Man granted first-of-its-kind religious exemption against mandatory AI use at work — Humanist argues that offloading his thinking to LLMs violates his beliefs, Title VII accommodation protects employee

A research administrator at the University of Kentucky was granted a Title VII exemption, allowing them to not use AI tools as it goes against their moral beliefs.
#hardware
https://www.tomshardware.com/tech-industry/artificial-intelligence/secular-humanist-gets-religious-exemption-from-using-ai-argues-that-offloading-his-thinking-to-llms-violates-his-beliefs-american-humanist-association-says-its-the-first-case-of-its-kind

French rioters ransack eSports team premises and are seen looting RAM sticks from PCs

Leading French eSports club Team Vitality has confirmed that its Paris HQ has been smashed up, with trophies, computer equipment, and more looted over the weekend.
#hardware
https://www.tomshardware.com/video-games/pc-gaming/french-rioters-ransack-esports-team-premises-and-are-seen-looting-ram-sticks-from-pcs-team-vitalitys-v-hive-paris-hq-was-wrecked-during-unrest

Chip fab engineering game goes viral in Taiwan

A new 3D web game where you live 'A Day in the Life of a Semiconductor Wafer Factory Worker' has gone viral in Taiwan, where it was developed.
#hardware
https://www.tomshardware.com/video-games/pc-gaming/chip-fab-engineering-game-goes-viral-in-taiwan-realistic-and-stressful-simulation-is-basically-a-horror-game-say-some-players

Nvidia doubles DLSS 5 performance, reduces 4K VRAM usage by 20% with latest model

Nvidia has announced that DLSS 5 is now two times faster while using less VRAM.
#hardware
https://www.tomshardware.com/pc-components/gpus/nvidia-doubles-dlss-5-performance-reduces-4k-vram-usage-by-20-percent-with-latest-model-october-update-cuts-footprint-by-24-percent-to-roughly-118-million-parameters

Intel to phase out SGX after Xeon Diamond Rapids in favor of TDX

Intel set to discontinue SGX after Xeon 'Diamond Rapids' and focus on expanding TDX capabilities to meet emerging security requirements of cloud computing, enterprise workloads, and agentic AI.
#hardware
https://www.tomshardware.com/pc-components/cpus/intel-to-phase-out-sgx-after-xeon-diamond-rapids-in-favor-of-tdx-confidential-computing-pivot-adds-trusted-i-o-and-post-quantum-crypto-for-agentic-ai

AnyPS5 project reaches critical GPU milestone in race to enable running PS5 games natively on PC

The open-source AnyPS5 project has reached 100% GPU shader instruction coverage.
#hardware
https://www.tomshardware.com/video-games/playstation/anyps5-reaches-critical-gpu-milestone-with-100-percent-shader-instruction-coverage-ps5-games-running-natively-on-pc-still-far-off

Modder brings original Xbox emulation to jailbroken PS5

The original Xbox now runs on the PS5, it requires a jailbreak but
#hardware
https://www.tomshardware.com/video-games/playstation/modder-brings-original-xbox-emulation-to-jailbroken-ps5-xpsemu-plays-halo-2-and-forza-as-ps5-emulators-outnumber-its-15-exclusives

Toshiba to double HDD production capacity as 30TB-class loom — 65TB, 100TB drives on the roadmap for 2030 and beyond

Toshiba doubles HDD capacity in the Philippines in fiscal 2027, in time for 30TB-class HDD ramp in 2027.
#hardware
https://www.tomshardware.com/pc-components/hdds/toshiba-to-double-hdd-production-capacity-as-30tb-class-loom-65tb-100tb-drives-on-the-roadmap-for-2030-and-beyond

The Netherlands is rolling its own software and services after U.S. sanctions took Microsoft off the table

When the U.S. imposed sanctions on the International Criminal Court, it also meant that its chief prosecutor lost access to Microsoft services, forcing the Dutch government to make alternative plans.
#hardware
https://www.tomshardware.com/software/the-netherlands-is-rolling-alternative-nixos-based-software-ecosystem-after-u-s-sanctions-on-icc-took-microsoft-off-the-table-trial-programs-running-now-first-release-expected-at-end-of-2027

Enthusiast cooled iPhone 18 Pro with cold can of La Croix sparkling water; benchmarks show 25% higher sustained performance

Matt Birchler put a cold drink can on the back of an iPhone 18 Pro to see how much performance uplift it would get in a prolonged benchmarking session. The results showed up to 25% higher sustained performance from the cold drink, showing the effectiveness of 'liquid cooling.'
#hardware
https://www.tomshardware.com/pc-components/liquid-cooling/enthusiast-cooled-iphone-18-pro-with-cold-can-of-la-croix-sparkling-water-benchmarks-show-25-percent-higher-sustained-performance-liquid-cooling-surprisingly-reduced-thermal-throttling

Microsoft patents system to freeze games and inject ads during downtimes — watching commercials earns ad-free playtime credits

This patent uses the game engine and machine learning to determine the best time to serve an ad.
#hardware
https://www.tomshardware.com/video-games/microsoft-patents-system-to-freeze-games-and-inject-ads-during-downtimes-watching-commercials-earns-ad-free-playtime-credits

Elon Musk's Terafab hits a roadblock before making a single chip, receives cease-and-desist order — firm files trademark lawsuit, has sold Tera-Fab-branded lithography tools for over a decade

Elon Musk's Terafab semiconductor project has run into an unexpected trademark dispute with Tera-print, a small U.S. company that has used the Tera-Fab name for its tabletop lithography equipment for about a decade.
#hardware
https://www.tomshardware.com/tech-industry/semiconductors/elon-musks-terafab-hits-a-roadblock-before-making-a-single-chip-receives-cease-and-desist-order-firm-files-trademark-lawsuit-has-sold-tera-fab-branded-lithography-tools-for-over-a-decade

AMD shares first official benchmarks for EPYC 'Venice' CPUs, targets Nvidia — company claims 256-core chip is more than twice as fast as Nvidia Vera, 96-core model 20% faster per-core

AMD has released several benchmarks for its EPYC 'Venice' CPUs in a clear shot at Nvidia.
#hardware
https://www.tomshardware.com/pc-components/cpus/amd-shares-first-official-benchmarks-for-epyc-venice-cpus-targets-nvidia-company-claims-256-core-chip-is-more-than-twice-as-fast-as-nvidia-vera-96-core-model-20-percent-faster-per-core

US chip fabs face massive 157,000 worker shortfall, mere 3% of US engineering grads enter chipmaking — despite six-figure salaries, US chip manufacturers are in dire need of engineers and technicians

As many semiconductor fabs and facilities go online in the 2030s and beyond, a global consulting firm said that these sites will need thousands of engineers and technicians that the U.S. will be hard-pressed to fill.
#hardware
https://www.tomshardware.com/tech-industry/semiconductors/us-chip-manufacturers-are-in-dire-need-of-engineers-and-technicians-experts-suggest-a-shortage-of-up-to-157-000-semiconductor-workers-by-2030

Bernie Sanders proposes 20 year prison sentence for AI devs who plow ahead with Artificial Superintelligence plans — penalty on par with illegally developing rogue nuclear weapons

Senators Bernie Sanders and Greg Cezar have announced their Ban Artificial Superintelligence Act which threatens 20-year prison sentences for rule breakers.
#hardware
https://www.tomshardware.com/tech-industry/artificial-intelligence/sanders-proposes-20-year-prison-sentence-for-ai-devs-who-plow-ahead-with-artificial-superintelligence-plans-penalty-on-par-with-illegally-developing-rogue-nuclear-weapons

Intel revives One Mono font after brief retirement during open-source purge — typeface built to fight coder eyestrain gets reprieve

Intel’s decision to archive its developer-focused One Mono font lasted only two days, with the company now restoring the open-source project despite its relatively limited development activity.
#hardware
https://www.tomshardware.com/tech-industry/intel-revives-one-mono-font-after-brief-retirement-typeface-built-to-fight-coder-eyestrain-gets-reprieve-from-open-source-purge

Nintendo of America puts tariff refunds towards 'customer appreciation' sale, but no refunds to Switch 2 buyers — offers 30% off games and accessories from September 13 to 26

Nintendo is offering a 30% sale with its tariff refunds, as opposed as returning the money directly to customers.
#hardware
https://www.tomshardware.com/video-games/nintendo/nintendo-of-america-puts-tariff-refunds-towards-customer-appreciation-sale-but-no-refunds-to-switch-2-buyers-offers-30-percent-off-games-and-accessories-from-september-13-to-26

Google maps entire brain and central nervous system of adult male fruit fly, software engineers immediately make it run Doom — AI-powered 3D model of over 166,000 neurons can also play Super Mario 64

Scientists mapped the complete brain and central nervous system of an adult male fruit fly for the first time. Days later the full MaleCNS v1.0 fruit fly connectome was being trained to play Doom and Mario 64.
#hardware
https://www.tomshardware.com/software/programming/google-maps-entire-brain-and-central-nervous-system-of-adult-male-fruit-fly-software-engineers-immediately-make-it-run-doom-ai-powered-3d-model-of-over-166-000-neurons-can-also-play-super-mario-64

GTA Vice City and GTA III return to web browsers after a DMCA takedown — Open-source reverse engineering brings the classics to the web with over 100 FPS performance

You can play GTA: Vice City and GTA III in your browser right now across pretty much any modern device. The projects are compiled from source codes of the original games and are available on either DOS Zone, where you're required to upload or torrent a few assets, or Quenq.
#hardware
https://www.tomshardware.com/video-games/gta-vice-city-and-gta-iii-return-to-web-browsers-after-a-dmca-takedown-open-source-reverse-engineering-brings-the-classics-to-the-web-with-over-100-fps-performance

Almost 70% of voters in Missouri city vote to recall council member who said yes to AI data center tax breaks — councilor said disagreement over an issue shouldn’t be enough to unseat him

The people of Independence, Missouri, voted to recall councilor John Perkins after he voted to give a Nebius data center tax breaks amounting to more than $6 billion. Perkins said that a single vote should not be enough grounds to overturn an election from two years ago.
#hardware
https://www.tomshardware.com/tech-industry/data-centers/almost-70-percent-of-voters-in-missouri-city-recall-council-member-who-said-yes-to-ai-data-center-tax-breaks-councilor-said-disagreement-over-an-issue-shouldnt-be-enough-to-unseat-him