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The Colossal Foundation has developed an AI algorithm that can detect the critically endangered tooth-billed pigeon's calls, helping conservationists locate the lost species. 

Partnering with the Samoa Conservation Society (SCS), Colossal Biosciences' nonprofit arm hopes that this technology will lead to more sightings of this lost bird — and eventually assist in saving other endangered species as well.

Saving the tooth-billed pigeon, Samoa's national bird A tooth-billed pigeon and Samoa, its natural habitat. Credit: Ulf Beichle / Colossal; Kasper Berg / Colossal

The tooth-billed pigeon is a large bird native to Samoa's rainforests, and which has only been found within this one country. Also called the manumea or "little dodo," Samoa's national bird is one of the closest living relatives to the famously extinct dodo. 

Unfortunately, genetics isn't the only aspect in which the two species are similar. The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) considers the tooth-billed pigeon to be critically endangered with fewer than 250 birds left, while the last known photograph of the species was taken in 2012.

It currently tops the list of priority species maintained by the IUCN's Pigeon and Dove Specialist Group (PDSG), with co-chair Joe Wood telling Mashable this is due to the pigeon's "lack of close relatives, extraordinary appearance, and genetic proximity to the dodo," as well it being "extremely rare and little-known."

Hopefully this won't be the case for much longer. Colossal's new bioacoustics AI algorithm aims to help conservationists identify the tooth-billed pigeon's calls, assisting them in locating and protecting the few birds that remain. Though the organisation has most frequently made headlines due to de-extinction efforts such as its genetically modified "dire wolves" or its woolly mammoth mice, Colossal considers such work to go hand-in-hand with conservation projects such as this. 

"[Saving] lost species is one of the core conservation strategies," Colossal Foundation's executive director Matt James told Mashable. "We had this idea that, can you search for and find species that haven't been seen in 10 or more years? It is almost, in its own way, its own form of de-extinction."

Searching Samoa with AI and sound Members of the most recent tooth-billed pigeon expedition. On the left, a team member sets up a trail camera. Credit: Kapser Berg / Colossal

Colossal's tooth-billed pigeon bioacoustics project was first sparked in 2023. While the PDSG and SCS had been working to save the tooth-billed pigeon for years, they were struggling to secure funding for a new expedition. Extensive searches had not only come up empty, but uncovered evidence of high feral cat populations likely to prey on the bird.

"There was a real concern that, faced with an undeniably bleak situation, our donors would conclude that their funds were better invested elsewhere and we would be unable to continue," Wood told Mashable.

Fortunately, Colossal offered the funds to continue the search, and March 2024 saw the first clear, unambiguous sighting of a tooth-billed pigeon in years obtained by field team member Vilikesa Masibalavu. 

Significantly, Colossal also suggested that they could use bioacoustics to help ease some of the search's technical challenges, which would hopefully make such sightings more common. One of their biggest hurdles is the similarity of the tooth-billed pigeon's calls to the more common pacific imperial pigeon, an issue that machine learning could assist with.

Having bioacoustics for, specifically, the search and classification of birds is probably one of the best use cases for the technology. - Ben Lamm, Colossal Biosciences' co-founder and CEO

"Specifically with things like birds, bioacoustics is just a great [tool]," Colossal Biosciences' co-founder and CEO Ben Lamm told Mashable. "When you've got small animals that can traverse large distances very, very quickly — and also not the easiest to find because they're in trees or bushes with leaves and whatnot — having bioacoustics for, specifically, the search and classification of birds is probably one of the best use cases for the technology."

"Bioacoustics has been used by a few researchers to search for the manumea in recent years," SCS conservation officer Moeumu Uili told Mashable. Uili was the last person to photograph a tooth-billed pigeon, capturing the image in 2013. "However, this method has not been widely adopted in Samoa for wildlife monitoring and was only recently introduced by SCS in our field surveys… [A] significant gap remained in data analysis skills, limiting our ability to process results efficiently and inform decision-making."

Colossal helped fill this gap. Developed specifically for this project, Colossal's AI algorithm has been used to analyse audio recorded in locations where the tooth-billed pigeon could historically be found, identifying 47 potential calls from the bird earlier this month. Considering the species hasn't been seen in over a decade, this is an invaluable signal that it hasn't yet gone extinct.

"Now that we can definitively say that we've identified calls of the tooth-billed pigeon, we've seen funding return to this effort," said James. "Now there's a new excitement."

"And it's a better use of the funding," added Lamm. "Because now they can say, 'Oh, here's four pockets we can go to,' versus searching everywhere and we know… they still exist and they're not extinct, versus we don't know if they even exist and we're searching everywhere."

How does Colossal's bioacoustics algorithm work? Colossal's algorithm processing raw audio data and subsequent cleaned audio. Credit: Colossal Foundation

Colossal had an extremely limited dataset to train its tooth-billed pigeon call classifier on. Researchers only had a five-minute audio clip containing just three tooth-billed pigeon calls to work with, which was recorded from a captive bird in Germany's Berlin Zoo during the '80s.

Despite this limitation, Colossal was able to use the audio sample to create a machine learning algorithm that could distinguish tooth-billed pigeon calls from more general sounds of birdlife in Samoa. This was done by taking audio from the adjacent American Samoa where the tooth-billed pigeon is not found, and using it as a control to filter out irrelevant noise.

Developed in parallel to its wolf bioacoustics program, Colossal states that its tooth-billed pigeon classification algorithm took just two weeks to create and can identify the bird's calls with 95 percent accuracy.

"There are only a few data points that the algorithm knows, and then it's able to sort of extrapolate from that, and say, number one, I don't think that's anything that you've told me is from American Samoa, and that's part of the de-noising process," James explained. "And then it can say, with relative confidence, this sounds very similar to the other project, the other calls you have given me [that belong to the tooth-billed pigeon]. And then as we have labelled that data set as we go, yes, that's a correct assumption, it's strengthened until we've got to this 95 percent mark."

Initially, the SCS' conservationists would download audio data from microphones located around the tooth-billed pigeon's potential habitat. They'd then transfer it to Colossal, which would run the audio through their AI classifier to identify potential tooth-billed pigeon calls. The location of the microphones which picked up calls would thus inform where the SCS should focus their search efforts.

Desktop UI of app developed by Colossal’s AI team to process raw audio data, denoise it, and classify manumea calls. Credit: Colossal Foundation

Colossal is still collecting data to improve the algorithm's accuracy. However, it has now put the classifier into an app as well, enabling conservationists to upload audio and immediately analyse it on their phones within minutes.

"With immediate feedback, our team can quickly plan site visits and follow up on potential detections, improving our chances of locating and protecting the manumea in the wild," Uili told Mashable.

James further told Mashable that Colossal's wolf bioacoustics program helped develop a 360 camera with spatial audio which can remotely upload footage in real time, and is talking to SCS about how this might be used to find the tooth-billed pigeon as well.

"The moonshot is potentially we could even capture a few of the remaining wild [tooth-billed pigeons] to help put them into a human care setting where we could help make sure they don't go extinct, propagate the animal, and begin to re-release it back into the wild once we can address some of the invasive species and habitat loss issues that are occurring in Samoa," said James.

In addition to capturing live specimens, Wood stated that biobanking has become a new priority with Colossal's help. Biobanking is the collection and storage of biological samples for research and conservation.

"Given the rate of progress currently being made in the fields of genetic engineering and reproductive technology, [biobanking] seems like a crucial way of preserving future options," said Wood. "For the manumea, and indeed for many other species, it may well be that conventional conservation techniques are simply inadequate. These pioneering approaches could offer the only glimmer of hope."     

[I]t may well be that conventional conservation techniques are simply inadequate. These pioneering approaches could offer the only glimmer of hope. - Joe Wood, IUCN Pigeon and Dove Specialist Group co-chair

The ability of Colossal's bioacoustics algorithm to help locate Samoa's tooth-billed pigeon is a boon to conservationists. Even so, using AI to save an endangered species may seem ironic. Habitat loss is a significant issue contributing to such endangerment, and artificial intelligence is infamous for producing high greenhouse gas emissions. 

Speaking to this point, Lamm noted that Colossal's bioacoustics algorithm is distinct from generative AI models in that it works with much less data and is far more targeted, requiring fewer resources.

"We have very small sample sets of this," said Lamm. "And we're also deploying in apps, we're also deploying locally. So we don't have to have a system where we're using a massive amount of distributed cloud infrastructure. We don't have to go out and cleanse and train all these different models."

Citizen scientists could help find lost species with an app Members of the August 2024 tooth-billed pigeon expedition. Moeumu Uili is pictured on the bottom right. Credit: Kasper Berg / Colossal

Though Colossal's AI model is specifically targeted at the tooth-billed pigeon, it has significant potential beyond this. In time it could be used to find other species as well, with Colossal having released the algorithm as open-source so that more conservationists can benefit from it.

"The tooth-billed pigeon has some of the most limited data on their calls in the world of any bird species," said James. "So we could begin to upload additional data of other critically endangered species, or really mostly birds, that we could then use to help identify other lost species."

"I think maybe over time you'll see more and more of these acoustic monitoring projects come out of it now that we've built this core AI system," said Lamm, noting that Colossal is "doubling down" on AI resources. "We're now layering in different classifiers on it which is pretty powerful, and all that's open-source for the world."

Such tools might not be restricted to researchers, either. In the future, Colossal hopes to enable citizen scientists to download its bioacoustics app themselves, so they too can help locate lost species by their calls. 

"That's the dream," said Lamm. "While we have 48 conservation partners, Colossal can't save every species, right? Even if we had a trillion dollars, like, we just can't do that. And not even all of our partners can, not even all the conservation partners... we need citizen science."

There's still a significant way to go until a publicly available app such as this becomes a reality. Colossal's AI algorithm is still effectively in beta testing, with the SCS continuing to put it through its paces. Even so, Colossal's bioacoustics model holds exciting potential for the future of conservation.

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Looking for something great to watch at home? Streaming subscribers are spoiled for choice between Hulu, Netflix, HBO Max, Disney+, Apple TV+, Prime Video, Shudder, Paramount+, Peacock, and more. And that's before you even look at the vast libraries of movies and television programs within each one!

Don't be overwhelmed or waste an hour scrolling through your services to determine what to watch. We've got your back, whatever your mood. Mashable offers watch guides for all of the above, broken down by genre: comedy, thriller, horror, documentary, and animation, among others. But if you're seeking something brand-new (or just new-to-streaming), we've got you covered there, too.

Mashable's entertainment team has scoured the streaming services to highlight the most buzzed-about releases of this week and ranked them from worst to best — or least worth your time to most-watchable. Whether you're in the mood for twisted true crime tales, romantic misadventures, a tech bro drama, a twenty-something buddy comedy, or superhero action, we've got something just for you.

Here's what's new on streaming, from worst to best.

10. Cold Case: The Tylenol Murders

Cold Case is an ongoing true crime franchise focusing on unsolved mysteries, like the JonBenét Ramsey murder. The latest iteration focuses on the Tylenol murders, the name given to the bizarre incident when seven people in Chicago died from cyanide-laced Tylenol capsules.

In this three-part documentary, directors Yotam Guendelman and Ari Pines speak to family members of the victims, giving a fuller understanding of the losses from this strange crime. Archival footage traces how the media covered the story, chasing down suspects. Amid the breadth of this doc's story, there will also be graphic images of a dead body, so brace yourself.

While the content is disturbing and heart-breaking, the series itself is frustratingly slow. Netflix has been accused of stretching out such shocking stories over multiple episodes to keep viewers logged on. And Cold Case: The Tylenol Murders feels like it's stalling for time more than probing the topic. —Kristy Puchko, Entertainment Editor

How to watch: Cold Case: The Tylenol Murders is now streaming on Netflix.

9. The Mortician

A more successful true crime mini-series is The Mortician, which perhaps is no surprise as HBO has a history of producing great true crime docs, like The Jinx, Mind Over Murder, and I'll Be Gone in the Dark.

SEE ALSO: The 30 best true crime documentaries on Max right now

Told over three episodes, The Mortician focus on the horrific tale of David Sconce, whose work at his family's funeral home in the Los Angeles area made him infamous. Sconce did not do his duty to the dead or their grieving families. One particularly egregious example of Sconce's unethical behavior? He cremated bodies simultaneously, meaning their ashes would be mixed together; loved ones were presented with urns most likely holding a mixture of strangers' cremains.

In The Mortician's first episode, Sconce defends himself to director Joshua Rofé, and you get a taste of his argument in the trailer. It won't make this doc any easier to stomach, and some of the footage of remains are gut-wrenching on their own. Be warned, the story gets wilder each episode, as do Sconce's excuses. — K.P.

How to watch: The Mortician debuts on HBO Max on June 1, with new episodes premiering June 8 and 15 at 9 p.m. ET/PT.

8. The Better Sister

Alafair Burke's crime novel The Better Sister gets the TV treatment with Jessica Biel and Elizabeth Banks in the lead. In the new eight-part series from Prime Video, the pair play estranged sisters Chloe (Biel) and Nicky (Banks), whose reunion comes after Chloe's husband, Adam (Corey Stoll), is brutally murdered.

But there's more going on under the surface here, as Adam is actually also Nicky's ex, who married her sister and lived with her along with Nicky's teen son Ethan (Maxwell Acee Donovan). Bit awkward. Suffice to say tensions are high. Chloe and Nicky must wade into family secrets as detectives Nancy Guidry (Kim Dickens) and Matt Bowen (Bobby Naderi) investigate his death, and the sisters try to keep the press off their lawn.* — Shannon Connellan, UK Editor

Starring: Jessica Biel, Elizabeth Banks, Corey Stoll, Kim Dickens, Maxwell Acee Donovan, Bobby Naderi, Gabriel Sloyer, Gloria Reuben, Matthew Modine, and Lorraine Toussaint

How to watch: The Better Sister premieres May 29 on Prime Video.

7. And Just Like That…, Season 3

And just like that... there's a third season of the Sex and the City reboot. After those major cameos, anti-Android sentiments, strangely minimal use of Carrie Bradshaw's (Sarah Jessica Parker) voiceover, and big moments of the finale, And Just Like That... Season 2 threw a lot at us. Season 3 picks up in the summer, with Carrie enjoying her new place in Gramercy Park — and narrating again! Things between her and Aidan (John Corbett) remain fairly undefined, but anything's possible in New York in the summer, right?* — S.C.

Starring: Sarah Jessica Parker, Cynthia Nixon, Kristin Davis, Mario Cantone, Sarita Choudhury, Evan Handler, David Eigenberg, Nicole Ari Parker, John Corbett, Sebastiano Pigazzi, Dolly Wells, Mehcad Brooks, Jonathan Cake, and Logan Marshall-Green

How to watch: And Just Like That... Season 3 premieres May 29 on HBO Max.

6. Mountainhead

Succession creator Jesse Armstrong makes his feature directorial debut with Mountainhead, which he also wrote. In a plot that seems ripped from the headlines, Mountainhead follows four wealthy tech bros — played by Steve Carell, Jason Schwartzman, Ramy Youssef, and Cory Michael Smith — who are on a snowy mountain retreat. In the middle of crowing about their net worths and playing poker, they learn about worldwide catastrophes occurring as a result of new AI technology. Will they, as tech pioneers, take accountability for their role in the disaster? Or will they take advantage of the chaos for their own gain?

In classic Succession style, Mountainhead is full of devastating one-liners and loathable wealthy characters. Yet Armstrong's dialogue, usually so fine-tuned, gets frustratingly clunky at times here, losing any subtlety as the movie tries to stay current. Thankfully, things pick up in the film's third act, which becomes a much darker, more personal crime caper. That switch-up brings Mountainhead a few inches out of Succession's shadow, but it still can't quite match that show's highs. — Belen Edwards, Entertainment Reporter

Starring: Steve Carell, Jason Schwartzman, Ramy Youssef, and Cory Michael Smith

How to watch: Mountainhead premieres May 31 at 8 p.m. ET on HBO and HBO Max.

5. Dept. Q

The Queen's Gambit creator Scott Frank is back with another thriller, this time swapping chess for cold case crime. Dept. Q follows DCI Carl Morck (Matthew Goode), a troubled detective given his own department and tasked with investigating the old disappearance of a missing woman. From the looks of the trailer, this one will be equal parts crime, thriller and drama, with a dash of comedy thrown in too. —Sam Haysom, Deputy UK Editor

Starring: Matthew Goode, Kelly Macdonald,  Kate Dickie, Alexej Manvelov, and Leah Byrne

How to watch: Dept. Q debuts on Netflix May 29.

4. Captain America: Brave New World

The latest Captain America movie stars Anthony Mackie as Sam Wilson, who not only carries the iconic shield but also the responsibility to fight the American president (Harrison Ford) when he goes Red Hulk.

Pulling from the threads of The Falcon and the Winter Soldier and The Incredible Hulk, this complicated sequel is overstuffed with story, and plagued by an underwhelming supervillain (Tim Blake Nelson). But critics — including myself — were more bothered by how the MCU seemed to go out of their way to make a Captain America movie that has nothing to say.

SEE ALSO: All the Marvel Cinematic Universe movies, ranked worst to best

As I wrote in my review of Captain America: Brave New World, "The MCU could have given Sam Wilson a movie that boldly explored what it means to be a Captain America right now, especially to a Black man... Rather than a provocative political discussion as seen in Black Panther, Captain America: Brave New World limply pursues concepts of redemption and honor. It's safe and frankly boring." — K.P.

Starring: Anthony Mackie, Danny Ramirez, Shira Haas, Carl Lumbly, Xosha Roquemore, Giancarlo Esposito, Liv Tyler, Tim Blake Nelson, and Harrison Ford

How to watch: Captain America: Brave New World debuts on Disney+ on May 28.

3. Dog Man

When a police officer and his faithful canine companion are spliced together, crime-fighting hero Dog Man is the inevitable (and deeply silly) result. Based on Dav Pilkey's children's graphic novel series of the same name, Dog Man brings together a big name cast to tell the story of our titular hero attempting to catch a supervillain (yep, it's a cat) hellbent on terrorising the city. Written and directed by Peter Hastings, Dog Man is a spinoff of Captain Underpants: The First Epic Movie. — S.H.

.Starring: Pete Davidson, Lil Rel Howery, Isla Fisher, and Ricky Gervais

How to watch: Dog Man debuts on Peacock on May 30.

2. Vampire Hunter D

To celebrate its 40th anniversary, anime classic Vampire Hunter D is returning to streaming.

Based on the first novel in Hideyuki Kikuchi's long-running novel series, the movie follows Doris Lang (Michie Tomizawa), the daughter of a werewolf hunter who gets bitten by an ancient vampire. She hires a hunter known as D (Kaneto Shiozawa) to track the thing down and kill it in order to stop herself from turning into one as well. — S.H.

Starring: Kaneto Shiozawa, Michie Tomizawa, and Yûsaku Yara

How to watch: Vampire Hunter D debuts on Shudder on May 30.

1. Adults

In the mood for a fun hangout sitcom? Then check out Adults, FX's latest comedy offering. Created by Ben Kronengold and Rebecca Shaw (The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon), the series centers on a group of five twenty-somethings living together in Queens, where they weather the perils of early adulthood. Everything from health insurance scares to career trouble is on the table, along with the occasional touch of absurdity that makes Adults more Broad City than Friends.

By putting a Gen-Z twist on the hangout sitcom formula, Adults embraces the mess of modern-day young adulthood, and the result, as I wrote in my review for Mashable, is "chaotic, heartfelt, and current." The show also boasts an incredible ensemble — Malik Elassal, Lucy Freyer, Amita Rao, Owen Thiele, and Jack Innanen — who gel instantly. Come for Adults' many cringe comedy hijinks, stay for the cast's superb chemistry. — B.E.

Starring: Malik Elassal, Lucy Freyer, Amita Rao, Owen Thiele, and Jack Innanen

How to watch: All episodes of Adults are now streaming on Hulu.

(*) denotes that a blurb has been repurposed from a previous list.

The Mini is a bite-sized version of The New York Times' revered daily crossword. While the crossword is a lengthier experience that requires both knowledge and patience to complete, The Mini is an entirely different vibe.

With only a handful of clues to answer, the daily puzzle doubles as a speed-running test for many who play it.

So, when a tricky clue disrupts a player's flow, it can be frustrating! If you find yourself stumped playing The Mini — much like with Wordle and Connections — we have you covered.

SEE ALSO: Mahjong, Sudoku, free crossword, and more: Play games on Mashable

Here are the clues and answers to NYT's The Mini for Thursday, May 29, 2025:

AcrossLanguage heard in Bangkok

• The answer is Thai.

Major brand of athletic shoes

• The answer is Asics.

Language family that includes Swahili

• The answer is Bantu.

Language from which we get "pajama" and "khaki"

• The answer is Urdu.

Small amount of Manhattan?

• The answer is Sip.

DownOld Russian rulers

• The answer is Tsars.

Language that's third in number of worldwide speakers, after English and Mandarin

• The answer is Hindi.

Misbehave

• The answer is Act up (no space).

Sch. not far from Des Moines

• The answer is ISU.

___ Dhabi

• The answer is Abu.

If you're looking for more puzzles, Mashable's got games now! Check out our games hub for Mahjong, Sudoku, free crossword, and more.

Featured Video For You The Wordle Strategy used by the New York Times' Head of Games

Are you also playing NYT Strands? See hints and answers for today's Strands.

Not the day you're after? Here's the solution to yesterday's Mini Crossword.

In the run-up to the Emmy nominations being announced, Seth Meyers and Jimmy Kimmel are doing everything they can to get their shows nominated — including releasing a slew of attack ads against each other.

In the Jimmy Kimmel Live! clip above the two late night show hosts take turns presenting an escalating series of ads, slamming the character of their rival before getting various family members involved to further denigrate them — there's Meyers' brother Josh ("Jimmy Kimmel: More of a brother to me than my own") and Kimmel's wife Molly ("Seth Meyers drinks his coffee black, just like Jimmy's soul"), before a final video in which all their children band together to slam both of them at the same time.

More of this on the Emmy campaign trail, please.

Connections: Sports Edition is a new version of the popular New York Times word game that seeks to test the knowledge of sports fans.

Like the original Connections, the game is all about finding the "common threads between words." And just like Wordle, Connections resets after midnight and each new set of words gets trickier and trickier—so we've served up some hints and tips to get you over the hurdle.

If you just want to be told today's puzzle, you can jump to the end of this article for the latest Connections solution. But if you'd rather solve it yourself, keep reading for some clues, tips, and strategies to assist you.

SEE ALSO: Mahjong, Sudoku, free crossword, and more: Play games on Mashable What is Connections Sports Edition?

The NYT's latest daily word game has launched in association with The Athletic, the New York Times property that provides the publication's sports coverage. Connections can be played on both web browsers and mobile devices and require players to group four words that share something in common.

This Tweet is currently unavailable. It might be loading or has been removed.

Each puzzle features 16 words and each grouping of words is split into four categories. These sets could comprise of anything from book titles, software, country names, etc. Even though multiple words will seem like they fit together, there's only one correct answer.

If a player gets all four words in a set correct, those words are removed from the board. Guess wrong and it counts as a mistake—players get up to four mistakes until the game ends.

This Tweet is currently unavailable. It might be loading or has been removed.

Players can also rearrange and shuffle the board to make spotting connections easier. Additionally, each group is color-coded with yellow being the easiest, followed by green, blue, and purple. Like Wordle, you can share the results with your friends on social media.

Here's a hint for today's Connections Sports Edition categories

Want a hint about the categories without being told the categories? Then give these a try:

• Yellow: Roles on a baseball field

• Green: A yearly women's baseball tournament

• Blue: Teams that play in "America's Finest City"

• Purple: Involves a guard

Featured Video For You Connections: How to play and how to win Here are today's Connections Sports Edition categories

Need a little extra help? Today's connections fall into the following categories:

• Yellow: Baseball/Softball Positions, Abbreviated

• Green: WCWS

• Blue: San Diego Teams

• Purple: ___Guard

Looking for Wordle today? Here's the answer to today's Wordle.

Ready for the answers? This is your last chance to turn back and solve today's puzzle before we reveal the solutions.

Drumroll, please!

The solution to today's Connections Sports Edition #248 is...

What is the answer to Connections Sports Edition today

• Baseball/Softball Positions, Abbreviated - 2B, CF, P, SS

• WCWS - COLLEGE, SERIES, WOMEN'S, WORLD

• San Diego Teams - AZTECS, FC, PADRES, WAVE

• ___Guard - MOUTH, POINT, SHIN, SHOOTING

Don't feel down if you didn't manage to guess it this time. There will be new Connections for you to stretch your brain with tomorrow, and we'll be back again to guide you with more helpful hints.

Are you also playing NYT Strands? See hints and answers for today's Strands.

If you're looking for more puzzles, Mashable's got games now! Check out our games hub for Mahjong, Sudoku, free crossword, and more.

Not the day you're after? Here's the solution to yesterday's Connections.

Elon Musk is leaving his position as de facto head of the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), announcing his departure via X on Wednesday. An anonymous White House official confirmed Musk's departure to AP.

"As my scheduled time as a Special Government Employee comes to an end, I would like to thank President @realDonaldTrump for the opportunity to reduce wasteful spending," Musk wrote. "The @DOGE mission will only strengthen over time as it becomes a way of life throughout the government."

SEE ALSO: Elon to reduce DOGE involvement after dismal Tesla earnings report

Though Musk stated that his time at DOGE was "scheduled," there was no clear indication as to exactly how long he would be involved with it prior to this week's announcement. While it was revealed in February that White House official Amy Gleason had been appointed DOGE's acting administrator some time earlier, in practical terms Musk has remained in charge until now.

Musk previously indicated he would be reducing his involvement with DOGE during Tesla earnings call in April. The billionaire stated that he would "significantly" lower the amount of time he spent on DOGE in May, as well as increase his attention on Tesla. However, at the time he drew short of saying he would quit DOGE, pledging to stay for "as long as it's useful" and President Donald Trump wanted him to remain.

It now seems though Musk believes that time has come to an end. While Trump has not yet issued a public statement regarding his departure, the news comes a day after Musk uncharacteristically criticised the president's tax bill, stating that it "increases the budget deficit, not just decreases it, and undermines the work that the DOGE team is doing."

Though Musk initially claimed that DOGE would cut government spending by a minimum of $2 trillion, the reality has fallen far short from this. In April he revised DOGE's goal down to $150 billion, a mere fraction of the cuts initially promised. Meanwhile, U.S. government agencies have been thrown into turmoil by DOGE's actions, with over 280,000 government workers laid off. DOGE has also worked to dismantle several agencies entirely, including the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), a foreign aid organisation.

Musk is expected to return his attention to his various companies, including Tesla, X, and SpaceX. Such companies have been publicly floundering in the past few months, struggling against severe reputational damage caused by Musk's widely unpopular political work. 

Tesla sales have plummeted across the globe, the electric vehicle company experiencing a 71 percent drop in profit during Q1 2025. Social media platform X isn't faring much better, losing millions of users while advertisers fled, though Musk denied reports that he told employees that they were "barely breaking even." SpaceX doesn't appear to have suffered quite as much, however the explosion of its latest Starship test flight on Tuesday was less than ideal — particularly considering it was the company's third "rapid unscheduled disassembly" in a row.

Speaking to Ars Technica prior to both SpaceX's launch and the announcement he'd be leaving DOGE, Musk acknowledged that he'd been spending too much time on politics rather than running his companies.

"I think I probably did spend a bit too much time on politics, [though] it's less than people would think," said Musk. "It's not like I left the companies. It was just relative time allocation that probably was a little too high on the government side, and I've reduced that significantly in recent weeks."

TL;DR: Put all your AI tools like ChatGPT, Gemini Pro, and Leonardo.AI in one place with a lifetime subscription to 1minAI, an all-in-one AI app, on sale for just £22.24 (reg. £173.67). 

Opens in a new window Credit: 1minAI 1minAI: Lifetime Subscription £22.27 at The Mashable Shop
£173.70 Save £151.43 Get Deal

The free version of some AI models like ChatGPT can get the job done, but if you want the good stuff, you should consider opting for a paid subscription.  

1minAI consolidates many of the most popular AI models — like ChatGPT, Gemini, and Meta AI — into one platform where you can use them all seamlessly, whether you need to generate text, images, or even full videos. A lifetime subscription to 1minAI is on sale now for £22.24.

What can you do with 1minAI

1minAI gives you one platform where you can access AI models like ChatGPT, Gemini, Meta AI, Mistral AI, and more. You don't just get the baseline version, either — 1minAI users can chat with GPT-4, GPT-4 Turbo, Gemini Pro 1.5, and Llama 2 or Llama 3. 

Like a ton of other AI platforms, 1minAI has a limit to how much you can generate every month. Unlike other platforms, the limit is incredibly high. Here's what your lifetime subscription gets you every month. 

First, you get a baseline of 1,000,000 credits per month. Then, every day you log in, you get an additional 15,000 free credits. These will roll over if you don't use them all, too. 

In practice, those huge numbers mean you could generate up to 362,500 words, research nearly 2,000 SEO keywords, generate 386 images, upscale 241 images, remove 24 backgrounds, convert text to speech for over 120,000 characters, and generate up to 12 videos. 

Your AI Swiss Army Knife

Put all your go-to AI tools in one place. Get a lifetime subscription to 1minAI for £22.24.

StackSocial prices subject to change. 

If you're reading this, you're looking for a little help playing Strands, the New York Times' elevated word-search game.

Strands requires the player to perform a twist on the classic word search. Words can be made from linked letters — up, down, left, right, or diagonal, but words can also change direction, resulting in quirky shapes and patterns. Every single letter in the grid will be part of an answer. There's always a theme linking every solution, along with the "spangram," a special, word or phrase that sums up that day's theme, and spans the entire grid horizontally or vertically.

SEE ALSO: Mahjong, Sudoku, free crossword, and more: Play games on Mashable

By providing an opaque hint and not providing the word list, Strands creates a brain-teasing game that takes a little longer to play than its other games, like Wordle and Connections.

If you're feeling stuck or just don't have 10 or more minutes to figure out today's puzzle, we've got all the NYT Strands hints for today's puzzle you need to progress at your preferrined pace.

SEE ALSO: Wordle today: Answer, hints for May 29 SEE ALSO: NYT Connections hints today: Clues, answers for May 29 NYT Strands hint for today’s theme: It's a little buggy

The words are bug-related.

Today’s NYT Strands theme plainly explained

These words are common six-legged bugs.

NYT Strands spangram hint: Is it vertical or horizontal?

Today's NYT Strands spangram is horizontal.

NYT Strands spangram answer today

Today's spangram is Insect

Featured Video For You Strands 101: How to win NYT’s latest word game NYT Strands word list for May 29

• Butterfly

• Wasp

• Flea

• Moth

• Insect

• Dragonfly

• Hornet

• Mantis

Looking for other daily online games? Mashable's Games page has more hints, and if you're looking for more puzzles, Mashable's got games now!

Check out our games hub for Mahjong, Sudoku, free crossword, and more.

Not the day you're after? Here's the solution to yesterday's Strands.

Oh hey there! If you're here, it must be time for Wordle. As always, we're serving up our daily hints and tips to help you figure out today's answer.

If you just want to be told today's word, you can jump to the bottom of this article for today's Wordle solution revealed. But if you'd rather solve it yourself, keep reading for some clues, tips, and strategies to assist you.

SEE ALSO: Mahjong, Sudoku, free crossword, and more: Play games on Mashable SEE ALSO: NYT Connections today: Hints and answers for May 29 Where did Wordle come from?

Originally created by engineer Josh Wardle as a gift for his partner, Wordle rapidly spread to become an international phenomenon, with thousands of people around the globe playing every day. Alternate Wordle versions created by fans also sprang up, including battle royale Squabble, music identification game Heardle, and variations like Dordle and Quordle that make you guess multiple words at once. 

Wordle eventually became so popular that it was purchased by the New York Times, and TikTok creators even livestream themselves playing.

What's the best Wordle starting word?

The best Wordle starting word is the one that speaks to you. But if you prefer to be strategic in your approach, we have a few ideas to help you pick a word that might help you find the solution faster. One tip is to select a word that includes at least two different vowels, plus some common consonants like S, T, R, or N.

What happened to the Wordle archive?

The entire archive of past Wordle puzzles was originally available for anyone to enjoy whenever they felt like it, but it was later taken down, with the website's creator stating it was done at the request of the New York Times. However, the New York Times then rolled out its own Wordle Archive, available only to NYT Games subscribers.

Is Wordle getting harder?

It might feel like Wordle is getting harder, but it actually isn't any more difficult than when it first began. You can turn on Wordle's Hard Mode if you're after more of a challenge, though.

SEE ALSO: NYT's The Mini crossword answers for May 29, 2025 Here's a subtle hint for today's Wordle answer:

To cancel.

Does today's Wordle answer have a double letter?

There are no recurring letters.

Today's Wordle is a 5-letter word that starts with...

Today's Wordle starts with the letter Q.

SEE ALSO: Wordle-obsessed? These are the best word games to play IRL. The Wordle answer today is...

Get your last guesses in now, because it's your final chance to solve today's Wordle before we reveal the solution.

Drumroll please!

The solution to today's Wordle is...

QUASH.

Don't feel down if you didn't manage to guess it this time. There will be a new Wordle for you to stretch your brain with tomorrow, and we'll be back again to guide you with more helpful hints.

Are you also playing NYT Strands? See hints and answers for today's Strands.

SEE ALSO: NYT Connections Sports Edition today: Hints and answers for May 29

Reporting by Chance Townsend, Caitlin Welsh, Sam Haysom, Amanda Yeo, Shannon Connellan, Cecily Mauran, Mike Pearl, and Adam Rosenberg contributed to this article.

If you're looking for more puzzles, Mashable's got games now! Check out our games hub for Mahjong, Sudoku, free crossword, and more.

Not the day you're after? Here's the solution to yesterday's Wordle.

If you like playing daily word games like Wordle, then Hurdle is a great game to add to your routine.

There are five rounds to the game. The first round sees you trying to guess the word, with correct, misplaced, and incorrect letters shown in each guess. If you guess the correct answer, it'll take you to the next hurdle, providing the answer to the last hurdle as your first guess. This can give you several clues or none, depending on the words. For the final hurdle, every correct answer from previous hurdles is shown, with correct and misplaced letters clearly shown.

An important note is that the number of times a letter is highlighted from previous guesses does necessarily indicate the number of times that letter appears in the final hurdle.

If you find yourself stuck at any step of today's Hurdle, don't worry! We have you covered.

SEE ALSO: Hurdle: Everything you need to know to find the answers Hurdle Word 1 hint

A sharp slope.

SEE ALSO: Apple’s new M3 MacBook Air is $300 off at Amazon. And yes, I’m tempted. Hurdle Word 1 answer

STEEP

Hurdle Word 2 hint

To embellish.

SEE ALSO: Wordle today: Answer, hints for May 29, 2025 Hurdle Word 2 Answer

ADORN

Hurdle Word 3 hint

Storage for golf clubs.

SEE ALSO: NYT Connections Sports Edition today: Hints and answers for May 29 SEE ALSO: NYT Connections hints today: Clues, answers for May 29, 2025 Hurdle Word 3 answer

CADDY

Hurdle Word 4 hint

A principle.

SEE ALSO: NYT Strands hints, answers for May 29 Hurdle Word 4 answer

DOGMA

Final Hurdle hint

A spiral.

SEE ALSO: Mahjong, Sudoku, free crossword, and more: Games available on Mashable Hurdle Word 5 answer

HELIX

If you're looking for more puzzles, Mashable's got games now! Check out our games hub for Mahjong, Sudoku, free crossword, and more.

Connections is the one of the most popular New York Times word games that's captured the public's attention. The game is all about finding the "common threads between words." And just like Wordle, Connections resets after midnight and each new set of words gets trickier and trickier—so we've served up some hints and tips to get you over the hurdle.

If you just want to be told today's puzzle, you can jump to the end of this article for today's Connections solution. But if you'd rather solve it yourself, keep reading for some clues, tips, and strategies to assist you.

SEE ALSO: Mahjong, Sudoku, free crossword, and more: Play games on Mashable What is Connections?

The NYT's latest daily word game has become a social media hit. The Times credits associate puzzle editor Wyna Liu with helping to create the new word game and bringing it to the publications' Games section. Connections can be played on both web browsers and mobile devices and require players to group four words that share something in common.

This Tweet is currently unavailable. It might be loading or has been removed.

Each puzzle features 16 words and each grouping of words is split into four categories. These sets could comprise of anything from book titles, software, country names, etc. Even though multiple words will seem like they fit together, there's only one correct answer.

If a player gets all four words in a set correct, those words are removed from the board. Guess wrong and it counts as a mistake—players get up to four mistakes until the game ends.

This Tweet is currently unavailable. It might be loading or has been removed.

Players can also rearrange and shuffle the board to make spotting connections easier. Additionally, each group is color-coded with yellow being the easiest, followed by green, blue, and purple. Like Wordle, you can share the results with your friends on social media.

SEE ALSO: NYT's The Mini crossword answers for May 29 Here's a hint for today's Connections categories

Want a hint about the categories without being told the categories? Then give these a try:

• Yellow: Expressions of courtesy

• Green: Needed for certain things

• Blue: Ways to top off a donut

• Purple: Jacked

Featured Video For You Connections: How to play and how to win Here are today's Connections categories

Need a little extra help? Today's connections fall into the following categories:

• Yellow: Salute

• Green: Suitable

• Blue: Verbs for Finishing Donuts

• Purple: What "Buff" Might Mean

Looking for Wordle today? Here's the answer to today's Wordle.

Ready for the answers? This is your last chance to turn back and solve today's puzzle before we reveal the solutions.

Drumroll, please!

The solution to today's Connections #718 is...

What is the answer to Connections today

• Salute: APPLAUD, HAIL, HONOR, PRAISE

• Suitable: APT, FIT, PROPER, RIGHT

• Verbs for Finishing Donuts: FROST, GLAZE, POWDER, SPRINKLE

• What "Buff" Might Mean: ENTHUSIAST, MUSCULAR, NUDE, POLISH

Don't feel down if you didn't manage to guess it this time. There will be new Connections for you to stretch your brain with tomorrow, and we'll be back again to guide you with more helpful hints.

SEE ALSO: NYT Connections Sports Edition today: Hints and answers for May 29

Are you also playing NYT Strands? See hints and answers for today's Strands.

If you're looking for more puzzles, Mashable's got games now! Check out our games hub for Mahjong, Sudoku, free crossword, and more.

Not the day you're after? Here's the solution to yesterday's Connections.

Let the record show that I will do almost anything for Beyoncé. I will fight for my life in a Ticketmaster queue. I will spend hours covering a cowboy hat in mirror tiles only to wear it once. I recently learned that I'll even shelter in the basement of Soldier Field for three hours when there's a tornado in my city.

I will not, however, give myself hearing damage. Concerts can hit noise levels of 95 to 110 dBA (A-weighted decibels), according to the National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders (NIDCD) — that's well above its recommended 85-dBA threshold for long or repeated exposure. And that horse lady can belt.

Heeding the advice of the Beyhive on Reddit, I decided to wear a pair of Loop Earplugs to Chicago's first night of the Cowboy Carter Tour in mid-May. Here are five reasons why I now recommend them to anyone who's attending a concert or music festival this summer.

Loop Experience 2 Earplugs $38.95 at Amazon
Shop Now 1. They really do work (maybe a little too well)

Loop's earplug lineup covers a variety of different use cases, including sleep, noise sensitivity, parenting, events, and travel. I bought the Loop Experience 2 because they're specifically designed to preserve the sound quality of live music while dampening damaging noise. The Experience 2 Plus, which are slightly pricier, come with a Mute silicone insert for extra noise reduction.

I was genuinely impressed with how well the show sounded while I wore my Loops. I could hear Beyoncé and her band perfectly, but the din of the stadium was almost completely suppressed. Curious to hear what I was missing, I removed my right earplug at one point during the set and was shocked to hear that the crowd was close to singing over Bey. The Loops were tuning out everyone else without making her sound muffled.

By the end of the night, I had two very sore feet but two very happy ears — no tinnitus, no headaches. I reported my findings to the friend who went to the show with me, who laughed and said that my Loops may have worked a little too well: He apparently made a few mid-song remarks that I totally ignored. Sorry, Conor!

2. They don't look dorky Credit: Haley Henschel / Mashable

Most concerts double as fashion shows nowadays, but Beyoncé concerts demand maximum slayage. I love that the ring-shaped acoustic channels on the end of Loops make them look like daith piercings when worn. They blend right into an existing earring stack, especially if you opt for one of the metallic colorways. (One r/beyonce member recommends TikToker @mollyvivianmcg's Hush Holders, which are earrings that clip onto Loops for safe-keeping — genius.) My Experience 2 are silver, but they also come in shiny gold, rose gold, matte black, and in limited-edition ombre and holographic finishes.

Opens in a new window Credit: Loop Tomorrowland x Loop Experience 2 Earplugs $39.95
Shop Now 3. They're super comfy

I have a hard time finding earplugs and earbuds that fit well — for reference, I need to wear a tight beanie whenever I use my Apple AirPods Pro or else they fall out. I had no such issues with my Loops, which twisted easily into place and stayed comfortable for the full two hours and 45 minutes from "AMERIICAN REQUIEM" to "AMEN" (even when I ran to the restroom during an interlude). I occasionally forgot I was wearing them.

The Experience 2 come with four swappable sets of soft silicone ear tips so the wearer can customize their fit. I tried them all before heading to the show and wound up using the smallest size.

4. They come with a keychain case. Credit: Haley Henschel / Mashable

Loop Earplugs are no bigger than a couple pieces of Froot Loops cereal, so it's really easy to lose them inside of a backpack or purse. Fortunately, each pair includes a carry case that's roughly the size of a silver dollar. There's a rubbery loop on one end so you can attach it to a keychain, and a silicone insert inside to keep the earplugs secure. It hardly took up any room inside the NFL-mandated clear clutch I brought to the Cowboy Carter Tour.

5. They're available for fast, free shipping via Amazon

If you need a pair for an upcoming show, Loop Earplugs are available on Amazon with free next- or two-day Prime shipping. I should note that the Experience 2 cost $4 more there compared to the Loop website, but the latter charges a $4.95 delivery fee for all orders under $44.

Keep a lookout for deals on Loops come Black Friday; they haven't gone on sale outside of the holidays. However, loopearplugs.com offers a year-round 15% discount on a bundle of two pairs for you and your shotgun rider.

Shop Loop Experience 2 Earplugs: Loop Experience 2 Earplugs $38.95 Shop Now Loop Experience 2 Plus Earplugs $44.95 Shop Now Loop Experience 2 Earplugs (two pairs) $59.42 (save $10.48) Get Deal

The company continued to grow fast in its most recent quarter despite new rules restricting the sale of A.I chips to China.

Pocket will soon be no more.

Mozilla, the creators of the web browser Firefox, announced last week that it would be shutting down Pocket, the read-later platform it acquired back in 2017.

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Pocket was the most popular read-later service with more than 30 million users, according to Mozilla. The platform was originally founded in 2007 as Read It Later, just as social news and social bookmarking began to take off.

Read-later services enable users to save web pages, articles, and videos for easy access. These services enabled users to remember long articles they came across for a later time, archived web pages for offline viewing, and more.

Pocket provided a free service as well as a paid premium subscription for less than $50 per year.

However, regardless of Pocket's utility and user base, Mozilla has decided to shut the platform down. According to Mozilla, "the way people use the web has evolved," so the company has decided to shut down Pocket in order to put more resources into Firefox.

Pocket will shut down on July 8, 2025. Users will be able to export their data until October 8, 2025. After that, user data will be permanently deleted.

Pocket alternatives

Pocket may be saying goodbye, but plenty of bookmarking and read-later platforms are still alive and kicking.

If you're looking for a read-later service like Pocket, Instapaper and Readwise are two popular options. 

Instapaper launched shortly after Pocket in 2008, so it's been around for awhile. The service offers a free plan as well as a paid premium subscription option. Instapaper has a much more minimalist design than Pocket, so it might take some getting used to, but it definitely looks sleek. Plus, Instapaper is offering three free months of its $5.99 per month Premium subscription plan to anyone who imports their Pocket data over to its platform. Readwise has a bit more of a Pocket-esque UI but it does not offer a free plan beyond a 30-day trial. After that, a paid subscription to their $9.99 per month plan or their $5.59 per month "Lite" plan is required.

Read-later apps

However, my personal pick for a read-later service replacement for Pocket is an app called GoodLinks.

GoodLinks app for Mac. Credit: GoodLinks

GoodLinks is not a service like Pocket, and the previously mentioned alternatives, where user data is stored on a server. GoodLinks is a downloadable app for Mac and iOS devices. GoodLinks costs just a one-time purchase of $9.99 to get the app for life and new features for a year. Once the year is up, users can continue to use the app as is, with quality of life updates, without any additional costs. Any new features after that initial year will become completely optional one-time, in-app purchases.

GoodLinks provides all the same features those subscription services provide, such as offline reading, downloadable archives, highlights, notes, and more. Plus your data is stored locally and syncs via iCloud.

Like Pocket, all of these services allow users to save more than just articles. If you're a Pocket user looking for a more video-oriented option, Play just might be for you.

Play isn't a read-later app, it's a watch later one. Play keeps track of YouTube videos, channels, and playlists so users can keep tabs on what they want to watch when they have time to watch it. Play also fetches all of the metadata, such as timecodes, descriptions, and more. That means users don't even need to leave the app while catching up on videos they saved.

Play: Watch Later app for Mac Credit: Play

Like GoodLinks, Play isn't a service, but an app that stores data locally and syncs via iCloud. Play is available on Mac, iOS devices, and even has an Apple TV app. You can unlock Play across all apps with a one-time purchase of $2.99. Premium features, like channel tracking, requires a $2.99 per month or $19.99 per year subscription, or can be unlocked forever with a one-time purchase of $99.99.

Bookmarking alternatives

By default, a read-later platform is basically a bookmarking platform as well. For Pocket users who used the soon-to-be-defunct platform to bookmark their favorite websites, the above alternatives work…but they are really made more for articles.

If you need a bookmarking alternative to keep your favorite websites easily accessible wherever you are and regardless of which web browser you're using, I recommend Anybox or Raindrop.io.

Anybox app for Mac Credit: Anybox

Anybox is a free downloadable app that can be used to save, search, and organize your bookmarks across Mac, iPhone, and iPad. All data is stored locally and shared via iCloud sync. All features are available at no cost, but there is a bookmark limit for the free plan. To bookmark unlimited links, there's a subscription of $1.99 per month or $14.99 per year, with a one-time payment option of $39.99 to unlock the Pro plan forever.

Raindrop.io on the other hand is an online bookmarking service. The free plan provides users to access all basic bookmarking features without any limits. The $28 per year Pro plan provides the most robust premium features of any of the service, with AI suggested tags, collections, and more. It also gives users the ability to annotate pages, add reminders to bookmarks, and save a permanent archived copy of every webpage that's saved. 

So, there you have it: A Pocket alternative for every possible use case. And, if none of those hit the spot, you can always hold out hope that Pocket will somehow live on. Kevin Rose, the founder of Digg, said he offered to buy Pocket from Mozilla shortly after the sunsetting announcement. However, Mozilla has reportedly not yet responded.

This Tweet is currently unavailable. It might be loading or has been removed.

Rose is still trying though.

This Tweet is currently unavailable. It might be loading or has been removed.

Texas has signed into law its online child safety bill, a sweeping measure that mandates Apple and Google must verify user ages and secure parental approval before minors can download apps or make in-app purchases. The law is scheduled to take effect on January 1, 2026.

At the core of this conflict is a broader battle over who bears responsibility for age verification. Apple and Google have clashed with app makers such as Meta, Snap, and Match Group, the parent company of Tinder and Hinge, as state-level legislation on digital safety continues to multiply. Texas joins nine other states, including Utah, that have passed child-focused online safety laws, according to the Age Verification Providers Association.

SEE ALSO: What the Supreme Court hearing about age verification could mean for you

It's a major win for the Texas Legislature, which is also advancing a more controversial measure: a statewide ban on social media accounts for anyone under 18. For Apple and Google, it’s a significant regulatory setback. Apple CEO Tim Cook reportedly contacted Governor Greg Abbott directly, urging changes to the bill or a veto.

House Bill 186, Texas’s proposed social media ban, cleared the House last week with bipartisan backing. It is expected to pass the state Senate. If enacted, the law would bar minors from creating accounts on all major social media platforms, including TikTok, X, Facebook, and Snapchat. Age verification would be mandatory, and platforms would need to comply by April 2026.

Parents would also have the right to request the deletion of their child’s account. Social media companies would be required to process those requests within 10 days.

If Abbott signs the bill, Texas would become the first state to enforce a social media ban for minors under 18. Florida currently has a similar law, but its age cutoff is 14, and legislators are now considering raising it to 16.

There's been a lot of talk in recent years about AI replacing the role of humans in the workforce. It's been unclear exactly if or when that would happen on a broader scale. However, this is already happening in one industry in particular: The tech industry.

Researchers at the venture capital firm SignalFire recently released their "State of Talent Report" for 2025, which analyzes hiring and employment trends across the tech industry.

The big takeaway, according to SignalFire's report, is that new graduate hiring has declined. And the downturn isn't across the board. Hiring levels for experienced roles like mid- and senior-level positions have remained strong, while entry-level tech jobs have taken a big hit.

According to the report, recent graduates made up just 7 percent of hires last year at Big Tech companies, which is down 25 percent from the previous year. It's not going any better at startups either, with new graduates making up just 6 percent of new hires, down 11 percent from 2023.

The report makes mention of a few factors that could contribute to this downturn of entry-level jobs in tech, so it's not entirely the result of AI. Interest rates are much higher than they were during the tech boom during the height of the COVID pandemic. This, combined with other issues, has led to smaller funding rounds for startups and Big Tech companies looking to cut costs.

However, even though there are other factors, AI is a significant factor. 

If there's one thing AI has been pretty good at, it's the more mundane, basic coding tasks that an entry-level worker would likely be assigned. In addition, these tasks can also easily be automated using AI coding tools. In recent months, Google released a new AI coding tool called Jules (which is free to use, for now), while ChatGPT and Anthropic's newest models are particularly good at coding. And Mark Zuckerberg recently said he hopes that AI will write half of Meta's code by 2026.

Even experienced programmers have been affected by the shift to AI. As reported in a recent piece in The New York Times, workers at companies like Amazon say that AI has transformed their jobs into a factory-like assembly line. Other coders welcome AI, as it has freed them up from doing monotonous coding work.

Furthermore, companies have been looking to expand their AI programs and hire more roles in the machine learning and data engineering categories. These tend to be more technical roles and are usually filled by those with more experience than a recent graduate.

On top of that, this reconfiguration to focus on AI has led to less hiring in not just entry-level coding jobs but also non-technical jobs as well. According to SignalFire, many recent graduates break into the industry through non-technical roles like product marketing, recruiting, design, and sales. Companies are simply not hiring as much for those roles as they used to.