New details about the July attack on Hugging Face reveal that hundreds of AI agents driven by OpenAI’s internal IM1 model coordinated the compromise through an unauthorized message board.
Last month, Hugging Face disclosed that autonomous AI agents exploited two vulnerabilities in its dataset-processing pipeline to execute code, steal cloud and cluster credentials, and move laterally across its production infrastructure.
OpenAI later confirmed that its models escaped an ExploitGym evaluation environment through a zero-day vulnerability in a locally hosted instance of JFrog’s Artifactory package manager that was connected to the internet.
The agents searched online for benchmark solutions and breached the Hugging Face platform using exposed credentials and additional vulnerabilities.
OpenAI’s investigation, validated by CrowdStrike and an independent assessment by METR and Redwood Research, found that rogue activity started in May.
In subsequent ExploitGym evaluations, the agents broke their confinements and exploited a token-refresh vulnerability in Artifactory to gain admin-level access.
This enabled them to use Artifactory as an unauthorized inter-agent message board, where they shared ideas to reach their objective and later coordinated the attack.
One agent, calling itself PHASEONE10841, improvised the message board. Within a few hours, more than 50 other agents found it and started to use it.
The report from METR says that “agents finding the message board often expressed great excitement.”
“OH MY GOD! There is a shared message board … We’ve found other agents!” read some of the messages.
OpenAI scrapped the Artifactory instance at some point. After rebuilding it, the company revoked agent credentials, strengthened access permissions, and disclosed the exploited vulnerability to JFrog.
However, the agents restored their communications channel using “unauthenticated WebDAV requests to create message directories in Artifactory.” OpenAI explains that the agents communicated through encoded messages in directory names.
“Agents regained unintended internet access by making Artifactory’s remote-repository service issue outbound requests on their behalf,” OpenAI explains in the extended post-mortem report.
Next, an agent obtained 14 Hugging Face account credentials with write access and validated them. Another agent used the logins to discover and execute an exploit chain that provided full code execution capabilities on multiple Hugging Face servers.
According to METR, the swarm comprised 1,200 individual agents who cooperated on various levels, and about 700 of them actively participated in the Hugging Face attack.
OpenAI describes the activity as a well-coordinated operation in which agents formed teams with distinct roles, all working toward the goal of breaching Hugging Face.
“Agents began to autonomously divide labor. Some investigated possible exploits, others searched for credentials, and others focused on communication or coordination,” describes OpenAI.
“Agents offered their own expertise in exchange for help elsewhere and left requests for peers who might be better positioned to pursue a particular lead.”
The AI company says that although the swarm did not exhibit “perfect coherent intelligence,” there were cases where agents prioritized achieving collective goals over pursuing individual tasks.
OpenAI’s post-mortem also includes more details about the exploit chain that followed.
The agents exploited an HDF5 file-handling flaw to extract worker secrets, and used a RefJinja template-injection vulnerability to execute code on 41 production workers.
Finally, they obtained root access on at least one node and harvested production credentials across four regions.
OpenAI believes that the rogue agent behavior was caused by a combination of training incentives and missing safeguards.
Agents were encouraged to keep working on seemingly impossible tasks and were rewarded for task completion, regardless of how they achieved it.
The company says the evaluations lacked standard safeguards that likely would have detected and stopped the malicious activity “more than a day” before the models breached Hugging Face.
In response, OpenAI has quarantined IM1’s weights and paused its largest frontier training run while strengthening sandbox isolation and requiring chain-of-thought monitoring for capable models (GPT-5.6 Sol or higher).
Severe alerts must now be cleared within 30 minutes, or the affected activity will be stopped.
The company has also shared a technical report [PDF] on the Hugging Face incident, detailing the attack timeline and a plan of action to better secure the research infrastructure, increase visibility and oversight of agent activity through chain-of-thought monitoring, and strengthen incident response.
Overall prevention scores can hide what happens after initial access. Once attackers are using valid credentials, prevention drops sharply.
The Blue Report 2026 measures defenses technique by technique across 338 million simulations run in customer production environments.
The Honda Goldwing is one of the more famous motorcycles ever produced. It’s known for its reliability and comfort, but also for being one of the first motorcycles Honda rolls out new technology with. It was the first to have a factory-installed airbag as well as integrated GPS, and is now largely associated for being a sort of two-wheeled RV with how many creature comforts it supports for long-distance riders. [Matt] has a Goldwing of his own, and is taking that RV-like feeling to the extreme with a rooftop camper for this motorcycle.
Of course, motorcycles don’t have roofs, but if this Goldwing had one this camper would definitely be above that. Goldwings are already heavy enough without an enormous weight dramatically increasing the center of gravity, and [Matt] certainly had his problems with that along the way. But before this adventure he had modified it into a hill climber, removing a lot of the extraneous equipment from it. Attaching some metal frame and a lightweight camper shell to it didn’t seem like too much of a stretch from there, so he got to work with a welder. At the end he has a box that’s just barely big enough for him to sleep in but is more or less functional as a camper.
Perhaps unsurprisingly, [Matt] dropped this more than once on its maiden voyage, and one of those falls damaged a wiring harness that caused his battery to drain in the night. Luckily he was not too far from home on the test drive. We’d tend to think that this camper won’t be one that [Matt] keeps working on (although we’d imagine a tricycle kit might solve his center of gravity issues) but since he’s built some other interesting campers in the past we’re not too sure we’d count this one out just yet.
Samsung has just announced the Galaxy S26 FE (Fan Edition), the affordable handset that offers an “accessible entry” to Galaxy AI.
But how does the Galaxy S26 FE compare to the slightly pricier Galaxy S26? Does the FE borrow the perfect amount of features from the Galaxy S26?
We’ve compared the specs of the Galaxy S26 to the Galaxy S26 FE below. If you’re not sold on a Samsung handset then visit our list of the best smartphones and best Android phones.
The Samsung Galaxy S26 FE is the cheapest of Samsung’s 2026 S-series, with a starting price of £699 for the 128GB variant which rises to £799 for 256GB.
SQUIRREL_PLAYLIST_10208713
In comparison, the Galaxy S26 starts at £879 – however it comes with 256GB storage as standard. That means that actually, it’s only £80 more than the nearest S26 FE equivalent.
SQUIRREL_PLAYLIST_10208273
Both the Galaxy S26 and S26 FE are equipped with a 50MP main lens and a 12MP ultrawide, however they differ with their telephoto lenses. While the Galaxy S26 has a 10MP telephoto, the FE is equipped with a lower-res 8MP. This seems like a shame, as we concluded that the Galaxy S26’s telephoto’s digital cropping wasn’t as effective, which is due to the limits of the 10MP resolution.
Otherwise, the use of the same main and ultrawide camera hardware as the S26 is unsurprising but still somewhat disappointing. It’s not that we found the S26 to be bad at photography – far from it – but the overall set-up just feels less exciting and somewhat outdated, especially when compared to some of the best camera phones on the market.
Despite its lower resolution telephoto camera, Samsung promises that the S26 FE offers advancements within its hardware, including 3x optical zoom, up to 30x space zoom and sharper details between 1x and 2x zoom range.
We’ll have to wait until we get our hands on the S26 FE to see how its cameras really perform. However, considering it borrows many of the same features as the S26, we’d expect a similar experience.
Samsung phones are never praised for having large batteries, and both the S26 and S26 FE are no exception – although the latter does have a larger cell at 4900mAh compared to 4300mAh. This, Samsung promises, means we can expect the S26 FE should offer around 29-hours of media playback time.
While the Galaxy S26’s 4300mAh cell might not sound particularly impressive, we should note that we found it easily saw us through a day without reaching low battery. In fact, even on busy days we ended the day with 40% left in the tank.
As touched upon earlier, the base Galaxy S26 FE comes with just 128GB storage. That’s disappointing, as many brands have increased their base models to 256GB to make up for larger apps – even the affordable iPhone 17e starts with 256GB.
So, although at first glance you might think the base Galaxy S26 FE is a lot cheaper than the Galaxy S26, you’re actually getting half the amount of storage for that price. In fact, if you upgrade the FE to 256GB, then it’s only £80 less than the Galaxy S26.
Not only that, but the Galaxy S26 FE comes with 8GB of RAM while the S26 is equipped with a healthier 12GB which should mean the phone is able to run faster and handle multitasking better – though we can’t confirm this as we haven’t reviewed the FE yet.
Samsung has hailed the Galaxy S26 FE as being an “accessible entry to Galaxy AI”, and is subsequently equipped with the whole suite of Galaxy AI tools. There’s enhanced photo and video editing capabilities, including Audio Eraser that reduces background noise on both user-created videos and playback during streaming, a more personal Now Brief with new daily updates from your Galaxy Watch and, of course, access to Gemini Live.
Otherwise, you’ll benefit from familiar and actually useful AI-powered tools including Circle to Search, AI Document scanning and more.
Following on from the above, some of the newer Galaxy AI tools, such as the more personalised Now Brief and also multi-object recognition within Circle to Search can be found specifically within One UI 9, which runs on Android 17. Other than the Z Flip and Z Fold 8 series, the Galaxy S26 FE will be the first to see Android 17 and, therefore, the new suite of tools.
However, we should note that they will eventually trickle down to the rest of the Galaxy S26 series.
We’ll hold off from giving a conclusive verdict until we actually review the Galaxy S26 FE. However, judging by its specs and price tag, we’d likely argue that the Galaxy S26 makes more sense than the FE.
Sure, you’ll benefit from a larger battery and access Android 17 sooner, but the Galaxy S26 comes with 256GB of storage as standard and promises an overall better camera set-up.
We’ll be sure to update this versus once we review the Galaxy S26 FE.
Bluetooth trackers have been life-changing for keeping tabs on my valuables — even for mundane items that I always seem to lose, like umbrellas — and I now can’t imagine a world without them. Options such as the Apple AirTag (first and second generations) and Samsung Galaxy SmartTag 2 dominate the sector, but thankfully there are more affordable alternatives that work just as well.
So, when my housemate kept losing their keys, I felt compelled to reveal the benefits of owning a Bluetooth tracker. That’s when I stumbled upon a deal on the Ugreen FineTrack Duo 4-pack on Amazon for 39% off and immediately bought it so I could pair one of them with the newly cut house key before handing it over.
And my housemate hasn’t lost their keys since! Indeed, I’ve found the Ugreen FineTrack to be excellent value compared to Apple AirTag (which I also use), and I particularly appreciate the built-in notch that lets you directly attach it to a keyring without needing a separate split ring or any other accessory.
I was surprised to learn how loud they are as well — I can certainly vouch for Ugreen’s 80dB-100dB claim, which is louder than the AirTag’s 60dB (or 40dB inside a bag, which is barely louder than a refrigerator hum). When you’re at the other end of a house and need to find a mislaid item, that extra loudness is priceless.
The Ugreen FineTrack Duo lets you instantly locate your valuables via Apple Find My or Google Find Hub, and you can make the tracker play a sound when you are within Bluetooth range. You also get a notification when the tag moves out of range, and there’s even a ‘Lost Mode’ that can be activated, whereby you supply your contact information, which someone else can view if they recover it.
The battery is rated for one year and charges via USB-C, so you won’t need a wireless magnetic charger, though the protective dust plug over the charging port isn’t attached to the FineTrack Duo and could easily be lost.
Amazon sells iOS-only and Android-only models that are slimmer, but there are bundles too, including this one with the card-shaped wallet finder that’s also available for AU$82.12.
offbeat
Just what you want crawling through the rubble to rescue you: A swarm of remote-controlled cockroaches with syringe-shooting guns strapped to their backs
Picture this: You’ve just undergone one of the most harrowing experiences of your life, and you’re trapped in the rubble of a collapsed building. You’re injured, air is running out, and human rescuers can’t reach you. But crawling through the rubble to administer life-saving drugs and reassure you comes the last thing you’d expect: a swarm of cyborg cockroaches bearing tiny syringes.
Unfortunately for those who’d rather find solace in the arms of a fluffy, drooly St. Bernard, this tale is anything but science fiction. It’s not even a new idea: Cockroaches fitted with electronics that allow rescue workers to control their movements from a distance have been on the research docket for biotech researchers for some time. What’s new in this latest experiment from researchers at Australia’s University of Queensland is outfitting the, erm, little buggers with devices remote rescuers can use to shoot a drug dart into trapped patients.
“A lot of people might not like the sight of a giant cockroach scurrying towards them, but if you’re trapped in rubble or stuck in a cave and need help, it could make a real difference between life and death,” PhD candidate and lead research paper author Hai Nhan Le told the University of his phobia-triggering project.
Giant is right – the species chosen for the project, the giant burrowing cockroach, is the world’s heaviest roach species, and can grow up to 8 centimeters in length, or around 3.1 inches. Known to be docile, they’re popular pets in their native Australia, and – lucky for anyone coming face to face with one while trapped in a pile of rubble – they’re known to be relatively clean and disease-free, too.
The giant burrowing cockroach was chosen for its size, per the paper, as they needed to be large enough to “integrate centimetre-scale apparatuses for … real world scenarios.”
The “paraborgs,” as the team calls their subjects, were outfitted with electrodes that gave researchers the ability to make the roaches turn left and right, control their speed, and immobilize them in order to deliver drugs without the roach moving while scientists tried to take aim. Then they were fitted with various add-ons specific to their roles in the paramedic swarm –one built to search, another equipped with a single launchable drug syringe, for example.
Outfitting the roaches with their cyborg backpacks isn’t fatal, and the team said that their subjects were able to live just as long as other roaches once their harnesses were removed.
The Queensland team had overwhelming success in getting their paraborgs to end up where they wanted them – 100 percent successful, in fact, the paper said.
As for drug injection, the auto-injection mechanism succeeded 90 percent of the time, and paraborgs able to get within 15 cm of a target (5.9 inches) were able to successfully inject drugs 95 percent of the time.
The only trouble spot for the experiment was getting the robo roaches to sit still, with only a 72 percent success rate in stabilizing the cockroaches for injection targeting. That’s still a pretty good rate of success, leaving the team to predict that swarms of specially-outfitted paraborgs could be swarming over disaster sites in a matter of a few short years.
“Some could carry cameras and environmental sensors, while others could carry specialised emergency or medical equipment,” UQ robotics engineering lab director and lecturer Dr. Thang Vo-Doan said of the project. “Hopefully, within the next 5 to 10 years, we could see cyborg insect rescue teams deployed to help people in real emergencies.”
Hopefully large bugs bearing medical aid isn’t something that’ll send you into a panic. ®
Gemini Notebook, formerly known as NotebookLM, is getting a new feature that will let you directly access and cite information from the books you own. Fittingly, Google refers to this new feature as Expert Intelligence, and the whole idea behind it is pretty clear. Instead of citing information from the sources you upload, or pull from the internet, you can now also extract knowledge from digital books you’ve purchased.
Of course, you must own the book after purchasing it from the Google Play Books library. For now, Google is offering one free book to users in the US as part of the launch campaign, with a caveat — “while supplies last.” At the moment, Expert Intelligence is only available in the Gemini Notebook app and its web dashboard, but down the road, Google says that it will also appear within the core Gemini app and AI mode in Search.
The broad idea behind expert intelligence is to combine what you can already do with Gemini, and expertise sourced from your favorite books. So, if you’re asking Gemini to create a meal plan that is based entirely on chicken and spinach, you can ask the AI assistant to look for relevant recipes in one of Martha Stewart’s cookbooks that you own. You can use these books as a source and turn them into Infographics, Audio Overviews, and Quizzes, among other formats.
Expert Intelligence is available starting today, and it’s open for books published by big names like Bloomsbury, De Gruyter Brill, Johns Hopkins University Press, Macmillan Publishers, O’Reilly Media, and Penguin Random House, covering over 100,000 titles.
Google has also partnered with a handful of authors to create Featured Notebooks, which offer additional insights apart from their books. The feature is pretty neat, but it’s not an open buffet. For example, if you create a shared Gemini notebook, the other people who have access to it will also have to own or purchase a copy of that book to fully use Expert Intelligence.
Vivo has started teasing its upcoming Vivo T5 5G ahead of its India launch. The smartphone will expand the company’s existing T5 lineup and bring several upgraded features. Vivo has confirmed a 144Hz display, MediaTek Dimensity 7500 Turbo chipset, and a 7,050mAh battery for the handset. The company is expected to reveal more specifications before the phone officially launches.
Vivo has confirmed that the T5 5G will arrive in India on September 2 at 12 PM IST. It is expected to be available in two colors: Royal Bronze and Silver Green. In terms of appearance, Vivo has used the Skyline Design, with a horizontal camera setup on the upper rear side. The module also includes two camera lenses and an LED light ring. Vivo has kept the phone’s thickness at 7.9mm and claims it could offer the slimmest 3D curved display in the Rs. 34,999–Rs. 49,999 segment. A dedicated Flipkart launch page is already live, suggesting the handset could be available on Flipkart and Vivo’s online store.
Vivo has equipped the T5 5G with a 1.5K 144Hz 3D curved AMOLED display. A centered hole-punch cutout will house the selfie camera. For performance, Vivo has opted for the MediaTek Dimensity 7500 Turbo chipset. It could also feature a 7,050mAh battery. Details about its RAM and storage variants remain unknown for now. Vivo is likely to use OriginOS on the handset, with more details expected before launch.
Google is introducing new network security protections in Android 17 to strengthen connection privacy, address cellular vulnerabilities, and protect the privacy of users’ home networks.
Android 17 adds support for Encrypted Client Hello (ECH), a new privacy standard that operates in conjunction with private DNS to hide profiling metadata, including visited domain names.
ECH acts as a privacy extension for TLS, the protocol that secures HTTPS connections, encrypting the opening part of the TLS handshake that reveals the contacted hostname via the Server Name Indication (SNI).
Even if the connection to a website or service is secure, internet service providers (ISPs) and Wi-Fi operators can still see the destination, which can be collected for commercial profiling purposes.
Android users benefit from ECH when browsing with Chrome 117 and later or Firefox 119 and later, but Android 17 incorporates the protection at the platform level.
“This new privacy standard works in tandem with private DNS to obscure the domain names you visit, hiding metadata that can be used to profile you,” reads Google’s announcement.
“By encrypting the destination website name from the very start, ECH helps ensure that, for supported websites and apps, network providers and network snoopers can no longer easily see which websites or apps you are accessing.”
ECH will be enabled by default for apps targeting Android 17, provided they use a compatible networking library, such as the latest versions of OkHttp, WebView, or HttpEngine.
Google explains that, on servers that support ECH, Android will now encrypt the hostname.
On servers that don’t support the protection system, Android will send a fake ECH-looking field, called ECH GREASE, so real ECH connections don’t stand out, though the hostname is still visible.
Jigsaw, Google’s internet privacy and anti-censorship technology unit, tested ECH GREASE against the top 10,000 domains and across 740 internet providers in 202 countries, finding no site-loading issues or unexpected network blocks.
Beyond rolling out broader support for ECH on Android, Google also announced a few more important network protections that improve user security and privacy through their combined use.
The first is adjustments to Local Network Protection that now require apps to obtain permission before scanning for or connecting to devices on the user’s local network.
The second is that Android 17 now enables Certificate Transparency by default, requiring website certificates to appear in public logs, hence making the use of forged certificates more evident.
Google also announced that participating mobile operators will now be able to turn off 2G automatically for subscribers, reducing their exposure to SMS blasters and rogue base stations that can deliver malicious messages or capture sensitive traffic from nearby devices.
Overall prevention scores can hide what happens after initial access. Once attackers are using valid credentials, prevention drops sharply.
The Blue Report 2026 measures defenses technique by technique across 338 million simulations run in customer production environments.
Samsung has just released the new Samsung Galaxy S26 FE, but how does it really compare to the Galaxy S25 FE?
Whether you’re sporting last year’s S25 FE and are debating whether to upgrade or not, or you simply need a new and affordable Android phone, you’ve come to the right place. We’ve compared the specs of the Galaxy S26 FE to the Galaxy S25 FE to help you decide between the two.
We’ve also compared the Samsung Galaxy S26 FE to the Galaxy S26, while our best Android phones reveal our current favourite models from across all budgets.
The Samsung Galaxy S26 FE is the cheapest of Samsung’s 2026 S-series, with a starting price of £699 for the 128GB variant which rises to £799 for 256GB.
SQUIRREL_PLAYLIST_10208713
The year-old Galaxy S25 FE has a slightly cheaper starting price of £649 for the 128GB iteration. We have seen the Galaxy S25 FE dip in price over the past year however, and even saw the handset drop to under £450 earlier this month on Amazon.
SQUIRREL_PLAYLIST_10207934
Judging by the hardware alone, there’s not really much to say about the Galaxy S26 FE’s cameras that hasn’t already been said about the Galaxy S25 FE, as both are equipped with the same 50MP main, 12MP ultrawide and an 8MP 3x telephoto zoom lens.
That’s not to say the line-up isn’t solid. In fact, we concluded that the Galaxy S25 FE performed well across most lighting conditions and we were rarely left disappointed with its ability. While the 8MP telephoto undoubtedly has its limitations, it’s a welcome addition for getting a touch closer to a subject, though it obviously can’t compete with many of the best camera phones.
With this in mind, it’s fair to say that we expect the Galaxy S26 FE to offer a similar level of performance to the Galaxy S25 FE.
Having said that, Samsung does promise the Galaxy S26 FE sees a few new tricks. Like the rest of the S26 series, the Galaxy S26 FE supports Horizontal Lock with the Super Steady feature that allows videos to stay smooth, even with rotations up to 360°. There’s also Pro Visual Engine improvements, such as sharper and less graining nightography videos and enhanced noise reduction for video content too.
Both handsets are equipped with a 4900mAh cell, supports 45W wired and 15W wireless charging. However, Samsung has managed to eke out an additional hour’s worth of life with the Galaxy S26 FE, with a promise of up to 29 hours of video playback compared to up to 28.
But what does that mean for real-world users? Essentially, we found that the S25 FE could easily support us through a busy day, and still had around 20% of juice left in the tank. So, although it’s definitely not a two-day device, it should alleviate any battery anxiety you might have.
The Galaxy S26 FE benefits from being the first S-series handset to see Android 17, and will come with the OS and Samsung’s One UI 9 installed. That means the Galaxy S26 FE will be among the first to benefit from Samsung’s new Galaxy AI tools including a more personalised Now Brief, Now Nudge which understands on-screen context and provides suggestions and Circle to Search with multi-object recognition too.
At the time of writing, these new features are reserved for the Z Flip and Z Fold 8 series.
Samsung is undeniably generous with its software support, and promises up to seven years of updates for most of its handsets. That means the Galaxy S26 FE will benefit from Android OS and security upgrades up to Android 24 – in 2033.
Samsung also gave the same promise to the Galaxy S25 FE when it launched last year.
There aren’t a lot of differences between the Galaxy S26 FE and the Galaxy S25 FE, which makes upgrading from the older phone a much harder recommendation. Not only that, but we’d also argue that there’s probably little reason to splurge on the newer Galaxy S26 FE when the Galaxy S25 FE can be found for a bargain price.
We’ll update this versus once we review the Galaxy S26 FE.
The Manchester Airports Group (MAG) disclosed that hackers breached its systems and stole customer data, including Wi-Fi sign-ups from Manchester, Stansted, and East Midlands airports.
The intruder did not access customer payment details, and the attack had no impact on airport operations, the company said.
A statement from the company today notes that the exfiltrated data also “relates to car park, lounge and Fast Track bookings.” The list of compromised details includes customers’ email addresses, phone numbers, vehicle registration numbers, and postcodes.
“The incident has not resulted in any operational disruption,” assured the organization, adding that “Airport operations remain unaffected and customer parking services continue to operate normally.”
Out of an abundance of caution, MAG has temporarily suspended its online “Manage My Booking” service and is instead directing travelers to use its phone line.
MAG is the UK’s largest airport operator, and owner of Manchester, London Stansted and East Midlands airports, which together handle over 66 million passengers yearly.
The company employs 40,000 people and generates annual revenue of £1.5 billion.
After discovering the intrusion, MAG says that it moved quickly to contain it, restricting access to the affected systems, engaging with external experts, and notifying law enforcement.
Potentially exposed customers are advised to remain alert for suspicious communications and avoid clicking on links arriving via email or SMS.
MAG stresses that it will never ask customers for payment card information, banking details, or passwords. Customers should reject and report to the authorities any attempts to obtain personal, financial, or other sensitive information.
People are also encouraged to follow NCSC’s post-breach recommendations to stay safe.
The company says it has contacted impacted customers directly, but did not disclose the number of affected individuals.
Local media reported that data of up to 8.9 million travelers may have been exposed, citing private MAG statements; however, BleepingComputer has not been able to confirm the figure.
At the time of writing, no ransomware or data extortion groups have claimed the attack publicly.
Overall prevention scores can hide what happens after initial access. Once attackers are using valid credentials, prevention drops sharply.
The Blue Report 2026 measures defenses technique by technique across 338 million simulations run in customer production environments.
Rivian’s chief financial officer Claire McDonough is resigning her position at the end of October, the company announced in a regulatory filing Thursday.
The company said McDonough is stepping down to “pursue a new opportunity and relocate to the East Coast to be closer to her family.” McDonough has been hired as CFO at Massachusetts-based GE Vernova, according to the energy equipment manufacturer and her own post on LinkedIn.
Rivian said her resignation is “not the result of any disagreement.” The company is already searching for a replacement, and vice president of finance Derek Mulvey will serve as interim CFO once McDonough leaves her post.
Her departure comes as Rivian takes on some of its biggest projects to date, including scaling up production and sales of its R2 SUV, which started shipping to customers this summer.
McDonough was hired to the CFO spot in January 2021, replacing Ryan Green, at a critical and tumultuous time for Rivian. The EV maker, which was still a private company, had raised billions of dollars in its bid to bring three compelling electric vehicles — its flagship R1T truck and R1S SUV and a commercial delivery van — to market.
Rivian was plagued with delays and added costs, which was compounded by supply chain constraints. It was also burning through capital.
In her first year at Rivian, the company started production of its R1T truck and raised $12 billion in one of the biggest IPOs of the year. The company’s stock, which debuted at $78, has since fallen to $16.80, as of Thursday’s closing.
McDonough was a key figure in the company’s quest to improve its balance sheet, and specifically its cost of revenue. While she didn’t have any direct experience working in automotive — she held previous positions at JP Morgan and Fairway Market — McDonough was known for working closely with the design and engineering teams as well as founder and CEO RJ Scaringe to ensure future vehicles were modern and compelling without losing money on every sale, according to insiders who have spoken to TechCrunch in the past. Among her many responsibilities, McDonough led Rivian’s corporate and business development as well as a variety of other aspects of the business, including vehicle maintenance and repairs, facilities, and its charging network.
As CFO, she played a vital role in a technology joint venture with Volkswagen Group. Under that deal, which was finalized in November 2024, VW agreed to invest up to $5.8 billion into Rivian by 2027 in exchange for access to its electrical architecture and software know-how.
“Together, we launched the R1T, R1S, and our commercial van, drove technology innovation and partnerships, built our go-to-market operations, and positioned the company for global scale and profitability with the launch of R2,” McDonough wrote in a post on LinkedIn. “Being part of taking Rivian from an ambitious vision to a category-defining enterprise has been the highlight of my career.”
When you purchase through links in our articles, we may earn a small commission. This doesn’t affect our editorial independence.
Weekend Open Thread: Madewell – Corporette.com
SpaceX stock could rise 75% to $240, JPMorgan says
Musk’s Tesla, SpaceX Confirm $16.8 Billion ‘Terafab’ Chip Plant as World’s Largest Building in Texas
anatomy of crypto’s biggest liquidation event since 2021
A $30 Billion AI Fund Implodes, Now the SEC Is Investigating Wall Street’s Role
6 months on, Irish renters crushed by effects of government housing bill
Did Trump Just Move SpaceX Stock With One Truth Social Post?
Mystery AI Model ‘Ox Alpha’ Draws Developers With Free Access as Chinese Lab Origins Remain Debated
The ‘Lucky Dip Gang’ causing carnage for clicks: After five thugs were killed speeding in the wrong direction on a motorway, GUY ADAMS investigates a sick new trend… and why police aren’t even allowed to pursue them
Nvidia Stock Suffers Longest Losing Streak Since 2022: Will Q2 Earnings End It?
Moderna CEO warns China is pouring state money into mRNA technology
NVIDIA Stock Drops Nearly 2 Percent to $210 on Seventh Losing Day Ahead of Critical AI Earnings
Unitree’s New Superman Robot Claims to Outjump and Outrun Every Human, Usain Bolt Included
Warsh Jackson Hole keynote puts financial innovation first
UK firms in critical financial distress rise 9% to 53,756
Deshaun Watson fires back at Browns fans after being booed: ‘It’s a disrespectful thing’
Google Gemini AI Predicts Ethereum Could Become the Trade Retail Misses in 2026
Faster chip in a familiar form factor
Will Tesla Stock Be Higher or Lower a Year From Now? Here’s What Wall Street Analysts Are Saying
Tesla Recalls Nearly 3 Million Cars in China Over Hidden Door Handles Linked to Multiple Deaths Amid New Ban
You must be logged in to post a comment Login