The rich and famous who filed into the Kennedy Center’s opera house in December were there to enjoy one of the nation’s most exclusive celebrations of the performing arts: the center’s annual honors gala.
The black-tie event, hosted by President Donald Trump, prioritized tickets to people who donated more than $75,000 to the center. This year, it feted Hollywood icon Sylvester Stallone, the legendary glam rock band Kiss and the Grammy Award-winning disco pioneer Gloria Gaynor.
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Among the attendees that evening were two lower-profile government officials whose regulatory decisions had been crucial to the future of the gala’s broadcast sponsor, CBS, and its parent company, Paramount.
Five months earlier, Federal Communications Commissioner Olivia Trusty cast a decisive vote approving Paramount’s historic $8 billion merger with Skydance Media. Now, the commissioner and a guest enjoyed the star-studded celebration thanks to tickets gifted to her by Paramount worth more than $12,000, according to ethics disclosure records obtained by ProPublica.
The other commissioner who approved the merger watched from a prized perch. FCC Chair Brendan Carr and his wife sat in a private skybox with Paramount CEO David Ellison and other executives from Paramount and CBS. Such seats sold for $125,000 a ticket, according to Kennedy Center guidelines.
It’s unclear if Paramount gifted Carr the premium seats because the FCC has yet to make public his financial disclosure for last year.
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However, past disclosures show Carr and Trusty are among seven FCC commissioners who have accepted Kennedy gala tickets from CBS or its parent company over the last decade. Ethics experts told ProPublica this poses a blatant conflict of interest since the commission regulates the network. Carr’s previous financial statements show he has accepted tickets at least seven times since his 2017 appointment, totaling over $63,000 in gifts.
Last December’s ceremony attended by Trusty and Carr took place as Paramount was launching a hostile takeover bid for Warner Bros. Discovery, a move that would later result in a merger agreement that requires FCC approval.
Four ethics experts told ProPublica that by accepting the premium tickets Trusty and Carr compromised the FCC’s impartiality and should not take part in any upcoming decision on the merger.
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“There’s no way that any top federal regulator should ever, ever accept a gift from a regulated company with interests their work will foreseeably affect,” said Walter Shaub, who led the federal Office of Government Ethics from 2013 to 2017. “The appearance of taking gifts like that is terrible. What’s at stake is nothing less than the public’s trust in government.”
Virginia Canter, who served as an ethics lawyer at the White House, Treasury Department, and Securities and Exchange Commission during the presidencies of George H.W. Bush, Bill Clinton, George W. Bush and Barack Obama, said the commissioners who accepted tickets cannot participate in this matter without damaging the integrity of the government’s decision-making process.
“This is shocking. Pretty disturbing, that’s what I would say. I just don’t understand what they were thinking,” said Canter, who now works as chief counsel for ethics and corruption at the nonpartisan government watchdog group Democracy Defenders Fund.
The FCC’s review of the merger is one of the final hurdles facing a historic $110 billion consolidation of two of the five largest film studios in Hollywood. The deal would unite Paramount Skydance with Warner Bros., bringing under the control of one company Paramount+ and HBO Max streaming services; CBS and CNN; and scores of other major broadcast channels, cable networks, and digital platforms.
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The new megacorporation, which could reshape how millions will access news, movies, sports and video games, faces fierce opposition from inside and outside Hollywood. More than 5,000 actors, producers and entertainment workers — including stars such as Robert De Niro, Javier Bardem, Joaquin Phoenix and Glenn Close — signed an open letter decrying how the consolidation would eliminate jobs and compromise “the integrity, independence, and diversity of our industry.”
On Monday, California, New York and 10 other Democratic states filed a lawsuit seeking to block the merger under federal and state anti-monopoly laws.
American and international regulators are evaluating the deal for its potential national security implications and impacts to consumers worldwide. Last week, the British government signaled it planned to investigate whether the new entertainment titan that would emerge from the union would unfairly stifle competition. The FCC’s ongoing review includes examining the Middle Eastern sovereign wealth funds backing the deal, including from Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Abu Dhabi.
The FCC usually has five commissioners — all appointed by the president and confirmed by the Senate to serve five-year terms — but the agency currently has only three. Any vote by the full commission would likely be decided by Republicans Carr and Trusty over Democrat Anna Gomez. Gomez was not at the December 2025 show but has accepted tickets from Paramount in the past. Because the FCC requires a three-commissioner quorum for a vote, any recusal could leave the panel unable to decide on the merger. Carr could decide to ask staff to approve the deal rather than bring it to a commission vote, but the ethics experts said he should recuse himself from any decisions affecting the Paramount merger.
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The experts warned the commissioners’ gifts might become central in legal challenges and said the Justice Department should investigate potential violations of federal rules or laws.
Neither Carr nor Trusty responded to ProPublica’s requests for comment. Gomez said in a statement that she followed agency advice when she attended the event in 2023 and 2024. Her statement did not elaborate or otherwise address why taking gifts from Paramount did not pose a conflict of interest.
An FCC spokesperson said agency ethics officers have for years cleared commissioner appearances, finding it consistent with ethics law.
“FCC Chairs and officials have attended the same event, in the same ways, consistently from the Trump Administration to the Biden Administration to the Obama Administration,” the FCC said in a statement. “There has been no change in recent years.”
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Shaub called the justification outrageous.
“It’s no excuse to say that you took the gift because everyone else was doing it or that your agency has had a bad habit of indulging in gift taking for a long time,” Shaub said. “That kind of explanation doesn’t work for school children, and it sure as hell doesn’t work for government officials who are supposed to have better judgment than a fifth grader.”
Despite their oversight role, FCC members have long enjoyed a night out at the Kennedy Center courtesy of CBS or its parent company. Seven of the 10 commissioners who served since 2016 accepted tickets worth more than $260,000, according to a ProPublica analysis of ethics disclosures.
Carr’s predecessor, Jessica Rosenworcel, who was appointed FCC chair by President Joe Biden and stepped down in January 2025, attended regularly.
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Rosenworcel and several other former commissioners who accepted the tickets did not respond to requests for comment. The one commissioner who didn’t accept a single gift, Nathan Simington, said he received the Kennedy Center invites from CBS and Paramount but turned them down because it “wasn’t my cup of tea.”
A review of 10 years of disclosures shows commissioners accepted paid trips from various sponsors to appear at banquets and speak at conferences. Some of those gifts came from other media companies regulated by the FCC. NBCUniversal, ABC-Disney and Fox News, for instance, paid for commissioners to attend White House Correspondents’ Association dinners, records show. The total value of the combined gifts topped $308,000. But the vast majority came from CBS and its parent company.
Melissa Zukerman, Paramount’s chief communications officer, said it was a decades-long “CBS practice to invite government officials from both parties” to the Kennedy Center show. She didn’t address why the practice continued after new ownership took over last year, the purpose of the gifts or whether the tickets posed a conflict of interest.
Carr, who joined the FCC as a staffer in 2012 and rose to become the agency’s general counsel, was appointed to serve as a commissioner by Trump during his first term. Since then, Carr has accepted tickets annually, except when the 2020 event was postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic, according to his public disclosures.
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Carr did not respond to an email request from ProPublica for his latest ethics report, which would indicate whether Paramount also paid for him to attend last December’s gala. The FCC referred us to the Office of Government Ethics, which told us that the FCC had not yet provided the disclosure. The FCC did not respond to our subsequent requests for the record.
A 2009 Office of Government Ethics memo gave federal employees the right to attend Kennedy Center events but explicitly said officials cannot accept free attendance “offered by persons other than the Kennedy Center and its trustees, officers and employees.” In 2016, the ethics office tightened its gift requirements, warning officials to avoid any appearance “of loss of impartiality.”
There is an exemption to the gift rules that allows free entry to gatherings that are widely attended and paid for by third parties, but only if certain conditions are met.
The event must “further agency programs or operations,” and the agency’s interest in an official attending must outweigh “concern that the employee may be, or may appear to be, improperly influenced in the performance of official duties,” according to the federal rules.
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As an example, the Office of Government Ethics said an industry-wide seminar attended by more than 100 people could be allowed if the employee’s participation would be in the agency’s interest. But those attending should “represent a range of persons interested in a given matter” and the event must provide a “structured opportunity” to exchange ideas and views among invitees.
The office clarified in a 2007 memo that performing arts presentations would not count even if they, like the honors gala, have a reception before or afterward at which officials can mingle with other attendees.
Canter, the former White House ethics lawyer, said it would be a “stretch” for the FCC to argue the exemptions apply to the Kennedy Center’s annual show, where famous musicians perform and celebrities laud those who are being honored. “It’s not what we would consider a widely attended gathering,” she said.
Kedric Payne, general counsel and senior director of ethics at the Campaign Legal Center, a nonpartisan watchdog group, noted that federal rules also require agencies to weigh the market value of the attendance, its relevance to the agency, any sensitive pending matters involving the donor and whether accepting free tickets creates an appearance of preferential treatment.
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“The ethics rules are designed to prevent this exact situation,” he said, adding that it is an “obvious conflict of interest” for an official to “accept expensive gifts from anyone with decisions pending before the agency. This matters because it makes the public question whether official decisions are free from the improper influence of wealthy special interests.”
An FCC official familiar with the legal guidance given to the commissioners said they were told the event met the criteria for the “widely attended gathering” exception. (The source was not authorized to talk publicly about agency legal discussions.)
Shaub, the former Office of Government Ethics head, disagreed, saying it would be “hard to understand what compelling interest the FCC could think it had in letting its commissioners” attend the gala.
“What possible reason could have outweighed the obvious ethics concerns?” he asked.
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Federal rules require written authorization for an official to accept free entry to a widely attended gathering. The FCC did not respond to our requests to provide the authorizations for the Paramount tickets or say who authorized them. Two senior ethics officials at the agency, Kathleen Fulp and Lauren Northrop, did not respond to requests for comment.
While December’s event came at a particularly sensitive time for Paramount and the FCC, it wasn’t the first.
More than a year earlier, in September 2024, Paramount had filed paperwork seeking the commission’s approval for its merger with Skydance Media. A month later, the FCC launched an investigation of CBS after a conservative group complained about a “60 Minutes” interview with Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris. Trump later filed a lawsuit alleging the network deceptively edited the interview — an accusation CBS denied.
Then in November, less than two weeks after his election victory, Trump declared he would appoint Carr as FCC chair. Almost immediately, Carr accused CBS of biased election coverage and said it would be an obstacle to approving the Paramount-Skydance merger.
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That December, Carr and three other commissioners — Rosenworcel, Gomez and Geoffrey Starks — accepted Kennedy Center gala tickets from Paramount worth a combined $48,156.
On Jan. 16, 2025, just days before Rosenworcel stepped down from the commission, she announced the agency was dismissing the election complaint against CBS. She and Gomez called the outcome a victory for the First Amendment.
To resolve Trump’s lawsuit, CBS agreed to pay the president $16 million, a decision criticized by legal experts who decried Trump’s claims as baseless.
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Two days after Trump posted on social media that he had received the settlement money, the FCC took up the Paramount-Skydance merger. To meet Carr’s demands, Paramount agreed to appoint an independent ombudsperson who would evaluate claims of bias. The company also pledged to eliminate its diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives.
By then, Starks and Simington had unexpectedly stepped down from the commission. Trusty, a Trump appointee, had been confirmed by the Senate the previous month.
Trusty and Carr voted in favor of the merger. Gomez voted against, blasting the approval for requiring “never-before-seen forms of government control over newsroom decisions and editorial judgment.”
Experts said that while Trusty had no conflict yet, Carr and Gomez did. The fact that Gomez voted against Paramount did not mean she didn’t face a conflict under the rules, Shaub said.
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Federal rules only require those who accept improper gifts to make a prompt reimbursement, but Shaub and the other experts said Carr and Gomez should have abstained from the vote.
“If you repay the face value of the ticket, the gift rules don’t require you to recuse — though common sense and any kind of conscience might lead you to recuse voluntarily for the good of the country,” Shaub said. “But if you refuse to repay the donor, I don’t see how anything short of recusal could remotely remediate the problem.”
With the Paramount-Skydance merger greenlit by the FCC, Ellison, the new company’s CEO, then set his sights on acquiring Warner Bros. Discovery.
Warner at first rebuffed Paramount’s overtures and on Dec. 5 — two days before the Kennedy Center gala — accepted a bid from Netflix to buy its studio and streaming assets. Ellison responded by making numerous calls to administration officials and had a long talk with Trump, according to The Wall Street Journal.
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On the night of the gala, Trump told reporters the Netflix deal “could be a problem” and that he planned to get directly involved with the regulatory approval. Inside the Kennedy Center, Carr and his wife sat with Ellison in an exclusive skybox, Bloomberg reported. (Gomez said in her statement to ProPublica that she declined Paramount’s “invitation because of serious concerns about press independence connected to conditions Paramount agreed to as part of its merger transaction before the FCC.”)
If one or more commissioners choose to abstain from a merger vote because of ethical concerns, what would happen next is unclear. Under federal conflict of interest rules, an agency designee could theoretically permit commissioners to vote after considering several factors, including “the difficulty of reassigning the matter,” the nature of the relationship between the commissioners and Paramount, and the “effect that resolution of the matter would have upon the financial interests” of the firm.
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Carr could bypass a full commission vote entirely, as he did with the recent acquisition of Tegna by Nexstar Media Group. In that case, Carr delegated authority to FCC staff to approve the takeover.
But any decision on the Paramount deal — whether by the full commission or by staff at the direction of the chair — is likely to be challenged.
Richard Painter, a former White House ethics attorney in the administration of George W. Bush, said while courts often defer to the government’s judgment, they also can become skeptical if a regulatory agency is shown to have violated ethics rules.
“A judge may very well say that the merger decision of the FCC isn’t worth jack because the process was corrupted,” he said.
The Honda Prologue, you may have heard, is officially dead — a decision the company confirmed to TechCrunch, removing the last all-electric vehicle from the automaker’s U.S. portfolio. The Prologue’s departure signals more than Honda’s EV backpedaling. It also illustrates a broader EV industry retreat from the U.S. market (in stark contrast to the rest of the world).
The demise of the Honda Prologue got us thinking: What other EVs have left the U.S., and why?
The end of the $7,500 federal tax credit had an outsized effect on EV sales in the United States. But there are other reasons behind the winnowing choices, including tariffs, changing consumer tastes, costs, company priorities, and regulatory action. According to data published in July by Kelley Blue Book and Cox Automotive, 247,226 EVs were sold in the second quarter or about 5.8% of the total market. While EV sales grew between the first and second quarters of 2026, they are still down from the same period last year (and before that tax credit ended in fall 2025).
Still Americans are still buying EVs, and there are new EVs entering the U.S. market — the Rivian R2 is one example. And there are signs of a slow recovery. Fourth quarter 2025 sales were 36% lower than the same period in 2024. This year that gap has narrowed, albeit still below sales figures from the previous year. For example, EV sales in Q2 were 20.5% lower than the same period in 2025.
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Even with a recovery underway, automakers are pulling the plug on many EV modes. Here are those ones that have left or are leaving. TechCrunch will periodically update this list of EVs that have left, or are leaving, the U.S. market in 2026.
Afeela
Afeela prototype at the 2026 CES event in Las Vegas.Image Credits:Bridget Bennett/Bloomberg / Getty Images
Ah, Afeela we never even knew ya.
The Afeela got its start as the Vision S, a prototype announced by Sony in 2020 at the Consumer Electronics and that ended up being one of the big, surprising reveals of the annual tech trade show. Honda entered the picture in 2022 when the two Japanese conglomerates announced a joint venture; they showed off an Afeela-branded prototype the following year.
In the months and years that followed, there was constant barrage of updates about the Afeela, which seemed to be everywhere, and yet nowhere. It was even displayed at TechCrunch Disrupt one year.
The Afeela, despite the marketing blitz, never made it into production. In March 2026, the joint venture gave up on the two Afeela-branded EVs. The move followed Honda’s decision, announced just a two weeks before, to cancel three EVs planned for the U.S. market.
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Honda (and Acura!)
Honda 0 SUVImage Credits:Honda
It was just a couple of years ago that Honda declared its EV ambitions with its O Series, including a mid-sized SUV prototype that debuted at the CES 2025 tech trade show and its futuristic Saloon and Space-Hub concepts the year before. The SUV, which was slated for production at Honda’s “EV Hub” factory in Ohio, was supposed to debut in North America in the first half of 2026.
Honda stopped development of the Acura RDX, Honda O sedan and SUV in March 2026 as part of a major overhaul of the company’s EV plans. The company blamed U.S. tariffs and Chinese competition for the decision.
There was also chatter at the time that Honda was planning to stop production of the Prologue, but there was no official announcement until July 16 when CarBuzz was the first to report that the Prologue program was ending. TechCrunch confirmed with Honda that the Prologue was going out of production.
The death of the Series 0 is difficult to measure since it never went into production. The Prologue represented more grounded goals than the O Series, and one that actually went into production and sold to U.S. consumers. The Prologue was a product of a partnership with General Motors — it is built at GM’s Ramos Assembly Plant in Mexico — and closely related to the Chevrolet Blazer EV. And it did OK for awhile, selling roughly 33,000 units in 2024 and 39,000 in 2025, before the tax credit ended and sales went into a free fall.
Hyundai
Image Credits:Hyundai / Hyundai
The Korean automaker has actually done quite well selling EVs to Americans. But it has made a few changes based on changing economics. In March, the company said it would no longer sell the Hyundai Ioniq 6 in the U.S., a decision that was likely tied to tariffs. The Ioniq 6 is made in South Korean and imported to the U.S., while its Ioniq 5 and Ioniq 9 models are assembled at its Georgia factory.
The company has said it will continue to import its more expensive, lower volume N-model of the Ioniq 6.
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Nissan
Nissan decided last year it would not produce a 2026 model year of its all-electric Ariya SUV for the U.S. market. And it doesn’t appear to be returning. Nissan first unveiled the Ariya in 2020 and planned to start selling it in Japan the following year.
The Ariya was the first all-electric to come out of Nissan since the early EV pioneer introduced the Leaf hatchback a decade ago.
Polestar
Image Credits:Polestar
Swedish EV maker Polestar, owned by Chinese automotive giant Geely, has been forced to leave U.S. over the country’s ban on Chinese-connected vehicle technology. Polestar needed specific authorization from the U.S. Department of Commerce to continue importing and selling its vehicles in the United States.
Without it, Polestar has been effectively banned from the United States. The company said it would continue selling its existing stock of Polestar 3 and Polestar 4 vehicles in the U.S., and that it will “continue to support customers, including providing access to its service network.” The Polestar 3 was assembled at a factory in South Carolina and in Chengdu, China.
A Tesla Model S in Palo Alto, California.Image Credits:David Paul Morris/Bloomberg / Getty Images
Tesla announced in January that it would end production of the Model S sedan and Model X SUV to make way for what the company views is the future. And it’s not a traditional electric sedan or SUV. In Tesla’s view, the future is AI, autonomy, and robots. It’s worth noting that sales of the S and X have fallen steadily over the years as consumers turned to its high volume and cheaper vehicles, the Model 3 and Model Y.
The last Model S and X vehicles rolled off the assembly line this spring. The company recently removed the assembly lines for the S and X at its Fremont, California factory to make room for production of its Optimus robots.
Volkswagen
Image Credits:Volkswagen
Volkswagen has pulled back on the ID. 4 electric SUV and the ID Buzz.
In April, Volkswagen said it would no longer produce the ID.4 at its U.S. factory in Chattanooga, Tennessee in a shift to high-volume vehicles like its upcoming gas-powered Atlas SUV. The company said, at the time, U.S. customers will be able to buy the ID.4 until the current inventory runs out. VW said it expects U.S. inventory to last into 2027.
To be clear, Volkswagen has said the ID Buzz is merely on a hiatus and will return in 2027. But there is no 2026 model.
There are, however self-driving versions of the ID buzz currently being tested in the United States. Volkswagen subsidiary MOIA America and Uber started testing autonomous microbuses in Los Angeles in April in preparation for a robotaxi service that is supposed to launch in late 2026. When the service initially launches there the vehicles will have himan safety operators.
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Volvo
Image Credits:Volvo
Volvo decided in March that it would pull its subcompact EX30 and EX30 Cross Country variant from the U.S. market. The company said at the time that production for the U.S. would end sfter the summer. The EX30 had a promising start. It recieved a lot of attention prior to it official entry into the U.S. in 2025, and it was the company’s more affordable EV option.
Volvo does plan to continue selling the larger, all-electric EX60 and EX90 SUVs in the United States.
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The penalties relate to an investigation into Google’s Play store and its tactics around search ranking.
The European Commission is expected to fine Google “hundreds of millions of euros” in a series of findings against the tech giant over the coming week, sources told the Financial Times (FT) on Wednesday (15 July).
The penalties relate to a long-running Digital Markets Act (DMA) investigation into Google over the company’s tactics around search ranking and its app marketplace Google Play.
It found that despite implementing some changes, Alphabet treated its own services, including shopping, transport or financial results, more favourably in Google Search results, and gave its own services more prominent treatment by displaying them at the top of search results.
In a separate finding, the EU said that Alphabet’s Google Play did not allow developers to inform users of alternative third-party payment options.
The FT, which reviewed internal documents from the Commission, reported that the expected actions against the company will also include daily penalties and other regulatory orders.
The exact level of fines and penalties were not specified in documents, the publication said, but it noted that the EU called Google’s non-compliance “serious”.
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As a very large online service, Google is subject to strict rules around fair competition and platform safety in the bloc.
Last September, the Commission fined Google €2.95bn for breaching antitrust regulations in the EU with its advertising technology practices.
German publication Handelsblatt was the first to report that the search giant might be handed a hefty penalty resulting from the investigation into Search and Play.
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In its May report, the publication said that the expected high triple-digit-million-euro penalty could be the highest fine imposed under the DMA since its enactment in 2022.
So far, Apple and Meta are the only companies to be penalised under the law, with Apple receiving a €500m fine last year – the highest penalty yet.
The Commission’s anticipated penalty on the search giant comes as the bloc readies to decide whether Google must give third-party search engines access to search data – such as ranking, query, click and view data.
Adam Savage has spent years turning movie props into objects he can actually touch and use. His earlier work on Rounders chips and a matching poker table showed how deeply he loves the gear that surrounds a serious game. This new project takes that same passion and points it at his favorite Bond film. Casino Royale features one of the most intense poker scenes ever put on screen, complete with million-dollar plaques and sky-high tension. Savage decided to build the kind of custom carrier and racks that might actually move such a set between games.
He began by looking for realistic copies rather than making things from scratch, as the details might be very confusing. One manufacturer, Apache Poker Chips, sent him several ceramic pieces that mimic the chips depicted in the movie in every aspect, including weight, sound when knocked together, and feel in your hand. To top it all off, the set includes these large plaques that are worth a million dollars each, as they have the same styling and design as the high-roller tables in Montenegro. It all adds up to over 65 million dollars, but that’s still nowhere near the ultimate sum from the film.
STEP INTO THE WORLD OF 007 – Bring James Bond style to poker night, blackjack, solitaire, magic practice, cardistry, party games, or for display…
GOLD FOIL SPY MOVIE DESIGN – The tuck box features gold foil accents and embossed detailing for a polished 007 look that stands out on a card table…
CUSTOM BOND INSPIRED ARTWORK – The Ace of Spades, Jokers, box design, court cards, back design, crest details, and gadget-inspired artwork give the…
Next came the design process, which involved Savage working with his shop assistant to create specialized racks that could carry many more chips than a regular tray. Each rack has 175 chips, organized into five stacks of 35. They produced the racks on a two-color machine, so the Casino Royale emblem is visible through the plastic as part of the design. With six racks in all, the set has plenty of capacity, but it all fits in one large case with a lock. Getting it just right required some careful computer work and a lot of test printing to ensure that the fit and logo were correct.
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The plaques needed some boxes to keep them in, so Savage used the table saw to make some wooden trays, angled the cuts so the boxes would stack nicely and stand out when pulled out with those old drawer handles. After some testing, he decided to producing them using a 3D printer, which allowed him to get a smoother finish that looked like it belonged in a fine shop. Each box may hold a number of plaques and has the same two-color design treatment as the chip racks.
The case, however, is the true standout, as Savage started with a massive anvil-style box that was essentially a strongbox and then transformed it into something that resembles a bank vault on wheels. He fitted boat-style latches and a very good lock on each side. There are plastic bits to assist everything line up when you seal the lid, and the inside of the lid has a small tufted trim for a luxurious feel. He polished it off with some old aircraft stickers, a Montenegrin flag, and some tamper-evident seals, making it look like something from an extremely secretive high-stakes operation.
The problem is that once the case is filled, moving it around becomes difficult because it weighs around 19kg on its own, before you even consider the box itself. So Savage decided to link the box to one of those stainless steel moving kitchen carts, allowing one person to move it without exerting themselves. Inside the cart, he also fitted some custom 3D-printed card carriers that look just like the original mid-century designs, ensuring that you always have two decks of cards ready. The entire operation is now sitting on the cart, and every detail has been meticulously planned. The chips sound and feel just like the ones in the movie, and the plaques are also spot-on.
France and Germany pledged to develop a sovereign alternative to Palantir’s military software. France’s Arcadia is the model. Both countries already dropped Palantir for ChapsVision.
France and Germany pledged on Friday to develop a European alternative to Palantir’s military AI software. A joint declaration signed after talks between Emmanuel Macron and Friedrich Merz committed the two countries to examine “a European sovereign digital backbone” covering data-centric security, AI, and cloud solutions. France’s Arcadia, an AI-powered command-and-control platform, was named as the starting point, alongside unspecified “comparable German solutions.”
The declaration arrives after both countries moved to drop Palantir from their intelligence services. France’s DGSI announced in June it was replacing Palantir with ChapsVision’s ArgonOS, six months after renewing the American firm’s contract. Germany’s BfV chose ChapsVision for the same role. The Bundeswehr has excluded Palantir from its defence cloud procurement entirely. A top NATO commander recently told Politico there was no real European alternative to Palantir’s Maven software, which the alliance uses for battlefield data processing. Friday’s declaration is Paris and Berlin’s answer: build one.
The joint statement also covers missiles, tanks, and space. France, Germany, and the UK will examine cooperation on long-range weapons with a 2,500-kilometre range, drawing on capabilities at ArianeGroup. The Franco-German MGCS tank programme, intended to replace the Leopard 2 and Leclerc, will launch a research programme on autonomous driving, sensors, and battlefield networking. The troubled FCAS next-generation fighter jet was notably absent from the declaration. Instead, the two countries agreed to create a “European collaborative combat standard” so fighter jets and drones from different nations can communicate in the field.
Palantir’s CEO Alex Karp called Germany’s refusal to consider his company “conversations about witchcraft“ in a Bild interview last month, arguing the software was proven on every serious battlefield. That argument has not moved Berlin. The sovereignty question is not whether Palantir’s technology works, it plainly does, but whether Europe’s most sensitive military infrastructure should depend on an American company at a time when transatlantic relations cannot be taken for granted. France and Germany have now put that question into a joint declaration. Whether they can turn it into working software is the harder part.
The new Audeze Maxwell 2 ANC addresses the most conspicuous omission from one of the best-sounding wireless gaming headsets on the market. Following the Maxwell 2’s debut in early 2026 and the recent introduction of interchangeable ReSkin earcups, Audeze is adding active and adaptive noise cancellation, expanded smart-audio capabilities, and new visual accents. More significantly, the Maxwell 2 ANC is the first headset in Audeze’s entire headphone lineup to offer ANC.
The original Maxwell did more than raise expectations for gaming audio. It smashed through the category’s glass ceiling and demonstrated that a high-end headphone manufacturer could build a wireless gaming headset with serious planar magnetic performance without charging $2,000 to $4,000 for admission. There is, after all, a finite supply of audiophiles willing to explain that purchase to a spouse, accountant, or divorce attorney.
Sony Interactive Entertainment has never said that Maxwell convinced it to acquire Audeze in August 2023, but the timing is difficult to ignore. The headset gave Audeze a credible path beyond the comparatively limited market for ultra-premium planar magnetic headphones and into the vastly larger PlayStation, PC, and console-gaming ecosystem. It would be surprising if that potential did not feature prominently in Sony’s calculations.
Audeze gave eCoustics an early listen to the Maxwell 2 at CanJam NYC 2026, and its planar magnetic drivers delivered the detail, impact, and spatial precision that made the original such a category disruptor. The missing feature was ANC. With the Maxwell 2 ANC, Audeze has finally filled that hole rather than hoping gamers would stop noticing it.
Audeze Adds Gaming Focused Adaptive ANC to the Maxwell 2
Audeze Maxwell 2 ANC (looks identical to Maxwell 2)
The inclusion of ANC and expanded smart-audio capabilities is a welcome addition to the Maxwell platform, which has already earned considerable attention from the media, esports competitors, and audio professionals.
Audeze’s adaptive hybrid noise cancellation system has been engineered specifically for gamers. It combines feedforward and feedback noise reduction with low-latency transparency, reducing external distractions while preserving positional-audio accuracy. According to Audeze’s internal testing, the system delivers a significant reduction in constant low-frequency noise and outperforms typical consumer ANC headphones during gameplay.
The Maxwell 2 ANC also supports AI-controlled ANC settings, voice-activated commands, an improved transparency mode, and simultaneous wired and Bluetooth audio playback. Combined with the full planar magnetic driver system and SLAM technology carried over from the Maxwell 2, these upgrades position the Maxwell 2 ANC as the most advanced gaming headset Audeze has released to date.
Key Features of the Maxwell 2 ANC
Adaptive Hybrid Noise Cancellation: ANC microphones embedded within the earcups give users greater control over their listening environment. A low-latency Transparency Mode is also included.
Voice-Command Control: Voice commands provide faster access to key settings as gameplay conditions change.
Planar Magnetic Drivers with SLAM: Carried over from the Maxwell 2, Audeze’s planar magnetic driver system and SLAM technology are designed to deliver clearer, deeper bass and more precise sound.
Improved Comfort: Upgraded ergonomics are intended to reduce fatigue during longer gaming sessions.
Versatile Connectivity: The Maxwell 2 ANC supports connections with PCs, game consoles, and mobile devices, making it easier to move between gaming and everyday listening.
Style Highlights: Silver accents give the Maxwell 2 ANC a distinct appearance, while the previously introduced limited-edition ReSkin earcups allow users to personalize the headset.
The Maxwell 2 was unveiled at CES 2026 and quickly established itself as one of the strongest premium gaming headsets on the market. The Maxwell 2 ANC addresses its most obvious omission by adding adaptive hybrid noise cancellation, improved transparency, and expanded smart-audio features without abandoning the 90 mm planar magnetic drivers, Fluxor magnet arrays, Fazor waveguides, and SLAM acoustic technology that distinguish the platform.
That combination is what makes the Maxwell 2 ANC unusual. Noise cancellation is hardly new to gaming headsets, but pairing gaming-focused adaptive ANC with Audeze’s full-size planar magnetic driver technology is far less common. Its primary competition includes the SteelSeries Arctis Nova Pro Omni ($399), Turtle Beach Stealth Pro II ($349), and the Razer Kraken V4 Pro ($399).
Those rivals offer their own advantages, including lighter designs, hot-swappable batteries, elaborate control hubs, and aggressive competitive-gaming tuning. Audeze’s strongest argument remains sound quality, particularly for gamers who also expect one headset to handle music, movies, voice chat, and everyday listening without sounding like a plastic helmet full of angry bees.
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At $429 for the PlayStation version and $449 for Xbox, the Maxwell 2 ANC is aimed at serious console and PC gamers who prioritize planar magnetic clarity, bass extension, positional accuracy, and effective isolation over low weight or bargain pricing. It is not an impulse purchase, but it is considerably less expensive than the SteelSeries Arctis Nova Elite and occupies a rare position between conventional premium gaming headsets and Audeze’s far more expensive audiophile headphones.
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Sony’s acquisition of Audeze appears to be paying dividends. Rather than sanding away the company’s audiophile identity, the Maxwell platform is bringing its planar magnetic technology to a much larger audience. The Maxwell 2 ANC is the most complete version of that strategy so far—and potentially the model that finally eliminates the strongest reason some gamers had for buying something else.
Pricing & Availability
All models support Windows, macOS, Android, iOS, and Nintendo Switch. The Maxwell 2 ANC will be demonstrated at CanJam London 2026 from July 18-19.
If you have ever been a subscriber of YouTube TV or DirecTV at any point since April 2019, you could get cash as part of a $50 million settlement agreed to by Disney in an antitrust lawsuit the corporation faced for allegedly forcing higher prices for live TV streaming services.
To be eligible for a payout, you had to have bought a subscription to either YouTube TV or DirecTV — or both — between April 1, 2019, and March 31, 2026. DirecTV subscriptions might have been called DirecTV Stream, DirecTV Now and/or AT&T TV Now.
How to apply for the settlement
If you’re part of the settlement, you will likely get a notice in your USPS mailbox or your email inbox. Check your junk or spam folders in case your email service filtered it. The deadline for claiming a payment is Sept. 8.
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If you get a notice, go to this website and log in with the ID and PIN provided on the settlement notice. You will need to verify your YouTube TV or DirecTV Stream subscription.
If you don’t get a notice but believe you are eligible for the cash settlement, send an email to info@OnlineTVSettlement.com or print out a PDF version of the claim form and send it via snail mail to:
Biddle v. Disney Settlement Administrator P.O. Box 4720 Portland, OR 97208-4720
Printed settlement claims must be postmarked by Sept. 8.
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The settlement terms specify that 90% of the money will go to payees in these states and territories: Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, District of Columbia, Florida, Guam, Hawaii, Iowa, Kansas, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, North Dakota, Oregon, Puerto Rico, Rhode Island, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Utah, Vermont, West Virginia and Wisconsin.
The remaining 10% will go to settlement members in other states.
Why the lawsuit?
In Biddle v. Disney, (PDF) filed in 2022, the plaintiffs alleged that Disney violated federal and state antitrust and consumer protection laws by forcing YouTube TV, DirecTV and FuboTV subscribers to pay more for livestreaming TV. The $50 million settlement does not apply to FuboTV plaintiffs, who have not yet settled with Disney.
The plaintiffs alleged that Disney forced streaming platforms to bundle content from expensive channels such as ESPN and Hulu — both owned by Disney — into base packages, thereby escalating the subscription prices for those packages. It was alleged that prices for YouTube TV base package subscriptions went up from $35 to $65.
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“Since Disney acquired operational control over Hulu in May 2019, prices across the SLPTV [Streaming Live Pay Television] Market, including for YouTube TV and DirecTV Stream, have nearly doubled,” the lawsuit alleged.
Disney denies violating any laws. There will be a hearing on Jan. 14, 2027, for final approval of the settlement.
A representative for Disney did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Every morning, you have the same routine: get in the car, dig out your phone, plug in the cable and wait for Android Auto to load. It works just fine, but we’re living in a wireless world now.. The good news is that a tiny wireless adapter that can fit in the palm of your hand can help cut the cord.
Most modern cars come with Android Auto (and often Apple’s CarPlay as well), but not all of them offer the wireless version. These tiny adapters will plug into your car and turn your car’s infotainment system into a wire-free experience.
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Can I convert my Android Auto to wireless?
It’s simple to convert your car’s Android Auto connection to wireless. Of course, your car needs to already come with support for wired Android Auto. Wireless adapters are not a workaround for cars that lack Android Auto support completely — they’re an upgrade, not an overhaul for a 2005 beater.
They are tiny devices that act as middlemen. They’re the clever hardware translators that convert your car’s wired Android system into a wireless one. You plug them into your car’s USB port, set it up, and then enjoy an easier start to your commute.
Here’s what happens when you use an Android Auto adapter. When you get in the car, your phone finds the adapter via Bluetooth and authenticates your device, confirming the phone’s identity and sharing credentials for the Wi-Fi connection. The Bluetooth connection will later also handle hands-free calling. Then, the adapter creates a localized 5GHz Wi-Fi Direct network which will handle the heavy lifting, including streaming navigation, audio and real-time screen data.
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The result is a seamless automatic connection that happens every time you get in the car. No more fumbling around after phones and cables.
The good and the bad of using an Android Auto adapter?
Google
There are loads of advantages to using an Android Auto adapter, obviously, but not everything is sunshine and roses. While using an adapter makes your drives easier because you no longer have to plug in your phone, there are some possible downsides too.
As great as adapters are, the connection between the car, adapter and phone can’t be as fast as a direct connection between car and phone would be. It’s a minor trade-off, but it’s better than having to look for your phone.
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When switching from a wired connection to wireless Android Auto, you have to be prepared for your phone’s battery to drain a lot faster. Maintaining a constant 5GHz Wi-Fi direct connection while running GPS, streaming music, and so on, will take a toll on your battery. On longer road trips, you’ll want to use a separate charging cable.
What is the best wireless Android Auto adapter?
There are quite a few wireless Android Auto adapters available from Carlinkit, AAWireless, Ottocast, Motorola, and so on. But, rather than focusing on specific brands, we’d rather you understand what hardware specs actually separate a quality adapter from a potentially disappointing one.
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You want to make sure the adapter you are buying doesn’t rely on 2.4GHz Wi-Fi connections because those will be noticeably slower and prone to lag. You want an adapter that can handle 5GHz so you can stream your map and audio at the same time.
You’ll also want an Android Auto adapter with a detachable USB cable. Models that come with built-in USB connectors may affect access to your other ports or simply stick out at a weird angle due to the shape of your console or dashboard.
Getting a wireless Android Auto adapter is one of the best upgrades you can make for your car as it will genuinely change something you use every single day. The cost is low enough that you can’t even complain about it, the setup takes minutes, and your maps app will be ready to go before you’ve pulled out of your parking spot.
Modern video games are nothing short of amazing. My son and I were playing through the one of the latest Zeldas, which involve a mix of combat and puzzle-solving that’s pretty much the hallmark of the franchise. But the most recent open-world Zelda is simply massive. Made by around 1,000 people at a development expense of $150,000,000, it takes probably 60-80 hours to play through if you’re not rushing, and more if you’re taking it easy. It has layers of game mechanics, and worlds in the sky, on land, and underground. It’s big in every way.
Contrast the games of my youth, which were a lot smaller. Written by a pair of people or maybe a handful, with playtimes in the single-digit hours, and of course fitting in the limited computing resources of the time. But the low-stakes nature of the early phases of the industry meant that software developers could take risks, and many of the games were consequently kinda idiosyncratic in this more innocent time.
I think there’s something to be said for small games. They don’t require a lifestyle commitment just to get through. They can still be fun, without taking all of your time. And honestly, when you’re done with a game quickly, you have more time for other stuff. Granted, some of this spirit lives on in the small indie games of today, but even so, game developers have the big studios’ products in the backs of their minds when they are working on their smaller oeuvres.
We were talking about preserving old games for posterity around Hackaday and on the podcast, and our conversations reminded me of a couple of educational games that, despite their rudimentary graphics, are still pretty good today. Both were electronics related, and both are still playable today thanks to efforts on emulation and software preservation. To get a feel for the 1980’s, give Rocky’s Boots a try. (I like the TRS-80 Color Computer version the best, but that may just be nostalgia.) Most of you grownups out there will get through it in an hour or so.
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And if you want a challenge, try Rocky’s harder sequel: Robot Odyssey. If you already have a background in digital circuits, you’ll find it doable. Younger me hit a wall about two-thirds of the way through.
Both of these games stick with me because they taught me something, but also because they were simply quirky in a way that a game can only be when it’s written by a small team of folks who are just having fun programming it. If you pitched “a puzzle game about a raccoon who builds logic circuits to activate robot boots”, the boardroom would look at you like you’re out of your mind. But it’s just exactly the quirkiness and individuality of some of these early games that I cherish the most.
If you find yourself knee-deep in an endless modern game, take a side-quest off into a more naive time, and you’ll appreciate why people are putting efforts into archiving them.
Viewers who caught the January 27, 1983 episode of BBC’s Tomorrow’s World saw presenter Peter Macann lay out real hardware that tried to solve an old complaint. Television sets of the day sat deep and heavy because their cathode ray tubes needed space for an electron gun to fire straight at the screen. Macann began with a plain observation: a set flat enough to hang on the wall like a picture would free up room and change how living spaces worked. The demonstration that followed showed both how close engineers had come and how many practical hurdles still stood in the way.
Macann begins with a small Sony pocket TV. It’s the same cathode ray tube idea everyone knows, but the engineers placed the electron gun to the side of the case, essentially sideways. The electron beam is then bent downward onto a small phosphor surface by charged plates. That clever method eliminates the majority of the depth that ordinarily extends from the back of the set. It still runs for about three hours on penlight batteries and receives BBC and the newer Channel 4 signals directly in the studio. The image quality is a little hazy, as if it were taken in a studio, but it appears to be something you could easily put into your pocket and take with you.
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The segment then looks at an entirely new approach, this time with liquid crystals. This material requires significantly less electricity because it does not generate its own light. Instead, it twists under electric current to control how much light passes through or bounces back. Macann is holding up a modest handheld game with a screen comprised of small liquid-crystal shapes carved out to resemble motorcycles. By turning those shapes on and off in sequence, you can create the illusion of racing bikes without using a light tube or constant high voltage. The similar low-power approach is used in a portable oscilloscope, where the display consists of hundreds of small square cells that turn black or white when exposed to voltage. This implies that technicians may now bring the tool into the field using only battery power, which was previously impossible with classic tube-based scopes that required mains power and bulk.
Tomorrow’s World kept its most visually appealing example for last. A Japanese prototype packed a liquid-crystal screen into a casing the size of a wristwatch. The screen is simply sitting there, ready to display moving images, but the rest of the circuitry and power supply are in a separate pack connected by a wire. Sound travels through a set of headphones. Macann demonstrates the device and then explains its limitations in plain English. Since the crystals simply reflect the light surrounding them rather than creating their own, the image can appear faint or washed out in a regular room. The detail is obviously a little rougher than what you’d get from a traditional tube, but the fact that a moving image appears on something tied to someone’s wrist is a step ahead that goes beyond simple whiteboard sketching.
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Macann concludes by pointing out that liquid-crystal panels have already achieved several of the characteristics that TV designers have sought for years, such as thinness and low power consumption. With some more effort on brightness and viewing angle, the existing playthings could become something you’d want to watch at home. Macann is cautious, refusing to declare that the future has arrived. The team is only demonstrating what was accomplished in early 1983 and leaving viewers to wonder how long it would take before things are good enough to utilize in real life.
ManageEngine’s Vimalraj Sampathkumar explores how R&D recruitment requires a long-term approach.
In the modern era, the majority of organisations within STEM depend on strong and robust research and development teams to ensure that new discoveries are being made, that processes and techniques are up to date and that current knowledge is not stagnating.
But this requires a consistent and skilled talent pipeline that nowadays is not so easy to maintain.
In May, a report from recruitment platform IrishJobs found that employers are hiring for highly specific, rather than broad roles, with a focus on AI and cybersecurity in particular.
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“Building a strong talent pipeline requires a long-term approach rather than simply hiring when demand arises,” explained Vimalraj Sampathkumar, the regional technical head for the UK and Ireland at Enterprise IT management company ManageEngine.
“Irish organisations should partner with universities, offer internships and graduate programmes and provide structured learning and career development opportunities.
“Equally important is creating an environment that encourages people to innovate, collaborate across teams and experiment with new technologies. When learning becomes part of the culture, organisations are better equipped to attract, develop, and retain highly skilled R&D professionals.”
Rise together
Despite best efforts, there is only so much you can achieve alone. Often the organisations with the most efficient teams are the ones in which there is clear collaboration and a committed effort to upskill as a unit.
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Sampathkumar finds that, as technology continues to advance rapidly, continuous learning becomes an essential element of the workspace. He advised Irish organisations to provide access to technical training, certifications, mentoring and opportunities to work on emerging technologies and also cited the benefits of knowledge sharing across teams.
He said: “Investing in upskilling enables R&D teams to innovate faster, improve product quality, respond more effectively to changing customer needs and stay ahead of evolving security and technology trends.
“It also helps improve employee engagement and retention. This can be a critical differentiator in what is still a very competitive Irish labour market where highly skilled tech talent has no shortage of options despite the emergence of AI.”
Tech and talent
Of the challenges R&D teams face nowadays, Sampathkumar noted the issue of balancing innovation with the need to deliver secure, reliable and scalable products in a landscape where compliance requirements are ever-evolving and deadlines tightening.
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“Simultaneously, customer expectations and technology within the European market continue to evolve rapidly, requiring teams to adapt quickly due to tightening regulatory demands, the EU AI Act, accelerating cloud and AI adoption and the evolving cybersecurity landscape,” he explained.
“The opportunity lies in embracing technologies such as AI, automation, and advanced analytics, which enable engineers to spend less time on repetitive tasks and more time solving complex problems that drive meaningful innovation.”
With the changing workplace environment in mind and as most companies continue the march forward, Sampathkumar made note of the tools and recent advancements that can aid R&D professionals in their work.
He explained that AI-assisted development tools, cloud-native platforms, automation and DevSecOps practices have transformed how engineering teams build and deliver software, while also improving productivity and maintaining quality and security throughout the development life cycle.
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“One area I believe remains underutilised is customer feedback analytics. Organisations collect significant amounts of customer data, but many don’t fully leverage those insights to influence product decisions. Combining customer feedback with AI-driven analytics can lead to more informed and impactful innovation.”
It isn’t all about trendy tech and gadgets, however. For Sampathkumar, the space is driven largely by its people.
“Irish organisations that invest in developing talent, encourage collaboration between customer-facing and engineering teams and maintain a strong focus on solving real customer problems will be best positioned for long-term success.
“Ultimately, continuous learning and adaptability will remain the defining characteristics of successful R&D organisations.”
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