This Week’s Awesome Tech Stories From Around the Web (Through October 3)

Positive News

AI-rewritten: This is a summary of an article from Singularity Hub, rewritten by AI (Qwen, running locally) to make it easier to read. The facts come from the original article – read it for the full story.

Singularity Hub • SingularityHub Staff • October 3, 2026

Boston Dynamics’ Atlas robot is no longer performing backflips and is ready for production use. Hyundai Motor Group plans to build a new US factory capable of manufacturing 30,000 robots annually, with 25,000 Atlas units intended for work. According to Boston Dynamics, this partnership has already reduced costs by 60 to 80 percent compared to the prototype phase.

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Malicious VPN config files can let attackers run commands on Asus routers

IT Hardware

AI-rewritten: This is a summary of an article from Tom’s Hardware, rewritten by AI (Qwen, running locally) to make it easier to read. The facts come from the original article – read it for the full story.

Tom’s Hardware • Shane Downing • October 3, 2026

A malicious VPN configuration file uploaded through an Asus router’s web interface can allow attackers to execute arbitrary commands, creating a critical security risk that the company has patched. A separate bug involving active debug code lets adversaries bypass security checks to enable Telnet, potentially running commands with root privileges on connected devices. Both vulnerabilities are identified by CVE-2026-14157 and CVE-2026-13313, scoring 9.4 and 8.9 out of 10 on the Common Vulnerability Scoring System (CVSS) 4.0 scale, which measures vulnerability severity.

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Scare up big savings in Bambu Lab’s Halloween sale right now, with up to 30% off

IT Hardware

AI-rewritten: This is a summary of an article from Tom’s Hardware, rewritten by AI (Qwen, running locally) to make it easier to read. The facts come from the original article – read it for the full story.

Tom’s Hardware • Ben Stockton • October 3, 2026

Bambu Lab is running a Halloween sale from October 6 through October 16, offering discounts on its 3D printers and filament alongside Amazon’s Big Deal Days. The company states it can provide savings of up to 30% directly from its website. Specific printer deals include the Bambu Lab H2D with AMS combo, originally priced at $1,999, now available for $1,749. Other models on sale include the P1S, down from $699 to $399, and the A1, reduced from $399 to $299.

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AI agents use 5x more tokens than humans as cached prompts explode, headed for 10x

IT Hardware

AI-rewritten: This is a summary of an article from Tom’s Hardware, rewritten by AI (Qwen, running locally) to make it easier to read. The facts come from the original article – read it for the full story.

Tom’s Hardware • Shane Downing • October 3, 2026

Futurum Group CEO Daniel Newman stated that AI agents currently use five times more tokens than humans do. His data, based on an Andreessen Horowitz chart of OpenRouter figures, shows agents consumed 7.3 trillion tokens compared to humans’ 1.4 trillion as of August. This marks six months after agent usage first surpassed human usage. However, the article notes that these agents are mostly rereading content they have already seen. More than 85% of agent tokens come from cached prompts, according to a16z citing OpenRouter.

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Steam hits record $1.7 billion in September 2026 despite soaring PC hardware costs

IT Hardware

AI-rewritten: This is a summary of an article from Tom’s Hardware, rewritten by AI (Qwen, running locally) to make it easier to read. The facts come from the original article – read it for the full story.

Tom’s Hardware • Kunal Khullar • October 3, 2026

Steam generated an estimated $1.7 billion in revenue for September 2026, marking its best performance ever according to Alinea Analytics. This represents a 13% increase compared to the previous record set in September 2025. The platform also recorded its strongest third quarter on record with an estimated $5.5 billion in revenue, a 12% rise from the same period last year. Consequently, Steam’s total estimated revenue for the first nine months of 2026 reached $16.5 billion, up from $14.5 billion during the corresponding period in 2025.

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This week on Tom’s Hardware Premium: October 3, 2026

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AI-rewritten: This is a summary of an article from Tom’s Hardware, rewritten by AI (Qwen, running locally) to make it easier to read. The facts come from the original article – read it for the full story.

Tom’s Hardware • Sayem Ahmed • October 3, 2026

Tom’s Hardware Premium is extending its free access period for the AI Chip Design Week series until Monday, October 5, 2026. The week features an interview with Richard Ho, OpenAI’s hardware VP, who discusses Jalapeño, a Broadcom co-developed inference ASIC introduced at Hot Chips 2026. Ho explains how OpenAI uses AI in its design processes to achieve efficiency that surpasses Nvidia’s capabilities and clarifies misconceptions about the chip’s model optimization.

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Buying used CPUs can expose users to existing bans from anti-cheat engines, and there’s no way to check for violations before purchase

IT Hardware

AI-rewritten: This is a summary of an article from Tom’s Hardware, rewritten by AI (Qwen, running locally) to make it easier to read. The facts come from the original article – read it for the full story.

Tom’s Hardware • Jowi Morales • October 3, 2026

A German gamer purchased a used AMD Ryzen 7 5800X3D processor on September 21, 2026, and was immediately banned from the game Valorant upon launching it. Although the computer functioned normally for general use, the anti-cheat engine Vanguard flagged the hardware because its previous owner had been detected cheating in the game. Riot Games confirmed that this specific CPU was blacklisted on August 12, 2026, due to that prior violation.

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Find tech deals in Newegg’s Fantastech Sale ahead of Amazon’s Big Deals Day — early shoppers get automatic refunds if hardware prices drop lower

IT Hardware

AI-rewritten: This is a summary of an article from Tom’s Hardware, rewritten by AI (Qwen, running locally) to make it easier to read. The facts come from the original article – read it for the full story.

Tom’s Hardware • Stewart Bendle • October 3, 2026

Newegg has launched its Fantastech Sale II in partnership with Amazon’s Prime Big Deals Day, running from October 5th to October 11th. The event includes a price protection guarantee available between September 28th and October 4th. According to Newegg, if hardware prices drop lower during the official sale dates, the difference will be automatically refunded to customers starting October 21st. This offer applies to various items including PC components, prebuilt gaming PCs, laptops, and monitors.

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Elon Musk confirms discussions with TSMC about Terafab chipmaking collaboration

IT Hardware

AI-rewritten: This is a summary of an article from Tom’s Hardware, rewritten by AI (Qwen, running locally) to make it easier to read. The facts come from the original article – read it for the full story.

Tom’s Hardware • Anton Shilov • October 3, 2026

Elon Musk confirmed discussions with TSMC regarding a potential collaboration for his Terafab semiconductor initiative, according to Tim Culpan’s Culpium newsletter on Friday. Under the arrangement considered most probable by Culpan, TSMC would own and operate a new facility exclusively serving Tesla, SpaceX, and xAI, while SpaceX/Terafab could invest or commit to guaranteed chip purchases. The exact ownership structure remains under discussion, with another option involving SpaceX holding majority control while TSMC provides operational expertise and process technology.

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7-year-old Nvidia Shield TV Pro gets shocking 50% price hike driven by AI memory shortage

IT Hardware

AI-rewritten: This is a summary of an article from Tom’s Hardware, rewritten by AI (Qwen, running locally) to make it easier to read. The facts come from the original article – read it for the full story.

Tom’s Hardware • Kunal Khullar • October 3, 2026

Nvidia has raised the price of the Shield TV Pro from $199.99 to $299.99, marking a 50% increase since its launch seven years ago. The company attributes this change to rising component costs driven by AI demand. An Nvidia spokesperson told Ars Technica that memory prices have increased substantially across the industry, necessitating the adjustment. This price hike coincides with the discontinuation of the standard Nvidia Shield TV, leaving the Pro as the sole Shield-branded streaming device available.

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