Mozilla launches Thunderbolt AI client with focus on self-hosted infrastructure

Mozilla launches Thunderbolt AI client with focus on self-hosted infrastructure

fivenewscrypto    avril 18, 2026   

Mozilla is the latest legacy tech brand to make a play for the enterprise AI market. But the company behind Firefox and Thunderbird isn’t releasing its own standalone AI model or agentic browser. Instead, the newly announced Thunderbolt is being sold as a front-end client for users and businesses who want to run their own self-hosted AI infrastructure without relying on cloud-based third-party services.

Thunderbolt is built on top of Haystack, an existing open source AI framework that lets users build custom, modular AI pipelines from user-chosen components. Thunderbolt acts as what Mozilla calls a “sovereign AI client” on top of that underlying infrastructure. The combo promises to let users easily plug into any ACP-compatible agent or OpenAI-compatible API (including Claude, Codex, OpenClaw, DeepSeek, and OpenCode).

The system can also integrate with locally stored enterprise data through open protocols and use an offline SQLite database as a local “source of truth” for the model to reference. In conjunction with a locally run model that promises to let users control the entire stack of AI services, which could be an important consideration for businesses concerned about leaking their data to outside providers. Mozilla says Thunderbolt also offers "optional end-to-end encryption, and device-level access controls” for additional security.

Read full article

Comments

Ad firms settle with Trump FTC over claims they boycotted conservative media

Ad firms settle with Trump FTC over claims they boycotted conservative media

fivenewscrypto    avril 17, 2026   

The Federal Trade Commission pressured three advertising firms into settlements that will likely result in more ad spending on conservative media platforms.

The FTC and eight US states filed a lawsuit against ad firms Dentsu, Publicis, and WPP yesterday, and simultaneously announced settlements with all three companies. The complaint alleges a conspiracy of "various interested parties to demonetize disfavored conservative news and opinion sites by denying them digital advertising revenue." The FTC filed suit in US District Court for the Northern District of Texas, which happens to be Elon Musk's preferred judicial venue.

In a press release, the FTC claimed that starting in 2018, the three firms "unlawfully colluded to impose common 'brand safety' standards across the digital advertising industry... The ad agencies, together with their primary competitors Omnicom and Interpublic Group, operated through trade associations to establish a common 'Brand Safety Floor' to target 'misinformation.'" The FTC also said that "firms like NewsGuard and the Global Disinformation Index used this misinformation designation as a means to promote the demonetization of disfavored political viewpoints."

Read full article

Comments

New Codex features include the ability to use your computer in the background

New Codex features include the ability to use your computer in the background

fivenewscrypto    avril 17, 2026   

A new version of OpenAI's Codex desktop app reaches users today. It brings a smorgasbord of new features and changes, ranging from new developer capabilities to expansion into non-developer knowledge work to laying the groundwork for the company's "super app."

The most interesting for the moment is the ability to perform tasks on your PC in the background; OpenAI claims it can do this without interfering with what you are doing on your desktop.

OpenAI explained the update in a blog post:

Read full article

Comments

The Ukraine war's deep impact on Metro 2039’s development, story

The Ukraine war's deep impact on Metro 2039’s development, story

fivenewscrypto    avril 17, 2026   

It's been seven long years now since Metro Exodus wowed us with its early RTX-powered ray tracing in a chilling post-apocalyptic setting. A lot has changed in the intervening years, both in the game industry and for many Ukraine-based developers working on the upcoming Metro 2039 at developer 4A Studios.

"Everything we had planned for the next chapter of Metro changed in 2020 and more significantly in 2022," the developers said in a first look presentation of the game released today. "The war has shaped us, and we have changed the story to be even more about choices, actions, consequences, and what you have to pay to have a future."

While 4A is officially based in Malta, the studio was founded in Kyiv in 2006. And while 4A says the team working on Metro 2039 spans across 25 countries, the majority of those working on the game are Ukrainian.

Read full article

Comments

Gemini can now create personalized AI images by digging around in Google Photos

Gemini can now create personalized AI images by digging around in Google Photos

fivenewscrypto    avril 17, 2026   

Google began rolling out "personal intelligence" in Gemini early this year, giving AI subscribers the option of a more customized experience when using the company's chatbot. Today, it's using personal intelligence to tie its image-generation model to Google Photos. If you opt in, generated images will have access to your photos and associated labels to simplify prompts and produce more accurate AI images.

This change essentially streamlines an existing workflow. Google's Nano Banana 2 is among the best AI image generators available, and it was already possible to feed it images of yourself or others to use as context for creating new AI content. Adding personal intelligence to the mix makes that process smoother by turning the image bot loose on the content of your photos, if indeed that's something you want to do.

It is generally true that adding more personal data to an AI prompt results in a better output. Google offers a few examples of how connecting Nano Banana to Photos can help in this way. You won't have to pack as much context into your prompts—you can just refer to "my family" or "my dog" to let the robot find useful images in your Photos library.

Read full article

Comments

Florida surgeon charged with killing man after removing liver instead of spleen

Florida surgeon charged with killing man after removing liver instead of spleen

fivenewscrypto    avril 17, 2026   

A Florida grand jury has indicted surgeon Thomas Shaknovsky on charges of second-degree manslaughter for the 2024 death of a patient whose surgical procedure was horrifyingly botched.

That patient was 70-year-old William Bryan of Alabama, who was scheduled in August to have his spleen removed in a minimally invasive (laparoscopic) procedure. But instead, Shaknovsky opened Bryan's abdominal cavity, severed his largest vein with a surgical stapling device—which led to his death—and cut his healthy liver from his body as he bled out, according to an investigation by the state health department. Bryan's spleen was left untouched.

The second-degree manslaughter charge stems from an investigation by the Walton County Sheriff’s Office, which coordinated with the Office of the State Attorney First Judicial Circuit and additional state and medical authorities.

Read full article

Comments

Jury finds Live Nation/Ticketmaster is illegal monopoly that overcharged fans

Jury finds Live Nation/Ticketmaster is illegal monopoly that overcharged fans

fivenewscrypto    avril 17, 2026   

A federal jury ruled today that Live Nation and its Ticketmaster subsidiary operate an illegal monopoly that overcharged fans for tickets, handing a win to US states that continued a trial even after the Trump administration dropped out.

The jury found that "Ticketmaster unlawfully maintains a monopoly in the market for ticketing services at major concert venues" and that "Live Nation has a monopoly in the market for large amphitheaters used by artists," said an announcement from the office of New York Attorney General Letitia James. The jury additionally determined "that Live Nation unlawfully requires artists who use the amphitheaters it owns to also use its event promotion services," and "that fans have been overcharged for concert tickets at major concert venues across the country," the New York AG's office said.

A five-week trial was held in US District Court for the Southern District of New York. According to CNN, jurors found that "Ticketmaster overcharged states by $1.72 per ticket, about what the states had estimated." Evidence at trial showed that a Live Nation regional director boasted of gouging ticket buyers and “robbing them blind” with fees for ancillary services such as slight parking upgrades.

Read full article

Comments