Published on August 24, 2026 at 18:02 CEST (UTC+2)
Xiaomi: New CPU matches Apple cores single threaded, much faster multithreaded (133 points by tosh)
Daniel Lemire's post analyzes Xiaomi's new Xring O3 processor, which he says roughly matches Apple's cores on single-threaded tasks and is much faster in multithreaded execution. The chip has a large 44MB total cache — more than most laptop CPUs — and its biggest C1-Ultra cores feature 21 execution ports, supporting SME2 and SVE2 for AI/vector acceleration. Lemire frames this as an important trend but notes the lead may be short-lived as Apple is expected to announce its next processor soon.
OpenAI: GPT 5.6 Sol price reduction (until at least Nov 21) (51 points by tosh)
This article is an OpenAI API documentation page announcing a price reduction for GPT-5.6 Sol, valid until at least November 21. The page indexes the full API docs, covering models, agents, tools, voice & audio, and production APIs. It includes a large set of resources: GPT-5.6 usage guides, conversation state, background mode, streaming, webhooks, file inputs, fine-tuning, and evaluation. The pricing discount appears designed to drive adoption of OpenAI's latest reasoning model.
MS Paint and Photos inivisibly watermark even locally generated output with GUID (30 points by ComputerGuru)
Xusheng Li reverse-engineers Microsoft Paint and Photos, discovering that the apps embed server-issued GUIDs as invisible watermarks in locally generated AI images. Even when image generation runs locally (e.g., on Copilot+ PCs), the prompt is sent to a remote server for moderation, and the returned GUID is baked into the image pixels. The invisible watermark is separate from any visible-watermark setting, and AI-generated images are limited to C2PA-preserving formats like PNG, JPEG, GIF, and .paint. Microsoft does disclose C2PA metadata for AI-generated images, but the invisible GUID goes further than publicly documented behavior.
How Europe is killing makers and micro-entrepreneurs (528 points by l-one-lone)
This article is a critique of the EU's new Packaging and Packaging Waste Regulation (PPWR), which applies from August 2026 and threatens to kill makers and micro-entrepreneurs. Lectronz, a marketplace for open-source hardware, says the extended producer responsibility rules are sensible for large companies but devastating for individuals selling even a handful of boards a year. Independent designers, engineers, and hobbyists face the same compliance costs as factories, threatening an entire ecosystem of innovation that includes Arduino-like projects. The author argues that a good idea (reducing packaging waste) has been implemented in a way that crushes small players.
Coding expertise is going to collapse from AI reliance (7 points by larsfaye)
The article argues that AI coding assistants will prevent new developers from developing deep expertise, a "skilled orchestrator paradox" in which the skills needed to manage AI agents are the same ones diminished by using them. Experienced developers benefit the most because their knowledge was built from years of hands-on work that predates AI tooling. Junior developers, however, are entering a field where they are guided and mandated to use coding assistants before they have the expertise to wield them responsibly, risking skill atrophy rather than growth. The author warns this will lead to a collapse of coding expertise over time.
SeL4 security proofs now complete on AArch64 (117 points by snvzz)
Proofcraft announced the completion of seL4's formal confidentiality proof on AArch
Hot Chips 2026: Applying High Bandwidth Flash (HBF) (21 points by ksec)
Analysis generated by deepseek-reasoner