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A legal feud between the co-founders of Lux Optics, the developer behind the Halide camera app, revealed that Apple was close to acquiring the company. As first reported by The Information , Apple held acquisition talks for Lux Optics, which also developed the Kino, Spectre and Orion apps, in the summer of 2025. According to The Information , the deal eventually fell through in September of that year, but the potential acquisition could've provided Apple with the third-party software to improve

The best-selling game of all time is moving from the virtual to the physical. Minecraft World, a permanent Greater London theme park based on the game, is scheduled to open in 2027. The announcement came during Minecraft Live 2026. It will be a new section in Chessington World of Adventures, a theme park with a built-in zoo. The resort is a 35-minute train ride from London's Waterloo station. Details are still fairly light on the park. But we know it will include a roller coaster, interactive ad

While other tech companies have been laying off employees year after year, OpenAI is doing the opposite. According to a report from the Financial Times , the AI giant is looking to expand its workforce to 8,000 employees by the end of 2026, nearly doubling staff from its current headcount of 4,500. The FT reported that the new hires will be across several departments, including product development, engineering, research and sales. OpenAI's hiring spree will also include specialists for echnical

It doesnt sound like Crimson Desert , the recently released prequel to Black Desert Online , will support Intel Arc GPUs anytime soon, if at all. On the games FAQ page , its developer Pearl Abyss advised players expecting Arc support to apply for a refund. If you purchased the game expecting Intel Arc support, please refer to the refund policy of the platform where the game was purchased for available options, the company wrote. Apparently, though, its not from lack of guidance from Intel. The c

Remember when Japan sent a spacecraft to an asteroid 180 million miles away to scoop some dirt off the surface? Six years on from its arrival to Earth, that sample has yielded some insights about what may have seeded life on our planet. Read on to learn more about the latest findings, and other science news we found interesting this week. DNA ingredients on Ryugu In 2020, a capsule from the Japanese space probe Hayabusa2 returned to Earth with samples collected from the surface of asteroid Ryugu

Twitter is officially 20 years old. In another reality, that might make me kind of nostalgic. I've been lurking and scrolling and tweeting for 16 years; most of my adult life. There was a time when Twitter was a place where some internet strangers became my IRL friends, when I was excited to live-tweet. When my infinitely more well-adjusted friends would send me memes, I would smugly say I saw that on Twitter days ago. Twitter stopped being that place a long time ago, but I don't have any nostal

Apple already announced a lot of new devices in 2026 and weve been busy reviewing them all. In this installment of our bi-weekly roundup, we revisit the MacBook Neo, iPhone 17e and more, in addition to the regular Galaxy S26 and Dell XPS 16. Theres even more than those gadget to catch up on, so sit back, relax and cozy up to some fresh reviews . Apple MacBook Neo The main attraction for Apples early device deluge was the $599 MacBook Neo . The company is finally giving us something weve been beg

Welcome to our latest roundup of what's going on in the indie game space. There are a whole bunch of neat new games out this week, as well as updates on some interesting upcoming projects. In case you missed it, the Steam Spring Sale is under way. There are lots of solid deals here, and my credit card is already screaming at me. I've picked up a bunch of games from my wishlist. For instance, at just $3, I couldn't resist snagging Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Splintered Fate. Meanwhile, over on

A group of former Twitter investors have prevailed at a federal civil trial over Elon Musk's actions amid his $44 billion acquisition of the social platform in 2022. A jury in San Francisco found Friday that tweets made by Musk about fake accounts on the platform had defrauded investors in the company. The jury sided with Musk on other allegations in the case. It's not yet clear how much Musk will owe in damages as a result of the case but, as the Associated Press reports , it could amount to bi

Pinterest's CEO has thrown his support behind an Australia measure banning social media for younger teens and is calling for governments around the world to implement similar bans. Social media, as its configured today, is not safe for young people under 16, Ready writes in a piece published by Time . We need a clear standard: no social media for teens under 16, backed by real enforcement, and accountability for mobile phone operating systems and the apps that run on them. Ready is one of the hi

After one too many of you threatened to switch to Linux, Microsoft has published a long list of changes it plans to make to Windows 11. In a lengthy blog titled Our commitment to Windows quality , Pavan Davuluri, the executive vice president of Windows and Devices, said the company has spent a great deal of time in recent months reading feedback from users. What came through was the voice of people who care deeply about Windows and want it to be better, he said. To that end, Windows Insiders ca

The White House has announced a new AI policy framework that calls for Congress to craft federal regulation that overrules state AI laws. The Trump administration has made multiple attempts to overrule more restrictive state-level AI regulation, but has failed so far, most notably in the passing of the One Big Beautiful Bill. The framework focuses on a variety of topics, covering everything from child privacy to the use of AI in the workforce. Importantly, this framework can succeed only if it i

The US Attorney's Office for the Southern District of New York has charged three people with illegally exporting NVIDIA GPUs to China in violation of the Export Control Reform Act. NVIDIA's chips have become a critical component in the rush to train and run increasingly complex artificial intelligence models, one the US has sought to manipulate with export controls and profit-sharing schemes with NVIDIA. The three people, Yih-Shyan Wally Liaw, Ruei-Tsang Steven Chang and Ting-Wei Willy Sun, two

A French officer recently leaked the location of an aircraft carrier because of a run on the sports app Strava. This is not the first time this has happened, as the app tracks location data. It was used to access the location of US military bases back in 2018 and members of the Secret Service accidentally shared their whereabouts while protecting then-US President Joe Biden . The same has happened to President Trump and other world leaders. NEW: The location of the French aircraft carrier, FS Ch

Nintendo is reportedly preparing a new version of the Switch 2 with a user-replaceable battery, according to Nikkei . This is to comply with a 2023 EU right-to-repair policy on portable electronics that mandates easy battery replacement . The regulation also covers the Joy-Con 2 controllers, so they are reportedly being redesigned to allow users to replace each lithium-ion battery. We don't know when this new Switch 2 will hit store shelves, but the policy gives companies until 2027 to make the

Netflixs live-action Assassins Creed show has entered production and will officially be set in Rome in the year 64AD, confirming previous reports. The upcoming adaptation, then, will return to the setting of 2010s Assassins Creed Brotherhood , although the latters story took place more than 1,000 years after the events we'll see in Netflix's show. Ubisoft confirmed in a press release that the Netflix series will tell an original story centered on a war between the Templar Order and the Assassin

It's hard not to find the premise of Andy Weir's Project Hail Mary instantly compelling: Something is slowly killing the sun and threatening life on Earth. That same mysterious force, dubbed the Astrophage, also destroyed every nearby star except one. Our only hope is to visit that solar system and figure out what helped it survive. And there's just one middle school science teacher who can do it. At its core is Weir's love of technical problem solving, along with a tremendous performance by Ry

Last year, Belkin released a couple of cases for the Nintendo Switch 2 just in time for launch, including one that came with a handy battery pack . That one was simple and effective, but it felt a bit crude because it wasn't much more than a basic travel pouch with a generic power cell tossed inside. Now, Belkin is back with a Pro version of its Charging Case for the Nintendo Switch 2 , featuring a more sophisticated battery pack along with a higher price tag ($100 vs. $70). So heres the questio

Amazon is reportedly planning to re-enter the smartphone market more than 10 years after its last attempt. According to a Reuters report, the mysterious phone is internally codenamed Transformer and is being developed by the companys devices and services unit. There isnt a whole lot to go on right now, but it probably wont surprise many to learn that the phone will likely lean heavily on AI. According to Reuters sources, Alexa functionality would be a core part of the experience, but Amazon wou

Following discussions first reported on earlier this year , ByteDance has agreed to sell its games unit Moonton to Savvy Games Group for $6 billion. Moonton is known for mobile titles popular in Asia like Mobile Legends: Bang Bang , which has been downloaded 1.5 billion times. The transaction is set to be finalized in the ear future, according to an internal memo from Moonton's CEO seen by Bloomberg . ByteDance has been winding down its gaming arm and shopping Moonton since 2023 , just two year

NVIDIA started an online firestorm this week when it announced DLSS 5 at its GTC conference. The company claims it's meant to deliver photorealistic lighting and materials in games by using neural processing. But it differs considerably from previous versions of DLSS, which were focused on using machine learning to upscale lower resolutions and generate additional frames, and gamers online arent too happy . To help us break this down, Anshel Sag , VP and principal analyst at Moor Insights and St

If you're like me, you've absolutely had enough of winter and you're hoping warm weather is right around the corner. When it's finally more enjoyable to spend time outside, you're likely going to be cooking on the grill , so now is a great time to give everything a deep clean to prepare for your upcoming culinary adventures. I dont blame you if you opted to let your grill hibernate during the winter months, but if thats the case, itll probably need a tune-up before spring arrives. If you did kee

Blue Origin has revealed its plans for an orbital AI data center system in a new filing with the Federal Communications Commission. The company has asked the agency for permission to deploy 51,600 satellites, as reported by the Wall Street Journal and SpaceNews . Called Project Sunrise, the initiative aims to launch and operate a constellation of satellites that can deliver computing capacity for artificial intelligence uses. Project Sunrises satellites will be placed in sun-synchronous orbits a

OpenAI is developing a super app for desktop that unifies ChatGPT , its browser and its Codex app, according to the Wall Street Journal and CNBC . A company spokesperson told the publications that OpenAI Chief of Applications Fidji Simo will lead the application revamp with assistance from OpenAI President Greg Brockman. Simo will also help the marketing team advertise the app when it comes out. OpenAIs leadership is apparently hoping that combining several products can help it streamline user e

Alphabet's life sciences business Verily is restructuring and raising money as a new corporate entity. Verily announced that with its $300 million investment round, it will change from an LLC to a corporation and rename itself Verily Health Inc. As a result, Alphabet now has a minority stake rather than a controlling one in the business. Similar to every other tech business, this chapter for Verily will be focused on AI. From research to care, our customers need solutions that bring the best of

California, Massachusetts, Connecticut and New York are leading a group of 20 other states in suing the US Environmental Protection Agency for renouncing its ability to regulate greenhouse gas emissions, The New York Times reports . The lawsuit specifically argues that the EPA's decision to rescind a 2009 study that determined greenhouse gases are dangerous to public health was illegal. The study, which is the source of what's called the Endangerment Finding, was one of several justifications a

Amazon has acquired Rivr, a startup focused on autonomous robotics. Rivr is based in Zurich and was valued at $110 million in a funding round from August 2024, which both Amazon and its CEO's Bezos Expeditions participated in. Financial details of the acquisition were not disclosed. Rivr's robots have four legs and wheels that allow it to maneuver on stairs and other potentially uneven surfaces. The company just released its second generation of the robot. The purchase will likely further Amazon

DoorDash has launched a new option for its gig economy workers to earn some extra cash. The delivery service introduced Tasks , which it describes as short activities Dashers can complete between deliveries or in their own time. It gives taking pictures of restaurant dishes or recording video of unscripted conversations in languages other than English as examples. These materials will be used to train artificial intelligence and robotics models. A representative from DoorDash told Bloomberg News

Google is testing a version of its Gemini app for macOS, Bloomberg reports . The app would bring the AI assistant to uncharted territory, and in more direct competition with OpenAI's ChatGPT and Anthropic's Claude , both of which offer standalone Mac apps. Gemini remains accessible through the web, and it sounds like the macOS app offers the same set of features, with the ability to respond to prompts, search the web and generate text, images and code. The major differentiator of the Mac app cou

Google has detailed how users will be able to sideload apps from unverified developers once it implements its more restrictive policy towards downloading software on Android. The company originally planned to require all developers to be verified to distribute on Android, but softened its stance in November 2025 to allow carveouts for Android power-users and hobbyist developers. For the average Android users, the ability to sideload apps will now be locked behind a multi-step one-time process. U

The Steam Spring Sale is underway and as usual, there's plenty of good stuff to add to your library. The seasonal discounts will run through Thursday, March 26 at 1PM ET. If there's anything you've been waiting to buy, it's worth checking to see if it's on sale now, because huge chunks of the Steam catalog are at least a little bit off. Recent releases don't usually receive big price cuts during Steam sales, but you can save at least a couple bucks on several 2025 hits this time. The excellent A

The FBI has confirmed to the Senate it is once again buying data which can be used to track the locations of US citizens. That may have surprised the people who thought the precedent in Carpenter v. United States prohibited it. But while that case examined if it was legal for law enforcement to obtain location data from mobile networks without a warrant, here the FBI and other agencies have found a way to skirt the Fourth Amendment entirely. Over the last few years, they have taken to just buyin

Stranger Things fans will soon have permanent access to the Upside Down, as a full DVD set is now available to preorder . Stranger Things: The Complete Series comes in Blu-Ray and 4K UHD editions. This collection includes all five seasons of the hit show, which totals 25 discs. It'll be available at brick-and-mortar and online retailers beginning on July 28. Prices range from $200 to $260, depending on the media type and edition. Return to Hawkins this July with STRANGER THINGS: THE COMPLETE SER

Ubisoft is ceasing game development at its studio, Red Storm Entertainment, best known for its work on the Tom Clancys series. While the studio is set to remain open, 105 people will be laid off, a Ubisoft source told GamesIndustry.biz . Those who survive the cull will reportedly continue to work on the Snowdrop engine, used in many of Ubisofts tentpole games over the last decade, including Star Wars Outlaws and Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora more recently. Red Storm had been working on an untitl

Meta is backtracking on its plans to shut down the VR version of its metaverse. The company now plans to support Horizon Worlds in VR for the foreseeable future, though users shouldn't expect new games, CTO Andrew Bosworth said in an update. We will keep horizon worlds working in VR for existing games, to support the fans who've reached out, Bosworth said in a post on Instagram. For people who already have games they like that they're using in Horizon Worlds, [they] will be able to download the

The Switch 2 ports keep on coming. This time it's Kena: Bridge of Spirits , the award-winning 2021 title from Ember Lab. Previously announced for spring 2026 , the visually striking title now has an official release date of March 26. Kena: Bridge of Spirits won Best Independent Game and Best Debut Indie Game at The Game Awards 2021. It's already available for PS5 / PS4 , PC ( Steam and Epic ) and Xbox Series X/S and One . You play as Kena, a young spirit guide on a quest to a sacred mountain shr

Rivian and Uber have entered into a major partnership , with the former to provide the latter with 50,000 robotaxis in a deal worth $1.25 billion in funding. This starts with Uber purchasing 10,000 Rivian R2 robotaxis, which will be deployed in San Francisco and Miami by 2028. If all goes well, Uber will scoop up 40,000 more robotaxis by 2030. The company plans to scale the initiative to 25 major cities by 2031. The full $1.25 billion investment is contingent on several autonomous milestones, ac

Poncle could be about to ruin the planets productivity all over again now that Vampire Crawlers has a release date for PC and consoles. The dungeon-crawling roguelike deckbuilder which is a Vampire Survivors spinoff is coming to Steam, Xbox Series X/S, PS5 and Nintendo Switch on April 21. Itll cost $10. Alternatively, youll be able to check it out via Xbox Game Pass on day one. Vampire Crawlers is on the way to iOS and Android as well. However, youll have to wait until sometime later this year

Amazons next-generation smart assistant has entered its Early Access program in the UK, marking Alexa+s European debut following rollouts in the US, Canada and Mexico. Starting March 19, invitations to start using the smarter, more conversational Alexa will be sent out to hundreds of thousands of willing participants, Amazon said in a press release , adding that Alexa is the most popular voice assistant in the UK. As well as its more natural communication, agentic capabilities, contextual awaren

Google and cybersecurity companies Lookout and iVerify have detailed a new hacking technique that potentially puts a significant portion of iPhone users in danger, just by visiting the wrong web page. The hack is called DarkSword and since it specifically targets several different versions of iOS 18, it could affect close to a quarter of iPhones, Wired writes. DarkSword is a fileless hack that leverages a collection of exploits to access sensitive data when an iPhone visits an infected website.

Nothing takes a different tack with its phone series. For the second time in a row, its midrange entry-level A-series smartphones debuted ahead of its next flagship device. The company has even warned that we wont be getting the Nothing Phone 4 until next year. Until then, the Phone 4a Pro is here to make an impact, with a more restrained design, a less obtrusive camera bump and specs that beat out last years Nothing Phone 3 all for $499 . In 2026, Nothing is truly aiming to dethrone the Pixel

UKs Ofcom has fined 4chan a total of 520,000 ($690,000) over the websites failure to comply with the rules of Online Safety Act 2023 . The biggest chunk of the amount came from 4chans failure to ensure children cannot encounter pornographic content on its website by implementing an effective age check mechanism. For that violation, the website has received a penalty of 450,000 ($598,000) and an order to apply an age check system by April 2. It carries a daily rate penalty of 500 ($664) until the

During a Senate hearing, FBI Director Kash Patel confirmed that his agency has bought information that could be used to track individuals' movement and location. We do purchase commercially available information thats consistent with the Constitution and the laws under the Electronic Communications Privacy Act, and it has led to some valuable intelligence for us, he said. Law enforcement is required to obtain a warrant in order to get location data from cell service providers following the Carpe

The Information reported that an AI agent within Meta took unauthorized action that led to an employee creating a security breach at the social company last week. According to the publication, an employee used an in-house agentic AI to analyze a query from a second employee on an internal forum. The AI agent posted a response to the second employee with advice even though the first person did not direct it to do so. The second employee took the agent's recommended action, sparking a domino effec

Google and cybersecurity companies Lookout and iVerify have detailed a new hacking technique that potentially puts a significant portion of iPhone users in danger, just by visiting the wrong web page. The hack is called DarkSword and since it specifically targets several different versions of iOS 18, it could affect close to a quarter of iPhones, Wired writes. DarkSword is a fileless hack that leverages a collection of exploits to access sensitive data when an iPhone visits an infected website.

The White House has been promising a set of national rules to guide artificial intelligence since late last year, and today Sen. Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.) fired the first volley. The senator shared a discussion draft for codifying the executive order signed by President Donald Trump in December calling for an AI bill. Her stated goal is a policy that protects children, creators, conservatives and communities from harm. Blackburn has called for tougher policies for AI safety, and one of the core

A recent change in how the US Postal Service handles shipping partners appears to have forced Amazon to make alternative plans. The company reportedly plans to cut the number of packages it ships through USPS by at least two-thirds later this year. It says the decision came after USPS ended negotiations at the eleventh hour in favor of a new bidding process. On Tuesday, the Wall Street Journal reported that Amazon plans to reduce the shipments it hands off to USPS. Last year, the company account

Update, 4:05PM ET: A few hours after this story was published, Google reached out to retract the news. The company provided Engadget with the following statement: Search Live has not rolled out globally to all users. It remains available in the US and India, with testing currently underway in additional markets. We apologize for the earlier miscommunication. Given that the company says it is testing in more markets, it seems entirely possible that the global Search Live release will happen soone

NASA and ESA have released new images from the Hubble Space Telescope of a comet breaking up as it exits the solar system, captured as part of study recently published in the journal Icarus . The images are notable not only because they offer a more detailed view of the inside of a comet, which could offer new information about the early days of the universe, but also because they were taken by accident. Photographing K1, or Comet C/2025 K1 as it's officially known, wasn't the original intention

Perplexity's Comet AI browser is now available as a standalone app for iPhone users. The tool initially debuted last summer on PCs, but cost $200 a month . The new app is free, as is the recently-released Android version . Comet is an AI-powered browser, which has become a hot product category throughout the past year or so . This is basically a web browser combined with a chatbot that can perform some tasks on a user's behalf. Like related tools, people can ask it to summarize a webpage or cond