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Magic Johnson makes rare critical post after Commanders' head-scratching tie against Giants
Washington Commanders fans woke up Monday morning with a lingering headache from whatever happened at the end of their game against the New York Giants, which ended in a tie.
Jayden Daniels accidentally ran out the clock in overtime, seemingly forgetting he had no timeouts and not enough time to get his teammates set up for a potential game-winning field goal. Exacerbating the entire situation was the eyes of Washington’s ownership.
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Los Angeles Lakers legend Magic Johnson, who invested about 4% into Josh Harris’ $6.05 billion purchase of the franchise in 2023, wrote about the team’s loss on X. Johnson rarely brings any criticism to social media, so you know he must have been really upset with how things played out in Landover, Maryland, on Sunday afternoon.
"I’m in total disbelief my Commanders had such poor clock management in today’s overtime game against the Giants," he wrote. "All we had to do was kick the field goal and we would have won the game!"
For at least one moment, Johnson was the voice of the Commanders’ fan base. The team was up 27-13 after Daniels scored on a 26-yard run with 11:05 left in the game. Giants quarterback Jameis Winston guided the team to two touchdowns to tie the game at 27-27.
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Now, if Giants rookie kicker Dominic Zvada just made one of his three missed field goals, we may not be having the same head-scratching conversation we’re having now.
Anyways, Commanders head coach Dan Quinn took the blame for the miscalculation at the end of the game.
"The sequencing of that does not fall on (Daniels)," Quinn said. "It’s an outside throw or a clock — an out of bounds throw, or a clock. That has to come from me. I have to put him in that spot. I can do that earlier and we can finish the kick earlier. We don’t need to gain more yards."
Washington fell to 1-3-1 on the season.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
'Helicopter brain' could be making you feel sick: How to spot it and what to do
A new analysis of 44 studies has linked "doomscrolling" to higher levels of anxiety and psychological distress — but for some, information overload may also contribute to a phenomenon one neurologist calls "helicopter brain."
The research, published in Frontiers in Psychology, found associations between excessive consumption of negative online content and poorer mental health, although it did not establish a cause-and-effect relationship.
Board-certified neurologist Dr. Steven Resnick uses the term "helicopter brain" to describe a nervous system that remains constantly on high alert, much like a "helicopter parent" who constantly hovers over a child to protect them from harm.
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"Imagine your own helicopter — that is your nervous system," Resnick, chief of the Division of Neurology and medical director of the Comprehensive Stroke Center at Mount Sinai Medical Center in Miami Beach, Florida, told Fox News Digital. "Your nervous system’s job is to protect you from harm."
Information overload, overstimulation and uncertainty can keep the brain on high alert, activating the autonomic nervous system, the neurologist said.
"The brain is scanning for danger," Resnick said. "When it scans for danger, then you have that autonomic nervous system pushing the accelerator."
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The neurologist, who also hosts "The Healthy Mind" podcast, said he often sees patients experiencing symptoms they struggle to explain, including headaches, gastrointestinal issues, fatigue, sleep problems, tingling and dizziness.
In some cases, patients undergo evaluations by multiple specialists before identifying a potential explanation.
"They end up going to see a neurologist, who sends them to the gastroenterologist, who sends them to the cardiologist, then the rheumatologist," he said.
"They don't understand what they're feeling is actually authentic, it's real — it's the nervous system that is actually activated."
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Although constant information overload can contribute to this heightened state of alertness, Resnick said the same patterns can emerge in response to everyday stressors and deeply ingrained habits.
The neurologist outlined the following five strategies for recognizing these patterns, calming the nervous system and developing healthier responses to stress.
When seeing patients, Resnick said his first step is to listen to them, to ensure that he understands what they’re feeling.
"I hear patients say, ‘I'm scared, I'm fearful, I'm concerned, I'm worried,’ and then you start to realize what their nervous system is telling you," he told Fox News Digital. "I would never have done that by just fixing the problem right away."
The nervous system can begin to calm when patients feel truly heard, safe, secure and connected, the neurologist said.
"The solution can be done later," Resnick said. "And we have to stop using the word ‘fixing,’ because a lot of things cannot be fixed — but over time, you can start feeling better."
Recognizing recurring patterns — in thoughts, behaviors and reactions — is an important first step toward changing them, Resnick said.
"Mindfulness is not just about meditation; it's about noticing," he said.
That could mean recognizing the same conflict happening repeatedly with a co-worker, lying awake each night with racing thoughts, or turning to food or cigarettes during periods of stress, according to Resnick.
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When those behaviors repeat, people can begin operating on "autopilot," he said.
"The brain wants to resort to what is familiar, what is safe and what is known," Resnick said. "It keeps going back to that because the brain understands it, retrieves it and does the same thing over and over again."
Breaking that cycle requires recognizing the pattern and making a conscious effort to respond differently, he added.
Next, the neurologist said it’s important to "catch the cue," or trigger, that kick-starts the pattern.
"It's a stimulus," he said. "It's something that is very sneaky. It goes under your level of consciousness."
"It could be your boss' face. It could be a telephone. It could be a chair or a couch in a room. It could be a smell or a feeling."
That cue can trigger an almost automatic behavior, Resnick said, such as procrastinating, eating, reaching for a drink or lashing out.
If the behavior provides pleasure or helps someone avoid an uncomfortable feeling or situation, the brain can become more likely to repeat it.
Even worrying can become part of that cycle. If the feared outcome doesn’t happen, Resnick said, the brain may interpret the worry as protective, reinforcing the habit.
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Breaking the pattern starts with identifying the specific cues that set it in motion, according to the neurologist.
Rather than viewing anxiety or overthinking as something that happens "all the time," Resnick encourages patients to pinpoint a specific episode, consider what triggered it and recognize the behavior and potential reward that followed.
The next step is replacing the unwanted behavior with a healthier habit that provides a noticeable reward, Resnick said.
"Give your new habit a reward you can feel," he advised.
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That reward does not have to be significant. After an early-morning workout, for example, it might be a sense of accomplishment or an improved mood. A healthy shake after the workout could provide another small reward.
"Even checkboxing something on a piece of paper feels good," Resnick said.
These immediate, positive reinforcements can help the brain begin associating the healthier behavior with something rewarding.
"Rewards are very important," the neurologist said. "Even the small ones are important."
Finally, when anxiety or panic strikes, Resnick recommends taking a counterintuitive approach: "Float instead of fight."
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In many cases, he said, people are not only afraid of a particular situation, but of the anxious feelings that may result.
Someone with claustrophobia, for example, may fear getting an MRI because they anticipate the physical sensations of anxiety that could arise inside the machine.
"Don’t fight it," Resnick advised. "You want to allow it. You want to feel it."
Avoiding a situation can reinforce the brain’s perception that it poses a threat, he said, while safely experiencing it can help create a new association.
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"After you have that experience where you felt safe, and you went toward it, then your brain and body … pair it as being safe," Resnick said.
The goal, he added, is "to teach the brain safety through your body and through your brain and mind."
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While these strategies may help people better manage stress and anxiety, Resnick emphasized the importance of recognizing the patterns behind the symptoms.
People experiencing persistent or unexplained physical symptoms should seek medical evaluation to rule out underlying health conditions.
Sarah Ferguson rejects tell-all speculation as expert says discretion is ‘only hope’ for future with family
Sarah Ferguson is setting the record straight about her intent to write a memoir.
In a statement to People, representatives for the former Duchess of York shut down claims she is gearing up to release a tell-all, telling the outlet there have been "no discussions" about a book deal.
"She is not writing a personal memoir," they said.
Rumors she was preparing to release a memoir started in late September, when The Sun reported Ferguson was "days away" from signing a lucrative book deal which would cover her ex-husband, Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor's relationship with Jeffrey Epstein.
"The other day it was announced by the Sun newspaper that Sarah Ferguson was attempting to write a book, an all-tell book, giving all the secrets away about the royal family. It was strongly denied very quickly by her PR team," royal broadcaster Ian Pelham Turner told Fox News Digital.
"And I think the reality was this might have been a strategy to actually gain more initiatives, but who knows? We will never know with the royal family itself. She's obviously very considerate about what might happen if a book was written like this to Eugenie and Beatrice, and also to her former husband, Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor too."
Turner added that the book would likely not be very complimentary of Windsor, noting that she wasn't "very well treated in the formative years of her marriage with Andrew" and likely felt "lonely" and "isolated."
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British royals expert Hilary Fordwich told Fox News Digital that Ferguson is "already persona-non-grata in aristocratic circles" and will be "weary" of making any decisions that will "put her daughters and grandchildren at risk of being ousted completely from the royal family."
"Sarah should simply stick to anything unrelated to the royals, her fiction & anything else without any royal proximity," Fordwich said. "But simply refraining from such wouldn’t be rehabilitation or societal acceptance. Currently, she is persona non grata."
"The only hope she has of any future, indeed also any future with her own daughters and grandchildren, is to be discreet, which is not one of her strongest virtues, to say the least. But staying out of the U.K. for the last seven months was wise to at least let things die down. But despicable behavior will never be forgotten," Fordwich added.
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Fordwich added that while a tell-all "would be just a quick fix for her financial woes," it would also "pretty much guarantee zero relationship with her children, grandchildren as well as her social set."
Ferguson spent seven months abroad before announcing her return to the U.K. in August, a decision Fordwich called "wise" as it allowed time for things to "die down," but added, "despicable behavior will never be forgotten."
"Sarah Ferguson is back in the U.K., keeping a low profile and plotting her next move," British broadcaster and photographer Helena Chard told Fox News Digital. "Her chequered past has led to her immense highs and lows over the years. She believes that her current situation is merely another storm in a teacup. She plans to pivot yet again and bounce back."
The controversy surrounding Ferguson stems from her association with Epstein. In the Epstein files, emails allegedly show the former royal asking the child sex offender for financial help.
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"Yes, Sarah has done some things wrong in her life, but I think as well, she has got a kind heart," Turner said. "She really is the type of person who will give people anything that they want, and that's partly being her downfall, as she gives very expensive gifts to her friends."
He added: "But I think right now she needs to be looked at as someone who needs help, care, and respect. She is the type of lady that really the queen actually liked in a lot of ways, and she came back into the royal fold. But I think, as I say, at the moment, I think in reality, it wasn't her really-ality to actually write a book as well."
The Iran war didn't make your heating bill this high. Blue-state energy policy did
Heating season is here, and the Iran war is getting the blame for higher energy prices. The war explains the timing. It doesn't explain the vulnerability.
America produces enormous amounts of oil and gas. Why do prices jump when the Persian Gulf flares? Because oil trades on a world market. A crisis anywhere moves prices everywhere.
But the real problem is policies at the state level that have kept us from truly unleashing the bounty of our domestic energy supply.
It’s been well documented that we have a refinery shortage. The country has 130 operable refineries, down from 301 in 1982, and no major new refinery has been built in the U.S. since 1976. Here in the Northeast, when we lost the Philadelphia Energy Solutions plant, we lost about 335,000 barrels a day.
In my home state of New York, like so many other states, we also have a self-imposed supply problem. Natural gas moves through pipelines, and New York has blocked those pipelines. Pennsylvania, right next door, sits on some of the richest gas fields in the country. The Constitution Pipeline, if constructed, would carry that natural gas 124 miles, with 99 miles of new right-of-way in New York.
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The fight to build this much-needed pipeline is now 10 years old. In April 2016, the state denied the water permit. Courts upheld it. The company tried again in 2025, then withdrew in November after three notices that its application was incomplete.
And the problem runs deeper than one pipeline. Ill-conceived climate laws set sweeping emissions targets, and the plan to reach them is thin if not unattainable. Take New York City's Local Law 97. It fines large buildings that exceed emissions limits, and the limits tighten sharply in 2030. Owners must pay for costly retrofits or pay penalties. Either way, the bill lands on tenants, co-op owners and small businesses.
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Democrats in too many state capitals seem determined to choke off other reliable and cost-effective energy sources. Nuclear reactors and coal plants have closed down, both of which supply much-needed energy to citizens, especially low-income families.
Meanwhile, the utility bills keep climbing, filling your gas tank becomes more painful, and truckers and shippers face punishing prices for diesel, which, of course, trickles down to raise the cost of everything from lumber to lunch meat.
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I’ve spent over 20 years in the energy and utility industry. Energy is not abstract. It is pipe, wire, steel and supply. Limit supply while demand holds, and prices rise. That is arithmetic, not ideology.
And winter makes it more brutal. On the coldest days, when pipes run full, utilities scramble for alternatives and alternatives cost more. Families on fixed incomes can't opt out. They lower the thermostat and pull on another sweater.
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Here is what should bother everyone, whatever their politics. A state that won't produce or import its own fuel doesn't become independent. It becomes a customer. It bids against the world for supply and accepts whatever price is asked, including prices set by wars it can't influence.
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What's the solution? Approve pipeline projects with capacity that bring in domestic gas. Keep reliable power plants running until real replacements are built and tested. Approve the construction of new refineries. Be honest about what climate mandates cost and phase them in at a pace working families can afford. Judge success by lower bills and steady supply, not ribbon-cuttings.
And most importantly: Vote for candidates this November who are dedicated to American energy independence, supporting sensible and robust expansion of both production and refinement of our own bountiful energy supply.
Trump's backyard is quietly transforming into 'Silicon Valley South' as wealthy Americans flock in
A wealthy Southern enclave once known as a playground for retirees and snowbirds is transforming into a growing technology and financial hub, drawing comparisons to Silicon Valley as businesses, Wall Street executives and entrepreneurs move in.
Palm Beach County, Florida, is attracting new attention as wealthy Americans seek alternatives to high-tax states like New York and California.
"Palm Beach has changed from a place where people come to retire to a place that people come to build," luxury real estate expert Margit Brandt told Fox News Digital. "There's been countless CEOs and major heads of companies that have moved their businesses to Palm Beach," she said, pointing to Florida's favorable tax climate and lifestyle as major draws.
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The region is also home to President Donald Trump's Mar-a-Lago estate, often dubbed the "Southern White House," placing the emerging business hub in the backyard of one of the country's most recognizable political landmarks.
The shift comes amid changing migration patterns across the country, with Internal Revenue Service data for 2022–2023 showing taxpayer losses across numerous California and Northeastern counties, while much of the Southeast recorded gains.
Brandt believes Palm Beach County could become a major technology hub, citing its room for expansion as an advantage over more densely developed destinations.
"We have tons of room to grow," she said, pointing to areas like Wellington and western Palm Beach County where new schools, hospitals and infrastructure could accommodate additional businesses and families.
The region is also attracting technology investment alongside its established financial services industry.
In September 2025, California-based software company ServiceNow announced plans to establish a regional innovation hub and artificial intelligence institute in West Palm Beach.
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The expansion is projected to generate $1.8 billion in economic impact and create more than 850 jobs over five years, according to the company. ServiceNow also committed to occupying up to 200,000 square feet of office space at 10 CityPlace, a development by billionaire real estate investor Stephen Ross's Related Ross.
"The tech has particularly been exciting for Palm Beach County," Brandt said.
Meanwhile, Palm Beach County's population reached an estimated 1.58 million residents in July 2025, an increase of 5.6% since April 2020, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.
Brandt said new office developments in West Palm Beach and Palm Beach Gardens have made it easier for companies to establish a presence in the region.
"Florida has just been a really easy landing place," she said.
Beyond business opportunities, Brandt pointed to year-round outdoor activities, warm weather and family life as major attractions for newcomers.
For Brandt, the region's evolution is far from complete.
"Palm Beach County, I think we're like in beginning stages of what's possible here," she said.
Americans clash over Supreme Court expansion as fight over 9 justices heats up: ‘Let’s pack it now’
As lawmakers spar over whether to expand the U.S. Supreme Court beyond nine justices, Americans interviewed by Fox News Digital on Capitol Hill had competing views on whether the nation's highest court needs a shake-up at all.
"If it's not broken, don't fix it," Tim from Washington, D.C., told Fox News Digital.
"If you had more justices, you could have more differing opinions there," Derek, also from Washington, said. "So you'd have to have more of a consensus on whatever they're voting on."
The debate comes after a Republican-backed constitutional amendment to permanently fix the court at nine justices failed in the House in September, falling short of the two-thirds majority required for passage.
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Democratic lawmakers have also introduced proposals to reshape the court, including legislation to expand its membership, establish term limits and impose additional ethics requirements.
" If we're gonna change the size, we need to do it now," said Carl from Texas. "If you're going to pack the court, let's pack it now."
One person Fox News Digital spoke with questioned the motives behind efforts to increase the number of justices.
"I think those who want to increase the size, maybe just have a bias to it, if it be Republican or Democrat," Tim said about the idea of expanding the number of justices. "I say just leave it as it is, man."
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Democrats have become increasingly angry over many of the court’s votes, and many have alleged their rulings to be rooted in politics rather than law.
"The more people weigh in, the more accurate the results would be, right?" an interviewee said.
One also argued that while he would be in favor of potentially expanding the Supreme Court, it would be dependent on how many additional justices were to be added.
"It depends on how much more they add," Derek said. "One or two more doesn't seem like it's that much, but if they're like, ‘Double it.’ Well, starting to just kind of go overboard at that point."
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Several proposals by Democrats have been introduced to reshape the court, including legislation from Rep. Al Green, D-Texas, to expand the bench from nine to 13 justices, and a separate measure from Rep. Ro Khanna, D-Calif., to establish 18-year terms of active service for newly appointed justices.
"I think that more substantial change would be putting in term limits," Mark from Washington, D.C., said. "The size would allow for the next several presidents to appoint more people. I don't know that it changes the political bent of the current situation, whereas a term limits might be more effective."
Other Democratic proposals would impose enforceable ethics standards and require greater transparency surrounding the court's emergency rulings, often referred to as its "shadow docket."
Republicans argue Democrats’ proposals to overhaul the Supreme Court are a reaction to the party’s anger at rulings not being in their favor.
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House Republicans sought to permanently cap the court at nine justices, casting their proposed constitutional amendment to reject Democratic efforts to expand the court.
It failed to secure the required two-thirds majority needed to pass the House. Amending the Constitution would then also require a two-thirds majority vote in the Senate and then ratification by three-fourths of the states.
Article III, Section 1 of the Constitution establishes the Supreme Court but does not specify how many justices should serve on it, leaving Congress with the authority to determine its size.
Congress initially established six seats under the Judiciary Act of 1789. The court's size changed several times throughout the 19th century, reaching as many as 10 justices before Congress established the current nine-justice structure in 1869.
IKEA turns to driverless semis with nobody in the cab
You could soon be driving down a Texas highway, look over at a massive delivery truck and realize the driver's seat is completely empty. Kodiak AI plans to start hauling IKEA products between the Dallas and Houston areas later this year with nobody in the cab. The company has spent years preparing for this step, but removing the safety observer changes the equation.
What happens if something breaks while the truck is moving at highway speed? Is someone secretly driving it from a control room? How does it react to a police car or ambulance? And, yes, I wanted to know what keeps a hacker from getting anywhere near something as important as the steering or brakes. So, I took those questions directly to Kodiak founder and CEO Don Burnette to find out how the company says these driverless trucks will handle them.
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"The decision to remove the driver isn't based on any single test or milestone," Burnette told CyberGuy. "It's the result of years of operating experience, rigorous validation and a clear safety case that gives us a clear, evidence-based framework for determining when the Kodiak Driver is ready to operate safely without anyone in the cab."
Kodiak calls its autonomous driving system the Kodiak Driver. The company also uses something called an Autonomy Readiness Measure, or ARM, to track its progress toward running long-haul trucks without anyone aboard.
As of the end of September, Kodiak said 96% of the claims and evidence required for its long-haul safety case were materially complete, up from 93% at the end of August. The remaining work includes engineering verification, validation and final safety assessments. Kodiak expects to complete that work before launching driverless long-haul service by the end of 2026. The company also has experience running trucks commercially with empty cabs.
Kodiak-powered trucks have been operating for Atlas Energy Solutions in the Permian Basin without anyone aboard since December 2024. Burnette says that by the end of the second quarter, 35 driverless trucks were operating there commercially and had logged more than 40,000 hours of paid driverless operations. To put things in perspective, that is the equivalent of more than 4 ½ years of nonstop driving. So, the IKEA route will take Kodiak into a different setting, but removing the driver itself will not be new territory for the company.
I asked Burnette what drivers on I-45 will actually notice once the new service starts. His answer was pretty straightforward. "The biggest difference is that there won't be anyone in the cab," he said.
The driverless section will cover 219 miles, primarily along Interstate 45 between Kodiak facilities in the Dallas and Houston areas. That stretch is part of a longer 292-mile delivery route connecting IKEA's distribution center in Baytown with its store in Frisco.
Kodiak has been carrying IKEA products along the route for four years with a safety observer aboard. During that time, the companies have also been figuring out the less obvious parts of running autonomous freight, such as when trucks should leave, when they will reach the destination and how maintenance should be scheduled.
The trucks themselves have redundancy systems built into safety-critical components including braking, steering, power and computing. "From the outside, the drive itself should look pretty boring, and that's exactly what we want," Burnette said. "The Kodiak Driver is designed to be predictable, courteous, conservative and defensive." Frankly, boring is exactly what I think we all want from a giant truck with nobody sitting behind the wheel.
This was high on my list of questions. "We've designed the Kodiak Driver around the idea that something will eventually go wrong, whether that's a mechanical issue, a damaged sensor or an unexpected situation on the road," Burnette said. "The important thing is that the truck already knows what to do when that happens."
Burnette says the Kodiak Driver continuously monitors more than 1,000 safety-critical components across the truck, its sensors, hardware and autonomy software. If the system detects a serious issue, it can switch from normal driving into what Kodiak calls a fallback maneuver. That process is designed to bring the truck to a controlled stop in a safe location.
Kodiak also puts limits around where and under what conditions the truck can operate. In the autonomous vehicle world, that is called an Operational Design Domain, or ODD. You can think of the ODD as the truck's approved operating boundaries. If the situation falls outside what the system has been designed and tested to handle, Burnette says the truck can fall back rather than continuing as though nothing has changed.
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No one will be in the cab, but people will still be watching what is happening. Kodiak has a command center just south of Dallas. However, Burnette does not describe those workers as remote drivers waiting to take control. If the Kodiak Driver runs into a situation it cannot safely resolve, it can activate its fallback system and then, as Burnette puts it, "call home for help." The command center can provide guidance about what the truck should do next.
That is different from a person taking over the steering wheel from miles away. "We use redundant communications channels to ensure we remain in contact with the truck, but if connectivity is lost, the Kodiak Driver still has to be able to respond safely on its own," Burnette said.
That last part is especially important. If the cellular or communications connection goes down, the truck cannot simply sit there waiting for someone at the command center to tell it what to do. Kodiak says the vehicle still has to get itself into a safe state.
Highway driving involves situations that go well beyond staying between the lane lines. Police pull vehicles over. Ambulances approach from behind. Accident scenes can suddenly change the flow of traffic. A truck with nobody in the cab still has to recognize what is happening around it and respond.
Kodiak says its autonomous system is designed to identify emergency vehicles, stopped vehicles, lane closures and accident scenes. The system can slow down or move over when appropriate. The company has also spent time working directly with first responders.
Kodiak employs a retired California Highway Patrol officer who works with law enforcement on how to interact with driverless trucks. The company also has a written First Responder Interaction Plan that explains what responders should do if they encounter one of its vehicles.
Another piece of technology comes into play if a Kodiak truck stops along the road. Kodiak has integrated HAAS Alert's Safety Cloud. That system can send digital warnings about a stopped truck to nearby motorists through compatible navigation apps and vehicle systems.
You knew I was going to ask this one. Once software has control of an 18-wheeler, cybersecurity becomes a major part of the conversation. I asked Burnette what keeps someone from hacking into a truck and interfering with systems like the steering or brakes. "Cybersecurity is something we take very seriously," he said.
Burnette says cybersecurity is one of six pillars in Kodiak's safety case. The company says its approach follows guidance from the National Institute of Standards and Technology and vehicle cybersecurity best practices from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. But the part that really stood out to me was how Burnette described limiting access to the truck. "First, we've minimized the number of ways into the truck," he said. "We limit data entry points to only what's necessary, and we isolate safety-critical functions like steering and braking from external communications."
That isolation is important because communication with the outside world should not provide a direct doorway into critical driving systems. Burnette says Kodiak also monitors for threats and maintains an incident response process. Burnette also addressed what happens if the truck loses connectivity. "The truck's safety doesn't depend on connectivity, and it's designed to bring itself to a safe stop if something isn't right," Burnette said. No connected vehicle comes with a promise that hackers will never target it. That is why I will be watching how these protections hold up as more driverless trucks begin traveling public highways.
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With a traditional truck, investigators can look at what the person behind the wheel did before a crash. But what happens when nobody was behind the wheel? I asked Burnette who would ultimately be responsible if a driverless Kodiak truck were involved in an accident. "Responsibility for a driverless vehicle works similarly to responsibility for any vehicle: it depends on the circumstances surrounding the crash," he said.
Burnette says Kodiak trucks have more than a dozen sensors aboard. Those sensors can give the company a detailed record of what happened around the vehicle. That information could be especially useful when investigators need to reconstruct the moments leading up to a crash.
I wanted to push on the limits too. Autonomous driving companies spend plenty of time telling us what their technology can do. I think it is just as useful to ask what it cannot do.
Burnette pointed back to the Operational Design Domain. "The Kodiak Driver is designed to operate under specific conditions," he said. "If the truck leaves its ODD, it will simply achieve a fallback. That's intentional." At launch, Burnette says the ODD will cover the Dallas-Houston corridor. Kodiak plans to expand the operating area during 2027 and beyond.
This may be the biggest question of all for someone who makes a living driving a truck. If a semi can travel hundreds of highway miles without a person in the cab, what happens to the person who used to sit there? "We see autonomous trucks supplementing the workload rather than eliminating the need for them," Burnette said.
Burnette also explained why Kodiak is targeting this type of work. "Our focus is on the long, repetitive highway miles that can keep drivers away from home for days or weeks at a time," Burnette told CyberGuy.
There is still a much larger question about what happens if driverless freight eventually spreads across the country. Companies could change the way they divide routes and use drivers. Some jobs could change with them. We will know much more once autonomous trucking gets beyond a limited number of routes and starts becoming part of larger freight networks.
The part I keep coming back to is that there will actually be nobody in the cab. Kodiak has spent four years hauling IKEA freight on this route with a safety observer aboard. Taking that person out changes the stakes, especially when you are talking about an 18-wheeler traveling alongside the rest of us on a busy interstate. I also give Burnette credit for answering our tougher questions. What happens when something breaks? Can somebody remotely drive it? How are the steering and brakes protected from hackers? Kodiak has built systems around each of those concerns, but now comes the test that counts. Once these trucks start piling up driverless highway miles with nobody there to step in, we will get a much clearer idea of how ready this technology really is.
Would you feel comfortable driving next to an 18-wheeler with nobody behind the wheel, or would you keep your distance until driverless trucks have a much longer safety record? Let us know by writing to us at CyberGuy.com.
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NFL's dumbest moment of Week 5 had the Commanders taking a tie more offensive than Redskins nickname ever was
The Washington Commanders did not lose on Sunday, but what they did is the kind of stuff that helps get a head coach fired. It's the kind of stuff that turns the fanbase against a beliked, but not beloved quarterback.
What the Commanders did was more offensive to fans than the franchise could convince most people their former Redskins nickname ever was.
The Commanders tied the New York Giants. They replaced a likely victory with the NFL's dumbest move of Week 5, and that's saying something because there were a good number of candidates in the rankings for dumb moves.
When it was over, coach Dan Quinn told reporters, "I'm gutted for our team."
That's like the guy holding the filleting knife saying he felt gutted for the fish.
So what happened?
After blowing a 14-point fourth quarter lead, the Commanders found themselves in overtime on the Giants' 26-yard line with 55 seconds to play. All they had to do at that point was kick a field goal and figure out how to celebrate.
But, they instead ran the football. And then lined up with 22 seconds left to seemingly throw a pass on another play.
Except they had no timeouts remaining and quarterback Jayden Daniels clearly did not know it.
So the Commanders gained two yards on a Daniels scramble, when he should have instead thrown the ball to Jupiter to stop the clock.
Daniels also could have scurried to his feet and spiked the ball because there were seven seconds remaining when he was tackled. But he stayed on the ground looking around for a beat or two, as if waiting for new orders from headquarters.
The Commanders could not line up and spike the ball before time ran out. They never attempted the field goal they should have tried 55 seconds earlier.
Tie game.
"Leaving tonight with a tie feels like a loss," Quinn said. "And the last sequence, we throw it out of bounds, we clock it, you give yourself a chance to kick it. And we pride ourselves on those moments at the end of the game.
"And after the first down run, still trying to gain more for the kick. The right call is, honestly, like we can go clock it early and don't put ourselves in that spot and that is my responsibility. Nobody else's. I'm gutted for our team."
Quinn looked distraught immediately following the game as he simply stood at the 25-yard line. Alone. Looking at nothing in particular. Doing nothing in particular.
Just ... numb.
It is unclear if Washington coaches themselves were aware of their timeout situation. If they knew, it is unclear whether they communicated the situation to Daniels.
Whatever the case, Daniels seemed completely unaware of the timeout situation, as he just lay there on the ground, the clock and a chance for victory ticking away.
"Yeah, like the sequencing of that does not fall on him," Quinn said.
It surely fell on him as he was just on the ground waiting for somebody to tell him to get up. Removing the responsibility from Daniels shows the coach doesn't trust his quarterback to literally know what time it is.
Anyone think Joe Montana, Peyton Manning, Tom Brady or any high school quarterback with the slightest awareness would be this oblivious?
"We just have to be better," Daniels said afterward. "We all have to be better. Situational football. Starts with me. Everybody will say the same thing, but we have to be better at situational football."
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Daniels was aware in the preseason of what LSU was doing with the No. 5 jersey this year, but he wasn't aware what to do in the final 55 seconds of this game.
"We have to stop the clock," Daniels said. "We have to know the situation. We have to relay that as an offense. It starts with everyone, top down. Ultimately, it's on me."
It is on Quinn, whose team is 1-3-1 instead of 2-3. It is on the offensive coaches, who didn't seem to make Daniels sufficiently aware of his situation. It is on Daniels, who needs a stopwatch tucked into his uniform.
And, perhaps, it's on a football team that didn't know the rules governing overtime.
Maybe the nickname change was a blessing. Because this embarrassment won't go down in Redskins lore.
NFL Week 5 Sunday takeaways: Rodgers defies Father Time, Coen gets bailed out, 49ers survive ugly performance
We're five weeks into the NFL season, and some of my early takes are already aging poorly. Aaron Rodgers apparently has plenty of football left after I declared his career over. Thankfully, the Dolphins are still the worst team in football, so I haven't been wrong about everything.
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And if you made a few bad decisions this weekend, don't feel too bad. Liam Coen made plenty and still walked out of the stadium with a win. Sometimes the NFL rewards you for being good, and sometimes your special teams unit saves you from a very long week in London.
Here's my biggest takeaway from each game on the Week 5 Sunday slate.
Takeaway: Liam Coen got away with one of the worst coaching performances of his career.
Plenty of people are going to criticize the Jags head coach for going for it on fourth-and-goal twice and failing rather than kicking a field goal. However, having to use a backup long snapper definitely adjusted the calculus.
The bigger issue, to me, was the play calling. A jet sweep on fourth-and-goal from the 1? A wildcat formation on first-and-goal from the 1 that led to a false start? And if the long snapper was such an issue, why not go for two after the go-ahead touchdown instead of trying that extra point, which was missed due to a bad snap?
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And then none of it mattered because his special teams bailed him out with a big kick return (thanks to a terrible decision by Eagles coach Nick Sirianni to even allow a kick return in the first place) followed by a walk-off field goal. Better to be lucky than good?
Takeaway: Someone had to win this game.
In a battle of 0-4 AFC South teams, Houston coasted to a win over the lowly Titans. This was obviously a must-win for the Texans, who still have a long way to go if they want to have any hope at even making a postseason push.
Takeaway: Drake Maye appears to have righted the ship.
I've documented the struggles of the young New England quarterback this season, but his past two games have looked more like the 2025 version. Maye carved up the Las Vegas defense all afternoon and finished with 374 passing yards, four touchdown passes and a rushing touchdown. More importantly, Maye didn't turn the ball over after committing nine giveaways in the first four games. After a strong performance in an upset win over Buffalo in Week 4, Maye and the Patriots are back on track. Plus, the upcoming schedule looks favorable with games against the Jets, Bears and Dolphins over the next three weeks.
Takeaway: The Dolphins are the NFL equivalent of the free space on the bingo card.
The Miami Dolphins are in full tank mode and continue to look ahead to the 2027 NFL Draft. At this point, 0-17 isn't out of the question. That would be incredible because the Dolphins could be the only franchise in NFL history to complete a season at 17-0 and complete a season at 0-17. The offense is a complete disaster; in fact, the 24 points scored against Cincinnati represented a season high and 14 came in the fourth quarter with Cincinnati in complete control of the game.
Takeaway: It was fun while it lasted.
Ben Johnson deserves a lot of credit for winning back-to-back games with Case Keenum and Tyson Bagent starting. But even an offensive genius like Johnson can only do so much. Bagent was 12-for-21 for just 87 yards and two interceptions before being benched. Keenum came in and threw an interception of his own. Overall, the Bears turned the ball over five times, and you're not going to win a lot of games like that.
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Takeaway: You can only beat the teams on your schedule.
The Minnesota Vikings are 5-0 due in large part to their opponents. The Vikings have faced the Packers, Bears, Bucs, Dolphins and Saints. Their past three opponents have a 2-13 combined record. But that's not Minnesota's fault and, at the end of the day, you still have to beat the teams on your schedule.
Takeaway: Of course it came down to which team made the bigger mistake.
Would you expect anything different from a game between the Browns and Jets than it coming down to which team made the bigger mistake? Well, that's what happened. It looked like it was going to be the Jets after Geno Smith fumbled the ball with New York down two and just over four minutes left in the game. But, on the ensuing possession, the Browns had a botched snap on a punt to conclude a drive that lost 29 yards. Then Cleveland inexplicably gave up a 22-yard touchdown run to Braelon Allen on a third-and-9 play. An ugly game with an ugly ending felt appropriate.
Takeaway: Aaron Rodgers is defying Father Time.
I admit I thought Rodgers was cooked coming into the 2026 season, and his performances in Weeks 1 and 2 didn't inspire much confidence. But over the past three weeks, the 42-year-old has played some solid football, throwing for 826 yards and nine touchdown passes. Pittsburgh is now 3-2 and in a three-way tie with the Browns and Bengals, one game behind the 4-1 Ravens in the extremely competitive AFC North.
Takeaway: What even was this game?
Jameis Winston deserves a ton of credit for erasing a 14-point deficit in the fourth quarter by leading two touchdown drives of 70-plus yards in the final 11 minutes of regulation. He also put the team in position to win in overtime before Cam Skattebo committed a cardinal sin by fumbling with the Giants already in range for a game-winning field goal.
But the Giants never really should have been in that position. The Commanders scored a touchdown two minutes into the game and never trailed, yet still blew a 14-point fourth-quarter lead. Then, after Skattebo's fumble, Washington got into range for a game-winning field goal and inexplicably let the clock run out without attempting a kick. This was such a weird game that I'm still at a loss for words.
Takeaway: Denver shouldn't be overly excited by this win.
Of course, the Broncos would rather win a game with a bad performance than lose a game with a good performance. But they'd also rather win a game with a good performance, and this wasn't that. The winless Chargers continue to be a complete mess, but they might have won if not for two costly late turnovers. The Broncos nearly lost to an 0-4 team that had just 12 first downs and 219 yards of total offense before its final drive. Justin Herbert needed some late throws against a prevent defense just to get over the 100-yard mark.
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Takeaway: Where have these Lions been all year?
Detroit's explosive offense was on full display in Week 5 against Arizona, with four different players recording catches of at least 20 yards and Jahmyr Gibbs adding a 20-plus-yard run. But the takeaway isn't about the offense; everyone knows the Lions can score. This was a big game for the defense, which had allowed an average of 31.8 points per game entering Week 5.
After allowing Arizona to score a touchdown on its first possession, Detroit forced five consecutive three-and-outs. The 21 points look worse than they were; Arizona scored 14 second-half points with Detroit already up by multiple touchdowns. Yes, it was only the Cardinals, but it was an important positive step for the much-maligned unit.
Takeaway: This wasn't the game you'd expect from two Super Bowl contenders.
Yes, you'd expect the game to be tightly contested and come down to the final minutes, which it did. But that's not what I mean. These are two teams that figure to be in the conversation come January, but both played some very sloppy football.
The Seahawks had one of the worst turnovers in the NFL this season, fumbling in their own end zone and handing the 49ers a touchdown with 13 seconds left in the first half. Then Sam Darnold threw an interception on the second play of the second half. Not to be outdone, the 49ers missed a field goal on the ensuing drive, then turned the ball over on their next two possessions.
The two teams combined for a whopping seven turnovers, which isn't going to make either head coach happy. But Kyle Shanahan is certainly happier than Mike Macdonald since his team is now 5-0 and has a two-game lead in the NFC West.
Takeaway: Jesse Minter is making an early case for NFL Coach of the Year.
Replacing a franchise legend like John Harbaugh isn't exactly easing into your first NFL head-coaching job. Neither is going on the road without Lamar Jackson against a Falcons team that had scored 80 points in its previous two games. But Jesse Minter took Tyler Huntley into Atlanta and came away with an overtime win, even after the Ravens looked headed for a loss late in the fourth quarter. Yes, Minter inherited plenty of talent, but his best player wasn't available Sunday night. Winning anyway is a pretty good way to get yourself into the Coach of the Year conversation.
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