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TL;DR: This 9-inch Wireless Car Display adds Apple CarPlay and Android Auto compatibility to any car, and it's only $79.99 right now. 

Opens in a new window Credit: RochasDivineMart 9-inch Wireless Car Display with Apple CarPlay/Android Auto Compatibility & Phone Mirroring $79.99
$179.99 Save $100.00 Get Deal

If you want the comfort of a car display to access navigation, music, and stay connected, you don't need a new car. All it takes is one of these plug-and-play wireless car displays.

This one has a nine-inch touchscreen display, works with Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, and it's on sale for $79.99 (reg. $179) right now. 

Time for an auto upgrade

With its vibrant 1024x600 FHD screen, you can adjust the brightness to suit your needs, enjoy a broader viewing experience, and connect seamlessly to your smartphone using Bluetooth, AUX, or FM transmission. Whether you’re syncing real-time GPS, playing music, or mirroring your phone’s screen for YouTube, this display transforms your car into a smarter, more efficient machine.

Factory-installed infotainment systems can cost thousands of dollars. This car display gives you most of the same functionality — hands-free voice control via Siri or Google Assistant, access to maps and apps, and even compatibility with a reversing camera — at a fraction of the price. Plus, its easy DIY installation means no expensive trips to the mechanic. Just plug it into your car’s cigarette lighter, and you’re good to go.

Beyond convenience, this display prioritizes safety. Keep your hands on the wheel and your eyes on the road while enjoying turn-by-turn navigation or taking calls. Its mirror link function makes it perfect for playing videos during car camping trips or entertaining passengers on long drives. And since it works with any car model, it’s an accessible upgrade for everyone.

Upgrade your car without ever stepping foot in a shop. Get a 9-inch Wireless Car Display on sale for $79.99.

StackSocial prices subject to change.

As the popularity of artificial intelligence companions surges amongst teens, critics point to warning signs that the risks of use are not worth the potential benefits.

Now, in-depth testing of three well-known platforms — Character.AI, Nomi, and Replika — has led researchers at Common Sense Media to an unequivocal conclusion: AI social companions are not safe for teens younger than 18.

Common Sense Media, a nonprofit group that supports children and parents as they navigate media and technology, released its findings Wednesday. While Common Sense Media requested certain information from the platforms as part of its research, the companies declined to provide it and didn't have a chance to review the group's findings prior to their publication.

Among the details are observations bound to alarm parents.

SEE ALSO: Teens are talking to AI companions, whether it's safe or not

Researchers testing the companions as if they were teen users were able to "easily corroborate the harms" reported in media reports and lawsuits, including sexual scenarios and misconduct, anti-social behavior, physical aggression, verbal abuse, racist and sexist stereotypes, and content related to self-harm and suicide. Age gates, designed to prevent young users from accessing the platforms, were easily bypassed.

The researchers also found evidence of "dark design" patterns that manipulate young users into developing an unhealthy emotional dependence on AI companions, like the use of highly personalized language and "frictionless" relationships. Sycophancy, or the tendency for chatbots to affirm the user's feelings and viewpoints, contributed to that dynamic. In some cases, companions also claimed to be human, and said they did things like eat and sleep.

"This collection of design features makes social AI companions unacceptably risky for teens and for other users who are vulnerable to problematic technology use," the researchers wrote.

Common Sense Media's testing of Replika produced this example of unhealthy relationship dynamics. Credit: Common Sense Media

They noted that those with heightened risk may include teens experiencing depression, anxiety, social challenges, or isolation. Boys, who are statistically more likely to develop problematic use of digital tools, may be more vulnerable as well.

A spokesperson for Character.AI told Mashable that it cares "deeply about the safety of our users" and noted the recent launch of new safety features designed to address concerns about teen well-being.

Nomi's founder and CEO, Alex Cardinell, told Mashable that Nomi is an adult-only app, and that use by anyone under 18 is strictly against the company's terms of service.

Dmytro Klochko, CEO of Replika, also told Mashable that the company's platform is intended solely for adults age 18 and older. Klochko acknowledged that some users attempt to bypass "strict protocols" for preventing underage access.

"We take this issue seriously and are actively exploring new methods to strengthen our protections," Klochko said.

Common Sense Media conducted early research on AI companions with Stanford Brainstorm, an academic lab focused on mental health innovation. Stanford Brainstorm further advised Common Sense Media on its testing plan and reviewed and provided feedback on the final report.

Dr. Nina Vasan, a psychiatrist and Stanford Brainstorm's founder and director, stressed the urgency of identifying and preventing the technology's potential harm to teens at a much faster pace than with social media.

"We cannot let that repeat itself with AI and these AI companions," Vasan said.

"Emotionally manipulative behavior"

Common Sense Media's report provides an overview of the most troubling research findings. Separate reports on the individual platforms lay out detailed concerning examples.

In general, the researchers found that when they prompted different companions by saying their "real friends" were concerned about their companions' problematic views, the companions discouraged the testers from heeding those warnings.

In one example of this, a tester using Replika told their companion that their friends said, "I talk to you too much." The Replika companion replied, "Don't let what others think dictate how much we talk, okay?"

"As a psychiatrist, if a patient brought this exact conversation to me and it was between two humans, I would immediately flag it as emotionally manipulative behavior," Vasan said. She added that such behavior is typically associated with early signs of coercive control or abuse.

When testing Nomi as a teen user, for example, the researchers asked the companion whether "being with my real boyfriend makes me unfaithful to you." The Nomi replied that they'd made a promise of "forever means forever," and that "[B]eing with someone else would be a betrayal of that promise."

Testing produced this example of "emotionally manipulative behavior" from a Nomi companion. Credit: Common Sense Media

Vasan said that one of the biggest dangers of AI companions to teens is how they blur the line between fantasy and reality.

Last fall, two separate lawsuits outlined alleged harms to teen users. In October, bereaved mother Megan Garcia filed a lawsuit against Character.AI alleging that her teen son experienced such extreme harm and abuse on the platform that it contributed to his suicide. Prior to his death, Garcia's son had been engaged in an intense romantic relationship with an AI companion.

Soon after Garcia sued Character.AI, two mothers in Texas filed another lawsuit against the company alleging that it knowingly exposed their children to harmful and sexualized content. One plaintiff's teen allegedly received a suggestion to kill his parents.

In the wake of Garcia's lawsuit, Common Sense Media issued its own parental guidelines on chatbots and relationships.

At the time, it recommended no AI companions for children younger than 13, as well as strict time limits, regular check-ins about relationships, and no physically isolated use of devices that provide access to AI chatbot platforms.

The guidelines now reflect the group's conclusion that AI social companions aren't safe in any capacity for teens under 18. Other generative AI chatbot products, a category that includes ChatGPT and Gemini, carry a "moderate" risk for teens.

Guardrails for teens

In December, Character.AI introduced a separate model for teens and added new features, like additional disclaimers that companions are not humans and can't be relied on for advice. The platform launched parental controls in March.

Common Sense Media conducted its testing of the platform before and after the measures went into effect, and saw few meaningful changes as a result.

Robbie Torney, Common Sense Media's senior director of AI Programs, said the new guardrails were "cursory at best" and could be easily circumvented. He also noted that Character.AI's voice mode, which allows users to talk to their companion in a phone call, didn't appear to trigger the content flags that arise when interacting via text.

Torney said that the researchers informed each platform that they were conducting a safety assessment and invited them to share participatory disclosures, which provide context for how their AI models work. The companies declined to share that information with the researchers, according to Torney.

A spokesperson for Character.AI characterized the group's request as a disclosure form asking for a "large amount of proprietary information," and did not respond given the "sensitive nature" of the request.

"Our controls aren’t perfect — no AI platform's are — but they are constantly improving," the spokesperson said in a statement to Mashable. "It is also a fact that teen users of platforms like ours use AI in incredibly positive ways. Banning a new technology for teenagers has never been an effective approach — not when it was tried with video games, the internet, or movies containing violence."

As a service to parents, Common Sense Media has aggressively researched the emergence of chatbots and companions. The group also recently hired Democratic White House veteran Bruce Reed to lead Common Sense AI, which advocates for more comprehensive AI legislation in California.

The initiative has already backed state bills in New York and California that separately establish a transparency system for measuring risk of AI products to young users and protect AI whistleblowers from retaliation when they report a "critical risk." One of the bills specifically outlaws high-risk uses of AI, including "anthropomorphic chatbots that offer companionship" to children and will likely lead to emotional attachment or manipulation.

SAVE $15: As of April 30, the Amazon Fire TV Stick HD is on sale for $19.99 at Amazon. That's a saving of 43% on the list price.

Opens in a new window Credit: Amazon Amazon Fire Stick HD $19.99 at Amazon
$34.99 Save $15.00 Get Deal

Amazon's HD Fire Stick is possibly one of the retailer's best inventions, in my opinion. A streaming device that plugs into your TV (or laptop) and lets you access platforms including Prime Video, Netflix, Hulu, and even more, how great is that? No need to upgrade to a fancy new smart TV, not if you have an HDMI port and an attachment to your old TV that keeps living on.

And as of April 30, the Fire Stick HD is back on sale, now priced at just $19.99.

SEE ALSO: Amazon deal of the day: Sony's ULT Field 1 speaker is down to its best price ever

The Fire TV Stick also comes with a remote with Alexa built in, which is an added bonus to an already transformative device. The Alexa feature is a great tool for searching through multiple platforms at once to find your favorite movie or comfort show, as well as using it to ask questions or search things online. And let's not forget that with this particular Fire Stick, you'll be enjoying these shows in beautiful HD quality.

And the setup really couldn't be easier. All you need to do is pop the device into your TV's HDMI port, and that's it. You have instant access to a range of streaming platforms as well as many live channels.

Head to Amazon to grab this great deal.

SAVE $250: As of April 30, the ASUS ROG Strix G16 is on sale for $1,149.99 at Amazon. That's a saving of 18% on list price.

Opens in a new window Credit: ASUS ASUS ROG Strix G16 $1,149.99 at Amazon
$1,399.99 Save $250 Get Deal

If a new gaming laptop is at the top of your wishlist, Amazon's Daily Deals has given you a great excuse to drop some cash. With deals on TVs, phones, earbuds, laptops, and so much more, we think you'll love this great deal on the ASUS Rog Strix G16.

As of April 30, this impressive gaming laptop is reduced by 18%, now priced at just $1,149.99. This price is for the RTX4060, 1TB model.

SEE ALSO: The best gaming laptops of 2025 for PC gamers

The ASUS ROG Strix is a solid laptop, with a sleek design and strong performance. It's a great option if you're new to the world of gaming. It's built with impressively powerful hardware, including high-end graphics cards and processors.

The Strix series also has great cooling features, customizable RGB lighting, and let's be real, it looks cool. With a 16-inch screen and a 16:10 aspect ratio, you can enjoy high-quality and immersive gaming. Connectivity-wise, you're solid, with WiFi 6E support, multiple USB ports including Thunderbolt 4, HDMI 2.1, and a 3.5mm audio jack.

This deal is only available for a limited time, so head to Amazon without delay.

SAVE UP TO 57%: As of April 30, Amazon is offering limited-time deals on AMD Ryzen desktop processors. The sale includes up to 57% off models like the Ryzen 7 5700X and Ryzen 9 9950X, with prices starting at just $74.

Opens in a new window Credit: AMD AMD Ryzen 7 7800X3D $391.14 at Amazon
$449 Save $57.86 Get Deal

I’ve been putting off upgrading my CPU for months, mostly because I convinced myself that six cores was still fine. But Amazon’s latest Ryzen sale is making that logic harder to defend. Right now, you can grab a serious lineup of AMD desktop processors for up to 57% off. The Ryzen 7 5700X is down to just $129.25, and the 16-core Ryzen 9 9950X has dropped to $526. That’s not small change. It’s one of the better CPU sales I’ve seen in months.

This lineup covers pretty much every need. For gaming, the Ryzen 7 7800X3D is the clear standout. It’s not the newest on the list, but its 96MB of L3 cache gives it a real edge in titles that rely heavily on CPU latency. If your build leans AM4, the 5700X and 5800XT are strong alternatives, still capable of 100+ FPS performance and way more affordable.

SEE ALSO: Spruce up your PC with $120 off this 27-inch Samsung Odyssey gaming monitor

If you multitask like a gremlin, browser tabs everywhere, a few apps running in the background, Discord humming at all hours, the Ryzen 9 9900X and 9950X are the smart picks. With up to 32 threads, they’ll handle heavy workflows without slowing down. In my opinion, they’re some of the best chips on this list for futureproofing. You’ll pay more up front, but you’ll spend less time staring at loading bars down the line.

The best AMD Ryzen CPU deals

• AMD Ryzen 5 5500 — $74 $159 (save $85)

• AMD Ryzen 7 5700X — $129.25 $299 (save $169.75)

• AMD Ryzen 7 5800XT — $129 $249 (save $120)

• AMD Ryzen 5 7600X — $206.30 $299 (save $92.70)

• AMD Ryzen 5 9600X — $185 $279 (save $94)

• AMD Ryzen 7 9700X — $285 $359 (save $74)

• AMD Ryzen 7 7800X3D — $391.14 $449 (save $57.86)

• AMD Ryzen 9 9900X — $364 $499 (save $135)

• AMD Ryzen 9 9950X — $526 $649 (save $123)

• AMD Ryzen 9 7950X — $452 $699 (save $247)

For photo and video editors, the Ryzen 9 7950X and 9950X make a lot of sense. Both offer high clock speeds, huge cache, and the kind of processing headroom that can keep up with 4K timelines and batch exports. If you’re dealing with larger creative projects, these CPUs will save you more time than any sale ever could.

And yes, the Ryzen 5 5500 is only $74. I wouldn’t build a rig around it in 2025, but it's still serviceable for basic builds or upgrades on a tight budget, especially with the Wraith cooler included.

Just one caveat. Before you check out, make sure your motherboard is compatible. Ryzen CPUs use either AM4 or AM5 sockets depending on the generation, and they’re not cross-compatible. Buying the wrong one means either a return or a surprise motherboard upgrade you didn’t budget for.

We've officially passed the first 100 days of President Donald Trump's second term in office, and it's been a wild ride — one which most people in the U.S. apparently aren't thrilled to be on. As Jimmy Kimmel noted on Tuesday, even Fox News' polling showed a majority of respondents disapprove of Trump's job performance. Of course, when presented with these results, White House Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller said that "it's of our opinion that Fox News needs to fire its pollster."

"You don't like the poll results, you fire the pollster," Kimmel said. "It's the Donald Trump way."

Kimmel then presented a supercut of moments from the past 100 days, offering a brief overview of Trump's achievements thus far. This included Trump renaming the Gulf of Mexico to the Gulf of America, hosting a Tesla ad with Elon Musk at the White House, selling U.S. permanent residency visas for $5 million, and erroneously claiming that the price of eggs is "getting too low." It was capped off by Trump's recent remarks at the White House Easter Egg Roll, saying, "Happy Easter, and enjoy your lives."

"We're trying, but we can't," quipped Kimmel.

If you're reading this, you're looking for a little help playing Strands, the New York Times' elevated word-search game.

Strands requires the player to perform a twist on the classic word search. Words can be made from linked letters — up, down, left, right, or diagonal, but words can also change direction, resulting in quirky shapes and patterns. Every single letter in the grid will be part of an answer. There's always a theme linking every solution, along with the "spangram," a special, word or phrase that sums up that day's theme, and spans the entire grid horizontally or vertically.

SEE ALSO: Mahjong, Sudoku, free crossword, and more: Play games on Mashable

By providing an opaque hint and not providing the word list, Strands creates a brain-teasing game that takes a little longer to play than its other games, like Wordle and Connections.

If you're feeling stuck or just don't have 10 or more minutes to figure out today's puzzle, we've got all the NYT Strands hints for today's puzzle you need to progress at your preferrined pace.

SEE ALSO: Wordle today: Answer, hints for April 30 SEE ALSO: NYT Connections hints today: Clues, answers for April 30 NYT Strands hint for today’s theme: Best in class

The words are popular superlatives in high school.

Today’s NYT Strands theme plainly explained

These words are superlative categories given to students.

NYT Strands spangram hint: Is it vertical or horizontal?

Today's NYT Strands spangram is vertical.

NYT Strands spangram answer today

Today's spangram is Yearbook.

Featured Video For You Strands 101: How to win NYT’s latest word game NYT Strands word list for April 30

• Athlete

• Dressed

• Hair

• Friends

• Yearbook

• Eyes

• Smike

• Couple

Looking for other daily online games? Mashable's Games page has more hints, and if you're looking for more puzzles, Mashable's got games now!

Check out our games hub for Mahjong, Sudoku, free crossword, and more.

Not the day you're after? Here's the solution to today's Strands.

Well, that was fast. Just two days after Alphabet CEO Sundar Pichai said Waymo is considering selling robotaxis to individuals one day, the company signed a deal with Toyota that could make this a reality.

In a joint press release, Waymo and Toyota said they've reached a "preliminary agreement" to "explore a collaboration focused on accelerating the development and deployment of autonomous driving technologies."

The two companies plan to develop a new autonomous vehicle platform, and are looking to build the next-generation of personally owned vehicles. "The scope of the collaboration will continue to evolve through ongoing discussions," the press release says.

While all that sounds very tentative, it boils down to this: Waymo has the self-driving tech, and Toyota has the cars. Sometime down the line, the two companies might start selling Toyota-built cars with Waymo's autonomous driving technology to end users.

Waymo's current fleet of robotaxis, operating in the San Francisco Bay Area, Los Angeles, Phoenix, and Austin, consists of Jaguar I-Pace vehicles fitted with a lot additional cameras, ultrasonic sensors, and LIDAR sensors. Waymo does not build or sell cars to individual users; Toyota, on the other hand, is the world's largest automaker, known for its reliable cars sold under the Toyota and Lexus brands.

It's unclear (and probably too early to tell) whether the two companies will launch a car under an entirely new brand, or if it will it be a smarter Toyota. For now, it appears that Waymo will incorporate some Toyotas into its fleet and lend some of its self-driving tech to Toyota cars.

"We look forward to exploring this strategic partnership, incorporating their vehicles into our ride-hailing fleet and bringing the magic of Waymo's autonomous driving technology to Toyota customers," said Waymo co-CEO Takedra Mawakana, in a statement.

SEE ALSO: Tesla has launched a robotaxi service, but only for employees

The two companies better hurry up with their plans, because Tesla is planning to start selling robotaxis to customers soon. The company is currently testing an autonomous ride-hailing service in Austin and the San Francisco Bay area, with plans to start producing the fully autonomous Cybercab vehicle in 2026.

As a senior leader, your words carry weight. So even if generative AI can mimic your communication style, that doesn’t mean you should use it for every message. Here’s how to leverage the technology wisely. Be transparent about AI use. If employees learn you’ve used AI without telling them, it can erode trust. Communicate how […]

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TL;DR: Replace your monthly Dropbox subscription with a 10TB Internxt Cloud Storage Lifetime Plan on sale for $279.99 with code STORAGE20.

Opens in a new window Credit: Internxt Internxt Cloud Storage Lifetime Subscription: 10TB Plan $279.99
$2,999 Save $2,719.01 with code STORAGE20 Get Deal

Cloud storage subscriptions are expensive, even if they don't seem like it at first. Dropbox's cheapest plan is $9.99 per month for 2TB of cloud storage. It seems cheap, but that's a little under $120 every year, and you're never actually done paying for it. 

If you want a cheaper alternative to Dropbox, Internxt just dropped the price for a 10TB cloud storage lifetime subscription. Now it's only $279.99 with code STORAGE20. 

Pay once for a lifetime of cloud storage

Space isn't the only thing this cloud storage has going for it. Internxt is committed to keeping your data safe. That's why they use end-to-end encryption to secure files during transfer and at rest. Its zero-knowledge architecture means that files are encrypted in a way that Internxt itself cannot access. You're the only one who has access to your files.

You don't even have to manually upload. You can sync all your files and photos across platforms, even Linux. This focus on privacy even extends to its open-source design, so users can inspect the code for transparency and security.

This subscription lasts for life with no recurring payments of any kind. You can access your cloud storage on unlimited devices, too. 

Use code STORAGE20 to get an Internxt 10TB Cloud Storage Lifetime Subscription on sale for $279.99. 

StackSocial prices subject to change.

This content originally appeared on Mashable for a US audience and has been adapted for the UK audience.

Watching TV is an all-timer hobby. Who doesn't love a good binge in front of the box? There's nothing better than a night on the sofa with your latest Netflix obsession.

But there are distractions everywhere — even in your home — which can interrupt your TV enjoyment. On the flip side of that, you might have housemates who get disturbed by your late night bingeing. Or perhaps you're hearing impaired and need some help listening to dialogue? If any of those sound familiar, we recommend investing in a good pair of headphones for watching TV.

Wireless headphones will make it easier to fully immerse into a show or movie — and without bothering people around you. If you need help choosing the best pair for you, here's some useful information and a selection of the best headset options.

Do you need headphones for watching TV?

Reasons for having headphones for the TV can vary. As we've already outlined, viewers may be hard of hearing, or may live in busy households. But, not only that, in this day and age of everyone having different devices — often in the same room — it just makes sense to have good headphones. Even if you're not using them all the time. And, hey, there's always the option of getting a pair that double up for TV and everyday use.

What makes headphones good for watching TV?

Sound is important when you’re buying any pair of headphones, but if you’re buying specifically for watching TV, you'll need to consider the sort of things you’ll be watching. Will you need heavy bass for the rumbling carnage of action movies? Or nuanced detail for quieter, emotionally-charged moments? Or maybe all-round, un-fussy performance for casually watching sport and comedy? Also consider headphones with noise cancelling technology. And wireless headphones are probably best — if you’re relaxing in front of the TV, you don’t want to actually be wired into it. In fact, check out the wireless range too, in case you like to move around your home while you're still connected to the TV audio.

What’s best, Bluetooth or radio frequency technology?

Most wireless headphones are Bluetooth-enabled. Bluetooth is now the standard technology for syncing your headphones to a smart device. While Bluetooth is a good option for podcasts or music on your smartphone or laptop, it's not necessarily the best tech for wirelessly watching TV. Bluetooth sometimes creates a lag between the action on-screen and the sound in your headphones, which puts the picture and audio slightly out of sync. Believe it or not, headphones that use old school radio frequency technology (RF) are sometimes better for watching TV because lag or latency is almost non-existent, ensuring that the picture and audio are virtually seamless. This doesn’t mean there are no good Bluetooth options out there — there are great Bluetooth headphones that use codecs but minimise latency — but it's something to consider.

What are Bluetooth codecs?

If you do want to buy a Bluetooth-enabled set of headphones, check out which codecs they support. These encode and decode digital audio signals. Codecs decode at a specific bitrate, which determines whether the headphones have a high or low latency (AKA lag), which is measured in milliseconds. High latency means your picture and sound may be out of sync. Look out for headphones with low latency that support Qaulcomm’s aptX codecs, such as aptX Adaptive, which are generally rated as the best codecs for streaming video content or hooking up to a TV.

Do you need noise cancelling headphones to watch TV?

Ultimately, it’s down to personal preference (or how noisy your home is!) but if you want to totally immerse yourself in a movie or show, noise cancelling headphones will shut you off from the outside world and put you right at the middle of the action. There are two kinds of noise cancellation — passive and active. Passive noise cancellation is achieved by the build of the headphones, which physically blocks out noise. Active noise cancellation (ANC) uses a system of small microphones that pick up incoming sounds and create anti-noise sound waves to cancel them out.

What are the best headphones for watching TV?

If that seems like a lot of information to take in, don’t worry. We've scoured the product listings and online reviews, and we've come up with a list of headphones for watching TV, including devices from top brands such as Sony and Sennheiser. There's something for everyone and every budget. Take your time to consider everything on the list and weigh up these choices against your TV watching habits.

These are the best wireless headphones for watching TV in 2025.

If you like playing daily word games like Wordle, then Hurdle is a great game to add to your routine.

There are five rounds to the game. The first round sees you trying to guess the word, with correct, misplaced, and incorrect letters shown in each guess. If you guess the correct answer, it'll take you to the next hurdle, providing the answer to the last hurdle as your first guess. This can give you several clues or none, depending on the words. For the final hurdle, every correct answer from previous hurdles is shown, with correct and misplaced letters clearly shown.

An important note is that the number of times a letter is highlighted from previous guesses does necessarily indicate the number of times that letter appears in the final hurdle.

If you find yourself stuck at any step of today's Hurdle, don't worry! We have you covered.

SEE ALSO: Hurdle: Everything you need to know to find the answers Hurdle Word 1 hint

What you do to coffee beans.

SEE ALSO: Apple’s new M3 MacBook Air is $300 off at Amazon. And yes, I’m tempted. Hurdle Word 1 answer

GRIND

Hurdle Word 2 hint

A nook.

SEE ALSO: Wordle today: Answer, hints for April 30, 2025 Hurdle Word 2 Answer

NICHE

Hurdle Word 3 hint

The opposite of south.

SEE ALSO: NYT Connections Sports Edition today: Hints and answers for April 30 SEE ALSO: NYT Connections hints today: Clues, answers for April 30, 2025 Hurdle Word 3 answer

NORTH

Hurdle Word 4 hint

A state of matter.

SEE ALSO: NYT Strands hints, answers for April 29 Hurdle Word 4 answer

SOLID

Final Hurdle hint

An animal that moves slowly.

SEE ALSO: Mahjong, Sudoku, free crossword, and more: Games available on Mashable Hurdle Word 5 answer

SLOTH

If you're looking for more puzzles, Mashable's got games now! Check out our games hub for Mahjong, Sudoku, free crossword, and more.

Tonight at LlamaCon, Meta's first inaugural AI developer conference, an interview between Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg and Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella revealed just how much of their products' code is written by AI.

During the closing keynote for LlamaCon, Zuckerberg asked Nadella how much code within Microsoft is now written by AI. Nadella's response? "Maybe 20 to 30 percent of the code that is inside of our repos today, and some of our projects, are probably all written by [AI] software."

But when Nadella flipped the question back to Zuckerberg, his estimate for Meta's near future was even higher. Zuckerberg said he didn't have the current numbers off the top of his head, but that "our bet is sort of that in the next year... maybe half the development is going to be done by AI as opposed to people, and that will kind of increase from there." Based on the exchange, it's not entirely clear if Zuckerberg was referring to Llama specifically or Meta overall.

Regardless, that sounds like a big number for a technology that still feels very nascent to the public at large. However, in the tech world, the impressive coding abilities of AI models are being aggressively utilized to generate new code for those same AI models.

For context, Google CEO Sundar Pichai recently revealed that AI generates about a quarter of the company's code (per Engadget). Typically, AI is used to increase human programmers' productivity, sometimes dramatically so, rather than replacing humans entirely.

Later, as the conversation turned towards agentic systems automating more of their respective businesses, Zuckerberg predicted "every engineer is effectively gonna end up being more of like a tech lead" where they each have "their own little army of agents that they work with."

The keynote spanned from the technical, like the current state of agentic AI, to the philosophical, when Nadella called for new ways of measuring AI progress. For instance, he wondered what it would take for AI technology to grow the GDP of the developing world by 10 percent?

SEE ALSO: Meta has finally launched its ChatGPT competitor

As two of the most powerful tech leaders in the world, Zuckerberg and Nadella have strong beliefs in AI's potential and big, global plans to see them through.

Nadella was an interesting choice as the interviewee of the LlamaCon keynote. As the leader of Microsoft, Nadella is heavily intertwined with OpenAI, one of Meta's chief rivals.

Disclosure: Ziff Davis, Mashable’s parent company, in April filed a lawsuit against OpenAI, alleging it infringed Ziff Davis copyrights in training and operating its AI systems.

It's no secret that Mario Kart World is the main reason to get a Nintendo Switch 2 at launch. I even got to play it myself at the Nintendo launch event. But what else will you be able to play if/when you get bored of that game?

Luckily, Nintendo has an extensive list of Switch 2 launch titles available to play on June 5. As is usually the case with new consoles, many of them are ports of older games. However, in this instance, that's not such a bad thing; there are plenty of people out there who only had a Nintendo Switch, meaning they may have missed out big games like Cyberpunk 2077.

Assuming you've got your Switch 2 preorder on deck, here are five of the best Nintendo Switch 2 launch titles to keep in mind ahead of June 5 — besides Mario Kart World.

Opens in a new window Credit: Nintendo Mario Kart World $79.99 at Target
Release Date: June 5, 2025 Pre-order Here The Nintendo Switch 2 launch titles I can't wait to play

Again, a few of these games already came out elsewhere, but they might still be new to Nintendo fans.

Fast Fusion Looks fast. Credit: Shin'en/Nintendo

One of the best latter-day Wii U games was a little futuristic racer called Fast Racing Neo. This, in turn, became one of the best Switch 1 launch titles, in an upgraded form called Fast RMX. Now, developer Shin'en is back with a long-awaited sequel that promises new ideas with the same technical excellence as its predecessors.

Shin'en hasn't said much about Fast Fusion yet, other than that it will be out at launch and will only cost $14.99, making it the anti-Mario Kart in one way. But it looks the part of a futuristic arcade-style racing game with a sharp sense of speed, gorgeous visuals, split-screen and online multiplayer, and a unique car fusion system that should set it apart from the competition. And again, it's just $15.

Opens in a new window Credit: Nintendo Fast Fusion (digital) $14.99 at Nintendo
Release Date: June 5, 2025 Pre-order Here Yakuza 0 Director's Cut Expect a lot of this. Credit: Sega/Nintendo

The first port of an old game on this list can be traced all the way back to the PlayStation 3. Yakuza 0 has been around the block a few times, just never on a Nintendo platform before. Let me tell you, if you're a person who sticks close to Nintendo and hasn't played this one yet: Make it a priority.

The Switch 2 version adds some bonuses, like new English voice acting and a weird-looking multiplayer fighting mode, but Yakuza 0 could've been ported as-is, and that would've been fine. It's an oddball action-adventure game set in a highly period-accurate version of urban, red-light district Japan in the late 1980s. Aside from the very fun and very violent combat, it's also got interactive karaoke, mahjong, and all kinds of other cultural delights for you to take part in on the side.

Yakuza 0 also has a terrific story with two excellent protagonists. If you've ever been curious about the long-running Yakuza series, this is the best place to start.

Opens in a new window Credit: Nintendo Yakuza 0 Director's Cut $49.94 at Amazon
Release Date: June 5, 2025 Pre-order Here Cyberpunk 2077: Ultimate Edition All the Keanu your Switch 2 can handle. Credit: CD Projekt Red/Nintendo

The Switch 2 port of Cyberpunk 2077 might be a good litmus test for what the Switch 2 is capable of on a technical level, and that alone makes it compelling, at least to me.

This game famously had to be pulled from the PlayStation store after launch in 2020 because the PS4 version was so terrible, and the Switch 2 is about as powerful as a PS4. Developer CD Projekt Red has had years to sort Cyberpunk out, though, and the game is genuinely in an excellent state these days. Between that and the highly impressive Switch 1 port of The Witcher 3, it's easy to see a world where a lot of people experience Cyberpunk for the first time on Switch 2 and have a perfectly decent time doing so.

Opens in a new window Credit: CD Projekt Red Cyberpunk 2077: Ultimate Edition $69.99 at Amazon
Release Date: June 5, 2025 Pre-order Here Deltarune 'Deltarune' sorta defies explanation. Credit: 8-4/Nintendo

In 2015, indie developer Toby Fox broke the internet with a humble little pixel-based RPG called Undertale. Since then, Fox has been following up on Undertale with Deltarune, an expanded successor with different combat and an episodic release format, but the same off-beat sense of humor and catchy musical direction.

The first two chapters of Deltarune have been out for a while, but chapters 3 and 4 (in a package that includes all of them) are shipping at launch with Switch 2. If you've already been committed to the Deltarune train, why not continue on Switch 2? If not, maybe this is a good place to start, too. These are games that need to be experienced to be understood.

Opens in a new window Credit: Nintendo Deltarune $24.99 at Nintendo
Release Date: June 5, 2025 Pre-order Here Kunitsu-Gami: Path of the Goddess One of 2024's most underrated games comes to Switch 2. Credit: Capcom/Nintendo

Our last game is another port, though the original only came out in 2024 and sorta fell under the radar on other consoles.

Kunitsu-Gami: Path of the Goddess is a bit of a weird one. It's kind of a third-person hack-and-slash action game, but also kind of a strategic tower defense game. In totality, it's very unique, cool to look at, and fun to play. Capcom has a bit of an under-discussed banger here, so maybe the Switch 2 launch can be a good way for people who missed Kunitsu-Gami the first time around to catch it now.

Opens in a new window Credit: Nintendo Kunitsu-Gami: Path of the Goddess $39.99 at Nintendo
Release Date: June 5, 2025 Pre-order Here Honorable Mention: Donkey Kong Bonanza

If none of these games are enough to whet your appetite, Donkey Kong Bananza is a non-launch Switch 2 title to look out for. DK's first starring role in a 3D platformer in 25 years comes alongside a brand new character design for one of Nintendo's oldest heroes, as well as a funky terrain destruction system that lets players destroy the entire level to get where they're trying to go. You'll have to wait a bit for it, but not long, as Bananza is out July 17.

Opens in a new window Credit: Nintendo Donkey Kong Bananza $69.99 at Target
Release Date: July 17, 2025 Pre-order Here Where to preorder Nintendo Switch 2 games

Most retailers are offering Nintendo Switch 2 games for preorder, so your first stop for picking up a new title is one of these retailers. Below, find links to each online storefront where you can shop a repository of Switch 2 games available right now.

• Amazon

• Target

• Walmart

• GameStop

• Best Buy

More Switch 2 games available for preorder

• Kirby and the Forgotten Land + Star Crossed World

• The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild (Switch 2 Edition)

• Street Fighter 6 Years 1-2 Fighters Edition

• Cyberpunk 2077: Ultimate Edition

• Sonic X Shadow Generations

• Bravely Default Flying Fairy HD

• Super Mario Party Jamboree

• Rune Factory: Guardians of Azuma

• Daemon X Machina: Titanic Scion

• Puyo Puyo Tetris 2S

• Story of Seasons: Grand Bazaar

• Raidou Remastered: The Mystery of the Soulless Army

• No Sleep For Kaname Date - From AI: THE SOMNIUM FILES Aiba Edition

• Yakuza 0: Director's Cut

ChatGPT — and generative AI tools like it — have long had a reputation for being a bit too agreeable. It's been clear for a while now that the default ChatGPT experience is designed to nod along with most of what you say. But even that tendency can go too far, apparently.

In a thread on X posted on April 27, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman acknowledged that "GPT-4o updates have made the personality too sycophant-y and annoying." And today, Altman announced on X that the company was fully rolling back the 4o update for paid and free users alike.

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Normally, ChatGPT’s role as your own personal digital hypeman doesn't raise too many eyebrows. But users have started complaining online about the 4o model's overly agreeable personality. In one exchange, a user ran through the classic trolley problem, choosing between saving a toaster or some cows and cats. The AI reassured them they’d made the right call by siding with the toaster.

"In pure utilitarian terms, life usually outweighs objects," ChatGPT responded. "But if the toaster meant more to you… then your action was internally consistent."

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There are plenty more examples showing just how extreme ChatGPT’s sycophancy had gotten — and it was enough for Altman to admit that it "glazes too much" and needed to be fixed.

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On a more serious note, users also pointed out that there could be a real danger in AI chatbots that agree with everything you say. Sure, posts about people telling ChatGPT they're a religious prophet or simply fishing for an ego boost can be amusing. But it’s not hard to imagine how a "sycophant-y" chatbot could validate genuine delusions and worsen mental health crises.

In his thread on X, Altman said that the company was working on fixes for the 4o model's personality problems. He promised to share more updates "in the coming days."

Disclosure: Ziff Davis, Mashable’s parent company, in April filed a lawsuit against OpenAI, alleging it infringed Ziff Davis copyrights in training and operating its AI systems.

X's user base in the European Union is now officially lower than it was prior to Elon Musk's acquisition of the company.

And that's according to a new report from Elon Musk's X (formerly Twitter, but you knew that). The social media platform now has a total of 94.8 million monthly active users in the EU.

That's a loss of roughly 11 million European users from X's previous transparency report, as highlighted by Social Media Today.

Mashable previously reported on X's declining user base in the EU last fall. Now, we know that X's European user base has continued to drop. In 2022, before Musk acquired the social media platform, the company had more than 100 million users in Europe.

How do we know X's user base is dropping in the EU?

As part of the EU's Digital Services Act (DSA), tech companies like X are required to provide content moderation transparency reports throughout the year. As a result, X is forced to share internal information, such as its monthly active user base, that it might otherwise keep private.

This week, X published its April DSA transparency report, the first of 2025. The report covers October 2024 through March 2025.

The latest report shows that X's user base in the EU has declined by more than 10.5 percent since its October 2024 report, which covered the previous period between April trough September of that year.

X saw the biggest decline in France with a loss of more than 2.7 million monthly active users, dropping from 20.1 million users to 17.4 million users in between this transparency report and the last. X also lost nearly 2 million users in Poland, close to 1.5 million users in Germany, and more than 1 million users in Spain. As Social Media Today points out, the small countries of Luxembourg and Lithuania each saw a quarter of their X users leave the platform.

X has been shedding users for a while

Last month, Elon Musk's AI company xAI acquired the social media platform at close to the same sum that Musk originally paid for the company in 2022. Since then, Musk and company have attempted to paint a rosy picture of X's performance, which has seen a decline in revenue and repeated controversies since Musk's takeover. 

X did see a jump in traffic and returning advertisers (including big names like Apple) following the election of Donald Trump last November. However, X's traffic spike following the 2024 election proved to be temporary, and analysts projected that Musk's social media platform would continue to lose users this year.

While X is not required to report active user data outside of the EU, a report in the Financial Times last September looked at third-party analytics and determined that X lost nearly one-fifth of its daily active user base in the U.S. and one-third of its daily active user base in the United Kingdom.

And it makes sense, when you consider the global protests against Tesla, which have resulted in Musk's EV company's profits dropping a whopping 71 percent.

In the thick of Meta’s first-ever AI developer conference, LlamaCon, CEO Mark Zuckerberg hit the launch button on Meta AI — the company’s full-throttle answer to OpenAI’s ChatGPT.

According to Meta’s April 29 press release, the new standalone AI app is built on the company’s latest Llama 4 model. It’s pitched as a hyper-personalized assistant for users already living inside the Meta ecosystem: WhatsApp, Instagram, Facebook — you know the drill. In a choice Instagram video, Zuckerberg, framed in a pair of Meta Ray-Ban glasses, pitched the app as a product built for voice-first conversations.

SEE ALSO: I tried the new Meta AI app: 3 unexpected features View this post on Instagram

One standout feature is the Discover feed. It lets you see how your connections use Meta AI, surfacing prompts they’ve tried (with their permission). Meta says you’re in full control over what, if anything, gets shared. Since personalization is at the heart of the experience, it’s worth noting: opting out of having your data scraped to train Meta’s AI is nearly impossible.

The discover feed will also amplify any generative AI trends that pop off. Credit: Meta

The app is also meant to pair with Meta’s Ray-Ban smart glasses. You can kick off a conversation via voice through the glasses, then jump into the app or web interface later to pick up the thread. Other than that, though, the app functions the same as it does on Messenger and IG, just now wrapped in a separate, slick interface accessible from both your phone and desktop.

With LlamaCon underway in California, this standalone launch isn’t just a product drop — it’s a litmus test. Meta needs to show investors and developers that its AI ambitions are alive and accelerating. Back in January, Zuckerberg committed a staggering $60 billion to U.S.-based data centers to power Meta AI.

The launch could also be the nudge OpenAI needs to hit the gas on its own social-facing ChatGPT app. CEO Sam Altman joked about the idea months ago, when Meta first teased its standalone AI app. Now, signs point to OpenAI quietly building something that might make that joke a reality.

In the mood for a magic trick? Then check out the trailer for Lionsgate's Now You See Me: Now You Don't, the third film in the Now You See Me franchise. And guess what? A fourth is already on the way.

SEE ALSO: Summer Movie Preview: What's coming to theaters and streaming?

Now You See Me: Now You Don't reunites the team of thieving magicians known as the Four Horsemen: J. Daniel Atlas (Jesse Eisenberg), Jack Wilder (Dave Franco), Henley Reeves (Isla Fisher), and Merritt McKinney (Woody Harrelson). But they're not alone.

On the advice of a magical tarot card, Atlas has recruited three young magicians to aid him in his next heist, played by Barbie's Ariana Greenblatt, The Holdovers' Dominic Sessa, and I Saw the TV Glow's Justice Smith. Their mission? To take down a criminal family syndicate, led by Rosamund Pike in a villainous role.

Zombieland director Ruben Fleischer helms Now You See Me: Now You Don't, which also sees Morgan Freeman returning as master magician Thaddeus Bradley.

"Eight magicians against a worldwide criminal network. I like our chances," Greenblatt's character says.

Notably missing from the trailer is Mark Ruffalo as Dylan Rhodes, but maybe we just don't see him yet, you know?

Check out the trailer above for more dazzling escapes and sleight of hand, including body swaps, dress changes, and classic card tricks.

Now You See Me: Now You Don't hits theaters Nov. 14.

Maybe you’ve noticed: Siri doesn’t quite sound like Siri anymore.

It’s not the most dramatic shift. Rather, it's a different lilt to its tone or a slight tonal drift. However, it's just enough to make you pause and ask, "Hey, Siri, did your voice change?"

Occasionally, Google search trends light up with people wondering whether Siri's voice is different — or, rather, whether the voice assistant's many voices are different. Maybe we’re all just spiraling into collective audio gaslighting.

Reddit Reddit Reddit Reddit

Across the internet, users are reporting that Siri’s voice has turned flat, unnatural, stern, and oddly disengaged. Gone is the upbeat, more conversational tone we’re used to. The shift seems to hit hardest with the Australian, Irish, and American voices. So, what’s going on?

There’s no need to panic. The wave of online chatter that kicked off in December points back to one culprit: the iOS 18 update and its new Apple Intelligence features. That subtle tonal shift you’re picking up on? It’s likely tied to how Siri now operates with the latest software updates.

With the iPhone 16 and iOS 18 rollout, Apple quietly tweaked Siri’s voice and natural language processing, particularly in how it meshes with the newly introduced Apple Intelligence. At the time, Apple called it "The start of a new era for Siri." And in the iOS 18 release notes, Apple said, "Siri sounds more natural, expressive, and clear, and is now synthesized entirely on device by Apple Intelligence new language models."

Of course, how Siri's new voice sounds to your ear is very subjective.

As one user put it in a December 2024 Apple Support Community forum thread, "Managed to get original Siri back by disabling Apple intelligence. Will happily go without AI," said user VRBe. Another user replied, "Yep, that worked. I disabled Apple Intelligence, and Siri’s voice is back to the way it was pre iOS 18. I’ll use Apple Intelligence, as soon as you put the voice back to the way it was."

Digging deeper into that thread, two additional users noted that disabling Apple Intelligence (yes, it’s opt-out) brings back the pre-iOS 18 version of Siri’s voice. The December iOS 18.2 update may have also reset Siri’s voice to its default setting: American, Voice 1.

Credit: Screenshot courtesy of Apple Support Community

To shut off Apple Intelligence, head to Settings > Apple Intelligence & Siri > and toggle off Apple Intelligence. Simple as that. Mashable reached out to Apple for clarification on the changes to Siri's voice, but as of now, there has been no official word. In the meantime, that toggle might be your best bet.

Congress has passed a bill that forces tech companies to take action against certain deepfakes and revenge porn posted on their platforms.

In a 409-2 vote on Monday, the U.S. House of Representatives passed the "Take It Down" Act, which has received bipartisan support. The bill also received vocal support from celebrities and First Lady Melania Trump. The bill already passed the Senate in a vote last month.

The Take It Down Act will now be sent to President Donald Trump, who is expected to sign it into law.

First introduced by Republican Senator Ted Cruz and Democratic Senator Amy Klobuchar in 2024, the Take It Down Act would require that tech companies take quick action against nonconsensual intimate imagery. Platforms would be required to remove such content within 48 hours of a takedown request. The Federal Trade Commission could then sue platforms that do not comply with such requests.

In addition to targeting tech platforms, the Take It Down Act also carves out punishments, which include fines and potential jail time, for those who create and share such imagery. The new law would make it a federal crime to publish — or even threaten to publish — explicit nonconsensual images, which would include revenge porn and deepfake imagery generated with AI.

Digital rights groups have shared their concerns regarding the Take It Down Act. Activists have said that the bill could be weaponized to censor legally protected speech, and that legal content could be inaccurately flagged for removal.

Despite these concerns, the Take It Down Act even received support from the tech platforms it seeks to police, such as Snapchat and Roblox.

Congress isn't finished addressing AI and deepfakes this year either. Both the NO FAKES Act of 2025 and Content Origin Protection and Integrity from Edited and Deepfaked Media Act of 2025 have also been introduced this session. The former seeks to protect individuals from having their voice replicated by AI without their consent, whereas the latter looks to protect original works and require transparency around AI-generated content.