Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang threw out a lot of numbers — mostly of the technical variety — during his keynote Monday to kick off the company’s annual GTC Conference in San Jose, California.
But there was one financial figure that investors surely took notice of: his projection that there will be $1 trillion worth of orders for Nvidia’s Blackwell and Vera Rubin chips, a monetary reflection of a booming AI business.
About an hour into his keynote, Huang noted that last year Nvidia saw about $500 billion in demand for its Blackwell and upcoming Rubin chips through 2026.
“Now, I don’t know if you guys feel the same way, but $500 billion is an enormous amount of revenue,” he said. “Well, I’m here to tell you that right now where I stand — a few short months after GTC DC, one year after last GTC — right here where I stand, I see through 2027, at least $1 trillion.”
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The Rubin computing chip architecture, which was first announced in 2024, has been described by Huang as the state of the art in AI hardware that outperforms its Blackwell predecessor. The company said in January, when it officially started production of Rubin, it would operate 3.5x faster than the Blackwell architecture on model-training tasks and 5x faster on inference tasks, reaching as high as 50 petaflops.
Nvidia has said it expects to ramp up production in the second half of the year.
No matter how much we don’t like and oppose it, personal data is now a commodity. Our phone numbers, addresses, shopping habits, or employment history details are collected, analyzed, and traded among data brokers, marketers, recruiters, insurers, and countless other buyers, not to mention frauds and thieves.
However, trying to remove your online presence manually means tracking down every single company that holds your data (which can be hundreds), submitting legal deletion requests, and repeating the process when your data reappears or your request is ignored. This can easily become a full-time job.
That’s why data broker removal services exist: to automate, manage, and repeat those requests on your behalf.
But how to choose the best provider? Below, you will find a 2026 evaluation of the most recognized names in the industry.
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Top Data Broker Removal Services at a Glance
Category
Incogni
Aura
DeleteMe
Optery
OneRep
Pricing (monthly when billed annually)
From $7.99
From $9.99
From $6.97
From $3.25
From $8.33
Free option
30-day money-back guarantee
14-day free trial, 60-day money-back guarantee
Free scan
Basicself-service, 30-day money-back guarantee
5-day trial, 30-day money-back guarantee
Automation Level
High
Medium-High
Medium-Low
Medium
Medium-High
Broker coverage
420+ public and private brokers
200+ brokers, mainly private
up to 850+ brokers (varies by plan), mainly public
120-640+sites (varies by plan)
310+ sites, mainly public
Verification
Dashboard, Deloitte Limited Assurance Report
App alerts and screenshots
Quarterly reports and screenshots
Screenshots and exposure scans
Dashboard and monthly reports
Best for
Long-term, low-effort privacy
Identity + privacy bundle
Detailed proof and control
Data exposure prediction
Public removals, Families
Incogni: Best for Balanced Automation, Coverage, and Accountability
Overview and Pricing
Incogni focuses on the continuous removal of personal data from data brokers, including both public people-search sites and private commercial databases.
Incogni’s plans start at $7.99/month when billed annually, and even the basic option contains all you need for effective data removal. Higher-tier plans only change prioritization and scope. There’s no free option, but you can take advantage of its 30-day money-back guarantee to see if the service suits your needs.
Features
Fully-automated opt-out and deletion requests across 420+ data brokers
Recurring removal cycles: 60 days for public, 90 days for private brokers
Supported by Deloitte’s limited assurance assessment, Incogni officially reports that it has processed 245+ million removal requests from 2022 to mid-2025, indicating sustained operations rather than one-time cleanups. As data brokers can reacquire information and their databases refresh regularly, the recurring cycle is vital if you want to protect your online footprint in the long run.
Transparency and Reputation
Apart from a limited assurance report by Deloitte, the service also holds Editors’ Choice Awards from PCMag and PCWorld, which praise its automation system and wide coverage.
On Trustpilot, Incogni has generally positive feedback, with an average rating of 4.4 based on over 2,000 reviews. Users often note actual reductions in spam and visible listings.
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User Experience
Once you set up your account, you need to verify your identity. After that, Incogni will handle most data removal activity in the background without involving you directly. The clear, straightforward dashboard will show you all the brokers Incogni has contacted, confirmed removals, responses, and next scheduled cycles. You can peek into it whenever you like, but you don’t have to engage to make the process effective.
Advantages
Disadvantages
High automation
No screenshots
Broad coverage
No free trial
Deloitte Limited Assurance Report
Basic reporting
30-day money-back guarantee
Phone support only on Unlimited plans
Industry recognition
Recurring cycles and resubmitted requests
Clear interface, straightforward user experience
Aura: Best All-in-One Identity and Privacy Suite
Overview and Pricing
Aura is not a provider like others on this list, as it combines data removal service with broader digital protection features, including credit alerts, antivirus, VPN, device security, and identity theft monitoring.
Aura’s prices begin at $9.99/month when billed annually. What’s more, you get a 14-day free trial and a 60-day money-back guarantee for risk-free testing.
Features
Automated data removal across 200+ data brokers (mainly private)
Identity theft monitoring
Dark web monitoring
Credit score and breach alerts
Antivirus/anti-malware protection
VPN
Family and multi-device plans
Effectiveness
When it comes to data removal itself, this Aura functionality is automated. The platform first scans broker and people-search sites, submits deletion requests whenever finding your
information, and re-checks for reappearances. However, as it’s not its main focus, its data removal coverage is quite narrow compared to dedicated solutions. Aura’s value is the strongest only if combined with the whole toolkit.
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Transparency and Reputation
Aura has been widely described in the identity protection space with overall positive sentiments. You can find Aura reviews on PCMag, Forbes, and NerdWallet. On Trustpilot, it holds an average rating of 4.2 based on almost 1,000 reviews. Users appreciate its all-in-one service, but broker removal results themselves don’t match those ensured by services focused exclusively on that problem.
User Experience
Aura’s interface contains all the features offered by the providers, showing alerts, scans, security postures, removal status, and more. This holistic view appeals to people who seek central management of their online presence, but for many users, it can be overwhelming.
Advantages
Disadvantages
Privacy+security bundle
Narrower coverage
Insurance
Manual approval steps
60-day money-back guarantee
Overwhelming user experience
14-day free trial
No third-party verification
Comprehensive alerts
DeleteMe: Strong for Proved Public People-Search Listing Deletion
Overview and Pricing
DeleteMe focuses on public people-search sites and background information databases. These are mentions that usually appear in search results when someone Googles your name.
The cheapest DeleteMe plan is $6.97/month when billed annually and can be used by 1 person.
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Features
Automated scans of people-search sites (up to 850+, depending on the plan)
Expert manual handling
Quarterly detailed reports
Coverage for individuals, couples, and families
Limited custom removal requests (40-60 per year, plan-dependent)
DIY opt-out tutorials
Effectiveness
DeleteMe is quite effective at removing visible information from many major public listings. The company was a pioneer when, in 2010, it entered the industry with its
part-automatic, part-human-assisted approach. The team submits requests and tracks
progress, then provides you with scheduled, detailed reports that include, for example, even screenshots.
Transparency and Reputation
DeleteMe has been in the industry since 2010, which says a lot about its reliability. It has generally positive user reviews, especially when it comes to its detailed reporting system and exhaustive explanations about what was removed. There have been no third-party assessments of its services, but the provider has a good reputation in the industry, as seen in the review in PCMag or praise from Forbes. When it comes to user feedback, it has a rating of
4.0 on Trustpilot, though based only on 180+ reviews.
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User Experience
Contrary to Incogni’s live and always-on progress monitoring, which you can check but don’t have to, DeleteMe is more report-centric. Users receive quarterly PDF summaries that show what sites were contacted, where their information was removed, and what remains pending.
Many people appreciate their human approach.
Advantages
Disadvantages
Clear, detailed reporting
Slower cycles
Long-standing service
Less automation
Human expertise
Narrower broker reach
30-day money-back guarantee
US-mainly coverage
Optery: Best for Exposure Visibility
Overview and Pricing
Optery’s main field of expertise is discovering where your personal data exists, providing users with insight into exposures before and during removal attempts.
Optery’s offer starts at $3.25/month when billed annually. The company also has a free, self-service version. Apart from that, you get a free scan and a 30-day money-back guarantee.
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Features
Exposure dashboard displaying where your personal data exists
Automated removal from up to 630+ brokers with paid plans
Initial free scan across 120+ sites and free self-service plan
Guided removal request sending process
Custom removal submissions
Manual tracking of opt-outs and their status
Effectiveness
Optery is most effective at identifying where your personal data has been exposed. Then, for its removal, it blends automatic attempts with user-guided actions and manual tracking.
It doesn’t have the same automated recurring cycles as, for example, Incogni, but it may be helpful if you want to truly understand data exposures.
Transparency and Reputation
Optery is often highlighted for its exposure insights and transparency. Users appreciate the “seeing where my data lives” model, but many note that broader coverage comes only with more expensive plans, while manual user input is still needed.
On Trustpilot, Optery has 171 reviews with an average rating of 4.1. It has also been reviewed by PCMagquite enthusiastically, though they mentioned that the service doesn’t distinguish between removed data and never-found data. TechRadarpraised it for its ease of use.
User Experience
Optery is more interactive and gives you more control of the process (which can be both an advantage and a disadvantage, depending on how much time you’re willing to sacrifice). Its dashboard clearly shows where your personal data is, and then you need to decide which removals are more important and what to do next. You also get before and after screenshots as visual proof, while reports are AI-improved to make them more accurate and detailed.
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Advantages
Disadvantages
Free scan
Broader coverage with more expensive plans
Free self-service
US-focused
30-day money-back guarantee
Slower with cheaper plans
Clear interface & control
No phone support
Onerep: Best for Public Listing Removal and Families
What It Does
OneRep automates removal requests issued to public people-search sites. Its focus is on high-risk databases like Intelius and Whitepages. The service also ensures quarterly recurring checks to combat resurfacing of your data.
However, there’s significant controversy around the company (more of that below).
Onerep’s prices start at $8.33/month when billed annually. It also offers a 5-day free trial. What makes it attractive and more affordable is its family plans that cover up to 6 members.
Features
Automated scans and removal requests across 310+ data brokers
Quarterly re-scanning
Great family value
Clear and straightforward dashboard tracking
Effectiveness
Optery is effective when it comes to reducing online visibility on many public sites, including those deemed high-risk. However, this provider doesn’t focus on private commercial
brokers that are responsible for a large portion of the spam. It makes Optery’s reach much narrower.
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Transparency and Reputation
OneRep has a mixed reputation in the privacy protection community.
User reviews vary: some praise successful public listing removals, while others complain about slow relisting or only partial effects. Still, it holds a quite impressive average rating of
However, it’s essential to know that Krebs on Security revealed that in March 2024, Mozilladecided to drop OneRep from its list of recommendations due to the company’s CEO’s involvement in running people-search networks. This raised serious questions about conflict of interest in the industry. While the provider stated that Onerep operates completely independently and never sells user information, it is still often referenced in privacy circles.
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User Experience
Onerep’s dashboard is pretty simple to manage. It shows progress on targeted sites and all removal requests, though it’s not really an automated model, so it only suits users who don’t mind handling the process.
Advantages
Disadvantages
Great family value
Industry controversies
5-day free trial
30-day money-back guarantee highly conditioned
Quarterly re-scans
US focus
Public listing coverage
Little customization
No third-party verification
Narrower scope
Final Perspective for 2026
When it comes to choosing a data removal service, the main difference is usually in scope and depth. Some providers focus on visible people-search listings, while others dig deeper to find your personal information in harder-to-find databases. They also vary in the recurring cycles they offer (or not).
Managing your overall online visibility is vital, but if you really want to reduce the amount of your information circulating on the web, you need to focus on less visible broker networks. Or rather, choose a provider built around large-scale broker coverage. Only then will you be able to enjoy more sustained results.
In 2026, Incogni stands out among its competition, as it combines a wide broker reach, continuous removal cycles, and a streamlined, low-maintenance experience. Not to mention that it was independently assessed. While other providers are not to be altogether dismissed, Incogni’s focused, automated approach offers the most comprehensive way out.
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FAQ
Why can’t I just remove my data from brokers myself?
Manual removal means identifying hundreds of brokers, submitting individual opt-out requests, repeatedly verifying your identity, and rechecking when your data reappears. For most people, that quickly becomes too time-consuming to manage consistently.
How often does my data reappear after removal?
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Data brokers regularly refresh and repurchase data, which means listings can resurface even after deletion. That’s why recurring removal cycles are critical for long-term results.
What’s the difference between public and private data brokers?
Public brokers (like people-search sites) display your information in search results, while private brokers trade data behind the scenes with marketers, insurers, and other businesses. Private databases often contribute more to spam and profiling, even if you don’t see them.
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Do all services provide proof that removals were completed?
No. Some providers offer screenshots or quarterly reports, while others rely on dashboards or summary updates. The level of transparency varies significantly by service.
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Is a bundled identity protection service enough for data removal?
All-in-one tools can help, but their broker coverage is often narrower than services dedicated specifically to data removal. If reducing online exposure is your main goal, specialized coverage may deliver stronger results.
Recycling plastic at home using 3D printed molds is relatively accessible these days, but if you do not wish to invest a lot of money into specialized equipment, what’s the most minimal setup that you can get away with? In a recent [future things] video DIY plastic recycling is explored using only equipment that the average home is likely to have around.
Lest anyone complain, you should always wear PPE such as gloves and a suitable respirator whenever you’re dealing with hot plastic in this manner, just to avoid a trip to the emergency room. Once taken care of that issue, there are a few ways of doing molding, with compression molding being one of the most straightforward types.
With compression molding you got two halves of a mold, of which one compresses the material inside the other half. This means that you do not require any complex devices like with injection molding, just a toaster oven or equivalent to melt the plastic, which is LDPE in this example. The scrap plastic is placed in a silicone cup before it’s heated so that it doesn’t stick to the container.
The wad of goopy plastic is then put inside the bottom part of the mold before the top part is put in place and squeezed by hand until molten plastic comes out of the overflow opening(s). After letting it fully cool down, the mold is opened and the part released. Although the demonstrated process can be improved upon, it seems to work well enough if you are aware of the limitations. In terms of costs and parts required it’s definitely hard to come up with a cheaper way to do plastic molding.
While the traditional discrete sound card has largely become a niche product for enthusiasts and hardware obsessives, Creative is attempting to attract new customers with a fresh model. The newly launched Sound Blaster Audigy Fx Pro can significantly upgrade the audio experience, the company says, and includes an additional layer… Read Entire Article Source link
Dell has officially refreshed its Precision lineup with four new laptops, and there’s something here for every professional. The new range includes the Precision 5 Series in 14-inch and 16-inch sizes and the more powerful Precision 7 Series in the same size configurations. All four laptops are designed for users who demand more than a standard laptop can deliver.
All models are powered by the Series 3 Intel Core Ultra processors, with a built-in NPU that handles local AI tasks at up to 50 TOPS. You can spec the Precision 5 laptops with Intel Core Ultra 5, Ultra 7, and Ultra 9, and the Precision 7 laptops with Core Ultra 7, Ultra 9, and Ultra X7 processors.
Both Precision series can be equipped with up to 64GB of RAM, with the only difference being that the Precision 7 series gets onboard RAM. You also get NVIDIA RTX PRO Blackwell graphics across the range, though the top-end Precision 7 pushes all the way up to the RTX PRO 3000 with 12GB of dedicated video memory.
Which one should you pick?
The Precision 5 is the friendlier entry point. The 14-inch version weighs only 3.98 lbs and offers a QHD+ display (non-touch) option, up to 2TB of Gen5 NVMe storage, and a 72Wh battery.
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Dell
The larger 16-inch model is essentially the same, with the only difference being an option to get a more powerful NVIDIA RTX PRO 2000 Blackwell graphics, a bigger display, and a larger 96Wh battery.
The Precision 7 is where things get serious. The 14-inch model weighs 3.51 lbs, which is impressive given what’s packed inside, including an optional QHD+ Tandem OLED display with VESA HDR TrueBlack 500 support.
Dell
The 16-inch bumps up to a 4K Tandem OLED with a 120Hz refresh rate and HDR TrueBlack 1000. If you work with color-critical content, that display alone is worth a serious look. You can also spec both these models with up to 4TB Gen5 NVMe SSDs.
Both 7 Series models feature Thunderbolt 5 ports, a significant upgrade for anyone who regularly transfers large files or relies on high-bandwidth accessories. You also get Wi-Fi 7, Bluetooth 6.0, and an 8MP IR camera on all models.
Is it worth the upgrade?
There’s no doubt that the Dell Precision laptops are packed with features and the latest hardware. However, whether they are worth buying will totally depend on their price.
The Champlain Hudson Power Express, a $6 billion, 339-mile buried transmission line, will soon deliver Canadian hydropower from Hydro-Quebec to New York City. The project could supply up to 20% of the city’s electricity and power roughly one million homes throughout the year. “This is far and away the largest project I have ever worked on,” said Bob Harrison, who has worked in infrastructure for 40 years and is the head of engineering for the Champlain Hudson Power Express. “We like to say it’s the largest project you’ll never see.” The New York Times reports: The massive power project, expected to provide energy to a million New York City customers a year, travels underground and underwater, from the northern plains at the Canadian border to the filled-in marshlands of coastal Queens, much of it loosely following the Hudson River. Its construction included the underwater installation of more than two million feet of cable imported from Sweden. It also required special boats, loaded with equipment that could shoot water jets deep into the sediment, to create trenches for the cable. Then, when it came to placing cable beneath the landscape, more than 700 land-use easements were needed, plus an additional 1.55 million feet of cable.
The Champlain Hudson Power Express has found a way to plug into the city, but it wasn’t easy. The work included 10 new manholes and more than three miles of new underground circuitry, according to Con Edison, the city’s primary electricity provider. “It was literally a hand weave under the streets of Queens,” said Jennifer Laird-White, the head of external affairs for Transmission Developers. The hydropower travels from Canada via two buried cables that are as round as cantaloupes. Those lines snake for hundreds of miles under a lake, several rivers (including the Hudson for about 90 miles) and through buried trenches alongside train tracks and roads. The cables resurface in Astoria, Queens, where a converter station shapes, filters and refines the raw power into a product that New Yorkers can consume.
In two cavernous rooms that could be mistaken for “Star Wars” sets, the electricity flows through 30 hanging structures encased in what look like metallic, dinosaurlike exoskeletons. Each one weighs about as much as a small humpback whale and contains microprocessors, thousands of valves and fiber wires. “I am still wowed when I walk into that facility,” said Mr. Harrison, the engineer. “I mean, it is just mind-boggling.”
Viral AI prompts are usually just a little party trick, but a new one shared on Reddit promised to evoke actual feelings, simply by asking ChatGPT to travel to the future on your behalf and send a letter from a more successful version of yourself.
Specifically, the prompt designed by the user was:
“You are me, 10 years in the future. You have achieved everything I am currently working toward. Write a letter to the present-day me (who is struggling with [insert your current worries]). Be kind, specific, and encouraging. Sign it ‘Love, Future You.’ “
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The idea sounded equal parts sentimental and intriguing. At worst, I expected a generic motivational speech. The response letter quickly appeared and surprised me a little with its depth of insight and knowledge.
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Future letter
“Dear Eric,” it began, “I know exactly where you’re sitting as you read this. The desk is tidy, the bookshelves are a little too full, there’s probably coffee somewhere within arm’s reach, and your mind is running about six different loops at once.”
That description was essentially accurate both of my environment and my thinking. I suspect it was a little generic there simply because it’s hardly unusual to have a lot on your mind. The letter continued by outlining the kinds of worries that tend to swirl around people working in creative or technology-driven fields.
“One of them is about work. Another is about whether the ideas you’re chasing will actually go anywhere. A third is about the usual daily juggling act of family, deadlines, and trying to make something meaningful out of a world that changes faster every year.”
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The message framed the present moment as a temporary stage of uncertainty. Instead of offering grand promises, the letter leaned into the idea that progress tends to appear gradually. “The fog lifts. Not all at once, and not in some cinematic breakthrough where everything suddenly clicks. It clears gradually, the way morning does.”
The advice continued in that quietly reflective tone. According to this imagined future self, the scattered creative experiments that often feel unfocused are actually the key to finding a distinctive voice.
Toward the end, the advice became more direct. “If I could give you one practical piece of advice from ten years down the road, it would be this: keep following your curiosity instead of your anxiety. The fog you feel right now is just the early part of the journey. Keep going. Love, Future You.”
Advice from yourself
Reading the letter, the most surprising thing was not the encouragement itself but how believable the voice felt. ChatGPT was not simply producing generic optimism. It was weaving together familiar experiences, creative anxieties, and the kinds of personal details that make a message resonate.
Experiments like this highlight a broader shift in how people are starting to use AI tools. Much of the early conversation around chatbots focused on efficiency. The promise was that AI could summarize documents, answer questions, or automate tasks.
Prompts like the “future self” exercise reveal how AI can function as a reflective writing partner. Instead of treating the chatbot purely as a tool for information, users frame prompts that encourage perspective, storytelling, and emotional insight.
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In that sense, the exercise works less like advice from a machine and more like a structured form of self-reflection. The AI synthesizes common human experiences and presents them back in a narrative voice that feels thoughtful and personal.
It also explains why prompts like this spread so quickly online. People are not just searching for productivity shortcuts. They are experimenting with ways to use AI to think differently about their own lives.
Of course, the technology itself is not peering into anyone’s future. ChatGPT is simply assembling language based on patterns it has learned from people. When those patterns are guided by a carefully framed prompt, the results can feel remarkably meaningful. The power of the exercise comes from the framing rather than the prediction.
As a way of starting up your own self-reflection, the prompt works surprisingly well. Try it on ChatGPT yourself today and see what you get back.
While Maverik isn’t officially the best gas station convenience store, slotting into 7th place overall for 2025 according to the American Customer Satisfaction Index (ACSI), the chain offers fueling stations in 20 states with over 800 stores. Ownership of Maverik gas stations remains with the family that started it under FJ Management, a Utah-based private holding company. Piecing together information from FJ Management’s online history and news reports reveals Maverik’s lineage.
The first Maverik gas station opened in 1928 with two gas pumps in Afton, Wyoming. The entrepreneur responsible was 20-year-old Reuel Call, using funds earned from renting roller skates. Ultimately, Reuel teamed up with his brother Osborne, a partnership that lasted until Reuel bought Osborne’s share of the business in 1965.
Osborne’s son, O. Jay Call, having learned the gas station business working for his father and uncle Reuel, opened his first gas station in Ontario Oregon in 1965, with another in Lewiston, Idaho coming later. Seeing success in the business, Jay founded Flying J in 1968, running the chain of truck stops travel plazas until his death in 2008.
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Following Jay’s death, Flying J landed in Chapter 11 bankruptcy. Crystal Call Maggelet, Jay’s daughter, was named President and CEO of Flying J in 2009, leading the company out of bankruptcy with full repayment to creditors in 2010. Rebranded as FJ Management, the company, under Maggelet’s leadership, acquired Maverik, with Mike Call, Reuel’s grandson, at the helm in 2012.
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What’s special about Maverick gas stations?
Maverik advertises itself as “adventure’s first stop.” With its mountain-themed tri-peak logo, Adventure Club rewards program, and in-house BonFire menu, the chain is turning its gas stations into massive convenience stores like many of its competitors.
The number of Maverik gas stations expanded rapidly in 2023. That’s the year Maverik bought Kum & Go, a rival chain with 400 locations in 13 Midwest and southern states. At the time, the acquisition made Maverik the 12th largest in its class. Prior to that, Maverik gas stations were mostly limited to the American west.
Maverik’s Adventure Club is free to join and offers a rewards program and everyday savings on fuel. By joining the Adventure Club and entering your associated phone number at the pump, you’ll save 2-cents on every gallon of the fuel of your choice. In addition, you’ll earn trail points that can be used for purchases inside Maverik or through the Maverik app. You’ll get a point for each gallon of fuel purchased and two points for every dollar spent in store, but a BonFire burrito will set you back 500 trail points, so don’t expect instant gratification from points.
Inside most Maverik gas stations, you’ll find a BonFire Grill featuring made-to-order selections like tacos, quesadillas, nachos, salads, and pizza. There are also a number of sweet snacks like cookies, donuts, and muffins, breakfast options featuring bowls, burritos, sandwiches, and biscuits, and lunch selections including burgers, corn dogs, and wraps. However, please keep one of the primary rules of gas station etiquette in mind and pull away from the gas pump before going inside to order.
The downtown Seattle skyline. (GeekWire Photo / Lisa Stiffler)
Five months after releasing its “responsible AI plan” providing guidelines for the municipality’s use of artificial intelligence, the City of Seattle has tapped the brakes on the tech’s official deployment for city employees.
Mayor Katie Wilson last month paused the planned citywide rollout of Microsoft Copilot, as first reported Monday in The Seattle Times. Her predecessor, Mayor Bruce Harrell, had approved the launch before leaving office in December.
“While implementation of the technology is delayed, the education and governance work continues,” Megan Erb, spokesperson for the Seattle Information Technology Department, told GeekWire. “The City is still conducting educational roadshows for departments, as well as working to advance our foundational work in data governance and data readiness.”
In September, Seattle released its AI plan, which covers training and skill-building opportunities for city employees, and establishes a framework to facilitate and evaluate the use of AI tools in city operations. The city also conducted a pilot test of Copilot with 500 employees. The technology is available at no additional cost for Microsoft 365 users under Seattle’s enterprise agreement.
Participants reported:
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Collectively saving more than 450 hours of work per week, such as drafting communications, report preparation, document analysis and research.
The technology proved most helpful for writing more clearly, producing faster summaries of documents and meeting notes, and quick access to policies and regulations.
83% said Copilot Chat provided “business value.”
79% said it was a positive user experience.
Seattle has been a leader in efforts to adopt next-gen AI tools, and says it issued the nation’s first generative AI policy in fall 2023. Even before the recently released AI plan, Seattle already had policies requiring “human-in-the-loop” oversight, meaning employees must review generative AI outputs before official use and disclose when work is AI assisted. The city also identified prohibited applications, such as AI in hiring decisions and facial recognition, due to concerns about bias and reliability.
Concerns about municipal AI regulations and oversight are widespread. An investigative series published earlier this year by the news organization Cascade PBS found that multiple Washington cities had limited guardrails around AI use, raising public trust and privacy concerns. Seattle was not among the cities scrutinized.
Seattle leaders in the past have framed their effort as a balance between embracing new technology and upholding their fundamental obligation to serve the public, emphasizing that AI is a tool — not a replacement for employees.
Erb said the delayed deployment of Copilot is a part of a “phased approach” to ensure “the City responsibly tests and adopts artificial intelligence tools, meets all privacy and security requirements, and deploys solutions that provide clear benefits to employees while upholding the City’s Responsible AI commitments.”
Rob Lloyd, Seattle’s chief technology officer, resigned last month, effective March 27, to become executive director of the Center for Digital Government. The city is recruiting a replacement.
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In December, the city appointed Lisa Qian as its first AI Officer. Her experience includes serving as a senior manager of data science at LinkedIn, as well other tech company leadership positions.
During the fall budget process, the Seattle City Council asked the Seattle IT Department to provide quarterly reports on the use of AI, and that information will be submitted April 1.
The city previously identified 41 priority projects in which AI could potentially improve government performance and public services. Updates on those efforts will be included in the upcoming report, Erb said.
If you’re a diehard fan of the chiptune scene, you’ve probably heard endless beautiful compositions on the Nintendo Game Boy, Commodore 64, and a few phat FM tracks from Segas of years later. What the scene is yet to see is a breakout artist ripping hot tracks on the Sharp PC-E500. If you wanted to, though, you’d probably find use in this 3-voice music driver for the ancient 1993 mini-PC.
This comes to us from [gikonekos], who dug up the “PLAY3” code from the Japanese magazine “Pocket Computer Journal” published in November 1993. Over on GitHub, the original articles have been scanned, and the assembly source code for the PLAY3 driver has been reconstructed. There’s also documentation of how the driver actually works, along with verification against RAM dumps from actual Sharp PC-E500 hardware. The driver itself runs as a machine code extension to the BASIC interpreter on the machine. The “PLAY” command can then be used to specify a string of notes to play at a given tempo and octave. Polyphony is simulated using time-division sound generation, with output via the device’s rather pathetic single piezo buzzer.
Juno co-founders Devon Tivona (left) and Sam Felsenthal. (Juno Photo)
Fintech giant Ramp announced the acquisition of Juno, a startup founded in 2024 that built a corporate travel platform to help manage non-employee expenses.
Terms of the deal were not disclosed. Juno will maintain its brand and employees.
Juno’s platform guides coordinators and their guests through booking, logistics, payments, reimbursements, and reconciliation.
“A bad candidate travel experience can cost you a hire,” Ramp CTO Karim Atiyeh said in a statement. “Juno built something strong in a category that matters. Our job now is to give them leverage and stay out of the way.”
Portland, Ore.-based Devon Tivona and Denver-based Sam Felsenthal co-founded Juno and they’ll continue in their leadership roles as co-CEOs. They previously co-founded Pana, another corporate guest travel platform, that was acquired by Coupa in 2021.
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Juno raised a $2 million seed round last year led by Seattle-based Madrona along with Bungalow Ventures.
“Joining Ramp gives Devon and Sam the resources to pursue the vision they’ve been working toward all along: guest travel, payments, and expenses operating as one coherent system,” Madrona Managing Director Steve Singh wrote on LinkedIn.
Singh co-founded the travel and expense management giant Concur, which was acquired by SAP in 2014 for $8.3 billion. He led a group of investors in the April 2024 acquisition of Direct Travel Inc., a Colorado-based corporate travel management company, and is executive chairman of Otto, a Seattle-based startup developing an AI virtual assistant for business travel booking.
Singh also serves as executive chairman at Spotnana, a travel-as-a-service technology platform (he’s currently also interim CEO); Troop, a group meetings and events company; and Center, a corporate card and expense management platform that was acquired by American Express.
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