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// Tech news at terminal velocity

cat 2026-05-31.md

Copilot's Token Shock, Meta's AI Necklace, & The Singing Steam Controller

$ cat TLDR.md

• GitHub Copilot ditches flat-rate pricing for a token-based model, sending developers into a panic over massive bills.

• Meta is building an always-listening AI pendant to hang around your neck.

• Google unleashes Gemini Spark, a 24/7 background agent that does your digital chores while you sleep.

Headlines & Launches

💸 GitHub Copilot's Token-Based Reality Check

Starting June 1, GitHub Copilot is ditching its flat-rate subscription for token-based billing, and developers are furious. With agentic coding sessions reportedly burning through $30-$40 a pop, your predictable SaaS expense just became a volatile utility bill.

Source: TechCrunch

📿 Meta Wants to Hang AI Around Your Neck

Because smart glasses weren't close enough to your vocal cords, Meta is reportedly developing an AI pendant. Built on their 2025 acquisition of Limitless, the wearable microphone will quietly listen to your entire life to provide transcripts and summaries.

Source: Engadget

Google's Gemini Spark Never Sleeps

Google just rolled out Gemini Spark, a 24/7 AI agent for its $100/month Ultra subscribers. It runs in the background to automate tasks, schedule meetings, and organize your life—even when your devices are turned off.

Source: Android Authority

🏗️ SoftBank's €75B French Data Center Bet

SoftBank is pouring a massive €75 billion into French data centers. The goal is to build up to 5 gigawatts of capacity, proving that the AI infrastructure arms race is still very much in its 'spend GDP-level money' phase.

Source: TechCrunch

Deep Dives

📊 The Economics of AI Coding Just Changed

GitHub's move to token billing is a wake-up call for founders and CTOs. AI coding assistants are no longer a simple seat subscription; they require real budget controls before a rogue agentic loop bankrupts your startup.

Source: Startup Fortune

🎭 AI Grifters Are Taking Over TikTok Shop

Scammers are using AI-generated personas—including fake, crying creators—to dropship cheap Shein products on TikTok. It's a fascinating, dystopian look at how synthetic media is being weaponized for low-level e-commerce fraud.

Source: The Verge

Engineering & Research

🧀 Cheese Paper: A Niche Editor for Fiction

A delightfully minimalist, offline Markdown editor designed specifically for fiction writers. It keeps notes attached to scenes using TOML headers and syncs via standard file sharing, avoiding the dreaded cloud subscription trap.

Source: Hacker News

📝 Jimmy: Liberate Your Notes to Markdown

A new open-source conversion tool that rescues your data from closed ecosystems like Evernote and Notion. It converts proprietary exports into clean Markdown directories while preserving images, attachments, and metadata.

Source: Knightli

Odds & Ends

🎵 The Steam Controller Sings Doom

Valve's new Steam Controller doesn't have a speaker, but that hasn't stopped tinkerers. By hijacking the haptic feedback motors, gamers are making the controller buzz to the tune of Doom and Portal's 'Still Alive'.

Source: The Verge

👻 Snap Alums Launch Ghost Angels

A syndicate of 20 former Snap employees just launched a new fund called Ghost Angels. Their mission? To back the next generation of social media startups, presumably before they all pivot to AI.

Source: TechCrunch

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