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A Chinese manufacturer just shocked a larger, complacent U.S. rival with a cheaper product that is significantly more customizable. News at 11.

In many industries, in the 21st century so far, this statement would not in fact be news; it would be such a familiar tale, few would bother mentioning it. But the old tale is noteworthy in this latest instance, thanks to the industry being Artificial Intelligence. Which, ironically, now seems to be an industry that was not very intelligent about obvious developments coming down the pike.

DeepSeek has taken off at a difficult time in the U.S., and not just politically. A divided country was just coming to grips with what AI means for business, for jobs, and whether the promised returns would be worth the investment that has been ploughed into (and by) U.S. companies. One thing few seemed to question was that a U.S. business would always be in the lead. No matter who was in or out, an American leader would emerge victorious in the AI marketplace — be that leader OpenAI's Sam Altman, Nvidia's Jensen Huang, Anthropic's Dario Amodei, Microsoft's Satya Nadella, Google's Sundar Pichai, or for the true believers, xAI's Elon Musk.

ChatGPT appeared to have a grip on the public imagination, and Altman seemed to be the most media savvy public face of the AI salesmen, so — presuming he could stop having weird feuds over celebrity voices and isn't found liable for allegedly abusing his sister — probably him?

Now here comes Liang Wenfeng, founder and CEO of DeepSeek, with a face so unknown there isn't even, at time of writing, a photo on his Wikipedia entry, nor does the mighty Getty archive contain any picture of him. (He did show up at a Beijing Symposium last week, should you want to know what he looks like.) DeepSeek doesn't swim in the media-facing, market-facing waters of the posturing U.S. AI giants. All it has is a better product — a faster, way cheaper product that fulfills a promise Altman forgot: It's open source.

And in the flattened world of the internet, turns out, that's all you need.

A day in the life of DeepSeek

One day, that's all it took. One day for DeepSeek to vault to the top of the app charts on Apple and Google. One day for Nvidia's Jensen Huang to lose nearly $21 billion of his net worth, thanks to the biggest single-day loss for any stock ever.

Reports that DeepSeek may have been partly trained on sanctions-busting Nvidia chips didn't stop the slide, because DeepSeek's secret sauce is that it simply doesn't need as much computing power as other Large Language Models. DeepSeek isn't just cheaper and more customizable, it is up to 50 times more efficient than the top U.S. models. Which could be good news for the environment, and bad news for Nvidia, let alone any U.S. tech giant which have been gearing up their data center budgets and massively overspending on Nvidia chips (in other words, pretty much all of them — except Apple, which has wisely put Apple Intelligence to work mostly on the device itself.)

"Nvidia has basically been getting rich selling shovels in the midst of a gold rush," AI expert Gary Marcus, one of the deepest skeptics of the U.S. AI approach, wrote as DeepSeek news poured in, "but may suddenly face a world in which people suddenly require far fewer shovels ... building $500 billion worth of power and data centers in the service of those chips isn't looking so sensible either."

Indeed, an increasing number of companies may be able to avoid paying for cloud-based AI services at all. At costs of pennies on the dollar, executives will be able to download an open-source LLM that can be customized to fit their database and data needs. It doesn't need to be the absolute fastest and smartest AI, it just needs to be competitive with the fastest and smartest — which DeepSeek's R1 model apparently is.

SEE ALSO: Here's what DeepSeek AI does better than OpenAI's ChatGPT

So what has ChatGPT, and by extension Altman, got on its side? Why, in this fast-moving tech consumer world, where a competitor is only an app store tap away, would anyone stick with the app they know? Sure, many will for a while, but relying on the inertia of your customer base in the face of close-to-free alternatives is a great way to ... become the next AOL. ChatGPT's fall from grace could arguably happen faster than its ascendency in 2022, which in itself was practically overnight.

Which is not to say that U.S. AI companies are sunk. After all, they have an ongoing cyberattack and a protectionist U.S. government in their corner. Today's Washington is willing to pass the CHIPS act to prevent Chinese companies from accessing the latest U.S. chip technology, which evidently did not work, but it is also willing to ban TikTok, the kind of blunt tool that would work to stunt DeepSeek's scary-fast growth. Suspicions over what China could do with all the U.S. customer data its companies are acquiring are rife, and can always be stoked.

But what are you going to do? Keep banning every Chinese LLM that undercuts a bloated U.S. rival? At a certain point, that's playing whack-a-mole, and it ignores the point. If the market wants a super-cheap, super-efficient open-source AI, then American companies need to be the ones who provide them.

If Altman doesn't release a supposedly superior GPT 5 soon, and if he doesn't want OpenAI to be heading for the kind of long-term decline that has affected so many haughty U.S. tech companies in the past, then he needs to join DeepSeek and Meta in the ranks of AI makers that release open-source products.

And maybe concentrating on the carbon footprint of your AI model — a pretty good proxy for how inefficient it is — isn't such a bad idea after all.

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.

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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.

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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 January 28 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: Someone who entertains

• Green: Used for strength training

• Blue: Candy bar, singular

• Purple: Associated with "speed"

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: Funny Person

• Green: Resistance Training Equipment

• Blue: Candy Bar Minus "S"

• Purple: Speed___

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 #597 is...

What is the answer to Connections today

• Funny Person: CARD, CHARACTER, JOKER, LAUGH

• Resistance Training Equipment: BAND, BENCH, DUMBBELL, MAT

• Candy Bar Minus "S": AIRHEAD, MAR, MOUND, SNICKER

• Speed___: BUMP, CHESS, DEMON, DIAL

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 January 28

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.

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 January 28 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 January 28, 2025 Here's a subtle hint for today's Wordle answer:

High body temperature due to illness.

Does today's Wordle answer have a double letter?

The letter E appears twice.

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

Today's Wordle starts with the letter F.

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...

FEVER.

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 January 28

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'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 preferred pace.

SEE ALSO: Wordle today: Answer, hints for January 28 SEE ALSO: NYT Connections hints today: Clues, answers for January 28 NYT Strands hint for today’s theme: Stable supply

These words are things a cowboy might need.

Today’s NYT Strands theme plainly explained

Words are related to horses in a stable.

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 HorsebackRiding.

Featured Video For You Strands 101: How to win NYT’s latest word game NYT Strands word list for January 28

• Reins

• Harness

• Spurs

• Saddle

• Crop

• Bridle

• HorsebackRiding

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.

Google said it would follow the Trump administration in renaming the Gulf of Mexico once the new name is updated in government sources.

The chatbot from China appears to perform a number of tasks as well as its American competitors do, but it censors topics such as Tiananmen Square.

DeepSeek appears to be twisting the knife.

U.S.-based AI stocks took a tumble on Monday following the release of the China-based DeepSeek AI chatbot. The new product from the Chinese tech startup offers a more affordable large language model (LLM), presenting a competitive alternative to OpenAI's options like ChatGPT.

But DeepSeek wasn’t finished. By Monday afternoon, the company unveiled its latest innovation: Janus-Pro-7B, a cutting-edge AI image generation model.

SEE ALSO: DeepSeek AI might be smarter than OpenAI's smartest AI, and you can try it out now

DeepSeek claims its Janus-Pro-7B outperforms existing models such as OpenAI's DALL-E and Stable Diffusion. In a bold move that mirrors its approach with DeepSeek-R1, the company has made Janus-Pro-7B free and open source.

Like DALL-E, a user can input text describing a photo or artwork, and DeepSeek's Janus-Pro will provide the user with an AI-generated image. DeepSeek says that Janus-Pro can both analyze and generate images.

"Janus-Pro is a novel autoregressive framework that unifies multimodal understanding and generation," the company said in a technical report of the model. "It addresses the limitations of previous approaches by decoupling visual encoding into separate pathways while still utilizing a single, unified transformer architecture for processing."

DeepSeek provided AI-generated image examples of the improvements between its prior Janus model, which can be viewed below.

Credit: DeepSeek

Though fairly new to the space, DeepSeek is already positioning itself as a formidable disruptor in the AI race, no doubt leaving industry leaders scrambling to adapt.

The tech industry has had an insatiable appetite for Nvidia’s chips over the last two years. But the feast may be over sooner than many had expected.

How did a little-known Chinese start-up cause the markets and U.S. tech giants to quake? Here’s what to know.

Dragons, fairies, and talking rats descended upon Madison Square Garden on Jan. 24 for Dimension 20's sold-out Gauntlet at the Garden — and the results were nothing short of a blast.

Led by Game Master Brennan Lee Mulligan and starring "intrepid heroes" Emily Axford, Ally Beardsley, Brian Murphy, Zac Oyama, Siobhan Thompson, and Lou Wilson, Gauntlet at the Garden transported its thousands of audience members back to D20's New York City-set Unsleeping City campaign. That the cast was battling fierce enemies mere subway stops from MSG added an extra layer of intensity to the actual play show, but that site specificity was only the start of Gauntlet at the Garden's magic.

SEE ALSO: Brennan Lee Mulligan on the joys of 'Dimension 20: Dungeons and Drag Queens' Dimension 20's Gauntlet at the Garden brought the multiverse to Madison Square Garden. Credit: Kristy Puchko

Gauntlet at the Garden kicked off with the return of all of The Unsleeping City's original player characters: Sofia Bicicleta (Axford), Pete Conlan (Beardsley), Kugrash (Murphy), Ricky Matsui (Oyama), Misty Moore (Thompson), and Kingston Brown (Wilson). Due to some multiversal shenanigans, the party learns that three enemies from other D20 campaigns are wreaking havoc in New York City. A Crown of Candy's Sugar Plum Fairy is creating a hellish candy land up near Lincoln Center, while A Starstruck Odyssey's Junkmother causes panic in Staten Island's Freshkills Park. Elsewhere, Fantasy High's Kalvaxus tears up Wall Street in search of — what else? — gold. (In keeping with the site specificity of an MSG show, I personally would have loved a climactic fight there instead of Wall Street, as the New York Stock Exchange served as a battleground in the first season of The Unsleeping City.)

SEE ALSO: Inside 'Game Changer,' the internet's favorite game show

Luckily, our intrepid heroes didn't have to face these fiends alone. In Gauntlet at the Garden's biggest interactive moment, the audience got to roll along virtually on our phones in order to determine which allies from other D20 campaigns would be joining in.

Credit: Screenshot: Dimension 20

The rolling mechanic was one of the many ways Gauntlet at the Garden enlarged the scale of a typical D20 episode in order to match its arena. The circular setup at the center of MSG recreated the feel of D20's usual campaigns, complete with lit-up triangular panels that matched the look of D20's set. Those panels changed colors during combat sequences or especially important Box of Doom rolls, and the whole of MSG followed suit, bathing the audience in red light and making us feel like we were in the D20 Dome. Screens above the set showed closeups of the players — a blessing if you were far from the ground or had a limited sightline on some players — as well as animations introducing PCs, enemies, and allies. Pyrotechnics and an oversized 20-sided die rounded out Gauntlet at the Garden's larger-than-life production, turning the show into a delightful mishmash between Dungeons & Dragons actual play and the theatrics of professional wrestling. (An impromptu wrestling match between Murphy and Wilson sealed the deal.)

Gauntlet at the Garden was a joyous fan experience. Credit: Kristy Puchko

On top of Gauntlet at the Garden's three epic showdowns and the excitement of seeing these characters again, the show proved to be a joyous barrage of fan service. Much of this came down to the multiversal angle, with fans jumping into a frenzy at the arrival of allies like Gilear Faeth and Ayda Agueforth — complete with several "Hoot! Growl!" chants — or booing at the appearance of sinister Lord Calroy Cruller. (True to form, Mulligan embraced the heel role, hitting us with a classic, "I'm all the bad guys.") Inside jokes abounded as well — shout-out to Chronomancy, the greatest magic of all.

But Gauntlet at the Garden wasn't just an incredible experience for the fans — it was an incredible experience because of the fans.

Cosplayers throughout MSG set the tone for Gauntlet at the Garden, with audience members dressed as everything from PCs to Kugrash's Juicy Cockroach and Spicy Pigeon Spirit Totems. In the long, cold line to get into the arena, it was a treat to hear people complimenting one another on their cosplays — sometimes of the same character.

During the show itself, the phone dice rolling mechanic allowed for further bonding and excitement between fans. My seatmates and I compared rolls with glee, high-fiving when someone rolled a Nat 20, then promptly losing our minds when Mulligan revealed MSG had rolled a collective Nat 20. I've watched MLB grand slams and WNBA buzzer-beating threes live, and MSG's eruption at any Nat 20 roll captured that same sense of victorious euphoria as any major sporting event.

Because that's how Gauntlet at the Garden felt: Major. As Dungeons and Dragons continues to explode in popularity, not just as a game but as a form of live performance, Gauntlet at the Garden stands out as a turning point representative of how big actual play can truly get, and what level of spectacle it can achieve.

Dimension 20 is now streaming on Dropout. Gauntlet at the Garden will stream on Dropout at a later date.

When shopping for the woman in your life, real romance isn't about the amount of money you spend or picking out the biggest bouquet of roses. It's about showing that you pay attention to her complaints, know what she likes, and appreciate what she does for you by gifting her something that makes her life easier. We're picking the bar up off the floor in 2025 with Valentine's Day gift ideas for women that are sure to please. Thoughtful, practical, whimsical, or appropriately mushy, these gifts go beyond the classic flowers and jewelry that you've already thought of.

Sorry, OpenAI (and Google and Meta and…). 

A recently released AI model called DeepSeek from a China-based startup is currently wreaking havoc on the tech space in the U.S. 

Why? Because it's blowing all other Big Tech models out of the water. And, to top it off, it's allegedly doing so with less funding and less technological resources.

Here's what the AI industry says about DeepSeek compared to OpenAI's leading chatbot, ChatGPT.

DeepSeek is actually open

Now, regarding AI outputs, everyone might have a different opinion based on their specific use case. So, there are still areas where other AI models might beat DeepSeek's outputs.

SEE ALSO: Could Trump ban DeepSeek? What the TikTok ban saga tells us.

For example, some users discovered that certain answers on DeepSeek's hosted chatbot are censored due to the Chinese government. That is true.

But, here's a fact: DeepSeek is open in a way that OpenAI said ChatGPT would be – and never delivered. In fact, as OpenAI sheds its original "open" ethos, DeepSeek went ahead and released its model as open-source. Anyone can download the DeepSeek R1 model for free and run it locally on their own device. This means your data won't be shared in any way with DeepSeek. In addition, as even DeepSeek pointed out, users can get around any censorship or skewed results.

DeepSeek is more affordable than OpenAI

While OpenAI's training for each model appears to be in multiples of tens of millions of dollars, DeepSeek claims it pulled off training its model for just over $5.5 million.

And that price difference also appears to be passed on to the consumer.

API access for DeepSeek-RI starts at $0.14 for one million tokens or roughly 750,000 words. DeepSeek's latest model is reportedly closest to OpenAI's o1 model, priced at $7.50 per one million tokens. That's a pretty big disparity in pricing.

DeepSeek's outputs for certain tasks seemingly beat ChatGPT

ChatGPT and DeepSeek users agree that OpenAI's chatbot still excels in more conversational or creative output as well as information relating to news and current events.

However, the consensus is that DeepSeek is superior to ChatGPT for more technical tasks. If you use AI chatbots for logical reasoning, coding, or mathematical equations, you might want to try DeepSeek because you might find its outputs better.

For most queries, though, it appears DeepSeek and ChatGPT are on par, roughly giving the same output. 

Even being on equal footing is bad news for OpenAI and ChatGPT because DeepSeek is entirely free for most use cases. Regular ChatGPT users may have to subscribe to its paid tier at $20 a month. 

For companies utilizing AI-model API access, the price difference between two largely equivalent models may be too much for them not to switch from OpenAI's ChatGPT to DeepSeek.

Tesla, owned by Elon Musk, is taking the European Union (EU) to court over its tariffs on electric vehicles imported from China. Filed last Wednesday with the European Court of Justice (ECJ) by Tesla’s Shanghai division, the lawsuit comes in the wake of similar legal moves by BMW and other Chinese car manufacturers.

The tariffs are part of the EU’s ongoing efforts to combat what it sees as unfair trade practices. A 2023 investigation concluded that Chinese EV manufacturers, including Tesla’s Shanghai operations, benefited from government subsidies like low-interest loans, cheap land, and supplier discounts.

SEE ALSO: Tesla stock slides after first-ever delivery drop

Following the probe, the EU introduced steep anti-subsidy tariffs in late October 2024, with Tesla hit by a 7.8 percent rate and other manufacturers facing duties as high as 35.3 percent. These levies are in addition to the EU's existing 10 percent standard import tariff on vehicles.

According to The Financial Times, roughly 20 percent of all EVs sold in the EU last year — around 300,000 units — were manufactured in China. Tesla’s relatively low tariff rate stems from an individual review that determined the company received minimal support from the Chinese government compared to other automakers.

Tesla’s legal filing does not reveal specific details about its argument. The case against the European Commission will be heard in the General Court, the EU’s second-highest judicial body, with the possibility of appealing the verdict to the ECJ.

The entire legal process is expected to take around 18 months.

DeepSeek AI, the hottest name in generative AI right now, says it’s weathering "large-scale malicious attacks" after becoming the most-downloaded app on Apple’s App Store, overtaking OpenAI’s ChatGPT in the process.

SEE ALSO: Could Trump ban DeepSeek? What the TikTok ban saga tells us.

The China-based AI startup has experienced explosive growth over the past week, drawing comparisons to the viral launch of ChatGPT itself. DeepSeek AI's open-source large language model (LLM), DeepSeek R1, claims to boast performance that rivals its Western competitors — allegedly at half the cost and with significantly less computing power, too.

A massive migration of users to DeepSeek’s platform, available as a free web app and on iOS and Android, has strained its infrastructure. Alleged cyberattacks have only added to the strain, forcing the company to temporarily limit new registrations, as noted on its status page.

DeepSeek has not elaborated on the nature or scale of the attacks and did not immediately respond to Mashable's request for comment.

Best Valentine's Day flower delivery deals Best for roses The Bouqs Co. Save 25% on roses with code ROSE Get Deal Best for various bouquets UrbanStems Save 15% off everything with code GETLUCKY15 Get Deal Best all-in-one stop 1-800 Flowers Save up to 40% on Valentine's Day sets Get Deal

January may feel like a month of 31 successive Mondays, but finally, we've almost reached the end. Just near that light at the end of the tunnel though, is a reminder: Valentine's Day will be here sooner than you think.

Of course, there are a ton of different gifts you can get your beloved for Valentine's Day: trust us, we've researched them. That said, there's nothing more classic than a bouquet. Whether it'll be the main attraction of your V-Day present or something to supplement a more practical gift like a Tile tracker, we've found deals from The Bouqs Co., UrbanStems, and 1-800 Flowers at a variety of different price points.

SEE ALSO: Best gift ideas for the woman in your life

Better yet, each of these flower sellers already allows you to schedule your delivery for Friday, Feb. 14, so you can lock in a gift weeks in advance. Below, you'll more more details about each of the best flower delivery deals available ahead of Valentine's Day.

Best for roses Opens in a new window Credit: The Bouqs Co. The Bouqs Co. Save 25% on roses with code ROSE Get Deal Why we like it

A bouquet of roses may not be the most out-of-the-box Valentine's Day gift, but the classics are classics for a reason. Whether you're looking for a red, pink, white, yellow, orange, or even black roses, the Bouq. Co has got you covered with the code ROSE, which will save you 25% off your order. If you don't already have a vase on hand, you'll have your choice of three different options (for an additional cost starting at $16).

Best for various bouquets Opens in a new window Credit: UrbanStems UrbanStems Save 15% off everything with code GETLUCKY15 Get Deal Why we like it

Not everyone's favorite flower is a rose, and that's okay. If you're looking for more options, UrbanStems is running a sitewide sale (with some exclusions), so you can pick up bouquets of mums, lilies, carnations, and even house plants, if your Valentine has a green thumb.

Best all-in-one Opens in a new window Credit: 1-800 Flowers 1-800 Flowers Save up to 40% on Valentine's Day sets Get Deal Why we like it

Looking for a one stop shop for flowers, stuffed animals, chocolates, and candles? You'll find it at 1-800 Flowers. The site offers a variety of bundles with these Valentine's Day staples, making it easy for you to grab your gift ahead of time. Though no code is necessary to score these savings, just be aware that you'll be charged a $15 premium for Valentine's Day delivery, even if you place your order ahead of time.

What does life look like when one of your family members has been convicted of horrific crimes?

This is the question posed in Happy Face, a new series about Melissa Reed (Annaleigh Ashford), the daughter of convicted serial killer Keith Jeppersen (Dennis Quaid). But when another man faces the death penalty for a crime that may have been her father's, Melissa is forced to reconnect with her dad in order to try and work out the truth.

The first two episodes of Happy Face are streaming on Paramount+ from March 20.

Oil and gas executives welcomed President Trump’s early moves on energy policy, but many said they did not plan to increase production unless prices rose significantly.

SAVE $100: The Keurig K-Duo Plus coffee maker is on sale for just $99.99 at Best Buy, down from the typical price of $199.99. That's a 50% discount.

Opens in a new window Credit: Keurig Keurig K-Duo Plus $99.99 at Best Buy
$199.99 Save $100.00 Get Deal

Morning is no time to be fighting with your coffee maker. If your current coffee setup is causing more trouble than enjoyment, you deserve an upgrade. You need something versatile, programmable, and a no-fuss machine. And if you'd like something affordable, check out this great limited-time deal at Best Buy.

Until 9:59 p.m. ET on Jan. 27, the Keurig K-Duo Plus coffee maker is on sale at Best Buy for just $99.99, down from the typical price of $199.99. That's a 50% discount that'll save you $100 on the coffee maker.

We usually assume Keurig coffee makers use K-pods, but the K-Duo Plus gives you the option to use either a single pod or make a full pot of drip coffee with ground beans in the insulated carafe.

You're in control with the K-Duo Plus, choosing your coffee type and strength. With a K-pod, brew up a single cup in a flash, or make enough for the whole house with the thermal stainless steel carafe that brews from ground coffee.

The machine also has a pause and pour function which allows you the chance to take a cup before the brewing cycle is over. The programmable timer function also allows you select a time for the brew to begin, meaning you can have hot coffee waiting for you when you enter the kitchen each morning.

If your kitchen is calling for a coffee maker upgrade, grab today's Best Buy deal on the Keurig K-Duo Plus coffee maker and save an impressive 50%. Its versatility and ease is just what coffee lovers deserve each morning.

As natural (read: human-exacerbated) disasters ramp up in severity across the globe, communities have had to reconcile with extreme, life-altering loss.

Cities have been completely decimated by fires and floods. Homes have been destroyed by tornadoes and extreme storms. And while the tangible losses of personal belongings is often debilitating, it pales in comparison to the incalculable loss of life.

SEE ALSO: Why the 'digital divide' persists within Indigenous communities

The climate crisis — and leaders' reluctance to admit, let alone curb, its impact in large scale ways — will only make things worse. So, in addition to championing a wider, solutions-based climate consciousness, individuals should prepare themselves for potential disaster, and you should start in the home.

Securing important documents 

The government's emergency response services include safeguarding documents as key to essential emergency preparedness planning. This is because official records are crucial to beginning the recovery process, FEMA explains.

"The first step is to take an inventory of your household documents, contacts, and valuables," advises FEMA. "Taking time now to safeguard these critical documents will give you peace of mind, ensure you have access to essential medical and prescription information, and help you avoid additional stress during the difficult days following a disaster."

Items to ensure are protected include: birth, marriage, divorce, or adoption certificates; passports, driver's licenses, Social Security cards, and immigration documents; disability documentation and medical files; pet ownership papers; insurance policies and financial statements; wills and trusts; and essential contact information.

Tweet may have been deleted Physically store your files

Many disaster agencies, including insurance companies, recommend creating an emergency document kit that can be added to emergency go-bags or easily transported when households need to get out fast. 

Flood or fire proof storage devices include water tight bags and cases, or folders and document binders made out of fire retardant materials. While there are safes designed to survive intense fire, not all of them are designed specifically for document storage, if that's what you're after. Non-fireproof, document specific safes may be a cheaper and more practical option, however, as they tend to be smaller and more mobile — most purchasing guides will note the differences, but read the fine print before you buy.

If you want to be even more careful, consider storing your documents outside of your home in an institution you trust, such as a bank security deposit box. FEMA recommends going over bank policies and state laws prescribing exactly who has permission to access the security deposit box, should a critical injury or death occur. 

Digitally store your files

Many may opt for keeping digital versions of important documents stored in addition to physical copies — a wise and convenient choice in an age where most online services ask for digital uploads anyway. 

Scan these documents and keep multiple copies of the files in safe, password-protected digital storage formats. If you don't have access to a physical scanner, try free apps that can turn images of files into compatible formats like PDFs, such as Microsoft Lens. Read more on that below. 

Keep copies of these in an offline place as well, such as a password-backed external hard drive, that is accessible to grab in an emergency situation.

Protecting your personal photos 

In the wake of southern California's mass wildfire spread and extensive destruction of residential areas, many online encouraged others to protect their precious photos and treasured memories digitally, as well. The loss of personal, sentimental items can have a traumatic effect on emotional and mental wellbeing and negatively impact the long term recovery process.

Tweet may have been deleted Use apps to digitize

Making and protecting backups of photos, even in the digital age, is still an important step to emergency preparedness. The easiest way to do so? Your smartphone and a vast market of photo and document scanning apps that use your phone's camera to take higher quality images of your photos — then store them on your device or in the cloud. 

Google, for instance, offers the app PhotoScan, a digital image scanner that backs up directly to the Google Photo app and may be a good free alternative for Google and Android users. Another free app is Photo Scan by Photomyne. 

iPhone users can also employ Apple's Continuity Camera and Notes app to scan documents and photos. Simply open a new Note, tap the paperclip icon, and then select Scan Documents. Your phone will automatically detect and capture the file or photo in view. Scans are saved directly in Notes, but users can also tap the drop down arrow at the top of the scanned image to share, save to their files, or print. 

Document scanning apps like Microsoft Lens and Adobe Scan can also double as higher quality photo scanning options. One of the most popular among users is the AI-enhanced document scanner app CamScanner. Paid options include third-party apps like SwiftScan and Pic Scanner Gold.

Keep in mind that some apps, like Adobe Scan, may not be compatible with image formats like JPEGs or PNGs. That means they might only be able to save and share your files in document-friendly formats such as PDFs.

Stick with old school options

Some may want to use traditional scanners to capture every detail of their beloved images. Depending on your local library system, many public libraries offer free document and image scanning at their locations, but may require bringing your own thumb drive or making an online library account to save or send files. Check with your local library to be sure they offer scanners to guests. 

Alternatively, several companies and online services also provide by-mail scanning options, which allow individuals to send physical copies of their photos for preservation and restoration. These can get pretty pricey, however. 

Kodak's Digitizing Box, for example, gives individuals the option to order and ship their photos, films, and even audio files in a pre-tagged box sent to them by the company. The media is then digitized domestically and preserved in several formats, including digital cloud files and physical formats such as a DVD or thumbdrive. Orders can take up to 3 months to be digitized and sent back. A 50-image box will run a customer $35.

Others like Legacy Box and ScanMyPhotos.com offer similar digitization services and run a gamut of prices, depending on how many and what kind of files customers want digitized. To assist those affected by California wildfires, ScanMyPhotos offered free photo digitizing and discounted rates to people and their families.

DeepSeek, a Chinese open-source AI system similar to ChatGPT, has risen to popularity at a peculiar time: in the midst of an ongoing legal battle over whether another Chinese tech platform, TikTok, should be allowed to run in the U.S. Some users are curious if the U.S. government would attempt to ban DeepSeek on the same grounds it has used to attempt to ban TikTok.

In short, sure, the U.S. could ban DeepSeek if it wanted to. It has the capacity to ban things it doesn't like from countries it doesn't trust in order to protect its citizens' data. In the case of TikTok, lawmakers who voted in support of banning the app cited concerns about data privacy, national security, surveillance, and propaganda, primarily due to the app's Chinese ownership. These lawmakers argue that TikTok is controlled by a "foreign adversary" — in this case, its Chinese parent company, ByteDance — and it isn't in the U.S.'s interest to allow foreign adversaries access U.S. citizens' data. TikTok has routinely denied allegations that it shares U.S. users' data with the Chinese government.

SEE ALSO: Why DeepSeek is hitting tech stocks hard, including Nvidia's

This line of thinking could lay out some problems for DeepSeek, too. The company is based out of China. According to its privacy policy, "The personal information we collect from you may be stored on a server located outside of the country where you live. We store the information we collect in secure servers located in the People's Republic of China."

But the TikTok ban wasn't all purely due to privacy concerns — there were lobbying efforts afoot, too. Beyond that, there are also similar players involved in DeepSeek's rise to power. Meta and YouTube stand to benefit from a TikTok ban, and those tech companies, along with OpenAI and others, would also probably benefit from a ban on DeepSeek, which would let them better corner the AI market. Those power players aren't making any explicitly public moves just yet.

That said, President Donald Trump doesn't seem too concerned with the privacy issues at TikTok currently — at least, not enough to put the ban into effect — so it's unclear if he'll follow that same logic regarding DeepSeek. He did, however, sign a whole host of executive orders during the first week of his presidency, including one that tackles AI. The order revokes a Biden AI executive order "which hampered the private sector’s ability to innovate in AI by imposing government control over AI development and deployment" and "calls for departments and agencies to revise or rescind all policies, directives, regulations, orders, and other actions taken under the Biden AI order that are inconsistent with enhancing America’s leadership in AI." He did keep one Biden-era order that designates more federal land for AI data centers, NPR reported. This works alongside the Stargate project that OpenAI announced alongside Trump last week.

As former Rep. Patrick McHenry said on CNBC on Monday, banning an open-source model like DeepSeek wouldn't necessarily "bring the globe to our regime, our rule of law, speech rights regime, open-society regime," a theory that lines up with some legislators' take on the TikTok ban. "It actually leads the rest of the world to go a different direction for us."

"The president's capacity to take action here is massive against an app or an adversary he doesn't like," Former Rep. McHenry said. "We see this in tariffs; we're seeing this in tariffs moment to moment, hour to hour, and that will continue. But when it comes to export controls, the authorities of this administration, like the last one, are very broad, very deep, and quite meaningful."

Right now, it's unclear what the government might do regarding DeepSeek, but it has options.