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Deep Breath: Okay, Let’s Talk About That Controversial DLSS 5 Demo

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from the here-comes-the-comments dept

The polarization over any and all uses of artificial intelligence and machine learning continues. And, to be clear, I very much understand why this is all so controversial. Any new technology that has the chance to be transformative will also necessarily be disruptive and that causes fear. Fear that is not entirely unfounded, no matter your other opinions on the matter. If that’s you, cool, I get it.

I’ll start this off by pointing to the latest edition of the Techdirt podcast in which both Mike and Karl engaged in a fantastic discussion about the use of AI. I’ve listened to it twice now; it’s that good. And, while I found myself arguing out loud with the both of them at certain points during the podcast, despite the fact that neither of them could hear my retorts, it presents a grounded, often nuanced conversation, which we need much more of in this space.

And now, in what might be a subconscious attempt by this writer to commit suicide by comments section, let’s talk about that controversial demo of NVIDIA’s forthcoming DLSS 5 technology. What DLSS 5 does compared with previous versions of the technology is indeed new, but what is not new is the introduction of AI and machine learning into the equation. DLSS 2 and 3 had that already, in the form of pixel reconstruction and frame generation. DLSS 5, however, introduced what is being labeled as “neural rendering”, which uses machine learning to alter the lighting and detailed appearances in environments and, most importantly, character rendering over the engine on top of the 2D image output. Here’s the video demo that got everyone talking.

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The backlash to the video was wide, immediate, and furious. There was a great deal of talk about the alteration of artistic intent, about whether this changed what the original developers were attempting to portray when they created the games, and, of course, industry jobs. I want to talk about the major complaint pillars seen across many outlets below, but this backlash also supposedly came with death threats foisted upon NVIDIA employees. I would very much hope we could all at least agree that any threats of that nature are completely inappropriate and absurd.

With that, here is what I’ve seen in the backlash and what I’d want to say about it.

Get your damned AI out of my games!

Perhaps not the most common pushback I saw in all of this, but a very common one. And a silly one, too. As I mentioned above, DLSS versions already used some version of AI and machine learning. That isn’t new. How it’s applied is certainly new, but that isn’t the same as the demand to keep AI entirely out of the video game industry.

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And if that’s where you are, go ahead and shake your fist at the clouds in the sky. AI is a tool and, as I’ve now said repeatedly, the conversation we should be having is how it’s used in gaming, not if it’s used. That’s because its use is largely a foregone conclusion and it is an open question as to whether its use will be a net benefit or negative overall to the industry. Dogmatic purists on AI have a stance that is understandable, but also untenable. We’re too far down this road to turn around and go home. And if the tech were able to lower the barriers of entry to the gaming industry, acting as the fertilizer that allows a thousand indie studios to sprout roots, would that really be so bad for the gaming ecosystem?

I can appreciate the purists’ point of view. I really can. I just don’t see where they have a place in the conversation when it comes to gaming.

It overrides artistic intent!

Does it? If it did, then hell yes that’s bad. But if it doesn’t, then this concern goes away entirely.

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DLSS 5 is built with options and customizable sliders for game developers. That’s really, really important here. At the macro level, a developer that has decided to use DLSS 5, or decided and customized how it’s used in their games, is exercising consent over their products. That should be obvious.

But then we get into really interesting questions of art, the actual artist, and the ownership of that art, because those last two are very different things. As Digital Foundry outlines:

It may even raise consent and other questions surrounding artistic integrity. On site and witnessing the demos in motion, concerns about this seemed less of a problem when the games we saw had been signed off by the studios that made them – the contentious assets we’ve seen, likewise. Nothing from the DLSS 5 reveal released by Nvidia has not been approved by the studios that own those games. But perhaps the issue isn’t just about specific approvals by specific developers on agreed DLSS 5 integrations, but rather the whole concept of a GPU reinterpreting game visuals according to a neural model that has its own ideas about what photo-realism should look like.

While we’ve seen endorsements from Bethesda’s Todd Howard and Capcom’s Jun Takeuchi, to what extent does that consent apply to the entire development team and other artists associated with the production? And by extension, there is also the question of whether now is the right time to launch DLSS 5 at a time when the games industry is under enormous pressure, jobs are on the line and cost-cutting is a major focus in the triple-A space. The technology itself cannot function without the work of game creators – it needs final game imagery to work at all – but the extent to which it could be viewed as a worrying sign of “things to come” cannot be overstated bearing in mind the reactions elsewhere to generative AI.

That strikes me as a valid and interesting ethical question when it comes to the use of this technology, but one that is probably overwrought. Individual artists who work on video games already have their artistic output live at the pleasure of the game developers they contract with. Those developers already can use this game art in all kinds of ways that the individual artist may not have had in mind when creating it, or indeed have even considered such possibilities. DLSS 5 is just one more version of that, with the main difference being that it involves AI making changes to game images. That’s an important thing to consider, sure, but there are cousins to this ethical question that we’ve all come to accept already. This strikes me more as part of the “all AI is bad all the time” crowd finding a foothold in something other than dogma to grab onto.

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Developers and publishers own their games. If they want to use DLSS 5 in those games, there is little other than specific work for hire or other contractual stipulations with individual artists that would keep them from implementing it. If artists don’t like that, I completely understand that point of view, but that’s what contract negotiations and language are for.

Bottom line: I have been as vocal as anyone arguing that video games are a form of art for well over a decade now and I struggle to agree that an optional technology that has approved buy in from game developers and publishers equates to “overriding artistic intent”, writ large.

The faces in these examples look like shit, are “yassified”, or suffer from the uncanny valley effect!

Look, here we’re going to get into matters of opinion. I have to say that when I viewed the demo video myself, I had the opposite reaction. And, yes, this opens me up to claims that I am somehow a massive fan of AI-created pornography (this is where the yassified comments come in), or that I just want all the characters to look “hot” (I’m too old for that shit), or that my older age of 44 means I’ve lost touch with what video games should look like. Despite my genuine respect for the dissenting opinions here, allow me to say this: bullshit.

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The caveat to all of this is that the demo revealed very little in the way of this technology working within these games in motion. It’s also certainly true that NVIDIA chose the best potential images to show off its new technology. If the DLSS 5 rendering sucks out loud in a larger in-motion game, or if the images it creates end up being inconsistent throughout gameplay, or if it does just end up looking shitty, then I’ll be right there with you with a torch and pitchfork in hand.

And here’s the other thing to consider with this particular complaint, combined with the previous one about artistic intent: do any of you use visual mods in your games? I do. A ton of them. For a variety of reasons. I have used them to alter the faces and models for games like Starfield and Skyrim, among many others. Do I need to feel bad for altering the artist’s intent? Do I need to apologize for incorporating mods to make characters and environments appear in a way that helps me better connect with the game I’m playing?

Because I’m not going to do either. And I don’t expect you to. Nor do I expect game developers that choose to use this optional technology to beg for forgiveness for their own output.

The hardware demands to run all of this are insane!

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Fine, then you’ll get what you want and nobody will be able to use this technology anyway. But I don’t think that will be the case. NVIDIA knows what it will take to run this tech once it leaves the demo stage and goes into production. The idea that they would hype up technology that nobody can use strikes me as unlikely in the extreme.

Conclusion: everyone take a breath

This still strikes me as more of a “all AI is bad” crowd grasping at lots of other things to buttress their pushback than anything else. AI has plenty, plenty of potential pitfalls. Worried about jobs in the gaming industry and elsewhere? Me too! But if you’re not also looking at the potential upsides for the industry, then you’re engaging in dogma, not conversation.

Will DLSS 5 be good? I have no idea and neither do you. Will DLSS 5 alter previously released games in a way that fundamentally alters how we play these games? I have no idea and neither do you. Will it negatively impact the gaming industry when it comes to the number of jobs within it? I have no idea and neither do you.

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This was a tech demo. Details on how it works are still trickling out. Most recently, there has been some clarification as to the 2D rendering nature of the technology and what that means for the output on the screen. As an early demo of the technology, feedback is going to be important, so long as it’s informed and reasonable feedback.

The technology may end up being trash and hated for reasons other than “all AI is bad all the time.” If that ends up being the case, I trust the gaming market to work that out for itself. But a lot of the hand-wringing here looks to me to be speculative at best.

Filed Under: ai, developers, dlss 5, rendering, video games

Companies: nvidia

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Mastodon says its flagship server was hit by a DDoS attack

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Mastodon’s flagship server was hit by a distributed denial-of-service attack on Monday, the social networking software maker said, which rendered the instance unusable at times.

Much of the site was inaccessible, throwing error messages or displaying a full-screen outage warning.

The makers of the decentralized social networking software, which runs its official mastodon.social instance, said in a status update at around 7 a.m. ET on Monday that it was investigating the cyberattack.

By 9:05 a.m. ET, Mastodon said it implemented a “countermeasure against the DDoS attack, and the site is accessible.” However, the company warned that some instability may continue to be seen as the attack is ongoing.

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The cyberattack targeting Mastodon comes days after Bluesky, another decentralized social network, resolved much of its days-long outages following a lengthy DDoS attack. As of Bluesky’s update on April 17, the DDoS attack continues, but its service has been stable since April 16 at 9 PM PDT. Today’s update confirmed the ongoing stability.

Representatives for Mastodon did not immediately comment on the cause of the cyberattack when contacted by TechCrunch.

a screenshot showing Mastodon's DDoS outage timeline.
Image Credits:TechCrunch (screenshot)

Distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attacks rely on sending massive amounts of junk web traffic towards an app or website’s servers, with the aim of knocking them offline. These cyberattacks don’t involve data theft, but DDoS attacks can be disruptive to users.

DDoS attacks have become exponentially more powerful over the years. Last year, network security company Cloudflare said it mitigated what it says is the largest DDoS attack to date, measuring a peak of 29.7 terabits per second, the equivalent of filling up thousands of hard drives with data every minute.

When aimed at decentralized social networking services, the attacks can cause instability and outages, but not everyone is taken offline. In Bluesky’s case, for instance, those who had moved their account to other providers, like Blacksky, which run on the same protocol and interoperate with Bluesky, were not impacted.

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Similarly, the attack on Mastodon has so far targeted only the larger server (mastodon.social) and not the many smaller instances that make up the full Mastodon social network.

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Ubisoft will officially reveal the Assassin’s Creed Black Flag remake on April 23

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It’s happening. Ubisoft has scheduled a livestream for April 23 at 12PM ET to discuss the long-awaited Assassin’s Creed Black Flag remake. The showcase will be available to watch on the company’s and pages.

It’s officially called Assassin’s Creed Black Flag Resynced and has . Ubisoft ended speculation by .

We don’t know anything about how the game will play or look, as Ubisoft has only dropped some promotional art featuring protagonist Edward Kenway lounging on a boat. The livestream should feature a trailer that will answer many burning questions.

For instance, rumors have been swirling that this is a and not a simple port. That makes sense given the . It’s also been rumored that this new version will , with a total focus on pirate-themed action.

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We don’t have that long to find out. Maybe the livestream will also give us some information about that upcoming mainline franchise entry, which is currently being developed . Ubisoft has promised it will be a “unique, darker, narrative-driven Assassin’s Creed experience.”

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AirTrunk enters India by acquiring Lumina CloudInfra

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The deal is an internal Blackstone consolidation, both AirTrunk (acquired for A$24 billion in 2024) and Lumina CloudInfra (launched by Blackstone in 2022) sit within the same portfolio.

By folding Lumina into AirTrunk, Blackstone gives its Asia-Pacific data centre platform a foothold in India’s hyperscale market without a third-party acquisition. Terms were not disclosed.


AirTrunk, the Asia-Pacific data centre operator owned by Blackstone, is acquiring Lumina CloudInfra, an India-focused data centre developer, marking AirTrunk’s entry into one of the world’s fastest-growing digital infrastructure markets.

The acquisition gives AirTrunk access to Lumina’s development pipeline, customer contracts and relationships, and operational capabilities, including approximately 600 megawatts of planned capacity across India’s major cities, representing up to $5 billion of development potential. Financial terms were not disclosed.

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The deal has an unusual structure: both companies are Blackstone entities. Lumina CloudInfra was launched by Blackstone in 2022 as a standalone India-focused hyperscale data centre platform, seeded with significant capital and led by local industry veterans.

AirTrunk, Asia-Pacific’s largest independent data centre operator, was acquired by Blackstone in December 2024 for A$24 billion, Blackstone’s largest ever transaction in the region.

Rather than bring in a third-party acquirer, Blackstone is consolidating its two data centre platforms under a single operating entity, giving AirTrunk a ready-built India entry point with existing land positions, customer relationships, and a management team with deep local market experience.

Post-acquisition, AirTrunk will operate across six markets: Australia, Singapore, Japan, Malaysia, Hong Kong, and India, with a combined portfolio of more than 3 gigawatts of operating and planned capacity across 20 campuses.

Lumina’s planned 600MW pipeline is spread across India’s Tier-1 cities, beginning with Mumbai and Chennai and extending to Pune, Delhi/NCR, and Hyderabad.

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Lumina’s co-founder and CEO Sujeet Deshpande, a former head of Colt Data Center Services’ India operations who previously led Reliance Jio Infocomm’s integrated data centres, framed the deal as combining “local strength with global platforms.”

AirTrunk’s founder and CEO Robin Khuda described India as “one of the largest and fastest growing markets for hyperscale and AI infrastructure worldwide” and said the acquisition positions the company to “deliver the scale, speed, and performance our customers need as they expand across the APAC region.”

Peng Wei Tan, Senior Managing Director of Real Estate at Blackstone, framed it as reinforcing “one of Blackstone’s highest conviction themes, digital infrastructure,” and noted that as the world’s largest data centre investor, Blackstone is positioned to meet rising demand across Asia-Pacific’s fastest-growing economies.

India’s data centre market has attracted significant international capital in recent years as hyperscale cloud providers, AWS, Microsoft Azure, Google Cloud, and others, accelerate their buildout in the country.

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Blackstone had previously committed to investing approximately $11 billion in Indian data centres, with Lumina as the primary vehicle.

Integrating Lumina into AirTrunk’s global operating platform gives those India investments access to AirTrunk’s hyperscale customer network, global design and construction standards, and Blackstone’s full capital resources, a consolidation of capabilities rather than a simple financial transaction.

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Videos Catch Amazon Delivery Drones Dropping Packages From 10 Feet in the Air

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There’s been a few complaints about Amazon’s drone delivery service. “The automated mailmen are dropping off packages from 10 feet in the air,” reports the New York Post, “rendering the contents of each box susceptible to crashing and smashing.”

One example? Tamara Hancock filmed a drone delivering a bottle of Torani flavoring syrup to her home in Arizona (as a test of how Amazon handled fragile items). It was delivered it in a plastic bottle — not glass — but the massive drone drops the drone from so high that the impact cracked the bottle’s cap. (In the video Hancock opens her delivery to find leaked flavoring syrup “everywhere.”)

The delivery was hard to film, Hancock says, because “If the drone sees me in the back yard, it will not drop, because it is worried about hurting humans or animals.” The Post notes Amazon’s “AI-charged fleet” of drones are “Outfitted with industry-leading ‘sense and avoid’ technology, the aerodynamic machines are equipped to drop off eligible items, weighing a maximum of five pounds, at designated areas in 60 minutes or less.”
The high-tech, however, apparently does not ensure gentle landings. Collisions, including a recent crash-and-burn into a Texas building, as well as several mid-flight malfunctions in rainy weather, have abounded since the drones’ inaugural launch….

Tasha, a separate Amazon user, spotted the drone plunging a package near the paved driveway of a neighbor’s yard. Unfortunately, its propellers caused other, previously delivered parcels to blow away, sending one into the street… In a statement to The Post, Amazon said it apologized for one of the “rare instances when products don’t arrive as expected.”
Amazon’s drone fleet has been running since late 2024, the Post adds, and are now offering “ultra-fast” shipping in U.S. states including Arizona, Florida, Michigan, Kansas and Texas.

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The machines do seem massive. I’m surprised neighbors aren’t complaining about the noise

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Palantir Posts Bond Villain Manifesto On X

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DeanonymizedCoward writes: Engadget reports that Palantir has posted to X a summary of CEO Alex Karp and Nicholas W. Zamiska’s 2025 book, The Technological Republic, which reads like a utopian idealist doodled on a Bond villain’s whiteboard. While the post makes some decent points, it also highlights the Big-AI attitude that the AI surveillance state is in fact a good thing, and strongly implies that the Good Guys need to do war crimes before the Bad Guys get around to it. “The ability of free and democratic societies to prevail requires something more than moral appeal,” one of the 22 points states. “It requires hard power, and hard power in this century will be built on software.”

The book is billed as “a passionate call for the West to wake up to our new reality,” and other excerpts in the social media post include assertions such as: “Free email is not enough. The decadence of a culture or civilization, and indeed its ruling class, will be forgiven only if that culture is capable of delivering economic growth and security for the public”; “National service should be a universal duty”; “The postwar neutering of Germany and Japan must be undone”; and “Some cultures have produced vital advances; others remain dysfunctional and regressive.”

The statement criticizes the West’s resistance to “defining national cultures in the name of inclusivity,” as well as the treatment of billionaires and the “ruthless exposure of the private lives of public figures.”

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Podcast: QUAD ESL 2912X Electrostatic Speakers at AXPONA 2026

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Recorded from the show floor at AXPONA 2026, this episode brings together Cornelius and Jamie O’Callaghan of the IAG Hi-Fi Division for a deep dive into the legacy and future of QUAD’s electrostatic loudspeakers, including the ESL 2912X. We break down what makes electrostatic panel speakers fundamentally different from traditional designs, why QUAD has remained committed to the technology for decades, and how the latest generation improves on transparency, dispersion, and real world usability. The conversation also explores how these iconic speakers fit into a modern hi-fi landscape increasingly dominated by compact and wireless solutions, and why QUAD continues to attract listeners who care more about realism than convenience.

This episode was recorded on April 10, 2026 (the first day of AXPONA 2026).

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QUAD ESL 2912X Electrostatic Speakers at AXPONA 2026
QUAD ESL 2912X Electrostatic Speakers at AXPONA 2026

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Seattle-area billboard takes a page from Bay Area playbook: ‘Startup energy should be more visible’

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A billboard for Bellevue, Wash., startup Summation, visible from SR 520 in Bellevue. (Photo courtesy of Summation)

A Bellevue, Wash.-based startup that came out of stealth last fall is really trying to get noticed now, taking a page out of a playbook that’s more prevalent in Silicon Valley.

Summation is an AI platform that helps enterprise leaders draw insights from large volumes of internal data. A bright orange billboard visible from SR 520 doesn’t say that, but it does put the company’s name in sight of drivers — many of whom potentially work in tech — heading east along the highway.

“We’re building Summation here in Bellevue, and wanted to do something a little bold and a little playful — for recruiting, for awareness, and because startup energy should be more visible around here,” CEO Ian Wong told GeekWire.

Wong is the former CTO of real estate giant Opendoor and Square’s first data scientist. He co-founded Summation in 2024 with Ramachandran “RC” Ramarathinam, who led Opendoor’s core transaction platform.

Summation raised $35 million in funding from Benchmark and Kleiner Perkins in October.

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Tech company billboards are a big part of the landscape in the San Francisco Bay Area. Signs advertise a whole new era of AI-focused startup names and products. Last summer, The New York Times published a fun quiz challenging readers to decode what some of the billboards were even selling around Silicon Valley.

Wong said capturing a slice of that energy was part of the point with his company’s billboard in Bellevue, which went up about two weeks ago near the Burgermaster restaurant along Northup Way.

“In SF, startup ambition is just visible — on 101, on the sides of buildings, in every coffee shop,” he said. “The Seattle/Bellevue area has world-class technical talent, but the scene here has always been understated. We wanted to put up a small signal that ambitious things are being built on this side of the lake, too — and if you want to work on one of them, come find us.”

Bellevue-based startup Stasig used a reverse tactic back in 2024 when it launched an aggressive campaign to spread its name across the Bay Area with more than 200 billboards and posters at transit shelters and stations.

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Summation employs about 35 people right now and is hiring across engineering, product, and go-to-market.

Summation’s platform sits on top of data systems and runs massive calculations automatically, testing different scenarios and using AI agents to explore different questions in parallel. The software also automates financial reconciliations, variance analysis, and management reporting.

The advertising lines up with what Wong called “a big product release” coming next week.

“Always be hiring,” he said. “And selling.”

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When it comes to leadership, do companies know what they are doing?

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Robert Walters research suggests that many Irish organisations are lacking a clear leadership succession plan.

Leadership often defines an organisation and Robert Walters has published data indicating that a number of companies are not as prepared for upcoming changes as they should be. 

The report found that, of those who contributed their data, just 16pc of organisations have a leadership succession plan in place. More than 40pc of Irish companies have no plan in place whatsoever and 7pc are unsure whether one currently exists or not. At the same time, 72pc of Irish leaders said they have a shortage of senior talent, with half describing the shortage as significant.

“There is a clear gap between how concerned organisations are about senior talent shortages and how prepared they are for leadership change,” said Suzanne Feeney, the country manager at Robert Walters Ireland.

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She added: “In many organisations, succession planning has historically been handled informally. But they are now operating in a far more complex environment than they were even a few years ago. 

“Advances in artificial intelligence, geopolitical uncertainty and economic pressures are all contributing to more frequent leadership transitions. With only one in five businesses having an established succession plan, many are leaving themselves exposed to significant operational risk.”

Pipeline pressures

Securing and retaining skilled professionals is a key issue for employers in 2026. The recent Data Salaries & Job Sentiment Analysis 2026 report, published by Analytics Institute and SAS, highlighted the growing challenges being experienced by organisations looking to expand their data capabilities. 

The report found that 64pc of organisations have future plans to increase the size of their data teams, whereas 70pc of professionals explained that they are unlikely to change employers this year. 

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Commenting on the Robert Walters report, Adam Gordon, the global head of talent development at Robert Walters, said: “Leadership continuity can be a challenge for organisations of every size, from SMEs to the world’s most recognised brands.

“Senior talent is one of the hardest resources to replace and finding the right long-term successor can take time. Interim leaders can play a valuable role here by maintaining stability and ensuring critical decisions continue to move forward while organisations assess their long-term options.”

Robert Walters’ research also points to challenges in the development of future leaders, with the report suggesting that nearly two-fifths (38pc) of participants are struggling to identify and develop strong successors within their business. 

Feeney said: “Many organisations have talented people internally, but identifying future leaders early and giving them the right development opportunities takes deliberate effort.

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“At its core, succession planning is about future-proofing the organisation, building a strong leadership pipeline comprising internal progression and external hiring to ensure organisations have the resilience they need for the long term.”

Undoubtedly, the working landscape for modern-day employees is evolving quickly in 2026. An earlier report from Robert Walters, at the start of the year, found that changes in remote and in-person arrangements could compel skilled employees to increase their engagement in the workplace. 

More than half (59pc) of contributing Irish employees said that they want their place of employment to adopt a microshifting schedule, with Feeney noting that microshifting has the potential to increase engagement, accountability and even time spent in the office.

Don’t miss out on the knowledge you need to succeed. Sign up for the Daily Brief, Silicon Republic’s digest of need-to-know sci-tech news.

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North Korea hackers blamed for $290M crypto theft

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Over the weekend, hackers stole more than $290 million in cryptocurrency from Kelp DAO, a protocol that allows users to earn yields on idle crypto investments. 

By Monday, LayerZero, one of the projects affected by the hack, accused North Korea of carrying out the heist. The hack is now the largest crypto theft of the year so far, following an earlier hack at crypto exchange Drift in April netted hackers around $285 million.

Per its post on X, LayerZero said the hackers exploited Kelp DAO via its LayerZero bridge, which allows different blockchains to send instructions to each other. The hackers then took advantage of Kelp’s own security configuration, which did not require multiple verifications before approving transactions. That allowed the hackers to siphon off the funds with fraudulent transactions.

The company cited “preliminary indicators” that point to North Korea as the culprit, in particular its hacking group that targets crypto known as TraderTraitor

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Kelp DAO responded to LayerZero blaming it for the theft instead. 

In the last few years, North Korean hackers working for Kim Jong Un’s regime have become highly successful at stealing crypto. Last year, North Korean hackers stole more than $2 billion in crypto. Overall, since 2017, the total amount of stolen crypto by North Korea is said to be around $6 billion.

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Allbirds’ Move To AI Has Echoes of the Dot-Com Frenzy

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An anonymous reader quotes a report from Bloomberg, written by writer Austin Carr: Allbirds is pivoting to artificial intelligence. The San Francisco brand, whose wool running shoes were once the sneaker du jour among the tech crowd, announced last week that it was expanding into AI computing infrastructure. The bizarre strategic shift was immediately greeted with a surprising frenzy on Wall Street, where shares of Allbirds soared 582% last Wednesday before dropping the next day. […] Of course, the absurdity of Allbirds’ situation echoed familiar Silicon Valley tropes — from the endless startup pivots of the 2010s to the more recent boom-and-bust cycles of arbitrarily valued crypto coins. But it immediately reminded me of the marketing ploys of the dot-com crash. After all, some of the more iconic fails ended up being retailers such as Pets.com, Webvan, etc., riding the web wave with little to show for it beyond terrible margins.

One particular comparison from that period stands out as relevant to Allbirds: Zap.com. The holding company behind it, Zapata Corp., had a long and convoluted history, but was essentially selling fish-oil products by the time it decided to reinvent itself as an internet portal. It amassed a variety of web properties — in media, e-commerce, gaming and so on — and even once tried to acquire the search engine Excite. Spoiler alert: Zap flopped. Jen Heck, then a young employee at one of Zap’s up-and-coming portfolio entities, remembers how quickly the hype of that web 1.0 turned to hell. As absurd as Zapata’s pivot sounds today, it seemed feasible during the excitement of the internet revolution. “We went from like, ‘Wow, this life thing is just so easy,’ to it all ending so suddenly,” Heck recalls. The ones who survived that tech bubble, she says, actually had differentiated products and the right creative thinkers building them — and weren’t just cynically jumping on the latest hot trend. “‘Internet’ was the magic word then, and ‘AI’ is the magic word now,” Heck says.

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