The best roguelike games offer a serious but rewarding commitment, inviting you to lose time and time again until you reach new heights. And then you get to repeat the process while retaining knowledge that shapes your future sessions, improving your skills with each subsequent run.The best roguelike games follow the philosophy of randomizing existing game elements and providing a different experience every time you start a new run, with the condition that a game over screen means restarting from scratch. The roguelite distinction is similar, but it involves permanent progression, be it in the form of story, unlockable paths, items, and so on.Our selection of the best roguelike games has something for every player, regardless of platform and subgenre of choice. Our picks intersect with rhythm, deckbuilding, platforming, puzzle, and shooter games, to name a few. The roguelike and roguelite genres keep gaining more ground as pillars for design choices, meaning that some of the games on this list will ring familiar with the selections in our best PS5 games and best PC game lists. You'll also find some overlap with our recommendations for the best indie games to play right now.As the middle of 2025 draws near, choosing the best roguelike games becomes tougher with each passing day. The likes of Nuclear Throne, The Binding of Isaac, and Enter the Gungeon progressively marked their place in the genre years ago. Now, roguelikes and roguelites are in abundance, with game developers coming up with novel spins and pushing the genre forward.Whether you're looking for something more traditional or a unique take on a genre that is brimming with creativity, our best roguelike games list is bound to add a few new experiences to have on your radar. BalatroDeveloper: LocalThunkRelease Date: February 20, 2024Platforms: PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S, Nintendo Switch, Android, iOS, PCIf you've seen your loved ones spending way too much time on their phones during the past year, it's likely due to LocalThunk's engrossing take on poker. Balatro is deceptively simple: Look at your hand, think of the combination that will net you the most points, and see the numbers go up.As you slowly make your way to tougher levels, gaining additional cards that multiply said score while granting an array of often absurd bonuses, you'll immediately understand the appeal. Balatro is not about poker, nor is it just a roguelike. It's a numbers game where you can rig the rules in your favor. Its challenges are hypnotizing, but once you achieve victory for the first time, it'll take you a while to play anything else. See at Amazon Pacific DriveDeveloper: Ironwood StudiosRelease Date: February 22, 2024Platforms: PlayStation 5, PCPacific Drive is not technically a roguelite, even if it shares quite a few similarities in how you navigate its world, picking up key items and tackling objectives as you escape from weather anomalies from the inside of your car. The Endless Expeditions update, however, does push the game toward that direction.Released on April 3 of this year, Expeditions takes you outside of the campaign and into a randomized map with modifiers and rewards, the latter including cosmetics and unique tools. The trick is that you won't be able to stock up on resources, as you're forced to scavenge and build your inventory from scratch each time.Expeditions only end once you've collected enough anchors on a map. The longer this takes, however, the harder the task will become, with anomalies gearing up in difficulty. If you're looking for an extra challenge or an interesting twist on the Pacific Drive formula, Expeditions is the answer.Fanatical and GameSpot are both owned by Fandom. See at Fanatical Dead CellsDeveloper: Motion TwinRelease Date: August 6, 2018Platforms: PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S, Nintendo Switch, Android, iOS, PCDead Cells is one of the pioneers of the new wave of roguelites of the past few years. Ever since its conception, developer Motion Twin set out to build an ambitious foundation--prioritizing a breakneck rhythm and flow in movement and attacks, rewarding fast reflexes and improvisation on the spot.The team continued to work on the game over the years, delivering a total of 35 major updates, expanding and ironing out possibly every element inside out. If at some point you think the base game doesn't have enough to offer, there are five DLCs (one of them free), including the Return to Castlevania expansion. As it stands, there might never be another game like Dead Cells, and that's okay. We'll still be playing it for years to come, while also witnessing the team trying out new ideas, such as the co-op roguelite Windblown, which is an early access game to watch. See at Fanatical Deep Rock Galactic: SurvivorDeveloper: Funday GamesRelease Date: February 14, 2024Platforms: PCIf you're a Left 4 Dead 2 fan, chances are that you've heard of Deep Rock Galactic, which takes the structure of the zombie-driven shooter and takes it in a different direction, featuring dwarves in space, alien monsters, and destructible environments. Deep Rock Galactic: Survivor, however, takes things even further.Released in Steam early access back on February 14, 2024, you're taken onto increasingly harder levels where your dwarf of choice attacks automatically. The Survivor-like is presented in a top-down perspective, with the mining mechanic taking center stage to unlock upgrades during runs and improve your chances.There have been four sizable updates, but even in its infancy, developer Funday Games struck gold when mining for resources. The combination of its existing setting with the roguelike genre is an enticing one. See at Steam Hades 2Developer: Supergiant GamesRelease Date: May 6, 2024Platforms: PCDeveloper Supergiant Games has famously never done sequels before--until Hades 2. The sequel follows the events of the first game, in which Zagreus, son of the Greek god of the underworld, fought his way to the surface. Now, his sister Melinöe is tasked with defeating Chronos, the god of time itself, who's posing a threat unknown to everyone to this point.The roguelite is similar in nature to its predecessor, advancing the story with each victorious or failed run, gradually uncovering layer upon layer of new characters, powers to combine and grow stronger with, and even more features to further customize your experience. Hades 2 is still in early access, but there's a ridiculous amount of story and challenges to go through. Plus, the sequel is one of the first games confirmed for the Nintendo Switch 2. The 1.0 release date is yet to be confirmed, but Supergiant is targeting 2025. See at Steam Darkest Dungeon 2Developer: Red Hook StudiosRelease Date: May 8, 2024Platforms: PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S, Nintendo Switch, PCDarkest Dungeon 2 entered early access in October 2021, with the full launch taking place on May 8. It had a tall order--surpassing the inimitable Darkest Dungeon, a tough roguelike centered around stress as a mechanic, with characters being driven mad or, on occasion, becoming inspired by the embrace of darkness and presence of heinous monsters.The sequel moves away from the structure of its predecessor, where you explored different biomes while managing resources and upgrading a home base. Now, it follows a structure similar to modern roguelite conventions, where you choose from different paths that are labeled with the rewards and challenges awaiting on the roads.While the combat shares some similarities, many new features shake up previous foundations, from playable origin stories for each hero to the affinity system, which takes the stress mechanic of the first game and adds a communal element to it by leading to different relationship archetypes between party members. Despite the change in presentation with more bells and whistles, Darkest Dungeon 2 retains the spirit of the first game--it's a visceral, tough-as-nails adventure that demands patience to overcome. See at Fanatical Rogue Legacy 2Developer: Cellar Door GamesRelease Date: April 28, 2022Platforms: PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S, Nintendo Switch, PCWhen the original Rogue Legacy launched in 2013, its combination of metroidvania with roguelite elements was already promising. Yet, it pushed things further with a genius feature where, each time you die, one of your children succeeds you. The trick? Everybody has unique traits, from gigantism and baldness to color blindness and dyslexia, which would have gameplay impacts from the beneficial to the hilarious.Rogue Legacy 2 pushes the novelty with even more traits and classes, including a bard and a dragon lancer. The metroidvania aspect has also been improved with the addition of unique items that permanently unlock abilities to further explore the world and unveil its secrets. It's a sequel that successfully ticks every box a sequel must, and does so with a familiar grace and humor that still has a lot to offer over a decade later. See at Steam Spelunky 2Developer: Mossmouth and BlitWorksRelease Date: September 29, 2020Platforms: PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S, Nintendo Switch, PCSpelunky is the classic go-to recommendation for a roguelike with ironclad design. The platformer with an Indiana Jones spirit made for one of the most challenging roguelites out there, requiring patience and the willingness to study every possible enemy pattern, trap, and miscalculation that can end your run, and then memorize it all for the next attempt.Spelunky 2 is a showcase of refinement upon refinement. Sure, it's touted with a bigger world with new areas to study, multiple routes to find and take advantage of, and an assortment of features meant to subvert long-standing fans' expectations. The sequel's greatest trick, however, is once again proving that meticulously thought design can elevate good ideas to admirable heights. The only way to improve is to keep trying, over and over, until surpassing the obstacles in your way becomes second nature. And then you get to do it all over again in the following area. See at Steam Slay the SpireDeveloper: Mega CritRelease Date: January 23, 2019Platforms: PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S, Nintendo Switch, Android, iOS, PCDeck-building has become a popular marriage candidate for roguelites, and Slay the Spire might be one of the games responsible for its popularity. The premise is simple: You pick a character who has a predefined card deck and jump into a procedurally generated run. The rewards, obstacles, and challenges roaming your chosen paths are always different, demanding different strategies.As you make your way through a game session, you'll collect more cards for your deck, slowly customizing the options available to fit different playstyles and adapt yourself to the danger at hand. Do you invest in dealing as much damage as possible, neglecting your defense? Do you try to come up with different synergies to create a jack-of-all-trades card deck? There's always something to learn and discover, and the number of combinations available to experiment with is seducingly daunting. The best part? There's a sequel in the works, slated for 2025. See at Steam Risk of Rain 2Developer: Hopoo GamesRelease Date: August 11, 2020Platforms: PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S, Nintendo Switch, PCRisk of Rain 2 is one of the few roguelites that explored the idea of taking the often pixel art, 2D-driven presentations of the genre and experimenting with 3D instead. Taking the elements that made its predecessor great, from enemy design to the different survivors you control, the change of perspective led to a breath of fresh air in the genre, and one of the most entertaining online games out there.The 1.0 release on August 11, 2020 has been followed up with hefty updates and paid DLC since. You can spend hours just fooling around with friends and seeing how far you can go. Once you get invested in the game's most intricate secrets and mechanics, however, you'll find out that the thrill comes down to becoming an unstoppable force challenged by a dynamic difficulty meter that's constantly keeping you on your toes. The use of 3D, then, isn't a mere novelty--it literally shines a new light on what roguelites can achieve when looked at from a different perspective, adding a different sense of movement and scale to the usual roguelite chaos. See at Steam Crypt of the NecrodancerDeveloper: Brace Yourself GamesRelease Date: April 23, 2015Platforms: PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch, Android, iOS, PCCrypt of the Necrodancer might be one of the oldest picks of our best roguelike games list, but the reason is simple: No other roguelite has managed to combine the genre conventions with the mechanics of a rhythm game to such success. Every movement and action in the game is tied to the beat of the soundtrack blasting in the background.Enemies have different patterns that you must learn, all while carefully moving on tiles as if you were tapping the floor with your foot following a song. Even if you're not rhythm game savvy, the mix of both genres is accommodating enough to make you a believer--right until you meet a dragon for the first time, that is. After the original release, Cadence of Hyrule followed up on the concept, with the studio collaborating with Nintendo for a different take on The Legend of Zelda. But Crypt of the Necrodancer remains a worthy rogue classic. See at Steam Into the BreachDeveloper: Subset GamesRelease Date: February 27, 2018Platforms: Nintendo Switch, Android, iOS, PCThe alien invasion grows in numbers. You must assemble a squad of a handful of units and try to beat the odds. When you inevitably meet your demise, the last person standing creates a rift and travels to a different timeline. Time to start again.Into the Breach has a steep learning curve. Its design conventions, however, make it worth the effort to learn how to best use the space given to you and how your units can counterattack the alien push. The game is clear about the consequences of your movements on each map grid--whether or not you'll be able to land an attack, if one of your mechs will be caught in a tidal wave or an enemy projectile, and so on.Often, playing the strategy roguelike feels like a series of elaborate board games, where you carefully move pieces and spend your time thinking of the best possible plan. When it all comes together, the satisfaction is unparalleled. But even when you fail and you're sent to another timeline to commence anew, there's a thrill in knowing that next time might be the one if you take the time to analyze your movements and execute with care.Into the Breach is also the rare game to receive a 10/10 from GameSpot. See at Steam Loop HeroDeveloper: Four QuartersRelease Date: March 4, 2021Platforms: Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S, Nintendo Switch, Android, iOS, PCThe concept of loops and the repetitive nature of roguelites are a natural pairing. Loop Hero not only understands it, but extends it further by turning you into a dungeon master of sorts. You're given the choice of a hero and a map layout, as well as a deck of cards. You can place different types of terrain and structures, each having its own pros and cons. But you also need to place enemies, slowly making each loop--where the character walks a full cycle of the map--more intricate to navigate.The randomized nature of roguelites is heightened by giving you agency over the dangers that your hero will have to overcome. With a large number of unlockables to pursue after each session, as well as a captivating presentation, Loop Hero is one of the most inventive roguelites out there. See at Fanatical ReturnalDeveloper: HousemarqueRelease Date: April 30, 2021Platforms: PlayStation 5, PCHousemarque's expertise lies in games with an arcade nature, from Resogun to Nex Machina. At first glance, Returnal seems different--its presentation is powered by a level of production that screams AAA game. Initially introduced as a PlayStation 5 exclusive, the third-person shooter makes an interesting use of the roguelite concept, intertwining story events with each death. Similarly to Hades, meeting your demise rarely means taking a step back.Don't let its prestigious look deceive you, though--Returnal is the living proof of a modern arcade game, taking cues from the bullet hell genre. This means that you must be in constant movement, carefully timing dodges and narrow jumps to avoid a barrage of projectiles coming your way from all directions. A sequel is slated for 2026, but the first game deserves all of your attention. It's one of the best games in the PlayStation catalog, and a thrilling showcase of how a roguelite structure can inform a story, blending into one coexisting vehicle for a narrative that wouldn't work elsewhere. See at Fanatical Shogun ShowdownDeveloper: RoboatinoRelease Date: September 5, 2024Platforms: PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S, Nintendo Switch, PCDeveloper Roboatino saw the synergy of roguelike and deck-building elements and decided to add turn-based combat to the mix. You command a lone hero who must take positioning and time into consideration to defeat multiple enemies and make it out unscathed.Using an inventive mechanic regarding the tiles you set foot on, Shogun Showdown hides a surprising level of depth, which you gradually uncover the more time you spend with it. You can upgrade and sacrifice different movements and skills in between battles, and as you die, you'll unlock new characters and attacks to experiment with. If you want to test the game's combat by yourself, there's a free prologue available on PC. See at Fanatical Blue PrinceDeveloper: DogubombRelease Date: April 10, 2025Platforms: PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S, PCIn Blue Prince, you're a fourteen-year-old boy next in line for an inheritance. The catch is that you first need to explore a manor that changes its inner structure each day, hiding access to the elusive room 46 somewhere within its bowels. Dogubomb's title is part puzzle game, part roguelite, part investigative game.When you start a new day, you're given a number of steps that you can take inside the manor. Upon interacting with a door, the game grants you a random selection of rooms, each containing a puzzle, resource items, or a clue to a larger mystery. Sometimes all three of them. The deeper you plunge into Blue Prince, the higher the chances of becoming engrossed by the sheer amount of layers upon layers of puzzles to solve. See at Fanatical Caves of QudDeveloper: Freehold GamesRelease Date: December 5, 2024Platforms: PCDevelopment for Caves of Qud began back in 2007, with the first public beta being released to the world in 2010. Then, after almost a decade in Steam early access, the game was fully launched on December 5, 2024. The science-fantasy roguelike is brimming with emergent stories, offering a deeply simulated world where you can shape the environment as you see fit, join one of over 70 factions, or simply get lost in the overwhelming number of possible actions and outcomes available.In Caves of Qud, every NPC and monster is as fully simulated as you, meaning that they all have their own skills, equipment, body parts, and levels. The body parts are important, as there are multiple mutations at play, from two heads to the power of cloning oneself. The sandbox nature and painstaking level of detail have added an unmatched identity to the roguelike over its long lifespan. Now, there's never been a better time to take a plunge and become a part of its labyrinthine systems and intricate synergies that are happening in the game without your input. See at Steam FTL: Faster Than LightDeveloper: Subset GamesRelease Date: September 14, 2021Platforms: iOS, PCCommanding a party is a classic go-to for roguelites. Being the captain of a spaceship where you must attend to your crew and rooms individually, however, is an idea that is still novel to this day. Before Into the Breach, developer Subset Games came up with a different adventure in outer space.Presented with randomly generated galaxies, you must pick different paths to warp to, taking care and managing your spaceship in your ventures. Everything from the state of the hull to the level of oxygen must be accounted for. While you might be lucky with the galaxy destinations you pick, your crew will inevitably have to confront other ships.It's during these moments that FTL: Faster Than Light showcases its exhilarating mix of mechanics, forcing you to act fast by putting up fires, deciding which rooms to open and which ones to close, and sending crew members to repair the ship, all while using similar strategies on the enemy at hand. There's no other game like FTL. See at Steam InscryptionDeveloper: Daniel Mullins GamesRelease Date: October 19, 2021Platforms: PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S, Nintendo Switch, PCThe creator of the eerie Pony Island took a stab at the roguelike genre in 2021 with Inscryption. At first, you don't know where you are--all you can see is the inside of a dark cabin, and a strange figure that invites you to play a card game. The creepiness sets in more and more over time, as you use cards depicting animals that seem to be alive, trying to make progress in the game while also looking for an opportunity to try and figure out how to escape the cabin.Inscription has multiple twists that are best left as a secret. If you want a general indication of what to expect, however, this roguelike pulls you into an obscure setting that becomes darker the more time you spend with it, subverting existing genre conventions and familiar mechanics with a horror twist. See at Fanatical Dome KeeperDeveloper: BippinbitsRelease Date: September 27, 2022Platforms: PCDome Keeper is a great game for people who enjoy multitasking. As the name implies, you must protect a dome from enemy attacks. In order to do so, you must dig underneath the surface to search for resources and artifacts, which are used to choose upgrades and different ways to defend your base.Enemies won't just sit and wait, however. You only have a limited time to dig in between attack waves. Picking your upgrades carefully will make or break your chances of survival to gain another chance at plunging through the surface and build better defenses. Dome Keeper is an ambitious survival game that takes cue from roguelikes and tower defense games to create a different kind of challenge to overcome. See at Fanatical Monster TrainDeveloper: Shiny ShoeRelease Date: May 20, 2020Platforms: PlayStation 5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S, Nintendo Switch, iOS, PCMonster Train is the distant cousin of Slay the Spire. You're given a deck of cards that you slowly grow during runs, as well as different paths to choose from. The twist is how combat encounters are structured, turning elements like positioning and card strategies on their head.Whenever you face enemies, you're presented with a large vertical structure that has three play fields. You must carefully plan where to place your cards to defend the train's core. It's an idea that's pushed to its limit time and time again with the cards available and the ways in which enemies can also strategize around your defenses. Monster Train is a prime example of how much innovation is still in the genre. See at Fanatical Vampire SurvivorsDeveloper: PoncleRelease Date: October 20, 2022Platforms: PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S, Nintendo Switch, Android, iOS, PCTaking inspiration from a mobile game called Magic Survival, in which the main character attacked automatically without the player's input, developer Poncle leaned on a fascination for Castlevania's aesthetic to iterate on the concept. The simple idea led to an absurd amount of characters, levels, and items to unlock--including, of course, an official collaboration with Konami to include more than just indirect references to the Castlevania series.Playing a Vampire Survivors stage can last anything from 15 to 20 or 30 minutes--if you can survive long enough with the items you've acquired. Even if you fail, however, you're constantly unlocking items, characters, and stages to explore in subsequent runs. It's a game that's best described as a Pandora's Box equivalent. Especially considering the chaos that it will likely inflict on your schedule. See at Steam Hitman World of Assassination: Freelancer ModeDeveloper: IO InteractiveRelease Date: January 26, 2023Platforms: PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S, PCThe Hitman series has always excelled in presenting puzzle boxes that double down as playgrounds to blend in, follow your target, and take them down in increasingly ridiculous ways. Freelancer Mode, introduced to Hitman World of Assassination on January 26, 2023, adds a different spin to the premise with a persistent and highly replayable experience.In this mode, targets are always random, and you're given access to different bonus objectives. Making use of a hub exclusive to Freelancer, Agent 47 must choose a crime syndicate to pursue, which sets the mood of the campaign, and then get started without any equipment or weapons. If you've already mastered the classic Hitman levels or you just want a different, ridiculously polished roguelike experience, Freelancer Mode is a distinct and ambitious take on the genre. Worth mentioning that Hitman World of Assassination is also slated to launch on Nintendo Switch 2. See at Steam InkboundDeveloper: Shiny ShoeRelease Date: April 9, 2024Platforms: PCFrom the makers of Monster Train comes Inkbound, a turn-based tactical roguelike that offers co-op, and synergies that are heightened by coordinating with others online. Players can move freely and act simultaneously in multiplayer, picking from eight different classes to try out different combinations.There's also a deck-building element of sorts involved in the vein of draftable abilities, upgrades, and an array of items to use in-game. It's an intriguing blend of genres that might take some time to get used to. Once things click, however, you and the rest of the party will be working in tandem to see how far you can push your strategies. See at Steam God of War Ragnarok: ValhallaDeveloper: Santa Monica StudiosRelease Date: December 12, 2023Platforms: PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, PCGod of War Ragnarok is a behemoth of an action-RPG, featuring a lengthy campaign across open areas with side quests, collectibles, and dozens of corners to explore. If you're looking for a break from the main story or just want to try a new roguelite that elevates some of the game's strengths in a different structure, the free Valhalla DLC is a must play.Taking place after the events of the main story (although you can jump into it at any point from the main menu without worrying about spoilers of the main campaign), Valhalla has Kratos going through a series of punishing trials, which slowly serve as a therapy session of sorts as he reminiscences of the events that happened during the original trilogy of God of War games.The bite-sized rendition of combat encounters shines a different light on combat mechanics that you may already be familiar with. And, taking cues from the likes of Hades and Returnal, each death pushes the story forward in meaningful ways. Valhalla is a rare combination of genres that shouldn't work as well as they do, and it deserves your time before the next adventure of Kratos inevitably rolls in. See at Fanatical NoitaDeveloper: Nolla GamesRelease Date: October 15, 2020Platforms: PCAfter a short early access period in 2019, Noita was fully released in October 2020, and provided an escape from the horrors of that year with, well, more horrors. Its punishing difficulty and procedurally-generated worlds provide deep and engaging gameplay. Noita places you in the shoes of a wand-wielding alchemist navigating a deadly, destructible world. The seemingly simple pixel art style leads to complexity where water flows, acid burns, fire spreads, and cave-ins can be triggered by a single misplaced explosive.Unlike many roguelikes that focus on stat-based progression, Noita appeals to player creativity and experimentation. The game's wand crafting system is a particular highlight, allowing you to mix and match spells, modifiers, and triggers to create devastating effects or strange contraptions that alter the way the game plays with every decision. The fun of Noita is learning how to break it in delightfully chaotic ways. This customization means each run feels unique, not just because of the randomized levels, but because the tools at your disposal and the way you choose to implement them define each playthrough. Noita is deeper than it first appears, with plenty of secrets and mysteries to uncover. Its expansive hidden world and lore begs to be uncovered, and the community engagement and conversation around it continues even half a decade on from its release. Experiment with fire, mess around with slime, and Noita will reward your curiosity. You'll find that, most of the time, death in Noita stems from your own creation, giving the game a cruel sense of irony and punishment. Despite that, or perhaps even because of that, Noita is a beautiful experience. See at Steam

Meta is looking to up its weakening AI game with a key talent grab. Following days of speculation, the social media giant has confirmed that Scale AI’s founder and CEO, Alexandr Wang, is joining Meta to work on its AI efforts. Meta will invest $14.3 billion in Scale AI as part of the deal, and will have a 49% stake in the AI startup, which specializes in data labeling and model evaluation services. Other key Scale employees will also move over to Meta, while CSO Jason Droege will step in as Scale’s interim CEO. This move comes as the Mark Zuckerberg-led company goes all-in on building a new research lab focused on “superintelligence,” the next step beyond artificial general intelligence (AGI). The arrangement also reflects a growing trend in big tech, where industry giants are buying companies without really buying them — what’s increasingly being referred to as “acqui-hiring.” It involves recruiting key personnel from a company, licensing its technology, and selling its products, but leaving it as a private entity. “This is fundamentally a massive ‘acqui-hire’ play disguised as a strategic investment,” said Wyatt Mayham, lead AI consultant at Northwest AI Consulting. “While Meta gets Scale’s data infrastructure, the real prize is Wang joining Meta to lead their superintelligence lab. At the $14.3 billion price tag, this might be the most expensive individual talent acquisition in tech history.” Closing gaps with competitors Meta has struggled to keep up with OpenAI, Anthropic, and other key competitors in the AI race, recently even delaying the launch of its new flagship model, Behemoth, purportedly due to internal concerns about its performance. It has also seen the departure of several of its top researchers.  “It’s not really a secret at this point that Meta’s Llama 4 models have had significant performance issues,” Mayham said. “Zuck is essentially betting that Wang’s track record building AI infrastructure can solve Meta’s alignment and model quality problems faster than internal development.” And, he added, Scale’s enterprise-grade human feedback loops are exactly what Meta’s Llama models need to compete with ChatGPT and Claude on reliability and task-following. Data quality, a key focus for Wang, is a big factor in solving those performance problems. He wrote in a note to Scale employees on Thursday, later posted on X (formerly Twitter), that when he founded Scale AI in 2016 amidst some of the early AI breakthroughs, “it was clear even then that data was the lifeblood of AI systems, and that was the inspiration behind starting Scale.” But despite Meta’s huge investment, Scale AI is underscoring its commitment to sovereignty: “Scale remains an independent leader in AI, committed to providing industry-leading AI solutions and safeguarding customer data,” the company wrote in a blog post. “Scale will continue to partner with leading AI labs, multinational enterprises, and governments to deliver expert data and technology solutions through every phase of AI’s evolution.” Allowing big tech to side-step notification But while it’s only just been inked, the high-profile deal is already raising some eyebrows. According to experts, arrangements like these allow tech companies to acquire top talent and key technologies in a side-stepping manner, thus avoiding regulatory notification requirements. The US Federal Trade Commission (FTC) requires mergers and acquisitions totaling more than $126 million be reported in advance. Licensing deals or the mass hiring-away of a company’s employees don’t have this requirement. This allows companies to move more quickly, as they don’t have to undergo the lengthy federal review process. Microsoft’s deal with Inflection AI is probably one of the highest-profile examples of the “acqui-hiring” trend. In March 2024, the tech giant paid the startup $650 million in licensing fees and hired much of its team, including co-founders Mustafa Suleyman (now CEO of Microsoft AI) and Karén Simonyan (chief scientist of Microsoft AI). Similarly, last year Amazon hired more than 50% of Adept AI’s key personnel, including its CEO, to focus on AGI. Google also inked a licensing agreement with Character AI and hired a majority of its founders and researchers. However, regulators have caught on, with the FTC launching inquiries into both the Microsoft-Inflection and Amazon-Adept deals, and the US Justice Department (DOJ) analyzing Google-Character AI. Reflecting ‘desperation’ in the AI industry Meta’s decision to go forward with this arrangement anyway, despite that dicey backdrop, seems to indicate how anxious the company is to keep up in the AI race. “The most interesting piece of this all is the timing,” said Mayham. “It reflects broader industry desperation. Tech giants are increasingly buying parts of promising AI startups to secure key talent without acquiring full companies, following similar patterns with Microsoft-Inflection and Google-Character AI.” However, the regulatory risks are “real but nuanced,” he noted. Meta’s acquisition could face scrutiny from antitrust regulators, particularly as the company is involved in an ongoing FTC lawsuit over its Instagram and WhatsApp acquisitions. While the 49% ownership position appears designed to avoid triggering automatic thresholds, US regulatory bodies like the FTC and DOJ can review minority stake acquisitions under the Clayton Antitrust Act if they seem to threaten competition. Perhaps more importantly, Meta is not considered a leader in AGI development and is trailing OpenAI, Anthropic, and Google, meaning regulators may not consider the deal all that concerning (yet). All told, the arrangement certainly signals Meta’s recognition that the AI race has shifted from a compute and model size competition to a data quality and alignment battle, Mayham noted. “I think the [gist] of this is that Zuck’s biggest bet is that talent and data infrastructure matter more than raw compute power in the AI race,” he said. “The regulatory risk is manageable given Meta’s trailing position, but the acqui-hire premium shows how expensive top AI talent has become.”

Meta (Nasdaq:META) is restructuring its AI division into two distinct units, AI Products and AGI Foundations, marking its most significant internal overhaul as it races to compete with OpenAI and Google. The move, detailed in an internal memo from Chief Product Officer Chris Cox and reported by Axios, appoints Connor Hayes to lead AI product integration while Ahmad Al-Dahle and Amir Frenkel will co-direct long-term AGI research. The restructuring comes amid mounting crises, including the delayed Llama 4 Behemoth model and the departure of key Llama architects to competitors like Mistral AI. This marks Meta’s second major AI reorganization since CEO Mark Zuckerberg’s 2023 attempt to “turbocharge” generative AI efforts, which saw the company fall further behind rivals despite early promise. “Structural changes alone won’t solve Meta’s AI challenges,” said Amandeep Singh, practice director at QKS Group. “While the new AGI Foundations unit creates clarity, retaining elite talent requires a seamless pipeline from research to real-world deployment. Meta has struggled with fragmented pipelines and unclear priorities,” added Singh. Talent exodus and technical setbacks The restructuring follows talent losses that have exposed fundamental weaknesses in Meta’s AI strategy. Only three authors remain from the original 14-person Llama research team, according to Business Insider. Internal surveys cited by The Information reveal plummeting morale in Meta’s AI division, where employees cite resource constraints and sluggish progress. “Talent follows momentum, and right now, momentum lives where research decisions directly shape deployed capabilities,” noted Singh. This talent drain coincides with technical setbacks, most notably the underperforming Llama 4 model, which has struggled with reasoning and mathematical tasks. These combined challenges have left Meta playing catch-up in the race toward artificial general intelligence, despite its early open-source advantages. The company’s strategy, bolstered by initiatives such as Llama for Startups and the recent Llama API launch, aims to attract developers and differentiate it from competitors’ proprietary models. But analysts caution these initiatives alone may not be enough to win enterprise trust. The enterprise adoption dilemma While Llama’s cost advantages remain attractive to businesses, growing concerns about its governance controls and the looming copyright lawsuit over training data are giving enterprises pause. “Companies love Llama’s affordability but expanding safety gaps and legal risks are becoming hard to ignore,” Singh said. “For mission-critical applications, many will ultimately choose more reliable, if more expensive, options like GPT or Gemini.” These cost benefits can lose their appeal when weighed against operational risks. Meta’s reorganization attempts to mitigate these concerns through specialized teams, one deploying generative AI across products, another advancing AGI research, but analysts remain skeptical about whether structural changes alone can solve deeper issues. Unlike Microsoft’s turnkey OpenAI integration or Google’s enterprise-ready Vertex AI platform, Meta lacks both the sales infrastructure and compliance pedigree for regulated industries. As Singh argued, “Enterprise AI adoption hinges on proven compliance frameworks, operational reliability, and mature support systems. Meta still needs to build that trust at Fortune 500 scale.” Meta’s race to close the AGI gap “Meta’s AGI push focused on models with reasoning, multimedia, and voice capabilities aligns with the broader industry trend toward multimodal AI as a catalyst for enterprise transformation,” said Surjyadeb Goswami, research director for AI and Automation at IDC Asia Pacific. He noted that open-source models are critical to enabling cost-effective, transparent, and customizable deployments, especially as organizations deepen their GenAI investments. For Meta to truly capitalize on this opportunity and succeed in its AGI bid, it must rebuild trust especially for enterprise adoption. Singh highlighted the need for Linux-like community stewardship, OpenAI-level safety protocols, and robust enterprise tooling. “Balancing openness with responsibility is Meta’s real challenge, especially as models approach general-purpose cognitive capability.” Meta now needs to show this reorganization yields meaningful improvements in model performance, talent retention, and enterprise adoption to validate its new approach. “Meta’s open-source vision is bold, but execution is everything,” Singh concluded.

A U.S. Air Force B-17 'Flying Fortress' bomber flies through the sky.   Image: R. Gates/Hulton Archive/Getty Images Get the Popular Science daily newsletter💡 Breakthroughs, discoveries, and DIY tips sent every weekday. A man in Marengo, Illinois, is on a mission to fully restore a World War II-era B-17 bomber—a project he’s been diligently working on in a roadside barn for the past 40 years. A lifelong aviation enthusiast, Mike Kellner began his journey in high school after hearing that a junkyard in Maine was looking to offload the abandoned remains of the historic bomber. The asking price was “$7,000 or best offer” for a collection of disassembled parts. Kellner loaded the 75-foot aluminum behemoth onto a house trailer (he had to extend it by about 10 feet) and hauled it halfway across the country with a pickup truck. It’s lived in his barn ever since. Kellner shared the decades-long story of his restoration project with local outlet WGN earlier this week.  And unlike many World War II-era roadside relics, this one isn’t just collecting dust. Kellner has spent countless hours working to restore the plane to its former glory, performing his own repairs, adding finishing touches, and tracking down an array of rare and hard-to-find parts. Word of his efforts spread, attracting other aviation enthusiasts who have volunteered their time over the years to assist with the restoration. Kellner documents the entire process on a Facebook page, which features thousands of update posts dating back to 2010. He doesn’t just want the project to be something pretty to look at—he wants it to fly. “It is a piece of history, and I would like the opportunity to fly it,” Kellner told WGN. Popular Science reached out to Kellner for more details but has not heard back.  Rebuilding a ‘Flying fortress’  The B-17 was the most iconic bomber used by the US military during the second World War. Its origin actually traces back a decade earlier to 1934, when the Army Air Corps approached Boeing with an ask to design and develop a massive plane capable of carrying bombs at 10,000 feet and for more than 10 hours. The military wanted a new breed of bomber that would be able to travel beyond enemy lines at great distances and drop bombs with precision. It needed to be able to reach altitudes high enough to fly outside of the range of enemy antiaircraft artillery. The eventual B-17 featured a state-of-the-art Norden bombsight to maintain accuracy even at extreme altitudes.  Early versions of the B-17 entered production in 1937, but manufacturing ramped up significantly after the U.S. officially entered World War II in 1941. The bomber that eventually flew missions behind enemy lines featured four engines—a major upgrade from the then-standard two—and was equipped with a smattering of gun turrets, including ones in the nose, upper fuselage, and tail. This cornucopia of munitions, combined with the aircraft’s mammoth size, earned it the nickname “Flying Fortress.” The B-17 currently being resurrected in Kellner’s barn reportedly carries two names. One, “Desert Rat,” is painted in bold yellow lettering on the aircraft’s exterior. The other, “Tangerine,” was discovered later, scrawled somewhere inside the fuselage.It’s unclear how much longer Kellner will need to make his dream of flying the Desert Rat a reality. The task seems like a daunting one for someone working part-time on a shoestring budget but then again, few would have likely predicted he would have made it this far to begin with. You can keep up with all of Kellner’s progress by following his official Facebook page here.

In early 2004, after defeating Krona, the Justice League and the Avengers said their goodbyes as each team returned to their proper universe. It was the last time that Marvel and DC would cross paths in any official capacity for decades. Well, unless you count the roundabout way of having them duke it out with Fortnite skins. In terms of comics, the two industry giants would keep separate, especially once Marvel was scooped up by Disney. After 21 years, the two worlds will collide once again. In September, Marvel is releasing Deadpool/Batman, written by Zeb Wells with art by Greg Capullo (including backup stories featuring talent like Kevin Smith, Chip Zdarsky, Adam Kubert, and more). Then in November, DC is doing Batman/Deadpool, written by Grant Morrison with art by Dan Mora. On top of that, this is apparently only the beginning, as there will be Marvel/DC crossovers happening on an annual basis. That does bring into question some choice narration from Doctor Manhattan in 2017’s Doomsday Clock. In the DC Universe/Watchmen event, the omnipotent, blue-donged god noted that in 2030 there would be an event known as “The Secret Crisis,” which would involve Superman fighting Thor across the universe and the heroic sacrifice of one unnamed green behemoth. A hopeful joke or something more? Regardless of what the future brings, starting things off with dual meetings between the Dark Knight and the Merc with a Mouth is a brilliant choice. They could have had Superman team up with Spider-Man all over again or something just as on the nose, but this is fresh and has tons of potential. Here are some reasons why. Deadpool Missed Out The first crossover between the companies was 1976’s Superman vs. The Amazing Spider-Man. While there had been a few other attempts in the ‘70s and ‘80s, it wasn’t until the mid-’90s that they went absolutely ham with it. Over a six-year stretch starting in 1994, there were fifteen different team-ups and cross-company battles. This includes the memorable and oh-so-dated Marvel vs. DC event and its dip into Amalgam, the merged reality where Dark Claw (Wolverine/Batman) and his sidekick Sparrow (Jubilee/Robin) fight Hyena (Sabretooth/Joker). Meanwhile, though Deadpool was introduced in 1990, he wasn’t really cared about among comic fans until the 1997 solo run by Joe Kelly and Ed McGuinness. By the time Deadpool really picked up steam in popularity (Deadpool actually won a fight based on reader votes against Daredevil in 1999’s Contest of Champions II), the DC alliance was on its way out. The poor guy didn’t even get to be in Amalgam. They merged Deathstroke the Terminator with Daredevil instead. Centering this Batman story on a mainstream hero who wasn’t mainstream enough back in the ‘90s only adds a new coat of paint onto this novelty. The Previous Batman and Deadpool Crossover Then again, this wouldn’t exactly be the first time Batman and Deadpool have crossed paths. In an unofficial way, they have met. Sort of. As mentioned, the Kelly/McGuinness run of Deadpool was iconic and character-defining. That same creative team worked on Superman/Batman Annual #1 back in 2006. In a modern retelling of the pre-Crisis storyline where Bruce and Clark discovered each other’s secret identities on a cruise, the two had to deal with both Deathstroke and Deathstroke’s heroic Earth-3 doppelganger. Outside of the blue and orange color scheme, Earth-3 Deathstroke was Deadpool in as many ways as they could legally get away with. This included constantly getting interrupted with extreme violence whenever he was about to say his actual name. Still, even being in a separate company never stopped Deadpool from razzing on Batman. In his movies alone, he’s made fun of how dark the DC Universe is, crapped on the ending of Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, and joked about how Wolverine’s mask is like Batman’s with actual neck mobility. Speaking of… The Writers Understand the Assignment Zeb Wells might not be the most popular comic writer right now due to reasons involving Ms. Marvel’s death and… Paul. Still, he was one of the writers of Deadpool & Wolverine. People seemed to like that one. The guy knows a thing or two about putting Deadpool with a gruff, brooding superhero with reluctant father issues. This one will probably have less mutual bludgeoning… er, at least I hope it will. Join our mailing list Get the best of Den of Geek delivered right to your inbox! On the other side of things, we have Grant Morrison. Morrison is no stranger to the X-Men corner of Marvel, but he’s strangely never touched Deadpool before. Considering how much Morrison loves playing with the fourth wall and the boundaries between reality and fiction (Animal Man, Flex Mentallo, Seven Soldiers: Zatanna), it’s a real surprise that they never got to write for Marvel’s most self-aware antihero. Letting Deadpool Loose in Gotham On paper, the idea of having Deadpool specifically mixing things up with Harley Quinn might have made for a more fitting crossover. Unfortunately, DC kind of beat that into the ground with their “we can rip off your guy more blatantly than you can rip off ours” creation Red Tool, a regular in Harley’s comics. Regardless, having Deadpool mix it up with the worst of Gotham has legs. If anything, the very idea of Deadpool antagonizing the Joker is enough to sell issues. We could see him make Bane look nearly useless by recovering from a broken spine in seconds. We could find out what happens when Wade huffs fear gas. He could brutalize a confused Penguin for what happened to Victor in the HBO Max season finale. An official Deadpool vs. Deathstroke showdown is on the table. The possibilities are endless! As for Batman, he could… um… He… could fight… huh. Is T-Ray still a thing? Deadpool/Batman #1 will be released on September 17, 2025. Batman/Deadpool #1 is set to arrive in November.

James Gentz has seen birds aplenty on his East Texas rice-and-crawfish farm: snow geese and pintails, spoonbills and teal. The whooping crane couple, though, he found “magnificent.” These endangered, long-necked behemoths arrived in 2021 and set to building a nest amid his flooded fields. “I just loved to see them,” Gentz says. Not every farmer is thrilled to host birds. Some worry about the spread of avian flu, others are concerned that the birds will eat too much of their valuable crops. But as an unstable climate delivers too little water, careening temperatures and chaotic storms, the fates of human food production and birds are ever more linked—with the same climate anomalies that harm birds hurting agriculture too. In some places, farmer cooperation is critical to the continued existence of whooping cranes and other wetland-dependent waterbird species, close to one-third of which are experiencing declines. Numbers of waterfowl (think ducks and geese) have crashed by 20 percent since 2014, and long-legged wading shorebirds like sandpipers have suffered steep population losses. Conservation-minded biologists, nonprofits, government agencies, and farmers themselves are amping up efforts to ensure that each species survives and thrives. With federal support in the crosshairs of the Trump administration, their work is more important (and threatened) than ever. Their collaborations, be they domestic or international, are highly specific, because different regions support different kinds of agriculture—grasslands, or deep or shallow wetlands, for example, favored by different kinds of birds. Key to the efforts is making it financially worthwhile for farmers to keep—or tweak—practices to meet bird forage and habitat needs. Traditional crawfish-and-rice farms in Louisiana, as well as in Gentz’s corner of Texas, mimic natural freshwater wetlands that are being lost to saltwater intrusion from sea level rise. Rice grows in fields that are flooded to keep weeds down; fields are drained for harvest by fall. They are then re-flooded to cover crawfish burrowed in the mud; these are harvested in early spring—and the cycle begins again. That second flooding coincides with fall migration—a genetic and learned behavior that determines where birds fly and when—and it lures massive numbers of egrets, herons, bitterns, and storks that dine on the crustaceans as well as on tadpoles, fish, and insects in the water. On a biodiverse crawfish-and-rice farm, “you can see 30, 40, 50 species of birds, amphibians, reptiles, everything,” says Elijah Wojohn, a shorebird conservation biologist at nonprofit Manomet Conservation Sciences in Massachusetts. In contrast, if farmers switch to less water-intensive corn and soybean production in response to climate pressures, “you’ll see raccoons, deer, crows, that’s about it.” Wojohn often relies on word-of-mouth to hook farmers on conservation; one learned to spot whimbrel, with their large, curved bills, got “fired up” about them and told all his farmer friends. Such farmer-to-farmer dialogue is how you change things among this sometimes change-averse group, Wojohn says. In the Mississippi Delta and in California, where rice is generally grown without crustaceans, conservation organizations like Ducks Unlimited have long boosted farmers’ income and staying power by helping them get paid to flood fields in winter for hunters. This attracts overwintering ducks and geese—considered an extra “crop”—that gobble leftover rice and pond plants; the birds also help to decompose rice stalks so farmers don’t have to remove them. Ducks Unlimited’s goal is simple, says director of conservation innovation Scott Manley: Keep rice farmers farming rice. This is especially important as a changing climate makes that harder. 2024 saw a huge push, with the organization conserving 1 million acres for waterfowl. Some strategies can backfire. In Central New York, where dwindling winter ice has seen waterfowl lingering past their habitual migration times, wildlife managers and land trusts are buying less productive farmland to plant with native grasses; these give migratory fuel to ducks when not much else is growing. But there’s potential for this to produce too many birds for the land available back in their breeding areas, says Andrew Dixon, director of science and conservation at the Mohamed Bin Zayed Raptor Conservation Fund in Abu Dhabi, and coauthor of an article about the genetics of bird migration in the 2024 Annual Review of Animal Biosciences. This can damage ecosystems meant to serve them. Recently, conservation efforts spanning continents and thousands of miles have sprung up. One seeks to protect buff-breasted sandpipers. As they migrate 18,000 miles to and from the High Arctic where they nest, the birds experience extreme hunger—hyperphagia—that compels them to voraciously devour insects in short grasses where the bugs proliferate. But many stops along the birds’ round-trip route are threatened. There are water shortages affecting agriculture in Texas, where the birds forage at turf grass farms; grassland loss and degradation in Paraguay; and in Colombia, conversion of forage lands to exotic grasses and rice paddies these birds cannot use. Conservationists say it’s critical to protect habitat for “buffies” all along their route, and to ensure that the winters these small shorebirds spend around Uruguay’s coastal lagoons are a food fiesta. To that end, Manomet conservation specialist Joaquín Aldabe, in partnership with Uruguay’s agriculture ministry, has so far taught 40 local ranchers how to improve their cattle grazing practices. Rotationally moving the animals from pasture to pasture means grasses stay the right length for insects to flourish. There are no easy fixes in the North American northwest, where bird conservation is in crisis. Extreme drought is causing breeding grounds, molting spots, and migration stopover sites to vanish. It is also endangering the livelihoods of farmers, who feel the push to sell land to developers. From Southern Oregon to Central California, conservation allies have provided monetary incentives for water-strapped grain farmers to leave behind harvest debris to improve survivability for the 1 billion birds that pass through every year, and for ranchers to flood-irrigate unused pastures. One treacherous leg of the northwest migration route is the parched Klamath Basin of Oregon and California. For three recent years, “we saw no migrating birds. I mean, the peak count was zero,” says John Vradenburg, supervisory biologist of the Klamath Basin National Wildlife Refuge Complex. He and myriad private, public, and Indigenous partners are working to conjure more water for the basin’s human and avian denizens, as perennial wetlands become seasonal wetlands, seasonal wetlands transition to temporary wetlands, and temporary wetlands turn to arid lands. Taking down four power dams and one levee has stretched the Klamath River’s water across the landscape, creating new streams and connecting farm fields to long-separated wetlands. But making the most of this requires expansive thinking. Wetland restoration—now endangered by loss of funding from the current administration—would help drought-afflicted farmers by keeping water tables high. But what if farmers could also receive extra money for their businesses via eco-credits, akin to carbon credits, for the work those wetlands do to filter-clean farm runoff? And what if wetlands could function as aquaculture incubators for juvenile fish, before stocking rivers? Klamath tribes are invested in restoring endangered c’waam and koptu sucker fish, and this could help them achieve that goal. As birds’ traditional resting and nesting spots become inhospitable, a more sobering question is whether improvements can happen rapidly enough. The blistering pace of climate change gives little chance for species to genetically adapt, although some are changing their behaviors. That means that the work of conservationists to find and secure adequate, supportive farmland and rangeland as the birds seek out new routes has become a sprint against time. This story originally appeared at Knowable Magazine. Lela Nargi, Knowable Magazine Knowable Magazine explores the real-world significance of scholarly work through a journalistic lens. 0 Comments

Superflower has showcased the biggest PSU capacity at Computex, a 3300W behemoth, with all the latest ATX 3.1 and PCIe 5.1 standards. Superflower's Leadex Platinum ATX 3.1 Goes Up To 3300W & Can Easily Run Four RTX 5090 GPUs For Workstation AI Builds Many companies are rolling out their 3000W+ PSU designs at Computex, but Superflower takes the cake for having the highest-rated PSU under its Leadex lineup, which is the flagship product family. The Leadex Platinum ATX 3.1 "SF-3300F14HP 3.1" PSU is a monster, with a Cybenetics Platinum "230V" rating, an ATX 3.1 and PCIe 5.1-ready design featuring full Japanese capacitors and top-tier performance with stable output. 2 of 9 This PSU is rated at 3300W and features a large mesh structure on the top and back to vent hot air out of the chassis. The PSU features a single 140mm fan, and we were told that the company did try experimenting with a three-fan solution, but it didn't look nice, hence the use of only a single fan. The PSU comes in an E-ATX form factor with both black and white color schemes. 2 of 9 There's also the Combat Dual PSU series, which feature up to 1200W in the form of two 600W PSUs which feature ATX PS2 redundant size, have an efficiency rating of greater or equal to 90% at a typical load, and utilize full Japanese capacitors. Both PSUs share the load, so a 1200W PSU would be split into 600W for each PSU and when one PSU goes bad, the other PSU can sustain the full 1200W. There were also several updated designs within the Leadex, Combat, and Zillion series, including a Mini-ITX/SFF design that offers up to 1200W capacities. 2 of 9 Lastly, there were several cooling solutions on display, including 120mm fans that go up to 3000 RPM, the Linkable HyperLink series, which features a locking mechanism that provides the 12V ARGB power, plus the new air and liquid cooling systems. Deal of the Day

After eight seasons and over 200 guest stars, the adult animated franchise "Big Mouth" premiered its final season on Friday.Though it never reached the viewership numbers of behemoths like "Bridgerton" or "Stranger Things," it's one of the streamer's longest running original scripted shows.Across eight years, the series has won five Emmys and inspired the 2022 spin-off, "Human Resources." Season eight concludes the series, which was created by Nick Kroll, his childhood best friend Andrew Goldberg, Jennifer Flackett, and Mark Levin.The season follows a group of teens entering Bridgeton High School and having to rediscover their identities in the new school.As with previous seasons, the teens' hormones, feelings, and mental illnesses are personified through various creatures that appear to help guide the teens through the ups and downs of puberty. Nick Kroll plays Nick and Maury. Nick Kroll plays numerous characters in "Big Mouth." Courtesy of Netflix / Charley Gallay / Getty Images for Netflix Kroll played several human characters, including Nick Birch, the series' lead character, who was inspired by Kroll's childhood.Kroll also played Lola Skumpy and Coach Steve, Andrew's hormone monster, Maury, and Nick's hormone monster, Rick.Kroll is known for starring in the FX comedy "The League," creating and starring in his own sketch series "Kroll Show," and creating the "Big Mouth" spinoff series "Human Resources." John Mulaney plays Andrew Glouberman. John Mulaney plays Andrew, who is inspired by series co-creator Andrew Goldberg. Courtesy of Netflix Andrew Glouberman, a boy obsessed with masturbation, is Nick Birch's best friend who joins him on his adventure through puberty.John Mulaney, a comedian and former "Saturday Night Live" writer, plays the character. Mulaney has starred in other animated movies, including "Puss in Boots: The Last Wish" and "Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse." Jessi Klein plays Jessi Glaser. Jessi Klein is a producer and writer. Charley Gallay / Getty Images for Netflix / Courtesy of Netflix Jessi Klein plays Jessi Glaser, a close friend of Nick and Andrew's who explores her sexuality and struggles with depression and her parents' divorce.Klein is best known for her writing and producing work, having previously produced "Inside Amy Schumer," "Transparent," and "Dead to Me." Maya Rudolph plays Connie LaCienega and Diane Birch. Maya Rudolph has won four Emmys for her performance as Connie. Will Heath / NBC via Getty Images / Courtesy of Netflix Maya Rudolph plays two characters in the series — Connie LaCienega, the hormone monster for Jessi, and Diane Birch, Nick's mother.Rudolph, who rose to fame as a cast member on "Saturday Night Live," has won four primetime Emmy Awards for her performance in "Big Mouth" and has starred in numerous movies and TV shows, including "Bridesmaids," "The Good Place," and "The Lego Movie 2." Ayo Edebiri plays Missy Foreman-Greenwald. Ayo Edebiri played Missy from seasons five to eight. Charley Gallay / Getty Images for Netflix / Courtesy of Netflix Missy is a nerdy biracial classmate of Andrew, Jessi, and Nick's.In the first four seasons, Jenny Slate voiced the character, but she stepped down from the role in 2020, announcing on Instagram that black people should play black characters.Slate was replaced with Ayo Edebiri as Missy began to explore her Black identity in the show.Edebiri is best known for her breakout roles in the 2020s in "Bottoms" and "The Bear." Thandiwe Newton plays Mona. Thandiwe Newton plays a British hormone monster. Rodin Eckenroth / Film Magic / Getty / Courtesy of Netflix Thandiwe Newton played Missy's British hormone monster, Mona.Newton is known for starring in "Westworld," "Mission: Impossible II," and "Solo: A Star Wars Story." Jason Mantzoukas plays Jay Bilzerian. Jason Mantzoukas is known for playing chaotic characters like Jay. Charley Gallay / Getty Images for Netflix / Courtesy of Netflix Jay Bilzerian, a sex-obsessed bisexual boy, is another friend of Andrew, Nick, and Jessi's.Mantzoukas is a comedian who has previously played equally wacky characters in "Brooklyn Nine-Nine," "The Good Place," and "The League." Andrew Rannells plays Matthew MacDell. Andrew Rannells is the voice behind Matthew. Charley Gallay / Getty Images for Netflix Matthew MacDell, a gossipy gay student, was initially a secondary character in the first few seasons but became one of the main characters after season 3, developing relationships with Jay and Jessi.Broadway and screen actor Andrew Rannells has starred in "The Prom" and "Girls" and has a vibrant voice-acting career, appearing on shows like "Sonic X," "Pokémon," and "Invincible." David Thewlis plays The Shame Wizard. David Thewlis plays a spectre known as The Shame Wizard. Lisa Maree Williams / Getty Images / Courtesy of Netflix David Thewlis joined the cast in season two as the Shame Wizard, who will mock and bully the children to amplify their shame around their mistakes.Thewlis previously starred in multiple "Harry Potter" movies, "Wonder Woman," and "The Theory of Everything." Jean Smart plays Depression Kitty. Jean Smart played Depression Kitty since season two. Frazer Harrison / Getty Images / Courtesy of Netflix Depression Kitty first shows up in season two after Jessi starts to develop strong negative emotions amid her parents' divorce. Since then, Depression Kitty has made a few appearances across the show.Jean Smart, an Emmy-winning actor who stars in "Hacks," played Depression Kitty. Maria Bamford plays Tito the Anxiety Mosquito. Tito (Maria Bamford) has had recurring appearances since season four. Dia Dipasupil / Getty Images / Courtesy of Netflix. Tito the Anxiety Mosquito embodies the children's anxiety, first appearing in season four. Comedian Maria Bamford is known for her comedy specials as well as her Netflix show "Lady Dynamite." Zazie Beetz plays Danni. Zazie Beetz only starred in season 7. Amy Sussman / Getty Images / Netflix Danni is a student Nick meets in season seven when considering attending a private school.Zazie Beetz is known for her roles in "Atlanta," "Deadpool 2," "Joker," and "Bullet Train." Megan Thee Stallion plays Megan. Megan Thee Stallion made a cameo in "Big Mouth" season 7 as Megan the hormone monstress. David Crotty / Patrick McMullan via Getty Images / Netflix In season seven, Megan Thee Stallion guest stars as Megan, a hormone monster for Danni.Megan Thee Stallion is better known for her rapping career, though she has also starred in Disney+'s "She-Hulk: Attorney At Law" and the 2023 movie "Dicks: The Musical." Jordan Peele plays the ghost of Duke Ellington. The ghost of Duke Ellington (Jordan Peele) was a major supporting character in the first few seasons. Unique Nicole / WireImage / Netflix One of Nick's friends is the ghost of jazz pianist Duke Ellington, who lives in the teen's attic.Jordan Peele is the voice behind the ghost. He also played Missy's father, Cyrus Foreman-Greenwald.Peele is an Oscar-winning horror director and comedy actor best known for directing "Get Out," "Nope," and "Us" and starring in "Key and Peele." Brian Tyree Henry plays Elijah. Brian Tyree Henry joined the cast in season six. Jamie McCarthy / Getty Images / Netflix Elijah, an asexual Christian student, appears in seasons six and seven, building a relationship with Missy. They broke up after graduating from middle school.Brian Tyree Henry, known for his roles in "Atlanta," "Bullet Train," and Marvel's "Eternals," plays Elijah. Henry has voice acting experience from starring in the "Spider-Verse" movies as Miles Morales' father, Jefferson. Natasha Lyonne plays Ms. Dunn. Natasha Lyonne stars as a sex-ed teacher in "Big Mouth" season eight. The Hapa Blonde / GC Images / Getty Images / Courtesy of Netflix Natasha Lyonne guest stars in the final season as sex-ed teacher Ms. Dunn. Lyonne has also made cameos in previous seasons playing Suzette Saint James, Jay's pillow girlfriend, and Nadia Vulvokov, the character Lyonne plays in Netflix's "Russian Doll."Lyonne is best known for starring in "American Pie," "Orange is the New Black," and "Poker Face." Ali Wong plays Ali. Ali Wong joined the cast in season three, playing a transfer student. Jeff Kravitz / FilmMagic via Getty Images Ali Wong joined "Big Mouth" in season three, playing the pansexual transfer student Ali.Wong is a comedian who has previously starred in other Netflix originals like "Beef" and "Always Be My Maybe." Keke Palmer plays Rochelle. Keke Palmer is the voice actor behind the "Big Mouth" character Rochelle. Emma McIntyre / WireImage / Courtesy of Netflix "Big Mouth" season five introduced the concept of Hateworms and Lovebugs, who strengthen the children's emotions. Rochelle, played by Keke Palmer, was Missy's Hateworm but later transformed into her Lovebug.Palmer is best known for starring in "True Jackson, VP," "One of Them Days," and "Nope."

ChatGPT, OpenAI’s text-generating AI chatbot, has taken the world by storm since its launch in November 2022. What started as a tool to supercharge productivity through writing essays and code with short text prompts has evolved into a behemoth with 300 million weekly active users. 2024 was a big year for OpenAI, from its partnership with Apple for its generative AI offering, Apple Intelligence, the release of GPT-4o with voice capabilities, and the highly-anticipated launch of its text-to-video model Sora. OpenAI also faced its share of internal drama, including the notable exits of high-level execs like co-founder and longtime chief scientist Ilya Sutskever and CTO Mira Murati. OpenAI has also been hit with lawsuits from Alden Global Capital-owned newspapers alleging copyright infringement, as well as an injunction from Elon Musk to halt OpenAI’s transition to a for-profit. In 2025, OpenAI is battling the perception that it’s ceding ground in the AI race to Chinese rivals like DeepSeek. The company has been trying to shore up its relationship with Washington as it simultaneously pursues an ambitious data center project, and as it reportedly lays the groundwork for one of the largest funding rounds in history. Below, you’ll find a timeline of ChatGPT product updates and releases, starting with the latest, which we’ve been updating throughout the year. If you have any other questions, check out our ChatGPT FAQ here. To see a list of 2024 updates, go here. Timeline of the most recent ChatGPT updates Techcrunch event Join us at TechCrunch Sessions: AI Secure your spot for our leading AI industry event with speakers from OpenAI, Anthropic, and Cohere. For a limited time, tickets are just $292 for an entire day of expert talks, workshops, and potent networking. Exhibit at TechCrunch Sessions: AI Secure your spot at TC Sessions: AI and show 1,200+ decision-makers what you’ve built — without the big spend. Available through May 9 or while tables last. Berkeley, CA | June 5 REGISTER NOW May 2025 OpenAI CFO says hardware will drive ChatGPT’s growth OpenAI plans to purchase Jony Ive’s devices startup io for $6.4 billion. Sarah Friar, CFO of OpenAI, thinks that the hardware will significantly enhance ChatGPT and broaden OpenAI’s reach to a larger audience in the future. OpenAI’s ChatGPT unveils its AI coding agent, Codex OpenAI has introduced its AI coding agent, Codex, powered by codex-1, a version of its o3 AI reasoning model designed for software engineering tasks. OpenAI says codex-1 generates more precise and “cleaner” code than o3. The coding agent may take anywhere from one to 30 minutes to complete tasks such as writing simple features, fixing bugs, answering questions about your codebase, and running tests. Sam Altman aims to make ChatGPT more personalized by tracking every aspect of a person’s life Sam Altman, the CEO of OpenAI, said during a recent AI event hosted by VC firm Sequoia that he wants ChatGPT to record and remember every detail of a person’s life when one attendee asked about how ChatGPT can become more personalized. OpenAI releases its GPT-4.1 and GPT-4.1 mini AI models in ChatGPT OpenAI said in a post on X that it has launched its GPT-4.1 and GPT4.1 mini AI models in ChagGPT. OpenAI has launched a new feature for ChatGPT deep research to analyze code repositories on GitHub. The ChatGPT deep research feature is in beta and lets developers connect with GitHub to ask questions about codebases and engineering documents. The connector will soon be available for ChatGPT Plus, Pro, and Team users, with support for Enterprise and Education coming shortly, per an OpenAI spokesperson. OpenAI launches a new data residency program in Asia After introducing a data residency program in Europe in February, OpenAI has now launched a similar program in Asian countries including India, Japan, Singapore, and South Korea. The new program will be accessible to users of ChatGPT Enterprise, ChatGPT Edu, and API. It will help organizations in Asia meet their local data sovereignty requirements when using OpenAI’s products. OpenAI to introduce a program to grow AI infrastructure OpenAI is unveiling a program called OpenAI for Countries, which aims to develop the necessary local infrastructure to serve international AI clients better. The AI startup will work with governments to assist with increasing data center capacity and customizing OpenAI’s products to meet specific language and local needs. OpenAI for Countries is part of efforts to support the company’s expansion of its AI data center Project Stargate to new locations outside the U.S., per Bloomberg. OpenAI promises to make changes to prevent future ChatGPT sycophancy OpenAI has announced its plan to make changes to its procedures for updating the AI models that power ChatGPT, following an update that caused the platform to become overly sycophantic for many users. April 2025 OpenAI clarifies the reason ChatGPT became overly flattering and agreeable OpenAI has released a post on the recent sycophancy issues with the default AI model powering ChatGPT, GPT-4o, leading the company to revert an update to the model released last week. CEO Sam Altman acknowledged the issue on Sunday and confirmed two days later that the GPT-4o update was being rolled back. OpenAI is working on “additional fixes” to the model’s personality. Over the weekend, users on social media criticized the new model for making ChatGPT too validating and agreeable. It became a popular meme fast. OpenAI is working to fix a “bug” that let minors engage in inappropriate conversations An issue within OpenAI’s ChatGPT enabled the chatbot to create graphic erotic content for accounts registered by users under the age of 18, as demonstrated by TechCrunch’s testing, a fact later confirmed by OpenAI. “Protecting younger users is a top priority, and our Model Spec, which guides model behavior, clearly restricts sensitive content like erotica to narrow contexts such as scientific, historical, or news reporting,” a spokesperson told TechCrunch via email. “In this case, a bug allowed responses outside those guidelines, and we are actively deploying a fix to limit these generations.” OpenAI has added a few features to its ChatGPT search, its web search tool in ChatGPT, to give users an improved online shopping experience. The company says people can ask super-specific questions using natural language and receive customized results. The chatbot provides recommendations, images, and reviews of products in various categories such as fashion, beauty, home goods, and electronics. OpenAI wants its AI model to access cloud models for assistance OpenAI leaders have been talking about allowing the open model to link up with OpenAI’s cloud-hosted models to improve its ability to respond to intricate questions, two sources familiar with the situation told TechCrunch. OpenAI aims to make its new “open” AI model the best on the market OpenAI is preparing to launch an AI system that will be openly accessible, allowing users to download it for free without any API restrictions. Aidan Clark, OpenAI’s VP of research, is spearheading the development of the open model, which is in the very early stages, sources familiar with the situation told TechCrunch. OpenAI’s GPT-4.1 may be less aligned than earlier models OpenAI released a new AI model called GPT-4.1 in mid-April. However, multiple independent tests indicate that the model is less reliable than previous OpenAI releases. The company skipped that step — sending safety cards for GPT-4.1 — claiming in a statement to TechCrunch that “GPT-4.1 is not a frontier model, so there won’t be a separate system card released for it.” OpenAI’s o3 AI model scored lower than expected on a benchmark Questions have been raised regarding OpenAI’s transparency and procedures for testing models after a difference in benchmark outcomes was detected by first- and third-party benchmark results for the o3 AI model. OpenAI introduced o3 in December, stating that the model could solve approximately 25% of questions on FrontierMath, a difficult math problem set. Epoch AI, the research institute behind FrontierMath, discovered that o3 achieved a score of approximately 10%, which was significantly lower than OpenAI’s top-reported score. OpenAI unveils Flex processing for cheaper, slower AI tasks OpenAI has launched a new API feature called Flex processing that allows users to use AI models at a lower cost but with slower response times and occasional resource unavailability. Flex processing is available in beta on the o3 and o4-mini reasoning models for non-production tasks like model evaluations, data enrichment, and asynchronous workloads. OpenAI’s latest AI models now have a safeguard against biorisks OpenAI has rolled out a new system to monitor its AI reasoning models, o3 and o4 mini, for biological and chemical threats. The system is designed to prevent models from giving advice that could potentially lead to harmful attacks, as stated in OpenAI’s safety report. OpenAI launches its latest reasoning models, o3 and o4-mini OpenAI has released two new reasoning models, o3 and o4 mini, just two days after launching GPT-4.1. The company claims o3 is the most advanced reasoning model it has developed, while o4-mini is said to provide a balance of price, speed, and performance. The new models stand out from previous reasoning models because they can use ChatGPT features like web browsing, coding, and image processing and generation. But they hallucinate more than several of OpenAI’s previous models. OpenAI has added a new section to ChatGPT to offer easier access to AI-generated images for all user tiers Open AI introduced a new section called “library” to make it easier for users to create images on mobile and web platforms, per the company’s X post. OpenAI could “adjust” its safeguards if rivals release “high-risk” AI OpenAI said on Tuesday that it might revise its safety standards if “another frontier AI developer releases a high-risk system without comparable safeguards.” The move shows how commercial AI developers face more pressure to rapidly implement models due to the increased competition. OpenAI is currently in the early stages of developing its own social media platform to compete with Elon Musk’s X and Mark Zuckerberg’s Instagram and Threads, according to The Verge. It is unclear whether OpenAI intends to launch the social network as a standalone application or incorporate it into ChatGPT. OpenAI will remove its largest AI model, GPT-4.5, from the API, in July OpenAI will discontinue its largest AI model, GPT-4.5, from its API even though it was just launched in late February. GPT-4.5 will be available in a research preview for paying customers. Developers can use GPT-4.5 through OpenAI’s API until July 14; then, they will need to switch to GPT-4.1, which was released on April 14. OpenAI unveils GPT-4.1 AI models that focus on coding capabilities OpenAI has launched three members of the GPT-4.1 model — GPT-4.1, GPT-4.1 mini, and GPT-4.1 nano — with a specific focus on coding capabilities. It’s accessible via the OpenAI API but not ChatGPT. In the competition to develop advanced programming models, GPT-4.1 will rival AI models such as Google’s Gemini 2.5 Pro, Anthropic’s Claude 3.7 Sonnet, and DeepSeek’s upgraded V3. OpenAI will discontinue ChatGPT’s GPT-4 at the end of April OpenAI plans to sunset GPT-4, an AI model introduced more than two years ago, and replace it with GPT-4o, the current default model, per changelog. It will take effect on April 30. GPT-4 will remain available via OpenAI’s API. OpenAI could release GPT-4.1 soon OpenAI may launch several new AI models, including GPT-4.1, soon, The Verge reported, citing anonymous sources. GPT-4.1 would be an update of OpenAI’s GPT-4o, which was released last year. On the list of upcoming models are GPT-4.1 and smaller versions like GPT-4.1 mini and nano, per the report. OpenAI has updated ChatGPT to use information from your previous conversations OpenAI started updating ChatGPT to enable the chatbot to remember previous conversations with a user and customize its responses based on that context. This feature is rolling out to ChatGPT Pro and Plus users first, excluding those in the U.K., EU, Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway, and Switzerland. OpenAI is working on watermarks for images made with ChatGPT It looks like OpenAI is working on a watermarking feature for images generated using GPT-4o. AI researcher Tibor Blaho spotted a new “ImageGen” watermark feature in the new beta of ChatGPT’s Android app. Blaho also found mentions of other tools: “Structured Thoughts,” “Reasoning Recap,” “CoT Search Tool,” and “l1239dk1.” OpenAI offers ChatGPT Plus for free to U.S., Canadian college students OpenAI is offering its $20-per-month ChatGPT Plus subscription tier for free to all college students in the U.S. and Canada through the end of May. The offer will let millions of students use OpenAI’s premium service, which offers access to the company’s GPT-4o model, image generation, voice interaction, and research tools that are not available in the free version. ChatGPT users have generated over 700M images so far More than 130 million users have created over 700 million images since ChatGPT got the upgraded image generator on March 25, according to COO of OpenAI Brad Lightcap. The image generator was made available to all ChatGPT users on March 31, and went viral for being able to create Ghibli-style photos. OpenAI’s o3 model could cost more to run than initial estimate The Arc Prize Foundation, which develops the AI benchmark tool ARC-AGI, has updated the estimated computing costs for OpenAI’s o3 “reasoning” model managed by ARC-AGI. The organization originally estimated that the best-performing configuration of o3 it tested, o3 high, would cost approximately $3,000 to address a single problem. The Foundation now thinks the cost could be much higher, possibly around $30,000 per task. OpenAI CEO says capacity issues will cause product delays In a series of posts on X, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman said the company’s new image-generation tool’s popularity may cause product releases to be delayed. “We are getting things under control, but you should expect new releases from OpenAI to be delayed, stuff to break, and for service to sometimes be slow as we deal with capacity challenges,” he wrote. March 2025 OpenAI plans to release a new ‘open’ AI language model OpeanAI intends to release its “first” open language model since GPT-2 “in the coming months.” The company plans to host developer events to gather feedback and eventually showcase prototypes of the model. The first developer event is to be held in San Francisco, with sessions to follow in Europe and Asia. OpenAI removes ChatGPT’s restrictions on image generation OpenAI made a notable change to its content moderation policies after the success of its new image generator in ChatGPT, which went viral for being able to create Studio Ghibli-style images. The company has updated its policies to allow ChatGPT to generate images of public figures, hateful symbols, and racial features when requested. OpenAI had previously declined such prompts due to the potential controversy or harm they may cause. However, the company has now “evolved” its approach, as stated in a blog post published by Joanne Jang, the lead for OpenAI’s model behavior. OpenAI adopts Anthropic’s standard for linking AI models with data OpenAI wants to incorporate Anthropic’s Model Context Protocol (MCP) into all of its products, including the ChatGPT desktop app. MCP, an open-source standard, helps AI models generate more accurate and suitable responses to specific queries, and lets developers create bidirectional links between data sources and AI applications like chatbots. The protocol is currently available in the Agents SDK, and support for the ChatGPT desktop app and Responses API will be coming soon, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman said. OpenAI’s viral Studio Ghibli-style images could raise AI copyright concerns The latest update of the image generator on OpenAI’s ChatGPT has triggered a flood of AI-generated memes in the style of Studio Ghibli, the Japanese animation studio behind blockbuster films like “My Neighbor Totoro” and “Spirited Away.” The burgeoning mass of Ghibli-esque images have sparked concerns about whether OpenAI has violated copyright laws, especially since the company is already facing legal action for using source material without authorization. OpenAI expects revenue to triple to $12.7 billion this year OpenAI expects its revenue to triple to $12.7 billion in 2025, fueled by the performance of its paid AI software, Bloomberg reported, citing an anonymous source. While the startup doesn’t expect to reach positive cash flow until 2029, it expects revenue to increase significantly in 2026 to surpass $29.4 billion, the report said. ChatGPT has upgraded its image-generation feature OpenAI on Tuesday rolled out a major upgrade to ChatGPT’s image-generation capabilities: ChatGPT can now use the GPT-4o model to generate and edit images and photos directly. The feature went live earlier this week in ChatGPT and Sora, OpenAI’s AI video-generation tool, for subscribers of the company’s Pro plan, priced at $200 a month, and will be available soon to ChatGPT Plus subscribers and developers using the company’s API service. The company’s CEO Sam Altman said on Wednesday, however, that the release of the image generation feature to free users would be delayed due to higher demand than the company expected. OpenAI announces leadership updates Brad Lightcap, OpenAI’s chief operating officer, will lead the company’s global expansion and manage corporate partnerships as CEO Sam Altman shifts his focus to research and products, according to a blog post from OpenAI. Lightcap, who previously worked with Altman at Y Combinator, joined the Microsoft-backed startup in 2018. OpenAI also said Mark Chen would step into the expanded role of chief research officer, and Julia Villagra will take on the role of chief people officer. OpenAI’s AI voice assistant now has advanced feature OpenAI has updated its AI voice assistant with improved chatting capabilities, according to a video posted on Monday (March 24) to the company’s official media channels. The update enables real-time conversations, and the AI assistant is said to be more personable and interrupts users less often. Users on ChatGPT’s free tier can now access the new version of Advanced Voice Mode, while paying users will receive answers that are “more direct, engaging, concise, specific, and creative,” a spokesperson from OpenAI told TechCrunch. OpenAI and Meta have separately engaged in discussions with Indian conglomerate Reliance Industries regarding potential collaborations to enhance their AI services in the country, per a report by The Information. One key topic being discussed is Reliance Jio distributing OpenAI’s ChatGPT. Reliance has proposed selling OpenAI’s models to businesses in India through an application programming interface (API) so they can incorporate AI into their operations. Meta also plans to bolster its presence in India by constructing a large 3GW data center in Jamnagar, Gujarat. OpenAI, Meta, and Reliance have not yet officially announced these plans. OpenAI faces privacy complaint in Europe for chatbot’s defamatory hallucinations Noyb, a privacy rights advocacy group, is supporting an individual in Norway who was shocked to discover that ChatGPT was providing false information about him, stating that he had been found guilty of killing two of his children and trying to harm the third. “The GDPR is clear. Personal data has to be accurate,” said Joakim Söderberg, data protection lawyer at Noyb, in a statement. “If it’s not, users have the right to have it changed to reflect the truth. Showing ChatGPT users a tiny disclaimer that the chatbot can make mistakes clearly isn’t enough. You can’t just spread false information and in the end add a small disclaimer saying that everything you said may just not be true.” OpenAI upgrades its transcription and voice-generating AI models OpenAI has added new transcription and voice-generating AI models to its APIs: a text-to-speech model, “gpt-4o-mini-tts,” that delivers more nuanced and realistic sounding speech, as well as two speech-to-text models called “gpt-4o-transcribe” and “gpt-4o-mini-transcribe”. The company claims they are improved versions of what was already there and that they hallucinate less. OpenAI has launched o1-pro, a more powerful version of its o1 OpenAI has introduced o1-pro in its developer API. OpenAI says its o1-pro uses more computing than its o1 “reasoning” AI model to deliver “consistently better responses.” It’s only accessible to select developers who have spent at least $5 on OpenAI API services. OpenAI charges $150 for every million tokens (about 750,000 words) input into the model and $600 for every million tokens the model produces. It costs twice as much as OpenAI’s GPT-4.5 for input and 10 times the price of regular o1. Noam Brown, who heads AI reasoning research at OpenAI, thinks that certain types of AI models for “reasoning” could have been developed 20 years ago if researchers had understood the correct approach and algorithms. OpenAI says it has trained an AI that’s “really good” at creative writing OpenAI CEO Sam Altman said, in a post on X, that the company has trained a “new model” that’s “really good” at creative writing. He posted a lengthy sample from the model given the prompt “Please write a metafictional literary short story about AI and grief.” OpenAI has not extensively explored the use of AI for writing fiction. The company has mostly concentrated on challenges in rigid, predictable areas such as math and programming.might not be that great at creative writing at all. OpenAI rolled out new tools designed to help developers and businesses build AI agents — automated systems that can independently accomplish tasks — using the company’s own AI models and frameworks. The tools are part of OpenAI’s new Responses API, which enables enterprises to develop customized AI agents that can perform web searches, scan through company files, and navigate websites, similar to OpenAI’s Operator product. The Responses API effectively replaces OpenAI’s Assistants API, which the company plans to discontinue in the first half of 2026. OpenAI reportedly plans to charge up to $20,000 a month for specialized AI ‘agents’ OpenAI intends to release several “agent” products tailored for different applications, including sorting and ranking sales leads and software engineering, according to a report from The Information. One, a “high-income knowledge worker” agent, will reportedly be priced at $2,000 a month. Another, a software developer agent, is said to cost $10,000 a month. The most expensive rumored agents, which are said to be aimed at supporting “PhD-level research,” are expected to cost $20,000 per month. The jaw-dropping figure is indicative of how much cash OpenAI needs right now: The company lost roughly $5 billion last year after paying for costs related to running its services and other expenses. It’s unclear when these agentic tools might launch or which customers will be eligible to buy them. ChatGPT can directly edit your code The latest version of the macOS ChatGPT app allows users to edit code directly in supported developer tools, including Xcode, VS Code, and JetBrains. ChatGPT Plus, Pro, and Team subscribers can use the feature now, and the company plans to roll it out to more users like Enterprise, Edu, and free users. ChatGPT’s weekly active users doubled in less than 6 months, thanks to new releases According to a new report from VC firm Andreessen Horowitz (a16z), OpenAI’s AI chatbot, ChatGPT, experienced solid growth in the second half of 2024. It took ChatGPT nine months to increase its weekly active users from 100 million in November 2023 to 200 million in August 2024, but it only took less than six months to double that number once more, according to the report. ChatGPT’s weekly active users increased to 300 million by December 2024 and 400 million by February 2025. ChatGPT has experienced significant growth recently due to the launch of new models and features, such as GPT-4o, with multimodal capabilities. ChatGPT usage spiked from April to May 2024, shortly after that model’s launch. February 2025 OpenAI cancels its o3 AI model in favor of a ‘unified’ next-gen release OpenAI has effectively canceled the release of o3 in favor of what CEO Sam Altman is calling a “simplified” product offering. In a post on X, Altman said that, in the coming months, OpenAI will release a model called GPT-5 that “integrates a lot of [OpenAI’s] technology,” including o3, in ChatGPT and its API. As a result of that roadmap decision, OpenAI no longer plans to release o3 as a standalone model.  ChatGPT may not be as power-hungry as once assumed A commonly cited stat is that ChatGPT requires around 3 watt-hours of power to answer a single question. Using OpenAI’s latest default model for ChatGPT, GPT-4o, as a reference, nonprofit AI research institute Epoch AI found the average ChatGPT query consumes around 0.3 watt-hours. However, the analysis doesn’t consider the additional energy costs incurred by ChatGPT with features like image generation or input processing. OpenAI now reveals more of its o3-mini model’s thought process In response to pressure from rivals like DeepSeek, OpenAI is changing the way its o3-mini model communicates its step-by-step “thought” process. ChatGPT users will see an updated “chain of thought” that shows more of the model’s “reasoning” steps and how it arrived at answers to questions. You can now use ChatGPT web search without logging in OpenAI is now allowing anyone to use ChatGPT web search without having to log in. While OpenAI had previously allowed users to ask ChatGPT questions without signing in, responses were restricted to the chatbot’s last training update. This only applies through ChatGPT.com, however. To use ChatGPT in any form through the native mobile app, you will still need to be logged in. OpenAI unveils a new ChatGPT agent for ‘deep research’ OpenAI announced a new AI “agent” called deep research that’s designed to help people conduct in-depth, complex research using ChatGPT. OpenAI says the “agent” is intended for instances where you don’t just want a quick answer or summary, but instead need to assiduously consider information from multiple websites and other sources. January 2025 OpenAI used a subreddit to test AI persuasion OpenAI used the subreddit r/ChangeMyView to measure the persuasive abilities of its AI reasoning models. OpenAI says it collects user posts from the subreddit and asks its AI models to write replies, in a closed environment, that would change the Reddit user’s mind on a subject. The company then shows the responses to testers, who assess how persuasive the argument is, and finally OpenAI compares the AI models’ responses to human replies for that same post.  OpenAI launches o3-mini, its latest ‘reasoning’ model OpenAI launched a new AI “reasoning” model, o3-mini, the newest in the company’s o family of models. OpenAI first previewed the model in December alongside a more capable system called o3. OpenAI is pitching its new model as both “powerful” and “affordable.” ChatGPT’s mobile users are 85% male, report says A new report from app analytics firm Appfigures found that over half of ChatGPT’s mobile users are under age 25, with users between ages 50 and 64 making up the second largest age demographic. The gender gap among ChatGPT users is even more significant. Appfigures estimates that across age groups, men make up 84.5% of all users. OpenAI launches ChatGPT plan for US government agencies OpenAI launched ChatGPT Gov designed to provide U.S. government agencies an additional way to access the tech. ChatGPT Gov includes many of the capabilities found in OpenAI’s corporate-focused tier, ChatGPT Enterprise. OpenAI says that ChatGPT Gov enables agencies to more easily manage their own security, privacy, and compliance, and could expedite internal authorization of OpenAI’s tools for the handling of non-public sensitive data. More teens report using ChatGPT for schoolwork, despite the tech’s faults Younger Gen Zers are embracing ChatGPT, for schoolwork, according to a new survey by the Pew Research Center. In a follow-up to its 2023 poll on ChatGPT usage among young people, Pew asked ~1,400 U.S.-based teens ages 13 to 17 whether they’ve used ChatGPT for homework or other school-related assignments. Twenty-six percent said that they had, double the number two years ago. Just over half of teens responding to the poll said they think it’s acceptable to use ChatGPT for researching new subjects. But considering the ways ChatGPT can fall short, the results are possibly cause for alarm. OpenAI says it may store deleted Operator data for up to 90 days OpenAI says that it might store chats and associated screenshots from customers who use Operator, the company’s AI “agent” tool, for up to 90 days — even after a user manually deletes them. While OpenAI has a similar deleted data retention policy for ChatGPT, the retention period for ChatGPT is only 30 days, which is 60 days shorter than Operator’s. OpenAI launches Operator, an AI agent that performs tasks autonomously OpenAI is launching a research preview of Operator, a general-purpose AI agent that can take control of a web browser and independently perform certain actions. Operator promises to automate tasks such as booking travel accommodations, making restaurant reservations, and shopping online. Operator, OpenAI’s agent tool, could be released sooner rather than later. Changes to ChatGPT’s code base suggest that Operator will be available as an early research preview to users on the $200 Pro subscription plan. The changes aren’t yet publicly visible, but a user on X who goes by Choi spotted these updates in ChatGPT’s client-side code. TechCrunch separately identified the same references to Operator on OpenAI’s website. OpenAI tests phone number-only ChatGPT signups OpenAI has begun testing a feature that lets new ChatGPT users sign up with only a phone number — no email required. The feature is currently in beta in the U.S. and India. However, users who create an account using their number can’t upgrade to one of OpenAI’s paid plans without verifying their account via an email. Multi-factor authentication also isn’t supported without a valid email. ChatGPT now lets you schedule reminders and recurring tasks ChatGPT’s new beta feature, called tasks, allows users to set simple reminders. For example, you can ask ChatGPT to remind you when your passport expires in six months, and the AI assistant will follow up with a push notification on whatever platform you have tasks enabled. The feature will start rolling out to ChatGPT Plus, Team, and Pro users around the globe this week. New ChatGPT feature lets users assign it traits like ‘chatty’ and ‘Gen Z’ OpenAI is introducing a new way for users to customize their interactions with ChatGPT. Some users found they can specify a preferred name or nickname and “traits” they’d like the chatbot to have. OpenAI suggests traits like “Chatty,” “Encouraging,” and “Gen Z.” However, some users reported that the new options have disappeared, so it’s possible they went live prematurely. FAQs: What is ChatGPT? How does it work? ChatGPT is a general-purpose chatbot that uses artificial intelligence to generate text after a user enters a prompt, developed by tech startup OpenAI. The chatbot uses GPT-4, a large language model that uses deep learning to produce human-like text. When did ChatGPT get released? November 30, 2022 is when ChatGPT was released for public use. What is the latest version of ChatGPT? Both the free version of ChatGPT and the paid ChatGPT Plus are regularly updated with new GPT models. The most recent model is GPT-4o. Can I use ChatGPT for free? There is a free version of ChatGPT that only requires a sign-in in addition to the paid version, ChatGPT Plus. Who uses ChatGPT? Anyone can use ChatGPT! More and more tech companies and search engines are utilizing the chatbot to automate text or quickly answer user questions/concerns. What companies use ChatGPT? Multiple enterprises utilize ChatGPT, although others may limit the use of the AI-powered tool. Most recently, Microsoft announced at its 2023 Build conference that it is integrating its ChatGPT-based Bing experience into Windows 11. A Brooklyn-based 3D display startup Looking Glass utilizes ChatGPT to produce holograms you can communicate with by using ChatGPT.  And nonprofit organization Solana officially integrated the chatbot into its network with a ChatGPT plug-in geared toward end users to help onboard into the web3 space. What does GPT mean in ChatGPT? GPT stands for Generative Pre-Trained Transformer. What is the difference between ChatGPT and a chatbot? A chatbot can be any software/system that holds dialogue with you/a person but doesn’t necessarily have to be AI-powered. For example, there are chatbots that are rules-based in the sense that they’ll give canned responses to questions. ChatGPT is AI-powered and utilizes LLM technology to generate text after a prompt. Can ChatGPT write essays? Yes. Can ChatGPT commit libel? Due to the nature of how these models work, they don’t know or care whether something is true, only that it looks true. That’s a problem when you’re using it to do your homework, sure, but when it accuses you of a crime you didn’t commit, that may well at this point be libel. We will see how handling troubling statements produced by ChatGPT will play out over the next few months as tech and legal experts attempt to tackle the fastest moving target in the industry. Does ChatGPT have an app? Yes, there is a free ChatGPT mobile app for iOS and Android users. What is the ChatGPT character limit? It’s not documented anywhere that ChatGPT has a character limit. However, users have noted that there are some character limitations after around 500 words. Does ChatGPT have an API? Yes, it was released March 1, 2023. What are some sample everyday uses for ChatGPT? Everyday examples include programming, scripts, email replies, listicles, blog ideas, summarization, etc. What are some advanced uses for ChatGPT? Advanced use examples include debugging code, programming languages, scientific concepts, complex problem solving, etc. How good is ChatGPT at writing code? It depends on the nature of the program. While ChatGPT can write workable Python code, it can’t necessarily program an entire app’s worth of code. That’s because ChatGPT lacks context awareness — in other words, the generated code isn’t always appropriate for the specific context in which it’s being used. Can you save a ChatGPT chat? Yes. OpenAI allows users to save chats in the ChatGPT interface, stored in the sidebar of the screen. There are no built-in sharing features yet. Are there alternatives to ChatGPT? Yes. There are multiple AI-powered chatbot competitors such as Together, Google’s Gemini and Anthropic’s Claude, and developers are creating open source alternatives. How does ChatGPT handle data privacy? OpenAI has said that individuals in “certain jurisdictions” (such as the EU) can object to the processing of their personal information by its AI models by filling out this form. This includes the ability to make requests for deletion of AI-generated references about you. Although OpenAI notes it may not grant every request since it must balance privacy requests against freedom of expression “in accordance with applicable laws”. The web form for making a deletion of data about you request is entitled “OpenAI Personal Data Removal Request”. In its privacy policy, the ChatGPT maker makes a passing acknowledgement of the objection requirements attached to relying on “legitimate interest” (LI), pointing users towards more information about requesting an opt out — when it writes: “See here for instructions on how you can opt out of our use of your information to train our models.” What controversies have surrounded ChatGPT? Recently, Discord announced that it had integrated OpenAI’s technology into its bot named Clyde where two users tricked Clyde into providing them with instructions for making the illegal drug methamphetamine (meth) and the incendiary mixture napalm. An Australian mayor has publicly announced he may sue OpenAI for defamation due to ChatGPT’s false claims that he had served time in prison for bribery. This would be the first defamation lawsuit against the text-generating service. CNET found itself in the midst of controversy after Futurism reported the publication was publishing articles under a mysterious byline completely generated by AI. The private equity company that owns CNET, Red Ventures, was accused of using ChatGPT for SEO farming, even if the information was incorrect. Several major school systems and colleges, including New York City Public Schools, have banned ChatGPT from their networks and devices. They claim that the AI impedes the learning process by promoting plagiarism and misinformation, a claim that not every educator agrees with. There have also been cases of ChatGPT accusing individuals of false crimes. Where can I find examples of ChatGPT prompts? Several marketplaces host and provide ChatGPT prompts, either for free or for a nominal fee. One is PromptBase. Another is ChatX. More launch every day. Can ChatGPT be detected? Poorly. Several tools claim to detect ChatGPT-generated text, but in our tests, they’re inconsistent at best. Are ChatGPT chats public? No. But OpenAI recently disclosed a bug, since fixed, that exposed the titles of some users’ conversations to other people on the service. What lawsuits are there surrounding ChatGPT? None specifically targeting ChatGPT. But OpenAI is involved in at least one lawsuit that has implications for AI systems trained on publicly available data, which would touch on ChatGPT. Are there issues regarding plagiarism with ChatGPT? Yes. Text-generating AI models like ChatGPT have a tendency to regurgitate content from their training data.