Crunchyroll increases prices for all anime streaming plans

Anime fans won’t be getting any respite from the streaming service price hikes that now feel inevitable on every platform every couple of years. Crunchyroll announced today that it will be increasing the monthly costs for all its plans by $2. That means the Fan tier will now run you $10 a month, the Mega Fan Tier is $14 a month and the Ultimate Fan Tier is $18 a month. 

The platform introduced its Mega Fan and Ultimate Fan options in 2020, with both at long last giving viewers an option to watch shows offline. The silver lining in today’s price changes is that the Fan members are getting the same offline viewing option, although it’s limited to one device. Crunchyroll is further enticing the people who might now be more interested in the Fan level by offering a discount on the annual plan for that tier; you can get a year’s access for a limited time for $67.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/entertainment/streaming/crunchyroll-increases-prices-for-all-anime-streaming-plans-234231265.html?src=rss 

Moltbook, the AI social network, exposed human credentials due to vibe-coded security flaw

Moltbook bills itself as a social network for AI agents. That’s a wacky enough concept in the first place, but the site apparently exposed the credentials for thousands of its human users. The flaw was discovered by cybersecurity firm Wiz, and its team assisted Moltbook with addressing the vulnerability.

The issue appears to be the result of the entire Reddit-style forum being vibe-coded; Moltbook’s human founder posted a few days ago on X that he “didn’t write one line of code” for the platform and instead directed an AI assistant to create the whole setup. 

According to the blog post from Wiz analyzing the issue, Moltbook had a vulnerability that allowed for “1.5 million API authentication tokens, 35,000 email addresses and private messages between agents” to be fully read and accessed. Wiz also found that the vulnerability could let unauthenticated human users edit live Moltbook posts. In other words, there is no way to verify whether a Moltbook post was authored by an AI agent or a human user posing as one. “The revolutionary AI social network was largely humans operating fleets of bots,” the company’s analysis concluded. 

So ends another cautionary tale reminding us that just because AI can do a task doesn’t mean it’ll do it correctly.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/ai/moltbook-the-ai-social-network-exposed-human-credentials-due-to-vibe-coded-security-flaw-230324567.html?src=rss 

Ubisoft fires employee who publicly criticized its RTO plan

Ubisoft continues to raise eyebrows around how it is treating employees as it attempts a business overhaul. David Michaud-Cromp, a level design team lead at Ubisoft Montreal, said last week that he was suspended for three days without pay after voicing opposition to the company’s return to office mandate. Today, Michaud-Cromp posted on LinkedIn that he has been fired. “I was terminated by Ubisoft, effective immediately,” he wrote. “This was not my decision.”

A spokesperson for Ubisoft gave Kotaku the following statement regarding Michaud-Cromp’s dismissal: “Sharing feedback or opinions respectfully does not lead to a dismissal. We have a clear Code of Conduct that outlines our shared expectations for working together safely and respectfully, which employees review and sign each year. When that is breached, our established procedures apply, including an escalation of measures depending on the nature, severity, and repetition of the breach.” We’ve reached out to the company for additional confirmation and comment. 

This is the latest in a sequence of bad press Ubisoft has faced regarding its workforce. Shortly after many employees at Ubisoft Halifax unionized, the parent company shut down the studio. In announcing the closure, Ubisoft said the move was part of a broader cost-cutting endeavor across its operations; it shut down a support studio and cut more jobs later in January, with even more layoffs proposed. Most recently, unions representing other Ubisoft workers called for a three-day strike in response to the “penny-pinching and worsening our working conditions” they alleged of the company’s management.

All these issues could all be coincidental timing. But if so, they’re coincidences that don’t reflect favorably on Ubisoft.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/gaming/ubisoft-fires-employee-who-publicly-criticized-its-rto-plan-220913747.html?src=rss 

Elon Musk’s SpaceX has acquired his AI company, xAI

Elon Musk’s SpaceX has acquired Musk’s xAI, the companies announced. The merger will “form the most ambitious, vertically-integrated innovation engine on (and off) Earth, with AI, rockets, space-based internet, direct-to-mobile device communications and the world’s foremost real-time information and free speech platform,” Musk wrote in an update.

The AI company that right now is best known for its CSAM-generating chatbot might seem like a strange fit for a rocket company. But SpaceX is key to Musk’s latest scheme to build AI data centers in space. In his update, Musk wrote that “global electricity demand for AI simply cannot be met with terrestrial solutions” and that moving the resource-intensive operations to space is “the only logical solution.” SpaceX just days ago filed an application with the FCC to create an “orbital data center” by launching a million new satellites.

Musk also claimed that, eventually, space-based data centers will enable other advancements in space travel. “The capabilities we unlock by making space-based data centers a reality will fund and enable self-growing bases on the Moon, an entire civilization on Mars and ultimately expansion to the Universe.” Notably, it’s not the first time Musk has made lofty claims about Mars. He predicted in 2017 that SpaceX would send crewed missions to Mars by 2024.

This also isn’t the first time Musk has acquired one of his own companies. He merged xAI and X last year. And he recently announced that Tesla was investing $2 billion into xAI. SpaceX is planning to go public later this year in an initial public offering (IPO) that could value the company at more than $1 trillion, according to Bloomberg, which notes that SpaceX has also “discussed a possible merger with Tesla.”

Developing…

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/ai/elon-musks-spacex-has-acquired-his-ai-company-xai-221617040.html?src=rss 

France might seek restrictions on VPN use in campaign to keep minors off social media

France may take additional steps to prevent minors from accessing social media platforms. As its government advances a proposed ban on social media use for anyone under age 15, some leaders are already looking to add further restrictions. During an appearance on public broadcast service Franceinfo, Minister Delegate for Artificial Intelligence and Digital Affairs Anne Le Hénanff said VPNs might be the next target. 

“If [this legislation] allows us to protect a very large majority of children, we will continue. And VPNs are the next topic on my list,” she said.

A virtual private network would potentially allow French citizens younger than 15 to circumnavigate the social media ban. We’ve already seen VPN’s experience a popularity spike in the UK last year after similar laws were passed over age-gating content. However, a VPN also offers benefits for online privacy, and introducing age verification requirements where your personal data must be submitted negates a large part of these services’ appeal. 

The French social media ban is still a work in progress. France’s National Assembly voted in favor of the restrictions last week with a result of 116-23, moving it ahead for discussion in the country’s Senate. While a single comment doesn’t mean that France will in fact ban VPNs for any demographic, it does point to the direction some of the country’s leaders want to take. Critics responded to Le Hénanff’s statements with worry that these attempts at protective measures were veering into an authoritarian direction. 

The actions in France echo several other legislative pushes around the world aimed at reducing children and teens’ access to social media and other potentially sensitive content online. The US had seen 25 state-level laws for age verification introduced in the past two years, which has created a new set of concerns around users’ privacy and personal data, particularly when there has been no attempt to standardize how that information will be collected or protected. When data breaches at large corporations are already all too common, it’s hard to trust that the individual sites and services that suddenly need to build an age verification process won’t be an easy target for hacks.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/cybersecurity/france-might-seek-restrictions-on-vpn-use-in-campaign-to-keep-minors-off-social-media-205308716.html?src=rss 

Sony’s flagship WF-1000XM6 earbuds have been leaked on a retail site

Sony’s long-anticipated flagship WF-1000XM6 earbuds have leaked online, according to a report by The Walkman Blog and posts on Reddit. The retailer Power Buy posted a listing for the earbuds, complete with multiple photos and some specs.

Let’s get to the specs. We don’t know a lot, but the listing does suggest the earbuds will boast an IPX4 water-resistance rating and ANC/transparency modes. None of this is all that surprising, though we don’t have any details regarding the audio drivers or anything like that.

The Walkman Blog / Power Buy / Sony

We do know what they look like, assuming the listing is accurate. There are two colorways, black and white, with a pill-shaped design that differs from the previous iterations. The case looks like a standard earbud case.

One interesting design aspect is that the eartips are slightly bigger than with previous models. This could indicate a larger air channel, which would translate to an increased bass response. Earbuds tend to struggle with bass, so this could be a nifty little upgrade.

However, that’s conjecture and we won’t know more until Sony does its own official drop. It’s been well over two years since the company released the WF-1000XM5 earbuds, so the refresh is long overdue.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/audio/headphones/sonys-flagship-wf-1000xm6-earbuds-have-been-leaked-on-a-retail-site-194146960.html?src=rss 

Firefox will soon offer a way to block all of its generative AI features

Like practically every other tech company under the sun, Mozilla has been jamming generative AI features into its products. The organization has now acknowledged that not everyone wants things like plagiarism machines chatbots in the Firefox sidebar, so it’s giving you the option to turn off all of that. 

On February 24 (or earlier in Firefox Nightly builds), Mozilla will roll out Firefox 148, which will include an AI controls section in the desktop browser settings. From here, you’ll be able to block current and future generative AI features, or only enable select tools. 

At the jump, you’ll have the option to disable (or enable) chatbots in the sidebar, automated translations and alt text generation for PDFs. You’ll also be able to nix a tool called AI-enhanced tab grouping (which offers suggestions of related tabs and group names), as well as webpage previews that display “key points” before you actually click on a link. If you’d prefer to get rid of all of these — and for Firefox to not bother you with pop-ups and notifications about current and upcoming AI features — just make sure the “Block AI enhancements” toggle is on. 

Perhaps Mozilla has come to realize that, rather than having AI cruft soaking up resources and causing apps to bloat, what many people actually want is a fast, secure and streamlined web browser. At the very least, giving users a way to opt out of features they don’t want is a positive step. Now then, Google, about AI Overviews…

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/ai/firefox-will-soon-offer-a-way-to-block-all-of-its-generative-ai-features-203132958.html?src=rss 

ROG made a gaming headset for audiophile nerds

ASUS ROG just announced the Kithara gaming headset, which is a device intended to bring “audiophile-grade sound” to gaming. It was developed in conjunction with manufacturer HiFiMan, a company that specializes in high-end audio devices.

The Kithara is the company’s first open-back planar magnetic gaming headset. ROG says it was designed to please gamers who “demand absolute clarity, precision and realism.” The headphones feature 100mm planar magnetic drivers that have been “tuned specifically for gaming.”

The company says this results in a wide frequency response, low distortion and a “level of detail that reveals subtle positional cues such as footsteps, reloads and distance movement.” ROG boasts that these audio cues remain distinct even during moments of chaotic gameplay, potentially making the headphones a great choice for competitive gamers.

The open-back design allows for clear separation across bass, mids and treble, which should also make the headphones great for listening to music. It features a full-band boom microphone with a high signal-to-noise ratio. There are separate signal paths for audio and microphone inputs, which significantly reduces crosstalk.

ASUS ROG

The headphones have been built for maximum versatility, so there’s a balanced headphone cable with swappable plugs. They support various connection types, including 3.5mm, 4.4mm and 6.3mm. They also ship with a USB-C to dual 3.5mm adapter.

These are gaming headphones, so comfort is also a priority. The metal frame features an adjustable fit and there’s a multi-layer padded headband and two sets of interchangeable ear cushions. The ROG Kithara headphones are available now and cost $300.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/audio/headphones/rog-made-a-gaming-headset-for-audiophile-nerds-184737937.html?src=rss 

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