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SAVE OVER $100: Sony WH-1000XM5 headphones are on sale for $298 at Amazon. This deal saves you over $100 on list price.

Opens in a new window Credit: Sony Sony WH-1000XM5 Headphones $298 at Amazon
$399.99 Save $101.99 Get Deal

In Mashable's review of the new Sony XM6 headphones, Timothy Werth writes that "The sound, noise cancellation, and design are all improved, though we expected bigger changes after three years of waiting." So the new headphones are great, but are they really worth the $450 price tag?

If that seems a little steep to you, it might be time to invest in the older model. As of May 19, the Sony WH-1000XM5 headphones are on sale for $298 at Amazon. This deal saves you over $100 on list price.

SEE ALSO: Review: I compared Sony’s new XM6 headphones to the competition

These popular headphones offer clear sound quality, an attractive design, great noise cancellation, customizable sound, and good call quality. They do just about everything really well, so if you're undecided about investing in the latest model, you can save some serious cash by opting for the XM5s.

Save over $100 on the Sony XM5 headphones at Amazon.

The best deals this week, hand-picked by Mashable's team of experts

• Roku Ultra 4K Ultimate Streaming Player (2024 Release) — $79.99 (List Price $99.99)

• Beats Pill Bluetooth Speaker — $99.95 (List Price $149.95)

• Roborock Qrevo Master Robot Vacuum and Mop — $899.99 (List Price $1599.99)

• Peloton Bike — $1,145.00 (List Price $1445.00)

• Apple AirTag (4-Pack) — $79.98 (List Price $99.00)

SAVE OVER $100: Sony WF-1000XM5 earbuds are on sale for $198 at Amazon. This deal saves you over $100 on list price.

Opens in a new window Credit: Sony Sony WF-1000XM5 Earbuds $198 at Amazon
$299.99 Save $101.99 Get Deal

We know that the release of the new Sony XM6 headphones is dominating the news cycle right now in the audio world, but it's important to remember that a new product launch usually means discounts elsewhere. And that's the window of opportunity when you can really shine.

Sony WF-1000XM5 earbuds are on sale for $198 at Amazon. This deal saves you over $100 on list price. These earbuds haven't actually been replaced just yet, so you're getting a low price on current-gen technology thanks to all the XM6 fuss.

SEE ALSO: Review: I compared Sony’s new XM6 headphones to the competition

These earbuds offer that elusive mix of powerful noise cancellation, rich sound, and decent call quality. You’ll also get up to eight hours of battery on a single charge, and the case stretches that to 24 hours. Plus, a three-minute charge gives you a full hour of listening time.

We get that some people out there will be prioritizing the XM6 headphones, but if you don't need something brand new, we think this deal is a no-brainer. Looking for a pair of high-end earbuds that won’t absolutely destroy your bank account? Sony WF-1000XM5 earbuds have your name on them.

The best deals this week, hand-picked by Mashable's team of experts

• Roku Ultra 4K Ultimate Streaming Player (2024 Release) — $79.99 (List Price $99.99)

• Beats Pill Bluetooth Speaker — $99.95 (List Price $149.95)

• Roborock Qrevo Master Robot Vacuum and Mop — $899.99 (List Price $1599.99)

• Peloton Bike — $1,145.00 (List Price $1445.00)

• Apple AirTag (4-Pack) — $79.98 (List Price $99.00)

The Last of Us Season 2, episode 6 broke our hearts in myriad ways both overt and subtle.

Spotted by Redditor Unwept_Skate_8829, there's a costume inclusion in the episode's opening scene that includes a deeply important object to the series: Joel's watch. However, it's initially not worn by Joel himself (Pedro Pascal), but by his father, a character we've never met before now.

SEE ALSO: 'The Last of Us' Season 2, episode 6 reminds us what the show's been missing

In episode 6, before the credits, we see a flashback scene to 1983 in Austin, Texas, featuring a young Joel (Andrew Diaz) and Tommy (David Miranda), terrified of their violent, police officer father, Javier (Tony Dalton). There's a tense conversation at the kitchen table between Joel and his dad, in which Joel protectively takes the blame for Tommy's troubles, knowing what harm Javier is likely to inflict upon his younger brother. Unexpectedly, Javier cracks two beers open and speaks to "doing better" than his own abusive father, attempting to excuse his violence toward his sons. And during the scene, he's wearing a very familiar watch.

The watch takes on a new importance for Joel as an adult and, in contrast, a caring, loving father. Having inherited his father's watch, Joel now embodies the type of father he and Tommy deserved as a child. In the very first episode of Season 1, Joel's daughter Sarah (Nico Parker) gets the watch fixed for her dad's birthday — whether Joel wanted Javier's watch fixed is ambiguous. However, on the same day, Sarah is tragically shot during the chaos of the outbreak of the cordyceps pandemic, and the watch is broken during this horrific event. Subsequently, Joel never gets his watch fixed, his smashed timepiece remaining a testament to his daughter.

Featured Video For You 'The Last of Us' stars Bella Ramsey and Kaitlyn Dever break down Ellie and Abby's quests for revenge

In episode 3, after Joel's brutal murder by Abby (Kaitlyn Dever), the watch finds its way to its fitting new owner, Joel's found daughter, Ellie (Bella Ramsey). Back in the settlement of Jackson, a now grown up Tommy (Gabriel Luna) removes Joel's watch as he's cleaning his brother's body for burial. "Give Sarah my love," Tommy says in the scene paying tribute to his late niece. Later, Ellie finds it in a red box on Joel's bed along with his pistol, a moving gift from Tommy to his found niece.

By including this detail in the HBO series, we see Joel's watch has passed through generations of trauma, opposing modes of fatherhood, and variations on what family means. It's a reminder of loss and past trauma for Joel and for Ellie, and a literal representation of time stolen, of future days gone in a world of violence and death.

New episodes of The Last of Us Season 2 premiere on HBO and Max Sundays at 9 p.m. ET.

Watching The Last of Us and want to play the games? Here's how.

SAVE $150: As of May 19, the 13-inch Apple M4 MacBook Air is still on sale for $849 at Amazon. That's $150 off the list price and the lowest-ever price.

Opens in a new window Credit: Apple Apple MacBook Air, 13-inch (M4, 16GB RAM, 256GB SSD) $849 at Amazon
$999 Save $150 Get Deal

It is baffling that the new Apple M4 MacBook Air is still sporting a $150 discount. We were surprised to see the price drop so low not long after release, but the fact that you can still secure this low price weeks later is truly shocking.

As of May 19, the 13-inch M4 MacBook Air (with 16GB of RAM and 256GB of storage) is still on sale for $849 at Amazon. That's 15% off the list price and its lowest price on record according to camelcamelcamel.

SEE ALSO: Best Windows laptops for 2025: Our top pick lasts longer than the M4 MacBook Pros

There is a catch. Unsurprisingly at this price, these MacBooks have been selling extremely well. At this late stage, the sky blue model is your only option at this record-low price. That will matter to some people out there, but we don't really see the issue. It's a good looking laptop at a great price. What's not to love?

Mashable's reviewer Stan Schroeder said the M4 MacBook Air is so powerful it's almost overkill. It's 24 percent faster than the already fast M3 Air and in the top five speediest laptops we've tested at Mashable. It's not only our top pick for a MacBook, but one of our top picks for a laptop in general in 2025.

Get the new Apple M4 MacBook Air for its lowest-ever price before stock disappears.

The best deals this week, hand-picked by Mashable's team of experts

• Amazon Fire HD 10 Tablet — $89.99 (List Price $139.99)

• Samsung Galaxy Tab A9+ Android Tablet — $199.99 (List Price $269.99)

• Amazon Kindle Colorsoft — $279.99

• Apple MacBook Air, 13-inch (M4, 16GB RAM, 256GB SSD) — $999.00

• Apple MacBook Air 15-inch (2025, M4) — $1,049.00 (List Price $1199.00)

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 19 SEE ALSO: NYT Connections hints today: Clues, answers for May 19 NYT Strands hint for today’s theme: Riding the wind

The words are water-related.

Today’s NYT Strands theme plainly explained

These words are things used to travel on water.

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 Sailboat

Featured Video For You Strands 101: How to win NYT’s latest word game NYT Strands word list for May 19

• Mast

• Rigging

• Helm

• Sailboat

• Keel

• Hull

• Rudder

• Stern

• Tiller

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.

SAVE $250: As of May 19, the Google Pixel 9 is on sale for $649.99 at Amazon. That's a 28% saving on the list price.

Opens in a new window Credit: Google Google Pixel 9 $649.99 at Amazon
$799 Save $149.01 Get Deal

On the hunt for a new smartphone? Look no further than Amazon. As of May 19, you can find a great deal on the Google Pixel 9, currently priced at $649.99. It's a great all-rounder, but don't just take my word for it, check out our full review.

This deal is for the 256GB option and is available across all colorways: obsidian, winter green, peony, and porcelain.

SEE ALSO: The battle of the mid-range phones: Google Pixel 9a vs. iPhone 16e

So what are you getting with this $250 discount? The Pixel 9 includes a 6.3-inch OLED display with vibrant colors as well as the latest Google Tensor chip for fast, lag-free performance. If picture quality matters to you, this phone has dual rear cameras to take incredible pictures.

This model also features Gemini, Google's next-generation AI technology. It offers assistance with tools, including advanced photo editing such as Magic Eraser and Face Unblur, enhanced voice recognition for dictation, and Google Assistant capabilities. It also uses real-time translation to allow for language support in messaging or live conversations.

Ready to upgrade? Head to Amazon now and snag this great Google deal.

The best deals this week, hand-picked by Mashable's team of experts

• Roku Ultra 4K Ultimate Streaming Player (2024 Release) — $79.99 (List Price $99.99)

• Beats Pill Bluetooth Speaker — $99.95 (List Price $149.00)

• Roborock Qrevo Master Robot Vacuum and Mop — $799.98 (List Price $1599.99)

• Peloton Bike — $1,145.00 (List Price $1445.00)

• Apple AirTag (4-Pack) — $79.98 (List Price $99.00)

SAVE $100: As of May 19, the Garmin Venu 3S is on sale for $349.99 at Amazon. That's a 22% saving on the list price.

Opens in a new window Credit: Garmin Garmin Venu 3S $349.99 at Amazon
$449.99 Save $100 Get Deal

Garmin has a huge range of great smartwatches. Whether you're a runner, triathlete, total beginner, or simply looking to track some data — there's something for every price point. And if you're in the market for a new, all-rounder smartwatch, look no further than the Garmin Venu 3S.

It's a top fitness and lifestyle tracker from Garmin, and as of May 19, you can save $100 at its reduced price of $349.99. This price is for the 41mm screen available in all colorways. And it has never been priced lower than this, so you know you're getting a good deal.

SEE ALSO: The best Garmin in 2025

The Venu 3S is the perfect tracker for someone who enjoys a range of fitness activities as well as lifestyle tracking, and it looks good, too.

Health tracking features include heart rate monitoring, sleep tracking, and even stress level feedback. It also has built-in GPS, so you can track your outdoor activities without needing to carry your phone with you. The Venu 3S also comes with music capabilities. Download hundreds of songs to your watch, including playlists from Spotify, Amazon Music, or Deezer, and connect with wireless headphones. Another reason to leave your phone at home.

It benefits from an AMOLED display, so has an incredibly colorful and bright screen. And if battery life is important to you, the Venu 3S is impressive. With a single charge, it can last up to 10 days in smartwatch mode and up to seven hours in GPS mode with music.

This is a limited-time deal at Amazon, so don't miss out.

The best deals this week, hand-picked by Mashable's team of experts

• Roku Ultra 4K Ultimate Streaming Player (2024 Release) — $79.99 (List Price $99.99)

• Beats Pill Bluetooth Speaker — $99.95 (List Price $149.00)

• Roborock Qrevo Master Robot Vacuum and Mop — $799.98 (List Price $1599.99)

• Peloton Bike — $1,145.00 (List Price $1445.00)

• Apple AirTag (4-Pack) — $79.98 (List Price $99.00)

SAVE $15: As of May 19, the Amazon Fire TV Stick HD is on sale for $19.99 at Amazon. That's a saving of 43% on the list price.

Opens in a new window Credit: Amazon Amazon Fire Stick HD $19.99 at Amazon
$34.99 Save $15.00 Get Deal

An older TV doesn't need to be replaced in favour of a new, smart TV. Why spend hundreds of dollars to replace something that works, when you can upgrade your TV for under $20?

Meet Amazon's HD Fire Stick. Possibly one of the retailer's best devices, this streaming device plugs into your TV (or laptop) and lets you access platforms including Prime Video, Netflix, Hulu, and even more. No need to upgrade to a fancy smart TV if you have an HDMI port.

SEE ALSO: From the basic to the Paperwhite, these are Amazon's best Kindles

And as of May 19, the Fire Stick HD is back on sale, now priced at just $19.99.

The Fire TV Stick also comes with a remote with Alexa built in. Use this voice control to search for TV shows, search questions online, or even use it to talk to your other smart home devices.

With this particular Fire Stick, you'll be able to enjoy all your favorite shows in beautiful HD quality. And the setup really couldn't be easier. All you need to do is pop the device into your TV's HDMI port, and that's it. You have instant access to a range of streaming platforms and many live channels.

This deal is only around for a limited time, so head to Amazon so you don't miss out.

After the deeply moving sixth episode of The Last of Us Season 2, we've got one last instalment to go — and it looks like it's going to be one hell of a fight to the finish.

In HBO Max's trailer for Season 2's finale, episode 7, we're back with Ellie (Bella Ramsey), Dina (Isabela Merced), and Jesse (Young Mazino) in the heart of post-apocalyptic Seattle. Our protagonists are dangerously close to getting caught in the crossfire between the Washington Liberation Front and Seraphites, as Ellie's quest to take revenge continues.

Will everyone make it out alive?

The Last of Us Season 2, episode 7 will premiere on HBO and HBO Max Sunday at 9 p.m. ET.

After initially banning artificial intelligence chatbots, schools are embracing the tools. Miami, the third-largest U.S. school district, shows how.

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 Monday, May 19, 2025:

AcrossNetwork satirized on "30 Rock," for short

• The answer is NBC.

Sport played on horseback

• The answer is Polo.

One for whom every day is Boxing Day?

• The answer is Mover.

Like correct letters in Wordle

• The answer is Green.

Blend together

• The answer is Meld.

Down"Invisible Man" or "Little Women"

• The answer is Novel.

Run in the wash

• The answer is Bleed.

What bourbon whiskey is primarily made from

• The answer is Corn.

Tiny hole in the skin

• The answer is Pore

Longtime movie studio acquired by Amazon in 2022

• The answer is MGM.

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.

Leaving your device at home might seem daunting, but it can result in a deeper connection to a place and more authentic interactions with locals.

If your idea of spring cleaning involves not doing the cleaning yourself, the ECOVACS DEEBOT N10 Max+ might be the most productive team member you didn’t know you needed. Right now, it’s available for $249.99 (regularly $649.99) with free shipping, and this robot vacuum doesn’t just clean, it thinks.

Let’s start with what it does best: cleaning your floors without you having to think about it. With a powerful 4300Pa suction system, this DEEBOT takes on everything from ground-in dust to scattered pet hair. Its floating main brush keeps constant contact with your floor, while the optional rubber brush is especially handy for pet owners who are tired of seeing tumbleweeds of fur.

But here’s where it gets interesting. This robot doesn’t stop at vacuuming. The OZMO mopping system adds a layer of shine by using precise water control. Better yet, it detects carpets and knows to steer clear when mopping, while automatically ramping up suction when vacuuming rugs. No programming needed—just let it run.

Battery life? It’s not short on stamina. The 5200mAh battery powers up to 330 minutes of cleaning time on a single charge. That’s nearly six hours of work without a coffee break, covering up to 400 square meters of living space. Whether you live in a modest condo or a sprawling multi-level home, this robot’s laser-based LiDAR mapping system creates smart navigation paths and even saves different maps for each floor.

You don’t even have to empty it. The N10 Max+ returns to its base and empties its dustbin automatically into a 2.5L antibacterial dust bag, which can hold debris for weeks. The sealed system also captures allergens and odors, making it a quiet hero for allergy-prone households.

Through the ECOVACS Home app, you can start, stop, schedule, and even customize your cleaning routines from anywhere. It’s intuitive and gives you total control.

If you’ve been waiting to automate your cleaning routine without compromising quality—or budget—this is your moment.

For just $249.99 (reg. $649.99) with free shipping, the DEEBOT N10 Max+ checks every box—get it while you can.

StackSocial prices subject to change.

Opens in a new window Credit: ECOVACS ECOVACS DEEBOT N10 Max+ Robot Vacuum & Mop $249.99
$649.99 Save $400 Get Deal

TL;DR: Get a pair of Beats Powerbeats Pro 2 Earbuds on sale for $174.99 (reg. $249.99).

If your gym routine demands as much from your gear as they do from your body, pop on a pair of Powerbeats Pro 2. These wireless earbuds are made for movement, but they bring premium sound and surprisingly smart features along for the ride. Whether you’re at the gym, on a run, or just commuting with a favorite playlist, they deliver the kind of immersive audio that makes everything feel a little more epic, and they’re on sale.

Instead of paying $249.99, now you can get a pair of these Beats earbuds for $174.99.

Wear these Beats earbuds anywhere

Designed with input from over a thousand athletes and tested through 1,500 hours of action, the fit is secure without being bulky. The flexible earhooks use a nickel-titanium alloy with shape memory, which means they stay in place without pinching. At 20 percent lighter than the original, they’re more comfortable too. They’re also IPX4 rated, so sweat and rain won’t be an issue.

Sound-wise, they’re serious. Dual layer drivers cut distortion and bring in more detail, while Active Noise Cancelling drowns out distractions. Transparency Mode and Adaptive EQ give you control over what you hear and how it sounds, and Personalized Spatial Audio keeps the experience dynamic. With Apple’s H2 chip, you get lightning-fast pairing, efficient battery use, and smooth performance across Apple devices.

Battery life is another high point. You get up to 10 hours on the earbuds alone, and the case adds another 35, all in a design that’s one-third smaller and ready for wireless charging. Add in heart-rate tracking, on-device controls, and upgraded mics for crystal-clear calls, and you’re ready to go.

So why are these so cheap? They’re priced like a refurb, but they don’t look like one. The grade “A” rating means they’re in near-mint condition.

You have until June 8 at 11:59 p.m. PT to get a pair of Beats Powerbeats Pro 2 Earbuds for $174.99. And shipping is free.

StackSocial prices subject to change

Opens in a new window Credit: Beats by Dre Beats Powerbeats Pro 2 Wireless Bluetooth Earbuds (Refurbished) $174.99
$249.99 Save $75 Get Deal

TL;DR: Protect 10 devices with a 5-year subscription to AdGuard on sale for $39.97 (reg. $359.40).

If you’re spending any meaningful amount of time online, a VPN is one of the easiest ways to keep your digital life a little more private. AdGuard VPN makes that whole process painless. It’s fast, reliable, and built by a team that already has a strong track record when it comes to online privacy. You might know them for their ad blocker, but their VPN service brings that same commitment to security and simplicity, and it’s only $39.97 (reg. $359.40) for a 5-year subscription.

What makes this such a good VPN?

AdGuard protects your privacy without over-complicating how you use the internet. You can connect to servers in over 70 locations worldwide, which means it’s easy to get around region-locked content or just browse without everything being tied to your IP address. It also uses its own security protocol, which sounds technical but basically means your connection is encrypted and stays fast. Whether you’re streaming, downloading, or just checking email, everything runs smoothly.

This subscription is for up to 10 devices. So your phone, laptop, tablet, and maybe even your smart TV are all covered. And because they follow a strict no-logs policy, none of your browsing history or data is stored. It’s privacy without the fine print.

AdGuard VPN works across just about every platform, from iOS and Android to Windows, Mac, and even Chrome.

This price won’t last much longer.

You have until June 1 at 11:59 p.m. PT to get an AdGuard VPN 5-year subscription on sale for $39.97.

StackSocial prices subject to change

Opens in a new window Credit: AdGuard AdGuard VPN: 5-Yr Subscription $39.97
$359.40 Save $319.43 Get Deal

TL;DR: Replace your expensive Dropbox monthly fee with a 2TB lifetime subscription to FileRule on sale for $69.

Keeping your files organized, safe, and accessible shouldn’t feel like a full-time job, and it definitely shouldn’t cost more every month. FileRule offers a smarter, more affordable way to keep your files safe. This secure cloud storage platform gives you 2TB of cloud storage space for a one-time fee, and the price just dropped. Instead of paying $690, now it’s only $69.

An affordable Dropbox alternative

FileRule has a clean interface, fast uploads, and simple drag-and-drop functionality in browsers like Chrome and Firefox. You can bulk upload documents, photos, and videos, then access them anytime across all your devices. Everything is protected with industry-standard encryption, and once your files are uploaded, they stay there for life, no subscription or recurring fees required.

What makes FileRule especially useful is its WebDAV integration. This lets you sync and manage files using trusted third-party apps like CyberDuck or MountainDuck, so you can edit and organize files directly from your desktop and have those updates reflect everywhere. You can also share files in just a few clicks, post them to social media, or embed them into your website using pre-generated code.

Other smart features include file previews for PDFs, Word docs, and spreadsheets, advanced analytics to track your storage and file activity, and a completely ad-free experience.

It’s only $69 to get a FileRule 2TB lifetime subscription.

StackSocial prices subject to change

Opens in a new window Credit: FileRule FileRule Cloud Storage: Lifetime Subscription (2TB) $69
$690 Save $621 Get Deal

When OpenAI unleashed ChatGPT on the world in November 2022, it lit the fuse that ignited the generative AI era.

But Karen Hao, author of the new book, Empire of AI: Dreams and Nightmares in Sam Altman's OpenAI, had already been covering OpenAI for years. The book comes out on May 20, and it reveals surprising new details about the company's culture of secrecy and religious devotion to the promise of AGI, or artificial general intelligence.

Hao profiled the company for MIT Technology Review two years before ChatGPT launched, putting it on the map as a world-changing company. Now, she's giving readers an inside look at pivotal moments in the history of artificial intelligence, including the moment when OpenAI's board forced out CEO and cofounder Sam Altman. (He was later reinstated because of employee backlash.)

Empire of AI dispels any doubt that OpenAI’s belief in ushering in AGI to benefit all of humanity had messianic undertones. One of the many stories from Hao’s book involves Ilya Sutskever, cofounder and former chief scientist, burning an effigy on a team retreat. The wooden effigy "represented a good, aligned AGI that OpenAI had built, only to discover it was actually lying and deceitful. OpenAI's duty, he said, was to destroy it." Sutskever would later do this again at another company retreat, Hao wrote.

And in interviews with OpenAI employees about the potential of AGI, Hao details their "wide-eyed wonder" when "talking about how it would bring utopia. Someone said, 'We're going to reach AGI and then, game over, like, the world will be perfect.' And then speaking to other people, when they were telling me that AGI could destroy humanity, their voices were quivering with that fear."

Hao's seven years of covering AI have culminated in Empire of AI, which details OpenAI's rise to dominance, casting it as a modern-day empire. That Hao's book reminded me of The Anarchy, the account of the OG corporate empire, The East India Company, is no coincidence. Hao reread William Dalrymple's book while writing her own "to remind [herself] of the parallels of a company taking over the world."

This is likely not a characterization that OpenAI wants. In fact, Altman went out of his way to discredit Hao's book on X. "There are some books coming out about OpenAI and me. We only participated in two... No book will get everything right, especially when some people are so intent on twisting things, but these two authors are trying to."

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

The two authors Altman named are Keach Hagey and Ashlee Vance, and they also have forthcoming books. The unnamed author was Hao, of course. She said OpenAI promised to cooperate with her for months, but never did.

We get into that drama in the interview below, plus OpenAI's religious fervor for AGI, the harms AI has already inflicted on the Global South, and what else Hao would have included if she'd kept writing the book.

Order 'Empire of AI' by Karen Hao 'Empire of AI' by Karen Hao $28.80 (save $3.20 at Amazon) Shop Now Mashable: I was particularly fascinated by this religious belief or faith that AGI could be achieved, but also without being able to define it. You wrote about Ilya [Sutskever] being seen as a kind of prophet and burning an effigy. Twice. I'd love to hear more of your thoughts on that. 

Karen Hao: I'm really glad that you used religious belief to describe that, because I don't remember if I explicitly used that word, but I was really trying to convey it through the description. This was a thing that honestly was most surprising to me while reporting the book. There is so much religious rhetoric around AGI, you know, ‘AI will kill us’ versus ‘AI will bring us to utopia.’ I thought it was just rhetoric. 

When I first started reporting the book, the general narrative among more skeptical people is, 'Oh, of course they're going to say that AI can kill people, or AI will bring utopia, because it creates this image of AI being incredibly powerful, and that's going to help them sell more products.' 

What I was surprised by was, no, it's not just that. Maybe there are some people who do just say this as rhetoric, but there are also people who genuinely believe these things. 

I spoke to people with wide-eyed wonder when they were talking about how it would bring utopia. Someone said, 'We're going to reach AGI and then, game over, like, the world will be perfect.' And then speaking to other people, when they were telling me that AGI could destroy humanity, their voices were quivering with that fear. 

The amount of power to influence the world is so profound that I think they start to need religion; some kind of belief system or value system to hold on to. Ilya Sutskever (pictured here at a 2023 event in Tel Aviv with Sam Altman) burned a wooden effigy at a company retreat that represented AGI gone rogue. Credit: Photo by Jack Guez / AFP / Getty Images

I was really shocked by that level of all-consuming belief that a lot of people within this space start to have, and I think part of it is because they're doing something that is kind of historically unprecedented. The amount of power to influence the world is so profound that I think they start to need religion; some kind of belief system or value system to hold on to. Because you feel so inadequate otherwise, having all that responsibility. 

Also, the community is so insular. Because I talked with some people over several years, I noticed that the language they use and how they think about what they're doing fundamentally evolves. As you get more and more sucked into this world. You start using more and more religious language, and more and more of this perspective really gets to you.

It's like Dune, where [Lady Jessica] tells a myth that she builds around Paul Atreides that she purposely kind of constructs to make it such that he becomes powerful, and they have this idea that this is the way to control people. To create a religion, you create a mythology around it. Not only do the people who hear it for the first time genuinely believe this because they don't realize that it was a construct, but also Paul Atreides himself starts to believe it more and more, and it becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy. Honestly, when I was talking with people for the book, I was like, this is Dune. 

Something I've been wondering lately is, what am I not seeing? What are they seeing that is making them believe this so fervently? 

I think what’s happening here is twofold. First, we need to remember that when designing these systems, AI companies prioritize their own problems. They do this both implicitly—in the way that Silicon Valley has always done, creating apps for first-world problems like laundry and food delivery, because that’s what they know—and explicitly. 

My book talks about how Altman has long pushed OpenAI to focus on AI models that can excel at code generation because he thinks they will ultimately help the company entrench its competitive advantage. As a result, these models are designed to best serve the people who develop them. And the farther away your life is from theirs in Silicon Valley, the more this technology begins to break down for you.

The second thing that’s happening is more meta. Code generation has become the main use case in which AI models are more consistently delivering workers productivity gains, both for the reasons aforementioned above and because code is particularly well suited to the strengths of AI models. Code is computable. 

To people who don’t code or don’t exist in the Silicon Valley worldview, we view the leaps in code-generation capabilities as leaps in just one use case. But in the AI world, there is a deeply entrenched worldview that everything about the world is ultimately, with enough data, computable. So, to people who exist in that mind frame, the leaps in code generation represent something far more than just code generation. It’s emblematic of AI one day being able to master everything.

How did your decision to frame OpenAI as a modern-day empire come to fruition?

I originally did not plan to focus the book that much on OpenAI. I actually wanted to focus the book on this idea that the AI industry has become a modern-day empire. And this was based on work that I did at MIT Technology Review in 2020 and 2021 about AI colonialism. 

To really understand the vastness and the scale of what's happening, you really have to start thinking about it more as an empire-like phenomenon.

It was exploring this idea that was starting to crop up a lot in academia and among research circles that there are lots of different patterns that we are starting to see where this pursuit of extremely resource-intensive AI technologies is leading to a consolidation of resources, wealth, power, and knowledge. And in a way, it's no longer sufficient to kind of call them companies anymore.

To really understand the vastness and the scale of what's happening, you really have to start thinking about it more as an empire-like phenomenon. At the time, I did a series of stories that was looking at communities around the world, especially in the Global South, that are experiencing this kind of AI revolution, but as vulnerable populations that were not in any way seeing the benefits of the technology, but were being exploited by either the creation of the technology or the deployment of it. 

And that's when ChatGPT came out… and all of a sudden we were recycling old narratives of 'AI is going to transform everything, and it's amazing for everyone.' So I thought, now is the time to reintroduce everything but in this new context. 

Then I realized that OpenAI was actually the vehicle to tell this story, because they were the company that completely accelerated the absolute colossal amount of resources that is going into this technology and the empire-esque nature of it all. 

Sam Altman, under President Donald Trump's administration, announced OpenAI's $500 billion Stargate Project to build AI infrastructure in the U.S. Credit: Jim Watson / AFP / Getty Images Your decision to weave the stories of content moderators and the environmental impact of data centers from the perspective of the Global South was so compelling. What was behind your decision to include that?

As I started covering AI more and more, I developed this really strong feeling that the story of AI and society cannot be understood exclusively from its centers of power. Yes, we need reporting to understand Silicon Valley and its worldview. But also, if we only ever stay within that worldview, you won't be able to fully understand the sheer extent of how AI then affects real people in the real world. 

The world is not represented by Silicon Valley, and the global majority or the Global South are the true test cases for whether or not a technology is actually benefiting humanity, because the technology is usually not built with them in mind. 

All technology revolutions leave some people behind. But the problem is that the people who are left behind are always the same, and the people who gain are always the same. So are we really getting progress from technology if we're just exacerbating inequality more and more, globally? 

That's why I wanted to write the stories that were in places far and away from Silicon Valley. Most of the world lives that way without access to basic resources, without a guarantee of being able to put healthy food on the table for their kids or where the next paycheck is going to come from. And so unless we explore how AI actually affects these people, we're never really going to understand what it's going to mean ultimately for all of us.

Another really interesting part of your book was the closing off of the research community [as AI labs stopped openly sharing details about their models] and how that’s something that we totally take for granted now. Why was that so important to include in the book?

I was really lucky in that I started covering AI before all the companies started closing themselves off and obfuscating technical details. And so for me, it was an incredibly dramatic shift to see companies being incredibly open with publishing their data, publishing their model weights, publishing the analyses of how their models are performing, independent auditors getting access to models, things like that, and now this state where all we get is just PR. So that was part of it, just saying, it wasn't actually like this before. 

And it is yet another example of why empires are the way to think about this, because empires control knowledge production. How they perpetuate their existence is by continuously massaging the facts and massaging science to allow them to continue to persist. 

But also, if it wasn't like this before, I hope that it'll give people a greater sense of hope themselves, that this can change. This is not some inevitable state of affairs. And we really need more transparency in how these technologies are developed. 

The levels of opacity are so glaring, and it's shocking that we've kind of been lulled into this sense of normalcy. I hope that it's a bit of a wake-up call that we shouldn't accept this.

They're the most consequential technologies being developed today, and we literally can't say basic things about them. We can't say how much energy they use, how much carbon they produce, we can't even say where the data centers are that are being built half the time. We can't say how much discrimination is in these tools, and we're giving them to children in classrooms and to doctors' offices to start supporting medical decisions. 

The levels of opacity are so glaring, and it's shocking that we've kind of been lulled into this sense of normalcy. I hope that it's a bit of a wake-up call that we shouldn't accept this.

When you posted about the book, I knew that it was going to be a big thing. Then Sam Altman posted about the book. Have you seen a rise in interest, and does Sam Altman know about the Streisand Effect? Sam Altman (pictured at a recent Senate hearing) alluded to 'Empire of AI' in an X post as a book OpenAI declined to participate in. Hao says she tried for six months to get their cooperation. Credit: Nathan Howard / Bloomberg / Getty Images

Obviously, he's a very strategic and tactical person and generally very aware of how things that he does will land with people, especially with the media. So, honestly, my first reaction was just… why? Is there some kind of 4D chess game? I just don't get it. But, yeah, we did see a rise in interest from a lot of journalists being like, 'Oh, now I really need to see what's in the book.'

When I started the book, OpenAI said that they would cooperate with the book, and we had discussions for almost six months of them participating in the book. And then at the six-month mark, they suddenly reversed their position. I was really disheartened by that, because I felt like now I have a much harder task of trying to tell this story and trying to accurately reflect their perspective without really having them participate in the book. 

But I think it ended up making the book a lot stronger, because I ended up being even more aggressive in my reporting… So in hindsight, I think it was a blessing. 

Why do you think OpenAI reversed its decision to talk to you, but talked to other authors writing books about OpenAI? Do you have any theories?

When I approached them about the book, I was very upfront and said, 'You know all the things that I've written. I'm going to come with a critical perspective, but obviously I want to be fair, and I want to give you every opportunity to challenge some of the criticisms that I might bring from my reporting.' Initially, they were open to that, which is a credit to them.

I think what happened was it just kept dragging out, and I started wondering how sincere they actually were or whether they were offering this as a carrot to try and shape how many people I reached out to myself, because I was hesitant to reach out to people within the company while I was still negotiating for interviews with the communications team. But at some point, I realized I'm running out of time and I just need to go through with my reporting plan, so I just started reaching out to people within the company.

My theory is that it frustrated them that I emailed people directly, and because there were other book opportunities, they decided that they didn't need to participate in every book. They could just participate in what they wanted to. So it became kind of a done decision that they would no longer participate in mine, and go with the others. 

The book ends at the beginning of January 2025, and so much has happened since then. If you were going to keep writing this book, what would you focus on?

For sure the Stargate Project and DeepSeek. The Stargate Project is just such a perfect extension of what I talk about in the book, which is that the level of capital and resources, and now the level of power infrastructure and water infrastructure that is being influenced by these companies is hard to even grasp.

Once again, we are getting to a new age of empire. They're literally land-grabbing and resource-grabbing. The Stargate Project was originally announced as a $500 billion spend over four years. The Apollo Program was $380 billion over 13 years, if you account for it in 2025. If it actually goes through, it would be the largest amount of capital spent in history to build infrastructure for technology that ultimately the track record for is still middling. 

Once again, we are getting to a new age of empire. They're literally land-grabbing and resource-grabbing.

We haven't actually seen that much economic progress; it's not broad-based at all. In fact, you could argue that the current uncertainty that everyone feels about the economy and jobs disappearing is actually the real scorecard of what the quest for AGI has brought us. 

And then DeepSeek… the fundamental lesson of DeepSeek was that none of this is actually necessary. I know that there's a lot of controversy around whether they distilled OpenAI's models or actually spent the amount that they said they did. But OpenAI could have distilled their own models. Why didn't they distill their models? None of this was necessary. They do not need to build $500 billion of infrastructure. They could have spent more time innovating on more efficient ways of reaching the same level of performance in their technologies. But they didn't, because they haven't had the pressure to do so with the sheer amount of resources that they can get access to through Altman's once-in-a-generation fundraising capabilities.

What do you hope readers will take away from this book?

The story of the empire of AI is so deeply connected to what's happening right now with the Trump Administration and DOGE and the complete collapse of democratic norms in the U.S., because this is what happens when you allow certain individuals to consolidate so much wealth, so much power, that they can basically just manipulate democracy. 

AI is just the latest vehicle by which that is happening, and democracy is not inevitable. If we want to preserve our democracy, we need to fight like hell to protect it and recognize that the way Silicon Valley is currently talking about weaponizing AI as a sort of a narrative for the future is actually cloaking this massive acceleration of the erosion of democracy and reversal of democracy. 

Empire of AI will be published by Penguin Random House on Tuesday, May 20. You can purchase the book through Penguin, Amazon, Bookshop.org, and other retailers.

Editor’s Note: This conversation has been edited for clarity and grammar.

Disclosure: Ziff Davis, Mashable’s parent company, in April filed a lawsuit against OpenAI, alleging it infringed Ziff Davis copyrights in training and operating its AI systems.

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