Human resources technology company Workday has confirmed that a data breach has affected its third-party CRM platform. In a blog post announcing the breach, the company said that a social engineering campaign had targeted its employees, with threat actors posing as IT or HR in order to trick employees into sharing account access or personal information.

The company says that while the threat actors were able to access some information from the CRM, there is no indication of any access to customer accounts or the data within them. "We acted quickly to cut the access and have added extra safeguards to protect against similar incidents in the future," the post reads. Workday says that the information gathered from the CRM consists of "commonly available" business contact information such as names, email addresses and phone numbers. From the sound of its blog post, the information of Workday end users was not revealed, only information from the companies it has contracts with.

What is known with some certainty at this point is that Workday's CRM was breached. The company's statement that "no indication" of a deeper customer data breach was found is far from a guarantee — often, the full scope of hacks like this aren’t known until later.

Earlier this year, Workday laid off around 1,750 employees, or around 8.5 percent of its workforce. The company said it was "prioritizing innovation investments like AI and platform development, and rigorously evaluating the ROI of others across the board."

The precise third-party CRM Workday is referring to was not disclosed. Earlier this year Google fell victim to a hack via the Salesforce app, and last year Disney said it would stop using Slack, the Salesforce-owned messaging platform, after a hack exposed company data.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/cybersecurity/workday-says-hackers-used-social-engineering-to-access-personal-data-during-a-breach-183451732.html?src=rss

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Big Tech's foray into nuclear power continues as Google announced the site of its first nuclear reactor today, as part of its 2024 deal with startup Kairos Power. Oak Ridge, Tennessee, will be home to the Hermes 2 plant, which will supply Google with 50 megawatts of power under a long-term purchase agreement with the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA).

The Oak Ridge plant is the first in a 500-megawatt deal that comprises multiple small modular reactors (SMRs) to provide power for Google's data centers in Montgomery County, Tennessee, and Jackson County, Alabama. The Hermes 2 is scheduled to begin operations in 2030.

In a statement, TVA CEO Don Moul said, "Nuclear is the bedrock of the future of energy security. Google stepping in and helping shoulder the burden of the cost and risk for first-of-a-kind nuclear projects not only helps Google get to those solutions, but it keeps us from having to burden our customers with development of that technology."

Google's deal with Kairos Power is expected to reach its full 500 MW potential by 2035 and was the first-ever corporate deal to buy nuclear power from SMRs. The financial specifics of the deal have not been released.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/big-tech/google-announces-first-nuclear-site-to-power-its-data-centers-162627123.html?src=rss

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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

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If you want to brush up on some skills or learn new ones, MasterClass offers a good way to do just that. The streaming service has hundreds of classes taught by professionals and experts in their fields, and now you can get a subscription for 40 percent less than usual. All MasterClass membership tiers are on sale right now, so you can sign up for as low as $6 per month.

With a subscription, 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.

Follow @EngadgetDeals on X for the latest tech deals and buying advice.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/deals/masterclass-deal-subscriptions-are-40-percent-off-right-now-133223788.html?src=rss

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Anker's 3-in-1 MagSafe charging station is on sale for a record low price of $63 — that works out to savings of 30 percent.The Qi2-certified charger wirelessly charges your compatible iPhone, Apple Watch, and AirPods on one compact and convenient dock. Qi2 boasts 15W of power, so you can take advantage of fast charging on compatible devices.

This means the station can charge an iPhone 16 Pro Max to 20 percent in just 20 minutes and an Apple Watch Series 10 from zero to 100 percent in just over an hour. The magnetic stand for your iPhone is adjustable with 45 degrees of vertical rotation and 360 degrees of horizontal rotation, so you can always find the perfect angle for your phone while charging.

Being able to wirelessly charge these three daily devices at once might remind you of Apple's wireless charging pad that never was, but Anker's 3-in-1 charging station offers an elegant solution. We tend to like Anker's charging products, and we’ve found they make some of the best charging stations on the market.

Anker's products can be a bit pricey, though, which is why the best time to pick them up is during these sales. The company actually has a slew of its charging products on sale right now. Its 3-in-1 wireless charging cube is 31 percent off right now and down to $104. If you're a Prime member and have a Qi2-compatible iPhone, then you might also look at Anker's simple Qi2 charging pad, which is 35 percent off for a two-pack right now.

Follow @EngadgetDeals on X for the latest tech deals and buying advice.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/deals/this-anker-3-in-1-wireless-charging-station-is-on-sale-for-30-percent-off-145325028.html?src=rss

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Amazon is expanding its same-day grocery delivery service with the addition of perishable food items in over 1,000 US cities. Shoppers can now add fresh grocery items like produce, dairy, meat, seafood and frozen foods to their orders. Grocery and non-grocery items can be combined into one order, checked out from one cart and received together on the same day. The company had trialed this service in the Phoenix area last year.

Prime members continue to get free same-day delivery where available on orders over $25, and non-Prime members can still pay an additional $12.99 shipping fee to receive a same-day delivery.

Amazon acquired Whole Foods Market in 2017 and has been making strategic moves to capture grocery market share in the years since. The tech giant has experimented with self-checkout technology, and even opened its own Amazon-branded brick-and-mortar grocery stores.

Amazon CEO Andy Jassey is determined to grow the grocery side of the business to compete with the likes of Walmart and Instacart. Amazon says it plans to "expand to over 2,300 cities" by the end of 2025, with plans to continue adding more locations next year.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/big-tech/amazon-adds-perishable-food-to-same-day-delivery-162144510.html?src=rss

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Anthropic has announced it will offer its Claude AI model to all three branches of the US government for $1, following OpenAI offering an almost identical deal last week. These deals both follow the General Services Administration adding OpenAI, Gemini and Anthropic to a list of approved AI vendors for the federal government.

Similar to the OpenAI deal, Anthropic will offer access to its commercial-tier service Claude for Enterprise for a period of one year at a cost of just $1. The offer will also encompass Claude for Government, which supports FedRAMP High workloads, allowing federal workers to use Claude for sensitive unclassified work. Government department or agency leadership can reach out today to gain access.

Anthropic is no stranger to working within the federal government. Earlier this summer, the Department of Defense awarded Anthropic, Google, OpenAI and XAI with deals worth up to $200 million to develop military applications.

The company made no larger mention of the Trump administration's AI Action Plan, or its requirement that large language models used by the federal government be "free from top-down ideological bias." The tacit understanding is that these LLMs not espouse support for anything the current administration opposes. President Trump even issued an executive order decreeing that AI must not favor "ideological dogmas such as DEI," in order to work with the federal government.

This latest deal comes as AI-related companies are increasingly looking to build close relationships with policymakers and the current administration. This week, NVIDIA agreed to a revenue-sharing agreement with the US government in order to sell its H20 AI GPUs to China. The current administration has made no secret of its wish for federal agencies to maximize their use of AI.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/ai/anthropic-offers-its-claude-ai-model-to-the-federal-government-for-1-154217798.html?src=rss

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There's nothing quite like the drive to build something just to see if you can. YouTuber polymatt set out to create a floppy disk drive, the favored storage medium of yesteryear, from scratch, because why not. For anyone born too late to have regularly used one, a floppy disk is a magnetically coated, flexible polyester disk encased in a protective shell. Insert it into a floppy drive, and a magnetic head reads or writes data on the disk. If you've ever wondered why the "save" icon looks the way it does, it's based on the shape of a floppy disk.

To start, polymatt measured and recreated the disk enclosure and other pieces in Shapr3D and MakeraCAM, then cut the aluminum pieces on a Carvera Air CNC machine. The magnetic disk itself was made by laser-cutting a piece of PET film and coating it with a suspension of iron oxide powder. After assembling all the components and a few touch-and-go moments, he was actually able to magnetize the floppy disk and write to it, albeit at a very basic level.

We declared the floppy disk dead in 2010, and in the years since then even those that clung on the longest have abandoned it. The Japanese government finally said goodbye to the floppy disk in 2024, and the German Navy moved on from the format in the same year. The US government only just stopped using 8-inch floppy disks to coordinate the launch of nukes in 2019.

Polymatt's project was a wonderful dive into nostalgic tech and engineering prowess. Maybe next time he can make a compact disc from scratch.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/entertainment/youtube/youtuber-recreates-a-floppy-disk-from-scratch-183045582.html?src=rss

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As first reported by Bloomberg, Tesla is disbanding the team behind Dojo, its in-house AI-training supercomputer, and reassigning remaining staff to other projects within the company. This marks a shift in the company's compute sourcing strategy for its AI-focused initiatives such as autonomous driving and the Optimus robot. Head of Dojo Peter Bannon is leaving Tesla, which is the latest departure after roughly 20 Dojo team members recently left to form DensityAI.

In a response to the Bloomberg report on X, Tesla CEO Elon Musk said, "It doesn’t make sense for Tesla to divide its resources and scale two quite different AI chip designs. The Tesla AI5, AI6 and subsequent chips will be excellent for inference and at least pretty good for training. All effort is focused on that."

Musk is referring to Tesla's next-generation AI6 chip that will be made by Samsung following a $16.5 billion deal. These chips will drive the real-time decision-making onboard Tesla vehicles and robots. Shutting down Dojo effectively ends Tesla's long-shot ambition of creating its own in-house training architecture and consolidates the company's efforts on the AI5 and AI6 platforms.

While Musk says these chips are "pretty good" for training, the company will now rely heavily on vendors like NVIDIA for training-specific silicon, and is spending billions on those chips. AI5 production is targeted to begin in 2026 with AI6 to follow.

Like the rest of the big tech world, Musk's companies have been on an AI tear, with xAI's Grok chatbot now available in Tesla vehicles. The company is also piloting its Robotaxi fleet to mixed results.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/ai/tesla-shuts-down-in-house-dojo-ai-supercomputer-project-155420734.html?src=rss

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Truth Social, President Trump's social media platform, is beta testing an AI search feature powered by Perplexity. Truth Search AI is launching first on the web version of Truth Social, with plans to begin a public beta for the feature on iOS and Android in the near future.

"We're excited to partner with Truth Social to bring powerful AI to an audience with important questions," said Dmitry Shevelenko, chief business officer at Perplexity. The controversial AI company has found itself embroiled time and again in accusations of copyright infringement, plagiarism and stealth crawling websites for content and this latest partnership will likely only continue to fuel the turmoil around the company.

The partnership is the latest example of big tech finding opportunities to cozy up to the president. Just this week OpenAI announced that it would be offering its ChatGPT Enterprise subscription to more than 2 million federal workers at practically zero cost. Choosing Perplexity as the engine for Truth Search AI also puts Trump Media in business with Jeff Bezos, one of Perplexity's largest backers. This week Apple CEO Tim Cook presented Trump with an engraved glass plaque set in a 24-karat gold base, to commemorate domestic investments by the company in an effort to avoid the president's ire at the company's foreign manufacturing of iPhones.

With the addition of Truth Search AI, Truth Social gains an AI layer to its platform without the expense of building one, presumably in efforts to keep up with the likes of Grok on X. Perplexity, for its part, gains exposure to a new base of users to further train on.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/social-media/trumps-truth-social-launches-ai-search-powered-by-perplexity-152250137.html?src=rss

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OpenAI has announced that it will be partnering with the US General Services Administration (GSA) to offer ChatGPT Enterprise practically free of charge to the entire executive-branch federal workforce for one year. The dozens of agencies under this umbrella encompass over two million civilian workers. Each agency will be able to access ChatGPT Enterprise for $1 for the year-long period. The year-long trial will also include an additional 60 days of ChatGPT's most advanced models like Deep Research and Advanced Voice Mode with no use limits. This comes one day after the GSA approved OpenAI, Google and Anthropic for the federal AI vendor list.

In the blog post announcing the partnership, OpenAI said: "This effort delivers on a core pillar of the Trump Administration’s AI Action Plan by making powerful AI tools available across the federal government so that workers can spend less time on red tape and paperwork, and more time doing what they came to public service to do: serve the American people."

Part of the administration's plan calls for any AI used in the federal government to be free of ideological bias, yet simultaneously President Trump’s “Preventing Woke AI” executive order directs that AI must not favor "ideological dogmas such as DEI." How OpenAI will deal with the administration's own ideological slant remains to be seen. Current attempts at creating a "maximally truth-seeking AI" have not gone as planned.

According to Bloomberg, OpenAI will not use data from federal workers to train or improve ChatGPT. Addressing whether the $1 price point will buy future loyalty from the current administration, commissioner of the GSA's Federal Acquisition Service Josh Gruenbaum told Bloomberg that no agency would be required to renew after the first year. "These technologies are changing and evolving at breakneck speed. We don’t want to commit ourselves. This is almost like it’s a trial run in some ways." CEO of OpenAI Sam Altman had previously donated $1 million to President Trump’s inauguration fund.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/ai/openai-is-giving-chatgpt-enterprise-to-the-executive-branch-workforce-for-1-165812036.html?src=rss

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Motorola and Swarovski are teaming up to create the crossover they knew we always wanted: a crystal-laden edition of the Razr. For those who just felt that their retro cell phone wasn’t special enough, the fancy new Pantone Ice Melt Razr features a 3D quilted leather-inspired finish with 35 hand-positioned Swarovski crystals, including one larger, 26-facet crystal on the hinge.

The Pantone Ice Melt will cost a cool $1,000, though it will include a pair of the Moto Buds Loop. These open-ear buds are designed to be worn like jewelry — fitting, given the Swarovski treatment. Motorola is calling this bundle the Brilliant Collection. A stand-alone Motorola Razr will normally run you $700, and a pair of Moto Buds Loop will set you back $300, so the package deal for $1,000 basically means free crystals.

Motorola has been expanding the Razr lineup lately, and the company now offers the Razr, Razr Plus and Razr Ultra. The Pantone Ice Melt edition is a design spin on the base model and retains the same 3.6-inch cover display, 6.9-inch foldable AMOLED main display, MediaTek Dimensity 7400X processor, 4,500 mAh battery and 50-MP main camera.

Motorola said that this release is "just the beginning for Motorola Collections," so we expect to see more curated collaborations down the line. The Brilliant Collection will become available on August 7.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/mobile/smartphones/motorola-and-swarovski-team-up-for-a-super-fancy-razr-175308229.html?src=rss

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Fox Corporation has announced the launch of Fox One, a streaming service that will carry Fox-branded news, sports and entertainment content for $19.99 per month or $199.99 per year. The service will feature both live and on-demand access from the entire slate of Fox properties including Fox News, Fox Business, Fox Sports, Fox Weather and more. Subscribers will also be able to bundle the new offering with Fox Nation, the media corporation's on-demand streaming service with original shows.

“In bringing together the full power of the FOX content portfolio in one service, we have created a great value proposition and user experience that will appeal to the cord-cutter and cord-never fans currently not served by conventional pay TV packages," said Pete Distad, CEO of direct-to-consumer at Fox Corporation.

Fox One joins a growing list of TV streaming services aimed at cord-cutters that bring channel portfolios traditionally found on cable to a convenient app format. The new service also means access to NFL and MLB games aired on Fox networks without the need for a cable subscription. Fox was previously attached to the launch of Venu Sports, a sports-focused streaming service that never came to fruition. Fox One will launch on August 2.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/entertainment/streaming/fox-one-streaming-service-launches-august-21-164512558.html?src=rss

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Illinois Governor JB Pritzker has signed a bill into law banning AI therapy in the state. This makes Illinois the first state to regulate the use of AI in mental health services. The law highlights that only licensed professionals are allowed to offer counseling services in the state and forbids AI chatbots or tools from acting as a stand-alone therapist.

HB 1806, titled the Wellness and Oversight for Psychological Resources Act, also specifies that licensed therapists cannot use AI to make “therapeutic decisions” or perform any “therapeutic communication.” It also places constraints on how mental health professionals may use AI in their work, such as specifying that its use for “supplementary support,” such as managing appointments, billing or other administrative work, is allowed.

In a statement to Mashable, Illinois State Representative Bob Morgan said, “We have already heard the horror stories when artificial intelligence pretends to be a licensed therapist. Individuals in crisis unknowingly turned to AI for help and were pushed toward dangerous, even lethal, behaviors.” The law enshrines steep penalties in an effort to curb such outcomes, with companies or individuals facing $10,000 in fines per violation.

“This legislation stands as our commitment to safeguarding the well-being of our residents by ensuring that mental health services are delivered by trained experts who prioritize patient care above all else,” said Mario Treto Jr., secretary of the Illinois Department of Financial and Professional Regulation.

The bill passed the Illinois House and Senate unanimously in a sign of overwhelming bipartisan support. The legislation is particularly notable as the Trump administration’s recently-revealed AI plan outlines a 10-year moratorium on any state-level AI regulation. It also comes as OpenAI has said it is improving the ability for its models to detect mental or emotional distress and will ask users to take a break during unusually long chats.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/ai/illinois-is-the-first-state-to-ban-ai-therapists-145755797.html?src=rss

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Four years after Amazon’s acquisition of podcast network Wondery, the tech giant is dismantling its $300 million purchase and reorganizing various audio properties into separate teams at the company. As first reported by Bloomberg, this reorg will see the studio lose about 110 employees, and CEO Jen Sargent is departing the company.

Amazon told Bloomberg it will continue to produce podcasts, though their place within the company will be restructured. The more narrative-focused podcasts under the Wondery brand, such as American Scandal and Business Wars, will merge with Amazon’s Audible team. Some of these podcasts will retain Wondery branding, and the Wondery Plus app will remain active. Subscribers to Wondery Plus get early access to some podcast episodes through the app, though it's unclear at this point what functionalities will remain in the app, and which will be absorbed by Audible.

Meanwhile, the celebrity-hosted shows such as New Heights with Jason and Travis Kelce and Armchair Expert with Dax Shepard will be rolled into a new team that Amazon is calling Creator Services. According to Bloomberg, a main focus of this new team will be selling large sponsorships. These titles are part of a growing trend toward video podcasts that have helped make YouTube the go-to platform for podcast consumption.

Steve Boom, VP for Audio, Twitch and Games at Amazon, addressed the changes in a memo (published by Deadline) sent to Amazon employees. "The podcast landscape has evolved significantly over the past few years. As video podcasting has grown in popularity, we have learned that creator-led, video-integrated shows have different audience needs and require distinct discovery, growth and monetization strategies compared with audio-first, narrative series," he wrote.

Employees who were let go as part of these changes were notified Monday, though Amazon spokesperson Alice Zhou told The Verge that "many of the impacted employees" would be moved to "other parts of Amazon."

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/big-tech/amazon-splits-up-the-wondery-podcast-network-and-lays-off-about-110-employees-185358357.html?src=rss

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The Google Pixel 10 is just around the corner, so we're starting to see some great deals pop up on the previous generation. The Google Pixel 9a is on sale right now for $100 off its usual price, a 20 percent reduction. If you've been considering your first Pixel, or had your sights set on the Pixel 9a, this sale is a great opportunity.

The Pixel 9a is Google's most affordable model in the Pixel lineup, but that by no means makes it a subpar gadget. We selected the 9a as our best budget Android phone, and we gave it a score of 91 out of 100 in our hands-on review.

This model has design, features and performance you'd be forgiven for confusing with a flagship model. The entire Pixel 9 lineup is powered by the same Tensor G4 processor, with the biggest difference being the Pixel 9a's 8 GB of RAM instead of the 12 GB found on the Pixel 9. Average daily users will almost certainly not notice a difference here, as the extra RAM is more for video editing, gaming or relentlessly switching between apps.

The 48-MP main camera and 13-MP ultra-wide rival cameras on phones that are twice the price, and its 5,100 mAh battery is the largest in the Pixel 9 lineup. The phone's 6.3-inch OLED display with a 120 Hz refresh rate and peak brightness of 2,700 nits is identical to the Pixel 9. The hardware on the Pixel 9a is simply among the best in its price range.

The Pixel 9a offers excellent value, and at $100 off, the value is even greater.

Follow @EngadgetDeals on X for the latest tech deals and buying advice.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/deals/the-google-pixel-9a-is-100-off-right-now-151724954.html?src=rss

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Skechers just released a helicopter parent's dream shoe. Find My Skechers is a new line of children's shoes that encourages parents to hide an Apple AirTag under the heel. If tracking them on Snapchat wasn't enough and tracking their smartwatch didn't quite cut it, now you can hide an AirTag on their person.

Remember running around the neighborhood with your friends and being told to be home for dinner? Or perhaps biking to and from school? You were figuring out how to navigate the world on your own and parents were learning how to let you do so just like they did when they were younger.

Find My Skechers shoes are offered in sizes for children as young as one and as old as ten. This begs the question: does Skechers think we are leaving our toddlers unsupervised to the degree that we need to hide trackers in their shoes? On the other end of the spectrum, do we think a 10‑year‑old won't figure out that their parents bought them the AirTag‑tracking shoe? After all, about 42 percent of 10‑year‑olds own a smartphone and might even get alerted that an AirTag is following them. Add to this that there is research suggesting that using digital technology to track your children's whereabouts can lead to more rebellious behavior.

This feature may help locate shoes left at school, camp or a sleepover. Some online commentators were also quick to point out that this shoe could help keep track of elderly loved ones who might wander.

A commercial for the new line of shoes describes the "clever secure hidden compartment" where parents can hide the AirTag and notes that your child won't be able to feel it in their shoes. The shoes are machine‑washable and available for sale now. An Apple AirTag is not included.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/home/smart-home/skechers-releases-kid-shoes-with-a-hidden-airtag-compartment-181041440.html?src=rss

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A group of Cornell computer scientists has unveiled what they believe could be a new tool in the fight against AI‑generated video, deepfakes and doctored clips.

The watermarking technique, called “noise‑coded illumination,” hides verification data in light itself to help investigators spot doctored videos. The approach, devised by Peter Michael, Zekun Hao, Serge Belongie and assistant professor Abe Davis, was published in the June 27 issue of ACM Transactions on Graphics and will be presented by Michael at SIGGRAPH on August 10.

The system adds a barely perceptible flicker to light sources in a scene. Cameras record this pseudo-random pattern even though viewers cannot detect it, and each lamp or screen that flickers carries its own unique code.

As an example, imagine a press conference filmed in the White House briefing room. The studio lights would be programmed to flicker with unique codes. If a viral clip from that press conference later circulates with what appears to be an inflammatory statement, investigators can run it through a decoder, and by checking whether the recorded light codes line up, could determine whether the footage was doctored.

“Each watermark carries a low‑fidelity, time‑stamped version of the unmanipulated video under slightly different lighting. We call these code videos,” said Abe Davis, assistant professor of computer science at Cornell. “When someone manipulates a video, the manipulated parts start to contradict what we see in these code videos, which lets us see where changes were made. And if someone tries to generate fake video with AI, the resulting code videos just look like random variations."

While the scientists acknowledge that rapid motion and strong sunlight can hinder the technique’s efficacy, they are bullish on its utility in settings like conference‑room presentations, television interviews or lecture‑hall speeches.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/cybersecurity/flickering-lights-could-help-fight-misinformation-155829489.html?src=rss

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Google says it will sign the European Union’s new AI Code of Practice, which provides a framework for compliance with the EU’s AI Act. The act itself was passed in 2024, but its many provisions will take months to years to come into effect. The non-binding Code of Practice is a voluntary measure intended to help ensure that companies generally meet the obligations laid out by the Act in the meantime.

In a blog post announcing Google’s participation, the tech giant shared some skepticism about the AI Act’s impact on the technology in the EU. The statement reads in part, "While the final version of the Code comes closer to supporting Europe’s innovation and economic goals than where it began — and we appreciate the opportunity we have been provided to submit comments — we remain concerned that the AI Act and Code risk slowing Europe’s development and deployment of AI."

Just recently, Meta said it would not be signing the Code of Practice. The company’s chief global affairs officer, Joel Kaplan, called the Code an "over-reach." In a statement, Kaplan said, "Europe is heading down the wrong path on AI."

The EU’s AI Act is the first of its kind from a major regulator and is comprehensive in its approach. Meanwhile, the United States is in the earliest stages of determining its approach to AI regulation.

Obligations under the EU’s AI Act are being implemented in a staggered fashion, though rules governing general‑purpose AI (GPAI) models will apply on August 2, 2025. Any models brought to market before then must be fully compliant with the rules by August 2, 2027. The current implementation timeline lists assessment and enforcement steps as far out as August 2031.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/big-tech/google-will-sign-eus-ai-code-of-practice-140741058.html?src=rss

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Netgear has launched its most affordable Wi‑Fi 7 mesh system yet, the Orbi 370. The headline price is $350 for a router and two satellites, which is extremely competitive. A quick look at the specs, however, reveals several trade‑offs that make the lower cost possible.

The company says the Orbi 370 is “designed for customers with moderately demanding Wi‑Fi needs,” claiming the system’s total bandwidth is 5 Gbps. However, since it carries only a 2.5‑gigabit internet port, the maximum speed to a single device is limited to 2.5 Gbps.

The Orbi 370 is strictly dual‑band, with only 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz radios — there's no 320 MHz or 6 GHz band options. This means the Orbi 370 is missing one of Wi-Fi 7's biggest advantages in most setups.

Households with a two‑gig connection or less likely won't miss the extra headroom, and a mesh Wi‑Fi system remains one of the best ways to solve dead spots around your home. Netgear’s flagship model, the Orbi 970, offers 27 Gbps total bandwidth, with a 10‑gig internet port and a quad‑band setup. That model comes with a price tag of roughly $2,000 for a router and two satellites and would likely be overkill for most households.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/home/smart-home/netgear-launches-its-most-affordable-wi-fi-7-mesh-system-163234180.html?src=rss

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