TL;DR: The Grand Theft Auto series has historically been a money-printing machine on consoles and PCs. Publisher Take-Two Interactive wants all the money it can grab, so it is committed to launching GTA 6 on all platforms. However, it is targeting a non-simultaneous release of GTA 6 on platforms and still hasn't hinted at a date. Take-Two and Rockstar are working hard to bring GTA 6 to consoles by this fall, but neither company has said anything about a PC release. The eagerly awaited new chapter in the GTA saga will eventually come to computers. Take-Two chairman and CEO Strauss Zelnick almost teased as much in a recent interview.However, in a recent interview, Zelnick said that executing a simultaneous release on all platforms is challenging. The Take-Two boss referred to the recently launched Civilization 7, which is already available on all gaming systems, including PC and consoles. However, Rockstar is known for starting with a specific platform and releasing its games on other systems later.Grand Theft Auto 5 launched on consoles in September 2013. It wasn't until two years later that the PC version arrived, despite being initially scheduled for a simultaneous release. Zelnick highlighted the importance of the PC market for Take-Two, which now generates over 40 percent of the overall sales for multiplatform games."We have seen PC become a much more important part of what used to be a console business, and I wouldn't be surprised to see that trend continue," the exec said.This observation is reflected in Sony's recent branch into releasing PlayStation exclusives on PC. // Related StoriesZelnick expects console sales to do well and keep bringing new generations of gamers into the market despite the threat of US tariffs potentially bringing the entire technology business to a screeching halt.Grand Theft Auto games are sure-fire system sellers. Fans gamers will readily fork over big money for the newest hardware to play the over-the-top crime fantasy title with next-gen graphics. Zelnick doesn't think tariffs will significantly impact console sales because many other developers have exciting titles competing with GTA 6 in 2025.Take-Two is not concerned with console sales falling over a cliff, and the conditions for PC sales are about the same. Many gamers are planning to upgrade to the newest powerful GPUs to roam GTA 6's fictional Florida, "Leonida," even though next-gen GPUs are tough to purchase thanks to scalpers and Nvidia's paper launch tactics.

Last week, researchers at Oxford University published a paper in Nature describing how they used quantum teleportation to transfer data between two quantum computers placed about two meters apart. They claim the distance is irrelevant as the experiment should have worked regardless of each computer's location. The breakthrough is remarkable as it partially solves a stumbling block in quantum computing.Instead of transistors, like traditional computers, quantum computers use qubits. Qubits potentially allow for more options than the on/off of transistors, facilitating far more complex calculations. However, engineers have yet to figure out how to miniaturize the hardware, and it takes tens of thousands of qubits to perform complex calculations.In the meantime, researchers are trying to find ways to link multiple quantum computers to act as one unit. The idea is not dissimilar to distributed computing with traditional computers connecting many computers on a network to work on one problem. Protein folding is an example. In fact, the research paper is titled "Distributed quantum computing across an optical network link."However, quantum computers cannot communicate the same way PCs do. To network two (or more, theoretically) quantum computers, quantum objects must be positioned at the sending and receiving ends. Those objects must then become entangled. Entanglement sets both qubits to an unknown but connected state think Schrdinger's Cat. Once the qubit's state is measured on the sending end, the entangled receiving qubit takes on the same state instantly.Without getting deep into the complex operations of quantum computing, the act of entangling qubits on two or more machines in different locations indicates that it is possible to build a quantum network. Such interconnections can provide the necessary extra qubits to execute more complex programs and operations.a,b, (1) CZ decompositions of the distributed iSWAP (a) and SWAP (b) circuits, comprising two and three instances of QGT, respectively. (2) The reconstructed process matrices for the iSWAP (a) and SWAP (b) gates indicate average gate fidelities of 70(2)% and 64(2)%, respectively. c, Grover's algorithm. (1) Circuit comprising two instances of QGT: the first implements the Grover oracle call, which marks a particular state, a, and the second implements the diffusion circuit. (2) Measurement outcomes from 500 repetitions of Grover's algorithm per marked state; the average success probability is 71(1)%. All error bars indicate one standard deviation.Furthermore, entangled data provides more accurate calculations. Transferring information from a quantum computer to a traditional machine that we can read and interpret presents a higher error rate another hurdle scientists have struggled to mitigate. Transferring qubit states from one quantum computer to another is lossless, meaning researchers do not have to worry about errors until the linked computers return a result.To achieve this breakthrough, the scientists created two ion traps (masthead) connected via a two-meter optical cable. Each trap held one strontium and one calcium ion. The calcium ion acted as a local memory unit, while the strontium acted as the interface of the quantum network. The optical cable allowed lasers to fire photons to kickstart entanglement. // Related StoriesAlthough entanglement was not 100 percent successful with every photon fired, a failure did not disrupt the states of the ions, so the researchers could keep trying without having to reset the entire experiment. Furthermore, entanglement produced a measurable photon, which signaled to the team that it achieved entanglement, a fortunate and significant byproduct.Once entangled, the scientist could "teleport" specific gate operations to the receiving ions. After many rounds of testing Grover's algorithm, the team found the simple network returned accurate calculations about 70 percent of the time. However, they noted that the errors were unrelated to the teleportation process. As expected, local operations at either end of the hardware produced the mistakes. The team believes that using commercial quantum hardware will yeild more accurate results.It is a groundbreaking development in quantum computing but is still in the early stages. While the teleportation is not limited by distance, it is limited to the length of optical cable available. It's unclear if it could use existing optical infrastructure, but it's doubtful, considering network noise could present an issue. Nevertheless, the fact that we have developed a way for quantum computers to exchange data instantly is astounding.Image credit: D. Slichter, D. Main

OpenAI is poised to enter the custom component business in 2025. The brand is currently in talks with Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. (TSMC) to fabricate the first generation of its in-house AI-based silicon, according to an exclusive report by Reuters.The AI start-up has plans to create custom chips to lessen its dependence on AI chips from Nvidia. Sources told Reuters that OpenAI is wrapping up the final design of its chip, which should be complete in the coming months. The company will design the chip in collaboration with Broadcom. The 40-person in-house team is spearheaded by former Google engineering lead, Richard Ho.Recommended VideosOnce designs are complete, the company will send them to TSMC for an initial fabrication process called taping out, using its 3-nanometer process technology, to ensure that the chip is viable for mass production. If successful, the chip could begin mass production at TSMC in 2026. While reports of these plans are circulating, neither OpenAI nor TSMC have confirmed that they are designing or collaborating on an AI component.Even so, Reuters noted that OpenAI striving to mass produce an in-house AI chip in such a short time frame is an ambitious goal. Such a feat is extremely expensive and time-consuming. There is also the possibility an initial tape-out could fail, meaning the company would have to test for faults and repeat the process.However, if a tape-out is successful, and OpenAI is able to develop its first in-house AI chip in a snappy schedule, the company will have completed a feat similar organizations have not been able to achieve. The brand would have a strategic tool to strengthen OpenAIs negotiating leverage with other chip suppliers, sources told the publication.After the first chip rollout, the company plans to create more powerful components, with greater abilities version after version, Reuters added.OpenAI has long had heavy competition with American contemporaries in the AI space. However, the introduction of the Chinese start-up, DeepSeek, with its open-source platform has really shaken up the industry for all involved. CEO Sam Altman recently indicated that the companys former strategy of being a closed-sourced business is a thing of the past.The brand has taken some swift moves in response to the dark horse, DeepSeek, in aligning itself with U.S. President Donald Trumps $500 billion Stargate infrastructure program. Reports also indicate OpenAI is close to closing a $40 billion deal with Japanese investment firm, SoftBank. The company also recently announced a new visual rebrand. In addition to recent product launches, including o3 mini reasoning model and the Deep Research feature, the brand aired its first television commercial at the 59th Super Bowl on Sunday.Despite its efforts to develop AI chips quickly, the company remains very much in start-up mode. Sources told Reuters even if OpenAI is successful at developing and mass-producing its own chips, the components would have a limited function within the company. They would mainly be used for running AI models, whereas the brand also requires chips for training AI models.Editors Recommendations

Luke Larsen / Digital TrendsAfter backlash over removing the Menu key, Microsoft is possibly bringing it back in a later buildpartiallyto Windows keyboards, restoring some of its lost functionality, as PhantomOfEarth mentions on X (via XDA Developers). This is possible because users can remap the Copilot key to serve the same purpose.Microsoft might allow you to remap the Copilot key to open content menus, restoring the Menu keys original functionality. In October, Microsoft introduced limited remapping of the Copilot key, but it only worked for MSIX-packaged and signed apps, offering little flexibility. Now, Microsoft could expand its functionality to provide more freedom to what the key can do for users.Recommended VideosYou could have one of the best laptops on the market, and the number of apps you could assign the Copilot key was restricted. Why was the Menu key so popular? Because it was very helpful in situations where you couldnt use your mouse since it would bring up the same options a right-click would. Its the same key you would see on Surface devices. So far, Microsoft has not officially announced when or if Widows users will enjoy this freedom. This possibility was found by a well-known leaker, but there is the possibility of Microsoft changing its mind and removing it altogether. Hopefully, that wont happen, and itll be released sometime before the year is out, so accessing the options the Menu key gave us is easier. Who knows, maybe Microsoft will let users do more and more things as time goes by. Well see what happens.Editors Recommendations

The unsolicited offer complicates Sam Altmans plans to convert OpenAI to a for-profit company.

A show at the International Center of Photography focuses on Usher Fellig, aka Weegee, featuring the pictures of crime scenes and car crashes that made him famous as well as less sensational human-interest shots and his later distortedportraits.

Double jeopardy 22 states sue to block new NIH funding policy The first Trump administration tried this, and Congress passed a rule to block it. John Timmer Feb 10, 2025 4:20 pm | 33 Credit: Nicolas_ Credit: Nicolas_ Story textSizeSmallStandardLargeWidth *StandardWideLinksStandardOrange* Subscribers only Learn moreOn Friday, the National Institutes of Health (NIH) announced a sudden change to how it handles the indirect costs of researchthe money that pays for things like support services and facilities maintenance. These costs help pay universities and research centers to provide the environment and resources all their researchers need to get research done. Previously, these had been set through negotiations with the university and audits of the spending. These averaged roughly 30 percent of the value of the grant itself and would frequently exceed 50 percent.The NIH announcement set the rate at 15 percent for every campus. The new rate would start today and apply retroactively to existing grants, meaning most research universities are currently finding themselves facing catastrophic budget shortfalls.Today, a coalition of 22 states filed a suit that seeks to block the new policy, alleging it violated both a long-standing law and a budget rider that Congress had passed in response to a 2017 attempt by Trump to drastically cut indirect costs. The suit seeks to prevent the new policy or its equivalent from being applied to the research centers located in the states that have joined the suit, essentially leaving red states to suffer the consequences of the funding cut.Directly targeting indirectsIndirect costs cover a huge range of things that can't be handled efficiently at the level of individual labs. This includes things like the maintenance of buildings, support staff, the care of animals and handling of dangerous wastes, and the administrative staff that provides things like IT support and ensuring compliance with the laws that apply to grant-funded research. Because they're set through negotiations between the government and the universities, the rates of indirect funding can vary considerably. But large research universities typically receive tens of millions of dollars in overheads every year.This isn't the first time that indirect funding has been threatened, though. In 2017, Trump's budget proposal would have set all indirect rates at 10 percent of the grant's value, but it was blocked by congressional action (we'll return to that). The Project 2025 document that seems to be guiding the initial weeks of the new administration also calls for indirect costs to be slashed, claiming "these reimbursements cross-subsidize leftist agendas."Regardless of what else they might be doing, the indirect costs pay for various critical campus services, including at research hospitals. Suddenly having that amount slashed would create a major budgetary shortfall that will be hard to cover without shutting programs down.The resulting damage to research campuses in their states was one of the harms cited by the states that joined the suit as part of their effort to establish standing. The other was the harm caused by the general slowdown in biomedical research that the policy will trigger, which the states argue will delay the availability of treatments for their citizens.The states taking part include most of those that were won by Kamala Harris in 2024, as well as states that voted for Trump but currently have Democratic governors and attorneys general: Arizona, Michigan, Nevada, North Carolina, and Wisconsin. Notably, the suit only seeks relief from the altered NIH policy for institutions located in those states; they're essentially leaving states controlled by Republicans to suffer the damages caused by the new policy.Allegations and backup allegationsThe states allege that the new NIH policy, by applying to all grants in progress, is equivalent to rewriting a contract. It cites an earlier legal decision that determined that Once the [Notice of Award] is signed or money is drawn, the [Notice of Award] and the grant terms are binding on the grantee and the government." Beyond that, the states argue the policy violates two separate pieces of legislation.The first is the Administrative Procedures Act, which describes the processes that agencies need to follow when they formulate formal rules to translate legislation into implementations. Among other things, this prevents agencies from formulating rules that are "arbitrary and capricious." It argues that, by including audits and negotiations in the process of setting them, the current individualized indirect rates are anything but.By contrast, the states argue, there's no significant foundation for the 15 percent indirect rate. "The Rate Change Notice is arbitrary and capricious in, among other ways, its failure to articulate the bases for the categorical rate cap of 15 percent," the suit alleges, "its failure to consider the grant recipients reliance on their negotiated rates, and its disregard for the factual findings that formed the bases for the currently operative negotiated indirect cost rates."The NIH announcement suggests that the process of deciding on the 15 percent rate involved checking the indirect rates of a handful of private foundations. The states are alleging that this fails to make the policy any less arbitrary or capricious.Should the judge decide that the new NIH policy isn't a federal rule governed by the Administrative Procedures Act, however, the states have a backup. As mentioned above, the first Trump administration had tried to slash indirect cost rates back in 2017. In response, the Democratic-controlled Congress of 2018 managed to attach a rider to an appropriations bill that prevented the NIH from spending any money to develop or implement any policy that alters the then-present system of determining indirect cost rates. That rider has remained in effect ever since, which suggests that, merely by announcing the new policy, the NIH has spent some of its budget in a manner specifically prevented by law.RemediesThe states are seeking a number of forms of relief. These include formally declaring the new policy a violation of the Administrative Procedures Act and hitting it with a temporary injunction. In a different suit, an injunction had been granted against a different Trump administration policy, only to see the policy continued under a different authorization. Mindful of this, the states also want an injunction against similar policies being enacted in a different form or under a distinct name.To make sure further action is needed, it wants the judge to order continued compliance reports from the NIH and the Department of Health and Human Services.As noted above, the states are only asking for this relief on behalf of institutions located within their borders. So, there is a chance that the judge will allow the NIH policy to take effect in the other 28 states.John TimmerSenior Science EditorJohn TimmerSenior Science Editor John is Ars Technica's science editor. He has a Bachelor of Arts in Biochemistry from Columbia University, and a Ph.D. in Molecular and Cell Biology from the University of California, Berkeley. When physically separated from his keyboard, he tends to seek out a bicycle, or a scenic location for communing with his hiking boots. 33 Comments

Chips Ahoy OpenAIs secret weapon against Nvidia dependence takes shape Chatbot maker partners with TSMC to manufacture custom AI chip, with plans for future iterations. Benj Edwards Feb 10, 2025 4:00 pm | 12 Credit: OsakaWayne Studios via GettyImages Credit: OsakaWayne Studios via GettyImages Story textSizeSmallStandardLargeWidth *StandardWideLinksStandardOrange* Subscribers only Learn moreOpenAI is entering the final stages of designing its long-rumored AI processor with the aim of decreasing the company's dependence on Nvidia hardware, according to a Reuters report released Monday. The ChatGPT creator plans to send its chip designs to Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. (TSMC) for fabrication within the next few months, but the chip has not yet been formally announced.The OpenAI chip's full capabilities, technical details, and exact timeline are still unknown, but the company reportedly intends to iterate on the design and improve it over time, giving it leverage in negotiations with chip suppliersand potentially granting the company future independence with a chip design it controls outright.In the past, we've seen other tech companies, such as Microsoft, Amazon, Google, and Meta, create their own AI acceleration chips for reasons that range from cost reduction to relieving shortages of AI chips supplied by Nvidia, which enjoys a near-market monopoly on high-powered GPUs (such as the Blackwell series) for data center use.In October 2023, we covered a report about OpenAI's intention to create its own AI accelerator chips for similar reasons, so OpenAI's custom chip project has been in the works for some time. In early 2024, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman also began spending considerable time traveling around the world trying to raise up to a reported $7 trillion to increase world chip fabrication capacity.A large investmentThe path to creating a custom AI chip requires substantial resources. Industry experts told Reuters that designing a single version of such a processor could cost as much as $500 million, with additional expenses for developing supporting software and hardware potentially doubling that amount.The current OpenAI chip project, led by former Google chip designer Richard Ho, involves a team of 40 engineers working with Broadcom on the processor design, according to Reuters. The Taiwanese company TSMC, which also produces Nvidia's chips, will manufacture OpenAI's chips using its 3-nanometer process technology. The chips will reportedly incorporate high-bandwidth memory and networking features similar to those found in Nvidia's processors.Initially, OpenAI's first chip will focus primarily on running AI models (often called "inference") rather than training them, with limited deployment across the company. The timeline suggests mass production could begin at TSMC in 2026, though the first tape-out and manufacturing run faces technical risks that could require additional fixes and could delay the project for months.OpenAI's move into AI hardware comes as major tech companies spend record amounts on AI infrastructure. Microsoft plans to invest $80 billion in 2025, while Meta set aside $60 billion for the next year, Reuters notes. Last month, OpenAI (working with SoftBank, Oracle, and MGX) announced a new $500 billion "Stargate" infrastructure project aimed at building new AI data centers in the US.Benj EdwardsSenior AI ReporterBenj EdwardsSenior AI Reporter Benj Edwards is Ars Technica's Senior AI Reporter and founder of the site's dedicated AI beat in 2022. He's also a tech historian with almost two decades of experience. In his free time, he writes and records music, collects vintage computers, and enjoys nature. He lives in Raleigh, NC. 12 Comments

Nike's Super Bowl commercial has become one of the most talked about online.The ad featured women athletes, including Sha'Carri Richardson, Caitlin Clark, and A'ja Wilson.Ads from Dunkin' and Jeep also performed well in the data.Nike has emerged as a big winner in the Super Bowl advertising game.The brand's surprise Super Bowl return drove the most social media engagement among the advertisers in Sunday's game, according to social and consumer intelligence company Meltwater. Nike generated 188,000 engagement actions, a key advertiser metric that includes social media likes or comments. That was 40,000 more than the next-most engaging advertiser, Jeep.Nike also had the second-highest online reach among advertisers in this year's game, behind Dunkin', according to Meltwater.Nike's star-studded commercial, featuring women athletes like Sha'Carri Richardson, Caitlin Clark, and A'ja Wilson, marked the company's first Super Bowl commercial in 27 years. The company did not unveil its commercial ahead of time. The unexpected debut likely contributed to the online buzz, Anna Amarotti, a consumer insights and marketing intelligence lead for Meltwater, told Business Insider.Ads from Dunkin' and Jeep also made a splashDunkin's "DunKings" ad also created a lot of buzz by reach, another key metric, according to Meltwater. The ad had the most impressions among this year's Super Bowl advertisers, with 38.4 million, ahead of Nike's 23.9 million impressions. Dunkin's ad ranked fifth by social media engagement.Dunkin' leaned into its Boston roots for the Super Bowl commercial, featuring actors Ben Affleck and Casey Affleck and former Patriots head coach Bill Belichick, among others. Amarotti said its reach was partly "the effect of a famous person on a brand," describing how big celebrities can garner lots of attention on social media.Meltwater also tracked public sentiment around this year's Super Bowl ads. Jeep's commercial with Harrison Ford was the most positively viewed ad. Pfizer's commercial, which touted its cancer research, generated the most negative sentiment."The brands with the best performance wisely chose to recognize the societal moment in time, leaning into humor, comfort, and relatability, rather than aspiration and future-gazing," said Alexandra Saab Bjertns, Meltwater's chief strategy officer, in an email to BI.Other brand winners from the game include streamer Tubi, which had the most social media mentions in posts that referenced the Super Bowl, according to data from social media analytics company Sprout Social. Tubi, which is owned by Fox, streamed the Super Bowl for free.Meanwhile, according to EDO, which measures the impact of TV ads, T-Mobile sparked the most consumer engagement online. EDO tracks behavior like whether someone searches for a brand. By this measure, T-Mobile's ad had over 12 times the engagement of middle-performing ads in the game. Ads from Ram and Liquid Death also scored well.

Kendrick Lamar headlined the 2025 Super Bowl on Sunday in New Orleans.Instead of a greatest hits medley, Lamar opted for a set list heavy on recent songs and diss tracks.Lamar's fans said they were inspired by his spiteful performance.When Kendrick Lamar took the stage at the Super Bowl halftime show on Sunday, he knew that everyone watching both in the crowd at Caesars Superdome and in front of their TVs at home was waiting to hear "Not Like Us," his Drake diss track-turned No. 1 hit that depicts the Canadian rapper as a culture vulture and sexual deviant.Onstage Sunday night, Lamar took pleasure in toying with that anticipation. "I wanna make a move. I wanna perform their favorite song. But you know they love to sue," he said in a mid-performance skit, in apparent reference to Drake's recent legal threats, which which Lamar's label, Universal Music Group, has described as "contrived" and "absurd."As the instantly recognizable instrumental from "Not Like Us" blasted through the stadium, Lamar flashed a grin. "Yeah, that song," he teased. "Ah, maybe I'll think about it," he said before transitioning into "Luther," a slower highlight from his latest album "GNX," with SZA singing the hook.This mischievous swerve captured the spirit of Lamar's headline performance, a career-topping achievement for any artist. While performers tend to use the telecast, which typically draws in roughly 100 million viewers, as an opportunity to showcase a career-spanning medley of greatest hits, Lamar's setlist was laser focused on his most recent work, weaving overarching feelings of spite through it all.Lamar opted for gleeful pettiness over a setlist stacked with hitsThe dominant tone of Lamar's set kicked in long before he finally performed "Not Like Us." Half of the songs Lamar selected were from "GNX," which was released in the wake of his public clash with Drake and contains some of the most boastful, confrontational lyrics of his career.In this way, Lamar swapped his early-career party hits like "Swimming Pools (Drank)" and "Bitch, Don't Kill My Vibe" for on-theme anthems about power and conflict, like "Squabble Up" ("I got friends, I got foes, but they all sitting ducks"), "Man at the Garden" ("It's important, I deserve it all because it's mine / Tell me why you think you deserve the greatest of all time, motherfucker") and "TV Off" ("I get on they ass, yeah, somebody gotta do it / I'll make them n***** mad, yeah, somebody gotta do it").Lamar even shunned "Alright," arguably his signature song, which has been widely celebrated for its life-affirming, optimistic tone. Instead, he opted for "Humble," a song about embracing his own ego.The setlist's outlier appeared to be Lamar's 2018 duet with SZA, "All the Stars," which boasts all the trappings of a feel-good radio hit. But upon deeper inspection, the "Black Panther" theme song slots nicely into Lamar's current mentality. "I hate people that feel entitled / Look at me crazy 'cause I didn't invite you," he raps in the first verse. "Oh, you important? You the moral to the story? You endorsing? / Motherfucker, I don't even like you."Mocking his nemesis on national TV has made Lamar more influential than everLamar was not shy about his devious ambition on Sunday; he threaded the performance with both subtle and explicit digs at Drake that even a non-hip-hop fan would be hard-pressed to miss.After performing his fiery retort to conservative critics, "DNA," Lamar transitioned into "Euphoria" the first song he dedicated entirely to Drake last year, in which he famously declared, "I'm the biggest hater" while the lights in the crowd spelled out the word, "WARNING." A solid fifth of his set was dedicated to Drake diss tracks.When he finally launched into "Not Like Us" as the penultimate song, Lamar looked straight into the camera and smiled when he delivered the line, "Say, Drake, I hear you like 'em young." Lamar even recruited Serena Williams, the legendary athlete who was previously linked to Drake, to crip-walk during the song's exuberant chorus. "Serena hit that C walk like she was dancing on Drake's fresh grave," one fan quipped on X.Lamar also used spite as scathing cultural criticism Kendrick Lamar headlined the 2025 Super Bowl halftime show. PA Wire/PA Images via Getty Images All of this was set against the backdrop of Lamar's visual nods to Americana. He was flanked onstage by Samuel L. Jackson delivering spoken-word interludes as "Uncle Sam," demanding (unsuccessfully) that Lamar give the American public (read: white football fans) a "calm" and palatable show. Meanwhile, Lamar's dancers wore monochromatic outfits in either red, white, or blue. At one point, they assembled to imitate the American flag and turned their faces toward the floor, drawing focus to their backs evoking the labor of enslaved people this country was built upon.This symbolism stretches far beyond Lamar's beef with Drake, of course, but given the exploitative accusations that Lamar levels in "Not Like Us" ("You run to Atlanta when you need a few dollars / No, you not a colleague, you're a fucking colonizer"), they don't seem unrelated, either. Hip-hop was born as an expression of the Black experience in America. Lamar, born and raised in Compton, California, posits that Drake, who grew up in the suburbs of Toronto, does not share the genre's key cultural touchstones.Lamar's Super Bowl performance was more than a victory lap. Judging by headlines and social media reactions, Lamar won his duel with Drake back when he surprise-released "Not Like Us" last May and then again when he performed the song five times at his Juneteenth concert, and then again when he released the song's music video on Independence Day, and then again when he won five Grammy Awards last week.His Super Bowl performance was a celebration of ruthless, gleeful, unyielding malice and people loved it.During and immediately after the performance, users on X overflowed with applause and awe for Lamar's audacity."That was the pettiest shit ever. I'm inspired," one fan wrote. "Kendrick Lamar is proof that having an arch nemesis is a fundamental part of the human experience," wrote another. Lamar's impish smile became an instant meme, with captions like, "Gonna start sending this pic before I say the most hateful thing I can think of," and, "I send you this... I am out of my mind and it's too late."Complaints on X that Lamar hardly played any of his old hits were surprisingly sparse, especially for a platform that's fueled by gripes and whines. Sure, "Swimming Pools (Drank)" would've been cool to hear on the country's biggest stage, but Lamar didn't earn access to that stage by resting on his laurels.Much like Beyonc, who dedicated her halftime performance on Christmas Day to her latest album, "Cowboy Carter," Lamar doesn't need nostalgia to prove his greatness. As GQ editor Frazier Tharpe wrote, these superstars are "not in their imperial phase just to do a career retrospective set."Lamar is the first solo rapper in history to headline the Super Bowl halftime show, so his performance was always going to inspire raised eyebrows, hot takes, and theories. But as usual, Lamar himself summarized his intentions best: "40 acres and a mule, this is bigger than the music," he rapped to introduce "Not Like Us," a reference to the government's false promises of equality after the Civil War. "They tried to rig the game, but you can't fake influence."It was not lost on Lamar's audience that he staged this performance in front of President Donald Trump, who took a break from revoking antidiscrimination orders, enacting mass deportation, and dismantling the federal government to become the first sitting president to attend a Super Bowl.The response to Trump's second term, which began in January, has felt different than his first. Unlike the first go-round, the Democrats' reactions this time have so far featured fewer marches, "pussy hats," and displays of determined optimism.One could interpret this as a lack of passion from the opposing party, but maybe resistance to interlopers, to antagonists, to right-wing fascists is evolving into a different shape, one that resembles the thrust of Lamar's latest achievements. Hope and solidarity are not the only motivators for growth or social justice. Researchers have argued that spite works, too especially when it's sustained over time.In times like these, when standing up for what's right feels more urgent and daunting than ever, maybe spite is the best motivator we have. And if that's the case: long live Kendrick Lamar, king of the haters.