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Adobe has rescinded its decision to discontinue its long-standing animation software following a massive user revolt, while Intel signals a decisive strategic pivot away from high-end consumer gaming graphics toward AI infrastructure. In a week marked by friction between legacy tech and artificial intelligence, security researchers have also exposed critical vulnerabilities in viral "vibe-coded" AI platforms, and European regulators have intensified legal pressure on social media giant X.
Key Points
- Adobe Animate Reprieve: Following an industry backlash, Adobe announced the software will enter "maintenance mode" rather than facing the March 1st "end of life" originally planned.
- Intel’s GPU Shift: The chipmaker has hired former AMD CTO Eric Demers, signaling a move toward AI and workstation architectures over consumer gaming cards like the Arc B770.
- AI Security Failures: Cloud security firm Wiz revealed that the "vibe-coded" social network Moltbook exposed 1.5 million API keys and possessed an 88:1 bot-to-human ratio.
- Hardware Instability: Reports confirm Ryzen 9000 series CPUs are suffering failure due to voltage regulation issues on certain ASRock and ASUS motherboards.
Adobe Reverses "End of Life" Decision for Animate
Adobe has officially reversed its plan to discontinue Adobe Animate, the software formerly known as Flash, after a notification sent earlier this week sparked widespread outrage among the creative community. On Monday, users received emails stating the 30-year-old application would be terminated on March 1, 2025. The announcement threatened the workflows of major productions, including Smiling Friends and Teen Titans Go, which rely on the vector-based animation tool.
The backlash was immediate. Industry figures, including YouTuber Tom Scott, criticized the move as "industry-killing," while animation professionals warned of job losses and the creation of "lost media." In response to the outcry, Mike Chambers, Adobe Creative Cloud Senior Director, announced via social channels that the application would instead transition to "maintenance mode."
"The app will be kept alive with security updates, but no new features. It's basically the software equivalent of shoving your grandpa into an assisted living facility despite him still being able to take care of himself."
While the software remains available, the incident highlights Adobe's aggressive resource shift toward generative AI platforms like Firefly. Animate notably received no mention at the recent Adobe Max conference and has no roadmap for 2025, suggesting a "soft sunset" where the tool remains functional but stagnant.
Intel Pivots GPU Strategy to AI and Workstations
Intel is restructuring its graphics division to prioritize high-margin AI contracts over the consumer gaming market. The company has appointed Eric Demers as Chief Architect. Demers, a veteran with 14 years at Qualcomm and a tenure as CTO of AMD’s graphics division, is credited with designing the legendary Radeon R300 and R600 architectures.
This leadership change appears to come at the cost of Intel's consumer hardware lineup. Reports indicate the high-end Arc B770 gaming GPU has been permanently shelved. However, the Battlemage G31 GPU chip intended for that card may still reach the market in the fall as the workstation-focused Arc Pro B770.
Furthermore, Intel is tightening branding standards for its upcoming Panther Lake CPUs. Laptop manufacturers (OEMs) utilizing memory slower than 7,467 mega transfers per second (MT/s) will be barred from using the "Intel Arc" branding. Instead, these systems must use the label "Generic Intel Graphics," a move designed to protect the perceived performance value of the Arc brand.
"Vibe Coding" Faces Reality Check Following Security Audit
The trend of "vibe coding"—creating software using AI assistants without writing manual code—faced significant scrutiny this week after security firm Wiz published a damning analysis of the AI-only social network, Moltbook. The platform's founder previously boasted about building the site without writing a single line of code.
The security audit revealed critical vulnerabilities, including an exposed database that granted full read/write access to the platform. This exposure compromised 35,000 email addresses and 1.5 million API keys. Furthermore, the analysis suggested the platform’s engagement was largely artificial, identifying a bot-to-human ratio of 88 to 1. The revelations have led prominent AI figures, including OpenAI co-founder Andrej Karpathy, to walk back previous praise for such "vibe-coded" projects.
Regulatory Pressures and Hardware Failures
Beyond software shifts, the tech sector faces new hardware and legal challenges. In France, police raided the Paris offices of X (formerly Twitter) as part of an ongoing criminal probe. The investigation, which began in January 2025 and expanded in July, focuses on the distribution of illegal content and deepfakes generated by the platform's AI, Grok. Both Elon Musk and CEO Linda Yaccarino have been summoned to testify in April.
On the hardware front, early adopters of AMD's Ryzen 9000 series are reporting catastrophic failures. A combined ten confirmed cases of CPU death have been reported on ASRock and ASUS 800-series motherboards. ASUS has launched an internal review following the failure of five Ryzen 7 9800X3D chips. The issue is suspected to stem from firmware pushing voltage beyond safe limits, echoing previous AM5 burnout issues. Builders are advised to prioritize BIOS updates immediately.
Market Implications
These developments suggest a consolidating tech market where legacy creative tools are being preserved only under duress, while hardware manufacturers aggressively pivot toward the lucrative AI infrastructure market. For professionals, the message is clear: reliance on "vibe-coded" AI tools carries significant security risks, and hardware stability remains a concern amidst rapid release cycles.
