Sofia and Boris Gurman

Boris Gurman, 69, and his wife, Sofia Gurman, 61, had shared 34 years of marriage before terrorists killed them. Their relatives described the couple as honest and industrious individuals who extended kindness to everyone they encountered. Dashcam video captured Boris Gurman fighting with one of the gunmen in the attack's opening moments. The footage shows Gurman seizing control of the terrorist's firearm for several seconds during their confrontation on the street, before the terrorist shot the couple at point-blank range. Eyewitnesses reported they died in each other's arms.

The family statement read: "Devoted to their family and to each other, their absence has left a void that cannot be filled... In the moments before their passing Boris, with Sofia courageously beside him, attempted to intervene to protect others. This act of bravery and selflessness reflects exactly who they were: people who instinctively chose to help, even at great personal risk."

Rabbi Eli Schlanger

Rabbi Eli Schlanger had led his congregation for 18 years and directed the Chabad mission in Bondi, where he assisted numerous individuals ranging from elderly residents to incarcerated people. He is survived by his spouse and several young children, including an infant just two months old, along with his mother and siblings.

"A devoted rabbi and chaplain, working tirelessly … to support Jewish life in the Bondi community," Chabad's statement read.

Matilda

Matilda, a 10-year-old girl, attended the Hanukkah by the Sea event alongside her family members, including her sister, when a terrorist shot her.

Her parents, Valentyna and Michael, surnames withheld on family request, immigrated to Australia from Ukraine before Russia's invasion, The Guardian reported. "We came here from the Ukraine … and I named her Matilda because she was our firstborn in Australia. And I thought that Matilda was the most Australian name that could ever exist. So just remember – remember her name," the parents stated, articulating heartbreak too vast to fully comprehend.

"Imagine you see your beautiful little sister that you love just being killed in front of you. They were like twins. They've never been separated … Matilda was very friendly. She loves school, has a lot of friends … She's just a happy kid, always gives me cuddles," her aunt Lina shared.

Dan Elkayam

Dan Elkayam, a French citizen, relocated to Australia last year to seek an engineering job. Elkayam played football passionately, and the Rockdale Ilinden Football Club in west Sydney described him as "an integral member" of its premier league squad in a Facebook statement. The club characterized him as "an extremely talented and popular figure amongst teammates. Our deepest and sincerest condolences to Dan's family, friends, and all that knew him. He will be missed," the club's statement read.

"I have learned with deep sadness of the death of our fellow citizen Dan Elkayam in the antisemitism terrorist attack in Sydney," French President Emmanuel Macron wrote. "My thoughts are with his family and loved ones, and I extend to them the full solidarity of the nation."

Peter Meagher

Peter Meagher completed 34 years of service with the NSW Police Force before retiring with the rank of detective sergeant. He volunteered as a first-grade manager for Randwick Rugby. The club mourned the devastating loss of "Marzo" in a statement, saying, "He was one of the heart and soul figures of Randwick Rugby… He spent so long in the dangerous front line as a police officer and was struck down in retirement while taking photos … Rest in Peace 'Marzo'. We all love you and will miss you greatly. We are devastated." Meagher worked as a freelance photographer at Sunday's Hanukkah event.

"Our family is heartbroken by the loss of our beloved Peter. He was a cherished brother, husband, and uncle whose kindness, generosity, and love touched everyone who knew him. Our lives have been changed forever," his family said.

Tibor Weitzen

Tibor Weitzen, 78, was a father, grandfather, and great-grandfather who perished while protecting his family members from the gunfire. He immigrated to Australia from Israel in 1988, and his relatives characterized him as vibrant and full of vitality.

"My grandfather was truly the best you could ask for," his granddaughter, Leor, said. "He was so proud of us … and loved us more than life itself. He only saw the best in people and will be dearly missed." 

"He was the congregation's beloved 'candyman' who brought joy and smiles to everyone," Chabad's statement read.

Alexander Kleytman

Alexander Kleytman survived the Holocaust as a child, struggling through a brutal Siberian winter alongside his mother and younger brother to survive. Following the war's conclusion, he departed Ukraine for Australia to pursue a career in civil engineering. His children and grandchildren also attended the Bondi Hanukkah celebrations. Alexander's wife, Larissa, stated her husband of 57 years was murdered while attempting to shield her from gunfire.

"He died shielding her from the gunman's bullets," Chabad's statement read. "In addition to his wife, he leaves behind two children and 11 grandchildren."

Edith Brutman

Edith Brutman was a cherished figure within Sydney's Jewish community. "Our beloved Edith was a woman of integrity who chose humanity every day," her family shared. "She met prejudice with principle, and division with service. Our family mourns her deeply, but we ask that her life, not the senseless violence that took it, be what endures. We hope her memory calls us as a nation back to decency, courage, and peace."

Marika Pogany

Marika Pogany volunteered to transport kosher meals for COA, an organization serving Jewish seniors. "She lifted the room simply by being in it," the organization shared in a statement. "She asked for nothing and gave everything...She took the time to know every person on her route. She chatted. She listened. She noticed the small things. She changed light bulbs, literally bringing light into people's homes. Her joy and spirit carried people through their week and through their loneliness...We are shattered by her loss. Marika gave real love to this community, and her impact runs deep."

Reuven Morrison

Reuven Morrison was a businessman who escaped the Soviet Union as a teenager in the 1970s and built his life in Bondi. Following a 2024 terror attack on a Melbourne synagogue, he informed the ABC he had become constantly alert, and expected Australia would offer Jews security.

In an interview with ILTV, his daughter recounted her father's heroism, throwing bricks at one of the terrorists to try and stop him. "My dear father was shot dead for being Jewish," his daughter, Sheina, said in pain. "He had jumped up the second the shooting started. He managed to throw bricks, he was screaming at the terrorist, and protecting his community," she added. "If there was a way for him to go on this earth, it will be fighting a terrorist."

"Most beautiful, generous man who had a gorgeous smile that would light up the room. He built a life here in Australia for his family and was an active member and generous contributor to both Melbourne and Sydney Jewish communities," Rabbi Gabi Kaltman said.

The list will be updated as more names are released.

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A source familiar with the situation told the publication that Israel's intelligence service, the Mossad, is aiding the probe, which is a standard procedure for the agency regarding terrorist attacks against Jews abroad.

In August 2025, Australia identified the Iranian Revolutionary Guards (IRGC) as the mastermind behind fires at a Sydney kosher restaurant and a Melbourne synagogue. "These were extraordinary and dangerous acts of aggression orchestrated by a foreign nation on Australian soil," Albanese declared during a press briefing at the time.

Iranian Ambassador Ahmad Sadeghi and three diplomatic staff were subsequently told they had one week to leave, a move unprecedented since World War II. Australia has also suspended its embassy operations in Iran to ensure staff safety and issued a travel warning for citizens to depart Iran promptly.

"They have sought to harm and terrify Jewish Australians and to sow hatred and division in our community," Albanese said at the time. Intelligence agency ASIO Director-General Mike Burgess detailed the IRGC's use of a sophisticated proxy network. "This was directed by the IRGC through a series of overseas cut-out facilitators to coordinators that found their way to tasking Australians," he stated.

"It would appear that this was motivated by Islamic State ideology," Albanese said Tuesday. "The ideology that has been around for more than a decade that led to this ideology of hate and, in this case, a preparedness to engage in mass murder."

According to The Wall Street Journal, police publicly identified the 50-year-old suspect, who died at the scene Sunday, as Sajid Akram for the first time on Tuesday, while Australian officials have not yet named his son, who remains in the hospital.

Law enforcement stated they were analyzing a trip the pair took to the Philippines last month as part of the inquiry, while authorities in Manila reported finding no conclusive proof the men connected with terror groups or received training there.

The Philippine immigration bureau recorded that the two individuals landed in the nation from Sydney on Nov. 1 and departed on Nov. 28, identifying the father as an Indian citizen residing in Australia and his son as Naveed Akram, an Australian citizen.

WSJ notes that both men listed Davao, located on the southern island of Mindanao, as their intended destination, and their return trip to Sydney originated from that city, according to immigration records.

For decades, the southern Philippines hosted various violent Islamist insurgent factions, most notably the Abu Sayyaf Group, which is infamous for a lethal ferry bombing and its involvement in the deadly 2017 Marawi siege, where many local terrorists forged ties with the Islamic State.

However, in recent years, Manila has claimed success in suppressing Islamist rebellions, a change from the era when the south was viewed as a haven for groups capable of instructing foreigners in the use of firearms and IEDs.

While Australian police found no indication that anyone beyond the two shooters participated in Sunday's violence, investigations remain active, and Albanese noted Australia is reaching out to international partners "to see precisely if there are any links there," according to the report.

Australia's domestic intelligence service had previously monitored the son for six months commencing in October 2019 due to his associations with two individuals who were subsequently imprisoned, yet the prime minister stated Monday that the agency found no proof he was radicalized or plotting violent or antisemitic acts, nor was he on a watchlist.

Albanese added that the father also underwent questioning during that inquiry. According to The Wall Street Journal, the prime minister characterized the Sunday assault, where two gunmen opened fire from a footbridge onto a gathering for the first night of Hanukkah, as a premeditated act.

"That they hired a place in Campsie to essentially stage this terrorist act in Bondi – clearly it was well planned," Albanese said. "They clearly had thought through the positioning of where they would be on that bridge to give them a higher position than the people that they were seeking to harm."

Police in India confirmed in a Tuesday announcement that Akram originated from Hyderabad and emigrated to Australia for employment in 1998, where he married and settled, fathering a daughter and Naveed, both born in Australia.

The statement noted that Akram remained an Indian citizen at the time of his death, had maintained minimal contact with his relatives in India through only six visits since leaving, and that police held no "adverse record" on him from his time living there.

Last August, Australia elevated its national terrorism alert level to probable, implying officials estimated a likelihood exceeding 50% of an attack occurring or being plotted on domestic soil within the year, citing extremism among youth turning to racially or religiously motivated violence with little warning.

Earlier in 2024, authorities alleged a religiously driven terrorist attack occurred when a teenager stabbed a Christian leader during a live-streamed service in Sydney's western suburbs.

The Wall Street Journal recalls that in late 2014, a self-identified Shiite cleric held people hostage at gunpoint in a cafe near the Sydney Opera House and Harbour Bridge, forcing them to display an Islamic banner in the window; two captives were killed in the siege.

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Holiday foods: Hanukkah is associated with foods fried in oil – sufganiyot (jelly donuts) with various fillings and levivot (potato pancakes). In recent years, innovative recipes have driven social media trends. In our food section, you'll find all the hottest trends and recipes to make your holiday special.

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Multiple law enforcement sources confirmed to the publication that Naveed Akram, 24, and his father, Sajid, had traveled to the Southeast Asian nation in November. The Australian Federal Police is reportedly investigating their movements within that country and the reasons behind the trip, according to The Sydney Morning Herald.

Authorities are also scrutinizing the pair's potential ties to Islamic State terror ideology after a flag was located in their vehicle at Bondi Beach following the shooting, alongside improvised explosive devices, Nine News reported.

The Islamic State of East Asia (ISEA), a regional branch of the terror group, has been listed as a proscribed terrorist organization by the Australian government since 2017.

"While there are no known links between ISEA and Australia, there have previously been links between Australians and terrorist groups in the Philippines," a briefing document reads.

Security cameras recorded the moment the terrorists launched their plan to massacre Sydney's Jewish community on Sunday, The Sydney Morning Herald reported. This occurred while their family operated under the false belief that the pair was visiting Jervis Bay for the weekend.

In reality, the duo was concealed within a small, grey brick home in Campsie, a short-term rental property that offers nightly accommodation to travelers, according to The Sydney Morning Herald.

"He rings me up [on Sunday] and said, 'Mum, I just went for a swim. I went scuba diving. We're going … to eat now, and then this morning, and we're going to stay home now because it's very hot'," Naveed's mother, Verena, said on Monday morning as police swarmed the family residence at Bonnyrigg, Nine News reported.

Video evidence shows one of the gunmen instructing bystanders to clear the area before opening fire on crowds from the pedestrian bridge connecting Campbell Parade and Bondi Pavilion, The Sydney Morning Herald noted.

CCTV footage secured by The Sydney Morning Herald and Nine News captures Sajid and subsequently Naveed departing from 103 Brighton Avenue, Campsie, at approximately 5:15 p.m. on Sunday, shortly after the phone call.

The second individual, identified as Naveed dressed in black, appears to manipulate an object in the rear of the vehicle before taking the driver's seat of the silver hatchback, according to the report.

The car pulls out and begins its 40-minute journey to the east, The Sydney Morning Herald stated. Less than 90 minutes later, the first shots were discharged at Bondi Beach.

New footage reveals the father and son hours before they allegedly carried out the terrorist attack, Nine News reported. Naveed, an unemployed bricklayer, and Sajid, a fruiterer, fired into a crowd gathered to celebrate Hanukkah and a Bar Mitzva.

The rampage resulted in 15 fatalities and numerous injuries. Sajid was fatally shot by police at the scene, while Naveed was also shot and remains in critical condition in the hospital, The Sydney Morning Herald reported. Sources told the outlet that Naveed has awoken from his coma.

Police retrieved four weapons at the location and on Monday afternoon confiscated two additional firearms from the rented room in Campsie, Nine News noted. Officers entered and exited the home throughout the day, wearing ballistic vests until the evidence could be removed in large paper bags.

Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke said on Monday that Sajid "arrived in 1998 on a student visa, transferred in 2001 to a partner visa and after trips overseas has been on resident return visas, which occurred three times".

Akram's mother was unable to identify her son from a photo taken at the shooting scene but stated she did not believe he could be involved in violent or extremist acts, according to The Sydney Morning Herald.

"He doesn't have a firearm. He doesn't even go out. He doesn't mix around with friends. He doesn't drink, he doesn't smoke, he doesn't go to bad places … he goes to work, he comes home, he goes to exercise and that's it," she told this masthead.

"Anyone would wish to have a son like my son … he's a good boy."

Akram was searching for employment after being retrenched from his bricklaying job about two months prior, following his employer's insolvency, The Sydney Morning Herald reported.

Although he had many friends during high school at Cabramatta High School, he was not particularly social, Verena told the outlet. She noted he did not appear to spend significant time online, preferring fishing, scuba diving, swimming, and exercise.

Akram appeared to be tagged in a 2022 social media update indicating he had passed his Koran studies at Al-Murad Institute, which teaches Arabic and Koran studies in Heckenberg, western Sydney, according to The Sydney Morning Herald. The post has since been deleted. The man in the photograph, whom The Sydney Morning Herald chose not to identify, stated he had lost contact with Akram in early 2022.

"I am devastated by the images of the victims in Bondi," he said. The man indicated that he and his family had been forced to leave their home after receiving death threats, according to The Sydney Morning Herald.

The report concluded that Akram's mother is a stay-at-home parent caring for her elderly mother, while Akram lived at the property with his parents and siblings in a three-bedroom home bought in 2024.

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Since emigrating to Australia on a student visa in 1998, Akram – formerly residing in Hyderabad's Tolichowki area – rarely set foot in India, making the journey only "two-three occasions," authorities disclosed to The Hindu.

"His father died in 2017; he did not even come to attend his last rites," a senior government official reported to The Hindu. Other officials told The Hindu that Akram's close family members still live in Hyderabad, including an elder brother practicing medicine. The late father finished his UAE military career in 1984.

Naveed Akram – Sajid's son and the attack's second perpetrator – took police bullets and remains under medical care, The Hindu learned. Born in Australia in 2001, he holds Australian nationality. "After completing bachelors in commerce from Hyderabad, Akram moved to Australia and married a European woman. He retained his Indian passport," the official conveyed to The Hindu.

Asked about possible Indian ties, the source informed The Hindu, "Preliminary investigation does not establish any local links so far. We do not have access to his activities in Australia. His background was checked based on information from our sources."

Information verified by The Hindu indicates Australian investigators maintain active dialogue described as "in touch" with Indian officials about the examination.

Philippine immigration personnel disclosed Tuesday that Sajid Akram entered their territory on an Indian passport in November, accompanied by his Australian-national son Naveed Akram, The Hindu reported.

"Sajid Akram, 50, Indian national, and Naveed Akram, 24, Australian national, arrived in the Philippines together last November 1, 2025, from Sydney, Australia," announced Dana Sandoval, speaking for the Bureau of Immigration, to Manila news outlets Tuesday, per The Hindu.

The Ministry of External Affairs offered no statement regarding Philippine authorities' comments, The Hindu found. Officials stressed that Australian investigators bear the duty of providing probe particulars.

Australian investigators have so far withheld comment on the attackers' backgrounds, the report noted. When pressed whether Sajid Akram originated from India or Pakistan, as certain accounts proposed, Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said such information forms part of the active investigation.

"So I can't go into that detail and it wouldn't be appropriate to undermine the investigation by going into it," Prime Minister Albanese addressed reporters Tuesday, according to The Hindu.

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Two weeks ago, a first meeting took place between Israeli and Lebanese representatives, laying the groundwork for ongoing talks concerning both preventing Hezbollah's re-armament and issues related to the border line and IDF activity in Lebanese territory. A follow-up meeting was already scheduled, and at the Netanyahu-Barrack meeting they agreed on a framework for talks and topics to be discussed between the sides, including coordination on the return of residents from southern Lebanon to their homes, specifically those not from pro-Hezbollah villages.

Israel's active defense rights

According to the sources, the meeting reinforced coordination between Israel and the US on Syria and Lebanon issues. They say there is a consensus that Israel has the right to defend itself actively, meaning to strike terrorist organizations and terrorists wherever they pose a real threat. On the Lebanese front, discussion focused on tightening coordination with the Lebanese army to enable it to fulfill its mission of uncovering Hezbollah's weapons and ammunition stockpiles in the country's south. Barrack was presented with data and intelligence showing that the Lebanese are not sufficiently determined in this mission and that the IDF, therefore, needs to conduct strikes on sites where the Lebanese army cannot or does not want to operate.

Warning about al-Sharaa forces

In the Syrian sector, Israel presented intelligence showing that the forces of Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa cannot be trusted. One member of these security forces carried out an attack in which two soldiers and an American civilian were killed. The Damascus administration was quick to declare that this was a terrorist from ISIS, and Washington adopted this version. Israel warns that this is not a lone terrorist and that al-Sharaa's forces are responsible for massacres of minorities, including Druze and Alawites.

The American representatives requested that Israeli activity in Syria be coordinated and that Israel allow government forces to impose order. This week, in one of the Syrian villages not far from the Israeli border, a patrol of Syrian forces was filmed passing by an IDF checkpoint in what appears to be a coordinated passage between the sides.

Turkey's regional involvement

Another topic raised was Turkey's involvement across all sectors. The meeting clarified that Israel's firm opposition to Turkish forces entering the Gaza Strip remains in place. Regarding Syria, Israel seeks to preserve aerial freedom of operation in the country, and the Americans propose strengthening coordination in this context through CENTCOM headquarters to avoid clashes with the Turks. The meeting was attended by, among others, Foreign Minister Gideon Sa'ar, acting National Security Advisor Gil Reich, Military Secretary Brig. Gen. Roman Gofman, US Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee, and Israeli Ambassador to the US Yechiel Leiter.

Saudi normalization disappointment

Meanwhile, an American source says that Washington's disappointment over the lack of progress toward normalization between Israel and Saudi Arabia and the latter's joining the Abraham Accords is directed at both sides. He confirmed our Israel Hayom report that the Saudis, therefore, did not receive immediate signing of the F-35 aircraft deal, nor their request regarding the nuclear facility. He added that Israel's actions in Judea and Samaria (establishing new settlements) and reports of Jewish violence against Arabs are among the factors in the failure to achieve rapprochement with Saudi Arabia.

President Trump is disappointed, the source says, but he is not giving up, as this move (bringing Saudi Arabia into the Abraham Accords) is a key move for a comprehensive Middle East solution. The source confirmed that the White House and State Department conveyed messages of dissatisfaction about the assassination of senior Hamas figure Raad Saad, but described as "exaggerated" the publications on this matter. "Israel is entitled to defend itself and strike terrorists, but in the background, there is a ceasefire and moves to end the war, and care must be taken not to torpedo that. Trump's plan returned all the living hostages and almost all the deceased, Israel needs to give it a chance to be completed," the source said.

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The robot accomplishes all this in one place: the simulator. Nvidia's simulation world, Omniverse (the company's virtual environment platform), serves as the environment where robots are "born." It functions as a cognitive kindergarten where humanoid robots learn to walk, operate, understand, react, fall, and rise. Just as an infant develops cumulative motor and cognitive abilities, the robot learns within an artificial world governed by real-world physical laws.

The simulator generates thousands of situational variations: a glass falling at a different angle, a slightly higher step, weak lighting, a person crossing too quickly in the movement path – to teach the robot to react to as many scenarios as possible.

"If we want to build intelligence that understands the physical world and operates within it, we need to teach it in a world similar enough to reality so it can function within it safely, efficiently, and controllably," Rev Lebaredian, Nvidia's vice president of simulation technologies and Omniverse, said in an exclusive conversation with Israel Hayom.

A defining moment in the journey

Lebaredian joined Nvidia in 2002, after working in the film industry. Early in his career, he worked at production houses like Disney and Warner Bros., and later founded a startup developing advanced rendering technologies. In cinema, the rendering process transforms raw graphics into realistic images that appear as if filmed by a camera – a process that was particularly slow and demanding in the early 2000s, sometimes requiring hours of computation for each frame.

As part of his work, he contributed to creating effects in films like "Armageddon," "X-Men," "The Sum of All Fears," and Disney's "Mighty Joe Young," a film nominated for an Oscar for effects thanks to the digital gorilla character at the story's center.

In the early 2000s, Nvidia was primarily a gaming chip manufacturer, far from the AI giant it is today, valued at approximately $5 trillion. Lebaredian joined exactly when Nvidia's flagship product, the graphics processing unit (GPU), began transforming, and he accompanied the company from the crude computer games era of the early 2000s to today's AI revolution, changing the world at rapid speed.

"I joined Nvidia at a defining moment in its journey, precisely when we launched the ability to program shaders (programmable graphics functions) directly on the GPU. This significantly accelerated rendering capabilities, but more importantly, this was the moment the GPU opened for the first time to free programming. I worked then on the first programming language for graphics processors, CG, which became the first brick on the path to CUDA (Nvidia's parallel computing platform), the language dominating parallel computing today," he recounted.

Today, as head of the company's simulation division – Omniverse – Lebaredian is among the handful of senior executives leading simulation and physical intelligence at the company. Nvidia believes this field will drive the next major technological revolution, bringing artificial intelligence into the physical space of daily life. In this revolution, the division Lebaredian heads will have one of the most significant roles.

"Nvidia CEO and founder Jensen Huang said years ago that the most important algorithms will be those understanding the physical world and capable of influencing it," Lebaredian stated.

From language understanding to world understanding

Those algorithms Huang discussed years ago are materializing today in a new field of artificial intelligence: the world model. Just as a language model learns from billions of sentences to predict which word will come next with the highest probability, and thus essentially understand language, meaning, and context – a world model learns to predict what will happen next in the physical world. Namely, how an object will move, how force will affect, what will happen if a door opens too quickly, or where an object placed at this or that angle will roll.

"A world model is the central foundation of the next revolution: physical intelligence, meaning AI that understands not just words, but the universe," Lebaredian explained. According to him, this is a statistical model developing a probabilistic understanding of dynamic reality, not of text. This model will essentially be the robot's "brain," decoding the environment's visual information and knowing how to operate, where to turn to avoid an obstacle, and what force to apply to crack an egg while making an omelet, for example.

But to do this, it needs data of a type that doesn't exist on the internet. Not words, but material, movement, acceleration, friction, light, temperature, interactions, human environments, and physical infrastructures. The training process is fundamentally similar to that of language models – learning from countless examples and situations – except that here the examples must come from the physical world itself.

"The major problem with physical intelligence," Lebaredian explained, "is that we don't have a digital archive of physics. We need to capture it from reality – and that's expensive, dangerous, and limited. The solution is to recreate reality in simulation, and then produce synthetic data from it."

According to Lebaredian, Nvidia's simulation world is not merely a three-dimensional model. It is an engine of natural laws. A city where every lamppost, sidewalk, car, and tree branch is coded to behave as in reality. In this environment, a robot can walk thousands of simulated years in a short time, accumulating experience impossible in the real world.

Releasing the "genie" from the GPU

To understand Nvidia's role in the AI revolution and the magnitude of the mission the company placed on Lebaredian's shoulders, one must return to the story's beginning – and trace the development of one of recent decades' most influential components: the graphics processing unit.

This development did not amount to gradual increases in performance. This is deep evolution, where each new GPU generation changed the computer's very nature. To such an extent that some believe that without Nvidia, not only would a large language model not function at the required speed, but we might not have imagined the very possibility.

Language models, world models, and advanced robotics all feed on enormous parallel computing power, the kind that needed to be born before theoretical thinking about them became possible. Twenty years ago, the GPU was a dedicated graphics unit designed to accelerate computer games. It was designed as a "drawing machine," receiving a series of fixed commands defining how a three-dimensional object should appear on screen. All stages were rigid: how light falls, how reflection forms, whether the material is shiny or matte. The processor could execute these tasks quickly, but nothing existed beyond this.

"In the early 2000s, everything was very simple and limited," Lebaredian recalled. "You couldn't write your own code. Performance was high, but flexibility didn't exist." According to him, the field's first significant revolution occurred when Nvidia opened the shading stage to programming. Instead of built-in models, developers could write their own functions, recreate light and material laws, and build graphic worlds as they imagined them. The change then appeared as a breakthrough for the gaming world alone, but in practice, it freed the GPU from its initial engineering constraints.

The drawing machine became a machine that understood somewhat more about how the world behaves. The hardware ceased being a black box and became an open platform. This was the moment the seed was planted that later became a computing superplatform.

"I've been at Nvidia for 23 years," Lebaredian said, "and almost throughout this entire period, the company has dealt with the question of what else the GPU can be beyond what it was designed for."

"Far beyond what we imagined"

Lebaredian recounted that as shader programs became more flexible, more and more developers identified potential within the GPU far exceeding graphics. Thus, for example, academic researchers began using the graphics processor for physics calculations – they took the same shading function that calculates light and adapted it to compute airflow, water movement, or particle dynamics. The graphics processor's essence as a computer with powerful parallel computing capabilities gradually became clear.

"We saw researchers using it for things completely unrelated to graphics – physical simulations, fluid dynamics, molecules. This was the moment we understood our processors could serve far beyond what we imagined," he stated.

At this stage, Nvidia understood it must change direction and give this computing body a new form. In 2006, CUDA (Nvidia's parallel computing platform) launched, a software environment allowing regular code to run on the GPU. No more disguising scientific problems as graphics, no more manipulating textures or pixels – but a complete computer capable of processing large arrays, running loops, and executing complex algorithms quickly. Historically, this was the turning point at which the GPU ceased to be a graphics accelerator and became a general-purpose computing engine.

The network that learned to "see"

Here arrived another defining moment in the development of artificial intelligence, made possible by Nvidia's programming language. AlexNet – that groundbreaking 2012 neural network learning to identify objects in images with high accuracy like cats, dogs, cars – ran on CUDA. AlexNet marked the beginning of the past decade's computer vision era, with countless applications from smart security cameras to facial recognition systems in smartphones. That same processor, previously drawing shadows, became a machine learning model to identify complex patterns – learning to "see."

Here, it became clear how critical this link was. Those telling AI's history usually emphasize algorithmics but almost always ignore the fact that behind all this stood infrastructure that realized the vision: parallel computation of enormous data quantities at speeds and prices that enabled the very idea of large models.

In a sense, had the GPU not first freed itself from its graphic constraints, we might not have been able to think about a language model as a feasible project. In retrospect, the GPU appears to have undergone the most dramatic transformation chain in computing history: from drawing machine to scientific computer, from graphics accelerator to global AI engine, and from imaging system to virtual reality source, raising the next generation's robots.

Nvidia did not merely improve the GPU. It reinvented it repeatedly until it became the foundation supporting today's entire artificial intelligence revolution – and likely will be tomorrow's as well. "We are only at the beginning of the process of creating foundational world models. No one will 'own' them or be their exclusive owner – this is a project all humanity will need to contribute to," Lebaredian concluded.

The post How Nvidia plans to teach AI to live in the real world appeared first on www.israelhayom.com.

Video: The Gurmans fight the terrorist / Credit: Social media/X

Family members confirmed Boris Gurman, 69, and Sofia Gurman, 61, as the individuals after providing a statement to the Sydney Morning Herald. Relatives stated: "We are heartbroken by the sudden and senseless loss of our beloved Boris and Sofia Gurman," according to The Guardian.

They added: "They had been married for 34 years, with their 35th wedding anniversary approaching in January. We were looking forward to celebrating Sofia's 62nd birthday on Wednesday 17th of December," The Guardian reported.

Dashboard camera video uploaded to Rednote documented Boris – dressed in purple – tackling shooter Sajid Akram along Campbell Parade as the gunman exited a vehicle displaying an Islamic State banner, according to The Guardian.

These were Boris and Sofia Gurman - murdered in the Sydney massacre. In the face of terror, Boris showed extraordinary courage and disarmed one of the jihadists, trying to save others.

In life and in death, they were not separated pic.twitter.com/Fhbw2BoNsf

— נועה מגיד | Noa magid (@NoaMagid) December 16, 2025

The footage captures Boris forcing Akram down and wresting a firearm from his possession while Sofia participated in the struggle, The Guardian reported.

A Sydney resident whose camera inadvertently recorded the encounter shared the material with a Mandarin caption stating: "Such civilian heroes shouldn't be forgotten," according to The Guardian. Her post continued: "I'm truly heartbroken," The Guardian reported.

Later drone imagery shows the couple lying motionless side by side on the sidewalk. Family members characterized Boris as "a retired mechanic, known for his generosity, quiet strength and willingness to lend a hand to anyone in need. Sofia worked at Australia Post and was deeply loved by her colleagues and community," The Guardian reported.

The statement continued: "Bondi locals, together they lived honest, hardworking lives and treated everyone they met with kindness, warmth and respect. Boris and Sofia were devoted to their family and to each other. They were the heart of our family, and their absence has left an immeasurable void," according to The Guardian.

Relatives additionally praised the couple's valor when facing the attacker, The Guardian reported. "In recent days, we have become aware of footage showing Boris, with Sofia by his side, courageously attempting to disarm an attacker in an effort to protect others," family members stated. They added: "While nothing can lessen the pain of losing Boris and Sofia, we feel an overwhelming sense of pride in their bravery and selflessness. This encapsulates who Boris and Sofia were – people who instinctively and selflessly tried to help others," The Guardian reported.

The statement concluded: "We are deeply grateful for the love, compassion and support that has been shown to our family during this unimaginable time. From here, we kindly ask for privacy as we grieve," according to The Guardian.

The Gurmans number among 15 fatalities from the Bondi beach terror attack. Most casualties were participating in Hanukkah's opening day when gunfire began, representing Australia's deadliest mass shooting since 1996's Port Arthur tragedy, according to The Guardian.

Thirty-eight additional people sustained injuries, with 24 – including two officers – remaining hospitalized Tuesday afternoon, The Guardian reported.

Six Australia Post coworkers visited Bondi Pavilion Tuesday afternoon honoring Sofia, with one colleague declining identification while confirming years working together, according to The Guardian. All arrived uniformed, placing individual white roses and a card, The Guardian reported. One coworker stated: "It's very tragic and seeing this video made us realise just how brave she and her husband was," according to The Guardian.

Multiple bystanders have received widespread recognition for confronting danger attempting to halt the attackers. Among them is Ahmed al-Ahmed, acknowledged by prime minister Anthony Albanese and US president Donald Trump for charging toward Akram, jumping onto him and seizing the weapon, according to The Guardian.

Ahmed remains critically injured but stable at St George hospital after sustaining four to five shoulder gunshot wounds during the encounter, his parents confirmed to The Guardian. Reuven Morrison's daughter identified her father as the individual observed throwing an object in widely distributed footage, The Guardian reported.

Sheina Gutnick told CBS News Tuesday: "If there was one way for him to go on this earth, it would be fighting a terrorist. There was no other way he would be taken from us. He went down fighting, protecting the people he loved most," according to The Guardian. Authorities fatally shot Sajid Akram, while his son Naveed remains hospitalized under surveillance, The Guardian reported.

The post Dashcam footage reveals couple's heroic fight with Bondi shooter appeared first on www.israelhayom.com.

Throughout the year he was held captive, Imad Amhaz, "The Captain," methodically laid out the complete picture behind one of Hezbollah's most secret and well-funded initiatives – a strategic, creative, and ambitious project that received the name "The Secret Maritime File." Only now can the existence of this underground project be revealed for the first time, along with new details about the commando operation to kidnap Amhaz from the heart of Lebanon – a daring and extraordinary operation that, due to the torrent of war events, remained buried in the depths of memory. Until now.

Nothing about the apparent IDF naval commando raid on Batroun to capture a single mid-level Hezbollah commander Imad Amhaz adds up.

The IDF doesn't seem to lack info from inside Hezbollah, and they have not been shy about eliminating targets with F-16s as they find them. Could… pic.twitter.com/MVVNbozbG4

— Saul Sadka (@Saul_Sadka) November 2, 2024

The codename: Jarih

A. is a 23-year-old woman, slim and quiet. If you passed her on the street, you wouldn't imagine she was the primary person responsible for one of the war's most impressive operations. She began her career as an "Arabist" in Unit 8200 and later transferred to Naval Intelligence as an analyst. Today, she's a permanent service member with the rank of staff sergeant, whose job is to track anyone who could pose a threat to Israeli Navy vessels.

The Israeli Navy's Shayetet 13 commando unit carried out a raid in northern Lebanon last night, capturing a Hezbollah official, the military confirms.

The Hezbollah operative, Imad Amhaz, is considered by the IDF to be a "significant source of knowledge" in the terror group's… pic.twitter.com/21GZJGcgkh

— Emanuel (Mannie) Fabian (@manniefabian) November 2, 2024

 "At Naval Intelligence, we have operational methods and capabilities that allow us to search for almost anyone's traces," she says.

At the end of 2021, A. began tracking a mid-level Hezbollah operative named Imad Amhaz, whose codename in the organization was Jarih. Amhaz, 39, a Shiite native of the Bekaa Valley, joined Hezbollah as an operative in 2004. In 2007, he completed a several-month military course in Iran, and upon returning to Lebanon, joined Unit 7900 – Hezbollah's shore-to-sea missile unit – as a radar operator. Since the Second Lebanon War and the fatal strike on the INS Hanit, this unit has greatly troubled Naval Intelligence personnel. He managed to assist the Assad regime forces in the Syrian civil war, and his brother was also a Hezbollah operative as a fighter in the Radwan Force.

In retrospect, it would become clear that a few months before A. began focusing on him, Amhaz was chosen as the central axis of Hezbollah's ambitious and secret project. Amhaz, it was decided at the organization's leadership level, would become the captain of "The Secret Maritime File" – "a strategic project, very secret, an event that could have changed the situation against us and also against other countries," says Colonel A., head of the Intelligence Division in the Navy.

"We can grab him"

After two years of surveillance, Naval Intelligence understood there was an opportunity to kidnap Amhaz and bring him for interrogation in Israel. "I realized we could grab him," says A., who initiated the idea. Her proposal advanced up the approval ladder with dizzying speed and received the prime minister's approval as well.

Naturally, the unit chosen to execute the kidnapping was Shayetet 13, the Navy's elite commando unit, which seemed born precisely for operations of this type. The Shayetet took the mission with both hands, extracted from A. all the intelligence she had to provide about Amhaz and his daily routine, and within just a few weeks prepared a detailed raid plan.

The plan was executed in early November 2023 and carried out with stunning success. Amhaz was kidnapped from the apartment where he was staying, approximately 140 kilometers north of the Israeli border, without a single shot being fired.

The full article will be published this weekend on the website and in the "Israel This Week" section.

The post Without firing a shot: How Israel captured 'The Captain' of Hezbollah appeared first on www.israelhayom.com.

As is well known, one of the most famous scenes from the latter, and perhaps one of the most famous in all of cinema, takes place in a venerable New York delicatessen, when Sally (Meg Ryan) demonstrates to Harry (Billy Crystal) how she fakes a vocal orgasm – freely in front of all the restaurant's patrons (by the way, the elderly woman who requests "what she's having" is Estelle Reiner, Rob's mother).

Following news of Reiner's death, Jake Dell, the owner of Katz's Deli, paid tribute to the late director. "Rob Reiner was a friend of Katz's Deli in so many ways," Dell, whose family has operated the delicatessen for five generations, told The Hollywood Reporter. "The staff and everyone at Katz's remembers him with great fondness, and we have so many amazing memories of him. He was a regular customer who came in every time he arrived in the city – a Brooklyn guy who would come in and grab a sandwich."

Dell recalled that Reiner, along with Billy Crystal and screenwriter Nora Ephron (who later became a successful director in her own right), worked to determine exactly how the defining scene would look and how it would successfully incorporate the delicatessen, which opened (albeit under a different name and ownership) in 1888 and is famous for its pastrami sandwiches and other "Jewish" dishes like matzo ball soup, chopped liver, noodle kugel, rugelach, babka, and these days even special Hanukkah treats.

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 Just this past October, in an interview he gave to CBS's "60 Minutes" program, Reiner revealed that during filming of the delicatessen scene, he felt Meg Ryan wasn't giving her all to illustrate the sexual satisfaction she was experiencing. So he sat in her place across from Billy Crystal to show her how to do it properly. "And I'm pounding on the table, 'Yes! Yes! Yes!,' and suddenly I realize I'm having an orgasm in front of my mother, you know?," he said in the interview with his characteristic humor.

By the way, the famous table is still in the delicatessen, and is even marked with a sign that reads "Where Harry met Sally... hope you have what she had!" Bon appétit.

The post Katz's Deli mourns Rob Reiner after director's tragic death appeared first on www.israelhayom.com.