The world's largest oil companies are now holding a record cash pile: The top 5 international oil companies generated almost ~$70 billion in free cash flow in Q2 2026, the largest amount on record. This includes ExxonMobil, $XOM, Chevron, $CVX, Shell, $SHEL, TotalEnergies, $TTE, and BP, $BP. This marks a +600% quarter-over-quarter increase. By comparison, the previous peak of ~$60 billion was set in Q2 2022, following Russia's invasion of Ukraine. Furthermore, combined net income across the group jumped +160% YoY last quarter, to $47 billion, the 3rd-largest on record. Oil companies are building unprecedented cash piles amid the Iran War.

The creator of Assassin’s Creed and Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time says 1666: Amsterdam used so much generative AI during development that the team eventually forgot which assets were made by AI. “I can ask the AI to give me 75 different variations of one thing, but I can’t have 75 different illustrators make a variation in three seconds.” Désilets said the team became so used to seeing AI-generated material that they sometimes “didn’t even realize it was AI anymore.” AI-generated artwork was later found in the game’s demo, causing backlash. Désilets has said those AI assets were removed and that the final game will not use generative AI.

The guy is making this look WAY too easy. I mean, why do they even call these “death dives” anyway? Wait… WHAT IS THIS MEDICAL REPORT? * Knocked out cold * Fractured T11 vertebra * Fractured sternum and skull * Ruptured eardrum * Back and chest surgery And the worst part? He jumped higher than the old 41.7 m mark, but because the entry was uncontrolled and he got absolutely wrecked, it doesn’t even count as the official freestyle record. Bro nearly broke his entire skeleton instead... Writer: Claudio

The quality of US job openings data is deteriorating: Only roughly 1 in 4 businesses approached by the BLS now agree to participate in the Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey (JOLTS), near the lowest since 2022. By comparison, before the 2020 pandemic, the so-called initiation rate oscillated between 50% and 70%. Meanwhile, the first closing response rate, measuring firms that provide data in time for the initial JOLTS estimate, stands at just ~30%, near the lowest proportion on record. This percentage has halved over the last 10 years. Similarly, the second closing response rate is ~35%, also near the lowest on record. The BLS therefore releases job openings data based on a historically small fraction of responses, before revising the figures as additional responses come in. Official US labor market data is becoming increasingly unreliable.

The Witcher 3 developers ran into a funny problem while trying to make the game’s villages feel realistic. They wanted NPCs to have daily routines and react naturally to what was happening around them, but early in developments, the reaction system was pretty basic. If something scared the villagers, they would simply run away, including mothers carrying babies. “For a few weeks, women were just dropping their babies, left and right.” He also said the team’s focus on making players curious about the world “really came to haunt us.” In small villages with only a few houses, players would naturally want to see if the people actually felt like they existed there. At the time, the developers were focused more on NPCs having proper day-and-night routines than on how they reacted to the player. Instead of giving villagers fixed paths, they gave them different places to visit and let the NPCs choose where to go next. For example, the 50 sailors at Novigrad’s harbor had around 200 possible locations they could move between.