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xAI has officially lunched Grok 4 during a livestream with Elon Musk, who called it the “smartest AI in the world.” He said that if you make the Grok 4 take the SATs and the GREs, it would get near perfect results every time and can answer questions it’s never seen before. “Grok 4 is smarter than almost all graduate students in all disciplines simultaneously” and can reason at superhuman levels, he claimed. 

Musk and the xAI team showed benchmarks they used for Grok 4, including something called “Humanity’s Last Exam” that contained 2,500 problems curated by subject matter experts in mathematics, engineering, physics, chemistry, biology, humanities and other topics. When it was first released earlier this year, most models could only reportedly get single digit accuracy. Grok 4, which is the single agent version of the model, was able to solve around 40 percent of the benchmark’s problems. Grok 4 Heavy, the multi-agent version, was able to solve over 50 percent. xAI is now selling a $300-per-month SuperGrok subscription plan with access to Grok 4 Heavy and new features, as well as higher limits for Grok 4. 

The new model is better than PhD level in every subject, Musk said. Sometimes it may lack common sense, he admitted, and it has not yet invented or discovered new tech and physics. But Musk believes it’s just a matter of time. Grok is going to invent new tech maybe later this year, he said, and he would be shocked if it doesn’t happen next year. At the moment, though, xAI is training the AI to be much better at image and video understanding and image generation, because it’s still “partially blind.”

During the event, Musk talked about combining Grok with Tesla’s Optimus robot so that it can interact with the real world. The most important safety thing for AI is for it to be truth-seeking, Musk also said. He likened AI to a “super genius child” who will eventually outsmart you, but which you can shape to be truthful and honorable if you instill it with the right values.

What Musk didn’t talk about, however, is Grok’s recent turn towards antisemitism. In some recent responses to users on X, Grok spewed out antisemitic tropes, praised Hitler and posted what seems to be the text version of the “roman salute.” Musk did respond to a post on X about the issue blaming the problem on rogue users. “Grok was too compliant to user prompts,” he wrote. “Too eager to please and be manipulated, essentially. That is being addressed.”

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/ai/elon-must-spent-almost-an-hour-talking-about-grok-without-mentioning-its-nazi-problem-061101656.html?src=rss 

GameStop has been specializing in making pretty wacky headlines in recent years, and its latest follows in that grand tradition. After employees at the retailer stapled Switch 2 receipts to boxes in a way that punctured some of the consoles’ screens, the company promised that it would “make things right” for those customers. In addition to giving replacement Switch 2s to those people, GameStop has decided to turn the whole viral event into a publicity stunt for charity. Today, it posted on X that it would auction off the “infamous” stapler responsible for the incident, with the proceeds benefiting the Children’s Miracle Network Hospitals.

The eBay listing for the notorious stapler currently has a top bid of $18,000. But if you really want to have not just a stapler, but also the first Switch 2 it broke, the box with the puncture marks and the offending stapler, feel free to throw your money at it.

And if you want to support another worthy charity via gaming in a less ridiculous fashion that doesn’t involve GameStop, be sure to tune into the ongoing Summer Games Done Quick 2025 marathon. The event is raising money for Doctors Without Borders through July 13.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/gaming/you-can-own-the-gamestop-stapler-that-broke-nintendo-switch-2-consoles-225848836.html?src=rss 

NASA is set to lose at least 2,145 senior staff members as part of the Trump administration’s push for budget cuts, Politico reports. The brain drain could severely impact future research and missions, and is happening not long before the organization plans to send a new crew of astronauts to the Moon in 2026.

Of the over 2,000 departing staff members, nearly all of them are in senior positions, requiring specialized skills or management experience. “Those leaving include 1,818 staff serving in mission areas like science or human space flight, with the rest performing mission support roles like IT, facilities management or finance,” according to Politico. Staff across the organization’s regional centers are also leaving, including 311 staff from the Kennedy Space Center and 366 staff from the Johnson Space Center. These centers serve critical functions in the operation of NASA’s various missions. For example, Kennedy Space Center is NASA’s main rocket launch site and Johnson Space Center (the “Houston” of “Houston, we have a problem”) acts as the home base for human space flight operations.

Politico writes that these voluntary exits make up only half of the requested staffing cuts proposed in the White House’s budget. The Trump administration is asking for an over $6 billion cut to NASA’s 2025 budget, which would jeopardize multiple upcoming missions and research projects, including the Gateway lunar orbit station. 

It’s still possible for Congress to make significant changes to the proposed budget, but since current staff losses are entirely voluntary, it’s highly likely some amount of damage has already been done. Given the growing number of commercial space missions, there’s plenty of opportunities for experienced former NASA staff to get work.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/science/space/nasa-will-lose-over-2000-senior-staff-due-to-proposed-trump-budget-cuts-210109229.html?src=rss 

OpenAI’s deal with Jony Ive’s startup is a done deal. Ive’s io has officially merged with the ChatGPT maker in a deal reportedly worth $6.5 billion. The companies announced the purchase in May.

Jony Ive and his LoveFrom design studio remain independent. Meanwhile, io’s co-founders, Scott Cannon, Evans Hankey and Tang Tan, are now OpenAI employees. (Around 50 other io engineers, designers and researchers are, too.)

OpenAI and Ive are currently working on “a family of AI products for everyone.” In May, Sam Altman and Ive dropped some hints about what to expect from their first product. They said it will be unobtrusive, portable and fully aware of its surroundings and the user’s actions. It reportedly won’t be a phone or a pair of glasses, which were likely the first two guesses for most people.

For the uninitiated, Ive was a trusted collaborator and confidant of Steve Jobs during the creative explosion that produced some of the most influential tech products ever made. Ive left Apple in 2019 to form LoveFrom. He and Apple parted ways three years later.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/ai/openai-and-jony-ives-startup-seal-the-deal-194408516.html?src=rss 

T-Mobile has abandoned all of its programs for diversity, equity and inclusion. In a letter to the Federal Communications Commission, the telecom said that it “is ending its DEI-related policies […] not just in name, but in substance.”

T-Mobile conveniently waited to dismantle its DEI efforts until it was awaiting FCC approval for two major deals. The company needs regulatory backing to purchase extensive assets from United States Cellular in a deal valued at $4.4 billion. It’s also looking to establish a joint venture with investment firm KKR that will acquire internet provider Metronet.

Reuters reported that FCC Chair Brendan Carr reacted positively to this change in a text message to the publication: “This is another good step forward for equal opportunity, nondiscrimination and the public interest.” Carr was appointed to the top spot at the FCC by President Donald Trump. One of the remaining democratic commissioners at the agency, Anna M. Gomez, was more scathing of T-Mobile’s “cynical” reversal of its policies. She said on X that the telecom’s capitulation to the current administration was “making a mockery of its professed commitment to eliminating discrimination, promoting fairness, and amplifying underrepresented voices.”

T-Mobile isn’t the first to bail on its DEI commitments in order to gain FCC approval. In May, the regulators approved Verizon’s $20 million merger with Frontier only after the company agreed to end DEI programs. 

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/mobile/t-mobile-ends-dei-programs-in-attempt-to-win-deal-approvals-from-the-fcc-202239612.html?src=rss 

You don’t have to sit your butt on your couch to get a great gaming experience anymore. Things like mobile game controllers let you take the action with you, and one that’s considered a top pick is on sale for Prime Day. Razer’s Kishi Ultra normally costs $150, but you can grab it for only $100 right now thanks to Prime Day deals.

What makes the Kishi Ultra special? You can start with its form factor. Like many accessories in this space, it has a telescoping design that expands to fit your device. But unlike some competitors, its hearty grip makes it feel like a full-fledged console controller.

It also has broad compatibility. It works with most Android phones, the iPhone 15 and 16 series and the two newest iPad mini models. You can plug into some foldables, including the Galaxy Z Fold 5. Ditto for most Android tablets (up to 8 inches in size). It even works with PCs via a low-latency USB cable.

The list goes on. It has advanced haptics. You have RGB lighting… if you’re into that. (This is Razer, after all.) Its ABXY buttons and D-pad are mechanical. It has Hall effect triggers, programmable L4 / R4 bumpers and plenty of customization options via the Razer Nexus app.

If we have a gripe, it’s that the thumbsticks aren’t Hall effect. (Then again, the Switch 2 doesn’t, either.) But at $100 for Prime Day, that omission is much easier to forgive. You can get a closer peek at it in Razer’s promo video below and scoop one up on Amazon.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/deals/the-razer-kishi-ultra-controller-drops-to-only-100-for-prime-day-114535273.html?src=rss 

Amazon Prime Day deals this year include a bunch of Sonos gear on discount. This brings the price of many of the company’s offerings down by up to 26 percent.

You’ll find speakers and soundbars among the deals. One of the best is the Beam Gen 2 soundbar, which has dropped to $369 from $499. It’s on our list of the best soundbars, and for good reason. It’s a great mid-range option with plenty of features. It supports Dolby Atmos and the relatively compact design ensures it’ll likely fit wherever you place it.

To that end, it boasts particularly robust sound for its size. The only real downside is that it only has one HDMI port, which means you won’t be able to directly connect a gaming console. It also means that older TVS with an optical jack will require an adapter.

The Sonos Ray soundbar is also on sale for $169, which is a discount of around $30. This one also made our list of the best soundbars and we particularly enjoyed the budget-friendly price and easy setup. We said it “nailed the basics” in our official review.

Now onto more traditional speakers. The Sonos Era 100 smart speaker is on sale for $179, which is a discount of $20. This is a voice-activated speaker with stellar sound quality. The Roam 2 portable Bluetooth speaker is down to $143 from $179, which is a great deal. This is the perfect “take anywhere” portable speaker, as it’s lightweight and waterproof.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/deals/sonos-soundbars-and-speakers-are-up-to-26-percent-off-for-prime-day-120015034.html?src=rss 

While human umpires will still make the first call at the All-Star Game on July 15, Major League Baseball plans to let teams use a robot umpire to challenge rulings, ESPN reports. The automated ball-strike (ABS) system has been around for years in one form or another, but relying on a computer’s judgement of a pitch has yet to become a permanent fixture of major league play.

MLB is essentially porting over the ABS challenge system used during spring training for the upcoming All-Star Game in Atlanta. Human umpires will call balls and strikes as they normally would, but teams will be given two opportunities to challenge the call, using ABS as backup. “Only a pitcher, catcher or hitter can ask for a challenge and it has to happen almost immediately after the pitch,” ESPN writes.”The player will tap his hat or helmet indicating to the umpire he wants to challenge” and if ABS reproduces the human umpire’s call, the challenge fails. If the system makes a different call, the team can choose to accept that new ruling.

The current version of ABS uses Hawk-Eye, a computer vision system developed by Sony, to monitor the “exact location of the pitch relative to the batter’s strike zone,” according to MLB. The league has tested relying on ABS exclusively for calls, but views the ABS challenge system as a good compromise between tradition and technology. Like other possible rule changes, it also adds a new element of strategy: With only two opportunities to challenge, players have to be selective.

MLB hasn’t announced official plans to implement the ABS challenge system during the normal baseball season, but the continued tests seem like a good indication that it could happen at some point.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/big-tech/mlb-will-test-its-robot-umpire-system-at-the-next-all-star-game-193732447.html?src=rss