Technology news

For the past three months, Google's Gemini 3 Pro has held its ground as one of the most capable frontier models available. But in the fast-moving world of AI, three months is a lifetime — and competitors have not been standing still.Earlier today, Google released Gemini 3.1 Pro, an update that brings a key innovation to the company's workhorse power model: three levels of adjustable thinking that effectively turn it into a lightweight version of Google's specialized Deep Think reasoning sy

Elon Musk's AI bot Grok doxxed porn performer Siri Dahl, revealing her legal name and birth date to users, 404 Media reported.Grok has been in the news in recent months due to producing nonconsensual sexual images of women and girls. It's also been criticized for praising Hitler, spreading misinformation, and generating sycophantic praise towards Musk. SEE ALSO:Elon Musk's Grok faces another EU investigation over nonconsensual AI images
Now Dahl, who has been interviewed by Mashable in previous

Breaking news: There are gay people in positions of power in Silicon Valley in 2026. That not-so-surprising fact is the center of Wired's latest cover story, which hit the internet Thursday. The internet immediately reacted, in part thanks to some, uh, unusual imagery that accompanied the article. This Tweet is currently unavailable. It might be loading or has been removed. ...who signed off on this image
www.wired.com/story/inside...[image or embed]— Mike Murphy (@mcwm.bsky.social) Februa

The U.S. government may be partially shut down, but that will not affect your 2026 tax filing, according to the Internal Revenue Service. Earlier this month, the government agency shared on its website that operations will continue per usual. That's because the funding lapse narrowly applies to the Department of Homeland Security and agencies that operate under it. "Expect IRS operations to continue as normal with IRS offices maintaining regular hours, on-line self-service help tools available a

CX platforms process billions of unstructured interactions a year: Survey forms, review sites, social feeds, call center transcripts, all flowing into AI engines that trigger automated workflows touching payroll, CRM, and payment systems. No tool in a security operation center leader’s stack inspects what a CX platform’s AI engine is ingesting, and attackers figured this out. They poison the data feeding it, and the AI does the damage for them.The Salesloft/Drift breach in August 202

The AI Impact Summit 2026 is currently underway in New Delhi, India. Some of the biggest tech companies in the world are in attendance to speak about the state of artificial intelligence, including Google CEO Sundar Pichai, who spoke at the event on Thursday.Pichai had some interesting things to say in his speech, and you can read a transcript of Pichai's prepared remarks at the Google blog. The prepared remarks differ slightly from the live speech, which was posted to YouTube by Reuters.1. New

Google released its latest core reasoning model, Gemini 3.1 Pro, on Thursday. Google says that Gemini 3.1 Pro achieved twice the verified performance of 3 Pro on ARC-AGI-2, a popular benchmark that measures a model's logical reasoning. Google originally released Gemini 3 and 3 Pro in November, and this new release shows just how fast AI companies are introducing new and updated models. Gemini 3.1 Pro is the new core model powering Gemini and various Google AI tools, such as Gemini 3 Deep Think.

TL;DR: Live stream Detroit Pistons vs. New York Knicks in the NBA for free with a 30-day trial of Amazon Prime. Access this free live stream from anywhere in the world with ExpressVPN.The NBA action this week includes a blockbuster showdown between two of the top three teams in the Eastern Conference, as No. 1 team the Detroit Pistons visit No. 3 team the New York Knicks in the Garden. Their previous meeting earlier this month was a decisive win for the Pistons, so the Knicks are looking to aven

TL;DR: Live stream Boston Celtics vs. Golden State Warriorsin the NBA for free with a 30-day trial of Amazon Prime. Access this free live stream from anywhere in the world with ExpressVPN.Next up this week in the NBA is an East vs. West face-off as the Boston Celtics go on the road against the Golden State Warriors. While the Warriors have a home court advantage, the Celtics will prove seriously tough competition. Indeed, they're placed second in the Eastern Conference standings with a winning c

When we last left the Toy Story gang, Woody (voiced by Tom Hanks) and Bo Peep (voiced by Annie Potts) had split off from the rest of the crew in order to help the abandoned toys of the world. Now, in Pixar's upcoming Toy Story 5, they've returned to 8-year-old Bonnie's (voiced by Scarlett Spears) house in order to save her from a new technological threat.SEE ALSO:'Toy Story 5' teaser pits toys against their biggest enemy yet: An iPad
The technology in question is a tablet device named Lilypad (v

Late last year, Google briefly took the crown for most powerful AI model in the world with the launch of Gemini 3 Pro — only to be surpassed within weeks by OpenAI and Anthropic releasing new models,s is common in the fiercely competitive AI race.Now Google is back to retake the throne with an updated version of that flagship model: Gemini 3.1 Pro, positioned as a smarter baseline for tasks where a simple response is insufficient—targeting science, research, and engineering workflows

SAVE $64: The DJI Osmo Pocket 3 is on sale for $439 at Amazon, down from the normal price of $499. That's a 13% discount and the lowest price we've ever seen at Amazon.Opens in a new windowCredit: DJIDJI Osmo Pocket 3$439 at Amazon $499 Save $60 Get DealMaybe you just started out on your content creation journey or maybe you've been uploading to YouTube for years. In either case, you know the power DJI has on the industry, but it's for good reason. DJI has become one of the most content-cre

Last October, Amazon announced Blue Jay, a new robotic arm system that was supposed to act as "an extra set of hands" for its warehouse workers. This week, Amazon decided Blue Jay is no longer needed.The news was reported first by Business Insider and then corroborated by TechCrunch. Blue Jay was meant to be a multi-arm helper system for same-day delivery facilities, and it was being tested in South Carolina at the time of its announcement last fall. After six months, though, Amazon is winding d

Google Maps has potentially rolled out a change that could vastly change the user experience, depending on whether you're logged in to a Google account. Google-focused tech website 9to5Google spotted a change where non-logged-in users apparently now get a "limited view" version of Maps, which is missing lots of key features, including displays of nearby businesses, more detailed info on nearby attractions, and user reviews. In "limited view" mode, for instance, when clicking on a restaurant &mda

In Crime 101, Chris Hemsworth and Halle Berry play a game of cat and mouse, as his mastermind jewel thief and her fed-up insurance broker plot a heist that's drawing the attention of a determined detective (Mark Ruffalo) and a mercurial robber (Barry Keoghan). So, what better way to toast the latest crime thriller from writer/director Bart Layton than to play a new game? Entertainment Editor Kristy Puchko sat down with Hemsworth and Berry for a portmanteau game. She's combined the plotlines of t

Did you know that a weather forecast almost changed the course of World War II?That's the true story at the heart of upcoming drama Pressure, directed by Anthony Maras and starring Andrew Scott and Academy Award winner Brendan Fraser. Maras co-wrote the film with David Haig.SEE ALSO:'House of the Dragon' Season 3 teaser gives fiery glimpse of the Battle of the Gullet
Fraser plays General Dwight D. Eisenhower, who's just 72 hours out from launching the D-Day invasion of Normandy. It will be the l

SAVE $27.49: As of Feb. 19, you can sign up for a BritBox streaming subscription as a Prime Video add-on for just $82.50 for your first year. That's 25% off the usual price of $109.99.Opens in a new windowCredit: BritBox / Prime VideoBritBox Prime Video add-on subscription$82.50/year for your first year (save $27.49)Get DealThere's a whole other world of streaming out there beyond your Netflix account. If you're interested in expanding your content beyond U.S. borders, BritBox streaming subscrip

Looking to fill the Westeros-shaped hole in your heart after A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms wraps up this Sunday? Worry not: House of the Dragon Season 3 is coming this June, and its first teaser promises a fiery, bloody showdown between Team Black and Team Green.House of the Dragon Season 2 ended with the promise of great changes coming down the line. Alicent Hightower (Olivia Cooke) went to Dragonstone and told Queen Rhaenyra Targaryen (Emma D'Arcy) that she would surrender the Red Keep to her

SAVE $30: The Petlibro Automatic Pet Feeder (5 liter) is on sale at Amazon for $69.99, marked down from the standard price of $99.99. That's a 30% discount. Opens in a new windowCredit: PetlibroPetlibro Petlibro Automatic Pet Feeder (5 liter)$69.99 at Amazon $99.99 Save $30 Get DealAll pet owners know the cat or dog is arguably the most important member of the family. Taking care of their needs is a high priority. If you won't be home during feeding times, there's an easy way to keep pets f

SAVE $150: As of Feb. 19, the Apple 13-inch M4 MacBook Air is on sale for $849 at Amazon. That's 15% or $150 off its list price of $999 and it's selling out fast.Opens in a new windowCredit: AppleApple MacBook Air, 13-inch (M4, 16GB RAM, 256GB SSD)$849 at Amazon $999 Save $150 Get DealIf you're still holding onto an old MacBook with an Intel processor, it's prime time to upgrade to the M4 MacBook Air. While it's an incredible value even at full price, the base model just got a $150 price dr

SAVE $400: As of Feb. 19, the LG 27-inch Ultragear OLED gaming monitor is on sale at Amazon for only $499.99. That's a 44% price drop from its usual $899.99 and matches its best price on record.Opens in a new windowCredit: LGLG 27-inch Ultragear OLED gaming monitor$499.99 at Amazon $899.99 Save $400 Get DealLG's UltraGear gaming monitors are some of the most popular models on the market, but its full lineup is wide and varied. Falling on the higher end of the spectrum is the 27-inch OLED (2

Meta, the parent company of Facebook, might launch an Apple Watch competitor this year. According to a report by The Information, the smartwatch is code-named 'Malibu 2,' and will come with health-tracking tools, similar to the ones seen on other popular smartwatches, including Apple Watch. A Meta AI assistant will be built into the watch's software. SEE ALSO:Meta patented LLM that would post for users after they die
The number two in the code name might refer to an earlier smartwatch project wh

Raya is often called the "celebrity dating app," but that description does a lot of heavy lifting. Marketed as a members-only platform for creatives, founders, and the ultra-connected, Raya positions itself as a Tinder/LinkedIn hybrid with a velvet rope. In reality — as I previously reported — it’s far less mysterious than its reputation suggests.SEE ALSO:Raya isn't as exclusive as you think it is
Yes, celebrities have been spotted on it. Yes, there’s a vetting process. B

Despite growing chatter about a future when much human work is automated by AI, one of the ironies of this current tech boom is how stubbornly reliant on human beings it remains, specifically the process of training AI models using reinforcement learning from human feedback (RLHF). At its simplest, RLHF is a tutoring system: after an AI is trained on curated data, it still makes mistakes or sounds robotic. Human contractors are then hired en masse by AI labs to rate and rank a new model's output

"I fell in love with him and he also claimed to feel the same way for me," said a victim of a romance scam, who requested anonymity. They met a man called "Bob" on Facebook, who claimed to be in South Africa working for the military. After talking for some time, Bob said he wanted to visit the victim, who lives in the United States. Sure enough, he started asking for money: "He told me he had some trouble with his bank card not working in South Africa and couldn’t get funds to pay for his

Traditional ETL tools like dbt or Fivetran prepare data for reporting: structured analytics and dashboards with stable schemas. AI applications need something different: preparing messy, evolving operational data for model inference in real-time. Empromptu calls this distinction "inference integrity" versus "reporting integrity." Instead of treating data preparation as a separate discipline, golden pipelines integrate normalization directly into the AI application workflow, collapsing what typic

SAVE $20: As of Feb. 19, Amazon has dropped the Fire TV Stick 4K Max down to $39.99. This deal saves you $20 off its list price of $59.99.Opens in a new windowCredit: AmazonFire TV Stick 4K Max$39.99 at Amazon $59.99 Save $20 Get DealAmazon’s Presidents’ Day sale was filled with great deals, including Amazon's own streaming devices such as the Fire TV Stick 4K Max. However, this deal isn’t going to last much longer, according to the countdown timer on the store page. So if

TL;DR: The Samsung 27-inch Odyssey QD-OLED G5 gaming monitor is now down to just $349.99 at Amazon. That’s a massive $200 discount off its regular $549.99 list price.Opens in a new windowCredit: SamsungSamsung 27-inch Odyssey QD-OLED G5 Gaming Monitor (G50SF)$349.99 at Amazon $549.99 Save $200 Get DealYou don’t often see OLED gaming monitors drop into midrange pricing territory, which makes this latest Samsung deal especially tempting. As of Feb. 19, the 27-inch Odyssey OLED G5 (the

TL;DR: A three-pack bundle of Magic: The Gathering Final Fantasy Play Boosters is down to $24.99 at Amazon, shaving $7 off its usual $31.99 price and saving you $1.70 per pack.Opens in a new windowCredit: Magic: The GatheringMagic: The Gathering Final Fantasy Play Booster 3-Pack Lot$24.97 at Amazon $31.99 Save $7.02 Get DealIf you’ve been eyeing the Magic: The Gathering’s Final Fantasy crossover set but didn’t want to commit to the larger bundle, this smaller three-pack deal is

We feel like it's our civic duty to keep abreast of all the free food and drink giveaways from top retailers. Everyone likes getting something for nothing, but not everyone is aware of just how often these free giveaways go live. We literally just made some noise about the fact that Dunkin' is giving away limited-edition iced coffee gloves on Feb. 20, but before we could sit down, another giveaway has dropped. So we'll do what we must for the greater good. You can thank us later.SEE ALSO:How to

SAVE $50: As of Feb. 19, the Soundcore by Anker Space Q45 headphones have dropped to $99.99 at Amazon. This 33% discount saves you $50 on their list price of $149.99.Opens in a new windowCredit: SoundcoreSoundcore by Anker Space Q45$99.99 at Amazon $149.99 Save $50.00 Get DealDo you want new headphones, but don't want to spend a ton of cash on an expensive pair? The Soundcore by Anker Space Q45 headphones are a pair we consider to be the most well-rounded budget headphones. And they're even

SAVE $150: The 27-inch Alienware 360Hz gaming monitor is on sale at Amazon for $499.99, down from the list price of $649.99. That's a 23% discount and the lowest we've ever seen at Amazon.Opens in a new windowCredit: Alienware27-inch Alienware 360Hz Gaming Monitor$499.99 at Amazon $649.99 Save $150 Get DealWelcome to the lingering part of winter. The initial refreshing feel of cold weather and the excuse to stay inside is wearing off, and now we're ready for warmer temps and spring flowers.

In what's probably the saddest and cutest news story of the week, a baby monkey named Punch (Punch-kun), rejected by his mother at Japan's Ichikawa City Zoo, has won the internet's heart by clinging to a stuffed IKEA orangutan for emotional support. As Mashable's Crystal Bell writes, "In the wild, that would have meant certain death. At the zoo, where Punch was raised through hand-rearing, it meant something else: survival, and a substitute for the one thing zookeepers couldn't provide."Stephen

TL;DR: The Pokémon TCG’s Phantasmal Flames Elite Trainer Box is now selling for as low as $86.64 on TCGplayer — that puts it only 64 cents over market price and $8 cheaper than Amazon.Opens in a new windowCredit: The Pokémon CompanyThe Pokémon TCG: Phantasmal Flames Elite Trainer Box$86.64 at TCGplayer  Get DealWhen it comes to solid Pokémon TCG deals on modern expansions like Phantasmal Flames, TCGplayer regularly offers decent value for money. As of