Nov 2, 2026 · 7 min listen · Last updated November 2, 2026
From storyflo. This is your daily audio brief. It's Theo. November 2nd, tech roundup — five stories, here's number one. Let's get into it. First, from Slashdot. Rocky Linux Creator Built a New 'Not Linux' Kernel in 11 Days Using AI.
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Daily Tech Brief · November 2nd
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Rocky Linux Creator Built a New 'Not Linux' Kernel in 11 Days Using AI
Gregory Kurtzer is no stranger to the Linux world. He created CentOS, and when Red Hat messed it up, he started Rocky Linux as the community replacement. He also co-founded CIQ, the company offering enterprise support around Rocky. His latest project has nothing to do with rebuilding another Linux distro, though. He has built an entirely new operating system kernel, and he didn't write most of the code himself. An AI agent did. Meet Ginux, Linux userspace without Linux underneath... It's an independent, Rust-first x86-64 kernel. Which simply means it is NOT a fork of the Linux kernel.
GDPx: Measuring Frontier Model Capabilities Across the Most Valuable Domains
GDPx is a benchmark that covers the most valuable domains for frontier intelligence. It aims to be the world’s best benchmark for measuring general agentic capabilities. We believe the first trillion dollars of AI revenue will be concentrated in sectors that can deploy frontier intelligence at high ROI, not broadly diffused throughout the whole economy. Building a general-purpose benchmark based on share of GDP or the SOC/O*NET occupational taxonomy is therefore a mistake.
India floats AI plan under which ‘The model travels to the data, rather than the data travelling to the model’
As debate and legal argument continue over the extent to which developers of large language models are entitled to feed the world’s data into their systems without paying for it, India’s government has come up with an idea to regulate and secure the flow of information. India’s motive is to create AI models trained on local data, because it thinks offshore model-makers won’t be motivated to address the nation’s issues or to ensure owners of data stay in control.
Experts Expect 'Security Reckoning' As AI Tools Find And Exploit Software Bugs
So, it turns out that a series of cyberattacks in South Korea has exposed the financial data of tens of thousands of people, and the surprising part? The alleged hacker is just a 26-year-old amateur from China. He used AI chatbots to carry out these attacks, which is kind of alarming. CrowdStrike, the cybersecurity firm investigating the situation, found that he used both advanced tools and some free models to break into these banks. It’s a stark reminder that hacking isn’t just for the pros anymore; anyone with access to these AI tools can potentially become a serious threat.
Experts are really concerned about this trend. They’re saying we’re on the brink of a “security reckoning” as AI tools become more common and sophisticated. It’s not just about the hackers anymore; even the speed of attacks has increased, making it easier for both seasoned hackers and novices to exploit vulnerabilities. The landscape is shifting fast, and the potential for widespread damage is growing.
In the U.S., there’s a call for immediate testing of critical infrastructure to find any exploitable bugs. It’s clear that the government might need to step in, possibly creating partnerships with private companies to tackle these issues head-on. It’s a lot to think about, but it really highlights how crucial it is to stay ahead in cybersecurity as these tools evolve.
Three new iPad models are reportedly launching early next year, here’s what’s coming
Hey! So, you know how I'm always looking at what's going on under the hood with tech? Well, I was reading about Apple's iPads, and it turns out they're not done with updates for the year. Even after the new iPad mini with that fancy OLED screen just dropped, they've got more planned for early next year.
Apparently, we're looking at a refresh for the iPad Air, the regular base iPad, and even the iPad Pro models. It’s not just a minor tweak either, from what I'm gathering. The real surprise is how they're planning to differentiate the Air models. Instead of just one size, they're thinking about offering two different screen sizes for the iPad Air. This is kind of a big deal because it’s been a while since they’ve done that, and it gives people more choice in that mid-range space.
And for the Pro models, the big news is that they're planning to make them even thinner. Like, noticeably thinner. They're also looking at potentially using OLED screens across the board for the Pro line, which would be a pretty significant upgrade in display quality. Plus, there are whispers about a new Magic Keyboard that’s supposed to make the iPad feel a lot more like a laptop. It sounds like they're really trying to push the iPad Pro into that laptop replacement territory even further. The base iPad is also getting an update, though it sounds like that one might be a bit more straightforward, probably just a processor bump and some minor design tweaks. It’s interesting to see how they’re carving out different niches for each model.
Binance Reopens to $3.64 in Net Outflows. '98% Choose to Stay', Says Its Founder
Binance is bouncing back after a significant security breach last week, claiming to have replenished about 90% of the $6.3 billion in stolen assets. When the platform reopened for withdrawals on Sunday, there was a rush from customers to move their funds, resulting in $3.64 billion in net outflows. This figure represents just over 2% of Binance's total assets, which stands at $171 billion according to their latest proof-of-reserves.
On November 1, Binance processed $4.65 billion in withdrawals and $1.01 billion in deposits within a single day, indicating that while many users were quick to withdraw, there’s still a healthy level of deposits coming in. The exchange gradually restored withdrawal services, completing the process for all 15 networks and assets by midday.
Changpeng Zhao, Binance's founder, reassured users on social media, highlighting that 98% of customers chose to stay with the platform despite the recent turmoil. He noted that most of the outflows happened in the initial hours after withdrawals resumed, but it seems like things are stabilizing now.
OpenAI Would Reportedly Like You to Use Its Pleasant New Term for Data Centers
“Compute campuses.” That’s the latest AI newspeak. This time, the proposed rebrand is coming from OpenAI, whose spokesperson apparently confirmed to Business Insider on Sunday that this was its new preferred nomenclature. “Compute campuses better describes the scale and role of the infrastructure we’re building for AI,” they told Insider, adding, “These are long-term investments in computing, energy infrastructure and skilled work.” Back in September, this emerging trend for rebranding AI-related concepts kicked off, starting with the term “artificial intelligence” itself.
The board is based around the Gowin GW1NR-9C FPGA which only has 8,640 LUTs. However, that’s enough to spin up a 36 MHz RISC-V CPU, and there’s 8 MB of RAM on tap, along with HDMI, 48 kHz stereo audio output, two USB ports, and an SD card reader. Combine all that together, and you’ve got a machine capable of playing a whole raft of classic 1990s games. [ThePartsBin] ported Doom, Tyrian, System Shock and Ultima VII, all of which run at a playable speed at a tasty 720 x 480 resolution.
Linus Torvalds says Linux kernel is out of ‘stabilization phase’ and using ‘much healthier model’ for AI contributions
Linus Torvalds has posted the first release candidate for version 7.4 of the Linux kernel and offered his opinion that the project has found a “much healthier model” for using AI. “This is a *BIG* merge window,” he wrote in his weekly state of the kernel update, as it contains almost 20,000 commits compared to the usual ~15,000 that developers submit for a new cut of the kernel.