Engadget

Jack Dorsey has apparently exited the Bluesky board. As spotted by TechCrunch, the former Twitter CEO who was previously Bluesky’s highest-profile proponent shared the life update this weekend on X, where he’s been posting a lot lately. In response to a user who asked “are you still on the bsky board,” Dorsey said only, “no.” That’s it, nothing more. Engadget has reached out to the company for comment and will update this stor

Threads is giving users more control over who can quote their posts (as in, reposting with commentary). If you don’t want just anyone to be able to quote your posts, you now have the option to allow only people you follow to do so. Or, you can make it so no one can quote your posts at all. Head of Instagram Adam Mosseri announced the update this weekend, saying he hopes it will “help keep Threads a more positive place.” The platform tested the feature among a group of Threads users last month, but it’s now rolling out to everyone. Threads, which

Parrots are innately social creatures. In captivity, where they typically don’t have a flock to interact with, that can present some real challenges for keeping them happy and healthy. But recent research suggests technology may be able to help them meet more of their social needs. A new (very small) study led by researchers at the University of Glasgow and Northeastern University compared parrots’ responses when given the option to video chat with other birds via Meta's Messenger versus watching pre-recorded videos. And it seems they’ve got a preference for real-time conversations. The research builds on findings fro

Google has updated its Inappropriate Content Policy to include language that expressly prohibits advertisers from promoting websites and services that generate deepfake pornography. While the company already has strong restrictions in place for ads that feature certain types of sexual content, this update leaves no doubt that promoting "synthetic content that has been altered or generated to be sexually explicit or contain nudity" is in violation of its rules.  Any advertiser promoting sites or apps that generate deepfake porn, that show instructions on how to create deepfake porn and that endorse or compare various deepfake porn services will be suspended without warning. They will no longer be able to publish their ads on Google, as well. The comp

X is using Grok to publish AI-generated summaries of news and other topics that trend on the platform. The feature, which is currently only available to premium subscribers, is called “Stories on X,” according to a post from the company’s engineering account. According to X, Grok relies on users’ posts to generate the text snippets. Some seem to be more news-focused, while others are summaries of conversations happening on the platform itself. One user posted a screenshot that showed stories abo

Nintendo sent a Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) notice for over 8,000 GitHub repositories hosting code from the Yuzu Switch emulator, which the Zelda maker previously described as enabling “piracy at a colossal scale.” The sweeping takedown comes two months after

Linking to a random third-party account when you just want to play a video game you paid for is truly annoying and, honestly, keeps me from even launching certain games by certain publishers who shall remain nameless. Helldivers 2 players are experiencing this frustration right now, as the PC version of the massively popular third-person shooter will soon require a link to a PlayStation account. New players will be required to link both accounts on May 6, but pre-existing players have until June 4 before the requirement kicks in. Sony says that forcing people to link to a PSN account helps “protect players from griefing and abuse by enabling the banning of players that engage in that type of behavior.” Ah, the popular “few bad apples” excuse. This was always the plan, according to publ

As Microsoft tries to beef up its in-house Xbox studios, it may want to be more careful about leaving a trail of broken promises when things don’t go as planned. A year after the hyped vampire shooter Redfall landed with a thud, a Kotaku report highlights how players are still waiting for the advertised post-launch DLC they already paid for.

Instagram just announced some new features coming to Stories, including a suite of interactive stickers. The music one is perhaps the most interesting, as it's an extension of the pre-existing Add Yours feature. The Add Yours Music sticker lets users share their favorite songs, along with a prompt for followers to get in on the fun by sharing their own related tracks. Of course, the song has to already be in Instagram’s music library to work. To that end, Instagram has partnered with Dua Lipa to promote her new album, Radical Optimism. Many of the songs from the album are available for use in this way, and the artist herself has been posting Stories with Add Your Music stickers.

Apex Legends will soon offer a Solos mode for the first time since 2019, even though developer Respawn Entertainment said earlier this year it had no plans to let players run amok in the battle by themselves again. When the next season starts, Solos will replace the Duos mode for six weeks. The game is designed and tuned for squads of three, but Respawn recently told reporters that it "wanted to acknowledge the growing interest in Solos from our players," many of whom were looking for new ways to play the game. Running the mode for half of season 21 will give the developers a chance to gain plenty of feedback from players