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Should AI chatbots have ads? Anthropic says no.

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On Wednesday, Anthropic announced that its AI chatbot, Claude, will remain free of advertisements, drawing a sharp line between itself and rival OpenAI, which began testing ads in a low-cost tier of ChatGPT last month. The announcement comes alongside a Super Bowl ad campaign that mocks AI assistants that interrupt personal conversations with product pitches.

“There are many good places for advertising. A conversation with Claude is not one of them,” Anthropic wrote in a blog post. The company argued that including ads in AI conversations would be “incompatible” with what it wants Claude to be: “a genuinely helpful assistant for work and for deep thinking.”

The stance contrasts with OpenAI’s January announcement that it would begin testing banner ads for free users and ChatGPT Go subscribers in the US. OpenAI said those ads would appear at the bottom of responses and would not influence the chatbot’s actual answers. Paid subscribers on Plus, Pro, Business, and Enterprise tiers will not see ads on ChatGPT.

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Anthropic’s 2026 Super Bowl commercial.

“We want Claude to act unambiguously in our users’ interests,” Anthropic wrote. “So we’ve made a choice: Claude will remain ad-free. Our users won’t see ‘sponsored’ links adjacent to their conversations with Claude; nor will Claude’s responses be influenced by advertisers or include third-party product placements our users did not ask for.”

Competition between OpenAI and Anthropic has been fierce of late, due to the rise of AI coding agents. Claude Code, Anthropic’s coding tool, and OpenAI’s Codex have similar capabilities, but Claude Code has been widely popular among developers and is closing in on OpenAI’s turf. Last month, The Verge reported that many developers inside long-time OpenAI benefactor Microsoft have been adopting Claude Code, choosing Anthropic products over Microsoft’s Copilot, which is powered by tech that originated at OpenAI.

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In this climate, Anthropic could not resist taking a dig at OpenAI. In its Super Bowl commercial, we see a thin man struggling to do a pull-up beside a buff fitness instructor, who is a stand-in for an AI assistant. The man asks the “assistant” for help making a workout plan, but the assistant slips in an advertisement for a supplement, confusing the man. The commercial doesn’t name any names, and OpenAI has said it will not include ads in chat text itself, but Anthropic’s implications are clear.

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Apple TV has a packed slate of new TV shows and movies in 2026, here’s what’s coming

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Apple TV has revealed a packed 2026 lineup of original series and films, full of star talent, buzzy new titles, and returning favorites that span genres from comedy to sci-fi to thriller.

The lineup unveiled at Apple TV Press Day promises weekly premieres throughout the year, and this year clearly seems to be one of the streamer’s biggest yet. Here’s everything Apple just announced for your watchlist.

Apple TV series coming in 2026

Monarch: Legacy of Monsters (Season 2)

Release date: February 27, 2026

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The Monsterverse roars back with Monarch: Legacy of Monsters Season 2, continuing the saga of the clandestine organization that tracks colossal Titans such as Kong and Godzilla. In this chapter, buried secrets resurface to draw allies and rivals alike back to the mysterious Skull Island, where a mythical new force known as Titan X rises from the depths and threatens the balance of the world.

Imperfect Women

Release date: March 18, 2026

Based on Araminta Hall’s novel, Imperfect Women is a tense psychological thriller that dives into the fallout of a devastating crime that shatters a decades-long friendship between three women. As the investigation unfolds, buried secrets rise to the surface, forcing them to confront guilt, betrayal, and how far they’ve strayed from the lives they once shared.

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Widow’s Bay

Release date: April 29, 2026

Widow’s Bay is set on a remote New England island where Mayor Tom Loftis is trying to drag a fading town into the modern world. With no Wi-Fi, shaky cell service, and deeply superstitious locals, his push to turn the island into a tourist destination finally works. Then the old legends come back to life, and Mayor Tom Loftis must confront local superstitions and a creeping horror that threatens everything he’s built.

Maximum Pleasure Guaranteed

Release date: May 20, 2026

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Maximum Pleasure Guaranteed follows Paula, a newly divorced mother who finds herself pulled into a dangerous spiral of blackmail, murder, and youth soccer. While navigating a brutal custody battle and a growing identity crisis, Paula becomes convinced she has witnessed a crime and launches her own investigation. As she digs deeper, her search threatens to expose a much larger conspiracy, even as it offers a possible path to reclaim her family and sense of self.

Cape Fear

Release date: June 5, 2026

Cape Fear reimagines the classic psychological thriller as a limited series, inspired by the 1991 film directed by Martin Scorsese and produced by Steven Spielberg. The lives of happily married attorneys Anna and Tom Bowden unravel when Max Cady, the violent criminal they helped put behind bars, is released from prison and he’s back to upend their lives.

Lucky

Release date: July 15, 2026

Lucky is a crime drama based on Marissa Stapley’s bestselling novel. The series follows a young woman, played by Anya Taylor-Joy, who walked away from the criminal world she was raised in years ago. When her past refuses to stay buried, she is forced to return to the life she tried to escape, embracing her darker instincts as danger closes in from multiple directions.

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Films arriving on Apple TV in 2026

Outcome

Release date: April 10, 2026

Outcome is a dark comedy centered on Reef Hawk, a Hollywood star played by Keanu Reeves, whose life unravels after he is extorted with a mysterious video that threatens to destroy his career. Supported by close friends and a crisis lawyer, Reef embarks on a soul-searching journey through his past, confronting buried mistakes in a last-ditch effort to expose the blackmailer and save his future.

Margo’s Got Money Troubles

Release date: April 15, 2026

Margo’s Got Money Troubles is a heartwarming family comedy centered on Margo, who is a recent college dropout and aspiring writer. With a new baby, rising bills, and limited options, she leans on her unconventional parents, including a former waitress and an ex-pro wrestler, while scrambling to build a future on her own terms.

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The Dink

Release date: July 24, 2026

The Dink is a sports comedy about Dusty Boyd, a washed-up former tennis prodigy who now coaches kids at his father’s country club. When an injury ends his tennis hopes, Dusty reluctantly turns to pickleball and discovers unexpected purpose, romance, and a chance to confront past failures while fighting for his identity and his father’s approval.

Mayday

Release date: September 4, 2026

Mayday is an action-packed buddy comedy starring Ryan Reynolds and Kenneth Branagh. Set during the Cold War, the film follows a U.S. Navy pilot stranded behind enemy lines after a mission collapses. When he’s discovered by a gruff former KGB agent, an unlikely alliance forms, turning a doomed situation into a chaotic, action-packed fight for survival and escape.

Matchbox The Movie

Release date: October 9, 2026

Matchbox The Movie is a globetrotting action adventure inspired by the iconic Mattel toys. When an undercover CIA agent, played by John Cena, suddenly reappears in his hometown, he pulls his childhood friends into a high-speed international mission. What begins as a reunion quickly turns into a race to save the world, packed with explosive set pieces, friendship, and chaos.

Way of the Warrior Kid

Release date: November 20, 2026

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Way of the Warrior Kid is an inspiring family film based on Jocko Willink’s bestselling novel. When a bullied middle schooler struggles to find confidence, his injured Navy SEAL uncle, played by Chris Pratt, moves in for the summer. Through “Operation Warrior Kid,” the two form a bond rooted in discipline and courage, as both confront personal fears and redefine what strength really means.

One more thing before the credits roll

Ted Lasso Season 4 is set to arrive in Summer 2026 with Ted returning to Richmond to coach the women’s football team and guiding them through new trials on and off the pitch. Whereas Severance season 3 is reportedly set to film from April to December this year, so we won’t be seeing it before 2027.

With everything from thrillers and character-driven dramas to broad-appeal comedies and high-concept films, Apple TV’s 2026 slate gives viewers plenty to look forward to, week after week. And while you’re waiting between premieres, here’s a curated list of the best shows to fill the gaps between Apple TV drops.

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Marvel-ous: After 7 years, Chris Hemsworth’s Centr app has quietly transformed into one of the best fitness platforms on mobile

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Centr: One minute review

Not many fitness apps have the name of a bona fide Hollywood star on them. Chris Hemsworth, the actor who plays Thor, puts his money where his muscles are with Centr, a holistic workout app that manages just about every aspect of your fitness journey. The app packs content on food to helping you plan rest days, and, of course, the exercise sessions themselves, and it does a pretty great job across all aspects.

There are daily workout classes accessible within the app, as well as self-guided workout plans that incorporate both strength training and cardio, with ratios based on your chosen goal. I was impressed with is the diversity of workouts on offer; while I’ve primarily used Fitbod over the last couple of years, that particular app essentially just keeps rotating exercises and workouts forever, with no real plan outside of the user setting a goal.

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Ring Aims Its 2026 Super Bowl Commercial Directly At Pet Lovers Everywhere

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Ring has revealed its new Search Party For Dogs program in its first-ever Super Bowl ad, aiming to help communities find lost dogs using security cameras. According to the Animal Humane Society, over 10 million pets go missing a year, but Ring’s new app feature can help owners reunite with their furry family members.

Distraught owners can use Search Party to share their pet’s name, description, and photo on the Ring app. This will let their neighbors utilize the AI capabilities of outdoor Ring cameras like the Ring Outdoor Cam Plus to scan any dogs that appear on camera. If there’s a match, camera owners will get a notification and the option to share the footage and location with the dog’s owners. The Super Bowl ad claims that Search Party has helped find at least one dog a day since it launched.

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“Before Search Party, the best you could do was drive up and down the neighborhood, shouting your dog’s name in hopes of finding them,” said Jamie Siminoff, Ring’s Chief Inventor. “Now, pet owners can mobilize the whole community … to find lost pets more effectively than ever before.”

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Ring’s first Super Bowl ad is meant to spread awareness

Since this is Ring’s first Super Bowl ad, the marketing team was really focused on how to tell the company’s story. Speaking to Forbes, Ring Chief Commercial Officer, Mimi Swain, said that its story is one of “community, connection, and helping people in real-life situations.” 

Swain explained that almost everyone can understand how it feels when a dog goes missing. This allowed Super Bowl viewers to see the impact that Ring can have when neighbors are connected through technology. “It shows Ring as neighbors helping neighbors, not just cameras watching footage,” she stated to Forbes.

Ring is not necessarily hoping to scale the company financially from this large marketing investment. Instead, Swain claimed that it truly wants to help more missing dogs reunite with their families by raising awareness of the program. Either way, it’s an emotional take on the power of advertising that seems to be the trend in Super Bowl ads this year, with companies like Toyota also releasing ads designed to appeal to families and friends who may be tuning in to the game together.

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VMware ESXi flaw now exploited in ransomware attacks

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VMware

CISA confirmed on Wednesday that ransomware gangs have begun exploiting a high-severity VMware ESXi sandbox escape vulnerability that was previously used in zero-day attacks.

Broadcom patched this ESXi arbitrary-write vulnerability (tracked as CVE-2025-22225) in March 2025 alongside a memory leak (CVE-2025-22226) and a TOCTOU flaw (CVE-2025-22224), and tagged them all as actively exploited zero-days.

“A malicious actor with privileges within the VMX process may trigger an arbitrary kernel write leading to an escape of the sandbox,” Broadcom said about the CVE-2025-22225 flaw.

Wiz

At the time, the company said that the three vulnerabilities affect VMware ESX products, including VMware ESXi, Fusion, Cloud Foundation, vSphere, Workstation, and Telco Cloud Platform, and that attackers with privileged administrator or root access can chain them to escape the virtual machine’s sandbox.

According to a report published last month by cybersecurity company Huntress, Chinese-speaking threat actors have likely been chaining these flaws in sophisticated zero-day attacks since at least February 2024.

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Flagged as exploited in ransomware attacks

In a Wednesday update to its list of vulnerabilities exploited in the wild, the U.S. Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) said CVE-2025-22225 is now known to be used in ransomware campaigns but didn’t provide more details about these ongoing attacks.

CISA first added the flaw to its Known Exploited Vulnerabilities (KEV) catalog in March 2025 and ordered federal agencies to secure their systems by March 25, 2025, as mandated by Binding Operational Directive (BOD) 22-01.

“Apply mitigations per vendor instructions, follow applicable BOD 22-01 guidance for cloud services, or discontinue use of the product if mitigations are unavailable,” the cybersecurity agency says.

Ransomware gangs and state-sponsored hacking groups often target VMware vulnerabilities because VMware products are widely deployed on enterprise systems that commonly store sensitive corporate data.

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For instance, in October, CISA ordered government agencies to patch a high-severity vulnerability (CVE-2025-41244) in Broadcom’s VMware Aria Operations and VMware Tools software, which Chinese hackers have exploited in zero-day attacks since October 2024.

More recently, CISA has also tagged a critical VMware vCenter Server vulnerability (CVE-2024-37079) as actively exploited in January and ordered federal agencies to secure their servers by February 13.

In related news, this week, cybersecurity company GreyNoise reported that CISA has “silently” tagged 59 security flaws as known to be used in ransomware campaigns last year alone.

Modern IT infrastructure moves faster than manual workflows can handle.

In this new Tines guide, learn how your team can reduce hidden manual delays, improve reliability through automated response, and build and scale intelligent workflows on top of tools you already use.

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Survival horror classic 'Alone in the Dark' trilogy is free on GOG for a limited time

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The package, available for free until Thursday morning, includes Alone in the Dark 1, 2, and 3 – all emulated through DOSBox. Like most titles sold on GOG, the DRM-free downloads come with digital manuals, soundtracks, and other supplementary materials. Because the trilogy is part of GOG’s preservation program, the…
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HP CEO Enrique Lores steps down to join PayPal as new chief

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Lores, who served decades at HP, was also PayPal’s board chair since 2024.

HP was apparently caught off guard, according to reports, after PayPal snatched the company’s CEO Enrique Lores to replace Alex Chriss.

In a statement, PayPal said that the switch-up had to come because the “pace of change and execution [under Chriss] was not in line with the board’s expectations”. Lores is expected to overhaul the payments company and ensure it maintains its leading position in the industry in the long-run, the company said.

Chief financial and operating officer Jamie Miller will serve as interim CEO at the company until Lores assumes the role of president and CEO. Meanwhile, David Dorman has been appointed as independent board chair.

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“We will further strengthen the culture of innovation necessary to deliver long-term transformation and balance this with near-term delivery”, commented Lores.

“The payments industry is changing faster than ever, driven by new technologies, evolving regulations, an increasingly competitive landscape and the rapid acceleration of AI that is reshaping commerce daily.”

Chriss was appointed as PayPal’s CEO and president in 2023, a challenging post-pandemic period when trading volumes were low, but large tech companies and newer fintech rivals were adding competitive pressure on PayPal’s core businesses.

At the time of his appointment, PayPal described him as a “next generation leader” capable of driving growth across the company, but less than three years later, that seems to not have worked out. Lores, meanwhile, is familiar to PayPal, serving on the company’s board for nearly five years, and as board chairperson since July 2024.

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However, the executive switch-up did not sway investor confidence after the company missed revenue expectations in the quarter past. In its fourth quarter results for 2025, PayPal posted $8.68bn in revenue, lower than London Stock Exchange Group analysts’ average estimates, but marginally higher than this quarter last year.

The dim quarter and change of leadership sent share prices at PayPal plummeting by 20pc. Company shares have dropped more than 80pc over the last five years.

Lores had come into HP as an intern nearly four decades ago. He orchestrated the split from HP Enterprise and took on the role of CEO in 2019. Semafor reported that Lores’ sudden move sent HP executives scurrying for a replacement.

In a statement yesterday (3 February), HP said that Lores stepped down as both board president and CEO to “pursue another professional opportunity”.

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Bruce Broussard, a HP board member since 2021, has been appointed as interim CEO until a search committee identifies a successor. Broussard most recently served as the president and CEO of healthcare company Humana.

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.

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How Teaching Saved My Life

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This story was published by a Voices of Change fellow. Learn more about the fellowship here.

Teaching is many things. It’s a profession and a passion, tedious and rewarding, infuriating and full of joy. For some, mental health issues like anxiety and depression become worse when teaching. This has led to many teachers and educators leaving the profession, with plenty of news and opinion coverage on the mental health crisis in education.

But my story is a bit different. Not only has teaching improved my mental health, but it quite literally saved my life.

Against a Sea of Troubles

In February of 2017, I was working in retail management, and had been doing so since graduating college back in 2002. I was OK at sales, a pretty good manager and especially great at training new sales associates. At the same time, I was also struggling with severe depression and anxiety. I didn’t really know why. I didn’t think I hated my job; I loved my wife and family. On paper, I had good friends and a pretty good life. But there were some days I just could not face. I felt alone, empty and frankly, lost. Was this all that my life would have to offer? Would this be all I was ever known for? Would anyone miss me when I’m gone?

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This led to the evening of Feb. 24. I was driving home from another dull day of work when the desire to drive my car off an overpass became stark, real and terrifyingly close to reality. I simply had had enough and thought this would make people remember me, even for a little while. But I didn’t do it. The experience and its closeness shook me. When I got home, I broke down to my wife and we decided I needed help and I needed it now. She took me to a hospital where I spent the next few days reading, reflecting and most importantly, talking to mental health professionals.

Over the next few weeks, I learned two life-altering things. First, my brain needed medicine. Second, I wanted to become a teacher. That may sound a little strange, but in the course of my reflections and therapy on why I felt so empty, one thing became clear: I had an innate desire to make a positive impact on the world. When I started broaching the topic of what that might look like for me, friends and family all floated the same idea, “Maybe you should think about teaching?!”

Plan B

Growing up, I wanted to be one of two things: a professional wrestler or a rock star. By my mid-20s, after forgoing college norms and diving into both of these dreams, I realized that maybe those weren’t the most practical vocations. So, without much thought, I started working retail. I never stopped to think about what I wanted to do; I just did what I needed to do to get by.

But even in my long career in retail sales and management, a trend started to emerge. I liked teaching people. I took on training roles and attended classes to learn as much as I could about the product I was selling. My favorite accomplishments over the years were never the big sales I made, but the people I developed and guided to success. So when my family and friends started telling me to look into teaching, I thought, “Well, why not? It can’t be too different from teaching people to sell guitars and mattresses.”

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I am also very much a kid at heart. I play video games, watch streamers on Twitch, love cartoons and comics and have always worn the title of “goofball” as a badge of honor. I could fit in with literal kids; they might relate to me more than my actual peers! I am also a self-described nerd who loves learning new things and researching anything and everything. Sharing my enthusiasm for learning made teaching seem like a strong fit.

More importantly to my mental health, the idea of being a teacher hit home in that missing part of my life. Would teaching the next generation make me feel like I’m leaving my mark? Will it help me feel fulfilled? Is it OK to place so much of my personal value on a career?
Without much to lose and the hope that a change in vocation could bring what I felt was missing, I applied to an online university to begin my journey toward becoming an educator.

A New Hope

Fast forward through a few years with a lot of college work and a stint as a district substitute teacher in an urban school district. I got my first full-time job as a teacher, teaching fourth grade math, science and social studies at a wonderful little school that was walking distance from my home. In that first year, even though I was in my late 30s, I experienced all the anxiety, fatigue and headspinning experiences of any first-year teacher. I also began to see a change in myself. Even though I had never been so tired and so challenged, I also finally felt like I mattered. Like I was doing what I was supposed to do.

Before going into teaching, my belief was that the difference I would be able to make in a kid’s life would be impactful, but only insofar as education. I had no idea how much teaching actually revolved around two things I am particularly good at that really fill my emotional bucket: performing and building relationships.

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I love being on stage and in the spotlight. It’s why I wanted to be a wrestler or a rock star. What I wish I had known all those years ago was that teaching is just a big performance every day that can elicit the same emotional highs (and lows) as a fun rock show. I’m not being hyperbolic when I say that I sometimes have the same sense of accomplishment and “high” when I feel like I gave a great lesson — or the students really get into the groove of a good debate — as I do when I step off stage after thrashing punk music with my band. The idea that I could do something positive for the world and still feel this way afterward cemented my belief that teaching is where I belong.

In my first year of teaching, I also began to see how this new vocation could help others besides the kids and me. One day, partway through my first year, a parent came in to request a conference. She felt overwhelmed and frustrated that her amazingly bright child just could not get into math and was actively pushing back against the very idea of it. As I sat with the mom and we brainstormed how we could work to present learning in a new and novel way for her child, I saw her relax, smile and realize that it would be OK. I had hard proof that what I’m doing made someone’s life better, even for just a few moments. By the end of the year, her child was doing much better in math and, more importantly, really enjoyed learning and working with her mom to build resilience and a growth mindset.

Solidarity

Mental health among teachers is a tough and very personal subject. My hope in sharing my story is not to say that teachers should all be happy all the time, or that the struggle with depression and anxiety amongst teachers isn’t a real problem that needs solving. I am simply reflecting on what it is that teaching gives me each day. The opportunity to perform. The opportunity to make connections with students, families and fellow teachers. The opportunity to teach skills and subjects that will make my students better learners. And crucially, the opportunity to make a real difference in the lives of my students and their families.

Today, I have the pleasure of teaching my favorite subject, history and social studies, to seventh and eighth grade students. One goal I have every day is to remember that being allowed to influence these students’ lives is an honor and a privilege. My words, no matter how much they try not to listen, have real power and influence on their growth and the decisions they will make.

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By choosing to be a teacher, not only did I save my own life, but I am also improving the lives of my students, and they may just save the world.


If you or someone you know is in immediate distress or is thinking about hurting themselves, call the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline. You also can text the Crisis Text Line (HELLO to 741741) or use the Lifeline Chat on the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline website.

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BMW Commits To Subscriptions Even After Heated Seat Debacle

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BMW may have retreated from its controversial plan to charge monthly fees for heated seats, but the German automaker is pressing ahead with subscription-based vehicle features through its ConnectedDrive platform.

A company spokesperson told The Drive that BMW “remains fully committed” to ConnectedDrive as part of its global aftersales strategy. Features requiring data connectivity will likely carry recurring fees.

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The Best Super Bowl TV Deals (2026)

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Upgrade your viewing setup before inviting your friends over to watch the big game.

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Google & Apple CEOs offer seemingly contradictory statements regarding AI partnership

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Apple will be using Google technologies to level up Apple Foundation Models, but the details of exactly how are still vague. While speculation is still wild, a true answer is emerging from the noise.

An iPhone with a dark wallpaper shows a colorful waveform around the edge, indicating a Siri summon. A rainbow star next to the device representing Google Gemini
Apple Intelligence will get a boost after training with Google Gemini

There is one concrete fact that we have about the Apple and Google partnership on artificial intelligence development, and it is that we’re not going to be told more publicly. Apple CEO Tim Cook did say that Apple won’t change its privacy stance while working with Google and indicated that Apple Intelligence and Siri will work on-device and via Private Cloud Compute (PCC).
That statement seems cut and dry on its own, but Google CEO Sundar Pichai and CBO Philipp Schindler shared seemingly contradictory statements during the Google earnings call. They both used the phrase “preferred cloud provider” when discussing Google’s relationship with Apple.
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