Joining companies such as John Deere and Walmart, Facebook and Instagrams parent company Meta Platforms Inc. is getting rid of its diversity, equity and inclusion program that includes hiring, training and picking vendors, a company spokesperson confirmed on Friday.The move, which was first reported by Axios, comes on the heels of the social media giants decision to end its third-party fact-checking program and scale back policies on hate speech and abuse.Citing an internal memo sent to employees, Axios said the Menlo Park, California-based tech giant said the U.S. Supreme Court has recently made decisions signaling a shift in how courts will approach DEI. The term DEI has also become charged, in part because it is understood by some as a practice that suggests preferential treatment of some groups over others.In practice, this means Meta will no longer have a team focused on diversity and inclusion and the company said it will instead focus on how to apply fair and consistent practices that mitigate bias for all, no matter your background.The company will also end its diverse slate approach to hiring, which meant that a diverse pool of candidates was considered for every open position.Other companies that have curbed DEI programs recently include McDonalds and automaker Ford as well as Walmart and farm equipment maker John Deere.Amazon also said it is halting some of its DEI programs, although it did not specify which ones. In a Dec. 16 memo to employees that Amazon shared on Friday, Candi Castleberry, a senior human resources executive, said the company has been winding down outdated programs and materials, and were aiming to complete that by the end of 2024.We also know there will always be individuals or teams who continue to do well-intentioned things that dont align with our company-wide approach, and we might not always see those right away. But well keep at it, she wrote.Rather than have individual groups build programs, she added, Amazon is focusing on programs with proven outcomes and we also aim to foster a more truly inclusive culture.

From tiny cats that cool down tea to a blinking AI companion intended to integrate with your family, here are seven cute robots that have dominated news feeds since last week's Consumer Electronics Show and what they tell us about "cuteness" in design.Cuteness and what it does to our brains has been a subject of scientific enquiry for a while now. The sight of a baby or puppy has been shown to activate areas in the brain associated with emotion and pleasure and to trigger empathy and compassion.This has led to the idea that cuteness within product design could be used as a tool to change consumer behaviour, with designers exploring the complex nature of cuteness through works such as a toaster that sneezes bread crumbs and a vacuum cleaner that poos when it's full.And judging from last week's Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas, 2025 is the year this idea truly landed. Is the point to simply bring a little joy into our lives? Or to encourage us to embrace technologies we might otherwise be critical of?Read on for seven gadgets from CES that caught our attention for their interesting use of cuteness.Mirumi by Yukai EngineeringDesigned to do nothing other than be cute, Mirumi charmed the crowds at CES with its harmlessness. The fluffy robot clips onto a bag or strap and looks out at the world through wide, round eyes like a human baby full of wonder and curiosity.It also expresses shyness, turning its head away and hiding if someone gets too close too suddenly.The abstracted, minimal design demonstrates the flip side of the phenomenon known as "uncanny valley". While artificial creations that look too realistic tend to discomfort people, we can find an uncomplicated smiley face or cartoon character deeply relatable.Nkojita FuFu by Yukai EngineeringSolidifying its dominance in the world of cute-but-frivolous robotics, Japanese company Yukai Engineering also showcased Nkojita FuFu a tiny minimalistic cat that does nothing more than blow air to cool down hot food and drinks.Named after the sound humans make when they blow out, the robot uses a special "Fu-ing" algorithm that anthropomorphically randomises the strength and rhythm of its blowing via an internal fan.It might seem strange that this novelty device received so much attention at CES, the same hyper-competitive tech fair where Nvidia dropped an AI supercomputer scarcely bigger than a deck of cards.However, it's possible that the overwhelming pace of advancement and anxiety over the anticipated arrival of an artificial general intelligence, is precisely what makes simple Nkojita FuFu so appealing.Ai Me by TCLSimple was not the watchword among all the companies harnessing cuteness, however. Sometimes, the cartoonish product design is meant to help consumers feel an emotional connection to what could otherwise be a hard, shiny and even off-putting tech product.This seems to be true for the Ai Me companion robot from US company TCL. Like Yukai Engineering's Mirumi, the design takes cues from human babies although in this case, the device is packed with sensors, cameras and AI tech.As well as being an interactive toy for the younger members of the family, the device is designed to help out adults by syncing with smart home devices, independently roaming the home to monitor security and capture videos of day-to-day life.The robot's cute, round form is enhanced by its digital blinking eyes, arms that flap with excitement and even changeable textile outfits like an anthropomorphic progression of the cosy technology trend. While Ai Me is a concept at this stage, TCL showed a working prototype at CES.Loona by KEYi TechLike Ai Me, Loona brings AI tech and surveillance into the home by appealing to the youngest members of the family. It can also be customised with outfits this time crocheted.But while Ai Me is primarily inspired by babies, Loona is modelled on pets and derives its cuteness from animal-like behaviours such as waggling its ears, chasing balls or laser pointers for play, and stretching and sneezing when it wakes up.Loona is already available to buy and Chinese manufacturer KEYi Tech suggests it makes a good companion robot not just for kids and adults but for the real family pet, which may otherwise be at home alone for many hours of the day.Ballie by SamsungWhile not as exaggeratedly cute as the other robots on this list, Samsung's AI robot assistant Ballie has been labelled with this term since it made its debut as a concept back at CES 2020.It is a classic example of how cuteness is about more than looks; in this case, it is largely a factor of Ballie's bijou size and the zippy way it moves around, which have long earned it comparisons to the Star Wars mini ball droid BB-8.Updated for CES 2025 and expected to finally launch as a product this year, Ballie is intended to be a comprehensive personal home assistant that can manage smart appliances, send video updates of pets or loved ones at home, project videos, play music and answer calls.Jennie by TombotCreated in collaboration with Jim Henson's Creature Shop, the puppet workshop founded by the creator of The Muppets, Jennie is a departure from the other cute robots on this list in its realism.While to some, the uncanny valley effect may be inescapable here, for US manufacturer Tombot the verisimilitude is important because it helps Jennie connect with people who have dementia or cognitive impairment to provide some much-needed companionship.Jennie is a robotic pet and a robotic pet only no surveillance or chatbot conversations. It responds to pats and voice commands, produces AI-generated barks and serves as a cuddly emotional support.Reolink Duo 3 WiFi by ReolinkTech company Reolink doesn't mention cuteness as a design decision in the press release for its Duo 3 WiFi surveillance camera. But its dual lenses clearly resemble a pair of big, googly eyes with antennas for ears.If this is a surveillance camera with an intentionally friendly face, then cuteness has well and truly arrived as a dominant and unsettling aesthetic in tech.CES 2025 took place in Las Vegas from 7 to 10 January 2025. See Dezeen Events Guidefor an up-to-date list of architecture and design events taking place around the world.The post All the cute robots that took over CES 2025 appeared first on Dezeen.

For decades, power tools have fallen into two categories: Those designed for tradespeople, and wimpier versions for consumers. As with the "pink it and shrink it" approach to making products supposedly appeal to women, designing a consumer-grade power tool was about removing features and capabilities from "real" tools.Now Dremel's design team has gone in the opposite direction, adding innovative features that the average person can use. Their new Blueprint Multi-Drill makes drilling into a wall to hang things, like pictures or TV mounts, easy; it features a stud finder built into the knuckle-guard, and a handy detachable laser level that can cling to a wall with reusable mounting putty. "We've looked at the projects that our users are doing," said Sonesh Shah, Dremel president, "and designed Dremel Blueprint tools to provide people with what they need to accomplish those projects." Being detachable, the laser level naturally has its own power source; you recharge it separately from the drill, via USB-C. The 12V drill debuted this month, and goes for $100.

But it really wants in. Heres why Meta is jamming AI into everything

Ensuring your cat is drinking enough water is one of the best ways to keep your pet healthy. We tested many models and these were our favorites.

The Linux Foundation has unveiled a new collaborative organization calledSupporters of Chromium-Based Browsers designed to ensure that open-source projects with connections to Chromium get the necessary resources to be successful.Members of the group include Google, Microsoft, and Opera, the companies behind Chromium-based browsers such as Chrome, Edge and Opera. Facebooks parent company Meta has also joined the collaboration, according toArs Technica.Currently, there are nearly 30 different browsers based on Chromium, of which the most well-known are Brave, Duckduckgo, and Vivaldi.

This is todays edition ofThe Download,our weekday newsletter that provides a daily dose of whats going on in the world of technology.Inside the strange limbo facing millions of IVF embryosMillions of embryos created through IVF sit frozen in time, stored in cryopreservation tanks around the world. The number is only growing thanks to advances in technology, the rising popularity of IVF, and improvements in its success rates.At a basic level, an embryo is simply a tiny ball of a hundred or so cells. But unlike other types of body tissue, it holds the potential for life. Many argue that this endows embryos with a special moral status, one that requires special protections.The problem is that no one can really agree on what that status is. To some, theyre human cells and nothing else. To others, theyre morally equivalent to children. Many feel they exist somewhere between those two extremes.While these embryos persist in suspended animation, patients, clinicians, embryologists, and legislators must grapple with the essential question of what we should do with them. What do these embryos mean to us? Who should be responsible for them? Read the full story.Jessica HamzelouAnthropics chief scientist on 5 ways agents will be even better in 2025Agents are the hottest thing in tech right now. Top firms from Google DeepMind to OpenAI to Anthropic are racing to augment large language models with the ability to carry out tasks by themselves.In October, Anthropic showed off one of the most advanced agents yet: an extension of its Claude large language model called computer use. As the name suggests, it lets you direct Claude to use a computer much as a person would, by moving a cursor, clicking buttons, and typing text. Instead of simply having a conversation with Claude, you can now ask it to carry out on-screen tasks for you.Computer use is a glimpse of whats to come for agents. To learn whats coming next, MIT Technology Review talked to Anthropics cofounder and chief scientist Jared Kaplan. Here are five ways that agents are going to get even better in 2025.Melissa Heikkil & Will Douglas HeavenSmall language models: 10 Breakthrough Technologies 2025Make no mistake: Size matters in the AI world. When OpenAI launched GPT-3 back in 2020, it was the largest language model ever built. The firm showed that supersizing this type of model was enough to send performance through the roof. That kicked off a technology boom that has been sustained by bigger models ever since.But as the marginal gains for new high-end models trail off, researchers are figuring out how to do more with less. For certain tasks, smaller models that are trained on more focused data sets can now perform just as well as larger onesif not better. Read the full story.Will Douglas HeavenSmall language models is one of our 10 Breakthrough Technologies for 2025, MIT Technology Reviews annual list of tech to watch. Check out the rest of the list, and cast your vote for the honorary 11th breakthrough.The must-readsIve combed the internet to find you todays most fun/important/scary/fascinating stories about technology.1 Blue Origins rocket launch has been cancelledIts engineers were unable to fix an issue with the New Glenn rockets vehicle subsystem. (BBC)+ Its also likely that ice blocked an essential vent line designed to expel gas. (Ars Technica)+ The company is yet to announce a rescheduled launch date. (The Verge)2 How is Donald Trump planning to save TikTok, exactly?Its unclear whether his supposed deal-making prowess will hold any sway here. (WP $)+ TikTok founder Zhang Yiming might have a few ideas. (WSJ $)+ It looks as though the US Supreme Court is leaning towards banning the app. (Forbes $)+ The depressing truth about TikToks impending ban. (MIT Technology Review)3 The Biden administrations final chip export curb is hereThe policy is designed to make it harder for China to circumvent restrictions. (FT $)+ Australia, Japan, South Korea and Taiwan wont be restricted under the new rules. (CNN)+ Nvidia thinks all these sanctions are only backfiring on the US. (Quartz)4 Big Techs leaders are lining up to attend Trumps inaugurationSilicon Valleys sucking up continues. (Bloomberg $)+ Mark Zuckerberg appears to be doing his best to secure an invite. (NYT $)+ He seems to be entering Founder Mode in a bid to impress Trump. (The Verge)5 AI financial advisers are going after broke young peopleIts money management tips come with a hefty price tag. (Wired $)6 Neuralink has implanted a brain device in a third person, according to MuskAhead of its plans to insert up to 30 devices this year. (Fortune $)+ Beyond Neuralink: Meet the other companies developing brain-computer interfaces. (MIT Technology Review)7 The future of self-driving cars is cleaved in twoCompanies are divided over whether well hail or own future autonomous vehicles. (NY Mag $)+ How Wayves driverless cars will meet one of their biggest challenges yet. (MIT Technology Review)8 Smartwatches are out, old-school watches are inIts hard to beat a wristwatch when it comes to luxury status symbols. (The Guardian)9 Notre-Dame cathedral is full of hidden speakersAnd you can fit out your home with them toofor a price. (FT $)10 How to free up space on your iPhoneDont be afraid to purge those ancient duplicate photos. (WSJ $)Quote of the dayIm worried about everything.Jeff Bezos describes his (well-placed) nerves to Ars Technica ahead of his rocket company Blue Origins first orbital launchwhich was later called off over technical issues.The big storyAI was supposed to make police bodycams better. What happened?April 2024When police departments first started buying and deploying bodycams in the wake of the police killing of Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri, a decade ago, activists hoped it would bring about real change.Years later, despite whats become a multibillion-dollar market for these devices, the tech is far from a panacea. Most footage they generate goes unwatched. Officers often dont use them properly. And if they do finally provide video to the public, it usually doesnt tell the complete story.A handful of AI startups see this problem as an opportunity to create what are essentially bodycam-to-text programs for different players in the legal system, mining this footage for misdeeds. But like the bodycams themselves, the technology still faces procedural, legal, and cultural barriers to success. Read the full story.Patrick SissonWe can still have nice thingsA place for comfort, fun and distraction to brighten up your day. (Got any ideas? Drop me a line or skeet em at me.)+ The first big fashion trend of 2025? Were all going basic.+ Spoilers aheadthis list of the best film endings is great funincluding that infamous lingering final shot from Psycho.+ If parts of your life could be better, its time to embrace the tiny changes that can make a real difference.+ This Brazilian banana bread recipe sounds beyond delicious.

Patrick Spence has left Sonos after eight years as CEO, following the disastrous rollout of an iOS app that left customers unable to use their devices.The updated Sonos app for iOSSpence was originally the deputy to Sonos founder John MacFarlane, and took over the role of CEO from him in 2017. Unfortunately, his most visible impact has been the release of the revamped and subsequently failed iOS app.Now according to Bloomberg, Patrick Spence has left Sonos. It's not been reported whether he resigned or was asked to leave, but the company has promoted board member Tom Conrad to the post of interim CEO. Continue Reading on AppleInsider | Discuss on our Forums

miHoYos next update for Zenless Zone Zero, Version 1.5 Astra-nomical Moment, launches on January 22nd. As teased in previous weeks marketing, the update adds Astra Yao as a new playable character. Her bodyguard, Evelyn Chevalier, will debut in the second featured banner. Check out the trailer below.Alongside a new story quest focused on New Year and Astras performance at Starloop, it adds two new gameplay modes Endless Tower: The Last Stand and Perpetrator Battle. A new Arcade game, Mach 25, will also be available, and theres even fishing. As for Astra, shes an S-Rank Support who deals Ether damage. She can also heal her teammates, a first for the action title.Other new features include the ability to equip alternate outfits for characters. Astra, Ellen, and Nicole are the first recipients, while a new dress-up mini-game will also be available. Stay tuned for more details when the update goes live in the coming weeks.Zenless Zone Zero is available for PS5, PC, iOS, and Android. Check out our review.

Super Evil Megacorp studio head Ian Fielding appointed CEOFormer CEO Kristian Segerstrale becomes executive chairImage credit: Super Evil Mega Corp News by Sophie McEvoy Staff Writer Published on Jan. 13, 2025 Super Evil Megacorp studio head Ian Fielding has been appointed CEO as Kristian Segerstrale becomes executive chair of the developer.Fielding joined Super Evil in 2021 after holding positions at Insomniac Games and Riot Games. He was senior production manager at the latter, where he helped launch and operate Valorant.As studio head at Super Evil, Fielding has overseen the studio's growth from a mobile-first developer to cross-platform.He was also executive producer on Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Splintered Fate. GamesIndustry.biz recently about the game, and how it wants to continue implementing co-op and crossplay into future titles."It's been an honour to work closely with such a talented leader as Kristian Segerstrale, and I look forward to collaborating with him in his new role," said Fielding."I'm excited for the future of Super Evil as we begin to realise the long-term plans we have in motion to grow Super Evil into a top-tier independent studio with world-class talent that creates unforgettable shared gaming experiences."Segerstrale added: "I am very proud of what we have built as a long-lasting independent games company. Our recent years' success is largely thanks to Ian's stewardship."We see an enormous opportunity ahead and I believe Super Evil is set up to succeed with Ian as CEO, as the business leader helming our incredibly committed team."