Articles by Jon Martindale, Freelance Writer

After building his first computers in his teens, Jon Martindale has spent the past two decades covering the latest advances in technology. From displays to PC components, blockchain to AI, and tablets to standing desk accessories, Jon has covered just about every facet of the tech space in his varied career. He has bylines at Forbes, USNews, Lifewire, DigitalTrends, PCWorld, and a range of other sites. He brings that same level of expertise and professional insight to Toms Hardware.Away from writing, Jon is an avid reader, board gamer, and fitness enthusiast. He lives in rural Gloucestershire with his wife, two children, and French Bulldog cross.

Articles by: Jon Martindale

Hooded hacker with bad posture hunches over their Matrix-code workstation.

$115 million ransomware hacker arrested over extortion attacks — Scattered Spider alumnus allegedly involved in over 120 computer network intrusions targeting 47 U.S. entities

By Jon Martindale published 19 September 25

The British national is accused of hacking over 120 computer networks and attacking close to 50 different U.S. entities.

Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang looking smug during a Thematic Event on Advanced Manufacturing in China.

Nvidia drops a cool $900 million on Enfabrica tech and hiring its CEO, report claims — AI networking chip company boasts capacity to connect 100,000 GPUs together

By Jon Martindale published 19 September 25

Rochan Sankar and other employees will move over to Nvidia, and it gets to license the firm's technology.

Asus is 'actively investigating' ROG gaming laptop stuttering woes — Models released / sold between 2021 - 2024 affected by 'performance interruptions'

By Jon Martindale published 18 September 25

Seems to affect Asus ROG gaming laptops from between 2021 and 2024.

UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer in front of the Union Jack.

UK cosies up to big tech with $42 billion data center and AI investment deal

By Jon Martindale published 17 September 25

Premium UK inks deals with OpenAI, Microsoft, Nvidia, Google, Coreweave, ScaleAI, and more.

Jensen Huang looking surprised in a chat with media.

Nvidia's China-exclusive RTX 6000D reportedly gets lukewarm reception in China due to hobbled performance — could leave Nvidia with huge backlog of unwanted GPUs

By Jon Martindale published 16 September 25

Estimates put production at over two million of these GPUs.

Google terminates 200 AI contractors — 'ramp-down' blamed, but workers claim questions over pay and job insecurity are the real reason behind layoffs

By Jon Martindale published 16 September 25

Some believe they were let go because of complaints over working conditions and compensation.

Hacker ransomware groups announce retirement to enjoy their "golden parachutes" — no further attacks planned, future attributed activities will relate to undisclosed past breaches

By Jon Martindale published 15 September 25

They ride off into the sunset taking their millions with them

China accuses Nvidia of anti-monopoly law violations, raising prospect of heavy fines — company could be fined 10% of revenue from China

By Jon Martindale published 15 September 25

This may also be another indirect tactic in the ongoing trade negotiations.

OpenAI and Microsoft logos side by side.

OpenAI and Microsoft reach an understanding over ongoing contract negotiations — but AGI clause remains an uncertainty

By Jon Martindale published 12 September 25

Premium OpenAI and Microsoft has struck a memorandum of understanding on their ongoing contract negotiations, opening the door for OpenAI to begin corporate restructuring.

Jensen Huang on a screen talking to an audience

The new frontier: Meet the power players cashing in on the AI gold rush

By Jon Martindale published 12 September 25

Premium Many of the world's richest people are the founders and CEOs of the top tech firms cashing in on the big AI boom, with some particular standouts "earning" tens of billions of dollars in a single day.

OpenAI signs contract to buy $300 billion worth of Oracle computing power over the next five years — company needs 4.5 gigawatts of power, enough to power four million homes

By Jon Martindale published 11 September 25

Instantly boosting Oracle CEO Larry Ellison to the world's richest man, but questions remain about how either company will afford such a deal.

DDoS scrubbing service ironic target of massive attack it was built to prevent — hit with 1.5 billion packets per second from more than 11,000 distributed networks

By Jon Martindale published 11 September 25

A DDoS scrubbing service has been hit with a massive attack from over 11,000 distributed networks, with peak traffic of 1.5 billion packets per second.

Interior of a PC with an RTX 3080 Ti and Threadripper CPU.

Lucky bidder scoops $8,000 PC for $23 at auction — Mislabelled Fractal Design case listing had 24-core Threadripper 3960X, 256GB of memory, and an RTX 3080 Ti inside

By Jon Martindale published 10 September 25

A lucky online auction bidder has scored an $8,000 PC for just $23, bidding on a mislabelled Fractal Design case that actually had a full system inside.

Nvidia claims software and hardware upgrades allow Blackwell Ultra GB300 to dominate MLPerf benchmarks — touts 45% DeepSeek R-1 inference throughput increase over GB200

By Jon Martindale published 10 September 25

Big increases in performance when running a range of popular open source models.

Intel confirms Arrow Lake refresh set for 2026, Nova Lake later that year — company admits there are 'holes to fill on the desktop front,' says it is 'confident in the roadmap'

By Jon Martindale published 10 September 25

Though the next-generation chip launch looks set to extend into 2027, too.

General Atomics laser mounted on top of a prop plane.

World's first laser communication link between a plane and satellite ran at 1 Gbps — 10-watt laser which has a 3,417 mile range and 2.5 Gbps max data rate

By Jon Martindale published 9 September 25

Showcasing an important alternative to radio-based, high-speed communication.

Intel ousts CEO of Products as part of the latest executive shake-up, ending 30-year career — company also establishes new custom chip design unit

By Jon Martindale published 9 September 25

This continues shake ups under the new CEO who has previously announced plans to flatten executive structure, making more departments and people answer to him directly.

Despite whispers of a bubble, OpenAI is planning a gigawatt-scale data center in India

By Jon Martindale published 3 September 25

Premium As the second-largest market for ChatGPT, OpenAI looks to secure local infrastructure and investment.

Chinese social media firms comply with strict AI labelling law, making it clear to users and bots what's real and what's not

By Jon Martindale published 2 September 25

It's part of a broader push by the Cyberspace Administration of China to have greater oversight over the AI industry and the content it produces.

Noctua's 3D printable side panel quiets Framework's Desktop — drop 5-7 decibels using this freely available mod

By Jon Martindale published 1 September 25

The Framework Desktop is plenty quiet already, but with a Noctua 3D printed side panel, duct, and fan, it can run even quieter.

Gaming consoles are becoming more expensive as they age for the first time in history — gamers blame tariffs for PlayStation, Xbox, and Switch price increases

By Jon Martindale published 1 September 25

Tariffs and inflation are largely to blame

Intel confirms it has already received $5.7 billion from US government, CFO claims the deal was to halt the sale of its chip fabs

By Jon Martindale published 29 August 25

The $5.7 billion investment will see the US government take a 10% stake in Intel, with the Commerce Department said to be ironing out the details.

Satya Nadella and Sam Altman on video conference together.

OpenAI and Microsoft's contract negotiations threaten investment and potential IPO — companies battle over AGI secrecy and Azure exclusivity

By Jon Martindale published 29 August 25

Premium Microsoft and OpenAI butt heads over ongoing contract negotiations

AI is eating entry-level coding and customer service roles, according to a new Stanford study — junior job listings drop 13% in three years in fields vulnerable to AI

By Jon Martindale published 26 August 25

After tracking payroll data, it found 13% fewer entry-level employment opportunities over the past three years.

Howard Lutnick giving the double finger gun gesture.

U.S. gov't seizes $7.4 billion semiconductor research fund created under Biden admin, calling it 'illegal' — Lutnick says fund 'served as a semiconductor slush fund that did nothing but line the pockets of Biden loyalists with American tax dollars'

By Jon Martindale published 26 August 25

Despite allusions to nepotism and corruption, the Commerce Department hasn't made clear what it wants to do with the newly clawed-back funds.

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