7.23.26 | Terence Tao discusses Jacobian Conjecture counterexample, Bento creates HTML PowerPoint, John C Dvorak passes away

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Welcome to the Hacker News Highlights, where we explore the top 10 posts on Hacker News every day. Today, we dive into Tao's responses discussing the Jacobian conjecture, showcasing Bento enabling HTML-based presentations, and mourning John C. Dvorak's passing. Let's dive in.
Title, Top Story on Hacker News, discusses a breakthrough in the Jacobian conjecture involving a counter example in three dimensions. Source, Hacker News. The story centers on a conversation between mathematician Terence Tao and an advanced AI where Tao guides the AI to find a polynomial map with a constant Jacobian determinant of minus two that is not globally injective, thus providing a counter example to the Jacobian conjecture in three dimensions. The conversation highlights Tao's strategic question framing and the AI's ability to assist in complex mathematical reasoning. This breakthrough was achieved through careful steering and domain expertise, emphasizing AI's role as an amplifier rather than an autonomous solver. In the comments, the community overwhelmingly supported the idea that this interaction demonstrated AI's capacity as a research partner rather than a simple tool. Users debated how much Tao's expertise influenced the AI's success, noting that such breakthroughs depend heavily on human guidance and framing questions precisely. There was skepticism about whether AI could discover such counter examples independently, with many emphasizing the importance of domain knowledge. Overall, the sentiment was that Tao's approach exemplified how AI enables high-level problem-solving, but still requires expert steering, affirming AI as a powerful assistant rather than a standalone mathematician.
Title, Show HN Bento, an entire PowerPoint in one HTML file, edit plus view plus data plus colab. Source, Bento.page. The article introduced Bento, a single file web app that functions as a PowerPoint alternative. It features a compressed HTML file containing all the presentation data, animations, charts and collaboration tools, all working offline in the browser. The creator explained how it was built using RevealJS, GS Ape, eCarts and Cloudflare durable objects for collaboration. The project emphasizes simplicity, self-containment and ease of sharing, with a focus on local first usage and minimal dependencies. In the comments, the community mostly expressed enthusiasm for Bento's design and core concept of a single-file presentation tool. Many discussed its potential for offline use, collaboration and ease of sharing, while some noted concerns about name conflicts with existing software or wondered about accessibility features like alt text. Several users compared Bento to other web-based presentation tools and appreciated its transparency and open source nature. A few debated its scalability, the security of its collaboration approach, and possible future enhancements like custom layouts or integration with other formats. Overall, the community saw Bento as a clever, practical project with strong appeal for technical users and organizations seeking simple, offline-capable presentation solutions.
Title, John C. Dvorak has died.
Source, X, formerly Twitter. The news story announced the death of John C. Dvorak, a well-known tech journalist and broadcaster. Throughout the comments, the community mostly expressed sadness and nostalgia, remembering his contributions to tech journalism through columns, podcasts and TV shows. Many reminisced about his role in shaping their understanding of technology and his distinctive outspoken style, though some noted his later involvement in controversial topics and political views. The overall sentiment was one of respect for his impact on the tech world and a sense of loss at his passing.
Title, Are AI Labs Pelican Maxing?
Source, Dylan Castillo.
The article examines whether AI labs are intentionally optimizing their models to perform better on the Pelican Riding a Bicycle SVG benchmark, a well-known but playful test of AI visual generation. The author ran a large experiment across multiple models and found little evidence that labs are deliberately Pelican Maxing as Pelican images are not drawn noticeably better than other animals and bicycles are not better than other vehicles. The results suggest that improvements in SVG generation likely result from general SVG skills or SVG Maxing rather than specific Pelican Maxing efforts. In the comments, the community largely debated whether AI labs are gaming the benchmark or simply improving an SVG capabilities generally. Most agreed that the models do not show signs of special focus on Pelicans on bicycles and some pointed out that models are more biased by common scene interventions such as facing right when depicting bicycles. Several users argued that the benchmark itself is somewhat overstated with some criticizing the reliance on subjective evaluation and the inadequacy of the art produced. Others discussed whether the experiment is a good measure of overall model intelligence or just niche SVG skills, with many recognizing that benchmarks can easily be maxed and lose their usefulness over time. Overall, the consensus was that labs are not specifically Pelican Maxing, but that SVG generation is improving as a general skill across models.
Title, Reddit has decided that plain HTML is unsafe. Source, colk.com. The Post discusses Reddit's move to restrict access to old.reddit.com to logged-in users, citing security concerns and efforts to prevent scraping. The author compares old versus new Reddit, explaining that old Reddit is just plain HTML, making it easier to scrape and thus viewed as less secure. The community generally reacted negatively, with many users lamenting the loss of old Reddit's simplicity and expressing frustration over the enforced login requirements. The dominant sentiment was that Reddit's changes are driven by a desire to control data and limit scrapers, making the platform less accessible and more intrusive, which eroded user trust and enjoyment. In the comments, the community's main themes involved criticism of Reddit's motivations, concerns over security and bot activity, and debates about the quality and authenticity of content. Many users agreed that the platform's shift was primarily to fend off AI scraping and enforce age verification. A strong majority expressed disappointment, feeling that Reddit's move signals the decline of a beloved community forum and raised concerns about increased censorship, surveillance, and commercialization. There was also discussion about alternative platforms and methods to access Reddit content without sharing personal data, with suggestions like self-hosted instances, Fediverse alternatives like Lemmy and browser extensions to bypass restrictions.