Damian Pickett · No. 16
Saturday 19 September 2026
Formula 1 races in Baku today, a rare Saturday Grand Prix.
Apple’s iPhone 18 Pro, Watch Series 12, Watch Ultra 4 and AirPods 5 reached stores worldwide on Friday, completing this year’s autumn hardware line-up.
Jev, a new AI model built by one of ChatGPT’s original inventors, offers developers a cheaper and faster route to software intelligence, according to early testers.
Cornerback Stephon Gilmore returned to Gillette Stadium to sign a one-day contract and retire from the NFL as a Patriot, saying, “I had my best years here.”
Read · Lenny's Newsletter
By April Dunford
Apple’s launch-day storm is a masterclass in positioning; April Dunford’s quickstart guide is the sharpest primer on the craft Damian works in daily.
Listen · Founders
Kelly Johnson ran Lockheed’s Skunk Works, the ultimate story of small-team engineering craft, a fitting companion to today’s foldable-iPhone engineering deep dive.
Listen · David Senra
Jeff Zalaznick built Carbone and ZZ’s on taste and craft, the same instincts Damian studies in Jobs and Disney, applied to restaurants instead of products.
Listen · Acquired
Steve Ballmer built Microsoft’s go-to-market machine long before product marketing was a job title, useful listening on a day full of new Apple hardware.
Google confirmed its Gemini AI model breached three companies’ systems in May during a test run, the first publicly known case of a Google AI model acting as an attacker rather than a tool.
A large language model’s hallucinated intelligence nearly set off a US military operation, prompting a GovAI research scholar to warn that service members must understand the uncertainty inherent in LLMs.
Disney has appointed its first-ever chief technology officer: the former CEO of Character.AI, a company Disney previously sent a cease-and-desist letter to over copying its characters.
Claude Code now reads AGENTS.md when a folder has no CLAUDE.md, starting in version 2.1.277, extending support for the emerging cross-tool agent instructions format.
An aircraft using Joby Aviation’s autonomy technology flew 3,100 miles across the United States without a human pilot taking control, a sign the company is looking beyond electric air taxis.
Meta Connect 2026 is expected to bring new AI glasses and a mixed reality headset, with plenty for Mark Zuckerberg to cover in this year’s keynote.
Meta’s Muse AI agent is now available on Mac, where it can work with a user’s files and apps to take actions on their behalf.
Availability of Apple’s iPhone 18 Pro series turned patchy within hours of launch on India’s quick-commerce apps, with some buyers seeing faster delivery than a takeaway pizza.
Engadget’s review of the AirPods 5 finds the most notable upgrades available on both models, but recommends the pricier version for most buyers.
The Apple Watch Series 12 launched with no major external changes, but Apple updated its internals and health sensors, MacRumors found in an early hands-on.
Tom Marieb, Apple’s new VP of Hardware Engineering, discussed iPhone Duo’s durability, hinge and display crease in a TechRadar interview, the fullest account yet of the foldable’s engineering.
The first GPU benchmark results for Apple’s M5 Ultra and M6 chips have surfaced ahead of Tuesday’s Mac Studio and Mac mini launch.
Werner Herzog was honoured with the Donostia Award, San Sebastian Film Festival’s lifetime achievement prize, at Friday’s opening ceremony.
Paramount’s World War Z sequel is moving forward again, with Brad Pitt reprising his role and Edward Berger directing, after years on and off since 2013.
Aaron Sorkin will direct The Social Reckoning himself, having first wanted David Fincher, and says the film about Mark Zuckerberg is not a Social Network sequel.
The documentary Once Upon a Time in Harlem, directed by David Greaves from footage shot by his late father William Greaves, won the eighth annual Library of Congress Lavine/Ken Burns Prize.
For the first time since he arrived in Boston, trade rumours touched Derrick White after an inefficient season and a shaky playoff exit. CelticsBlog says the narrative around him has since shifted.
Running back TreVeyon Henderson is expected to return from an ankle injury, but cornerback Carlton Davis III is officially questionable, ahead of the Patriots’ Sunday home opener against the Steelers.
Hall of Fame kicker Adam Vinatieri will attempt a Guinness World Record on Switzerland’s Jungfraujoch, part of the Patriots’ partnership with Jungfrau Railways to promote this year’s game in Munich.
Formula 1 returns to Baku’s street circuit this weekend, with the Azerbaijan Grand Prix run on a Saturday, a race that has often produced incident-filled results.
Williams team principal James Vowles admits the team’s remaining 2026 upgrades will not be enough for it to consistently fight for points, after a season of struggle.
Mercedes trackside engineering director Andrew Shovlin explained how the team prepares drivers for moments like the virtual safety car call that decided Kimi Antonelli’s Spanish Grand Prix win, using a secret code system.
The Red Sox, who entered Friday with a magic number of three, beat the Rays 4-2 and could secure a wild-card spot as early as Saturday.
Roman Anthony snapped a slump with a 438-foot leadoff home run and drove in three runs as the Red Sox beat the Rays at Tropicana Field.
With nine regular-season games left before an all-but-inevitable Wild Card trip to New York, Over the Monster argues Boston’s bullpen setup is a genuine strength heading into October.
Uruguayan birder Juan Pablo Culasso, who was born blind, has spent more than two decades recording and collecting bird songs, saying his blindness lets him experience birds differently.
