Subscribe to Nintendo Life on YouTube794kThose who enjoy a little slice of weirdness in their gaming might want to keep an eye on this one. Publisher Crunching Koalas and developer Dexai Arts have today released the first-person bouncer simulator Techno Banter on the Switch eShop and it looks... strange.This is a game all about deciding which party guests get into a club and which are told to take a hike. It's a similar concept to what we've seen in the likes of Papers, Please and Lil' Guardsman, but Techno Banter mixes things up with, you guessed it, banter. You'll have to use your wit to hit any unruly potential guests with clever comebacks, keeping the party vibing and keeping the line in check.Subscribe to Nintendo Life on YouTube794kWatch on YouTube Oh yes, we almost forgot. Your bouncer character, Nill, is a jacked dog/man in a muscle-fit top. In fact, a lot of the guests are anthropomorphised animals or equally disturbing nightmare-fuel. Hey, we said it looked weird!The above launch trailer gives us a taste of what we're in for with Techno Banter, showcasing some of the tight dialogue and trippy visuals you can expect to find along the way. We'll also add some screenshots below, so you can get a closer look.Images: Crunching KoalasIt's strangely giving us the vibes of a haunted episode of Bojack Horseman, but with the threat of the end of the world hanging over the whole thing. Kinda neat, no?Techno Banter is now available on the Switch eShop.Does this one look up your street? Join the line and let us know in the comments.

Image: Nintendo LifeI have been banging the 'Theme' drum for so long now, my hands have started to hurt. It doesn't make any sense to me that every Switch menu has been this music-less graveyard when Nintendo has churned out the likes of the Wii Shop Channel, 3DS Theme Shop and a multitude of other bangers in years gone by.But there's another melody missing from Switch that not nearly enough people, myself included, have been rooting for over the past eight years, and if Nintendo is only going to rectify one of its musical mishaps for Switch 2, I hope it's this one: it's time start-up jingles made a comeback.The thought popped into my mind recently when I flicked on my GBA for a spot of Pokmon Emerald and the start-up 'brrrrrrrng, be-ding!' elicited an actual gasp from my brother sat nearby. He, like anyone who grew up with a Nintendo games console in the house, recognised the sound immediately, triggering some deep-coded response of excitement that clamshell chaos was about to ensue.And I'm exactly the same. Every Nintendo start-up sound, no matter how brief, holds a special place in my heart. The DS' fading 'ba-dum ba-dum ba-dum' transports me back to days of impatiently shouting 'Mr. Biscuits' into the mic, hoping my Nintendog would learn it this freaking time.The Wii's 'waluhluhluh luhluhluhluh' tees me up for the Super Mario Galaxy menu music. Heck, even the Game Boy (and Game Boy Color's) comparatively simple 'ding!' does something.Pictures you can hear Images: Zion Grassl / Nintendo LifeNaturally, all of these pale in comparison to the GameCube start-up, a jingle so powerful that Luigi set it as his ringtone in The Super Mario Bros. Movie. It's longer than most, yes, but tell me a better way to get your players pumped than with an excessively jolly series of rising and falling scales? Go on, I'll wait.Weirdly, the absence of a jingle isn't something that had particularly crossed my mind with Switch. I so rarely 'Power Off' the hybrid that I only see the black start-up screen maybe once a year, and the ability to pick up and play does harm the chances for a musical interlude somewhat.In its defence, the Switch does play a little jingle when you turn it on for the very first time the console's distinctive 'click' followed by a not-so-distinctive trumpet and timpani fanfare. It's certainly too grand for something I'd want to hear every time I press the power button, but as a "Welcome to your new console!" message, it does the job.But look at me making excuses! The Game Boy got away with a single-note introduction, so I'm sure there would be wiggle room on Switch, a console you must thricely press the same button to unlock seriously? We don't have a jingle, but we have that?Subscribe to Nintendo Life on YouTube794kRather than living in the past, let's look to the future. The clickly-but-jingle-less Switch is almost behind us, and it's up to Switch 2 to bring back a bit of musicality. I would be willing to stake everything on the 'clack' sound from Nintendo's reveal trailer playing as each game starts up, but what about a little something to make it more memorable? A short, four-note piano sequence that finishes with the 'clack'? A 'ding' or two thrown in there for good measure? Anything to make it sound distinctly like a Switch 2 and not like someone putting the lid on a tub of butter in the other room.For the recent PlayStation 30th anniversary, Sony loaded up all PS5 consoles with a customisable start-up sequence based on all their previous jingles. Rather than the console's usual 'dun un dun dun' melody, my PS5 now starts with the power blast of the PS1's terrifying opening chord and its accompanying chimes. It's brilliant.In 30 years' time, when Nintendo looks back on Switch with that same level of nostalgia, there will be no such musical tie-in for it to draw on. Nobody is going to fondly remember the three pips as you input the hybrid's unlock code, nor the ascending/descending scale of the eShop's loading screen. But there's still time for Switch 2 to fit that brief.Come on, Nintendo. What else am I going to set as my phone ringtone when I'm old and grey?Come on then, what's your favourite Nintendo console start-up sound? We've added a video above that contains all of them (with a couple of edge cases), so take to the following poll and let us know your favourite.What's your favourite Nintendo start up sound? (122 votes)NES 0%Game Boy / Game Boy Color6%SNES2%N643%Game Boy Advance8%GameCube53%DS10%Wii3%3DS2%Wii U8%Switch 'click'5% Tuuune!Subscribe to Nintendo Life on YouTube794kSee AlsoShare:01 Jim came to Nintendo Life in 2022 and, despite his insistence that The Minish Cap is the best Zelda game and his unwavering love for the Star Wars prequels (yes, really), he has continued to write news and features on the site ever since. Hold on there, you need to login to post a comment...Related Articles69 Games You Should Pick Up In Nintendo's 'Supercharge' eShop Sale (North America)Every game we scored 9/10 or higherOpinion: My Daughter Made Me Realise That Mario Wonder's Difficulty Options Need WorkYoshi or Nabbit, make your choiceOpinion: The Hyped-Up New Pokmon TCG Set Is A Total Bummer To OpenPokntial earnings

Google SVP Rick Osterloh issued an internal memo to the Pixel/Android/Chrome team Thursday, announcing a voluntary exit program. TechCrunch has confirmed the letters existence with the company, after it was first reported by 9 to 5 Google.In a statement to TechCrunch, a spokesperson notes,The Platforms & Devices team is offering a voluntary exit program that provides US-based Googlers working on this team the ability to voluntarily leave the company with a severance package. This comes after we brought two large organizations together last year. Theres tremendous momentum on this team and with so much important work ahead, we want everyone to be deeply committed to our mission and focused on building great products, with speed and efficiency.The voluntary severance program arrives just under a year after Google merged the Android, Pixel hardware, and Chrome teams into a single Platform and Devices division, overseen by Osterloh.The executive noted in April that the re-org was a bid to integrate the companys AI offerings more deeply into its products. In the intervening months, Googles generative AI platform, Gemini, has grown into an outsized presence among its hardware and software offerings.Gemini took center stage earlier this month, as Samsung unveiled its flagship Galaxy S25 smartphone. The service has also been central to Googles own hardware devices, effectively replacing the Home assistant on Pixel products. Google Home, meanwhile, continues to play a role in the companys Nest line of smart home hardware.The exit program applies to a wide range of Google offerings, including Android, Chrome/ChromeOS, Fitbit, Google One, Nest, Photos, and Pixel. Other large Google divisions, including AI and search, are not directly impacted. Word of the memo follows Amazons confirmation that it laid off dozens of employees across its communications and corporate responsibility divisions on Wednesday.

Welcome back to TechCrunch Mobility your central hub for news and insights on the future of transportation. Sign up here for free just click TechCrunch Mobility!In case you missed it, Tesla CEO Elon Musk said the company would launch a paid ride-hailing service with a fleet of driverless vehicles in Austin in June. For those keeping track, thats five months away. Musk dropped this announcement during Teslas fourth-quarter and full-year earnings call.Musk provided almost no details about this upcoming service, including what its geo-fence (environmental, geographic, and operational constraints) will be at launch. But perhaps thats the point: drum up excitement and distract from its rather flat automotive business.I recommend scrolling through our live blog of the Tesla earnings report and call, as there are lots of nuggets in there that may have been lost in the ether, from bitcoin and lithium refinery progress to Dojos absence and how Tesla is training FSD in China. Oh, and finally, Elon admitted that yes, all of those hardware 3 vehicles will need an upgrade to fully unlock future capabilities in its Full Self-Drive software (which is an advanced driver-assistance system).A little birdImage Credits:Bryce DurbinA couple of little birds have shared some behind-the-scenes color over at Cruise, which we included in a recent article about GM and the estimated $1 billion savings the automaker expects from shutting down the robotaxi development program.Tucked inside that article were some tidbits shared by sources at Cruise who told us management began extending retention offers to employees almost all of whom were engineers in mid-January.While our plans remain subject to Cruise board approval, I wanted to share that we completed our first wave of notifications to those employees whose roles we expect to need as part of the go-forward Cruise, CEO Marc Whitten said in the email, which TechCrunch has viewed. He also called for continued patience as senior leadership worked out what the next steps would be and waited for the Cruise board to make a call.Whitten added that those who havent yet received a notification arent necessarily at risk of losing their jobs.Sources at Cruise told TechCrunch the board should be meeting in early February, at which time theyll hopefully come up with a plan for the thousands of now-idle and worried workers.Got a tip for us? Email Kirsten Korosec at kirsten.korosec@techcrunch.com, Sean OKane at sean.okane@techcrunch.com, or Rebecca Bellan at rebecca.bellan@techcrunch.com. Or check out these instructions to learn how to contact us via encrypted messaging apps or SecureDrop.Deals!Image Credits:Bryce DurbinIf youre not already paying attention to Moove, the African mobility fintech company backed by Uber, you should be. The company has had explosive growth in five years. In 2020, Moove had 76 cars in Lagos, Nigeria; today it has 36,000 cars operating in 19 cities across six continents.You might recall that Moove announced a partnership with Waymo last year to provide driverless vehicle fleet operations in Phoenix and Miami.Now the company, which offers vehicle financing to ride-hailing and delivery app drivers across six continents, is expanding via acquisitions. Moove said it has acquired Kovi, a Brazil-based urban mobility provider.The value of the deal is not being disclosed, but Moove confirmed it was an all-share transaction, and Kovi is now wholly owned by Moove. Moove co-founder and co-CEO Ladi Delano told TechCrunch that the deal bumps the mobility fintechs annual revenue to $275 million.Other deals that got my attentionAngell, a French smart electric bike startup, is nearing bankruptcy.Bonsai Robotics, an autonomous agriculture startup based in California, raised $15 million in a Series A funding round led by Bison Ventures. Cibus Capital, Acre Venture Partners, Congruent Ventures, Fall Line Capital, E14 Fund, SNR, and Serra Ventures also participated.TravelPerk, a Barcelona-based business travel management platform, has raised $200 million at a hefty $2.7 billion valuation almost double the $1.4 billion valuation at its previous fundraise last year. The Series E round was led by European venture capital firm Atomico, with participation from EQT Growth, Noteus Partners, Kinnevik, General Catalyst, among other existing investors. Alongside the raise, TravelPerk also announced it has acquired Swiss startup Yokoy for an undisclosed amount.UVeye, the Israeli startup that developed a vision-based MRI for cars, raised $191 million in an extension to its 2023 Series D round led by Toyotas Woven Capital growth fund. The round includes a mix of $41 million in equity financing with participation from UMC Capital and MyBerg and a $150 million debt facility structured by Trinity Capital.Voi, the Swedish shared micromobility giant, eked out its first profitable year in 2024, according to preliminary unaudited results.Notable reads and other tidbitsImage Credits:Bryce DurbinAutonomous vehiclesGM said it expects to save up to $1 billion annually by ending its Cruise robotaxi development program.Kodiak Robotics handed off two autonomous trucks to customer Atlas Energy Solutions for driverless operations in an off-road environment in the remote Permian Basin marking the startups first commercial launch.Waymo had a busy week. First up, a hidden Waymo feature in its app allowed a security researcher to display whatever characters she wanted on the robotaxis top display. The same security researcher also found a new tipping feature while reverse engineering Waymos Android app.On the expansion front, Waymo said it will begin testing driverless vehicles on Los Angeles freeways; for now, only employees will be allowed to ride in them. And it also plans to bring its robotaxis in manual mode to 10 U.S. cities this year. Meanwhile, Waymo has increased its lobbying activity in San Francisco, and one major target appears to be unlocking access to the airport.Electric vehicles, charging, & batteriesLucid Gravity SUV owners will gain access to Tesla Superchargers on Friday. Here is a roundup of Tesla Supercharger-NACs news, including which automakers now have access to the network.Tesla is bringing its redesigned Model Y SUV to the U.S., Canada, and Mexico in March, with a starting price just shy of $60,000.You might recall our reporting last month on a handful of lawsuits filed against Rivian by employees who claim they were harassed by executives. Here are some updates on a few of those cases: One, filed by former clay sculptor Nathan Facciolla in October 2024 against Rivian and chief designer Jeff Hammoud, is now being moved to arbitration. A second, filed in February 2024 by former color, material, and finish team director Elizabeth Curran against Rivian and Hammoud, is now tracking toward a potential September 2025 trial date though Rivian is trying to get the judge to rule on the case prior to that happening.In-car techApple admits next-gen CarPlay is late, but says it is still in development.Space and future of flightAmazon is expanding its drone delivery service to the U.K., starting with a north England town of Darlington.Boom Supersonic went supersonic. The startups XB-1 demonstrator plane cleared Mach 1 and stayed supersonic for about four minutes in the skies above Californias Mojave Desert.This weeks wheelsNothing this week, but look for a write-up in the next newsletter.What is This weeks wheels? Its a chance to learn about the different transportation products were testing, whether its an electric or hybrid car, an e-bike, or even a ride in an autonomous vehicle.

Connecticut-based Mott Corporation, a specialist in high-precision filtration and flow control solutions, has expanded its manufacturing capabilities by acquiring Renishaws RenAM 500S Flex additive manufacturing (AM) system. This acquisition aims to improve Motts design and production efficiency for complex filtration and flow control components.Integrating the RenAM 500S Flex into its production line, Mott Corporation has achieved significant operational improvements. The new 3D print system has reduced machine turnaround and setup times by over 50% compared to previous AM technologies. Additionally, the RenAM 500S Flex has enhanced the consistency of printed parts, lowering the standard deviation of performance metrics by approximately 30%. These enhancements provide Mott with greater confidence in the reliability and performance of their 3D printed components.A 3D-printed filtration component created using Mott Corporations RenAM 500S Flex additive manufacturing system. Photo via Renishaw.John Laureto, AM Business Manager at Renishaw Inc., emphasized the machines flexibility, stating, Renishaws philosophy is that process parameters should be as customizable as possible. Using the RenAM 500S Flex, Mott Corporation was able to optimize its processes for specific applications and adjust parameters as needed for novel projects. Vincent Palumbo, Technical Program Manager at Mott Corporation, added, The new machine gives us greater confidence in the reliability and performance of our parts while speeding up development cycles and enabling us to bring our designs to life more efficiently. Palumbo also noted that the RenAM 500S Flex has become a focal point during facility tours, facilitating discussions with customers about future development projects.Founded in 1959, Mott Corporation specializes in creating customized filtration and flow control solutions for industries such as healthcare, semiconductors, chemical processing, and aerospace. Traditionally, the company relied on axial, isostatic, and rolling compaction methods to produce components. However, these conventional techniques limited the ability to manufacture parts with complex geometries necessary to minimize pressure drop and enhance filtration capacity. To overcome these limitations, Mott explored additive manufacturing, identifying laser powder bed fusion as the most suitable technique for their needs.A technician at Mott Corporation utilizes advanced additive manufacturing software. Photo via Renishaw.EOS and Eplus3Ds Milestones Highlight Industry GrowthEOS, a provider of additive manufacturing solutions, installed its 5,000th industrial 3D printer. The latest installation, an EOS M 400-4 metal 3D printer, is located at Keselowski Advanced Manufacturing (KAM) in Statesville, North Carolina. EOS supplies industrial 3D printing machines, materials, training, and services, with installations across six continents. KAMs total EOS machine count has reached 18, supporting high-precision metal part production.Elsewhere, Eplus3D, a metal 3D printer manufacturer, announced the delivery of over 100 large-format LPBF 3D printers globally. Nearly 40 of these systems, including the EP-M2050, EP-M1550, and EP-M1250 models, feature X, Y, and Z axes exceeding one meter. Eplus3Ds installations cater to industries such as aerospace, space, and energy, which require large and complex metal components. The company partnered with LEAP71 to develop a 1.3-meter tall single-piece metal 3D printed rocket thruster showcased at Formnext 2024, demonstrating advancements in large-scale additive manufacturing.Joe Calmese, CEO of ADDMAN, and Glynn Fletcher, president of EOS North America, mark the installation of EOSs 5,000th industrial 3D printer. Photo via ADDMAN.Ready to discover who won the 20243D Printing Industry Awards?What will the future of 3D printing look like?Which recent trends are driving the 3D printing industry, as highlighted by experts?Subscribe to the 3D Printing Industry newsletter to stay updated with the latest news and insights.Stay connected with the latest in 3D printing by following us on Twitter and Facebook, and dont forget to subscribe to the 3D Printing Industry YouTube channel for more exclusive content.Featured image shows a 3D-printed filtration component created using Mott Corporations RenAM 500S Flex additive manufacturing system. Photo via Renishaw.

Amalgam (Origin)(2024), bronze,309 5/8 x 201 x 227 inches. All photos by Vincent Tullo, courtesy of Jack Shainman Gallery, New York, shared with permissionNick Caves Nearly 26-Foot Bronze Stands for Resistance Amid OppressionJanuary 30, 2025ArtGrace EbertWhether weaving plastic pony beads into a monumental sculpture, adorning figures with mother-of-pearl buttons, or mosaicing ceramic tile across a New York subway station, Nick Cave has continually returned to one question: how does this material help bring people into the work?I have to think about the journey and how I get your willingness to explore and go with me, he told Colossal in 2022. Amalgam (Plot) (2024), bronze, tole flowers, and cast iron door stops, 63 x 120 x 125 inchesThis month at Jack Shainman Gallerys new Tribeca location, Cave presents his latest material explorations. Amalgams and Graphts comprises two distinct bodies of work that are a sort of progression from the artists signature Soundsuits. Created following the Los Angeles Police Departments beating of Rodney King in 1991, the ebullient costumes conceal the wearers identity and invite viewers to engage from a place of non-judgment.For Amalgams, Cave created bronze casts of his own body at different scales evocative of Soundsuits. At the center of the exhibition is an unmissable, almost 26-foot sculpture that towers over the space. Thick foliage cloaks the figure and emphasizes the possibility for growth as branches sprout from the upper torso, creating what the artist refers to as a migration hub where perched birds take refuge. Nearby, a similar work depicts a smaller, yet equally opulent figure seated with feet lifted off the ground.Amalgam (Plot) is the most compact of the three. Erupting with vintage tole flowers, the floor sculpture portrays two figures, one lying on his back and the other face down with his arms over his head to take cover. The protective pose mimics a scene of racially motivated violence captured on video. In part a move toward accessibility, the bronze works are part of Caves interest in public art and sharing his practiceincluding his commitment to cultivating resistance in the face of oppressionmore broadly. Grapht (2024), vintage metal serving trays and needlepoint on wood panel, 95 1/2 x 143 1/2 x 2 inchesWhile the artist frequently incorporates his own body into his work, Graphts is the first time hes made himself so recognizable. Self-portraits appear amid decadent collages of vintage serving trays decorated with floral motifs. A long-time collector of found objects, Cave melds the platters with needlepoint, a domestic craft historically practiced by privileged, wealthy women. As is typical in the artists work, the trays take on several meanings, invoking servitude and the aesthetics of social systems along with the multi-valent notion of serving. Associated with subordination and duty, to serve in ballroom culture is instead a directive to act with confidence and attitude. Amalgams and Graphts continues in New York through March 15. Find more from Cave on Instagram.Left: Nick Cave and Bob Faust, Wallwork, (2024), wall vinyl, 157 x 367 1/4 inches. Right: Amalgam (2021), bronze, 122 x 94 x 85 inchesGrapht (2024), vintage metal serving trays and vintage tole on wood panel, 95 1/2 x 95 1/2 x 10 inchesAmalgam (Plot) (2024), bronze, tole flowers, and cast iron door stops, 63 x 120 x 125 inchesGrapht (2024), vintage metal serving trays, vintage tole, and needlepoint on wood panel, 95 1/2 x 193 1/2 x 16 1/2 inchesAmalgam (Plot) (2024), bronze, tole flowers, and cast iron door stops, 63 x 120 x 125 inchesNext article

There's nothing quite like curling up with a great book on a cold winter's day and with the right reading tablet, your entire library is always within reach. You can choose from the distraction-free experience of a dedicated e-reader or the Swiss army knife versatility of a full-fledged tablet. A great reading tablet should be easy-on-the-eyes, have a long-lasting battery, and be lightweight enough to hold for hours.Also: Best cheap tablets: Expert tested models in 2025What is the best reading tablet right now?We compiled this list by extensively going hands-on with the best tablets for reading on the market, considering price, storage, and special features in our testing. Through this, we named the Kindle Paperwhiteas the best reading tablet overall for its adjustable lighting, performance, and battery life. However, we also include reading tablets from brands like Apple and TCL so you can find the right tablet for your needs and reading style in time for going back to school. Sort by All The best reading tablets of 2025 Show less Perhaps the most well-known tablet for reading is Amazon's Kindle devices, and the new Kindle Paperwhite released this fall is our favorite. It has all the familiar features of a Kindle (300 ppi e-ink screen, long battery life, and adjustable warm light), along with noticeably faster performance -- Amazon said it features 25% faster page turns and 20% of an overall faster experience, whether you're browsing book titles or downloading an audiobook.But aside from speed, the Paperwhite gets up to 12 weeks of battery life (compared to 10 weeks from the previous Paperwhite generation. Staff writer Maria Diaz tested the Kindle for two weeks and never had to charge it. "After two weeks of daily reading on a single charge, some days for up to three hours a day, my Kindle Paperwhite's battery is still at 32%," she wrote in her review.The new Paperwhite also has a larger, 7-inch display (the previous generation was 6.8 inches), and it's thinner as well, making it even more comfortable to hold while reading for hours. It's also waterproof (how many tablets can say that?), so you can read by the pool or in the bath without worrying about stray splashes.There is still a Signature Edition to the Paperwhite as before, and for $40 more, you get wireless charging, 32GB of storage instead of 16GB, and an auto-adjusting front light sensor.Of course, this is definitely more of an e-reader than a tablet, and you can't really browse the web and there is no stylus compatible with it. Still, if your primary use of a tablet will be for reading, the Paperwhite is a great option.Amazon Kindle Paperwhite tech specs: Display:7-inch 300 ppi e-ink screen|Storage:16 GB |Colors: Black, raspberry, jade |Weight:7.4 ounces |Dimensions:7 x 5 x .30 inches |Connections:USB-C, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth|Battery life:Up to 12 weeks Pros IPX8 water resistant for reading poolside or in the bath Adjustable warm light for nighttime reading Fast performance Long battery life Cons Light sensor can be slow to adjust Perhaps the most well-known tablet for reading is Amazon's Kindle devices, and the new Kindle Paperwhite released this fall is our favorite. It has all the familiar features of a Kindle (300 ppi e-ink screen, long battery life, and adjustable warm light), along with noticeably faster performance -- Amazon said it features 25% faster page turns and 20% of an overall faster experience, whether you're browsing book titles or downloading an audiobook.But aside from speed, the Paperwhite gets up to 12 weeks of battery life (compared to 10 weeks from the previous Paperwhite generation. Staff writer Maria Diaz tested the Kindle for two weeks and never had to charge it. "After two weeks of daily reading on a single charge, some days for up to three hours a day, my Kindle Paperwhite's battery is still at 32%," she wrote in her review.The new Paperwhite also has a larger, 7-inch display (the previous generation was 6.8 inches), and it's thinner as well, making it even more comfortable to hold while reading for hours. It's also waterproof (how many tablets can say that?), so you can read by the pool or in the bath without worrying about stray splashes.There is still a Signature Edition to the Paperwhite as before, and for $40 more, you get wireless charging, 32GB of storage instead of 16GB, and an auto-adjusting front light sensor.Of course, this is definitely more of an e-reader than a tablet, and you can't really browse the web and there is no stylus compatible with it. Still, if your primary use of a tablet will be for reading, the Paperwhite is a great option.Amazon Kindle Paperwhite tech specs: Display:7-inch 300 ppi e-ink screen|Storage:16 GB |Colors: Black, raspberry, jade |Weight:7.4 ounces |Dimensions:7 x 5 x .30 inches |Connections:USB-C, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth|Battery life:Up to 12 weeks Read More Show Expert Take Show less Show less View now at Verizon The TCL Tab 10 Nxtpaper 5G is the perfect compromise for a reading tablet and a regular tablet. TCL's Nxtpaper technology lets you switch from regular mode to color paper to ink paper, the latter being the most similar to what you can expect from an e-reader. Its display helps reduce eye strain and improves readability over traditional screens while also reducing blue light, doesn't have a conventional backlight, and eliminates flickering, making it easy on the eyes while displaying the different types of content you'd expect from a tablet or smartphone.Diaz went hands-on with the TCL tablet and said it was perfect for everyday use, especially for reading. "Using several anti-reflective and anti-glare layers, TCL's Nxtpaper enhances readability in different conditions, so you can enjoy that bestseller on a bright day at the beach or by the pool," she wrote, adding,"A front light panel evenly illuminates the screen and helps maintain a comfortable viewing experience."Review: TCL Tab 10 Nxtpaper 5GIt comes built-in with Android 14, so you can browse the web, download reading apps, watch videos, and more. However, because of its unique display, you won't be able to use a stylus with this Android tablet.TCL Tab 10 Nxtpaper 5Gspecs: Display: 10.4-inch NXTPAPER display |Battery life: Up to 20 hours |Weight:16.93 oz |Storage:128GB Pros Can be used for browsing web or for reading Versatile screen display Cons Only available at Verizon Graphics aren't super fast The TCL Tab 10 Nxtpaper 5G is the perfect compromise for a reading tablet and a regular tablet. TCL's Nxtpaper technology lets you switch from regular mode to color paper to ink paper, the latter being the most similar to what you can expect from an e-reader. Its display helps reduce eye strain and improves readability over traditional screens while also reducing blue light, doesn't have a conventional backlight, and eliminates flickering, making it easy on the eyes while displaying the different types of content you'd expect from a tablet or smartphone.Diaz went hands-on with the TCL tablet and said it was perfect for everyday use, especially for reading. "Using several anti-reflective and anti-glare layers, TCL's Nxtpaper enhances readability in different conditions, so you can enjoy that bestseller on a bright day at the beach or by the pool," she wrote, adding,"A front light panel evenly illuminates the screen and helps maintain a comfortable viewing experience."Review: TCL Tab 10 Nxtpaper 5GIt comes built-in with Android 14, so you can browse the web, download reading apps, watch videos, and more. However, because of its unique display, you won't be able to use a stylus with this Android tablet.TCL Tab 10 Nxtpaper 5Gspecs: Display: 10.4-inch NXTPAPER display |Battery life: Up to 20 hours |Weight:16.93 oz |Storage:128GB Read More Show Expert Take Show less Show less View now at Amazon The Kindle Scribe is perhaps the perfect example of part e-reader, part tablet to satisfy your reading and note-taking needs. It has the same functions you've come to know and love in a Kindle, like a 300 ppi glare-free screen, weeks of battery life, and adjustable warm light. It's also compatible with Amazon's Basic or Premium Pen, so you can take handwritten notes or underline important quotations within the book you're reading.Your notes are automatically organized in one place for every book so that you can browse, review, and export them via email. The Kindle Scribe also comes with preset templates to help you create notebooks, journals, and lists, and you can create sticky notes in Microsoft Word and other compatible Word documents.Review:Amazon Kindle ScribeZDNET contributing writer Matthew Miller went hands-on with the Kindle Scribe and called it "close to perfect." "I use my Kindle Scribe daily as my primary note-taking device, and the habit of carrying it has also resulted in me reading more books than I have in years," Miller wrote. "It's an excellent ebook device while also serving as a capable working tablet."The Kindle Scribe comes with the Basic pen, but for the more advanced features like a dedicated eraser and the shortcut button, you'll need the Premium pen, which costs $30 extra. However, Amazon customers who have reviewed the Kindle Scribe say that the premium pen is worth paying extra for, especially since it has an eraser and a button that lets you switch the nib from writing to highlighting.Kindle Scribespecs: Display:10.2-inch 300 ppi Paperwhite display|Battery life:Up to 12 weeks (at 30 minutes per day) |Weight:15.3 ounces |Storage:16 GB, 32 GB, or 64 GB Pros Impressive battery life Included pen for handwritten notes Compatible with Microsoft Word Cons Not waterproof Premium pen upgrade will cost you more Does not support note-taking on magazines or newspapers The Kindle Scribe is perhaps the perfect example of part e-reader, part tablet to satisfy your reading and note-taking needs. It has the same functions you've come to know and love in a Kindle, like a 300 ppi glare-free screen, weeks of battery life, and adjustable warm light. It's also compatible with Amazon's Basic or Premium Pen, so you can take handwritten notes or underline important quotations within the book you're reading.Your notes are automatically organized in one place for every book so that you can browse, review, and export them via email. The Kindle Scribe also comes with preset templates to help you create notebooks, journals, and lists, and you can create sticky notes in Microsoft Word and other compatible Word documents.Review:Amazon Kindle ScribeZDNET contributing writer Matthew Miller went hands-on with the Kindle Scribe and called it "close to perfect." "I use my Kindle Scribe daily as my primary note-taking device, and the habit of carrying it has also resulted in me reading more books than I have in years," Miller wrote. "It's an excellent ebook device while also serving as a capable working tablet."The Kindle Scribe comes with the Basic pen, but for the more advanced features like a dedicated eraser and the shortcut button, you'll need the Premium pen, which costs $30 extra. However, Amazon customers who have reviewed the Kindle Scribe say that the premium pen is worth paying extra for, especially since it has an eraser and a button that lets you switch the nib from writing to highlighting.Kindle Scribespecs: Display:10.2-inch 300 ppi Paperwhite display|Battery life:Up to 12 weeks (at 30 minutes per day) |Weight:15.3 ounces |Storage:16 GB, 32 GB, or 64 GB Read More Show Expert Take Show less Show less Of course, you don't have to get a dedicated e-reader in order to read on a tablet. The iPad Mini is a powerful tablet with great applications, and it serves as a great reading device thanks to its lightweight and sharp screen. It has an 8.3-inch liquid retina display with 326 ppi, which is a higher resolution than the Kindles. As a result, text looks especially sharp on screen, and coupled with Apple's True Tone technology (which adjusts the color and intensity of your display to match the ambient light), it provides a natural reading experience.Diaz also tested the Apple iPad Mini and said, "The iPad Mini 7 is compact and fast, and its Apple silicon processor is built to last for years," adding, "buy the iPad Mini 7 for the entertainment tablet it is."Apple's anti-reflective screen coating also reduces the likelihood of catching a sunlight glare when reading outside on a sunny day. And, since it's a traditional tablet, you can read articles or blog posts on the web, download the Kindle app and read traditionally, or download other apps to borrow library books or find independent authors.With the iPad Mini, you're also getting Apple's powerful A17 Pro chip, an ultra-wide 12 MP front camera, support for the Apple Pencil Pro to take notes, Apple Intelligence capabilities, and more. Apple iPad Minispecs: Display:8.3-inch Liquid Retina display (326 ppi) |Battery life:10 hours |Weight:10.4 ounces |Storage: 138GB, 256GB, or 512GB Pros Strong performance in A17 Pro chip Pixel-dense display makes for sharp text True Tone technology Cons Expensive for what it is Of course, you don't have to get a dedicated e-reader in order to read on a tablet. The iPad Mini is a powerful tablet with great applications, and it serves as a great reading device thanks to its lightweight and sharp screen. It has an 8.3-inch liquid retina display with 326 ppi, which is a higher resolution than the Kindles. As a result, text looks especially sharp on screen, and coupled with Apple's True Tone technology (which adjusts the color and intensity of your display to match the ambient light), it provides a natural reading experience.Diaz also tested the Apple iPad Mini and said, "The iPad Mini 7 is compact and fast, and its Apple silicon processor is built to last for years," adding, "buy the iPad Mini 7 for the entertainment tablet it is."Apple's anti-reflective screen coating also reduces the likelihood of catching a sunlight glare when reading outside on a sunny day. And, since it's a traditional tablet, you can read articles or blog posts on the web, download the Kindle app and read traditionally, or download other apps to borrow library books or find independent authors.With the iPad Mini, you're also getting Apple's powerful A17 Pro chip, an ultra-wide 12 MP front camera, support for the Apple Pencil Pro to take notes, Apple Intelligence capabilities, and more. Apple iPad Minispecs: Display:8.3-inch Liquid Retina display (326 ppi) |Battery life:10 hours |Weight:10.4 ounces |Storage: 138GB, 256GB, or 512GB Read More Show Expert Take Show less Show less Amazon's Fire HD 8 Kids tablet is worth checking out for a kid-friendly reading tablet. It has a kid-proof case built to withstand use by children aged 3 to 7, and it also comes with a free one-year subscription to Amazon Kids+. The subscription gives you access to thousands of kid-friendly, ad-free books and movies, games, and other educational content your child will love.Review:Amazon Fire HD 8 Kids Tablet (12th generation)ZNDET writer Maria Diaz had her kids tested the Fire HD 8 Kids tablet and called it "a perfect first tablet" built with kids in mind. "Endurance is the main reason why any parent should buy the Amazon Fire HD 8 Kids," Diaz wrote. "I can't tell you how many times my preschoolers have dropped (or thrown) their [Amazon] tablets and stepped on them 'by accident' over the past three years, yet the screens have remained intact."Parents can use parental controls built into the tablet to control screen time and set educational goals for their children. This ensures that your kid is actually reading or learning something while using the tablet. Plus, it has 2 MP front and rear-facing cameras with 720p HD video recording and the ability to add themed filters and fun frames to photos.Overall, 95% of customers who purchased this reading tablet at Best Buy would recommend it to other parents, giving it an overall rating of 4.7 out of 5 stars.Amazon Fire HD 8 Kids Tabletspecs: Display:8-inch HD display, 1280 x 800 (189 ppi) |Battery life:Up to 13 hours |Weight:1.14 pounds |Storage:32GB or 64GB Pros Two-year worry-free guarantee Includes a one-year subscription to Amazon Kids+ Cons Amazon Kids+ subscription will cost extra after free trial Not as great screen quality as other options Amazon's Fire HD 8 Kids tablet is worth checking out for a kid-friendly reading tablet. It has a kid-proof case built to withstand use by children aged 3 to 7, and it also comes with a free one-year subscription to Amazon Kids+. The subscription gives you access to thousands of kid-friendly, ad-free books and movies, games, and other educational content your child will love.Review:Amazon Fire HD 8 Kids Tablet (12th generation)ZNDET writer Maria Diaz had her kids tested the Fire HD 8 Kids tablet and called it "a perfect first tablet" built with kids in mind. "Endurance is the main reason why any parent should buy the Amazon Fire HD 8 Kids," Diaz wrote. "I can't tell you how many times my preschoolers have dropped (or thrown) their [Amazon] tablets and stepped on them 'by accident' over the past three years, yet the screens have remained intact."Parents can use parental controls built into the tablet to control screen time and set educational goals for their children. This ensures that your kid is actually reading or learning something while using the tablet. Plus, it has 2 MP front and rear-facing cameras with 720p HD video recording and the ability to add themed filters and fun frames to photos.Overall, 95% of customers who purchased this reading tablet at Best Buy would recommend it to other parents, giving it an overall rating of 4.7 out of 5 stars.Amazon Fire HD 8 Kids Tabletspecs: Display:8-inch HD display, 1280 x 800 (189 ppi) |Battery life:Up to 13 hours |Weight:1.14 pounds |Storage:32GB or 64GB Read More Show Expert Take Show less What is the best reading tablet? The best reading tablet is the Kindle Paperwhite, which has reading-specific features like adjustable warm light, great battery life, and a screen that's easy on the eyes. Below is an overview of how the best reading tablets compare based on price, display size, and battery life:Reading tabletPriceDisplayBattery lifeKindle Paperwhite$1607-inch 300 ppi e-ink screen Up to 12 weeks TCL Tab 10 Nxtpaper 5G$24010.4-inch NXTPAPER displayUp to 20 hoursKindle Scribe$34010.2-inch 300 ppi Paperwhite displayUp to 12 weeksiPad Mini (7th gen)Starting at $4858.3-inch Liquid Retina display (326 ppi)Up to 10 hoursAmazon Fire HD 8 Kids$1408-inch HD display, 1280 x 800 (189 ppi)10 hours Show more Which reading tablet is right for you? While all these reading tablets are great options, it ultimately comes down to a few questions. Do you want your tablet to be just for reading, or do you also want it for other things like streaming and web browsing? How big do you want the tablet to be? How much storage space do you need, and how much are you willing to spend?Here is a look at the unique features of each of these reading tablets:Choose this reading tablet...If you want...Kindle PaperwhiteThe best overall option. This reading tablet has IPX8 water resistance, a 12-week battery life, and adjustable warm light.TCL Tab 10 Nxtpaper 5GAn Android tablet with unique e Ink screen technology. You can switch from reading mode to browsing the web in regular mode in seconds.Kindle ScribeAn e-reader that doubles as a note-taker with an outstanding battery life and an included pen. It's even compatible with Microsoft Word.iPad Mini (7th gen)An Apple tablet that's powerful yet lightweight for reading with True Tone technology. The pixel-dense display also makes for sharper text.Amazon Fire HD 8 KidsA reading tablet with kid-friendly features like an Amazon Kid+ subscription for one year. It's also super durable and comes with a two-year worry-free guarantee. Show more Factors to consider when choosing the best reading tablets: Whether you want to jot notes while reading, have a water-resistant tablet for poolside browsing, or invest in a kid-friendly option, we have you covered. ZDNET considered price, size, and special features when making our final picks.Price:A decent e-reader can range from $100 to $500. You can easily find an e-reader or tablet within your desired price range that serves your reading purposes and offers large memory, long-lasting battery life, and a lightweight feel for ultimate portability. Size:If you opt for an e-reader instead of physical books, you want that device to be lighter than those novels you're lugging around. We considered how much these e-readers and tablets would weigh in your book bag.Special features:Some e-readers are water-resistant for beach days or bathtime reads, while other tablets boast matte screens designed for easy reading on a sunny day. Show more How we test tablets The ZDNET team chose all of the tablets included in this list based on their performance whentested in the real world. When we test tablets, we typically follow the same routine for each one to see which performs best.Display: We measure the brightness level in different lighting conditions and assess color accuracy.We also compare the display's performance with what the manufacturer promised, test the screen's responsiveness to touch, and assess the performance of any extra features, like a manufacturer's stylus.Performance:For real-world performance metrics, our reviewers measure how quickly the tablet reacts to input, assess game performance and frame rates, test how the tablet handles having multiple apps running simultaneously, measure the time it takes to launch apps, and even assess the tablet's temperature during intensive tasks.Battery life: We test different scenarios for battery life, including measuring how long the battery lasts while streaming, web browsing, using productivity apps, and playing games.Camera and audio:For cameras, we evaluate features like resolution, aperture, low-light performance, autofocus accuracy, dynamic range, color accuracy, image quality, sharpness, and video quality. For audio, we look at the sound quality and overall listening experience, including audio clarity at different volumes, stereo separation of left and right audio channels, maximum volume level in various environments, and if there is perceived distortion.For a deeper look into our testing process, check out our comprehensive tablet testing methodology. Show more FAQs on reading tablets What is the best tablet size for reading? The average size book is 6 by 9 inches, so tablets that have a 7 to 10-inch screen are about the same as picking up and reading an actual book. However, please pay attention to how much a tablet weighs since you don't want it to be too heavy for its size.You can also test out what works for you by visiting a local electronics retailer or bookstore. Show more Is it better to read on a tablet or a Kindle? If you're serious about reading, getting a Kindle over your average tablet is probably your best bet since they come with reading-specific features like adjustable warm light, waterproof designs, and page-turn buttons.Also: Which Kindle e-reader is right for you? The top models comparedHowever, if you want an all-in-one type tablet, you can opt for a tablet like the iPad Mini or the Samsung Galaxy Tab A 8.4 for browsing the web, streaming videos, taking photos, and reading books. Show more Is it healthy to read on a tablet? Like all things, doing something too much or too long is never good. If you want to use a tablet for reading, be sure to take frequent breaks to give your eyes a rest from the screen. It's also a good idea to invest in a pair of blue light blocking glasses if you plan to read on a tablet at night. Show more When is the best time to get tablet deals? The best time to snag a deal on a reading tablet is during big sales events like Amazon Prime Day or the Black Friday/Cyber Monday weekend.In addition, some brands have specific deal events throughout the year, such as the Discover Samsung event. Show more Other reading tablets we've tested ZDNETs Tablet Guide Tablet Roundups Tablets Reviewed & Compared Tablets Explained ZDNET Recommends

Mount Rainier - one of many volcanoes found in the Cascade Range - is reflecting in the Reflection ... [+] Lakes in Mount Rainier National Park in Washington State, USA.LightRocket via Getty ImagesA seismic survey challenges the long-standing belief that only active volcanoes have large magma bodies sitting beneath them.A research team used seismic waves to characterize magma chambers beneath the surface of six volcanoes of various sizes and dormancy within the Cascade Range. They found that all of the volcanoes, including dormant ones, have persistent and large magma bodies.Their results are surprising given that some of these volcanoes, such as the Crater Lake volcano in Oregon, have not been active in millennia."Regardless of eruption frequency, we see large magma bodies beneath many volcanoes," explains Guanning Pang, postdoctoral researcher at New Cornell University and first author of the study. "It appears that these magma bodies exist beneath volcanoes over their whole lifetime, not just during an active state."The fact that more volcanoes have sustained magma bodies is an important consideration for how researchers may monitor and predict future volcanic activity.We used to think that if we found a large amount of magma, that meant increased likelihood of eruption, but now we are shifting perception that this is the baseline situation, so Pang.The results suggest that an eruption does not completely drain a magma chamber, instead, it lets off some of the excess volume and pressure. The chamber is then refilled over time reaching a stable phase. The volcano appears calm on the surface with no visible activity on the surface.MORE FOR YOUMore than 800 million people are living within 60 miles (100 kilometers) of a volcano. In the last 500 years more than 278,000 people were killed during an eruption, so optimizing monitoring efforts is of highest priority.The U.S. Geological Survey has been expanding and upgrading its volcanic monitoring networks in the Cascade Range and elsewhere as part of the National Volcano Early Warning System, with the aim of detecting signals of an impending eruption as early as possible. Plans are already in the works to expand the new magma monitoring system and see if the Cascade discovery translates to other locations, including Alaska.The study, "Long-lived partial melt beneath Cascade Range volcanoes," was published in the journal Nature Geoscience and can be found here.Additional material and interviews provided by Cornell University.

Coaching has become an integral component of organizational development, offering numerous benefits that enhance both individual and team performance. A 2024 report from the International Coaching Federation (ICF) highlights that 87% of surveyed organizations believe executive coaching delivers a high return on investment (ROI). Yet two thirds of business top leaders dont receive outside guidance - even when a Stanford University survey shows that 43% of leaders would be "very receptive" to coaching. What about on teams where people arent open to coaching? Have you ever encountered someone - usually a high achiever - whose toxic personality is torpedoing the team.but they wont listen to reason, let alone coaching? Perhaps youve wondered if someone would just talk to that person - especially if that person is an executive, founder or board member. How can leaders create change around behaviors, without resorting to old school command and control solutions - or just firing people? Here are five leadership strategies to coach even the most uncoachable employees.Coaching the Uncoachable: What Makes People So Difficult?Executive coaching changes the conversation. gettyWhy do the Kansas City Chiefs have 53 players and 29 coaches (a coach to player ratio of less than 2:1)? Well, 53 players is the football roster rule in the NFL. But the reason they have so many coaches is even simpler: they want to win. Just like the staff at your organization, Andy Reids players know that two heads are better than one - and things get easier when you have a second set of professional eyes and ears focused on your success. These elite athletes - millionaires at the top of their game - rely on coaches to get even better. So why wouldnt your organization feel the same way? Perhaps Ryan Holliday said it best, in the title of his best-selling book: The Ego is the Enemy. Former Google lead engineer and general genius, Tom Chi, says in his TEDx talk that Knowing is the enemy of learning. If people are busy being experts on what they already know, they can appear uncoachable, and limit their career possibilities. As the saying goes, The mind is like a parachute. It works best when it is open. But how can you be open to something you may not understand?Oftentimes, coaches struggle to set up parameters for the coaching conversation so that the workplace (and individual) benefits are clearly defined. Without that level of explanation at the outset, coaching looks like another word for management. Its a one-sided conversation, or just a different way of telling people what you want them to do. If not properly presented, coaching can look like a punishment, or a performance plan. Or perhaps coaching can feel like a deep dive into grit (see burnout, coming up later) and measurement. Except that no one needs or wants longer hours or another person to report to. Hesitation around coaching is natural if its not clear how it works.Step 1 in Coaching: Establishing OpennessAwareness is critical in the coaching conversation. In conversation with my clients, I like to explore where their experience is coming from - and what they are seeing as a challenge. Appreciative inquiry - the ability to ask questions inside a context of respect and non-judgement - is the key. If you are finding that team members are not open or receptive, its probably because (when the coach is also their manager) real honesty might violate policy. Lets face it: there are certain things that an employee cant or wont share with a supervisor. Especially if the supervisor is the problem. When your coach can fire you, how likely is it that you would say whats really on your mind? Setting up the parameters for the coaching conversation is critical - especially addressing what the conversation will and wont cover. What are the mutual goals and objectives that need to be discussed? That conversation must be based on mutual input, if true openness is going to exist. Otherwise, its just do as youre told - not coaching.MORE FOR YOUStep 2 in Coaching: The Importance of PermissionWithout awareness, problems and challenges are unseen. Invisible. Unspoken. Have you experienced friction, when people seem oblivious to relationships, disrespectful to team members and unable to read the room? Permission can open up the conversation. With permission, the person being coached feels a sense of greater agency: they are choosing to proceed with topics and expressing their interests. That perspective (of mutual interest) is vital in a coaching relationship.Step 3 in Coaching: Finding AgreementMutual agreement is what separates coaching from traditional management. In coaching, the agenda and objectives are developed in a partnership, co-creating the results that would be most beneficial. In a management relationship, there are expectations - not agreements. If coaching is going to work, its got to be based on mutual agreement. How are you coaching your team to create (and honor) agreements?Step 4 in Coaching: Discovering PossibilitiesOftentimes, work is a process where procedures are discussed, and operational performance is measured. Its been said that doing things right is a way to define management. Exploring new possibilities, accessing innovation and soft-skills growth is the emphasis in coaching. When the performance gap isnt a knowledge gap, coaching can help identify the real blockage. And help the team member to get out of his or her own way. If you need someone to adjust procedures, thats a management conversation. But if youd like people to show up differently, reject toxic behaviors, eliminate procrastination, be innovative and exhibit greater motivation: put on the coaching hat.Step 5 in Coaching: Building AccountabilityThings get easier when you have someone in your corner, supporting your success. The antithesis of support is pressure and expectation. Notice that burnout is born out of pressure and expectation, robbing team members of their power and impact. Creating a space for honest feedback in the context of accountability can help with burnout, as a way to drive greater employee engagement. Especially when you introduce a third-party perspective into the mix. Why? Because objectivity - and the ability to listen without judgement - is often what people need most of all. Objective accountability, developed in a conversation that doesnt just happen inside your own head, but with another professional, is the answer. In a coaching setting, vulnerability becomes strength. Accountability partnerships can unite people from different offices, building relationships and improving engagement. A third-party coach offers a different perspective, and a different agenda, for professional growth - and owning your own outcomes.To be sure, coaching is not therapy. Its not a solution for every situation, or every conversation. If it seems like coaching is coddling, think again. Radical honesty can be a powerful motivator, when permission is granted and objectives are agreed upon. For organizations looking to drive greater engagement, and retention, coaching is a great way to put people and process together.

The rise of the Chinese AI company DeepSeek is causing panicsome of which may be unfounded, experts say.Jaap Arriens/NurPhotoGetty ImagesBy Andrew R. Chow and Billy PerrigoJanuary 30, 2025 2:56 PM ESTThis week, leaders across Silicon Valley, Washington D.C., Wall Street, and beyond have been thrown into disarray due to the unexpected rise of the Chinese AI company DeepSeek. DeepSeek recently released AI models that rivaled OpenAIs, seemingly for a fraction of the price, and despite American policy designed to slow Chinas progress. As a result, many analysts concluded that DeepSeeks success undermined the core beliefs driving the American AI industryand that the companies leading this charge, like Nvidia and Microsoft, were not as valuable or technologically ahead as previously believed. Tech stocks dropped hundreds of billions of dollars in days.But AI scientists have pushed back, arguing that many of those fears are exaggerated. They say that while DeepSeek does represent a genuine advancement in AI efficiency, it is not a massive technological breakthroughand that the American AI industry still has key advantages over Chinas.Its not a leap forward on AI frontier capabilities, says Lennart Heim, an AI researcher at RAND. I think the market just got it wrong.Here are several claims being widely circulated about DeepSeeks implications, and why scientists say theyre incomplete or outright wrong.Claim: DeepSeek is much cheaper than other models.In December, DeepSeek reported that its V3 model cost just $6 million to train. This figure seemed startlingly low compared to the more than $100 million that OpenAI said it spent training GPT-4, or the few tens of millions that Anthropic spent training a recent version of its Claude model.DeepSeeks lower price tag was thanks to some big efficiency gains that the companys researchers described in a paper accompanying their models release. But were those gains so large as to be unexpected? Heim argues no: that machine learning algorithms have always gotten cheaper over time. Dario Amodei, the CEO of AI company Anthropic, made the same point in an essay published Jan. 28, writing that while the efficiency gains by DeepSeeks researchers were impressive, they were not a unique breakthrough or something that fundamentally changes the economics of LLMs. Its an expected point on an ongoing cost reduction curve, he wrote. Whats different this time is that the company that was first to demonstrate the expected cost reductions was Chinese.To further obscure the picture, DeepSeek may also not be being entirely honest about its expenses. In the wake of claims about the low cost of training its models, tech CEOs cited reports that DeepSeek actually had a stash of 50,000 Nvidia chips, which it could not talk about due to U.S. export controls. Those chips would cost somewhere in the region of $1 billion. It is, however, true that DeepSeeks new R1 model is far cheaper for users to access than its competitor model OpenAI o1, with its model access fees around 30 times lower ($2.19 per million tokens, or segments of words outputted, versus $60). That sparked worries among some investors of a looming price war in the American AI industry, which could reduce expected returns on investment and make it more difficult for U.S. companies to raise funds required to build new data centers to fuel their AI models.Oliver Stephenson, associate director of AI and emerging tech policy at the Federation of American Scientists, says that people shouldnt draw conclusions from this price point. While DeepSeek has made genuine efficiency gains, their pricing could be an attention-grabbing strategy, he says. They could be making a loss on inference. (Inference is the running of an already-formed AI system.)On Monday, Jan. 27, DeepSeek said that it was targeted by a cyberattack and was limiting new registrations for users outside of China.Claim: DeepSeek shows that export controls arent working.When the AI arms race heated up in 2022, the Biden Administration moved to cut off Chinas access to cutting edge chips, most notably Nvidias H100s. As a result, Nvidia created an inferior chip, the H800, to legally sell to Chinese companies. The Biden Administration later opted to ban the sale of those chips to China, too. But by the time those extra controls went into effect a year later, Chinese companies had stockpiled thousands of H800s, generating a massive windfall for Nvidia.DeepSeek said its V3 model was built using the H800, which performs adequately for the type of model that the company is creating. But despite this success, experts argue that the chip controls may have stopped China from progressing even further. In an environment where China had access to more compute, we would expect even more breakthroughs, says Scott Singer, a visiting scholar in the Technology and International Affairs Program at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. The export controls might be working, but that does not mean that China will not still be able to build more and more powerful models.And going forward, it may become increasingly challenging for DeepSeek and other Chinese companies to keep pace with frontier models given their chip constraints. While OpenAIs GP4 trained on the order of 10,000 H100s, the next generation of models will likely require ten times or a hundred times that amount. Even if China is able to build formidable models thanks to efficiency gains, export controls will likely bottleneck their ability to deploy their models to a wide userbase. If we think in the future that an AI agent will do somebodys job, then how many digital workers you have is a function of how much compute you have, Heim says. If an AI model cant be used that much, this limits its impact on the world.Claim: Deepseek shows that high-end chips arent as valuable as people thought.As DeepSeek hype mounted this week, many investors concluded that its accomplishments threatened Nvidias AI dominanceand sold off shares of a company that was, in January, the most valuable in the world. As a result, Nvidias stock price dropped 17% and lost nearly $600 billion in value on Monday, based on the idea that their chips would be less valuable under this new paradigm.But many AI experts argued that this drop in Nvidias stock price was the market acting irrationally. Many of them rushed to buy the dip, resulting in the stock recapturing some of its lost value. Advances in the efficiency of computing power, they noted, have historically led to more demand for chips, not less. As tech stocks fell, Satya Nadella, the CEO of Microsoft, posted a link on X to the Wikipedia page of the Jevons Paradox, first observed in the 19th century, named after an economist who noted that as coal burning became more efficient, people actually used more coal, because it had become cheaper and more widely available.Experts believe that a similar dynamic will play out in the race to create advanced AI. What we're seeing is an impressive technical breakthrough built on top of Nvidia's product that gets better as you use more of Nvidia's product, Stephenson says. That does not seem like a situation in which you're going to see less demand for Nvidia's product.Two days after his inauguration, President Donald Trump announced a $500 billion joint public-private venture to build out AI data centers, driven by the idea that scale is essential to build the most powerful AI systems. DeepSeeks rise, however, led many to argue that this approach was misguided or wasteful.But some AI scientists disagree. DeepSeek shows AI is getting better, and its not stopping, Heim says. It has massive implications for economic impact if AI is getting used, and therefore such investments make sense.American leadership has signaled that DeepSeek has made them even more ravenous to build out AI infrastructure in order to maintain the countrys lead. Trump, in a press conference on Monday, said that DeepSeek should be a wake-up call for our industries that we need to be laser-focused on competing to win.However, Stephenson cautions that this data center buildout will come with a huge number of negative externalities. Data centers often use a vast amount of power, coincide with massive hikes in local electricity bills, and threaten water supply, he says, adding: We're going to face a lot of problems in doing these infrastructure buildups.More Must-Reads from TIMEL.A. Fires Show Reality of 1.5C of WarmingBehind the Scenes of The White Lotus Season ThreeHow Trump 2.0 Is Already Sowing ConfusionElizabeth Warrens Plan for How Musk Can Cut $2 TrillionWhy, Exactly, Is Alcohol So Bad for You?How Emilia Prez Became a Divisive Oscar FrontrunnerThe Motivational Trick That Makes You Exercise HarderZelenskys Former Spokesperson: Ukraine Needs a Cease-Fire NowWrite to Billy Perrigo at billy.perrigo@time.com