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State of Texas: Smokable hemp ban takes effect, businesses work to adapt
A new state rule banning the sale of intoxicating hemp flower is now in effect in Texas. Business owners say the impact is immediate.
Microsoft spent years pushing Copilot, but now it says don’t rely on it
Microsoft says Copilot is for “entertainment purposes only,” despite deep integration into Office and Windows, sparking criticism over mixed messaging.
Next Level Games wanted Link in Mario Strikers Charged
According to a developer that worked on Mario Strikers Charged, there was some consideration for having Link in Mario Strikers Charged. As a Mario game, Strikers Charged expectedly stuck with characters associated with that franchise. However, there was the possibility of bringing in that famous character from The Legend of Zelda. That tidbit was shared today by Did You Know...
Some Essentia Health clinics impacted due to inclement weather
Due to inclement weather, the following Essentia Health clinics are closed or have a delayed opening today, Saturday, April 4.
If You See This Message In Google Chrome, You Are Now At Risk
Google updates Chrome with attacks underway — but millions are still at risk. Check for this message now.
Crimson Desert patch now available
Pearl Abyss has rolled out another patch for Crimson Desert, adding in the Headgear Visibility option to give you a bet…
Apple iOS 26.5 public beta is now available
Apple has released the first public beta for iOS 26.5, just a few days after the beta for developers came out.
The latest on the Artemis II mission to the moon, and more science stories
The Artemis II crew is now more than halfway to the moon.
Braiding knowledge: how Indigenous expertise and western science are converging
Researchers are weaving Native practices with western methods to revive ecosystems and reclaim food sovereignty
With 2025's GOTY Now In The Library, Xbox Game Pass Premium Is Becoming Too Good To Ignore
A serious value for Xbox players
Dan Hurley called his shot: Tarris Reed Jr. would be X-factor for UConn Final Four run
Tarris Reed Jr. started only one game last year. Now, he's an every-game starter for UConn and has led the Huskies on a deep March Madness run.
The Apple CarPlay Widgets Every iOS 26 User Needs to Enable Right Now
Maximize your dashboard with the best CarPlay widgets for iOS 26. From the new Ambient Music player to AI-powered voice bots and predictive traffic, here is what to install.
President Trump signs order intended to stabilize college sports, threatens lost federal funding
Trump went after eligibility rules, transfers and the spiraling costs associated with an industry that now pays its players millions of dollars per year.
23 Things That Used To Be "Good"...Until They Became Way, Way, Way, Wayyy Too Popular
"National parks are ruined. I remember when the entrance was free... Now, there are permits, reservations, waiting lines, fast food, crowds, and trash everywhere."
Nintendo Switch Games Normally $50 Now Only $5 on eShop
Nintendo Switch games that Nintendo fans normally have to pay $50 on the eShop are only $5 for a limited time.
Album Review: 6WA by BigXthaPlug & 600 Entertainment
BigXthaPlug spent eight months in Nashville making a country-rap album that debuted at No. 7 on the Billboard 200, put “All the Way” with Bailey Zimmerman at No. 4 on the Hot 100, got him a Rolling Stone cover, and filled arenas with Jelly Roll. And then he came back to Dallas, rounded up four of his signees, and made a gangsta-rap record with N.W.A’s Straight Outta Compton on the cover. 6WA is the second group release from 600 Entertainment, named after the 600 block of Meadowridge Street in Ferris, Texas, where BigX and his people grew up. The whole thing is loaded with West Coast samples. From N.W.A.’s “8Ball,” Eazy-E’s “Real Muthaphuckkin G’s” and “Boyz-N-The-Hood,” Ice-T’s “6 in the Mornin’,” Snoop Dogg’s “Nuthin’ but a ‘G’ Thang” and more. BigX is staking his name on the lineup he built—Rosama, MurdaGang PB, Yung Hood, KevanGotBandz, KaineMusic—and claiming a lineage from 1,400 miles away while insisting Dallas is its own thing. A million dollars in cash, split and handed straight to his mother. That’s the first place BigX goes on “From the Bottom.” He’d probably still be in the streets if he didn’t have his son and daughter. He only started rapping to make life better for Carter. Couldn’t start his car back then, now people get starstruck at Starbucks, and he throws the whole field away in one sentence: “How you think we competin’? You on the same bag, I just made me some millions off country.” Goyard bags off a Nashville payday, and he wants you to know exactly how far he’s come from everybody else. “Safe to Say” does something similar but looser. It’s a straight Ice Cube “It Was a Good Day” flip, and BigX nails it. Wakes up, checks both phones, nobody’s locked up, kid accounts look good. Gets pulled over, only catches a warning. Pulls up on the squad to liquor, ladies, and haze. Rosama takes the second verse and matches him. Wakes up to his girl cleaning his cuticles, twins playing peekaboo, pays off his car, calls a cousin, sees the opps and they don’t trip. Lawyer calls, he beat his case. Rosama is the strongest voice in the 600 camp after BigX, and “Life of a Gangster” is why. Third person, riding low, blacked-out windows, snub-nose revolver. A character who chose sticking people up over selling dope. “Quick eraser like a number-two pencil.” He never breaks character, and his delivery drops lower and slower than anything he does on the group cuts, like he’s telling you something at a cookout that he probably shouldn’t. Then on “Long Live Fre$h” he’s a completely different rapper. “Short-bus diamonds, these bitches retarded,” wide-body Durango he can’t even park. That kind of range matters on a group record. MurdaGang PB’s best verse is on the title track. Feds at his door at 6 AM, cameras busted, flushing dope, ram truck putting everybody on the floor. Yung Hood on “The Hottest” just lays out four reasons to keep hustling. Who wants to be broke, women cost money, you need bail, and home has to be straight. It’s funnier and more honest than most rappers get when they’re trying to explain why they sell drugs. KevanGotBandz on “Ain’t Never Slowin’ Down” talks about his father getting caught on the dope while he’s sitting on $300K somewhere in the hills, which is a specific kind of guilt that doesn’t usually make it onto crew tapes. KaineMusic, the newest signee, takes the back half of “Who Dunnit” and introduces herself in third person—“Took flight just to show these hoes how to perform”—but it’s too short to know if she can hold a full song. The flex tracks fill the middle of the LP and mostly run together. “I Go” is Rosama and PB trading brands, guns, and food punchlines. Rosama’s “anemic, my iron tucked low in this shirt” is a slick gun bar, PB fires back with “.223 with a clip ‘bout as big as a toddler” and “I go Burger King, stay with that whopper.” Quick, funny sometimes, but it’s all shopping lists. “Dopeman” is a chant. “6ixer Party” brings Snoop Dogg, who does exactly what you’d expect Snoop Dogg to do. BigX contributes the night’s wildest overshare: “She say she brought a friend too, well, I’m tryna put sausage on her dental.” These songs move fast and don’t overstay, but three or four of them could trade verses and nobody would catch it. Midway through, The D.O.C. shows up for a spoken-word interlude. Tracy Curry. West Dallas native, former N.W.A affiliate, co-writer on a lot of the records getting sampled on this very album. He thanks BigX for the tribute and then gets direct: “This your time, this DFW time. You need to do it like we do it down here.” Leave bread crumbs so everybody behind you can eat. Keep God in your life. It’s fatherly and generous, and it does raise the question of whether 6WA follows that advice. The album borrows heavy. The cover art, the Eazy-E samples, “Amerikkka’s Most Wanted” opening with a direct “Boyz-N-The-Hood” lift, Yung Hood rapping “Flag on my left side, Crip until I die.” But the stuff that actually stays with you is Dallas. BigX talking about Pleasant Grove, Rosama calling himself a country boy, PB recounting a raid that could’ve been last Tuesday. The record smells most like itself when it smells like Ferris, Texas, and least like Compton. BigX on “The Hottest” says his father was the first person he knew who had chickens. Not the way rappers usually wave at the drug trade. He means his actual father, his actual family. On “600 Degrees,” Rosama compares his chopper’s stutter to a speech disorder, PB claims he still has the block on his back even after leaving the city. BigX closes that one saying he used to spin and smack, and now the plaques are platinum. Thirty-two minutes was right for this. Nobody overstays, Tony Coles and Rance and Charley Cooks keep the production punchy, and BigX gives his signees real room instead of crowding every song. 6WA doesn’t reinvent anything. Five rappers, good beats, short clock. Most of what they say you’ve heard before. Some of it—the million to his mother, the cuticles and peekaboo, the four reasons to hustle—you won’t forget. Solid (★★★½☆) Favorite Track(s): “Safe to Say,” “From the Bottom,” “The Hottest” Subscribe
What is Cicada COVID? Is it in Arizona yet? All about variant BA.3.2
Vaccination and past infection may not protect against a new strain of the COVID-19 virus known as Cicada. Here's what you need to know.
Trump Slashed Funding for Science. Now the U.S. Faces a Costly Brain Drain.
The White House’s attacks on academia and budget cuts for research have provided an opening for other countries to poach leading scientists.
H.264 streaming license fees were raised to as much as $4.5 million, open standards now look even more attractive
Via LA raises H.264 streaming fees for new licensees, existing deals stay unchanged Via Licensing Alliance has updated its H.264, also known as AVC,
Reducing friction in ARC Raiders
ARC Raiders is a multiplayer extraction adventure, set in a lethal future earth, ravaged by a mysterious mechanized threat known as ARC.
The Future of Brain Health Is Architecture
We’ve long recognized the importance of buildings in meeting a basic human need: shelter. Now, research shows how buildings can improve our overall brain health.
R&B world rocked by legend’s death at 86: ‘We lost a giant’
He was a legend who was known for playing with other legends.
This exploding star was spotted doing something weird. Now scientists think it might have solved a key cosmic theory | BBC Sky at Night Magazine
New evidence proves these magnetic monsters are the secret engines behind the Universe’s biggest explosions
I started using Obsidian as a complete beginner and now I understand why people switch and never go back
It can be as simple, or as complex as you want it to be.
Previously Unknown Human Lineage Discovered In Northern East Asia Survived And Adapted After The Ice Age Ended
The results suggest these hunter-gatherers persisted and adapted to a warming world, rather than being quickly replaced by farmers.
Sony TCL Deal Reshapes Home Entertainment Role And Investor Focus
Sony Group (TSE:6758) has agreed to form a new home entertainment joint venture with TCL. The deal transfers a majority stake and global TV and audio product operations to TCL, including manufacturing facilities. The partnership affects Sony branded consumer TVs and audio products across key international markets. Sony Group (TSE:6758) is known for its entertainment, gaming, imaging, and consumer electronics businesses, with TVs and audio products serving as core branded offerings. The new...
Trump voter regret is clearly registering now
As President Donald Trump’s poll numbers have hit new lows amid the Iran war, there’s now the firmest evidence yet of a long-anticipated dynamic: the regretful Trump voter.
Weekend reads: Half of social science ‘doesn’t replicate’; ‘Scientific ghosts: Life after retraction’; multisensory learning paper retracted
If your week flew by — we know ours did — catch up here with what you might have missed. The week at Retraction Watch featured: A citation alert led researchers to a network of fake articles. But w…
The night Geno Auriemma snapped — and Dawn Staley showed the game has changed
A power dynamic shift is happening at the top of women's basketball. And Auriemma knows it.
What it's like flying Southwest after all the changes; A-List helped
I hit the spending threshhold on my Chase Reserve card in 2025 to secure free A-List status on Southwest. Now, I wouldn't fly the airline without it.
Citizen science trail camera project studies winter tick impacts on moose in northeast Minnesota
Winter ticks continue to pose a significant threat to moose in northeastern Minnesota, and a newly launched citizen science project is now using trail camera photos to document their impact. On April 2, the Northern Moose Alliance, a collaborative initiative of tribal and state agencies to study moose, particularly juvenile moose, launched a website, and...
The scores are in. One Taste, Charlie Grainger's receive high grades.
Six restaurants between Bryan and Effingham Counties were inspected in March and April. Is your favorite eatery on the list?
Meet the woman who wants Democrats to get hot, not bothered
A Democratic strategist started a social media account about her party running hot people as a joke. Now she's serious.
Column: The future is now
In the sci-fi of 2026, the future isn’t bright, necessarily. But there is a tiny light of optimism burning in the darkness. We’re still here, against all odds. And if
Scientists discover fossils that change what we know about evolution
Scientists have discovered fossils in China that reveal a crucial transition from simple to complex life on Earth
Ye attempts a comeback with sold-out LA-area concert, support from Lauryn Hill
The artist formerly and possibly again known as Kanye West reveled in support from one of his musical idols, Lauryn Hill, as he staged a sold-out Southern California concert meant to mark a comeback...
Ye attempts a comeback with sold-out LA-area concert, support from Lauryn Hill
The artist formerly and possibly again known as Kanye West reveled in support from one of his musical idols, Lauryn Hill, as he staged a sold-out Southern California concert meant to mark a comeback from years of controversy.
Microsoft’s Windows Upgrade Deadline—Now Just 8 Weeks Away
Check your PC now — you must not miss this critical deadline.
Carson City Local Favorites Winners: Entertainment & Nightlife
The results are in! Check out the winners for the Entertainment & Nightlife categories in the Carson City Local Favorites Contest below: You can also find the full list of […]
LinkedIn Hidden Code Secretly Searches Your Browser for Installed Extensions
Every time you open LinkedIn in a Chrome-based browser, hidden JavaScript silently scans your computer for installed software without your knowledge, without your consent, and without a single word in LinkedIn's privacy policy.
Utah Jazz vs Houston Rockets recap and final score
The Utah Jazz and Houston Rockets played and we will now forget it happened
Why are people allowed to bet on politics? | California Politics 360
Right now, at least $13 million has been placed in bets on the California governor's race in a state that doesn't allow online sports betting. KCRA's Ashley Zavala on why people are allowed to bet on politics.
President Trump signs executive order intended to stabilize college sports
In the order signed hours before the women's Final Four tipped off one of the biggest weekends in college sports, President Donald Trump went after eligibility rules, transfers and the spiraling costs associated with an industry that now pays its players millions of dollars per year.
These overlooked brain cells may control fear and PTSD
Astrocytes, once thought to be mere brain “support cells,” are now revealed to be key players in fear memory. Researchers found they actively help form, recall, and weaken fear responses by interacting with neurons in real time. Changing astrocyte activity directly altered how strong fear memories became. This breakthrough could lead to entirely new treatments for anxiety-related disorders.
Meteor impacts may have sparked life on Earth, scientists say
Asteroid impacts may have helped kick-start life on Earth by creating hot, chemical-rich environments ideal for early biology. These impact-generated hydrothermal systems could have lasted thousands of years—long enough for life’s building blocks to form. Scientists now think these environments may have been common on early Earth, making them a strong candidate for where life began. The idea could also guide the search for life on other worlds.
Oregon health officials warn measles cases could continue to rise
According to the Oregon Health Authority, the majority of those cases are due to people being unvaccinated or having an unknown vaccination status.
Teen Science Cafe/ AI in Everyday Life and Healthcare
We are excited to invite you to the Alexandria Teen Science Café on April 16, where we’ll explore how emerging technologies are reshaping the future of health. This month’s café will show you how the data behind everyday apps is being transformed into powerful tools that help solve medical challenges once considered impossible, even predicting
Georgia lawmakers pass bill that lets property owners sue over homeless encampments
Homelessness advocates say the bill would cause law enforcement to arrest people because they have nowhere to sleep and spur frivolous lawsuits paid for by taxpayers.
Karpathy shares 'LLM Knowledge Base' architecture that bypasses RAG with an evolving markdown library maintained by AI
Karpathy proposes something simpler and more loosely, messily elegant than the typical enterprise solution of a vector database and RAG pipeline.
Tariffs impact Brazos Valley businesses one year after implementation
“I think it’s worse now. I think people were trying to absorb it. I didn’t see my prices go up the first, hardly at all."
Why 'Paradise' Is The Most Addictive Show On TV & Everything We Know About Season 3
From Xavier's heroics to Sinatra's sacrifice, Paradise Season 2 ended with a bang. Here’s everything we know about Season 3.
Sphere Entertainment (SPHR) Is Up 17.4% After Wizard of Oz-Driven Revenue Surge and Global Expansion Plans
Sphere Entertainment recently reported past-quarter revenue growth of 28%, powered by the success of its “Wizard of Oz at Sphere” production in Las Vegas, which has sold more than two million tickets and helped narrow operating losses in the Sphere segment. On the back of this stronger performance, the company is now moving ahead with international Sphere developments in Abu Dhabi and National Harbor, signaling a push to replicate its immersive venue model beyond the US. We’ll now examine...
‘This is a recalibration’: Trump Cabinet worries no one is safe after Bondi and Noem firings
When President Donald Trump ousted his attorney general, Pam Bondi, it sent a clear message to his remaining Cabinet members: The job security they’ve enjoyed until now is no longer guaranteed.
First Jam Kuradoberi match footage released for Guilty Gear Strive Version 2.00
Guilty Gear Strive is less than a week away from it's huge Version 2.00 update, and now we can get a taste of what that's going to look like with the newest character.Arc System Works and ...
90 Painfully Relatable Programming Memes That Might Just Break Your Brain (New Pics)
Every job has its quirks. But some feel almost like a world of their own. Like programming—we (indirectly) interact with it every day, yet many of us know surprisingly little when it comes to what actually goes on behind the screens. The subreddit ‘Programmer Humor’ is the perfect place to bridge this gap. It allows them—and pretty much everyone involved in computer science—to air their frustrations and give the rest of us a better understanding of what their day-to-day really looks like. Here a
New Apple TV Waiting for Siri: Here's What's Coming When It Launches
We're long overdue for an Apple TV update, and there have been rumors about an imminent refresh since late last year. It's now sounding like we're not going to get a new version for several months because of Siri delays. If you're holding out for a new model, here's a recap on what to expect when it eventually comes out so you can decide whether to continue to wait, or buy now. Design Apple TV design updates are few and far between, and that's not changing in 2026.
From Hollywood headlines to Heartland buzz: Are you on the pulse?
Test your knowledge of entertainment with this quiz on celebrities, trends and headline-making moments. Featured this week: celebrity scandals and guess the celebrity photo.
iFixIt tears down the new AirPods Max 2, isn’t surprised
You know the drill: new Apple product, new iFixIt teardown. Here’s what they found when they dug into the new AirPods Max 2.
7+ Florida Politics Now: Economic impact of the Artemis II Rocket Launch
This episode we’re discussing election reforms and the economic impact of the Artemis II Rocket launch.
Apple issues warning to millions of iPhone users over sophisticated attack stealing data: Act NOW
Apple has issued an emergency update for millions of iPhone users, urging them to act now to prevent their data from being stolen.
What time is UConn vs South Carolina in Final Four? Start time, location, TV Channel
Everything you need to know to tune into No. 1 UConn Huskies vs No. 1 South Carolina Gamecocks including start time and streaming options for the Final Four
What time is UCLA vs Texas in Final Four today? Start time, location, TV Channel
Everything you need to know to tune into No. 1 UCLA Bruins vs 1 Texas Longhorns including start time and streaming options for the Final Four
The Happy Accident: How Benetta MacAuley Found Her Joy in Materials Science and Music
Benetta MacAuley didn't know materials science was a major when she applied to UC Davis. Now the senior investigates sustainable cement alternatives and leads the viola section of the Video Game Orchestra, proving that the best paths are often unplanned.
Business moves from mall to across the street
Kay Jewelers is on the move from White Oaks Mall.
What's next for North Carolina coaching search after Tommy Lloyd inks new deal with Arizona?
Here are the top names to know for the Tar Heels after Tommy Lloyd's decision.
Were ‘Yellowstone’ Streaming Rights to Blame for ‘Marshals’ Killing Off Monica?
How this might impact Beth and Rip 'Yellowstone' spinoff.
Xbox's State Of Decay 3 Finally Returns, Signups Now Live For Alpha Playtests
"A mysterious broadcast calls to all survivors of the blood plague"
Quiz: This week in politics
It was another busy week in national politics. Take this quiz to see what you know and what you missed.
Quiz: This week in politics
It was another busy week in national politics. Take this quiz to see what you know and what you missed.
Quiz: This week in politics
It was another busy week in national politics. Take this quiz to see what you know and what you missed.
Quiz: This week in politics
It was another busy week in national politics. Take this quiz to see what you know and what you missed.
Scientists Witnessed the Formation of a Mysterious Particle for the First Time
Theories long predicted how polarons form, but now there’s proof.
Scientists Witnessed the Formation of a Mysterious Particle for the First Time
Theories long predicted how polarons form, but now there’s proof.
Las Vegas Atomic Museum hosting Star Wars science event
The National Atomic Testing Museum is partnering up with DRI for an out-of-this-world celebration of science and Star Wars.
Owlet nursed back to health, thanks to woods visitors, local veterinarian, firefighters
A great-horned owlet originally found on the ground in need of critical care in the UNC Asheville woods is now back home, living a healthy life.
Warhammer 40K: Apocalypse Rules Aim To Make Playing Big Games Easier
Getting all your miniature on the tabletop is tough enough. Now 40k Apocalypse rules should help speed up the fun of actually playing!
Gemma 4 and what makes an open model succeed
Having written a lot of model release blog posts, there’s something much harder about reviewing open models when they drop relative to closed models, especially in 2026. In recent years, there were so few open models, so when Llama 3 was released most people were still doing research on Llama 2 and super happy to get an update. When Qwen 3 was released, the Llama 4 fiasco had just gone down, and a whole research community was emerging to study RL on Qwen 2.5 — it was a no brainer to upgrade. Today, when an open model releases, it’s competing with Qwen 3.5, Kimi K2.5, GLM 5, MiniMax M2.5, GPT-OSS, Arcee Large, Nemotron 3, Olmo 3, and others. The space is populated, but still feels full of hidden opportunity. The potential of open models feels like a dark matter, a potential we know is huge, but few clear recipes and examples for how to unlock it are out there. Agentic AI, OpenClaw, and everything brewing in that space is going to spur mass experimentation in open models to complement the likes of Claude and Codex, not replace them. Especially with open models, the benchmarks at release are an extremely incomplete story. In some ways this is exciting, as new open models have a much higher variance and ability to surprise, but it also points at some structural reasons that make building businesses and great AI experiences around open models harder than the closed alternatives. When a new Claude Opus or GPT drops, spending a few hours with them in my agentic workflows is genuinely a good vibe test. For open models, putting them through this test is a category error. Something else to be said about open models in the era of agents is that they get out of the debate of integration, harnesses, and tools and let us see close to the ground on what exactly is the ability of just a model. Of course, we can’t test some things like search abilities without some tool, but being able to measure exactly the pace of progress of the model alone is a welcome simplification to a systematically opaque AI space. Share The list of factors I’d use to assess a new open-weight model I’m considering investing in includes: Model performance (and size) — how this model performs on benchmarks I care about and how it compares to other models of a similar size. Country of origin — some businesses care deeply about provenance, and if a model was built in China or not. Model license — if a model needs legal approval for use, uptake will be slower at mid-sized and large companies. Tooling at release — many models release with half-broken, or at least substantially slower, implementations in popular software like vLLM, Transformers, SGLANG, etc due to pushing the envelope of architectures or tools. Model fine-tunability — how easy or hard it is to modify the given model to your use-case when you actually try and use it. The core problem is that some of these are immediately available at release, e.g. general performance, license, origin, etc. but others such as tooling take day(s) to week(s) to stabilize, and others are open research questions — with no group systematically monitoring fine-tunability. In the early era of open models, the days of Llama 2 or 3 and Qwen pre v3.5, the architectures were fairly simple and the models tended to work out of the box. Some of this was due to the extremely hard work of the Llama, Qwen, Mistral, etc. developer teams. Some is due to the new models being genuinely harder to work with. When it comes to something like Qwen 3.5 or Nemotron 3, with hybrid models (either gated delta net or mamba layers), the tooling is very rough at release. Things you would expect to “just work” often don’t. I’ve been following this area closely since we released Olmo Hybrid with a similar architecture, and Qwen 3.5 is just starting to work well in the various open-source tools that need to all play nice together for RL research. That’s 1.5 months after the release date! This is just to start really investing more into understanding the behavior of the models. Of course, others started working on these models sooner by investing more engineering resources or relying on partially closed software. The fully open and distributed ecosystem takes a long time to get going on some new models. All of this is lead-in for the most important question for open models — how easy is it to adapt to specific use-cases? This is a different problem for different model sizes. Large MoE open-weight models may be used by entities like Cursor who need complex capabilities in their domain, e.g. Composer 2 trained on Kimi K2.5. Other applications can be built on much smaller models, such as Chroma’s Context-1 model for agentic search, built on GPT-OSS 20B. The question of “which models are fine-tunable” is largely background knowledge known by engineers across the industry. There should be a thriving research area here to support the open ecosystem model. The first step is to understand characteristics of different base and post-trained models to understand what they look like. The second step is to tune pretraining recipes for open models so they’re more flexible. Interconnects AI is a reader-supported publication. Consider becoming a subscriber. Subscribe For The ATOM Project and other Interconnects endeavors, we’ve put in substantial effort to measuring adoption trends in the open ecosystem. Everything takes a long time to unfold after a model is first publicly available — and adaptability is why. What we know for sure now, when Qwen has been going from strength to strength with its releases, is that technical staff across the industry has gotten comfortable working with Qwen models. Countless research methods and datasets were made to work with Qwen. It’ll take patience for any other model family to get to this point — a patience I’m not sure many open model builders have. This takes us to Gemma 4, Google’s latest open models. Gemma 3 was released more than a year ago, in March of 2025, and is a bit underrated. Gemma 4 comes in 4 sizes for now, with a bigger, MoE model of over 100B total parameters rumored but not released yet. The models we have today come in sizes of ~5B dense, 8B dense, 26B total 4B active MoE, and 31B dense. I’m most excited that they’re finally adopting a standard Apache 2.0 open source license. This’ll massively boost adoption. The standard of better licenses for strong open-weight LLMs was set by mostly Chinese open model labs in the last 1-2 years, and now U.S. companies are following suit. I will personally be so happy if the horrible Llama licenses and Gemma terms of service were an ~18-month transient dynamic of the industry being nervous about releasing strong open models. The Gemma 4 scores look very solid, the small models have incredible benchmark scores (especially in general domains like LMArena) and the 31B model rivals the recent Qwen 3.5 27B, which is the leading member of that class. The ~30B size range is an important one, as it’s accessible both to researchers and to enterprises looking to deploy the model in real use-cases. Where the 7B model scale is the default for tinkering and research, a 30B model is the default for seeing if an open model can unlock substantial value in your specific workflow — a good mix of intelligence, low price, tractability for downstream training, etc. This takes us back to the above adoption criteria I mentioned for open models and the bigger question — do I think Gemma 4 will be an overwhelming success? Previous Gemma models have been plagued by tooling issues and poorer performance when being finetuned. Gemma 4’s success is going to be entirely determined by ease of use, to a point where a 5-10% swing on benchmarks wouldn’t matter at all. It’s strong enough, small enough, with the right license, and from the U.S., so many companies are going to slot it in. I’m cautiously optimistic that Gemma 4 is going to work better here. Winds are shifting for open models built in America. We saw GPT-OSS go through a bumpy launch to become an overwhelming success. There’s a collective energy around the likes of Reflection, Arcee, Nemotron, Gemma, Olmo, and peers that show substantial demand for building new stacks around open models. There’s capital to be spent on AI stacks across the economy by those who want more ownership of everything, including the model. After launching The ATOM Project 240 days ago, the conversation is shifting into the next stage. Summer of 2025 was a crisis moment where the U.S. AI scene realized it can’t wait and figure out open models after building AGI. The two markets will capture different areas and proceed in parallel. Now that more companies in the U.S. are releasing strong models, we need to improve the ecosystem so that these models are easy to use, understand, and build value around. It’s the hard work to build another inflection point in these adoption plots I’ve been updating consistently, but that’s the work to be done. Join me in it. More data coming soon! Here’s a sneak peek:
NHL Playoff Race: What the Penguins need to do
The Penguins lost to Tampa last night but still remain incredibly well-positioned to secure a playoff spot this season. Here’s the relevant standings for them as of now. While there could be other avenues with a Wild Card spot, for now we’ll keep it simple on the most straight-forward path available to Pittsburgh: finishing in […]
United now has a 'base' fare for business class and premium economy
United Airlines will roll out tiered fares in business and premium economy, offering travelers different perks and flexibility.
Exclusive: Justice Samuel Alito was taken to a hospital last month in previously undisclosed incident
Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito was taken to a hospital after becoming ill last month at a Federalist Society dinner in Philadelphia, according to people with knowledge of the March 20 incident.
Missouri sports betting market officially launched: $5,000 in sportsbook sign-up bonuses, promos in April
Missourians can now place sports bets with mobile sportsbooks and get Missouri sports betting offers for the Missouri betting launch
What are Joleans? What to know about Dolly Parton clothing line
Dolly Parton partners with Good American for a new 'Joleans' denim collection, available now, featuring sparkle and rhinestones. Shop it today
Surprise! Zendaya wears something blue, after the old, new and borrowed
First she wore something old. Then new, then borrowed — and now blue. Zendaya showed up at her New York premiere for “The Drama” in a dazzling blue Schiaparelli couture
Dr. Google will see you now — but the healthcare advice might be bogus
Never has such a wealth of information been at your fingertips to explain your symptoms or summon deepfakes to sell you on bogus cures.
Can You Name That Political Memoir? A Slate Quiz.
We’re in prime politicians-releasing-platitude-filled-books season. But do you know how platitude-filled?
The Crowd-Sourced Science to Save Endangered Succulents
The Crowd-Sourced Science to Save Endangered Succulents: Coalescing all known information about cacti for anyone who needs to know
Ratatan's Nintendo Switch version officially cancelled, dev explains why
It’s now official that the Nintendo Switch version of Ratatan has been cancelled. You may recall that the game was featured in an Indie World Showcase presentation earlier this year. A Nintendo Switch 2 version was announced, but the original Switch version was nowhere to be seen. Now we know what happened. An update was shared on the official Kickstarter...
Pure entertainment now streaming in Women’s Storytelling Festival
The annual celebration of diverse spoken-word artists is available online until April 28, and ticket sales close April 8.
What to know about Todd Blanche, Trump's pick for acting attorney general
Before picking Blanche to help lead and now run the Justice Department, President Donald Trump was his client.
Scientists Just Discovered There’s Actually Something Faster than the Speed of Light
Scientists experimentally confirmed what we’ve known to be true for half a century—darkness can “travel” faster than light.
What do you want to know about how space affects human health?
The Artemis II is flying astronauts to orbit the moon. The deep-space flight is a major opportunity to gather data for even longer, riskier missions, especially Mars. What are your questions about how the body copes with radiation, isolation, or weightlessness, and what scientists hope to learn from the mission?
We Asked a Doctor If Omega-3 Supplements Can Support Heart Health
Omega-3 fatty acids are widely known to support heart health, but supplementing with them may not be as effective as getting them from food. Learn whether omega-3 supplements can help boost your heart health.
Legion Go 2 now costs $2000, twice as much as ROG Xbox Ally X
Best Buy now lists Lenovo Legion Go 2 at 48% above launch price Lenovo launched the Legion Go 2 in the US at $1,349.99 for the Ryzen Z2 Extreme, 32GB, 1TB
Exclusive | ServiceNow CEO Builds New Business Model Around AI
Bill McDermott envisions a ‘control tower’ for companies as AI moves beyond intelligence to execution.
Memphis in May BBQ contest schedule, performers and what to know
The Memphis in May World Championship Barbecue Cooking Contest is set for May 13-16 at Liberty Park.
Concerns over a Nebraska hospital show how a $50B rural health fund is coming up short
A rural Nebraska family’s lifeline hospital now sits at the center of a national fight over Medicaid cuts.
Trump's $50B health fund offers ailing rural hospitals few solutions
A rural Nebraska family’s lifeline hospital now sits at the center of a national fight over Medicaid cuts.
The newest entertainment facility in central Nebraska is now open in Kearney
Drop Zone features an 18-hole putt-putt course, 32 top tracer bays and four pickleball courts.
From 'Five Nights at Freddy's 2' to 'Crime 101,' 10 movies to stream now
Need a good movie? Watch these 10 at home now, including "Five Nights at Freddy's 2" and "Pizza Movie." All are free on your streaming services.
Palumbo family business secrets revealed in settlement agreement with IDOT
It turns out there were more connections than previously known between Sebastian "Sam" Palumbo, his construction firms and a road-building group overseen by relatives known as Builders Companies. But the firms insist those ties didn't violate Palumbo's agreement not to participate in state or federal contracts following a 1999 guilty plea in a racketeering case.