Author: Merrel Briona

OpenAI is losing money out the wazoo.

The ChatGPT maker told investors Tuesday that its operating losses in the third quarter topped $10.9 billion, up from $10.1 billion in the previous one. That’s striking because the company actually grew its revenue by around 50 percent from the second to the third quarter, per the The Wall Street Journal, though it wasn’t enough to offset its astonishing expenses — illustrating just how steep of a gap it still has to close to achieve profitability.

The increased revenue also came by betraying a core promise, which is hardly a surprise for a company that has long abandoned its eponymous tenet of promoting open-source AI development. 

In February, OpenAI started showing ads on its chatbot, an idea that CEO Sam Altman had previously called “unsettling” and vowed would only be used a “last resort.” The company’s chief competitor Anthropic ruthlessly mocked it for the reversal in a series of Superbowl commercials, and many users were furious. The company hasn’t officially reported how much stuffing ads into its premier product is earning it, but in August it said that its ad division was on track to rake in $1 billion in a year.

The news comes not long after controversy over how OpenAI was projecting its earnings. In October, the company reported an annualized revenue, an estimate of how much money it will earn over a year, of about $50 billion — which was $20 billion short of what it told investors only a month before.

The discrepancy was taken as an admission that the business models of AI companies weren’t as robust as their leadership was making them out to be, fueling speculation of an impending bubble.

It also comes as OpenAI and Anthropic submit themselves to more scrutiny as they each prepare for what are expected to be historic IPOs. The looming event has only heightened their rivalry, with OpenAI making strides to catch up to the Claude-maker in enterprise sales. Anthropic has cornered the corporate customer market with its coding tools, while OpenAI has lagged with a more broadly consumer-focused model, though its president boasted last week that it now generates most of its revenue from enterprise sales.

Big picture, in just a few years the AI sector has gone from an asterisk in the tech industry to its shining star — but unless frontier labs like OpenAI can figure out how to make money instead of burning it, investors are going to start asking some hard questions.

More on OpenAI: OpenAI Hears Voters’ Overwhelming Rebuke To Data Centers, Vows to Build More of Them

Brain implant company Synchron has paused clinical trials of its second-generation device after it failed to perform as expected in initial study participants, WIRED has learned.

The Brooklyn-based startup, a competitor to Elon Musk’s Neuralink, is also undergoing a restructuring, which includes eliminating jobs and scaling back its footprint in New York while building up a team in San Diego to support the development of an entirely new device.

Synchron is one of several companies developing brain-computer interface technology meant to allow people to control digital devices by reading brain signals and translating those signals into output commands. The company has touted its technology, dubbed the Stentrode, as minimally invasive since it does not rest in the brain itself or require brain surgery.

Instead, the stent-like mesh tube is inserted into the jugular vein at the base of the neck, then guided with a catheter to sit on top of the brain’s motor cortex. The company’s first-generation Stentrode connected using an external wire resting on a user’s chest. Ten volunteers across the US and Australia received that device and were able to send emails, text, browse the internet, and do online shopping and banking with their thoughts. Synchron has also enabled volunteers to control an Amazon Alexa and Apple’s iPad and Vision Pro without using their hands or voice.

Synchron’s second-generation device has fewer electrodes and is fully wireless, using Bluetooth to connect. The company launched a multisite trial in the US earlier this spring with sister sites in Australia and Canada to evaluate the newer Stentrode, and some participants have already had it implanted. Those sites have recently paused enrollment, however, because the device is not working as intended, according to sources familiar with the trials who asked to remain anonymous.

In a statement to WIRED, Synchron says it voluntarily paused enrollment “after identifying a performance issue involving the lead, the cable that carries signals from the Stentrode to the implanted electronics.”

“The issue does not involve the Stentrode itself and no safety issues related to the device have been identified. The pause was a company decision, not an FDA-directed action,” the statement continues.

The company says it has since brought lead design and manufacturing in-house. Instead of fixing the lead alone, Synchron says it is upgrading the whole Stentrode system and will resume trial enrollment once the hardware upgrades are complete.

TL;DR: Nintendo has announced plans for Black Friday in 2026: From Nov. 22 through Dec. 5, the Nintendo Switch 2 + Mario Kart World bundle will be available for $499.99 ($50 off).

Have you been holding off on upgrading your handheld setup after Nintendo’s painful September hardware price hikes? You’re not alone. Times are tough right now in the world of tech, but Black Friday is finally giving you a clean window to strike back.

Nintendo has officially revealed its 2026 Black Friday lineup, locking in bundle discounts and $20 price cuts across flagship games. The headline deal is undoubtedly the Nintendo Switch 2 and Mario Kart World bundle. You can pick up this popular bundle for $499.99 from Nov. 22 through Dec. 5, saving you $50 on list price.

Early digital game deals kick off on Nintendo starting Nov. 19, followed by physical game discounts at major retailers including Amazon, Best Buy, Target, Walmart, and GameStop from Nov. 22-29.

Should you wait for Black Friday to shop?

The short answer is yes.

After raising the standalone Switch 2 base price to $499.99 in September, Nintendo’s Black Friday promotion effectively gives you a launch title and online access for free. Buying the console, Mario Kart World ($79.99 value), and a three-month Nintendo Switch Online membership separately would easily push your cart close to $600. That makes this $499.99 bundle deal pretty appealing.

Nintendo is also knocking $20 off some of the year’s biggest first-party physical releases, including Super Mario Galaxy + Super Mario Galaxy 2, Donkey Kong Bananza, Metroid Prime 4: Beyond (both Switch 2 and original Switch editions), and Kirby Air Riders.

Patience, gamers. The time to shop is coming.