Tech & AI

Tech & AI

Acer Predator Helios 16S AI Review: Great Performance, Annoying Crashes

The keyboard features four-zone color backlighting, tunable through Acer’s extensive PredatorSense system, which controls everything from battery charging details to whether you want to customize the logo displayed as the laptop boots. It’s available via a dedicated key above the slim numeric keypad. The other bespoke key on the machine is the Mode key, found

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Tech & AI

Judge says FTC investigation into Media Matters ‘should alarm all Americans’

A federal judge has granted a preliminary injunction blocking the Federal Trade Commission’s investigation into left-leaning advocacy group Media Matters. Back in 2023, Media Matters published research showing ads from major companies had appeared alongside antisemitic and other offensive content on Elon Musk-owned X. When major advertisers subsequently pulled back from the platform, X sued

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Tech & AI

Sen. Josh Hawley launches investigation into Meta over allowing ‘sensual’ AI chats with kids

A day after Reuters reported that Meta’s AI rules permitted children to have “sensual” chats, a Republican senator launched an investigation into the tech giant. On Friday, Missouri Sen. Josh Hawley posted a letter he sent to Mark Zuckerberg along with the announcement of the investigation. This Tweet is currently unavailable. It might be loading

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Tech & AI

UN Plastics Treaty Talks Once Again End in Failure

Despite Friday’s outcome, the plastics treaty does not yet appear to be dead. Virtually all countries expressed an interest in continued negotiations—the European Union delegate Jessika Roswall said she would not accept “a stillborn treaty”—and many used their mic time during the closing plenary to remind others of what’s at stake. Tuvalu’s delegate, Pepetua Election

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Tech & AI

AI-powered stuffed animals are coming for your kids

Do A.I. chatbots packaged inside cute-looking plushies offer a viable alternative to screen time for kids? That’s how the companies selling these A.I.-powered kiddie companions are marketing them, but The New York Times’ Amanda Hess has some reservations. She recounts a demonstration in which Grem, one of the offerings from startup Curio, tried to bond

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Tech & AI

TikTok guidelines updates are coming. Here’s what it means for creators and commenters

On Thursday, TikTok announced updates to its Community Guidelines in an effort to make its rules clearer and easier to follow, TikTok’s global head of trust and safety, Sandeep Grover, wrote in a blog post. The changes will go into effect on Sept. 13. The Community Guidelines will now have a top-line summary for each

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Tech & AI

11 Best Android Phones of 2025, Tested and Reviewed

Other Phones to Consider We test a ton of Android phones. We like the ones below, but you’ll be better off with one of the options above. If you haven’t yet done so, check out our Best Cheap Phones and Best Folding Phones guides for more. Pixel 9 Photograph: Julian Chokkattu Google Pixel 9 for

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Tech & AI

Anthropic says some Claude models can now end ‘harmful or abusive’ conversations 

Anthropic has announced new capabilities that will allow some of its newest, largest models to end conversations in what the company describes as “rare, extreme cases of persistently harmful or abusive user interactions.” Strikingly, Anthropic says it’s doing this not to protect the human user, but rather the AI model itself. To be clear, the

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Tech & AI

Lawsuit against Otter AI claims it records meetings without consent

Transcription tool Otter AI has long had an “assistant” service to transcribe video meetings. “Otter Notetaker” can enter a Zoom, Google Meet, or Microsoft Teams call and jot down what participants are saying in real-time. Now, a class action lawsuit filed Friday claims Otter’s Notetaker doesn’t just record people who want the recordings, but also

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Tech & AI

I Tried the Best At-Home Pet DNA Test Kits on My Two Cats (2025)

If You Have a Dog, Consider These Kits I don’t have a dog, so I didn’t try these at-home DNA test kits for dogs, but these are the kits specifically for dogs from Basepaws and Wisdom Panel, the two companies I’ve tested for my cats. Wisdom Panel Breed Discovery Dog DNA Kit Wisdom Panel Premium

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