“Antifa” is in Donald Trump’s sights. Following the assassination of conservative activist Charlie Kirk, Trump has blamed “radical leftists” for pushing political violence against those on the right—even as the assassin’s motives remain under active investigation. As such, the president is going after Antifa, calling it a “domestic terrorist organization,” despite the fact that Antifa is not actually an organization, and that the U.S. has no domestic terrorist designation.

When the president of the United States enflames tensions in this way, it’s no surprise our discourse enflames as well. Here’s one such example: You may have seen posts on social media this week claiming that Threads is now attaching warnings to posts from users who are suspected members of Antifa, or posts with the label attached itself. One viral post discussing the subject comes from the account “Balleralert,” who shared the following screenshot on Wednesday:

View this post on Instagram

The label, affixed to a innocuous post by the account benballer, reads: “This user is suspected of being part of a terrorist organization called Antifa. Please report any suspicious behavior.” Taken at face value, one might assume Threads, owned by Meta, is trying to get on the Trump administration’s good side by identifying seemingly “leftist” accounts as members of Antifa.

It’s all a bit

The thing is, the label is not real: A Meta spokesperson confirmed this to me via email, saying that the label is just a meme, and not something created by Meta. That’s not to say the label hasn’t appeared in any Threads posts. They absolutely have, and you may have seen them. But if some Threads posts appear to have the label attached, it’s because it’s actually part of the original text of the post, formatted to look like an addition by Meta.

Some users appear to be adding the text to their posts in jest, such as in this example, which puts the label in context with a popular meme from the film Inglourious Basterds. This post, which places the label on an innocent declaration about how pumpkin pie is good. These are solid jokes, but they’re also fueling confusion: Some commenters are concerned about the label, while others are sharing their own versions of the meme, which are quite obvious compared to the “Antifa label.”

A good reminder to think before you share

Official labels on posts are increasingly a standard across social media posts, which is likely why this meme is something a handful of users are falling for, especially given recent controversies over the relationships between the U.S. government, the media, and tech companies. If you’re used to seeing community notes or warning from companies like Meta, you assume this Antifa label is legitimate. Learning that it isn’t should serve as a good reminder that the internet is a treasure trove of disinformation. You should never take a random post on Instagram as the unvarnished truth, especially if that post seems particularly controversial, or particularly aligned to your own worldview.

Before you believe something you see on your feeds, take a moment to think it through. Do some research to see if any trusted sources have confirmed the claims. If they haven’t, remain skeptical, and refrain from spreading it around.

Elon Musk’s xAI is suing OpenAI, alleging that the ChatGPT maker has stolen its trade secrets. The lawsuit comes after the company recently sued a former employee, Xuechen Li, for allegedly stealing confidential information from the company before taking a job at OpenAI.

In its latest lawsuit, which was reported by Sherwood, xAI says that Li’s alleged actions are part of “a broader and deeply troubling pattern of trade secret misappropriation, unfair competition, and intentional interference with economic relationships by OpenAI.” According to xAI’s lawyers, OpenAI also hired two other xAI employees who stole proprietary information from Musk’s company.

“Another early xAI engineer—Jimmy Fraiture—was also harvesting xAI’s source code and airdropping it to his personal devices to take to OpenAI, where he now works,” the lawsuit states. “Meanwhile, a senior finance executive brought another piece of the puzzle to OpenAI—xAI’s ‘secret sauce’ of rapid data center deployment—with no intention to abide by his legal obligations to xAI.”

OpenAI didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment on the lawsuit. Musk, of course, has a complicated history with the ChatGPT maker, and this isn’t the first time his rival AI company has sued OpenAI. Last month, xAI filed lawsuits against OpenAI and Apple over Grok’s placement on App Store charts. Musk alleged that ChatGPT rank in the top spot represented an “unequivocal antitrust violation.” Musk has also filed numerous lawsuits against OpenAI over its relationship with Microsoft and its move to become a for-profit company.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/ai/xai-accuses-openai-of-stealing-its-trade-secrets-in-new-lawsuit-152926944.html?src=rss

Nothing is spinning off its budget brand CMF into an independent subsidiary, according to a report by TechCrunch. India will serve as the newly-formed company’s headquarters for manufacturing and R&D, thanks to a partnership with one of the country’s telecom operators. Nothing says this venture will create over 1,800 jobs in the country.

India is actually a good choice for the HQ. The country is Nothing’s strongest market overall, with over a 2 percent market share in smartphones. It’s the fastest-growing brand in the region, with an 85 percent growth in shipments year over year. CMF also specializes in budget-friendly handsets under $200 and this is the dominant category in India, according to the IDC.

“India will play a key role in shaping the future of the global smartphone industry. CMF has been well-received by the market since we launched it two years ago,” Nothing CEO Carl Pei said in a statement. “With our end-to-end capabilities, we are uniquely positioned to now build it into India’s first truly global smartphone brand.”

Nothing hasn’t said how much money it would take to set up this new subsidiary, but the company did just raise $200 million in a funding round. Maybe some of that cash will be funneled to this project.

The company first launched CMF back in 2023. It started with the release of a pair of earbuds and a smartwatch but has since moved on to smartphones.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/mobile/smartphones/nothing-is-spinning-off-its-budget-cmf-brand-152505010.html?src=rss

Accenture has reduced its global workforce by more than 11,000 in the past three months and warned staff that more would be asked to leave if they cannot be retrained for the age of AI. From a report: The IT consulting group on Thursday detailed an $865 million restructuring programme and an outlook for the year ahead that reflects continuing sluggish corporate demand for consulting projects and a clampdown on spending within the US federal government.

“We are exiting on a compressed timeline people where reskilling, based on our experience, is not a viable path for the skills we need,” chief executive Julie Sweet told analysts on a conference call. The company employed 779,000 people at the end of August, it said, down from 791,000 three months earlier, after beginning a round of lay-offs that will continue until the end of November. It did not say how many jobs had gone directly as a result of the restructuring, but said severance payments and other costs totalled $615 million in the quarter just ended and would be $250 million more in the current three-month period.

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

Spotify has announced a set of policy changes surrounding AI-generated music and spam on its streaming platform. The company is helping to develop an industry standard for AI disclosure in music credits, alongside DDEX. It will be strengthening its approach to AI-assisted spam, such as unauthorized vocal clones, as well as uploaded music that fraudulently delivers music to another artist’s profile.

The new disclosures will encourage artists to share what aspect, if any, of their production was created with the assistance of AI. Instead of a song simply being marked as “is AI” or “no AI,” artists can specify whether they used AI-generated vocals, instrumentation or post-production.

The streamer will also debut a new impersonation policy, making it clearer how the platform deals with AI voice clones. The policy promises to give artists stronger protections against this sort of spam, and clearer recourse should any appear.

“…the pace of recent advances in generative AI technology has felt quick and at times unsettling, especially for creatives. At its best, AI is unlocking incredible new ways for artists to create music and for listeners to discover it. At its worst, AI can be used by bad actors and content farms to confuse or deceive listeners, push ‘slop’ into the ecosystem, and interfere with authentic artists working to build their careers,” Spotify said in its announcement.

These aren’t the only tactics that bad actors use to divert royalties and deceive listeners. Spotify shared that other types of spam “such as mass uploads, duplicates, SEO hacks, artificially short track abuse, and other forms of slop” have become easier to create and deploy as AI tools substantially lower the barrier of entry to creating this type of content.

To address these, the streamer is launching a new spam filter this fall that will identify uploads and tracks that engage in these types of spam, tag them on the platform, and stop recommending them to users. Spotify said that over the past 12 months it has already removed more than 75 million “spammy” tracks.

Spotify says that this sort of spam can dilute the royalty pool and take attention away from real artists trying to earn a living, even in part on the platform. The company says its goal is to achieve more transparency for listeners and protect artist identity through these new policies.

These new policies don’t address AI-generated projects like The Velvet Sundown, which remains on the platform despite all its lyrics, vocals, and imagery being entirely AI-generated. Spotify doesn’t directly acknowledge the AI band, but says “we support artists’ freedom to use AI creatively while actively combating its misuse by content farms and bad actors.”

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/entertainment/streaming/spotify-is-doing-more-to-address-ai-slop-on-its-platform-151102801.html?src=rss

Lumafield’s CT scan analysis of 1,054 lithium-ion 18650 batteries found 33 cells from low-cost and counterfeit brands contained a serious manufacturing defect called negative anode overhang, which increases risks of internal short-circuiting and battery fires. All defective batteries came from the 424 units sourced from budget brands on Amazon and Temu.

The defect rate reached nearly 8% among low-cost cells, climbing to 12-15% for certain counterfeit brands claiming impossible 9,900 mAh capacities. None of the batteries from Samsung, Panasonic, and other established manufacturers exhibited the defect. The low-cost batteries also displayed significantly worse edge alignment of internal wound layers. Real-world testing revealed the counterfeit cells delivered under 1,300 mAh capacity despite their inflated specifications, compared to 3,000-3,450 mAh for legitimate 18650 batteries.

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

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Did you know you can customize Google to filter out garbage? Take these steps for better search results, including adding Lifehacker as a preferred source for tech news.

If you’re in the market for a speaker that doesn’t sacrifice sound quality for durability (and also doubles as a power bank), a new JBL Charge 6 is currently 30% off on Woot for a limited time, dropping the price from $200 to $140. Woot only ships to the 48 contiguous states in the U.S., and Amazon members get free shipping, while non-members pay an extra $6. If your speaker isn’t exactly what you expected, all products come with Woot’s 90-day warranty program.

JBL Charge 6

$139.95
at Woot!

$199.95
Save $60.00

$139.95
at Woot!

$199.95
Save $60.00

The Charge 6, made more portable with a removable handle strap, is also waterproof and dust-resistant. It has an IP68 rating, meaning you can submerge it in up to 1.5 meters of water for around 30 minutes without risking damage.  It also features enhanced drop protection and bumpers compared to earlier versions of the Charge, but new updates mean that it is slightly heavier (three lbs compared to 2.1 lbs).

Amazon reviewers and professional testers alike were impressed by this compact speaker’s strong sound, with this PCMag review calling it “surprisingly punchy.” This performance is bolstered by customizable EQ and a new seven-band equalizer feature in the app that lets you further fine-tune output. Users can also pair multiple Charge 6 speakers to enable Auracast for more immersive sound. 

Like most JBL devices, the battery life is long-lasting, providing up to 24 hours with standard use. You can squeeze an extra four hours of juice out of it with the “Playtime Boost” mode, but as the PCMag review notes, it sacrifices some bass as a result. If you need to charge smartphones or tablets, the speaker’s 34-watt-hour battery also works as a convenient power bank, though it doesn’t come with an included USB cable or charging brick.  

If you’re looking for a small speaker that can last a full day, be used as a power bank, and deliver well-balanced sound with considerable volume, the JBL Charge 6 is a solid option.

Microsoft has officially unveiled the next Forza Horizon game, confirming months of rumors that the latest entry in its consistently excellent open-world racing series will be set in Japan. Announced, rather fittingly, at Tokyo Game Show in an Xbox briefing, Forza Horizon 6 has a 2026 release date and will launch first on Xbox and PC. A few years ago it would have stayed on those platforms, but after Forza Horizon 5 made its way to PS5 earlier this year, all bets are off on Microsoft exclusivity in the future.

As one of Xbox’s most important series, it’s a bit disappointing that we didn’t get any gameplay in the TGS teaser trailer. Instead, the camera pans across what looks like a workbench, with license plates and trinkets from countries featured in previous entries hung on the wall behind it. Eventually we get to Japan, and the camera moves up to reveal Mount Fuji in the distance, with the obligatory cherry blossom in the corners of the frame.

What the announcement lacked in gameplay, though, it somewhat made up for with the accompanying Xbox Wire post, which sheds some light on Playground Games’ decision to choose the Land of the Rising Sun as the location for Forza Horizon 6. According to the game’s Art Director, Don Arceta, the “unique culture” of Japan — from its cars, to its music and fashion — was a driving factor, and added that with five Horizon games already under its belt, the studio feels it can build an “authentic representation” of the country that does it justice.

Playground Games is keeping its cards close to its chest where real-life locations featured in the game are concerned, but unsurprisingly confirmed that Tokyo is one of them, as well as some of the country’s rural and mountain areas. The studio isn’t saying much about cars yet, either, but promised that Japanese car culture will be reflected. It also confirmed that seasons will once again be a big part of the experience.

Forza Horizon 5 came out in 2021 and turned Engadget’s “not much of a car guy” Nathan Ingraham into a racing game fan with its incredibly detailed Mexico setting, approachable driving and accessible open-world design.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/gaming/forza-horizon-6-takes-the-arcade-racing-series-to-japan-in-2026-142253601.html?src=rss

iOS 26 came out last week, bringing a new look and interface alongside some new capabilities and updates aimed squarely at iPhone power users.

We gave you our main iOS 26 review last week. This time around, we’re taking a look at some of the updates targeted at people who rely on their iPhones for much more than making phone calls and browsing the Internet. Many of these features rely on Apple Intelligence, meaning they’re only as reliable and helpful as Apple’s generative AI (and only available on newer iPhones, besides). Other adjustments are smaller but could make a big difference to people who use their phone to do work tasks.

Reminders attempt to get smarter

The Reminders app gets the Apple Intelligence treatment in iOS 26, with the AI primarily focused on making it easier to organize content within Reminders lists. Lines in Reminders lists are often short, quickly jotted-down blurbs rather than lengthy, detailed complex instructions. With this in mind, it’s easy to see how the AI can sometimes lack enough information in order to perform certain tasks, like logically grouping different errands into sensible sections.

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