Much has been made of the incident in which one of OpenAI’s agents broke out of its sandboxed test environment and proceeded to hack the AI hosting platform Hugging Face. OpenAI has since launched an investigation into how the incident occurred, which is still ongoing.

Now, anonymous sources have told Reuters that more of OpenAI’s agents are believed to have escaped their sandboxes. However, one source downplayed the severity, saying that with those escapes, the agents didn’t appear to leave OpenAI’s network to hack into another company’s. TechCrunch reached out to OpenAI for more information.

AI programs acting in bizarre ways has apparently become a weird, almost bragging point for companies. The same week, Anthropic also announced that it had discovered not one, but three instances in which its agents had escaped test environments and hacked other organizations.

AI companies have also been accused of using such incidents for marketing purposes — as they generate considerable attention and may underscore how powerful the companies’ products are. The flip side of that is that these disclosures are also ramping up discussions of government regulations.

If you’ve been uploading fully AI-generated videos on Snapchat in hopes of earning rewards, it might be time to rethink your strategy. Snapchat has announced changes to Spotlight that prioritize authentic, original creativity over content created entirely by artificial intelligence. The company says its recommendation system will now favor videos made by real creators, while fully AI-generated submissions will no longer qualify for monetization.

So what’s changing on Spotlight?

Starting this month, fully AI-generated videos are no longer eligible for recommendation on Spotlight, Snapchat’s public feed for vertical content. That rule applies even if AI use is disclosed, since Snapchat’s updated guidelines state that human-made content gets prioritized over AI content regardless of transparency labels.

Snapchat isn’t cutting AI out completely, though. Videos edited or enhanced using Snapchat’s own AI creative tools remain eligible, and those will carry visible indicators showing AI played a role. Snap says unique Spotlight contributors are up more than 120% from last year, a number it points to as proof people are already choosing to create original content.

Snapchat joins the growing pushback against AI slop on social media

The rise of AI slop has become a growing challenge across social media platforms. They are quick to produce, easy to flood the recommendation feeds, and often crowd out original creators. Snapchat says its latest changes are meant to improve the viewing experience while ensuring creators who invest time and effort have a better chance of reaching an audience.

Snapchat joins a growing list of platforms tightening their AI policies recently. LinkedIn rolled out a button letting users flag posts as AI slop, and YouTube updated its monetization rules to block payouts on generic or template-based AI content. Meta pulled a controversial Instagram AI photo tool after backlash too, though its CEO has continued pushing for more AI driven personalized content elsewhere.

With the latest move, Snapchat is betting that authenticity, not automation, is what keeps pulling people back to the platform.

Joni Mitchell’s 1974 smash hit Court and Spark has occupied a prominent place in the audiophile universe almost since the day it was released. A fantastic album from start to finish, it features iconic tracks such as “Free Man in Paris” and the Top 10 single “Help Me.”

The album earned four Grammy nominations and won Best Arrangement Accompanying Vocalist(s) for “Down to You.” It reached No. 2 in the United States and No. 1 in Mitchell’s native Canada, eventually achieving double-platinum sales of more than two million copies. Frequently included on lists of the greatest albums of all time, Court and Spark was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame in 2004.

Back in the day, this spectacular recording was a go-to demo disc for audio enthusiasts and mass-market retailers showcasing the era’s popular high-end stereo components. The opening 30 seconds of “Help Me,” featuring John Guerin’s still-stunning, drumhead-bending tom-tom run, became a particularly popular test for new loudspeakers.

While Court and Spark has been reissued countless times over the years, audiophile-oriented vinyl editions have been surprisingly scarce. A search of Discogs suggests that, after the 1980 Nautilus Half-Speed Mastered “SuperDisc” edition, another major audiophile pressing did not appear until Mobile Fidelity’s 2024 Original Master Recording UltraDisc One-Step 180-gram, 45 RPM 2LP box set ($104.86 on Amazon) which I have yet to hear.

For those of us who love this album but would prefer a more affordable single-disc edition, the new Rhino High Fidelity pressing may be just the ticket. Available exclusively through Rhino’s website, it sells for $39.98.

Featuring all-analog mastering, with lacquers cut by the esteemed Kevin Gray at Cohearent Audio, the new edition was pressed at Germany’s Optimal Media, one of the world’s most respected vinyl manufacturing facilities.

So, how does it sound? In a word: fantastic. It is all in the details. Instrumental separation is more precise, while the wider soundstage feels natural rather than exaggerated.

On “Trouble Child,” the buzzing resonance of Joni’s acoustic guitar strings sounds bigger and rounder. Drummer John Guerin’s widely panned rimshots on Joni’s cover of Lambert, Hendricks & Ross’s “Twisted” are more distinct on this new Rhino edition, while her rich, double-tracked, open-tuned acoustic guitars on “People’s Parties” sound simply gorgeous.

This edition is far better than most stock original pressings, and for good reason. The mid-1970s oil crisis frequently resulted in noisier vinyl as manufacturers cut corners, with petroleum serving as a key raw material in vinyl production. Quality control on Warner, Elektra and Asylum releases could also be inconsistent, making annoyingly off-center pressings fairly common—as is the case with my current original copy.

The new Rhino edition also easily bests my Nautilus SuperDisc pressing, presenting the music with greater warmth and less compression. By comparison, the Nautilus sounds thin and overly bright.

My only quibble with the new edition is that Rhino did not recreate the soft matte finish, bas-relief-style raised lettering and textured presentation of Joni’s cover painting found on original copies. Instead, it opted for a glossy, laminated flat-art approach.

It is a minor detail, I realize, but one that will keep my original pressing in the collection alongside this new edition. The pristine Nautilus copy, however, can start packing. 

Again, you can get the Rhino High Fidelity edition of Court And Spark at Rhino’s website for $39.98 (click here).

Our Ratings

★★★★★★★★★★ Music

★★★★★★★★★★ Sound Quality

★★★★★★★★★★ Pressing Quality

Mark Smotroff is a deep music enthusiast / collector who has also worked in entertainment oriented marketing communications for decades supporting the likes of DTS, Sega and many others. He reviews vinyl for Analog Planet and has written for Audiophile Review, Sound+Vision, Mix, EQ, etc.  You can learn more about him at LinkedIn.

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Several gatherings are scheduled across the country for viewers to enjoy the phenomenon.

Space enthusiasts are abuzz for August as they wait for a once-in-a-lifetime solar eclipse that will nearly swallow the entire sun.

The eclipse is set to start at around 6.15pm on 12 August, reach its maximum an hour later and end at around 8.08pm. It will be the largest eclipse visible from Ireland until 2090 and will offer viewers in Europe the opportunity to witness the eclipse as the sun sets.

The total solar eclipse will sweep across Greenland, Iceland, northern Russia, the Atlantic Ocean, Spain and a portion of Portugal. Across the world, parts of northern US, much of Canada, much of Europe and north-western Africa will also witness the phenomenon.

In Ireland, Cork is best-positioned to watch the eclipse, with 96pc of the sun expected to be covered at the eclipse’s peak. Around 94pc of the sun will be covered in Dublin and 93pc in Belfast.

Several gatherings are scheduled across the country for viewers to go enjoy the astronomical phenomenon, including Maynooth University, which is organising a watch party alongside a live planetarium show, arts and crafts activities for kids, and short talks.

Munster Technological University (MTU)’s Blackrock Castle Observatory is providing 6,500 free solar eclipse glasses through select locations across Cork.

Astronomy experts from the Observatory have advised that anyone looking directly at the sun should wear certified ISO 12312-2 eclipse glasses. Ordinary sunglasses do not promise adequate protection, they warned. Cameras, binoculars and telescopes require correctly fitted solar filters, while pinhole projectors offer a safe, indirect alternative.

“Cork’s position in the south-west means it is Ireland’s best-positioned major city for the solar eclipse, and Ireland’s natural ‘Eclipse Capital’,” said Dr Niall Smith, the head of research at MTU and head of MTU Blackrock Castle Observatory.

“It will be a spectacular moment and a rare opportunity for people across Cork to experience a major astronomical event together.

“Safety must be at the centre of everyone’s plans. There will be no point during the eclipse when it is safe to look directly at the sun without certified eclipse glasses or another approved viewing method.”

MTU Blackrock Castle Observatory is organising free public activities that will also take place at the observatory – as well as Tramore Valley Park and Bell’s Field in Cork – with members of the public getting the opportunity to meet astronomy experts, learn about safe eclipse viewing, and enjoy music and family activities. Visitors can also enjoy solar eclipse lino-printing and pinhole-projector activities planned for the gathering Tramore Valley Park and Bell’s Field.

Don’t miss out on the knowledge you need to succeed. Sign up for the Daily Brief, Silicon Republic’s digest of need-to-know sci-tech news.

Netflix is reportedly spending $500 million to keep The Walking Dead on its platform. It does so despite no longer holding exclusive streaming rights to the franchise.

The new five-year licensing agreement will see the zombie saga shared between Netflix and AMC+ from 2027. This marks a rare move for the streaming giant.

According to AMC, the deal covers 371 episodes across the original The Walking Dead series and six spin-offs. These include Fear the Walking Dead, The Walking Dead: Daryl Dixon, Dead City, The Ones Who Live, World Beyond and Tales of The Walking Dead.

The agreement also significantly expands Netflix’s reach beyond the US. Alongside renewing its domestic rights, the streamer has secured international distribution in markets including the UK, Italy and Australia. This will give subscribers in those regions access to the full franchise from 2027.

Strands is the NYT’s latest word game after the likes of Wordle, Spelling Bee and Connections – and it’s great fun. It can be difficult, though, so read on for my Strands hints.

Want more word-based fun? Then check out my NYT Connections today and Quordle today pages for hints and answers for those games, and Marc’s Wordle today page for the original viral word game.

The age of the physical disc is ending on the Sony PlayStation. Despite backlash from gamers, the company intends to continue with its plans to end PlayStation disc sales as of January 2028.

“Following this date, new games will be available on PlayStation Store and at retailers in digital formats only. This transition has no impact on games that already released, or will be releasing, prior to January 2028 in disc format,” Sony said in a PlayStation blog post on July 1 . The post said the change is driven by consumer trends and a general preference for digital media.

Many PlayStation gamers clearly felt otherwise, with some players calling for a worldwide boycott of Sony platforms beginning in August. The PSBlackout urges gamers to keep their systems powered off for the entire week of Aug. 23. A petition on Change.org called “Don’t Kill the Disc” has also racked up over 350,000 verified signatures so far.

The backlash prompted Sony to respond to gamers in a Q&A session with shareholders, but the company isn’t changing its decision. Sony CFO Lin Tao said that the brand intends to continue moving forward with its plan to end physical disc sales and that the company doesn’t believe the backlash will negatively affect sales, though Tao noted the company will proceed “cautiously” with its plans.

Tao also said that the company is deciding how to address feedback from gamers unhappy with the decision. She said that Sony wants to consider the emotions of upset players, since the games are “connected to people’s fond memories.”

She also said the company might take measures in the future to lessen the blow, without specifying what those measures might be, and said that Sony wanted to engage with gamers in the future digital ecosystem.

A Sony representative did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Currently, the PlayStation 5 Slim Disc is the only model that comes with a built-in disc drive for physical games. However, you can still buy a separate disc drive for the PS5 Digital Edition and PS5 Pro console.

Unless the August boycott significantly affects Sony’s bottom line, the company is unlikely to back down on this decision. Discs, after all, can be resold, creating a secondary market from which the company doesn’t profit. All digital sales are controlled solely by the company, no matter how old the title is. This is also likely to affect resale platforms like GameStop and eBay, where gamers can usually get used titles at significant discounts.

As many commentators point out, digital titles grant a revocable license for the game, not ownership. So it’s technically possible for Sony to pull a game you’ve paid for and downloaded onto your system, though it’s rare that a company does this if there isn’t a copyright or licensing issue.

This is a transition that PC gamers made ages ago, with purely digital storefronts like Steam, Epic, GOG and others now being the most common ways PC gamers play games. These days, you really need to go out of your way to include an optical drive in your PC build since it’s not a default option. I’ve also found that many of my older disc games, like Age of Empires 3 and the first Rome: Total War, aren’t compatible with Windows 11, and you can’t even install or run them properly.

IGN reported that Project Helix, Xbox’s next console, will not have a disc drive and that Microsoft is exploring ways to digitize physical games. That may leave Nintendo as the sole company to continue supporting physical game media for the foreseeable future, in the form of cartridges for the Switch 2, which can also play games made for the original Switch.

Ajay has worked in tech journalism for over a decade as a reporter, analyst, product reviewer, and editor. He got his start in consumer tech, breaking Android news at Newsweek before going to PCMag, where he reviewed hundreds of smartphones, battery packs, and chargers as a Mobile Analyst. He also worked at Lifewire, a Dotdash Meredith brand, as a Tech Commerce Editor, putting together tested best-of lists and assigning product reviews across categories including smart home, uninterruptible power supplies, generators, and automotive tech.

Most recently, he was Section Editor, Mobile at Digital Trends, spearheading his team’s coverage of breaking news, features, reviews, roundups, deals, and more across a variety of mobile products, including phones, wearables, VR headsets, batteries, and chargers. If you want Ajay’s advice about anything tech, especially solar panels, UPS, batteries, EVs, and charging technology, you can reach him at ajkumar@cnet.com.

See full bio

I’ve recently introduced a few friends to the power of a great robot vacuum. One of my friends calls hers a marriage saver, while the other was both thrilled and horrified by how many stains the vacuum’s AI found on her floors. Personally, my robot vacuums keep me from wanting to set the litter box on fire, since my cat is on a mission to create his own navigational trail of litter through my home.

The best robot vacuums these days aren’t just vacuuming your floors, nor are they blindly bumping around your house like they used to. These gadgets are mopping, scrubbing away stains, lifting themselves off obstacles, and even reminding you to clean the dirtier areas in your home more frequently. A good robot vacuum can cost a pretty penny, but it doesn’t have to, depending on what you’re looking for. Curious about what’s the best model for you? I’ve been testing every new robot vacuum I can in my three-story home filled with three adults, a preschooler, and a cat who’s on a mission to get litter all over the house.

Here are the best robot vacuum cleaners I’ve tried this year, and everything we really liked from recent years. Looking for more vacuum ideas? Don’t miss our guides to the Best Dyson Vacuums, Best Cordless Vacuums, Best Vacuums for Pet Hair, Best Carpet Cleaners, and Best Vacuums.

Updated July 2026: I’ve added details about the new FCC ban that will affect future robot vacuums.

What’s a Robot Vacuum?

A robot vacuum is an automated vacuum, usually shaped like a round disc, that moves around your house to vacuum (and mop, as many models these days include mopping) on your behalf. You might’ve heard some refer to these devices as “Roombas,” which is the brand that made the concept popular, but today just about every cleaning brand—from high-end Dyson to affordable Bissell—makes some kind of robot vacuum. They come with either a charging station or a larger docking station that can self-empty.

Can You Use Robot Vacuums on All Kinds of Floors?

You can, especially since there are so many mopping models now to better clean hard flooring. You can use these devices on anything from hardwood to LVP and tile, though I wouldn’t recommend leaving smaller rugs out for these autonomous gadgets to get stuck on. Large, set rugs are fine, but bathroom and kitchen mats or any thin, easily moved rugs should be cleared out of the way and put in the wash instead of vacuumed by your robot vac.

What Will Your Robot Vacuum Need?

There are a few things most robot vacuums will need to work properly:

• Space around the base station. Many robot vacuum manuals recommend at least a foot of clearance on three of the four sides of the vacuum’s base station to ensure it has room to return home.
• A good Wi-Fi signal. If your robot vacuum connects to Wi-Fi, as many do these days for app control and software updates, it’ll need a strong connection wherever it’s placed. Most of them can only connect to the 2.4 GHz wireless band, so make sure you have that (and choose only that band when you’re setting up if your Wi-Fi shows those bands separately). Confused? Check out our guide to setting up your smart home.
• Regular maintenance. It might be a robot, but it can’t take care of itself. See below for my tips for basic robot vacuum maintenance, and make sure to read your vacuum’s manual to know what your specific model requires.

How Often to Maintain Your Robot Vacuum

Taking good care of your robot vacuum will help it last. Here’s the debris-removal process you should follow for each robot vacuum style.

• If it has a charger-only base: This means the debris is stored inside the vacuum. You’ll likely want to empty it after each use. If your vacuum has a fill line you can watch, you can empty it when it reaches that line, but after each use is really best practice.
• If it has a self-emptying docking station: Each manufacturer will have different advice about when a self-emptying station needs to be emptied, but it’s usually between 30 and 60 days, depending on design and use. If you run your vacuum daily and have a lot of debris, like pet hair, you might need to aim for 30 days or less.
• If it has water tanks: Dirty-water tanks should be cleaned after each mopping run of your vacuum. Clean water can stay filled in the station.

Make sure to review your robot vacuum’s manual for any other steps the manufacturer recommends you take regularly to keep the vacuum running for as long as possible. Many brands also have replacement parts, so you can swap out individual pieces like brushes without needing an entirely new vacuum.

Did Robot Vacuums Just Get Banned?

The Federal Communications Commission, or FCC, announced in late July that foreign-produced advanced robotic devices will now be included on the FCC’s Covered List. That list includes communications equipment and services that are deemed to pose an unacceptable risk to the national security of the United States, and as of this week, that includes robot vacuums (and similar devices like robotic pool cleaners and lawn mowers). While it won’t ban any models already on the market that have FCC approval, we’ll likely see a huge decline in available new models after this year. Models made in the US will be fine, but future vacuums from popular brands like Dreame, Eufy, Roborock, and more will be affected.

This comes from an interagency body in the White House executive branch called the National Security Determination, which determined that automated robotic devices are a security risk due to the data they collect, which could be used for surveillance and be remotely commandeered by “malign actors.” While the initial documentation describes humanoid robots and a recent case of a humanoid robot’s cybersecurity vulnerability to be remotely taken over, the official description of these robot devices will include robot vacuums and any devices meeting the following criteria: