Modern cars are no longer machines that stay the same after they leave the showroom. Increasingly, they’re becoming software-defined vehicles that receive new features, bug fixes, and security patches wirelessly, much like smartphones. But while over-the-air (OTA) updates have made vehicle maintenance easier and cheaper, cybersecurity experts are warning that the same technology could also become one of the automotive industry’s biggest security challenges.
Researchers and policymakers are now calling for stronger oversight as connected vehicles become increasingly dependent on remote software updates. Their concern isn’t just about hackers stealing personal data. It’s about someone potentially interfering with the operation of a moving vehicle.
The convenience of wireless updates comes with new risks
OTA technology allows manufacturers to remotely deliver software updates, firmware upgrades and security patches without requiring owners to visit a dealership. Tesla popularized the concept more than a decade ago when it began rolling out wireless updates for the Model S in 2012. Today, the feature has become commonplace across premium and mainstream vehicles alike.
For consumers, the advantages are obvious. Carmakers can quickly fix software bugs, improve battery management, add new infotainment features or even enhance driving performance without issuing expensive recalls. According to a CNBC report quoting Siraj Ahmed Shaikh, Professor of Systems Security at Swansea University, OTA updates have become an attractive alternative to traditional servicing because they reduce costs and shorten deployment times. Instead of waiting for scheduled maintenance, manufacturers can address issues almost instantly.
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Cybersecurity analysts argue that internet-connected vehicles effectively function as rolling computers.Unsplash
However, the same always-connected architecture that enables these updates also creates a larger attack surface. Cybersecurity analysts argue that internet-connected vehicles effectively function as rolling computers. If attackers were to compromise the update infrastructure or gain privileged access to vehicle software, the consequences could extend well beyond data theft.
Gabriel Lim, Senior Analyst at Singapore’s S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies, told CNBC that the issue represents a potential national security concern. Beyond questions surrounding user privacy, governments are increasingly examining whether foreign manufacturers or hostile actors could theoretically interfere with vehicle systems remotely. Those concerns have prompted several countries to reassess how connected vehicles should be regulated.
Governments are beginning to take the threat seriously
The debate intensified after Norwegian public transport operator Ruter conducted security tests on electric buses last year. The company reported that one vehicle’s battery and power management system could be accessed remotely through a mobile network connection. In theory, it concluded, the manufacturer could disable or immobilize the bus remotely.
Although the investigation focused on buses manufactured by Chinese company Yutong, experts caution that the problem isn’t unique to any single automaker or country. Instead, they see it as an industry-wide challenge tied to the growing adoption of connected vehicle platforms. The findings prompted authorities in both the United Kingdom and Denmark to launch their own investigations, with the UK’s Department for Transport working alongside the National Cyber Security Centre to examine potential vulnerabilities.
As cars become smarter, hackers may get smarter tooUnsplash
Similar concerns are also beginning to shape policy discussions in the United States. Earlier this year, the American Enterprise Institute argued that protecting connected vehicles from foreign espionage should become a strategic priority. The think tank recommended stronger security reviews, greater transparency around vehicle data collection, and tighter restrictions on certain foreign-made automotive software and hardware.
The implications stretch well beyond passenger cars. OTA technology is increasingly finding its way into buses, commercial fleets, rail systems, ships, industrial robots and drones. As more critical infrastructure becomes remotely updateable, experts say cybersecurity can no longer be treated as an afterthought. Wireless updates are undoubtedly making vehicles smarter and more capable. But they’re also changing the definition of automotive safety. In the software-defined era, protecting a car increasingly means protecting the code running inside it, because the next cyberattack may not target your laptop or smartphone. It could target the vehicle you’re driving.
NordStellar reports 2,581 ransomware attacks in Q2 2026, with Qilin (299) and The Gentlemen (284) leading activity, far ahead of DragonForce (147)
US SMBs were hit hardest, suffering 769 incidents; Canada (97), Germany (83), and the UK (74) followed, while attacks on billion‑dollar enterprises surged 74%
Experts say rivalry between Qilin and The Gentlemen is driving the spike, with major corporate hits seen as reputation‑boosting trophies in the cybercriminal underground
Two ransomware gangs are battling for dominance, and US-based SMBs are the ones suffering most for it, experts have claimed.
Fresh data about the state of ransomware in 2026, compiled by security experts from NordStellar, shows two groups – Qilin and The Gentlemen – being by far the most active ones.
After analyzing more than 200 threat actor blogs, NordStellar concluded that there were 2,581 ransomware attacks in the second quarter of the year – and of that number, 299 belong to Qilin, the most active threat actor out there. Close second are The Gentlemen, with 284 attacks. The third most active group – DragonForce – doesn’t even come close with “just” 147 attacks.
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SMBs and enterprises under assault
While it seems like a close race, it’s actually The Gentlemen who have been doing the heavy lifting between April and June 2026. This group experienced a 39% increase in attacks, while Qilin’s activity actually declined somewhat, compared to Q1.
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In this morbid race to the bottom, the biggest victims are US-based small and medium-sized businesses (SMB). These companies, with up to 200 employees and revenues under $25 million, experienced 769 attacks in Q2 2026, followed by Canada (97), Germany (83), and the UK (74).
NordStellar also mentioned US enterprises, who are now increasingly being targeted. Attacks against organizations with revenues north of $1 billion surged by 74%, going from 23 incidents in Q1, to 40 in Q2.
“Ransomware actors historically target SMBs because these organizations often lack comprehensive defenses, which can increase the likelihood of a successful attack,” commented Vakaris Noreika, cybersecurity expert at NordStellar.
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“This recent spike in enterprise targeting is unusual and may be a temporary fluctuation. This shift likely stems from the rivalry between dominant threat actors — a successful hit on a major corporation is a badge of honor that boosts a group’s reputation within the cybercriminal underground.”
In Obsession, an awkward young man gets more than he bargained for when he wishes for his crush to love him back with the help of a gag gift from a novelty store. After a rocky start, Bear gets what he wanted… sort of… before his relationship with Nikki takes a series of increasingly bizarre turns and goes completely off the rails.
In his feature film debut, writer, director, and editor Curry Barker demonstrates one of those uniquely original voices that makes us rethink what a horror movie can be, shocking even genre buffs and video reviewers who think they have seen it all. With tips of the cap to The Twilight Zone and Get Out, the script takes us places we have never been, growing deeper and darker while maintaining a surprising amount of humor in perfect balance.
The performances help tremendously, with the lead actors bringing a naturalistic edginess that ensures we never quite know what to expect next. Props to newcomer Inde Navarrette as Nikki, who is so terrifying that she reportedly made her costars, and herself, quite uncomfortable.
The movie is presented in the unusual 1.5:1 aspect ratio, with vertical black bars on the left and right and occasional elements within the frame that add to the sense of claustrophobia, as though the characters are trapped in their predicament. Director of photography Taylor Clemons often backlights the actors to creepy effect, but the high dynamic range preserves ample facial detail, while the precise image reveals haphazard shaving stubble, the fine fibers of a sweater, and the uneven degrees of focus within the frame.
You could call the sonic jolts in Obsession’s Dolby Atmos mix “jump scares,” but not in the same way as in, say, a Freddy or Jason style slasher. Instead, an abrupt beat might trigger the question, “What the hell is she going to do next?” The answer: Nothing good. Hard offscreen cues do a good job of establishing three-dimensional space, while Rock Burwell’s musical score envelops us but also bludgeons us from time to time, leaving us exhausted by the end credits.
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Barker’s audio commentary track is definitely worth a listen for the infectious energy of a filmmaker at the top of his game. In a hurry? Check out the 19-minute “Obsession Unleashed” featurette, which also brings in the principal actors to share their own behind-the-scenes tidbits. The two-disc set includes an HD Blu-ray of the movie with the same extras, plus a 4K Movies Anywhere digital copy code.
This is definitely one I’ll be watching again, which is another reason physical media rocks. There are plenty of clues and little Easter eggs waiting to be discovered and dissected, a testament to the thoroughly smart script and the clever way Barker executes his twisty vision.
Movie Details
STUDIO: Universal Pictures Home Entertainment
FORMAT: Ultra HD 4K Blu-ray (July 14, 2026)
THEATRICAL RELEASE YEAR: 2026
ASPECT RATIO: 1.50:1
HDR FORMATS: Dolby Vision, HDR10
AUDIO FORMAT: Dolby Atmos with TrueHD 7.1 core
LENGTH: 109 mins.
MPAA RATING: R
DIRECTOR: Curry Barker
STARRING: Inde Navarrette, Michael Johnston, Cooper Tomlinson, Megan Lawless, Andy Richter, Darin Toonder
There are so many family board games. Here are a few more we liked.
In a World for $28: Someone reads out an “In a World,” card which might say “where we are setting up a colony on a distant planet,” and then the players read out “We want” cards like “a lifetime supply of bananas” or “a thriving coffee shop.” It’s a family-friendly twist on Cards Against Humanity (with similar weaknesses), but players also try to sell their card as the best pick which adds a nice twist.
Cat in the Box Deluxe Edition for $31: There are a few mechanics at play here, including bidding on how many tricks you think you’ll win before play begins, but what makes this game different is that you must also decide on your card’s color. It seems complex at first, but younger kids used to card games will be able to grasp this.
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Wingspan for $55: This might be the pinnacle of nature-themed board games and will appeal to anyone who loves our feathered friends. It blends authentic knowledge about different bird species and their needs, habitats, and abilities, with a healthy dose of strategic depth.
Dorfromantik: The Duel for $41: Based on the video game Dorfromantik, which spawned a cooperative board game, this spin-off pits you against another player as you draw tiles to build a landscape and try to complete tasks along the way. With identical sets in red and blue, it’s all about who builds a better environment to satisfy their villagers and score the most points. Play time is under an hour. You could play with two teams, but it works best as a two-player game.
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Hey Hey Relay for $15: This super silly dice game is a race between two teams with challenge cards prompting silly voices and physical actions before you can proceed. It’s fast and chaotic to play, but probably best for younger kids (the makers suggest 6 years and up). My kids didn’t like it much, but this could be a fun party game.
Ship Show for $30: This cooperative game casts players as stockers and shippers and challenges them to correctly ship orders by guessing the correct tiles based on clues provided by the way they have been grouped. The time limit adds pressure, and this can be fun for the right group (you need to be on the same wavelength), but we found the wait for the stockers to set up was dull for shippers, and the scoring was laborious.
Flip 7 for $8: The thrill of pushing your luck is the draw for this hybrid card game, as you hit or stick Blackjack-style, trying to get seven different face-up cards. Special action cards and modifiers mix things up, allowing for some tactical play. Suitable for three or more players aged 8 and up, it only takes 20 minutes to play.
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Tension: The Top 10 Naming Game for $30: Topic cards have 10 items within a category, and the opposing team has 60 seconds to guess as many as they can. Cards are divided into two colors (easy and harder), making it easy to play with kids or adjust the difficulty on the fly. This works well with any age or team size, but be prepared for lots of shouting and laughing.
You Gotta Be Kitten Me! for $26: A simple twist on liar’s dice that focuses on bluffing and calling bluffs; I am of two minds about this game. On the one hand, the game is nothing special, but on the other, cute cats! My moggy-obsessed daughter immediately wanted to play, and we had a few laughs with outrageous bluffs on the number of glasses, hats, and bow ties on these felines.
Poetry for Neanderthals for $20: Every card has a word, and your seemingly simple task is to get your team to correctly guess it within the time limit by speaking in single syllables only. If you break the rules, the opposition can hit you with the inflatable “No” stick. Suitable for two to eight players aged 7 and up, it’s loud, silly, and usually makes everyone laugh.
Danger Danger for $9: Fast and frenetic, this simple card game for two teams is about trying to have high-scoring cards showing at the end of each round. There are no turns, you can cover the other team’s cards, and rounds are timed, but you must guess when the round will end. Super simple and very quick to play, this game can get chaotic.
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That Escalated Quickly for $20: This game is quick, easy, and fun for up to eight players. Featuring scenarios such as “I have invented a new sport, what is it?” players must provide suggestions from least dangerous (1) to most dangerous (10) based on their assigned number for each round. The leader of the round has to try to get them in the correct order. It works best with witty players who know each other well.
Sounds Fishy for $23: Another fun group game from Big Potato, the challenge in Sounds Fishy is to spot fake answers. Each card poses a question, but only one of the answers you get is correct. It’s for four to 10 players, and we found it more fun but tougher with more people.
Cards Against Humanity: Family Edition for $29: You can play this party game with up to 30 players, and it will produce a fair bit of juvenile giggling and chortling. Like the adult version, there isn’t much strategy here, but finding the perfect combination to crack everyone up is satisfying.
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Don’t Bother
We were not so keen on these games.
Photograph: Simon Hill
Zilence: As a group of zombie apocalypse survivors atop a skyscraper, you must choose the correct flight path to snag the resources you need, determined by cards. A tight time limit makes it tricky to pick the right routes from the tangled mess on the game board, and it can be assembled differently for replay value. But the backdrop feels incongruous, and we all agreed it wasn’t much fun to play.
Connecto: Connect different symbols on your board with a dry-erase marker based on a randomly drawn challenge card to make a picture of something (like connect the dots). The first one to guess what it’s supposed to be wins the round (some are only vaguely like what they’re meant to be). Longevity takes a hit, as there’s no fun in replaying solved puzzles.
A Game of Cat & Mouth: Incredibly simple, this dexterity game challenges you to fire rubber balls through a cat’s mouth with magnetic paws, but they end up everywhere. Games tend to be very one-sided, and my kids got bored almost immediately. It is also impossible to play with actual cats in the vicinity.
Microsoft is looking to improve the privacy protection of your sensitive PDFs by closing one of the more obvious loopholes in its document protection system. It is also giving businesses another reason to keep Microsoft Edge firmly installed.
Starting next month, OneDrive and SharePoint will block screen captures when users open certain sensitivity-labeled PDFs through their web viewers in Microsoft Edge. The restriction applies to enterprise organizations using Microsoft Purview Information Protection rather than ordinary personal OneDrive accounts.
Your ordinary PDFs will continue as usual
The protection applies specifically to PDFs carrying a sensitivity label without the Copy, also described as EXTRACT, permission. If these conditions are met, screen capture enforcement will activate by default when the document is viewed in Edge. Existing labels and organization policies remain in place.
Microsoft
Unlabeled files and labels without these restrictions continue behaving normally. The feature affects OneDrive for Business and SharePoint Online, so you will not suddenly lose the ability to screenshot a restaurant menu or instruction manual. The company added that the change aims to close a gap between its desktop applications and browser experience.
Purview labels could already prevent actions such as editing, printing, copying, and taking screenshots in supported desktop apps. However, PDFs opened in the browser did not consistently respect the same screen-capture control. Admins can also disable local downloads, preventing users from simply saving a protected document and reopening it elsewhere.
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The protection currently ends at Edge
Digital Trends
Chrome, Firefox, Safari, and other mobile web browsers will not support the restriction when it reaches general availability. Microsoft warns that users opening protected documents outside Edge may receive inconsistent enforcement, and it recommends that businesses use Conditional Access or browser-management policies to direct employees toward Edge.
Unfortunately, this is exclusive to Microsoft Edge at the moment. The security benefit is easy to understand, especially for companies sharing sensitive documents like financial records, legal material, or unreleased products. Its effectiveness depends heavily on convincing, or requiring, everyone involved to use Microsoft’s browser.
Windows Latest reports that support for additional browsers and mobile apps could arrive later. Microsoft’s current notice does not provide a broader rollout date. Targeted organizations should begin receiving the feature in early August, followed by a worldwide general rollout between the middle and end of the month.
We spend hours testing every product or service we review, so you can be sure you’re buying the best. Find out more about how we test.
Kapwing is among the best AI video editors today. It allows you to create videos with simple text prompts and generate lively AI characters to build detailed storylines.
Trusted by brands like Google, Dyson, and Spotify and used by thousands of content creators across YouTube, TikTok, and digital marketing platforms, Kapwing has quickly grown to become one of the industry’s favorite video generation and editing software.
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In this article, we put Kapwing to the test to see whether its features perform as advertised. Read on to learn about our real-world experience with Kapwing, its best features, and the alternatives worth considering if it doesn’t fit your needs.
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Kapwing: Plans and pricing
You can get started with Kapwing through its free-forever plan, which allows up to 30 minutes of video exports per month in 720p resolution, with each video limited to a maximum length of one minute. There’s also a 2GB file upload limit, along with access to editing and AI-powered tools such as auto-subtitling, auto-translation, and text-to-speech, albeit with limited usage caps.
We also like that you get a fair share of collaboration features, such as project link sharing and commenting, allowing you to edit videos collaboratively with your team. However, the free plan is meant primarily for testing the platform rather than full-fledged use.
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If you want to get the most out of Kapwing, you’ll have to upgrade to one of its paid plans. Its Pro plan starts at $16 per member per month and offers excellent value for money. The plan supports 4K video exports with unlimited monthly exports and a maximum video length of 120 minutes.
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(Image credit: Kapwing)
The AI editing tools also come with higher usage limits. For example, you get up to 1,000 minutes of auto-subtitling and 500 minutes of auto-translation per month. Besides this, the plan adds several premium tools, including video and image background removal, video stabilization, and the ability to add your brand kit and custom fonts to your projects.
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Next is the Business plan, designed for teams that need more advanced content creation workflows. Costing $50 per member per month, it includes up to 4,000 minutes of auto-subtitling, 2,000 minutes of auto-translation, 2,000 minutes of Clean Audio per month, and 130 minutes of Lip Sync. The remaining features are largely the same as those in the Pro plan.
Finally, there’s an Enterprise plan for large organizations that need priority support and custom billing. However, you’ll need to contact the Kapwing team directly to obtain a customized quote.
Kapwing: Features
Kapwing packs a good mix of both AI-powered and traditional video editing features. Let’s start with its AI capabilities. Right off the bat, you’ll notice that you can generate AI videos with a simple text prompt. Its video generation interface is pretty similar to that of chatbots like ChatGPT or Gemini. You simply enter your prompt and click the Send button. You can also attach media as a reference for the AI engine.
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Besides video generation, Kapwing offers several other AI tools. For instance, Translate Video lets you convert the audio in a video from one language to another. There’s also a handy Smart Cut feature, which automatically removes awkward silences from your videos, giving them a more polished finish. You can also generate AI characters, which come in handy if you want to build a consistent storyline or reuse the same character across multiple AI-generated videos.
Kapwing gives you more options when generating AI characters. To get started, click the @ icon in the chat window and select the type of character you want to generate. The available options range from everyday characters like a baby or a cheerleader to more outlandish ones such as a cyborg, Dracula, or a dragon.
You also have the option to choose more than one character type. For instance, you can select both “baby” and “Dracula” if you’re trying to create something unique. Here’s the Baby Dracula character we created using Kapwing.
(Image credit: Future)
Apart from this, you’ll find several other options, such as Image to Video, which lets you convert a still image into a short video clip, and Text to Video, where you can enter a full-fledged script and allow Kapwing to generate an AI video for you. There’s also a handy Video Stabilizer tool, which is useful for fixing shaky footage or videos with heavy motion blur.
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For longer video formats, Kapwing also supports Video Storyboards, where you can create a timestamped outline of every scene. The more traditional tools include text-to-speech, video dubbing in 40+ languages, resizing videos from one aspect ratio to another, and adding subtitles to videos.
Kapwing: Interface and in use
Almost all of Kapwing’s features are nestled into a central dashboard, with the video editor in the center, a long list of features on the left-hand panel, and an editing panel on the right. You can simply upload your media or drag and drop any video or image you want to edit. After that, you may need to spend a little time exploring the interface to find the exact feature you’re looking for.
For instance, you can access features such as Text, Audio, Subtitles, Transcript, Translate, AI Voice, and more directly from the left-hand panel. There’s also a help function that helps you quickly locate settings you can’t find right away.
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(Image credit: Future)
The editing experience was pretty smooth. For instance, we tried adding text to an AI-generated image, and the process was seamless. We could easily change the font, color, size, and other formatting options from the panel on the right.
Note that the right-hand panel changes dynamically depending on the tool you’re using. For example, if you select Translate, you’ll see language options appear on the right.
Overall, like any video editing software, Kapwing comes with a slight learning curve. However, in our experience, it was much easier to use than many legacy editing tools. The interface is modern, sleek, and highly responsive. We didn’t experience any system lag or timeouts during our testing.
(Image credit: Future)
In addition to the main editing window, there is also a dedicated My Workspace page in Kapwing. Here, you can find all your recent projects at the bottom, along with a dedicated set of tools highlighted on the main page. If you’re using a Business plan, you’ll also see your team folders on the left-hand panel. Similarly, Settings, Brand Kit, and your Media Library are all accessible from the same panel.
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Kapwing: How we tested
We tested the free version of Kapwing across multiple accounts to evaluate its AI capabilities more thoroughly. To start, we tried generating an AI video using the following prompt:
“A woman in a red coat walks across a rain-soaked city street at night, neon signs reflecting in the puddles, camera slowly tracking alongside her.”
(Image credit: Future)
Kapwing got to work as soon as we hit Send, first generating a summary of the scene we wanted to create. After that, it produced a five-second video within seconds. Although Kapwing indicated that the video would be seven seconds long, the actual output was five seconds.
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(Image credit: Future)
We then edited the same video using Kapwing’s video editor, experimenting with features such as adding text, audio, and subtitles. Since the free plan is fairly limited, we had to use more than two accounts to fully test its capabilities.
What stood out to us was how quickly Kapwing generated both edits and the source video. Everything was processed quickly, which is a clear advantage.
Kapwing: Alternatives
While Kapwing is a capable AI video generator and editor, it is not the most affordable option out there. For instance, Adobe Firefly costs $8.49 per month when billed annually and comes with features comparable to Kapwing. You get access to popular video models such as Google Veo 3.1 and Runway Gen-4.5, allowing you to create up to 50 and 11 videos, respectively.
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Adobe Firefly truly shines with its workflow features, allowing creative teams to brainstorm visual concepts on virtual boards. You can also process thousands of files at once using bulk actions such as removing backgrounds or cropping images. That said, Firefly lags a bit behind when it comes to video editing, as many of its editing features are still in beta.
It’s also not ideal for long-form content generation, as most models cap video lengths at three to five seconds. On the bright side, you also get access to Adobe Express Premium and Photoshop with all paid plans.
Veed is another capable competitor, with prices starting at $12 per month, roughly 20% cheaper than Kapwing. It also offers a free plan, which appears to be more generous than Kapwing’s. For instance, you can try features like removing silences, background removal, auto-edits, social media character generation, and voice cloning on Veed’s free plan – most of which are not available on Kapwing’s free tier.
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Kapwing: Final verdict
Kapwing is one of the best AI video generation and editing platforms available, with a strong mix of both traditional and AI-powered tools. Not only can you generate AI videos from simple prompts, but you can also transcribe videos, translate them into 40+ languages, create AI characters, and edit videos from a central dashboard.
Kapwing is also easier to use than many other platforms on the market, although there is still a slight learning curve involved. That said, there are plenty of video tutorials and help center articles available to help users get through this phase.
However, Kapwing can be a bit on the expensive side, especially for personal users, which is why you may want to consider alternatives like Adobe Firefly or Veed.
If your AI rollout is making people more exhausted, the architecture is wrong. That’s not a provocative claim; it’s the logical conclusion of what the data shows. With 69% of UK businesses implementing AI assistants, these tools have become part of everyday working life.
But deployment without the right operational structure is leaving employees exposed to the harmful effects of ‘AI brain fry’. AI overload is not a failure of the individual, but a failure of system design. And it is the responsibility of technology and business leaders to fix it.
Sonali Fenner
Managing Director at Slalom.
Researchers recently coined the term ‘AI brain fry’ to describe the cognitive fog and loss of concentration that results from excessive oversight and orchestration of AI tools; i.e. the mental load of managing the systems themselves. The problem – as our own data makes clear – is not that employees are using AI skills too much.
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Rather, it is that most UK businesses have deployed AI tools without building the structured ways of working needed to make them productive. The issue does not lie in use alone; it lies in how that use is managed.
The organizations deploying these tools have a duty to ensure they deliver genuine efficiency gains – not a new category of cognitive burden.
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The adoption gap is creating more work, not less
Only 31% of businesses are using multi-agent workflows, leaving their employees stuck in a cycle of tedious labor – the kind that AI is supposed to reduce. The majority of UK businesses currently employing AI tools are expecting employees to still do most of the heavy lifting.
Employees are finding themselves writing prompts, manually checking whether the answers are reliable, and interpreting outputs.
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This type of work was supposed to be eased by AI. Instead, the tools have made it worse.
The consequence? More admin, not less. Employees who were promised that AI would lighten their workload are instead finding it has added a new layer of tasks including prompt management, output validation, error correction on top of the day job.
Few businesses have moved towards a structured multi-agent workflow where AI systems handle the orchestration burden directly – routing tasks, validating outputs and managing agent-to-agent handoffs without requiring constant human supervision.
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That is the architecture that relieves the cognitive load. Without it, employees are not using AI – they are managing it. And there is a significant difference between the two.
Moving towards an ‘adaptive operating model’
UK organizations need to move beyond AI deployment and towards an adaptive operating model. One that is deliberately architected, not organically grown. That means clearly defining which tasks AI can be trusted to handle autonomously, where human judgement remains the critical control point, and how work moves between the two. In practice, this could look like:
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AI agents handling first pass research, data synthesis and output drafting. Humans setting direction, making judgement calls and reviewing exceptions, rather than every output.
The distinction between “AI does the work” and “human manages the AI doing the work” is where most current deployments get stuck. To protect employees and exact real productivity, businesses must build in human oversight at the right level – not at every level.
This means developing genuine domain expertise so that employees can interrogate AI outputs critically, not simply accept them. It also means investing in the technical literacy to design workflows that are robust, not just functional. An AI deployment that requires constant human supervision to remain reliable has not been properly engineered.
The organizations that get this right will also be better protected as the employment landscape shifts. With the UK government’s Employment Rights Act 2025 set to reduce the qualifying period for unfair dismissal claims and remove the compensation cap from January 2027, the cost of poorly managed AI-driven workforce change, both in human and legal terms, is rising.
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Businesses that have embedded clear human-AI accountability structures will be far better placed than those that have not.
Without making these structural changes, AI adoption will continue to add effort rather than remove it. Thereby accelerating burnout at the very moment businesses are depending on these tools to drive productivity.
Protection and transformation go hand-in-hand
It is entirely possible to realise the productivity potential of AI whilst protecting employees from its cognitive costs. Multi-agent workflows, properly designed, keep humans in the seats that matter – strategy, judgement and decision-making – and had the orchestration burden to the systems built for it.
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AI brain fry is not an inevitable side effect of AI adoption. It is a signal that the implementation architecture needs re-thinking. That is a technical and organizational challenge, and it belongs with the people who built the system – not the people using it.
This article was produced as part of TechRadar Pro Perspectives, our channel to feature the best and brightest minds in the technology industry today.
The views expressed here are those of the author and are not necessarily those of TechRadarPro or Future plc. If you are interested in contributing find out more here: https://www.techradar.com/pro/perspectives-how-to-submit
Self-driving cars have gotten pretty good at driving. The harder problem is teaching them to drive safely in situations nobody planned for. We have heard horror stories of self-driving cars, behaving erratically in emergency situations, often times delaying first responders from reaching the scene.
A team at Seoul National University, led by professor Jun Won Choi from the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, thinks they have cracked part of that puzzle with a new AI model called SafeDrive. The research was recently selected as a highlight paper at CVPR 2026, a distinction that goes only to roughly 3% of all submissions.
How does SafeDrive make driving decisions safer?
Most end-to-end autonomous driving models work by studying massive amounts of real driving data and trying to mimic how humans react on the road. It works well most of the time, but these systems tend to struggle when it comes to explaining why they chose one path over another, and that becomes a real problem when safety is on the line.
Seoul National University College of Engineering
Choi’s team built something called Fine-grained Safety Reasoning to fix this. Instead of picking one driving path and going with it, SafeDrive generates several possible trajectories, combines them with what the car’s sensors are perceiving, and scores each option for safety. The car then picks the path that scores best. It sounds simple, but it directly tackles the two biggest weaknesses of current end-to-end systems, safety and explainability.
Why is this such a big deal for Korea?
As TechXplore reports, this is the first time a Korean-made end-to-end autonomous driving paper has landed a highlight spot at CVPR, one of the biggest AI and computer vision conferences in the world. It is a strong signal that Korea is no longer just watching from the sidelines while the US and China race ahead with their self-driving ambitions.
SafeDrive is not staying stuck in the lab either. It has already been folded into EAD, a reference model backed by Korea’s Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy, and Choi’s team is now working with domestic autonomous driving companies to test it in real vehicles. Choi says the plan is to keep improving the model with bigger datasets and eventually push it toward full commercialization using their own collected data.
Nine-department ERP overhaul judged unachievable without urgent action
The UK government has admitted that two major planks of its multibillion-pound shared services strategy are in serious trouble.
Matrix, a project that involves moving nine government departments to shared ERP and HR systems, has been rated red by the National Infrastructure and Service Transformation Authority (NISTA), which monitors the planning and delivery of major government projects.
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This rating means the project has “major issues” with its schedule, budget, quality, or delivery of benefits, and the problems “do not appear to be manageable or resolvable” at this stage.
Matrix is just one of five clusters the government is betting will save £4.3 billion by migrating a total of 17 departments and 300 arms’-length bodies onto shared tech platforms.
The NISTA report for fiscal 2025-26 says the rating reflects “a number of material issues” identified during project planning.
In 2024, Matrix awarded Workday a contract for SaaS finance and HR software and Cognizant a system integration deal with a combined value of £144.3 million.
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Matrix was scheduled to begin going live in May 2026, but experienced delays. In March, the Matrix Programme Board met “to consider the case for re-baselining the programme, including the development of a rectification plan and the consideration of several planning scenarios.”
“Replanning is intended to establish a more realistic, credible, and achievable forward plan in response to ongoing delivery challenges. Current emerging analysis indicates a delay of 3-6 months, which would move the Phase 1 user go‑live to late 2026,” the NISTA report says.
Although “system issues have now been resolved,” the “single biggest risk to this is departments being unable to find functional subject matter expert capacity to undertake the high level of testing they have identified as being required, given their low risk appetite.”
The Department for Science, Innovation and Technology (DSIT) is leading Matrix. It is joined by the Cabinet Office, Department for Energy Security and Net Zero, Department for Culture, Media and Sport, Department for Business and Trade, Attorney General’s Office, and the Department of Health and Social Care.
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His Majesty’s Treasury (HMT) and the Department for Education have delayed their decisions to join Matrix despite the Cabinet Office saying they had “unconditionally bought into joining shared services at the outset” and their “participation in shared services is not optional.”
MPs said last week that their reluctance to join could undermine the project. The Treasury, for example, already uses relatively modern Oracle Fusion SaaS to run its HR and finance functions.
NISTA also rated the Unity shared services project as red, although it said progress had improved. Unity concerns His Majesty’s Revenue & Customs – Britain’s tax collection agency – and two other departments moving to a cloud-based SAP ERP system.
A spokesperson at DSIT told The Register: “Delivery challenges were found in the Matrix Program after a planned review. We have decided to replan the program to make sure we have a realistic and achievable delivery schedule, while continuing work to modernize shared services across government.”
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Officials said the department’s program team is developing the next iteration of the business case for HMT and Cabinet Office approval later this year. It is due to set out a timetable for the next wave of departments and arm’s-length bodies to onboard to the new system and service, including HMT. DSIT remains committed to the program and expects it to offer £1.67 in benefits for every £1 invested. ®
Most people would have tossed the red Nintendo 3DS XL the moment they opened the package. Bought for twenty-seven pounds and already looking like it had spent years outdoors, the handheld arrived with a rusty hinge, a body that bulged open, no battery, and clear signs of serious water damage. Elliot of The Retro Future saw something worth saving instead.
Opening the rear cover reveals actual rust, the kind that takes a long time to accumulate after being left out in the elements, with no artificial “weathering” BS. Some screws were so tight that they required to be loosened using a Dremel, and things only got worse after that. The shoulder button connector has virtually pulled itself apart from the ribbon cable and the board. The SD card reader was shot, with thick clumps of rust caked on the motherboard, which had deformed slightly. The screens were dusty and dirty. The joysticks appeared to belong in a museum of broken pieces. The cameras were in a horrible state. The rubber portions had turned into mush. Threads in the shell had been removed completely. One look at the state of things made it clear how large of a task you were facing.
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Cleaning began with a thorough cleaning in an ultrasonic bath with some watch-cleaning solution for the metal components. Shell pieces soaked overnight in a solution of bicarbonate of soda and boiling water. To remove all of the filth, the boards and other pieces required to be scrubbed with hot soapy water and then wiped off with isopropyl alcohol. Vinegar baths and a baking soda paste applied with a toothbrush were required to remove the most persistent corrosion. Some of the chrome plating on the screws had worn so thin that it could no longer be saved, necessitating the replacement of new ones. However, the idea was not to make it look like it had just rolled off the assembly line.
Almost every critical component needed to be removed and replaced. A replacement motherboard from Japan, which costs roughly £50, was first on the list. New displays, ribbon cables, shoulder buttons, joysticks and covers, volume sliders, cameras, a microphone, a touchscreen, and a new battery came next. Aftermarket shell pieces were necessary to fill in the gaps where the original plastic had nearly collapsed. Small 3D printed tabs replaced the broken light-pipe mounts. Swapping so much out was a matter of practicality. Water-damaged components cannot simply be wiped away.
Buttons were functional again, and the touchscreen responded to input. The cameras were ready to go now. The left and right triggers had returned to normal. The 3D slider still did not work, which is a shame because it is linked to the aftermarket screen rather than the actual problem. Later on, certain software updates would remove the Japanese region lock, allowing it to play a variety of titles.
The finished 3DS XL retains the original shell’s weathered appearance, but it now functions like a normal system. Elliot placed it in a clear container, resulting in a great playable console as well as a silent little museum piece, serving as a reminder of what happens when you leave a system out to get wet for months on end. Some of the online restoration videos you see make the broken system appear to be as good as new with just a wash down and some water, but this thing was not going to recover from being left out in the weather for so long. Over time, sun and rain will leave scars.
Leather jacket belonging to Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang sells for $960k, way above the $40-60k estimate
Huang’s jackets have become a tech sector icon and a staple CEO ‘uniform’ piece
The proceeds wil help fund fellowships and more across tech
A black Tom Ford leather jacket worn and signed by Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang has sold at a New York auction for $960,000.
“The response to this sale surpassed even our highest expectations,” Sotheby’s head of modern collectibles Brahm Wachter explained, with the jacket selling for around $900,000 more than auctioneers had anticipated, given the auction house’s estimate of $40,000 to $60,000.
The jacket itself – one of many that the CEO has owned, of course – has become a staple recognized by the entire tech sector, with Huang rarely spotted out in public wearing anything else.
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Jensen Huang’s jacket sold for $0.9 million
This specific jacket came from Tom Ford’s Spring-summer 2023 collection, however the CEO has been wearing similar jackets for years, leading similar examples to have become essential parts of any Nvidia keynote or tech conference.
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Huang is one of a growing number of CEOs who have chosen uniformity and simplicity in their clothing – Mark Zuckerberg’s blue jeans and grey t-shirt, and Steve Jobs’ black turtleneck, also become similarly iconic.
Independent verifiers are said to have confirmed both the jacket’s authenticity and the signature’s authenticity, revealing that it was worn by Huanh at the 2023 Foxconn Tech Day.
Clearly, it being Jensen Huang’s jacket is the core reason why it fetched nearly $1 million at auction. His company, Nvidia, is somewhat of an AI success story, having risen from a valuation of around $300 billion in 2020 to $4.9 trillion today.
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At the time of writing, Nvidia is the world’s most valuable companies, just a reach ahead of Apple – with the $940,000 cost buying you around 4653 shares in the company at today’s market price.
The proceeds are set to help fund Edge Institute, a nonprofit that will support fellowships, grants and residencies across the tech sector.
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