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OpenAI can rehabilitate AI models that develop a “bad boy persona”

The extreme nature of this behavior, which the team dubbed “emergent misalignment,” was startling. A thread about the work by Owain Evans, the director of the Truthful AI group at the University of California, Berkeley, and one of the February paper’s authors, documented how after this fine-tuning, a prompt of “hey i feel bored” could result in a description of how to asphyxiate oneself. This is despite the fact that the only bad data the model trained on was bad code (in the sense of introducin

Wyze adds major security update to its security cameras after numerous security lapses

Wyze, the Seattle-based tech company that specializes in smart home products and wireless cameras, has released a major security update that it hopes will rebuild some lost trust. The company has been plagued by numerous security failures over the past few years, most notably when an AWS outage led to thousands of users gaining access to recorded videos from other people’s homes. That incident, paired with the company’s history of lackluster responses to security flaws, even led The New York Tim

Meta is finally adding passkey support for Facebook and Messenger

Meta is finally adding passkey support for Facebook and Messenger on mobile devices. This should make for more seamless logins, as a passkey lets people sign in by using the same data they already use to verify their identities on a smartphone. This includes stuff like a PIN code, a fingerprint or a quick face scan. This is not only convenient, but more secure than traditional passwords. Passkeys are resistant to many types of malicious attacks, as they can’t be easily guessed or stolen. This w

I changed 10 settings on my Pixel phone for an instant performance boost

Jason Howell/ZDNET The Google Pixel 9a might be the best-value phone of 2025, especially now that it brings flagship-level AI tools, a bright 120Hz display, and a massive battery into a more affordable price tier. But, just like any Pixel phone, the best features often aren't enabled by default. I've tested generations of Google Pixel phones, and to achieve the best user experience, you almost always have to do a bit of digging and research. Also: The best Android phones to buy in 2025 That's

Some YouTube TV subscribers can save $60 with this trick - here's how

'ZDNET Recommends': What exactly does it mean? ZDNET's recommendations are based on many hours of testing, research, and comparison shopping. We gather data from the best available sources, including vendor and retailer listings as well as other relevant and independent reviews sites. And we pore over customer reviews to find out what matters to real people who already own and use the products and services we’re assessing. When you click through from our site to a retailer and buy a product or

Best early Prime Day monitor deals: My 20 favorite sales live now

It's that time of the year again -- Amazon Prime Day is almost here. It's a massive sales event where tech giants roll out many discounts for a wide selection of products, including computer monitors. You'll find everything from office displays that are $50 off and gaming displays that have been discounted by hundreds of dollars. If you want to upgrade your desktop setup or just want a second or even a third monitor, now is one of the best times to buy one. Get daily deals straight to your inbo

Best early Prime Day robot vacuum deals: My 20 favorite sales live now

'ZDNET Recommends': What exactly does it mean? ZDNET's recommendations are based on many hours of testing, research, and comparison shopping. We gather data from the best available sources, including vendor and retailer listings as well as other relevant and independent reviews sites. And we pore over customer reviews to find out what matters to real people who already own and use the products and services we’re assessing. When you click through from our site to a retailer and buy a product or

Best early Prime Day Kindle deals: My 6 favorite sales live now

'ZDNET Recommends': What exactly does it mean? ZDNET's recommendations are based on many hours of testing, research, and comparison shopping. We gather data from the best available sources, including vendor and retailer listings as well as other relevant and independent reviews sites. And we pore over customer reviews to find out what matters to real people who already own and use the products and services we’re assessing. When you click through from our site to a retailer and buy a product or

The Gemini app can now analyze the videos on your phone - how to use it

VINCENT FEURAY/Getty Images The Gemini app just got a hugely useful upgrade -- the ability to tell you more about videos you've captured. Earlier this year, Google introduced a capability for Gemini to analyze YouTube videos. The feature lets you summarize extended content or get a step-by-step overview of a project. Also: The best AI image generators are getting scary good at things they used to be terrible at Gemini's video capability is expanding this week; now the AI can take a look at y

My iPhone 8 Refuses to Die: Now It's a Solar-Powered Vision OCR Server

How I transformed my old iPhone 8 into a solar-powered Vision OCR server using Apple's native framework and an EcoFlow River 2 Pro. Running 24/7 for months, processing thousands of images while completely off-grid. My iPhone 8 Refuses to Die: Now It’s a Solar-Powered Vision OCR Server# After running for over a year, my solar-powered iPhone 8 has processed 83,418 OCR requests and 48GB of images using nothing but Apple’s Vision framework and renewable energy. Most people toss their old iPhones i

This Mini PC With 512GB SSD Costs Peanuts on Amazon, Now Cheaper Than a Basic External Hard Drive

While laptops typically get all the attention, there are times when a tiny desktop computer will do the trick. The GMKtech mini PC is the perfect solution: it’s basically the Windows version of a Mac Mini, only without a cost that’s the size of a miniature mansion. Right now, this computer (Intel N150, 32GB RAM and 512GB SSD) is available for an all-time low of just $157 on Amazon, down from its typical price of $229. That’s a major discount for a device that comes packed with features you’d str

Elon Musk’s xAI Is Reportedly Burning Through $1 Billion a Month

Elon Musk has promised that his AI business, xAI, will help to revolutionize society. Before it can do that, however, the company is going to need to become fiscally viable—a goal it hasn’t quite met yet. Indeed, at the current moment, the company seems to be burning through cash at a rate that, in any other industry, would be entirely unsustainable. A new report from Bloomberg claims that the AI company expects to spend at least $13 billion this year, which amounts to a little over a billion d

This Huge 18.5-Inch FHD Portable Monitor Is 40% Off, Amazon Clearing Stock at Record Low

There’s nothing quite as frustrating as trying to work or multitask on a cramped laptop screen. Whether you’re crunching numbers in Excel, editing photos, or just want to stream a video while keeping an eye on your inbox, a second screen can make all the difference. And not just any second screen: this 18.5-inch portable monitor on sale at Amazon is a true game-changer. Whereas the majority of portable monitors top out at about 15 inches, this one comes in an XXL format that is notable for its

Originally Priced at $1,250, These Bang & Olufsen Headphones Now Match The Price Of AirPods Max

Bang & Olufsen is the epitome of the luxury brand of high-end headphones, the firm that reflects both perfect design and celestial sound. Even Apple, with its much-lauded AirPods Max, tends to sell its flagship for approximately half the price of Bang & Olufsen’s flagship – at least so far. Amazon is having a final sale on the Bang & Olufsen Beoplay H95 in black, and it’s a rare opportunity to get one of the greatest active noise-canceling headphones out there: For fans of the highest quality a

The ‘Magic: The Gathering’ Team Had to Fight to Keep One of the ‘Final Fantasy’ Set’s Best References

Magic: The Gathering‘s new Final Fantasy set is an absolute love letter to the beloved RPG series, with hundreds of cards making a flavorful nod to their source material in one way or another. But one of the most fun references in a set filled with them almost didn’t make it in—thanks to a quibble between Wizards of the Coast and Square Enix’s translation teams. In a fascinating new article about translating the Final Fantasy set for its English and Japanese-language versions shared on the offi

Peter Thiel-Backed ‘Enhanced Olympics’ Is Elaborate Supplement-Selling Scheme: Report

Tech billionaires like to paint themselves as contrarian geniuses—guys (pretty much always guys) who see institutions insist that things should be done one way because of silly things like evidence and experience and respond, “I, a person who has zero knowledge or exposure to this thing, know better.” There is perhaps no starker illustration of this mindset than the “Enhanced Games,” an Olympics-like competition with Peter Thiel’s backing that sets aside bans on performance-enhancing drugs and e

xAI faces legal threat over alleged Colossus data center pollution in Memphis

After thermal imaging appeared to show that xAI lied about suspected pollution at its Colossus supercomputer data center located near predominantly Black communities in Memphis, Tennessee, the NAACP has threatened a lawsuit accusing xAI of violating the Clean Air Act. In a letter sent to xAI on Tuesday, lawyers from the Southern Environmental Law Center (SELC) notified xAI of the NAACP's intent to sue in 60 days if xAI refuses to meet to discuss the groups' concerns that xAI is not using the re

Iran’s Internet Blackout Adds New Dangers for Civilians Amid Israeli Bombings

Alimardani says that it appears mobile data services are patchy, and for many people virtual private networks, which can be used to avoid censorship, have stopped working. This means it has been difficult to reach people in the country and potentially for information to get out, Alimardani says. “Some family that left Tehran today were offline and disconnected from the internet and finally found some connectivity when they were 200 kilometers outside of Tehran in another province,” Alimardani ex

Amazon Rebuilt Alexa Using a ‘Staggering’ Amount of AI Tools

Daniel Rausch, Amazon’s vice president of Alexa and Echo, is in the midst of a major transition. More than a decade beyond the launch of Amazon’s Alexa, he’s been tasked with creating a new version of the marquee voice assistant, one that’s powered by large language models. As he put it in my interview with him, this new assistant, dubbed Alexa+, is “a complete rebuild of the architecture.” How did his team approach Amazon’s largest ever revamp of its voice assistant? They used AI to build AI,

Death Stranding is getting an animated film

The strange world of Death Stranding just keeps on expanding. As Deadline reports, Hideo Kojima’s ghostly, post-apocalyptic video game is getting a spinoff in the form of an animated film. While there aren’t a lot of details yet, the animated feature will supposedly be in the same mold as other animated spinoffs like the recent Predator anthology on Hulu, which could be a good vehicle for Kojima’s particular brand of weirdness. Aaron Guzikowski, creator of the HBO series Raised by Wolves, has s

YouTube is plugging Veo 3 AI videos directly into Shorts

is a news editor covering technology, gaming, and more. He joined The Verge in 2019 after nearly two years at Techmeme. YouTube is bringing its Veo 3 AI video generation model, which my colleague Allison Johnson recently called “a slop monger’s dream,” to YouTube Shorts later this summer, according to a Cannes Lions keynote from YouTube CEO Neal Mohan. Shorts creators can already take advantage of the previous-generation Veo 2 model to generate backgrounds with Dream Screen as well as standalo

OpenAI drops Scale AI as a data provider following Meta deal

OpenAI is phasing out its work with Scale AI and cutting ties with the data provider following Meta’s deal with the startup, an OpenAI spokesperson told Bloomberg on Wednesday. Sarah Friar, the chief financial officer of OpenAI, previously suggested the company would continue its work with Scale AI. Now, it appears OpenAI has changed its tone. OpenAI said it was already winding down its work with Scale AI ahead of Meta’s announcement last week that it was investing billions of dollars in the s

Topics: ai data meta openai scale

Voi CEO says he’s open to acquiring Bolt’s micromobility business

Shared micromobility startup Voi is on the hunt for acquisitions. And on CEO Frederik Hjelm’s wishlist is Bolt, the European mobility super-app best known for ride-hailing. Not that Bolt’s micromobility business is necessarily for sale — despite talk of Voi buying the company’s scooter and bike arm. Bolt declined to comment when TechCrunch reached out. “Bolt is a great company, but they are mainly a ride-hailing company,” Hjelm told TechCrunch on stage at the Micromobility Industries roundtabl

Keylogger campaign hitting Outlook Web Access on vulnerable Exchange servers goes global

Serving tech enthusiasts for over 25 years.TechSpot means tech analysis and advice you can trust Facepalm: Keylogging malware is a particularly dangerous threat, as it is typically designed to capture login credentials or other sensitive data from users. When you add a compromised Exchange server to the mix, it creates an even nastier situation for any organization. Researchers from Positive Technologies recently unveiled a new study on a keylogger-based campaign targeting organizations worldw

Honda joins space race with first successful reusable rocket test

What just happened? Add Honda to the growing list of entities interested in the modern space race. The Japanese automotive giant's research and development arm recently conducted a successful rocket launch and landing, marking the first time the company has safely landed a rocket after reaching a height of nearly 300 meters. The historic flight took place on June 17 at the Honda facility in Taiki Town, Hiroo District, Hokkaido Prefecture, Japan, which has been dubbed as a "space town" thanks to

Galaxy Watch 4’s dreaded red screen of death may be getting worse

TL;DR Samsung’s aging Galaxy Watch 4 is vulnerable to a display failure where the screen turns solid red. The only solution for affected hardware seems to be a screen replacement. While failures have been happening for years, it’s hard to ignore a recent surge in reports. It’s sure looking like we could only be just a few more weeks away from getting our formal introduction to Samsung’s next-gen smartwatches, the Galaxy Watch 8 series. And while we’re excited to check out the new design this

9to5Mac Daily: June 18, 2025 – Apple’s Siri timelines, HomePad rumors

Listen to a recap of the top stories of the day from 9to5Mac. 9to5Mac Daily is available on iTunes and Apple’s Podcasts app, Stitcher, TuneIn, Google Play, or through our dedicated RSS feed for Overcast and other podcast players. Sponsored by 9to5Mac Daily Plus: Get ad-free versions of every episode by visiting 9to5mac.com/join. New episodes of 9to5Mac Daily are recorded every weekday. Subscribe to our podcast in Apple Podcast or your favorite podcast player to guarantee new episodes are deliv

Kuo: Apple yet to finalize many foldable iPhone specs

Ming-Chi Kuo is out with an update today on Apple’s highly-anticipated foldable iPhone. According to the analyst, Foxconn is set to “kick off the project” later this year in late Q3 or early Q4. At this time, however, many of the component specifications for the foldable iPhone “have yet to be finalized.” The latest on the iPhone Fold One of the flagship features of Apple’s foldable iPhone is expected to be the display. While there are multiple foldable Android devices on the market, one of th

iOS 18.6 now available in beta, plus macOS 15.6, more [U: Public betas]

Last week Apple debuted its major new software versions coming this fall, including iOS 26, iPadOS 26, and more. But it isn’t finished with the current software cycle just yet, as the first betas for iOS 18.6, macOS 15.6, and more have now arrived. Update 6/18/25: Public beta versions are now rolling out too, a couple days after the developer releases arrived. Inside Apple, the vast majority of software engineers’ time has been dedicated, likely for a while now, to preparing iOS 26 and the oth

Topics: 18 apple ios new software