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The ghost kitchen company that runs MrBeast Burger has countersued Jimmy Donaldson, aka YouTube megastar MrBeast. Virtual Dining Concepts (VDC) alleges that Donaldson and his Beast Investments (BI) company failed to abide by contractual obligations, such as carrying out promotional work, and that they “materially damaged” its reputation. VDC is seeking over $100 million in damages according to Variety, which first reported the news.

“VDC alleges that Mr. Donaldson’s and BI’s actions have materially damaged the reputation of MrBeast Burger and VDC, turned away customers, and shattered hard-won relationships with vendors and suppliers, damaging the bottom lines of hundreds of restaurants across the country and around the world, and causing damages to VDC that, according to VDC’s evidence and Mr. Donaldson’s own estimations are in the nine-figure range,” VDC told Nation’s Restaurant News in a statement.

Donaldson filed suit against VDC and its parent company last week. He sought to end his partnership with them, citing issues including “disgusting” and “inedible” food. The original suit claimed VDC caused “material, irreplaceable harm” to the MrBeast brand. Donaldson also alleged that VDC had generated millions of dollars in revenue but he had “not received a dime.”

In its countersuit, VDC claims that Donaldson made “disparaging comments” against the company and MrBeast Burger. It cites several tweets (some of which seem to have been deleted) from the YouTube sensation, including claims that he wanted to shut down MrBeast Burger and that “the company I partnered with won’t let me stop even though it’s terrible for my brand.”

“This case is about a social media celebrity who believes his fame means that his word does not matter, that the facts do not matter, and that he can renege and breach his contractual obligations without consequence,” VDC’s countersuit claims. “He is mistaken.”

MrBeast Burger primarily uses a ghost kitchen format, which VDC specializes in. Ghost kitchens don’t have dedicated storefronts (though some operate out of existing brick-and-mortar restaurants) and only fulfill orders for delivery or pickup. When the first physical MrBeast Burger location opened in New Jersey with Donaldson and his crew in attendance last September, more than 10,000 people showed up.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/mrbeasts-burger-company-countersues-the-youtube-megastar-for-over-100-million-183859754.html?src=rss 

If you’ve been meaning to stock up on Sony’s DualSense controllers for your PS5, today is a good day to shop. The massively-popular gamepad is on sale for $49 via Amazon and other retailers, matching the previous low price. In other words, you likely won’t get a better deal than this. DualSense controllers typically sell for around $70, so this is a discount of more than 30 percent. The sale ends on August 20th. 

This is the same deal for the DualSense that pops up around Black Friday, so you’ll likely have to wait until then to nab a controller at this price if you miss the sale. The deal is available in just about every color option, from white to red, and even camouflage, though the deal doesn’t apply to the fancy DualSense Edge gamepad. 

This is the same controller that comes with the PS5 and is generally considered one of the preferred gamepads on the market, along with other fantastic accessories for the console. There’s haptic feedback, adaptive triggers, a built-in microphone, an integrated headphone jack and that iconic Sony button/control stick layout. If you are looking for the perfect controller for couch co-op sessions, this will certainly get the job done. 

As previously mentioned, the sale is for the OG DualSense, and not the revamped DualSense Edge controller. The Edge brings some new features to the table, like adjustable trigger buttons, removable rear paddles and joysticks, a cable-locking mechanism and a nifty hardshell case. However, it costs $200, which is a far cry from $49. As for the console itself, the disc-based PS5 is currently on sale for $450, a discount of $50.

Follow @EngadgetDeals on Twitter and subscribe to the Engadget Deals newsletter for the latest tech deals and buying advice.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/playstation-dualsense-controllers-are-on-sale-for-49-190046996.html?src=rss 

Amazon will reportedly meet with the FTC next week before the filing of a possible antitrust lawsuit against the online retailer. The New York Timesreports that FTC chair Lina Khan and commissioners Rebecca Kelly Slaughter and Alvaro Bedoya will sit down with Amazon representatives as the government agency nears a decision on whether to sue the company for antimonopoly laws. The scheduled conversation is viewed as a “last rites” meeting: Amazon’s final chance to persuade the FTC to back off before filing a suit.

The FTC began investigating Amazon in 2019 for using its influence to hurt competition. Investigators reportedly began the probe by interviewing third-party marketplace vendors, asking how their earnings on Amazon compared to those on competing platforms like eBay and Walmart. Politicoreported in July that the potential lawsuit “will likely challenge a host of Amazon’s business practices” and “could lead to a court-ordered restructuring of the $1.3 trillion empire.” This suit is separate from one the FTC filed in June against the retailer, accusing it of tricking customers into Prime subscriptions and making it hard to cancel the service.

Khan has been a longtime Amazon critic. While a law student at Yale, she wrote a paper suggesting the rethinking of antitrust laws in response to the company’s dominance. Her report criticized US antitrust laws for focusing too much on consumer prices while dismissing other ways companies can break the law to gain competitive advantages. “As consumers, as users, we love these tech companies,” she toldThe New York Times in 2018. “But as citizens, as workers, and as entrepreneurs, we recognize that their power is troubling. We need a new framework, a new vocabulary for how to assess and address their dominance.” Amazon has argued for Khan’s recusal from the case based on her academic work and previous statements.

The Biden administration has reportedly “grown increasingly concerned” about the influence of Big Tech companies. Bloombergdescribes the executive branch as “seeking to reverse what it has viewed as decades of lax oversight over corporate consolidation and market power.” The DOJ has sued Meta and Google multiple times (although a federal judge recently narrowed the scope of one of those cases).

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/amazon-will-reportedly-meet-with-the-ftc-ahead-of-potential-antitrust-lawsuit-190316632.html?src=rss 

Microsoft wasn’t subtle in announcing its plans to add AI functionality to any and all of its existing products. On Monday, the company announced that, in addition to its availability on the Edge mobile browser, as well as standalone Android and iOS apps, Microsoft’s Bing Chat AI chatbot will now be accessible through third-party browsers like Safari and Chrome.

The news comes as part of Microsoft’s six-month commemoration of Bing Chat’s public availability. The company also notes that in that time, users have engaged in more than a billion conversations with the AI and have had it generate three-quarters of a billion images. 

“This next step in the journey allows Bing to showcase the incredible value of summarized answers, image creation and more, to a broader array of people,” the company release reads. Features like “longer conversations [and] chat history” remain Edge mobile exclusives, however. 

Microsoft began opening access to Bing Chat in late July, when it became available on 3rd-party desktop browsers. That version is limited as well, offering only 2,000 words per prompt on Chrome and Safari versus 4,000 on Edge. 

Bing Chat is powered by ChatGPT-4 from OpenAI but offers more up-to-date information than the system its built on, thanks to Bing Chat’s access to Bing Search, which allows it access to information on events that have happened since the model was trained. In addition to the third-party browser access, the newest version of Bing Chat will also offer multimodal search, meaning users will be able to upload a photo and have the AI answer specific questions about its contents, as well as a dark mode for after-hours AI queries.  

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/microsofts-bing-chat-is-available-in-chrome-and-safari-mobile-191240880.html?src=rss 

After years of speculation, Red Dead Redemption is set to launch on PS4 and Nintendo Switch. This is the original 2010 release, and not the long-rumored remaster. The western-themed third-person shooter goes on sale August 17th, just three days after revered lawman and huckleberry spokesperson Doc Holliday’s birthday.

This is the digital version, but a physical release follows on October 13th. Though this is a straight port, the release does include the Undead Nightmare DLC, the zombie campaign that was added to the Game of the Year edition back in the day. The combo pack costs $50, which seems like a lot for a straight port of a 13-year-old game that hasn’t been updated to allow for 4K visuals or a faster framerate. Also, the ports won’t support multiplayer.

As for the potential next-gen refresh, it looks to be dead in the water. Kotaku reports that Rockstar has shelved the project after the debacle surrounding the subpar performance of the GTA Trilogy remake, which was an absolute buggy mess. The company is focusing on new titles, like the forthcoming GTA VI, instead of remakes.

For the uninitiated, the original Red Dead Redemption is both a spiritual successor to an older game called Red Dead Revolver, but actually takes place after the events of Red Dead Redemption 2. It follows former outlaw John Marston as he rounds up some of the gang members that take center stage in the sequel. It’s still a sprawling open-world adventure game, like RDR2, but with a more focused narrative and structure. There’s no swimming, which is a bummer, but you can still tie people to train tracks, which is the opposite of a bummer.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/the-original-red-dead-redemption-is-coming-to-ps4-and-switch-165058354.html?src=rss 

We’re not too far away from the fall, which of course means there’s a new Call of Duty game on the horizon. Activision has confirmed long-standing rumors that this year’s entry is Call of Duty: Modern Warfare III from Sledgehammer Games. The publisher also revealed that the latest game in the rebooted series will hit PC and consoles (perhaps including Nintendo Switch) on November 10th.

There aren’t many other confirmed details yet beyond a teaser video. However, Activision recently implied that, for the first time, players will be able to carry over items like operators, weapons and bundles from one year’s Call of Duty game (in this case, Modern Warfare II) to the next. That was a pretty strong indication that the next entry would be Modern Warfare III and not, say, a return to a World War II setting.

At one point, it seemed like there wouldn’t be an entirely new Call of Duty game this year. Reports in early 2022 suggested that Activision would slow things down a bit and instead deliver a significant expansion for Modern Warfare II while continuing to update Warzone and working on the next mainline game. Ultimately, the publisher decided to stick with its cadence of releasing a full-price Call of Duty game every year.

In February, Bloomberg reported that Modern Warfare III was set to include maps and modes from last year’s game while still feeling like a standalone full-price title. We’ll learn just how Activision is making the transition into Modern Warfare III as it reveals more details in the coming weeks and months.

Meanwhile, it’s looking increasingly likely that Microsoft will close its pending $68.7 billion acquisition of Activision Blizzard very soon. If so, that could result in Modern Warfare III becoming the first Call of Duty title to hit Xbox Game Pass on its release day.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/the-next-call-of-duty-game-is-modern-warfare-iii-165748261.html?src=rss 

The battle of the bloviating billionaires could be on hold for the foreseeable future. Elon Musk says he may need surgery, casting more doubt on his proposed cage match with Mark Zuckerberg.

Musk noted on X (formerly Twitter) on Sunday evening that he’s receiving an MRI on his neck and upper back today. He’ll find out later this week whether he’ll need surgery before going toe-to-toe with Zuckerberg, which is definitely not an attempt to get a doctor’s note to weasel out of the duel.

Not only would surgery postpone that fight indefinitely, it could impact Musk’s work at his various companies. As CNBC notes, Tesla’s share price dropped by over two percent on Monday morning. Along with running the automaker, Musk is also the owner and chief technical officer of X and CEO of SpaceX.

There wasn’t a confirmed date for the planned fight. Zuckerberg said he proposed an August 26 fight night, but claimed Musk hadn’t responded. “Not holding my breath,” the Meta CEO wrote on Threads.

Both men have been training for the potential showdown and publicly needling each other in the meantime. If and when it happens, Musk said the fight will be streamed on X, with all proceeds going to a veterans’ charity. Zuckerberg couldn’t resist poking fun at Musk over that too. “Shouldn’t we use a more reliable platform that can actually raise money for charity?,” he asked.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/elon-musk-says-he-might-need-surgery-before-any-cage-fight-with-mark-zuckerberg-154237731.html?src=rss