I can’t help rooting for tiny open source AI model maker Arcee | TechCrunch
Arcee, a tiny 26-person U.S. startup that built a massive, 400B-parameter open source LLM on a $20 million shoestring budget, has released its new reasoning model. Arcee calls the model Trinity Large Thinking — and it’s the most capable open-weight model “ever released by a non-Chinese company,” claims CEO Mark McQuade to TechCrunch.
As that comment implies, Arcee has a goal that I can’t help but root for: It wants to give U.S. and Western companies a model that gives them no reason to use a Chinese-based one.
While Chinese models are extremely capable, they are perceived as risky, putting power, and perhaps data, into the hands of a government that doesn’t share all of the Western world’s ideals.
With Arcee, companies can download the model, train it to their own needs, and use it on premises. Companies can also use Arcee’s cloud-hosted version, accessible via API.
While Arcee’s models are not outperforming the closed source models from the big labs like Anthropic or OpenAI, they’re not being held hostage by the whims of those giants, either.
For instance, Claude, with its exceptional abilities to code, has been a popular choice for users of open source AI agent tool OpenClaw. But Anthropic pulled the rug out from them last week when it told users that their Anthropic subscriptions will no longer cover OpenClaw usage — they will have to pay additionally for that. (In February, OpenClaw creator Peter Steinberger said he was joining Anthropic’s biggest rival, OpenAI.)
In contrast, McQuade proudly points to data from OpenRouter that says it has become one of the top models used with OpenClaw.
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San Francisco, CA|October 13-15, 2026
So, how good is Trinity Large Thinking? It is comparable to some of the other top open source models, according to the benchmark results it shared with TechCrunch.
Arcee Trinity large thinking BenchmarksImage Credits:Arcee / Arcee
As we previously reported, it is not a head-to-head threat to the big cheese among U.S.-built open models: Meta’s Llama 4. But it also doesn’t have the odd, not-really open source license issues of Meta’s model. All of Arcee’s Trinity models are released under the gold standard for OS licenses, Apache 2.0.
Just to be clear, there are also countless other U.S. startups offering open source models and, as a fan of the ingenuity of startups, I’m rooting for them, too.
Arcee, a tiny 26-person U.S. startup that built a massive, 400B-parameter open source LLM on a $20 million shoestring budget, has released its new reasoning model. Arcee calls the model Trinity Large Thinking — and it’s the most capable open-weight model “ever released by a non-Chinese company,” claims CEO Mark McQuade to TechCrunch.
As that comment implies, Arcee has a goal that I can’t help but root for: It wants to give U.S. and Western companies a model that gives them no reason to use a Chinese-based one.
While Chinese models are extremely capable, they are perceived as risky, putting power, and perhaps data, into the hands of a government that doesn’t share all of the Western world’s ideals.
With Arcee, companies can download the model, train it to their own needs, and use it on premises. Companies can also use Arcee’s cloud-hosted version, accessible via API.
While Arcee’s models are not outperforming the closed source models from the big labs like Anthropic or OpenAI, they’re not being held hostage by the whims of those giants, either.
For instance, Claude, with its exceptional abilities to code, has been a popular choice for users of open source AI agent tool OpenClaw. But Anthropic pulled the rug out from them last week when it told users that their Anthropic subscriptions will no longer cover OpenClaw usage — they will have to pay additionally for that. (In February, OpenClaw creator Peter Steinberger said he was joining Anthropic’s biggest rival, OpenAI.)
In contrast, McQuade proudly points to data from OpenRouter that says it has become one of the top models used with OpenClaw.
Techcrunch event
San Francisco, CA | October 13-15, 2026
So, how good is Trinity Large Thinking? It is comparable to some of the other top open source models, according to the benchmark results it shared with TechCrunch.
Arcee Trinity large thinking BenchmarksImage Credits:Arcee / Arcee
As we previously reported, it is not a head-to-head threat to the big cheese among U.S.-built open models: Meta’s Llama 4. But it also doesn’t have the odd, not-really open source license issues of Meta’s model. All of Arcee’s Trinity models are released under the gold standard for OS licenses, Apache 2.0.
Just to be clear, there are also countless other U.S. startups offering open source models and, as a fan of the ingenuity of startups, I’m rooting for them, too.
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#rooting #tiny #open #source #model #maker #Arcee #TechCrunch
Thousands of men are members of Telegram groups and channels that advertise and sell hacking and surveillance services that can be used to harass friends, wives and girlfriends, and former partners, new research has uncovered. The findings, from a European nonprofit group, also say that the communities are involved in extensive trading, selling, and promotion of a huge variety of abusive content, including nonconsensual intimate images of women, so-called nudifyingservices, plus folders of images that sellers claim include child sexual abuse material and depictions of incest and rape.
Over six weeks earlier this year, researchers at the algorithmic auditing group AI Forensics analyzed nearly 2.8 million messages sent across 16 Italian and Spanish Telegram communities that are regularly posting abusive content targeting women and girls. More than 24,000 members of the Telegram groups and channels took part in posting 82,723 images, videos, and audio files over the course of the study, the analysis says. Many posts target celebrities and influencers, but men in the groups also frequently victimize women they know.
“We tend to forget that most victims are ordinary women who sometimes don’t even know that their pictures are shared or manipulated in these types of channels,” says Silvia Semenzin, a researcher at AI Forensics who previously exposed Italian Telegram channels engaging in similar behavior as far back as 2019. “The majority of this violence is directed towards people who the perpetrators know,” she says, suggesting that Telegram, which has over 1 billion monthly active users, according to company founder Pavel Durov, should be subject to stricter regulation and classed as a “very large online platform” under Europe’s online safety rules.
The findings come as Durov is fightingback against Russia’s efforts to block the messaging app in that country, which has long positioned itself as a messaging app that allows free speech but has simultaneously been used by some to share terrorist, sexual abuse, and cybercrime materials. Durov is under criminal investigation in France relating to alleged criminal activity taking place on Telegram, although he has consistently denied the allegations.
A Telegram spokesperson tells WIRED that the company removes “millions” of pieces of content per day using “custom AI tools” and has policies in Europe that do not allow the promotion of violence, illegal sexual content including nonconsensual imagery, and other content such as doxing and selling illegal goods and services.
Among the extensive types of abusive content and services observed by the AI Forensics researchers were frequent references to the access, publishing, and doxing of women’s private information, sharing their Instagram or TikTok content, as well as references to spying or hacking. “Victims are often named, tagged, and locatable via shared profile links,” the group’s report says.
One translated post on Telegram titled “Professional hacking on commission” claimed to be able to give customers “access to phone gallery and extraction of photos and videos,” as well as “anonymous social media hacking.” Another message says: “I hack and recover any type of social media service. I can spy on your partner’s account. Send me a private message.”
Across the dataset there were more than 18,000 references to spying or spy content. One post reads: “Hi, do you have the desire to spy on a girl’s gallery? We sell a bot that does it for info DM.” Meanwhile, users were observed asking if people could find phone numbers connected to Instagram accounts and other requests, “who exchanges spy photos and videos?”
Thousands of men are members of Telegram groups and channels that advertise and sell hacking and surveillance services that can be used to harass friends, wives and girlfriends, and former partners, new research has uncovered. The findings, from a European nonprofit group, also say that the communities are involved in extensive trading, selling, and promotion of a huge variety of abusive content, including nonconsensual intimate images of women, so-called nudifyingservices, plus folders of images that sellers claim include child sexual abuse material and depictions of incest and rape.
Over six weeks earlier this year, researchers at the algorithmic auditing group AI Forensics analyzed nearly 2.8 million messages sent across 16 Italian and Spanish Telegram communities that are regularly posting abusive content targeting women and girls. More than 24,000 members of the Telegram groups and channels took part in posting 82,723 images, videos, and audio files over the course of the study, the analysis says. Many posts target celebrities and influencers, but men in the groups also frequently victimize women they know.
“We tend to forget that most victims are ordinary women who sometimes don’t even know that their pictures are shared or manipulated in these types of channels,” says Silvia Semenzin, a researcher at AI Forensics who previously exposed Italian Telegram channels engaging in similar behavior as far back as 2019. “The majority of this violence is directed towards people who the perpetrators know,” she says, suggesting that Telegram, which has over 1 billion monthly active users, according to company founder Pavel Durov, should be subject to stricter regulation and classed as a “very large online platform” under Europe’s online safety rules.
The findings come as Durov is fightingback against Russia’s efforts to block the messaging app in that country, which has long positioned itself as a messaging app that allows free speech but has simultaneously been used by some to share terrorist, sexual abuse, and cybercrime materials. Durov is under criminal investigation in France relating to alleged criminal activity taking place on Telegram, although he has consistently denied the allegations.
A Telegram spokesperson tells WIRED that the company removes “millions” of pieces of content per day using “custom AI tools” and has policies in Europe that do not allow the promotion of violence, illegal sexual content including nonconsensual imagery, and other content such as doxing and selling illegal goods and services.
Among the extensive types of abusive content and services observed by the AI Forensics researchers were frequent references to the access, publishing, and doxing of women’s private information, sharing their Instagram or TikTok content, as well as references to spying or hacking. “Victims are often named, tagged, and locatable via shared profile links,” the group’s report says.
One translated post on Telegram titled “Professional hacking on commission” claimed to be able to give customers “access to phone gallery and extraction of photos and videos,” as well as “anonymous social media hacking.” Another message says: “I hack and recover any type of social media service. I can spy on your partner’s account. Send me a private message.”
Across the dataset there were more than 18,000 references to spying or spy content. One post reads: “Hi, do you have the desire to spy on a girl’s gallery? We sell a bot that does it for info DM.” Meanwhile, users were observed asking if people could find phone numbers connected to Instagram accounts and other requests, “who exchanges spy photos and videos?”
#Men #Buying #Hacking #Tools #Wives #Friendscrime,privacy,security,cybersecurity,hacking,surveillance,telegram">Men Are Buying Hacking Tools to Use Against Their Wives and Friends
Thousands of men are members of Telegram groups and channels that advertise and sell hacking and surveillance services that can be used to harass friends, wives and girlfriends, and former partners, new research has uncovered. The findings, from a European nonprofit group, also say that the communities are involved in extensive trading, selling, and promotion of a huge variety of abusive content, including nonconsensual intimate images of women, so-called nudifyingservices, plus folders of images that sellers claim include child sexual abuse material and depictions of incest and rape.
Over six weeks earlier this year, researchers at the algorithmic auditing group AI Forensics analyzed nearly 2.8 million messages sent across 16 Italian and Spanish Telegram communities that are regularly posting abusive content targeting women and girls. More than 24,000 members of the Telegram groups and channels took part in posting 82,723 images, videos, and audio files over the course of the study, the analysis says. Many posts target celebrities and influencers, but men in the groups also frequently victimize women they know.
“We tend to forget that most victims are ordinary women who sometimes don’t even know that their pictures are shared or manipulated in these types of channels,” says Silvia Semenzin, a researcher at AI Forensics who previously exposed Italian Telegram channels engaging in similar behavior as far back as 2019. “The majority of this violence is directed towards people who the perpetrators know,” she says, suggesting that Telegram, which has over 1 billion monthly active users, according to company founder Pavel Durov, should be subject to stricter regulation and classed as a “very large online platform” under Europe’s online safety rules.
The findings come as Durov is fightingback against Russia’s efforts to block the messaging app in that country, which has long positioned itself as a messaging app that allows free speech but has simultaneously been used by some to share terrorist, sexual abuse, and cybercrime materials. Durov is under criminal investigation in France relating to alleged criminal activity taking place on Telegram, although he has consistently denied the allegations.
A Telegram spokesperson tells WIRED that the company removes “millions” of pieces of content per day using “custom AI tools” and has policies in Europe that do not allow the promotion of violence, illegal sexual content including nonconsensual imagery, and other content such as doxing and selling illegal goods and services.
Among the extensive types of abusive content and services observed by the AI Forensics researchers were frequent references to the access, publishing, and doxing of women’s private information, sharing their Instagram or TikTok content, as well as references to spying or hacking. “Victims are often named, tagged, and locatable via shared profile links,” the group’s report says.
One translated post on Telegram titled “Professional hacking on commission” claimed to be able to give customers “access to phone gallery and extraction of photos and videos,” as well as “anonymous social media hacking.” Another message says: “I hack and recover any type of social media service. I can spy on your partner’s account. Send me a private message.”
Across the dataset there were more than 18,000 references to spying or spy content. One post reads: “Hi, do you have the desire to spy on a girl’s gallery? We sell a bot that does it for info DM.” Meanwhile, users were observed asking if people could find phone numbers connected to Instagram accounts and other requests, “who exchanges spy photos and videos?”
There are five rounds to the game. The first round sees you trying to guess the word, with correct, misplaced, and incorrect letters shown in each guess. If you guess the correct answer, it’ll take you to the next hurdle, providing the answer to the last hurdle as your first guess. This can give you several clues or none, depending on the words. For the final hurdle, every correct answer from previous hurdles is shown, with correct and misplaced letters clearly shown.
An important note is that the number of times a letter is highlighted from previous guesses does necessarily indicate the number of times that letter appears in the final hurdle.
There are five rounds to the game. The first round sees you trying to guess the word, with correct, misplaced, and incorrect letters shown in each guess. If you guess the correct answer, it’ll take you to the next hurdle, providing the answer to the last hurdle as your first guess. This can give you several clues or none, depending on the words. For the final hurdle, every correct answer from previous hurdles is shown, with correct and misplaced letters clearly shown.
An important note is that the number of times a letter is highlighted from previous guesses does necessarily indicate the number of times that letter appears in the final hurdle.
#Todays #Hurdle #hints #answers #April">Today’s Hurdle hints and answers for April 8, 2026
If you like playing daily word games like Wordle, then Hurdle is a great game to add to your routine.
There are five rounds to the game. The first round sees you trying to guess the word, with correct, misplaced, and incorrect letters shown in each guess. If you guess the correct answer, it’ll take you to the next hurdle, providing the answer to the last hurdle as your first guess. This can give you several clues or none, depending on the words. For the final hurdle, every correct answer from previous hurdles is shown, with correct and misplaced letters clearly shown.
An important note is that the number of times a letter is highlighted from previous guesses does necessarily indicate the number of times that letter appears in the final hurdle.
watching a movie felt like playing a video game quite as much as in the new film, Exit 8.Directed by Genki Kawamaura, the film is based on a game by Kotake Create in which the player navigates a subterranean loop, picking up on subtle changes, allowing them to exit. Here, that format is brought to life in a very clear, very simple way that encourages a level of engagement that feels unique and wholly rewarding.
We start with “the Lost Man,” played by Kazunari Ninomiya. He’s a seemingly normal guy who is having a seemingly normal morning until he gets some very big news. Before he can digest it, though, he finds himself stuck in an endless loop in an underground subway station. Eventually, he reads the rules of this space, revealing that you must keep moving forward unless you witness some type of anomaly. If you see one of those, turn around and continue.
And so the audience, like the character, instantly becomes involved. The Lost Man walks through the space, noting everything, committing it to memory, and you do the same. When there is something slightly different, you get excited for him if he notices or frustrated if he doesn’t. Much like watching someone else play a video game, you marvel at his skills as well as his mistakes.
That level of not just emotional but also physical investment is just not an emotion you often feel watching a movie. There’s a tension and level of participation that left me impressed and surprised. I thought I was going in to see this simple horror movie, but after about 10-15 minutes, I wanted to (but did not) scream at the screen or control the characters with a controller.
This works in large part due to the simple, beautiful design of the film. Kawamaura draws from the game in creating a very sparse, bright space, with distinct, easy-to-notice features: doors, posters, signs, etc. And as the film familiarizes you with them, you find yourself trying to get ahead of the movie itself, peeking around the corners, looking for those anomalies, which are the key to exiting. When the Lost Man makes a mistake, you’re both delighted to see what’s next and disappointed at the struggle. And, of course, many of those mistakes are either a result of, or result in, some really creepy, unsettling stuff happening.
What makes Exit 8 especially interesting, though, is that there is much more to it than that. While the film initially starts with the Lost Man, the narrative soon expands by following other characters we initially thought were just NPCs (non-player characters). Yamato Kochi plays the Walking Man, and Naru Asanuma is the Boy, both of whom play integral roles in expanding the narrative.
He’s right behind you. – Neon
Then, just to really put a bow on things, the biggest surprise in the whole film is what it’s actually about. Events you seemingly forgot about from early in the film are given fresh perspectives, wrapping Exit 8 up in a very satisfying, positive, and life-affirming way.
Now, of course, there is a little bit of monotony to the film. There are times when the repetitious nature of the narrative can get a little frustrating. But, in retrospect, that’s exactly the point. It’s clearly by design and is balanced well with some larger set pieces throughout. Plus, watching the film in a theater, with other people who are sharing the experience, the whole thing starts to feel more like a live performance than a movie. Kawamaura has so beautifully simplified the characters and goals that we feel like we’re living in the story itself. It’s a collective ride that will have you on the edge of your seat.
Exit 8‘s interactive nature won’t be for everyone, but if you enjoy mysteries, games, and wonderful twists and turns, we highly recommend it. It’s in theaters April 10.
watching a movie felt like playing a video game quite as much as in the new film, Exit 8.Directed by Genki Kawamaura, the film is based on a game by Kotake Create in which the player navigates a subterranean loop, picking up on subtle changes, allowing them to exit. Here, that format is brought to life in a very clear, very simple way that encourages a level of engagement that feels unique and wholly rewarding.
We start with “the Lost Man,” played by Kazunari Ninomiya. He’s a seemingly normal guy who is having a seemingly normal morning until he gets some very big news. Before he can digest it, though, he finds himself stuck in an endless loop in an underground subway station. Eventually, he reads the rules of this space, revealing that you must keep moving forward unless you witness some type of anomaly. If you see one of those, turn around and continue.
And so the audience, like the character, instantly becomes involved. The Lost Man walks through the space, noting everything, committing it to memory, and you do the same. When there is something slightly different, you get excited for him if he notices or frustrated if he doesn’t. Much like watching someone else play a video game, you marvel at his skills as well as his mistakes.
That level of not just emotional but also physical investment is just not an emotion you often feel watching a movie. There’s a tension and level of participation that left me impressed and surprised. I thought I was going in to see this simple horror movie, but after about 10-15 minutes, I wanted to (but did not) scream at the screen or control the characters with a controller.
This works in large part due to the simple, beautiful design of the film. Kawamaura draws from the game in creating a very sparse, bright space, with distinct, easy-to-notice features: doors, posters, signs, etc. And as the film familiarizes you with them, you find yourself trying to get ahead of the movie itself, peeking around the corners, looking for those anomalies, which are the key to exiting. When the Lost Man makes a mistake, you’re both delighted to see what’s next and disappointed at the struggle. And, of course, many of those mistakes are either a result of, or result in, some really creepy, unsettling stuff happening.
What makes Exit 8 especially interesting, though, is that there is much more to it than that. While the film initially starts with the Lost Man, the narrative soon expands by following other characters we initially thought were just NPCs (non-player characters). Yamato Kochi plays the Walking Man, and Naru Asanuma is the Boy, both of whom play integral roles in expanding the narrative.
He’s right behind you. – Neon
Then, just to really put a bow on things, the biggest surprise in the whole film is what it’s actually about. Events you seemingly forgot about from early in the film are given fresh perspectives, wrapping Exit 8 up in a very satisfying, positive, and life-affirming way.
Now, of course, there is a little bit of monotony to the film. There are times when the repetitious nature of the narrative can get a little frustrating. But, in retrospect, that’s exactly the point. It’s clearly by design and is balanced well with some larger set pieces throughout. Plus, watching the film in a theater, with other people who are sharing the experience, the whole thing starts to feel more like a live performance than a movie. Kawamaura has so beautifully simplified the characters and goals that we feel like we’re living in the story itself. It’s a collective ride that will have you on the edge of your seat.
Exit 8‘s interactive nature won’t be for everyone, but if you enjoy mysteries, games, and wonderful twists and turns, we highly recommend it. It’s in theaters April 10.
#Exit #Satisfying #Scary #Twitch #Stream #LifeExit 8,Genki Kawamaura">‘Exit 8’ Is a Satisfying, Scary Twitch Stream Come to Life
Never has watching a movie felt like playing a video game quite as much as in the new film, Exit 8.Directed by Genki Kawamaura, the film is based on a game by Kotake Create in which the player navigates a subterranean loop, picking up on subtle changes, allowing them to exit. Here, that format is brought to life in a very clear, very simple way that encourages a level of engagement that feels unique and wholly rewarding.
We start with “the Lost Man,” played by Kazunari Ninomiya. He’s a seemingly normal guy who is having a seemingly normal morning until he gets some very big news. Before he can digest it, though, he finds himself stuck in an endless loop in an underground subway station. Eventually, he reads the rules of this space, revealing that you must keep moving forward unless you witness some type of anomaly. If you see one of those, turn around and continue.
And so the audience, like the character, instantly becomes involved. The Lost Man walks through the space, noting everything, committing it to memory, and you do the same. When there is something slightly different, you get excited for him if he notices or frustrated if he doesn’t. Much like watching someone else play a video game, you marvel at his skills as well as his mistakes.
That level of not just emotional but also physical investment is just not an emotion you often feel watching a movie. There’s a tension and level of participation that left me impressed and surprised. I thought I was going in to see this simple horror movie, but after about 10-15 minutes, I wanted to (but did not) scream at the screen or control the characters with a controller.
This works in large part due to the simple, beautiful design of the film. Kawamaura draws from the game in creating a very sparse, bright space, with distinct, easy-to-notice features: doors, posters, signs, etc. And as the film familiarizes you with them, you find yourself trying to get ahead of the movie itself, peeking around the corners, looking for those anomalies, which are the key to exiting. When the Lost Man makes a mistake, you’re both delighted to see what’s next and disappointed at the struggle. And, of course, many of those mistakes are either a result of, or result in, some really creepy, unsettling stuff happening.
What makes Exit 8 especially interesting, though, is that there is much more to it than that. While the film initially starts with the Lost Man, the narrative soon expands by following other characters we initially thought were just NPCs (non-player characters). Yamato Kochi plays the Walking Man, and Naru Asanuma is the Boy, both of whom play integral roles in expanding the narrative.
He’s right behind you. – Neon
Then, just to really put a bow on things, the biggest surprise in the whole film is what it’s actually about. Events you seemingly forgot about from early in the film are given fresh perspectives, wrapping Exit 8 up in a very satisfying, positive, and life-affirming way.
Now, of course, there is a little bit of monotony to the film. There are times when the repetitious nature of the narrative can get a little frustrating. But, in retrospect, that’s exactly the point. It’s clearly by design and is balanced well with some larger set pieces throughout. Plus, watching the film in a theater, with other people who are sharing the experience, the whole thing starts to feel more like a live performance than a movie. Kawamaura has so beautifully simplified the characters and goals that we feel like we’re living in the story itself. It’s a collective ride that will have you on the edge of your seat.
Exit 8‘s interactive nature won’t be for everyone, but if you enjoy mysteries, games, and wonderful twists and turns, we highly recommend it. It’s in theaters April 10.
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