Man, you gotta hear what was popping off on Hacker News today, October 7th, 2025. Some wild stuff, as usual. Grab a coffee, here’s the quick rundown:

Qualcomm to acquire Arduino

First up, big tech news: Qualcomm is buying Arduino! Can you believe that? Everyone in the comments was like, "Is Arduino even still a thing in 2025?" A lot of people were saying the ESP32 is way better these days for actual projects. But then others were like, "Nah, I still use the Arduino software for my ESP stuff," which is kinda funny. Some folks were also complaining about how annoying Arduino's peripherals can be to work with.

Read more here: Qualcomm's announcement

German government comes out against Chat Control

Huge win for privacy in Germany, apparently! The German government is officially against that "Chat Control" thing the EU is pushing, where they want to scan everyone's messages. The comments section was a hotbed of debate, with people talking about free speech, government surveillance, and even bringing up some heavy historical comparisons from Germany's past. Good on them for pushing back, I guess.

Check out the discussion: Twitter link

Deloitte to refund the Australian government after using AI in $440k report

Okay, this one's a cracker! Remember those super expensive consulting reports? Well, Deloitte had to pay back almost half a million bucks to the Australian government because they used AI to write a report! People in the comments were cracking up, saying it's just like how these big firms usually get junior grads to do all the actual work anyway. So much for those fancy fees, huh?

The full story: The Guardian article

Gemini 2.5 Computer Use model

Google's AI, Gemini 2.5, is apparently getting pretty wild. They've got this new "Computer Use model" where it can actually operate a computer like a human. People were saying it's still a bit "lazy" and needs prodding, but someone mentioned it could even "see color" on a webpage and was good at automating web scraping. Kinda scary, kinda cool.

More details: Google DeepMind blog

Show HN: Timelinize – Privately organize your own data from everywhere, locally

On the more positive tech side, someone launched a cool new tool called Timelinize. It's all about letting you organize your personal data from all over the place, but the key is it keeps everything locally and privately. The comments were full of people stoked about the privacy aspect, saying it's exactly the kind of tool the world needs right now.

Check it out: Timelinize website

Canadian bill would strip internet access from 'specified persons', no warrant

And now for some seriously worrying stuff: Canada is proposing a bill that would let them cut off internet access for "specified persons" without even needing a warrant. Yeah, you heard that right. The comments section was, understandably, freaking out about how authoritarian that sounds and the implications for civil liberties and government power. Pretty wild that's even on the table.

Read the opinion piece: National Post article

Robin Williams' daughter pleads for people to stop sending AI videos of her dad

Finally, a really sad one. Robin Williams' daughter had to make a public plea for people to stop sending her AI-generated videos of her dad. It's a pretty stark reminder of the ethical issues with AI deepfakes. People in the comments were talking about how this tech, while seemingly neutral, is often used in really messed-up ways and how it impacts families.

The BBC story: BBC News link

So yeah, busy day on the internet! Talk soon!