April 16, 2026

Making AI operational in constrained public sector environments

The AI boom has hit across industries, and public sector organizations are facing pressure to accelerate adoption. At the same time, government institutions face distinct constraints around security, governance, and operations that set them apart from their business counterparts. For this reason, purpose-built small language models (SLMs) offer a promising path to operationalize AI in…

Amazon unveils a slimmer Fire TV Stick HD, opens Ember Artline TVs for preorder

April 15, 2026
On Wednesday, Amazon announced the launch of its new Fire TV Stick HD and Ember Artline televisions, both now available for preorder.  Following the initial release of the first-generation Fire TV Stick HD two years ago, Amazon has created a new model that is its thinnest streaming device to date, the company says. Launched in […]

HBO Max comes to India via exclusive JioHotstar deal

April 15, 2026
HBO Max will be available to JioHotstar subscribers as an add-on starting at ₹49 (about $0.50) per month, and would feature content from HBO, Max Originals, Warner Bros. Pictures, Warner Bros. Television, and DC Studios.

The Download: NASA’s nuclear spacecraft and unveiling our AI 10

April 15, 2026
This is today’s edition of The Download, our weekday newsletter that provides a daily dose of what’s going on in the world of technology. NASA is building the first nuclear reactor-powered interplanetary spacecraft. How will it work?  Just before Artemis II began its historic slingshot around the moon, NASA revealed an even grander space travel…

Cyberscammers are bypassing banks’ security with illicit tools sold on Telegram

April 15, 2026
From inside a money-laundering center in Cambodia, an employee opens a popular Vietnamese banking app on his phone. The app asks him to upload a photo associated with the account, so he clicks on a picture of a 30-something Asian man. Next, the app requests to open the camera for a video “liveness” check. The…

No one’s sure if synthetic mirror life will kill us all

April 15, 2026
For four days in February 2019, some 30 synthetic biologists and ethicists hunkered down at a conference center in Northern Virginia to brainstorm high-risk, cutting-­edge, irresistibly exciting ideas that the National Science Foundation should fund. By the end of the meeting, they’d landed on a compelling contender: making “mirror” bacteria. Should they come to be,…