Bespoke AI models are the next big thing in filmmaking
Bespoke AI models are the next big thing in filmmaking

Though many AI boosters have convinced themselves that the technology can spit out films and television series whole cloth, claims of Hollywood being cooked feel very premature when you see what people are making with the most popular image/video models on the market. Models like Sora, Veo, and Runway just do not seem all that […]

How the spiraling Iran conflict could affect data centers and electricity costs
How the spiraling Iran conflict could affect data centers and electricity costs

Soon after the Trump administration launched its war on Iran, I called up Reed Blakemore, director of research and programs at the Atlantic Council Global Energy Center, to talk about the consequences. While oil and gas prices were already on the rise, there was still more hope then that the impact of the conflict might […]

Slay the Spire II is even better with a friend
Slay the Spire II is even better with a friend

Slay the Spire II launched in early access last week, and it’s already an excellent sequel to one of the best roguelikes of all time. In many ways, it’s very similar to its predecessor. Like Hades II and Hollow Knight: Silksong, Slay the Spire II mostly iterates on an already superb foundation. But it does […]

The government shutdown is hitting airports — but not ICE
The government shutdown is hitting airports — but not ICE

Chaos reigned at airports across the country last weekend, with thousands of travelers reportedly waiting in hours-long security lines thanks to staffing shortages. Transportation Security Administration (TSA) and Coast Guard workers have turned to food banks for assistance after weeks without pay. But amid a partial government shutdown aimed at curtailing the Department of Homeland […]

Marathon is in a sprint
Marathon is in a sprint

Marathon is weird as hell – and I mean that in the best possible way. The latest game from Destiny studio Bungie mixes the slick gunplay the developer is known for with a dark, and frankly bizarre, sci-fi universe. It’s part of the burgeoning “extraction shooter” subgenre, where teams of players are dropped into a […]

Meet your new phone away from phone
Meet your new phone away from phone

Unihertz’s booth at MWC was a little out of the way, but those who did find it all seemed to want to pick up the Titan Elite 2. Sure, the cosmic orange color attracted attention, and the QWERTY keyboard reminded one showgoer of his old BlackBerry. But once I picked it up, I could see […]

Pokopia made me look at Pokémon’s high-tech future in a whole new way
Pokopia made me look at Pokémon’s high-tech future in a whole new way

Pokémon Pokopia features, of all things, a 3D printer. I wasn’t sure why this surprised me so much, given all the other high-tech gear in pretty much every Pokémon game. But I was not expecting to find, inside the once-crumbling Pokémon Center I’d just worked hard to restore, a kind of machine I’d never seen […]

Console exclusives might be making a comeback
Console exclusives might be making a comeback

The near future of game consoles could look a lot like the past. Once a hallmark of the industry, over the last few years console-exclusive games have steadily become rare, as the likes of Sony and Microsoft experimented with offering titles on multiple platforms. Heck, who knows what an Xbox even is anymore? But it […]

MacBook Neo versus an old MacBook Air: good luck
MacBook Neo versus an old MacBook Air: good luck

My first thought when Apple announced the MacBook Neo today was “okay, but why not just get an older Air?” If you’re thinking that too, you might be right. If you can find one. The Neo starts at $599 with an A18 Pro processor, 8GB of memory, and 256GB storage, and ends at $699 with […]

How the experts figure out what’s real in the age of deepfakes
How the experts figure out what’s real in the age of deepfakes

In the days that followed the US and Israel’s joint military strike on Iran on Saturday, floods of images and videos that supposedly document the war have appeared online. Some are old or depict unrelated conflicts, are made or manipulated with AI, and in some cases, are actually taken from military-themed video games like War […]