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OH WOW! Science Center will host interactive, augmented sandbox exhibit
OH WOW! The Roger & Gloria Jones Children’s Center for Science & Technology will host an interactive, augmented exhibit beginning Monday, April 6, 2026.
How Graham Platner is using trivia games and happy hours to help power his Maine Senate campaign
Democrat Graham Platner is attracting support for his Maine Senate campaign from voters willing to forgive his past transgressions and embrace his populist message
How Graham Platner is using trivia games and happy hours to help power his Maine Senate campaign
Democrat Graham Platner is attracting support for his Maine Senate campaign from voters willing to forgive his past transgressions and embrace his populist message.
As Montana Prepares to Roll Out Medicaid Work Requirements in July, Health Care Advocates Propose Best Practices
As the state’s Department of Public Health and Human Services (DPHHS) gears up to begin checking for Medicaid work requirements this summer, department officials this week announced the launch of a new government webpage designed to help patients navigate the upcoming changes. “Our priority is to ensure that Montanans covered by Medicaid Expansion have the […]
Why Smart Founders Build Big Business Infrastructure Before They Scale
Scaling a company takes more than grit and growth. Founders who invest early in institutional-grade benefits can reduce risk, attract top talent, and build a culture that performs under pressure.
Orlando Sentinel 150: Entertainment wasn’t always equal for all
As the Orlando Sentinel looks back at 150 years of entertainment in Central Florida, there are reminders of the days of racial segregation.
Vanderbilt Medical Center's financial malpractice
While shaving staff to save money, Vanderbilt exposes its hypocrisy through multi-year, multimillion-dollar-deals with local pro sports teams.
What’s the most attractive genre of entertainment?
Millions of people globally tune in to “beauTV”
No experience needed? Novices, newcomers dominate field in SC’s open coastal seat in US Congress.
SC’s 1st Congressional District race is packed with outsiders — just five candidates have ever held elected office. Mark Sanford’s surprise entry is reshaping an already crowded primary and making the path tougher for lesser-known hopefuls.
Kavita Fischer: I lost $400,000 betting on sports
I lost more than $400,000 gambling. I’m also a psychiatrist who works with individuals struggling with substance use and behavioral That combination...
Rangers track forward Gelhardt
Rangers could use 49ers connections to land Leeds striker and Hearts star on Portugal radar...
A Grip on Sports: A Hall of Fame weekend has unfolded in Spokane, though neither NCAA men's semifinal games reached that level
A GRIP ON SPORTS • Where were we? Oh, yes. Celebrating an incredible spring weekend with the thought basketball rocks. And “Roundball Rocks” as the soundtrack.
Trump says US airman rescued in Iran in 'miraculous' operation
"He sustained injuries, but he will be just fine."
State rankings: How are the Durango High spring sports doing?
April is here, and that means it’s time to look at the progress of the Durango High School spring sports teams. Demons sports squads have been practicing for over a month and have been competing in ga...
Welcome to the MrBeastification of British politics: the latest trick up Nigel Farage’s sleeve
The Reform UK leader’s energy bill giveaway certainly grabs our attention – but it’s all a distraction from the real winners and losers, says Guardian deputy Opinion editor Kirsty Major
Celebrity impersonation looks like good business
The impersonation industry is about more than just the man who lived at Graceland—it’s thousands of other people pretending to be celebrities for money.
Celebrity impersonation looks like good business
The impersonation industry is about more than just the man who lived at Graceland—it’s thousands of other people pretending to be celebrities for money.
Saudi Arabia's non-oil business activity shrinks in March amid conflict, PMI shows
Saudi Arabia's non-oil private sector activity contracted in March for the first time since August 2020, as the war in the Middle East snarled up supply chains, a business survey showed on Sunday.
Hollywood Writers Union and Studios Reach Contract Deal
With the global entertainment business reeling during a period of rapid change, there was little enthusiasm on either side for a costly standoff.
Government, Police Crack Down on Narcotics in Seoul Entertainment Areas
Government, Police Crack Down on Narcotics in Seoul Entertainment Areas No narcotics detected; food violations corrected. Future crackdowns to focus on clubs, high-foreigner areas
Video: Pokémon Champions 'World Overview' Trailer Released
Introducing two characters of Frontier City
How much is Aaron Rodgers worth?
Predicting Aaron Rodgers 2026 Steelers contract.
Buried Roman sanctuary discovered beneath Frankfurt hints at shocking rituals
A hidden Roman sanctuary discovered beneath Frankfurt is offering rare clues about ancient rituals, including possible human sacrifice. With major funding secured, scientists are now racing to uncover how this mysterious, multi-god cult site operated.
WOMEN'S TRACK AND FIELD CAPS PACESETTER SPORTS INVITATIONAL
TERRE HAUTE, Ind. - The IU Indianapolis women's track and field squad closed out the two-day Pacesetter Sports Invitational, hosted by Indiana State on Saturday (Apr. 4). Freshman Sarah Madi-Bouabre earned a runner-up finish in the long jump while Paige Schulte finished fifth in the 200m event and sixth in the 400m.
Track & Field Competes in Pacesetter Sports Invitational
The Valparaiso University men's track and field team scored 21 points and finished in the top half of the field, while the women's squad accrued 19 points as the Beacons participated in Indiana State's Pacesetter Sports Invitational on Friday and Saturday in Terre Haute, Ind.
Scientists Finally Crack Decades-Old Mystery Behind Statins’ Painful Side Effects
A hidden effect of statins on muscle cells may explain why some patients cannot tolerate them.
Mary Rand, Pioneering Track and Field Olympian, Dies at 86
At the 1964 Tokyo Olympics, she became the first British woman to win a gold medal in track and field, and the first to win three medals in one Games.
Next Level Games wanted Link in Mario Strikers Charged
According to a developer that worked on Mario Strikers Charged, there was some consideration for having Link in Mario Strikers Charged. As a Mario game, Strikers Charged expectedly stuck with characters associated with that franchise. However, there was the possibility of bringing in that famous character from The Legend of Zelda. That tidbit was shared today by Did You Know...
After Cooper Flagg's historic 51-point performance, can he catch Kon Knueppel in NBA Rookie of the Year race?
Knueppel has been the presumptive frontrunner, but Flagg is certainly making the race interesting
Italian PM in United Arab Emirates on final leg of Gulf trip
She also visited Qatar and Saudi Arabia
Grand Theft Auto 6 publisher Take-Two have seemingly laid off their head of AI and several of the department's staffers
It's currently unclear why these layoffs have taken place.
Judge halts requirement that colleges show race isn't considered in admissions
The states argue the data collection effort threats student privacy and could lead to baseless investigations of colleges and universities
Judge halts requirement that colleges show race isn't considered in admissions
The states argue the data collection effort threats student privacy and could lead to baseless investigations of colleges and universities
Judge halts requirement that colleges show race isn't considered in admissions
The states argue the data collection effort threats student privacy and could lead to baseless investigations of colleges and universities
Judge halts Trump effort requiring colleges to show they aren’t considering race in admissions
White House lawyers get another setback.
This Week in Politics: Early voting starts this week in New Jersey's special congressional election | WNYC | New York Public Radio, Podcasts, Live Streaming Radio, News
The political world is paying close attention to a race to fill Governor Sherrill's vacated congressional seat.
Take-Two lays off AI team
Take-Two Interactive, the parent company of GTA developer Rockstar Games, has reportedly laid off its AI team, includin…
Braiding knowledge: how Indigenous expertise and western science are converging
Researchers are weaving Native practices with western methods to revive ecosystems and reclaim food sovereignty
Who's in 2026 NHL playoffs? Latest standings, bracket and tiebreakers
Less than two weeks remain in the 2025-26 NHL regular season. Here is the latest look at the standings, potential playoff bracket and tiebreakers.
Paddleboarders make debut in 125-mile canoe race
The Devizes-to-Westminster International Canoe Race has a stand-up paddleboard category this year.
The dirty truth about houseflies and their health risks
This is the latest installment of Pittsburgh Pests, an occasional series examining the insects and other creatures that pose health risks in our region. When...
AI Is Killing Microsoft
Microsoft's AI assistant, Copilot, is struggling to show traction, causing the tech giant to continue falling behind. Investors are not happy.
Album Review: 6WA by BigXthaPlug & 600 Entertainment
BigXthaPlug spent eight months in Nashville making a country-rap album that debuted at No. 7 on the Billboard 200, put “All the Way” with Bailey Zimmerman at No. 4 on the Hot 100, got him a Rolling Stone cover, and filled arenas with Jelly Roll. And then he came back to Dallas, rounded up four of his signees, and made a gangsta-rap record with N.W.A’s Straight Outta Compton on the cover. 6WA is the second group release from 600 Entertainment, named after the 600 block of Meadowridge Street in Ferris, Texas, where BigX and his people grew up. The whole thing is loaded with West Coast samples. From N.W.A.’s “8Ball,” Eazy-E’s “Real Muthaphuckkin G’s” and “Boyz-N-The-Hood,” Ice-T’s “6 in the Mornin’,” Snoop Dogg’s “Nuthin’ but a ‘G’ Thang” and more. BigX is staking his name on the lineup he built—Rosama, MurdaGang PB, Yung Hood, KevanGotBandz, KaineMusic—and claiming a lineage from 1,400 miles away while insisting Dallas is its own thing. A million dollars in cash, split and handed straight to his mother. That’s the first place BigX goes on “From the Bottom.” He’d probably still be in the streets if he didn’t have his son and daughter. He only started rapping to make life better for Carter. Couldn’t start his car back then, now people get starstruck at Starbucks, and he throws the whole field away in one sentence: “How you think we competin’? You on the same bag, I just made me some millions off country.” Goyard bags off a Nashville payday, and he wants you to know exactly how far he’s come from everybody else. “Safe to Say” does something similar but looser. It’s a straight Ice Cube “It Was a Good Day” flip, and BigX nails it. Wakes up, checks both phones, nobody’s locked up, kid accounts look good. Gets pulled over, only catches a warning. Pulls up on the squad to liquor, ladies, and haze. Rosama takes the second verse and matches him. Wakes up to his girl cleaning his cuticles, twins playing peekaboo, pays off his car, calls a cousin, sees the opps and they don’t trip. Lawyer calls, he beat his case. Rosama is the strongest voice in the 600 camp after BigX, and “Life of a Gangster” is why. Third person, riding low, blacked-out windows, snub-nose revolver. A character who chose sticking people up over selling dope. “Quick eraser like a number-two pencil.” He never breaks character, and his delivery drops lower and slower than anything he does on the group cuts, like he’s telling you something at a cookout that he probably shouldn’t. Then on “Long Live Fre$h” he’s a completely different rapper. “Short-bus diamonds, these bitches retarded,” wide-body Durango he can’t even park. That kind of range matters on a group record. MurdaGang PB’s best verse is on the title track. Feds at his door at 6 AM, cameras busted, flushing dope, ram truck putting everybody on the floor. Yung Hood on “The Hottest” just lays out four reasons to keep hustling. Who wants to be broke, women cost money, you need bail, and home has to be straight. It’s funnier and more honest than most rappers get when they’re trying to explain why they sell drugs. KevanGotBandz on “Ain’t Never Slowin’ Down” talks about his father getting caught on the dope while he’s sitting on $300K somewhere in the hills, which is a specific kind of guilt that doesn’t usually make it onto crew tapes. KaineMusic, the newest signee, takes the back half of “Who Dunnit” and introduces herself in third person—“Took flight just to show these hoes how to perform”—but it’s too short to know if she can hold a full song. The flex tracks fill the middle of the LP and mostly run together. “I Go” is Rosama and PB trading brands, guns, and food punchlines. Rosama’s “anemic, my iron tucked low in this shirt” is a slick gun bar, PB fires back with “.223 with a clip ‘bout as big as a toddler” and “I go Burger King, stay with that whopper.” Quick, funny sometimes, but it’s all shopping lists. “Dopeman” is a chant. “6ixer Party” brings Snoop Dogg, who does exactly what you’d expect Snoop Dogg to do. BigX contributes the night’s wildest overshare: “She say she brought a friend too, well, I’m tryna put sausage on her dental.” These songs move fast and don’t overstay, but three or four of them could trade verses and nobody would catch it. Midway through, The D.O.C. shows up for a spoken-word interlude. Tracy Curry. West Dallas native, former N.W.A affiliate, co-writer on a lot of the records getting sampled on this very album. He thanks BigX for the tribute and then gets direct: “This your time, this DFW time. You need to do it like we do it down here.” Leave bread crumbs so everybody behind you can eat. Keep God in your life. It’s fatherly and generous, and it does raise the question of whether 6WA follows that advice. The album borrows heavy. The cover art, the Eazy-E samples, “Amerikkka’s Most Wanted” opening with a direct “Boyz-N-The-Hood” lift, Yung Hood rapping “Flag on my left side, Crip until I die.” But the stuff that actually stays with you is Dallas. BigX talking about Pleasant Grove, Rosama calling himself a country boy, PB recounting a raid that could’ve been last Tuesday. The record smells most like itself when it smells like Ferris, Texas, and least like Compton. BigX on “The Hottest” says his father was the first person he knew who had chickens. Not the way rappers usually wave at the drug trade. He means his actual father, his actual family. On “600 Degrees,” Rosama compares his chopper’s stutter to a speech disorder, PB claims he still has the block on his back even after leaving the city. BigX closes that one saying he used to spin and smack, and now the plaques are platinum. Thirty-two minutes was right for this. Nobody overstays, Tony Coles and Rance and Charley Cooks keep the production punchy, and BigX gives his signees real room instead of crowding every song. 6WA doesn’t reinvent anything. Five rappers, good beats, short clock. Most of what they say you’ve heard before. Some of it—the million to his mother, the cuticles and peekaboo, the four reasons to hustle—you won’t forget. Solid (★★★½☆) Favorite Track(s): “Safe to Say,” “From the Bottom,” “The Hottest” Subscribe
H.264 streaming license fees were raised to as much as $4.5 million, open standards now look even more attractive
Via LA raises H.264 streaming fees for new licensees, existing deals stay unchanged Via Licensing Alliance has updated its H.264, also known as AVC,
Reducing friction in ARC Raiders
ARC Raiders is a multiplayer extraction adventure, set in a lethal future earth, ravaged by a mysterious mechanized threat known as ARC.
How a Louisiana lawyer from the 1800s appeared in the legal fight over birthright citizenship
WASHINGTON — U.S. Supreme Court justices are considering two cases that could change long-established constitutional interpretations concerning race — and Louisiana plays an integral role in both.
Why Can’t Politics Be More Like March Madness?
In sports we accept the rules and the outcome. Democracy depends on the same spirit.
Weekend reads: Half of social science ‘doesn’t replicate’; ‘Scientific ghosts: Life after retraction’; multisensory learning paper retracted
If your week flew by — we know ours did — catch up here with what you might have missed. The week at Retraction Watch featured: A citation alert led researchers to a network of fake articles. But w…
How Scientifically Accurate Is ‘Project Hail Mary’? Experts Weigh In
Based on hard science fiction, a genre that prioritizes scientific accuracy, the blockbuster gets a lot right but misses a few things, experts say.
Pokémon cards are igniting an international crime spree
Pokémon cards have skyrocketed in value since the pandemic, making them an attractive target for smash-and-grab robberies. Small businesses around the world have been targeted.
Mastery of sex offender registry attracts major investment in Mandeville small business
Mandeville-based Watch Systems makes OffenderWatch and other software solutions to track the sex offender registry and help law enforcement agencies ensure compliance with evolving state laws.
Ye attempts a comeback with sold-out LA-area concert, support from Lauryn Hill
e grammy-awards music race-and-ethnicity antisemitism entertainment | Talk Radio 1210 WPHT
‘Racist ideology lodges itself amid austerity politics’: newly elected French mayor on tackling far right
Bally Bagayoko, who was targeted by racist abuse after winning Saint-Denis mayorship, vows to tackle inequality to stem deepening divisions
Roma tracking Alajbegovic and Arribas ahead of summer
Roma are also looking to the future, with just eight games remaining before the end of the season. If, as seems likely, Paulo Dybala will say goodbye after four years, the Giallorossi have already ide...
Gasperini pushes for Pellegrini’s contract renewal
Pellegrini’s future is tied to Gasperini: his contract renewal is a priority for the coach, while the club has yet to make any moves. According to La Repubblica, Lorenzo Pellegrini’s future at Rom...
Philadelphia businesses brace for shoppers preparing for Easter
Atlético Madrid vs Barcelona, La Liga: Preview
Barça begin a trio of giant games against Atleti, looking for a big win in the first one to stay in control of the title race
Good Sports: North Valley track and field coach aims to make impact in both sports and music
A North Valley track and field coach is living in the spotlight, but not just for sports.
Trump again orders changes to ‘save’ college sports
The order would restrict the amount of money student-athletes could get by cracking down on “fraudulent” NIL payments.
In Alaska's U.S. Senate race, Peltola takes aim at 'crooked' political elites
If you follow Mary Peltola on social media, maybe you’ve noticed that the former Alaska congresswoman is talking about more than fish, family and freedom as she runs for U.S. Senate.
Why are people allowed to bet on politics? | California Politics 360
Right now, at least $13 million has been placed in bets on the California governor's race in a state that doesn't allow online sports betting. KCRA's Ashley Zavala on why people are allowed to bet on politics.
Legacy Health, Regence standoff leaves patients in limbo as contract expires over 'unsustainable' demands
These overlooked brain cells may control fear and PTSD
Astrocytes, once thought to be mere brain “support cells,” are now revealed to be key players in fear memory. Researchers found they actively help form, recall, and weaken fear responses by interacting with neurons in real time. Changing astrocyte activity directly altered how strong fear memories became. This breakthrough could lead to entirely new treatments for anxiety-related disorders.
K-Pop Star Mark Lee Exits SM Entertainment, Announces He's Leaving NCT 127 and NCT Dream
K-Pop star Mark Lee has announced he's leaving NCT 127 and NCT Dream following the conclusion of his contract with SM Ente...
Karpathy shares 'LLM Knowledge Base' architecture that bypasses RAG with an evolving markdown library maintained by AI
Karpathy proposes something simpler and more loosely, messily elegant than the typical enterprise solution of a vector database and RAG pipeline.
From Policy to Practice: Shaping the Future of Health Care
Join us for a panel discussion exploring how policy decisions are shaping the future of health care.
First Jam Kuradoberi match footage released for Guilty Gear Strive Version 2.00
Guilty Gear Strive is less than a week away from it's huge Version 2.00 update, and now we can get a taste of what that's going to look like with the newest character.Arc System Works and ...
90 Painfully Relatable Programming Memes That Might Just Break Your Brain (New Pics)
Every job has its quirks. But some feel almost like a world of their own. Like programming—we (indirectly) interact with it every day, yet many of us know surprisingly little when it comes to what actually goes on behind the screens. The subreddit ‘Programmer Humor’ is the perfect place to bridge this gap. It allows them—and pretty much everyone involved in computer science—to air their frustrations and give the rest of us a better understanding of what their day-to-day really looks like. Here a
Super sports agent Leigh Steinberg talks to ASU Law students about success in the business
Leigh Steinberg is considered one of the most powerful sports agents in history.He has negotiated record-setting contracts for elite NFL quarterbacks, represented hundreds of professional athletes and hosted annual Super Bowl parties for 5,000 of his closest friends. His career even inspired the film “Jerry Maguire” and the iconic line, “Show me the money.”
Charlie Day shares awkward moment disrobing for Jennifer Aniston: 'Never felt less attractive'
The actor recalled his first day on set of the 2011 comedy 'Horrible Bosses,' also starring Aniston, Jason Bateman and Jason Sudeikis.
Charlie Day recalls in horror taking all his clothes off in front of Jennifer Aniston: 'Never felt less attractive'
Charlie Day recalled an extremely awkward first day on the set of 'Horrible Bosses' in which the actor had to take off his clothes for Jennifer Aniston.
President Trump signs order intended to stabilize college sports
President Donald Trump signs executive order aimed at curbing the 'financial arms race that threatens' college sports.
California cracks down on luxury car buyers evading taxes through 'Montana Loophole'
California targets wealthy luxury car owners and dealers using the Montana loophole to avoid sales tax, launching audits to recover millions in revenue.
How The PENN Entertainment (PENN) Turnaround Story Is Shifting With New Targets And ESPN Progress
PENN Entertainment's fair value estimate has shifted from US$18.44 to US$19.11 per share, putting it closer to a cluster of recent Street targets in the mid to high teens and low US$20s. This revision aligns with analyst commentary that combines optimism around the interactive segment and free cash flow with lingering doubts about management credibility and the turnaround story. Read on to see how to track these changing targets and keep up with the evolving narrative around PENN. Analyst...
Pritzker calls on Trump officials to testify over ICE crackdown, White House blasts move as ‘political stunt’
Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker calls on Trump administration officials to testify before his commission targeting ICE enforcement operations in the state.
COLCLESSER COLLECTS STEEPLE WIN AT PACESETTER SPORTS INVITE
TERRE HAUTE, Ind. - IU Indianapolis women's track sophomore Ella Colclesser earned an individual win in the 3,000m steeplechase as the Jaguars opened competition in the two-day Pacesetter Sports Invitational on Friday night (Apr. 3). Colclesser topped the 10-runner field, competing primarily against runners from across the state.
Manchester’s SEE Science Center celebrates 40 years of education, outreach and fun
Adam Irvjo of Westerly, Rhode Island, and his son Grayson, 3, check out an interactive exhibit on pulleys at the SEE Science Center in Manchester on Tuesday.
Politics Friday: 3 congressional candidates vying for their party's endorsement
Friday at noon, a check-in on the only Minnesota congressional race guaranteed to send a new person to Washington. MPR News politics editor Brian Bakst speaks with three candidates seeking to represent the 2nd Congressional District.
Gemma 4 and what makes an open model succeed
Having written a lot of model release blog posts, there’s something much harder about reviewing open models when they drop relative to closed models, especially in 2026. In recent years, there were so few open models, so when Llama 3 was released most people were still doing research on Llama 2 and super happy to get an update. When Qwen 3 was released, the Llama 4 fiasco had just gone down, and a whole research community was emerging to study RL on Qwen 2.5 — it was a no brainer to upgrade. Today, when an open model releases, it’s competing with Qwen 3.5, Kimi K2.5, GLM 5, MiniMax M2.5, GPT-OSS, Arcee Large, Nemotron 3, Olmo 3, and others. The space is populated, but still feels full of hidden opportunity. The potential of open models feels like a dark matter, a potential we know is huge, but few clear recipes and examples for how to unlock it are out there. Agentic AI, OpenClaw, and everything brewing in that space is going to spur mass experimentation in open models to complement the likes of Claude and Codex, not replace them. Especially with open models, the benchmarks at release are an extremely incomplete story. In some ways this is exciting, as new open models have a much higher variance and ability to surprise, but it also points at some structural reasons that make building businesses and great AI experiences around open models harder than the closed alternatives. When a new Claude Opus or GPT drops, spending a few hours with them in my agentic workflows is genuinely a good vibe test. For open models, putting them through this test is a category error. Something else to be said about open models in the era of agents is that they get out of the debate of integration, harnesses, and tools and let us see close to the ground on what exactly is the ability of just a model. Of course, we can’t test some things like search abilities without some tool, but being able to measure exactly the pace of progress of the model alone is a welcome simplification to a systematically opaque AI space. Share The list of factors I’d use to assess a new open-weight model I’m considering investing in includes: Model performance (and size) — how this model performs on benchmarks I care about and how it compares to other models of a similar size. Country of origin — some businesses care deeply about provenance, and if a model was built in China or not. Model license — if a model needs legal approval for use, uptake will be slower at mid-sized and large companies. Tooling at release — many models release with half-broken, or at least substantially slower, implementations in popular software like vLLM, Transformers, SGLANG, etc due to pushing the envelope of architectures or tools. Model fine-tunability — how easy or hard it is to modify the given model to your use-case when you actually try and use it. The core problem is that some of these are immediately available at release, e.g. general performance, license, origin, etc. but others such as tooling take day(s) to week(s) to stabilize, and others are open research questions — with no group systematically monitoring fine-tunability. In the early era of open models, the days of Llama 2 or 3 and Qwen pre v3.5, the architectures were fairly simple and the models tended to work out of the box. Some of this was due to the extremely hard work of the Llama, Qwen, Mistral, etc. developer teams. Some is due to the new models being genuinely harder to work with. When it comes to something like Qwen 3.5 or Nemotron 3, with hybrid models (either gated delta net or mamba layers), the tooling is very rough at release. Things you would expect to “just work” often don’t. I’ve been following this area closely since we released Olmo Hybrid with a similar architecture, and Qwen 3.5 is just starting to work well in the various open-source tools that need to all play nice together for RL research. That’s 1.5 months after the release date! This is just to start really investing more into understanding the behavior of the models. Of course, others started working on these models sooner by investing more engineering resources or relying on partially closed software. The fully open and distributed ecosystem takes a long time to get going on some new models. All of this is lead-in for the most important question for open models — how easy is it to adapt to specific use-cases? This is a different problem for different model sizes. Large MoE open-weight models may be used by entities like Cursor who need complex capabilities in their domain, e.g. Composer 2 trained on Kimi K2.5. Other applications can be built on much smaller models, such as Chroma’s Context-1 model for agentic search, built on GPT-OSS 20B. The question of “which models are fine-tunable” is largely background knowledge known by engineers across the industry. There should be a thriving research area here to support the open ecosystem model. The first step is to understand characteristics of different base and post-trained models to understand what they look like. The second step is to tune pretraining recipes for open models so they’re more flexible. Interconnects AI is a reader-supported publication. Consider becoming a subscriber. Subscribe For The ATOM Project and other Interconnects endeavors, we’ve put in substantial effort to measuring adoption trends in the open ecosystem. Everything takes a long time to unfold after a model is first publicly available — and adaptability is why. What we know for sure now, when Qwen has been going from strength to strength with its releases, is that technical staff across the industry has gotten comfortable working with Qwen models. Countless research methods and datasets were made to work with Qwen. It’ll take patience for any other model family to get to this point — a patience I’m not sure many open model builders have. This takes us to Gemma 4, Google’s latest open models. Gemma 3 was released more than a year ago, in March of 2025, and is a bit underrated. Gemma 4 comes in 4 sizes for now, with a bigger, MoE model of over 100B total parameters rumored but not released yet. The models we have today come in sizes of ~5B dense, 8B dense, 26B total 4B active MoE, and 31B dense. I’m most excited that they’re finally adopting a standard Apache 2.0 open source license. This’ll massively boost adoption. The standard of better licenses for strong open-weight LLMs was set by mostly Chinese open model labs in the last 1-2 years, and now U.S. companies are following suit. I will personally be so happy if the horrible Llama licenses and Gemma terms of service were an ~18-month transient dynamic of the industry being nervous about releasing strong open models. The Gemma 4 scores look very solid, the small models have incredible benchmark scores (especially in general domains like LMArena) and the 31B model rivals the recent Qwen 3.5 27B, which is the leading member of that class. The ~30B size range is an important one, as it’s accessible both to researchers and to enterprises looking to deploy the model in real use-cases. Where the 7B model scale is the default for tinkering and research, a 30B model is the default for seeing if an open model can unlock substantial value in your specific workflow — a good mix of intelligence, low price, tractability for downstream training, etc. This takes us back to the above adoption criteria I mentioned for open models and the bigger question — do I think Gemma 4 will be an overwhelming success? Previous Gemma models have been plagued by tooling issues and poorer performance when being finetuned. Gemma 4’s success is going to be entirely determined by ease of use, to a point where a 5-10% swing on benchmarks wouldn’t matter at all. It’s strong enough, small enough, with the right license, and from the U.S., so many companies are going to slot it in. I’m cautiously optimistic that Gemma 4 is going to work better here. Winds are shifting for open models built in America. We saw GPT-OSS go through a bumpy launch to become an overwhelming success. There’s a collective energy around the likes of Reflection, Arcee, Nemotron, Gemma, Olmo, and peers that show substantial demand for building new stacks around open models. There’s capital to be spent on AI stacks across the economy by those who want more ownership of everything, including the model. After launching The ATOM Project 240 days ago, the conversation is shifting into the next stage. Summer of 2025 was a crisis moment where the U.S. AI scene realized it can’t wait and figure out open models after building AGI. The two markets will capture different areas and proceed in parallel. Now that more companies in the U.S. are releasing strong models, we need to improve the ecosystem so that these models are easy to use, understand, and build value around. It’s the hard work to build another inflection point in these adoption plots I’ve been updating consistently, but that’s the work to be done. Join me in it. More data coming soon! Here’s a sneak peek:
NHL Playoff Race: What the Penguins need to do
The Penguins lost to Tampa last night but still remain incredibly well-positioned to secure a playoff spot this season. Here’s the relevant standings for them as of now. While there could be other avenues with a Wild Card spot, for now we’ll keep it simple on the most straight-forward path available to Pittsburgh: finishing in […]
NFL world reacts to Kirk Cousins' contract with Raiders
NFL world reacts to Kirk Cousins' latest contract with Raiders
Akin, an Elite Global Law Firm
Akin media, entertainment & sports practice head Chris Spicer and partners Alissa Miller and Vanessa Roman have once again been named by Los Angeles Times as Banking and…
I saved a doomed Windows laptop by embracing Linux
This machine kills forced obsolescence.
Take-Two Has Reportedly Laid Off its AI Team, Including the Department Head
Rockstar and Grand Theft Auto parent company Take-Two Interactive has reportedly laid off its entire AI team, including the department head.
Pete Buttigieg Calls For a Politics of ‘Belonging’
A Kennedy School panel discusses polarization and the uncertain future of American democracy.
How the Apple Watch defined modern health tech
You can trace the state of health tech today to this single gadget.
Teen sports betting raises concerns in schools — and a push for financial literacy
Schools are using financial literacy lessons to address teen sports betting, as educators warn of risks, losses and growing exposure.
8 arrests made in federal crackdown on alleged health care fraud in Southern California
Federal officials on Thursday arrested eight people they say were involved in various health care fraud schemes totaling $50 million in and around Los Angeles.
An Art-Science Partnership Offering New Views of Dynamic Landscapes
The immersive and interactive WILDLAND exhibition allowed the public—and the exhibition’s creators—to explore connections among water, trees, fire, and other natural and human-made materials expressed…
Mark Lee Leaves NCT After 10 Years, Ends Contract With SM Entertainment
Both the star and some of his teammates have taken to social media to address the sudden news.
Italian football must change
No miraculous cure-all, no controversial VAR decision, no scapegoat or savior of the nation pulled out of a hat should distract too much attention: the reforms Italian football has been waiting for fo...
Community Rallies for Penn State Health Children’s Week, April 6-12
April 6 marks the start of the eighth annual Penn State Health Children’s Week, a fundraising campaign benefiting the Children’s Miracle Network’s Patient Assistance Endowment at Penn State Health…
Legal docs reveal Miyamoto originally saw Donkey Kong as "a human in a gorilla costume," disclose other names considered for the game/character
Nightmare unlocked
Assistant Beamline Scientist Grace Luo is facilitating next-generation science at the Advanced Photon Source
At Argonne’s Advanced Photon Source (APS), Grace Luo helps scientists understand atomic‑scale dynamics in functional devices to discover ways of creating more robust and efficient technologies.
Take-Two Interactive lays off head of AI months after backing generative tech
Take-Two Interactive has just had a huge internal shake-up by laying off the head of Artificial Intelligence alongside a number of employees.
Burkina Faso military leader Traore says ‘forget democracy’
Traore reneged on promises to hold elections and has since scrapped political parties in the country.
The newest entertainment facility in central Nebraska is now open in Kearney
Drop Zone features an 18-hole putt-putt course, 32 top tracer bays and four pickleball courts.
Palumbo family business secrets revealed in settlement agreement with IDOT
It turns out there were more connections than previously known between Sebastian "Sam" Palumbo, his construction firms and a road-building group overseen by relatives known as Builders Companies. But the firms insist those ties didn't violate Palumbo's agreement not to participate in state or federal contracts following a 1999 guilty plea in a racketeering case.