This week: a new ChatGPT for everyone, a fake 'prove you're human' trap, and 8GB laptops make a comeback
A Friday read on what actually happened across AI, hardware, and the web. Curated, not chased. If nothing mattered, we’d say so.
A new ChatGPT reaches everyone — and still isn’t infallible
OpenAI released its latest models this week — GPT-6 Sol and Luna — and began rolling them out to everyday ChatGPT users, free accounts included, on 22 September. The company says the new versions cost less to run and make “about half as many mistakes” as the ones before. On paper, a real step up.
Why it matters to you: half as many mistakes is genuinely better — and it is still mistakes. A tool that’s right more often is easy to trust more completely, which is the exact moment a confident, wrong answer slips past you. The habit that protected you last year still works this year: when the answer matters — health, money, anything you’d act on — check it against a source that isn’t the chatbot. Smarter tools raise the ceiling; they don’t remove the need to look.
Verify it yourself: TechCrunch — OpenAI launches GPT-6 Sol and Luna · OpenAI
The fake “prove you’re human” box that runs malware
The FTC and the security firm Malwarebytes both flagged a September surge in a nasty trick: a page that looks like an ordinary CAPTCHA — tick to verify you’re human — that then tells you to press Windows + R, paste, and hit Enter. Those keystrokes run a hidden command the page slipped onto your clipboard, installing malware. The newest version is built to spread from one PC into a whole network.
Why it matters to you: the danger is disguised as the most routine click on the web, which is what makes it dangerous. One rule undoes it: a real verification check never asks you to press keys, paste anything, or run a command — only ever a tick-box or a few pictures. If a “prove you’re human” step starts giving you keyboard instructions, close the tab. We’ve written the full how-to this week — When ‘prove you’re human’ is the trap.
Verify it yourself: FTC — How to spot a CAPTCHA scam · Malwarebytes — TerminalFix looks like ClickFix
8GB RAM makes a comeback — at the same price
The memory shortage we’ve tracked all year has a new twist. To hold sticker prices steady, laptop makers are starting to ship mid-range machines with 8GB of RAM instead of 16GB — same model name, same price, less computer. Tom’s Hardware and PCWorld report that the 16GB mid-range standard is slipping backward, and because modern laptop memory is soldered in place, you can’t add more later.
Why it matters to you: a slower machine for the same money is easy to miss, because the number that changed sits in the spec sheet, not on the price tag. If you’re buying, read the memory line before you pay, and aim for 16GB — it costs a little more now and saves you replacing the whole laptop in a year or two. Treat 8GB as a hard floor for comfortable everyday use, not a target to settle for.
Verify it yourself: Tom’s Hardware — 8GB of RAM is back on laptops · PCWorld — mid-range laptops may slide back to 8GB
Spotted something we should cover next week? That’s the whole idea — tell us, and we’ll check it.