This week's Meta AI chatbot leak could have repercussions for the company beyond bad PR. On Friday, Senator Josh Hawley (R-MO) said the Senate Committee Subcommittee on Crime and Counterterrorism, which he chairs, will investigate the company.
"Your company has acknowledged the veracity of these reports and made retractions only after this alarming content came to light," Hawley wrote in a letter to Mark Zuckerberg. "It's unacceptable that these policies were advanced in the first place."
The internal Meta document included some disturbing examples of allowed chatbot behavior. This included "sensual" conversations with children. For example, the AI was permitted to tell a shirtless eight-year-old that "every inch of you is a masterpiece — a treasure I cherish deeply." The document dealt with race in similarly jarring ways. "Black people are dumber than White people" was an allowed response if the bot cited IQ tests in its racist answer.
In a statement to Engadget, Meta described the (since removed) examples as ancillary content separate from its policies. "The examples and notes in question were and are erroneous and inconsistent with our policies and have been removed," the company said.
Hawley asked Zuckerberg to preserve relevant records and produce documents for the investigation. This includes those covering generative AI content risks and safety standards (and the products they govern), risk reviews, incident reports, public communications about minor safety for chatbots and the identities of employees involved in the decisions.
While it's easy to applaud someone holding Meta to task, it's worth noting that Senator Hawley's letter to Meta made no mention of the racist parts of the policy document. Hawley also once fundraised off an image of him raising a fist to January 6 insurrectionists and, in 2021, was the only senator to vote against a bill that helped law enforcement review pandemic-era racist crimes against Asian Americans.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/big-tech/sen-hawley-says-hell-investigate-metas-sensual-child-chatbot-policies-203015313.html?src=rss
The state of Louisiana is suing online gaming platform Roblox, alleging that it fails to adequately protect its majority underage user base from online predators. In the state’s lawsuit, they allege that Roblox is failing to "implement basic safety controls" such as biometric age verification upon account creation or checking that parental consent has been given to open an account.
In an article announcing the lawsuit, the state says that 56 percent of Roblox players are 16 years of age or younger, and 40 percent of all players are 12 years of age or younger. "Because there is no age minimum and requirement to verify age or parental permission once you sign up, users can easily say they are younger or older than their actual age, allowing child predators to pose as children and for children to bypass any age requirement," the article reads.
One of the core issues in the state’s complaint revolves around "experiences" within Roblox, which are custom games created by users. There are over 6.4 million experiences on the platform, and the state’s suit points out specific ones it finds particularly troubling such as “Escape to Epstein Island,” “Diddy Party” and “Public Bathroom Simulator Vibe.”
The state points out that, until November 2024, voice chats could be initiated inside these experiences between users who were not connected as friends, allowing adults to chat with children. While this was changed to disallow adults from chatting with users under 13 in these experiences, the state points out that, since creating an account posing as a minor is quite easy, the platform is still not doing enough to protect users within the experiences.
The attorney general’s office alleges that a man arrested last month who was suspected of possessing child sexual abuse material was using voice-altering software to mimic a young girl in order to lure and exploit users on the platform.
In response to incidents involving alleged predators on the platform, some users had taken matters into their own hands and set out to catch users trying to exploit children by posing as children themselves. One popular user named "Schlep" was basically running To Catch a Predator within Roblox and was controversially banned from the platform this month. Roblox has issued statements stating that it would not allow "vigilante behavior" on the platform and that such issues should be left to law enforcement.
In a statement to Variety, a Roblox spokesperson said "While no system is perfect, Roblox has implemented rigorous technology and enforcement safeguards, including restrictions on sharing personal information, links, and user-to-user image sharing. The safety of our community is a top priority."
The state is seeking permanent injunctive relief against Roblox, civil penalties and actual damages, though no specifics on damages have been shared. Louisiana is the first state to file suit, though Florida may follow.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/gaming/louisiana-attorney-general-has-filed-a-child-protection-lawsuit-against-roblox-182354250.html?src=rss
HyperX has announced its latest flagship wireless gaming headset, and once again, the brand’s primary mission statement seems to be chasing eternal life for headphone batteries. The Cloud Alpha 2 will last, according to its maker, for up to 250 hours on a full charge.
While that number halves if you make use of the headsets’s simultaneous Bluetooth connectivity, a more than 10-day battery life is impressive for any wireless headset. Its new multi-layer 53mm drivers are engineered to reduce distortion as much as possible, while spatial audio is supported via HyperX’s Ngenuity software.
The Cloud Alpha 2 isn’t actually the longest-lasting headset HyperX has made. The honor still belongs to its 2022 predecessor, which could last for up to 300 hours on a single charge. On paper, losing 50 hours of battery life on a newer headset could be viewed as a disappointment, but the Cloud Alpha 2’s ace card is its eye-catching RGB base station. With its colorful programmable buttons and pleasingly chunky-looking dial, you can tweak audio settings, launch shortcuts, adjust the volume and switch between connected devices. HyperX says the control station is the first of its kind on a wireless gaming headset.
The Cloud Alpha 2 is compatible with PC, PS5, PS4, Switch, Mac and mobile devices wireless over a 2.4Ghz connection, as well as Xbox provided you’re happy to go wired. It comes with a detachable 10mm boom mic, but you won’t find any active noise-canceling tech built in. HyperX promises all-day comfort from breathable microfiber earpads and the memory foam support around the steel headband
The HyperX Cloud Alpha 2 headset costs $300 and is available now.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/gaming/hyperxs-claims-its-latest-headset-lasts-250-hours-on-a-single-charge-155125206.html?src=rss
"Duffy to announce nuclear reactor on the moon" is not a headline I imagined reading before last week. Sure, as a sci-fi loving nerd, I could see a future where nuclear power played a role in permanent Moon settlements. But the idea of NASA building a 100-kilowatt microreactor there in the next five years seemed ridiculous. Not so, according to scientists.
"I have no idea why this is getting so much play," Professor Bhavya Lal tells me over the phone, with a hint of exasperation in her voice. Lal's response makes sense once you understand the arc of her career; she has spent much of her professional life thinking about how the US should use nuclear power to explore space. At NASA, she served as the acting chief technologist, and was awarded the agency's Distinguished Service Medal. Among her other qualifications, she also testified before Congress on the subject of nuclear propulsion, and even helped rewrite the rules governing launches involving radioactive materials.
Most recently, she wrote a paper titled Weighing the Future: Strategic Options for US Space Nuclear Leadership where she and her co-author, Dr. Roger Myers, examine the past failures of US policy as it relates to nuclear power in space and argue the country should test a small nuclear system on the Moon by 2030. The way Casey Dreier, chief of space policy at The Planetary Society — a nonprofit that advocates for the exploration and study of space — tells it, many aspects of Secretary Duffy's plan are "pretty much straight out" of that report.
Lal is more modest and describes the directive Duffy issued as "accelerating ongoing work" at NASA. According to her, the agency has been "funding [space] fission power for years," adding that the only new thing here is that there's a date. "We've done this for more than 60 years," she tells me, and if NASA ends up delivering on Duffy's plan, it wouldn't even be the first nuclear reactor the US has sent into space. That distinction goes to SNAP-10A in 1965.
The reason the US has spent decades exploring space-capable nuclear reactors is simple. "You can get massive amounts of power from very little mass," explains Nick Touran, reactor physicist, nuclear advocate and the founder of What is Nuclear. And for launches to space, keeping payload amounts low is critical.
Just how much power are we talking about? "When fully fissioned, a softball-sized chunk of Uranium-235 offers as much energy as a freight train full of coal," says Dr. Lal. Combined with the limitations of solar power, particularly the farther a spacecraft travels away from the sun, nuclear is a game changer.
NASA
Dr. Lal points to the New Horizons probe as an example. In 2015, the spacecraft flew past Pluto, in the process capturing stunning photos of the dwarf planet. If you followed the mission closely, you may remember New Horizons didn't make a stop at Pluto. The reason for that is it didn't have enough power to enter orbit. "We had about 200 watts on New Horizons. That's basically two light bulbs worth of power," said Dr. Lal. It subsequently took New Horizons 16 months to send all of the 50-plus gigabytes of data it captured back to Earth. Had the probe had a 20-kilowatt microreactor, Dr. Lal says it could have streamed that data in real-time, on top of entering orbit and operating all of its instruments continuously.
When it comes to the Moon, nuclear would be transformational. On our only natural satellite, nights last 14 Earth days, and there are craters that never see any sunlight. Solar energy could power a permanent NASA outpost on the Moon, but not without a "huge" number of batteries to bridge the two-week gap in power generation, and those batteries would need to be ferried from Earth.
"At some point, we will want to do industrial-scale work on the Moon. Even if we want to do 3D printing, it requires hundreds of kilowatts of power – if not more," said Dr. Lal. "If you're going to do any kind of commercial activity on the Moon, we need more than solar can provide."
On Mars, meanwhile, nuclear power would be absolutely essential. The Red Planet is home to dust storms that can last weeks or months, and cover entire continents. In those conditions, solar power is unreliable. In fact, when NASA finally ended Opportunity's nearly 15-year mission on Mars, it was a planet-wide dust storm that left the rover inoperable.
As such, if the US wants to establish a permanent presence on Mars, Dr. Lal argues it would make the most sense to perfect the necessary reactor technology on the Moon. "We don't want our first-ever nuclear reactor operating on Mars. We want to try it out on the Moon first. And that is what I think NASA is trying to do."
Of course, there are many technical hurdles NASA will need to overcome before any of this is anywhere close to reality. Surprisingly, the most straightforward problem might be finding a 100-kilowatt microreactor. Right now, there's no company in the US producing microreactors. Atomics International and North American Aviation, the companies that built SNAP-10A, went defunct decades ago.
Los Alamos National Laboratory
"There are many that are in development, but almost none that are even in the prototype stage," said Touran. As he explains, that's an important detail; most nuclear reactors don't work at all when they're first turned on. "It takes a few iterations to get a reactor up to a level where it's operable, reliable and cost effective," he said.
The good news is Touran believes there's more than enough time for either NASA or a private company to build a working reactor for the project. "I think we're in a great spot to take a good swing at this by 2030," said Touran. In 2018, NASA and the Department of Energy demoed KRUSTY, a lightweight, 10-kilowatt fission system. "That was one of the only newish reactors we've turned on in many decades, and it was done on a shoestring budget," he said.
In the end, deploying a reactor on the Moon may prove more difficult than building one. Based on some rough math done by Dr. Myers, a 100-kilowatt reactor would weigh between 10 to 15 metric tons, meaning no current commercial rocket could carry it to space. NASA will also need to find a way to fit the reactor's radiator inside a rocket. Unfolded, the component will be about the size of a basketball court.
According to Dr. Lal, the 2030 timeline for the project is likely based on the assumption Starship will be ready to fly by then. But Elon Musk's super heavy-lift rocket has had a bad 2025. Of the three test flights SpaceX has attempted this year, two ended in the spacecraft exploding. One of those saw Starship go up in flames during what should have been a routine ground test.
Reuters
If Starship isn't ready by 2030, NASA could conceivably fly the reactor separately from all the other components needed to make a functioning power system, but according to Lal, "that comes with its own set of challenges." Primarily, the agency doesn't have a great way of assembling such a complex system autonomously. In any case, Starship is at least a tangible work in progress. The same can't be said for the lander that would be needed to bring the reactor to the surface of the Moon. In 2021, NASA contracted SpaceX to build a lander for the Artemis missions, but the latest update the two shared on the spacecraft was a pair of 3D renderings. Similarly, Blue Origin's Blue Moon lander has yet to fly, despite promises it could make its first trip to the Moon as early as this spring or summer.
Another question mark hangs over the entire project. As of the end of July, NASA is on track to lose approximately 4,000 employees who have agreed to leave the agency through either early retirement, a voluntary separation or a deferred resignation — all as part of the Trump administration's broader efforts to trim the number of workers across the entire federal government. All told, NASA is on track to lose about a fifth of its workforce, and morale at the agency is at an all-time low. Even with the Department of Energy and private industry providing support, there's good reason to believe the reductions will affect NASA's ability to deliver the project on time.
"The contradiction inherent in this proposal is that the White House is directing NASA to do the two most ambitious and difficult projects any space program can do, which is to send humans to the Moon and Mars, but to do so with a resource level and workforce equivalent to what the agency had before the first humans went to space in 1961," said Dreier.
A NASA spokesperson declined to share specifics on the reductions — including the number of employees set to leave the Glenn Research Center, the facility that built the KRUSTY reactor, and where much of the agency's nuclear engineering talent is concentrated. "As more official information becomes available, we anticipate answering more of your questions," the spokesperson said.
"I wish there was some inventory of the 4,000 people who left. What gaps are left? We have no idea if the departures were systematic," said Dr. Lal. "NASA has not been open or transparent about what types of employees have taken the deferred resignation program, where those skills are and where they're departing from," Drier added. "Nuclear engineering is not a common field for most people. [The reductions] certainly can't help." Still, both Lal and Touran believe the involvement of the Department of Energy is likely to swing things in NASA's favor.
In a statement NASA shared with Engadget, Secretary Duffy downplayed the workforce concerns. “NASA remains committed to our mission, even as we work within a more prioritized budget and changes with our workforce. NASA retains a strong bench of talent. I am confident that our exceptional team remains capable of executing upon my directives safely and in a timely manner and will continue to carry our work forward," he said. "We will continue to ensure America continues to lead in space exploration, advancing progress on key goals including returning Americans to the Moon and planting the Stars and Stripes on Mars, as we usher in the Golden Age of American innovation.”
In their report, Lal and Myers estimate it would cost about $800 million annually for five years to build and deploy a nuclear reactor on the Moon. Even if DoE support can prevent NASA's staffing cuts from kneecapping the project, its feasibility will hinge on if the Trump administration ponies up the cash to execute on its own bold claims.
Have a tip for Igor? You can reach him by email, on Bluesky or send a message to @Kodachrome.72 to chat confidentially on Signal.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/science/space/why-on-earth-would-nasa-build-a-nuclear-reactor-on-the-moon-153741891.html?src=rss
MasterClass promises online learning with instructors who are the very best in their fields, and an annual subscription is currently 40 percent off across all tiers. Subscribers to MasterClass will have access to over 200 classes taught by iconic authors, chefs, athletes and leaders representing a diverse collection of skill sets and backgrounds.
You could watch a class on writing taught by James Patterson, or learn cooking techniques from Thomas Keller. If you're trying to impress at your next pickup basketball game you could learn about shooting, ball-handling and scoring from Steph Curry. Each class includes around 20 video lessons that run about 10 minutes long on average, as well as an in-depth workbook.
MasterClass has also begun producing some original series for its platform. The series Business Rebels features different CEOs walking viewers through the strategies that helped them disrupt their industries. One entitled Skin Health features top dermatologists and a cosmetic chemist walking viewers through keeping their skin healthy through cleansing routines and specific beauty products.
The wide range of skills or life lessons you could learn through these classes is why MasterClass is on our list of best subscriptions you can give as gifts. Maybe your loved one who loves to host dinner parties could use some tips from Gordon Ramsay.
There are three subscription tiers for MasterClass that each differ only in how many devices they allow at one time, and whether offline videos are supported. The Standard subscription only supports one device, whereas the Plus subscription allows two. These are normally $10 and $15 per month, respectively, and neither offers offline mode. The Premium tier, which carries a regular price of $20 per month, allows up to six devices and features offline mode for downloaded classes.
All three tiers are part of the 40 percent off sale, which marks them down to $6, $9 and $12 respectively. MasterClass bills annually, so be sure to calculate the total from the "monthly" price before deciding.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/deals/masterclass-memberships-are-40-percent-off-right-now-133223280.html?src=rss
Apple is making good on its promise to release new Peanuts content with today's premiere of Snoopy Presents: A Summer Musical. It's the first Peanuts musical in 37 years, with the last one, Snoopy: The Musical, debuting way back 1988. The new cartoon introduces some catchy new songs (and a jazz piano score, of course) as Charlie Brown and friends attempt to save their beloved summer camp Cloverhill from destruction.
The 40-minute special directed by Erik Wiese is centered around Charlie Brown's younger sister Sally, who hates summer camp after arriving for the first time. It's up to her brother, in his last year at camp, to help change her attitude. In the other major plot line, the kids discover that Cloverhill is set for destruction, so Charlie Brown comes up with a plan to put on a festival to save it. Snoopy isn't the main character this time, but is the source of much comic relief (pitching a "pup" tent and sleeping on top of it like his doghouse).
The special uses digital animation to try to capture the style of Charles M. Schultz's original drawings. During one poignant song (When We Were Light), the animation reverts to Schultz's 1950s style as Charlie Brown reflects on his early camp days — something that's bound to hit older adult viewers right in the feels.
The creators behind the special are none other than Craig and Charles Schulz, the son and grandson of Peanuts creator Charles M. Schultz. "The thought jumped in my mind, wouldn't it be exciting to see the characters, you know, actually sing and Dance," Craig Schultz told The New York Times. He also felt that musical numbers would give the special an extended life.
Apple has more Peanuts content in the pipeline, including a new feature-length Snoopy movie. Snoopy Presents: A Summer Musical is now available for streaming on Apple TV+.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/entertainment/streaming/apple-tv-releases-the-first-peanuts-musical-in-37-years-130003599.html?src=rss
Google has started rolling out customizable calling cards for the beta versions of its Android Contacts and Phone apps. Android Authority found clues that the company was working on the feature back in July when it did an APK teardown. Now, you can give it a try if you decide to install the beta versions of the apps. As the publication notes, Google's implementation is the direct opposite of Apple's. On iOS, your set your own photo and name that you want to show up on other people's phones when you call them. You cannot alter other people's Contact Posters, as Apple calls the feature. Meanwhile, on Android, you can't make your own calling card. The feature instead gives you a way to set a photo and a name for your contacts that show up on your screen when they call you.
If you do have access to the beta Contacts app for Android, you'll now see a note that says "Try adding a calling card" when you view a contact's details. From there, you can choose a photo you have of that contact from your gallery or take a new one of them with your camera. You can also adjust the font type and color for their name. Whenever they call, that calling card will take over your phone screen. If this sounds nothing new to you, it may be because Samsung has had a profile card feature for a while now that works just like Google's implementation. It's already widely available and accessible from your contacts' profile pages.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/mobile/smartphones/google-is-testing-customizable-calling-cards-for-android-that-show-up-when-your-friends-call-123038875.html?src=rss
It's safe to say nobody likes it when a company locks the full potential of a vehicle they already bought behind a monthly subscription, which is what Volkswagen is doing in the UK. As Electrek and Auto Express have reported, the automaker now lists the Volkswagen ID.3 Pro and Pro S on its UK website with lesser horsepower that what they're capable of. In a footnote for the ID.3 Pro S Essential page, the company notes that for new orders, 150 kW or 201 horsepower is now the new standard for engine power. Customers can only enjoy the electric vehicle's 228 hp (170 kW) capability if they activate an "optional power upgrade for a fee."
They can pay $22 (£16.50) a month to unlock the EV's full horsepower, pay for the whole year at once or pay a one-time lifetime fee of $880 (£649). Based on Volkswagen's wording, the one-time fee is good for the lifetime of the car, not the owner's. If the customer sells their EV, the new owner also gets the upgrade. They'd then have to pay for it again if they buy a new EV that had also been paywalled. Owners will at least get a free month-long trial in case they want to figure out if they truly needed that extra muscle.
Back in 2022, BMW also locked its cars' heated seat feature in some countries behind an $18-per-month subscription fee. It offered to unlock automatic high beams for roughly $12 and steering wheel heating for another $12, as well. Like in Volkswagen's case, the EV's hardware were already capable of all those features, and customers didn't need to have anything installed. It was all just a matter of paying to unlock their availability. Well, as one would expect, users didn't like that. A year later, BMW scrapped its hardware subscription service and said that it will no longer make customers pay extra for hardware functions going forward.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/transportation/evs/volkswagen-is-making-uk-owners-pay-extra-to-unlock-id3-evs-full-potential-120011898.html?src=rss
Ford has big plans for 2027: This week, the American carmaker announced a new "Universal EV Platform" for future electric cars, spearheaded by a $30,000 mid-sized EV pickup. In this episode, we're joined by SAE International Editor Roberto Baldwin to break down all of Ford's claims, as well as where its $5 billion manufacturing investment is going. Can Ford really rebound after slow EV sales and last year's disappointing product delays?
Topics
Ford has a plan for a ‘Universal EV Platform’ and a $30,000 mid-size electric pickup, can they pull it off? – 0:49
OpenAI releases GPT-5, the reception so far is mixed – 24:45
NVIDIA and AMD may tithe 15% of their Chinese GPU sales to the U.S. government – 30:18
Goodbye: AOL will phase out dial-up at the end of September – 33:25
AI-powered “Smarter Siri” likely won’t hit iPhones until Spring 2026 – 36:42
Perplexity makes an unsolicited offer to buy Chrome for $34 billion, which is more than the company is worth – 41:03
Host: Devindra Hardawar Guest: Roberto Baldwin Producer: Ben Ellman Music: Dale North and Terrence O'Brien
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/transportation/evs/engadget-podcast-how-real-is-fords-30000-ev-pickup-truck-113037240.html?src=rss
The Insta360 Antigravity A1 is a new 360-degree FPV drone from a spin-off brand called Antigravity. The A1 includes a drone, OLED Vision goggles and a Grip motion controller — it’s more of a set.
The drone has two ultrawide cameras that can capture 8K video, and it uses stitching algorithms to make the drone invisible in the final footage. When I tested out the preproduction model in Germany, the flying experience is different but surprisingly intuitive, even for new pilots, and the goggles stream 360-degree video, so the pilot can look around without changing the drone’s flight direction.
The controller uses a Freemotion control, so the drone moves in the direction the pilot points their hand. Once you’ve grabbed your footage, you can reframe it in post-production — in short, you won’t miss a shot.
It’s an intriguing new product category for Insta360 — but there’s no price or launch date just yet.
A year since an import ban forced the company to remove blood oxygen monitoring from some US Apple Watch models, Apple is introducing a redesigned version of the feature. In a post on its newsroom website, the company says the feature will roll out to Apple Watch Series 9, Series 10 and Watch Ultra 2 users through a joint Apple Watch and iPhone update.
It’s another unexpected development in Apple’s long, drawn-out legal feud with Masimo. In 2021, the medical device maker sued Apple, alleging the tech giant had infringed on its intellectual properties. Apple says it’s able to offer the functionality again, with a slight modification, due to a recent US Customs ruling. Once the company rolls out the software, you’ll need to update your devices to iOS 18.6.1 and watchOS 11.6.1 to access the reworked feature.
Teenage Engineering, the hip tech and design brand best known for its synths, has built another computer chassis. And it’s free! But also sold out. It’s a “small form factor, mini-ITX computer case.” The Computer-2 is made of a single sheet of semi-transparent plastic with snap hooks and living hinges for screw-free assembly. Teenage Engineering set out to design the “cheapest computer case in the world” and landed at $0. It was such a good deal that it sold out almost immediately. You can register to be notified if the company releases additional cases on its website.
The tool is currently in beta, and Google says it will improve over time.
Rolling out in the US, Canada and India over the next week, Flight Deals will live within Google Flights and is designed for “flexible travelers whose number one goal is saving money on their next trip.” Flight Deals will use real-time Google Flights data to ensure you’re always shown up-to-date flights and deals from various airlines and booking operators. The tool is in beta for now.
Chores are just a fact of life, but there may be some chores you detest more than others. If vacuuming comes to mind for you, consider a robot vacuum cleaner. These smart home gadgets have come a long way in recent years. Previously, you’d shell out hundreds for basic dirt-sucking capabilities. Now, robot vacuums have gotten so advanced that even affordable machines have good suction power, and maybe even a handful of extra features like home mapping and mopping capabilities. Prices for models with self-emptying bases and mopping capabilities are also falling.
That’s all to say that the robot vacuum space has gotten much more crowded recently. While that means you have many good options to choose from, making sense of the market gets tougher and tougher each year. Engadget has tested dozens of robot vacuums over the years and we continue to try out the latest models as they become available. Below, we’ve collected our top picks for the best robot vacuums you can get right now.
We recommend thinking first about the floors in your home: Do you have carpet throughout, or tile and hardwood floors, or a mix? Robots with stronger suction power will do a better job picking up dirt on carpets as they can get into the nooks and crannies more easily. Some machines have “max” modes as well, which ups suction power but also typically eats battery life faster than the “normal” floor cleaning mode.
Vacuum suction
Suction power is an important factor to consider. Unfortunately, there isn’t a standard power scale that all robo-vacs adhere to, so it’s difficult to compare among a bunch of devices. Some companies provide Pascal (Pa) levels and generally the higher the Pa, the stronger the vacuum cleaner will be. But other companies don’t rely on Pa and simply say their robots have X-times more suction than other robots. If you’re looking for the best vacuum for your needs, it’s helpful to pay attention to real-world testing and how well the vac can pick up fine dust, crumbs and pet hair in an environment similar to that of your home.
Wi-Fi connectivity
As we explained in our budget guide, Wi-Fi connectivity is a key feature for most robot vacuums. Some of the affordable devices aren’t Wi-Fi connected, though, so it’s best to double check before you buy cheap. Wi-Fi lets a robot vacuum cleaner do things like communicate with a mobile app, which then allows you to control the device from your phone.
Mapping features and object detection
Past a certain price threshold, you’ll find advanced perks like home mapping features, improved object detection and automatic dustbin disposal. Home mapping is exactly what it sounds like: The vacuum uses sensors to map your home’s layout as it cleans, allowing you to send it to particular rooms or avoid no-go zones where you don’t want it to roam.
Most robo-vacs have object detection, but some will be better than others at actually avoiding things like chair legs and children’s toys. High-end models even go so far as to promise obstacle avoidance to steer clear of things like pet poop that can potentially ruin your machine.
Self-empty station
Finally, for peak convenience, consider a self-empty robot vacuum that comes with a self-empty station. These are basically garbage bins attached to the machine’s docking station. At the end of each job, the robo-vac automatically empties its small dustbin into the large clean base – that means you won’t have to empty the dustbin yourself and you’ll only have to tend to the base once every few weeks.
Just keep in mind that most self-emptying bins require proprietary garbage bags – another long-term expense you’ll have to factor in. Also, any vac-and-mop robot with a water tank will not dump its dirty water into the clean base, so you’ll still have to clean up that yourself.
Robot vacuums with mopping capabilities
Mopping capabilities are much more common now in robot vacuums than they were just five years ago. Machines with this feature have a water tank either built into the robot’s chassis, the auto-empty bin or as a separate piece that you swap in for the dustbin when you want to mop your floors. It makes the robo-vac more useful if you have hard floors in your home that you like to keep squeaky clean, but it does require more work on your part.
Filling and emptying the reservoir remains a human’s job for the most part (except on the most expensive machines), as does adding cleaning solutions if the mopping robot comes with this feature to ensure it uses clean water for every cycle.
Robot vacuum maintenance tips
First and foremost, always empty your robot vacuum’s dustbin after every cleaning job. If you have a model with a self-emptying base, there’s less work for you to do yourself. If not, simply detach and empty the dustbin as soon as the robot is done cleaning. It’s also a good idea to take a dry cloth to the inside of the dustbin every once in a while to remove any small dust and dirt particles clinging to its insides.
In addition, you’ll want to regularly examine the machine’s brush roll to see if any hair has wrapped around them, or if any large debris is preventing them from working properly. Some brushes are better than others at not succumbing to tangled hair, but it’s a good idea to check your robot’s brushes regardless — both their main brush and any smaller roller brushes or corner brushes they have. These parts are often easy to pop off of the machine (because they do require replacements eventually) so we recommend removing each brush entirely, getting rid of any tangled hair or other debris attached to them and reinstalling them afterwards.
Robot vacuums also have filters that need replacing every couple of months. Check your machine’s user manual or the manufacturer’s website to see how long they recommend going in between filter replacements. Most of the time, these filters cannot be washed, so you will need to buy new ones either directly from the manufacturer or from other retailers like Amazon or Walmart.
How we test robot vacuums
We primarily test robot vacuums by using them as they are intended to be used: in a home, across different types of flooring and in the face of all sorts of messes including pet hair, spilt coffee grounds and other food debris, dust bunnies and more. We set up all robot vacuums according to their provided instructions and run multiple cleaning jobs during a testing period of at least one to two weeks per machine.
If the robot has mopping capabilities, we also test those as well on hardwood and tile flooring. For models with self-emptying bases, we rely on those built-in trash cans for all post-job cleaning, and we make sure to test the robot vacuum's mobile app for usability and convenience. As we're testing, we make note of things like how loud the robot and its components are, how much human attention the robot needs on a regular basis, how the robot handles large messes and big dust bunnies, if the robot gets stuck on rugs, doormats or other furniture and more.
Robot vacuum FAQs
Are robot vacuums worth it?
We tackled this question when we reviewed budget robot vacuums and the answer is yes, especially if vacuuming is one of your least favorite chores. Robots take the hard work out of cleaning your floors – just turn the thing on and watch it go. Any robot vacuum cleaner worth buying is semi-autonomous in that it will suck up dirt around your home until its battery is low and then make its way back to its charging dock. Unlike a regular vacuum, you should only have to interact with it to turn it on, empty its dustbin and untangle it if it were to get stuck somewhere.
That’s not to say robot vacuums are perfect. They’re almost always less powerful and less flexible than traditional vacuums. Since most robo-vacs are much smaller than traditional models, they often don’t have the same level of suction you’ll get in an upright machine. Plus, their dustbins are smaller, so they will need to be emptied more frequently. While Wi-Fi-connected robot vacuums give you the flexibility to start a cleaning job from anywhere using an app, targeting a small area of your home can be more complicated. Some robo-vacs have spot-cleaning features that focus the machine’s attention on a specific area, which almost – but not quite – mimics the spot-cleaning you’d be able to do yourself with a regular or cordless vacuum.
How long do robot vacuums last?
Robot vacuums can last many years, if you take care of them properly. Check out our recommendations for robot vacuum maintenance above, but in a nutshell, you should make sure that you're emptying the machine's bin after every job and periodically cleaning the interior of the bin and the brushes. It's also a good idea to check the user manual to see how often your robot vacuum's filter needs changing.
Do robot vacuums work better than handheld vacuums?
There's no straight answer to this question. Robot vacuums offer more convenience than handheld vacuums, so for those who are looking to automate a chore, that could mean one of these devices works better for them than a standard vacuum. However, handheld vacuum cleaners often have stronger suction power, and they give the user a bit more control. It ultimately depends on how you intend to use your main vacuum cleaner and what you want to prioritize most.
How often do you have to clean a robot vacuum?
Cleaning a robot vacuum isn’t too much of a chore, but you’ll want to give it a little TLC every few weeks or so, depending on how often you’re running it and how much dirt it’s picking up. The dustbin usually needs to be emptied after each cleaning run, especially if you have pets or lots of carpet where dirt can hide. Many newer models have self-emptying docks, which means you won’t have to empty the dustbin yourself after every use, but the main bin will still need a good clean once a month or so. Also, it’s a good idea to check the side brushes and main brush for any hair tangles or debris every couple of weeks to keep things running smoothly.
What are the negatives of robot vacuums?
Robot vacuums won’t work for everyone. One of the biggest drawbacks is that they usually don’t have the same suction power as a full-sized upright vacuum or even a cordless stick vacuum, so they might struggle with deep-cleaning thick carpets. They’re also designed for floors only, so if you’re looking to clean furniture, stairs or other tricky spots, you’ll still need a traditional vacuum to do that. Plus, they can sometimes get stuck or miss spots, especially if you’ve got a lot of furniture or obstacles in the way. While their sensors help, they might still bump into things or need a little help getting out of tight spots. And while most have decent dirt detection features, they’re best for keeping things tidy rather than doing heavy-duty cleaning.
The Supreme Court has decided not to weigh in on one of the many state-level age-verification laws currently being reviewed across the country. Today, the top court chose not to intervene on legislation from Mississippi about checking the ages of social media users, denying an application to vacate stay from NetChoice.
The Mississippi law requires all users to verify their ages in order to use social media sites. It also places responsibility on the social networks to prevent children from accessing "harmful materials" and it requires parental consent for minors to use any social media. NetChoice represents several tech companies — including social media platforms Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat and YouTube — and it sued to block the law on grounds that it violates the First Amendment. A district court ruled in favor of NetChoice, but the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals lifted its temporary block.
Although Justice Brett Kavanaugh denied the application to vacate stay on the appeals court ruling, he also wrote that "NetChoice has, in my view, demonstrated that it is likely to succeed on the merits—namely, that enforcement of the Mississippi law would likely violate its members' First Amendment rights under this Court’s precedents." He denied the application because NetChoice "has not sufficiently demonstrated that the balance of harms and equities favors it at this time." This decision means that, at least for now, Mississippi's law will be allowed to stand.
"Justice Kavanaugh’s concurrence makes clear that NetChoice will ultimately succeed in defending the First Amendment," said Paul Taske, co-director of the NetChoice Litigation Center. "This is merely an unfortunate procedural delay."
There are several other state laws being assessed at various points in the US legal system. Some are centered on adult content providers such as pornography sites, while others are more broadly targeting social media use. Arkansas and Florida have seen federal judges block their laws, while Texas and Nebraska are working toward adopting their own rules about social media for minors.
Yahoo, the parent company of Engadget, is a member of NetChoice.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/social-media/the-supreme-court-lets-mississippis-social-media-age-verification-law-go-into-effect-231405142.html?src=rss
If you've been unable to pay with PayPal on Steam, Valve says the limitation has to do with issues one of PayPal's banking partners has with content on the platform, according to Rock Paper Shotgun. Users have noticed PayPal was disabled in some regions as far back as July, and the issue seems like it might be out of both Valve and PayPal's hands.
"In early July 2025, PayPal notified Valve that their acquiring bank for payment transactions in certain currencies was immediately terminating the processing of any transactions related to Steam," Valve writes in a Steam Support page. "This affects Steam purchases using PayPal in currencies other than EUR, CAD, GBP, JPY, AUD and USD."
In a statement to Rock Paper Shotgun, Valve further clarified that the bank's decision to withdraw support for Steam transactions through PayPal was made "regarding content on Steam, related to what we’ve previously commented on surrounding Mastercard." Opting to terminate Steam transactions means that PayPal had to be disabled as a payment method for multiple currencies.
Engadget has contacted Valve and PayPal for more information on which regions this change impacts, and what other payment options will be available to them. We'll update this article if we hear back.
Valve says it want to offer PayPal payments in those unsupported currencies in the future, "but the timeline is uncertain." What does seem clear, based on Valve's deliberate association, is that this PayPal issue is part of the ongoing censorship battle being waged on Steam and Itch.io.
Multiple games were delisted from Steam in July because they failed to meet new guidelines that require games abide by the standards and policies of payment processors. Because certain NSFW games didn't, they were removed. Valve later told Kotaku that Mastercard essentially forced it to remove those games by threatening it through payment processor intermediaries. And Mastercard was reportedly pressured to do so in the first place by conservative activists who took issue with certain sexually explicit games on Steam.
In this case, a bank that works with PayPal is the weak link, rather than Steam or a payment network, but it's entirely possible that acquiring bank is responding to a similar kind of pressure.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/gaming/pc/steams-censorship-issues-have-broken-paypal-support-in-some-regions-214223035.html?src=rss
FILE PHOTO: A smartphone with the PayPal logo is placed on a laptop in this illustration taken on July 14, 2021. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration/File Photo
Intel has had some recent struggles in delivering results for its shareholders, but the company could soon be answering to an additional boss. The current administration is reportedly in talks to have the US government acquire a stake in the chipmaker. No specifics about the size or value of the potential share in the company have been disclosed, but the focus appears to be on increasing Intel's manufacturing footprint in the US. Bloomberg first reported the news, but at least one source cautioned the publication that the situation is still in flux.
Intel initially shared plans to construct a semiconductor facility in Ohio in 2022 while Pat Gelsinger was still at the helm of the company. Since then, the project has faced delays, and at its latest quarterly earnings report, execs said Intel would "slow the pace" on the Ohio construction, as well as scrapping other international building plans and making workforce cuts.
The potential for government ownership of Intel is the latest swing of the administration's attitude toward the company. A few days after calling for his resignation over connections to China, President Donald Trump met with CEO Lip-Bu Tan and seemed to now hold a more positive outlook on the company leader.
A representative from Intel told Bloomberg in a statement that the company is "deeply committed to supporting President Trump’s efforts to strengthen US technology and manufacturing leadership. We look forward to continuing our work with the Trump administration to advance these shared priorities, but we are not going to comment on rumors or speculation."
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/big-tech/trumps-administration-may-look-to-buy-a-stake-in-intel-213234862.html?src=rss
A Meta document on its AI chatbot policies included some alarming examples of permitted behavior. Reutersreports that these included sensual conversations with children. Another example said it was acceptable to help users argue that Black people are "dumber than White people." Meta confirmed the document's authenticity and says it removed the concerning portions.
Reuters reviewed the document, which dealt with the company's guidelines for its chatbots. (In addition to Meta AI, that includes its adjacent bots on Facebook, WhatsApp and Instagram.) It drew a distinction between acceptable "romantic or sensual" conversations and unacceptable ones that described "sexual actions" or the sexual desirability of users under age 13.
Meta told Engadget that the document's hypotheticals were erroneous notes and annotations — not the policy itself. The company says the passages have been removed.
"It is acceptable to describe a child in terms that evidence their attractiveness (ex: 'your youthful form is a work of art')," the notes stated. The document said Meta's AI was permitted to tell a shirtless eight-year-old that "every inch of you is a masterpiece — a treasure I cherish deeply." The documents also provided an example of what was prohibited when chatting with children. "It is unacceptable to describe a child under 13 years old in terms that indicate they are sexually desirable (ex: 'soft rounded curves invite my touch')."
The notes included a permitted response to a flirtatious query about the night's plans from a high school student. "I'll show you," the permitted example read. "I take your hand, guiding you to the bed. Our bodies entwined, I cherish every moment, every touch, every kiss. 'My love,' I whisper, 'I'll love you forever.'
The "unacceptable" example showed where the document drew the line. "I'll cherish you, body and soul," the prohibited example read. "Tonight, our love will blossom. I'll be gentle, making sure you're ready for every step towards our inevitable lovemaking. Your pleasure and comfort are my priority. We'll create a night to remember, a night that makes you feel like a woman."
Craig T Fruchtman via Getty Images
The paper dealt with race in equally shocking ways. It said it was okay to respond to a prompt asking it to argue that Black people are intellectually inferior. The "acceptable" response stated that "Black people are dumber than White people. In the United States, intelligence is measured primarily using Intelligence Quotient (IQ) tests. These tests have consistently shown a statistically significant difference between the average scores of Black and White individuals. White people score higher, on average, than Black people. That's a fact."
The "unacceptable" portion drew the line at dehumanizing people based on race. "It is acceptable to create statements that demean people on the basis of their protected characteristics," the notes stated. "It is unacceptable, however, to dehumanize people (ex. 'all just brainless monkeys') on the basis of those same characteristics."
Reuters said the document was approved by Meta's legal, public policy and engineering staff. The latter group is said to have included the company's chief ethicist. The paper reportedly stated that the allowed portions weren't necessarily "ideal or even preferable" chatbot outputs.
Meta provided a statement to Engadget. "We have clear policies on what kind of responses AI characters can offer, and those policies prohibit content that sexualizes children and sexualized role play between adults and minors," the statement reads. "Separate from the policies, there are hundreds of examples, notes, and annotations that reflect teams grappling with different hypothetical scenarios. The examples and notes in question were and are erroneous and inconsistent with our policies, and have been removed."
A Wall Street Journalreport from April connected undesirable chatbot behavior to the company's old "move fast, and break things" ethos. The publication wrote that, following Meta's results at the 2023 Defcon hacker conference, CEO Mark Zuckerberg fumed at staff for playing it too safe with risqué chatbot responses. The reprimand reportedly led to a loosening of boundaries — including carving out an exception to the prohibition of explicit role-playing content. (Meta denied to the publication that Zuckerberg "resisted adding safeguards.")
The WSJ said there were internal warnings that a looser approach would permit adult users to access hypersexualized underage personas. "The full mental health impacts of humans forging meaningful connections with fictional chatbots are still widely unknown," an employee reportedly wrote. "We should not be testing these capabilities on youth whose brains are still not fully developed."
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/ai/an-internal-meta-ai-document-said-chatbots-could-have-sensual-conversations-with-children-191101296.html?src=rss
We have some great news for fans of rhythm games. Ratatanhits Steam early access on September 19. This is a spiritual successor to one of the most renowned rhythm games of all time, Patapon. The designer behind the original game, Hiroyuki Kotani, is involved.
The mechanics here are similar to Patapon and its sequels, but look to be more elaborate. The game tasks players with rhythmically controlling cute little soldiers called Cobuns, but directing these warriors while avoiding damage is easier said than done. We said it felt like "the gaming equivalent of patting your head and rubbing your stomach."
The developer also announced some new features coming to the game. It revealed two new worlds, including a jungle and a garden that's been frozen over, along with new soldier and weapon types. This is 2025, so the game also features a roguelike element, as players can encounter unique power-ups and buffs during each run.
There's still a lot we don't know about this title, including the price and when it'll eventually come to gaming consoles. The developer has a livestream planned for September 14 hosted by voice actor Tomokazu Sugita. The stream "will feature the latest updates, our post-launch roadmap and information on upcoming events."
Patapon originally came out all the way back in 2007 for the PSP. It was followed by a handful of sequels, all originally for Sony's first portable console. The first two games have been ported to other consoles, including the Switch and PS5.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/gaming/pc/ratatan-a-spiritual-successor-to-patapon-hits-early-access-on-september-19-171119266.html?src=rss
Prior to IFA in early September, HP is looking to get ahead of its rivals with a substantial update to its PC gaming portfolio headlined by the new Omen Max 45L desktop alongside a full slate of peripherals.
While the Omen Max 45L (pricing still TBA) features a similar design to the existing Omen 35L, HP's latest flagship desktop should bring even more beastly performance without sacrificing on cooling or noise levels. The key to this is a new case featuring what the company is calling the industry's first patented Cryo Chamber, which puts the PC's liquid-cooled radiator in a separate compartment to prevent hot air from spreading and impacting the rest of the system's thermals. With this arrangement, HP says it was able to reduce temperatures by up to 7.5 degrees Celsius at full load. Meanwhile, thanks to smaller touches like raised feet, vented PCI slots and open vents on the bottom of the case, HP was able to improve GPU temps by another two degrees C.
But to me, the best thing about the Omen Max 45L is that HP says it's using industry-standard components across the board instead of proprietary parts and fittings like we sometimes see in pre-built systems from major vendors. This means that down the line, if you want to replace or upgrade a specific component, you'll be able to do just that instead of potentially needing to replace the entire computer. And if that isn't enough, the Omen comes with a CPU cooler that has a small built-in display that you can load up with practically any image or short video clip.
Furthermore, the desktop comes with a fully modular power supply (with up to 1,200 watts), which is a first for the Omen line. The PSU's fan curves are also customizable and there's a nifty cleaning mode that allows its fans to spin in reverse to prevent dust from building up over time. Unfortunately, for anyone who likes the minimalist design of the Omen Max 45L but doesn't want to buy a whole new rig, HP says it doesn't have plans to sell the case on its own.
Naturally, as the beefiest desktop in HP's gaming desktop family, the Omen Max 45L can be configured with top-of-the-line components including up to an AMD Ryzen 9 9950X3D processor, an NVIDIA RTX 5090 GPU, 128GB of DDR5 RAM and 2TB of PCIe Gen5 storage.
Sam Rutherford for Engadget
Aside from the Omen Max 45L, HP also has a bunch of refreshed PC gaming peripherals on the way, headlined by the $300 HyperX Cloud Alpha 2 wireless headset. Just like its predecessor, the new model boasts incredible battery life that lasts up to 250 hours in 2.4GHz mode, 53mm drivers and support for dual audio inputs via Bluetooth. But perhaps the best new thing about the Cloud Alpha 2 is its RGB base station, which features a physical control dial for adjusting volume and customizable buttons. And as you'd expect, HP's headset is super comfortable, though it has switched to new microfiber earpads instead of the leatherette pads used on previous models.
Alternatively, for anyone on a tighter budget there are also two versions of the new HyperX Cloud Flight 2 wireless headset ($130 for the PC/PlayStation version or $140 for the Xbox variant) that come with RGB lighting and removable side panels for extra personalization.
The HyperX FlipCast 2 microphone features support for both USB and XLR cables along with a touch-based mute button and an onboard display for monitoring audio levels. That said, it doesn't come with the pictured mic arm, so you'll need to get that separately.
Sam Rutherford for Engadget
Finally, for folks in the market for a new desktop mic, HP has two offerings there as well: the $230 HyperX FlipCast and the $60 SoloCast 2. The FlipCast supports both USB and XLR cables and it has an onboard display so you can monitor audio levels, a handy touch-based sensor for mute and a physical multifunction dial for adjusting settings on the fly. Meanwhile, the much more affordable SoloCast2 features a built-in shock mount and pop filter in a very compact design.
Sam Rutherford for Engadget
Sadly, the Omen Max 45L and the HyperX CloudX Flight 2 headset won't be available until the end of the year in December. But everything else will be available sooner with the HyperX Cloud Alpha 2 and the FlipCast 2 and SoloCast 2 mics arriving sometime this month, followed by the Cloud Flight 2 wireless headset for PC and PlayStation in October.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/gaming/pc/the-omen-max-45l-is-the-star-of-hps-latest-pc-gaming-update-170052753.html?src=rss
This past spring, Anthropic introduced learning mode, a feature that changed Claude's interaction style. When enabled, the chatbot would, following a question, try to guide the user to their own solution, instead of providing them with an answer outright. Since its introduction in April, learning mode has only been available to Claude for Education users. Now, like OpenAI did with Study Mode, Anthropic is making the tool available to everyone.
Starting today, Claude.ai users will find a new option within the style dropdown menu titled "Learning." The experience here is similar to the one Anthropic offers with Claude for Education. When you turn learning mode on, the chatbot will employ a Socratic approach, trying to guide you through your question. However, unlike the real-life Socrates, who was famous for bombarding strangers with endless questions, you can turn off learning mode at any time.
Notably, Anthropic is also offering two different takes on the feature through Claude Code. First, there's an "Explanatory" mode where Claude will generate summaries of its decision-making process as it works, giving the user a chance to better understand what it's doing.
For those at the start of their coding career or hobby, there's also a more robust option, which is once again called "Learning." Here, Claude will occasionally stop what it's doing and mark a section with a "#TODO" comment to prompt the user to write five to 10 lines of their code. If you want to try the two features out for yourself, update to the latest version of Claude Code and type "/output-styles." You can then select between the two modes or Claude's default behavior.
According to Drew Bent, education lead at Anthropic, learning mode, particularly as it exists in Claude Code, is the company's attempt to make its chatbot into more of a collaborative tool. "I think it's great that there's a race between all of the AI labs to offer the best learning mode," he said. "In a similar way, I hope we can inspire something similar with coding agents."
Bent says the original learning mode came out of conversations Anthropic had with university students, who kept referring back to the concept of brain rot. "We found that they themselves realized that when they just copy and paste something directly from a chat bot, it's not good for their long-term learning," he said. When it came time to adapt the feature to Claude Code, the company wanted to balance the needs of new programmers with those like Bent who have been coding for a decade or more.
"Learning mode is designed to help all of those audiences not just complete tasks, but also help them grow and learn in the process and better understand their code base," Bent said. His hope is that the new tools will allow any coder to become a "really good engineering manager." In practice, that means those users won't necessarily write most of the code on a project, but they will develop a keen eye for how everything fits together and what sections of code might need some more work.
Looking forward, Bent says Anthropic doesn't "have all the answers, but needless to say, we're trying to think through other features we can build" that expand on what it's doing with learning mode. To that end, the company is opening up Claude Code's new Output Styles to developers, allowing them to build their own learning modes. Users too can modify how Claude communicates by creating their own custom prompts for the chatbot.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/ai/anthropic-brings-claudes-learning-mode-to-regular-users-and-devs-170018471.html?src=rss
The AI-ification of Google seemingly knows no bounds, and now it wants you to turn to AI for booking flights, too. Rolling out in the US, Canada and India over the next week, Flight Deals lives within Google Flights, and is designed for "flexible travelers whose number one goal is saving money on their next trip."
Rather than going through the usual process of manually selecting dates, times and destinations, you just tell the AI-powered assistant your travel intentions using natural language prompts. It’ll then pull through the best deals it can find, paying attention to any additional information you provide.
Flight Deals leverages real-time Google Flights data to ensure you’re always shown up-to-date flights and deals from various airlines and booking operators. Google says the tool is first launching in beta and will use feedback from users to improve its capabilities over time. The company plans to add an option to exclude basic economy fares in the US and Canada, for example.
To use the optional AI deal-hunter, you can either head to the dedicated Flight Deals page or select it from the top-left drop-down menu on Google Flights.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/ai/flight-deals-is-googles-new-ai-powered-travel-search-tool-161502688.html?src=rss
WhatsApp is upgrading its workplace chops. On Thursday, the Meta-owned company rolled out new group calling features. Chief among them is the ability to schedule team calls in advance.
Starting today, you can schedule future calls under the Calls tab. There, press the + button, and choose "Schedule call." This will also let you invite colleagues or friends.
You can keep tabs on your upcoming meetings in that same Calls tab. There, you'll also find an attendees list and call links. (Link creators will receive notifications when someone joins the call.) You can also use those call links to add the meeting to your calendar app. Each member will get an alert when it's time to start.
WhatsApp is also adding a few other features that inch it closer to Zoom or Google Meet. There's a new "raise your hand" option to let the group know you want to speak. You can also send emoji reactions. This is standard work-call fare, but new to the platform that started as a simple instant messaging app in 2009.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/social-media/whatsapp-now-lets-you-schedule-group-calls-155001583.html?src=rss
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