The European Union has opened a formal investigation into whether Snapchat has breached Digital Services Act (DSA) regulations regarding the safeguarding of children using its app. 

Regulators say that the company, whose audience demographic has always skewed young, may not be doing enough to protect minors from grooming and “recruitment for criminal purposes.” The EU is also looking into whether Snapchat’s younger users are too easily accessing information on how to buy illegal drugs and age-restricted products.

Brussels argues that while Snapchat requires users to be at least 13 years of age to sign up for an account, its self-declaration age assurance system may not be an adequate means of ensuring those younger than the minimum age can’t engage with the platform. The European Commission also says the current measures fail to assess whether users are younger than 17 years old, which it says is necessary for an “age-appropriate experience.” It also alleges that adults are able to exploit the current system to lie about their own age and impersonate minors.

Investigators believe that the app itself doesn’t allow for other users to report accounts they suspect are being used by people younger than the minimum age requirements. Moreover, they argue that reporting illegal content found on the app is not easy enough, and that Snapchat may not be informing its users about “possibilities for redress.”

Other issues being looked at by the European Commission include child and teen accounts being recommended to other users by Snapchat’s Find Friends feature and insufficient guidance on available account safety features. 

The investigators are now in the process of gathering evidence, sending out interview invitations and requesting information from Snap. The Commission says the investigation is based on analysis of the last three years of risk assessment reports filed by Snapchat, as well as an information request it sent on October 10 in 2025.

“The safety and wellbeing of all Snapchatters is a top priority, and our teams have worked for years to raise the bar on safety,” a Snapchat spokesperson said in a statement to Engadget. “Snapchat is designed to help people communicate with close friends and family in a positive, trusted environment, with privacy and safety built in from the start – including additional protections for teens. As online risks evolve, we continuously review, strengthen, and invest in these safeguards.” 

The company added that it has acted proactively and transparently in its efforts to meet the DSA’s requirements, and said it would fully cooperate with the Commission throughout its investigation.

Snap is one of a number of social media companies currently facing increased scrutiny regarding the safety of minors using its platform. In 2023, the company added new features designed to make it harder for teenagers to connect with strangers. One of these measures involved increasing the amount of mutual friends users must have before appearing in search and suggested accounts.

Along with TikTok, the company recently settled a lawsuit that accused its platform of causing social media addiction. The case was brought by a 20-year-old woman who said she’d been harmed by addictive features on Meta, YouTube, TikTok and Snap as a child. This week, a jury ruled against Meta and YouTube in the trial, with the companies ordered to pay the woman, who was named as K.G.M in official documents, $6 million in damages.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/social-media/the-eu-is-investigating-snapchat-over-possible-child-protection-breaches-174722759.html?src=rss

The Serious Sam game franchise is back with a new entry, giving the FPS series a co-op roguelite twist. Basically it’s getting the Nightreign treatment in the same way Elden Ring did.

The latest title is Serious Sam: Shatterverse, where teams of up to five players will take on waves of perennial foe Mental’s monster goons. Each run will offer the usual roguelite approach of upgrade options to make your team more powerful. And if you’re a long-time fan of the series, the trailer has plenty of the same broad, loud humor; for instance, the three upgrade cards shown are all ball jokes. Behavior Interactive, the studio behind Dead by Daylight, is helming the project.

Serious Sam: Shatterverse will arrive on Xbox Series X/S, Xbox on PC and Xbox Cloud some time this year. Considering the first quarter is nearly over, the team is probably targeting the second half of 2026, but that’s only a guess.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/gaming/xbox/serious-sam-shatterverse-will-hit-xbox-platforms-this-year-174620271.html?src=rss

File this one under “things that might have a shot after the midterms.” On Wednesday, Senator Bernie Sanders (I-VT) and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) introduced the Artificial Intelligence Data Center Moratorium Act. The bill would require an immediate pause on data center construction until specific new regulations are passed.

The legislation aims to address the problem that AI is advancing faster than Washington’s regulatory response (basically none) has kept pace. Despite its benefits, the technology poses grave threats to the job market and the environment. Rapidly advancing deepfakes could soon leave people unable to determine truth from fiction. (That is, more than online propaganda already has.) AI also makes mass surveillance easier than ever, potentially giving unelected tech leaders unfettered control over society.

“Last year alone, AI was responsible for over 54,000 layoffs nationwide,” Rep. Ocasio-Cortez said in a press conference. “And when we talk about those jobs, it’s not just a number. These are industries. These are communities. These are families… All of this harm has occurred not in spite of, but because of, the absence of federal legislation to regulate AI.”

SOPA Images via Getty Images

The bill would mandate not only an immediate pause on new data center construction but also on the upgrading of existing ones. This moratorium would only be lifted after one or more laws were passed to provide federal oversight of AI products.

First, AI products would need to be proven safe for humanity. (That includes not just physical safety, but also areas like civil rights, privacy and public health.) The wealth AI generates would need to be shared with the American people, not just the billionaire tech bros pulling the strings. Protections would need to be in place to safeguard against mass unemployment. (Increasingly, companies are flat-out admitting that their layoffs are due to AI automation.)

The legislation would also require future data centers to be environmentally safe. They would need to avoid increasing electricity or other utility bills for Americans. AI data centers would have to create union jobs “with strong labor standards.” Communities affected by them would be empowered to approve or reject their construction or upgrades. And no government subsidies could be provided for them.

“A moratorium will give us time,” Sen. Sanders said. “Time to understand the risks. Time to protect working families. Time to defend our democracy. And time to ensure that technology works for all of us, not just the few.”

Tom Williams via Getty Images

On the one hand, these could be popular proposals. In a December poll, 60 percent of Americans — including majorities of Democrats, Republicans and independents — said they supported more AI regulation.

However, in Washington’s current environment, well, don’t get your hopes up. AI companies are pouring enormous sums of money into campaigns for both political parties. The industry spent at least $83 million in federal elections last year — and that was an off-year without national elections. And of course, anti-regulatory Republicans currently control the presidency, both chambers of Congress and (essentially) the Supreme Court.

So, fat chance it goes anywhere right now. But depending on how the 2026 midterms (and beyond) shake out… who knows? One can dream, anyway.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/ai/sanders-and-ocasio-cortez-introduce-a-bill-to-pause-us-data-center-construction-174451974.html?src=rss

English Wikipedia has banned the use of generative AI when writing or rewriting articles. The platform says it came to this decision because using AI to whip up copy “often violates several of Wikipedia’s core content policies.”

There are a couple of minor exceptions. Editors can use large language models (LLMs) to refine their own writing, but only if the copy is checked for accuracy. The policy states that this is because LLMs “can go beyond what you ask of them and change the meaning of the text such that it is not supported by the sources cited.”

Editors can also use LLMs to assist with language translation. However, they must be fluent enough in both languages to catch errors. Once again, the information must be checked for inaccuracies.

“My genuine hope is that this can spark a broader change. Empower communities on other platforms, and see this become a grassroots movement of users deciding whether AI should be welcome in their communities, and to what extent,” Wikipedia administrator Chaotic Enby wrote. The administrator also called the policy a “pushback against enshittification and the forceful push of AI by so many companies in these last few years.”

There is one thing worth noting. Wikipedia is not a monolith. Each Wikipedia site has its own independent rules and editing teams. Some may decide to embrace LLMs. However, others may go even further. Spanish Wikipedia, for instance, has fully banned the use of LLMs, with no exceptions for refinement or translation.

Also, identifying text written by LLMs is not an exact science so Wikipedia’s human moderators could miss some spots of slop every now and again. This is more likely on pages with less frequent moderation.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/ai/wikipedia-has-banned-ai-generated-articles-173641377.html?src=rss

Ancient Slashdot reader wiredog writes: Tracy Kidder, author of “The Soul of a New Machine,” has died at the age of 80. “The Soul of a New Machine” is about the people who designed and built the Data General Nova, one of the 32 bit superminis that were released in the 1980’s just before the PC destroyed that industry. It was excerpted in The Atlantic.

“I’m going to a commune in Vermont and will deal with no unit of time shorter than a season.”

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

Ancient Slashdot reader wiredog writes: Tracy Kidder, author of “The Soul of a New Machine,” has died at the age of 80. “The Soul of a New Machine” is about the people who designed and built the Data General Nova, one of the 32 bit superminis that were released in the 1980’s just before the PC destroyed that industry. It was excerpted in The Atlantic.

“I’m going to a commune in Vermont and will deal with no unit of time shorter than a season.”

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

Ancient Slashdot reader wiredog writes: Tracy Kidder, author of “The Soul of a New Machine,” has died at the age of 80. “The Soul of a New Machine” is about the people who designed and built the Data General Nova, one of the 32 bit superminis that were released in the 1980’s just before the PC destroyed that industry. It was excerpted in The Atlantic.

“I’m going to a commune in Vermont and will deal with no unit of time shorter than a season.”

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

Many of our graphics card reviews early last year and in the early 2020s focused on the difficulties of reviewing and recommending graphics cards when the manufacturer-suggested price points effectively didn’t exist. Now, reviews of any new PC component have to contend with the much more broadly awful market for consumer PC parts as AI data center-fueled demand for RAM and flash memory chips drives up prices for DDR5 kits, SSDs, and GPUs.

In our August 2025 system guide, 32GB of DDR5 and a decent 2TB SSD would run you less than $200. Today, you’d pay between three and four times as much for similar components.

This is the context that Intel’s Core Ultra 200S Plus chips—the $199 Core Ultra 5 250K Plus and $299 Core Ultra 7 270K Plus, still codenamed Arrow Lake just like the originals—have launched into. They’re solid performers, they’re reasonably power-efficient, and for heavy multi-threaded workloads, they’re a better value than what AMD can offer for the same price (though even years-old non-X3D AMD chips retain a small edge in games).

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Following backlash, OpenAI won’t be rolling out an erotic version of ChatGPT any time soon.

According to the Financial Times, the controversial plan has been shelved “indefinitely” as OpenAI “refocuses” its attention on “core products.”

Insiders told FT that OpenAI mulled scrapping the “adult mode” plan entirely, as even its own advisors warned that ChatGPT users could form unhealthy attachments, which might harm their mental health. One advisor chillingly suggested that the tweak risked turning ChatGPT into a “sexy suicide coach.”

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Garmin’s Vivoactive watches are some of my favorites for casual fitness tracking. The Vivoactive 6 is the newest version, but right now you can get a steal on the Vivoactive 5 for just $179.99 in Amazon’s Big Spring Sale. 

Garmin vívoactive 5 Health and Fitness GPS Smartwatch

$179.95
at Amazon

$194.85
Save $14.90

$179.95
at Amazon

$194.85
Save $14.90

The Vivoactive 5 originally launched at $299.99 in 2023. When the Vivoactive 6 came out, the 5 dropped to $229.99. It’s been hovering around the $200 mark since the holiday season, but is now at $179.99, give or take a few dollars depending on which color you choose. 

For more about why I like the Vivoactives, check out my comparison of the Vivoactive 5 with the Pixel Watch 3, where the Vivoactive pulls off an underdog win. It’s cheaper, the fitness features are faster and easier to access, and it has more than a week’s worth of battery life. While I don’t have a dedicated review of the Vivoactive 5, I’d recommend reading my review of the Vivoactive 6, a similar watch. The 6 added more coaching options, and a more robust navigation system, but otherwise the differences are mostly superficial. The core features are the same on both. 

Those core features include a 42-millimeter body (that’s on the smaller size for smartwatches); a touchscreen for most features but physical buttons to start, stop and lap workouts; Garmin’s always-excellent workout tracking and analytics; and everyday conveniences like hydration and relaxation reminders, a morning report, weather forecasts, and incident detection. The Vivoactive watches also have a mode for wheelchair users that counts pushes rather than steps, and includes wheelchair and hand-cycling activities. 

We may earn a commission from links on this page. Deal pricing and availability subject to change after time of publication.

Garmin’s Vivoactive watches are some of my favorites for casual fitness tracking. The Vivoactive 6 is the newest version, but right now you can get a steal on the Vivoactive 5 for just $179.99 in Amazon’s Big Spring Sale. 

Garmin vívoactive 5 Health and Fitness GPS Smartwatch

$179.95
at Amazon

$194.85
Save $14.90

$179.95
at Amazon

$194.85
Save $14.90

The Vivoactive 5 originally launched at $299.99 in 2023. When the Vivoactive 6 came out, the 5 dropped to $229.99. It’s been hovering around the $200 mark since the holiday season, but is now at $179.99, give or take a few dollars depending on which color you choose. 

For more about why I like the Vivoactives, check out my comparison of the Vivoactive 5 with the Pixel Watch 3, where the Vivoactive pulls off an underdog win. It’s cheaper, the fitness features are faster and easier to access, and it has more than a week’s worth of battery life. While I don’t have a dedicated review of the Vivoactive 5, I’d recommend reading my review of the Vivoactive 6, a similar watch. The 6 added more coaching options, and a more robust navigation system, but otherwise the differences are mostly superficial. The core features are the same on both. 

Those core features include a 42-millimeter body (that’s on the smaller size for smartwatches); a touchscreen for most features but physical buttons to start, stop and lap workouts; Garmin’s always-excellent workout tracking and analytics; and everyday conveniences like hydration and relaxation reminders, a morning report, weather forecasts, and incident detection. The Vivoactive watches also have a mode for wheelchair users that counts pushes rather than steps, and includes wheelchair and hand-cycling activities. 

We may earn a commission from links on this page. Deal pricing and availability subject to change after time of publication.

Garmin’s Vivoactive watches are some of my favorites for casual fitness tracking. The Vivoactive 6 is the newest version, but right now you can get a steal on the Vivoactive 5 for just $179.99 in Amazon’s Big Spring Sale. 

Garmin vívoactive 5 Health and Fitness GPS Smartwatch

$179.95
at Amazon

$194.85
Save $14.90

$179.95
at Amazon

$194.85
Save $14.90

The Vivoactive 5 originally launched at $299.99 in 2023. When the Vivoactive 6 came out, the 5 dropped to $229.99. It’s been hovering around the $200 mark since the holiday season, but is now at $179.99, give or take a few dollars depending on which color you choose. 

For more about why I like the Vivoactives, check out my comparison of the Vivoactive 5 with the Pixel Watch 3, where the Vivoactive pulls off an underdog win. It’s cheaper, the fitness features are faster and easier to access, and it has more than a week’s worth of battery life. While I don’t have a dedicated review of the Vivoactive 5, I’d recommend reading my review of the Vivoactive 6, a similar watch. The 6 added more coaching options, and a more robust navigation system, but otherwise the differences are mostly superficial. The core features are the same on both. 

Those core features include a 42-millimeter body (that’s on the smaller size for smartwatches); a touchscreen for most features but physical buttons to start, stop and lap workouts; Garmin’s always-excellent workout tracking and analytics; and everyday conveniences like hydration and relaxation reminders, a morning report, weather forecasts, and incident detection. The Vivoactive watches also have a mode for wheelchair users that counts pushes rather than steps, and includes wheelchair and hand-cycling activities.