News
- Volume and spend on tokens for Anthropic’s AI solutions made it more revenue than any of its competitors in July 2026, cementing its position as the top LLM provider
- This success is despite Anthropic’s tokens being more expensive than its competitors
- The data was collated by Vercel’s AI Gateway, an API service that routes LLMs for easy AI provider swapping
Monthly analysis of the AI industry has revealed a number of surprises for July 2026, not least the continued growth of Anthropic both in terms of revenue and token use.
This is despite the company charging a higher rate for tokens, AI’s computational data currency.
The data was compiled by agentic infrastructure company Vercel, whose AI Gateway is used by many major companies and developers, and found the price-per-token average across all analysed platforms fell following two months of growth in May and June. Despite the overall 37% increase in spend across the industry, the cost per token rate dropped.
Anthropic growthVercel’s analysis of transactions through its APIs has repeatedly demonstrated a dominance for Anthropic. Its reporting on gateway spend started in December 2025 and in every month since, Anthropic has had over 60% of the spend share, and in July that figure sat at 65.1% with 30% of the total volume (of all tokens sent through the Vercel AI Gateway).
Yet the average price per token was on 4.4 times higher than the overall average across all AI labs. Token prices have rarely proved to be steady, with Vercel’s data reporting an average price drop of 13.6% after a 20% rise in May and little change in June.
(For reference, the report’s definition of the price per token is the total spend divided by the total volume.)
Despite a higher price per token, however, Anthropic’s price per token was lower in July, a change attributed to the return to public access of Claude Fable 5 after its temporary suspension.
Monthly data collectionVercel’s monthly look at the data that flows through its API paints a fascinating picture not just of Anthropic’s growth, but of the performance (or otherwise) of its competitors.
For example, it charts Chinese AI company DeepSeek’s surprise growth from May, through June; the report notes that “we said an open-weight lab would soon be second by volume. In July, DeepSeek surpassed Google to take that place.”
DeepSeek’s growth over Google has proved to be a surprise, one that puts it in second place on volume. The real story is Anthropic’s gradual cementing of its strong position over the rest of the LLM makers. Its larger revenue pull despite higher token price indicates that the recent iterations of Claude and anticipation over the gradual release of Mythos 5 are giving the company a strong reputation – much like Apple.
Founded in 2014 by competitive Starcraft 2 players Ian Ang and Alaric Choo, Secretlab has steadily grown from one of Singapore’s countless plucky start-ups to one of the most recognizable gaming chair brands in the world.
The award-winning Secretlab Titan Evo 2022 is its flagship product (named one of the best gaming chairs on the market in our review). The brand also manufactures a successful line of desks and this year branched into the productivity-focused task chair market with its new Atlas model.
Special edition gear has steadily become a key part of the offering as well. Shoppers can scoop up officially licensed products tied to some of the biggest games like Overwatch and Cyberpunk 2077, massive multimedia franchises including Pokémon and Warhammer, popular esports teams, or even luxury car brands McLaren and Lamborghini.
But it all began with a certain caped crusader.
The Batman blueprintFutureFutureFuture“I chose Batman at the start,” Choo, who also heads the company’s partnerships, explains as I relax on a sofa in his corner office at the brand’s HQ. A pile of material samples amassed over years of research and development sits on the glass coffee table in front of me: strips of bright orange fabric designed to look like Dragon Ball hero Goku’s iconic robes, a moulded plate inspired by the front of a supercar, a detailed print of the Marauder's Map from Harry Potter, and countless other items.
“We were much smaller back then, so we didn't have many options, but Batman was such a huge IP, and I just felt like it made sense for us,” he continues. This was nine years ago and, although other gaming furniture brands have embraced similar collaborations in the years since, Choo says a crossover gaming chair was a novel idea at the time.
“DC was kind of like, 'we have a lot of license categories. We have everything. We have figures, we have statues, we have cups, we have shirts and bags, but we've never done a chair.’"
In such uncharted territory, Choo reckons that it took a whole year to work out how to approach the product’s design. “It sounds obvious now: a Batman chair is black, right? But do you go with the iconic Batman, where it's a yellow logo and retro? We were coming off the armor and whatnot — the [Dark Knight] movie was out at the time, so we went that direction.”
(Image credit: Future)“We were thinking about what Batman would sit in; what chair would he have in his bat cave?” reveals Choo. The final design is sleek and understated, adorned with a subtle bat emblem and a carbon-fiber-like pattern. It looks like something that could exist in the world of comics, and this approach immediately resonated not just with franchise owner Warner Bros. but also with consumers.
Warner Bros. entered Secretlab in the 2021 Licensing International Excellence Awards, where it won ‘Best Licensed Product’ in the home décor category, and the chair remains one of the company’s most popular designs. It even caught the attention of Batman artist Jim Lee, who snuck the Secretlab logo onto the hero’s personal seat in Batman comic book issue #159.
“It was crazy. [A picture of the panel] was just sent to us randomly,” laughs Choo. “I bought three copies: I kept one for myself. I sent one to the guy that's in charge of Warner Bros. in Singapore, and then the third one I showed my mom.”
Becoming the experts(Image credit: Future)The success of the Batman chair gave Secretlab plenty of reason to pursue future collaborations, and informed how it approaches each one to this day. “We don't want to just put logos on things and call it a day. We want to go in depth. We want to know the lore,” begins Choo.
Whether it's poring over comic book panels, diving into video games, or watching all the movies or cartoons in a particular series, the team isn’t afraid to go deep into the source material of any intellectual property they are working with. “If we weren't originally fans of the IP before, we become experts,” he adds.
Choo does admit there are occasions when this isn’t possible though, like the build-up to a new release where details are kept under wraps: “Sometimes we're designing stuff with very little information. We don't like to do that, but sometimes we have to do it.”
Walking around the company’s global headquarters, it’s easy to see that employees are encouraged not to shy away from the properties they love. Desks are covered in figurines and other collectibles based on a wide range of games, comic books, manga, movies, and more. Even Choo’s own space is adorned with nerdy memorabilia.
FutureFutureFutureFutureFuture“All the IP that we work with, even currently, a lot of it is stuff that we are very, very passionate about. “I'm a Pokémon fan, so I don't just want to put whatever on a chair. I want to go deep into it with them; I want to collaborate at a high level. I want to come up with, like, assembly manuals that have custom art and that kind of thing,” he continues, gesturing to a colorful Genshin Impact print.
Secretlab currently has three separate Pokémon chair designs inspired by Pikachu, Gengar, and Eevee. You might assume that choosing which characters to base designs on is a simple popularity contest. Still, Choo argues that the team is actually more concerned with coming up with ideas that are unique and fit Secretlab’s premium brand image.
“Sometimes a popular Pokémon doesn't have a good color scheme, for example, and it would be off brand for us. We also need to think about Pokémon's guidelines as well; it's one of those things where there are so many rules,” he explains. “If it's all color, then it's too loud as well. Only a kid would want it. How do I make it tasteful in a way where an older fan can have it in their house, and it will be a good fit?
Consistent quality(Image credit: Future)Secretlab collaborations are characterized by a careful attention to detail, with intricate design elements that often incorporate new materials and manufacturing techniques.
“I think we've always gone all out on all of our collabs,” says Choo. “We have certain manufacturing methods that have become more viable to use. One of the things that we talk about a lot is the embroidery. It's something that I think companies don't like to use because it's very expensive. It's very time-consuming. We have certain panels that can take seven, eight hours to do.”
We've always gone all out on all of our collabs
Alaric Choo, co-founder and technical & partnerships director at Secretlab
Secretlab’s crossovers with luxury car brands stand out as perhaps the most materially complex in its portfolio. The most premium Automobili Lamborghini editions, for example, are decked out in the same Dinamica microsuede material found on high-end car dashboards and lightweight carbon fiber plating.
“Lamborghini is one of the greatest luxury names, so we were thinking about how we can elevate the partnership,” Choo explains as I examine a sturdy black panel from the table. “When we look at Lamborghinis, there is a lot of carbon fiber usage. The weave that they use and how they put it together — carbon fiber is a pain in the ass to work with. It's like you're layering different sheets, and it bubbles very easily.
(Image credit: Future)“When we did it, we looked at the shape of the carbon fiber on Lamborghini cars, and we were like, ‘We think that this is it.’ We had to come up with a mounting method and learn to use carbon fiber. Obviously, we used it sometimes in certain prototypes, but we hadn’t actually mass-produced it, so it was a first for us.”
Creating new manufacturing processes and tools can be expensive, but Choo isn’t worried that the added cost could hurt profits. “It may not always directly translate financially, but we don't think about things in so much of the short term,” he says. “In the overall term, it pays off that when we do something, we do it properly. I think that's the main point for us: if we're going to do it half-assed, let's not do it at all.”
He thinks that consumers appreciate the overall “consistency” and have come to expect a lot of effort from the brand: “Holding yourself to a very high standard pays off over time.”
A privately held company, Secretlab can afford to invest in developing this kind of relationship with consumers in a way that some of its biggest competitors perhaps can’t. With the company’s value estimated to be nearing the billion-dollar mark back in 2021, Choo’s long-term thinking is obviously paying off.
- OVHcloud will raise dedicated server prices from September 2026, with latest-generation Game range going up by as much as 87%
- Current-generation hardware will see increases of 51%, while older, 2024-gen hardware will see prices go up by 28% on average
- Move is linked to AI-related surge in memory and storage prices, with OVHcloud CEO stating the former has increased sixfold and could potentially double again by early 2027
French cloud platform OVHcloud is sounding the alarm for customers who use its dedicated gaming servers about a price increase that kicks in starting in September 2026 for server configurations, including its 'Game' offerings, that currently start at $357 on the US storefront.
In a post on X, CEO Octave Klaba highlighted the projected price increases as a percentage over prior commitments, stating that while 2024-built machines would not see a price increase, Gen 2026 would see a mammoth 87% increase in cost for consumers.
This marks the steepest increase across the board; otherwise, Gen 2026 servers saw a +51% increase in cost, even as OVHCloud states that existing options would see a lower overall increase in cost and that existing commitments would see "nothing change".
A sign of troubling times for private gaming servers?Many gamers host private servers for their gaming needs, ranging from a small group of friends and family running a persistent Minecraft instance to servers that cater to hundreds, if not thousands, of players simultaneously, often with commercial caveats.
An increase in price affects both, though possibly the latter disproportionately, as monetization or donations generally sustain them, and they can already run into hundreds of dollars a month in upkeep.
OVHcloud's CEO has highlighted why the move, which seems to be focused on newer gaming servers, which saw the largest increase across the board, is necessary: its memory costs have increased sixfold and could rise to as much as twelvefold by early 2027.
The underlying reason is one that is easy to point at: AI server demand is not only dictating storage and memory market prices, but it could also be weighing purchase decisions at cloud providers, many who can envisage growing and consistent demand for such server instances, therefore raising the opportunity cost of other deployments; OVHcloud's 2026 'Game' servers for example, come with AMD's Ryzen X3D CPUs in two trims currently.
While these CPUs are great for games, they might not be cost-effective for datacenter needs due to higher per-core costs and lower clock speeds than comparable mainstream options, placing them a distant third in a list that has core-heavy server-grade CPUs at the top.
The writing hasn't been on the wall exactly, and it makes for an interesting comparison of how far numbers have traveled in less than a year: in November 2025, Klaba anticipated cloud product prices rising 5 to 10% between April and September 2026. In February 2026, announcing the year's first increase, he described an impact on cloud deployments between 2021 and 2025 of 2 to 6%, depending on hardware age.
He conceded at the time that asking existing customers to subsidize new ones was a little unfair, and argued it was the only way to keep cloud accessible over the following two years.
OVHcloud is an unusual case here: it builds its own servers, which is rare in an industry that often offloads that end to a third-party provider, and while that vertical integration has historically been the source of its price advantage, it has not protected the company here because OVHcloud still buys the same DIMMs and NVMe drives as everyone else.
The Register spoke to the founder of a mid-sized managed service provider who was entirely unsurprised by OVHcloud's announcement and expects AWS and Azure to follow.
The hyperscalers have deeper balance sheets, longer supply agreements, and more room to absorb component costs quietly, so any move from them will likely be slower and less legible than a founder posting percentages on X. It will, however, arguably not be smaller and will be considerably more far-reaching thanks to how deeply integrated some of their products are across the world.
I’ve played a lot of Battlefield. Across the series, I’ve spent more than 1,500 hours running and gunning through its virtual combat zones* — that’s about 0.7 per cent of my entire life.
And as our Battlefield 6 review details, 2025’s flagship first-person+ shooter from Battlefield Studios has put the long-running franchise back in the spotlight after an extended off-season. It even beat Call of Duty: Black Ops 7 to become the best-selling FPS game of 2025.
However, Battlefield 6 didn’t release with a huge amount of content, and not everyone loved the game’s compact maps, weapon balance, or seasonal update cadence. I myself felt let down by the glacial progression system.
To its credit, Battlefield Studios announced a roadmap in April 2026, led by a third season designed to stir nostalgia for Battlefield’s previous present-day installments, Battlefield 3 and Battlefield 4.
Having spent a cool 675 hours in-game, Battlefield 4 is one of my most played titles of all time — for comparison, I’ve put 135 hours into Battlefield 6 since launch. It seems Battlefield Studios is keen to remind us of the good old days, so when Season 3 came around, I plugged in my PS4 to see how far my favorite shooter series has come.
(*675 hours in BF4, 510 hours in BF1, 135 hours in BF6, 50 hours in BFV, and an estimated 200 hours in BF3. Sheesh.)
With my bipod knife equipped, I was ready to jump into Battlefield 4 — but finding a game in 2026 isn’t as easy as pressing ‘Quickmatch’.
Amazingly, there are still a few official PS4 servers, but they’re always empty. The server browser is the best way to find a game via community servers, which means dealing with smaller map rotations, unofficial rules, and the occasional power-tripping admin.
Battlefield 6 has the opposite issue — a server browser is on the way, but for now, your only option to find a game is to quickmatch into a lobby full of randoms. That’s a win for Battlefield 4; I’ve always enjoyed learning the ebb and flow of a server and its residents over the course of a few matches.
Once I got online, I was genuinely surprised by how the game felt. It’s much slower-paced than I remembered; the sliding and vaulting and diving that defines Battlefield 6’s movement system is totally absent, maps are larger and sparser, and it takes longer to get in and out of combat.
All of this speaks to how Battlefield 4 is designed — compared to the infantry-focused corridors and choke points of Battlefield 6, older Battlefield games were built from the ground up as huge clashes between coordinated squads of troops, armored ground vehicles, and air support.
Furthermore, certain weapons are class-locked in Battlefield 4, meaning you can’t use, say, a sniper rifle and a rocket launcher at the same time. It asks for a bit more thought in how you approach your in-game role, which makes laying down suppressive fire as a Support class or rushing objectives as an Assault player feel more considered and rewarding.
As I settled in on classic maps like Dawnbreaker and Siege of Shanghai, I found myself choosing fights carefully and wordlessly working with my teammates to take objectives. In contrast, matches in Battlefield 6 can often feel determined by the skill of each team’s best individual players.
Spice of lifeBattlefield 4's variety of settings, factions, and weapons keeps the game feeling fresh, even after hundreds of hours (Image credit: Jamie Richards / Future)Another thing you notice pretty quickly about Battlefield 4 is just how much stuff the game has to offer.
The Premium edition, which includes all five paid DLC packs released in the year or so after launch, has a total of 33 maps and 107 primary and secondary weapons, more than any other entry in the series.
The differences between each weapon are less noticeable than in future games, but this means that gunfights aren’t always decided by who happened to pick the right weapon for a certain engagement distance, or indeed whose split-second reactions were fastest.
And then there’s the destruction that Battlefield 4’s maps offer — while Battlefield 6 will let you knock through a wall or blow up the odd building, Battlefield 4’s maps come with ‘Levolution’ gimmicks that range from leveling a skyscraper to flooding the entire map.
Some of these maps are amongst the most creative in the series history – the jungle terrain of Guilin Peaks, locked-down streets of Propaganda, and crashing waves of Paracel Storm are as inventive as Battlefield gets.
Fidelity and fictionBattlefield 6's fictional universe is much less compelling than its predecessors'. (Image credit: Electronic Arts)Battlefield 4 looks pretty good for a game released in 2013. The game’s art direction shines on maps like Hainan Resort and Giants of Karelia, but its low-poly terrain and flat lighting are getting harder to ignore as time goes on.
There’s no real contest with Battlefield 6, which is simply one of the best looking games I’ve ever played. Season 3’s revamp of Battlefield 4 map Golmud Railway is a great example – its vibrant fauna and detailed villages provide a great contrast to the carnage.
The way I remember Battlefield 4 looking is the way Battlefield 6 actually looks — playing both games in sequence makes it clear just how far we’ve come graphically in the past decade.
Somehow, Battlefield 6’s campaign kicks it up another notch – an early-game paratrooper sequence had my jaw pinned to the floor. From a writing standpoint, though, that campaign is more of a mixed bag, with a noticeable lack of real-world grounding.
Battlefield 4 saw the USA, Russia, and China locked in a tense conflict. The characters in its campaign always felt secondary to the overarching geopolitical threat — a smart choice when you’ve only got a few hours to develop your story.
As such, Battlefield 4’s online matches gain another layer of emotional investment from its worldbuilding.
In contrast, Battlefield 6 features a vaguely American NATO, and the fictional Pax Armata private military company engaged in seemingly random skirmishes across the globe, which doesn’t have quite the same gravitas.
Warfare, modernizedCall of Duty has had a huge impact on Battlefield's newer entries, and Modern Warfare 4 could pose some strong competition to the franchise when it releases later this year. (Image credit: Activision)Battlefield 4 is still the quintessential Battlefield experience, the benchmark from which the series’ future efforts are measured. Despite its slower gameplay and aging visuals, it still offers a rewarding mix of arcade and tactical shooter elements that subsequent entries haven’t quite matched.
I’m still a huge fan of Battlefield 6’s faster, more constrained experience, and I’m keeping a keen eye on upcoming seasons, which promise five new maps and the introduction of naval combat by the end of 2026.
I think it’s important that Battlefield Studios makes this mix of vehicle and infantry a priority. There’s no denying that the rebooted Call of Duty: Modern Warfare series had a massive impact on the series’ latest entry, and with Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 4 set to land later this year, Battlefield would be best served by updates that emphasise its difference from Activision’s champion franchise.
If you’ve yet to experience Battlefield 4, I’d suggest picking it up as soon as possible – the multiplayer servers for spin-off Battlefield Hardline shut down on 22 June, and while Battlefield 4 is still supported, there’s no knowing when that could change.
In today's social media age, celebrity brand ambassadors are a common sight, helping endorse or promote a brand's products or tools, giving that extra bit of sparkle or star power.
This is especially true in the consumer market, but we're now increasingly seeing it in the B2B tech world, where what 10 years ago would have been niche businesses now have the power to hire top talent to promote their brand - I'm talking Idris Elba promoting ServiceNow, Keanu Reeves bigging up Palo Alto Networks, and Matthew McConaghey being the voice of Salesforce.
But as a massive Formula 1 fan, I was intrigued to read a press release announcing reigning world champion Lando Norris as a "brand ambassador" for a data company I'd never heard of - so who (or what) exactly are Starburst?
All about StarburstFounded in 2017, and boasting that organizations in more than 60 countries rely on it to unify their data, "from startups to Fortune 500 enterprises" - Starburst's initial pitch is strong.
In its press release, Starburst describes itself as, "the enterprise intelligence platform for governed data and AI" - a pretty big claim, and one that the likes of Salesforce and Oracle might raise eyebrows at.
Continuing, Starburst says its platform will allow customers to, "run AI directly on distributed data in place, without moving or replatforming it, across cloud, on-premises, and hybrid environments while providing consistent business context to queries, models, or agents regardless of where it is stored or processed."
Overall, this should help companies develop and run faster analytics, "trusted" AI, and "better decisions at enterprise scale."
(Image credit: Clive Mason/Getty Images)So what does this have to do with Formula 1? Over to Lando to explain.
“People often see motor racing at the highest level as being about reactions, but most of the performance comes from preparation and understanding the details," he says (in the same press release).
"I’m constantly asking questions, looking for information, and trying to build the clearest possible picture before making decisions. Whether that’s racing, running a business, or working with a team, having access to the right information at the right time gives you confidence to act. That’s what stood out to me about Starburst and why I’m excited to partner with them."
Not much clearer then - but it seems the two-year partnership will launch Starburst’s “Ask. Know. Go.” campaign, which the company says will be "connecting the speed, precision, and data-driven decision-making of Formula 1 racing with the enterprise challenge of turning distributed data into trusted action."
The three parts of this, unsurprisingly, are around getting access to data via AI agents, making sure this data is accurate and trusted, and supporting it with fast and powerful systems.
“Lando represents what happens when preparation, data, and split-second decision-making come together,” said Justin Borgman, Founder and Chief Executive Officer, Starburst.
“That's the challenge enterprises face with AI: ask the right questions, access the complete context behind the answer, and act before the opportunity passes. Starburst makes that possible by giving teams and AI agents governed access to data wherever it lives.”
So there you have it - another stitch in the fabric joining enterprises and Formula 1 - and one that will hopefully lead to a more successful second half of the 2026 season and beyond for Lando.
If you haven't secured yourself a Google Pixel 11 preorder, then I've got one more potential option to throw in the ring. In fact, it might be the best option if you're looking to buy an unlocked device outright.
Amazon currently lists the Google Pixel 11 for preorder with a $100 gift card on all colors and storage sizes. That's a gift card to spend anywhere on Amazon, so it's definitely a very handy little bonus, even if it's not an outright discount.
The closest deal I've seen to this gift card is a bundle deal over at the Google Store, which gets you $200 of store credit with either the Pixel 11 Pro or Pixel 11 Pro XL. It's technically a better deal, but the fact that you can't get it on the standard Pixel 11 — and the fact that the Google Store's inventory is more limited than Amazon's — makes it more restrictive.
Amazon also has a trade-in program that can get you up to $600 off, in addition to the $100 gift card offered here. This is definitely worth exploring, but the discount isn't as good as those you'll find at the major carriers right now. If you're interested in comparing, I've attached a few more of this week's best Pixel 11 preorders below.
Amazon's Google Pixel 11 preorder dealPixel 11 with $100 gift card: was $999 now $899
Amazon's opening Google Pixel 11 promotion throws in a $100 gift card with all devices — a very handy little bonus, indeed. Available in all colors and storage sizes, this could be a good option if you're looking to buy a device outright. Note that you can also trade in for an additional discount of up to $600, but it's not the best rebate you'll find on the market right now. As expected, the big carriers have better rebates with associated cellular lines.View Deal
- See more: check out all of today's deals at Amazon
Google Pixel 11 series: get a device included with an eligible plan at T-Mobile
As expected, T-Mobile has a flexible array of deals for its opening promotion on the Pixel 11 series. Depending on the plan, it's entirely possible to get a device included with a new line or upgrade right now. According to the T&Cs, you can get a Pixel 11 included without a trade-in with a new line on the Essentials plan, which is a good option for those on a tighter budget. Alternatively, you can get up to $1,100 off with a trade-in and new line on the mid-tier Experience More plan, or up to $1,300 off with a trade-in on the Experience Beyond plan. That's enough to cover the cost of a Pixel 11 Pro and Pixel 11 Pro XL, respectively.View Deal
Google Pixel 11 series: up to $1,100 off with a trade-in, or plan and phone for $45/mo at Verizon
Verizon's opening Google Pixel 11 deals lean heavily on the carrier's new 'Simplicity Plus' plan, which lets you bundle a Pixel 11 Pro with an unlimited data plan for just $45/mo without a trade-in. Alternatively, you can trade in for an excellent discount of up to $1,100 with a new line on one of the carrier's older myPlan unlimited plans. On top of that, Verizon is also offering a new Google Pixel Watch 5 and Samsung Galaxy Tab S10 FE as bonus gifts if you take out a service line for these accessories.View Deal
Google Pixel 11 Pro: get a device for $0 with any trade-in and a new line at AT&T
My favorite opening Pixel 11 deal at AT&T has to be the carrier's preorder promo on the Pixel 11 Pro. Right now, you can trade-in any Google Pixel phone in any condition to be eligible for a discount of up to $1,100. That's essentially a Pixel 11 Pro for $0 - although, you will obviously still need a new unlimited data plan to be eligible for a discount. View Deal
Google Pixel 11 series: up to $600 off with a trade-in, or up to $1,339 back with a plan at Google
Google has a few decent options if you're looking for a new device today. First up, you can trade-in for a rebate of up to $600 - which isn't bad for unlocked devices. Alternatively, you could consider a new line on Google's Fi prepaid carrier, which will entitle you to a massive $1,339 rebate if you stick with a line for the duration of 24 months. As a side bonus, you can also get 250 off the new Google Pixel Watch 5 or $200 in Google Store credit with the Pixel 11 Pro or Pixel 11 Pro XL. View Deal
I finished watching My Brilliant Career on Netflix almost a week ago, and I still can't stop thinking about it.
Based on the 1901 novel of the same name by Miles Franklin, we're introduced to the voracious, outspoken, and self-assured eldest daughter, Sybylla (Philippa Northeast) from Possum Gully (what an incredible name), as she's forced to move into her Grandma's (Anna Chancellor) house to be conditioned for her entry into high society.
Convinced that she doesn't want a husband but instead wants to live life to the fullest — and become a published writer in the process — Sybylla is a woman before her time. For us in 2026 who yearn for her confidence and creative freedom, that also means she's timeless.
Now that I'm on the other side of its impeccable six episodes, I feel at loose ends. To continue the theme, the obvious choice would be to re-watch Bridgerton for more scandalous period drama vibes... but I think this is too easy an option.
If you've also got a Prime Video subscription, however, I have the perfect recommendation for you that you likely haven't seen — and one My Brilliant Career actress is also in it.
My Lady Jane on Prime Video is the beautifully bonkers double bill you need after My Brilliant CareerWe all forgot about My Lady Jane on Prime Video far too quickly... so now is the perfect time to resurrect it, now that My Brilliant Career is out in the world.
Alongside both being period dramas, the two are linked by their bashful, zany retellings of a point in history — Franklin's own experiences in My Brilliant Career, and the fate of Lady Jane Grey in, well, you can guess.
The latter follows a 16-year-old Jane in an alternate version of Tudor England, where she manages to avoid her real-life nine-day reign and execution by dealing with the region's magical shape-shifters. She's also forced into marriage... but that's less tragic and more comical.
My Lady Jane was cancelled after one season (baffling considering how well it was received), but that still makes it a perfect follow-on from My Brilliant Career. Pithy, bright, witty, and full of hilarious subversion, these two shows are like long-lost sisters being reunited for the first time in decades.
If that's not enough, actress Anna Chancellor can be seen in both, playing Grandmother Bossier in My Brilliant Career and Lady Frances in My Lady Jane. I could wax lyrical for hours on end about how much of an exceptional talent Chancellor is, and her irreverent, punchy, and slightly bohemian method of storytelling is ideal for both narratives here.
I literally don't know what you're waiting for when it comes to either show... in fact, stop reading and start streaming.
- USS Theodore Roosevelt is now the Navy’s first carrier ready for MQ-25 operations
- US Navy spent years developing infrastructure needed to operate unmanned aircraft aboard carriers
- Ronald Reagan is expected to join the MQ-25 carrier fleet in August 2026
The US Navy has completed a major step toward operating unmanned aircraft from carriers with dedicated facilities for controlling them.
The USS Theodore Roosevelt is now the service’s first carrier with a fully operational Unmanned Air Warfare Center supporting MQ-25 operations.
Another carrier, the USS Ronald Reagan, is expected to have its own center ready for operational deployment by August 2026.
Theodore Roosevelt leads the carrier integration effortThe Unmanned Air Warfare Center combines equipment required to control and manage unmanned aircraft operating from an aircraft carrier.
The Navy says its systems include the Unmanned Carrier Aviation Mission Control System and MD-5E Ground Control Station.
Those systems provide the command-and-control functions required for operating Boeing’s MQ-25A Stingray unmanned aerial refueling aircraft.
The USS George H.W. Bush became the first carrier to receive and test the center during August 2024.
However, Theodore Roosevelt is the first carrier where the capability has reached fully operational and deployable status.
According to a Pentagon acquisition document dated April 21, 2026, the Theodore Roosevelt “became the first fully operational/deployable MQ-25 capable aircraft carrier.”
The development gives the carrier force a dedicated infrastructure for unmanned aviation rather than treating drones as temporary additions.
That distinction matters because the MQ-25 requires specialized equipment alongside existing systems used for conventional carrier aviation.
The Navy expects the Ronald Reagan facility to become operational and deployable toward the end of August 2026.
MQ-25 moves closer to carrier deploymentThe carrier infrastructure comes as the MQ-25 program advances after several years of development and testing.
In May 2026, the Stingray reached milestone C, allowing the program to move from development toward production and deployment.
The milestone followed nearly eight years of work since the Navy awarded Boeing an $805 million contract in 2018.
That contract covered four aircraft for design, development, fabrication, testing and delivery under the original program.
At that time, Navy estimates put the eventual cost near $13 billion for a planned fleet of 72 aircraft.
The program nevertheless experienced delays, including a first flight that occurred later than earlier schedules.
On April 25 2026, the Stingray completed an approximately two-hour flight near Mascoutah, Illinois, advancing its testing program.
The aircraft is intended primarily to provide aerial refueling, reducing the burden currently carried by F/A-18E/F Super Hornets.
That change could allow more Super Hornets to remain available for strike missions rather than supporting carrier refueling requirements.
The MQ-25 therefore depends on both the aircraft itself and carrier infrastructure capable of controlling unmanned operations.
With another carrier approaching readiness, the U.S. Navy is now moving from isolated testing toward a broader carrier-based unmanned aviation capability.
Via Defense News
Tech companies, including those in Silicon Valley and others outside of the set like Microsoft, have been through various guises through the years. Plenty of the old tech giants, like IBM and Toshiba, continue to enjoy success in the 21st century due to a chameleon-like quality that keeps them innovating and bringing in new revenue streams.
Evolve or dieThe Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella wrote these words in his first email to company employees when he took the reins from Steve Ballmer.
Quote of the dayThis article is part of TechRadar Pro's QOTD project to provide an insight into the minds of the brightest and most recognized figures in the technology industry today and in years gone by. Read the full series here.
In this opening salvo, he set out his vision that the next decade of computing would be dominated by the proliferation of devices and the rise of more accessible "intelligence" – hinting at the rise of AI in some form.
The company that he was to lead would embark on a strategy that would "harness the power of software" and deliver this through a network of connected devices for every organization and individual. The innovation that he referenced largely came in the form of a move away from a desktop-oriented mindset and one that was more embracing of the cloud.
Pivoting for AIAs the decade since this email wore on, Microsoft stayed true to that mantra. And, in the last few years, Nadella led the company through another significant shift in light of the rise of AI.
When ChatGPT burst onto the scene, Microsoft rushed to forge ties with the company and has aggressively added AI into its core products and services – from Bing to Windows.
While Azure continues to scale at a tremendous pace, surpassing $100 billion in revenue, the company has seen a mixed picture on the AI front. That's not due to a lack of demand, but to a shortage of physical space and energy to power these services and to expand capabilities in model training, deployment, and usage.