TechRadar News

• Intel’s new CEO, Lip-Bu Tan, will step into office on March 18
• The company must make “calculated risks” to catch up
• Interim CEOs will revert to their original positions

Three months after Intel CEO Pat Gelsinger announced that he’d be stepping down after a near-four-year stint, the chipmaker has confirmed its new leader.

In an email to workers, Lip-Bu Tan revealed himself to be the company’s new leader, detailing his aim to restore the company’s “world-class” status by focusing on both product development and foundry services.

Tan will take post on March 18, 2025, but he’s already previously served on Intel’s board – something he gave up due to strategic disagreements, says Reuters.

Lip-Bu Tan will serve as Intel’s new CEO

Tan promises an “engineering-focused” Intel and remains committed to innovation. “Intel’s innovation has been at the heart of so many world-changing breakthroughs along the way,” he said.

He continued: “I believe we have a truly unique opportunity to remake our company at one of the most pivotal moments in its history. That’s not to say it will be easy. It won’t be. But I am joining because I believe with every fiber of my being that we have what it takes to win.”

At $89.2 billion, Intel’s market cap lags far behind key rivals like AMD ($163.6 billion) and Nvidia ($2.83 trillion). Lip-Bu said the company must take “calculated risks to disrupt and leapfrog” in areas of the business that are behind the competition.

Analysts are clearly happy with the new leadership, with shares shooting up 12% following the announcement to $23.21.

Tan’s background includes a 12-year stint as Cadence Design Systems CEO between 2009 and 2021, where he delivered a stock price increase of more than 3,200%.

With the appointment of a new CEO, interim CEOs Michelle Johnston Holthaus and Dave Zinsner will step back into CEO of Intel Products and company CFO respectively.

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Full spoilers follow for Invincible season 3 episode 8.

It only feels like yesterday that Invincible season 3 made its Prime Video debut. So, it feels weird to be writing that the critically-acclaimed animated series' latest chapter has just ended, albeit in typically explosive fashion.

As the dust settles on another jaw-dropping season finale, I'm here to answer your biggest questions about this season's eighth episode, titled 'I Thought You'd Never Shut Up'. I'll also talk about where Amazon's TV adaptation might go next.

Full spoilers immediately follow for Invincible's latest episode and the graphic novel series it's based on. Make sure you've streamed it before you proceed!

Does Atom Eve die in Invincible season 3 episode 8?

Don't worry, Atom-Eve doesn't die in the season 3 finale (Image credit: Amazon MGM Studios)

Thankfully not. If you've watched episode 8 in its entirety, you'll know that's the case. If you somehow missed how she survived being mutilated and skewered by Conquest, though, allow me to explain.

Atom Eve actually plays a bigger part in the battle against Conquest (more on him later) than she does in the source material. Indeed, she actively tries to stop him from beating Mark to a pulp, and even uses her matter-transmutation abilities to go toe-to-toe with the Viltrum Empire's second-most powerful warrior.

But, as you'll remember from Invincible season 3 episode 7, Eve was seriously injured during the Invincible War event that was hinted at all the way back in season 3's premiere, then later teased in season 3 episode 6's mid-credits scene, and eventually depicted in this season's seventh chapter. She would struggle to take on Conquest when fully fit, let alone having just awoken from a week-long coma and still recovering from the wounds she sustained one episode earlier.

Despite putting up a brave fight, Eve begins to tire and starts making mistakes. That allows Conquest to gain the upper hand, smash Eve's jaw, and appear to murder Mark's girlfriend by disemboweling her right in front of him.

I wouldn't want to be Conquest right now... (Image credit: Amazon MGM Studios)

Equal parts furious and distressed over Eve's apparent demise, Mark takes his anger out on his seemingly superior foe, but even his rage-fueled attacks aren't enough to help the series' superhuman protagonist beat Conquest. Eventually, after one last courageous effort on the eponymous hero's part, Conquest overpowers Mark and starts strangling him almost to death.

Cue Eve's death-defying return. Revived by her own superhuman abilities, Eve miraculously self-heals before dealing significant damage to Conquest by firing a giant pink laser that incinerates his costume and burns the skin right off his body. Exhausted, a now-naked Eve collapses, but her intervention proves to be enough to help Mark finally defeat Conquest (don't worry, we're getting to him).

So, how does Eve come back from the dead in one of the best Prime Video shows? As Mark recovers from the injuries he sustained during his battle with Conquest, Eve reminds him (and us) that, when her biological mother was pregnant with Eve, scientists experimented on Eve in the womb and imbued her with superpowers.

What we didn't know is that, while those experiments were ongoing, the researchers installed a failsafe to prevent Eve using her abilities on sentient matter. Essentially, she can't hurt anyone enough to seriously injure or kill them.

However, those mental blocks are overridden when Eve suffers a traumatic event like, you know, almost dying. That allows her to use her abilities without limitations, which is why she was able to self-heal, thereby saving herself from certain death. Oh, and it's why she was able to do so much damage to Conquest with her laser blast.

Is Conquest dead following his battle with Invincible?

Nobody ever stays dead in the Invincible universe (Image credit: Amazon MGM Studios)

Initially, it would appear so, but Invincible fans know that nobody really stays dead in this universe (I'm looking at you, Angstrom Levy and Mister Liu...).

After Eve's laser blast attack, Conquest is severely weakened, which allows Mark to inflict as much punishment as he can muster on his adversary.

After an exhausting and brutal duel, Mark finally gains the upper hand. However, both of his arms have been smashed to pieces by the bout that's just ensued, so Mark uses his head – literally – to head-butt Conquest to death.

Or so it would seem. After Mark wakes from the coma he fell into after seemingly killing Conquest, he demands to see his fallen foe's body. Global Defence Agency (GDA) chief Cecil Stedman agrees to let Mark see it and, after viewing Conquest's remains, Mark seems content that there's one less Viltrumite warrior for him to worry about.

Cecil just can't help himself, can he? (Image credit: Amazon MGM Studios)

The problem is that it's not Conquest's body. We later learn that Cecil has lied to Mark – again! – and that the corpse he showed Mark is nothing more than a dummy. Indeed, it was created so that Mark would walk away convinced that Conquest was no more.

Okay, so where is Conquest's real body? The Viltrumite, voiced by Jeffrey Dean Morgan, is being held in a secure, secret GDA facility six miles below the Earth's surface. As Cecil tells his second-in-command Donald, the GDA have kept Conquest's body so that, in the event that he wakes up, Cecil will force Conquest to tell him all about the Viltrum Empire and how to stop them. Sure, Cecil, nothing bad will come of this, will it...

Wait, did Conquest recreate that devastating Omni-Man train sequence from season 1?

Season 3's recreation of season 1's train sequence might be even worse than the original (Image credit: Amazon MGM Studios)

He absolutely did. In a call-back to Omni-Man and Invincible's destructive battle in Invincible season 1's final episode, Conquest uses Mark's body to plough through and kill numerous innocent humans on a beach resort around midway through this season's finale.

If further proof was needed, it's another reminder of just how brutal Viltrumites are. I do wonder, though, if it's a mere coincidence that Conquest replicates that Omni-Man train sequence from season 1 episode 8, or if it's a move that all Viltrumites use at some point during fights with their kin. I guess we'll find out if Anissa or any other imposing Viltrum warriors use it in future seasons.

Do we check in with Nolan/Omni-Man and Allen before Invincible season 3 ends?

Alas, there's no Allen or Omni-Man scene in season 3's eighth and final chapter (Image credit: Amazon MGM Studios)

Unfortunately not. Much like Invincible season 2 part 1 and Invincible season 2 part 2, we don't spend much time with everyone's new favorite bromance in season 3. So if you were expecting to check in with Nolan and Allen before episode 8 ended, you'll be sorely disappointed.

Spoilers notwithstanding, though, I can say that you'll see much more of them in future seasons. Indeed, the duo take on a much bigger role in the comics following events depicted in 'I Thought You'd Never Shut Up', so expect them to have more screen time moving forward.

What's with that Damien Darkblood mid-credits scene in Invincible season 3's finale?

Hang on, Damien Darkblood is back!? (Image credit: Amazon MGM Studios)

That's hard to answer, because it sets up a storyline that isn't present in Invincible's graphic novel series.

Almost two seasons have passed since Damien Darkblood, a demonic detective, was banished from Earth by Cecil. He was sent back to Hell for disobeying Cecil's orders in season 1 – indeed, Damien previously worked for the GDA and investigated the allegations that Omni-Man was the culprit behind the original Guardians of the Globe team members' deaths in the show's very first episode.

Anyway, this mid-credits stinger reunites us with Damien as he draws a pentagram symbol on the floor of a cave. This summons one of Damien's superiors, with Damien saying he wouldn't have awoken the Great Beast if it wasn't important.

I wonder where this storyline is going... (Image credit: Amazon MGM Studios)

Continuing, Damien informs the other demon that he's found a "surface dweller of great power, the likes of which this planet hasn't seen for eons". I'm not sure what planet he's referring to, but I'm assuming it's the one Damien lives on (is Hell an actual planet?) rather than Earth.

Damien ends by saying the unnamed individual possesses a blackened heart that, when bound to the so-called Dark One, could restore the latter to his throne. When asked how this can be achieved, Damien says he's found a way to conjure him.

What does all of this mean? I've no idea. As I said, this storyline is completely new material written for Invincible's TV adaptation and, in the comics, we never see or hear from Damien again after he's banished. Whatever happens next, Robert Kirkman, co-creator of Invincible's comic-book series and its adult animated adaptation, clearly aims to give Damien a much more impactful and substantial arc in the Prime Video series.

What about an Invincible season 3 finale post-credits scene?

Mark and Oliver have had enough fighting for one day (Image credit: Amazon MGM Studios)

You're fresh out of luck on that front, friend. There's no post-credits scene to stick around for.

Is there going to be an Invincible season 4? And when might it get released?

Good news, there will be MORE [slam to Invincible title card] pic.twitter.com/E6fY3qvfADJuly 26, 2024

Yes! Amazon renewed Invincible for a fourth season last July, with the announcement being one of nine big Comic-Con 2024 reveals we were most excited about.

It could be with us sooner than we expect, too. Speaking to Collider in February, Nolan Grayson/Omni-Man voice actor J.K. Simmons confirmed that he'd already recorded lines for the show's next installment.

And, a few weeks later, Kirkman told The Direct that it was his wish to release new seasons every year. Depending on how much work needs to be done on season 4 – I hope the team isn't being forced to crunch to get it out as soon as possible! – it may debut on Amazon's streaming platform, aka one of the world's best streaming services, sometime in 2026.

How does Invincible season 3 set up its sequel season's story?

Prepare for the invasion of the Sequids, everyone! (Image credit: Amazon MGM Studios)

That would be getting into spoiler territory, folks. I wouldn't want to ruin any major surprises for people who haven't read the comics.

I can talk about what's hinted at before season 3 ends, though. I have no insider information, but I'd be surprised if the Sequids storyline, which you can remind yourself about in my Invincible season 2 part 2 ending explained piece, isn't picked up again in season 4's first two or three episodes. After all, we see that the Sequids' human host Rus Livingston has amassed an army of more human hosts, which have allowed the symbiotic alien species to multiply rapidly in the sewers and prepare for a full-scale invasion of Earth.

Well, I don't like the sound of that, Mark... (Image credit: Amazon MGM Studios)

That storyline takes on even greater significance when you consider what Mark tells Oliver, who's also recovering from injuries he sustained during his brief bout with Conquest, in this season's finale. In short: Mark admits that Oliver was right and that, in order to protect the people that he loves, Mark will need to kill anyone who threatens them. If you thought season 3 was a dark chapter in Mark's life, you ain't seen nothing yet.

There are plenty more subplots and character arcs that'll play out in season 4. Battle Beast is still alive, Angstrom and The Technicians are working together on a new scheme, Cecil and D.A. Sinclair continue to work on using the corpses of those multiversal Invincibles to create version 2.0 of the ReAnimen, the threat from the Viltrum Empire still looms large over proceedings, and so much more! So strap in, because things are only going to get crazier from here.

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• SAG-AFTRA strikes are set to continue amidst concerns over AI protections
• The union has published a new chart detailing AI-related issues that remain to be agreed upon
• Several English-voiced games still have many major characters unvoiced in recent updates

Union SAG-AFTRA (Screen Actors Guild - American Federation of Television and Radio Artists) has created a comparison chart as an update in its ongoing negotiations with the games industry bargaining group. The key takeaway is that both entities remain "frustratingly far apart" on the issue of AI protections for video game voice actors.

IGN reports that the union has published a comparison chart that outlines in detail the issues that it and the bargaining group are still working through. More specifically, the chart "focuses on recent exchanges relating to AI."

Items highlighted in purple in the chart represent issues that have been tentatively agreed upon between SAG-AFTRA and the bargaining group (which is made up of representatives from video game publishing corporations).

However, discussions on several key issues are ongoing. These include protections from "digital replica or generative AI use for all work" as well as the notion that "employers must disclose if it will blend your voice with other voices to make a digital replica."

Alongside the chart, SAG-AFTRA's Duncan Crabtree-Ireland wrote the following statement to the union's members:

"With their previously signed projects dragging their way through the production pipeline, employers are feeling the squeeze from the strike, as SAG-AFTRA members who work in video games continue to stand together and refuse to work without adequate protections.

"This is causing employers to seek other performers they can exploit to fill those roles, including those who don’t typically perform in games. If you’re approached for such a role, we urge you to seriously consider the consequences.

"Not only would you be undermining the efforts of your fellow members, but you would be putting yourself at risk by working without protections against A.I. misuse. And “A.I. misuse” is just a nice way of saying that these companies want to use your performance to replace you - without consent or compensation."

Games industry bargaining group spokesperson Audrey Cooling issued a statement in response, saying: "We have proposed a deal that includes wage increases of over 15% for SAG-AFTRA represented performers in video games, as well as enhanced health and safety protections, industry-leading terms of use for AI digital replicas in-game and additional compensation for the use of an actor’s performance in other games. We have made meaningful progress and are eager to return to the bargaining table to reach a deal."

The negotiations continue amidst cases of popular video game characters remaining unvoiced. Games like Destiny 2, Call of Duty: Black Ops 6, Honkai: Star Rail, and Zenless Zone Zero have been particularly affected.

Most recently, Zenless Zone Zero actors Emeri Chase and Nicholas Thurkettle have spoken on their roles for characters Soldier 11 and Von Lycaon, respectively, having been replaced.

In a Bluesky thread, Chase wrote they were "replaced as Soldier 11 because I am unwilling to perform work not covered by a SAG Interim Agreement during a strike for AI protection, the outcome of which will determine the future of our industry."

In response, Thurkettle added: "I'm not SAG but what game companies want to do with AI is an existential threat. I took a personal stand to ask for protection and had to be willing to give up the best thing that's ever happened in my professional life. I stand by my choice."

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• Three in four decision-makers know that AI is responsible for added data center pressure
• Renewable energy is key, but water cooling is disapproved by one in four
• Leaders see digital twins as ‘game changer’ for innovation

New research from Candence has revealed that the world’s current data centers are being pushed to their absolute limits as companies expand investments in artificial intelligence and other cloud services.

Three-quarters (74%) of decision-makers state that AI demands are putting increased pressure on data centers, with 86% warning that a failure to innovate could have serious to moderate consequences.

Amidst the ongoing battle for data center improvements, companies are also pushing to make them more sustainable, but there remains a lot of work to be done.

We need to focus on data center improvements

Nine in 10 (88%) are now actively working to enhance energy efficiency across their data center operations, however fewer than one in three (31%) feel that they’re actually doing enough. Moreover, nearly three-quarters (70%) feel that the national power grid could be at its limit, highlighting the role that more local renewable energy sources can play at these campuses.

On the topic of sustainability, one in four (26%) went as far as saying that they would never use liquid cooling, which requires large amounts of water and can often have negative impacts on nearby societies.

However, there are plenty of challenges preventing meaningful development, with leaders concerned about the cost of implementing new technologies (42%), a lack of skilled staff (35%), incompatibility with legacy systems (31%), uncertainty about future technologies (30%) and an unclear return on investment (33%).

Although artificial intelligence is frequently seen in natural language assistants (56%), causing the high demand for powerful data centers, Cadence says it can also help tackle the mounting problem. Its uses in automating capacity management (50%), demand forecasting (54%) and fault detection (60%) could play a considerable role in the development of data centers.

Looking ahead, three in four (73%) see digital twins as ‘game changers’ for data center innovation, with four in five (81%) already recognizing their value and one in four (21%) non-users preparing to adopt digital twins in the next 12 months.

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The EU AI Act roll out presents any company doing business in the EU with some tough decisions to make and an urgent need to establish a robust risk management framework.

Just this month, the European Union Artificial Intelligence Act (EU AI Act) reached yet another major milestone in its roll out. Article 5, covering prohibited AI practices and unacceptable uses of AI, has become law.

It’s not just companies based in the EU that need to prove their systems comply with Article 5 – or indeed, any other aspect of the EU AI Act. One of the most comprehensive AI regulations to emerge worldwide, it applies extraterritorially, meaning that any company doing business in the EU must comply, regardless of where they are based.

This presents multinationals with some tough decisions to make. Should they withdraw from the EU entirely, on the basis that it has become a high-compliance market? Should they restrict the use of AI in their products and services within EU markets? Or should they adopt the EU AI Act as a global standard, potentially incurring substantial costs and operational drag?

Clearly, none of these approaches are optimal. Ideally, regulations should align with global frameworks to avoid fragmentation between jurisdictions. Without that alignment, they are forced to allocate valuable resources to administrative compliance, arguably at the expense of other areas of concern, such as proactive cybersecurity measures.

Many laws, after all, aim to strengthen the security of organizations and that is to be welcomed. However, their multiplication and specificity can be a drain on company resources, increasing costs and creating vulnerabilities.

Navigating a safe path

For now, companies must navigate this less-than-ideal state of regulatory affairs, and do so at a time when AI technology is evolving rapidly – and typically faster than laws and mandates can be put into place.

Doing so will involve striking the right balance between innovation and compliance, while actively participating in the global debate between the private and public sectors around global AI standards.

Companies’ direct experiences of walking this innovation/compliance tightrope will be of great value to these discussions and should be led by public affairs teams with first-hand experience of following legislative developments, collaborating effectively with policymakers and advocating for regulatory harmonization to optimize compliance investments.

In the absence of a global framework, and for however long that situation persists, interoperability between the different regional outposts of multinationals will be crucial. Achieving harmonization, at least internally between those outposts, will help to promote the responsible development of technological solutions within a business that can be put to work in different parts of the world and, eventually, adopted on a global scale.

With an eye on internal efforts, it will be all the more essential to prioritize operational efficiency and process rationalization, focusing on automation, risk-based compliance and close cooperation between legal, IT management and security teams. This approach has the potential to turn constraints into opportunities, and help build a future where innovation and security go hand in hand.

In security terms, managers will face increasing challenges related to regulatory complexity, juggling compliance and operational safety, and protecting critical systems while respecting new and changing rules. Their role will be central in the implementation of an ethical and secure innovation policy, building bridges between various internal services to promote a comprehensive and coherent approach.

Challenging times ahead

The overall challenge that multinational organizations face in 2025 is to ensure that AI governance is aligned with both the regulatory requirements and the strategic objectives of the organization. This requires a robust and confident approach to risk management – one that can weather the storm when companies are inevitably forced to focus on diametrically opposed requirements. That takes rigor, but it also demands flexibility and consistency to allow for efficient resource management.

In the absence of this kind of approach, imbalances will persist and represent a significant burden on organizations, which run the risks of being less compliant, less secure, less able to benefit from innovation – or, indeed, all three.

Organizations may also find themselves woefully unprepared for new regulations coming down the line. Work related to the EU AI Act, for example, has only just begun. While Article 5 is now enforced, the next phase of the AI Act roll out will see the application of ‘codes of practice’ for general-purpose AI systems, such as large language models. Its enforcement and associated obligations for AI providers will commence in August.

On one point, the EU is very clear: the penalties for non-compliance with Article 5 will be stiff. These will be subject to administrative fines of up to €35m or up to 7% of total worldwide annual turnover for the preceding financial year, whichever is higher.

In light of this context, organizations must prepare now for a rolling program of regulatory change during 2025 and beyond. They must keep clear inventories of their AI tools and technologies, work to improve the AI literacy of employees and put in place the risk management foundation discussed here. Only by focusing on building this kind of resilience can they hope to navigate the regulatory minefield successfully and emerge on the other side as stronger, more innovative businesses.

We've compiled a list of the best IT asset management software.

This article was produced as part of TechRadarPro's Expert Insights channel where we feature the best and brightest minds in the technology industry today. The views expressed here are those of the author and are not necessarily those of TechRadarPro or Future plc. If you are interested in contributing find out more here: https://www.techradar.com/news/submit-your-story-to-techradar-pro

I’ve spent uncountable hours playing with AI assistants, seeing which ones are useful and in what way. Recently, that's meant looking at the kind of automated agents that can go out online and do things on your behalf. That might mean looking up information on the web, collating your email history, or even booking a reservation on your behalf. These AI agents include stand-alone tools and features within existing services.

They each have their own flavor and can suit different needs and interests. After endless testing, I've come up with a list of five AI agents that I think are worth your time, each capable of something slightly different.

ChatGPT's Deep Research

ChatGPT’s Deep Research feature is what happens when an AI decides to go full Sherlock Holmes on a topic. You ask it to dig into anything from “How does climate change impact real estate prices?” to “Why do pigeons always look like they’re judging me?” and it scours available sources, compiling a report that feels like the work of a passionate grad student. Unlike a traditional chatbot, this feature takes its time (anywhere from a few minutes to half an hour) to really get into the nitty-gritty, cross-referencing data and presenting a well-structured analysis. It’s a lifesaver when you need a well-researched report but it can be a little over the top in its thoroughness.

Google Gemini's Deep Research

Usefulness doesn't mean creativity in naming, so Google Gemini has a very similar feature and the same name as ChatGPT's offering. That doesn't make it exactly the same, though. Gemini’s Deep Research feature also makes whole spreadsheets you can outsource and a full citation and source sheet at the end of its report.

It can be a little overwhelming, but it's still a very powerful tool. It's also great at the more casual queries, even if it's odd to get such a thorough response to questions like, “Find me the best affordable running shoes that aren’t ugly, and explain why they’re good.” But, if you want a mix of expert reviews, Reddit opinions, and user testimonials, plus links to articles with images of stylish running shoes under $100, it's pretty great.

Proxy 1.0

Proxy 1.0 by Convergence AI is what happens when an AI agent decides to stop just answering questions and actually take over for you on the internet. Proxy is designed to act like you in terms of clicking, typing, and carrying out tasks online.

You can literally watch Proxy move a mouse in a window and write out website addresses. This means that it can handle tasks on platforms that don’t officially support AI automation, making it far more versatile than most of its competitors. That said, because Proxy is trying to interact with the web in a human-like way, it occasionally gets tripped up by poorly designed websites, weird pop-ups, or its mortal enemy, CAPTCHAs. There are also times when it will confidently announce that a task has been completed, only for you to find out that something went wrong in the final step, leaving you with a half-booked flight or a mysteriously missing order confirmation.

But, if you ask it to say, “Book a table for two at an Italian restaurant in downtown Manhattan for tomorrow at 7 PM,” Proxy would search for one with an online reservation system and try to get it for you under your own name. If the system encountered a CAPTCHA, however, Proxy would pause and ask you to step in.

Microsoft Copilot

Microsoft Copilot is the corporate overachiever of AI assistants, embedded right into Microsoft 365 to help you draft emails, summarize reports, and generally make you look more competent at work than you actually are. If you live in spreadsheets and PowerPoints, Copilot is like that one coworker who always volunteers to do the extra slides.

It’s genuinely useful for productivity, but it sometimes tries a little too hard, inserting weirdly formal phrasing into emails or misunderstanding the tone of your documents. Also, if you’re not a Microsoft ecosystem devotee, it won’t be as helpful. But it can be great at helping look up ways to translate with the most modern slang, should you want to understand an email from someone a couple of generations above or below you, and find out if they are being passive-aggressive or just typing from their phone while walking.

Browser Use

Browser Use is a lot like Proxy in that it can do a lot of the things you’re too busy (or lazy) to do yourself. It's like an invisible human assistant who lives in the cloud, tirelessly working through web pages while you sit back and watch. Or, ideally, don’t watch at all.

The biggest perk is, like with Proxy, you can simply describe a task, and it will navigate online and complete the work for you. That might mean doing research and making a report, reserving a flight, or figuring out the best TV to buy and putting in an order when it spots a sale online. The same CAPTCHA issue is there, as the AI isn't always good at picking out crosswalks in blurry photos, but it's amazing how much you can get done when you don't have to write everything out yourself manually.

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• Stranger Things' Sadie Sink is reportedly set to appear in Spider-Man 4
• Deadline suggests Sink will play one of two big characters in the MCU
• I'd like to see Sink play a lesser-known superhero in the Marvel movie

Sadie Sink has signed on to appear in Spider-Man 4, according to Deadline.

The Stranger Things star, who plays Max Mayfield in the hugely successful Netflix show, is reportedly due to star opposite Tom Holland in the highly-anticipated Marvel movie. Filming is set to begin in mid-2025, so it makes sense that cast announcements would start to leak out via Hollywood's biggest trade publications.

If Deadline's report is accurate, Sink, whose star has grown since she first appeared in season 2 of one of the best Netflix shows ever made, will be the first new cast addition for Spider-Man's fourth solo film. Holland, who'll reprise his role as Peter Parker and his superhero alias, is the only actor confirmed to appear so far. Zendaya, who portrayed MJ in the webslinger's first three standalone MCU flicks, is also expected to return, but that hasn't been officially announced by Marvel.

I've reached out to Disney and Marvel for comment on Sink's supposed hiring. I'll update this article if I hear back.

Will Sadie Sink play Mary Jane or Jean Grey in Spider-Man 4?

Marvel fans are already debating who Sadie Sink could play in Spider-Man 4 (Image credit: Netflix)

Per Deadline's sources, Sink, who'll return as Max in Stranger Things season 5, will play one of two important individuals in the Marvel Phase 6 film. Indeed, the outlet suggests she'll portray Jean Grey or, in Deadline's words, "another beloved redheaded Spider-Man character", which is code for Mary Jane Watson.

The latter wouldn't be a huge surprise and Sink seems tailor-made for Peter's fiery, perennial love interest. However, the MCU already has one MJ – i.e., Zendaya's Michelle Jones. Adding another one in the form of Mary Jane would only confuse viewers, especially if Zendaya's MJ plays any kind of supporting role in Spidey's next big-screen project.

Iconic X-Men member Jean Grey is another great fit for Sink. Again, though, it would be odd if one of the most popular mutants of all-time was first seen in a Spider-Man film. I think a lot of people would prefer Grey to be introduced as part of the legendary super-team instead.

That said, I could see a situation where Grey pops up in the wallcrawler's next movie, which was originally going to be released in theaters on July 24 but recently saw its release date pushed back by one week to July 31. Spider-Man 4 is sandwiched between the next two Avengers movies, so it's likely that it'll be another multiverse-centric movie. If it is, it wouldn't be as big of a shock to see Sink's Grey, who may potentially hail from another dimension, enlist Spidey's help to try and fix whatever happens in Avengers: Doomsday, aka the first of the two aforementioned Avengers movies. Don't forget, Parker is a genius is his own right, so he could have a solution to whatever Grey needs a hand with.

Could Sink actually playing a live-action version of Firestar? (Image credit: Marvel Comics)

There is another character who Sink might play, though, and it's such a left-field option that, while it's unlikely to happen, would be an incredibly crowd-pleasing one.

What if – and it's a big if – Sink plays Firestar? Not only is she a redheaded superhero, but Firestar, whose real name is Angelica 'Angel' Jones, actually has a history with Spider-Man that initially began on the small screen. Indeed, she made her debut in an animated series called Spider-Man and his Amazing Friends, which originally aired on US network NBC in the early 1980s. She's since gone on to feature in various Marvel comic book series, video games, and TV shows. Firestar has also fought alongside the X-Men before, too, so one of Deadline's sources could have got their wires crossed. Hey, I live in hope!

If Marvel and Sony (remember, the latter owns the live-action rights to Spider-Man and the characters within his orbit) really want to set tongues wagging, hiring Sink to play Firestar would be an absolutely brilliant move. It would prevent viewers' confusion about the existence of two MJs in the MCU, allow someone else to play Jean Grey post-Multiverse Saga, and introduce audiences to a brand-new character in a live-action format. Make it so, Marvel and Sony.

For more news and rumors on Spidey's forthcoming MCU flick, check out my dedicated guide on Spider-Man 4. Alternatively, see how Daredevil: Born Again has given me hope that the titular hero will eventually team up with Spider-Man, or why Born Again episode 3 might have given us our another clue about Miles Morales' existence in the MCU.

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NymVPN is officially entering the VPN market with a big ambition – being the world's most secure VPN app.

NymVPN's Alpha version originally broke through in November 2023. Now, it aims to offer a fully decentralized virtual private network (VPN). Looking to protect against AI-driven surveillance and censorship, the service uses new mixnet technology to protect your metadata alongside the content of your communications.

As of today, March 13, 2025, NymVPN is available for iOS, Android, macOS, Linux, and desktop. TechRadar will join Nym’s in-house security expert, activist, and whistleblower, Chelsea Manning, and Nym CEO Harry Halpin, at an event in London tonight, where NymVPN will be officially unveiled. So, stay tuned for more exclusive information.

An "untraceable VPN"

"Nym was created with the core principle that secure, private, and uncensored access to the Internet is as fundamental and essential as access to clean water and electricity," said Halpin. "NymVPN marks the split between Big Tech’s exploitative control of the internet with a new vision – one where privacy is a right, not a privilege."

Halpin explains the technology behind NymVPN was built with the support of the original ‘cypherpunks’ and the world’s top cryptographers to defeat even government-level mass surveillance.

Early adopters of the NymVPN alpha and beta versions then helped to shape the service in countries plagued by strict censorship, while others leveraged its security features to prevent attacks on their cryptocurrency transactions.

NymVPN sets itself apart from some other best VPN apps on the market by seeking to be a truly "untraceable VPN" that protects users from metadata surveillance. Metadata refers to all the data attached to your communications that's not the content, such as device type, activity type, timestamps, and more.

This is crucial, said the provider, as the rise of AI-driven tracking has proven that hostile actors – those being cybercriminals or intelligence agencies – can "generate more value from metadata than analyzing specific user activity."

Based on the idea of mix networks proposed by the cryptographer David Chaum in the 80s, Chelsea Manning came up with the Mixnet concept independently while in prison for disclosing classified documents to non-profit media organization WikiLeaks. (Image credit: Nym Technology)

Nonetheless, NymVPN offers two modes to provide flexibility between protection and performance. These are:

• Fast (WireGuard). Better suited for causal browsing, streaming and sharing, this mode uses the AmneziaWG protocol, a highly censorship-resistant version of WireGuard developed by the team behind Amnezia VPN. Here, your internet connection is rerouted through two independent servers for maximum privacy and security.
• Anonymous (mixnet). What truly sets NymVPN apart from the competition. This mode claims to secure your metadata by using its noise-generating mixnet. This tech employs several network strategies to confuse data surveillance efforts (data fragmentation, dummy data packets, timing delays, and data packet shuffling), while rerouting your connections over five independent servers.

Anonymous by design

Not only does NymVPN claim to be better at keeping you anonymous when browsing the web or carrying out any other activities on the internet.

The provider also promises to never collect any of your personal information, going further than existing no-log VPN solutions in several ways.

For starters, the decentralized Nym network is built to prevent any single identity from linking the activities with a user. All the servers claim to be operated independently, so it should be impossible for Nym to trace traffic records.

You don't need to give up your email, name, or other personal details to sign up either. NymVPN has found a way to leverage the blockchain technology (the same tech used by cryptocurrencies, for example) to increase users' privacy and security.

So-called “zk-nyms” are zero-knowledge proofs that enable users to verify payment and account usage without revealing their identities.

Part of these anonymous proof of payments are then turned into NYM tokens to reward the independent contributors running the nodes worldwide. At the time of writing, you can choose among servers in 51 countries worldwide.

You can choose between a dark and light appearance, directly within the NymVPN app settings (Image credit: Future)

All in all, Chelsea Manning said: "Even in democratic nations, people are faced with unrestricted data collection, hyper-narrow algorithmic feeds, and normalized censorship tactics. NymVPN takes an infrastructure-based privacy approach to try and combat this increasingly uncertain and splintered internet."

You can now download NymVPN across all the major platforms, with pricing starting from a $5.49 monthly fee – even better as you can try it out for 30 days at no cost.

Great data automation software creates value. It enables your business to work faster, more efficiently and more cost-effectively. At the other end of the scale, though, is software that bottlenecks progress and eats up resources.

Cost-cutting continues to dominate the agenda for Operations leaders. It’s therefore important to make sure that the data management, reconciliation or automation software you’re using falls into the former category and not the latter.

We explored some of the costs of inefficient software in our article on the true expense of supposedly ‘free’ recon tools. But even if you have paid for your on-premise system – do you really know how much it’s costing you?

Answering that question is difficult.

Calculating the total cost of ownership (TCO) for on-premise systems is easier said than done, because many of the costs are indirect, hidden, or part of the finance allocation process.

Licenses, maintenance and hardware are just the tip – there’s a lot more lurking below the surface. Today, we’re going to help you uncover them all, so you can build a transparent picture of the cost of managing data.

Here’s what else you need to factor into your calculations.

Unhelpful upgrades

With a cloud computing platform you effortlessly move from version to version to access new features and performance improvements. But software upgrades and patches are the only way of delivering innovation in an on-premise world – and they cost a lot of money. They are often mandatory and short notice; shorter, at least, than the time it would take you to shop around for an alternate system.

You often have no choice but to pay to move to the new version (we’ll explore why sticking with what you’ve got is anything but cost-effective later). But it may not bring any additional features and benefits that you need. It may introduce capabilities outside of your use cases, for instance, or perhaps support for a new asset class that you don’t trade.

One client told us that they recently finished upgrading their ten-year old on-premise system to the latest version. It took them three years and an estimated $5-$10m and they got no value or functional benefit out of it.

Another client – a smaller firm – budgets $1m every year for upgrades to their on-premise system.

I know from my own experience how costly and time consuming these types of migrations can be – absorbing focus that could be better spent elsewhere

Those costs go beyond just the licensing costs for the new system. Changing from one software version to another often means your IT team has to completely rebuild all your processes. Then they and the users have to test them to ensure they still work correctly and none of your integrations have been broken by the upgrade.

Again, it’s worth pointing out that you may not see any benefits from being on the new system.

This is change-the-bank money that you’re having to spend, but it’s not delivering any change. It’s the cost of business-as-usual in an on-premise world.

End-of-life – and beyond

But what do you do when you either can’t afford to upgrade, or rightly refuse to do so because of the unnecessary cost? In that situation, your software ends up being unsupported.

The vendor may offer you a premium support package, or you have to hire in extra IT resources just to keep the system working. You’ve just traded the cost of upgrading for the higher cost of keeping your existing software running.

By this point you have a zombie system – dead as far as the vendor is concerned, and with no spark of innovation left. It shambles along, doing as much of the job as it can manage, while you run around after it, picking up all the bits that have fallen off.

Are you factoring in the cost of life support for sunset systems into your on-premise TCO?

Inagility

The slow and laborious patch management and upgrade cycle means that innovation is a sluggish process in an on-premise world. Time-to-market for change can stretch to months or even years. Firms rely on their IT teams to install software updates, rebuild processes, release them into production environments, and so on.

This slow time-to-value makes Operations very inagile. This is an acute problem in today’s world. Regulatory change, for instance, is relentless and happening on multiple fronts. How many risks is this introducing to the business? How many opportunities are missed? These are all costs that must be considered.

There is a way around this for Operations teams, but it’s one that just introduces more cost and risk into the business…

Endless manual work

On-premise reconciliation systems exist to help you automate your data. But they often have the opposite effect. The lack of agility explored above forces Ops teams to resort to solving problems manually.

There’s often an army of ‘Human APIs’ surrounding on-premise systems – people whose job it is to manually plug automation gaps. They perform tasks such as:

• Extracting data from unstructured formats like emails and PDFs
• Keying data into systems in the correct schema
• Copying data into a spreadsheet to reconcile
• Manually matching (often thousands of) items where the system hasn’t spotted the connection

All this means that a lot of your resources in Operations are invested into low-value work. Your data experts are handling tedious and repetitive tasks instead of performing valuable activities such as root cause analysis, fixing data at source, or providing strategic insights for the business.

And that’s to say nothing of the cost of operational risk that manual work introduces to the business, which can result in direct costs such as regulatory fines or errors leading to trading losses.

Conclusion

The upfront license fees for on-premise software are just the start of a long tail of costs that snake their way through your operations. Your IT team is responsible not only for hardware and maintenance, but often for actually operating the system.

This cost only grows if the system is sunset and requires life support. Upgrading is costly and usually mandatory – regardless of how much value, if any, you get out of it. Long change management processes cost you in agility and slow time-to-value. Hundreds or thousands of workers are required to fill the functionality gaps, introducing risk to your business.

These systems are usually well-entrenched in your architecture, making them difficult to remove. But that’s in a world where you’re replacing one on-premise tool with another. Replatforming to an agile cloud platform is an entirely different affair; gradual, measured and low-risk.

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This article was produced as part of TechRadarPro's Expert Insights channel where we feature the best and brightest minds in the technology industry today. The views expressed here are those of the author and are not necessarily those of TechRadarPro or Future plc. If you are interested in contributing find out more here: https://www.techradar.com/news/submit-your-story-to-techradar-pro

Whether you've just bought the best Apple Watch on the market, like the Apple Watch Ultra 2, or you've got your hands on the budget Apple Watch SE 2 model, opening your Apple Watch and putting it on for the first time is a pretty great experience.

You might have an idea of what your Apple Watch can do, or how you want to use it, but what about some of the settings and tweaks you can use to truly personalize your Apple Watch experience?

For as long as I've been a tech user I've been enthralled by customizing gadgets, whether it's the theme on Windows XP or the color of the menus on my Sony Ericsson K850i.

Having worn an Apple Watch for 10 years, I know a thing or two about settings you should definitely tweak on day one. Here are my go-tos.

1. Your Apple Watch face

(Image credit: Future)

If you're new to Apple Watch, the very first thing you should do on your new one is change the watch face. You won't find third-party options like you might on Wear OS or Garmin, but there are plenty of great Apple options to choose from and they're very customizable.

To change your watch face simply long press on the center of your Apple Watch display until it vibrates. Then simply swipe through the options until you see one you like.

If you tap Edit you can tweak aspects of the face including colors, and the Complications (small nuggets of glanceable information) that show up.

2. Silent mode

Your Apple Watch is designed to sit pretty discreetly on your wrist, and one of the joys of using one is that you can get notifications without too much disturbance, either for yourself or others.

Obviously, if you have accessibility needs, you might want to leave the Apple Watch notification sounds on. For me, however, this is the first toggle I switch off. The watch gently vibrates whenever I get a notification (if I have them turned on at all), and I definitely don't need that piercing ding telling everyone in the vicinity that I've just got a notification.

Simply press your Apple Watch's side button and select the bell icon on the left to silence your Apple Watch.

3. Return to clock

(Image credit: Future)

Apple Watch is pretty easy to navigate, and moving between apps and the watch face is fairly straightforward. However, another setting I like to tweak is the Return to Clock setting. This takes your Apple Watch back to that smashing watch face you've just customized automatically once you put your wrist down.

By default, it's set to a two-minute delay, but I like to select Always, so that I can drop my wrist at any time and know my Apple Watch is displaying the time, rather than sensitive information or an app where I might accidentally pause a workout or change something unknowingly.

Simply press the Digital Crown, scroll to Settings, select General, and then Return to Clock to toggle this.

4. Siri

Siri isn't particularly helpful these days, and lags behind rival virtual assistants from the likes of Google and Android, not to mention more advanced AI offerings that overshadow the delayed Apple Intelligence upgrade it badly needs.

To that end, I always turn Siri off on my Apple Watch to some degree. In the Siri section of the Settings app on your Apple Watch, you can tweak how and when Siri responds to your inputs.

I actually prefer to select Listen for to "Hey Siri," that way it's much more difficult to trigger accidentally. I also tend to leave Raise to Speak on, and turn off Press Digital Crown.

I can't count the amount of times I used to accidentally activate Siri during workouts by pressing the Digital Crown, so this works well for me. I can access Siri by very deliberately raising my wrist, but never trigger it accidentally with a button press.

However, you might want to consider the opposite, leaving the Crown on and turning off Raise to Speak. Or you can turn Siri off on your Watch altogether to avoid it getting in your way.

5. Screenshots

A more recent addition to my Settings repertoire is screenshots. You can take a screenshot on Apple Watch just like iPhone, by pressing both buttons on the side at the same time.

I can't think of any scenario whereby taking a screenshot on the Apple Watch would be necessary. However, as with Siri on the Digital Crown, it's very easy to do accidentally, especially during workouts. As such, I turn screenshots off in the General section of Settings, to avoid my Photos library getting clocked up with random snaps of my watch face.

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Consumers today expect faster, more personalized services in the insurance industry. To meet these demands, insurers are increasingly adopting AI-powered solutions to enhance efficiency and customer experience. Research from McKinsey reveals that Generative AI alone is projected to contribute up to $4.4 trillion to the global economy annually, with insurers expecting gains in productivity, premium growth and underwriting accuracy. As a result, a third of major insurers already have Gen AI use cases in production, whilst most are advancing their data capabilities.

From AI chatbots managing claims in real time to data-powered insights enabling personalized policies, AI is revolutionizing insurance. Insurtech startups are leading this transformation, integrating automation and blockchain to improve efficiency and security. However, this digital shift also raises concerns about cybersecurity and algorithmic bias. Striking the right balance between innovation, fairness and security will be key to fostering trust and ensuring AI-driven insurance solutions help drive long-term success.

Speeding up claims resolution with AI

AI is changing how insurance companies engage with customers. With AI chatbots, insurers are now able to anticipate customer enquiries and manage claims proactively. Digital assistants can provide real-time support, streamlining the resolution process and reducing wait times, which enhances overall user experience.

For instance, after a vehicle collision, policyholders can upload images via their smartphones, enabling AI algorithms to instantly assess damage and estimate repair costs. This accelerates claim approvals, improves transparency and reduces disputes.

Personalizing policies with data-driven insights

Modern consumers expect personalized services that align with their lifestyles and behaviors. As such, insurers are now using data-driven insights to create customized policies. In particular, insurance companies are leveraging geolocation, edge computing and IoT devices to collect data on individual risk profiles and then transform this raw data into actionable insights, unlocking AI’s full potential. For example, real-time driving behavior analysis allows insurers to offer lower premiums to cautious drivers whilst adjusting rates for riskier behaviors.

However, whilst the use of AI in insurance can help differentiate between low- and high-risk drivers, insurers must ensure these systems do not lead to unfair discrimination or exclusion. AI models should be carefully designed to avoid biases, especially those that may unintentionally factor in race or ethnicity, to promote fairness and equity in insurance practices.

Mitigating AI-enabled fraud and strengthening cybersecurity

Whilst AI enhances efficiency, it also introduces challenges, particularly in fraud detection. Fraudsters are increasingly using deepfake technology and synthetic identity fraud, making traditional detection methods insufficient. To counter these threats, insurers are deploying AI-driven fraud detection systems that analyze behavioral patterns and detect malicious activity in real time. This way, insurance companies can identify vulnerabilities and prevent potential data breaches before they occur, which significantly improves cybersecurity resilience.

Beyond fraud, the shift towards digital-first insurance models raises cybersecurity concerns. With access to vast amounts of sensitive customer data, insurers are prime targets for cyberattacks. Implementing advanced encryption, biometric authentication and AI-powered threat monitoring is no longer optional – it is essential.

Insurers must also address consumer skepticism about AI’s role in insurance by prioritizing transparency. Clearly communicating the benefits of AI-powered personalization whilst implementing strong data protection measures is essential. In particular, compliance with data privacy laws is key to securing AI-driven insurance models and fostering consumer trust. Additionally, establishing AI ethics committees and consumer education initiatives can further promote trust and acceptance of AI in the insurance industry.

Leading the future with responsible AI integration

The insurance industry must continue evolving to harness the full potential of AI. From intelligent automation to data-driven personalization and advanced fraud detection, AI is transforming operations, enhancing customer experiences and driving competitive advantage. Those who strategically integrate AI will lead the future, whilst others risk falling behind.

However, success requires more than just innovation – it demands responsibility. Insurers must strike a careful balance between leveraging AI’s capabilities and ensuring transparency, fairness and security. Adaptability will also be key, as AI models must continuously evolve to address emerging risks and evolving market demands. By embracing AI with a customer-centric approach, insurers can build a more secure, efficient and trustworthy industry – one that goes above and beyond to meet consumers’ evolving expectations in today’s digital era.

We've showcased the best identity theft protection.

This article was produced as part of TechRadarPro's Expert Insights channel where we feature the best and brightest minds in the technology industry today. The views expressed here are those of the author and are not necessarily those of TechRadarPro or Future plc. If you are interested in contributing find out more here: https://www.techradar.com/news/submit-your-story-to-techradar-pro

iRobot just scrapped and replaced almost its entire range of robot vacuums, but amongst the shiny new fleet there's one model that has caught my eye in particular: the Roomba 205 DustCompactor Combo. This bot is designed especially for smaller homes, and as the owner of such a compact dwelling, I am particularly keen to get my hands on one.

The fact I live all on one floor means robot vacuums are, in some ways, a great fit for my home. Apartment living often translates to 'not much space,' and that's certainly the case for me. Many of today's best robot vacuums come with gigantic docks that can do everything from emptying the dust to refilling the water tanks to washing and drying the mop pads. While they certainly make for a very hands-off experience, I lose half of my kitchen every time I test one.

The other option is a charge-only dock. These tend to be nice and petite but require me to take care of all maintenance – including bin emptying. The bins you'll find onboard robot vacuums are necessarily small, so if you have a lot of dust, you'll do that with irritating regularity. If testing one of these coincides with me having a canine visitor, bin emptying becomes a chore; this definitely isn't an ideal option if you're looking for the best robot vacuum for pet hair.

(Image credit: iRobot)

iRobot's solution is to introduce dust compacting into the 205 Combo's onboard bin, which can hold more dust and thus requires less frequent manual intervention. The dock is the basic, charge-only one that's small enough to fit unobtrusively in almost any home, including mine.

Inside the small onboard bin is a paddle that twists left and right to squish any dust and debris that has been sucked up into a smaller space. The paddle then returns to the center of the main inlet, ready for the next influx of dirt.

The 205 Combo is designed to last up to 60 days without emptying, although that will depend on how much dirt and dust you're sucking up, of course.

(Image credit: iRobot)

iRobot says its compacting technology is an 'industry-first'. Another model on the market – the Narwal Freo X Plus – does a similar thing, although I guess it might not use the same mechanism.

Get low

Another notable feature here is that iRobot has removed the navigation puck from the top of the Roomba 205 DustCompactor Combo, making it shallow enough to sneak under furniture that might otherwise have been off-limits. Perhaps iRobot decided that people with small homes must also have low furniture; I don't know.

This is particularly interesting because this robovac uses LiDAR for navigation. In fact, the introduction of 'ClearView' LiDAR navigation is one of the best updates to feature in the new Roomba range.

Previously, the brand used an older form of robot vacuum navigation, which was far slower, less reliable, and unable to operate in the dark.

(Image credit: iRobot)

iRobot says the LiDAR technology has simply been shifted into the front of the 205 DustCompactor model to give it a more streamlined silhouette. The thing is, robots that use LiDAR need that raised puck to be able to 'see' a nice wide area around them. All three of the other new Roombas have one.

I asked an iRobot representative about this, who explained that although the 205 would have a narrower field of view, this wouldn't impact navigation accuracy for most people. She reassured me that she was testing two of the new Roomba bots, one with the puck and one without, and they were both behaving the same way.

If that holds true, this could be the perfect robot vacuum for me. We have a Roomba 205 DustCompactor on its way and report back as soon as we've had a chance to put it through its paces.

The Roomba 205 DustCompactor is due to go on sale from 18 March, with a list price of $469 / €449 (around £380 / AU$780).

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Though I experiment with AI chatbots professionally, I've found many ways to incorporate them into my regular life, including as a parent to a lively baby and uncle to several nieces and nephews.

ChatGPT has been a surprisingly big help. It's not a babysitter, but it can be a real boon for trying new ways to entertain kids or just keep juggling all of the many simultaneous parenting roles without dripping any balls. It may even be able to provide the rarest of all commodities as a parent – free time.

Bedtime stories

(Image credit: Images created by DALL-E 3)

Every parent or caregiver has been here: it’s bedtime, and you're exhausted. You've somehow read every book you've ever bought for your kid all in one day, and you want to give them something new, but even your imagination feels depleted. If only you had a ready story, maybe something about a robot who loves pancakes?

ChatGPT can take vague ideas or random words and make something surprisingly entertaining from them. Try asking it: “Can you tell me a bedtime story about a dragon who loves tacos and befriends a unicorn who dislikes rainbows?” or "Create a bedtime story about a gentle giant who learns to make friends despite everyone being afraid of his size."

Jukebox lyricist

(Image credit: Images created by DALL-E 3)

My son loves music, and I love introducing him to new songs or making up new ones. However, Improv lyrics don't always cut it, especially if I'm entertaining his older cousins.

Rather than listen to "Baby Shark" and "Wheels on the Bus" on repeat, I use ChatGPT to bring new life to old tunes. I've asked the AI everything from "Write me a song about a dancing giraffe named Gerald who loves ice cream to the tune of Twinkle, Twinkle, LIttle Star," to "Give me lyrics to a song about a puppy who dreams of going to space to the tune of Hush Little Baby." And had pretty solid results, as you can see below.

"Oh little pup, looking at stars above
Dreaming of rockets, and moonbeams you love
Wearing your helmet, wagging your tail
Puppy astronaut ready to sail!"

Snack time

(Image credit: Images created by DALL-E 3)

Snack time with babies and toddlers can be a minefield with attempts to make things that are healthy but that they'll like. Trying to do it while also keeping an eye on the children is even more challenging.

Luckily, you can combine the two by asking ChatGPT for ideas. in the vein of "What are healthy snack ideas for children aged one, three, and five that they can also help make." The banana sushi rolls (banana slices rolled in granola), apple slices with peanut butter and cinnamon, and make-your-own berry yogurt parfaits have all been massive hits.

DIY games

(Image credit: Images created by DALL-E 3)

On rainy days, keeping kids entertained indoors can feel like taming wild animals. They were even bored with Bluey, which is a real warning sign. I turned to ChatGPT and asked for a game that didn't require screens, glitter, or immense patience.

ChatGPT delivered beautifully. "Come up with a simple game for young kids that doesn't require much setup or clean up," I asked. The answer was "Sock Toss Basketball," which employs laundry baskets and balled-up socks as a fun activity.

You could also try something like "What's a quick indoor activity for kids using only paper and markers?" and get a suggestion of making indoor treasure maps that the kids can populate with their favorite toys and treats.

Better boo-boos

(Image credit: Images created by DALL-E 3)

Kids get scrapes and sniffles; that's just inevitable. Keeping their spirits up and making the road to recovery bearable (for both of you) can be tricky, but I've found ChatGPT to have a lot of ideas.

Ask it, "How can I get my young child to take their medicine without complaining," and you'll get ideas about making a whole production for the "magic potion" or suggestions on incorporating it into the bedtime rituals they already like, maybe even embedding it in a bedtime story.

The same goes for applying a bandage or even sunscreen. You have a lot on your plate as a parent. It's not lazy to look for ideas from parenting forums or books, and ChatGPT is just another helpful tool that you can call on for very specific advice any time.

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• Gemini Robotics is a new model
• It focuses on the physical world and will be used by robots
• It's visual, interactive, and general

Google Gemini is good at many things that happen inside a screen, including generative text and images. Still, the latest model, Google Robotics, is a vision language action model that moves the generative AI into the physical world and could substantially speed up the humanoid robot revolution race.

Gemini Robotics, which Google's DeepMind unveiled on Wednesday, improves Gemini's abilities in three key areas:

• Dexterity
• Interactivity
• Generalization

Each of these three aspects significantly impacts the success of robotics in the workplace and unknown environments.

Generalization allows a robot to take Gemini's vast knowledge about the world and things, apply it to new situations, and accomplish tasks on which it's never been trained. In one video, researchers show a pair of robot arms controlled by Gemini Robotics, a table-top basketball game, and ask it to "slam dunk the basketball."

Even though the robot hadn't seen the game before, it picked up the small orange ball and stuffed it through the plastic net.

Google Gemini Robotics also makes robots more interactive and able to respond not only to changing verbal assignments but also to unpredictable conditions.

In another video, researchers asked the robot to put grapes in a bowl with bananas, but then they moved the bowl around while the robot arm adjusted and still managed to put the grapes in a bowl.

Google also demonstrated the robot's dextrous capabilities, which let it tackle things like playing tic-tac-toe on a wooden board, erasing a whiteboard, and folding paper into origami.

Instead of hours of training on each task, the robots respond to near-constant natural language instructions and perform the tasks without guidance. It's impressive to watch.

Naturally, adding AI to robotics is not new.

Last year, OpenAI partnered up with Figure AI to develop a humanoid robot that can work out tasks based on verbal instructions. As with Gemini Robotics, Figure 01's visual language model works with the OpenAI speech model to engage in back-and-forth conversations about tasks and changing priorities.

In the demo, the humanoid robot stands before dishes and a drainer. It's asked about what it sees, which it lists, but then the interlocutor changes tasks and asks for something to eat. Without missing a beat, the robot picks up an Apple and hands it to him.

(Image credit: Google)

While most of what Google showed in the videos was disembodied robot arms and hands working through a wide range of physical tasks, there are grander plans. Google is partnering with Apptroniks to add the new model to its Apollo humanoid Robot.

Google will connect the dots with additional programming, a new advanced visual language model called Gemini Robotics-ER (embodied reasoning).

Gemini Robotics-ER will enhance robotics spatial reasoning and should help robot developers connect the models to existing controllers.

Again, this should improve on-the-fly reasoning and make it possible for the robots to quickly figure out how to grasp and use unfamiliar objects. Google calls Gemini Rotbotics ER an end-to-end solution and claims it "can perform all the steps necessary to control a robot right out of the box, including perception, state estimation, spatial understanding, planning and code generation."

Google is providing Gemini robotics -ER model to several business- and research-focused robotics firms, including Boston Dynamics (makers of Atlas), Agile Robots, and Agility Robots.

All-in-all, it's a potential boon for humanoid robotics developers. However, since most of these robots are designed for factories or still in the laboratory, it may be some time before you have a Gemini-enhanced robot in your home.

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The 2025 iteration of the Mac Studio marks a new era in personal computing for Apple as it pushes the boundaries of what can be achieved, using what is essentially a bigger version of Intel’s now-defunct next unit of computing (NUC).

I pitted its full-fat, top-end version, the M3 Ultra with a 16TB SSD and 512GB of RAM against the competition to get a rough idea of how good a bargain it is. Unsurprisingly, it easily competes against some of the best workstation PCs in the world.

There’s a trio of ThreadRipper rigs, seven Xeon workstations (across three generations) and for good measure, Nvidia’s magnificent Digits and three of Apple’s very own PCs, the Mac Mini (M4 Pro), the Mac Pro (M2 Ultra) and a less capable version of the Mac Studio (M4 Max).

The entire table is at the end of this article. Note that some cells are empty because I simply don’t have the information at hand (e.g. size of some workstations, performance of Digits etc).

Credit where credit is due, Apple managed to deliver something I was not expecting it to do anytime soon: 512GB of unified memory in a computer.

That stroke of genius meant moving the comparison to Intel Xeon and AMD ThreadRipper Pro systems, far more expensive professional platforms compared to AMD Ryzen and Intel Core ones.

As well as zeroing on the workstation vertical, it also firmly signals Apple’s ambitions to be a major player in the red-hot local AI hardware market.

(Worth checking out my article published in June 2023 where I suggested that the Mac Studio would replace the Mac Pro (and make PC vendors nervous).

I analysed the prices of these systems (using the most up to date data I could find) and there’s no two way of putting it.

A $14,000 bargain if you’re after memory

The Apple Mac Studio Ultra, even at more than $14,000 is a bargain if you’re looking for as much system memory as possible, at $28 per GB.

That’s a bit less than Puget Systems and almost a third of what you’d pay for a maxed-out Mac Mini (or half the Apple Mac Pro with its puny 192GB RAM).

Most importantly, it is far, far cheaper than the likes of Dell or HP; turns out Windows workstations with half a terabyte RAM, don’t come cheap.

Remember that Apple uses unified memory which has a much higher bandwidth (800GB/s) than DDR5 memory (even across eight memory modules).

It delivers the type of performance you’d expect from an integrated GPU; as Servethehome’s Patrick Kennedy puts it, “The cost is high in the context of a workstation, but it is cheap when you compare it to NVIDIA’s cost per GB of memory”.

Remember as well that I have configured this workstation with a 16TB onboard storage; no other major player has access to that sort of storage unless you resort to RAID-0 across multiple much smaller SSDs.

There’s also the fact that it comes with 10GbE LAN by default as well as Thunderbolt 5, a data transfer technology not available to any other workstation at the time of writing, which, in due time, will pave the way for innovative external peripherals.

I also looked at 3 other composite metrics, all looking at processor performance (based on the popular Geekbench 6*) and not surprisingly, Apple excelled in all three: GeekBench point per dollar, Geekbench point per core and Geekbench point per volume.

The M4 devices (Mac Mini and Mac Studio) had the cheapest performance per $, at about $0.20, that’s almost 1/8th of the most expensive one (the HP G4).

It also had the highest performance per core (1623, 5X faster than the slowest processor, an Intel Xeon) and the highest performance per unit volume (more than 140x compared to the worst entry).

GPU details remain a mystery

The big unknown remains the official GPU metrics as it is difficult to gauge Apple’s graphics performance across different systems-on-chip as Apple doesn’t divulge additional data beyond core numbers.

For the sake of simplicity, I chose the Nvidia RTX 2000 Ada Generation as the default card - where possible - as it was the cheapest professional graphics card that came with 16GB of RAM. Only one entry used the more expensive RTX 4000 Ada Generation with 20GB of RAM.

Tech publication, TechPowerUp, estimates that the RTX 2000 AG should be slightly slower than an RTX 3060.

The Apple M3 Ultra scores just under 130,000 marks on the popular OpenCL Geekbench tests, that’s 50% faster than the RTX 2000 AG, so for a more balanced comparison, readers may want to substitute a more powerful (and expensive) card like the NVIDIA RTX 5000 Ada Generation.

* Geekbench 6 entries are sadly not averaged. So I picked what I considered to be the median on the first page of each CPU. Your mileage may vary.

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• Disney has released the first trailer for the live-action Lilo & Stitch
• It's our first peek at the entire cast, including Maia Kealoha as Lilo
• The film will make its theatrical debut on May 23, 2025.

We can finally say, ‘Aloha!’ to our first real look at the live-action Lilo & Stitch, thanks to the official trailer. And let’s just say as someone who loves Stitch – including the original, ‘Stitch has a Glitch,’ and the TV series – Lilo & Stitch: The Series – it’s a journey.

It’s pretty packed, displaying all sorts of emotions as we’ve come to expect from the main character, yet the two-minute and 24-second trailer does fly by. It also provides a first look at most of the cast, including Maia Kealoha as Lilo, Sydney Agudong as Nani, Billy Magnussen as Pleakley, and Zach Galifianakis as Jumba. Of course, we also hear plenty of Chris Sanders reprising his role as Stitch.

The trailer starts with the apprehension of Stitch – aka a ‘dangerous experiment’ – but it quickly falls off the rails with a glimpse of the iconic alien in a red starship. Then, we flash to Hawaii and see Lilo spotting a shooting star and wishing for a ‘best friend.’ Quick enough after that, we hear ‘fluffy,’ see Nani, the sounds of Elvis come through, and chaos err, fun ensues.

You can watch it for yourself below, and it’s our look at the film and the whole cast ahead of the release on May 23, 2025.

Lilo & Stitch is the latest live-action remake of an iconic Disney film. Snow White, another live-action remake, is set to release on March 21, 2025. It’s been a trend for Disney, which also did a live-action Beauty and the Beast – and you can now build the iconic castle from that franchise out of Lego – and The Lion King.

With Lilo & Stitch, though, the hype is here, and this could wind up being the best live-action remake from Disney as of yet. Especially with the original voice of Stitch – Chris Sanders – reprising his role and doing a lovely job, at least from the trailer so far.

The trailer also provides a first – if only super quick – at Pleakly, and Billy Magnussen, as well as Zach Galifianakis, but no signs of an animated Jumba as of yet. We also see Cobra Bubbles, played by Courtney B. Vance, and in the name of fan service – which this trailer does a lot of – we saw ice cream/a snow cone fall on the ground.

(Image credit: Disney)

All in all, the official trailer has leveled up my excitement for Lilo & Stitch, and if you weren’t sold as of yet, I think this will do the trick. In the meantime, I will head to one of the best streaming services – Disney+ – to rewatch the original, the sequel, and some other Stitch content.

And if you're looking to pass the time in the lead-up to the film, we've seen a trove of new Lilo & Stitch toys and collectibles. Here are a few of our favorites.

From 730 pieces, you'll build your own Lego version of stitch, which has the character enjoying an ice cream cone and rocking a a flower on his head. Also available at Lego for $64.99.View Deal

This high-tech version of Stitch stands over 18 inches tall and produces over 100 sounds and movements.View Deal

At 152 pieces, you'll build a compact version of Stitch in the Lego Brickheadz style.View Deal

Lilo & Stitch will hit theaters on May 23, 2025.

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Y2K is heading to one of the best streaming services, joining a host of other great movies arriving on Max in March. You'll have to wait a little longer for this one, as it's released on April 4, but there's plenty to sink your teeth into before then.

Max continues to impress me with its huge library of A24 movies, two of which were listed when I rounded up 6 Max movies and shows I’m most excited about.

If you haven't seen much about Y2K, you can check out the bonkers trailer below, and I mean that in the best way possible. Unfortunately, the movie was a box office and a critical flop, but I'm willing to make my mind up about it. If nothing else, it's a very fun concept.

What is Y2K about?

(Image credit: A24)

Kyle Mooney's directorial debut, Y2K, follows a group of friends as they discuss New Year's Eve plans while their parents are out. It's a big one as it marks a new millennium, but their celebrations don't go as planned after the year 2000 problem causes all technology worldwide to come to life and turn against humanity. This makes for some baffling situations, as anything electronically powered starts to attack, such as a toy car, a fan, and more.

The concept is silly enough to be considered ridiculous by some, but I'm hoping this one will be fun, even if it's not particularly highbrow.

It won't be arriving at the best Max movies round-up due to its poor Rotten Tomatoes score, but it might find a place in my personal recommendations. We'll have to wait and see!

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• Researchers from Mandiant saw a new hacking campaign targeting Juniper Networks routers
• They attributed it to a Chinese actor, targeting telcos, defense, and tech firms
• Users are urged to upgrade and scan their devices

Chinese hackers are targeting Juniper Networks routers with different modifications of a backdoor malware, in an attempt to access defense, technology, and telecommunications organizations in the US, and Asia.

Google’s cybersecurity team Mandiant wrote an in-depth analysis on the group earlier today. As per the report, the researchers first spotted malicious activity in mid-2024, and attributed it to the China-nexus espionage group UNC3886.

TechRadar Pro has reported about this threat actor on numerous occasions in the past, when they were observed targeting VMware, Ivanti VPN, and other products, with backdoors and malware.

Six malware samples

Mandiant says that the attackers infiltrated Junos OS-powered devices by circumventing Veriexec, (Verified Exec), the device’s kernel-based file integrity subsystem that protects the OS from unauthorized code binaries such as libraries and scripts.

“Execution of untrusted code is still possible if it occurs within the context of a trusted process,” the researchers explained. “Mandiant’s investigation revealed that UNC3886 was able to circumvent this protection by injecting malicious code into the memory of a legitimate process.”

UNC3886 targeted its victims with six distinct malware samples, all of which are a variant of the TINYSHELL backdoor with unique capabilities. While all have the same core backdoor functionality, they differ in terms of activation methods and different OS-specific features.

Mandiant says that the attackers “continue to show a deep understanding of the underlying technology” of the appliances being targeted, and recommended users upgrade their Juniper devices to the latest images. These include mitigations and updated signatures for the Juniper Malware Removal Tool (JMRT), which should be activated after the upgrade to scan the integrity of the endpoints.

“At the time of writing, Mandiant has not identified any technical overlaps between activities detailed in this blog post and those publicly reported by other parties as Volt Typhoon or Salt Typhoon,” Mandiant added, suggesting that Salt Typhoon, Volt Typhoon, and UNC3886, are distinct entities (but possibly working under the same umbrella).

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• GAT Online publisher Take-Two is suing Paiao Network Technology, the owner of online marketplace PlayerAuctions
• The lawsuit claims PlayerAuctions makes millions from facilitating the sale of illegitimate content and hacked accounts
• Such sales can give new players massive advantages in GTA Online, basically enabling a form of cheating

As GTA V is one of the biggest games in the world, it’s no wonder developer Rockstar and publisher Take-Two Interactive take it very seriously, so much so that the latter is suing online marketplace PlayerAuctions for allegedly selling unauthorized content that infringes GTA V’s copyright.

Spotted by Polygon, the lawsuit is directed at Chinese company Paiao Network Technology, which owns the PlayerAuctions platform, and alleges that the marketplace sells "thousands of listings for unauthorized, infringing GTA Online content – including heavily modified player accounts, in-game assets, and virtual currency – all gained by using hacking software, cheats, and technical exploits."

The filing accuses PlayerActions of doing this with the full knowledge that sellers on the website were “engaged in rampant infringement and other unauthorized conduct” and that it makes millions in reverence by taking a cut in these illicit transactions.

While it’s not illegal to sell your GTA Online account, it does infringe the terms of service for GTA Online, which is one of the issues Take-Two has with PlayerAuctions. But the big issue is that third-party sellers are selling illegitimate items that have been gained by hacking accounts or using exploits to sell high-ranked game accounts or masses of game currency, as well as unlock content that would usually require an investment in gaming time or legitimate purchase via GTA Online’s virtual currency.

On top of all of this, selling such accounts gives players a massive advantage in GTA Online that’s tantamount to cheating, meaning online marketplaces like PlayerAuctions could be seen as nirvana for people who want to get ahead in a game without putting in the gaming grind.

While in-game purchases are absolutely part of GTA Online, they tend to be balanced in a way that doesn't give players an overwhelming advantage, and people who don’t want to spend real money for in-game currency can still earn virtual money by playing the game and completing heists.

“Through these offerings, PlayerAuctions markets to Take-Two’s customers an otherwise impossible experience: new players can begin GTA V with billions in VC and with a massive arsenal of in-game content — such as vehicles, clothing, and weapons — configurations only possible by hacking and modifying the GTA V game in breach of the Rockstar TOS. In some cases, these listings advertise ‘unlock all’ accounts preloaded with maxed-out character levels and virtually all in-game assets available to acquire in GTA Online,” Take-Two’s lawsuit explained.

GTA V is arguably one of the largest games in history, with the online element making billions of dollars for Rockstar and Take-Two. As such, both companies are bound to take action on anything that could mess with their money-making machine.

While it’s hard to feel a great deal of sympathy for Take-Two, especially as GTA can make hundreds of millions of dollars in revenue per quarter, having masses of cash hopefully means Rockstar has the resources and funds to make GTA 6 one of the best entries in the series, if not one of the best games ever. Rockstar’s last major game was Red Dead Redemption 2, arguably a masterpiece in open-world design and cinematic storytelling – it’s one of my favorite games – which I’m sure benefitted from the wild success of GTA V and its online element.

We’ll have to see how this lawsuit plays out, but by the looks of it Take-Two has a strong claim; I for one wouldn't like to be in the shoes of Paiao Network Technology’s legal team.

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• Bolt Graphics unveils Zeus GPU, targeting rendering, HPC, and gaming
• Claims include 10x faster rendering, 6x FP64, 300x simulation gains
• Zeus supports up to 2.25TB memory, 6x 800GbE, 8x PCIe Gen5

Bolt Graphics has announced what it says is the fastest graphics processor ever, which is quite the claim.

Based in Sunnyvale, California, the semiconductor startup says Zeus has a “completely new GPU design for high-performance workloads including rendering, HPC, and gaming” and that it “addresses performance, efficiency, and functionality limitations with legacy GPUs.”

Bolt Graphics adds Zeus offers up to 10 times faster rendering, 6 times higher FP64 HPC performance, and up to 300 times faster electromagnetic wave simulation speeds compared to legacy GPUs.

Stunning path tracing performance

It supports expanded memory through Bolt’s architecture, allowing up to 384GB per PCIe card and up to 2.25TB per Zeus unit in a 2U server, with rack configurations reaching 180TB. Zeus also integrates 400 GbE and 800 GbE Ethernet interfaces directly into the GPU, reduces energy use despite the higher performance, and will be available in PCIe, server, and cloud form factors.

"Zeus increases performance while simultaneously reducing power consumption," said Darwesh Singh, Founder and CEO of Bolt Graphics. "I'm proud of the Bolt team's dedicated effort to create a solution that addresses key customer pain points, enabling them to be more productive and bring their ideas to life."

Slides published by ServeTheHome show Zeus is based on a RISC-V RVA23 out-of-order scalar core and there are a number of different architectures.

The Zeus 1c26-032 is a single-chiplet design and supports DisplayPort 2.1a and HDMI 2.1b, along with an RJ45 BMC port - typically seen on DPUs, servers, and other infrastructure components. There’s also a QSFP-DD port for 400GbE and two PCIe Gen5 x16 slots. The 1c26-032 includes 32GB of LPDDR5X and up to 128GB of DDR5.

The Zeus 2c26-064/128 is a two-chiplet module, while the 4c26-256 is a four-chiplet configuration. In the case of the latter, which has 500W of chip power, each chiplet is paired with 64GB of LPDDR5X and up to 512GB of DDR5, bringing the total memory capacity to 256GB of LPDDR5X and up to 2TB of DDR5. Combined, the GPU supports up to 2.25TB of total memory.

It also includes six 800GbE (OSFP) ports, which ServeTheHome notes is “a lot of connectivity coming out of a GPU. Putting that into perspective, that is ~12x PCIe Gen5 x16 lanes worth of bandwidth.”

The slides show the Zeus 2c26-064/128 outperforms the Nvidia GeForce RTX 4090 and RTX 5090 in path tracing workloads by roughly 9x and 4.8x, delivering 154 Gigarays compared to 17 Gigarays (RTX 4090) and 32 Gigarays (RTX 5090). In FP64 compute performance, Zeus achieves 10 TFLOPS, significantly ahead of 1.4 TFLOPS (RTX 4090) and 1.6 TFLOPS (RTX 5090) - roughly 7.1x and 6.25x higher, respectively.

Comparing the Bolt Zeus 4c26-256 against Nvidia’s consumer GPUs, path tracing performance is approximately 18x higher than the RTX 4090 and nearly 10x higher than the RTX 5090, while FP64 compute throughput is over 12x greater.

All of this should be taken with a pinch of salt of course. As ServeTheHome observes, “This feels like an announcement where we really want to see product. The fact that we are still a few months away from early developer kits makes this feel a bit early. On the other hand, if Bolt Graphics has Zeus competing with a combination of NIC and consumer GPU, while offering more memory, then it could be a really neat combination. I am always a bit skeptical of products until we see them live.”

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