New tariff policies have prompted a huge sell-off in the US stock markets and caused uncertainty for investors.

April 6, 2025American Lifespans, Monkeys That Yodel, Measles, and MoreStates sue HHS for public health cuts, measles cases continue to rise, and a study finds Americans live shorter lives compared with their European counterparts. Anaissa Ruiz Tejada/Scientific AmericanSUBSCRIBE TO Science QuicklyRachel Feltman: Happy Monday, listeners! And happy April. For Scientific Americans Science Quickly, Im Rachel Feltman. Lets kick off the week with a quick roundup of science news you might have missed.To start we have some public health updates. Last Friday the Texas health department reported that there have been 481 known measles cases since late January, up from 400 on March 28. Texas Public Radio recently reported that several children with measles have also needed treatment for toxic levels of vitamin A. As I explained in the March 10 news roundup episode, U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has publicly touted vitamin A supplementation for measles patients while seemingly downplaying the importance of vaccines. According to a recent report by ProPublica, U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention leaders blocked the release of an assessment on the ongoing outbreak written by the agencys own experts. The planned messaging around the assessment reportedly would have emphasized the need for vaccinations to prevent measles. In a statement to ProPublica, a CDC spokesperson claimed that this report was not published because it does not say anything that the public doesnt already know and that the CDC still presents vaccines as the best way to protect against measles. But the spokesperson went on to add that the decision to vaccinate is a personal one, saying folks should be informed about the potential risks and benefits associated with vaccines.Now the good news is that we know a lot about the risks associated with the measles vaccine, and theyre extremely low. For instance, one study used the mass vaccination of 14.3 million kids in China from September 2007 to March 2008 to track the rate of serious adverse events. The researchers saw a rate of just over two such events for every million vaccine doses given. In contrast, one in every 1,000 cases of measles is associated with encephalitis, or swelling of the brain, which can be deadly. And several major studies have found no link between the measles-mumps-rubella vaccine and autism diagnoses.On supporting science journalismIf you're enjoying this article, consider supporting our award-winning journalism by subscribing. By purchasing a subscription you are helping to ensure the future of impactful stories about the discoveries and ideas shaping our world today.The CDCs stifling of this new measles report isnt the only indication that the current administration is downplaying the importance of vaccines. Late last month top U.S. Food and Drug Administration vaccine official Peter Marks resigned from his position. According to the Wall Street Journal and New York Times, Marks was given the choice between quitting and being fired.Meanwhile, lawmakers from 23 states and Washington, D.C., are suing HHS for slashing more than $11 billion in funding for public health initiatives. We actually mentioned those cuts in last weeks news roundup. They mainly target funds that were allocated to local and state health departments during the peak of the COVID pandemic. According to the lawsuit, which was filed last Tuesday, that money was never earmarked as being solely for pandemic-response initiatives like COVID testing. Some of the funding has been directed toward strengthening public health infrastructure to make states and communities more resilient to pandemics and other major crises, including measles outbreaks, the spread of bird flu and the ongoing opioid epidemic, according to the lawmakers. Last week, NBC News reported that the Dallas County Health and Human Services Department had to cancel dozens of planned free measles vaccination clinics due to these same funding cuts.Speaking of health in the U.S., a new study suggests that folks in America live shorter lives than their economic counterparts in Europe. In a study published last Wednesday in the New England Journal of Medicine, researchers compared data from more than 73,000 adults aged 50 to 85. The scientists found, unsurprisingly, that in any given country, people with more money tended to live longer. But the researchers also found that the wealthiest U.S. subjects had shorter lifespans, on average, than the richest participants from Europe. And in parts of western Europe such as Germany, France and the Netherlands some of the poorest residents had lifespans in line with the wealthiest Americans. The study authors say this is a reminder that systemic issues in the U.S. such as stress, diet and environmental contaminants arent something you can spend your way out of.Okay, lets pivot to lighter news. Remember that killer asteroid we were all worried about for a minute? Wouldnt you rather talk about killer asteroids? I know I would.The good news is that observations made with the James Webb Space Telescope have confirmed that 2024 YR4 functionally has zero chance of hitting Earth in 2032. Yay! The bad news is that theres still a nonzero possibility that our moon will take the hit insteadabout a 2 percent chance, to be exact.And it turns out that a moon collision might not be bad news at all. Several astronomers told New Scientist that such an event would represent a huge opportunity for research. One even said he had his fingers crossed. We know the moon is pelted with smaller asteroids all the time, and its iconically pocked surface tells us its taken on bigger bruisers in the past. Knowing in advance that something was going to collide with the moonand having the time to be certain of its dimensions and trajectorywould enable unprecedented study of the formation of lunar craters. That could help us understand the moons past.Well wrap up with a fun animal story. Because youve earned it!When you think of yodeling you probably imagine people in the Alps wearing wooden shoes or maybe Julie Andrews in The Sound of Music. But a study published last Thursday throws a dark horse into the competition for worlds best yodeler: monkeys.Researchers were interested in structures called vocal membranes, which apes and monkeys have in their throats but humans no longer do. Using CT scans of several species of monkey, along with computer simulations and fieldwork, researchers found that these structures help monkeys accomplish so-called voice breaks, where they quickly switch between using their vocal membranes and vocal folds to produce sound. The result is that quick change in frequency we hear when humans yodel or make that quintessential Tarzan yelp.Heres an example from the tufted capuchin.[CLIP: A tufted capuchin vocalizes.]Feltman: That might not sound very yodel-y, but things get clearer when you slow the call down.[CLIP: The tufted capuchins vocalization is slowed down.]Feltman: Previous research has suggested that humans gave up these membranes to make our speech more stable. But I guess that might have come at the cost of some sick yodelling skills.Thats all for this weeks science news roundup. Well be back on Wednesday.Science Quickly is produced by me, Rachel Feltman, along with Fonda Mwangi, Kelso Harper, Naeem Amarsy and Jeff DelViscio. This episode was edited by Alex Sugiura. Shayna Posses and Aaron Shattuck fact-check our show. Our theme music was composed by Dominic Smith. Subscribe to Scientific American for more up-to-date and in-depth science news.For Scientific American, this is Rachel Feltman. Have a great week!

Sorry fans of the Nintendo shop music circa the Wii era, but we won't be getting a catchy jingle to shop along to on the Switch 2's release this summer. And it doesn't seem likely the music will be coming back in the future either. Read more

You can trust VideoGamer. Our team of gaming experts spend hours testing and reviewing the latest games, to ensure you're reading the most comprehensive guide possible. Rest assured, all imagery and advice is unique and original. Check out how we test and review games hereArkane Studios Dishonored is one of the most underrated franchises ever made, and a third game likely isnt happening following the seconds unsatisfying sales. After creating Dishonored, director and Arkane co-founder Raphal Colantonio moved onto Prey, and later left Arkane to found WolfEye Studios which released the underrated Weird West.Speaking on the Quad Damage podcast, Colantonio revealed that he not only had plans for Dishonored 3, but would love the opportunity to work on the third game. However, after leaving Arkhane in 2017, it seems like he wont have a chance to create the sequel of his dreams.Three Dishonored 3 versions have already been plannedOn the podcast, Colantonio explained that the last thing I wanted to do for the next four years of my life was Dishonored 2 after releasing the first game in 2012. While the main Arkane team would work on the sequel and Death of the Outsider, the series creator created the amazing reboot of Prey.When asked about working on the series again, the creator said: Id love to. I mean, were talking totally hypothetically at this point. I could see myself working on Dishonored 3 right now because its been so long that, you know, why not?In fact, Colantonio already had plans for a third game, and so did Deathloop director Dinga Bakaba, as well as creative director Harvey Smith. So, not only is there a possibility for a third game at Arkane if the studios new Microsoft overlords allow it, but theres three planned avenues to go down.I had a document about Dishonored 3. Harvey [Smith] has a document about Dishonored 3. I think Dinga [Bakaba] has one too. Which of those three versions will ever see the day, now were talking about science fiction at this point, Colantonio said.Colantonios work on Dishonored and Prey led to some fantastic games, but his work away from the studio has also been standout. Weird West is one hell of a gemone a lot more gamers should playand seeing the creator work anywhere is always great.Related TopicsDishonored 3 Subscribe to our newsletters!By subscribing, you agree to our Privacy Policy and may receive occasional deal communications; you can unsubscribe anytime.Share

Theyre certainly a Hollywood power couple. But these days, Blake Lively and Ryan Reynoldss houses are located nowhere near Tinseltown. The actors, who have been married since 2012 and share three daughters10-year-old James, 8-year-old Inez, and 5-year-old Bettyand one son, 2-year-old Olin, split their time between New York City and a nearby suburb, and seemingly have no plans to relocate anytime soon. In December, The Hollywood Reporter asked Reynolds if they considered moving to his native Canada after Donald Trump was reelected. No. It hasnt even crossed our minds. I love New York, and I love where I live, the star replied.Blake and Ryan are avid homebodies, a source told Us Weekly in 2022, and while that may be true, theyre still very much in the spotlight, both for their work in flicks like Deadpool & Wolverine (Reynolds) and Another Simple Favor (Lively) and because of the ongoing legal battle between Lively and Justin Baldoni.In 2024, Lively starred in It Ends With Us, a film based on the Colleen Hoover novel of the same name and directed by Baldoni. The press tour around the films premiere was marred by rumors of drama between the two and numerous controversies. Months later, in December, Lively filed a complaint against Baldoni in which she alleged that he and a team of publicists had orchestrated a smear campaign against her as retaliation for her complaints about harassment on the set of the film. Now, the pair are suing each other and are set to go to trial, likely in March of 2026.With the feud continuously in the headlines, we decided to look back at the properties Lively and Reynolds have called home over the years, including their current digs.The Wong HouseBefore the Gossip Girl alum and the Red Notice star were an item, Reynolds owned a property in Los Feliz that he bought with his then wife, Scarlett Johansson. The pair paid $2.9 million for the restored midcentury-modern pad, known as the Wong House, built in 1969 by California architects Conrad Buff and Donald Hensman. The stunning one-story post-and-beam pad featured three bedrooms, including a primary suite with dual sinks and an outdoor bathtub, spread out across 2,835 square feet. Images of the residence reveal entire walls of glass and sliding glass doors that opened from the kitchen directly onto a wooden-deck patio, as well as a large pool and lawn. Following their split, the couple listed the home for $3.65 million in 2012 and sold it for $3.5 million shortly afterward.Bedford, New York, traditionalIn early 2012, about six months after Lively and Reynolds began dating after meeting on the set of Green Lantern, the couple paid $2.3 million for a home in Bedford, New York, about an hour north of the city. Neighbors at the time included other Hollywood A-listers like Bruce Willis, Ralph Lauren, and Catherine Zeta-Jones. The residence reportedly measured 4,753 square feet, with three bedrooms and four and a half bathrooms, with a two-bedroom guest suite situated elsewhere on the two-acre property. They picked a very traditional kind of house for people who work in Hollywood, a source told People at the time. They wanted a house with character, not a trendy, modern house. Their place is very homey. The couple sold the pad for a reported $2.4 million in May 2013 after buying a larger home in the area.Pound Ridge, New York, ColonialThe couple next purchased a $5.7 million mansion in Pound Ridge, just a few miles away from their original home. The entire estate reportedly spans 11.65 acres and includes an outdoor barn, while the main Colonial-style house measures 8,892 square feet, boasting seven bedrooms and six bathrooms. There is also a separate guest house. The small glimpses that Lively and Reynolds have shared of their home reveal dark hardwood floors, slate-colored walls, and a chic, rustic exterior. This is still their primary residence.Tribeca loftThe exterior of their Tribeca building.Photo: David Sundberg / Esto, Courtesy of CetraRuddy

this isn't fine DOGE gearing up for hackathon at IRS, wants easier access to taxpayer data IRS worker: "an open door controlled by Musk for all Americans' most sensitive information." Makena Kelly, wired.com Apr 7, 2025 9:12 am | 67 Internal Revenue Service (IRS) headquarters building on January 30, 2024, in Washington, DC. Credit: Getty Images | J. David Ake Internal Revenue Service (IRS) headquarters building on January 30, 2024, in Washington, DC. Credit: Getty Images | J. David Ake Story textSizeSmallStandardLargeWidth *StandardWideLinksStandardOrange* Subscribers only Learn moreElon Musks so-called Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) has plans to stage a hackathon next week in Washington, DC. The goal is to create a single mega APIa bridge that lets software systems talk to one anotherfor accessing IRS data, sources tell WIRED. The agency is expected to partner with a third-party vendor to manage certain aspects of the data project. Palantir, a software company cofounded by billionaire and Musk associate Peter Thiel, has been brought up consistently by DOGE representatives as a possible candidate, sources tell WIRED.Two top DOGE operatives at the IRS, Sam Corcos and Gavin Kliger, are helping to orchestrate the hackathon, sources tell WIRED. Corcos is a health-tech CEO with ties to Musks SpaceX. Kliger attended UC Berkeley until 2020 and worked at the AI company Databricks before joining DOGE as a special adviser to the director at the Office of Personnel Management (OPM). Corcos is also a special adviser to Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent.Since joining Musks DOGE, Corcos has told IRS workers that he wants to pause all engineering work and cancel current attempts to modernize the agencys systems, according to sources with direct knowledge who spoke with WIRED. He has also spoken about some aspects of these cuts publicly: "We've so far stopped work and cut about $1.5 billion from the modernization budget. Mostly projects that were going to continue to put us down the death spiral of complexity in our code base," Corcos told Laura Ingraham on Fox News in March.Corcos has discussed plans for DOGE to build one new API to rule them all, making IRS data more easily accessible for cloud platforms, sources say. APIs, or application programming interfaces, enable different applications to exchange data, and could be used to move IRS data into the cloud. The cloud platform could become the read center of all IRS systems, a source with direct knowledge tells WIRED, meaning anyone with access could view and possibly manipulate all IRS data in one place.Over the last few weeks, DOGE has requested the names of the IRSs best engineers from agency staffers. Next week, DOGE and IRS leadership are expected to host dozens of engineers in DC so they can begin ripping up the old systems and building the API, an IRS engineering source tells WIRED. The goal is to have this task completed within 30 days. Sources say there have been multiple discussions about involving third-party cloud and software providers like Palantir in the implementation.Corcos and DOGE indicated to IRS employees that they intended to first apply the API to the agencys mainframes and then move on to every other internal system. Initiating a plan like this would likely touch all data within the IRS, including taxpayer names, addresses, Social Security numbers, as well as tax return and employment data. Currently, the IRS runs on dozens of disparate systems housed in on-premises data centers and in the cloud that are purposefully compartmentalized. Accessing these systems requires special permissions, and workers are typically only granted access on a need-to-know basis.A mega API could potentially allow someone with access to export all IRS data to the systems of their choosing, including private entities. If that person also had access to other interoperable datasets at separate government agencies, they could compare them against IRS data for their own purposes.Schematizing this data and understanding it would take years, an IRS source tells WIRED. Just even thinking through the data would take a long time, because these people have no experience, not only in government, but in the IRS or with taxes or anything else. (There is a lot of stuff that I don't know that I am learning now, Corcos tells Ingraham in the Fox interview. I know a lot about software systems, that's why I was brought in.")These systems have all gone through a tedious approval process to ensure the security of taxpayer data. Whatever may replace them would likely still need to be properly vetted, sources tell WIRED."It's basically an open door controlled by Musk for all Americans' most sensitive information with none of the rules that normally secure that data," an IRS worker alleges to WIRED.The data consolidation effort aligns with President Donald Trumps executive order from March 20, which directed agencies to eliminate information silos. While the order was purportedly aimed at fighting fraud and waste, it also could threaten privacy by consolidating personal data housed on different systems into a central repository, WIRED previously reported.In a statement provided to WIRED on Saturday, a Treasury spokesperson said the department is pleased to have gathered a team of long-time IRS engineers who have been identified as the most talented technical personnel. Through this coalition, they will streamline IRS systems to create the most efficient service for the American taxpayer. This week the team will be participating in the IRS Roadmapping Kickoff, a seminar of various strategy sessions, as they work diligently to create efficient systems. This new leadership and direction will maximize their capabilities and serve as the tech-enabled force multiplier that the IRS has needed for decades.Palantir, Sam Corcos, and Gavin Kliger did not immediately respond to requests for comment.In February, a memo was drafted to provide Kliger with access to personal taxpayer data at the IRS, The Washington Post reported. Kliger was ultimately provided read-only access to anonymized tax data, similar to what academics use for research. Weeks later, Corcos arrived, demanding detailed taxpayer and vendor information as a means of combating fraud, according to the Post.The IRS has some pretty legacy infrastructure. It's actually very similar to what banks have been using. It's old mainframes running COBOL and Assembly and the challenge has been, how do we migrate that to a modern system? Corcos told Ingraham in the same Fox News interview. Corcos said he plans to continue his work at IRS for a total of six months.DOGE has already slashed and burned modernization projects at other agencies, replacing them with smaller teams and tighter timelines. At the Social Security Administration, DOGE representatives are planning to move all of the agencys data off of legacy programming languages like COBOL and into something like Java, WIRED reported last week.Last Friday, DOGE suddenly placed around 50 IRS technologists on administrative leave. On Thursday, even more technologists were cut, including the director of cybersecurity architecture and implementation, deputy chief information security officer, and acting director of security risk management. IRSs chief technology officer, Kaschit Pandya, is one of the few technology officials left at the agency, sources say.DOGE originally expected the API project to take a year, multiple IRS sources say, but that timeline has shortened dramatically down to a few weeks. That is not only not technically possible, that's also not a reasonable idea, that will cripple the IRS, an IRS employee source tells WIRED. It will also potentially endanger filing season next year, because obviously all these other systems theyre pulling people away from are important.(Corcos also made it clear to IRS employees that he wanted to kill the agencys Direct File program, the IRSs recently released free tax-filing service.)DOGEs focus on obtaining and moving sensitive IRS data to a central viewing platform has spooked privacy and civil liberties experts.Its hard to imagine more sensitive data than the financial information the IRS holds, Evan Greer, director of Fight for the Future, a digital civil rights organization, tells WIRED.Palantir received the highest FedRAMP approval this past December for its entire product suite, including Palantir Federal Cloud Service (PFCS), which provides a cloud environment for federal agencies to implement the companys software platforms, like Gotham and Foundry. FedRAMP stands for Federal Risk and Authorization Management Program and assesses cloud products for security risks before governmental use.We love disruption and whatever is good for America will be good for Americans and very good for Palantir, Palantir CEO Alex Karp said in a February earnings call. Disruption at the end of the day exposes things that aren't working. There will be ups and downs. This is a revolution, some people are going to get their heads cut off.This story originally appeared on wired.com.Makena Kelly, wired.com Wired.com is your essential daily guide to what's next, delivering the most original and complete take you'll find anywhere on innovation's impact on technology, science, business and culture. 67 Comments

Pack MentalityPart-Payday, part-Cyberpunk, part-Heat, but never derivative: Den of Wolves reminds me why co-op heist games have always been coolAs Payday 3 fails to impress, 10 Chambers is readying a true successor to Payday 2 that's got all the ingredients to be your next favourite co-op romp.Image credit: VG247/10 Chambers Article by Dom Peppiatt Editor-in-chief Published on April 7, 2025 Its all gone wrong. We planned this out so meticulously, too. In the days leading up to the heist, my teammates and I were all legwork; casing the futuristic bank, pilfering the supplies wed need to blow out the windows and make our escape, readying a hive of murderous drones so that we could infiltrate the target area under cover of some guys just looking to make a drop-off. Wed planned it, spent days making sure it was fool-proof. But, like any good heist, of course there was a complication.It was greed. Same as it ever was. Wed already secured our primary target - data hidden inside the mind of a technocrat CEO, suspended in some kind of high-tech cocoon. Wed hacked into his very cortex, nicked the plans we needed, and were ready to evac. What if we got the loot from the other vaults in the bank? asked my colleague - a member of the 10 Chambers dev team, no less.To see this content please enable targeting cookies. Sure, why not? Our escape plan - a base jump from the upper floor of a Dubai-esque skyscraper - was ready and waiting. Nabbing a few more bags of cash wouldnt hurt, right? As we take our positions in the mezzanine, an insurmountable mix of security droids and hired goons come streaming in, all guns and bullets and deployable shields. One member of the team is caught short down in the killing floor of the main lobby. A 10 Chambers staffer holding down the right flank gets caught off-guard by a grenade. Im taking point at the back, ready to exfil, and some punk with a DMR potshots me across the hall. Its over. The heist is done.Yeah, this is a good heist game. I like that it has the capacity to go wrong. Ive never seen that many guys spawn in so quickly, says one of the devs. It just goes to show, anything can happen! That may be the biggest draw of Den of Wolves compared to its contemporaries. In Payday and Payday 2, you spawn into any given heist without a plan, really. Maybe one of you would stealth it to the vault, another would go commando into the fray, and someone would be spinning on the spot in their own little world.You cant do that in Den of Wolves. Its about prep. Its about being prepared. In my head, its like Oceans 11 - where one of you is a de-facto George Clooney laying out how its going to work, and another is a disinterested Brad Pitt willing to go along with the show, and someone else is Matt Damon eager to be a bit more risk/reward in order to prove a point. Or something. Once more unto the breach, dear friends. | Image credit: 10 ChambersIts more like Heat, in my opinion, says 10 Chambers co-founder and narrative director Simon Viklund, as we reflect on our mission. Think about it, right? In Heat, the movie starts, the crew gets the explosives, and then they steal the ambulance. They have to prepare, and you see them do that. Its very much the blueprint for Den of Wolves, this, TL;DR of Heat. Before taking on a narrative-heavy heist mission, you need to complete smaller tasks in order to kit yourself out, ensure you have a method of escape, and tilt the odds in your favour.Example. Before the main heist (which Im told can take anywhere up to 40 minutes), we played a prep mission (about 10 minutes) in which our team infiltrated a heavily guarded building to requisition an assault drone. This is how we managed to get into the vault without much resistance; the drone was squirreled away into a package, and killed everyone on the inside once we delivered it. From here, the safety was off, and we were in our target location, good.Its more serious and badass than Oceans films, laughs Viklund. And means theres more player choice, too. You see a mission, and youre like oh, okay, Ill bring my stealth build/sniper build/assault build, depending on what prep youve done. Maybe this was my undoing. Im a sharpshooter; give me a battle rifle or DMR and Im a happy camper (no pun intended). But had I known thered be this influx of armed bastards late in the mission, maybe Id have equipped an SMG or more incendiary devices. I can mull on my regrets from heaven.It adds depth to the Payday formula, something the 10 Chambers folks know a lot about, since the key architects of both Payday and Payday 2 are working on Den of Wolves. Theres more at stake, more intentionality, and more that can go wrong. It harnesses the peril of the job, something the devs no doubt learned from making a hard-as-nails co-op shooter like GTFO. But thats not to say its impossible; in fact, part of what I like about Den of Wolves is how accessible it is. The only reason the heist came undone is because of our collective greed, our hubris. Spider drones can penetrate vaults, it just might take a while. | Image credit: 10 ChambersThe cyberpunk setting of the game lends itself to the action, too; its tight, responsive, and punchy. DMRs hit like they should, and the pistol - more Desert Eagle than pocket pistol sidearm - kicks like a mule, blowing human foes off their feet and shattering droids into ineffectual pieces. You tilt slightly when youre carrying a loot bag, as you would in real life if you were shepherding $100k in cash over your shoulder. Shooting through an energy shield feels great, makes you feel smart, has physical and intellectual feedback as enemies rounds ping limply off the barrier.And, lets be clear, this game is still not even in early access. Im playing, like, pre-pre-alpha. And it feels this good. The cadence (plan, prep, infiltrate, rob, dive, repeat) feels like a formula thatll get juicier and juicier the more time you put into it. The more weapons and options you have, the richer the feedback loop will become. It takes everything that made Payday feel so revelatory back in 2011 and turns it up even more. 10 Chambers told me, during the preview, that Ulf Andersson (creative lead on Payday and Payday 2) had been toying with a sci-fi heist game even before the original title came to fruition; Den of Wolves is the result of an idea thats been gestating for some 15 years. Firefights are fun and frantic. | Image credit: 10 ChambersYou can tell. Den of Wolves is smart, tight, brimming with production value, and doing what I think Payday 3 failed to do: it puts gameplay first. 10 Chambers knows theres a gap in the market for a player-led co-op heist shooter right now, and its pumping all of its resources into making sure Den of Wolves fills the gap with aplomb. With the smart way its approaching monetisation, and a distinct understanding of the heist/shooter genre, Den of Wolves looks set to be the most exciting title in the genre since its inception. Lets just hope 10 Chambers can stick the landing.Den of Wolves is set to launch into Early Access soon. It will launch for PC, but no window has been given at the time of writing.

But new tariffs is "something we're going to have to address.".The Nintendo Switch 2 is a little pricier than many were expecting. The console will cost USD $449.99 / GBP 395.99 for the console itself, or USD $499.99 / BGP 429.99 bundled with Mario Kart World. For many, that's a lot, and when initially revealed last week, it brought to mind the slew tariffs introduced by the current Trump Administration.But President of Nintendo of America Doug Bowser has told The Verge and Wired that these previous tariffs that is, prior to the the Trump Administration's new international tariffs on goods from across the world was announced on the 2nd April 2025 "were not factored into the price itself."Read the full article on nintendolife.com

Waymo is preparing to use data from its robotaxis, including video from interior cameras tied to rider identities, to train generative AI models, according to an unreleased version of its privacy policy found by researcher Jane Manchun Wong.The draft language reveals Waymo may also share this data to personalize ads, raising fresh questions about how much of a riders behavior inside autonomous vehicles could be repurposed for AI training and marketing.The privacy page states: Waymo may share data to improve and analyze its functionality and to tailor products, services, ads, and offers to your interests. You can opt out of sharing your information with third parties, unless its necessary to the functioning of the service.That language is standard in todays world; bringing cameras into the mix is what ratchets up the creepiness factor.Waymo gives riders the option to prevent their personal information, as defined by Californias privacy laws, from being shared or sold. Riders can also: Opt out of Waymo, or its affiliates, using your personal information (including interior camera data associated with your identity) for training [generative AI].Its not clear what interior data might be used to train generative AI models, or what the intended use cases of such models are. Nor is it obvious what sort of data the interior cameras capture facial expressions? Body language? or whether Waymo is using the data to train in-house models or whether its sharing that data with other Alphabet companies working on AI like Google or DeepMind.TechCrunch has reached out to Waymo for more information and will update this post if the company responds.Waymo is, to date, the only autonomous vehicle company pulling in revenue for robotaxi rides in the United States. As of February, the company is logging more than 200,000 paid robotaxi rides every week via its commercial services in Los Angeles, San Francisco, Phoenix, and Austin. Thats up from 10,000 rides per week just two years ago, and is a harbinger of more growth as Waymo expands into new markets. The company aims to launch a commercial service in Atlanta, Miami, and Washington D.C. over the next two years.Despite these gains, Waymo is still likely a money loser for Alphabet, which might be why the company appears to be exploring other revenue streams, like in-vehicle advertising and data sharing for generative AI models.Last year, Alphabet poured another $5 billion into Waymo, and the company raised an additional $5.6 billion from outside investors that boosted its valuation to more than $45 billion.Waymo is still investing heavily in R&D and incurring the costs of expansion, including growing its fleet, buying specialized equipment, vehicle maintenance, and charging infrastructure.Its not clear how far Waymo is from breaking even, much less profitability. Alphabet doesnt break out Waymos financials in its earnings report. Instead, Waymo is included in Alphabets other bets section of its balance sheet, which in 2024 recorded an operating loss of $1.2 billion.