California lawmakers pass AI safety bill SB 53 — but Newsom could still veto
The state’s landmark safety bill sets new transparency requirements for large AI companies.
Tech
Time is running out to get half off a year of Paramount Plus
It’s September, and many among us are dealing with back to school, and anticipating the colder weather that’s on its way (at least, if you live in the northern climes). This, plus a somewhat fraught political atmosphere, means that you might be looking for reliable, affordable ways to escape the doldrums. You don’t need us […]
Spotify Lossless is an inconvenient improvement
If you listen to music the way a lot of people do these days – with a pair of wireless earbuds, from a Bluetooth speaker, or just blaring directly out of your phone – you will never notice a difference between Spotify’s high-quality 320Kbps streams and its lossless audio. But, if you usually listen with […]
Here’s the tech powering ICE’s deportation crackdown
From phone spyware and facial recognition to forensic phone hacking technology to databases and more, this tech powers Trump’s deportation machine.
Hike, once a unicorn, shuts down as India cracks down on real-money gaming
Hike, which started as a WhatsApp rival before pivoting to real-money gaming, is now sunsetting after India’s sweeping ban.
Adult Swim’s new stop-motion series is a celebration of Latin American culture
Imagine if George Cukor’s The Women was a modern, Spanish-language telenovela set in Ecuador rather than a 1939 dramedy about the lives of wealthy Manhattanites. Now imagine if the series was directed by Pedro Almodóvar and its characters were brought to life with stop-motion animation instead of being portrayed by Hollywood heavyweights like Joan Crawford […]
Exit 8’s director was inspired by watching people play the game
Few video game adaptations understand their source material quite like the Exit 8 film. It takes the rules and structure of the game – which strands players inside of a looping hallway in a Tokyo subway station – and then builds on them with actual characters and a story. And according to director Genki Kawamura, […]
Tucker Carlson asks Sam Altman if an OpenAI employee was murdered ‘on your orders’
While interviewing OpenAI CEO Sam Altman this week, former Fox News host Tucker Carlson brought up his belief in a conspiracy theory that former OpenAI researcher Suchir Balaji was “definitely murdered.” The researcher’s death in November 2024, which was ruled a suicide by the San Francisco police, followed his release of statements online and in […]
Elon Musk is trying to silence Microsoft employees who criticize Charlie Kirk
Elon Musk is pressing Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella to look into Blizzard employees who criticized Charlie Kirk after his death. Musk’s post quotes an X thread listing names and screenshots of the developers. “What’s going on here, @satyanadella?” Musk said. “These are Microsoft employees,” he added in another post. Musk’s direct question to Nadella follows […]