Daily News Digest — 2026-10-26

Each morning's new stories from Slashdot, Digg, and BleepingComputer — a digest of the day on top, then every story summarized with a link to the original.AI-written summaries, not individually fact-checked by us. The linked story is the source.

← 2026-10-252026-10-26later →

Today's digest

The dominant themes today are AI's collision with everyday work and security, and the aftermath of Brazil's presidential runoff. Lula da Silva won a historic fourth term, a story that appears on both Slashdot and Digg. AI shows up everywhere: a Berkeley mathematician has stopped grading homework because of AI use, an Apollo economist says AI has produced little financial payoff outside tech, a Linux Foundation study finds roughly a quarter of incoming open-source pull requests are low-quality "AI slop," and BleepingComputer reports that AI coding agents can be hijacked through a planted AGENTS.md file.

On the security side, BleepingComputer reports that the PHP2Shell remote-code-execution flaws are now being exploited in the wild, while Slashdot covers systemd's move toward optional Rust code and a proposed error-correcting Linux filesystem. Digg's front page is dominated by sports, entertainment and AI-industry finance, including SpaceX's roughly $40B GPU debt financing and a lawsuit from Elvis Presley song rights holders against Anthropic. BleepingComputer was reachable only through its homepage, since its RSS feed returned HTTP 403, and only three of its stories fall in the 24-hour window. Note that Slashdot's RSS feed was stale (newest item Oct 23), so Slashdot stories come from its homepage, and all summaries below are drawn from feed or page excerpts.

Must-read stories:

PHP2Shell security flaws now successfully exploited in the wild (BleepingComputer)
AI coding agents hijacked using AGENTS.md file in Downloads folder (BleepingComputer)
Lula da Silva wins Brazil's presidential runoff (Slashdot and Digg)
Linux Foundation study: 25% of incoming pull requests are "AI slop" (Slashdot)
SpaceX closes ~$40B debt financing for GPUs (Digg)

Slashdot

Lula wins Brazil's presidential election; Amazon deforestation at a record low

The Guardian reports that Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva won Brazil's election, defeating far-right rival Flávio Bolsonaro for a fourth term. Associated Press coverage notes the result could matter for climate, since Amazon deforestation under Lula fell to its lowest level since records began in 1988. (from feed excerpt)

Microsoft releases Scope, an open-source tool for evaluating AI coding agents

Microsoft has released Scope, an open-source platform for evaluating how AI coding agents interact with software products. According to Microsoft's open source blog, it turns those interactions into evidence that product teams can act on. (from feed excerpt)

Linux Foundation study: generative AI cuts open-source coding time, but 25% of pull requests are "AI slop"

A Linux Foundation Research study finds that 59% of maintainers report growing contribution volume since generative AI spread. It estimates that 25% of incoming pull requests are low-quality "AI slop," placing a review burden on maintainers. (from feed excerpt)

AI Use Convinces California Math Professor There's 'No Point' Grading Homework

The Daily Californian reports that Fields medalist Richard Borcherds of UC Berkeley no longer grades homework for correctness, because widespread AI use makes it pointless. He now grades on completion, which he calls "not a very good system." (from feed excerpt)

systemd adds optional Rust support for its programs

Phoronix reports that systemd's Git tree now allows some systemd programs to be written in Rust as an alternative to C. Core libraries do not support Rust yet, and the Rust code is built with Meson rather than Cargo. (from feed excerpt)

BeamFS, a proposed Linux filesystem using error-correcting codes in every block

It's FOSS reports that BeamFS stores Reed-Solomon error-correcting codes in every block so it can repair small amounts of damage. Its creator is seeking feedback on an 18-patch proposal rather than requesting a merge. (from feed excerpt)

AI Delivers 'Zero Financial Payoff' To Most Companies, Economist Says

Apollo Global's chief economist writes that AI has produced no financial payoff for corporate America outside the tech sector. TechCrunch adds that profit margins and revenue per worker appear flat across the S&P 493, the index excluding the largest tech names. (from feed excerpt)

Digg

Eric Bauza, modern voice of Bugs Bunny and Daffy Duck, dies at 46

Reported by ComicBook and DiscussingFilm, the Emmy-winning voice actor reportedly died suddenly at 46. He voiced Bugs Bunny and Daffy Duck in recent years. (from feed excerpt)

Lula da Silva Wins Brazil Presidential Runoff for Historic Fourth Term; Markets React Cautiously

Lula won the October 25 runoff with about 51.75% of the vote, a fourth term that is a first in Brazil. Axios, The Straits Times and others covered the result, and markets reacted cautiously. (from feed excerpt)

Opinion piece on TSMC's Arizona chip factories gets a spotlight

An opinion piece, referenced by Six Colors and published in the New York Times, argues that Taiwanese engineers are training American workers at TSMC's Arizona plants. (from feed excerpt)

Phantom Blade Zero's fast-paced combat and rough edges

Reviews from Eurogamer, VGC and Push Square praise the game's combat. They also flag balance and quality issues and find the levels too linear. (from feed excerpt)

Jalen Williams stretchered off after apparent leg injury against Clippers

Per Bleacher Report and Yahoo Sports, Williams left the game on a stretcher after an awkward landing following a dunk against the Clippers. (from feed excerpt)

'Interstellar' gets 12-year theatrical-release tributes

Fans marked the 12th anniversary of the film's theatrical release with tributes, per FilmUpdates. (from feed excerpt)

Luka Dončić becomes first NBA player to score 50-plus points this season

Dončić scored 25 before halftime as the Lakers came back from an 18-point deficit to take the lead. He became the first player to reach 50 points this season, per the NBA, The Sporting News and Sportsnet. (from feed excerpt)

Elon Musk warns of compute stranded in partially complete data centers

Chamath Palihapitiya predicts that pipeline delays could leave paid-for compute idle or underperforming in 2027, a concern Musk echoed. (from feed excerpt)

Elon Musk's claimed $40 billion SpaceX GPU debt deal comes with a neocloud shakeout warning

Per Techmeme and SiliconANGLE, Musk claims debt markets have nearly shut off funding for companies that lack substantial revenue beyond AI data centers. The warning accompanies his claimed $40B SpaceX GPU financing. (from feed excerpt)

Saudi Arabia plans to store crude oil in Singapore from the second half of 2027

Reuters, via The Economic Times, reports that Saudi Arabia plans to store crude oil in Singapore starting in the second half of 2027. The planned site is Singapore's Jurong Rock Caverns. (from feed excerpt)

SpaceX Closes ~$40B Debt Financing for GPUs

Reuters and Bloomberg report that SpaceX closed roughly $40B in debt financing for GPUs. Musk credits SpaceX's investment-grade status, Starlink and launch revenue with keeping its access to debt markets. (from feed excerpt)

'Obsession' leads 2026 Fangoria Chainsaw Awards with five wins

Fangoria and Variety report that 'Obsession' led the 2026 Chainsaw Awards with five wins. Backrooms won Best First Feature, Best Cinematography and Best Score. (from feed excerpt)

Sonic X Shadow Generations reportedly tops 3 million copies sold worldwide

Gematsu cites a SEGA announcement that the game has passed 3 million copies sold. An earlier report had put sales above 2 million in January 2025. (from feed excerpt)

Mbappé scores his seventh goal in seven Clásicos for Real Madrid

Fabrizio Romano, B/R Football and ESPN FC report that Mbappé scored his seventh goal in seven Clásicos for Real Madrid. Romano puts his career tally against Barcelona at 13 goals in 11 games. (from feed excerpt)

Elvis Presley song rights holders sue Anthropic over alleged use of 274 songs to train Claude

Per The Hollywood Reporter and Techmeme, the rights holders sued Anthropic over the alleged use of 274 songs to train Claude. Plaintiffs allege Claude produced infringing material, and Anthropic disputes the claims. (from feed excerpt)

BleepingComputer

The RSS feed (bleepingcomputer.com/feed/) returned HTTP 403, so stories below come from the site's homepage listing, and the summaries are based on its excerpts.