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McMahon has a limited background in education, and a long career as a business executive. She'd be stepping into an agency the president hopes to dissolve.

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At the center of legal challenges against Trump's executive actions is whether he's telling federal agencies to violate a key legal standard established nearly 80 years ago.

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President Trump kicked off his second term with a dramatic crackdown on immigration. Critics call those moves cruel and unnecessary. But many of Trump's supporters are applauding these early steps.

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The exchanges are part of a ceasefire agreement between Israel and Hamas.

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This week was a weird one in the world of tech, but we're still here to help you catch up on all the biggest tech news stories you might have missed in the past seven days.

On the normal end, we got a date and time for Nintendo's Switch 2 Direct presentation (April 2, 2025), and on the 'I can't believe we're syaing this end,' Apple got flustered by the iPhone's first-ever official porn app.

Once you've caught up on all that and more, be sure to check out our picks for the seven new movies and TV shows to stream this weekend (February 7).

7. Nintendo set a Switch 2 presentation date

(Image credit: Nintendo)

We now know exactly when the Nintendo Switch 2 Direct is happening on April 2. Thanks to Nintendo’s official social media channels over on X / Twitter, it’s been confirmed that the anticipated broadcast will happen at 6am PT / 9am ET / 2pm GMT / 3pm CEST. This really comes as no surprise, as Nintendo Direct presentations typically land in the morning for US audiences and mid-afternoon in the UK and Europe.

As for the contents of the Nintendo Switch 2 Direct, the company remains tight-lipped. We don’t think it’ll be a deep exploration of the system’s specs, but the presentation should give us a decent idea of the new hardware's improvements. It also seems reasonable to expect a look at new Nintendo Switch 2 games, potentially including a better look at that new Mario Kart title we saw in the official reveal teaser.

• Read more: The Switch 2 Nintendo Direct now has an official date and time

6. Dyson's new handheld vacuum turned out to be… not so new

(Image credit: Future)

Dyson has added a handheld vacuum to its range, but it turns out the Dyson Car+Boat is really just a V8 stick vacuum shipped without its wand and floorheads. We couldn't help but feel a little cheated, and not just because the V8 launched a decade ago, in 2016.

That disappointment aside, the new addition actually performed very well in our official Dyson Car+Boat review. Although it's not the newest Dyson stick vacuum, it is the smallest and lightest of the current range, and when pitted against other handhelds, the Car+Boat easily wins out. The battery life is double that of most handheld vacuums, and it's powerful enough to blast through even the most challenging cleanup tasks.

In short, the Car+Boat is an ultra-capable handheld vacuum, we just wish we were getting more of that trademark Dyson innovation instead.

• Read more: Turns out Dyson's new handheld vacuum is a decade-old V8

5. OpenAI fought back against DeepSeek R1

(Image credit: Scale AI, CAIS)

It didn’t take long for OpenAI to flex its muscles following the incredible success of Chinese start-up DeepSeek. Just last week, we were talking about the US AI company’s concerns following the launch of a completely free reasoning model, DeepSeek R1, that was just as good, if not better, than OpenAI’s o1 offering.

Now, not only has OpenAI revealed Deep Research, an incredible AI agent that works as your own personal analyst, ready to tackle any research you throw at it and come back with results, but Deep Research has also eclipsed all rivals on the world’s hardest AI exam.

If that wasn’t enough, OpenAI also announced this week that ChatGPT Search, its competitor to Google Search, would no longer require a login, allowing anyone to use the free AI search engine without the need to give up any personal information. It’s fair to say the company took DeepSeek’s attempt to shake up the AI industry personally, and now it’s us, the consumers, who are reaping the rewards.

• Read more: OpenAI's Deep Research smashes records for the world's hardest AI exam

4. Amazon teased Alexa upgrades

(Image credit: Amazon)

Amazon invited people to an exclusive product launch event in New York City later in February. While many details from the invite made us reasonably confident it would be for the long-awaited Alexa AI upgrade we’ve been waiting for, Amazon spelled it out for us as it was discovered that combining five invites would show you ‘alexa’ in a cursive font.

We’re not certain what this new Alexa will be capable of, but leaks have suggested it’ll finally start to catch up with the likes of ChatGPT, Gemini, and other LLMs, which have left the smart assistant in their dust.

More specifically, they tease that Alexa will be better at understanding and responding to natural human speech, such as multiple prompts presented in a row. It’ll also be able to perform more tasks autonomously as an AI agent. Unfortunately, it might also cost $5-$10 a month – but we’ll have to take all these details with a pinch of salt until Amazon’s event in a couple of weeks.

• Read more: Alexa AI is landing soon – 3 things to expect from the new voice assistant

3. Apple launched Invites

(Image credit: Future)

Apple has been making slow and steady Calendar app improvements across iOS, iPadOS, and macOS, but it just made organizing parties 100 times easier with the brand-new Apple Invites app for iCloud+ users.

It’s designed to be a one-stop shop for creating the event invite, from setting an event description to correctly capture the vibe to building a guest list and managing who has RSVP'd and who isn't coming. It can even serve as an easy one-stop shop for guests who can see all the event info without everyone needing to message the host the same questions individually.

iCloud+ is a central part of this, as you need it to send invites and create an event but anyone can receive them even people on Android.

• Read more: Apple’s Invites app gives iCloud+ subscribers an better way to organize parties

2. Apple got mad about the iPhone’s first porn app

(Image credit: AltStore PAL / Future)

That isn’t a sentence we expected to write this week, but it’s 2025, so all bets are off. Yes, the iPhone’s first official porn app (called Hot Tub, of course) has just landed in the EU, and Apple isn’t best pleased – to put it mildly.

Hot Tub arrived thanks to EU regulations that recently opened the door to third-party iOS app stores like AltStore, where you can download the app (or so we’ve heard). Apple was quick to point out it’s “deeply concerned about the safety risks” and disapproves of the controversial porn aggregator.

An added dimension to the story is that AltStore is funded by Apple’s nemesis Epic Games, who recently battled it over Fortnite. We can feel a Netflix documentary coming on…

• Read more: The iPhone’s first official porn app has just landed in the EU – and Apple really isn’t happy about it

1. Apple’s robot stole our hearts

Apple also showed off its ELEGANT (Expressive and Functional Movement Design for Non-Anthropomorphic Robot) lamp this week – and this real-life Pixar lamp is wonderfully cute.

Videos showcased the robot’s functional meets expressive approach, which saw it perform tasks with a bit of flair – at one point, the robot was asked to grab something out of reach, and rather than simply realizing it wasn’t long enough, the lamp tries to stretch a few times before shaking its head and admitting it can’t complete the task.

While playing music, it danced along, and while helping a user build a 3D printer, it performed micro-adjustments that made it seem alive before playing a video of the instructions when it saw they were struggling. Apple hasn’t announced any plans to launch this as something you can buy one day, but we’re hoping we’ll one day get an Apple iLamp announcement.

• Read more: Apple built a super-cute, expressive robot lamp

• The latest Oppo Find N5 image shows a near-invisible crease
• We should see the phone called the OnePlus Open 2 internationally
• A launch is happening within the next two weeks

We know that we're just days away from the launch of the Oppo Find N5 – which will almost definitely be available in some markets as the OnePlus Open 2 – and a new teaser image of the foldable hints at one way it could best the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 6.

The image was posted by Pete Lau, Chief Product Officer at Oppo and previously the founder of OnePlus. It shows the Oppo Find N5 on the left, up against an unnamed foldable – which looks very much like the Galaxy Z Fold 6 launched last July.

When it comes to crease visibility, the Oppo Find N5 is the clear winner. This is something Oppo and OnePlus have form for too: in our OnePlus Open review, we praised the foldable for having a screen crease that was "nearly invisible and barely tactile".

It would seem the Oppo Find N5 and OnePlus Open 2 will be even better in this regard. It looks as though the phone will outdo the Galaxy Z Fold 6 in terms of screen size too – the Samsung handset has a main display measuring 7.6 inches, corner to corner (and the OnePlus Open had a 7.82-inch panel).

Coming soon

IPX6 ✅ IPX8 ✅ IPX9 ✅Immensely durable, rain or shine. #OPPOFindN5 pic.twitter.com/Yg0G3Qm8Z0February 7, 2025

Lau has also been promoting the improved waterproofing on the upcoming Oppo Find N5. The phone is apparently "immensely durable, rain or shine", and should offer more protection against the elements than the Oppo Find N3 (and OnePlus Open).

We've already heard from other Oppo executives that waterproofing is going to be one of the key features on the upcoming foldable phone. Much has been made of its thinness too: even thinner than an M4 iPad Pro, apparently.

Camera upgrades over the previous model have also been rumored, and if you add in a processor bump as well, this sounds like it could be a contender for the top spot in our best foldables list – but we'll have to wait and see.

Oppo has given us a rough idea of when its Find N5 handset will make an appearance – around February 19 or February 20 – but we don't have an exact date yet. The phone is getting a global launch, but certain parts of the world should also see the device appear as the OnePlus Open 2 later in 2025.

You might also like

• Our full review of the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 6
• 5 things we want from the OnePlus Open 2
• Apple’s foldable iPhone specs hinted at in fresh leak

The case, filed in federal court in New York City, alleges the Trump administration allowed Musk's team access to the Treasury Department's central payment system in violation of federal law.

(Image credit: Alex Brandon)

• A new feature could almost miraculously cut energy consumption of data centers by 30%
• Interrupt request suspension dynamically alters CPU power usage and can be done via OS
• Hyperscalers are likely to be the big winners and it will be interesting to see how it impacts AI

Data centers reportedly account for between 2-4% of total electricity consumption around the world, something hyperscalers are understandably looking to reduce wherever possible.

Potential solutions include implementing next-generation architectures like Hyperconverged Infrastructure (HCI) and employing advanced cooling techniques.

Professor Martin Karsten at the Cheriton School of Computer Science, within the University of Waterloo in Ontario, Canada, has a cheaper, easier solution. He claims that data center energy consumption could be cut by up to 30%, simply by changing a few lines of Linux code.

Small change, big impact

Working with Joe Damato at Fastly, Professor Karsten has developed a small, non-intrusive kernel change of just 30 lines of code that uses IRQ (interrupt request) suspension to reduce unnecessary CPU interruptions and improve Linux’s network traffic processing. This tweak has now been published as part of Linux’s newest kernel, release version 6.13.

This code change, which reportedly improves Linux networking efficiency and boosts throughput by up to 45% without increasing latency, is based on a research paper called “Kernel vs. User-Level Networking: Don’t Throw Out the Stack with the Interrupts”, which Professor Karsten authored with former master’s student Peter Cai in 2023.

"We didn’t add anything,” Professor Karsten said of the code change. “We just rearranged what is done when, which leads to a much better usage of the data center’s CPU caches. It’s kind of like rearranging the pipeline at a manufacturing plant so that you don’t have people running around all the time.”

The Professor believes this small adjustment could have a huge impact. “All these big companies - Amazon, Google, Meta - use Linux in some capacity, but they’re very picky about how they decide to use it. If they choose to ‘switch on’ our method in their data centers, it could save gigawatt-hours of energy worldwide. Almost every single service request that happens on the Internet could be positively affected by this.”

Aoife Foley, IEEE senior member and professor in the School of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering at Queen’s University Belfast, welcomes the potential savings but observes that it’s going to take a lot more than just changing a few lines of code to address the broader energy challenges.

“There is a long way to go yet," she says. "These facilities represent huge electricity demands, adding pressure to electricity grids and increasing the challenge of energy transitions, especially in smaller countries. Although it is impossible to calculate precisely, the entire ICT sector is estimated to account for about 1.4 per cent of CO₂ emissions globally. Infrastructure and operations leaders have a responsibility here and need to consider the unnecessary waste associated with data storage and commit to generating power from more renewable sources.”

Yandex recently released an open source tool called Perforator, which takes a similar approach to Professor Karsten’s research, helping businesses optimize their code, reduce server load, and ultimately lower energy and equipment costs.

Sergey Skvortsov, who leads the team behind Perforator, told us: “This latest research confirms what we have long believed: optimizing code is one of the most effective ways to reduce data center energy consumption. Perforator helps businesses identify and fix inefficient code, cutting CPU usage by up to 20% and reducing infrastructure costs - without sacrificing performance. With data centers consuming up to 4% of global electricity, tools like Perforator can play a crucial role in making tech infrastructure more sustainable.”

You might also like

• Why the data center of 2030 will look very different from today
• Data centers are transforming waste heat into community energy assets
• The AI boom is spurring an energy crisis: is there a sustainable way out?

Here are the answers for The New York Times Mini Crossword for Feb. 8.

The president announced Friday that he would remove multiple board members, including the Chairman, who do not share his vision for a "Golden Age in Arts and Culture."

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Less than 24 hours after misleading claims started circulating that tied Politico to USAID, the White House vowed to end subscriptions for the insider news outlet's services and others.

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Staff at the CDC are bracing for a significant reduction in the work force that appears to be targeting staff with the fewest worker protections.

(Image credit: Anadolu/Anadolu Agency)

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau is the latest target of Elon Musk's Department of Government Efficiency.

(Image credit: Jon Cherry/Getty Images)

Google really wants you to know that Gemini 2.0 Flash is a big deal. It's the first generally released member of the Gemini 2.0 family, and the company is hyping it up as faster, smarter, and more powerful than ever, hinting without outright claiming it should replace OpenAI’s ChatGPT in people's hearts and smartphones.

Gemini 2.0 Flash is essentially a high-efficiency version of the model that is faster but supposedly maintains as good an accuracy rate. I decided to play around with Gemini's new model, testing it out in some basic ways the average person would use it. To spice things up, I sent the same prompts to ChatGPT.

Working it out

(Image credit: Screenshots of Google Gemini and ChatGPT)

I started with a prompt about fitness as it's the kind of thing a lot of people turn to the internet to help with. I think a good AI chatbot should not only suggest a reasonable workout routine but also explain the reasons for its suggestions, variations on the exercise, and more information about how to be healthy and avoid injury.

I wanted to see which chatbot would provide the most well-rounded response, but both honestly did quite well. Gemini included links and tips for its workout, while ChatGPT had a whole weekly schedule for workouts and its own set of helpful advice on getting in shape safely. I had to call it a tie, though the multi-day schedule from ChatGPT did stand out somewhat.

Translation Total

(Image credit: Screenshots of Google Gemini and ChatGPT)

(Image credit: Screenshots of Google Gemini and ChatGPT)

Translations are always a popular use of AI chatbots, and this prompt covers three vastly different languages: one classical, one historical, and one fictional. Latin requires proper grammatical structure, while Middle English isn’t just modern English with “ye” thrown in; it has distinct grammar and vocabulary. Of course, Klingon follows an entirely different syntax, created artificially with its own fake etymology. A smart AI should recognize these differences and ask for and provide natural-sounding translations of a common saying instead of just swapping words.

ChatGPT broke down each translated phrase and explained the word comparisons, including references to changes in phrasing. Gemini was more concise but included explanations for each translation in terms of alternate phrasing and spelling, as well as calling out when it might be a bit too literal. The Latin translations were the same, but the Middle English and Klingon versions differed. To be honest, I like the Gemini Middle English version more than ChatGPT's, but the other aspects also put Gemini over the top as the winner here.

Crossword Key

(Image credit: Screenshots of Google Gemini and ChatGPT)

For the final test, I used logic, word association, vocabulary, and pattern recognition. In other words, a crossword puzzle. Any AI chatbot should be able to quickly identify words that match letter patterns and match the definition.

Crossword clues can be tricky because words often have multiple meanings. Both handled it well, though Gemini decided to go for the British spelling for unknown reasons.

Gemini Flash matches ChatGPT

Both Gemini 2.0 Flash and ChatGPT offer incredibly advanced AI models, and for most users, the difference comes down to preferences, ecosystem, and specific use cases rather than raw ability. Any clear technological edge that might have existed a year ago has essentially closed for the average person. Even 'personality' differences are likely due to the prompts used as much as any underlying programming.

If you primarily operate in Google's ecosystem, Gemini 2.0 Flash has obvious appeal. Its integration with Google Search, Google Docs, Gmail, and other Google services makes great for anyone who relies on these tools daily. You can use it to draft emails, summarize documents, and even assist with research, all within the Google suite. If speed and efficiency are priorities, Gemini is there for you.

On the other hand, ChatGPT is well-established and has deep partnerships. In particular, ChatGPT is embedded throughout Microsoft Office tools like Word and Excel. ChatGPT is often more conversational and expressive in my experience, though again, that is likely contingent on the prompts used.

At the core, both models have reached a level where their intelligence feels equally matched. There’s no longer a clear “better” option. You have to decide which AI fits more seamlessly into your daily life. Google and OpenAI are in an ongoing race, constantly refining their models and adding new capabilities. Gemini might take the lead in one update, only for ChatGPT to counter with an even stronger feature. There’s no wrong answer or best option. Whether you choose Gemini 2.0 Flash or ChatGPT, you’re getting one of the best AI models ever built. You just have to decide who you want to translate your Klingon for you.

You might also like...

• DeepSeek has already dethroned ChatGPT – is it coming for Midjourney and DALL-E next?
• OpenAI is making ChatGPT's Canvas feature smarter and sleeker
• ChatGPT Tasks can start taking over your calendar and remind you to finish your to-do list

Former presidents are historically given intelligence briefings after leaving office. But Trump said he was following precedent set by Biden four years ago, when Biden revoked Trump's access.

(Image credit: Anna Moneymaker)

Trump has accused South Africa of "human rights violations" and a land grab. The South African government has hit back.

(Image credit: Rodger Bosch)

A lot of labels have been applied to Trump's foreign policy approach. America First, Isolationist, transactional, imperialist, protectionist. "I'm a nationalist and a globalist" he told the Wall Street Journal during his first term.

In his inaugural address last month, Trump made comments suggesting his foreign policy will be characterized by restraint, saying, in part, success should be defined by the "wars we never get into."

Yet in the same address, he also said, the United States will take back the Panama Canal.

In his first campaign, Trump ran on the idea that the cycle of the United States intervening in the Middle East should come to an end.

And on Tuesday of this week, he said that the U.S. will "take over" the Gaza Strip, after relocating the Palestinians, who live there.

Trump has promised a new approach to American foreign policy. Is there a Trump Doctrine? And what is it?

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You just spent a lot of money on a new Samsung phone. Keep it safe with these cases and screen protectors.

The Federal Highway Administration said the National Electric Vehicle Infrastructure (NEVI) program is under review. It was part of the Biden administration's clean energy push.

(Image credit: Justin Sullivan)

The case, brought by the American Foreign Service Association and the American Federation of Government Employees was intended to block the administration's efforts to dismantle USAID.

(Image credit: Kayla Bartkowski/Getty Images)