Grok, the AI assistant that's for some reason baked into X, is now available as a standalone app. Like the version that exists as a tab on the social media platform, the Grok app can be used to generate images, summarize text and answer questions, with a conversational tone xAI, the AI assistant's creator, calls "humorous and engaging."The app was first tested with a limited set of users in December 2024, right around the same time X debuted a free tier of Grok that's available to anyone. Prior to that, you needed to pay at least $8 a month for X Premium to have the privilege of using the AI.Ian Campbell for EngadgetThe limitations of that free access 10 requests every two hours, three image analysis request per day may also apply to the Grok app. You can use the app without signing in, or sign-in with an Apple account, X account, Google account, or a plain old email. It's not clear whether an X Premium subscription gets you added benefits in the Grok app in the same way it does X.Grok has struggled with similar issues around accuracy and bizarre image generation choices as other AI assistants like Gemini and ChatGPT. The chatbot mainly stands out from its competitors because xAI pitched it as being able to answer "spicy questions" other AI assistants avoid, and a version of the Grok AI model is open source. You'll have to see for yourself how "spicy" the Grok app ultimately is, but at least you don't have to go to X to use it now.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/apps/xs-grok-ai-assistant-is-now-a-standalone-app-225151579.html?src=rss

CES is known for splashy TV and laptop launches, but in 2025, there were more than a few companies trying to make waves with robot vacuums, too. After years where it seemed like vacuuming, mopping, and self-emptying might be the peak of a robot vacuums abilities, this years show introduced home robots with whole new functionality and appendages. Heres the robot vacuums that caught our eye at CES 2025, many of which you could invite to clean your living room later this year. Roborock Saros Z70 Karissa Bell for Engadget Roborock's flagship vacuum for 2025 is the Roborock Saros Z70, a circular robot vacuum on the outside, that hides a retractable "OmniGrip" arm that can pick up and move objects on the inside. The arm is capable of five axis movement and is only able to carry around 300 grams, which makes it better at moving clothes and cables than anything truly heavy. Roborock claims the Saros Z70's precision sensors, LEDs, and camera will be able to identify 108 objects that it can move or avoid, with the ability to learn up to 50 custom objects, too. The only missing pieces are a price and launch date. Roborock plans to start selling the Roborock Saros Z70 later this year, but hasn't shared what the price of the new robot will be. It might turn out that a robot arms don't come cheap. Dreame X50 Ultra Karissa Bell for Engadget Dreame is one of Roborock's rivals, and it had its own new flagship robot vacuum at CES. Rather than an arm, the Dreame X50 Ultra has tiny wheeled legs for climbing (admittedly shallow) stairs. Dreame calls the feature its "ProLeap System" and it currently says that the X50 Ultra can handle stairs that are 6cm (around 2.4 inches) tall. That's a lot shorter than the average household stairs, but it does still mean Dreame's robot vacuum can reach places competitors can't. The Dreame X50 Ultra is available to be reserved now for $39, which locks you in to a lower $1310 price and secures a longer warranty and free accessories. The robot vacuum will officially go on sale on February 4 for $1700. Eufy E20 Eufy Robot vacuums are convenient, but they're not yet great at reaching every corner of your home, which usually means you have to also own some kind of handheld vacuum. The Eufy E20 could eliminate that two-vacuum conundrum. It's a 3-in-1 robot vacuum that you can program to clean your house on its own, or pop out its vacuum component and use as a stick or handheld vacuum for hard to reach spots. The goal is owning one vacuum that can adapt to all of your needs, while still offering the benefits of a robot vacuum, like a base station for automatically dumping debris. It seems like Eufy might have pulled it off, and at a relatively affordable price, too. The Eufy 3-in-1 E20 Vacuum will be available on February 10 and start at $550, with all of its accessories included. Switchbot K20+ Pro Switchbot Swithcbot is known for smart home accessories like robotic curtain movers and button pushers, but the company has also been offering its own affordable robot vacuum for the last few years. The Switchbot K20+ Pro is its latest model, but also a whole new way to combine the Switchbot products you might already own. The K20+ Pro looks a bit like normal robot vacuum, just with a rolling platform mounted on top. It can hold up to 18 lbs and you can connect Switchbot's air purifier, security camera or fan to the top and get a vacuum that doubles as a more of a general home robot. Switchbot says it's also designed to be easy to mod if you want to create your own weird attachment to go on top. The K20+ Pro is definitely equal parts goofy and clever, but it still has plenty of unknowns. There's no price or launch date beyond later this year. Switchbot plans to sell the K20+ Pro solo, and in bundles with some of the compatible accessories. Dreame Retractable Arm Prototype Karissa Bell for Engadget Roborock wasn't alone in showing off a robot vacuum with an arm. Dreame's unnamed prototype robot vacuum isn't ready to go on sale, but does includes its own claw-shaped arm for grabbing things, and wheeled "legs" for getting over ledges like the Dreame X50 Ultra. It's not clear when this prototype will become a real product or how much it'll cost when it does, but it serves as a good example that if Roborock can pull off the Saros Z70, others will certainly follow.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/home/smart-home/the-new-robot-vacuums-that-caught-our-eye-at-ces-2025-210358124.html?src=rss

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Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang was greeted as a rock star this week at CES in Las Vegas.

PowerSchool, a leading education technology firm, saidthe company was the target of a data security breach in late December, in which hackers stole sensitive data including Social Security numbers, grades, and medical information affecting both students and teachers, according to TechCrunch.PowerSchool is the largest provider of cloud-based education software for K-12 education in the country, used by more than 16,000 customers to support more than 50 million students in the U.S.The California-based edtech giant also said the personal information of parents and guardians, including names, phone numbers, and email addresses, was potentially compromised in some school districts.Fast Company reached out to PowerSchool and will include its statement when we get a response.PowerSchool, which has not yet confirmed the number of customers impacted by the breach, told Newsweek that it is still working through our detailed data review, but confirmed not all PowerSchool student-information-system customers were impacted.The hackers reportedly broke in through the internal customer support portal using stolen credentials, giving them access to the system used to manage student records, grades, attendance, and enrollment.In addition, despite initial claims to the contrary, PowerSchool admitted it had paid a ransom to prevent attackers from releasing students and teachers stolen data. A PowerSchool spokesperson toldInfosecurity, it believes the data has been deleted without any further replication or dissemination.Founded in 1997, PowerSchool was acquired by Apple in 2001, and then by Bain Capital for $5.6 billion last year.

When a devastating wildfire hit California in November 2018, a powerful CEO went on Twitter to ask how his company could help. That CEOs name was Elon Musk.What a difference six years can make. The contrast between Musks 2018 tweet and his response to the infernos currently raging through Southern California is stark. This time, he has mostly used his platform throughout the disaster to attack some familiar targetsDemocratic politicians, deregulation, and, incredibly, DEI.The pronounced change in Musks online behavior during a crisis reflects a broader evolution, though. Once considered an environmental crusader for making electric cars seem cool, the Tesla CEO now mocks the very idea that climate change could play a major role in historical California wildfires arriving in the middle of winter.The scope of the fires damage is, so far, enormous. As the New York Times reports, the Palisades and Eaton fires are already the two most destructive ever to hit Los Angeles. The blazes have killed at least five people as of this writing, and forced tens of thousands to evacuate, while burning up more than 27,000 acres and 2,000 structures.According to scientists, climate change is playing a role by altering rainfall patterns and making droughts both more likely and more intense. What reportedly created the conditions for the fires rapid spread is Southern Californias unusual dryness during 2024, with only .29 inches of rain since last May, along with hurricane-force Santa Ana winds that reached speeds of more than 75 mph. Extreme dryness makes fires more likely to spark, and robust winds help them spread easier. Complicating matters, the howling winds on Tuesday forced the Los Angeles Fire Department to ground the aircraft they typically use for aerial firefighting.All of these factors help explain how a flurry of wildfires could rage out of control during what is typically Californias rainy season. Musk, however, had some alternate theories about what caused so much destruction.He went on a retweeting blitz, cosigning wild accusations about various Democrats and conspiracy theories about Californias water reserves. Particularly alarming was Musks focus on DEI, suggesting that the L.A. fire departments racial equity plan contributed to the devastation. Firefighters working hard to put out powerful blazes were faced with racial hostility flowing in their direction from some of Musks 211.7 million followers on X.Inexplicably blaming DEI for a wide variety of issues has been a popular tactic for conservatives for the past few years, and Musk has been no exception. Last January, for example, he faulted Boeings recent DEI practices for the infamous Alaska Airlines malfunction in which one of the planes panels blew out mid-flight. Whats different now, however, is that this isnt a disaster thats already happened, but one that is still ongoing. At least Vivek Ramaswamy waited a week after the deadly Maui wildfire catastrophe in 2023 before blaming DEI for it.Musk could have been sharing the amazing things the fire department is doing to deal with this crisis, but instead he was vilifying its leadership and reducing some members to diversity hires. He could have been providing useful information for displaced families, but instead he was offering rage bait. And he could have used this crisis as an environmental teaching momentthe kind one might have expected from the founder of Teslabut, instead, he shared snarky tweets that dismiss climate change fears as boy-who-cries-wolf fakery.Musk has had a contentious relationship with California, despite the state leading the U.S. in electric vehicles and charging locations. He moved the headquarters of X and SpaceX from California to Texas last year, after publicly sparring with Governor Gavin Newsom. (He had already moved Tesla to Austin three years prior.) Tellingly, he claimed the final straw had nothing to do with business or environmental concerns, but ideological ones. He objected to a law banning districts from requiring schools to notify parents if their child asks to change their gender identity.Eventually, Musk must have realized how he was coming across in the current disaster. On Wednesday night, he tweeted that his company SpaceX would provide StarLink terminals to ensure connectivity throughout Los Angeles. He also clarified on Thursday morning that he does indeed believe climate change is real, just that its much slower than alarmists claim. He also finally retweeted an empathetic call for disaster relief.By then, however, the damage had already been done.

Google and Microsoft are the latest tech companies to donate $1 million to President-elect Donald Trumps inauguration fund.Google, which will also livestream the swearing-in on YouTube on January 20, and Microsoft join Apple, Meta, Amazon, OpenAI, and other tech giants who are trying to blatantly curry favor with the incoming Trump administration by donating to the inauguration. The effort is especially unsurprising given Trumps long history of favoritismplus threats to punish his enemies. (Currently, Meta, Apple, Amazon, and Google parent Alphabet are all facing antitrust lawsuits from the federal government.)A Google spokesperson told Fast Company that the company has donated to previous inaugurations, and the companys planned promotion of links to the ceremony livestream on its homepage and YouTube is in line with previous years.Microsoft previously contributed half as much, or $500,000, to Trumps inauguration fund for his first term, the same amount it gave PresidentJoe Bidens inauguration fund, a Microsoft spokesperson told CNBC.Jeff Bezos, Mark Zuckerberg, and OpenAI CEO Sam Altman all pledged $1 million through their companies or from their own deep pockets.Many of those donations came after top tech CEOs met with Trump at his Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida following his re-election. Google cofounder Sergey Brin and CEO Sundar Pichai, Apple chief executive Tim Cook, Bezos, and the heads ofTikTokandNetflix reportedly all met with Trump when they dinedat Mar-a-Lago.While Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg was one of the first to arrive at the Florida property in late November, Elon Musk remains Trumps first buddy after donating hundreds of millions to Republican candidates and causes. Musk also has billions riding on government contracts, federal regulations, and technology development for his companies Tesla, SpaceX, and XAI.Not just donationsMeanwhile, on Tuesday, Meta announcedsweeping changes, scrapping its third-party fact-checking program in favor of X-style Community Notes in a move thought to be more in line with Musks lack of oversight and community-driven approach at X, which could be a gesture to repair relations with Trump, who was kicked off Facebook after the attack on the U.S. Capitol on January 6, 2021 (his account was restored in 2023).Meta is also installing more Republican-leaning employees, replacing its top policy executive with Joel Kaplan, who has deep Republican ties and held several key roles in the Bush administration, according to CNN, and appointing Trump ally Dana White, president and CEO of Ultimate Fighting Championship, to its board of directors.And its not just tech CEOs who are throwing money at Trump, hoping to get access in the next four years. In all, Trump has raised a record-setting $170 million for his swearing-in from corporate America and wealthy donors, and is on pace to reach $200 million, the New York Times reported. (There arent any limits on donations to inaugural committees, though foreign nationals cannot donate.)The inauguration is always in Washington, D.C., on January 20, which this year, also happens to be Martin Luther King Jr. Day, a national holiday observed on the third Monday in January.

One of my goals this 2025 is to read more books. Since I read all over my apartment, it would be nice to have a light source that can go with me whether Im in my living room, work space, or bedroom. Right now, I rely on my regular fluorescent light everywhere else and a small lamp set up on my bedside table. But a lamp I can bring with me anywhere would be more convenient if I wanted to read in the dark.Designers: Shelley Simpson and Zachary Hanna for Mud AustraliaThe Pop Lamp is a portable and rechargeable LED lamp that is completely wireless and can be placed anywhere you would need a light source. It is made from just one piece of handmade porcelain and inside that minimalist body, there is a concealed internal dimmable LED light source. The lamp can last up to 6 hours without charging if used at 100% brightness and up to 96 hours on the lowest brightness.The lamp has a cylindrical body with a slight protruding shade. The metal plate on top is where you have your touch controls. One tap will turn the lamp on while pressing and holding will turn it off. You can swipe your finger onto the plate to adjust the dimness and brightness of the lamp. The Pop Lamp is available in six colors which are the signature of Mud Australia: Blossom, Duck Egg, Dust, Orange, Red, and Slate. Each piece, measuring at 13 x 8 x 24.5 cm is handmade in their studio in Sidney and is carbon neutral. It can be used anywhere indoors and should not be left unsupervised outdoors or in wet areas.The post Pop Lamp is a portable and rechargeable light source for your space first appeared on Yanko Design.