Hennigan's Huddle — May 28, 2026

Paid Doesn't Mean Permanent: Microsoft's Certificate Trick Bricks Your Office

Microsoft is quietly killing paid Office 2019 Mac licenses next month—and the implications go far beyond one app. Plus Waymo, WhatsApp's AI shakeup, and more. • Microsoft is disabling Office 2019 for Mac next month Microsoft is killing Office 2019 for Mac on July 13th due to an expiring license certificate it won't renew, forcing users into read-only mode and pushing them toward a paid upgrade. • Waymo built a virtual driver to study how humans react to surprises on the road Waymo has published a new AI model called ReD (Reference Driver) in Nature Communications that simulates how human drivers make split-second crash-avoidance decisions, acting as a behavioral benchmark for autonomous vehicle safety evaluation. • WhatsApp ordered to host rival AI assistants for free The European Commission has invoked rare emergency powers to force Meta to restore free WhatsApp access for rival AI chatbots, marking only the second time in over 20 years the EU has used this measure. • Waymo says it built a better benchmark for comparing robotaxis to humans Waymo has developed a new AI model called the 'Reference Driver' to more accurately benchmark its robotaxi performance against human drivers, publishing the research in Nature Communications alongside TU Delft. • Meta signs first AI data center deal in India with Reliance Meta has signed its first AI data center deal in India, partnering with Reliance Industries on a 168-megawatt facility in Jamnagar, Gujarat — deepening a relationship that began with a $5.7 billion investment in Jio Platforms back in 2020. • Top Lucid Motors executive departs amid new CEO’s leadership shakeup Lucid Motors veteran executive Emad Dlala has departed the EV company just weeks after new CEO Silvio Napoli formally took over, signaling a significant leadership reshuffling at the struggling automaker. • Starlink charges $10 monthly hardware fee in move away from one-time purchases Starlink has ditched its one-time hardware purchase model, replacing it with a $10 monthly rental fee for new customers globally — a shift that mirrors traditional cable company billing practices. • Locked in heated rivalry with researcher, Microsoft fixes 0-day they disclosed Microsoft patched two high-severity zero-days disclosed by a researcher known as Nightmare Eclipse, who went public with the vulnerabilities after claiming Microsoft broke a prior agreement with them. • Lions fans erupt after Eric Ebron gets released The Detroit Lions have released tight end Eric Ebron, triggering a strong reaction from the fan base. The move marks a significant roster change for a franchise still rebuilding its identity. • Ambry Thomas - All Teams Ambry Thomas, the versatile NFL cornerback, is making headlines across multiple team contexts — whether through a trade, free agency move, or multi-team career retrospective. • Project Hail Mary's Streaming Release Date Officially Revealed After 3 Months In Theaters The film adaptation of An

The AI That Actually Hacks: When Security Tools Stop Flinching

A $20 pen testing AI that runs the exploit instead of refusing? Plus Apple quietly gives back features it took six years ago. • Show HN: We post-trained a model that pen tests instead of refusing your code Cosine has launched 'cos', a post-trained AI security tool that actually runs penetration tests instead of refusing sensitive requests, available as a CLI for $20/month. • Longevity Startup Doses First Human in Bid to Reverse Age-Related Sight Loss Boston longevity startup Life Biosciences has dosed its first human patient with ER-100, a drug that reversed age-related vision loss in monkeys and is now in FDA-cleared clinical trials. • iOS 27 makes it easier to access Apple TV remote on iPhone and iPad iOS 27 brings back the Apple TV Remote as a standalone Home screen app icon on iPhone and iPad, ending a six-year absence of the dedicated app since 2020. • iOS 27 Lets You Dismiss the 'Now Playing' Lock Screen Widget iOS 27 lets users finally swipe away the Now Playing widget on the iPhone Lock Screen, a small but long-requested quality-of-life fix spotted in the first developer beta. • Building Smarter Cities No article content was provided, so a factual summary cannot be generated from the title 'Building Smarter Cities' alone. — This episode is sponsored by Prompt Vector, from Hen Solutions LLC — over 1,000 professional, ready-to-use AI prompts for iPhone and Mac. The core app is free, and Premium is free for a full month. Download it on the App Store: https://apps.apple.com/us/app/promptvector/id6764571041

AI Is Rewriting Everything — From Cancer Trials to Construction Sites

AI is transforming oncology, enterprise finance, and construction all at once — and Bryan breaks down what it means for your industry, your work, and your week. Plus Apple's WWDC AI moment and the PE firms getting cold feet about software deals.

WWDC 2026 Eve: Siri's Gemini Gamble and the Week That Changes Everything

Apple's biggest bet in years drops tomorrow. We break down WWDC, OpenAI's enterprise security push, and today's strangest stories before the week explodes. • JMGO’s N3 Ultimate projector is the new portable 4K champ JMGO's N3 Ultimate has dethroned Anker as the top portable 4K projector, offering a motorized gimbal, Google TV integration, and class-leading brightness at $2,399. • The first Story-Rich showcase was packed with narrative-driven games Publisher Fellow Traveller hosted its first Story-Rich Showcase during Summer Game Fest 2026, spotlighting over 20 narrative-driven indie games with several major release date announcements. • GOG apologizes for emailing people Nazi symbols PC gaming storefront GOG accidentally sent a promotional newsletter containing Nazi SS symbols to its global user base, prompting a public apology and a messy string of explanations. • OpenAI unveils Lockdown Mode to protect sensitive data from prompt injection attacks OpenAI has launched Lockdown Mode for ChatGPT, a new security feature designed to reduce the risk of sensitive data being stolen through prompt injection attacks by disabling several web-connected capabilities. • What to expect from WWDC 2026: Siri’s highly anticipated revamp and Apple Intelligence updates Apple's WWDC 2026 kicks off Monday, with Siri getting a major AI overhaul powered by Google's Gemini technology and a wave of Apple Intelligence updates across all platforms. • Sriram Krishnan is leaving his role as White House AI advisor Sriram Krishnan, the White House's senior AI policy advisor, is stepping down at the end of June and plans to launch an outside institution to continue influencing Trump's AI agenda. • Scientists ejected from diabetes conference for distributing journal reprints Five prominent diabetes researchers were physically removed from the American Diabetes Association's annual conference in New Orleans for handing out reprints of a published editorial criticizing the Trump administration's cuts to scientific research. • Some ancient microbes frozen with Ötzi the Iceman are still growing Scientists have discovered that Ötzi the Iceman, the 5,300-year-old frozen mummy, is still hosting living, reproducing cold-adapted yeasts on his body — microbes that have likely been with him since shortly after his death. • The 29th International Obfuscated C Code Contest (IOCCC) 2025 Winners The 29th International Obfuscated C Code Contest (IOCCC 2025) has announced its winners, with near-record submission volumes and high quality entries for the second consecutive year since the contest resumed after a four-year hiatus. • I design with Claude more than Figma now Jane Street designer Edwin Morris has largely abandoned Figma in favor of using Claude to build working code prototypes directly, describing it as a fundamental shift in how designers can bring ideas to life without depending on engineers. • Madonna Turns Confessions II Into A Star-Filled Film Event

GTA VI Is Rewriting the Rules — And Giants Are Winning Everything

Rockstar is warping the entire gaming calendar, Reid Hoffman is chasing AI's next frontier, and IBM may have buried major breaches. Power moves everywhere. • More than a decade later, the team behind N++ is back with a multiplayer sequel Metanet Software, the two-person studio behind cult platformer N++, has announced a multiplayer sequel called N Plus Infinity Times Two, set to launch in 2027 across PS5, Xbox, Switch 2, and PC. • Grand Theft Auto VI is warping the video game release calendar Grand Theft Auto VI's November 19th launch is reshaping the entire fall gaming calendar, with major publishers scrambling to release their biggest titles in September and October — or pushing to 2027 entirely — to avoid competing with Rockstar's juggernaut. • Final Fantasy VII’s remake trilogy will conclude with Revelation Square Enix has officially revealed Final Fantasy VII Revelation, the third and final entry in its FFVII remake trilogy, launching spring 2027 across PC, PS5, Xbox Series X/S, and Nintendo Switch 2 simultaneously. • Reid Hoffman is leaving Microsoft’s board to go ‘founder mode’ with startup Manus Reid Hoffman is stepping down from Microsoft's board to focus on Manus, an AI-driven drug discovery startup where he serves as co-founder and chairman. • Founders share VC horror stories, and some are naming names A viral thread on X sparked by startup podcaster Greg Isenberg has founders — including Mark Pincus, Travis Kalanick, and Cloudflare's Matthew Prince — publicly naming and shaming VCs for bad behavior ranging from sleeping through pitch meetings to alleged sexism and predatory deal tactics. • Former cyber executive turned whistleblower accuses IBM of covering up several data breaches A former IBM cybersecurity VP is suing the company, alleging it was hacked over 56,000 times by Chinese state-sponsored hackers between 2013 and 2016 and then deliberately concealed the breaches from U.S. authorities. • Baby botulism outbreak: FDA still doesn't know cause—or how to prevent it The FDA has closed its investigation into a baby botulism outbreak linked to ByHeart infant formula without identifying the root cause or offering prevention guidance, leaving 48 hospitalized infants and their families without answers. • How a USB-connected speaker can infect a PC without ever being touched A security researcher discovered that Creative Technologies' $283 Sound Blaster Katana V2X speaker can be hijacked over Bluetooth — no pairing required — to execute malicious commands on any USB-connected PC within range. • Small modular nuclear reactor reaches criticality in first test Nuclear startup Antares has achieved criticality with a small modular reactor at Idaho National Laboratory — the first new reactor design to hit this milestone under Trump's executive order to accelerate U.S. nuclear development. • Lane-Brayman JV wins $1B Ohio River tunnel job A joint venture between Lane Construction and Brayman Construction has