Despite rumors to the contrary, Cillian Murphy is not in28 Years Later.Thats according to the movies producer, Andrew Macdonald. He toldEmpire Magazinethat while director Danny Boyle wanted Murphy, who starred in the first film in the series, 2002s 28 Days Later, to return for the new film, it didnt quite work out this time. However, the door is open for Murphy to appear in one of the additional sequels that are already in the works.[On] this, we wanted him to be involved and he wanted to be involved, Macdonald said. He is not in the first film, but Im hoping there will be some Jim somewhere along the line.SearchlightSonyloading...READ MORE: The Most Anticipated Movies of 2025Murphy was28 Days Laters hero Jim, who awakens from a coma in an abandoned London decimated by an viral outbreak that turns people into zombies. He manages to escape the city and survive (although not in most of the movies alternate endings, which Boyleinitially preferred but eventually ditched in favor of a more upbeat conclusion).Early reports about28 Years Later teased that Murphy would appear in some sort of supporting role and online sleuths speculated one of the striking zombies in the trailer for28 Years Laterwas anzombified Murphy. That was not correct, and neither were the rumors about Murphy.28 Years Laterinstead stars Jodie Comer, Aaron Taylor-Johnson, and Ralph Fiennes.28 Years Lateris scheduled to open in theaters on June 20. The movie is the first in a planned trilogy of sequels; the next installment,28 Years Later: The Bone Temple, has already been shot. So its possible Murphy could appear in that film or the subsequent third movie.(I would hope we can work with him in some way in the future, Macdonald added.)Get our free mobile app80s Movies That Could Never Be Made Today

Let's be honest: Most low-sodium foods aren't that great, which makes it difficult for many of us to make the swap to lower our blood pressure and fend off heart disease. Among the gadgets and new tech at CES might be the solution to that problem.The Kirin Electric Salt Spoon can give your food a salty taste with none of the downsides of the added sodium. It was one of the standout products at CES this year and snagged the spot for the best weird tech on our CES awards list.The device sends electricity from the spoon to your tongue to give you the sensation of saltiness. Trust me, you're not the only one thinking that electricity and tongues generally don't mix. Thankfully, it's a weak electric current. CES 2025: We're Obsessed With These 28 New Products So Far See all photos The Kirin Electric Salt Spoon comes in two pieces: the spoon and the detachable handle, which houses all the tech pieces. The handle has menu buttons for changing the four saltiness levels. The spoon is pretty chunky in hand, though it's not entirely surprising with the batteries and electronic parts inside.While the idea is cool, we have to admit that while testing the Kirin Electric Salt Spoon, we thought it was OK. The best way to describe the flavor change of the broth provided at the demo was that it tasted more "full" when the charge was going. The taste difference was slightly noticeable between the intensities. Kirinnotes in a releasethat the experience will vary by person and the feeling may vary depending on the food.The spoon does what it says, though activating the current might feel like getting the stars to align for some. The handle is thick, with sensors on the back of the spoon that you have to touch to activate it. Depending on your dexterity, you might have to wrap your fist around it, similar to how a toddler would. On the spoon segment, there's a different sensor that the food needs to touch to receive the burst of saltiness. The handle has a blue light below the button that turns white when ready. If the food shifts off the sensor in the spoon, you lose your current and your food won't be salty.Touching the sensors on the back of the handle and moving the food to the right spot on the spoon to activate the current could be a balancing act that quickly gets old.Read more: CES 2025: We're Obsessed With These 28 New Products So FarThe Kirin Electric Salt Spoon is an interesting concept with an important mission of reducing sodium intake. I could see this spoon moving the needle in a meaningful way for people who need to quickly reduce their sodium intake for health reasons. When we tested the spoon, it amped up the broth's flavor as described. However, I wouldn't completely bank on this spoon just yet. The steps to getting it to work are awkward, and we can't rule out the possibility that the placebo effect might be at play to some degree.The Kirin Electric Salt Spoon is available in Japan and should be available in North America this year. It will cost around $125, which might be hard to justify for a spoon. Kirin states that people using pacemakers or other medical devices should not use its spoon.

Plain, flavorless water went into the Roam SodaTop bottle on the show floor at CES 2025. Delicious, sparkling water with a vibrant flavor of white peach came out. It had a fuller flavor than most sparkling waters I've had, and a gentle, drinkable level of carbonation. The magic was in the bottle cap, and the flavor was in the air.Read more:These Are the Official 2025 Best of CES Winners, Awarded by CNET GroupWhen a Roam representative carbonated the bottle with the white peach flavored CO2, it was a simple process that took just a few seconds. Part of that process is venting the bottle so it's safe to open, and the smell was like briefly walking through a peach orchard. Home Tech Gadgets at CES 2025 Impressed More Than Last Year See all photos The Roam SodaTop is like a handheld SodaStream. The cap is what makes it carbonated. A tight seal and a small CO2 cartridge turn boring still water into something a little more exciting. You can screw the top on a water bottle Roam sells itself, or on a compatible water bottle (like a HydroFlask).Roam plans to start selling the SodaTop directly from its website in the first quarter of 2025, for $50. The CO2 cartridges are expected to cost about 70 cents apiece. The flavored CO2 cartridges, like produced that wonderful white peach flavor, are still in development.Handheld carbonation on the go Upgrade your inbox Get cnet insider From talking fridges to iPhones, our experts are here to help make the world a little less complicated. The Roam SodaTop's process is simple. You insert a CO2 cartridge into the SodaTop's special lid, release that carbon dioxide into the bottle, let out excess gas on the inside, and drink. Each cartridge is good for a single liter of water. The company aims for about 2.8 to 3 volumes of CO2 -- the carbonation level of a fairly highly carbonated beer, and a little lower than some bottles and cans of sparkling water. CES 2025: We're Obsessed With These 28 New Products So Far See all photos Roam says its stainless steel water bottles are designed to keep drinks cold for 24 hours. If you already have a SodaStream, Roam also has an adapter cap, which will sell for $13, that lets you carbonate your drinks from your countertop machine.Flavor is in the sparkling airThe only thing you should carbonate in the bottle is water, but that doesn't mean you can't add flavor. Flavored syrups or other drink mixes can be added after the CO2 if you want something that tastes like, well, something. But Roam is also developing its own ways to add variety. @cnetdotcom Bottoms up! We tried the #Roam portable carbonation bottle with #SodaTop, so you can have sparkling water where you go (as long as you have a CO2 cartridge.) Its expected to come out early this year for $49.99. #sparklingwater #watertok #waterbottle #ces2025 original sound - CNET Flavor drops will be available at launch. Yuzu is another flavor I tried. It was bright and fruity, with a sharp profile like you'd find with other water flavoring.The flavored CO2 cartridges are still being perfected. Right now, they produce a little less carbonation than the standard, plain CO2 cartridges. Flavors will likely include ginger, lemon, yuzu, grapefruit and white peach. The cartridges mean you won't have to carry around carbon dioxide and flavor, just the gas cartridge.For more coverage ofCES 2025, check out the $7,000 coffee-making robot, and find out which products from CES are actually available for purchase now.

Wandering around without cell service? HMD's new OffGrid hotspot accessory is designed to let smartphones send texts using satellites. We liked it so much, we named it a Best of CES award winner. CNET's Lisa Eadicicco gives it a look.

Like a Dragon: Pirate Yakuza in Hawaii getting New Game Plus in free post-launch updateFollowing Infinite Wealth controversy.Image credit: Ryu Ga Gotoku Studio/Sega News by Matt Wales News Reporter Published on Jan. 9, 2025 Like a Dragon: Pirate Yakuza in Hawaii - the swashbuckling new instalment in Sega's long-running crime saga - is getting a New Game Plus as part of a free post-launch update.Sega shared the news during a 15-minute Like a Dragon Direct showcase focusing on the imminent Pirate Yakuza in Hawaii. It marks a notable shift in strategy for the publisher, after last year's Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth caused controversy among fans by making New Game Plus exclusive to its pricier Deluxe and Ultimate Editions.Sega hasn't said much else about Pirate Yakuza in Hawaii's newly announced New Game Plus mode just yet, only that it'll arrives as part of a "post release patch" at some unspecified point following the game's launch on 21st February.Here's January's Like a Dragon Direct, focusing on Pirate Yakuza in Hawaii.Watch on YouTubeElsewhere in today's Like a Dragon stream, developer Ryu Ga Gotoku Studio dove a little deeper into some of Pirate Yakuza in Hawaii's systems, offering a closer look at the likes of land and sea combat, ship customisation, crew building, side activities, and more.Like a Dragon: Pirate Yakuza in Hawaii - which charts the swashbuckling adventures of fan-favourite series regular Goro Majima after he wakes up with amnesia on the remote Rich Island - will be available for PS5, PS4, Xbox Series X/S, Xbox One, and PC on 21st February.Alongside the 54.99 standard edition, Sega's releasing a 64.99 Deluxe Edition featuring the Legendary Pirate Crew Pack, Legendary Outfit Pack, Ship Customisation Pack, and Extra Karaoke & CD Pack. There's also a physical Collector's Edition containing a selection of real-world gubbins, and all pre-orders receive the Ichiban Pirate Crew Set and Ichiban Special Outfit Set.

Per The Washington Post, wind surgeswhich are fueling the spread of the fireare currently forecasted for late Thursday into Friday, with gusts up to 60 mph.Photo: Mario Tama/Getty ImagesMandy MooreThis Is Us star Mandy Moore shared on Wednesday that she and her family safely evacuated, but didnt know the status of her Altadena residence. My childrens school is gone. Our favorite restaurants, leveled. So many friends and loved ones have lost everything too, she wrote on an Instagram post. Our community is broken but we will be here to rebuild together.On Thursday, Moore updated her Instagram followers: Miraculously, the main part of our house is still standing. For now. Its not livable but mostly intact, she wrote. We lost [the] studio [my husband] Taylor [shared with his brother] Griffin with every instrument and piece of equipment theyve ever owned. We lost our garage and back house. Everyone we know lost everything. Every house on our street is gone.Ricki LakeHairspray star Ricki Lake shared an Instagram post on Wednesday that she and her husband Ross Burningham lost their beloved Malibu home to the fires. It was our heaven on earth. The place where we planned to grow old together, she wrote. This loss is immeasurable. Its the spot where we got married 3 years ago.Cameron MathisonSoap opera star Cameron Mathison also took to Instagram on Wednesday to grieve the loss of his Altadena home. We are safe, he wrote alongside a video of the burning remains of his property. But this is whats left of our beautiful home. Our home where our kids were raised and where they wanted to raise their own someday.On Thursday morning, Mathison revealed on Good Morning America that the clothes he was wearing and one extra pair of shoes are his only remaining belongings. Our neighbors are coming together in every way that we can, supporting each other and also trying to help people that still have their homes, he said.Billy CrystalActor Billy Crystal confirmed to People that his longtime home in the Pacific Palisades was also lost. Janice and I lived in our home since 1979. We raised our children and grandchildren here. Every inch of our house was filled with love. Beautiful memories that cant be taken away, he told the outlet. We are heartbroken, of course, but with the love of our children and friends we will get through this.Jennifer GreyStella Gregg, the daughter of Dirty Dancing star Jennifer Grey, revealed on an Instagram Story that her mothers house burned in the fire. Luckily, she and [her dog] Winnie are safe, she wrote. Give your loved ones an extra squeeze today.Melissa RiversMelissa Rivers, the daughter of late comedian Joan Rivers, revealed on CNN that her mothers Emmy, a photo of her father, and a portrait of herself and her son that her mother drew were among the few possessions that she took when she evacuated her Pacific Palisades house before it burned down. Its amazing what you grab, she said. I went for a drawing of my mothers rather than a photo because I know I can find the photos.Miles TellerActor Miles Teller and his wife Keleigh Teller lost their Pacific Palisades dwelling in the fire, according to photos obtained by Page Six. The pair had bought the Cape Codstyle abode in April 2023 for $7.5 million.Eugene LevySchitts Creek actor Eugene Levy and his wife Deborah Devine were caught in the gridlock of fleeing residents on Tuesday, per the Los Angeles Times. While stuck in traffic, Levy told the outlet that he couldnt see any flames but the smoke was very dark. Later, photos published by Page Six revealed that Levys Pacific Palisades property was destroyed.Anthony HopkinsAccording to Page Six, Silence of the Lambs star Anthony Hopkins also lost a home in the Pacific Palisades. The Welsh actor bought the home in 2021 for $6 million.John GoodmanThe Big Lebowski actor John Goodman primarily lives in New Orleans, but he maintained a Pacific Palisades dwelling that was lost in the flames, The Daily Mail reports. Goodman spent $4.6 million on the residence in 2008. Photos taken on Wednesday revealed that the five-bedroom home was completely leveled by the flames.Cobie Smulders and Taran KillamHow I Met Your Mother star Cobie Smulders and SNL alum Taran Killam also lost their Pacific Palisades home, according to Page Six. The couple had purchased the abode in 2017 for $5.6 million and spent a year customizing it. In a 2018 interview, Smulders told AD that they had added solar panels and a built-in photo booth to the home as part of their extensive renovations.Diane WarrenSongwriter Diane Warren shared on Instagram that her beach house was destroyed in the fires. Ive had this house for almost 30 years. It looks like it was lost in the fire last nite, she wrote.Cary ElwesThe Princess Bride star Cary Elwes posted an update on Instagram on Wednesday sharing the news that his home had burned down. Firstly, myself and my family are all safe, thank God. Sadly we did lose our home but we are grateful to have survived this truly devastating fire, he wrote. Our hearts go out to all the families impacted by this tragic event and we also wish to extend our gratitude to all the firefighters, first responders and law enforcement who worked so tirelessly through the night and are still at it.Tina KnowlesOn Thursday, designer and philanthropist Tina Knowles announced that her Malibu house had burned down. It was my favorite place, my sanctuary, my sacred Happy Place. Now it is gone, Knowles, who is the mother of musicians Beyonc and Solange, wrote on Instagram. This could have been so much worse without the dedication of the disaster workers and first responders. Im so sad for the people who lost the five family members [....] I am praying diligently for our beautiful City of Los Angeles !! We are resilient though and we will recover!Jhen AikoMusician Jhen Aiko shared on Thursday that she had lost her family home, which she shares with her 16-year-old daughter Namiko and the son she welcomed with rapper Big Sean in 2022. The LA house burned to the ground with all of our things inside. Lord have mercy, the Bed Peace singer wrote. Starting from scratch. My heart is so heavy.Bozoma Saint JohnReal Housewives of Beverly Hills star Bozoma Saint John mourned the loss of her Malibu home on Instagram. This is the house I wanted. The house I prayed for. The house I worked in blood, sweat and tears for, she wrote. This is the house where I finally felt like I could choose to spend time when I wanted to and how I wanted to. It is gone.Jeff BridgesAccording to TMZ, the four-bedroom Malibu dwelling that Bridges and his siblings had inherited, which had been in the actors family for generations, burned down.Candy SpellingAuthor and theater producer Candy Spelling confirmed to TMZ that her Malibu residence, which she shared with late TV and film producer Aaron Spelling, was also lost. Im in shock and processing this massive loss for our family. I am beyond grateful for the memories. It was truly a wonderful gift to have, she told the outlet. Spelling, who is the mother of actor Tori Spelling, had owned the property for 50 years. She had tried to sell the beach house in recent years before eventually taking it off the market.Denise CrosbyYesterday morning I had a beautiful Spanish cottage that gave me endless joy, where I met my husband and raised my son, the only house Ive ever owned, with fruit trees I grew, with a garden of native plants, the Star Trek: The Next Generation actor said of her LA home via X. Now, ashes. I am heartbroken.Jen AtkinCelebrity hairstylist and Ouai Haircare founder Jen Atkin posted an Instagram story sharing that her house had been destroyed in the fires. Our neighbors are all taking care of one another and checking in and thats the theme for 2025, she wrote. Were going to be ok. We always push thru. Im just so sad I left my Grandma Atkins church blazer with her tissues and tictacs in the pockets.

Understatement just isnt Hollywoods style; it shouts its name from a good 15 miles away via the famous Hollywood sign. The conspicuously huge lettering is propped up in the eastern end of the Santa Monica Mountains and greets all who approach Hollywood. Now, as wildfires continue to rage throughout Los Angeles, could this iconic, 100-year-old landmark be at risk?So far, multiple wildfires have destroyed roughly 29,000 acres in the city, according to the New York Times. At the time of publication, there have been five confirmed deaths. At least 2,000 buildings, including homes and businesses, have been burned to the ground, as well as notable landmarks like Will Rogerss Historic Home and the Theatre Palisades. Major damage occurred in the Pacific Palisades neighborhood, situated between Santa Monica and Malibu (where many waterfront homes were destroyed), and that wildfire is still not under control.The Sunset fire broke out on Wednesday night in the Hollywood Hills, triggering an evacuation order and putting the Hollywood sign at risk. However, by Thursday morning, a Los Angeles fire department spokesperson called the Sunset fire under control.Is the Hollywood sign on fire?The Hollywood sign has not caught fire at the time of this publication, despite AI-generated images showing otherwise circulating on social media. Jeff Zarrinnam, chair of the Hollywood Sign Trust, confirmed to Forbes that the sign is still intact.How do you get to the Hollywood sign?With each letter of the sign standing at 45 feet tall and more than 30 feet wide, you can hardly miss it. A closeup visit is not going to happen, however: No access to the Hollywood sign, youll read on smaller signs posted in the 4,300-acre Griffith Park on Mount Lee. If you do want to get a little closer to the giant letters, and avoid threat of arrest or a fine, take a hike in the Santa Monica Mountains. You can get a great view of the sign from Brush Canyon Trail, for one.How did the Hollywood sign get there?In 1923, workers used mules to haul wood and sheet metal up the slope. There were originally four more letters than there are todaythe sign used to read Hollywoodland. It originated largely as a publicity stunt, dreamed up by real estate agents promoting property in the Hollywood Hills. Many wish today that it were lit up at night, as the original version of the sign was. Throughout the signs decade of illumination, a German immigrant named Albert Kothe famously maintained its nearly 4,000 bulbs.The legendary sign used to spell Hollywoodland.MPI/Getty ImagesTragic times for the Hollywood signThe Hollywood sign has never stopped making headlines. In 1932, Peg Entwistle, an actress who was struggling to find work in Depression-era Hollywood, climbed up the H and plunged to her death. The Great Depression also took its toll on the sign, which was neglected and weather-beaten. In the 1940s, the City of Los Angeles took pity and assumed ownership. When they refurbished the sign, they removed the last four letters that spelled -land.Playboy founder Hugh Hefner to the rescueIn 1978, the Hollywood Chamber of Commerce decided to give the sign a makeover, replacing all the original letters with new ones made of steel girder beams and corrugated sheet metal. Holding a successful benefit gala in his mansion, Playboy magazine founder Hugh Hefner got celebrities to pay $27,700 for each new letter. Rock star Alice Cooper contributed toward a new O, while the Chamber itself donated the Y in Hefners honor.Real and fictitious disastersOver time, the sign has had to endure a lot. Its survived earthquakes and brushfires as well as vandalism. In 1987, pranksters briefly recast the sign to read Holywood for the visit of Pope John Paul II. Other times, versions like Hollyweed and Ollywood have suddenly appeared in the mountains. Its also a popular target of destruction in the movies, like in the 2004 film The Day After Tomorrow, where a tornado takes it out.New plans for the Hollywood signThe landmark is being preserved by the non-profit Hollywood Sign Trust, which is also currently planning a visitors center. And, just in time for its centennial, the sign has been given a new coat of 400 gallons of white paint.This story originally appeared on AD Germany.

Meta employees are furious with the companys newly announced content moderation changes that will allow users to say that LGBTQ+ people have mental illness, according to internal conversations obtained by 404 Media and interviews with five current employees. The changes were part of a larger shift Mark Zuckerberg announced Monday to do far less content moderation on Meta platforms.I am LGBT and Mentally Ill, one post by an employee on an internal Meta platform called Workplace reads. Just to let you know that Ill be taking time out to look after my mental health.On Monday, Mark Zuckerberg announced that the company would be getting back to our roots around free expression to allow more speech and fewer mistakes. The company said were getting rid of a number of restrictions on topics like immigration, gender identity, and gender that are the subject of frequent political discourse and debate. A review of Metas official content moderation policies show, specifically, that some of the only substantive changes to the policy were made to specifically allow for allegations of mental illness or abnormality when based on gender or sexual orientation. It has long been known that being LGBTQ+ is not a sign of mental illness, and the false idea that sexuality or gender identification is a mental illness has long been used to stigmatize and discriminate against LGBTQ+ people.Earlier this week, we reported that Meta was deleting internal dissent about Zuckerberg's appointment of UFC President Dana White to the Meta board of directors.Do you work at Meta? I would love to hear from you. Using a non-work device, you can message me securely on Signal at +1 202 505 1702.

MoneyWatchTikTok says it plans to shut down site unless Supreme Court strikes down law forcing it to sellThe legal grounds for a TikTok ban delay TikTok says it plans to shut down the social media site in the U.S. by Jan. 19 unless the Supreme Court strikes down or otherwise delays the effective date of a law aimed at forcing TikTok's sale by its Chinese parent company.In one of the most important cases of the social media age, free speech and national security collide at the Supreme Court on Friday in arguments over the fate of TikTok, a wildly popular digital platform that roughly half the people in the United States use for entertainment and information.Working on a tight deadline, the justices also have before them a plea from President-elect Donald Trump, who has dropped his earlier support for a ban, to give him and his new administration time to reach a "political resolution" and avoid deciding the case. It's unclear if the court will take the Republican president-elect's views a highly unusual attempt to influence a case into account.TikTok and China-based ByteDance, as well as content creators and users, argue the law is a dramatic violation of the Constitution's free speech guarantee."Rarely if ever has the court confronted a free-speech case that matters to so many people," lawyers for the users and content creators wrote. Content creators are anxiously awaiting a decision that could upend their livelihoods and are eyeing other platforms. The case represents another example of the court being asked to rule about a medium with which the justices have acknowledged they have little familiarity or expertise, though they often weigh in on meaty issues involving restrictions on speech.The Biden administration, defending the law that President Joe Biden signed in April after it was approved by wide bipartisan majorities in Congress, contends that "no one can seriously dispute that (China's) control of TikTok through ByteDance represents a grave threat to national security."Officials say Chinese authorities can compel ByteDance to hand over information on TikTok's U.S. patrons or use the platform to spread or suppress information.But the government "concedes that it has no evidence China has ever attempted to do so," TikTok told the justices, adding that limits on speech should not be sustained when they stem from fears that are predicated on future risks.In December, a panel of three appellate judges, two appointed by Republicans and one by a Democrat, unanimously upheld the law and rejected the First Amendment speech claims.Adding to the tension, the court is hearing arguments just nine days before the law is supposed to take effect and 10 days before a new administration takes office.In language typically seen in a campaign ad rather than a legal brief, lawyers for Trump have called on the court to temporarily prevent the TikTok ban from going into effect but refrain from a definitive resolution."President Trump alone possesses the consummate dealmaking expertise, the electoral mandate, and the political will to negotiate a resolution to save the platform while addressing the national security concerns expressed by the Government concerns which President Trump himself has acknowledged," D. John Sauer, Trump's choice to be his administration's top Supreme Court lawyer, wrote in a legal brief filed with the court.Trump took no position on the underlying merits of the case, Sauer wrote. Trump's campaign team used TikTok to connect with younger voters, especially male voters, and Trump met with TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew at Trump's Mar-a-Lago club in Palm Beach, Florida, in December. He has 14.7 million followers on TikTok.The justices have set aside two hours for arguments, and the session likely will extend well beyond that. Three highly experienced Supreme Court lawyers will be making arguments. Solicitor General Elizabeth Prelogar will present the Biden administration's defense of the law, while Trump's solicitor general in his first administration, Noel Francisco, will argue on behalf of TikTok and ByteDance. Stanford Law professor Jeffrey Fisher, representing content creators and users, will be making his 50th high court argument.If the law takes effect, Trump's Justice Department will be charged with enforcing it. Lawyers for TikTok and ByteDance have argued that the new administration could seek to mitigate the law's most severe consequences. But they also said that a shutdown of just a month would cause TikTok to lose about one-third of its daily users in the U.S. and significant advertising revenue.As it weighs the case, the court will have to decide what level of review it applies to the law. Under the most searching review, strict scrutiny, laws almost always fail. But two judges on the appellate court that upheld the law said it would be the rare exception that could withstand strict scrutiny.TikTok, the app's users and many briefs supporting them urge the court to apply strict scrutiny to strike down the law.But the Democratic administration and some of its supporters cite restrictions on foreign ownership of radio stations and other sectors of the economy to justify the effort to counter Chinese influence in the TikTok ban.A decision could come within days.More from CBS News

Update: Some users report that the new options have disappeared. Its possible they went live prematurely.OpenAI is introducing a new way for users to customize their interactions with ChatGPT, the companys AI-powered chatbot. Some users on X on Thursday reported that ChatGPTs existing custom instructions menu on the web has been revamped with new fields. Now, users can specify a preferred name or nickname, their profession, other things theyd like ChatGPT to know about them, and traits theyd like the chatbot to have. OpenAI suggests traits like Chatty, Encouraging, and Gen Z.Introduce yourself to get better, more personalized responses, reads a message in the refreshed menu. Image Credits:Tibor Blaho (opens in a new window)The options arent showing up for this reporter yet. TechCrunch has reached out to OpenAI for comment and will update this article if we hear back. Its likely the new menu is more of an aesthetic makeover than a deep technical upgrade. The old custom instructions feature used whats known as prompt engineering to guide ChatGPTs style and tone. Essentially, it primed the AI powering ChatGPT with a paragraph of user-provided instructions so its answers adhered to those requirements and preferences.So far as we can tell, the new menu still relies on prompt engineering. It simply presents it in a user-friendlier way.OpenAI previously said that it applies moderation to custom instructions to check if they adhere to its terms of use. Presumably, that hasnt changed with the revamped personalization settings. OpenAI has looked to polish ChatGPT as its user base grows, adding capabilities like live web search and a Canvas interface tailored to writing and coding projects. The company said in December that over 300 million people use the chatbot each week.