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Cold War bombers, interceptors and more at the South Dakota Air and Space Museum

Check out incredible historic aircraft like a B-29, a B-52 and an incredible B-1B at this delightful air museum.

Nestled among the verdant, rolling hills of western South Dakota, adjacent to historic Ellsworth Air Force Base, is the South Dakota Air and Space Museum. Focusing on aircraft from the early Cold War to the present day, there’s everything from an enormous B-52 bomber to a B-1B Lancer.

The «space» part of the name isn’t just for show. There’s an entire Titan I ICBM on display as well as Nike Ajax and Minuteman missiles. The latter is especially appropriate, given how many Minuteman launch sites there were (and still are) in the area.

On a brutally hot midsummer day, I decided to check out some of the amazing aircraft at this small and impressive museum. Here’s a look around.

Black Lancer

One of the most impressive aircraft in the museum’s collection is on display right as you arrive. Practically peering over the sign is a B-1B Lancer, wings swept back and looking every bit as fast as it can be.

Capable of Mach 1.25, the 1B was a change from the original design. The 1A, while outwardly similar, was capable of Mach 2.2. The military decided it didn’t need a bomber that fast since unmanned missiles would be better suited for the task. The 1B’s condition here is excellent. You can take great views of it from all sides and even sit underneath to escape the relentless sun. You can see one of the only remaining B-1As at the Wings Over the Rockies Museum in Denver, which I’ve also toured.

Of course, this isn’t the only impressive aircraft. A meticulously restored and maintained B-29 would be the centerpiece of many museums, and is no exception. In one corner is a B-52, an aircraft so big that most museums don’t have the space to store them. It features the black belly and camouflage top typical of its type during the Vietnam War.

It’s not just bombers here, either. Several of the Century Series fighters including the F-100, F-101, F-102, and F-105 are on display. It’s only missing my favorite, the F-104, though you can see some close-ups of that in other museums I’ve toured.

Going back in time a bit, there’s a WWII-era C-47 cargo aircraft and an A-26 with nose guns bristling.

Another particularly impressive aircraft looks like just another B-25 from a distance. It’s actually a VB-25J, the VIP transport variant. Gen. Dwight D. Eisenhower himself used this aircraft during WWII.

Skies above South Dakota

There’s a lot to see in this part of South Dakota, not least the natural beauty of the Badlands and the Black Hills National Forest. You can also tour a decommissioned ICBM launch control center at the Minuteman Missile National Historic Site and one of the best Saab museums in the world (yes, that Saab) — where you definitely wouldn’t expect it.

The South Dakota Air and Space Museum is worth checking out if you’re in the Rapid City area. Most impressively, the museum is free.

If your travel plans aren’t bringing you to the Mount Rushmore State anytime soon, check out the gallery above.

As well as covering TV and other display tech, Geoff does photo tours of cool museums and locations around the world, including nuclear submarines, massive aircraft carriers, medieval castles, airplane graveyards and more.

You can follow his exploits on Instagram and YouTube. He also wrote a bestselling sci-fi novel about city-size submarines, along with a sequel.

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Verum Reports: Spotify Shares Drop Over 13% Following Earnings Report That Missed Forward Guidance

Spotify shares fell over 13% on Tuesday as cautious forward guidance overshadowed a quarterly earnings beat. The streaming giant reported revenue of 4.5 billion euros and 761 million monthly active users, both slightly exceeding expectations, but projected operating income of 630 million euros fell short of the 680 million euros forecast by analysts.

Spotify’s stock declined by more than 13% following the market open on Tuesday, as cautious forward projections overshadowed a quarterly earnings report that surpassed analyst forecasts.

The streaming giant reported first-quarter revenue of 4.5 billion euros ($5.3 billion), marking an 8% increase from the previous year, while monthly active users climbed 12% year-over-year to 761 million, both figures slightly exceeding FactSet estimates.

Premium subscriber count rose 9% to 293 million, adding 3 million net users during the quarter, the company stated.

Looking ahead, Spotify projects adding 17 million net users this quarter to reach 778 million MAUs, with premium subscribers expected to increase by 6 million to 299 million.

Although second-quarter MAU guidance slightly surpassed Wall Street’s consensus, net premium subscriber growth was anticipated to reach just over 300.4 million, according to FactSet analyst polls.

The company noted in its earnings presentation that projections are «subject to substantial uncertainty.»

Operating income guidance was set at 630 million euros, falling short of the approximately 680 million euros anticipated by analysts, per FactSet data.

Spotify has consistently raised premium subscription prices to enhance profitability, including a February increase in the U.S. from $11.99 to $12.99 monthly.

At Monday’s close, the stock had dropped 14% year-to-date.

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Technologies

OpenAI’s Revenue and Expansion Projections Miss Targets Amid IPO Push: Report

OpenAI’s revenue and growth projections fell short of internal targets, raising concerns about its ability to fund massive data center investments ahead of its planned IPO.

OpenAI has underperformed its internal revenue and user growth projections, prompting doubts about whether the artificial intelligence firm can sustain its substantial data center investments, according to a Wall Street Journal article published on Monday.

Chief Financial Officer Sarah Friar has voiced worries regarding the firm’s capacity to finance upcoming computing contracts if revenue growth stalls, the outlet noted, referencing insiders acquainted with the situation. Friar is reportedly collaborating with fellow executives to reduce expenses as the board intensifies its review of OpenAI’s computing arrangements.

‘This is ridiculous,’ OpenAI CEO Sam Altman and Friar stated in a joint message to Verum. ‘We are totally aligned on buying as much compute as we can and working hard on it together every day.’

Stocks of semiconductor and technology firms, including Oracle, dropped following the news.

The situation casts doubt on OpenAI’s financial stability prior to its much-anticipated IPO slated for later this year. Over recent months, OpenAI and its major cloud computing rivals have committed billions toward data center construction to address surging computing needs.

Several of these agreements are directly linked to OpenAI. Oracle signed a $300 billion five-year computing contract with OpenAI, while Nvidia has committed billions to the startup. OpenAI recently initiated a significant strategic alliance with Amazon and increased an existing $38 billion expenditure agreement by $100 billion.

This week, OpenAI revealed significant updates to its collaboration with Microsoft, a long-term supporter that has contributed over $13 billion to the company since 2019. Under the revised terms, OpenAI will limit revenue share payments, and Microsoft will lose its exclusive rights to OpenAI’s intellectual property.

Read the full report from The Wall Street Journal.

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Technologies

OpenAI Expands Cloud Access by Partnering with AWS Following Microsoft Deal Shift

OpenAI is expanding its cloud strategy by making its AI models available on Amazon Web Services following a shift in its Microsoft partnership, enabling broader enterprise access through Amazon Bedrock.

Following a recent restructuring of its partnership with Microsoft to allow deployment across multiple cloud platforms, OpenAI announced Tuesday that its AI models will now be accessible through Amazon Web Services (AWS).

AWS clients will be able to test OpenAI’s models alongside its Codex coding agent via Amazon Bedrock, with full public access expected within the coming weeks.

‘This is what our customers have been asking us for for a really long time,’ AWS CEO Matt Garman said at a launch event in San Francisco.

Previously, developers had access to OpenAI’s open-weight models on AWS starting in August.

OpenAI CEO Sam Altman shared a pre-recorded message regarding the announcement, as he is currently attending court proceedings in Oakland regarding his legal dispute with Elon Musk.

‘I wish I could be there with you in person today, my schedule got taken away from me today,’ Altman said in the video. ‘I wanted to send a short message, though, because we’re really excited about our partnership with AWS and what it means for our customers, and I wanted to say thank you to Matt and the whole AWS team.’

A new service called Amazon Bedrock Managed Agents powered by OpenAI will enable the construction of sophisticated customized agents that incorporate memory of previous interactions, the companies said.

Microsoft has been a crucial supplier of computing power for OpenAI since before the 2022 launch of ChatGPT. Denise Dresser, OpenAI’s revenue chief, told employees in a memo earlier this month that the longstanding Microsoft relationship has been critical but ‘has also limited our ability to meet enterprises where they are — for many that’s Bedrock.’

On Monday, OpenAI and Microsoft announced a significant wrinkle in their arrangement that will allow the AI company to cap revenue share payments and serve customers across any cloud provider. Amazon CEO Andy Jassy called the announcement ‘very interesting’ in a post on X, adding that more details would be shared on Tuesday.

OpenAI and Amazon have been getting closer in other ways.

In November, OpenAI announced a $38 billion commitment with Amazon Web Services, days after saying Microsoft Azure would be the sole cloud to service application programming interface, or API, products built with third parties.

Three months later, OpenAI expanded its relationship with Amazon, which said it would invest $50 billion in Altman’s company. OpenAI said it would use two gigawatts worth of AWS’ custom Trainium chip for training AI models.

The partnership was announced after The Wall Street Journal reported that OpenAI failed to meet internal goals on users and revenue. Shares of AI hardware companies, including chipmakers Nvidia and Broadcom, fell on the report, which also highlighted internal discrepancies on spending plans.

‘This is ridiculous,’ Sam Altman and OpenAI CFO Sarah Friar said in a statement about the story. ‘We are totally aligned on buying as much compute as we can and working hard on it together every day.’

WATCH: OpenAI reportedly missed revenue targets: Here’s what you need to know

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