Tech Boys

Google is giving its Bard AI chatbot the premium subscription treatment à la OpenAI's ChatGPT Plus. SEE ALSO: Google Bard can now watch YouTube videos for you The tech giant announced Tuesday in a Q4 earnings call that it plans to lock the recently announced Bard Advanced behind a subscription model. There were no talks about costs or a release date, but Bard in its current form is available to users for free, compared to the $20 per month it costs to use ChatGPT-4 with a Plus subscription. According to Google, Bard Advanced is designed to be more "complex" and have "better responses." It will be powered by the soon-to-be-released Gemini Ultra, Google's multimodal large language model, which is set for an "early 2024" release. Bard is currently running on Gemini Pro, which is meant to compete with GPT-3.5, with Ultra touted by Google as a model that will compete with, and in some cases even surpass, GPT-4. Based on the hype Google is drumm...

Some of the biggest tech companies are being grilled on Wednesday by the US Senate Judiciary Committee at a hearing titled "Big Tech and the Online Child Sexual Exploitation Crisis." Meta's Mark Zuckerberg along with TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew, Snap CEO Evan Spiegel, Discord CEO Jason Citron, and X CEO Linda Yaccarino are all on Capitol Hill representing their respective companies. The Senate subpoenaed Spiegel, Citron, and Yaccarino to ensure they would appear. SEE ALSO: Mark Zuckerberg vetoed attempts to address teen mental health on Meta platforms, new lawsuit alleges Of those who were called to testify, only two have voiced their outright support for one of the biggest proposed pieces of legislation on this topic, the Kids Online Safety Act (KOSA): Spiegel of Snap, and Yaccarino of X. However, while KOSA may be presented as a way to keep children safe on the internet, critics have warned that the bill is pro-censorship, can harm children, and will chip away at ...

Palworld , the viral “Pokémon with guns” game that launched in Early Access to mixed reviews, has already sold 19 million copies. Developer Pocketpair says it’s sold 12 million copies on Steam and seven million on Xbox since its January 19 launch (after selling over a million in its first eight hours ). Microsoft says the tongue-in-cheek Pokémon satire is the biggest third-party launch on Game Pass. “The response from fans has been tremendous and it’s incredible to see the millions of players around the world enjoying Palworld ,” Pocketpair CEO Takuro Mizobe told Xbox Wire . “This is just the beginning for us and Palworld , and the feedback we’re gathering while in Game Preview will allow us to continue to improve the experience for Pal Tamers across all platforms.” In addition to being the biggest third-party Game Pass launch ever, Palworld had the largest third-party day-one launch on Xbox Cloud Gaming (included with Game Pass Ultimate ). The game’s highest peak since launch w...

Fortnite is coming back to iOS for iPhone users in the EU. However, the game's creator, along with other tech companies and app developers, are blasting Apple for policy changes based on the EU-law that facilitated Fortnite's return in the first place. Tweet may have been deleted Spotify CEO Daniel Elk called Apple's announced App Store policy changes a "new low" from the company. Tweet may have been deleted Xbox president Sarah Bond said the policy "a step in the wrong direction." Tweet may have been deleted And Epic Games CEO Tim Sweeney's opinions on Apple's new rules? "Hot garbage," a "new horror show," and "a devious new instance of Malicious Compliance." What's going on here? How could regulation meant to stop companies like Apple from instituting anticompetitive practices elicit such responses from leaders in the industry? Here's what Apple is doing that's so controversial As Mashable...

PayPal is laying off nine percent of its workforce, the company’s CEO Alex Chriss told staff in a letter on Tuesday that PayPal made public hours later. The decision will impact about 2,500 employees, who will find out their fate between today and the end of the week, Bloomberg reported earlier. PayPal's layoffs come almost exactly a year after the company fired more than 2,000 workers to keep costs down.  Despite thousands of job cuts in 2023, layoffs at tech companies have continued into 2024. On the same day as PayPal's latest layoffs, Jack Dorsey's Block, the company that owns Cash App, Foundational, and Square, conducted its second round of layoffs in two months, cutting nearly a thousand people. Earlier this month, Google laid off more than a thousand workers in its Assisstant and hardware divisions, with CEO Sundar Pichai warning employees to brace for more cuts through the year. Discord, eBay, Riot Games, TikTok, Microsoft, iRobot, Amazon, Unity, and Duolin...

The CEOs of five social media companies are headed to Washington to testify in a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing about child safety. The hearing will feature Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg, Snap CEO Evan Spiegel, TikTok CEO Shou Chew, Discord CEO Jason Citron and X CEO Linda Yaccarino. The group will face off with lawmakers over their record on child exploitation and their efforts to protect teens using their services. The hearings will be live streamed beginning at 10 AM ET on Wednesday, January 31. Though there have been previous hearings dedicated to teen safety, Wednesday’s event will be the first time Congress has heard directly from Spiegel, Yaccarino and Citron. It’s also only the second appearance for TikTok’s Chew, who was grilled by lawmakers about the app’s safety record and ties to China last year . Zuckerberg, of course, is well-practiced at these hearings by now. But he will likely face particular pressure from lawmakers following a number of allegations about Meta’s sa...

Block is the latest notable tech company to lay off hundreds of workers, according to reports. CEO Jack Dorsey is said to have informed employees that the company is firing a "large number" of them, with Cash App , Square and the foundational (i.e. operations) teams bearing the brunt of the impact. According to a Business Insider source, Block is letting go nearly 1,000 people. Dorsey reportedly wrote in his memo that the company is becoming leaner. It laid off around 40 people from the Tidal team in December. Last year, Block said it planned to limit its headcount to around 12,000 workers, a reduction from the around 13,000 it had in late 2023. Engadget has contacted Block for confirmation of the layoffs. While it was initially expected that the layoffs would take place over a period of months, executives reportedly opted against that in favor carrying them out at the same time. "Why is so much happening in one single day? All of these teams were confident in the...

This Apple Vision Pro unboxing, thanks to ultra-popular tech YouTuber MKBHD (also known as Marques Brownlee), gives us insight into what nearly $4,000 gets you. "Alright! It's finally here," Brownlee said, carrying a sizable brown box to a table. "This is the beginning of Apple's spatial computing journey." After a brief one-minute introduction, Brownlee began unpacking the contents inside. Opens in a new window Credit: Apple Apple Vision Pro $3,499 Get Deal SEE ALSO: Apple Vision Pro: 5 cool new features coming to the Zoom app What's inside the Apple Vision Pro box? Brownlee starts off by removing three white boxes from the original brown box. He notes that one of the boxes, which houses a case, is "incredibly flimsy." However, comments that the packaging inside one of the other boxes — the one that holds the Vision Pro — is "quality." Continuing to unbox, here are the bits and bobs Brownlee uncovered from th...

SAVE $10.12: As of Jan. 27, JLab Go Air Sport wireless workout earbuds are down to $19.88 at Amazon. That's a discount of 35%. Opens in a new window Credit: JLab JLab Go Air Sport wireless workout earbuds $19.88 at Amazon (save $10.12) Get Deal Sometimes when you're on the go, you just want a simple pair of headphones that get the job done. And you don't want to worry about them falling out when you're in the middle of a long run or tough workout. The good news is you can grab a pair of wireless headphones that wrap around your ears for less than the cost of lunch today at Amazon. As of Jan. 29, the JLab Go Air Sport wireless workout earbuds are just $19.88 in several colorways, down from their regular price of $30. That's a discount of $10.12, or 35% — and makes an affordable pair of earbuds a downright steal. SEE ALSO: Get $40 off Beats Studio Buds+ noise-canceling earbuds at Amazon These earbuds are no frills (you'll have to pay more to...

Is Roomba in trouble? On Monday, Amazon announced it would be scrapping its plans to acquire iRobot, the consumer home electronics company best known for its line of robotic vacuum cleaners. The e-commerce giant's decision to back out of its previously announced $1.7 billion acquisition is due to pushback from regulators in the European Union. However, the company also faced challenges with the FTC in the U.S. regarding the deal.  Mashable had previously reported on the concerns surrounding user privacy violations. Amazon's deal with iRobot made it clear that an Alexa voice assistant integration feature would be a major feature in an Amazon-owned Roomba. Regulators were concerned about the potential for Amazon to obtain data on users' homes with this technology.  SEE ALSO: Amazon vacuums up Roomba maker iRobot, sparking immediate privacy concerns In addition, there were antitrust issues. Regulators worried that Amazon would be able to push out competition with...

California will float a pair of bills designed to protect children from social media addiction and preserve their private data. The Protecting Youth from Social Media Addiction Act (SB 976) and California Children’s Data Privacy Act (AB 1949) were introduced Monday by the state’s Attorney General Rob Bonta, State Senator Nancy Skinner and Assemblymember Buffy Wicks. The proposed legislation follows a CA child safety bill that was set to go into effect this year but is now on hold . SB 976 could give parents the power to remove addictive algorithmic feeds from their children’s social channels. If passed, it would allow parents of children under 18 to choose between the default algorithmic feed — typically designed to create profitable addictions — and a less habit-forming chronological one. It would also let parents block all social media notifications and prevent their kids from accessing social platforms during nighttime and school hours.  “Social media companies h...

Japan is an innovative country that leads the way on many technological fronts. But the wheels of bureaucracy often turn incredibly slowly there. So much so, that the government still requires businesses to provide information on floppy disks and CD-ROMs when they submit certain official documents. That's starting to change. Back in 2022, Minister of Digital Affairs Taro Kono urged various branches of the government to stop requiring businesses to submit information on outdated forms of physical media. The Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI) is one of the first to make the switch. "Under the current law, there are many provisions stipulating the use of specific recording media such as floppy disks regarding application and notification methods," METI said last week, according to The Register . After this calendar year, METI will no longer require businesses to submit data on floppy disks under 34 ordinances. The same goes for CD-ROMs when it comes to an un...

Oh hey there! If you're here, it must be time for Wordle . As always, we're serving up our daily hints and tips to help you figure out today's answer. If you just want to be told today's word, you can jump to the bottom of this article for Jan. 29's Wordle solution revealed. But if you'd rather solve it yourself, keep reading for some clues, tips, and strategies to assist you. Where did Wordle come from? Originally created by engineer Josh Wardle as a gift for his partner, Wordle rapidly spread to become an international phenomenon, with thousands of people around the globe playing every day. Alternate Wordle versions created by fans also sprang up, including battle royale Squabble , music identification game Heardle , and variations like Dordle and Quordle that make you guess multiple words at once .  Wordle eventually became so popular that it was purchased by the New York Times , and TikTok creators even livestream themselves playing . Not the...

In True Detective: Night Country , the rift is growing between Chief Liz Danvers (Jodie Foster) and her stepdaughter Leah (Isabella Star LaBlanc). In episode 1 , the pair argued over a video the teen made with her girlfriend. Then, episode 2 brought an explosive argument over a traditional chin tattoo, which brought Kayla Prior (Anna Lambe) and her grandmother (Doreen Nutaaq Simmonds) into the fray. In the third episode, Danvers pushes this fight further, forcing Leah to wipe the temporary tattoo off her chin. More than a battle between mother and child or different generations, this is a white woman in authority literally wiping away the culture of Iñupiaq people, of which Leah and Kayla are a part. Where can these women go from here? Mashable sat down with Indigenous actresses Isabella Star LaBlanc and Anna Lambe to talk about this conflict in True Detective: Night Country. The conversation expanded into what it was like working with Jodie Foster and how writer/director Issa Lópe...

Connections is the latest New York Times word game that's captured the public's attention. The game is all about finding the "common threads between words." And just like Wordle , Connections resets after midnight and each new set of words gets trickier and trickier—so we've served up some hints and tips to get you over the hurdle. If you just want to be told today's puzzle, you can jump to the end of this article for January 29's Connections solution. But if you'd rather solve it yourself, keep reading for some clues, tips, and strategies to assist you. What is Connections ? The NYT 's latest daily word game has become a social media hit. The Times credits associate puzzle editor Wyna Liu with helping to create the new word game and bringing it to the publications' Games section. Connections can be played on both web browsers and mobile devices and require players to group four words that share something in common. Tweet may have b...

X, formerly known at Twitter, is building its content moderation team back up, but not completely. According to Bloomberg, the company is hiring 100 employees for a "Trust and Safety center of excellence" in Austin, TX. After Elon Musk took over the platform in 2022, he laid off around 80 percent of the company and gutted the content moderation team . The new team will focus on enforcing the platform's rules around violence and hate speech, and specifically combatting CSE (Child Sexual Exploitation). SEE ALSO: X / Twitter purges then reinstates journalists, podcasters, and leftist accounts critical of Elon Musk The timing of this report comes days before X CEO Linda Yaccarino is scheduled to testify before the Senate Judiciary Committee for a hearing on protecting children online. On Friday, Jan. 26, X published a blog post outlining its work to "tackle Child Sexual Exploitation" on the platform. As a self-professed "free-speech absolutist,"...

TL;DR: A lifetime subscription to Rosetta Stone (All Languages) is on sale for £148.84, saving you 52% on list price. The ability to communicate in multiple languages is more than just a skill; it's a valuable asset with far-reaching benefits. And this deal on all-language access to Rosetta Stone for life gives you access to all 25 languages for just £148.84. Learning a new language comes with benefits like allowing you to communicate with others while travelling and much more. According to Cambridge University Press and Assessment, learning a new language later in life is "a powerful way to exercise your brain," partly because you are "forming new connections in the brain and strengthening nervous system links."  SEE ALSO: This well-rounded skills learning bundle is on sale for under £100 Rosetta Stone has been a leader in language learning for nearly 30 years and has been used by names like NASA and Calvin Klein. Rosetta helps you develop your unde...

Pornographic deepfakes of Taylor Swift went viral on X (formerly Twitter) this week, highlighting the dangers of AI -generated imagery online. Synthetic or manipulated media that may deceive people isn't allowed on X, according to its policy, and the platform's safety team posted on Friday that it's "actively removing all identified images and taking appropriate actions against the accounts responsible for posting them." SEE ALSO: The era of the AI-generated internet is already here By Saturday, users noticed that X attempted to curb the problem by blocking "Taylor Swift" from being searched — but not certain related terms, The Verge reported. X blocks Taylor Swift's name from Search. Credit: Screenshot: X Mashable was also able to produce the error page for the terms "Taylor Swift AI" and "Taylor AI." The terms "Swift AI," "Taylor AI Swift," and "Taylor Swift deepfake" are searchabl...