The Department of Transportation (DOT) has paused funding for a $5 billion EV charging infrastructure program that Tesla has received at least $31 million from. The move is widely viewed to be illegal.Its the latest attempt from the Trump administration to hack away at federally funded renewable energy projects around the country, a clear priority for the president in his first few weeksback in office.Its also more evidence that Tesla CEO Elon Musks politics are increasingly at odds with his car companys goal of advancing the transition to sustainable energy. By the middle of last year, Tesla had won around 6% of all awards from the National Electric Vehicle Infrastructure (NEVI) program in question, netting millions of dollars in the process.One of the first executive orders Trump signed in January took aim at charging infrastructure programs, including NEVI.Now, a letter sent Thursday to the directors of state DOT offices says that the new leadership of the Department of Transportation wants to review the policies underlying the implementation of the NEVI program.The Federal Highway Administration, the DOT agency that wrote the letter, said it will update the guidance for NEVI and publish it for public comment in the spring. The DOT division says no new funding can go out until that new guidance is finalized. InsideEVs was the first to report the letter.NEVI was part of the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law signed into law in 2021. Congress had appropriated $1 billion annually to the program from 2022 to 2026.Beth Hammon,senior vehicle charging advocate at the Natural Resources Defense Council, said in a statement that the Trump administration does not have the authority to halt it capriciously.Stopping funding midstream will result in chaos and delays in states across the nation. It will throw state efforts into turmoil, wreak havoc with the companies that install the chargers and risk the jobs of their workers, she said. The only winner from this chaos is the oil industry.Sierra Clubs Clean Transportation for All director Katherine Garca also said the action was illegal and was an attack on bipartisan funding that Congress approved years ago.The Trump administration is trying to stop the flow of money appropriated by Congress all across the government which legal experts say is a major breach of the constitutional order. His Office of Management and Budget announced a government-wide spending freeze that has already been met with a number of legal challenges. It then rescinded that memo, though its been reported that some payment freezes continue. Musk, meanwhile, is marauding around multiple government agencies with a team of engineers and tech executives and wresting computer access to the payment and other sensitive systems.

Flavio Coelho/Getty ImagesJust weeks into its new-found fame, Chinese AI startup DeepSeek is moving at breakneck speed, toppling competitors and sparking axis-tilting conversations about the virtues of open source software.Also: US sets AI safety aside in favor of 'AI dominance'However, numerous security concerns have surfaced about the company, prompting private and government organizations to ban the use of DeepSeek. Here's what you need to know.What is DeepSeek?Founded by Liang Wenfeng in May 2023 (and thus not even two years old), the Chinese startup has challenged established AI companies with its open-source approach. According to Forbes, DeepSeek's edge may lie in the fact that it is funded only by High-Flyer, a hedge fund also run by Wenfeng, which gives the company a funding model that supports fast growth and research.The startupmade waves last monthwhen it released the full version of R1, the company's open-source reasoning model that can outperformOpenAI's o1. Last week, App Store downloads of DeepSeek's AI assistant, which runs V3, a model DeepSeekreleasedin December,topped ChatGPT, which had previously been the most downloaded free app. DeepSeek R1 climbed to the third spot overall onHuggingFace's Chatbot Arena, battling with several Gemini models andChatGPT-4o, while releasing a promising newimage model.Also:Perplexity lets you try DeepSeek R1 without the security riskThe company's ability to create successful models by strategically optimizing older chips -- a result of the export ban on US-made chips, including Nvidia -- and distributing query loads across models for efficiency is impressive by industry standards.What is DeepSeek R1?Released in full on January 21st, R1 is DeepSeek's flagship reasoning model, which performs at or above OpenAI's lauded o1 model on several math, coding, and reasoning benchmarks.Built on V3 and based on Alibaba'sQwen and Meta's Llama, what makes R1 interesting is that, unlike most other top models from tech giants, it's open source, meaning anyone can download and use it. That said, DeepSeek has not disclosed R1's training dataset. So far, all other models it has released are also open source.Also:I tested DeepSeek's R1 and V3 coding skills - and we're not all doomed (yet)DeepSeek is cheaper than comparable US models. For reference, R1 API access starts at $0.14 for a million tokens, a fraction of the $7.50 that OpenAI charges for the equivalent tier.DeepSeek claims in a companyresearch paperthat its V3 model, which can be compared to a standard chatbot model like Claude, cost $5.6 million to train, a number that's circulated (and disputed) as the entire development cost of the model. As the AP reported, some lab experts believe the paper only refers to the final training run for V3, not its entire development cost (which would be a fraction of what tech giants have spent to build competitive models).Someexperts suggest DeepSeek's costs don't include earlier infrastructure, R&D, data, and personnel costs.One drawback that could impact the model's long-term competition with o1 and US-made alternatives is censorship. Chinese models often include blocks on certain subject matter, meaning that while they function comparably to other models, they may not answer some queries (see how DeepSeek's AI assistant responds to questions about Tiananmen Square and Taiwan here). As DeepSeek use increases, some are concerned its models' stringent Chinese guardrails and systemic biases could be embedded across all kinds of infrastructure.You can access uncensored, US-based versions of DeepSeek through platforms like Perplexity, which have removed its censorship weights and run it on local servers to avoid security concerns.Also: Is DeepSeek's new image model another win for cheaper AI?In December, ZDNET's Tiernan Raycompared R1-Lite's ability to explain its chain of thought to that of o1, and the results were mixed. That said, DeepSeek's AI assistant reveals its train of thought to the user during queries, a novel experience for many chatbot users given that ChatGPT does not externalize its reasoning.Of course, all popular models come with red-teaming backgrounds, community guidelines, and content guardrails. However, at least at this stage, American-made chatbots are unlikely to refrain from answering queries about historical events.Privacy and security red flagsData privacy worries that have circulated on TikTok -- the Chinese-owned social media app now somewhat banned in the US -- are also cropping up around DeepSeek.Also: ChatGPT's Deep Research just identified 20 jobs it will replace. Is yours on the list?On Wednesday, Ivan Tsarynny, CEO of Feroot Security,told ABCthat his firm had discovered "direct links to servers and to companies in China that are under control of the Chinese government," which he said they "have never seen in the past."After decrypting some of DeepSeek's code, Feroot found hidden programming that can send user data -- including identifying information, queries, and online activity -- to China Mobile, a Chinese government-operated telecom company that has been banned from operating in the US since 2019 due to national security concerns.On Thursday,NowSecure recommendedorganizations "forbid" the use of DeepSeek's mobile app after finding several flaws including unencrypted data (meaning anyone monitoring traffic can intercept it) and poor data storage.Last week, research firm Wiz discovered that an internal DeepSeek database was publicly accessible "within minutes" of conducting a security check. The "completely open and unauthenticated" database contained chat histories, user API keys, and other sensitive data.Also: Why rebooting your phone daily is your best defense against zero-click hackers"More critically, the exposure allowed for full database control and potentialprivilege escalationwithin the DeepSeek environment, without any authentication or defense mechanism to the outside world," Wiz's report explains.According to Wired, which initially published the research, though Wiz did not receive a response from DeepSeek, the database appeared to be taken down within 30 minutes of Wiz notifying the company. It's unclear how long it was accessible or if any other entity discovered it before it was taken down.Even without this alarming development, DeepSeek'sprivacy policyraises some flags. "The personal information we collect from you may be stored on a server located outside of the country where you live," it states. "We store the information we collect in secure servers located in the People's Republic of China."Also:'Humanity's Last Exam' benchmark is stumping top AI models - can you do any better?The policy outlines that DeepSeek collects plenty of information, including but not limited to:"IP address, unique device identifiers, and cookies""date of birth (where applicable), username, email address and/or telephone number, and password""your text or audio input, prompt, uploaded files, feedback, chat history, or other content that you provide to our model and Services""proof of identity or age, feedback or inquiries about your use of the Service," if you contact DeepSeekThe policy continues: "Where we transfer any personal information out of the country where you live, including for one or more of the purposes as set out in this Policy, we will do so in accordance with the requirements of applicable data protection laws." The policy does not mention GDPR compliance.Also:Apple researchers reveal the secret sauce behind DeepSeek AI"Users need to be aware that any data shared with the platform could be subject to government access under China's cybersecurity laws, which mandate that companies provide access to data upon request by authorities," Adrianus Warmenhoven, a member of NordVPN's security advisory board, told ZDNET via email.According to some observers, the fact that R1 is open source means increased transparency, allowing users to inspect the model's source code for signs of privacy-related activity.However, DeepSeek also released smaller versions of R1, which can be downloaded and run locally to avoid any concerns about data being sent back to the company (as opposed to accessing the chatbot online).Also: ChatGPT privacy tips: Two important ways to limit the data you share with OpenAIAll chatbots, including ChatGPT, collect some degree of user data when queried via the browser.Safety concernsAI safety researchers have long been concerned that powerful open-source models could be applied in dangerous and unregulated ways once out in the wild.Testsby AI safety firm Chatterbox found DeepSeek R1 has "safety issues across the board."Also:We're losing the battle against complexity, and AI may or may not helpEven in varying degrees, US AI companies employ some kind of safety oversight team. DeepSeek has not publicized whether it hasa safety research team, and has not responded to ZDNET's request for comment on the matter."Most companies will keep racing to build the strongest AI they can, irrespective of the risks, and will see enhanced algorithmic efficiency as a way to achieve higher performance faster," said Peter Slattery, a researcher on MIT's FutureTech team who led itsRisk Repositoryproject. "That leaves us even less time to address the safety, governance, and societal challenges that will come with increasingly advanced AI systems.""DeepSeek's breakthrough in training efficiency also means we should soon expect to see a large number of local, specialized 'wrappers' -- apps built on top of DeepSeek R1 engine -- which will each introduce their own privacy risks, and which could each be misused if they fell into the wrong hands," added Ryan Fedasiuk, director of US AI governance at The Future Society, an AI policy nonprofit.Energy efficiency claimsSomeanalystsnote that DeepSeek's lower-lift compute model is more energy efficient than that of US AI giants."DeepSeek's new AI model likely does use less energy to train and run than larger competitors' models," said Slattery. "However, I doubt this marks the start of a long-term trend in lower energy consumption. AI's power stems from data, algorithms, and compute -- which rely on ever-improving chips. When developers have previously found ways to be more efficient, they have typically reinvested those gains into making even bigger, more powerful models, rather than reducing overall energy usage.""DeepSeek isn't the only AI company that has made extraordinary gains in computational efficiency. In recent months, U.S.-based Anthropic and Google Gemini have boasted similar performance improvements," Fedasiuk said.Also:$450 and 19 hours is all it takes to rival OpenAI's o1-preview"DeepSeek's achievements are remarkable in that they seem to have independently engineered breakthroughs that promise to make large language models much more efficient and less expensive, sooner than many industry professionals were expecting -- but in a field as dynamic as AI, it's hard to predict just how long the company will be able to bask in the limelight."How will DeepSeek affect the AI industry? R1's success highlights a sea change in AI that could empower smaller labs and researchers to create competitive models and diversify the options. For example, organizations without the funding or staff of OpenAI can download R1 and fine-tune it to compete with models like o1. Just before R1's release, researchers at UC Berkeleycreated an open-source modelon par with o1-preview, an early version of o1, in just 19 hours and for roughly $450.Given how exorbitant AI investment has become, many experts speculate that this development could burst the AI bubble (the stock market certainly panicked). Some see DeepSeek's success as debunking the thought that cutting-edge development means big models and spending. It also casts Stargate, a $500 billion infrastructure initiative spearheaded by several AI giants, in a new light, creating speculation around whether competitive AI requires the energy and scale of the initiative's proposed data centers.Also: Anthropic offers $20,000 to whoever can jailbreak its new AI safety systemDeepSeek's ascent comes at a critical time for Chinese-American tech relations, just days after the long-fought TikTok ban went into partial effect. Ironically, DeepSeek lays out in plain language the fodder for security concerns that the US struggled to prove about TikTok in its prolonged effort to enact the ban. The US Navy has already banned DeepSeek, and lawmakers are trying to ban the app from all government devices.Artificial Intelligence

What can we make of all the predictions on the future of work? Mainly because they are not all focused on the same variables and do not all reach the same conclusion. Let me illustrate.Microsoft released its report The New Future of Work, in December 2024. This is not the first year of this report. It began during the pandemic when we needed to understand better how remote work would impact professions. The report evolved to address hybrid work environments. Given the big questions that generative AI is asking of all of us, this year, the report has focused on the impact of generative AI. The report tackles many broad areas of the impact of AI - Productivity and work, Prompting and Interactions, Thinking and Learning, Appropriate Reliance, User Experience, Agents and Society and Culture. I had many interesting observations while reading this report. There are broad signs of productivity gains from gen AI (some role-specific), but long-term impacts may be modest until we can restructure work. As the authors suggest, we must shift how we work and create new types of work.The World Economic Forum released its The Future of Jobs Report 2025 a month later. This report looks at broader variables such as macroeconomic conditions, the impact of climate change, geopolitical tensions, demographic shifts, and Digital and AI. The study finds that workers can expect that two-fifths (39%) of their existing skill sets will be transformed or become outdated over the 2025-2030 period. Interestingly, this number has declined over the past years. Employers seemed to suggest that the change in skills precipitated by the pandemic is well in motion, and we are reaching a new equilibrium. However, if we believe the findings from the MSFT report, we should see new types of work and a shift in how we work that will transform upskilling and reskilling.Last summer, Professor Mari Sako, Professor of Management Studies at the Saiid Business School University of Oxford, organized a roundtable where she brought together multi-disciplinary experts across academia, policy, and practice to discuss the future of professionals. I had the privilege to participate in this roundtable. There seemed to be broad agreement that change is coming, that it must be more than productivity, and that we must design new workflows with humans in the loop. Unsurprisingly, even in a professional setting, opinions ranged widely on how quickly the change would come and to what parts of the work.So, will we see widespread shifts in how we work, or are the effects more muted until we determine how we work and create new types of work? Interestingly, half the experts in a study envisioned that robots and digital agents would have displaced many blue- and white-collar workers, leading to income inequality and an unemployable population breakdown in the social order. This prediction for 2025 was made in an August 2014 report published by the Pew Research Center.What future should we plan for? My opinion is:Change is inevitable. You should embrace it rather than be unable to.Not every part of the organization will be impacted in the same way. Prioritize where it matters immediately.Consider humans in the loop for the most critical processes. The technology is not ready for automated bots that deal with sensitive data.As gen AI technology matures, new AI-based capabilities and workflows will be developed.Two areas that we should all be watchful of. The MSFT NFW report highlights that Generative AI tools can homogenize output if not carefully designed. We all bring our unique perspectives and creative energy to our work, and if we begin accepting gen AI outputs, we can converge on homogenous solutions. The second is that if users fall into the habit of accepting work rather than exercising the cognitive skills required to produce it, these skills will likely be forgotten. The speed and scale of knowledge work may increase in the short term and may come at the risk of creative and evaluative skill erosion. This erosion is concerning because Kartik Hosanagar et al. find that human participation in the most creative parts of work is critical for quality, satisfaction, and creative diversity. Here is Kartiks post on Substack - Human exclusion from creative tasks worsens quality and worker satisfaction: new research study. As they conclude, ultimately, understanding how to balance human ingenuity with machine efficiency is not just a technological challenge but a profound design question for the future of work.MORE FOR YOUAll this is to say that much needs to be figured out in the coming months and years.

Table of ContentsTable of ContentsDredd (2012)Waitress (2007)Traitor (2008)Max may not always have the vast selection that its streaming rivals enjoy, but it does have a lot of movies to enjoy. And some of these films deserve a lot more love than they received in theaters. Thats why weve compiled this list of the three underrated movies on Max that you need to watch in February.Our first pick is a fantastic comic-bookinspired action flick that barely anyone saw in America, followed by a touching dramedy and a spy thriller with a terrific cast.Recommended VideosNeed more recommendations? We also have guides to the best movies on Netflix, the best movies on Hulu, the best movies on Amazon Prime Video, the best movies on Max,andthe best movies on Disney+.RelatedEntertainment Film DistributorsFans of The Raid: Redemption will recognize a lot in Dredd, the 2012 adaptation of one of the United Kingdoms most popular comic book icons. Judge Dredd (The Boys Karl Urban) may look like a hero, but hes an authoritarian with a badge who offers little flexibility while serving as judge, jury, and executioner on the dangerous streets of Mega-City One in the future.Dredds temporary partner, Cassandra Anderson (Olivia Thirlby), will be by his side for the duration of her evaluation as a judge. Cassandra will get her test by fire when she and Dredd are locked in a sprawling apartment complex filled with criminals who are out to kill them.Watch Dredd on Max.Searchlight PicturesTheres an inherent tragedy in Waitress because this is the only film written and directed by Adrienne Shelly before she was murdered. Shelly also co-stars in the movie as Dawn, one of the few friends of Jenna Hunterson (The Diplomats Keri Russell). Jenna is trapped in a loveless marriage with her abusive husband, Earl (Jeremy Sisto). And to make things even harder for her, Jenna is pregnant.As Jenna tries to find a way to break out of the prison of her life, shes romantically drawn to her obstetrician, Dr. Jim Pomatter (Nathan Fillion). Jim is also married. Yet the real threat to Jennas dreams and desires is Earls intense jealousy and his apparent ability to uncover her plans before she can escape.Watch Waitress on Max.Overture FilmsAlthough comedian Steve Martin co-wrote Traitor with director Jeffrey Nachmanoff, this is no comedy. Instead, its an intense spy thriller with Don Cheadle as Samir Horn, an army veteran with extensive knowledge about explosives who has been recruited by terrorists Omar (Sad Taghmaoui) and Fareed (Alyy Khan) for a lethal bombing campaign.FBI Special Agent Roy Clayton (Guy Pearce) immediately deduces that Samir has been radicalized, but he doesnt know the truth. Samir is actually deep undercover in the terrorist organization on behalf of a defense contractor named Carter (Jeff Daniels). But even the best of intentions cant keep Samirs explosives from harming innocent people.Watch Traitor on Max.Editors Recommendations

Table of ContentsTable of ContentsAmazon Prime VideoHuluDisney+Apple TV+NetflixMax (formerly HBO and HBO Max)PeacockIts Super Bowl weekend, and thats the only explanation we can think of as to why there are so few new streaming shows this week. The only show of note is Amazon Prime Videos Invincible, a mature superhero animated series from Robert Kirkman, the co-creator of The Walking Dead. This is one of the few comic book shows that doesnt pull its punches, and we mean that quite literally.Since there are no other new shows worth mentioning, were spotlighting a classic series that has just arrived on Hulu: New York Undercover. This drama ran on Fox just over three decades ago, and it was groundbreaking for its time.Recommended VideosYou can find the rest of the best new shows to stream below. We update this list every Friday to keep you up to date on the most binge-worthy new additions.RelatedWhen youre done here, check out the best new movies to stream this week, as well as the best shows on Netflix, the best shows on Hulu, the best new shows on Max, the best shows on Amazon Prime Video, and the best shows on Disney+.Netflix, Hulu, Amazon Prime Video, Max, Disney+, Paramount+, Peacock, and Apple TV+ all have one thing in common: Theyre more expensive than they used to be. We can live with higher rates as long as new shows keep coming, but its always a good idea to consider signing up for the ad-supported tiers, which are worth it if you can sit through a few commercials.New TV shows to watch at a glanceInvincibletv-ma2021New York Undercovertv-141994Paradisetv-ma2025Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Mantv-pg2025Mythic Questtv-ma2020The Night Agenttv-ma2023Paradise (2025)71%7.9/10tv-ma1SeasonGenreDrama, CrimeStarsSterling K. Brown, Julianne Nicholson, Sarah ShahiCreated byDan FogelmanWatch on HuluParadisestarts off with a big mystery as President Cal Wildcat Bradford (James Marsden) is found dead in his personal quarters by Special Agent Xavier Collins (Sterling K. Brown). And as we come to find out, the relationship between Collins and Bradford has soured in the years since the latter recruited the former.There are bigger issues in play, including the nature of Paradise, and why someone would risk everything by murdering the president. However, Collins may have a difficult time finding answers after the evidence starts to suggest that he was the one who killed Collins.Editors RecommendationsMovie images and data from:Topics Blair MarnellBlair Marnell has been an entertainment journalist for over 15 years. His bylines have appeared in Wizard Magazine, Geek Monthly, SYFY Wire, Superhero Hype, Collider, DC Universe, and the official sites for Star Trek and Marvel. He also lends his pop culture expertise to Digital Trends on a variety of TV, movie, and streaming features. Jason StrussFormer Digital Trends ContributorJason Struss joined Digital Trends in 2022 and has never lived to regret it. He is the current Section Editor of the Entertainment vertical and heads a team of over a dozen writers, editors, coordinators, and assorted hangers-on. When hes not busy editing and writing, you can find him tending to his meticulously planned content schedule or dreaming up new ways to get more eyeballs to the site.Jasons love for cinema started when he was 10 years old. Saddled with a nasty cold, he was forced to stay home from school for a full week. To pass the time, he watched a marathon of classic Alfred Hitchcock films on Cinemax and the rest is history. He furthered his film education by raiding used bookstores to read dusty old film criticism volumes and salacious movie star biographies. His real education included studying at Whitman College and then Syracuse University, where he won a student Emmy for producing a truly terrible television series.His career began at Marvel Entertainment, where he worked in the Digital Products department, and then DC Comics, where he worked in publishing and content strategy. He then worked at Warner Bros. and Screen Rant.Jason currently resides in Seattle but has yet to appear in a Cameron Crowe movie. He loves hot coffee with cream and sugar, video games, bread, napping, and movies (duh), but not necessarily in that order. His favorite movies are The Thing, All About Eve, The Ice Storm, Rear Window, Heat, The Cranes are Flying, Belle de Jour, Showgirls, and Clue. He thinks Mad Men is genius, still watches Seinfeld twice a week, and likes listening to shoegaze music, podcasts, and Lana Del Rey. If you see him on the street, please, for the love of God, do not engage in conversation with him. Hulu's sci-fi movies are experiencing an identity crisis because of the purge of 20th Century Fox's franchise films. Without the majority of the Alien, Predator, or Planet of the Apes films, Hulu's science fiction selection simply isn't as robust as it used to be. Undoubtedly those movies will eventually return to Hulu, but it's anyone's guess as to when.In the meantime, Hulu has only added a small selection of feasible titles in this category. This month, our picks are Pacific Rim and Surrogates. The former is on loan from Warner Bros. Pictures, so it won't be sticking around for too long. In the meantime, you can find these films and the rest of the best sci-fi movies on Hulu below.If you're curious about what's available in science fiction on other streaming services, we also have guides for the best sci-fi movies on Netflix, as well as the best sci-fi movies on Amazon Prime Video. For more options, check out guides for the best new movies to stream and the best movies on Hulu. Read more It's still early in 2025, but one of the best new dramas on Netflix is a western called American Primeval. This show took us by surprise, especially since it came out in such close proximity to Territory, a more modern western that debuted on Netflix late last year. However, we're not going to argue against two Western shows finding a place among the best Netflix dramas.While The Walking Dead: The Ones Who Livehas also arrived this month, that spinoff didn't make the cut on this list. Instead, our other addition for the month of January is the 2018 miniseries Escape At Dannemora, which originally ran on Showtime. It's a gripping true crime story, even if you know how it turns out. You can find these series and the rest of the best drama shows on Netflix below. Binge-watching these series can help start your year out on a good note.If you're looking for more content, check out the best new shows to stream this week, the best shows on Netflix, the best shows on Hulu, and the best shows on Amazon Prime. American Primeval (2025)Read more Disney+ is going to celebrate its sixth anniversary later this year, but the programming it has now seems very slight compared to the Netflix-killer it was presented as in 2019. In 2025, we're lucky when there's one or two new original shows on Disney+ in a month because even that seems like a stretch.For January, Disney+ has two returning series that made the list. The first is Goosebumps: The Vanishing, which is the second season of that kid-friendly horror anthology. The other program is A Real Bug's Life, a nature program with a Pixar twist. At the end of January, there will also be a new Marvel animated series, Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man. But in the meantime, you can find the rest of the best shows on Disney+ below.Looking for some more guidance on how to make the most of your streaming service subscriptions? We have also compiled guides to the best movies on Disney+, the best shows on Netflix, the best shows on Amazon Prime, and the best shows on Hulu. Don't forget to check out the guide for the best new shows to stream this week. Read more

Controversial posts. An AI dust-up. A blackface scandal. Campaigns are in damage control. What does all this say about cancel culture and the state of Hollywood?

We have three kids, ages 7, 9, and 12We've talked about the privileges and responsibilities revolving around independence as they age.This has helped them gain the independence they need while giving us the ability to trust them.I grew up in the generation of latchkey kids, hearing "come home when the street lights are on" as I was propelled out the door in the early morning with no water bottle in sight. While I think that approach leaves a lot to be desired, the incredible freedom this kind of childhood allowed also has its benefits. The independence, responsibility, and problem-solving skills, alongside the confidence and joy in figuring out what to do with yourself as a kid, were priceless, in my opinion. When I became a parent, I realized I wanted to give my kids as much freedom as possible.We create scaffolding around independence for our kidsI share typical parenting concerns around safety and capability when it comes to my kids. For this reason, our family has created scaffolding around our kids' independence. It is both age and ability-based. For example, we would let our kids play outside in our yard, starting around 4 or 5 years old, provided we trusted they wouldn't wander out into the neighborhood. From there, they can walk to a nearby friend's house or a corner store and build up to bike around our neighborhood to the park, library, or an ice cream shop, among other spots, by the age of 10.We started these journeys with them by letting them lead the way on family outings. We'd see if they looked for cars before crossing a road, could competently pay alone at the store, or knew the correct rules of riding a bicycle on the streets. Once we saw they could do these things successfully, they were able to do them on their own.Even with our preparation, it doesn't always work out well. Once, our oldest child went to the store and was short on money. She was embarrassed, but it taught her a great lesson about considering taxes and handling an uncomfortable situation. Ultimately, that's one of the points of this exercise in independence for us.Our kids gain privileges alongside responsibilitiesWe also consider the impact responsibilities have on our kids' independence. Starting early (the toddler years), we encourage our kids to help us with household chores like emptying the dishwasher, folding towels, cleaning up common areas, and keeping their rooms clean. Eventually, we have them move into doing these on their own. They take over their laundry when they are 10 and become responsible for cooking family dinner one night a week around age 12 (with parental assistance as needed.)This is a trade-off. As they gain more responsibilities, they also gain more freedom around things such as when they can have screen time and what they can watch. It isn't exactly a tit-for-tat situation, but the combination of privileges and responsibilities contributes to our kids' growing independence.Best of all, these responsibilities they are learning teach each of them important life skills and accountability. There have definitely been days when our older kids didn't have clothes they wanted to wear because they put off doing laundry for slightly too long. One result of this was that our daughter added a calendar reminder for herself for laundry day (which is how I keep track of laundry day, funnily enough.)I believe ever-evolving independence is a crucial step in childhood.We are lucky enough to live in Colorado, one of only eight states that protects "reasonable independence" for kids, but I think every kid can benefit from opportunities like this to grow their independence. One day, they will need to be able to live in the world on their own. How else will they gain confidence in decision-making and the ability to manage themselves in different environments if we don't allow them to make mistakes in a safe environment?Beyond that, this balance between privileges and responsibilities strengthens our trust in each other as parents and children. Of course, it's valuable for them, but it also has a huge value to me to see what they are capable of and how much they can do. The learning opportunities they experience when mistakes happen, like forgetting their responsibilities or misusing privileges, help us raise capable, confident kids. To me, that's priceless.

Elon Musk's political awakening during the 2024 presidential election paved the way to his position leading the Department of Government Efficiency. Matt McClain/The Washington Post via Getty Images Elon Musk runs X, SpaceX, The Boring Company, Tesla, and the Department of Government Efficiency.Musk is also the world's richest person with a net worth of about $412 billion.Musk grew close to President Donald Trump during the 2024 election, and now leads DOGE.Tesla CEO Elon Musk doesn't just run various major companies. He's also become a titan of American culture and politics, using his immense wealth and influence to get involved with everything from space travel, to AI, to electric vehicles, to the White House.Musk runs SpaceX, Tesla, X, xAI, and the Boring Company. He cofounded all of them, along with Neuralink, which he's still involved with and partially owns. Earlier in his career, Musk founded PayPal, OpenAI, and Zip2, but is no longer involved. Thanks to his entrepreneurial successes, Musk's net worth is $412 billion, making him the world's richest person, according to the Bloomberg Billionaire's Index. That puts him well ahead of the runner-up, Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, whose net worth is $257 billion.Throughout the 2024 presidential election, Musk became increasingly close to President Donald Trump. He's now the brain behind the Department of Government Efficiency, which is seeking to reform the federal government's budget, regulation, and structure.DOGEThough Musk donated to both Democrats and Republicans in his early career, he became a staunch and public ally of Trump during the 2024 presidential election, even coining himself "First Buddy." He spent at least $277 million backing Trump and Republicans, and political operatives told Business Insider that Musk's "war room" in Pennsylvania may have ultimately helped Trump win the crucial swing state.Trump tapped Musk to lead DOGE and formally incorporated the group into the White House via executive order on his very first day back in office. In that executive order, however, Trump appeared to scale back the group's mission from cutting trillions from the federal budget to "modernizing Federal technology and software."Despite that, Musk and DOGE rapidly began remaking the federal workforce, going well beyond simple IT changes, like announcing the cancellation of a slew of government contracts, pushing for the shutdown of USAID, and advocating getting rid of the US penny. Musk also exercised significant political power before Trump officially formed DOGE; he tanked a Congressional spending bill, which nearly sent the government into a shutdown. Musk ingratiated himself within the Trump campaign, and has remained close with the president ever since. Tom Brenner for The Washington Post via Getty Images Musk and Trump's relationshipremained close in the months after the election, spending time together at Mar-a-Lago and in DC. The Tesla CEO was among the tech leaders and billionaires who attended Trump's inauguration and has seemed to have his hand in some of the president's earliest actions regarding the federal workforce.X/TwitterElon Musk started buying shares in Twitter, now called X, in January 2022 and initiated an acquisition three months later. In the years since, he has reframed the platform as a replacement for legacy media. The app has also served as a personal megaphone for Musk, who has more than 215 million followers the most of any user. Musk posts frequently; sometimes more than 100 times per day.By the time Musk bought Twitter for $44 billion in October 2022, he had actually spent months trying to back out of the agreement. Earlier in 2022, he sent a letter to Twitter purporting to terminate the acquisition. Twitter promptly sued him.When the sale went through, Musk immediately ousted a number of Twitter executives, including its CEO, CFO, and chief legal officer. Shortly after, Musk issued an ultimatum to employees: work at an "extremely hardcore" rate or accept a three-month severance package. He would go on to lay off about 80% of Twitter's staff. Elon Musk has overhauled Twitter, ever since he first strolled into headquarters toting a sink in October 2022. Getty Images In May 2023, Musk named Linda Yaccarino as Twitter's new CEO. "Looking forward to working with Linda to transform this platform into X, the everything app," Musk said in a tweet. Come July 2023, Twitter was rebranded to X. The Securities and Exchange Commission is currently investigating Musk's acquisitionof the company.Musk has rebranded more than just the name of the company. A self-described "free speech absolutist," Musk fired many of Twitter's content moderators and opted instead for a community notes system. He reinstated previously suspended accounts, including Trump's, but a transparency report from 2024 revealed that X has suspended more accountson average than Twitter did.Musk launched a Twitter Blue subscription, which lets anyone paid to be verified and led to some users impersonating public figures. In 2023, he got rid of the social media site's blue-tick verification for accounts of "public interest," like those belonging to politicians, journalists, and celebrities.On various occasions, Musk has used his account on X to shape global political discourse. He posted about and tanked a government funding bill, ignited a raging immigration debate about the H-1B visa program for skilled workers, and demanded the British prime minister resignover his handling of the UK's rape-gang scandal.SpaceXSpaceX is a national and global leader in space exploration, and Musk's ultimate goal is to bring humans to Mars. Throughout the last 20 years, the company has broken record after record, including the most number of launches of a single rocket in one year.Beyond its rockets, SpaceX has built a wide satellite network and its global internet trafficmore than tripled in 2024. The Starlink satellite internet system operates in Earth's lower orbit, with a constellation of up to 42,000 planned.Starlink has become a key part of SpaceX's business, but has ensnared Musk in geopolitical conflict. Musk has said Starlink has been crucial for Ukraine in its war with Russia, though some Ukrainian military intelligence officials have said that Russia is using the satellites an allegation Musk has denied.Musk has said SpaceX wants to send five of its flagship Starship rockets to Mars in 2026, followed by crewed missions a few years later, though some experts have told BI the timeline will be challenging to achieve. During the 2024 presidential campaign, he took to the stage at a Trump rally wearing his signature "Occupy Mars" shirt.Yet SpaceX's more than two-decade long history hasn't always been smooth sailing. Musk founded the company in 2002, investing $100 million he made from the sale of PayPal.The company nearly failed. After three unsuccessful launches between 2006 and 2008, funding was running out. Then, on September 28, 2008, SpaceX became the first private company to achieve a successful orbital launch. That same year, SpaceX received a $1.5 billion NASA contract. SpaceX was founded in 2002, and nearly failed as a company. Today, it is a global leader in space exploration. Yichuan Cao/Getty Images SpaceX launches now happen on a regular basis. The company publishes a SpaceX launch schedule on its website. Launches typically take place at Cape Canaveral Space Force Base or the Kennedy Space Center in Florida.The SpaceX Falcon 9, a partially reusable two-stage rocket, is often used for launches. The Falcon 9 family of rockets is a key asset for NASA in servicing the International Space Station since the retirement of the Space Shuttle program in 2011.SpaceX was valued at about $350 billion under Musk's unique leadership style as of December 2024.The company remains private and Musk has said that SpaceX won't file for an IPO until the "Mars Colonial Transporter" is flying regularly. SpaceX's long-term goal is to make colonizing Mars affordable.The Boring CompanyMusk's The Boring Companywas created as a subsidiary of SpaceX and later became its own entity. Inspired by LA traffic gridlock, the tunneling venture has several ongoing projects on the West Coast.In April 2022, the company raised $675 million at a valuation of almost $5.7 billion, according to a Boring Company news release. Boring Company stock is not publicly traded.In 2018, Musk sold 20,000 Boring Company flamethrowers in just five days. The product, called "Not-A-Flamethrower," has been off the market for years. However, it's acquired something of a cult status among the tech mogul's fans, and some people have been paying hundreds of dollars to buy them on eBay.Among Musk's other innovative products is a 5'8" humanoid Tesla robot named Optimus, announced in 2021. The robot is designed to help reduce the labor shortage, according to Musk, and keep workers safer.Musk said in June 2024 he thinks people will think of their personal Optimus robot as "sort of a friend," andremained optimistic they will start shipping next year.NeuralinkMusk's brain-chip company Neuralink has begun implanting its devices in human skulls and like many of Musk's ventures, the new technology has been met with both fanfare and skepticism.Neuralink aims to treat patients with neurological conditions, such as paralysis and blindness. Initially, in the first human trial, Neuralink's goal is to help patients with paralyzed limbs control devices like a computer mouse or keyboard with only their thoughts.Noland Arbaugh became the first person to receive Neuralink's brain-chip implant in January 2024. The 29-year-old quadriplegic told Business Insider it had helped him regain independence and reconnect socially.Musk has said he wants Neuralink to ultimately help humans achieve "symbiosis" with artificial intelligence so that they don't get "left behind" as AI evolves over time.xAIMusk founded startup xAI in March 2023, which has since launched a chatbot called Grok. As of November 2024, xAI was valued at $50 billion, and the company raised at least $11 billion that year. Grok, which can generate images and summarize conversations, is now free for anyone to use. The chatbot has been trained on X user data, giving it a crucial boost as it competes against rivals like OpenAI.The billionaire wants xAI to multiply the size of the supercomputer it uses to train its AI models, powered by Nvidia chips.Elon Musk's family, personal life, and early careerMusk was born in South Africa to parents Maye and Errol Musk, who divorced in 1979. He moved to Canada with his mom and two siblings after graduating high school, spending two years studying there before transferring to the University of Pennsylvania. After graduating, he enrolled in Stanford University, but deferred admission after just two days in California to pursue entrepreneurship and never went back to the school. Musk dropped out of Stanford to pursue entrepreneurship. Paul Harris/Getty Images In the 1990s, he founded his first startup, Zip2, with his brother, Kimbal, and began a decades-long career in tech. A group of Silicon Valley investors funded the project.Musk further entrenched himself in the Silicon Valley network with his second venture, online banking company X.com. The company merged with a startup of Peter Thiel's to form PayPal. When PayPal sold to eBay in 2002, Musk made $165 million; he's considered a member of the "PayPal Mafia" and has a complicated relationship with Thiel. Also in 2002, Musk obtained his American citizenship.Musk's former spouses include Justine Musk, whom he met at Queen's University in Ontario, Canada, and Talulah Riley, whom he married in 2010. He met Riley at a bar in London, and the couple divorced and remarried before splitting again.It is unclear if Musk is currently dating. Musk reportedly split in 2022 with actor Natasha Bassett, who is believed to be his last public girlfriend.Before that, Musk briefly dated actor Amber Heard in 2017 amid her divorce from actor Johnny Depp. The two first connected on the red carpet of the 2016 Met Gala, which Depp was expected to attend but did not.He and the musician Grimes started dating in 2018. Since then, they've broken up and gotten back together a few times. They appear to be on reasonable terms again after a contentious legal battle over the three children they share.Musk has 11 living children and fathered one child who died in infancy with his ex-wife, Justine. Together, the couple had six kids. Another one of their children, Vivian, is transgender and has publicly rejected Musk in light of his criticism of transgender laws for children under 18. She has said she no longer wants "to be related to my biological father in any way."The billionaire has brought one of the children he shares with Grimes, X A-12, to meetings at the Capitol.Musk quietly had twins in November 2021 with one of his top executives, Shivon Zilis. In 2024 he confirmed he'd had another child with Zilis. He frequently laments America's declining birthrate, a theme that garnered attention during the 2024 presidential election.

The Nintendo Switch 2 will be the last video game console Readers FeatureGameCentralPublished February 8, 2025 1:00am Will there be anything afterwards? (Nintendo)A reader thinks that the era of video games consoles is coming to an end and that the Nintendo Switch 2 will be the last bastion of the concept.For a good few years now theres been talk about the last generation of consoles. Some tried to say it about the PlayStation 4 era, and some have said it about the PlayStation 5, but clearly neither have been right.The assumption has been that eventually consoles will be unnecessary because streaming will take over, but this seems to ignore the fact that it depends on you being somewhere with a very fast Wi-Fi connection which is invariably going to be in your home, in a big city. At which point you might as well just stick with a traditional console.Streaming will eventually take over, Im sure, but I cant see it happening for at least 10 years. Not when it makes it all but impossible for someone in the countryside to play a video game and there is an awful lot of countryside in America.Mobile seems to have missed its chance, but I could see the PC being more of a danger to consoles, given how much its been on the rise lately. People argue about Xbox exclusives on PlayStation, but every exclusive bar Nintendo is already on PC, to the point where Helldivers 2 is the fastest-selling Sony game ever and yet most of its players are on PC and not console.Another problem haunting the future of consoles is the issue thats thrown gaming into turmoil over the last two years: the fact that we have reached the limit of what can reasonably be spent on a video game and still expect to turn a profit. Games already take too much money and too much time to make and the idea of making things even worse by releasing an even more expensive console is madness.Apparently its happening anyway though, with both Xbox and PlayStation openly talking about next gen machines. Theyre both also talking about portables and if they were sensible theyd both be handhelds that were less powerful than the current consoles, in order reduce the cost of development and yet still have an attractive gimmick that people would want to buy them.However, I dont believe either Microsoft or Sony to be sensible, so Im sure theyll find some way to overcomplicate it and avoid all the benefits that should come with making a portable and somehow still hold onto the negatives associated with a home console.All of which brings me to the Nintendo Switch 2. Its going to be released this year and technically counts as being next generation even though the first Switch took Nintendo out of the whole generational classification system and it doesnt really apply to them. But lets call it next gen for the sake of argument. The Switch 2 probably wont be that expensive (Nintendo)Unless something has gone very wrong, then Nintendos usual MO means that it will be relatively cheap, probably no more powerful than a PlayStation 4, and home to dozens of amazing exclusive games. It will still be more expensive to make games for than the first Switch, but the PlayStation 4 was before things went stupid in terms of costs so it should still be manageable.Youll be able to get most current gen games working on it, to some degree, and therell be (probably endless) ports of last gen games. A lot of new games are probably going to be cross-gen too so I would imagine that therell be lots of lower budget Switch 2 games, from both Nintendo and others, that will also work on the original console, of which there are 150 million in the world.But what happens after that? I have doubts that the PlayStation 6, and especially the Xbox 5 will be major successes, and I feel its guaranteed they wont have 8+ year lifespans like the Switch. But the Switch 2 seems like nothing can stop it. Even the underwhelming reveal trailer has been hugely popular and the console itself seems like it will offer three things the PlayStation 5 doesnt: affordability, lots of great exclusives, and new ideas.Where do you go from there though? Theres no advantage in making a portable thats as powerful as a PlayStation 5, because making games for it will still be too expensive. So there cant be another generation after this next one, not because of streaming or even the rise of the PC, but because its too expensive to make games for it.More TrendingAll of which leaves the Nintendo Switch 2 and probably nothing else. It will end up as the last console standing, the one that realised it wasnt all about graphical power but instead good games and value for money. Itll be a shame but Im not sure how much sympathy Ive really got for Sony and Microsoft when they finally hit a brick wall.By reader GrackleTo view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a webbrowser thatsupports HTML5videoUp NextThe readers features do not necessarily represent the views of GameCentral or Metro.You can submit your own 500 to 600-word reader feature at any time, which if used will be published in the next appropriate weekend slot. Just contact us at gamecentral@metro.co.uk or use our Submit Stuff page and you wont need to send an email.GameCentralSign up for exclusive analysis, latest releases, and bonus community content.This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply. Your information will be used in line with our Privacy Policy

Heres how to sweep your Valentine off their feet and into their favorite fandom world at Disney Parks. From out-of-this-world trips to Galaxys Edge, to animation adoration at Epcots Festival of the Arts, to fairytale fantasyand even the after-hours Disneyland After Dark: Sweet Hearts Night if you managed to snag a ticket. Grab some Lego flowers and chart a course to your nearest Disney experience. Star Wars Valentine at Galaxys Edge Lucasfilm Romance your rebel royal on the Millennium Falcon ride Smugglers Run at the Disneyland Resort and Walt Disney Worlds Hollywood Studios. The inside queue for the Galaxys Edge attraction takes you aboard our favorite scoundrels ship; you can find a very similar wall to the one seen above to pose your own Valentines Day smooch before hopping on a high-stakes mission. Be warned, though: younglings who dont appreciate your PDA may get their revenge if they pilot the Falcon and crash into everything for the rides duration. Food and drinks suggestion: Ogas Cantina for Fuzzy Tauntauns and a Brub Berry Muffin from Kat Sakas Kettle (Disneyland only); at Galaxys Edge East you can order a Spiked Cold Brew Black Caf (trust us). Fandom Art Walk at Epcots International Festival of the Arts Take a romantic stroll at one of our favorite Epcot festivals, the International Festival of the Arts. Here you can look for the perfect Disney-inspired art print and maybe get it signed by the artist. There are quite a few releases that were loving this year, including Disney Princess love stories, Star Wars,and even Kingdom Hearts. Theres also live Broadway musical performances of favorite Disney love songs, art photo ops, and crafts you can take part in.Food and drinks suggestion: Sushi donuts at the Goshiki booth in Japan. Pro-tip: the best margaritas are inside the Mexico Pavilions La Cava del Tequila, the best place to start drinking around the world. A New Orleans Fairytale Romance with Tianas Bayou Adventure Tianas Bayou Adventure is now open at both Walt Disney Worlds Magic Kingdom and Disneyland. Fall in love (and down a couple drops) on the ride that takes you into the bayou to see The Princess and the Frogs Princess Tiana in her next chapter, alongside Prince Naveen and friends. The attraction is especially gorgeous at night with the twinkling lights of fireflies and the sight of Ray and Evangeline hidden on the ride. Food and drinks suggestion: beignets! At Magic Kingdom find Tianas Famous Beignets at the Golden Oak Outpost as well at Disneys Port Orleans Resort French Quarter Scat Cat Club Cafe (theres gluten-free ones here, too). Drinks and live jazz are a must-do at at this hotel as well as a stay for that NOLA ambiance during a Florida vacation. At Disneyland, you can experience Tianas Palace for Southern cooking including her family recipe gumbo and specialty beignets. However, for classic beignets we recommend the window at the Mint Julep Bar, right around the corner from Tianas. Take a walk on the Avatar Side in Animal Kingdoms Pandora Twentieth Century Pictures Tell your loved one I see you in Pandora: The World of Avatar at Walt Disney Worlds Animal Kingdom. On Flight of Passage youll be able to connect to your own Navi rider for one of the best rides from Disney Imagineering and the mind of James Cameron. The environment around the land lends itself for an immersive experience like no other.Food and drinks suggestion: This is a bit of a cheat but the most romantic spot for bites and drinks is the Nomad Lounge, which is on the way to Pandora. Theres delicious churros and a good view of the river where characters will come by on a boat float. Indiana Jones Adventure Disney Experiences For those with an adventurous spirit wanting a day filled with thrills and action, theres a few options to theme a date around an Indiana Jones-style quest for the heart of your beloved. Walt Disney Worlds Hollywood Studios has an Indiana Jones Stunt show that recreates Indy and Marions thrilling escape from the bad guys. Meanwhile, at Disneyland you can ride the Indiana Jones Adventure attraction, which has one of the best queues in the park, recreating iconic set pieces from the films traps.Food and drinks suggestion: Disney Springs at Walt Disney World has an underrated Indiana Jones universe themed bar. Jock Lindsays is the sort of watering hole Indys trusty pilot would open that feels like a hub for traveling tomb raiders. Theres drinks inspired by the films (such as the Fountain of Youth) and food served with meta references, like Club Obi-Wan wings. At Disneyland we advise to a trek to the Disneyland Hotel for Trader Sams tiki bar for interactive drinks that unlock special effects at the bar. You didnt hear it from us, but there might even be a secret drink called the Temple of the Forbidden Rye inspired by Professor Jones archeological side hustles. Come and Get Your Love with Guardians of the Galaxy Marvel Studios Prep a mixtapeer, playlist and spend an awesome day with your Valentine at attractions inspired by Marvel Studios Guardians of the Galaxy. If youre on the East Coast take a spin on Epcots Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind and make whatever song you get one of your songs. At Disneys California Adventure, fall for one another on Guardians of the Galaxy: Mission Breakout. Food and drinks suggestion: At Epcot try to get standby reservations for Space 220s bar, which shoots you into orbit for libations and bites. At Disney California Adventure theres Pyms Tasting Lab Lounge for fun MCU-themed drinks, but we also highly recommend trying out the Lunar New Year offerings and desserts, like the Chocolate Firecracker mousse cake at the Lucky 8 Lantern booth.For more on Walt Disney World and the Disneyland Resorts Valentines Day offerings visit here. Want more io9 news? Check out when to expect the latest Marvel, Star Wars, and Star Trek releases, whats next for the DC Universe on film and TV, and everything you need to know about the future of Doctor Who.