General Motors marketed its Smart Driver system as a way for parents to monitor teen drivers or for adults to track their driving behavior. But in 2024, it emerged that GM had been sharing that data with brokers. Those brokers then sold the data to insurance companies, and some drivers found that their insurance became more expensive as a result. To make matters worse, many of those drivers claimed they had no knowledge of ever agreeing to share such data for such purposes.

Last year, GM and its OnStar subsidiary entered into a settlement with the FTC, prohibiting them from sharing some kinds of driver data with third parties. The settlement was finalized this January. That agreement banned the two companies from sharing geolocation data or driver behavior data for five years. At the time, GM also discontinued Smart Driver across its entire range.

Now the automaker has reached terms with the District of Columbia and 35 states after their attorneys general joined together to sue GM as well.

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Nissan has a new version of its bestselling Rogue SUV, and it’s launching the model here with the latest version of its e-Power hybrid system, which Ars tested in February. Most hybrid cars you can buy today are parallel hybrids, which means that they have an internal combustion engine and an electric motor, both of which drive some or all of the wheels—everything works in parallel. But there’s another approach. Instead of connecting the engine to the wheels via a transmission, it can act as a generator and charge the traction battery, which in turn powers the electric motor. Since the engine and motor work in series, this is known as a series hybrid.

That’s mostly how the Chevrolet Volt worked. As does Honda’s hybrid CR-V. Well, mostly; engineers worked out it was more efficient for those cars' gasoline engines to directly drive the wheels at highway speeds, something that to this day makes a certain subset of hybrid car enthusiasts irrationally angry. If you know anyone like that in your life, send them to wherever the nearest Nissan dealership is, because the 2027 Rogue Hybrid is exactly what they’ve been asking for.

Series hybrids

Under the hood, with its crisp shut line and slim horizontal lights that give me something of a Range Rover vibe, there’s a 1.5 L, three-cylinder turbocharged direct-injection engine that generates 148 hp (110 kW). It only revs to 5,200 rpm because it’s optimized to charge the battery, not cope with the various loads of an engine connected to a gearbox and the wheels. That also allows the engine to operate at a rather impressive 42 percent thermal efficiency—we would need to look at Formula 1 engines to find higher.

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The Pentagon inspector general's office declined a request from US senators to investigate restrictions recently imposed on the Ukraine military's use of SpaceX's satellite network.

Ukraine, which uses SpaceX's Starlink service and the military version known as Starshield, said earlier this month that military drones lost satellite connectivity when traveling above 161 kilometers per hour (100 miles per hour). The limit was removed after about 10 days.

Five Democratic and four Republican senators sent an October 15 letter to Department of Defense Inspector General Platte Moring, asking for a probe into the reported disruptions of Starlink and Starshield. The letter asked, among other things, "whether any restrictions on Starlink or Starshield services were directed, authorized, or implemented by SpaceX, the Department of Defense, or other US government entities; whether such restrictions were consistent with applicable US government contracts, and what actions, if any, the Department of Defense took in response."

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Rather than directly converting photons into electricity, concentrated solar energy uses mirrors to turn sunlight into heat, which can then be used to drive traditional generating turbines. Up to about a decade ago, there was a case to be made that concentrated solar energy had a bright future, as improvements in heat storage had turned it into a way to generate power around the clock.

It wasn't to be. While concentrated solar costs fell enough to compete with nuclear power, the price of photovoltaics plunged, making solar panels the cheapest source of power in most locations. Currently, if you have a good site to generate solar power, then the economics of PV panels are hard to beat.

That has left us needing to build a mixture of other facilities—typically batteries and natural gas facilities—to handle overnight needs or weather-driven shortfalls. But a small company is promising that it can help avoid the need to build a separate facility. Its version of concentrated solar is designed so that a fossil-fueled backup system shares most of the generating hardware with the solar side.

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The Trump administration is trying to stop Utah from enforcing its gambling ban against Kalshi, making Utah the 10th state sued by the US government agency that regulates prediction markets.

Meanwhile, Utah Attorney General Derek Brown filed criminal charges in a state court against Kalshi and its founders on Wednesday. The attorney general's office provided us with court filings listing charges against KalshiEX, LLC, Kalshi co-founder and CEO Tarek Mansour, and Kalshi co-founder and COO Luana Lopes Lara.

The company and two co-founders each face 13 felony charges and one misdemeanor for violating gambling laws. The charges are based on sports bets offered on Kalshi between September 13 and September 24. "The state did not issue arrest warrants for Monsour and Lopes Lara. Instead, they have been issued summons to respond to the charges in Third District Court in Salt Lake County," The Salt Lake Tribune wrote.

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“Please have at least 125 miles of range left when we pick it up.” That request from the people who look after the Cadillac press cars wasn’t going to be hard to honor. The electric Escalade IQ arrived with an indicated range of 440 miles (708 km), and with a full week of work to squeeze in, getting anywhere close to needing to recharge it seemed unlikely. With more than 200 kWh of lithium-ion battery between its axles, range is one thing the big electric Caddy needn’t worry about.

Designed and debuted during a time of greater EV optimism, the Escalade is Cadillac’s statement that swapping out a V8 for a pair of powerful electric motors is no compromise to its ambitions, even if the brand’s future will now include a mix of electric and combustion cars beyond 2030. It shares a battery pack and much else with other full-size GM EVs we’ve tested: the Chevrolet Silverado EV, the GMC Sierra EV, and of course the divisive Hummer EVs. And like those trucks and SUVs, the Escalade is large and heavy—just small enough to fit into a standard parking space, with a curb weight sufficient to push it into the Class 3 truck category.

So, the side mirrors are flat, and there’s no formal EPA range—Cadillac says it achieves 460 miles (740 km) on the EPA test cycle—but there are plenty of airbags, even though the 9,046 lb (4,103 kg) curb weight does not require them. Yes, you did read that right, it does weigh 4 tons. And yes, the electric Escalade does weigh a third more than the last gas-powered one we tested.

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A Delaware proposal to let companies be operated by AI agents would help the firms' human owners evade legal responsibility for reckless and harmful actions taken by the AI, US Rep. James Comer (R-Ky.) told Delaware Governor Matt Meyer in a letter yesterday.

Comer, chairman of the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, told Meyer that the committee "seeks assistance obtaining documents related to your state administration’s efforts to establish a new form of corporate entity to be known as an Artificial Intelligence Company (AIC)."

Comer said the proposal is ripe for abuse. "We are concerned that Delaware’s AIC proposal could be used to protect powerful AI companies and their investors from responsibility for reckless harmful actions, while also protecting non-transparent forces seeking anticompetitive regulatory capture behind state AI initiatives," Comer's letter said.

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Protein design tools may be getting increasingly sophisticated, but you still need a sophisticated understanding of protein structure for them to work. This can include knowing enzyme mechanisms down to the positions of specific amino acids, as well as the water molecules that also occupy the area where catalysis takes place. Once you specify these, the tools can build the rest of a protein around this target.

A large collaboration of researchers based in China, however, decided to bring protein design to the masses, making a tool that can take natural language prompts and use them to produce proteins with the function you specify. If your measure for success is a working protein, then the success rate may not be great. But they still manage to get the job done. And, in a separate announcement, Hugging Face shared that it's now hosting a tool that does similar things on the DNA level.

The equivalent of vibe coding may have come to protein design—at least if you have access to a lab where you can sort the good designs from the dozens of failed ones.

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This morning, Ford revealed that buyers of the forthcoming Fathom—the company's sub-$30,000 electric pickup truck due next year—will get more than just a truck. Until now, vehicle-to-home technology—like the setup Ford developed for the now-discontinued F-150 Lightning—takes DC power from the electric vehicle and runs it through an inverter built into the wallbox to turn it into AC the house can use. But with the Fathom, that inverter is built into the truck from the start. So every Fathom will be able to act as a backup battery for your home.

It’s typical: You wait a decade for a cheap electric truck, and then two come along almost at once. And they’re two radically different products from two radically different automakers that I think will reveal a few preferences from the EV-buying public. One is the Blank Slate, from a brand new startup offering a bare-bones two-door that capitalizes on features the Internet says it wants, like no onboard modem, no touchscreens, and no infotainment system.

The other is the result of one of Detroit’s big three taking a long, hard look at Chinese EVs and asking itself, “How do we make a car that cheap?” Although the Ford Fathom will cost $5,000 more than a Slate, that money does buy an extra pair of doors, modern conveniences like an infotainment system, CarPlay, electric windows, and a vast dealership network to service the car. That may be helpful given how many recalls Ford issues each year.

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Elon Musk accused Ukraine of violating Starlink terms of service by using it for lethal drone strikes.

Musk said Ukraine used the Starlink commercial service for offensive drone strikes. Musk's comment on Saturday came after SpaceX imposed a restriction preventing Ukraine from using the satellite technology on drones flying above certain speeds.

One current and one former Ukraine official denied Musk's accusation and said previous limits imposed by SpaceX already prevented Ukraine's military from using Starlink in the way Musk described. Ukraine officials have accused Musk of throttling their use of Starshield, the military variant of Starlink that Ukraine has access to through a deal with the US government.

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AUSTIN, Texas—Formula 1 returned to US shores this weekend with its annual visit to the Circuit of the Americas in Austin, Texas. Once in danger of falling off the calendar due to lack of interest, it’s now one of the most popular tracks on the calendar and, of the US’s three races, it's the one the real fans mostly attend.

Unlike Miami or Las Vegas, which race on temporary street circuits, COTA is a permanent race track with plenty of run-off areas instead of concrete walls. Designed by motorcycle racer Kevin Schwanz—Herman Tilke’s company did only the buildings and infrastructure, contrary to popular belief—the track combines a mix of corner speeds with challenging turn sequences, a few heavy braking zones, and plenty of elevation changes.

It’s a place Ars knows rather intimately by now. We’ve driven it in everything from an Audi TT-S to a Corvette ZR1 to a bicycle, and that’s just in the real world. Over the years, we’ve been there for F1 to learn about how the sport puts together its broadcasts, how Pirelli designs its tires, and how various tech partners help teams manage their data and strategies. We even saw the race through a neophyte’s eyes. And that’s just F1—we’ve logged many hours there with the World Endurance Championship and IMSA for the Lone Star Le Mans races in sweaty September.

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Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth issued a memo warning military personnel against using nonpublic information to make bets on prediction markets, saying the wagers could give important clues to enemy countries.

"Do Not Compromise Military Operations for Personal Financial Gain," said the subject line of an October 20 memo published yesterday by CBS News. Hegseth's memo was sent to senior Pentagon leadership, Combatant Command leaders, and Defense Department field activity directors.

Hegseth wrote:

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The New York Knicks organization sent employees a phishing email promising free championship rings in a test of its staff's ability to detect scams, The New York Times reported yesterday. “Congratulations, your Employee Championship Ring is here,” the email sent in late September said, instructing employees to click a link to make a selection from two ring designs.

Madison Square Garden employees who clicked that link "were forced to attend a mandatory cybersecurity class to help satisfy some of [owner James] Dolan’s growing cybersecurity concerns," the report said, citing team sources. Dolan is the owner of the Knicks, the New York Rangers, and Madison Square Garden.

It's common for corporations to send phishing emails to find out which employees don't pay attention to clues that an email is a scam. A cybersecurity-test email often appears to be from the company itself but includes telltale signs of phishing. For example, Ars Technica owner Condé Nast sends phishing-test messages from email addresses with a misspelled domain, "condenest.com."

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Comcast reportedly plans significant job cuts in its cable division as the firm continues to lose residential broadband and TV customers. Comcast lost 144,000 residential broadband customers in Q3 2026, up from a 91,000-customer loss in the same quarter a year ago, the company said in its earnings report today.

Comcast historically capitalized on a lack of competition for high-speed wired broadband. But now it faces stronger competition from fixed wireless providers and from fiber providers in parts of its cable territory.

"Fixed wireless remains aggressive and continues to take share, while fiber construction remains elevated, with pockets of irrational pricing and promotional activity," Comcast co-CEO Mike Cavanagh said today in an earnings call.

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When we first drove BMW’s first Neue Klasse model, the iX3, it quickly revealed that BMW knows how to make a good electric vehicle. A clean-sheet design, it featured the automaker’s sixth-generation electric powertrain, a completely reimagined dashboard, and powerful computers to run the whole show. Now, much of that technology is being ported over to the larger X5 line.

But BMW knows not all its customers are ready to go electric, especially in the US, so it’s sticking with its powertrain-agnostic CLAR platform, as used in cars as diverse as the large 7 Series and the new gasoline 3 Series. Which means in addition to the all-electric iX5, there are also mild hybrid and plug-in hybrid X5s available, and in time, even a hydrogen-powered option. For now, as I’ll explain, I think the EV is the pick of the bunch.

Pick your power

The most conventional option is the X5 40 xDrive, powered by a 3.0 L turbocharged inline six-cylinder engine that generates 394 hp (294 kW) and 428 lb-ft (580 Nm). The 48 V mild hybrid system can contribute a decent slug of torque (148 lb-ft/200 Nm) if necessary, and the engine operates under the Miller cycle for better efficiency, as well as featuring the usual BMW engine technology, like variable valve timing. Expect around 26 mpg (9 L/100 km) from this powertrain and a full-to-empty range of 569 miles (915 km).

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In 2015, all but two countries agreed to make an effort to keep global temperatures from reaching 1.5° C above pre-industrial readings. Since then, most of the world has largely treated what they signed on to as aspirational, and one of the largest emitters (the US) has alternately withdrawn and recommitted to the agreement. Meanwhile, the planet has responded as expected to steadily rising carbon emissions and appears to be practically at the 1.5° limit.

On Wednesday, for the first time, the United Nations Environmental Programme (UNEP) acknowledged that reality and conceded that the goal of keeping warming below 1.5° was no longer a viable one. Instead, its new goalposts focus on keeping both how long we exceed that limit and how much we exceed it by, at a minimum. Doing that will require both dramatic emissions cuts now and the removal of hundreds of gigatonnes of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere before the century is out.

Bowing to the inevitable

Depending on which baseline you use to establish pre-industrial temperatures, as well as which reconstruction of global temperatures you rely on, the world has either gotten very close to, or already exceeded, the 1.5° milestone. The current El Niño event, which appears exceptionally strong, will almost certainly mean that we've gone over it no matter which records you choose.

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Federal Communications Commission Chairman Brendan Carr today warned broadcasters about airing "fake polls," amplifying one of the many complaints that President Trump has regularly made about the news media.

Carr's post on X said, "Many journalists and broadcasters have been amplifying or airing these Polls without regard to basic journalistic ethics and without informing the public that those Polls lack a scientific, accurate, or even real basis... Broadcasters are advised to avoid engaging in News Distortions or running Broadcast Hoaxes by airing Polls that would violate their regulatory obligations."

Carr urged broadcasters to "provide their viewers with additional context and information about Polls they have covered." In fact, one small polling outfit was exposed as a hoax this week, and a similar incident occurred in August. News outlets have reported on these hoaxes, providing the very "context" that Carr said is needed.

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Tesla published its third-quarter 2026 financial results this afternoon. Earlier in October, it reported its sales and deliveries for the three-month period, selling fewer cars than in the same quarter in 2025, yet it still beat analyst projections. Now we can see how those sales translate to the bottom line. Tesla brought in $28 billion in revenue in Q3, almost the same as in 2025.

Automotive revenues were $20.6 billion, a 3 percent decrease year over year. Perhaps more troubling is the decline in revenue from solar panels and storage batteries—this line of business had been growing, but for Q3 revenue fell 16 percent year over year to $2.9 billion. Services and other revenues, though, which include parts and Supercharger use, grew by a third to $4.6 billion.

But the company—like the rest of us—has seen its expenses go up. Operating expenses rose by 39 percent to $4.8 billion, dropping the company’s operating margin to just 2.6 percent; in Q3 2025, Tesla’s margin was 5.8 percent. Net profit fell to $787 million, down 43 percent year over year. What’s more, capital expenditures were up by 110 percent to $4.7 billion, and free cash flow was down 62 percent to $1.5 billion.

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A Wall Street Journal report said SpaceX CEO Elon Musk ordered the Starlink throttling that blindsided Ukraine's air assault forces last week, despite Musk's claim that all decisions on the military version of Starlink are made by the US military and President Trump.

Trump denied ordering the restrictions. While Musk may have spoken to Trump and administration officials before the decision, The Wall Street Journal reported yesterday that Musk made the final call. The decision came after both Musk and Trump criticized Ukraine for attacking Russian diesel refineries.

"Elon Musk ordered the slowdown of a military-grade version of Starlink relied on by Ukraine, a decision that sparked panic in Kyiv and confusion inside the Trump administration," the WSJ wrote, citing unnamed US officials and people familiar with the matter. The report said that "Musk capped the speeds at which Ukrainian hardware could stay connected to the satellite-based network... rendering some offensive drones and interceptor drones virtually useless."

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TP-Link yesterday announced plans to assemble Wi-Fi routers in the US, as the company attempts to get the Trump administration's approval to sell its newest routers to American consumers.

The timing is uncertain, as TP-Link's press release said it expects US-based assembly to begin "as early as" 2027. TP-Link's application to sell new routers in the US could be rejected by the Trump administration or remain pending long enough to push the US-based assembly to 2028.

"Pending US regulatory approval, TP-Link expects domestic assembly of its groundbreaking Wi-Fi 8 home networking product line to begin as early as next year," the company said. TP-Link said it signed a Letter of Intent with US company Keytronic, which agreed "to become a primary domestic manufacturing partner for TP-Link, supporting assembly of the company’s advanced networking portfolio in Corinth, Mississippi."

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