Apple made a huge announcements today by revealing that some Mac Mini computers will roll off the line in Houston, Texas, marking the first time this compact desktop gets built on American soil. This move is a significant extension of an existing site in Houston where they have been building high-end AI servers since 2025.
A brand new plant dedicated to producing Mac Minis will effectively double the size of the campus there. Along with it, a separate 20,000-square-foot Advanced Manufacturing Center will open later in 2026. The idea is that everyone, not just Apple employees, but students, workers from suppliers, and so on, will receive hands-on training in the latest and greatest production methods, thanks to a special curriculum developed by Apple in collaboration with some experts from Michigan State University.
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This latest development fits into Apple’s overall ambition to invest $600 billion in the US economy, which they announced last year. We’ve already seen some success on this front; for example, last year Apple sourced over 20 billion chips manufactured right here in the good old United States of America from 24 separate facilities spread over 12 states. In 2026, they will rely even more on TSMC’s expanding factory in Arizona for their high-end chips. And it’s not just the chips; GlobalWafers is building a $4 billion plant in Sherman, Texas to make silicon wafers, Amkor is opening a $7 billion facility in Peoria, Arizona to pack chips, and Corning has fully committed their Kentucky operation to producing cover glass for Apple.
Assuming all proceeds as planned, this should result in thousands of good employment in Houston, both from plant expansion and from the training facility. The Mac Mini is already the most cheap desktop available, priced at $599. The Mac Mini accounts for less than 5% of total Mac sales, according to some estimates, thus this is a small but significant step toward producing more Apple goods in the United States.
It appears that all of Apple’s partners are on board, including Foxconn, which has worked with Apple on products dating back to the early iMac days and is running the North Houston site. So production isn’t halting in Asia; this is more of an addition to their product range than a complete move. All of this comes at a particularly fascinating time for discussions about supply chains, tariffs, and so on. Apple claims that the practical benefits of all of this are obvious: people are learning new skills, local economies are benefiting, and the company is able to continue producing even better goods by manufacturing close to home.
Tim Cook described the expansion clearly. “Apple is deeply committed to the future of American manufacturing, and we’re proud to significantly expand our footprint in Houston with the production of Mac mini starting later this year,” he said. “We began shipping advanced AI servers from Houston ahead of schedule, and we’re excited to accelerate that work even further.”
Uber is one step closer to going airborne. On Wednesday, the company previewed its air taxi booking service ahead of an expected launch in Dubai later this year. The inaugural Uber Air program will let travelers book Joby Aviation’s electric air taxis through a familiar process in the Uber app.
The experience of booking an air taxi will be much like reserving a four-wheeled Uber. In the app, after entering your destination, Uber Air will appear as an option for eligible routes. The Uber app will book a flight and an Uber Black to pick you up and drop you off at a Joby “vertiport.”
The process of booking a flying taxi will be instantly familiar. (Uber)
Joby’s air taxis, built exclusively for city travel, can accommodate up to four passengers and luggage. (Uber says size and weight guidelines will be announced closer to launch.) The interior is about the size of an SUV and has “comfortable seating” with panoramic windows. They can travel up to 200 mph and have a range of up to 100 miles. Four battery packs and a triple-redundant flight computer are onboard for safety purposes.
The air taxis aren’t (yet) autonomous and will each have a human pilot onboard. That would at least suggest high prices. After all, pilots aren’t nearly as cheap as Uber’s legion of independent-contractor drivers. But the company insists its air taxi rides will somehow be around as expensive as an Uber Black trip.
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Joby’s air taxis have “panoramic” windows with a view of the city below. (Joby)
Dubai is only the beginning of the companies’ plans. The US-based Joby says it’s in the final stage of FAA type certification and hopes to launch service in New York and Los Angeles. Globally, it’s targeting the UK and Japan as well.
As for how realistic a US launch is anytime soon, well, that’s up for debate. On one hand, President Trump signed executive orders last year that would create a pilot program to test such aircraft. But safety and cost considerations may require a grounding of expectations.
The aircraft requires a human pilot, at least in these early stages. (Joby)
In November, Robert Ditchey, a Los Angeles-based aviation expert and test pilot, toldNBC News that he didn’t think air taxi service “was ever going to happen” in American cities. “They’re dangerous,” he warned. “We have had helicopters fail and crash on top of buildings in Los Angeles. We’ve had helicopters fail at takeoff and landing in airports. They’re dangerous not from a fire point of view but in terms of landing on top of people and buildings.” In addition, he warned that air taxis can’t be developed in sufficient numbers to make them economically viable “unless they are subsidized by a government.”
Uber and Joby have partnered since 2019. In 2021, Joby bought the Uber Elevate ride-hailing division, which essentially integrated the companies’ services. Last year, Joby acquired Blade Air Mobility’s passenger business, which could open the door to eventually electrifying Blade’s routes.
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The video below shows one of Joby’s air taxis taking a test flight in Dubai.
Apple’s forthcoming touch-screen MacBook Pro models — the company’s first-ever laptops to support touch input — will feature the iPhone’s Dynamic Island at the center top of their OLED displays and a new interface that dynamically adjusts between touch and point-and-click controls, according to a Bloomberg report citing people familiar with the plans.
The 14-inch and 16-inch models, code-named K114 and K116, are slated for release toward the end of 2026 and won’t be part of Apple’s product announcements in the first week of March. The redesigned interface brings up a contextual menu surrounding a user’s finger when they touch a button or control, and enlarges menu bar items when tapped, adapting the available controls based on whether the input is touch or click.
Apple does not plan to position the machines as iPad replacements or describe them as touch-first; the physical design retains the full keyboard and large trackpad of the current MacBook Pro. Last year’s Liquid Glass redesign in macOS Tahoe, which added more padding around icons and touch-optimized sliders in the control center, was partly groundwork for this shift.
Bloomberg says a new Sonos app refresh is in the works
A key feature is extra iOS compatibility
Anyone else getting déjà vu?
The Sonos calendar may well have skipped 2025 in terms of that ‘two new product releases annually’ promise, although the company did release a new amplifier at the start of the year – and apparently 2026 will be a much busier year for the brand. So shall we see what shiny new gifts Sonos Clause (sorry) has wrapped up for us in his sack? It’s… an app overhaul. Another one.
According to Bloomberg, the company is planning to rework and refresh its app offering in the next few months, with an early version apparently already working internally. It’s unclear if that means the Sonos app is merely working, or really workable for the many customers still disgruntled over the last update. Apparently, the changes will be optional, and slowly integrated into the app rather than presented as one big push. (Lesson learned there, it seems.)
So what could actually change? Apparently you’ll now be able to control your Sonos device from the iPhone lock screen, using Apple’s recent developments in the area. It’s all to do with Apple’s Live Activities (the interactive, real-time notifications that appear on the iPhone Lock Screen and in the Dynamic Island) which would certainly be a welcome upgrade for iPhone owners.
That presumably won’t be the only change, as it’s something the Android app already offers, but it’s the only one we’ve heard about so far. A company cannot drip-release features if there’s only one, though, so we’ll likely hear about more nearer the time.
Keeping fans ‘appy
The word combination of ‘Sonos’ and ‘app’ may give users conniptions given that a bungled May 2024 app change which was only really fixed in 2025 is now what fans think about when they hear those words used together.
The then-new app had laggy volume controls, missing features from the older app, and a more confusing design that took users too long to get their heads around. While it’s mostly fixed now, a brief skim of the Sonos subreddit still yields post after post of complaints about the app and its bugs.
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As a baseline, Sonos’ new new app really needs to not to present these issues, or it could signal the end of trust in the brand: fool me once, and all that. The affections of plenty of Sonos fans are on the line, and if the company is planning a gangbusters product launch slate this year, it’s going to need some ardent cheerleaders to help it along — especially with the growing slate of WiiM products hitting the market…
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LG Electronics is doubling down on its partnership with will.i.am, expanding the xboom lineup with the new Buds Plus and Buds Lite. The additions join the existing xboom Buds and continue the “xboom by will.i.am” collaboration, which positions the nine-time Grammy winner not just as a marketing face, but as what the company calls its “experiential architect.”
According to LG, the new models were tuned and approved by will.i.am and carry forward the series’ sonic profile—balanced, warm, and designed for everyday listening rather than exaggerated flash. The Buds Plus and Buds Lite also retain the core design philosophy of the xboom range, focusing on stable performance, accessible pricing, and a foundation aimed at delivering consistent, high-quality wireless audio.
LG xboom Buds Plus
At the top of the xboom earbuds lineup, the $179.99 Buds Plus steps things up with a UVnano+ charging case. The case uses UV-C light to help reduce bacteria on the earbud mesh, underscoring a user-focused approach that goes beyond sound quality and into everyday hygiene. Wireless charging support is included as well, keeping the feature set in line with what buyers now expect at this tier.
With up to 30 hours of total battery life, the earbuds deliver 10 hours of continuous playback on a single charge, with another 20 hours available from the charging case. That kind of stamina supports longer listening sessions, enhanced by 3D Spatial Audio designed to create a more immersive and dimensional soundstage.
Active Noise Cancelling (ANC) is onboard, supported by a six-microphone array designed to reduce external noise and improve call clarity. The result is a more focused, distraction-free listening experience. Stabilizing fins are also included to help ensure a secure, comfortable fit during longer sessions.
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The Buds Plus also offers multi-point connection for seamless switching between devices and an IPX4 rating for water and sweat resistance, making them ideal for both focus and fitness.
Customizable EQ settings allow users to further personalize audio.
LG xboom Buds Plus also supports Auracast and includes a built-in Bluetooth transmitter, expanding its wireless flexibility. This allows users to connect to a broader range of compatible devices and share audio more seamlessly across supported platforms.
LG xboom Buds Lite
Occupying the entry-level position in the xboom lineup, the $69.99 Buds Lite aim squarely at value-conscious buyers without stripping things down to the bare minimum. The compact, lightweight design makes them easy to live with day to day, but LG hasn’t ignored performance.
Battery life is actually one of their stronger plays: up to 35 hours total, with 11.5 hours of continuous playback from the earbuds and another 23.5 hours from the charging case. That’s more than enough for commuting, workdays, and a few workouts in between.
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Despite being the smallest model in the xboom range, the Buds Lite retain several premium touches, including an IPX4 water resistance rating and customizable EQ settings, giving users some control over their sound rather than locking them into a single tuning.
LG’s angle isn’t just specs. The will.i.am partnership is positioned as hands-on, shaping the tuning and overall identity of the xboom line. Add features like UVnano+ hygiene tech, Auracast, a built-in Bluetooth transmitter, strong battery life, and spatial audio, and the Buds Plus in particular look well equipped for their tier.
Buds Lite are for everyday listeners who want long battery life and useful features at a sharp price. Buds Plus target buyers who want more connectivity and ANC without drifting into $250 territory.
Among countertop appliances, few have such a singular purpose built right into their name as the rice cooker. Easiest way to cook rice? A rice cooker, obviously. Unlike other handy countertop kitchen appliances such as air fryers, blenders and slow cookers, the rice cooker tells you not only what it does, but exactly what you should put in it.
But the name “rice cooker” doesn’t tell you everything you can put in it, however. From basic on/off rice cookers to multi-function, fuzzy logic models, rice cookers can indeed do a great deal more than just cook rice. From breakfast to dessert, the rice cooker can support a number of culinary projects and ambitions throughout the day that go way beyond rice.
I queried recipe developers and culinary pros for those preparations where they swear by the rice cooker. With their input, here are 12 ways to use a rice cooker that may surprise you.
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1. Other grains
Oatmeal couldn’t be easier than when made in a rice cooker.
Nora Carol Photography/Getty Images
At its core, a rice cooker cooks rice by relying on a water-to-grain ratio and switching from cook to warm mode once the water has been fully absorbed. To that end, any grain that relies on this method can also be made in the rice cooker, such as quinoa, barley and farro, to name just a few.
Oatmeal is also a grain whose prep can be relegated to the rice cooker, making for a fuss-free breakfast. “A rice cooker is my favorite way to make steel-cut oats because it maintains steady heat and requires zero stirring, which prevents scorching,” says Shawna Clark, founder of Healthy Foodie Girl. “I recommend lightly spraying the insert with oil and using the porridge or brown rice setting if available,” she says, “since oats foam more than rice and benefit from slower cooking.” In that vein, the rice cooker can even be used for a warm overnight oats breakfast, a marked improvement on overnight oats made in the fridge.
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2. Savory oats
As a variation on the grain theme, with a little light sautéing that can also be done directly in the rice cooker, savory oats also make for a good rice cooker project. “I’m a savory breakfast gal at heart and this is one of my top three breakfasts,” says Farwin Simaak, recipe developer at Love and Other Spices.
If your rice cooker has a sear/sauté function, this is made easier, but even in a conventional rice cooker, you can get onion going for a few minutes for this savory preparation. “Sauté your onion and optional garlic in butter,” says Simaak, “and use old-fashioned rolled oats, and broth instead of water for flavor.” Once the water has been absorbed and the savory oats are cooked, “serve with poached eggs, a drizzle of chili oil and a sprinkle of chopped green onions,” she says.
3. Egg custard/frittata
Rice cookers can easily handle an egg frittata.
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Pamel Vachon/CNET
Unlike the air fryer, which requires a pan within the cooking chamber, your rice cooker insert is already a pan for liquid ingredients. “I use my rice cooker to set egg custards,” says Ed McCormick, founder of Cape Crystal Brands. “Not scrambled eggs, but smooth, sliceable preparations.” Egg custards can be sweet or savory in nature. The latter are especially ideal for producing even shapes to add to breakfast sandwiches.
“The rice cooker heat is steady,” says McCormick. “That’s the main thing — nothing spikes, nothing scorches. I’ve ruined enough custards on the stove to notice the difference.” With cheese, veggies and/or meat, your egg custard becomes a frittata. You can use a separate pan in the rice cooker, especially if you’re aiming for a smaller portion. If you’re cooking directly in the insert, be sure to spray the pan with cooking spray or grease it with butter or oil. And for best custard-setting results, “leave the lid alone,” McCormick advises. “Opening it early is where things go wrong.”
4. Garlic confit
There is virtually no end to the culinary uses for punchy garlic confit.
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Pamel Vachon/CNET
Confit is a fancy term for food that has been cooked slowly in its own fat. Duck confit may be the banner item for such a preparation, and while you could probably do it in the rice cooker with enough patience, an everyday preparation that’s rice cooker gold is garlic confit.
“I use my rice cooker to make confit garlic,” says Kyle Taylor, founder of He Cooks. “It’s handy because it holds a gentle, steady heat without me babysitting a pot.” For best results, he recommends keeping the garlic fully submerged in oil, and only using the warm setting if your cooker runs hot.
Transforming firm cloves of garlic into something deeply aromatic and spreadable, without the effort of mincing, will likely have you using your rice cooker for this purpose regularly. “You can basically use garlic confit in any application you would otherwise use garlic,” says Taylor. “It offers a more mellow, sweet, and complex flavor,” and he recommends using the finished confit in aioli, sauces, vinaigrettes, or just spreading it directly on toast.
5. Boiled eggs
Speaking of eggs, I have previously championed using an air fryer for easy boiled eggs. If the thought of “boiling” eggs without water makes you uneasy, consider using a rice cooker for this purpose. “A rice cooker is basically just a pot with a lid,” says Lindsey Chastain, founder of The Waddle and Cluck, which makes it ideal for low-lift preparations like boiled eggs.
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The rice cooker’s gentle heat is especially good for soft-boiled eggs. “The eggs work better if you use the steam basket in the rice cooker,” she says, if your model includes one, “but you can also just pop them in water.”
6. Dumplings
Your rice cooker doubles as a steamer for making easy dumplings while your rice or grains cook below.
Jackyenjoyphotography/Getty Images
If it weren’t called a rice cooker, it could also be accurately referred to as a slow cooker or even a steamer, making it ideal for dumplings.
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“Dumplings — particularly soup dumplings — are another favorite in a rice cooker since it functions similarly to a steamer, with moist, even heat,” says kitchen appliance specialist Kate Vine of Dinners Done Quick. “They steam really well, and you can add veggies in, too, if you want a full meal,” she says. “Space the dumplings out, add at least 1/2 cup water to the basin, and if you want brown bottoms, add a little oil after the water is fully cooked out and let them sit for 2 to 3 minutes to brown.”
Asian cookbook author Patricia Tanumihardja also recommends the rice cooker for a next-level, singular dumpling. “I tried making the viral, one-pot dumpling known as Asian lasagna in my rice cooker and it turned out perfect,” she says. “No fiddling with a steamer or a bain marie in the oven. Love it!”
7. Queso/fondue
A rice cooker is essentially a small slow cooker, making it the perfect vessel to keep a cheese dip warm and melty.
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You can also put your rice cooker to use when hosting with this genius hack. “A rice cooker is my favorite way to keep queso or cheese dip warm and perfectly smooth,” says Emmy Clinton of Entirely Emmy. “The consistent gentle heat and ‘warm’ setting keep the cheese from hardening or separating, keeping the texture perfect all night,” she says. Keep your queso or fondue only on warm, and stir every so often to keep the heat evenly distributed. “You can also add small amounts of cream, milk or Greek yogurt” if the dip starts to thicken, says Clinton.
8. Soups, stews and curries
Many rice cookers come equipped with slow-cook functions or timers that let you set and forget for a long time, making them ideal for simmered preparations like soups, stews and curries, or for reheating these dishes in a gentle, even way. (More basic rice cooker models may be able to handle the workload for these, but will likely require more babysitting or more time.) Many of the experts I queried pointed to various preparations.
“I also make rendang (Indonesian beef curry) in the rice cooker,” says Tanumihardja. “It doesn’t dry out as much as it does when cooked on the stove, but I like my rendang saucy anyway,” she says. “It’s great because it’s mostly hands-off, and there’s no danger of it burning. Every time the button pops, you’ll be reminded to stir the dish.”
“The rice cooker is my favorite place to make French onion soup,” adds Chastain. “Just add the cheese for the last few minutes and it turns out perfectly.”
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9. One-pot meals
Herman at Home
With some careful layering and strategizing, your rice cooker can also be used for entire one-pot meals, especially those with a rice base.
“I’ve also made full meals in the rice cooker such as Hainanese chicken and rice and black bean spareribs,” says Herman Chan of Herman at Home. “All you do is wash the rice, add liquid, seasonings and protein on top of the rice, then turn on the rice cooker,” he says. “Once the rice cooker is done, you have perfectly cooked rice and protein ready to eat.”
You can experiment with what you add to the rice for complete dinners. “I will mix uncooked rice with meat, aromatics and seasonings in the pot and cook it as usual,” says Tanumihardja. “I will either steam vegetables on top of the rice mixture in a steamer basket,” she says, “or add it in toward the end of the cooking time.”
10. Dessert
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My rice cooker basque-style cheesecake was tasty.
Pamela Vachon/CNET
Steamed or simmered desserts in a variety of styles are also potential fodder for your rice cooker. “Personally, I’ve made the Asian dessert taro sago in the rice cooker,” says Chan, referring to the dessert soup that contains taro, tapioca and coconut milk. “It simmers the dessert until it reaches the perfect consistency,” he says. As noted in the “egg custards” heading above, dessert custards and bread puddings are also well represented in the canon of rice-cooker recipes.
11. Cake
Yes, even cake can be made in a rice cooker, especially Japanese-style fluffy sponge cakes. “In Asian culinary culture, we often steam our cakes instead of baking them in an oven,” says Tanumihardja. “I discovered that I can basically steam my cakes in the rice cooker instead,” she says. “It requires less setup time, fewer dishes to wash, and it’s hands-off. I just push the cook button and I can go off and do other things.”
Note that for rice cooker cake, including cheesecake, you need to use a recipe that is appropriate for your size of rice cooker. Cake flour is also important here, and if you have a basic model without a timer, steam or cake function, it may take a lot of waiting and restarting the rice cooker once it automatically switches to “warm” mode.
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12. Chocolate fondue
And as the final “ta-da” on unique rice cooker uses, “Chocolate fondue is one of my favorite unexpected ways to use a rice cooker,” says Clinton. “It gives gentle and steady heat that melts the chocolate evenly without burning it,” without the need to babysit a double boiler.
“My trick is to use the cook setting briefly to melt the chocolate, then switch your rice cooker to the warm setting once the chocolate is completely melted,” she adds. “Be sure to keep an eye on it, and stir frequently while it’s melting.” Once it’s finished, you can stir in coconut oil, cream or heavy cream to achieve a perfectly fluid texture.
Photo credit: SARAO Astronomers discovered a strange beacon deep in space: a natural microwave laser so powerful that physicists refer to it as a gigamaser. A team utilizing South Africa’s MeerKAT radio telescope discovered an extraordinarily strong signal at 1667 megahertz while scanning the sky for distant galaxies rich in molecular hydrogen.
Photo credit: Inter-University Institute for Data-Intensive Astronomy The signal came from H-ATLAS J142935.3-002836, a merging galaxy system located 8 billion light years away. Light from this system takes a long time to reach us, back when the universe was only a fraction of its present age. According to the experts, this is the brightest and most distant hydroxyl maser ever measured. The name “megamaser” has already been used to describe other cases of amplified power, but this one is so powerful that the team dubbed it a “gigamaser.” Its total power is 100,000 times that of a typical star, and it all arrives in a stunningly tiny slice of the microwave spectrum.
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When galaxies collide, as they do when they “slam together,” gravity expands the gas and dust. In this chaos, hydroxyl molecules, which are just a simple mixture of hydrogen and oxygen, are pushed into a frenzy. Radio waves from the active core, which is often powered by a massive black hole, then cause these molecules to release all of their energy in perfect rhythm, much like a flawlessly synchronized orchestra. This produces coherent microwave radiation. The same principle that powers lasers on Earth, but with a wavelength around the length of a regular dinner plate, or 18 cm.
The merger significantly accelerates star formation and feeds the center black hole, creating the ideal conditions for all of this amplification to occur. As all of these new stars develop and heat the dust, they begin to light brightly in the infrared, and as all of the gas is squeezed together, it makes excellent small pockets for a maser to burst into action.
It’s a miracle that we can detect this phenomenon at such a long distance; it’s as if a galaxy in the center of the line of sight is bending the radio waves coming towards us via gravitational lensing. That’s what Einstein said would happen; large objects warp space and time, so in this situation, the galaxy acts as a lens, magnifying the signal and making it strong enough for MeerKAT to detect. If that galaxy wasn’t there, the signal would be too faint for the telescope to detect.
Masers of this power are excellent indicators of when galaxies were undergoing massive mergers in the distant past, which is what drives star formation and black hole expansion, both of which are important factors in the evolution of present galaxies. The gigamaser provides an excellent perspective on all of this at a time when such mergers were far more typical. [Source]
HP has revealed that memory now accounts for 35% of the cost of materials it needs to build a PC, up from between 15 and 18% last quarter. And the company expects RAM’s contribution will rise through the year. From a report: Speaking on the company’s Q1 2026 earnings call, interim CEO Bruce Broussard said the company has secured long-term supply agreements for the year and also “qualified new suppliers [and] built in strategic inventory positions for key platforms and cut the time to qualify new material in half to accelerate our product configuration changes.”
That sounds a lot like HP Inc is signing up new suppliers at a brisk pace. Broussard said the company has also “expanded lower-cost sourcing across our commodity basket, lowering logistics costs with agile end-to-end planning processes.” The company is using its internal AI initiatives to power those new processes. The company is also “configuring our products and shaping demand to align the supply we have with our customer needs” and “taking targeted pricing actions to offset the remaining cost impact in close partnership with both our channel and direct customers.”
In the rapidly evolving landscape of artificial intelligence, the distance between a developer’s idea and a functioning agent has historically been measured in hours of configuration, dependency conflicts, and terminal-induced headaches.
That friction point changed today. Kilo, the AI infrastructure startup backed by GitLab co-founder Sid Sijbrandij, has announced the general availability of KiloClaw, a fully managed service designed to deploy a production-ready OpenClaw agent in under 60 seconds.
By eliminating the “SSH, Docker, and YAML” barriers that have gatekept high-end AI agents, Kilo is betting that the next phase of software development—often called “vibe coding”—will be defined not just by the quality of a model, but by the reliability of the infrastructure that hosts it.
Technology: Re-engineering the agentic sandbox
OpenClaw has emerged as a viral phenomenon, amassing over 161,000 GitHub stars by offering a capability that many proprietary tools lack: the ability to actually perform tasks—controlling browsers, managing files, and connecting to over 50 chat platforms like Telegram and Signal.
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However, as Kilo co-founder and CEO Scott Breitenother noted in an exclusive interview with VentureBeat, “OpenClaw itself isn’t the hard part… getting it running is”.
The technical architecture of KiloClaw is a departure from the “Mac Mini on a desk” model that many early adopters have relied on. Instead of requiring users to provision their own hardware or Virtual Private Servers (VPS), KiloClaw runs on a multi-tenant Virtual Machine (VM) architecture powered by Fly.io, a Chicago remote-first startup offering a developer-focused public cloud. This setup provides a level of isolation and security that is difficult for individual developers to replicate.
“What we’re doing is making KiloClaw the safest way to claw,” Breitenother explained during the interview. “We have a virtual machine that is a hosted OpenClaw instance, and we’re handling all that network security, sandboxing, and proxies that an enterprise company would require. We are essentially running multi-tenant, hosted OpenClaw”.
To ensure security, KiloClaw utilizes two distinct proxies that sit outside the VM to manage traffic and protect the instance from the open internet. This prevents the common “user error” of accidentally exposing an agent’s API keys or leaving a local instance vulnerable to external attacks. “It’s going to be better than [a local setup] in every single way,” Breitenother asserted. “If you were to set it up yourself, you’d probably miss a setting and end up with it accidentally on the internet or exposing an API key”.
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Product: The ‘mech suit’ and the 3 am crash
A primary pain point for OpenClaw users is the “3 am crash”—the tendency for locally hosted Node.js processes to die silently overnight without health monitoring or auto-restart capabilities. KiloClaw addresses this with built-in process monitoring and a cloud-native “always on” state.
Unlike standard Kilo Code workflows, which spin up a terminal session only when a developer initiates a command, KiloClaw is persistent. “KiloClaw is just running and listening,” said Breitenother. “It’s always on, waiting for your WhatsApp message or your Slack message. It has to be always on. That’s a different paradigm—always-on infrastructure to engage with”.
This persistence allows for a suite of “agentic affordances” that Kilo calls an “exoskeleton for the mind”:
Scheduled automations: Users can set cron jobs for the agent to perform research, monitor repositories, or generate reports while the human user is offline.
Persistent memory: Utilizing a “Memory Bank” system, the agent stores context in structured Markdown files within the repository, ensuring it retains the state of a project even if the underlying model is swapped.
Cross-platform command: The agent can be triggered from Slack, Telegram, or a terminal, maintaining a unified execution state across all entry points.
Breitenother highlighted the shift in the developer’s role during the interview: “We’ve actually moved our engineers to be product owners. The time they freed up from writing code, they’re actually doing much more thinking. They’re setting the strategy for the product”.
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The “gateway” advantage: 500+ models, no lock-in
A core component of the KiloClaw architecture is its native integration with the Kilo Gateway. While the original OpenClaw was initially tied closely to Anthropic’s models, KiloClaw allows users to toggle between over 500 different models from providers like OpenAI, Google, and MiniMax, as well as open-weight models like Qwen or GLM.
“Your preferred model today may not be the same—and honestly shouldn’t be the same—a month and a half from now,” Breitenother said, emphasizing the speed of the industry. “You may want different models for different tasks. Maybe you use Opus for something complex, or you switch to a tighter-budget open-weight model for routine work”.
This flexibility is supported by Kilo’s transparent pricing model. The company offers “zero markup” on AI tokens, charging users the exact API rates provided by the model vendors. For power users, this is managed through Kilo Pass, a subscription tier that provides bonus credits (e.g., $199/month for $278.60 in credits) to subsidize high-volume agentic work.
How to get started with KiloClaw right now
Sign in or register: Navigate to the Kilo Code application on the web (desktop) at app.kilo.ai and sign in using your existing account. Kilo supports several authentication methods, including GitHub and Google OAuth.
Create your instance: Select the “Claw” tab from the side navigation menu to access the KiloClaw dashboard. Click the “Create Instance” button to begin provisioning your agent (see image above for where to find it).
Configure messaging channels (optional): During setup, you can optionally connect your agent to Discord, Telegram, or Slack and communicate with your KiloClaw agent directly over those channels — instead of on the Kilo Code website. But to move faster, you may skip this step and are always able to add these supported bot keys and configure these channels later in the instance settings.
Provision and start: Click “Create and Provision” to set up your virtual machine. Once the instance is provisioned, click “Start” to boot the agent, which typically takes only a few second
Verify and access: Click the “Open” button to enter the OpenClaw interface. For security, you will need to click “Access Code” to generate a one-time verification token that validates your device for the first time.
Begin vibe coding: Once verified, you can begin interacting with your agent directly in the chat interface. The agent will remain running 24/7 on a dedicated virtual machine, listening for commands across all connected platforms.
According to Brendan O’Leary, Developer Relations at Kilo Code and former Developer Evangelist at GitLab, users unsure which model to select should consult PinchBench, an open-source benchmarking tool developed to evaluate models on 23 real-world agentic tasks, such as email sorting and blog post generation.
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Benchmarking the agentic era: the launch of PinchBench, a new open-source benchmarking suite specifically for Claw tasks
Pinchbench in screenshot by author
To help developers navigate the choice between 500+ models, Kilo has also released PinchBench, an open-source benchmark specifically for agentic workloads.
While traditional benchmarks like MMLU or HumanEval test chat prompts in isolation, PinchBench tests agents on 23 real-world, multi-step tasks such as calendar management and multi-source research.
The project was spearheaded by O’Leary, who noted during a demonstration that the benchmark was “kind of inspired by… other little kind of fun benches” like those created by developer YouTuber Theo Browne (@t3dotgg), CEO/Founder of Ping Labs.
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O’Leary explained that while existing benchmarks are often highly specialized, he wanted a way to “benchmark the kind of things that we asked OpenClaw to do”.
He has personally run the benchmark “hundreds and hundreds of times against OpenClaw” to ensure its accuracy, and taking a page out of Browne’s book (er, video playbook?), also launched a YouTube series to find out if KiloClaw can handle various tasks, entitled, fittingly, “Will It Claw?”
To maintain high standards of evaluation for subjective tasks like writing blog posts, O’Leary designed a system where a high-end “judge model”—specifically Claude 4.5 Opus—is used to grade the output of other models. “We actually have… not the model under test, but always Opus… [judge] the output of each of the models,” O’Leary stated, adding that the judge model even provides specific notes on execution quality.
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PinchBench cost vs. performance comparison
The benchmark allows users to view a scatter plot comparing “Cost to Intelligence,” identifying which models offer the highest proficiency for the lowest price. This specific visualization is a priority for O’Leary, who noted it is “my favorite graph for looking at models… how much do you spend versus how much is the success rate”.
For those who prefer to host their own infrastructure, O’Leary has made the process entirely transparent, providing a “skill file that people can download” so they can “benchmark their own OpenClaw instance” independently
“We’re doing this work anyway to know which defaults we should recommend,” Breitenother added in a separate interview. “We decided to open source it because the individual developer shouldn’t have to think about which model is best for the job. We want to give people more and more information”.
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O’Leary expanded on this philosophy, describing the benchmark as being “kind of like the Olympics in a lot of ways,” where tasks range from “very objectively graded” to those requiring a more nuanced assessment.
Industry context: Distinguishing from the growing OpenClaw family of offshoots
KiloClaw enters a market increasingly crowded with OpenClaw variants. Projects like Nanoclaw have gained traction for being lightweight, while companies like Runlayer have targeted the enterprise “Virtual Private Server” niche.
However, Kilo distinguishes itself by refusing to “fork” the code. “It’s not a fork, and that’s what’s important,” Breitenother stated. “OpenClaw moves so quickly that we are hosting the actual OpenClaw [version]. It is literally OpenClaw on a really well-tuned, well-set-up managed virtual machine”.
This ensures that as the core OpenClaw project evolves, KiloClaw users receive updates automatically without manual “git pull” operations.
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This “open core” philosophy extends to the licensing. While KiloClaw is a paid hosted service, the underlying Kilo CLI and core extensions remain MIT-licensed. This allows for community auditing—a critical feature for security-conscious enterprises.
Conclusion: toward an agentic future
The launch of KiloClaw marks a strategic move by Kilo to expand its user base beyond “wonky” developers to enterprise managers and non-technical professionals. By offering a “one-click” path to a production agent, the company is attempting to democratize the “magical moments” of AI.
According to a release provided to VentureBeat by Kilo ahead of the launch, in the first two weeks, more than 3,500 developers joined the waitlist. These early adopters have been “really pushing KiloClaw in all kinds of directions,” using it to automate everything from Discord management to repository maintenance.
“Our mission is to build the best all-in-one AI work platform,” Breitenother concluded. “Whether you are a developer, a product manager, or a data engineer, we want all of these personas to experience the magic of the exoskeleton for the mind”.
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KiloClaw is available now, offering 7 days of free compute for all new users. With thousands of developers already having cleared the waitlist, the era of the managed AI agent appears to have arrived—no Mac Mini required.
Anthropic adds Remote Control synchronization layer on top of local CLI sessions
You can access your work remotely, but it’s different from regular web sessions
It’s available to Claude Pro/Max subscribers, but there are some limitations
Anthropic has announced a new AI tool to help developers control Claude Code from smartphones, tablets and browsers, giving them more control over their work from more places.
Launched in January 2026, Claude Code has already proven popular in the developer community, but it’s also gaining traction among non-technical users by democratizing access to coding for more users.
Even though it was limited to desktop apps, terminal CLI and IDE integrations, it was still installed 29 million times in VS Code alone – and Anthropic hopes Remote Control will broaden its reach even further.
Claude Code Remote Control feature
Remote Control is currently available as a research preview for Claude Pro and Claude Max subscribers – not for Team or Enterprise plans. “API keys are not supported” either, the company wrote in an announcement.
It serves as a synchronization layer between a local CLI session and the Claude mobile or web interface, so in theory, Remote Control is the underlying tech rather than the tool users will interact with. “The web and mobile interfaces are just a window into that local session.”
Anthropic stressed that the session continues locally on the user’s machine, rather than in the cloud, but Remote Control gives them access from anywhere.
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“Remote Control executes on your machine,” Anthropic wrote, “so your local MCP servers, tools, and project configuration stay available.” On the flip side, Claude Code on the web relies on Anthropic’s cloud infrastructure.
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Being that Remote Control is in research preview, it’s still showing signs of being an early, first-generation or pre-production tool. The Claude-maker acknowledged three key limitations: users can only run one remote session at a time; terminal must stay open; and if a machine is unable to reach a network for more than “roughly 10 minutes,” the session will time out.
The decision was made following a review of “country-specific” conditions
Food delivery service Deliveroo will cease operations in Singapore after Mar 4.
In a statement on its website today (Feb 25), the platform said that it was exiting the market and would begin an orderly wind-down process.
“This is a difficult decision and follows a review of country-specific conditions, and our focus on investing where we see the clearest path to sustainable scale and long-term leadership,” said the statement.
The company added that it would “work closely” with local teams to support customers, partners and riders through the transition.
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It will also exit three other markets
Deliveroo first launched in Singapore back in Nov 2015.
According to the company, the exit was part of a broader review of the company’s international portfolio.
Apart from Singapore, its parent company, DoorDash, said in a separate press release that it will cease operations in three other markets: Qatar, Japan, and Uzbekistan.
It is also implementing limited operational changes in select locations, including investing in certain engineering roles in the United Kingdom.
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DoorDash acquired Deliveroo in May 2025, in a deal valued at US$3.85 billion. The move was aimed at helping DoorDash grow its market share in Europe, competing against Just Eat and Uber Eats. Britain, Ireland, France and Italy are among Deliveroo’s major markets.
Vulcan Post has reached out to both Deliveroo and DoorDash for comments.
Featured Image Credit: Victor Velter/ Shutterstock.com