Notion just turned its workspace into a hub for AI agents | TechCrunch
Productivity software maker Notion is stepping into the agentic era.
In a live-streamed product announcement on Wednesday, the company, known best for its collaborative note-taking app, introduced a new developer platform that extends the capabilities of its custom AI agents, connects with external agents, and allows teams to build automated multi-step workflows that can pull in data from any database.
By building an orchestration layer — a system that coordinates AI work across multiple tools and data sources — Notion is positioning itself as more than a note-taker with AI features and instead as a hub where people and agents can collaborate across tools and databases.
In February, Notion first launched its Custom Agents — AI teammates that handle repetitive tasks, like answering frequently asked questions, compiling status updates, and automating workflows. Since then, Notion customers have built over one million agents, the company says.
However, these agents had limitations. They couldn’t connect with external data or use custom logic. External agents that companies used also didn’t have a way to connect with the Notion workspace. Teams had to work around these problems by using third-party automation platforms or writing their own scripts that run on their own infrastructure.
“It’s true that, historically, Notion hasn’t been the most developer-focused platform,” said Ivan Zhao, Notion co-founder and CEO, during the livestream. “But things are changing.”
Image Credits:Notion
Now, Notion will allow teams to deploy their own custom code. With its new Workers, Notion’s cloud-based environment for running custom code, customers can write their logic and deploy it to a secure sandbox (an isolated environment that keeps the code from interfering with other systems). This allows teams to do things like sync their data into Notion, build custom tools, and trigger work with webhooks — which are automated signals that kick off actions when something happens in another app — without needing to rely on external infrastructure.
You don’t even have to write the code. The company points out that your preferred AI coding agent can do it for you.
The Workers will use the same credit system as Custom Agents, but Notion is making this free through August, so developers can experiment.
Syncing external data sources is also a part of the Notion Developer Platform. Powered by Workers, the database sync feature can pull in data from any database with an API. That means you could access data from places like Salesforce, Zendesk, Postgres, and others within your own Notion databases — and keep the data current.
Zhao noted that this means that Notion’s users can now “use your Notion database as a sheer canvas to power both your workflows and your agents.”
Image Credits:Notion
Workers can also build agent tools with custom logic, for those times when connecting with a third-party via MCP — short for Model Context Protocol, an emerging standard that lets AI tools connect to external data and services — isn’t enough.
Another addition allows Notion’s users to chat directly with external AI agents they use, assign them work, and track their progress, as if they were one of Notion’s own custom agents. At launch, Notion says that Claude Code, Cursor, Codex, and Decagon are supported partner agents, but it plans to add more.
There’s an External Agent API, too, if teams want to connect their own internal agents with Notion, like those they’ve built specifically for their company’s needs.
Image Credits:Notion
Developers and agents interact with Notion’s new Developer Platform via the Notion CLI, a command-line tool for developers, available on the company’s Business and Enterprise Plans.
The Developer Platform represents a shift in strategy for Notion as it becomes more of a programmable platform than just an application, setting it up to compete with other workflow automation platforms. As businesses increasingly look to automate knowledge work and build internal AI systems, a platform that ties together agents, custom code, and live data in one place starts to look less like a productivity app and more like core infrastructure.
It also follows the broader trend among AI companies, which have been moving beyond the AI chatbot to offer agentic tools that can take actions across different software platforms.
“Any data, any tool, any agent — that’s the big picture for the Notion Developer Platform,” Zhao said.
When you purchase through links in our articles, we may earn a small commission. This doesn’t affect our editorial independence.
Productivity software maker Notion is stepping into the agentic era.
In a live-streamed product announcement on Wednesday, the company, known best for its collaborative note-taking app, introduced a new developer platform that extends the capabilities of its custom AI agents, connects with external agents, and allows teams to build automated multi-step workflows that can pull in data from any database.
By building an orchestration layer — a system that coordinates AI work across multiple tools and data sources — Notion is positioning itself as more than a note-taker with AI features and instead as a hub where people and agents can collaborate across tools and databases.
In February, Notion first launched its Custom Agents — AI teammates that handle repetitive tasks, like answering frequently asked questions, compiling status updates, and automating workflows. Since then, Notion customers have built over one million agents, the company says.
However, these agents had limitations. They couldn’t connect with external data or use custom logic. External agents that companies used also didn’t have a way to connect with the Notion workspace. Teams had to work around these problems by using third-party automation platforms or writing their own scripts that run on their own infrastructure.
“It’s true that, historically, Notion hasn’t been the most developer-focused platform,” said Ivan Zhao, Notion co-founder and CEO, during the livestream. “But things are changing.”
Image Credits:Notion
Now, Notion will allow teams to deploy their own custom code. With its new Workers, Notion’s cloud-based environment for running custom code, customers can write their logic and deploy it to a secure sandbox (an isolated environment that keeps the code from interfering with other systems). This allows teams to do things like sync their data into Notion, build custom tools, and trigger work with webhooks — which are automated signals that kick off actions when something happens in another app — without needing to rely on external infrastructure.
You don’t even have to write the code. The company points out that your preferred AI coding agent can do it for you.
The Workers will use the same credit system as Custom Agents, but Notion is making this free through August, so developers can experiment.
Syncing external data sources is also a part of the Notion Developer Platform. Powered by Workers, the database sync feature can pull in data from any database with an API. That means you could access data from places like Salesforce, Zendesk, Postgres, and others within your own Notion databases — and keep the data current.
Zhao noted that this means that Notion’s users can now “use your Notion database as a sheer canvas to power both your workflows and your agents.”
Image Credits:Notion
Workers can also build agent tools with custom logic, for those times when connecting with a third-party via MCP — short for Model Context Protocol, an emerging standard that lets AI tools connect to external data and services — isn’t enough.
Another addition allows Notion’s users to chat directly with external AI agents they use, assign them work, and track their progress, as if they were one of Notion’s own custom agents. At launch, Notion says that Claude Code, Cursor, Codex, and Decagon are supported partner agents, but it plans to add more.
There’s an External Agent API, too, if teams want to connect their own internal agents with Notion, like those they’ve built specifically for their company’s needs.
Image Credits:Notion
Developers and agents interact with Notion’s new Developer Platform via the Notion CLI, a command-line tool for developers, available on the company’s Business and Enterprise Plans.
The Developer Platform represents a shift in strategy for Notion as it becomes more of a programmable platform than just an application, setting it up to compete with other workflow automation platforms. As businesses increasingly look to automate knowledge work and build internal AI systems, a platform that ties together agents, custom code, and live data in one place starts to look less like a productivity app and more like core infrastructure.
It also follows the broader trend among AI companies, which have been moving beyond the AI chatbot to offer agentic tools that can take actions across different software platforms.
“Any data, any tool, any agent — that’s the big picture for the Notion Developer Platform,” Zhao said.
When you purchase through links in our articles, we may earn a small commission. This doesn’t affect our editorial independence.
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#Notion #turned #workspace #hub #agents #TechCrunch
According to the lawsuit, which TechCrunch has viewed, Kim became a prominent voice for AI safety while working on Grok, xAI’s AI chatbot. He allegedly complained repeatedly about xAI’s failure to prioritize safety in Grok’s development, a product that has since come under fire for a range of safety and behavioral issues. In particular, Kim was concerned with the possibility that Grok could foment discrimination and help spread information about weapons of mass destruction.
“Grok, of course, proved Mr. Kim right by engaging in spectacular displays of online hatred and vitriol, with the model likening itself to Hitler (‘MechaHitler’),” the lawsuit reads. “Following the Hitler debacle, Mr. Kim worked to re-evaluate Grok’s political bias and discriminatory tendencies.”
September was my last month at xAI! I joined as one of the first members of the post-training team in 2024 and eventually led research tooling, where we built some of the world’s best systems to accelerate Grok’s development.
On my first day, I was at the whiteboard with @ibab…
A few months after Kim departed xAI, Grok made headlines again when the chatbot was used to flood X — Musk’s social media platform that also falls under the xAI umbrella — with nonconsensual sexual imagery.
The lawsuit also positions Kim as a whistleblower who was concerned about xAI’s alleged disregard for AI safety as “unlawful” in areas such as internet regulation, consumer protection and unfair business practices, and arms and explosives regulation, among others.
xAI and SpaceX did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Kim’s focus on AI safety predates his time at xAI. While working at Scale AI, Kim worked on early safety AI initiatives, like leading a project that produced training data for AI to train systems to detect harmful content and comply with governance policies. Last week, the nonprofit Center for AI Safety, which focuses on AI risks, named Kim as its president.
Interestingly, the lawsuit doesn’t implicate Musk himself as a reason for a lack of safety. Rather, Kim’s lawyers describe Musk as having directed xAI to follow the law and implement appropriate safety and testing processes. Instead the claim targets Kim’s supervisor, xAI co-founder Jimmy Ba — who left the company earlier this year — saying that Ba ignored Musk’s directives and retaliated against Kim for pushing for safeguards, in an effort to “silence his repeated complaints about AI safety and biases.”
The lawsuit portrays Ba as someone who vehemently opposed AI safety measures, allegedly telling Kim at one point “AI will kill us all anyway,” and who was instead driven by a mission to make xAI the first to reach superintelligence.
“In one instance in or around August 2025, Mr. Ba attempted to thwart EU safety regulations during the release of Grok Code 1, misrepresenting aspects of the model in order to avoid legally required testing,” the complaint says. “Mr. Ba indicated that he would rather release an unsafe model than a poor-performing one. Mr. Musk ultimately had to intervene.”
According to the lawsuit, Kim intended to give a presentation of his findings the week of September 15, 2025, but Ba called him into a meeting and told him they should “go [their] separate ways” without providing a satisfactory reason.
TechCrunch has reached out to Ba for comment.
Kim is seeking compensatory and punitive damages, as well as a declaratory judgment that xAI and SpaceX’s conduct was unlawful.
When you purchase through links in our articles, we may earn a small commission. This doesn’t affect our editorial independence.
According to the lawsuit, which TechCrunch has viewed, Kim became a prominent voice for AI safety while working on Grok, xAI’s AI chatbot. He allegedly complained repeatedly about xAI’s failure to prioritize safety in Grok’s development, a product that has since come under fire for a range of safety and behavioral issues. In particular, Kim was concerned with the possibility that Grok could foment discrimination and help spread information about weapons of mass destruction.
“Grok, of course, proved Mr. Kim right by engaging in spectacular displays of online hatred and vitriol, with the model likening itself to Hitler (‘MechaHitler’),” the lawsuit reads. “Following the Hitler debacle, Mr. Kim worked to re-evaluate Grok’s political bias and discriminatory tendencies.”
September was my last month at xAI! I joined as one of the first members of the post-training team in 2024 and eventually led research tooling, where we built some of the world’s best systems to accelerate Grok’s development.
On my first day, I was at the whiteboard with @ibab…
A few months after Kim departed xAI, Grok made headlines again when the chatbot was used to flood X — Musk’s social media platform that also falls under the xAI umbrella — with nonconsensual sexual imagery.
The lawsuit also positions Kim as a whistleblower who was concerned about xAI’s alleged disregard for AI safety as “unlawful” in areas such as internet regulation, consumer protection and unfair business practices, and arms and explosives regulation, among others.
xAI and SpaceX did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Kim’s focus on AI safety predates his time at xAI. While working at Scale AI, Kim worked on early safety AI initiatives, like leading a project that produced training data for AI to train systems to detect harmful content and comply with governance policies. Last week, the nonprofit Center for AI Safety, which focuses on AI risks, named Kim as its president.
Interestingly, the lawsuit doesn’t implicate Musk himself as a reason for a lack of safety. Rather, Kim’s lawyers describe Musk as having directed xAI to follow the law and implement appropriate safety and testing processes. Instead the claim targets Kim’s supervisor, xAI co-founder Jimmy Ba — who left the company earlier this year — saying that Ba ignored Musk’s directives and retaliated against Kim for pushing for safeguards, in an effort to “silence his repeated complaints about AI safety and biases.”
The lawsuit portrays Ba as someone who vehemently opposed AI safety measures, allegedly telling Kim at one point “AI will kill us all anyway,” and who was instead driven by a mission to make xAI the first to reach superintelligence.
“In one instance in or around August 2025, Mr. Ba attempted to thwart EU safety regulations during the release of Grok Code 1, misrepresenting aspects of the model in order to avoid legally required testing,” the complaint says. “Mr. Ba indicated that he would rather release an unsafe model than a poor-performing one. Mr. Musk ultimately had to intervene.”
According to the lawsuit, Kim intended to give a presentation of his findings the week of September 15, 2025, but Ba called him into a meeting and told him they should “go [their] separate ways” without providing a satisfactory reason.
TechCrunch has reached out to Ba for comment.
Kim is seeking compensatory and punitive damages, as well as a declaratory judgment that xAI and SpaceX’s conduct was unlawful.
When you purchase through links in our articles, we may earn a small commission. This doesn’t affect our editorial independence.
#xAI #fired #engineer #raised #alarms #Grok #safety #lawsuit #claims #TechCrunchai safety,devin kim,Grok,SpaceX,xAI">xAI fired an engineer who raised alarms about Grok safety, new lawsuit claims | TechCrunch
A former engineer at Elon Musk’s xAI has filed suit against the company and its parent SpaceX claiming he was fired for raising concerns about AI safety.
Devin Kim, who left xAI in September 2025, filed the suit in a California state court on Tuesday. The complaint comes days before SpaceX is set to join the public markets in what’s shaping up to be the largest IPO in history.
According to the lawsuit, which TechCrunch has viewed, Kim became a prominent voice for AI safety while working on Grok, xAI’s AI chatbot. He allegedly complained repeatedly about xAI’s failure to prioritize safety in Grok’s development, a product that has since come under fire for a range of safety and behavioral issues. In particular, Kim was concerned with the possibility that Grok could foment discrimination and help spread information about weapons of mass destruction.
“Grok, of course, proved Mr. Kim right by engaging in spectacular displays of online hatred and vitriol, with the model likening itself to Hitler (‘MechaHitler’),” the lawsuit reads. “Following the Hitler debacle, Mr. Kim worked to re-evaluate Grok’s political bias and discriminatory tendencies.”
September was my last month at xAI! I joined as one of the first members of the post-training team in 2024 and eventually led research tooling, where we built some of the world’s best systems to accelerate Grok’s development.
On my first day, I was at the whiteboard with @ibab…
A few months after Kim departed xAI, Grok made headlines again when the chatbot was used to flood X — Musk’s social media platform that also falls under the xAI umbrella — with nonconsensual sexual imagery.
The lawsuit also positions Kim as a whistleblower who was concerned about xAI’s alleged disregard for AI safety as “unlawful” in areas such as internet regulation, consumer protection and unfair business practices, and arms and explosives regulation, among others.
xAI and SpaceX did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Kim’s focus on AI safety predates his time at xAI. While working at Scale AI, Kim worked on early safety AI initiatives, like leading a project that produced training data for AI to train systems to detect harmful content and comply with governance policies. Last week, the nonprofit Center for AI Safety, which focuses on AI risks, named Kim as its president.
Interestingly, the lawsuit doesn’t implicate Musk himself as a reason for a lack of safety. Rather, Kim’s lawyers describe Musk as having directed xAI to follow the law and implement appropriate safety and testing processes. Instead the claim targets Kim’s supervisor, xAI co-founder Jimmy Ba — who left the company earlier this year — saying that Ba ignored Musk’s directives and retaliated against Kim for pushing for safeguards, in an effort to “silence his repeated complaints about AI safety and biases.”
The lawsuit portrays Ba as someone who vehemently opposed AI safety measures, allegedly telling Kim at one point “AI will kill us all anyway,” and who was instead driven by a mission to make xAI the first to reach superintelligence.
“In one instance in or around August 2025, Mr. Ba attempted to thwart EU safety regulations during the release of Grok Code 1, misrepresenting aspects of the model in order to avoid legally required testing,” the complaint says. “Mr. Ba indicated that he would rather release an unsafe model than a poor-performing one. Mr. Musk ultimately had to intervene.”
According to the lawsuit, Kim intended to give a presentation of his findings the week of September 15, 2025, but Ba called him into a meeting and told him they should “go [their] separate ways” without providing a satisfactory reason.
TechCrunch has reached out to Ba for comment.
Kim is seeking compensatory and punitive damages, as well as a declaratory judgment that xAI and SpaceX’s conduct was unlawful.
When you purchase through links in our articles, we may earn a small commission. This doesn’t affect our editorial independence.
WWDC 2026, Apple unveiled iOS 27, the latest version of its iPhone software, packed with amazing AI-driven upgrades. From a new Siri experience to improved Photos editor tools and better system performance, many new capabilities have been introduced in the OS that will make life easier for users. Testing of iOS 27 on developers has already started, before its final release. Apple will roll out a public beta next month, in July, followed by a formal launch in the fall. Here are the nine best features coming to your iPhone.
1. Siri AI Gets a Major Upgrade
Siri AI by Apple has been included in iOS 27 as one of its most exciting innovations. The technology has been redesigned to make Siri smarter, more proactive, and better able to help users accomplish their tasks in real life. Because Siri now understands natural language, people can speak freely without using any commands.
The assistant can use information from apps such as Messages, Mail, Music, Phone, and Calendar to provide personalized responses to users. With Siri, users can ask questions about information in past messages. Because Siri can remember previous interactions, it can maintain a conversation.
2. New AI-Powered Features for Everyday Tasks
Making the iPhone user experience smarter is one of the key purposes of iOS 27. Currently, Apple Intelligence operates on several types of information: voice messages, text, images, and app information. In this way, the system will be able to identify users’ needs and assist them.
The improvements also enhance Siri’s performance, with better language comprehension and greater accuracy when transcribing the user’s voice. Users can personalize certain aspects of the Siri experience and converse more naturally with the assistant.
3. Liquid Glass Design Becomes Easier to Use
This is the first time that Apple has introduced an upgrade to the Liquid Glass design with iOS 27. Apple has concentrated on practicality by improving readability and visual harmony. Higher contrast will enable people to see information more easily, either when they are using applications or accessing settings.
Apple has also updated app icons with sharper details and improved visual depth. Customization is now possible, allowing the user to choose whether the user interface will be clearer or tinted. This has been done to make the viewing experience more enjoyable.
4. Faster Performance Across the System
Performance is an important aspect of iOS 27 because Apple has made many adjustments that can enhance the system’s overall performance. Specifically, the operating system has been optimized in some key areas to allow users’ applications and services to load faster.
Apps can be opened 30% faster, and photographs open much more rapidly, particularly when dealing with large photo libraries. The speed at which documents can be shared using AirDrop is also much greater than previously. Furthermore, Apple has been able to optimize system process efficiency in older iPhones, too.
5. Visual Intelligence Gets Smarter
A number of enhancements have been made to Visual Intelligence in iOS 27 to improve users’ experience with what their iPhone camera can offer. New functions have been integrated into Siri and can deliver helpful suggestions based on visual input from the camera.
This would allow users to learn about the nutritional details of any food item and gain insight into their eating habits. Another great feature is that it can scan information from any poster or brochure and automatically add events to the calendar according to those details.
6. Better Connectivity and Messaging Experience
With iOS 27, Apple is focusing on delivering fast, reliable communication by implementing improved network management capabilities. As a result of the latest updates, Apple will be able to switch between Wi-Fi and cellular data based on signal strength, and vice versa.
It also helps keep the conversation going, even under unfavorable network conditions. Texts can be sent instantly, without waiting for other content, such as photographs or video clips, to finish uploading. It also allows users to share images in full resolution in Shared Albums.
7. Safari Gets Smarter Browsing Tools
One of the biggest additions is the ability to organize tabs and web pages by topic. This makes it easier to manage multiple websites and quickly return to important content later. Safari also introduces a new monitoring feature that can track changes on specific web pages. Users can receive alerts when a sold-out product becomes available again or when concert tickets go on sale. Apple says these tools work while protecting user privacy, as much of the processing happens directly on the device.
8. Shortcuts and Passwords Become More Helpful
The Shortcuts application becomes much more approachable with iOS 27 because it incorporates Siri’s power into its workflow. It is now possible to explain the process to Siri verbally, which will then create the automation itself, eliminating the need for complex settings.
Another way the firm is working on strengthening password protection is by making changes to the Passwords app. The app will be able to notify users of a breach and make it easy for them to change passwords. This reduces the amount of work that would otherwise be done manually.
9. Home App and AirPods Gain New Features
The Home app receives new features in iOS 27 that make managing smart home devices more convenient. Apple is adding support for higher-resolution security camera recordings, giving users clearer footage when reviewing events. The app can also automatically identify and save important clips, making them easier to find later.
Apple is also enhancing notifications by offering smarter updates about activities in the home. On the other hand, for AirPods customers, the ability to adjust sound settings has been improved by the addition of an equalizer button.
WWDC 2026, Apple unveiled iOS 27, the latest version of its iPhone software, packed with amazing AI-driven upgrades. From a new Siri experience to improved Photos editor tools and better system performance, many new capabilities have been introduced in the OS that will make life easier for users. Testing of iOS 27 on developers has already started, before its final release. Apple will roll out a public beta next month, in July, followed by a formal launch in the fall. Here are the nine best features coming to your iPhone.
1. Siri AI Gets a Major Upgrade
Siri AI by Apple has been included in iOS 27 as one of its most exciting innovations. The technology has been redesigned to make Siri smarter, more proactive, and better able to help users accomplish their tasks in real life. Because Siri now understands natural language, people can speak freely without using any commands.
The assistant can use information from apps such as Messages, Mail, Music, Phone, and Calendar to provide personalized responses to users. With Siri, users can ask questions about information in past messages. Because Siri can remember previous interactions, it can maintain a conversation.
2. New AI-Powered Features for Everyday Tasks
Making the iPhone user experience smarter is one of the key purposes of iOS 27. Currently, Apple Intelligence operates on several types of information: voice messages, text, images, and app information. In this way, the system will be able to identify users’ needs and assist them.
The improvements also enhance Siri’s performance, with better language comprehension and greater accuracy when transcribing the user’s voice. Users can personalize certain aspects of the Siri experience and converse more naturally with the assistant.
3. Liquid Glass Design Becomes Easier to Use
This is the first time that Apple has introduced an upgrade to the Liquid Glass design with iOS 27. Apple has concentrated on practicality by improving readability and visual harmony. Higher contrast will enable people to see information more easily, either when they are using applications or accessing settings.
Apple has also updated app icons with sharper details and improved visual depth. Customization is now possible, allowing the user to choose whether the user interface will be clearer or tinted. This has been done to make the viewing experience more enjoyable.
4. Faster Performance Across the System
Performance is an important aspect of iOS 27 because Apple has made many adjustments that can enhance the system’s overall performance. Specifically, the operating system has been optimized in some key areas to allow users’ applications and services to load faster.
Apps can be opened 30% faster, and photographs open much more rapidly, particularly when dealing with large photo libraries. The speed at which documents can be shared using AirDrop is also much greater than previously. Furthermore, Apple has been able to optimize system process efficiency in older iPhones, too.
5. Visual Intelligence Gets Smarter
A number of enhancements have been made to Visual Intelligence in iOS 27 to improve users’ experience with what their iPhone camera can offer. New functions have been integrated into Siri and can deliver helpful suggestions based on visual input from the camera.
This would allow users to learn about the nutritional details of any food item and gain insight into their eating habits. Another great feature is that it can scan information from any poster or brochure and automatically add events to the calendar according to those details.
6. Better Connectivity and Messaging Experience
With iOS 27, Apple is focusing on delivering fast, reliable communication by implementing improved network management capabilities. As a result of the latest updates, Apple will be able to switch between Wi-Fi and cellular data based on signal strength, and vice versa.
It also helps keep the conversation going, even under unfavorable network conditions. Texts can be sent instantly, without waiting for other content, such as photographs or video clips, to finish uploading. It also allows users to share images in full resolution in Shared Albums.
7. Safari Gets Smarter Browsing Tools
One of the biggest additions is the ability to organize tabs and web pages by topic. This makes it easier to manage multiple websites and quickly return to important content later. Safari also introduces a new monitoring feature that can track changes on specific web pages. Users can receive alerts when a sold-out product becomes available again or when concert tickets go on sale. Apple says these tools work while protecting user privacy, as much of the processing happens directly on the device.
8. Shortcuts and Passwords Become More Helpful
The Shortcuts application becomes much more approachable with iOS 27 because it incorporates Siri’s power into its workflow. It is now possible to explain the process to Siri verbally, which will then create the automation itself, eliminating the need for complex settings.
Another way the firm is working on strengthening password protection is by making changes to the Passwords app. The app will be able to notify users of a breach and make it easy for them to change passwords. This reduces the amount of work that would otherwise be done manually.
9. Home App and AirPods Gain New Features
The Home app receives new features in iOS 27 that make managing smart home devices more convenient. Apple is adding support for higher-resolution security camera recordings, giving users clearer footage when reviewing events. The app can also automatically identify and save important clips, making them easier to find later.
Apple is also enhancing notifications by offering smarter updates about activities in the home. On the other hand, for AirPods customers, the ability to adjust sound settings has been improved by the addition of an equalizer button.
#iOS #Upgrades #Apple #Announced #WWDCapple">9 Best iOS 27 Upgrades Apple Announced at WWDC 2026
At WWDC 2026, Apple unveiled iOS 27, the latest version of its iPhone software, packed with amazing AI-driven upgrades. From a new Siri experience to improved Photos editor tools and better system performance, many new capabilities have been introduced in the OS that will make life easier for users. Testing of iOS 27 on developers has already started, before its final release. Apple will roll out a public beta next month, in July, followed by a formal launch in the fall. Here are the nine best features coming to your iPhone.
1. Siri AI Gets a Major Upgrade
Siri AI by Apple has been included in iOS 27 as one of its most exciting innovations. The technology has been redesigned to make Siri smarter, more proactive, and better able to help users accomplish their tasks in real life. Because Siri now understands natural language, people can speak freely without using any commands.
The assistant can use information from apps such as Messages, Mail, Music, Phone, and Calendar to provide personalized responses to users. With Siri, users can ask questions about information in past messages. Because Siri can remember previous interactions, it can maintain a conversation.
2. New AI-Powered Features for Everyday Tasks
Making the iPhone user experience smarter is one of the key purposes of iOS 27. Currently, Apple Intelligence operates on several types of information: voice messages, text, images, and app information. In this way, the system will be able to identify users’ needs and assist them.
The improvements also enhance Siri’s performance, with better language comprehension and greater accuracy when transcribing the user’s voice. Users can personalize certain aspects of the Siri experience and converse more naturally with the assistant.
3. Liquid Glass Design Becomes Easier to Use
This is the first time that Apple has introduced an upgrade to the Liquid Glass design with iOS 27. Apple has concentrated on practicality by improving readability and visual harmony. Higher contrast will enable people to see information more easily, either when they are using applications or accessing settings.
Apple has also updated app icons with sharper details and improved visual depth. Customization is now possible, allowing the user to choose whether the user interface will be clearer or tinted. This has been done to make the viewing experience more enjoyable.
4. Faster Performance Across the System
Performance is an important aspect of iOS 27 because Apple has made many adjustments that can enhance the system’s overall performance. Specifically, the operating system has been optimized in some key areas to allow users’ applications and services to load faster.
Apps can be opened 30% faster, and photographs open much more rapidly, particularly when dealing with large photo libraries. The speed at which documents can be shared using AirDrop is also much greater than previously. Furthermore, Apple has been able to optimize system process efficiency in older iPhones, too.
5. Visual Intelligence Gets Smarter
A number of enhancements have been made to Visual Intelligence in iOS 27 to improve users’ experience with what their iPhone camera can offer. New functions have been integrated into Siri and can deliver helpful suggestions based on visual input from the camera.
This would allow users to learn about the nutritional details of any food item and gain insight into their eating habits. Another great feature is that it can scan information from any poster or brochure and automatically add events to the calendar according to those details.
6. Better Connectivity and Messaging Experience
With iOS 27, Apple is focusing on delivering fast, reliable communication by implementing improved network management capabilities. As a result of the latest updates, Apple will be able to switch between Wi-Fi and cellular data based on signal strength, and vice versa.
It also helps keep the conversation going, even under unfavorable network conditions. Texts can be sent instantly, without waiting for other content, such as photographs or video clips, to finish uploading. It also allows users to share images in full resolution in Shared Albums.
7. Safari Gets Smarter Browsing Tools
One of the biggest additions is the ability to organize tabs and web pages by topic. This makes it easier to manage multiple websites and quickly return to important content later. Safari also introduces a new monitoring feature that can track changes on specific web pages. Users can receive alerts when a sold-out product becomes available again or when concert tickets go on sale. Apple says these tools work while protecting user privacy, as much of the processing happens directly on the device.
8. Shortcuts and Passwords Become More Helpful
The Shortcuts application becomes much more approachable with iOS 27 because it incorporates Siri’s power into its workflow. It is now possible to explain the process to Siri verbally, which will then create the automation itself, eliminating the need for complex settings.
Another way the firm is working on strengthening password protection is by making changes to the Passwords app. The app will be able to notify users of a breach and make it easy for them to change passwords. This reduces the amount of work that would otherwise be done manually.
9. Home App and AirPods Gain New Features
The Home app receives new features in iOS 27 that make managing smart home devices more convenient. Apple is adding support for higher-resolution security camera recordings, giving users clearer footage when reviewing events. The app can also automatically identify and save important clips, making them easier to find later.
Apple is also enhancing notifications by offering smarter updates about activities in the home. On the other hand, for AirPods customers, the ability to adjust sound settings has been improved by the addition of an equalizer button.
For decades, scientists assumed that this literally continent-sized block of ice rested on an expansive and stable chunk of Earth’s crust known as a craton. A team of researchers has now complicated that picture—mapping a vast, interconnected geological structure that fans out from a troubling “tectonic deformation.” Beneath this ice sheet, thinner and more geologically recent slices of crusty lithosphere fan out into hidden valleys called “pull-apart basins.”
These basins—30 elongated wedge-shaped valleys in total—constitute an entirely new, continental-scale geological region underneath Antarctica, in fact, one which the researchers have named the East Antarctic Fan-Shaped Basin Province (EAFBP). But it’s how they likely formed that has now caught researchers’ attention.
To put it bluntly, it turns out that about 90% of the planet’s fresh water ice may not be on solid ground. Geologist John Goodge called the team’s findings “provocative” in an independent commentary on the new study, published Thursday in the journal Nature Geoscience.
“East Antarctica is typically considered from seismic tomography and geodetics to be ancient and generally stable,” according to Goodge, who studies continental tectonics with the nonprofit Planetary Science Institute. “[But] something else is going on at depth.”
Continental divides
Goodge speculates that this seemingly “coherent pull-apart system,” as presented in the new study, might help explain a variety of mysterious heat and water flows beneath this ice sheet’s surface, like that enormous subglacial lake identified in 2016 or some of the hundreds more like it.
The study’s authors, led by geophysicist Egidio Armadillo at the University of Genoa in Italy, agreed: “Because these basins underlie about half of the East Antarctic Ice Sheet, they are likely to heavily influence both ice-flow and landscape evolution,” the researchers wrote in their study, also published Thursday in Nature Geoscience.
Armadillo’s team, coordinating across Europe and the U.K., developed their new understanding of Antarctica’s hidden bedrock via an exhaustive set of sensory data. Gravitational and magnetic anomalies were mapped via low-altitude airborne surveys. Ground surface features were mapped with seismic tools, using sound waves that vibrate through the ice and ping back information about subglacial landscapes in 3D.
The grey, magenta, and cyan lines represent the apparent new fault lines discovered. Credit: Nature Geoscience
All of this data—the fruits of “multi-national efforts to image within and below the ice sheet,” as Goodge put it—had already revealed that regions of the continent were “undergoing more rapid movement and ice-mass loss than previously recognized.” Armadillo’s team merely helped to explain why.
The mechanism Armadillo and his colleagues proposed for the formation of these fan-shaped basins is called “distributed rotational extension.” It involves points called Euler poles around which tectonic plates pivot or rotate rather than smash into each other or pull apart. The result is a bit like decks of cards being spread out on a table, thinning out the stack of Earth’s crust as it moves.
An icy situation
Goodge took pains to spell out the basins’ implications for melting Antarctic ice due to climate change and the risk of rising global sea levels.
The mere existence of these basins, he wrote, “could introduce widespread, systemic instability to the East Antarctic Ice Sheet” via thinner layers of Earth’s crust and more heat flow from below. On top of that, a series of fault-line “troughs” documented between the basins appear “tailor-made to promote outward flow of ice streams from the interior” into the world’s oceans, he said.
That said, the team’s findings are unlikely to end this debate. As Goodge noted, Antarctica is “the last continental frontier of scientific exploration.” It’s still a very mysterious place, one that’s challenging to study given its inhospitable temperatures and extreme geography. Its “cryptic subglacial geology” might stay that way for a while.
For decades, scientists assumed that this literally continent-sized block of ice rested on an expansive and stable chunk of Earth’s crust known as a craton. A team of researchers has now complicated that picture—mapping a vast, interconnected geological structure that fans out from a troubling “tectonic deformation.” Beneath this ice sheet, thinner and more geologically recent slices of crusty lithosphere fan out into hidden valleys called “pull-apart basins.”
These basins—30 elongated wedge-shaped valleys in total—constitute an entirely new, continental-scale geological region underneath Antarctica, in fact, one which the researchers have named the East Antarctic Fan-Shaped Basin Province (EAFBP). But it’s how they likely formed that has now caught researchers’ attention.
To put it bluntly, it turns out that about 90% of the planet’s fresh water ice may not be on solid ground. Geologist John Goodge called the team’s findings “provocative” in an independent commentary on the new study, published Thursday in the journal Nature Geoscience.
“East Antarctica is typically considered from seismic tomography and geodetics to be ancient and generally stable,” according to Goodge, who studies continental tectonics with the nonprofit Planetary Science Institute. “[But] something else is going on at depth.”
Continental divides
Goodge speculates that this seemingly “coherent pull-apart system,” as presented in the new study, might help explain a variety of mysterious heat and water flows beneath this ice sheet’s surface, like that enormous subglacial lake identified in 2016 or some of the hundreds more like it.
The study’s authors, led by geophysicist Egidio Armadillo at the University of Genoa in Italy, agreed: “Because these basins underlie about half of the East Antarctic Ice Sheet, they are likely to heavily influence both ice-flow and landscape evolution,” the researchers wrote in their study, also published Thursday in Nature Geoscience.
Armadillo’s team, coordinating across Europe and the U.K., developed their new understanding of Antarctica’s hidden bedrock via an exhaustive set of sensory data. Gravitational and magnetic anomalies were mapped via low-altitude airborne surveys. Ground surface features were mapped with seismic tools, using sound waves that vibrate through the ice and ping back information about subglacial landscapes in 3D.
The grey, magenta, and cyan lines represent the apparent new fault lines discovered. Credit: Nature Geoscience
All of this data—the fruits of “multi-national efforts to image within and below the ice sheet,” as Goodge put it—had already revealed that regions of the continent were “undergoing more rapid movement and ice-mass loss than previously recognized.” Armadillo’s team merely helped to explain why.
The mechanism Armadillo and his colleagues proposed for the formation of these fan-shaped basins is called “distributed rotational extension.” It involves points called Euler poles around which tectonic plates pivot or rotate rather than smash into each other or pull apart. The result is a bit like decks of cards being spread out on a table, thinning out the stack of Earth’s crust as it moves.
An icy situation
Goodge took pains to spell out the basins’ implications for melting Antarctic ice due to climate change and the risk of rising global sea levels.
The mere existence of these basins, he wrote, “could introduce widespread, systemic instability to the East Antarctic Ice Sheet” via thinner layers of Earth’s crust and more heat flow from below. On top of that, a series of fault-line “troughs” documented between the basins appear “tailor-made to promote outward flow of ice streams from the interior” into the world’s oceans, he said.
That said, the team’s findings are unlikely to end this debate. As Goodge noted, Antarctica is “the last continental frontier of scientific exploration.” It’s still a very mysterious place, one that’s challenging to study given its inhospitable temperatures and extreme geography. Its “cryptic subglacial geology” might stay that way for a while.
#Scientists #ContinentSized #Geological #Structure #Hiding #Beneath #AntarcticaAntarctica,Geology,mapping,Plate tectonics">Scientists Found a Continent-Sized Geological Structure Hiding Beneath Antarctica
The East Antarctic Ice Sheet is almost unfathomably huge. Covering about 75% of the entire frigid continent (nearly everything on its side of the Transantarctic Mountains), the sheet covers about 3.9 million square miles (10.2 million square kilometers) and extends down 1.4 miles (2.2 km), on average, before coming into contact with Earth’s surface. At its deepest, the ice plunges down over 3 miles (4.9 km).
For decades, scientists assumed that this literally continent-sized block of ice rested on an expansive and stable chunk of Earth’s crust known as a craton. A team of researchers has now complicated that picture—mapping a vast, interconnected geological structure that fans out from a troubling “tectonic deformation.” Beneath this ice sheet, thinner and more geologically recent slices of crusty lithosphere fan out into hidden valleys called “pull-apart basins.”
These basins—30 elongated wedge-shaped valleys in total—constitute an entirely new, continental-scale geological region underneath Antarctica, in fact, one which the researchers have named the East Antarctic Fan-Shaped Basin Province (EAFBP). But it’s how they likely formed that has now caught researchers’ attention.
To put it bluntly, it turns out that about 90% of the planet’s fresh water ice may not be on solid ground. Geologist John Goodge called the team’s findings “provocative” in an independent commentary on the new study, published Thursday in the journal Nature Geoscience.
“East Antarctica is typically considered from seismic tomography and geodetics to be ancient and generally stable,” according to Goodge, who studies continental tectonics with the nonprofit Planetary Science Institute. “[But] something else is going on at depth.”
Continental divides
Goodge speculates that this seemingly “coherent pull-apart system,” as presented in the new study, might help explain a variety of mysterious heat and water flows beneath this ice sheet’s surface, like that enormous subglacial lake identified in 2016 or some of the hundreds more like it.
The study’s authors, led by geophysicist Egidio Armadillo at the University of Genoa in Italy, agreed: “Because these basins underlie about half of the East Antarctic Ice Sheet, they are likely to heavily influence both ice-flow and landscape evolution,” the researchers wrote in their study, also published Thursday in Nature Geoscience.
Armadillo’s team, coordinating across Europe and the U.K., developed their new understanding of Antarctica’s hidden bedrock via an exhaustive set of sensory data. Gravitational and magnetic anomalies were mapped via low-altitude airborne surveys. Ground surface features were mapped with seismic tools, using sound waves that vibrate through the ice and ping back information about subglacial landscapes in 3D.
The grey, magenta, and cyan lines represent the apparent new fault lines discovered. Credit: Nature Geoscience
All of this data—the fruits of “multi-national efforts to image within and below the ice sheet,” as Goodge put it—had already revealed that regions of the continent were “undergoing more rapid movement and ice-mass loss than previously recognized.” Armadillo’s team merely helped to explain why.
The mechanism Armadillo and his colleagues proposed for the formation of these fan-shaped basins is called “distributed rotational extension.” It involves points called Euler poles around which tectonic plates pivot or rotate rather than smash into each other or pull apart. The result is a bit like decks of cards being spread out on a table, thinning out the stack of Earth’s crust as it moves.
An icy situation
Goodge took pains to spell out the basins’ implications for melting Antarctic ice due to climate change and the risk of rising global sea levels.
The mere existence of these basins, he wrote, “could introduce widespread, systemic instability to the East Antarctic Ice Sheet” via thinner layers of Earth’s crust and more heat flow from below. On top of that, a series of fault-line “troughs” documented between the basins appear “tailor-made to promote outward flow of ice streams from the interior” into the world’s oceans, he said.
That said, the team’s findings are unlikely to end this debate. As Goodge noted, Antarctica is “the last continental frontier of scientific exploration.” It’s still a very mysterious place, one that’s challenging to study given its inhospitable temperatures and extreme geography. Its “cryptic subglacial geology” might stay that way for a while.
![xAI fired an engineer who raised alarms about Grok safety, new lawsuit claims | TechCrunch
A former engineer at Elon Musk’s xAI has filed suit against the company and its parent SpaceX claiming he was fired for raising concerns about AI safety.
Devin Kim, who left xAI in September 2025, filed the suit in a California state court on Tuesday. The complaint comes days before SpaceX is set to join the public markets in what’s shaping up to be the largest IPO in history.
According to the lawsuit, which TechCrunch has viewed, Kim became a prominent voice for AI safety while working on Grok, xAI’s AI chatbot. He allegedly complained repeatedly about xAI’s failure to prioritize safety in Grok’s development, a product that has since come under fire for a range of safety and behavioral issues. In particular, Kim was concerned with the possibility that Grok could foment discrimination and help spread information about weapons of mass destruction.
“Grok, of course, proved Mr. Kim right by engaging in spectacular displays of online hatred and vitriol, with the model likening itself to Hitler (‘MechaHitler’),” the lawsuit reads. “Following the Hitler debacle, Mr. Kim worked to re-evaluate Grok’s political bias and discriminatory tendencies.”
September was my last month at xAI! I joined as one of the first members of the post-training team in 2024 and eventually led research tooling, where we built some of the world’s best systems to accelerate Grok’s development.On my first day, I was at the whiteboard with @ibab…— Devin Kim (@devindkim) October 3, 2025
A few months after Kim departed xAI, Grok made headlines again when the chatbot was used to flood X — Musk’s social media platform that also falls under the xAI umbrella — with nonconsensual sexual imagery.
The lawsuit also positions Kim as a whistleblower who was concerned about xAI’s alleged disregard for AI safety as “unlawful” in areas such as internet regulation, consumer protection and unfair business practices, and arms and explosives regulation, among others.
xAI and SpaceX did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Kim’s focus on AI safety predates his time at xAI. While working at Scale AI, Kim worked on early safety AI initiatives, like leading a project that produced training data for AI to train systems to detect harmful content and comply with governance policies. Last week, the nonprofit Center for AI Safety, which focuses on AI risks, named Kim as its president.
Interestingly, the lawsuit doesn’t implicate Musk himself as a reason for a lack of safety. Rather, Kim’s lawyers describe Musk as having directed xAI to follow the law and implement appropriate safety and testing processes. Instead the claim targets Kim’s supervisor, xAI co-founder Jimmy Ba — who left the company earlier this year — saying that Ba ignored Musk’s directives and retaliated against Kim for pushing for safeguards, in an effort to “silence his repeated complaints about AI safety and biases.”
The lawsuit portrays Ba as someone who vehemently opposed AI safety measures, allegedly telling Kim at one point “AI will kill us all anyway,” and who was instead driven by a mission to make xAI the first to reach superintelligence.
“In one instance in or around August 2025, Mr. Ba attempted to thwart EU safety regulations during the release of Grok Code 1, misrepresenting aspects of the model in order to avoid legally required testing,” the complaint says. “Mr. Ba indicated that he would rather release an unsafe model than a poor-performing one. Mr. Musk ultimately had to intervene.”
According to the lawsuit, Kim intended to give a presentation of his findings the week of September 15, 2025, but Ba called him into a meeting and told him they should “go [their] separate ways” without providing a satisfactory reason.
TechCrunch has reached out to Ba for comment.
Kim is seeking compensatory and punitive damages, as well as a declaratory judgment that xAI and SpaceX’s conduct was unlawful.
When you purchase through links in our articles, we may earn a small commission. This doesn’t affect our editorial independence.#xAI #fired #engineer #raised #alarms #Grok #safety #lawsuit #claims #TechCrunchai safety,devin kim,Grok,SpaceX,xAI](https://i3.wp.com/techcrunch.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/grok-getty.jpg?resize=1200%2C800&ssl=1 "xAI fired an engineer who raised alarms about Grok safety, new lawsuit claims | TechCrunch
A former engineer at Elon Musk’s xAI has filed suit against the company and its parent SpaceX claiming he was fired for raising concerns about AI safety.
Devin Kim, who left xAI in September 2025, filed the suit in a California state court on Tuesday. The complaint comes days before SpaceX is set to join the public markets in what’s shaping up to be the largest IPO in history.
According to the lawsuit, which TechCrunch has viewed, Kim became a prominent voice for AI safety while working on Grok, xAI’s AI chatbot. He allegedly complained repeatedly about xAI’s failure to prioritize safety in Grok’s development, a product that has since come under fire for a range of safety and behavioral issues. In particular, Kim was concerned with the possibility that Grok could foment discrimination and help spread information about weapons of mass destruction.
“Grok, of course, proved Mr. Kim right by engaging in spectacular displays of online hatred and vitriol, with the model likening itself to Hitler (‘MechaHitler’),” the lawsuit reads. “Following the Hitler debacle, Mr. Kim worked to re-evaluate Grok’s political bias and discriminatory tendencies.”
September was my last month at xAI! I joined as one of the first members of the post-training team in 2024 and eventually led research tooling, where we built some of the world’s best systems to accelerate Grok’s development.On my first day, I was at the whiteboard with @ibab…— Devin Kim (@devindkim) October 3, 2025
A few months after Kim departed xAI, Grok made headlines again when the chatbot was used to flood X — Musk’s social media platform that also falls under the xAI umbrella — with nonconsensual sexual imagery.
The lawsuit also positions Kim as a whistleblower who was concerned about xAI’s alleged disregard for AI safety as “unlawful” in areas such as internet regulation, consumer protection and unfair business practices, and arms and explosives regulation, among others.
xAI and SpaceX did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Kim’s focus on AI safety predates his time at xAI. While working at Scale AI, Kim worked on early safety AI initiatives, like leading a project that produced training data for AI to train systems to detect harmful content and comply with governance policies. Last week, the nonprofit Center for AI Safety, which focuses on AI risks, named Kim as its president.
Interestingly, the lawsuit doesn’t implicate Musk himself as a reason for a lack of safety. Rather, Kim’s lawyers describe Musk as having directed xAI to follow the law and implement appropriate safety and testing processes. Instead the claim targets Kim’s supervisor, xAI co-founder Jimmy Ba — who left the company earlier this year — saying that Ba ignored Musk’s directives and retaliated against Kim for pushing for safeguards, in an effort to “silence his repeated complaints about AI safety and biases.”
The lawsuit portrays Ba as someone who vehemently opposed AI safety measures, allegedly telling Kim at one point “AI will kill us all anyway,” and who was instead driven by a mission to make xAI the first to reach superintelligence.
“In one instance in or around August 2025, Mr. Ba attempted to thwart EU safety regulations during the release of Grok Code 1, misrepresenting aspects of the model in order to avoid legally required testing,” the complaint says. “Mr. Ba indicated that he would rather release an unsafe model than a poor-performing one. Mr. Musk ultimately had to intervene.”
According to the lawsuit, Kim intended to give a presentation of his findings the week of September 15, 2025, but Ba called him into a meeting and told him they should “go [their] separate ways” without providing a satisfactory reason.
TechCrunch has reached out to Ba for comment.
Kim is seeking compensatory and punitive damages, as well as a declaratory judgment that xAI and SpaceX’s conduct was unlawful.
When you purchase through links in our articles, we may earn a small commission. This doesn’t affect our editorial independence.#xAI #fired #engineer #raised #alarms #Grok #safety #lawsuit #claims #TechCrunchai safety,devin kim,Grok,SpaceX,xAI")
![Scientists Found a Continent-Sized Geological Structure Hiding Beneath Antarctica
The East Antarctic Ice Sheet is almost unfathomably huge. Covering about 75% of the entire frigid continent (nearly everything on its side of the Transantarctic Mountains), the sheet covers about 3.9 million square miles (10.2 million square kilometers) and extends down 1.4 miles (2.2 km), on average, before coming into contact with Earth’s surface. At its deepest, the ice plunges down over 3 miles (4.9 km). For decades, scientists assumed that this literally continent-sized block of ice rested on an expansive and stable chunk of Earth’s crust known as a craton. A team of researchers has now complicated that picture—mapping a vast, interconnected geological structure that fans out from a troubling “tectonic deformation.” Beneath this ice sheet, thinner and more geologically recent slices of crusty lithosphere fan out into hidden valleys called “pull-apart basins.” These basins—30 elongated wedge-shaped valleys in total—constitute an entirely new, continental-scale geological region underneath Antarctica, in fact, one which the researchers have named the East Antarctic Fan-Shaped Basin Province (EAFBP). But it’s how they likely formed that has now caught researchers’ attention.
To put it bluntly, it turns out that about 90% of the planet’s fresh water ice may not be on solid ground. Geologist John Goodge called the team’s findings “provocative” in an independent commentary on the new study, published Thursday in the journal Nature Geoscience.
“East Antarctica is typically considered from seismic tomography and geodetics to be ancient and generally stable,” according to Goodge, who studies continental tectonics with the nonprofit Planetary Science Institute. “[But] something else is going on at depth.” Continental divides Goodge speculates that this seemingly “coherent pull-apart system,” as presented in the new study, might help explain a variety of mysterious heat and water flows beneath this ice sheet’s surface, like that enormous subglacial lake identified in 2016 or some of the hundreds more like it.
The study’s authors, led by geophysicist Egidio Armadillo at the University of Genoa in Italy, agreed: “Because these basins underlie about half of the East Antarctic Ice Sheet, they are likely to heavily influence both ice-flow and landscape evolution,” the researchers wrote in their study, also published Thursday in Nature Geoscience. Armadillo’s team, coordinating across Europe and the U.K., developed their new understanding of Antarctica’s hidden bedrock via an exhaustive set of sensory data. Gravitational and magnetic anomalies were mapped via low-altitude airborne surveys. Ground surface features were mapped with seismic tools, using sound waves that vibrate through the ice and ping back information about subglacial landscapes in 3D. The grey, magenta, and cyan lines represent the apparent new fault lines discovered. Credit: Nature Geoscience All of this data—the fruits of “multi-national efforts to image within and below the ice sheet,” as Goodge put it—had already revealed that regions of the continent were “undergoing more rapid movement and ice-mass loss than previously recognized.” Armadillo’s team merely helped to explain why.
The mechanism Armadillo and his colleagues proposed for the formation of these fan-shaped basins is called “distributed rotational extension.” It involves points called Euler poles around which tectonic plates pivot or rotate rather than smash into each other or pull apart. The result is a bit like decks of cards being spread out on a table, thinning out the stack of Earth’s crust as it moves. An icy situation Goodge took pains to spell out the basins’ implications for melting Antarctic ice due to climate change and the risk of rising global sea levels.
The mere existence of these basins, he wrote, “could introduce widespread, systemic instability to the East Antarctic Ice Sheet” via thinner layers of Earth’s crust and more heat flow from below. On top of that, a series of fault-line “troughs” documented between the basins appear “tailor-made to promote outward flow of ice streams from the interior” into the world’s oceans, he said. That said, the team’s findings are unlikely to end this debate. As Goodge noted, Antarctica is “the last continental frontier of scientific exploration.” It’s still a very mysterious place, one that’s challenging to study given its inhospitable temperatures and extreme geography. Its “cryptic subglacial geology” might stay that way for a while. #Scientists #ContinentSized #Geological #Structure #Hiding #Beneath #AntarcticaAntarctica,Geology,mapping,Plate tectonics](https://gizmodo.com/app/uploads/2026/06/East-Antarctic-Fan-shaped-Basin-Province.jpeg "Scientists Found a Continent-Sized Geological Structure Hiding Beneath Antarctica
The East Antarctic Ice Sheet is almost unfathomably huge. Covering about 75% of the entire frigid continent (nearly everything on its side of the Transantarctic Mountains), the sheet covers about 3.9 million square miles (10.2 million square kilometers) and extends down 1.4 miles (2.2 km), on average, before coming into contact with Earth’s surface. At its deepest, the ice plunges down over 3 miles (4.9 km). For decades, scientists assumed that this literally continent-sized block of ice rested on an expansive and stable chunk of Earth’s crust known as a craton. A team of researchers has now complicated that picture—mapping a vast, interconnected geological structure that fans out from a troubling “tectonic deformation.” Beneath this ice sheet, thinner and more geologically recent slices of crusty lithosphere fan out into hidden valleys called “pull-apart basins.” These basins—30 elongated wedge-shaped valleys in total—constitute an entirely new, continental-scale geological region underneath Antarctica, in fact, one which the researchers have named the East Antarctic Fan-Shaped Basin Province (EAFBP). But it’s how they likely formed that has now caught researchers’ attention.
To put it bluntly, it turns out that about 90% of the planet’s fresh water ice may not be on solid ground. Geologist John Goodge called the team’s findings “provocative” in an independent commentary on the new study, published Thursday in the journal Nature Geoscience.
“East Antarctica is typically considered from seismic tomography and geodetics to be ancient and generally stable,” according to Goodge, who studies continental tectonics with the nonprofit Planetary Science Institute. “[But] something else is going on at depth.” Continental divides Goodge speculates that this seemingly “coherent pull-apart system,” as presented in the new study, might help explain a variety of mysterious heat and water flows beneath this ice sheet’s surface, like that enormous subglacial lake identified in 2016 or some of the hundreds more like it.
The study’s authors, led by geophysicist Egidio Armadillo at the University of Genoa in Italy, agreed: “Because these basins underlie about half of the East Antarctic Ice Sheet, they are likely to heavily influence both ice-flow and landscape evolution,” the researchers wrote in their study, also published Thursday in Nature Geoscience. Armadillo’s team, coordinating across Europe and the U.K., developed their new understanding of Antarctica’s hidden bedrock via an exhaustive set of sensory data. Gravitational and magnetic anomalies were mapped via low-altitude airborne surveys. Ground surface features were mapped with seismic tools, using sound waves that vibrate through the ice and ping back information about subglacial landscapes in 3D. The grey, magenta, and cyan lines represent the apparent new fault lines discovered. Credit: Nature Geoscience All of this data—the fruits of “multi-national efforts to image within and below the ice sheet,” as Goodge put it—had already revealed that regions of the continent were “undergoing more rapid movement and ice-mass loss than previously recognized.” Armadillo’s team merely helped to explain why.
The mechanism Armadillo and his colleagues proposed for the formation of these fan-shaped basins is called “distributed rotational extension.” It involves points called Euler poles around which tectonic plates pivot or rotate rather than smash into each other or pull apart. The result is a bit like decks of cards being spread out on a table, thinning out the stack of Earth’s crust as it moves. An icy situation Goodge took pains to spell out the basins’ implications for melting Antarctic ice due to climate change and the risk of rising global sea levels.
The mere existence of these basins, he wrote, “could introduce widespread, systemic instability to the East Antarctic Ice Sheet” via thinner layers of Earth’s crust and more heat flow from below. On top of that, a series of fault-line “troughs” documented between the basins appear “tailor-made to promote outward flow of ice streams from the interior” into the world’s oceans, he said. That said, the team’s findings are unlikely to end this debate. As Goodge noted, Antarctica is “the last continental frontier of scientific exploration.” It’s still a very mysterious place, one that’s challenging to study given its inhospitable temperatures and extreme geography. Its “cryptic subglacial geology” might stay that way for a while. #Scientists #ContinentSized #Geological #Structure #Hiding #Beneath #AntarcticaAntarctica,Geology,mapping,Plate tectonics")
![Scientists Found a Continent-Sized Geological Structure Hiding Beneath Antarctica
The East Antarctic Ice Sheet is almost unfathomably huge. Covering about 75% of the entire frigid continent (nearly everything on its side of the Transantarctic Mountains), the sheet covers about 3.9 million square miles (10.2 million square kilometers) and extends down 1.4 miles (2.2 km), on average, before coming into contact with Earth’s surface. At its deepest, the ice plunges down over 3 miles (4.9 km). For decades, scientists assumed that this literally continent-sized block of ice rested on an expansive and stable chunk of Earth’s crust known as a craton. A team of researchers has now complicated that picture—mapping a vast, interconnected geological structure that fans out from a troubling “tectonic deformation.” Beneath this ice sheet, thinner and more geologically recent slices of crusty lithosphere fan out into hidden valleys called “pull-apart basins.” These basins—30 elongated wedge-shaped valleys in total—constitute an entirely new, continental-scale geological region underneath Antarctica, in fact, one which the researchers have named the East Antarctic Fan-Shaped Basin Province (EAFBP). But it’s how they likely formed that has now caught researchers’ attention.
To put it bluntly, it turns out that about 90% of the planet’s fresh water ice may not be on solid ground. Geologist John Goodge called the team’s findings “provocative” in an independent commentary on the new study, published Thursday in the journal Nature Geoscience.
“East Antarctica is typically considered from seismic tomography and geodetics to be ancient and generally stable,” according to Goodge, who studies continental tectonics with the nonprofit Planetary Science Institute. “[But] something else is going on at depth.” Continental divides Goodge speculates that this seemingly “coherent pull-apart system,” as presented in the new study, might help explain a variety of mysterious heat and water flows beneath this ice sheet’s surface, like that enormous subglacial lake identified in 2016 or some of the hundreds more like it.
The study’s authors, led by geophysicist Egidio Armadillo at the University of Genoa in Italy, agreed: “Because these basins underlie about half of the East Antarctic Ice Sheet, they are likely to heavily influence both ice-flow and landscape evolution,” the researchers wrote in their study, also published Thursday in Nature Geoscience. Armadillo’s team, coordinating across Europe and the U.K., developed their new understanding of Antarctica’s hidden bedrock via an exhaustive set of sensory data. Gravitational and magnetic anomalies were mapped via low-altitude airborne surveys. Ground surface features were mapped with seismic tools, using sound waves that vibrate through the ice and ping back information about subglacial landscapes in 3D. The grey, magenta, and cyan lines represent the apparent new fault lines discovered. Credit: Nature Geoscience All of this data—the fruits of “multi-national efforts to image within and below the ice sheet,” as Goodge put it—had already revealed that regions of the continent were “undergoing more rapid movement and ice-mass loss than previously recognized.” Armadillo’s team merely helped to explain why.
The mechanism Armadillo and his colleagues proposed for the formation of these fan-shaped basins is called “distributed rotational extension.” It involves points called Euler poles around which tectonic plates pivot or rotate rather than smash into each other or pull apart. The result is a bit like decks of cards being spread out on a table, thinning out the stack of Earth’s crust as it moves. An icy situation Goodge took pains to spell out the basins’ implications for melting Antarctic ice due to climate change and the risk of rising global sea levels.
The mere existence of these basins, he wrote, “could introduce widespread, systemic instability to the East Antarctic Ice Sheet” via thinner layers of Earth’s crust and more heat flow from below. On top of that, a series of fault-line “troughs” documented between the basins appear “tailor-made to promote outward flow of ice streams from the interior” into the world’s oceans, he said. That said, the team’s findings are unlikely to end this debate. As Goodge noted, Antarctica is “the last continental frontier of scientific exploration.” It’s still a very mysterious place, one that’s challenging to study given its inhospitable temperatures and extreme geography. Its “cryptic subglacial geology” might stay that way for a while. #Scientists #ContinentSized #Geological #Structure #Hiding #Beneath #AntarcticaAntarctica,Geology,mapping,Plate tectonics](https://i0.wp.com/gizmodo.com/app/uploads/2026/06/East-Antarctic-Fan-shaped-Basin-Province.jpeg?ssl=1 "Scientists Found a Continent-Sized Geological Structure Hiding Beneath Antarctica
The East Antarctic Ice Sheet is almost unfathomably huge. Covering about 75% of the entire frigid continent (nearly everything on its side of the Transantarctic Mountains), the sheet covers about 3.9 million square miles (10.2 million square kilometers) and extends down 1.4 miles (2.2 km), on average, before coming into contact with Earth’s surface. At its deepest, the ice plunges down over 3 miles (4.9 km). For decades, scientists assumed that this literally continent-sized block of ice rested on an expansive and stable chunk of Earth’s crust known as a craton. A team of researchers has now complicated that picture—mapping a vast, interconnected geological structure that fans out from a troubling “tectonic deformation.” Beneath this ice sheet, thinner and more geologically recent slices of crusty lithosphere fan out into hidden valleys called “pull-apart basins.” These basins—30 elongated wedge-shaped valleys in total—constitute an entirely new, continental-scale geological region underneath Antarctica, in fact, one which the researchers have named the East Antarctic Fan-Shaped Basin Province (EAFBP). But it’s how they likely formed that has now caught researchers’ attention.
To put it bluntly, it turns out that about 90% of the planet’s fresh water ice may not be on solid ground. Geologist John Goodge called the team’s findings “provocative” in an independent commentary on the new study, published Thursday in the journal Nature Geoscience.
“East Antarctica is typically considered from seismic tomography and geodetics to be ancient and generally stable,” according to Goodge, who studies continental tectonics with the nonprofit Planetary Science Institute. “[But] something else is going on at depth.” Continental divides Goodge speculates that this seemingly “coherent pull-apart system,” as presented in the new study, might help explain a variety of mysterious heat and water flows beneath this ice sheet’s surface, like that enormous subglacial lake identified in 2016 or some of the hundreds more like it.
The study’s authors, led by geophysicist Egidio Armadillo at the University of Genoa in Italy, agreed: “Because these basins underlie about half of the East Antarctic Ice Sheet, they are likely to heavily influence both ice-flow and landscape evolution,” the researchers wrote in their study, also published Thursday in Nature Geoscience. Armadillo’s team, coordinating across Europe and the U.K., developed their new understanding of Antarctica’s hidden bedrock via an exhaustive set of sensory data. Gravitational and magnetic anomalies were mapped via low-altitude airborne surveys. Ground surface features were mapped with seismic tools, using sound waves that vibrate through the ice and ping back information about subglacial landscapes in 3D. The grey, magenta, and cyan lines represent the apparent new fault lines discovered. Credit: Nature Geoscience All of this data—the fruits of “multi-national efforts to image within and below the ice sheet,” as Goodge put it—had already revealed that regions of the continent were “undergoing more rapid movement and ice-mass loss than previously recognized.” Armadillo’s team merely helped to explain why.
The mechanism Armadillo and his colleagues proposed for the formation of these fan-shaped basins is called “distributed rotational extension.” It involves points called Euler poles around which tectonic plates pivot or rotate rather than smash into each other or pull apart. The result is a bit like decks of cards being spread out on a table, thinning out the stack of Earth’s crust as it moves. An icy situation Goodge took pains to spell out the basins’ implications for melting Antarctic ice due to climate change and the risk of rising global sea levels.
The mere existence of these basins, he wrote, “could introduce widespread, systemic instability to the East Antarctic Ice Sheet” via thinner layers of Earth’s crust and more heat flow from below. On top of that, a series of fault-line “troughs” documented between the basins appear “tailor-made to promote outward flow of ice streams from the interior” into the world’s oceans, he said. That said, the team’s findings are unlikely to end this debate. As Goodge noted, Antarctica is “the last continental frontier of scientific exploration.” It’s still a very mysterious place, one that’s challenging to study given its inhospitable temperatures and extreme geography. Its “cryptic subglacial geology” might stay that way for a while. #Scientists #ContinentSized #Geological #Structure #Hiding #Beneath #AntarcticaAntarctica,Geology,mapping,Plate tectonics")
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