Cloudflare built a browser from scratch for AI agents and launched it today as a free beta inside its Browser Run product. Kitesurf runs entirely on Cloudflare Workers, uses Rust compiled to WebAssembly, and strips out everything a human browser needs but an agent does not: tabs, extensions, themes, pixel-perfect rendering, and 60-fps scrolling. What remains is a lightweight engine optimised for the things agents actually care about, structured content extraction, screenshots, and isolation between sessions.

The performance numbers are the headline. On a 14-URL test corpus, Kitesurf used 3.1x less CPU for screenshots and 3.8x less for HTML extraction compared to Chromium. Memory consumption was 4.7x lower for screenshots and 7x lower for HTML extraction. Chromium is still faster on wall-clock time by about 1.7x because its JIT compiler outpaces a cold software renderer, but CPU and memory are what drive infrastructure bills. Lower resource usage means more concurrent agent sessions at lower cost.

The project went from first commit to public beta in 12 weeks. It passes more than 215,000 Web Platform Tests and adds hundreds more each week. Bots now generate most web traffic, with AI agent activity growing nearly 8,000% in the past year. That surge is exactly why Cloudflare decided a Chromium-based headless browser, built for humans and repurposed for machines, was no longer the right tool. Kitesurf treats every page load as untrusted input, every session as stateless, and every component as isolated, a security model that matches how agents actually operate.

The browser works with Puppeteer, Playwright, and any MCP client that speaks CDP. Cloudflare is simultaneously blocking AI crawlers that harvest content without paying, while building the infrastructure for agents that do pay. That is the dual bet: charge the bots that take, and give the bots that work a cheaper, purpose-built tool to work with. Cloudflare plans to open source Kitesurf once it is ready, and eventually let customers deploy their own instances on their own accounts.

Apple may raise the prices of the iPhone 17 roster on August 10, bringing the smartphones in line with other products affected by the memory pricing crisis.

After months of being insulated from the rapidly rising cost of memory plaguing the tech industry, Apple increased the prices of most products in late June. A month and a half later, the iPhone could do the same.

According to a Friday post to Weibo, leaker Fixed Focus Digital says there are rumors of price rises for the iPhone 17. The change is also apparently happening very soon, with it potentially taking place on Monday.

The leaker openly admits that there’s some doubt about the rumor, so it may not happen, but there’s still a chance.

In the same post, they also mention that Apple has decided against an apparent increase in production capacity for the current supply chain. Some lines for unnamed products are at 15% and would’ve risen to 30%, but that’s seemingly cancelled now.

Weibo leakers don’t tend to have the best track record when it comes to accuracy, generally due to a need to churn out posts on the social media site with little in the way of checks. That said, Fixed Focus Digital has been correct in the past, such as with the name of the iPhone 16e.

That said, there is certainly a case for a raising of prices here, even with an iPhone update just a month away.

A change to the usual schedule

Apple’s typical way of changing its iPhone product catalog over the last few years involves introducing all of the new models at once. At the same time, it culls most of the previous generation.

In practice, the 2025 update brought in the iPhone 17 Pro, iPhone 17, and iPhone Air as the new models. The incumbent iPhone 17 Pro were cut, but Apple retained the iPhone 16 at a modest discount.

However, fall 2026 won’t be following the same pattern at all due to splitting the launches. Since Apple sells more of the premium models at first and then more of the standard edition later, it can help both its marketing teams and supply chain by staggering the releases.

The iPhone 18 Pro and Pro Max are certainly anticipated to launch in September as usual, as well as the iPhone Fold, but the lower-spec iPhone 18 won’t until spring 2027.

Rather than leave a gap in the mid-section of its catalog, Apple should keep the iPhone 17 in that slot.

In that scenario, Apple has an incentive to raise the price of the iPhone 17, on the basis of it being an actively sold device for another six months. All during the memory crisis.

It is unclear if the leaker intends the iPhone 17 Pro line to go up in price, too. However, as the iPhone 18 Pro will replace them in a month’s time, complete with a $300 price increase, it may not be a good move for Apple to make.

Either way, it’s not going to be long until we know if the leaker is correct this time.

X, the social media platform now owned by Elon Musk’s SpaceX, is shaking up how it pays influencers and creators.

In announcing the change, the company said it will be winding down its existing Revenue Sharing program and replacing it with something called Original Content Rewards. X will stop accepting new Revenue Sharing participants, while existing participants will continue earning money through September 7.

Then, starting on September 8, they’ll be able to apply for the new program. Participants will still need to subscribe to one of X’s Premium tiers, and there will be qualifying thresholds for follower count (500 verified followers) and impressions (500,000 Home Timeline impressions from verified users in 90 days), but it sounds like the big change is the emphasis on originality. 

What counts as original content? X said it can include original reporting and analysis, photos and videos created by the poster, or memes and graphics they’ve designed themselves. Commentary also counts, but “if your content regularly incorporates material created by others, you’ll need to contribute meaningful original value for it to qualify under our original content guidelines.”

The company also included examples of posts that won’t count as original, such as those just copied over from another account, downloaded from one account and re-uploaded to your own, or reposting content “without meaningful transformation.”

This announcement follows repeated attempts by X to reform the Revenue Sharing program, for example reducing payments to aggregators and “clickbait” accounts in April. But these efforts have also prompted complaints from popular accounts profiting from the current system; Musk even reversed some of those changes (giving a creator’s local audience more weight when calculating payouts) after a backlash.

In a post about the new changes, X’s Allegra Jacchia wrote that the existing program “had reached a point where its incentives were misaligned.”

“Creators should be focused on bringing net new content to the platform instead of maximizing payouts,” she said. “We could have kept adding more rules and exceptions, but ultimately the better decision was to start fresh and build a program designed from day one to reward originality.”

Jacchia added that X be “continue refining the program, improving our models, and raising the bar over time.”

Photo credit: Khyzyl Saleem
Digital artist Khyzyl Saleem, better known as The Kyza, took Ferrari’s brand-new 849 Testarossa and gave it the 1980s face so many people felt was missing. Ferrari revived the name for the SF90’s replacement, yet the production car’s sharp modern lines left fans wanting stronger ties to the wide, straked icon that defined the decade. Saleem answered that quiet frustration by reskinning nearly every panel while keeping the greenhouse and the rear window that doubles as an engine cover.

Pop-up headlights return up front, a feature that Ferrari’s own designers were infatuated with before homologation laws put an end to the idea. Clean strips carved from the fenders sit on either side of a flat hood with a clean vented mesh. Slim inlets cut across the bumper just above a carbon fiber splitter that’s as prominent as it is aggressive, and the wide, pointed front end settles into a period-appropriate stance.

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The flanks of the concept reveal the trademark side strakes pushed in deeper and more aggressively than the factory version. They stretch the body out in a clear reference to the original, while a single driver’s side mirror, another chosen historical element that Saleem did not bother to disguise, maintains the overall look authentic. Vintage HRE 505 alloys with a distinctive star-spoke pattern complete the look, sitting perfectly beneath the modified fenders.

The vehicle’s strongest point is most likely its rear end. Tiny LED taillights sit inside full-width black slats, only framed by those ultra-wide shoulders. A large but elegant carbon fiber diffuser wraps around a couple of round exhaust outlets, combining modern hybrid hardware with the historic Testarossa design without feeling forced or manufactured.

Under the hood, the concept car has the same configuration as the road car: a twin-turbo 4.0 liter V8 connected to three electric motors for a total of 1,035 horsepower transmitted to all four wheels. With 849 horsepower, the production car ranks among Ferrari’s most powerful series cars. Saleem concluded that the packaging simply need a body that felt more related to the name it conveys.

He has previously stated that he admires the factory car’s aggressive attitude, but he couldn’t resist bringing the design closer to the car’s own history to see what would happen. The tragic death of electronic music producer Kavinsky served as an emotional catalyst for Saleem to launch his endeavor. The images soon spread on Facebook and Instagram, earning high praise from many who had hoped for this type of reinterpretation – and Saleem’s design delivered in spades.
[Source]

science

Before and after shots of Elon’s ejecta snapped by Danuri

The race for the first before-and-after images of the spent SpaceX rocket on the Moon has been won by the South Korean space agency.

The Korean Aerospace Administration (KASA) posted imagery from its Danuri lunar orbiter showing the impact site on the Moon on August 6.

The impact was predicted to occur on August 5, and marked a landing on the Moon for SpaceX several years ahead of schedule, just without humans onboard and traveling a good deal faster than planned.

The words “crater” and “SpaceX” are not something investors nervously tracking the company’s stock price following the weeks since its IPO will want to think about.

The impact came on the fourth anniversary of Danuri’s launch, on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket. It took a few months for the probe to reach the Moon, and its initial one-year mission has since been extended twice – most recently through 2027. The plan is currently for Danuri to intentionally make its own impact crater in March 2028.

The upper stage of the Falcon 9 is expendable, and this one was used to send Firefly Aerospace’s Blue Ghost Mission 1 and ispace’s RESILIENCE to the Moon in 2025. On most Falcon 9 missions, the upper stage burns up in Earth’s atmosphere, but a lunar transfer orbit like this one made that impossible. In a post, SpaceX stated, “Impacts like this are rare, but they can happen with objects in these types of orbits, and we worked with NASA on the optimal disposal solution,” and wrote, “a controlled disposal maneuver is not always possible.”

NASA boss, Jared Isaacman, noted that NASA intentionally crashed spent stages into the Moon in the name of seismic research, and commented, “The reality is that meteoroids strike the lunar surface hourly, with impacts comparable to this upper stage occurring roughly every six days.”

Humanity has not done a great job of managing space junk around the Earth. While the SpaceX Falcon 9 upper stage did not pose any risk to humans, it highlights the need to devise rules for the use of lunar space rather than risk an uncontrolled buildup of debris.

In June, The Register spoke to Neuraspace boss Chiara Manfletti about how things might be done differently as lunar traffic increases. Neuraspace is all about satellite collision avoidance, and Manfletti’s ideas included requirements from stakeholders to designating dumping grounds on the Moon.

NASA’s veteran Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter was also attempting to capture the impact, and more images are likely to be released over the coming week.

Now to name the impact site. Elon Crater, anyone? ®

South Africa begin their preparations for welcoming New Zealand in Buenos Aires as they face Argentina.

The Springboks finished the summer section of the Nations Championship with three wins from three and have now gone almost a year since their last defeat — a 22-38 loss to Australia. But August brings the Greatest Rivalry Tour, and with it, the chance to beat New Zealand on their own turf.

Members include distinguished AI researcher Alan Smeaton and Shutterstock AI director Alessandra Sala.

Seven experts across technology, academia and public administration have been appointed to oversee the newly established AI Office of Ireland. Led by Mary Doyle, a former higher-up across Government departments, the board will help the new office implement the EU’s landmark legislation on AI.

Alongside Doyle as chairperson, the board also features two former members of Ireland’s AI Advisory Council, Prof Deirdre Ahern and Prof Alan Smeaton.

Last week, former Medical Council of Ireland executive director of education, innovation and AI Paul Byrne joined AI Office of Ireland as its CEO.

Minister for Enterprise, Tourism and Employment Peter Burke, TD said that the appointments marked another milestone in Ireland’s “ambition to be a leader in trustworthy and human-centric AI”.

“The board will provide leadership and oversight to support the Office in its role as Ireland’s central coordinating authority for AI regulation under the EU AI Act,” the minister said.

“Their collective expertise will help ensure that Ireland develops a robust and innovative framework for the governance of AI while also safeguarding fundamental rights and fostering public trust.”

The Office, which began operations earlier this week, will act as the primary point of contact for the European Commission, national authorities and the public around matters regarding the AI Act.

It is expected to develop a consistent regulatory framework to implement the law, facilitate centralised access to technical expertise, and drive AI innovation and adoption across the country.

The board will comprise:

Mary Doyle, chairperson

Doyle is a former assistant secretary general and deputy secretary general in the departments of the Taoiseach, health and children, and education and skills.

She is also a board member at Ireland’s national association of community organisations – The Wheel – and has previously served as a member of the National Economic and Social Council, on the board of Science Foundation Ireland, with the National Statistics Board, and as a forum member of the Economic and Social Research Institute.

“AI presents enormous opportunities to enhance public services, support economic growth and improve people’s lives. Realising those opportunities requires a governance framework that promotes innovation while maintaining public trust and protecting fundamental rights,” Doyle said.

Deirdre Ahern

Ahern is a professor of law at Trinity College Dublin, where she is also the director of the technologies, law and society research group. Her research focuses on corporate law, corporate governance, and the regulatory challenges presented by AI and other technologies. She is also a principal investigator with Research Ireland’s Rinn AI and Rinn Quantum. Ahern was appointed as a member of the Irish Government’s AI Advisory Council in 2024.

Michelle Kearney

Dr Kearney, who works in the Department of Enterprise, Tourism and Employment, led efforts to establish the AI Office of Ireland. She is currently working on the upcoming International AI Summit in October, a key event in Ireland’s rotational EU presidency this year.

Siobhán Noble

Noble is the chief data and AI officer at Carne Group, an Ireland-based financial services company. She also serves as the vice-chair of the Irish Funds Emerging Technologies and Innovation working group.

Donal Rooney

Rooney is a non-executive director with Enterprise Ireland and Oxfam Ireland. He is a chartered accountant with experience managing finance across multiple roles in private equity, public companies and public sector environments.

Alessandra Sala

Dr Sala is senior director of AI and data science at Shutterstock, the global digital media company. She chairs the AI and Multimedia Authenticity Collaboration, which attempts to unify standards between organisations to foster a unified response to deepfake technology. Sala is also the co-chair of the UNESCO Women for Ethical AI platform.

Alan Smeaton

Prof Smeaton was a board member of the Irish Research Council for seven years before being appointed to the AI Advisory Council in 2024. He is also a founding director of the Insight SFI Research Centre for Data Analytics, and is a well-established name in AI and data analytics research.

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Rumor mill: Apple is expected to roll out three new “Ultra” products over the next several months, starting with a foldable iPhone expected to arrive this September, followed by new AirPods and a redesigned MacBook. The reported lineup would expand Apple’s hardware ambitions into foldable displays, camera-equipped earbuds, and a touchscreen laptop with possible cellular connectivity.

The foldable phone, likely to be called the iPhone Ultra, would be Apple’s most expensive iPhone to date. Reports put its US starting price between $1,999 and $2,499. Apple is expected to introduce it alongside the iPhone 18 Pro and iPhone 18 Pro Max.

The device is rumored to feature a 7.7-inch inner screen and a 5.3-inch outer screen. The larger display would give users more room for video, apps, and multitasking when the phone is unfolded. The phone is also expected to feature two rear cameras and a single front-facing camera.

One notable reported change involves authentication. Instead of Face ID, the iPhone Ultra could use a Touch ID sensor built into the power button. That would mark a departure from Apple’s current flagship iPhones, which rely on facial recognition.

The company may also use the Ultra name for a new version of its wireless earbuds. The AirPods Ultra are expected to resemble the AirPods Pro but add tiny infrared cameras. Those cameras could give Siri more information about the user’s surroundings and expand the capabilities of Visual Intelligence.

Visual Intelligence is available on the iPhone 15 Pro and newer models. In iOS 27, users can access the feature through the Camera app using a new Siri mode. AirPods with cameras could allow users to use Visual Intelligence without having to hold up their phone.

A small LED on the earbuds would indicate when the cameras are in use. Apple code found in the second iOS 27 developer beta last month appeared to reference AirPods with cameras, suggesting that the product could be moving closer to launch. AirPods Ultra could arrive as early as this year, potentially putting them on the same release schedule as the iPhone Ultra.

Apple is also said to be working on a MacBook Ultra for release by early 2027 featuring an OLED touchscreen. Apple has never offered a touchscreen MacBook, making the feature one of the more significant aspects of the report.

Other rumored features include M5 Pro and M5 Max chips, a Dynamic Island, and a thinner design than the latest MacBook Pro models. The company could also include an Apple-designed C2 modem, giving the laptop built-in cellular connectivity.