offbeat

Prochain arrê: Gare du Bork! French capital city train does the tech can-can

BORK!BORK!BORK! Good news from the Paris Metro. To show off the nation’s technological prowess, Parisian techies have eschewed such fripperies as advertisements and transit information in favor of a good, old-fashioned directory browser.

Spotted by eagle-eyed Register reader “DJ Finsletown,” the screen adorned a carriage of Line 11 at the Chatêlet terminus earlier in June. It looks to us as though a web server threw a bit of a wobbly and showed users its undercarriage.

Then again, France did give us the can-can dance, in which participants perform high kicks that reveal their underwear, so perhaps this is simply the tech version of the music hall standard.

Our reader pondered whether the system behind the scenes was struggling with a recent heatwave, or the borkage was the result of some over-exuberance by football fans following PSG’s recent Champion’s League final victory.

What is perhaps more likely is that some techie in a backroom somewhere opted for a Gallic shrug rather than reaching for the inevitable CTRL-ALT-DEL to revive the stricken system.

Line 11 is notable for being one of the least-used lines of the Paris metro system until a recent extension. It also featured some of the oldest-running stock and was notable for rubber-tired trains and heat that might make London’s Central Line commuters mutter “steady on.”

It was also one of the last lines to be constructed in central Paris, on the former route of the Belleville funicular. The funicular, which ran along the streets in a manner familiar to San Francisco residents, ceased operation just over 100 years ago, in 1924. Line 11 got the nod in 1935.

As for the web server disgorging its contents, that is a far more modern innovation. Heck, it might even be some AI advert demonstrating what might, or might not, happen if an agent is let loose on a system. In the case of the latter, a borked display would, we suspect, be the least of the problems faced by passengers.

Or, as our reader joked, “Probably likely the train’s IT systems just went on strike, like all good French fonctionnaires!” ®

Looking for the most recent Strands answer? Click here for our daily Strands hints, as well as our daily answers and hints for The New York Times Mini Crossword, Wordle, Connections and Connections: Sports Edition puzzles.

Today’s NYT Strands puzzle was an especially tough one, I thought. Some of the answers are difficult to unscramble, so if you need hints and answers, read on.

I go into depth about the rules for Strands in this story. 

If you’re looking for today’s Wordle, Connections and Mini Crossword answers, you can visit CNET’s NYT puzzle hints page.

Read more: NYT Connections Turns 1: These Are the 5 Toughest Puzzles So Far

Hint for today’s Strands puzzle

Today’s Strands theme is: Dramamine, anyone?

If that doesn’t help you, here’s a clue: Maybe a yacht.

Clue words to unlock in-game hints

Your goal is to find hidden words that fit the puzzle’s theme. If you’re stuck, find any words you can. Every time you find three words of four letters or more, Strands will reveal one of the theme words. These are the words I used to get those hints but any words of four or more letters that you find will work:

• SACK, SNACK, SING, BOAT, DINT, RADS, MESS, SENSE, WARD

Answers for today’s Strands puzzle

These are the answers that tie into the theme. The goal of the puzzle is to find them all, including the spangram, a theme word that reaches from one side of the puzzle to the other. When you have all of them (I originally thought there were always eight but learned that the number can vary), every letter on the board will be used. Here are the nonspangram answers:

• DECK, WAVES, DRINKS, SNACKS, DANCING, SEASICKNESS

Today’s Strands spangram

Today’s Strands spangram is IMONABOAT. To find it, start with the I that’s five letters down on the far-left row, and wind across.

Quick tips for Strands

#1: To get more clue words, see if you can tweak the words you’ve already found, by adding an “S” or other variants. And if you find a word like WILL, see if other letters are close enough to help you make SILL, or BILL.

#2: Once you get one theme word, look at the puzzle to see if you can spot other related words.

#3: If you’ve been given the letters for a theme word, but can’t figure it out, guess three more clue words, and the puzzle will light up each letter in order, revealing the word.

OpenAI submitted confidential IPO paperwork to the SEC on Monday, the company confirmed. Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley are advising on a potential listing that could come as soon as the autumn, according to people familiar with the matter.

The filing makes OpenAI the third major AI-adjacent company to move towards public markets in a single week. Anthropic filed confidentially last week at a $965 billion private valuation. SpaceX, which now includes xAI, is expected to begin trading on Thursday at roughly $1.8 trillion.

OpenAI’s hedged language

“We have not decided on timing yet; it may be a while because there are things we want to do that are likely easier as a private company,” OpenAI said in a statement. “But it’s a complicated set of tradeoffs and this gives us the option to go public sooner if that ends up being best.”

The company is also planning a tender sale of shares in the coming weeks to provide liquidity to employees before any public listing. OpenAI completed a $122 billion funding round in March at an $852 billion valuation, the largest private raise in history.

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The competitive pressure

Anthropic’s valuation leapt past OpenAI’s for the first time in its latest private round, hitting $965 billion as its revenue surged. That reversal, combined with SpaceX’s imminent $1.8 trillion listing, creates pressure for OpenAI to establish a public-market benchmark before its competitors define the terms.

OpenAI has told investors it plans to spend roughly $600 billion on AI infrastructure by 2030. That kind of capital requirement is difficult to fund indefinitely through private rounds, even at OpenAI’s scale.

The challenges in the filing

The S-1, when it becomes public, will need to address several known issues. OpenAI reportedly missed certain internal revenue and user growth targets. Several key executives have departed or stepped back from their roles.

The company’s restructuring from a non-profit to a for-profit entity is ongoing, and the failed Musk lawsuit to block the conversion, while legally resolved, surfaced internal documents that will be scrutinised by public-market investors.

Three IPOs, one question

The convergence of OpenAI, Anthropic, and SpaceX in public markets within months of each other will test whether investor appetite for AI is deep enough to absorb three mega-listings simultaneously. SpaceX alone is seeking $75 billion.

If all three succeed, AI companies will have raised more capital from public markets in a single year than in the entire history of the sector. If demand falters, the one that files last will pay the highest price for waiting.

We’ve been testing (aka eating) Blue Apron for our guide to the best meal kit subscriptions for nearly half a decade.The Gear team likes this service so much, it has its own story. If you’ve been struggling with figuring out what to make for dinner, you can save some money on our top service right now using a Blue Apron coupon or deal featured right here on WIRED.

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Score 20% Off Blue Apron+ or Start a 30-Day Free Trial

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Save up to 50% With Blue Apron Heroes Discounts

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OpenAI announced on Monday that it confidentially filed for an IPO, marking what could become one of the defining public offerings of the decade. And then there’s OpenAI CEO Sam Altman’s other company, Tools for Humanity, which is reportedly conducting layoffs, according to Business Insider. TechCrunch has reached out to the company for confirmation.

You might know Tools for Humanity better through its verification project known as World — and its related device, a creepy silver orb that wants to scan your eyeballs. The idea is that the company will be able to verify people’s identities using unique iris scans, helping to distinguish human activity from bot activity in the increasingly automated world that Tools for Humanity co-founder and chairman Altman is constructing. The company would also use these scans to validate people’s identities to support the trade of its own cryptocurrency, Worldcoin.

These vague, suspicious ambitions were enough to raise money at a $2.5 billion valuation from investors like Andreessen Horowitz, Bain Capital, and other funds backing blockchain companies. But now the company is reportedly downsizing as it struggles to create revenue.

In the U.S., companies like Tinder, Zoom, and Docusign have partnered on Altman’s side project. Internationally, Tools for Humanity has faced regulatory and ethical concerns. In Kenya, India, and Hong Kong, for example, people were offered the equivalent of $50 in Worldcoin in exchange for their biometric data. Kenya later banned World from operating in the country, citing privacy and financial concerns; meanwhile, South Korea fined the company $830,000 for allegedly violating local privacy law.

Who would’ve thought? People don’t feel great about giving their biometric data to a startup in exchange for $50 worth of crypto.

Sneaky: Initially released in 1998, Thief is considered a landmark video game, particularly for the PC gaming industry. The Windows-exclusive title was groundbreaking in many ways and is now set to introduce a whole new generation of players to its pioneering first-person stealth gameplay.

Remake specialists at Nightdive Studios are working on yet another classic PC title. Thief: The Dark Project Remastered is a modern take on the groundbreaking 1998 stealth classic developed by Looking Glass Studios. The remaster is designed to preserve the original experience while updating the visuals for modern players.

Nightdive unveiled the project during the recent PC Gaming Show digital showcase. The studio highlighted the innovative gameplay that made Thief stand out in the late 90s, when most first-person games focused on shooting and direct combat. Instead, Thief challenged players to navigate carefully crafted environments, relying on stealth, timing, and observation rather than brute force to complete missions.

Thief played a pivotal role in popularizing the stealth genre and cast a long shadow over immersive sims and later stealth franchises such as Tom Clancy’s Splinter Cell and Hitman. It was also the first game to successfully make environmental lighting and sound central gameplay mechanics, using sophisticated AI systems to create dynamic, emergent gameplay.

Like previous Nightdive remasters, Thief: The Dark Project Remastered will use the company’s KEX Engine to faithfully recreate the game’s stealth gameplay. The remaster will include the original missions, along with the additional content released in the 1999 Thief Gold edition.

According to the game’s Steam page, Thief Remastered should not require particularly modern hardware to run. As with System Shock 2 and other restored classics, Nightdive appears to be taking a conservative approach to updating the Looking Glass Studios original.

At the same time, the remaster is expected to include features modern players now take for granted. These include support for 4K resolution and high frame rates (up to 120 FPS), controller support, and improved textures, 3D models, and animations.

While the original Thief was released exclusively on PC, added controller support should also make it more accessible on modern consoles. The series continued with two sequels – Thief II: The Metal Age in 2000 and Thief: Deadly Shadows in 2004 – while Eidos-Montréal attempted a reboot in 2014 with Thief, which received mixed reviews.

‘There are things we want to do that are likely easier as a private company’, says OpenAI.

OpenAI has confidentially filed to go public, but said it could be a “while” before it ceases to be a private company.

“We have not decided on timing yet; it may be a while because there are things we want to do that are likely easier as a private company,” OpenAI said in a short statement yesterday (8 June). “But it’s a complicated set of trade-offs and this gives us the option to go public sooner if that ends up being best.”

Estimates from last year suggest an initial public offering (IPO) could value the ChatGPT-maker at up to $1trn, in one of the largest listings in history. The company, at the time, was expected to raise at least $60bn in the IPO.

While newer reports suggest that the company is also in talks with the US government in the hope that it purchases some of its shares once it goes public.

The IPO announcement comes just days after the $852bn AI company’s fiercest rival Anthropic also filed to go public.

Meanwhile, the tug of war for the biggest IPO raise is currently led by Elon Musk’s SpaceX, which is expected to raise a targeted $75bn in its listing. The X and xAI parent company filed for an IPO late last month.

Anthropic – currently more valuable than OpenAI at $965bn – has been encroaching on its enterprise customer base, with reports from earlier this year finding that the Claude-parent was capturing a significant portion of first-time enterprise AI customers over OpenAI.

As a countermeasure, OpenAI is reportedly working on the biggest ChatGPT overhaul since its launch in 2022 to better compete with Anthropic, which has held a narrower focus on its enterprise business.

According to reports, the new desktop ‘superapp’ will focus strongly on OpenAI’s coding tool Codex, a move that reflects shifting interests from AI chatbots to agents that perform tasks for users. The app will also feature the AI chatbot, as well as the AI-powered browser Atlas.

OpenAI executives view ChatGPT as an introductory tool to encourage pick-up of higher-value products. The changes are expected to be rolled out in the coming weeks.

The company has also made big name hires to develop its “next generation of personal agents”, while shutting down less profitable ventures such as its Sora video generation model.

A majority of OpenAI’s 1bn monthly active ChatGPT customers use the free version of the tool. The company has between 5m and 9m business users, according to different blogs on its website, while the Financial Times reports that it has 2m businesses under its wing and 5m weekly active Codex users.

The company expects revenue from its business customers, which represents 40pc of its total revenue, to grow to 50pc by the end of the year.

Still, OpenAI is far from being profitable, making around $13bn in revenue last year with a planned spending of about $600bn by 2030.

Sources told CNBC earlier this year that the company projects its total revenue for 2030 to be more than $280bn – nearly 20-times its 2025 earnings – with near equal contributions from its consumer and enterprise businesses.

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