Tech

The Federal Trade Commission announced on Friday that Genshin Impact developer Cognosphere has agreed to a $20 million settlement and several restrictions on how it sells its loot boxes and manages children’s personal data. According to the FTC, the company “actively marketed” its loot boxes to children and misled players about their odds of winning prizes. Cognosphere allegedly also “deceived …

Microsoft is testing AI-powered Windows search in a new dev channel build for Windows 11 Insider testers. Announced in October, it uses semantic indexing to let users search for local files using more casual language. Like other Microsoft AI features, you’ll need a Copilot Plus PC to use it. The feature applies whether you’re using search boxes in Settings, File …

After a long wait, Severance is back. Season 2 premiered on Apple TV Plus on January 17th, more than two years after the first season wrapped up. The wait was particularly hard because of how the season 1 finale ended — a massive cliffhanger that would completely upend the lives of almost everyone in this sci-fi thriller. Cliffhangers are a …

White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre called TikTok’s threat to “go dark” tomorrow a “stunt,” and said there is no reason that TikTok or any other companies should take any actions under the ban before the Trump administration is sworn in Monday morning, several news outlets are reporting. “It is a stunt, and we see no reason for TikTok or …

Canoo announced yesterday it is ceasing operations “immediately” and that it has filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy in Delaware. The EV startup estimates in its filing that its assets are worth $126 million and that it owes over $164 million to its creditors, TechCrunch noted yesterday. Now, the US will appoint “a Bankruptcy Trustee to oversee the liquidation of the …

The clock is ticking if you want to save on the Pixel Watch 3, the Fitbit Charge 6, and other Google gadgets. The company kicked off the year with a solid New Year’s sale, which is set to expire at 11:59PM PT today, January 18th. Other retailers, including Amazon and Best Buy, are currently matching Google’s pricing in some instances, …

Instagram will now let you upload Reels that are up to 3 minutes long, doubling the 90-second limit the platform had in place before, Instagram boss Adam Mosseri announced today. He credits today’s change to users’ feedback saying that the 90 seconds “is just too short.” That’s a big turnaround for Mosseri, who said in July last year that the …

Donald Trump has launched a new meme coin, according to posts from his X and Truth Social accounts last night. The posts, which have come just days before Trump’s inauguration, were initially met with suspicion by many that his accounts had been hacked. Skeptics highlighted by Decrypt last night pointed to several red flags, such as that the millions of …

With Donald Trump stepping back into office, advocates are warning that access to important environmental and public health datasets could be at risk. Information about climate change vanished from federal websites under Donald Trump, who has repeatedly called climate change “a hoax.” Now, federal agencies could face deep staff and budget cuts overseen by Trump cronies Elon Musk and Vivek …

Antonblast is kind of like playing a zany Saturday morning cartoon. It’s brash, maximalist, and often, you’ll feel like you don’t actually understand what’s happening. Somehow, that chaos gels into something that actually makes sense — and, at times, is even calming. Antonblast just launched in 2024, but it looks like a long-lost side-scrolling platformer from the 16-bit era of …