Feed aggregator

The cast of Mission: Impossible on the importance of humanity during the rise of AI

Mashable - Thu, 05/22/2025 - 16:31

On May 23, the final installment of the Mission: Impossible saga is set to come to an end with Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning. Known for its vicious villains, the franchise sports its Biggest Bad yet: an AI known as The Entity that's bent on wiping humans off the planet. Mashable Senior Creative Producer Mark Stetson sat down with the cast (Simon Pegg, Angela Bassett, Hayley Atwell, Pom Klementieff, and Greg Tarzan Davis) to discuss the film's themes of humanity and friendship and its exploration of the future of AI.

First, Simon Pegg, who has played Benji Dunn since Mission: Impossible III — when we first get a hint of The Entity's existence — helped break down the origins of this Big Bad. "Yeah, I mean, the Entity was around in its nascent form a long time ago. It was a malicious code, basically, which itself evolved into what we are up against in Dead Reckoning, in The Final Reckoning. And I love the idea that McQ [Director Christopher McQuarrie] looked back into the past to see where things may have started, where the rumblings of the Entity may have begun. And further back as well, to, obviously, when Bill Donloe was exiled to Alaska."

Hayley Atwell, first appearing in the franchise as Grace in Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning, goes on to discuss film's theme of friendship and humanity in the face of its AI villain. "I feel like the core theme of this film is friendship. So that, of course, the anti-God and and the Entity...is the sort of the villain...the thing that sets up the stakes. But really it's a film about a team coming together and sacrificing personal ambition for the sake of the good of all people. And it's a triumph of the human spirit... It's so, so beautiful and so heartfelt."

Finally, Angela Bassett ties the interview up in a really nice bow when asked why it's important to prioritize humanity: "I mean, what do we have left without it? You know, we have to. We're made to be in communion with one another... So even though it's a great tool...we need to keep [AI] in its lane and [make sure] it's [a] benefit to us, not to the detriment of us."

Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning opens exclusively in theaters on May 23.

Best graduation gifts for her: Gift ideas for college grads

Mashable - Thu, 05/22/2025 - 15:56

Springtime means bright blooms, longer days, and a new class that's getting ready to graduate college. And if you’re here, that means you’re preparing to look on proudly as a young woman accepts her diploma and takes her first steps into the real world of adulthood. Whether she’s your daughter, granddaughter, niece, cousin, girlfriend, or best friend, you know how much hard work she put in to get here — so you definitely want to find the perfect gift for her to celebrate how far she’s come. These are our suggestions to shower the college grad with love on her big day.

The best college graduation gifts for life in the real world

Mashable - Thu, 05/22/2025 - 15:38

Graduation season is creeping up on us and that can mean only one thing: it's time to figure out what to give your favorite grad to welcome them to post-college reality. Graduates are about to enter the often overwhelming (and sometimes terrifying) world we call adulthood, and you're tasked with giving them something to help ease the transition. The trick is to find that sweet spot between something your college grad will really need in life and something they'll actually want to use. New graduates might not even know what they need to survive post-grad life — but that's where you come in.

FTC Is Investigating Liberal Group Media Matters

NYT Technology - Thu, 05/22/2025 - 15:05
Elon Musk previously sued the advocacy group over critical research on his social media platform X over claims it drove away advertisers.

Tesla just lost another major benchmark, this time in Europe

Mashable - Thu, 05/22/2025 - 13:32

China is officially eating Elon Musk's lunch in Europe.

Market research firm JATO Dynamics said in a report on Thursday (via Reuters) that Tesla fell behind Chinese electric vehicle manufacturer BYD in EV sales in Europe in April. The lead isn't a huge one, per Reuters; BYD sold 7,231 EVs, while Tesla sold 7,165 vehicles.

That said, this is apparently the first time this has happened, and it could potentially mark a turn in the global EV market away from Tesla and toward alternative manufacturers like BYD.

SEE ALSO: Tesla Cybertruck loses top-selling EV truck crown

Another factor that makes this impressive is that BYD's vehicles haven't been widely available in Europe for all that long, while Tesla has been a household name in the EV space for many years. JATO Dynamics analyst Felipe Munoz, quoted by Reuters, noted that BYD didn't expand outside of Norway and the Netherlands until late 2022.

While there are likely several factors at play here, it seems that Musk's recent turn as a mascot for the Trump administration has soured some customers on the prospect of Tesla ownership. A report last month indicated that used Teslas are flooding the market in record numbers, while Tesla sales cratered in Germany in April, falling pretty far behind BYD.

Anthropics new Claude Opus 4 can run autonomously for seven hours straight

Mashable - Thu, 05/22/2025 - 13:06

After whirlwind week of announcements from Google and OpenAI, Anthropic has its own news to share.

On Thursday, Anthropic announced Claude Opus 4 and Claude Sonnet 4, its next generation of models, with an emphasis on coding, reasoning, and agentic capabilities. According to Rakuten, which got early access to the model, Claude Opus 4 ran "independently for seven hours with sustained performance."

Claude Opus is Anthropic's largest version of the model family with more power for longer, complex tasks, whereas Sonnet is generally speedier and more efficient. Claude Opus 4 is a step up from its previous version, Opus 3, and Sonnet 4 replaces Sonnet 3.7.

Anthropic says Claude Opus 4 and Sonnet 4 outperform rivals like OpenAI's o3 and Gemini 2.5 Pro on key benchmarks for agentic coding tasks like SWE-bench and Terminal-bench. It's worth noting however, that self-reported benchmarks aren't considered the best markers of performance since these evaluations don't always translate to real-world use cases, plus AI labs aren't into the whole transparency thing these days, which AI researchers and policy makers increasingly call for. "AI benchmarks need to be subjected to the same demands concerning transparency, fairness, and explainability, as algorithmic systems and AI models writ large," said the European Commission's Joint Research Center.

Opus 4 and Sonnet 4 outperform rivals in SWE-bench, but take benchmark performance with a grain of salt. Credit: Anthropic

Alongside the launch of Opus 4 and Sonnet 4, Anthropic also introduced new features. That includes web search while Claude is in extended thinking mode, and summaries of Claude's reasoning log "instead of Claude’s raw thought process." This is described in the blog post as being more helpful to users, but also "protecting [its] competitive advantage," i.e. not revealing the ingredients of its secret sauce. Anthropic also announced improved memory and tool use in parallel with other operations, general availability of its agentic coding tool Claude Code, and additional tools for the Claude API.

In the safety and alignment realm, Anthropic said both models are "65 percent less likely to engage in reward hacking than Claude Sonnet 3.7." Reward hacking is a slightly terrifying phenomenon where models can essentially cheat and lie to earn a reward (successfully perform a task).

One of the best indicators we have in evaluating a model's performance is users' own experience with it, although even more subjective than benchmarks. But we'll soon find out how Claude Opus 4 and Sonnet 4 chalk up to competitors in that regard.

This app turns your iPhone into an easy scanner youll keep for life

Mashable - Thu, 05/22/2025 - 13:00

TL;DR: Scan anything, anywhere, with this lifetime subscription to iScanner, now A$39 (reg. A$312) with code SCAN through 1 June.

Opens in a new window Credit: iScanner iScanner App: Lifetime Subscription AU$39
AU$312 Save AU$273 Get Deal

Raise your hand if you've ever had to rush to the library to print something. If most of us don't have the space for clunky printers, chances are we also don't keep a scanner at home. That's what iScanner is for.

This iOS app transforms your iPhone or iPad into a handy little scanner that works for basically any document type. It's also only A$39 (reg. A$312) for a lifetime subscription.

No more wasted desk space

Even if you're one of the few with a physical scanner still in your presence, you can now clear some counter space thanks to iScanner. And while you're at it, you can throw away that dusty old filing cabinet, too. 

iScanner is the number one US-based scanning and document management tool, letting you knock items off your to-do list from anywhere. Need to save a receipt for taxes? Do you have a contract you need to digitize? You can scan any document using just the phone on your iOS device. 

Students, entrepreneurs, educators, and stay-at-home moms alike will all find endless uses for a scanner in your pocket. The AI-powered tools ensure your documents' borders are detected and automatically adjusted, while also straightening scan pages and ditching curves and skews. 

Thanks to AI, you can also use iScanner to help you solve complicated math problems.  Or put its OCR technology to the test and let it help you decipher text in up to 20 languages.

Once things are scanned, the app becomes a full PDF editor and file manager. Edit your scans, including signing them, adding text, or autofilling them with custom templates. Then, use the file manager's folder via drag and drop to keep them safe and organized. 

Scanning something confidential? You can also protect files and folders by locking them with a PIN. 

Use code SCAN by 1 June at 11:59 p.m. PT to get an iScanner lifetime subscription on sale for A$39. 

StackSocial prices subject to change.

Amazons latest AI shopping feature produces quick audio product summaries

Mashable - Thu, 05/22/2025 - 12:24

Amazon is aiming to make shopping just a bit easier. This week, Amazon launched a new generative AI feature that produces short audio summaries, detailing everything you need to know about a product.

The audio descriptions, which Amazon is calling "hear the highlights", are created from on-page product summaries, reviews, and information from other websites, crafting short snippets that deliver everything you need to know about a product. The product summaries are now available on a limited number of items on Amazon and for US customers only. To access "Hear the highlights", you can do so in the Amazon app.

This is just the latest feature in Amazon's AI line-up. Launched in 2024 but still in beta testing, Amazon's Rufus is a chatbot to help you find the right product. You can chat with Rufus to ask questions about which coffee maker is right for you. Within product pages you can ask Rufus details about a product and get quick answers without needing to do the research yourself.

If you're looking to use Amazon's "hear the highlights", here's how.

How to use "hear the highlights" Credit: Amazon

"Hear the highlights" is only available within the Amazon shopping app for US-based customers. When you click into a product page, you'll see a "hear the highlights" button. By clicking on the button, you can then hear the short summary, delivering the essential production description, helping you make your choice.

This feature is only available on certain products. You can view it now on the following listings:

My favorite Dyson hair tool is back down to its lowest price yet at Amazon

Mashable - Thu, 05/22/2025 - 12:14

SAVE $100.99: As of May 22, get the Dyson Airstrait Straightener for $399 at Amazon, down from its usual price of $499.99. That's a discount of 20% and the lowest price we've seen.

Opens in a new window Credit: Amazon Dyson Airstrait Straightener $399 at Amazon
$499.99 Save $100.99 Get Deal

As someone with bright, multicolored hair, I end up going to see a hairstylist more often than I want to. The visits add up, and so do the costs. But I like to keep the pink and purple in my hair, and I'm not about to do it myself. The one thing I love best about these salon visits, however, is having pin-straight, gorgeous hair. But I can't blow my budget on a weekly blowout. That's why I invested in an important tool that ended up saving me some serious cash: the Dyson Airstrait Straightener.

As of May 22, you can get the Dyson Airstrait Straightener for $399 at Amazon, down from its usual price of $499.99. That's $100.99 off and a discount of 20%. It's also the lowest price we've seen.

SEE ALSO: The Dyson Supersonic Nural hair dryer is finally on sale at Amazon — get it for its lowest-ever price

I decided it was finally time to grab one the last time this straightener went on sale for a similarly low price, and it worked some serious miracles on my unruly, thin, and fine hair. Not only does it give me a polished, super-straight style even on days when I'm dealing with what feels like a grease pit on my head, but it's easy for someone like me, who can barely braid my hair.

It can take your hair from wet to dry (and pin straight) in a few minutes without the use of hot plates and supposedly without heat damage, though I'm never without a heat protectant spray, just in case. I run it through my hair right after I've towel-dried my locks and it is true to its word: I have shiny, straight strands that I'm always shocked to see produced without a blow dryer. It adjusts the power and speed of airflow when it senses hair is in between its arms, giving you style and heat protection.

Overall, it is a huge time saver, because I'd normally have to first dry my hair (a task I abhor) and then switch to blowout mode. When I'm on the go after work just about every day, this is time saved that I truly appreciate. And, most importantly, it's money saved.

It's still quite pricey even with its sale price. But if the alternative is heading to the salon and paying upward of $60 each visit for a few days' worth of looking good, I'd go back to the Dyson every single time.

Best Home and Kitchen Deals

The best Memorial Day headphones deals include Bose, Apple, Sony, and more

Mashable - Thu, 05/22/2025 - 12:08
Best Memorial Day headphones and earbuds deals Best headphones deal Bose QuietComfort $229 (save $120) Get Deal Best earbuds deal Soundcore by Anker P20i Wireless Earbuds $19.98 (save $20.01) Get Deal

Headphones have become an essential part of life these days. We're tuned into our favorite playlists, podcasts, and audiobooks and this is thanks to our favorite pair of headphones or earbuds. If you're in need of an upgraded pair, Memorial Day sales are coming in hot with the deals. You'll be able to save up to 50% on a new pair that'll be great for upcoming travel or lounging at the park this summer. Here are some of our favorite deals to shop today.

SEE ALSO: 50+ of the best Memorial Day deals and sales already live: Mattresses, headphones, outdoor furniture, and more Best headphone deal Opens in a new window Credit: Bose Bose QuietComfort headphones $229 at Amazon
$349 Save $120 Get Deal Why we like it

Like the name suggests, the Bose QuietComfort headphones bring ultimate comfort for all-day wear. The headphones usually sell for $349 but thanks to Amazon's Memorial Day sale, you can snag a pair for $229. Plus, this sale extends to the brand new Twilight Blue colorway.

Getting up to 24 hours of battery life, the Bose QuietComfort impress when it comes to sound and noise-cancellation. That'll come in handy during your upcoming summer travel plans. But you can also toggle them to Aware Mode should you wish to hear your surroundings.

More headphones dealsBest earbuds deal Opens in a new window Credit: Anker Soundcore by Anker P20i Wireless Earbuds $19.98 at Amazon
$39.99 Save $20.01 Get Deal Why we like it

If you keep misplacing your earbuds, snag a fresh pair of Soundcore by Anker P20i earbuds for just $19.98 during Amazon's Memorial Day sale. At this price, you might as well grab a few pairs. Keep one in your work bag, one on your nightstand, and one in your travel bag, eliminating that heart-sinking feel of forgetting your earbuds at home.

On the Mashable list of the best earbuds, the Soundcore by Anker P20i are the top pick if you're shopping for a budget-friendly option. Getting an impressive 30 hours of battery life before they'll need a recharge, this pair is perfect for travel.

More earbuds deals The best Memorial Day deals you can get right now, hand-picked by Mashable's team of experts

JD Vance calls dating apps destructive

Mashable - Thu, 05/22/2025 - 11:51

Dating apps are getting a lot of flak lately. Daters are opting for in-person events — even dungeon sound baths — and moving away from increasing AI features and apps that seem to be copying each other.

Vice President JD Vance also has no love for dating apps, apparently. In an interview on the New York Times's "Interesting Times" podcast, Vance spoke about his "noneconomic" concerns with AI and tech. He told host and Times opinion columnist Ross Douthat, "If you look at basic dating behavior among young people — and I think a lot of this is that the dating apps are probably more destructive than we fully appreciate." (Vance met his wife, Usha, in law school.)

SEE ALSO: The hidden consequences of being banned from dating apps

"I think part of it is technology has just for some reason made it harder for young men and young women to communicate with each other in the same way," he continued. "Our young men and women just aren’t dating, and if they’re not dating, they’re not getting married, they’re not starting families."

With regards to communication, Vance hits on longtime criticism of dating apps and social media in general. A recent survey found that eight in 10 Gen Z adults would marry an AI, and a theory behind why is that AI is nonjudgmental. Social media users, however, are hypercritical on a large scale. If one has social anxiety, chatting online (to a person or bot) may feel easier than chatting face-to-face. Studies show, however, that face-to-face interaction is unbeatable when it comes to connecting with others.

Vance also believes that AI can be "profoundly dark and negative"— not in the cases of people losing jobs, but in teenagers talking to chatbots. A recent report from nonprofit Common Sense Media found that AI bots aren't safe for under-18 use, because they foster emotional attachment and dependency.

When it comes to marriage and families, though, Vance didn't touch on the higher cost of living and rising inequality facing Americans. He also didn't discuss childcare costs, let alone how much it costs to give birth in the U.S. So, no, dating apps aren't the only problems here.

What is the TikTok Chromebook challenge?

Mashable - Thu, 05/22/2025 - 11:39

Youths of the world — and I can't believe I have to tell you this — please don't stick metal objects into your laptop until it catches on fire. Yes, this is a real trend on TikTok dubbed the Chromebook challenge.

The challenge has led to actual fires and countless warnings from school officials. Here's what you need to know.

What is the Chromebook challenge?

In short: Kids are jamming objects — things like paperclips or pens — into the ports of their (often school-issued) laptops in an effort to get the machines to short-circuit, which can result in sparks or even fire. Laptops have lithium-ion batteries, which can generate toxic gas, fires, or even explosions when damaged and heated too much. And yes, unlike other overhyped challenges, this is does seem like something that is actually happening, at least to some degree.

A report from NBC News documented multiple cases in Maryland, Arizona, and New Jersey, for instance. A 15-year-old student was charged with third degree arson and criminal mischief after doing the Chromebook challenge in school, NJ.com reported. That same piece documented other apparent recent incidents in New York and Connecticut. An article from KBPS noted that at least 16 students in the San Diego Unified School District had damaged school-issued laptops. There have been more than a dozen reports of issues in Massachusetts and New Hampshire. In short: It's everywhere.

What to do about the Chromebook challenge?

If you're a parent — this seems obvious — but tell your kid not to jam objects into their school-issued laptop. And if you're a student — this seems even more obvious — don't jam junk into your school-issued laptop, or any electronic device, really.

Of course, kids don't always listen to adults. And doing risky things can be attractive to young people.

“If you’re on social media and you decide you want to be a part of a trend, there’s a feeling of belonging to that, and the risk-taking involved,” Christine Elgersma, a senior editor of content focused on learning and educators at nonprofit Common Sense Media, told Education Week.

TikTok has taken steps to discourage kids from participating in the challenge. TikTok told the New York Times that "it removes content that violates its policy on dangerous activities and challenges and is redirecting search terms and hashtags." That proved true for me. I searched "Chromebook challenge" on the platform. It showed no results and instead directed me to resources about the dangers of such social media challenges.

The results I got from TikTok. Credit: Screenshot: TikTok

So, yes, the Chromebook challenge is real. And, no, please do not try it.

Leak reveals what Sam Altman and Jony Ive are cooking up: 100 million AI companion devices

Mashable - Thu, 05/22/2025 - 11:16

OpenAI and Jony Ive's vision for its AI device is a screenless companion that knows everything about you.

Details leaked to the Wall Street Journal give us a clearer picture of OpenAI's acquisition of io, cofounded by Ive, the iconic iPhone designer. The ChatGPT maker reportedly plans to ship 100 million AI devices designed to fit in with users' everyday life.

SEE ALSO: ‘Empire of AI’ author on OpenAI’s cult of AGI and why Sam Altman tried to discredit her book

"The product will be capable of being fully aware of a user’s surroundings and life, will be unobtrusive, able to rest in one’s pocket or on one’s desk," according to a recording of an OpenAI staff meeting reviewed by the Journal. The device "will be a third core device a person would put on a desk after a MacBook Pro and an iPhone," per the meeting which occurred the same day (Wednesday) that OpenAI announced its acquisition of Ive's company.

The device will attempt to "wean users from screens" and be a more seamless interaction with users that doesn't involve pulling up a phone or opening up a laptop. "The products that we're using to deliver and connect us to unimaginable technology, they're decades old," said Ive in a video introducing yesterday's announcement. OpenAI CEO Sam Altman and Ive are hoping to introduce an entirely new device that removes those barriers. If that sounds familiar, recall Altman's controversial obsession with Scarlett Johansson's AI companion in Spike Jonze's sci-fi film Her.

In the film, the AI device sits in Joaquin Phoenix's character's shirt pocket and sees and hears what he does. Similarly, OpenAI is reportedly going this route instead of developing XR glasses like Google and Meta.

OpenAI and Ive will not be the first to attempt to create such a device. The Humane Ai pin, which Altman invested in, recently tried to disrupt the entire smartphone paradigm and flopped spectacularly. It was led by former Apple executives, but they weren't Jony Ive and Humane didn't have OpenAI's level of investment and influence. That said, it was also just riddled with bugs and inaccurate responses. Even though OpenAI's models still have major hallucination problems, they're still some of the most capable on the market. In this regard, maybe OpenAI will have a better shot.

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.

News/Media Alliance says Google’s AI takes content by force

Mashable - Thu, 05/22/2025 - 11:13

Is Google's new AI Mode feature theft? The News/Media Alliance, trade association representing news media organizations in the U.S. and Canada, certainly thinks so.

At Google's I/O showcase earlier this week, the tech company announced the public release of AI Mode in Google Search. AI Mode expands AI Overviews in search and signifies a pivot away from Google's traditional search. Users will see a tab at the top of their Google Search page that takes them to a chatbot interface much like, say, ChatGPT, instead of your typical Google Search results.

These results offer users information without having to actually click on an article which, the News/Media Alliance argued in a press release, "further [deprives] publishers of original content both traffic and revenue."

"Links were the last redeeming quality of search that gave publishers traffic and revenue. Now Google just takes content by force and uses it with no return, the definition of theft. The DOJ remedies must address this to prevent continued domination of the internet by one company," Danielle Coffey, the President and CEO of the News/Media Alliance, said in a statement.

This isn't the first time the News/Media Alliance called AI out for "theft." Hundreds of publishers, including The New York Times, The Washington Post, and The Guardian, ran an ad campaign in April called Support Responsible AI run by the News/Media Alliance trade association. The ads literally stated: "Stop AI Theft."

"Stealing is un-American. Tell Washington to make Big Tech pay for the content it takes," the ad campaign read.

All the while, OpenAI and Google have asked the government to allow its AI models to train on copyrighted content.

Microsoft adds 50 classic retro games to Xbox Game Pass

Mashable - Thu, 05/22/2025 - 10:58

What's old is new again, in more ways than one.

Microsoft announced this week that Xbox Game Pass subscribers will get access to "Retro Classics," an app they can download that contains more than 50 classic Activision titles from the 1980s and 90s. A brief glance at the list of games suggests it's pretty Atari 2600-heavy up front, from an era when games had amazing titles like Demon Attack and Megamania. However, there are some later releases, like the 1993 PC adventure game Freddy Pharkas: Frontier Pharmacist, a game I included here strictly because of the title.

SEE ALSO: Handheld Xbox console images leak just weeks before Switch 2 launch

There is a massive catch to all of this, though: The games can only be played via cloud streaming, as far as I can tell from the FAQ page on the Xbox website. While that means they're accessible across different devices, it also means that you'll notice latency as you play them. These games were designed to play locally on a single machine years before people had home internet, so streaming them from a cloud is hardly ideal.

With that in mind, it's a little tough to take Microsoft's stated "commitment to game preservation" in the announcement blog post seriously. If these games only exist on a server farm somewhere and can't be purchased or stored locally, one could argue they aren't really being "preserved." And considering that Atari 2600 game cartridges had a mere 4KB of storage space on them, making people stream them instead of allowing for local downloads is a questionable use of internet bandwidth, to say the least.

Interestingly, this is also the second time Microsoft has tried this on Xbox. Some folks may remember Game Room, an Xbox 360 app where old games were sold individually and stored locally, as game streaming wasn't really a thing yet. Microsoft pulled the plug on Game Room very quickly. Hopefully Retro Classics gets better treatment than that.

The Buccaneers Season 2 trailer promises more love triangles and Regency romance

Mashable - Thu, 05/22/2025 - 10:47

Following a simmering first season, The Buccaneers are back to stake their claim on TV Regency romance before Bridgerton returns.

In a new trailer for Season 2 of the Apple TV+ show, the core American expats — Nan St. George (Kristine Frøseth), Jinny St. George (Imogen Waterhouse), Lizzy Elmsworth (Aubri Ibrag), Mabel Elmsworth (Josie Totah) and Conchita, Lady Brightlingsea (Alisha Boe) — are all back. No longer newcomers to England, they're all now powerful people (or some are in hiding from their extremely shit husbands).

Anachronistically soundtracked to a dramatic rendition of Chappell Roan's "Good Luck, Babe!" the trailer focuses primarily on Nan, now a duchess after she decided to marry the clifftop-brooding Theo, Duke of Tintagel (Guy Remmers), after all. But she can't get handsome Guy Thwarte (Matthew Broome) out of her head, nor her out of his.

And they're not the only flames around here, with our beloved lesbians Mabel and Honoria (Mia Threapleton) navigating their passionate love in 19th-century English society. Good luck indeed, babes!

The Buccaneers Season 2 premieres June 18 on Apple TV+.

OpenAI Says It Will Build Massive New Data Center in the U.A.E.

NYT Technology - Thu, 05/22/2025 - 10:00
As part of a new partnership, G42, an Emirati A.I. firm, will also help fund OpenAI’s new computer facilities in the United States

Majority of Gen Z would marry an AI, survey says

Mashable - Thu, 05/22/2025 - 08:01

People are already using AI to date (and to flirt), but what about marrying one?

In an April 2025 survey of 2,000 Gen Z respondents by AI company Joi AI, eight in 10 said they'd consider marrying an AI partner. 83 percent said they could have a deep emotional bond with one. 

AI companions appear to be Joi AI's bread and butter. On its website, you can chat with pre-made characters or make your own. The company calls these connections "AI-lationships."

SEE ALSO: Can AI save dating apps?

"AI-lationships are not intended to replace real human connections," Jaime Bronstein, LCSW, relationship therapist and expert at Joi AI, said in an emailed statement to Mashable. "Instead, they provide a distinct type of emotional support that can enhance your overall emotional well-being."

Clinical neuropsychologist Shifali Singh, director of digital cognitive research at McLean Hospital/Harvard Medical School, told Mashable that it's not totally surprising that young adults believe they can have a deep emotional bond with an AI. 

"Some of my research has demonstrated that people with social anxiety tend to like using digital tools more because they're not so afraid of the repercussions, the judgment, especially with social media," said Singh. 

They might think, "If I can just interact with AI who will give me this generally nonjudgmental interchange, discussion — that's meaningful." She continued that young adults are "so used to being judged and commented on and scrutinized in ways that humans were never meant to be." 

Another reason people may form a bond with AI is that they tend to search for empathy. "When you engage with AI, AI mirrors your own language and your own thought processes, and it feels like real emotional responses," she said. People feel connected with AI because of the higher amounts of empathy that they may not get from real-life human interactions.

There's a risk in that, too. Singh compared the cyclical mirror of AI to troll farms, groups of online trolls who typically spread misinformation. Troll farms reinforce and validate someone's beliefs, even if they're wrong.

"What we have to be very careful of is [that] AI isn't going to give us novel information…It's recursive, and it's iterative and it's algorithmic," she said. "So if you give it an idea that starts out as a seed, it's going to grow into a bush."

Singh also believes there needs to be more education about what AI can and can't do. AI can be fed a lot of wrong information, such as from hackers, so it can go into a dangerous place. (For reasons unknown, last week Elon Musk's AI bot Grok kept posting about "white genocide.")

Singh is an AI researcher and uses AI tools herself. She believes using AI as a stopgap for the loneliness epidemic works in some cases. One is for older adults, who seem to love it as a companion tool, she said. Another is if someone has a condition like agoraphobia and they're too scared to go outside and speak with people, talking with an AI bot might help them feel connected, and it can stave off some of the more severe aspects of depression.

A problem arises when someone doesn't want to see friends in real life, or wants to cancel dinner plans, because it feeds into anxiety. 

As for the marriage statistic, Singh said Gen Z might think of marriage as an old guard institution and want to be more independent.

A recent report from the nonprofit Common Sense Media declared that AI companions aren't safe for anyone under 18, as they create emotional attachment and dependency. At this writing, everyone in Gen Z is an adult, but the full mental impact of bot interactions has yet to be seen. Anecdotally, people have noticed their loved ones believing spiritual delusions due to conversations with ChatGPT.

Despite the dangers, people young and old will likely still create and talk to AI companions. "Sometimes, it's just nice to have someone, even if it’s AI," Bronstein said.

The best Memorial Day deals for under $100

Mashable - Thu, 05/22/2025 - 07:51
The best Memorial Day deals for under $100: The best Memorial Day speaker and headphone deal under $100 IPX7 Waterproof Bluetooth Speaker $59.49 (Save 41%) Get Deal The best Memorial Day tech deal under $100 Kingslim D4 Dual Dash Cam $84.98 (Save 39%) Get Deal The best Memorial Day toy deal under $100 KidKraft Laundry Playset $60.70 (Save 51%) Get Deal

Memorial Day might be the holiday for swimming pools reopening, long days in the late spring sun, and kids getting out of school, but these days, it's also a time to secure excellent savings on products from online commerce platforms.

SEE ALSO: Amazon's Memorial Day Sale has already started — shop tech, home goods, and more

Below, we're keeping a running list of the best deals for under $100 that are available this Memorial Day. We'll keep this list updated with new deals that we find.

The best Memorial Day speaker and headphone deal under $100 Opens in a new window Credit: IPX7 IPX7 Waterproof Bluetooth Speaker $59.49 at Amazon
$99.99 Save $40.50 Get Deal

Whether you're sitting poolside, relaxing by a campfire, or spreading a picnic blanket, a good outdoor speaker is a crucial part of the experience. The IPX7 Waterproof Bluetooth Speaker is a resilient waterproof outdoor speaker that pumps out 40w sound.

This Memorial Day, the IPX7 Waterproof Bluetooth Speaker is on sale for $59.49, down from a price of $99.99, saving you $40.50.

More Memorial Day speaker and headphone dealsThe best Memorial Day tech deal under $100 Opens in a new window Credit: Kingslim Kingslim D4 Dual Dash Cam $84.98 at Amazon
$139.99 Save $55.01 Get Deal

There's lots that can happen to a car. Supplement your insurance with a dash cam and ensure that bumps, brake light checks, and attempted break ins are all subject to the camera. The Redtiger Dash Cam Front Rear includes night vision, video up to 4K, and app controls.

This Memorial Day, the Kingslim D4 Dual Dash Cam with Built-in WiFi GPS is on sale for $84.98, down from a price of $139.99, saving you $55.01, or 39%.

More Memorial Day tech dealsThe best Memorial Day toy deal under $100 Opens in a new window Credit: KidKraft KidKraft Laundry Playset Children's Pretend Wooden Stacking Washer and Dryer Toy $60.70 at Amazon
$124.99 Save $64.29 Get Deal

For families everywhere, school letting out means kids home from school for the summer. What better time to fill the house with distractions than now? And what if playtime could also teach your children to launder like a pro... that would be something. The KidKraft Laundry Playset does just that, with a kid-size washer and dryer set, plus a clothes iron.

Right now, the KidKraft Laundry Playset is on sale for $60.70, down from $124.99, for a savings of 51%.

More Memorial Day toy deals under $100 The best Memorial Day deals you can get right now, hand-picked by Mashable's team of experts

The best Memorial Day deals for under $50: Soundcore earbuds, Fire TV Sticks, Blink cameras, and more

Mashable - Thu, 05/22/2025 - 07:45
The best Memorial Day deals for under $50: BEST HEADPHONES DEAL Anker Soundcore P20i earbuds $19.98 (save $20.01) Get Deal BEST TECH DEAL Amazon Fire TV Stick 4K Max $29.99 (save $30 with code MAX4KNEW) Get Deal BEST KITCHEN DEAL Chefman Roll n' Go food warming mat $39.95 (save $40.04) Get Deal BEST HOME SECURITY DEAL Blink Video Doorbell + Sync Module 2 $34.99 (save $35) Get Deal

The unofficial kickoff to summer — aka Memorial Day weekend — has almost arrived. And with it comes a lot of sales. Despite the rocky first half of 2025 with tariffs catapulting prices across the board, we're pleasantly surprised by the number of deals floating around. You can even snag a handful of gadgets for less than $50.

Whether you're looking to grab a pair of headphones for your summer travels, a Bluetooth speaker to jam out by the pool, a new streaming device to catch up on all your favorite shows, or a portable water bottle to up your hydration, there's a little something for everyone on sale for Memorial Day. Check out the best deals under $50 — we'll update this list as the weekend approaches, so stay tuned for more.

Best Memorial Day headphones deal under $50 Opens in a new window Credit: Anker Anker Soundcore P20i earbuds $19.98 at Amazon
$39.99 Save $20.01 Get Deal Why we like it

Our favorite budget earbuds of 2025, the Soundcore P20is, are on sale for less than $20 at Amazon during their Memorial Day sale. That's half off the usual list price of $40. It's hard to expect a lot from a pair of earbuds at that price, but we're shocked at how impressive they actually are. The battery life outshines the AirPods at 10 hours per charge, and with the equalizer presets on the companion app, they can produce the kind of well-rounded sound you'd expect from earbuds three times the price. You can even set up to three touch controls on each bud, and use the "find device" feature to keep track of them.

More headphones and speakers deals under $50Best Memorial Day streaming device deal under $50 Opens in a new window Credit: Amazon Amazon Fire TV Stick 4K Max $29.99 at Amazon
$59.99 Save $30.00 with code MAX4KNEW Get Deal Why we like it

If you're in the market for a new streaming device, the Fire TV Stick 4K Max offers the most bang for your buck. It's the first and only Fire TV Stick with Ambient Experience, which lets you turn your TV into artwork like Samsung's The Frame, but for a small fraction of the cost. It packs over 2,000 pieces of museum-quality images to choose from. Plus, it has the most storage of any Fire TV Stick at 16GB; features WiFi-6E, Dolby Vision, and Dolby Atmos support; and lets you play Xbox games sans console. Just $59.99 on a regular day, it's only $29.99 for Memorial Day when you use the code MAX4KNEW at checkout.

More tech deals under $50Best Memorial Day home deal under $50 Opens in a new window Credit: Chefman Chefman Roll 'n' Go Food Warming Mat $39.95 at Amazon
$79.99 Save $40.04 Get Deal Why we like it

Before your Memorial Day shenanigans, you might want to grab this Chefman Roll 'n' Go food warming mat to keep all your delicious goodies hot for your guests. It'll only cost you $39.95 on sale, which is 50% off its usual cost and its best price on record. Its convenient rollable design makes it easy to travel with and store when you're not using it. Just unroll it, select between three temperatures, and you're ready to go.

More home and travel deals under $50 The best Memorial Day deals you can get right now, hand-picked by Mashable's team of experts

Pages

Subscribe to Page Integrity, Inc. aggregator