Gadgets

Bethesda is shutting down The Elder Scrolls: Blades on June 30

It's a sad day for the dozens of players still grinding The Elder Scrolls: Blades . Bethesda announced that it's permanently shutting down the servers for its free-to-play mobile spinoff on June 30. First spotted on Reddit , The Elder Scrolls: Blades has already been delisted from the App Store and Google Play store, and is currently unavailable on the Nintendo Store . In the meantime, players will receive a free bundle of Gems and Sigils, while all items in the in-game store are available for just one Gem or Sigil each. With a server shutdown imminent, The Elder Scrolls: Blades ' will at least cross its six-year mark since its official release was in 2020 for Android, iOS and Nintendo Switch. The dungeon-crawling spinoff did see early success when more than one million iOS users downloaded the game during the first week of its early access period, but it never amounted to the commercial success of Bethesda's mainline titles. In the end, The Elder Scrolls: Blades ended up with a Generally Unfavorable score on Metacritic, with critics calling it epetitive and filled with microtransactions. The shutdown doesn't come as a total surprise, since Bethesda also killed off its other spinoff, The Elder Scrolls: Legends , by halting development in 2019 and ultimately taking the game's servers offline in January 2025. For anyone who still wants to play a mobile spinoff of Bethesda's fantasy world, there's still The Elder Scrolls: Castles . This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/gaming/bethesda-is-shutting-down-the-elder-scrolls-blades-on-june-30-191016852.html?src=rss

The Avatar fighting game will release on July 2 for PC and consoles

The fighting game community is going to have their hands full this summer between the release of Marvel Tkon: Fighting Souls and Avatar Legends: The Fighting Game . The studio behind the 2D fighting game based in the Avatar universe announced that a July 2 release date with a trailer that shows off new gameplay and a base price of $29.99. The game will launch with 12 characters, encompassing both the heroes and villains from Avatar: The Last Airbender and The Legend of Korra . The game's developer, Gameplay Group International, said that there are more than 900 hand-drawn frames for each character, which makes the game look like it came directly out of the beloved TV series . Avatar Legends: The Fighting Game will feature both casual and ranked matches, using a rollback netcode to ensure smooth frame-by-frame action between players, along with crossplay across PS5, Xbox Series X and S, Nintendo Switch 2 and PC. For those more interested in the lore, there will be a single-player story mode and a gallery mode with ever before seen art. Avatar Legends: The Fighting Game is currently available for pre-order, starting at $29.99, but there's a $59.99 deluxe edition that includes a digital art book, music soundtrack, unique HUDs and a Year 1 Pass, which adds five additional characters that will be released in the future. Those who pre-order will also get a Samurai skin for Appa, exclusive character colors and voting privilege for the Year 1 Pass characters. This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/gaming/the-avatar-fighting-game-will-release-on-july-2-for-pc-and-consoles-174614552.html?src=rss

Bluesky's next product is an AI assistant that helps build custom social media feeds

Bluesky is the latest social media platform to throw its hat into the AI chatbot ring. Bluesky, but specifically its chief innovation officer Jay Graber and her new Exploration team, built a new AI assistant called Attie that's designed to help users create custom feeds. Graber called Attie an agentic social app that's built on its its open-source framework called the AT Protocol. To use Attie, users can punch in prompts in natural language to generate social feeds without having to know how to code. On the Attie website, examples include prompts like, Show me electronic music and experimental sound from people in my network or Builders working on agent infrastructure and open protocol design. Attie It feels more like having a conversation than configuring software, Graber described Attie in a blog post . You describe the sort of posts you want to see, and the coding agent builds the feed you described. Graber added that Attie is a separate app from Bluesky and users don't have to use the new AI assistant if they don't want to. However, since Attie and Bluesky were built on the same framework, it could mean there will be some cross-app implementation between the two or any other app built on the AT Protocol. Attie is currently available on an invite-only closed beta, but anyone interested can sign up for the waitlist on its website in the meantime. This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/ai/blueskys-next-product-is-an-ai-assistant-that-helps-build-custom-social-media-feeds-163140902.html?src=rss

Watch the trailer for Science Saru's Ghost in the Shell anime series

A new trailer has given us our best look yet at the upcoming The Ghost in the Shell anime. While it might not tell us all that much about the direction the show will go in plot-wise, it sure is aesthetically pleasing, with a throwback art style that looks a lot more like the original manga than we've seen with other adaptations. The series will be released on Prime Video this July. The Ghost in the Shell is being produced by Science Saru. The studio hasn't revealed much about its story, only noting that it's based on Masamune Shirow's manga, so it isn't entirely clear yet how closely it will follow the source material. The franchise has certainly seen its fair share of questionable adaptations over the years. But, this glimpse at the art style seems like a promising indicator. An exact release date hasn't yet been announced, but July isn't too far away now. This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/entertainment/streaming/watch-the-trailer-for-science-sarus-ghost-in-the-shell-anime-series-210147477.html?src=rss

Austria is pursuing a social media ban for kids under 14

Austria is the latest country to prepare a social media ban for its children, but it's going even further than others by including anyone under 14. In a press release , the Austrian government said it has introduced a comprehensive catalogue of measures meant to shield minors from the harms of social media. According to the press release, an official bill will be introduced by the end of June. Andreas Babler, a vice chancellor and leader of the Social Democratic Party of Austria, said the government's efforts would include the new age restriction, improved media literacy and clear rules for social media platforms. Austrian lawmakers didn't detail what the upcoming rules would be, but the country is likely to follow in the footsteps of many others who have or are pursuing similar bans. While Australia was the first to implement a social media ban for anyone under 16, other European countries like Spain and the UK are also looking into comparable restrictions. More recently, Indonesia approved new regulations that would prevent anyone under 16 from using social media platforms like TikTok, YouTube and Roblox. Indonesia's social media ban just went into effect, but the country only specified that the law's implementation would be carried out gradually until all platforms are in compliance, according to AP . This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/social-media/austria-is-pursuing-a-social-media-ban-for-kids-under-14-190755295.html?src=rss

The White House app is just as weird and unnecessary as you'd expect

President Donald Trump may have a tendency to put his name on everything, but his administration decided to go with the more authoritative The White House App for his latest pursuit. Now available on the App Store and Google Play store, the official White House App claims to gives Americans a direct line to the White House. From the press release, the app provides unfiltered, real-time upgrades straight from the source. In more practical terms, the White House App is a one-stop shop for official communications from the administration and more. On the app, you can find press releases, livestream announcements and even a photo gallery, along with turning on notifications so you get official communications as soon as they happen. However, it only takes a few minutes of digging through the app to question its value. The White House App's News tab features a carousel of about 35 articles that seem suspiciously cherry-picked with articles that favor the Trump administration. In the Affordability window, the app points out year-over-year prices that have dropped for things like eggs, milk and bread, but conveniently omits the recent swell in gas prices. In the Social tab, there's a button to Text President Trump, which auto-populates a new text with Greatest President Ever! before ultimately trying to get you to sign up for a marketing blast. The press release mentioned a way to send your voice and feedback directly to the Administration but the app's functionality doesn't seem to promote that. Most notably, there's even a way to submit a tip to Immigration and Customs Enforcement in the app's Get in Touch section. While it's convenient to have all your Trump administration announcements in one place, the White House App is mostly just a portal that ends up opening external websites. Traditionally, official White House accounts on social media platforms are passed on during the transition of presidents. However, it's hard to say what will happen to the app after Trump leaves office, but one only has to look towards the lasting triumph of TrumpRx, Trump Mobile or even Trump University. This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/apps/the-white-house-app-is-just-as-weird-and-unnecessary-as-youd-expect-175354004.html?src=rss

NASA pauses its lunar Gateway plan, a comet reverses its spin and more science news

The first crewed mission of NASA's Artemis moon program may take off in a matter of days, with a launch window that opens on April 1, and as preparations are underway for that, the space agency is refocusing its plan to establish a human presence on the moon. NASA announced major changes to its approach for moon landings that are expected to play out over the coming years, including axing its plan to build an orbiting station called Gateway. Read on to learn more about the agencys new vision for the moon, along with other interesting science stories from this week. Gateway out, moon base in Just a few weeks after overhauling its Artemis program , NASA this week announced even more changes to its plans for putting astronauts back on the moon. Most notably, the space agency is abandoning the lunar Gateway project, which was intended to be the first ever space station orbiting the moon. Gateway, an international collaboration, wasn't just going to support exploration of the lunar surface, but deep space missions too. But the writing has been on the wall for some time; in the Trump administration's proposed budget cuts last May , Gateway was among the programs selected for the chopping block. Now, NASA is officially putting it on pause and plans to build a $20 billion moon base instead. NASA is committed to achieving the nearimpossible once again, to return to the moon before the end of President Trumps term, build a moon base, establish an enduring presence, and do the other things needed to ensure American leadership in space, NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman said at the agency's Ignition event on Tuesday. There are three phases to the moon base plan, according to NASA : first using contractors to send rovers and instruments to the moon through the Commercial Lunar Payload Services (CLPS) program; next establishing semi-habitable infrastructure, with astronauts on the ground and collaboration with other space agencies; and finally adding heavier infrastructure to support long-term stays on the lunar surface, including the Italian Space Agency's Multi-purpose Habitats and the Canadian Space Agency's Lunar Utility Vehicle. NASA says it's aiming to start this plan off with crewed moon landings every six months following the Artemis V mission, which is currently planned for 2028. Comet 41P pulls a reverse card A study published this week in The Astronomical Journal describes what's said to be the first observation of a comet reversing its spin. Observations taken several months apart in 2017 show the comet 41P/Tuttle-Giacobini-Kresk starting to spin more slowly after making a close flyby of the sun, before picking up speed again by December of that year. Its spin period, measured using NASAs Neil Gehrels Swift Observatory, was about 46-60 hours in May 2017, but later observations by the Hubble Space Telescope showed it was just 14 hours, according to NASA . The researchers say what likely happened is that the heat from the sun caused the comet's ice to sublimate, sending gases spewing off its sides. Jets of gas streaming off the surface can act like small thrusters, author David Jewitt of the University of California at Los Angeles, said in a statement. If those jets are unevenly distributed, they can dramatically change how a comet, especially a small one, rotates. Jewitt compares it to pushing a merry-go-round. If its turning in one direction, and then you push against that, you can slow it and reverse it. Comet 41P is thought to have come from the Kuiper Belt and passes through the inner solar system every 5.4 years. It's small, with a nucleus of just around .6 miles, and the researchers found it's become less active over recent years, indicating that there are changes taking place on the surface. While it's thought to have been in this orbit for about 1,500 years, it now appears to be rapidly evolving, and the rotational changes which could cause structural instability if it continues could mark the beginning of the end for it. I expect this nucleus will very quickly self-destruct, said Jewitt. Saturn in a new light A side-by-side-comparison of photos captured of Saturn from the Webb telescope and the Hubble telescope. NASA/ESA/CSA Stunning images of Saturn released this week by NASA, ESA and CSA provide a more detailed look at the many layers of the ringed planet's busy atmosphere. The images, which show storms, clouds at different depths, Saturn's ribbon wave jet stream and so much more were taken by the Hubble Space Telescope and the James Webb Space Telescope in 2024. Read more about it here . This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/science/space/nasa-pauses-its-lunar-gateway-plan-a-comet-reverses-its-spin-and-more-science-news-160000163.html?src=rss

Wanderstop developer Ivy Road is shutting down

Ivy Road, the video game developer behind Annapurna-published cozy game Wanderstop , is shutting down on March 31. While Wanderstop was well-received and even critically acclaimed, it seems like it wasnt enough of a hit to sustain the studio while it develops a new game without getting investors involved. In its announcement, the Ivy Road team said the company failed to land a funding and publishing deal for its new project, Engine Angel . The studios problems securing funding for its new game first came to light back in January when it laid off five team members. Even though the studio is shutting down soon, the team said it has one last surprise that will help Wanderstop reach new players. It didnt say what the surprise was, but the team said Annapurna Interactive will share more news about it in the future. Wanderstop revolves around a former fighter, Alta, who manages a tea shop in a magical forest. In the game, you can gather ingredients and concoct tea, tidy up, talk to customers and learn their stories or just sit on a bench to think and relax. The game will still be available to play and purchase even after Ivy Road shuts down. This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/gaming/wanderstop-developer-ivy-road-is-shutting-down-153655278.html?src=rss

Beat-based dungeon crawlers, card-battling soccer sims and other new indie games worth checking out

Welcome to our latest roundup of what's going on in the indie game space. As ever, we've got some new games for you to dive into this weekend, and a glimpse at some upcoming titles. But, first, a look at indie studio Albatross Interactive's take on a multiplayer mode from a much-loved blockbuster. Terminal War is a 4v4 third-person shooter and it seems like the small team of developers is trying to keep things grounded. Ammo and supplies are scarce, and there's an emphasis on melee combat with the promise of rutal executions. The action is set in the late '90s, a few years after a global war, with three factions battling for control and survival in a collapsed version of the United States. Albatross Interactive isn't shy about the inspiration behind Terminal War. They canceled The Last of Us Factions 2, the team wrote on X . So we're building it [sic] our version. In September 2019, nine months before the games eventual release, Naughty Dog confirmed The Last of Us Part 2 wouldnt have a multiplayer mode. At the time, it told players you will eventually experience the fruits of our team's online ambition. That still hasnt exactly come to pass. The studio formally announced The Last of Us Online in June 2022 and canceled it 18 months later . As such, the Factions mode in 2014's The Last of Us Remastered for PS4 remains the franchise's only remaining multiplayer mode. Albatross Interactive, which says it's building Terminal War from scratch, plans to reveal more gameplay soon. The game is slated to hit Steam in early access as soon as this summer . The team expects Terminal War to remain in early access for around 12-18 months, though it noted that we're a small studio and we'd rather take the time to get it right than rush to a finish line. The timeline will ultimately be shaped by community feedback, the scope of content we deliver, and the standard of quality we hold ourselves to. The studio plans to bring the game to consoles as well. New releases Im into the current iteration of Acclaim as an indie publisher (albeit one with a plan to revive its own historic franchises ). Its latest title, GridBeat from Ridiculous Games, is a rhythm-based dungeon crawler in which you're trying to escape from a corporate network after pinching a trove of valuable data. Malware and security protocols are on your tail. Navigating the mazes, interacting with objects and boss battles are all synced to a beat. GridBeat is available on Steam and Nintendo Switch . It typically costs $20, but there's a 10 percent discount on Switch until April 2. It's 15 percent off on Steam until April 9. Given how much time I spent playing Football Manager 26 last year, Nutmeg is right up my alley. Getting veteran commentator Jim Rosenthal to pitch the soccer management sim in the launch trailer certainly doesn't hurt. This is a card-battler take on soccer management and its set in the '80s and '90s. You can start out in the lower divisions and can work your way up to the top of the English soccer system. You'll hire and fire staff, and select your team and formation before taking on an opponent. Completing challenges and doing well in training will earn you more card packs. The trailer reminds me of collecting Panini stickers as a kid as well as the smell of my friends Subbuteo figures. I would have said my favorite thing about this is that everything takes place at an era-appropriate desk with a TV that shows results and standings in the style of Teletext and an old computer that has some retro mini-games you can play. However, Sumo Sheffield and Publisher Secret Mode are donating a small portion of every sale of Nutmeg to charity, which is a nice gesture. Nutmeg is out now on Steam . It'll usually cost you $25, but there's a whopping 40 percent discount until April 2. Devil Jam is a metal-themed spin on the roguelite formula that Vampire Survivors popularized with a dash of Hades -esque characterization mixed in. It's been out on Steam since November and it hit consoles this week. It costs $8 on PS5 and Switch , and $7.59 on Xbox Series X/S . You'll wield a cursed guitar as you battle demonic enemies and bosses. As ever with this type of game, it's all about finding fun, powerful builds by synergizing abilities. You can put those together in a 12-slot gear system. I dig the art style and animation in this game from Rogueside too. I especially love that one character dashes by powersliding on their knees. A couple of months after its debut on Steam , Space Warlord Baby Trading Simulator landed on Xbox Series X/S for $20 this week. The latest game from prolific studio Strange Scaffold is a stock market simulator in which you speculate on the simulated lives of babies and how successful (or not) said alien sprogs will be in the future. It takes aim at real-life prediction markets where people can gamble on everything from the Time Person of the Year to nuclear tests. Upcoming Here's another game you can actually check out this weekend, as a playtest is taking place on Steam until March 31. Salvation Denied is a co-op construction sim/tower defense game from Firevolt and publisher Digital Vortex Entertainment. You can get together with up to three friends to build experimental structures at the behest of a foreman who looks like he's stepped right out of Team Fortress 2 . You'll have tools like a gravity gun, foam gun and jetpacks on hand to help you form these structures, along with heavy machinery that can move or recycle sections of the build. Coordinating with proximity voice chat could be critical as you and your buds deal with natural disasters like acid rain and meteor showers. I'm almost always going to be on board with a game that's all about chaos, so I'm interested in checking out Salvation Denied . It's set to hit Steam this fall before landing on PS5 and Xbox Series X/S in 2027. Someone has stolen the sun. Reclaiming it is your goal in Light Dude , which is from solo developer Ramy of Dergham Games. It's an action game in which the lights go out when you move, so you'll need to figure out your approach to each level and how to avoid hazards before moving forward. There's a first-person mode here too. Light Dude is slated to hit Steam sometime this spring. A demo is available now. Solo developer Mateo Covic (aka ZoroArts) is looking to follow up on the success of Paddle Paddle Paddle with another friendslop game. Covic said it took just four weeks to create Cool Story Bro. Up to four players each have five minutes to write a short story that includes four words. These are picked at random or taken from a pool of player suggestions. Special items appear throughout each round, such as a revolver, which can take another player out of the game for 10 seconds, and one that swaps everyone's stories. If you're the first player to type an item's name, you can use it. After everyone has finished writing their story, players take turns to read theirs out for the rest of the group. The others vote on whether they liked the tale. If you really hate someone else's short story, you can blow them up with a rocket launcher. If only I had that option at some of the poetry readings Ive been to. This seems fun and silly, and the kind of thing that could easily blow up on Twitch (there's an integration that allows viewers to suggest words). Cool Story Bro is slated to hit Steam sometime in April. Fittingly enough, it's been a long time since Third Shift announced its debut project, Forever Ago . Six years , in fact. The game re-emerged this week during the Xbox Partner Preview showcase . Publisher Annapurna Interactive is bringing it to Xbox Series X/S , PS5 , Nintendo Switch 2, Xbox on PC, Steam and Epic Games Store this fall. It'll be available on Xbox Game Pass (and Xbox Cloud) on day one. This is a road trip adventure in which you take on the role of Alfred. Following a personal tragedy, he ventures north in his minivan to seek redemption. With an instant camera in hand, Alfred will meet new people and explore forests, deserts and mountains. It's another narrative-heavy game from Annapurna, which appears to be leaning heavily into nostalgia this year given that Mixtape is only a few weeks away. This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/gaming/beat-based-dungeon-crawlers-card-battling-soccer-sims-and-other-new-indie-games-worth-checking-out-110000472.html?src=rss

Verizon waives late fees for federal workers affected by partial DHS shutdown

Verizon will waive late fees and offer flexible payment arrangements for workers affected by the partial government shutdown. The carrier has made similar offers in the past, like during the COVID-19 pandemic when it gave customers extra mobile data at no additional cost. The Department of Homeland Security has been hit the hardest by the partial shutdown, but Verizon's offer covers any federal worker who's able to offer employment verification. Verizon says employees can call 1-800-Verizon (1-800-922-0204) to get their late fees waived and set up a payment plan. The partial government shutdown started in February after Congress failed to pass a new DHS funding bill. The lack of funding has not affected all of DHS' sprawling organizations equally, however. While the Transportation Security Administration is no longer able to pay its employees leading to significant delays in airport security lines over the last week both Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Customs and Border Protection have been spared thanks to a separate funding pool established by a previous bill. Lawmakers continued inability to fund DHS also happens to hinge on both agencies. Democratic senators and congresspeople are demanding ICE agents wear body cams and remove masks before making arrests, among other restrictions , and refusing to fund DHS until those restrictions are worked into the bill. Both Republicans and Democrats have also separately proposed funding the entire department except for ICE and CBP , but while that bill passed in the Senate, it hasn't been taken up in the House. This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/mobile/verizon-waives-late-fees-for-federal-workers-affected-by-partial-dhs-shutdown-221814382.html?src=rss

Kash Patel's personal email account was accessed by hackers linked to Iran

A hacking group called Handala has gained access to FBI Director Kash Patel's email account, Reuters reports . The group published content from Patel's email on their website as proof, including photos of Patel sniffing and smoking cigars and making a face while taking a picture of himself in the mirror with a large bottle of rum. TechCrunch was able to independently confirm that at least some of the emails Handala stole were from Patel's account by checking information used by mail delivery systems thats stored in an email's header. Several stolen emails included a cryptographic signature that linked them to Patel's account. The FBI has also separately confirmed that the Director's account was hacked. The FBI is aware of malicious actors targeting Director Patel's personal email information, and we have taken all necessary steps to mitigate potential risks associated with this activity, the Bureau told TechCrunch . The information in question is historical in nature and involves no government information. The FBI is offering up to $10 million in rewards for more information about the hackers who targeted Patel's account. Handala presents as a pro-Palestinian hacking group online, but is believed to be one of several aliases used by cyberintelligence units working for the Iranian government, Reuters writes. Groups affiliated with Iran have targeted officials in the US before. In August 2024, the FBI shared that a separate group, APT42, was trying to gain access to both the Trump and Harris campaigns. Three men associated with APT42 were later charged that September. Handala has appeared to become more active during the current conflict between the US, Israel and Iran . According to Reuters , the group claimed to be behind a cyber attack on Stryker , a medical devices company, earlier in March. Handala also said it accessed and published personal data from Lockheed Martin employees stationed in the Middle East. This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/cybersecurity/kash-patels-personal-email-account-was-accessed-by-hackers-linked-to-iran-212618474.html?src=rss

Mark Zuckerberg offered to 'help' Elon Musk with DOGE in 2025

Elon Musk and Mark Zuckerberg have a complicated history. In 2023, the two vowed to fight each other in a cage match that never happened . But by early 2025, when both were cozying up to the newly-elected President Donald Trump, they were apparently on more friendly terms. In February of that year, Zuckerberg texted Musk approvingly about his work with the now-defunct Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE). Looks like DOGE is making progress, the Meta CEO texted. I've got our teams on alert to take down content doxxing or threatening the people on your team. Let me know if there's anything else I can do to help. The texts, which were published Friday in court documents as part of Musk's lawsuit against Sam Altman and OpenAI, are dated February 3, 2025. That's just a few weeks after Zuckerberg announced Meta's pivot away from content moderation in favor of free expression. It's also the same day that a US Attorney said he would protect DOGE employees from disgruntled critics. Musk responded to Zuckerberg's message with a heart and followed up with an unrelated topic: OpenAI. He asked Zuckerberg if he was open to the idea of bidding on the OpenAI IP with me and some others. Zuckerberg asked to discuss it live and Musk said he would call the next day. Previous documents disclosed in the case show that Musk had invited Zuckerberg to help him buy OpenAI, though he never officially signed on to the bid. In a separate filing also made public Friday, Musk's lawyers argued that his exchanges with the Meta CEO ought to be excluded from the lawsuit. Musks personal relationships and communications including with other high-profile individuals are also tangential and prejudicial, they wrote. Defendants included in their exhibit list for trial, for example, several private exchanges between Musk and Mark Zuckerberg discussing Musks political activity and this lawsuit. Those recent communications have nothing to do with Musks claims and are nothing more than Defendants attempt to stoke negative sentiments toward Musk because of his association with Zuckerberg. A Meta spokesperson declined to comment. In the same filing, Musk's lawyers also take issue with Altman's lawyers asking about Musk's alleged ketamine use and his attendance at Burning Man. A transcript from a video deposition with Musk indicatedhe was asked if had taken hino ket at Burning Man in 2017. Musk said no, according to the transcript. Any implication that music festivals or drugs have any relevance to this case is outlandish, and how Musk spends his free time is equally irrelevant, his lawyers wrote. A judge ruled earlier this month that OpenAI's lawyers would be permitted to ask limited questions about Burning Man, but not ketamine. This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/big-tech/mark-zuckerberg-offered-to-help-elon-musk-with-doge-in-2025-211737138.html?src=rss

Meta will fund seven new natural gas plants to power its biggest data center yet

Meta will essentially foot the power bill for the $27 billion mega data center it's building in Louisiana. On Friday, the Wall Street Journal reported that the company struck a deal to fund the energy infrastructure needed for the project. Through a deal with Entergy Louisiana, Meta will fund seven new natural gas power plants, 240 miles of transmission lines and battery energy storage at three locations. The gas plants will have a combined power output of 5,200 megawatts, and the transmission lines will operate at 500 kilovolts. In addition, the company will help fund up to 2,500 MW of new renewable resources. It also agreed to a memorandum of understanding for future nuclear power development. The 4-million-square-foot Richland Parish, LA, data center will be Meta's biggest yet . It's currently under construction. The energy deal follows a pledge by tech companies , including Meta, to offset local residents rising electricity costs from AI data centers. The companies plan to uild, bring or buy the new generation resources and electricity needed to satisfy their new energy demands, paying the full cost of those resources. However, the pledge lacks a binding agreement or any enforcement mechanisms. The shift in tone comes in response to growing anger from local communities over the rise of power-hungry, environmentally damaging AI data centers. A December poll found that 60 percent of Americans including majorities of Democrats, Republicans, and independents support more AI regulation. Just this week, Sen. Bernie Sanders and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez introduced a bill to force a moratorium on data center construction until meaningful regulations are passed. We could easily file this and similar moves as Big Tech's latest attempt to convince voters and officials that it can be trusted to do right without enforceable regulations. We've seen that movie before . This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/big-tech/meta-will-fund-seven-new-natural-gas-plants-to-power-its-biggest-data-center-yet-201000045.html?src=rss

European Commission confirms data breach

The European Commission has announced that it suffered a cyber attack that affected cloud infrastructure hosting the Commission's web presence on the Europea.eu platform. While the attack has been contained, Bleeping Computer reports that the threat actor claiming to be behind it was able to take over 350GB of data before the Commission addressed the issue. Early findings of our ongoing investigation suggest that data have been taken from [Europa] websites, the European Commission says. The Commission is duly notifying the Union entities who might have been affected by the incident. The Commission's investigation is ongoing, and it has yet to disclose how its cloud infrastructure was breached. According to Bleeping Computer , the threat actor was able to access the Europa sites and employee data via one of the Commission's Amazon Web Services accounts. The Commission disclosed a breach that similarly impacted employee data in February. Both breaches appear to be less severe than the Salt Typhoon hack that impacted US telecommunications companies in 2024. Hackers reportedly gained access to data from the smartphones of members of both the Trump and Harris campaigns, and other government officials. In January 2026, the European Commission introduced a new Cybersecurity Package designed to address similar issues, in part by outlining new ways for EU states to deal with potentially risky companies in their telecom supply chains. This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/cybersecurity/european-commission-confirms-data-breach-200000982.html?src=rss

If you live in Georgia, there's a new exhibit you can visit celebrating Apple's 50th anniversary

The Mimms Museum of Technology and Art in Roswell, Georgia is debuting a new exhibit celebrating Apple's 50th anniversary. The exhibit, iNSPIRE: 50 Years of Innovation from Apple , is set to open on April 1, the date the company was founded, and includes more than 2,000 artifacts across 20,000 square feet, making it the largest public display of Apple products in the world. iNSPIRE is supposed to offer a unique look into Apple, by highlighting early computers, rare prototypes, original documentation and immersive installations inspired by Apples most iconic products and campaigns. Based on photos shared from the exhibit's launch event, that includes displays of every model of key products like the iPod, iPhone and iPad, and an interactive installation that inserts you in the company's iconic iPod ads. If you're based on the west coast of the US, the Computer History Museum in Mountain View, California is also displaying its own Apple@50 exhibit , and running what it calls Mactivations, scheduled demos where you can interact with a reproduction of an original Macintosh. Apple's own celebrations have included a published letter from CEO Tim Cook ruminating on the company's mission, and live music events at the company's stores, offices and select landmarks around the world. This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/computing/if-you-live-in-georgia-theres-a-new-exhibit-you-can-visit-celebrating-apples-50th-anniversary-180940846.html?src=rss

It looks like we're finally getting an Ocarina of Time remake

After years of rumors and countless fan-made Unreal Engine tech demos of varying quality, it sounds like we might finally be getting a ground-up remake of The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time . Thats according to Nintendo insider NatetheHate, who said in the latest edition of his podcast that a remake of the seminal Nintendo 64 game would be coming to Switch 2 in the second half of 2026. The reliable tipster said he doesnt know whether Nintendo is making a 1:1 remake of the original 3D Zelda entry, or something thats a little more free to explore design choices, adding that he was initially reluctant to share the information hed received in case we ended up getting little more than an HD remaster. But it sounds like this is a more ambitious undertaking than that. Ocarina of Time has of course been remastered before, with 2011s The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time 3D for the 3DS generally considered to be the best version of the game you can play today. The original 1998 game is also easily accessible via emulation through Nintendo Switch Online, but a modern remake for Switch 2 does make some sense. For one, 2026 marks the series 40th anniversary, and if you asked every Zelda fan alive what their favorite entry is, you can bet that OoT would feature pretty high in the final rankings. Were also getting that live-action Zelda movie next year, and Nintendo will no doubt want to make sure audiences have done their homework on the games that inspired it. Of course, none of this is official, so have those grains of salt at the ready, but NatetheHate did also claim that anyone hoping for a new 3D Mario game to arrive in 2026 is going to be disappointed. Thats more likely to arrive in 2027. In better news, were apparently also getting a brand new classic-style Star Fox game this summer, which would mark the return of the spacefaring Fox McCloud after a decade spent in Nintendos unloved mascot closet. This rumor seems logical after Nintendos surprise announcement that the anthropomorphic red fox is going to feature in The Super Mario Galaxy Movie , which arrives next week. Hes being voiced by Glen Powell , because of course he is. NatetheHates information on all of the above has been corroborated by VGC , which says it lines up with what it's heard from its own sources. And in the case of the Ocarina of Time remake, that recent Lego set suddenly makes a lot of sense. If indeed we do get the remake of Metacritic s highest-rated game of all time later this year, physical collectors could have a difficult choice to make, after Nintendo announced that physical versions of first-party Switch 2 games are about to become more expensive than their digital counterparts. This adjusted pricing will come into effect when Yoshi and the Mysterious Book launches on May 21. This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/gaming/nintendo/it-looks-like-were-finally-getting-an-ocarina-of-time-remake-175546356.html?src=rss

The original Hollow Knight just got an update to fix a glitch with a final boss

Team Cherry just fixed a bug with the original Hollow Knight , according to a report by GamesRadar . That game came out a full nine years ago, so it's pretty impressive that the dev team is still cranking out updates. Spoilers follow, but it's been nine years so whatever. The update involves a glitch regarding an attack from The Radiance, one of the final bosses of the game. At later stages, she tosses out these honing balls of light. These are difficult to avoid on their own, but a glitch made it so the balls of light occasionally lingered in the air after finishing. This added yet another way for the player to take some damage and led to numerous unnecessary deaths. This has now been fixed. The patch notes say the developers fixed Radiance's orb attack hitbox lingering slightly longer than intended if the orb expires in the air. This is great news for brand-new players and frustrating news to people who have been trying to avoid those lingering orbs for the better part of a decade. Better late than never, right? We don't know why the company tackled this particular issue right now. It could be that the success of the long-awaited sequel , Hollow Knight: Silksong , has been driving new players to the original release. It's also possible they just now got around to it. Today's patch includes other stuff, like raising the volume when navigating the inventory and adding more journal notification icons. Team Cherry isn't Ubisoft or Nintendo. It's a relatively small team. The team has been pumping out updates for Silksong as well. Team Cherry recently added traditional Chinese and German language options, which had become a sticking point for some. It's also busy working on the game's first major DLC expansion, called Sea of Sorrow . This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/gaming/the-original-hollow-knight-just-got-an-update-to-fix-a-glitch-with-a-final-boss-173533993.html?src=rss

The AI Doc explores how we can survive an uncertain AI future

Anxiety, more so than technological rigor, sits at the heart of The AI Doc: Or How I Became an Apocaloptimist. Director Daniel Roher is anxious about the future he's bringing a child into will it be an AI-driven utopia? Or does it spell certain doom, something explored in countless sci-fi stories. To figure it all out, he interviewed some of the most well known AI proponents and critics, including The Empire of AI author Karen Hao, AI researcher Emily Bender and Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei. The AI Doc , which hits theaters this weekend, doesn't really shed new light. For that, I'd recommend reading Hao's industry-defining book, which chronicles the rise of OpenAI and the precarious nature of its business. But I don't think tech-heads are the main audience for this film. Instead, Roher is trying to break down the state of AI for mainstream audiences, the folks who may occasionally use ChatGPT or Google's Gemini, but aren't aware of why they're controversial. In particular, the film exposes the near-religious devotion many in the tech world have around AI. It's not a spoiler to say that Roher ultimately adopts an apocaloptimist viewpoint. He's aware of the potential dangers of AI, and that it will likely have some serious societal impact. But, he also thinks humans have the ability to shape where it's headed. AI proponents have a near-religious belief in the eventuality of artificial general intelligence (AGI), or AI that can match and surpass human capabilities. But AGI isnt inevitable, and Roher argues theres room for critics and the public to push back. Were seeing small examples of AI resistance already. Just look at the viscerally negative response to NVIDIA's DLSS 5 AI upscaling ; Microsoft's recent plans to pull back on Copilot AI features in Windows 11 ; or OpenAI shutting down its Sora AI video generation app . (The latter may be due to the sheer expense, but Sora has certainly seen plenty of criticism.) If enough people say no to various implementations of AI, tech companies will be likely to respond. Daniel Roher in The AI Doc. Focus Features The AI Doc splits its narrative between true believers like OpenAI CEO Sam Altman and Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei and prominent AI critics like Tristan Harris, the co-founder and president of the Center of Humane Technology, as well as linguistics professor Emily M. Bender. It's easy to feel a bit of whiplash when the film moves from people who genuinely think AI will lead to some sort of utopia (and who will also become insanely rich in the process), and the extreme critics who think it will mean the end of humanity. At one point, Harris mentions that some of his friends working in AI risk assessment believe that their kids won't see high school. There's that anxiety again. While The AI Doc squeezes an impressive amount of notable interviews in its hour-and-43-minute runtime, I would have liked to hear more from critics like Timnit Gebru, a former Google AI researcher who also ties the development of AI into a rise of techno-fascism in Silicon Valley. She appears briefly in the film, but her perspective isn't fully fleshed out. The AI Doc doesn't dig very deeply into the driving forces behind AI, whereas Ghost in the Machine , this year's other major AI documentary, draws a direct line between the rise of eugenics and Silicon Valley. ( Ghost in the Machine is headed to theaters this summer, and will air on PBS in the fall.) It's the sort of energetic, animation-heavy documentary that wants to make sure the audience is never bored. But the threat of AI deserves more nuance and critical scrutiny. At worst, The AI Doc may make more people question the value of AI as the tech industry becomes more desperate to make it a success. This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/entertainment/tv-movies/the-ai-doc-explores-how-we-can-survive-an-uncertain-ai-future-154341735.html?src=rss

The PS5 is getting more expensive... again

It was only last August that Sony raised PS5 console prices in the US, blaming a challenging economic environment at the time. Today it has slightly tweaked the phrasing to continued pressures in the global economic landscape, but the outcome is the same: price rises across the board, this time even affecting the PS Portal handheld. Starting April 2, the price of the standard PS5 (thats the one with the disc drive) is going up to $650. Thats a whopping $100 hike, or $150 if you go back to before the August price increases. The Digital Edition is getting the same increase, up to $600 from $500 since August. But the most eye-wateringly huge bump goes to the PS5 Pro , which will now cost you $900, $150 more than its (already very high) previous $750 MSRP. If you managed to pick up a Pro during last years Black Friday sale, when its price was slashed to $650, then youre probably feeling pretty smug right now. Even the PlayStation Portal is getting a $50 increase, up from $199 to $250. The Portal has gotten a lot more capable in the last 12 months, but $250 for a device that cant run any games natively might make a purchase harder to justify for a lot of people. In a blog post, Sony acknowledged the impact of prices increases on its audience, but said after careful evaluation that it was a necessary step to ensure we can continue delivering innovative, high-quality gaming experiences to players worldwide. Global economic turbulence is affecting the entire games industry right now. Valve has already pushed back the launch date for the Steam Machine, while the ongoing RAM crisis could also be to blame for Steam Deck stock shortages. Microsoft also raised Xbox prices twice last year, and earlier this week Nintendo announced that some of its physical first-party Switch 2 games will soon be more expensive than purchasing the game digitally. While Nintendo has experimented with this kind of pricing structure before, it might point to the increasingly prohibitive costs of making and shipping products right now. This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/gaming/playstation/the-ps5-is-getting-more-expensive-again-133141514.html?src=rss

Engadget Podcast: Can Microsoft fix Windows 11 by dumping AI?

It turns out people don't actually love having Copilot shoved into their faces. This week, Devindra and PCWorld Senior Editor Mark Hachman discuss Microsoft's surprising plan to fix Windows 11 by refocusing on customization and core features, instead of bringing Copilot AI into tons of apps. Is there any enthusiasm left for Windows? Or will most people be better off considering macOS or Linux? Subscribe! iTunes Spotify Pocket Casts Stitcher Google Podcasts Topic Microsoft hits the reset button on Windows 11, de-emphasizing Copilot AI 1:03 OpenAI pulls the plug on its Sora video generation app after just 5 months 25:23 Metas terrible week in court, part 1: $375 million ruling in New Mexico child engagement case 33:58 Metas terrible week in court, part 2: Meta and Google lose landmark social media addiction suit 38:49 OpenAI puts erotic chat on hold indefinitely 43:49 Update your iPhones: iOS exploit Darksword released on GitHub 46:39 Epic games lays off 1,000 workers after Fortnite engagement dips 47:48 Honda and Sony kill off their Afeela EV collaboration 49:26 Listener Mail: Which Mac Mini to get for a budding pro photographer 55:15 Pop culture picks 57:52 Credits Host: Devindra Hardawar Guest: Mark Hachman Producer: Ben Ellman Music: Dale North and Terrence OBrien This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/computing/engadget-podcast-can-microsoft-fix-windows-11-by-dumping-ai-122601592.html?src=rss

The Morning After: Sony and Hondas debut EV is dead before it even arrived

Honda and Sony announced that they are discontinuing both the Afeela 1 and 2, their electric cars. The company is reviewing its business direction, but it's hard to expect much from a car company thats cancelled all of its cars. The Afeela 1, casually called the PlayStation Car, was meant to be a fusion of a modern EV and your own digital media bubble. (You could have a God of War -themed dash if you wanted that.) Engadget Theres a wider pressure on Honda, beyond this risky collaboration with Sony. It expects to take a $15.7 billion loss after writing off a large portion of its EV investment. The USs removal of federal EV tax credits and the imposition of tariffs have hit everything hard. The Afeela was exciting on paper, but in person, it was a pretty unassuming sedan. And expensive! Rival EV makers were offering more for less. Also: dont tease a car for six full years. Its never a good sign. Check out Tim Stevens editorial on how it all fell apart. Mat Smith The other big stories (and deals) this morning Ugh, Netflix is raising prices again Sanders and Ocasio-Cortez introduce a bill to pause US data center construction . OpenAI is shutting down its Sora video generation app Hades 2 is coming to Xbox Series X/S and PS5 on April 14 Meta and YouTube lose social media addiction case TikTok and Snap settled ahead of the trial. Smart. A jury in Los Angeles has found that Meta and YouTube were negligent in a closely watched trial over social media addiction. The two companies were ordered to pay $6 million in damages to a woman who said their addictive features harmed her. For Meta, it's the second legal setback in recent weeks, after a New Mexico jury ruled against it on child safety issues. Meta was ordered to pay $375 million in penalties, making this settlement seem small in comparison. The companies are planning to appeal. Continue reading. Sonos Play review The company's best portable speaker so far. Engadget The Sonos Play could be the companys reset button, a way to remind people what the company does well and move on from busted updates, expensive gambits and fussy apps. The $299 Play is a portable speaker that sits between the $499 Sonos Move 2 and the $179 Roam 2. The new speaker sounds great, has a wide and versatile feature set and wont break the bank. We particularly like the inclusion of Bluetooth grouping. Continue reading. DJI Avata 360 drone review Theres a new 360-degree drone in town. Engadget DJI responded quickly to Insta360s debut drone, the Antigravity A1, with the Avata 360. Its drawn from years of drone experience (and tech from its new Osmo 360 action cam). Compared to the A1, its safer to fly around people and offers single-camera OIS 4K footage in addition to 8K 360 video. The 360 video it shoots offers incredible editing flexibility, but overall quality is lower than that of DJIs other drones. Its cheaper than its 360 drone rival, too, though US availability remains unclear. Continue reading. This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/general/the-morning-after-engadget-newsletter-121539576.html?src=rss

MLB The Show 26 is turning me into more of a baseball fan

There were two questions I was looking to answer as I fired up MLB The Show 26 . First, how much does the game cater to a baseball newbie like me? Second, will it keep me hooked enough to keep playing after my first few games? I think it's important to share some personal context. I have very limited experience with baseball. I have been to one MLB game, which was on my first visit to Canada as a teen. The lead-off Toronto Blue Jays hitter scored a home run on his first at-bat. Fireworks went off and everyone was going wild. Fun! But that was the only score of the whole game. My dad and I (both lifelong soccer fans, for what its worth) were bored lifeless for the rest of the three hours. An incredible run of a dog playing a baseball game at Games Done Quick aside, I had no real interest in the sport for the next couple of decades until the Blue Jays made a deep run into the 2025 playoffs. This time, now as a Canadian citizen, I bought into the excitement and watched all of the World Series last year. I was enthralled. I slowly started to appreciate the nuances of pitching, the skill of trying to make every pitch look identical at the time the ball is thrown to hopefully hoodwink the batter. Friends who are in-the-know tolerated my most basic of questions about how everything works as the postseason wore on. Now, Im planning to watch a lot more games this year and MLB The Show 26 arrived at just the right time to get me ready for the new season. Sony's San Diego Studio seemed to be speaking to me, personally, when the first thing the game asked me to do was select my preferred playstyle. The Competitive track was definitely out for now. The Simulation option offers an authentic MLB experience that plays true to player and team ratings. I wasn't quite feeling that either. As a newcomer to all of this, I had to select the Casual style. Thats billed as an easier, fun, pick up and play experience with an emphasis on learning the game. Exactly what I needed. I was immediately impressed with how deeply you can customize the gameplay, even if the vast array of batting and pitching options in particular felt a little overwhelming. Using both a thumbstick to aim and button to swing at the ball seemed too much for someone who has no idea as yet how to read pitches. Dipping my toes in slowly was surely going to help me avoid getting too frustrated too quickly and uninstalling the game, so I chose to keep everything as simple as possible. Im not switching off options like automated bullpen warm ups for a long time, if ever. Finally, after about 20 minutes of fine-tuning some settings in the tutorial, it was game time. The Dodgers didn't know what hit 'em as I won my first game 38-0. I thought this Shohei guy was supposed to be good? Pffft, he didn't even register a hit. His team only got a measly two players on base, while I had 46 hits. That blowout was a fun intro to MLB The Show 26 , but I had to bump up the difficulty and make it a little more challenging if there was any chance of me sticking with it. Instead of jumping into the Road to the Show career mode, an online match or another exhibition game to get my feet a tad wetter, I next tried the Storylines feature. This is what really drew me into MLB The Show 26. San Diego Studio has been sharing the stories of several notable players from the Negro Leagues in the last few editions of the series. I know very little about baseball history outside of household names. So I was fascinated to learn about the likes of Roy Campanella, who debuted in the league as a 15-year-old catcher, and Mamie Peanut Johnson, the league's first female pitcher. The developers did a fantastic job of connecting these athletes' stories to playable moments from their playing careers. Cutscene insights from Bob Kendrick, the president of the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum, tied everything together quite beautifully. Great stories are such an effective way to pull you into a sport and to start learning about it. Stories connect us more than just about anything else. The default difficulty in the Storylines mode was much higher than I dealt with in my first washout game. Still, that gave me a chance to practice the Competitive playstyle without having to play a full game or the stop-start nature of the tutorial. My pitching was less accurate, so figuring out how to compensate for that made for an interesting challenge. Batting was a lot tougher too, with balls travelling faster and pitchers trying to trick me. At first, I was swinging at every ball, but that clearly was the wrong idea. I tried to be more judicious and wait to see if a ball was breaking, but that meant I was swinging too late and fouling or giving the fielders an easy catch. That's a tricky conundrum to solve, and I'll need a lot more practice before I dream of playing online. I'm not even going to get started on how woeful I am at catching. And yet all of this deepened my appreciation for baseball. There's so much more nuance and complexity to the sport than I realized until a few months ago. And even as someone who doesn't typically enjoy turn-based games, I found myself getting into the swing of it... so to speak. I'm never going to care about Diamond Dynasty, MLB The Show's take on Ultimate Team modes in EA Sports games. I can't see myself diving into the team management-focused Franchise mode, in large part because I don't yet have a strong enough understanding of stats to have a decent handle on what makes a specific player great in their role. And as much as I like the idea of the Road to the Show career mode in which you can stick with a player from their high school days all the way to a Hall of Fame induction I don't think I can invest enough time into that to make it worth the effort. I did find the answers to the two main questions I had about MLB The Show 26. It does a bang-up job of easing a baseball newbie like me into the fray. I'm eager to keep playing as well. I don't think MLB The Show has quite enough pull to keep me away from my actual forever game, Overwatch , for too long. But I can absolutely see myself playing it on a second screen while streaming some MLB games this season. After all, I'm always on the lookout for a great story. MLB The Show 26 is out now on PS5, Xbox Series X/S and Nintendo Switch. This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/gaming/playstation/mlb-the-show-26-is-turning-me-into-more-of-a-baseball-fan-120000724.html?src=rss

RGG's Stranger Than Heaven game will span five time periods

Ryu Ga Gotoku Studio has revealed more details about its upcoming title, Stranger Than Heaven , at the Xbox Partner Preview stream . While previous teasers showed that it was going to be set in the 1910s and 1940s, it turns out its gameplay will span five different time periods: 1915, 1929, 1943, 1951 and 1965. The games events will also take place in five different cities. Ryu Ga Gotoku has yet to reveal what the locations will be based on, but the setting for 1965 seems to be Kamurocho. Thats the fictionalized version of Tokyos Kabukicho entertainment district in the studios games, the Yakuza and Judgment series. One time period seems to be set during winter, while another focuses on a hot spring town. Its clear from teasers and the new trailer RGG released that new title will share Yakuzas aesthetics and maybe even its fighting mechanics. The studio has yet to say whether it will be connected to the Yakuza series, but fans believe Stranger Than Heaven could focus on the beginnings of the yakuza clans that appeared throughout the franchise. RGG Studio will reveal more details about the game on another stream with Xbox on May 6 at 7PM Eastern time. For now, you can watch the trailer below for a preview. Take note that while the studio has teamed up with Xbox for these reveals, the game will also be available on Steam and the PS5. This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/gaming/rggs-stranger-than-heaven-game-will-span-five-time-periods-114554699.html?src=rss

Court temporarily blocks US government from labeling Anthropic as a 'supply chain risk'

The court has granted Anthropics request for a preliminary injunction, preventing the government from banning its products for federal use and from formally labeling it as a supply chain risk, at least for now. If youll recall, things turned sour between the company and the Trump administration when Anthropic refused to change the terms of its contract that would allow the government to use its technology for mass surveillance and the development of autonomous weapons. In response to Anthropics refusal, the president ordered federal agencies to stop using Claude and the companys other services. The Defense Department also officially labeled it as a supply chain risk, which is typically reserved for entities typically based in US adversaries like China that threaten national security. In addition, department secretary Pete Hegseth warned companies that if they want to work with the government, they must sever ties with Anthropic. The AI company challenged the designation in court, calling it unlawful and in violation of free speech and its rights to due process. It asked the court to put a pause on the ban while the lawsuit is ongoing, as well. In a court filing, the Defense Department said giving Anthropic continued access to its warfighting infrastructure would introduce unacceptable risk to its supply chains. But Judge Rita F. Lin of the District Court for the Northern District of California said the measures the government took appear designed to punish Anthropic. Lin wrote in her decision that it seems Anthropic is being punished for criticizing the government in the press. Punishing Anthropic for bringing public scrutiny to the governments contracting position is classic illegal First Amendment retaliation, she continued. The judge also said that the supply chain risk designation is contrary to law, arbitrary and capricious. She added that the government argued that Anthropic showed its subversive tendencies by questioning the use of its technology. Nothing in the governing statute supports the Orwellian notion that an American company may be branded a potential adversary and saboteur of the US for expressing disagreement with the government, she wrote. Anthropic told The New York Times that its grateful to the court for moving swiftly and that its now focused on working productively with the government to ensure all Americans benefit from safe, reliable AI. The companys lawsuit is still ongoing, and the court has yet to issue its final decision. Judge Lin said, however, that Anthropic has shown a likelihood of success on its First Amendment claim. This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/ai/court-temporarily-blocks-us-government-from-labeling-anthropic-as-a-supply-chain-risk-083857528.html?src=rss

Samsung launches Galaxy Book 6, Galaxy Book 6 Pro and Galaxy Book 6 Ultra AI PCs in India

Samsungs Galaxy Book 6 series uses Intel Core Ultra series 3 processors with an integrated NPU supports up to 50 TOPS for AI-driven tasks

Xiaomi launches Redmi 15A 5G for budget buyers in India

Redmi 15A 5G ships with a 6,300 mAh battery, and supports 15W charging

ASICS GEL-Kayano 32 Review: Has Kaizen Caught Up with Indian Roads?

The ASICS GEL-Kayano isnt just a shoe, but something that has become a symbol of dependable performance

Apple plans to open Siri to rival AI services: Report

Apple is developing tools to let chatbot apps installed via its App Store work with Siri and other features under its Apple Intelligence platform, Bloomberg News reported

Google Gemini now lets you import your chats and data from other AI apps

Google is adding a pair of new features to Gemini aimed at making it easier to switch to the AI chatbot. Personal history and past context are big components to how a chatbot provides customized answers to each user. Gemini now supports importing history from other AI platforms. Both free and paid consumer accounts can use these options. With the first option, Gemini can create a prompt asking a competitor's AI chatbot to summarize what it has learned about you. The result might include details such as your typical written communication style, your family members' names or your key preferences. The other AI tool's summary can then be pasted into Gemini, providing Google's platform with a preliminary profile. The second option allows users to import their entire chat history with a different AI assistant into Gemini. Doing so allows people to reference earlier conversations or requests made on a different platform after migrating to the Google option. Anthropic recently introduced a similar memory import feature, so Google may also be hoping to scoop up some of the people who are dropping OpenAI following its shady-sounding new arrangement with the Department of War. Whatever the motivation, these options should make it easier to have a seamless transition between providers. This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/ai/google-gemini-now-lets-you-import-your-chats-and-data-from-other-ai-apps-225711015.html?src=rss

Apple discontinues the Mac Pro

Apple has confirmed to Engadget that the Mac Pro, the desktop tower-shaped computer that was last updated in 2023, has been discontinued. As 9to5Mac notes , the computer no longer appears in the lineup of Macs on Apple's website or in its storefront. That means at least for now, the Mac Studio is the Apple's top-of-the-line professional computer. The current version of the Mac Pro was introduced in 2019, with a distinct cheese-grater design, Intel chips and a bevy of easily-accessible expansion slots. Apple released the computer as a make-good for several years of inadequately meeting the performance needs of professional Mac users, but its uncontested time at the top of the company's lineup was short-lived. A year later in 2020, Apple began transitioning to its custom M-series Arm chips , proving Macs could be more powerful and power-efficient by abandoning Intel entirely. Apple eventually updated the Mac Pro to the M2 Ultra without updating the computer's design, but by then the writing was on the wall. The far smaller Mac Studio, introduced in 2022 , also supported the new chip, and it's been updated since then while the Mac Pro has languished. Bloomberg reported Apple was planning to retire the Mac Pro in November 2025, so it's not all that surprising the company quietly pulled the plug only a few months later. Apples effort to cater to professionals, creatives and anyone with a chunk of change to drop on a fast computer lives on through the Mac Studio, and the recently announced Studio Display XDR , itself a replacement for the Pro Display XDR Apple announced for the 2019 Mac Pro. Now all the company needs to do is update the Mac Studio with an M5 Max chip to make it the most pro computer Apple offers. Update, March 26, 6:25PM ET: Added confirmation from Apple that the Mac Pro has been discontinued. This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/computing/apple-discontinues-the-mac-pro-221502339.html?src=rss

Ugh, Netflix is raising prices again

Netflix is raising prices across all of its subscription tiers, according to an updated Plans and Pricing page spotted by Android Authority . The company last raised prices in January 2025, when the cost of all of its tiers were jacked up by $1 or more. As of this latest price hike, Netflix's ad-supported Standard plan is going from $8 per month to $9 per month, while the ad-free version is rising from $18 to $20 per month. The company's Premium plan, meanwhile, which supports things like 4K streams, spatial audio and the ability to watch content on four devices at the same time, is jumping from $25 to $27 per month. Netflix is also making the cost of adding an extra member to your plan more expensive. Adding a member to an ad-supported plan now costs an additional $8 per month, while adding someone to an ad-free plan now costs $10 per month. When asked to comment on the price changes, a Netflix spokesperson shared that the company is updating prices in the U.S to reflect improvements to our wide range of entertainment and the quality of our service. The new prices will roll out to current subscribers in the coming weeks. Existing members will be notified by email a month before the new prices are applied to them, the spokesperson said. The exact timing will depend on the specific members billing cycle. Netflix is not quite at the point where it's raising the cost of its subscription every year, but it's getting close. Prior to last year's price hike, the company last raised prices in 2023 . The streaming service's growing subscription fees have helped Netflix to continue its push into streaming live events like sports and reality TV competitions , and to license new kinds of content like video podcasts . If Netflix hadn't dropped out in February, they also would have served as financial backing for the company's acquisition of Warner Bros . Even though Warner Bros. Discovery ultimately decided to take Paramount Skydance's offer , Netflix didn't leave the deal empty handed: Paramount paid the company $2.8 billion to formally end its acquisition of the historic film studio. This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/entertainment/streaming/ugh-netflix-is-raising-prices-again-202318277.html?src=rss

Judge tosses out X's advertiser boycott lawsuit

A US District Court Judge for the Northern District of Texas has dismissed X Corp.s lawsuit against advertisers it claimed participated in an illegal boycott of X, Reuters reports . X originally filed its lawsuit in 2024 in response to advertisers pulling ads from the social media platform, a decision reportedly motivated by X's lax approach to moderating hate speech. Judge Jane J. Boyle was not swayed by Xs claims that advertisers like Twitch , Shell, Nestl and Lego pulling advertising amounted to an antitrust injury. The companies named in Xs lawsuit are members of the World Federation of Advertisers Global Alliance for Responsible Media (GARM), an organization used by advertisers to bargain for certain safety standards from the platforms they advertise on. Advertisers took issue with X's approach to moderation and responded accordingly, purchasing ad space on other social platforms instead. The decision hurt X's ad revenue, but as Boyle writes in the dismissal, the company made no claim that advertisers did so to benefit a competitor or to form their own competing platform. They also didn't prevent X from selling ad space to other companies not in GARM. The very nature of the alleged conspiracy does not state an antitrust claim, Boyle writes, and the Court therefore has no qualm dismissing with prejudice. Xs lawsuit being dismissed with prejudice means the company will be unable to refile the lawsuit at a later date. Separately, Judge Boyle also denied X the ability to appeal her decision. The company's rancor for advertisers was apparent when owner Elon Musk compared X's lawsuit to going to war , but the vitriol appears to be all for naught. X claimed in January 2026 that nearly all its top advertisers had returned to buying ads on the platform. As a subsidiary of xAI , the social platform is now also facing new, even more pressing issues, like its AI assistant Grok's alleged willingness to generate sexually explicit imagery of minors . This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/social-media/judge-tosses-out-xs-advertiser-boycott-lawsuit-184832071.html?src=rss

Blumhouse's horror-centric cozy game Grave Seasons will be released on August 14

The spooky, yet cozy, game Grave Seasons is coming out on August 14, which was announced at today's Xbox Partner Preview event . This is basically Stardew Valley , but set in a Lovecraftian nightmare of a town. Players farm, mine and romance villagers, but also solve murders and deal with the occasional bloodthirsty demon or two. It looks fun! This is being published by Blumhouse Games, which is a division of the film studio that pumps out modern horror hits like Happy Death Day , M3GAN and Five Nights at Freddy's . Perfect Garbage is the development studio behind the game, which previously made the narrative-driven cyberpunk title Love Shore . Grave Seasons is coming to just about every platform out there, including Xbox Series X/S, Steam, PS5 and the Switch. It's truly a golden age for cozy gamers. This isn't the only cozy game with a darker undercurrent. Titles like Graveyard Keeper , Cozy Grove and Spiritfarer have all experimented with this idea. Even Nintendo's recent smash Pokmon Pokopia is set in some kind of post-apocalyptic world. This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/gaming/blumhouses-horror-centric-cozy-game-grave-seasons-will-be-released-on-august-14-184042880.html?src=rss

Dispatch is coming to Xbox this summer

Dispatch was one of 2025s standout titles and one of the best narrative games in years, which made its no-show on Xbox all the more puzzling. Luckily, thats being rectified this summer. Announced during todays Xbox Partner Preview broadcast , Dispatch is coming to Xbox Series X|S, Xbox on PC and Xbox Cloud later this year. It will also be an Xbox Play Anywhere title at launch, so you can play it on your console and continue on your PC or Windows handheld, or vice versa. ICYMI last year, the game is pitched as a superhero workplace comedy by developer AdHoc Studio, which was founded by a group of ex-Telltale developers. You play as the excellently named Robert Robertson, a recently out-of-work superhero whos talked into reluctantly taking a 9-5 desk job that involves him dispatching other heroes. Dispatch is an episodic game, which rolled out gradually on PS5 and PC last year but will presumably be available in its entirety straight away when the Xbox version arrives. Gameplay is divided between interactive narrative segments that will feel familiar to anyone who played Telltales previous titles, and the management sim-like dispatch missions. Both are very well done, but I was shocked by the quality of Dispatch s writing and animation when I played it on PS5. Its essentially a prestige animated superhero show that you participate in, and I genuinely agonized over loads of decisions. It helps that the star-studded voice cast, which features Breaking Bad s Aaron Paul, Laura Bailey and Jeffrey Wright, is bringing its A-game across the board. The game was a big hit with the wider Engadget team too, making it into our best games of 2025 list. Dispatch has also since made its way to Switch, but that port was highly controversial after it emerged that some of the games content had been censored. I would assume that all nudity and explicit content will be present and correct in the Xbox version, which will cost $30 or $40 if you want the Deluxe Edition, which includes four digital comics and a digital artbook. A firm release date was not announced in the stream. This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/gaming/xbox/dispatch-is-coming-to-xbox-this-summer-183735998.html?src=rss

Stalker 2 is getting its first DLC, Cost of Hope, this summer

Stalker 2 is getting its first DLC, titled Cost of Hope , this summer. The expansion and its general release window was announced during today's Xbox Partner Preview showcase. It's been more than a year since the base game finally released, closing a long development cycle that was disrupted by Russia's invasion of Ukraine, where the studio GSC Game World was initially based. Stalker 2 was released on PlayStation 5 in the interim, but otherwise, the team has been focused on making this substantial DLC. Stalker 2: Cost of Hope will add two new regions and a new story that takes place alongside the events of the base game. You still play as protagonist Skif as you negotiate between two factions, Duty and Freedom, that have opposing views of the Zone and how to approach it. The blog post teased that there will be a second expansion on the way to close out the full Stalker 2 story as a trilogy. For now, the survival-horror saga will continue when Cost of Hope drops for the Xbox Series X/S, Xbox Cloud, Xbox on PC, PC and PlayStation 5 this summer. This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/gaming/stalker-2-is-getting-its-first-dlc-cost-of-hope-this-summer-183009759.html?src=rss

Google begins rolling out Search Live globally

Following a false start last week , Google has begun rolling out Search Live globally . The tool allows you to point your phone's camera at an object or scene and ask questions about what you see in front of you. With today's expansion, Google is making Search Live available in every location and language where it offers its AI Mode chatbot . With that, people in more than 200 countries and territories can use Search Live to get answers to their questions. Behind the expansion is Google's Gemini 3.1 Flash Live model. According to the company, the new AI system was designed to be natively multilingual, and capable of more natural conversations. It should also be more reliable and faster. Separately from Search Live, Google is bringing Live Translate to iOS . Live Translate, if you need a reminder, allows you to put on a pair of headphones and get a real-time translation of what another person is saying. With today's announcement, Google is also bringing the feature to more countries, including Germany, Italy, Spain, Japan and the UK, across both Android and iOS. All told, Live Translate can now understand more than 70 languages and work with any set of headphones. Neat. This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/ai/google-begins-rolling-out-search-live-globally-180938407.html?src=rss

Hades 2 is coming to Xbox Series X/S and PS5 on April 14

If youve been (impatiently) waiting for Hades 2 to hit Xbox Series X/S and PS5 , theres some great news for you coming out of Thursdays Xbox Partner Preview showcase . Supergiants roguelite action RPG is coming to those consoles (as well as Xbox on PC and Xbox Cloud) on April 14. Itll be available on Xbox Game Pass too. The full version of Hades 2 hit PC and Nintendo Switch last September after over a year of Steam early access. It was one of our favorite games of 2025 . This time around, you play as Melino, the sister of the original games protagonist, Zagreus. Melino has a longer dash than her sibling, a sprint ability and more of a focus on area-of-effect attacks than ranged projectiles. You can also expect tough bosses along two separate paths, animal familiars, a range of modifiable weapons and messy romances. This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/gaming/xbox/hades-2-is-coming-to-xbox-series-xs-and-ps5-on-april-14-175819696.html?src=rss

The EU is investigating Snapchat over possible child protection breaches

The European Union has opened a formal investigation into whether Snapchat has breached Digital Services Act (DSA) regulations regarding the safeguarding of children using its app. Regulators say that the company, whose audience demographic has always skewed young, may not be doing enough to protect minors from grooming and recruitment for criminal purposes. The EU is also looking into whether Snapchats younger users are too easily accessing information on how to buy illegal drugs and age-restricted products. Brussels argues that while Snapchat requires users to be at least 13 years of age to sign up for an account, its self-declaration age assurance system may not be an adequate means of ensuring those younger than the minimum age cant engage with the platform. The European Commission also says the current measures fail to assess whether users are younger than 17 years old, which it says is necessary for an age-appropriate experience. It also alleges that adults are able to exploit the current system to lie about their own age and impersonate minors. Investigators believe that the app itself doesnt allow for other users to report accounts they suspect are being used by people younger than the minimum age requirements. Moreover, they argue that reporting illegal content found on the app is not easy enough, and that Snapchat may not be informing its users about possibilities for redress. Other issues being looked at by the European Commission include child and teen accounts being recommended to other users by Snapchats Find Friends feature and insufficient guidance on available account safety features. The investigators are now in the process of gathering evidence, sending out interview invitations and requesting information from Snap. The Commission says the investigation is based on analysis of the last three years of risk assessment reports filed by Snapchat, as well as an information request it sent on October 10 in 2025. The safety and wellbeing of all Snapchatters is a top priority, and our teams have worked for years to raise the bar on safety, a Snapchat spokesperson said in a statement to Engadget. Snapchat is designed to help people communicate with close friends and family in a positive, trusted environment, with privacy and safety built in from the start - including additional protections for teens. As online risks evolve, we continuously review, strengthen, and invest in these safeguards. The company added that it has acted proactively and transparently in its efforts to meet the DSAs requirements, and said it would fully cooperate with the Commission throughout its investigation. Snap is one of a number of social media companies currently facing increased scrutiny regarding the safety of minors using its platform. In 2023, the company added new features designed to make it harder for teenagers to connect with strangers. One of these measures involved increasing the amount of mutual friends users must have before appearing in search and suggested accounts. Along with TikTok , the company recently settled a lawsuit that accused its platform of causing social media addiction. The case was brought by a 20-year-old woman who said shed been harmed by addictive features on Meta, YouTube, TikTok and Snap as a child. This week, a jury ruled against Meta and YouTube in the trial, with the companies ordered to pay the woman, who was named as K.G.M in official documents, $6 million in damages. This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/social-media/the-eu-is-investigating-snapchat-over-possible-child-protection-breaches-174722759.html?src=rss

Sanders and Ocasio-Cortez introduce a bill to pause US data center construction

File this one under hings that might have a shot after the midterms. On Wednesday, Senator Bernie Sanders (I-VT) and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) introduced the Artificial Intelligence Data Center Moratorium Act. The bill would require an immediate pause on data center construction until specific new regulations are passed. The legislation aims to address the problem that AI is advancing faster than Washington's regulatory response ( basically none ) has kept pace. Despite its benefits , the technology poses grave threats to the job market and the environment . Rapidly advancing deepfakes could soon leave people unable to determine truth from fiction. (That is, more than online propaganda already has .) AI also makes mass surveillance easier than ever , potentially giving unelected tech leaders unfettered control over society. Last year alone, AI was responsible for over 54,000 layoffs nationwide, Rep. Ocasio-Cortez said in a press conference. And when we talk about those jobs, it's not just a number. These are industries. These are communities. These are families... All of this harm has occurred not in spite of, but because of, the absence of federal legislation to regulate AI. SOPA Images via Getty Images The bill would mandate not only an immediate pause on new data center construction but also on the upgrading of existing ones. This moratorium would only be lifted after one or more laws were passed to provide federal oversight of AI products. First, AI products would need to be proven safe for humanity. (That includes not just physical safety, but also areas like civil rights, privacy and public health.) The wealth AI generates would need to be shared with the American people, not just the billionaire tech bros pulling the strings. Protections would need to be in place to safeguard against mass unemployment. (Increasingly, companies are flat-out admitting that their layoffs are due to AI automation .) The legislation would also require future data centers to be environmentally safe. They would need to avoid increasing electricity or other utility bills for Americans. AI data centers would have to create union jobs with strong labor standards. Communities affected by them would be empowered to approve or reject their construction or upgrades. And no government subsidies could be provided for them. A moratorium will give us time, Sen. Sanders said. Time to understand the risks. Time to protect working families. Time to defend our democracy. And time to ensure that technology works for all of us, not just the few. Tom Williams via Getty Images On the one hand, these could be popular proposals. In a December poll , 60 percent of Americans including majorities of Democrats, Republicans and independents said they supported more AI regulation. However, in Washington's current environment, well, dont get your hopes up. AI companies are pouring enormous sums of money into campaigns for both political parties. The industry spent at least $83 million in federal elections last year and that was an off-year without national elections. And of course, anti-regulatory Republicans currently control the presidency, both chambers of Congress and (essentially) the Supreme Court. So, fat chance it goes anywhere right now. But depending on how the 2026 midterms (and beyond) shake out who knows? One can dream, anyway. This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/ai/sanders-and-ocasio-cortez-introduce-a-bill-to-pause-us-data-center-construction-174451974.html?src=rss

Wikipedia has banned AI-generated articles

English Wikipedia has banned the use of generative AI when writing or rewriting articles. The platform says it came to this decision because using AI to whip up copy often violates several of Wikipedia's core content policies. There are a couple of minor exceptions. Editors can use large language models (LLMs) to refine their own writing, but only if the copy is checked for accuracy. The policy states that this is because LLMs can go beyond what you ask of them and change the meaning of the text such that it is not supported by the sources cited. Editors can also use LLMs to assist with language translation. However, they must be fluent enough in both languages to catch errors. Once again, the information must be checked for inaccuracies. My genuine hope is that this can spark a broader change. Empower communities on other platforms, and see this become a grassroots movement of users deciding whether AI should be welcome in their communities, and to what extent, Wikipedia administrator Chaotic Enby wrote . The administrator also called the policy a pushback against enshittification and the forceful push of AI by so many companies in these last few years. There is one thing worth noting. Wikipedia is not a monolith. Each Wikipedia site has its own independent rules and editing teams. Some may decide to embrace LLMs. However, others may go even further. Spanish Wikipedia, for instance, has fully banned the use of LLMs, with no exceptions for refinement or translation . Also, identifying text written by LLMs is not an exact science so Wikipedia's human moderators could miss some spots of slop every now and again. This is more likely on pages with less frequent moderation. This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/ai/wikipedia-has-banned-ai-generated-articles-173641377.html?src=rss

EU says Pornhub and others failed to stop minors accessing adult content

The European Commission (EC) accused four porn platforms of not doing enough to prevent minors from accessing their content. In its preliminary findings of a 10-month investigation , the European Union's regulatory arm said Pornhub, Stripchat, XNXX and XVideos have breached the Digital Services Act (DSA). The EC said the platforms have an ineffective self-declaration measure they only require users to make a single click to state they are over 18. Nor do efforts like content warnings, page blurring and restricted to adults labels effectively prevent minors from accessing harmful content. As such, the EC said the platforms are failing to protect the wellbeing and rights of minors, and it demanded that they put privacy-preserving age verification systems in place. Furthermore, the EC said the quartet did not use objective and thorough methodologies to fully assess the risks to minors accessing content on their platforms. The regulator determined Stripchat, Xvideos and XNXX either misrepresented or failed to take into account consultations with organizations that specialize in children's rights and age verification systems in their risk assessments. It also suggested that the platforms' risk assessments disproportionately emphasized business-centric concerns, such as reputational damage, rather than focusing on the societal risks to minors. The platforms now have the chance to review the EC's preliminary findings and respond to them. They can implement measures to remedy the alleged DSA breaches as well. However, if the Commission confirms that the platforms failed to adhere to the DSA and it decides to issue a non-compliance decision, the porn providers could be on the hook for fines of up to six percent of their global annual turnover. In the EU, online platforms have a responsibility. Children are accessing adult content at increasingly younger ages and these platforms must put in place robust, privacy-preserving and effective measures to keep minors off their services, Henna Virkkunen, the European Unions executive vice-president for tech sovereignty, security and democracy, said in a statement. Today, we are taking another action to enforce the DSA ensuring that children are properly protected online, as they have the right to be. This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/big-tech/eu-says-pornhub-and-others-failed-to-stop-minors-accessing-adult-content-155632108.html?src=rss

AMD's Ryzen 9950X3D2 chip features an incredible 208MB of on-chip cache

AMD just revealed the Ryzen 9950X3D2 Dual Edition desktop processor , which is a beastly follow-up to last year's 9950X3D . This is the company's first desktop processor where both chiplets have been equipped with AMD's proprietary 3D V-Cache technology, which seems like a boon for gamers. Each chiplet includes 104MB of cache, offering an incredible 208MB total on-chip cache. 208MB of cache means more game data, more assets and more working data sitting right next to the CPU cores, AMD Senior VP Jack Huynh explained in an announcement video. Just like last year's release, the 9950X3D2 features a 16-core processor based on the Zen 5 architecture. This new release has increased to a 200W TDP, compared to the 170TDP of the original. This could indicate an increase in speed and performance, but with more heat output. AMD AMD says the chip will be great for both gaming and for creative workloads, like compiling game engines, running AI models and rendering 3D objects. The company says it can deliver a five to 10 percent performance boost when using applications like Unreal Engine, Chromium, Blender and DaVinci Resolve. Last year's 9950X3D chip was already an absolute powerhouse, so we are looking forward to putting this one through its paces. The Ryzen 9950X3D2 chip will be available on April 22, though we don't have a price just yet. The standard 9950X3D currently costs around $675 . This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/computing/amds-ryzen-9950x3d2-chip-features-an-incredible-208mb-of-on-chip-cache-154137156.html?src=rss

How to use Apple's Playlist Playground to make AI-generated mixes

With the release of iOS 26.4 , Apple Music's Playlist Playground can now generate playlists with the help of AI. Best of all, you don't need an Apple Intelligence-capable iPhone to take advantage of the new feature. As long as you're a US Apple Music subscriber with your language set to English, you can start using Playlist Playground right now. Here's how to get started. How to create playlists using Playlist Playground A pair of screenshots showing off Apple Music's new Playlist Playground feature. Igor Bonifacic for Engadget For the time being, there are two ways to access Playlist Playground. For the time being, the company is highlighting the feature within the Top Picks for You section of Apple Music's Home tab. If you don't see a shortcut there, Apple integrated the feature into the app's existing playlist creation tool. Just tap the new icon found in the Library tab. If you're new to Apple Music, the flow looks like this: Open Apple Music. Navigate to the Library tab. Tap the playlist creation button. Write a prompt describing the mood or style of music you want to hear. To help people get started, Apple provides a selection of sample prompts. One pro tip: it's possible to use metadata in conjunction with Playlist Playground. For example, after Apple Music generates a playlist, you can tell Apple's model to edit it by removing any songs released before 2016. Of course, you're also free to add and remove songs manually as you please. Once you're happy with your new playlist, Apple Music treats all Playlist Playground mixes like it does any other playlist, meaning you can save it to your Library, download for offline playback, play it from your Apple Watch and share it with friends and invite them to add songs. FAQ What Apple devices is Playlist Playground available on? As of the writing of this article, Playlist Playground is a beta release only available to Apple Music subscribers in the US with their preferred language set to English. An iPhone or iPad running iOS 26.4, or an Apple Vision headset running visionOS 26.4 is also required. As Apple releases the feature in more countries and languages, we'll update this article. Is Playlist Playground available on Android? Yes, if you use Apple Music on Android, Playlist Playground is available there too. How does Playlist Playground work? When generating mixes, Playlist Playground pulls from both trending data and your personal listening history. Along with other AI-powered Apple Music features like AutoMix and Lyrics Translation, Playlist Playground runs as part of the Apple Music service. Thats one of the reasons Apple can offer it outside of Apple Intelligence-capable devices. This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/entertainment/music/how-to-use-apples-playlist-playground-to-make-ai-generated-mixes-134500610.html?src=rss

HBO Max finally launches in the UK and Ireland

Its been a long wait, but HBO Max has finally arrived in the UK and Ireland, rounding off the streaming services European expansion. Oscar-winners One Battle After Another and Sinners are both available to stream at launch, alongside Max Original shows like The Pitt . Season three of Euphoria arrives in April, and HBO Max is also home to mega-franchises like The Lord of the Rings and Harry Potter, both of which are celebrating their 25th anniversaries in 2026. Starting today, March 26, UK audiences can choose from three plans. Basic with Ads costs 5 per month, and offers all HBO shows and select Warner Bros. movies at 1080p, with movies that first stream on HBO Max after their theatrical release excluded. Then there's Standard with Ads for 6 per month, which includes those straight-from-theaters releases and 30 downloads at the same resolution. Both can stream on two devices at a time. For an ad-free experience you can purchase a Standard or Premium plan. The former has all titles available on two devices, up to 30 downloads and, obviously no ads. Finally, the most expensive 15 per month Premium plan allows streaming on four devices in up to 4K Ultra HD with Dolby Atmos. You also get 100 offline downloads on this tier. Eligible Sky TV customers will automatically have HBO Basic with Ads rolled into their packages at no extra cost, thanks to an expanded partnership between Sky and Warner Bros. Discovery. This extends to NOW Entertainment subscribers, who will find HBO Max integrated into the NOW app. HBO Max is also now home to TNT Sports in the UK, which streams over 50 matches in the Premier League, as well as being home to the UEFA Champions League and various other sporting competitions, including MotoGP and the Tour de France. HBO Max launches in the UK as Warner Bros Discovery sets a date for the shareholder vote on its merger with Paramount Skydance, which was finally agreed last month. Netflix was paid a $2.8 billion fee for breaking up its initial well-documented deal to buy the historic studio. This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/entertainment/streaming/hbo-max-finally-launches-in-the-uk-and-ireland-133406342.html?src=rss

WhatsApp rolls out updates including multiple accounts for iOS

WhatsApp shared multiple quality of life updates coming to its messaging platform starting today. The first is a long awaited option to have two accounts on a single iOS device. The option has been available for years on Android , and iPhone users can now be logged into two separate accounts at once. The profile photo for the account will be visible in the bottom tab to double-check which persona you're messaging as. The other new features allow for easier movement of chat histories, both between platforms and devices in the same ecosystem. This chat transfer should make it easier to retain messages when upgrading to a new phone, especially if you're switching between iOS and Android. There's also a new option to delete large files directly from a WhatsApp chat to avoid storage clutter. It's available under the Manage Storage option when you tap a chat's name. It includes an option to delete just media files from a conversation. And of course it wouldn't be a tech news announcement without at least some AI features present. WhatsApp now supports using Meta AI for light photo editing, including removing backgrounds, changing aesthetic styles and deleting elements from the composition. There's also a Writing Help prompt that uses AI to help draft a message, although Meta's blog post states that using this still keeps chats private. The above features should be arriving to all WhatsApp users soon, according to the company. This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/social-media/whatsapp-rolls-out-updates-including-multiple-accounts-for-ios-130000252.html?src=rss

March Madness 2026: How to watch the Sweet 16 and Elite Eight this weekend

Its time to lock in those brackets. The 2026 NCAA basketball tournaments, affectionately known as March Madness , begin this week. In fact, some of the action on the mens side starts tonight. Both the mens and womens tournaments are available to stream through various apps and services, but navigating the web of broadcasters and TV channels can be confusing. Weve broken down when all the games are happening, where to watch and the best options for saving some cash doing so. What does the Sweet 16 and Elite Eight start? The mens NCAA Basketball Tournament Sweet 16 begins on Thursday, March 26 with four of the eight games. The first game begins at 7:10PM ET with the others following at 7:30PM ET, 9:45PM ET and 10:05PM ET. A similar schedule is expected for the second slate of Sweet 16 games on Friday, March 27. The Elite Eight will then follow on Saturday, March 28 and Sunday, March 29 with two games each day. Start times havent been announced for those just yet. On the womens side, everything is offset by a day. The first four Sweet 16 games take place on Friday, March 27 at 2:30PM ET, 5:00PM ET, 7:30PM ET and 10:00PM ET. The second set of matchups follows on Saturday, March 28 at 12:30PM ET, 3:00PM ET, 5:00PM ET and 7:30PM ET. The Elite Eight matchups are on Sunday, March 29 and Monday, March 30 with two games each day, but start times havent been announced for those. Heres the full schedule for each tournament: 2026 Mens NCAA Basketball Tournament First Four: March 17-18 First round: March 19-20 Second round: March 21-22 Sweet 16: March 26-27 Elite Eight: March 28-29 Final Four: April 4 Championship game: April 6 2026 Womens NCAA Basketball Tournament First Four: March 18-19 First round: March 20-21 Second round: March 22-23 Sweet 16: March 27-28 Elite Eight: March 29-30 Final Four: April 3 Championship game: April 5 How to stream the 2026 Mens NCAA Tournament Jacob Kupferman via Getty Images CBS and Warner Bros. Discovery share the broadcast rights to the mens tournament, so TV coverage will be spread across four networks. During the course of March Madness, games will air on CBS, TNT, TBS and truTV, with the final rounds and championship game landing on TBS. If you already have a paid TV plan (such as traditional cable), a good way to watch the mens tournament is with the March Madness Live app or website. There's a big catch though: CBS games aren't available in the app. That means this is really only a good option through the Elite Eight. Once you log in with your TV provider credentials, you can watch games on the other networks in one spot with features like multiview (up to four games at once) and a Fast Break stream that covers all the in-progress games in one spot. The app also offers ways to follow your bracket, if you filled it out on MarchMadness.com. And when youre watching on desktop, the crucial Boss Button will throw up a fake work screen to keep your job safe. In addition to your laptop or phone, March Madness Live is also available on Amazon devices, Fire TV, Apple TV, iOS, macOS, Google Play, LG smart TVs, Roku and Xbox consoles. The most affordable option to watch every game is to actually use two services. Its not ideal, I know, but it will save you a lot of money. HBO Maxs Basic plan is $11/month and gives you access to live games from TNT, TBS and truTV with three-game multiview (46 games total). That includes the Final Four and National Championship as those three games are on TBS this year. If you splurge for a pricier plan ($23/month), you can stream games in Dolby Vision with Dolby Atmos surround sound. For the CBS games, youll need a Paramount+ Premium subscription that costs $14/month ($6 for two months for new users). So, with this best price scenario, streaming all of the mens tournaments will cost $25 across two apps. A live TV service like YouTube TV or Hulu + Live TV is over $80 more per month at full price, but they would offer you all the games in the mens tournament in one place. YouTube TV is currently on sale for $60/month for the first two months after a free 10-day trial. Hulu + Live TV now includes Disney+ and ESPN Select, hence its higher price. How to stream the 2026 Womens NCAA Tournament Joe Buglewicz via Getty Images While Warner Brothers Discovery owns the rights to the mens NCAA Tournament, ESPN has the womens bracket locked down. Every game of the womens tournament will be spread across ABC, ESPN, ESPN2, ESPNU and ESPNEWS, including the First Four matchups. The Final Four will be on ESPN, but the championship game will air on ABC. All three of those culminating games will stream on ESPN+ (and in the ESPN app) as MegaCast feeds. ESPN says the MegaCasts are available in two options. First, Beyond the Rim provides an aerial camera angle with the main commentary and replays, plus the addition of enhanced stats. On the Rail shows you game action the full length of the floor. This feed will offer natural sound and replays. Since ESPN+ wont get every game, its not an option if you want to watch the entire tournament. However, since last years March Madness, Disney debuted standalone offerings for ESPN. The most affordable option here is ESPN Select which includes womens college basketball and costs $13/month. You could also opt for a live-TV streaming service like Sling , YouTube TV or Hulu + Live TV for a comprehensive experience. Sling is the cheapest of these, with the requisite Orange and Sports Extra plan costing $57 (Sling is currently offering a discount on the first month of Orange). YouTube and Hulu live TV options are both more expensive at over $80/month (YouTube TV currently discounted to $60 for the first two months), so its a matter of which set of content and features you like best. YouTube TV offers a handy multiview tool so you can watch up to four games at once, but Hulu + Live TV comes with Disney+ and ESPN Select for that cost. Once you have a TV plan that includes the ESPN family of networks, the ESPN app is the best place to watch the tournament. The mix of scores and info, along with multiview streaming for up to four games at a time on Apple TV and Xbox, make the app a well-equipped conduit for the womens tournament. The March Madness website only shows scores and news for the womens tournament. None of the womens games will be available for streaming live on the website. Are any of the March Madness games available to stream for free? Michael Reaves via Getty Images Without a TV provider login, you can watch all of the games broadcast on CBS on the March Madness website and mobile apps. Sure, its a small sample of the tournament, but its completely free and a good option for casual fans who dont have a paid TV plan they can exploit for more of the action. Its also a good way to watch the first round at work, if your company hasnt blocked streaming sites, or if you can discreetly watch on your phone. For the womens tournament, there arent any games available for free. Unless you have an old-school OTA antenna, that is, in which case you can watch womens games on ABC (and mens games on CBS) without any kind of streaming plan. Of course, as this is a streaming guide published in 2026, Id consider an antenna an extraordinary move. If you were hoping to use a free trial period to watch March Madness, Ive got bad news. None of them will last long enough to cover the entire tournament. Some services dont offer a free trial at all, but the longest is YouTube TV at 10 days. Sadly, that wont even get you through the second weekend. What if I want to stream both the mens and womens tournaments? If youre hoping to stream all of the mens and womens NCAA tournaments, I hope you ordered Samsungs eight-TV bundle . In terms of streaming services, just jump straight to a live-TV option like YouTube TV or Hulu + Live TV. I prefer the former because of its multiview feature. At times when there are multiple games that you want to watch, especially during the first two rounds, youll want multiview in order to keep tabs on all of the action. This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/entertainment/streaming/march-madness-2026-how-to-watch-the-sweet-16-and-elite-eight-this-weekend-154903032.html?src=rss

DJI Avata 360 drone review: 360 video hits new highs

After achieving action camera success, Insta360 invaded DJIs turf with the first mass-market panoramic drone, the Antigravity A1 . It had instant appeal for drone pilots, offering 8K 360 video and features like subject tracking, obstacle detection and FPV flying. Though beaten to the punch, DJI has responded quickly with the Avata 360, aided by its drone experience and camera tech from the new Osmo 360 action cam . It has a lot in common with its rival, but its safer to fly around people and offers single camera 4K footage on top of 8K 360 video. To find out how the Avata 360 stacks up against the A1, I tested it both indoors and out, around people and even stunt horses. The Avata 360 isnt perfect, but it is far more polished than its rival. As with other DJI drones of late, though, US availability remains unclear. How the Avata 360 works The 360 camera makes the Avata 360 different from any other DJI drone. It features two ultrawide cameras with f/1.9 lenses and 1.1-inch 64-megapixel sensors, with one pointing up and the other down for unobstructed 200-degree views. Those are then stitched together by software to create 360 degree video at up to 8K 60 fps. This setup fundamentally changes the way you pilot a drone and capture video. Since the 360 camera records everything around it, you can focus on flying and reframe shots later in DJIs Studio app. That 360 view is also handy when piloting in FPV mode. With the head tracking on DJIs Goggles N3, you can look all around you simply by turning your head. Unlike the Antigravity A1 that only shoots 360 video, the Avata 360 supports regular single-camera shooting as well. When you switch to that mode, the camera rotates forward and shoots 4K video at up to 60 fps with a 28mm field of view. DJIs drone also works with a regular controller, which isnt an option on the A1. You have to use the Insta360s goggles at all times. Design Because of the chunky 360 camera, the Avata 360 is slightly bigger than the Avata 2. Its also quite a bit heavier at 455 grams (one pound) and so, unlike the 249-gram Antigravity A1, youll need a permit to fly one in most regions. The Avata 360s propellers are shielded to protect the drone and keep it safe indoors or around people, unlike the open-prop A1. For additional protection it has two omni obstacle sensors on the side, a Lidar sensor up front, landing sensors on the bottom and, of course, a camera that points in all directions. To keep the lenses off of bare ground, it comes with a foldable 18x18-inch landing mat. DJIs Goggles N3 (available with the RC Motion 3 controller as an option) are comfortable and allow you to wear eyeglasses. Unlike the Goggles 3, though, theres no external camera to see outside. If youd rather pilot conventionally, you can get the Avata 360 bundled with DJIs RC 2 screen controller in another kit. Performance and features As an FPV drone, the Avata 360 is fast and agile. It can hit speeds up to 40 MPH in sport mode (without obstacle avoidance) or 35 MPH in normal mode. When used with the optional FPV Remote Controller 3, you can do flips, rolls and other cinewhoop style maneuvers. Once you get used to flying it that way, its incredibly fun. The 38.7Wh batteries have 26 percent more capacity than the Avata 2s cells, but rated endurance is about the same at 24 minutes. I never got more than about 18 minutes in real-world flying though, so its a good idea to buy the Fly More kit with three batteries and a fast charger that can replenish them all in about 100 minutes. Samuel Dejours for Engadget Part of my testing of the Avata 360 was capturing trick riding horses, so it was important that the drone noise didnt spook them. At 81db the Avata 360 is louder than the Mini 4 Pro (67 db) and less banshee-like than the Neo 2 due to the larger propellers, so the horses werent alarmed. Video is transmitted to the Goggles N3 and RC Motion 3 controller (or the RC screen controller) at 1080p 60 fps via DJIs OcuSync 4.0+ system. The maximum flying range is 20 km (12.4 miles), double that of the Avata 2. This is an impressive distance for an FPV drone. The 45GB of internal storage (42GB usable) can fill up quickly when youre shooting 8K video, but the drone also has a microSD slot. To get your footage onto a PC or smartphone, you can transfer it via the USB-C port or over Wi-Fi using DJIs Fly app. The Avata 360 has DJIs usual tracking and obstacle detection features, but theyre available only with the RC 2 controller and not the Goggles N3. To follow a subject, simply draw a box around them on the controller to enable Focus Track and its three modes: Spotlight, Point of Interest and ActiveTrack. The latter tracks a subject automatically and lets you control the drones position via an on-screen steering wheel. Steve Dent for Engadget To test that, I biked in a narrow forested lane and walked around a bamboo-covered obstacle course. When using Focus Track, the drone dodged most obstacles and was only confused by small leaves and branches. If it did contact one of those, it sailed right through without crashing thanks to the propeller guards. Subject tracking works in both 360 and single camera modes, but when using the latter, The Avata 360 cant see and avoid obstacles behind it. It contacted branches several times during my testing, but fortunately the prop guards prevented crashes. Other automatic features include Dronie, Rocket and Quickshot modes that let you capture clips for social media. Video The Avata 360 prioritizes FPV freedom and flexibility over pure video quality. Though the specs promise 8K, that only applies to the full 360 degree video your final, flat video will actually be 4K or less after processing. And the 360 camera zooms digitally (not optically), which further reduces resolution. On top of that, you can often see a seam in the video where stitching occurs, and dewarping (used to output flat video) can create softness at the edges. With all that, video is less sharp than DJIs regular Mini, Air and Mavic drones. Because the camera is fixed when shooting 360 video, the Avata 360s gimbal cant smooth out jolts or correct for roll. Instead, it uses action cam-style electronic stabilization. Whats more, that type of smoothing causes motion blur and artifacts in low light due to the lower shutter speeds something I also noticed with the Osmo 360. Steve Dent for Engadget With that said, video quality was as sharp and color-accurate as the Osmo 360, and a touch better than the Antigravity A1 when filming in daylight. For tricky, contrasty conditions like a shaded path on a sunny day, the D-LogM option boosted dynamic range, helping me bring out shadow detail and tone down overly-bright highlights. However, the cityscape I shot at night was soft and occasionally blurry due to the aforementioned stabilization issues. In exchange for this lower video quality, the 360 camera provides incredible flexibility. For a vlog style tracking shot, for instance, I usually need to film twice to show the forward and backward directions. With the Avata 360, though, I was able to get both POVs from the same shot and output an overhead view too for good measure. DJI Studio is where you go to select your desired framing and output the flat video. Its not quite as versatile as Insta360s app, but it allows you to reframe shots and create smooth transitions between camera angles. And to save time, you can use the Intelligent Tracking feature to center your subject. The app also offers color correction and other features, but I found it easier to export the final shots to DaVinci Resolve for any additional work. Flat video a mixed bag. Sharpness is mildly better than the 360 video, but the lack of a gimbal roll axis means that the camera cant level itself when the drone banks into the wind. As a result, most of my footage was tilted and often unusable. Wrap-up Steve Dent for Engadget With the Avata 360, DJI has a surprisingly sophisticated drone that offers better video quality and more features than its only rival, Insta360s Antigravity A1. It can do everything youd expect from a DJI FPV drone like tracking, obstacle avoidance and acrobatics, while operating safely around people (or horses). DJI also managed to undercut Insta360 on price, with the Avata 360 starting at 459 euros (approx. $530), or 939 euros ($1,089) in a kit with a screen controller, three batteries and a charger. Its also available with the extra batteries and charger, DJIs FPV Goggles N3 and the RC Motion 3 controller for 939 euros ($1,089). As mentioned, theres no word yet on US pricing, but the Avata 360 has been approved by the FCC so it could appear in the US soon. Like 360 action cams though, this is a niche product. If youre a vlogger, extreme action shooter, FPV pilot or solo filmmaker who wants speed and flexibility, the Avata 360 is a great choice. If its pixel perfect image quality you want, however, youre better off with DJIs Mini 5 Pro, Air 3S or Avata 4 Pro drone. This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/cameras/dji-avata-360-drone-review-360-video-hits-new-highs-120014666.html?src=rss

OpenAI drops plans to release an adult chatbot

OpenAI has indefinitely abandoned plans to release an a erotic chatbot for adults following concerns from employees and investors, the company confirmed to The Financial Times . Plans for such a feature, first announced in October 2025 for release in December last year, had already been delayed while company debated whether to release it all. It's the second app OpenAI has decided to shelf this week, after announcing on Tuesday that it was shutting down its Sora video generator. The adult-oriented chatbot, reportedly called Citron mode, is now on hold with no planned release date. The company reportedly had difficulty training models that previously avoided erotic content and also removing illegal behavior like bestiality or incest, two people familiar with the matter told the FT . Open AI said that it wanted to conduct long-term research on the effects of erotic chats and user attachment to AI, adding that there was currently not yet enough empirical evidence on the subject. The company also said it wanted to focus on its core productivity tools like coding assistants and drop side quests like Sora and the erotic chatbot. The idea for adult features came after OpenAI announced that it would add parental controls and automatic age detection features for ChatGPT. CEO Sam Altman said back in October that the company had always been careful about such issues over concerns around unhealthy AI attachments, but felt comfortable that it could safely relax the restrictions in most cases. However, the adult mode had reportedly caused concern among investors, particularly amid the controversy caused by rival xAI's Grok model that generated deepfake nudes of real people and children. Staff also worried about the feature, with one senior employee even leaving the company over the issue. AI shouldnt replace your friends or your family; you should have human connections, he told the FT . Another challenge is OpenAI's age-checking tech, introduced following lawsuits from families who said that ChatGPT harmed their children. The tech reportedly has an error right higher than ten percent, which would still give a large number of young people access to the tech. OpenAI said that figure is in the industry standard range and that it is continuing to work on its accuracy. This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/ai/openai-drops-plans-to-release-an-adult-chatbot-113121190.html?src=rss

Uber and Pony.ai are testing a robotaxi service for Europe

Uber and Chinese company Pony.ai are gearing up to launch a robotaxi service for Europe, starting with Zagreb in Croatia. The companies are working with Croatian company Verne, which will provide the service ecosystem and operational framework for the service. Theyre using Arcfox Alpha T5 vehicles made by Beijing-based automaker BAIC Motor powered by Pony.ais Gen-7 autonomous driving system. Initially, the autonomous rides will be offered on Vernes app, but they will eventually be available through Uber. In their announcement, the companies said they have already started on-road testing in Zagreb, where the service will be available soon. Theyre hoping to expand it to other European cities in the future, and then to more markets, with the goal of deploying a fleet with thousands of robotaxis over the next few years. Verne will be in charge of securing regulatory approval for the rollouts, while Uber has agreed to invest in the Croatian company. This is but one of Ubers partnerships centering around its efforts to offer more and more driverless rides to its passengers. Just earlier this month, it announced that it was launching a pilot program for a robotaxi service in Tokyo in late 2026 with Nissan and UK self-driving startup Wayve. Uber also started offering robotaxi rides to passengers in Las Vegas at the same time. The fleet deployed in the city is made up of Hyundai Ioniq 5 autonomous EVs, developed in partnership with Motional. This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/transportation/uber-and-ponyai-are-testing-a-robotaxi-service-for-europe-104811944.html?src=rss

Oversight Board tells Meta expanding Community Notes outside of US poses 'significant' risks

Meta didn't consult its Oversight Board last year when it announced sweeping policy changes to content moderation and a rollback of third-party fact checking in the United States in favor of Community Notes. But the company did ask the board for advice on how to expand the crowd-sourced fact checks to other countries. Now the Oversight Board is publishing its advice to Meta. In a 15,000-word policy advisory opinion, the group urged Meta to be cautious with an international rollout, warning that an expansion of the program could pose significant human rights risks and contribute to tangible harms if safeguards are not put in place. The board, notably, was asked to weigh in on a fairly narrow set of questions, including how it should evaluate whether to withhold the feature in certain countries. Meta respectfully asked the Oversight Board to avoid general critiques about the system, which it has said is modeled after X. In its opinion, the Oversight Board said that Community Notes could enhance users freedom of expression and improve online discourse with enough safeguard. But it recommended Meta withhold the feature in countries with high polarization, as well as countries in the midst of a crisis or protracted conflict. The board also said that Meta should avoid countries with a history of organized disinformation networks, because the notes may be more easily manipulated in such places, and countries with linguistic complexity that Meta may be ill-equipped to understand. Depending on how you interpret that advice, that could exclude quite a few countries, though the board stopped short of making country-specific recommendations. Still, it raises questions about how closely Meta will follow the suggested guidelines. For example, the United States could be considered a country with high polarization. (Community Notes has been live in the US for more than a year.) While the Oversight Board was careful to say it neither endorses nor opposes an expansion of Community Notes, it did discuss Meta's approach to fact checking, noting that its partnerships with outside fact-checking organizations are still largely in place outside of the US. And the opinion cautions against ending these relationships, noting that research into Community Notes on X shows that authors writing notes often rely on work done by professional fact checkers. Community Notes and fact checking are not mutually exclusive, Oversight Board member Paolo Carozza tells Engadget. One doesn't have to replace or substitute for the other, they can coexist. And in some situations, there are really important reasons for them to coexist. The board really deliberately stayed away from any kind of suggestion that the introduction of Community Notes ought to result in the removal or ending of fact checking. This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/social-media/oversight-board-tells-meta-expanding-community-notes-outside-of-us-poses-significant-risks-100000213.html?src=rss

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