An anonymous reader shares a report: OpenAI is working on its own X-like social network, according to multiple sources familiar with the matter. While the project is still in early stages, we’re told there’s an internal prototype focused on ChatGPT’s image generation that has a social feed. CEO Sam Altman has been privately asking outsiders for feedback about the project, our sources say. It’s unclear if OpenAI’s plan is to release the social network as a separate app or integrate it into ChatGPT, which became the most downloaded app globally last month.

Launching a social network in or around ChatGPT would likely increase Altman’s already-bitter rivalry with Elon Musk. In February, after Musk made an unsolicited offer to purchase OpenAI for $97.4 billion, Altman responded: “no thank you but we will buy twitter for $9.74 billion if you want.” Entering the social media market also puts OpenAI on more of a collision course with Meta, which we’re told is planning to add a social feed to its coming standalone app for its AI assistant. When reports of Meta building a rival to the ChatGPT app first surfaced a couple of months ago, Altman shot back on X again by saying, “ok fine maybe we’ll do a social app.”

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

Following a limited, four-month preview, Google is making its Veo 2 video generation model available to more people. The company has begun rolling out the tool to Gemini Advanced users, who can use it to create 720p clips that are up to eight seconds long. “The more detailed your description, the more control you have over the final video,” Google says of the model.

For the time being, Gemini will only generate footage in 16:9 landscape orientation, meaning it won’t be great for creating social video. That said, Google notes you can upload videos directly to TikTok or YouTube through Gemini’s share sheet, and any footage you create through the chatbot will automatically be formatted as a MP4 file. Relative to the model’s iteration, Google says Veo 2 has a better understanding of real-world physics and human motion.

If you want to start using Gemini to generate video clips, you’ll need Google’s $20 per month One AI Premium Plan. Once the company completes the roll out of Veo 2, video generation will be available in every language you can use Gemini on both on the web and mobile. Separately, Google is bringing Veo 2 generation to Whisk. For the uninitiated, Whisk is an experimental AI application the company offers through its Google Labs beta platform. It allows you to generate images from both text and image prompts, and with Veo 2 now baked in, you can use Whisk to animate what you create through the app.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/ai/google-brings-veo-2-video-generation-to-gemini-advanced-170014422.html?src=rss

Google is rolling out a new way to generate videos, as well as animate existing images, using AI. The catch? These videos are really short, and you have to pay to play.

On Tuesday, Google announced that Gemini Advanced and Google One AI Premium users can now make AI-generated videos using the company’s Veo 2 video model. Google originally unveiled this model back in December, touting the model’s improved understanding of real-world physics, nuanced human emotions, and ability to generate specific types of shots (e.g. low angle, close-up, shallow depth of field).

While Veo 2 is capable of generating 4K videos at several minutes in length, that’s not the experience Gemini Advanced users will get here. Instead, you’ll be able to make eight-second videos at 720p—quite the limitation. Speaking of limits, there’s a cap on the number of videos you can generate with Veo 2 each month, though Google isn’t disclosing that publicly. Instead, the company says it’ll warn you when you’re approaching your limit, which doesn’t seem like a particularly transparent system.

While Gemini Advanced users will be able to use Veo 2 directly in Gemini, Google One AI Premium subscribers also have access to the model in Whisk—the company’s AI media generator. As part of the Veo 2 rollout, Google is announcing Whisk Animate, which uses Veo 2 to animate an image you generated with Whisk.

How to generate Veo 2 videos with Gemini Advanced

If you pay the $20 per month for Gemini, Veo 2 is rolling out right now. To start, open Google’s chatbot, then pick “Veo 2” from the model dropdown. From here, prompt the AI like you would normally, only this time with a specific video in mind. While Google encourages users to describe things like short stories for Veo 2 to work with, remember that you only get eight seconds of video generation max. That’s quite the short story.

If you don’t see Veo 2 as an option, sit tight. Google says the full rollout could take a few weeks, so not all Gemini Advanced users will be able to access it today.

How to animate a Whisk image with Veo 2

Credit: Google

Google One AI Premium subscribers can give this one a shot over at labs.google/whisk. You can start by generating an image with Whisk as per usual—by prompting Whisk with whatever you want, or letting the AI randomly pick a generation for you.

Once your image generates, you’ll notice a new “ANIMATE” option at the top. Click this, then prompt the AI with how you’d like it to animate the image.

What’s the point of this?

I don’t have a subscription, so I can’t try out Veo 2 in any capacity. But according to Google’s demos, the model does a decent job of adhering to the prompts. For example, Google showed off how four different versions of a man eating ice cream—including 3D art, pixel art, illustration, and realistic generation—could be animated with a single prompt.

That said, it’s far from perfect: Each of these demonstrates the hallmark signs of AI-generated video, including visual glitches and elements morphing into one another. Some of the results here are also half-baked: The 3D art animation, for example, has the man bring the ice cream to his mouth, but never actually eat it, while the realistic generation shows him eating from his fingers, even though there is no ice cream there.

There’s a novelty to the feature, sure: You can generate a brief animation of any image you want—AI-generated or not. But I struggle to imagine the practical and widespread application here, especially since this feature is locked behind Google’s $20 per month paywall.

This is a video of the latest ‘ultra high efficiency’ dishwasher modded by Youtubers PlumberJohn and STS_3D. It can jump up and down on its legs (an important feature), quick-dry dishes with a flamethrower, and launch the dish racks out of the washer when a cycle is complete. Now that — that looks like a quality product. I can’t wait for my girlfriend to come home and see the upgrade! *standing on curb talking to firemen* I suspect it started in the kitchen.

There are physical editions of the iconic shooters Doom and Doom II coming out, thanks to Limited Run Games. All editions ship with both games, but the highlight is something called the Will it Run Edition. This one comes with all kinds of extra goodies, including a game box that actually runs the original Doom. You read that right. Box play Doom. All you have to do is connect a USB controller, as the box also has a port.

It costs $666, which is a nod to the devilish source material, and is being kept to a limited run of 666 copies. It comes with the aforementioned screen-enabled game box that runs Doom, but that’s just the beginning. The combo pack ships with the soundtrack on cassette, a certificate of authenticity and a trading card park with five cards.

It comes with a couple of toys based on one of the franchise’s most iconic enemies. There’s a detailed three-inch Cacodemon that connects to a five-inch base, which looks pretty nifty. There’s a smaller handheld Cacodemon that, you’ll never guess, also runs Doom.

Limited Run Games

This edition is available for Switch, PS5, Xbox Series X/S and PC. The PC version, however, ships with a download code and not physical copies of both games. Preorders start on April 18 and end on May 18, with a release sometime after that.

If $666 is too rich, or demonic, for your blood, there are also cheaper editions available. The Big Box Edition costs $100 and ships with both games, a really big box, a trading card set and the soundtrack on cassette. The Standard Edition only includes the games and costs $30.

However, these aren’t straight ports of two 30-year-old games. The developer has made some enhancements for modern players. The visuals have been upgraded, with a native 60 FPS frame rate and 16:9 support. The weapon carousel has been updated for faster switching and the dev has added gyroscopic aiming. These titles now offer local four-player co-op and online play.

The games also include a bunch of new maps and long-standing community mods, with the ability to integrate new mods. There’s even a brand-new episode called Legacy of Rust that was co-designed by id, Nightdive Studios and MachineGames. Players can also switch between the original music and a modern soundtrack.

For those wondering why the developer would even make a box that runs Doom, it’s because the game’s ability to run on weird things has become a beloved meme at this point. Doom has been found running on pregnancy tests, rat brain neurons and even via gut bacteria.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/gaming/666-edition-of-doom-includes-game-box-that-itself-plays-doom-165022410.html?src=rss

An anonymous reader shares a report: A silent update rolling out to virtually all Android devices will make your phone more secure, and all you have to do is not touch it for a few days. The new feature implements auto-restart of a locked device, which will keep your personal data more secure. It’s coming as part of a Google Play Services update, though, so there’s nothing you can do to speed along the process.

Google is preparing to release a new update to Play Services (v25.14), which brings a raft of tweaks and improvements to myriad system features. First spotted by 9to5Google, the update was officially released on April 14, but as with all Play Services updates, it could take a week or more to reach all devices. When 25.14 arrives, Android devices will see a few minor improvements, including prettier settings screens, improved connection with cars and watches, and content previews when using Quick Share.

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

Nvidia is rounding out its GeForce RTX 50-series graphics cards today with the official announcement of the mainstream RTX 5060 series. The company is announcing three new GPUs today: The 5060 Ti will launch on April 16 in both 8GB and 16GB variations, for $379 and $429, respectively. The regular RTX 5060 will follow at some point in May for the same $299 MSRP as the last-generation RTX 4060. It is also sticking with 8GB of RAM.

Obviously, it remains to be seen whether the company and its partners can actually stock these cards at these prices. GPUs from the top-tier RTX 5090 to the mainstream RTX 5070 have been difficult to impossible to buy at their announced MSRPs. And it’s not just Nvidia’s problem or a high-end problem—AMD’s Radeon RX 9070 series GPUs have also been hard to buy, as have Intel’s Arc B580 and B570 cards.

The new graphics cards’ specs essentially match numbers that have been floating around for a couple of months now. Both models include modest increases in the number of CUDA cores compared to the last-generation 4060 and 4060 Ti models, with the same amount of RAM and the same 128-bit memory interface. But an upgrade to GDDR7 instead of GDDR6 provides a healthy bump to memory bandwidth and is probably also partially responsible for an increase in peak power consumption. The 4060 Ti in particular was memory bandwidth-constrained at higher resolutions, so hopefully some extra bandwidth will make it a better choice for a decent 1440p gaming PC.

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It’s officially Tax Day. If you already filed months ago, first off: Good for you. And secondly, you may have already received a pleasant surprise in the form of a slightly larger tax refund compared to last year. According to the most recent IRS report, over $211 billion has been refunded this cycle so far—a 5% increase over last year. On an individual basis, the average direct deposit refund amount is $3,186, up 3.2% from last year’s $3,088. But what’s driving these larger refunds?

Inflation adjustments boost refunds

The primary reason for the increase in tax refunds stems from the IRS’s annual inflation adjustments. For the 2024 tax year (filed in 2025), the IRS implemented significant increases to both standard deductions and tax brackets.

Standard deduction increases

The standard deduction—the amount taxpayers can subtract from their income before income tax is applied—saw notable increases:

• Single filers: $14,600 (up from $13,850 in tax year 2023)

• Married couples filing jointly: $29,200 (up from $27,700 in tax year 2023)

• Heads of household: $21,900 (up from $20,800 in tax year 2023)

Filers who are 65 or older or are blind may be eligible to claim an even higher standard deduction. For 2024, the amounts are:

• Single or head of household: an additional $1,950

• Married filing jointly: an additional $1,550

So for example, a 68-year-old single filer would claim a $16,550 standard deduction for tax year 2024. These increases mean that taxpayers who don’t itemize deductions (aka the vast majority of Americans) protect more of their income from taxation.

Tax bracket adjustments

In addition to higher standard deductions, the IRS also adjusted tax brackets for inflation. This adjustment effectively moved some taxpayers into lower tax brackets, reducing their overall tax burden even if their income increased slightly from the previous year.

What these adjustments mean for taxpayers

For many Americans, these adjustments have resulted in lower tax bills or higher refunds for the 2024 tax year. However, it’s worth noting that a larger refund isn’t necessarily a financial win—it means you’ve been giving the government an interest-free loan throughout the year.

Financial advisors often recommend adjusting your withholding if you consistently receive large tax refunds. This allows you to access more of your money throughout the year, potentially using it for investments or to pay down debt.

If you haven’t filed yet, today is the last day you can apply for an extension. Remember that it’s always better to file—even if you can’t pay what you owe—than not to file at all. The penalties for non-filing are substantially higher and can lead to much more serious consequences.

Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg considered resetting all Facebook users’ friend connections to boost the platform’s declining relevance, according to internal emails revealed Monday in a landmark FTC antitrust trial. In a 2022 message to executives, Zuckerberg proposed “wiping everyone’s graphs and having them start again,” referring to users’ friend networks. Facebook head Tom Alison questioned the idea’s viability, citing Instagram’s reliance on friend connections. Zuckerberg later testified that the plan was never implemented and that Facebook has “evolved” from its original purpose.

The FTC argues Meta violated competition laws by acquiring Instagram ($1B) and WhatsApp ($19B) as part of a “buy or bury” strategy outlined in Zuckerberg’s 2008 email stating, “It is better to buy than compete.”

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

Larian Studios has deployed the final major update for Baldur’s Gate 3. It’s a pretty spicy one too, as the developer is adding a bunch of the community’s most-requested changes. Among them is full cross-play support. So, no matter whether you’re playing on PC, PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S or Mac, you can squad up with your buddies and help each other get through the huge RPG.

Another welcome arrival is that of a built-in photo mode. This will be available during most parts of the game, including cutscenes. You can also slap stickers on your snaps and apply several effects to them.

Along with those updates, Larian has added 12 new subclasses, and it says each of them offer new ways to play the 2023 hit. The additions are as follows:

• Bard — College of Glamour

• Barbarian — Path of Giants

• Cleric — Death Domain

• Druid — Circle of Stars

• Fighter — Arcane Archer

• Monk — Way of The Drunken Master

• Paladin — Oath of the Crown

• Ranger — Swarmkeeper

• Rogue — Swashbuckler

• Sorcerer — Shadow Magic

• Warlock — Hexblade

• Wizard — Bladesinging

Larian says each of the subclasses has fresh abilities, animations, visual effects and summons. The latest Paladin subclass comes with new voiced dialogue for the Oathbreaker Knight, the studio says.

Steam Trading Cards are new to Baldur’s Gate 3 too, enabling Steam players to craft badges and unlock profile backgrounds and emoticons for their accounts. On top of all that, Larian has added support for partial level editing for current characters, items and triggers to its modding toolkit, as well as some quality-of-life updates. The studio says it’s passing the reins to the community to make future updates as it’s moving onto other projects, which will not include the next game in the series. While it’s beavering away on other games, Larian plans to release weekly videos about Baldur’s Gate 3 and development of the game on YouTube.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/gaming/baldurs-gate-3-gains-cross-play-a-photo-mode-and-more-in-its-final-major-update-155317724.html?src=rss

Dune: Awakening, the open-world MMO inspired by Frank Herbert’s novels and Denis Villeneuve’s films, has been delayed. Developer Funcom said on Tuesday that it needs “a bit more time to cook.” Previously slated for May 20, the game has a new release date of June 10 on Steam.

Funcom says the three-week delay will allow it to “act on a lot more of the feedback we know is important to our beta testers.” The game is in a closed one now, but the developer says it will roll out a larger-scale beta test in May. Further details on that are coming “soon.”

Although June 10 is the new launch date for those who buy the $50 standard version, Funcom is launching a head-start incentive for those who plunk down $70 or $90 on the Deluxe or Ultimate edition. Those versions will unlock on June 5. (Gotta love paywalling an earlier release date.)

Funcom

Although Dune: Awakening is set in the familiar Duniverse on Arrakis, it uses an alternate timeline. In this “what if?” version, the Fremen have disappeared, Paul Atreides was never born (sorry, Chalamaniacs) and Lady Jessica gave birth to a girl. You start as a prisoner taken to the planet but soon “learn the true meaning of desert power,” rising to become an agent of the Atreides or the Harkonnen.

You can get a jump on things today with a character creator, launched in February, that lets you build your hero and take the Gom Jabbar test. (For more casual Dune fans, that’s the hand-in-a-box torture test.) You can use your character when the game launches.

Dune: Awakening will only be available on Steam when it arrives on June 10. You can pre-order it now. It’s also coming to PS5 and Xbox Series X/S, but those versions don’t yet have a release date.

$50 $50 at Steam

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/dune-awakening-gets-pushed-back-to-june-155059951.html?src=rss