Feed aggregator

Get 50% off select appliances, 15% off most regular-price items, free delivery, and other great savings today on WIRED.

• Free file converters are scamming victims, law enforcement warns
• The FBI has warned against using untrusted the services
• Malware can put victims at risk of identity theft and fraud

Many of us have used file converters before, as when you need an MP3 but your recording is an M4A, free online file converters are a first port of call.

However the FBI has now warned some of these “free tools” are increasingly infecting victim’s devices with malware.

It says criminals are using the enticing offer of an easy and swift file transfer, like a .doc to a .pdf file, or combining files, like multiple .jpegs into one .pdf - useful when you need to upload something or send it in a particular format.

Risk of ransomware

AThe conversion tools will convert your files, but in the meantime, will infect the converted file with hidden malware, which it then hands over to the victim.

The malware can then exfiltrate personal information like names, social security numbers, banking information, crypto currency, and more - leaving the user at risk of identity theft or fraud.

s if that isn’t bad enough, some of these attacks also infect the victim’s device with ransomware, taking control of the computer.

Viruses and malware infections can have disruptive consequences for users, but there are key tools that can help.

“The best way to thwart these fraudsters is to educate people so they don’t fall victim to these fraudsters in the first place,” said FBI Denver Special Agent in Charge Mark Michalek.

“If you or someone you know has been affected by this scheme, we encourage you to make a report and take actions to protect your assets. Every day, we are working to hold these scammers accountable and provide victims with the resources they need.”

If you think you may have accidentally downloaded malware or a virus, we have advice on how to remove malware from your device, but the best defense is being careful and never downloading anything from an untrusted source.

You might also like

• Take a look at our picks for the best free video converters for your PC and Mac around
• Check out our choice for best antivirus software
• How phishing attacks are hitting the supply chain – and how to fight back

I don’t think it is an understatement to say that Nvidia wants to be the company that powers the artificial intelligence universe we may one day live in permanently.

The opening keynote at Nvidia GTC 2025, colloquially referred to as the Woodstock of AI, saw CEO Jensen Huang extol the virtues of an AI ecosystem powered by hardware - and software - from the second most valuable company in the world.

We were re-introduced to the concept of AI factories, which are essentially gigantic data centers and where, Nvidia’s world, tokens generated are equivalent to revenue: the presentation mentioned a price, $1 trillion.

The cost of building data centers, like mega-farms, increases exponentially every generation as they get more complex, and require more power to house even more compute.

A prototype of the Newton robot in Nvidia's Isaac lab (Image credit: Nvidia)

The lofty Stargate project has a budget of $500 billion and Apple has already committed to spending $500 billion over the next few years, a large chunk of which will be on data centres.

Depending on what analysts you talk to, the global data centre capital expenditure is expected to reach $1 trillion either in 2027 (PWC) or 2029 (Dell’Oro).

So that gives you a measure of Nvidia’s extremely ambitious targets for itself and for humanity.

A big piece of that puzzle that Nvidia introduced at the keynote is its Photonics switch systems which will allow those AI factories to “scale to millions of GPUs”, seemingly within the same physical perimeter.

A Nvidia GB300 NVL72 server rack (Image credit: Nvidia) Big, huge numbers

The biggest number of them all in this presentation was when Rev Lebaredian Nvidia’s VP, Omniverse and Simulation Technology, presented a slide about how Physical AI is transforming $50 trillion industries.

These span across two billion cameras, 10 million factories, two billion vehicles and, Lebareian added ‘Future Billion humanoid robots’.

Yes, it’s not just about robots, but humanoid robots, millions of them. Robots, in general, have been around for decades in many shapes and forms.

Nvidia, however, envisions a world where billions of robots are built on what it calls, its “Three Computers”: Pre and post-training (done via DGX), simulation and synthetic data generation (done via Omniverse) and Runtime (done using AGX).

The world of the future may be home to “multiple types of humanoid robots” that will be able to post-train - while on the job so to speak - with real or synthetic data, allowing them to learn new skills or enhance their knowledgebase on the fly, literally at (or near) the speed of light.

And the first of them may well be based on its new GR00T N1 humanoid robot foundation model, developed in partnership with Google Deepmind and … Disney Research.

(Ed: One can not see the tie-in with GR00T from Guardians of the Galaxy and Wall-E, a potentially prescient movie about the impact of robotics and AI on humanity).

Where does this leave us? With a clear roadmap to a world where AI becomes an indispensable part of what it means to be human, perhaps the most important utility of them all. Never, in the history of humanity, will so many depend on so few.

Oh and the other acronym (AGI) was not mentioned during the presentation, not once.

You might also like

• These are the best business laptops on the market
• Check out our list of the best rugged laptops
• We curated the best mobile workstations right now

• Apple’s latest ad features Pedro Pascal and is directed by Spike Jonze
• It features Pascal dancing through icy landscapes and vibrant streets
• The purpose is to promote Apple’s AirPods 4 with Active Noise Cancellation

If you’ve ever wanted to see Pedro Pascal dancing in a red and yellow dreamland, well, today is your lucky day. That’s because Apple has just released a new ad featuring the actor and directed by Spike Jonze, and the aim is to promote the company’s AirPods 4 with Active Noise Cancellation.

The spot begins with Pascal leaving a café after seemingly getting his heart broken. As he walks down a snowy street, he puts in his AirPods and begins listening to El Conticinio by Spanish musician Guitarricadelafuente. As he turns on the active noise cancellation mode, his surroundings change to an icy landscape filled with dancers moving in time to the music.

He’s then snapped back to reality when a passerby asks him for directions, whereupon Pascal activates the AirPods’ transparency mode so that he can hear the person while still listening to his music.

He then spies a happier version of himself across the street. This incarnation of Pedro Pascal re-enables active noise cancellation on his AirPods and suddenly finds himself in a bright red and yellow world. As Perfect by Sam i & Tropkillaz begins playing, he joyfully dances through the flowery streets, seemingly restored to happiness.

By the end, he returns to the real world and sees his sadder self. The two exchange comforting glances with each other before the original Pascal walks away down the street.

Highlighting key features

The purpose of the ad is to highlight the active noise cancellation feature in Apple’s AirPods 4. This can cut out background noise, allowing you to focus on whatever it is you are listening to. These also feature a transparency mode that allows some external sounds to be heard so you can conduct a conversation and be more aware of your surroundings.

AirPods 4 with Active Noise Cancellation also come with an Adaptive Audio feature that can automatically change between active noise cancellation and transparency mode without you having to do anything. It doesn’t look like that’s in use in the commercial, though, as Pascal reaches up to manually change the audio mode on his AirPods throughout the short film.

The ad might feel familiar to fans of Apple’s original iPod commercials, which featured silhouetted figures dancing while listening to music on the device.

It’s also not the first time Jonze has directed an Apple ad – in 2018, he worked with the company on a short film titled Welcome Home that was made to promote the HomePod.

You might also like

• Apple AirPods 4 with Active Noise Cancellation review: the best open-ear buds for iPhone
• What is Transparency mode on earbuds and headphones? The tech explained
• I hated the AirPods Pro's Transparency Mode until I discovered this hidden fix

The decision by U.S. District Judge Ana C. Reyes blocks the Department of Defense from carrying through with a policy directive designed to remove transgender service members from the military.

(Image credit: Chip Somodevilla)

Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, a government-backed overseas broadcaster, sued the Trump administration in an attempt to get it to release funds appropriated by Congress.

(Image credit: MICHAL CIZEK/AFP via Getty Images)

Better and more accurate weather forecasts could soon be a more common occurrence for all of us thanks to a new upgrade from Nvidia.

At its Nvidia GTC 2025 event, the company unveiled the next step along in its plan of using a digital twin of planet Earth to help forecasters build more accurate forecasting models.

The NVIDIA Omniverse Blueprint for Earth-2 weather analytics model provide a significant update on the original iteration, announced at GTC 2024, providing more accurate and powerful tools to make forecasts even better.

Better forecasts, faster

Nvidia says severe weather-related events have caused a $2 trillion impact on the global economy over the last decade, and better forecasts could be one way of mitigating this.

It says the NVIDIA Omniverse Blueprint for Earth-2 offers a number of useful tools, including Nvidia GPU acceleration libraries, a physics-AI framework, development tools and microservices to help speed up the process of going from prototyping to production with weather forecast models.

In effect, Nvidia says this should all help developers build solutions that deliver warnings and updated forecasts in seconds, rather than the minutes or hours needed with traditional CPU-driven modeling.

“We’re seeing more extreme weather events and natural disasters than ever, threatening lives and property,” said Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang.

“The NVIDIA Omiverse Blueprint for Earth-2 will help industries around the world prepare for — and mitigate — climate change and weather-related disasters.”

The platform has already signed up several major climate tech companies including AI company G42, JBA Risk Management, Spire and others.

You might also like

• Nvidia CEO predicts the death of coding — Jensen Huang says AI will do the work, so kids don't need to learn
• Here is our guide to the best AI writers available
• Yet another AI chip firm wants to challenge Nvidia's GPU-centric world

• Sennheiser has announced a new premium set of headphones called the HD 550
• It's aimed squarely at audiophiles and gamers
• You can pre-order it now for $299.95 / £249.99

Sennheiser has announced a brand new headphone model specifically geared toward gaming and audiophiles.

The Sennheiser HD 550 open-back headphones are pitched as bringing "a compelling new choice to audiophiles and gamers seeking next-level capability". Sennheiser is talking a big game for the HD 550 too saying that the headphones will boast "sprawling stereo imaging and an ultra-light build, the HD 550 is an open invitation to unpack the lush layers of today’s music and games for hours on end."

In terms of what's under the hood, the HD 550 headphones will feature a custom 38mm transducer, that will offer "exceptional clarity" from 6Hz to 39.5kHz.

And for gaming specifically, Sennheiser says that players will get "superb, lag-free spatial awareness and immersion" from the HD 550. Punchy bass, crystal-clear transients, and neutral mids without straying from the truthful voicing that audiophiles prefer, will also be at the core of the audio the HD 550 can give you in games.

Describing the HD 550s, Sennheiser Audiophile Product Manager Klas Hanselmann says in the official press release: "Audiophiles looking for featherlight headphones with honest voicing and deep bass extension are in for a treat."

Elsewhere, practically speaking, the HD 550 will share the 500 series characteristic of having a modular design, allowing users to swap out cables and earpads easily. It's a wired set of headphones, and comes with a 6ft/1.8m cable, with a 3.5mm jack connection, but also offers extra compatibility by coming with a 6.35mm adapter.

It also only weighs 8.36oz / 237g so comes in lighter than a DualSense Wireless controller, for example, and way lighter than my personal premium gaming headset pick, the SteelSeries Arctis Nova Pro Wireless.

The HD 550 comes hot on the heels of the new Sennheiser HD 505 headphones too which we really rated in our full review.

(Image credit: Sennheiser)

It might be obvious, but it's worth noting that these are Sennheiser headphones through and through - not a dip back into full-fledged gaming headsets from the premium audio brand. There's no microphone here, for example, and they are geared toward folks who are after, simply, top-tier audio for their games - as well as the flexibility to choose their own microphone.

Nonetheless, I'm excited about the HD 550 set of headphones. I was a huge fan of some of the last gaming headset models the brand made in the GSP 670s, 370s, and 300s.

While the HD 550s are a very distant relation to such headsets, I'm enormously looking forward to trying something from the brand that is definitively geared towards gaming. Plus, with the HD 550 being wired, it could be an audiophile's dream PS5 headset, Xbox Series X headset, or Nintendo Switch headset.

The Sennheiser HD 550 headphones are available to pre-order at Sennheiser Hearing right now for $299.95 or £249.99.

You might also like...

• Get ready for a bounty of PC games on June 8, as the PC Gaming show is back
• Samsung tipped to unveil first-ever bone-conduction headphones at Galaxy Z Fold 7 event
• I built my own audiophile headphones at Sennheiser's factory, and saw how elite sound tech comes together

• Perplexity AI has launched an ad campaign starring Squid Game actor Lee Jung-jae
• The ad mocks Google, renamed Poogle, as useless compared to Perplexity
• The ad showcases how important AI assistant reliability is to consumers

AI conversational search engine Perplexity is getting as ruthless in its marketing as the judges in Squid Game's eponymous game show. The company has introduced a major celebrity-driven ad campaign featuring Squid Game star Lee Jung-jae and some jabs at Google.

The 90-second spot above portrays Jung-jae playing a game very similar to the Squid Game. First, he must figure out how to get coffee stains out of a white shirt. When he opens the very obvious Google parody Poogle, it responds in typical search engine fashion with a list of blue links.

Realizing that sifting through articles for answers isn’t going to cut it, he panics and asks Perplexity instead. Using its voice model, the AI chatbot provides him with clear, step-by-step guidance.

He next has to ask Perplexity how to make cheese stick to pizza. Perplexity provides the right answer before quipping, “Don’t use glue,” a direct nod to the infamous mistake Google’s AI made in suggesting Elmer’s glue as a potential pizza ingredient.

The ad concludes with Jung-jae being asked to name the first Korean to win an Emmy award, which he doesn't need any help with as he is that actor.

Perplexity pokes at Google

The timing of the ad campaign is no accident, as Netflix’s third and final season of Squid Game is expected to drop in June. The campaign is also part of a yearlong partnership between Perplexity and Artist United, which Jung-jae co-owns. Artist United has also integrated Perplexity into its daily research and content creation operations.

The ad begins running today in the U.S. before rolling out to Korea, Japan, and Europe over the next ten days. Each region will get a localized version of the text and voiceovers, though Jung-jae’s dialogue will remain in Korean.

Perplexity’s strategy with the ad is notable beyond just having a world-famous actor poke fun at the search industry’s biggest player. It suggests that Perplexity grasps that accuracy and reliability are what people care most about when it comes to AI assistants.

If Perplexity can overtake Google's reputation as the go-to online information authority, it would be a major coup. Even seizing on small cracks in Google's place at the top could propel Perplexity above many of its rivals.

Whether Google has the glue to fill in those cracks after making pizza is an open question.

You might also like

• Perplexity's voice mode gets a futuristic makeover on your iPhone
• I tried Perplexity’s Deep Research and it doesn't quite live up to ChatGPT's research potential
• Perplexity's AI assistant goes mobile on Android

President Trump and President Vladimir Putin of Russia held a lengthy phone call on Tuesday to discuss a possible ceasefire in Ukraine. This is part of Trump's efforts to end the Russia's war in Ukraine and while he didn't get a ceasefire agreement, some progress was made. We hear the latest.

And in Ukraine, people are watching these and other developments with concern, skepticism, and with dark humor.

The company boosts its extremely popular gaming headset offerings with some needed modernization.

Mega Construx had their fun. Now it's Lego's turn.

I love The Simpsons. Even if I criticized the show's decision to keep churning out seasons, I'm a sucker for the classics, and I endured two hours of pain to get Blinky the Fish tattooed on me.

You could say it's a big part of my life, so I am actually quite thrilled by the news that Disney+ is getting a Stream channel that will play non-stop Simpsons episodes.

Considering one of the best Disney+ shows has so many episodes now, 768 – you want to be precise – choosing which one I want to revisit can sometimes take a very long time.

Even when I look at my self-appointed "golden era" between seasons 1 and 12, there are still so many I enjoy revisiting. Now, Disney+ is doing the hard work for me, and I consider that a huge win. I'm excited to tune in and be surprised by whatever episode is showing at the time, ready to relive some iconic moments.

Unfortunately, Streams is only available in the US for now, so UK and Australian subscribers will have to wait for this fun new feature.

How does the Simpsons Stream work?

A post shared by Disney+ (@disneyplus)

A photo posted by on

Instead of navigating The Simpsons library, this stream will continuously play episodes 24/7, and at launch, it's kicking off from season 1 all the way up to new episodes. However, the press release has suggested that the "programming lineup of the stream will be refreshed monthly," implying it will continue to show random episodes or perhaps opt for themed line-ups. (I'd love to see a Treehouse of Horror one, personally!).

Still, it's important to note that season 3, episode 1, Stark Raving Dad, will be omitted from the stream, as Polygon has reported this is per the wishes of Matt Groening and others behind the episode, which the publication has explained in their previous coverage.

This is an exciting addition to one of the best streaming services, and it definitely simplifies the viewing experience by doing the hard work for us. Hopefully putting an end to wasting precious free time scrolling through all the episodes.

Of course, if you'd rather choose for yourself, the episode library will be there on demand as normal.

You might also like

• Love The Simpsons? This toothbrush collaboration might be right up your alley, and can be paired with a Squishee flavored toothpaste
• Ay caramba! These are the best The Simpsons PC games from the 90s
• New Disney+ movies: every new film to stream in March 2025, including Moana 2

To date, 127 legal cases have been filed against the Trump administration's actions since President Trump took office. The cases challenge an enormous range of subjects.

(Image credit: Win McNamee)

Users in the test group are unimpressed by the video ads, which play automatically. Customers say they will be eager to toss their Roku devices if the ads become permanent.

Founded during the Cold War to project American soft power and foreign policy expertise, the federally-funded nonprofit think tank is now in the White House's crosshairs

(Image credit: Anna Moneymaker)

The taxi service will initially operate with Tesla employee drivers only, use current-model vehicles, and won’t allow for driverless rides.

Vance will be the first sitting vice president to serve as party finance chairman, according to the RNC. The move places a top Trump ally within the party's campaign wing ahead of the 2026 midterms.

(Image credit: Jim Watson)

• Apple’s first foldable device could have impressive battery life
• That’s according to a new rumor that details Apple’s latest efforts
• It would compete with Samsung’s best foldable on battery life

Apple’s first foldable device appears to be on the way – we got another rumor seemingly confirming that just today – and now a new detail has emerged that could help Apple compete with the likes of the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 7.

According to a Chinese leaker known as Phone Chip Expert (via MacRumors), Apple has been pulling out all the stops to increase the efficiency of its foldable display. That could give it an edge against the best foldable phones in what is a highly competitive market.

To achieve this, Phone Chip Expert claims that Apple has reduced the display driver integrated circuit from 28nm to 16nm. That’s a massive reduction and could significantly impact battery life.

Apple likes to promise that its devices come with “all day battery life,” and when you’re dealing with a large screen like on a foldable product, battery life is key. That makes Phone Chip Expert’s claim seem believable at first glance.

All day battery life

(Image credit: Future)

A move like this makes a lot of sense. After all, a foldable iPhone or MacBook will have a much larger display than its non-foldable siblings, and all that screen real estate can get awfully power-hungry. That’s something we’ve seen in other foldable devices like the Asus Zenbook 17 Fold, which have failed to impress us with their mediocre battery life.

Apple is thought to be building both a foldable iPhone and a MacBook-iPad hybrid with a foldable display. In the case of the former, it’s likely to directly compete with the upcoming Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 7, which is rumored to get the same battery capacity as the Galaxy Z Fold 6.

That said, Samsung is apparently working on making its foldable screen more efficient, so it will be fascinating to see which device comes out on top here.

At the moment, most of this is confined to the land of rumors, but it is worth noting that Phone Chip Expert has a reasonably solid track record regarding Apple rumors.

They correctly predicted that Apple would build its own servers to run Apple Intelligence and that the iPhone 15 would continue to use the A15 Bionic chip instead of the newer A16 chip, among other claims.

That doesn’t mean that this latest rumor is nailed on to happen, though. Various sources have claimed that Apple’s first foldable device could arrive in either 2026 or 2027, so we’ll have to wait until then to judge the efficiency and battery life of Apple’s first foldable product.

You might also like

• Apple’s foldable iPhone specs hinted at in fresh leak – here are 5 things to expect
• Apple expert just tipped a load of iPhone 17 upgrades: here are 7 things we’ve learned
• New rumors predict a foldable iPhone will launch next year – and cost almost twice as much as the iPhone 16 Pro Max

Celebrate this major milestone with a thoughtful, practical gift that will help them get ready to take on the world.