (TechCrunch)
• Amazon Swaps Grubhub for Uber Eats to Offer Free Food Delivery to Prime Members (The Verge)
• Residential Proxies Detected Operating Inside White House Network (Hacker News)
• Qualcomm Shifts Focus to Data Center Chips Amid Falling Smartphone Processor Sales (The Verge)
• Nintendo's Key ROM Chip Supplier Exits Business as Switch 2 Sales Cool (Ars Technica)
• Apple Trims Internal AI Budgets and Employee Usage Limits to Control Costs (TechCrunch)
• United Airlines Partnering with Spotify and Starlink for Seatback Streaming (The Verge)
• Developers Use Claude Code AI to Port Nintendo Switch Games Natively to Apple TV (9to5Mac)

Today on The Daily Stack, Alex and Sam cover Postman's controversial auto-installing AI plugins, the staggering Binance crypto heist details, Google's search mandate tied to AI, and major hardware and software industry updates.

Stories covered:

• Postman silently auto-installs AI plugins and attempts to share all API data (Hacker News)
• Binance reveals hackers used fake job interviews and an internal AI tool for $6.3B heist (The Verge)
• Google links school search access to AI tool adoption, drawing severe pushback (Ars Technica)
• AMD hits record revenue and profitability on data center boom (The Verge)
• Canva cuts 22 percent of its staff amid slowing growth and its 'hardest year' yet (The Verge)
• Valve changes Steam release rules to handle a massive surge of AI-generated games (The Verge)
• Nexus Mods and Itch.io roll out mandatory AI disclosures to combat generated clutter (The Verge)
• Apple previewing iOS and macOS 27.3 brings major Siri AI expansions and Safari updates (9to5Mac)
• Data centers turn to discarded jet engines to bypass grid power shortages (TechCrunch)
• Google dismantles massive botnet secretly running on 1.3 million Android TV boxes (Ars Technica)
• C++26 features spark developer debate as major proposals are rejected (Hacker News)

This week the Gaming Stack dives into a surge of low-quality AI titles on itch.io, Anthropic’s clampdown on Claude clones, Xbox COO turbulence, Nintendo’s Ocarina remake launch plans, and Remedy’s revenue spike from Control Resonant.

Stories covered:

• Indie game website itch.io expands its AI disclosure filter as 'AI slop' continues to overwhelm Steam and other storefronts (Eurogamer)
• Anthropic clamps down on Claude’s AI video game clones (The Verge Games)
• Xbox COO who left after just 3 months shoots down claims she was 'fired for a policy violation,' says her story is about 'core values' (PC Gamer)
• The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time Remake Global Release Times (IGN)
• Remedy revenue soars by 226% following release of Control Resonant, the developer's fastest-selling game ever (Eurogamer)
• Days Gone studio's next PlayStation exclusive to be revealed and released in 2027, according to new report (Eurogamer)
• Yakuza Spiritual Successor Gang Of Dragon Seemingly Cancelled As Nagoshi Studio Is Closed (Kotaku)
• Pikmin 4 Nintendo Switch 2 Edition launches 12th November and a demo is out tomorrow (Eurogamer)
• Classic PC strategy game Dune 2 is a ‘holy grail’ re-release but it’s a licensing nightmare, GOG says (Video Games Chronicle)
• A fully playable version of Portal prequel F-Stop leaked (The Verge Games)
• The Borderlands series has sold over 100 million copies, and Gearbox is "cooking hard on more Borderlands 4 content for next year" (Eurogamer)
• Modern Warfare 4 on Switch 2 has much worse input lag than PS5 (Eurogamer)
• "There’s always a night when Rome burns": South Of Midnight director says that Xbox funding it was "unsustainable", at least in hindsight (Rock Paper Shotgun)
• Phantom Blade Zero is Steam's biggest launch of the year so far, selling over 4 million copies in three days (Eurogamer)
• Footage of a Persona 1 remake has seemingly leaked online (Eurogamer)

Alex and Sam cover Marvell acquiring Lumentum for one hundred fifteen billion dollars, Apple's record fiscal fourth quarter, and the ongoing controversy over unpatched Ubuntu Linux vulnerabilities.

Stories covered:

• Marvell Acquires Lumentum for $115 Billion in Massive Tech Deal (TechCrunch)
• Astra Demonstrates Self-Improvement by Reading and Writing Qwen Model Weights (Hacker News)
• Apple Reports Record Q4 Revenue of $114.5 Billion Despite Rising Memory Costs and Supply Constraints (9to5Mac)
• Ubuntu Criticized for Failing to Patch Critical Linux 0-Day RCE Vulnerability for Three Weeks (Hacker News)
• Android Partner Banned After Secretly Turning 1.3 Million Set-Top Boxes Into a Botnet (The Verge)
• Apple to Mandate 18+ Age Ratings for Dating Apps and AI Companions (9to5Mac)
• OpenAI Launches 'Grid Protectors Program' to Support Local Power Grids Around Data Centers (The Verge)
• BMW Expands Advanced Urban Driver Assist to Rival Tesla FSD Starting in 2027 (The Verge)
• SpaceX Explores Acquisition of Boost Mobile to Build Direct-to-Cell Carrier Network (TechCrunch)
• New York Times and Media Outlets Sue Brave Browser Over Content Scraping for AI (TechCrunch)
• Apple Issues Global Spyware Warnings as Governments Investigate High-Profile Attacks (9to5Mac)
• BYD Sells Record 300,000+ EVs in October as Heavy Electric Trucks Surge in China (Electrek)

Alex and Sam unpack Monday's top tech stories, covering the FBI's attribution of a massive cryptocurrency heist to North Korea, municipal pushback against automated license plate readers, and new economic warnings about corporate artificial intelligence adoption.

Stories covered:

• FBI Attributes Massive $6.3 Billion Binance Crypto Heist to North Korea (The Verge)
• Police Chief Unplugs Cameras After Flock Safety Ignores Contract Cancellation (The Verge)
• Lenovo's 'Encrypted' Fingerprint USB Found to Use Ordinary Unencrypted SD Cards (Hacker News)
• Frontier Airlines Suffers Suspected Data Breach (Hacker News)
• Apollo Economist Warns AI Delivers 'Zero Financial Payoff' to Most Companies (Hacker News)
• Europe's Upcoming Battery Passport Set to Transform E-Bike Supply Chains (Electrek)
• Mark Gurman Reports Apple Plans Three New iPad Models for Early Next Year (9to5Mac)
• Anthropic Updates Claude Codebase to Prevent Recreation of Existing Video Games (Engadget)
• AI Agent Swarms in Minecraft Fail to Build Civilization, Drown in Bureaucracy (Hacker News)
• Seoul Viosys Begins Production of Rare-Earth-Free White Light Emitters (Hacker News)
• The Agentic Web Arrives as Autonomous Software Navigates the Internet (MIT Technology Review)

Today on The Daily Stack, Apple details touch interface features for macOS Golden Gate, a federal judge permits an environmental lawsuit against xAI to proceed, and a critical Linux kernel flaw receives a nine point eight severity rating. Plus, Binance replaces ninety percent of stolen funds following its record-breaking breach, and quick hits cover gaming AI, automated malware triage, and specialized graphics chips.

Stories covered:

• Apple Outlines macOS Touch Optimizations for the First Touchscreen MacBook Pro (9to5Mac)
• Judge Allows NAACP Clean Air Act Lawsuit Against xAI Data Center to Move Forward (TechCrunch)
• Severe TCP Use-After-Free Vulnerability Assigned 9.8 CVSS Rating (Hacker News)
• Binance Replenishes 90 Percent of Stolen Assets Following $6.3 Billion Breach (The Verge)
• Xbox Manager Highlights Widespread AI Use in Game Development Before Deleting Posts (Engadget)
• Emerging Cyberattacks Deploy LLMs to Rank Target Worth Before Executing Exploits (Hacker News)
• Bolt Graphics Achieves First Power-On Test for Simulation-Focused Zeus GPU (Engadget)

Today on The Daily Stack for Saturday, October 31, 2026, we cover a massive crypto heist at Binance, a new unified protocol for publishers to opt out of AI scraping, a supply chain attack on Anthropic's Cursor extension, and Waymo partnering with Toyota to build factory-integrated robotaxis.

Stories covered:

• North Korean Hackers Steal Record $6.3 Billion in 20-Minute Binance Heist (Ars Technica)
• Tech Giants Agree on Unified Protocol for Publishers to Opt Out of AI Web Scraping (The Verge)
• Anthropic's Verified Cursor Extension Compromised in 12-Hour Supply Chain Attack (Ars Technica)
• Waymo Partners with Toyota to Factory-Integrate Robotaxis into bZ4X Autonomous EVs (Electrek)
• Apple Intelligence Expanding to China Starting with iOS 27.3 (The Verge)
• General Motors Ordered to Pay $220 Million for Selling Customer Driving Data to Insurers (Ars Technica)
• Google Boots Up Satellite TPU in Space Running Gemma 4 AI Model (The Verge)

This week the Xbox supply-chain strain hits sales, Crimson Desert offers a five-hour demo, Microsoft rolls out a voluntary exit offer amid layoffs, Epic doubles down on gen-AI tools, and Valve tackles Steam’s cloning issue. Join us for the roundup.

Stories covered:

• Xbox leader Asha Sharma says there's "more demand than consoles available" as Xbox hardware sales dip by 14% (Eurogamer)
• Crimson Desert Enhanced Edition gets a surprise demo on PlayStation and Xbox, lets you play for 5 hours and carry over your save data (Eurogamer)
• Amid sweeping layoffs at Xbox and massive AI investments, Microsoft introduces a "Voluntary Exit Offer" to 60,000 workers (Eurogamer)
• Epic Games further doubles down on gen-AI tools for Fortnite, Unreal Engine 6 and more: "Our engineers are no longer writing the bulk of the code" (Eurogamer)
• Valve addresses Steam's AI game cloning problem - by suggesting developers make their games less copyable (Eurogamer)
• Phantom Blade Zero kicks off its launch with a day one patch that offers improvements to ray tracing and some bug fixes to boot (Rock Paper Shotgun)
• World of Warcraft: Forever's shiny lighting and water changes will be coming to retail: 'I don't know when, but I know they're talking about doing it' (PC Gamer)
• Activision apologizes and says it will remove South Korean crush footage from Modern Warfare 4 after victims’ families speak out (Video Games Chronicle)
• Xbox reportedly turned down a $500 million deal from Netflix to adapt its video game properties (Game Developer)
• Rockstar developer union could end up over 1,600 workers strong and encompass nearly all UK staff below senior management, IWGB claim (Rock Paper Shotgun)
• Nintendo Cancels Kirby’s Switch 2 Halloween Event After It Kept Breaking Things (Kotaku)
• Sucker Punch lays off 24 to align with 'current market', 'next project needs' (Game Developer)
• "This is a serious incident": Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2 devs Warhorse hit by cyberattack targeting their systems and data (Rock Paper Shotgun)

Today on The Daily Stack, we cover a massive crypto hack at Binance, Mistral's new open-weight cybersecurity AI, DoorDash acquiring Instacart, and GM's driver data settlement.

Stories covered:

• Binance Hit by Record $6.3 Billion Cryptocurrency Hack (Engadget)
• Mistral Releases Weights for New Trillion-Parameter Cybersecurity AI Model (TechCrunch)
• DoorDash Acquires Instacart in $17 Billion Delivery Merger (Engadget)
• General Motors Agrees to $220 Million Settlement Over Selling Driver Data (The Verge)
• Reddit Shifts to 'Logged-In Only' Experience as Search Traffic Declines (The Verge)
• Reports Surface of Chinese Spy with Ties to Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang (Ars Technica)
• AI Agent Swarms Successfully Hack Minecraft and Mindustry Environments (MIT Technology Review)
• Rivian Reports Strong Q3 Earnings with R2 as Best-Selling Vehicle (The Verge)
• Waymo Partners with Toyota to Bring Autonomous Robotaxis to Japan and the UK (TechCrunch)
• Waymo’s Former Autopilot Chief Calls Tesla's Vision-Only Approach a 'Weird Religious Stance' (Electrek)