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Anthropic has launched a new research initiative called Anthropic Institute and has revealed that its Public Policy team is opening its first office in Washington, DC this spring. The company has made the announcement just a couple of days after it sued the US government to challenge the supply chain risk designation it received from the Defense Department. As Axios notes, Anthropic is tripling its Public Policy team at a time when AI companies are establishing a presence in Washington, so that they can influence future policies around artificial intelligence. In Anthropic’s case, it might have to find a way to be re-accepted by the US government first after President Trump ordered federal agencies to stop using its technology.

Sarah Heck, who joined the company as Head of External Affairs, will take over from co-founder Jack Clark as Head of Policy. Meanwhile, Clark has taken the role as Head of Public Benefit and will lead the Anthropic Institute. The company explains that the institute’s role is to “tell the world” what it learns about the challenges that arise as AI firms develop more advanced AI systems. Examples include how powerful AI technologies will reshape jobs and economies and what kinds of threats they’ll magnify or introduce.

The institute will bring together and expand Anthropic’s current research teams: The Frontier Red Team that stress-tests AI systems, the Societal Impacts team that looks at how AI is used in the real world, and the Economic Research team that tracks AI’s impact on jobs and the larger economy. Anthropic has hired Matt Botvinick, a former Senior Director of Research at Google DeepMind, and Zoë Hitzig, who studied AI’s social and economic impacts at OpenAI, to be founding members of the Institute.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/ai/anthropic-is-opening-an-office-in-dc-while-battling-pentagon-in-court-115700127.html?src=rss

Meta announced new features today aimed at cracking down on scams perpetrated via its platforms. First, Meta is launching AI tools for identifying impersonator of brands and celebrities, as well as for detecting deceptive links, which should help it to quickly take down frauds. Second, it is adding new alerts to caution against interacting with a potentially fraudulent account. Facebook will roll out alerts for suspicious friend requests, WhatsApp is getting warnings for device linking requests, and Messenger will also issue warnings if an account seems suspect.

Finally, Meta is also continuing to expand its processes for advertiser verification. The company said it aims to have verified advertisers account for 90 percent of its ads revenue by the end of the year, up from the current share of 70 percent. Last year, Meta estimated that marketing for scams and banned products could have been responsible for 10 percent of its 2024 revenue. 

The social media company has been ramping up its actions against scams, particularly those known as celeb bait. Last month, it sued three entities from Brazil and China that were behind scams that leveraged images and deepfakes of popular people to promote dubious products and investment schemes. Meta said today that over the course of 2025, it removed 159 million scam ads as well as 10.9 million Facebook and Instagram accounts tied to criminal scam centers.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/social-media/meta-rolls-out-new-features-for-scam-protection-110000173.html?src=rss

At the start of the year, Google brought a host of new Gemini-powered features, including built-in Nano Banana image generation, to Chrome. After debuting in the United States, those features are now making their way to Chrome users in Canada, India and New Zealand, with support for 50 additional in tow. Among the new languages Gemini in Chrome can now converse in are French, Gujarati, Hindi and Spanish.   

To try out Gemini in Chrome, tap the sparkle icon at the top right of the interface. This will open the sidebar interface Google introduced in January. From there, you can chat with the company's Gemini chatbot without the need to switch tabs. From the sidebar, you can also access Google's in-house image generator. Additionally, Gemini in Chrome offers integrations with Gmail, Maps, Calendar, YouTube and other Google apps. If you live outside Canada, India or New Zealand, Google says it will make Gemini in Chrome available in more countries and languages throughout the rest of 2026. Oh, and if don’t want to use Gemini in Chrome, you can right click on the sparkle icon and select unpin to never see it again.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/ai/google-starts-rolling-out-gemini-in-chrome-to-users-in-canada-india-and-new-zealand-023000528.html?src=rss

The inspector general's office of the Social Security Administration is investigating allegations of a security breach by a member of the so-called Department of Government Efficiency operation spearheaded by Elon Musk. A whistleblower has claimed that a former software engineer from DOGE said he possessed two databases from the SSA, "Numident" and the "Master Death File." The person reportedly asked for help transferring the databases from a thumb drive "to his personal computer so that he could ‘sanitize’ the data before using it at [the company]," an unnamed government contractor where he is currently employed. Those databases include personal information about more than 500 million living and deceased Americans. 

The Washington Post reported that the whistleblower complaint was filed with the inspector general in January. "When The Post contacted the agency and the company in January, both said they had not heard of the complaint. Both said they subsequently looked into the allegations and did not find evidence to confirm the claims," the publication said. It is unclear why the complaint is now being investigated and neither party offered comment this week for The Post's article. The SSA watchdog informed both members of Congress and the Government Accountability Office of its investigation. 

These allegations follow a different whistleblower complaint filed last August about DOGE access and mishandling of data from the SSA. Charles Borges, former chief data officer at the agency, claimed that a SSA database was stored in an unsecured cloud environment. "This is absolutely the worst-case scenario," Borges told The Post of the latest claims. "There could be one or a million copies of it, and we will never know now."

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/cybersecurity/social-security-watchdog-investigating-claims-that-doge-engineer-copied-its-databases-212722061.html?src=rss

AI companies have been spending a lot of time in court arguing copyright cases over the past year and the latest plaintiff is Gracenote, the metadata company owned by Nielsen. Axios reports that Gracenote is suing OpenAI for the unauthorized and unpaid use of both its metadata and its framework for connecting that information.

Gracenote specializes in entertainment metadata, creating descriptions and identifiers for content that clients such as TV providers use to help their own customers with discovery. Most of the lawsuits against AI businesses have focused on the content used to train LLMs, but the Gracenote case brings an extra layer with the alleged infringement of the structure or sequence for a dataset in addition to the actual data. 

"Defendants could have paid Gracenote to license its valuable Gracenote Data. Or they could have sought to train and ground their models only on information in the public domain. They did neither. Defendants instead improperly copied and used Gracenote Data to create their own commercially valuable AI products, all without paying a dime," the complaint states. The company claims that its previous attempts to work with OpenAI for a licensing agreement were rebuffed or ignored. Gracenote has recently inked deals to back AI ventures from other companies, including Samsung and Google.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/ai/metadata-company-gracenote-is-the-latest-to-sue-openai-for-copyright-infringement-200347812.html?src=rss

The real world price of impulse-buying Fortnite skins is going up, Epic has announced. Not because skins themselves are getting more expensive on paper, but because V-Bucks, Fortnite's digital currency, is. The same prices you paid for bundles of V-Bucks in February will now effectively earn you fewer bucks starting on March 19, along with several other Fortnite-related pricing changes.

Epic will still offer bundles of V-Bucks starting at $8.99 and running all the way to $89.99, but with a new "conversion rate.” The new bundle prices breakdown as follows:

• $8.99 will get you 800 V-Bucks, down from 1,000 V-Bucks

• $22.99 will get you 2,400 V-Bucks, down from 2,800 V-Bucks

• $36.99 will get you 4,500 V-Bucks, down from 5,000 V-Bucks

• $89.99 will get you 12,500 V-Bucks, down from 13,500 V-Bucks

On top of those changes, the cost of Epic's "Exact Amount Pack," which lets you buy the exact amount of V-Bucks necessary to complete a specific purchase, is changing from around $0.50 for 50 V-Bucks to $0.99 for 50 V-Bucks. 

These new prices for V-Bucks are US-specific and will vary in other regions. They're also not entirely representative of the value Epic is offering with each purchase. As part of the company's Epic Rewards program, you get 20 percent back on purchases made in Fortnite, Fall Guys and Rocket League when you use the Epic Games Store or Epic's payment system on Android, iOS, PC or the web. That means you can receive anywhere from $1.79 (for 800 V-Bucks) to $17.99 (for 12,500 V-Bucks) to spend in Fortnite or the Epic Games Store when you use the company's payment system.

Changes to the value of V-Bucks are also impacting Fortnite's various passes. The standard Battle Pass will now cost 800 V-Bucks and award 800 V-Bucks, down from its previous price of 1,000 V-Bucks. Meanwhile, the price of the OG Pass (for Fortnite's throwback game mode) is lowering from 1,000 V-Bucks to 800 V-Bucks, and both the Music and Lego Passes are going from costing 1,400 V-Bucks to 1,200 V-Bucks. For any subscribers to Fortnite Crew, Fortnite's monthly subscription service, your monthly stipend of the digital currency is also shrinking from 1,000 V-Bucks to 800 V-Bucks.

Epic claims that it's making all of these changes because "the cost of running Fortnite has gone up a lot" and raising prices helps pay the bills, but the company is also in a much better position to make money on every transaction that happens in the game. In securing largely favorable outcomes in its lawsuits against Apple and Google, Epic now has a way to point users to its payment system on iOS and Android (all the better to avoid app store fees), and its won major concessions that seem poised to reshape how app store economies work.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/gaming/epic-is-increasing-the-price-of-fortnites-v-bucks-currency-185800744.html?src=rss

Amazon has secured a temporary win in its fight with Perplexity over the use of AI shopping bots. Bloomberg reported that a San Francisco federal court has determined that Perplexity must stop using its Comet web browser's AI agent to make purchases for users on Amazon's marketplace. The AI company will have a week to appeal the decision, otherwise it has been ordered to stop accessing any password-protected areas of Amazon's systems and destroy its copies of Amazon's data while the two companies continue to argue their cases.  

"Amazon has provided strong evidence that Perplexity, through its Comet browser, accesses with the Amazon user's permission but without authorization by Amazon, the user's password-protected account," District Judge Maxine Chesney wrote in placing the temporary block.

"The preliminary injunction will prevent Perplexity’s unauthorized access to the Amazon store and is an important step in maintaining a trusted shopping experience for Amazon customers," an Amazon spokesperson told Bloomberg.

Amazon sent a cease-and-desist letter to Perplexity over the AI company's shopping bots in November. According to Amazon, use of the Comet agent to make purchases is a violation of its terms of service. "Perplexity will continue to fight for the right of internet users to choose whatever AI they want," a representative from Perplexity said of this week's decision.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/ai/amazon-wins-a-temporary-injunction-against-perplexitys-comet-browser-184000462.html?src=rss

Josh Wardle had a hell of a tough act to follow. His last game, Wordle, became incredibly popular thanks to its blend of simplicity, clarity and shareability. Over four years (and a seven-figure sale of Wordle to The New York Times) later, Wardle has released his follow-up game. 

Like Wordle and its myriad clones, Parseword offers up one puzzle per day. It taps into the mechanics of cryptic crossword clues. So it might ask you to replace one of the words with a synonym, reverse it or find a homophone. You may need to remove letters from a word or combine it with another one to find the answer. There’s a tutorial to help you get to grips with things and hints are available. 

Wardle told The New Yorker he was inspired by The Last of Us showrunner Craig Mazin, who he heard discuss the logic behind cryptics on a podcast. Wardle brought in two friends, Chris Dary and Matt Lee, whom he worked with at Reddit to collaborate on the new game. They received permission to use clues from long-time cryptic constructors Emily Cox and Henry Rathvon. 

After playing the tutorial and today's puzzle, it seems you may need to be wired in a certain way to play Parseword. It’s certainly less approachable than Wordle. At first glance, it’s hard to see this reaching the same kind of mass appeal as Wardle’s previous game. (Fittingly enough, Parseword feels like a game geared toward New Yorker readers.)

Of course, countless other casual daily games that aim to replicate the success of Wordle have popped up over the last few years, from Quordle, Bracket City and Framed to the Times’ own Connections, Strands and Pips. Catfishing, which asks you to guess Wikipedia article subjects based on their categories, is a new favorite of mine. I still miss the original Heardle, though.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/gaming/wordles-creator-is-back-with-a-new-game-and-its-a-real-chin-scratcher-182639801.html?src=rss

The Super Mario Galaxy Movie is nearly upon us, as the hotly-anticipated sequel arrives in theaters on April 1. Nintendo recently dropped the final trailer for the film, which is filled with quick visual gags and nods to the source material.

There aren't too many actual reveals in this footage, as it covers a lot of the same ground as previous trailers. However, it does show that fan favorite Lumalee is returning as a prison guard of some sort, reversing the storyline from the original film in which the cheerfully nihilistic creature was trapped in a cage.

Nintendo also released a larger presentation that featured the aforementioned trailer, but also included interviews with actors and franchise creator Shigeru Miyamoto. We did get some news in this video.

It was revealed that the long-tongued dinosaur Yoshi will be voiced by Donald Glover. So it's likely the dino will be saying a lot more than "Yoshi" over and over. Actor Luis Guzman will also be playing Wart, the primary antagonist from Super Mario Bros. 2. Issa Rae will be on hand to voice Honey Queen, the gigantic bee character from the Super Mario Galaxy games.

It was even confirmed by lead actors Chris Pratt and Charlie Day that Luigi would be on hand for the entire adventure this time, and not confined to a cage-based subplot. I didn't realize Luigi's role in the first film was enough of a controversy to warrant this kind of mention, but here we are.

Illumination CEO Chris Meledandri also appeared in the video, assuring viewers that there are still "some big surprises" waiting in the actual film. To that end, there's been a rumor floating around that Fox McCloud from the Starfox franchise would be showing up. Is this the start of a Nintendo cinematic universe that will culminate in 10 years with a Super Smash Bros. movie? Stranger things have happened.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/entertainment/tv-movies/heres-the-final-trailer-for-the-super-mario-galaxy-movie-181819593.html?src=rss

OpenAI is rolling out new interactive responses in ChatGPT it says are designed to make the chatbot more useful for learners. Starting today, ChatGPT will generate dynamic visuals when you ask it to explain select scientific and mathematical concepts, including the Pythagorean theorem, Coulomb's law and lens equations. When ChatGPT responds with an interactive visual, you'll be able to tweak any variables and the equation itself, allowing you to see how those changes affect the solution. 

With today's release, OpenAI says ChatGPT will respond with interactive visuals when asked about more than 70 concepts, with support for additional topics to come down the line. The visuals are available to all ChatGPT users, regardless of subscription status. However, OpenAI notes high school- and college-aged students are likely to get the most out of the new feature.   

ChatGPT explains Ohm's law.OpenAI

The more interactive responses from ChatGPT follow the release of Study Mode last summer. Released in response to the sheer amount of students using chatbots to complete their coursework, that feature guides the user toward finding an answer themselves, rather than provide an outright solution. "This is just the beginning," OpenAI says of its latest feature. "Over time, we plan to expand interactive learning with additional subjects and continue building tools that strengthen learning with ChatGPT."

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/ai/chatgpt-will-now-generate-interactive-visuals-to-help-you-with-math-and-science-concepts-170000520.html?src=rss

Nintendo's next platform adventure, Yoshi and the Mysterious Book, will be released for Switch 2 on May 21. The company announced the release date as part of its annual Mar10 Day celebration. This is a made-up holiday that exists because the date spelled out like that sort of looks like the word Mario.

In any event, there's a new trailer for the perpetually hungry dinosaur's latest adventure. It looks super cute. It sort of resembles a children's picture book come to life. Yoshi games typically boast unique graphical styles, with past entries featuring entire worlds made of yarn, cardboard and more. Even the very first Yoshi platformer, Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island, featured a kind of hand-drawn aesthetic.

The gameplay looks to be somewhat unique, with a reduced emphasis on chucking eggs. Many of the game's creatures grant Yoshi special abilities when they hop on the dino for a ride. This reminds me of another Nintendo-branded glutton, Kirby.

Today's trailer also shows Yoshi gobbling up an enemy and encountering a foul and bitter taste, giving the little cutie a momentary stomach ache. I guess Yoshi's palette has become more refined since the last game.

This has already been a big week for the anthropomorphic dinosaur. Nintendo recently dropped another trailer for The Super Mario Galaxy Movie and it was revealed that Donald Glover will be voicing Yoshi. That film hits theaters on April 1, which is just a few weeks away.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/gaming/nintendo/yoshi-and-the-mysterious-book-will-be-released-for-switch-2-on-may-21-164753150.html?src=rss

Google is rolling out Gemini AI agents to the Department of Defense's more than 3 million civilian and military employees, according to Bloomberg. The agents will initially operate on unclassified networks, with talks underway to expand them to classified and top-secret systems, according to Emil Michael, the Under Secretary of Defense for Research and Engineering.

Eight pre-built agents will automate tasks like summarizing meeting notes, building budgets and checking proposed actions against the national defense strategy. Google Vice President Jim Kelly said in a blog post on Tuesday that Defense Department personnel can also create custom agents using natural language.

Google's AI chatbot, accessible through the Pentagon's GenAI.mil portal, has been used by 1.2 million Defense Department employees for unclassified work since December, with personnel running 40 million unique prompts and uploading more than 4 million documents. Training has reportedly not kept pace with adoption, however, as only 26,000 people have completed AI training since December, but future sessions are fully booked, something that suggests more employees are getting on board.

The expansion comes as the Pentagon rapidly broadens its AI partnerships after its standoff with Anthropic, which refused to remove guardrails against domestic surveillance and autonomous weapons from its technology. The Pentagon has since classified the American AI company as a "supply chain risk," which Anthropic will fight in court. Roughly 900 Google and 100 OpenAI employees have since signed an open letter urging their employers to hold firm on the same guardrails. Google quietly altered its "AI Principles" regarding these exact uses in early February.

The Department of Defense has since struck deals with OpenAI and xAI for restricted networks. Google itself faced internal backlash over Pentagon work in 2018 when thousands of employees protested Project Maven, a program that used AI to analyze drone video feeds. It did not renew that contract but has since loosened its restrictions on military work.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/ai/google-to-provide-pentagon-with-gemini-powered-ai-agents-161037444.html?src=rss

To keep Ticketmaster, Live Nation is going to have to make some major changes. As first reported by Politico, Live Nation reached a settlement with the Department of Justice in its antitrust case that accused the live entertainment giant of monopolistic practices. Live Nation will reportedly pay at least $200 million in damages to states that were part of the lawsuit filed in May 2024, but avoid selling off Ticketmaster.

Live Nation will also be required to make a few changes to its business practices. According to NBC News, Ticketmaster, a subsidiary of Live Nation, will be required to create a "standalone ticketing system" that allows third-party competitors like SeatGeek and Eventbrite to sell tickets on.

The settlement aims to loosen some of Live Nation's control over venues as well. 13 amphitheaters that Live Nation previously had exclusive booking arrangements with will move to an open booking model which will let other promotors book at the venues. The company is also prohibited from retaliating against venues that choose another ticket seller over Ticketmaster.

The settlement comes less than a week after the case went to trial. While the matter may be concluded with the Justice Department, many of the states' attorneys general who were part of the lawsuit will be continuing their legal action separately.

"The settlement recently announced with the U.S. Department of Justice fails to address the monopoly at the center of this case and would benefit Live Nation at the expense of consumers," New York State Attorney General Letitia James wrote in a press release. "We will continue our lawsuit to protect consumers and restore fair competition to the live entertainment industry." 26 other attorneys general signed onto continuing the lawsuit with James.

Update, March 10, 2026, 11:37AM ET: This story was updated to clarify that Live Nation moved to an open booking model with 13 venues that it previously had exclusive booking rights with. Those venues were not owned by Live Nation.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/entertainment/music/live-nation-settlement-avoids-breakup-with-ticketmaster-155031214.html?src=rss

NVIDIA is reportedly working on its own open-source AI agent platform, according to Wired. The chipmaker has been pitching the product to enterprise software companies. Reporting indicates it's going to be called NemoClaw, suggesting that the entire industry is going to embrace this whole "claw" naming convention moving forward.

Just like OpenClaw, this will be a platform in which users dispatch AI agents to perform a variety of tasks. However, NVIDIA's effort looks to have an enterprise focus for now. To that end, reporting indicates that companies will be able to access this platform even if their products don't run on NVIDIA chips.

NVIDIA is currently preparing for its annual developer conference next week and Wired has suggested that the company has already reached out to entities like Salesforce, Cisco and Google to strike partnerships for its platform. It's not clear if these discussions have led to anything official, as none of these companies have provided statements.

This could be a steep climb for NVIDIA, as usage of these multi-purpose agents in the enterprise space is relatively controversial. Some tech companies have asked employees to refrain from using OpenClaw and related tools on their work computers, as the agents can be unpredictable and cause all manner of mayhem. A Meta employee recently shared a story about an AI agent going rogue and mass deleting emails.

This poses a serious security risk to enterprise customers. It's one thing if the claw is trapped on a personal computer, but another thing if it has access to an entire enterprise network. NVIDIA is reportedly beefing up NemoClaw with additional layers of security for AI agents, which is likely an effort to attract those business customers.

Why is this a big deal? Unlike traditional chatbots that typically require hand-holding from the user every step of the way, claws are designed to run autonomously on computers and perform complex, multi-pronged tasks without too much human supervision. 

Peter Steinberger is joining OpenAI to drive the next generation of personal agents. He is a genius with a lot of amazing ideas about the future of very smart agents interacting with each other to do very useful things for people. We expect this will quickly become core to our…

— Sam Altman (@sama) February 15, 2026

This all started with software originally called Clawdbot, which is now called OpenClaw. The creator of OpenClaw, Peter Steinberger, recently joined OpenAI to help "drive the next generation of personal agents."

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/ai/nvidia-is-reportedly-working-on-its-own-open-source-ai-agent-platform-153203397.html?src=rss

NVIDIA's GeForce Now game streaming platform has added a few minor but useful updates, especially for GOG and VR headset users, the company announced at Game Developer's Conference (GDC). The biggest technical improvement is for virtual reality headsets that support GeForce Now like the Apple Vision Pro and Meta Quest. Starting next week (March 19), those devices will be able to stream at 90 fps for Ultimate members (up from 60 fps) for improved smoothness, responsiveness and realism. 

Another helpful update is in-app labels coming "soon" to GeForce Now. Once you connect an Xbox or Ubisoft_ account, you'll see clear labels directly on game art inside the GeForce Now app showing exactly what's available to play from your subscription services. NVIDIA is also expanding account linking, adding GOG to the roster of services on top of Gaijin single-sign announced at CES. 

GeForce Now is also expanding its Install-to-Play library with select Xbox titles including Brutal Legend from Double Fine Productions and Compulsion Games' Contrast. The service will also see several anticipated games directly on the cloud service at launch, namely Remedy's Control Resonant and Samson: A Tyndalston Story from Liquid Swords. 

As a reminder, NVIDIA's GeForce Now is one of the better cloud gaming services out there, particularly since it added GeForce RTX 5080-powered servers that Engadget's Devindra Hardawar called "indistinguishable from a powerful rig." The service recently came to Fire TV sticks and is available on Windows and Mac PCs, NVIDIA's Shield, Android TV, smartphones and many other devices. 

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/gaming/geforce-now-adds-gog-syncing-and-90fps-game-streaming-in-vr-headsets-130656731.html?src=rss

Meta is snapping up Moltbook, a Reddit-like social network for AI agents that has been around since January and remains completely ridiculous. The company hasn't disclosed the terms of the deal.

Moltbook and its creators Matt Schlicht and Ben Parr will be joining Meta Superintelligence Labs (MSL) when the deal closes. That's expected to happen in the coming days, according to Axios.

“The Moltbook team joining MSL opens up new ways for AI agents to work for people and businesses," a Meta spokesperson told TechCrunch. "Their approach to connecting agents through an always-on directory is a novel step in a rapidly developing space, and we look forward to working together to bring innovative, secure agentic experiences to everyone.”

It seems current Moltbook users will be able to continue interacting with the platform for the time being. Moltbook was built on the back of OpenClaw, a tool that enables people to whip up AI agents that can interact with dozens of different apps. (OpenAI hired the creator of OpenClaw last month.)

Schlicht used OpenClaw to create a bot named “Clawd Clawderberg” and asked it to create a social network for AI agents. And that's how Moltbook came to be.

For what it's worth, Clawd Clawderberg is a play on "Mark Zuckerberg" and Moltbook is a clear riff on "Facebook," so it’s somewhat fitting that Schlicht vibe-coded his way to a job at Meta. It also emerged that it was relatively easy for humans to pose as AI agents and post on Moltbook. Again, all of this is deeply, deeply absurd.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/ai/meta-is-buying-moltbook-the-ridiculous-social-network-populated-by-ai-bots-152732453.html?src=rss

Google is rolling out a batch of Gemini updates across its Workspace apps that give the AI assistant the ability to generate first drafts in Docs, build entire spreadsheets in Sheets, design presentations in Slides and answer questions about files stored in Drive. The features started rolling out on March 10 in beta for Google AI Ultra and Pro subscribers and Gemini Alpha business customers, in English only.

In Docs, a new "Help me create" tool produces a formatted first draft by pulling context from Drive, Gmail, Chat and the web based on a user's prompt. Gemini can also match the writing style or formatting of a reference document. Google says more than a third of new Docs are created from copies of existing files, so the formatting tool is meant to cut down on that manual work. In Sheets, Gemini can now construct an entire spreadsheet from a natural language prompt, drawing data from a user's files and emails, as well as Google Chat and the web.

A "Fill with Gemini" feature auto-populates table cells, which Google says is nine times faster than manual entry based on a 95-person study (this sounds profoundly unscientific, so take these claims with a grain of salt). Sheets also gained optimization tools powered by Google DeepMind and Google Research that can solve problems like employee scheduling through written prompts. In Slides, Gemini can generate individual slides that match an existing deck's theme, with full presentation generation from a single prompt coming later.

Google Drive is getting AI Overviews in search results, similar to a feature the company recently added to Gmail, along with a new "Ask Gemini" tool that lets users query their files, emails and calendar. The Drive features will be released first only for customers in the US, unlike the rest of these updates.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/ai/google-brings-gemini-powered-content-creation-tools-to-docs-sheets-slides-and-drive-144705622.html?src=rss

It takes around 30 hours to experience everything Resident Evil Requiem has to offer. If you've already enjoyed all the thrills and spills and you're itching for more, there's some positive news. Capcom has some updates on the way. The biggest of those is a story expansion, which is now in development. Just don't expect it to arrive imminently.

"In this story, we will delve deeper into the world of Requiem," game director Koshi Nakanishi said in a short video message. "We’re hard at work on it now. It will take some time, so we ask for your patience and hope you’ll look forward to it."

A message from Koshi Nakanishi, director of Resident Evil Requiem. pic.twitter.com/54aKw80h8K

— Resident Evil (@RE_Games) March 10, 2026

Nakanishi noted that on top of the story expansion and fixing bugs and performance issues, the development team is cooking up some other features. A photo mode is on the way to help you capture all the horrors that Grace and Leon encounter. There's also a "surprise coming around May," Nakanishi said. "We’re planning to add a mini-game."

Resident Evil Requiem sold more than 5 million copies within its first week of release. Reviews have been generally positive, though we can safely discount the one that was likely AI generated and briefly featured on Metacritic.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/gaming/a-resident-evil-requiem-story-expansion-is-in-the-works-140512827.html?src=rss

Sonos has just announced its first new products since 2024, when the company’s plans went sideways after a disastrous update to its app. First up is the Sonos Play, the company’s latest portable speaker. Long-time Sonos watchers will recognize the name from the old Play:1, Play:3 and Play:5 speakers, but this new model has little to do with those products of the past. The $299 Play is a Wi-Fi and Bluetooth speaker that sits between the $179 Roam 2 and $499 Move 2 and could be the “goldilocks” speaker in the company’s portable lineup, at least based on what I know so far.

The closest comparison for the Play is the excellent Era 100, which Sonos released back in 2023. At 7.6” tall, 4.4” wide and 3” deep, it’s much thinner than the Era 100 which is over 5 inches deep. And compared to the Move 2 (9.5” x 6.3 x 5”) it’s much more portable. That goes for weight, too — the Play is less than 3 pounds, compared to over 6.5 pounds for the Move 2. It’s not the kind of speaker you’ll throw in your bag and forget about, like the tiny Roam 2, but it’s far more portable than the Move 2. Finally, the Play is IP67 rated, just like the Roam 2. That means it can be submerged in up to a meter of water for up to 30 minutes; it’s also dustproof.

The grab handle on the back of the Sonos Play.Sonos

From a speaker component perspective, it’s again quite similar to the Era 100. It has two tweeters positioned at a 90-degree angle for stereo separation paired with one midwoofer; it also has two additional passive radiators to increase the bass response in its relatively small case. The Era 100 lacks those passive radiators but is otherwise identical. Obviously, we’ll have to listen to the Play before saying how closely it compares to the Era 100, but this speaker should significantly outperform the Roam 2 simply due to the increased size of its components. The Move 2, on the other hand, is extremely loud and will likely still be the best choice for people who want a speaker to cover a large outdoor space.

You’ll find familiar controls on the Sonos Play, which comes in black or white. (Fingers crossed for future color options like the lovely trio that Sonos offers on the Roam.) On the top surface are buttons for play/pause, volume up and down and a microphone toggle. On the back is a power button, a Bluetooth button and a physical switch that disconnects the microphone for increased security. Finally, there’s a new feature here: a removable plastic grab loop. 

Sonos was keen to note that the Play is a full-featured member of the Sonos ecosystem. Like all of its other speakers, that means you’ll see all Sonos speakers in the app and can group them as you see fit, or have different music playing on different speakers throughout the house. You can also pair two of these in stereo. If you remove one from your network (say you’re outside and away from Wi-Fi), you’ll need to re-pair them though. In addition to controlling playback via the Sonos app (which, in my testing, is functioning fine and recovered from the 2024 debacle), you can stream music via AirPlay 2 or Spotify Connect. The Sonos Voice Assistant as well as Amazon Alexa are also on board here for anyone who likes to shout at their speakers.

The Sonos Play on its wireless charging base.Sonos

There’s a new trick here for both the Play and Move 2, as well. For the first time, you can group Sonos speakers together through Bluetooth. After pairing a Play to your phone via Bluetooth, you can press and hold the play/pause button on three more Play or Move 2 speakers to add them to the group. If you want to cover a larger outdoor space with multiple speakers, this sounds like a pretty handy way to do so.

The Play also has line-in via its USB-C port, and you can use it for Ethernet as well; both features require a separate adapter. You can even use the USB-C port to top up your phone if you’re so inclined. And while you can also charge via the USB-C port, the Play comes with a wireless charging dock which makes for a nice home base for the speaker’s primary location. Annoyingly, Sonos did not include a charger, so you’ll need to provide your own USB-C brick. 

A pair of Sonos Era 100 SL speakers with a turntable.Sonos

Sonos is also adding a second, much simpler speaker to its lineup today: the Era 100 SL. Like the One SL before it, the Era 100 SL is identical to the Era 100 with one key difference. There are no microphones on it at all. As such, the Era 100 SL is also a bit cheaper, coming in at $189 compared to $219 for the standard model. 

Otherwise, there are no differences in acoustic architecture or feature set here. As its most affordable speaker besides the portable Roam 2, Sonos is positioning the Era 100 SL as the ideal entry point into its products. I can’t really argue with that, as the Era 100 still sounds outstanding and is also quite flexible with features like line-in and Bluetooth as well as all the standard streaming options. Both versions of the Era 100 are compatible with each other, too — so if you get an SL and then decide you want a stereo pair, a standard Era 100 with a mic will work there and bring voice control to your system as well. 

Both the $299 Play and $189 Era 100 SL are up for pre-order now, and Sonos says they’ll be shipping on March 31.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/audio/speakers/the-sonos-play-puts-the-best-parts-of-the-era-100-in-a-portable-speaker-133000129.html?src=rss

I really don't know how Apple did it. The MacBook Neo is a $600 laptop that doesn't feel like an afterthought, which is a curse that has befallen so many cheap Windows notebooks. Sure, it has a slower A-series processor and it's limited to 8GB of RAM. But the MacBook Neo still feels as deeply considered as Apple's most premium hardware. Its screen, trackpad and overall usability is so far ahead of the competition, every Windows PC maker, including Microsoft, should be ashamed. 

I've argued that a cheap MacBook could be the best for Apple to peel away Windows users, and after spending almost a week with the Neo, I'm convinced it will do just that. It's just fast enough to handle basic productivity work. It's sturdy enough to be tortured by kids in classrooms. And you really can't beat its $599 starting price. Once Windows users learn it's not that hard to switch to macOS, Apple will likely have another hit on its hands. 

What's so Neo about this MacBook?

I'll admit, I laughed at the MacBook Neo's name at first. It really does feel like a desperately hip name ASUS or Acer would slap onto their machines (in fact, Acer is doing so right now), rather than something Apple would even consider. But the Neo name is more than just a dated reference to the Matrix — it's also a clear signal that this is a new type of MacBook. It's the first one Apple has ever been able to sell so cheaply. It's the first one powered by a mobile A-series chip. And for many people, it will likely end up being their first Mac. 

The MacBook Neo also marks the first time Apple has built a value-focused notebook under $1,000. The adorable handle-equipped iBook G3 looked like a system geared towards kids, but it launched at $1,599 in 1999. The original MacBook Air, which Steve Jobs revealed by pulling it out of a manilla envelope, sold for $1,799 in 2008. MacBooks only got semi-affordable when Apple dropped the Air's entry price to $999 in 2014. (The starting price has bounced between $999 and $1,099 ever since.) It dabbled in the concept further by keeping the M1 MacBook Air around at Walmart stores for $699 in 2024 before eventually dropping its price down to $650 last year. If you were lucky, you could also find it for $499 during some holiday sales.

A citrus MacBook Neo being held up with one hand. Devindra Hardawar for Engadget

While the M1 MacBook Air was a great value over the last few years, its last-gen Apple design aged quickly. The Neo looks far more modern, with an all-aluminum case that resembles the current Air (it's a bit smaller, but weighs the same 2.7 pounds). Color is the Neo's biggest draw, with bolder options like the greenish citrus and pink blush, along with Apple's typical dark and light case options. The citrus hue is the most unique, as we've seen rose gold MacBooks before. It would have been nice to see other strong colors too, like a brighter blue or something with a hint of purple. The people want personality, Apple! 

Under the hood, the MacBook Neo is a story of compromise, more so than any MacBook before it. Apple had to find a way to deliver its premium user experience while also cutting costs significantly to reach its $599 price. Relying on the A18 Pro, which powered last year's iPhone 16 Pro, was likely far more cost effective instead of using an older M-series chip that isn't being built anymore. That A18 Pro chip also means the MacBook Neo has to be fairly limited when it comes to ports: there are only two USB-C connections on board (one is USB 3.0, and the other is USB 2.0). There's no MagSafe charging connection, which is a shame since the MacBook Neo will likely end up around trip-prone kids in schools and homes.

A citrus MacBook Neo's USB-C ports. Devindra Hardawar for Engadget

The biggest compromise lies in the MacBook Neo's RAM and disk space. It starts with just 8GB of RAM and a 256GB SSD. You can shell out another $100 to get 512GB of storage and a Touch ID button, but there's no way to add more RAM. Typically, my first piece of advice to any prospective computer buyer is to get at least 16GB of memory, as that's the easiest way to see faster performance when juggling tons of tabs, apps and large files. That's particularly true for Mac laptops, since Apple's unified memory is baked into its A-series and M-series chips.

The MacBook Neo's 8GB limitation shows the precise audiences Apple is targeting with the MacBook Neo: casual users. Those include people who need secondary machines for light workloads and schools relying on Chromebooks. I'm not reneging on my 16GB RAM recommendation — if the idea of less RAM in your main computer makes your skin crawl, the Neo isn't for you. The MacBook Air is still around, and it can easily be equipped with tons of RAM and storage.

Apple also deserves credit for squeezing in an impressive 1080p webcam in the Neo, something I haven’t seen in any other $600 Windows notebook. And while the resolution is impressive, Apple’s image processing also manages to deliver sharp and vibrant image quality. It’s usually easy to tell the overall quality of someone’s computer on group video calls based on their video quality. The MacBook Neo will have people thinking you’re calling in from a pricier MacBook Air or MacBook Pro.

When I first demoed the MacBook Neo at Apple's launch event, its keyboard felt a bit flimsier than those on the Air and Pro. But I may have just been distracted by the crowd and noise. My review unit's keyboard feels just as accurate as the Air's, allowing me to type at full speed (near 100 words per minute) without any issues. There's none of the weird input problems I noticed on Dell's far more expensive XPS 14. 

The MacBook Neo's trackpad is similarly responsive and accurate for swiping and gestures. That's particularly surprising, since Apple isn’t using a haptic Force Touch trackpad like all of its laptops for the past decade. The Neo's pad clicks down mechanically — and yet, it doesn't feel as muddy as similar trackpads we see on budget PCs. It's also notable that Apple was able to make the Neo's trackpad completely clickable, whereas PC mechanical options often only click along their bottom half or third. 

A citrus MacBook Neo on a table outside. Devindra Hardawar for Engadget Enough Mac for most

I didn't expect much from the Neo's A18 Pro processor and limited specs, and yet it still managed to surprise me. It easily handled having dozens of tabs open across multiple browsers, a show playing on the TV app, photo editing in Pixelmator Pro and running the new Apple Arcade title Oceanhorn 3 without any significant slowdown. There's clearly some swift memory management going on, delivering just enough RAM for the task right in front of you.

The Neo's RAM usage typically hovered between 80 and 85 percent when I was trying to stress it, but it never went beyond that range. And if you're curious, the Neo typically used around 50 percent of its memory just to run macOS, even with no other apps running.

I'd bet most people wouldn't see a major performance difference between the MacBook Neo and the Air for basic tasks. Even their screens look similar: The Neo's LCD panel has only a slightly lower resolution than the Air's, but its smaller 13-inch screen size gives it a similarly rich pixel density. The screen looks bold and colorful indoors, and it's also bright enough to use in direct sunlight outside. That's not something you usually see on $600 laptops. 

Oceanhorn 3 on a MacBook Neo. Devindra Hardawar for Engadget

During a demo at the Neo's launch event, I saw its screen compared side-by-side to a $600 HP laptop. The difference was literally night and day — the HP's display struggled to show the vibrancy of daylight photos, while the Neo's made photos pop off the screen. Similarly, the Neo's side-firing speakers sound significantly better than the tinny garbage HP stuffs into its discount machines. The Neo's speakers are ideal for watching videos and streaming content, but they definitely lack the clarity and low-end bump from the Air and MacBook Pro's upward firing speakers.

Geekbench 6 CPU

Geekbench 6 GPU

Cinebench 2024

Apple MacBook Neo (A18 Pro)

3,372 /8,406

19,511

107/324

Apple MacBook Air 13-inch (M4, 2025)

3,784/14,745

36,273

172/660 GPU: 3,465

Apple MacBook Air 13-inch (M3, 2024)

3,190/12,102

30,561

N/A

Microsoft Surface Pro 12-inch (2025, Qualcomm Snapdragon X Plus)

2,315/10,915

9,539

108/530

I was definitely trying to push the MacBook Neo harder than a typical user, but it simply kept delivering. In Geekbench 6's CPU benchmark, the MacBook Neo sits between the M2 and M3 MacBook Air for single-core tests, and below the M2 for multi-threaded work. Apple's hardware still manages to put Intel and AMD to shame, with single-threaded Geekbench 6 scores that are higher than the latest hardware from both companies. But of course, that's just one benchmark — beefy CPUs with active cooling will still be more performant overall.

What’s most impressive about the MacBook Neo is that it manages to be a functional and well-rounded notebook at just $599. Microsoft’s “low-budget” $800 Surface Pro 12-inch was cute, but we found its performance incredibly underwhelming (and you still had to pay more for the keyboard). The 2.2-pound ZenBook A14 was impressively light, but again it was just too slow to be useful. Apple probably could have worked harder to make the MacBook Neo a tad lighter, but it’s still easy to hold and travel with. I’d much rather Apple kept it at the MacBook Air’s 2.7-pound weight, instead of making the Neo less powerful or more expensive.

The only time the MacBook Neo completely failed was when I tried to run complex games meant for Apple's M-series chips. Lies of P installed just fine, but upon launch it just stopped as it tried to load shaders. Honestly, I'm surprised I was even able to install it in the first place. The most gaming you'll do on the Neo are things built specifically for Apple Arcade and the company's mobile chips, or cloud streaming options like GeForce Now or Xbox.

During our battery test, which involves looping a 4K video, the MacBook Neo lasted 12 hours and 15 minutes. That's far below the 18 hours and 15 minutes I saw on the M4 MacBook Air, but it's still enough to last you during a typical work or school day. Again, Apple also had to sacrifice plugging in a bigger battery to keep the Neo's costs down.

A citrus MacBook Neo on a table outside. Devindra Hardawar for Engadget Should you buy the MacBook Neo?

It's rare for Apple to genuinely surprise me these days, but the MacBook Neo did just that. It's a $599 computer that can handle basic workloads just fine, all the while looking like one of the company's more expensive notebooks. Most importantly, it delivers more speed, a brighter screen and an overall better user experience than any competing $600 Windows PC. It's so good, I think it'll make many people wonder why they've stuck with sub-par PCs for so long.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/computing/laptops/macbook-neo-review-apple-puts-every-600-windows-pc-to-shame-130000878.html?src=rss