A JCB has set a new world land speed record, passing 406 mph (653 kph) at Utah's Bonneville Salt Flats. The JCB in question isn't a digger or a dumper, but a hydrogen-powered racer known as the JCB Hydromax, driven by retired Royal Air Force fighter pilot Wing Commander Andy Green. It set the record for the fastest a hydrogen-powered internal combustion car has ever travelled, averaging 406.320 mph (653.909 kph) across two runs at the salt flats this week. JCB says the Hydromax is powered by two production-based engines derived from those used in its commercial machinery. The engines are made at JCB's factory in Foston, Derbyshire, and deliver a combined 1,600 bhp. The firm began a £100 million ($135 million) hydrogen engine investment program in 2021, arguing that battery power is practical for smaller machinery but less suited to heavy equipment requiring long operating hours and rapid refueling. It was given permission to sell hydrogen engines by licensing authorities across Europe last year. Another European engineering company, Bosch, is investing in hydrogen power and disclosed some of its plans back in 2023. However, JCB conceds that the two engines in the Hydromax were "extensively rebuilt to suit the demands of breaking the speed record," fitted with spark plugs designed for a Le Mans 24 Hour engine, for example. Burning hydrogen produces no carbon dioxide at the tailpipe, although a combustion engine can still generate nitrogen oxides. JCB estimates that a full record run consumed just over 2 kg (4.4 pounds) of hydrogen and produced 18 liters (about 5 gallons) of water. Beneath the bodywork is a steel-frame chassis similar to that of a conventional racing car, built with a minimal amount of high-strength tubing. The driver sits in a composite monocoque sub-chassis under a drag racing-style steel roll cage. One of the engines is located behind the driver's position and spins the rear wheels, while the other is located in front and drives the front wheels via a front-facing gearbox. Wing Commander Green is no stranger to land speed records. He was at the controls of the ThrustSSC vehicle when it broke the sound barrier on land, and also drove JCB's Dieselmax when it set the world diesel land speed record. According to JCB, its chairman, Anthony Bamford, led the hydrogen engine project and came up with the idea of a bid for the hydrogen world land speed record. "Twenty years ago we came to Bonneville with JCB Dieselmax and showed what British engineering could do with diesel power. Today we have done it again, this time with engines powered by hydrogen," Bamford said. "It shows hydrogen works, and it works today at the highest level with zero emissions." The Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA), motorsport's global governing body, officiated the attempt and has confirmed the 653.909 kph (406.320 mph) record. ®

Twitch has given streamers a switch to stop their channel content being fed into Amazon's generative AI machinery, but naturally it is turned on by default. The Amazon-owned streaming platform has added a "Training for Generative AI" control to channel settings, allowing streamers to opt out of having their content used for future GenAI model improvements. With the setting enabled, Twitch says channel content – including livestreams, videos on demand, clips, highlights, text, images, and chat messages – may be used to train Amazon's generative AI models. The benefits aren't confined to Twitch either, as the company says the resulting models may also be used elsewhere in the Amazon empire. For example, Twitch says audio from streams could be used to refine speech-to-text models, improving captions on Twitch as well as "across Amazon." Streamers who would rather not contribute their channels to Amazon's AI ambitions can opt out, but they'll need to do it themselves. Twitch has helpfully enabled the setting by default. Twitch chief product officer Mike Minton offered a refreshingly uncomplicated explanation for that decision during a livestream discussing the changes: "If it was opt-in, nobody would opt in," he said. "That's honestly the answer. So it's going to be on by default." The new control also doesn't mark the beginning of Amazon using Twitch material to build AI. According to Ars Technica, Minton confirmed at an event hosted by The Information in 2024 that Amazon was already using Twitch data to train AI models. What's changed is that Twitch users now have a dedicated way to tell it to stop using their content for future generative AI training. There are some wrinkles, naturally. The channel owner's setting determines whether messages posted in its chat can be used, so opting out on your own channel does not protect what you type in somebody else's if that streamer leaves training enabled. And Twitch's wording is conspicuously forward-looking: opting out means content won't be used for "future" GenAI model improvements. The company doesn't say that flicking the switch somehow extracts anything that has already made its way into a model. The Register has asked Amazon which of its AI models have been trained on Twitch content, how long it has been using the data, and whether opting out has any effect on material already used for training. We've also asked whether models trained on Twitch content are used in products available to Amazon customers or third parties. For now, Twitch creators finally have a way to keep their content off Amazon's generative AI training menu. All they have to do is find the switch Amazon would plainly rather they left alone. ®

BORK!BORK!BORK! "Everything is better with pickles," trumpets a Wendy's sign. Everything is also better with a helping of bork, if the screen is to be believed. Spotted by an eagle-eyed Register reader in Vancouver, the display shows something amiss with Windows Phone Link – although why a PC encouraging customers to drop dollars on a Dill Pickle Chicken Sandwich needs the app is anyone's guess. The error itself usually comes up when something running Windows has been a bit careless with stack memory. Perhaps there's been a stack overflow, a software conflict, or a memory shortage. The usual fix is to reach for the power button or perform a restart. The more technically minded might try to diagnose the whoopsie and fix it without a boot cycle, although had a more technically minded person set up the system in the first place, it's unlikely that the PhoneExperienceHost.exe application would have reared its ugly head in this way. Phone Link connects a Windows PC to an Android phone or iPhone. The theory goes that users can keep track of mobile notifications, send and receive messages, or deal with calls from their Windows desktop. It arrived with Windows 10 as Your Phone before Microsoft renamed it Phone Link and continued adding features. Ordinarily, the service doesn't use much in the way of memory or CPU. However, something has clearly upset the instance here, much as an excess of dill pickles might disagree with the customer. While we're sure the foodstuffs on offer are excellent (although our reader told us they were only popping in for a Frosty Dairy Dessert rather than anything slapped with a dill pickle), we might give the chicken sandwich a miss this time. Even Windows appears less than keen. ®