AI-powered video interviews are likely to become more common as companies seek to streamline and automate early hiring stages. amperespy/Getty Images 2025-05-17T00:00:01Z Save Saved Read in app This story is available exclusively to Business Insider subscribers. Become an Insider and start reading now. Have an account? TikTokers are posting clips of interviews with glitching AI bots. These cases are rare and likely staged, professors told Business Insider. AI interviews are on the rise, and glitches can erode trust in the hiring process. TikTok videos of glitchy AI interviews have gone viral in recent weeks,One user, who goes by Freddie, posted a video on May 3 of an AI assistant named "Catherine Appleton" glitching and spewing gibberish during his job interview. As of Thursday, his video had 8.8 million views."Should I email them? I was expecting a real human," he wrote in the caption.Another TikTok user named Ken shared a clip of her interview, in which the AI assistant repeated the phrase "vertical bar pilates" on loop.Neither responded to requests for comment from Business Insider. @its_ken04 It was genuinely so creepy and weird. Please stop trying to be lazy and have AI try to do YOUR JOB!!! It gave me the creeps so bad #fyp ♬ original sound - Its Ken 🤍 Your next job interview probably won't involve a glitching AI botYes, the viral TikToks are creepy. But they're probably not your future."The TikTok videos showcasing glitches or malfunctions are likely either doctored or represent rare, isolated incidents," said Sriram Iyer, an adjunct senior lecturer at the National University of Singapore Business School.They "should not be considered a common phenomenon," he added.Tan Hong Ming, the deputy head and senior lecturer in the department of analytics and operations at NUS Business School, said social media "tends to amplify things.""It can make something appear far more common than it actually is through repetition and viral sharing," he said.Tan, who also serves as lead advisor to a Singapore-based AI recruitment firm, said the looping audio is "likely dramatized or re-enacted to drive engagement and shares." He said he has not come across this specific glitch in AI interviews, but occasional breakdowns aren't surprising.Many companies are using AI-powered recruitment tools which are often "wrappers around the same core models or APIs."Some of them may not use the latest or most stable versions, which could explain why similar glitches show up across platforms, he said.Unaizah Obaidellah, a senior lecturer specializing in AI at Malaysia's University of Malaya, said insufficient or irrelevant data could also be a culprit. If the bots are not trained with enough relevant examples, their quality suffers.She added that the incidents portrayed on the videos could reflect the larger race to deploy AI faster than we're ready for, which is "quite worrying."AI interviews on the riseEmily DeJeu, an assistant professor at Carnegie Mellon University's Tepper School of Business who specializes in AI communication and etiquette, told BI earlier this week that AI-powered video interviews are likely to become more common as companies seek to streamline and automate early hiring stages. Any time technology promises to save time and money and make everything faster, "we by default pursue it — there's a kind of inevitability to it," she said.Despite what the TikToks might suggest, candidates aren't necessarily turned off by bots, said Iyer, who has worked in HR tech for 20 years.What to do if your interview bot glitchesGlitches during AI interviews aren't just awkward."Glitches chip away at trust and can make the hiring process feel impersonal or even unfair," said Tan, especially if companies are not upfront about conducting an AI interview."They undermine the candidate's experience," he said, adding that employers need to "build in strong fallback options" and monitor these tools closely in real-world settings."Otherwise, what feels like a time-saving solution could quietly become a systemic problem," he added.For candidates, the key is not to panic.If an AI bot malfunctions mid-interview, Tan recommends emailing the hiring manager with a screenshot or recording of what happened."Most should offer a redo assuming the candidate isn't already put off by the idea of being interviewed by a bot in the first place," he said.Unaizah, from the University of Malaya, said candidates can also request feedback from the HR team on their interview performance.If there's clear evidence the interview wasn't properly assessed — or wasn't reviewed by a human — ask for an in-person interview, if possible, she said."If all fails or your gut feeling says otherwise, perhaps it's best to look for other companies," said Unaizah. "Target companies that prioritize human-centered hiring." Recommended video

"My Adderall Store" Spotify caught hosting hundreds of fake podcasts that advertise selling drugs Fake 10-second podcasts are easily found fronts for black markets, reports say. Ashley Belanger – May 16, 2025 4:03 pm | 28 Credit: Andy Teo aka Photocillin | Moment Credit: Andy Teo aka Photocillin | Moment Story text Size Small Standard Large Width * Standard Wide Links Standard Orange * Subscribers only   Learn more This week, Spotify rushed to remove hundreds of obviously fake podcasts found to be marketing prescription drugs in violation of Spotify's policies and, likely, federal law. On Thursday, Business Insider (BI) reported that Spotify removed 200 podcasts advertising the sale of opioids and other drugs, but that wasn't the end of the scandal. Today, CNN revealed that it easily uncovered dozens more fake podcasts peddling drugs. Some of the podcasts may have raised a red flag for a human moderator—with titles like "My Adderall Store" or "Xtrapharma.com" and episodes titled "Order Codeine Online Safe Pharmacy Louisiana" or "Order Xanax 2 mg Online Big Deal On Christmas Season," CNN reported. But Spotify's auto-detection did not flag the fake podcasts for removal. Some of them remained up for months, CNN reported, which could create trouble for the music streamer at a time when the US government is cracking down on illegal drug sales online. "Multiple teens have died of overdoses from pills bought online," CNN noted, sparking backlash against tech companies. And Donald Trump's aggressive tariffs were specifically raised to stop deadly drugs from bombarding the US, which the president declared a national emergency. BI found that many podcast episodes featured a computerized voice and were under a minute long, while CNN noted some episodes were as short as 10 seconds. Some of them didn't contain any audio at all, BI reported. CNN noted that developments in artificial intelligence have simplified audio and voice generation, as well as the "proliferation of text-to-speech tools,"which have made it easier than ever to quickly create these phony podcasts linking out to scam websites or perhaps legitimate black markets. Neither CNN nor BI could verify if drugs could actually be purchased on the sites linked. Sometimes Spotify's content moderation seemed to work to catch these podcasts, CNN suggested. But Spotify may not be hugely motivated to hunt them all down, the director of the non-profit Tech Transparency Project, Katie Paul, told CNN. Most platforms lack accountability for user-generated content like these fake podcasts, she said, shielded by Section 230. Even if Spotify did pursue a platform-wide crackdown, Paul thinks Spotify may still struggle to stay ahead of the trend, since podcasts seemingly have a "bigger blind spot," as "voice makes it much more difficult for moderation." It's unclear how many Spotify users interacted with the fake podcasts, CNN reported. However, the podcasts were promoted in top results for searches for various prescription drugs that some users may have conducted on the platform in search of legitimate health-related podcasts. Spotify's spokesperson told Ars that all fake podcasts flagged by the outlets were removed—considered violative as either illegal or spam content—but remained vague on whether there was any risk they might pop back up. As the service continues to play whack-a-mole, the spokesperson said, "we are constantly working to detect and remove violating content across our service." Ashley Belanger Senior Policy Reporter Ashley Belanger Senior Policy Reporter Ashley is a senior policy reporter for Ars Technica, dedicated to tracking social impacts of emerging policies and new technologies. She is a Chicago-based journalist with 20 years of experience. 28 Comments

The government announcement on 14 May about how it sees the future of the digital identity market operating means the uncertainty of the last few months is over. Investors had stopped investing and several identity service providers (IDSPs) have had to put their plans on hold waiting for this day. Those barriers have now been lifted. IDSPs are working though what the government wallet means for them and the disruptive change it will bring to the market. Business cases are being re-examined. The good news is that the 14 May meeting promises to mark a welcome shift in government and identity industry relations. There is understanding and recognition that the secretary of state’s decision to press ahead with announcing the Gov.uk Wallet in January was a bold and reasonable one to make with the information he had available. There is also understanding and recognition by the secretary of state, Peter Kyle, of the unintended consequence of that decision on industry. Identity is like time – it seems simple until you realise it’s all relative. It’s that complexity that government and industry now need to wrestle with together. The consensus is that both sides can learn from the experience and build forward together with more certainty. Let’s take a moment to consider the future this new partnership can unlock. The government’s digital wallet and credentials can be likened to the role of the Bank of England in the financial system – it acts as the identity provider of last resort. Relying parties, such as retailers, can’t directly access what’s inside someone’s wallet - instead, they must go through a registered digital verification service (DVS). Think of these organisations as the retail banks of the identity ecosystem, with the Office for Digital Identity and Attributes (OfDIA) playing a role similar to the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA). Of course, unlike the Bank of England or the FCA, neither the government wallet nor OfDIA are independent – but perhaps that’s a question for the next generation to solve. The point is this: the banking system offers a useful role model for how the identity and personal data market could evolve – where a person’s data, like their money, is something they own, store securely, and choose to share through trusted intermediaries. And here’s the other exciting thing about that analogy. The UK is the global powerhouse in financial and regulatory technology (fintech and regtech) – streets ahead of what’s brewing in Silicon Valley. We sometimes forget that. This is not just hype - it’s rooted in the real-world muscle of London, still the financial capital of the world. It’s this deep, practical, and highly specialised expertise – built in the crucible of high-trust, high-stakes finance – that’s now being unlocked for something new: a sovereign identity and personal data market. While the big tech giants have the global reach to roll out platforms at scale, it’s the UK that holds the keys to making the data economy actually work – in a way that fits with western democratic values. Not big tech surveillance. Not top-down state control. But something more balanced. More human. More trusted. That’s the real prize this new government partnership holds – not just for the digital identity sector, but for the future of the UK economy. A chance to lead the world once again – this time, in building the data layer of democracy. Now comes the hard part. For the past two decades, working in digital identity in the UK was often a lonely road – misunderstood, underfunded, and sometimes even ridiculed. Yet a small group of pioneers kept the flag flying, laying the groundwork that has now led to the creation of OfDIA – a regulatory framework that finally unlocks the innovative potential of the private sector. With the starting gun fired, identity is now going mainstream. A new wave of ideas – powered by trusted digital credentials – is about to flood the market. But identity alone won’t be enough to survive, let alone thrive. What matters now is value. Take banking. Customer-owned personal data stores – shared voluntarily, under their control – are a far richer source of information than anything a credit reference agency can offer. If banks became certified under the Digital Identity and Attributes Trust Framework (DIATF) and the government added a domestic PEP (politically exposed persons) flag to the wallet, they could cut compliance costs by millions. The same goes for major recruiters, NHS trusts, and universities. With DBS certificates, HM Revenue & Customs data, qualifications, and right-to-work credentials in the wallet, time-to-hire and onboarding costs could be dramatically reduced – if these institutions become DVS certified. This isn’t evolution. It’s disruption. Supply chains will shift. Whole new categories of value-added identity services will emerge. Startups will rush in. Competition will intensify. And current identity providers? They’ll need to level up – fast – or risk being left behind. Meanwhile, in the short term, the tasks ahead are a bit messy and incomplete – but necessary. First, the government has set an ambitious goal - to introduce the public to digital ID through age verification for alcohol sales by Christmas. It’s a bold target, and one we should support – but with less than six months to go, it’s a tall order. Proof of concepts will be ready, but full-scale roll-out? Unlikely. Still, the urgency is welcome. Even if we miss the mark, it pushes the whole system forward and identity providers will have to forge new collaborations and ways of working they have not had to consider before. More importantly, this initiative can serve a greater purpose – unlocking regulatory resistance to digital identity across the wider economy. Right now, regulators aren’t aligned, and until they are, in-house compliance teams have no choice but to block innovation. But once the rules change, the brakes come off. Compliance professionals can become allies of change, working with technologists to enable business, not hold it back. And when that alignment happens – regulators, compliance, and tech all pulling in the same direction – the stage is set for the real magic. For the entrepreneurs, the builders, the investors - with government setting the guardrails and the market delivering the innovation - the future won’t just be an upgrade, it’ll be a transformation. Communication, education, and outreach programmes can transform every community – even those post-industrial regions that have been left behind. There should be no reason why people have to leave their hometowns to seek work and opportunity. We can find new and diverse ways of working once we know who we all are. In conclusion, 14 May could well be remembered as a watershed moment – not just for government and the identity industry, but for the future of the UK economy. And that’s before we even begin to explore the power of person-centric, controlled artificial intelligence (AI) – AI that serves individual creators, not big tech monopolies. So, hats off to Peter Kyle for his bold decisions and refreshing honesty. This is a moment that demands goodwill and open collaboration. Government and industry must move as one – the stakes are too high for division. This isn’t just about digital identity. It’s about sovereignty. It’s about dignity and rebuilding trust in an age of data. If we get this right in the UK, we won’t just be rebuilding the country and creating economic growth. We’ll empower people. We’ll unlock opportunity. And we’ll show the world how democracy can evolve – and thrive – in the digital era. The game is now well and truly on. And everything’s to play for. Let’s rise to meet it. David Crack is chair of the Association of Digital Verification Professionals, a trade body representing companies involved in the electronic validation of documents and digital identities. Read more about digital identity A driving licence in an app is a boost for digital identity - but not for angry suppliers - It’s rare that a digital government development attracts interest from mainstream media, but the announcement of a digital driving licence brought widespread national coverage. Distrust builds between digital ID sector and government amid speculation over 'ID cards by stealth' - The latest meeting of the All-Party Parliamentary Group on digital identity was more exciting than it sounds. European Digital Identity Wallet: One ID for EU citizens - The European Digital Identity Wallet is a personal digital wallet with which you will be able to identify yourself digitally in the future. Is this the solution for a centralised ID?

When Huawei shocked the global tech industry with its Mate 60 Pro smartphone featuring an advanced 7-nanometer chip despite sweeping US technology restrictions, it demonstrated that innovation finds a way even under the heaviest sanctions. The US response was swift and predictable: tighter export controls and expanded restrictions.Now, with reports suggesting Huawei’s Ascend AI chips are approaching Nvidia-level performance—though the Chinese company remains characteristically silent about these developments—America has preemptively escalated its semiconductor war to global proportions. The Trump administration’s declaration that using Huawei’s Ascend chips “anywhere in the world” violates US export controls reveals more than policy enforcement—it exposes a fundamental fear that American technological dominance may no longer be guaranteed through restrictions alone.This global AI chip ban emerged on May 14, 2025, when President Donald Trump’s administration rescinded the Biden-era AI Diffusion Rule without revealing details of a replacement policy. Instead, the Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) announced guidance to “strengthen export controls for overseas AI chips,” specifically targeting Huawei’s Ascend processors. The new guidelines warn of “enforcement actions” including imprisonment and fines for any global business found using these Chinese-developed chips—a fundamental departure from traditional export controls, which typically govern what leaves a country’s borders, not what happens entirely outside them.The South China Morning Post reports that these new guidelines explicitly single out Huawei’s Ascend chips after scrapping the Biden administration’s country-tiered “AI diffusion” rule. But the implications of this global AI chip ban extend far beyond bilateral US-China tensions. By asserting jurisdiction over global technology choices, America essentially demands that sovereign nations and independent businesses worldwide comply with its domestic policy preferences.This extraterritorial approach raises fundamental questions about national sovereignty and international trade. Should a Brazilian AI startup be prevented from using the most cost-effective chip solution simply because those chips are manufactured by a Chinese company? Should European research institutions abandon promising collaborations because they involve hardware Washington deems unacceptable?According to Financial Times reporting, BIS stated that Huawei’s Ascend 910B, 910C, and 910D were all subject to the regulations as they were likely “designed with certain US software or technology or produced with semiconductor manufacturing equipment that is the direct product of certain US-origin software or technology, or both.”Industry resistance to universal controlsEven within the United States, the chipmaking sector expresses alarm about Washington’s semiconductor policies. The aggressive expansion of export controls creates uncertainty beyond Chinese companies, affecting global supply chains and innovation partnerships built over decades.“Washington’s new guidelines are essentially forcing global tech firms to pick a side – Chinese or US hardware – which will further deepen the tech divide between the world’s two largest economies,” analysts note. This forced binary choice ignores the nuanced reality of modern technology development, where innovation emerges from diverse, international collaborations.The economic implications prove staggering. Recent analysis indicates Huawei’s Ascend 910B AI chip delivers 80% of Nvidia A100’s efficiency when training large language models, though “in some other tests, Ascend chips can beat the A100 by 20%.” By blocking access to competitive alternatives, this global AI chip ban may inadvertently stifle innovation and maintain artificial market monopolies.The innovation paradoxPerhaps most ironically, policies intended to maintain American technological leadership may undermine it. Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang acknowledged earlier this month that Huawei was “one of the most formidable technology companies in the world,” noting that China was “not behind” in AI development.Attempting to isolate such capabilities through global restrictions may accelerate the development of parallel technology ecosystems, ultimately reducing American influence rather than preserving it. The secrecy surrounding Huawei’s Ascend chips—with the company keeping “details of its AI chips close to its chest, with only public information coming from third-party teardown reports”—has intensified with US sanctions.Following escalating restrictions, Huawei stopped officially disclosing information about the series, including release dates, production schedules, and fabrication technologies. The chips specified in current US restrictions, including the Ascend 910C and 910D, haven’t even been officially confirmed by Huawei.Geopolitical ramificationsIn a South China Morning Post’s report, Chim Lee, a senior analyst at the Economist Intelligence Unit, warns that “if the guidance is enforced strictly, it is likely to provoke retaliation from China” and could become “a negotiating point in ongoing trade talks between Washington and Beijing.” This assessment underscores the counterproductive nature of aggressive unilateral action in an interconnected global economy.The semiconductor industry thrives on international collaboration, shared research, and open competition. Policies that fragment this ecosystem serve no one’s long-term interests—including America’s. As the global community grapples with challenges from climate change to healthcare innovation, artificial barriers preventing the best minds from accessing optimal tools ultimately harm human progress.Beyond binary choicesThe question isn’t whether nations should protect strategic interests—they should and must. But when export controls extend “anywhere in the world,” we cross from legitimate national security policy into technological authoritarianism. The global technology community deserves frameworks that balance security concerns with innovation imperatives.This global AI chip ban risks accelerating the technological fragmentation it seeks to prevent. History suggests markets divided by political decree often spawn parallel innovation ecosystems that compete more effectively than those operating under artificial constraints.Rather than extending controls globally, a strategic approach would focus on out-innovating competitors through superior technology and international partnerships. The current path toward technological bifurcation serves neither American interests nor global innovation—it simply creates a more fragmented, less efficient world where artificial barriers replace natural competition.The semiconductor industry’s future depends on finding sustainable solutions that address legitimate security concerns without dismantling the collaborative networks that drive technological advancement. As this global AI chip ban takes effect, the world watches to see whether innovation will flourish through competition or fragment through control.See also: Huawei’s AI hardware breakthrough challenges Nvidia’s dominanceWant to learn more about AI and big data from industry leaders? Check out AI & Big Data Expo taking place in Amsterdam, California, and London. The comprehensive event is co-located with other leading events including Intelligent Automation Conference, BlockX, Digital Transformation Week, and Cyber Security & Cloud Expo.Explore other upcoming enterprise technology events and webinars powered by TechForge here.

A portable western paradise? (Take-Two Interactive) Rockstar’s Western epic will be released on Nintendo Switch 2 later this year, according to several sources, alongside a next gen patch for PS5 and Xbox Series X/S. Rockstar’s parent company Take-Two Interactive has already announced several titles for the Switch 2, including Civilization 7 and Borderlands 4, but there’s no confirmation of any Rockstar developed titles, such as GTA or Red Dead Redemption 2. However, a new report suggests that could change very soon. Rockstar’s most recent cowboy adventure was previously rumoured for the Switch 2 earlier this year, but after the Western epic failed to appear during Nintendo’s presentation last month, speculation around a port died down. A month later, Arthur Morgan is seemingly back on the Switch 2 menu, with a report stating the sequel could be coming to the console ‘as soon as later this year’. According to sources at Gamereactor, which has been corroborated at Nintendoduo, Red Dead Redemption 2 will be coming to Switch 2 either ‘at the same time, or somewhat later’ as a next gen upgrade patch for the PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X/S. While GTA 5 might have been the more obvious contender for a Switch 2 port ahead of GTA 6, the potential joint release of a current gen patch for Red Dead Redemption 2 does make sense. Rockstar previously released a PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series patch for GTA 5 back in 2022. More Trending There’s no mention of whether the potential Switch 2 port would include Red Dead Online, or if it could launch without it. Rockstar has released several games on the original Switch, including GTA: The Trilogy and the first Red Dead Redemption, but neither had online support. Earlier this week, another rumour claimed Rockstar is developing a remaster of GTA 4, so the company might be going full steam ahead on various ports in the run-up to GTA 6. Take-Two CEO Strauss Zelnick recently stated how he has ‘great optimism’ for the Switch 2. ‘Historically, being a third party in the Nintendo business has been a bit challenging,’ Zelnick said. ‘I think Nintendo has been very forthcoming in addressing that. And we’re stepping up too, because we have great optimism for the platform. ‘In terms of what we would bring to any platform, we address it on a case-by-case basis, we obviously want to be where the consumers are. But we would not necessarily bring every title to every platform. There are also great catalogue opportunities as well.’ Still one of the best open worlds ever (Take-Two Interactive) Email gamecentral@metro.co.uk, leave a comment below, follow us on Twitter, and sign-up to our newsletter. To submit Inbox letters and Reader’s Features more easily, without the need to send an email, just use our Submit Stuff page here. For more stories like this, check our Gaming page. GameCentral Sign up for exclusive analysis, latest releases, and bonus community content. This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply. Your information will be used in line with our Privacy Policy

When we look at the relationship between 73-year-old legendary football coach Bill Belichick and his girlfriend and business partner, 24-year-old Jordon Hudson, it’s hard to know exactly what we’re seeing. Two grown-ups in love forging a dynamic business partnership? Elder abuse, as some have wildly speculated? Or is it, as the vitriolic comments in Hudson’s social media posts would have it, good old-fashioned gold digging? Gold digging is a misogynistic and retro term, but this scandal is a retro one. It’s a bizarre, slightly off-putting mystery that fits remarkably well into our current age of newly regressive gender politics.Hudson and Belichick, the six-time Super Bowl-winning former NFL coach, met on a flight in 2021 and went public with their relationship last December. While their nearly 50-year age gap has raised eyebrows amid observers, the scandal has only grown as Hudson has taken on an increasingly central role in Belichick’s professional world. It’s a bizarre, slightly off-putting mystery that fits remarkably well into our current age of newly regressive gender politics.Belichick requested Hudson be cc’ed on all publicity and media emails about him at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, where he is now a college football coach. In public records, she’s listed as the manager of several companies that appear to be tied to Belichick. Insider accounts say she essentially cast herself in a Dunkin Donuts commercial in which Belichick appeared, and that she blocked a docuseries about Belichick’s career. But speculation around the relationship reached a fever pitch when Hudson interrupted during Belichick’s interview on CBS Sunday Morning in April. “How did you guys meet?” host Tony Dokoupil asked Belichick, referring to Hudson. “We’re not talking about this,” Hudson cut in tersely from off-camera. “Jordon was a constant presence during our interview,” Dokoupil informs viewers in voiceover, in a moment that launched a thousand TikTok reaction videos. In the midst of this controversy, the couple has been manufacturing social media content about their relationship that isn’t alarming so much as it is lightly uncanny, especially given Belichick’s famously gruff public persona. On Hudson’s Instagram account, she has posted beachside pictures of herself balancing athletically on Belichick’s outstretched legs, and of Belichick, dressed as a fisherman, reeling in a mermaid-tailed Hudson from the surf. (“Ouucchhhh!!!” goes the caption on that one.)A few have defended the relationship between Belichick and Hudson. Sports media personality Colin Cowherd has said that Hudson’s choice to hop into Belichick’s interview was normal for PR directors, if “kind of a cringy thing.” Right-wing sports outlet The Outkick has rallied to Hudson’s side on the grounds that she triggers the libs, saying, “If Jordon wants to spend her weekends at Bill’s house on Nantucket, soaking up the sun and enjoying Cisco Brewery on Bill’s dime, I say GO FOR IT.” But the most common reaction to the spectacle of Hudson and Belichick’s relationship is the one outlined by sports media personality Katie Nolan on a podcast in February: This is weird and seems like it has sinister undertones.“We’re already going, ‘You’re how much younger than him?’ And then you show up in a commercial. And then you hear that she’s in charge in his career.” Nolan said. “It seems like you could be taking advantage of the guy. And he’s obviously taking advantage of the girl.” Notably, it doesn’t appear to be much of a head-scratcher why a powerful septuagenarian would choose to be with a recent college graduate and pageant contestant. But the nefarious reason implied about why Hudson wants to be with Belichick is the one people are misogynistically and freely throwing around: gold digger.The resurgence of the gold digger I don’t know anything about Hudson and Belichick’s private relationship, and most likely, neither do you. I don’t want to make any claims about who is using whom or what their private life is like. But as a feminist pop culture critic, I am interested to see the term “gold digger” swim back up from the collective unconsciousness again, ready and willing to go to work. There’s something almost old-fashioned about it. The last time “gold digger” was thrown around in pop culture so much was when teenager Courtney Stodden skyrocketed to fame in 2011 after they got married at age 16 to 51-year-old actor Doug Hutchison. Stodden would later describe their marriage as one characterized by grooming and sexual assault. Before that, the great pop culture gold digger was Anna Nicole Smith, the model turned paparazzi obsession who married oil tycoon J. Howard Marshall II in 1994. Since Smith’s untimely death in 2007, she’s found a place in the pantheon of wronged women of the 1990s, someone we came to believe over the last decade was publicly mistreated — in part by her tarring as a gold digger. “It’s a bit provincial to look down one’s nose at a woman wanting something from a man and give a pass to a man who arguably would have never given her a second glance had she not been a beautiful, blonde Playboy Playmate,” essayist and sex work activist Laura LeMoon argued in 2023, writing about Smith in Salon. “Rather than singling out and condemning Anna Nicole Smith, we should be pointing our fingers at the inequities and systemic failures that put people like me and Smith in positions where obtaining money and resources from men, directly or indirectly, is our best option for survival.”“Gold digger” is a euphemism that allows us as a culture to talk around those systemic failures. It’s a way to deride women when they take seriously the idea that their financial well-being should depend on their relationships with men. So it’s odd to see the term becoming so popular during a moment when popular culture has become rather infatuated with the idea that life is most pleasant, simple, and straightforward when women’s finances do depend on romantic relationships with men.TikTok is full of tradwives explaining how their lives became better once they got out of the 9-to-5 grind to make cereal from scratch for their children and let their husbands do the breadwinning. (That the most successful of the tradwife influencers are actually the primary breadwinners in their homes is an irony the influencers themselves seldom discuss.) Or there are the stay-at-home girlfriends cooing over how taking care of their boyfriends without even the financial safety net of a marriage contract has been their ticket to the soft life. The gold digger is the tradwife as seen through a funhouse mirror: a woman living off her ability to attract a man, only here done crassly.Meanwhile, some of President Donald Trump’s most vocal supporters are arguing that his tariffs will force women out of the workforce and make them once again financially dependent on men, either through marriage or through sex work, life paths these men treat as equivalent. Trump’s appeal to the dream of a lost American manufacturing economy is a nostalgic one. It’s an appealing fantasy to some of his more incel-adjacent fans: that under this economy, the sexes will revert to an older, allegedly more natural economic relationship, one in which women trade their sexuality and childrearing capabilities to men in exchange for financial security. The gold digger is the tradwife as seen through a funhouse mirror: a woman living off her ability to attract a man, only here done crassly, without the show of love to soften the crude edges of the transaction. The gold digger is simply a figure we can blame for how uncomfortable this dynamic makes us feel, without having to think through just what is so uncomfortable about it. So if we’re angry at Jordon Hudson, it’s worth asking the question: Are we angry with her, or with the fact that powerful people want to make gold digging one of a woman’s most viable career paths again?See More:

“Fortnite” has gone offline worldwide on iOS devices after Apple blocked the online video game’s release submission. The video game’s social media pages put out the following statement: “Apple has blocked our ‘Fortnite’ submission so we cannot release to the US App Store or to the Epic Games Store for iOS in the European Union. Now, sadly, ‘Fortnite’ on iOS will be offline worldwide until Apple unblocks it.” In August 2020, Apple officially booted “Fortnite” and other Epic Games titles off the App Store, suspending the games company’s developer account after Epic filed an antitrust lawsuit against the tech giant. Epic’s lawsuit against Apple argued that the tech company acts as a monopoly, taking a 30% cut on all in-app purchases while banning outside payment methods. Related Stories News broke at the end of April that “Fortnite” would be returning to the App Store after a court found that Apple willfully violated the court order in the Epic Games v. Apple suit. “For the reasons set forth herein, the Court finds Apple in willful violation of this Court’s 2021 Injunction which issued to restrain and prohibit Apple’s anticompetitive conduct and anticompetitive pricing. Apple’s continued attempts to interfere with competition will not be tolerated,” Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers said in the documents. Popular on Variety An Apple spokesperson shared the following statement with Variety after the ruling: “We strongly disagree with the decision. We will comply with the court’s order and we will appeal.” While “Fortnite” was expected to return to the App Store, Epic Games says Apple did not approve its submission in time. Epic Games CEO Tim Sweeney posted on X on May 15: “We don’t have an update on our ‘Fortnite’ submission to the App Store. Apple has neither accepted nor rejected it. So the Friday update to Fortnite is now in jeopardy.”

Amazon recently unveiled a new warehouse robot that can “feel,” according to the company.  Called the Vulcan robot, the two-armed beast is already working in Amazon fulfillment centers in Spokane, WA, and Hamburg, Germany, where it’s handled more than half a million orders. The Vulcan’s sense of touch comes from force-sensitive grippers and sensors on its joints, which provide data to its AI about the edges, contours, and resistance of the items it picks up, moves, and places in a new location. With this faculty, Vulcan can grip a soft bag of candy gently, but a heavy coffee table book more firmly without crushing the candy or dropping the book.  One way to look at the benefit of a robot that can detect what it’s gripping is that it provides flexibility, enabling a wider range of products to be handled. According to Amazon, Vulcan can handle about 75% of the million or so products in a typical Amazon warehouse. Aaron Parness and his roughly 250-person robotics team at Amazon created the Vulcan robot. The company revealed it to the world on May 7 at its “Delivering the Future” event in Dortmund, Germany.  Mixed feelings about tactile robots Vulcan is the first Amazon robot with what the company calls a “genuine sense of touch,” thanks to force feedback sensors and AI-powered software that lets it “feel” items, not just see them (cameras are the main sensors on most Amazon robots).  If you’re familiar with my views on anthropomorphicization (i.e., “humanizing”) of robots and AI, you might guess what I’m about to say. Amazon says its Vulcan robot can feel (without quotation marks). This isn’t true.  When a robot like Vulcan “feels” something, it uses sensors that measure force, pressure, and sometimes texture or shape, turning these signals into data that AI can interpret. Vulcan’s sensors are built into its gripper and joints, so when it touches or grasps an object, it detects how much force it’s applying and the contours it’s encountering. Machine learning algorithms then help Vulcan decide how to adjust its grip or movement based on this feedback. By contrast, a person feels with a network of millions of nerve endings in the skin, especially in the fingertips. These nerves send detailed, real-time information to the brain about pressure, temperature, texture, pain, and even the direction of force. The human sense of touch is deeply connected to memory, emotion, judgment, and consciousness. Robots like Vulcan can now match or even exceed humans in detecting pressure or identifying textures, but their “feeling” is purely mechanical and digital. They don’t experience sensation or emotion, and they only know what their sensors can measure and their software can interpret. Humans, on the other hand, feel in a way that’s physical, emotional, and conscious. With that caveat out of the way, it has to be said that Vulcan is pretty amazing.  Giving warehouse workers a hand Parness says Vulcan’s sense of touch is a breakthrough because it brings “physical intelligence” to robots, and that’s the categorical breakthrough here. The main advance robots will undergo over the next decade or two will involve sensors increasingly being able to detect and adapt to real conditions in the real world and being trained in virtual physical AI environments.  Despite the advanced state of Vulcan’s technology, its main job is actually limited:  to pick products from bulk storage and pack them into movable shelves, a task that used to require human dexterity.  Vulcan is neither a humanoid robot nor is its hand modeled after human hands. I’ve weighed in before about how modeling factory robots after human body parts makes no sense.  Vulcan’s “hand” combines a conveyor belt gripper with a spatula-like tool, both of which are fitted with sensors that constantly measure pressure and torque. A ruler-like tool attached between the paddles acts as a spatial guide, nudging existing items in storage bins to create space for the new items it is laying into place.  The robot’s AI, trained on thousands of hours of physical interaction data, calculates the right amount of force for each object in real time. Vulcan can work up to 20 hours a day without ever taking a coffee break or using the bathroom, moving at speeds comparable to a human worker, but always behind a safety fence in case it suddenly goes bananas like that Chinese robot in the TikTok video people have been talking about and misinterpreting. (It just malfunctioned. It didn’t try to “attack” people.)  The Vulcan robot has real limitations. For example, it’s too weak to lift anything heavier than 8 pounds and can only move products from one place to another. If the robot encounters an unfamiliar item or something that exceeds its 8-pound weight limit, it flags a human worker for help. Grasping the importance of tactile robots Vulcan isn’t the only robot with a sense of touch. RoboTact and RoboTouch sensors, developed over decades and now used in everything from humanoid robots to service bots, give machines the ability to sense contact, pressure, and even the shape of objects, allowing for delicate and precise handling.  Sanctuary AI enhanced its Phoenix robot with tactile sensors that let it handle complex, touch-driven jobs. Their technology means Phoenix can detect things like slippage or excessive force, even when it can’t see what it’s doing.  Meta created its Digit 360 sensor, a fingertip-shaped device that can register forces as tiny as one millinewton and pick up details down to seven microns. The sensor is still in the lab, but Meta’s partnership with GelSight and Wonik Robotics is helping to eventually bring these sensors into real-world use.  Eventually, robots with a sense of touch will revolutionize robotics and enable them to perform a wide range of tasks that robots currently cannot do, like picking strawberries, performing surgery, and defusing bombs. But for now, Amazon is using some of the most advanced tactile robots on the planet to help ship bathrobes, books, and batteries to customers.

Stock in Coinbase (COIN), the largest U.S.-based cryptocurrency exchange, fell more than 8% Thursday on news it was the victim of a cyberattack, in which hackers successfully bribed overseas contractors to leak important information so they could steal customer data. The company estimates it could cost $400 million to resolve the situation. While investors may be concerned, Coinbase customers undoubtedly are as well. Here’s what users of the crypto exchange need to know. What happened? Coinbase reported in a Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) filing that on May 11, it received an email from an entity claiming to have obtained information about certain Coinbase customer accounts and internal Coinbase documentation—including materials relating to customer-service and account-management systems. The filing said hackers sent an email threatening to publish customers’ personal data if Coinbase did not pay a $20 million ransom, which CEO Brian Armstrong confirmed on X was specifically for “$20 million in Bitcoin.” According to the SEC filing, Coinbase learned the cybercriminals obtained the data by paying off multiple overseas contractors or employees working in support roles. Once detected, Coinbase immediately terminated those involved. Coinbase said it did not pay the ransom and has been working with law enforcement to investigate the breach. It’s establishing a $20 million reward for information leading to the arrest and conviction of those responsible for the attack. Was my Coinbase password or private key leaked in the attack? No. The SEC filing said the data breach did not compromise customer passwords or private keys. Were my Coinbase funds exposed in the attack? According to the SEC filing, neither “targeted contractors” nor “employees” were able to access customer funds. What about Coinbase customer data like my email, address, and phone number? Yes, according to Coinbase’s blog, the following personal information was compromised: Name, address, phone, and email Masked Social Security (last 4 digits only) Masked bank‑account numbers and some bank account identifiers Government‑ID images (e.g., driver’s license, passport) Account data (balance snapshots and transaction history) Limited corporate data (including documents, training materials, and communications available to support agents) How can I protect myself? Coinbase told Fast Company: “Expect impostors. Scammers—related to this incident or not—may pose as Coinbase employees and try to pressure you into moving your funds.” Additionally, the company outlined what customers can do in this post. What should I do if I receive a phone call, text, or request from Coinbase? A Coinbase spokesperson told Fast Company: “If you receive this call, hang up the phone. Coinbase will never ask you to contact an unknown number to reach us.” Again, remember, Coinbase will never call or text, or ask for your password or two-factor authentication (2FA) codes, or for you to transfer assets to a specific or new address, account, vault, or wallet. I think my Coinbase information was leaked in the cyberattack. What should I do? Coinbase said it will reimburse customers who were tricked into sending funds to the attacker due to social engineering attacks. If your data was accessed, you should have already received an email; notifications were sent Wednesday, May 15, at 7:20 a.m. ET to affected customers.  Flagged accounts now require additional ID checks on large withdrawals and include mandatory scam‑awareness prompts. As Coinbase monitors high-risk transactions, customers may experience delays. The company said it is opening a new support hub in the U.S., adding stronger security controls and monitoring across all locations, and will keep the community updated as the investigation progresses.

2025 Sony has a team of magicians on staff. It’s the only rational explanation I can come up with for how it’s raised the bar for active noise-cancelling headphones year after year. I really thought Sony couldn’t improve upon last year’s model, the class-leading WH-1000XM5. But the WH-1000XM6 (yes, the naming convention still sucks) has so many new features—a revamped design that folds again, a new processor and drivers, and more mics—I can’t argue with the results. The XM6 ANC headphones don’t have many flaws to speak of. Although the estimated 30 hours of battery life is solid, I’m always looking for more time off the charger. Honestly, the only downside is the hefty $450 price tag, but then again, Apple seems to have no problem selling AirPods Max for $550. Sony WH-1000XM6 Sony's WH-1000XM6 outdoes its predecessor in just about every category, making them the headphones to beat this year, noise cancelling or otherwise. Pros Cons At first glance, you may not notice all the refinements that Sony made to the XM6. But I assure you, they all add up to a more comfortable and polished pair of headphones. The leatherette over-ear cups create a nice passive noise-cancelling seal, the headband is wider for better weight distribution on your dome, and it’s great to see Sony listened to feedback and made them foldable again. Even little touches like a larger power button that’s easier to press are worth appreciating. Sony’s playing it a bit safe with the usual black, silver, and midnight blue colorways, but hopefully it’ll roll out more interesting shades down the line. It’s not hard to get the XM6 connected to your smartphone or laptop. The minute you flip the included magnetic hard case open, you’ll get a pairing prompt on your phone, which walks you through connecting the headphones via Bluetooth, and then you’re ready to go. The initial pairing process only takes less than three minutes, but I still wish it was faster, like it is on most modern wireless earbuds. Play your cards right, and you’ll rarely have to touch your phone. Unlike AirPods Max, you can control audio from the touch-sensitive surface on the right ear cup using taps and swipes. A double tap plays and pauses audio or answers and rejects a call, while a forward or backward swipe switches to the next and previous track, respectively. Swiping up or down adjusts the volume, while holding your hand over the earcup launches Quick Attention, which pauses audio until you remove your hand. And if you don’t feel like touching the headphones, you can nod your head or shake it to answer or reject a phone call. © Adriano Contreras / Gizmodo The NC/AMB button (noise cancellation and ambient noise mode) also pulls double duty. Press it twice to Quick Access a chosen app (Amazon Music, Spotify, or Endel). You can program a second app to launch with three taps, but you’ll need the Sony Sound Connect app (previously called Headphone Connect) to configure that. I’m always wavering between Bose and Sony when it comes to noise-cancelling tech. Right now, Sony has taken a noticeable lead. In its quest for silence, or at least a quieter environment, Sony has brought its new QN3 processor and 12 upgraded microphones (versus eight on the XM5). It also wouldn’t be 2025 without a healthy dose of AI. To that end, the XM6 has AI noise reduction, which the company says was trained on over 500 million voice samples. The result is some seriously quiet phone and video calls. You also have a refreshed AI Noise Optimizer feature, which works to identify and eliminate pesky ambient noises. I took the XM6 and the Bose QuietComfort Ultra headphones for a trip on the New York City subway—a place full of random smells and noises. Neither pair of cans did anything for the summer bod funk in the air, but plenty for the latter. In terms of regular train noises (opening and closing doors, moving along the tracks, train announcements, etc.), the XM6 was slightly better at muting the din without any music playing. © Adriano Contreras / Gizmodo © Adriano Contreras / Gizmodo © Adriano Contreras / Gizmodo Sony’s newest ANC headphones also did a better job of shielding me from a lover’s spat on the train. I typically hear more ambient sound while wearing Bose’s QuietComfort Ultra. I cued up Shaggy’s “It Wasn’t Me” on the XM6 and committed myself to minding my own business. Okay, I may have switched over to Ambient Sound to hear some of the juicier details, but not for the whole conversation. Speaking of Ambient Sound, that’s the mode I engage when I’m walking alone at night or in unfamiliar surroundings. It lets in outside noise so you can keep tabs on your surroundings. One minute, I’m hearing nothing but the deep bass and raunchy lyrics in the Ying Yang Twins’ “Wait (The Whisper Song),” and the next, there’s birds chirping and traffic sounds filtered in. Deeper bass, brighter highs, and fuller mids—what a difference a driver makes. The 30mm drivers utilize a more rigid dome construction, which translates into more balanced audio performance. Since my regular playlist covers a wide swath of music genres, I kept the built-in equalizer off to get the flattest frequency possible. That means when I listened to Sevendust’s “Enemy,” there wasn’t any artificial bass being added. It was just me, crisp cymbals, bombastic percussion, an energetic set of electric guitars, and silky smooth vocals juxtaposed against guttural screams. © Adriano Contreras / Gizmodo Even without spatial audio or Cinematic mode, the XM6’s soundstage is seriously generous. I can really make out the finer vibrations of the twang of the guitars on “Raised Right” by Reyna Roberts. The violin and vocals were just as clean, where I could hear some of the plosives as Roberts enunciated words like “night” and “taught.” But what about the low end? No, the XM6 don’t go as hard on the bass as the Sony’s Ult headphones. But I discovered they still bring the boom as I listened to Pop Smoke’s “Dior.” The bass was nice and weighty but didn’t overwhelm the violin, hi-hats, or the Nextel chirps and other electronic elements throughout the drill track. Whether I’m watching a movie or listening to music, spatial audio has become one of my favorite features to indulge in. Seriously, cue up a music service that supports Dolby Atmos or Sony’s 360 Audio format—you’ll thank me. It’s a cool, almost eerie feeling to move your head from right to left or up and down and have the music respond to your location accordingly. It essentially creates your own personal concert hall. Spatial audio is at its best watching action scenes, as the gunfire and subsequent explosions gain an extra dimension of immersion. Previously called Headphone Connect, the renamed Sound Connect app retains all previous functionality while adding new features. While I love a kitchen sink approach to features, I have a feeling that many users won’t touch more than 50% of them. Speak-to-Chat, Spatial Audio, Ambient Sound Control, Adaptive Sound Control, and multipoint pairing are all present. Something new to the scene is Listening Mode, which lets you toggle between Standard, Background Music, and Cinematic modes. The first one is pretty straightforward: you listen to your music with whatever settings you’ve got enabled. Background Music lowers the volume so you can carry on a conversation. The audio is a bit diffused, but you can still bop without losing too much detail. Cinematic mode is the exact opposite and expands the soundstage. It’s not on a par with spatial audio, but it’s the mode I recommend using when you’re watching movies or TV. (If you’re concerned about protecting your hearing, the app has a Safe Listening feature that tracks your sound allowance as advised by the World Health Organization. It can also track how much ambient noise the cans have protected your ears from.) There’s also Scene-based Listening (SBL). This goes hand-in-hand with Adaptive Sound Control. Where the latter automatically adjusts noise cancellation based on your location, SBL will start playing music from your chosen player based on activity or location. You can set it to play at the start of your commute, while you’re taking a jog or working out at the gym and the app will learn your habits and adjust ANC levels accordingly. © Adriano Contreras / Gizmodo My only complaint is that some of the cooler features, like spatial audio and Find Your Equalizer, aren’t front and center. Instead, they’re tucked away in smaller menus that aren’t easy to navigate. You really have to hunt for the setting you’re looking for. I already mentioned the XM6 has a set of 12 microphones on each side, half of which are beamforming devices designed to focus on picking up your voice. Combine that with the AI Reduction technology, and you’ve got crystal clear calls whether you’re connected to a smartphone or laptop. I was most impressed with how well the AI reduction worked. Whether I was in a busy coffee shop or walking down a construction-laden street, my callers reported little to no background noise. That doesn’t mean that they totally blocked out the jackhammer I walked by or the overhead train. The headphones muted them and all but killed any wind resistance, but certain noises don’t totally disappear. The XM6 has the same 30 hours of battery life (with noise cancellation on) as the XM5, with a quick charge that translates to three hours of power after being plugged in for three minutes. The battery shoots up to 40 hours if you disable the noise cancellation. Keeping the volume at about 50%, I’ve only had to charge the headphones twice over the course of a week. While I would have loved for Sony to give the XM6 even more battery life, that doesn’t mean the company didn’t give us some sort of improvement. Unlike previous headphones in the WH-1000 series, you can charge the XM6 while they’re in use. Instead of having to face a long commute from Brooklyn to the Bronx sans music or ANC, I just plugged them into my Anker battery pack and maintained my peace on the train. I’m going to do my damnedest to stop doubting Sony when it comes to outdoing itself. But it’s so hard when it seems like the company’s ANC headphones can’t get any better. Because let’s be clear, the XM5 landed on many a best noise-cancellation headphones list. But the Sony WH-1000XM6 has taken just about everything I loved about its predecessor and given it a big update. Better driver? Check. New processor? Yep. Actually useful AI features? You betcha. The result is a refined and feature-packed pair of premium ANC headphones with best-in-class ANC and a comfortable, albeit safe design.