Category Featured Videos

Featured video content from MissMacknOG including modeling, music, and behind-the-scenes moments from my creative platform

The AI Doc’s director was “scared shitless” by AI, so he made a movie about it

If you're feeling anxious about AI and what it means for the future of humanity, you should watch The AI Doc: Or, How I Became an Apocaloptimist. As I noted in my review, the film aims to deliver some clarity amid all the hype. Now that it's in theaters, we sat down with director Daniel Roher, who won an Oscar for his film Navalny, to dive deeper into his complicated feelings around AI.The entire topic made him nervous, Roher said, so he decided to team up with similarly anxious colleagues to demystify AI using film. He describes the goal of the project to be a sort of "first date" with AI, a way to hear about its potential benefits from AI boosters, while also taking in the many negatives brought up by critics. It’s probably too late to stop AI entirely, but he thinks we can at least try to find ways to limit the worst impulses of the tech industry. "I wanted to make this movie because I was scared shitless, that's the crux of it," he said in an interview on the Engadget Podcast. "I didn't understand what AI was. I didn't understand why everyone was talking about it and why it seemed to be this thing that came outta the woodwork and all of a sudden, people were talking about it like it was the apocalypse or like it was gonna be the most optimistic, greatest thing ever."Ultimately, Roher arrived at the term “apocaloptimist,” which balances the contradictory ideas that AI can both seriously harm society, and that we can still shape the future by criticizing or outright rejecting it. "It's a worldview. It's choosing not to buy into a binary that's asking us to see this as either apocalypse and the end of the world, or through the rose-colored glasses of unvarnished optimism, which is also sort of a fallacy," he said.On the one hand, he's well aware the major players pushing AI are, at best, flawed. When I mentioned Marc Andreessen’s recent comments about proudly having no inner thoughts, Roher added,” They're just fucking weird. They're just nerds who became billionaires because they were born at the right time and they had the right interests. They're brilliant in their own way and they have abilities, but they don't understand what it is to exist. They don’t know what real human beings navigate and go through.They have a very narrow worldview that's callous and cold and calculated.” For many, the overnight ubiquity of this largely untested technology and the collective wealth and power of those supporting it means rampant negative externalities are all but guaranteed. But Roher's apocaloptimism (we'll see if the term quite catches on) chafes against cynicism and doomsaying. He points to OpenAI’s Sora video generation app, which was heavily criticized as a tool that could lead to more realistic deepfakes, but was unceremoniously killed last week."I think people were [made] uncomfortable by it, and good,” Roher said. “And, shame on OpenAI for releasing this thing without any thoughtfulness. I guess the low bar of like, at least they had the decency to pull back and retract it, but only after public condemnation." He added, "to the cynical people saying we're all fucked, I'm like, no fuck you, we're not. Collective action matters.” And notably, the entire goal is to think more deeply about the uses of technology than the people actually creating it. "These guys, when you actually sit down with them, they don't have clarity, they can't make you feel better. They don't know themselves. They're just motivated by the unbridled optimism of the greatest profit-making technology in the history of humanity. "This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/entertainment/tv-movies/the-ai-docs-director-was-scared-shitless-by-ai-so-he-made-a-movie-about-it-145747961.html?src=rss

Roland Go:Mixer Studio review: Portable, professional and plenty of polish

Roland Go:Mixer Studio review: Portable, professional and plenty of polish

Way back in 2017, Roland carved out a little niche for itself with the introduction of the Go:Mixer line. The small, portable audio interfaces are a convenient way to connect a mic and multiple musical instruments (or audio sources) to your phone for more professional public performances or on-the-go recording. At this year’s NAMM show, the company unveiled the latest in the family — the Go:Mixer Studio — and it’s the most premium version to date. 
The Studio adds a display, multitrack output and onboard effects along with a far more luxurious design. At $300, there’s also a far more luxurious price tag. The Go:Mixer Pro-X was already a capable option, and competing products from Mackie and Zoom are also vying for your hard-earned musical dollars. The big question, then, is can the Studio make a case for itself at this elevated price point?

Right off the bat, in terms of usefulness, the Studio is a solid step up from the Pro-X thanks to the addition of a second XLR port. So if your band is a duo, or you simply need two microphones, each performer can now have their own. This also opens the Studio up for basic podcast situations, too. Technically, you could always connect more microphones through other inputs, but now you can do so without adapters or additional hardware like preamps. The rest of the connectivity remains similar with ¼-inch line-in and guitar ports, headset mic support, a 3.5mm aux input and USB-C for audio from your phone and connecting to the app.
Other headline upgrades include a much higher maximum sample rate of 24bit/192kHz (the Pro-X capped out at 16bit/48kHz) and there’s MIDI connectivity for the first time in the Go:Mixer series. The new effects consist of a compressor, EQ and reverb. EQ and compression are available at the channel level, allowing for a good amount of creative control over your mix, while reverb is global. There’s a decent selection of different types of reverb, too, with enough controls to configure them to your taste. I found some of them to be a bit robotic, or not very musical, but others sounded more traditional and appropriate for my vocals and synthesizers.
The Go:Mixer series was doing just fine without a display up until this point, but the benefits of having one are instantly clear. On the Pro-X, the only visual feedback for your levels was a solitary LED that indicated your audio was in the red. If you had multiple inputs, you might not even know which one was too loud. The first benefit of the Studio’s display, then, is visible VU meters. They’re not huge, and the display only shows information for three tracks at a time. This means you might have to page through a few screens to see the one you want, but it’s infinitely more useful than before.

The next obvious advantage of the screen is being able to control settings on the device via a menu. Navigation is intuitive, with the screen divided into three sections, corresponding to the three knobs just below it. The default screen, for example, shows the channels Mic 1, Mic 2 and Guitar/Bass. Turn the first knob clockwise to change the gain of Mic 1. The second knob for Mic 2 and so on. Click a knob and, where applicable, you’ll enter a sub-menu where those three dials control whatever is shown above them. This dynamic system works pretty well and took seconds before it felt natural. 
The main limitation is that you can only see three of the mixer channels on screen at a time and there’s no way to manually reorder them. If you have a microphone connected and USB audio playing at the same time, you can’t see the levels or control both of those things from the same screen. You have to keep paging screens back and forth.
The good news is that Roland’s Go:Mixer Cam mobile app does offer a visual mixer that lets you see more or less every channel on screen at once and adjust levels quickly that way. It’s primarily designed for creating videos of your performance, but it doubles as a remote mixer if needed. There is one caveat with the app, though, which is that you won’t be able to use your phone as a USB audio source — say, for backing tracks — if you want to record video with the Go:Mixer Cam app. That’s something to be mindful of.

Roland 's Go:Mixer Studio has a display for the first time in the series

James Trew for Engadget

The app does have a cool feature, which could also be a lifesaver: You can change the “mix” after recording. If you record a performance, but find that your vocals are a bit low, or your synth is too high in the mix, you can adjust the levels and re-export it with better balance. You have options to export as video or audio only, so you can share one to YouTube and then a version for Soundcloud all from the same app. Small detail, but if you want to use the app and have the mixer sample rate set to something other than 48kHz, it’ll warn you that it needs to revert to 48kHz and restart the device before you can carry on.
If you prefer recording on the desktop, there’s also a GoMixer Editor app for Windows and Mac. It’s actually a much easier way to change settings and see what’s going on thanks to the extra visual real estate. The EQ section for each channel looks like a regular software EQ where you raise or lower points on a frequency chart. The compressor also has visual feedback to show when it’s active, which is lacking on the device itself. Obviously, the Studio has a mobile focus, but the desktop app has two big selling points. 
First, if you prefer to set your mix levels, compression amount and so on at home, you can do that more easily with the desktop app and then save it in a memory slot. You can then quickly recall this “Scene” on the device while out at a gig. The second is that, for the first time in the series (according to me at least), the Studio is a viable mixer and audio interface for the desktop. The build quality is solid and weighty, not like the light plastic of previous models. It feels premium and this could just as well be used at home for streaming and podcasting as much as on the go. The desktop app makes it even more useful in this scenario.
In terms of what’s missing, this might be very use-case specific. I enjoy using this for electronic music production or pseudo DJ type performances. As such, I’d love to see at least one fader rather than just knobs, but this is true of every model to date. I’d also love for there to be a way to see all the channels at once on the device’s screen. I know it’d be a bit cramped and there’d be no easy way to adjust the mix at the same time, but as an overview you could drop into, it might be handy. And if we’re out here making wishes for any Studio Pro model, an SD card slot for native recording would really elevate the portability element so you wouldn’t need to connect a phone, just a power bank.

The Go:Mixer Studio has two XLR inputs

James Trew for Engadget

Roland has a few competitors in this space, most notably IK Multemida which makes a few portable interfaces. Perhaps the most similar is the iRig Pro Duo and Quattro. The Duo comes in a little cheaper than the Studio at around $235 but lacks a display and build quality. I also personally find IK Multimedia’s apps, while functional, less user friendly. Mackie has the M Caster Studio ($200) which adds Bluetooth connectivity but has fewer physical ports — that one too is a little older. Zoom’s interfaces often center on their ability to record directly onto the device, but have more of a vocal/spoken word focus. The H5 Studio ($299) has a display, built-in mic and onboard recording, but its mixer functionality and outputs for live performance are secondary features.
For musical performers, Roland continues to dominate this niche, and the Go:Mixer Studio is clearly the company’s most refined interface to date. The connectivity covers most use cases, even podcasting, and the layout of the dials makes it easy to use in live environments. The display is a welcome addition that goes a long way to making this feel both more useful and more premium. Perhaps the biggest selling point this time around is that the Studio no longer feels like an extra interface you bring with you for live gigs. It can easily be your main desktop audio interface too, making that $300 price tag suddenly feel a lot more palatable.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/audio/roland-gomixer-studio-review-portable-professional-and-plenty-of-polish-130000723.html?src=rss

Robosen Soundwave review: A childhood dream made real

Robosen Soundwave review: A childhood dream made real

There's just something magical about a robot that can convert into a car, tank or plane. It seems that Hollywood agrees as there are several major franchises based around that concept. As someone who grew up in the 80s and 90s, Transformers hold a special place in my heart, despite Michael Bay's best efforts at tarnishing its legacy. I spent countless hours as a kid playing with Hasbro and Takara's plastic figures, but there was one type of toy I always wanted but never got: a robot that could transform on its own just like the ones I watched on TV. That changed a few years ago when Robosen launched its line of officially licensed auto-converting models, and from what I've seen, its latest release featuring Soundwave might be its best yet. 

Design: More than meets the eye
As a follow-up to previous bots featuring Optimus Prime, Megatron, Bumblebee, Grimlock and others, Soundwave was a superior choice, and Robosen has done a more than respectable job of bringing him to life. Not only can he spit out classic lines performed by original voice actor Frank Welker, both his robot and alt modes are a vision straight out of the first-generation (G1) cartoon. Everywhere you look, there are a ton of lovingly crafted details like the working eject button for the cassette slot and all sorts of lights. Robosen's head sculpt is spot on, and it even includes additional LEDs for his eyes and shoulder cannon. Granted, there is a bit of kibble (aka what fans call out of place parts leftover from transformation), like hands that don't properly fold away when Soundwave turns into a boombox, but that's really nitpicking. Between his incredibly accurate design, vocoder-powered vocals and an imposing stature that stands at around 14 inches tall, there's no way you can call this rendition of Soundwave uncharismatic. 

A simply superior head sculpt.

Sam Rutherford for Engadget

However, the real magic happens when you turn him on (there's a little button on his back) and say "Hey, Soundwave." From here, you can use more than 50 different voice commands to boss him around like you're the leader of the Decepticons. This includes asking him to say iconic lines, respond to an Autobot attack or just wishing someone a happy birthday. Naturally, the most impressive request is asking him to transform, at which point 28 high-precision servo motors and multiple motion sensors coordinate. This allows Soundwave to convert from boombox mode to robot and back again, complete with the required sound effects. Even as a jaded adult, there's still something incredibly enchanting about watching a Transformer actually transform on its own. But that pales in comparison to the one-of-a-kind reaction my four-year-old son gave me when I repeated the process for him. There was a joy in his face I'm not sure a grown-up can truly express, as he gets to experience this without knowing this bot costs a cool $1,400. 

Robosen's free mobile app features a D-pad so you can easily tell the robot where to walk.

Sam Rutherford for Engadget

While testing Soundwave's various commands, I did notice that his voice recognition can be somewhat hit or miss. I found that even a little background noise can cause issues. To be consistently heard, you have to speak louder than you think you should. The real key is being very deliberate with a sharp "Hi" or "Hey" to activate Soundwave's wake phrase properly. Alternatively, if you prefer not to yell at your robots, there's also a free companion app that allows you to send commands by simply pressing a button, which was super easy to set up and quickly became my preferred control scheme. 

Here is Robosen's version of Soundwave (right) compared to the Studio Series 86 figure (left).

Sam Rutherford for Engadget

In addition to making it easier to get Soundwave to walk around (it's much more fun to use a virtual D-pad than yell "Walk forward" all the time), the app also provides a more straightforward way of discovering what he can do while reducing the ambiguity of voice commands. There are handy buttons for all his voice lines and poses, plus there’s a toolkit for creating some of your own. You can also download more from the app, though there weren't any for me to test out because Soundwave wasn't officially out yet at the time of writing. There's even a Mini Theatre mode that allows the bot to perform short skits, and if you're lucky enough to own some of Robosen's other Transformers toys, like Megatron, some of these scenes can even be performed in tandem. 

I don't think any Autobots have a chance against a Soundwave this big.

Sam Rutherford for Engadget

One awkward thing about Roboen's more sophisticated approach to toy robots is that Soundwave loses some of his structural integrity when his motors are off. For example, when you power him down in robot mode, he bends over backwards and gets stuck halfway between his humanoid and boombox forms. I assume this is to prevent him from falling over, which is a good thing; it just looks kind of weird. On the flip side, if you pick him up while in stereo mode, his limbs tend to droop. However, perhaps the biggest downside to Soundwave is one inherent to his design. Because his alt mode is a boombox instead of a vehicle like Optimus, Bumblebee and others, he can't pull double duty as a remote control car. But what Soundwave lacks in mobility, he makes up for with his signature acoustic skills.
Audio: Not just a bot, he's a real boombox too

From the front, Soundwave's boombox alt mode looks damn near perfect.

Sam Rutherford for Engadget

Soundwave turning into a boombox that can't play music just wouldn't make sense. Thankfully, that's not an issue as this bot's buttons aren't just for show. Hitting Play lets you listen to original tracks from the G1 cartoon, complete with the ability to pause or skip to the next track. You can also hold the record button to save a personal message for later, though I found this feature has a bit of a learning curve as Soundwave tends to cut out one or two seconds from the beginning and end of a clip. 

Inside the app, there's also a big list for all of Soundwave's voice lines and poses.

Sam Rutherford for Engadget

Most importantly, if you want Soundwave to play other tunes, you can pair it with your phone or pretty much any other mobile device and use him just like a typical Bluetooth speaker. Now it probably won't be a surprise when I say that Soundwave's audio quality is mediocre at best. With all the various sensors, motors and moving parts, there probably isn't a ton of room for fancy drivers, so things sound tinny and flat. But in a way, that's kind of endearing because the vast majority of portable speakers back in the 80s didn't sound great either. The one thing I wish Robosen had included was a proper cassette player to really capitalize on Soundwave's classic audio capabilities. That said, even though I still have stacks of CDs and DVDs in my house, I don't have any tapes (despite their resurgence), so I get why that feature didn't make it. 
Battery life

It may not be period accurate, but the addition of a USB-C port around back for power is a really nice touch.

Sam Rutherford for Engadget

Soundwave comes with a built-in 1,650mAh battery which takes about 120 minutes to charge from dead to full while offering a standby time of around 60 minutes. During my testing, I found you can get a solid 20 to 30 minutes of playtime out of him, which felt like plenty. Of course,that depends a ton on how much moving around you tell him to do. And while it certainly isn't period authentic, I really appreciate the inclusion of a USB-C port for charging. 
Wrap-up
The funny thing about Robosen's Soundwave is that a toy like this would have been priceless to me as a child. But now that I'm older and I have to attach a value that goes beyond its basic price, things are a lot trickier. 
I love Robosen's attention to detail. The figure looks incredible and getting voice lines from the original actor shows there's more than meets the eye to the robot’s design. But most importantly, seeing Soundwave transform on his own and stomp around like he does in the show will never get old. 

As you'd expect from a toy this expensive, Robosen's packaging is excellent.

Sam Rutherford for Engadget

On the other hand, $1,400 can buy the whole family a nice three-day vacation or more than two dozen regular Transformers toys. That kind of math makes it difficult to add this Cybertronian to the household register. But for anyone who has a budget similar to a Michael Bay movie, this take on Soundwave really does feel like a dream come true. Aside from some of Robosen's other products, this robot is certainly made of sterner stuff. 
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/general/robosen-soundwave-review-a-childhood-dream-made-real-120000804.html?src=rss

An immersive ‘Black Mirror Experience’ is launching in Montreal

Banijay is launching the Black Mirror Experience, starting with Montreal in May with additional locations to be announced in the future. Specifically, it will be produced by Banijay Live Studio, the new subsidiary of the production company that owns Black Mirror, in partnership with VR firm Univrse. The studio describes it as an interactive virtual reality experience that blends “physical space and VR… designed to blur the lines of fiction and reality in which you become the main character.” While it is based on the hit TV show, you apparently don’t need any prior knowledge of the series to be able to enjoy it. The experience, which will span 60 minutes, can accommodate one person and groups of up to six people. Players 12-years-old and above are welcome to participate. It puts the players in the showroom of a fictional tech giant called Phaethon that’s unveiling the LifeAgent, a robotic AI companion that’s supposed to make their owners’ life easier. LifeAgent does a full-body scan of its owner so it would know their needs before they do. But in true Black Mirror fashion, “once it sees through [their] eyes, it knows exactly how to help… whether [they] asked it to or not.” You can take part in the event at Infinity Experiences in Montreal, where you’ll be able to play it in French, English and Spanish.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/entertainment/streaming/an-immersive-black-mirror-experience-is-launching-in-montreal-115915992.html?src=rss

What to expect from WWDC 2026

WWDC 2026, the latest version of Apple's yearly developer conference, runs from June 8-12, and by all appearances the company has some important updates to outline. In comparison to Liquid Glass, the design material Apple introduced last year and now uses across all its operating systems, the new features the company is rumored to announce might not be aesthetic, but they could make just as big of a splash. Namely because Apple might finally be ready to show off its second stab at an overhauled version of Siri.If you're curious to see the company's new plans for yourself, you can watch Apple's WWDC 2026 keynote live on its website, YouTube channel or the Apple Developer Bilibili channel in China. Apple will also host its Platforms State of the Union stream and individual developer workshops on its developer website if you want to learn even more details about the software updates the company will release later this year. Luckily, we do have some sense of what Apple has in store, and it looks like stability improvements and AI are the company's big focuses for the updates coming to iOS, iPadOS, macOS, watchOS, visionOS and tvOS this fall.A Snow Leopard-esque approach to stability and performanceApple released Mac OS X Snow Leopard in 2009, primarily as a way to clean up the performance and refine the new features the company released with Mac OS X Leopard two years prior. The decision to essentially "take a year off" to focus on making everything about the company's desktop operating system feel better was well-received, and Apple is apparently planning to have iOS 27 serve a similar role.Bloomberg reports that Apple's upcoming update will be "focused on improving the software’s quality and underlying performance" and that the company's "engineering teams are now combing through Apple's operating systems, hunting for bloat to cut, bugs to eliminate and any opportunity to meaningfully boost performance and overall quality." Those fixes will presumably extend to the company's other operating systems, too.Some of this effort may also be focused on cleaning up the visual changes introduced in Apple's big switch to Liquid Glass. The design overhaul has been controversial among the company's diehard fans, and Apple has already introduced tweaks in updates that arrived after the release of iOS 26 to make Liquid Glass interfaces more legible. Bloomberg reports the company could go a step further in its next updates and add a system-wide slider that will allow users to adjust the intensity of Liquid Glass (visual effects like translucency and reflectivity) they want in the interface.The chatbot-ification of SiriWhile stability and performance improvements will be a major focus of this year's updates, Apple is also rumored to be making some major changes to Siri. When the company first introduced Apple Intelligence at WWDC 2024, it promised to launch an updated version of the voice assistant that could use your personal context (like the information securely stored on your iPhone) to act across apps. Apple delayed those features in March 2025 and then announced a partnership with Google in January 2026 to use Gemini models to presumably make them possible. Those features might finally arrive in this year's updates, but Apple is reportedly also changing how users interact with Siri by making the assistant more like a chatbot, according to Bloomberg. This would make the assistant more interactive and natural to speak to, and could open up other possibilities, like letting users direct Siri to perform two actions at the same time. Developers will reportedly also be able to integrate their own AI assistants with Siri, much like OpenAI has with ChatGPT.New places to talk to AIThe chatbot version of Siri will be accessible in the usual ways, but also reportedly through a standalone Siri app. The new app will let users prompt the assistant to take care of tasks on their device, search the web and even access news, not unlike current Gemini and ChatGPT apps. Bloomberg writes that the app will also be a way to review past conversations with Siri and receive suggestions of prompts to try with the new chatbot version of the assistant.Users will also be able to interact with Siri inside Apple's other apps via a new feature called "Ask Siri." This may appear as an option in app menus, and allow you to ask the AI assistant questions about content in the app. It's not clear if this will be as in-depth or capable as Google's Ask Maps or Ask Photos features, but it at least seems like Apple's thinking along the same lines as its partner.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/big-tech/what-to-expect-from-wwdc-2026-110000086.html?src=rss

Slack’s upgraded AI can analyze how you work

Salesforce has unveiled the newest version of Slack, which comes with a whole host of new AI features to add to its ever-growing catalog. Naturally, many of these tools are embedded into Slackbot, which the company had already pledged to turn into a “personalized AI companion.” The new features include the stuff you’d expect, such as transcription, note taking and deep research, as well as integrations with the rest of the Salesforce family. But it’ll also get “reusable skills,” which sound a lot like automations, where a team can define a task from start to finish, and then the bot will run it whenever it’s called for.
In fact, there’s a big focus on sharing and co-developing tools within organizations, so if you find a prompt that actually gets useful data out of Slackbot, you can share that with your team. And Slackbot will now analyze how you work as it attempts to discern your preferences, workflows and shortcuts. Which, if you read it in one way, sounds as if it’s actively looking to work out how to do your job so it can just replace you. Of course, that probably won’t happen, right? Right?
Salesforce is also using these new Slack tools as a way to gently upsell small businesses toward its bigger products. New Slackbot is equipped with “native customer management,” reading your channels, learning what goes on, and keeping your “deals, contacts and call notes up to date automatically.” In its release, it even says that growing firms can “start simple inside Slack, scale up to Salesforce when ready.” Similarly, every Salesforce customer will now be getting Slack bundled in, to help ensure all of your relationships and work remain in the same place under Slackbot’s helpful eye.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/general/slacks-upgraded-ai-can-analyze-how-you-work-103007261.html?src=rss

The UK’s antitrust regulator is looking into Microsoft’s possible monopoly power

The UK's Competition and Markets Authority is once more turning its lens on Microsoft. The tech company will be the focus of an investigation by the regulator to see if it can be assigned strategic market status (SMS). The CMA already has "a major concern" with Microsoft's alleged limiting of competition in the cloud space via productivity software like Word and Excel, chat app Teams, AI companion Copilot and even Windows itself. The SMS designation "would allow the CMA to act" against the company. The investigation will begin in May.In addition, the UK regulator is also following up on an inquiry into Microsoft and Amazon from 2025, where it sought to exert more control over the domestic cloud services market. As a result of that action, the CMA said Amazon and Microsoft have agreed to a plan involving egress fees and interoperability around cloud services. "These changes will reduce expense and effort for UK customers when using more than one cloud provider," the CMA bulletin states.The CMA has frequently had Microsoft in its sights. The company sparked an investigation in 2023 for its relationship with OpenAI and in 2024 for its actions hiring staff from Inflection AI.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/big-tech/the-uks-antitrust-regulator-is-looking-into-microsofts-possible-monopoly-power-182221704.html?src=rss

Meta will “substantially reduce” describing Instagram teen accounts as PG-13

Meta has agreed to "substantially reduce” its use of the PG-13 ratings system in relation to its Teen Accounts on Instagram starting April 15.
Last year, the Motion Picture Association objected to Meta directly referencing its movie content rating, which cautions parents against letting their pre-teens engage with certain media. In a cease-and-desist letter seen by The Wall Street Journal at the time, the MPA said that Meta claiming its teen accounts were comparable to PG-13 ratings was "literally false and highly misleading."
The MPA argued that its guidelines for the established movie-ratings system and Meta’s own explanation of the revamped accounts for minors did not align, and that drawing a link could have a detrimental effect on the MPA’s public image by association. It also said that Meta’s system seemingly relies heavily on AI to determine what younger users see on the social media platform.
When introducing the changes in 2025, Meta said that the risk of seeing "suggestive content" or hearing certain language in a movie rated 13+ was a good way of framing something similar happening on an Instagram teen account. It added that it was doing all it could to keep such instances to a minimum. 
Meta has now updated that initial blog post about the changes after coming to an agreement with the MPA, adding a lengthy disclaimer that reads, in part, "there are lots of differences between social media and movies. We didn’t work with the MPA when updating our content settings, they’re not rating any content on Instagram, and they’re not endorsing or approving our content settings in any way."
Meta goes on to explain that it drew "inspiration" from the MPA guidance given its familiarity with parents, as well as feedback it had received from parents, and will continue to do so. The difference is that it won’t make the connection so explicitly in its communications going forward.
"Today’s agreement clearly distinguishes the MPA’s film ratings from Instagram’s Teen Account content moderation tools," said Charles Rivkin, Chairman and CEO of the MPA. "While we welcome efforts to protect kids from content that may not be appropriate for them, this agreement helps ensure that parents do not conflate the two systems – which operate in very different contexts. The MPA is proud of the trust we have built with parents for nearly sixty years with our film rating system, and we will continue to do everything we can to protect that trust."This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/social-media/meta-will-substantially-reduce-describing-instagram-teen-accounts-as-pg-13-175912683.html?src=rss

The Super Mario Bros. cartoon is back, but looks really weird and AI might be to blame

Adults of a certain age will no doubt remember The Super Mario Bros. Super Show, a cartoon from 1989 that starred our favorite sibling plumbers decades before they would take over multiplexes with an animated film franchise. The broadcast channel MeTV Toons has begun airing old episodes of the show, likely to trade on the buzz emanating from the pending theatrical release of The Super Mario Galaxy Movie. There's just one problem. The episodes seem to have been sloppified by an AI upscaling algorithm, according to a report by Kotaku.
The Super Mario Super Show has started airing on MEtv using some kind of AI upscaling ,and the results are as good as you'd expect pic.twitter.com/WrdFbOe2iW— Super Mario Wiki (@SMWikiOfficial) March 31, 2026

The original series wasn't exactly a visual delight. It was a cash grab cartoon from the 1980s. However, it looks even worse now. MeTV seems to have run the footage through a bargain bin AI upscaler and the results are, in a word, weird.
Everything looks smoothed over in an off-putting way, with some characters looking markedly different from the original footage. Many of the episodes are available on YouTube, so it's easy to do your own comparisons.
The upscaler also seems to have changed the title card to "The Suele Mario Bros. Super Show." These AI tools have never been great with visual representations of written text, but you'd think someone at the station would have given things a look over. Engadget has reached out to MeTV to ask what happened and we'll update this post when we find out.

For the uninitiated, The Super Mario Bros. Super Show ran for just a single season. But this was 1989, so a full 65 episodes aired throughout the year. Seasons didn't mess around back then. It was famous for its live-action segments that starred professional wrestler "Captain" Lou Albano as Mario. It also turned into a Legend of Zelda cartoon every Friday. There's where the famous "well, excuse me princess" meme comes from.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/entertainment/tv-movies/the-super-mario-bros-cartoon-is-back-but-looks-really-weird-thanks-to-ai-171536332.html?src=rss

DoorDash partners with Rivian spinoff Also for autonomous delivery vehicles

DoorDash partners with Rivian spinoff Also for autonomous delivery vehicles

DoorDash's autonomous delivery plans will get an assist from the Rivian spinoff Also. On Tuesday, the companies announced a strategic partnership in which the delivery company will invest in Also. They intend to "develop and accelerate deployment of autonomous delivery at scale."The companies didn't specify which micromobility vehicles will be used. Also, which Rivian spun off as a separate company in 2025, is currently focused on models that combine pedals and motorized assist.Also's first consumer product is the $3,500 TM-B e-bike with a virtual drivetrain. Seemingly more tailored to DoorDash's needs is the TM-Q. This four-wheeled EV is designed to haul cargo while still fitting in bike lanes. (Have fun with that, cyclists!) The larger (commercial) version, pictured below, looks like it could haul quite a few food orders at once.The TM-Q with its most robust modular storage cabin (left) and without any attachments (right)AlsoIn a statement, Also co-founder and president Chris Yu said the partnership will deploy autonomous vehicles in "areas not yet fully solved for." These include "the intersection of roadways, bike lanes, and road adjacent spaces." In October, Amazon agreed to buy thousands of TM-Q vehicles for last-mile deliveries.As part of the deal, DoorDash co-founder Stanley Tang will join Also as a board observer. TechCrunch reports that the partnership boosts Also's valuation to above $1 billion.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/transportation/evs/doordash-partners-with-rivian-spinoff-also-for-autonomous-delivery-vehicles-163240124.html?src=rss

Estate Status: Offline • Some live content may not update
✨ Join the Estate for Exclusive Access Protected by reCAPTCHA
Join Now