Tech companies ranging from 300-person startups to giants like Amazon, Google, Meta, Microsoft and Salesforce have moved beyond encouraging employees to use AI tools and are now actively tracking adoption and, in several cases, tying it to performance reviews. Google is factoring AI use into some software engineer reviews for the first time this year, and Meta’s new performance review system will do the same — it can track how many lines of code an engineer wrote with AI assistance.

Amazon Web Services managers have dashboards showing individual engineer AI-tool usage and consider adoption when evaluating promotions. About 42% of tech-industry workers said their direct manager expects AI use in daily work as of last October, up from 32% eight months earlier, according to AI consulting firm Section. At software maker Autodesk, CEO Andrew Anagnost acknowledged that some employees had been using initially blocked coding tools like Cursor stealthily — and warned that AI holdouts “probably won’t survive long term.”

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

It seems like any and every industry can have its own awards show these days. And why not? Most of us appreciate a chance to bust out the sequins and satin from time to time. If you can celebrate excellent work or make some extra biz dev bucks at the same time, all the better. Snap is the latest social media company to launch its own take on the glitz and glam. The Snappy Awards Show will be held at the company’s headquarters on March 31. Comedian and content creator Matt Friend will host the event.

Snapchat has been adding more tools for influencers to build audiences, most recently launching individual creator subscriptions. An awards show seems to be part of that same agenda, spotlighting popular personalities from many different fields. There will be Snappys handed out for categories such as Spotlight MVP, Best Storyteller and Breakout Creator of the Year, plus awards for collaboration, cultural impact and success in single subjects.

Snapchat isn’t the first social media platform to honor the personalities using it. TikTok hosted its inaugural awards show in the US last year.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/social-media/snap-is-hosting-its-own-creator-awards-show-221859681.html?src=rss

Elon Musk appears to be grasping at straws in a lawsuit accusing OpenAI of poaching eight xAI employees in an allegedly unlawful bid to access xAI trade secrets connected to its data centers and chatbot, Grok.

In a Tuesday order granting OpenAI’s motion to dismiss, US District Judge Rita F. Lin said that xAI failed to provide evidence of any misconduct from OpenAI.

Instead, xAI seemed fixated on a range of alleged conduct of former employees. But in assessing xAI’s claims, Lin said that xAI failed to show proof that OpenAI induced any of these employees to steal trade secrets “or that these former xAI employees used any stolen trade secrets once employed by OpenAI.”

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Full Circle, the developer behind the new Skate game, has announced that it is restructuring and laying off staff. It’s not yet clear how many roles will be impacted by the changes, but the restructuring is happening less than six months after skate. launched in early access on September 15, 2025.

“We’re reshaping Full Circle to better support skate.’s long-term future,” Full Circle says. “These shifts mean making changes to our team structure, and some roles will be impacted. The teammates affected are talented colleagues and friends who helped build the foundation of skate. Their creativity and dedication are deeply ingrained in what players experience today. This decision is not a reflection of their impact and we’re committed to supporting them through this transition.”

Engadget has contacted Full Circle’s owner EA for more information about the layoffs. We’ll update this article if we hear back.

EA originally formed Full Circle in 2021 with a staff of development talent from the original Skate team. Skate was often positioned as a more realistic competitor to the Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater series, but the new studio has ultimately taken the franchise in a slightly different direction than fans may have expected. Previous Skate games were paid experiences with single-player and multiplayer modes, while skate. is a free-to-play live-service game supported with microtransactions.

Recent history, both the failure of Concord and the ongoing struggles of Highguard, serves as a testament to how hard it is to launch a live service game in the 2020s. Full Circle’s announcement notes the “tens of millions” of players that have tried the new game, but it’s possible a struggle to keep players interested and spending on microtransactions could be why it’s restructuring.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/gaming/skates-developer-is-laying-off-staff-before-the-game-leaves-early-access-220916797.html?src=rss

It probably will come as no surprise that Samsung claims its new S26 series delivers “the most powerful Galaxy experience yet.” The company announced the new phones during its big Unpacked 2026 event, and, like most new smartphones these days, this year’s models appear to be iterative updates to last year’s S25 phones.

The company particularly touted the S26 series’ cameras, but the interesting thing is, the camera hardware hasn’t much changed. If you look at the on-paper specs, you’ll mostly see the same numbers across the lens and sensor sizes. The S26 and S26+ have three rear cameras, while the S26 Ultra adds a fourth; all three phones have the same 12MP selfie camera. Really, the only hardware change is to the S26 Ultra’s 200MP main camera, which now has an f/1.4 aperture, compared to the f/1.7 aperture on the S25 Ultra’s 200MP camera. Otherwise, Samsung kept things pretty much the same.

The S26 cameras are still a decent upgrade over the S25’s

And yet, there are some clear advantages to the S26 series, especially the S26 Ultra. While the selfie cameras are the same as last year, they now use a new AI processor to bring out more detail: When there’s too much light in a shot, the S26 series can add virtual light to balance out the image. These phones are also better than previous models at filming video in low-light conditions, expanding on the company’s “Nightography” feature, which previously boosted the detail in photos; now, it works for video as well.

Speaking of video, Samsung says the S26 can automatically stabilize shots while maintaining a level image, even if you’re not looking at the frame, using “Super Steady with Horizontal Lock” (catchy name!).

If you pick up the Ultra, you’ll also get some pro video features. First, the phone supports the APV video codec, Samsung’s pro video codec, ideal for professional editors. Presumably, shooting in 8K APV will produce some large file sizes, which is why it’s great that the S26 Ultra supports recording to external storage, like the recent Pro iPhones. If shooting in log, you’ll be able to apply LUTs to your footage, to customize the overall color-grading of your images.

One smaller upgrade is Ocean Mode, which takes detailed images in underwater environments. This feature was previously available to professionals only, but the S26 series gets it as part of the Expert RAW setting.

Credit: Samsung/YouTube

Samsung added a surprise twist to Unpacked, revealing towards the end of the show that the entire livestream was filmed using S26 Ultras. That follows Apple’s playbook of recording events with iPhones, though Apple doesn’t do livestreams anymore. As far as I can tell, this is the first time a company like Samsung has livestreamed its entire presentation on one of its smartphone cameras. (Though both Apple and Samsung also deck out their smartphones with expensive equipment to capture these images.)

Credit: Samsung/YouTube

Galaxy AI brings new camera features to the S26 too

Samsung’s event focused a lot on Galaxy AI, and its benefits also applied to the cameras. For instance, the document scanner on the S26 can remove extraneous subjects from scans, such as your thumb or finger, and can combine multiple scans into one PDF.

You can also use Galaxy AI for prompt-based editing. Samsung showed off how to merge two photos at once, so that the subject of one image is “seamlessly” edited into another. The example added a dog from one image into the arms of a woman sitting at a coffee shop in another. Other examples of prompt-based edits include swapping outfits in an image, or editing a bite out of a cupcake.

Credit: Samsung/YouTube

None of these upgrades alone are necessarily worth upgrading from the S25, but they show that Samsung is quite confident in the features and quality of its cameras. Even if you don’t care for AI editing, it’s helpful to have added details when shooting in low light, and any budding cinematographers may enjoy the pro features—especially codec support and the ability to shoot to external storage. But, as always, we’ll need to wait for reviewers to get their hands on the phones before we know how good these cameras really are.

There used to be countless companies making flagship Android phones, but a combination of factors has narrowed the field over time. Today, Samsung is the undisputed king of the Android device ecosystem with its Galaxy S line. So we can safely assume today’s Unpacked has revealed the most popular Android phones for the next year—the Galaxy S26 Ultra, Galaxy S26+, and Galaxy S26.

Samsung didn’t swing for the fences this time around, producing phones with a few cosmetic tweaks and upgraded internals. Meanwhile, Samsung is investing even more in AI, saying the S26 series includes the first “Agentic AI phones.” Despite limited hardware upgrades, the realities of component prices in the age of AI mean the prices of the two cheaper models have gone up by $100 this year. The Ultra remains at an already eye-watering $1,300.

Faster and more private

Looking at the Galaxy S26 family, you’d be hard-pressed to tell them apart from last year’s phones. The camera surround is different, and the measurements of the smallest and largest phone are ever so slightly different. You probably won’t be able to tell just by looking, but the S26 Ultra has regressed from titanium to aluminum, a reversion Apple also made with its latest high-end phones. This phone also retains its S Pen stylus.

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On paper, the Samsung Galaxy S26 lineup seems like a pretty standard upgrade. The phones have received a new chip, some new AI features, slight bumps to the battery life and charging speeds (depending on your model), and even a fancy new gimmick in the Privacy Display. But once you add one of these new handsets to your cart, you’ll notice another detail that’s changed: Two of the Galaxy S26 phones cost $100 more than their Galaxy S25 counterparts did at launch last year.

We were all hoping it wouldn’t happen, but as AI demand makes components like storage, memory and even displays more expensive, the first major tech launch of the year has shown us that we can expect prices to increase in turn. This year, two models of the Galaxy S26 are $100 more expensive—but hey, at least your priciest options got out unscathed.

Why the Galaxy S26 costs $100 more

Samsung Galaxy S26 6.3″ 512GB Smartphone + $100 Gift Card

$899.99
at Amazon

$1,199.99
Save $300.00

$899.99
at Amazon

$1,199.99
Save $300.00

Maybe the most noticeable casualty in the S26 price hikes was the base model, which went from starting at $799 for the S25 to starting at $899 for the S26. That makes it pricier than an iPhone 17, but you do get a little something in exchange.

Essentially, this is less of a price increase, and more like paring down your options: To coincide with the new price, Samsung has also bumped up the S26’s base storage to 256GB (up from 128GB on the S25). That means Samsung has to produce fewer varieties for its base phone, which will likely help it deal with the ongoing components shortage, while keeping pricing stable for the most popular configurations.

I say “close,” because the 256GB S26 is still a bit more expensive than the 256GB S25. That phone costs $859, so whether the upgrade is worth an additional $40 depends on how much you care about a larger battery, a new chip, and a 0.1-inch larger display. Being the base phone, the S26 doesn’t have the flashiest additions over its predecessor, but it might have fared better than the non-Ultra S26.

The Galaxy S26+ costs as much as an iPhone 17 Pro

Samsung Galaxy S26+

$1,099.99
at Amazon

$1,399.99
Save $300.00

$1,099.99
at Amazon

$1,399.99
Save $300.00

Perhaps the bigger victim in Samsung’s S26 price increases is the Galaxy S26+, which now starts at $1,099, up from $999 for the S25+. The price increase here is a bit harder to explain, as it didn’t get any bumps to its base storage to compensate. It still starts at 256GB of storage, still has a 6.7-inch screen, and still has the same 50MP/12MP/10MP rear camera system. The Privacy Display—the Ultra’s flashiest new feature—isn’t even included. The biggest on-paper upgrade is the new chip, the Snapdragon 8 Elite for Galaxy Gen 5.

That means upgrading will only net you slightly faster processing, plus early access to those new AI features that are Galaxy S26 and Pixel 10-exclusive…for now. The lack of distinct selling points emphasizes the awkward space these middle-of-the-road models currently occupy. For instance, you can get an iPhone 17 Pro for the same $1,099, and that will get you Apple’s best technology, minus the slightly larger display and battery on the iPhone 17 Pro Max. If Samsung is charging that much for a Plus model, maybe it makes sense that Apple ditched its own Plus version for the weirder (but unique) iPhone Air.

Granted, the S26+ is still a strong phone. That new chip is no slouch, and while the ultrawide and telephoto lenses are weaker here than on the 17 Pro, the main lens is actually slightly stronger, at 50MP versus 48MP. I wouldn’t be disappointed to get an S26+, but it might be difficult for an S25+ owner to find a reason to upgrade their current phone. It’s basically the same device, but $100 pricier.

The Galaxy S26 Ultra costs the same, probably because that’s the one Samsung wants you to buy

Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra

$1,299.99
at Amazon

$1,699.99
Save $400.00

$1,299.99
at Amazon

$1,699.99
Save $400.00

While it’s unclear why Samsung put the S26+ out without making a compelling case for it—the company didn’t even talk about it much during today’s Galaxy Unpacked event—I’d guess that is because the company would much prefer you upgrade to the Galaxy S26 Ultra. This is the model with the most exclusive features, offering the clearest upgrades over its last gen version. It’s also the only model that didn’t see a price hike.

The Galaxy S26 Ultra starts at $1,299, the same as the Galaxy S25 Ultra. But for that cost, you’ll now get a new chip, faster wired charging (up from 45W to 60W), the Privacy Display, and improved nighttime photos as well as access to the APV codec used in professional video shoots. That’s a good amount of upgrades over what the other models offer.

To me, that signals one thing: Samsung is willing to raise its barrier to entry, but is going to do its best to keep pricing for its flagship devices as attractive as possible for as long as possible. If you’re willing to buy the most expensive model, you can avoid a price hike, while also getting the biggest upgrades. Everyone else will have to pay more. I’m curious to see whether Apple will follow this trend when it drops the iPhone 18 later this year.

Ubisoft’s shakeups continue unabated. The creative director of the next Assassin’s Creed game, codenamed Hexe, has left the company. The departure of Clint Hocking, a 20-year veteran of the company over two stints, was reportedly announced in a staff meeting this week.

Hocking’s resume at Ubisoft included serving as creative director on Splinter Cell: Chaos Theory, Far Cry 2 and Watch Dogs: Legion. The details of why he’s leaving the company haven’t been reported.

Ubisoft told VGC, which first reported on Hocking’s exit, that development on Hexe will continue. Jean Guedson, one of three new leaders of the Assassin’s Creed franchise, will take over as the upcoming title’s new creative director. Guedson had the same role for Assassin’s Creed Origins and Black Flag, two of the franchise’s most well-received entries.

To say sailing hasn’t been smooth of late at Ubisoft would be an understatement. Last year, the company reorganized its corporate structure under a system of “creative houses.” The first, Vantage Studios, is partly owned by Tencent and now oversees Assassin’s Creed. Then in October, franchise head Marc-Alexis Côté left the company. He later claimed he was “asked to step aside” and is suing his former employer.

All of these changes came in the wake of layoffs, big-name flops, more layoffs, studio closures, even more layoffs, strikes and (yep) layoffs again. Earlier this month, Ubisoft even fired an employee who criticized the company’s return-to-office mandate.

But have no fear; some aspects of the company are doing quite well. Take, for example, nepotism. The future is looking bright indeed for a rising company star who is now co-CEO of Vantage Studios. That title belongs to Charlie Guillemot, the son of Ubisoft CEO Yves Guillemot.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/gaming/the-next-assassins-creed-game-loses-its-creative-director-210119005.html?src=rss

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The Galaxy S26 series is official, even if they’re not quite officially here yet. Samsung announced the new smartphones at today’s Unpacked 2026, touting their upgraded chips (Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 for Galaxy), pro camera features, and new Galaxy AI capabilities.

It might be a relatively quiet update, but an update’s an update. If you’re looking for the fastest Galaxy devices on the market, the choice just moved from the S25 to the S26.

When is Samsung releasing the Galaxy S26?

While the entire S26 lineup is currently available to preorder, they aren’t yet available to purchase. Samsung is making users wait a bit—two weeks, to be exact. Preorders start today, Feb. 25, while the units themselves will be available in stores starting March 11.

Still, even if you have two weeks to buy any of the S26 series, you might want to consider preordering them ahead of time if you want to secure your device. The newest smartphones from companies like Samsung tend to sell out on release, pushing shipping dates back further than the official release date. That’s no guarantee it’ll happen this time, but preorder sets your place in line if you’re sure which model you want.

How much does the Galaxy S26 cost?

Three phones, three different starting prices:

• the Galaxy S26 is the smallest of the bunch, and costs the least, starting at $899.99

• the S26 Plus starts at $1,099.99

• the S26 Ultra starts at $1,299.99

Those are just the entry prices, of course—for the base storage for each device. If you want more storage, you’ll need to pay more, though you could save some money, depending on the preorder deal you choose.

Where to preorder the Galaxy S26 series (and the best deals)

There are a number of stores you can preorder the Galaxy S26 series from, but Samsung would obviously prefer you to buy direct. The company is running promotions for preorders, such as trade-in deals, to knock some money off the price tag, but the best reason to go through Samsung is if you want one of their exclusive colors: Silver Shadow and Pinkgold are only available on Samsung’s official site.

Here are the current preorder deals I’m seeing:

Galaxy S26

• AT&T: As low as $0 per month with eligible trade-in.

• Amazon: Save $200 off the 512GB model, and get a free gift card.

• Best Buy: Save $200 off the 512GB model. Trade-in offers accepted.

• Boost Mobile: $3 per month on the Infinite Access for Galaxy $65 Plan

• Samsung: Save up to $500 with eligible trade-in, plus $50 off through PayPal code.

• T-Mobile: As low as $0 per month with eligible trade-in or new line on the Experience Beyond plan.

• Verizon: As low as $0 per month with Unlimited Ultimate or Unlimited Plus plan.

Galaxy S26 Plus

• AT&T: As low as $0 per month with eligible trade-in.

• Amazon: Save $200 off the 512GB model, and get a free gift card.

• Best Buy: Save $200 off the 512GB model.

• Boost Mobile: $8.33 per month with the Infinite Access for Galaxy $65 plan.

• Samsung: Save up to $500 with eligible trade-in, plus $50 off through PayPal code.

• T-Mobile: As low as $0 per month with eligible trade-in or new line on the Experience Beyond plan.

• Verizon: As low as $0 per month with Unlimited Ultimate or Unlimited Plus plan.

Galaxy S26 Ultra

• AT&T: As low as $0 per month with eligible trade-in.

• Amazon: Save $400 off the 512GB model, and get a free gift card.

• Best Buy: Save $200 off the 512GB model.

• Boost Mobile: $13.89 per month with the Infinite Access for Galaxy $64 plan.

• Samsung: Save up to $900 with eligible trade-in, plus $50 off through PayPal code.

• T-Mobile: As low as $0 per month with eligible trade-in or new line on the Experience Beyond plan.

• Verizon: Save up to $36.11 per month with the Unlimited Ultimate plan.

An anonymous reader shares a report: Brian Merchant, writing for Blood in the Machine, reports that people across the United States are dismantling and destroying Flock surveillance cameras, amid rising public anger that the license plate readers aid U.S. immigration authorities and deportations.

Flock is the Atlanta-based surveillance startup valued at $7.5 billion a year ago and a maker of license plate readers. It has faced criticism for allowing federal authorities access to its massive network of nationwide license plate readers and databases at a time when U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement is increasingly relying on data to raid communities as part of the Trump administration’s immigration crackdown.

Flock cameras allow authorities to track where people go and when by taking photos of their license plates from thousands of cameras located across the United States. Flock claims it doesn’t share data with ICE directly, but reports show that local police have shared their own access to Flock cameras and its databases with federal authorities. While some communities are calling on their cities to end their contracts with Flock, others are taking matters into their own hands.

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

A federal court will conduct a search of devices seized from a Washington Post reporter after a magistrate judge decided yesterday that the Department of Justice cannot be trusted to perform the search on its own.

US Magistrate Judge William Porter criticized government prosecutors for not including key information in a search warrant application. The court wasn’t aware of a 1980 law that limits searches and seizures of journalists’ work materials when it approved the warrant, Porter acknowledged.

The decision came six weeks after the FBI executed the search warrant at the Virginia home of reporter Hannah Natanson. Porter declined the Post and Natanson’s request to return the devices immediately but decided on a court-led process to ensure that the search is limited to materials that may aid a criminal case against an alleged leaker who was in contact with Natanson. He also rescinded the portion of the search warrant that authorized the government to open, access, review, or otherwise examine the seized data.

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Canadian officials summoned leaders from OpenAI to Ottawa this week to address safety concerns about ChatGPT. The crux of the government concerns was that OpenAI did not notify authorities when it banned the account of a user who allegedly committed a mass shooting in British Columbia earlier this month. 

“The message that we delivered, in no uncertain terms, was that we have ‌an expectation that there are going to ⁠be changes implemented, and if they’re not forthcoming very quickly, the government is going to be making changes,” Justice Minister Sean Fraser said of the company and its AI chatbot. It’s unclear what those government-led changes or rules might be. There have been two previous, unsuccessful attempts to pass an online harms act in Canada.

A recent report by The Wall Street Journal claimed that in 2025, some OpenAI employees flagged the account of the alleged shooter, Jesse Van Rootselaar, as containing potential warnings of committing real-world violence and called for leadership to notify law enforcement. Although Van Rootselaar’s account was banned for policy violations, a company rep said that the account activity did not meet OpenAI’s criteria for engaging the local police. 

“Those reports were deeply disturbing, reports saying that OpenAI did not contact law enforcement in a timely manner,” said Canadian Artificial Intelligence Minister Evan Solomon ahead of the discussion with company leaders. “We will have a sit-down meeting to have an explanation of their safety protocols and when they escalate and their thresholds of escalation to police, so we have a better understanding of what’s happening and what they do.”

OpenAI has been implicated in mulitple wrongful death suits. The company’s ChatGPT was accused of encouraging “paranoid beliefs” before a man killed his mother and himself in a December 2025 lawsuit. It is also at the center of one of several wrongful death lawsuits against the makers of AI chatbots for helping teenagers plan and commit suicides.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/ai/canadian-government-demands-safety-changes-from-openai-204924604.html?src=rss

Microsoft has announced that its rolling out support for streaming games at 1440p on Xbox consoles. Game streaming is a key benefit of paying for a Game Pass subscription, and as of 2025, now also includes games players own that aren’t part of the larger Game Pass library.

The higher bitrate streaming option will let subscribers with an Xbox Series X or S, Xbox One X or Xbox One play their games at a higher resolution, provided the game and their display supports it. Microsoft previously only offered 1440p streams on select Fire TVs, LG TVs, Samsung TVs, web browsers and the Xbox PC app. At least for now, 1440p is only available to Game Pass Ultimate subscribers.

Beyond the new streaming option, Microsoft is also making improvements to the Xbox PC app and the Xbox experience on ROG Xbox Ally handhelds. On PC, the Xbox PC app now includes “navigation sounds” that play when you use the app’s interface with a controller. These new sounds are supposed to make controller input feel more responsive and intuitive. On the ASUS ROG Xbox Ally and Xbox Ally X, meanwhile, Microsoft is making it even easier to format removable storage like microSD cards, and updating drivers to improve compatibility on select games.

The last week has been particularly tumultuous for Microsoft’s gaming division. Former Microsoft Gaming CEO Phil Spencer announced his retirement on Friday, alongside the appointment of Asha Sharma, the President of Microsoft’s CoreAI division, as his replacement. Opinions differ as to whether Sharma’s new position will be good or bad for Xbox, but more changes are likely on the way.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/gaming/xbox/xbox-consoles-now-support-1440p-streaming-204115304.html?src=rss