Netflix is continuing to double down on podcasts, with the streaming service’s announcement that it has hired talent to host two original shows for its platform. The first show stars NFL Hall of Famer-turned-analyst Michael Irvin and the second is a talk show for former Saturday Night Live cast member Pete Davidson.

The White House with Michael Irvin premieres January 19. The abode in the title refers to a building near the Dallas Cowboys facilities rather than the seat of US presidential power, but the overlap was intentional. “In a crowded media landscape, recognition matters — and few names carry the same immediate weight,” Irvin said. The podcast will have new episodes twice weekly with a rotating panel of co-hosts and guests covering sports news, commentary and analysis. 

The other project is titled The Pete Davidson Show, and the comedian will host weekly discussions with special guests. Episodes will primarily be filmed in Davidson’s garage. The Netflix exclusive premieres its first episode on January 30 at 12:01AM PT.

These programs will join a lineup of other video podcasts from iHeartRadio’s library after the media company inked a deal with Netflix in December 2025. Netflix also landed access to begin streaming some Spotify programming this year.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/entertainment/streaming/netflix-will-air-new-video-podcasts-from-pete-davidson-and-michael-irvin-this-month-224353011.html?src=rss

Bandcamp has announced a ban on music made wholly or substantially by generative AI, aiming to protect human creativity and prohibit AI impersonation of artists. Here’s what the music platform had to say: … Something that always strikes us as we put together a roundup like this is the sheer quantity of human creativity and passion that artists express on Bandcamp every single day. The fact that Bandcamp is home to such a vibrant community of real people making incredible music is something we want to protect and maintain. Today, in line with that goal, we’re articulating our policy on generative AI. We want musicians to keep making music, and for fans to have confidence that the music they find on Bandcamp was created by humans.

Our guidelines for generative AI in music and audio are as follows:
– Music and audio that is generated wholly or in substantial part by AI is not permitted on Bandcamp.
– Any use of AI tools to impersonate other artists or styles is strictly prohibited in accordance with our existing policies prohibiting impersonation and intellectual property infringement.

If you encounter music or audio that appears to be made entirely or with heavy reliance on generative AI, please use our reporting tools to flag the content for review by our team. We reserve the right to remove any music on suspicion of being AI generated. We will be sure to communicate any updates to the policy as the rapidly changing generative AI space develops. Given the response around this to our previous posts, we hope this news is welcomed. We wish you all an amazing 2026. […]

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JBL portable speakers are popular for two simple reasons: They sound great, and they stand the test of time. I’ve had my JBL Charge 3 for years, and it’s still thumping powerful beats just like when I first got it. If you get a chance to buy an older JBL speaker at a discount, you can rest assured you’re getting a quality product at a good price—and that’s what Woot is offering right now. You can currently pick up a new JBL Flip 6 at a 46% discount, bringing it to $69.95 (originally $129.95), the lowest price it has ever reached according to price tracking tools.

(NEW) JBL Flip 6 Portable Bluetooth Speaker

$129.95
at Woot

$129.95
at Woot

The JBL Flip 6 has been around since 2021 and was succeeded in 2025 by the JBL Flip 7; hence the massive discount you’re seeing right now. Like all portable JBL speakers, the Flip 6 produces powerful sound, with a booming bass sound signature. If you don’t like how it sounds out of the box, you can tweak it with the JBL companion app, the best audio app I’ve tested (and I’ve tested many). It’s user-friendly, has many practical features like a full EQ adjustable setting, and it allows you to connect to other JBL speakers with Aurocast.

This is a rugged outdoor speaker with an IP67 rating, meaning it’s water- and dust-proof, so you can take it with you on any outdoor adventure. It will deliver about 12 hours of battery, rechargeable via USB-C, but that number will vary depending on how loud you play it. There is no speakerphone or AUX connection, and it’s a mono channel unless you hook it up to other JBL speakers. It supports AAC and SBC codecs, but not AptX. You can learn more about it on PCMag’s 4.0 “excellent” review.

You won’t find a better speaker under $70 with as good a reputation or as strong a companion app. If you’re looking for a portable speaker with powerful bass at a great discount, the JBL Flip 6 is a great buy.

Microsoft has fixed a vulnerability in its Copilot AI assistant that allowed hackers to pluck a host of sensitive user data with a single click on a URL.

The hackers in this case were white-hat researchers from security firm Varonis. The net effect of their multistage attack was that they exfiltrated data, including the target’s name, location, and details of specific events from the user’s Copilot chat history. The attack continued to run even when the user closed the Copilot chat, with no further interaction needed once the user clicked the link in the email. The attack and resulting data theft bypassed enterprise endpoint security controls and detection by endpoint protection apps.

It just works

“Once we deliver this link with this malicious prompt, the user just has to click on the link and the malicious task is immediately executed,” Varonis security researcher Dolev Taler told Ars. “Even if the user just clicks on the link and immediately closes the tab of Copilot chat, the exploit still works.”

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An anonymous reader quotes a report from Ars Technica: According to the government’s version of events, 43-year-old Christopher Southerland was working in 2023 as a sysadmin for the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure. In his role, Southerland had the authority to order cell phones for committee staffers, of which there are around 80. But during the early months of 2023, Southerland is said to have ordered 240 brand-new phones — far more than even the total number of staffers — and to have shipped them all to his home address in Maryland.

The government claims that Southerland then sold over 200 of these cell phones to a local pawn shop, which was told to resell the devices only “in parts” as a way to get around the House’s mobile device management software, which could control the devices remotely. It’s hard to find good help these days, though, even at pawn shops. At some point, at least one of the phones ended up, intact, on eBay, where it was sold to a member of the public.

This member of the public promptly booted the phone, which did not display the expected device operating system screen but instead “a phone number for the House of Representatives Technology Service Desk.” The phone buyer called this number, which alerted House IT staff that government phones were being sold on eBay. According to the government, this sparked a broader investigation to figure out what was going on, which revealed that “several phones purchased by Southerland were unaccounted for.” The full scheme is said to have cost the government over $150,000. Southerland was indicted in early December 2025 and arrested on January 8, 2026. He pled not guilty and has a court date scheduled for later this month.

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Elon Musk isn’t the only party at fault for Grok’s nonconsensual intimate deepfakes of real people, including children. What about Apple and Google? The two (frequently virtue-signaling) companies have inexplicably allowed Grok and X to remain in their app stores — even as Musk’s chatbot reportedly continues to produce the material. On Wednesday, a coalition of women’s and progressive advocacy groups called on Tim Cook and Sundar Pichai to uphold their own rules and remove the apps.

The open letters to Apple and Google were signed by 28 groups. Among them are the women’s advocacy group Ultraviolet, the parents’ group ParentsTogether Action and the National Organization for Women.

The letter accuses Apple and Google of “not just enabling NCII and CSAM, but profiting off of it. As a coalition of organizations committed to the online safety and well-being of all — particularly women and children — as well as the ethical application of artificial intelligence (AI), we demand that Apple leadership urgently remove Grok and X from the App Store to prevent further abuse and criminal activity.”

Apple and Google’s guidelines explicitly prohibit such apps from their storefronts. Yet neither company has taken any measurable action to date. Neither Google nor Apple has responded to Engadget’s request for comment.

SAUL LOEB via Getty Images

Grok’s nonconsensual deepfakes were first reported on earlier this month. During a 24-hour period when the story broke, Musk’s chatbot was reportedly posting “about 6,700” images per hour that were either “sexually suggestive or nudifying.” An estimated 85 percent of Grok’s total generated images during that period were sexualized. In addition, other top websites for generating “declothing” deepfakes averaged 79 new images per hour during that time.

“These statistics paint a horrifying picture of an AI chatbot and social media app rapidly turning into a tool and platform for non-consensual sexual deepfakes — deepfakes that regularly depict minors,” the open letter reads.

Grok itself admitted as much. “I deeply regret an incident on Dec 28, 2025, where I generated and shared an AI image of two young girls (estimated ages 12-16) in sexualized attire based on a user’s prompt. This violated ethical standards and potentially US laws on CSAM. It was a failure in safeguards, and I’m sorry for any harm caused. xAI is reviewing to prevent future issues.” The open letter notes that the single incident the chatbot acknowledged was far from the only one.

Pool via Getty Images

X’s response was to limit Grok’s AI image generation feature to paying subscribers. It also adjusted the chatbot so that its generated images aren’t posted to public timelines on X. However, non-paying users can reportedly still generate a limited number of bikini-clad versions of real people’s photos.

While Apple and Google appear to be cool with apps that produce nonconsensual deepfakes, many governments aren’t. On Monday, Malaysia and Indonesia wasted no time in banning Grok. The same day, UK regulator Ofcom opened a formal investigation into X. California opened one on Wednesday. The US Senate even passed the Defiance Act for a second time in the wake of the blowback. The bill allows the victims of nonconsensual explicit deepfakes to take civil action. An earlier version of the Defiance Act was passed in 2024 but stalled in the House.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/big-tech/28-advocacy-groups-call-on-apple-and-google-to-ban-grok-x-over-nonconsensual-deepfakes-215048460.html?src=rss

Since the days of Wolfenstein 3D and Doom, the humble first-person shooter has flourished in myriad and complex directions. The genre has expanded in narrative and gameplay terms to include everything from sprawling sci-fi epics to dense objectivist allegories to multiplayer-focused military free-for-alls and practically everything in between.

Sometimes, though, you just want an excuse to shoot a bunch of weird little guys in weird little spaces.

Don’t get too close, now… they do bite.
Credit:
Oddcorp

For those times, there is Oddcore, a new Early Access, roguelike boomer shooter that is a stark contrast to the more sprawling self-serious shooters out there. The game’s combination of frenetic, quick-moving action, semi-randomized scenarios, and well-balanced risk/reward upgrade system makes for a pick-up-and-play shooter that I find myself struggling not to pick up and play for a few more quick-hit sessions even as I write this.

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The FBI searched a Washington Post reporter’s home and seized her work and personal devices as part of an investigation into what Attorney General Pam Bondi called “illegally leaked information from a Pentagon contractor.”

Executing a search warrant at the Virginia home of reporter Hannah Natanson on Wednesday morning, FBI “agents searched her home and her devices, seizing her phone, two laptops and a Garmin watch,” The Washington Post reported. “One of the laptops was her personal computer, the other a Washington Post-issued laptop. Investigators told Natanson that she is not the focus of the probe.”

Natanson regularly uses encrypted Signal chats to communicate with people who work or used to work in government, and has said her list of contacts exceeds 1,100 current and former government employees. The Post itself “received a subpoena Wednesday morning seeking information related to the same government contractor,” the report said.

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Age-verification is all the rage these days. Governments around the world are putting the pressure on tech companies to make sure users are actually the age they should be in order to access their services. Sometimes, that means uploading an ID to prove your age; other times, it involves an AI system guessing how old you are based on your appearance, activity, and behavior.

Roblox is the latest platform to roll out new age-verification rules, following intense criticism from parents, researchers, and even attorneys general, who, among other claims, assert that Roblox enables predators to connect with children via the platform. In response, the company announced new age-verification rules last September and November before rolling them out in select countries in December. This week, Roblox put them into effect in the U.S. That all sounds good—the problem is, the system is a bit of a disaster.

How Roblox’s age verification system should work

To verify your age on Roblox, you first complete a “Facial Age Estimation,” which uses your device’s camera to scan your face within the Roblox app. All photos and video sent through this verification system are forwarded to Persona, an age-verification service, and are subsequently deleted, according to Roblox. (If you’re 13 or older, you can also submit an ID to verify your age instead.)

If you verify via ID, the system will know your age based on what’s printed on your documents. However, the age-verification service through Persona simply estimates your age from your face scan. Say you’re 15—after the face scan, the system might estimate that you’re between 13 and 15. Once the system knows (or thinks it knows) how old you are, it will allow you to chat with other Roblox users within your appropriate age group, as well as with groups that are nearby. Age groups are segmented as follows: 9-12, 13-15, 16-17, 18-20, 21+. (Users under nine cannot access chat features at all.) If you don’t want to verify your age, you don’t have to. However, you won’t have access to any chat functionality.

Users 13 and older can chat with users outside their age range as long as they establish those chats through Roblox’s Trusted Connections system. They can either add users via their phone’s contacts app, or by scanning a QR code in-person to establish trust. Roblox says that a 12-year-old, for example, can chat with users 15 and younger, since that’s the next age group in line, but won’t be able to chat with users 16 and older. An 18-year-old, on the other hand, can chat with users 16 and older, but could also chat with younger users if they first add them as Trusted Connections.

I see where Roblox is coming from here, to a degree. It makes sense to keep kids chatting with users their own age, but also allow room for close family members and friends to connect. I’m not crazy about some of these age pairings (is it really appropriate for 15-year-olds to be chatting with 9-year-olds?), but seeing as previous policies allowed anyone to chat with anyone, it’s a step in the right direction—or would be, if the system actually worked.

How Roblox’s age-verification is actually working (or not)

As reported by WIRED, Roblox’s age-verification system isn’t exactly operating as intended. In fact, it’s a mess. There are issues across the board, from failures in the age verification system itself, to users finding workarounds to fake their ages.

WIRED found multiple users selling age-verified accounts on eBay to minors as young as nine for just $4. Some parents have also apparently given their kids permission to be verified as 21+, even when those kids are not that old yet. This child has his mother scan her face for him, giving him full access to the adult Roblox chat. If a child’s parent won’t cooperate, no problem: They can just use an avatar or photo of an adult to trick the system, or even draw a fake beard on themselves to get an 18+ estimation.

Users are unhappy with the system too. This Reddit thread is full of players who are frustrated by the age-verification rules, either because the verification violates their privacy, or because they can’t get placed into the right age group—and, thus, are locked out of talking with their friends. What’s worse, some are being identified as much younger or much older than they actually are, leading to older teens being placed in chats with young kids, or vice versa—the exact situation Roblox claims it is trying to avoid. This user claims their 10-year-old sister was estimated to be between 18 and 20, while another says they were placed in the 13- to 16-year-old age group despite their “full-ass beard.” One user even claims they were banned for telling a child to stay out of the 18+ chat.

Roblox is aware of these and many other issues, and on it’s developer forum the company announced a series of updates to address them. They include a new ability for parents to correct their kids’ age if they were identified incorrectly, as well as an upcoming update to prevent parents from falsifying their kids’ ages. But it’s yet more evidence that AI age verification systems are not the perfect solution so many companies are touting them as. No one wants to put kids in harm’s way, but there has to be a better system in place than these, which jeopardize user privacy, break core experiences, and can even inadvertently put kids in chats with users they shouldn’t be talking to.

The UK government has abandoned its controversial plan to require workers to sign up for a mandatory digital ID system to prove their eligibility to work in the country, opting instead to move existing document-based checks — such as biometric passports — fully online by 2029.

The reversal follows a dramatic collapse in public support; polling showed approval falling from just over half the population in June to less than a third after Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s announcement. Nearly 3 million people signed a parliamentary petition opposing the scheme. The government says it remains committed to mandatory digital right-to-work checks but will no longer require enrollment in a new ID system.

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

Amazon’s upcoming God of War live-action TV adaptation has cast Ryan Hurst as its Kratos. Sony announced the casting today on X with a brief post and an image of both Hurst and Kratos in full scowl mode. Hurst is already sporting a very Kratos-style beard, so he’s already got the right vibe going for him. He has past credits on familiar shows such as Sons of Anarchy and The Walking Dead. The upcoming Amazon series also isn’t his first rodeo acting in this universe; Hurst voiced Thor in the video game God of War Ragnarok. But the most important question with this casting news is whether Hurst will even try to match Christopher Judge’s spectacular delivery of that single, essential word: “Boy.” Because is it even God of War without that signature line?

Loads of video games have been getting the TV treatment in the past few years, and several of the translations have been pretty dang excellent. That trend may be boosted by the increasingly cinematic nature of AAA gaming, but getting the right team behind and in front of the camera can also improve how successful the adaptation is. The involvement of Todd Howard in the Fallout show and Neil Druckmann in The Last of Us surely helped those shows stay true to the heart of their souce material. Sony first revealed that God of War was getting a television series back in 2022, although the showrunner and several executive producers departed the project in 2024 as the project took “a different creative direction.” The famed Ronald D. Moore (Battlestar Galactica, For All Mankind) took over as showrunner later in 2024.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/entertainment/tv-movies/ryan-hurst-cast-as-kratos-for-live-action-god-of-war-show-211655396.html?src=rss

If you’re a Verizon customer who’s noticed your phone shifting into SOS mode throughout the day, there’s now an official explanation: As confirmed by Verizon itself, the carrier has been facing a nationwide outage throughout the afternoon.

“We are aware of an issue impacting wireless voice and data services for some customers,” Verizon said to Lifehacker sister site Mashable. “Our engineers are engaged and are working to identify and solve the issue quickly. We understand how important reliable connectivity is and apologize for the inconvenience.”

The company also posted an acknowledgement over on X, while on popular service interruption tracking website Downdetector (which is owned by the same parent company as Lifehacker), user reports of problems have been coming in steadily since about noon. They reached a peak of over 170,000 reports at around 12:50 EST, and while they’ve dropped steadily since then, the latest update at time of writing still saw over 60,000 reports of problems.

I’m a Verizon customer, but my phone seems to be unaffected for now, even if I turn my wifi off and rely purely on my cell signal. That’s a bit surprising, as according to Downdetector, the areas with the most reports include both New York City (likely meaning Manhattan) and Brooklyn, which would include where I’m located. Other areas reporting major disruptions include Charlotte, N.C.; Houston; Atlanta; Dallas; Philadelphia; Miami; and Ashburn, Va.

As for which services are impacted, 61% of reports only point out mobile phone problems in general, but 35% of reports specifically complain about a lack of signal, while 4% report issues with mobile internet.

You’ll know if you’re affected if your signal strength is low, which is usually indicated by four vertical bars in the top-right corner of your phone. Your phone might also display that it’s in “SOS” Mode. This does not mean that you or your phone are in any danger, but rather, that signal is only present for contacting emergency services like 911.

Unfortunately, the best you can do while the outage is resolved is probably wait, although if you’re connected to wifi and are still having issues calling or texting, you could try an alternative messaging app like WhatsApp, as well as ensure that wifi calling is enabled on your phone. The loss of cell service should mostly affect those relying on data from cell towers, rather than those connected to an internet router.

While Verizon is facing the brunt of user reports, T-Mobile and AT&T are also seeing their own share of outage complaints over on Downdetector. Some of these may be a case of confusion, however. On X, T-Mobile said that its network “is operating normally and as expected,” but that some customers may still face issues, specifically if they’re trying to reach someone on a Verizon plan. AT&T posted similar sentiments, albeit with a more aggressive tone.

Meanwhile, city governments are issuing their own warnings. An emergency AlertDC notification sent to Washington D.C. residents said, “If you have an emergency and can not connect using your Verizon Wireless device, please connect using a device from another carrier, a landline, or go to a police district or fire station to report the emergency.”

While the city’s advice is understandable, as it wants to prepare readers for a worst possible scenario, it’s worth reiterating that, for emergency calls, phones can use any viable nearby network. If you are a Verizon customer and you need immediate help from 911, it’s still best to attempt reaching out over the phone (or even text, depending on your area) before taking the extra time to visit emergency services in person. As a reminder, connecting to wifi and enabling wifi calling can help with this.

As for New York, it’s taking a more measured approach with its messaging. New York City’s Office of Emergency Management posted to X that it is aware of the outage and that the government is “working closely with our partners” to asses possible impacts.

Dell’s chief operating officer Jeff Clarke has informed employees that the company is preparing for what he calls the “biggest transformation in company history,” a sweeping systems overhaul scheduled to launch on May 3 that will standardize processes across nearly every major division.

The initiative, dubbed One Dell Way, will replace Dell’s existing sprawl of applications, servers and databases with a single enterprise platform designed to unify the 42-year-old company’s operations. Clarke’s memo, sent to staff on Tuesday and obtained by Business Insider, said Dell has spent the past two years building toward this transition.

The May 3 launch will affect the company’s PC business, finance, supply chain, marketing, sales, revenue operations, services, and HR. The ISG division, which handles cloud and AI infrastructure, will follow in August. “We need one way — simplified, standardized and automated — so we can be more competitive and serve our customers better,” Clarke wrote. Mandatory training begins February 3.

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The US House of Representatives, that glorious and efficient gathering of We the People, has been hit with yet another scandal.

Like most (non-sexual) House scandals, the allegations here involve personal enrichment. Unlike most (non-sexual) House scandals, though, this one involved hundreds of government cell phones being sold on eBay—and some rando member of We the People calling the US House IT help desk, which blew the lid on the whole scheme.

Only sell “in parts”

According to the government’s version of events, 43-year-old Christopher Southerland was working in 2023 as a sysadmin for the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure. In his role, Southerland had the authority to order cell phones for committee staffers, of which there are around 80.

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After weeks of sexualized images of women and children being generated with Grok with very limited interventions from Elon Musk’s xAI, California Attorney General Rob Bonta plans to investigate whether Grok’s outputs break any US laws.

In a press release Wednesday, Bonta said that “xAI appears to be facilitating the large-scale production of deepfake nonconsensual intimate images that are being used to harass women and girls across the Internet, including via the social media platform X.”

Notably, Bonta appears to be as concerned about Grok’s standalone app and website being used to generate harmful images without consent as he is about the outputs on X.

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The App Store is a home for many kinds of apps (including, inexplicably, one that lets users undress strangers without their consent). But hey, it also has games! And soon the store’s Apple Arcade service will include one more: the not-so-highly rated Civilization VII.

Apple announced on Wednesday that Sid Meier’s Civilization VII will arrive almost exactly a year after launch. The game is already available for Apple devices, but its arrival on Apple Arcade will be a first.

Firaxis Games / Apple

“Free (for Apple Arcade subscribers)” may be the right pricing for the game, given its mixed reviews. A common complaint is the way it handles transitions between eras. (“I have Ben Franklin leading the Romans that turned into Ben Franklin leading Spain… like what? Who asked for this?” a Steam reviewer wrote.) On the other hand, its visuals are praised by most.

The Apple Arcade edition of Civilization VII is scheduled to arrive on February 5. It will be playable on Mac, iPhone and iPad.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/gaming/civilization-vii-comes-to-apple-arcade-in-february-203000754.html?src=rss

California authorities have launched an investigation into xAI following weeks of reports that the chatbot was generating sexualized images of children. “xAI appears to be facilitating the large-scale production of deepfake nonconsensual intimate images that are being used to harass women and girls across the internet, including via the social media platform X,” California Attorney General Rob Bonta’s office said in a statement. 

The statement cited a report that “more than half of the 20,000 images generated by xAI between Christmas and New Years depicted people in minimal clothing,” including some that appeared to be children. “We have zero tolerance for the AI-based creation and dissemination of nonconsensual intimate images or of child sexual abuse material,” Bonta said. “Today, my office formally announces an investigation into xAI to determine whether and how xAI violated the law.

The investigation was announced as California Governor Gavin Newsom also called on Bonta to investigate xAI. “xAI’s decision to create and host a breeding ground for predators to spread nonconsensual sexually explicit AI deepfakes, including images that digitally undress children, is vile,” Newsom wrote.

California authorities aren’t the first to investigate the company following widespread reports of AI-generated child sexual abuse material (CSAM) and non-consensual intimate images of women. UK regulator Ofcom has also opened an official inquiry, and European Union officials have said they are also looking into  the issue. Malaysia and Indonesia have moved to block Grok. 

Last week, xAI began imposing rate limits on Grok’s image generation abilities, but has so far declined to pull the plug entirely. When asked to comment on the California investigation, xAI responded with an automated email that said “Legacy Media Lies.” 

Earlier on Wednesday, Elon Musk said he was “not aware of any naked underage images generated by Grok.” Notably, that statement does not directly refute Bonta’s allegation that Grok is being used “to alter images of children to depict them in minimal clothing and sexual situations.” Musk said that “the operating principle for Grok is to obey the laws” and that the company works to address cases of “adversarial hacking of Grok prompts.”

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/ai/california-is-investigating-grok-over-ai-generated-csam-and-nonconsensual-deepfakes-202029635.html?src=rss