Category: 4. Technology

The Centre for Industrial Photonics (CIP) at the University of Cambridge’s Institute for Manufacturing (IfM) has developed an AM technique known as Laser-Assisted Cold Spray (LACS). This method enables high-precision deposition of coatings and the repair of components, with potential applications across industries such as aerospace, energy, biomedical, and process manufacturing.

By reducing material waste and energy consumption, LACS also offers a sustainable alternative to conventional manufacturing processes and may support efforts to lower industrial emissions.

“The potential applications for LACS are limitless and we are motivated to deliver a technology that can significantly aid in the transition to net zero, through both a more efficient, low-waste manufacturing technology and the doors it opens for sustainable product development,” said Professor Bill O’Neill, Project leader.

Additive Manufacturing is reshaping the future of the energy sector, including nuclear, renewables, oil and gas, turbomachinery, and beyond. Additive Manufacturing Advantage: Energy is a one-day, online event bringing together industry and experts. The call for speakers is now open.

Limitations in Conventional Cold Spray and the Evolution Toward LACS

Initially, the CIP team was working with conventional cold spray techniques, using nitrogen as the carrier gas to deposit powder materials. However, when attempting to coat or repair high-strength components made from materials such as titanium and aluminium alloys, they found that helium was essential for achieving optimal deposition. Despite its advantages, helium posed significant challenges—its cost (around £80 per minute of operation) and the limitations of recycling equipment, which restricted the maximum size of parts that could be processed.

“Imagine trying to apply a coating to a section of airplane cladding. Being able to do that within the constraints of a helium-recycling system is just unrealistic. We needed to find a more practical solution for these high-strength materials, and that’s when we started investigating using lasers,” said Dr Andrew Cockburn, Senior Research Associate at CIP.

The challenge led the team to develop LACS—an AM technique that uses localized laser heating of a supersonic powder stream to deposit metals and cermets for building, coating, or repairing parts. By lowering the substrate’s yield stress, the laser enables solid-state bonding without melting, resulting in stronger, more reliable coatings.

Advantages of LACS Over Traditional Cold Spray

In addition to improving deposition efficiency and bonding strength, LACS deposition occurs at a lower particle velocity. This helps preserve the powder’s original structure in the coating, benefiting sensitive materials such as nano-structured coatings and rare earth magnets.

LACS also expands material compatibility by enabling the deposition of harder and more challenging materials, including cermets, refractory metals, and oxidation-resistant alloys, which typically have poor adhesion in standard cold spray.

The laser’s thermal input reduces residual stresses within the coating, enhancing mechanical properties and minimizing porosity, thereby improving the structural integrity and durability of the deposited layer.  The process is efficient, allowing coatings to be applied at rates up to 10 kilograms per hour, and it operates at lower overall gas temperatures—between 400 and 700°C compared to up to 1200°C for conventional cold spray—reducing power consumption and simplifying system design.

Finally, through the use of customized powders and graded compositions, LACS enables fine-tuning of coating properties to introduce specialized characteristics such as magnetism, solid-state lubrication, and enhanced wear resistance, while also reducing stresses at interfaces between dissimilar materials.

LACS Applications in Aerospace Manufacturing and Repair

LACS’s ability to both manufacture and repair custom parts makes it particularly well-suited for the aerospace industry. Traditional manufacturing often requires producing all parts for a model in a single batch and storing them, which creates two major challenges: high warehousing costs and limited spare part availability once inventory runs out. LACS offers a cost-effective, sustainable alternative by enabling in-situ repairs or full remanufacturing of components from existing bases.

Conventional repair methods such as welding are often unsuitable for high-performance materials like 6000-series aluminium, as the heat involved can weaken the repaired area and reduce its structural integrity. Bill O’Neill and his team have shown that LACS’s low-temperature, localized laser heating enables new material to be added without compromising the original part. Moreover, LACS systems can be programmed to build parts directly from digital models, allowing for rapid production of complex geometries.

Expanding the Horizons of LACS

The CIP team’s next objective is to advance LACS technology to enable the 3D printing of complex shapes. To achieve this, they are exploring options such as mounting the workpiece on a robotic arm for full 3D movement and improving control over the powder stream’s direction to produce precise, smooth edges.

“Currently, we have little control over the shape of deposition of the powder. This is not an issue for coatings but presents a significant restraint for part-building applications. Our next goal is to find a solution to this limitation, and we already have some very promising results,” said Bill.

3D Printing Sprays

As research institutions like the University of Cambridge advance laser-assisted variations of cold spray for precision and repair, commercial manufacturers are also scaling cold spray for industrial and field-based applications. 

In 2024, Australian metal 3D printer manufacturer SPEE3D introduced the TitanSPEE3D, its latest cold spray-based additive manufacturing system. Designed for large-scale production, the printer offers significant build volume and design flexibility. It can fabricate sizable metal components that would traditionally require casting, reducing production timelines from months to just days. Paul Maloney, Chief Revenue Officer at SPEE3D, described the TitanSPEE3D as a “game changer” for industries dependent on casting, stating it enables 3D printing “quickly, sustainably, and at a competitive cost.”

In a separate demonstration of its cold spray capabilities, SPEE3D successfully operated its containerized XSPEE3D system in sub-zero conditions during the U.S. Department of Defense’s Point of Need Manufacturing Challenge in Melbourne, Australia. Tailored for use in remote and extreme environments, the XSPEE3D employs Cold Spray Additive Manufacturing technology, propelling metal particles at supersonic speeds to produce high-density parts—without the need for lasers or inert gases. Encased in a standard 20-foot shipping container and requiring only a power supply, the system enables rapid, on-site production and has been validated as a practical solution for field-based manufacturing, including battle damage repair and large-component fabrication under harsh conditions.

Join our Additive Manufacturing Advantage (AMAA) event on July 10th, where AM leaders from Aerospace, Space, and Defense come together to share mission-critical insights. Online and free to attend. Secure your spot now.

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Featured image shows LACS equipment set-up to add a coating to repair a panel aircraft wing. Photo via University of Cambridge.

In the northern hemisphere, it’s hard to not spend the winter in a state of slumbering sloth, just waiting for sunshine and good times to start again. Conveniently, Prime Day fitness tracker deals (all four days of them) drop right in the middle of summer, which makes this a great time to pick up the smartwatch or smart ring that you just didn’t have the cash for at Christmas.

This year, you have four whole days to shop the Amazon deals, but if you don’t want to take that much time, I’ve highlighted the sales on some of our favorite fitness trackers and smart rings. Not a subscriber yet? Perhaps our list of the best Amazon Prime Perks can convince you to sign up. Deal hunters should also check out our Best Amazon Prime Day Deals roundup and Prime Day liveblog.

WIRED Featured Deals

Fitness Tracker Deals

The Best Smart Ring

As you might expect with my job, I am frequently asked what fitness tracker to get, and this year, more often than not, I have told people to just buy an Oura Ring 4 (9/10, WIRED Recommends) . You don’t have to wear it on your wrist, the battery life is longer than most trackers, and Oura issues interesting, meaningful software updates regularly. This is the first time it’s gone on sale, and you should get it.

The Best Fitness Tracker

Courtesy of Fitbit

Fitbit has faced pretty stiff competition over the years (most notably from the Apple Watch), but its flagship Charge line is still the best overall fitness tracker for the money. Even tracking multiple activities a day, the battery lasts over a week. The updated app looks great, and multiple Google integrations make the Fitbit Charge 6 (7/10, WIRED Recommends) easier to use than ever.

The Best If You Have an iPhone

Photograph: Adrienne So

The Apple Watch Series 10 is the best fitness tracker for iPhone users. It still doesn’t have blood oxygen sensing due to a patent dispute, but it’s otherwise a solid fitness tracker. The standout feature is sleep apnea notifications. The watch uses an accelerometer and machine learning to check if you have breathing disturbances at night. The Series 10 is also thinner, lighter, easier to wear, and charges faster than previous models.

The Best Kids’ Watch

Photograph: Adrienne So

I have personally convinced many parents in my life to buy the Fitbit Ace LTE (7/10, WIRED Recommends) for their kids. It’s a Fitbit, so it works even if one parent is Android and the other is Apple (if so, why?), and the $10/month subscription includes data, so you don’t need to fuss with adding service to your cell plan. Fitbit Arcade incentivizes my kids to keep their watches on and charged, and I like Google’s included kids’ safety features.

A Great Garmin

Photograph: Garmin

Garmin is known for its Forerunner series of running watches. The Forerunner 255 (8/10, WIRED Recommends) is the older version of the Forerunner 265 that we recommend in our roundup, but Garmins age well, and the older version does have some features to recommend it over the newer one, like better battery life.

The Cheapest Tracker You Should Buy

Photograph: Adrienne So

It may be cheap, but the Amazfit Active 2 (6/10, WIRED Reviewed) is no slouch on the sensor front with a photo plethysmography (PPG) sensor, accelerometer, gyroscope, barometric altimeter, ambient light, and temperature sensor to track your sleep, heart rate, and blood oxygen saturation. It also boasts tons of workout modes, long battery life, and 5 ATM water resistance.

The Most Affordable Apple Watch

Photograph: Apple

While it’s not the most exciting Apple watch, the SE series is a cheapest way to try out an Apple fitness tracker. The SE uses watchOS 11, which can connect to the Vitals app, which makes it easy to check your heart rate and respiration in a dashboard without hunting through the Health or Fitness apps. It has the last S8 chip, which is what the Series 8 has, and features like Crash Detection to call your emergency contact and emergency responders if you’ve been in a car accident. The SE series doesn’t have the latest health features, like the ability to check your skin temperature and the display is noticeably smaller than Apple’s other options, but for the price this is hard to beat, especially on sale.

A No-Subscription Smart Ring

Photograph: Simon Hill

While the Oura Ring 4 is undoubtedly the champion of smart rings, you’ll be paying $8 a month if you want the full experience. The Ultrahuman Ring Air (7/10, WIRED Recommends), though, comes with an included “lifetime subscription,” meaning you’ll have full access to your data and analytics when you pick one of these up. It’s the first time the price has dropped this low too, so if ever there was a time, it’s now.

A Stylish Garmin

Photograph: Adrienne So

Most Garmin watches aren’t likely to win any beauty prizes—they’re chunky, with an emphasis on the technical over aesthetic. The Lily 2 is the exception. It’s Garmin that looks more like, well, a nice watch. You can even get it with a leather band. It’s one of the smallest Garmins and battery life is on the short side—3 to 4 days. But it has a Pulse Ox sensor, a beautiful Corning Gorilla Glass lens, a metal bezel, and standard Garmin features like Body Battery and fall detection.

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There’s an irony to the backlash that embroiled Meta when it added its infamous blue AI circle to WhatsApp. It seemed Meta AI was a mandatory guest lurking in your chats and could not be removed. It can be blocked from your chats, though, details here.

Meanwhile, both Google and Microsoft have demonstrated the high-risk in adding platform-wide AI to our devices. Suddenly, the content we consider private and secure is anything but, AI has a thirst to see all we’re doing and we can’t stop it.

ForbesHow To Remove Meta AI From All Your WhatsApp ChatsBy Zak Doffman

Microsoft went first, with its fabled Recall upgrade to Windows 11. As has been widely reported, this sci-fi photographic memory that snapshots everything that’s done on a PC and stores it within a searchable local repository will read any text messaging windows open on screen. Only Signal has managed to stop this.

Then Google went next. Gemini, it announced, would start accessing third-party apps on phones, including Messages and WhatsApp. Initially it seemed that the data vacuumed up in its midst would even be used for AI training, but that’s not the case.

Google told me the update “is good for users,” as Android phones can now “use Gemini to complete daily tasks on their mobile devices like send messages, initiate phone calls, and set timers while Gemini Apps Activity is turned off.”

However, as Neowin warns, while Google promises that under normal circumstances, Gemini cannot read or summarize your WhatsApp messages. But, and this is a big but, with the ‘help’ of the Google Assistant or the Utilities app, it may view your messages (including images), read and respond to your WhatsApp notifications, and more.”

Practically, you need to tell Gemini to access WhatsApp by prompting the AI assistant to read or reply. But technically, the AI engine is not blocked from accessing the app. Not quite as bad as Recall, but we’re entering a new world of blurry privacy lines.

Google trumpeted its update to enable Gemini to access third-party apps without using data for training, but as Ars Technica warns: “No, Google, it’s not good news.” The issue, confirmed by Neowin, is that there doesn’t seem to be a way to disable this.

ForbesDelete Every Chrome And Edge Extension That’s On This ListBy Zak Doffman

“Google marketers may claim the integration is good news,” Ars Technica says. “A significant number of [users] don’t want Gemini or other AI engines anywhere near their devices. For the time being, these users are being left completely in the dark.”

You can restrict Gemini within your app settings, but the onus is on you to fiddle with your phone settings to opt out. That’s not how this should be done. Whether Windows or Android, you should act now and at the very least check your settings and be aware of what content is being read, stored and used for training on your device.

Special Week in Umamusume: Pretty Derby is a beloved protagonist. Being a versatile racer, Special Week excels in medium/short-distance races. She can shine brightest, dominating as a front-runner build and outpacing rivals, when built with racing strategy. Here is a guide that will help optimize her as the top-tier front-runner and unleash her full potential.

Umamusume Pretty Derby Special Week stat distribution

Special Week thrives, seizing the lead early and holding on to it. So, Speed for her is non-negotiable. Just push hard and hit at least 700 for medium distance races. It will let her dictate the pace and fend off the challengers, too. To neglect Speed means to lose Special Week’s core advantage, before a race even truly begins.

Power follows closely. You can target 500+ Power to ensure Special Week muscles are past the rivals. It is especially crucial when she is exiting turns or making some decisive moves. Stamina here sits at the third vital place. Having 500+ will prevent Special Week from fading dramatically in the final stretch, which is a common pitfall for many leaders. Despite all, if Special Week struggles within her final stretch, consider adding stamina-restoring skills.

Umamusume Pretty Derby Special Week Support Card

Umamusume Support cards choice made directly shape the efficiency of training. Aim to have a balanced loadout with three Speed-focused cards and one dedicated Stamina card. While Speed cards will provide massive boosts that are needed for Special Week’s primary stat, the Stamina card would offer her the ability to avoid any late-race collapses, ensuring she is able to maintain a furious pace.Pro tip: For the long-distance races, shift to 2 Stamina, 2 Speed, 1 Wisdom and 1 Power card too, for ensuring she lasts the entire race.To complement this with 1 Power card would further bolster Special Week strength to overtake. As for a Wisdom card pick, it will aid Special Week’s skill activation and help her manage her mood during the gruelling training session while keeping her progress steady. Give priority to bonding using these cards early on for unlocking maximum training bonuses.

Umamusume Pretty Derby Special Week skills to sharpen the edge

Skills make a huge difference between winning and losing. Give priorities to the abilities that can amplify the natural front-running style of Special Week. Straight Speed and Corner Speed boosts are invaluable here. They enhance Special Week’s ability to maintain momentum, where the races are quite often decided. These offer direct support to Special Week to stay ahead at all costs.

Stamina recovery skills, too, are equally critical here. You can look for some triggers like Runner’s High or the mid-race restoration effects. These can compensate for heavy stamina drain, which is inherent to leading. Some leadership-specific skills, like pacing stabilizers or the front-position bonuses, even cement Special Week’s control over the race.

Special Week’s inheritance strategy to secure the legacy

The starting aptitude of Special Week benefits her significantly from the right legacy. Give priority to parents who are known for strong leadership aptitude and their medium and long-distance skills/abilities. Some proven choices like Rice Shower, TM Opera O and Mejiro Ryan pass down some valuable traits which align perfectly with Special Week’s front-running build.Make sure you avoid Chaser or completely Sprinter-focused parents. The inherited tendencies there clash with the optimal pacing strategy of Special Week. It potentially undermines her consistency. Keep focus on lineages which enforce Special Weeks’ need for a sustained speed, leadership dominance and stamina resilience, from the starting gate.

Umamusume training tips for Special Week

Using the right approach, Special Week will become a dominant force on the track. Keep focus on Speed and support her using the right cards. Also, equip some game-changing skills for securing her victory.

Following its successful debut, Innovation Park is returning to ISE 2026, and now is the time for ambitious startups to secure their place. Designed as a vibrant business hub within Integrated Systems Europe (ISE), a world-renowned AV and systems integration exhibition, Innovation Park offers early-stage companies the chance to connect with global partners, pitch to investors, and showcase groundbreaking ideas to a high-value audience.

Centrally located in Congress Square at Fira Barcelona, the first edition of Innovation Park at ISE 2025 offered 80 promotional pods where selected startups could present their solutions, build brand visibility, and connect with industry leaders. Each participating startup was chosen through a structured application process that ensured alignment with ISE’s criteria for innovation and industry relevance.

For many startups, Innovation Park served as a valuable catalyst for future growth. The area included not only exhibition pods but also a dedicated Pitching Stage, a Matchmaking Area, and an exclusive Investor Forum on the first day. This setup created a high-energy environment for securing funding, forming strategic partnerships, and engaging with a diverse and influential audience.

“Innovation Park was created to support emerging talents in the AV community,” said Mike Blackman, Managing Director of Integrated Systems Events. “The enthusiasm on the floor and the quality of the partnerships demonstrated this platform’s importance in shaping our industry’s future. The diverse solutions, from acoustic simulation and spatial audio to digital signage and intuitive UI tools, addressed real-world problems effectively. The market response showed readiness to embrace these next-generation AV pioneers.”

Big wins for bold ideas: Startup momentum from ISE 2025

• Treble Technologies, based in Iceland, showcased its advanced acoustic simulation and spatial audio tools. These solutions allow engineers and designers to analyse how sound behaves in any environment with remarkable precision.

Senior Marketing Specialist, Guillaume Demerliac, said:  “Innovation Park was a fantastic opportunity for Treble Technologies to showcase our groundbreaking advancements in acoustic simulation and spatial audio. One of our standout moments was participating in the Investor Forum panel, where we shared insights on navigating growth – from initial concept to acquisition – highlighting the pivotal challenges and strategic decisions that have shaped our success.” 

• AVGator Inc., a US-based specialist in AV integration solutions and a certified Crestron Service Provider, used the event to highlight the rising demand for intuitive UI development tools.

Their CEO, Vadim Chekirka, mentioned: “ISE 2025 was a fantastic opportunity to connect with forward-thinking professionals who are shaping the future of AV technology. We were excited to see the strong demand for efficient UI development tools and the growing interest from manufacturers in providing software solutions alongside their hardware. Partnerships like these open new doors for innovation, ultimately making customers’ lives easier and more productive.” AVgator Inc., based in the United States, is specialised in cutting-edge AV integration solutions and is a proud Crestron Service Provider (CSP), delivering advanced programming and GUI development for Crestron, Extron, Biamp, and Q-SYS control systems.

• Digital Signal AV, another US company offering high-performance visual solutions, approached the event with clear KPIs and exceeded expectations.

Senior Global Sales and Business Development executive, Daniel LeCour, reflected: “We had two main goals for ISE 2025: show our innovative products to increase awareness and meet potential clients and partners from around the world. Innovation Park has proven to be a great way for small startup companies like Digital Signal AV to achieve both.”

• Tecom Electronics Ltd., based in Israel, develops advanced AV systems for hybrid classrooms and meeting spaces. Efrat Elitzur reflected positively on the experience.

Their COO, Efrat Elitzur shared: “ISE provided the perfect stage to showcase our latest innovations for immersive classrooms, sparking insightful conversations and receiving enthusiastic feedback from consultants, resellers, and industry leaders worldwide.”

Global Connections and Strategic Partnerships

The diverse range of exhibitors at Innovation Park was a testament to ISE’s ability to bring together brilliant minds from across all sectors. Gaëlle Dubois from Losonnante in France commented on expanding his professional network and securing quality leads, noting: “ISE marked a significant step for Losonnante. Over the four days, we had the opportunity to meet with producers, integrators, and distributors to discuss potential new applications for our bone conduction sound device and to develop strategic partnerships.” Losonnante offers a unique, multisensory sound experience through bone conduction technology. Their “Whisper Box” lets users listen by touch, transmitting sound through the body rather than the air. The result is a memorable, emotion-driven experience that promotes attention, curiosity, and engagement.

Moreover, Igor Murphy from Hive Streaming shared his experience: “During ISE, we connected with 21 partners, 12+ clients and prospects from eight different countries, making it an incredibly valuable event for us. It was by far our most successful trade fair.” Sweden-based Hive Streaming equips organizations to deliver seamless, high-impact live video events by ensuring stable video infrastructure, maximizing video experiences and providing insights that drive strategic impact.

Award-Winning Innovations

Innovation Park also provided an opportunity for startups to receive recognition as part of award schemes available to exhibitors at ISE. Several were celebrated with industry awards, including Best of Show product awards.

Eamon Drew from Turtle AV lauded the event’s impact, remarking, “Innovation Park provided an exceptional opportunity to connect with customers globally. Our presence led to new distributors and systems integrators. A very big highlight for us was winning three Best in Show awards for our new products. ISE was a much bigger success for Turtle AV than we could ever have expected.” Turtle AV from Australia develops products for the AV market and specialises in AV over IP using formats such as Dante AV-A, Dante Audio, H.265/HEVC, and more.

Looking Ahead to ISE 2026

The debut of Innovation Park at ISE 2025 proved to be a highly successful initiative, reinforcing ISE’s commitment to fostering innovation and meaningful connections. The platform enabled startups to secure funding, gain exposure, and establish long-term partnerships.

In 2026, Innovation Park will expand to host 144 startups, offering even more opportunities for promising ventures to pitch, connect, and grow. Applications are now open. To join this unique environment for innovation and entrepreneurship, apply by clicking here or visit their official website for more information.

The ‘dead internet theory,’ or the idea that much of the web is now dominated by bots and AI-generated content, is largely speculative. However, the concern behind it is worth taking seriously. The internet is changing, and the content that once made it a valuable source of knowledge is increasingly diluted by duplication, misinformation, and synthetic material.

For the development of artificial intelligence, especially large language models (LLMs), this shift presents an existential problem. The functionality of these systems depends on large volumes of training data. When that data is grounded in human expertise and real experience, the results are meaningful and reliable. When the data is noisy, synthetic, or stale, the value of the output declines. This raises a pressing question for those building or deploying AI: where will the next generation of high-quality training data come from?

A shrinking pool of good data

Modern LLMs consume vast amounts of data during training. Historically, this has come from scraping everything from publicly available websites, online forums and documentation, to articles and user-generated Q&As. Until recently, the internet sufficed as a near-endless source of content – but that may be changing.

As more sites resist scraping and legal frameworks around content usage are developed, it’s becoming more difficult to collect new, high-quality data at scale. At the same time, the overall quality of information available online is deteriorating, in part due to the increasing presence of AI-generated content that rehashes what already exists.

The AI field is now facing a supply issue. It’s not just a matter of volume; there is growing concern that the diversity, originality, and relevance of the available training data are being eroded. Without fresh, human-generated knowledge feeding the system, models risk stagnating. They may still produce fluent responses, but their value, especially in high-stakes or fast-moving contexts, begins to diminish.

Synthetic data isn’t a long-term solution

To address the shortage, some organisations have turned to synthetic data. These are artificially generated examples designed to simulate human-created inputs. In theory, this provides a scalable way to generate training material. In practice, it introduces new risks.

Synthetic data is based on patterns learned from existing datasets. It often lacks nuance, fails to reflect edge cases, and may reinforce biases or errors already present in the original material. When synthetic data is used to train or fine-tune other models, it can create a feedback loop that magnifies inaccuracies. There are use cases where synthetic data can be helpful – such as testing, augmentation, or anonymisation – but it is not a replacement for authentic, well-sourced, human knowledge.

The most valuable training data still comes from people solving real problems, sharing what they know, and refining each other’s understanding. This kind of input brings context, relevance, and expertise that AI cannot generate on its own.

One emerging model for collecting and maintaining this kind of data is Knowledge as a Service (KaaS). Rather than scraping static sources, KaaS creates a living, structured ecosystem of contributions from real users (often experts in their fields) who continuously validate and update content. This approach takes inspiration from open-source communities but remains focused on knowledge creation and maintenance rather than code.

KaaS supports AI development with a sustainable, high-quality stream of data that reflects current thinking. It’s designed to scale with human input, rather than in spite of it.

Why KaaS works

KaaS helps AI stay relevant by providing fresh, domain-specific input from real users. Unlike static datasets, KaaS adapts as conditions change. It also brings greater transparency, illustrating directly how contributors’ inputs are utilised. This level of attribution represents a step toward more ethical and accountable AI.

Most importantly, KaaS is sustainable. As communities continue to share and refine knowledge, the system improves over time. This living, human-driven approach offers a stronger foundation for AI than synthetic or scraped data can provide, supporting smarter and more reliable outcomes.

Building better AI through using KaaS

For AI to remain useful and trustworthy, it must stay grounded in reality. That depends on better quality data, not just more of it. Organisations working with LLMs should invest in the creation of high-quality, human-led knowledge systems rather than relying on content that is synthetic or scraped from a shrinking pool of online sources.

This involves building platforms that reward participation, respect data ownership, and create feedback loops between AI systems and the people informing them. Industries such as healthcare, finance, and education, where accuracy and trust are critical, are well-placed to lead the charge.

Knowledge as a Service provides a practical and sustainable alternative. It delivers verified, evolving, and diverse insight rooted in real expertise, not noise or repetition. The goal isn’t to slow progress, but to guide it. By embedding human context and collaboration into AI development, we can ensure future systems improve not just in size, but in substance. 

Jody Bailey is the chief product and technology Officer for Stack Overflow

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Google security updates are not exactly in short supply: Chrome browser vulnerabilities, Google Messages sender verification, and, of course, new Gmail features all vying for your attention. Sometimes, however, there’s a danger of drowning in updates which leads to the most important of them potentially going unnoticed. Google has just published a posting to ensure that doesn’t happen with the latest protections for Android users against hack attacks. And quite rightly so, as it’s not easy protecting more than 3 billion users, with multiple risk profiles across that user base, from hackers. As Google said, “Less sophisticated attacks by commodity malware can be very lucrative for attackers when done at scale, but so can sophisticated attacks on targeted users.” Let me, or rather Google, introduce you to Advanced Protection that does exactly what it says on the tin, allowing you to tailor your security protections to fit your personal risk profiles.

ForbesBillions Of Gmail And Outlook Users At Risk — Change Your Password NowBy Davey Winder

Google Confirms Advanced Security Protection In Chrome On Android

You might be forgiven for thinking that the only threat you need to worry about as an Android smartphone user is the SMS one, as attacks surge and hackers employ new mobile SMS Blaster hardware weaponry. You would, however, be very wrong indeed. Smartphone hackers have a diverse array of attacks to choose from, each targeting a different victim group and employing a different methodology. Some of the more commonly used have been picked up upon by David Adrian, Javier Castro and Peter Kotwicz from the Google Chrome Security Team in a July 8 posting.

Advanced Protection acts as an extension to Google’s existing Advanced Protection Program, by providing a device-level security setting for those Android users most at risk. Think of it as being a “single control point for at-risk users on Android that enables important security settings across applications,” Google said. This integrates with Chrome on Android, the trio of security experts explained, in three specific ways:

• By enabling the always use secure connections setting to protect users from hackers injecting malicious content or reading data.
• By enabling full site isolation, as long as your Android device has at least 4GB of RAM, to prevent the loading of malicious sites in the same process as legitimate websites.
• By reducing the attack surface through the disabling of JavaScript optimizations.

“We additionally recommend at-risk users join the Advanced Protection Program with their Google accounts,” the Google Chrome security team said, “which will require the account to use phishing-resistant multi-factor authentication methods and enable Advanced Protection on any of the user’s Android devices.”

Advanced Protection is available on Google Android 16 in Chrome version 137 and later.

ForbesFBI 2FA Bypass Warning Issued — The Attacks Have StartedBy Davey Winder

Best early Prime Day Fitbit deals 2025

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Best kids Fitbit deal

Fitbit Ace

$149.95
(Save $30)

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If you’re like us, you’re ready to take full advantage of the summer weather to get active. If you, too, have fitness aspirations for 2025, you’ll probably want a good fitness tracker by your side to keep you honest and primed for success.

Thankfully, Amazon Prime Day is just a few short weeks away (running from July 8-11), which means plenty of fitness tracker deals are on the way. In fact, many of those deals are already live. If you’re locked into the Fitbit ecosystem, though, the discounts are pretty slim at the moment. Still, there are a few worth considering, so read on.

Find our top picks below, and stay tuned to this page, as we’ll be updating it as more Prime Day deals come in.

Best early Prime Day Fitbit deal

Why we like it

You might think that buying a fitness tracker for a kid is a little weird — children don’t need to be tracking calories. Thankfully, kids fitness trackers are way more streamlined and meant to encourage movement with no extra metrics or analytics. If you have a high-energy kid in your home and want to support their active lifestyle, the Fitbit Ace is a great option that’ll keep them focused and moving. Ahead of Prime Day 2025, you can get one for $30 off.

More early Prime Day Fitbit deals