is almost upon us, but you don’t have to wait any time at all to find some good deals. Case in point: both variants of the PS5 Slim have dropped by $50, so if you’ve been holding off on making the leap to (and the is perhaps a little too on the pricey side), this is a solid discount that’s worth considering. The Digital Edition (the one without a disc drive) has dropped to $400, while the regular edition can be yours for $450.

The PS5 Slim variants have all the power of the original PS5 units but in a more slender form factor. Given how chunky those first models were, that’s nothing to sniff at.

PlayStation

Advertisement

The PS5 Slim is on sale for Prime Day, offering those who’ve been waiting to make the leap to current-gen consoles a discount worth considering. 

$400 at Amazon

If you buy the Slim Digital Edition and later decide that you’d like a disc drive so you can use Blu-rays, DVDs or physical editions of games on your PS5, you can pick up an . However, it’s worth noting that the add-on has been going in and out of stock in anticipation of the PS5 Pro, which doesn’t have a disc drive built in but is compatible with the attachment.

The PS5 games library is very robust at this point, thanks to killer first-party titles such as and the utterly terrific . Sony is remastering some major games that debuted on PS4 for the console too, including both chapters of and . There’s a huge selection of great third-party games to jump into as well, like the latest EA Sports FC, Madden NFL and NBA 2K games for sports fans, and . And let’s not forget the small matter of a new Call of Duty game .

So, if you do pick up a PS5 Slim, you’ll have a ton of games to buy and check out. That said, a PS Plus Extra or Premium subscription might be what you want, as that will give you access to a large library of titles right out of the gate.

Follow @EngadgetDeals on Twitter for the latest tech deals and buying advice, and stay tuned to Engadget.com for all of the best tech deals coming out of October Prime Day 2024.

The AI Platform Alliance announced today the expansion of its consortium aimed at combining the key chips and hardware required to operate a modern AI compute service with more open, economical and sustainable solutions.

Formed last year at the Open Compute Conference, the group was initially comprised of AI accelerator companies, or companies that make chips for accelerating AI software. The alliance has now expanded to include cloud managed service providers, system suppliers and integrators, and software companies, reflecting a maturing ecosystem for the most demanding AI inference use cases.

The evolving alliance ecosystem has focused on providing practical and easily adoptable solutions through a new marketplace now available on the AI Platform Alliance website. The solutions offered by alliance members increase both the power and cost efficiency of AI inference while delivering better overall performance than more commonly seen solutions featuring GPUs today.

New companies joining the AI Platform Alliance include Adlink, ASRock Rack, ASA Computers, Canonical, Clairo.ai, Deepgram, DeepX, ECS/Equus, Giga Computing (Gigabyte), Kamiwaza.ai, Lampi.ai, Netint, NextComputing, opsZero, Positron, Prov.net/Alpha3, Responsible Compute, Supermicro, Untether, View IO and Wallaroo.ai.

These companies join founding members that included Ampere Computing, Cerebras Systems, Furiosa, Graphcore, Kalray, Kinara, Luminous, Neuchips, Rebellions and Sapeon.

The members include more than 30 organizations spanning five key sectors of the industry supplying products and services to the burgeoning AI inference industry.

The AI Platform Alliance was formed specifically to promote better collaboration and openness when it comes to AI. This solidarity of vision comes at a pivotal moment not just for the technology industry, but for the world at large. The explosion of AI has created unprecedented demand for compute power to not only run AI algorithms, but also to pull together all the systems, applications and services required to implement a modern AI-0 enabled digital service.

While solutions to date have mainly addressed AI training of ever more powerful models, AI inference can require up to 10 times more traditional compute support processes to run a complex AI-enabled service. These stacks require an ecosystem of technology, services, and applications working together seamlessly to integrate best in class ingredients and easy to adopt recipes to scale AI inference use cases.

AI Platform Alliance members will work together to validate joint AI solutions that provide a diverse set of alternatives to vertically oriented GPU-based status quo platforms. By developing these solutions as a community, this group will accelerate the pace of AI innovation while making AI platforms more open and transparent, increasing the capacity of AI to solve real-world problems, accelerating the rate of practical adoption, and delivering environmentally friendly and socially responsible infrastructure at scale.

Various members of the AI Platform Alliance are expected to showcase solutions at Yotta 2024 in Las Vegas October 7 to October 9. The AI Platform Alliance is open today to potential new members looking to change the AI status quo. Companies interested in joining can access more information and apply here.

Dodging stormy weather ahead of Hurricane Milton, SpaceX launched the European Space Agency’s $398 million Hera probe Monday on a follow-up flight to find out precisely how a moonlet orbiting a small asteroid was affected by the high-speed impact of NASA’s DART probe in 2022.

The launching was in doubt until the last moment, with thick clouds and rain across Florida’s Space Coast, fueled by moisture pulled in by the intensifying hurricane to the west.

But as the launch time approached, conditions improved enough to satisfy launch safety rules and NASA managers cleared the rocket for takeoff. Right on time, at 10:52 a.m. EDT, the Falcon 9’s first stage engines ignited with a burst of flame and the booster climbed smoothly away from the Cape Canaveral Space Force Station.

Liftoff came in the nick of time for several hundred European Space Agency managers, scientists, engineers and journalists who flew to Florida to watch the launch.

Hurricane Milton is expected to bring extreme winds and torrential rain to Florida’s Space Coast by Wednesday, a forecast that prompted NASA to stand down on plans to launch the agency’s $5.2 billion Europa mission to Jupiter and its ice-covered moon Europa on Thursday.

Instead, NASA announced late Sunday the rocket and it costly payload will remain in a SpaceX hangar at the base of launch pad 39A at the Kennedy Space Center until Milton passes by and safety personnel have a chance to inspect spaceport facilities for signs of damage.

The weather also has thrown a wrench into NASA’s plans to bring three NASA astronauts and a Russian cosmonaut back to Earth after a 217-day stay aboard the International Space Station.

Crew 8 commander Matthew Dominick, Mike Barratt, Jeanette Epps and cosmonaut Alexander Grebenkin had planned to undock Monday.

But NASA announced Sunday their departure would be delayed to at least Thursday because of the expected bad weather. Crew Dragon ferry ships require calm winds and seas in the Gulf of Mexico or the Atlantic Ocean to permit a safe splashdown.

Mission to an asteroid and its moon

In the meantime, despite an initially grim forecast, SpaceX was able to take advantage of a break in the weather to kick off Hera’s two-year voyage to the asteroid Didymos and its small moon Dimorphos.

The DART impact altered the 11-hour 55-minute orbit of the 495-foot-wide Dimorphos, shaving 31 minutes off the time needed to complete one trip around the parent asteroid Didymos. The test confirmed the feasibility of someday nudging a threatening asteroid off course before a possibly devastating Earth impact.

But a successful deflection would depend on a variety of factors, including when the threat was detected — the farther out, the better — and the asteroid’s composition.

ESA’s Hera probe will orbit the Didymos system and study both asteroids in detail with 11 high-tech cameras and other instruments, deploying two small “cubesat” satellites to study the interior structure of Dimorphos, assess the DART impact crater, the moon’s internal structure and composition.

The goal of the Asteroid Impact and Deflection Assessment, or AIDA, is to better understand the techniques that might be needed to prevent an Earth impact.

“The good news is no dinosaur killer is on its way to Earth during the next 100 years,” said 
Richard Moissl, director of ESA’s Planetary Defense Office. “We are safe from that scenario, but there are smaller ones, especially in this dangerous size, 50 meters and upwards, where it really threatens human life on the ground.”

The first step in planetary defense is detection, he said, followed by detailed observations to pin down the asteroid’s orbit and determine whether a collision with Earth is a possibility.

“For small objects, civil protection is the way to go,” he said. “But 50 meters (160 feet across) and larger, you really want this thing not to hit Earth, not to threaten population centers. And then step three comes into play, deflection.

“But again, it’s always good to know what you’re up against. And this is where Hera and DART come into play.”

Unlike most Falcon 9 flights, there were no plans to recover the rocket’s first stage. To give Hera the velocity need to break free of Earth gravity, the Falcon 9’s two stages were programmed to use up all of their propellants, leaving none in reserve for a powered first stage landing.

The flight plan called for two firings of the upper stage engine before Hera’s release to fly on its own one hour and 16 minutes after liftoff.

To reach Didymos and Dimorphos, Hera will have to execute a deep space thruster firing in November to set up a gravity-assist flyby of Mars in March, sailing within about 3,700 miles of the red planet. Along the way, the spacecraft will pass within 620 miles of the small martian moon Deimos.

“By swinging through the gravitational field of Mars in its direction of movement, the spacecraft gains added velocity for its onward journey,” Michael Kueppers, ESA’s project scientist, said on the agency’s website.

“This close encounter is not part of Hera’s core mission, but we will have several of our science instruments activated anyway. It gives us another chance to calibrate our instruments and potentially to make some scientific discoveries.”

After another deep space maneuver in February 2026, Hera will finally be on course to slip into orbit around Didymos the following October. The mission is expected to last about six months.

The future of space is ripe for reinvention, and TechCrunch Disrupt 2024 is bringing together two visionaries determined to reshape how we reach and operate in orbit. 

Join Kelly Hennig, COO of Stoke Space, and Muhammad “Mo” Shahzad, president and CFO of Relativity Space, on the Space Stage as they explore how emerging technologies, software, and automation will redefine the future of space access. Discover how these industry leaders are navigating the challenges of the growing space industry to turn ambitious visions into reality.

The demand for launch capabilities continues to grow. Though the past decade has brought considerable advancements, significant opportunities remain untapped beyond rockets and vehicles. With insights from Hennig and Shahzad, attendees will explore how business acumen, engineering ingenuity, and operational scalability are converging to set new standards for launch success and sustainability. This includes the recognition that building strong organizational cultures — where informed decision-making aligns with calculated risk — is essential for empowering the achievement of ambitious objectives in this rapidly evolving industry. 

This conversation isn’t just about technological breakthroughs; it’s about the strategic, organizational, and cultural shifts that are crucial for propelling the industry forward.

Meet the speakers

Kelly Hennig, COO, Stoke Space

Kelly Hennig is driving innovation in the reusable rocket sector, offering affordable, on-demand access to orbit for the satellite industry. Before joining Stoke Space, Kelly held senior engineering roles at Raytheon and Northrop Grumman, where she led development programs and captured major contracts, establishing her as a respected figure in aerospace. She has 10 patents, five trade secrets, and several distinctions for engineering excellence, showcasing her ability to merge technical knowledge with strategic execution.

Muhammad “Mo” Shahzad, president and CFO, Relativity Space

Muhammad “Mo” Shahzad brings more than 20 years of finance and capital markets expertise to his leadership role. Responsible for the company’s growth and strategy, Mo has overseen Relativity Space’s transformation into a space industry powerhouse — raising over $1.3 billion in funding and increasing the company’s headcount tenfold. His leadership spans sales, business development, financial planning, and risk management, reflecting his multifaceted approach to building a sustainable and scalable enterprise.

Don’t miss this discussion at Disrupt 2024

The future of space launch will be defined by those who dare to push boundaries and innovate beyond what’s possible today. At Disrupt 2024, you’ll hear firsthand from the industry’s boldest leaders, whose expertise and vision are setting the course for what comes next. Don’t miss this opportunity to connect, learn, and be inspired by the pioneers who are charting the path forward for space exploration. Secure your ticket now before prices rise at the door. This is one conversation you won’t want to miss.