Apple debuts $599 Google Chromebook competitor

Apple’s latest product announcement this week is an opening salvo against Google’s ubiquitous Chromebook. On Wednesday, the iPhone maker unveiled the MacBook Neo, which starts at $599 — or $499 for students — the lowest price ever for a MacBook. Apple typically skews to the high end of the market.

The Neo is still more expensive than typical Chromebooks, which are hugely popular in schools, but it’s less stripped down, with a sharper display, aluminum case, and a more powerful processor than many Chromebook models.

Say hello to MacBook Neo

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Rani Molla

Musk says Tesla will be one of first companies to reach AGI

He also said we’d reach artificial general intelligence within two years... about two years ago.

Elon Musk Speaks During A town Hall Event In Green Bay, Wisconsin

Rani Molla5h

Bank of America upgrades Tesla, expecting it to “quickly become a leader in robotaxi services”

Tesla jumped in premarket trading after Bank of America reinstated coverage of the EV maker and upgraded it to “buy” from “hold,” with a price target of $460.

“We expect TSLA to quickly become a leader in robotaxi services, given its ability to scale more profitably than competitors,” analyst Alexander Perry wrote, noting that Tesla’s approach eschews more expensive (but more robust) technology like lidar.

BofA says Tesla’s Robotaxi service could amount to $844 billion in equity value and more than half Tesla’s valuation.

Currently, Robotaxi operates in two markets with heavy human oversight. In Austin, most of the rides involve a safety monitor sitting in the front seat, and in the Bay Area, all rides are driven by a human using supervised Full Self-Driving tech.

Alphabet subsidiary Waymo, meanwhile, is currently operating its driverless ride-hailing service in 10 US markets.

Rani Molla20h

Waymos reportedly continuing to pass stopped school buses after earlier recall over same issue

The National Transportation Safety Board reported Tuesday that it’s looking into two recent instances of driverless Waymo vehicles passing stopped school buses. The incidents occurred after the Alphabet subsidiary filed a voluntary recall in December over similar behavior.

In the January 12 case, the NTSB says video evidence shows the Waymo vehicle initially stopped for a school bus that had its red lights flashing and stop arms extended. Three human-driven vehicles then passed the bus illegally. While stopped, the Waymo vehicle contacted a remote assistance agent located in Michigan, asking whether the bus had active signals. After the agent responded “no,” the vehicle resumed travel and passed the bus while its stop arms were still extended. No one was hurt.

Jon Keegan22h

OpenAI’s new GPT-5.3 Instant: Less “cringe” tone, no more “over-caveating” responses

OpenAI has released GPT-5.3 Instant, a conversational model that the company says will have smoother conversations more to the point.

It seems OpenAI is walking back from its cautious guardrails, allowing a more permissive AI chatbot.

In a video describing the new model, a researcher explained, “People are noticing that our models can sometimes seem like a bit of a nanny.” The company describes this overcautious behavior as “over-caveating,” and this new model aims to relax a bit and let more things slide.

An example showed a question about calculations for “a really long-distance archery scenario.” The previous version of the model noted that the AI could not help with calculations that could be harmful. The new model’s response just went ahead and answered the question, without assuming any bad intent.

The researcher in the video said that these changes did not loosen safety controls, but rather just improved contextual understanding of the user’s query.

The model also features more useful web searches, which attempt to infer the context of why the user is asking the question and then tailor a more useful response. The company says results won’t appear to be just a list of links, but rather a more direct response with the information the user was looking for.

OpenAI said the new model is available today for all users of ChatGPT.

GPT-5.3 Instant: Smoother, more useful everyday conversations

The researcher in the video said that these changes did not loosen safety controls, but rather just improved contextual understanding of the user’s query.

OpenAI said the new model is available today for all users of ChatGPT.

Jon Keegan

3/3/26

OpenAI’s Altman: Our rushed deal with the Pentagon “looked opportunistic and sloppy”

OpenAI CEO Sam Altman shared an internal memo in which he expressed some regrets for the bad optics of the company’s hasty deal with the Pentagon, and outlined new additions that were made to the agreement.

Jerome Powell and Sam Altman Speak At Federal Reserve's Regulatory Capital Framework Conference

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