Especially the most ambitious technologies have shown their limits in recent days. OpenAI agents leaked user images, a novel selected for the Goncourt Prize was withdrawn over suspicions it was written by artificial intelligence, while Google is already preparing to send its AI chips into space. Even the future of consoles has been in the news, with first features supposed for the PS6 and the next Xbox.
For this reason, this week the new promises have often been accompanied by an asterisk. Tesla is ramping up production of its Optimus robots, but it still has problems. Microsoft opens its quantum processor to DARPA, without this being enough to validate its technical options. Disney+ maintains its premium price despite the disappearance of video features, and SpaceX is preparing Starship to finally reach true orbit. The future moves forward, but clearly has a list of fixes to complete.
OpenAI discovers that a private image can travel very far
OpenAI admitted that its AI agents published to external services 53 images provided by ChatGPT users. The files came from accounts that allowed their conversations to be used to train the company’s models.
The images were not presented directly on traditional public pages, but the links created by the agents could still be discovered on the Internet. OpenAI claims to have obtained the deletion of most of the files, without being able to individually notify the interested parties: its processing process would no longer allow the images to be linked to the original accounts.
The company is now examining several petabytes of data to identify other potential incidents. This case reminds us that autonomous agents are no longer content to generate text: they can manipulate files, use external services, and perform actions whose consequences survive the end of the conversation. The “delete chat” button suddenly seems a lot less definitive.
Generative AI has also caused a shakeup in the French publishing sector. The Goncourt Academy has announced Goncourt’s withdrawal from It was that or die, the first novel by Thélyson Orélien, of which some 35,000 copies have already been sold. The institution affirms that the work would have been carried out “to a large extent” with artificial intelligence.
The withdrawal does not resolve all the questions raised by the case: how much help is excessive, how to prove it, and what information should an author provide his publisher or readers? After images, codes and music, the debate on the transparency of AI now reaches directly to the literary awards.
AI wants to be more ecological… and is starting to look into space
Faced with the growing consumption of models and data centers, a parliamentary report calls on France to develop greener AI. The senators propose, in particular, better measuring electricity and water needs, the use of critical minerals and the artificialization of land linked to digital infrastructures.
The report also aims to promote models that consume less energy and develop more computing capacity in France. Therefore, the issue goes beyond simply reducing the electricity bill: it is also about knowing where the systems are housed, with what resources and according to what environmental limitations.
Google is planning a much more dramatic response. With Project Suncatcher, the group will place four of its TPUs into low orbit aboard a SpaceX mission. The experiment should verify whether these chips resist launch vibrations, accelerations, vacuum and radiation.
There is still no question of installing a real data center around the Earth. Google is first testing the components needed for a potential orbital system that could ultimately benefit more directly from solar energy. After filling the server warehouses, the AI begins to look at the sky. It remains to be seen that sending a rocket does not slightly complicate the carbon footprint of the operation.
PS6 and Xbox Helix appear in the first leaks
The next consoles from Sony and Microsoft would have taken an important step in the development of their chips. According to leaker KeplerL2, future consoles have reached “tape-out”, the moment in which the design is frozen before the first physical copies are manufactured.
The PS6 would reach 40 TFLOPS of theoretical graphics power, compared to the 56 TFLOPS of the Xbox Helix. Both machines would use a Zen 6 architecture for the processor and RDNA 5 for the graphics part. However, this information remains unconfirmed leaks by Sony or Microsoft.
TFLOPS alone also cannot predict actual performance. Generations of GPUs, memories, ray tracing units, artificial intelligence and game optimization play a determining role. So the Xbox could show the bigger number on paper without each game automatically being more impressive.
Microsoft also appears to be taking a step back in terms of how to sell AI in its computers. The new Surfaces continue to meet the technical criteria of Copilot+ PCs, but the Copilot+ label no longer appears in their commercial name. The functions remain, the motto disappears. After putting Copilot everywhere, Microsoft may discover that the product can also be presented without starting every sentence with “AI.”
As the machines of tomorrow feed the leaks, a game from four decades ago reminds us that power is not everything. Our look back at forty years of Castlevania shows how Dracula’s Castle became a testing ground for action games, exploration and progression. The next generation of consoles will still have to produce adventures that will be talked about with the same precision in 2066.
Disney+ loses features, Letterboxd gains value
European Disney+ Premium subscribers continue to pay 15.99 euros per month, while Dolby Vision and HDR have disappeared from the platform. 4K has partially returned thanks to another codec, but without finding all the features previously offered.
Given this situation, Que Choisir sent a formal notice to Disney. The association calls for the restoration of promised services or a reduction in prices, as well as clearer information and uniform compensation for affected subscribers.
The problem originated in a patent dispute between Disney and InterDigital. Whatever the legal outcome, the situation is quite simple from the customer’s point of view: the price has not gone down when the image quality has decreased. Even Mickey would probably have a hard time turning that into a sales pitch.
In the same cultural universe, the sale of Letterboxd would attract A24, Sony Pictures and The New York Times Company. The platform dedicated to reviews and viewing logs could be valued at more than $300 million.
Letterboxd doesn’t have a huge catalog of movies to stream, but it does have something almost as valuable: a highly engaged community and a wealth of information about your tastes. However, its future owner must maintain the trust of these users. A review network quickly loses some of its value when its members begin to suspect that the recommendation of the day also corresponds to its owner’s movie.
Tesla accelerates Optimus, but the hands still resist
Tesla now produces several hundred humanoid robots per week at its Fremont factory. These data about Optimus robots come from an investigation by The Information and have not been officially confirmed by the company.
The pace would be about ten times higher than that observed in the second quarter, but several obstacles remain. Hands are, in particular, one of the most difficult components to manufacture and make reliable. Tesla also needs to improve its assembly equipment and teach robots to perform truly versatile tasks.
The difficulty is indicative of the entire sector. Making a robot walk, make it carry an object or perform choreography produces very visible manifestations. Daily handling of tools, cables, packaging or irregular parts requires precision that is much more difficult to obtain. Therefore, the future of automated work depends in part on its scope.
An Elementor bug reminds us that a single click can be very expensive
WordPress site administrators have a particularly important update to install. An Elementor flaw allows an attacker to create an administrator account when an already logged-in administrator clicks on a specially crafted link.
The vulnerability affects versions 4.3.0 and 4.3.1, installed on up to around two million sites. Fixed with Elementor 4.3.2. Therefore, the attack does not automatically take control of any site from the outside: it is based on sending a malicious link to an authenticated administrator.
This nuance does not make the problem benign. Phishing campaigns targeting WordPress site owners are good for mimicking a technical alert, customer request, or security notification. In this specific case, wanting to review a message too quickly can give the attacker keys to the entire site.
Microsoft still has to prove its quantum bet, Starship its orbital bet
Microsoft has opened its Maryland quantum center to a DARPA team, which can now physically examine Majorana 2 with its own instruments. This independent access constitutes an important step for the Majorana 2 bet, but it represents neither a certification of the processor nor a definitive validation of the topological qubits claimed by Microsoft.
The company still needs to demonstrate that its architecture can reliably retain quantum information and scale to much larger systems. Therefore, the presence of DARPA reinforces the credibility of the verification process, but not yet that of all the expected results.
SpaceX also hopes for a decisive demonstration. Starship has completed its general refueling rehearsal ahead of the orbital flight scheduled for September 28. After thirteen tests dedicated to the development of the vehicle, Flight 14 must attempt to reach Starship’s first real orbit.
The launch is planned the day after the publication of this summary and is, of course, subject to technical and meteorological conditions. A successful test brings SpaceX closer to takeoff, but does not yet guarantee complete completion of the mission. In both space and quantum, the most important proof remains the one that works outside of the presentation.
A week where promises met their limitations
The common thread of recent days has less to do with the announcements than with the obstacles encountered to come to fruition. AI agents can leak data, models consume enough resources to force Google to look into space, and humanoid robots still stumble over gestures that humans perform without thinking.
Other sectors are not saved. The supposed features of future consoles will have to be compared with real games, Disney+ will have to justify a Premium formula deprived of certain functions, Microsoft will have to convince independent evaluators and Starship will still have to transform a successful test into a full orbital flight.
So, tech didn’t lack ambition this week. Above all, it reminded us that between an impressive figure, a demo, and a truly reliable product, there are always some updates, tests, and sometimes a pair of hands to refine.
