Abbott halts Texas state funding for Flock AI cameras

🚀 RELEASES & LAUNCHES

• Community releases uncensored GGUF versions of five AI models
  LLMFan46 released GGUF versions of five uncensored models for local inference.
  • The releases target local-LLM users running models through GGUF-compatible tools such as llama.cpp.
  • The bundle includes LongCat-Flash-Lite-Sparse, Qwen3.8-27B, Qwen3.5-122B-A10B, Qwen3-Coder-Next, and Laguna-S2.1 Vision.
  • LongCat-Flash-Lite-Sparse is a 69B-A3B model with sparse attention and a 1M-token context window, compared with 256K for LongCat-Flash-Lite.
  • LongCat-Flash-Lite-Sparse requires a custom llama.cpp fork because upstream llama.cpp does not support it.
  • The releases expand access to these models in quantized GGUF format for local deployment.
  Sources 📄 Source: huggingface.co · 📎 Coverage: reddit.com · 👁 via r/LocalLLaMA

💰 BUSINESS & FUNDING

• Caterpillar brings mining automation lessons to broader AI deployment
  Caterpillar is applying mining automation experience to industrial AI deployment.
  • Caterpillar is targeting customers, operators and technicians across mining, construction, quarries and manufacturing.
  • Its Cat AI Assistant uses voice commands to surface repair procedures, troubleshoot faults and identify parts.
  • The company has about 1.6 million connected assets and more than 16 petabytes of structured data.
  • Caterpillar plans to spend $100 million over five years training 118,000 employees in AI, autonomy and robotics.
  • The approach combines autonomous equipment, digital twins, AI agents and remote command centers to integrate AI into industrial workflows.
  Sources 📎 Coverage: techcrunch.com · 👁 via TechCrunch AI

🏛️ POLICY & REGULATION

• Abbott halts Texas state funding for Flock AI cameras
  Texas Gov. Greg Abbott ordered state agencies to stop funding Flock cameras.
  • Texas state agencies and local law enforcement using Flock’s automated license plate readers are affected.
  • The order halts state funding for cameras amid privacy and data-misuse concerns.
  • Texas agencies helped fund at least 3,200 cameras, including 1,200 under a $15.9 million contract.
  • The program received at least $30 million tied partly to a $1 auto-insurance fee, while most city funding comes from federal sources.
  Sources 📄 Source: texastribune.org · 📎 Coverage: thehill.com · 👁 via The Verge AI