Instagram created a fake, AI-generated Black woman and the response was outraged.Kill 'Em AllMeta was forced to euthanize its AI-generated "characters" after getting slammed for how cringe and problematic they were.As 404 Media reports, Meta has now killed off most of its remaining AI user accounts most of which were launched in 2023 and kiboshed by summer 2024 in the wake of a backlash against one of its executives suggesting they may be the future of the company's social networks.At the end of 2024, Connor Hayes, Meta's VP of product for generative AI, told theFinancial Times that these AI-generated accounts would "have bios and profile pictures and be able to generate and share content powered by AI."Immediately following that end-of-year admission, folks online unsurprisingly began clowning the notion of Facebook and Instagram-sponsored bot accounts."Translation: 'Our real users are quitting the platform, so we will fill our community with fake users instead,'"one Reddit user wrote."This is some deeply evil shit," a Bluesky user opined.Liz LemonWhile criticism reached a fever pitch, users started tracking the fake profiles down and what they found was somehow even worse, and stranger, than you'd imagine.AsWashington Post columnist Karen Attiah posted on Bluesky, one of the since-killed profiles was described as a "proud Black queer momma of 2 & truth-teller." Named "Liz," the account existed primarily as a chatbot, and when Attiah asked it about the people who created it, she was met with a pretty jarring answer."My creators' team is predominantly white, cisgender, and male a total of 12 people: 10 white men, 1 white woman, and 1 Asian male," the AI profile responded. "Zero black creators pretty glaring omission given my identity!"Along with the buzzword-heavy "Liz" account, Meta not only created accounts like "Carter," its dating coach chatbot, but also promoted user-generated AI accounts as well. As folks took to Bluesky and Reddit to dunk on these profiles, Meta started taking them down, 404 reported.In a statement to 404, Meta spokesperson Liz Sweeney attempted to set the record straight about the company's AI profiles but that "clarification" didn't provide much illumination."There is confusion: the recent Financial Times article was about our vision for AI characters existing on our platforms over time, not announcing any new product," the spokesperson said. "The accounts referenced are from a test we launched... in 2023.""These were managed by humans," Sweeney continued, "and were part of an early experiment we did with AI characters."We've reached out to Meta to ask exactly how many profiles were killed and what, if any, the company's plans for AI users will be moving forward. Given the aforementioned non-clarification, however, we're not expecting much.Share This Article

Last week, an active-duty US Army soldier died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound right before blowing up the Tesla Cybertruck he had rented in front of the Trump Towers hotel in Las Vegas using a crudely-built explosive and fireworks.The 37-year-old Green Beret soldier named Matthew Livelsberger left behind a deranged manifesto, calling the incident a "wake-up call" for the country.The contents of the note suggest that Livelsberger was "struggling with PTSD and other issues," FBI special agent Spencer Evans told reporters, as quoted by the Associated Press, with the soldier saying he needed to "cleanse my mind" of his fallen comrades and the "burden of the lives I took."Most salaciously, according to Military.com, Livelsberger appears to have also authored a December 31 email, widely shared in the military community, that made unsubstantiated claims about the claims of mysterious drone sightings that made headlines for weeks at the end of the year. Livelsberger alleged they were of Chinese origin and technologically highly advanced. (In reality, experts have since argued that there was no evidence of any nefarious activity and that many of the sightings could have far more mundane explanations.)"What we have been seeing with 'drones' is the operational use of gravitic propulsion systems powered aircraft by most recently China in the east coast, but throughout history, the US," reads the email, which Livelsberger allegedly sent to a podcast called "The Shawn Ryan Show.""The so what is because of the speed and stealth of these unmanned AC, they are the most dangerous threat to national security that has ever existed," it continued. "They basically have an unlimited payload capacity and can park it over the [White House] if they wanted. It's checkmate."Las Vegas officials told Military.com that they had "strong evidence to suggest that it was the subject that wrote it, but we haven't conclusively proven that yet."But as officials have pointed out, Livelsberger was clearly showing signs of emotional distress,meaning the tragic blast was almost certainly neither a political stunt aimed at Trump and Musk,nor an insider with explosive information about unidentified flying objects. In actuality, his death was almost certainly the result of some combination of misinformation, violent rhetoric, and a mental health crisis.Following the incident last week, Livelsberger's motive became a major point of contention, especially considering the optics of the situation: Tesla's Cybertruck has become a political lightning rod, synonymous with the EV maker's CEO Elon Musk's increasingly extremist views.The choice of target, a hotel part-owned by hisnumber one ally, president-elect Donald Trump, also suggested that Livelsberger may have wanted to send an explicitly political message.The explosion didn't damage the hotel, but injured seven nearby bystanders."It's not lost on us that it's in front of the Trump building, that it's a Tesla vehicle, but we don't have information at this point that definitively tells us or suggests it was because of this particular ideology," Evans told reporters last week.Investigators are now poring over Livelsberger's medical records to see whether he was suffering from mental health issues or received treatment.But considering his actions, there's a very good chance that such issues may have played a role, highlighting a pervasive issue among the military's ranks. According to the US Department of Veterans Affairs, seven percent of US veterans will have PTSD at some point in their lives.More on the incident: Dunce-Like Senator Posts Photo of "Drone" That's Actually a TIE Fighter From "Star Wars"Share This Article

The C40 Students Reinventing Cities Competition invites multidisciplinary teams of students and young people to draw up green and inclusive concepts for a range of prominent urban sites.Participating cities putting forward sites for the global design ideas challenge include Amman, Barcelona, Freetown, Istanbul, Jakarta, Johannesburg, Lisbon, Milan-Segrate, Quito, Rome and Tshwane.According to the announcement: C40 has launched the fourth edition of Students Reinventing Cities to engage the next generation of professionals in city climate action and sustainable design practices.Advertisement11 world-leading cities Amman, Barcelona, Freetown, Istanbul, Jakarta, Johannesburg, Lisbon, Milan-Segrate, Quito, Rome and Tshwane are seeking students solutions to reimagine urban areas into green and thriving neighbourhoods.So far, over 3,000 youth across over 330 universities have been involved in the program to date in informing city planning and raising global ambition for greener and more inclusive cities.C40 Cities is a network of major cities representing more than 650 million people and one quarter of the global economy. The campaign group focuses on tackling climate change by reducing greenhouse gas emissions and climate risks in urban settings, while increasing the health, wellbeing and economic opportunities of local residents.In 2017, the network launched its Reinventing Cities open call for professionals seeking innovative proposals for new carbon-free and resilient developments on a range of dense city centre sites. Competition sites in the first edition inspired by the city-wide Reinventer Paris contest included an abandoned 1,400m factory in Paris and a 121ha former landfill in Houston.Now in its fourth edition, the latest C40 Reinventing Cities contest for professionals launched for applications in February last year calling for concepts to regenerate a series of underused sites across 15 of the worlds greatest cities. Every year a parallel student contest is also held alongside the professional open call.AdvertisementThe latest competition supported by FedEx, IKEA and the Stavros Niarchos Foundation invites students to rethink a series of urban sites which could play a leading role in boosting urban sustainability while improving quality of life for local residents.Competition sites include the narrow passages of Barcelonas historic Ciutat Vella district, the Bykekmece Lake Natural Habitat Park in Istanbul and the riverfront Marvila neighbourhood of Lisbon.The overall winners of each contest will receive an official certificate signed by the Mayor of the city and the executive director of C40. Additional awards may be given at each city's discretion.Competition detailsProject title Reinventing CitiesClient C40 CitiesContract value TbcFirst round deadline 20 MarchRestrictions Teams must at least comprise one current university student, enrolled during the 2024-2025 (or 2025) academic year. Teams may also include youth under the age of 28 who are not enrolled in university, as well as additional studentsMore information https://www.c40reinventingcities.org/en/students/

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If you're an avid follower of fashion, you'll know that bag charms are having a moment right now. Most of these charms are gold chains with an assortment of shiny trinkets attached. But what if you want to join in with the trend while standing out? Consider this: A baby robot sloth I got to see and which I've now clipped to my bag to add flair and reduce stress throughout CES 2025, one of the world's largest technology shows.Mirumi, from Japanese company Yukai Engineering, is a fuzzy little robot that clings to the handle or strap of your handbag and steals glances at passersby as you go about your business. Why? To spark joy, of course.At first glance, it seems that Mirumi is a fairly simple robot with just a rotating head. Spend a few minutes interacting with it though, and it becomes clear that there's more than meets the eye to the furry creature. It doesn't just move at random -- instead it uses an internal sensor that scans its surroundings for people or objects, and once it spots something, it will focus on the thing or person that's piqued its interest. Mirumi initially seemed interested in me, but when I tapped it a little too hard, it moved its head away bashfully. The cute robot scans for people and objects to interact with its human companion. Katie Collins/CNETYukai Engineering says that the robot was inspired by the feeling of making eye contact with a cute baby in public. But the first thing I thought of, as Mirumi wrapped its arms around my wrist and peered out at me from behind my hand, was an encounter I had with meerkat dressed as Donald Duck that was perched on a man's shoulder at Shibuya Crossing in Tokyo. It's from this experience that I can fully appreciate how spotting unexpectedly encountering a cute creature in public can indeed spark a memorable, joyful moment.If you're interested in making a fashion statement and you believe that fashion can be fun, Mirumi is absolutely the accessory for you. Supposedly it's designed to mimic the cuteness of a human baby, but take one look at this robot and tell me it doesn't remind you of a sloth. It'll be available later this year via a Kickstarter crowdfunding campaign for less than $100.

There is never a good time to realize that your phone or tablet has run out of juice, but you can at least make sure that you're prepared for that moment when it does happen. A goodpower bank can make a massive difference when it comes time to charge on the go, especially if you rely on yourphone or tabletfor work or need to keep a child entertained. Thankfully, Amazon has slashed the price of the Zolo Power Bank 10,000-mAh portable chargerdown to just $16, which is only $1 more than the all-time low price we saw at the end of 2024. This sale is valid on all color variants too, so make sure to pick your favorite before placing your order.See at AmazonThis 10,000-mAh, 30-watt portable charger with a built-in USB-C cable is just the friend you need. Since the cord is already there, you won't have to worry about forgetting it as you pack your backpack to get outdoors. It's great for juicing up smartphones, tablets, earbuds and other devices that might need a quick boost. You can even charge three gadgets at the same time, thanks to the cord and built-in USB-A and USB-C ports.Hey, did you know?CNET Deals texts are free, easy and save you money.Even if you aren't traveling off-grid, a portable power bank can be helpful for day-to-day life. Not all places have accessible wall outlets for charging devices. You don't want to go to a coffee shop and find yourself with a low battery and no alternative power source. A power bank can also come in handy if you live in an area with frequent power outages or if you just want to be prepared for an emergency.You can't beat having power ready to go when you need it. For more deals on devices that can add some convenient upgrades to your daily routine, check out our smart home deals roundup. Top deals available today, according to CNET's shopping experts Curated discounts worth shopping while they last Apple AirTag, 4-pack: $70 (save $29)Costco 1-year Gold Star membership + $20 gift card: $65 (save $20)Anker 20-watt USB-C charger, 2-pack: $12 (save $7)Levoit LVAC-200 cordless vacuum: $160 (save $40)Peloton Bike: $1,145 (save $300) Why this deal mattersThis Anker portable charger is almost at its lowest price ever. Previously, we saw this charger go on sale during last year's Black Friday and October Prime Day sale events. But the sale was a little different then. The price was between $15 to $17, depending on which color you picked. And you needed to clip an on-page coupon to get the full discount. Right now, all color options are available for $16, without needing to clip any coupons. This price is only $1 more than the record low, and you get to pick the color you like best.

The Fantastic Four arrive in Marvel Rivals this week, as part of vampiric first seasonCan't Torch this.Image credit: NetEase News by Victoria Kennedy News Reporter Published on Jan. 6, 2025 I have some Fantastic news Four you (it's Monday, let me have this one). At the end of the week, the Fantastic Four will be making their debut in the free-to-play hero PvP shooter, Marvel Rivals.The heroic team - which comprises Mister Fantastic, the Invisible Woman, the Human Torch and the Thing - will be arriving in the game as part of the first season, known as Eternal Night Falls, which has a vampiric flavour to it.The Fantastic Four Join Marvel Rivals! Watch on YouTube"Darkness engulfs New York as the Timestream Entanglement leaves Doctor Strange trapped in the Entangled Astral Plane, scattering the Darkhold pages. Dracula and Doctor Doom disrupt the moon's orbit, plunging the city into eternal night and unleashing an army of vampiric creatures," reads the official blurb."With the world on the brink, the Fantastic Four join forces with iconic Marvel heroes, standing together in the epic battle to break the mystical darkness with science. Ignite the battle against Dracula with the Fantastic Four in Marvel Rivals!"Marvel Rivals' first season kicks off at 1am PST on Friday, 10th January. That's 9am for those of us in the UK. You can check out a teaser for the upcoming season and the Fantastic Four's debut above. As you can see, the artwork also includes H.E.R.B.I.E., Marvel's Humanoid Experimental Robot, B-Type, Integrated Electronics.Marvel Rivals has proven incredibly popular since its launch. Its opening weekend saw 10 million players join online to take part in the fray."NetEase's spin on the hero battler is complex and moreish, but rarely much actual fun," our Chris wrote in Eurogamer's Marvel Rivals review. "Its biggest impact is a renewed appreciation for the rivals that do it better." He awarded it two out of five stars.

Pokmon claims 2025 as the Year of EeveeNot a Shadow on Luigi.Image credit: Pokmon News by Tom Phillips Editor-in-Chief Published on Jan. 6, 2025 2025 will be the Year of Eevee, according to the Pokmon Company. Branding showing Pokmon's Year of Eevee is now live on the franchise's Pokmon Center site, alongside an array of merchandise featuring the cute creature and its many evolutions including plushies and action figures. The gimmick follows Nintendo previously declaring 2014 to be the Year of Luigi, and Sega last year dubbing 2024 to be the Year of Shadow the Hedgehog.On the surface, the Year of Eevee seems to be just a merchandise range, but the Pokmon Center often taps into themes for the coming year with merchandise that ties into the wider franchise. It's past time for a new Eeveelution. | Image credit: PokmonSo, what's in store for Pokmon fans this Year of Eevee? So far, all we know of 2025 is that it will see the launch of Pokmon Legends: Z-A, the next mainline Pokmon game that will return to Kalos, the region based on Paris first seen in Pokmon X and Y. (And hey, that's where Pokmon Go Fest is being held this year! How's that for brand synergy?)Could the Year of Eevee finally see a new Eevee evolution announced, perhaps set to debut in Pokmon Legends: Z-A? It's now been 12 years since Eevee's eighth evolution option - the Fairy-type Sylveon - was announced, and fans have long hoped for more. A Dragon-type Eeveelution, perhaps? Or how about a Ghost-type?And what else could be on the way? C'mon, Pokmon - Sega gave Shadow a movie!

2025 will be a make-or-break year for triple-A video games as we know themIt might even be a good thing.Image credit: Eurogamer Opinion by Chris Tapsell Deputy Editor Published on Jan. 6, 2025 Cast your eyes across the 2025 video game release schedule and you might notice a bit of a trend. There are triple-A games here. In fact, there are a lot of triple-A video games here. After a desperately barren year for them in 2024 - plenty of good games and surprisingly successful games; very few big, expensive ventures you'd hang your hat on - in 2025, the triple-A blockbuster is well and truly back.It's worth a quick runthrough here, just to take in the scale of it. The first real rush starts in a bizarrely busy February, where Avowed, Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2, Assassin's Creed Shadows and Monster Hunter Wilds make up the four horsemen of the open world action adventure apocalypse, backed up by Civilization 7 and Like A Dragon: Pirate Yakuza in Hawaii. It's hard to exaggerate: this is a completely ridiculous release slate for February - I'm struggling to remember another month like it, let alone one outside the usual Q4 crush.After that, things get a bit woolier in terms of dates - there's almost nothing with a solid one beyond March - but just have a look at what else is coming from the big-budget end of the industry this year. Microsoft's output has clunked into gear at last, with Fable, Doom: The Dark Ages, The Outer Worlds 2 and inevitably a new Call of Duty due in 2025. Sony has Death Stranding 2 and Ghost of Yotei dated for this year (and, though it probably won't be Sony's by the time it launches, there's also Elden Ring Nightreign coming soon). Nintendo has Metroid Prime 4, Pokmon Legends Z-A, and whatever else might appear as launch window games for the Switch 2 (my bet's on Mario Kart).Then there are the multiplatform releases: there's the flashy Marvel 1943: Rise of Hydra from Amy Hennig's new team, and the very BioShock-like Judas, from Ken Levine's new studio. There's the long-awaited Skate 4, and the equally long-awaited Vampire: The Masquerade - Bloodlines 2. There'll probably be something from EA, beyond its usual wave of sports games like EA FC, and no doubt more big bets from Tencent and NetEase, like the upcoming Wuchang: Fallen Feathers, or South Korea's burgeoning industry such as Crimson Desert. And it's a particularly massive year for 2K, which on top of Civ 7 also has Borderlands 4, Mafia: The Old Country and of course, the blockbuster to end all blockbusters, Grand Theft Auto 6. Crimson Desert, which continues to make me picture a black forest gateaux rather than a video game but is, in fact, a huge, single-player, triple-A action adventure from the makers of Black Desert Online. | Image credit: Pearl AbyssAll these are just the real headlines, and just the ones we know about right now. But while in any other year we'd be saying "triple-A games are back" and leaving it at that - the sign of an industry continuing the cycle of busier years and quieter years, for instance, or the green shoots showing after a bit of a post-covid blip maybe - in this case that wouldn't feel quite right.2024 was not an ordinary year, and nor was 2023 before it. Across the past 24 months a total of at least 25,000 people who work in video games have lost their jobs (a minimum of 10,400 in 2023 and 14,600 in 2024). Dozens of studios have closed. Entire publishing monoliths have all but collapsed. The result has been a year-long existential crisis. Microsoft (and plenty of others) thinks we need to grow the market. Shawn Layden thinks we need more double-A games again. Most developers, I'd wager, reckon you should give teams the time and space to be creative and experiment with building something new.Whatever the solution, the problem has to be recognised. Traditional triple-A games - namely, games with high-end, cutting edge graphics and large, ambitious worlds - are now very, very expensive and take a very, very long time to make. That means their success is even more important - but at the same time, that success feels less of a guarantee than ever. Research is showing that the new generation of players, Gen Z and even younger than that, 'Gen Alpha', don't really care about graphics. They play Blox Fruits and Dress to Impress in Roblox, or Fortnite, Minecraft, and Lethal Company - or even Pokmon Scarlet and Violet, a pair of games with notoriously poor graphical performance that are also the third-highest grossing Pokmon games of all time. Dress to Impress, in its glory. | Image credit: Roblox / EurogamerTalk to a small or independent developer and they might tell you their sphere of the gaming ecosystem has already changed. The way funding works has shifted, they might say: instead of one game requiring 10m in funding, it's 10 1m games that get off the ground - 10 bets on landing the next Balatro or Vampire Survivors, instead of one punt on a Hades or a Stray. Strange Scaffold, ostensibly an indie development studio but really more of a development network, released three games in 2024 alone, in I Am Your Beast, Clickolding, and Life Eater. All of them are very good, tightly focused ideas made on small budgets, and all of them last just a few hours.Look down the list of major triple-A games coming this year, however, and it's easy to conclude that part of the industry has simply failed to learn the same lesson. In reality it's probably a bit more complex. There's a bit of a time lag at work here, I suspect. Many of the games coming in 2025 will have been in development since long before this current crisis became evident. There's probably a few lingering, Covid-enforced delays, and a bit of good old fashioned coincidence behind so many arriving at once now. But there will also be stubbornness and a retreat to safe ground, undoubtedly - more remakes, sequels, reboots and franchises, more narrowly defined open world action games with yellow paint or grapple hooks or skill trees, or whatever else fits the perception of popular mainstream design.If not some kind of triple-A reckoning, nor triumphant return of the blockbuster then, 2025 will instead most likely be a test. And probably a very important one at that. There'll be hope that GTA 6 and the Switch 2 arrive with the same world-conquering success as their predecessors. That the rising tide of these two big ships pulling into harbour helps lift all the other still-pretty-big boats. That the attention their assumed success brings means renewed optimism for video games, and a renewed willingness from the wider public to stay indoors and play them, instead of sticking to their current fixations on going outside to attend music festivals or travel the world (shudder!). Importantly: a renewed wave of lovely, low-interest investment. Clickolding - an example of viral, TikTok-fuelled simplicity. | Image credit: Strange ScaffoldIf things go well, we might be looking at another uptick in the cycle. A round of hiring and expansion, a boom year where many feel that, with some of those old roles recreated and refilled once more - and startup studios finding funding again - balance has been restored (institutional knowledge be damned, of course).The one, small worry - and for now it's only small - is that few truly gigantic, era-defining video games do the same thing as the last. And that the sure things of 2013 and 2017 might not be such sure things again here in 2025. This is a world where YouTube and Twitch - the giants of that era - are having a bit of a wobble of their own. TikTok didn't exist then either; today it's a kingmaker, the fuel on the fire for Helldivers 2, Clickolding and Dress to Impress alike. It's not only the video games industry that's changed since the 2010s. It's the whole ecosystem around it.What if the worst were to happen, then? If this year were to be full of big, high cost releases but not enough big, high revenue successes? And if the lessons from that were to finally make their way into the rooms where the biggest decisions are made? Lessons such as: return on investment isn't guaranteed when making video games; that breakout hits come from the arrival of something new, and that creating something new takes time, space and trust; that great, creative people need room to try and fail. What then? That's when we really do get into unknown territory. It might be a slow trickle. It might be a bloodbath. It might not mean any change at all, as the industry sputters and trundles on, its habits too ingrained, its structures and rhythms too big to fail. Or it might, even, mean an eventual change for the better.

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 hereA new upgraded Steam Deck is bound to be a huge success, especially after the huge sales of the handhelds OLED upgrade last year. However, after rumours circulated online about an AMD Z2 version of the popular Valve handheld, a developer working on the machine has come out to shut down any claims of a new upgrade on the horizon.Valve shuts down Steam Deck upgradeA recent presentation from AMD showcased the new Ryzen Z2-series APUs, chips designed for powerful handheld gaming PCs like upgraded ROG Ally or a new Lenovo Legion Go. In the presentation, the company also included an image of Valves Steam Deck, causing many to believe a more powerful version of the portable was on the way.The current version of the Steam Deck uses a custom AMD APU codenamed Van Gogh, based on Zen 2 architecture. While a future version of the machine could very well use a more stock chip, it would be weird to go from a uniquely tuned APU to a more standard chip in the follow-up. Nevertheless, the new Ryzen Z2 chips are considerably more powerful than the current Deck, although not enough for Valve to jump on the bandwagon.In a post on BlueSky, Steam Deck developer at Valve, Pierre-Loup Griffais, immediately shut down any rumours of a Z2-powered version of the machine.There is and will be no Z2 Steam Deck, the developer told fans. Guessing the slide was meant to say the series is meant for products like that, not announcing anything specific.In the past, Valve has claimed that a proper Steam Deck 2 is still years away from reality. With the team waiting for a generation leap in power, gamers will have to deal with the less powerful, but still incredible, machine for a little bit longer.With Nintendo Switch 2 on the horizon, the handheld market is also set to explode with a leap in quality. Valve being as pedantic as Valve is, theres no way the company would want their next handheld to be less powerful than a console.Subscribe to our newsletters!By subscribing, you agree to our Privacy Policy and may receive occasional deal communications; you can unsubscribe anytime.Share